Syed Mir Qasim (1921 - 12 December 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the Chief Minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1971 to 1975.

Syed Mir Qasim's political career first began during the British Raj, when he became a leader of the non-sectarian, pro-democracy Quit Kashmir political movement. His advocacy against the monarchical rule of Maharaja Hari Singh resulted in his imprisonment.

After India's independence, Syed Mir Qasim was involved with the drafting of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. He went on to serve in various State and Union positions. He is credited with having established the Indian National Congress in Kashmir. He served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after the death of Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq. He resigned from the office in 1975 in order to pave the way for the return of Sheikh Abdullah after the Indian Government reached an accord with the latter.

In his autobiography, My Life and Times, published in September 1992, Qasim provided interesting historical detail on the struggle of Kashmiris to throw off the yoke of monarchy in the princely state through the Quit Kashmir movement, as well as background on the issue of accession to India rather than choosing to join Pakistan.

Qasim died in an ambulance near India Gate in New Delhi on 12 December 2004 at the age of 83. In accordance with his wishes, he was buried in the village of his birth, Dooru in Kashmir. His funeral was attended by thousands without incident. He was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award by Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2005.

References

External links
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20041214/j&k.htm#5

1921 births
2004 deaths
Indian National Congress politicians from Jammu and Kashmir
People from Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmiri people
Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs
Chief ministers from Indian National Congress

Syed Mir Qasim


The Treaty of Jeddah (initially known as the Jeddah Agreement) or Jeddah Declaration and long named to the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan: the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces Agreement on a Short-Term Ceasefire and Humanitarian Arrangements is a ongoing international agreement that was made to make peace in Sudan. The Treaty of Jeddah, which was signed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan and representatives of both warring sides on 20 May 2023, entered into force 48 hours later on 22 May 2023. The agreement was supposed to create a week-long ceasefire and the distribution of humanitarian aid within the country. The agreement expired suddenly after a surge of clashes on 23 May 2023, a day after the agreement came into effect. With the actual date of expiry being 27 May 2023, the nations agreed on an extension for five days but was shortened due to the agreement's ineffectiveness.

Background

In 2003, war broke out in western Sudan's Darfur region between the government-sponsored, predominantly Arab Janjaweed militia aided by the Sudanese Armed Forces against the predominantly non-Arab Sudan Liberation Movement and Justice and Equality Movement, after SLM and JEM launched attacks against the Sudanese government and accusing them of genocide. El Geneina, as the capital of West Darfur, saw a copious amount of violence, due to its location as the sultanate of the Masalit people. The city had a population of 250,000 in 2008.

In 2020, the war came to an end after several rebel groups signed a peace treaty with the Sudanese government following the Sudanese Revolution and the ousting of Omar al-Bashir. In the process, the Janjaweed restructured itself into the Rapid Support Forces, although many Darfuris still call it the Janjaweed.

Tensions between the RSF and the Sudanese junta began to escalate in February 2023, as the RSF began to recruit members from across Sudan. A brief military buildup in Khartoum was succeeded by an agreement for de-escalation, with the RSF withdrawing its forces from the Khartoum area. The junta later agreed to hand over authority to a civilian-led government, but it was delayed due to renewed tensions between generals Burhan and Dagalo, who serve as chairman and deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, respectively. Chief among their political disputes is the integration of the RSF into the military: the RSF insisted on a ten-year timetable for its integration into the regular army, while the army demanded integration within two years. Other contested issues included the status given to RSF officers in the future hierarchy, and whether RSF forces should be under the command of the army chief rather than Sudan's commander-in-chief, who is currently al-Burhan. They have also clashed over authority over sectors of Sudan's economy that are controlled by the two respective factions. As a sign of their rift, Dagalo expressed regret over the October 2021 coup.

In early 2023, tensions rose between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by the 2021 coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Hemedti, remnants of Omar al-Bashir's Janjaweed that committed ethnic cleansing against non-Arab tribes in Darfur. These tensions came to a head on 15 April, when RSF forces attacked Sudanese forces in Khartoum, Merowe, and several cities across Darfur, including Nyala, El Fasher, and Geneina.

On 5 May 2023, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced a peace operation for peace in Sudan and a permanent ceasefire for the conflict on 20 May 2023. The agreement was officially signed and was supposed to come into effect two days later. This failed as large clashes still made headlines even after the announcement of the agreement in Sudan.

Prelude

After a surge of refugees, a large humanitarian crisis and evacuation of citizens and foreign nationals began. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. announced an agreement that would occur on 11 May 2023 between both warring parties with the help of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Humanitarian crisis in Sudan
The governor of the state of North Darfur called the humanitarian situation in the region of Darfur dire. The Project Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the state's capital of the state El-Fasher said that the only remaining hospital in the state was "rapidly running out of medical supplies to treat survivors" while other hospitals have had to close due to their proximity to the conflict or the inability of staff to get to the facilities because of the violence. MSF said that its compound in the city of Nyala, South Darfur, had been raided by armed men who "stole everything including vehicles and office equipment".

The United Nations said on 2 May that the fighting in Sudan had produced around 334,000 internally displaced persons, while more than 100,000 had fled the country altogether. The International Organization for Migration estimated that around 70% of IDPs came from the Darfur region. The UN projected that the total number of refugees fleeing Sudan could reach more than 800,000 people. By June 2023, The UN and other nations estimated this number to over 1.8 million internally displaced people (IDP's) and nearly 400,000 fleeing the country, mainly in the Darfur region.

During the evacuation, thousands of people fled from Port Sudan to Saudi Arabia via several boats. On 12 May 2023, announced the end of evacuations in Sudan and reported fully evacuating 19,639 people (8,455 people and 11,184 nationals)

Agreement
On 5 May 2023, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced their commitment to helping Sudanese people with a permanent ceasefire and agreement between both parties in Jeddah. On 11 May 2023 the agreement was signed in the city with the following requirements:

 1. Agreeing that the well-being of civilians is a top priority, ensuring that they are protected at all times and allowing them a safe passage to flee areas affected by the fighting.
 2. Respecting International Humanitarian Law and international human rights law which, for instance, obligate differentiating between civilians and military targets, not using civilians as human shields, and respecting public and private institutions.
 3. Agreeing on the need to allow principal humanitarian operations to resume by facilitating the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid and guaranteeing the freedom of movement of aid personnel, protecting humanitarian workers and not intervening in the work of humanitarian operations.
 4. Commit to make all efforts that respect the obligation of International Humanitarian Law.
 5. Allowing relevant actors, such as the Sudanese Red Crescent and/or the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take all steps needed to bury the dead in coordination with relevant authorities.
 6. Ensuring that all people operating under the instructions of the armed forces and the RSF abide by International Humanitarian Law.
 7. Prioritizing talks to reach a short-term ceasefire to ease the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid and restore essential services and committing to scheduling more expanded discussions to reach a permanent end to hostilities.

The first agreement was broken a day later on 12 May 2023, and talks resumed again On 21 May 2023, all the parties made a week long ceasefire for humanitarian aid and calmness in Sudan, the agreement came into effect 48-hour's later but was subsequently broken. A third meeting was made between the parties once again for a shorter but more effective ceasefire, but was also violated completely with reports of atrocities such as the killing's of several orphans and the mistreatment of civilians. On 31 May 2023, the SAF suspended their participation in the agreement, subsequently followed by both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia on 1 June 2023.

Talks resumed between all the parties on 7 June 2023.

References

2023 treaties
2023 in international relations
War in Sudan (2023)
May 2023 events in Saudi Arabia
June 2023 events in Saudi Arabia
History of Jeddah
Political history of Sudan
Sudanese Revolution
Treaties of Saudi Arabia
Peace treaties of the United States
Peace treaties of Sudan
Presidency of Joe Biden
Saudi Arabia–Sudan relations
Saudi Arabia–United States relations
Sudan–United States relations

Treaty of Jeddah (2023)


Martin John Bullock (born 5 March 1975) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the head coach of the New Zealand U17 team and a Football Development Officer at the Northern Football Federation. He previously played for five league teams over fifteen years, making 452 league appearances. He also won a cap for the England under-21 side in 1996.

Bullock played as a midfielder and began his career at non-League Eastwood Town, before earning a move to Barnsley in 1993. In an eight-year association with the club he played almost 200 league games for the club, helping them to the Premier League at the end of the 1996–97 season. Loaned out to Port Vale in 2000, the following year he transferred to Blackpool. He enjoyed a highly successful four years with the club, lifting the Football League Trophy in 2002 and 2004. He then played for Macclesfield Town between 2005 and 2007, before ending his professional career with Wycombe Wanderers in 2008. He later turned out for leading New Zealand side Waitakere United, helping them to three Premiership titles, before his retirement in June 2012.

Club career
Bullock began his career with Northern Premier League First Division side Eastwood Town. He turned professional after a £15,000 move to Barnsley in 1993. He remained at Oakwell for eight years, making 218 appearances in all competitions for the "Tykes". He played 28 league games, mostly as a substitute, in the club's historic 1996–97 campaign, which saw them finish second in the First Division. In the subsequent 1997–98 Premier League season he played 33 top-flight games. Barnsley were relegated, though Bullock remained a key part of their 1998–99 campaign. He found himself out of favour in 1999–2000 however, making just six starts, five of which were in the League Cup. He was utilised more frequently in 2000–01, after spending February 2000 on loan at Second Division Port Vale, for whom he scored once against Queens Park Rangers.

In September 2001 he joined Steve McMahon's Second Division newcomers Blackpool on a free transfer. He became a key player for the club, making 43 league appearances in his maiden season there. His contribution was particularly telling in the semi-final of the Football League Trophy, as he scored the golden goal winner against Huddersfield Town that ensured the club a date at the Millennium Stadium. He went on to play the full ninety minutes of the club's triumph over Cambridge United in the final.

He enjoyed a similarly successful campaign in 2002–03, and was offered a two-year contract extension in March 2003. He was later named in the PFA Second Division Team of the Year for his performances throughout the season. The 2003–04 campaign was also memorable for Bullock, as he helped Blackpool to lift the League Trophy for the second time in three seasons, following victory over Southend United. He made a further 28 league appearances for the club in 2004–05, but was told by new boss Colin Hendry he would not be offered a new contract. He signed for Brian Horton's Macclesfield Town in June 2005. In his first season with the club he made 40 appearances in League Two. He made a further 43 appearances in his second season at Moss Rose. In May 2007 he switched clubs to Wycombe Wanderers, penning a two-year deal. He made 27 appearances in all competitions for the club in 2007–08, before he announced his retirement from the professional game in May 2008.

In 2009, he made a late move to New Zealand to play for Waitakere United. Following a second-place finish in 2009–10, Waitakere went on to reach the final of the OFC Champions League, and Bullock played both games of the 4–2 aggregate defeat to Papua New Guinea side Hekari United. Waitakere went on to win the championship in 2010–11 after defeating rivals Auckland City. They retained their title in 2011–12 with a 4–1 win over Team Wellington. He retired at the age of 37 in June 2012.

International career
Whilst with Barnsley, Bullock won a cap for the England under-21 side in 1996.

Coaching career
Bullock was appointed head coach of the New Zealand U17 team and a Football Development Officer at the Northern Football Federation in March 2020.

Personal life
Bullock is married to Michelle Bullock with two children Lillie and Maggie and is focusing on earning his coaching badges to coach professionally.

Career statistics

Honours
Individual
Football League Second Division Team of the Year: 2002–03

Barnsley
Football League First Division second-place promotion: 1996–97

Blackpool
Football League Trophy: 2002, 2004

Waitakere United
New Zealand Football Championship: 2010–11 & 2011–12
OFC Champions League runner-up: 2010

References

1975 births
Living people
Footballers from Derby
English men's footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Eastwood Town F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Blackpool F.C. players
Macclesfield Town F.C. players
Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand
Waitakere United players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Northern Premier League players

Martin Bullock


François Catonné is a French cinematographer. He won the 1993 César Award for Best Cinematography  for his work on Indochine. In 2011, he met the painter Vladimir Veličković with whom he decided to make a film. Since then, he has been making documentaries about painters with the principle of filming only in the artist's studio and showing him at work. He has already made ten and continues this work.

Selected filmography

External links

 François Catonné, AFC

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
French cinematographers
César Award winners

François Catonné


The Naxalbari Uprising was a West Bengali peasant revolt in India in 1967. It inspired the creation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Origin
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union and Communist China weren't getting along anymore. So a man by the name of Charu Majumdar decided that it was a good time to lead a revolt that was based on Mao's revolution in China.

History
From 1965 to 1966, Communists got control of Naxalbari, a region in West Bengal. But they didn't appoint peasants to as ministers. So in March 1967, the peasants started a violent uprising. The government sent the police to deal with it so the rebels killed one of them. Then the police shot and killed nine women and one child. Then the revolt got worse. Then the government sent the paramilitary to crush the rebellion and it did. They arrested its leader Jangal Santhal while its other leader Charu Majumdar ran away and the other rebel leaders were all killed.

1967 in Asia

Naxalbari uprising


A robocall is a phone call that uses a computerized autodialer to deliver a pre-recorded message, as if from a robot. Robocalls are often associated with political and telemarketing phone campaigns, but can also be used for public service or emergency announcements. Multiple businesses and telemarketing companies use auto-dialing software to deliver prerecorded messages (appointment reminders, booking details, etc.) to millions of users. Some robocalls use personalized audio messages to simulate an actual personal phone call. The service is also viewed as prone to association with scams.

 phone companies may, by default, block incoming robocalls.

History

First description
Automated phone solicitation, i.e. robocalling, was one of the earliest applications proposed for the first microcomputers. The first documented mention of it was in the "Memo from the Publisher" by David Bunnell in Personal Computing magazine, May/June 1977. Under the heading "Personal Computing Abused", Bunnell described a presentation at the World Altair Computer Convention in March 1976 of "an intriguing business application for personal computing". The computer would sequentially dial phone numbers, play a taped voice message, and then use speech recognition to respond with additional messages as appropriate. In his "Memo from the Publisher", David Bunnell reported that "the proposal was not very well received" at the conference. It was criticized as "insensitive to the rights of personal privacy" and "could cause a public uproar".

North America

Canada

Robocalls can be and are legitimately used by mainstream political parties in Canada to reach voters. Controversy surrounded the use of robocalls during the 2011 Canadian federal election, leading Elections Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate claims that robocalls were used in an attempt to dissuade voters from casting their ballot by falsely telling them their poll stations had changed locations. Elections Canada traced the origin of the automated calls to a disposable cellphone registered to a fictional name "Pierre Poutine" at a phony address from 450 area code of Joliette, Quebec, and issued a subpoena to the cellphone provider that produced a list of outgoing calls from the same number. One of the calls was to the toll-free number used by customers of 2call.ca, a subsidiary of Edmonton-based Internet Service Provider RackNine, to phone in and record their outgoing messages. The burner cell phone belonging to "Pierre Poutine" was used to contact the owner of Racknine at his personal unlisted number and gave the name "Pierre Jones". This burner phone initiated a series of automated robocalls mostly in Guelph but with a few dozen in other ridings, that targeted mostly non-Conservative voters with false voting location changes. Some voters attended what they had been led to believe were their voting locations, and sometimes destroyed their voter registration cards in anger.

In November 2011, the investigator served RackNine with a production order for records and had the account holder associated with the bogus calls quickly identified. Investigators have also examined the Conservative Party's CIMS voter database and showed that "Pierre Poutine" used the Conservative voter database to select whom to call. Investigators have blank entries for one specific login, leading to speculation that evidence has been deleted. PayPal has also surrendered their records to investigators since "Pierre Poutine" has used a PayPal account to pay for the bill for the automated calls. The cost for these May 2, 2011, calls was $162.10, Elections Canada said in court filings. This expenditure was never reported to Elections Canada, as required for legitimate political spending.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada have denied any knowledge or involvement. A Conservative party staffer resigned soon after the scandal was reported but has since come forward stating that he was not involved. Elections Canada has made a statement and reported to Parliament, that the fraud was extensive, affecting 200 ridings in all ten provinces plus Yukon Territory. The Council of Canadians, a left of centre activist group, has asserted that the robocalls may have been enough to swing the result by 4%, enough to win a number of ridings in very close races. A court challenge has been initiated by this group to overturn the results of the election in seven ridings, and initiate by-elections for the respective seven House of Commons seats.

After reviewing the investigation of the "Pierre Poutine" scandal in 2013, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley found that election fraud had taken place in six ridings across the country but found no evidence that the Conservative party or candidates were involved. He also did not find sufficient evidence to support charges in ridings other than Guelph. As well, he indicated that the "robocalls" had not affected the outcome of the 2011 election in any riding.

After a lengthy investigation of the circumstances of the scandal, Michael Sona, the former director of communications for the Conservative candidate in the Guelph (Ontario) riding was charged on June 2, 2014 with "wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting". Sona was found guilty on November 14, 2014  and was sentenced to nine months in jail plus twelve months of probation. Sona was released from jail on bail after serving twelve days, pending his appeal of the sentence. However, Sona did not appeal the conviction. During the trial, Justice Hearn agreed with the Crown allegation  that Sona had likely not acted alone.

United States
The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) regulates automated calls. Pre-recorded robocalls must identify who is initiating the call and include a telephone number or address whereby the initiator can be reached.  In 2019, the United States Congress passed legislation expanding the regulation of robocalls. That same year there was an interim ruling that seemed to weaken restrictions on autodialers.

Debt collection
In 2015, government debt collection was exempted from the 1991 robocall restrictions; however, the Supreme Court invalidated this exception on July 6, 2020 in Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. (19-631). The court decided that it was a First Amendment violation to favor "debt-collection speech over political and other speech."

Political calls
Robocalls are made by many political parties in the United States, including but not limited to both the Republican and Democratic parties as well as unaffiliated campaigns, 527 organizations, unions, and individual citizens. Political robocalls are exempt from the United States National Do Not Call Registry. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit anyone (including charities, politicians and political parties) from making robocalls to cell phone numbers without the recipients' prior consent. The FCC permits non-commercial robocalls to most residential (non-cellular) telephone lines.

Some states (23 according to DMNews) have laws that regulate or prohibit political robocalls. Indiana and North Dakota prohibit automated political calls. In New Hampshire, political robocalls are allowed, except when the recipient is in the National Do Not Call Registry. Many states require the disclosure of who paid for the call, often requiring such notice be recorded in the candidate's own voice. The patch-work of state laws regulating political robocalls has created problems for national campaigns.

California
The first political robo calls were launched in January 1983 when business owner Tony Inocentes used his telemarketing machine from his collection agency business to announce his candidacy for the 57th Assembly District in California. He launched over 300,000 automated calls before losing the November 1983 General election to the incumbent Dave Elder. Inocentes founded the GOTV election company ePolitical USA in 1984.

In 2001 Inocentes invented political robo polling launching the first political robo poll on October 31, 2001 in the Lynwood, CA city council elections.

California prohibits any robocall unless there is an existing relationship. The California Public Utilities Code §§ 2871 et seq. holds political campaigns to the same rules as other organizations making calls with an automatic dialing–announcing device. The guidelines are:
 A person must come on the line before the recording to identify the nature of the call and the organization behind it.
 The recipient of the call must consent to the recording being played.
 The call must be disconnected from the telephone line as soon as the message is over or the recipient hangs up, whichever comes first.

Indiana
Indiana requires introduction of any prerecorded message by a live operator; the message may only be played if the called party grants permission.

Missouri
In September 2008, then-Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon alerted political campaigns in Missouri that his office would aggressively enforce federal rules (Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991) requiring calls to include identifying and contact information.

North Carolina
Robocalls were made during the 2008 North Carolina Democratic primary, targeting African-American voters in the days leading up to the primary in late April 2008, which essentially told registered voters that they were not registered.
According to NPR and Facing South, these calls were made by the organization "Women's Voices Women Vote". Voters and watchdog groups complained that it was a turnout-suppression effort, and the state Attorney General Roy Cooper ordered them to stop making the calls. The group stopped the calls and no further legal action was taken.

South Carolina

South Carolina had a law prohibiting most types of unsolicited consumer and political robocalls, but in 2010, campaign consultant Robert Cahaly was arrested by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, being charged for making illegal robocalls to six state house districts. The automated opinion polling system asked whether U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be invited to campaign with six Democratic candidates for the South Carolina Legislature. Cahaly was arrested despite having a written opinion from the state attorney general stating that he had acted within the law. The charges were subsequently dismissed in October 2012. After the charges were dropped, Cahaly filed a suit against state officials, claiming his constitutional right to free speech had been violated. U.S. district court judge, Michelle Childs ruled that South Carolina's anti-robocall statute was a content-based restriction on speech and therefore unconstitutional.

Proposed additional regulations
California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Federal Robocall Privacy Act in February 2008 at a Senate Committee on Rules and Administration hearing. The Act proposed to: 1) limit robocalls to no more than two a day by any one candidate, 2) mandate that candidates have accurate caller ID numbers displayed, 3) mandate that the disclosure of who is paying for the call occur at the start of the call, rather than at the end of the call, and 4) mandate that the time of the call occur not before 8a.m. or after 9p.m. The bill was read twice, and since it received no further action during the session, it did not become law. Similar bills have been submitted in subsequent years without success.

Shaun Dakin, CEO of Citizens for Civil Discourse, testified at the hearing and described how robocalls affect the lives of voters across the nation. He also wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post calling for a Voter Privacy Bill of Rights in which all voters would have the right to opt out of political robocalls if they did not wish to receive them.

Dakin, a former John Kerry campaign worker, set up a website called Stoppoliticalcalls.org and claimed to allow citizens to opt out of receiving robocalls. However, there is no guarantee that the registry will stop the calls and since there is no law that supports the database it is essentially an Internet petition. As mentioned above, the Robocall Privacy Act failed to become law and neither bill had provisions for a do-not-call registry for stopping robocalls.

Despite heavy media publicity of the database, only seven politicians in the United States voluntarily pledged to respect the list during the 2008 general election cycle. Of those seven, only three made it to the general election and only Virginia Foxx (R) was successfully reelected in November 2008.

On September 1, 2009, a new regulation of the Federal Trade Commission went into effect, banning most robocalls without written opt-in from the receiver. Political campaigns, surveys, charities, debt collectors, and health care providers are exempt, as are calls to businesses. Calls from banks, insurers, and phone companies are out of the jurisdiction of the FTC. In situations under federal jurisdiction, the federal law will supersede a slightly less restrictive law in the state of California.

Reverse robocalling
In June 2019 the telephony-based scambaiting community launched BobRTC.TEL, a telephone directory that tracks verified inbound telephone numbers that reach contact centers operated by known robocallers and telephone scams. The service also allows logged-in users to place calls directly to scammers using the service's own telephone numbers as the Caller ID which avoids the user placing a call with their own handset, which allows callers to scam bait robocallers.

Auto warranty robocalls
Auto warranty robocalls are a series of scam robocalls in North America originating from the Sumco Panama company. The call typically begins "We're trying to reach you about your extended warranty"; it is a phishing scam intended to trick the caller into calling the provided number and then submit their credit card details to extend a non-existent warranty.

Over 58 billion of these fradulent robocalls have been made since 2021. Beginning in July 2022, the Federal Communications Commission ordered telecom providers to cease carrying calls from the Sumco Panama Company.

Suppressing unwanted and illegal robocalls
Many robocalls are not wanted, and several methods have been developed to prevent unwanted robocalls. Many countries operate do not call lists, but the lists have been ineffective and legally problematic in some cases. Consequently, a market has developed for products that allow consumers to block robocalls. Most products use methods similar to those used to mitigate SPIT (spam over Internet telephony) and can be broadly categorised by the primary method used. However, due to the complexity of the problem, no single method is sufficiently reliable. A combination of methods can be used together to provide more effective results, provided care is taken to ensure that the combination of techniques would not degrade the user experience.

Solutions are available as both hardware and software products. Mobile apps are especially prevalent as they use techniques which do not require the modification of infrastructure. Many products are limited to use only on a single medium, such as traditional copper landlines, or mobile phone contracts from a specific mobile phone operator.

Blacklisting and whitelisting
In its simplest form, this method offers the ability to prevent further calls from phone numbers, once they are known to be a source of robocalls. Many mobile apps can prevent robocalls with a user generated blacklist.

For landlines there are standalone call blockers which connect to the telephone. Various models work on blacklisting and whitelisting principles. Call blockers received attention from publications including Which? and Consumer Reports in the United Kingdom and United States respectively.

In the UK BT operates a service for landlines called Choose to Refuse which allows customers to block up to 10 phone numbers of their choice for a monthly fee.

A number of physical products have been developed for use with landlines. These are typically installed in homes and employ a hard coded or irregularly updated blacklist. Some models also have the function to create a user-generated whitelist. Newer devices for landlines can use cloud based data to resolve the hard coded blacklist issues and allow the creation of a personal whitelist/blacklist.

Crowdsourcing
A more sophisticated model uses crowdsourcing to build a more comprehensive blacklist of robocall numbers. A notable example of this is the app Truecaller, which requires users to provide access to their personal whitelist of genuine contacts in exchange for access to the larger crowdsourced database. In 2013, hackers gained access to Truecaller's database of known genuine numbers, highlighting the danger of centralising this information.

CAPTCHA
Building on the crowdsourcing model, Primus Canada launched a patented product called Telemarketing Guard for landlines in 2007. It improves on previous models by including a CAPTCHA style challenge-response test.

Based on a database developed from customer feedback, it filters suspected telemarketing calls to a system which challenges callers to record their name after pressing a button. If a name is recorded, the customer's phone rings with the Caller ID of Telemarketing Guard. If they answer the phone, they are played the recording, at which point they can accept the call or decline and report it.

Realtime analysis
A major problem for the use of both blacklisting and whitelisting techniques is the practice of caller ID spoofing, which is prevalent as a result of the low barrier to entry in the VoIP services market.

In 2015 the Federal Communications Commission proposed a framework for the telecommunications industry in the United States, which included a validation system at network level for robocalls from SIP sources by 2017. The final authentication task in the framework is the signing of all VoIP calls, which would allow carriers to reliably identify robocalls.

Until these goals are achieved, a more advanced method for blocking robocalls uses real-time business intelligence techniques to address the constantly changing identities of robocalls. With access to a large enough data sample, it is possible to create algorithms which detect call patterns without requiring reporting by users.

In 2016, both Verizon and Sprint each launched their own service based on Enhanced Caller ID, which is developed by Cequint and incorporates whitelisting, blacklisting and crowdsourcing techniques. For improved accuracy, it is complemented by a technology called Call Guardian developed by TNS, which performs caller behavior analysis on the 25 billion public calls they handle every year in real time.

Call Authentication
To resolve the spoofing problem that made call blocking based on caller reputation problematic, starting in mid-2017, and with intended culmination in 2019, the FCC pushed forward Caller ID certification implemented via a methodology called SHAKEN/STIR.(SHKEN/STIR (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited and Signature-Based Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens) In June 2019, the FCC adopted a rule allowing (but not mandating) phone companies to block unwanted robocalls by default, without a consumer opt-in; a rule related to source authentication was still in a public comment period.

The TRACED Act, signed into law in December 2019, requires the FCC to implement Caller ID authentication, requires the FCC to report all criminal robocalls to the Justice Department, gives consumers access to robocall blocking at no charge, and increases penalties for violators.

Enforcement
The goal is to deal with the million plus complaints per year, with only about 20% involving a live caller. In August 2016, a "Robocall Strike Force" of thirty companies said they would help crack down on the problem.

Enforcement and fines in the United States is not a deterrence to robocallers because the United States government rarely collects any of the fines imposed by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"). The FCC lacks authority to collect the fines and forfeitures, the robocallers do not voluntarily pay the fine, and the US Department of Justice does not take action to collect the fine.

Federal Communications Commission Orders and Declaratory Rulings

2009
In May 2009, in response to numerous complaints, the Federal Trade Commission asked a federal court to shut down a telemarketing campaign that has been bombarding U.S. consumers with hundreds of millions of allegedly deceptive robocalls in an effort to sell them vehicle service contracts under the guise that they are extensions of original vehicle warranties. The FTC took action against both the promoter of the phony extended auto warranties, as well as the telemarketing company that it hired to carry out its illegal, deceptive campaign. The FTC contends that the companies are operating a massive telemarketing scheme that uses random, pre-recorded phone calls to deceive consumers into thinking that their vehicle's warranty is about to expire. Consumers who respond to the robocalls are pressured to purchase extended service contracts for their vehicles, which the telemarketers falsely portray as an extension of the manufacturer's original warranty. According to papers the FTC filed with the court, however, the robocalls have prompted tens of thousands of complaints from consumers who are either on the United States National Do Not Call Registry or asked not to be called. Five telephone numbers associated with the defendants have generated a total of 30,000 Do Not Call complaints. Consumers received the robocalls at home, work, and on their cell phones, sometimes several times in one day. Businesses, government offices and even 911 dispatchers have been subjected to the calls.

Those who answer the pre-recorded calls hear a message telling them that their vehicle warranty is about to expire and that they should "extend coverage before it is too late". They are told to "press one" to speak to a "warranty specialist". The "specialists" then mislead consumers into believing that their company is affiliated with the dealer or manufacturer of the consumer's vehicle. They try to sell consumers a service contract for between $2,000 and $3,000, which they falsely portray as an extension of the vehicle's original warranty. The seller of extended auto warranties sued by the FTC allegedly took in more than $10 million on the sale of these deceptively marketed service contracts. In their robocalls, the companies dialed every phone number within a particular area code and prefix sequentially, without knowing whether the consumers called were motorists or owned motor vehicles, or whether those consumers' numbers were on the Do Not Call Registry. Consumers who asked that the calls be stopped often were met with "abusive behavior" or were simply hung up on, according to the papers filed with the court. Some of the defendants used offshore shell corporations to try to avoid scrutiny, and a top officer in the telemarketing company bragged to prospective clients that he could operate outside the law without any chance of being caught by the FTC, the papers stated. This defendant also claimed that he makes 1.8 million dials per day and that he had done more than $40 million worth of dialing for extended warranty companies, including one billion dials on behalf of his largest client, according to the court papers filed by the FTC. In addition to the robocalls, the FTC charged that the company selling the warranties mails out deceptive postcards to consumers, warning them about the imminent expiration of their auto warranties. The postcards are designed to mislead consumers into believing that they are being contacted by their dealer or manufacturer, and the postcards offer consumers the chance to "renew" their original warranties. On May 15, 2009 U.S. District Judge John F. Grady issued the temporary restraining order against the defendants Transcontinental Warranty Inc. and Voice Touch Inc. Grady's orders also applied to Transcontinental CEO and President Christopher Cowart, Voice Touch executives James and Maureen Dunne, Voice Touch business partner Network Foundations LLC and Network Foundations executive Damian Kohlfeld. Besides ordering a halt to the automatic telephone sales calls, Grady's order froze the assets of the two companies. The FTC alleged in its complaints that the calls were part of a deceptive scheme and asked the court to assure the assets will not be lost in case they might be needed to repay consumers who have been victimized. The FTC isn't immediately seeking civil fines against the companies but may do so later, agency officials said. Attorneys general in Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri have taken similar actions over calls offering extended warranties on automobiles.

2015
After receiving more than 215,000 consumer complaints in 2014 alone, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) strengthened and clarified its regulations protecting consumers from unwanted robocalls and spam emails and texts. The Commission issued a package of declaratory rulings in June 2015 that clarified the provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that deal with prerecorded and artificial voice calls received by residential wireline phones as well as wireless numbers.

2021
In 2021 the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") released an order imposing strict limits on the number of non-telemarketing, prerecorded or artificial voice calls that can be made to residential phone lines without prior consent. The automated landline calls will also be required to include an opt-out mechanism, and callers must implement the FCC's internal do-not-call list rules—which previously applied only to telemarketing calls.

The new order sets a limit of three calls during any consecutive 30-day period for all non-commercial calls, commercial calls that do not contain an advertisement and calls from charities. HIPAA-related residential robocalls are limited to one call per day up to three calls per week. In setting these new limits, the FCC interpreted the TRACED Act to require it to restrict the number of these types of calls to consumers, despite arguments that the TRACED Act's language was discretionary.

2022
International incoming robocalls were blocked by the FCC "from entering American phone networks."

2023
In 2023, it was reported that 48 U.S. states were suing Avid Telecom, an American telecommunications company providing VoIP services in relation to robocalling. The company has stated that it will defend itself "vigorously" against the states' allegations.

See also

 CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
 Cold calling
 Google Duplex
 Ringless voicemail
 Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009
 Voice broadcasting

References

External links
 National Do Not Call Registry Complaints
Federal Communications Commission Consumer Complaint Center
Phone Calls Reported to the U.S. Federal Commissions
 Protecting Consumers and Businesses from Fraudulent Robocalls Congressional Research Service
 Stopping Fraudulent Robocall Scams: Can More be Done?: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, July 10, 2013

Telemarketing
Neologisms

Robocall


The Historic Silver Mine (), is a  UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 2017) in Tarnowskie Góry, Silesia, Poland. The mine and the neighbouring Black Trout Adit are remnants of a silver mining industry. The museum is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It also joined The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage and the Silesian Tourist Organization.

History of mining
The region of Tarnowskie Góry is known for its historic lead ore mining. The ore mined here was galena, which is a source of lead and silver. Since the 16th century it was one of the most important industrial centres in Eastern Europe. After the town had been established in 1526, Duke of Opole John II granted it the status of an independent mining town. The first part "Tarnowskie" came from the name of the village "Tarnowice" where deposits of galena had been found. The second part of the name "Góry" means "mountains" and it comes from the elevation around numerous shafts dug in the town.

The period of prosperity lasted until the end of the 16th century. In 17th century miners started to work at greater depths which created problems with water flooding the mine - the draining methods were not very efficient.  Thirty Years' War deepened the crisis even more. The industry collapsed, drainage equipment was destroyed. Epidemics and fires also plagued the town. Tarnowskie Góry was plundered by various armies, and the cost of destruction and contributions had to be paid by the inhabitants.

The region of Silesia was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia in 18th century. King Frederick II delegated Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden and Friedrich Anton von Heynitz to resume mining activities in Silesia. Both of them were phenomenal professionals in the field of mining and metallurgy. In 1776 they both visited the largest English industrial centres, which in the second half of the 18th century were the forefront of European industry. There they learned the principles of operation of coal mines, coking plants, the use of steam engines, the construction of water channels and adits draining mining excavations. The drilling of the shafts began in October 1783. 72 miners were involved in the work. After 9 months of intensive work, on July 16, 1784, rich lead and silver ore deposit was found at a depth of 18 m in "Rudolfina" shaft. Two days later a similar discovery was made in the shafts "Łyszczonek" and "Opal". The new state mine of silver and lead was given the name Frederick.

Mining industry had to face the problem of water flooding the excavations. Horse treadmills were not able to drain the mine fast enough. In 1787 the first steam engine was brought from Wales by count Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden. The machine started to work on January 19, 1788. Water had been removed from the excavations and rich deposits of ore could be mined. Thanks to steam engines digging of the draining adit was also possible which finally led to removing the water from the mine without help of any additional devices.

Due to the depletion of galena ore, the mine began to gradually cease its activity at the beginning of the 20th century, definitively terminating its activity in 1913. For four centuries miners dug over 20,000 shafts and over 150 kilometers of underground corridors.

History of tourism and UNESCO Heritage Site
Researchers, scientists and history enthusiasts started to explore vast chambers and corridors left by miners more than 20 years ago. The first attempts to choose a fragment of the mine suitable for tourists were undertaken in the mid-1930s. Unfortunately the outbreak of World War II stopped the implementation of any projects.

In the 1950s a group of history enthusiasts founded Tarnowskie Góry Land Lovers Association, their main goal was to open a tourist route. Black Trout Adit - a part of the drainage system - was opened in 1957 and for decades was the longest underground boat tour in Poland. It was more difficult to create a safe route in a corridors of the mine itself. Finally the route between shafts: Angel, God Bless and Viper was opened for tourists on September 5, 1976.

In 2004 the president of Poland declared the mine a Historic Monument. Since 2006 it is a part of Silesian Industrial Monuments Route. In 2014 the mine became a part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

During 41st session of the World Heritage Committee on July 9, 2017, in Cracow, Poland, Historic Silver Mine and its Underground Management System was inscribed to the UNESCO Heritage List.

Historic Silver Mine today
The mine is normally open for tourists, and guided tours in several languages take place every day (visits in languages other than Polish must be booked in advance). The tour starts in a museum and then tourists go underground to visit the corridors from the 18th and 19th centuries. The total length of the route is 1.7 km, with 270 metres  crossed in boats through the flooded corridor.

Open Air Steam Engine Museum surrounds the mine building, where children can have a ride on a small narrow-gauge railway.

References

External links

 Historic Silver Mine Website

Museums in Silesian Voivodeship
Mining museums in Poland
European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points
Tarnowskie Góry County
World Heritage Sites in Poland
Silver mines

Historic Silver Mine in Tarnowskie Góry


William J. Bain (27 March 1896 – 22 January 1985) was a Canadian architect and a founder of the architecture firm, Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson, the predecessor to today's NBBJ.

Bain was born in New Westminster, British Columbia.  His family moved to Seattle while he was still young.  Bain expressed an interest in architecture, and his father, a contractor, helped him get a job with Seattle architect Walter R. B. Willcox, from whom he learned the rudiments of drafting and developed beginning skills in architecture.  Bain served in France during World War I, and after the war enrolled in the architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1921.

After several years in various apprentice positions, Bain opened his own architecture firm in 1924.  He quickly developed a reputation for high-quality residential design. In 1928, he took Penn classmate Lionel Pries into partnership forming Bain & Pries. The firm prospered until 1931, then dissolved under the impact of the Depression.  Bain's independent practice gradually recovered and by the late 1930s his firm was receiving a variety of commissions and the designs gradually became more modern. In 1940, Bain joined a joint venture with J. Lister Holmes, William Aitken, George W. Stoddard, and John T. Jacobson to design Yesler Terrace, Seattle's first public housing project. Each of the joint-venture partners continued to maintain their own independent practices as well. In 1941, Bain and Pries re-established their partnership for a period of about nine months.

During World War II Bain served as camouflage director for the state of Washington. He also joined other architects in joint-venture firms to design housing for war workers as well as other war-related projects. The joint venture formed in 1943, with Floyd Naramore, Clifton Brady, and Perry Johanson was particularly successful, and became the basis for the post-war firm Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson (occasionally called "the combine"), predecessor to today's NBBJ.

Bain remained interested in residential architecture and from 1947 to 1970 he was also a partner in Bain, Overturf and Turner (later Bain and Overturf), a firm that specialized in residential design.

Bain served as president of the Washington State Chapter American Institute of Architects (predecessor to today's AIA Seattle) from 1941 to 1943. Bain was elected a Fellow of the AIA in 1947.

His son, William J. Bain, Jr., is also a successful architect, NBBJ partner and Fellow in the AIA.

References

 Bain, William J., and Bain, Mildred C., Building Together: A Memoir of Our Lives In Seattle, Beckett Publishing Company, Seattle 1991.
 Dietz, Duane, "William J. Bain, Sr.," Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects Second Edition (Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, editor), University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 2014, pages 260-265, 363, 390-391;
 Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, and Rash, David A., "The Emergence of Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson and the Search for Modern Architecture in Seattle, 1945-50," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 103/3 (Summer 2012): 123-141.
 Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, Lionel H. Pries, Architect, Artist, Educator: From Arts and Crafts to Modern Architecture University of Washington Press, Seattle and London, 2007, pages 70–93, 129-133.

External links
HistoryLink essay on William J. Bain, Sr.

1896 births
1985 deaths
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
Architects from Seattle
University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni
People from New Westminster
Canadian architects

William J. Bain


Washington-on-the-Brazos is an unincorporated community along the Brazos River in Washington County, Texas, United States. The town is best known for being the site of the Convention of 1836 and the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

The town is named for Washington, Georgia, itself named for George Washington. It is officially known as just "Washington," but after the Civil War came to be known as "Washington-on-the-Brazos" to distinguish the settlement from "Washington-on-the-Potomac," Washington, DC.

History

Early history
In early Texas, Washington-on-the-Brazos was a significant political and economic hub. After the Civil War, the town's name was changed from Washington to Washington-on-the-Brazos or Old Washington. Washington was located 70 miles northwest of Houston and over 200 miles up the Brazos River from the coast, one mile southwest of the intersection of the Brazos and Navasota rivers where the La Bahia Road crossed the Brazos River. The Old Three Hundred settlers, including Andrew Robinson's family, moved close to the eventual townsite in 1821. In 1824, Robinson received a grant of a half league from the Mexican government. By 1822, Robinson was running a ferry at the La Bahia crossing. The heavily used ferry crossing saw the development of a town by the name of La Bahia.

Robinson granted his daughter Patsy and son-in-law John W. Hall a quarter league in 1831. Hall surveyed and planned out a town in December 1833 after seeing the location's commercial potential and Methodist leader John W. Kenney erected the town's first house. In 1835, Captain Hall founded the Washington Town Company with Dr. Asa Hoxey, Thomas Gay, and the Miller and Somervell Company to purchase the remaining portion of Robinson's grant. The new town was given that name by Hoxey, a former resident of Washington, Georgia.

Washington had developed into a supply hub by 1835. Merchants and tradespeople from nearby settlements settled in the new town, drawn by its location on the river and on or near key routes. The supply of emigrants to the interior and the surrounding area's expanding agricultural development and population both contributed to Washington's commercial expansion. The town's position was healthier and less vulnerable to flooding than that of villages at the river's edge since it was situated on cliffs above the river and had a plentiful water supply from adjacent springs.

Texas Republic
Gen. Sam Houston moved his headquarters and the supply depot for the Texas army to Washington in December 1835. By 1836, about 100 people were living there. To encourage further development, Washington businessmen provided the Convention of 1836 with free use of an assembly hall. The only building big enough for discussions was hired by these town promoters from businessman Noah T. Byars. Although there was an inn in the town, most delegates had trouble finding housing. Delegates drafted the Republic of Texas Constitution, the Texas Declaration of Independence, and the ad interim government in Washington between March 1 and March 17, 1836. The residents of Washington and the Texas government fled the area to avoid Antonio López de Santa Anna's army.

Following Texas' triumph at San Jacinto, the town's importance as a supply and transit hub was increased by the quick rush of new settlers into the interior and the burgeoning agricultural development in Washington's hinterland. The town became a legal hub after Washington was chosen as the county seat. The nearby abundance of timber aided in the establishment of sawmills, which started running by 1837. The same year saw the start of a brickyard, which helped with town construction. In 1836, the Republic of Texas opened a post office in Washington. Texas residents from all regions gathered at a ball in Washington in 1837 to commemorate the state's first anniversary of independence. The Texas Congress officially formed the town on June 5, 1837, and on December 29, 1837, it was reincorporated under a mayor-alderman type of local government. The building of a racetrack by Hall, the expansion of bars and casinos, and the influx of Texas army veterans on furlough created a chaotic climate that was unfriendly to development.

In Washington, Texas, the Rev. Z. N. Morrell founded the state's first Missionary Baptist church in 1837. Clergies from the Baptist, Methodist, and Cumberland Presbyterian denominations worked together to combat growing lawlessness in 1838. An R. E. B. Baylor and Rev. William Tryon-led revival that started in 1840 put an end to widespread disorderly behavior and led to the founding of Washington's second Baptist church in 1841. By 1838, Washington had become a hub for religious activity because of the efforts of Methodist missionary Robert Alexander, who established a Methodist church there in 1837, and Martin Ruter, who organized the Washington Circuit to further the cause of Methodism.

Growth in the economy helped Washington become a major hub for media and education. The creation of Washington Masonic Academy in 1841 was funded by the Masonic Lodge, which was formed in 1838. The town population numbered 250 by 1839. The weekly Texas Emigrant, Washington's first newspaper, was published in 1839 and 1840. The Tarantula, another short-lived publication, was produced in 1841 and 1842. A slump in 1839 hurt trade and population and Mount Vernon was designated as the county seat in 1841. Washington, however, was chosen to serve as Texas's capital in 1842. The presence of the Texas Congress, high courts, and foreign embassies during Houston's second term and that of his successor, Anson Jones, enhanced the town's economic and social life.

The National Vindicator (1843–1844), the Texas National Register (1844–1855), and the Brazos Farmer (1843) were three publications that were published in quick succession. The former lodge, which had discontinued operations in 1842, was replaced by the Washington Masonic Lodge, which received a charter in 1844. In the summer of 1844, the town served as the location of negotiations for peace between President Houston and the Indians. Inauguration ceremonies for Jones and his inaugural ball, as well as the Texas Congress meeting when annexation to the United States was granted, all took place in Washington in 1845. The Texas National Register likewise moved to Austin when Austin once more assumed that role as the nation's capital in the late summer of 1845, and Washington lost its political importance.

Decline
Residents of Washington, which was situated close to the upper limit of Brazos River navigation, were encouraged to develop the town as a riverport after the arrival of the steamboat Mustang in 1842. Between the interior and the Gulf Coast, Washington served as a distribution hub for trade. The Brazos floods in 1843–1844 reduced cotton production, complicated navigation, and caused diseases in Washington in 1844–1845. To remove obstructions to navigation, town citizens formed the Brazos Steamship Association in April 1848. To start up regular service between Washington and Velasco, this corporation purchased the Washington and the Brazos, two steamboats. Washington's economy and population grew quickly between 1849 and 1858 as the town became a popular stop for steamboats and an important hub for the export of the region's lucrative cotton crop. Although locals had access to retailers in Houston and Galveston, this significant stagecoach stop and riverport saw a boom in service industries serving passengers, wholesale and retail commerce, leather, wood, and metal manufacturing, construction, and the professions.

The Texas Ranger and Brazos Guard started publishing in Washington in 1847. Religious diversity was brought about by the founding of a Presbyterian church (1847) and an Episcopalian mission (1848). The Brazos River Improvements Association was established by locals, and it held meetings in 1854 and 1856 to request government aid. The population grew to 750 in 1856. Washington had two newspapers, four churches, two hotels, a Masonic lodge, two Odd Fellows chapters, a market house, and a commercial district with brick buildings that were two and three stories tall at the height of its prosperity. Another hub of Know Nothing political activity was Washington. There were local gatherings and a state Know Nothing conference held in the town in 1855, and The Washington American, an organ of the American (Know Nothing) party, was published there in 1855 and 1856.

Washington turned down an $11,000 bonus the Houston and Texas Central Railroad offered in 1858 in exchange for connecting the town to the planned rail route. Hempstead's new road was constructed in 1858. Washington, which had relied on river transportation, began to fall as a result of the building of the Houston and Texas Central to Navasota in 1859 and the Washington County Railroad to Brenham in 1860. However, as train use increased, steamboat service on the Brazos was discontinued, and the once thriving riverport was doomed. In the 1860s, most inhabitants relocated to Brenham or Navasota. The Episcopal church edifice and numerous homes were relocated to Navasota. Washington developed into a modest supply hub for the surrounding area.

Post-Civil War
Residents numbered approximately 175 by 1884. The Presbyterian church was the only church structure from the time of the town's prosperity that was still standing in 1891; by 1889, the majority of the townsite had been converted to cultivated fields. A Masonic Hall was among the final historic buildings to burn in 1912. Washington was noted as having 100 residents in that year's Texas State Gazetteer and Business Directory, along with several grocery stores, two general stores, a blacksmith, a doctor, and a cotton gin. The stated population held steady at 300 from the 1940s through the 1960s. In the year 2000, 265 people were living in the dispersed rural village of Washington, which also included a post office, two local churches, country cemeteries, and a volunteer fire department. The Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site served as the hub of activity and trade.

In 1915, the state government set aside money for a park that would include a portion of the former town site. Every March 2, Washington-on-the-Brazos has hosted celebrations of Texas independence. The two most notable 20th-century events at Washington-on-the-Brazos were the celebrations of Texas' Centennial in 1936 and its Sesquicentennial in 1986. The 1970-built Star of the Republic Museum preserves numerous relics as well as comprehensive historical documents of the town from the nineteenth century, and the Anson Jones residence is preserved at the park's Barrington Living History Farm.

Between 1964 and 1969, the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory carried out excavations at Washington-on-the-Brazos in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the University of Texas at Austin Texana Programs. Their discoveries allowed for more historically accurate furnishing of the renovated Republican-era buildings.

Culture
The town is home to the Washington-on-the-Brazos Historical Site, which has three main attractions: The Star of the Republic Museum (a museum about the Texas Republic), a replica of Independence Hall (where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed), and Barrington Living History Farm (home of last Texas Republic President Anson Jones).

The town is also home to Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, founded in 1849 as the oldest Black Catholic church in Texas.

Washington Avenue in Houston is named for Washington-on-the-Brazos and is the western route to Washington County.

Geography
Washington-on-the-Brazos is located on Farm to Market Road 912 off Texas State Highway 105,  east of Brenham and  west of Navasota in the upper northeastern corner of Washington County. It is near the intersection of the Brazos and Navasota rivers.

Education
The first school in the community may have been established by the wife of John Hall in 1837. The local Masonic Lodge helped sponsor the academy. Washington Female Academy educated the community's female youth in 1856 and 1857. In 1899, schoolchildren in Brenham honored Independence Hall with a marker after getting permission from the district superintendent, E.W. Tarrant. The community had two schools in the 1930s, one of which was for African Americans. Today, the community is served by the Brenham Independent School District.

Gallery

See also
List of museums in East Texas
Open-air museum

References

External links

Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Capitals of former nations
Texas
State parks of Texas
Protected areas of Washington County, Texas
Texas Revolution
Ghost towns in East Texas
Museums in Washington County, Texas
Living museums in Texas
History museums in Texas
Farm museums in Texas
Agriculture museums in the United States
Slave cabins and quarters in the United States

Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas


Modern paganism in Scandinavia is almost exclusively dominated by Germanic Heathenry, in forms and groups reviving Norse paganism. These are generally split into two streams characterised by a different approach to folk and folklore: Ásatrú, a movement that been associated with the most innovative and Edda-based approaches within Heathenry, and Forn Siðr, Forn Sed or Nordisk Sed, a movement marked by being generally more traditionalist, ethnic-focused and folklore-rooted, characterised by a worldview which its proponents call folketro ("faith of the folk", "folk religion"). Forn Siðr may also be a term for Scandinavian Heathenry in general. Vanatrú defines the religion of those individuals or groups in which the worship of the Vanir dominates.

Religions
A split in classification has arisen in the Scandinavian Heathen milieu (with the exception of Iceland) and is determined by approach to historicity and historical accuracy. On one hand, there is the Ásatrú movement represented by the "Eddaic" reconstructionists who aim to understand the pre-Christian Germanic religion based on academic research and the Edda, and implement reconstructions in their practice. Contrasting with this is the Forn Siðr, Forn Sed or Nordisk Sed movement, characterised by a "traditionalist" or "folkist" approach, in Scandinavia known as fólkatrú, which emphasizes living local tradition as central.

Traditionalists will not reconstruct, but base their rituals on intimate knowledge of regional folklore. Proponents of traditionalism include the Norwegian Forn Sed Norge and the Swedish Samfälligheten för Nordisk Sed. Both religions reject the ideas of Romanticist or New Age currents as reflected in Armanism or American Asatru. At the other end of this scale are syncretist or eclectic approaches which merge innovation or "personal gnosis" into historical or folkloric tradition. The "folkists" define their religion as Nordisk Sed ("Nordic Custom"), preferring this term over Ásatrú, which is mostly associated with the "eclectic" reconstructionists.

By country

Denmark
In Denmark the Forn Siðr — Ásatrú and Vanatrú Association in Denmark was formed in 1999, and officially recognized in 2003.

Norway
Two Pagan organizations are recognized by the Norwegian government as religious societies: Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost formed in 1996 (Asatru Fellowship "Bifrost"; with some 300 members ) and Forn Sed Norge formed in 1998 (with some 85 members ). Being recognized by the government allows them to perform "legally binding civil ceremonies". Forn Sed Norge is a member of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions. A third group, Vigrid, makes racial teachings a part of their ideological framework, as well as using Nazi Germany's flag colors and structure in their banner. For this reason many consider them to be neo-Nazis. Vigrid has also influenced Norway's view on pagan symbols, causing many Norwegians to believe that the symbols are racist in nature.

Sweden
In Sweden, Sveriges Asatrosamfund formed in 1994, and renamed to Swedish Forn Sed Assembly (Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige) in 2010. At present it is the second largest national organization for heathenry. The largest organization is the Nordic Asa-Community, formed in 2014. A difference between the two is that the Sweden Forn Sed Assembly takes an explicitly political stance on issues such as xenophobia, whereas the Nordic Asa-Community asserts to be non-political and has banned political symbols from its activities. A number of independent local groups (blotlag) also exist. Some of these used to be part of Nätverket Forn Sed ("The Forn Sed Network") when it was operational. Another group operational in the country is Samfälligheten för Nordisk Sed ("Community for Nordic Sed").

Iceland
Ásatrúarfélagið was recognized as a religious organization by the Icelandic government in 1973. Its first leader was farmer and poet Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson. It is the largest non-Christian religious organization in Iceland and has some 3,583 members (as of January 1st, 2017), making up just over 1% of the total population. Another group is the .

References

External links
 Óðsmál by Guðrún Kristín Magnúsdóttir
 Forn Siðr — Ásatrú and Vanatrú Association in Denmark
 Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost
 Foreningen Forn Sed
 Swedish Forn Sed Assembly
 Samfälligheten för Nordisk Sed
 Ásatrúarfélagið
 Æsir Kindred MC world- Heathen Motorcycle club

Scandinavia
Modern paganism in Denmark
Modern paganism in Iceland
Modern paganism in Norway
Modern paganism in Sweden

Modern paganism in Scandinavia


Wells Creek Falls is the generally used name for a waterfall on Wells Creek in the Mount Baker Wilderness in Washington.  The falls are located several thousand feet above Wells Creek's confluence with Bar Creek.

Characteristics

One of the better known falls on the slopes of Mount Baker, the falls are a single plunge of  within a small gorge which the falls mark the beginning of.  Several thousand feet downstream from the falls, the creek passes under Wells Creek Road & immediately is joined by Wells Creek's only major tributary, Bar Creek.  A large culvert, rather than a bridge crosses the creek along Wells Creek Road.

The falls are occasionally confused with much larger Mazama Falls, which is two kilometers upstream.  Ironically enough, Mazama Falls is officially named while Wells Creek Falls isn't despite the fact almost nobody has ever seen Mazama Falls up close & Wells Creek Falls is regularly visited by people driving up Wells Creek Road.

Access

Although not quite as convenient & easy to reach as Nooksack Falls, the falls are not difficult to get to.  They are located 5 kilometers up Wells Creek Road from Nooksack Falls & the condition of the road is quite good for a logging road, although it deteriorates beyond the falls.  Once at the crossing, one can walk up the wide streambed to reach good views of the falls.  Depending on how high the creek is, you may or may not have to get fairly wet, since at least one creek crossing is needed to get up close.

One can actually view the falls right from the crossing, however the view is partially obscured by trees.

References

Waterfalls of Washington (state)
Waterfalls of Whatcom County, Washington

Wells Creek Falls


The Aragon Ballroom on Lick Pier in the Ocean Park district of Santa Monica, California was a social-dance venue opened under the Aragon name in March 1942 by dance promoter Harry Schooler (1918–2008).

History
The ballroom and the pier, named Lick Pier, was erected in 1922. The pier was situated at the foot of Navy Street adjoining the south side of the Pickering Pier. Lick Pier was, in 1922, almost entirely in Venice. It was 800 feet long and 225 feet wide. At the opening of Lick Pier and the Bon Ton Ballroom on Easter weekend 1922, the ballroom was 22,000 square feet, and the pier featured a Zip roller coaster, a Dodge'em, Caterpillar rides, and Captive Aeroplane rides. Development, costing $250,000, commenced in 1921 and was financed by Charles Jacob Lick (1882–1971), Austin Aloysius McFadden (1875–1960), and George William Leihy (1865–1940).

Schooler, whose Swing Shift Dances had originally been held at the nearby Casino Gardens, signed a 10-year lease in 1942 for the old Ocean Park venue, which was said to have 1,500 electric lights and  of floor space, from owner Charles Lick. Schooler renamed it the Aragon, then spent some $50,000 to refurbish it.

By August 1943, the 25-year-old Schooler was earning $55 per week as a toolmaker at Douglas Aircraft Co. in Santa Monica during the graveyard shift, a job which he later claimed he retained to protect himself from the wartime draft. But the balance of his reported $250,000 per year gross income came from his several roles as dance hall impresario, bandleader and promoter, which by August 1943 included seven nights a week at the Aragon Ballroom, Friday and Saturday nights with the Swing Shift Dances (12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m.) at the nearby Casino Gardens, monthly dances for African-Americans at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and barn dancing in the Plantation Ballroom in Culver City.

Billboard magazine reported in July 1944 that "cowboy outfits" such as Spade Cooley and Bob Wills had been, and would continue to be, booked to play at the ballroom.

The Aragon was later known as the hall where Lawrence Welk and his big band, the "Champagne Music Makers," parlayed a scheduled four-week engagement in spring 1951 into a ten-year stint and a noted television show. Welk's orchestra played to crowds numbering as high as 7,000 people. Klaus Landsberg, the manager of Los Angeles television station KTLA, offered Welk the opportunity to appear on television, and on May 11, 1951, the station began broadcasting a weekly show live from the Aragon featuring Welk's band. The show evolved into The Lawrence Welk Show, broadcast each Saturday night on ABC.

Welk's stint at the Aragon ended in 1955, when he moved The Lawrence Welk Show to a television studio in Hollywood. The Aragon soon went into decline. In 1963 it was opened briefly for dancing by Ralph Morris, the promoter from The Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa. "The Beach Boys" opened, and "The Challengers" were the dance band. But "Surf music" did not produce the crowds it had in Balboa, and the Aragon was soon closed again. During 1965-66 it became a roller skating rink. A famous Roller Derby skater, Charlie "Specs" Saunders was the owner. Around 1967 it became the Cheetah Club where bands including The Doors and Pink Floyd played as well as The Nazz (an outfit that evolved into Alice Cooper not the band featuring Todd Rundgren). It was destroyed by a fire on May 26, 1970.

A major sequence in the 1950 Warner Bros. film Young Man with a Horn featuring Kirk Douglas, Doris Day and Hoagy Carmichael was set and filmed at the Aragon and remains the best film evidence of what the ballroom looked like in its heyday.

A band, that recorded on Atlantic Records, named Country, did a song, on its first album, called Aragon Ballroom.  Country was led by Tom Snow and Michael Fondiler, R.I.P.  Their song, Aragon Ballroom, was produced by Ahmet Ertegun, the President of Atlantic Records.

Notable performers
The Bon Ton Ballroom: 1922–1942
 1922–1924: Harry Baisden and His Bon Ton Orchestra
 1924–1925: Ben Pollack and His Bon Ton Orchestra

The Aragon Ballroom: 1942–1967
 1944: Spade Cooley
 1944: Bob Wills
 1951–1955: Lawrence Welk

Cheetah Club: 1967–1970
 1969: Black Pearl
 Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
 The Grateful Dead
 The Standells
 The Doors
 The Leaves
 Iron Butterfly
 Pink Floyd
 Alice Cooper

References

External links
Lawrence Welk visiting the charred remains of the Aragon Ballroom, May 28, 1970 (photo).

Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California
Music venues in Los Angeles
Ballrooms in the United States
Defunct nightclubs in California
Dance venues in the United States
Former music venues in California
Burned buildings and structures in the United States
Demolished buildings and structures in Los Angeles
Demolished buildings and structures in California
Buildings and structures completed in 1922
Buildings and structures demolished in 1970
1922 establishments in California
1970 disestablishments in California

Aragon Ballroom (Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California)


Michelle Yvonne Hunziker (Swiss , ; born 24 January 1977) is a Swiss-Italian television presenter and former model.

Early life
Hunziker was born in Sorengo, Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Her mother Ineke is Dutch and her father Rudolf, who died of a heart attack in 2001, was a German-speaking Swiss. He was a painter but worked as a hotel manager. In 1983, the family moved to Ostermundigen, a suburb of Bern in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. In Ostermundigen Hunziker attended elementary school. After moving to Milan with her mother, she became a fashion model and was hired by Riccardo Gay, an agent. At 17 she posed for Armani, Rocco Barocco, La Perla, Colmar, Fuerte Ventura, Lovable and Swish.

Career
As she was Eros Ramazzotti's fiancée, Hunziker was discovered by an Italian TV producer. In 1996, she presented the Rai Uno-show I cervelloni with Paolo Bonolis. In summer, she presented the prime time comedy show Paperissima Sprint (Canale 5) with Gabibbo. Because of her popularity, she hosted the afternoon show Colpo di Fulmine (Italia 1) in 1997. She attended the professional academy Music Art & Show in Milan with her choreographer Susanna Beltrami.

In 1998, the Italian film director Vincenzo Verdecchi offered Hunziker her first film role in the TV series La Forza dell'Amore (Canale 5). Afterwards she took the leading female role in Fammi stare sotto al letto. She was also in the documentary The Protagonist and in another film, Alex l'Ariete, where she acted with ex-skiing star Alberto Tomba. Hunziker and Pippo Baudo hosted the Canale 5 show La festa del Disco. From 1999 to 2001, she presented the late-night show Nonsolomoda (Canale 5) where she reported about fashion and lifestyle.

In 1999, TV3, the first Swiss private television station, was founded in Zürich, and Hunziker hosted a show called Cinderella, where a hair and make-up artist, as well as a styling adviser, helped both a celebrity and a viewer have a makeover. After the first episode, Hunziker was caught in the crossfire. The Swiss newspaper Blick even wrote: "Cinderella, TV3's new lifestyle show is not bad. It is catastrophic". Later, Hunziker was interviewed by the Swiss-German magazine Schweizer Illustrierte and said that she could not speak German anymore after having lived in Italy for many years. After TV3 had changed the concept, the show became more popular.

After hosting the Swiss show Cinderella, Hunziker was discovered by German TV producers. In 1998, she presented the Goldene Kamera awards show with Thomas Gottschalk (a very well-known presenter in Germany). A year later, she co-hosted the show Michael Jackson & Friends (ZDF) in Munich. After she had been on various talk shows, she presented her first in Germany: Erstes Glück (SWR/Das Erste). She co-hosted the show with Thomas Elstner and interviewed celebrities about their first love. The show was not very popular though and ultimately axed.
When she returned to Italy, she presented the shows Donna sotto le stelle and Piazza di Spagna (Canale 5) with Gerry Scotti and Tacchi a spillo (Italia 1) with Claudio Lippi. In 2002–2004, Hunziker and Carsten Spengemann presented the first and second season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of the British TV show Pop Idol.

Hunziker joined ZDF's Wetten, dass..?, Germany's most popular TV show in October 2009. The show was also syndicated live on the Austrian ORF and SF1 in her native Switzerland.

In 2006, she released an album in English, Lole, that was available only in German-speaking countries; the only single off the album was "From Noon Till Midnight".

Hunziker co-hosted the Italian comedy shows Zelig (Italia 1) and Scherzi a parte (Canale 5) in 2001. Zelig is one of the most famous Italian TV shows. Later that year, she received the Italian TV Oscar in the category "Discovery of the Year". She also co-hosted the Italian open-air music show Festivalbar with Daniele Bossari and Alessia Marcuzzi.

She has also starred in the musicals directed by Saverio Marconi The Sound of Music (playing the role of Maria von Trapp) and Cabaret (playing the role of Sally Bowles); both had huge success in Italy.

In 2007, Hunziker and Pippo Baudo hosted the Italian song contest, the Festival di Sanremo, on Rai Uno. Later, she co-hosted Striscia la notizia again with Ezio Greggio and Paperissima with Gerry Scotti.

In 2018, she hosted the Sanremo Music Festival on Rai 1 with Claudio Baglioni and Pierfrancesco Favino In 2020, she appeared in a video posted by Mimmo Modem, with the renowned neomelodic song by Niko Pandetta, Marco Calone and Pino Franzese called "Danza".

Personal life

She was married to Italian singer Eros Ramazzotti from 1998 to 2009 (separated since 2002, divorced 2009) and therefore also has Italian citizenship. They separated in 2002 and have one daughter together, Aurora Hunziker-Ramazzotti, also known as Aurora Ramazzotti, born on 5 December 1996. Hunziker announced her engagement to the Trussardi-heir Tomaso Trussardi in 2013, and together they have two daughters.

In 2017, Hunziker blamed a cult for her divorce from Ramazotti. She said that the cult tried to persuade her that he was a bad influence on her and to isolate her from her family. This statement caused an outcry in her homeland of Italy.

In 2021, she stated that she has distant Indonesian ancestry.

Filmography

Television programs

Notes

References

External links

1977 births
Living people
People from Sorengo
Italian television presenters
Italian film actresses
Italian stage actresses
Italian television actresses
Italian female models
Italian people of Swiss descent
Italian people of Dutch descent
Swiss emigrants to Italy
Swiss people of Dutch descent
Swiss-German people
Swiss female models
21st-century Italian singers
21st-century Italian women singers
People from Ostermundigen
Swiss women television presenters
Italian women television presenters
Naturalised citizens of Italy
Swiss people of Indonesian descent

Michelle Hunziker


The Strebe 1995 projection, Strebe projection, Strebe lenticular equal-area projection, or Strebe equal-area polyconic projection is an equal-area map projection presented by Daniel "daan" Strebe in 1994. Strebe designed the projection to keep all areas proportionally correct in size; to push as much of the inevitable distortion as feasible away from the continental masses and into the Pacific Ocean; to keep a familiar equatorial orientation; and to do all this without slicing up the map.

Description
Strebe first presented the projection at a joint meeting of the Canadian Cartographic Association and the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) in August 1994. Its final formulation was completed in 1995. The projection has been available in the map projection software Geocart since Geocart 1.2, released in October 1994.

The projection is arrived at by a series of steps, each of which preserves areas. Because each step preserves areas, the entire process preserves areas. The steps use a technique invented by Strebe called "substitute deprojection" or "Strebe's transformation". First, the Eckert IV projection is computed. Then, pretending that the Eckert projection is actually a shrunken portion of the Mollweide projection, the Eckert is "deprojected" back onto the sphere using the inverse transformation of the Mollweide projection. This yields a full-sphere-to-partial-sphere map. Then this mapped sphere is projected back to the plane using the Hammer projection. While the projections named here are the ones that define the Strebe 1995 projection, the substitute deprojection principle is not constrained to particular projections.

The projection as described can be formulated as follows:

where  is solved iteratively:

In these formulae,  represents longitude and  represents latitude.

Strebe's preferred arrangement is to set , as shown, and 11°E as the central meridian to avoid dividing eastern Siberia's Chukchi Peninsula. However, s can be modified to change the appearance without destroying the equal-area property.

See also
 List of map projections

References

External links
 New York Times book review for Carl Zimmer's Science ink, showing the Strebe projection as a large tattoo.
 First published formulation of the Strebe projection.

Map projections
Equal-area projections

Strebe 1995 projection


Chloroacetic acid is an organochloride which results from replacing one hydrogen atom of acetic acid with one chlorine atom. Chloroacetic acid is used in industrial chemical processes, for example in the production of dyes. It was used as poison gas in the First World War, as a so-called Yellow Cross agent. It is still used to treat warts today. Chloroacetic acid is a very strong acid that causes immediate damage to the skin. Exposing between 5% and 10% of the skin to a solution of 80% chloroacetic acid will lead to death.

Chloroacetic acid,industrially also known as Monochloroacetic acid (MCA or MCAA) is a white or pale yellow crystal chemical with irritant smell mainly used in manufacturing a variety of products including herbicides, pharmaceuticals, anesthetics, tranquilizers and amphoteric surfactants as one of the fine chemical intermediates.

Acids
Chemical warfare

Chloroacetic acid


Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born 27 August 1962), known as Sjón ( ; ; meaning "sight" and being an abbreviation of his first name), is an Icelandic poet, novelist, lyricist, and screenwriter. Sjón frequently collaborates with the singer Björk and has performed with The Sugarcubes as Johnny Triumph. His works have been translated into 30 languages.

Early life

Born in Reykjavík, Iceland, Sjón grew up in the city's Breiðholt district, where he lived with his mother. He began his writing career early and published his first book of poetry, Sýnir (Visions), in 1978 at 16.

Career
He was one of the founding members of the neo-surrealist group Medúsa and became significant in Reykjavik's cultural scene.

Active on the Icelandic music scene since the early 1980s, Sjón has collaborated with many of the best known artists of the era and was featured as guest vocalist on a rare Sugarcubes 12" single "Luftgitar" in 1987 using the name Johnny Triumph; this was accompanied by a music video of Sjón playing air guitar with Björk and Einar Örn Benediktsson. Sjón would occasionally reprise this role for the final encore of The Sugarcubes concerts, including the band's one-off 2006 reunion show in Reykjavík.

Björk
Sjón and Björk first met when they were teenagers, and together they formed a two-person band called Rocka Rocka Drum. Later, when Björk began her solo career in the 1990s, Sjón wrote lyrics for her. The pair teamed up to write the song "I've Seen it All" for the film Dancer in the Dark in 2000, and as a result, Sjón and Björk shared nominations for "Best Original Song" at both the 2001 Golden Globes and the 2001 Academy Awards. Two years later, Sjón was featured in the documentary Inside Björk. In 2004, Björk performed "Oceania" – a song that the two had written together – at the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Athens, Greece.

Writing
In 2007, he contributed the original story and wrote the screenplay for the animated film Anna and the Moods. He also joined the cast, voicing the character Dr. Artmann.

Sjón co-wrote the feature Lamb together with Valdimar Jòhansson. Lamb premiered in 2021 and was selected as Iceland's contribution for the 2022 Academy Awards. Lamb also received a lot of international recognition through festivals around the world. It has been nominated for or received prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, Gothenburg Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Athens International Film Festival, as well as from the Edda Awards and the Austin Film Critics Association Awards.

From August to December 2021, Sjón was writer-in-residence at the Literaturhaus Zurich and the PWG Foundation in Zurich.

Sjón co-wrote the 2022 film The Northman, a historical epic and revenge thriller based on the legend of the Viking prince Amleth, with director Robert Eggers. Björk appears in the film in a supporting role as a seeress.

Personal life
Sjón has lived and worked in London, but he currently resides in central Reykjavík with his wife. He has two adult children.

Works

Novels

 Night of Steel ("Stálnótt", Mál og menning, 1987)
 Angel, Stovehat and Strawberries ("Engill, pípuhattur og jarðarber", Mál og menning, 1989)
 Night of the Lemon (Greyhound Press, 1993)
 Made in Secret / Your Eyes Saw Me ("Augu þín sáu mig", Mál og menning, 1994)
 The Story of the Great Cap ("Sagan af húfunni fínu", Mál og menning, 1995)
 Númi and his Seven Heads ("Númi og höfuðin sjö", Mál og menning, 2000)
 With a Quivering Tear ("Með titrandi tár", Mál og menning, 2001)
 The Story of the Strange Bird ("Sagan af furðufugli", Mál og menning, 2002)
 The Blue Fox ("Skugga-Baldur", Bjartur, 2003)
 The Whispering Muse / The Splinter from Argo ("Argóarflísin", Bjartur, 2005)
 From the Mouth of the Whale / The Marvels of Twilight ("Rökkurbýsnir", Bjartur, 2008)
 Moonstone – The Boy Who Never Was ("Mánasteinn – drengurinn sem aldrei var til", JPV/Forlagið, 2013)
 CoDex 1962 (JPV/Forlagið, 2016)
Red Milk ("Korngult hár, grá augu", JPV/útgáfa, 2019)

Poetry

 Visions ("Sýnir", 1978)
 Madonna (1979)
 Birgitta (Medúsa, 1979)
 How Does One Make Love to Hands? (with Matthías Sigurður Magnússon) ("Hvernig elskar maður hendur?", Medúsa, 1981)
 The Blind Man's Bicycle ("Reiðhjól blinda mannsins", 1982)
 The Book of Illusions ("Sjónhverfingabókin", Medúsa, 1983)
 Oh, Isn't it Wild? (Medúsa, 1985)
 Toy Castles ... ("Leikfangakastalar", Medúsa, 1986)
 The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes, poems from 1978 to 1986 ("Drengurinn með röntgenaugun", Mál og menning, 1986)
 there is something I can't remember about the clouds ("Ég man ekki eitthvað um skýin", Mál og menning, 1991)
 obscure figures ("myrkar fígúrur", Mál og menning, 1998)
 the song of the stone collector ("söngur steinasafnarans", Bjartur, 2007)
 Collected Poems 1978–2008 ("Ljóðasafn 1978–2008", Bjartur, 2008)

Stage

 "Shadow Play" ("Skuggaleikur") - a libretto based on the short story "Skyggen" by H. C. Andersen - Strengjaleikhúsið - Reykjavík 2006
 "Gargoyles" ("Ufsagrýlur") - a play - Lab Loki theatre troupe - Reykjavík 2010
 "Tales from a Sea Journey" - a play written in collaboration with the theatre group - New International Encounter - Oslo 2011
 "The Motion Demon" - a libretto based on the short stories of Stefan Grabinski - Figura Ensemble - Copenhagen 2011
 "Red Waters" - a libretto co-written with Keren Ann and Barði Jóhannsson - CDN Orleans - Rouen 2011
 "Hvörf" - a play cowritten with Lab Loki theatre troupe - The National Theatre - Reykjavík 2013
 "Folie à Deux" - a libretto in six songs created with composer Emily Hall for opera company - Mahogany Opera Group - premiered Bergen 2015
 "Seven Stones" - a libretto for an opera cowritten with Ondřej Adámek, directed and choreographed by Éric Oberdorff  - Théâtre du Jeu de Paume - Aix-en-Provence 2018

Collaborations with Björk

 "Isobel" on the album Post (1995)
 "Bachelorette" and "Jóga" on the album Homogenic (1997)
 Lyrics for the songs featured in the film Dancer in the Dark and its soundtrack, Selmasongs, written in collaboration with Lars von Trier (2000)
 "Oceania", written for the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics and featured on the album Medúlla (2004)
 "Wanderlust" on the album Volta (2007)
 "The Comet Song" featured in the film Moomins and the Comet Chase (2010)
 "Cosmogony", "Virus", and "Solstice" on the album Biophilia (2011)

Film
 Reykjavik Whale-Watching Massacre (2009) (screenplay and co-writer on screen story)
 Lamb (2021) (co-writer with Valdimar Jóhannsson)
 The Northman (2022) (co-writer with Robert Eggers)
 Klara: The Medium (pre-production)

Awards

 1995: DV Newspaper Culture Prize for Literature for Made in Secret
 1998: Icelandic Broadcasting Service Writers Fund for contribution to Icelandic literature
 2002: DV Newspaper Culture Prize for Literature for With A Quivering Tear
 2005: Nordic Council's Literature Prize for The Blue Fox
 2005: Icelandic Bookseller's Prize for Novel of the Year for The Whispering Muse

Sjón was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for the song "I've Seen It All" from the film Dancer in the Dark.

In 2016 Sjón became the third writer chosen to contribute to the Future Library project.

References

External links

 Sjón on Words Without Borders
 Words Without Borders interviews Sjón
 Forlagið
 Licht & Burr

1962 births
Living people
Icelandic writers
Icelandic male poets
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
20th-century Icelandic people
20th-century Icelandic poets
21st-century Icelandic poets
20th-century male writers
21st-century male writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers

Sjón


The Volvo LV120/130/140/150-series, or the Roundnose was a medium-size truck produced by Swedish automaker Volvo between 1939 and 1954.

History
The "Roundnose" was introduced in the autumn of 1939, in conjunction with the outbreak of the Second World War. The truck was originally built in three versions. The smallest LV120-series had the same side-valve engine as the Sharpnose. The larger LV125-series and the sturdier LV130-series had the same overhead valve engine as its predecessor LV90. During the war, many of these trucks were equipped with wood gas generators. 1944 saw the introduction of the LV140-series with the big FE engine which replaced the LV180/190-series.

In 1946 the Roundnose became the first Volvo truck offered with a diesel engine. The LV150-series was equipped with Volvo's VDA pre-chamber diesel engine.

All versions were updated in the early 1950s. The LV120-series became the L220-series with a stronger ED engine. The LV140-series became the L230-series, with an improved A6 engine and the LV150-series became the L245-series with a direct injected VDC diesel engine.

Engines

Gallery

References

External links

 Volvo Trucks Global – history
 Swedish brass cars – picture gallery

Roundnose
Vehicles introduced in 1939

Volvo Roundnose