Early life.

Wesley was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Polish parents Tomasz and Agnieszka Wasilewski, and grew up in Marlboro Township, New Jersey. He has one older sister, Monika Emara (née Wasilewski), and two younger sisters, Leah and Julia. He can play guitar and piano. He loves to travel and watch tennis and good movies and He knows surfboarding, skating and snowboarding and He enjoys these activities in his spare time. In addition to English, he also speaks Polish, having spent four months every year in Poland until the age of 16. Wesley attended Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, New Jersey, and Marlboro High School for a period during his high school years. He started his theater studies in New York City and transferred from Marlboro High School to Lakewood Prep School in Howell, New Jersey, because the school was able to better accommodate his acting schedule. During his junior year in high school, he was cast in the soap opera "Guiding Light" as character Max Nickerson. He started college at Rutgers University in New Jersey but left after one semester when more roles were offered to him, and he realized he could make a career out of acting.

Career.

2001–2008: Early acting roles and "Fallen".

In 2001, Wesley, then credited as Paul Wasilewski, was one of the main cast members of the short-lived CBS television series "Wolf Lake", playing the role of Lucas "Luke" Cates. He appeared opposite Amber Tamblyn in the 2008 CBS television film "The Russell Girl", and had the lead role in the 2007 ABC Family miniseries "Fallen" opposite Bryan Cranston and Tom Skerritt. Wesley has had a number of roles in television shows such as "24", "8 Simple Rules", "American Dreams", "Army Wives", "Cane", "Everwood", "Guiding Light", "Smallville", and "The O.C.".

2009–2017: "The Vampire Diaries" and film roles.

Wesley starred as Stefan Salvatore in the hit television series "The Vampire Diaries" since its premiere in September 2009 on The CW. In the series, he played a younger brother to Damon Salvatore (played by Ian Somerhalder) as well as the love interest of a 17-year-old girl named Elena Gilbert (played by Nina Dobrev). His work garnered him two People’s Choice Award nominations.  Throughout the years, he has appeared in a variety of films. In 2014, he co-starred in, as well as produced, "Before I Disappear", which went on to win the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award and compete at the Venice Film Festival's "Venice Days" section. That same year he co-starred in "Amira and Sam" which was acquired by Drafthouse Films. In August 2015, it was reported that he joined the cast of "The Late Bloomer" opposite Brittany Snow and JK Simmons. Other feature credits include HBO's "Shot in the Heart" directed by Agnieszka Holland and Liongate's "Peaceful Warrior" opposite Nick Nolte.  In 2014, he was cast opposite Susan Sarandon in the film "Mother's Day", and it was also announced he is set to star in and produce the film "Convergence". He also co-starred in "The Baytown Outlaws" opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Andre Braugher.

2018–present: Focus on directing and "Tell Me a Story".

Wesley began directing "The Vampire Diaries" in its fifth season and produced the series at the start of season 8. He directed episode 16 in season 2 of "Shadowhunters" for Freeform. In November 2016, it was announced that under the label of his newly formed production company, Citizen Media, Wesley signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television to produce four new television shows, including "Confessions of a Drug-Addicted High School Teacher", written by Jason Smith; "Pecos", written by Shawn Christensen; "Finding Natalie", written by Hilary Bettis and "Shanghai Summer", written by Oanh Ly.  His theater work includes the co-lead in the well-received off-Broadway production "Cal in Camo" at the Rattlestick Theater in New York City. He was also the co-lead in "Sensitive Skin" written by Shem Bitterman. In March 2018, Wesley joined the New York Theater Workshop's production of "Zurich" in New York City.  In June 2018, it was reported that Wesley, had joined the main cast of the CBS All Access TV series "Tell Me a Story" which was created by Kevin Williamson. Paul currently has a development deal at Kapital Entertainment. Other network television directing credits include "Shadowhunters" and "Roswell, New Mexico". Wesley also appeared in the second episode of the Netflix series "Medal of Honor" as Staff Sergeant Clint Romesha.

Philanthropy.

In 2014, Paul was given the Humane Generation Award for his work with the Humane Society. Wesley has hosted two fundraising campaigns on Represent.com to raise funds for charity. For his first campaign, Wesley released a cat shirt design to raise funds for The Humane Society of the United States. The campaign sold almost 3,000 units. For his second campaign, Wesley teamed up with "The Vampire Diaries" co-star Ian Somerhalder to release a limited-edition shirt designed by a fan, with the words "Blood Brothers Since 1864." This campaign sold almost 10,000 shirts.

Personal life.

Wesley met and began dating Torrey DeVitto in 2007 when they acted together in "Killer Movie". They married in a private ceremony in New York City in April 2011. In July 2013, it was reported that they had filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in December 2013.  Wesley lived in Atlanta, Georgia, while filming "The Vampire Diaries" and the rest of the time with DeVitto in Los Angeles, California. He sold his Los Angeles residence after his divorce from DeVitto at the end of 2013. Wesley then began dating co-star Phoebe Tonkin after meeting on the set of "The Vampire Diaries". The couple had an on-off relationship and officially broke up in 2017 after four years of dating.  As of February 2019, Wesley is married to Ines de Ramon.

Paweł Tomasz Wasilewski (; born July 23, 1982), known professionally as Paul Wesley and formerly as Paul Wasilewski, is an American actor, director, and producer. He is known for his lead role on the drama series "The Vampire Diaries" as well as his multiple roles on the anthology series "Tell Me a Story".


Early life and education.

Naomie Harris was born on 6 September 1976 in Islington, London, where she was raised. Her mother, Carmen Harris, sometimes credited as Lisselle Kayla, emigrated from Jamaica to London as a child with her parents and has British and Nigerian ancestors. Harris's father, Brian Clarke, a fashion designer, emigrated from Trinidad to the UK, and has British, Grenadian, and Guyanese ancestors. They separated before Harris was born, and she was raised by her mother and has no relationship with her father. Harris grew up in a council flat in Finsbury Park. Her mother later remarried and Harris has two younger half-siblings. Her mother worked as a screenwriter on "EastEnders" and is a healer.  She attended St Marylebone School in London. Harris attended the Anna Scher Theatre where she studied acting as a child before attending Woodhouse College as a sixth-form student. She graduated from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1998 with a degree in social and political sciences. Harris trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career.

Harris has appeared in television and film since she was nine, including a starring role in the remake of the science fiction series "The Tomorrow People". In 2000, she played Susan in "The Witch of Edmonton" at the Southwark Playhouse. In November 2002, she starred in Danny Boyle's postapocalyptic film "28 Days Later". In the same year, she starred in the television adaptation of Zadie Smith's "White Teeth". Harris has appeared in "", "", and Michael Mann's "Miami Vice." She did a comic turn in Michael Winterbottom's indie ensemble piece, "A Cock and Bull Story" (2005). She starred in Channel 4's adaptation of the 2006 novel "Poppy Shakespeare", which was first shown on 31 March 2008. She also appeared in BBC's historical drama "Small Island" in December 2009.  She played Elizabeth Lavenza in Danny Boyle's stage production of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" for the National Theatre from 22 February to 2 May 2011. She played the lead role in "The First Grader", directed by Justin Chadwick, which was premiered on 18 May 2011 in the Seattle International Film Festival. Harris co-starred in the 23rd "James Bond" film, "Skyfall" (2012), playing Eve Moneypenny. She is the first black actress to play Moneypenny, and is the first Moneypenny to be given a first name.  Harris portrayed Winnie Mandela in the biopic "", based on the book of the same name, opposite the actor Idris Elba. The film was released on 29 November 2013. On viewing the film, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela told Harris that it seemed as if she were not acting, but channeling her, and that it was "the first time she felt truly captured on film". Harris reprised her role as Moneypenny in the 24th "Bond" film, "Spectre", which was released on 26 October 2015.  In 2016, Harris starred as Paula in the critically acclaimed film "Moonlight". She played the abusive, drug-addicted mother of the film's main character, Chiron. The film follows her son and her through a 20-year period. "Moonlight" won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Harris was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, among other awards.

Personal life.

Harris has never married and has no children. Since 2012, Harris has been in a relationship with Peter Legler.

Awards and nominations.

In addition to numerous acting awards, Harris was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours, for services to drama. She received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on 23 February 2017. She has also been recognised for her influence with her addition in the 2019 edition of the Powerlist, ranking the 100 most influential Black Britons.

Naomie Melanie Harris (born 6 September 1976) is a British actress. She started her career as a child, appearing in the television series "Simon and the Witch" in 1987. She portrayed Selena in the zombie film "28 Days Later" (2002), the witch Tia Dalma in the second and third "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, and Winnie Mandela in "" (2013). She portrayed Eve Moneypenny in the "James Bond" films "Skyfall" (2012) and "Spectre" (2015), and is set to reprise the role in the upcoming film "No Time to Die" (2020).


String forms.

Most bowstrings may be described as either simple, reverse-twisted, or looped.  Simple strings may be made of any fiber, twisted into a single cord. Such strings have been used in many parts of the world and are still effective and fairly quick to make. However, they tend to be weaker for their weight, and they may also come apart if not kept constantly under tension. They are normally secured to the bow by a knot/round turn and two half-hitches at each end.  Reverse-twisted strings are traditional in Europe and North America for most natural materials. Linen and hemp fiber have been widely used. The form is also used for modern materials. A reverse-twisted string is made of separate bundles, each bundle individually twisted in one direction; the entire group of bundles is then twisted in the other direction. The result tends to be stronger for its weight than a simple or looped string, and holds together better than a simple string. Unlike some looped strings, the full thickness of the string passes around the nocks on the ends of the bow, where wear is usually greatest. Additional threads may also be laid in at the nocking points for the bow stave and for the arrow, which are sites of likely wear. The string may be secured to the bow by a knot at each end, usually a timber hitch, also known as the bowyer's knot.  The traditional "Flemish" string has a laid-in loop at one end, which is easier than most knots to fit over the nock of the bow when stringing and unstringing. It is more trouble to make; the short length, towards one end, that will form the loop is reverse-twisted first. The ends of each bundle are then laid into the main length of the bundles, which are reverse-twisted in turn. The Japanese bowstring is made by reverse-twisting in different directions in the core and outer layers of the string. See Kyūdō.  Looped strings are made of one or more continuous loops of material. Modern strings are often made as a single continuous loop: this is then served to give the final form. Disadvantages include the lesser amount of fiber at the ends, where wear is most likely; this may be overcome by serving the string. In many parts of Asia, traditional strings have a single loop in the center, with the ends made of separate lengths tied on using a special knot. This design allows extra fiber to be used at the ends, where weight is less important and wear more likely.

String materials.

Traditional materials include linen, hemp, other vegetable fibers, sinew, silk, and rawhide. Almost any fiber may be used in emergency. Natural fibers would be very unusual on a modern recurve bow or compound bow, but are still effective and still used on traditional wooden or composite bows. Sinew and hide strings may be seriously affected by water.  Widely used modern materials are stronger for their weight than any natural material, and most are unaffected by water. They include:  Dacron (strength per strand =, stretch = 2.6%), a commonly used polyester material. Because of its durability and stretch, Dacron is commonly used on beginners' equipment, wooden bows, and older bows. The relatively high stretch causes less shock to the bow, which is an important consideration for wooden-handled recurves. Dacron strings are easy to maintain and can last several years.  Liquid crystal polymers such as Kevlar and Vectran (strength per strand =, stretch = 0.8%) are polymer materials with a higher density and smaller diameter than Dacron, which results in a faster arrow speed (approximately faster). There are two problems with this material. First, its limited stretch causes increased stress in the bow limbs. Secondly, a Kevlar bowstring may only last 1000 shots before breaking as it tends to fatigue due to bending at the nocking point. Failure tends to be sudden rather than gradual.  Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylenes, such as Spectra and Dyneema (strength per strand =, stretch = 1.0%), have been used since the 1990s. They are lighter, therefore faster, than Kevlar—and have a much longer life.  Modern strings are often made from composite fibres—such as a mixture of Vectran and Dyneema—to gain the advantages of both.

Serving.

Serving a bowstring refers to the use of an additional thread, commonly wrapped round the main string at the nocking points where abrasion is most likely, and also used on looped strings to keep the two sides of the loop together.

A bowstring joins the two ends of the bow stave and launches the arrow. Desirable properties include light weight, strength, resistance to abrasion, and resistance to water. Mass has most effect at the center of the string; of extra mass in the middle of the string slows the arrow about as much as at the ends.


Early career.

Zdeněk Fierlinger came from an upper-class family. He graduated from business school in 1910 and then worked as a sales representative in Russia. During World War I he joined the Czechoslovak Legion. For his bravery on battlefield Fierlinger was four times awarded by Order of St. George. Among other fights, he participated in the Battle of Zborov.  After the war, Fierlinger returned to Czechoslovakia and joined the diplomatic service. He was successively ambassador to the Netherlands, Romania, the United States, Switzerland and Austria. During this period he was a close friend and collaborator of Edvard Beneš. In 1924 he joined the Czech Social Democratic Party.

In the Soviet Union.

Between 1937 and 1945 Fierlinger held the post of envoy (and later ambassador) to the USSR. During his period in Moscow Fierlinger was very close to the leadership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party led by Klement Gottwald. This is evident, for example, when in 1943 when the Communists in conjunction with Fierlinger facilitated the signing of the Soviet-Czech peace treaty in Moscow on 12 December 1943 by Joseph Stalin and Edvard Beneš.

The end of war and arrival of the communists.

Just before the end of World War II in April 1945 Fierlinger became the exile chairman of the Czechoslovak government and remained such until the 1946 elections. He became a leading figure in the "left-wing" social democracy movement which sought the closest possible ties with the Czechoslovak Communist Party.  Between 1946 and 1948 Fierlinger was chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party. After the communist coup in February 1948, Fierlinger acted as the chief proponent of the "unification" of the Social Democrats and the Communists. Through the unification of the party, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in 1948. According to American journalist John Gunther, Fierlinger was subsequently nicknamed "Dr. Quislinger."  Zdeněk Fierlinger subsequently served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1948 to 1953, Minister of the State Office for religious affairs from 1951 to 1953, Chairman of the National Assembly from 15 October 1953 to 23 June 1964 and Minister in charge of the State. He remained a member of the Central Committee until 1966. In 1968, among other things, one of his last public acts was to lead a delegation in protest outside the Soviet Embassy.

Zdeněk Fierlinger (11 July 1891, Olomouc – 2 May 1976, Prague) was a Czech diplomat and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1944 to 1946, first in the London-based exiled government and later in liberated Czechoslovakia. His name is often associated with the merger of his Social Democratic Party with the Czechoslovak Communist Party after the communist coup in 1948. He was the uncle of Paul Fierlinger, the famous animator for numerous PBS cartoons.


History.

As the Felicia benefited from Volkswagen input, it helped to elevate Škoda's image in Western Europe. It heralded the first ever diesel powered Škoda, and became their first car to feature major safety and convenience features. Some SLXi models featured air conditioning and velour upholstery. Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), drivers airbag, and seat belt tensioners were also available.  In April 1998, the Felicia made headlines, after its high satisfaction score gave Škoda the "Best Manufacturer" accolade in that year's J.D. Power Car Survey. Production of the Felicia ceased at the end of June 2001, one year after the launch of the Fabia. A total of 1,416,939 cars had been made (the pick up and estate models were available for sale throughout 2001).

Body styles.

The Felicia came in a variety of body styles, both for personal and professional use. The base model was a five door hatchback, and from June 1995, was accompanied by an estate, replacing the Favorit based Forman, now redubbed as the Felicia Combi ("Typ" 795).  There was also a coupe utility version, the Felicia Pickup, ("Typ" 797) and a panel van called a Felicia VanPlus. Pickup featured redesigned rear axle to increase space in cargo area. The pickup version was also imported to some countries re branded as the VW Caddy pick-up. The pick up model also had a lifestyle edition named the Felicia Fun, ("Typ" 796) conceived mostly for the Western European market.  The rear screen section hinges out into the loadbay, allowing two extra seats to be folded out, giving comfortable seating for four adults. A tonneau cover is available to cover the rear seats, which are otherwise open to the elements. A Truckman top is also available which encloses the rear seats and loadbay, making for a more practical bad weather conversion.  Luggage capacity in the hatchback was 272 litres with the rear seats in the upright position, and this increased to 976 litres with the rear seats folded. For the Combi (estate version), this was 447 and 1,366 litres respectively. In January 1998, the Felicia and Felicia Combi received a minor facelift.  The most obvious visual change was a redesigned radiator grille and larger bumpers, but changes also included minor upgrades to the chassis and bodyshell to improve crash safety.

United Kingdom.

In April 1998, three years after its launch onto the United Kingdom market, it made the headlines with an excellent rating in a "Top Gear" customer satisfaction survey for N registered cars (sold from August 1995 to July 1996), resulting in the Škoda brand making headlines as the most satisfying brand of car to own - which helped end Skoda's previous reputation in Britain for producing crude and supposedly unreliable and unfashionable cars. The Felicia received high ratings for reliability, build quality and dealer service. These strong showings in motoring surveys have continued with the newer generations of Skoda models.  The Felicia's successor, the Fabia, went on sale in the United Kingdom in early 2000, but the Felicia continued to be imported there until the end of the year, by which time more than 76,000 had been sold, and by 2011, almost 30,000 examples were still registered on the road.

Powertrain.

All internal combustion engines used in Felicia are inline four-cylinder designs, operate on the four-stroke cycle, are fuel injected, and water cooled. Also a four cylinder carburetor engine (43 kW) was available in some countries. The fundamental layout of the Felicia's powertrain included engines mounted at the front of the vehicle, and orientated transversely.  The line up included the old 1.3 litre overhead valve (OHV) Škoda petrol engines, now with Bosch Mono Motronic single-point fuel injection (up until 1997), and Siemens multi-point fuel injection, with two rated power outputs of and.  There were also two engines sourced from Volkswagen Group: a 1.6 litre petrol engine with Magneti Marelli multi point fuel injection, and a 1.9 D diesel engine. The 1.6 litre model served as a homologation basis for the Škoda Felicia Kit Car used in the World Rally Championship's F2 class.  For the Felicia, Škoda had developed its own aluminium 1.6 OHC engine, wchich appeared in some Favorit prototypes and Rally cars, but Volkswagen decided to use its old 1.6MPI The only transmission was a five speed manual gearbox, which was of a transaxle design, and contained the differential and final drive units. Drive was through the front wheels.

The Škoda Felicia, ("Typ" 791) was a supermini car produced by the Czech carmaker Škoda Auto from 1994 to 2001. It was the last model on Škoda's own platform, but was one of the first models to benefit from Škoda Auto's takeover by the German company Volkswagen Group. The Felicia was a reworked version of the Favorit, but had a fresh, more modern appearance, with a redesigned front end and a wider range of engines.


Early life.

Takhti, the youngest child of an Iranian family was born in Khaniabad neighborhood of south Tehran. on August 27, 1930. At the age of 15, he entered "Poulad Club" in Southern Tehran and was trained in wrestling. He soon left Tehran to become a manual laborer in the oil-rich city of Masjed Soleiman. When he was called up for military service, his potential in wrestling was discovered and he began to train seriously soon after he was recruited as an Iran Railways employee in 1948.

Career.

Takhti won his first Iranian championship in 1950, and on his first trip abroad in 1951, he won a silver medal at the world freestyle championships in Helsinki - the first international medal ever gained by an Iranian wrestler. One year later, he won another silver medal, again in Helsinki, this time in the 1952 Summer Olympic Games.  The subsequent highlights of his career were the gold medal in the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, a gold in the world championships in 1959 (Tehran), another silver in the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome and a silver in the 1961 World Championships in Yokohama. His Olympics career finished with one gold medal & two silver medals. He did however finish fourth in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as well.  Takhti started as a middleweight wrestler in the 79 kg and 87 kg categories, as he was getting heavier, he decided to move up to the next weight, 97 kg, for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. He was unable to win a medal and he finished in 4th place.

Character on the wrestling mat.

Takhti tended to act fairly when competing against rivals during his career, something which originated from traditional values of "Zurkhaneh", a kind of heroic behaviour that epitomizes chivalrous qualities known as "Javanmardi".  For instance, he once had a match with Russian wrestler Alexander Medved who had an injured right knee. When Takhti found out that Medved was injured, he avoided touching the injured leg and tried to attack the other leg instead. He lost the match, but showed that he valued honorable behavior more than reaching victory.  Another example of his character comes from a match in Moscow. After defeating the then-world champion Anatoli Albul, Takhti saw the sorrow on the face of Albul's mother. Takhti went to her and said, "I'm sorry about the result, but your son is a great wrestler." She smiled and kissed him.

Social and political activisms.

Takhti was known for his anti-regime views. He was a pro-Mossadegh activist and member of Second National Front and his death sparked a number of anti-Shah demonstrations.  In 1962, a terrible earthquake occurred in Bou'in-Zahra in western Iran, killing over 12,000. Takhti was deeply touched by the suffering. Already one of Iran's biggest stars, he began to walk one of the main avenues of Tehran, asking for assistance for the victims. He inspired other champions to follow in his footsteps, and thousands gave to alleviate the suffering.

Death and legacy.

Takhti was found dead in his hotel room on January 7, 1968. The Iranian government officially proclaimed his death a suicide. However, some claim that he was murdered because of his political activities against the Pahlavi regime, accusing SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence agency at that time. Because he was a national hero his funeral, organized by Hossein Towfigh, editor in chief of the late Towfigh magazine, drew hundreds of thousands of mourners. Towfigh magazine issued a special edition of their popular weekly magazine where they caricatured Takhti with angel wings flying high above the throngs of Iranian mourners at his own funeral with a caption that read "Don't cry for me, cry for your own plight." Towfigh magazine was shut down by the Shah for several months after printing this cartoon. He is buried at Ebn-e Babooyeh cemetery in Southern part of Tehran, near Shahr-e Ray, where he is commemorated every year by his fans.  After the 1979 political upheaval in Iran, many of the Savak officials, including its chief torturer Bahman Naderipour commonly known by his masked name Mr. Tehrani, were put on trial by the new regime. In an open court hearing published in the then-open newspapers (Keyhaan and Ettela'at were the two most popular outlets reporting the court hearings at the time), Tehrani publicly confessed in the court that Takhti was arrested due to his open support of and collaboration with 'Nehzat Azadi' (Freedom Movement), a moderate anti-government movement lead by Mr. Bazargan and Ayatollah Taleghani during the Shah's rule..  Takhti was survived by his wife and son, Babak Takhti, an author and translator. The movie "Takhti", begun by Ali Hatami and finished by Behrooz Afkhami, examined some of the theories about Takhti's death.

Gholamreza Takhti (, August 27, 1930 – January 7, 1968) was an Iranian Olympic Gold-Medalist wrestler and Varzesh-e Bastani practitioner. Popularly nicknamed "Jahān Pahlevān" ("The World Champion") because of his chivalrous behavior and sportsmanship ("Javanmardi" in Iranian culture), he was the most popular athlete of Iran in the 20th century, although dozens of Iranian athletes have won more international medals than he did. Takhti is still a hero to many Iranians. He is listed in the FILA wrestling hall of fame.


Plot.

In Victorian England in 1870s, widowed undertaker Cedric Brown has seven unruly children. He is clumsy and loves his children, but since the death of his wife, has spent little time with them and cannot handle them. The children have had a series of nannies, whom they have systematically driven out with their bad behaviour and pranks. They also take great pleasure in tormenting their cook, Mrs. Blatherwick. Besides their father, the only one the children will ever listen to is Evangeline, the family's uneducated but sweet-natured scullery maid.  One day, Cedric discovers multiple references for a "Nanny McPhee" throughout the home. That same night during a storm, the children cause havoc in the kitchen at the same time Cedric sees a shadow behind the door and opens it to reveal a frighteningly hideous woman, who states that she is Nanny McPhee and is a "government nanny".  With discipline and a little magic, she transforms the family's lives. In the process, she becomes more beautiful each time the children learn a lesson. Her warts and unibrow disappearing, her long tooth and oversized nose shrinking and her wiry greying hair becoming lustrous and auburn. The children, led by the eldest son Simon, try to play their tricks on her, but gradually start to respect her and ask her for advice. They change to responsible people helping their clumsy father in solving the family problems, making Nanny McPhee less and less needed.  The family is financially supported by Cedric's late wife's domineering and short-sighted aunt Lady Adelaide Stitch, who demands custody over one of the children. She first wants Christianna (Chrissie), one of the younger daughters, but Evangeline volunteers to go with her and Adelaide agrees, assuming she is one of the daughters. She also threatens to reduce the family to poverty unless Cedric remarries within the month; the family would lose the house, and they would not be able to stay together.  Desperate, Cedric turns to a vile and frequent widow, Mrs. Selma Quickly. The children assume from reading books of fairy-tales that all stepmothers are terrible women who treat their stepchildren like slaves; therefore they sabotage a visit of Mrs. Quickly, who leaves, angry at Cedric. After the financial rationale for the marriage is explained to the children; they agree to the marriage, and appease Mrs. Quickly by confessing they were to blame for the disturbance of her visit, luring her back to their father with tales of their Great Aunt Adelaide's wealth.  However, the children soon discover that Mrs. Quickly is just as cruel and awful as any fairytale stepmother when she breaks baby Aggie's beloved rattle (which previously belonged to their late mother, and was the only thing they had left of her). When everybody is gathered for the gaudy and garish wedding ceremony Quickly insisted on, they disturb the ceremony by pretending there are bees (inspired by the way Quickly told them to "behave" and baby Aggie repeating the word, but pronouncing it as "beehive"), chasing the guests, and starting a food fight using the pastries intended for the banquet.  Cedric swiftly understands that they do not like the bride and, recognising that he does not like her either, joins in the commotion himself. Mrs. Quickly cancels the marriage and storms off in anger. This seems to mean that Adelaide's marriage deadline is missed, but Lily interrupts to suggest that Cedric marry Evangeline, and asks Evangeline whether she loves Cedric. She first denies it, claiming that it would be inappropriate because of her role as a scullery maid, but then confirms she does. Cedric, who loves Evangeline back, marries Evangeline then and there, satisfying Aunt Adelaide's conditions for maintaining his allowance; and Nanny McPhee (who is now beautiful), magically makes it snow in August, which transforms the wedding scene and changes Evangeline's clothes into a beautiful wedding dress, and restores the children's late mother's rattle for them.  Nanny McPhee leaves surreptitiously, in accordance with what she told the children before on her first night: "When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go".

Production.

On 11 March 2002 Kirk Jones was hired and set to direct "Nanny McPhee" based on "Nurse Matilda" by Christianna Brand. Emma Thompson wrote the script for the film. Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner produced the film with the budget of $25 million for release in 2005.  On 22 April it was announced that Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Thomas Sangster, Kelly Macdonald, Angela Lansbury, Eliza Bennett, Jennifer Rae Daykin, Raphaël Coleman, Samuel Honywood, Holly Gibbs, Celia Imrie, Imelda Staunton, Sir Derek Jacobi, Patrick Barlow and Adam Godley joined the film.  On 16 May it was announced that Patrick Doyle would compose the music for the film. Development of the film was completed in Dorset, England. Filming ran 1 April – 9 July 2004. The film reunites Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Thomas Sangster and Adam Godley who all previously starred in the 2003 film "Love Actually". Thompson's work on this film prevented her from reprising her role as Frasier Crane's first wife, Nanny G. on his spin-off series, Frasier in the episode "Caught in the Act", so Laurie Metcalf played Nanny G. in the episode.

Release.

The film was theatrically released on 28 October 2005 in the UK by United International Pictures and on 27 January 2006 in the US by Universal Pictures and was released on DVD on 9 May 2006 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Reception.

Critical response.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives "Nanny McPhee" a score of 73% based on 133 reviews, a rating deemed Certified "Fresh" with an average rating of 6.7/10 with the consensus reading, "A bit alarming at first, "Nanny McPhee" has a hard edge to counter "Mary Poppins"-style sweetness, but it still charms us and teaches some valuable lessons."

Box office.

The film did well at the box office, earning $122,489,822 - $47,144,110 in the United States and $75,345,712 elsewhere. It premiered in the United States on 27 January 2006 with an opening weekend total of $14,503,650 in 1,995 theatres (an average of $7,270 per theatre) ranking at No. 2 (behind the Martin Lawrence film "Big Momma's House 2").

Sequel.

Emma Thompson revealed on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" that two more films were planned. The second film, "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang" (also called "Nanny McPhee Returns"), was released in March 2010. It co-stars Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The character of Aggie Brown returns as the now elderly Mrs. Docherty. In it, Nanny McPhee takes charge of the children of a woman whose husband has gone to war.  A third film was planned to be set in modern-day England but, despite taking $93 million at the box-office, the sequel under-performed to studio expectations and plans were cancelled for future films.

Nanny McPhee is a 2005 British-American comedy fantasy film based on the Nurse Matilda character by Christianna Brand. It was directed by Kirk Jones, co-produced by StudioCanal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Working Title Films, Three Strange Angels, and Nanny McPhee Productions with music by Patrick Doyle and produced by Lindsay Doran, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner. Set in Victorian England, the film stars Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee, along with Colin Firth and Angela Lansbury.


Early life.

Biryuzov was born in Skopin, in the Ryazan Governorate of the Russian Empire, in a working-class family of Russian ethnicity. A member of the CPSU since 1926, he joined the Red Army in the 1920s and was steadily promoted to become the commander of a battalion before going to the Frunze Military Academy in 1934. He graduated in 1937, after which he became the Chief of Staff of a rifle division. In 1939 he was made Chief of Operations for the Kharkov Military district, a position he held until August 1939, after which he became the commanding officer of the 132nd Rifle Division.

Career.

Biryuzov commanded this unit for the next three years, a rarity among Soviet generals, especially during World War II–as Soviet generals rarely held command positions for longer than a few months at most. Biryuzov’s division was a part of Southwestern and Bryansk Fronts. Biriuzov was a fine division commander, often leading his division personally into battle. Within the first year of Operation Barbarossa (June 1941), Biryuzov had been wounded five times, two times rather severely. In April 1942, he was made the Chief of Staff of the 48th Army, which was a part of Bryansk Front. He commanded this unit until November 1942, when he was made the Chief of Staff of the 2nd Guards Army. He was in this position until April 1943, helping to lead this powerful unit during Operation Saturn, when 2nd Guards Army helped crush the German 6th Army after the Germans had been surrounded during the Battle of Stalingrad.  In April 1943, he was made the Chief of Staff of the Southern Front, where he was a valuable aide to the Southern Front commander, Fyodor Tolbukhin. On October 20, 1943, Southern Front was renamed 4th Ukrainian Front. Biryuzov remained the Chief of Staff until May 1944 when he was transferred to 3rd Ukrainian Front, along with Tolbukhin. In October 1944, Biryuzov was transferred to command the 37th Army, which was a part of 3rd Ukrainian Front. He held this position through the end of the war, until May 1945. In these command positions, Biriuzov helped plan and carry out the expulsion of all German forces from the Ukraine, and then helped plan and carry out the liberation of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.  After these commands, Biryuzov was made the Head of the Soviet Military Mission in Bulgaria, a position he held until 1947. Between 1947 and 1953, he commanded the Primorskiy Military District. From 1947-55, Biryuzov held numerous command positions, but he didn’t remain in any position too long. On March 11, 1955, Biriuzov was given the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Between April 1955 and April 1962, Biryuzov was the Commander in Chief of the Soviet Air Defense Forces. After this, he was made Commander in Chief of the Strategic Missile Force, and in 1963, he was made the Chief of the General Staff.

Death.

On October 19, 1964, Biryuzov and 32 others were killed when their Ilyushin Il-18 crashed against mount Avala near Belgrade. The urn containing his ashes is buried in the Kremlin.  Soviet medals and foreign orders

Sergey Semyonovich Biryuzov (; 21 August 1904 – 19 October 1964) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union and Chief of the General Staff.


Taxonomy.

There are four recognized subspecies:

Physical description.

The Tibetan macaque is the largest species of macaque and one of the largest monkeys found in Asia. Only the proboscis monkey and the larger species of gray langur come close to match their size among Asian monkeys. Males are the larger sex, commonly attain a weight of and length of long, with a maximum record weight of. Females, in contrast, weigh and measure long. The stump-like tail adds only, with females having a considerably shorter tail. The fur is well-suited to the species' cold environments being long, dense and brown on the back with creamy-buff to grey coloration on the underparts. Some adults are quite dark brown on the back, while others are basically a sandy yellowish-brown color. They have a prominent, pale-buff beard and long whiskers, but have a hairless face. The face is pale pinkish in males but is a more vivid, reddish-pink in females. The infants have silver-and-black fur that changes to its adult color at the age of two.

Behaviour.

The Tibetan macaque lives in mixed sex groups. In their complex social system, females remain for life in their natal group, but males disperse shortly after their adolescence (at about 8 years old). Macaque societies are hierarchical, with higher-ranking males getting better access to the resources, namely food and sexually-receptive females. Alpha males dominate the group, being those that are typically large, strong and newly mature. As they age, males tend to gradually lose their social standing and are frequently subject to challenges for dominance from other males. Such conflicts are frequently quite violent and males may kill each other in battle. Studies of Tibetan macaques at Mount Emei and Huangshan Mountains, China, found the average tenure for an alpha male only lasted about one year. When troop size becomes quite large (in the 40 to 50 range) and competition grows over increasingly stretched resources, some individuals (males, females and juveniles) split from the main group to form a new, smaller group, known as 'fissioning', and move on to a different home range. Usually, it is the lowest-ranking individuals that will split from the main group.  Females first breed at around five years of age. The gestation period is six months with a single offspring being produced at each pregnancy. Most infants being born in January and February. Young macaques are nursed for a year and may continue to do so longer if the female does not give birth again the following year. Males of the group may also be involved in "alloparenting" care.  This diurnal species spends most of its time on the ground, where it forages for leaves, fruit, grass and, to a lesser extent, flowers, seeds, roots and insects. When available, bamboo shoots, fruits and leaves are particularly favoured.

Conservation.

This species is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN and is listed on Appendix II of the CITES list. Its main threats are all human-related. Principally, they are sensitive to habitat destruction, as they are tied closely to the forest. They are occasionally poisoned by herbicides and pesticides while eating and may catch diseases transmitted from humans. Illegal poaching may occur, with the flesh and the fur of the macaque being used.

The Tibetan macaque ("Macaca thibetana"), also known as the Chinese stump-tailed macaque or Milne-Edwards' macaque, is found from eastern Tibet east to Guangdong and north to Shaanxi in China. It has also been reported from northeastern India. This species lives in subtropical forests (mixed deciduous to evergreen) at altitudes from above sea level.


Daughter of France.

Christine was born in the Palais du Louvre in Paris, she was the third child and second daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, the Italian Marie de' Medici. As a daughter of the king, she was a Daughter of France. She was a younger sister of Louis XIII of France and Elisabeth of France. She was also an older sister of Nicholas Henri, Duke of Orléans, Gaston, Duke of Orléans and Henrietta Maria of France. Christine was a sister-in-law of Philip IV of Spain through Élisabeth and of Charles I of England through Henrietta Maria. As a child, she was raised under the supervision of the royal governess Françoise de Montglat.  After the marriage of her older sister Elisabeth in 1615 to the future Philip IV of Spain, Christine took on the honorary title of "Madame Royale" indicating her status as the eldest and most senior unmarried daughter at the court of her father. After her marriage, the style went to her younger sister Henrietta Maria of France.

Princess of Piedmont.

Christine married Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy, on 10 February 1619 at the Louvre in the capital. From 1619 till her husband's accession, she was known as the Princess of Piedmont. He was a son of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, and Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain. She was said to be volatile and frivolous. Educated at the French court, she introduced French culture to the court of Savoy; she later lived at the "Palazzo Madama" which she had rebuilt. She was also the driving force for the reconstruction of the Castello del Valentino as well as the additions to the Royal Palace of Turin. She would also later own "Vigna di Madama Reale", old residence of her brother in law Maurice of Savoy.  She did as much as she could to ensure that her court rivalled in splendour that of her sister Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I of England. The sisters would have somewhat of a rivalry. In spite of this, the two sisters maintained an avid correspondence throughout their life which showed their close relationship. She was a confidant to the exiled Queen Henrietta who often wrote to her about her experiences during the English Civil War and her son's restoration. Christine encouraged her husband to claim his right to the rather empty title of King of Cyprus and Jerusalem, a 'kingdom' which led to him being tagged as 'a king without a crown'. She did not keep it a secret that she would rather be a queen than a duchess; she also wanted to transform the minor Duchy of Savoy into a little France.

Duchess and Regent of Savoy.

Victor Amadeus became Duke after the death of his father on 26 July 1630. When Christine's husband died in 1637, she was created regent in the name of her son Francis Hyacinth. At the death of Francis Hyacinth in 1638, her second son Charles Emmanuel II succeeded and Christine retained the regency. Both Prince Maurice and his younger brother Prince Thomas of Savoy disputed the power of their sister-in-law and her French entourage. When the first heir Francis Hyacinth died in 1638, both brothers started the Piedmontese Civil War, with Spanish support. The two parties were called ""principisti"" (supporters of the Princes) and ""madamisti"" (supporters of Madama Reale).  After four years of fighting, Christine was victorious, thanks to French military support. Not only did she keep the Duchy for her son, she also prevented France getting too much power in the Duchy. When peace was concluded in 1642, Maurice married his fourteen-year-old niece Louise Christine, abandoning the title of cardinal and asking dispensation from Pope Paul V. Maurice became governor of Nice. Christine of France stayed in firm control of the Duchy of Savoy, until her son could follow in her footsteps; her formal regency ended in 1648, but she remained in charge at his invitation until her death.  She lived an uninhibited private life and had relationships with the French Ambassador, Marini, her brother-in-law, Maurizio, and Count Filippo d'Aglié, a handsome learned and courageous man who remained faithful to her all her life. She encouraged her son Charles Emmanuel to marry her niece Françoise Madeleine d'Orléans, the youngest surviving daughter of Gaston, Duke of Orléans, her youngest brother. They married 3 Apr 1663.  Christine died at the Palazzo Madama, Turin on 27 Dec 1663 at the age of 57 and was buried at the Basilica of Sant'Andrea. She had outlived 4 of her seven children.  Françoise Madeleine died in January 1664 and her son later married another cousin, Marie Jeanne of Savoy. Marie Jeanne would give birth to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia who would later marry another French Princess (and member of the House of Orléans) Anne Marie d'Orléans. 17 years after her death, in 1680, her granddaughter "Victoria of Bavaria" via her third daughter Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, would marry her older brother's grandson Louis de France known as 'the Fat' and "Monseigneur". Christine thus became a direct ancestress of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon via Victoria's second son Philip V of Spain.  It was revealed on NBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" that one of her descendants is model/actress Brooke Shields. Princess Michael of Kent, born Baroness Marie Christine, is also a descendant by Christine's son, Charles Emmanuel.

Christine of France (10 February 1606 – 27 December 1663) was the sister of Louis XIII and the Duchess of Savoy by marriage. At the death of her husband Victor Amadeus I in 1637, she acted as regent of Savoy between 1637 and 1648.


History.

"For a list of street name etymologies for Westminster see Street names of Westminster"  The name describes an area no more than from Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster immediately to the west of the River Thames. The settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a parish church, St Margaret's Westminster for the servants of the palace and of the abbey who could not worship there indicates that it had a population as large as that of a small village. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban ribbon development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a viable local government unit created as a civil parish.  Henry VIII's Reformation in the early 16th century abolished the abbey and established a cathedral – thus the parish ranked as a "City", although it was only a fraction of the size of the City of London and the Borough of Southwark at that time.  Indeed, the cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, but the "city" status remained for a mere parish within Middlesex. As such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised.

Royal seat.

The former Thorney Island, the site of Westminster Abbey, formed the historic core of Westminster. The abbey became the traditional venue of the coronations of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson (1066) onwards.  From about 1200 the Palace of Westminster, near the abbey, became the principal royal residence, a transition marked by the transfer of royal treasury and financial records to Westminster from Winchester. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and England's law courts. Thus London developed two focal points: the City of London (financial/economic) and Westminster (political and cultural).  The monarchs moved their principal residence to the Palace of Whitehall (1530–1698), then to St James's Palace in 1698, and eventually to Buckingham Palace and other palaces after 1762. The main law courts moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in the late-19th century.

Victorian divide.

Charles Booth's poverty map showing Westminster in 1889 recorded the full range of income- and capital-brackets living in adjacent streets within the area; its central western area had become (by 1850) (the) Devil's Acre in the southern flood-channel ravine of the Tyburn (stream), yet Victoria Street and other small streets and squares had the highest colouring of social class in London: yellow/gold. Westminster has shed the abject poverty with the clearance of this slum and with drainage improvement, but there is a typical Central London property distinction within the area which is very acute, epitomised by grandiose 21st-century developments, architectural high-point listed buildings and nearby social housing (mostly non-council housing) buildings of the Peabody Trust founded by philanthropist George Peabody.

Local government.

The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex. The ancient parish was St Margaret; after 1727 this became the civil parish of 'St Margaret and St John', the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter. Until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John (also known as the Westminster District Board of Works from 1855 to 1887), which was based at Westminster Town Hall in Caxton Street from 1883.  The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields and several other parishes and places. Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction. The area was transferred from Middlesex to the County of London in 1889, and the local government of Westminster was reformed in 1900, when the court of burgesses and the parish vestries were abolished, and replaced by the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. The borough was given city status at the same time, allowing it to be known as the City of Westminster and its council as Westminster City Council — a title which was retained when it was merged with the boroughs of St Marylebone and Paddington in 1965.

Wider uses of the term.

Thus "Westminster", with its focus in public life from early history, is casually used as a metonym for Parliament and the political community of the United Kingdom generally. (The civil service is similarly referred to by the northern sub-neighbourhood it inhabits, "Whitehall".) "Westminster" is consequently also used in reference to the Westminster system, the parliamentary model of democratic government that has evolved in the United Kingdom and for those other nations, particularly in the Commonwealth of Nations and other parts of the former British Empire that adopted it.  The term "Westminster Village", sometimes used in the context of British politics, does not refer to a geographical area at all; employed especially in the phrase "Westminster Village gossip", it denotes a supposedly close social circle of members of parliament, political journalists, so-called spin doctors and others connected to events in the Palace of Westminster and Government ministries.

Westminster is a government district and former capital of the Kingdom of England in Central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Westminster's concentration of visitor attractions and historic landmarks, one of the highest in London, includes the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.


Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6

Message types and formats.

ICMPv6 messages may be classified as "error messages" and "information messages". ICMPv6 messages are transported by IPv6 packets in which the IPv6 Next Header value for ICMPv6 is set to the value 58.  The ICMPv6 message consists of a header and the protocol payload. The header contains only three fields: "type" (8 bits), "code" (8 bits), and "checksum" (16 bits). "type" specifies the type of the message. Values in the range from 0 to 127 (high-order bit is 0) indicate an error message, while values in the range from 128 to 255 (high-order bit is 1) indicate an information message. The "code" field value depends on the message type and provides an additional level of message granularity. The "checksum" field provides a minimal level of integrity verification for the ICMP message.

Types.

Control messages are identified by the value in the "type" field. The "code" field gives additional context information for the message. Some messages serve the same purpose as the correspondingly named ICMP message types.  Note that the table above is not comprehensive. The current complete list of assigned ICMPv6 types can be found at this link: IANA: ICMPv6 Parameters.

Checksum.

ICMPv6 provides a minimal level of message integrity verification by the inclusion of a 16-bit checksum in its header. The checksum is calculated starting with a pseudo-header of IPv6 header fields according to the IPv6 standard, which consists of the source and destination addresses, the packet length and the next header field, the latter of which is set to the value 58. Following this pseudo header, the checksum is continued with the ICMPv6 message. The checksum computation is performed according to Internet protocol standards using 16-bit ones' complement summation, followed by a final ones' complement of the checksum itself and inserting it into the checksum field. Note that this differs from the way it is calculated for IPv4 in ICMP, but is similar to the calculation done in TCP.

Message processing.

When an ICMPv6 node receives a packet, it must undertake actions that depend on the type of message. The ICMPv6 protocol must limit the number of error messages sent to the same destination to avoid network overloading. For example, if a node continues to forward erroneous packets, ICMP will signal the error to the first packet and then do so periodically, with a fixed minimum period or with a fixed network maximum load. An ICMP error message must never be sent in response to another ICMP error message.

Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 (ICMPv6) is the implementation of the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). ICMPv6 is defined in RFC 4443. ICMPv6 is an integral part of IPv6 and performs error reporting and diagnostic functions (e.g., ping), and has a framework for extensions to implement future changes.


Origin.

The Unix philosophy is documented by Doug McIlroy in the Bell System Technical Journal from 1978:  It was later summarized by Peter H. Salus in A Quarter-Century of Unix (1994):  In their award-winning Unix paper of 1974, Ritchie and Thompson quote the following design considerations:

"The UNIX Programming Environment".

In their preface to the 1984 book, "The UNIX Programming Environment", Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike, both from Bell Labs, give a brief description of the Unix design and the Unix philosophy:  The authors further write that their goal for this book is "to communicate the UNIX programming philosophy."

In October 1984, Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike published a paper called "Program Design in the UNIX Environment". In this paper, they criticize the accretion of program options and features found in some newer Unix systems such as 4.2BSD and System V, and explain the Unix philosophy of software tools, each performing one general function:  The authors contrast Unix tools such as cat, with larger program suites used by other systems.

Doug McIlroy on Unix programming.

McIlroy, then head of the Bell Labs Computing Sciences Research Center, and inventor of the Unix pipe, summarized the Unix philosophy as follows:  Beyond these statements, he has also emphasized simplicity and minimalism in Unix programming:  Conversely, McIlroy has criticized modern Linux as having software bloat, remarking that, "adoring admirers have fed Linux goodies to a disheartening state of obesity." He contrasts this with the earlier approach taken at Bell Labs when developing and revising Research Unix:

Do One Thing and Do It Well.

As stated by McIlroy, and generally accepted throughout the Unix community, Unix programs have always been expected to follow the concept of DOTADIW, or "Do One Thing And Do It Well." There are limited sources for the acronym DOTADIW on the Internet, but it is discussed at length during the development and packaging of new operating systems, especially in the Linux community.  Patrick Volkerding, the project lead of Slackware Linux, invoked this design principle in a criticism of the systemd architecture, stating that, "attempting to control services, sockets, devices, mounts, etc., all within one daemon flies in the face of the Unix concept of doing one thing and doing it well."

Eric Raymond's 17 Unix Rules.

In his book "The Art of Unix Programming" that was first published in 2003, Eric S. Raymond, an American programmer and open source advocate, summarizes the Unix philosophy as KISS Principle of "Keep it Simple, Stupid." He provides a series of design rules:

Mike Gancarz: The UNIX Philosophy.

In 1994, Mike Gancarz (a member of the team that designed the X Window System), drew on his own experience with Unix, as well as discussions with fellow programmers and people in other fields who depended on Unix, to produce "The UNIX Philosophy" which sums it up in nine paramount precepts:

"Worse is better".

Richard P. Gabriel suggests that a key advantage of Unix was that it embodied a design philosophy he termed "worse is better", in which simplicity of both the interface "and" the implementation are more important than any other attributes of the system—including correctness, consistency, and completeness. Gabriel argues that this design style has key evolutionary advantages, though he questions the quality of some results.  For example, in the early days Unix used a monolithic kernel (which means that user processes carried out kernel system calls all on the user stack). If a signal was delivered to a process while it was blocked on a long-term I/O in the kernel, then what should be done? Should the signal be delayed, possibly for a long time (maybe indefinitely) while the I/O completed? The signal handler could not be executed when the process was in kernel mode, with sensitive kernel data on the stack. Should the kernel back-out the system call, and store it, for replay and restart later, assuming that the signal handler completes successfully?  In these cases Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie favored simplicity over perfection. The Unix system would occasionally return early from a system call with an error stating that it had done nothing—the "Interrupted System Call", or an error number 4 (codice_1) in today's systems. Of course the call had been aborted in order to call the signal handler. This could only happen for a handful of long-running system calls such as codice_2, codice_3, codice_4, and codice_5. On the plus side, this made the I/O system many times simpler to design and understand. The vast majority of user programs were never affected because they did not handle or experience signals other than codice_6 and would die right away if one was raised. For the few other programs—things like shells or text editors that respond to job control key presses—small wrappers could be added to system calls so as to retry the call right away if this codice_1 error was raised. Thus, the problem was solved in a simple manner.

Criticism.

In a 1981 article entitled "The truth about Unix: "The user interface is horrid"" published in "Datamation", Don Norman criticized the design philosophy of Unix for its lack of concern for the user interface. Writing from his background in cognitive science and from the perspective of the then-current philosophy of cognitive engineering, he focused on how end users comprehend and form a personal cognitive model of systems--or, in the case of Unix, fail to understand, with the result that disastrous mistakes (such as losing an hour's worth of work) are all too easy.

The Unix philosophy, originated by Ken Thompson, is a set of cultural norms and philosophical approaches to minimalist, modular software development. It is based on the experience of leading developers of the Unix operating system. Early Unix developers were important in bringing the concepts of modularity and reusability into software engineering practice, spawning a "software tools" movement. Over time, the leading developers of Unix (and programs that ran on it) established a set of cultural norms for developing software; these norms became as important and influential as the technology of Unix itself; this has been termed the "Unix philosophy."


History.

Beginning in the summer of 1630, a wave of the plague assaulted Venice, and until 1631 killed nearly a third of the population. In the city, 46,000 people died whilst in the lagoons the number was far higher, some 94,000. Repeated displays of the sacrament, as well as prayers and processions to churches dedicated to San Rocco and San Lorenzo Giustiniani had failed to stem the epidemic. Echoing the architectural response to a prior assault of the plague (1575–76), when Palladio was asked to design the Redentore church, the Venetian Senate on October 22, 1630, decreed that a new church would be built. It was not to be dedicated to a mere "plague" or patron saint, but to the Virgin Mary, who for many reasons was thought to be a protector of the Republic.  It was also decided that the Senate would visit the church each year. On November 21 the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, known as the "Festa della Madonna della Salute", the city's officials parade from San Marco to the Salute for a service in gratitude for deliverance from the plague is celebrated. This involved crossing the Grand Canal on a specially constructed pontoon bridge and is still a major event in Venice.  The desire to create a suitable monument at a place that allows for easy processional access from Piazza San Marco led senators to select the present site from among eight potential locations. The location was chosen partially due to its relationship to San Giorgio, San Marco, and Il Redentore, with which it forms an arc. The "Salute", emblematic of the city's piety, stands adjacent to the rusticated single story customs house or Dogana da Mar, the emblem of its maritime commerce, and near the civic center of the city. A dispute with the patriarch, owner of the church and seminary at the site, was resolved, and razing of some of the buildings began by 1631. Likely, the diplomat Paolo Sarpi and Doge Nicolo Contarini shared the intent to link the church to an order less closely associated with the patriarchate, and ultimately the Somascan Fathers, an order founded near Bergamo by a Venetian nobleman Jerome Emiliani, were invited to administer the church. A competition was held to design the building. Of the eleven submissions (including designs by Alessandro Varotari, Matteo Ignoli, and Berteo Belli), only two were chosen for the final round. The architect Baldassare Longhena was selected to design the new church. It was finally completed in 1681 the year before Longhena's death. The other design to make it to the final round was by Antonio Smeraldi ("il Fracao") and Zambattista Rubertini. Of the proposals still extant, Belli's and Smeraldi's original plans were conventional counter-reformation linear churches, resembling Palladio's Redentore and San Giorgio Maggiore, while Varotari's was a sketchy geometrical abstraction. Longhena's proposal was a concrete architectural plan, detailing the structure and costs. He wrote: Later in a memorandum, he wrote: "Firstly, it is a virgin work, never before seen, curious, worthy and beautiful, made in the form of a round monument that has never been seen, nor ever before invented, neither altogether, nor in part, in other churches in this most serene city, just as my competitor ("il Fracao") has done for his own advantage, being poor in invention."  The Salute, while novel in many ways, still shows the influence of Palladian classicism and the domes of Venice. The Venetian Senate voted 66 in favor, 29 against with 2 abstentions to authorize the designs of the 26-year-old Longhena. While Longhena saw the structure as crown-like, the decorative circular building makes it seem more like a reliquary, a ciborium, and embroidered inverted chalice that shelters the city's piety.

Exterior.

The "Salute" is a vast, octagonal building with two domes and a pair of picturesque bell-towers at the back. Built on a platform made of 1,000,000 wooden piles, it is constructed of Istrian stone and "marmorino" (brick covered with marble dust). At the apex of the pediment stands a statue of the Virgin Mary who presides over the church which was erected in her honour. The façade is decorated with figures of Saint George, Saint Theodore, the Evangelists, the Prophets, Judith with the head of Holofernes.

Facade.

The main facade is richly decorated by statues of the four evangelists recently attributed to Tommaso Rues:

Interior.

While its external decoration and location capture the eye, the internal design itself is quite remarkable. The octagonal church, while ringed by a classic vocabulary, hearkens to Byzantine designs such as the Basilica of San Vitale. The interior has its architectural elements demarcated by the coloration of the material, and the central nave with its ring of saints atop a balustrade is a novel design. It is full of Marian symbolism – the great dome represents her crown, the cavernous interior her womb, the eight sides the eight points on her symbolic star.  The interior is octagonal with eight radiating chapels on the outer row. The three altars to the right of the main entrance are decorated with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, patroness of the church, by Luca Giordano: "The Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple", "Assumption of Our Lady", and "Nativity of Our Lady". The third altar to the left of the entrance hosts a painting by Titian titled "The Descent of the Holy Ghost".  The Baroque high altar arrangement, designed by Longhena himself, shelters an iconic Byzantine "Madonna and Child" of the 12th or 13th century, known as "Panagia Mesopantitissa" in Greek ("Madonna the mediator" or "Madonna the negotiator") and came from Candia in 1669 after the fall of the city to the Ottomans. The statuary group at the high altar, depicting "The Queen of Heaven expelling the Plague" (1670) is a theatrical Baroque masterpiece by the Flemish sculptor Josse de Corte. It originally held Alessandro Varotari's painting of the Virgin holding a church that the painter submitted with his architectural proposal.  Tintoretto painted, displayed in the great sacristy, which includes a self-portrait. The most represented artist included in the church is Titian, who painted "St. Mark Enthroned with Saints Cosmas, Damian, Sebastian and Roch", the altarpiece of the sacristy, as well as ceiling paintings of "David and Goliath", "Abraham and Isaac" and "Cain and Abel", and eight tondi of the eight Doctors of the Church and the Evangelists, all in the great sacristy, and "Pentecost" in the nave.

Influence.

The dome of the "Salute" was an important addition to the Venetian skyline and soon became emblematic of the city, inspiring painters like Canaletto, J. M. W. Turner, John Singer Sargent, Francesco Guardi, and the Serbian poet Laza Kostić to write a poem of the same title.  The church had a large influence on contemporary architects immediately after its completion. The structures modeled after the church include the shrine in Gostyń, built by Jerzy Catenazzi, Jan Catenazzi, and Pompeo Ferrari between 1675-1728, perhaps according to the original design by Baldassarre Longhena.  In 1959, the church was the subject of a design by John Piper, later adapted as a textile design by Arthur Sanderson & Sons Ltd.  The plans of the Rotunda of Xewkija in Gozo, Malta were based on Santa Maria della Salute, but on a larger scale.

Santa Maria della Salute (), commonly known simply as the Salute, is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica located at Punta della Dogana in the Dorsoduro sestiere of the city of Venice, Italy.


Etymology.

The term "Alcázar" comes from the Arabic "al-qaṣr", ("the castle" or "the palace", اَلْقَصْر), itself derived from the Latin "castrum" ("castle").

History.

The Real Alcázar is situated near the Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies in one of Andalusia's most emblematic areas. In the year 712, Seville was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate. In the year 913, after a revolt against Cordoba’s government, the first caliph of Andalusia Abd al-Rahman III built a fortified construction in place of a Visigothic Christian basilica. It was a quadrangular enclosure, fortified, and annexed to the walls. In the 11th century, the second king, Al-Mu'tamid, expanded the structure to the west with a new palace ‘Al Mubarak’. Various additions to the construction such as stables and warehouses were also carried out. As Seville was established as the capital of Al-Andalus, the Almohade caliphs made the Alcazar their main residence. With the exception of the walls, the previous buildings were demolished, and were carried out up to a total of twelve palaces. There are few remnants of constructions of that period. Archaeological remains of the Al Mubarak palace are currently preserved under Patio de la Monteria. Several wall painting fragments were found that are now exhibited in the Palacio del Yeso.  With the start of the Christian era in Seville, the Alcazar was converted into the residence of the Christian monarchs. Changes were made to the constructions to fit the needs of the monarchs and the court life. In the years 1364-1366, king Pedro I built the Mudéjar Palace, an example of the Andalusian Mudejar style. Under the Catholic rulers Isabella and Fernando, the upperfloor was extended and transformed into the main residence of the monarchs.  The palace was the birthplace of Infanta Maria Antonietta of Spain (1729-1785), daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese, when the king was in the city to oversee the signing of the Treaty of Seville (1729) which ended the Anglo-Spanish War (1727).

The palace.

During the five hundred years of construction, various architectural styles succeeded one another. There are no remnants of the initial design, but the structure was probably refurbished with elements of Islamic ornamentation and patterns. Several major gardens were also built. With the start of the Spanish Reconquista in the 13th century, the palace was remodeled with Gothic and Romanesque elements. The 16th century saw major additions built in Renaissance style. Alongside these designs, Islamic decoration and ornamentation was widely used. After damage by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, that façade of the Palacio Gótico overlooking the Patio del Crucero was completely renovated using Baroque elements. The palace now presents a unique blend of styles.

Tiles.

The palace is known for its tile decoration. The two tile types used are majolica and arista tiles. In the arista technique, the green body is stamped and each tile segment has raised ridges. This technique produces tiles with transparent glazes that are not flat. The art of majolica ceramics was developed later in the 15th-16th centuries. The innovation made it possible to "paint" directly on ceramics covered with white opaque glazes. Being a trade center, Seville had access to large scale production of these tiles. They were mainly of geometric design inspired by arabesque ornamentation.  In the 16th century, the Catholic Monarchs commissioned Nicola Pisano to make two majolica tile altarpieces in the palace. One still exists in the oratory of the royal apartments, the other one is missing. Later, the artist Cristóbal de Augusta created a tile-work in the Palacio Gotico. It features animals, cherubs and floral designs and gives the palace a bright tapestry look.

Puerta del León.

The main entrance to the Alcázar takes its name from the 19th century tile-work inlaid above it, a crowned lion holding a cross in its claws and bearing a Gothic script.

Patio de las Doncellas.

The name, meaning "The Courtyard of the Maidens", is a reference to the apocryphal story that the Moors demanded an annual tribute of 100 virgins from the Christian kingdoms of Iberia.  The lower storey of the Patio was built for King Peter of Castile and contains inscriptions that refer to Peter as a "sultan". Several reception rooms are arranged around a long rectangular reflecting pool in the center with sunken gardens on either side. For many years, the courtyard was entirely paved in marble with a fountain in the center. However, historical evidence showed the gardens and the reflecting pool were the original design and this arrangement was restored. However, soon after this restoration, the courtyard was temporarily paved with marble once again at the request of movie director Ridley Scott. Scott used the paved courtyard as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in his movie "Kingdom of Heaven". The courtyard arrangement was converted once more after the movie's production.  The upper story of the Patio was an addition made by Charles V. The addition was designed by Luis de Vega in the style of the Italian Renaissance although he did include both Renaissance and mudéjar plaster work in the decorations. Construction of the addition began in 1540 and ended in 1572.

Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla.

The "Baths of Lady María de Padilla" are rainwater tanks beneath the Patio del Crucero. The tanks are named after María de Padilla, the mistress of Peter the Cruel.

Salon de Embajadores.

The Ambassadors Hall is the ancient throne room built during the reign of Al-Mu'tamid in the 11th century. In the 14th century, Pedro I of Castile remodeled the hall to make it a centerpiece of his royal palace. Plant motifs in plasterwork were added in the corners of the room and spandrels of the arches. Windows were traced with geometric elements. Walls were covered with tiled panels. The orientation of the hall was also changed from facing Mecca to northeast. The doorway now led to the Patio of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas). In 1526, Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal celebrated their marriage in this room.

The gardens.

All the palaces of Al Andalus had garden orchards with fruit trees, horticultural produce and a wide variety of fragrant flowers. The garden-orchards not only supplied food for the palace residents but had the aesthetic function of bringing pleasure. Water was ever present in the form of irrigation channels, runnels, jets, ponds and pools.  The gardens adjoining the Alcázar of Seville have undergone many changes. In the 16th century during the reign of Philip III the Italian designer Vermondo Resta introduced the Italian Mannerist style. Resta was responsible for the Galeria de Grutesco (Grotto Gallery) transforming the old Muslim wall into a loggia from which to admire the view of the palace gardens.

The Royal Alcázars of Seville (), historically known as al-Qasr al-Muriq (, "The Verdant Palace") and commonly known as the Alcázar of Seville (), is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. It was built by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim "alcazar", or residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. The palace is a preeminent example of Mudéjar architecture in the Iberian Peninsula but features Gothic, Renaissance and Romanesque design elements from previous stages of construction. The upper storeys of the Alcázar are still occupied by the royal family when they are in Seville, and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.


Nomenclature.

ʼPhags-pa script: "mongxol tshi", "Mongolian script";  Yuan dynasty "new Mongolian script";  Modern "ʼPhags-pa script"

History.

During the Mongol Empire, the Mongols wanted a universal script to write down the languages of the people they subjugated. The Uyghur-based Mongolian alphabet is not a perfect fit for the Middle Mongol language, and it would be impractical to extend it to a language with a very different phonology like Chinese. Therefore, during the Yuan dynasty (c. 1269), Kublai Khan asked the Tibetan monk ʼPhags-pa to design a new alphabet for use by the whole empire. ʼPhags-pa extended his native Tibetan alphabet to encompass Mongol and Chinese, evidently Central Plains Mandarin. The resulting 38 letters have been known by several descriptive names, such as "square script" based on their shape, but today are primarily known as the ʼPhags-pa alphabet.  Descending from Tibetan script it is part of the Brahmic family of scripts, which includes Devanagari and scripts used throughout Southeast Asia and Central Asia. It is unique among Brahmic scripts in that it is written top bottom, like how Chinese used to be written; and like the Manchu alphabet or later Mongolian alphabet.  Despite its origin, the script was written vertically (top to bottom) like the previous Mongolian scripts. It did not receive wide acceptance and was not a popular script even among the elite Mongols themselves, although it was used as an official script of the Yuan dynasty until the early 1350s when the Red Turban Rebellion started. After this it was mainly used as a phonetic gloss for Mongolians learning Chinese characters. It was also used as one of the scripts on Tibetan currency in the twentieth century, as script for Tibetan seal inscriptions from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century and for inscriptions on the entrance doors of Tibetan monasteries.

Syllable formation.

Although it is an alphabet, phagspa is written like a syllabary or abugida, with letters forming a single syllable glued or 'ligated' together. Unlike the ancestral Tibetan script, all ʼPhags-pa letters are written in temporal order (that is, /CV/ is written in the order "C–V" for all vowels) and in-line (that is, the vowels are not diacritics). However, vowel letters retain distinct initial forms, and short /a/ is not written except initially, making ʼPhags-pa transitional between an abugida, a syllabary, and a full alphabet. The letters of a ʼPhags-pa syllable are linked together so that they form syllabic blocks.

Typographic forms.

ʼPhags-pa was written in a variety of graphic forms. The standard form (top, at right) was blocky, but a "Tibetan" form (bottom) was even more so, consisting almost entirely of straight orthogonal lines and right angles. A "seal script" form (Chinese 蒙古篆字 "měnggǔ zhuànzì" "Mongolian Seal Script"), used for imperial seals and the like, was more elaborate, with squared sinusoidal lines and spirals.  Korean records state that hangul was based on an "Old Seal Script" (古篆字), which may be ʼPhags-pa and a reference to its Chinese name 蒙古篆字 měnggǔ zhuànzì (see origin of hangul). However, it is the simpler standard form of ʼPhags-pa that is the closer graphic match to hangul.

Letters.

Following are the initials of the ʼPhags-pa script as presented in "Menggu Ziyun". They are ordered according to the Chinese philological tradition of the 36 initials.

Unicode.

ʼPhags-pa script was added to the Unicode Standard in July 2006 with the release of version 5.0.  The Unicode block for ʼPhags-pa is U+A840–U+A877: U+A856 is transliterated using from the Latin Extended-D Unicode block.

The ʼPhags-pa script is an alphabet designed by the Tibetan monk and State Preceptor (later Imperial Preceptor) Drogön Chögyal Phagpa for Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan dynasty, as a unified script for the written languages within the Yuan. The actual use of this script was limited to about a hundred years during the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and it fell out of use with the advent of the Ming dynasty.


Etymology and meaning.

The Hebrew word "qahal", which is a close etymological relation of the name of "Qoheleth" (Ecclesiastes), comes from a root meaning "convoked [group]"; its Arabic cognate, "qāla", means "to speak".  Where the Masoretic Text uses the term "qahal", the Septuagint usually uses the Koine Greek term "ekklesia",, which means "summoned group" (literally, "they who are called out"). However, in one particular part of the Priestly Code, the Septuagint instead uses the term, literally meaning "gathering", where the Masoretic Text uses "qahal". This last term is the origin of the word "synagogue" in Hebrew.  Thus, the usual translation of "qahal" is "congregation" or "assembly", although "asuppot", "ʻaṣarah", "ʻedah", "moʻed", "miqra", and "sod", are also usually translated like this.  In particular, the Biblical text consistently distinguishes between "ʻedah" and "qahal". One passage especially makes the distinction clear; part of the Priestly Code discusses what to do if "the whole Israelite [ʻedah] commits a sin and the [qahal] is not aware of it[.]" Scholars conclude that the "qahal" must be a judicial body composed of representatives of the "ʿedah"; in some biblical passages, "ʻedah" is more accurately translated as "swarm".

Biblical exclusions.

The Deuteronomic Code prohibits certain members of the "ʿedah" from taking part in the "qahal of Yahweh". In particular, it excludes "mamzers", and men who were forcibly emasculated. The descendants of "mamzers," up to the tenth generation, were also prohibited by this law code from taking part in the "congregation of Yahweh".  The Greek term "eunuch" is usually used to refer forcibly emasculated men, but it is also used in the Septuagint to denote certain foreign political officials (resembling the meaning of "eunuch"). This category does not include men who were born without visible testicles (conditions including cryptorchidism), or without a visible penis (conditions including hermaphroditism). There is a dispute, even in traditional Judaism, about whether this prohibited group of men should include those who have become, at some point since their birth, emasculated as the result of a disease  No explanation of the phrase "mamzer" is given in the Masoretic Text, but the Septuagint translates it as "son of a prostitute" (). In the Talmud, it is suggested that the word "mamzer" derives from "mum zar", meaning "a strange blemish", and thus suggesting illicit parentage in some sense. There are differing opinions in the Talmud as to what this consists of, but the universally accepted ruling refers to the offspring of adultery (defined as relations with a married woman) or incest, as defined in the Book of Leviticus.  In the Talmud, there is a fierce dispute about whether or not the term "mamzer" included a child who had a Jewish mother, and a father who is either non-Jewish or a slave (or both); although the Talmud eventually concludes that this is not the case, a number of scholars now suspect that this was actually the original definition of "mamzer". Abraham Geiger, a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi of the mid 19th century, suggested that the etymological origin of "mamzer" might be "me'am zar", which means "belonging to a foreign people".  The Talmud interprets the exclusion of certain people from the "qahal" as a prohibition against ordinary Jews marrying such people. Additionally, the biblical reference to the "tenth generation" was interpreted, by the classical rabbis, as an idiom meaning "forever"; thus the Talmud forbids all the descendants - forever - of these people, from being married to ordinary Jews.

In Poland-Lithuania.

In the 16th century, Jewish communities in the south of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth began to set up new qahals to administer tax collection. These had a minimum of 8 members, and in average Jewish communities had a membership of 22-35 Jews. Their executives were elected by the local Jewish community, and consisted of 4 "elders" (Hebrew: "zeqenim") with a further 3-5 "honorary members" (Hebrew: "tovim"). There was one qahal for each Jewish community, although smaller qahals were often made subject to larger ones.  These Polish-Lithuanian "qahal"s quickly came to be politically autonomous bodies with major regulatory control over Jewish communities in the region; they administered commerce, hygiene, sanitation, charity, Jewish education, "kashrut", and relations between landlords and their tenants. They provided a number of community facilities, such as a rabbi, a "mikveh" (ritual bath), and "gemachen" (interest-free loans). "Qahal"s even had sufficient authority that they could arrange for individuals to be expelled from synagogues, excommunicating ("Herem") them.  However, rich and powerful individuals gradually began to dominate the "qahal"s, abusing their position for their own benefit. As a result, by the 18th century, many ordinary Jews had begun to clamour for the abolition of those institutions. "In 1844 they were officially abolished by the tsarist regime in Ukraine and most of the rest of the empire; they continued to exist only in the Baltic region. Afterwards, Jewish communities were only given jurisdiction over religious and charitable affairs, and occasionally over education."

Conspiracy theories.

The qahal exists as a theme in the antisemitic conspiracy theory literature. The theme originated with Jacob Brafman, a Russian Jew who had a falling out with Minsk qahal tax-agents and to get revenge - converted to Lutheranism and then the Russian Orthodox Church, authoring polemics against the Talmud and the qahal. Brafmann authored the books "The Local and Universal Jewish Brotherhoods" (1868) and "The Book of the Kahal" (1869), claiming that the qahal was an international network under the control of the "Alliance Israélite Universelle", its aim being to undermine Christian entrepreneurs, taking over their property and ultimately seizing power. This theory was taken up by anti-Jewish publications in Russia and by some Russian officials, such as P. A. Cherevin and Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, who in the 1880s urged governor-generals of provinces to seek out a supposed "universal Jewish qahal."  Brafmann's image of the qahal spread throughout the world, making its way to the United States by 1881, as it was translated by Zénaïde Alexeïevna Ragozin in "The Century Magazine". It prepared the groundwork for "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and the word qahal features in that text. It is also discussed in other conspiracy works such as Edith Starr Miller's "Occult Theocrasy" (1933), which ties it to the Illuminati.

The qahal () was a theocratic organizational structure in ancient Israelite society according to the Hebrew Bible. In later centuries, "Qahal" was the name of the autonomous governments of Ashkenazi Jews until being abolished in the 1840s.


Early years.

Satir was born 26 June 1916 in Neillsville, Wisconsin, the eldest of five children born to Oscar Alfred Reinnard Pagenkopf and Minnie Happe Pagenkopf. When she was five years old, Satir suffered from appendicitis. Her mother, a devout Christian Scientist, refused to take her to a doctor. By the time Satir's father decided to overrule his wife, the young girl's appendix had ruptured. Doctors were able to save her life, but Satir was forced to stay in the hospital for several months.  A curious child, Satir taught herself to read by age three, and by nine had read all of the books in the library of her small one-room school. When she was five, Satir decided that she would grow up to be "a children's detective on parents." She later explained that "I didn't quite know what I would look for, but I realized a lot went on in families that didn't meet the eye."  In 1929, her mother insisted that the family move from their farm to Milwaukee so that Satir could attend high school. Satir's high school years coincided with the Great Depression, and to help her family she took a part-time job and also attended as many courses as she could so that she could graduate early. In 1932, she received her high school diploma and promptly enrolled in Milwaukee State Teachers College (now University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.) To pay for her education she worked part-time for the Works Projects Administration and for Gimbels Department Store and further supplemented her income by babysitting. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in education, and worked as a teacher for a few years.  Beginning in 1937, for three summers she took courses at Northwestern University in Chicago. She then enrolled full-time at the University of Chicago School of Social Services Administration. She finished her coursework for her master's degree in 1943, and completed her thesis for her degree in 1948.

Career as a therapist.

After graduating social work school, Satir began working in private practice. She met with her first family in 1951, and by 1955 was working with Illinois Psychiatric Institute, encouraging other therapists to focus on families instead of individual patients. By the end of the decade she had moved to California, where she cofounded the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, California. MRI received a grant from NIMH in 1962, allowing them to begin the first formal family therapy training program ever offered; Satir was hired as its Training Director.  Innovation  One of Satir's most novel ideas at the time, was that the "presenting issue" or "surface problem" itself was seldom the real problem; rather, how people "coped" with the issue "created" the problem." Satir also offered insights into the particular problems that low self-esteem could cause in relationships.  Long interested in the idea of networking, Satir founded two groups to help individuals find mental health workers or other people who were suffering from similar issues to their own. In 1970, she organized "Beautiful People," which later became known as the "International Human Learning Resources Network." In 1977 she founded the Avanta Network, which was renamed to the Virginia Satir Global Network in 2010.  Recognition  Two years later, Satir was appointed to the Steering Committee of the International Family Therapy Association and became a member of the Advisory Board for the National Council for Self-Esteem.  She has also been recognized with several honorary doctorates, including a 1978 doctorate in Social Sciences from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  Honors and awards received

Work and influence.

Satir's entire work was done under the umbrella of "Becoming More Fully Human". From the possibility of a nurturing primary triad of father, mother, and child she conceived a process of Human Validation. She continually planted the seeds of hope toward world peace. As she said (Align, 1988, p. 20): "The family is a microcosm. By knowing how to heal the family, I know how to heal the world." With this overview she established professional training groups in the Satir Model in the Middle East, the Orient, Western and Eastern Europe, Central and Latin America, and Russia. The Institute for International Connections, Avanta Network, and the International Human Learning Resources Network are concrete examples of teaching people how to connect with one another and then extend the connections. Her world impact could be summed up in her universal mantra: peace within, peace between, peace among.  In the mid-1970s her work was extensively studied by the co-founders of Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Richard Bandler and John Grinder, who used it as one of the three fundamental models of NLP. Bandler and Grinder also collaborated with Satir to author "Changing With Families" for Science and Behavior Books, which bore the subtitle 'A Book About Further Education for Being Human'. The Virginia Satir Global Network, originally named "AVANTA" by Satir, is an international organization that carries on her work and promotes her approach to family therapy.  Satir also significantly influenced Lori Heyman Gordon's development of the PAIRS ("Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills") relationship education program. Satir served as the honorary founding chairperson of PAIRS Foundation.  In 1984, Satir encouraged marriage and family therapists to shift their focus to relationship education:  Steve Andreas, one of Bandler and Grinder's students, wrote "Virginia Satir: The Patterns of Her Magic" (1991) in which he summarized the major patterns of Satir's work, and then showed how Satir applied them in a richly annotated verbatim transcript of a videotaped session titled "Forgiving Parents". In this session, Satir works with a woman who hated her mother, and had difficulty connecting with others as a result. Using a variety of role-plays, including a "family reconstruction", this woman came to see her mother as her "best friend", as detailed in a 31⁄2 year follow-up interview.

Career as author.

Satir published her first book, "Conjoint Family Therapy", in 1964, developed from the training manual she wrote for students at MRI. Her reputation grew with each subsequent book, and she travelled the world to speak on her methods. She also became a Diplomate of the Academy of Certified Social Workers and received the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's Distinguished Service Award.  Satir often integrated meditations and poetic writing into both her public workshops and writings. One of her most well-known works, "I Am Me," was written by Satir in response to a question posed by an angry teenage girl.

Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 – 10 September 1988) was an American author and therapist, known especially for her approach to family therapy and her pioneering work in the field of family reconstruction therapy. She is widely regarded as the "Mother of Family Therapy" Her most well-known books are "Conjoint Family Therapy", 1964, "Peoplemaking", 1972, and "The New Peoplemaking", 1988.


History.

The oldest surviving written document mentioning Nelahozeves dates to 1352. The village has a three-winged Renaissance chateau in the Italianate Northern Mannerist style, featuring elaborate sgraffito designs that depict scenes from Greek mythology and the Old Testament. The castle is an example of the castello fortezza, a design that was considered very modern in the 16th century. Its predominant characteristics are faux architectural defenses, including decorative bastions and an entry bridge without a moat. The most noteworthy of the castle's interior rooms is the Knight's Hall, which dates from 1564. Dominated by a large Renaissance stone fireplace, it also features ceiling decorations depicting Livy’s interpretations of five Roman virtues, wall frescoes displaying military figures, and a lunette vault decorated with original stucco reliefs.  Construction on Nelahozeves Castle began under the orders of Florian Griesbeck von Griesbach, a Tyrolean aristocrat and adviser to Emperor Ferdinand I, who commissioned the building from royal master builder Bonifaz Wolmut. The castle took more than sixty years to build and was completed at the beginning of the 17th century, more than a decade after Florian's death. However, financial difficulties forced the von Griesbach family to sell the castle to Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz (1566-1642), in 1623. The castle was severely damaged during the Thirty Years' War, but was reconstructed by Václav Eusebius, 2nd Prince Lobkowicz (1609-1677), who used the castle as the center for administration and management of his estates. However, the castle never served as the Lobkowicz family's primary residence. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was home to the Order of the Sisters of God's Love, a religious institution for widowed or unmarried noblewomen founded by Princess Wilhelmina Lobkowicz (1863-1945). Nelahozeves Castle was confiscated by the Communist government in 1948, and housed an exhibition of modern socialist art run by the Czech Regional Gallery in the 1970s and 80s. It was returned to the Lobkowicz family in 1993, and now features an exhibition of historical period rooms, demonstrating the lifestyle of a Bohemian noble family in the mid-19th century. The castle also houses part of the Lobkowicz collection of paintings.  The 19th-century composer Antonín Dvořák was born in Nelahozeves in 1841, and lived there until the age of 13. In his childhood home, also owned by the Lobkowicz family, the National Museum operates a small museum focusing on his life.

Nelahozeves is a village on left bank of the Vltava river, 35 km north of Prague, Czech Republic. In 2015 its population was 1,900.