The Canal of the Pharaohs, also called the Ancient Suez Canal or Necho's Canal, is the forerunner of the Suez Canal, constructed in ancient times and kept in use, with intermissions, until being closed for good in 767 AD for strategic reasons during a rebellion. It followed a different course from its modern counterpart, by linking the Nile to the Red Sea via the Wadi Tumilat. Work began under the pharaohs. According to Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions and Herodotus, the first opening of the canal was under Persian king Darius the Great, but later ancient authors like Aristotle, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder claim that he failed to complete the work. Another possibility is that it was finished in the Ptolemaic period under Ptolemy II, when engineers solved the problem of overcoming the difference in height through canal locks.

Egyptian and Persian works
At least as far back as Aristotle there have been suggestions that perhaps as early as the 12th Dynasty, Pharaoh Senusret III (1878–1839 BC), called Sesostris by the Greeks, may have started a canal joining the River Nile with the Red Sea. In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote:
One of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.

Strabo also wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, as did Pliny the Elder (see quote further down).

However, the canal was probably first cut or at least begun by Necho II (r. 610–595 BC), in the late 7th century BC, and it was either re-dug or possibly completed by Darius the Great (r. 550–486 BC). Classical sources disagree as to when it was finally completed.

Darius the Great's Suez Inscriptions comprise five Egyptian monuments, including the Chalouf Stele, that commemorate the construction and completion of the canal linking the Nile River with the Red Sea by Darius I of Persia. They were located along the Darius Canal through the valley of Wadi Tumilat and probably recorded sections of the canal as well. In the second half of the 19th century, French cartographers discovered the remnants of the north–south section of Darius Canal past the east side of Lake Timsah and ending near the north end of the Great Bitter Lake.

Pliny the Elder wrote:
165. Next comes the Tyro tribe and, on the Red Sea, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II, who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes.

Although Herodotus (2.158) tells us Darius I continued work on the canal, Aristotle (Aristot. met. I 14 P 352b.), Strabo (Strab. XVII 1, 25 C 804. 805.), and Pliny the Elder (Plin. n. h. VI 165f.) all say that he failed to complete it, while Diodorus Siculus does not mention a completion of the canal by Necho II.

Greek, Roman and Islamic works
After the death of Alexander the Great, the general Ptolemy gained control of Egypt, declaring himself Pharaoh and beginning the Ptolemaic dynasty. His son, the 2nd leader of that dynasty, Ptolemy II took up the canal work again, but also stopped because of the differences of water level. Diodorus, however, reports that it was completed by Ptolemy II after being fitted with a water lock.

Ptolemy II is credited by some for being the first to solve the problem of keeping the Nile free of salt water when his engineers invented the lock around 274/273 BC.

In the 2nd century AD, Claudius Ptolemy mentions a "River of Trajan", a Roman canal running from the Nile to the Red Sea.

Islamic texts also discuss the canal, which they say had been silted up by the seventh century, but was reopened in 641 or 642 AD by 'Amr ibn al-'As, the Muslim conqueror of Egypt. The canal was in use until closed in 767 in order to stop supplies reaching Mecca and Medina, which were in rebellion.

Aftermath
Thereafter, the land routes to tranship camel caravans' goods were from Alexandria to ports on the Red Sea or the northern Byzantine silk route through the Caucasian Mountains transhipping on the Caspian Sea and thence to India.

Following the discovery of a direct sea route to India through the Cape of Good Hope by Portugal, the Venetians and Mamluks negotiated with each other to fund the construction of a new canal in order to weaken Portuguese trade. However, the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim I and its subsequent annexation ended any hopes for Venice to maintain their trade dominance in the Mediterranean.

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 1565 to 1579, also considered constructing a new canal to reduce Portuguese dominance in the Indian Ocean and connect the divided Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, but it was deemed too expensive to construct and was cancelled.

During the Egyptian expedition, Napoleon Bonaparte learnt about the canal in 1799 when his surveyor, Jacques-Marie Le Père, discovered the remains of the canal. Napoleon considered rebuilding the canal but ultimately cancelled it.

After over a millennium since its closure in 767, a direct sea route between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea was finally re-established in 1869.

See also

Ancient Egyptian trade

Notes

References
Rappoport, S. (1904): "History of Egypt", Volume 3, Chapter V: "The Waterways of Egypt" pages 250–253. London: The Grolier Society..
Froriep, Siegfried (1986): "Ein Wasserweg in Bithynien. Bemühungen der Römer, Byzantiner und Osmanen", Antike Welt, 2nd Special Edition, pp. 39–50
Moore, Frank Gardner (1950): "Three Canal Projects, Roman and Byzantine", American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 54, No. 2, pp. 97–111
Schörner, Hadwiga (2000): "Künstliche Schiffahrtskanäle in der Antike. Der sogenannte antike Suez-Kanal", Skyllis, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 28–43

Suez Canal
Geography of Egypt
Geography of ancient Egypt
Nile Delta
History of the Red Sea
Achaemenid Egypt
Roman canals
Senusret III
Ancient canals
Darius the Great
Wadi Tumilat

Canal of the Pharaohs


Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a 1963 direct cinema documentary film directed by Robert Drew. The film centers on the University of Alabama's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" integration crisis of June 1963. Drew and the other filmmakers, including D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock, were given expanded access to key areas, including United States President John F. Kennedy's Oval Office and the homes of United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Governor George Wallace of Alabama. The film first aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as an installment of Close-Up! four months after the incident, on October 28, 1963. It was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress on December 28, 2011.

Synopsis
Shot primarily during a two-day period surrounding the University of Alabama integration crisis on June 11, 1963, the film follows President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Governor George Wallace of Alabama, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the students involved, Vivian Malone and James Hood. Since Wallace had promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the Kennedy administration discusses how to respond without rousing the crowd, as had happened the year before in Mississippi, or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. They come up with a way in which they can quickly federalize the Alabama National Guard if the students are turned away so that Malone and Hood can return and enroll later the same day, rather than the next day, which it is hoped will show that the move is justified, but not let Wallace delay the court-mandated integration for more than a few hours.

The plan works. Wallace, after initially standing his ground, steps aside under orders from General Henry V. Graham and the students enter the building. That night, President Kennedy gives a speech about civil rights on national television. Later, a third black student, Dave McGlathery is shown enrolling in the University of Alabama without incident.

Reception
Although opinions on Crisis were sharply divided after the October 1963 broadcast, it is now considered among the landmark films of cinéma vérité, or direct cinema. Peter von Bagh rated it ahead of Drew's earlier work Primary, considering it the most touching and intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers on film. Fred Kaplan, in a review for The New York Times of the film's 2009 DVD release, wrote that "though we now know the story's ending — the students were finally let in — the suspense is gripping." He dubbed it "the first movie that Barack Obama should watch in the White House screening room."

In 2011, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Registry said that Crisis "has proven to be a uniquely revealing complement to written histories of the period, providing viewers the rare opportunity to witness historical events from an insider's perspective." The Academy Film Archive preserved Crisis in 1999.

See also
 List of American films of 1963
 Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy
 Civil rights movement in popular culture

References

External links

 Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment – Drew Associates.

1963 films
1963 documentary films
American documentary films
Black-and-white documentary films
Documentary films about American politics
Documentary films about John F. Kennedy
Documentary films about Robert F. Kennedy
Documentary films about the civil rights movement
United States National Film Registry films
Political history of Alabama
History of the University of Alabama
Films directed by Robert Drew
Films shot in Alabama
African-American history of Alabama
American black-and-white films
Documentary films about Alabama
1960s English-language films
1960s American films


The phrase law of the land (Latin lex terrae) is a legal term. It means all of the laws in force within a country or region. The term was first used in the Magna Carta. It was used to mean the laws of the kingdom. This was distinct from Roman law or civil law. In the United States, the Constitution declares it is the "supreme law of the land." It is the same as due process of law as justified by the Constitution.

History
While the Magna Carta first used the term, it did not actually become the law of the land until the reign of Edward I of England. It became closely associated with another phrase that helped define the law of the land' due process. During the reign of Edward II the Liberty of Subjects Act of 1354 stated:
 The law of the land and the Liberty of Subjects act remained in use in England. Both were used in colonial charters and common law. They became part of US laws after the American colonies declared their independence from England in 1776.

References

Law
Legal terms

Law of the land


Ken Hill (28 January 1937 – 23 January 1995) was an English playwright and theatre director.

Ken Hill was a protégé of Joan Littlewood at Theatre Workshop. He was known for his chaotic musicals on the tiny stage of the old Theatre Royal Stratford East, Theatre Workshop's home in Stratford, London, but he also had hits in the West End and abroad. Among them were The Invisible Man and the original stage version of Phantom of the Opera, which inspired Andrew Lloyd Webber to create his musical blockbuster of the same title.

Biography
Ken Hill was born in Birmingham, England on 28 January 1937.  He was educated at King Edward VI's Grammar School, Camp Hill, Birmingham, after which he joined an amateur theatrical company, Crescent Theatre, sweeping the floor, making props, writing and directing. His first play, Night Season, was put on at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, in 1963. For a time, he worked as an investigative journalist for ATV and it was there that he caused controversy with his report on corruption in Birmingham's local government.

In 1970, Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop returned to the Theatre Royal Stratford East. A satire on local authorities was discussed as a good subject for a new production, and Hill's name was put forward as a possible writer. The result of the collaboration Hill's Forward Up Your End (1970) was criticised by some of the press for its juvenile humor, but Joan Littlewood liked it and Hill stayed on.

Hill worked as an actor in numerous productions but preferred writing. He was made associate director and resident writer at Theatre Workshop from 1970 to 1974 and from 1974 to 1976 he took over as artistic director, Joan Littlewood by this time having left for projects in Tunisia.

Hill's productions there included Is Your Doctor Really Necessary? (1973), a collaboration with songwriter Tony Macaulay, The Count of Monte Cristo (1974), Gentlemen Prefer Anything (1974) and Dracula (1974). He then became artistic director of the Musical Theatre Company, directing for the West End: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Westminster Theatre (for Andrew Lloyd Webber), The Mikado, and Fiddler on the Roof. Other West End credits include Playdoctoring productions of Drake's Dream and Wren.

Shortly after, he was commissioned by the National Theatre for a version of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. He then wrote and directed for television: All the Fun of the Fair – in the course of his life, Hill wrote over 100 scripts for various television programs. His other commissions for various theatres include: The Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy's Tomb, Mafeking, The Three Musketeers, Bel Ami, The Living Dead, and a new translation of Jacques Offenbach's La Vie parisienne. Hill was also commissioned for productions of Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors, and a Narnia trilogy. He also adapted and directed two books by Catherine Cookson and completed a third for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

He left Theatre Workshop in 1976 and worked for some years as the Director of Productions at the Newcastle Playhouse. That same year, he first staged his version of Phantom of the Opera at the Duke's Playhouse in Lancaster (and also on Morecambe Pier). In 1983, he adapted Catherine Cookson's Katie Mulholland into a stage musical for the Playhouse with songs by Eric Boswell. In 1984, an updated version of Phantom of the Opera was revived and produced in a joint production with the Newcastle Playhouse and the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Andrew Lloyd Webber was inspired by the production and wrote his musical The Phantom of the Opera, which opened in the West End in 1986 after talks of staging Hill's version fell through. Hill's Phantom went abroad to St. Louis in the United States in 1987 and had another major production in San Francisco in 1988. The musical then embarked on a two-year-long national tour of the US from 1989 to 1991. The show also transferred to the West End in 1991 but, despite excellent notices, did badly at the box office and was forced to close earlier than expected. Since then, Phantom of the Opera has arguably become one of his most famous works and has toured the world – the most recent production was in Tokyo, Japan in November 2004.

The Invisible Man, with illusions by the magician, Paul Kieve, fared much better in the West End, transferring from Stratford East to the Vaudeville Theatre in 1993. This show was a particular favorite of Hill's, combining his love of stage trickery and optical jokes, including the unbandaged 'invisible' head of the Invisible Man smoking a cigar. At his request, everyone working in the theatre, from the cleaning staff upwards, signed a document forbidding them to reveal how this was done to the press.

Despite having cancer intermittently for 12 years, Hill was a prolific writer and sent Stratford East ideas for new productions right up until his death from cancer on 23 January 1995 aged 57. He died just two weeks before the opening of what was his final production, Zorro The Musical!, which he directed. Zorro opened on 14 February 1995, to rave reviews and immense box office success.

Other information
The Ken Hill Memorial Trust was set up after Hill died in 1995, to aid the Theatre Royal in supporting new talent in musical theatre. It now offers a biennial Musical Theatre Award  to help nurture new talent in theatrical writers. The award in 1997 was a total of £5,000 for the winner – £1000 in cash, with the balance going towards the production costs of a week's showcase at the Theatre Royal, where many of Ken Hill's works were premiered. In addition, royalties were paid to the writer for the showcase. The trustees also offered small cash prizes to five runners-up.

There are also "Ken Hill awards" for talented new playwrights and for Best New Musical.

Some of Hill's plays, The Invisible Man, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy's Tomb and his version of The Phantom of the Opera, are available to purchase from Samuel French Ltd. in London. The rights to produce these shows can also be obtained by theatre groups, professional and amateur, who wish to perform them.

References

External links
 Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera fan website
 Theatre Royal Stratford East's official website
 Samuel French Ltd. in London control the performance rights for Ken Hill's The Invisible Man, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy's Tomb and The Phantom of the Opera
 Playwright listing for Ken Hill includes links to purchase Ken Hill's published works.

1937 births
1995 deaths
English theatre directors
Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands
Deaths from cancer in England
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
English male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century English male writers

Ken Hill (playwright)


Kendrell Alexander Bell (born July 2, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. In his first year with the Steelers, Bell was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He later played for the Kansas City Chiefs before retiring following the 2007 season.

High school career
Bell attended Lucy Craft Laney High School in Augusta, Georgia. He was a three-sport star in football, basketball, and track & field. In football, he was an All-State selection and won Atlanta Journal All-South honors. In track & field, he was ranked fifth in the state in the shot put as a senior.

Collegiate career

Junior college years
Bell attended Middle Georgia Junior College for two years. He was a two-time Super Prep JUCO 100 selection. As a freshman, he played  fullback and finished the season with 689 rushing yards. As a sophomore, he garnered six sacks and 132 tackles, and helped lead his defensive unit to a No.1 ranking in the nation.

NCAA college years
Bell attended the University of Georgia and was a Child and Family Development Major and a letterman in football. In football, he finished his career with 153 tackles (10 for a loss), four interceptions, seven sacks, five forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers
Bell started in all 16 games for the Steelers during his 2001 rookie campaign.  He was an excellent fit for the Steelers defense, notably due to his blitzing abilities.  The Steelers finished the '01 regular season with a 13-3 record, earning them the top seed in the AFC.  Bell was voted the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.  The Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-10 in the AFC Divisional round at Heinz Field.  The following week they went on to face the second seeded New England Patriots.  Bell recorded 8 tackles, a sack, and 2 passes defended.  Despite his stellar performance, and a late 4th quarter comeback, the Steelers wound up losing the game 24-17.  In 2002, Bell was injured in week 1 of the AFCCG rematch versus New England.  He missed the next 4 games, but returned in week 7 to face the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night.  He finished the season with 50 tackles, (33 less from his rookie year), and 4 sacks.  The Steelers finished with a 10-5-1 record, and went on to face the Cleveland Browns.  In an epic 36-33 comeback win over the Browns, Bell recorded 9 tackles but injured his knee in the final quarter and was listed as doubtful for the following week at Tennessee.  Although hurt, Bell started the game against the second seeded Titans.  He recorded only 2 tackles before leaving the game once again with an injury.  The Steelers lost 34-31 in a controversial finish.  In 2003, Bell amassed 99 tackles and 5 sacks despite the Steelers poor 6-10 finish.  In 2004, Bell injured his knee yet again, and would not see the field until week 9.  He played 3 games for the Steelers before he re-injured his knee in week 11 versus Cincinnati.  In the 2005 off-season, the Steelers, (who went 15-1 in the regular season without Bell), released him from the team.

Kansas City Chiefs
He then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played 3 seasons. Bell was released following the 2007 season, after which he retired.

References

1980 births
Living people
Players of American football from Augusta, Georgia
American football outside linebackers
Georgia Bulldogs football players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Kansas City Chiefs players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
National Football League Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winners

Kendrell Bell


David Reindorp TD DL (born 21 October 1952) is an English Anglican priest who is the incumbent of Chelsea Old Church in London (since 2006).

Biography
Reindorp was born in Westminster, England to the Right Reverend George Reindorp (Bishop of Guildford and Salisbury) and Alix Edington. Reindorp spent several of his early years in South Africa before returning to attend Lancing College in West Sussex. After a brief time as an insurance broker for Lloyd's of London, he worked as a social worker before attending Trinity College, Cambridge and Westcott House, Cambridge. He was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Ely in 1982.

Reindorp had curacies in Cambridge and Hertfordshire before becoming Vicar of St John the Evangelist, Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire in 1988 followed by an incumbency in a church of the same name in the centre of Cambridge. He was made an honorary canon of Ely Cathedral in March 2005.

Reindorp was inducted as the Vicar of Chelsea Old Church, one of London's oldest churches, situated on the bank of the River Thames in the affluent area of Chelsea. He was padre to the Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest regiment in the British Army, holding the rank of major, and to the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers.

Reindorp developed a reputation as a public speaker with talks such as "Millionaire or Bust" which charted his career from shipping broker to priest. He has also appeared in several reality television programmes in England, including Bad Lads' Army in which he had the role of an army chaplain.

Personal life
Reindorp married Suzy Moir, a psychotherapist and daughter of Guthrie Moir, one of the founders of Independent Television, in Salisbury Cathedral in 1974. The couple were married by Reindorp's father, Bishop George Reindorp. They have three children.

The Reindorp family currently live in their home on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, London.

References

1952 births
Living people
People from Westminster
20th-century English Anglican priests
21st-century English Anglican priests
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
People educated at Lancing College
Honourable Artillery Company officers
Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers
Alumni of Westcott House, Cambridge
Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London

David Reindorp


Liu Zhigeng (; born June 1956) is a former Chinese politician. He was the Vice-Governor of Guangdong and the Communist Party Secretary of Dongguan. On February 4, 2016, Liu was placed under investigation by the Communist Party's anti-corruption agency.On April 18, 2016, Liu Zhigeng was double opened and transferred to the judiciary.

Career
Liu Zhigeng was born in Xingning, Guangdong in June 1956. He was the teacher of Pei Ning commune Primary School () from 1973 to 1978. In 1979, he entered Jilin University and graduated in 1983. He joined the Communist Party in February 1985. From 1983 to 1992, Liu Zhigeng worked in Shenzhen Municipal Planning Bureau. In 1993 he became the mayor of Longgang District and the Communist Party Secretary of Longgang District in 1995. In 2002, Liu became the mayor of Qingyuan. Liu Zhigeng held power in Dongguan from 2004 to 2011, which served as CPC Deputy Secretary, Mayor, Director of People's Congress, and CPC Secretary. In 2011, Liu Zhigeng became the Vice-Governor of Guangdong.

On February 4, 2016, Liu Zhigeng was placed under investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's internal disciplinary body, for "serious violations of regulations". Liu was expelled from the Communist Party on April 18, 2016, for "joining superstitious activities, membership in private clubs and bribery".

On February 24, 2017, the Nanning Railway Transportation Intermediate Court heard the case of Liu Zhigeng's bribery in the first instance, and found that he had accepted bribes equivalent to 98.17 million yuan, and the court decided to pronounce a sentence at an optional date. On May 31 of the same year, the Nanning Railway Transportation Intermediate People's Court publicly pronounced the verdict in the first instance, and sentenced Liu Zhigeng to life imprisonment for accepting bribes, deprived of political rights for life, and confiscated all personal property; property obtained from accepting bribes was recovered and turned over to the state treasury. Liu Zhigeng said in court that he accepted the sentence and would not appeal .

On July 4, 2017, the first instance of the Nanning Railway Transportation Intermediate Court opened a public hearing on the bribery case of Zeng Xiaohua, the former investigator of the Office of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Finance and the actual controller of Dongguan Huarui Real Estate Co., Ltd. The public prosecution alleges that from 2006 to 2011, Zeng Xiaohua entrusted Liu Zhigeng, then Secretary of the CPC Dongguan Municipal Committee, to take advantage of his position to help Guangdong Jiacai Digital Technology Co., Ltd. win the bid for Dongguan cable digital TV set-top box procurement project and Dongguan Kingsun Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. for business development . Provided assistance and made profits of RMB 12 million and approximately RMB 23.05 million from the above companies respectively. Zeng Xiaohua thanked and continued to receive help from Liu Zhigeng. In 2007, he gave Liu Zhigeng a villa in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, worth about 26.17 million yuan; in 2008, with Liu Zhigeng's consent, he gave Liu Zhigeng's son Liu Wenrui a Land Rover Range Rover , worth approximately RMB 1.41 million. On the same day, the Nanning Railway Transportation Intermediate Court held another subsidiary case of Liu Zhigeng's bribery case. Yang Zhimao, the legal representative of Guangdong Jinlong Development Co., Ltd., was accused by the prosecution of bribing Liu Zhigeng more than RMB 64.11 million

On May 31, 2017, Liu was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes worth 98.17 million yuan in Nanning.

References

1956 births
Living people
People from Xingning
Political office-holders in Guangdong
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Guangdong
People's Republic of China politicians from Guangdong
Jilin University alumni
Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party
Politicians from Meizhou
Chinese politicians convicted of corruption

Liu Zhigeng


Hesh Kestin is an American journalist and novelist. Kestin describes his novels as "fiction hung upon a framework of the real".

Childhood and education
Kestin was born in New York City. He immigrated to Israel in 1970, but spent time living in Europe as a foreign correspondent and by the 1990s was living in the United States.

Career
Hesh has worked as a journalist for Newsday, Forbes, and the New York Herald Tribune. In the 1980s Kestin was a senior European correspondent for Forbes magazine, covering Africa and the Middle East as well as Europe. He escaped being of the victims of the 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks carried out by the Palestine Liberation Organization in which 19 passengers and were killed (along with 4 terrorists), because he had been out drinking the night before and had failed to wake up in time to get to the airport.

In 1988 Kestin was the creator and editor of a short-lived daily newspaper in Israel, The Nation, created as an English-language rival to the Jerusalem Post.  The Nation was backed by investors in Los Angeles headed by David Wilstein. The paper folded after only 7 months.

From 1992 to 1994 Kestin, now living in Remsenburg, New York, handled public relations for the company Computer Associates in Islandia, New York.

In 1998 he became publisher and creator of a short-lived "Sunday paper" for Americans living abroad.

Kestin's first novel was The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats, published by Dzanc Books. Writer Jonathan Evison calls Shoeshine Cats, a "criminally underappreciated" book, stating that it "left me breathless with its mastery of character and suspense."

The Siege of Tel Aviv
Kestin's 2019 novel, The Siege of Tel Aviv was signed by Dzanc Books, publisher of earlier Kestin books, but just as the book was being released, the publisher announced that it would pulp all copies not yet shipped to booksellers due to accusations made on social media by individuals who had not read the book that it was "Islamophobic" Individuals posting on social media in response to pre-publication publicity promotional copy that read, "While the U.S. and the West sit by, the Moslem armies – taking a page from the Nazi playbook – prepare to kill off the entire population,"  called the promotional statement inflammatory "othering" of Muslims.

The book is blurbed by Stephen King.
The plot sets a replay of the 1973 Yom Kippur War in an unspecified future, with the wrinkle that this time Iran leads the invasion of Israel by the combined armies of neighboring Muslim states, and when the United States fails to come to Israel's aid, as did in 1973, Israel's Jews are herded into a Third Reich-type ghetto in central Tel Aviv, where they wait to see whether they will be evacuated or annihilated. Critics of the book called this plot "Islamophobic". But Mark Horowitz, writing in Commentary, notes that the imagined destruction of Israel by Muslim armies is a popular fictional trope, citing Jonathan Safran Foer's Here I Am (2016), and Michael Chabon's 2007 The Yiddish Policemen's Union in which Jewish refugees have settled in Alaska after Israel is overrun by Arab armies. Horowitz asserts that "The subversive joke of the novel is that it indulges Israel's enemies and take seriously their rhetoric of annihilation."

Dzanc's founding publisher, Steve Gillis, explained that, "It was never our intent to publish a novel that shows Muslims in a bad light... Our mistake was not gauging the climate and seeing how the book would be perceived in 2019."

Bookstores, including Amazon.com, continued to sell hardcover copies already in inventory, and Kestin has published the book himself in paperback and digital editions under the Shoeshine Press imprint.

Books

Nonfiction
 21st Century Management: The Revolutionary Strategies That Have Made Computer Associates a Multibillion-Dollar Software Giant, (1992, Atlantic Monthly Press), a profile of Computer Associates, the corporation for which Kestin would later work as a public relations specialist. Kestin wrote the book after becoming intrigued while covering the company for Forbes.

Fiction
Based on a True Story (short story collection, 2008, Dzanc Books)
The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats  (2009, Dzanc Books)
The Lie (2015, Scribner)
The Siege of Tel Aviv (2019)

References

External links

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American male journalists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
Novelists from New York City

Hesh Kestin


The Simca 8 is a small family car built by Simca and sold in France between November 1937 and 1951 (including wartime), available as a saloon, coupé or cabriolet. It was a rebadged Fiat 508C "nuova Balilla" made at Fiat's Simca plant in Nanterre, France.

High profile launch breaking records
The Simca 8 was first presented, at the Paris Motor Show in October 1937, and sales in France started almost immediately in November.   Early the next summer Henri Pigozzi, Simca's energetic boss, organised a three part endurance run under the supervision of the ACF.   A single Simca 8 undertook a "non-stop" 50,000 kilometer (31,075 miles) run split as follows:
 10,000 kilometers (6,215 miles) lapping the Montlhéry circuit averaging 115.1 km/h (72 mph) and returning 7.9 L/100 km
 20,000 kilometers (12,430 miles) on open roads averaging 65 km/h (40 mph) and consuming 6.0 L/100 km
 20,000 kilometers (12,430 miles) in Paris averaging (impressively) 54 km/h (34 mph) and consuming 6.5 L/100 km

The initial 10,000 km round the race-circuit south of Paris involved breaking no fewer than 8 international records, although the manufacturer's advertisement including this information does not spell out what these records were.   The purpose of the exercise was, of course, to gain positive publicity for the Simca 8, and as soon as the 50,000 kilometers had been completed, on 12 May 1938, a press dinner was organised at which the journalists were able to dine with the drivers, the ACF monitors, and the Simca directors as well as representatives from Shell and Dunlop, whose products had presumably played a key role in the exercise.

The printed summary of the event, used to advertise to the wider public, concluded with an invitation that the reader "achetez la même voiture" (buy the same car).

The engine
The '8' in the car's name did not indicate an eight-cylinder engine; it had but four cylinders, and was officially rated as a 6CV vehicle for tax purposes. At launch the car featured a 1,089 cc engine with a claimed output of 32 hp at 4,000 rpm.   Fuel feed came via a Solex 30mm carburetor and  overhead valves driven, using rods and rocker arms, by a side-mounted camshaft.   An unusual feature at the time was the use of aluminium for the cylinder head.

Shortly before it was replaced in 1951, the Simca 8 had acquired, in September 1949, the Fiat designed 1,221 cc engine which would also be employed its successor, the popular 7CV Simca 9 Aronde.

The body

At launch only two bodies were offered, these being a 4-door "berline" (saloon/sedan) and a 2-door cabriolet.   This contrasted with the Simca's Italian cousin for which a wider range of bodies was available from the start and it also marked a departure from the strategy followed by Simca themselves with the predecessor model, the Simca-Fiat 6CV which had been offered with almost as wide a range of body variants as its Turin built relative.   The 4-door saloon body was unusual in that there was no central pillar between the front doors, hinged at the front, and the rear doors, hinged at the back, permitting particularly easy access when a front and rear door were opened simultaneously.  In 1937 the Simca 8 4-door Berline was priced at 23,900 Francs for a "Normale" version and at 25,900 Francs for a "Grande Luxe".   The Peugeot 202 made its debut only six months later, in Spring 1938, and was priced at 21,300 Francs for a "Normale" version and at 22,500 Francs for a "Luxe".   The cars were similar in size and power, but sales data suggest that the market found space for both of them, despite the Simca's higher price.

The post war range became wider, with coupé, cabriolet and after 1948 estate versions listed, but these were all substantially more expensive than the berline: virtually all the cars sold were still Simca 8 Berlines, which early in 1947 were priced at 330,000 francs against 420,000 francs for the cabriolet. (The slightly longer but slightly slower competitor from Peugeot, the 202 was priced at 303,600 francs which included a sunroof at no extra cost.)

Over the course of a few years the Simca 8 underwent some grille changes, and other minor upgrades.

Market reaction

The Simca 8 won plaudits for its lively temperament and excellent fuel economy.   The four ratios on the new gear box were chosen so that even when cruising at 110 km/h (68 mph) fuel consumption remained reasonable, and set to permit good progress along country roads and reasonable acceleration even in hilly areas.   The car also came with unusually precise steering and efficient hydraulically controlled brakes that did not overheat.

Commentators nevertheless noted that the engine was noisy when working hard, the (semaphore style) direction indicators were fragile, and the ambitiously sophisticated front suspension also proved fragile when confronted with France's rural roads, many of which were still unpaved.   The gear box could be disagreeable when changing down across the gate from third speed to second, and the car was only just large enough for four people, with only a small storage area for luggage, located in a hard to get at position behind the back seat and without any external access.

Commercial
For most of the time the Simca 8's principal competitors were the "bargain basement" Renault Juvaquatre and the Peugeot 202.  After the war, with the Juvaquatre range restricted to an estate version, and Peugeot moving half a market segment up at the end of 1948 replacing the Peugeot 202 with the larger 203, sales of the Simca 8 held up impressively even though the Simca was itself by now clearly nearing the end of its production run.   In 1948 the Simca 8 was Simca's top seller, with approximately 14,000 sold, almost all of them were saloons.  Two years later, in its penultimate year, the car was being produced at an even higher rate.

The principal complication arose from the fact that the car was in most respects a badge engineered Fiat, which compromised its export potential, which was a particular issue after the war, when government (and the state of the French economy) were demanding heroic export effort from France's leading auto-makers.

The French car market in the early 1950s was concentrated, with just three models between them accounting for two thirds of domestic sales in 1950.   Nevertheless, as the fourth best selling car of 1950 the Simca 8 with unit sales of 17,705 in that year achieved a respectable 10.2% market share.

Sources and further reading
 This entry incorporates information the French Wikipedia and Italian Wikipedia corresponding entries.
 This entry includes statistical information from the French Wikipedia entry concerning the French car market in 1950.

External links
 Website for Simca 8 enthusiasts who understand Dutch

8
Cars introduced in 1938
1940s cars
1950s cars
Rear-wheel-drive vehicles
Mid-size cars
Sedans
Coupés
Convertibles
Station wagons
Cars discontinued in 1951

Simca 8


The International Association of Labour Law Journals is a learned society that aims to promote the international study and exchange of labour law publications. It consists of twenty-one law reviews published in countries across the world. The current president is Steven L. Willborn (University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law).

Purpose
The association seeks to fulfil three principal goals: (1) Further academic achievement in the areas of labour and employment law; (2) Foster sharing of information relevant to the publishing process; and (3) Create greater connections between the editors-in-chief of national and international labour and employment law journals.

Marco Biagi Award
The late Italian jurist Marco Biagi was instrumental in forming the Association, originally called the Club of Labour Law Journals, and served as its first president. Biagi was assassinated in 2002 by the Red Brigades-PCC. In his honour, the Association Awards the Marco Biagi Award each year for the best paper on comparative or international labour law by a young scholar.

References

External links

Organizations with year of establishment missing
International learned societies
Labour law journals


is a 1967 semi-autobiographical short story by Japanese author Akiyuki Nosaka. It is based on his experiences before, during, and after the firebombing of Kobe in 1945. One of his sisters died as the result of sickness, his adoptive father died during the firebombing proper, and his younger adoptive sister Keiko died of malnutrition in Fukui. It was written as a personal apology to Keiko, regarding her death.

The story was first published in Japan in , a monthly literature magazine published by Bungeishunjū, in October 1967.
Nosaka won the Naoki Prize for best popular literature for this story and "American Hijiki", which was published a month before. Both short stories along with four others were bundled as a book in 1968, published by Shinchōsha ().
"Grave of the Fireflies" was translated into English by James R. Abrams and published in an issue of the Japan Quarterly in 1978.
It was later adapted into the 1988 anime film Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata. The film was released on April 16, 1988, over twenty years after the publication of the original work.
It was adapted again into the live-action television film Grave of the Fireflies in 2005, and another live-action film in 2008.

Nosaka explained that "Grave of the Fireflies" is a "double-suicide story". Isao Takahata, the anime film director, said that he saw similarities to Chikamatsu Monzaemon's double-suicide plays.

Development
Akiyuki Nosaka wrote the book in 1967, during a period of high economic growth. Nosaka said that the era felt strange to him and that "the real spirit of humanity was different" and so he wished to depict an "idealized humanity" between a brother and sister, or "ultimately, of a man and a woman." He added that he wished to place Seita, the main character, "in an idealized situation." Nosaka said that he himself had been in such a scenario until age fourteen and then had to grow up very quickly, becoming "worse off" than other children.

Characters

Seita
Nosaka explained that Seita and Setsuko survive the wartime environment by "locking themselves up in a world of their own." Nosaka added that after their mother, their sole guardian, dies, Seita "decides to become the guardian of his little sister, even if it means making an enemy out of the world." At one point, Seita has a favorable reception to making himself a source of food for his sister. Nosaka argued, "On the one hand, that's very tragic, but it's also a blessed situation. For Seita, it's like he can try to build a heaven for just the two of them." Nosaka argued that while Seita is "when it comes to reality" not a romanticist for he also becomes hungry, "objectively speaking" Setsuko, at age four, is at the period when "a girl looks the cutest" and Seita is just becoming aware of his masculinity in his adolescent period. Nosaka said that the two have an "obvious consanguineous relationship" and that Setsuko is the only person Seita can confide in. Nosaka added that "while there's a strong blood tie, he's shut out from being able to love her as a girl" and that his tension increases to high levels and therefore sublimation takes place.

Nosaka explained that Seita "is rather spoiled for a wartime child" and therefore the children of 1987 would act like he would if they were put in that situation. Isao Takahata said that he was compelled to adapt the story into an animation after seeing how Seita "was a unique wartime ninth grader." He previously believed that boys always developed the will to live, but Seita instead chooses not to endure difficult feelings; when his aunt insults him, Seita does not act in a stoic manner and instead withdraws from the situation. Takahata argued that Seita's feelings are better understood by the children in 1987, who often base decisions on whether or not they are pleasant, while during that year his generation had the belief that Seita needed to endure it. Takahata argued that "[i]t's not only the children... I think the times are becoming that way, as well", and therefore he liked the idea of adapting the story as a film.

Nosaka said that in the story, Seita "got increasingly transformed into a better human being" since he was trying to "compensate for everything I couldn't do myself" and that he was never "kind like the main character." Nosaka explained that "I always thought I wanted to perform those generous acts in my head, but I couldn't do so." He believed that he would always give food to his sister, but when he obtained food, he ate it. The food tasted very good when it was scarce, but he felt remorse afterwards. Nosaka concluded, "I'd think there is no one more hopeless in the world than me. I didn't put anything about this in the novel."

Setsuko
Nosaka said that Setsuko also has to grow up quickly, and she takes the role of Seita's mother, "and at other times, the role of his companion." Setsuko acts as Seita's spiritual support while Setsuko relies on Seita for nourishment. Nosaka said that "[i]n the end, it turns out that the days leading up to their death are like the development of a love story."

Nosaka said that the death of his sister was "an exact match with the novel."

References

1967 short stories
Anti-war books
Autobiographies
Japanese short stories
Short stories adapted into films
World War II short stories
Fiction set in 1945
Children and death

ja:火垂るの墓

Grave of the Fireflies (short story)


Kesme or erişte is a type of egg noodle found in various Central Asian countries. It is also found in Turkish cuisine and is called erişte and "kesme" in modern standard Turkish. The word itself is a nominalisation of the verb to cut or to slice, referring to the slicing of the dough involved in preparing the noodles. The term may refer to the noodles themselves, or the prepared dish made with them. Kesme is traditionally a homemade dish, and not often found at restaurants or cafés. In Turkey, kesme is also known as "erişte", and eaten generally in winter. It is made from flour, egg, water, salt and milk. These ingredients are worked into a dough, which is rolled out, cut, and dried in the sun or an oven after dried for a day.

Kesme preparation
The dough for kesme usually consists of flour, water, salt, and an egg. The dough is rolled out into a large thin circle, and left to dry for a while. It is then lightly floured, folded over several times accordion-style, and sliced into strips, which are then separated. The process has been illustrated, step by step. The kesme may be boiled immediately in a broth often containing ingredients such as potatoes, meat, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes, or left to harden and stored. Kesme is often made in a kazan.

Reshteh

Reshteh () or reshte are Persian whole wheat noodles, traditionally the noodle would be a homemade item. The reshteh used in the Iranian cuisine can be a thicker, whole wheat noodle used in reshteh polow (rice and noodle pilaf dish) and in ash reshteh (noodle soup). "Reshteh" was the only word for noodles in Arab cookbooks of the 13th and 14th centuries. A recipe substitution for reshteh noodles, is often linguine or whole-wheat noodles.

Reshteh polow
Special symbolism is given to dishes that contain noodles when a decision of importance or change is to occur; the noodles or "reins" of one's life are to be taken in hand. A traditional dish in Iran is reshteh polow, which is served during the Persian new year with the noodles representing the threads of life and family intertwined. Noodles are used for special occasion dishes in giving thanks and for journeys especially to Mecca. In reshteh polow the noodles are broken into parts, fried or grilled brown, and then added to rice.

Mass production
In Turkey, the pasta is mass-produced as erişte.

Gallery

See also
 Beshbarmak - A similar Central Asia noodle dish, associated with the traditionally sedentary Kazakh and Kyrgyz.
Pasta
Noodle
Chinese noodles
Cup noodles
Frozen noodles
Instant noodles
Japanese noodles
Korean noodles
Philippine noodles (pancit)
Shirataki noodles
Tibetan noodles
Vietnamese noodles

References

Davidson, Alan. Oxford Companion to Food (1999), "Reshteh", pp. 659–660.

Kazakh cuisine
Kyrgyz cuisine
Turkmen cuisine
Uzbekistani cuisine
Turkish cuisine
Azerbaijani cuisine
Iranian cuisine
Afghan cuisine
Noodles
Turkish pasta

Kesme


TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.

In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $25 million. Following the 2015 acquisition of AOL and Yahoo by Verizon, the site was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021. In 2021 Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo! Inc..

In addition to its news reporting, TechCrunch is also known for its Disrupt conference, an annual technology event hosted in several cities across United States, Europe, and China.

History
TechCrunch was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.

In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately $25 million.

 TechCrunch was available in English, Chinese (managed by Chinese tech news company, TechNode), and Japanese. TechCrunch France was folded into the main TechCrunch.com site in October 2012.  Boudless (formerly Verizon Media Japan), the Japanese subsidiary of the TechCrunch's parent company, closed TechCrunch Japan in May 2022 according to its "global strategy".

Following the acquisition of AOL and Yahoo by Verizon, TechCrunch was owned by Verizon Media from 2015 through 2021.

In August 2020, COO of TechCrunch, Ned Desmond, stepped down after 8 years in the company. He announced that he would join venture capital firm, SOSV in December 2020 as senior operating partner. His former role at TechCrunch was replaced by Matthew Panzarino, former editor-in-chief, and Joey Hinson, director of business operations.

In 2021 Verizon sold its media assets, including AOL, Yahoo, and TechCrunch, to the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and Apollo integrated them into a new entity called Yahoo.

Events

TechCrunch Disrupt
Starting in New York City in 2010, TechCrunch hosts an annual tech conference, TechCrunch Disrupt, in several cities in the United States and Europe.

Startup Battlefield
Startup Battlefield is a startup competition. Monetary awards are presented at the TechCrunch Disrupt conferences. Notable startups that have been involved in the competition include Dropbox, Intuit Mint, Yammer, and CrateDB.

Former features

Crunchbase
From 2007 to 2015, TechCrunch operated Crunchbase, a website and online encyclopedia of information on startups, key people, funds, funding rounds, and events. In 2015, Crunchbase spun out of TechCrunch to become a private entity, and is no longer a part of TechCrunch.

Crunchies
From 2007 to 2017, TechCrunch sponsored the annual Crunchies award ceremony to award startups, internet and technology innovations. At the first award ceremony in 2007, Facebook won the award for best startup. TechCrunch announced in 2017 that it would end the Crunchies.

Controversies
The company was criticized for allowing developers to present the Titstare application, created by participants in a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt 2013. The application allows users to "stare at tits".

In 2011, the site's editors and writers were criticized for possible ethics violations. These included claims that Arrington's investments in certain firms which the site had covered created a conflict of interest. The controversy that ensued eventually led to Arrington's departure, and other writers, including Paul Carr and Sarah Lacy, moved to another technology investment based media company.

In popular culture
In 2014, TechCrunch Disrupt was featured in an arc of the HBO series Silicon Valley. The characters' startup "Pied Piper" participates on a startup battle at TechCrunch Disrupt.

References

External links

Yahoo!
Online publishing companies of the United States
Internet properties established in 2005
Technology blogs
Technology conferences
American technology news websites
Webby Award winners
Web-related conferences
2005 establishments in the United States
2010 mergers and acquisitions

TechCrunch


Robert Mosher (September 27, 1920 – July 26, 2015) was an American architect who operated primarily in Southern California. Mosher was a Taliesin apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a pioneer of the post-war modernist architecture movement in San Diego. He is best known for designing the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, and the University of California, San Diego's John Muir College.

Early life
Born in Greeley, Colorado, Mosher moved to Los Angeles as a young child. Mosher's interest in architecture and design began early: at age nine he built a workbench in his family's garage. According to Mosher's wife, Joany, Mosher was first introduced to architecture through a neighbor involved in Pasadena real estate development. In 1932, Mosher became one of the first architectural apprentices in Frank Lloyd Wright's  Taliesin Fellowship, an architectural apprentice program. Mosher stayed in the group until 1942.

With a sustained interest in architecture and design, Mosher went on to attend the Art Center School in Los Angeles in 1939, the University of Southern California School of Architecture from 1939–40, and eventually earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1944.

After earning his degree in 1944, Mosher moved to La Jolla and apprenticed with the firm Myron Hunt & H. C. Chambers. It was there where he met his future business partner, Roy Drew. After completing his state architecture exams and working for eight months at the firm of Harwell Hamilton Harris in Los Angeles, Mosher returned to San Diego to found his own firm in 1946. Mosher's father purchased a collection of buildings in La Jolla known as the Green Dragon Colony, a former artist's colony, to serve as the firm's headquarters. Roy Drew joined as a partner in 1948.

The San Diego region, like much of Southern California, underwent dramatic growth in the immediate postwar years, in turn, providing fuel for the growth of Mosher and Drew's firm. "We got more work and just chugged away at it," Mosher recalled about the period, in a 1988 interview. Mosher's career was advanced when his design for a home for Herbert and Minerva Kunzel of Point Loma, received media exposure by way of Sunset magazine. This article in turn came to the attention of the editor of House Beautiful, Elizabeth Gordon. Gordon, impressed with Mosher's understanding of architectural theory, invited him to New York City for a two-year stint as architectural editor for the magazine. Mosher accepted the offer. During the period at House Beautiful, Mosher interviewed his hero, Frank Lloyd Wright for a special 1955 issue of the magazine. In preparation for the issue, Mosher shadowed Wright around his studio, Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin over the course of two separate weeks.

Later career
After the stint in New York City, Mosher returned to his practice in San Diego. Mosher's design of the Golden Door Spa in Escondido, opening in 1958, illustrated his aptitude for historical architecture, as well as his usual modernism. The Spa's design was heavily informed by 16th and 17th century ryokan, traditional Japanese inns.

In the mid-1960s, Mosher was hired by the newly created University of California, San Diego to be executive architect for the first building of the university's second college, later after naturalist John Muir. Shortly thereafter, he was designated to lead a team of architects to design the remainder of the college's buildings.

Mosher designed many other prominent structures within the San Diego area including: the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, San Diego State University's Aztec Center, and 225 Broadway.

References

Further reading

External links
 Robert Mosher collection; San Diego History Collection
Robert Mosher Architectural Drawings MSS 720. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.

1920 births
2015 deaths
20th-century American architects
University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design alumni
University of Southern California alumni

Robert Mosher


Wang Shouren (, 26 October 1472 – 9 January 1529), courtesy name Bo'an (), art name Yangmingzi (), usually referred to as Wang Yangming (), was a Chinese calligrapher, general, philosopher, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty. After Zhu Xi, he is commonly regarded as the most important Neo-Confucian thinker, for his interpretations of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Zhu Xi. Wang and Lu Xiangshan are regarded as the founders as the Lu–Wang school, or the School of the Mind.

In China, Japan, and Western countries, he is known by his honorific name rather than his private name.

Life and times

Wang was born in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, to a scholarly family with a tradition of bureaucratic service. His father, Wang Hua, was first (Zhuangyuan, 狀元) in the Imperial Examination of 1481, and rose to become the vice-minister of the Ministry of Rites, but was later demoted and subsequently expelled from government service due to having offended Liu Jin, a eunuch.

Wang earned the juren degree in 1492 and the jinshi degree in 1499. He later served as an executive assistant in various government departments until banishment for offending a eunuch in 1506. However, his professional career resumed when he became the Governor of Jiangxi.

Military exploits
Wang became a successful general and was known for the strict discipline he imposed on his troops. In 1517 and 1518, he was dispatched in response to petitions to suppress peasant revolts in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong. Concerned with the destruction that came with war, he petitioned the court to allow amnesty, and successfully destroyed rebel military forces.

Suppressing the Prince of Ning rebellion

In 1519 AD, while he was governor of Jiangxi province and on his way to suppress the revolts in Fujian, Wang was suddenly faced with the Prince of Ning rebellion, led by Zhu Chenhao the fourth Prince of Ning. Given that the prince's base in Nanchang allowed him to sail down the Yangtze River and capture the southern capital of Nanjing, Wang actively prepared for battle to prevent that possibility, while engaging in deception to convince the prince that armies were moving to surround him. The prince, deceived by this, hesitated and gave time for Nanjing to be reinforced. Eventually, forced to engage governmental forces, the Prince of Ning was defeated and captured.

In this campaign, Wang also made one of the earliest references to using the fo-lang-ji in battle, a breech loading culverin cannon imported from the newly arrived Portuguese venturers to China. As governor of Jiangxi he also built schools, rehabilitated the rebels, and reconstructed what was lost by the enemy during the revolt. Though he was made an earl, he was ostracized for opposing Zhu Xi.

Thirty-eight years after his death, he was given the titles Marquis and Completion of Culture. In 1584 he was offered sacrifice in the Confucian Temple, the highest honour for a scholar.

Philosophy

Wang was the leading figure in the Neo-Confucian School of heart, founded by Lu Jiuyuan (陸九淵, or Lu Xiangshan) of the Southern Song. This school championed an interpretation of Mencius, a Classical Confucian who became the focus of later interpretation, that unified knowledge with action. Their rival school, the School of Principle (Li) treated gaining knowledge as a kind of preparation or cultivation that, when completed, could guide action.

Innate knowing
Out of Cheng-Zhu's Neo-Confucianism that was mainstream at the time, Wang Yangming developed the idea of innate knowing, arguing that every person knows from birth the difference between good and evil. Wang claimed that such knowledge is intuitive and not rational.  These revolutionizing ideas of Wang Yangming would later inspire prominent Japanese thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, who argued that because of the Shinto deities, Japanese people alone had the intuitive ability to distinguish good and evil without complex rationalization.  His school of thought (Ōyōmei-gaku in Japanese, Ō stands for the surname "Wang", yōmei stands for "Yangming", gaku stands for "school of learning") also greatly influenced the Japanese samurai ethic.

Integration of Knowledge and Action

Wang's rejection of the pure investigation of knowledge comes from the then traditional view of Chinese belief that once one gained knowledge, one had a duty to put that knowledge into action. This presupposed two possibilities:
That one can have knowledge without/prior to corresponding action or that one can know what is the proper action, but still fail to act.

Wang rejected both of these which allowed him to develop his philosophy of action. Wang believed that
only through simultaneous action could one gain knowledge and denied all other ways of gaining it. To him, there was no way to use knowledge after gaining it because he believed that knowledge and action were unified as one. Any knowledge that had been gained then put into action was considered delusion or false.

Mind and the world
He held that objects do not exist entirely apart from the mind because the mind shapes them. He believed that it is not the world that shapes the mind, but the mind that gives reason to the world. Therefore, the mind alone is the source of all reason. He understood this to be an inner light, an innate moral goodness and understanding of what is good.

In order to eliminate selfish desires that cloud the mind's understanding of goodness, one can practice his type of meditation often called "tranquil repose" or "sitting still" (靜坐 jingzuo). This is similar to the practice of Chan (Zen) meditation in Buddhism.

Influence
Wang Yangming is regarded one of the greatest masters of Confucianism in history along with Confucius, Mencius and Zhu Xi ().
He founded "Yaojiang School" () or "Yangming School of Mind" (), which became one of the dominant Confucian schools in the mid-late Ming period and Qing period China. The typical figures came from this school after Wang were Wang Ji (), Qian Dehong (), Wang Gen, Huang Zongxi, Li Zhuowu and Liu Zongzhou (). Wang Gen formed Taizhou School (), which went left of Wang Yangming's thought. During the late Ming period, Wang Yangming's thought became notably popular and influential in China.
Wang's interpretation of Confucianism has been influential in China into modern times.  The twentieth-century Chinese warlord Yan Xishan attempted to revive Confucianism in Shanxi largely on the model of Wang's philosophy.
The teachings of Wang Yangming were credited with inspiring many Japanese reformers and revolutionaries during the nineteenth century.  This led to a great increase in interest in his thought in Japan at the end of the Meiji period, when many Chinese activists such as Liang Qichao and Chiang Kai-shek were staying in Japan.  Some Chinese and Korean thinkers believed that Wang Yangming's teachings strongly influenced the development of modern bushido (the "way of the warrior") in Japan, and promoted both ethics in their countries to strengthen the spirit of their respective peoples.

The Japanese Admiral of the Russo-Japanese War, Tōgō Heihachirō, was influenced by Wang, and made a stamp which read, "One's whole life followed the example of Yangming" (). In Japan, many scholars and politicians (this group of people is known in Japanese as "Yōmeigakusha" () came from Wang Yangming's school (Ōyōmei-gaku) in history, including Kumazawa Banzan, Saigō Takamori, Takasugi Shinsaku and Nakae Tōju. Toju Nakae is regarded as the founder of Japanese Ōyōmei-gaku.

Memorials
Chiang Kai-shek named a national attraction in Taiwan, Yangmingshan, after Wang; and a road in Nanchang is also named Yangming Road after Wang by Chiang-influenced local officials. Additionally, National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan is also named after the philosopher.
People in Guiyang, provincial capital of Guizhou Province, dedicated a statue to Wang Yangming as well as a museum and theme park; a robot version of Wang Yangming is in the city.
The city government in Wang's hometown, Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, named a middle school after his honorific name.

Translations
 . Public domain. Considered a poor translation by Chan.
 Ching, Julia (1972). The Philosophical Letters of Wang Yang-ming. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University Press. Sixty-seven letters and annotations.
 Chan, Wing-tsit (1963). A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpts only.
 Chan, Wing-tsit (1963). Instructions For Practical Living and Other Neo-Confucian Writings by Wang Yang-Ming. Columbia University Press.  Full translation of 傳習録 and 大學問, Wang's two major works.
  Excerpts, but including the first translations of some of Wang's letters.

References

Citations

Sources

 Chang, Carsun (1962). Wang Yang-ming: idealist philosopher of sixteenth-century China. New York, NY: St. John's University Press.
 Gillin, Donald G. (1967),  Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province 1911-1949. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
 Ivanhoe, Philip J. (2002), Ethics in the Confucian Tradition: The Thought of Mengzi and Wang Yangming, rev. 2nd edition, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
 Кобзев А.И. Учение Ван Янмина и классическая китайская философия. М., 1983.
 Nivison, David S. (1967). "The Problem of 'Knowledge' and 'Action' in Chinese Thought since Wang Yang–ming," in Arthur F. Wright, ed., Studies in Chinese Thought, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 112–45.
 Nivison, David S. (1996), "The Philosophy of Wang Yangming," in The Ways of Confucianism, Chicago: Open Court Press, pp. 217–231.
 Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Part 7. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
 Oleg Benesch. "Wang Yangming and Bushidō: Japanese Nativization and its Influences in Modern China." Journal of Chinese Philosophy 36 (3):439-454.

External links

 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Entry on Wang Yangming
 Wang Yang Ming in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming
15th-century Chinese calligraphers
15th-century Chinese philosophers
16th-century Chinese calligraphers
Chinese Confucianists
Generals from Zhejiang
Idealists
Ming dynasty essayists
Ming dynasty generals
Wang Yangming
Wang Yangming
Moral psychologists
Neo-Confucian scholars
People from Yuyao
Philosophers from Zhejiang
Politicians from Ningbo
Viceroys of Liangguang
Writers from Ningbo
Xinxue
Wang Yangming

Wang Yangming


Boules is the name for a number of similar hand-games, which are played with heavy balls. In most cases, the aim of the game is to throw a ball, and to get it as close as possible to an object ball (small ball). Variants of these games include pétanque, which is popular in France, boccia from Italy, and bowls from Great Britain.

Today, these games are played with balls made of metal, which weight between  and .

History
Such games have a long history. In the 5th century BC, Greek physician Hippocrates of Kos recommended the game. It used stone balls at the time. Julius Pollux, a Greek scholar who lived in the 2nd century, described a game where bowls were thrown at a brick. Boule Lyonnaise, and boccia (soft pétanque) go back to this game.

During the Middle Ages, the game was forbidden at various times. In the 17th century, some people wanted to promote games such as battledore and shuttlecock, and argued against boules which, at the time, was more popular.

Sports

Boules


Working Girls is a 2010 Filipino comedy film remake directed by Jose Javier Reyes and starring Eugene Domingo, Jennylyn Mercado, Iza Calzado, Cristine Reyes, Bianca King, Eula Valdez and Ruffa Gutierrez. With a screenplay by Amado Lacuesta, it was produced by GMA Pictures, Viva Films, and Unitel Pictures and released to cinemas on April 21, 2010, in the Philippines.

Plot
They are everyday women who all live in a world where men rule business and women rule the office. In this comedy hit of the summer, the story begins with Paula, (Eugene Domingo) the daughter-in-law of Nimfa (Gina Pareño). She is the queen of fake designer bags. She gets high earnings from her living and uses them to put her children through private school, something that her irresponsible and unemployed husband cannot provide. Then there is a single mom, Ada (Jennylyn Mercado), a young woman who is a call center agent by night and a student by day, working hard to provide for her young son. In the process, she neglects her son and puts additional strain on her relationship with her mother, Sabel (Rio Locsin). Ada is also close friends with Tobz (Carlo Aquino) who is currently having issues with his girlfriend, Wendy (Cristine Reyes) also a busy woman who does not give him time nor pleasure and whose long life goal is to become an actress. While pursuing this, she meets Rodney (Rafael Rosell), who is also an attorney to celebrity plastic surgeon, Dr. Cleo Carillo. One of her clients/friends, Marilou (Ruffa Gutierrez), a beauty queen turned CEO upon the death of her husband, is also having problems with Amanda Dela Vega, her husband's daughter from another woman, and her own daughter, Dara Dela Vega (Bianca King). Dara is a Berkeley graduate who is eager to prove herself at her new job in a television show; she is struggling to manager her issues from home and her issues from her boss, Suzanne (Carmi Martin), Marilou's best friend. Another story follows Theresa (Iza Calzado), a nurse for Dr. Carillo's husband and who is content with her work but struggles to deal with her broken heart.

In the end, Paula, after a brief love affair with her temporary driver (Ricky Davao) decides to continue being a loud-mouthed and responsible wife. Ada finally decides to love Tabz while Wendy is left brokenhearted when Rodney leaves. Dara shows her wits and talent as she uncovers the truth about a protestor Dolorosa "Rose" Bonefacio (Maria Isabel Lopez), a women's rights activist. Marilou also finds some information on Amanda's schemes against the company. Lastly, there is Theresa, who finally forgives her ex-suitor and Emily.

This story reflects the challenges of everyday woman, involving family, love, money and the community. The story is based on the hit Viva Films Comedy 26 years ago and is the sequel to Ishmael Bernal's Blockbuster top grosser in the '80s.

Cast

Main cast
 Eugene Domingo as Paula Cajanding
 Ruffa Gutierrez as Marilou Cobarrubias
 Iza Calzado as Theresa "Tere" Villanueva
 Jennylyn Mercado as Ada Rosales
 Cristine Reyes as Wendy Casuga
 Bianca King as Dara Dela Vega
 Eula Valdez as Dra. Cleo Carillo

Supporting cast
 Gina Pareño as Nimfa Cajanding
 Maria Isabel Lopez as Dolorosa "Rose" Bonifacio
 Mylene Dizon as Connie Valderamma
 Carmi Martin as Suzanne Galang Cavendish
 Rio Locsin as Sabel Rosales
 Jef Gaitan as Sara
 Katya Santos as Amy
 Ricky Davao as Nelson Obleta
 Rafael Rosell as Atty. Rodney Camacho
 Jao Mapa as Leon Arnaldo
 Carlo Aquino as Tobs
 Kirby De Jesus as Jaime Dela Vega
 Antonio Aquitania as Bobby Cajanding
 Andrea del Rosario as Rachel
 Joey Paras
 Matthew Mendoza
 Ina Feleo as Raissa Arnaldo
 Empress Schuck as Sylvia
 Cherie Gil as Amanda Dela Vega
 Manuel Chua as Albert Cetascoso
 Antonette Garcia as Lita
 LJ Moreno as Dra. Maya Fernandez
 Jake Cuenca as Jason

Guest cast
 Liza Lorena as Ynes
 Jackie Lou Blanco as Maura Abesamis
 Dante Rivero as Ronald Casuga

See also
 GMA Films
 VIVA Films
 Philippine films of the 2000s

References

External links

2010 films
Philippine romantic comedy films
Philippine comedy-drama films
Films about Filipino women
2010s Tagalog-language films
2010 comedy-drama films
GMA Pictures films
Viva Films films
2010s English-language films

Working Girls (2010 film)


Phacelia egena is a species of phacelia known by the common name Kaweah River phacelia. It is native to much of California, from the Transverse Ranges to the northern mountains and into Oregon; it also occurs in Arizona. It grows in many types of habitat.

Description
Phacelia egena is a herb producing a hairy, erect stem up to about 60 centimeters in maximum height. Most of the lance-shaped leaves are located low on stem, the largest over 20 centimeters long and divided into many leaflets. Leaves higher on the stem are much smaller and undivided.

The inflorescence is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of several bell-shaped flowers. The flower is just under a centimeter long and is white to cream in color with five protruding white stamens.

External links
Phacelia egena. Jepson eFlora.
CalPhotos.

egena
Flora of California
Flora of Arizona
Flora of Oregon
Flora of the Cascade Range
Flora of the Great Basin
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area
Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
Flora without expected TNC conservation status

Phacelia egena