A dust storm, or sandstorm, is a storm of small particles of sand and dirt. Dust storms happen when a strong wind front blows loose sand and dust from a dry surface. Particles are picked up and suspended in the air, causing soil erosion where they were. The wind drops them in another place where they can form loess, a kind of silt.

Winds

Dust storm


Turner South was an American cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. At its peak, Turner South reached approximately eight million subscribers across a six-state region comprising Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and portions of western North Carolina (roughly from Asheville to Charlotte).

History
The channel launched on October 1, 1999 as the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern United States. Turner South's programming consisted of a mix of movies, drama series, sitcoms, regional news updates, and unique original programming. It also carried telecasts of professional sporting events from the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball, Atlanta Hawks NBA, and Atlanta Thrashers NHL franchises, all of which were owned by the Turner Broadcasting System at the network's launch.

Turner South's original programs could be broadly termed "southern lifestyle", including cooking and gardening shows. The sitcoms and dramas featured on the network (such as Major Dad and In the Heat of the Night) also tended to appeal to Southerners, or were set in the South. Other series included Liars & Legends and Off The Menu which was based out of the Commander's Palace restaurant in New Orleans. Beginning in 2002, the channel also aired a live simulcast of radio program The Rick and Bubba Show.

News Corporation lawsuit
News Corporation filed a lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting and its corporate parent Time Warner in a Georgia Superior Court on June 15, 1999, citing that the plans Turner had unveiled to carry sports events on Turner South violated a non-compete agreement that the two companies signed as part of News Corporation's $65 million purchase of SportSouth (now Fox Sports South) in 1996, which prohibited Turner from launching a regional sports network in the southeastern United States until 2008. The suit was settled out of court with undisclosed terms.

Sale to Fox
On February 23, 2006, Fox Cable Networks, a subsidiary of News Corporation, agreed to purchase Turner South, for a reported $375 million. On May 1, 2006, Fox took over operations of the cable network, and the bulk of the Turner South schedule, including Rick and Bubba and the movie blocks, was discontinued. During the brief transition period which followed, repeats of Turner South's lifestyle and how-to programming (including Blue Ribbon, Home Plate, Home Makers, and Junkin') were aired in two weekday blocks (from 8:00-11:00 a.m. and 3:00-5:00 p.m. ET). Much of the remaining programming was repurposed from various Fox Sports Networks properties, most notably Fox Sports South.

On October 13, 2006, the network was officially relaunched as a second iteration of SportSouth, and was eventually renamed Fox Sports Southeast in October 2015. After Fox's sale of that property in 2019, it is now Bally Sports Southeast, operated with Bally Sports South.

References

Sports television networks in the United States
Defunct television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 1999
1999 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2006
2006 disestablishments in the United States
Sports in Atlanta
Atlanta Braves announcers
Atlanta Hawks announcers
Atlanta Thrashers announcers
Turner Sports
Former WarnerMedia subsidiaries

Turner South


The Clash of Civilizations is a thesis that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post–Cold War world. The American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argued that future wars would be fought not between countries, but between cultures. It was proposed in a 1992 lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled "The Clash of Civilizations?", in response to his former student Francis Fukuyama's 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man. Huntington later expanded his thesis in a 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

The phrase itself was earlier used by Albert Camus in 1946, by Girilal Jain in his analysis of the Ayodhya dispute in 1988, by Bernard Lewis in an article in the September 1990 issue of The Atlantic Monthly titled "The Roots of Muslim Rage" and by Mahdi El Mandjra in his book "La première guerre civilisationnelle" published in 1992. Even earlier, the phrase appears in a 1926 book regarding the Middle East by Basil Mathews: Young Islam on Trek: A Study in the Clash of Civilizations (p. 196). This expression derives from "clash of cultures", already used during the colonial period and the Belle Époque.

Huntington began his thinking by surveying the diverse theories about the nature of global politics in the post–Cold War period. Some theorists and writers argued that human rights, liberal democracy, and the capitalist free market economy had become the only remaining ideological alternative for nations in the post–Cold War world. Specifically, Francis Fukuyama argued that the world had reached the 'end of history' in a Hegelian sense.

Huntington believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural lines. As an extension, he posits that the concept of different civilizations, as the highest category of cultural identity, will become increasingly useful in analyzing the potential for conflict. At the end of his 1993 Foreign Affairs article, "The Clash of Civilizations?", Huntington writes, "This is not to advocate the desirability of conflicts between civilizations. It is to set forth descriptive hypothesis as to what the future may be like."

In addition, the clash of civilizations, for Huntington, represents a development of history. In the past, world history was mainly about the struggles between monarchs, nations and ideologies, such as that seen within Western civilization. However, after the end of the Cold War, world politics moved into a new phase, in which non-Western civilizations are no longer the exploited recipients of Western civilization but have become additional important actors joining the West to shape and move world history.

Major civilizations according to Huntington

Huntington divided the world into the "major civilizations" in his thesis as such:
 Western civilization, comprising the United States and Canada, Western and Central Europe, Australia, Oceania and most of the Philippines. Whether Latin  America and the former member states of the Soviet Union are included, or are instead their own separate civilizations, will be an important future consideration for those regions, according to Huntington. The traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian (Catholic-Protestant) countries and culture.
 Latin American civilization, including South America (excluding Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana), Central America, Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic may be considered a part of Western civilization. Many people in South America, Central America and Mexico regard themselves as full members of Western civilization.
 Orthodox civilization, comprising Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Romania, great parts of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
 Countries with a non-Orthodox majority are usually excluded e.g. Muslim Azerbaijan and Muslim Albania and most of Central Asia, as well as majority Muslim regions in the Balkans, Caucasus and central Russian regions such as Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, Roman Catholic Slovenia and Croatia, Protestant and Catholic Baltic states. However, Armenia is included, despite its dominant faith, the Armenian Apostolic Church, being a part of Oriental Orthodoxy rather than the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Kazakhstan is also included, despite its dominant faith being Sunni Islam.
 The Eastern world is the mix of the Buddhist, Islamic, Chinese, Hindu, and Japonic civilizations.
 The Buddhist areas of Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand are identified as separate from other civilizations, but Huntington believes that they do not constitute a major civilization in the sense of international affairs.
 The Sinic civilization of China, the Koreas, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. This group also includes the Chinese diaspora, especially in relation to Southeast Asia.
 Hindu civilization, located chiefly in India, Bhutan and Nepal, and culturally adhered to by the global Indian diaspora.
 Japan, considered a hybrid of Chinese civilization and older Altaic patterns.
 Islamic, located in Muslim-Majority countries which icludes South Asian countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. South East Asian countries of Indonesia and Malaysia
 The Muslim world of the Greater Middle East (excluding Armenia, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Georgia, Israel, Malta and South Sudan), northern West Africa, Albania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei, Comoros, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives and parts of south-western Philippines.
 The civilization of Sub-Saharan Africa located in southern Africa, Middle Africa (excluding Chad), East Africa (excluding Ethiopia, the Comoros, Mauritius, and the Swahili coast of Kenya and Tanzania), Cape Verde, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Considered as a possible eighth civilization by Huntington.
 Instead of belonging to one of the "major" civilizations, Ethiopia and Haiti are labeled as "Lone" countries. Israel could be considered a unique state with its own civilization, Huntington writes, but one which is extremely similar to the West. Huntington also believes that the Anglophone Caribbean, former British colonies in the Caribbean, constitutes a distinct entity.
 There are also others which are considered "cleft countries" because they contain very large groups of people identifying with separate civilizations. Examples include Ukraine ("cleft" between its Eastern Rite Catholic-dominated western section and its Orthodox-dominated east), French Guiana (cleft between Latin America, and the West), Benin, Chad, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Togo (all cleft between Islam and Sub-Saharan Africa), Guyana and Suriname (cleft between Hindu and Sub-Saharan African), Sri Lanka (cleft between Hindu and Buddhist), and the Philippines (cleft between Islam, in the case of south western Mindanao; Sinic, in the case of Cordillera; and the Westernized Christian Majority). Sudan was also included as "cleft" between Islam and Sub-Saharan Africa; this division became a formal split in July 2011 following an overwhelming vote for independence by South Sudan in a January 2011 referendum.

Huntington's thesis of civilizational clash

Huntington argues that the trends of global conflict after the end of the Cold War are increasingly appearing at these civilizational divisions. Wars such as those following the break up of Yugoslavia, in Chechnya, and between India and Pakistan were cited as evidence of inter-civilizational conflict. He also argues that the widespread Western belief in the universality of the West's values and political systems is naïve and that continued insistence on democratization and such "universal" norms will only further antagonize other civilizations. Huntington sees the West as reluctant to accept this because it built the international system, wrote its laws, and gave it substance in the form of the United Nations.

Huntington identifies a major shift of economic, military, and political power from the West to the other civilizations of the world, most significantly to what he identifies as the two "challenger civilizations", Sinic and Islam.

In Huntington's view, East Asian Sinic civilization is culturally asserting itself and its values relative to the West due to its rapid economic growth. Specifically, he believes that China's goals are to reassert itself as the regional hegemon, and that other countries in the region will 'bandwagon' with China due to the history of hierarchical command structures implicit in the Confucian Sinic civilization, as opposed to the individualism and pluralism valued in the West. Regional powers such as the two Koreas and Vietnam will acquiesce to Chinese demands and become more supportive of China rather than attempting to oppose it. Huntington therefore believes that the rise of China poses one of the most significant problems and the most powerful long-term threat to the West, as Chinese cultural assertion clashes with the American desire for the lack of a regional hegemony in East Asia.

Huntington argues that the Islamic civilization has experienced a massive population explosion which is fueling instability both on the borders of Islam and in its interior, where fundamentalist movements are becoming increasingly popular. Manifestations of what he terms the "Islamic Resurgence" include the 1979 Iranian revolution and the first Gulf War. Perhaps the most controversial statement Huntington made in the Foreign Affairs article was that "Islam has bloody borders". Huntington believes this to be a real consequence of several factors, including the previously mentioned Muslim youth bulge and population growth and Islamic proximity to many civilizations including Sinic, Orthodox, Western, and African.

Huntington sees Islamic civilization as a potential ally to China, both having more revisionist goals and sharing common conflicts with other civilizations, especially the West. Specifically, he identifies common Chinese and Islamic interests in the areas of weapons proliferation, human rights, and democracy that conflict with those of the West, and feels that these are areas in which the two civilizations will cooperate.

Russia, Japan, and India are what Huntington terms 'swing civilizations' and may favor either side. Russia, for example, clashes with the many Muslim ethnic groups on its southern border (such as Chechnya) but—according to Huntington—cooperates with Iran to avoid further Muslim-Orthodox violence in Southern Russia, and to help continue the flow of oil. Huntington argues that a "Sino-Islamic connection" is emerging in which China will cooperate more closely with Iran, Pakistan, and other states to augment its international position.

Huntington also argues that civilizational conflicts are "particularly prevalent between Muslims and non-Muslims", identifying the "bloody borders" between Islamic and non-Islamic civilizations. This conflict dates back as far as the initial thrust of Islam into Europe, its eventual expulsion in the Iberian reconquest, the attacks of the Ottoman Turks on Eastern Europe and Vienna, and the European imperial division of the Islamic nations in the 1800s and 1900s.

Huntington also believes that some of the factors contributing to this conflict are that both Christianity (upon which Western civilization is based) and Islam are:
 Missionary religions, seeking conversion of others
 Universal, "all-or-nothing" religions, in the sense that it is believed by both sides that only their faith is the correct one
 Teleological religions, that is, that their values and beliefs represent the goals of existence and purpose in human existence.

More recent factors contributing to a Western–Islamic clash, Huntington wrote, are the Islamic Resurgence and demographic explosion in Islam, coupled with the values of Western universalism—that is, the view that all civilizations should adopt Western values—that infuriate Islamic fundamentalists. All these historical and modern factors combined, Huntington wrote briefly in his Foreign Affairs article and in much more detail in his 1996 book, would lead to a bloody clash between the Islamic and Western civilizations.

Why civilizations will clash
Huntington offers six explanations for why civilizations will clash:
 Differences among civilizations are too basic in that civilizations are differentiated from each other by history, language, culture, tradition, and, most importantly, religion. These fundamental differences are the product of centuries and the foundations of different civilizations, meaning they will not be gone soon.
 The world is becoming a smaller place. As a result, interactions across the world are increasing, which intensify "civilization consciousness" and the awareness of differences between civilizations and commonalities within civilizations.
 Due to economic modernization and social change, people are separated from longstanding local identities. Instead, religion has replaced this gap, which provides a basis for identity and commitment that transcends national boundaries and unites civilizations.
 The growth of civilization-consciousness is enhanced by the dual role of the West. On the one hand, the West is at a peak of power. At the same time, a return-to-the-roots phenomenon is occurring among non-Western civilizations. A West at the peak of its power confronts non-Western countries that increasingly have the desire, the will and the resources to shape the world in non-Western ways.
 Cultural characteristics and differences are less mutable and hence less easily compromised and resolved than political and economic ones.
 Economic regionalism is increasing. Successful economic regionalism will reinforce civilization-consciousness. Economic regionalism may succeed only when it is rooted in a common civilization.

The West versus the Rest
Huntington suggests that in the future the central axis of world politics tends to be the conflict between Western and non-Western civilizations, in Stuart Hall's phrase, the conflict between "the West and the Rest". He offers three forms of general and fundamental actions that non-Western civilization can take in response to Western countries.
 Non-Western countries can attempt to achieve isolation in order to preserve their own values and protect themselves from Western invasion. However, Huntington argues that the costs of this action are high and only a few states can pursue it.
 According to the theory of "band-wagoning", non-Western countries can join and accept Western values.
 Non-Western countries can make an effort to balance Western power through modernization. They can develop economic/military power and cooperate with other non-Western countries against the West while still preserving their own values and institutions. Huntington believes that the increasing power of non-Western civilizations in international society will make the West begin to develop a better understanding of the cultural fundamentals underlying other civilizations. Therefore, Western civilization will cease to be regarded as "universal" but different civilizations will learn to coexist and join to shape the future world.

Core state and fault line conflicts

In Huntington's view, intercivilizational conflict manifests itself in two forms: fault line conflicts and core state conflicts.

Fault line conflicts are on a local level and occur between adjacent states belonging to different civilizations or within states that are home to populations from different civilizations.

Core state conflicts are on a global level between the major states of different civilizations. Core state conflicts can arise out of fault line conflicts when core states become involved.

These conflicts may result from a number of causes, such as: relative influence or power (military or economic), discrimination against people from a different civilization, intervention to protect kinsmen in a different civilization, or different values and culture, particularly when one civilization attempts to impose its values on people of a different civilization.

Modernization, Westernization, and "torn countries"

Japan, China and the Four Asian Tigers have modernized in many respects while maintaining traditional or authoritarian societies which distinguish them from the West. Some of these countries have clashed with the West and some have not.

Perhaps the ultimate example of non-Western modernization is Russia, the core state of the Orthodox civilization. Huntington argues that Russia is primarily a non-Western state although he seems to agree that it shares a considerable amount of cultural ancestry with the modern West. According to Huntington, the West is distinguished from Orthodox Christian countries by its experience of the Renaissance, Reformation, the Enlightenment; by overseas colonialism rather than contiguous expansion and colonialism; and by the infusion of Classical culture through ancient Greece rather than through the continuous trajectory of the Byzantine Empire.

Huntington refers to countries that are seeking to affiliate with another civilization as "torn countries". Turkey, whose political leadership has systematically tried to Westernize the country since the 1920s, is his chief example. Turkey's history, culture, and traditions are derived from Islamic civilization, but Turkey's elite, beginning with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who took power as first President in 1923, imposed Western institutions and dress, embraced the Latin alphabet, joined NATO, and has sought to join the European Union.

Mexico and Russia are also considered to be torn by Huntington. He also gives the example of Australia as a country torn between its Western civilizational heritage and its growing economic engagement with Asia.

According to Huntington, a torn country must meet three requirements to redefine its civilizational identity. Its political and economic elite must support the move. Second, the public must be willing to accept the redefinition. Third, the elites of the civilization that the torn country is trying to join must accept the country.

The book claims that to date no torn country has successfully redefined its civilizational identity, this mostly due to the elites of the 'host' civilization refusing to accept the torn country, though if Turkey gained membership in the European Union, it has been noted that many of its people would support Westernization, as in the following quote by EU Minister Egemen Bağış: "This is what Europe needs to do: they need to say that when Turkey fulfills all requirements, Turkey will become a member of the EU on date X. Then, we will regain the Turkish public opinion support in one day." If this were to happen, it would, according to Huntington, be the first to redefine its civilizational identity.

Criticism
The book has been criticized by various academic writers, who have empirically, historically, logically, or ideologically challenged its claims. Political scientist Paul Musgrave writes that Clash of Civilization "enjoys great cachet among the sort of policymaker who enjoys name-dropping Sun Tzu, but few specialists in international relations rely on it or even cite it approvingly. Bluntly, Clash has not proven to be a useful or accurate guide to understanding the world."

In an article explicitly referring to Huntington, scholar Amartya Sen (1999) argues that "diversity is a feature of most cultures in the world. Western civilization is no exception. The practice of democracy that has won out in the modern West is largely a result of a consensus that has emerged since the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, and particularly in the last century or so. To read in this a historical commitment of the West—over the millennia—to democracy, and then to contrast it with non-Western traditions (treating each as monolithic) would be a great mistake."

In his 2003 book Terror and Liberalism, Paul Berman argues that distinct cultural boundaries do not exist in the present day. He argues there is no "Islamic civilization" nor a "Western civilization", and that the evidence for a civilization clash is not convincing, especially when considering relationships such as that between the United States and Saudi Arabia. In addition, he cites the fact that many Islamic extremists spent a significant amount of time living or studying in the Western world. According to Berman, conflict arises because of philosophical beliefs various groups share (or do not share), regardless of cultural or religious identity.

Timothy Garton Ash objects to the 'extreme cultural determinism... crude to the point of parody' of Huntington's idea that Catholic and Protestant Europe is headed for democracy, but that Orthodox Christian and Islamic Europe must accept dictatorship.

Edward Said issued a response to Huntington's thesis in his 2001 article, "The Clash of Ignorance". Said argues that Huntington's categorization of the world's fixed "civilizations" omits the dynamic interdependency and interaction of culture. A longtime critic of the Huntingtonian paradigm, and an outspoken proponent of Arab issues, Said (2004) also argues that the clash of civilizations thesis is an example of "the purest invidious racism, a sort of parody of Hitlerian science directed today against Arabs and Muslims" (p. 293).

Noam Chomsky has criticized the concept of the clash of civilizations as just being a new justification for the United States "for any atrocities that they wanted to carry out", which was required after the Cold War as the Soviet Union was no longer a viable threat.

In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari called the clash of civilizations a misleading thesis. He wrote that Islamic fundamentalism is more of a threat to a global civilization, rather than a confrontation with the West. He also argued that talking about civilizations using analogies from evolutionary biology is wrong.

Intermediate Region
Huntington's geopolitical model, especially the structures for North Africa and Eurasia, is largely derived from the "Intermediate Region" geopolitical model first formulated by Dimitri Kitsikis and published in 1978. The Intermediate Region, which spans the Adriatic Sea and the Indus River, is neither Western nor Eastern (at least, with respect to the Far East) but is considered distinct. Concerning this region, Huntington departs from Kitsikis contending that a civilizational fault line exists between the two dominant yet differing religions (Eastern Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam), hence a dynamic of external conflict. However, Kitsikis establishes an integrated civilization comprising these two peoples along with those belonging to the less dominant religions of Shia Islam, Alevism, and Judaism. They have a set of mutual cultural, social, economic and political views and norms which radically differ from those in the West and the Far East. In the Intermediate Region, therefore, one cannot speak of a civilizational clash or external conflict, but rather an internal conflict, not for cultural domination, but for political succession. This has been successfully demonstrated by documenting the rise of Christianity from the Hellenized Roman Empire, the rise of the Islamic caliphates from the Christianized Roman Empire and the rise of Ottoman rule from the Islamic caliphates and the Christianized Roman Empire.

Opposing concepts
In recent years, the theory of Dialogue Among Civilizations, a response to Huntington's Clash of Civilizations, has become the center of some international attention. The concept was originally coined by Austrian philosopher Hans Köchler in an essay on cultural identity (1972). In a letter to UNESCO, Köchler had earlier proposed that the cultural organization of the United Nations should take up the issue of a "dialogue between different civilizations" (dialogue entre les différentes civilisations). In 2001, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami introduced the concept at the global level. At his initiative, the United Nations proclaimed the year 2001 as the "United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations".

The Alliance of Civilizations (AOC) initiative was proposed at the 59th General Assembly of the United Nations in 2005 by the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and co-sponsored by the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The initiative is intended to galvanize collective action across diverse societies to combat extremism, to overcome cultural and social barriers between mainly the Western and predominantly Muslim worlds, and to reduce the tensions and polarization between societies which differ in religious and cultural values.

Other civilizational models

 Eurasianism, a Russian geopolitical concept based on the civilization of Eurasia
 Intermediate Region
 Islamo-Christian Civilization
 Pan-Turkism

Individuals

 Richard Bulliet
 Jacob Burckhardt
 Niall Ferguson
 Dimitri Kitsikis
 Feliks Koneczny
 Carroll Quigley
 Oswald Spengler

See also

 Balkanization
 Civilizing mission
 Cold War II
 Criticism of multiculturalism
 Cultural relativism
 Eastern Party
 Fault line war
 Global policeman
 Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world
 Opposition to immigration
 Orientalism
 Oriental Despotism
 Potential superpowers
 Protracted social conflict
 Religious pluralism
 East-West Cultural Debate

References

Bibliography

 Barbé, Philippe, '[L'Anti-Choc des Civilisations: Méditations Méditerranéennes, Editions de l'Aube, 2006,
 Barber, Benjamin R., Jihad vs. McWorld, Hardcover: Crown, 1995, ; Paperback: Ballantine Books, 1996,
 Blankley, Tony, The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?, Washington, D.C., Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2005
 Harris, Lee, Civilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History, New York, The Free Press, 2004
 Harrison, Lawrence E. and Samuel P. Huntington (eds.), Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress, New York, Basic Books, 2001

 Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations?, in "Foreign Affairs", vol. 72, no. 3, Summer 1993, pp. 22–49
 Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, New York, Simon & Schuster, 1996
 Huntington, Samuel P. (ed.), The Clash of Civilizations?: The Debate, New York, Foreign Affairs, 1996
 Kepel, Gilles, Bad Moon Rising: a chronicle of the Middle East today, London, Saqi Books, 2003
 Köchler, Hans (ed.), Civilizations: Conflict or Dialogue?, Vienna, International Progress Organization, 1999  (Google Print)
 Köchler, Hans, After September 11, 2001: Clash of Civilizations or Dialogue? University of the Philippines, Manila, 2002
 Köchler, Hans, The "Clash of Civilizations": Perception and Reality in the Context of Globalization and International Power Politics, Tbilisi (Georgia), 2004
 Pera, Marcello and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Senza radici: Europa, Relativismo, Cristianesimo, Islam [transl.: Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Perseus Books Group, 2006 ], Milano, Mondadori, 2004
 Peters, Ralph, Fighting for the Future: Will America Triumph?, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Stackpole Books, 1999
Potter, Robert (2011), 'Recalcitrant Interdependence', Thesis, Flinders University
 Sacks, Jonathan, The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations, London, Continuum, 2002
 Toft, Monica Duffy, The Geography of Ethnic Violence: Identity, Interests, and the Indivisibility of Territory, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2003
 Tusicisny, Andrej, "Civilizational Conflicts: More Frequent, Longer, and Bloodier?", in Journal of Peace Research, vol. 41, no. 4, 2004, pp. 485–498 (available online)
 Van Creveld, Martin, The Transformation of War, New York & London, The Free Press, 1991
 Venn, Couze "Clash of Civilisations", in Prem Poddar et al., Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures—Continental Europe and its Empires, Edinburgh University Press, 2008.

Further reading
 Tony Blankley, The West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?
 J. Paul Barker, ed. Huntington's Clash of Civilization: Twenty Years On E-International Relations, Bristol, 2013.
 Nikolaos A. Denaxas, The clash of civilizations according to Samuel Huntington – Orthodox criticism, 2008. (postgraduate thesis in Greek)
 Hale, H., & Laruelle, M. (2020). "Rethinking Civilizational Identity from the Bottom Up: A Case Study of Russia and a Research Agenda." Nationalities Papers James Kurth, The Real Clash, The National Interest, 1994

 Davide Orsi, ed. The 'Clash of Civilizations' 25 Years On: A Multidisciplinary Appraisal E-International Relations, Bristol, 2018.

External links

 "The Clash of Civilizations?" – Original essay from Foreign Affairs 1993
 "If Not Civilizations, What? Samuel Huntington Responds to His Critics", Foreign Affairs'', 1993

1996 non-fiction books
Academic journal articles
Books about civilizations
Books about cultural geography
Books about globalization
Books about ideologies
Books about international relations
Cultural geography
Ethnic conflict
Geopolitical rivalry
Identity politics
International relations theory
Civilizations
Political science theories
Political theories
Simon & Schuster books
Theories of history
Works by Samuel P. Huntington

Clash of Civilizations


Walter Vinson (February 2, 1901 – April 22, 1975) was an American Memphis blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks, worked with Bo Chatmon and his brothers, and co-wrote the blues standard "Sitting on Top of the World". He is erroneously known as Walter Vincson or Walter Vincent. He sometimes recorded as Walter Jacobs, using his mother's maiden name.

Biography
Vinson was born in Bolton, Mississippi, and grew up performing music locally. He rarely performed on his own but was regularly part of a duet, trio or group.

He worked with Son Spand, Rubin Lacey and Charlie McCoy in the early to mid-1920s. In 1928 he teamed with Lonnie Chatmon to form the Mississippi Sheiks. The Sheiks and related groups, such as the Mississippi Mud Steppers, the Mississippi Hot Footers and Blacksnakes, recorded about a hundred sides in the first half of the 1930s, among them original compositions (probably by Vinson) such as "The World Is Going Wrong" and "I've Got Blood in My Eyes for You" (1931) (both recorded by Bob Dylan) or the topical "Sales Tax" (1934). Vinson claimed to have composed "Sitting on Top of the World" one morning, after playing at a white dance in Greenwood, Mississippi.

After the Sheiks split up in 1933, Vinson moved around the United States, recording with various musicians, including Leroy Carter and Mary Butler. He moved from Jackson, Mississippi, to New Orleans and ultimately to Chicago. By the mid-1940s his appearances in blues clubs had dwindled. After a lengthy break from music, he reappeared as a performer in 1960. He played at music festivals and recorded further tracks over the next decade, before the onset of hardening of the arteries curtailed his public appearances. Ill health forced him to move to a Chicago nursing home in 1972.

Vinson died in Chicago in 1975 at the age of 74. He was interred at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois, in a grave that remained unmarked until 2009.

In 2004, the Mississippi Sheiks were inducted in the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. "Sitting on Top of the World" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.

In 2009, a concert produced by Steve Salter, of the nonprofit organization Killer Blues, raised monies to place a headstone on Vinson's grave. The concert was held at the Howmet Playhouse Theater in Whitehall, Michigan, and featured the blues musicians Thomas Esparza and Lonnie Blonde. The event was a success, and a stone was placed in October 2009.

Discography

See also
List of Memphis blues musicians

References

External links
 Walter Vinson recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

1901 births
1975 deaths
People from Bolton, Mississippi
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
American male violinists
Singers from Mississippi
Singers from Chicago
20th-century American violinists
20th-century American singers
Blues musicians from Mississippi
20th-century American guitarists
Songwriters from Illinois
Guitarists from Chicago
Guitarists from Mississippi
20th-century American male singers
American male songwriters

Walter Vinson


Dorothy Clutterbuck (19 January 1880 – 12 January 1951), was a wealthy Englishwoman who was named by Gerald Gardner as a leading member of the New Forest coven, a group of pagan Witches into which Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939. She has therefore become a figure of some significance in the history of Wicca.

Clutterbuck was a practising Anglican Christian, and never identified herself as a witch. Researchers have debated whether the surviving evidence of her own writings indicates that she had any unconventional religious leanings at all.

Biography
Clutterbuck was born in British India, and was the daughter of Thomas St. Quentin Clutterbuck, a British army officer. After her father's retirement, she appears to have moved back to England and to have lived with him in the Christchurch area of the New Forest in southern England. After her father's death, she continued to live in the same house alone, but at the age of 55 she married Rupert Fordham, a local Justice of the Peace who was of high rank in the Salvation Army. Fordham died in May 1939 in a car accident.

Clutterbuck appears to have been an outwardly respectable member of the local community, a supporter of the Conservative Party and the Church of England. She left a sizeable legacy to the local Anglican priest in her will. Her estate was valued at £60,000, a very large sum for the time. The one scandal attached to her was an allegation that Rupert Fordham was already married to a mentally ill woman, so that the two were not legally married. Clutterbuck had reverted to her maiden name by the time of her death.

Clutterbuck and Wicca

After her death in 1951, Clutterbuck was identified by Gerald Gardner as a leading member of the New Forest coven of witches into which he claimed to have been initiated in September 1939. Gardner referred to her only as "Old Dorothy" in his publications, but gave her full name to personal acquaintances. Gardner's statements were interpreted by his pupil Doreen Valiente as implying that Clutterbuck had personally initiated him into the coven, but later authors such as Philip Heselton and Eleanor Bone claim that his initiator was in fact Edith Woodford-Grimes. Some writers, such as historian Jeffrey Russell, suggested that "Old Dorothy" had been invented by Gardner, but Valiente, knowing her full name, obtained her birth, marriage and death certificates and published a basic outline of her life in 1985 to prove that she really existed.

It continues to be debated whether Gardner's claims that Clutterbuck was involved in pagan witchcraft were true, or whether Gardner used the name of a respectable local worthy as a private joke and to distract attention from his true magical partner, Edith Woodford-Grimes. Ronald Hutton and Leo Ruickbie have concluded that Clutterbuck is unlikely to have been involved in Gardner's activities, in particular because of her apparent commitment to Christianity. Hutton also points out that the date of Gardner's initiation would coincide with a period of mourning in 1939 when she had cancelled all other social engagements. Conversely, Philip Heselton has concluded that Clutterbuck definitely was involved in occult activities, and that her practice of Christianity was social and conventional in nature. The principal body of evidence to which both sides appeal is provided by Clutterbuck's own diaries.

The diaries
Clutterbuck left three volumes of diaries, which are actually more similar to commonplace books, filled with daily poems and illustrations and intended to be read by visitors to her home.

The researchers Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton have both read Clutterbuck's diaries, and have come to entirely different conclusions on their contents. Hutton believes that Clutterbuck's poems show her to be a "simple" and "kindly" woman with no connections with paganism or the occult. Heselton, on the other hand, believes that her writings reveal that "Dorothy was a pagan in all but name."

The evidence cited by Heselton and his supporters consists both of the absence of overt Christian themes and the apparent presence of pagan sentiments. Heselton notes that "there is hardly a mention of Jesus and it seems as if her deepest spiritual experiences come from nature and, particularly, her garden."  Little Christian sentiment is expressed, even on Christian holidays. Of the few direct references to Christianity, this for Whit Sunday 1942 is characteristically oblique:
"The Sunday that comes in the time of the May
With its crown of white blossoms for this sacred day
The Essence of this Day – The Spirit of Prayer
Brings to us those loved Spirits who used to be here"
[ 1942-05-24 ]
"Midsummer," Heselton says "is lauded as 'the day of all days most dear'". Nature and the feelings of magical enchantment that come from it are commonly repeated themes, as is the theme of a fairy-like dancing maiden, often referred to as 'the Queen', who seems to personify the seasons and the land. For example:
"... I knew you were a vision
The loveliest ever seen
But I also knew that you were Real
And of my heart, the Queen."
[ 1943-10-27 ]

"I am waiting for my Lady
For, down the pathway shadey
I think I hear her footfall light
My heart beats wildly with delight
...
I cannot wait – the minutes drag
Just when I'm in despair
Dear Heaven! She is coming! And now She's here! She's here!"
[ 1942-07-30 ]

"Of all the Ladies that I know
There's only one can please me so
That all her Looks and all her Ways
Make Music for me all my Days.
For Life, I love her, and adore
I only saw her once – not more
But once I saw her, as I say
But once she crossed my Path, my Way
For Ever. She will be my Queen
Where did I see her? – in a Dream."
[ 1943-06-21 (Midsummer Eve) ]

The diaries also contain frequent references to fairies and the full moon; bits of herb-lore, and occasionally vivid descriptions of classical gods such as Aurora.
Other examples seem more ambiguous, and could equally express Christian or Pagan sentiment, or simple poetic metaphor:
"Then with a flash of Scarlet
Sweeping across the snows
Comes Christmas, Radiant Creature!
She's laughing as she goes. The shining holly fills her lap
Blue pages hold her train
Dear Time of lovely memories. So here you are again
There stand the glittering Christmas Trees
The Fires flame and glow
Soft fingers tapping on the pane
Are fairies, made of snow
The Bells ring out, The Carols mount
All the old songs are dear
The First Most Sacred Festival
The best of all the year"
[ Christmas 1942 ]

Notes and references

English Anglicans
British occultists
1880 births
1951 deaths
British people in colonial India

Dorothy Clutterbuck


, better known by his stage name  is a Japanese pianist, vocalist and songwriter, best known for his work in the Ringo Sheena-helmed band Tokyo Jihen. He is also the lead vocalist and pianist of the band Appa.

Biography

Izawa was born in 1976 in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture. His father Masanobu Izawa is the president of Kurabun Corporation.

Izawa began studying piano at the age of four, and by the age of 14 had also learned to play the guitar and was active in several bands in which he also served as the vocalist. After graduating from Kurashiki's Seiryo Senior High School, he entered the composers' program at the Kunitachi College of Music; however, he left the college two years later before graduation because he felt he would not be able to study and compose music seriously at the same time. He formed a band with Kunitachi classmate H Zhett M soon after, although they dissolved three months later.

He formed the band Appa in 2004 along with bassist Hideaki Hotta and drummer Kazuto Sato. Izawa serves as the band's leader, pianist and vocalist in addition to writing and arranging most of their songs. After two small-run independent EP releases, Appa released their full-length debut album, Rashipoki, on November 5, 2008.

In mid-2005, Izawa was introduced to Sheena Ringo by H Zhett M, then the keyboardist of Sheena's band Tokyo Jihen, as a potential replacement keyboardist (HZM planned to depart the group in order to concentrate more fully on his own band Pe'z). After a period of hesitation, he was eventually convinced by the encouragement of both Sheena and bassist Seiji Kameda, who is said to have told him "Hurry up and join so we can play together", and Izawa debuted later the same year as a member of Tokyo Jihen's Phase 2 lineup alongside new guitarist Ryosuke Nagaoka, nicknamed Ukigumo. He arranged the majority of the songs on their second album Adult and would go on to compose more songs for the group than any other member besides Sheena.

In 2009, during a period of inactivity for the band during Sheena's temporary return to her solo work with the release of her fourth album Sanmon Gossip, Izawa joined former Ellegarden member Takeshi Hosomi's new band The Hiatus as a touring member.

Izawa remained a member of Tokyo Jihen until the band's farewell tour and breakup in February 2012. He has since resumed full-time membership in Appa, beginning with a performance at March 11 Nakaso Music Festival.

Appa released their second full-length album, Mantra, on August 29, 2012.

References

External links
  (official solo web site)

1976 births
Japanese male pianists
Kunitachi College of Music alumni
Living people
Singers from Kurashiki
Tokyo Jihen members

Ichiyo Izawa


The Diocese of Virginia is the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episcopal Church's nine original dioceses, with origins in colonial Virginia. As of 2018, the diocese has 16 regions  with 68,902 members and 180 congregations.

The see city is Richmond where Mayo Memorial Church House, the diocesan offices, is located. The diocese does not have a conventional cathedral church but rather an open-air cathedral, the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration at Shrine Mont, which was consecrated in 1925. Shrine Mont in Orkney Springs, Virginia is also the site of a diocesan retreat and camp center. The diocese also operates the Virginia Diocesan Center at Roslyn in western Richmond, a conference center overlooking the James River. Virginia Theological Seminary, the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States, is located within the diocese in Alexandria, Virginia.

History

Church of England in Virginia

Anglicanism came to Virginia in 1607 with the settlers who founded Jamestown. The charter of the London Company instructed them to adhere to the practices of the Church of England, and between 1607 and its dissolution in 1624, the company sent 22 ministers to the colony. These ministers were not only concerned for the spiritual lives of the colonists but also attempted (largely unsuccessfully) to convert the Native Americans. When Virginia's General Assembly first met in 1619, it passed a series of laws concerning the church, including formally designating the Church of England as the established church of the colony. To keep pace with the colony's growth, the Burgesses ordered each settlement to set aside a house or room as a place to hold regular worship services.

After Virginia was made a royal colony in 1624, it would face an acute and serious clergy shortage until the end of the 17th century. The shortage was fueled by an expanding population and insufficient clergy recruitment despite efforts to attract ministers by offering incentives, such as tax breaks. This forced parishes to rely on lay readers to lead prayers and read published sermons. The absence of North American bishops necessitated that colonists desiring ordination make the dangerous trip to and from England. It also meant children could not be confirmed, which meant (prior to 1662) that they could not receive communion, although many clergymen overlooked this requirement.

In this vacuum, the legislature assumed some episcopal functions, such as outlining the responsibilities of clergymen and providing for their financial maintenance. It created a vestry system in 1642-1643 that was lay dominated, a radical departure from the English system where rectors were nominated by parish patrons and usually held office for life. In Virginia, vestries, usually consisting of 12 wealthy men, could appoint and remove ministers. Colonial parishes were units of local government and social welfare agencies. In addition to paying the minister's salary and building churches, the parish levy provided the vestry with funding for poor relief. Vestries were in charge of road maintenance, presented moral offenders to the county courts, and determined the legal bounds of an individual's land.

It was not until Henry Compton was appointed Bishop of London that the hierarchy of the English Church would address the problems in America. Compton not only worked to improve the quality of the colony's ministers but appointed commissaries to act on his behalf. Commissaries could "summon the clergy, conduct visitations, administer oaths customary in ecclesiastical courts, and administer discipline or judicial proceedings to wayward clergy either by admonition, suspension, or excommunication" but could not ordain to the priesthood. The first commissary, Henry Clayton, arrived in 1684 but left two years later. His successor, James Blair, held the office for 54 years, from 1689 to his death in 1743. Blair was successful in establishing parishes in every county. He was also committed to educating colonial men for the ministry, establishing the College of William and Mary in 1693. Compton's attention brought stability to Virginia's church and by 1703 nearly 80 percent of Virginia's 50 parishes had ministers.

Until the Great Awakening of the 1740s, the Church of England faced few challenges apart from small groups of Quakers. During the Awakening, however, Presbyterians and Baptists emerged as a threat to the religious establishment. Baptists especially resented the privileged status of the Anglican Church and laws requiring that the government license dissenting ministers. The Great Awakening also inspired an evangelical movement within the established church, much of which would eventually be absorbed by Methodism. By the 1750s and 1760s, however, the Church of England in Virginia was stable and prosperous.

Piety
In the 1740s the Anglican church had about 70 parish priests around the colony. There was no bishop, and indeed, there was fierce political opposition to having a bishop in the colony.  The Anglican priests were supervised directly by the distant Bishop of London, who paid little attention. Each county court gave tax money to the local vestry, composed of prominent layman. The vestry provided the priest a glebe of 200 or , a house, and perhaps some livestock. The vestry paid him an annual salary of . of tobacco, plus 20 shillings for every wedding and funeral. While not poor, the priests lived modestly and their opportunities for improvement were slim.

Ministers reported that the colonists were typically inattentive, uninterested, and bored during church services. According to the ministers' complaints, the people were sleeping, whispering, ogling the fashionably-dressed women, walking about and coming and going, or at best looking out the windows or staring blankly into space. By 1740, the acute shortage of clergy was easing, and by 1776, there were more Anglican clergy living in Virginia than there were parishes. Devout parishioners used the Book of Common Prayer for private prayer and devotion. This allowed devout Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life in addition to the formal church services. However the stress on private devotion weakened the need for a bishop or a large institutional church of the sort Blair wanted. The stress on personal piety opened the way for the First Great Awakening, which pulled people away from the established church.

Revolution
The American Revolution was a difficult time for the Anglican Church in America. Clergymen were divided between allegiance to their king and their state. As public officials, ministers were required to swear loyalty to the state, breaking the Oath of Supremacy in the process. Some were able to do this, but those who could not either resigned or withdrew from parish duties while continuing to provide pastoral care. There were calls for dis-establishment, but powerful church members resisted drastic change. In 1777, the legislature passed bills recognizing the church's right to its property and the right of the clergy to occupy the glebes. Clerical salaries were suspended and ended entirely in 1780. Thus for much of the war the Anglican Church faced an identity crisis. It was a state church controlled by a government refusing to fund it. The war also led to the breakdown of the vestry system as refugees strained parish resources and desperate vestrymen resigned or petitioned the state to dissolve their vestries.

Postwar Episcopalians
After the American Revolution, when freedom of religion and the separation of church and state became dominant ideas, the Church of England was dis-established in Virginia. A few ministers were Loyalists and had returned to England. When it began organizing as a diocese after the Revolution about 50 Episcopal clergy were still active in the state. The lack of a steady means of pay and natural aging continued to reduce the number of clergy.  Reforms at the College of William and Mary resulted in no place for Episcopal clergy to study for ordination. The clergy shortage deepened over time. When possible, worship continued in the usual fashion, but the local vestry was no longer the unit of local government and no longer handled tax money. The Right Reverend James Madison (1749–1812) (a cousin of politician James Madison), was elected in 1790 as the first Episcopal Bishop of Virginia and slowly rebuilt the denomination.

After the war ended, Episcopalians (as Anglicans were now calling themselves) recognized the need to be in control of their own church. In April 1784, a meeting of Virginia ministers asked the legislature to relinquish control over the church and to issue an act of incorporation. In October, it passed an incorporation bill which placed the government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the hands of an annual convention with both lay and clerical representatives. However, the state continued to create new parishes and set parish boundaries, oversee vestry elections, and require county courts to review parish finances for several more years. For its part, the Episcopal Church continued to hold a monopoly on performing marriages.

The first convention was held May 1785. It elected a standing committee, elected deputies to the first General Convention of the Episcopal Church in September, and created canons. The canons ensured that laity would participate in the trial of clergymen accused of misconduct and that bishops would have no authority except to oversee clerical conduct, perform confirmations and ordinations, and preside at the convention. At the second Virginia convention, in 1786, the Rev. David Griffith, who was both a surgeon and a priest, was elected to become the first Bishop of Virginia. He lacked the funds, however, to travel to England for his consecration, and in 1789, resigned his election, fell ill and died. The following year, James Madison, the president of the College of William and Mary, rector of James City parish, and cousin of the future president of the same name, was elected to become the first Bishop of Virginia, traveled to England and was consecrated.

In 1786, the Virginia Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, written by Thomas Jefferson and supported by James Madison. It also repealed the act of incorporation for the Virginia church and took from the vestries the oversight of poor relief. Baptists and Presbyterians were proposing that all property of the colonial parishes—glebes, church buildings, church yards, communion silver, and Bibles—be sold for the benefit of all Virginians. Even with a 1788 law confirming the Episcopal Church's rights to the colonial church's property and the repeal of all laws creating an established church in 1799, efforts to dis-endow the Episcopal Church continued. In 1801, the General Assembly passed a law authorizing county overseers of the poor to sell property of the former established church, using the money for education and the poor. As late as 1814, the General Assembly was still authorizing the sale of specific parishes' silver and bells, and in 1841, the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in a case involving the seizure of a parish glebe.

After the Episcopal Church lost a challenge to the 1801 law, Bishop Madison focused on keeping the College of William and Mary going.  Congestive heart failure made it difficult for Madison to travel, and the diocese suffered decline that lasted past Madison's death as once again the elected candidate declined the position.

The next Bishop, Richard Channing Moore led the rebuilding of the diocese.  The opening of the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria in 1823, under the guidance of William Holland Wilmer (who ultimately but briefly succeeded Madison as president of the College of William and Mary) and William Meade (who later succeeded Moore) provided the diocese with the source of clergy it needed to rebuild.

Civil War and aftermath

During the Civil War, West Virginia separated from Virginia and in 1877 that part of the Diocese of Virginia lying within the bounds of West Virginia became the Diocese of West Virginia. In 1892, The southern part of the diocese became the Diocese of Southern Virginia, and from that diocese, another emerged (the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia) in 1919.  The boundaries of the Diocese of Virginia have remained unchanged since 1892.

Recent history
In recent decades, the diocese has experienced the effects of Anglican realignment as some conservative congregations withdrew from the diocese and the national Episcopal Church. Many of these congregations formed the Anglican Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. In 2012, the diocese reclaimed legal access to Episcopal church properties that had been claimed by seven of the departing congregations, which included an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court by Anglican members at The Falls Church.

Bishops
These are the bishops who have served the Diocese of Virginia:

 James Madison (1790–1812)
 Richard Channing Moore (1814–1841)*William Meade, Assistant (1829–1841)
 William Meade (1841–1862)*John Johns, Assistant (1842–1862)
 John Johns (1862–1876)*Francis McNeece Whittle, Assistant (1867–1876)
 Francis McNeece Whittle (1876–1902)*Alfred Magill Randolph, Assistant (1883–1892); named bishop of Southern Virginia*John Brockenbrough Newton, Assistant/Coadjutor (1894–1897)*Robert Atkinson Gibson, Coadjutor (1897–1902)
 Robert Atkinson Gibson (1902–1919)*Arthur Selden Lloyd, Coadjutor, (1909 - 1911?)*William Cabell Brown, Coadjutor (1914–1919)
 William Cabell Brown (1919–1927)*Henry St. George Tucker, Coadjutor (1926–1927)
 Henry St. George Tucker (1927–1943), elected presiding bishop in 1938*Frederick D. Goodwin, Coadjutor (1930–1944)
 Frederick D. Goodwin (1944–1960)*Wiley Roy Mason, suffragan (1942–1951), assistant (1951–1968)*Robert Fisher Gibson, Jr., suffragan (1949–1954), Coadjutor (1954–1960)*Samuel Blackwell Chilton, suffragan (1960–1969)
 Robert Fisher Gibson, Jr. (1961–1974)*Robert Bruce Hall, Coadjutor (1966–1974)*Philip Alan Smith, suffragan (1970–1972), elected bishop coadjutor of New Hampshire*John Alfred Baden, suffragan (1973–1979)
 Robert Bruce Hall (1974–1985)*David Henry Lewis, Jr., suffragan (1980–1987)*Peter James Lee, Coadjutor (1984–1985)
 Peter James Lee (1985–2009)*Robert Poland Atkinson, Assistant (1989–1993)*F. Clayton Matthews, suffragan (1994–1998), named director of the Office of Pastoral Development*David Colin Jones, suffragan (1995-2012)*Francis Campbell Gray, Assistant (1999–2007)*Shannon Sherwood Johnston, Coadjutor (2007–2009)
 Shannon Sherwood Johnston (2009-2018)*David Colin Jones, suffragan (1995-2012), subsequently visiting bishop (-2021-)*Edwin F. Gulick Jr., Assistant (2011-2017), subsequently visiting bishop (-2021-)*Susan E. Goff, suffragan (2012-2018), Ecclesiastical Authority (2018-2022)*Jennifer Brooke-Davidson, Assistant (2019-2022)
 E. Mark Stevenson (2022-present)

See also

 http://www.thediocese.net/who-we-are/history/

References

External links

Journal of the Annual Council of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Virginia at the Online Books Page

Diocese of Virginia
1785 establishments in Virginia
Anglican dioceses established in the 18th century
Virginia
Province 3 of the Episcopal Church (United States)
Religious organizations established in 1785

Episcopal Diocese of Virginia


Mail is part of the postal system. The postal system is a system where written documents and small to medium packages are sent (delivered) to places around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.

A postal service can be private or public.  Governments often make rules about private postal delivery systems. Since the early 19th century, most national postal systems have been controlled entirely by governments.  The governments make people pay a fee to send something.  This fee is usually in the form of stamps.  Some governments only let private postal services deliver parcel (non-mail) packages.

Postal systems often do things other than sending letters. In some countries, the postal system is also in charge of telephone and telegraph systems. The postal systems in other countries can help people apply for government papers such as passports and driver's licenses. Many places the post offices also work like banks. This is so that people can take out money or pay bills at a nearby post office, instead of travelling to a big bank in the nearest town.

People drop letters in a post box to be collected and delivered by the post office.

Related pages

 Clapper Post
 Electronic mail
 Envelope
 Letter (paper)
 Letter box
 Postcard
 Telegram

Postal services

Mail


Tangsudo, dangsudo or tang soo do () is a Korean martial art. It is considered as Korean karate.

History of tangsudo

The name "tangsudo" means "the way of Chinese hands". In the Korean peninsula several schools of martial arts had been prohibited by Japanese invaders for 35 years, and they went out from secret at the end of the Second World War. They were known as schools of tangsudo. In the modern Korea, the first school of tangsudo was Chungdokwan, founded in 1944 by the master WonKukLee. As a result of the liberation of Korean nation, which was happened 15th August 1945, other four schools were opened: Mudokkwan, Songmukwan, Chidokwan, and Changmukwan. Other schools ("kwan") were added to the list after the end of the civil war between north and south (1950-1953). In December 1955, with the approval of the president of Republic of South Korea, Singman Rhee, a meeting of the founders of the main schools was called. The intention of this meeting was to unify the different schools and to give the name and the form to the national martial art. The name should be related neither with China, nor with Japan ("tangsu"="Chinese hands" and its Japanese pronunciation is "karate").

Among a lot of already postulated names there was "Taekwondo", proposed by a General named Choi Hong Hee. In 1961 the "Korean Association of Taesudo" rises. Mudukkwan of Hwang Kee and Ydokwan of Byong Yun Kwei remained anchored to the tradition. The new organization dismembered the technical inheritance of the old tangsudo in 1962. The sporting combat with the use of jumps, kicks and fists formed taesudo briefly; the techniques of personal defense with the use of levers and throws (grappling) became "hapkido". On the other hand, the techniques of "neikung" (internal work), which control breathing, energy (Ki) and the mental concentration, became not very noticeable. In 1964 the organization changed its name once again into "Korean Association of Taekwondo". That name remain ultimate.

In 1966, "International Taekwondo Federation" is born. Its aim was to spread out the new-born discipline in the rest of the world. Its founder is the Korean general Choi. In 1971 Taekwondo becomes national sport of South Korea for presidential decree of the president Park Chung Hee. In 1973, "World Taekwondo Federation" is born, presided by Dr Un Yong Kim. It was founded in opposition to the ITF. The ITF, after a series of continual changes, will have the support of the North Korea. Meanwhile, the WTF of Doctor Kim reaches the Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992. So, it is an official Olympic sport and no more martial art. The schools, which were faithful to tangsudo had to choose the strategy of the emigration, by installing them outside of Korea, in America, Europe, Southern Africa, etc., to maintain live and unaltered the message of the ancient, wise men of Orient.

Techniques of fight in tangsudo

Stances

There are many stances in the tangsudo. Some of them are basic, for example "the stance of preparation"; the others need more balance, such as "the stance on one foot" or "the stance of the crane".

Basic Techniques

Basic techniques are simple and effective. The students learn all the basic techniques (blocks, blows, kicks) which can be found in the traditional art of tangsudo. Dojang (schools of the tangsudo), gives special importance to the "art", not only to fighting. The hand techniques involve, amongst others, many different fist techniques and "knife-hand" techniques. Each of them has a correct form and special practical use, and they are used in blocking and in attack. The tangsudo is the martial art which gives much attention to foot techniques and to flexibility. They are also used for both blocking and attacking.

Training of tangsudo

In the traditional method, the student has to learn the basics first of all, later he does repeatedly the fight of one step and the fight of three steps. The fight of one step teaches how to direct attention, but the fight of three steps teaches him how to move forward and to move backward, as well as how to use a distance. Together, they give the belief in student's abilities, and the student needs this belief in order to successfully block and attack in the free fight.

Training of the mind

The teachers give attention to the importance of the Principles and Creed of Tangsudo, the students learn discipline and respect. The self-confidence, the concentration and the control are also underlined, because they are important aspects of everyday life.

Practice of basics (kibon)

The students do regularly the basic techniques with marching almost during every lesson. This helps them to understand the dynamics of a movement and this improves the technique by repetition. The basics teach them good balance and good stance.

Forms (hyong)

The forms are the sequences of the basic techniques. They are fixed in advance. The forms in the tangsudo are obtained from different styles of martial arts. Indeed, the majority of them is the versions of karate kata. They show the special practical use of all the basic techniques in a variety of situations. The form is considered as if the performer of the form were defending himself against many enemies. The hyong are arranged patterns of techniques which the students do regularly at all levels. The study of the forms increases abilities of understanding, of learning, and of remembering. Forms change the shape of the basic techniques and they teach the strategy, the tactics, the choosing of the right moment, and the balance. If the tangsudo is treated as "the art for the art", the forms are easily learned and they are similar to a kind of dance in presentation. While the student advances in ability, the hyong become more complicated and become the challenge. Forms are a part of the training of tangsudo which a student can easily do regularly almost anywhere.

Fight (daeryeon)

The fight of training gives the chance to use freely all the techniques against one or some opponents. Self-control is important. Proper choosing of the right moment, position and methods of passing through the defenses of an opponent are also exercised. Although students may use helmets, gloves and boots filled with soft material, the rule of avoiding any contact is respected.

Fight of one step (hanbon-daeryeon)

This exercise lets the person who is being trained practice techniques of self-defence against a known attack in a controlled way. The aim is the development of responses to certain situation without conscious thought. This allows to learn correct distance and choosing of the right moment, which are two factors of deciding importance in a real fight. This also gives self-confidence and control. This is a way of practising that is very controlled, safe, and without contact.

Free fight (jayu-daeryeon)

The free fight allows make continuous use of the techniques against the other person in a controlled environment. The aim is to defend oneself in an unknown situation. Attention is given to safety at all times. According to the traditional method, the student need not hit a heavy bag to increase the power of his blows and to prepare himself for free fight. That is because the students uses of control, not contact. The students stop their blows close to the target. Therefore, if in a real fight they decide to hit the target, they can do it easily.

According to the traditional theory, if the student makes contact constantly, it will be difficult to control his actions when he needs. But if he always makes continuous use of control, he can easily hit when he needs. If the student constantly makes contact during free fight, his mind will become wild. But if the student makes continuous use of controlled fight, his mind will become more controlled. Both states of mind can spread over his life outside of class. Because full contact is not allowed, the students have no need to use strong protectors (things that protect). Using boxing gloves and thick feet protectors leads them to hit strongly. And when they hit while wearing such things, they does not feel whether their technique is correct. In order to avoid this problem, the traditional masters should make a choice the light protectors of fists and of insteps. They suffice to prevent injury when the contact accidentally occurs.

According to the modern method, the free fight is similar to fights in kickboxing. The students use boxing gloves, protectors of the feet, and protectors of the head.

Whether free fight is aimed at competition or at fight on the street, the student should make a great effort to improve his endurance (power of enduring). That is a reason that the student needs to have good basics and good skills of the fight of one step and of three steps; they develop the student's endurance. It will not happen immediately; usually two or three months are necessary in order to develop the endurance. The important part of it is proper breathing. The student has to breathe at the right time when he hits or he blocks. If he stops his breath when he does an action, he can still do the action, but he will become gradually tired as time passes. Finally he will lose his ability to continue. On the other hand, each time he breathes in and breathes out correctly, he extends the amount of time when he can continue to fight.

Training of self-defence (hosinsul)

Training of self-defence teaches a student how to defend himself against grabs, holds and locks. It also contains how to deal with situations where it is necessary to defend oneself without causing permanent physical wound to his attacker and how to use pressure points. Jayu-daeryeon is perfect in order to improve the self-defence ability. The student can combine any techniques: kicks, punches, blows to feet (sweeps), takedowns and overthrows.

Breaking of the boards (kyokpa)

Breaking of the boards is a favorite occupation of many students and spectators. Breaking shows the level of the students' techniques and it helps them understand what effect their techniques can have on a target. It is used during tests of movement to a higher rank and attention is given to safety at all times. This occupation teaches to focus the mind and to direct attention correctly towards the technique. This also helps the students to pass their barriers of the mind, and improves their belief in their abilities.

Other websites
Taekwondo: The Spirit of Korea by Dr. Steven D. Capener History of Korean martial arts
People and Events of Taekwondo's Formative Years by Dakin Burdick  History of taekwondo and tangsudo
International Combat Martial Arts Unions Association
International Tang Su Do Academy

Martial arts
Korean culture

Tangsudo


Radegast, kent as Radigost, Redigast, Riedegost or Radogost an aw, is an auld god o Slavic mythology. Syne the name kin easy be kent as meanin something like "Dear guest", Radegast wis proclaimed as the Slavic god o hospitality an as siclike entered the hypothetical, reconstructit Slavic pantheon o modren days. E'en myths anent him wur biggit based on sindry fowk customs o sacred hospitality. Seemlar customs, houaniver, are kent in mony Indo-European meyhologies athoot a distinct deity associatit explicitly wi thaim. Accordin tae some leeterar soorces he is the god o war, nicht, fire an the forenicht sky an aw. He likes tae invite tae the banquets, is completely black an is airmt wi a spear an helmet.

History
Mt. Radhošť (Czech Beskids) is tradeetionally associatit wi the wirship o this god an accordin tae legend, missionars Cyril an Methodius whan thay reportit went tae the muntain on thair trip tae Great Moravie, haed his idol caa'd doon.

Radegast is mentioned bi Adam o Bremen in his Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum as the deity warshippt in the Lutician  (Wast Slavic tribes) city o Radgosc. Sicweys, Helmold in his Chronica Slavorum wrate o Radegast as a Lutician god. Housomeivver, Thietmar o Merseburg earlier wrate in his Chronicon that the pagan Luticians in their haily city o "Radegast" warshippit mony gods, the maist heich o thaim whit wis cried Zuarasici, identifee'd as either Svarog or Svarožič. Accordin tae Adam o Bremen, Johannes Scotus, Bishop o Mecklenburg, wis sacrificit tae that god on 10 November 1066, durin a Wendish pagan rebellion agin Christianity.

Accordin tae Slavic legends, Radegast wis beluvit bi Hors, descrieved as bonnie young goddess o the muin. Housomeivver he ignored her, unlike the god o the wind Stribog, who luvit her. Stribog secretly stole Radegast's cloak an towards fore-nuin he sneakit intae Hors chamber, whaur she let him seduce her an got her pregnant. Radegast wis ootragit, but no acause o Hors rather for the stolen coat. Hors felt cheatit an lonely. She beggit for mercy for her newborn girl an suggestit that she coud be a goddess o hairst, but the main god Svarog disagreed an the dispute wis no settled. As a result this saison does no hae a goddess an the goddess Živa fechts ower it wi the goddess Marzanna.

In popular cultur
The oreeginal statue ance fand on Mt. Radhošť, sculptit in 1929 bi Albin Polasek, is nou locatit in Frenstat's (Czech Republic) Toun Haw. Whan the statue wis muivit tae the muntain in 1931, the larrie became stuck in a steep turn, hivy rain accompaniet the storm an lichtnin killed ane o the sodgers.

A smawer version bi Albin Polasek staunds in the centre o Prague's Zoo. The enlarged version, nou foond on Mt. Radhošť, is a mair recent copy fundit bi the Radegast Beer Company in 1998. Mair information an sculpturs o Radegast can be viewed at The Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. The name Radhošť itsel is supposed tae be a Czech transcription o Radegast.

Radagast the Brown is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He is ane o the Wizards an lives amang animals.

References
Thietmar o Merseburg, Chronicon.
Adam o Bremen, Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum.
Helmold, Chronicon Slavorum.

Freemit airtins

References

Fakelore
Slavic gods
Solar gods
War gods
Growthiness gods
Agricultural gods

Radegast (god)


The Second Battle of Guam (July 21 — August 10, 1944) was the capture of Guam by the United States from Japanese control. Guam was a U.S. territory (in the Mariana Islands). The battle was during the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Background
Guam is the largest island of the Marianas. It is 30 miles (48 km) long and 9 miles (14 km) wide. It had been a United States island since its capture from Spain in 1898.

It was captured by the Japanese on December 10, 1941. This was after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not as fortified as the other Mariana Islands, such as Saipan.

The Allied plan for the invasion of the Marianas was for heavy bombing by planes and then bombing by battleships.

Guam was chosen as a target because it was big enough to be a base for the next attacks on the Philippines, Taiwan and the Ryukyu Islands. The harbor at Apra could take the largest ships. The two airfields were big enough for B-29 Superfortress bombers.

The invasion of Saipan was planned for June 15, 1944, with landings on Guam planned for June 18.

A large Japanese carrier attack and heavy fighting in Saipan led to the invasion of Guam being delayed for a month.

Battle

Guam is surrounded by reefs, cliffs, and heavy waves. This makes Guam hard to attack.

On July 21, the Americans landed on both sides on the western side of Guam. The 3rd Marine Division landed at 08:28. The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed to the south. Japanese artillery sank 20 Landing Ships. The Americans had many dead and wounded.

By 09:00 men and tanks were on both beaches. The 77th Infantry Division had to walk through the shallow water. Japanese guns fired at them.

By nightfall the Americans controlled the beachs about 2,000 meters deep. Japanese attacks were made throughout the first few days.

Lieutenant General Takeshi Takashina was killed on July 28, and Lieutenant General Hideyoshi Obata took over the command of the defenders.

Supply was very difficult  for the Americans in the first days of the battle.

The attacks against the American beaches, as well as the violent fighting, had tired out the Japanese. At the start of August they were running out of food and ammunition and had only a few tanks left.

Obata moved to the mountainous central and northern part of the island. He could not get any more supplies or get new troops because of American control of the sea and air around Guam.

The Japanese refused to surrender, and almost all were killed. On August 10, the US captured Guam. The next day, Obata committed ritual suicide.

Afterwards
A few Japanese soldiers hid in the jungle. On December 8, 1945, three U.S. Marines were killed. On January 24, 1972, Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi was discovered by hunters. He had lived alone in a cave for 27 years.

After the battle, Guam was turned into a base for Allied operations. Five large airfields were built by the Seabees. B-29 bombers flew from the island to attack targets in the Western Pacific and on mainland Japan.

Four U.S. Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their brave actions during the Battle of Guam: PFC Luther Skaggs Jr., PFC Frank Witek (after death), PFC Leonard F. Mason (after death) and Captain (later General) Louis H. Wilson, Jr..

Liberation Day continues to be celebrated on Guam every July 21.

References

Guam (1944)
1944
1940s in Oceania
History of Guam

Battle of Guam (1944)


Woody Bay was a station on the old Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, a narrow gauge railway line that ran through Exmoor from Barnstaple to Lynton and Lynmouth in North Devon. The station was inland, about 2 km from Woody Bay itself. It opened with the line (as Wooda Bay until the name was changed in 1901) on 7 March 1898, and closed when the line was closed on 29 September 1935. From 1923 until closure, the line was part of the Southern Railway.

Woody Bay station was built in part to serve the expected development of a resort at Woody Bay, a mile or so to the north.  A pier was built in the bay, although not much more building took place, and the pier was destroyed by storms before it properly opened.
The development was stopped when the promotor went bankrupt in 1900, and although a route was surveyed for a branch line to the bay, it was never built.

After being bought by the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company in 1995, restoration of the station began, and it opened as a Visitors' Centre in 2003.  An "out and back" service over a few hundred yards of track began in 2004, and with the opening of a temporary station at Killington Lane, about one mile towards Parracombe Halt, a regular "point to point" service started in 2006.

A carriage shed has been built into a cutting beyond the station.  It is a temporary structure erected in 2003, and can be moved when the line expands.

Woody Bay station is at:

Railway stations in England
Buildings and structures in Devon

Woody Bay railway station


The Englischer Garten, German for "English Garden", is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, Germany stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count Rumford (Reichsgraf von Rumford), for Prince Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. Thompsons' successors, Reinhard von Werneck (1757–1842) and Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell (1750–1823), advisers on the project from its beginning, both extended and improved the park.

Parks in Europe

Englischer Garten


François Auguste Marie Mignet (, 8 May 1796 – 24 March 1884) was a French journalist and historian of the French Revolution.

Biography
He was born in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), France.  His father was a locksmith from the Vendée, who enthusiastically accepted the principles of the French Revolution and encouraged liberal ideas in his son. François had brilliant success at Avignon in the lycée where he became a teacher in 1815. He returned to Aix to study law, and in 1818 was called to the bar, where his eloquence would have ensured his success had he not been more interested in the study of history. His abilities were shown in an Éloge de Charles VII, which was honoured by the Académie de Nîmes in 1820, and a memoire on Les Institutions de Saint Louis, which in 1821 was honoured by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.

He then went to Paris, where he was soon joined by his friend and compatriot Adolphe Thiers, the future president of the French Republic. He was introduced by Jacques-Antoine Manuel, formerly a member of the Convention, to the Liberal paper, Le Courrier français, where he became a member of the staff which carried on a fierce pen-and-ink warfare against the Restoration. He acquired his knowledge of the men and intrigues of the Napoleonic epoch from Talleyrand.

Mignet's Histoire de la révolution française (1824), in support of the Liberal cause, was an enlarged sketch, prepared in four months, in which more stress was laid on fundamental theories than on the facts. In 1830, he founded Le National with Thiers and Armand Carrel, and signed the journalists' protest against the July Ordinances, however, he refused to profit from his party's victory. He was satisfied with the modest position of Director of the Archives at the Foreign Office, where he stayed till the revolution of 1848, when he was dismissed, and retired permanently into private life. He had been elected a member of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques, which was re-established in 1832, and, in 1837, was made the permanent secretary. He was elected a member of the Académie française in 1836, and sought no further honours.

Mignet was well known in fashionable circles where his witty conversation and pleasant manners made him a favourite. Most of his time was devoted to study and to his academic duties. Eulogies on his deceased fellow-members, the Academy reports on its work, and on the prizes awarded by it, which it was part of Mignet's duty as secretary to draw up, were thoroughly appreciated by connoisseurs, and were collected in Mignet's Notices et portraits.

He worked slowly and lingered over research. With the exception of his description of the French Revolution, which was chiefly a political manifesto, all his early works refer to the Middle Ages.  He and historian Francois Guizot invented the concept of the bourgeois revolution. These include, De la féodalité, des institutions de Saint Louis et de l'influence de la législation de ce prince (1822); La Germanie au VIIIe et au IXe siècle, sa conversion au Christianisme, et son introduction dans la société civilisée de l'Europe occidentale (1834); Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la fin du XIe siècle jusqu'à la fin du XVe (1836); all of which are rough sketches that mainly outline the subjects.

Mignet's most famous works are devoted to modern history. For many years, he immersed himself into history of the Reformation, but only one part of his writings, dealing with the Reformation at Geneva, was published. His Histoire de Marie Stuart (2 vols., 1851)  made use of previously unpublished documents from the archives of Simancas.  He devoted several volumes to a history of Spain, which had a well-deserved success, including, Charles Quint, son abdication, son séjour et sa mort au monastère de Yuste (1845); Antonio Perez et Philippe II. (1845); and Histoire de la rivalité de François Ier et de Charles Quint (1875).

At the same time, he was commissioned to publish the diplomatic acts relating to the War of the Spanish Succession for the Collection des documents inédits. Only four volumes of these Négotiations were published (1835–1842), and they do not go further than the Peace of Nijmwegen; however, the introduction is celebrated, and Mignet reprinted it in his Mélanges historiques.

Mignet was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1876. He died in Paris in 1884 at age 87. A eulogy was delivered by Victor Duruy on entering the Académie Française on 18 June 1885.

References

External links

1796 births
1884 deaths
People from Aix-en-Provence
Aix-Marseille University alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Historians of the French Revolution
Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques
Members of the Académie Française
19th-century French historians
French male non-fiction writers

François Mignet


Thomsonfly wis a Breetish airline, previously kent as Britannia an a business athin TUI UK prior tae September 2007.  Follaein TUI UK mergin wi First Choice Holidays in September 2007 it became pairt o TUI Travel PLC.  The new holiday company continued wi baith in-hoose airlines (Thomsonfly an First Choice Airways) through Winter 07 an Simmer 08 housomeivver frae 1 November 2008 it became Thomson Airways. Thomsonfly wis the lairgest chairter airline in the warld, an an' a' operatit scheduled services tae 20 European ceeties. The airline haed several bases includin Birmingham, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Coventry, Glasga, Liverpool, Lunnon Gatwick, Belfast, Lunnon Luton, Manchester, Newcastle an Doncaster-Sheffield.

Defunct airlines o the Unitit Kinrick
International Air Carrier Association
Airlines established in 2005
Airlines disestablished in 2008

Thomsonfly


MAR, short for Marchen Awakens Romance is a Japanese manga and anime. The manga ran from 2003-2006, while the anime ran from 2005-2007, made up of 102 episodes. A sequel was made named MAR Omega.

Story
The story is about a Japanese boy named Ginta who journeys into a world named MAR Heaven, which is like a fairy tale. Here, magical items known as ARMs are used to perform different tasks. Ginta meets a witch named Dorothy who wants to find a powerful ARM called Babbo. Ginta and Dorothy find Babbo, but find he is alive and can talk, which other ARMS can't do. Babbo has no memory of who he is other than his name and becomes Ginta's friend.

Ginta travels around MAR Heaven, forming a group of friends which he calls Team MAR. Team MAR fight the Chess Pieces, an evil group of people who wish to turn MAR Heaven into a nightmare. Team MAR is forced to fight in the War Games, a fighting tournament, to defeat the Chess Pieces. Ginta also wishes to return home, looking for the ARM that brought him to MAR Heaven in the first place.

It is revealed near the end of the story that the King and Queen of the Chess Pieces are Ginta's father Danna controlled by an evil spirit called Caldia's Orb, and Dorothy's older sister Diana. Team MAR battles Caldia's Orb, Diana and the leader of the Chess Pieces' Knights, Phantom, in the floating Lestava Castle, and win, saving MAR Heaven. Ginta and Danna return home at the end of the story.

Characters

Team MAR
Team MAR is made up of the main heroes and characters of MAR. The team's goal is to defeat the Chess Pieces and save MAR Heaven from destruction. The members are:
Ginta Toramizu: The main character and leader of the team. Ginta is from Tokyo, Japan. He has a strong imagination and becomes a great fighter in MAR Heaven. He lives with his mother and missing father.
Babbo: A talking ARM who has a human soul. He appears as a ball and chain with a hammer-shaped handle at the end. He has a pointed nose and a moustache. Babbo is very proud and calls himself a "gentleman". Babbo, being an ARM, can change into stronger forms using magical orbs. These forms include a hammer/sword weapon, a gun that can fire exploding bubbles, a winged monster named "Gargoyle", a woman named, a forcefield, a Puss in Boots-like cat, and a powerful attack that can bring back the dead.
Dorothy: A pink-haired witch who searches for powerful ARMs. She flies on a broomstick and is a skilled magician. She comes from a land called Caldia, where her older sister Diana turned against her people and turned evil. She searches for powerful ARMs to use against Diana when she must fight her.
Jack: A boy who resembles a monkey. He lives with his mother on a farm growing vegetables for a living. He uses a shovel-shaped ARM and can grow plants to use as weapons. His father was killed in the first War Games, and Jack wants to be stronger than him and then grow a beanstalk that will grow above the clouds.
Snow: A young princess who is the rightful ruler of Lestava Castle. She and her servant Edward ran away from Lestava when Diana became the Queen, and they later joined Ginta's group. Snow is very polite and kind, but can be hyperactive and strange at times. She uses ARMs that can fire out ice attacks.
Alviss: A young man who summoned Ginta to MAR Heaven. He is cursed with a Zombie Tattoo that will cause him to die if it covers his whole body.
Nanashi: The leader of a group of thieves called Luberia, Nanashi joins Team MAR to avenge a large number of thieves who were killed by the Chess Pieces. He can be lazy and flirts with women when not fighting.
Alan: Snow's protector, Alan fought in the first War Games but was cursed to share a body with Edward. He is later freed from the curse. He is calm and a good battle, but is allergic to cats.
Belle: A fairy who is friends with Alviss.
Edward: A dog who wears glasses, Edward is Snow's servant. He is cursed to share a body with Alan, but is later freed.

Supporting Characters
Koyuki: Ginta's friend in Tokyo. She looks a lot like Snow and dreams of Ginta's adventures from Snow's point of view.
Danna: Ginta's father. He fought in the first War Games, but died when fighting Phantom. His body was taken over by Caldia's Orb, until its death, bringing Danna back from the dead and allowing him to reunite with his family.
Ginta's Mother: Ginta's unnamed mother. She writes fantasy novels.
Jack's Mother: Jack's unnamed mother who runs a farm with her son.
Gaira: A man who fought with Danna and Alan in the first War Games.
Pozun: A purple, pointy-earred creature who acts as a referee for the War Games.
Caldia's Grand Elder: An old man but a powerful wizard who is the leader of Caldia.

The Chess Pieces
The Chess Pieces are the main villains of MAR. They want to turn MAR Heaven into a nightmare. They are in groups named after the pieces of a chess game. The King and Queen, Caldia's Orb and Diana, are not in groups.

Caldia's Orb: The King and creator of the Chess Pieces. Caldia's Orb is made up of evil creatures sealed inside a glass orb. He at first had control of Babbo's body but later changed to take over Danna's body.
Diana: The Queen of the Chess Pieces. Diana is Dorothy's older sister. She left Caldia after turning evil, becoming the Queen of Lestava but planned to kill Snow to have full power. She collects powerful ARMs and is greedy. Dorothy wishes to kill her for turning against her and Caldia.
Phantom: Leader of the Thirteen Zodiac Knights. Phantom lives in the floating Lestava Castle. While he is kind and caring, he is also a cruel person and hates humans.
Peta: Phantom's close friend. He killed Luberia, causing Nanashi to join Team MAR.
Halloween: A Knight who is named after Halloween. He wears a large pumpkin as a mask and has a tombstone attached to his back. He was once Alan's friend but was bullied until he found an ARM that could create fire. He is cruel and scary.
Chimera: A mysterious Knight who wears a skull-shaped mask and does not talk much. Chimera is really a scorned woman named Eileen who was left as a widow when her husband was killed. She uses Ghost ARMs.
Rolan: A friendly man who sees Phantom as a dear friend. He can sprout bird wings and fly.
Weasel: An old man who has a tree growing out of his head. He is 84 years old. He can use plants as weapons, and killed Jack's father in the first War Games.
Ian: Ian was first a Rook, but later became a Knight. He is in love with Gido, a Pawn, who is cursed by Chimera, leaving Ian vengeful.
Magical Roe: A clown who cheered up Snow when she was younger. He is a servant of Diana and captures Snow during the War Games. He turns against Diana to save Snow but dies in the process.
Galian: The former leader of Luberia, who he left to join the Chess Pieces.
Ash: A cheerful man who loves children. He wears a skull-shaped mask that has its tongue poking out.
Candice: A woman who is in love with Phantom. She enjoys both giving and having pain.
Pinocchion: A living toy puppet named after Pinocchio. He was built by Diana, at first as a present for Dorothy. His nose grows when he lies until it turns into a cannon.
Rapunzel: A cruel and insane woman who likes killing people. Ian kills her to earn a spot in the Knights.
Kouga: A large Knight who hides his ugly face under a mask. He believes his ugliness is his best strength.
Chaton: A girl who has the ears, tail and personality of a cat. She is very playful and falls in love with Alan.
Aqua: A mermaid girl who is always smiling, even when hurt. She is horribly killed by Rapunzel.
Loco: A girl who uses voodoo-like ARMs. She is cursed whenever she uses a certain ARM, causing her to get younger until she turns into a baby. Her ARMs are placed in a suitcase.
Pano: A young green-haired girl who falls in love with Jack.
Garon and Leno: Pano's father and older brother.
Gido: A Pawn, and Ian's lover.

References

Anime

MAR