Raymond M. Lloyd (born May 13, 1964) is an American martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1996 to 1999 under the ring name Glacier.

Early life
Lloyd was born into a law-enforcement family in Brunswick, Georgia. His father, Harold, served as a commander with the Georgia State Patrol for 28 years; his mother, Lois, worked with the Georgia Driver's License Division prior to her retirement in 1999; and his fraternal twin brother, Ron, is a retired state trooper. A lifelong professional wrestling fan, Lloyd and his brother attended shows at the Jacksonville Coliseum. He graduated from Brunswick High School in 1982, and played offensive tackle for the school football team all four years, becoming its first All-State player in his senior year. He additionally competed for the track and field team, in the shot put and discus.

A skilled martial artist, Lloyd took up Hung Ga at fourteen, later adding other disciplines. His school was owned and taught  by a former government agent and a U.S. Marshal, before it closed to the public in 1982. In 1983, he began competing for the World Karate Association in full-contact tournaments, eventually winning the United States Southeastern Super Heavyweight title. During his WKA stint, he was never knocked out or even knocked down; his only loss came on a disqualification. However, when the WKA changed its rules in 1985 to allow kicks from the knee up (they were previously only from the waist up), Lloyd opted to retire from competition in order not to jeopardize his football scholarship by risking injury. He played center for Valdosta State University (the same alma mater as former WCW announcer Scott Hudson), under coach Mike Cavan, and was a teammate of former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle during his collegiate career. Lloyd graduated in 1989 with a master's degree in education.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1987–1996)
Lloyd began his wrestling career shortly after graduation. He was trained by Georgia grappler Fred Avery in a makeshift ring set up in Avery's backyard, and then cut his teeth on the Georgia independent circuit for two years, during which he was given the ring name "Sugar Ray" Lloyd by Tommy Rich. Lloyd joined World Championship Wrestling (then the NWA) for their 1989 Great American Bash tour, in which his debut match was a loss to Butch Reed in Albany, Georgia. He recalled in a March 2001 interview with WCW Magazine, "To be in the same ring with a man that big who could move like that was intimidating."

Lloyd worked as an assistant high school football coach at Lassiter High in Marietta, and at Valdosta Junior High School, once organizing a one-time pro wrestling event in the Valdosta High school gymnasium in which he participated. During weekends he worked Southern Championship Wrestling shows while receiving further training from Mr. Wrestling II and Bob Armstrong. He moved to Atlanta in 1990, and again as "Sugar Ray" Lloyd, tag teamed with Swain as "The Blazers," named such after the Valdosta State athletic mascot. In 1991, Pro Wrestling Illustrated held a contest for readers to come up with a ring name for Swain. Lloyd additionally competed in the North Georgia Wrestling Alliance, alongside future WCW stars Scotty Riggs, Buff Bagwell, and Disco Inferno.

Lloyd's second stint in WCW was when he was booked to be defeated by The Great Muta at a house show in Atlanta. Following that match, at Muta's request, Lloyd joined Muta on a string of WCW house shows before he moved to Japan in 1993. He joined the UWFI as a guest of shootfighter Nobuhiko Takada, and competed against Japanese and American fighters. Lloyd returned to the United States after UWFI folded in 1996, and during a conversation with friend Diamond Dallas Page, he mentioned that he was planning to integrate martial arts into his wrestling, which he had been unable to do during the early days of his career. At Page's request, WCW president Eric Bischoff, a martial arts practitioner himself, met with Lloyd for three hours and signed him to a contract.

World Championship Wrestling

Blood Runs Cold (1996–1998)

Beginning in April 1996, Lloyd's new ring persona, Glacier, a gimmick similar to the Mortal Kombat character Sub-Zero, was introduced via a series of vignettes during WCW programming that featured the tagline Blood Runs Cold. He was fictionally profiled in the October 1996 issue of WCW Magazine as having traveled to Japan to study a fighting style that combined martial arts and pro wrestling maneuvers, with a 400-year-old helmet passed down to him by his master instructor, David Stater. He was then given the name "Glacier" by sensei Stater as a symbolization of the power of the elements.

Glacier was also given one of the most extravagant entrances in wrestling at the time, which consisted of blue laser lights streaming across the arena and synthetic snow falling from the ceiling, while the ring was enveloped in blue lighting. Production costs for the entrance amounted to nearly half a million dollars, while the costume and armor, designed by Andre Freitas of Atlanta-based AFX Studios, cost $35,000. The number 126 was carved into the armor's single breastplate as a reference to his father's badge number. Glacier wore a blue contact lens in his right eye to top off the outfit, which often prompted comments from WCW Monday Nitro analyst Bobby Heenan, such as "[He's] half man, half Siamese cat." After slowly walking to the ring, he then engaged in a ritual of standing on a center turnbuckle in order to remove his armor and mask, then somersaulting off the buckle and into the center of the ring to perform a kata routine; this process sometimes lasted as long as two minutes. Moreover, since he was a face character, he would bow to the referee and his opponent. To further accentuate the character's image, Lloyd, a natural brunette, temporarily bleached his hair blond from April to December 1997.

Glacier was originally intended to debut in July, but due to the coinciding appearance and immediate impact of the New World Order at the Bash at the Beach pay-per-view that month, his debut was delayed indefinitely; WCW worked this into a feud with Big Bubba Rogers, who criticized Glacier's hype and the overlong wait for his arrival during interviews on Nitro with the Dungeon of Doom. His debut finally occurred on September 9, 1996 episode of Pro, when he pinned The Gambler in a match, which was also one of only two matches in which he executed his Cryonic Kick finisher off the top rope before it was changed to a spinning reverse roundhouse kick, and subsequently to standard side kick. Glacier then defeated Bubba on his Nitro debut on September 16, ending the brief feud. The original costume and blue lighting were scrapped, however, after only his fourth match, a pinfall victory on Nitro over Mike Wenner on September 30. Following a subsequent ten-week hiatus off WCW television, he reappeared on Nitro on December 2, in which he debuted a new ring outfit and entrance music, then pinned Hardbody Harrison in a 60-second squash.

After spending the beginning of his WCW career in the midcard, it was not until March 1997 that Glacier was put into his first long-term feud, with Mortis, who was depicted in the new storyline as an Asian pitfighter who was one of eccentric manager James Vandenberg's collection of "rare oddities" and who had shared a history with Glacier. The angle was titled "Blood Runs Cold"; the slogan had not been used since the vignettes from the previous year had stopped airing.

Glacier defeated Mortis in the pay-per-view debut for both, at Uncensored on March 16, but after the match, Wrath made his first appearance as Vandenberg's then-unnamed newest charge, and both men double-teamed Glacier. Postmatch assaults by Mortis and Wrath became commonplace after Glacier's Nitro matches, and on the April 21 episode, his helmet was also stolen by the pair after he defeated Ciclope in less than one minute. His rematch with Mortis at Slamboree on May 18 ended in a disqualification after less than two minutes when Wrath attacked him from behind. Mortis and Wrath then had their way with Glacier for several minutes before he was rescued by Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who had entered the ring from the crowd.

On June 15, Glacier pinned Wrath at The Great American Bash, after which another beating commenced, this time after he was handcuffed to the top rope by Mortis, who himself had been cuffed to the turnbuckle prior to the match in order to prevent outside interference. The very next night on Nitro, Glacier again defeated Mortis and then was attacked for the last time by Mortis and Wrath after Miller again came to his rescue. From then until Bash at the Beach, Glacier wrestled as a tag unit with Miller, mainly in the lower card against luchadors. After Mortis and Wrath finally won their first encounter in the feud at Bash at the Beach on July 13 and ended Glacier's undefeated streak, WCW promptly shut down the angle due to the creative team's inability to further evolve the characters and the storyline. As a result, the backstory between Mortis and Glacier was therefore never revealed.

On September 1, nearly a year after he had made his official debut, Glacier was handed his first singles loss by Buff Bagwell. He and Miller lost their second consecutive pay-per-view affair in November, to the Faces of Fear at World War 3, and Glacier capped off the year with a squash at the hands of Bill Goldberg on December 27.

Despite an undefeated twelve-month singles period from September 1996 to August 1997, Glacier remained entrenched in the midcard ranks. He was booked as a heel for 1998, starting with an edition of WCW Saturday Night on January 24 in a rematch alongside Miller against Mortis and Wrath. Glacier and Miller were to fight each other two weeks earlier on the program, but it was called off after Glacier was attacked by Mortis and Wrath offscreen beforehand. However, during the tag match, Glacier turned on Miller, allowing Mortis and Wrath to get the win. This brought the "Blood Runs Cold" angle to an official close as Mortis and Wrath were split up from Vandenberg and moved into the singles ranks.

Feud with Perry Saturn and injury (1998–1999)
Glacier spent the next three months on a losing streak, losing matches to the likes of Steve McMichael, Prince Iaukea, and Lex Luger on Nitro and Thunder, while feuding on the side with Chris Adams on WCW Saturday Night in a battle of superkick finishers.

Glacier then entered a feud with Perry Saturn, starting with an angle in which he cut a promo on the May 11 Nitro declaring that his Cryonic Kick finisher was his own move and threatened to take out anyone who used it. This prompted a response from Saturn on Thunder later in the week, in which he lambasted Glacier for his in-ring appearance and his claiming ownership of the superkick. Starting with a pin of Sick Boy on May 18 after Saturn's outside interference was unsuccessful, Glacier then fought a series of matches against several other members of Raven's Flock. He and Saturn then alternated wins on WCW Thunder, but the most notable aspect of the angle was that Kanyon, who had recently shed the Mortis gimmick, was regularly conducting sneak attacks on Raven and the Flock in various disguises. On the June 4 edition of Thunder, Kanyon (disguised as referee Nick Patrick) entered the ring and took out Saturn with a Russian legsweep, allowing Glacier to get the win, and flashed the Mortis mask to Glacier before leaving the ring. The feud died down shortly thereafter when Saturn was moved to a new angle involving Raven and the breakup of the Flock. A Glacier-Saturn matchup (won by Saturn) that aired on WCW Worldwide on September 26 was the last match broadcast on the program before its format was changed to a recap show.

Glacier suffered a severe knee injury during the main event on Nitro on June 29, in which he lost to then-United States champion Goldberg for the fourth time in what would be his only title challenge in WCW. He kept the extent of the injury hidden until after the match and left the ring under his own power, but after rehabilitation proved unsuccessful, he underwent knee surgery. He was out until the November 5 Thunder, where he offered his support to Miller, who himself had undergone a heel turn. One week later, he returned to ring action for the first time in over four months, and debuted his new finisher, a version of Terry Gordy's Oriental thumb spike (dubbed the "Ice Pick"), for a submission victory over Adams.

On November 16, Glacier, Kanyon, and Wrath reunited for the first and only time since the demise of Blood Runs Cold, when Glacier and Kanyon were scheduled to face each other on Nitro after Wrath fought Raven in the previous match, but Raven's refusal to wrestle, despite goading by Kanyon, saw it called off. Wrath then took out his frustration by pummeling both Glacier and Kanyon inside the ring before their opening bell, but the match commenced nonetheless with Kanyon ultimately scoring the pin. Glacier made his final WCW pay-per-view appearance with a loss to Wrath at World War 3 on November 22, and closed out the year with another series of matches against Saturn on Thunder and Saturday Night, in which Miller's manager, Sonny Onoo, repeatedly interfered.

By early 1999, Glacier was again booked to lose to lower-card opponents so that WCW could finally bury the character and allow Lloyd to transition into a new one. This came to a head on February 6, when he was pinned on Saturday Night by Al Green. Five days later, a series of skits aired on Thunder in which Glacier, tired of his gimmick, sold his armor, mask, and helmet to Kaz Hayashi and Miller; Onoo convinced the gullible Hayashi to buy the gear for ten times Glacier's asking price. For a short time, Miller came out to Glacier's music and entrance, while Hayashi wore his armor and mask to the ring.

Though Lloyd had not appeared on television following the end of Glacier, he, along with Gene Okerlund, Alex Wright, and other WCW personalities, attended the public grand opening of the Nitro Grill at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on May 22, 1999; the restaurant lasted only sixteen months and closed in September 2000.

Coach Buzz Stern (1999)
On August 19, Lloyd made his first televised appearance in six months, this time on Thunder in the first of several promos as Coach Buzz Stern, featuring longtime independent wrestler Luther Biggs. The clips were filmed at the WCW Power Plant and served to introduce the storyline of Stern choosing the clumsy Biggs as his protege, and aired until the end of September, when Biggs was pinned by Bobby Eaton in his in-ring debut on Thunder; Stern put Biggs in a postmatch full nelson as punishment. Over the following month, Stern served as Biggs' manager for only three additional matches: a squash loss to Meng on Thunder, a pinfall victory over Dave Burkhead on Saturday Night, and a match against Barry Darsow (wrestling as Blacktop Bully) on Worldwide, which Biggs won only after Stern's outside interference. Though the Stern character was inspired by Lloyd's days as a high school football coach prior to his WCW career, and had received buildup in Mark Madden's weekly WCW.com column, he received an indifferent reception from fans, and after Lloyd himself wrestled his only match as Stern in a November 4 Thunder loss to Eddie Guerrero, the angle was shelved and both Stern and Biggs were removed from television. Lloyd was one of many wrestlers released by the company on November 21, 1999 as part of a cost-cutting measure.

Independent circuit (1999–present)
Along with Dusty Rhodes, Lloyd co-founded Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (TCW) in 2000, which held shows throughout the Southeast and whose roster featured additional WCW castoffs such as Scotty Anton (Scotty Riggs), Barry Windham, Big Ron Studd, and Chad Fortune. Lloyd wrestled under his real name, and was the TCW Heavyweight Champion from July to October 2000, when he was dethroned by Windham.

During WCW's Mayhem pay-per-view on November 26, a Glacier promo from 1996 was re-broadcast, this time with the tagline "Blood Runs Colder," after which he was openly buried by the announce team. The promos were aired infrequently on Nitro and Thunder, and during Starrcade. The night after Starrcade, Norman Smiley was seen on Nitro watching a promo on a backstage monitor, then happily reacting to having "a real hero" in WCW.

Lloyd returned to WCW in January 2001, and Glacier was now played out in the angle as a superhero parody, with him pledging to watch Smiley's back during matches. In separate contests against Mike Awesome and Bam Bam Bigelow on Thunder, an overpowered Smiley lost decisively both times because Glacier took his time coming to the ring in order to interact with fans. He then entered the ring after the fact to pose for the fans before pushing Smiley out of the way to perform his old kata routine. Though Lloyd never wrestled an actual match, the gimmick was a surprisingly mild success given the previous history of the character (a fan during the Bigelow match was seen on camera holding a sign that read "Glacier is My Hero"), but the angle abruptly ended and Glacier was not seen again following a skit on the February 7 edition of Thunder in which he was pummeled offscreen by Sean O'Haire inside his dressing room.

Lloyd left WCW (which ceased operations six weeks later) permanently and returned to the independent circuit. On April 21, he won the TCW tag belts with Jorge Estrada. One of the highlights of Lloyd's wrestling career was fulfilling a childhood dream of winning the NWA World tag team titles, which he accomplished with Jason Sugarman on December 28, 2002, but Sugarman retired shortly after due to a career-ending injury. In 2002, he rejuvenated his Glacier gimmick to team with Big Ron Studd, with whom he won the tag title for the second time in his TCW stint on January 3, and then enjoyed a second reign as TCW Heavyweight Champion.

After TCW folded in 2003, Lloyd made sporadic appearances with Georgia Championship Wrestling, and held a backstage position with TNA Wrestling. He again wrestled as Glacier as part of Ultimate Christian Wrestling's Ultimate Armageddon Tour 2006, and participated in the CHIKARA King of Trios tournament in Philadelphia on March 2, 2008, teaming with Los Ice Creams as their mystery partner in a first-round loss against Team Mexico. Lloyd also feuded with TNA and IWA star Ricky Vega on the Florida independent Circuit in 2008.

He then made a return appearance in the 2009 King of Trios tournament on March 27, 2009, teaming with Al Snow and D'Lo Brown in another first-round loss, this time against The UnStable of Vin Gerard, Colin Delaney, and STIGMA.

He would make his return to a major wrestling promotion on August 26, 2017, when he entered at #20 in Ring of Honor's 2017 Honor Rumble, where he would be eliminated by Bully Ray.

On May 25, 2019, he made an appearance at the debut PPV for All Elite Wrestling, Double or Nothing, taking part in the Casino Battle Royal. He was eliminated by MJF.

Acting career
In addition to wrestling, Lloyd has pursued an acting career in both film and television. He had auditioned (unsuccessfully) for a part on the CBS program Walker, Texas Ranger back in 1997, and though he had expressed interest in an acting career in an interview with WCW journalist Chad Damiani the next year, he finally appeared in his first film, a low-budget movie titled Blood Bath, in 2002. He guest-starred in the season finale of the USA Network series Burn Notice, which aired on September 20, 2007. Lloyd also worked as a stuntman at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, playing the part of a German flight engineer in the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! show until November 2004.

Personal life
Lloyd participated in the annual Monsters Celebrity Bowling Tournament on June 30, 2012 at Boardwalk Bowling in Orlando for the non-profit organization Rock Pink in conjunction with The Monsters in the Morning radio show to raise breast cancer awareness.

Championships and accomplishments

Martial arts
World Karate Association
Southeastern Super Heavyweight Full Contact Karate Champion

Professional wrestling
AWA World-1 South
AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Georgia All-Star Wrestling
GASW Tag Team Championship (1 time, last) – with R.D. Swain

Georgia Championship Wrestling
GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with R.D. Swain

National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jason Sugarman

Peach State Wrestling
PSW United States Tag Team Championship (2 times, first) – with R.D. Swain

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him # 488 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
TCW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
TCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jorge Estrada (1), Big Ron Studd (1)

United States Wrestling Alliance
USWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jesse Neal

Universal Independent Wrestling
UIW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

1964 births
1987 professional wrestling debuts
American male film actors
American Hung Gar practitioners
American male judoka
American male karateka
American male professional wrestlers
American male sport wrestlers
American stunt performers
American male voice actors
Faux Japanese professional wrestlers
Living people
Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state)
Masked wrestlers
People from Brunswick, Georgia
Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Professional wrestlers who use face paint
Professional wrestling trainers
Sportspeople from Georgia (U.S. state)
20th-century professional wrestlers
21st-century professional wrestlers
NWA World Tag Team Champions

Glacier (wrestler)


The Jathika Hela Urumaya (, , often approximated in English as National Heritage Party) is a nationalist political party in Sri Lanka. The JHU was launched in February 2004 by the lay-based, Sinhala nationalist political party Sihala Urumaya. Founding members include Kolonnawe Sumangala Thero, Uduwe Dhammaloka Thero, Ellawala Medhananda Thero, Omalpe Sobhitha Thero, Athuraliye Rathana Thero and Thilak Karunaratne. Some Sri Lankan Buddhists, including the All Island Clergy Organization, denounced the decision by monks to enter politics. The party drew support mainly from the middle class conservatives and the Buddhist youth.

History

The Jathika Hela Urumaya (National Sinhala Heritage) party contested its first parliamentary election on 2 April 2004. On that occasion, all of its candidates were Buddhist monks. At the election the party won 5.97% of the popular vote (a total of 552,724 votes) and nine out of 225 seats.

Since the election, the party has been involved in a number of controversial issues: one important action was introducing a bill to prohibit unethical, manipulative and highly aggressive religious conversions. This was viewed as a reaction against proselytism systematically carried out by Christian fundamentalist groups with many guises, some of whom happened to be foreigners affiliated with non-governmental organizations. There had been some dramatic infighting within the JHU parliamentary group early on in its parliamentary profile. This was partly because this group had been cobbled together just before the polls and lacked unity on several grounds including the issue of how to relate to government formation.

Two of its founding members, Theros Kolonnawe Sumangala and Uduwe Dhammaloka left the party due to conflicts within the party between the monastic and lay members. The lay leader of the Sihala Urumaya also defected to the United National Party after seizing the party headquarters. After months of trouble, the party is strong again with the young monk Athuraliye Rathana Thero and the Sihala Urumaya member Champika Ranawaka leading the comeback. Ellawela Medhananda and Omalpe Sobhitha theros remain in the leadership. Other influential members include Dr Neville Karunatilake and Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe. JHU is also affiliated with the National Movement Against Terrorism (NMAT), SPUR, North-East Sinhala Organisation (NESO) and other local and international Sinhala nationalist groups.

Jathika Hela Urumaya successfully appealed the supreme court to cut President Chandrika Kumaratunga's term short. In October 2005, former JHU member Uduwe Dhammaloka indicated that there was a growing sentiment among the monks of the JHU that a mistake had been made in directly entering the political realm.  Dhammaloka indicated that he personally believed that monks could have a more positive impact on Sri Lankan society by focusing on religious work, and that the current crop of monk-parliamentarians intended to "ensure that monks will not enter politics again" ("Monks").  It is unclear if Uduwe Dhammaloka and other ordained members of parliament will resign their positions, or if legislation will be introduced to restrict monks from standing for public office (as is currently the case in Thailand). Jathika Hela Urumaya supported President Mahinda Rajapakse in the presidential election in 2005. In 2007, the JHU officially became part of the Rajapakse Government with one of its Buddhist monk MP, Omalpe Thero resigning and in his place a lay member Champika Ranawaka being made an MP and then the Cabinet Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

2014
In 2014 party decided to withdraw support to Mahinda Rajapaksha and support the common candidate Maithripala Sirisena backed by United National Party. In the 2015 general election party contested under the United National Party symbol elephant and won 3 seats. Champika Ranawaka was appointed as the Minister of Megalopolis and Western Development.

Charges Against United States
The JHU launched a campaign to collect one million signatures to petition United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki Moon to establish a commission to inquire into human rights violations committed by the United States.

Ideology
The party advocated the wiping out the LTTE by military force, and the party played a major role in making that dream a reality. It wants to maintain Sri Lanka's unitary constitution. The JHU is active against deforestation and is active to promote organic farming. The JHU have also been instrumental in implementing several policy programmes including a ban on smoking in public places and limitations in alcohol, banning of harmful pesticides, including the mandatory shut-down of liquor stores and ban on meat on Poya and other Buddhist festivals.

Electoral history

See also
Buddhism in Sri Lanka
Theravada Buddhism
Champika Ranawaka

References

External links
Official Web Site of Jathika Hela Urumaya
An election statement from Jathika Hela Urumaya supporters
Profile of the Jathika Hela Urumaya from Lankanewspapers.com
Interview  with leading members of the Jathika Hela Urumaya. February, 2004.
News story describing tensions between monk-politicians and former Sihala Urumaya members
Monks should stay out of Sri Lanka politics, says monk legislator

2004 establishments in Sri Lanka
Buddhist political parties
Nationalist parties in Sri Lanka
Political parties established in 2004
Political parties in Sri Lanka
United National Front (Sri Lanka)
Sinhalese nationalist parties

Jathika Hela Urumaya


Ame-no-Uzume-no-mikoto (天宇受売命) is the Kami of dawn, happiness and joy in the Shinto religion of Japan. She is famous for her role in the tale of the sun goddess, Amaterasu.

Amaterasu's brother, the storm god Susano'o (須佐之男命), had vandalised her sacred buildings and killed her maidens because she refused to trust him. Amaterasu became so scared of his wrath that she went to hide into a cave, Ame-no-Iwato (天の岩戸). The world, without the light of the sun, became dark. The Oni (devils of Japanese mythology) came out to the dark world, and the gods could not make Amaterasu come out of the cave.

The intelligent Uzume took a small boat, turned it upside down near the cave entrance, and began a dance on it, tearing off her clothing in front of the other Kami. They thought this was so funny that they laughed happily.

Amaterasu heard them, and looked out to see why the gods were laughing. When she opened the cave, she saw her wonderful reflection in a mirror Uzume had put on a tree, and slowly came out of the cave.

At that moment, the god Ameno-Tajikarawo (天手力男命) closed the cave behind her, so she could not go back in. Another god tied a magic rope across the entrance. The sun goddess was then asked by the Kami Ame-no-Koyane (天児屋根命)  to go back with the gods. She agreed, and light came back to the earth.

Uzume is still worshipped today as a Shinto kami. She is also known as Ame-no-Uzume, The Great Persuader, and The Heavenly Alarming Female.

Other websites
 A substantial article on this subject
 A one-paragraph glossary entry in Italian

Gods and goddesses of Japan
Shinto

Ama-no-Uzume


Borat Sagdiyev  (Kazakh and Russian: Борат Сагдиев) is a fictional Kazakh journalist, created and portrayed by the English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

Humor is often derived from Borat being a foreigner and having strange customs, thoughts, and behavior. There is also a lot of toilet humor in the series. Borat hates Gypsies and is also Anti-Semitic.

Origins of Borat
The Borat character first appeared in short clips on F2F - The Granada Talk TV Show that Sacha Baron Cohen presented in 1996-1997.

Borat's life and family
Borat was born in the fictional village of Kuzcek, Kazakhstan to Asimbala Sagdiyev and Boltok the town rapist (who is also his mother's father). He has a 13-year-old son named Hooeylewis and 12-year-old twin boys named Biram and Bilak, as well as 17 grandchildren. He has an older sister named Natalya (whom he has claimed at different times to be either "the number four" or "number two prostitute" in Kazakhstan) and a younger brother, Bilo, who is mentally retarded. It is revealed that he has a second wife in addition to a mistress, a girlfriend and a prostitute.

Borat is shown to have been married several times, after first having been betrothed to his half-sister's plough while in his teens. His first wife Oksana was reported in the Borat movie to have been "broken" by a bear while taking his brother Bilo for a walk in the forest. The death of Borat's wife did not bother him; he thanks the man who brings him this "good news" — and celebrates by trying to marry Pamela Anderson and eventually reuniting with Luenell, a black prostitute he met while filming his documentary.

Borat is a professional journalist and announcer on Kazakh television. According to various in-character interviews with Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat learned at Astana University, where he studied English, journalism, and plague research. He claims to have created five new plagues which supposedly "killed over 5 million goats and whores in Uzbekistan."

Before this Borat was an ice maker, animal sperm retriever, gypsy catcher, and someone who removes dead birds from a computer.

Borat was a pagan for most of his life. However, in the movie he attends a Pentecostal church service and later converts his village neighbors to Christianity.

Borat greatly admires Joseph Stalin, and claims that both he and Stalin are strong men with powerful "khram" (genitals). He hates women's rights and was surprised to learn that women can vote in some countries. In his spare time, he enjoys playing ping pong, sunbathing while wearing a lime green "mankini", disco dancing, spitting, sitting on comfortable chairs, and taking pictures of women while they "make toilet".

Da Ali G Show
Borat is shown in each episode of Da Ali G Show, doing funny interviews with real people in the United Kingdom and the United States. The segments were shot in low-quality video to make fun of how poor Kazakhstan is and how it cannot afford good cameras. Of Ali G, Borat comments on his website, "I appear on Alee G shows–He idiot, but it give me lot of girls & pickles; I like..."

The Borat segments on Da Ali G Show use a rock and roll version of the Russian folk tune "Korobeiniki" as the theme song.

Guide to Britain
Was part of a six-part Ali G show originally on Channel 4 (UK) in March 2000.

Five Borat sketches were shown: "Etiquette", Hunting, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Henley. The "Guides" to "English Gentlemen", "Politics" and "Sport" were also filmed at this time but released later as part of Ali G DVDs.

Borat Special
A special shown on the E4 launch night (UK) in January 2001 known as "The Best of Borat."

Some of the best parts were the "Guide to Sport" and a some video of Borat's village in Kazakhstan. Though the village they used was really in Romania.

Guide to USA 1
Shown as part of a six part Ali G Show originally on HBO (USA) in February 2003.

Six Borat sketches were shown in the form of "Guides" to "Dating," "Etiquette," "Acting," "Men," "Baseballs," and "The (Deep) South." A "Guide to Animals" was filmed, but released at a later date as part of an Ali G DVD. Alyssa Greenfill was also in it.

Guide to USA 2
Shown as part of a six-part Ali G Show originally on HBO (USA) in July 2004. (C4 was the UK channel where Ali G and Borat originally appeared, and the series for America was a HBO/C4 co-production).

Six Borat sketches were shown: "Wine Tasting", "Politics", "Country Music", "Hobbies", "Buying a House" and "Jobs" (careers). A "Guide to Hunting" was filmed but only aired in the UK because it bothered animal rights people in America.

Ali G Indahouse
Borat appeared in the Ali G movie Ali G Indahouse as a Kazak diplomat. Borat greets Ali G with a hug and kiss, but Ali pushes him away. Borat then calls Ali a "cocksucker". In the end, Borat performs a hip-hop song with superstar Max Allard.

The "Movie Film"

Subtitled Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the movie Borat is mockumentary comedy. Most of those appearing in the film are not paid performers, but real people whom Borat met on his journey. The movie was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and directed by Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released across Europe and North America on November 3, 2006.

The film follows Borat in his travels across the United States as he commits cultural solecisms and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a rerun of Baywatch and vows to make her his wife.

The film opened at # 1 in the United States, taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating Fahrenheit 9/11 as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in fewer than 1,000 cinemas. Cohen celebrated the release of the movie with a host of promotional 'in-character' interviews.

On November 9, 2006, the Russian Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography issued an opinion, citing "it could offend viewers in relation to certain ethnic groups and religions."

The movie expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million.

In 2007, Baron Cohen won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy."

With a production budget of $18,000,000, the movie earned $128,501,044 in the United States and another $128,848,505 in the rest of the world. $257,349,549 in total as of March 2007.

Book
In 2007, a book from Cohen was released entitled, "Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan/ Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A.", with humor about both countries in the same style as movie.

Language
Though he pretends to speak Kazakh, Borat really speaks in Hebrew mixed with some Polish and other Slavic language phrases, such as "" and "" (Polish "how are you" and "thank you"). As such, the film became popular in Israel.

Borat also lapses into Hebrew while purporting to sing the Kazakhstani national anthem at a Savannah Sand Gnats game. He kept repeating a famous Hebrew folk song: (; kum bachur atzel ve'tze la'avoda;  "get up lazy guy and go to work [...]" ) [...] ; kookooriku kookooriku ha'tarnegol kara; "cock-a-doodle-do the cock has crowed"), and also called Kazakhstan a distant/desolate place (literally "hole" ()(hor)).

His producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian) speaks Armenian, while his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova) speaks Bulgarian

In the opening scenes in the town of Kuzcek, the villagers speak Romanian because these scenes were shot in Glod, Romania. As in the rest of the movie, what is spoken does not match the translation given in the subtitles. For example, when Borat's wife Oksana speaks, the subtitles show her telling Borat to "do something useful and dig his mother's grave," when she is actually telling him to go into "the devil's cunt."

Criticism and controversy

See also Da Ali G Show: Controversy

Criticized as unfair smear against Kazakhstan
Some say that Kazakhstan is not as bad as Borat says it is and that it is wrong of him to say such things.

In August 2004, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, at an international religious meeting in Brussels, stated that in 10 years in the country, he had never faced anti-Semitism. He praised the Government of Kazakhstan for its treatment of the Jewish community.

On October 19, the Associated Press reported that Kazakhstan's Deputy Foreign Minister, Rakhat Aliyev, had invited Cohen to visit Kazakhstan to see how wrong he was about it. In an interview, Aliyev asserted that:

His trip could yield a lot of discoveries—that women not only travel inside buses but also drive their own cars, that we make wine from grapes, that Jews can freely attend synagogues and so on.

Denigration of Gypsies
Borat's film has frequently been accused of promoting antiziganism. The scenes supposedly filmed in Borat's Kazakhstani village were actually filmed in an impoverished Roma (gipsy) village of Glod in Romania. USA Today reports that poverty villagers were offered between $3.30 and $5.50 to bring animals into their houses and perform other acts some critics called humiliating. The studio contends that
participants were paid double the rate recommended by the Romanian movie office for extras.

Two villagers of Glod have hired reparation attorney Ed Fagan to sue the makers of the film for $30 million for human rights abuses. Fagan intends to submit lawsuits in New York and Florida state courts, as well as in Frankfurt, Germany. Fagan said that he hoped to "teach Hollywood a very expensive lesson." The lawsuit was thrown out by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a hearing in early December 2006 on the ground that the charges were too vague to stand up in court. Fagan plans to refile.

Denigration of Jews
The Borat character has elicited some controversy, mostly related to his frequent displays of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.

Baron Cohen, who is himself Jewish, has explained his character's racism by stating that the segments show how people are sometimes racist because others around them are too and that it is important to stand up against racism.
 "Borat essentially works a tool. By himself pretending to be anti-Semitic, he lets people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice," Cohen explains to Rolling Stone. Cohen, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, says he wishes in particular to expose the role of indifference:

When I was in university, there was this major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw, who said, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic.

Regarding the enthusiastic response to his song "In My Country There is Problem" (detailed below), he says, "Did it reveal that they were anti-Semitic? Perhaps. But maybe it just revealed that they were indifferent to anti-Semitism."

However, the Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that "...combat[s] anti-Semitism and bigotry of all kinds", complained to HBO after Borat performed a country western song titled "In My Country There Is Problem" that called on people to 'throw the Jew down the well', warning them that 'you must be careful of his teeth' and that 'you must grab him by his horns', to applause and joining in from some of the audience in Tucson, Arizona. The chorus goes: "Throw the Jew down the well/So my country can be free/You must grab him by his horns/Then we have a big party."

In another scene, Borat visits the Serengeti Range ranch in Texas, where the owner of the ranch confides that he believes the Holocaust was a necessity for Germany. He further implies that he would have no problem running a ranch where people can hunt, in Borat's words, "deer... then Jew."

An interview with James Broadwater, an evangelical Christian and Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Mississippi, caused Broadwater to receive some hateful emails after an episode of Da Ali G Show aired in which Broadwater stated that Jews will go to Hell. He was told that the interview would be played in foreign countries to teach others about the American political system. Broadwater later posted a letter on his website against Da Ali G Show, explaining that his statement referred to a theological belief that anyone that "accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will spend eternity in Heaven, while everyone who rejects Him will spend eternity in Hell." Broadwater did not apologise for his comments. Instead, he insisted that "the liberal, anti-God media needs to be brought under the strict control of the FCC, and that as soon as possible."

In the movie, Borat continues to hate Jews and be fearful of them. He does not like to fly while in America in case the Jews "make another 9/11". Later, as he finds himself in a hotel run by an old Jewish couple, he tries to "escape" and throws money at two bugs on the floor, afraid that the Jews have shapeshifted into cockroaches.

Cohen later joked, upon receiving a British comedy award, that Borat was guest of honour at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.

Iraq war sarcasm
In January 2005, after pretending to be making a documentary, Cohen angered a crowd at a rodeo in Salem, Virginia. The crowd first cheered his statements of "support" for the Iraq war, including statements like "We is support your war of terror", and "May George Bush drink the blood of every single man, woman, and child of Iraq". However, the applause softened when he exclaimed "May you destroy their country so that for the next thousand years, not even a single lizard will survive in their desert!" The crowd then got infuriated when he sang the (fictional) Kazakhstan national anthem to an off-key version of the US national anthem.

"If he had been out there a minute longer, I think somebody would have shot him," said one witness. "People were booing him, flipping him off." For his own safety, Cohen was escorted from the venue. (Much of the event appears in the movie. A credulous news report about the incident, aired on a local television station, is included in the DVD extras).

Controversy with Kazakhstan's government
Baron Cohen has also been accused of creating a derogatory image of Kazakhstan.

In November 2005, following Borat's hosting of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said he was worried about the character. Spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a news conference: "We view Mr Cohen's behaviour at the MTV Europe Music Awards as utterly unacceptable, being a concoction of bad taste and ill manners which is completely incompatible with the ethics and civilised behaviour of Kazakhstan's people", concluding "We reserve the right to any legal action to prevent new pranks of the kind."

Baron Cohen has since posted a video on the "Official Borat Homesite" where Borat responds to Ashykbayev in character. In the video, Borat states, in part:

In response to Mr. Ashykbayev's comments, I'd like to state I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my government's decision to sue this Jew. Since the 2003 Tuleyakiv reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old. Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of Central Asia. Goodbye! Dzienkuje!

Reuters quoted an unnamed Western diplomat as saying, "They (the Government of Kazakhstan) are damned if they do [respond] and damned if they don't," he said. "It's sort of unfortunate that he hit upon Kazakhstan." Another unnamed source inside Kazakhstan's Washington embassy called Borat a "one-man diplomatic wrecking ball."

The next week, the government hired two Western public relations firms to counter Borat's claims, and ran a four-page advertisement in The New York Times. The ad carried testimonials about the nation's democracy, education system and the power and influence enjoyed by women. On a previous occasion, Borat responded to such official complaints by issuing his own "press release", a bunch of random Cyrillic characters. He would again respond when promoting his movie in front of the Kazakhstani Embassy in Washington, roundly denouncing the advertisements as "Uzbek propaganda".

On December 13, 2005, the right to use the domain name www.borat.kz was suspended, and the site attached to it was closed down. The domain-issuing body said that they took this action since false names were given for the site's administrators, and also because the site www.borat.kz was hosted outside Kazakhstan. However, the stated underlying cause of the action was in order to censor the content of the site: "We've done this so he can't badmouth Kazakhstan under the .kz domain name," Nurlan Isin, President of the Association of Kazakh IT Companies, told Reuters. "He can go and do whatever he wants at other domains."

Reporters Without Borders petitioned the ICANN ombudsman to allow Borat to keep the website. Meanwhile, the "Official Borat Homesite" was moved to the .tv domain, where it remains. As of October 14, 2007, the former domain name was still suspended. The 2006 annual human rights report released by the US State Department cited the loss of the .kz website as evidence of the Kazakhstani government's efforts to stop free speech.

Borat has, however, recently been defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and daughter of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. She stated on a national news programme Karavan that Cohen's website "damaged our image much less than its closure, which was covered by all global news agencies," and "We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think."

White House "visit"
On September 28, 2006, Cohen appeared in character as Borat at the White House gates to give a press conference and invite "Supreme Warlord Premier George Walker Bush" to a screening of his forthcoming movie, along with "O.J. Simpson", "Melvin Gibsons" and other "American dignitaries", after which they would join him for drinks at Hooters. Secret Service Uniformed Division Officers would not admit him on to the grounds.

Complaint by Gypsies in Germany
On October 18, 2006, European Centre for Antiziganism Research, which pleads against discrimination of Gypsies, filed a complaint with prosecutors based on Borat's comments about Gypsies in his movie. The complaint accuses him of spreading lies and inciting violence against the ethnic group.

Avian Flu "Gift"
At a press conference just hours before the live broadcast of the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards, he shocked local and international journalists in Lisbon, Portugal, by bringing a bag of birds from Romania (the first European country to detect avian influenza) as a gift, then proceeded to apologize for them all dying.

Victims of Borat hoaxes
WAPT (Jackson, Mississippi) TV news producer Dharma Arthur states in Newsweek she lost her job as a result of her booking Borat on a local afternoon news program. At the time of the appearance, she was unaware of Cohen's act. During an interview with anchor Brad McMullan, Borat made sexual and scatological references, kissed McMullan, and later disrupted a live weather report. She said: "Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did... I spiralled into depression, and... was released from my contract... It took me three months to find another job, and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure... How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius."

The broadcast, including the initial interview, the disrupted weather report, and several behind-the-scenes shots made by Borat's own movie crew, is seen in the Borat movie.

Not all hoax victims threaten to sue, however. Behind-the-scenes interviews with Randall Shelley ("Guide to Baseball"), Danny Passmore ("Guide to Hobbies USA"), Jennifer Defrancisco / Charles Di Cagno ("Guide to Acting"), Ken Goldberg ("Guide to Being a Real Man"), and Peta Heskell ("Guide to English Gentlemen") have all resulted in the subjects deciding not to sue.

Borat gets sued
 The state prosecutor in Hamburg, Germany, filed a complaint against Mr. Cohen, accusing him of slander, inciting violence against the Gypsy's groups, and violating Germany's anti-discrimination law.
 Two fraternity boys featured in the movie have filed an anonymous complaint against corporations and persons affiliated with Baron Cohen in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, for fraud, rescission of contract, common law false light, statutory false light, appropriation of likeness, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. One of the plaintiffs has been revealed as Justin Seay, a graduate of the University of South Carolina and former Vice President of the Chi Psi Fraternity. On December 11, 2006, an L.A. Judge denied the pair a restraining order to remove them from the movie.
 Cindy Streit, the owner of Etiquette Training Service in Birmingham, Alabama, has claimed mistreatment and fraud after Borat came to a dinner party and embarrassed the other guests. Ms. Streit has hired attorney Gloria Allred, who is demanding an investigation by the California attorney general. Allred says her client agreed to be filmed as part of a documentary for Belarus television, and for those purposes only. She is asking the attorney general to consider all appropriate relief, including a percentage of the profits from the movie. 20th Century Fox denied the claims and stated that there was nothing in writing about only being shown in Belarus; the studio also asserted that the release form clearly stated the footage could be distributed worldwide.
 According to a January 2007 report by the Associated Press, Dovale Glickman had planned to sue Baron Cohen for copyright infringement of the phrase "Wa wa wee Wa." Glickman originated the phrase 16 years ago as part of his Israeli comedy series Zehu Zeh.

In popular culture
 In Epic Movie, Danny Jacobs portrays Borat at the end of the film and repeats the "NOT!" joke used in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
 The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre has produced a parody of Borat, although in this case, he is from Bunzakhstan (a parody of Kazakhstan).

References

Other websites

 Jaarclub named after Borat Sagdiyev

 Video interview with Borat on Movies.com
 The Borat Soundboards
 Borat 2?
 Borat on Google Maps

Articles
 NPR Fresh Air Interview of Sacha Baron Cohn
 Interview with Dan Mazer about Borat, Producer of Da Ali G Show  on April 23, 2003 on boratonline.co.uk
 "Did Ali G Go Too Far?"  on August 13, 2004 in The Jewish Week
 "The Borat Doctrine"  posted September 13, 2004 in The New Yorker
 "'Ali G' Comedian Riles Rodeo Crowd"  on January 14, 2005 on CBS News
 "No Joke"  by Kenneth Neil Cukier on December 28, 2005 in Foreign Affairs, on what the removal of the Borat site from the .kz domain portends for the administration of the global domain name system
 Borat on Gotuit Video
 And Now for the World According to Borat and Sacha Baron Cohen
 "Borat in Paris"  on October 9, 2006
 "Offensive and unfair, Borat's antics leave a nasty aftertaste" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on October 4, 2006 in The Guardian
 "Behind the Schemes" , Newsweek, October 16, 2006 (profiling several people who became unwitting Borat punch lines)
 "Borat vs. Kazakhstan" , brandchannel, October 30, 2006 (discusses Borat's affect on Westerners' perception of Kazakhstan)
 "Mahir to Borat: I Sue You!", Wired, November 2006 (Q&A with Borat look-a-like Mahir Cagri)
 "New Borat Book Contains 100 Photos of Naked Kazakhstan Women" , Russian Spy, November 2006
 "We survived Stalin and we can certainly overcome Borat's slurs" by Kazakhstan Ambassador Erlan Idrissov on November 4, 2006 in The Times

Fictional characters introduced in 1996
Kazakhstani writers
Comedy movie characters
Television characters

Borat Sagdiyev


The Brinell scale is a measure of hardness in materials.  It is measured by making a dent in the material and seeing how deep the dent goes with a known amount of force. It is similar to the Mohs' hardness scale, which scratches the material. It is used to test the hardness of metals. Normally, a steel ball is pressed into an object and the dent made is measured.

References
.

Tests
Materials science

Brinell scale


An Ina Bauer is a figure skating element. It is named after a figure skater from Germany named Ina Bauer, who invented the position.

The Ina Bauer is performed by placing the feet in the fourth position in ballet. The front leg is bent forwards at the knee and the back leg is extended behind the skater. The front leg can be either on an inside edge or an outside edge. An outside edge Ina Bauer is harder to do. While the skater skates in a curve across the ice (necessary because of the skate positions), the back can be bent backwards. This is not mandatory, but it does add to the element.

The Ina Bauer is a famous move in Japan because it was performed by Shizuka Arakawa during her long program at the 2006 Winter Olympics, which she won. Because she bends back so far during the move, the term in Japanese has come to mean anything having to do with bending backwards.

Other websites
See Ina Bauer element  (MPG)
Read more about Ina Bauer

Figure skating

Ina Bauer


Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin (; March 9, 1934 – March 27, 1968)  was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut (astronaut). He was the first person to travel into space.

Early life
Yuri Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia), on 9 March 1934. Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin in 1968 in his honour. His parents, Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina, worked on a collective farm. While manual workers are thought as "peasants," this may be too-simple if applied to his parents — his mother was said to love reading, and his father was a skilled carpenter. Yuri was the third of four children, and his elder sister helped raise him while his parents worked. Like millions of people in the Soviet Union, the Gagarin family suffered during the Nazi invasion in World War II. His two elder siblings were sent out to Nazi Germany for slave work in 1943, and did not return until after the war. While a youth, Yuri became interested in space and planets, and began to dream about his space tour which would one day become a reality. Yuri was thought by his teachers, as smart and hard-working, sometimes mischievous. His mathematics and science teacher had flown in the Soviet Air Forces during the war, which was said to make some impression on young Gagarin.

After starting an apprenticeship in a metalworks as a foundryman, Gagarin was selected for further training at a technical high school in Saratov. While there, he joined the flight club, and learned to fly a light aircraft. In 1955, after finishing his technical schooling, he entered military flight training at the Orenburg Pilot's School. While there he met Valentina Goryacheva. Yuri married her in 1957, after gaining his pilot's wings in a MiG-15. Post-graduation, he was told to go to Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, close to the Norwegian border, where bad weather made flying risky. As a full-grown man, Gagarin was  tall, which was an advantage in the small Vostok cockpit. He became a lieutenant of the Soviet Air Force on November 5, 1957 and on November 6, 1959 he got the rank of senior lieutenant.

Sports
Gagarin kept physically fit throughout his life, and was a good sportsman. As the space explorer Valery Bykovsky wrote:

As well as being a good ice hockey player, Gagarin was also a basketball fan, and coached the Saratov Industrial Technical School team, as well as being an umpire/referee.

Career in the Soviet space program

Selection and training
In 1960, after the search and selection process, Yuri Gagarin was selected with 19 other space explorers for the Soviet space program. Along with the other soon to be space explorers, he was tested by experiments made to test his physical and psychological score; he also underwent training for the upcoming flight. Out of the twenty originally selected, the final choice for the first launch was between Gagarin and Gherman Titov because of their performance in training, as well as their physical fitness.

Spaceflight
On 12 April 1961, Gagarin became the first man to travel into space, launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1). His call sign in this flight was Kedr (Cedar; ). During his flight, Gagarin famously whistled the song "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows" (). The first two lines of the song are: "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky". This song was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951 (opus 86), with words by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.

Around the same time, some Western people claimed that Gagarin, during his space flight, had made the comment, "I don't see any God up here." However, no such words appear in the direct record of Gagarin's talk with the Earth during the spaceflight. In a 2006 interview a close friend of Gagarin, Colonel Valentin Petrov, said that Gagarin never said such words, and that the phrase came from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the fullness of the Central Committee of the CPSU, where the anti-religious propaganda was talked about. In a certain context Khrushchev said, "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any God there."

Fame and later life
After the flight, Gagarin became a world-famous celebrity. He toured in many places like in Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, and Japan. He did this to promote the Soviet Union achievements.

In 1962, he began serving as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. He later came back to Star City. While there, he worked on designs for a reusable spacecraft. Gagarin worked on these designs in Star City for seven years. He became Lieutenant Colonel (or Podpolkovnik) of the Soviet Air Force on 12 June 1962. Then on 6 November 1963 he got the rank of Colonel (Polkovnik) of the Soviet Air Force. Soviet people tried to keep him away from any flights, being worried of losing their hero in an accident. Gagarin was backup pilot for Vladimir Komarov in the Soyuz 1 flight. As Komarov's flight ended in a deadly crash, Gagarin was banned from training for and helping out in further spaceflight/s.

Death
Gagarin then became deputy training director of the Star City cosmonaut training base.  At the same time, he began to re-join as a fighter pilot. On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. Gagarin and Seryogin were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square.

People are not sure what caused the crash, but a 1986 investigation thinks that the turbulence from a Su-11 'Fishpot-C' interceptor using its afterburners may have caused Gagarin's plane to go out of control.

Russian documents opened to the public in March 2003 showed that the KGB had changed their own investigation of the accident. In addition to this, one government and two military investigations. The KGB's report removed many conspiracy thoughts, instead of showing the actions of air base personnel added to the crash. The report says that an air traffic controller made Gagarin have old weather information. But by that time of his flight, conditions had become very bad. Ground crew also left fuel tanks on the aircraft. Gagarin's planned flight needed good weather and no outboard tanks. The investigation ended, saying that Gagarin's aircraft entered a spin, either because of a bird strike or because of a sudden move to avoid another aircraft. Because of the old weather report, the crew thought their altitude to be higher than it actually was, and could not properly react to bring the MiG-15 out of its spin.

In his 2004 book Two Sides of the Moon, Alexey Leonov tells that he was flying a helicopter in the same area that day when he heard "two loud booms in the distance." His thought was that the Sukhoi jet was flying below its minimum allowed altitude, and "without realizing it because of the terrible weather conditions, he passed within 10 or 20 meters of Yuri and Seregin's plane while breaking the sound barrier." The resulting turbulence would have sent the MiG into an uncontrolled spin. Leonov thinks the first boom he heard was that of the jet breaking the sound barrier, and the second was Gagarin's plane crashing.

Related pages
 Space race
 Valentina Tereshkova

References

 Gavrilin, Vyacheslav Sportsmen of the Soviet Union

Other websites

 Yuri Gagarin - The First to Fly
 Gagarin's photos
 Obituary, NY Times, 28 March 1968 Yuri Gagarin Killed As Test Plane Falls
  Юрий Гагарин. Дорога в космос  — his book in Russian (HTML)
  Photo, Audio and Video with Yuri Gagarin , online version of CD created to his 70th anniv. on the homepage of Russian state archive for scientific-technical documentation (RGANTD).
  Article in online Encyclopedia of cosmonautics  A lot of information about the first human's flight to space.
  Gagarin's flight 3D visualization — contains the real record of his conversation with the Earth during the spaceflight
  Annotated transcript of Gagarin's radio conversations with ground stations, starting 2hrs (4:10 UTC) before launch
 Gagarin — detailed biography at Encyclopedia Astronautica
 List (with photos) of Gagarin statues
 11 minutes long interview of Yuri Gagarin by The Finnish Broadcasting Company in 1961
 Yuri's Night - World Space Party
 Yuri Gagarin: The first man in space

1934 births
1968 deaths
Aviation deaths
Aviators
Soviet colonels
Cosmonauts
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Smolensk Oblast

Yuri Gagarin


See an aa Ford Escort (Europe).

The Ford Escort is a compact caur that wis manufactured bi the Ford Motor Company. The North American Escort adoptit baith the badge an the general design o a redesigned European model, an the name haes been applee'd tae several different designs in North America syne its introduction as Ford's first successfu warld caur.

The Escort wis Ford's first front-wheel-drive caur biggit in North America, replacin the datit Ford Pinto subcompact caur (1971–80) wi a modren front-wheel drive design popularized bi the Volkswagen Rabbit. It an aa effectively replaced the smawer Ford Fiesta which wis importit frae Europe frae 1978-80. Tho mechanically sophisticatit, the Fiesta wis too smaw, even for a Pinto replacement.

The Escort wis ane o Ford's maist successfu models in the 1980s, earnin a muckle better reputation than the Pinto, which faced widely-publicized safety issues. In fact, the Escort wis the single best-sellin caur in its seicont year in the Unitit States an durin maist o that decade.

First generation (1981–1990)

Introduced in 1981, the first American Escort wis intendit tae share common components wi the European Mk III Escort (as wi its sister, the Mercury Lynx), an wis launcht as a 2-door hatchback an as a 4-door station wagon, wi the 4-door hatchback follaein a year later. It haed considerably mair chrome than the model sauld elsewhaur. The caur wis freshened in 1983.

Awtho the basic silhouette wis the same, it wis amaist completely different frae the European version, apairt frae the Ford CVH ingine. Thare wis a 1.6 L ingine, a 4-speed MTX-2 an a 5-speed MTX-3 manual transmission that wur staundart wi a 3-speed ATX/FLC automatic transmission optional. A 1.3 L ingine wis designed an prototyped but did no see production due tae lack o pouer. Beginnin in 1983 a GT model affered a multi-port EFI version o the 1.6 L 4-cylinder that increased pouer bi 20 hp ower the base carburetit version. It an aa came wi a 5-speed transmission, TRX handlin package, front an rear spoilers, metric-sized alloy wheels an fog lichts. An aa beginnin in 1983 the Ford EXP haed the option o the turbochairged 1.6 L 4-cylinder ratit at 120 hp (89 kW) an matchin torque, a fairly sporty package, considerin that the Mustang GT o that period wis anerlie ratit at 175 hp (130 kW), an wis muckle hivier. The sport targetit Ford EXP wis essentially a twa-seat hatch wi lawer roofline based on the Escort, but wis no as successfu as ither body styles.

Ingines
1981-1985 1.6 L CVH I4, 68 hp (51 kW)
1983-1985 1.6 L EFI CVH I4, 88 hp (66 kW)
1984-1985 2.0 L RF diesel I4, 52 hp (39 kW)
1983-1985 1.6 L turbocharged CVH I4, 120 hp (89 kW)

1986–1990
Thare wis a seicont facelift (less chrome, restyled taillamps, flush heidlichts, 1.9 L ingine) as a 1985½ model. The Lynx wis retired for 1987, but wis replaced bi the Mazda 323-derived Tracer model in 1988. [That Mazda platform wis revampt in 1990 an debuted as the 1990 Mazda Protege. The updatit platform wad form the basis for the next generation (1991–1996) Escort/Tracer.]

The Escort saw anither minor facelift in mid-1988, which smoothed oot the front an rear fascias.  New plastic bumpers, lairger rear side windaes, a mair roondit rear-end design an lairger (14 in (36 cm) versus 13 in (33 cm)) wheels modrenized the leuk o the caurs. The ingine wis an aa updatit wi a slichtly revised camshaft, an roller lifters. The new design is commonly referred tae as the "88.5" year, an existit till the end o the 1990 model year.

Findin some popularity durin the final three years o this generation wis the Pony model, which wis the least-expensive U.S.-biggit Ford at the time. Pony models uised plainer interior trim wi greater uise o vinyl an plastic instead o cloth, an a 4-speed manual transaxle wis staundart, awtho buyers coud opt for the 5-speed foond in LX models or the 3-speed ATX automatic. The leet o available options wis vera leemitit, tae the extent that sic luxuries as pouer steerin an factory-instawed air conditionin wur no affered (a dealer-instawed A/C seestem wis available).  Gien thair lichter wecht, Pony models wur kent for thair ability tae deliver excellent fuel economy—mileage upwards o 40 mpg-US (5.9 L/100 km; 48 mpg-imp) in hietway drivin wis no uncommon.

Ingines
1986-1988 1.9 L CVH I4, 86 hp (64 kW)
1988.5-1990 1.9 L CVH I4, 90 hp (67 kW)
1986-1988 1.9 L CVH Hie Ootput I4, 108 hp (81 kW)
1988.5-1990 1.9 L CVH Hie Ootput I4, 110 hp (82 kW)
1986-1987 2.0 L RF diesel I4, 52 hp (39 kW)

Seicont generation (1991–1996)

In 1991, the Escort an the Mercury Tracer wur replaced bi models based on the Mazda B platform, which wis an aa uised bi the Mazda 323 an Protege. Ford, which awned a 25% stake in Mazda, awready sauld a version o the 323 in Asie an Australasie, cawed the Ford Laser, which replaced the auld rear-wheel drive Escort thare.

The Escort a decade earlier uised localized ingines. The Escort for the 1990s, housomeivver, wad be amaist identical warldwide, differin anerlie in appearance.

This generation o the Escort wis ane o the first Ford automobiles tae featur, on the 1.9 L ingine, distributorless ignition (kent as EDIS, Electronic Distributorless Ignition System). It an aa featurt a new electronically-controlled 4-speed automatic transmission, as well as an independent rear suspension, baith (at the time) relatively uncommon in caurs in this class.

The Mazda-based model sauld sluggishly in Americae at first, syne anerlie hatchback models wur affered in 1991, but became popular later in 1992, when thay introduced the sedan, available in aither LX or LX-E trim levels.

Frae 1993-1995, Ford affered the Escort on a "ane price" basis, wi the same price for a 3- or 5-door hatchback, a sedan or a wagon when equipt wi the maist popular options (3-doors quickly addit alloy wheels tae the "ane price" specification). The LX-E, equipt wi the same sportin equipment as the GT (4-wheel disc brakes, sport suspension, sport interior, 1.8 L Mazda inline 4), lastit ae till 1993. The Pony departit in 1992, replaced bi the Standard trim level.

Trim levels wur LX, Pony an GT: the GT wis the North American equivalent o the European XR3i version. Lik its European coonterpairt, it wis a 3-door hatchback anerlie, but whauras the European caur haed a 1.8 L Ford ingine, the North American mercat got a 1.8 L Mazda ingine. The LX an Standard or Pony wur equipt wi the 1.9 L owerheid cam CVH inline 4. The Pony or Standard wis the base trim level, maist lackin features lik pouer steerin or a radio. The LX wis the upscale trim level, an a Sport package coud equip it tae leuk lik a GT. Subtle differences can be noticed in aw three Escort models (sedan, hatchback an wagon) frae 1991-1996. In 1994, the grill oval hall aroond the "Ford" emblem became a little lairger in order tae allou mair air intae the ingine, an an aa the rim size wis chynged frae 13 in (33 cm) tae 14 in (36 cm).

Ingines
1991-1996 1.9 L (1859 cc) CVH I4, 88 hp (66 kW) 108 ft·lbf (146 N·m)
1991-1996 1.8 L (1839 cc) Mazda BP I4, 127 hp (95 kW) 114 ft·lbf (155 N·m) LX-E an GT

Third generation (1997–2002)

The 1997 restyle dropped the hatchbacks an addit a new sporty coupe for 1998, the Escort ZX2. It replaced the Ford Probe as Ford's sport compact caur. A muckle lawer-slung an rakish caur than aither the sedan an wagon, it wis aimed squarely at the youth mercat as a replacement for the Escort GT (awtho lackin the latter's rear disc brake setup) an wis biggit exclusively at Ford's Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico assembly plant. The interior wis refreshed for 1999, an the model wis retired efter 2003.

The 1998 Escort ZX2 coupe featurt the 2.0 L, 130 hp (97 kW) Zetec DOHC fower-cylinder ingine as staundart equipment, an option unavailable on the sedan or wagon. Intendit for uise as the base ingine in the lairger European Ford Mondeo an its American cousins, the Ford Contour an Mercury Mystique, the Zetec gae the ZX2 mair-than-respectable performance, runnin 0-60 in 7.4 seconds.

The 1999 an 2000 model years affered a leemitit performance edition ZX2 S/R which further enhanced the caurs performance in ivery aspect.

The Escort sedan an wagon uised the lawer pouered CVH SPI2000 ingine wi 110 hp (82 kW). Subtle differences can be noticed in the Escort sedan frae 1997-2002. The trim lines o 1997 wur base an the LX, 1998-2002 affered the LX an SE. In 1999, the reverse lichts wur moved intae the same piece as the tail lamps; thay wur previously belaw the tail lamp on the body.

A vera rare trim package coud be foond wi chrome 14 in (36 cm) wheel covers an ither features. It wis affered in 1999.

The Escort wis affered in a Sport package as well. The Mercury Tracer's version wis cawed the Trio or Sport dependin on the year. A basketweave teep o wheel wis put on the Tracer Trio while a flouer petal pattern wis uised on the Tracer Sport. The Sport/Trio package includit aluminum wheels, sport exhaust tip, a tachometer, an a rear decklid spoiler.

The Escort wagon lairgely retained the same body style, gainin ae the new interior, front end & fascia, side-view mirrors, door handles, badgin, an slichtly restyled taillamps & reflectors.  The black windae frames on the doors o some models became body-colored.

Baith the Escort wagon an the Mercury Tracer wur discontinued efter 1999. The Escort sedan wis discontinued in 2002, an wis awready replaced bi the Ford Focus. The last ZX2 wis biggit in 2003. In Mexico, it wis replaced bi the smawer Ford Ikon.

Ingines
1997-2002 2.0 L (1986 cc) CVH SPI2000, SOHC I4, 110 hp (82 kW) @ 5000 rpm, 125 ft·lbf (169 N·m) @ 3750 rpm @ 3750 rpm, redline 5500 rpm Sedan an Wagon
1998-2003 2.0 L (1989 cc) Zetec, DOHC I4, 130 hp (97 kW) @ 5750 rpm, 127 ft·lbf (172 N·m) @ 4250 rpm, redline 6500 rpm, 7200 Rpm rev cut ZX2
1999-2000 2.0 L (1989 cc) Zetec, DOHC I4, 143 hp (107 kW), 146 ft·lbf (198 N·m) ZX2 S/R

ZX2

For 2001, the sedan wis limitit tae fleet sales ae an the Escort moniker on the Escort ZX2 wis quietly dropt, makin the caur offeecially juist ZX2.

The Ford Focus debuted in 2001 an wis produced concurrently wi the ZX2. Tho no athoot its fans, baith then an nou, an still fairly well-representit in the automotive eftermarket, the ZX2 wis replaced bi the Focus ZX3, ZX4 an ZX5. Tho the twa caurs shared the same Zetec ingine, thare wur a few differences. The Focus lackt the exhaust-side VCT, an contained less aggressive camshafts that pusht the pouer baund doun a few hunder RPM. Thay baith shared the same block but, due tae the different camshafts an the different cylinder heid, the torque ootput for the Focus wis bumpt up bi 8 ft·lbf (11 N·m). Thanks tae better gearin an less wecht the ZX2 continued tae ootperform the Focus. The ZX2 continued wi little mair nor 15 in (38 cm) alloy wheels an a rear defroster nou affered as staundart equipment, an for 2003, a revised front fascia. Production ceased at the end o the 2003 model year.

ZX2 S/R
The increast presence an success o tuner models frae owerseas in the late 90s caused Ford tae creaut thair awn performance model, the ZX2 S/R. Meant tae compete wi cheap factory performance compacts sic as the Honda Civic Si or the Dodge Neon ACR, Ford creatit the ZX2 S/R tae show that thay haed plenty tae bring tae the table. Its initial debut wis at SEMA's Import Auto Salon in Pomona in 1999. The ZX2 S/R wis the first product jointly developt bi Ford Racing an Ford Motor Company's Smaw Vehicle Center Product Development.

Ford's final leemitit production coont wis 2,110 units, consistin o 110 yellae S/Rs in 1999, the first twa o which wur sauld in Columbus, Ohio, an the ither 108 in soothren Californie, an in 2000, 500 black, 500 reid an 1,000 yellae S/Rs for an upgrade price o $1,500 baith years. It is believed that anerlie 35 o those 2000 S/Rs wur sauld in Canadae, makin it a vera rare trim thare.  The ZX2 S/R an aa led tae inspiration in the Breetish sector o Ford an wis laterally biggit in Europe as the Ford Puma, Top Gear's caur o the year in 2002.

The optional S/R package adds stiffer suspension pairts (Eibach springs (M-5560-Z2), Tokico struts (M-18000-Z2) an Energy Suspension brand polyurethane suspension bushins), mair pouer (throu a Ford Racing PCM (M-12650-Z2)), mair efficient intake (Roush an Iceman), rear disc brakes (M-2300-Z2), a stranger clutch (Centerforce dual friction (M-7560-Z2), a short-throw B&M manual-transmission shifter (M-7210-Z2), an S/R-unique shift knob (M-7213-Z2) an buit (M-7277-Z2), upgradit seats, a unique blue valve civer, a different speed cluster that goes up tae 150 mph (240 km/h) an a unique tire/wheel package. Ingine pouer wis increased 10% ower the base Zetec ingine uised in the ZX2 tae 143 bhp (107 kW; 145 PS), courtesy o a recommendit premium fuel re-calibration, new air inlet seestem, the performance PCM, improved Borla muffler an pipe (M-5230-Z2). Aw ZX2 S/R hae a special "S/R" badge on the back, aither siller (on a reid car) or reid (on a yellae or black caur). Some S/R went oot o the assembly plant athoot some o the performance mods(example: missin the Centerforce clutch). The suspension bushings wur no installed at the factory but instead packaged wi the caur for installation at the dealership. This an aa led tae mony caurs leavin the showroom athoot the full complement o S/R pairts.

Sales

References

EscortSport.com Specifications  Ford Escort History
TeamZX2
"Ford Escort may return as 100mpg hybrid"

Escort
Station wagons
Front-wheel-drive vehicles
Compact caurs
1980s automobiles
1990s automobiles
2000s automobiles
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Vehicles introduced in 1981
Motor vehicles manufactured in the Unitit States

Ford Escort (North Americae)


Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the precursor of Russian socialism and one of the main precursors of agrarian populism (being an ideological ancestor of the Narodniki, Socialist-Revolutionaries, Trudoviks and the agrarian American Populist Party). With his writings, many composed while exiled in London, he attempted to influence the situation in Russia, contributing to a political climate that led to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. He published the important social novel Who is to Blame? (1845–46). His autobiography, My Past and Thoughts (written 1852–1870), is often considered one of the best examples of that genre in Russian literature.

Life

Herzen (or Gertsen) was an illegitimate son of a rich Russian landowner, Ivan Yakovlev, and Henriette Wilhelmina Luisa Haag from Stuttgart. Yakovlev gave his son the surname Herzen because he was a "child of his heart" (German Herz).

He was first cousin to Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky, considered the patriarch of Russian photography and one of Europe's most important early photographic pioneers, inventors and innovators. In 1860, Levitsky would immortalize Herzen in a famous photograph.

Herzen was born in Moscow, shortly before Napoleon's invasion of Russia and brief occupation of the city. His father, after a personal interview with Napoleon, was allowed to leave Moscow after agreeing to bear a letter from the French to the Russian emperor in St. Petersburg. His family accompanied him to the Russian lines.

A year later, the family returned to Moscow and stayed there until after Herzen had completed his studies at Moscow University. In 1834, Herzen and his lifelong friend Nikolay Ogarev were arrested and tried for attending a festival where verses by Sokolovsky, that were uncomplimentary to the tsar, were sung. He was found guilty, and in 1835 banished to Vyatka, now Kirov, in north-eastern European Russia. He remained there until 1837, when the tsar's son, Grand Duke Alexander (who later became become tsar Alexander II), accompanied by the poet Zhukovsky, visited the city and intervened on his behalf. Herzen was allowed to leave Vyatka for Vladimir, where he was appointed editor of the city's official gazette. In 1837, he eloped with his cousin Natalya Zakharina, secretly marrying her.

In 1839 he was set free and returned to Moscow in 1840, where he met literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, who was strongly influenced by him. Upon arrival, he was appointed as secretary to Count Alexander Stroganov in the ministry of the interior at St Petersburg; but due to complaining about a death caused by a police officer, was sent to Novgorod where he was a state councillor until 1842. In 1846, his father died, leaving him a large inheritance.

In 1847, Alexandr emigrated with his wife, mother and children, to Italy never to return to Russia. From Italy, on hearing of the revolution of 1848, he hastened to Paris and then to Switzerland. He supported the revolutions of 1848, but was bitterly disillusioned with European socialist movements after their failure. Herzen gained his reputation as a political writer. His assets in Russia were frozen due to his emigration, but Baron Rothschild, with whom his family had a business relationship, negotiated the release of the assets, which were nominally transferred to Rothschild.

Alexandr and his wife Natalia had four children together. His mother and one of his sons died in a shipwreck in 1851. His wife carried on an affair with the German poet Georg Herwegh. In 1852 Natalia died from tuberculosis and Alexandr left Geneva for London, where he settled for many years. He hired Malwida von Meysenbug to educate his daughters. With the publications of his Free Russian Press, which he founded in London in 1853, he tried to influence the situation in Russia and improve the situation of the Russian peasantry he idolized.

In 1856 he was joined in London by his old friend Nikolay Ogarev. They worked together on their Russian periodical Kolokol ("Bell"). Soon Alexandr began an affair with Natalia Tuchkova, Ogarev's wife , daughter of the war hero general Tuchkov. Tuchkova and Alexandr had three children. Ogarev found a new wife and the friendship between Herzen and Ogarev survived.

Herzen spent time in London organising with the International Workingmen's Association, becoming well acquainted with revolutionary circles including the likes of Bakunin and Marx. It was during his time in London that Herzen began to make a name for himself for "scandal-mongering" when he told Bakunin, freshly arriving after having escaped imprisonment in Siberia, that Marx had accused him of being a Russian agent; in reality, the two were on very good terms.

In 1864, Herzen returned to Geneva and, after some time, went to Paris where he died in 1870 of tuberculosis complications. Originally buried in Paris, his remains were taken to Nice a month later.

Political positions
Herzen promoted the ideas of Westernizer Vissarion Belinsky after his death in 1848. He was influenced by Voltaire, Schiller, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and especially Hegel and Feuerbach. Herzen started as a liberal but increasingly adopted socialism. He left Russia permanently in 1847, but his newsletter Kolokol  published in London from 1857 to 1867, was widely read. Herzen combined key ideas of the French Revolution and German idealism. He disliked bourgeois or middle-class values, and sought authenticity among the peasantry. He fought for the emancipation of the Russian serfs, and after that took place in 1861 he escalated his demands regarding constitutional rights, common ownership of land, and government by the people.

Herzen was disillusioned with the Revolutions of 1848 but not disillusioned with revolutionary thought. He became critical of those 1848 revolutionaries who were "so revolted by the Reaction after 1848, so exasperated by everything European, that they hastened on to Kansas or California". Herzen had always admired the French Revolution and broadly adopted its values. In his early writings, he viewed the French Revolution as the end of history, the final stage in social development of a society based on humanism and harmony. Throughout his early life, Herzen saw himself as a revolutionary radical called to fight the political oppression of Nicholas I of Russia. Essentially, Herzen fought against the ruling elites in Europe, against Christian hypocrisy and for individual freedom and self-expression.

He promoted both socialism and individualism and argued that the full flowering of the individual could best be realized in a socialist order. However, he would always reject grand narratives such as a predestined position for a society to arrive at and his writings in exile promoted small-scale communal living with the protection of individual liberty by a non-interventionist government.

Writings
His literary career began in 1842 with the publication of an essay, in Russian, on Dilettantism in Science, under the pseudonym of Iskander, the Turkish form of his Christian name. His second work, also in Russian, was his Letters on the Study of Nature (1845–46). In 1847 appeared his novel Who is to Blame? This is a story about how the domestic happiness of a young tutor, who marries the unacknowledged daughter of a Russian sensualist of the old type, dull, ignorant and genial, is troubled by a Russian sensualist of the new school, intelligent, accomplished, and callous, with there being no possibility of saying who is most to blame for the tragic ending.

Also in 1847 were published in Russian periodicals the stories which were afterwards collected and printed in London in 1854, under the title of Prervannye Razskazy (Interrupted Tales). In 1850 two works appeared, translated from the Russian manuscripts, From Another Shore and Lettres de France et d'Italie. In French also appeared his essay Du Developpement des idées revolutionnaires en Russie, and his Memoirs, which, after being printed in Russian, were translated under the title of Le Monde russe et la Révolution (3 vols., 1860–1862), and were in part translated into English as My Exile to Siberia (2 vols., 1855).

Works
 Legend (Легенда, 1836)
 Elena (Елена, 1838)
 Notes of a Young Man (1840)
 Diletantism in Science (1843)
 Who is to Blame? (Кто виноват?, 1846)
 Mimoezdom (Мимоездом, 1846)
 Dr. Krupov (Доктор Крупов, 1847)
 Thieving Magpie (Сорока-воровка, 1848)
 The Russian People and Socialism (Русский народ и социализм, 1848)
 From the Other Shore (1848–1850)
 Letters from France and Italy (1852)
 Selected Philosophical Works 1956
 My Past and Thoughts: The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen

Free Russian Press

Having founded in London in 1853 his Free Russian Press, the fortunes of which he gave an interesting account in a book published (in Russian) in 1863, he published a large number of Russian works, all against the system of government prevailing in Russia. Some of these were essays, such as his Baptized Property (1853), an attack on serfdom; others were periodical publications, the Polyarnaya Zvyezda (or Polar Star), the Kolokol (or Bell), and the Golosa iz Rossii (or Voices from Russia).

As the first independent Russian political publisher, Herzen began publishing The Polar Star, a review which appeared infrequently and was later joined by The Bell, a journal issued between 1857 and 1867 at Herzen's personal expense. Both publications acquired great influence via an illegal circulation in Russian territory; it was said the Emperor himself read them. Both publications gave Herzen influence in Russia reporting from a liberal perspective about the incompetence of the Tsar and the Russian bureaucracy.

For its first three years, the Russian Free Press went on printing without selling a single copy and scarcely able to get a single copy into Russia; so when at last a bookseller bought 10 shillings worth of Baptized Property, the half-sovereign was set aside by the surprised editors in a special place of honor. The death of emperor Nicholas in 1855 led to a complete change. Herzen's writings, and the magazines he edited, were smuggled wholesale into Russia, and their words resounded throughout the country, and all over Europe. Their influence grew.

The year 1855 gave Herzen reason to be optimistic; Alexander II had ascended the throne and reforms seemed possible. Herzen urged the Tsarist regime 'Onward, onward' towards reform in The Polar Star in 1856. Writing in 1857 Herzen became excited by the possibility of social change under Alexander II, "A new life is unmistakably boiling up in Russia, even the government is being carried away by it". The Bell broke the story that the government was considering serf emancipation in July 1857, adding that the government lacked the ability to resolve the issue. Yet by 1858, full serf emancipation had not been achieved and Herzen grew impatient with reform. By May 1858 The Bell restarted its campaign for the comprehensive emancipation of the serfs. Once the Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia was achieved, The Bell'''s campaign changed to 'Liberty and Land', a program that tried to achieve further social change in support of serf rights. Alexander II granted serfs their freedom, the law courts were remodelled, trial by jury was established, and liberty was, to a great extent, conceded to the press.

 Contemporary reputation

Herzen drew criticism from both liberals who opposed violence and from radicals who thought Herzen was too soft. Liberals led by Boris Chicherin and Konstantin Kavelin believed individual freedom would be achieved through the rationalisation of social relations. Their statist variety of liberalism was opposed by Herzen as it supposed that Russian society would evolve to an ideal state based on a Hegelian view of reason. They believed the revolutionaries would merely postpone the establishment of the ideal state, while Herzen thought that, on the contrary, they were blind to historical reality.

Russian radicals disliked Herzen as too moderate. Radicals such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Nikolay Dobrolyubov wanted more commitment to violent revolution and the withdrawal of any hope in the reformist Tsar. Radicals asked Herzen to use The Bell as a mouthpiece for violent radical revolution, but Herzen rejected these requests. He argued that the Russian Radicals were not united and strong enough to create successful political change, stating, "You want happiness, I suppose? I dare say you do! Happiness has to be conquered. If you are strong, take it. If you are weak, hold your tongue". Herzen feared a new revolutionary government would merely replace the dictatorship with another dictatorship.

The radicals describe Herzen as a liberal for not wanting immediate change, but Herzen rejects their pleas arguing for change at a pace that will ensure success. Herzen briefly joined with other Russian liberals such as Kavelin to promote the peasant 'awakening' in Russia. Herzen continued to use The Bell as an outlet to promote unity with all sections of the Russian society behind a demand for a national parliament.

However his hopes of acting as a uniting force were ended by the January Uprising of 1863/1864, when the liberal support for Tsarist revenge against the Poles ended Herzen's link with them; Herzen had pleaded the insurgents' cause. This breach resulted in a declining readership for The Bell, which ceased publication in 1867. By his death in 1870, Herzen was almost forgotten.

 Influence in the 19th and 20th century

Herzen opposed the aristocracy that ruled 19th century Russia and supported an agrarian collectivist model of social structure. A rise in populism by 1880 led to a favourable re-evaluation of his writings. In Russia the distinctly western notion of "progress" was replaced by a conservative promise of modernization based on the incorporation of modern technology to serve the established system. The promise of modernization in the service of autocracy frightened Herzen who warned of a Russia governed by "Genghis Khan with a telegraph."

Alongside populism, Herzen is also remembered for his rejection of corrupt government of any political persuasion and for his support for individual rights. A Hegelian in his youth, this translated into no specific theory or single doctrine dominating his thought. Herzen came to believe the complex questions of society could not be answered and that Russians must live for the moment and not a cause, essentially life is an end in itself. Herzen found greater understanding by not committing himself to an extreme but rather lived impartially enabling him to equally criticise competing ideologies. Herzen believed that grand doctrines ultimately result in enslavement, sacrifice and tyranny.

Tolstoy declared that he had never met another man "with so rare a combination of scintillating brilliance and depth". Herzen was a hero of the 20th-century philosopher Isaiah Berlin. The words of Herzen that Berlin repeated most insistently were those condemning the sacrifice of human beings on the altar of abstractions, the subordination of the realities of individual happiness or unhappiness in the present to glorious dreams of the future. Berlin, like Herzen, believed that "the end of life is life itself" and that each life and each age should be regarded as its own end and not as a means to some future goal. Berlin called Herzen's autobiography "one of the great monuments to Russian literary and psychological genius, worthy to stand beside the great novels of ... Turgenev and Tolstoy."Russian Thinkers (The Hogarth Press, 1978), a collection of Berlin's essays in which Herzen features, was the inspiration for Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia, a trilogy of plays performed at London's National Theatre in 2002 and at New York's Lincoln Center in 2006–2007. Set against the background of the early development of Russian socialist thought, the Revolutions of 1848 and later exile, the plays examine the lives and intellectual development of, among other Russians, the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin, the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky, the novelist Ivan Turgenev and Herzen, whose character dominates the plays.

 See also
Malwida von Meysenbug
Pluralism

 Trivia
Herzen is the lead character in Tom Stoppard's 2002 trilogy of plays The Coast of Utopia.Notes

Further reading
 Acton, Edward. Alexander Herzen And the Role of the Intellectual Revolutionary, Cambridge University Press, 1979.
 Carr, E.H. The Romantic Exiles: A Nineteenth-Century Portrait Gallery, Victor Gollancz, 1933; Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1933.
 Coates, Ruth. "The Early Intellectual Careers of Bakhtin and Herzen: Towards a Philosophy of the Act," Studies in East European Thought, Vol. 52, No. 4, Dec., 2000.
 Eckardt, Julius. Modern Russia, Smith, Elder & Co., 1870.
 Gavin, W. J. "Herzen and James: Freedom as Radical," Studies in Soviet Thought, Vol. 14, No. 3/4, Sep./Dec., 1974.
 Grenier, Svetlana. "Herzen's Who Is to Blame?: The Rhetoric of the New Morality," The Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 39, No. 1, Spring, 1995.
 Iskander, Fasil. Alexandre Herzen (1812–1870): Russe de coeur, Europeen d'esprit, Suisse d'adoption. L'errance d'un temoin prophetique, Meandre Editions, Fribourg 1997,
 Kelly, Aileen. "The Destruction of Idols: Alexander Herzen and Francis Bacon," Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 41, No. 4, Oct./Dec., 1980.
 Kelly, Aileen M. The Discovery of Chance: The Life and Thought of Alexander Herzen, Harvard University Press, 2016, .
 Malia, Martin Edward. Alexander Herzen and the Birth of Russian Socialism, Grosset & Dunlap, 1965.
 Morson, Gary Saul. "Herzen: The Hero of Skeptical Idealism" (review of Aileen M. Kelly, The Discovery of Chance: The Life and Thought of Alexander Herzen, Harvard University Press, 592 pp., $39.95), The New York Review of Books, vol. LXIII, no. 18 (November 24, 2016), pp. 45–46, 48.
 Orlova-Kopeleva, Raisa: Als die Glocke verstummte. Alexander Herzens letztes Lebensjahr, Karin Kramer Verlag, Berlin 1988,
 Palmieri, F. Aurelio. "The Earliest Theorists of the Russian Revolution," The Catholic World, Vol. CVIII, October 1918/March 1919.
 Partridge, Monica. "Alexander Herzen and the English Press," The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 36, No. 87, Jun., 1958.

 Rzhevsky, Nicholas. "The Shape of Chaos: Herzen and War and Peace," Russian Review, Vol. 34, No. 4, Oct., 1975.
 Smith-Peter, Susan. Imagining Russian Regions: Subnational Identity and Civil Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia. Brill, 2018.
 Weidemeier, William Cannon. "Herzen and Nietzsche: A Link in the Rise of Modern Pessimism," Russian Review,'' Vol. 36, No. 4, Oct., 1977.

External links

Tom Stoppard's article on Herzen in the London Observer
ALEXANDER II AND HIS TIMES: A Narrative History of Russia in the Age of Alexander II, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky (with several chapters on Herzen)
Herzen : The revolutionist by Keith Gessen (The New Yorker)
Alexander Herzen and Russian (spiritual) Landscape (in Japanese)
 Archive of Aleksandr Ivanovič Gercen Papers at the International Institute of Social History

1812 births
1870 deaths
Writers from Moscow
People from Moskovsky Uyezd
People from the Russian Empire of German descent
19th-century philosophers
19th-century novelists from the Russian Empire
19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire
19th-century writers from the Russian Empire
Memoirists from the Russian Empire
Philosophers of economics
Philosophers of social science
Political philosophers
Agnostics from the Russian Empire
Social philosophers
Moscow State University alumni
Westernizers

Alexander Herzen


A battle-axe (also battle axe or battle-ax) is an axe designed for combat. Battle axes were versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were used two-handed.

Axes designed for warfare ranged in weight from just over 0.5 kg to 3 kg (1 to 6 pounds), and in length from just over 30 cm to upwards of 1.5 m (1 to 5 feet), as in the case of the Danish axe or the sparth axe. Cleaving weapons longer than 1.5 m would arguably fall into the category of polearms.

Through the course of human history, commonplace objects have been used as weapons. Axes, because they are common, are no exception. Besides axes designed for combat, there were many axes that were also used as tools. Axes could be modified into throwing weapons as well (see the francisca for an example).

Axes were always cheaper than swords and were always available.

References

Blades
Weapons

Battle-axe


The Heller Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma is the largest community theatre in Oklahoma.  It was founded in October 1981 by Ken Spence with the partnership of Theatre Tulsa and has since produced more than one hundred shows including two dozen world premiers.  The theater is currently directed by Julie Tattershall operated by the Tulsa Parks and Recreation Department.

The theater was named the Oklahoma Community Theatre Association (OCTA) Theater of the Year in 2005. The Great Plains debut of Yasmina Reza's "The Unexpected Man," translated by Christopher Hampton, received high honors from (OCTA) in 2007.  Two of the Heller's most recent shows were named "Top Ten" performances of the Year by the Tulsa World.

The theater is also home to Oklahoma's oldest comedy troupe, The Laughing Matter Improv, founded in 1993, and Round the Bend Players, one of the nation's leading senior theaters. Its current directors are Rita Boyle and Sherry Zyskowski.   Round the Bend's production of Jacob Appel's "The Three Belles of Eden" was a critic's pick in the Tulsa World.

References

External links
 Official website

Performing groups established in 1981
Community theatre
Culture of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Theatre companies in Oklahoma
Economy of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tourist attractions in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Theatres in Oklahoma

Heller Theatre