Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and the largest city of the Czech Republic. 1.4 million people live there.

Prague has been known as one of the most beautiful European cities since the Middle Ages. It is often called the "City of 100 Towers", the "Rooftop of Europe" or the "Heart of Europe." Prague was a place where many merchants, artists and inventors met.

Prague is full of historical monuments in all major artistic styles. The historic center of Prague is on both banks of the Vltava river. This historical center has six districts, which were once independent cities that joined in the 18th century. These districts are Staré Město (Old Town), Pražský hrad (Prague castle), Josefov (Old Jewish Town), Nové Město (New Town), Malá Strana (Lesser Town), Hradčany (Prague Castle Quarter) and Vyšehrad. It was Prince Bořivoj who established Prague Castle. There are also lots of museums, galleries, theaters, concert halls, and other historic buildings.

History
The earliest inhabitants of the area lived in the valley of the Vltava river around 500 BC. Slavonic tribes came to Bohemia in about 500 AD. There is a legend about how the town of Prague started. Princess Libuše, the leader of a Slavonic tribe, chose a simple peasant Přemysl to be her husband. She told him to go and find a village on the banks of the Vltava and to start a town there. The town became Prague, ruled by the Přemyslid family.In the second half of the 9th century the castle's original fortifications were built. During the reign of Wenceslas I (Václav in Czech) in the 10th century the church of St Vitus was built at Prague castle. Wenceslas was murdered by his brother when he was going to church. He was later made a saint. In the early 11th century the Přemyslid family got power in Moravia, too. Vratislav II was the first monarch to be called King of Bohemia.

Another ruler, also called Wenceslas I, ruled as King of Bohemia from 1230. He encouraged the arts. Many Germans came to live in Prague. In 1257 King Otakar II founded the area of Prague called the Lesser Quarter for the Germans to live in. The last of the Přemyslid kings was King Wenceslas III. He was murdered in Moravia.

During the Middle Ages Prague became very important as the capital of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by Charles IV (1316-1378) who was the most powerful ruler in Europe at the time. Charles made Prague a great city, building St Vitus Cathedral, a university, and a famous bridge called Charles Bridge which still exists.

After Charles IV there were many arguments and fights in Prague. A priest called Jan Hus said that the Catholic Church had become too powerful. He was arrested and burned at the stake in 1415. A lot of people agreed with what Hus had been saying. These people were called Hussites. They threw a lot of important Catholic people out of the window (called "defenestration"). A lot more fighting followed, and for many years Bohemia was ruled by kings who lived in other countries.

From 1526 the Habsburg family ruled Bohemia. They were Catholics and ruled the Holy Roman Empire. In 1576 the Emperor Rudolph II moved the capital from Vienna to Prague. Prague became a rich town again, and people were free to worship as Catholics or Protestants. After Rudolph II there were a lot of religious fighting and more people were thrown out of windows. Eventually the fighting became part of the Thirty Years' War. When Ferdinand II won the fighting a lot of Protestants left the country. New buildings in Prague were built in the Baroque style. The German language, not Czech, was spoken at court. Maria Theresa was the only queen to reign over Prague. One of her 16 children was Marie Antoinette who became queen of France. When her son Joseph II ruled, people stopped fighting about religion. The people were free to speak what they thought, and there was no more serfdom. Prague now had three parts: the Old Town, the Lesser Quarter and the New Town. Famous people such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited the town often.

In the 19th century industry came to Prague. Factories were built, a railway was built between Prague and Vienna. The Czech nationalist movement became very strong after 1848. They wanted to use their own language instead of German. The composers Smetana and Dvořák wrote music about their country, often using Czech folksongs. The National Theatre was opened in 1881.

In June 1914 the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg throne, was murdered. This led to World War I. After the war an independent republic called Czechoslovakia was formed with Prague as its capital. Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia were part of it. In 1938 Hitler invaded the country. It was liberated by Soviet troops in May 1945. However, the communists soon seized power and the country was ruled by communists who had to obey the Soviet Union. The prime minister Alexander Dubček gradually tried to make reforms. This period of time is called the "Prague Spring". In 1968 the Soviet Union sent tanks into Prague to Wenceslas Square to restore their power.

Democracy gradually came to Prague in 1989 when the Velvet Revolution happened. In 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia split into two countries. Today both these countries are part of the European Union.

Cultural sights

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990 Prague has become one of Europe's most popular tourist places. It has buildings dating from the 13th century to the present day. The castle looks very important on the hillside. Charles Bridge is now closed to traffic so that pedestrians can walk across the bridge and buy souvenirs from the stalls. There are many museums, palaces and theatres. Tourists often go to the Old Town Square in the centre of Prague. There are lots of buildings there from different periods of history. The statue of Jan Hus stands high above the square. There is a famous Astronomical Clock on the wall of the Old Town Hall. There are museums dedicated to famous people including Smetana, Dvořák and Franz Kafka. The Estates Theatre is one of Europe's oldest theaters. It was built in the 1780s and Mozart conducted the first performance of his opera Don Giovanni there.

Prague is on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Economics
Prague has been important in the economy of what is now the Czech Republic since the region developed industry in the 19th century. Textiles and machinery are made and exported to many countries. Food, electronics and chemicals are produced. Nearly half the people who work are women.

Prague is becoming a city where many international companies have their headquarters. Since the late 1990s, Prague has become a popular filming location for international productions and Hollywood motion pictures.

There are no ghettos in Prague.

Colleges and universities
The city contains several universities and colleges including the oldest university in Central and Eastern Europe: the Charles University, founded in 1348.

Transport

Prague has three metro lines, 20 tram lines, and buses that connect to the suburbs. There is also a funicular rail link to the top of the Petřín Hill and a chairlift at Prague Zoo. All these services have a common ticketing system.

Prague metro is one of the best in Europe for quality and speed. It has got 3 lines (A, B, and C), 65 kilometers and 61 stations.

Trains from Prague connect to major cities in neighbouring countries.

There is a modern airport, Václav Havel airport Prague, used by many airlines including Czech Airlines.

Sport
Prague has many parks and gardens, including a park for culture, sports and entertainments which is named after Julius Fučík, a resistance leader of World War II. It has three stadiums, the largest of which, Spartakiádní stadion, holds 250,000 people. They have a good Soccer team and play many sports.

References

Other websites

 Official Website
 WorldFlicks in Prague: Photos and interesting places on Google Maps

Prague


Space is a novel by James A. Michener published in 1982. It is a fictionalized history of the United States space program, with a particular emphasis on human spaceflight.

Michener writes in a semi-documentary style. The topics explored in the novel include naval warfare in the Pacific Ocean, air combat in the Korean War (something Michener had already explored in The Bridges at Toko-Ri), test pilot life at 'Pax River',  astronaut selection and training, the role of the media in promoting the space program as a national achievement, and the development of the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft, the rise of the military-industrial complex and the evolution of NACA into NASA.

Plot summary
The story begins in 1944 and covers more than 30 years in the lives of four men and their families: Dieter Kolff, a German rocket engineer who worked for the Nazis; Norman Grant, a World War II hero turned U.S. Senator from the fictional Midwestern state of Fremont; Stanley Mott, an aeronautical engineer charged with a top-secret U.S. government mission to rescue Kolff from Peenemünde; and John Pope, a small-town boy turned Naval Aviator who becomes a test pilot and then an astronaut. Randy Claggett, a rambunctious Marine Corps aviator and astronaut, is considered by Michener to be the most important supporting character (the first two parts of the book are entitled "Four Men" and "Four Women"). The lives of the fictional characters interweave with those of historical figures, such as Wernher von Braun and Lyndon Johnson. A group of trainee astronauts are introduced to fly fictional but plausible Project Gemini and Project Apollo missions; the intensive training and jockeying for position among the astronauts forms much of the background of the middle of the novel, reminiscent of a fictional version of Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff and the movie as well.

Michener dramatizes the life experiences of these men and their families against the backdrop of the real history of the U.S. space program, depicting their experiences in post-war aviation; the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union; the development of congressional funding for the space program; the early failures in the Gemini program; and the successful Moon landings in the Apollo program. In a fictional postscript to history, Michener creates a last, "Apollo 18" launch to further the drama of Pope, Claggett and Linley, America's first black astronaut. This is the only Apollo mission in which the lunar module lands on the far side of the Moon; in order to remain in contact with NASA after landing, while still in lunar orbit the Apollo craft must launch communication satellites that will bounce the lunar module's signals to Earth. An exceptional and unexpected burst of sunspot activity results in the death of Claggett and Linley: the two astronauts are exposed to a lethal level of radiation while out on the lunar surface during a large solar flare. After hastily returning to the Lunar Module, Linley loses consciousness and Claggett attempts an emergency ascent back towards the command module. However he also loses consciousness, and the Lunar Module crashes back onto the lunar surface. Pope, the command module pilot, returns to Earth safely. The mission profile is significantly different from that of the real-world canceled mission that would have been Apollo 18.

On the human side, various subplots run through the novel, contrasting the "official" heroism of NASA with the human fallibilities of the cast—the difficulties the Kolffs face in integrating into American society; Norman Grant's initial embrace of the space program and his abandonment of it as it no longer serves his political aims, while his unstable wife and their daughter fall in with a highly intelligent but cynical cult leader calling himself Leopold Strabismus, who exploits first the UFO craze and then an anti-scientific creationist agenda to increase his wealth; Randy Claggett's womanizing; the contrast between Stanley and Rachel Mott's ordered, rational existence and their troubled relationship with their sons, and John Pope's unusual yet supportive relationship with his lawyer wife Penny.

Pope retires from NASA and becomes a respected professor of astronomy, his wife Penny is elected to the Senate, and Mott is consulted on "Grand Tour" uncrewed missions to the outer Solar System, as well as the development of the Space Shuttle. The novel ends with a NASA workshop on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, at which Strabismus drops the creationist/fundamentalist persona he has adopted and joins in the intellectual debate on the inevitability of life elsewhere in the Universe.

History, geography and current science
The author displays extensive knowledge about the intricacies of rocket and spacecraft systems, which he gained as a member of the Advisory Council to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from 1979 to 1983.

Television adaptation
The novel was adapted into a five-part, 13-hour CBS miniseries, James A. Michener's Space, starring James Garner. This television series aired April 14–18, 1985 and won an Emmy Award for film sound mixing.

References

1982 American novels
Novels by James A. Michener
Random House books
Space exploration novels
Fiction set in 1944
Fiction set in 1946
Fiction set in 1952
Fiction set in 1956
Fiction set in 1962
Fiction set in 1969
Fiction set in 1973
Fiction set in 1976
Fiction set in 1979
Novels about NASA
American novels adapted into television shows
Cultural depictions of Wernher von Braun

Space (Michener novel)


Jessie Ann Benton Frémont (May 31, 1824 – December 27, 1902) was an American writer and political activist. She was the daughter of Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton and the wife of military officer, explorer, and politician John C. Frémont. She wrote many stories that were printed in popular magazines of the time as well as several books of historical value. Her writings, which helped support her family during times of financial difficulty, were memoirs of her time in the American West. A strong supporter of her husband, who was one of the first two senators of the new U.S. state of California and a governor of the Territory of Arizona, she was outspoken on political issues and a determined opponent of slavery, which was excluded in the formation of California.

Early life
She was born near Lexington, Virginia, the second child of Thomas Hart Benton (1782–1858) and Elizabeth McDowell (1794–1854). She was born in the home of her mother's father, James McDowell. Her father, Senator Benton, had been wanting a son but went ahead and named her in honor of his father, Jesse Benton.

Jessie was raised in Washington, D.C., more in the manner of a 19th century son than daughter, with her father, who was renowned as the "Great Expansionist," seeing to her early education and introducing her to the leading politicians of the day, an unusual thing for the period. Jessie was very close to her father and stuck by his side. He shared with her the many books and maps in the valise that always accompanied him on their trips to and from Missouri and Virginia. She began, too, to share his dream of a nation stretching from ocean to ocean. In this manner, she became well educated in the ways of social structure and the disciplines of politics, history, literature, and languages. After attaining fluency in French and Spanish, Jessie helped in the translation of government documents.

In 1840 at age 16, while studying and living at Georgetown Seminary, she met Lieutenant John C. Frémont who was in Washington preparing a report on explorations (with Joseph Nicollet as commander) he had made between the Missouri River and the northern frontier of the United States. They became engaged, but her parents objected to a marriage at that time because of her age. Probably through the influence of Col. Benton, Frémont then received an order from the War Department to make an examination of the Des Moines River on the western frontier. Shortly after their return they were married on October 19, 1841.

American West
For a while after their marriage, Jessie and her husband lived on Army posts, until Frémont was assigned the task of exploring the West and scouting land for future U.S. territorial expansion. It was this assignment that began the couple's rise to fame.

A reconciliation occurred between Jessie and her father when he promoted Frémont's famous explorations of the West. Senator Benton had been persuaded by his ailing wife to accept the marriage, and the couple moved into the Benton home. Frémont left his pregnant wife behind in the spring of 1842 to lead his first expedition to mark the trails West. He returned, however, days before the birth of their eldest child, Elizabeth Benton "Lily" Frémont, who was born November 15, 1842, in Washington D.C. He then headed off again, and Jessie and the baby remained behind.

Frémont became known as the "Pathfinder to the West", after James Fenimore Cooper's novel, the Pathfinder. Jessie, intensely interested in the details of his expedition, became his recorder, making notes as he described his experiences. Adding human-interest touches to these printed reports, she wrote and edited best-selling stories of the adventures Frémont had while exploring the West with his scout, Kit Carson. Thus, she involved herself in her most happy life's work, interpreting her husband and his actions for a public eager for information about the opening of the West. Written during a time when the concept of Manifest Destiny was becoming increasingly popular, these narratives were received with great enthusiasm.

Her husband was involved tangentially in the conquest of California, the annexation of which occurred as a result of the Mexican–American War. He served as the 3rd Military Governor, in 1847. At the time of the court-martial of Frémont, during which he attempted to defend his actions in the Bear Flag Revolt, Jessie gave birth to a son, Benton Frémont, on July 24, 1848, in Washington, D.C. The baby's death, within the year in St. Louis, she blamed on her husband's accuser, General Kearny.

In 1849, Jessie and Lily made a harrowing and treacherous journey aboard ship to join Frémont in California. After disembarking and crossing the Isthmus of Panama, they boarded another vessel to San Francisco. With income from their gold mines, the Frémonts established a home and settled into San Francisco society. As a politically informed woman, Jessie was known to get involved in city politics and discuss with the men any issues that were of importance at the time. She became a member of the Pacific Coast Women's Press Association.

Political life
John C. Frémont served from September 9, 1850, to March 3, 1851, as a Senator from California. Their third child, John C. Frémont Jr., was born on April 19, 1851, at Las Mariposas, California. While the couple was visiting Paris, France, their fourth child, Anne Beverly Frémont, was born on February 1, 1853. Anne died five months later, on July 11, in Washington, D.C. Their fifth and final child, Francis Preston Frémont, was born on May 17, 1855, in Washington.

In 1856, Frémont's antislavery position was instrumental in his being chosen as the first-ever Republican candidate for President. Jessie played an extremely active role in the campaign, rallying support for her husband. One particular campaign slogan read, "Frémont and Jessie too." Her father, however, a lifelong Democrat, refused to endorse her husband's bid for the presidency. This did not stop the supporters of Frémont from continuing to refer to her as the "first lady in the land," a title her admirers continued to use throughout her life.

Frémont garnered many Northern votes but ultimately lost the election to James Buchanan, though he did surpass the American Party candidate, Millard Fillmore. Frémont was unable to carry the state of California.

In the years following, the couple moved several times, living in California, St. Louis, and New York. She played an active role in the anti-Secession movement in California in 1861 and enlisted both Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King and writer Bret Harte to her crusade. When Lincoln appointed Frémont as the Commander of the Department of the West in 1861, they returned to St. Louis.

Jessie Frémont served as her husband's unofficial aide and closest adviser. The two shared the belief that St. Louis was unprepared for war and needed reinforcements and supplies, and both pressured Washington to send more supplies and troops. She threw herself into the war effort, helping to organize a Soldier's Relief Society in St. Louis and becoming very active in the Western Sanitary Commission, which provided medicine and nursing to soldiers injured in the war.

One of the most impressive feats of her political career came shortly after Frémont lost his position during the Civil War for issuing his own edict of emancipation, summarily freeing all of the slaves in Missouri, which predated Lincoln's own Emancipation Proclamation. Jessie actually traveled to Washington and pleaded with Lincoln on behalf of her husband, but to no avail.

Later years

The Frémonts would not live in St. Louis again, moving to New York and then California. In the Panic of 1873, John C. Frémont, who had invested heavily in railroad stock, lost everything and declared bankruptcy. Undaunted by their financial situation, Jessie began writing books to help support the family, namely A Year of American Travel: Narrative of Personal Experience (1878), a story about her journey to California in 1849, and Souvenirs of My Time (1887).

From 1878 to 1881, John C. Frémont served as Governor of the Territory of Arizona. Three months after being allowed to resign from the Army with pension, he died in 1890 in a hotel in New York.

After the death of her husband, the Congress, in recognition of his valued services, granted Jessie a widow's pension of $2,000 a year. In 1891, she moved into a home at the corner of 28th and Hoover Streets in Los Angeles that was presented to her by a committee of ladies of the city as a token of their great regard. She remained in good health until about two and a half years before her death when an accident made her an invalid, but she was able to use a wheelchair and enjoy the outdoors.

Jessie Benton Frémont died at age 78 at her home in Los Angeles. A huge box of fragrant and beautiful roses was sent on December 29, 1902, by Mrs. James A. Garfield, a former first lady. The rites of the Episcopal Church were conducted at 10:30 a.m. on December 30, at Christ Church, on the corner of Pico and Flower Streets. She was cremated, and her ashes interred in Rosedale Cemetery.

In 1960, actress Lorna Thayer was cast as Jessie Frémont in the episode, "The Gentle Sword" of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days. In the story line, the Frémonts, in California during the gold rush, become involved in a mining claim dispute; Mrs. Frémont stares down organized claim jumpers.

Works
The Story of the Guard: A Chronicle of the War (1863)
A Year of American Travel: Narrative of Personal Experience (1878)
Souvenirs of My Time (1887)
Far-West Sketches (1890)
The Will and the Way Stories (1891)
The Origin of the Frémont Explorations (1891)

The book Memoirs of My Life (1887) by John C. Frémont includes Sketch of Senator Benton by Jessie Benton Frémont.

Letters
The letters of Jessie Benton Frémont (1993) edited by Pamela Herr and Mary Lee Spence, Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Collection of 271 letters offering insights into the mind and heart of the author, across the span of her life, including her husband's presidential campaign, her role in the Civil War, her time as First Lady of the Territory of Arizona, and her impressions of the late 1800s in California.

Biographies

 Jessie Fremont at Black Point (1974) by Lois Rather, Rather Press, Oakland CA
Jessie Benton Frémont: A Biography (1987) by Pamela Herr
Jessie Benton Frémont: A Woman who Made History (1995) by Catherine Coffin Phillips
Jessie Benton Frémont: Missouri's Trailblazer (2005) by Ilene Stone and Suzanna M. Grenz
Passion and Principle: John and Jessie Frémont, the Couple Whose Power, Politics, and Love Shaped Nineteenth-century America (2007) by Sally Denton
Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John Fremont Mapped the West, Invented Celebrity and Helped Cause the Civil War, (2020) by Steve Inskeep, Penguin Press

In fiction
Immortal Wife: The Biographical Novel of Jessie Benton Frémont (1944) by Irving Stone
Phillips, Michael and Judith Pella. The Journals of Corrie Belle Hollister: On the Trail of the Truth Bethany House Pub., 1991.
Dream West is a 1982 historical novel by David Nevin about Charles and Jessie Frémont, which was adapted into a 1986 miniseries of the same name.

See also
1856 United States presidential election

References

External links
 1839 Portrait of Jessie Benton Frémont
 The Frémonts and Emancipation in Missouri

  Territorial Women's Memorial Rose Garden: Jessie Ann Benton Fremont
  Territorial Women's Memorial Rose Garden: Elizabeth Benton (Lily) Fremont

1824 births
1902 deaths
19th-century American Episcopalians
19th-century American memoirists
19th-century American women writers
Activists from California
American abolitionists
American non-fiction writers
American political activists
American women memoirists
Arizona Republicans
Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery
California Republicans
Missouri Republicans
New York (state) Republicans
People from Mariposa County, California
People from Rockbridge County, Virginia
Spouses of California politicians
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from San Francisco
Writers from St. Louis
Writers from Washington, D.C.
Pacific Coast Women's Press Association
Memoirists from California

Jessie Benton Frémont


Louis Dean Owens (Lompoc July 18, 1948 - Albuquerque, July 25, 2002) was a novelist and scholar who claimed Choctaw, Cherokee, and Irish-American descent. He is known for a series of Native-themed mystery novels and for his contributions to the then-fledgling field of Native American Studies. He was also a professor of English and Native American studies, and frequently contributed articles, literary criticism and reviews to periodicals. Owens died by suicide in 2002.

Biography
Louis Owens was born in Lompoc, CA on July 18, 1948. He was one of nine children born to Hoey and Ida Owens. He self-identified as being of Choctaw and Cherokee descent. Despite not being a citizen in any Native nation, or naming any tribal ancestors or relatives, and writing that "I'm not enrolled and did not grow up on a reservation", he still identified as Native American. He grew up in rural Mississippi and California. His first job, at the age of nine, was picking beans. From 1969 - 1974 Owens worked as a forest ranger and firefighter for the United States Forest Service in Washington State. He received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his Ph.D. in 1981 from the University of California, Davis. Owens taught at the University of California, Davis and at University of California, Santa Cruz, California State University at Northridge, and the University of New Mexico. Owens wrote five novels in total, often featuring the relationship of Native Americans and contemporary American society, and exploring identity and mixed ancestries. He had reputation for combining thriller plots with more universal themes. He also completed five collections of essays and literary criticism and was one of the leading American scholars on Native American fiction. Owens was also considered an expert on John Steinbeck's work.

Owens was a member of the editorial board of the Steinbeck Quarterly. He was also on the editorial board of New America, associate editor of American Literary Realism, and co-editor of American Literary Scholarship: An Annual, 1990. He was a member of the national committee for the Native American Literature Award and the Native American Prose Award, a member of the governing board of the Native American International Prize in Literature and a nominator for the National Medal of Arts. He had also been a member of the Advisory Board of the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute. He contributed more than a hundred articles and reviews to periodicals, including Northeast Indian Quarterly, Arizona Quarterly, San Jose Studies, American Indian Quarterly, and USA Today.

Owens died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on July 26, 2002, in Albuquerque. He was survived by his wife and two daughters. At the time of his death, he was professor of English and Native American studies, and the director of creative writing at the University of California, Davis.

Awards
Owens was named Writer of the Year Award from Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers & Storytellers for Mixedblood Messages in 1998. He received the American Book Award for Nightland in 1997.

The books The Sharpest Sight and Other Destinies were co-winners of the Josephine Miles, PEN Oakland Award for 1993 and The Sharpest Sight won the 1995 Roman Noir Award, France's equivalent of the Edgar Award. Bone Game was selected by an independent panel of judges as the winner of the Julian J. Rothbaum Prize for the best book published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1994.

Owens was a Fulbright lecturer in American literature at the University of Pisa, Italy (1980-1). He was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1989 and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in 1987. He also received a New Mexico Humanities Grant (1987) and been named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the International Steinbeck Society in 1985-6 and received the Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1992.

Novels
 Wolfsong. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
 The Sharpest Sight. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.
 Bone Game. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
 Nightland. Dutton, 1996. (Winner of an American Book Award).
 Dark River. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.

Anthologies and Literary Criticism
Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, "Louis Owens: literary reflections on his life and work," University of Oklahoma Press, 2004
"I Hear the Train: Reflections, Inventions, Refractions," (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, v. 39) University of Oklahoma Press.
"Mixed Blood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place," (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, v. 26) University of Oklahoma Press.
"Gerald Vizenor," a special issue of SAIL, V 9, No. 1, Spring 1997.
Other Destinies, (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, v.3) University of Oklahoma Press.
The Grapes of Wrath: Trouble in the Promised Land, Twayne Pub.
John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America, University of Georgia Press.
American Indian Novelists : An Annotated Critical Bibliography, with Tom Colonnese, Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Vol 384, Garland Press.
American Literary Scholarship : An Annual, 1990, as Editor, Duke Univ Press.

Interviews & Essays
"Grave Concerns Trickster Turns: The Novels of Louis Owens," Chris LaLonde, Univ. Oklahoma Press. (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series, v. 43).
Special Issue of SAIL on Louis Owens edited by Chris LaLonde, v. 10, no. 2, Summer 1998, containing:

 Preface by Chris LaLonde;
 Clear Waters: A Conversation with Louis Owens by John Purdy;
 Bone Game's Terminal Plots and Healing Stories by Rochelle Venuto;
 The Syncretic Impulse: Louis Owens' Use of Autobiography, Ethnology, and Blended Mythologies in The Sharpest Sight by Margaret Dwyer;
 Nightland and the Mythic West by Linda Lizut Helstern;
 Wilderness Conditions: Ranging for Place and Identity in Louis Owens' Wolfsong by Susan Bernardin;
 Landscape and Cultural Identity in Louis Owens' Wolfsong by Lee Schweninger.

That the People Might Live: Native American Literatures and Native American Community, Jace Weaver, Oxford University Press.

Mixedbloods and Mystery: Crises of Identity in Two Native American Novels, Amy Lerman, Kishwaukee College, in Publication of the Illinois Philological Association.

Everything Matters : Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers, Arnold Krupat & Brian Swann (Editors), Random House.

Native North American Literature: Biographical and Critical Information on Native Writers and Orators from the United States and Canada, Janet Witalec, Jeffery Chapman (Editors), Gale Research.

Writing Online
Finding Gene in Weber Studies
The Song Is Very Short": Native American Literature and Literary Theory in Weber Studies

See also
 A short biography is available from the Internet Public Library's Native American Author's Project.
 In Memoriam, UC Santa Cruz News Service
 Suicide/ The Aftermath, Glen Martin, San Francisco Chronicle.

References

External links
 Obituary from Utah State University (scroll down page)
 A Conversation with Louis Owens (conducted by John Purdy)
Louis Owens Papers at Special Collections Dept., University Library, University of California, Davis

20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
American people who self-identify as being of Cherokee descent
Suicides by firearm in New Mexico
Writers from California
1948 births
2002 suicides
2002 deaths
University of California, Davis alumni
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners
American Book Award winners
20th-century American male writers
American people of Choctaw descent

Louis Owens


Fluorite is the mineral form of calcium fluoride.  It has a chemical formula of CaF2  where Ca stands for calcium, and F2 stands for Fluorine.

Fluorite is the main source of fluorine and fluorides.  It naturally fluoridates drinking water in places where it is found.  It has a hardness of 5. It barely dissolves in water.  Geologists have found about 9000 deposits of fluorite found on the Earth.  It is mainly mined in China, Mexico and Russia.

Related pages
Fluoride
Fluorine

Minerals
Calcium compounds
Fluorine compounds

Fluorite


Yevlakh (Yevlax) is a rayon o Azerbaijan, an it surroonds the ceeties o Yevlakh an Mingachevir.

Economy
Yevlakh is ane o the important agricultural rayons o the kintra. The grain an cotton growin, as well as cattle breedin sectors hae played an important role in ceety economy. The fermers grow potato, vegetable, watter-melon an fruits, as well.

Yevlakh Ceety is an aw rich wi naitural resoorces lik cley mixtur saund deposits, as well as cley, saund an graivel deposits needit for brick makkin.

Baku-Gazakh heich-gate, Yevlakh-Balakan, Baku-Tbilisi railwey, Baku-Supsa gas an Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan ile pipeline extend throu the territory o the rayon. Yevlakh ceety an aw haes a domestic airport.

References

Destricts o Azerbaijan

Yevlakh Rayon


Roberta Peters (May 4, 1930 – January 18, 2017) is an American soprano. She had a long and successful career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. She was particularly associated with light coloratura roles in Italian, French and German operas.

Life and career

Born Roberta Peterman in New York City, she began vocal study at the age of 13 with William Herman, encouraged by tenor Jan Peerce, a family friend.

She made her unscheduled debut (as an emergency replacement) at the Metropolitan Opera, on November 17, 1950, as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, aged only 20 and having no previous stage experience. The success was immediate. Her well schooled voice, good looks and charming personality quickly made her a great favorite of this theatre where she was to sing regularly for 35 seasons.

Some of her most performed roles include; Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), The Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute),  Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Norina (Don Pasquale), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Gilda (Rigoletto), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Nanetta (Falstaff), Olympia (Les contes d'Hoffmann), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), etc.

She also appeared abroad, notably at the Royal Opera House in London in 1951, as Arline in The Bohemian Girl, and later appeared at the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, the Bolshoi in Moscow. She also made several appearances on television, notably on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Roberta Peters retired from the stage in 1985, but continued to give recital until recent years. She was briefly married to baritone Robert Merrill.

Peters died from Parkinson's disease on January 18, 2017 in Rye, New York. She was 86.

References

 The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia, edited by David Hamilton, Simon & Schuster, 1987.

1930 births
2017 deaths
American opera singers
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
Disease-related deaths in New York (state)
Singers from New York City
Sopranos

Roberta Peters


The Earl Marshal is a member of the British Royal Household, and is in charge of organising royal ceremonies and processions. The Earl Marshal is not a member of the College of Arms, but he must give his permission before the College of Arms can issue a coat of arms.

The Earl Marshal is always the Duke of Norfolk, and because he is Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk is a member of the House of Lords, without being elected by the other hereditary peers.

Occupations
Heraldry
British monarchy

Earl Marshal


Nord-Vest (English: North West) is a development region in Romania. It was created in 1998. Its main function is to organise regional development projects and manage money sent from the European Union.

Counties
The Nord-Vest region is made up of these counties: 1123

Source:

Economy

The economy of Nord-Vest is mainly agricultural (46% of its population having agriculture as their main occupation), even though there is some heavy and light industry in the major regional industrial centres of Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Baia Mare, Bistriţa, Satu Mare and Zalau.

There are also several mining centres in Maramureş county and in the Apuseni Mountains. Many of these mining areas have been partly shut down, resulting in significant local unemployment, even though unemployment in the Nord-Vest region is at approximately 4%, below the Romanian national average of 5.5%. Many mining areas have been classified by the government as defavourised zones, with incentives given to investors who plan to create jobs in these areas and diversify the economy.

The region's GDP per capita is slightly below the Romanian average (approximately 90% of the Romanian average), despite the fact that the major cities – Cluj-Napoca and Oradea – are some of the most prosperous in Romania.

Infrastructure
The region is crossed by five European roads – E60, E81, E79, E671 and E58. Additionally, the A3 freeway is currently in construction and will cross Cluj, Sălaj and Bihor counties in the region. Nord-Vest also it has an extensive railway infrastructure connecting most of the important towns.

The region has four airports – Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Satu Mare and Baia Mare. Currently, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea and Baia Mare airports have international flights, while Satu Mare airport only handles domestic flights.

Demographics

Romania's Nord-Vest development region has a total population of 2,579,545 (2011 Census). In 2002, the region was one of the most ethnically-diverse in Romania, with 25% of the population coming from a minority group. After Romanians, who make up 75% of the population, the largest minority group are Hungarians, who comprise slightly less than 20% of the population. This is mainly due to area's history as part of Austria-Hungary. Hungarians are mainly concentrated in urban centres, especially those near the Hungarian border, such as Oradea and Satu Mare. The third largest minority are Roma people, who make up 3.5%, slightly above the national average. Roma people are spread relatively evenly throughout the region, even though the highest proportions are in Bihor county, where approximately 5% of the population is Roma.

Romanian is the most widely spoken language, spoken as a main language by 76.6% of the inhabitants of the region. The other important languages is Hungarian, spoken by 19.9% of the population as a main language. Religion is mainly based on ethnic groups, with the largest religion being Romanian Orthodoxy, observed by 68.38% of the population, mostly ethnic Romanians. Other important religions are the Reformed Church (12.70%), Roman Catholicism (6.86%) and Greek Catholicism (4.20%).

Citizenship

99.9% of the population of Nord-Vest region has Romanian citizenship. There are 2,343 residents, or 0.09% of the population, of foreign citizenship, including:

Moldovan citizenship: 621
Italian citizenship: 298
Ukrainian citizenship: 156

2,687 people, or 0.10% of the population, has dual citizenship.

References

Development regions of Romania

Nord-Vest (development region)


The ProFile (codenamed Pippin) was the first hard disk drive produced by Apple Computer, initially for use with the Apple III personal computer. The original model had a formatted capacity of 5 MB and connected to a special interface card that plugged into an Apple III slot. In 1983, Apple offered a ProFile interface card for the Apple II, with software support for Apple ProDOS and Apple Pascal.

Additionally, in 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa computer, which was normally sold with a ProFile. The ProFile could be connected to the built-in parallel port of the Lisa, or to a port on an optional dual-port parallel interface card. Up to three such interface cards could be installed, so in principle up to seven ProFile drives could be used on a Lisa.

The 5 MB ProFile was Apple's first hard drive, and was introduced in September 1981 at a price of . Later, a 10 MB model was offered, but required an upgraded PROM/interface card to recognize the additional 5 MB.

Internally, the ProFile consisted of a bare Seagate ST-506 stepper motor drive and mechanism, without the usual Seagate electronics, a digital and an analog circuit board designed and manufactured by Apple, and a power supply.

Later Lisa models could be configured with an internal 10 MB "Widget" voice-coil drive with a proprietary controller designed and built entirely by Apple, but the Widget was never offered as an external product for use with other Apple computers.

Apple did not offer another hard drive until it released the Hard Disk 20 designed specifically for the Macintosh 512K in September 1985 which could not be used on the Apple II or III families, or Lisa series. The ProFile could not be used on the Macintosh or the Apple IIc (for which Apple never offered an external hard disk drive of any kind).

By September 1986, the ProFile would be superseded by the introduction of the first cross-platform Hard Disk 20SC SCSI-based drive for the Macintosh and interface card for the Apple II family (excluding the IIc series, which had no SCSI interface of any kind) and Lisa/XL series.

References

ProFile
Apple II peripherals
Apple Inc. peripherals
Hard disk drives
Computer-related introductions in 1981

Apple ProFile


Soothren Sami is the soothwastren-maist o the Sami leids. It is a seriously endangered leid; the last strangholds o this leid are the municipalities o Snåsa an Hattfjelldal in Norawa. There are approximately 2000 fowk considered ethnically Soothren Sami in Norawa an Swaden, but ae approximately 600 o them can fluently speak the leid.

Writin seestem

Soothren Sami is ane o the sax Sami leids that haes an offeecial written leid, but ae a few books hae been published for the leid, ane o which is a guid-size Soothren Sami-Norse dictionary.

Soothren Sami uises the latin alphabet:
A/a, B/b, D/d, E/e, F/f, G/g, H/h, I/i, (Ï/ï), J/j, K/k, L/l, M/m, N/n, O/o, P/p, R/r, S/s, T/t, U/u, V/v, Y/y, Æ/æ, Ø/ø, Å/å

An alternative orthography replaces Æ/æ with Ä/ä and Ø/ø with Ö/ö. The variants Ä/ä, Ö/ö are uised in Swaden, Æ/æ, Ø/ø in Norrowey, in accordance wi the uisage in Swadish an Norse. The Ï/ï represents a back version o I/i, mony texts daena distinguish atween the twa.

C/c, Q/q, W/w, X/x, Z/z are uised in wirds o foreign oreegin.

References

Sami leids
Leids o Norawa

Soothren Sami leid


The Game port is a port that is present on some PC hardware, and hardware similar to it. This port lets the connection of analog devices used to control computer games, such as joysticks. In most relevant hardware designs for personal computers in 2010, the port is an integrated component on the sound card, another I/O card, or the motherboard itself. Starting with Windows Vista Microsoft no longer supports this port with drivers from the Operating System, but third party drivers are still available. There are also drivers that allow to map the game port to an USB device.

Hardware
Unlike most other ports present on the PC, the Game port is an analog port. This means that signal first needs to be changed to digital form, a task which is usually done by an analog-to-digital converter. In the early days, most joystick designs were digital, which made them easier to build and cheaper. The game port has a 15-pin DSUB interface, most home computers that used digital joysticks had a 9-pin one. This made existing joysticks incompatible with the new interface.

Digital joysticks are easy for programmers to access. The signal is already digital, and only gets transferred to the PC. Analog signals are much harder to use, they need careful software interrupt driven programming (to get a useful signal). Interrupts use the main CPU of the system. Digital circuits can use Transistor–transistor logic, which does not use the CPU.

Circuits
The usual implementation of a game port uses a capacitor and a simple voltage comparator. Both together form a sort of simple ramp-compare ADC. This system is polled periodically and reset at precise moments to read an input. This must be done more than 30 times every second to provide a responsive game input. The actual acquisition frequency and value usually depend on the joystick's resistance inside, noise, CPU speed and the total joystick-capacitor's RC time constant.

The need for calibration
Its analog nature has also been the cause of a great number of problems. One problem was that all kinds of joysticks needed "calibration". This was true even for arcade-style ones. The reason for this was that no game controller and no joystick produced the same measurements each time. These depended on the exact way acquisition was made. Some of the worse designs even depended on the speed of the CPU. Also, all kinds of PC game ports suffer from electrical noise.

The calibration procedure is still needed at some point, even under modern operating systems such as Windows XP. Usually, it consists of moving the joystick around all of its axes to measure the maximum axis excursion values, no matter if the joystick uses analog signals (from potentiometers) or digital signals (using microswitches or contacts). USB joysticks, on the other hand, do not need calibration. This is because USB sends digital signals.

In the days of DOS, every game using the game port(s) had to do its own calibration, often each time the game started, and some poorly coded calibration routines even failed to work consistently and properly, rendering some joysticks unusable with some games. With Windows XP, only one calibration per joystick is enough, which is thought "valid" until the joystick is unplugged.

Certain applications and games are  able to use some analog joysticks even without explicit calibration, under certain restricted conditions. A system of a joystic and game port that is not calibrated can give a "direction", at best. It can not give an intensity. For this setup, an analog joystick can be "self calibrated" just by leaving the joystick in the middle position and taking a measurement, and then using some arbitrary or adaptive threshold to detect movement and excursion from the middle position. The limitation of this method is that the reading of the same joystick over the same game port can change over time, and some joysticks cannot work at all with this method. Also, the joystick must be in the middle position at least once when the implicit "self calibration" takes place, even if this is not directly stated.

Microsoft declared it would no longer include support for game ports in operating systems beginning with MS-Windows XP Professional x64 edition, reasoning that USB-based gaming equipment had become more common. This leaves game port support up to the manufacturer of the device (i.e. Sound card or USB converters) the game port ships on.

Extensions of the game port capabilities
Some advanced game port joysticks supports more than 4 buttons (e.g. 6 or 8) but typically require a special device driver for the extra buttons to work properly, since the game port does not have actual hardware support for more than 4 different buttons.

This can be fixed by using pins and input meant for the second joystick (i.e. button 5 through 8 are mapped to the signals to the axis pins meant for the second joystick - resulting in the issue of the two buttons mapped to the same axis being not both usable at the same time), using some normally "unused" pins, or changing the joystick's circuits (and related software) to read a 4-bit state code from the four button inputs, thus giving up to 16 button combinations (though with some limitations e.g. some buttons may not be held down) or a combination of both techniques.

High-end game port joysticks such as the Microsoft SideWinder rely on multiplexing a proprietary data stream through the 4 standard button inputs and sometimes through the "unused" pins, giving full support for a rather high number of buttons (e.g. 16 or 20) while special features such as daisy-chaining multiple joysticks, force feedback or joystick programming become possible in some cases.

The obvious drawback is the need for a special device driver to understand the joystick input, and making its use time consuming and operating system-dependent, while the joystick is usually unusable without a special driver (unless multiple operating modes are supported).

Some hardware and DIY enthusiasts have found ways to connect many different input devices to the game port and even found other uses for it, such as voltage or current measurement or simple interfacing and data acquisition.

History and variants

The original game port design by IBM (released in 1981 as a separate expansion card for the first IBM PC) first allowed four analog axes and four buttons on one port, allowing two joysticks or four paddles to be connected, although this required a special "Y-splitter" cable and is not fully supported by some combined midi/game ports usually found on sound cards.

Some poorly made game ports (usually built-in on old motherboards and I/O cards) did not fully support either 4 axes or 4 buttons, making only the use of a single 2-axis and 2-button joystick possible.

The 15-pin game port is no longer provided on modern PCs, though adapters exist that allow older joysticks and controllers to connect via USB. However, Microsoft's Vista operating system natively lacks all game port support, even for USB adapters.

MIDI connectors
Game ports use DA-15 connectors (also incorrectly called DB-15). Since the game port moved from dedicated expansion cards to sound cards about 1990, these connectors usually double as connectors for MIDI instruments; two of the redundant +5V and GND pins of the original standard were rededicated to MIDI input and output to make this possible. To use a game port with MIDI instruments, one requires a cable with a male and a female DA-15 and two male 5-pin DIN connectors. The drivers and hardware for the game port midi capabilities are based around the now standard Roland MPU-401 MIDI interface (in UART mode only), and support most MPU-401 standard applications for Windows and DOS. The official proper design for a game port-MIDI adapter can be found at midi.org.

References

Other websites
 Fairly detailed game port pinouts and specs
 Page with extensive info and a lot of experimental/DIY material on game ports

Video game consoles
Computer hardware
Electrical connectors

Game port


Smoked fish are fish that have been cured by smoking.

Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. At first this was done as a preservative. Now the smoking of fish is generally done for the unique taste and flavour that comes from the smoking process.

The most common types of smoked fish in the US are salmon, mackerel, whitefish and trout.  A common name for cold-smoked salmon is lox.

In the Netherlands, commonly available varieties include both hot- and cold-smoked mackerel, herring and Baltic sprats. Hot-smoked eel is a specialty in the Northern provinces.

Smoked fish is an important item in Russian cuisine, Jewish cuisine, and Scandinavian cuisine, as well as several Eastern and Central European cuisines.

English, Scottish and Canadian cuisine have a strongly brined, smoked herring that used to be known as "red herring". Now it is called kippers.

Seafood

Smoked fish


The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (formerly the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, ) is a Federal Ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was founded 1949 as the Federal Ministry of the Economy.

It was combined in May 1971 with the Federal Ministry of Finance to make the Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance. This joining only lasted until December 1972.

In 1998 the technology area of the Ministry of Research and Development was given to the ministry so that it was called Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It was joined with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to make the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour between 2002 and 2005.

The new Federal Government of Angela Merkel split the two areas so that there is a Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology again.

History
The ministry has had many names
 1917-1919 - Reichswirtschaftsamt the Reich Economy Office
 1919-1945 - the Reich Ministry of Trade and Commerce
 1946-1949 - the Administration Office for the Economy
 1949-1998 - the Federal Ministry of Economics
 1998-2002 - the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
 2002-2005 - the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour
 2005-2013 - Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology
 2013-2021 - Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
 since 2021 - Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action

Structure of the ministry
To do its job, the ministry is divided into nine departments, the central division deals with administration, the other divisions deal with a certain area of policy. There are also some independent agencies which report to the ministry

Ministry divisions
 Z - Central division
 E - European Affairs
 I - Economic policy
 II - Middle class policy
 III - Energy policy
 IV - Industrial policy
 V - International Economic policy
 VI - Communication and post policy
 VII - Technology policy

Authorities
 Federal cartel office - BKartA, Bonn
 Federal Office of Economy and Export Control - BAFA, Eschborn, Bochum
 Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railways Federal Network Agency - BNetzA, Bonn
 Federal Agency for Foreign Trade - bfai, Cologne
 Federal Institute of Materials Research and Examination - BAM, Berlin
 Physical technological Federal Institute - PTB, Brunswick, Berlin
 Federal Institute of Geowissenschaften and raw material - BGR, Hanover, Berlin

Federal Ministers
Economics 1949 to 1998 (1971/72: Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance)
 1949-1963: Ludwig Erhard, independent
 1963-1966: Kurt Schmücker, CDU
 1966-1972: Karl Schiller, SPD
 1972: Helmut Schmidt, SPD
 1972-1977: Hans Friedrichs, FDP
 1977-1982: Otto Graf Lambsdorff, FDP
 1982: Manfred Lahnstein, SPD
 1982-1984: Otto Graf Lambsdorff, FDP
 1984-1988: Martin Bangemann, FDP/DVP
 1988-1991: Helmut Hausmann, FDP/DVP
 1991-1993: Jürgen Möllemann, FDP
 1993-1998: Günter Rexrodt, FDP

The ministry had many junior ministers, one who has gone on to a more important political job is Norbert Lammert, CDU, who was parliamentary permanent secretary between 1994 and 1997. Lammert became President of the Bundestag in 2005

Of the ministry's top civil servants, called the "established permanent secretary", Klaus von Dohnanyi is best known. He was established permanent secretary in 1968 and 1969. He is a famous economist and was First Mayor of Hamburg

Federal Minister for Economy and Technology 1998 to 2002
 1998-2002: Werner Müller, independent

Federal Minister for Economics and Labour 2002 to 2005
 2002-2005: Wolfgang Clement, SPD

Federal Minister for Economics and Technology since 2005
 2005-2009: Michael Glos, CSU
 2009: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, CSU
 2009-2011: Rainer Brüderle, FDP
 2011-2013: Philipp Rösler, FDP

Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, since 2013
 2013-2017: Sigmar Gabriel, SPD
 2017-2018: Brigitte Zypries, SPD
 2018-2021: Peter Altmaier, CDU
 2021-: Robert Habeck, Grüne

Headquarters
The main headquarters of the ministry is in Invalidenstraße in Berlin-Mitte. It is number of buildings which used to be the Kaiser Wilhelm academy (armed forces medical school) and the old hospital. The second headquarters of the ministry is the old Gallwitz barracks in Bonn-Duisdorf.

References


Tropical Storm Olga was the fifteenth named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. In the second week of December, after the end of the hurricane season, a low formed east of the northern Lesser Antilles. It slowly became subtropical, and late on December 10, the NHC declared it Subtropical Storm Olga while just north of Puerto Rico. It was the first post-season storm since Tropical Storm Zeta in the 2005 season, making this season one of the few with activity both before and after the hurricane season. The storm made landfall on December 11 on the eastern side of the Dominican Republic. Later that evening, Olga turned into a tropical storm, just after making landfall. Olga tracked over Hispaniola and emerged in the Caribbean Sea. Unfavorable conditions caused Olga to weaken into a remnant low early on December 13.

The storm impacted many areas affected by Tropical Storm Noel a month earlier. In Puerto Rico, moderate rainfall caused one death. 37 fatalities were confirmed in the Dominican Republic, including twenty deaths due to the release of floodgates at a dam in Santiago Province. Two deaths were also reported in Haiti.

Storm history

In early December, a low moving to the west led to the formation of a broad surface trough to the east of the northern Lesser Antilles. With a strong ridge to its northeast, the  trough tracked slowly westward, creating scattered convection and some turning. On December 8, convection began to continue with the trough and an upper-level low. Early on December 9, several tropical cyclone forecast models expected its development of tropical characteristics. The system, which included of a sharp trough with an area of gale force winds to its north, continued west through an area of warm sea surface temperatures. On December 10, a circulation developed within the system, though its convection had become unorganized and well-removed from the center.  Wind shear from the south left the structure damaged, but convection increased closer to the center. With an low just south of the center, the National Hurricane Center classified it as Subtropical Storm Olga on December 11 while located about 55 miles (85 km) east of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After being classified as a subtropical cyclone, Olga kept an organized outflow, and located to the southeast of a strong ridge over the western Atlantic Ocean, the cyclone moved west-southwestward. The storm strengthened a little bit while moving along the northern coast of Puerto Rico, and after an increase in convection near the center, Olga made landfall near Punta Cana, Dominican Republic at 1800 UTC on December 11. A Hurricane Hunters flight into the storm reported peak winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), and on December 12, the National Hurricane Center reclassified Olga as a tropical cyclone while it was still inland. Convection quickly weakened as the storm crossed central Hispaniola, and after reaching the Caribbean Sea the system lacked the convection required for the classification of a tropical cyclone; rainbands well to its northeast had stronger winds, though the center became very disorganized with dry air and strong wind shear. Late on December 12, convection increased a little bit over the center, though by that time the cyclone weakened to tropical depression status. As a certain amount of convection failed to exist, the National Hurricane Center discontinued advisories on Olga earlier on December 13 while located about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Kingston, Jamaica. Its remnants continued west-northwestward with a clear low-level circulation, creating scattered thunderstorms over Cuba and the Cayman Islands with its moisture extending northward into southern Florida.

Preparations
On December 10, the Tropical Prediction Center gave out a gale warning for waters north of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, in association with the disturbance that would later become Olga. Right after it being classified as a subtropical cyclone, the government of the Dominican Republic gave out a tropical storm warning from Cabo Engaño along the north coast to its border with Haiti; a tropical storm watch was also issued along the southern coastline to near Santo Domingo. Because winds were well to the north of its center, a tropical storm warning was not issued for Puerto Rico. Just before the storm moved ashore, the government of Haiti issued a tropical storm warning for its northern coastline, and later a tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands, as well as the southeastern Bahamas.

The San Juan National Weather Service office issued a flood watch for all of Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques. Continued periods of heavy rainfall also resulted in flash flood warnings for areas across the island. Ferry service between Fajardo and the islands of Culebra and Vieques was temporarily stopped during the passage of the storm. In the Dominican Republic, officials opened shelters in 15 provinces, with citizens in low-lying areas recommended to stay elsewhere during the passage of the storm; citizens in 22 communities were evacuated.

Impact

The cyclone dropped light to moderate precipitation across Puerto Rico, with the maximum rainfall amount at 9.54 inches (242 mm) in Villalba. The rainfall increased levels along several rivers across the island, including the Arecibo Big River which was reported at several feet above flood stage. Its passage left about 79,000 people without power and 144,000 without water. In the northern portion of the island, the rainfall caused a mudslide that buried an automobile, which killed its driver.

Heavy rainfall fell across the Dominican Republic, with isolated totals of 10 inches (250 mm) expected. The rainfall caused flooding along the River Yaque del Norte, and at first there appeared to be a threat that the Tavera Dam along the river would fail, potentially killing thousands in Santiago Province. Officials instead chose to open all six floodgates at 0400 UTC on December 12, which released about 1.6 million gallons (6.1 million liters) of water into the river every second. It formed a 66 foot (20 m) wave of water is a result that caught many off guard due to the time of night and only about 15 minutes to prepare, according to eyewitnesses who criticized the decision; the flooding killed at least 20 people and left homes seven towns flooded. Two other deaths were reported elsewhere in the country, and more than 34,000 people fled their homes due to the storm; more than 7,500 houses were damaged. In neighboring Haiti, two deaths were reported in the northern portion of the country.

On December 11, a station in the Turks and Caicos Islands recorded sustained winds of 36 mph (58 km/h).

Related pages
 2007 Atlantic hurricane season

References

Other websites
 NHC's advisory archive on Tropical Storm Olga.

Atlantic tropical storms

Tropical Storm Olga (2007)


A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, publishing, lobbying, and political donations, but its focus is collaboration between companies. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, setting industry standards, holding networking or charitable events, or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members. (FEC: Solicitable Class of Trade Association). Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members. (Library of Congress).

In countries with a social market economy, the role of trade associations is often taken by employers' organizations, which also take a role in social dialogue.

Political influence

One of the primary purposes of trade groups, particularly in the United States, is to attempt to influence public policy in a direction favorable to the group's members. It can take the form of contributions to the campaigns of political candidates and parties through political action committees (PACs); contributions to "issue" campaigns not tied to a candidate or party; and lobbying legislators to support or oppose particular legislation. In addition, trade groups attempt to influence the activities of regulatory bodies.

In the United States, direct contributions by PACs to candidates are required to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission or state and local election overseers; are considered public information; and have registration requirements for lobbyists. (FEC: Lobbyist). Even so, it can sometimes be difficult to trace the funding for issue and non-electoral campaigns.

Publishing
Almost all trade associations are heavily involved in publishing activities in print and online. The main media published by trade associations are as follows:
 Association website. The association's corporate website typically explains the association's aims and objectives, promotes the association's products and services, explains the benefits of membership to prospective members, and promotes members' businesses (for example, by means of an online listing of members and description of their businesses).
 Members newsletters or magazines. Whether produced in print or online, association newsletters and magazines contain news about the activities of the association, industry news and editorial features on topical issues. Some are exclusively distributed to members, while others are used to lobby lawmakers and regulators, and some are used to promote members' businesses to potential new customers.
 Printed membership directories and yearbooks. Larger trade associations publish membership directories and yearbooks to promote their association to opinion formers, lawmakers, regulators and other stakeholders. Such publications also help to promote members' businesses both to each other and to a wider audience. A typical membership directory contains profiles of each association member, a products and services guide, advertising from members, and editorial articles about the aims, objectives and activities of the association. The emphasis of association yearbooks on the other hand is on editorial features about the association itself and the association's industry.

The opportunity to be promoted in such media (whether by editorial or advertising) is often an important reason why companies join a trade association in the first place.

Examples of larger trade associations that publish a comprehensive range of media include European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Generic advertising
Industry trade groups sometimes produce advertisements, just as normal corporations do. However, whereas typical advertisements are for a specific corporate product, such as a specific brand of cheese or toilet paper, industry trade groups advertisements generally are targeted to promote the views of an entire industry.

Ads to improve industry image
These ads mention only the industry's products as a whole, painting them in a positive light in order to have the public form positive associations with that industry and its products. For example, in the US the advertising campaign "Beef. It's what's for dinner" is used by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association to promote a positive image of beef in the public consciousness.

Ads to shape opinion on a specific issue
These are adverts targeted at specific issues. For example, in the US in the early 2000s the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) began running advertisements before films that advocate against movie piracy over the Internet.

Controversy
Trade associations have faced frequent criticism due to allegations that they operate not as profit-making organizations, but rather as fronts for cartels involved in anti-competitive practices. Critics contend that these associations engage in activities such as price-fixing, the creation and maintenance of barriers to entry in the industry, and other subtle self-serving actions that are detrimental to the public interest. These criticisms raise concerns about the true nature and intentions of trade associations, questioning their commitment to fair competition and the welfare of the broader economy.

Anti-competitive activity
Jon Leibowitz, a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, outlined the potentially anti-competitive nature of some trade association activity in a speech to the American Bar Association in Washington, DC, in March 2005 called "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Trade Associations and Antitrust". For instance, he said that under the guise of "standard setting", trade associations representing the established players in an industry can set rules that make it harder for new companies to enter a market.

Cartels
In September 2007, the German trade association for Fachverband Verbindungs- und Befestigungstechnik (VBT) and five fastener companies were fined 303 million euros by the European Commission for operating cartels in the markets for fasteners and attaching machines in Europe and worldwide. In one of the cartels, the YKK Group, Coats plc, the Prym group, the Scovill group, A. Raymond, and Berning & Söhne "agreed [...] on coordinated price increases in annual 'price rounds' with respect to 'other fasteners' and their attaching machines, in the framework of work circles organised by VBT".

Copyright trade groups
 IFPI, the International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers, represents the recording industry worldwide, with over 1450 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries. The IFPI works in partnership with similar national organizations:
 Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) represents the recording industry in the United States
 ASINCOL, the Colombian Association of Phonograph Producers, Colombian music industry association
 Music Canada, formerly known as the Canadian Recording Industry Association is the non-profit trade organization representing the largest Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings
 Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), non-profit trade association of producers and artists in New Zealand
 Mexican Association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms (AMPROFON)
 Motion Picture Association (MPA) represents the film industry in the United States
 The Association of Japanese Animations (AJA), a group consisting of small to medium-sized intellectual property companies
 Business Software Alliance (BSA) promotes the intellectual property of software developers
 Entertainment Software Association (ESA) promotes the intellectual property of game developers in the United States
 British Phonographic Industry (BPI), UK music industry association. Founded the BRIT Awards, and give Gold, Silver and Platinum disks for UK-based sales
 Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is the main UK anti-copyright infringement organization, mainly for films
 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties in Australia
 Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC)
 Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ)
 Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS) organization on collective management of rights of authors and other rightholders in multimedia, digital networks and visual arts
 Anti Video Piracy Association of Singapore (AVPAS) for anime
 GEMA society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights in Germany

See also
 China Council for the Promotion of International Trade
 Commodity checkoff program
 Conestoga Foundrymen's Association
 Guild
 Inter-professional association
 List of food industry trade associations
 Professional association
 Trust (business)

References

Further reading

  This provides a comprehensive contemporaneous overview of trade associations and associated government activity, as of the early 20th century.
 Garrelts, Frank: Märkte im Umbruch – Kooperationen als Chance im Handel (Markets on the move – trade associations as a business opportunity), München: Beck 1998, abstract in English available here

 The Swope Plan (Federal Trade Commission) – responsible for supervising trade associations established for each industry

Types of organization

zh:协会

Trade association


The Slovenian Museum of Natural History (, ) is a Slovenian national museum with natural history, scientific, and educational contents. It is the oldest cultural and scientific Slovenian institution.

The museum features national, European, and worldwide collections demonstrating the changes in biodiversity, the development of the natural history thought, as well as different techniques of collection and preparation of samples. Its research activities focus on natural heritage of Slovenia.

The Slovenian Museum of Natural History operates in the Center District in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, at Museum Street (), near Tivoli Park, the Parliament and the Opera House. Along with the National Museum of Slovenia, it is housed in a building from 1885, built upon the plans by the Viennese architect Wilhelm Rezori and the master builder Wilhelm Treo from Ljubljana.

The symbol of the museum is an almost complete woolly mammoth skeleton, found in Nevlje near Kamnik in 1938. Its official publication, published since autumn 1978, has been named Scopolia in honour of Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, a leading Carniolan naturalist of the 18th century.

History

The museum was founded in 1821 as the Carniolan Estates Museum (). Five years later, the Austrian Emperor Francis II decided to personally sponsor the museum and ordered its renaming to Carniolan Provincial Museum. In 1882, the museum was renamed to Carniolan Provincial Museum - Rudolphinum in honour of the Crown Prince Rudolph.

After the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the name was changed to National Museum. In 1944, it was divided into the National Museum of Slovenia and the Slovenian Museum of Natural History (then known as Museum of Natural Sciences).

In 2005, the museum acquired its largest object, a skeleton of a young female fin whale Leonora, which was found dead at the Slovenian coast in 2003. The corpse weighted  and was  long. After an elaborate procedure, the skeleton was put on display in autumn 2011.

Collections
The museum's geological-palaeontological collections include fossils from various Slovenian sites. In addition to the mammoth from Nevlje, also of significance are a 210-million-year-old  long fish skeleton found in the Triglav Mountains and a Miocene-era baleen whale skeleton found in the Slovene Hills.

One of the museum's founding collections was Sigmund Zois's mineral collection. Although it is an outstanding historical collection, minerals are now exhibited as classified by modern methods according to their internal structure, and among them is the mineral zoisite, named after Zois. There are also two Biedermeier wooden tables that are covered by tiles from Palnstorf's collection of minerals and rocks.

Hohenwart's collection of mollusc shells comprises about 5,000 specimens, dating from 1831 and originating mainly from the Indo-Pacific. The insect collection of Ferdinand J. Schmidt includes several interesting specimens, notably the "narrow-necked" blind cave beetles (Leptodirus hochenwartii) that were described in 1831 as the first cave insect. The plants and animals of the mountains, marshes, and woods are shown in specialised dioramas. Also on view are permanent bird, reptile, fish, mammal and skeleton collections.

The Slovenian Wildlife Sound Archive is a collection of animal sounds, mainly on Heteroptera and cicadas, stored on digital and analogue recording media.

References

External links

Museums in Slovenia
Museums in Ljubljana
Museums established in 1821
Natural history of Slovenia
Center District, Ljubljana
Natural history museums
Environmental organizations based in Slovenia

Slovenian Museum of Natural History


Sir Richard Ros (born 8 March 1429), was an English poet, the son of Sir Thomas Ros, lord of Hamlake (Helmsley) in Yorkshire and of Belvoir in Leicestershire.

In Harl. manuscript 372 the poem of "La Belle Dame sanz Mercy," first printed in William Thynne's Chaucer (1532), has the ascription "Translatid out of Frenche by Sir Richard Ros." "La Belle Dame sanz Mercy" is a long and rather dull poem from the French of Alain Chartier, and dates from about the middle of the 15th century. It is written in the Midland dialect, and is surprisingly modern in diction.

The opening lines "Half in a dreme, not fully wel awoke, The golden sleep me wrapped under his wing," have often been quoted, but the dialogue between the very long-suffering lover and the cruel lady does not maintain this high level. See W. W. Skeat, Chaucerian and Other Pieces (1897); and H. Grohler, Über Richard Ros' mittelenglische Uebersetzung ... (Breslau, 1886).

Records last mention him in 1492.

References

1429 births
Year of death missing
English male poets

Richard Ros


The Justice League is a fictional DC Comics superhero team. It is sometimes called the Justice League of America (JLA).

The Justice League first appeared in the comic book The Brave and the Bold #28 in 1960. The first members were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and the Martian Manhunter.

Over time, many other superheroes have been members of the Justice League. Some examples are: Green Arrow, Atom, Hawkman, Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Booster Gold and Skeet and The Question. Many other superheroes joined the justice league.

Many different comic book series have featured the Justice League. The current series are Justice League (Volume 4) and Justice League Odessey.

Several television cartoons have also featured the Justice League, such as: Super Friends, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited.

The Justice League has had many headquarters. These include the Hall of Justice, the Justice League Satellite, and the Justice League Watchtower.

There is a 2017 action-adventure film based on The Justice League with the same name. The movie included Batman, Superman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Another version of the movie, titled Zack Snyder's Justice League, was released in 2021.

Justice League


The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is a branch of the United Nations General Assembly. UNOOSA creates, maintains and carries out the General Assembly's rules about space.

The building for UNOOSA is located in the United Nations Office in Vienna in Austria.

UNOOSA operates the Programme on Space Applications and maintains a list of objects sent into space - the Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space. UNOOSA also helps developing nations develop space technology to help their economies.

Other websites
 United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
 International Space Law
 United Nations Treaties and Principles on Space Law

United Nations
Spaceflight


Arianism is a doctrine that came from Arius, a priest who taught in Alexandria. To many Christians, the teachings of Arianism are heretical and are not the correct Christian teachings as they deny that Jesus was of the same substance of the God of this monotheistic religion, making it one of the more prominent reasons Arianism has stopped being practiced today. Many may say and have claimed Arianism a powerful part of Christianity from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD however being against fundamental Christian Beliefs, such as that previously mentioned, this rhetoric was opposed by multiple theologians of the era as well as the early church (later Catholic Church).

Arianism simply teaches that Jesus was not God. For this reason, Arianism opposes the dogma of the Holy Trinity. In 325 AD, the Nicene Creed was made, which the early Christians used to defeat Arianism, with the statement: "We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God...begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father."

Belief

The main difference between the beliefs of Arianism and other main Christian denominations is that the Arians did not believe in the Holy Trinity, which is a way that other Christian churches use to explain God. The information that we have today comes from the writing of people who were against Arianism and said the beliefs were wrong. These writings say that Arianism believed:

 Only God the Father is truly God. He alone is not-born, and is eternal. He does not change.
 God did not create the world by himself. He had help from something called Logos (The word). This Logos was created to create the world. This is God's "communication" with the world.
 God's communication with the world is known as the "Son of God" or the "Christ". The Son of God existed before he helped his Father make man.  He is the perfect image of God the Father. There is one exception though: Unlike God the Father, he was created (from nothing) by the will of the Father. This happened at the beginning of time. Therefore, he is not eternal. There was a time when he was not there. In the same way, his power, his wisdom and his knowledge are limited.

Between the First Council of Nicaea in 325, and the First Council of Constantinople in the year 381 there were no less than 18 different Creeds used by Arianists.

Antitrinitarianism today
In the 16th century there was again a movement against the belief in the Holy Trinity.  Fausto Sozzini (1539-1604) was well known for teaching this as well as Ferenc Dávid (1510s - 1579). These movements developed into what is called Unitarianism today. Unitarians believe that there is only one person in god, not the three-in-one dogma of trinity. Some of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses are close to some of the things Arians believed. It is different only in that Arians believed the holy spirit is a person and Jehovah's Witnesses teach it is not a person, but a force God uses to do His will. It would however be false to call them Arians, as they reject many Arian teachings. Mormons and Oneness Pentecostalism also reject the Holy Trinity but for different reasons other than Arianism.

Related pages
 Unitarianism - the (modern) belief that there is no Holy Trinity.

Nontrinitarianism
Ancient Christianity

Arianism