Warlord was a comics anthology published weekly in the United Kingdom between 28 September 1974 and 27 September 1986.

Publication history
It was first published in 1974 by D.C. Thomson. The comic was dedicated to wartime adventures and was a popular success, leading IPC Magazines to create a competitor, Battle Picture Weekly, in 1975. Warlord included several stories per issue, initially centred on a character called Lord Peter Flint (Codename: Warlord), a World War II version of the popular spy James Bond.

At the end of 1978 Warlord absorbed D. C. Thomson's action comic Bullet. In total, Warlord ran for twelve years (627 issues), from 1974 until 1986, at which point it was incorporated into the long-running Victor. For the next four years after the comic's demise the publishers produced summer specials, ending in 1991.

Characters and stories included the popular Union Jack Jackson, Spider Wells, Bomber Braddock and Wingless Wonder. Features included True Life War Story and articles on weaponry called Weapons In Action. After Bullet was added to the comic, it featured that publication's main story Fireball — a secret agent who was Lord Peter Flint's nephew. The comic would often include free gifts such as replica military badges and plastic model warplanes. By solving a cryptographic puzzle and paying a small fee, a reader could become a "Warlord Secret Agent" with an identity card and code book, allowing him to decipher secret messages printed in the comic each week (a gimmick originally employed in the 1950s radio series Captain Midnight).

Before the addition of the more generally action-orientated Bullet, Warlord had been specifically geared towards stories and articles about World War II. Much of the language used in the stories was modern, and terms given used to describe the enemy reflected commonly used descriptions. The Allied forces always won in the end, and both Germans and Japanese were frequently negatively stereotyped.

Sometimes the Germans were shown in a heroic light, usually with honourable Wehrmacht or Luftwaffe officers as the heroes, and committed Nazis or SS officers as the bad guys. These tales were usually set on the Eastern Front to ensure the Germans were not shown killing their British or US enemies, the Russians being useful bogeymen.  Comic Strips that followed this model included Iron Annie, about a heroic Junkers Ju 52 'Iron Annie' crew, and Kampfgruppe Falken which followed the exploits of a German penal battalion on the Eastern Front.

List of major characters
Warlord included many stories and characters set mainly in World War II and later conflicts like Korea. Though most of them featured heroes from Allied nations such as the UK and the US, there were some series which took the German point of view.

They included:

Union Jack Jackson: a British Royal Marine serving with the US Marine Corps in the Pacific campaign during World War II. To distinguish himself from his American comrades Sgt. Lonnegan and G.I O'Bannion (when using American equipment) he painted a Union Jack on his helmet, hence the character name. He was often referred to as U.J.J. by his American comrades, and served in the Pacific, Chinese, and European theatres of war. He actually originated in the pages of Hotspur in 1957, debuting as a text feature before becoming a comic strip star in the 'New' Hotspur in 1962.

Not to be confused with Union Jack, a Marvel comics character created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins.

Codename: Warlord: He was a British secret agent and can be considered a World War II James Bond. His real name/cover was Lord Peter Flint, a despised conscientious objector who refused to participate in the war. His usual opponents were the Gestapo, Abwehr and Japanese intelligence, who (despite his cover) seemed to know his true identity and referred to him as "Flint".

His boss in London was the Churchillian (in character and physique) and probably purposefully so, secret service head 'Kingpin' who was to Warlord as 'M' is to James Bond. Warlord's mannerisms and idiom were Edwardian English upper class with such phrases as 'old chap',  'then I'm a Dutchman' and the casual (having just thwarted the Germans single-handedly again) 'toodle pip' (meaning 'goodbye') as he made his usual breathtaking escape to retake the mantle of his alter ego, the stay at home English gentleman, Lord Peter Flint.

Recurring enemies were Karl Schaft, an honourable German Abwehr agent.  He was the mirror image of Flint in that both were patriotic and top agents. Adolf Gruber was very much the stereotyped evil Gestapo agent and had met Flint before the war when he had been a servant for one of Flint's German friends.  A stable accident left Gruber with a limp and he blamed Flint for the accident.

The storyline borrowed from The Scarlet Pimpernel the idea of a seemingly upper-class fop actually being a daring wartime agent. Flint's ability to live in the real world as a flawed human being but hold secret his knowledge of his other 'superhuman' traits (the British 'stiff upper lip') is analogous to the modern era's 'Superman'.

The character 'Fireball' in Warlords sister comic Bullet (who ended up being incorporated into Warlord after Bullet was cancelled) was later revealed to be the nephew of Lord Peter Flint, and an older Flint made occasional guest appearances in the Fireball strip.

An aged Flint later reappeared in the digital Dandy's Retro Active story, as the commander of a superhero team.

Killer Kane: Squadron Leader Kane of the RAF during and after the Battle of Britain. (Not to be confused with Buck Rogers' nemesis of the same name.)
Kampfgruppe Falken: Major Heinz Falken leads a Dirty Dozen-like group of German soldiers from military penal battalions. Heinz Falken was the commanding officer of the battalion.  He was an ex-panzer commander who had been sent to the penal battalion for not carrying out war crimes to please his Nazi commander during the Blitzkrieg campaign of 1940.
Wolverine: French-Canadian Sergeant Revelle leads a mixed crew of Allied soldiers in a M10 Wolverine tank destroyer.
Iron Annie: the adventures of Kurt Stahlmann of the Luftwaffe and his Ju 52 transport plane during World War II.
Kelly's Choppers: Lieutenant Jack Kelly, a United States Air Force helicopter pilot in Korea.
The Best of Enemies: During the Korean War, British Sergeant Tom Wilson forms a tense alliance with Muller, a German with whom he has old scores to settle.
Harrier Squadron: The adventures of an international squadron of pilots flying the Harrier fighter-bomber during a future World War Three style conflict between the democratic Wesfed (Western Federation) and tyrannical Asbloc (Asian Block), thinly disguised versions of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The continuation of an earlier storyline called Holocaust Squadron.
Bligh of the Fastsure: Set in the same world as Harrier Squadron it centres on Royal Navy Captain Bligh, in charge of a flotilla of advanced hydrofoils fighting a guerilla war from the Orkney and Shetland Islands against Asbloc forces occupying Great Britain.
Cassidy: US Navy fighter squadron leader Cassidy fights the Japanese in the Pacific.
Rayker: Afro-American infantry Sergeant Rayker fights against both the Germans and racial discrimination in early 1945 Europe.
Ryker: British Dispatch Rider who remains on Crete following the evacuation and fights a one-man war against the Germans using Zundapp Motorcycle he captured and fitted with 2 PIAT's  from the huge hidden supply dump in a mountain cave which acts as his base and hideout! He sometimes operates with the Cretan Resistance and finally left Crete and returned to England. He was later to return in a second run where he was sent to Norway to assist the Norwegian Resistance this time equipped with a British BSA M20 Motorcycle armed with American Bazookas.
Sgt Heavy: ex-SAS sergeant undertakes secret missions for clients in trouble after setting himself up as a private detective.
Goum: Arab soldier who helps the British fight the Nazis in North Africa.
The Bonzo Express: British Sergeant Pilot Jimmy Kells commands a joint UK-US group of pilots flying the titular aircraft, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

References

External links
 DC Thomson home page
 Website dedicated to British comics and publications

Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom
Defunct British comics
Warlord
Comics about the United States Marine Corps
British comic strips
DC Thomson Comics strips
1974 comics debuts
Magazines established in 1974
Magazines disestablished in 1986
Comics characters introduced in 1974
War comics

Warlord (DC Thomson)


Hans Bernd Gisevius (14 July 1904 – 23 February 1974) was a German diplomat and intelligence officer during the Second World War. A covert opponent of the Nazi regime, he served as a liaison in Zürich between Allen Dulles, station chief for the American OSS, and the German Resistance forces in Germany.

Pre Second World War
Gisevius was born in Arnsberg in the Prussian Province of Westphalia. After law school, he joined the Prussian Interior Ministry in 1933 and was assigned to the newly formed Geheime Staatspolizei, or Gestapo. After joining the Gestapo, he immediately had disagreements with his senior, Rudolf Diels, and was discharged. He continued with police work in the Interior Ministry. When Heinrich Himmler took over Police functions in 1936 in the German Reich, he removed Gisevius from office.

Throughout his time working for the Gestapo, Gisevius described himself as living in constant fear, entering and exiting through the back door, clutching a pistol at his side – all resultant from his misgivings with the terror apparatus to which he was assigned, since according to him, it was like "living in a den of murderers". Gisevius later transferred to the Reich Ministry of the Interior. Although he had no position of power, he maintained connections, notably to Arthur Nebe, that kept him informed of the political background. Gisevius joined the secret opposition to Adolf Hitler, began gathering evidence of Nazi crimes (for use in a later prosecution) and attempted to restrain the increasing power of  Himmler and the SS. He maintained links with Hans Oster and Hjalmar Schacht.

Second World War

When the Second World War started, Gisevius joined the German intelligence service, the Abwehr, which was headed by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who was secretly an opponent of Hitler. Canaris had surrounded himself with Wehrmacht officers opposed to Hitler and he welcomed Gisevius into this group. Working from the consulate in Zürich, Hans Gisevius was involved in secret talks with the Vatican. Canaris arranged for appointment of Gisevius as Vice Consul in Switzerland, where Gisevius met with Allen Dulles in 1943 and agreed to serve as a liaison for the German opposition to Hitler, an assembly which counted among its members General Ludwig Beck, Abwehr Chief Canaris, and Mayor Carl Goerdeler of Leipzig. Several members of the conspiratorial circle against Hitler including Gisevius, "all kept homes within easy walking distance of each other." According to Gisevius, the original plot to kill Hitler earlier (namely, before the acquiescence of Great Britain over the Sudetenland) was utterly derailed by Neville Chamberlain whose actions he claims "saved Hitler."

Upon returning to Germany, he was investigated by the Gestapo, but released. In 1944, after the failed 20 July assassination attempt against Hitler, Gisevius first hid at the home of his future wife, the Swiss national Gerda Woog, and fled to Switzerland in 1945, making him one of the few conspirators to survive the war. There, he contacted the Swiss authorities.

Peter Hoffmann's biography of Hitler assassination conspirator Claus von Stauffenberg ("Stauffenberg, A Family History," 1992) indicates that after the failure of Stauffenberg's bomb plot in July 1944, Gisevius went into hiding until 23 January 1945, when he escaped to Switzerland by using a passport that had belonged to Carl Deichmann, a brother-in-law of German Count Helmuth James von Moltke, who was a specialist in international law serving in the legal branch of the Foreign Countries Group of the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, "Supreme Command of the Armed Forces").  Through the help of the American Allen Dulles in Berne, Switzerland and of the German Legation (in Berne)'s Georg Federer, the passport was modified and a visa obtained for Gisevius that enabled him to escape to Spain.

Later life
Gisevius served as a key witness for the defence at the Nuremberg trials when he was called as a witness by defendants Hjalmar Schacht and Wilhelm Frick. His testimony was crucial in securing the acquittal of Schacht on all counts, but Frick was found guilty and executed. His testimony was also particularly damaging to Hermann Göring, Wilhelm Keitel and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, who were all convicted and sentenced to death.

His autobiography, Bis zum bitteren Ende ("To the Bitter End"), published by Wasmuth in 1948, offered a sharp indictment of both the Nazi regime, many of whose leading members Gisevius knew personally, and the German people. Gisevius claimed that the latter pretended not to know about the atrocities being committed in their name. At the same time, the book also offers an insider's account of the German resistance movement.

In 1946, Gisevius was charged and acquitted by the Swiss authorities in a trial for espionage. Gisevius was later criticised as he diminished the contributions of other members (such as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg) of the opposition to Hitler. Gisevius wrote in his 1948 book that he considered SS Chief Himmler somewhat of a hypocrite whereas he saw Reinhard Heydrich as one who epitomised Nazi ideals. In the early 1950s, he moved to the United States and lived in Dallas, Texas, but soon returned and lived in Switzerland. Gisevius died in Müllheim in Baden-Württemberg in 1974.

Works
 (Translated in English editions as 'To the Bitter End', and more recently republished in English as "Valkyrie" to capitalize on the film of the same name)
 (The title means Where is Nebe?, Nebe being Arthur Nebe)

Notes

References
 Blandford, Edmund L. SS Intelligence: The Nazi Secret Service. Edison, NJ: Castle, 2001.
 Conot, Robert E. Justice at Nuremberg. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc., 1993.
 Gisevius, Hans Bernd. To the Bitter End. London: Jonathan Cape Publishing, 1948.
 Gisiger C. Ein sensationeller Prozess? Das militärgerichtliche Strafverfahren gegen Eduard von der Heydt, Hans Bernd Gisevius und Josef Steegman vor dem Divisionsgericht 6 (1946–1948). Historisches Seminar University Zürich, October 2005.
 Kitchen, Martin. Nazi Germany at War. London & New York: Routledge, 1994.
 Guido Knopp. Hitler's Warriors – Episode 6: Canaris – The Master Spy (ZDF/History Channel documentary, 2005)
 Reitlinger, Gerald. The SS: Alibi of a Nation, 1922–1945. New York: Da Capo Press, 1989.
 Giebeler, Marcus: Die Kontroverse um den Reichstagsbrand. Quellenprobleme und historiographische Paradigmen. Martin Meidenbauer, München 2010,  (mit Kurzbiographie zu Gisevius, S. 272–274)
 Wildt, Michael: Generation des Unbedingten. Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes. Hamburger Edition, Hamburg 2003,  (zugleich Habilitationsschrift, Universität Hannover 2001)

1904 births
1974 deaths
Abwehr personnel of World War II
German military personnel of World War II
Members of the 20 July plot
People from Arnsberg
People from the Province of Westphalia
People of the Office of Strategic Services
World War II espionage
Gestapo personnel
Nazi Party members
Witnesses to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg

Hans Bernd Gisevius


Naselle is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pacific County, Washington, United States located about 23 miles (37 km) from the mouth of the Columbia River. The population was 419 at the 2010 census. The valley's Naselle River flows west into nearby Willapa Bay and then into the Pacific Ocean. Close about the town lie the evergreen-covered Willapa Hills. The river's name has been spelled Nasel and Nasal. An early settler along the river called it the Kenebec. The name comes from the Nisal Indians, a Chinookan tribe formerly residing on the river.

History

The community first flourished as a logging town, and logging remains the dominant private industry. Settled primarily by Finnish and Scandinavian immigrants, the community has maintained this cultural heritage despite a declining percentage of traditional family names. Since 1982, Naselle has hosted a "Finnish-American Folk Festival" every other year, and in 2006 co-hosted, with the nearby city of Astoria, Oregon, the national festival FinnFest USA.

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Naselle has an Oceanic climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 377 people, 160 households, and 110 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 164.6 people per square mile (63.6/km2). There were 184 housing units at an average density of 80.3/sq mi (31.0/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.57% White, 0.27% African American, 2.12% Native American, 0.53% Asian, and 4.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.53% of the population. 33.2% were of Finnish, 10.0% German, 7.9% Irish and 7.5% American ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 160 households, out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,769, and the median income for a family was $40,250. Males had a median income of $36,875 versus $18,125 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,714. About 4.0% of families and 4.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.5% of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Jennifer L. Holm's Newbery Honor-winning novel Our Only May Amelia is set in pioneer Naselle, then spelled "Nasel", and is based on Holm family documents of life as a Finnish-American frontier family.

Notable people

 Oscar Wirkkala, logger and inventor
 Wilho Saari, kantele, performer and teacher
 Rex Ziak, historian
 Tobi Vail, independent musician, music critic and feminist

See also
 Willapa Bay
 Steamboats of Willapa Bay

References

Census-designated places in Pacific County, Washington
Census-designated places in Washington (state)

Naselle, Washington


Gypsy 83 is an American 2001 drama film, written and directed by Todd Stephens. The film is about two young goths, Gypsy and Clive, who travel to New York for an annual festival celebrating their idol, Stevie Nicks.

Filming took place in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Plot
25 year old Gypsy Vale (Sara Rue) and 18 year old Clive Webb (Kett Turton) are two goths living in Sandusky, Ohio. Gypsy's parents, Ray (John Doe) and Velvet (Marlene Wallace), once were in a band together, and Gypsy now aspires to be a famous singer, like her idol, Stevie Nicks. She is hesitant, because of the disappearance of her mother, to leave her father alone in Sandusky to pursue her dreams.

While checking updates on a Stevie Nicks fansite, Clive discovers the Night of a Thousand Stevies event in New York. After a long and heated discussion with Gypsy, her father reveals that her mother didn't just disappear, or die: she left to follow her dream of becoming a famous singer. Despite this, Clive finally convinces Gypsy to go to New York.

Along the way, Gypsy and Clive encounter a diverse host of characters and obstacles. They pick up a hitchhiker named Zechariah, who claims he is running away from the Amish life. Together, the three decide to stop and spend the night at a rest stop. While there, Clive expresses his attraction for Zechariah, but Zechariah says that he's attracted to Gypsy. Clive is embarrassed and runs away. Gypsy is surprised and flattered and as a result, she and Zechariah end up sleeping together. Afterward, Zechariah says that he's made a mistake and needs to return home.

Enraged, Gypsy throws him out of the bathroom where she is staying at the rest stop. Meanwhile, Clive is accosted in secret by Troy, who is also spending the night at the rest stop with his fraternity brothers, and the two have a sexual encounter.

The next morning, while Gypsy and Clive are trying to console each other and make sense out of the events of the previous night, the two are egged and mocked by the fraternity brothers as they leave the rest area while Troy sits silently. They miss the auditions for the Night of a Thousand Stevies, and Gypsy learns that her mother committed suicide four years earlier.

The sympathetic Mistress of Ceremonies, also her mother's best friend when she was in New York, allows Gypsy to perform a song she wrote for her mother at the end of the show. In the end, Gypsy stays in New York to pursue her musical aspirations like her mother, and Clive returns to Sandusky to finish high school but plans to come back to New York after he graduates.

Cast
 Sara Rue as Gypsy Vale
 Kett Turton as Clive Webb
 Karen Black as Bambi LeBleau, a retired singer
 John Doe as Ray Vale, Gypsy's father
 Marlene Wallace as Velvet Vale, Gypsy's mother
 Anson Scoville as Zechariah Peachy, an Amish runaway
 Paulo Costanzo as Troy, a college frat boy
 Carolyn Baeumler as Lois
 Stephanie McVay as Polly Pearl
 Amanda Talbot as Connie
 Vera Beren as Empress Chi Chi Valenti, a goth club matron
 Andersen Gabrych as Banning

Music
The film's original music was composed by Marty Beller. The soundtrack features well known icons of the gothic subculture, such as The Cure, Claire Voyant, and electronic music artists Velvet Acid Christ and Apoptygma Berzerk.There is also a cover of famous song of Stevie Nicks called "Talk to me" by another gothic band Diva Destruction.

Reception

Awards and nominations
Wins
L.A. Outfest
 Grand Jury Award – Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film (Kett Turton) (Tied with Paul Dano in L.I.E. (2001))
Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
 Award for Excellence – Best New Director (Todd Stephens)
Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
 Audience Award – Best Feature Film (Todd Stephens)
Toronto Inside Out Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival
 Audience Award – Best Feature Film or Video (Todd Stephens)

Nominations
Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
 Best Feature Film (Todd Stephens)

References

External links

2001 films
2000s buddy drama films
2001 drama films
2001 independent films
2001 LGBT-related films
2000s drama road movies
American buddy drama films
American coming-of-age drama films
American independent films
American LGBT-related films
American drama road movies
2001 directorial debut films
2000s English-language films
Films set in Ohio
Films shot in Ohio
LGBT-related coming-of-age films
LGBT-related drama films
Amish in films
Films about singers
Gay-related films
2000s coming-of-age drama films
2000s American films
English-language drama films

Gypsy 83


Aztec mythology is the mythology of the Aztec civilization in Mexico. It was the basis on which they made a working and advanced society. They took some ideas from the Toltec and Mayans to create their advanced culture. Their empire lasted from the 14th century until the Spanish took over.

The Aztecs believed the universe went through four phases. They called them suns. They believed that they lived in the fifth sun. The gods ended each sun with a huge tragedy and then created a new world. In the first sun, the world was destroyed by jaguars. In the second, the world was destroyed by a storm. In the third sun, the earth was destroyed by a fire rain. At the end of the fourth, the world was destroyed by a huge flood. They believed that the fifth sun would end with a huge earthquake.

In their religion they worshipped many gods and goddesses. They even made human sacrifices. There were three parts of the body that they considered the most powerful: the head, the heart, and the liver.

Some gods and goddesses in Aztec mythology are Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca, and Xochiquetzal.

References
Leonard, Scott A. "Mythology." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web.  1 Apr. 2014.
Carrasco, Davíd. "Aztec." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2014. Web.  1 Apr. 2014.

Mythology
Aztec

Aztec mythology


Carolyn Hurless (November 24, 1934 – February 13, 1987) was an American astronomer and an American Association of Variable Star Observers merit award winner. She made an estimated 78,876 astronomical observations in her lifetime.

Life
Carolyn Hurless was born in Lima, Ohio on November 24, 1934 to Frank R. Klaserner and Charlotte Jane Foster Klaserner. At the age of 13, she started to take an interest in astronomy through her love of science fiction. She was invited to join the Lima Astronomy Club by the club president, Herbert Speer, after he saw her name on astronomy books checked out from the library. Soon afterwards, Hurless made her own 8-inch reflector telescope, which had a very short focal length and a compact tube assembly with a simple mounting that could be easily moved. She referred to her telescope as "feminine" because of its ease of transport. Many of her observations were made with this very telescope. Around the same time, Hurless started to study under AAVSO observer, Leslie Peltier. Hurless passed on Peltier's knowledge to other astronomers by becoming a mentor and by writing monthly newsletters. Eventually, she published her own newsletter, Variable Views, for 22 years. She also was a councilor for AAVSO for two years, and a 2nd Vice President of the council for six years.

Astronomical Observations
Hurless's main interest was tracing out minimums in light curves of LPV's that were below a magnitude of 14. These observations were nicknamed "inner sanctum" observations and were the focus of her monthly newsletter. She contributed observations to a paper published by Bornhurst on differences between light curves of individual star eclipses. Hurless, along with Peltier, Cragg, Ford, and Bornhurst made 767 observations of 29 individual eclipses, which were then compiled into a composite phase plot. The data suggested a "reflection effect observed rarely before primary eclipse and the indication of a double minimum often suspected during the eclipse". Hurless advocated for a trick she called "heavy breathing" in an effort to detect very faint variable stars, which she learned from her mentor, Leslie Peltier. The technique consisted of hyperventilating through the nose before putting the eye to the telescope eyepiece. This would cause a rush of oxygen to the brain and eyes, affecting enhanced alertness. Then, while scanning the field, breathing should slow, still through the nose, until focusing on a target, when breath should again speed up.

Aside from those involving light curves, many of Hurless' contributions throughout her career dealt with the discovery and observation of variable stars, a status that categorizes stars whose visibility varies based on either the brilliance of the star itself (intrinsic) or on the amount of emitted visible light that reaches Earth's atmosphere (extrinsic). Her first variable observation captured SS Cygni, a dwarf nova star in the constellation Cygnus.

Dwarf novae are a class of intrinsic variable stars of the cataclysmic variety, meaning their brilliance changes as a result of the fluctuating nature of the energy generated by thermonuclear interactions. Since SS Cyg's discovery in 1896, it has undergone an estimated 800 cataclysmic outbursts. Hurless observed one such outburst in 1959 under the guidance of Peltier with a considerably large magnitude of 8.1-12.0.

Variable Views Newsletter

The original purpose for Variable Views was to serve as a forum where observers could describe themselves and their observations. The newsletter became popular, with increasing length of entries and articles, eventually including the presentation of entire published articles.  Subscribers were mostly other active observers who would occasionally gather at the Hurless' house for summer meetings. Hurless eventually ended the newsletter because it became too long with too many subscribers and the costs of producing it became too burdensome.

Personal life
Other than being an astronomer, Hurless was a full-time music teacher along with her husband, Don Hurless. After her death, Don never remarried and lived in their house until his death on June 15, 2015.

Honors and awards
In 1981, an asteroid was discovered by Brian Skiff and was named 3434 Hurless in her honor. In 2012, AAVSO also honored Hurless by launching and naming their four pilot programs The Carolyn Hurless Online Institute for Continuing Education (CHOICE). These pilot programs were the first step towards creating an online education center, which was a goal left behind by Hurless.

Obituary
Mattei, Janet: Carolyn J. Hurless, 1934 - 1987: AAVSO's enthusiastic ambassador. Journal of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 35 - 36.

References

External links
 Asteroid 3434 Hurless

1934 births
1987 deaths
American women astronomers
People from Lima, Ohio

Carolyn Hurless


Zaya Pandita or Namkhaijamts (1599–1662) was a Buddhist missionary priest and scholar of Oirat origin who is the most prominent Oirat Buddhist scholar. Among his accomplishments is the invention of the Clear Script.

Biography
Zaya Pandita was the fifth son of Babakhan, a minor Khoshut prince. After Babakhan converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the early 17th century, he, like many other Oirat princes, wished for one of his sons to enter the Buddhist clergy. In pursuit of his wish, Babakhan chose Zaya to become a śrāmaṇera ("novice monk"). In 1615, Zaya journeyed to Lhasa where he would study and practice Buddhism, including study under the guidance of the Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen, 4th Panchen Lama.

In 1638, Zaya Pandita left Tibet at the direction of the Panchen Lama to conduct missionary work among the Mongols. One year later in 1640, he assisted Erdeni Batur, Khun Taiyishi of the Choros (Oirats) tribe, in assembling a pan-Mongol conference between the Oirat and the Khalkha Mongols. The purpose of the conference was to encourage the formation of a united Mongolian front against potential external enemies, such as the Kazakhs, Manchus, and Russians and to settle all internal matters  peacefully. The conference produced a code, which provided protection from foreign aggression to both the Oirat and the Khalkha and guaranteed the free movement of people throughout Mongol land.

When not engaged in diplomacy between the Oirat and the Khalkha, Zaya Pandita spread Tibetan Buddhism to the Oirats, the Khalkha and even the Kalmyk people in far away Russia. In furtherance of his missionary work, Zaya Pandita composed a new alphabet, based on the traditional Mongolian alphabet, called "Clear script" (todo bichig) to transcribe the Oirat language as it is pronounced. By doing so, Zaya Pandita eliminated the ambiguities of the traditional Mongolian alphabet.

From the time Zaya Pandita developed the Clear Script in 1648 until his death in 1662, he translated approximately 186 Buddhist texts from Tibetan language to the Oirat language while still serving the religious needs of the Oirat tribes in Dzungaria.

The todo bichig script is still used by Oirats in Xinjiang with slight revisions, and is taught alongside standard classical written Mongolian in that region.

References
Halkovic, Jr., Stephen A. The Mongols of the West, Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, Volume 148, Larry Moses, Editor, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, 1985.

1599 births
1662 deaths
Tibetan Buddhist priests from Kalmykia
Lamas
Creators of writing systems
Buddhist missionaries
Oirats
Missionary linguists

Zaya Pandita


A thermodynamic cycle is a series of thermodynamic processes which returns a system to its initial state. Properties depend only on the thermodynamic state and thus do not change over a cycle. Variables such as heat and work are not zero over a cycle, but rather depend on the process. The first law of thermodynamics dictates that the net heat input is equal to the net work output over any cycle. The repeating nature of the process path allows for continuous operation, making the cycle an important concept in thermodynamics.

If the cyclic process moves clockwise around the loop, then it represents a heat engine, and W will be positive.  If it moves counterclockwise then it represents a heat pump, and W will be negative.

Classes
Two primary classes of thermodynamic cycles are power cycles and heat pump cycles. Power cycles are cycles which convert some heat input into a mechanical work output, while heat pump cycles transfer heat from low to high temperatures using mechanical work input.

Thermodynamic power cycles

Thermodynamic power cycles are the basis for the operation of heat engines, which supply most of the world's electric power and run almost all motor vehicles. Power cycles can be divided according to the type of heat engine they seek to model. The most common cycles that model internal combustion engines are the Otto cycle, which models gasoline engines and the Diesel cycle, which models diesel engines. Cycles that model external combustion engine include the Brayton cycle, which models gas turbines, and the Rankine cycle, which models steam turbines.

Related pages
 Entropy
 Heat engine

References
 Halliday, Resnick & Walker. Fundamentals of Physics, 5th edition. John Wiley & Sons, 1997.  Chapter 21, Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Other websites

Educational software links:
Thermodynamic Cycle Simulation Software

Thermodynamics

Thermodynamic cycle


Reverend Robert Taylor (18 August 1784 – September 1844), was an early 19th-century Radical, a clergyman turned freethinker. His "Infidel home missionary tour" was an incident in Charles Darwin's education, leaving Darwin with a memory of "the Devil's Chaplain" as a warning of the dangers of dissent from Church of England doctrine.

Early life
He was the sixth son of John and Elizabeth Taylor, born at Walnut Tree House, Edmonton, London, on 18 August 1784. His father, an ironmonger in Fenchurch Street, London, died when he was young, leaving him under the guardianship of his uncle, Edward Farmer Taylor of Chicken Hall, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. Having been at school under John Adams at Edmonton, he was articled as house pupil to Samuel Partridge, then house surgeon at the Birmingham General Hospital. In Birmingham Taylor underwent a religious conversion after hearing Edward Burn preach.

In 1805 Taylor continued as a medical student, walking Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals in London under Sir Astley Paston Cooper and Henry Cline, and was admitted a member of the College of Surgeons in 1807. Under the influence of Thomas Cotterill, perpetual curate of Lane End, Staffordshire, he decided to study for the church.

Qualification and turn to anti-clericalism
Taylor studied at St John's College, Cambridge for three years to qualify as a clergyman. At that time the University of Cambridge was dominated by the established Church of England and most students were preparing for positions in the Anglican church. The Rev. Charles Simeon got Taylor his first curacy, but five years after ordination Taylor abandoned Orthodox Christianity for evangelism and then eccentric anti-clericalism.

Taylor set up a Christian Evidence Society and lectured in London pubs dressed in elaborate vestments, attacking the Anglican liturgy and the barbarities of the Establishment for what he called its "Pagan creed". At this time blasphemy was a criminal offence against the faith "by law established", and he was sentenced to a year in gaol. In his cell he wrote The Diegesis, attacking Christianity on the basis of comparative mythology and attempting to expound it as a scheme of solar myths.

He was an advocate of the Christ myth theory and has been described as a "staunch defender of the mythicist thesis".

Infidel home missionary tour
Upon his release, with his book newly published, he joined forces with the Radical Richard Carlile for an "infidel home missionary tour". On Thursday 21 May 1829, they arrived in Cambridge, strolled round the colleges, and in the evening attended Holy Trinity Church for a hell-fire sermon by the Rev. Simeon, which they sneered at as "one of the worst imaginable for the morals of mankind".

Next day they rented lodgings for a fortnight above a print shop in Rose Crescent from the unsuspecting landlord William Smith, as their "Infidel Head-Quarters". By noon they had sent a printed challenge to the vice-chancellor, the leading doctors of Divinity, the heads of all the colleges and the Rev. Simeon:

They then went around the University precincts, with Taylor immaculately dressed in university cap and gown greeting old friends, giving out circulars and seeking out freethinkers.

On the Saturday morning an anticipated article about their mission failed to appear in the morning paper. The university proctors who were in charge of discipline interrogated the landlord, then demanded his lodging-house licence. Smith refused to hand it over, and appealed to the Vice-Chancellor, "most deferentially" asking the reason as he had not violated any regulations, and the licence had been granted its annual renewal the day before, but received no reply. The Vice-Chancellor and Proctors revoked the licence and made the lodgings out of bounds, posting a notice in the butteries of all the colleges to warn the students, among them Charles Darwin, then in his second year.

The Radical pair responded to this "paltry spite" the next day by putting a public notice on the door of the University Library, challenging a university that "punishes the innocent... crushes the weak... oppresses [and] persecutes", taking away half the livelihood of Smith, with his wife and six children. On Monday all the students were talking about this iniquitous situation, and a group of "young men" prepared vigilante action against the Radicals to avenge the landlord. Carlile and Taylor heard of this, and on Tuesday apologised to the landlord, prodded the authorities to restore his licence, and slipped out of town. They were satisfied that they had uncovered "about fifty... young collegians, who were somewhat bold in vowing Infidelity among each other", though few would "break... the shackles" of their education and they would have "a most painful conflict to endure."

Their tour included Lancashire, and at a meeting in Bolton they met Eliza Sharples, who was to continue propagating their message in performances at the Rotunda while they were imprisoned.

The Devil's Chaplain
Amidst public unrest in July 1830 when Charles X of France was deposed by middle-class republicans and given refuge in England by the Tory government of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Carlile gave Taylor a platform in the Blackfriars Rotunda, a ramshackle building on the south bank of the River Thames where republican atheists gathered. Several times a week Taylor dressed in "canonicals", staged infidel melodramas, preaching bombastic sermons to artisans. Two Sunday sermons on "The Devil" caused particular outrage when he pronounced "God and the Devil... to be but one and the self-same being... Hell and Hell-fire... are, in the original, nothing more than names and titles of the Supreme God." He was then dubbed "The Devil's Chaplain", and thousands of copies of his ceremonies were circulated in a seditious publication, The Devil's Pulpit. As the Tory government collapsed in November, Taylor preached against the establishment while a revolutionary tricolour flew from the roof of The Rotunda.

At the start of April 1831 Taylor was again indicted for blasphemy over two Easter sermons in the last days of The Rotunda. He was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Horsemonger Lane Gaol whence he sent protesting letters to The Times, but his pleas were snubbed by the Home Secretary William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. In a letter to W. Watts, Taylor described his physical decline and fear that "the Christians have determined to kill me... I never expect to leave this Bastile but Heels foremost. Your greatly obliged Murdered Friend, Robert Taylor." (Despite his fears, he lived until 1844. The letter is now in the possession of Larry M. Wright, author of Christianity Astrology and Myth.)

By January 1832 a "new occupation of the building" was promoted around London. From prison Taylor wrote that "the spirit of the Rotunda lives", and "it opens with new spirit, with new attraction, with all that is lovely and virtuous in woman to grace it." From 9 February Eliza Sharples appeared as "Isis", the "Lady of the Rotunda", giving theatrically presented lectures which energetically decried Christianity, the priesthood, and the political establishment. In the first lecture she said she was "neither of Taylor nor Carlisle; neither of Owen nor St Simon", but would "be the little busy bee extracting honey from all their doctrines". There were soon claims that her lectures were, at least in part, written by Taylor and Carlisle. Her fiery presentations initially attracted attention, but interest fell away and her lectures finished at the end of April.

Later life
In 1833 Taylor married an elderly lady of means, but was sued for breach of promise by Georgiana Richards, housekeeper to the Blackfriars Rotunda. To avoid paying £250 damages awarded to Richards, he moved to France and practised as a surgeon at Tours.

Darwin recalls Taylor
Taylor would be remembered by Charles Darwin as a warning example of a social pariah. In 1857 as he worked towards the publication of his theory he wrote "What a book a Devil's Chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low & horridly cruel works of Nature!" in what Desmond and Moore argue is a reference to Taylor's nickname. However the term "the Devil's Chaplain" goes back to Geoffrey Chaucer who has his Parson say "Flatereres been the develes chapelleyns, that syngen evere placebo."

As the reaction to Darwin's theory developed in March 1860 he described his close ally Thomas Huxley as his "good and kind agent for the propagation of the Gospel – i.e. the devil's gospel."

Publications
Syntagma of the Evidence of the Christian Religion (1828)
The Diegesis: Being a Discovery of the Origin, Evidences, and Early History of Christianity, Never Yet Before or Elsewhere So Fully and Faithfully Set Forth (1829, 1860)
Thirteen Astro-Theological Sermons (1848)
Devil's Pulpit: Or Astro-Theological Sermons (1857)

See also
Rotunda radicals

References

Sources

Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin (London: Michael Joseph, the Penguin Group, 1991).
Julian Browning Autographs Religion & Philosophy, note on Autograph Letter, Signed, to W.Watts, 4 November 1831.
Larry M. Wright, 'Christianity Astrology and Myth',(USA, The Oak Hill Free Press, PO box: 61274, Pasadena, California, CA 911116).

External links
Diegesis

1784 births
1844 deaths
18th-century English people
19th-century English Anglican priests
19th-century English writers
19th-century atheists
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
British atheism activists
Christ myth theory proponents
Comparative mythologists
British critics of Christianity
English atheists
English former Christians
English sceptics
Freethought writers
People from Edmonton, London
British radicals

Robert Taylor (Radical)


Coastal erosion is a term for the removal of beaches or dunes  by waves, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage.  Waves, caused by storms and wind cause coastal erosion. On rocky coasts, coastal erosion results in dramatic rock formations in areas where the coastline contains rock layers. Softer areas become eroded much faster than harder ones, which can cause things like tunnels, bridges, columns, and pillars.

Other websites
Coastal Erosion Information from the Coastal Ocean Institute
Environment Agency guide to coastal erosion

Geology
Erosion
Erosion

Beach erosion


Thomas Edward Collcutt (16 March 1840 – 7 October 1924) was  an English architect in the Victorian era who designed several important buildings in London including the Savoy Hotel, Lloyd's Register of Shipping and the Palace Theatre.

Early life

Collcutt was born in Oxford, England, the son of James Collcutt, a servant at St John's College, and his wife, Emma, née Blake. He attended the Oxford Diocesan School.

Career
Collcutt was apprenticed to the London architect R. E. Armstrong, and then employed by the partnership Miles and Murgatroyd. He began working in the establishment of George Edmund Street, with Richard Norman Shaw, before setting up his own practice in 1873 and achieving recognition, winning the Wakefield Town Hall competition in 1877, the Grand Prix for Architecture at the Paris International Exposition in 1889, and the Royal Gold Medal in 1902. He was a Fellow of  the Royal Institute of British Architects, and served as its president from 1906 to 1908. He was a member of the Société Centrale d'Architecture de Belgique, and the Société des Artistes Français.

His most important building in London was the Imperial Institute (1887–93), of which only the central tower remains, now part of Imperial College.  In 1899 Collcutt designed the Lloyd's Register of Shipping Building in London, extensively decorated with allegorical sculpture by George Frampton and a major landmark of the New Sculpture movement.

For Richard D'Oyly Carte, Collcutt designed the Savoy Hotel, which has been subsequently altered, and the Palace Theatre, London (1889) in Cambridge Circus, Charing Cross Road, which was built as the Royal English Opera House.  Sir Arthur Sullivan's grand opera, Ivanhoe, was the first production at the theatre.  Collcutt also designed the Bechstein piano showrooms at 40 Wigmore Street (1889) and the Wigmore Hall (1901).  The Palace Theatre and the Wigmore Hall remain essentially in their original forms. Both have strong pale buff terracotta ornamentation, characteristic of  Collcutt's work.

RIBA
Both as president of the RIBA (1906–1908), and later, the causes he promoted included a scheme to move  Charing Cross railway terminus to the south bank of the Thames, and another to improve housing conditions for the working classes by replacing slums with towers of flats eight or ten storeys high.

Death
Collcutt died in Southampton on 7 October 1924 at the age of 84.

Gallery

Notes

References
Thomas E. Collcutt biography - Historic Fresno

1840 births
1924 deaths
Architects from Oxford
People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects

T. E. Collcutt


The hall boy or hallboy was the lowest ranked male domestic worker on the staff of a great house. Usually a boy or young teenager, his name derived from the fact that his main duties were in the servants' hall, where he may also have slept.

Like his female counterpart, the scullery maid, the hall boy would have been expected to work up to 16 hours per day, seven days per week.  His duties were often among the most disagreeable in the house, such as emptying chamber pots for the higher-ranking servants, and (in the absence of a boot boy) cleaning the boots.

A hall boy could rise through the ranks and, if fortunate, eventually become a valet or butler.  Arthur Inch, butler technical consultant for the film Gosford Park, stated in an interview that he began his life in service as a hall boy at the age of 15.

References

Domestic work

Hall boy


"A Defence of Common Sense" is a 1925 essay by philosopher G. E. Moore. In it, he attempts to refute absolute skepticism (or nihilism) by arguing that at least some of our established beliefs about the world are absolutely certain, so they can be legitimately called "facts". Moore argues that these beliefs are common sense.

Summary
In section one, he argues that he has certain knowledge of a number of truisms, such as "My body has existed continuously on or near the earth, at various distances from or in contact with other existing things, including other living human beings", "I am a human being", and "My body existed yesterday".

In section two, he argues that there is a distinction between mental facts and physical facts. He says there is no good reason to believe, as many philosophers of his time did, that every physical fact is logically dependent on mental facts, or that every physical fact is causally dependent on mental facts.  An example of a physical fact is "The mantelpiece is at present nearer to this body than that bookcase is". Mental facts include "I am conscious now" and "I am seeing something now".

In section three, he affirms that not only does he not think there are good reasons for believing that all material objects were created by God, but neither does common sense give reasons to think that God exists at all or that there is an afterlife.

The fourth section considers how common sense propositions like "Here is my hand" are to be analysed. Moore considers three possibilities that occur to him for how what we know in these cases is related to what we know about our sense-data, i.e. what he sees when looking at his hand. Moore concludes that we are absolutely certain about the common sense belief, but that no analysis of the propositions has been offered that is even close to being certain.

The fifth section is an examination of the problem of other minds, the idea that one can not be certain that other minds exist. Moore argues that "there are other 'selves'", but explains why this question has baffled philosophers. In other words, the sense data that he perceives through his senses are facts about the interaction of the external world and himself, but he (and other philosophers) do not know how to analyze these interactions.

External links
 "A defence of common sense", published in Contemporary British Philosophy (2nd series), ed. J. H. Muirhead, 1925. Reprinted in G. E. Moore, Philosophical Papers (1959). .

1925 essays
Analytic philosophy literature
Cognitive science literature
Contemporary philosophical literature
Epistemology literature
Epistemology of religion
Philosophy of religion literature
Philosophy of mind literature
Philosophy essays

A Defence of Common Sense


La Nature (English: Nature) was a French language magazine aimed at the popularization of science established in 1873 by French scientist and adventurer Gaston Tissandier. The magazine also received an enormous amount of time, effort, and contributions from his brother, Albert Tissandier.

Evolution

The beginning
From 1873 to 1914, each year's volume started at the beginning of December. The second six-month period began with the first issue in June. Starting in 1915, La Nature'''s publishing year was brought in sync with the calendar year.

A weekly magazine until the 1920s, it became first fortnightly and then monthly in 1948.

Second World War
During the Second World War, La Nature was published only erratically. The first interruption in publishing lasted from September 15 to December 15, 1939, with only an additional six issues published during all of 1940. 1941 saw 12 issues published, on the 15th of each month. There were other suspensions in publication, such that only 26 issues were published between 1942 and 1945. The magazine returned to its pre-war biweekly schedule in 1945.

Name changes and merger
In 1961, La Nature changed its name to La Nature Science Progrès (loosely Nature Magazine: Advances in Science) then in 1963 to Science Progrès La Nature (Advances in Science: Nature Magazine) before becoming Science Progrès Découverte (Advances in Science Discovered) in 1969. Finally, in 1972, La Nature merged with the scientific magazine La Recherche, which is still in print today.

Editors-in-chief
The following have been editor-in-chief of the magazine:
 Gaston Tissandier
 Henri de Parville
 E.-A. Martel
 Jules Laffargue
 L. de Launay
 André Troller
 Paul Ostoya (1957-1969)

References
 Manuel Chemineau : Généalogies et fortunes de LA NATURE. Repérages pour l'étude réflexive d'une revue de vulgarisation scientifique du XIXe siècle. Thesis, University of Vienna 2005
 Summaries and history of La Nature

External links
 La Nature, complete year runs 1873—1905, digitized by Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, ParisThis article incorporates text from the French language Wikipedia article'' La Nature.

1873 establishments in France
1972 disestablishments in France
Defunct magazines published in France
French-language magazines
Magazines established in 1873
Magazines disestablished in 1972
Monthly magazines published in France
Popular science magazines

La Nature


Beurre monté refers to melted butter that remains emulsified, even at temperatures higher than that at which butter usually breaks down. Beurre monté may refer either to the melted butter sauce itself, or to the method of making it.

Butter is an emulsion of about 2% milk solids, 80% milk fats (clarified butter), and about 18% water. At , butter normally breaks down into its components parts, but in a beurre monté, the butter is heated in such a way that the butter can stay emulsified even up to . It can then be used in many ways, including as a sauce, as an ingredient for other sauces, as a poaching medium, or as a resting medium for cooked meat.

To make a beurre monté, boil a very small quantity of water, i.e. 15–60 ml (1–4 tablespoons). Once water has come to a boil, turn the heat down and start whisking the cold butter into the water, one or two chunks at a time. Add more butter whenever the chunks have melted. Once the emulsion is started, more butter can be added at a time. Continue adding butter while whisking until one has the desired quantity of beurre monté. The beurre monté must then be held warm, but under  or else it will break.

See also

 List of sauces
 Beurre noisette

External links

 Beurre Monté: The Workhorse Sauce from The French Laundry Cookbook
 Lobster Glossary definition of beurre monté

White sauces
French sauces
Butter

Beurre monté


Queanbeyan is a  city in New South Wales, Australia. It is also the local government area called Queanbeyan City Council. It is very close to the Australian federal capital city of Canberra. It is really now a part of the capital city as it is on the Australian Capital Territory border and is only  from Canberra's CBD. The border itself is marked by a railway line. The Queanbeyan River flows through Queanbeyan, near the centre of the city.

History
The town grew from a farm owned by ex-convict inn keeper, Timothy Beard. It was on the banks of the Molonglo River. The original name was Quinbean which means "clear waters".

Queanbeyan became a township in 1838. There were about 50 people living there. Some of the important historic buildings still standing were built in the early days. Traces of gold were found in 1851. There were also some lead and silver mines. Settlers were often robbed by bushrangers including John Tennant, Jacky Jacky, Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall. In 1836, the government built a Post Office at Queanbeyan.

The first bank was opened in Queanbeyan on 19 September, 1859. This was the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited which is now part of the National Australia Bank. The Golden Age now called The Queanbeyan Age was Queanbeyan's first newspaper started in 1860 by John Gale. In 1880 John James Wright, the first mayor of Queanbeyan, built a house on the banks of the Queanbeyan River. In 1982 house became the Queanbeyan Art Centre.

The railway reached Queanbeyan railway station in 1887 and it became the junction for the lines going to Canberra and Bombala. There are now two trains a day, the Countrylink Xplorer service between Canberra and Sydney.

Queanbeyan became an important country town, with 16 hotels and six flour mills powered by wind, water, horse and steam. Canberra was started as the national capital in 1911. There were no hotels, so people crossed the border to get a drink at Queanbeyan's hotels. When the Parliament moved to Canberra from Melbourne in 1926, Canberra got it's first hotel.

Queanbeyan became a city on 7 July, 1972.  From 1982 to 1989, the Canberra Raiders rugby league team played their home games in Queanbeyan, at Seiffert Oval.

Notable residents
 David Campese - retired Wallaby winger
 Glen Lazarus - former Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm player, NSW representative
 Matt Giteau - Australian Wallaby player, Australia's highest ever paid domestic football player of any code, plays for Western Force
 Brent Kite - Australian NRL player
 Brad Haddin - Australian cricketer
 Matt Henjak - former Wallaby halfback, former player for the Western Force
 George Lazenby - movie star, famous as the second official James Bond 007, after Sean Connery
 Hau Latukefu - ARIA award-winning MC & triple j radio & TV presenter
 Heather McKay AM, MBE - Australian squash champion
 Megan Marcks (née Still) - Olympic women's (pairs) rowing gold medallist
 Tommy Murphy - award-winning playwright
 Mark Webber - Formula 1 driver for Red Bull Racing Winner 2009 German Grand Prix
 Terry Campese - present Canberra Raiders and Kangaroo's player
 Ben Snow - Academy Award Nominee for Visual Effects

Other websites

 "Queanbeyan Rocks", ABC Stateline
 "Queanbeyan City Council", Official website

References

Cities in New South Wales
1833 establishments

Queanbeyan


A Rose garden or Rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, in which roses are grown. While some rose gardens have only a decorative purpose, most of them are used to present and grow various types of roses.

The first known rose garden was planted by French empress Joséphine de Beauharnais in Malmaison. When she died, in 1814, the garden had around 250 types of garden roses. Another old rose garden is the Rosenhöhe Park in Darmstadt, Germany created in 1810 by Princess Wilhelmine of Baden

Growing roses for commercial purposes started in the 19th century. The important rose gardens created for commercial rose breeding were:

 "Roseraie du Val-de-Marne" in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, France
 "Dolná Krupá rosarium in Austria-Hungary (now Slovakia
 "Europa-Rosarium in Sangerhausen, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

References
Jardins de roses, André Gayraud, éditions du Chêne,
 Roseraies et jardins de roses, H. Fuchs in Le Bon jardinier, encyclopédie horticole, tome 1, La Maison rustique, Paris, 1964, .

Roses
Gardening

Rose garden


Ricinus communis, the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, Ricinus, and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of castor and its relation to other species are currently being studied using modern genetic tools. It reproduces with a mixed pollination system which favors selfing by geitonogamy but at the same time can be an out-crosser by anemophily (wind pollination) or entomophily (insect pollination).

Its seed is the castor bean, which despite the term is not a bean (as it is not the seed of a member of the family Fabaceae). Castor is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions (and widely grown elsewhere as an ornamental plant).

Castor seed is the source of castor oil, which has a wide variety of uses. The seeds contain between 40% and 60% oil that is rich in triglycerides, mainly ricinolein. The seed also contains ricin, a highly potent water-soluble toxin, which is also present in lower concentrations throughout the plant.

The plant known as "false castor oil plant", Fatsia japonica, is not closely related.

Description
Ricinus communis can vary greatly in its growth habit and appearance. The variability has been increased by breeders who have selected a range of cultivars for leaf and flower colours, and for oil production. It is a fast-growing, suckering shrub that can reach the size of a small tree, around , but it is not cold hardy.

The glossy leaves are  long, long-stalked, alternate and palmate with five to twelve deep lobes with coarsely toothed segments. In some varieties they start off dark reddish purple or bronze when young, gradually changing to a dark green, sometimes with a reddish tinge, as they mature. The leaves of some other varieties are green practically from the start, whereas in yet others a pigment masks the green color of all the chlorophyll-bearing parts, leaves, stems and young fruit, so that they remain a dramatic purple-to-reddish-brown throughout the life of the plant. Plants with the dark leaves can be found growing next to those with green leaves, so there is most likely only a single gene controlling the production of the pigment in some varieties. The stems and the spherical, spiny seed capsules also vary in pigmentation. The fruit capsules of some varieties are more showy than the flowers.

The flowers lack petals and are unisexual (male and female) where both types are borne on the same plant (monoecious) in terminal panicle-like inflorescences of green or, in some varieties, shades of red. The male flowers are numerous, yellowish-green with prominent creamy stamens; the female flowers, borne at the tips of the spikes, lie within the immature spiny capsules, are relatively few in number and have prominent red stigmas.

The fruit is a spiny, greenish (to reddish-purple) capsule containing large, oval, shiny, bean-like, highly poisonous seeds with variable brownish mottling. Castor seeds have a warty appendage called the caruncle, which is a type of elaiosome. The caruncle promotes the dispersal of the seed by ants (myrmecochory).

Chemistry
Three terpenoids and a tocopherol-related compound have been found in the aerial parts of Ricinus. Compounds named (3E,7Z,11E)-19-hydroxycasba-3,7,11-trien-5-one, 6α-hydroxy-10β-methoxy-7α,8α-epoxy-5-oxocasbane-20,10-olide, 15α-hydroxylup-20(29)-en-3-one, and (2R,4aR,8aR)-3,4,4a,8a-tetrahydro-4a-hydroxy-2,6,7,8a-tetramethyl-2-(4,8, 12-trimethyltridecyl)-2H-chromene-5,8-dione were isolated from the methanol extracts of Ricinus communis by chromatographic methods.
Partitioned h-hexane fraction of Ricinus root methanol extract resulted in enrichment of two triterpenes: lupeol and urs-6-ene-3,16-dione (erandone). Crude methanolic extract, enriched n-hexane fraction and isolates at doses 100 mg/kg p.o. exhibited significant (P < 0.001) anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenan-induced hind paw oedema model.

Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus used the name Ricinus because it is a Latin word for tick; the seed is so named because it has markings and a bump at the end that resemble certain ticks. The genus Ricinus also exists in zoology, and designates insects (not ticks) which are parasites of birds; this is possible because the names of animals and plants are governed by different nomenclature codes.

The common name "castor oil" probably comes from its use as a replacement for castoreum, a perfume base made from the dried perineal glands of the beaver (castor in Latin). It has another common name, palm of Christ, or Palma Christi, that derives from castor oil's reputed ability to heal wounds and cure ailments.

Ecology

Ricinus communis is the host plant of the common castor butterfly (Ariadne merione), the eri silkmoth (Samia cynthia ricini), and the castor semi-looper moth (Achaea janata). It is also used as a food plant by the larvae of some other species of Lepidoptera, including Hypercompe hambletoni and the nutmeg (Discestra trifolii). A jumping spider Evarcha culicivora has an association with R. communis. They consume the nectar for food and preferentially use these plants as a location for courtship.

Cultivation

Although Ricinus communis is indigenous to the southeastern Mediterranean Basin, Eastern Africa, and India, today it is widespread throughout tropical regions. In areas with a suitable climate, castor establishes itself easily where it can become an invasive plant and can often be found on wasteland.

It is also used extensively as a decorative plant in parks and other public areas, particularly as a "dot plant" in traditional bedding schemes. If sown early, under glass, and kept at a temperature of around  until planted out, the castor oil plant can reach a height of  in a year. In areas prone to frost it is usually shorter, and grown as if it were an annual. However, it can grow well outdoors in cooler climates, at least in southern England, and the leaves do not appear to suffer frost damage in sheltered spots, where it remains evergreen. It was used in Edwardian times in the parks of Toronto, Canada. Although not cultivated there, the plant grows wild in the US, notably Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Cultivars
Cultivars have been developed  by breeders for use as ornamental plants (heights refer to plants grown as annuals) and for commercial production of castor oil.

Ornamental cultivars
'Carmencita' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit
 'Carmencita Bright Red' has red stems, dark purplish leaves and red seed pods;
 'Carmencita Pink' has green leaves and pink seed pods
 'Gibsonii' has red-tinged leaves with reddish veins and bright scarlet seed pods
 'New Zealand Purple' has plum colored leaves tinged with red, plum colored seed pods turn to red as they ripen
 (All the above grow to around  tall as annuals.)
 'Impala' is compact (only  tall) with reddish foliage and stems, brightest on the young shoots
 'Red Spire' is tall () with red stems and bronze foliage
 'Zanzibarensis' is also tall (), with large, mid-green leaves ( long) that have white midribs

Cultivars for oil production:
 'Hale' was launched in the 1970s for the US state of Texas. It is short (up to ) and has several racemes
 'Brigham' is a variety with reduced ricin content adapted for Texas, US. It grows up to  and has 10% of the ricin content of 'Hale'
 'BRS Nordestina' was developed by Brazil's Embrapa in 1990 for hand harvest and semi-arid environments
 'BRS Energia" was developed by Embrapa in 2004 for mechanised or hand harvest
 'GCH6' was developed by Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada University, India, 2004: it is resistant to root rot and tolerant to fusarium wilt
 'GCH5' was developed by Sardarkrushinagar Dantiwada University, 1995. It is resistant to fusarium wilt
 'Abaro' was developed by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research's Essential Oils Research Center for hand harvest
 'Hiruy' was developed by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research's Melkassa and Wondo Genet Agricultural Research Centers for hand harvest during 2010/2011

Allergenicity and toxicity
Ricinus is extremely allergenic, and has an OPALS allergy scale rating of 10 out of 10. The plant is also a very strong trigger for asthma, and allergies to Ricinus are commonplace and severe.

The castor oil plant produces abundant amounts of very light pollen, which easily become airborne and can be inhaled into the lungs, triggering allergic reactions. The sap of the plant causes skin rashes. Individuals who are allergic to the plant can also develop rashes from merely touching the leaves, flowers, or seeds. These individuals can also have cross-allergic reactions to latex sap from the related Hevea brasiliensis plant.

The toxicity of raw castor beans is due to the presence of ricin. Although the lethal dose in adults is considered to be four to eight seeds, reports of actual poisoning are relatively rare. According to the Guinness World Records, this is the world's most poisonous common plant. Symptoms of overdosing on ricin, which can include nausea, diarrhea, tachycardia, hypotension and seizures, persist for up to a week. The poison can be extracted from castor by concentrating it with a fairly complicated process similar to that used for extracting cyanide from almonds.

If ricin is ingested, symptoms commonly begin within two to four hours, but may be delayed by up to 36 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days; however, in most cases a full recovery can be made.

Poisoning occurs when animals, including humans, ingest broken castor beans or break the seed by chewing: intact seeds may pass through the digestive tract without releasing the toxin. The toxin provides the castor oil plant with some degree of natural protection from insect pests such as aphids. Ricin has been investigated for its potential use as an insecticide. The castor oil plant is also the source for undecylenic acid, a natural fungicide.

Each castor seed has a yellow nodule full of fats one end of the seed that are nutritious for young ants. After hauling their harvest into their nests and pulling off the delicious part, ants chuck the rest of the seed into their trash pile, where the future plant starts to grow.

Commercially available cold-pressed castor oil is not toxic to humans in normal doses, whether internal or external.

Uses
Castor oil has many uses in medicine and other applications. An alcoholic extract of the leaf was shown to protect the liver of laboratory rats from damage from certain poisons. Methanolic extracts of the leaves of Ricinus communis were used in antimicrobial testing against eight pathogenic bacteria in rats and showed antimicrobial properties.

The pericarp of Ricinus showed central nervous system effects in mice at low doses.  At high doses mice quickly died. A water extract of the root bark showed analgesic activity in rats. Antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties were found in ethanolic extract of Ricinus communis root bark. Castor oil and the plant's roots and leaves are used in the ancient Indian medicinal system of Ayurveda for various diseases, and it has been investigated in a few limited studies for its potential as an anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory herbal medicine.

Modern commercial usage

Global castor seed production is around two million tons per year. Leading producing areas are India (with over three-quarters of the global yield), China and Mozambique, and it is widely grown as a crop in Ethiopia. There are several active breeding programmes.

Other modern uses of natural, blended, or chemically altered castor products include:
 As a non-freezing, antimicrobial, pressure-resistant lubricant for special purposes, either of latex or metals, or as a lubricating component of fuels.
 As sources of various chemical feedstocks.
 As a raw material for some varieties of biodiesel.
 As attractively patterned, low-cost personal adornments, such as non-durable necklaces and bracelets.
 As a component of many cosmetics.
 As an anti-microbial. The high percentage of ricinoleic acid residues in castor oil and its derivatives, inhibits many microbes, whether viral, bacterial or fungal. They accordingly are useful components of many ointments and similar preparations.
 As the major raw material (in oil form) for polyglycerol polyricinoleate, a modifier that improves the flow characteristics of cocoa butter in the manufacture of chocolate bars, and thereby reduces the costs .
 As a repellent for moles and voles in lawns.

Historical usage

Ancient uses
Castor seeds have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 4000 BC; the slow-burning oil was mostly used to fuel lamps. Herodotus and other Greek travellers noted the use of castor seed oil for lighting, body ointments, and improving hair growth and texture. Cleopatra is reputed to have used it to brighten the whites of her eyes. The Ebers Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian medical treatise believed to date from 1552 BC. Translated in 1872, it describes castor oil as a laxative.

The use of castor bean oil (eranda) in India has been documented since 2000 BC in lamps and in local medicine as a laxative, purgative, and cathartic in Unani, Ayurvedic, siddha and other ethnomedical systems. Traditional Ayurvedic and siddha medicine considers castor oil the king of medicinals for curing arthritic diseases. It is regularly given to children to treat infections with parasitic worms. Modern medical research suggests the purgative action induced by castor oil helps clear intestines of parasites.

The ancient Romans had a variety of medicinal/cosmetic uses for both the seeds and the leaves of Ricinus communis. The naturalist Pliny the Elder cited the poisonous qualities of the seeds, but mentioned that they could be used to form wicks for oil lamps (possibly if crushed together), and the oil for use as a laxative and lamp oil. He also recommends the use of the leaves as follows:

In Haiti it is called maskreti, where the plant is turned into a red oil that is then given to newborns as a purgative to cleanse the insides of their first stools.

Castor seed and its oil have also been used in China for centuries, mainly prescribed in local medicine for internal use or use in dressings.

Uses in punishment

Castor oil was used as an instrument of coercion by the paramilitary Blackshirts under the regime of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and by the Spanish Civil Guard in Francoist Spain. Dissidents and regime opponents were forced to ingest the oil in large amounts, triggering severe diarrhea and dehydration, which could ultimately cause death. This punishment method was originally thought of by Gabriele D'Annunzio, the Italian poet and Fascist supporter, during the First World War.

Other uses
Extract of  Ricinus communis exhibited acaricidal and insecticidal activities against the adult of Haemaphysalis bispinosa (Acarina: Ixodidae) and hematophagous fly Hippobosca maculata (Diptera: Hippoboscidae).

Members of the Bodo tribe of Bodoland in Assam, India, use the leaves of the plant to feed the larvae of muga and endi silkworms.

Castor oil is an effective motor lubricant and has been used in internal combustion engines, including those of World War I airplanes, some racing cars and some model airplanes. It has historically been popular for lubricating two-stroke engines due to high resistance to heat compared to petroleum-based oils. It does not mix well with petroleum products, particularly at low temperatures, but mixes better with the methanol-based fuels used in glow model engines. In total-loss-lubrication applications, it tends to leave carbon deposits and varnish within the engine. It has been largely replaced by synthetic oils that are more stable and less toxic.

Jewellery can be made of castor beans, particularly necklaces and bracelets.

Ricinus communis  leaves are used in botanical printing (also known as ecoprinting) in Asia. When bundled with cotton or silk fabric and steamed, the leaves can produce a green-colored imprint.

See also
 Kikayon
 Toxalbumin

References

Further reading

External links

 A Bean Called Castor Can Cut Carbon & Fuel the Future
 Ricinus communis L. – at Purdue University
 Castor beans – at Purdue University
 Ricinus communis (castor bean) at Cornell University
 Ricinus communis in Wildflowers of Israel
 Castor oil plant Flowers in Israel

Crops originating from Africa

Acalypheae
Monotypic Euphorbiaceae genera
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Ricinus


Arne Torp (born 14 October 1942 in Holt, East Agder, Norway) is a Norwegian professor of North Germanic languages in the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo.

Torp has published widely, both for the higher education sector and for high school. Arne Torp was for years a member of the Norwegian Language Council and has participated in several radio and television programs in discussion of Nordic linguistics and the Norwegian language in particular.

Arne Torp is the father of actress Ane Dahl Torp.
He resides at Jar.

In 2008, Arne Torp participated in a series of radio commercials for the grocery chain Joker, where he used his knowledge of Norwegian dialects to discern the geographic origin of speakers.

Arne Torp was the leader of the 'Landslaget for språklig samling' (Norwegian: National Association for a Common Language) from 1989 to 1993. From 1993 to 2003, he was editor of the magazine-language collection.

References

External links
Arne Torps heimeside

Linguists from Norway
Living people
1942 births
Academic staff of the University of Oslo

Arne Torp


The Seasons (German: Die Jahreszeiten) is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn. An oratorio is a long musical work with orchestra, choir and solo singers. It usually tells a story from the Old Testament of the Bible. The Seasons is different. It is about the four seasons of the year. It describes nature and people's relationship to nature during the year.

The Seasons was the last big work that Haydn composed. He composed it in 1801. By this time he was the most famous composer in Europe. Mozart had died ten years earlier, and Beethoven was a young man who was just starting to become famous. Haydn was nearly 80 years old and his health was not good. Although he lived another eight years The Seasons was the last big work he wrote. Soon after he had composed it he stopped composing altogether.

Haydn had only written one big oratorio before The Seasons. This was an oratorio called The Creation. It had been performed in 1798 and was very popular all over Europe. The libretto (the words) had been written by Baron Gottfried van Swieten who was an Austrian nobleman who liked music. He had helped Mozart in his career and now he was helping Haydn. He wanted Haydn to write a second oratorio, so he wrote the libretto for The Seasons. He used a long English poem with the same title by James Thomson (1700-1748). He made it much shorter and changed it so that it was suitable to be set to music, and he translated it into German.

Haydn took two years to write the music. It was first performed in Vienna on 24 April 1801. The audience liked it, although not as much as The Creation. One problem was that Haydn was not very happy about the libretto. He thought that oratorios should be about serious, dramatic stories from the Bible or from classical mythology, not about everyday life. Van Swieten was not very happy when Haydn criticized it, but he did not change it, and Haydn did his best to make the work interesting.

The music

The oratorio is divided into four parts, one for each of the seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each part lasts at least half an hour and consists of the usual recitatives (which tell the story), arias (songs), choruses (for the choir) and ensemble numbers (for the soloists together and often the chorus as well). There are three soloists (instead of the usual four). They represent three simple country people. There is a soprano called Hanne, a tenor called Lucas and a bass called Simon. Hanne is supposed to be Simon's daughter. There is no storyline in the normal sense: it is a series of poems and thoughts about nature during the year.

Part I: Spring

The opening of Spring describes winter going away and spring awakening. There is a chorus which sounds very pastoral (like the countryside) with its 6/8 rhythm and drones (like country bagpipes). Simon then sings about the farmer sowing his seed. He is accompanied by a bassoon which sounds like a lively farmer tilling the earth. There is a gentle hymn of praise with a fugue which sounds like one from Mozart's Requiem. Hanne invites the girls and Simon invites the men to go to the fields and admire the earth, water and air. A chorus praises God.

Part II: Summer

The music describes the countryside. The farmer is called to work in the morning (the oboe wakes him up). The sun rises. Again we thank God for nature. By midday it has become very hot. Later there are insects buzzing and we hear a shepherd playing on his pipe (the oboe). Everything is very dry at first, then there is a storm. The timpani make the sound of the thunder. When the storm has finished everyone is happy. We hear the birds singing, the frog croaking and the evening bell chimes eight times. The day's work is done.

Part III: Autumn

The words at first are about hard work and the rewards for hard work (Haydn thought these were strange words to set to music). Then there is a duet for a loving young couple (Lucas and Hanne). This is the only time that the soloists feel like real characters in a story and talk to one another. Autumn is the hunting season, so there is hunting music. It sounds quite old-fashioned (like Baroque music). The bassoon is the hound (the dog). The hounds become hungry and the music gets faster and faster until, suddenly, the dogs and the music stop. There is a gunshot (timpani) as the deer is shot. Autumn finishes with a drinking chorus.

Part IV: Winter

At first, there is thick winter fog. Then there is a short song (short because nothing grows in winter). Then there is a story about a traveller who is lost in the snow and comes to a cottage where he finds shelter. Hanne and the chorus sing a song about a spinning wheel. Many other composers later wrote music which describes a spinning wheel turning. There is another song which tells a story about a rich nobleman who tries to make love to a country girl but she escapes by riding off on his horse so he is left with no horse and no girl. At times this music sounds quite like the music in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. Simon sings an aria which compares the seasons with the different stages of life (the seasons are used as a metaphor). Finally the chorus sing about the dawn of life in heaven. The oratorio and the seasons start all over again. The soloists, who have been three country people, are now three angels. There is a final hymn of praise.

Compositions by Joseph Haydn
Oratorios

The Seasons (Haydn)


Vatnajökull (English: Glacier of Lakes) () is the largest glacier in Iceland. It lies in the south-east of the island, covering more than 8% of the country.

The average thickness of the ice is 400 m, with a maximum thickness of 1,000 m. Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (2,110 m), is located at the southern tip of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell National Park. It is classified as an ice cap glacier.

Vatnajökull has been shrinking for some years now, possibly because of climatic changes and recent volcanic activity. Until 1930 it was growing.

According to Guinness World Records Vatnajökull is the object of the world's longest sight line, 550 km from Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands. GWR state that "owing to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull (2119m), Iceland, can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands, 340 miles (550 km) away". This may be based on a claimed sighting by a British sailor in 1939. The validity of this record is analysed/undermined in mathematical and atmospheric detail by J.C. de Ferranti

Other websites

 Photos of Vatnajökull from www.islandsmyndir.is
 Search engine and map of Iceland
 Viewfinder Panoramas
 What it's like to explore the ice cap in winter.

Geography of Iceland

Vatnajökull


Patrick Layton "Pat" Paulsen (July 6, 1927 – April 24, 1997) was an American comedian and actor. His longest-running role was as a frequent "candidate" for President of the United States.

Paulsen was born in South Bend, Washington. Paulsen had served in the United States Marines during World War II. After the war, he went to college, and worked a variety of jobs (as a salesman, an , a truck driver, and others) before starting a comedy  with his brother. After the troupe broke up, Paulsen started performing on his own. He played at many of the same  as the Smothers Brothers, before they became famous.

After the Smothers Brothers began a television variety show (The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) in 1967, they invited Paulsen to join their regular cast. He wrote  for the show, and also appeared on camera in different roles. He began a series of mock editorials, that became very popular, by both poking fun at extremist opinions, and giving people reasons to think and talk about important issues (the First Amendment, gun control, drugs, and other matters). Hundreds of viewers wrote to CBS, who broadcast the Comedy Hour, to ask for copies of the editorials.

During 1968 (an election year in the United States), Paulsen began a pretend "campaign" for President, and used the campaign to show the humor and irony in American politics. He did many of the things a real candidate would do, making public appearances, giving speeches, granting media interviews, and making his "stand on the issues" well known. When Election Day came, people in many places around the United States really did vote for Paulsen, as a  candidate, because they were not satisfied with what the real candidates (Republican Richard M. Nixon, Democrat Hubert Humphrey, Alabama governor George Wallace, and others) promised to do as President.

After The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ended in 1969, Paulsen continued to work as a comedian and actor. Instead of just making people laugh, he often drew their attention to problems in American society, such as pollution, prejudice, and poor government. During the 1970s, he bought the Cherry County Playhouse, a theater in Traverse City, Michigan that showed .

Paulsen sometimes reunited with the Smothers Brothers, and usually staged another pretend campaign every election year. In 1992 he chose singer Tiny Tim as his , to become his Vice President. Paulsen died on April 24, 1997 from pneumonia from complications of brain and colon cancer, during medical treatment in Tajuana, Mexico, he was 69 years old. He is survived by his wife Noma Paulsen.

Other websites

1927 births
1997 deaths
Deaths from pneumonia
Deaths from brain cancer
Deaths from colorectal cancer
American movie actors
1992 United States presidential candidates
Comedians from Washington (state)
American television actors
Actors from Washington (state)

Pat Paulsen


A Sea snake, or "coral reef snake", is a venomous elapid snake. They live in marine environments for most or all of their lives. At present, 17 genera are described as sea snakes, with 62 species.

They evolved from snakes that lived on the land. Some sea snakes still have some of the behaviour and traits of their ancestors, such as Laticauda, which can move a little on land. Most sea snakes are unable to move on the ground at all, but they are well adapted to living in the water.

Sea snakes are found in warm coastal waters from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. They live in the tropical and warm regions, but not in the Atlantic Ocean, or the North American coast above the Gulf of California.

Description
Most sea snakes grow to sizes between 1.2m and 1.4m, some can reach 2m or more. Hydrophis cyanocinctus reach 2.5m to 3m. They reach a weight of about 0.8 -1.3 kg, at a size of 1.8m. In most cases, females are larger than males.All sea snakes have paddle-like tails  and many have laterally compressed bodies – they look somewhat like eels. However, unlike fish, they do not have gills and must come to the surface regularly to breathe. Nevertheless, they are among the most completely aquatic of all air-breathing vertebrates. Among this group are species with some of the most potent venoms of all snakes. Some have gentle dispositions and bite only when provoked, while others are much more aggressive.

 All snakes are good swimmers, but only real sea snakes live their whole lives in the ocean. Not only do they live there, they eat there and even have their young right inside the water. Most cannot live at all on land. If they get forced onto land by a storm or powerful currents, they are unable to move. Sea snakes have no scutes (special scales on snakes' bellies that help them grip and slither across the ground), so if a sea snake ends up on a beach, it is unable to slither back out to sea. Instead, sea snakes have a paddle-shaped tail. With its tail, the snake can swim well.
Sea snakes have special nostrils that can close when they go underwater and open when they come up to breathe, like the blowhole of a whale (scientists call these valved nostrils). The nostrils are found high up on the head so that the entire snake can stay under the water when they come up to breathe. In its search for food, a sea snake may remain under water for a long time. To do this, sea snakes have evolved a single lung that almost is as long as the whole body.

Most sea snakes are able to breathe through their skin. This is unusual for reptiles, because their skin is normally thick and scaly. Experiments with the black-and-yellow sea snake, Pelamis platurus (a pelagic species), have shown that this species can get about 20% of its oxygen in this manner, which allows for longer dives.

Like other land animals that have adapted to life in a marine environment, sea snakes swallow considerably more salt than their relatives living on land. They do this through their diet and when they inadvertently swallow sea water. Kidney function in birds and reptiles is too weak to remove enough salt. In birds, such as penguins, salt is removed through nasal glands. The marine iguanas of the Galapagos Islands use the same mechanism. Sea turtles have lacrimal glands that allow them to produce very salty tears. But in sea snakes, glands under and around the tongue let them expel salt with their tongue action.

Venom

Natural function
Most sea snakes prey on fish, especially eels. The latter stiffens and dies within seconds when bitten. One species prefers molluscs and crustaceans, such as prawns. Some reef dwelling species have small heads and thin necks, making it possible for them to get small eels from the soft bottom where they hide.

Effect of venom on humans
Pelamis platurus has a venom more potent than any other terrestrial snake species in Costa Rica. The snake is very common in the waters of the western coast of Costa Rica. Despite this, few human deaths have been reported. Nevertheless, all sea snakes should be handled with great caution.

When bites occur, only a small amount of venom is injected. The symptoms caused by the venom may seem slight at first.   There is usually little or no swelling involved, and it is rare for any nearby lymph nodes to be affected. The most important symptoms are a rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue and paralysis. Early symptoms include headache, a thick-feeling tongue, thirst, sweating, and vomiting. Symptoms that can occur after 30 minutes to several hours after the bite include generalized aching, stiffness, and tenderness of muscles all over the body. This is followed later on by symptoms typical of other elapid attacks: a progressive paralysis of muscles. Paralysis of muscles involved in swallowing and respiration can be fatal. After three to eight hours, myoglobin may start to show up in the blood plasma. This is a result of muscle breakdown. It can cause the urine to turn a dark reddish, brown, or black in color, and eventually lead to kidney failure. After six to twelve hours, severe hyperkalemia can lead to cardiac arrest. The hyperkalemia is also the result of muscle breakdown.

 The attacked person may experience nausea, vomiting, thick tongue, difficulty in speaking and swallowing, blurred vision, weakness, numbness, or stiffness.
 More severe symptoms may include paralysis, drooping eyelids, dark brown urine, lockjaw, difficulty breathing, and blue lips and tongue. Sometimes, death may occur.

References

Elapidae

Sea snake