Dr. Lowitja "Lois" O'Donoghue,  (born 1 August 1932) is an Aboriginal Australian woman who worked as an administrator of several Commonwealth organisations. She was the founding chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). She was named Australian of the Year in 1984.

Personal life
Lowitja O'Donoghue was born at Granite Downs, a cattle station located on the Stuart Highway in northwest South Australia. Her father, Tom O'Donoghue, was a stockman of Irish descent. Her mother, Lily, was one of the native Yankunytjatjara people. Tom and Lily met while Tom was working at Everard Park, another cattle station on the traditional country of the Yankunytjatjara. The couple moved to Granite Downs, known as Indulkana to the Yankunytjatjara, in 1925. Lowitja was born here around 1 August 1932. She was the fifth of six children.

In 1934, members of the United Aborigines' Mission visited the community at Indulkana. They persuaded Lowitja's mother that it would be best for her children to be brought up by the missionaries. There was no school in Granite Downs, and they were concerned about raising their children in such an isolated location. They moved with their children to Oodnadatta, and took them to the mission, which was run by the Baptist Church. Lowitja was baptised at the mission by a pastor. She was taken to be taught at Colebrook Children's Home, an Aboriginal school run by the mission in Quorn. She began learning there at the age of three.

Lowitja was two years old when she was removed from her mother. After she was removed, she did not see her mother again for 33 years. During that time, her mother did not know where her children had been taken. Despite this, Lowitja did not identify as a member of the Stolen Generations. She would later say that she preferred the word "removed" over "stolen" for her personal case. She has said she was happy living at Colebrooke and that she received a good education both there and at the Quorn Primary School. However, it is these sort of assimilation practises by the Churches that Lowitja and many others would eventually work to put an end to.

In 1944, Colebrook Home moved to Eden Hills in the south of Adelaide due to very bad water shortages. This allowed Lowitja to go to Unley High School, a local public school.

In 1979, Lowitja married Gordon Smart, a health care worker at the Repatriation Hospital. She had first met him in 1964. He died in 1991, and was buried at Quorn.

Nursing career
From 1950 to 1953, O'Donoghue worked as a nursing aide in Victor Harbor. The small local hospital did not run a training course. With the help of the matron, Lowitja applied to be a student nurse in Adelaide. The Royal Adelaide Hospital originally rejected her, but shortly afterwards she was offered a position as a student nurse in 1954. She qualified as a nurse and worked at the Royal Adelaide Hospital until 1961.

She spent time as a nurse with the Baptist Church working in Assam, in northern India. She replaced missionaries who were taking leave back in Australia. Due to the nearby Sino-Indian War, she was advised by the Australian government to evacuate to Calcutta from where she returned to Australia.

Public service
After returning in 1962, she worked as an Aboriginal Liaison Officer with the South Australian Department of Education. She later transferred to the state's Department of Aboriginal Affairs. She worked there as a Welfare Officer based mainly in the north of the state, including at Coober Pedy.

In 1967, Lowitja joined the newly formed Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs, which was in charge of Aboriginal welfare across Australia. She worked in the department's Adelaide office. After eight years, she became the Director of the department's office in South Australia. She was responsible for implementing the national Aboriginal welfare policy in South Australia. After a short while, she left the public service.

Lowitja was a chairperson of the National Aboriginal Congress for a short time in the early 1980s. She was later appointed chairperson of the Aboriginal Development Commission. In 1990, she was appointed chairperson of the newly created Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). In 1991, she, along with Alf Bamblett and Steve Gordon, became the first Aboriginal people to attend a Cabinet meeting. In December 1992, she became the first Aboriginal Australian to address the United Nations General Assembly. She remained as chairperson of ATSIC until 1996. She was replaced by Gatjil Djerrkura, who was considered by the Howard Government to be more moderate.

Honours and awards
In 1976, O'Donoghue was the first Aboriginal woman to be inducted into the new Order of Australia. The award was in recognition of her work in welfare. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1983. She was named Australian of the Year in 1984, for her work to improve the welfare of indigenous Australians. She was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1999. O'Donoghue was inducted into the Olympic Order in 2000. She was made Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II in 2005.

O'Donoghue has received honorary doctorates from Murdoch University, the University of South Australia, the Australian National University, the Queensland University of Technology and Flinders University. She was made an honorary professorial fellow at Flinders University in 2000.

References

Other websites
Biography at Hawke Centre, University of South Australia
Lowitja O'Donoghue - The Stolen Generation
Citizen's Parliament website
Lowitja Institute

1932 births
Living people
Baptists
Australian nurses
Indigenous Australian activists
Australian of the Year Award winners
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Order of Australia
People from South Australia

Lowitja O'Donoghue


Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (born May 14, 1943) is an Icelanic politician. He served as the fifth President of Iceland, from 1996 to 2016, re-elected without opposition in 2000, and was re-elected in 2004, 2008, and 2012.

He was born in Ísafjörður, Iceland.

From 1962 to 1970, he studied economics and political science at the University of Manchester. He was a professor at the University of Iceland for political science, served as a Member of the Althing, and was the Minister of Finance (1988–1991).

He married Guðrún Katrín Þorbergsdóttir in 1974, who gave birth to twin daughters the following year. Guðrún Katrín was very popular in Iceland, and her charm is without a doubt one of the main reasons her husband was elected; she charmed the nation from the start of his campaign. Her death from cancer in 1998 was a shock to the nation and her family.

Ólafur's second marriage was to Dorrit Moussaieff to whom he had been engaged since May 2000. This took place on his 60th birthday May 14, 2003.

He announced in his new year's message on 1 January 2016, that he would be stepping down from the presidency at the end of his fifth term, namely on 1 August 2016. He left office on 1 August 2016. He was succeeded by Guðni Th. Jóhannesson.

References

1943 births
Living people
Presidents of Iceland

Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson


The Renault Juvaquatre is a sma family caur / compact caur automobile produced bi the French manufacturer Renault atween 1937 an 1953.  It wis available in baith sedan an station wagon body styles; later models o the station wagon (frae 1956 on) wur kent as the Renault Dauphinoise.

The Juvaquatre wis oreeginally conceived in 1936 bi Louis Renault as a sma, affordable caur designed tae fit in the Renault range belaw the existin mair upmarket models sic as the Primaquatre or Celtaquatre.  The company wis focused on creatin new customers who wad no itherwise buy Renaults, an on appealin tae the new cless o lawer-income consumer creatit bi changin labor conditions an the rise o the Popular Front in Fraunce in the 1930s (which ironically haed adversely affectit Renault considerably).  The Juvaquatre wis hivily inspired bi the German Opel Olympia, a caur which Louis Renault haed been impressed bi durin a 1935 veesit tae Berlin (consequently the Juvaquatre, parteecularly early models, bore a strang resemblance tae the Olympia).  The Juvaquatre wis showcased at the 1937 Paris Motor Show an put on sale the follaein year.  A van version wis developt suin efterwards for commercial usage an wis uised extensively bi La Poste, while public demand for fower-door caurs (an the introduction o affordable 4-door models frae French rivals Peugeot an Simca) resultit in a 4-door Juvaquatre in 1939.   A station wagon model based on the van wis an aa launched.

The rate o Juvaquatre production decreased considerably wi the onset o Warld War II, but remained hie compared tae ither European marques who haed switched ower amaist entirely tae production o military equipment. Efter Fraunce wis taken ower bi Nazi Germany, Juvaquatre production slowed tae a trickle, wi ae a few hunder caurs biggit 1941. This is the end o offeecial production (till efter the war) but a vera sma series wis still turned oot till 1942, an in 1943, 1944, an 1945, the occasional caur wis assembled for the occupation forces or French govrenment.

Juvaquatre production restartit in 1946, wi Renault nou awned an controlled bi the French govrenment, assembly o the saloon finally endin in 1955.  Housomeivver the station wagon remained in production as the Renault Dauphinoise till 1960, equipt wi the ingine frae the Renault Dauphine.

References

Juvaquatre
Vehicles introduced in 1937

Renault Juvaquatre


The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), sometimes called the Indian gharial, common gharial or gavial, is one of two surviving members of the family Gavialidae. They are a group of crocodile-like reptiles with long, narrow jaws.

The gharial is the second-longest of all living crocodilians: a large male can be nearly six meters in length. Only saltwater crocodiles and the Nile crocodile can grow larger.

Ancestry
The fossil history of the Gavialoidea is quite well known. The earliest examples split from the other crocodilians in the late Cretaceous. The feature of the group that is easiest to recognise is the very long, narrow snout.  This is an adaptation to a diet of small fish. Gharials have sacrificed the great mechanical strength of the robust skull and jaw that most crocodiles and alligators have. For this reason,  and they cannot prey on large creatures. But they also have reduced weight and water resistance of their lighter skull and very narrow jaw. This gives gharials the ability to catch rapidly moving fish. They catch them with a side-to-side snapping motion.

The earliest Gavialoidea may or may not have been related to the modern types: some died out at the same time as the dinosaurs (at the end of the Cretaceous), others survived until the early Eocene (about 35 million years ago).  The modern forms appeared at much the same time. They evolved in the estuaries and coastal waters of Africa. They crossed the Atlantic to reach South America as well. At their peak, the Gavialoidea were numerous and diverse, they occupied much of Asia and America up until the Pliocene. One species, Rhamphosuchus crassidens of India, is believed to have grown to an enormous 15 metres or more.

Distribution

Northern Indian subcontinent: Bhutan (almost extinct), Bangladesh (close to extinction), India (present in small numbers and increasing), Myanmar (possibly extinct), Nepal, Pakistan (close to extinction). Usually found in the river systems of Indus (Pakistan) and the Brahmaputra (Bangladesh, Bhutan & North eastern India), the Ganges (Bangladesh, India & Nepal), and the Mahanadi River (in the  rainforest biome) (India). Small numbers are in Kaladan and the Ayeyarwady in Myanmar. It is sympatric, in respective areas, with the mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) and the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).

Habitat
Gharials live in rivers. They are best adapted to the calmer areas in deep fast moving rivers. Their physical attributes do not make the animals very suited to walk on land. In fact the only reasons the gharial leaves the water is to either bask in the sun or to nest on the sandbanks of the rivers.

Appearance
The Gharial has a long, narrow snout. This is the feature that is most different from most other Crocodilia. The only other species who has such a snout is the False gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii), which is closely related. The shape of this snout changes when the animal grows older. The snout becomes progressively thinner the older the gharial gets. There is a  bulbous growth on the tip of the male's snout. This is called a 'ghara' (after the Indian word meaning 'pot'). It is only present in mature animals. It is used for different activities, such as making a resonant hum during vocalization. It is also used for attracting females. The mating ritual includes a section where the male uses this ghara to make bubbles.

The long jaws are lined with many interlocking, razor-sharp teeth. This is an adaptation to the diet (predominantly fish in adults). This species is one of the largest of all crocodilian species, approaching the saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) and the Nile crocodile in maximum size - males reach at least 5 metres in length, and often approach 6 metres. Reports of 7 metre animals exist, but are unconfirmed. The leg musculature of the gharial is not suited to enable the animal to raise the body off the ground (on land) in order to achieve the high-walk gait - being able only to push its body forward across the ground ('belly-sliding'), although it can do this with some speed when required. However, when in water, the gharial is the most nimble and quick of all the crocodiles in the world. The tail seems overdeveloped and is flattened on the side, more so than other crocodiles. This enables it to achieve the excellent swimming abilities.

The gharial has 27 to 29 upper and 25 or 26 lower teeth on each side. These teeth are not received into interdental pits; the first, second, and third mandibular teeth fit into notches in the upper jaw. The front teeth are the largest. The gharial's snout is narrow and long, with a dilation at the end and its nasal bones are comparatively short and are widely separated from the pre-maxillaries. The nasal opening of a gharial is smaller than the supra-temporal fossae. The gharial's lower anterior margin of orbit (jugal) is raised and its mandibular symphysis is extremely long, extending to the 23rd or 24th tooth. A dorsal shield is formed from four longitudinal series of juxtaposed, keeled and bony scutes.

The length of the snout is 3.5 (in adults) to 5.5 times (in young) the breadth of the snout's base. Nuchal and dorsal scutes form a single continuous shield composed of 21 or 22 transverse series. Gharials have an outer row of soft, smooth or feebly-keeled scutes in addition to the bony dorsal scutes. They also have two small post-occipital scutes.

The outer toes of a gharial are two-thirds webbed, while the middle toe is one-third webbed. Gharials have a strong crest on the outer edge of the forearm, leg and foot. Typically, adult gharials are of a dark olive hue while young ones are pale olive, with dark brown spots or cross-bands.

Diet
Young gharials eat insects, larvae, and small frogs. Adults feed almost only on fish, although some individuals have been known to eat dead animals. Their snout morphology is ideally suited for piscivory; their long, narrow snouts afford very little resistance to water in swiping motions to snap up fish in the water. Their numerous needle-like teeth are perfect for holding on to struggling, slippery fish.

Danger to humans
The Gharial is not a man-eater. Despite its immense size, its thin, fragile jaws make it physically incapable of devouring any large animal, including a human being. The myth that gharials eat humans may come partly from their similar appearance to crocodiles and because jewelry has been found in the digestive system. However, the gharial may have swallowed this jewelry while scavenging corpses or because  used to aid digestion or buoyancy management.

Breeding
The mating season is during November through December and well into January. The nesting and laying of eggs takes place in the dry season of March, April, and May. This is because during the dry season the rivers shrink a bit and the sandy river banks are available for nesting.  Between 30 and 50 eggs are deposited into the hole that the female digs up before it is covered over carefully. After about 90 days, the juveniles emerge, although there is no record of the female assisting the juveniles into the water after they hatch (probably because their jaws are not suited for carrying the young due to the needle like teeth). However the mother does protect the young in the water for a few days till they learn to fend for themselves.

Conservation
In the 1970s the gharial came to the brink of extinction and even now remains on the critically endangered list. The conservation efforts of the environmentalists in cooperation with several governments has led to some reduction in the threat of extinction. Some hope lies with the conservation and management programs in place as of 2004. Full protection was granted in the 1970s in the hope of reducing poaching losses, although these measures were slow to be implemented at first. Now there are 9 protected areas for this species in India which are linked to both captive breeding and 'ranching' operations where eggs collected from the wild are raised in captivity (to reduce mortality due to natural predators) and then released back into the wild (the first being released in 1981). More than 3000 animals have been released through these programs, and the wild population in India is estimated at around 1500 animals - with perhaps between one and two hundred animals in the remainder of its range.

Recently this species has moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the 2007 Red List of endangered species of animals and plants issued by the World Conservation Union, and qualifies for protection under the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) Appendix II.

Taxonomy
The gharial and its extinct relatives are grouped together by taxonomists in several different ways:

 If the three surviving groups of crocodilians are regarded as separate families, then the gharial becomes one of two members of the Gavialidae, which is related to the families Crocodylidae (crocodiles) and Alligatoridae (alligators and caymans).
 Alternatively, the three groups are all classed together as the family Crocodylidae,  but belong to the subfamilies Gavialinae,  Crocodylinae, and Alligatorinae.
 Finally, palaentologists tend to speak of the broad lineage of gharial-like creatures over time using the term Gavialoidea.

Janke et al. (2005), using molecular genetic evidence, found the gharial and the false gharial (Tomistoma) to be close relatives, and placed them together in the same family.

Common names include: Indian gharial, Indian gavial, Fish-eating crocodile, Gavial del Ganges, Gavial du Gange, Long-nosed crocodile, Bahsoolia, Nakar, Chimpta, Lamthora, Mecho Kumhir, Naka, Nakar, Shormon, Thantia, Thondre, Garial.

Classification
 Order Crocodilia
 Superfamily Gavialoidea
 Family Gavialidae

Related pages
 Indus crocodile
 False Gharial

References

  Listed as Endangered (EN C2a, E v2.3)
 Janke A, Gullberg A, Hughes S, Aggarwal RK, Arnason U. (2005). "Mitogenomic analyses place the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) on the crocodile tree and provide pre-K/T divergence times for most crocodilians." J Mol Evol. 61(5):620-6.

Other websites

 http://reptilis.net/crocodylia/gavies/gavialidae.html a less formal article, great photos
 http://www.vic.com/nepal/images/gharial.html  photo of a large specimen in the wild
 http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/cnhc/!ggan1.htm teeth and feeding
 http://www.whozoo.org/students/lydia/gharials.htm excellent photos from Fort Worth Zoo
 http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/tales/crocs/gharial.html  a charming folk tale
 http://www.scz.org/animals/g/gharial.html  species summary from Sedgwick County Zoo
 http://www.itis.usda.gov  ITIS Taxonomic Serial No.: 202217

Gharials
Reptiles of Pakistan
National symbols of Bangladesh
Crocodilians of Asia

Gharial


Lída Baarova (born Ludmila Babková 7 September 1914 in Prague – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress. She studied acting at Conservatory and received her first  film roles in Pavel Čamrda's Career (Kariéra Pavla Čamrdy), filming was forbidden for students, she made up pseudonym Lída Baarova after her father's friend J.Š.Baar at age 17. The film was successful, so she had to leave the conservatory.

Her life
Lída was born in family of Karel Babka,an official of the Prague City Hall, his wife Ludmila Babková, opera singer and piano player, occasionally sang in the choir of National Theatre. They also had second daughter Zorka, who was actress as well.In 1934 Lída was chosen by the German UFA to act the lead role in, Barcarolle. Film that made her huge star overnight. Media marked her as mistress of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. On the orders of Hitler himself, however, she had to leave, so she left Germany in 1939. She left to Italy, where before the war returned to Prague. At the end of the war fled to Germany but was interned by the US occupation authorities, was investigated by CIC and September 23, 1945 was handed over to Czechoslovakia. She was interrogated and imprisoned in Munich for alleged collaboration. She spent 16 months in jail, but she was released on Christmas Eve 1946 after she was not found guilty. Lída married J.Kopecký and in 1948 fled to Austria together. In 1966 she was married again, with doctor Kurt Lundwalle and they lived together in Salzburg. He died in 1972 and till her death she lived alone. Baarova died in 2000 (she suffered from Parkinson's disease) and she's buried in Prague.

, I was foolish, stupid, drunk with glory and against my will I was really badly tangled in history.`` she said about her life.

1914 births
2000 deaths
Czech movie actors

Lída Baarová


The Cynics (, ) were an important group of philosophers from the ancient school of Cynicism. Their philosophy taught that the purpose of life was to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature.  This meant rejecting all the usual desires for wealth, power, health, and fame, and by living a life free from all possessions. People are reasoning creatures. They could therefore gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which was natural for humans. They believed that the world belonged equally to everyone, and that suffering was caused by false judgments of what was valuable and by the worthless customs and conventions which surrounded society. Many of these thoughts were later absorbed into Stoicism.

The first philosopher to outline these themes was Antisthenes, who had been a pupil of Socrates in the late 5th century BCE. He was followed by Diogenes of Sinope, who lived in a tub on the streets of Athens, took Cynicism to its logical extremes, and came to be seen as the archetypal Cynic philosopher. He was followed by Crates of Thebes who gave away a large fortune so he could live a life of Cynic poverty in Athens. Cynicism spread with the rise of Imperial Rome in the 1st century, and Cynics could be found begging and preaching throughout the cities of the Empire. It finally disappeared in the late 5th century, although many of its ascetic and rhetorical ideas were adopted by early Christians.

References

Philosophical movements and positions

Cynic


Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? is a 2014 American science fiction-drama film based on the philosopher Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. It is the third installment in the Atlas Shrugged film series and the sequel to the 2012 film Atlas Shrugged: Part II, continuing the story where its predecessor left off. The release, originally set for July 4, occurred on September 12, 2014. The film used a completely different cast and crew from the second film, which itself used a completely different cast from the first film. Directed by J. James Manera, it stars Laura Regan, Kristoffer Polaha, and Joaquim de Almeida.

Plot
The owner of the 20th-century Motor Company has died and his children have taken over, with a new plan to operate the company: that everyone work as hard as he can, but that salaries be "based on need". A lab engineer named John Galt objects and announces, "I'll stop the motor of the world."

Twelve years later, the economy of the United States spirals downward. Shortages have grounded airlines and returned the railroads to dominance; over-regulation has led to financial disaster. Galt seems to be behind the disappearances of corporate executives and other experts. The latest disappearance is that of Dagny Taggart, the executive officer of the largest railroad company, Taggart Transcontinental. She had chased Galt in a private plane and crashed hers.

Dagny has reached Galt's Gulch, and Galt himself rescues her from the crashed plane. She meets several "disappeared" achievers, such as banker Midas Mulligan, who say they quit after coming to believe that government was enslaving them. On the outside, the government develops a classified new weapon called "Project F" and nationalizes the railroads, including Taggart Transcontinental.

The public grows increasingly frustrated with the central planning, comes to view Galt as the solution, and holds rallies calling for him to reform the government. Thompson, the Head of State, offers Galt a job in the government, but Galt rebuffs the offer. Later, the government tortures Galt using the power of "Project F". However, others from the Gulch arrive to free him and they escape back to their refuge as the power grid around New York City begins to collapse.

Cast
 Laura Regan as Dagny Taggart
 Kristoffer Polaha as John Galt
 Joaquim de Almeida as Francisco d'Anconia
 Eric Allan Kramer as Ragnar Danneskjöld
 Tony Denison as Cuffy Meigs
 Rob Morrow as Henry "Hank" Rearden
 Larry Cedar as Dr. Floyd Ferris
 Greg Germann as James Taggart
 Jen Nikolaisen as Cherryl Taggart (née Brooks)
 Louis Herthum as Wesley Mouch
 Dominic Daniel as Eddie Willers
 Peter Mackenzie as Head of State Thompson
 Mark Moses as Midas Mulligan
 Lew Temple as Ellis Wyatt
 Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Hugh Akston
 Neil Dickson as Dr. Robert Stadler
 Ron Paul, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity as themselves

Production

Development
In an interview with Bill Frezza of Forbes, the producer John Aglialoro mentioned that the film would include a short dialogue between the heroine Dagny Taggart and a priest, a character which he said Rand struggled with and ultimately cut out of the original book. This scene did not appear in the final cut.

A month prior to the release of Part I, Aglialoro suggested that Part III might be made into a musical. In 2013 he promised to create "something closer to the book", and predicted that critics would pan the film. In a YouTube promotional piece where organizers discussed the film, he asserted that it was vital for the team to have a director who is professional, collaborative, and knows Rand's work: "I don't care if I've got to fire five directors — that's fine. We're going to get it right."

The film was directed by J. James Manera, whose experience included directing a documentary in 2010 and a 1996 episode of the television show Nash Bridges. The cinematographer was Gale Tattersall.

Writing
David Kelley, founder of The Atlas Society and an expert on the philosophical themes of Atlas Shrugged, consulted on the script, as he did for Parts I and II.

Casting
As with the second part, a new set of actors was cast to play the major characters. Former Congressman and Presidential candidate Ron Paul, and network commentators Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, played themselves giving responses to John Galt's speech.

Filming
The trade press reported that filming began in January 2014, after the film posted on Facebook that its target start date was Autumn 2013. The budget was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign that raised $446,907 against a goal of $250,000.

Release

Marketing
A sneak preview was shown at the Anthem Film Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 2014.

Box office
The film opened on September 12, 2014 on 242 screens and grossed $461,179 during its opening weekend. Total gross was $851,690 against a budget of $5,000,000.

Reception
The film was universally panned, holding a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 10 reviews for an average rating of 1.4/10. On Metacritic, the film has a 9/100 rating based on 7 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice wrote: "Rand's parable is meant to showcase just how much our world needs the best of us, but this adaptation only does so accidentally – by revealing what movies would be like if none of the best of us worked on them."

Writing for The Austin Chronicle, Louis Black said: "In 1949, when Warner Bros. filmed The Fountainhead, Rand threatened to burn down the studio if they compromised her novel. I'd like to think that if she were alive she'd be looking for lighter fluid for this one."

Atlas Shrugged: Part III was nominated for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel at the 35th Golden Raspberry Awards.

References

External links

2014 films
2014 independent films
2010s mystery thriller films
2010s science fiction films
2014 thriller films
American business films
American mystery films
American political thriller films
American science fiction films
American dystopian films
Films about businesspeople
Films scored by Elia Cmíral
Films based on American novels
Films based on works by Ayn Rand
Films based on science fiction novels
American independent films
Kickstarter-funded films
2014 drama films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films


Barzillai Lew (November 5, 1743  January 18, 1822) was an African-American soldier who served with distinction during the American Revolutionary War.

Family History
Barzillai Lew's story began with Primus Lew of Groton, Massachusetts (a former servant of Captain Matthew Bonner), and Margret Lew (a former servant of Samuel Scripture). As free blacks, Primus and Margret Lew married in 1742 and they had two sons and two daughters. Primus served as a musician in the French and Indian War in 1747.  In 1752, Primus married again to Rose Canterbury and bought a farm on the west side of the Nashua River in the Pepperell section of Groton, Massachusetts and they had two children.

Primus and Margret Lew's oldest son Barzillai (pronounced BAR-zeal-ya) often called "Zeal" or "Zelah," was born a free black in Groton, Massachusetts November 5, 1743. Following in his father's footsteps, Barzillai Lew was a fifer in Captain Thomas Farrington's Company from Groton, which marched northward for "the total reduction of Canada."  From March 10, 1760 to December 1, 1760, he served with the English forces against the French and Indians and was probably present in the capture of Montreal by the British.  Lew was known as "big and strong with an extraordinary talent as a musician."

In the mid-1760s, Lew sold his family farm in the Pepperell section of Groton and moved to Chelmsford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a cooper making barrels.  About 1766, he bought the freedom of Dinah Bowman (1744–1837) for four hundred dollars (2023 value about $40,000) and married her. "Barzillai Lew purchased his wife Dinah of Major Abraham Blood....Barzillai was a cooper by trade and quite dark-colored; Dinah was a mulatto and almost white - bleached out, as some of the slaves were in the South."

American Revolutionary War

Bunker Hill

At the opening of the American Revolution, Lew's skills and talents were called upon again, and on May 6, 1775, he enlisted in Captain John Ford's Company, 27th Regiment, Chelmsford, Massachusetts.  As soldier, fifer and drummer, Lew fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. In the military records, Lew is described as "cooper by trade, and quite dark-colored, a large man, six feet tall."  Bunker Hill was one of the most important battles in the American Revolution; inexperienced colonial forces fought a highly trained army of British soldiers.  Less well-known were the approximately three dozen African-American soldiers including Lew, Phillip Abbot, Alexander Ames, Isaiah Bayoman, Cuff Blanchard, Titus Coburn, Grant Cooper, Caesar Dickenson, Charlestown Eaads, Alexander Eames, Asaba Grosvenor, Blaney Grusha, Jude Hall, Cuff Haynes, Cato Howe, Caesar Jahar, Pompy of Braintree, Salem Poor, Caesar Post, Job Potama, Robin of Sandowne, New Hampshire, Peter Salem, Seasor of York County, Sampson Talbot, Cato Tufts, and Cuff Whitemore, who also took part in the battle.

During the bloodiest battle of the war, the British lost 226 troops, with another 828 wounded. The Colonists/Americans counted 140 dead, 301 wounded, and 30 captured. It was said that during the battle, Lew kept American morale high with his fife version of "There's Nothing Makes the British Run like 'Yankee Doodle Dandy.'"  The powder horn used by Barzillai Lew in the Revolutionary War is now in collections of the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, Illinois; it was donated by Gerard Lew, the great-great-grandson of Barzillai Lew and a co-founder of the DuSable Museum.

Fort Ticonderoga and Burgoyne's surrender

In 1777, on his return home to Chelmsford, Lew joined Captain Joseph Bradley Varnum's company of volunteers, Dracut, Massachusetts.  In September 1777, Varnum's militia was ordered to Fort Ticonderoga and the company marched to reinforce the Northern army.  Joseph Bradley Varnum's son John wrote in his Journal on November 1, 1777. "Jona Parkhurst came home from ye Army, brings word that all is well. Zeal is selected for a fifer and fiddler for the grand appearance the day that Burgoyne's Famous Army is to be brought in.  A Wonderful Show, a day that our hearts should be employed to speak & live to the praise of God." This 'wonderful show' was the surrender of British General John Burgoyne to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, after the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga (1777). During the American Revolution, African Americans from Massachusetts served as freemen or as slaves with their masters in many local militias.

African Americans in the Continental Army
General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief, excluded African Americans from serving in the Continental Army, until finally on January 2, 1778, Washington responded to a letter from General James Mitchell Varnum (born in Dracut, Massachusetts and brother of Joseph Bradley Varnum) recommending that Rhode Island's troop quota should be completed with blacks.
Washington urged Rhode Island Governor Nicholas Cooke to give the recruiting officers every assistance.  In February, the Rhode Island legislature approved the action — giving slaves their freedom
in return for military service.  The resulting black regiment, commanded by white Quaker Christopher Greene was the 1st Rhode Island Regiment also known as the Varnum Continentals.

After the American Revolutionary War
During the war, with wages earned from his years of service, the Lew family purchased a large tract of farmland on the far side of the Merrimack River in Dracut (now Lowell, Massachusetts.)  They built a house near Varnum Avenue on Zeal Road named for Barzillai (now called Totman Road.)  After the war, Lew returned to his farm in the Pawtucketville section of Dracut.  In addition to farming, Lew continued to work as a cooper, making barrels for the Middlesex Canal Company.  The Lews were both active members of their community and the Pawtucket Society Church (Congregational) on Mammoth Road.  They raised 13 children, Zadock (1768) Amy (1771), Serviah (1773), Eucebea (1775), Barzillai II (1777), Peter (1779), Rufus (1780) – impressed at sea by the British in 1808, Eri (1782), Dinah II (1784), Zimri (1785), Phebe (1788), Lucy (1790) married Thomas Dalton, and Adrastus (1793).

"They all possessed a natural talent for music and most of them could play any kind of wind or string instrument - the girls as well as the boys. They formed a complete band and played at all first-class occasions in this vicinity from Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine."  Noted throughout the 19th and 20th centuries as well-educated, skilled, and talented musicians.  It was said "no family in Middlesex County from Lowell to Cambridge could produce so much good music."    They kept an elegant coach and fine span of horses and came on the Sabbath to the Pawtucket Society Church in as much style as any family in the town of Dracut.  Dinah Bowman Lew may have been the first African-American woman pianist in American history.  Barzillai Lew died in Dracut on January 18, 1822, and was buried in Clay Pit Cemetery.  Years later, Dinah Bowman Lew petitioned and received from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a pension for her husband's military service in the American Revolution.

Legacy
After his death in 1822, Barzillai Lew's Pawtucketville farm went to his sons, Zadock and Zimri.  Zadock, a well-known musician, died in 1826 without a will and his property was sold at auction.  Zimri died in 1847 in a tragic train accident in Lowell on Fast Day.  A few years earlier in 1844, Zimri's son, Adrastus, married Elizabeth Freeman of Derry, New Hampshire.  They purchased and cleared a piece of woodland off Riverside Street and built a house which still stands on Mount Hope Street.  In 1912, at the age of 91, Elizabeth Freeman Lew recounted in an interview with the Lowell Sun: "The house where I live was, one of the houses which in slavery times, formed one of the underground railroad where runaway slaves would come for shelter and protection on their way to Canada.  Those were terrible times."

Adrastus and Elizabeth Lew had five sons and one daughter.  James, moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, formed a popular dance band, and served as the music advisor to the Cambridge School Committee.  William and Fred opened a successful dry-cleaning and dyeing business in Lowell.

In 1874, William married Isabell Delaney of Virginia and had four children:  Harry, Theresa, Marion, and Gerard.  After graduating from Pawtucketville Junior High School, Harry Lew entered the family's dry-cleaning and dyeing business.  He was recruited to join Lowell's Pawtucketville Athletic Club "P.A.C." of the New England Professional Basketball League and was the first to integrate professional basketball in 1902.  Theresa Lew, graduated from Lowell High School as Class Salutatorian in 1912.  After finishing Lowell Normal School, she taught at the Bartlett School for 25 years.  Marion Lew, also graduated from Lowell High School and the Lowell Normal School music program, she taught piano to generations of Lowell children.  Gerard Lew, also an outstanding athlete, graduated from Lowell High School and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was interviewed by the Lowell Sunday-Telegram in June 1913, about his experiences teaching in a poor, rural, segregated school in Gloucester County, Virginia.

In 1943, musician Duke Ellington wrote a piano piece in honor of Barzillai Lew.  It is believed that Ellington learned about Barzillai Lew from his high school teacher, African-American historian Carter G. Woodson at the Armstrong Manual Training School, Washington, D.C.

See also

Thomas Dalton. Lucy Lew, Abolitionist, (wife of Thomas Dalton) daughter of Barzillai Lew
Harry Lew. Harry Haskell (Bucky) Lew, First Professional Basketball Player, second great-grand son of Barzillai Lew

References

External links
Adams, Gretchen. "Deeds of Desperate Valor: The First Rhode Island Regiment."
African American Registry Peter Salem Biography.
Dracut's Oldest Burying Ground: A Forgotten History.
Mayo, Martha. Profiles in Courage: African Americans in Lowell.
Neil, William Cooper. The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution: With Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons.
Woodson, Carter Godwin.

African-American musicians
African Americans in the American Revolution
Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution
People from Dracut, Massachusetts
1743 births
1822 deaths
People from Groton, Massachusetts
African-American history of Massachusetts
People of colonial Massachusetts
Black Patriots
Free people of color

Barzillai Lew


Eugène Boudin (12 July 1824 – 8 August 1898) was a French painter of landscapes and seascapes. He was one of the first landscape painters to paint outdoors, rather than in a studio. He was a great influence on the French Impressionists.

Boudin was born in Honfleur, France, and was the son of a sailor. In 1835 his father opened a small shop in Le Havre where Boudin worked with him, selling stationery and making picture frames. Boudin met many artists who put their paintings for sale in the shop. In his early twenties, Boudin went to Paris to study painting. He returned often to paint the seashores around his home.

In 1856 Boudin met Claude Monet who spent several months working with Boudin in his studio. The two remained lifelong friends. Monet later said that Boudin had been a major influence on him, teaching him to paint outdoors. Camille Corot who was one of the greatest influences on Monet and the other Impressionists, gazed at Boudin's work and said "You are the master of the sky."

The Eugene Boudin Prize is an award given by the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts of France.

Related pages
 Claude Monet
 Impressionism

1824 births
1898 deaths
French painters

Eugène Boudin


The Temple of Joy Kali is a Hindu temple in Bangladesh. It is located between Thathari Bazar and Wari, on a road named after this temple, called 24 Joy Kali Temple Street. The temple is devoted to Goddess Kali. The statue of Kali is of great significance to the Hindus. The visitors and committee members of this temple gather money for occasions, where sweets are later distributed among them which is called 'Prasad'.

Hindu temples in Bangladesh

Joy Kali Temple


Port Moresby (9°30′S 147°12′E) is the capital city and the main city of Papua New Guinea. In 2000, 255,000 people lived there. The city is on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea.

The area on which the city was built was first sighted by a European in 1873 by Captain John Moresby. It was named in honor of his father Admiral Sir Fairfax Moresby.

National capitals in Oceania
Geography of Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby


Los Alcornocales Natural Park (in Spanish, Parque natural de Los Alcornocales) is a natural park located in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia; it is shared between the Province of Cádiz and Málaga. The natural park occupies a territory spanning seventeen municipalities with a total population of about 380,000. Los Alcornocales means "the cork oak groves".

Nearly all of the uninhabited land in the park is covered by Mediterranean native forest. While some of the land has been cleared for cattle ranches, much of the human activity in the park is devoted to exploitation of the forest's resources: hunting wild game, collecting wild mushrooms, and foraging for good specimens of tree heath.
The tree heath (Erica arborea, called "brezos" in Spanish) is a small evergreen shrub, rarely more than two or three meters high; it is the source of the reddish briar-root wood used in making tobacco pipes, and its wood is excellent raw material for making charcoal.

Above all, however, the park's forests are exploited for the production of cork. The cork oak (Quercus suber) is a tree with a spongy layer of material lying between the outer surface of its bark and the underlying living layer called the phloem (which, in turn, encloses the non-living woody stem.) Cork is generated by a specialized layer of tissue called cork cambium. Properly done, harvesting cork from a given tree can be undertaken every ten to twelve years without damaging the tree; the cork cambium simply regenerates it. Cork has many commercial uses, including wine-bottle stoppers, bulletin boards, coasters, insulation, sealing material for jar lids, flooring, gaskets for engines, fishing bobbers, handles for fishing rods and tennis rackets, etc. Los Alcornocales Natural Park has the biggest and best preserved relicts of Laurisilva in Continental Europe.

Los Llanos del Juncal, a small part of the Natural Park, has a distinctive cloud forest and it also forms a mixed laurel forest, that dates back to somewhere between the Tertiary and the Quaternary Period.

Climate
Given the geographic position of Los Alcornocales, the dominant climate in the zone is, logically, Mediterranean, but a series of factors contribute to its uniqueness, having an Oceanic Mediterranean climate in the southwest area of the natural park, which receives much more rain than a typical Spanish Mediterranean climate. Its close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea helps keep the temperature relatively mild all year long. The average rainfall usually reaches over 800 L/m2, with certain zones receiving more than 1,400 L/m2 thanks to the ocean front. In the mountain ranges to the south, there are great fogs known as the barbas del Levante (the beards of the east wind). These fogs provide the humidity to form precipitation during the long dry seasons that usually characterize Mediterranean climates. All of these factors contribute to create a unique humid microclimate that grows a vegetation that resembles more to the Macaronesian humid subtropical vegetation instead of the typical Mediterranean vegetation. The strong East wind is known as Viento de Levante, and is associated with high temperatures. The wind from the West, which frequently brings rain, is known as Viento de Poniente. These winds make this area one of the best places to construct wind farms in all of Spain.

Flora

The park is characterized by the most extensive forest of cork in Spain and one of the largest in the world. In contrast to the mountains of cork in other latitudes where the tree density is low, in this zone the trees form an authentic forest with a rich variety of shrub and herbaceous vegetation intimately connected. This assures a natural regeneration of the forest, a good mix of ages, and a high level of floral and animal biodiversity.

Forests and smaller wooded areas within the park are comprised mainly by cork oaks (Quercus suber), Portuguese oaks (Quercus faginea), Pyrenean oaks (Quercus pyrenaica), olive trees (Olea europaea), alders (Alnus glutinosa), holly trees (Ilex aquifolium), bay laurels (Laurus nobilis), rhododendrons (Rhododendron ponticum), ferns, mosses, and lichens.

Fauna
Storks (white, Ciconia ciconia; black, Ciconia nigra)
Kites (black-winged, Elanus caeruleus; red, Milvus milvus; black, Milvus migrans)
Buzzards (Buteo buteo)
Spanish imperial eagles (Aquila adalberti)
Vultures (Eurasian black, Aegypius monachus; griffon, Gyps fulvus; Egyptian, Neophron percnopterus)
Egyptian mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon)
Common genets (Genetta genetta)
European otters (Lutra lutra)
European polecats (Mustela putorius)
Wildcats (Felis silvestris)
Weasels (Mustela nivalis)
Iberian lynxes (Lynx pardina)
Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
Fallow deer (Dama dama)

History

The cork oak groves of Los Alcornocales are situated in a strategic place. They sit astride two important axes, one an east-west axis, the other north-south.  The land here has allegiances to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; similarly, it forms the throat of a bridge between Europe and Africa, a bridge broken only by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. Its geographic position is the circumstance, as much as its climate, topography, or suitability for agriculture, that has dictated its patrimony.

The area has been populated for tens of thousands of years. This is attested by the presence of archaeological remnants of settlements by Neanderthals dating back more than thirty thousand years, as well as stone implements, engravings, and cave paintings from both the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. Of the greatest interest to visitors, however, are the Bronze Age cave dwellings that dot the area. Of more than fifty caves discovered so far, there are three that have special artistic value: the Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras (Cave of the Figures on the Precipice), which has been compared to the Sistine Chapel among examples of cave art; the Cave of the High Laja, that houses pictures of the earliest-known boats to ply the Mediterranean; and the Cave of Bacinete, with more than a hundred pictographic representations in a magnificent state of conservation.

Later in history, a succession of civilizations and cultures, one superimposed on the next, has dominated this area, all of whom have contributed to its ethnological character. Each has left its marks on the landscape; there are megalíthic monuments, Iberian, Phoenician, and Roman ruins, Arab strongholds, etc. Many of the towns that today comprise the park reached their highest state of civilization during the Muslim Nasrid dynasty, when this area was on the western fringe of the Kingdom of Granada. Today, in this area, many examples of the architecture introduced during the period of Muslim occupation survive; among them are the unique White Towns of Andalusia. Jimena de la Frontera, Castellar de la Frontera, San Roque, Cádiz, and Medina Sidonia are magnificent examples.

Caves
The Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras, located near the town of Benalup-Casas Viejas, belongs to the group of paleolithic and neolithic sites in southern Spain that have examples of rock art that the Spanish call "art sureño" (southern art). In 1913, Juan Cabré and Eduardo Hernández-Pacheco began the first systematic studies of "art sureño" at this cave. The paintings are mostly representations of birds and odd four-footed man-like figures dating from neolithic times.

In 1924 the Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras was declared an Artistic Architectonic Monument by the Spanish state. For several decades, in order that visitors might better able to discern the paintings on the wall, tour guides have repeatedly sprayed water on them. This practice has resulted in the deposition of layers of lime on the paintings. Beginning in 2005, an effort to restore them was undertaken.

The ecological disaster at La Janda

Near the Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras was the ancient Laguna de la Janda, a haven where millions of birds, both resident and migratory species, found a suitable habitat for feeding and reproduction. Unfortunately, during the middle part of the twentieth century, this important ecological niche was destroyed. To support local rice-growing, water from the lagoon and its associated fresh-water wetlands was diverted, and the area dried up almost completely. In the process, the last reproductive Spanish population of the Eurasian crane (Grus grus) was lost as well.

Towns and cities within the park

All or part of seventeen municipalities of the Province of Cádiz lie within the Natural Park of Los Alcornocales : Alcalá de los Gazules, Algar, Algeciras, Arcos de la Frontera, Benalup-Casas Viejas, Benaocaz, Castellar de la Frontera, El Bosque, Jerez de la Frontera, Jimena de la Frontera, Los Barrios, Medina-Sidonia, Prado del Rey, San José del Valle, San Roque, Cádiz, Tarifa and Ubrique. Likewise, there is one town in Málaga province, Cortes de la Frontera, that has land within park boundaries. Many paths connecting these municipalities, nowadays used for hiking.

See also
Cork as a commercial material
Forests of the Iberian Peninsula
List of Sites of Community Importance in Andalusia
Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve of the Mediterranean

References

Bibliography
 Acosta, Pillar: "The schematic cave painting in Spain", Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Salamanca, Salamanca, 1968
 Bergmann, Lothar: "Treatment of images: Applications in the investigation of Rock Art", COMPUTER, Magazine of computer science diffusion, Cadiz, 11/1996
 Breuil, H. and Burkitt, M.C. : "Rock Paintings of Southern Andalusia, a Description of the Neolithic and Copper Age Art Group", Oxford University Press, 1929
 Cabré, J., Hernandez - Pacheco, E.: "Introduction to the Study of Prehistoric Paintings of Southern Spain", Works of the Commission of Paleontological and Prehistoric Investigations, No.3, National Museum of Natural Sciences, Madrid, 1914

External links

 Cave of the Edge of the Figures (Benalup - Old Houses)
 CULTURAL VESTIBULE - rock Art and prehistory
 Los Alcornocales Natural Park

Rock art in Spain
Prehistoric art
Natural parks of Spain
Natural parks of Andalusia
Geography of the Province of Cádiz
Geography of the Province of Málaga

Los Alcornocales Natural Park


Romanos II Porphyrogenitus (, 938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 to 963. He succeeded his father Constantine VII at the age of twenty-one and died suddenly and mysteriously four years later. His son Basil II would ultimately succeed him in 976.

Life
Romanos II was a son of the Emperor Constantine VII and Helena Lekapene, the daughter of Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos and his wife Theodora. The Theophanes Continuatus states that he was 21 years old at the time of his accession in 959, meaning that he was born in 938. Named after his maternal grandfather, Romanos was married, as a child, to Bertha, the illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, to bond an alliance. She had changed her name to Eudokia after their marriage, but died an early death in 949, which caused the dissolution of the alliance.

On 27 January 945, Constantine VII succeeded in removing his brothers-in-law, the sons of Romanos I, assuming the throne alone. On 6 April 945 (Easter), Constantine crowned his son co-emperor.  With Hugh out of power in Italy and dead by 947, Romanos secured the promise from his father that he would be allowed to select his own bride. Romanos chose a woman named Anastaso, whom he married in 956 and renamed Theophano.

In November 959, Romanos II succeeded his father on the throne amidst rumors that he or his wife had poisoned him. Romanos purged his father's courtiers of his enemies and replaced them with friends. To appease his bespelling wife, he excused his mother, Empress Helena, from court and forced his five sisters into convents. Nevertheless, many of Romanos' appointees were able men, including his chief adviser, the eunuch Joseph Bringas.

The pleasure-loving sovereign could also leave military matters in the adept hands of his generals, in particular the brothers Leo and Nikephoros Phokas. In 960 Nikephoros Phokas was sent to Crete with a fleet that was considered by contemporary historians as notably large, but probably not comprising more than 25,000-30,000 soldiers and sailors in total. After a difficult campaign and nine-month Siege of Chandax, Nikephoros successfully re-established Byzantine control over the entire island in 961. Following a triumph celebrated at Constantinople, Nikephoros was sent to the eastern frontier, where the Emir of Aleppo Sayf al-Dawla was engaged in annual raids into Byzantine Anatolia. Nikephoros took Cilicia and even Aleppo in 962, sacking the palace of the Emir and taking possession of his treasures. In the meantime Leo Phokas and Marianos Argyros had countered Magyar incursions into the Byzantine Balkans.

After a lengthy hunting expedition Romanos II took ill and died on 15 March 963. Rumor attributed his death to poison administered by his wife Theophano, but there is no evidence of this, and Theophano would have been risking much by exchanging the secure status of a crowned Augusta with the precarious one of a widowed regent of her very young children.

Romanos II's reliance on his wife and on bureaucrats like Joseph Bringas had resulted in a relatively capable administration, but this built up resentment among the nobility, which was associated with the military. In the wake of Romanos' death, his Empress Dowager, now regent to the two co-emperors, her underage sons, was quick to marry the general Nikephoros Phokas and to acquire another general, John Tzimiskes, as her lover, having them both elevated to the imperial throne in succession. The rights of her sons were  safeguarded, however, and eventually, when Tzimiskes died at war, her eldest son Basil II became senior emperor.

Family
Romanos' first marriage, in September 944, was to Bertha, illegitimate daughter of Hugh of Arles, King of Italy, who changed her name to Eudokia after her marriage. She died in 949,  her marriage unconsummated.

By his second wife Theophano he had at least four children:
 Helena, born  955
 Basil II, born in 958
 Constantine VIII, born in 960
 Anna Porphyrogenita, born 13 March 963

Gallery

See also

List of Byzantine emperors

Notes

References
Leo the Deacon, Histories
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 By Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 147-20

John Julius Norwich  (1991). Byzantium: The Apogee.

Attribution

External links

10th-century Byzantine emperors
Macedonian dynasty
Constantine VII
930s births
963 deaths
950s in the Byzantine Empire
960s in the Byzantine Empire
Year of birth uncertain
Sons of Byzantine emperors

Romanos II


Economic, social and cultural rights are a part of human rights. In an important United Nations treaty called The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the countries in the United Nations agreed that every person in the world should have these rights.  Some examples of these rights include:
 The right to education (school)
 The right to work, with good pay, in a good, safe place to work
 The right to strike (when workers strike, they decide together that they will not work any more until their bosses make things at work better - like giving them enough pay to live on, or making the work safer)
 The right to housing
 The right to Social Security
 The right to be healthy
 The right to an adequate standard of living (meaning a person has everything they need to survive, including water, food, clothing, enough money to pay for what they need, and somewhere safe to live).
These rights were already listed in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, they were included again in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights to make sure that giving people these rights would be the law all across the world.

A separate Covenant specifically on economic, social, and cultural rights was done for a reason.  These rights were not included in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These two Covenants were kept separate because civil rights are thought to be protected strongly than economic, social and cultural rights.  A separate Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights was done to make it clear how important these rights are.

As the Vienna Declaration says, all human rights must be protected equally because "all human rights are universal and cannot be divided."

Related pages
Human rights
Civil rights
Digital rights
International human rights law

Human rights

Economic, social and cultural rights


Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but also has applications in military, mining, petroleum and other engineering disciplines that are concerned with construction occurring on the surface or within the ground. Geotechnical engineering uses principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to investigate subsurface conditions and materials; determine the relevant physical/mechanical and chemical properties of these materials; evaluate stability of natural slopes and man-made soil deposits; assess risks posed by site conditions; design earthworks and structure foundations; and monitor site conditions, earthwork and foundation construction.

A typical geotechnical engineering project begins with a review of project needs to define the required material properties. Then follows a site investigation of soil, rock, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest to determine their engineering properties including how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. Site investigations are needed to gain an understanding of the area in or on which the engineering will take place. Investigations can include the assessment of the risk to humans, property and the environment from natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, soil liquefaction, debris flows and rockfalls.

A geotechnical engineer then determines and designs the type of foundations, earthworks, and/or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be built. Foundations are designed and constructed for structures of various sizes such as high-rise buildings, bridges, medium to large commercial buildings, and smaller structures where the soil conditions do not allow code-based design.

Foundations built for above-ground structures include shallow and deep foundations. Retaining structures include earth-filled dams and retaining walls. Earthworks include embankments, tunnels, dikes and levees, channels, reservoirs, deposition of hazardous waste and sanitary landfills.

Geotechnical engineering is also related to coastal and ocean engineering. Coastal engineering can involve the design and construction of wharves, marinas, and jetties. Ocean engineering can involve foundation and anchor systems for offshore structures such as oil platforms.

The fields of geotechnical engineering and engineering geology are closely related, and have large areas of overlap.  However, the field of geotechnical engineering is a specialty of engineering, where the field of engineering geology is a specialty of geology.

ປະຫວັດ (History)
Humans have historically used soil as a material for flood control, irrigation purposes, burial sites, building foundations, and as construction material for buildings. First activities were linked to irrigation and flood control, as demonstrated by traces of dykes, dams, and canals dating back to at least 2000 BCE that were found in ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, as well as around the early settlements of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa in the Indus valley. As the cities expanded, structures were erected supported by formalized foundations; Ancient Greeks notably constructed pad footings and strip-and-raft foundations. Until the 18th century, however, no theoretical basis for soil design had been developed and the discipline was more of an art than a science, relying on past experience.

Several foundation-related engineering problems, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, prompted scientists to begin taking a more scientific-based approach to examining the subsurface. The earliest advances occurred in the development of earth pressure theories for the construction of retaining walls. Henri Gautier, a French Royal Engineer, recognized the "natural slope" of different soils in 1717, an idea later known as the soil's angle of repose. A rudimentary soil classification system was also developed based on a material's unit weight, which is no longer considered a good indication of soil type.

The application of the principles of mechanics to soils was documented as early as 1773 when Charles Coulomb (a physicist, engineer, and army Captain) developed improved methods to determine the earth pressures against military ramparts. Coulomb observed that, at failure, a distinct slip plane would form behind a sliding retaining wall and he suggested that the maximum shear stress on the slip plane, for design purposes, was the sum of the soil cohesion, , and friction  , where  is the normal stress on the slip plane and  is the friction angle of the soil. By combining Coulomb's theory with Christian Otto Mohr's 2D stress state, the theory became known as Mohr-Coulomb theory. Although it is now recognized that precise determination of cohesion is impossible because  is not a fundamental soil property, the Mohr-Coulomb theory is still used in practice today.

In the 19th century Henry Darcy developed what is now known as Darcy's Law describing the flow of fluids in porous media. Joseph Boussinesq (a mathematician and physicist) developed theories of stress distribution in elastic solids that proved useful for estimating stresses at depth in the ground; William Rankine, an engineer and physicist, developed an alternative to Coulomb's earth pressure theory. Albert Atterberg developed the clay consistency indices that are still used today for soil classification. Osborne Reynolds recognized in 1885 that shearing causes volumetric dilation of dense and contraction of loose granular materials.

Modern geotechnical engineering is said to have begun in 1925 with the publication of Erdbaumechanik by Karl Terzaghi (a civil engineer and geologist). Considered by many to be the father of modern soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, Terzaghi developed the principle of effective stress, and demonstrated that the shear strength of soil is controlled by effective stress. Terzaghi also developed the framework for theories of bearing capacity of foundations, and the theory for prediction of the rate of settlement of clay layers due to consolidation. In his 1948 book, Donald Taylor recognized that interlocking and dilation of densely packed particles contributed to the peak strength of a soil. The interrelationships between volume change behavior (dilation, contraction, and consolidation) and shearing behavior were all connected via the theory of plasticity using critical state soil mechanics by Roscoe, Schofield, and Wroth with the publication of "On the Yielding of Soils" in 1958. Critical state soil mechanics is the basis for many contemporary advanced constitutive models describing the behavior of soil.

Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is a method of testing physical scale models of geotechnical problems. The use of a centrifuge enhances the similarity of the scale model tests involving soil because the strength and stiffness of soil is very sensitive to the confining pressure. The centrifugal acceleration allows a researcher to obtain large (prototype-scale) stresses in small physical models.

ວິສະວະກອນອາຊີບ (Practicing engineers)
ວິສະວະກອນອາຊີບໂດຍທົ່ວໄປຈະແມ່ນນັກຮຽນຈົບຫລັກສູດສີ່ປີຂອງວິສະວະກຳເຕັນນິກທໍລະນີ, ຈຳນວນໜຶ່ງແມ່ນຈົບປະລິນຍາໂທ. ຕາມລັດຕ່າງໆໃນສະຫະລັດອະເມລິກາ, ວິສະວະກອນເຕັນນິກທໍລະນີໂດຍທົ່ວໄປແມ່ນໄດ້ຖືກຮັບຮອງ ແລະ ຄຸ້ມຄອງຈາກວິສະວະກອນອາຊີບ, ມີພຽງແຕ່ລັດຄາລິຟໍເນຍ ແລະ ລັດໂອເລກອນຮັບຮອງເອົາຜູ້ຊ່ຽວຊານສະເພາະດ້ານວິສະວະກອນເຕັນນິກທໍລະນີ. The Academy of Geo-Professionals (AGP) ໄດ້ອະນຸມັດການອອກໃບຢັ້ງຢືນດ້ານວິສະວະກຳເຕັກນິກທໍລະນີໃນປີ 2008. ລັດຖະບານແຫ່ງລັດໂດຍປົກກະຕິຈະຢັ້ງຢືນອອກໃບອະນະຍາດໃຫ້ວິສະວະກອນຜູ້ທີ່ຈົບຈາກໂຮງຮຽນທີ່ໄດ້ຮັບຮອງຈາກ ABET, ເປັນຜູ້ທີ່ຜ່ານການສອບເສັງພື້ນຖານດ້ານວິສະວະກຳ ແລະ ມີປະສົບການເຮັດວຽກຫຍາຍປີພາຍໃຕ້ການຊີ້ນຳຈາກວັດສະວະກອນອາຊີບທີ່ມີໃບອະນຸຍາດ ແລະ ຜ່ານສອບເສັງພື້ນຖານດ້ານວິສະວະກຳ

ກົນລະສາດດິນ (Soil mechanics)

ໃນວິສະວະກຳເຕັກນິກທໍລະນີ, ດິນແມ່ນວັດຖຸສາມສ່ວນທີ່ປະກອບມີ ຫີນ ຫລື ແຮ່ທາດ, ເມັດດິນ, ນໍ້າ ແລະ ອາກາດ. ຊ່ອງຫວ່າງຂອງດິນ, ໄລຍະຮ່າງລະຫວ່າງເມັດດິນ, ບັນຈຸນໍ້າ ແລະ ອາກາດ.

In geotechnical engineering, soils are considered a three-phase material composed of: rock or mineral particles, water and air. The voids of a soil, the spaces in between mineral particles, contain the water and air.

ຄຸນສົມບັດທາງວິສະວະກຳຂອງດິນແມ່ນມີຜົນກະທົບດ້ວຍສີ່ຕົວປະກອບ: ຂະໜາດຂອງເມັດແຮ່, ປະເພດຂອງເມັດແຮ່, ການກະຈາຍຂອງເມັດດິນ, ແລະ ຈຳນວນທຽບຖານຂອງແຮ່ທາດ, ນໍ້າ ແລະ ອາກາດທີ່ມີໃນດິນ. ເມັດດິນລະອຽດແມ່ນຈັດຢູ່ໃນຂະໜາດນ້ອຍກວ່າ 0.075 ມມ ເສັ້ນຜ່າສູນກາງ.

The engineering properties of soils are affected by four main factors: the predominant size of the mineral particles, the type of mineral particles, the grain size distribution, and the relative quantities of mineral, water and air present in the soil matrix. Fine particles (fines) are defined as particles less than 0.075 mm in diameter.

ຄຸນສົມບັດຂອງດິນ (Soil properties)
Some of the important properties of soils that are used by geotechnical engineers to analyze site conditions and design earthworks, retaining structures, and foundations are:
 Specific weight or Unit Weight
 Cumulative weight of the solid particles, water and air of the unit volume of soil. Note that the air phase is often assumed to be weightless.
 Porosity
 Ratio of the volume of voids (containing air, water, or other fluids) in a soil to the total volume of the soil. Porosity is mathematically related to void ratio the by

 here e is void ratio and n is porosity
 Void ratio
 The ratio of the volume of voids to the volume of solid particles in a soil mass. Void ratio is mathematically related to the porosity by

 Permeability
 A measure of the ability of water to flow through the soil. It is expressed in units of velocity.
 Compressibility
 The rate of change of volume with effective stress. If the pores are filled with water, then the water must be squeezed out of the pores to allow volumetric compression of the soil; this process is called consolidation.
 Shear strength
 The maximum shear stress that can be applied in a soil mass without causing shear failure.
 Atterberg Limits
 Liquid limit, Plastic limit, and Shrinkage limit. These indices are used for estimation of other engineering properties and for soil classification.

ສຳຫຼວດທາງເຕັກນິກທໍລະນີ (Geotechnical investigation)
Geotechnical engineers and engineering geologists perform geotechnical investigations to obtain information on the physical properties of soil and rock underlying (and sometimes adjacent to) a site to design earthworks and foundations for proposed structures, and for repair of distress to earthworks and structures caused by subsurface conditions. A geotechnical investigation will include surface exploration and subsurface exploration of a site. Sometimes, geophysical methods are used to obtain data about sites. Subsurface exploration usually involves in-situ testing (two common examples of in-situ tests are the standard penetration test and cone penetration test). In addition site investigation will often include subsurface sampling and laboratory testing of the soil samples retrieved. The digging of test pits and trenching (particularly for locating faults and slide planes) may also be used to learn about soil conditions at depth. Large diameter borings are rarely used due to safety concerns and expense, but are sometimes used to allow a geologist or engineer to be lowered into the borehole for direct visual and manual examination of the soil and rock stratigraphy.

A variety of soil samplers exist to meet the needs of different engineering projects. The standard penetration test (SPT), which uses a thick-walled split spoon sampler, is the most common way to collect disturbed samples. Piston samplers, employing a thin-walled tube, are most commonly used for the collection of less disturbed samples. More advanced methods, such as ground freezing and the Sherbrooke block sampler, are superior, but even more expensive.

Atterberg limits tests, water content measurements, and grain size analysis, for example, may be performed on disturbed samples obtained from thick walled soil samplers. Properties such as shear strength, stiffness  hydraulic conductivity, and coefficient of consolidation may be significantly altered by sample disturbance. To measure these properties in the laboratory, high quality sampling is required.  Common tests to measure the strength and stiffness include the triaxial shear and unconfined compression test.

Surface exploration can include geologic mapping, geophysical methods, and photogrammetry; or it can be as simple as an engineer walking around to observe the physical conditions at the site.  Geologic mapping and interpretation of geomorphology is typically completed in consultation with a geologist or engineering geologist.

Geophysical exploration is also sometimes used.  Geophysical techniques used for subsurface exploration include measurement of seismic waves (pressure, shear, and Rayleigh waves), surface-wave methods and/or downhole methods, and electromagnetic surveys (magnetometer, resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar).

ຖານຮາກ (Foundations)
A building's foundation transmits loads from buildings and other structures to the earth. Geotechnical engineers design foundations based on the load characteristics of the structure and the properties of the soils and/or bedrock at the site. In general, geotechnical engineers:
 Estimate the magnitude and location of the loads to be supported.
 Develop an investigation plan to explore the subsurface.
 Determine necessary soil parameters through field and lab testing (e.g., consolidation test, triaxial shear test, vane shear test, standard penetration test).
 Design the foundation in the safest and most economical manner.
The primary considerations for foundation support are bearing capacity, settlement, and ground movement beneath the foundations. Bearing capacity is the ability of the site soils to support the loads imposed by buildings or structures. Settlement occurs under all foundations in all soil conditions, though lightly loaded structures or rock sites may experience negligible settlements. For heavier structures or softer sites, both overall settlement relative to unbuilt areas or neighboring buildings, and differential settlement under a single structure, can be concerns. Of particular concern is settlement which occurs over time, as immediate settlement can usually be compensated for during construction. Ground movement beneath a structure's foundations can occur due to shrinkage or swell of expansive soils due to climatic changes, frost expansion of soil, melting of permafrost, slope instability, or other causes. All these factors must be considered during design of foundations.

Many building codes specify basic foundation design parameters for simple conditions, frequently varying by jurisdiction, but such design techniques are normally limited to certain types of construction and certain types of sites, and are frequently very conservative.

In areas of shallow bedrock, most foundations may bear directly on bedrock; in other areas, the soil may provide sufficient strength for the support of structures. In areas of deeper bedrock with soft overlying soils, deep foundations are used to support structures directly on the bedrock; in areas where bedrock is not economically available, stiff "bearing layers" are used to support deep foundations instead.

ຖານຮາກຕື້ນ (Shallow foundations)

Shallow foundations are a type of foundation that transfers building load to the very near the surface, rather than to a subsurface layer. Shallow foundations typically have a depth to width ratio of less than 1.

ຖານຮາກ ຟຸດຕິ້ງ (Footings)
Footings (often called "spread footings" because they spread the load) are structural elements which transfer structure loads to the ground by direct areal contact. Footings can be isolated footings for point or column loads, or strip footings for wall or other long (line) loads. Footings are normally constructed from reinforced concrete cast directly onto the soil, and are typically embedded into the ground to penetrate through the zone of frost movement and/or to obtain additional bearing capacity.

ຖານຮາກພື້ນແຜ່ນ (Slab foundations)
A variant on spread footings is to have the entire structure bear on a single slab of concrete underlying the entire area of the structure. Slabs must be thick enough to provide sufficient rigidity to spread the bearing loads somewhat uniformly, and to minimize differential settlement across the foundation. In some cases, flexure is allowed and the building is constructed to tolerate small movements of the foundation instead. For small structures, like single-family houses, the slab may be less than 300 mm thick; for larger structures, the foundation slab may be several meters thick.

Slab foundations can be either slab-on-grade foundations or embedded foundations, typically in buildings with basements. Slab-on-grade foundations must be designed to allow for potential ground movement due to changing soil conditions.

ຖານຮາກເລິກ (Deep foundations)

Deep foundations are used for structures or heavy loads when shallow foundations cannot provide adequate capacity, due to size and structural limitations. They may also be used to transfer building loads past weak or compressible soil layers. While shallow foundations rely solely on the bearing capacity of the soil beneath them, deep foundations can rely on end bearing resistance, frictional resistance along their length, or both in developing the required capacity. Geotechnical engineers use specialized tools, such as the cone penetration test, to estimate the amount of skin and end bearing resistance available in the subsurface.

There are many types of deep foundations including piles, drilled shafts, caissons, piers, and earth stabilized columns. Large buildings such as skyscrapers typically require deep foundations. For example, the Jin Mao Tower in China uses tubular steel piles about 1m (3.3 feet) driven to a depth of 83.5m (274 feet) to support its weight.

In buildings that are constructed and found to undergo settlement, underpinning piles can be used to stabilise the existing building.

There are three ways to place piles for a deep foundation.  They can be driven, drilled, or installed by use of an auger.  Driven piles are extended to their necessary depths with the application of external energy in the same way a nail is hammered.  There are four typical hammers used to drive such piles:  drop hammers, diesel hammers, hydraulic hammers, and air hammers.  Drop hammers simply drop a heavy weight onto the pile to drive it, while diesel hammers use a single cylinder diesel engine to force piles through the Earth.  Similarly, hydraulic and air hammers supply energy to piles through hydraulic and air forces.  Energy imparted from a hammer head varies with type of hammer chosen, and can be as high as a million foot pounds for large scale diesel hammers, a very common hammer head used in practice.  Piles are made of a variety of material including steel, timber, and concrete.   Drilled piles are created by first drilling a hole to the appropriate depth, and filling it with concrete.  Drilled piles can typically carry more load than driven piles, simply due to a larger diameter pile.  The auger method of pile installation is similar to drilled pile installation, but concrete is pumped into the hole as the auger is being removed.

(Lateral earth support structures)
A retaining wall is a structure that holds back earth. Retaining walls stabilize soil and rock from downslope movement or erosion and provide support for vertical or near-vertical grade changes. Cofferdams and bulkheads, structures to hold back water, are sometimes also considered retaining walls.

The primary geotechnical concern in design and installation of retaining walls is that the weight of the retained material is  creates lateral earth pressure behind the wall, which can cause the wall to deform or fail. The lateral earth pressure depends on the height of the wall, the density of the soil,the strength of the soil, and the amount of allowable movement of the wall. This pressure is smallest at the top and increases toward the bottom in a manner similar to hydraulic pressure, and tends to push the wall away from the backfill.  Groundwater behind the wall that is not dissipated by a drainage system causes an additional horizontal hydraulic pressure on the wall.

ກຳແພງກັ້ນຖ່ວງໜັກ (Gravity walls)
Gravity walls depend on the size and weight of the wall mass to resist pressures from behind. Gravity walls will often have a slight setback, or batter, to improve wall stability. For short, landscaping walls, gravity walls made from dry-stacked (mortarless) stone or segmental concrete units (masonry units) are commonly used.

Earlier in the 20th century, taller retaining walls were often gravity walls made from large masses of concrete or stone. Today, taller retaining walls are increasingly built as composite gravity walls such as: geosynthetic or steel-reinforced backfill soil with precast facing; gabions (stacked steel wire baskets filled with rocks), crib walls (cells built up log cabin style from precast concrete or timber and filled with soil or free draining gravel) or soil-nailed walls (soil reinforced in place with steel and concrete rods).

For reinforced-soil gravity walls, the soil reinforcement is placed in horizontal layers throughout the height of the wall. Commonly, the soil reinforcement is geogrid, a high-strength polymer mesh, that provide tensile strength to hold soil together. The wall face is often of precast, segmental concrete units that can tolerate some differential movement. The reinforced soil's mass, along with the facing, becomes the gravity wall. The reinforced mass must be built large enough to retain the pressures from the soil behind it. Gravity walls usually must be a minimum of 30 to 40 percent as deep (thick) as the height of the wall, and may have to be larger if there is a slope or surcharge on the wall.

ກຳແພງກັ້ນ Cantilever walls
Prior to the introduction of modern reinforced-soil gravity walls, cantilevered walls were the most common type of taller retaining wall. Cantilevered walls are made from a relatively thin stem of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete or mortared masonry (often in the shape of an inverted T). These walls cantilever loads (like a beam) to a large, structural footing; converting horizontal pressures from behind the wall to vertical pressures on the ground below. Sometimes cantilevered walls are buttressed on the front, or include a counterfort on the back, to improve their stability against high loads. Buttresses are short wing walls at right angles to the main trend of the wall. These walls require rigid concrete footings below seasonal frost depth. This type of wall uses much less material than a traditional gravity wall.

Cantilever walls resist lateral pressures by friction at the base of the wall and/or passive earth pressure, the tendency of the soil to resist lateral movement.

Basements are a form of cantilever walls, but the forces on the basement walls are greater than on conventional walls because the basement wall is not free to move.

Excavation shoring
Shoring of temporary excavations frequently requires a wall design which does not extend laterally beyond the wall, so shoring extends below the planned base of the excavation.  Common methods of shoring are the use of sheet piles or soldier beams and lagging. Sheet piles are a form of driven piling using thin interlocking sheets of steel to obtain a continuous barrier in the ground, and are driven prior to excavation. Soldier beams are constructed of wide flange steel H sections spaced about 2–3 m apart, driven prior to excavation. As the excavation proceeds, horizontal timber or steel sheeting (lagging) is inserted behind the H pile flanges.

In some cases, the lateral support which can be provided by the shoring wall alone is insufficient to resist the planned lateral loads; in this case additional support is provided by walers or tie-backs. Walers are structural elements which connect across the excavation so that the loads from the soil on either side of the excavation are used to resist each other, or which transfer horizontal loads from the shoring wall to the base of the excavation. Tie-backs are steel tendons drilled into the face of the wall which extend beyond the soil which is applying pressure to the wall, to provide additional lateral resistance to the wall.

ວຽກດິນ (Earthworks)

ຂຸດຄົ້ນ (Excavation)
Excavation is the process of training earth according to requirement by removing the soil from the site.

Filling
Filling is the process of training earth according to requirement by placing the soil on the site.

Compaction

Compaction is the process by which the density of soil is increased and permeability of soil is decreased. Fill placement work often has specifications requiring a specific degree of compaction, or alternatively, specific properties of the compacted soil. In-situ soils can be compacted by rolling, deep dynamic compaction, vibration, blasting, gyrating, kneading, compaction grouting etc.

ປັບປຸງດິນ (Ground Improvement)
Ground Improvement is a technique that improves the engineering properties of the treated soil mass. Usually, the properties modified are shear strength, stiffness and permeability. Ground improvement has developed into a sophisticated tool to support foundations for a wide variety of structures. Properly applied, i.e. after giving due consideration to the nature of the ground being improved and the type and sensitivity of the structures being built, ground improvement often reduces direct costs and saves time.

Slope stabilization
Slope stability is the potential of soil covered slopes to withstand and undergo movement. Stability is determined by the balance of shear stress and shear strength. A previously stable slope may be initially affected by preparatory factors, making the slope conditionally unstable. Triggering factors of a slope failure can be climatic events can then make a slope actively unstable, leading to mass movements. Mass movements can be caused by increases in shear stress, such as loading, lateral pressure, and transient forces. Alternatively, shear strength may be decreased by weathering, changes in pore water pressure, and organic material.

Several modes of failure for earth slopes include falls, topples, slides, and flows.  In slopes with coarse grained soil or rocks, falls typically occur as the rapid descent of rocks and other loose slope material.  A slope topples when a large column of soil tilts over its vertical axis at failure.  Typical slope stability analysis considers sliding failures, categorized mainly as rotational slides or translational slides.  As implied by the name, rotational slides fail along a generally curved surface, while translational slides fail along a more planar surface.  A slope failing as a flow would resemble a fluid flowing downhill.

Slope stability analysis
Stability analysis is needed for the design of engineered slopes and for estimating the risk of slope failure in natural or designed slopes.  A common assumption is that a slope consists of a layer of soil sitting on top of a rigid base.  The mass and the base are assumed to interact via friction.  The interface between the mass and the base can be planar, curved, or have some other complex geometry. The goal of a slope stability analysis is to determine the conditions under which the mass will slip relative to the base and lead to slope failure.

If the interface between the mass and the base of a slope has a complex geometry, slope stability analysis is difficult and numerical solution methods are required.  Typically, the exact geometry of the interface is not known and a simplified interface geometry is assumed.  Finite slopes require three-dimensional models to be analyzed.  To keep the problem simple, most slopes are analyzed assuming that the slopes are infinitely wide and can therefore be represented by two-dimensional models.  A slope can be drained or undrained. The undrained condition is used in the calculations to produce conservative estimates of risk.

A popular stability analysis approach is based on principles pertaining to the limit equilibrium concept.  This method analyzes a finite or infinite slope as if it were about to fail along its sliding failure surface. Equilibrium stresses are calculated along the failure plane, and compared to the soils shear strength as determined by Terzaghi's shear strength equation.  Stability is ultimately decided by a factor of safety equal to the ratio of shear strength to the equilibrium stresses along the failure surface.  A factor of safety greater than one generally implies a stable slope, failure of which should not occur assuming the slope is undisturbed. A factor of safety of 1.5 for static conditions is commonly used in practice.

Offshore geotechnical engineering

Offshore (or marine) geotechnical engineering is concerned with foundation design for human-made structures in the sea, away from the coastline (in opposition to onshore or nearshore). Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of such structures. There are number of significant differences between onshore and offshore geotechnical engineering. Notably, ground improvement (on the seabed) and site investigation are more expensive, the offshore structures are exposed to a wider range of geohazards, and the environmental and financial consequences are higher in case of failure. Offshore structures are exposed to various environmental loads, notably wind, waves and currents. These phenomena may affect the integrity or the serviceability of the structure and its foundation during its operational lifespan – they need to be taken into account in offshore design.

In subsea geotechnical engineering, seabed materials are considered a two-phase material composed of 1) rock or mineral particles and  2) water.  Structures may be fixed in place in the seabed—as is the case for piers, jettys and fixed-bottom wind turbines—or may be a floating structure that remain roughly fixed relative to its geotechnical anchor point. Undersea mooring of human-engineered floating structures include a large number of offshore oil and gas platforms and, since 2008, a few floating wind turbines.  Two common types of engineered design for anchoring floating structures include tension-leg and catenary loose mooring systems.  "Tension
leg mooring systems have vertical tethers under tension providing large restoring moments in pitch and roll. Catenary mooring systems provide station keeping for an offshore structure yet provide little stiffness at low tensions."

Geosynthetics

Geosynthetics are a type of plastic polymer products used in geotechnical engineering that improve engineering performance while reducing costs. This includes geotextiles, geogrids, geomembranes, geocells, and geocomposites. The synthetic nature of the products make them suitable for use in the ground where high levels of durability are required; their main functions include: drainage, filtration, reinforcement, separation and containment. Geosynthetics are available in a wide range of forms and materials, each to suit a slightly different end use, although they are frequently used together. These products have a wide range of applications and are currently used in many civil and geotechnical engineering applications including: roads, airfields, railroads, embankments, piled embankments, retaining structures, reservoirs, canals, dams, landfills, bank protection and coastal engineering.

See also

Notes

References

ວິສະວະກຳເຕັກນິກທໍລະນີ


Approval voting is a voting system used for elections. In approval voting, each person can vote for any number of candidates they like. The votes for each of the candidates are counted, and summed up. The candidate or candidates with most votes are chosen as the winners of the election.

Supporters argue it to be better than plurality voting because voters can vote for the lessor of evils advertised by the media but also for their favorite candidates. If their goal is just to vote against a candidate, they can do so more forcefully by approving all other candidates. Ballots can easily be hand counted if voters do not trust computers, which might be needed for Instant Runoff Voting. Vote spoiling is not an issue with approval voting, so many candidates may run for office.

Opponents argue that voters still have some of the problems of plurality voting, which is that they do not know if they will need to compromise their vote or not(tactical voting). Giving approval to a compromise candidate could result in that compromise candidate winning, when their favorite would have won had they not given approval to the compromise candidate. It is possible for 51% of voters (a majority) to view a candidate as their first choice but for that candidate to lose to a compromise candidate because many of those voters approved the compromise candidate as well. Not knowing whether or not to compromise is a problem with all voting systems when at least three strong candidates run.

Voting systems

Approval voting


The North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) is a consortium of 25 libraries on the North Shore of Massachusetts working to improve library service through automation. Seventeen public libraries, seven college libraries, and one special library are members.

NOBLE was the first automated resource sharing network in the state and the first Massachusetts library network on the Internet.

It was established in 1980 by five libraries sharing their circulation system. By 1995, NOBLE served 32,000 college students and 522,000 residents and kept a database that featured more than 2.3 million items.

NOBLE is governed by its member libraries who approve the annual budget, establish NOBLE policies, and elect officers. An executive board, composed of the four officers and five at-large library directors, more closely oversees NOBLE operations. A professional staff manages operations. NOBLE is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and is recognized as a charitable organization by the Massachusetts Attorney General's office.

Member libraries

Public libraries:
 Beverly Public Library
 Peabody Institute Library of Danvers
 Everett Public Libraries
 Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester
 Lynn Public Library
 Lynnfield Public Library
 Abbot Public Library, Marblehead
 Melrose Public Library
 Peabody Institute Library, Peabody
 Reading Public Library
 Revere Public Library
 Salem Public Library
 Saugus Public Library
 Stoneham Public Library
 Swampscott Public Library
 Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield
 Winthrop Public Library and Museum

Special library:
 Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners Professional Library, Boston

Academic libraries:
 Bunker Hill Community College Library, Charlestown
 Endicott College, Halle Library, Beverly
 Gordon College, Jenks Library, Wenham
 Merrimack College, McQuade Library, North Andover
 Montserrat College of Art, Scott Library, Beverly
 Phillips Academy, Oliver Wendell Holmes Library, Andover
 Salem State University Library, Salem

See also
Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS)
CW MARS (Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing)
Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC)
Minuteman Library Network (MLN)
Old Colony Library Network (OCLN)
SAILS Library Network

References

External links
 Official site

Library consortia in Massachusetts
Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts
Organizations established in 1980

North of Boston Library Exchange


A record producer (or music producer) is a person who takes charge of a recording session, in the same kind of way that a movie director is in charge of filming movies. Record producers help musicians and recording artists to make singles and albums. The producer controls the recording sessions, coaches and guides the musicians and supervises the recording, mixing and mastering processes to make the music finalized.

In a professional context, there are two types of music producers:

 In-House - the more common type of the two are in-house producers. They come included in a studio rental fee and they get credited in a song's copyrights. It's mainly for their involvement in the entire process. Studios might use producers as a way to get more people to use their services.

 Independent Music Producer - the second producer type is an independent producer. They may have gained a desirable reputation in the industry and would be directly hired by a band or artist.

Famous record producers
Brian Eno produced music for U2, David Bowie and Talking Heads.
George Martin produced almost all of the music by The Beatles in the 1960s. He also worked with America, Shirley Bassey, and many other artists. He also made comedy records with Peter Sellers and Peter Ustinov.
Phil Spector was the producer for many "girl groups" in the 1960s, like the Ronettes and The Crystals. He also worked with The Righteous Brothers. Later he produced records for Ike and Tina Turner, and the Beatles' album Let It Be. Spector invented the idea of a "wall of sound", which was a way of producing so that every space in the recording was filled with music.
Timbaland is a man who produced popular rap, pop and R&B music, mostly in the 2000s. He worked with people like Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Madonna and many more artistes, including the late Aaliyah.
Todd Rundgren is not only a record producer but a singer and songwriter. He produces all of his own work, and other famous albums like Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell.

References

Music industry

Record producer


A manager is the head coach of a baseball team.  His job is to tell the players on the team what to do and make decisions about how the team should play, like who will play in what position.
In the past, managers were usually players. Since they were players, these managers wore the same uniform as the rest of the team. Managers who were not players, such as Connie Mack, would not be dressed in uniform. Today, managers dress in the same uniform as the team, even though most managers today are not players. Managers in Major League Baseball and for many other teams as well are usually former players themselves. Their playing experience may give them more knowledge on the game that they can use to help their team.

Baseball
Baseball coaches

Manager (baseball)


Renal disease is the name for a disease or condition that mainly affects the kidneys.  Medical words for renal disease are nephropathy or nephrosis.

There are many possible causes of renal disease, including:
Diabetes
High blood pressure
Some pain medicines affect how well the kidneys work, if they are taken over a longer time period
If a person has an organ transplantation, certain drugs need to be taken to keep the immune system from attacking the new organ. These often affect the kidneys.
Certain diseases, basically from eating bread contaminated with Aristolochic acid.
Certain viruses, such as HIV.

If renal disease gets bad enough, it can cause renal failure, where the kidneys do not work at all.

Diseases

Renal disease