Mircea Florian (; born December 5, 1949), also known as Florian din Transilvania, M. A. N. Florian, and FloriMAN, is a Romanian multi-instrumentalist musician, multimedia artist and computer scientist, based in Germany. Having started his musical career as a folk rock singer, in the late 1960s, he developed a fusion between Romanian folklore and Eastern music, especially Indian sound, moving into psychedelic music. He founded Ceata Melopoică ensemble, with whom he recorded a concept album. These and his solo acts earned him a cult following among rebellious youth, establishing his reputation as one of the most original contributors to Romanian pop music. Florian was also an early member of Cenaclul Flacăra, a traveling music and literature circle, but parted with it when it became increasingly nationalistic.

Before 1980, Florian was turning his attention to electronic music and new wave. In parallel, like other artists on the Romanian folk scene, he was pursuing his interest in non-pop ventures, from experimental rock and minimal music to biomusic, and exhibiting his installation art. In 1986, Florian escaped Communist Romania, having by then been exposed to much communist censorship, and took up cultural and scientific projects in West Germany. Since the Romanian Revolution, he has made frequent returns, playing at numerous festivals and composing film scores.

Biography

Beginnings
Born in Satu Mare, Mircea Florian began his musical education as a pianist and saxophonist, before turning to guitar, blockflute, mandolin and various other instruments. He first took classes at the Satu Mare Art School, and first became interested in performing arts while an avid spectator of the local Medrano Circus (the place where he also witnessed the first concert by a rock band).

Florian then studied at the Eminescu High School, where he had musical appearances with the band  (1965). A while after, he also gave his first one-man show, which included a dance routine. In parallel to state-run education, he took private courses in music and visual arts. Florian first came into contact with the burgeoning hippie movement of the West, and met Romanians who, despite facing tight scrutiny from the communist authorities, wanted to replicate it locally. In 2005, he stated that the fundamental difference was in the drug culture, which Romanians had little access to, adding: "In any case the manner in which the artistic act was supposed to be carried out here was different from what one could experience in the West. Romanian artists created for a tighter circle, of (proper) connoisseurs." Elsewhere, he also noted that hippie culture was essentially becoming more accessible to Romanians by the end of the 1960s: "I remember that, once a record came out, fresh off the Western market, no more than a week would pass before it got to Romania, brought over by some sailor or an acquaintance who had been visiting 'out on the outside', or through heaven knows what channels..."

Among the decade's pop acts, Florian was most impressed by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Leonard Cohen. At the time, he became an avid listener of clandestine Western radio, where he first heard the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich and especially Luigi Nono: "Nono's music was so new, so captivating, so rich in meanings... I got hooked on it forever!" He carried out his first experiments with electronic music at the age of 16, when, in his search for new "tone colors", he turned a sound generator into a keyboard instrument.

 disbanded in 1967, and Florian left Satu Mare for Bucharest, the capital. He studied cybernetics at the Politehnica University, from 1967 to 1972, and was part of the first-ever graduating class at Politehnica's Faculty of Economic Calculations. After arriving in Bucharest, he played for a while with a band called Lotus, which, he recalls, was a "pretty interesting" folk project. In 1968, during the invasion of Czechoslovakia, Florian also had his first brush-in with communist censorship: a song of his, which was transparently critical of the Soviet Union, was banned from public radio. According to popular account, DJ Cornel Chiriac ignored such commands and played the song, being promptly sacked as a result (the other version attributes his dismissal to having played The Beatles' ambiguous record "Back in the U.S.S.R.").

Lotus major breakthrough came in 1969, when they performed at the  Club, where music critic Florin Silviu Ursulescu organized Romania's first American folk-inspired music festival. As noted by Florian, Lotus appeared alongside the "first wave" of Romanian folk singers, among them Mircea Vintilă, Dorin Liviu Zaharia and Doru Stănculescu. At around the same time, Florian joined the Luceafărul literary club, and provided the avant-garde jazz background to the Surrealistic poems recited live by Valery Oisteanu.

In parallel, Florian's work in mathematics opened new fields for his musical experimentation. The major factor, he notes, was his familiarization with transistor computers at the Economic Calculations laboratory and the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, during an era of "sheer luck"—that is, when liberalization allowed Romania to trade in electronics with the United States. He had a free hand to work in algorithmic composition and computer music. He was officially employed by the computer industry from age 22, supplementing his salary with semi-compulsory dispatches "on location", which allowed him to invest his own money in various cutting-edge musical instruments.

Florian în Labirint to Ceata Melopoică
By 1971, Mircea Florian had grown dissatisfied with the band concept, and committed himself mainly to solo projects. As such, in what he calls his "white period" of acoustic rock, he notably became the opening act for the celebrated rock band Transsylvania Phoenix. He also played at the Ion Mincu University hangout, Club A, in live concerts with Vintilă and actor-singer Florian Pittiş. The coincidence of names with the latter was a running joke, and it was here that he began using the stage name  (literally, "Florian from Transylvania"). It has endured as one of the singer's main pseudonyms, alongside M. A. N. Florian.

His focus was on playing string instruments such as guitar or cobza, as well as being a singer-songwriter. He established a concept-band, known initially as  ("Florian in the Labyrinth"), and later as  ("A Band of Drummers, Cittern-players, Guitarists and Other Master Lăutari"), and also involving Gabi Căciulă and Sorin Chifiriuc as guitarists and Alexandru Beno as violinist. The project broke musical ground when it added Indian influences and sitar backing, which was contributed by Ljubiša Ristić, of Yugoslavia. The occasional tabla rhythm and flute melodies were played by a Pakistani performer, Arif Djafri.

The music was described by Florian as combining "archaic and electric elements" into "a science", and covering successive colored "periods" in his creative history, when he was into amassing musical instruments. The new Western inspirations on his work were Laurie Anderson, Peter Gabriel and Todd Rundgren. Emerging from the core group of , Ceata Melopoică ("The Melo-poetic Band") became Florian's main project of the 1970s. Its often-changing membership included: Beno, Căciulă, Chifiriuc, Ristić, Zaharia, Andrei Oişteanu, Alexandru Beno, Valentin Andronescu, Günther Reininger, Andrei Cristea, Eugen Gondi, Dietrich Krauser, Mihai Creţu, Costin Petrescu, Alexandru Mitaru, Alexe Conta, Mircea Dordoi, Ortansa Păun, Sorin Baroţi, Gheorghe Popescu and Mihai Pintilie.

From its choice of name, this new project also reflected its leader's mounting interest in Ancient Greek philosophy, the ideological source of his psych-folk, which he describes as more profound than generic folk rock. He referred to his earlier folk songs as "singable" and "more accessible" than his later work. Although psychedelic music was not well seen in Communist Romania in the 1970s, Florian's psych-folk earned a cult following. According to critic Mihai Plămădeală, there was a transition at the end of which Florian became "one of the most peculiar Romanian musicians": "While he started his career as a folk-singer, with several calm and usual songs, Florian slowly began to get distance from standard means of expression."

Protest singer
There was a political aspect to Florian's reputation. He later spoke about the cultural shock at the end of liberalization, when the July Theses introduced Sino-North Korean-style state control. As noted by critic Marius Chivu, Florian's opposition to the communist regime led him into "the great quad of folk protest singers", with Nicu Vladimir, Valeriu Sterian and Horia Stoicanu. For a while, he was a presence at Cenaclul Flacăra, the folk-singing club organized with communist approval. The singer later stated that he was one of the club's founding members, together with poet Adrian Păunescu, his colleague at , and that he intended to create "a movement to bring together people interested in poetry and music."

In the end, Florian was thrown out for performing songs punctuated with double entendres. Literary critic and folk music fan Dan C. Mihăilescu suggests that these disagreements reflected a larger cultural conflict. He describes Florian, Marcela Saftiuc, Sterian and Zaharia as fundamentally different from the "Maoist" agenda of Romanian communism, and notes that they also became irreconcilable with Păunescu when the latter committed himself to "embarrassing" indoctrination. Reflecting back on his childhood attendance of , writer-politician Varujan Vosganian noted a similar issue: "I liked Marcela Saftiuc, [...] Mircea Florian, Doru Stănculescu and many others, I did not like it when we were made to stand up clapping and chanting." As asserted by literary critic Ion Bogdan Lefter, "Few authentic artists of the [folk] genre could prevent its rapid absorption into the melodious, lyricaloid and often jingoistic kitsch promoted by the propagandistic ." Florian's account mentions the "controlled diversions" of such ventures, adding that the "real folk" of the 1970s was lost to indoctrination and commercialization.

Florian recalls that his lyrics, and especially his long-haired looks, were a growing cause for irritation among communist censors, and that as a consequence he devised various "strategies" for getting his message across to the public. He also explained: "In general the text that was very trenchant stood no chance—they would pick you up then and there and out you were [...]. But everybody would metaphorize. One would get what it was all about from the text, but the most important bit was the state of mind, the attitude sent out by the author, by the artist... [...] Very often [my] message was a simple one: I refused enrollment, I refused that social formula, I would not let myself be lied to and I would let the public know that, I called for 'general cleanup' actions, I also expressed my position on the fact that freedom had been taken away from me. That was fundamental."

Florian and Zaharia had a friendly relationship with writer Dorin Tudoran, who was in the process of becoming an outspoken dissident. According to Tudoran, it was around 1974 when the three of them first became aware that agents of the Securitate secret police were keeping them under surveillance. Ceata member Andrei Oişteanu, who made his career in religious studies, also noted that the Securitate was at the time closing in on himself and other non-conformists or hippies.

Florian's solo music was included on the 1973 split EP Muzică folk ("Folk Music"), which he shared with Saftiuc, then, in 1975, on the single  ("Quieting Forest/At the Stone Tavern/With the Silver Eyelid"). The songs, recorded with Chifiriuc, Reininger and Căciulă, were based on texts written by Florian or selected from Romanian folklore, particularly hajduk songs. The instrumental arrangement comprised a wide assortment of instruments: acoustic guitar, flute, drum kit, , jaw harp, idiophones (all played by Florian himself), alongside electric guitar, tabla, conga, electric piano, celesta, synthesizer and electronic organ. Mihai Plămădeală describes the result as a unique project in Romanian music: "Nothing of what can be listened to or heard on it finds a direct correspondent in anything that anyone, anywhere, has achieved." He notes Florian's fusion of "hippie culture", "mantra" singing and the "maximal liberty of progressive rock". Reputedly, Florian remains the first Romanian singer to have employed the synthesizer in one of their works.

Florian continued with live performances, including the concert of Orăştioara de Sus, where he went on stage alongside Transsylvania Phoenix and the traditionalist drumming band of Brăneşti, performing what Florian calls "unfiltered, clean, unprocessed music." Like Nicu Vladimir, he gave concerts at the "fires on the beach" gatherings in the remote Black Sea resort of 2 Mai, a hippie hotspot, before such events were altogether banned on grounds of border security. He also provided the music to Andrei Oişteanu's play  ("Mad King Vlacea"), performed on tour by the Ţăndărică Theater, and reportedly poking fun at the authoritarian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu. Florian later made an appearance as actor-puppeteer and multi-instrumentalist performer in Till Eulenspiegel, directed by Cătălina Buzoianu for Ţăndărică. As he recalls, this involved him playing some 30 or 40 instruments in quick succession, from celesta, sackbut and melodica to guitar; Florian does not consider himself a consummate player of all such instruments: "it's like painting and needing some yellow just for a tiny highlight. You can't say you've painted in yellow."

... was followed in 1977 by another single,  ("The Well"). An electronic rock product, it included a collaboration with rock drummer Radu Răducanu. In 1979, Florian was included on a compilation album, also titled . However, most of the music he composed and produced at that stage went unrecorded, or was only preserved on fidelipac. As noted by his former promoter Florin Silviu Ursulescu, who was working for the Radio Company, his supervisors had simply banned some of Florian's songs for containing what they called "inane lyrics".

Minimalism and new wave
Over the following period, Florian became more interested in electronic music, familiarizing himself with new technologies while working as an engineer for the Computer Science Institute, Bucharest. He also had access to the recordings kept in the Radu Stan collection at the State Central Library. According to his own reference system, this inaugurated a "green period". Beyond the early pop influences, Florian was increasingly inspired by the classics of electronic, aleatoric or minimal music: Léon Theremin, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Subotnick, Lejaren Hiller, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage.

With collaborators Belu Alexandru and Valentin Antonescu, he tested minimalist recordings on magnetic tape, glued into various sequences. Florian also composed and, with the help of Transsylvania Phoenix drummer Costin Petrescu, recorded the experimental rock song  ("Nicodim and the Hidden Semantron"), which was visually supported by Florian's performance art and reworked on a music sequencer. The musical pieces were played at Florian's exhibits, including his contribution to the major multimedia show  ("Writing"), or in special "new music" concerts held in classical concert halls such as the Romanian Atheneum. His other activity as a multimedia artist was in biomusic: in 1976, Kalinderu Palace hosted his live study,  ("The Human Body"), during which he mixed the body resonance of one friend into a musical arrangement.

In reference to this phase, Lefter includes Florian among the young men who reached out of the folk and hippie scenes and into the field of multimedia experiments, in what was largely an attempt to circumvent the official art of communism. This "pre-postmodern" transition, Lefter notes, was also affected by the Sfinx, Transsylvania Phoenix, "the weird" Dorin Zaharia and Nicu Vladimir, but Florian's work remained the "most interesting". Florian, who first began introducing himself as an "InterMedia artist" during the 1970s, collaborated with draftsman Anton Petraşincu, who created the first opaque projections to go with Florian's live singing.

By 1977, Florian's interest in electronic musical instruments, particularly synthesizers, created splits within , which was also affected by some of its members' decisions to emigrate. In the early 1980s, Florian was again interested in setting up a classic rock band, but also sought to preserve the trademark combination of folklore and electronics. He switched to new wave music, with his new band ; among his new wave and electronic influences, Florian called to mind David Byrne, Brian Eno and Depeche Mode. Reflecting back on this time, he spoke of Sfinx's Dan Andrei Aldea as the "saint" of Romanian electronic music, one "more important than anyone else" on this scene.

The group only released one album, the 1986 vinyl-edition  ("The Secret Swirl"), with the state-run recording company Electrecord. The lyricist and composer Florian did most of the vocals, and played , guitar and synthesizer. The other members of the team came from various Romanian rock and pop acts: Andronescu was on keyboards, Doru Căplescu on additional synthesizer, Dan Cimpoieru on second guitar, Doru Istudor on drums, Zsolt Kerestely on electronic drums, with Mircea Baniciu providing backing vocals and Mihaela Hoaja the violin parts. Reportedly, the record went through the hands of official censors before being released, and Florian's song Madama Butterfly had to be discarded, leaving space for other songs such as  ("Harap Alb's Wedding"). The song AS ("Ace"), also included on the album, was altogether banned after the Electrecord producers picked up on its political hints.

Plămădeală argues that  follows its composer's "metaphysical" inclination, being notable for its "shock element", while journalist and musician Maria Balabaş describes the record as "psychedelic" with an "electronic sound". According to its author, it should also be seen as "intellectualized" and "elitist", but not in fact a "hiatus" in his artistic development. Florian additionally argued that, from "stupor", the public's reaction to his compositions became "very positive, even enthusiastic."

Although short-lived, the act became known on the underground scene for both its music and the conceptual art of its live performances, drawing comparisons with Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh and the Third Ear Band; during such events, Florian would appear dressed up in a hazmat suit. Florian and his collaborators toured the country, and were awarded the first prize at the  rock event in Râmnicu Vâlcea.  also led to shows at various underground venues, from Stelian Tănase's rock evenings at the Revue Theater to the State Jewish Theater stage and Arenele Romane.

The artist was several times invited to exhibit his work outside Romania, and even beyond the Iron Curtain, receiving a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service and attending the Darmstädter Ferienkurse, where he worked under Stockhausen's supervision. In 1982, he was among those collaborating with the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk studio of electronic music, in Cologne. His concerts abroad were probably the reason why his  was never on general release: the communist government allegedly presumed that he would not be returning, and tried to prevent the public from glorifying his departure. Florian accuses Electrecord of having mismanaged the distribution, by not printing sufficient copies and by oversupplying shops located outside Bucharest.

Defection and return
Mircea Florian continued his work in other media, joining with the SubReal performance artists, with whom he staged a 1986 event in the city of Sibiu. He notes having been increasingly frustrated by censorship, which prevented him from participating in some exhibits and concerts, and eventually pondering about leaving the country.

After receiving a visa for the United States, where he had been invited to present his sound installations, he defected and later settled down in West Germany. He changed residence between the cities of North Rhine-Westphalia: Mettmann, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf. He decided not to work as a musician, because he could only conceive of singing in his native Romanian language.

Florian focused on his work as an artist and computer scientist. Since the late 1980s he has been combining visual arts with music to create sound sculptures, sound installations, and collages. By 2009, his work had received some 21 awards, including, alongside Romanian ones, German, British and Japanese distinctions. He was present with his work at the Venice Biennale of 1999, and managed a Romanian festival in Wuppertal.

In the decades after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Florian has resumed his collaboration with Romanian artists, including Nicu Covaci: in 1992, he wrote the title song on Covaci's "Symphoenix" album . Also in 1992, he participated in setting up  ("German-Romanian Cultural Encounters", or DeR KuB), a cultural society dedicated to cooperation between artists; its Romanian branch is the Mircea Florian Association. Two years later, some of his work was reissued on the Club A compilation. Florian also contributed the preface to Vlad Arghir's book, the first Romanian-language monograph on Leonard Cohen, published in Hungary by Pont Kiadó.

Florian and DeR KuB have organized several events reuniting Romanian folkloric ensembles from Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine with bands representing the various traditions of minority groups in Romania. He personally spent a week in Satu Mare Prison, coaching the detainees' own musical project, and created portrait projection shows in Satu Mare and Bratislava. In addition to opening for Phoenix and Covaci at reunion concerts in 2003, Florian has performed with the Shukar Collective project, which mixes electronic music with Romani tradition. He and Shukar's DJ Vasile remixed several Ursari renditions of old songs, "some five out of eleven" entries on the Collective's album, and including the single Anna e Manole. He intended to continue work with this group, but it disbanded following lead singer Tamango's illness.

Florian's performance art was showcased in exhibits at the National Theater Bucharest, the International Center for Contemporary Art, the Cluj-Napoca Technical College etc. In addition, he was visiting scholar at the Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography and Babeş-Bolyai University. Florian was also invited to sing at the Stufstock event of Vama Veche, in 2004, but refused to perform on stage, and gave an impromptu concert on one of the side alleys, in hopes of addressing only his real fans. Florian was later a guest at Festivalul Plai, a multicultural music event held in Timișoara city. He also returned to attend the Gărâna Jazz Festival, and tried to set up his own world music festival project, in Certeze. His presences at Folk You! in Vama Veche were included on the festival's "best of" compilation for 2007. In January 2008, after polling the Romanian music critics, Sunete magazine ranked Florian the 11th most important musician in the country's pop history.

Later projects
Florian composed the musical score to Ioan Cărmăzan's drama film Margo (2006). Like the film itself, his contribution received strong criticism from film critic Andrei Gorzo: "Margo travels a lot by train, then walks even more, [...] forever accompanied by the chirps, electronic farts and Spaghetti Western ding-dongs in Mircea Florian's music." Florian was later the composer of music for Alexandru Solomon's political documentary Kapitalism: Our Improved Formula (2010). It was received with interest by film journalist Mihai Fulger, who described Solomon as a "trendsetter", for attaching Florian's original music to animation and archive footage. Florian's contribution was nominated for the Gopo Awards of 2011, in the "Best Original Music in Short Film" category.

He was additionally working with Cătălina Buzoianu, arranging the music to her various productions, including a 2005 version of August Strindberg's Father and a 2008 staging of Mircea Cărtărescu's Dream. Theater manager and poet Ion Cocora was impressed by the latter show and its "fairy tale state", describing Florian's music as "a continuous oscillation between the real and the unreal." Theater critic Alice Georgescu also described Florian's music for Dream as "felicitously reusing childish rhymes". The collaborative project was later taken up for the 2009 productions of Matei Vişniec's Joan and the Fire and We're Banning Richard III (Bulandra Theater), as well as to the 2010 adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer's The Magician of Lublin (State Jewish Theater).

Around 2007, Florian's work in art again centered on magnetic tape, used in collages and sound sculptures. One example is his work The Last Supper, exhibited in Berlin: it is a combination of three analog recordings, on different colors of tape, played in unison. His work in Romania covered graphic art, and he designed the layout to the cultural review aLtitudini. Some of his other projects again bridged avant-garde jazz and literature. Around 2004, he toured with novelist Gheorghe Crăciun, who was promoting his book Pupa Russa. In 2010, he resumed his work with Valery Oisteanu, upon the latter's return from the United States. Their mix of Surrealism and electronic music was hosted by the Green Hours pub, in Bucharest.

While experimenting with a new generation of electronica gear (samplers, Ableton Live and Max programs, Korg adapters etc.), Florian still saw string instruments as his first love, and noted that he had also begun playing the guitalele. In February 2011, Florian, DJ Vasile and their new music project, FloriMan, performed live at the Cinema Total, part of the Berlinale festivities. During this, they mixed electronic music and traditional bucium-playing. His past work was also included in the Berlin exhibit When History Comes Knocking: Romanian Art from the 80s and 90s in Close Up.

In June, the Vasile Goldiş West University made Florian an honoris causa doctor. The same year, he returned to Romania with a re-release of Tainicul vîrtej as a Bucharest musical show, part of the Club A Festival, and a personal exhibit at the Bucharest Municipal Art Galleries,  ("Black My Wings"), turned into a film directed by fellow artist Victor Velculescu. It recorded Florian's installations, which comprised brushes, a laptop, an oscilloscope and other instruments, creating the illusion of a winged figure attached to his body. Also in 2011, the alternative rock act byron covered one of his  songs on their own album Perfect.

References

External links

Mircea Florian's website

Romanian singer-songwriters
Romanian composers
Romanian rock singers
Romanian rock guitarists
Romanian folk rock musicians
Romanian jazz musicians
Romanian mandolinists
Romanian multi-instrumentalists
Acoustic guitarists
Folk guitarists
Recorder players
Saxophonists
Avant-garde jazz musicians
Psychedelic folk musicians
Progressive rock musicians
New wave musicians
Romanian electronic musicians
Minimalist composers
Romanian film score composers
Romanian collage artists
Romanian performance artists
Romanian male stage actors
Romanian designers
Conceptual artists
Installation artists
Psychedelic artists
People from Satu Mare
Politehnica University of Bucharest alumni
Romanian academics
Romanian computer scientists
Romanian engineers
Censorship in Romania
Romanian defectors
Romanian expatriates in Germany
1949 births
Living people
20th-century Romanian sculptors
21st-century saxophonists
21st-century flautists

Mircea Florian (musician)


The Epistle to the Romans or Letter to the Romans, is one of the letters written by the Apostle Paul to churches in different cities. Here, the letter is addressed to the early church in Rome, Italy.

Paul wrote the letter to the Romans to explain a very important point in Christianity. He proves, by quoting the Old Testament, that all humankind is guilty of sin before God.  People whom God calls righteous can only do so by trusting in God's ways, and not by their own effort. Only by believing in Jesus, who is the Christ and who died for humanity for their sins, can people be saved.

Once this belief is had, the believer receives the Holy Spirit, who helps the believer live a new life.  Paul asks the Romans to observe Christian ethics and submit themselves to authorities.

The letter remains very influential in explaining to non-Christians and new Christians what their Christian belief is all about.

Pauline epistles
New Testament books

Epistle to the Romans


The Yamatai was the strongest country in Wa, beginning from the early 2nd century to the end of the 3rd century. Wa is the oldest written name of Japan.

The Wei Zhi Worenshuan is a Chinese text that tells about this country. Yamatai came into being when about 30 smaller parts of Japan of that time united under a queen named Himiko.  Yamatai is also famous for trading with Wei, which is a Chinese dynasty. No one knows where the Yamatai can be found. Some archaeologists dispute whether the Yamatai Kingdom was located in northern Kyushu or in the central Kinki region.

History of Japan
Former countries in Asia

Yamatai


The Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) (BGH) is the highest German court for civil and criminal law. It is one of the five Supreme Courts in Germany.
 The Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court),
 the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Finance Court),
 the Bundessozialgericht (Federal Social Court) and
 the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court)

are the other supreme courts. They only hear cases about their areas of law. There is no appeal from any of the supreme courts, unless someone's human rights are affected which is a matter for the Bundesverfassungsgericht - the Federal Constitutional Court to decide.

History

The Bundesgerichtshof was founded in 1950. Its headquarters were in the old Palace of the "Hereditary Grand Duke" (the heir apparent) of Hesse in Karlsruhe.

Another part, the 5th criminal division is based in the Villa Sack in Leipzig. The idea was to move all of the court there after the reunification. The judges did not want to move so instead only the 5th criminal division was moved from Berlin to Leipzig.

The 5th division used to meet in West Berlin so that appeal cases could be heard in the city without having to take criminals across the DDR. The Federal Administrative Court moved into the Villa sack as well on August 22nd, 2002.

Organisation
The BGH is divided into "senates". Each Senate has a judges as chairman and four assessors.

There are
 twelve civil courts of appeal;
 five criminal courts of appeal (including the one based in Leipzig); and
 eight specialised senates . These deal with
 Farming matters;
 Advocates affairs (attorneys and lawyers);
 Notary affairs;
 Patent agent affairs;
 Accountant affairs;
 Tax consultant disputes, but not tax disputes, which are handled by the Federal Finance Court in Munich;
 Cartel senate;
 Matters about working for the federal government, except military service which is handled by the Federal Administrative Court.

Business distribution

Civil courts of appeal
Which senate hears a case depends on what is being argued about.

I. Copyrights, trademark rights, dishonest competition

II. Company law

III. Government liability

IV. Law of inheritance and insurance

V. Law of property

VI. "Deliktsrecht" Compensation after illegal acts tort

VII. Planning and building laws and regulations and contracts

VIII. Consumer and rent law

IX. Acts by lawyers and tax consultants, insolvency law

X. Patent and registered design law, "kind protection" (that is, protecting types of plants a breeder has grown),

Xa. Patent law, Travel contract law

XI. Banking law, loans and stock exhange law

XII. Family law and business rents law

Criminal divisions
The criminal senates hear cases from the 24 Higher Regional Courts . Which senate depends on which court the appeal comes from.

1. Bamberg, Karlsruhe, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart as well as armed forces crimes and offence against the national defence, tax law;

2. Frankfurt am Main, Jena, Koblenz and Cologne;

3. Celle, Düsseldorf, Oldenburg and Schleswig as well as state security crimes;

4. Hamm, Naumburg, Rostock, Saarbrücken and Zweibrücken, as well as traffic crimes;

5. (based in Leipzig): Supreme Court of Berlin and the Higher Regional Courts of Brandenburg, Brunswick, Bremen, Dresden and Hamburg as well as tax and customs crimes.

Presidents of the Federal Court of Justice

References

Other websites
 Official website

Karlsruhe

Bundesgerichtshof


The Snyderman House was a widely published single-family residence in Fort Wayne, Indiana, designed for Sanford and Joy Snyderman in 1972 by architect Michael Graves. Celebrated in both the architectural and popular press as a tour-de-force of late modernism, it was a splendid example of Graves' imaginative, sophisticated work. It stood, along with Graves' Hanselman House, Richard Meier's New Harmony Athenaeum —which was related to the Snyderman House—and the buildings of Columbus, Indiana, as national icons of modern architecture located in the state of Indiana (Graves' home state).

Significance

In her feature article on the Snyderman House in Progressive Architecture, Suzanne Stephens wrote in 1978 that "Because of the house's successful fragments and particular spaces, because of its manner of referring back to previous work as well as anticipating that which is to come, it will probably occupy a prominent place in the history of Michael Graves' oeuvre."

Martin Filler, in an overview of Graves' work as of 1980, wrote that "The Synderman House is a central work in Michael Graves' career. It is his largest completed building to date, but its significance comes not from its size. It is transitional work, and transitional works in architecture are much rarer than in other art forms, a result of the architectural artifact taking so long to produce.  The Snyderman House, designed in 1972 and completed five years later, spans Michael Graves' two stylistic phases.  The house is composed of a white, cage-like exterior frame, typical of his first projects. But within that Cubist grill are set massive volumes--sheer gray wall planes, an undulating terra cotta facade--and relatively small expanses of glass, all of which are more characteristic of his current projects.  This is an early Michael Graves building with a later Michael Graves building trapped inside it, fighting to emerge.  Its debt both in form and color to the earlier work of John Hejduk, and its impact on later work by other architects (such as Richard Meier's Atheneum of 1975-70 in New Harmony, Ind.) confirm it as an important work of the 1970's."

The Snyderman House's bold coloration already suggested Graves' moving away from the narrower definitions of modernism of his earliest career, such as sometimes characterized the group of architects with whom he was associated, dubbed "The New York Five."

Given Graves' rapidly developed a more referential architecture after the Snyderman House, an approach that deliberately sought to establish connections with the history and culture of architecture by using or referring to familiar elements of buildings.

Destruction

The Snyderman House burned to the ground on July 30, 2002, as the result of suspected arson. After living in the home for 25 years, the Snydermans had sold the house in 1999 to local developers Joseph Sullivan and William Swift, who planned to tear it down as part of a large housing development. Fort Wayne government officials blocked the development under pressure from local preservation groups, and one non-profit organization attempted to raise money to buy the house and surrounding land from the developers, who had let the abandoned building fall into disrepair.

Bibliography

"Snyderman House," 23rd Annual Design Awards, Progressive Architecture, January 1976.

"Living in a Work of Art: Snyderman House, Fort Wayne, In," Suzanne Stephens, Progressive Architecture, March 1978.

"Color from the Outside In," House and Garden, September 1978.

Michael Graves, Architectural Monographs 5, David Dunster, editor, 1979.

"Michael Graves: Before and After," Martin Filler, Art in America, September 1980.

Michael Graves, 1966–1981, Karen Wheeler, Peter Arnell and Ted Bickford, editors, 1982.

References

External links
 Michael Graves website
Architectural Record article

Michael Graves buildings
Buildings and structures in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Buildings and structures in the United States destroyed by arson
Arson in Indiana
Houses completed in 1972

Snyderman House


Opera seria  is an Italian term which refers to the "serious" style of Italian opera in the 18th century.  It was different from opera buffa which was a musical comedy.  Opera seria was supposed to be about serious tragedy.  The term "opera seria" only started to be used after the time when it was popular in order to talk about the historic period.

Italian opera seria was always in the Italian language, even when it was composed or performed in other countries such as Germany, Austria, England and Spain.  In France the opera seria was not so popular.  They had their own forms of opera.

Popular composers of opera seria included Hasse, Vinci, Jommelli, George Frideric Handel, Piccinni, Paisiello, Cimarosa, Gluck, and Mozart.

Opera seria was often called dramma per musica ("drama through music").  The story was told in recitative, a quick-flowing music with simple accompaniment.  Then there were arias which were the big songs where the singers could show off their skills.  They were normally in da capo form (a main section, a middle section, and the main section repeated).  The opera would start with an overture and there would also be some ensembles where several characters sang at once.

The stories of opera seria were usually about the ancient Greek and Roman gods or kings.  This was in contrast to opera buffa, which was about ordinary people and often made fun of kings and nobility.

The main singers in opera seria were mostly castrati, male singers who had been castrated when they were young so that they still sang with high voices.  Gradually during the 18th century the female singers got more of the main roles (the "prima donna" or "first lady").

One of the first composers of opera seria was Alessandro Scarlatti. In England George Frideric Handel wrote many great opera seria. The most important man in the development of mid-18th century opera seria was Metastasio who wrote libretti.  His words were set by the greatest composers in Europe: Hasse, Porpora and, especially, Mozart.

In the later part of the 18th century Christoph Willibald Gluck changed a lot of traditions in opera.  He did not want opera to be just a way for singers to show off their voices.  He wanted the story to be important.  He did not use dry recitative but tried to make the drama, dance and music all important, especially the chorus. Orfeo ed Euridice was his first important opera, followed by others such as  Alceste.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was influenced by Gluck's reforms.  His two great opera seria were Idomeneo (1780) and La clemenza di Tito (1791).  Mostly, however, Mozart was not so interested in writing about the old Greek gods and kings.  His other great Italian operas: Cosi fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni are something between opera seria and opera buffa.  These were set to libretti by Lorenzo da Ponte.

Other important opera seria composers were Luigi Cherubini and Gaspare Spontini, followed by Rossini whose musical style made further changes to opera seria.

Opera genres

Opera seria


Mary Wollstonecraft (27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer. She was born in Spitalfields, a daughter of a rich farmer who inherited his fortune. Her father was known because he was sometimes violent towards her, her four siblings, and their mother when his farms failed. Mary Wollstonecraft was the second oldest child in her family. She was the oldest female child. She left home at the age of nineteen to work and become independent.

Working in the English city of Bath, Somerset, she developed a disliking for the upper class and their social lives. In 1784 she experienced the near death of her sister Eliza who was also the victim of abuse at the hands of her husband. She escaped with her sister to London to preserve her life. Soon after, her good friend Fanny Blood, died of complications in childbirth. Wollstonecraft suffered depression following this and being in financial straits, she began to write her first book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters. Then she wrote Mary: A Fiction.

Wollstonecraft was not only a writer, she was an early feminist and social campaigner. She wrote a children's book as well as her two most famous books A Vindication of the Rights of Man (1790),  a response to the French Revolution, and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) which argued that women should have the same rights and education as men. She called for equal education for boys and girls, believing that education gives the tools necessary to compete with men in public and economic life.

She followed writers such as Catherine Macaulay who wrote Letters on Education in 1790, Thomas Paine, and John Locke. One of her most well-known books was "An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution (1794). She also wrote The Wrongs of Women, a novel telling of the confines and illusion of marriage and child rearing as the only happiness for women. She was revolutionary in arguing for education and the need for autonomy for women.

Wollstonecraft travelled to Paris in 1792 to take notes on the Revolution. While in Paris, she fell in love with Gilbert Imlay, an American who she later followed to London. She tried to commit suicide when their relationship ended but was rescued from the Thames. She wrote a book titled Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (1796) from a series of letters written to Imlay, to support their daughter Fanny Imlay, born in 1794. In the same year, Wollstonecraft met an old acquaintance and philosopher, William Godwin. They later married.

Wollstonecraft gave birth to their daughter on 30 August 1797. They named her Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. The child later became wife of Percy Shelley. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin became Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein.

Wollstonecraft died of complications after labour due to a blood clot. Mary Wollstonecraft died of sepsis in London after her birth and suffered a similar fate as her best friend Fanny Blood whose death inspired her fight for women's rights and her first book.

Her husband William Godwin published Memoirs of the Author of "A vindication of the Rights of Women" in memory of her in 1798.

References

1759 births
1797 deaths
British feminists
Deaths from blood clot
Deaths from sepsis

English novelists
Writers from London

Mary Wollstonecraft


Grinding (also called freaking or freak dancing) is a dance where two or more people rub or bump their bodies against one another. It became popular in night clubs. The dance then moved into high schools across the United States and Canada.

Schools have tried to ban grinding because it is very sexual.

A dance similar to grinding is "The Bump", which was popular in the 1970s. Another is the twerk, which became popular through the 2000s into the 2010s.

Dances

Grinding


Bell, Book and Candle is a 1958 American romantic comedy movie, made in Technicolor. It is based on a successful Broadway play of the same name. The plot for the movie was changed to add characters to the scenes. In the play, some minor people are only talked about, but never seen. Also, the movie has action in Manhattan, Greenwich Village, shops, offices and night clubs. The play's scenes take place in one apartment.

The movie stars Kim Novak as a witch who casts a spell on her neighbor, played by James Stewart.  Also appearing are Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs, Hermione Gingold and Elsa Lanchester. Ernie Kovaks plays a very confused character, because he is commanded to appear by magic and has no idea where he is or why.

Bell, Book and Candle was Stewart's last leading romantic role in a movie.

Cast
 James Stewart as Shepherd "Shep" Henderson
 Kim Novak as Gillian "Gil" Holroyd
 Jack Lemmon as Nicky Holroyd
 Ernie Kovacs as Sidney Redlitch
 Elsa Lanchester as Aunt Queenie Holroyd
 Hermione Gingold as Bianca De Pass
 Janice Rule as Merle Kittridge
 Howard McNear as Andy White, Shep's co-publisher
 Pyewacket the cat, as himself

Early in 1957 producers began a promotional search for Siamese cats to play Pyewacket. One source said as many as twelve cats would be needed for all the stunts and action in the movie.

Plot
It is the Christmas holiday season in Greenwich Village. Gillian Holroyd is a witch. She does not obey the rules of witchcraft and likes to walk around  barefoot. She has not been lucky in love. She is unhappy with her life. She has an admiring love for her neighbor, publisher Shep Henderson.

One day he walks into her African art gallery.  He asks to make a telephone call (after Gillian's aunt put a spell on his phone and broke it). Gillian learns Shep is about to marry an old college enemy of hers, Merle Kittridge. Gil and Pyewacket take revenge by casting a spell on Shep, so he has to fall in love with her. She eventually falls in love with him too. She must make a choice, because witches who fall in love lose their supernatural powers. When she decides to love Shep, Gillian's cat and animal spirit, Pyewacket, becomes angry and leaves.

Sidney Redlitch, the author of a best-selling book Magic in Mexico, suddenly appears in Shep's office (thanks to a little magic trick that just takes him there). Gilliam and Pyewacket have him arrive when she finds out Shep wants to meet with him about writing a book together. Redlitch is befuddled and confused but soon catches on.  Redlitch is doing research for a book on witches in New York. He gats an "inside" helper when Gillian's warlock brother Nicky offers to help in exchange for a share of the profits.

Gillian later confesses to Shep that she is a witch and has bewitched him. Shep becomes angry, believing she cast a spell on him just to get even with Merle, and the two argue. Gillian tries to cast various spells on Merle, such as making her fall in love with the first man who walks into her apartment. She finds out, however, that she has lost her powers because she loves Shep.

Meanwhile, Shep finds he really cannot leave Gillian, because of the spell. To escape, he turns to another witch, Bianca De Pass who breaks the spell with a horrible cooked brew that he must drink. Shep again fights with Gillian and leaves her heartbroken.

Shep is not able to get back together with Merle. She does not believe the witch story is true. Months later, Shep returns and finds out Gillian has lost her magic powers because of her love for him. Even Pyewacket has left her because she is not still magical. When he realizes her love is true, the two make up.

Success
Bell Book and Candle was said to be a "blockbuster" by Columbia Pictures. Before it was released, the movie got heavy promotion.

Novak appeared with Pyewacket, the cat, on the November 25 cover of Life magazine (LIFE), along with an article. There were also favorable write-ups in other major magazines.

A production number on The Steve Allen Show (a televvision variety show) played the theme music.

Awards
Bell, Book and Candle received Academy Award nominations in two categories: Best Art Direction for Cary Odell and Louis Diage; and Best Costume Design for Jean Louis.

It also received a Golden Globes nomination for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

Music
The music heard in the movie was written by George Duning, a Columbia veteran composer. The music uses bongo drums and violins to bring out the magical mood of the plot. Heard during the opening credits, a few lines of "Jingle Bells" music are used to set the time of the story as Christmas.

Each witch, including Pyewacket the cat, has an individual musical tune heard every time they are seen. Duning recorded sounds and replayed them at higher speeds to make the music sound spooky and odd. The soundtrack was released in January 1959.

References

Other websites

 Bell, Book and Candle at AllMovie
 Bell, Book and Candle at the American Film Institute Catalog

1958 comedy movies
1950s fantasy movies
1950s romantic comedy movies
American fantasy movies
American romantic comedy movies
Christmas movies
Columbia Pictures movies
English-language movies
Movies about cats
Movies based on plays
Movies set in Manhattan
Witchcraft
Movies directed by Richard Quine

Bell, Book and Candle


Potassium permanganate is an inorganic chemical compound. Its chemical formula is KMnO4. It contains potassium and permanganate ions. The manganese is in the +7 oxidation state. It is also known as permanganate of potash and Condy's crystals. Potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizing agent, which means it has a tendency to take electrons from other chemicals. It dissolves in water to give purple solutions. If it is evaporated, it makes purple-black shiny crystals. It has a sweet taste and is odorless.

History
In 1659, a German chemist, Johann Rudolf Glauber, melted a mixture of the mineral pyrolusite and potassium carbonate to obtain a material that made a green solution (potassium manganate) when dissolved in water. It slowly changed colour to violet (potassium permanganate) and then finally red. This report is the first description of the production of potassium permanganate.

Just under 200 years later a Londoner named Henry Bollmann Condy was a chemist. He had an interest in disinfectants and made some things like ozonised water. He found that when he melted pyrolusite with sodium hydroxide and dissolved it in water, it made a solution that had good disinfectant properties. He patented this solution, and sold it as Condy's Fluid. The problem was that the solution was not very stable. This was fixed by using potassium hydroxide rather than sodium hydroxide. This gave a more stable material. It also was able to be dried to the just as good potassium permanganate powder. This powder was called Condy's crystals or Condy's powder. Potassium permanganate was easy to make so Condy tried to stop other people from making it and selling it themselves.

Early photographers used it in flash powder.

Uses

Chemical applications
Potassium permanganate is used as an oxidizing agent. It also is used in disinfectants and in deodorizers. It can be used to make many different kinds of chemicals. In waste water treatment, it is used to get rid of hydrogen sulfide, a stinky toxic gas. In analytical chemistry, an accurate concentration of KMnO4 is sometimes used to see how much of a certain reducing agent is in the titration. In a related way, it is used as a reagent for wood pulp. Mixing potassium permanganate and formaldehyde makes a mild tear gas.

As an oxidant in organic synthesis
Dilute solutions of KMnO4 convert alkenes into diols (glycols). This behaviour is also used as a qualitative test for the presence of double or triple bonds in a molecule, since the reaction makes the permanganate solution colorless. It is sometimes referred to as Baeyer's reagent.

Concentrated solutions oxidize a methyl group on an aromatic ring, e.g. toluene to benzoic acid.

KMnO4 oxidizes pseudoephedrine hydrochloride to produce methcathinone, a Schedule I drug in the United States. Consequently, the DEA has restricted its use and sale by classifying it as a List I controlled precursor. Potassium permanganate is listed as a Table I precursor under the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

Acids and Potassium Permanganate
Concentrated sulfuric acid reacts with potassium permanganate to give manganese(VII) oxide, which can be explosive. . This reaction also makes ozone. The ozone can ignite paper soaked in alcohol. This reaction is very dangerous.

6 KMnO4 + 9 H2SO4 → 6 MnSO4 + 3 K2SO4 + 9 H2O + 5 O3

Concentrated HCl makes chlorine.

2 KMnO4 + 16 HCl → 2 MnCl2 + 2 KCl + 8 H2O + 5 Cl2

The Mn-containing products from redox reactions depend on the pH. Acidic solutions of permanganate are reduced to the faintly pink Mn2+ ion, as in manganese(II) chloride. In neutral solution, permanganate is reduced to brown manganese(IV) oxide, where Mn is in a +4 oxidation state. Manganese(IV) oxide is the stuff that stains skin when potassium permanganate is put on it. Potassium permanganate spontaneously reduces in an basic solution to green-coloured potassium manganate, where manganese is in the +6 oxidation state.

Biomedical uses
 Dilute solutions are used as a treatment for canker sores (ulcers) (0.25%), disinfectant for the hands (about 1%) and treatment for mild pompholyx dermatitis or fungal infections of the hands or feet.
 A dilute solution of acidified potassium permanganate is used in histology to bleach melanin which obscures tissue detail.
 Potassium permanganate can be used to differentiate amyloid AA from other types of amyloid pathologically deposited in body tissues. Incubation of fixed tissue with potassium permanganate will prevent amyloid AA from staining with congo red whereas other types of amyloid are unaffected.

Miscellaneous uses

 Solutions of KMnO4 have been used together with 80% hydrogen peroxide to propel a rocket. In this use, it was called Z-Stoff. This propellant is still used in torpedoes.
 A dilute (10 mg/l) of potassium permanganate can be used to eliminate snails from plants prior to placing them in a fresh-water aquarium.
 High-grade potassium permanganate can be found at pool supply stores and is used in rural areas to remove iron and hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) from well water.
 KMnO4 is often included in survival kits along with either glycerine or a glucose tablet for making fire. The glucose tablet can be ground up, mixed with the potassium permanganate and it will burn if rubbed. It can also be mixed with anti-freeze from a vehicle to make fire. Doing this can be dangerous and should be done carefully by dipping some paper into the anti-freeze and then adding a small amount of potassium permanganate. It can also sterilize water and wounds so it is useful in a survival kit.
 KMnO4 is employed to treat some parasitic diseases of fish, in treatment of drinking water, as well as an antidote in phosphorus poisoning. In Africa, it has been used as a disinfectant for vegetables such as lettuce.

Hazards
Solid potassium permanganate is a strong oxidizer and in general it should be kept separated from reducing agents. Some reactions need a bit of water. For example, powdered potassium permanganate and powdered sugar will ignite (but not explode) a few seconds after a drop of water is added. Dilute solutions of KMnO4 are not dangerous. KMnO4 forms dangerous products when mixed with concentrated acids.

Potassium permanganate stains skin and clothing and should be handled with care. Clothing stains may be washed away using acetic acid. Skin stains disappear within 48 hours.

References
 F. Burriel, F. Lucena, S. Arribas and J. Hernández, (1985), Química Analítica Cualitativa, page 688, .
  Fatiadi, A. J. Synthesis 1987, 85-127. (Review) ()
  F. A. Cotton, G. Wilkinson, C. A. Murillo, and M. Bochmann (April 1999). Advanced Inorganic Chemistry, 6th Edition. Wiley-VCH.
  van Rijswijk MH, van Heusden CW.American Journal of Pathology.1979Oct;97(1):43-58. PMID 495695
 Dzhabiev, T. S.; Denisov, N. N.; Moiseev, D. N. and Shilov, A. E., "Formation of Ozone During the Reduction of Potassium Permanganate in Sulfuric Acid Solutions", Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry, 2005, volume 79, pages 1755-1760.
 Barthel, H. and Duvinage, B., "Clemens Winkler. His Experiments with Ozone in 1892", Praxis der Naturwissenschaften, Chemie, 2000, volume 49, page 18ff.
 Wright JR, Calkins E, Humphrey RL.Laboratory Investigation. 1977 Mar;36(3):274-81. PMID 839739

Other websites
 International Chemical Safety Card 0672
 National Pollutant Inventory - Manganese and compounds Fact Sheet

Potassium compounds
Manganese compounds

Potassium permanganate


Augen (from German "eyes") are large, lenticular eye-shaped mineral grains or mineral aggregates visible in some foliated metamorphic rocks. In cross section they have the shape of an eye.

Feldspar, quartz, and garnet are common minerals which form augen.

Augen form in rocks which have undergone metamorphism and shearing. The core of the augen is a porphyroblast or porphyroclast of a hard, resilient mineral such as garnet. The augen grows by crystallisation of a mantle of new mineral around the porphyroblast. The mantle is formed contiguous with the foliation which is imparted upon the rock, and forms a blanket which tapers off from either side of the porphyroblast within the strain shadows.

During shearing, the porphyroblast may rotate, to form a characteristic augen texture of asymmetric shearing. In this case, the position of the tails is unequal across the foliation, with some augen showing clear drag folding of the mantle into the strain shadow. This derives a form of shear direction information.

A metamorphic rock which is clotted with augen is often called an augen gneiss.  A long wall of this augen gneiss can be felt at the Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Western North Carolina.

See also
 Foliation (geology)
 Gneiss
 Rock microstructure
 Schist
 Shear (geology)

Metamorphic petrology

Augen


Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a set of protocols used for computer networks. It is mostly used for Wide Area Networks (WAN). It splits the data, and encodes it into packets of a fixed size. Each packet can be routed differently, along virtual paths set up in the network.

ATM has been very successful in WANs, as well as in Local Area Networks (LAN). Today, many ADSL implementations use ATM technology.

Standards like Ethernet (which is used for LANs) usually are quite simple. When there is little traffic on the network they work well. However, when there is a lot of traffic it is difficult to predict how an Ethernet network will behave. For this reason, Ethernet cannot give any service guarantees. It is not possible to say that an Ethernet packet will take a maximum delay, but after that time it is guaranteed to arrive.

ATM is more complex, but this complexity allows to give guarantees as to data rate, maximum delay, and jitter. These are usually called Quality of Service.

References

Computer science

Asynchronous Transfer Mode


Mark Leno (born September 24, 1951) is an American politician who served in the California State Senate until November 2016. A Democrat, he represented the 11th Senate district, which includes San Francisco and portions of San Mateo County. Before the 2010 redistricting, he represented the 3rd Senate district.

A member of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, Leno was the first openly gay man elected to the State Senate. He was previously one of the first two openly gay men (along with John Laird) to serve in the California State Assembly.

Before being elected to the State Senate in 2008, Leno served in the California State Assembly, representing the 13th Assembly District. Before his time in the Legislature, he served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors between 1998 and 2002. Leno is the owner of Budget Signs Inc., a small business, and was a candidate in the San Francisco mayoral special election, which was held June 5, 2018.

Early life and education
Leno is the grandson of Russian Jewish immigrants. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended Nicolet High School and later the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was valedictorian of his graduating class at the American College in Jerusalem, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. Leno also spent two years in rabbinical studies at Hebrew Union College in New York. Afterward, he moved to San Francisco on the invitation of his sister. He lived his first four years in the Tenderloin before moving to the Noe Valley neighborhood.

In 1978, Leno started Budget Signs as owner and operator. The business incorporated in 1982. Working with his life partner, Douglas Jackson, the business continued to grow and their involvement in community affairs steadily expanded. Jackson died from complications related to AIDS in 1990.

Career
Prior to his election, his political background included raising money for candidates and causes such as AIDS services, the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Democratic Party.

Board of Supervisors

Leno was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by Willie Brown in April 1998. He was elected citywide to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 1998 and re-elected in the reinstated district races of 2000. Leno's district included The Castro, Noe Valley, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, Twin Peaks, Duboce Triangle, and the westernmost part of the Mission District.

Leno introduced legislation to allow tenants to replace a roommate without losing their lease, measures to aid those with HIV/AIDS, and a measure to promote the federal Earned Income Tax Credit to help low income residents. He authored legislation to ban mercury thermometers, one of the first such proposals in the country. In 2000, as a supervisor, he supported Proposition L, the slow-growth measure and authored legislation to protect neighborhood business districts from big box retail.  He was a statewide spokesman for the No on Proposition 22 campaign.

In 2001, Leno successfully introduced an ordinance providing equal access to the city's health plan for transgender employees of San Francisco.

State Assembly

Leno was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2006. He was the chair of the Assembly's Appropriations Committee, as well as the Select Committee on Childhood Obesity & Related Diabetes.

In 2005, Leno authored AB 849, a bill legalizing same-sex marriages that became the first bill of its kind to pass a legislative body in the United States. The bill passed both the Assembly and the State Senate but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In 2007, Leno introduced AB 43, the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, that would have allowed for same-sex marriage. This bill passed the Assembly and Senate but was again vetoed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Same-sex marriage was legalized by the California Supreme Court in a May 2008 decision, becoming effective June 16, 2008.

In 2006, Leno and Republican Assemblyman Chuck DeVore co-authored a bill that would legalize the cultivation of non-psychoactive hemp. The bill does not conflict with the federal Controlled Substances Act and would mandate that hemp be tested to ensure it is non-psychoactive. He authored California Assembly Bill Number AB 1668, on February 23, 2007 — a bill encouraging Open Document Formats ODF in California.

In Leno's first two terms in the Assembly, 58 of his bills were signed into law. He co-authored AB 32 to cap greenhouse emissions. He authored AB 706 to prohibit the use of fire retardants in upholstered furniture. He authored AB 2573 to allow San Francisco public utilities to install solar panels on public infrastructure. He also authored Assembly Bill 1358, the California Complete Streets Act, to require cities and counties to consider including walking and bicycling in their general plans. He coauthored the AB 583, California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, to bring public financing to political campaigns.

State Senate
In 2008, he won the Democratic Party nomination for California's 3rd Senate district with 43.8 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Senator Carole Migden, who had 28.6 percent of the vote, and former Assemblyman Joe Nation, who had 27.6 percent of the vote. Leno was a principal co-author of SB 840, the Single-Payer Universal Health Care Act, which would have provided health care coverage for all Californians and would have replaced hundreds of health insurance companies with state-provided coverage.

During his 14-year term in the State Legislature, Leno authored numerous bills including:

 SB 810, the California Universal Health Care Act.
 The Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. The bill requires airlines to provide basic needs for passengers, such as water, snacks, fresh air, sanitary restrooms, and lights if a plane is delayed on a tarmac at a California airport.
 A state constitutional amendment regarding the Public Records Act. The amendment clarifies that local governments must comply with requests for publicly available documents, and requires local governments to pay in full the costs of those requests. The amendment was approved by voters in the November 2014 election as Proposition 42.
 The Fair Education Act, which ensures LGBT and disabled people are included in social science history curriculum.
 Legislation to require disclosure of the use or absence of flame retardant chemicals on existing furniture labels.
 A smartphone "kill switch bill", requiring phones sold in the state to include an anti-theft technology.
 Legislation to establish Harvey Milk Day in California, making California the first state in the nation to officially honor the civil rights activist.
 SB 178, the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act which strengthened the digital privacy rights of California citizens.
 The state's minimum wage increase to $15 per hour in 2022.
 Legislation to limit and restrict the use of solitary confinement in juvenile facilities.
 Legislation to add electronic cigarettes to the state's existing smoke-free laws and require the packaging to be child-resistant.
 California's first major reform of the state's public utilities commission.
 Legislation to exempt Single Room Occupancy units from the Ellis Act.
 The California Community Corrections Performance Incentive Act of 2009, which helps reduce California's prison admissions.

Awards and honors
Leno has been recognized by LGBT organizations, civil rights advocacy groups, and non-profits throughout his tenure for his commitment to public service and for authoring legislation to combat discrimination, protect the rights of all Californians, and lift millions out of poverty.

In 2003, Leno earned recognition from the American Heart Association, the California Association of Food Banks and Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. In 2004, Leno received the Award of Courage from American Foundation for AIDS Research and was honored by the Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association of Los Angeles at their 25th Anniversary. Also in 2004, Leno (and Chris Reynolds and Steve Sampson) received a President's Award as part of the Pantheon of Leather Awards.
Leno was the first out leatherman to be a state legislator in the United States. He also served as Chair of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus.

In 2005, he was honored by the California Attorneys For Criminal Justice with their Scales of Justice Award in recognition to his fair and balanced approach in chairing the Assembly Public Safety Committee. He received the "Lifetime Friend and Champion" award from the Harvey Milk Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Club and was chosen by OUT Magazine as one of 2005's "Most Intriguing Gay Men." In 2006, he was honored by the Stonewall Democratic Club in Los Angeles with their Sheila Kuehl Trail Blazer Award, the Lazarus Project's Lazarus Award for Marriage Equality, the California Young Democrats' Mentor of the Year, Partners Ending Domestic Abuse's Kamala Harris Leadership Award, and Temple Beth Chayim Chadashim's 2006 Herman Humanitarian Award.

In 2011, the Consumer Attorneys of California presented him with the Leadership of the Year Award and he received the Transgender Law Center's Community Ally Award in 2010. He received the California Community Choice Aggregation Champion award in 2014 for his dedication to green energy by Marin Clean Energy.

In 2015, he received the leadership award from the Northern California Innocence Project for advancing legislation to prevent wrongful conviction and the Women's Human Rights Award by Friends of the Commission on the Status of Women.

In 2016, he was recognized by the Coachella Valley Harvey Milk Diversity Coalition for his leadership on LGBT issues, the Mental Health Association of San Francisco for his work on mental health issues, the Western Center on Law and Poverty for his dedication to public service, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for his work to protect digital privacy, among other recognitions.

References

External links

Campaign Website
Mark Leno, D-San Francisco
From rabbinical student to legislator to 'next adventure', Dan Pine, jweekly.com, 13-Oct-16
Leno unsure of future, Matthew S. Bajko, The Bay Area Reporter, 17-Nov-16
FaceBook
Twitter
Join California Mark Leno

21st-century American politicians
Democratic Party California state senators
Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly
LGBT state legislators in California
San Francisco Board of Supervisors members
American LGBT city council members
Gay politicians
Jewish American state legislators in California
American LGBT rights activists
Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area
LGBT people from the San Francisco Bay Area
University of Colorado alumni
LGBT people from Wisconsin
LGBT Jews
Leather subculture
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
1951 births
Living people
21st-century American Jews

Mark Leno


Edwin Longsden Long  (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was a British genre, history, biblical and portrait painter.

Life and works

Long was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of James Long, a hairdresser, (from Kelston in Somerset), and was educated at Dr. Viner's School in Bath. Adopting the profession of a painter, Long came to London and studied in the British Museum. He was subsequently a pupil in the school of James Mathews Leigh in Newman Street London, and practised first as a portrait artist painting Charles Greville, Lord Ebury and others.

Long made the acquaintance of John Phillip RA, and accompanied him to Spain, and Egypt  where they spent much time. Long was greatly influenced by the paintings of Velasquez and other Spanish masters, and his earlier pictures, such as La Posada (1864) and Lazarilla and the Blind Beggar (1870), were painted under Spanish influence. His first important pictures were The Suppliants (1872) and The Babylonian Marriage Market (1875), both subsequently purchased by Thomas Holloway. In 1874, he visited Egypt and Syria, and subsequently his work took a new direction. He became thoroughly imbued with middle-eastern archaeology and painted oriental scenes including The Egyptian Feast (1877), The Gods and Their Makers (1878).

Long was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1870 and an academician (RA) in 1881. His pictures always attracted attention and his Diana or Christ? (1881) greatly enhanced his reputation at the time. His pictures suited the taste and appealed to the religious sentiment of a large portion of the public, and their popularity was increased by a wide circulation of engravings. He consequently determined to exhibit his next pictures in a separate gallery of his own in Bond Street, London and there in 1883, and the following years, his Anno Domini and Zeuxis at Crotona met with great commercial success.

Long died from pneumonia resulting from influenza, at his home, "Kelston" in Netherhall Gardens, Hampstead, on 15 May 1891, in his sixty-second year. He was buried in West Hampstead Cemetery. The will signed by him on the day of his death was the subject of a lawsuit, to which his relatives were parties, but the matter in dispute was amicably settled.

Long married a daughter of Dr. William Aiton, by whom he left a family, of whom a son, Maurice Long, was killed in a railway accident at Burgos in Spain on 23 September 1891.

Besides the Edwin Long Gallery in Old Bond Street, a number of his pictures was collected together after his death, and formed the nucleus of a gallery of Christian Art which replaced the works of Gustave Doré in the well-known gallery in New Bond Street. Long had considerable practice as a portrait painter but his success in that line was not conspicuous, although he obtained high patronage and very large prices. He painted for the Baroness Burdett Coutts (his chief patron) portraits of herself, her friend Mrs. Brown, and Henry Irving. Among other portraits of his latter years were a memorial portrait of the Earl of Iddesleigh, of which he painted a replica for the National Portrait Gallery, portraits of Cardinal Manning (perhaps his best effort in this line), Samuel Cousins, Sir Edmund Henderson and others.  According to art historian Lionel Cust, "In his earlier works Long showed great power and thoroughly deserved his success and popularity", but added that his later works "suffered from a continual repetition of types which resulted in monotony".

Paintings

Begging for the Monastery (1867)
The Suppliants (1864)
 Uncle Tom and Little Eva (1866)
A Spanish Flower Seller (1867)
The Gamekeeper (1869)
"Usted Gusta" (1870)
A Question of Propriety (1870)
A Street Scene in Spain (1871)
The Approval (1873)
The Moorish Proselytes of Archbishop Ximines (1873)
Primero Segundo y Basso Profondo (1873)
The Babylonian Marriage Market (1875)
In the Tent (1876)
A Dorcas Meeting in the 6th Century (1873–1877)
An Egyptian Feast (1877)
The Gods and Their Makers (1878)
Queen Esther (1878)
Vashti Refuses the King's Summons (1879)
The Eastern Favourite (1880)
To Her Listening Ear Responsive Chords of Music Came Familiar (1881)
Diana or Christ? (1881)
Anno Domini (1883)
Glauke: Pensive (1883)
The Chosen Five (1885)
Eastern Lily (1885)
Jepthah's Vow: the Martyr (1885)
Love's Labour Lost (1885)
The Finding of Moses (1886)
Alethe Attendant of the Sacred Ibis in the Temple of Isis (1888)
Sacred to Pasht (1888)
Preparing For The Festival Of Anubis (1889)
Thisbe (1884)
Little Eva and Uncle Tom (1886)

See also
 List of Orientalist artists
 Orientalism

References

Attribution

External links

Edwin Long online (ArtCyclopedia)
Edwin Long biography
Biography + paintings (ArtMagick)
Biography and works (Art Renewal Center)
Long's portrait works (National Portrait Gallery, London)
Love's Labour Lost (1885 oil on canvas - Dahesh Museum of Art)

1829 births
1891 deaths
19th-century English painters
Artists' Rifles soldiers
English male painters
British genre painters
English romantic painters
English portrait painters
English orientalists
Orientalist painters
Royal Academicians
Deaths from the 1889–1890 flu pandemic
19th-century English male artists

Edwin Long


Maria Teresinha Gomes (1933, Funchal – 2007) also known as a generala was a Portuguese woman notable for spending nearly 20 years successfully pretending to be a male army general.

Gomes was born on the Portuguese island of Madeira and ran away from home at the age of 16. Her parents gave her up for dead while Teresinha made her way to Lisbon.

Gomes' general's uniform was a costume made by a Lisbon tailor for the 1974 carnival.  She used the name General Tito Aníbal da Paixão Gomes, the name of a brother of hers, who died as a baby.

Gomes was revealed to be biologically a woman in 1992. She had used her invented position of authority to persuade neighbours to hand over part of their savings for investment. High returns were promised, but never forthcoming.

The resulting trial also revealed that Teresinha had posed to others as a lawyer and an employee at the US embassy.  Teresinha was eventually given a suspended three-year sentence. She retreated to a village near Alenquer where she died, too poor to pay for her own funeral, in 2007.

A nurse called Joaquina "Quininha" Costa became Gomes' companion, sharing a house with her for 15 years. At Gomes' trial, Costa claimed that they never shared a bedroom, and that she never suspected that Gomes may have been a woman.

References
Article - Portugal's cross-dressing 'general' dies after 20 years as a man Guardian (UK).
Cross, Donna Woolfolk, Pope Joan: a novel, 1996  - footnote at end of "Author's Note" mentions Teresinha Gomez of Lisbon, page 420.

1933 births
2007 deaths
People from Funchal
Portuguese fraudsters
Portuguese female criminals
Female-to-male cross-dressers
20th-century Portuguese LGBT people

Maria Teresinha Gomes


The Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. (WHH; ) is a private group of companies, and the largest beverage producer in China. The company is headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. "Wa ha ha" signifies "laughing child".

Wahaha has roughly 150 subsidiary companies and 60 manufacturing bases scattered throughout China. Wahaha employs about 60,000 staff.

The company was originally a local government owned sales company founded in 1987–8. For most of the time since creation, it has been run by Zong Qinghou (宗庆后), who exercises operational control over the day-to-day operations.

History
Wahaha has its origins in the sales department of the Shangcheng District School in Hangzhou, which was founded in 1987. A factory, the "Hangzhou Wahaha Nutritional Foods Factory" (杭州娃哈哈营养食品厂), was created in 1989 to tap a niche in the market for a "children's liquid nutrient" 儿童营养口服液. Although there were 38 producers of liquid nutrients on the market, none were specifically for children. The advertising campaign struck a note with single child Chinese parents, and was a runaway success. In 1991, the factory was merged with the ailing "Hangzhou Canned Food Factory" (杭州罐头食品厂) in a social restructuring, but which increased the overheads of the business.

In 1992, Zong sought an initial public offering for Wahaha, but the Chinese stock market was not yet developed and few businesses qualified to be listed. The effort failed.

In May 1992, Wahaha raised CNY236 million internally in order to start the Hangzhou Wahaha Food City Co. Ltd. (杭州娃哈哈美食城股份有限公司), and to finance the construction of Wahaha Food City, in Hangzhou. Due to inexperience in project management, cashflow became a problem, as construction was delayed for 6 years. This company holds the interests of the employees' union. It changed its name to ZHI at an EGM in August 2001.

During the period from 1992 to 1994, WHH shifted the company away from health drinks to other products. During this period it launched a sour plum drink, alcoholic beverages and pseudo-medicinal potions, but these would successively fail.

In 1994, the company acquired three insolvent companies in Sichuan, and established its first factory in Chongqing. A local manufacturing base enabled the company to reduce distribution costs to western China. Once talks had started with Danone, capital became available once again for the company. WHH launched Wahaha Pure Water and struck gold with it. Over the next three years, WHH would acquire 40 more companies in 22 different provincial cities, transforming it into one of the largest beverage companies in China.

Joint ventures

In 1995, Peregrine Investments Holdings introduced Zong to Danone, and discussions about the creation of a joint venture began. The Wahaha trademark was assigned to the main joint venture vehicle on 29 February 1996, and a joint venture agreement was eventually signed on 28 March 1996.

The "foreign partners" took 51%, while the "Chinese partners" held 49% (of which WHH holds 39% and employees own 10%). Groupe Danone and Peregrine together invested US$70 million in return for the stake in five joint venture WHH companies with the exclusive rights of production, distribution and sales of products under the Wahaha brand. When Peregrine collapsed in 1998, Groupe DANONE acquired its stake in the JVs, and became majority owner.

The business had grown into 39 joint venture entities by 2007, and the total injected capital amounts to US$131 million.

Since April 2007, Wahaha has been engaged in a public dispute with Danone, its JV partner. Danone has accused Zong of selling identical products using the Wahaha brand outside of the joint ventures, and demands a 51% stake in these. The matter was closed on 30 September 2009.

Going it alone
Since the dispute began, Wahaha has launched products under different brands. Earlier the company released new beverage products under the name of Nutri-Express Drink and Wahaha Smoothie. U-Yo Milk Coffee has now been launched with a "Qili" logo. The producer was a new company rather than the Wahaha Group. More products are likely to be rebranded with the new logo.

Products and distribution

Wahaha branded products include milk drinks (19%), soft drinks, bottled water (43%), bottled tea (19%), fruit juice (13%), porridges and its flagship yoghurt beverages (7%).

Its largest facility is located in Hangzhou's Xiasha Economic and Technological Development Zone, where one-third of the company's production occurs.

Wahaha dealers help them with management and marketing and advertises nationally. The company has 35 provincial sales offices, 2,500 sales team employees, Its distribution is truly nationwide. Wahaha is one of 3 brands which has few distribution gaps in rural China, with more than 2 million sales outlets across the country. Distributors are responsible for capital, storage, and delivery. The company maintains two grades of distributors: more than 1,500 first-level dealers that need to meet distribution targets and manage large networks and capital; and 12,000 second-level dealers that deal at smaller levels. Distributors' franchise areas are strictly delimited to ensure no poaching between areas, and are guaranteed by forfeitable deposits lodged with Wahaha.

The distribution has given "Future Cola" a close third in national market share through its domination of rural China, its tertiary and secondary cities. According to PRC government statistics, Coca-Cola held a 24 percent market share in 2003, whilst Future Cola's market share is 70% of that of Pepsi.

Its products are also available in major Chinatowns.

Ownership structure

Holding company
The Hangzhou Wahah Group Co. Ltd. is 29.4% owned Zong, 24.6% by the employees and management as represented by Zhejiang Wahaha Industries Joint-stock Co. ("ZHI") (浙江娃哈哈实业股份有限公司), and 46% by Shangcheng District Government. Zong's shares are controlled by British Virgin Islands registered Ever Maple Trading Ltd. (恒枫) through Hangzhou Hongsheng Beverage Co Ltd (杭州娃哈哈广盛投资公司). Ever Maple's legal representative is Zong's daughter Zong Fuli.

Other "Wahaha companies"
Whilst the group has many subsidiaries, both local and foreign registered, there are also a number of entities which are essentially private companies owned or controlled by Zong. These companies are the subject of the dispute with the foreign partner. At the end of 2006, total non-joint venture companies reportedly had equity of ¥5.6 billion and profits of ¥1.04 billion. In December, Zong had agreed to sell these to Danone for  ¥4 billion.

The Hangzhou Wahaha Guangsheng Investment Co. (杭州娃哈哈广盛投资有限公司) ("GUANGSHENG") established in 2003 with registered capital of ¥50 million, is a key non-JV entity. Its shares were held by Zong and the union in a ratio of 60:40. Its capital was later increased to ¥80 million. The following companies, inter alia, were its subsidiaries or associates, with holdings ranging from 39 to 60 percent:
 Hangzhou Wahaha Children's Clothing Co. 杭州娃哈哈童装有限公司, est. 2002
 Changsha Wahaha Beverages Co. 长沙娃哈哈饮料有限公司
 Harbin Shuangcheng Wahaha Foods Co. 哈尔滨双城娃哈哈食品有限公司
 Jian Wahaha Beverages Co. 吉安娃哈哈饮料公司

The shares of Hangzhou Wahaha Children's Clothing Co. (杭州娃哈哈童装有限公司) founded in 2002, were initially held by Guangsheng, but were transferred out in August 2003, in an "interesting series of share transfers". It is now 65% owned by Zong, 10% by his wife, and 25% by Platinum Net Ltd.

The Hangzhou Wahaha Food and Beverage Sales Co. (杭州娃哈哈食品饮料营销有限公司) "WHHFBSC", registered on 19 December 2006, is an external company allegedly now the centre of a parallel distribution network. 10% of its share capital is held by Zong's wife, Shi Youzhen, and 90% by Ever Maple Trading Ltd.

Zong set up non-jv owned factories, such as the Hangzhou Xiushan Shunfa Packaging Co. (杭州萧山顺发食品包装公司), to manufacture or pack products identical to WHH. Danone alleges that distributors were asked to set up new bank accounts for their deposit payments in the name of WHHFBSC to sell products from these factories.

Offshore companies
These offshore companies have been reported as being subsidiaries of the Wahaha Group, and have been seized in their respective domiciles:

British Virgin Islands : Golden Dynasty Enterprise Ltd, Gold Factory Developments Ltd, Platinum Net Ltd, Sunworld Enterprises Ltd, Great Base International Ltd, Bountiful Gold Trading Ltd and Wintell Enterprises Ltd.

Samoa : Mega Source Investments Ltd and Honour Bright Investments Ltd

References

Drink companies of China
Privately held companies of China
Manufacturing companies based in Hangzhou
Chinese brands
Chinese companies established in 1987
Food and drink companies established in 1987

Hangzhou Wahaha Group


Andros is an island of Greece. It is the second biggest island of the Cyclades group. It is in the northwest of Cyclades group near Euboea island. Its total area is . 10,009 people lived there according to the 2001 Greek census. The biggest town of Andros is Andros city.

Andros is mountainous island with gorges and cliffs which end up at the sea. The plants include many flowers, bushes and a few trees mainly in the center of island. The island has many beautiful beaches and beautiful landscape and thanks to these the island is popular for tourists.

Other websites
 Andros island, Cyclades Greece

Islands of Greece

Andros


Lars Løkke Rasmussen (born 15 May 1964 in Vejle) is a Danish politician who was the Prime Minister of Denmark from 28 June 2015 to 27 June 2019.  He was also Prime Minister from 5 April 2009 until 3 October 2011.

He has been a Liberal Party member of the Danish Parliament since 21 September 1994. From November 2001 to November 2007 he was Interior and Health Minister of Denmark, and from November 2007 to April 2009 he was Finance Minister of Denmark.

On 5 April 2009 he took over from Anders Fogh Rasmussen as Prime Minister after Fogh Rasmussen was elected Secretary General of NATO.

Rasmussen has also been mayor of Frederiksborg County north of Copenhagen from 1998 to 2001. He holds a degree in law from the University of Copenhagen. He is married and has three children.

On 6 June 2019, he resigned from his position as prime minister after a general election, in which his government was narrowly defeated by the Social Democrats and their leader Mette Frederiksen.

References

1964 births
Living people
Prime Ministers of Denmark

Lars Løkke Rasmussen


The Seventh Cross () is a novel by Anna Seghers, one of the better-known examples of German literature circa World War II. It was first published in Mexico by El Libro Libre In 1942. The English translation came out in the United States, in an abridged version, in September of the same year (published by Little, Brown and Company). The first full English translation, by Margot Bettauer Dembo, was published in 2018.

Plot summary

Seven men imprisoned in the fictitious Westhofen camp (based partly on the real Osthofen concentration camp) have decided to make a collaborative escape attempt. The main character is a Communist, George Heisler; the narrative follows his path across the countryside, taking refuge with those few who are willing to risk a visit from the Gestapo, while the rest of the escapees are gradually overtaken by their hunters.

The title of the book comes from a conceit of the prison camp. The current officer in charge has ordered the creation of seven crosses from the trees nearby, to be used when the prisoners are returned – not for crucifixion, but a subtler torture: the escapees are made to stand all day in front of their crosses, and will be punished if they falter.

Reception
Publication of the novel was surrounded by a certain amount of fanfare; by the end of September, there were already plans for a comic strip version of The Seventh Cross, it having already been selected as a Book-of-the-Month Club book.

According to Dorothy Rosenberg, who wrote the afterword for the 1987 Monthly Review Press edition, statistics indicate that 319,000 copies of The Seventh Cross were sold in the first twelve days alone, and the novel was printed in German, Russian, Portuguese, Yiddish and Spanish by 1943.

After the end of the Nazi regime, the book was well received in Germany, and particularly in the East; the author, Seghers, was known to be a Communist, and some of the "heroic" or sympathetic characters in The Seventh Cross are also members of the Communist Party.

Adaptations
A film version starring Spencer Tracy and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer premiered in 1944; a publicity stunt, in which MGM organized a pretend "manhunt" for a Tracy look-alike in seven cities for the public to take part in, accompanied the normal film promotions.

The libretto of German composer Hans Werner Henze's Ninth Symphony is based on The Seventh Cross.

References

1942 German novels
Novels by Anna Seghers
Little, Brown and Company books
Novels set in Germany
Novels set during World War II
Exilliteratur
German novels adapted into films
NYRB Classics

The Seventh Cross


A bonfire or balefire is a large controlled outdoor fire made from bales of straw or wood. The word is believed to come from "bone fire". In the time of the Celts, there were midsummer festivals where animal bones were burnt to ward off evil spirits.

What it means in Great Britain
In Great Britain, bonfires are particularly associated with Guy Fawkes Night. This night is  also known as fireworks night or bonfire night. On this night, people celebrate that the Gunpowder Plot  was discovered. This discovery took place on 5 November 1605. They do this celebration each year. (It is called an annual celebration.)

In Northern Ireland, bonfires are associated with celebrations on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.

What it means in Japan
In Japan, large fires called bon-bi are set to welcome the return of the spirits of the ancestors.  Though the two terms are not etymologically or historically related, they serve similar purposes and indicate the universal importance of large fires.

Use of bonfires for rituals
Bonfires were also used for rituals. The idea was that the fire would purify. It was used to consecrate things, or people, that is to make them sacred, in some way. In ancient times, cattle were important symbols of wealth and status. Such cattle were led through the smoke of a bonfire. Couples who were to be wed on May Day would leap through the flames of the bonfire to seal their vows. Coals from a bonfire would be taken home to light the fires in family hearths.  This practice was thought to bring good fortune. People also believed that the residents of the Faery realm were incapable of producing fire themselves; embers of bonfires would be carried to the underworld and tended there.

Neopagan and Wiccan beliefs
Along with the Maypole, the bonfire is an important component of the Wiccan and Neopagan celebration of Beltaine, also known as May Day.

Nine woods are placed into a traditional Wiccan balefire.  These woods are rowan, dogwood, elder, poplar, oak, juniper, holly, cedar, and apple.  Occasionally, pine is also used instead of holly or elder, as are a handful of other woods.  In some regions, superstition, religious belief, or tradition prohibits the cutting of certain trees.

Pictures

Related pages
Walpurgis Night
Pyre

Other websites

Dancing May Day Through History

Festivals
Fire

Bonfire


In mid-1995, the banking system in Kyrgyzstan continued to be dominated by the central savings bank (the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan, created in 1991) and by the three major commercial banks that succeeded the sectoral banks of the Soviet era and remained under state control. Those banks, the Agricultural and Industrial Bank (Agroprombank), the Industrial and Construction Bank (Promstroybank), and the Commercial Bank of Kyrgyzstan, owned 85 percent of banking assets in 1994.

New commercial banks, of which fifteen were established in 1993 and 1994, were owned by individuals or enterprises and had much less financial power than the state-owned banks. The new commercial banks have the right to buy and sell foreign currency and open deposit accounts. The National Bank is the official center of currency exchange, but in the mid-1990s it did not adhere to official exchange rates. In mid-1994, the government established the Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which uses state funds, foreign currency assets, and loans from abroad to aid small and medium-sized enterprises and to invest in targeted spheres of the economy, especially housing, construction, power generation, and agriculture.

As of 1994, the banking system had remained concentrated in the same areas as in the Soviet period. Although some diversification had occurred, loans tended to go to traditional clients. Because new commercial banks were small and initially were owned by state ministries and state-owned enterprises, competition developed slowly. Through 1994 Soviet-style accounting and reporting systems remained in use, and banking services such as domestic and international payments have remained at the same noncompetitive level as they were prior to 1991.

As of 1994, capabilities vital to a market-type economy, such as credit risk assessment and project appraisal, were lacking. Post-Soviet regulations on capital funds, exposure limits, and lending practices had not been enforced. The technical infrastructure of the banks also required substantial overhaul. In addition, the National Bank had been plagued by scandal; the first director, an Akayev protégé, was linked to several illegal financial operations in 1993 and 1994.

As of 1994, the limitations of the banking system had made it unable to efficiently mobilize and allocate financial resources into the national economy. This failure hindered privatization and other types of economic reform that require substantial amounts of risk capital upon which borrowers can rely. Especially critical were the bad loans held by the three state-owned banks (influenced by government interference in loan decisions, together with poor financial discipline on the part of major enterprises) and eroded capital base. In 1995 the National Bank's outstanding loans to agricultural and industrial enterprises totaled 1 billion som each.

See also

References

Economy of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan

Banking in Kyrgyzstan