Richard Alan Dutcher (born 1964) is an American independent filmmaker who produces, writes, directs, edits, and frequently stars in his films. After making God's Army, a successful 2000 movie about LDS missionaries, Dutcher became well known among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Film critic Jeff Vice, of the Deseret News, dubbed Dutcher "The Godfather of Mormon Cinema," a title that is very important personally for Dutcher. In 2007, Dutcher left the LDS Church.

Biography and personal life

Dutcher was born in Oak Park, Illinois as Richard Hill. His family moved frequently, and at age seven his parents divorced. As a member of the LDS Church, Dutcher served a two-year mission in Mexico.

Dutcher lived in his car during high school and was so financially strapped while attending college that he frequently had to choose between eating and going to the movies. Because of his love of film, he normally went to the movies. Dutcher graduated from Brigham Young University in 1988 with a degree in film. Dutcher was married in 1988 to Gwen, moving to Mapleton, Utah in 1999. They have seven children together. After 23 years of marriage, they divorced in 2011.

Film projects

Girl Crazy
Dutcher began work on his first feature film, Girl Crazy, in the early 1990s while living in an apartment in Van Nuys, California. Girl Crazy is a romantic comedy written by, directed by, and starring Dutcher. Dutcher raised the budget of the movie (approx US$14,000), then shot it in and near his apartment building. He later raised more money to finish the movie.

The movie did not play in theaters but had a brief run in 1997 on HBO and Cinemax. While the movie did not make enough money to pay off investors, it did begin Dutcher's feature filmmaking career. Of the movie, Dutcher said:

God's Army
Dutcher's next film was the 2000 indie smash God's Army. Distributed by Excel Entertainment Group, the movie grossed over ten times its $250,000 production budget. Dutcher produced, wrote, directed, and starred in this film about Mormon missionaries, focusing on a Mormon elder determined to finish his two-year mission even though he is dying of brain cancer. The film debuted with a world premiere in Sandy, Utah and was taken on tour around North America for limited engagements, particularly to Mormon audiences, who were eager to see LDS characters portrayed on screen. The movie received mixed reviews by critics and currently holds a 50% Rotten Tomato score. The success of God's Army among Mormon audiences is credited (by Dutcher) for launching the LDS Cinema movement of the early to mid-2000s, a small film niche of LDS movies made primarily by and for Mormon audiences.

Brigham City
Dutcher followed this film in 2001 with Brigham City, a movie about the search for a serial murderer in a small Utah town which has never had a murder before. As with God's Army, Dutcher wrote, directed, and cast himself as the lead, while Excel Entertainment Group distributed the film. The movie explores how residents of a close-knit religious community, who are mostly LDS, react to and deal with the situation. Overall, Brigham City garnered better reviews with critics than God's Army, earning a 71% Rotten Tomato score, but only grossed $852,206 during its theatrical run, far less than God's Army, despite being made with a much higher budget.

The Prophet
In 2003, Dutcher announced his most ambitious movie project to date: The Prophet, a biopic about the life of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith, based on a screenplay written by Dutcher. In a press conference held in Utah, Dutcher called the movie "the Mount Everest of Mormon filmmaking" and said that he planned to do "the bulk of the filming" in 2004 for a 2005 theatrical release. He also announced that both Val Kilmer and F. Murray Abraham had agreed to portray Joseph Smith and Gov. Thomas Ford of Illinois, respectively (depending on schedules). The budget of the movie was projected at more than $12 million. The movie was never made.

States of Grace
Dutcher's next film, States of Grace (also titled God's Army 2: States of Grace), was released November 4, 2005. This film follows a set of missionaries in Los Angeles caught in the middle of gang warfare. States of Grace received the highest percentage of positive reviews of any Dutcher movie, currently holding an 82% Rotten Tomato score. Wade Major of Boxofficemagazine wrote of the director, "Dutcher has joined the ranks of the very best independent filmmakers in the world." However, the movie was also Dutcher's lowest-grossing movie up until that time. States of Grace grossed $203,144 during its theatrical run, less than one-tenth the theatrical gross of God's Army.

Falling
Dutcher's next film, Falling, tells the story of a Hollywood videographer, Eric Boyle (played by Dutcher), who stumbles across a gang murder and sells the footage to a Los Angeles news station for a small fortune. Boyle's life falls apart when the exposed gang members come after anyone with a connection to the incriminating footage. In an interview, Dutcher said that this was the most personal of all his works, and that he would self-distribute the film. The movie was shown on a single screen in Utah for one week in January 2008 and in Los Angeles in August 2008. It was then re-released on April 27, 2012, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on one screen at the Broadway Theater for several weeks. The movie has yet to be released on DVD or through other sources. The Los Angeles Times said that Falling is, "one of the best pictures of its kind in recent memory," and the Los Angeles City Beat called it "a primal scream from an immensely talented artist."

Evil Angel
In 2009, Dutcher made Evil Angel, an action/horror movie starring Kristopher Shepard with a supporting role by Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible, Pulp Fiction). As with his other films, Dutcher wrote, directed, and cast himself in a supporting role. The movie was originally announced to be released in October 2012 but has not had a US release. Evil Angel was a modest success in a few foreign markets, but Dutcher later testified in court he had not been paid proper royalties. Dutcher was a witness in the 2017 court case of Utah real estate investor Rick Koerber who funded the film and was later accused and convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme, funding the $5 million film production with money investors believed was used to buy properties.

Tryptic
In 2010, Dutcher launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to complete Tryptic, a feature film he was writing and directing. On the Kickstarter page for the movie, Dutcher explained his need for immediate funding:

The Kickstarter campaign for Tryptic set a goal to raise $7,000. On November 1, 2010, the campaign came to a successful conclusion, having raised $10,095—144% of its goal—from 73 backers. As of December 2014, the movie has not been completed.

Boys at the Bar
In 2012, Dutcher returned to his Girl Crazy roots and made The Boys at the Bar, a low-budget comedy that he wrote, directed, and starred in. The $150,000 budget for the movie was raised by 23 students from Dutcher's self-titled "Richard Dutcher's Movie Producers Master Class." Dutcher, along with his 23 students, formed an organization called "Project 23," in which all 23 students act as the movie's producers and fundraisers. Shot over seven days in Salt Lake City from a heavily improvised script, the movie is "conflict free" and centers around a group of friends celebrating a birthday party and telling jokes. In May 2014, Dutcher stated that news of the film's release would be coming soon.

Parting letter
In 2007, the Provo Daily Herald published an open letter from Dutcher on its editorial page where he announced, "I am no longer a practicing member of the church." He explained that he had taken a spiritual journey that, "may ultimately prove incompatible with Mormon orthodoxy." He hoped to explore human spirituality in film more broadly, but like early church leader Oliver Cowdery, someday he might return to the faith.

Dutcher lamented that Mormon cinema was dying from too many shallow, poor-quality films trying to "make a few bucks." He urged Mormon cinema to abandon "moronic," unfunny comedies that rely too much on self-mockery, and family films, which often lack any valuable meaning. He felt that church-produced movies fail to "share ... the beauty and power of Mormonism," and are instead "polite, remedial and not-so-factual recitations of Mormon History and scripture." The potential of Mormon cinema was still unappreciated and untapped. Dutcher thought the market could be revived by reintroducing well-crafted films that explore the great depths of Mormon themes and experience. Rather than just making "clean" movies, free from violence and vulgarity, Dutcher said, "It is better to tell an R-rated truth than a G-rated lie."

This letter provoked strong criticism from some LDS Church members, most notably Kieth Merrill, a Mormon filmmaker whose work was included in Dutcher's criticisms. In his fiery reaction, Merrill claimed Dutcher was arrogantly ignoring the importance of social and spiritual values. Merrill saw Dutcher as attacking LDS cinema because of the poor response to his latest films. Two days later, in a letter to the editor, Merrill apologized for his harsh criticisms, regretted the loss of Dutcher, and wished him well in his future.

Film plans
Dutcher at one point was planning to direct Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith, a film about the life of the early LDS prophet. While Dutcher did not specifically comment on his plans for his movie on Joseph Smith in his "Parting words" letter, Dutcher did state that he will no longer be making Mormon films.

Dutcher's film Falling, was released January 18, 2008 at a single Salt Lake City theater, and later shopped to art-house theaters, where he did not expect to make back the film's money. Dutcher's 'Parting words' letter suggests that these and future movies may be spiritually based but not Mormon-related.

Filmography

References

External links
 Official Richard Dutcher website

 Dutcher filmography and biography

1964 births
20th-century Mormon missionaries
American male film actors
American film producers
American Mormon missionaries in Mexico
American male screenwriters
Brigham Young University alumni
Former Latter Day Saints
Mormon cinema
Living people
Writers from Oak Park, Illinois
Writers from Utah
Artists from Oak Park, Illinois
Actors from Oak Park, Illinois
People from Mapleton, Utah
Film directors from Illinois
Film directors from Utah
Screenwriters from Utah
Screenwriters from Illinois

Richard Dutcher


The guppy (Poecilia reticulata), is a species of freshwater aquarium fish. It is one of the most popular aquarium fish species. The guppy is also called the millionfish or rainbow fish. It is a small member of the Poeciliidae family (females 4–6 centimeters (1.6–2.4 in) long, males 2.5–3.5 centimeters (1.0–1.4 in) long). Like all other members of the family, it is live-bearing. Guppies are popular aquarium kept fish because of their inexpensive needs and beautiful color ranges

Guppies, like all fish, have gills. The heart of a guppy is very different from that of a mammal, for instance there are two compartments instead of four. They are called the auricle and ventricle. When the fish breaths the ventricle contracts and blood is forced out to the gills which act as lungs. This is where the gas exchange happens. The blood receives oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. The blood that now carries oxygen goes through the dorsal artery, which divides into smaller and smaller vessels and go all over the body to then distribute the oxygen and gets carbon dioxide and waste. Then, the blood is carried to the heart by veins and lymph vessels. Then the cycle repeats over and over.

A guppy's nervous system is highly centralized around its spinal cord and brain. The cerebellum controls the body's movements, and the olfactory bulbs and cerebrum controls its sense of smell.

Other websites

Cyprinodontiformes
Freshwater fish
Aquarium fish

Guppy


Mario Marcell Bennett (born August 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player.

College career

The youngest of four children, Bennett was an early entry candidate for the 1995 NBA Draft despite having been in school for four years, because he missed the entire 1992–93 season recovering from knee surgery. Although he played only three seasons, he placed first all-time in school history in blocked shots (191) and field goal percentage (.587) and was eighth in rebounding (675). During the 1994–95 campaign he set the Pac-10 single-season mark for blocks with 115, and he became only the third player in Sun Devils history to net 600 or more points in a season. The powerful forward finished his career with 219 dunks. Bennett missed all of 1992–93 and the first six games of the 1993–94 campaign while recovering from left knee surgery to repair anterior cruciate ligament tears.

He finished his 87-game college career with per-game averages of 32.3 minutes, 15.7 points on 58.7% shooting and 53.0% free throws, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.8 turnovers, 2.2 steals and 1.1 blocks.

NBA career
Selected by the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft with the 27th overall pick, Bennett was the first Sun Devil to be drafted in 12 years since Byron Scott. Bennett was the top rebounder in preseason for Phoenix with 8.8 rpg but he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Nov. 1. He spent four months on the injured list before finally playing in 19 late-season games for the Suns. He was waived by the Suns on 10/29/96. He averaged 8.0 ppg and 6.3 rpg in 1996–97 in 7 games for Grand Rapids and Yakima of the CBA.

He was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent on September 21, 1997 and played in 45 games in 1997–98, averaging 3.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in limited action. Prior to the 1998–99 season, Mario Bennett signed with the Chicago Bulls as a free agent on 1/31/99 and was waived by the Bulls on 2/16/99. He went on to play one game for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1999–2000 season.

Bennett has NBA career per-game averages  4.0 points on 54.4% FG and 51.1% FT, and 2.7 rebounds on 8.9 minutes per game. He registered career highs of 21 points and 14 rebounds on separate occasions.

Overseas career

He began to make a name in Europe at Montpellier in 2003. He later left for to suit up for San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association. He went back to France to have a superb season with Paris Basket Racing.

Afterwards, the man with a tattooed body from top to bottom (eyes in the back, Mario bros on the arm, a basketball player on the calf), turned his services east for the Russian team, Avtodor Saratov. After a few games in Russia, Bennett left his team amicably.

After a stint in the CBA again, he joined the Fastlink Aman team (Jordan). Knee problems cut his stint there and he went to seek treatment for that. After a knee operation, he came back to play with KB Mabetex Prishtina in Kosovo.

At the age of 32, he joined Dijon, whose coach Monclar knew his qualities. The stint, in which he averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds, resulted in a selection for the All Star game. A broken metatarsal halted Bennett's season in January 2007.

In early January 2011 Bennett was involved in an incident in a nightclub located in the city of Bucharest, where he claimed security guards attacked him violently, causing injuries to his head and legs.

References

External links
College & NBA stats @ basketballreference.com
Player file @ NBA.com
Stats @ lnb.fr

1973 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in France
American expatriate basketball people in Jordan
American expatriate basketball people in Mexico
American expatriate basketball people in Romania
American expatriate basketball people in Russia
American expatriate basketball people in Spain
American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines
American expatriate basketball people in Uruguay
Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball players
Baloncesto Málaga players
Chicago Bulls players
Grand Rapids Hoops players
Liga ACB players
Los Angeles Clippers players
Los Angeles Lakers players
Montpellier Paillade Basket players
Panteras de Aguascalientes players
Philippine Basketball Association imports
Phoenix Suns draft picks
Phoenix Suns players
Power forwards (basketball)
San Diego Wildfire players
San Miguel Beermen players
Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players
Sportspeople from Denton, Texas
Basketball players from Denton County, Texas
Yakima Sun Kings players
American men's basketball players

Mario Bennett


Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaysky Pol. Aleksander Teodorowicz Możajski (also transliterated as Mozhayski, Mozhayskii and Mozhayskiy; ) (  –  ) was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy of Polish origin aviation pioneer, researcher and designer of heavier-than-air craft.

Biography
Mozhaysky was born to Polish parents in Rochensalm, in the Grand Duchy of Finland (present-day Kotka), southern Finland, then part of the Russian Empire. His father was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy, and Mozhaysky graduated from the Sea Cadet Corps in 1841. He spent the next seven years on voyages in the Baltic Sea and in the White Sea on various vessels, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in 1849. He served with the Baltic Fleet from 1850 to 1852. In 1853 he was selected as a member of Vice Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin's expedition to the Far East. In August 1853, he demonstrated a working model of a steam engine to various Japanese dignitaries at Nagasaki, from which Japanese inventor Tanaka Hisashige was later able to reverse-engineer a Japanese version. In December 1854 he was shipwrecked at Heda, Shizuoka when the frigate Diana sank in the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake. Mozhaysky assisted in the construction of the schooner Heda in 1855, which enabled the Russian delegation negotiating the Treaty of Shimoda to return home. Later in 1855, during the Crimean War, he served in the Gulf of Finland on the brig Antenor.

In 1858 Mozhaysky was selected to participate in an expedition to Khiva in Central Asia, and published an account of the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya River. He was awarded the Order of St Vladimir, 4th class, for his participation in this expedition. After his return he was made a lieutenant-commander; however, he resigned his commission in 1863 with the downsizing of the Russian navy following the end (1856) of the Crimean War. From 1869 to 1876 he lived outside the city of Vinnytsia in what is now Ukraine.

Mozhaysky began work on a project to develop a heavier-than-air aircraft from 1876.
Mozhaysky re-enlisted in the navy in 1879 and was granted the rank of captain, 1st class. He became an instructor at the Sea Cadet Corps. He was promoted to rear admiral in July 1882, but resigned shortly thereafter due to domestic reasons.
Approximately in 1884 Mozhaysky's airplane made its first flight. His design relied upon a ramp rather than on engine power to generate sufficient speed for lift. The wing design of his craft lacked the curvature necessary to generate lift. While it is possible that Mozhaysky's wings slowed his monoplane's descent after launch from the ramp, the wings were unlikely ever to have provided sufficient lift for sustained flight unless used at angles of attack that would have been impractical, given the engines available to Mozhaysky. He also experimented with different angles of attack.

Mozhaysky died on April 1, 1890; his tomb is at the Smolensk Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

Legacy
In 1909 a Russian newspaper claimed Mozhaysky's hop was the first powered flight. This claim was later repeated in many Soviet publications. In 1971-1981 Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute researched the topic and disproved the claim. Mozhaysky's original aircraft was found incapable of generating lift because of low engine capacity. It was also shown that with a more powerful engine, which Mozhaysky had planned shortly before his death, the aircraft might have been able to fly.

Nevertheless, Mozhaysky's aviation achievements, particularly with regard to flight controls and propulsion, were considerable given the limits of the technology available to him, and have only recently received serious attention.

The A.F. Mozhaysky Military-Space Academy in St Peterburg and asteroid 2850 Mozhaiskij are named in his honour.

See also
 Early flying machines
 Samuel Pierpont Langley, a U.S. scientist notable for his early powered aircraft flight attempts
 Clément Ader, a French inventor who designed a series of early steam-powered aircraft
 Mozhaysky's airplane

References

External links
 Flying Machines - Alexander Fyodorovich Mozhaysky
 schoolnet Alexander Mozhayskiy
 The Pioneers : An Anthology : Alexander Fyodorovich Mozhayskiy
 Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaiski . flyingmachines.org. Accessed on 03-08-2008.
 History of Aviation. Alexander Mozhaiski . spartacus-educational.com. Accessed on 03-08-2008.
 The Pioneers: Aleksandr Fyodorovich Mozhaisky . IETC. Accessed on 03-08-2008.
 К.С. СТРОИТЕЛЕВ (KS Stroitelev). Русский моряк А.Ф. Можайский - изобретатель первого в мире самолета (Russian Sailor A.F. Mozhaiski - Advances In Aircraft Of The War, . flot.com. Retrieved on 03-08-2008.
 "Можайский, Александр Федорович (Mozhaiski, Aleksandr Fedorovich" . airwar.ru (11/10/2007). Retrieved on 03-08-2008.
 Андрей Ковтун (Andrei Kobtun) (2004). "Кто первый? (Who was first?)"  . "Rodina". Accessed on 03-08-2008.
 Виктор ГОНЧАРЕНКО (Viktor Goncharenko). "Как люди научились летать. Самолет А.Ф. Можайского (Since people learned to fly. AFMozhaiski Plane)"  . МОО "Наука и техника." Accessed on 03-08-2008.
 Андрей ВЕЙМАРН (Andrei Veimarn) (03/07/2006). "Летучка с адскими снадобьями"  . politjournal.ru. Accessed on 03-08-2008.

1825 births
1890 deaths
People from Kotka
People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
Imperial Russian Navy admirals
Aviation inventors
Discovery and invention controversies
Russian aerospace engineers
Russian inventors
Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian)
Russian scientists

Alexander Mozhaysky


An elliptical galaxy is a galaxy having an ellipsoidal shape, and a smooth, nearly featureless brightness profile. They are one of the three main types of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in 1936. The others are spiral and lenticular galaxies.

Elliptical galaxies range in shape from nearly spherical to nearly flat, (E7, one of the flattest types of elliptical galaxies is cigar-shaped) and in size from hundreds of millions to over one trillion stars. Originally, Edwin Hubble thought that elliptical galaxies may evolve into spiral galaxies, but this turned out to be false. Stars found inside elliptical galaxies are much older (and cooler; thus redder) than stars found in spiral galaxies.

Most elliptical galaxies are composed of older, low-mass stars, with a sparse interstellar medium and minimal (or no)star formation activity. They tend to be surrounded by large numbers of globular clusters. Elliptical galaxies are believed to make up approximately 10–15% of galaxies in the Virgo Supercluster, but are not the dominant type of galaxy in the universe overall. They are usually found close to the centers of galaxy clusters.

Elliptical galaxies and lenticular galaxies are also called "early-type" galaxies (ETG), due to their position in the Hubble sequence. They are less common in the early Universe, that is, in galaxies further away from us.

Related pages
IC 1101: the largest known galaxy in the cluster Abell 2029
Messier 87-Famous Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, known for its unusual plasma jet.
Messier 49-Bright Galaxy in the Virgo Cluster.
Messier 59 -Found nearby Messier 60, another galaxy in the Virgo cluster.
Abell-2261 BCG -Has one of the largest cores of any Galaxy a.

References

Elliptical galaxy


British Rail 18000 was a prototype mainline gas turbine-electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1949. It was built by Brown, Boveri & Cie. It was ordered by the Great Western Railway in 1940, but construction was delayed by World War II. It spent its working life on the Western Region of British Railways, operating express passenger services from London Paddington station.

Preservation
The locomotive is preserved at Didcot Railway Centre.

British Railways gas turbine locomotives
A1A-A1A locomotives

British Rail 18000


Louis Gabriel Suchet, 1st Duc d'Albufera (2 March 1770 – 3 January 1826) was a Marshal of France and one of Napoleon's most brilliant generals.

Early career
He was the son of a silk manufacturer at Lyon, where he was born, originally intended to follow his father's business; but as a volunteer in the cavalry of the national guard at Lyons in 1792 his military ability got him rapid promotion. As chef de bataillon he was present at the Siege of Toulon in 1793, where he took General O'Hara prisoner.

|A divisional commander in the campaigns against the Third and Fourth Coalitions
Suchet was one of the few senior French officers serving in Spain who managed to preserve their reputation intact.
In the campaigns of 1805 and 1806 he greatly enhanced his reputation at Austerlitz, Saalfeld, Jena, Pułtusk and Ostrolenka. He obtained the title of count on 19 March 1808, married on 16 November of the same year Mlle. Honorine Anthoine de Saint-Joseph (Marseille, 26 February 1790 – Paris, 13 April 1884), a niece of Julie Clary, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, and soon afterwards was ordered to Spain. He was named commander of the army of Aragon and governor of that region, and in two years brought the area into complete submission. Beaten by the Spanish at Alcañiz, he sprung back and soundly defeated the army of Blake at María on 14 June 1809, and on 22 April 1810 defeated Henry Joseph O'Donnell, Count of La Bisbal at Lleida.

He was made marshal of France (8 July 1811). In 1812 he captured Valencia, for which he was rewarded with the ducal victorious title  of duc d'Albufera da Valencia in 1813.

The restored Bourbon king Louis XVIII made him a peer of France on 4 June, with a seat in the upper house, but, having commanded one of Napoleon's armies on the Alpine frontier during the Hundred Days, he was deprived of his peerage on 24 July 1815. He died near Marseille on 3 January 1826.

Personal life
He married in 1808 Honorine de Saint-Joseph (1790 – 1884) and had 3 children:
Louise-Honorine (1811 – 1885)
Louis-Napoleon (1813 – 1877)
Anne-Marie (1820 – 1835)

Foods
Carême named several dishes after Albufera, including
Poularde Albufera, a chicken dish designed to be accompanied by
Albufera Sauce

1770 births
1826 deaths

Marshals of France
People with foods named after them

Louis Gabriel Suchet


Anita Shapira (, born 1940) is an Israeli historian. She is the founder of the Yitzhak Rabin Center, professor emerita of Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, and former head of the Weizmann Institute for the Study of Zionism at Tel Aviv University. She received the Israel Prize in 2008.

Biography
Shapira was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1940, immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1947 and grew up in Tel Aviv. The family lived on Yavneh Street sharing a kitchen and bathroom with other families. Later, they moved to Yad Eliyahu.

She studied general and Jewish history at Tel Aviv University, completing her Ph.D. in 1974 under Professor Daniel Carpi. Her dissertation, "The Struggle for Hebrew Labor, 1929-1939," indicated her interest in the history of the Labor Zionist movement, which was to be a continuing focus of her research. In 1985 she was appointed full professor at Tel Aviv University, serving in 1990-95 as dean of the Faculty of Humanities. From 1995 until 2009 she held the Ruben Merenfeld Chair for the Study of Zionism. From 2000 to 2012, she was head of the Chaim Weizmann Institute for the Study of Zionism and Israel at Tel Aviv University. From 2008 to 2013 she was a director at the Israel Democracy Institute.

From 1985 to 1989, she was a member of the Planning and Budgeting Commission of the Council for Higher Education in Israel; in 1987-90 she was chair of the board of Am Oved publishing house; since 1988 she has been a board member of the Zalman Shazar Institute. In 2002–2008, she was president of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. She founded the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies and was its first director in 1996–99.

She is a member of the editorial board of the Jewish Review of Books, academic co-editor with Prof. Steven J. Zipperstein of the biography series "Jewish Lives" published by Yale University Press, and academic co-editor with Prof. Derek J. Penslar of the Journal of Israeli History.

Research
Shapira's research focuses on the political, cultural, social, intellectual and military history of the Jewish community in Palestine (the Yishuv) and Israel.

Shapira's last book, Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel, strives to get to the core of the complex man who would become the face of the new Jewish nation. Shapira tells the Ben-Gurion story anew, focusing especially on the period after 1948, during the first years of statehood. She provides fascinating and original insights into Ben-Gurion personal qualities and those that defined his political leadership.

Her first book, based on her doctoral dissertation, Hama'avak Hanihzav: Avoda Ivrit 1929-1939 (The Futile Struggle: Hebrew Work 1929-1939), deals with the social and political history of the Yishuv in the 1920s and 1930s, including the controversies on policy towards the Arab population and the conflicts between left and right on the means for achieving Zionist goals.

Her second book, Berl: The Biography of a Socialist Zionist, Berl Katznelson, 1887-1944, was widely acclaimed by the general reading public as well as in academia and was published in Hebrew in eight editions. Focusing on a major figure in the Labor Zionist movement, this book portrays the history, society and culture of the Yishuv from the Second Aliyah to the end of World War II.

During work on a biography of Yigal Allon, Shapira became interested in the role of force in the Zionist  movement, initially inspired by an article by Menachem Begin during the 1982 Lebanon War on "A War of Choice."  This resulted in a book, Herev Hayona: Hatziyonut vehakoah, 1881-1948 (Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948). In her biography of Yigal Allon, Yigal Allon, Native Son: A Biography, Shapira in fact portrays the development of the entire Palmach generation in Palestine, the first native-born Sabra generation.

In this period she also started investigating issues connected to culture and collective memory, as in articles on Latrun and S. Yizhar's short story "Hirbet Hize," and on the attitudes of Israeli society to the Holocaust and Holocaust survivors. Her book Hatanakh vehazehut hayisraelit (The Bible and Israeli identity) seeks to explain why the status of the Bible has declined in Israeli identity. Issues of identity, culture and memory are also the focus of two collection of essays, Yehudim Hadashim, Yehudim Yeshanim (New Jews, Old Jews), and Yehudim, Tziyonim Umah shebeinehem (Jews, Zionists and Between).

Many of her books have been translated into English, German, Polish, Russian, and French.

From 2004-2005, she pursued her research through a fellowship at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.

Published works
 Berl: The Biography of a Socialist Zionist, Berl Katznelson, 1887-1944/ Anita Shapira, translated by Haya Galai. Cambridge University Press, 1984,
 Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force, 1881-1948 (Studies in Jewish History)/ Anita Shapira ; translated by William Templer. Oxford University Press, 1992, )
 Essential papers on Zionism / edited by Jehuda Reinharz and Anita Shapira. New York: New York University Press, 1996.
 Zionism and religion / Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz and Anita Shapira, editors. Hanover: Brandeis University Press in association with the Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 1998.
 Israeli historical revisionism: from left to right / edited by Anita Shapira and Derek Penslar. Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass, 2003.
 Israeli identity in transition / edited by Anita Shapira. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.
Brenner: Sippur hayim ("Yosef Haim Brenner: A Biography"), Am Oved, 2008.
 Yigal Allon, Native Son: A Biography / Anita Shapira, translated by Evelyn Abel. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008,
Israel: A history, Brandeis University Press, 2012.
 Yosef Haim Brenner: A Life, Stanford University Press, 2014.
 Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel, Yale University Press, 2014.

Awards
 In 1977, she was awarded a prize from the Ben-Zvi Institute for her book Hama'avak Hanihzav (The Futile Struggle).
 In 1992, the Am Oved publishing house awarded her a prize, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, for the best non-fiction book, Herev Hayona (Land and Power), the English version of which won the National Jewish Book Award in 1993 in the category Israel.
 In 2004, she was awarded the Zalman Shazar prize in Jewish History, for her biography of Yigal Allon.
 In 2005, she won the Herzl Prize for her excellence in Zionist research from the city of Herzliya.
 In 2008, she was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish history.
 In 2012, she was awarded the National Jewish Book Award in the History category for her book Israel: A History
 In 2014, her book Israel: A History was also awarded the Azrieli Award for Best Book in Israel Studies in English or French.

See also

List of Israel Prize recipients

References

External links

 Tamir Announces Israel Prize Winners for History
 Anita Shapira, Benjamin Isaac win Israel Prize
 The Failure of Israel's "New Historians" to explain War and Peace"
 Zionism in the Age of Revolution
 Hirbet Hizah: Between Remembrance and Forgetting
 Yigal Allon, Native Son A Biography

1940 births
Living people
Israeli historians
Jewish historians
Israel Prize women recipients
Israel Prize in history recipients
Israeli scientists
Israeli women writers
Jewish Polish writers
Jewish Israeli writers
Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Academic staff of Tel Aviv University
Israeli women historians
Historians of Israel
Writers on Zionism

Anita Shapira


Jackie O is a chamber opera in two acts composed by Michael Daugherty to a libretto by Wayne Koestenbaum. The 90-minute work, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in 1995 and premiered in 1997, is inspired by American musical and popular culture of the late 1960s and episodes in the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Performance history
Jackie O received its first performance in the Cullen Theater, Houston, Texas, on March 14, 1997 with a second performance on March 16, 1997, both conducted by Christopher Larkin. The opera's Canadian premiere took place on August 7, 1997 at the Banff Centre in Alberta, conducted by Bruno Ferrandis.  Co-produced by Houston Grand Opera's Houston Opera Studio and the Banff Centre, the premiere  production was directed by Nicholas Muni, with sets and costumes by Peter Werner, lighting design by Harry Frehner, and choreography by Bruce Brown, who also created the role of Paparazzo.

The work has subsequently received several other US performances including those by the Duquesne University Opera Workshop in Pittsburgh (1999), Long Leaf Opera in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (2003), and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance in Ann Arbor (2006). Jackie O had its French premiere on February 2, 2002  at the Opéra de Metz, and its Italian premiere on April 3, 2008 in the Teatro Rossini, Lugo, in a co-production with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.

Scoring
The work is scored for chorus and solo voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, baritone and bass) and a 20 piece orchestra of piccolo/flute, oboe/English horn, clarinet/bass clarinet, tenor/alto/soprano saxophone, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone/euphonium, tuba, harp, acoustic guitar, synthesizer/piano, percussion and strings.

Roles

Synopsis
Wayne Koestenbaum has described the loose narrative of his libretto as a "collage" in the style of Gertrude Stein's libretto for Four Saints in Three Acts, an opera by 20th-century American composer, Virgil Thomson. Koestenbaum  has written both poetry and non-fiction works on opera and on iconic opera singers like Maria Callas. It is not surprising that in addition to the character of Maria Callas, there are several conscious allusions to the art-form in the Jackie O libretto. These include: Violetta's death aria from La traviata, reflected in Addio Del Passato; the funeral pyre from the final scene of Norma, reflected in The Flame Duet; and both Countess Almaviva's forgiveness aria in The Marriage of Figaro and the off-stage voice of the imprisoned Manrico in Il trovatore, reflected in Jack's Song.

Act I begins with a "happening" in artist Andy Warhol's studio in New York City, attended by various celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Aristotle Onassis, and his lover, Maria Callas. All eagerly anticipate Jackie and sing Jackie's Coming!. Jackie arrives and is fascinated by Onassis. Callas realizes that Onassis is going to leave her for Jackie and sings Addio Del Passato (Goodbye to the past). Onassis and Jackie escape from the party to see a new art movie, I Am Curious (Yellow).

Act II is set on Onassis' yacht, Christina, and on his private island, Skorpios. Jackie and Onassis have now been married for a year. On the yacht, Jackie becomes increasingly melancholy and given to trance-like states. Maria Callas seeks a reunion with Onassis and the two decide to meet (I Will See You At The Lido). In one of her trances, Jackie wanders off to the island, where she and Maria Callas meet and reconcile with each other as they sing The Flame Duet. Jackie and Callas then smash a paparazzo's camera, which gives Jackie the power to communicate with her dead husband, who is heard as a disembodied voice. She forgives him for his past infidelities in their duet, Jack's Song. The opera ends with Jackie deciding to return to America, wistfully singing The New Frontier Is Here.

Musical structure
Overture - Jackie's Song. (Scored for solo cello, flute/piccolo, bass clarinet, violin, percussion and piano, the piece had previously premiered on its own in 1996 and forms the leitmotif of Jackie in the opera.

Act I. The Happening

1968

Jackie's Coming!

Egyptian Time

Goldfinger

Painter's Credo

Jackie's Credo

Addio Del Passato

I Am Curious (Yellow)

Finale: Don't Look Back

1968 (reprise)

Act II. The Island

Scene 1 (On The 'Christina')

I Resemble A God

Stiff Drink

All His Bright Light

I Will See You At The Lido

Scene 2 (On Skorpios)

The Flame Duet

Smash His Camera!

Jack's Song

The New Frontier Is Here

Recordings
On CD: Michael Daugherty: Jackie O (Nicole Heaston, John McVeigh, Daniel Belcher, Eric Owens, Joyce DiDonato, Jonita Lattimore, Stephanie Novacek; Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Christopher Larkin) Label: London Decca/Argo 455 591-2
On DVD: Jackie O (Fiona McAndrew, Nora Sourouzian, Simone Alberghini, Paul Carey Jones; Christopher Franklin) Label: Dynamic 33605

Notes and references

Terry Teachout, "Cross Over Beethoven", (review of the Houston premiere) Time Magazine March 31, 1997. Accessed 11 July 2008.
"20th century icon set to music in opera Jackie O", University of Michigan, February 19, 1997. Accessed 11 July 2008.
Allan Ulrich, "Sound Recording Review - Daugherty: Jackie O, The Opera", The Advocate, October 28, 1997. Accessed 11 July 2008.

External links
Feature on the Canadian premiere of Jackie O at the Banff Centre including production photographs. Accessed 11 July 2008.
David Schiff, "Is Headline Opera Yesterday's News?", New York Times, June 7, 1998. (On 20th-century operas based on contemporary figures or events, including Jackie O). Accessed 11 July 2008.

1997 operas
Cultural depictions of Andy Warhol
Cultural depictions of Aristotle Onassis
Cultural depictions of Elizabeth Taylor
Cultural depictions of Grace Kelly
Cultural depictions of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
Cultural depictions of Maria Callas
English-language operas
Opera world premieres at Houston Grand Opera
Operas
Operas about politicians
Operas based on real people
Operas by Michael Daugherty
Operas set in the 20th century
Operas set in the United States

Jackie O (opera)


Brendan Kevin Donnelly (born July 4, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. A right-hander, Donnelly pitched for twenty-one teams (two of them independents), twelve organizations, two independent leagues, eleven organized minor leagues, and both the American League and the National League.

He won the World Series in 2002 with the Anaheim Angels and was on the roster for the Boston Red Sox during their 2007 World Series victory. Donnelly was also the winning pitcher of the 2003 All-Star Game.

After ten seasons in minor league baseball and eight seasons in Major League Baseball, he retired in 2011.

Career

Minor leagues
Donnelly was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 27th round of the 1992 Major League Baseball Draft. The White Sox released him in April 1993. In June 1993, he signed with the Chicago Cubs organization; the Cubs released him before the start of the 1994 season. In 1994, he played for the independent Ohio Valley Redcoats.

In March 1995, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds and participated in Spring Training as a replacement player during the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. As a result of his participation as a replacement player, Donnelly is permanently barred from joining the Major League Baseball Players Association. Donnelly remained in the Reds organization until he was released in April 1999.

He started the 1999 season with the independent Nashua Pride. In May 1999, he was purchased by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was released on August 12, 1999. On August 18, 1999, he was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was released on August 25, 1999. On August 26, 1999, he was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was released in July 2000. In August 2000, he signed with the Chicago Cubs. He became a free agent after the 2000 season.

Anaheim Angels
In January 2001, he signed with the Anaheim Angels, where he made his major league debut in 2002 at 30 years of age. He was an immediate fan favorite because of his intensity, the goggles that he wears, and his effectiveness as the main setup man to Troy Percival. Donnelly would go on to play an integral part of the Angels' bullpen in their 2002 championship season, serving as the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the World Series.

Donnelly was the third replacement player to win the World Series, behind both Shane Spencer of the 1998, 1999 and 2000 New York Yankees and Damian Miller of the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. His name does not appear on any official commemorative merchandise from the Angels 2002 World Series win, due to him being barred from the MLBPA.

In 2003, in that same role, Donnelly put up a 1.58 earned run average and became a rare example of a non-closer who was selected as an All-Star. Donnelly went on to be the winning pitcher in that mid-summer classic.

He suffered a broken nose during spring training 2004, causing him to miss a large portion of the season. Donnelly remained fairly effective throughout 2004 in a very good bullpen for the American League West Champion Anaheim Angels. In 2005, Donnelly began to see a decline in performance, including a decrease in velocity on his fastball as a set-up man for closer Francisco Rodríguez after Percival's departure. In June 2005, Donnelly was suspended ten days for having pine tar on his glove., an incident that caused a scrum and accusations that former teammate Jose Guillen tipped manager Frank Robinson The suspension was the culmination of three weeks of extra scrutiny on Donnelly from opposing managers and umpires, including an accusation from then-Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén accusing Donnelly of touching his mouth too often. He would later advocate for the legalization of pine tars for pitchers.

In 2006, Donnelly continued to drop down the depth chart in the bullpen becoming an inconsistent middle reliever.

Boston Red Sox
On December 15, 2006, Donnelly was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Phil Seibel.

On July 31, 2007, it was announced that Donnelly would need Tommy John surgery. During his absence, the Red Sox would eventually go on to win the 2007 World Series. Donnelly became a free agent after the 2007 season.

Cleveland Indians
On February 6, 2008, the Cleveland Indians signed Donnelly to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. The Indians hoped Donnelly would provide bullpen help at the end of the season when he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Donnelly was brought up to the Indians in August 2008, as a replacement for Tom Mastny.

2009
In February 2009, he was signed by the Texas Rangers. He was released in March 2009. In April 2009, he signed with the Houston Astros. He was released on July 1, 2009. On July 5, 2009, Donnelly signed with the Florida Marlins. He became a free agent after the 2009 season.

Pittsburgh Pirates
On January 16, 2010, Donnelly agreed with the Pittsburgh Pirates on a one-year deal worth $1.5 million. Before he could reach incentives that would have approximately doubled his salary, the Pirates released Donnelly in July 2010 denying that the incentives were the reason for the release. He was the last of the replacement players still in the major leagues, signifying no conciliatory admittance into the MLBPA more than 15 years after  His likeness, name, and uniform number were still replaced by fictional players in video games.

Retirement
He announced his retirement on March 9, 2011.

Mitchell Report
Donnelly was named in the December 13, 2007 Mitchell Report regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. According to former clubhouse attendant and admitted steroids distributor Kirk Radomski, Donnelly sought him out in 2004 looking to purchase oxandrolone, an anabolic steroid. Radomski says he made one sale of nandrolone to Donnelly, for which he received $250–$300. In a statement in response to the report, Donnelly admitted contacting Radomski in 2004 regarding oxandrolone, hoping it would help him recover from injuries faster. Donnelly denied ever buying or using the drug because he was made aware that it was considered a steroid.

See also
List of Major League Baseball replacement players
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report

References

External links

1971 births
Living people
Major League Baseball pitchers
American League All-Stars
Baseball players from Washington, D.C.
Major League Baseball replacement players
Anaheim Angels players
Los Angeles Angels players
Boston Red Sox players
Cleveland Indians players
Colorado Mesa Mavericks baseball players
Florida Marlins players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Gulf Coast White Sox players
Geneva Cubs players
Ohio Valley Redcoats players
Winston-Salem Warthogs players
Indianapolis Indians players
Charleston AlleyCats players
Chattanooga Lookouts players
Nashua Pride players
Durham Bulls players
Syracuse SkyChiefs players
Altoona Curve players
Iowa Cubs players
Arkansas Travelers players
Salt Lake Stingers players
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players
Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players
Kinston Indians players
Gulf Coast Indians players
Round Rock Express players
Jupiter Hammerheads players

Brendan Donnelly


Medieval townspeople in western Europe during the period of the High Middle Ages needed protection from lawless nobles and bandits. The walled city was protection from direct assault, but once a townsperson left the city walls, he or she was at the mercy of often violent and lawless nobles in the countryside. Because much of medieval Europe lacked central authority to provide protection, such as a police force (to use a modern analogy), each city had to provide its own protection for citizens both inside the city walls, and outside. In order to do this towns formed what are called communes.

Every town had its own commune and no two communes were alike, but at the heart, communes were sworn alliegences of mutual defense. When a commune was formed, all particpitating members gathered and swore an oath together, in public, they would defend each other in time of trouble. In addition they would swear to maintain the peace within the city proper.

What did it mean for a commune member to defend another? Obviously if a commune member was attacked outside the city it was too late to call for help as it would be unlikely anyone would be around in time. Instead the commune would promise to exact revenge on the attacker, the promise of revenge being a form of defense. However, what would happen if the attacker was a noble who had a castle, too strong for the townspeople? This was often the case and certainly the town commune could not gather the people to attack a castle. Instead they might attack the nobles family, or burn his crops, or kill his serfs, or destroy his orchards. It was eye for eye violent revenge.

The commune movement started in the 11th century in northern Italy which had the most urbanized population of Europe at the time, and in what is now Belgium which was also relatively urban at the time. It then spread in the early 12th century to France, Germany, and Spain and elsewhere. England never saw much of the commune movement because it was by comparison a pretty well run kingdom and did not need local protection forces. Although in most cases the development of communes was connected with that of the cities, there were rural communes, notably in France and England, that were formed to protect the common interests of villagers.

The Church and King both had mixed reactions to communes. On the one hand they agreed safety and protection from lawless nobles was in everyones best interest. The communes intention was to keep the peace through the threat of revenge, and the Church was sympathetic to the result of peace. However the Church had their own ways to enforce the peace such as the Peace and Truce of God movement, for example. On the other hand, communes disrupted the order of medieval society. The methods the commune used, eye for an eye, violence begets violence, were generally not acceptable to Church or King. Normally only the noble lords are allowed to fight and the merchant townspeople were the workers, not fighters. There was a sense the communes were a threat to the medieval 3-tiered social order: Those who work, those who pray, those who fight. Communes crossed the line between working and fighting. As such communes were sometimes accepted, and other times not by the Church and King. One of the most famous cases of a commune being suppressed and the resulting defiant urban revolt occurred in the French town of Laon in 1112.

Middle Ages

Medieval commune


The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is a protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and requires parties to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Protocol was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000 and entered into force on 18 January 2002. As of October 2022, 178 states are party to the protocol.

According to the preamble, the protocol is intended to achieve the purposes of certain articles in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, where the rights are defined with the provision that parties should take "appropriate measures" to protect them. Article 1 of the protocol requires parties to protect the rights and interests of child victims of trafficking, child prostitution and child pornography, child labour and especially the worst forms of child labour.

The remaining articles in the protocol outline the standards for international law enforcement covering diverse issues such as jurisdictional factors, extradition, mutual assistance in investigations, criminal or extradition proceedings and seizure and confiscation of assets as well.

It also obliges parties to pass laws within their own territories against these practices "punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature."

Definitions
The Protocol requires parties to prohibit the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Article 2 defines the prohibition:
Sale of children –  Any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group of persons to another for remuneration or any other consideration.
Child prostitution – Use of a child in sexual activities for remuneration or any other form of consideration.
Child pornography – Any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for primarily sexual purposes.

The Convention generally defines a child as any human being under the age of 18, unless an earlier age of majority is recognized by a country's law.

Parties and reservations
List of countries that are parties to the protocol :

Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Andorra; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Colombia; Comoros; Congo; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cuba; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Denmark; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Estonia; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Fiji; Finland; France; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Holy See; Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Malta; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia (Federated States of); Monaco; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nauru; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Norway; Oman; Pakistan; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Poland; Portugal; Qatar; Republic of Ireland; Republic of Korea; Republic of Moldova; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Samoa; San Marino; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Slovakia; Slovenia; Solomon Islands; South Africa; South Sudan; Spain; Sri Lanka; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; State of Palestine; Sudan; Suriname; Sweden; Switzerland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; United Republic of Tanzania; United States of America; Uruguay; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Reservations and territorial application

China
In China's ratification, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was excluded, but the Macao Special Administrative Region was included.

Denmark
On ratification on 24 July 2003, Denmark excluded the territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. This exclusion was withdrawn on 10 October 2016.

Netherlands
Initially the ratification only applied to the European part of the Netherlands. On 17 October 2006, it was extended to Aruba, on 10 October 2010, to the Caribbean part of the Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) and on 20 September 2022 to Curaçao. The convention does not apply to Sint Maarten.

New Zealand
New Zealand's ratification excluded the islands of Tokelau.

Qatar
Qatar added in its signing statement that it was "subject to a general reservation regarding any provisions in the protocol that are in conflict with the Islamic Shariah." Objections to this reservation were registered in the signing statements by Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Qatar withdrew the reservation on 18 June 2008, and currently has no reservations to the Protocol.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom's original ratification was only applicable to the UK and not the Crown dependencies or dependent territories. On 29 April 2014, the Bailiwick of Jersey and on 4 November 2020, Guernsey and Alderney were included.

Vietnam
On ratification, Vietnam included reservations regarding article 5 (1), (2), (3), and (4) of the protocol (which relate to the extradition of those who have offended under the protocol). The reservation were withdrawn on 26 March 2009.

Definitions of child pornography
Belgium and the US have defined child pornography in regards to the protocol as "visual representation of a child engaged in real or simulated sexual activities or of the genitalia of a child where the dominant characteristic is depiction for a sexual purpose".

Denmark and Malaysia's definition in their protocol declarations is "any visual representation".

Sweden has clarified its interpretation of child pornography as applying only to the visual representation of sexual acts with a minor, and not applying to adults acting, posing, or dressing, as a minor.

See also
 Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
 Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

References

External links
 Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (full text)

Child pornography law
Obscenity treaties
Treaties extended to Jersey
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
United Nations treaties
Treaties concluded in 2000
Child labour treaties
Treaties entered into force in 2002
Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
Treaties of the Afghan Transitional Administration
Treaties of Albania
Treaties of Algeria
Treaties of Andorra
Treaties of Angola
Treaties of Argentina
Treaties of Armenia
Treaties of Australia
Treaties of Austria
Treaties of Azerbaijan
Treaties of the Bahamas
Treaties of Bahrain
Treaties of Bangladesh
Treaties of Belarus
Treaties of Belgium
Treaties of Belize
Treaties of Benin
Treaties of Bhutan
Treaties of Bolivia
Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Treaties of Botswana
Treaties of Brazil
Treaties of Bulgaria
Treaties of Burkina Faso
Treaties of Burundi
Treaties of Cambodia
Treaties of Canada
Treaties of Cape Verde
Treaties of Chad
Treaties of Chile
Treaties of the People's Republic of China
Treaties of Colombia
Treaties of the Republic of the Congo
Treaties of Costa Rica
Treaties of Ivory Coast
Treaties of Croatia
Treaties of Cuba
Treaties of Cyprus
Treaties of the Czech Republic
Treaties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Treaties of Denmark
Treaties of Djibouti
Treaties of Dominica
Treaties of Ecuador
Treaties of Egypt
Treaties of El Salvador
Treaties of Eritrea
Treaties of Ethiopia
Treaties of Fiji
Treaties of Finland
Treaties of France
Treaties of Gabon
Treaties of Georgia (country)
Treaties of Germany
Treaties of Greece
Treaties of Grenada
Treaties of Guatemala
Treaties of Guyana
Treaties of Haiti
Treaties of the Holy See
Treaties of Honduras
Treaties of Hungary
Treaties of Iceland
Treaties of India
Treaties of Indonesia
Treaties of Iraq
Treaties of Israel
Treaties of Italy
Treaties of Jamaica
Treaties of Japan
Treaties of Jordan
Treaties of Kazakhstan
Treaties of Kiribati
Treaties of Kuwait
Treaties of Kyrgyzstan
Treaties of Laos
Treaties of Latvia
Treaties of Lesotho
Treaties of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Treaties of Liechtenstein
Treaties of Lithuania
Treaties of Luxembourg
Treaties of Madagascar
Treaties of Malawi
Treaties of Malaysia
Treaties of the Maldives
Treaties of Mali
Treaties of Malta
Treaties of Mauritius
Treaties of Mexico
Treaties of Monaco
Treaties of Mongolia
Treaties of Montenegro
Treaties of Morocco
Treaties of Mozambique
Treaties of Namibia
Treaties of Nepal
Treaties of the Netherlands
Treaties of Nicaragua
Treaties of New Zealand
Treaties of Niger
Treaties of Nigeria
Treaties of North Korea
Treaties of Norway
Treaties of Oman
Treaties of the State of Palestine
Treaties of Panama
Treaties of Paraguay
Treaties of Peru
Treaties of the Philippines
Treaties of Poland
Treaties of Portugal
Treaties of Qatar
Treaties of South Korea
Treaties of South Sudan
Treaties of Moldova
Treaties of Romania
Treaties of Russia
Treaties of Rwanda
Treaties of Saint Lucia
Treaties of Samoa
Treaties of San Marino
Treaties of Saudi Arabia
Treaties of Senegal
Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro
Treaties of Seychelles
Treaties of Sierra Leone
Treaties of Singapore
Treaties of Slovakia
Treaties of Slovenia
Treaties of the Solomon Islands
Treaties of South Africa
Treaties of Spain
Treaties of Sri Lanka
Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011)
Treaties of Eswatini
Treaties of Sweden
Treaties of Switzerland
Treaties of Syria
Treaties of Tajikistan
Treaties of Thailand
Treaties of North Macedonia
Treaties of East Timor
Treaties of Togo
Treaties of Tunisia
Treaties of Turkey
Treaties of Turkmenistan
Treaties of Uganda
Treaties of Ukraine
Treaties of the United Kingdom
Treaties of Tanzania
Treaties of the United Arab Emirates
Treaties of the United States
Treaties of Uruguay
Treaties of Uzbekistan
Treaties of Vanuatu
Treaties of Venezuela
Treaties of Vietnam
Treaties of Yemen
Treaties of Brunei
Treaties of the Central African Republic
Treaties of the Comoros
Treaties of the Dominican Republic
Treaties of Equatorial Guinea
Treaties of the Gambia
Treaties of Guinea
Treaties of Guinea-Bissau
Treaties of Iran
Treaties of Lebanon
Treaties of Mauritania
Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia
Treaties of Myanmar
Treaties of Pakistan
Treaties of Suriname
Treaties of Zimbabwe
Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda
2000 in New York City
Treaties adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolutions
Treaties extended to Aruba
Treaties extended to Curaçao
Treaties extended to Macau
Treaties extended to the Caribbean Netherlands


Harold Clarke Goddard (August 13, 1878 - February 27, 1950) was a professor in the English Department of Swarthmore College.

Biography

Born on August 13, 1878, in Worcester, Massachusetts, he attended Amherst College, graduating in 1900.  He then taught mathematics there for two years.  An interest in literature led him to Columbia University, where he received a PhD in English and comparative literature in 1909.  He taught at Northwestern University from 1904 to 1909.  From 1909 to his retirement in 1946, he was head of the English Department at Swarthmore College.  He died in 1950. Although often believed to be a Quaker, Goddard was never a full member.

He was married to Fanny Whiting Goddard (a native of Worcester as well), and they had two daughters, Eleanor Goddard Worthen and Margaret Goddard Holt.  The entire family was involved in teaching:

Dr. Goddard's peculiar genius lay in the fact that, whatever the book he laid before us, it presently became apparent that we were in fact studying and expanding all our range of possible understanding.  Through the medium of literature he taught philosophy, psychology, and always the pursuit of meaning and the zest for life that great art is.  The whole Goddard family joined in this. It is correct to refer to a seminar with "the Goddards."  The family had an exciting symphonic quality which brought alive the search for meaning and beauty which we were learning to impose upon ourselves.  The same art spirit ran through Eleanor's music, Margaret's painting and Mrs. Goddard's blue delphinium.

Harold Bloom, a professor of humanities at Yale University, wrote this:

Harold Goddard's The Meaning of Shakespeare is a work fully in the tradition of Samuel Johnson, William Hazlitt, and A.C. Bradley.  This superb commentary upon all of Shakespeare's plays has been an inspiration for me for half a century, and I never tire of recommending it passionately to my own students.

The Meaning of Shakespeare is the only book of Dr. Goddard's currently in print. Though it was originally published as a single hardback volume in 1951, The Meaning of Shakespeare is now published in two paperback volumes.  Volume 1 contains this line which is characteristic of the book:  "The greatest poetry has always depicted the world as a little citadel of nobility threatened by an immense barbarism, a flickering candle surrounded by infinite night."

Bibliography

Studies in New England Transcendentalism (1908).  The Columbia University Press.
Morale (1918).  George H. Doran Company.
The Meaning of Shakespeare (1951).  The University of Chicago Press.
Alphabet of the Imagination: Literary Essays of Harold Clarke Goddard (1974).  Humanities Press.

References

1878 births
1950 deaths
American literary critics
Amherst College alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Literary critics of English
Shakespearean scholars
Swarthmore College faculty

Harold Clarke Goddard


Tsetse flies are large biting flies that live in the tropical regions of Africa. They bite vertebrates, and drink their blood. They are the insect vectors of some serious diseases.

They have been studied a lot because they can spread sleeping sickness and other diseases.

The genus Glossina has about 34 species in three groups of species. One group of species lives out on the savannah; another group lives near rivers, and the third group lives in tropical forests.

Life cycle
Tsetse have an unusual life cycle. Female tsetse only fertilize one egg at a time and keep each egg in their uterus while the offspring develops internally during the first larval stages. During this time, the female feeds the developing offspring with a milky substance secreted by a modified gland in the uterus.

In the third larval stage, the tsetse larva finally leave the uterus and  crawl into the ground. There it forms a hard outer shell and becomes the pupa. It completes its metamorphosis into an adult fly. This takes twenty to thirty days, while the larva relies on stored resources.

Normally, insect larvae feed themselves before pupation, but tsetse development (before it emerges as a full adult) occurs without feeding. The development is based only on nutritional resources provided by the female parent, which shows how blood is a rich source of nutrition. The female must get enough energy for her needs, for the needs of her developing offspring, and to store the resources which her offspring will require until it emerges as an adult.

Control of the fly
Before the 20th century, people and their cattle simply did not live in areas infested with tsetse flies. In the 20th century, using pesticides after World War II caused as many problems as it solved. Now more subtle methods are preferred. Tsetse flies can be trapped by using large blue cloths as a lure. Another good method is to release irradiated male flies, which are sterile. Since females mate only once in their lives, that much reduces the population.

Flies

Tsetse fly


Luigi dal Verme (died 1449) was an Italian condottiero.

The son of the condottiero Jacopo dal Verme, initially he followed the latter's campaigns, then fought in the company of Muzio Attendolo in the war against Joan II of Naples. Later he was hired by the Bolognesi and then by the Republic of Venice. He married Luchina Bussone, daughter of condottiero Carmagnola.

After fighting in the war between the Republic of Florence and Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, the latter give him the title of count and several fiefs. In 1437 he returned to Lombardy and, together with Niccolò Piccinino, defended Bellinzona but was defeated at Orzinuovi and Soncino. In 1446, for Visconti, he besieged Cremona with Francesco Piccinino, but was pushed back by Scaramuccia da Forlì's Venetian troops.

Later he was commander-in-chief of the Estensi army. He was defeated at Monte Brianza by Attendolo. When in 1447 the Ambrosian Republic was proclaimed, he joined Francesco Sforza in its defence, contributing to the latter's conquest of Milan. Finished the war, dal Verme obtained by him the confirmation of his fief in Lombardy.

Dal Verme was wounded in the siege of Monza and died soon afterwards, most likely of plague.

See also
Wars in Lombardy

Date of birth unknown
1449 deaths
15th-century condottieri

Luigi dal Verme


The Black Chamber (1919–1929), also known as the Cipher Bureau, was the United States' first peacetime cryptanalytic organization, and a forerunner of the National Security Agency. The only prior codes and cypher organizations maintained by the US government had been some intermittent, and always abandoned, attempts by Armed Forces branches prior to World War I.

History

Headed by Herbert O. Yardley (1889–1958), the Black Chamber was founded in May 1919 following World War I. Yardley had commanded the U.S. Army cryptographic section of Military Intelligence (MI-8) during World War I. MI-8 was disbanded after the war. Jointly funded by the Army and the State Department, the Cipher Bureau was disguised as a New York City commercial code company; it actually produced and sold such codes for business use. Its true mission, however, was to break the communications (chiefly diplomatic) of other nations. During the Washington Naval Conference, it aided American negotiators by providing them with the decrypted traffic of many of the Conference delegations, including the Japanese.

According to intelligence historian James Bamford, the Black Chamber secured the cooperation of American telegraph companies, such as Western Union, in illegally turning over the cable traffic of foreign embassies and consulates in Washington and New York. Eventually, "almost the entire American cable industry" was part of this effort. However, these companies eventually withdrew their support—possibly spurred by the Radio Act of 1927, which broadened criminal offenses related to breaching the confidentiality of telegraph messages.

In 1929, the State Department withdrew its share of the funding, the Army declined to bear the entire load, and the Black Chamber closed down. New Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson made this decision, and years later in his memoirs made the oft-quoted comment: "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." Stimson's ethical reservations about cryptanalysis focused on the targeting of diplomats from America's close allies, not on spying in general. Once he became Secretary of War during World War II, he and the entire US command structure relied heavily on decrypted enemy communications.

In 1931, and in need of money, Yardley wrote a book about the Cipher Bureau, titled The American Black Chamber.

The term "Black Chamber" predates Yardley's use of it in the title of his book. Codes and code breakers have been used throughout history, notably by Sir Francis Walsingham in Elizabethan England. A so-called cabinet noir was established by King Henry IV of France in 1590 as part of the Poste aux Lettres. Its mission was to open, read and reseal letters, and great expertise was developed in the restoration of broken seals. In the knowledge that mail was being opened, correspondents began to develop systems to encrypt and decrypt their letters. The breaking of these codes gave birth to modern systematic scientific code breaking. The Black Chambers survived through to the 20th century  in a variety of guises and inspired similar organisations in other countries, such as the "Secret Office" of the British Post Office and the Admiralty's Room 40 and it is within this historical framework that Yardley uses the term.

It was also used at about that time in Poland (see article on Marian Rejewski).

References

1919 establishments in the United States
Cryptography organizations
Defunct United States intelligence agencies
Government agencies established in 1919

Black Chamber


The $Mexican Peso (sign: $; code: MXN) is the currency, or money, of . The symbol used for the peso is "$", which is the same as for the US dollars it got its symbol from the Spanish-Mexican currency. It is one of the most traded currencies in the world. The current ISO 4217 code for the peso is MXN; before its value was changed in 1993, the code MXP was used. The peso is made up of 100 centavos, represented by "¢". The name comes from the Spanish words pesos oro (gold weights) or pesos plata (silver weights). The meaning of peso in English is weight.

Currency of North America
Economy of Mexico

Mexican peso


The black turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) is a species of small wading bird. It is one of two species of turnstone in the genus Arenaria the ruddy turnstone (A. interpres) being the other. It is now classified in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae, but was formerly sometimes placed in the plover family, Charadriidae. It is native to the west coast of North America and breeds only in Alaska.

Description

It is 22–25 centimeters long and weighs 100–170 grams. The black bill is 20–27 millimeters long and slightly upturned. The legs and feet are blackish-brown with a reddish tinge. The bird is largely black and white in appearance. Breeding-plumaged adults have a black head and breast apart from a white spot between the eye and bill, a white stripe over the eye and white flecks on the sides of the breast. The upperparts are blackish-brown with pale fringes to the wing-coverts and scapular feathers. The belly and vent are white. In flight it shows a white wingbar, white shoulder patch and white tail with a broad black band across it. There is white from the lower back to the uppertail-coverts apart from a dark bar across the rump.

In winter the head and breast become largely dark brown with little white. Juveniles are similar to winter adults but browner with buff fringes to the wing-coverts and scapulars and a grey-brown tip to the tail.

The ruddy turnstone is similar but has rufous-brown markings on the upperparts and more white on the head and breast, particularly in breeding plumage. It has narrower wings and a narrower white wingbar. Its legs are orange and brighter than those of the black turnstone though there can be some overlap.

The black turnstone has a variety of calls, especially a rattling trill which can be heard throughout the year. This call is higher and less harsh than the similar call of the ruddy turnstone. Other calls include a loud, screeching alarm call and a soft, purring call uttered to young chicks. Displaying males produce a long series of staccato notes in flight as well as chirruping trills on the ground.

Distribution
It breeds in western Alaska from the Alaska Peninsula in the south to Point Hope in the north. The bulk of the population nests in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. It usually nests near the coast but in some areas it occurs further inland along the shores of rivers and lakes. There are a handful of records from north-east Siberia but there has been no sign of breeding there. The world population is estimated at 95,000 birds with about 80,000 of these in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

It winters on rocky shores along the Pacific coast of North America from southern Alaska southwards as far as north-west Mexico where it occurs in Baja California and Sonora with a single record from Nayarit. It is very occasionally seen inland during spring and fall migration; there are a number of records from the Salton Sea in southern California and scattered sightings from inland US states including Montana, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona. Vagrant birds have been recorded from Yukon and the Northwest Territories and there is one record from San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos Islands.

Ecology

It feeds mainly on invertebrates, particularly crustaceans and mollusks in winter and insects during the breeding season. Seeds, eggs and carrion are also taken. At the breeding grounds it mainly feeds in wet meadows with sedges. In winter, its typical habitat is rocky coasts but it also feeds on beaches, mudflats and man-made structures such as jetties and breakwaters. It uses its bill to turn over stones, algal mats and other objects to get at prey hidden beneath.

It arrives on its breeding ground from early May to early June with the males arriving first. The birds often return to the same territory and pair with the same mate as previous years. The nest is a scrape dug mainly by the male. It is usually located amongst sedges or grasses or under willows. Four eggs are usually laid; they are olive or pale greenish with darker spots. The eggs are incubated for 21–24 days by both parents. The young birds are precocial and are able to leave the nest and feed themselves soon after hatching. They are able to fly well after 25–34 days.

Footnotes

References
Handel, C. M., and R. E. Gill (2001). Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala). In The Birds of North America, No. 585 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Accessed 20/09/07. [subscription required]
Rosair, David & Cottridge, David (1995) Hamlyn Photographic Guide to the Waders of the World. Hamlyn, London.

External links

Black turnstone flashcard eNature.com

Sandpipers
Birds of the Arctic
Native birds of Alaska
Birds described in 1829
Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors

Black turnstone


Gustav Leonhardt (born 's-Graveland, Netherlands, 30 May 1928, died Amsterdam, 16 January 2012) was a famous Dutch harpsichordist, organist and conductor who became well known for playing music from historical periods on period instruments. At the beginning of his career the harpsichord was not yet a popular instrument and music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods was usually played in the same way as music from later centuries. Gustav Leonhardt made his audiences aware of what music by Johann Sebastian Bach would have sounded like in Bach's day.

Life

Gustav Leonhardt was born into a Dutch, Protestant family who lived in the countryside. His Protestantism was an important part of his life. His father was a wealthy business man. His parents were both very keen amateur musicians. When Gustav was ten they bought a harpsichord. When World War II broke out life was hard in the country and Leonhardt often had to hide under the floorboards so that he was not sent away to slave labour. When he was not hiding he spent a lot of time practising the harpsichord.

Gustav Leonhardt studied organ and harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum in Basel. At that time this was the only place in Europe where it was possible to study how to play early music. He went to Vienna to study conducting because his parents thought that being a conductor was a good way to earn a lot of money. However, Gustav was never very keen on conducting and he spent all his time there in the library studying music scores and copying music out. Most of this music had never been published and had not been performed since the time it was composed.

In 1952 he became professor of harpischord at the Vienna Hochschule fur Musik. He met Nikolaus Harnoncourt who had similar interests to his. He soon became professor of harpsichord at the Amsterdam Conservatorium and remained there until 1988. He was also organist at the Waalse Kerk, Amsterdam. This church has a very famous historical organ. He became well known for his harpsichord concerts and recordings. He led the Leonhardt Baroque Ensemble with the English counter-tenor Alfred Deller with whom he made one of the first recordings of some Bach cantatas. The ensemble included his wife Marie, as well as Nikolaus Harnoncourt who played the cello. Together with Harnoncourt he conducted and recorded all Bach's cantatas.

Leonhardt lived in a big 16th century house facing one of the canals in the centre of Amsterdam. He looked very serious on the concert platform, but he had a sense of humour and occasionally played a bit of ragtime at the end of a recital.

Leonhardt died in Amsterdam on 16 January 2012.

References

Other websites

short biography at www.bach-cantatas.com
http://www.earlymusicworld.com/id2.html

1928 births
2012 deaths
Dutch Calvinists
Dutch conductors
Dutch educators
Dutch organists
Harpsichordists
Musicians from North Holland
Performers of early music

Gustav Leonhardt


Robert Howell Brooks (February 6, 1937 – July 16, 2006) was founder of Naturally Fresh, Inc. in 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia. He helped create the Hooters of America, Inc. restaurant chain that would eventually drive that company's rapid expansion in the mid–late 1990s.

Early life and career
Born in Loris, South Carolina (near the Myrtle Beach area), Brooks grew up on a tobacco farm. A 1960 dairy science graduate of Clemson University, Brooks spent time in the United States Army before founding Naturally Fresh Foods, a condiment and salad dressing manufacturer in the Atlanta area, in 1967.. He was raised as Methodist.

Involvement with Hooters

In 1984, Brooks bought the expansion and franchise rights for Hooters from Lynn D. Stewart and his five minority partners. Brooks founded Hooters America, Inc., along with a group of investors. He eventually got majority control and chairmanship of the entire organization. Under Brooks' leadership, Hooters expanded from half a dozen restaurants (in and around Clearwater, Florida) in the mid-1980s; to over 430 stores worldwide (including Taiwan, Venezuela, and Switzerland).

The company also included Hooters Air, an airline that ran from 2004 to 2006; the Hooters Pro Cup (auto racing); the Hooters Pro Tour (golf); the Hooters Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, which opened in February 2006; and the Hooters MasterCard, which debuted in March 2006.

Brooks purchased the Hooters trademark from the company's founders in 2001. He turned over control of the company to his son, Coby, in 2003; and retired to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Brooks would still come up and visit the Atlanta headquarters on a weekly basis, though. Even after his retirement from Hooters, he was still affectionately known as the "World Wide Wing Commander" by company employees.

Awards
Brooks was named Georgia Entrepreneur of the Year in 1996.

Donations to South Carolina universities
Brooks was a major donor to universities in South Carolina. The Robert H. Brooks Performing Arts Center at Clemson, completed during the 1993-94 school year, was named in his honor following a large donation. He also donated $2 million to Coastal Carolina University (Conway, SC) in 2003 to create their first football stadium which the university named Brooks Stadium in his children's honor. He also created the Brooks Motorsports Institute (now Brooks Institute for Sports Science), the first of its kind in the US, at Clemson University about the study of the motorsports industry in the US.

Death
Brooks died in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on July 16, 2006, of a cerebral aneurysm.
The eldest son from his first marriage, Mark, was killed in an April 1, 1993, plane crash with 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, Alan Kulwicki. Younger son Coby Brooks became President and CEO of Hooters, Inc. and Naturally Fresh, Inc., but left Hooters after the sale of the company in 2011.

Tributes to Brooks
Following the announcement of Brooks' death on July 17, 2006, the main page of the Hooters website changed their sign to "Farewell World Wide Wing Commander" that ran from July 17, 2006, to September 10, 2006. A tribute was also done in the July 31, 2006, comic strip Prickly City.

The 2007 Hooters swimsuit calendar was also dedicated in his memory.

Notes

References

Clemson University news on Robert H. Brooks
Cooper, Pat. "Robert H. Brooks". HOOTERS Magazine. February/ March 2008. p. 91.
Hooters news on Robert H. Brooks
MSNBC article on Robert H. Brooks
New York Times article on Brooks' death.
New York Times article on Brooks' faith

1937 births
2006 deaths
People from Loris, South Carolina
American motorsport people
Auto racing executives
Clemson University alumni
American restaurateurs
United States Army soldiers
Hooters people
Businesspeople from Atlanta
American food company founders
20th-century American businesspeople
21st-century American businesspeople
American United Methodists
20th-century Methodists

Robert H. Brooks


The active zone or synaptic active zone is a term first used by Couteaux and Pecot-Dechavassinein in 1970 to define the site of neurotransmitter release. Two neurons make near contact through structures called synapses allowing them to communicate with each other.  As shown in the adjacent diagram, a synapse consists of the presynaptic bouton of one neuron which stores vesicles containing neurotransmitter (uppermost in the picture), and a second, postsynaptic neuron which bears receptors for the neurotransmitter (at the bottom), together with a gap between the two called the synaptic cleft (with synaptic adhesion molecules, SAMs, holding the two together).  When an action potential reaches the presynaptic bouton, the contents of the vesicles are released into the synaptic cleft and the released neurotransmitter travels across the cleft to the postsynaptic neuron (the lower structure in the picture) and activates the receptors on the postsynaptic membrane.

The active zone is the region in the presynaptic bouton that mediates neurotransmitter release and is composed of the presynaptic membrane and a dense collection of proteins called the cytomatrix at the active zone (CAZ).  The CAZ is seen under the electron microscope to be a dark (electron dense) area close to the membrane.  Proteins within the CAZ tether synaptic vesicles to the presynaptic membrane and mediate synaptic vesicle fusion, thereby allowing neurotransmitter to be released reliably and rapidly when an action potential arrives.

Function
The function of the active zone is to ensure that neurotransmitters can be reliably released in a specific location of a neuron and only released when the neuron fires an action potential.
As an action potential propagates down an axon it reaches the axon terminal called the presynaptic bouton.  In the presynaptic bouton, the action potential activates calcium channels (VDCCs) that cause a local influx of calcium.  The increase in calcium is detected by proteins in the active zone and forces vesicles containing neurotransmitter to fuse with the membrane.  This fusion of the vesicles with the membrane releases the neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft (space between the presynaptic bouton and the postsynaptic membrane).  The neurotransmitters then diffuse across the cleft and bind to ligand gated ion channels and G-protein coupled receptors on the postsynaptic membrane.  The binding of neurotransmitters to the postsynaptic receptors then induces a change in the postsynaptic neuron.  The process of releasing neurotransmitters and binding to the postsynaptic receptors to cause a change in the postsynaptic neuron is called neurotransmission.

Structure

The active zone is present in all chemical synapses examined so far and is present in all animal species.  The active zones examined so far have at least two features in common, they all have protein dense material that project from the membrane and tethers synaptic vesicles close to the membrane and they have long filamentous projections originating at the membrane and terminating at vesicles slightly farther from the presynaptic membrane.  The protein dense projections vary in size and shape depending on the type of synapse examined.  One striking example of the dense projection is the ribbon synapse (see below) which contains a "ribbon" of protein dense material that is surrounded by a halo of synaptic vesicles and extends perpendicular to the presynaptic membrane and can be as long as 500 nm.  The glutamate synapse contains smaller pyramid like structures that extend about 50 nm from the membrane.  The neuromuscular synapse contains two rows of vesicles with a long proteinaceous band between them that is connected to regularly spaced horizontal ribs extending perpendicular to the band and parallel with the membrane.  These ribs are then connected to the vesicles which are each positioned above a peg in the membrane (presumably a calcium channel). Previous research indicated that the active zone of glutamatergic neurons contained a highly regular array of pyramid shaped protein dense material and  indicated that these pyramids were connected by filaments.  This structure resembled a geometric lattice where vesicles were guided into holes of the lattice.  This attractive model has come into question by recent experiments.  Recent data shows that the glutamatergic active zone does contain the dense protein material projections but these projections were not in a regular array and contained long filaments projecting about 80 nm into the cytoplasm.

There are at least five major scaffold proteins that are enriched in the active zone; UNC13B/Munc13, RIMS1 (Rab3-interacting molecule), Bassoon, Piccolo/aczonin, ELKS, and liprins-α.  These scaffold proteins are thought to be the constituents of the dense pyramid like structures of the active zone and are thought to bring the synaptic vesicles into close proximity to the presynaptic membrane and the calcium channels.  The protein ELKS binds to the cell adhesion protein, β-neurexin, and other proteins within the complex such as Piccolo and Bassoon. β-neurexin then binds to cell adhesion molecule, neuroligin located on the postsynaptic membrane.  Neuroligin then interacts with proteins that bind to postsynaptic receptors.  Protein interactions like that seen between Piccolo/ELKS/β-neurexin/neuroligin ensures that machinery that mediates vesicle fusion is in close proximity to calcium channels and that vesicle fusion is adjacent to postsynaptic receptors.  This close proximity vesicle fusion and postsynaptic receptors ensures that there is little delay between the activation of the postsynaptic receptors and the release of neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitter release mechanism

The release of neurotransmitter is accomplished by the fusion of neurotransmitter vesicles to the presynaptic membrane.  Although the details of this mechanism are still being studied there is a consensus on some details of the process.  Synaptic vesicle fusion with the presynaptic membrane is known to require a local increase of calcium from as few as a single, closely associated calcium channels  and the formation of highly stable SNARE complexes.  One prevailing model of synaptic vesicle fusion is that SNARE complex formation is catalyzed by the proteins of the active zone such as Munc18, Munc13, and RIM.  The formation of this complex is thought to "prime" the vesicle to be ready for vesicle fusion and release of neurotransmitter (see below: releasable pool).  After the vesicle is primed then complexin binds to the SNARE complex this is called "superprimed".  The vesicles that are superprimed are within the readily releasable pool (see below) and are ready to be rapidly released.  The arrival of an action potential opens voltage gated calcium channels near the SNARE/complexin complex.  Calcium then binds to change the conformation of synaptotagmin.  This change in conformation of allows synaptotagmin to then dislodge complexin, bind to the SNARE complex, and bind to the target membrane.  When synaptotagmin binds to both the SNARE complex and the membrane this induces a mechanical force on the membrane so that it causes the vesicle membrane and presynaptic membrane to fuse.  This fusion opens a membrane pore that releases the neurotransmitter.  The pore increases in size until the entire vesicle membrane is indistinguishable from the presynaptic membrane.

Synaptic vesicle cycle

The presynaptic bouton has an efficiently orchestrated process to fuse vesicles to the presynaptic membrane to release neurotransmitters and regenerate neurotransmitter vesicles. This process called the synaptic vesicle cycle maintains the number of vesicles in the presynaptic bouton and allows the synaptic terminal to be an autonomous unit.  The cycle begins with (1) a region of the golgi apparatus is pinched off to form the synaptic vesicle and this vesicle is transported to the synaptic terminal.  At the terminal (2) the vesicle is filled with neurotransmitter.  (3) The vesicle is transported to the active zone and docked in close proximity to the plasma membrane.  (4) During an action potential the vesicle is fused with the membrane, releases the neurotransmitter and allows the membrane proteins previously on the vesicle to diffuse to the periactive zone.  (5) In the periactive zone the membrane proteins are sequestered and are endocytosed forming a clathrin coated vesicle. (6) The vesicle is then filled with neurotransmitter and is then transported back to the active zone.

The endocytosis mechanism is slower than the exocytosis mechanism.  This means that in intense activity the vesicle in the terminal can become depleted and no longer available to be released.  To help prevent the depletion of synaptic vesicles the increase in calcium during intense activity can activate calcineurin which dephosphorylate proteins involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

Vesicle pools
The synapse contains at least two clusters of synaptic vesicles, the readily releasable pool and the reserve pool.  The readily releasable pool is located within the active zone and connected directly to the presynaptic membrane while the reserve pool is clustered by cytoskeletal and is not directly connected to the active zone.

Releasable pool
The releasable pool is located in the active zone and is bound directly to the presynaptic membrane.  It is stabilized by proteins within the active zone and bound to the presynaptic membrane by SNARE proteins.  These vesicles are ready to release by a single action potential and are replenished by vesicles from the reserve pool.  The releasable pool is sometimes subdivided into the readily releasable pool and the releasable pool.

Reserve pool
The reserve pool is not directly connected to the active zone.  The increase in presynaptic calcium concentration activates calcium–calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK).  CaMK phosphorylates a protein, synapsin, that mediates the clustering of the reserve pool vesicles and attachment to the cytoskeleton.  Phosphorylation of synapsin mobilizes vesicles in the reserve pool and allows them to migrate to the active zone and replenish the readily releasable pool.

Periactive zone
The periactive zone surrounds the active zone and is the site of endocytosis of the presynaptic terminal.  In the periactive zone, scaffolding proteins such as intersectin 1 recruit proteins that mediate endocytosis such as dynamin, clathrin and endophilin.  In Drosophila the intersectin homolog, Dap160,  is located in the periactive zone of the neuromuscular junction and mutant Dap160 deplete synaptic vesicles during high frequency stimulation.

Ribbon synapse active zone

The ribbon synapse is a special type of synapse found in sensory neurons such as photoreceptor cells, retinal bipolar cells, and hair cells.  Ribbon synapses contain a dense protein structure that tethers an array of vesicles perpendicular to the presynaptic membrane.  In an electron micrograph it appears as a ribbon like structure perpendicular to the membrane. Unlike the 'traditional' synapse, ribbon synapses can maintain a graded release of vesicles.  In other words, the more depolarized a neuron the higher the rate of vesicle fusion.  The Ribbon synapse active zone is separated into two regions, the archiform density and the ribbon.  The archiform density is the site of vesicle fusion and the ribbon stores the releasable pool of vesicles. The ribbon structure is composed primarily of the protein RIBEYE, about 64–69% of the ribbon volume, and is tethered to the archiform density by scaffolding proteins such as Bassoon.

Proteins

Measuring neurotransmitter release

Neurotransmitter release can be measured by determining the amplitude of the postsynaptic potential after triggering an action potential in the presynaptic neuron.  Measuring neurotransmitter release this way can be problematic because the effect of the postsynaptic neuron to the same amount of released neurotransmitter can change over time.  Another way is to measure vesicle fusion with the presynaptic membrane directly using a patch pipette.  A cell membrane can be thought of as a capacitor in that positive and negative ions are stored on both sides of the membrane.  The larger the area of membrane the more ions that are necessary to hold the membrane at a certain potential.  In electrophysiology this means that a current injection into the terminal will take less time to charge a membrane to a given potential before vesicle fusion than it will after vesicle fusion.  The time course to charge the membrane to a potential and the resistance of the membrane is measured and with these values the capacitance of the membrane can be calculated by the equation Tau/Resistance=Capacitance.  With this technique researchers can measure synaptic vesicle release directly by measuring increases in the membrane capacitance of the presynaptic terminal.

See also

Paired pulse facilitation
Postsynaptic density

References

Neurophysiology
Cellular neuroscience
Cell signaling
Signal transduction
Molecular neuroscience

Active zone