In the Ottoman Empire, a millet (; ) was an independent court of law pertaining to "personal law" under which a confessional community (a group abiding by the laws of Muslim Sharia, Christian Canon law, or Jewish Halakha) was allowed to rule itself under its own laws.

Despite frequently being referred to as a "system", before the nineteenth century the organization of what are now retrospectively called millets in the Ottoman Empire was not at all systematic. Rather, non-Muslims were simply given a significant degree of autonomy within their own community, without an overarching structure for the millet as a whole. The notion of distinct millets corresponding to different religious communities within the empire would not emerge until the eighteenth century. Subsequently, the millet system was justified through numerous foundation myths linking it back to the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (r. 1451–81), although it is now understood that no such system existed in the fifteenth century.

During the 19th century rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire, as a result of the Tanzimat reforms (1839–76), the term was used for legally protected ethno-linguistic minority groups, similar to the way other countries use the word nation. The word millet comes from the Arabic word millah (ملة) and literally means "nation". Abdulaziz Sachedina regards the millet system as an example of pre-modern religious pluralism, as the state recognized multiple different religious groups in exchange for some control over religious identification and the enforcement of orthodoxy.

Historian Johann Strauss wrote that the term "seems to be so essential for the understanding of the Ottoman system and especially the status of non-Muslims". Other authors interpret the millet system as one form of non-territorial autonomy and consider it as such a potentially universal solution to the modern issues of ethnic and religious diversity.

Term

The term millet, which originates from the Arabic milla, had three basic meanings in Ottoman Turkish: religion, religious community and nation. The first sense derives from Quranic usage and is attested in Ottoman administrative documents into the 19th century. Benjamin Braude has argued that before the Tanzimat reforms, the word millet in the sense of religious community denoted the Muslim religious community or the Christians outside of the Ottoman Empire. This view is supported by Donald Quataert. In contrast, Michael Ursinus writes that the word was used to refer to non-Muslim subjects of the Ottoman Empire even before that time. The term was used inconsistently prior to the 19th century.

The systematic use of millet as designation for non-Muslim Ottoman communities dates from the reign of Sultan Mahmud II () in the early 19th century, when official documentation came to reiterate that non-Muslim subjects were organized into three officially sanctioned millets: Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Jewish. The bureaucrats of this era asserted that the millet system was a tradition dating back to the reign of Sultan Mehmed I (). Many historians have accepted this claim and assumed that a millet system of this form existed since early Ottoman times. Recent scholarship has cast doubt on this idea, showing that it was rather a later political innovation, which was introduced in the rhetorical garb of an ancient tradition. The Ottoman state used religion rather than ethnicity to define each millet, and people who study the Ottoman Empire do not define the Muslims as being in a millet.

The Ottoman Turkish version of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876 uses the word "millet", as do the Arabic and Persian versions; despite this, at the time the usage of the Arabic word "milla" was declining in favour of the word "ummah".

The Armenian, Greek, and Jewish residents did not use the word "millet" and instead described themselves as "nations" (, Armenian: ազգ (azg), Greek: Έθνος (ethnos), and Ladino: nasyon). The lack of use of the word "millet" among the Christian and Jewish minorities reflected in versions of the Ottoman Constitution in their respective languages: The French version of the Ottoman Constitution used the word "communauté" in the place of "millet", and so the others used words modeled after or based on the French: հասարակութիւն (hasarakut'iwn) in Armenian, общност/община (obstina) in Bulgarian, κοινότης (koinotēs) in Greek, and komunita in Judaeo-Spanish.

Concept

The millet system is closely linked to Islamic rules on the treatment of non−Muslim minorities living under Islamic dominion (dhimmi). The Ottoman term specifically refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to personal law under which minorities were allowed to rule themselves (in cases not involving any Muslim) with fairly little interference from the Ottoman government.

People were bound to their millets by their religious affiliations (or their confessional communities), rather than their ethnic origins, according to the millet concept (excepting the Armenian case, until the modern era). The millets had a great deal of power – they set their own laws and collected and distributed their own taxes. All that was required was loyalty to the Empire. When a member of one millet committed a crime against a member of another, the law of the injured party applied, but the ruling Islamic majority being paramount, any dispute involving a Muslim fell under their sharia−based law.

Later, the perception of the millet concept was altered in the 19th century by the rise of nationalism within the Ottoman Empire.

Millets
Although the Ottoman administration of non-Muslim subjects was not uniform until the 19th century and varied according to region and group, it is possible to identify some common patterns for earlier epochs. Christian and Jewish communities were granted a large degree of autonomy. Tax collection, education, legal and religious affairs of these communities were administered by their own leaders. This enabled the Ottomans to rule over diverse peoples with "a minimum of resistance". The Jewish community, in particular, prospered under Ottoman rule, and its ranks were swelled with the arrival of Jews who were expelled from Spain. At the same time, non-Muslims were subject to several forms of discrimination and excluded from the Ottoman ruling elite. Armenians formed three millets under the Ottoman rule. A wide array of other groups such as Catholics, Karaites, and Samaritans was also represented.

Orthodox Christians

The Orthodox Christians were included in the Rum Millet (millet-i Rûm) or the "Roman nation", and enjoyed a certain autonomy. It was named after Roman ("Byzantine") subjects of the Ottoman Empire, but Orthodox Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians, Georgians, Arabs, Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Romanians, and Serbs were all considered part of the same millet despite their differences in ethnicity and language and despite the fact that the religious hierarchy was dominated by the Greeks. Nevertheless, ethnonyms never disappeared and some form of ethnic identity was preserved as evident from a Sultan's Firman from 1680, that lists the ethnic groups in the Balkans as follows: Greeks (Rum), Albanians (Arnaut), Serbs (Sirf), "Vlachs" (Eflak, referring to the Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians), and Bulgarians (Bulgar).

The Ecumenical Patriarch was recognized as the highest religious and political leader (millet-bashi, or ethnarch) of all Eastern Orthodox subjects of the Sultan, though in certain periods some major powers, such as Russia (under the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca), or Britain claimed the rights of protection over the Ottoman Empire's Orthodox subjects. The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć and the Archbishopric of Ohrid, autonomous Orthodox Churches under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch, were taken over by the Greek Phanariots during the 18th century, in 1766 and 1767 respectively.

Armenians

Until the 19th century, there was a single Armenian millet which served all ethnic Armenians irrespective of whether they belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Armenian Catholic Church, or the Armenian Protestant Church (which was formed in the 19th century). Besides a religious role, this millet also played a political and cultural role. Namely, it bundled together all Armenian and some other groups, showcasing a shift from religious identity towards national identity. As a result of this, a type of hegemony emerged in which all groups that were under this millet had to conform to the norms imposed by the leader of the millet, who was appointed by the Sultan. This had a cultural, political, linguistic, and religious effect on all of these groups. Only later did separate Catholic millets emerge. Non-Armenians from churches which were theologically linked to the Armenian Church (by virtue of being non-Chalcedonians) were under the authority of the Armenian Patriarchate, although they maintained a separate hierarchy with their own Patriarchs; these groups included the Syriac Orthodox and the Copts.

Süryaniler/Syriac Christians
Asuri (Assyrian) or Nestorian Syriacs

Assyrians are referred to as 'Asuri' in the Turkish vernacular. Assyrians split by Christian sect were thus treated as separate ethnic groups for the Ottoman government. The Church of the East largely identifies as Assyrian, but the liturgical language is called Syriac, hence multiple 'millets' for Syriac speaking Assyrians arose as a consequence of the separation by Church affiliation, as was required by 19th century Ottoman law.

Syriac Catholics

The Syriac Catholic community was recognized as its own millet in 1829.

Chaldeans

The Chaldean community was recognized as its own millet in 1844.

Syriac Orthodox

Main article: Syriac Orthodox Christians (Middle East)

The Syriac Orthodox community in the Ottoman Empire was for long not recognized as its own millet, but part of the Armenian millet (under the Armenian Patriarch). This meant that the Syriac Orthodox were subject to the hegemony of the Armenians, linguistically, culturally, politically, and religiously. Then, during the Tanzimat reforms (1839–78), the Syriac Orthodox were granted independent status with the recognition of their own millet in 1873.

Jews

Under the millet system the Jews were organized as a community on the basis of religion, alongside the other millets (e.g. Eastern Orthodox millet, Armenian millet, etc.). They were the most geographically spread group within the empire. Ottoman Jews enjoyed privileges similar to Christians in the Ottoman Empire. In the framework of the millet they had a considerable amount of administrative autonomy and were represented by the Hakham Bashi ( حاخامباشی), who held broad powers to enact, judge, and enforce the laws among the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and often sat on the Sultan's divan.

The Jews, like the other millet communities of the Ottoman Empire, were still considered "People of the book" and protected by the Sharia Law of Islam. However, while the Jews were not viewed in the eyes of the law as equals of Muslims, they were still treated relatively well at points during the Ottoman Empire. Norman Stillman explains that the prosperity of medieval Jews was closely tied to that of their Muslim governors. Stillman notes that during the time between the 9th and 13th centuries when Jewish culture blossomed, "medieval Islamic civilization was at its apogee". Given their rampant persecution in medieval Europe, many Jews looked favorably upon millet. In the late 19th century such groups as the Bilu, a group of young Russian Jews who were pioneers in the Zionist movement, proposed negotiating with the Sultan to allow a millet like settlement which would allow them greater independence in Palestine.

Roman Catholics

After the Fall of Constantinople, the only Latin Catholic group in the Sultan's domain were the Genoese who lived in the Byzantine capital. Over the next decades, Turkish armies pushed into the Balkans, overrunning the Catholic populations of Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Hungary.

The Melkite Catholics gained their autonomy as a religious community in 1848 by Sultan Abdulmecid. Bruce Masters claims that Melkite Catholics insisted that they had a millet of their own, that would grant them "sense of distinctiveness".

In the Orient, the 16th century saw the Maronites of Lebanon, the Latins of Palestine, and most of the Greek islands, which once held Latin Catholic communities, come under Turkish rule. Papal response to the loss of these communities was initially a call to the crusade, but the response from the European Catholic monarchs was weak: French interest, moreover, lay in an alliance with the Turks against the Habsburgs. Furthermore, the Catholics of the Ottoman world received a protector at the Porte in the person of the French ambassador. In this way the Roman Catholic millet was established at the start of the Tanzimat reforms.

Circassians
The large number of Circassians in the Ottoman Empire was mainly due to the Crimean War. During the war and following years, many Circassians fled the conquest of their homeland by Russia. Circassians in the Ottoman Empire, despite being Muslim, mainly kept to themselves and maintained their separate identity, even having their own courts, in which they would tolerate no outside influence.

History

Use for Sassanid Empire

In a 1910 book William Ainger Wigram used the term melet in application to the Persian Sasanian Empire, arguing that the situation there was similar to the Ottoman millet system and no other term was readily available to describe it. Some other authors have also adopted this usage. The early Christians there formed the Church of the East (later known as the Nestorian Church after the Nestorian schism). The Church of the East's leader, the Catholicos or Patriarch of the East, was responsible to the Persian king for the Christians within the Empire. This system of maintaining the Christians as a protected religious community continued after the Islamic conquest of the Sassanids, and the community of Nestorian Christians flourished and was able to send missionaries far past the Empire's borders, reaching as far as China and India.

19th century (Reformation Era)
In 1839 and 1856, reforms were attempted with the goal of creating equality between the religious communities of the Ottoman Empire. In the course of these reforms, new millets emerged, notably for Eastern Catholic and Protestant Christian communities. The heads of each millet and clerics in them were also to have their internal rule reviewed by the central government and  to keep their power in check. Many clerics in the millet system pushed back against these reforms as they believed it was meant to weaken the millets and the power these clerics had built for themselves. These millets, refusing to give up any autonomy, slowed down the attempted reforms and their impact on the equality of religious communities.

Reformulation into Ottomanism

Before the turn of the 19th century, the millets had a great deal of power – they set their own laws and collected and distributed their own taxes. The Tanzimat reforms aimed to encourage Ottomanism among the subject nations and stop the rise of secessionist nationalist movements. within the Ottoman Empire. The reforms tried to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into the Ottoman society with new laws and regulations, but failed.

In 1856, during the Tanzimat era, Sultan Abdulmejid I enacted the Hatt-ı Hümayun (modern Turkish Islahat Fermânı; "Firman of the Reforms"), which proclaimed freedom of religion and civil equality of all religious communities. It further granted the authorities in each millet greater privileges and self-governing powers, but also required oaths of allegiance to the Sultan.

In March 1863, the Sultan enacted the "Regulation of the Armenian Nation" (Turkish: Nizâmnâme−i Millet−i Ermeniyân): a constitution for the Armenian Orthodox Gregorian nation (millet) of that time. This document was drawn up by Armenian intelligentsia, which sought to curb the powers of the Armenian Patriarch and nobility. It created an Armenian National Assembly.

These two reforms, which were theoretically perfect examples of social change by law, caused serious stress on the Ottoman political and administrative structure.

Effect of Protectorate of missions

The Ottoman System lost important domestic powers under the Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire. Many foreigners resident in the Empire were not subject to its laws, but rather those of their homelands. In addition, European powers  became formal Protectors of certain groups in the empire: Russia of Eastern Orthodox groups, France of Roman Catholics, and Great Britain of Jews and other groups.

Russia and Britain competed for the Armenians; the Eastern Orthodox perceived American Protestants, who had over 100 missionaries established in Anatolia by World War I, as weakening their own teaching.

These religious activities, subsidized by the governments of western nations, were not devoid of political goals, such in the case of candlestick wars of 1847, which eventually led in 1854 to the Crimean War. Tension began among the Catholic and Orthodox monks in Palestine with France channeling resources to increase its influence in the region from 1840. Repairs to shrines were important for the sects as they were linked to the possession of keys to the shrines. Notes were given by the protectorates, including the French, to the Ottoman capital about the governor; he was condemned as he had to defend the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by placing soldiers inside the temple because of the "candlestick wars", eliminating the change of keys. Successive Ottoman governments had issued edicts granting primacy of access to different Christian groups which vied for control of Jerusalem's holy sites.

Effect of nationalism

Under the original design, the multi-faced structure of the millet system was unified under the House of Osman. The rise of nationalism in Europe under the influence of the French Revolution had extended to the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. Each millet became increasingly independent with the establishment of its own schools, churches, hospitals and other facilities. These activities effectively moved the Christian population outside the framework of the Ottoman political system.

The Ottoman millet system (citizenship) began to degrade with increasing identification of religious creed with ethnic nationality. The interaction of ideas of French revolution with the millet system created a strain of thought (a new form of personal identification) which made nationality synonymous with religion under the Ottoman flag. It was impossible to hold the system or prevent Clash of Civilizations when the Armenian national liberation movement expressed itself within the Armenian church. Patriarch Nerses Varjabedyan expressed his position on Ottoman Armenians to the British Foreign Secretary , Lord Salisbury on 13 April 1878.

Post-Ottoman use
Today a version of religion-based legal pluralism resembling the millet system still persists in varying forms in some post-Ottoman countries like Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Greece (for religious minorities), which observe the principle of separate personal courts and/or laws for every recognized religious community and reserved seats in the parliament. Some legal systems which developed outside the Ottoman Empire, such as those in India, Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, display similar characteristics.

In Egypt for instance, the application of family law – including marriage, divorce, alimony, child custody, inheritance, and burial – is based on an individual's religious beliefs. In the practice of family law, the State recognizes only the three "heavenly religions": Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Muslim families are subject to the Personal Status Law, which draws on Sharia. Christian families are subject to canon law, and Jewish families are subject to Jewish law. In cases of family law disputes involving a marriage between a Christian woman and a Muslim man, the courts apply the Personal Status Law.

Israel, too, keeps a system based on the Ottoman millet, in which personal status is based on a person's belonging to a religious community. The state of Israel – on the basis of laws inherited from Ottoman times and retained both under British rule and by independent Israel – reserves the right to recognise some communities but not others. Thus, Orthodox Judaism is officially recognised in Israel, while Reform Rabbis and Conservative Rabbis are not recognised and cannot perform marriages. Israel recognised the Druze and Bahá'í as separate communities, which the Ottomans and British had not – due mainly to political considerations. Also, the state of Israel reserves the right to determine to which community a person belongs, and officially register him or her accordingly – even when the person concerned objects to being part of a religious community (e.g., staunch atheists of Jewish origin are registered as members of the Jewish religious community, a practice derived ultimately from the fact that the millet ultimately designated a person's ethnicity more than a person's beliefs).

Israeli secularists such as Shulamit Aloni and Uri Avnery often protested and called for abolition of this Ottoman remnant, and its replacement by a system modeled on that of the United States where religious affiliation is considered a person's private business in which the state should not interfere. However, all such proposals have been defeated.

Greece recognizes only a Muslim minority, and no ethnic or national minorities, such as Turks, Pomaks, or Bulgarians. This is the result of several international treaties as the Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations of 1923 and of the Treaty of Lausanne of 1924, when the old millet categories were used for the exchange between Greece and Turkey of the Greek Orthodox population in Turkey and Moslems in Greece. The categories were also used to establish the protection of the two remaining recognized minorities, the "Muslims of Western Thrace" (Turks, Pomaks, and Roms) and the "Greek Orthodox of Istanbul". In 1924, upon the League of Nations' demand, a bilateral Bulgarian-Greek agreement was signed, known as the Politis–Kalfov Protocol, recognizing the "Greek Slavophones" as Bulgarians and guaranteeing their protection. On 2 February 1925, the Greek parliament, claiming pressure from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which threatened to renounce the Greek–Serbian Alliance of 1913, refused to ratify the agreement; the refusal lasted until 10 June 1925. Under the 1927 Mollov-Kafantaris Agreement]], the bulk of the Slavic-speaking population in Greece left for Bulgaria.

Current meaning of the word
Today, the word "millet" means "nation" or "people" in Turkish, e.g. Türk milleti ("Turkish nation"), İngiliz milleti ("English nation"), etc. It also retains its use as a religious and ethnic classification; it can also be used as a slang to classify people belonging to a particular group (not necessarily religious or ethnic), such as dolmuşçu milleti ("minivan taxi drivers people") or kadın milleti ("women folk").

See also
 Culture of the Ottoman Empire
 History of the Ottoman Empire
 Devşirme system, Ottoman practice of forcibly taking Christian boys in order to be raised to serve the state
 Jizyah, tax levied on non-Muslims based on Islamic law
 Pillarisation, separation of a society into groups by religion and associated political beliefs
 Kadi (Ottoman Empire), Ottoman official and judge
 Qadi, Islamic judge
 Mufti, Islamic jurist

References

Bibliography

 Ottoman Empire site, German full original version

Further reading
  - Online on 3 April 2007
  - Published online 2015-12-21
 Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis (ed.), Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire. The Functioning of a Plural Society, 2 vol., New York and London 1982.

 Dimitris Stamatopoulos, "From Millets to Minorities in the 19th – Century Ottoman Empire: an Ambiguous Modernization", in S. G. Ellis, G. Hálfadanarson, A.K. Isaacs (επιμ.), Citizenship in Historical Perspective, Pisa: Edizioni Plus – Pisa University Press, 2006, 253–273
 Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, Co−Existence and Religion, in: Archivum Ottomanicum 15 (1997), 119–29.

 Youssef Courbage and Philippe Fargues, Christians and Jews under Islam, translated by Judy Mabro, London−New York 1997.
 Ramsaur, Ernest Edmondson Jr., The Young Turks. Prelude to the Revolution of 1908, 2. ed., İstanbul 1982, pp. 40–1, Anm. 30: "Meşveret", Paris, 3. Dezember 1895.
 Çağlar Keyder, Bureaucracy and Bourgeoisie: Reform and Revolution in the Age of Imperialism, in: Review, XI, 2, Spring 1988, pp. 151–65.
 Roderic H. Davison, Turkish Attitudes Concerning Christian−Muslim Equality in the Nineteenth Century, in: American Historical Review 59 (1953–54), pp. 844–864.

External links

Arabic words and phrases
Demographics of the Ottoman Empire
Politics of the Ottoman Empire
Religion in the Ottoman Empire
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
Christianity in the Ottoman Empire
Society of the Ottoman Empire
Decentralization

Millet (Ottoman Empire)


Daniel Blythe (born 1969 in Maidstone) is a British author, who studied Modern Languages at St John's College, Oxford. After several years writing stories for the small press, Blythe began his professional career writing for the Virgin New Adventures series of Doctor Who novels, for which he wrote the novels The Dimension Riders (1993) and Infinite Requiem (1995) and very soon moved on to have his own original work published.

In 1998, Penguin Books published Blythe's literary thriller The Cut, the controversial story of a young woman's alienation manifesting itself in crime and violence. The Cut was followed by Losing Faith, a dark mystery in which an unnamed narrator tries to discover the truth behind his mercurial girlfriend's death. Blythe's work brought him critical acclaim from such diverse sources as The Times, which described him as 'a sharp, observant, energetic writer with a nimble sense of language', New Woman magazine, which called him 'definitely an author to be watched', and Maxim magazine, which made The Cut one of its 'Books of the Month'.

Subsequently, Blythe branched out into non-fiction with 2002's The Encyclopaedia Of Classic Eighties Pop, a humorous reference guide published by Allison & Busby, which led to a stint co-presenting the music show 80s Night on BBC Local Radio in the North of England. In 2004 The Encyclopaedia Of Classic Eighties Pop was re-issued in an updated and revised paperback edition.

Dadlands, an alternative handbook aimed at new fathers and based on Blythe's experiences of being a parent, came out in 2005 with John Wiley & Sons, while I Hate Christmas was published by Allison & Busby.

Daniel Blythe's new novel This Is The Day was published in 2007. His Doctor Who novel Autonomy was published in August 2009.

He also penned the book Shadow Runners.

External links

1969 births
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Living people
People educated at Maidstone Grammar School
People from Maidstone

Daniel Blythe


Buddleja auriculata is an evergreen shrub endemic to Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, growing in montane fields and thickets at elevations of 600–2,000 m. First collected by W. J. Burchell in 1813, and named by Bentham, the date of its introduction to western cultivation is not known, however it was accorded the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit in 1923.

Description
Buddleja auriculata makes a large shrub up to 6 m in height, flowering in the Northern Hemisphere from October to December.  The leaves are narrow, lanceolate, and dark green, contrasting strongly with the inflorescences, comprising small, loose, off-white panicles, the corollas with yellow throats, and exuding a scent once compared with Chanel No. 5.

Cultivation

Buddleja auriculata is not hardy below  −10 °C and best grown against a south-facing wall in temperate climates. In the UK, the shrub is often planted as a source of nectar for red admiral butterflies still on the wing in late autumn. The plant features in the NCCPG National Collection of Buddleja held by the Longstock Park Nursery, near Stockbridge, although the large specimen there was killed during the winter of 2010–11, when temperatures fell to −12 °C. The shrub can be pruned lightly to maintain shape each year in spring after flowering. Propagation from cuttings can be difficult.
Hardiness: USDA zones 9–10.

References

auriculata
Flora of South Africa
Flora of Mozambique
Flora of Zimbabwe
Flora of Africa
Afromontane flora

Buddleja auriculata


The Chinese cobra (Naja atra), also called Taiwan cobra, is a species of cobra in the Elapidae family, found mostly in southern China and a couple of neighboring nations and islands. It is one of the most prevalent venomous snakes in Taiwan, which has caused snakebite incidents to humans.

Etymology and names
Naja atra was first described by Danish physician, zoologist, and botanist Theodore Edward Cantor in 1842.  The generic name naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word  () meaning "cobra".  The specific epithet atra comes from the Latin term ater, which means "dark", "black", or "gloomy".

In Mandarin Chinese, the snake is known as Zhōnghuá yǎnjìngshé (中華眼鏡蛇, lit. "Chinese spectacled snake", i.e. Chinese cobra), Zhōushān yǎnjìngshé (舟山眼鏡蛇, lit. "Zhoushan spectacled snake", i.e. Zhoushan cobra) or, in Guangdong and Hong Kong, fànchǎntóu (飯鏟頭, lit. "rice paddle head").  "Spectacled snake" refers to the markings which the snake may at times have on the back of the hood that resemble eyeglasses.  In Taiwanese, the snake is known as pn̄g-sî-chhèng (飯匙倩/銃, lit. "rice paddle ?"), ba̍k-kiàⁿ-chôa (目鏡蛇, lit. "spectacled snake", i.e. cobra), or tn̂g-ām-chôa (長頷蛇, lit. "long-chinned snake").

Description

Naja atra is iridescent black with a number of distant transversal double lines of a yellow colour. The abdominal surface is pearl or slaty coloured.

This medium-sized snake is usually  long, but they can grow to a maximum length of  though this is rare. The dorsal color of the Chinese cobra is usually brown, grey or black, with or without narrow, light transverse lines at irregular intervals which are especially prominent in juveniles. The head on this species is broad, slightly triangular in shape and is slightly distinct from the neck. The dorsal scales are smooth and glossy, while the dorsolateral scales are strongly oblique. This is a heavy bodied snake, the body is slightly flattened, and may be significantly flattened when threatened, and it has a short tail. The nostrils of this species are large and prominent. The eyes are medium-sized and the iris is a dark dirty yellow dappled with gray-black or blue-black and the pupil is round and jet black. Like other elapids, this is a proteroglyphous snake with fangs that are permanently erect and are located at the anterior of the upper jaw. The upper head is usually the same color as the tail and dorsal part of the body, while the sides of the head are lighter in colour. Specimens with other colors on their dorsal surface, such as white, yellow or brown do occur. There may be irregular or scattered crosslines of white to light gray along the upper body and a spectacle marking on the hood, however, the hood markings may vary from partial figures to asymmetrical patterns. The ventral head and neck are white to light gray or light orange in colour. The ventral face of the hood may have a pair of small dark spots followed by a dark transverse band.

There is some variation in the colour of the ventral body and tail: it may be white to gray, dark gray mottled with white, or blackish. The populations in different geographic regions of Taiwan reveal a unique composition of ventral colouration: the eastern population is exclusively blackish (100%), the central and southern populations are mainly white to gray (both 80%), and the proportions of blackish and white-gray morphs in the northern population are 60% and 30%, respectively.

Where it lives
This species is found in southeastern China (including the provinces of Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang, and the Island province of Hainan), Hong Kong, northern Laos, northern Vietnam, and Taiwan, where it is much more common in the south.

Habitat
Its typical habitat is woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, and mangroves. This species is adaptable to a wide range of terrain including grassland plains, jungle, open fields and even heavily populated regions. As an adaptable species, it occurs in a wide variety of habitats across its range. It can be found in rice paddy fields in maritime lowlands to various types of montaine forests, though it avoids dark forest with closed canopy. In primary monsoon season and rain forests, Naja atra inhabits clearings and riverbanks. Higher population density is observed in the vicinity of human settlements, in secondary forests, and in rice paddy fields which are adjacent to forests. The species can be found anywhere from sea level all the way up to elevations of more than  above sea level. It usually hides under leaves, sticks, and rocks.

How it acts
The Chinese cobra is a very alert, seldom cornered, but if confronted will raise its forebody and spread its hood and strike readily if necessary. Adults can be very aggressive, but the younger tend to be more aggressive. The Chinese cobra usually escapes to avoid confrontation with humans, but strikes readily if provoked. The snake is terrestrial, diurnal and crepuscular which means it is active by day and twilight. This species has been observed hunting during all daylight periods and as late as 2–3 hours after sunset from March to October, with ambient temperatures of 20–32°C (68–90°F).

What it eats
The Chinese Cobra has a widely varied diet and it mainly preys on rodents such as mice and rats, frogs, toads and even other snakes. It is active during both the day and night. The diet of this snake is highly variable. It preys on any vertebrates from fish to mammals. Juveniles eat mosly amphibians, whereas adults usually prefer reptiles and mammals - during amphibian breeding periods, however, adult cobras eat mostly frogs or toads: the Cricket frog (Fejervarya limnocharis), the Common tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax), and the Asian common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus).

Reproduction
It is oviparous. Mating and egg-laying periods are very extended.  The species has been observed mating in the mountains of the western Tonkin region, at elevations of  in the months of March through May. As recorded, gravid females will lay between 6 and 23 eggs sometime between May through to the end of July.

Venom
The Chinese cobra is a highly venomous member of the true cobras (genus Naja). Its venom consists mainly of postsynaptic neurotoxins and cardiotoxins. Four cardiotoxin-analogues I, II,  III,  and IV, account for about 54% of the dry weight of the crude venom and have cytotoxic properties. The LD50 values of its venom in mice are 0.29 mg/kg IV, and a range of 0.53 mg/kg - 0.67 mg/kg SC. The average venom yield from a snake of this species kept at a snake farm was about 250.8 mg (80 mg dry weight). Although this is not a spitting cobra, some rare individuals (mostly specimens from Guizhou Province) are capable of ejecting venom towards a threat within a distance of .

Local symptoms in victims caused by Chinese cobra are wound darkening, localized redness and swelling, pain, insensibility, and invariably blisters and necrosis. Necrosis is a serious problem in cases of cobra bite as it may persist for many years after the general recovery of the victim. The following systemic symptoms may also occur: chest discomfort, fever, sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, loss of voice, weak feeling in limbs, walking haltingly, general ache, lockjaw, and difficulty in breathing. Fatality occasionally occurs. The antivenom is widely available and deaths are much rarer than they used to be.

Reference

Other websites
Video of a Chinese cobra in a tunnel
Video of Chinese cobra found in Hong Kong
Venomous Snakes of Southern China
CITES - NAJA SPECIES
Snakes of Taiwan (Naja atra - Chinese cobra)

Elapidae
Snakes of Asia

Chinese cobra


Primitive communism is a term that was used by Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels to describe hunter-gatherer societies and how they shared resources among each other. Primitive means in the early stages of development, so primitive communism is an early form of communism.

Traits

In a primitive communist society, there is no extra stuff for people to hoard. Instead, things like food and housing are shared equally among all members of the community. There was no such thing as money. Also, everyone in a primitive communist society had to help get food. There was no authoritarianism and no concept of a state. Instead, everyone has an equal say in what goes on in the society. This is called egalitarianism.

Agriculture led to the creation of the private ownership of land. The extra food that could be grown meant that some people didn't have to work to get food. These people started to get other jobs and that led to the creation of social class. This is when people started thinking that some jobs were more important than others and when slavery became a thing.

Marxism
Marx and Engels got the idea of primitive communism from an American man named Lewis H. Morgan. Morgan did a lot of research on the Iroquois people, who lived in big groups and shared everything that they grew, hunted, and gathered. Marx and Engels thought that the Iroquois lived in a society that had communist traits.

References

Communism

Primitive communism


Norayr Mnatsakanyan (, January 7, 1923 – March 25, 1986) was a Merited Artist of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1965).

As a renowned vocal performer of Armenian traditional and gusans' music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has become one of the most influential vocalists in the canon of Armenian national music. Owing to his dainty baritone, profound knowledge of Armenian folk music, and his mastery of the Armenian language and Armenian literature, Norayr Mnatsakanyan has been highly acclaimed among famous writers, musicologists, and Armenian folk music lovers.

Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first among Armenian vocalists to introduce a new approach to popular songs, as well as to the musical compilations of historic and contemporary gusans (Armenian minstrels). As an accepted convention of any national folklore, the works of Armenian popular and gusans music were performed in a crude, rustic, and provincial fashion. Professional performers of the opera and classical music also tried to render these works. However, their efforts to perform them alienated these works altogether from ordinary Armenian people, since the true significance of Armenian popular music could not have been properly represented by the artificially elitist operatic genre in Soviet Armenia. With his poetic approach to these great masterpieces of Armenian traditional and gusans' music, Norayr Mnatsakanyan was the first vocalist to present them in a refined and natural fashion, granting them an unprecedented simplistic register of artistic sophistication. Unlike his predecessors, Mnatsakanyan attempted to convey these works with a deep sense of harmony and in a previously impregnable unison with the authors' characteristic mentality and sentiments reflected in their compilations.

At the same time, Norayr Mnatsakanyan meticulously pursued to eliminate the provincial character of the songs that had wandered among the Armenian people for centuries. Thus, Norayr Mnatsakanyan's performances are exceptional because they masterfully immerse into the poetic essence of the literary work and unify it with the melody of the song. Norayr Mnatsakanyan also performed songs by famous Armenian composers interwoven with lyrics by such famous Armenian poets, as Avetik Isahakian, Vahan Terian, Hovhannes Shiraz. Perhaps the greatest Armenian lyricist - Avetik Isahakian - highly valued Mnatsakanyan's contributions to the canon of Armenian performing arts and proclaimed Norayr "the velvety voice" of Armenia. Derenik Demirchian marvelled at Norayr's performances in the poetic circles of the old Yerevan, calling Norayr Mnatsakanyan "a unique vocal interpreter of the popular consciousness, scattered bits of which are present in every Armenian individual." Being an art critic himself, Mnatsakanyan always conveyed great significance to the unity of the melody and the lyrics in whatever he performed.

Biography
Norayr Mnatsakanyan was born on January 7, 1923, in an old Yerevan family. He inherited the love for traditional music from his parents. Possessing an ever singing spirit of a talented youth, Norayr Mnatsakanyan won his first prize at the young performers' competition held in Moscow in 1936. Owing to his extraordinary vocal qualities and his passion for acting, Mnatsakanyan started his career as actor and singer at the Yerevan State Theater of Musical Comedy after Hakob Paronian. As surprising as it may seem, Mnatsakanyan played the first Gikor on the Armenian stage in the namesake performance based on Hovhannes Tumanyan's famous . Mnatsakanyan's artistic talent and his reverence for the Theater drove him to work with such eminent theatrical stage directors as Armen Gulakian. Mnatsakanyan also had the honor of working with the "titans" of the Armenian theatrical arts at the Yerevan State Academic Theater after Gabriel Sundukian: Vahram Papazian, Hrachia Nersisyan, Avet Avetisyan, Hambardzum Khachanyan, Babken Nersisyan, Metaksia Simonyan, the late Mher Mkrtchyan, and Khoren Abrahamyan. Norayr Mnatsakanyan's acting, apart from his artistic talent, vouched for his unsurpassed mastery of World Literature. After seeing Mnatsakanyan's rehearsal in the role of the Shakespearean Othello, Vahram Papazian highly praised Norayr for his excellent rendition of Othello's protagonistic pathos and antagonistic callousness, and foresaw a bright future for him in acting. Mnatsakanyan later played one of the leading roles in A Man from Olympus (Chelovek iz Olimpa)(Armenfilm, 1974).

Purporting to pursue a more worldly profession, Norayr Mnatsakanyan held a Master of Arts degree from the Department of Philology of the Yerevan State University. Upon his graduation, Mnatsakanyan defended a dissertation with a thesis on "Sayat Nova's Lyric Poetry in the Armenian Literary Milieux." Mnatsakanyan proceeded with a professional career as a journalist and a freelance writer. With his unconventional disposition, Norayr Mnatsakanyan authored an anthology of short novels dedicated to the old city of Yerevan, depicting its people's way of life, its customs and traditions. As a journalist, Mnatsakanyan's articles and critiques on various issues of the Armenian arts and culture frequented the pages of many Armenian periodicals. One of Mnatsakanyan's most groundbreaking articles was dedicated to the famous Armenian duduk players of the past and the present: Margar Margarian, Levon Madoyan, Vatche Housepian, and Djivan Gasparyan. Mnatsakanyan also hosted a special program in 1985, the heyday of his artistic career, on the Public Television of Armenia, which was about the instrumental and stylistic distinctions of the duduk and its most outstanding players.

In spite of his success in acting and his excellence in writing, Mnatsakanyan's innate predilection belonged to singing. Norayr's art of performance, his truly rich and mellow voice, as well as his unique professional approach had already made him long sought-for to Armenian music lovers both in Armenia and abroad.  Subsequently, Norayr Mnatsakanyan became the ultimate crooner of Armenian performing arts after Tatoul Altunian, one of the greatest contributors to Armenian folk music, invited him to the State Philharmonic Chapel's Ensemble of Song and Dance to perform as a soloist. Here, Mnatsakanyan had the pleasure of working with Araksia Gyulzadian and Varduhi Khachatrian. Apart from his Sayat Nova repertoire, in this period, Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed popular songs and  works by such famous gusans (minstrels) as: Sheram, Ashot, Jivani, Havasi, as well as famous compilations of the urban folklore.

However, the inviolable right of Norayr Mnatsakanyan's achievement consists in his performances of Sayat Nova's works. His performances of Sayat Nova imbued the Bard's poetry with unprecedented lyricism and spirituality. It is through Norayr Mnatsakanyan's rendition of Sayat Nova that the ethical and metaphysical peculiarities in the works become apparent. The singer grieves and rejoices with the poet, feeling every tremble of the great Bard's heart. It is Norayr Mnatsakanyan's unforgettable voice that brings us the songs of Sayat Nova in the namesake movie (1960).

Mnatsakanyan's performances became a lot more accessible to the general public, when Aram Merangulian invited Norayr to perform as a soloist in his Ensemble of Folk Instruments of the Armenian National Radio and Television. Mnatsakanyan's songs are possible to find in several Armenian films, including Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates
(1969), also dedicated to the life of Sayat Nova. A piece of Mnatsakanyan's unique rendition of the traditional Dle Yaman also appears in the background of Andrew Goldberg's The Armenian Americans (2000). A number of documentaries were shot on Mnatsakanyan's life and activity intermitted by his own performances. Throughout his lifetime, the vocalist recorded over two hundred traditional and gusans songs, all of which are held as relics by the Museum Fund of the Public Radio and Television of Armenia. His performances have paved the way for many successors in the traditional vocal genre.

Norayr Mnatsakanyan performed in many countries where Armenians had set foot and had established their communities. During his tour of the Middle Eastern countries, Norayr Mnatsakanyan received an honorary gold medal from King Hussein of Jordan after his concert in Amman (1979), which His Majesty attended with Queen Noor. Mnatsakanyan's performance of Sayat Nova brought him the highest honors at the Festival of Traditional Music in Lyon, France (1981). Subsequently, upon the request of the smaller Armenian communities in Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands, Mnatsakanyan performed in a tributary concert at the Conservatoire de Luxembourg Hall (1981).

In the annual ceremony of the Armenian Music Awards, held in Los Angeles for the year 1999, Mnatsakanyan posthumously received a lifetime achievement award for his worthwhile contributions to Armenian music, and his album of traditional and gusans' compilations, named Husher (Reminiscences) (Parseghian Records, 1999) was recognized as the year's best traditional album.

In 2005, Narek Productions, with the support of the Public Radio of Armenia, launched a record, called "I Sing a Song," composed of Norayr Mnatsakanyan's performances of the most famous Armenian gusans' works.

References

Further information
 Armenian Radio Archive - Norayr Mnatsakanyan
 AV Production - An Online Encyclopedia of Armenian Culture
 "Norayr Mnatsakanyan: the Velvety Voice of Armenia" ("Yerevan" Studios, 1983)
 "Canticle of Canticles," AMPTV, 2014
 "After Nahapet Hayk," AMPTV, 2007
  "Confession," Armenian Public Radio, 2011
 «Sayat Nova» (Armenfilm, 1960)
 Select Performances

Honored artists of Armenia
1923 births
1986 deaths
20th-century Armenian male singers
Armenian folk singers
Yerevan State University alumni
Musicians from Yerevan
Soviet male singers

Norayr Mnatsakanyan


Nicolás Navarro (born 17 September 1963) is a Mexican former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Club career
Navarro made over 400 appearances as goalkeeper for Necaxa, remaining with the club during its rise to the top of the Mexico league in the mid-1990s. He made his debut during the 1983–84 season, emerging as starting goalkeeper after the departure of Adrián Chávez in 1985. During the next decade, he served as Necaxa's number-one keeper, including the championship seasons of 1994–95 and 1995–96. Navarro departed for Cruz Azul for the Invierno 1997 campaign and won a third championship, but played sparingly and did not appear in the final as the young Óscar Pérez became the preferred starter. He left for promoted Pachuca in 1998, again spending much of his time on the bench, before returning to Necaxa for the concluding years of his career. He completed his last top-flight season in 2003 with Necaxa at the age of 39.

International career
Navarro also earned three caps with the Mexico national team. He was an unused substitute at the 1993 Copa America, in which Mexico finished second, but did not make his international debut until a 5–1 victory over Hungary on 14 December 1994. He was also a member of the first international squads called up by Bora Milutinovic during his second stint in charge of Mexico, and was a member of the Mexican sides that took part at the 1995 King Fahd Cup and the 1995 Copa América. Navarro's final international appearance came in a 4–1 home loss to Yugoslavia in Monterrey on 15 November 1995.

He played in the 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup, in which Mexico national team was eliminated in Round One, having drawn with Australia but lost to Scotland and South Korea.
 Navarro, as goalkeeper, conceded four goals in the competition.

References

1963 births
1993 Copa América players
1995 King Fahd Cup players
1995 Copa América players
Men's association football goalkeepers
C.F. Pachuca players
Club Necaxa footballers
Cruz Azul footballers
Living people
Mexico men's international footballers
Footballers from Mexico City
Mexican men's footballers

Nicolás Navarro (Mexican footballer)


Ralph McPherran Kinner (27 October 1922 – 6 Februar 2014) wis an basebaw player frae America. He wis kent for bein pairt o the New York Mets.

1922 births
2014 daiths
American fowk o German strynd
Albany Senators players
Basebaw players frae New Mexico
Chicago Cubs players
Chicago White Sox braidcasters
Cleveland Indians players
American militar personnel o Warld War II
Major League Baseball braidcasters
Major League Baseball left fielders
Major League Baseball players wi reteert nummers
Minor league basebaw executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
National League All-Stars
National League hame run champions
National League RBI champions
Unitit States Navy pilots o Warld War II
New York Mets braidcasters
Sportsfowk frae Alhambra, Californie
Fowk frae Grant Coonty, New Mexico
Fowk frae Rancho Mirage, Californie
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
American sportsmen

Ralph Kiner


Peoli is an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, along State Route 258.

Location
Situated between Newcomerstown and Freeport, it is made up of approximately ten houses and the Peoli Church (1870-c.1991), and the Peoli Cemetery—the final resting place of baseball legend Cy Young. Young's house still stands outside of Peoli, owned by the Amish community and is currently home to their livestock.

History
Peoli was originally called Newtown, and under the latter name was laid out in 1817. A post office called Peoli was established in 1846, and remained in operation until 1956.

Geography and demographics
Peoli lies in a rural area, the surrounding terrain consisting of many hills, ridges and valleys.

They are many farms between Peoli and Newcomerstown to the west and Birmingham to the south. There are two tin shops in the Peoli area, one on State Route 258 and one located on a county road just south of the Tuscarawas/Guernsey county line.

Peoli has a large number of Amish people. In 2008 there were two districts of Swartzentruber Amish in the Peoli - Port Washington area.

References

Unincorporated communities in Ohio
Unincorporated communities in Tuscarawas County, Ohio

Peoli, Ohio


İdil Biret (born 21 November 1941) is a Turkish concert pianist.

Education
Biret began her lessons at the age of five with , who had studied under Nadia Boulanger and Alfred Cortot. When she was seven, the Turkish parliament enacted a special law which enabled her to study abroad and so she studied at the Paris Conservatory in France under the tutelage of Nadia Boulanger and Jean Doyen. She graduated with three prizes at the age of 15. She continued her education with Alfred Cortot and Wilhelm Kempff.

Musical career
She was already interested in music at the age of 2 and started to play Johann Sebastian Bach's preludes at the age of 4. When she was 7 or 8 years old she used to listen to Brahms. Later on she discovered Sergei Rachmaninoff.

From the age of 16, Biret played as a soloist with the most distinguished orchestras in the world, including the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and the Sydney Symphony. She collaborated with eminent conductors such as Hermann Scherchen, Pierre Monteux, Erich Leinsdorf, Rudolf Kempe, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Aaron Copland, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Charles Mackerras, Jean Fournet, José Serebrier, Moshe Atzmon, Antoni Wit and Hiroyuki Iwaki. Biret also gave concerts at the festivals of Berlin, Montreal, Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Montpellier, Nohant, Persepolis, Royan and Athens. Idil Biret had her US concert premier at Symphony Hall in Boston under Erich Leinsdorf on Friday, November 22, 1963. Just before she was to play (Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto #3), Maestro Leinsdorf addressed the audience, saying that "we have just heard on the wireless that the President of the United States has been the victim of an assassination!" After the audience got over the shock, the orchestral management and players agreed to proceed with Biret's performance.

She has been a jury member at several piano competitions: Van Cliburn (US), Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), Montreal (Canada), Liszt (Weimar, Germany) and Busoni (Italy).

Her numerous recordings (more than 100 to date) for labels such as EMI, Decca, Atlantic, Finnadar and Naxos include the Saint-Saëns' piano concertos nos. 2, 4, 5, world-premiere recording of Liszt's transcriptions of the nine Beethoven symphonies (EMI 6LP/1986), complete solo piano works and concertos of Chopin (15CD/1992), of Brahms (12CD/1997), Rachmaninoff (10CD/2000) and the piano transcription of Stravinsky's ballet music The Firebird (2003) and many others. Biret's wide repertoire encompasses much of the late Classical and Romantic piano literature. She is probably best known for her Chopin recordings, which won her the prestigious 'Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin' in Poland in 1995. In 2004 the sale of her Naxos CDs worldwide  reached two million copies. Naxos commemorated this event by presenting  Biret  with a platinum disc.  The same year the Boulez sonatas recording won the annual Golden Diapason award and was selected among the best recordings of the year by Le Monde newspaper in France.

Biret has played in cycles the complete piano works of Beethoven and Brahms.  In the 1980s she performed in two series of concerts Beethoven's 32 sonatas and the piano transcription (Liszt) of all the 9 Symphonies, the latter broadcast live by Radio France. In the 1990s she played Beethoven's five Piano Concertos, the Choral Fantasia and the Triple Concerto in five concerts. In 1997 she played all the solo piano works of Brahms in a series of five recitals in Germany during the composer's centennial anniversary.

Her recordings of 20th century classical pieces include the three piano sonatas of Pierre Boulez (Naxos Records 1995) as well as the piano works and editions of  Wilhelm Kempff (Marco Polo 1991). Idil Biret also recorded the etudes (volume 1 and 2) of György Ligeti for Naxos, which was released in 2003.  Earlier, in the 1970s she recorded in New York for Finnadar/Atlantic records works by Boucourechliev, Anton Webern, Alban Berg, İlhan Mimaroğlu, Leo Brouwer, Castiglioni, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Prokofiev and Nikolai Myaskovsky.

In September 2006 a biography "Idil Biret - Une Pianiste Turque en France" was written by a French author, Prof. Dominique Xardel and published by Buchet/Chastel in France. The book has been translated into Turkish and published by Can Yayinlari. The German translation of the book has been published by Staccato Verlag in September 2007. Russian translation will be available shortly. English translation of the book is also available in a special edition privately.

She has recorded the complete Beethoven piano sonatas and concertos for her own label. It  was  released in 2008–2009 as an integral set, along with her 1986 EMI recordings of the nine Beethoven symphonies, as transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt. The complete set will include 19 CDs. Biret recorded most of the sonatas near Brussels between 2001–2005 (three were recorded in 1994). She recorded the concertos with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit in 2008. Biret is the only pianist to have performed all of Beethoven's piano sonatas, concertos and Liszt transcriptions of the nine symphonies in public concerts. She is now the first pianist to have recorded them all.

In an interview in 2014, she expressed interest in improvisation and the Opus Clavicembalisticum by Sorabji.

Awards and recognition
Biret has been a State Artist since 1971, an honorary title issued to artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions into the Turkish culture.

In 1987 Gürdal Duyar, renowned sculptor of Ataturk monuments around Turkey, offered to sculpt a bust of her. He arrived at her house with a lump of clay in his hand,  however after working on the clay bust for some time the clay starts to dry out and crack and Duyar leaves with the work in progress bust to go make a plaster mould of it. After Duyar passed away, the fate of the bust was unknown for some time until it resurfaced when Şefik Büyükyüksel, the spouse of Biret, discovered a photo of it online in the private collection of Dr. Baha Toygar who had bought it from a gallery owned by Emel Say.

In 1995, Biret's recordings of Chopin's entire oeuvre was awarded the "Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin" in Poland. The same year, she won the "Diapason d'Or" prize in France for her recording of Boulez's sonatas, which was selected among the best recordings of the year by the newspaper Le Monde.

Biret also received the following awards: the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize in Boston (US), the Harriet Cohen/Dinu Lipatti Gold Medal in London (UK) the Polish Prize for Artistic Merits, the National Knight Merit Order of France, the Adelaide Ristori Prize, Italy. In 2007 she was decorated with Distinguished Service  Order – Cavalry Cross by the Polish President Lech Kaczynski for her contributions to Polish culture with her recordings and performances of Chopin's music.

References
Source

 Full biography
 Idil Biret and Wilhelm Kempff, photos
 Idil Biret's repertoire
 Reminiscences on Idil Biret
 Alan Weiner's memoires
 Short biography and discography

External links

  Idil Biret's official website
 Idil Biret Archive
 Hear İdil Biret in concert  from WGBH Radio Boston

1941 births
Musicians from Ankara
Living people
Turkish classical pianists
Turkish women pianists
State Artists of Turkey
Women classical pianists
21st-century classical pianists
20th-century classical pianists
Recipient of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge
20th-century women pianists
21st-century women pianists

İdil Biret


Waste stabilization ponds (WSPs or stabilization ponds or waste stabilization lagoons) are ponds designed and built for wastewater treatment to reduce the organic content and remove pathogens from wastewater. They are man-made depressions confined by earthen structures. Wastewater or "influent" enters on one side of the waste stabilization pond and exits on the other side as "effluent", after spending several days in the pond, during which treatment processes take place.

Waste stabilization ponds are used worldwide for wastewater treatment and are especially suitable for developing countries that have warm climates. They are frequently used to treat sewage and industrial effluents, but may also be used for treatment of municipal run-off or stormwater. The system may consist of a single pond or several ponds in a series, each pond playing a different role in the removal of pollutants. After treatment, the effluent may be returned to surface water or reused as irrigation water (or reclaimed water) if the effluent meets the required effluent standards (e.g. sufficiently low levels of pathogens).

Waste stabilization ponds involve natural treatment processes which take time because removal rates are slow. Therefore, larger areas are required than for other treatment processes with external energy inputs. Waste stabilization ponds described here use no aerators. High-performance lagoon technology that does use aerators has much more in common with the activated sludge process. Such aerated lagoons use less area than is needed for traditional stabilization ponds and are also common in small towns.

Fundamentals

Concept of stabilization
Sewage and many types of industrial wastewaters contain organic matter. If wastewater is discharged untreated into surface water bodies (for instance, rivers and lakes), their organic matter serves as food for microorganisms living in the surface waters. These organisms use the organic matter for energy generation for their growth and reproduction. This is done via their respiration, in which they convert the organic matter into carbon dioxide and water. These stable components do not cause water pollution problems. Therefore this is frequently called "stabilization" of the organic matter.

However, these organisms use oxygen in their respiration, thus reducing the oxygen concentration in the surface waters. This is one of the main water pollution problems, which may affect the surface water biota, including fish.

Waste stabilization ponds reproduce these biological phenomena before they take place in the receiving surface water and cause the pollution problems due to oxygen consumption. The ponds receive wastewater, and, by natural processes similar to those that take place in the surface waters, carry out stabilization of the organic matter inside them, as part of the treatment. This is why they received the name of waste stabilization ponds.

Microorganisms
The reactions take place by the joint participation of several microorganisms living within the pond. The organic matter is measured as biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). BOD values in the pond effluent are lower than in the influent, reflecting the removal of organic matter. This pond biome uses organic matter from the wastewater as food.

Nutrients are converted to cell material and energy for life processes including reproduction and growth of living cells. Some of these living cells will be consumed by organisms at higher trophic levels within the pond. In ponds, the most important group of microorganisms are bacteria, which utilize most of the organic matter from the wastewater, but also consume oxygen.

Algae are another essential group of microorganisms. They do not depend on the organic material from the influent. Instead, they undertake photosynthesis, in which they produce the organic matter for their own consumption and, very importantly here, they release oxygen. The excess oxygen released supports the respiration done by the aerobic organisms in the pond. Atmospheric oxygen is also dissolved into the liquid, which assists in maintaining an aerobic layer on the top of the pond surface.

Oxygen levels
The oxygen concentration varies in the liquid column: Close to the surface, concentrations are high and support the growth of aerobic organisms. Close to the pond bottom, sunlight penetration is low, and thus photosynthetic activity is reduced. This causes oxygen concentrations to be low there. Finally, inside the sediments in the bottom layer, there is no oxygen at all. Here, organic matter is removed by digestion undertaken by anaerobic organisms.

Removal of pathogens
Pathogens can be efficiently removed in waste stabilization ponds. The process relies mostly on maturation ponds for removal of pathogens, although some removal also takes place in the other ponds of the system. The higher the number of ponds in the series, the more efficient the pathogen removal.

Removal of pathogenic bacteria and viruses occurs mainly by inactivation. Pathogens are inactivated as a result of a complex interaction of mechanisms that involve pH (the pH value in ponds is high because of algal photosynthesis), temperature, ultraviolet radiation present in the sunlight that reaches the pond surface and photooxidative reactions taking advantage of high dissolved oxygen concentrations.

Protozoan pathogens are present in the wastewater in the form of cysts or oocysts. Helminths (worms) are present in the form of eggs. The protozoan and helminth pathogens can be removed by the mechanism of sedimentation. Very high removal efficiencies may be achieved, especially if maturation ponds are part of the treatment system. In that case, the final pond effluent may be in compliance with World Health Organization guidelines for irrigating with treated wastewaster (or "reclaimed water"). However, sludge (sediment) from the ponds may be heavily contaminated with helminth eggs, which may survive even after several years of storing the sludge inside of the pond.

Types

Waste stabilization ponds consist of man-made basins comprising a single or several series of anaerobic, facultative or maturation ponds. The presence or absence of oxygen varies with the three different types of ponds, used in sequence. Anaerobic waste stabilization ponds have very little dissolved oxygen, thus anaerobic conditions prevail. The second type of pond, facultative stabilization ponds, sustain an aerobic surface habitat above an anaerobic benthic habitat. Maturation ponds offer aerobic conditions throughout, from the surface to the bottom.

The main configurations of pond systems are:
 Facultative pond only;
 Anaerobic pond followed by a facultative pond;
 Facultative pond followed by maturation ponds in series;
 Anaerobic pond followed by a facultative pond followed by maturation ponds in series.

If an anaerobic pond is present, part of the suspended solids from the wastewater settles, thus removing the organic matter (BOD) contributed by these solids. Additionally, some of the dissolved organic matter is removed by anaerobic digestion. During the second stage in the facultative pond, most of the remaining BOD is removed mainly by the heterotrophic bacteria that receive oxygen from the photosynthesis undertaken by algae. The main function of the tertiary stage in maturation ponds is the removal of pathogens, although it may also assist in nutrient reduction (i.e. nitrogen). However, nitrogen fixation by algae living in stabilization pond systems may increase nitrogen levels in stabilization pond effluent.

Anaerobic ponds

Anaerobic ponds receive raw wastewater. They have a smaller surface area compared to facultative ponds and are also deeper (usually 3.0 to 5.0 m). The depth decreases the influence of oxygen production by photosynthesis, leading to anaerobic conditions. Depending on loading and climatic conditions, these ponds are able to remove between half to two thirds of the influent BOD. This significantly decreases the load of organic matter that goes to the facultative ponds, and thus decreases their required size. Anaerobic stabilization ponds have the disadvantage of potentially releasing malodorous gases. This especially includes hydrogen sulfide with an odor of rotten eggs, if the system has operational problems.

The first pond biome in a series of stabilization ponds digests the putrescible solids suspended in the wastewater being treated. Anaerobic ponds allow solids to settle down at the bottom as sludge. This settling removes a portion of the particulate organic material. A large fraction of the settled solids will accumulate close to the point where wastewater enters the pond. Therefore, anaerobic ponds must be designed to be far deeper than either aerobic or facultative ponds. The depth decreases the oxygen levels so anaerobic bacteria can efficiently digest the waste. Anaerobic ponds contain anaerobic organisms which are able to break down complex organic waste into basic compounds that are less harmful to the environment. Because anaerobic organisms can only thrive in warm temperatures, anaerobic ponds are not suitable in temperate or cold climates.

Sludge accumulates at the bottom of the anaerobic ponds and needs to be removed every few years.

Facultative ponds

Facultative stabilization ponds that receive raw wastewater are called primary facultative ponds. If they are receiving wastewater that has already been treated in anaerobic ponds, they are called secondary facultative ponds. Facultative stabilization ponds may also be used for treatment following other types of treatment processes such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors, oxidation ditches or aerated lagoons. Compared with anaerobic ponds, facultative ponds are shallower (1.5 to 2.5 m deep) and have much larger surface areas. The surface area is important because it allows atmospheric oxygen to dissolve and sunlight radiation to penetrate the water. This allows for photosynthetic activity to occur which produces more oxygen.

In most ponds both bacteria and algae are needed in order to maximize the decomposition of organic matter and the removal of other pollutants. Algae produce oxygen (photosynthesis) and also consume oxygen (respiration), but they leave an excess of oxygen that can then be used by aerobic bacteria for respiration and for the processes of oxidation (or stabilization) of the organic matter in the wastewater.

Several types of invertebrates are present in the ponds where they control the population of algae, which then settles to the bottom. Heavy algal growth may block sunlight from penetrating into the pond. This decreases the potential for photosynthesis to contribute oxygen to the pond.

In the treatment of sewage, systems composed of anaerobic ponds followed by facultative ponds usually have overall BOD removal efficiencies between 75 and 85%. Higher efficiencies are difficult to achieve because the effluent contains high concentrations of particulate organic matter, in the form of algae, naturally produced during treatment.

The sludge comprising the sediment layer in the pond undergoes anaerobic digestion, and may accumulate for several years without needing removal.

Maturation ponds

Some additional removal of organic matter and other pollutants may be achieved in maturation ponds. These ponds are only included in the treatment line when high efficiencies of pathogen removal are required, either for discharge of the treated effluent in surface water bodies, or for use for irrigation or aquaculture. They are usually used after facultative ponds, but may also follow other treatment processes, such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. They could also be placed after an activated sludge process.

Maturation ponds must be shallow (around 1.0 m depth or less) with a great surface area so that more oxygen can dissolve into the water giving the bacteria enough oxygen to properly function.  Shallow ponds benefit from high photosynthetic activity arising from the penetration of solar radiation. The pH values are high because of intense photosynthesis, and ultraviolet radiation penetration takes place in the upper layers. Both of these factors promote the removal of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Given the high surface area of the maturation ponds, protozoan cysts and helminth eggs are also removed, with sedimentation as the main mechanism.

Sludge accumulation is very low in maturation ponds.

Very high pathogen removal efficiencies may be achieved, depending on several factors: temperature, hydraulic retention time (the amount of time the liquid remains in the system - from entrance to exit), the number of ponds in the series, the presence of baffles and the depth of ponds.

Maturation ponds may be used in combination with a rainwater reservoir to form an ecological, self-purifying irrigation reservoir.

Application and suitability
Waste stabilization ponds are very efficient in their primary objective of removing organic matter and, under some conditions, pathogenic organisms. Their design criteria have changed very little over the years. Ponds are simple to design, build, operate and maintain, which is very important in remote areas and in developing countries where sophisticated equipment and highly skilled labor is not easily available. Construction may be done by local contractors in small towns.

Waste stabilization ponds work well in nearly all environments and can treat most types of wastewater. They are particularly well-suited for tropical and subtropical countries because the intensity of the sunlight and temperature are key factors for the efficiency of the removal processes. Ponds are used throughout the world. In many countries and regions ponds are the most widely used treatment process. For this reason, they are one of the processes recommended by WHO for the treatment of wastewater for reuse in agriculture and aquaculture, especially because of their effectiveness in removing nematodes (worms) and helminth eggs.

Ponds cannot achieve very high efficiencies in the removal of organic matter, and usually have low capacities for removing nitrogen and phosphorus. The effluent usually has high concentrations of suspended solids, resulting from algal production in the ponds. Therefore, ponds are not a suitable technology in areas where stringent discharge standards exist, unless additional stages of post treatment are included.

Since ponds require large areas, they may not be practical in proximity to towns where land is expensive. A suitable topography and a suitable soil structure are also desired, in order to reduce construction costs.

Operation and maintenance

Regarding operation and maintenance, the tasks performed by the operational staff are very simple and do not require special skills. Additionally, there is no energy consumption for aeration, no need of heavy equipment maintenance and no frequent sludge removal, sludge treatment and disposal.

Ponds require very little maintenance, since there is no heavy electric or mechanical equipment that requires attention. The only routine maintenance needed is on the preliminary treatment (cleaning of screens and removal of sand), routine checking of pipes, weirs and other hydraulic structures, and removal of unwanted vegetation growth in embankments.

Sludge removal
Sludge accumulates inside the ponds. It needs to be removed only in the interval of several years. This is an important advantage of the system. However, when removal is necessary, it is usually an expensive and labor-intensive operation. Removal is more frequent in anaerobic ponds (every few years), because of their smaller volume and lower capacity to store the sludge, compared with facultative ponds. In facultative ponds, sludge removal may be necessary only in intervals around 15 to 25 years. In maturation ponds, sludge accumulation is very low.

Sludge removal, also called desludging, may be done in two basic ways: (i) interrupting the operation of the pond for desludging or (ii) keeping the pond in operation while desludging. In the first case, the influent wastewater to the pond to be desludged is closed. Afterwards, the pond is drained and the bottom sludge is left for open drying for several weeks. During this period, the wastewater to be treated needs to be diverted to other ponds in the system. After the sludge has dried, its removal may be done manually (very laborious in large ponds) or mechanically using tractors or mechanical scrapers. In the second alternative, when the pond is left in operation during desludging, the removed sludge will be wet and will require further drying. This is undertaken outside the pond. Sludge removal can be by suction and pumping using vacuum trucks (only for small ponds), dredging, pumping from a raft or involving other mechanical equipment. In either case, the amount of sludge to be removed is very high, considering its accumulation over a period of years. This process is very laborious, expensive and requires careful planning.

Costs
In the selection of a wastewater treatment process, besides the technical aspects that are relevant to each alternative, also cost factors play a very important role. The latter can be basically divided into (i) construction costs and (ii) operation and maintenance costs. Waste stabilization ponds are usually considered a cheap alternative in terms of construction costs. However, the final costs will depend essentially on the size of ponds, presence of maturation ponds in the process configuration, topography, soil conditions, groundwater level and land cost.

Because all these elements are site-specific, it is difficult to generalize overall construction costs. In most cases these will be lower compared with other wastewater treatment alternatives. Depending on the specific situation of the area, construction costs can increase and level up with other technologies.

Waste stabilization ponds are one of the cheapest wastewater treatment processes in terms of operation and maintenance.

Comparison with other infrastructure
The following types of water and wastewater infrastructure may superficially resemble waste stabilization ponds, but are not the same:
 Aerated lagoons rely upon mechanical aerators to provide oxygen to stabilize organic matter. Aerated lagoons may be used as the first stage in the treatment line instead of anaerobic ponds to limit release of malodorous gases, but with energy and maintenance requirements causing higher operating costs.
 Constructed wetlands are designed to improve water quality by supporting rooted vegetation arranged to physically remove solids and particulate material while removing soluble nutrients in the water by uptake into plant tissue and supplying oxygen to the water to reduce BOD.
 Retention basins are used to manage stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion, and improve water quality in an adjacent river, stream, lake or bay. Detention basins are similar but are "dry ponds" designed to temporarily hold runoff as a flood control measure.
 Infiltration basins are ponds designed to percolate their contents into underlying permeable soils.
 Settling basins are designed to separate solids from wastewaters without provision for treatment of those solids.

See also
 Industrial wastewater treatment
 Lagoon
 List of waste water treatment technologies
 Natural swimming pond
 Organisms used in water purification

References

External links
 Publications on ponds in the library of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance
 Stabilization pond pictures: Enter "pond" into search field of SuSanA photo database on Flickr

Anaerobic digestion
Ponds
Sanitation
Sewerage infrastructure
Water management
Water treatment

Waste stabilization pond


Anders Thomas Jensen (born 6 April 1972) is a Danish screenwriter and film director. His film Election Night won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Life and career
Jensen was born in Frederiksværk. He won the Oscar for Best Short Subject for his 1998 film Election Night. He received Oscar nominations in the live-action short category for his films Ernst & Lyset (1996) and Wolfgang (1997). He also wrote the script for After the Wedding which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign film in 2007, The New Tenants, which won the 2009 Oscar for Best Live Action Short and In a Better World which won the Oscar for Best Foreign film in 2011 and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign film.

From the end of the 1990s and into the new millennium he wrote the screenplays for most of the Danish movie blockbusters of the period, including Mifune's Last Song (co-written with Søren Kragh-Jacobsen), In China They Eat Dogs, Open Hearts, Stealing Rembrandt, and Brothers.

In 2000 Anders Thomas Jensen for the first time directed a feature film: the action-comedy Flickering Lights, and since then directed The Green Butchers, Adam's Apples, Men & Chicken and Riders of Justice.

Jensen co-wrote the film  The Dark Tower with Nikolaj Arcel, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner, based on the Stephen King series. It was Jensen's first work on an American screenplay.

Filmography

References

External links

1972 births
Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners
Danish male screenwriters
Living people
Danish film directors
People from Frederiksværk
Bodil Honorary Award recipients

Anders Thomas Jensen


Jean-Louis Dubreton (18 January 1773 – 27 May 1855) enlisted in the French army in 1790 and served during the French Revolutionary Wars where he gained advancement. During the War of the First Coalition he fought against the allies in the north and against the War in the Vendée. By 1801 he commanded a battalion in Italy. The year 1803 found him leading a regiment during the failed French occupation of Santo Domingo.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Dubreton served in Holland and Germany, becoming a general officer in 1811. Later he transferred to Spain where he won fame by leading the defenders during the Siege of Burgos, one of Wellington's rare setbacks. Promoted, he commanded a division at Dresden, Leipzig, and Hanau in the autumn of 1813. King Louis XVIII of France appointed him to several military posts and, in 1819, to the Chamber of Peers, a lawmaking body. Dubreton is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe on Column 35.

References
 Gates, David. The Spanish Ulcer: A History of the Peninsular War. London: Pimlico, 2002.
 Glover, Michael. The Peninsular War 1807-1814. London: Penguin, 2001.
  Mullié, Charles. Biographie des célébrités militaires des armées de terre et de mer de 1789 a 1850. 1852.
 Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998.

1773 births
1855 deaths
People from Ploërmel
French generals
French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
Military personnel of the War in the Vendée
French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Order of Saint Louis recipients
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe

Jean-Louis Dubreton


Franklyn Bonn Sanders (March 8, 1949 – February 17, 2012) was an American professional ice hockey player who made 76 regular season game appearances for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints in 1972–73.

Early life
Born in Oakdale, Minnesota, he is perhaps best known for being a member of the United States hockey team that won a silver medal in the 1972 Olympic Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.

Career
Sanders also played on the 1969 WCHA champion Minnesota Gophers hockey team and was captain of the 1970–71 team. He was awarded the John Mariucci Most Valuable Player Award that year.

After turning down an offer by the Boston Bruins in order to play for the Olympics, Sanders was later signed by his hometown team, the Minnesota Fighting Saints. The Saints were a charter member of the upstart World Hockey Association, a professional league that was challenging the NHL hockey empire.

Sanders was known for his tough play and fighting ability. At the end of his first season, he unexpectedly quit playing hockey to pursue life in the ministry. Until his death, he was pastor at Spirit of Life Bible Church in Woodbury, Minnesota.

In November 2011, he published his autobiography titled From Silver to Gold in which he tells of about his experiences playing hockey and his sudden decision to walk away from his pro career. He died in Woodbury, Minnesota in February 2012.

References

 Frank Sanders' obituary

1949 births
2012 deaths
American men's ice hockey defensemen
Ice hockey players from Minnesota
Ice hockey players at the 1972 Winter Olympics
Medalists at the 1972 Winter Olympics
Minnesota Fighting Saints players
Minnesota Golden Gophers men's ice hockey players
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey
People from Oakdale, Minnesota
Sportspeople from Washington County, Minnesota

Frank Sanders (ice hockey)


The 25th Marine Regiment (25th Marines) is one of two infantry regiments in the 4th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps. From its headquarters in Fort Devens, Massachusetts, the regiment commands fifteen training centers in nine states throughout the Northeast. These units consist of approximately 3,500 reserve and active duty Marines and are located from Maine to Delaware, West Virginia and as far west as Ohio. The 25th Marines is primarily a cold weather regiment and frequently trains in northern Norway.

Mission
Prepare for employment as a regiment tasked to plan and conduct combat operations in order to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or to repel his assault by close combat.

The reserve mission is to provide trained and qualified units and individuals to augment, reinforce, or reconstitute the active component of the Marine Corps in time of war, national emergency, and such other times as the national security may require.

Current units
The regiment comprises three infantry battalions and a headquarters company. The regiment also has a support company that provides one anti-armor section to every infantry battalion in the 4th Marine Division except 4th LAR and 4th Recon.
 Anti-Tank Training Company - Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
 Headquarters Company - Fort Devens, Massachusetts
 1st Battalion, 25th Marines (1/25) - Fort Devens, Massachusetts
 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines (2/25) - Garden City, New York
 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines (3/25) - Brook Park, Ohio
 1st Battalion, 24th Marines (1/24) - Detroit, Michigan

History

The 25th Marines was activated on 1 May 1943, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and was initially composed of Marines from throughout the Northeast. The regiment was subsequently assigned to the 4th Marine Division for service in World War II. Initially located at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, the regiment was ordered to the Pacific Theater in January 1944 and participated in the Battle of Kwajalein, Saipan, Battle of Tinian and the Battle of Iwo Jima.

D-day Iwo found 1/25 the assault Battalion on blue 1, 3/25 was the assault battalion on blue 2 and 2/25 was the reserve for blue beaches.  Transports to target were:   - 1/25;   - 2/25; and -3/25.  The regiment won two Presidential Unit Citations for its participation in these battles. The 25th Marines returned to Camp Pendleton at the end of the war and on 10 November 1945 the regiment was deactivated.

On 1 July 1962, 16 ½ years after its colors had been folded following its service in World War II, the 4th Marine Division was reactivated as a reserve division. This reactivation included all three battalions of the 25th Marines. Reserve Marines of the regiment have served alongside their regular counterparts in training exercises throughout the world.

In February 1991 the entire regiment was activated for Operation Desert Storm. Although, only 1st Battalion deployed into Southwest Asia and participated in the 1st Marine Division's initial breach of Iraqi defenses, the regimental headquarters, 2nd and 3rd Battalions mobilized in support of other operational requirements.

In January 2002 the regimental headquarters Company and 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines moved to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle. Subsequently, Headquarters Company and 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines were deactivated in January 2003. Since 2003 the regiment has routinely deployed infantry battalions, advisor teams, and Military Transition Teams to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Horn of Africa in support of the Global War on Terror. Concurrently, the regiment actively participates in numerous bilateral and multilateral theater engagement operations throughout the globe.

Regimental Commanders
Colonel Richard H. Schubert (1 May 1943 – 27 July 1943)
Colonel Samuel C. Cumming (28 July 1943 – 10 April 1944)
Colonel Merton J. Batchelder (11 April 1944 – 31 October 1944)
Colonel John R. Lanigan (1 November 1944 - October 1945)
Colonel William W. Davies (October 1945 – 10 November 1945)

Notable former members
Drew Carey, game show host, actor, comedian and Seattle Sounders FC part owner.
Harry O'Neill, served in Weapons Company during World War II
Wilbur F. Simlik, served with Company L, 3rd Battalion on Iwo Jima; later Major General, USMC
Mayor Jondavid R. Longo, served with Company K, 3rd Battalion in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan

See also

List of United States Marine Corps regiments
Organization of the United States Marine Corps

Notes

References

Bibliography

Web

 25th Marine Regiment's official website

4th Marine Division (United States)
Military units and formations in Massachusetts
Military units and formations established in 1943
Infantry25
Infantry units and formations of the United States Marine Corps

25th Marine Regiment (United States)


Hop Fastpass is a contactless smart card for public transit fare payment on most transit modes in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area including MAX Light Rail, WES commuter rail, Portland Streetcar, The Vine, and all TriMet and C-TRAN buses. An initial release to the general public began on July 5, 2017, with the official launch on July 17. The program is managed by TriMet.

The Hop card is a purple credit card-sized stored-value contactless smartcard that can hold a cash value or day or monthly passes for various systems. Because all terminals that read Hop cards can also accept NFC-based mobile payment, "virtual" Hop cards are available for use on any iOS or Android smartphone supporting Apple Pay or Google Wallet respectively; these are functionally identical to physical cards. Day or month passes allowing unlimited rides within the given time frame can be "earned" by purchasing an amount in single fares equal to the cost of the pass; a year pass, which costs as much as 11 earned month passes, can also be purchased up-front. Passengers must tap on each time they enter the system by holding the card to an electronic reader to validate a pass or deduct funds. Cards can be reloaded using a credit or debit card online, using a mobile app, calling a toll-free number, or at local retailers and ticket offices. Cash can be used when reloading the card in person.

Background

Prior to the introduction of electronic payments on the network, paper tickets and passes were used by Portland-area transit agencies. The tickets needed to be validated at ticket validators on the Streetcar or at MAX and WES stations. They did not offer fare exchange or extension. Installation of Hop readers began in March 2015, and was completed by the end of 2016. A public beta began in February 2017. The system cost $35.9 million to install and test at the time of its public release.

Technology

The Hop Card uses ISO 14443-compliant RFID technology allowing the card to be read/written without direct contact. The card uses the NXP/Philips MIFARE DESFire EV1 256B. Hop Card readers can also read information from contactless bank cards and mobile wallets.

Brand
The card's initial design is an ISO 7810 standard-sized purple card, with the Hop logo, and the logos of the three participating transit agencies at the top, and a colored bar at the bottom. The colored bar indicates the type of card: purple for standard adult fares, green for "honored citizen" which includes seniors, low-income riders, and riders with disabilities, and orange for youth cards. Cards also have a hole punched in them for use with a lanyard.

The Hop name was chosen in September 2015, beating out other candidates, including 1Pass, Indigo, Umbrella, Via and Lynx, that were proposed in 2014. Its name references both rabbits and the hops used in craft beers brewed in Portland.

Sales

Hop cards can be purchased at any participating transit agencies' ticket offices, as well as local grocery and convenience stores.

Use

The card must be tapped each time the system is entered or a transfer is made. It can be tapped on boarding a bus or streetcar, or tapped before boarding the light rail, commuter rail, or BRT. On tapping the card a display shows the time remaining on the current ticket or pass. It also displays any relevant low-balance alerts with an audible sound. There is no penalty for tapping the card more than once within the duration of a ticket. Unlike some systems, there is no need to tap out when leaving the system since fare is the same regardless of the point of exit.

Ticketing/pricing

The network's fares are time-based rather than distance or segment-based. Tickets are available for unlimited travel over the course of 2.5 hours, one day, one month, or one year. Hop's fare capping system  prevents riders from being charged more than the cost of a day pass during one day, or the cost of a monthly pass in the course of a month. This allows riders the benefits of a day or a monthly pass without the upfront cost, or the need to purchase one in advance.

The card can be reloaded online, over the phone, or with the Hop app using a credit or debit card. It can also be reloaded using a credit card or cash anywhere it can be purchased. Hop cards do not expire (except honored citizen cards, which must be renewed every two years). Once a loaded pass expires it can be reloaded with a new one. TriMet has said it projects a card will last 10 years.

Mobile wallets

On May 21, 2019 TriMet announced that Hop could be added to Google Wallet and Apple Wallet by using the Hop Fastpass app on either Android or iOS. Hop was the first transit card in North America to launch availability in both Google Wallet and Apple Wallet. Virtual Hop cards are functionally identical to their physical counterparts, allowing for the same fare capping rules, and allowing riders to purchase concession fares. Hop also allows riders to convert physical cards onto either mobile payment system.

See also
List of smart cards

Notes

References

External links

Fare collection systems in the United States
Contactless smart cards
Public transportation in Oregon
2017 establishments in Oregon
2017 establishments in Washington (state)
TriMet
Transportation in Clark County, Washington

Hop Fastpass