Daniel Kolak (born 1955 in Zagreb, SR Croatia) is a Croatian-American philosopher who works primarily in philosophy of mind, personal identity, cognitive science, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of logic, philosophy of religion, and aesthetics. He is professor of philosophy at the William Paterson University of New Jersey and an Affiliate of the Rutgers University Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS). Kolak is the founder of the philosophical therapy known as cognitive dynamics.

Biography

Kolak is a prolific philosopher, with over thirty-five authored books and nearly two hundred books edited. He is professor of philosophy at the William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), where he chaired the Philosophy Department and founded and directed the WPUNJ cognitive science laboratory. He also directs research at the Brain Behavior Center and is an affiliate of Rutgers University's Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS). Kolak's numerous articles, stories, essays, books and other creative works bridge traditional philosophy with all areas of inquiry and expression, from neuroscience to quantum mechanics, from logic and mathematics to art, music and literature. Among his best known recent works are I Am You: The Metaphysical Foundations for Global Ethics, Principles of Cognitive Science, Wittgenstein's Tractatus, Wisdom Without Answers, From the Presocratics to the Present, In Search of God: The Language and Logic of Belief, The Experience of Philosophy, Self, Cosmos, God, Self and Identity, and the novel In Search of Myself: Life, Death and Personal Identity. He is editor, chief programmer and designer of the interactive electronic library The Philosophy Source on CD-ROM, and was Series Editor of the Wadsworth Philosopher Series and Philosophical Topics. As Series Editor at Longman, he is currently bringing out new editions of the complete canon of philosophy from ancient times to the present. Translated into over a dozen languages, collectively his books have sold over a million copies worldwide.

Kolak is the popularizer of the philosophy known as open individualism, which he developed along with his view of metaphysical subjectivism and the nonlocality of consciousness, according to which there exists but one numerically identical individual subject who is everyone. In his groundbreaking I Am You: the Metaphysical Foundations for Global Ethics, he writes: "The central thesis of I Am You - that we are all the same person - is apt to strike many readers as obviously false or even absurd. How could you be me and Hitler and Gandhi and Jesus and Buddha and Greta Garbo and everybody else in the past, present and future? In this book I explain how this is possible. Moreover, I show that this is the best explanation of who we are for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it provides the metaphysical foundations for global ethics." Variations on Kolak's theme have been voiced periodically throughout the ages (the Upanishads, Averroes, Giordano Bruno, Schopenhauer, Josiah Royce); more recently, physicists such as Erwin Schrödinger, Fred Hoyle, and Freeman Dyson have espoused it.

Kolak continues to work on the logical foundations of quantum mechanics and a mathematical model of consciousness (e.g. Stone–Čech compactification) that integrates relativity and quantum mechanics using an "Ultra-Strong (Open World) Nonlocality" variation on a (spinning, with closed timelike paths) Gödel universe, and other such foundational issues in mathematics, physics and logic further refined with Jaakko Hintikka's IF (independence-friendly) and epistemic logics. He has also made original contributions to the philosophy of religion, the history of philosophy, and the teaching of philosophy.

Kolak is the founder of the philosophical therapy known as cognitive dynamics, which has been used to create new paradigms and technologies for expanding human consciousness, increasing intelligence, and improving creativity. It is still under development. More information about this aspect of Kolak's research in cognitive science (cognitive neuroscience; self-representation; information processing; knowledge representation; mental models; the logic and mathematics of mental processes; autism, confabulation, self-deception, MPD; dreaming), philosophy of mind (personal identity, consciousness, and self; philosophical psychology; psychoanalytic theory) can be found at the Rutgers University Center for Cognitive Science (RuCCS).

Kolak is an expert on dreams, particularly about how the brain synthesizes experience and creates the virtual world we call reality. His unique work on lucid dreams has recently been featured in a documentary, produced by NBC/Universal, which aired in November 2006.

As a composer and musician he has performed in concert on numerous occasions, both solo and with leading musicians such as Charlie Byrd, Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Zappa. As a theatrical director and composer he has won the coveted Helen Hayes Creativity Award for productions such as Sartre's No Exit at the Source Theater in Washington, D.C. Among his film work is the teleplay Id-Entity, about multiple personality disorder as seen through the eyes of four patients, for which Kolak wrote, directed, and produced, and the score and soundtrack. Forsaken Cries: the Case of Rwanda which he produced for PBS, by Amnesty International and narrated by Danny Glover. Most recently Kolak served as special advisor to Martin Scorsese in the making of the Academy Award-winning film The Departed.

In the United States, Kolak successfully lobbied the U.S. government on behalf of the children and retirees of the United Nations and its sister institutions the IMF and World Bank. As president and co-founder of the G-4 Coalition in Washington, D.C., Kolak helped write a bill, sponsored by US Senator Ted Kennedy, allowing the children and retirees of the IMF and World Bank to become permanent U.S. residents. He testified before Congress and worked together with former World Bank President Robert S. McNamara to lobby successfully for the bill's passage. For his efforts on behalf of the international community living in the United States, he received a personal commendation from the Secretary General of the United Nations.

Selected books
 I Am You: The Metaphysical Foundations for Global Ethics, Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Synthese Library, Springer, 2004
 In Search of Myself: Life, Death and Personal Identity, Wadsworth, 1999
 Wittgenstein's Tractatus, McGraw-Hill, 1998, . This is a translation, with a preface, introduction, and endnotes by Kolak.
 On Jaakko Hintikka, Wadsworth, 2001,
 Cognitive Science, Routledge, 2006,
 From the Presocratics to the Present: A Personal Odyssey, McGraw-Hill, 1998,
 Quantifiers, Questions and Quantum Physics, (with John Symons) Springer, 2004,
 Self and Identity, Macmillan, 1991,
 In Search of God: The Language and Logic of Belief, Wadsworth, 1994,

See also
Open individualism
Tat Tvam Asi

References

1955 births
Living people
20th-century Croatian philosophers
21st-century Croatian philosophers
Philosophers of identity
Rutgers University faculty
William Paterson University faculty

Daniel Kolak


Nikolaos Plastiras (; 4 November 1883 – 26 July 1953) was a Greek general and politician, who served twice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he commanded the 5/42 Evzone Regiment. After the Greek defeat in the war, along with other Venizelist officers he launched the 11 September 1922 Revolution that deposed King Constantine I of Greece and his government. The military-led government ruled until January 1924, when power was handed over to an elected National Assembly, which later declared the Second Hellenic Republic. In the interwar period, Plastiras remained a devoted Venizelist and republican. Trying to avert the rise of the royalist People's Party and the restoration of the monarchy, he led two coup attempts in 1933 and 1935, both of which failed, forcing him to exile in France.

During the Axis Occupation of Greece in the Second World War he was the nominal leader of the EDES resistance group, although he remained in exile in Marseilles. After the occupation, he returned to Greece and served as a centrist Prime Minister three times, often in coalition with the Liberal Party. In his last two governments, he tried to heal the rift caused in Greek society by the Greek Civil War, but was unsuccessful.

Early life
He was born in 1883, in Karditsa, Greece. Plastiras' parents were originally from Morfovouni (formerly Vounesi), a village in the Agrafa mountains of southwestern Thessaly.  The municipality was renamed for General Plastiras and Morfovouni is the present capital of Plastiras Municipality. The family moved to Karditsa before Plastiras was born.

Military career

After finishing school in Karditsa, he joined the 5th Infantry Regiment as a volunteer in 1904. He fought in the Macedonian Struggle, and participated in the military coup of 1909. He entered the NCO School in 1910 and, after being assigned to the rank 2nd lieutenant in 1912, he fought with distinction in the Balkan Wars, where he earned his nickname "The Black Rider". He first rose to wider prominence when, as a major, he supported the Movement of National Defence of Eleftherios Venizelos during the First World War. He fought with distinction with the Archipelago Division at the battle of Skra-di-Legen and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1919, Plastiras commanded the 5/42 Evzone Regiment in the Ukraine, as part of an Allied force aiding the White Army in their ultimately unsuccessful fight against the Red Army. His force was then transferred to Smyrna in Asia Minor via Romania. After the change in power in Greece (November 1920) and the return of king Constantine, he was the only officer, who had participated in the National Defence movement, who was not dismissed from the army. The men of his Regiment warned that they wouldn't fight under another commander.

During the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, the Turks called Plastiras Kara Biber ("The Black Pepper"), while the 5/42 Regiment of Evzones became known as the Şeytanın Askerleri ("Satan's Army"). Soon after, at the battle of Sakarya, the Greeks were forced to begin their retreat.

After the Turkish breakthrough in August 1922, his unit have been ordered to counterattack at Kamelar mountain to regain Greek's positions. He didn't try on 13 August, but he did try and failed the following day. For this failure he was accused to be responsible for the 4th Greek Infantry Division destruction, supposed to get accusations on a court marshal. His unit, 5/42 Evzones Regiment, was among others withdrawing orderly to the coast, fighting off superior Turkish forces and having serious casualties. The remnants of the Hellenic Army made their way to the islands of the Eastern Aegean.

September 1922 Revolution

The Army's resentment at the political leadership in Athens resulted in the outbreak of the 11 September 1922 Revolution, led by Plastiras, Colonel Stylianos Gonatas and Commander Phokas.

Having the support of the Army and much of the people, the revolutionary officers quickly entered Athens and assumed control of the country. He is reported by Penelope Delta, witness of the events, to have said to the crowd: "Why do you cheer? We lost, we came destroyed".

Plastiras forced King Constantine II to resign, called upon the exiled Venizelos to lead the negotiations with Turkey which culminated in the Treaty of Lausanne, and set about to reorganize the Army of Thrace against any Turkish advance (eastern Thrace was still in Greek hands). One of the most controversial acts of the revolutionary government was the trial and execution of five royalist politicians, including former PM Dimitrios Gounaris, and the former Commander-in-Chief, General Georgios Hatzianestis, on 28 November 1922 as those mainly responsible for the Asia Minor Disaster, in the infamous "Trial of the Six".

Plastiras faced multiple challenges in governing Greece. The 1.3 million refugees from the population exchange had to be catered for in a country with a ruined economy, internationally isolated and internally divided. The Corfu incident, and a botched Royalist coup in October 1923 were evidence of this. After the failed royalist coup, King George II was forced to leave the country. Nonetheless, he managed to restore some order to the state and to lay the groundwork for the Second Hellenic Republic. After the elections of December 1923 for the new National Assembly, he resigned from the army on 2 January 1924, retiring to private life. In recognition of his services to the country, the National Assembly declared him "worthy of the fatherland" and conferred to him the rank of lieutenant general in retirement.

Plastiras was even admired by his greatest enemy, Mustafa Kemal. At the end of the war, during the negotiations that took place regarding the exchange of populations between Greece and the newly formed Republic of Turkey, Atatürk is quoted telling Plastiras, "I gave gold and you gave me copper."

Political career
The Republic that he had helped found proved an unstable one. Coups, counter-coups, the conflict between Venizelists/Republicans and Royalists, and constant economic problems plagued Greece. Plastiras, persecuted during the Pangalos dictatorship, attempted to lead a coup in March 1933, after the anti-Venizelists won the elections, but facing universal reaction (even from Venizelos himself), he was forced to flee abroad. Finally, after the failed Venizelist revolt of 1935, although still abroad, he was condemned in absentia to death. Nonetheless he maintained a high prestige as a war hero and because of his integrity and staunch Republicanism.

Always an antimonarchist and flirting with the fascist ideal during his French exile, he watched the Germans overrun Greece. Later he played a role in the creation of the EDES resistance group, whose titular leadership he had despite his will, after discussions with Komninos Pyromaglou.

He returned to Greece in 1945, after his selection as prime minister following the December events of 1944, primarily because he was a commonly accepted personality. Plastiras attempted to tread a middle path between the British, who were supporting the returned government-in-exile and the return of King George II, and the democratic-leftist guerilla of the EAM/ELAS. During his premiership, the Varkiza Agreement was signed. His moderate policies and republican sympathies earned the distrust of the British, and he was dismissed after only three months in office, when the Press published a letter of him during the war, proposing the German intervention to stop the Greco-Italian war.

In 1949, after the end of the Greek Civil War, Plastiras founded a new party, the National Progressive Centre Union (Εθνική Προοδευτική Ένωση Κέντρου, EPEK), forming a following of disappointed Liberals and left-leaning democrats. He preached a message of national reconciliation, which put him in conflict with the conservative establishment which sought to punish those who had fought to establish a communist government. Together with Sofoklis Venizelos and George Papandreou, Plastiras formed a coalition government in 1950, which fell, however, when his partners retired. In the September 1951 elections, EPEK emerged as the strongest of the centrist parties. Plastiras formed a coalition government with Sofoklis Venizelos' Liberals, and attempted to address the great problems of the country. His government initiated the economic recovery and the reconstruction of Greece. A monument to this is the construction of the dam at the Tavropos (Megdovas) River to form a lake, a program that he initiated. The lake and dam, both formerly named Tavropos, now bear his name. His policy of conciliation, however, was bitterly assailed from the right, distrusted from the left, and undermined even by members of his own cabinet. A defining moment of his government was the conviction and execution of Nikos Belogiannis in March 1952 despite international protest. After losing the elections of November 1952, his political career, and with it the liberal 'Centrist Intermission', came to an end. He died in poverty in 1953 in Athens.

References

External links

1883 births
1953 deaths
20th-century prime ministers of Greece
People from Karditsa
National Progressive Centre Union politicians
Prime Ministers of Greece
Greek MPs 1950–1951
Greek MPs 1951–1952
Hellenic Army lieutenant generals
Greek revolutionaries
Republicanism in Greece
Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars
Greek military personnel of World War I
Greek military personnel of the Russian Civil War
People of the Russian Civil War
Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
Greek exiles
People sentenced to death in absentia
1950s in Greek politics

Nikolaos Plastiras


Toxic exposure means that a toxin (poison) touched or got into a person's body.  That person has been exposed to the toxin.

After a person is exposed to a toxin, many different things about that person, the toxin, and the exposure affect toxicity.  Toxicity is how the person reacts to the toxin, including what symptoms they may have.

A person can get exposed to a toxin accidentally or on purpose.  People can also use toxins as weapons to try to kill other people (for example, during chemical or biological warfare).

Anything can be a toxin
Anything can be a toxin if enough of it gets into a person's body.  For example, even water can be toxic.  If a person drinks enough water (usually more than 6 gallons in one day), they can get water toxicity (also called "water poisoning" or "water intoxication").  This causes the body's cells to swell up with extra water.  Swelling in the brain's cells can cause brain damage or death.  Water, in normal amounts, helps keep us alive; but if a person is exposed to enough of it, it becomes a toxin, and it can kill the person.

Types of exposure
There are two major types of exposure: acute and chronic.

An acute exposure happens only one time.  Chronic exposure happens many times, over a long period of time.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines these types of exposure this way:p. 105
 An acute exposure lasts 24 hours or less
 A chronic exposure lasts for more than three months

Routes of exposure
Toxins can get into the body in four different ways.  These are called "routes of exposure."  The route of exposure is one of the many things that affects toxicity.

Inhalation

Toxins can get into the body through inhalation (the person breathes in the toxin).  If a toxin is a gas, inhalation is usually the way it gets into the body.p. 1

When a toxin is inhaled, it may injure the airways and the lungs.  Also, some toxins can go from the lungs into the bloodstream.  The bloodstream then delivers blood - with the toxin in it - to all of the organs in the body.  The toxin can then damage those organs.p. 1

Inhalation is one of the easiest and fastest ways for toxins to get into the body.  The lining of the respiratory tract absorbs toxins into the bloodstream very quickly.p. 99

Examples of inhaled toxins
An example of a commonly inhaled toxin is cigarette smoke.  There are over 100 toxins in cigarette smoke, including formaldehyde, arsenic, and hydrogen cyanide.  Smoking is also an example of chronic toxic exposure.  The exposure is chronic because the smoker is breathing in toxins many times, over a long period of time.

Another inhaled toxin that causes acute exposure is smoke from house fires.  There are many toxins in this kind of smoke, including carbon monoxide and cyanide.  Firefighters or people who were trapped in fires can get cyanide poisoning or carbon monoxide poisoning from breathing in these toxins.  This is an example of an acute exposure, because the smoke was not breathed in for more than 24 hours.

Absorption
If a toxin gets in a person's eyes or on their skin, it can get taken up into the bloodstream.  This is called absorption.  Absorption through the skin is the most common route of toxic exposure.p. 97

The skin is able to keep some toxins from getting into the body.  However, if a person has a cut or wound on their skin, any toxin will be able to get into the body through that wound.  Also, the toxin will be taken up into the bloodstream more quickly, because it does not have to get absorbed through the skin.p. 98

Examples of absorbed toxins

Exposure by absorption often happens in workplaces where people work with toxins.  For example, if a person who works at a gas station spills gasoline on himself, the body will quickly absorb the gasoline into the bloodstream.p. 98  Some chemical weapons like sarin, a nerve gas, can also be absorbed through the skin and the eyes, along with being inhaled.

Ingestion

Ingestion means that a person swallowed the toxin.  Some chemicals cannot get into the bloodstream from the gastrointestinal tract.  However, others are absorbed through the lining of the intestinal tract into the bloodstream.p. 100

Examples of ingested toxins
Ingestion of toxins is very common in developing countries, where many people do not have safe drinking water.  There are many different toxins that can be carried in water.  They can be chemicals, like lead.  They can also be biological toxins, like the bacteria that causes cholera, and the viruses that cause Hepatitis A and polio.  People ingest these toxins by drinking the contaminated water, or eating food made with the water.  The World Health Organization says that about 502,000 people die every year because of toxins in water and the diseases they cause.

Food poisoning is also caused by ingestion of toxins, like E. coli bacteria, which can live in foods like meat and poultry.

Injection
An injected toxin gets into the body when something carrying the toxin breaks the skin.  Injections can go into a vein, a muscle, or just under the skin.  Toxins that are injected into a vein have the fastest effects, because the toxin is being put right into the bloodstream.p. 2

Examples of injected toxins

Some snakes, scorpions, and spiders carry venom.  If they bite or sting a person, they are injecting that toxin into the person's body.

An example of a toxin which is often injected on purpose is Botulinum.  This is a very deadly toxin that causes botulism, but it is also sold under the name "Botox."  Many people choose to get Botulinum toxin injected into their faces to get rid of wrinkles.  The toxin paralyzes some of the muscles in the face, usually for three to 12 months, and makes the face look smoother.

More than one route
Some toxins can get into the body through more than one route of exposure.  For example, if water is polluted, a person can get exposed to the toxins in the water by drinking it (ingestion) and by showering or swimming in it (absorption).

Things that affect toxicity
Once a person has been exposed to a toxin, there are many things that affect toxicity.  This article talks about only a few.

The exposure
Many things about a person's exposure affect toxicity.  Three of the most important things are:
 Concentration: How much of the toxin was the person exposed to?
 Duration: How long was the person exposed to the toxin?
 Frequency: How many times was the person exposed?

The route of exposure also affects toxicity.  For example, if it is injected, snake venom can be life-threatening.  However, if it is ingested, snake venom is usually not harmful.  The effects of this toxin are very different depending on the route of exposure.

The exposed person
Toxins sometimes affect different people in different ways.  This is partly caused by differences in people's bodies.  A person's age, gender, genes, hormones, nutrition, and the strength of their immune system all affect toxicity.  For example, infants, young children, and the elderly are more likely to get sick from lower concentrations of toxins, which might not make a healthy adult sick.

People with health problems
Some health problems can affect toxicity.  For example, inhaling toxins is especially dangerous for people who already have lung diseases, like emphysema.  If the lungs are already damaged, breathing in toxins is likely to cause even more damage, and puts the person at risk for respiratory failure.p. 99

Also, once a toxin gets into the bloodstream, the body immediately starts trying to get rid of it through excretion.  The main organs involved with excretion are the kidneys, liver, and lungs.  If a person has damage to any of these organs (like kidney failure or cirrhosis of the liver), they will be unable to get rid of the toxin as fast as a healthy person will.  The chemical will stay in their body longer, and have more toxic effects.p. 103

The type of toxin
Many things about the type of toxin a person was exposed to affect toxicity.  Two examples are solubility and pH.

Solubility
A toxin's solubility is its ability to mix into a liquid.  If a toxin is not water-soluble (it cannot dissolve in water), it cannot absorb into the bloodstream.  (Plasma, the liquid part of blood, is made mostly of water.)  If a person ingests a toxin that cannot dissolve into the watery plasma, the toxin will not absorb into the bloodstream through the lining of the gastrointestinal tract.  It will pass out of the body through the gastrointestinal tract.pp. 102–103

However, many toxins are water-soluble and will get absorbed into the bloodstream.  For example, the Vibrio cholerae bacteria is water-soluble.  If a person ingests water or food that has this toxin in it, they can get cholera.

Other toxins are "lipid-soluble" (they dissolve in fats).  Instead of getting absorbed into the bloodstream, these toxins get stored in the body's fat.  When the person's body burns fat to make energy, these toxins are let out and can poison the person.  Examples of fat-soluble toxins include lead, DDT, and mercury.

pH
The toxin's pH is also important.  For example, if a toxin is a strong acid or a strong base, it can cause severe chemical burns to the eyes and skin.p. 100  Toxins that have a more neutral pH can still hurt the body by being absorbed into the bloodstream, but they will not burn the eyes and skin.  For example, if a person swims or bathes in water contaminated with cholera toxin, the toxin can still get absorbed through his eyes or skin.  However, the water will not burn the eyes or skin.

Related pages
 Toxin
 Absorption
 Excretion
 Solubility
 pH

References

Toxicology

Exposure (toxicology)


The Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) is a type of bat. It is also called the Brazilian free-tailed bat. It is native to North and South America.

Description
Mexican free-tailed bats are usually 9 cm (3.5 in) long. They weigh around 7–12 g (0.25–0.42 oz). Females tend to be a little bit heavier than males. Their ears are wide, rounded, and large compared to their heads. They use their large ears to help them find prey using echolocation. The wings are long and narrow with pointed tips. The color of their fur ranges from dark brown to gray.

Distribution and Habitat
The Mexican free-tailed bat is found from the southern half of the United States through most of Mexico, and through most of Central America into South America. They are also found in the Caribbean. They are native to all of the Greater Antilles and 11 of the Lesser Antilles. The largest known colony is found at Bracken Cave, north of San Antonio, Texas, with nearly 20 million bats.

Mexican free-tailed bats mainly live in caves. They also live in buildings as long as they have access to openings and dark recesses in ceilings or walls.

Mexican free-tailed bats in southeastern Nevada, southwestern Utah, western Arizona, and southeastern California come together to migrate southwest to southern California and Baja California. Bats in southeastern Utah, southwestern Colorado, western New Mexico, and eastern Arizona travel through the western edge of the Sierra Madre Oriental into Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Sonora. In the summer, some bats in Kansas, Oklahoma, eastern New Mexico, and Texas migrate southward to South Texas and Mexico.

Feeding
Mexican free-tailed bats are mainly insectivores. They hunt their prey using echolocation. The bats eat moths, beetles, dragonflies, flies, true bugs, wasps, and ants. They usually catch flying prey while flying.

Predators
Mexican free-tailed bats has many predators. They include red-tailed hawk, American kestrels, great horned owls, barn owls Mississippi kites, Virginia opossums, striped skunks, and raccoons. Snakes such as eastern coachwhips and eastern coral snakes may also prey on them.

Behavior
Mexican free-tailed bats are nocturnal animals. They begin feeding after dusk. They travel 50 km to feed. They fly at altitudes of around 3300 m. They most active in late morning and afternoon between June and September.

References

Bats
Mammals of North America
Mammals of South America

Mexican free-tailed bat


The Saint Ignatios Monastery is found outside the city of Kalloni on the island of Lesbos, Greece, and is also known as the Limonas Monastery or the Limonos Monastery (alternative spelling), due to the field on which it is built. The monastery was founded in 1526 by Saint Ignatios Agallianos.

The monastery contains many important relics collected since its founding, and houses a library which contains many manuscripts and icons. It now has over 2,500 volumes of books and 450 manuscripts and Greek and Ottoman documents.

References
 Leimonos Monastery
 Monastery of Leimon (Moni Leimonos)

External links
Photos

1526 establishments in Europe
Greek Orthodox monasteries in Greece
Churches in Lesbos

Saint Ignatios Monastery


The RFB Fantrainer  (or Fan Trainer) is a two-seat flight training aircraft which uses a mid-mounted ducted fan propulsion system. Developed and manufactured by German aircraft company Rhein-Flugzeugbau GmbH (RFB), it has been used by the Luftwaffe and Royal Thai Air Force.

Development of the Fantrainer commenced during the 1970s. In Germany, it was selected as the winner of a competition for the Luftwaffe's Basic Trainer Requirement, having beat both the Pilatus PC-7 and Beechcraft Mentor. However, no orders were forthcoming from Germany as it had committed to buying American fighters (F4 Phantom and F-104 Starfighter) which included a deal for pilot training in the United States. At one point, German flag carrier Lufthansa also reportedly took an interest in the aircraft, noting its jet-like handling. Pilots have confirmed the type to be relatively fuel-efficient and capable of providing a true "jet feel" for a reasonable price. The Royal Thai Air Force operates the FT400 and FT600 versions, using it train ab initio pilots who then went on to fly the Northrop F-5E fighter aircraft.

Development

Origins
In the 1960s the German company Rhein Flugzeugbau developed an interest in aircraft powered by ducted fans integrated into the fuselage, flying a pair of modified gliders as flying testbeds in 1969 and 1971. During 1970, the company announced that it had embarked upon a new project to develop a two-seat ducted-fan military trainer, intending to offer an aircraft that possessed jet-like handling at a low cost. In March 1975, RFB received a contract from the German Defence Ministry to produce and fly a pair of prototype Fantrainers; these would be evaluated as replacements for Luftwaffe'''s existing fleet of Piaggio P.149 initial trainers. According to aerospace periodical Flight International, the initial production process only took seven months to complete a single prototype.

On 27 October 1977, the first prototype (registration D-EATJ), powered by a pair of EA871  NSU Wankel engines, made its maiden flight. The EA871 engine installation proved to be troublesome, thus the second prototype (D-EATI) was furnished with a single  Allison 250-C20B turboshaft engine, making its first flight on 31 May 1978. The second prototype crashed on 7 September 1978, which resulted in the first prototype being modified to Fantrainer 400 standard, being furnished with an Allison engine and revised air intakes. The Fantrainer was evaluated by the Luftwaffe against the Beechcraft T-34C and Pilatus PC-7 turboprop powered trainers, but although it was considered to be the most suitable of the three aircraft, being cheaper both to purchase (at DM 1 million per aircraft) and to operate, no orders resulted as it was decided that the Piaggio P.149 was still adequate for the Luftwaffes needs.

Despite failing to secure an order from the Luftwaffe, during May 1982, RFB announced that it was set to commence mass production of the Fantrainer within the next few months. By this point, the prototype had accumulated 500 flight hours, which included a five week-long marketing tour around America, have flown an average of 6.5 hours per day during this sojourn. While the company had forecast a wider market for trainer aircraft of roughly 5,000 aircraft over the following decade, it stated that it was aiming for an initial market share of 4 per cent (equivalent to 200 aircraft) due to the unorthodox nature of the Fantrainer. During 1983, the prototype was refitted, its seven-bladed ducted fan being substituted for a five-bladed production standard counterpart, while the cockpit was also improved; the changes reportedly enabled a significant noise reduction and superior external visibility.

Production

The aircraft has been produced in two principal models, these being the Fantrainer 400, powered by a  Allison 250-C20B, and the Fantrainer 600, which was powered by a  Allison 250-C30. According to aerospace publication Flight International, the market had a more favourable reaction to the Fantrainer 600 during the 1980s.

In August 1982, the Royal Thai Air Force signed a contract with RFB to purchase 47 aircraft, 31 of the model 400 and 16 of the 600. Upon introduction, they were assigned to the 402 Squadron and used as a step-up trainer for their future F-5 Freedom Fighter pilots. The step-up characteristic of the Fantrainer is generally one of its main advantages; the abilities of the Fantrainer in a training capacity is such to almost fully cover a pilot's entire syllabus, only needing to be supplemented by an Advanced Trainer for the purpose of building direct experience with high performance jets. The first four aircraft were constructed in Germany while the remaining aircraft were assembled in Thailand from kits shipped from RFB, which were assembled at a peak rate of six Fantrainers per month. After an initial period of operation, the RTAF elected to replace the aircraft's glass fiber wings with locally-produced aluminium wings, even when the original fiber glass wings proved to endure well in the hot and humid Thailand weather, which was a main concern of the manufacturer.

During the 21st century, FanJet Aviation GmbH set about reviving production of the Fantrainer 600, aiming to re-introduce the type under the new name Fanjet 600. During 2010, the company purchased all documentation related to the design, testing and type certification of the original aircraft, followed by the acquisition of associated tools, spare parts inventory, and the trademarks for Rhein-Flugzeugbau and Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke. FanJet Aviation believes that, following the adoption of a glass cockpit to modernise it, the aircraft remains both valid and cost-competitive for current-day pilot training purposes compared to contemporary jet-powered competitors.

Design

The RFB Fantrainer is a twin-seat trainer aircraft; its most distinctive feature is its propulsion system, a mid-mounted ducted fan. This reportedly delivers performance akin to aircraft harnessing conventional jet propulsion, but at significantly reduced costs; on average, the Fantrainer has one-tenth of the fuel consumption of the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, a contemporary jet-powered trainer aircraft. Furthermore, RFB has claimed the type to be one-fifth as expensive to procure as the Cessna T-37 Tweet, a rival trainer, while delivering comparable performance (except for a slower top speed) at one-tenth of the fuel consumption. The design of the Fantrainer reportedly incorporates several features to increase effectiveness and reduce costs. Attention was also paid to ease of use, the engine is controlled via a single-lever power control with ground and flight idle stops, behaving much like a traditional turbojet unit; in general, both controls and instrumentation are clear and straightforward.

The engine and fan installation incorporates a freely-moving turbine, which necessitates constant-speed control over the fan along with the use of reduction gear to roughly halve the 6,000 rpm output of the engine to achieve a fan speed of 3,090 rpm; both of these were designed by British supplier Dowty Group. The constant speed of the five-bladed fan enables the use of a relatively simple blade profile. Various noise reduction measures were implemented, including the use of Hoffmann-sourced plastic-covered wooden blades and the adoption of a re-designed fan that used five blades instead of seven. The use of a foam-plastic rubbing strip enables the fan to maintain the optimum blade-tip-to-shroud gap, said to be one-thousandth of the fan's diameter according to RFB; the ring slot ensures smooth air flow even at high power and low airspeed, and can also open asymmetrically to cope with offset inflow when the Fantrainer is flown at a relatively high angle of attack.

Structurally, the Fantrainer's forward fuselage and centre section is formed around a metal box keel; the cockpit section, which is mainly composed of moulded plastic, is fixed upon this keel. This approach enables the cockpit shape to be readily modified, allowing it to be adapted to imitate various different aircraft. Typically, the cockpit is relatively spacious, providing room for a sizable instrumentation panel and ample side consoles, allowing the Fantrainer to be equipped akin to an air force's operational aircraft. Reportedly, the original cockpit was based on that of the Alpha Jet. The rear fuselage uses a conventional metal structure instead of plastics, which were unsuitable due to the presence of heat generated by the engine exhaust. To ease maintenance requirements, a modular approach is present in the Fantrainer's design, many of its systems are grouped together into single detachable units.

It is fitted with a forward-swept wing, being angled at 6°, for the purpose of not obscuring rear position's visibility by the wing root; this sweep angle had to be reduced to more closely mimic the flight characteristics expected of a typical military trainer aircraft. The design of this wing is not original, being a derivative of that previously used for the LFU 205, an experimental aircraft of the 1960s. The interior space of the wing accommodates a total of four 96-litre capacity fuel cells, which are integral to the wing structure; only two of the tanks can be filled when performing aerobatics. Both skin and internal structure of the wing are formed from a pair of moulded skins sandwiched upon a series of inflated plastic tubes. To facilitate greater performance, the wing can be shortened with relative ease according to RFB. A mixture of carbon and fiberglass is used for various elements, including the Friese ailerons and air brakes. Normal behaviour of both ailerons and air brakes has been observed even during deliberately-induced stall conditions.

Variants
AWI-2
 First prototype of the Fantrainer family. First flight in 1977 powered by two  Wankel engines -  in total, changed in 1978 to Allison engine.
ATI-2
 Second prototype.
Fantrainer 400
 Stretched fuselage version with metal wings, powered by a  Allison 250-C20B turboshaft engine.
Fantrainer 600
 Improved version, powered by a 485-kW (650-hp) Allison 250-C30 turboshaft engine.
Fantrainer 800/1000/1200/1500
 Upgraded versions, planned but not produced yet.

Ranger 2000

In the early 1990s, RFB and Rockwell International developed in a joint venture a jet-powered variation of the Fantrainer under the denomination Ranger 2000, which was evaluated as a trainer aircraft in the JPATS contest by the USAF and the U.S. Navy, but no orders were placed as the aircraft lost to the T-6 Texan II. One of the two prototypes crashed during evaluation. The Ranger 2000's turbofan engine was a Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D.

Operators

 Luftwaffe

 Royal Thai Air Force

Specifications (Fantrainer 600)

See also

References
Citations

Bibliography

 Fricker, John. "Flying the Fantrainer". Air International, Vol. 30 No. 2, February 1986. Bromley, UK: Fine Scroll. pp. 70–76. ISSN 0306-5634.
 Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988-89. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data, 1988. .
 Lambert, Mark. "RFB ATI-2 Fantrainer in the air." Flight International'', 15 September 1979. pp. 894–903.
 Winchester, Jim. "Concept Aircraft." MMV International Master Publications BV, 2006. .

External links

 New Owners Fanjet Aviation GmbH
 Fantrainer 600 info and specs from Virtual Aviation Museum
 Fantrainer 400 images at Airliners.net

Ducted fan-powered aircraft
1970s German military trainer aircraft
Mid-engined aircraft
Fantrainer
Turboshaft-powered aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1977
T-tail aircraft
Single-engined turboprop aircraft

RFB Fantrainer


The 3D Print Canal House is a three-year, publicly accessible "Research & Design by Doing" project in which an international team of partners from various sectors works together on 3D printing a canal house in Amsterdam.

By building the house, all parties research the possibilities of 3D printing architecture and form connections between design, science, culture, building, software, communities and the city.  The project serves as both an exhibition of 3D printing technology, as well as a research site into 3D printing architecture. The project is initiated by DUS architects and the site, in Amsterdam North, opened to the public on March 1, 2014.

Kamermaker
The house is constructed by a fused deposition modeling printer developed by DUS: the Kamermaker ("Room builder"), able to print elements of up to 2.2×2.2×3.5 metres. It is a movable pavilion with the size of a shipping container. The machine itself is 6 meters tall. The Kamermaker can be moved by truck or by ship.

See also
 Construction 3D printing

References

Canal house
Houses in the Netherlands
Buildings and structures in Amsterdam
2014 establishments in the Netherlands
Building research
Building engineering

3D Print Canal House


The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC, ) is a transport safety body of New Zealand. It has its headquarters on the 7th floor of 10 Brandon Street in Wellington. The agency investigates aviation, marine, and rail accidents and incidents occurring in New Zealand. It does not investigate road accidents except where they affect the safety of aviation, marine, or rail (e.g. level crossing or car ferry accidents).

It was established by an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand (the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990) on 1 September 1990. TAIC's legislation, functions and powers were modelled on and share some similarities with the National Transportation Safety Board (USA) and the Transportation Safety Board (Canada). It is a standing Commission of Inquiry and an independent Crown entity, and reports to the Minister of Transport.

Initially investigating aviation accidents only, the TAIC's jurisdiction was extended in 1992 to cover railway accidents and later in 1995 to cover marine accidents.

In May 2006, the Aviation Industry Association claimed too often the organisation did not find the true cause of accidents, after TAIC released the results of a second investigation into a fatal helicopter crash at Taumarunui in 2001. The Commission rejected the criticism, CEO Lois Hutchinson citing the results of a March 2003 audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Ron Chippindale, who investigated the Mount Erebus Disaster, was Chief Inspector of Accidents from 1990 to 31 October 1998. He was succeeded by Capt. Tim Burfoot, John Mockett in 2002, Tim Burfoot again in 2007, Aaron Holman in 2019, Harald Hendel in 2020, and Naveen Kozhuppakalam in 2022.

Peer agencies in other countries
Australian Transport Safety Bureau
Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board – South Korea
Dutch Safety Board – Netherlands
Taiwan Transportation Safety Board – Taiwan
Japan Transport Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board – United States
National Transportation Safety Committee – Indonesia
Safety Investigation Authority – Finland
Swedish Accident Investigation Authority – Sweden
Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board – Switzerland
Transportation Safety Board of Canada
Transport Safety Investigation Bureau – Singapore

References

External links

New Zealand
Rail accident investigators
New Zealand independent crown entities
1990 establishments in New Zealand
Transport organisations based in New Zealand


The Moody Brothers are an Americana country music trio who gained prominence in 1985 when they were  nominated for a Grammy Award for their instrumental performance of the classic fiddle tune "Cotton Eyed Joe".  This trio of brothers, Carlton Moody, Dave Moody, and Trent Moody were nominated for a second Grammy in 1990 and won three International Country Music Awards in Europe.

History
During the 1980s, The Moody Brothers made numerous appearances on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN and The Nashville Network's Nashville Now, On Stage and other music programs. They also performed at the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

In 1988, the Moodys recorded a historic album in Prague, Czechoslovakia with Jiri Brabec and Country Beat.  The album Friends was the first such cooperative production between an American company, Lamon Records and what was then a communist state-owned record label Supraphon.  The project earned critical acclaim and won the Moodys, along with the producers, engineers and studios involved in the project the Ampex Golden Reel Award.

The Walt Disney Company offered the Moodys a featured concert performance role at Disneyland Paris in France when the park and entertainment complex opened in 1992. The trio continued to gain international success with their music throughout the '90s.

Since their time in France, the Moodys have mainly focused on individual careers in the new millennium.  Carlton Moody is the lead singer and guitarist for Burrito Deluxe.  Dave Moody is a Dove Award winning artist/songwriter/producer and indie filmmaker.  Trent Moody teaches music in Indian Trail, NC and has a new fiddle album recorded with his father Dwight Moody. Trent Moody has a son named Harrison, who is also a musician. The brothers perform together occasionally, and have earned several Dove Award nominations for their recordings on their own and with George Hamilton IV.

References

External links

American country music groups

The Moody Brothers


The Theater Television Network was an early American television network founded in 1951. The network was not a traditional 1950s television network: unlike the other TV networks that operated at that time, Theater Network programs were not broadcast into homes; instead, they aired at participating movie theaters.

The Theater Television Network, like many current theaters do for major events, broadcast mostly sporting events: NCAA basketball games, boxing matches, entertainment events. TTN however also broadcast public affairs programming. The network broadcast Harry Truman's 1951 State of the Union address.

Theater Television required special equipment to be installed at the Theater. After this initial cost the content could be transmitted over the air or through telephone cables. There were drawbacks to both systems. Theater owners pressed the FCC for bandwidth in the UHF spectrum but this was either resisted or given in short-term periods. The alternative was to use AT&T cable which was both expensive and limited the quality of the output.

In the period 1948-52 the FCC imposed a ban on issuing licences for new TV stations. This was the window of opportunity for Theater Television. However, once the freeze was over many new TV stations were established and the public preferred "free" TV in their own living rooms. The last Theater Television operation finished in 1953.

References

Defunct television networks in the United States
Television channels and stations established in 1951
1953 disestablishments in the United States
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1953
1951 establishments in the United States

Theater Television Network


Henry Robin Romilly Fedden, CBE, (1908–1977) was an English writer, diplomat and mountaineer. He was the son of artist Romilly Fedden and novelist Katherine Waldo Douglas.

Raised mostly in Chantemesle, France, Fedden went to Cambridge University to read English. He served as a diplomat in Athens and taught English literature at Cairo University. He was one of the Cairo poets, and co-edited the literary journal Personal Landscape with Lawrence Durrell and Bernard Spencer. After World War II, he worked for the National Trust, rising to the post of Deputy Director-General. He retired in 1973.

He had a wide variety of interests, which were reflected in the books he wrote. The best known of these are The Enchanted Mountains and Chantemesle. He also wrote several guidebooks for the National Trust. He was a dedicated mountaineer, a pursuit he took up in his late thirties.

He was married to Renee Fedden; they had two daughters. He died in 1977.

Henry Miller disliked Fedden. He recalled their meetings in Athens when he later wrote bitterly of expatriate Englishmen in The Colossus of Maroussi. Miller "hated [Fedden's] stammer and his effete way of talking and ... framed a sharply satirical portrait of him in the Colossus," wrote Durrell in a letter in 1977.  But Durrell recognised that 'behind the slight stoop and stutter that were part of Fedden's disarming charm, there was a sharply critical mind interrogating the cultures of Europe and the East, and he looked up to him as he did to none of his other contemporaries' during the war years.

Selected works
 The Enchanted Mountains: A Quest in the Pyrenees
 Alpine Ski Tour 1956
 Chantemesle (1964; reissued by Eland Books in 2002)
 The National Trust Guide
 Treasures of the National Trust
 The Continuing Purpose: History of the National Trust, Its Aims and Work
 The National Trust: Past and Present
 Churchill And Chartwell
 The Land of Egypt
 Crusader Castles
 The Country House Guide
 Suicide: A Social and Historical Study
 Syria and Lebanon
 Syria: An historical appreciation
 English Travellers in the Near East
 Anglesey Abbey
 Petworth House
 Egypt: Land of the Valley

References

British travel writers
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
1908 births
1977 deaths

Robin Fedden


Michael E. Bratman (born July 25, 1945) is an American philosopher who is Durfee Professor in the School of Humanities & Sciences and Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University.

Education and career

Bratman graduated from Haverford College in 1967 and earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at Rockefeller University in 1974, where he worked with Donald Davidson.  He joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1974, where he has taught ever since.

He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.  In 2014, Oxford University Press published a collection of essays on Bratman's work by colleagues and former students, Rational and Social Agency:  The Philosophy of Michael Bratman.  A review in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews remarked that, "Our very understanding of what it is to form a plan or shared intention is owed in no small part to Michael Bratman's massively influential body of work."

Philosophical work

Bratman works in philosophy of action and moral philosophy and is best known for his development of the idea that "intention is a distinctive practical attitude marked by its pivotal role in planning for the future."  His work in those areas led him to the Belief-Desire-Intention model that is used in many areas, including artificial intelligence, today.  Bratman's theory of intentions as plans has also led to a distinctive and widely discussed account of "collective intentionality."

Selected bibliography

See also
 Collective intentionality

External links

 Michael E. Bratman: An Oral History, Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program, 2018

References

20th-century American philosophers
21st-century American philosophers
Action theorists
Analytic philosophers
1945 births
Living people
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Stanford University Department of Philosophy faculty
Haverford College alumni
Rockefeller University alumni

Michael Bratman


Shaw Boulevard station (also called Shaw for short) is an elevated Manila Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station situated on Line 3. The station is located in the Mandaluyong portion of Ortigas Center and is named after Shaw Boulevard, since the station lies directly above the boulevard. Being at the center of the whole line, many commuters regard Shaw Boulevard station as the "central terminal" of the line.

The station is the seventh station for trains headed to Taft Avenue and North Avenue. It is one of five stations on the line where passengers can catch a train going in the opposite direction without paying a new fare due to the station's layout. The other four stations are Araneta Center-Cubao, Boni, Buendia, Ayala, and Taft Avenue. Excluding Araneta Center-Cubao station, it is also one of four stations on the line with its concourse level located above the platform.

Station layout
Shaw Boulevard station is the only station on the line with 3 tracks; with 1 reserve track used for temporary parking of disabled trains and as a termination track when regular train service is disrupted, and 2 for regular train service. It is the only elevated station in the line to feature a concourse on top of the platforms at the 3rd level, the only station in the line with a gable pitched roof, and the only station in the line to have two concourses, which are split into unconnected sections by the EDSA-Shaw Flyover. Each concourse building also hosts retail spaces.

Shangri-La concourse

The northern Shangri-La concourse (also referred to as Building A) provides direct access to Shangri-La Plaza and Starmall EDSA-Shaw, which in turn provides access to its transport terminal, as well as indirect access to the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, SM Megamall, and Wack Wack Village. Exiting through this concourse is provided through the escalators, elevators, and straight staircases on the northern end of the main platforms. It is the only concourse with elevator access to and from the ground level and to and from the platform level.

The adjacent stairs and escalators that provides street level access to the concourse is often dubbed by commuters as "Mount Shaw Boulevard" due to the length of the staircase to the station's concourse, which is at level with the fourth and fifth floor of the Shangri-La Plaza mall.

EDSA Central concourse
The southern EDSA Central concourse (also referred to as Building B) provides direct access to Greenfield District Pavilion (formerly EDSA Central) mall, which in turn provides indirect access to the Greenfield District and the nearby jeepney terminals. Exiting through this concourse is provided through escalators and a bifurcated staircase from the southern end of the main platforms. It also provides indirect access to Parklea Centre, Cityland Grand Central Residences, and ANF Commercial Center, which is located across Sultan Street. Unlike the Shangri-La concourse which is a standalone building, the EDSA Central concourse is encapsulated within the Greenfield District Pavilion and is located inside its structure.

Station platforms

The station's main platforms consist of two island platforms with the outer sides serving the northbound and southbound tracks respectively, and the inner side serving the single reserve track. The platform space for the reserve track also doubles as additional platform space for commuters embarking and disembarking the trains during peak hours.

Elevated walkway
A narrow, elevated walkway on the 2nd level of the station (outside of the fare gates) can be accessed at the midway of the Shaw Boulevard intersection escalators on the northern concourse. This provides access to the southern concourse and the establishments directly connected to it. Despite being at level with the platform, this walkway is not accessible without passing through the fare gates.

Nearby landmarks

The station serves the Ortigas Center and Greenfield business districts and is near three prominent shopping centers: Shangri-La Plaza, Greenfield District Pavilion (formerly EDSA Central), and Starmall EDSA-Shaw which are all connected by elevated pedestrian walkways. Commuters can also walk or take alternate forms of transportation to the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel, SM Megamall, St. Francis Square, and The Podium. Other nearby landmarks include the Cityland Grand Central Residences, Eurotel, AllBank main branch, San Miguel Corporation building, the Department of Education head office, University of Asia and the Pacific, Lourdes School of Mandaluyong, Astoria Plaza, PhilSports Arena, Capitol Commons, Citystate Centre (Home to the Aliw Broadcasting Corporation headquarters), Wack Wack Village, and the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. Worldwide Corporate Center, home to the CNN Philippines headquarters, is one of the landmarks from the station.

Transportation links
Shaw Boulevard station is a major transfer point for commuters taking other forms of transportation such as buses, taxis, jeepneys, and UV Express. Three major jeepney and UV Express terminals are located either directly below or close to the station.

Prior to the establishment of the EDSA Busway, buses ran along EDSA below the station at their bus terminals at Starmall EDSA and SM Megamall. Currently, these stops are closed and there is no direct bus access to the station. Starmall EDSA serves the Ortigas-Alabang and Ortigas-Taguig P2P bus routes.

Passengers may board taxis at various locations near the station. The closest taxi stands include Starmall, Greenfield District (at Santo Cristo Street), and Shangri-La Plaza (at the entrance opposite Shaw Boulevard).

See also
List of rail transit stations in Metro Manila
MRT Line 3 (Metro Manila)

References

Manila Metro Rail Transit System stations
Railway stations opened in 1999
Buildings and structures in Mandaluyong
1999 establishments in the Philippines

Shaw Boulevard station


FADO (which stands for "False and Authentic Documents Online") is a European image-archiving system that was set up to help combat illegal immigration and organised crime. It was established by a Joint Action of the Council of the European Union enacted in 1998.

Background
The proliferation of genuine and false documents means that frequent updating is essential. Ever more sophisticated techniques are being used to produce both genuine documents and forgeries. A computerised system with restricted access has therefore been built that enables fast and secure information exchange between the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and between document experts in the European Union member states, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Database contents
The database established by the FADO Joint Acts includes the following data:

 images of genuine documents,
 information on security techniques (security features),
 images of typical false and forged documents,
 information on forgery techniques, and
 statistics on detected false and falsified documents and identity fraud.

FADO is currently available to document experts in 31 FADO partner states: in all member states of the European Union (EU) and in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Part of the information shared by document experts in the classified, restricted system, FADO, is made publicly available, via the Public Register of Authentic Documents Online (PRADO) website which is managed by the Council of the European Union.

Document descriptions in FADO are available in all 24 official languages of the European Union. Documents are introduced by document experts in any of the languages and the standardised descriptions are translated automatically; thus, documents are immediately available in all supported languages. Additional free text information contained is translated later on by specialised linguists of the General Secretariat of the council.

See also
 Europa
 Passports of the European Union
 Identity document

Notes

External links
 consilium.europa.eu/prado – PRADO - Public Register of Authentic Documents Online (Official website)
 Combating document fraud: FADO image-archiving system, a summary from the Publications Office of the European Union

Council of the European Union
European Union
Identity documents
International travel documents
Government documents
Public records
Authentication methods

FADO


Fath may refer to:

People
 Given name
 Abol Fath Khan (1755/56 – 1787), third Shah of the Zand dynasty, ruler of the Persian Empire in 1779
 Abu'l-Fath, 14th-century Samaritan chronicler
 Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami (died 1053), imam of the Zaidi state in Yemen
 Abu'l-Fath Musa (died 1034), Shaddadid ruler in Armenia
 Abu'l-Fath Yusuf, 12th-century Persian vizier to Arslan-Shah of Ghazna
 al-Fath ibn Khaqan (ca. 817/818 – 861), Abbasid writer and official, friend and chief adviser of Caliph al-Mutawakkil
 al-Fath ibn Khaqan (al-Andalus) (died 1134), Andalusian writer
 Fatḥ al-Din Ibn Sayyid al-Nās (1272–1334), Egyptian theologian
 Fath al-Qal'i, ruler of Aleppo in 1016
 Fath-Ali Khan Afshar (), Afsharid chieftain in northern Iran
 Fath-Ali Khan Daghestani (), Lezgian nobleman who served as vizier to the Safavid king (shah) Sultan Husayn
 Fath-Ali Khan Qajar (1686–1726), Persian military commander
 Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (1772–1834), second Qajar Emperor (Shah) of Iran
 Fath Muhammad (1704–1725), General of Mysore, India
 Fath Shah (), ruler of Kashmir
 Mirza Fath-ul-Mulk Bahadur (1816/18 - 1856), the last Crown Prince of the Mughal Empire

 Surname
 Abu'l-Musafir al-Fath (died 929), the last Sajid amir of Azerbaijan
 Farah Fath (born 1984), American actress
 Georges Fath (1818–1900), French playwright, illustrator and writer
 Jacques Fath (1912–1954), French fashion designer
 Josef Fath (1911–1985), German international footballer
 Helmut Fath (1929–1993), German sidecar racer and engineer
 Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang (reigned 1617–1624), Subahdar of Bengal
 Mahmud Abu al-Fath (1885–1958), Egyptian journalist
 Saoud Fath (born 1980), Qatari association footballer
 Sébastien Fath (born 1968), French professional historian
 Sinān ibn al-Fatḥ (ca. early 10th century), mathematician from Harran, Upper Mesopotamia
 Steffen Fäth (born 1990), German handball player
 Taj al-Din Shah-i Shahan Abu'l Fath ( – 1403), Mihrabanid malik of Sistan (in present-day eastern Iran, southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan)

Places
 Bu ol Fath, a village in Liravi-ye Jonubi Rural District, Imam Hassan District, Deylam County, Bushehr Province, Iran
 Dehnow-e Fath ol Mobin, a village in Ganjabad Rural District, Esmaili District, Anbarabad County, Kerman Province, Iran
 Fath, Iran, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province
 Fath al Bu Sa`id, a village in Muscat, in northeastern Oman
 Fath Ali Kalat, a village in Pir Sohrab Rural District, in the Central District of Chabahar County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
 Fath Bagh, a village in Anjirabad Rural District, in the Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan Province, Iran
 Fath Expressway, Tehran, Iran
 Fath ol Jalil, a village in Sarkhun Rural District, Qaleh Qazi District, Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan Province, Iran
 Fath Olmobin District, Shush County, Khuzestan Province, Iran
 Fath Air Base, Iran
 Fath-e Maqsud, a village in Gerdeh Rural District, in the Central District of Namin County, Ardabil Province, Iran
 Hajji Fath Ali, a village in Yeylaq Rural District, in the Central District of Buin va Miandasht County, Isfahan Province, Iran
 Hasanabad-e Abu ol Fath, a village in Liravi-ye Miyani Rural District, Imam Hassan District, Deylam County, Bushehr Province, Iran
 Shah Abu ol Fath, a village in Sahrarud Rural District, in the Central District of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran
 Shahrak-e Fath ol Mobin, a village in Balesh Rural District, in the Central District of Darab County, Fars Province, Iran
 Sheykh Nowruz Shahrak-e Fath, a village in Dasht-e Abbas Rural District, Musian District, Dehloran County, Ilam Province, Iran

Organisations
 Fath Riadi de Nador, a Moroccan association football club
 Fath Tehran F.C., an Iranian association football club
 Fath Union Sport, a Moroccan association football club based in Rabat

Other uses
 Al-Fath, a surah of the Qur'an
 Al-Fat'h Iraqi Short-range ballistic missile
 Fath (cannon), Iranian naval artillery
 Fath (newspaper), a defunct Iranian newspaper
 Al Fath (1926–1948), political magazine in Egypt
 Fath al-Bari, a Sunni commentary in Sahih al-Bukhari, written by Ibn Hajr Asqalani
 Fath al-Mulhim, a commentary on Sahih Muslim, written by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani
 Fath Ali shah inscription (Cheshmeh-Ali), Rey, Iran
 Operation Fath ol-Mobin, a major Iranian military operation during the Iran-Iraq War
 Operation Fath 1, a joint Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish military operation during the Iran-Iraq War
 Order of Fath, a military award of the Iranian armed forces

See also
 Fateh (disambiguation)
 Fathul Bari Mat Jahya (born 1980), Malaysian Islamic scholar
 Ravayat-e Fath, an Iranian documentary TV series about the Iran-Iraq War
 Takmilat Fath al-Mulhim, a commentary by Muhammad Taqi Usmani completing the commentary of Shabbir Ahmad Usmani on Sahih Muslim

Fath


Solinky is a town section of Žilina located in northwestern Slovakia, with about 10,000 inhabitants. The residential area consist mainly of low standard flats, although some modern houses have recently been built. There is a newly (2003) built Catholic church, as well as convenience stores and pubs. The supermarkets METRO, TESCO, LIDL and shopping center MAX are also located nearby.

Solinky is home to famous Slovak personalities such as Žilina's ex-mayor Ján Slota and pop singer Tomáš Bezdeda.

Žilina

Solinky


Macolor is a genus of marine ray-finned fish, snappers belonging to the family Lutjanidae. They are native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy
Macolor was described as a genus in 1860 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker. Bleeker used the name Macolor tautonymously as the type species was Cuvier's Diacope macolor which Bleeker renamed, needlessly, Macolor typus. The name may be derived from macula, Latin for "spot" a reference to the white spotting on the otherwise black body of the juveniles of M. niger. The genus is placed within the subfamily Lutjaninae.

Species
The currently recognized species in this genus are:
 Macolor macularis Fowler, 1931 (midnight snapper)
 Macolor niger (Forsskål, 1775) (black and white snapper)

Characteristics
Macolor snappers are medium-sized with a relatively deep, oblong body. They have quite a large mouth which can be ptrotracted. Each jaw has an outer band of conical teeth which are enlarged into canine-like teeth at the front, on the inside of these  are bands of bristle-like teeth, at the side in the upper jaw and set anteriorly in the lower jaw. The vomerine teeth are arranged a rough chevron there is no a median posterior extension. There is a deep incision on the lower edge of preopercle. The dorsal fin is continuous, there is no incision where the spiny and soft rayed part of the fin meet. The spiny part has 10 spines while the soft rayed part has 13 or 14 rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 10 or 11 soft rays. Both the dorsal and anal fins are scaled. The pectoral fins are relatively elongate, roughly equal to the length of the head in adults The caudal fin is emarginate. The overall colour of the  adults is largely blackish with a paler abdomen. They may have wavy dark lines on the head. The juveniles show a contrasting pattern of black with white spots on the back and flanks with a white underside and there is a black bar running through the eye.

Distribution and habitat
Macolor snappers are found in the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans from the eastern coast of Africa east to Samoa, north to the Ryukyu Islands and south to Australia. They are an obvious part of the coral reefs within their range. These fish have a depth range of , although they have been recorded as deep as .

Biology
Macolor snappers occur as adults as both solitary individuals and in schools while the juveniles are frequently observed near crinoids. Like other snappers they are predatory and their prey is mostly fishes and crustaceans.

Fisheries
Macolor snappers are considered to be good eating and are frequently encountered in fish markets but in small numbers. They are typically sold fresh.

References

Lutjaninae
Marine fish genera

Taxa named by Pieter Bleeker

Macolor


Constantin Stamati (1786 – 12 September 1869) was a Romanian/Moldovan writer and translator. Born in Romania, he settled in Chişinău, Bessarabia (presently in Moldova) after the 1812 partition of Moldavia at the end of the Russo-Turkish War.

Stamati became a civil servant and official translator under the first Russian administration of the region. He was rewarded by the Russian Emperor with the Medal of Saint Anne and became a knight of that order.

He made the acquaintance of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin at the time of latter's exile to Chişinău in 1820-1823. Stamati's most important work, Povestea poveştilor ("The Tale of Tales"), an idealized description of Moldavia's beginnings in verse, was published in Iaşi in 1843. His other works include contemporary satires and glorifications of Moldavia's past.

In 1866, he became one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy.

References

Recipients of the Order of St. Anna
Romanian poets
Russian male poets
Romanian male writers
Male poets from the Russian Empire
Male writers from the Russian Empire
Romanian translators
Translators from the Russian Empire
Founding members of the Romanian Academy
Writers from Iași
1786 births
1869 deaths

Constantin Stamati


Marie-Guillemine Benoist, born Marie-Guillemine Laville-Leroux (December 18, 1768 – October 8, 1826), was a French neoclassical, historical, and genre painter.

Biography
Benoist was born in Paris, the daughter of a civil servant. Her training as an artist began in 1781 under Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, and she entered Jacques-Louis David's atelier in 1786 along with her sister Marie-Élisabeth Laville-Leroux.

The poet Charles-Albert Demoustier, who met her in 1784, was inspired by her in creating the character Émilie in his work Lettres à Émilie sur la mythologie (1801).

In 1791, Benoist exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon, displaying her mythology-inspired picture Psyché faisant ses adieux à sa famille. Another of her paintings of this period, L'Innocence entre la vertu et le vice, is similarly mythological and reveals her feminist interests—in this picture, vice is represented by a man, although it was traditionally represented by a woman. In 1793, she married the lawyer .

Her work, reflecting the influence of Jacques-Louis David, tended increasingly toward history painting by 1795. In 1800, Benoist exhibited Portrait d'une négresse (as of 2019 renamed Portrait of Madeleine) in the Salon. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and black people's rights. James Smalls, a professor of Art History at the University of Maryland, declared that "the painting is an anomaly because it presents a black person as the sole aestheticized subject and object of a work of art." The picture was acquired by Louis XVIII for France in 1818.

An important commission for a full-length portrait of Napoléon Bonaparte—Premier Consul Français in this period—was awarded to her in 1803. This portrait was to be sent to the city of Ghent, newly ceded to France by the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. Other honors came to her; she was awarded a Gold Medal in the Salon of 1804, and received a governmental allowance. During this time she opened an atelier for the artistic training of women.

Her career was harmed by political developments, however, when her husband, the supporter of royalist causes, Comte Benoist, was nominated in the Conseil d'État during the post-1814 Bourbon Restoration. Despite being at the height of her popularity, "she was obliged to abandon painting" and pursuing women's causes, due in part to her devoir de réserve ("tactful withdrawal") in the face of the growing wave of conservatism in European society.

Works
 , 1786 (Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe)
 Psyché faisant ses adieux a sa famille (1791)
 L'Innocence entre la vertu et le vice
Portrait of Madeleine (previously known as Portrait d'une négresse (1800, Musée du Louvre))
 Portrait of Madame Philippe Panon Debassayns de Richmont and Her Son Eugene (1802, Metropolitan Museum of Art)
 Portrait de Napoléon (1804, court of Ghent)
 Portrait du Maréchal Brune (1805, détruit; une copie se trouve au Musée du Château de Versailles)
 Portrait de Pauline Borghèse (1807, Musée du Château de Versailles)
 Portrait de Marie-Élise, grande duchesse de Toscane (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Lucca)
 Portrait de l'impératrice Marie-Louise (Château de Fontainebleau)
 La lecture de la Bible, (1810, musée municipal, Louviers)
 La Consultation ou La Diseuse de bonne-aventure, Saintes Musée municipal.

Gallery

See also
:fr:Devoir de réserve dans la fonction publique française

References

Bibliography
Marie-Juliette Ballot, Une élève de David, La Comtesse Benoist, L'Émilie de Demoustier, 1768-1826, Plon, Paris, 1914
Astrid Reuter, Marie-Guilhelmine Benoist, Gestaltungsräume einer Künstlerin um 1800, Lukas Verlag, Berlin, 2002

External links

  James Smalls, Slavery is a Woman: "Race," Gender, and Visuality in Marie Benoist's Portrait d'une négresse.
(in English) Paris A. Spies-Gans, "Marie-Guillemine Benoist, Revolutionary Painter," Art Herstory
  Marie-Guillemine Benoist dans Artcyclopedia
 Online pictures on Artnet

1768 births
1826 deaths
Artists from Paris
French women painters
French genre painters
French portrait painters
French neoclassical painters
Pupils of Jacques-Louis David
Sibling artists
18th-century French painters
18th-century French women artists
19th-century French painters
19th-century painters of historical subjects
19th-century French women artists

Marie-Guillemine Benoist


Off is the latest album of Kurdish artist Ciwan Haco. It has been released in April 2006 in Europe. It features 13 songs, including the electro-pop Li hêviya te and several ballads. All songs are mainly sung in the Kurdish language, although a small part of the song "Li hêviya te" features brief French language vocals (though sung by a woman, and not by Ciwan Haco himself).

Track listing
 "Ez dimam"
 "Dil ketîme"
 "Felek"
 "Daristana te"
 "Dipirsin"
 "Kal"
 "Xunav"
 "Welatê min"
 "Havîn"
 "Li hêviya te"
 "Winda bû"
 "Hayê"
 "Gotin sar dibin"

2006 albums

Off (album)


Outram Park MRT Station (EW16/NE3/TE17) is an MRT Station in Singapore. It is an interchange station on the  East West MRT Line and North East MRT Line. It also be an interchange for the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line, where it became one of three triple line interchanges in Singapore on 13 November 2022.

Timeline
12 December 1987: Station opened along East West Line
20 June 2003: North East Line opened, making Outram an interchange station
29 August 2012: Thomson-East Coast Line was announced, making a triple interchange station
13 November 2022: Thomson-East Coast Line will begin operation

Following Stations
East West Line
Previous: Tanjong Pagar (EW15)Next: Tiong Bahru (EW17)

North East Line
Previous: HarbourFront (NE1/CC29)Next: Chinatown (NE4/DT19)

Thomson-East Coast Line (U/C)
Previous: Havelock (TE16)Next: Maxwell (TE18)

Former Codes
East West Line: W2 (1987 - 2001)
North East Line: H2 (before opening)
Thomson-East Coast Line: N/A

Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore) stations
1987 establishments in Singapore

Outram Park MRT station


The thinstripe hermit crab, Clibanarius vittatus, is a species of hermit crab in the family Diogenidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean.

Description
Like other hermit crabs, Clibanarius vittatus lives inside the empty shell of a gastropod mollusc. This protects its soft abdomen and normally only its head and limbs project through the aperture of the shell. The chelipeds (claw-bearing legs) and claws of Clibanarius vittatus are small, both the same size, and covered in short bristles. When threatened, the animal retreats into the shell and the chelipeds block the aperture. The outside of the claws bear small blue tubercles. The body and legs are dark green or brown; the body is faintly streaked with white and the legs have more distinct white or grey stripes. Adult crabs often occupy shells of over  in length.

Distribution and habitat
Clibanarius vittatus is found in shallow parts of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean. Its range extends from Virginia in the eastern United States southwards as far as Brazil. It is plentiful in the Indian River Lagoon in Florida. It is more resistant to desiccation than many hermit crabs and is found in the intertidal zone as well as at depths down to about . It can be found on sand or mud, in seagrass meadows, on rock jetties, in oyster beds and in other inshore habitats.

Biology
Clibanarius vittatus is a scavenger and mostly feeds on detritus that it finds on the seabed.

Reproduction in Clibanarius vittatus is initiated by the passing of spermatophores from a male crab to a female. The egg mass of several thousand eggs is brooded by the female on her abdomen. After a few weeks the eggs hatch and the larvae are released into the water column and become planktonic. They pass through four or five zoeal stages and one post-larval, glaucothoe stage before sinking to the bottom and metamorphosing into juveniles. The free-living glaucothoe larvae sometimes finds a suitable sized shell before metamorphosis; otherwise, the juveniles need to find suitable new homes before they are consumed by predators. An adult female has several broods each year and may produce 180,000 eggs during the reproductive season.

Ecology

As it grows, Clibanarius vittatus periodically needs to change the shell in which it lives. At this stage it is at its most vulnerable to predators. If a suitable vacant shell cannot be found, crabs may fight each other for shells or even kill living molluscs. The shells chosen by Clibanarius vittatus are usually whelks or conches. Species selected include the lightning whelk (Sinistrofulgur sp.), the knobbed whelk (Busycon carica), the giant triton (Monoplex parthenopeus), the moon snail (Neverita duplicata) and the Florida rocksnail (Stramonita haemastoma).

The sea anemone, Calliactis tricolor, is often found attached to the shell that is occupied by Clibanarius vittatus. This seems to be a mutualistic arrangement in which the crab benefits from the fact that potential predators are deterred by the anemone's stinging cells while the anemone gains a greater access to food as the crab moves around.

References

External links

Hermit crabs
Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean
Crustaceans described in 1802

Thinstripe hermit crab


Francisco Atenógenes Cárdenas Garza (born on July 16, 1879 in Abasolo, Nuevo León - died: July 3, 1943 in San Antonio, Texas) was a Mexican engineer and politician. He was Governor of Nuevo León. He later resigned before the end of his term.

Early life and education
Francisco A. Cárdenas was born in Abasolo, Nuevo León, on July 16, 1879. His parents are José Dolores Cárdenas and Virginia Garza. He studied at the old Monterrey Civil College. He then graduated mining engineer from St. Mary's College in San Antonio, Texas. When he returned home, he dedicated himself to agriculture and livestock activities. His efforts got stopped by the outbreak of the revolutionary conflict in 1910.

Career
Years later, Cárdenas began to show interest in politics. This led him to become mayor of his hometown. Later on, he became the deputy for the XLII Local Legislature. By September 16, 1929, he became second in command and reported to General Aarón Sáenz Garza.

Governor
In mid-1931, he was elected the governor for Nuevo León from October 4, 1931 to October 4, 1935. However, he didn't complete the term as he resigned on December 27, 1933.

Governor Cárdenas had to overcome many challenges caused by the world recession in 1929. Among the issues include the fall in state's income as this forced the president to order that the salaries of public servants be reduced. Many reforms were made to the finance laws which caused the property tax to increase in cities throughout the State. At the same time, taxes on salaries were created. Despite the economic difficulties, the industrial sector's growth did not slow down its growth. In fact, new factories were created.

University of Nuevo León
Sensitive to the increasing demand for education at the professional level, he organized and led a general committee for the founding of the State University. The works began in February 1933.

By May 31, the decree for founding University of Nuevo León was proclaimed. Its first headmaster was writer Héctor González.

Public Hospital
He was also instrumental in the construction of the new Civil Hospital. Works began on May 3, 1933 on an area of about thirty hectares. He also setup the Central Board of Conciliation and Arbitration (1931); the founding of the Casa del Campesino (1932); the construction of the first highway from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey, and the promulgation of a new General Law of Public Instruction.

Personal life
Francisco A. Cárdenas resigned from his position on December 27, 1933. He led a private life after his retirement. He died in San Antonio, Texas, on July 3, 1943. His remains were buried in Panteón del Carmen, in Monterrey.

References

 Autores varios. Los Gobernantes de Nuevo León, historia (1579 - 1989). México, D.F: J.R. FORTSON y CÍA., S.A. de C.V. Editores, 1990

1879 births
1943 deaths
Politicians from Nuevo León

Francisco A. Cárdenas


Avalanche is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Each character is usually depicted as an enemy of the X-Men.

The Dominikos Petrakis version of Avalanche is a Cretan mutant who possesses the ability to generate seismic waves from his hands that are strong enough to create earthquakes of varying sizes and to disintegrate any substance other than living tissue. He has been a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force.

The animated series X-Men: Evolution portrays a different version of Avalanche named Lance Alvers, a misguided mutant teenager and romantic love interest of the X-Men's Shadowcat.

Publication history
Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne, the Dominikos Petrakis version of Avalanche first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #141 (Jan. 1981).

Fictional character biography

Dominikos Petrakis
Avalanche's story before Mystique recruits him for the second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is largely a mystery. It is known, however, that he is an immigrant from the Greek island of Crete. There, he lives a quiet life until Mystique invites him to join her new Brotherhood. During his first public appearance with the Brotherhood, the team unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly during his hearings and testimony on his belief that mutants pose a mortal threat to humanity. The X-Men arrive to stop the assassination and battle the new Brotherhood. After escaping the fray, Avalanche continues his support of Mutant supremacy via terrorist and criminal activities and battling the Avengers with the Brotherhood.

Avalanche briefly leaves the Brotherhood and attempts to blackmail the state of California into paying him an enormous sum to prevent him from using his power to generate an earthquake. Avalanche fights the Hulk alongside Landslide on this occasion and suffers broken arms when he attempts to use his powers against the Hulk. When he returns to the Brotherhood, together they encounter Rom and Hybrid. The team later battles the X-Men as the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" one final time.

After that, The Brotherhood's leader Mystique offers the group's services to the United States government. Their first mission under their new name of Freedom Force is to capture the mutant Magneto on behalf of the federal government. The government then sends Freedom Force to capture the Avengers. While seeking to arrest Rusty Collins, he clashed with X-Factor. Freedom Force then fights the X-Men in Dallas and is present at the X-Men's apparent demise, and battles the New Mutants in Dallas as well. Freedom Force then battled Cyclops and Marvel Girl. Freedom Force again tries to arrest Rusty Collins and battled the New Mutants, but are able to arrest Rusty and Skids as well. They are also dispatched to rescue Senator Robert Kelly from a South American drug syndicate that had kidnapped him, battling the syndicate's superhuman agents in the process. Freedom Force also has a costly battle with the Reavers on Muir Island where a number of members are killed or seriously injured. During the Acts of Vengeance, Avalanche teams with Blob and Pyro against the Avengers. Avalanche then joins Freedom Force's effort to stop a prison breakout at the Vault. Avalanche then participates in Freedom Force's final mission in Kuwait. He abandons Blob and Pyro during the battle with Desert Sword to save the seriously injured Crimson Commando.

When Freedom Force is disbanded after the botched mission in the Gulf War, Avalanche continues to work for the government as part of Project: Wideawake, but soon leaves when he finds out that his friend Pyro had contracted the Legacy Virus.

By the time the X-Men establish themselves in San Francisco, Avalanche, going by the alias "Nick", establishes a bar in order to make a living away from crime. When the X-Men moved their headquarters to San Francisco, Petros was frightened that they would eventually come for him for his past crimes. As he was packing in hopes of leaving his new-found life, the X-Men popped in with a friendly warning that they have a truce but will be back if he ever decides to return to a life of crime. As they leave, with his place of business and apartment trashed, Petros looks around, mumbling to himself.

When Norman Osborn starts his war against Mutants in the heart of San Francisco, Gambit sees Avalanche during the riots with Erg and when Ares makes himself known, Avalanche attacks him by causing the earth to rise up under him. Ares then knocks him out by choking him.<ref>X-Men: Legacy #226. Marvel Comics.</ref> He is seen one more time, sitting drunk in his own bar together with other mutants. They are angry that humans are trying to prevent new mutant births and Avalanche participates in the riot. He has the unfortunate circumstance of being paired up against Daken, who easily dodges the worried Avalanche's tremor and was about to slice him. He is taken into custody along with several other mutants who participated in the riots. Eventually Avalanche and the other imprisoned mutants are freed by the X-Force and he becomes a resident of Utopia.

While Utopia and all of San Francisco are trapped in an energy dome created by Bastion, and the mutant race face extermination at the hands of Nimrod Sentinels from the future, Avalanche is among many of Utopia's non-X-Men residents who have now taken up fighting alongside their former rivals. He can be seen fighting alongside the X-Men Sunspot, Husk, and Boom-Boom, defending the passage of the Bart Tunnels. As an "X-Man", Avalanche is also called in by Cyclops during the Fear Itself storyline to help them stop Kurrth. Avalanche uses his powers to create a chasm that Kurrth would not cross, but Kurrth creates a psychic bridge for him and his brainwashed followers to cross anyway.

Avalanche is kidnapped by the Red Skull who removed part of his brain, replacing it with a machine that turned Avalanche into a puppet to attack New York City. As Captain America tries to stop him, he claimed that "the inciting act is complete" and jumped to his apparent death.

Avalanche was among the mutants resurrected and residing on Krakoa.

Unknown
A somehow-repowered Mesmero brainwashed the unknown Avalanche into joining his Brotherhood of Mutants which was secretly funded by anti-mutant activist Lydia Nance. Avalanche's first mission with the Brotherhood of Mutants was to kidnap Mayor Bill de Blaso and held him hostage. The X-Men arrived and defeated the Brotherhood of Mutants who are then arrested by the arriving S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.

As Lydia Nance still had a use for the Brotherhood of Mutants, she orchestrated Mesmero's escape from the Box. Mesmero once again lured Avalanche and the second Pyro into helping him out again. They were to attack a yacht that was owned by the Heritage Initiative at the time of its fundraiser. They group fought the X-Men alongside the NYPD. The Brotherhood of Mutants managed to get away and fall back to their base. When Mesmero states that the Brotherhood of Mutants are still under Lydia Nance's paycheck, Pyro takes his leave since he didn't want to work for an anti-mutant activist. Avalanche then demanded from Mesmero to get Pyro's cut.

Avalanche then joined another new Brotherhood of Mutants, this time led by Magneto's clone Joseph. During a battle with the X-Men, Avalanche mocked Magik, prompting her to stab him in the heart with her soulsword. It is unknown if he survived this encounter.

Powers and abilities
The Dominikos Petrakis version of Avalanche is a mutant with the superhuman ability to generate powerful seismic waves from his hands, creating highly destructive effects. The waves can cause an inorganic object to shatter or crumble into dust and has in recent years been shown to affect organic matter as well. When directed against large objects like buildings or upon the earth itself, the seismic waves can produce effects similar to those of an earthquake or avalanche within limited areas. Avalanche need not touch an object to affect it; he can direct the waves against it from some distance away. Avalanche himself is immune to the generation of his own vibratory waves. However, if the seismic waves were reflected back at him, he would be injured. Avalanche's power originally had little or no effect on organic tissue, with the reflected vibrations from organic matter ("feedback") injuring him, as when he once tried to attack the Hulk, but lately this has appeared to no longer be the case. As yet there is no known limit to the amount of area upon which Avalanche can use his powers at one time. There is no evidence yet, however, that he could create an earthquake capable of destroying an entire city. Avalanche is a fair hand-to-hand combatant and received unarmed combat training while a member of Freedom Force. Avalanche wears an armored battle suit that gives him enhanced resistance to injury, up to and including protecting him from a land mine. While a member of Freedom Force, he used a two-way radio device for communication with other Freedom Force members.

The unidentified version of Avalanche is also a mutant with the same abilities as the first version except that he can also target organic tissue which the first version was unable to do.

Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse, Avalanche was one of the select mutants that were approached by Sinister and offered a chance to join his Elite Mutant Force. Avalanche, however, refused Sinister's offer, for which he was captured at the Breeding Pens. During an escape attempt, Avalanche was killed and his corpse turned over to the Dark Beast for experimentation.

Marvel Zombies
In Marvel Zombies: Dead Days, he is seen as a zombie alongside a zombie version of the Freedom Force fighting the suddenly zombified X-Men.

House of M
In the "House of M" reality, Dominic appears as a member of the NYPD strikeforce known as the Brotherhood.

Old Man Logan
In the original "Old Man Logan" arc on Earth-807128, it was mentioned that Avalanche was the one who blinded Hawkeye during his discussion with Logan. This was seen in the pages of "Old Man Hawkeye" where he vibrated Hawkeye's skull after he killed Baron Zemo.

In the pages of Old Man Logan that took place on Earth-21923, Avalanche was among the villains that attacked the Avengers in Connecticut. After Giant-Man killed Crossbones and Vulture, Avalanche used his powers to open up a hole in the ground and Moloids started crawling over Giant-Man enough for him to fall to the ground.

In other media
Television
 The Dominikos Petrakis incarnation of Avalanche appears in X-Men: The Animated Series, voiced by Rod Coneybeare. This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
 An original incarnation of Avalanche named Lance Alvers appears in X-Men: Evolution, voiced by Christopher Grey. This version is a teenage thug and high schooler who leads the Brotherhood of Bayville whenever Mystique or Magneto is not around. Initially aggressive, Alvers slowly matures over the course of the series. Additionally, he displays a rivalry with Scott Summers throughout and initially antagonizes Kitty Pryde during the first season before developing mutual romantic feelings for and dating her during the second season, which leads to him briefly leaving the Brotherhood to maintain their relationship. While they break up in the third season, they eventually rekindle their relationship by the series finale, with Alvers and the other Brotherhood members going on to reform and join S.H.I.E.L.D. in a vision of the future that Professor X has.
 The Dominikos Petrakis incarnation of Avalanche appears in Wolverine and the X-Men, voiced by James Patrick Stuart. This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants who speaks with a strong Greek accent and sports a goatee.

Video games
 The Dominikos Petrakis incarnation of Avalanche appears as a boss in X-Men Legends, voiced by Peter Lurie. This version is a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants.
 The Dominikos Petrakis incarnation of Avalanche appears as a boss, later unlockable character, in Marvel: Avengers Alliance''.

Merchandise
Dominic Petros / Avalanche received a figure was released in the "X-Men Classics" toy line.

References

External links
 Avalanche at Marvel Wiki

Characters created by Chris Claremont
Characters created by John Byrne (comics)
Comics characters introduced in 1981
Fictional characters with earth or stone abilities
Fictional Greek people
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics martial artists
Marvel Comics mutants
Marvel Comics spies
X-Men supporting characters

Avalanche (character)


Andrew Tyler (8 September 1946 – 28 April 2017) was an English animal rights activist and journalist. He was the director of the animal rights organisation Animal Aid, until 2016. As a journalist, he wrote for Drapers & Fashion Weekly, NME, Time Out, The Guardian and The Independent.

Biography
Tyler was born on 8 September 1946, in Hackney, London. He grew up in a Jewish children's home from the ages of six to fourteen, when he left school and worked his way up to being a junior reporter at Drapers & Fashion Weekly. Tyler wrote for NME from 1973 to 1980, interviewing several famous musicians including, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Ray Davies, Leonard Cohen and John Lennon. In the early 1980s, he was news feature editor for Time Out. He joined Animal Aid in 1995, later becoming director.

Tyler married Sara Starkey in 1978, who had a son from a previous marriage.

Near the end of his life, Tyler suffered from a degenerative back condition and Parkinson's disease. He retired in 2016 and finished his memoir My Life As an Animal (2017). For the final six weeks of his life, he recorded a video diary, in which he advocated for allowing people to die with dignity. Tyler ended his life at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, on 28 April 2017.

Selected publications

Articles
 "Porton Down", Vegan Views, Autumn 2001.
 A National disgrace?, The Guardian, 3 April 2004.
 with Peter Webbon. "Should the Grand National be axed for being too cruel?", The Guardian, 4 May 2006.
 Don't be blinkered to the cruelty of racing, The Guardian, 18 November 2005.
 "An Act that has failed to protect animals", The Independent, 17 April 2006.
 "Xenotransplantation", Genetic Futures News, undated, retrieved 18 September 2006.

Books
 Big Pig (Animal Aid, 2005)
My Life As an Animal (2017)

See also
 List of animal rights advocates

References

Further reading
Animal Aid
CV for Andrew Tyler, McSpotlight.org; includes Tyler's witness statement to the McLibel case.
Andrew Taylor at Rock's Backpages

1946 births
2017 deaths
20th-century British journalists
21st-century British journalists
Barbiturates-related deaths
English animal rights activists
English male journalists
English music journalists
Deaths by euthanasia
Drug-related suicides in Switzerland
Euthanasia activists
Jewish English activists
NME writers
People from Hackney, London
The Independent people
The Guardian people

Andrew Tyler


Palazzo Blu is a center for temporary exhibitions and cultural activities located in 9 Lungarno Gambacorti, in the heart of the historic center of Pisa, Italy. This museum is managed by the Fondazione Palazzo Blu (a foundation funded by Fondazione Pisa), and is located in the Palazzo Giuli Rosselmini Gualandi (and Palazzo Casarosa), ancient palace restored by the Fondazione Pisa. Its name comes from the blue color uncovered during an architectural recent restoration, and attributable to the taste of Russian owners who acquired the Palazzo in the eighteenth century.

Museum
The Palazzo Blu permanent exhibition is divided into three sections: the Fondazione Pisa collection, on the second floor, and the stately apartments and Simoneschi Collection (numismatics and antiquities) on the first floor. Some artists from the collections (from 300 and Renaissance to 1800 d.C.): Francesco da Volterra, Getto di Jacopo, Agnolo Gaddi, Cecco di Pietro, Taddeo di Bartolo, Benozzo Gozzoli, Vincenzo Foppa, Aurelio Lomi, il Cigoli, Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia Gentileschi, Giovanni Battista Tempesti, Jean Baptiste Desmarais, Giuseppe Bezzuoli, Luigi Gioli. From the rich collection of the twentieth century: Umberto Vittorini, Mino Rosi, Ferruccio Pizzanelli and Fortunato Bellonzi.

Auditorium
The Auditorium often hosts conferences, workshops and events dedicated to the arts, to the culture and the territory.

References

External links

Museums in Pisa
Art museums and galleries in Tuscany
Private art collections
Palaces in Pisa

Palazzo Blu