Doctor Doctor is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS. It began a short run in June 1989, and was picked up for a full season the following fall. A second season followed in 1989–1990, but the show was cancelled at the end of the 1990–1991 television season, due to low ratings. One episode, "Long Day's Journey Into Deirdre", remains unaired in the United States (although it was aired as part of series runs in Australia and Great Britain).

Synopsis
The show features Matt Frewer as Dr. Mike Stratford, a partner in the medical practice Northeast Medical Partners in Providence, Rhode Island. Most of the comedy surrounds Dr. Stratford's zany antics, tempered by his commitment to his profession and his patients. Though at first serving as "straight men" for Frewer's manic style of comic acting, the other characters gained more depth as the series progressed, and the plots sometimes focused on issues such as AIDS, breast cancer, and homophobia.

Episodes

Characters

Main
Mike Stratford (Matt Frewer): General practitioner, novelist, and TV medical expert, Mike is devoted to his patients, sometimes offering his services for free, much to the consternation of his partners in the practice. His many responsibilities sometimes plays havoc with his love life, as is exemplified in the pilot episode where his unhappy girlfriend has to resort to making a doctor's appointment to see him. The least willing to "maximize the practice," as Grant once suggested, Mike's greatest ambition is to be like Marcus Welby, M.D.

Abraham (Abe) Butterfield (Julius J. Carry III): Mike's best friend and medical partner, an uptight, ambitious African-American who is anxious to have the "perfect life," leading him to become at times overly controlling with his wife and son. Though at times exasperated by Mike's endless pranks and off-the-wall comments, Abe is usually the first to go out on a limb for his friend.

Grant Linowitz (Beau Gravitte): Accomplished, ambitious heart surgeon and the medical partner with whom Mike initially disagrees with the most, Grant is at times egocentric, vain and shallow with a taste for the finer things in life, though these qualities are later downplayed somewhat as the series progressed. He becomes a good friend of Mike's brother Richard.

Deirdre Bennett (Maureen Mueller): The medical partner who comes off as aloof, or as she puts it, "a complete bitch," and is not above exploiting a situation for her own benefit. However, she is very protective of her patients and her partners, especially Mike. Deirdre also has a weakness for the wrong men, like her married lover Steve. At one point, prior to current events in the show, she had one tryst with Mike.

Richard Stratford (Tony Carreiro): Mike's brother, and an English professor ("I'm an Associate Professor at a liberal arts college - they pay me in brie"), he shares a house with Mike. Having come out as gay, Richard maintains a close relationship with his brother, though Mike can't resist a good-natured jibe or two at his brother's expense.

Leona Linowitz (Anne Ramsay): Psychiatrist and Grant's sister, Leona appears in the final season when she moves to Rhode Island with her daughter after her ex-husband writes a hit play which features a character based on her known only as "The Domineering Bitch"

Elizabeth McQueen (Jane Brucker): Mike's sometime girlfriend, and television producer of "Wake Up Providence," Elizabeth tries to keep the show together as Mike presents one wacky medical segment after another. She leaves for New York after the episode, "Bachelor Doctor."

Nurse Faye Barylski (Audrie J. Neenan): Oversexed head nurse at the practice, Faye is nonplussed by Mike's jokes and strange antics, and has a fondness for The Grateful Dead and bikers like her boyfriend Dana.

Recurring
Hugh Persons (Brian George): Host of Wake Up Providence, a snobby blowhard and know-it-all, Hugh has a tendency to critique plays and novels without having any exposure to the material. He's constantly at odds with Mike during his segments, as it sometimes leads to on-air humiliation. It is later revealed that he is gay and HIV-positive, and he subsequently becomes a patient of Deirdre's.

Pia Bismark (Sarah Abrell): Alternate host of Wake Up Providence, though at times frazzled by Mike's stunts, Pia is far more congenial and easygoing.

Dr. Harold Stratford (Dakin Matthews): Father to Mike and Richard, husband to Connie, Harold is a stuffy, well-established heart surgeon who disapproves of Mike's choice to be a general practitioner of medicine, as well as Richard's sexual orientation.

Connie Stratford (Inga Swenson): Mother to Mike and Richard, wife to Harold, an excellent nurse, Connie longs to return to her profession, even to the point where she works briefly with Mike as his nurse. Unfazed by Mike's goofy nature, she usually responds in kind, and is far more accepting of her son Richard being gay.

Backstory

Coming from a family of medical professionals, Mike Stratford first befriended Abe Butterfield while attending Harvard Medical School. Aware of his need for a study group, Abe invited Mike to join his, where Mike met Grant Linowitz, Deirdre Bennett, and Peter Balcovske. At first, Mike got off to a bad start with the group with his apparent lack of preparation, and nervous habit of clowning around. Mike's medical skill was soon made evident when he quickly came to the aid of Belkovske, the study group leader, who was having an epileptic attack and eventually dropped out of medical school.

Wanting to avoid the pitfalls of working in HMOs, the four decided to start a practice together after graduation. This decision initially led to conflicts as Mike's approach to medicine conflicted with his partners', particularly Grant's. The conflicts increased as he started a promotional campaign for his first novel, Panacea, and began doing medical segments for the local morning news show Wake Up, Providence.

Mike made his first appearance on Wake Up, Providence only to promote his new novel. He soon found himself bickering with host Hugh Persons during the live broadcast as it was plain to see that Hugh was attempting to fake his critique when he had never read the book. Producer Elizabeth McQueen liked his style (and that someone finally took the pompous host down a peg or two), and offered him a spot on the show.
Though Mike tries to cover serious medical issues in his segments on "Wake Up Providence," they usually devolve into unplanned lunacy, which only endears him more to his viewers, and even raises the show's ratings, much to Hugh's dismay.
Elizabeth: The kids at the hospital love you. They call you Dr. Doofus.
Hugh: [amused] "Dr. Doofus!" Children have such insight.

After Elizabeth's departure from the show, Mike finds himself fending off requests to do "disease of the week" pieces, or even to promote products such as a "Miracle Slimming Supplement".

Production
The crew list includes Peter Bonerz and James Widdoes.

The music for the opening titles was the rock and roll song "Good Lovin'", written by Ahmet Ertegün, Leroy Kirkland, Jesse Stone, and Danny Taylor. It begins with the bass vocal singing "D-D-D-D-Doctor, Doctor, D-D-D-D-Doc."

Awards and nominations

External links

1989 American television series debuts
1991 American television series endings
1980s American medical television series
1990s American medical television series
1980s American workplace comedy television series
1990s American workplace comedy television series
1980s American sitcoms
1990s American sitcoms
1980s American LGBT-related comedy television series
English-language television shows
Television series by Fremantle (company)
Television series by Sony Pictures Television
Television shows set in Rhode Island
CBS original programming
1990s American LGBT-related comedy television series
American LGBT-related sitcoms
1980s LGBT-related sitcoms
1990s LGBT-related sitcoms

Doctor Doctor (American TV series)


A sound card (or audio card) is the part of the computer hardware that controls the input and output of the sound signals. A sound card is what is known as an expansion card. This means that the card can be added to the motherboard.

Nowadays, most of the audio cards are integrated with the motherboard. That means they are built into a mainboard and can not be removed. In other words, it is not an expansion card anymore. They only offer line-in, speaker, and microphone connections. For most users this is enough. When thinking of computer architecture, the integrated circuit sound cards occupy less space and thus became very popular and practical, especially for laptop computers. For more features like MIDI ports for connection of musical instruments and low latency requirements (so that the sound does not come distorted under heavy system usage) sound cards as expansion cards can be used. Modern expansion sound cards use the PCI computer bus standard. Earlier sound cards used the ISA computer bus, which was half-duplex, so the sound cards could not record and play simultaneously.

Input and output signals
What we hear in speakers is an analog (current, voltage or electric charge) output of the signal. For example, stored on a hard disk digital code is transferred under a control of some application (for example Winamp) to the sound card. Up in there, a special chip, called digital-to-analog converter, changes the binary code into the analog sound. Afterwards, signal is sent to a jack (in modern audio cards it has the green color) where the speakers are connected. The result is a nice waveform of our favorite digital medium, e.g. an mp3.

A typical sound input device is a microphone, connected to the red/pink jack socket. The sound wave is digitized and then it may be stored as a file using data compression algorithms which make the file smaller. Of course all of this is done under the control of some software.

Computer hardware

Sound card


Pygmalion was a sculptor who lived in Cyprus. Women who lived on Cyprus didn't stay virtuous, so Pygmalion decided to live alone and made a perfect sculpture, Galatea. During the Aphrodite feast, thanks to Pygmalion`s prayers, the sculpture turned into a real person. This was called The Pygmalion effect.

The Pygmalion effect shows that if we want something enough, we'll get it. It is named after the scholar who demonstrated it. It is also called "Rosenthal Effect" and is quoted when we refer to The power of affirmation and The power of praise.

Another example of the Pygmalion effect is in groups. If there are two groups, one group thought that their teacher was "good", the other group thought he was "not good". The teacher treated both groups the same, but the group with a positive expectations had better outcomes than the others; Simply because those with positive expectations made them perform better than other students.

The Pygmalion effect is also an important instrument in management theory. It makes managers be aware, that the success of their employees depends not only on qualification, personal qualities or working environment. Manager always has to believe in his people and expect them to achieve the best results. In such case the subordinates will always feel this trust and demonstrate their best skills and abilities in their work.

Psychology

Pygmalion effect


A flame is the visible part of a fire. It gives light and heat. It is the result of an exothermic reaction. The color and temperature of a flame depend on the type of fuel that is used to make the fire. A blue or white flame is often very hot, while a red, orange, or yellow flame is less hot.

Related pages
 Eternal flame
 Fire

Fire

Flame


In the United States government, independent agencies are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by a Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President. In a narrower sense, the term refers only to those independent agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch, have regulatory or rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.

Established through separate statutes passed by the Congress, each respective statutory grant of authority defines the goals the agency must work towards, as well as what substantive areas, if any, over which it may have the power of rulemaking. These agency rules (or regulations), when in force, have the power of federal law.

Executive and regulatory agencies
Independent agencies exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by a Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President. There is a further distinction between independent executive agencies and independent regulatory agencies, which have been assigned rulemaking responsibilities or authorities by Congress. The Paperwork Reduction Act lists 19 enumerated "independent regulatory agencies", such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Generally, the heads of independent regulatory agencies can only be removed for cause, but Cabinet members and heads of independent executive agencies, such as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, serve "at the pleasure of the president" and can be removed without cause.

The degree to which the President has the power to use executive orders to set policy for independent executive agencies is disputed. Many orders specifically exempt independent agencies, but some do not. Executive Order 12866 has been a particular matter of controversy; it requires cost-benefit analysis for certain regulatory actions.

In a narrower sense, the term independent agency refers only to these independent regulatory agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch, have rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited.

Structure of regulatory agencies
Independent agencies can be distinguished from the federal executive departments and other executive agencies by their structural and functional characteristics. Their officers can be protected from removal by the president, they can be controlled by a board that cannot be appointed all at once, and the board can be required to be bipartisan.

Presidential attempts to remove independent agency officials have generated most of the important Supreme Court legal opinions in this area. In 1935, the Supreme Court in the case of Humphrey's Executor v. United States decided that although the president had the power to remove officials from agencies that were "an arm or an eye of the executive", it upheld statutory limitations on the president's power to remove officers of administrative bodies that performed quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial functions, such as the Federal Trade Commission. Presidents normally do have the authority to remove regular executive agency heads at will, but they must meet the statutory requirements for removal of commissioners of independent agencies, such as demonstrating incapacity, neglect of duty, malfeasance, or other good cause.

While most executive agencies have a single director, administrator, or secretary appointed by the president of the United States, independent agencies (in the narrower sense of being outside presidential control) almost always have a commission, board, or similar collegial body consisting of five to seven members who share power over the agency. (This is why many independent agencies include the word "Commission" or "Board" in their name.) The president appoints the commissioners or board members, subject to Senate confirmation, but they often serve terms that are staggered and longer than a four-year presidential term, meaning that most presidents will not have the opportunity to appoint all the commissioners of a given independent agency. In addition, most independent agencies have a statutory requirement of bipartisan membership on the commission, so the president cannot simply fill vacancies with members of his own political party. The president can normally designate which commissioner will serve as the chairperson.

Congress can designate certain agencies explicitly as "independent" in the governing statute, but the functional differences have more legal significance. In reality, the high turnover rate among these commissioners or board members means that most presidents have the opportunity to fill enough vacancies to constitute a voting majority on each independent agency commission within the first two years of the first term as president. In some famous instances, presidents have found the independent agencies more loyal and in lockstep with the president's wishes and policy objectives than some dissenters among the executive agency political appointments.

Although Congress can pass statutes limiting the circumstances under which the president can remove commissioners of independent agencies, if the independent agency exercises any executive powers like enforcement, and most of them do, Congress cannot reserve removal power over executive officers to itself. Constitutionally, Congress can only remove officers through impeachment proceedings. Members of Congress cannot serve as commissioners on independent agencies that have executive powers, nor can Congress itself appoint the commissioners – the Appointments Clause of the Constitution vests that power in the president. The Senate does participate, however, in appointments through "advice and consent", which occurs through confirmation hearings and votes on the president's nominees.

Examples of independent agencies
These agencies are not represented in the cabinet and are not part of the Executive Office of the president:
 Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is a passenger railroad service that provides intercity service throughout the contiguous United States and parts of Canada.
 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gathers foreign intelligence and provides national security assessments to policymakers in the United States. It acts as the primary human intelligence provider for the federal government. It is one of the principal members of the Intelligence Community, which is overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which is itself an independent agency.
 The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), investigates industrial and chemical accidents and safety hazards.
 The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulates commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency protects market participants against manipulation, abusive trade practices, and fraud. Through oversight and regulation, the CFTC enables the markets to serve better their important functions in the US economy, providing a mechanism for price discovery and a means of offsetting price risk.
 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. Its jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors, other financial companies in the United States.
 The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was formed in 2002 to serve as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. It is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment. It is also charged with developing and maintaining a national mail voter registration form.
 The Export-Import Bank of the United States (U.S. Ex-Im Bank) is the official export credit agency (ECA) of the United States federal government. Operating as a wholly owned federal government corporation, the bank "assists in financing and facilitating U.S. exports of goods and services", particularly when private sector lenders are unable or unwilling to provide financing.
 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) works with state and local governments throughout the United States to control and abate environmental pollution and to address problems related to solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances. The EPA sets and enforces standards for air, soil and water quality, evaluates the impact of pesticides and chemical substances, and manages the Superfund program for cleaning toxic waste sites.
 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. It licenses radio and television broadcast stations, assigns radio frequencies, and enforces regulations designed to ensure that cable rates are reasonable. The FCC regulates common carriers, such as telephone and telegraph companies, as well as wireless telecommunications service providers.
 The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides deposit insurance to depositors in U.S. commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was created by the 1933 Banking Act, enacted during the Great Depression to restore trust in the American banking system. Member banks' insurance dues are the primary source of funding.
 The Federal Election Commission (FEC) oversees campaign financing for all federal elections. The commission oversees election rules as well as reporting of campaign contributions by the candidates.
 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency with jurisdiction over interstate electricity sales, wholesale electric rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pricing, and oil pipeline rates. FERC also reviews and authorizes liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, interstate natural gas pipelines, and non-federal hydropower projects.
 The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 11 Federal Home Loan Banks.
 The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulates the international ocean transportation of the United States. It is charged with ensuring a competitive and efficient ocean transportation system.

 The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) created in 1947, is an independent agency whose mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace and cooperation. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with six Regions comprising more than 60 Field and Home Offices, the agency provides mediation and conflict resolution services to industry, government agencies and communities.
 The Federal Reserve System (often called "the Fed"), is the central bank of the United States. It conducts the nation's monetary policy by influencing the volume of credit and money in circulation. The Federal Reserve regulates private banking institutions, works to contain systemic risk in financial markets, and provides certain financial services to the federal government, the public, and financial institutions.
 The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) is one of the smaller Executive Branch agencies, with just over 100 employees. It was established to administer the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which provides federal employees the opportunity to save for additional retirement security. The Thrift Savings Plan is a tax-deferred defined contribution plan similar to a private sector 401(k) plan.
 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws by investigating complaints against individual companies initiated by consumers, businesses, congressional inquiries, or reports in the media. The commission seeks to ensure that the nation's markets function competitively by eliminating unfair or deceptive practices.
 The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for the purchase, supply, operation, and maintenance of federal property, buildings, and equipment, and for the sale of surplus items. GSA also manages the federal motor vehicle fleet and oversees remote work centers and civilian child care centers.
 The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, determines the impact of imports on US industries, and directs actions against certain unfair trade practices, such as patent, trademark, and copyright infringement.
 The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) preserves the nation's history by overseeing the management of all federal records. The holdings of the National Archives include original textual materials, motion picture films, sound and video recordings, maps, still pictures, and computer data. The Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are preserved and displayed at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C.
 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the federal government's space agency. It is responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
 The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) administers the principal United States labor law, the National Labor Relations Act. The board is vested with the power to prevent or remedy unfair labor practices and to safeguard employees' rights to organize and determine through elections whether to have a union as their bargaining representative.
 The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for civil transportation accident analysis in the US. The NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of car accidents, ship and marine accidents, pipeline transport accidents, and rail transport accidents.
 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and opened January 19, 1975. The NRC oversees reactor safety and security, reactor licensing and renewal, radioactive material safety, and spent fuel management (storage, security, recycling, and disposal).
 The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent investigative and prosecutorial agency that operates a secure channel for federal whistleblower disclosures, protects federal employees from reprisal for whistleblowing, and enforces the restrictions of the Hatch Act on partisan political activity by government employees.
 The Peace Corps (PC) was created in 1961 by an executive order of President Kennedy, originally under the State Department but reorganized as an independent agency by President Nixon. Peace Corps' goal is to assist developing countries by providing skilled workers in fields such as education, health, entrepreneurship, women's empowerment, or community development.
 The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) was created in 1971 as the Postal Rate Commission and strengthened under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act enacted in December 2006. Provides regulatory oversight over the activities of the United States Postal Service.
 The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established to protect investors who buy stocks and bonds. Federal laws require companies that plan to raise money by selling their own securities to file reports about their operations with the SEC, so that investors have access to all material information. The commission has powers to prevent or punish fraud in the sale of securities and is authorized to regulate stock exchanges.
 The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent federal agency operating with permanent authorization under the Military Selective Service Act. It is not part of the Department of Defense; however, it exists to serve the emergency manpower needs of the military by conscripting untrained men, or personnel with professional health care skills, if directed by Congress and the president. Its statutory missions also include being ready to administer an alternative service program, in lieu of military service for men classified as conscientious objectors.
 The Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 to advise, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns. The SBA guarantees loans to small businesses, aids victims of floods and other natural disasters, promotes the growth of minority-owned firms, and helps secure contracts for small businesses to supply goods and services to the federal government.
 The Social Security Administration (SSA) is the United States federal agency that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability, and survivors' benefits. To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; future benefits are based on employee contributions.
 The Surface Transportation Board (STB) was created in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is decisionally independent, although it is administratively affiliated with the Department of Transportation.
 The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), created in 1933, provides economic development to the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected by the Great Depression.

 The United States Postal Service (USPS) is defined by statute as an "independent establishment" of the federal government, which replaced the Cabinet-level Post Office Department in 1971. The Postal Service is responsible for the collection, transportation, and delivery of the mails, and for the operation of thousands of local post offices across the country. It also provides international mail service through the Universal Postal Union and other agreements with foreign countries.
 The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), government backer of credit unions, equivalent to the FDIC.
 The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) evaluates and promotes the safety of consumer products.
 The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides foreign aid and assists with international development.
 The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle income countries.

Former agencies
 The Committee on Public Information was an agency created to influence US public opinion regarding American participation in World War I. Lasting from April 14, 1917, to June 30, 1919 it was directed by George Creel. The agency used propaganda available to achieve its goals.
 The Interstate Commerce Commission regulated common carriers and was thus able to render far reaching orders, such as the desegregation of public transportation. After trucking and railroads were largely deregulated, the ICC was replaced with the independent Surface Transportation Board, with remaining functions transferred to the Department of Transportation.
 The United States Maritime Commission was intended to formulate a merchant shipbuilding program to design and build five hundred modern merchant cargo ships for the US Merchant Marine. It also formed the United States Maritime Service. In 1950, its functions were transferred to the United States Maritime Administration, which later became part of the Department of Transportation.
 The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was designed to help finance projects during the Great Depression. It later helped finance the nation's military buildup as World War II approached. Scandals led to its eventual dissolution in 1956.
 The Atomic Energy Commission was established for peacetime development of atomic energy. In 1974 it was abolished, and two new agencies were created; the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for regulation of civilian uses of nuclear materials, such as nuclear power plants and medical uses, and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) for military development of nuclear materials.  In 1977, the ERDA was merged with the Federal Energy Administration to form the United States Department of Energy.
 The Office of the United States Nuclear Waste Negotiator was responsible for the placement and long term storage of radioactive waste. It was dissolved in 1995.
 The United States Information Agency, which was partially merged into the Department of State in 1999.

Agencies outside of executive branch
Although not officially part of the executive branch, these agencies are required by federal statute to release certain information about their programs and activities into the Federal Register, the daily journal of government activities:
 Fannie Mae, or the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA)
 Freddie Mac, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation  (FHLMC)
 The National Gallery of Art
 The Smithsonian Institution (SI) is an independent establishment of the United States created by an act of Congress on August 10, 1846. The SI conducts scientific and scholarly research; publishes the results of studies, explorations, and investigations; organizes exhibits representative of the arts, the sciences, American history, and world culture; and engages in educational programming and national and international cooperative research. Most of the National Museums in Washington, D.C., are part of the Smithsonian.

Proposed independent agencies

 Federal Elections Agency, proposed by Lee Drutman of New America, which would merge the roles of the Federal Election Commission and Election Assistance Commission, expand enforcement against election interference and gather election data
 Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, proposed by Kay Bailey Hutchison to promote research into weather modification
 Nuclear Waste Administration, proposed by Lisa Murkowski to provide for the permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

See also
 Federal executive departments
 List of U.S. federal agencies
 Regulatory agency
 State-owned enterprises of the United States

Footnotes

External links

 The United States Government Manual: information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
 regulations.gov

Independent
United States administrative law

Independent agencies of the United States government


AARGH (Artists Against Rampant Government Homophobia) was a 76-page one-off comics anthology published by Mad Love in 1988.

The comic was designed to aid the fight against Clause 28, which was a controversial amendment to the Local Government Act 1988, a British law which was designed to outlaw the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities. At that time Alan Moore, who was in a relationship with his wife and their girlfriend, felt that the law was heterosexist and that it would obviously affect them personally. To help their fight Moore formed Mad Love, his own publishing company, to release AARGH.

The title was a mixed collection of almost 40 stories, mostly comics with some text pieces. Moore himself contributed an eight-page story called "The Mirror of Love", with Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch providing art. Other creators included David Lloyd, Robert Crumb, Howard Cruse, Hunt Emerson, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Los Bros Hernandez, Garry Leach, Dave McKean, Frank Miller, Harvey Pekar, Savage Pencil, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Sim, Posy Simmonds, Art Spiegelman, Alexei Sayle, and Bryan Talbot.

Clause 28 was eventually repealed in 2003. Moore has also reworked "The Mirror of Love" with illustrator José Villarrubia for Top Shelf Productions.

External links

 The Mirror of Love at Top Shelf
 Bryan Talbot's contribution to AARGH! at the official Bryan Talbot fanpage
 AARGH page at MooreReppion.com (AARGHs for sale with all money going to Stonewall)

1988 comics debuts
1980s LGBT literature
British comics titles
Comics anthologies
LGBT-related comics
Comics publications
One-shot comic titles
LGBT literature in the United Kingdom


Medeco is a manufacturer of high-security locks. The name Medeco is short for Mechanical Development Company. It is a subsidiary of the Swedish Assa Abloy Group.

The Medeco cylinder uses a rotating pin and sidebar design with angled cuts on the keys that rotate the pins, making it more difficult to pick than most other locks. However, it is possible to pick a Medeco lock. In 2006, it was discovered that a set of only four bump keys could open almost any Medeco lock at that time. Newer Medeco locks require a much larger set of bump keys. These keys are referred to as the "Four Keys to the Kingdom" among locksmiths. Medeco is owned by the ASSA ABLOY Group, which also owns Abloy and many other lock manufacturers.

Companies based in Virginia

Medeco


Darren Stanley Hayes (born 8 May 1972) is an Australian singer-songwriter. He was born in Brisbane. He was the singer of Savage Garden. Savage Garden released two albums before they broke up in 2001. In January 2002 Hayes released his first solo single "Insatiable". His first solo album, Spin, was released in April 2002. It has sold over 5 million copies.

Career
In 1993 Hayes joined Savage Garden. In 1997 the band released Savage Garden. Eight singles were released from the album. In 1999 Savage Garden's second and last studio album, Affirmation, was released. In 2002 Hayes' first solo album Spin was released. In 2004 The Tension and the Spark was released. In 2007 Hayes released his third album This Delicate Thing We've Made on his own record label, Powdered Sugar. In 2009 he released his fourth album We Are Smug. In 2011 Secret Codes and Battleships was released.

Personal life
In 2006 Hayes came out as gay.

References

Other websites
Tumblr

1972 births
Australian LGBT people
Australian pop singers
Gay men
LGBT singers
Living people
Musicians from Brisbane

Darren Hayes


A yearbook is a book that shows the people and events at a school during the school year (usually a high school or college).

Compilation
Yearbooks are generally put together by a student committee, which may or may not be advised by members of the faculty and staff. The committee usually has one or more editors who are responsible for collecting and putting together all of the information to be put into the book, also deciding the layout and giving of space for each contributor.

Distribution
Often, yearbooks are distributed at the end of a school year to allow members to get the books and signatures/personal messages from classmates. In the US, those that distribute at this time may publish a supplemental insert with photographs from spring sports and milestone events (such as prom and graduation), as well as other important events. Many schools at which yearbooks are distributed at or before the end of a school year have a tradition of having students sign and leave notes on each others yearbooks.

Some schools distribute yearbooks before the end of the school year – such as during July, at Homecoming (US) in October or another designated time in order to include year-end activities. In some cases, yearbooks are mailed to the parents' homes of graduated seniors.

Publications
Education
Basic English 1500 Words

Yearbook


An observatory is a place for making observations. The term is most used for astronomical observatories, which are places for looking at the sky. A modern astronomical observatory has a large telescope, or several. It is usually high up on mountains or hills, because higher places have cleaner, clearer, dryer air. Observatories also have to be away from places that have lots of light pollution, like cities. Too much light can make it so that the astronomers cannot see out of the telescope very well.

Observatory


Coconut water is the liquid inside young coconuts. Coconut water is a popular drink in tropical islands especially in tropical Asia, Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean. It is packaged and sold. It is sometimes sold as a sports drink, but not everyone agrees that it should be called a sports drink. Coconuts hold the most water when they are young and green. Coconuts in different parts of the world do not taste the same. Pakistani Coconuts are salty, and Brazilian Coconuts have sweeter water. The water inside dark brown rotted coconuts is bitter.

References

Drinks
Coconuts

Coconut water


The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1992.

Journalism awards
Public Service:
The Sacramento Bee, For "The Sierra in Peril," reporting by Tom Knudson that examined environmental threats and damage to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California.
Spot News Reporting:
Staff of Newsday, For coverage of a midnight subway derailment in Manhattan that left five passengers dead and more than 200 injured.
Investigative Reporting:
Lorraine Adams and Dan Malone of The Dallas Morning News, For reporting that charged Texas police with extensive misconduct and abuses of power.
Explanatory Journalism:
Robert S. Capers and Eric Lipton of Hartford Courant, For a series about the flawed Hubble Space Telescope that illustrated many of the problems plaguing America's space program.
Beat Reporting:
Deborah Blum of The Sacramento Bee, For her series, "The Monkey Wars," which explored the complex ethical and moral questions surrounding primate research.
National Reporting:
Jeff Taylor and Mike McGraw of The Kansas City Star, For their critical examination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
International Reporting:
Patrick J. Sloyan of Newsday, For his reporting on the Persian Gulf War, conducted after the war was over, which revealed new details of American battlefield tactics and "friendly fire" incidents.
Feature Writing:
Howell Raines of The New York Times, For "Grady's Gift," an account of the author's childhood friendship with his family's black housekeeper and the lasting lessons of their relationship.
Commentary:
Anna Quindlen of The New York Times, For her compelling columns on a wide range of personal and political topics.
Criticism:
No Award Given
Editorial Writing:
Maria Henson of Lexington Herald-Leader, For her editorials about battered women in Kentucky, which focused statewide attention on the problem and prompted significant reforms.
Editorial Cartooning:
Signe Wilkinson of Philadelphia Daily News
Spot News Photography:
The Staff of Associated Press, For photographs of the attempted coup in Russia and the subsequent collapse of the Communist regime.
Feature Photography:
John Kaplan of Block Newspapers, For his photographs depicting the diverse lifestyles of seven 21-year-olds across the United States.

Letters awards
Fiction:
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (Alfred A. Knopf)
History:
The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties by Mark E. Neely, Jr. (Oxford University Press)
Biography or Autobiography:
Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet by Lewis B. Puller, Jr. (Grove Weidenfeld)
Poetry:
Selected Poems by James Tate (Wesleyan University Press)
General Non-Fiction:
The Prize: The Epic Quest For Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin (Simon & Schuster)

Arts awards
Drama:
The Kentucky Cycle by Robert Schenkkan (Plume)
Music:
The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark by Wayne Peterson (Henmar Press)
Premiered on October 17, 1991, by the San Francisco Symphony

Special awards and citations

 Letters:
 Maus by Art Spiegelman

References

External links

Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prizes by year
Pulitzer Prize

1992 Pulitzer Prize


The Penny Mobs was the names used by the press to describe the early street gang active in Glasgow, Scotland during the early 1870s. As the court system offered heavy fines as an alternative to imprisonment, gang members were often freed after a collection from the gang at a "penny a head" thus earning its name.

The Penny Mobs, like their New York City counterparts, were among many gangs which formed following a large scale migration of Irish immigrants fleeing Ireland during the potato famines of the 1840s and 1850s. One of these gangs, the Ribbon Men, were reported to have blown up a gas holder in Tradeston in 1883.

Although the gangs declined after courts no longer offered fines for offenders, the smaller gangs eventually banded together for mutual protection which gave rise to the prominent gangs of the early 20th century such as The Tongs, the Billy Boys, the Norman Conks, The Tois, The Govans, the Powery Gang, the Soo-Siders, the Rednecks, the Baltic Fleet, the Black Diamond Gang, the Black Hands, the Nudes, the Ruchill Boys and the belters.

Former gangs
Gangs in Scotland
History of Glasgow
1870s in Glasgow
1870s crimes in the United Kingdom
1870 crimes in the United Kingdom
1871 crimes in the United Kingdom
1872 crimes in the United Kingdom
Street gangs

Penny Mobs


Walter Auffenberg ( – ) was an American biologist who spent almost 40 years in field research, studying reptile and amphibian paleontology and the systematics and biology of numerous reptile species, including alligators and Komodo dragons.

Early life
Auffenberg was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1928.  After graduating high school, he relocated to DeLand, Florida to work on two small citrus groves owned by his parents.  Shortly after, he enlisted in the US Navy and trained as a Hospital Corpsman in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Upon his discharge he returned to Florida and attended Stetson University in DeLand, receiving his Bachelor of Science in zoology in 1951.  He moved to Gainesville, Florida to obtain his advanced degrees at the University of Florida.

Academic life
Auffenberg received his M.Sc. from the University of Florida in 1953 with his thesis A Study of Geographic Morphological Variation in the Blacksnake.  He held a temporary position as Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at The Charleston Museum in 1954 and a Special Student in Paleontology at Harvard University in 1955–56; obtaining his doctoral degree at the University of Florida in 1956. He wrote his dissertation on the fossil snakes of Florida.

In 1959 he and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado to assist his former adviser, Arnold Grobman to start up the innovative and popular high school science program Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS).  Missing time in the field, Auffenberg returned to Gainesville, Florida, the University of Florida in 1963 to assume the role of Chairman of the Natural Sciences Department and Curator of Herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History (then the Florida State Museum).  He remained as chairman until 1971 when he stepped down to concentrate on research.

Auffenberg retired as Curator of Herpetology in 1991 and was named Emeritus Distinguished Service Professor/Curator.

In 1969, Auffenberg and his family moved to Komodo Island for 11 months where Auffenberg could study the Komodo dragon in its natural habitat. During their stay, Auffenberg, his family and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50 Komodo dragons. The research from the Auffenberg expedition would prove to be influential in the future propagation of Komodo dragons in captivity.

Auffenberg authored over 130 books and papers during his lifetime, including his work on the herpetology of Pakistan, which produced one of the world's largest collections of reptiles and amphibians from Pakistan. He is most famous for The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor in 1981, for which he received the  Best Wildlife Book Award from The Wildlife Society.  Several living and fossil species, including the peacock monitor (Varanus auffenbergi) were named for him. Advances in Monitor Research II, the proceedings of a symposium on monitor lizards held in 1997, is dedicated to Auffenberg "in recognition of his outstanding contributions to monitor lizard biology".

Books

References

External links

1928 births
2004 deaths
American herpetologists
American paleontologists
20th-century American zoologists
Scientists from Detroit

Walter Auffenberg


Edwin John "Eddie" Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer, actor, writer, musician, and entertainer. Fisher had made hundreds of recording albums.

Fisher was born on August 10, 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a Russian-Jewish family. He studied at Thomas Junior High School, South Philadelphia High School, and at Simon Gratz High School. It was during high school many people discovered that Fisher had a talent for singing.

Fisher was married to Debbie Reynolds from 1955 until they divorced in 1959. They had two children; including actress Carrie Fisher. Then he was married to Elizabeth Taylor from 1959 until they divorced in 1964. Then he was married to Connie Stevens from 1967 until they divorced in 1969. They had two children. Then he was married to Terry Richard from 1975 until they divorced in 1976. Then he was last married to Betty Lin from 1993 until her death in 2001.

Fisher died on September 22, 2010 in Berkeley, California after going into surgery, aged 82. Fisher broke his hip thirteen days before. He had hearing and seeing problems. His remains were cremated and were later buried. He was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park next to his wife Betty Lin.

References

Other websites

Thinking Of You: Eddie Fisher  on The Interlude Era site
New York Times Obituary
Eddie Fisher: Life and Times  – slideshow by Life magazine

1928 births
2010 deaths
Actors from Philadelphia
American movie actors
American radio actors
American radio personalities
American stage actors
American television actors
American television personalities
American voice actors
Deaths from surgical complications
Jewish American actors
Jewish American musicians
Jewish American writers
Musicians from Philadelphia
Singers from Philadelphia
Writers from Philadelphia

Eddie Fisher


The naval Battle of Artemesium took place at the same time as the Battle of Thermopylae, in 480 BC.

Approaching Artemisium towards the end of summer, the Persian navy was caught in a gale off the coast of Magnesia and lost around a third of their ~1,200 ships.

After arriving at Artemisium, the Persians sent a detachment of 200 ships around the coast of Euboea in an attempt to trap the Greeks, but these were caught in another storm and shipwrecked.

The main action of the battle took place after two days of smaller engagements. The two sides fought all day, with roughly equal losses; however the smaller Allied fleet could not afford the losses.

After the engagement, the Allies received news of the defeat of the Allied army at Thermopylae. Their strategy was to hold both Thermopylae and Artemisium. So, given their losses, the Allies decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran Boeotia and captured the now-evacuated Athens. However, seeking a decisive victory over the Allied fleet, the Persians were later defeated at the Battle of Salamis in late 480

Other websites
 Livius Picture Archive: the naval battle of Artemisium (480 BC)
 Reed Classics, extracts from Herodotus Book Eight

Achaemenid Empire
480 BC
Battles of ancient Greece

Battle of Artemisium


, also called , is a Japanese custom of ceremonial rhythmic hand clapping, typically accompanied by enthusiastic exclamation by the participants, performed at the end of a special event to bring the occasion to a peaceful, lively close. Tejime may be performed at the conclusion of such events as a celebration, meeting of shareholders, or the close of bargaining or other business negotiations. Tejime observes fulfillment, realization, and completion.

Tejime begins by a call from the leader, typically "ote wo haishaku" (お手を拝借), after which the participants, just before clapping their hands, usually yell "iyō'o" (イヨーオ), "yo" (ヨッ) or "mō itchō" (もう一丁) in order to synchronize timing.

Etymology

Tejime is an abbreviated form of , "teuchi" meaning "to strike a deal" or "to come to an agreement" and  meaning "to tie" or "to fasten" (in this case, "to close"). Teuchi is used synonymously with tejime, with the former preferred in the Kansai Region.

Types of tejime

There are various ways of clapping hands. The main types are:

Itchō-jime  (一丁締め), which consists of a single clap.
The Edo-style tejime:

Ippon-jime (一本締め), which consists of three sets of three claps and one final clap (3-3-3-1).

Sanbon-jime (三本締め), which consists of three ippon-jime, i.e. three sets of three claps and one final clap (3-3-3-1 3-3-3-1 3-3-3-1).

For example, in the case of sanbon-jime, the ceremony would go like this:

Other types of tejime include Ōsaka-jime (大阪締め) and Hakata te ippon (博多手一本), which is performed during the Hakata-Gion Yamakasa Festival (博多祇園山笠), held in Fukuoka in July.

See also
Customs and etiquette of Japan
Banzai

References

Japanese culture

Tejime


The Pall Mall Magazine was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of The Pall Mall Gazette, the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and general commentaries, along with extensive artwork. It was notable in its time as the first British magazine to "publish illustrations in number and finish comparable to those of American periodicals of the same class" much of which was in the late Pre-Raphaelite style. It was often compared to the competing publication The Strand Magazine; many artists, such as illustrator Sidney Paget and author H. G. Wells, sold freelance work to both.

During its run, the magazine published many of the most significant artists of the day, including illustrators George Morrow and Edmund Joseph Sullivan, poets Algernon Charles Swinburne and Rudyard Kipling, and authors such as Julian Osgood Field, Bernard Capes, Charlotte O'Conor Eccles, Jack London, and Joseph Conrad, whose novel Typhoon was first serialized therein, and Israel Zangwill (author of Children of the Ghetto). Among the magazine's editors were Douglas Straight (1893–1896), Lord Frederick Spencer Hamilton (1896–1900), George Halkett (1901–1905) and Charles Morley (1905–1914).

On 6 October 1912, The New York Times reported that Waldorf Astor had sold the magazine, "Said to Have Obtained Very Little for It." In 1914, as romantic ideas faded with the onset of the First World War, The Pall Mall Magazine merged with Nash's Magazine, controlled by the Hearst Corporation since 1910, to become Nash's Pall Mall Magazine. From May 1927, the two magazines were again published separately, but they were re-merged after the September 1929 issue, and finally ceased publication altogether following the issue of September 1937.

References

External links
The Pall Mall Magazine, Vol. 5 on the Internet Archive (digitized by Google from the library of Princeton University)
Times Are Changed: Joseph Conrad and Pall Mall Magazine
Pall Mall Magazine - Indexes to Fiction (Victorian Fiction Research Guide)
The Pall Mall Magazine at the FictionMags Index.

1893 establishments in the United Kingdom
1914 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
1927 establishments in the United Kingdom
1929 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Fiction magazines
Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Magazines established in 1893
Magazines disestablished in 1914
Magazines established in 1927
Magazines disestablished in 1929

The Pall Mall Magazine


Isaac Newton (1642–1727) is widely known as the father of dynamics, the study of motion. He developed three laws that are the foundation of classical mechanics. They are believed to be true because the results of experiments by scientists agree with his laws.

Summary
Law 1. A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by a force.
Law 2. When a body is acted upon by a force, the time rate of change of its momentum equals the force.
Law 3. If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same magnitude but opposite directions.

Proposed additional laws

Law 0. One candidate for a "zeroth law" is the fact that at any instant, a body reacts to the forces applied to it at that instant.
Law 4. Likewise, the idea that forces add like vectors (or in other words obey the superposition principle), and the idea that forces change the energy of a body, have both been described as a "fourth law."

First law (sometimes called inertia)
If a body is at rest it remains at rest or, if it is in motion, it moves with uniform velocity, until it is acted on by a net force. Alternatively, everybody in this universe will be in state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force or otherwise.

From above statement  it's clearly observable that Newton's first law define force and inertia.

This law also give the Qualitative definition of force.

A uniform velocity means that an object moves at a constant speed without changing direction (i.e. in a straight line). A net force means that the forces acting on the object are not balanced. In other words, the first law states two things:
A stationary object will only begin to move if there is an unbalanced force acting on it.
A moving object will only change speed or direction if there is an unbalanced force acting on it.

The first part states that a table resting on the ground will not move unless pushed. Although gravity is acting on the table, pulling it down, there is a reaction force from the ground which is pushing it back. The forces acting on the table are balanced, so the object will not move.

The second part is harder to explain. A ball rolling along a flat surface will slow down and eventually come to a halt. This is because of friction, which is a force that slows the ball down. A ball rolling down a slope is also affected by friction, but the effect of the force of gravity is stronger than the friction, so there is a net force acting in the direction in which the ball is moving. In a place without the forces of friction, air resistance and gravity (e.g. in outer space) a moving object would keep on moving in a straight line if there were no force to slow it down or change its direction.

Second law
For a particle of mass , the net force  on the particle is equal to the mass  times the particle's acceleration  :
.

Newton's second law states that acceleration of a particle is dependent on the forces acting upon the particle and the particle's mass. For a given particle, if the net force is increased, the acceleration is increased. It's also stated that the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to applied force and takes place in the direction in which the force act. For a given net force, the more mass a particle has, the less acceleration it has.

For example, weight is a force that we feel on Earth, caused by the gravity. The weight  on a particle is given by
,
where  is the mass of the particle and  is the local gravitational acceleration (not to be confused with G, the universal gravitational constant), roughly equal to 9.8 meters per second2 (32 feet per second2) on Earth.

We can express Newton's second law in terms of momentum. The momentum  of a particle is defined as the product of its mass  and velocity :
.
The acceleration  of a particle is the time derivative of its velocity :
.
Therefore,
.
Thus, we have another way of stating Newton's second law:
For a particle of mass , the net force  on the particle is equal to the time derivative of the particle's momentum :
.

In classical mechanics, the two forms of the second law,  and , are completely equivalent. Note that we assume that the mass  of a particle does not change.

Third law

 For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or every action always reacts in the opposite direction.

This is best understood with billiard balls, where you can easily see the action/reaction pairs of forces. Likewise, when you kick a football, not only does the ball move, but you feel a force on your foot.

The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs - equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs.

A variety of action-reaction force pairs are evident in nature. Consider the propulsion of a fish through the water. A fish uses its fins to push water backwards. But a push on the water will only serve to accelerate the water. Since forces result from mutual interactions, the water must also be pushing the fish forwards, propelling the fish through the water. The size of the force on the water equals the size of the force on the fish; the direction of the force on the water (backwards) is opposite the direction of the force on the fish (forwards). For every action, there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction force. Action-reaction force pairs make it possible for fish to swim.

Consider the motion of a car on the way to school. A car has wheels which spin forwards. As the wheels spin forwards, they grip the road and push the road backwards. Since forces result from mutual interactions, the road must also be pushing the wheels forward. The size of the force on the road equals the size of the force on the wheels (or car); the direction of the force on the road (backwards) is opposite the direction of the force on the wheels (forwards). For every action, there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction. Action-reaction force pairs make it possible for cars to move along a roadway surface.

Related pages
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
Classical mechanics

References

Laws of physics

Newton's laws of motion


An ethical tradition is a group of things that one group of people think are right and wrong. People believe that these things are right and wrong because other people think that way and they have thought that way for a long time.

An ethical tradition can be like a set of laws because most people agree with it and only do what it says is right. However an ethical tradition is not normally written down and is not enforced by a police force.

The branch of philosophy called ethics is not the same as an ethical tradition. This is because ethics is about asking questions and not just thinking what other people think. However some ethical philosophers want to know why people follow ethical traditions. They also want to know what ethical traditions are the same for different groups of people. This type of ethics is sometimes called the science of morals.

Religious ethics

Ethical tradition


Alexander Scriabin (also spelt: Skryabin) (born Moscow January 6 1872; died Moscow April 27 1915) was a famous Russian composer and pianist. He wrote music for the orchestra and for the piano. His music belongs to the Late Romantic period, but his later works sound quite modern, and he was influenced by Impressionism. He had some very unusual ideas about combining all the arts into one work.

Life

Scriabin was the only child in a family which had an aristocratic background. He was always proud of having been born on Christmas Day (6 January is Christmas Day in the Russian Orthodox church). His mother died when he was a year old and his father spent most of his time abroad working as a diplomat. He was looked after by his aunt, grandmother and great-aunt, all of whom fussed over him so that he was a very spoilt child. When he grew up he was very short and his hands could only just stretch one octave (eight notes) on the piano.

Scriabin was educated in the Moscow Cadet Corps. He learned to play the piano and became friends with the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff who was just one year younger. He won the second gold medal ever to be awarded at the Moscow Conservatoire (Rachmaninoff had won the first one). He practised a piece called Islamey by Balakirev but damaged his right hand doing it. He still managed to continue his career as a pianist, but he wrote a few piano pieces for the left hand only. In 1895 he toured through many countries in Europe giving concerts and composing a lot of piano music. He married in 1897. He went with his wife to Odessa where he played his Piano Concerto and then spent several months in Paris. He taught at the Moscow Conservatoire and wrote some important orchestral music. Later he left his wife and children and went to Europe for several years with another woman. She inspired a lot of his music. Scriabin continued to travel and play the piano until the end of his life. When he was in London in 1914 he had a boil on his lip, which got steadily worse until he died a year later.

His music

Scriabin liked the music of Chopin and he wrote a lot of short pieces called Preludes which show Chopin's influence. As he got older his music became more and more personal. He was very egocentric (thought only about himself and not about other people) and he had some strange ideas. He wanted to write a work which combined all the arts and all the senses: music, dance, poetry, colours and even smells. He wanted this work to be performed beside a lake in India. This work was never finished or performed, and we do not know whether he seriously thought it would happen, but he did buy himself a sun helmet.

Scriabin tried using different harmonies in his music. He had a favourite chord which he called his "mystic chord" (from the bottom upwards: C, F sharp, B flat, E, A, D). He used it in lots of ways. His orchestral works include a Piano Concerto, 3 symphonies, Le poème de l'extase (The poem of extasy) and Prométhée, le poème du feu (Prometheus, the poem of fire). His music which is mysterious and dream-like and shares some similarity French Impressionist composers like Debussy.

Related pages
 Synaesthesia

Other websites
 Scriabin Society of America website
 Scriabin biography and a description and pictures from the last place he lived, which has been preserved as a museum

1872 births
1915 deaths
20th-century Russian composers
Musicians from Moscow
Romantic composers
Russian pianists

Alexander Scriabin