Old Government House is the former residence of the governor of New Zealand in Auckland, New Zealand.

History

Origins
The present building is the second Government House on this site. The first one was a prefabricated wooden structure manufactured by Mannings of London, a firm which specialised in such structures. Apparently the Auckland house supplied to the first governor of New Zealand was similar to the one sent to Saint Helena to house Napoleon (although he refused to move into it). Built for William Hobson, the first governor, the Auckland House caught fire in 1848 during the governorship of Sir George Grey and he and successive governors occupied rented houses until the current structure was built; these included Scoria House on Karangahape Road (later called St Kevins) and Hulme court in Parnell.

The current building was designed by William Mason, and was completed in 1856 as one of the measures taken by Auckland to retain its status as New Zealand's capital. However, the house was used only sporadically after the seat of government was moved to Wellington in 1865. The wooden Italianate mansion endured criticism from architects and lay people alike, many disliked the flat, pasteboard effect of the façade and the dishonest imitation of stone masonry in wood.

In the 1860s Governor Gore Browne lobbied for a new residence to be built in the nearby Auckland Domain. The intended building (possibly by Rumsey) was a stone Gothic castellated residence strongly resembling the one in Sydney. This sparked criticism partly because of what was perceived as extravagance but also because it would allow part of the Auckland Domain to be alienated from public use. There was also the possibility of the capital being relocated to Wellington which would make an Auckland Government House unnecessary. For these reasons the Weld administration refused funds for such a structure.

Move to Wellington
The capital was relocated to Wellington in 1864 but Auckland wielded considerable clout and the Government found itself maintaining two residences for the governor. Having more than one Government House in a country as small as New Zealand doubtless seemed extravagant but the governor general continues to this day to alternate between Wellington and Auckland. There were even other vice-regal residences for a while: Christchurch and a temporary one at Palmerston North. The house in Christchurch was called Elmwood, was owned by Sir Heaton Rhodes and was in use during the time of Lord Ranfurly. The Palmerston North House, now called Caccia-Birch, was where Lord Plunket moved to after the disastrous fire in 1907 which gutted the Parliament Buildings. Lord Plunket lent the vice-regal residence in Wellington for Parliament to meet in (he had been lobbying for a larger Government House to be provided in any case). The Palmerston North House was the residence of the governor general between 1908 and 1910 while the new Wellington Government House was under construction.

In 1865, a ballroom was added to the building, to accommodate the intended visit of Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, who was unable to come to New Zealand due to the assassination attempt on his life in Sydney in 1868. Alfred visited New Zealand the following year.

Royalty have stayed at the house six times, and Queen Elizabeth II broadcast her Christmas speech from the House in 1953. Old Government House was registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Category I heritage structure on 24 November 1983.

University of Auckland
The Auckland House felt more and more hemmed in as the 20th century progressed especially after apartment blocks began to appear on Waterloo Quadrant. In 1969, Sir Frank and Lady Mappin donated the current Government House (Birchlands) which is located in Mount Eden. In the same year, Old Government House in Waterloo Quadrant became formally part of the University of Auckland. The interior has been rationalised and altered over the years and although much original detailing remains in the main rooms the atmosphere of a palatial residence is conspicuously absent. All the spaces are fairly institutional in manner although the main rooms are decorated with a selection from the university's collection of New Zealand art. Various parts of the building are used as the Staff Common Room, Council reception suite, flats for visiting academics, rooms for the Federation of Graduate Women, while the former ballroom is a lecture theatre.

Various events continue to be held on the front lawn continuing the tradition of vice-regal garden parties. The garden contains many specimen trees planted by visiting dignitaries and governors, in particular George Grey. There is also a rose garden which was planted and tended by successive governors' wives. The site of the former Governor's Stable block was replaced in the 1960s by the Biology Department which is screened from the main, while the adjacent greenhouse complex and tennis courts have likewise been replaced by university buildings.

See also
Government Houses of New Zealand
Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth
Governor-General of New Zealand

References

External links

 Governor-General of New Zealand - Other Government Houses
 Auckland University - Old Government House
Photographs of Old Government House held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.

Official residences in New Zealand
Buildings and structures in Auckland
Buildings and structures of the University of Auckland
Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth
Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in the Auckland Region
1850s architecture in New Zealand
Auckland CBD

Old Government House, Auckland


Harm Bart (born 5 August 1942) is a Dutch mathematician, economist, and Professor of Mathematics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, particularly known for his work on "factorization problems for matrix and operator functions."

Biography
Born in Enkhuizen, Bart started his study at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam in 1960. Here he received his BA in Mathematics and Astronomy in 1964, his MA in Mathematics with a minor in Dogmatics in 1969, and his PhD in 1973 with the thesis "Meromorphic operator valued functions" under supervision of Rien Kaashoek.

After graduation Bart started his academic career at the Faculty of Mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit as Assistant Professor in 1973, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science in 1977. In 1982 he was appointed Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the Eindhoven University of Technology. In 1984 he became Extraordinary Professor of Mathematics and since 1985 Professor of Mathematics at the Erasmus School of Economics of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. From 1987 to 1992 he was Co-Director of the Econometric Institute, first with Teun Kloek and later with Ton Vorst. From 1996 to 2000 he was also Dean of the Erasmus School of Economics.

In 2004 Bart was decorated as Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau. He has been elected Fellow of the Stieltjes Institute for Mathematics, and Fellow of the Tinbergen Institute.

Publications
Bart authored and co-authored three books and over fifty articles.
 1973. Meromorphic Operator Valued Functions. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
 1979. Minimal Factorization of Matrix and Operator Functions, Operator Theory: Advances and Applications, Vol. 1 With I. Gohberg and M.A. Kaashoek. Birkhauser Verlag
 2008. Factorization of matrix and operator functions: The State Space Method (Operator Theory: Advances and Applications / Linear Operators and Linear Systems). With Israel Gohberg, Marinus A. Kaashoek and André C.M. Ran. Vol. 178. Springer.

Articles, a selection:
 Bart, Harm, and Seymour Goldberg. "Characterizations of almost periodic strongly continuous groups and semigroups." Mathematische Annalen 236.2 (1978): 105–116.
 Bart, H., Gohberg, I., Kaashoek, M. A., & Van Dooren, P. (1980). Factorizations of transfer functions. SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization, 18(6), 675–696.
 Bart, Harm, and H. Hoogland. "Complementary triangular forms of pairs of matrices, realizations with prescribed main matrices, and complete factorization of rational matrix functions." Linear Algebra and its Applications 103 (1988): 193–228.

References

External links
 Harm Bart Curriculum Vitae at few.eur.nl

1942 births
Living people
Dutch economists
Dutch mathematicians
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni
Academic staff of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Academic staff of the Eindhoven University of Technology
Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam
People from Enkhuizen

Harm Bart


Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata Dies natalis for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet.

Life

Gerald Finzi was born in London, the son of John Abraham (Jack) Finzi and Eliza Emma (Lizzie) Leverson. Finzi became one of the most characteristically "English" composers of his generation. Despite his being an agnostic of Jewish descent, several of his choral works incorporate Christian texts.

Finzi's father, a successful shipbroker, died a fortnight before his son's eighth birthday. Finzi was educated privately. During World War I the family settled in Harrogate, and Finzi began to study music at Christ Church, High Harrogate, under Ernest Farrar from 1915. Farrar, a former pupil of Stanford, was then aged thirty and he described Finzi as "very shy, but full of poetry". Finzi found him a sympathetic teacher, and Farrar's death at the Western Front affected him deeply.

During those formative years, Finzi also suffered the loss of all three of his brothers, adversities that contributed to Finzi's bleak outlook on life. He found solace in the poetry of Thomas Traherne and his favorite, Thomas Hardy, whose poems, as well as those by Christina Rossetti, he began to set to music. In the poetry of Hardy, Traherne, and later William Wordsworth, Finzi was attracted by the recurrent motif of the innocence of childhood corrupted by adult experience. From the very beginning most of his music was elegiac in tone.

Finzi was, at one time, a vegetarian but gave it up and favoured eggs, fish and sometimes bacon or chicken.

1918–33: Studies and early compositions
After Farrar's death, Finzi studied privately at York Minster with the organist and choirmaster Edward Bairstow, a strict teacher compared with Farrar. In 1922, after five years of study with Bairstow, Finzi moved to Painswick in Gloucestershire, where he began composing in earnest. His first Hardy settings, and the orchestral piece A Severn Rhapsody, were soon performed in London to favourable reviews.

In 1925, at the suggestion of Adrian Boult, Finzi took a course in counterpoint with R. O. Morris and then moved to London, where he became friendly with Howard Ferguson and Edmund Rubbra. He was also introduced to Gustav Holst, Arthur Bliss and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Vaughan Williams obtained a teaching post (1930–1933) for him at the Royal Academy of Music.

1933–39: Musical development
Finzi never felt at home in London and, having married the artist Joyce Black, settled with her in Aldbourne, Wiltshire, where he devoted himself to composing and apple-growing, saving a number of rare English apple varieties from extinction. He also amassed a large library of some 3,000 volumes of English poetry, philosophy and literature, now kept at the University of Reading, and a collection (some 700 volumes including books, manuscripts and printed scores) of 18th-century English music, now held by the University of St Andrews.

During the 1930s, Finzi composed only a few works, but it was in them, notably the cantata Dies natalis (1939) to texts by Thomas Traherne, that his fully mature style developed. He also worked on behalf of the poet-composer Ivor Gurney, who had been committed to a mental hospital. Finzi and his wife catalogued and edited Gurney's works for publication. They also studied and published English folk music and music by older English composers such as William Boyce, Capel Bond, John Garth, Richard Mudge, John Stanley and Charles Wesley.

In 1939, the Finzis moved to Ashmansworth in Hampshire, where he founded the Newbury String Players, an amateur chamber orchestra that he conducted until his death, reviving 18th-century string music, as well as giving premieres of works by his contemporaries and offering talented young musicians such as Julian Bream and Kenneth Leighton the chance to perform.

1939–56: Growth of reputation
The outbreak of World War II delayed the first performance of Dies natalis at the Three Choirs Festival, an event that could have established Finzi as a major composer. He was directed to work at the Ministry of War Transport and lodged German and Czech refugees in his home. After the war, he became somewhat more productive than before, writing several choral works as well as the Clarinet Concerto (1949), perhaps his most popular work today.

By then, Finzi's works were being performed frequently at the Three Choirs Festival and elsewhere. But that happiness was not to last. In 1951, he learned that he was suffering from the then incurable Hodgkin's disease and had ten years to live, at most. His feelings after that revelation are probably reflected in the agonized first movement of his Cello Concerto (1955), Finzi's last major work. However its second movement, originally intended as a musical portrait of his wife, is more serene.

In 1956, following an excursion near Gloucester with Vaughan Williams, Finzi developed shingles, probably as a result of immune suppression caused by Hodgkin's disease. Biographies refer to him subsequently developing chickenpox, which developed into a "severe brain inflammation". That probably means that his shingles developed into disseminated shingles, which resembles chickenpox, and was complicated by encephalitis. He died soon afterwards, aged 55, in the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, the first performance of his Cello Concerto having been given on the radio the night before. His ashes were scattered on May Hill near Gloucester in 1973.

Works

Finzi's output includes nine song cycles, six of them on the poems of Thomas Hardy. The first of these, By Footpath and Stile (1922), is for voice and string quartet; the others, including A Young Man's Exhortation and Earth and Air and Rain, for voice and piano. Among his other songs, the settings of Shakespeare poems in the cycle Let Us Garlands Bring (1942) are the best known. He also wrote incidental music to Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (1946). For voice and orchestra he composed the above-mentioned Dies natalis, and the pacifist Farewell to Arms (1944).

Finzi's choral music includes the popular anthems Lo, the full, final sacrifice and God is gone up as well as unaccompanied partsongs, but he also wrote larger-scale choral works such as For St. Cecilia (text by Edmund Blunden), Intimations of Immortality (William Wordsworth) and the Christmas scene In terra pax (Robert Bridges and the Gospel of Luke), all from the last ten years of his life.

The number of Finzi's purely instrumental works is small even though he took great pains over them in the early part of his career. He began what is believed to have been intended as a piano concerto. This was never finished or given a title, but after his death his publisher gave two of the individual movements names and published them as the separate works Eclogue and Grand Fantasia and Toccata.  The latter demonstrates Finzi's admiration for Johann Sebastian Bach as well as the Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch.  He also completed a violin concerto which was performed in London under the baton of Vaughan Williams, but was not satisfied with it and withdrew the two outer movements; the surviving middle movement is called Introit. This concerto thus received only its second performance in 1999 and its first recording is now on Chandos. Finzi's Clarinet Concerto and his Cello Concerto are possibly his most famous and frequently performed instrumental works, with recordings of these works done by clarinetist John Denman and a young Yo-Yo Ma.

Of Finzi's few chamber works, only the Five Bagatelles for clarinet and piano, published in 1945, have survived in the regular repertoire. The Prelude and Fugue for string trio (1938) is his only piece for string chamber ensemble. It was written as a tribute to R O Morris, and shares the austere and melancholy mood of his teacher's music.

Finzi had a long-standing friendship with the composer Howard Ferguson who, as well as offering advice on his works during his life, helped with the editing of several of Finzi's posthumous works.

Legacy

Finzi's elder son, Christopher, became a conductor and exponent of his father's music. Finzi's younger son Nigel was a violinist, and worked closely with their mother in promoting his father's music.

References

Banfield, Stephen. Gerald Finzi: An English Composer (Faber, 1997)
Dressler, John C. Gerald Finzi: A Bio-Bibliography (Greenwood, 1997)
Jordan, Rolf. The Clock of the Years: A Gerald and Joy Finzi Anthology (Chosen Press, 2007)
McVeagh, Diana. Gerald Finzi: His Life and Music (Boydell, 2006)

External links
The official Gerald Finzi website, created for the composer's family and including latest news of concerts featuring Finzi's works.
A Finzi page on the website of his publisher Boosey & Hawkes, including a complete list of works published by Boosey & Hawkes and a discography.
A Finzi Page at MusicWeb International by John France.
The Finzi Trust, the official Finzi Trust website: listen to Finzi's music and read about his life and works, the Trust's work and the Finzi Travel Scholarships.
Finzi Friends
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/27/gerald-finzi-mark-padmore

1901 births
1956 deaths
20th-century classical composers
English classical composers
Jewish classical composers
Jewish agnostics
English Jews
English people of German-Jewish descent
English people of Italian-Jewish descent
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
People associated with the University of Reading
People from Ashmansworth
Musicians from London
Compositions by Gerald Finzi
Deaths from varicella zoster infection
20th-century English musicians
Choral composers
20th-century British composers

Gerald Finzi


In mathematics, a ring is an algebraic structure consisting of a set R together with two operations: addition (+) and multiplication (•). These two operations must follow special rules to work together in a ring.

Mathematicians use the word "ring" this way because a mathematician named David Hilbert used the German word Zahlring to describe something he was writing about. The integers, the rational numbers, the real numbers and the complex numbers are all famous examples of rings. There are other, more unusual examples of rings, however they all obey the special rules below.

Rules
The operations are used to combine two elements to form a third element. There are a few rules the set and the operations must obey to qualify as a ring. These are called ring axioms:

 Closure: It is required to check if the suggested operations are actually operations on the set. If an operation is used on any elements in the ring, the element that is formed will also be part of the ring.
 For all a, b in R, the result of the operation a + b is also in R.
 For all a, b in R, the result of the operation a • b is also in R.
 Additive Identity element: One element of the ring is special. It is called the additive identity element. If addition is used with the identity element and another element, the other element will not change.
 There exists an element 0 in R, such that for all elements a in R, the equation 0 + a = a + 0 = a holds.
 Associativity of Addition: When addition is done many times, it does not matter how it is grouped, the result will be the same.
 For all a, b and c in R, the equation (a + b) + c = a + (b + c) holds.
 Commutativity of Addition: When addition is done, it does not matter which element is on the right and left, the result will be the same.
 For all a and b in R, the equation a + b = b + a holds.
 Additive Inverse element: Every element in the ring has another element in the group when addition is performed between them, the result is the additive identity element. This is known as its additive inverse.
 For each a in R, there exists an element -a in R such that a + (-a) = 0, where 0 is the additive identity element.
 Associativity of multiplication: When multiplication is done many times, it does not matter how it is grouped, the result will be the same.
 For all a, b and c in R, the equation (a • b) • c = a • (b • c) holds.
 Distribution: When multiplication and addition are both done, certain rules apply.
 For all a, b and c in R, the equation (a + b) • c = (a • c) + (b • c) holds.
 For all a, b and c in R, the equation a • (b + c) = (a • b) + (a • c) holds.

Special Kinds of Rings
Some rings have additional properties from those mentioned above, these rings get special names:

Commutative Ring: If x • y = y • x holds for every x and y in the ring, then the ring is called a commutative ring.

Ring with Unity: If there is a multiplicative identity element, that is an element e such that for all elements a in R, the equation e • a = a • e = a holds, then the ring is called a ring with unity. This element is usually written as 1.

Division Ring: If every element of the ring except 0 has a multiplicative inverse, that is for each a in R\{0}, there exists an element a-1 in R such that a • a-1 = 1, where 1 is the multiplicative identity element, then the ring is called a division ring.

Integral Domain: In a ring, it may be possible to multiply two things which are not zero and get zero as a result. If this is impossible in a certain ring, then the ring is called an integral domain.

Field: A ring with all of the above properties is called a field.

Abstract algebra

Ring (mathematics)


Edgar Fraser Stead (22 October 1881 – 7 February 1949) was a New Zealand ornithologist, engineer, horticulturist and marksman.  He was born in Christchurch and educated there at Christ's College and Wanganui Collegiate School.  He then studied electrical engineering at Canterbury College, followed by three years at Schenectady, New York, at the research laboratories of the General Electric Company.

Following the death of his father, George Gatonby Stead, in 1908, Stead returned to New Zealand and, in 1914, bought a property at Ilam, close to Christchurch, on 20 ha of land adjacent to the river Avon. He had inherited enough to not have to pursue a career in engineering and he devoted the rest of his life to ornithology, angling, hunting and sports shooting, as well as to growing and hybridising prize rhododendrons and azaleas on his property. His collection eventually came into the possession of the University of Canterbury, which maintains it as Ilam Gardens.  He became an expert at all these pursuits and acquired an international reputation for his marksmanship, winning competitions at Monte Carlo and elsewhere.  He frequently travelled to Britain where he acted as a rhododendron judge at the Chelsea Flower Show.  In 1915 he married Irene Mary Phillips in Christchurch, with whom he had a son, Roland.

Ornithology
Stead acquired a detailed knowledge of the birds of Canterbury, as well as of New Zealand's offshore islands through many field trips.  He built up an important collection of skins and eggs which was bequeathed to the Canterbury Museum.  He wrote many papers for the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand and other journals, as well as a book, The Life Histories of New Zealand Birds, published in 1932.  He named two new subspecies of fernbird and a new subspecies of bush wren from Stewart Island (Stead's bush wren, Xenicus longipes variabilis).  His field studies and contributions to natural history and ornithology were recognised in 1948 by his election as a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Stead died at his home in Ilam, survived by his wife and Roland. In 2011, Roland left $110,000 for the maintenance of the Ilam gardens.

References

1881 births
1949 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand
New Zealand non-fiction writers
New Zealand ornithologists
New Zealand male sport shooters
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
People educated at Whanganui Collegiate School
New Zealand horticulturists
Christchurch City Councillors
20th-century New Zealand zoologists
20th-century non-fiction writers

Edgar Stead


Franz Krommer (; 27 November 1759 – 8 January 1831) was a Czech composer of classical music and violinist. He was one of the most popular composers in the 19th century Vienna. Today he is mostly known for his clarinet concertos.

Life
Franz Krommer was born as František Vincenc Kramář in Kamenice. But even his parents were going by a Germanized version of their surname – Krommer. His father was an innkeeper in Kamenice until the family moved to Třebíč in 1773. From 1773 to 1776, Franz studied violin and organ with his uncle, Antonín Mattias Kramář (1742–1804), in Tuřany. He became an organist here along with his uncle in 1777. In 1785 he moved to Vienna and later to Simontornya in Hungary, where he was a violinist and later a Kapellmeister for the orchestra of the Count of Limburg Stirum. In 1790, Krommer was named choirmaster at the Cathedral of Pécs, Hungary. In 1793 he became a Kapellmeister to Count Anton II Grassalkovich. He returned to Vienna in 1795, becoming Maestro di Cappella for Duke Ignaz Fuchs in 1798.

In 1818 Krommer succeeded Leopold Koželuch as composer for the Imperial Court of Austria, the post he held until his death. He was named a Kapellmeister in 1818. According to Carl Engel he may have been Kapellmeister as early as 1814. He died on 8 January 1831 in Vienna, at the age of 71.

Compositions

His output was prolific, with at least three hundred published compositions in at least 110 opus numbers including at least 9 symphonies, seventy string quartets and many others for winds and strings, about fifteen string quintets and much sonorous, idiomatic and at times powerful music for wind ensemble, for which he is best known today.

Further reading
Padrta, Karel. Franz Krommer (1759–1831); Thematischer Katalog seiner musikalischen Werke. Prague: Supraphon, 1997. 425 pp.  (pbk.)
Zouhar, Zdeněk. František Vincenc Kramář: 1759–1959: výběrová bibliografie. Brno: Universitní Knihovna, 1959.
Occasionally a system of classification of Krommer's works is seen in use based on Padrta's work. For example, the quintet for flute and strings opus 55 in E minor is PadK VII/3, the concerto opus 86 for flute and orchestra (also in E minor, and often played with clarinet solo) is PadK III/16. These examples are taken from the listings at a Czech radio station's website, which gives both the standard opus numbers (when available) and the newer system (Rozhlas D-Dur).

References

External links
 HOASM biography
 Biography in English
 Biography in French

1759 births
1831 deaths
18th-century Austrian musicians
18th-century Austrian male musicians
18th-century classical composers
18th-century Bohemian musicians
18th-century violinists
Male classical violinists
Composers for piano
19th-century Austrian musicians
19th-century Austrian male musicians
19th-century Czech musicians
19th-century classical composers
19th-century classical violinists
Austrian people of Czech descent
Czech Classical-period composers
Czech male classical composers
Czech classical violinists
Czech expatriates in Austria
Czech expatriates in Hungary
People from Jihlava District
Czech Romantic composers
String quartet composers

Franz Krommer


Kathryn Mary Chaloner (August 24, 1954 – October 19, 2014) was a British-born American statistician.

Chaloner was a statistics researcher who developed methods in Bayesian experimental design, and well known for her work on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, and women's health. She was a board member of the National Alliance for Doctoral Studies in the Mathematical Sciences, a group of faculty working towards inclusion and diversity in the doctoral-level mathematical sciences.  She led an initiative in statistical sciences to broaden participation in doctoral-level studies in statistics and biostatistics.

Biography
She earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Oxford University where she studied at Somerville College, and a master's degree in Statistics from the University College London before moving to the United States to study at Carnegie Mellon University, where received a PhD in Statistics.

She was a faculty member of the University of Minnesota School of Statistics from 1982–2002.  In 2002, she was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Iowa.

Honors and awards
 Fellow (posthumous) of the Society for Clinical Trials
 Elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association
 Elected Fellow of the International Statistical Institute
 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
 COPSS Elizabeth L. Scott Award  for contributions to service and leadership, mentoring junior faculty and graduate students, contributions to statistical methodology, and application of cutting edge methods to medicine and public health.

References

External links

 NIH Biosketch

Fellows of the American Statistical Association
1954 births
2014 deaths
American statisticians
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford
Alumni of University College London
Carnegie Mellon University alumni
University of Iowa faculty
Women statisticians
20th-century American women scientists
Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Kathryn Chaloner


Closed-loop communication is a communication technique used to avoid misunderstandings.

When the sender gives a message, the receiver repeats this back. The sender then confirms the message, commonly using the word "yes". When the receiver incorrectly repeats the message back, the sender will say "negative" (or something similar) and then repeat the correct message. If the sender, the person giving the message, does not get a reply back, he must repeat it until the receiver starts closing the loop. To get the attention of the receiver, the sender can use the receiver's name or functional position, touch his or her shoulder, etc.

Informally, at least in engineering organizations, closing the loop means establishing an informal communication channel with another individual or organization.  The expression "going open loop" is used to express the idea that someone has lost discipline, acted out of control.

References

Communication studies
Social groups
Teams
Risk management
Human communication

Closed-loop communication


The Benelux Union (; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portmanteau formed from joining the first few letters of each country's name and was first used to name the customs agreement that initiated the union (signed in 1944). It is now used more generally to refer to the geographic, economic, and cultural grouping of the three countries.

The Benelux is an economically dynamic and densely populated region, with 5.6% of the European population (29.55 million residents) and 7.9% of the joint EU GDP (€36,000/resident) on 1.7% of the whole surface of the EU. Currently 37% of the total number of EU frontier workers work in the Benelux and surrounding areas. 35,000 Belgian citizens work in Luxembourg, while 37,000 Belgian citizens cross the border to work in the Netherlands each day. In addition, 12,000 Dutch and close to a thousand Luxembourg residents work in Belgium.

The main institutions of the Union are the Committee of Ministers, the Council of the Union, the General Secretariat, the Interparliamentary Consultative Council and the Benelux Court of Justice while the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property covers the same land but is not part of the Benelux Union.

The Benelux General Secretariat is located in Brussels. It is the central platform of the Benelux Union cooperation. It handles the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Benelux Union and the sundry committees and working parties. The General Secretariat provides day-to-day support for the Benelux cooperation on the substantive, procedural, diplomatic and logistical levels. The Secretary-General is Frans Weekers from the Netherlands and there are two deputies: Deputy Secretary-General Michel-Etienne Tilemans from Belgium and Deputy Secretary-General Jean-Claude Meyer from Luxembourg.

The presidency of the Benelux is held in turn by the three countries for a period of one year. The Netherlands holds the presidency for 2023.

History

In 1944, exiled representatives of the three countries signed the London Customs Convention, the treaty that established the Benelux Customs Union. Ratified in 1947, the treaty was in force from 1948 until it was superseded by the Benelux Economic Union. The initial form of economic cooperation expanded steadily over time, leading to the signing of the treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union (Benelux Economische Unie, Union Économique Benelux) on 3 February 1958 in The Hague, which came into force on 1 November 1960. Initially, the purpose of cooperation among the three partners was to put an end to customs barriers at their borders and ensure free movement of persons, capital, services, and goods between the three countries. This treaty was the first example of international economic integration in Europe since the Second World War.

The three countries therefore foreshadowed and provided the model for future European integration, such as the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Community–European Union (EC–EU). The three partners also launched the Schengen process, which came into operation in 1985. Benelux cooperation has been constantly adapted and now goes much further than mere economic cooperation, extending to new and topical policy areas connected with security, sustainable development, and the economy.

In 1965, the treaty establishing a Benelux Court of Justice was signed. It entered into force in 1974. The court, composed of judges from the highest courts of the three states, has to guarantee the uniform interpretation of common legal rules. This international judicial institution is located in Luxembourg.

Renewal of the agreement
The 1958 Treaty between the Benelux countries establishing the Benelux Economic Union was limited to a period of 50 years. During the following years, and even more so after the creation of the European Union, the Benelux cooperation focused on developing other fields of activity within a constantly changing international context.

At the end of the 50 years, the governments of the three Benelux countries decided to renew the agreement, taking into account the new aspects of the Benelux-cooperation – such as security – and the new federal government structure of Belgium. The original establishing treaty, set to expire in 2010, was replaced by a new legal framework (called the Treaty revising the Treaty establishing the Benelux Economic Union), which was signed on 17 June 2008.

The new treaty has no set time limit and the name of the Benelux Economic Union changed to Benelux Union to reflect the broad scope on the union. The main objectives of the treaty are the continuation and enlargement of the cooperation between the three member states within a larger European context. The renewed treaty explicitly foresees the possibility that the Benelux countries will cooperate with other European member states or with regional cooperation structures. The new Benelux cooperation focuses on three main topics: internal market and economic union, sustainability, justice and internal affairs. The number of structures in the renewed Treaty has been reduced and thus simplified.

Activities since 2008
Benelux seeks region-to-region cooperation, be it with France and Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia) or beyond with the Baltic States, the Nordic Council, the Visegrad countries, or even further. In 2018 a renewed political declaration was adopted between Benelux and North Rhine-Westphalia to give cooperation a further impetus.

The Benelux is particularly active in the field of intellectual property. The three countries established a Benelux Trademarks Office and a Benelux Designs Office, both situated in The Hague. In 2005, they concluded a treaty establishing the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property, which replaced both offices upon its entry into force on 1 September 2006. This organisation is the official body for the registration of trademarks and designs in the Benelux. In addition, it offers the possibility to formally record the existence of ideas, concepts, designs, prototypes and the like.

Some examples of recent Benelux initiatives include: automatic level recognition of diplomas and degrees within the Benelux for bachelor's and master's programs in 2015, and for all other degrees in 2018; common road inspections in 2014; and a Benelux pilot with digital consignment notes (e-CMR) in 2017; a new Benelux Treaty on Police Cooperation in 2018, providing for direct access to each other's police databases and population registers within the limits of national legislation, and allowing some police forces to cross borders in some situations. The Benelux is also committed to working together on adaptation to climate change. A joint political declaration in July 2020 called on the European Commission to prioritise cycling in European climate policy and Sustainable Transport strategies, to co-finance the construction of cycling infrastructure, and to provide funds to stimulate cycling policy.

On 5 June 2018 the Benelux Treaty celebrated its 60 years of existence. In 2018, a Benelux Youth Parliament was created.

In addition to cooperation based on a Treaty, there is also political cooperation in the Benelux context, including summits of the Benelux government leaders. In 2019 a Benelux summit was held in Luxembourg. In 2020, a Benelux summit was held – online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic – under Dutch Presidency on 7 October between the prime ministers.

As of 1st January 2017, a new arrangement for NATO Air Policing started for the airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg (Benelux). The Belgian Air Component and the Royal Netherlands Air Force will take four-month turns to ensure that Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) fighter jets are available at all times to be launched under NATO control.

Cooperation with other geopolitical regions

The Benelux countries also work together in the so-called Pentalateral Energy Forum, a regional cooperation group formed of five members—the Benelux states, France, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Formed on 6 June 2007, the ministers for energy from the various countries represent a total of 200 million residents and 40% of the European electricity network.

In 2017 the members of the Benelux, the Baltic Assembly, three members of the Nordic Council (Sweden, Denmark and Finland), and all the other countries EU member states, sought to increase cooperation in the Digital Single Market, as well as discussing social matters, the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, immigration and defence cooperation. Foreign relations in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea and the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum were also on the agenda.

Since 2008 the Benelux Union works together with the German Land (state) North Rhine-Westphalia.

In 2018 Benelux Union signed a declaration with France to strengthen cross-border cooperation.

Politics

Benelux institutions
Under the 2008 treaty there are five Benelux institutions: the Benelux Committee of Ministers, the Benelux Council, the Benelux Parliament, the Benelux Court of Justice, the Benelux Secretariat General. Beside these five institutions, the Benelux Organisation for Intellectual Property is also an independent organisation.

Benelux Committee of Ministers:

The Committee of Ministers is the supreme decision-making body of the Benelux. It includes at least one representative at ministerial level from the three countries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The ministers determine the orientations and priorities of Benelux cooperation. The presidency of the Committee rotates between the three countries on an annual basis.

Benelux Council:

The council is composed of senior officials from the relevant ministries. Its composition varies according to its agenda. The council's main task is to prepare the dossiers for the ministers.

Benelux InterParliamentary Consultative Council:
The Benelux Parliament (officially referred to as an "Interparliamentary Consultative Council") was created in 1955. This parliamentary assembly is composed of 49 members from the respective national parliaments (21 members of the Dutch parliament, 21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, and 7 members of the Luxembourg parliament). Its members inform and advise their respective governments on all Benelux matters. On 20 January 2015, the governments of the three countries, including, as far as Belgium is concerned, the community and regional governments, signed in Brussels the Treaty of the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly. This treaty entered into force on 1 August 2019. This superseded the 1955 Convention on the Consultative Interparliamentary Council for the Benelux. The official name has been largely obsolete in daily practice for a number of years: both internally in the Benelux and in external references, the name Benelux Parliament has been used de facto for a number of years now.

Benelux Court of Justice:

The Benelux Court of Justice is an international court. Its mission is to promote uniformity in the application of Benelux legislation. When faced with difficulty interpreting a common Benelux legal rule, national courts must seek an interpretive ruling from the Benelux Court, which subsequently renders a binding decision. The members of the Court are appointed from among the judges of the 'Cour de cassation' of Belgium, the 'Hoge Raad of the Netherlands' and the 'Cour de cassation' of Luxembourg.

Benelux General Secretariat:

The General Secretariat, which is based in Brussels, forms the cooperation platform of the Benelux Union. It acts as the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the council and various commissions and working groups. The General Secretariat has years of expertise in the area of Benelux cooperation and is familiar with the policy agreements and differences between the three countries. Building on what already been achieved, the General Secretariat puts its knowledge, network and experience at the service of partners and stakeholders who endorse its mission. It initiates, supports and monitors cooperation results in the areas of economy, sustainability and security.

Benelux works together on the basis of an annual plan embedded in a four-year joint work programme.

Benelux legal instruments
The Benelux Union involves intergovernmental cooperation.

The Treaty establishing the Benelux Union explicitly provides that the Benelux Committee of Ministers can resort to four legal instruments (art. 6, paragraph 2, under a), f), g) and h)):

1. Decisions

Decisions are legally binding regulations for implementing the Treaty establishing the Benelux Union or other Benelux treaties.

Their legally binding force concerns the Benelux states (and their sub-state entities), which have to implement them. However, they have no direct effect towards individual citizens or companies (notwithstanding any indirect protection of their rights based on such decisions as a source of international law). Only national provisions implementing a decision can directly create rights and obligations for citizens or companies.

2. Agreements

The Committee of Ministers can draw up agreements, which are then submitted to the Benelux states (and/or their sub-state entities) for signature and subsequent parliamentary ratification. These agreements can deal with any subject matter, also in policy areas that are not yet covered by cooperation in the framework of the Benelux Union.

These are in fact traditional treaties, with the same direct legally binding force towards both authorities and citizens or companies. The negotiations do however take place in the established context of the Benelux working groups and institutions, rather than on an ad hoc basis.

3. Recommendations

Recommendations are non-binding orientations, adopted at ministerial level, which underpin the functioning of the Benelux Union. These (policy) orientations may not be legally binding, but given their adoption at the highest political level and their legal basis vested directly in the Treaty, they do entail a strong moral obligation for any authority concerned in the Benelux countries.

4. Directives

Directives of the Committee of Ministers are mere inter-institutional instructions towards the Benelux Council and/or the Secretariat-General, for which they are binding. This instrument has so far only been used occasionally, basically in order to organize certain activities within a Benelux working group or to give them impetus.

All four instruments require the unanimous approval of the members of the Committee of Ministers (and, in the case of agreements, subsequent signature and ratification at national level).

Characteristics

Countries

Associated territories

See also
 Admiral Benelux
 EU Med Group
 Baltic Assembly
 Inner Six
 Low Countries
 Nordic Council
 United Kingdom of the Netherlands
 Visegrád Group
 Polish–Czechoslovak confederation
 Proposed United Kingdom Confederation

Notes

References

Further reading

 Willy van Ryckeghem : Benelux in: The European Economy - Growth and Crisis, Andrea Boltho, Editor, Oxford University Press, 1982, .

External links

 Official sites
  (in Dutch and French)
 Benelux Court of Justice
 Benelux Office for Intellectual Property

Regions of Europe
History of the Low Countries
Economic history of Belgium
Economic history of Luxembourg
Economic history of the Netherlands
1944 establishments in the Netherlands
1944 establishments in Belgium
1944 establishments in Luxembourg
International economic organizations
International organizations based in Europe
International relations
Supranational unions
Organizations established in 1944
Northwestern Europe
Bottom-up regional groups within the European Union

Benelux


The House of Shtalberg () is a building of regional cultural heritage. It is at 105 Petrovsky Street, Taganrog, in Rostov Oblast.

History
The House was built In the second quarter of the 19th century in classical style. In the 1840s the house was owned by German Ebergard Karlovic Lorentz, who was registered as an outdoor adviser. Lorentz taught Latin and German at a men's gymnasium before the 1860s. Ebergard Lorentz's spouse was Adelaide Lyudvigovna. It initiated opening in 1848 in the house of the spouse of "Maiden boarding house". In 1863, 32 schoolgirls arrived from Nakhchivan-on-Don, Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk. It was the school of the "closed" type. According to the Charter of Educational Institutions, approved on 8 December 1828, the maintenance of boards at gymnasiums happened at the expense of the made donations. In the third quarter of the 19th century the tradeswoman of the third guild Matrona Nikitichna Batasheva made extensions in the territory of a household. Trade in sugar goods was primary activity of the tradeswoman.

On 2 March 1882 (according to other data – on 2 March 1886) in the house the new educational institution was open. Several years later it became two-complete. Here teachers taught: M. N. Grekov, E. Grekova, A. I. Blonskaya. Achilles Nikolaevich Alferaki was a trustee of school. By the period of opening of this educational institution and the beginning of its work Ebergard Karlovic Lorentz died. His wife Adelaide Lyudvigovna lived till 1899. They had several children: daughters Sofia and Louise, son Karl. Louise was not married, died in 1918. Karl Ebergardovich studied in a gymnasium together with the writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

At the beginning of the 20th century the house became the property of the merchant from Tiraspol Alexander Moiseevich Shtalberg, by last name which the structure is mentioned in historical sources. Some part of rooms of a household was rented by A. E. Kuzovenkova-Anino who equipped since 1902 a parental shelter here. In the 1910th years Alexander Ivanovich Perov opened a photographer's studio in this house which enjoyed wide popularity at locals. Perov's wife was called Anastasia Dmitriyevna, in family there were several children — Antonina, Vera, Nadezhda and Elena. In the 1920th years in the house the club of metalworkers of the boiler plant was located. In 1992 the house down the street Petrovsky, 105, is recognized as an object of cultural heritage and a monument of architecture. It is protected by the law.

References

Tourist attractions in Taganrog
Buildings and structures in Taganrog
Cultural heritage monuments in Taganrog
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Rostov Oblast

Shtalberg House


The Anāl   is a Naga tribe native to Manipur state in North-East India and part of Myanmar. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe, in accordance with The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 Indian Constitution. The Anāl tribe is one of the 'sixty six Naga tribes' of the Naga ancestral homeland. The members of this tribe are found both in India and Myanmar. In India, they are situated in the States of Manipur and Nagaland but mostly concentrated in the former. In the State of Manipur, the Anāl Naga population concentrated in Chandel and a few Anāl villages are located in its neighbouring districts, Churachandpur district has about three villages and Thoubal district has one or two.

The Anāls in Myanmar live in the Sagaing sub-division. The Anāl population in this part has been dwindling. At present, there are three Anāl villages, 'Nga Kala, Napalun and Haika'. Formerly the Anāls had no problem to move or visit Anāl areas now in Myanmar and vice versa. However, with the demarcation of boundaries, they came under two distinct units and the consequent restriction imposed on the movement of the people of both sides, the Anāls had to stop such free movement between them. Consequently, there has not been any interaction between the members of the same tribe now existing under two different countries. The Anāl community is one of the oldest inhabitants of the hill areas in Manipur state. The archaeological findings at Chakpikarong also point it. Despite this, the numbers of Anāls remain small. According to Census of India, the Anāl population was 21,242 and 1991 census placed as 10,642.

The Anāl Naga is recognized as a tribe in Manipur since 1951. This recognition of Anāl tribe was done by Rochunga Pudaite who met the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi in 1951 and requested him to give Scheduled Tribe recognition to the Hmar tribe of Northeast India by wearing a traditional Hmar attire. The PM then asked him if he knew of the existence other tribes which had not been included in the list. Rochunga then added the tribes of Anāl, Kom, Paite, Vaiphei, Ralte, Chothe and others, thus paving way for their recognition. However, it was only after the Scheduled Tribes Reorganisation in 1956 that all the aforementioned tribes were recognised by the Manipur government. Therefore, Anāl Naga is one of 33 tribes in Manipur. The Anāl Language falls under Tibeto-Burman languages family. Referred to them as one of the "Naga" tribes of Manipur and recognised as part of the List of Naga tribes by the state government of Manipur.

History
The Anāl tribe is one of the oldest indigenous tribes in the state of Manipur in Northeast India. Chakpikarong is a land of the Anāls since the time the earliest settlers occupied the hill country of Manipur. The Anāls settled both in India and Myanmar, their settlements crossed the Indo-Myanmar border. In India, the members of the tribe are found in the state of Manipur, mainly in Chandel district and a few villages in Churachandpur district and Thoubal district. There are hundred and forty one villages in Chandel district. The neighbouring districts, Churachanpur district has three Anāl villages, namely Kolen, Dutejol and Warkhu, and the Thoubal district has one Anāl village- Moirankhom. Under the Myanmar administrative unit, there are three Anāl villages namely, Ngakala, Napaleen and Haika. According to the census report of 2001, the total Anāl population in India ais 21,242. The Anāl population in Myanmar is not known because many of them are assimilated to the major community. Originally, the Anāls were animistic but are now largely Christian. However, Christianity became a religion for the Anāls only after India's independence. Today, more than 95 per cent of Anāls are Christians and are concentrated in Chandel of Manipur. One of the positive impacts of Christianity among the Anāls is education.

The Anāls are amongst the indigenous of Manipur. The history of Moirang (a Meitei kingdom) and the Anāl traditional songs and tales suggests an existence in the presence of inhabited areas since the beginning of the 1st century AD or much earlier. The Anāl cultural and traditional relationship with the Meitei brethren dates backs to 33 AD, and the Meitei King Wangbarel (Pakhangba) married an Anāl woman belonging to the Wanglum clan of Anāl Khullen.

Folklore
In the words of Horam, in 'Naga Polity, "it can be said that the Nagas at first live in stone caves or in the womb of the earth". YL. Roland Shemmi also writes, "Angami, Lotha, Rengam belief that they came out from the earth hole. Tangkhul Naga came out from earth hole at Hundung. Ao tribe believes that they were the first to come out of underground cave". Thus cave theory as an epicenter of their origin is common among many tribes and all the Nagas tribe shared this theory. Anāl legend states that the Anāl, together with the other Pakan tribes, originated in Mongolia. They lived in a cave guarded by a man-eating tiger. Two Anāls, Hanshu and Hantha, killed the tiger with the help of birds from the sky. After the tiger's death, the tribes left the cave, traveling through China, Tibet, and numerous other areas before settling in Manipur. The Anāls are divided into two groups based on who they believe they are descended from, Hanshu and Hantha .

Etymology
The origin of the name Anal is not clear.  One hypothesis is that the group name comes from the surname of R.D. Angnal. Another suggested explanation is that the name derives from the Meitei word anan, which means "clean," suggesting that the group had a reputation for cleanliness. The Anaal generally describe themselves as the Pakan.

Ethnic identity
The political relationship between the Nagas and the Kukis since the eve of British colonialism to post-British era has always been opposed to one another. The Anāls oral history says they were always at war with the Kukis. In Chakpikarong (The Anāls Naga habitation) Stone Age culture age has been explored and found the existence of this culture. This shows the Anāl Naga tribe is one of the oldest tribes of Manipur state. The oral history of the Anāls says that Anāls were oppressed by the Kukis during the Kuki rebellion of 1917.

Demographics
The Anāls live in the Manipur region of Northeast India, which is surrounded by the Imphal valley to the north, Churachandpur districtto the west, the Chin Hills to the south and Kabaw valley to the east. The area is very hilly, with thick jungles and many wild animals. According to the 2001 census, there are approximately 21,242 Anāls in Manipur. In 1981 they were living in 45 villages. In 1981 they were living in 45 villages.

Literacy and educational level
According to Census India in the year 2001, the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population in Manipur recorded 65.9 per cent literacy, which is above the national average for STs (47.1%). Of the thirteen major STs, the Anāls recorded the fourth highest literacy rate of 73.9% while Hmar recorded the highest literacy of 79.8 per cent, followed by Paite (79%), Any Mizo tribes (74%) and Tangkhul (72.7%).

Social life
In social practices, many of them are unique. One conspicuous trait is the division of tribe's clans into two distinct groups, viz., 'Mosum' and 'Murchal'. Such as marriage can occur between the members of these two blocks, if any, intra-marriage prevails, it leads to ostracism of the concerned couple. The economy of Anāls is primarily based on crude agriculture.

The Anāls' political system, since time immemorial, is democratic in nature and practice. This could be evinced by the election of village authority: the chief and his associates are elected by either voice vote or raise hand.

The Anāl traditionally live in windowless wooden houses with thatched roofs, erected above ground level. The houses have two doors of different sizes and two rooms, a bedroom and a storeroom ().

Anāl men traditionally wear a lungi (similar to a dhoti) and a simple shirt, called a pakan lungum; they also strap on a basket () for carrying dao and other tools. Women wear undergarments, a skirt, blouse, and shawl, which cover them from their heads to their knees; they also carry a basket(Anal:Bowl). Both sexes can wear jewellery, including rings, necklaces, and bracelets, as well as special long earrings made from insect wings. Traditionally clothing is made by the women.

Anāl are traditionally monogamous, although cases of polygyny have been reported. In order to marry, an Anāl man must pay a bride price (); after marriage, the wife moves to the husband's home. Divorce () is permitted among the Anāl, although a fine may be incurred.

The Anāl are traditionally polytheistic, believing in a supreme creator named Asapavan, as well as a secondary deity named Wangparel and numerous spirits. The largest Anāl rite is called Akam, which is divided into six stages (Judong, Bhuthawsing, Hni, Sapia, Akapidam, and Dathu) and takes six years to complete. During the Akam, the Anāl sacrifice mithun and pigs and offer a feast to the community. Some Anāl have converted to Christianity.

Traditionally, Anāl men work as carpenters, particularly the manufacture of bamboo furniture, and in basketry. Women traditionally specialized in weaving and spinning cotton, which is grown locally. Due to modernization and competition from factory-produced goods, many traditional methods have been abandoned. They are also farmers, harvesting rice, soybeans, pumpkins, tomatoes, and gourds.

The Anāl have many traditional musical instruments, including the khuwang (drum), sanamba (three-stringed fiddle), dolkhuwang (gong), pengkhul (trumpet), tilli (flageolet), rasem (a pipe instrument), and diengdong (xylophone They are good dancers and their traditional dances include the kamdam, which is performed by young people for the akam festival, and the ludam, which celebrated victorious headhunting.

The Anāl are omnivores, eating fish, eggs, beef, pork, and other kinds of meat as well as fruits and vegetables. Although traditionally they do not drink milk, some families now drink it with tea. A form of rice beer, known as zupar or zuhrin, is also drunk.

References

Scheduled Tribes of Manipur
Indigenous peoples of South Asia
Ethnic groups in Myanmar
Ethnic groups in Northeast India
Ethnic groups in Manipur
Naga people
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Tribes of India

Anāl people


Esther Razanadrasoa, pen name Anja-Z, (1892–1931) was a Malagasy poet and novelist who wrote in the Malagasy language. She was also the editor in chief of the literary journal Tsara Hafatra.

Biography
Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar in 1892, Esther Razanadrasoa was brought up in a Hova environment by a father who was a journalist, writer and composer, and by a mother who inspired her to adopt the pen name of Anja-Z. Following in her father's footsteps, she wrote novels, plays and poetry. While her poetry was not published during her lifetime, she published a number of novels, several of them considered highly successful. She was also editor in chief of the Malagasy literary journal Tsara Hafatra. Much of her poetry is in the kindriandina tradition, consisting of romantic thoughts and aspirations as frequently practised by young Hova women.

In her novel L'Orage, the Swiss writer Douna Loup tells the story of Esther Razanadrasoa and her lover Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, a budding local poet. It is based mainly on some 1,200 pages of his diary which revealed that Esther lived an exceptionally free life for a woman in the 1920s, marrying quite late.

Following her untimely death on 14 April 1931, Rabearivelo told of his close relationship with Razanadrasoa and published three of her poems which he had translated into French. According to Rabearivelo's own account, she died from the abortive substances she took in an attempt to prevent pregnancy after sleeping with him.

References

1892 births
1931 deaths
People from Antananarivo
Malagasy women writers
20th-century Malagasy poets
Malagasy novelists
Malagasy women novelists
Malagasy editors
Women editors
Malagasy women poets
Malagasy-language writers

Esther Razanadrasoa


The DeWalt Industrial Tool Company is an American worldwide manufacturer of power tools and hand tools for the construction, manufacturing and woodworking industries, as well as home craftspeople. DeWalt is a registered trademark of Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., a subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker.

History
The original company was started in 1924 by Raymond E. DeWalt, inventor of the radial arm saw. It grew quickly and was reorganized and reincorporated in 1947 as DeWalt Inc. American Machine & Foundry Co., Inc. bought the company in 1949, and sold it to Black & Decker in 1960. Black & Decker divested itself of the radial arm saw manufacturing branch in 1989, selling it to two executives.

In 1992, Black & Decker began a major effort to rebrand its professional quality and high-end power tools to DeWalt. In 1994, DeWalt took over the German woodworking power tool producer ELU, and used ELU's technology to expand their tool line. , they manufacture and sell more than 200 hand power tools and 800 accessories.

DeWalt is now a popular brand of tools for commercial contractors. In 2004, Black and Decker bought rival power tool manufacturer Porter-Cable and combined it with DeWalt in Jackson, Tennessee. In 2011, DeWalt launched a line of contractors' hand tools (including utility knives, pliers, adjustable wrenches, tape measures, saws, and hammers). In 2013, it was expanded to include mechanics' tools, including wrenches, ratchets and sockets.

In December 2013, DeWalt announced it would begin assembling a small selection of their products in the United States, using parts manufactured in Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the U.S., and that these products would be labeled "Built in the USA with global materials." , they have seven U.S. manufacturing facilities, in New Britain, CT, Hampstead, MD, Shelbyville, KY, Greenfield, IN, Cheraw, SC, Charlotte, NC, and Jackson, TN.

In April 2016, DeWalt created an Android-powered smartphone designed for building industry workers. It costs £379 ($544), is designed to survive a  drop onto concrete, and has an operating range of .

On September 1, 2016, DeWalt debuted its FlexVolt hybrid voltage battery pack that can switch between series battery wiring providing 60 V (54 V nominal) and 2 Ah, or parallel wiring for 20 V (18 V nominal) and 6 Ah, depending on whether it is installed in a 60 V or 20 V tool, determined by communication between the tool and battery.

Around May 2017, DeWalt began integrating its BlueTooth-capable ToolConnect technology into its drills and impact drivers. ToolConnect integrates with DeWalt's mobile app to provide fleet management tracking, tool diagnostics, and custom tool profiles. Currently, only DeWalt's high-end power tools include ToolConnect built natively into the tool, though some models include a ToolConnect slot in the base to add connectivity when buying a separate after-market ToolConnect chip. For example, the DeWalt 20 V Max XR DCF888 impact driver has ToolConnect built natively into the tool whereas the DeWalt 20 V Max XR DCF845 impact driver has a slot to insert a ToolConnect chip should the user decide to add this connectivity after purchase.

In May 2018, it released a line of 20 V and 40 V cordless lawn mowers.

In September 2022, DeWalt launched POWERSTACK battery technology and became the first power tool manufacturer to launch a battery platform that leverages pouch style, lithium ion battery technology, for their power tools.

Brand launching

Black & Decker was long associated with lighter weight consumer tools such as household appliances, and not the heavy duty equipment professional builders wanted. Towards the end of the 1980s, Michael Hammes, executive vice president and president of the company's power tools and home improvement group, introduced the "Acura concept," a notion Honda utilized to enter the upscale automobile market. Black & Decker found it useful to reintroduce a name with little appeal to many consumers in the market for construction tools.

DeWalt was acquired in 1960 and continued to produce radial arm saws, table saws, belt/disc sanders and other stationary power equipment. In 1992, Black & Decker introduced a few models of hand power tools under the DeWalt label to the consumer and tradesman market.  These tools were merely rebadged models from the Black & Decker "Professional" and "Kodiak" lines with a new yellow housing and an expanded warranty and service policy. Both lines were shortly thereafter discontinued in favor of the DeWalt label and its growing popularity. In a market survey of the United States done by Black & Decker before its reintroduction, the name DeWalt was recognized by 70% percent of tradespersons.

Sponsorship

NASCAR

DeWalt Tools sponsored NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth from 1999 through to the season of 2009. In this time period, Kenseth won 18 races, the 2000 Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Award, 2003 Sprint Cup Series Championship, 2004 Sprint Cup All Star Race and the 2009 Daytona 500.

However, in July 2009, DeWalt announced that they would not be renewing their sponsorship deal with Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing due to the poor economic conditions in the construction industry. DeWalt had also sponsored MotoGP rider, Ben Spies, for the racing season of 2010.

DeWalt returned to NASCAR sponsorship in 2011, but on the #9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion driven by Marcos Ambrose. This sponsorship ended after 2014, when Ambrose departed the Sprint Cup Series, with DeWalt choosing to re unite with Kenseth, who now drove the #20 for Joe Gibbs Racing, sponsoring six races in 2015, ten races in 2016 and 15 races in 2017.

When Kenseth retired after the season of 2017, DeWalt moved to his replacement in the #20 Erik Jones and parent company Stanley sponsors Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez. As of 2021, DeWalt sponsors Christopher Bell in the 20 car.

Formula One

On July 15, 2021, McLaren announced a multi-year partnership with Black & Decker. DeWalt will be the official tool and storage supplier for the McLaren Formula One team. DeWalt will be featured on the car's rear wing endplates and on the drivers' racing suits.

NASCAR
On January 18, 2023, Dewalt announced a sponsorship of Toyota NASCAR driver Christopher Bell (racing driver) in 10 Cup races for 2023.

Football
DeWalt signed a sleeve sponsorship deal with AFC Bournemouth in 2022.

Gallery

References

External links

DeWalt history
Black & Decker history
DeWalt page at Old Wood-Working Machines web site

American brands
Stanley Black & Decker brands
Woodworking hand-held power tools
Power tool manufacturers
1949 mergers and acquisitions
1960 mergers and acquisitions
Manufacturing companies based in Maryland
Companies based in Baltimore County, Maryland
Towson, Maryland
Tool manufacturing companies of the United States

DeWalt


Leonel Godoy Rangel (born June 5, 1950 in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán) is a Mexican lawyer, politician, and former Governor of Michoacán.  He is a former president of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

Political career
Leonel Godoy began his political career in his native Michoacán serving in various positions during the governorship of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas. He served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1994 to 1997. In 1997 he joined the cabinet of Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas's government in the Federal District. Godoy has also served in the cabinets of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Federal District) and Lázaro Cárdenas Batel (Michoacán). Godoy hails from the coastal region of Michoacán.

Godoy was elected to the Senate as a joint PRD-PT-CD candidate, representing the state of Michoacán, in the federal election held on July 2, 2006. In June 2007 he was elected by the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) as candidate for governor of Michoacán for the November 11 state election. According to the Preliminary Results Program (PREP) he won the election with nearly 38% of the votes and assumed office in February 2008.

Godoy is the second governor elected for Mexican's PRD Party in Michoacan State Government. He propose a new scheme in secretaries based in youth, women, migration Native People and other unprotected condition social sectors.

External links
Official Facebook profile
Hi5 Web Page

References

1950 births
Living people
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)
Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico)
Presidents of the Party of the Democratic Revolution
20th-century Mexican lawyers
People from Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán
Politicians from Michoacán
Governors of Michoacán
21st-century Mexican politicians
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo alumni
National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni
20th-century Mexican politicians
Academic staff of Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo

Leonel Godoy Rangel


Dead on Target is the first book in The Hardy Boys Casefiles series. It was first published in the year 1987.

Plot summary
Joe Hardy's girlfriend, Iola Morton, is caught in a car bomb and dies. Joe is unable to believe it. The brothers begin their investigation. They meet a person who calls himself the "Gray Man," from a government agency called "The Network." Frank and Joe take his help to get to the person who planted the bomb. Soon they learn that it is not a person, but a group of terrorists who call themselves "Assassins."

Joe vows to kill them. As the story progresses, some Assassins are killed in encounters while others escape. They come to know that the person who killed Iola is a member of The Assassins named Al-Rousasa.

When the book is about to end, Frank, Joe, Chet (who is Iola's brother) and their other friends begin searching a shopping mall when they learn that the Assassins plan to kill a presidential candidate giving a speech in Bayport. Soon, Joe and Frank have a fight with Al-Rousasa at the top floor. The fight ends with Al-Rousasa falling to his death, and Joe remembers what he had been told - "Nobody takes an Assassin alive."

Important changes in Dead on Target
Casefile #1, Dead on Target, was a drastic change from the established Hardy Boys world.

 Iola Morton is killed by a terrorist car bomb in the first volume.
 The books become more grisly. Frank and Joe use firearms and investigate murders.
 Chapters no longer have titles, and there are no illustrations.
 The boys collaborate with the Gray Man, who represents a cloak-and-dagger crimefighting unit. (Similar to SKOOL and UGLI from The Secret Agent on Flight 101 ...)

External links
The Hardy Boys Encyclopedia

The Hardy Boys books
1987 American novels
1987 children's books

Dead on Target (The Hardy Boys)


Fort Nisqually was an important fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area, part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department.  It was located in what is now DuPont, Washington.  Today it is a living history museum located in Tacoma, Washington, USA, within the boundaries of Point Defiance Park.  The Fort Nisqually Granary, moved along with the Factor's House from the original site of the second fort to this park, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.  Built in 1843, the granary is the oldest building in Washington state and one of the only surviving examples of a Hudson's Bay Company "post-and-plank" structure. The Factor's House and the granary are the only surviving Hudson's Bay Company buildings in the United States.

Foundation
The Hudson's Bay Company expanded to the west coast by forming the Columbia District to oversee its operations in what was known by American interests as the Oregon Country. Forts would be built in the District at central fur gathering locations, accessible to a large number of tribes. In 1824, Fort Vancouver was built a few miles from the Columbia River to the south, and Fort Langley was built in 1827 on the Fraser River to the north. The Cowlitz Portage, an overland and shortcut route, was soon created, and thus a vital link between the two forts was established. After the attack and murder of Alexander McKenzie and four men in his party on this route (in revenge for which the HBC leveled an unrelated S'Klallam village, killing twenty-seven people ), it was determined a fort located at a halfway point was needed for safety and security reasons.

The new midway location was at Nisqually, chosen for its excellent ship anchorage, its convenience for overland travel, the friendliness of local tribes and its prairies for grazing animals and growing crops. Located near the mouth of Sequalitchew Creek on the plains north of the Nisqually River Delta, in the present town of DuPont, Washington, Nisqually House was built in April 1832. It was a 15 by 20 feet warehouse. The staff was only three men with a few supplies left behind to manage it. It was notably the first European trading post on the Puget Sound.

Operations
One year later, in May 1833, Chief Trader Archibald McDonald returned with William Fraser Tolmie and seven men to begin the construction of a permanent fort. Tolmie spent the year there and wrote about the region extensively. The men were dependent upon the surrounding native villages for sustenance because they were unable to find much game to hunt. Relations with neighboring Indigenous people began to deepen, the officers of the post meeting with Chief Gray Head of the Steilacooms in 1833. Trading with the nearby Puyallup tribe and more distant S'Klallams developed in the same year.

Fort Nisqually was operated and served by Scottish gentlemen, Native Americans, Hawaiian Kanakas, French-Canadians, Métis, West Indians, Englishmen and, in later years, a handful of Americans. Fort Nisqually grew from an obscure trading post to a major international trading establishment, despite not being a true military outpost. The fort's main export was beaver pelts that could be used for making a beaver-pelt top hat. Over the time Fort Nisqually functioned as a trading post, about 5,000 beaver, 3,000 muskrat, 2,000 raccoon and 1,500 river otter furs were collected.

Puget Sound Agricultural Company

Founded in 1840, the Pugets Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) was formed as a subsidiary of the HBC to meet its contractual obligations with the Russian-American Company in the RAC-HBC Agreement. Fort Nisqually and Cowlitz Farm were attached to the new venture, though it remained staffed and managed by HBC personnel. In 1841 mostly Métis families from the Red River colony were hired by the PSAC to become pastoralists and farmers upon its two stations. After traveling overland to Fort Vancouver with James Sinclair, 14 emigrant families from the Red River colony chose Fort Nisqually as their final destination. The station was removed in 1843 to be closer to Edmonds Marsh and Sequalitchew Creek, putting it in proximity of a water source and timber.

Fort Nisqually started to export livestock and crops for local consumption and export to principally to Russian Alaska, the Kingdom of Hawaii and Alta California. The herds of cattle, originally from Mexico, numbered over 2,000 in 1845 and supplied many of the HBC forts in the region. The sheep herds maintained were "aristocrats of the wool breeds", being composed of mixtures of Chevoit, Leicester and Southdown breeds. The flocks numbered almost 6,000 in 1845, doubled in size by 1849 but began a decrease of numbers until by 1856 the station had a little over 5,000.

Tolmie was the manager of the PSAC from 1843 to 1857, overseeing the pastoral and agricultural projects from Fort Nisqually. His tenure covered the transition from British to American control beginning in 1846 as result of the Oregon Treaty and the Puget Sound War. He was well respected because of his experience with the region and maintained friendly relations with the British, Indigenous peoples and American settlers.

Description
Catholic missionary Jean Bolduc described the station in 1843 as having:

...an enclosure of fir logs, on an average eighteen feet high, enclosing a space one hundred fifty feet on each side and having a small unarmed bastion at the four corners. Inside is a house for the superintendent, a store for trading in furs and several small buildings for the lodging of servitors and voyageurs.

Oregon Treaty
The 1846 treaty between the United States and Great Britain established the border between British North America and the United States at the 49th parallel, which left Fort Nisqually on American soil. Early American settlers around Puget Sound began arriving in numbers during the 1850s to claim land authorized by the Donation Land Claim Act. This group was dependent upon Fort Nisqually for provisions and supplies, unable to make the needed food themselves. Bartering was the norm, with agricultural produce accepted as payment. Squatters from the United States became a problem for Fort Nisqually. Twenty-eight separate attempts to take portions of the fort's land happened in 1851, jumping to 50 incidents two years later. The herds of Fort Nisqually became targeted as well, an officer reporting in 1854 that "two or three bands of Americans [are] constantly about the plains killing our beef..." With the fur trade in decline and increasing harassment from American settlers, tax collectors, and revenue agents, Fort Nisqually closed in 1869. A former employee of Fort Nisqually, Edward Huggins, became an American citizen and took over the site as his homestead.

Management

Restoration

In the 1930s a decision was made to build a reconstruction of Fort Nisqually in a new location: Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, approximately 15 miles from the original fort. The restoration was part of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal program, which provided jobs to a nation stricken by the Great Depression. The effort was funded and backed by the WPA and the Tacoma Businessmen's Association. Only two buildings, the granary and the factor's house, were moved from their original locations. The remainder had fallen into decay and were not relocated to Point Defiance.

The Fort Nisqually Granary was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Modern use
Today, the restored Fort Nisqually is a living history museum run by employees and volunteers.  Two of the original buildingsthe Factor's House and the Granaryremain. In addition, there is a trade store, working blacksmith shop, laborers' dwelling house, demonstration kitchen and kitchen garden. Fort Nisqually has seen recent changes designed to capture its original character. These changes include, most significantly, the restoration of the Factor's House, as well as the relocation and restoration of the two 1830s era bastions. In addition, a section of the palisades wall is designed to replicate the 1847 era wall.

Archeology was conducted in 1988–89 to determine the placement, orientation and size of the northeast bastion and palisades wall. Hundreds of artifacts were discovered and catalogued and have been added to the historical record. In addition, much research has been conducted using the original journals as well as hundreds of letters of Edward Huggins. Huggins was a clerk of the HBC who arrived in 1850. Huggins, originally a Londoner, eventually became an American citizen and homesteaded the land and buildings after it was abandoned by the HBC. He lived on the land until 1906, when he died of colon cancer. The restored fort is managed by Metro Parks Tacoma.

The 1833 location is on The Home Course golf course in DuPont. The 1843 location in DuPont, where the buildings now at Point Defiance were originally located, is owned by The Archaeological Conservancy, is managed by DuPont Historical Society, and is closed to the public, except when opened as part of the Fort Nisqually celebration held each year. Logs mark the location of the original walls, but there are no buildings remaining.  The only visible remnants of the original fort are a line of black locust trees, planted in the 1850s. DuPont's History Museum has information on the site plans and a collection of other items from the Hudson's Bay Company.

See also
List of the oldest buildings in Washington (state)

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Fort Nisqually Living History Museum - official site
DuPont Museum's articles on both Fort Nisqually locations
Biography of Edward Huggins
Edward Huggins papers, 1850-1905

Fur trade
North Tacoma, Washington
National Register of Historic Places in Tacoma, Washington
National Historic Landmarks in Washington (state)
Oregon Country
Nisqually
Museums in Tacoma, Washington
Living museums in Washington (state)
Hudson's Bay Company forts in the United States
Military and war museums in Washington (state)
History of Tacoma, Washington
Point Defiance
Pre-statehood history of Washington (state)
Buildings and structures in Tacoma, Washington
Nisqually
1833 establishments in the British Empire

Fort Nisqually


Mitti is a 2010 Punjabi film directed by Jatinder Mauhar with story, screenplay & dialogues by Jatinder himself, produced by Kamalpreet Singh Bains & Rubina Baig, and starring Mika Singh, Rabbi Kandola, Vaquar Shaikh, Victor John

Mitti released on 8 January 2010 globally. Upon release, the film underperformed at the box office but was loved by the Punjabi audiences.

Plot
Mitti is a film about Punjab's youth today and their political disputes. It's a story about four youth who are best of friends and how their life changes after an incident takes place.

Jeet Brar who is a farmer and a local kisaan leader represents the motivated and charged group of people, But on the other hand there is the Young blood of Punjab who is unaware about the danger their state is facing and these young people do not have any mission in their life, most of them want to become a singer or want to go to foreign, and some are behind to find the way how to make fast money and some of them are slaves to the corrupt politicians of the state, such type of young group of people represent the four central characters of the film namely Rabbi Sidhu, Gaazi Dhillon, Lalli Brar and Tunda. All these four youngsters work for the corrupt politician Sardar Harmail Singh. They are prone to alcohol and are walking on the way of crime. They are not all concerned about their future and about themselves, among them Laali Brar is the brother of Jeet Brar but Laali is not at all ready to listen to his brother. Beside This there is a character of a girl called Neeru daughter of Sharma NRI who has also studied with these guys in University, and Gaazi loves Neeru But Neeru Loves Rabbi and this Love Triangle of these three creates problem within the friendship of Rabbi and Gaazi, and among all the father of Neeru does not agree her daughter to talk to these criminals, from here a different angle comes to the life of these characters, and the fourth character Tunda is from very poor family but his friends never let him realize that he is from poor family, Tunda's father always scolded him that he will get nothing being with these rich people, he will have to work one day but he never listened to his father.

Among all this scenario there is a character of journalist called Sarabjit who just wants to show the truth of the people of state and wants to expose the corrupt leader Sardar Harmail Singh, he also manages to make the MMS of Sardar, but with the help of these four guys Sardar manages to take back the cd & DV from journalist Sarabjit while doing so all the four friends kill journalist accidentally.

The film revolves around the current scenario of Punjab and its problems.

Cast
 Mika Singh
Vaquar Shaikh
 Rabbi Kandola
 Kashish Dhanoyaaa
 Sardar Sohi
 Tejwant Mangat
 Hardeep Gill
 B.N. Sharma
 Victor John
 Yaad Garewal
 Kartar Cheema
 Dr. Ranjit
 Gurdev Singh
 Naginder Ghakhar

Singers
 Mika Singh
 Kamal Bains (Nisdin)
 Shipra Goyal (Boliyan)
 Dev Mann AKA Gurdev Singh Mann (Lahu,Daru)
 Madhu Sudhan (Meri Maut)
 Raja (Lahu)

Release
The film released on 8 January 2010.

Cinematography Jatinder Sairaj

External links

2010 films
Punjabi-language Indian films
2010s Punjabi-language films

Mitti (2010 film)


Mihály Pollack ( Michael Pollack; 30 August 1773 — 3 January 1855) was an Austrian-born Hungarian architect, key figure of neoclassical architecture. His main work is the Hungarian National Museum (1837–46).

Michael Pollack, later known as Mihály Pollack, was born in Vienna in 1773. Between 1793-94, he moved to Milan to his half-brother architect Leopold Pollack. In 1798, he moved to Pest, where in 1808 he took a lead role in the city's Beautification Commission, and became increasingly influential.

Between 1810 and 1830 he designed many residential buildings, later larger palaces and public buildings. His architectural expression progressed from baroque towards neoclassical style. He died, aged 81, in Pest.

See also

References

External links

Hungarian architects
1773 births
1855 deaths
Neoclassical architects
Neoclassical architecture in Hungary
Hungarian National Museum

Mihály Pollack


Liang Shaoji is a Chinese conceptual artist. He exhibits internationally.

Background
Liang originates from Zhongshan, however was born in Shanghai in 1945.

He studied at the school for fine arts in Zhejiang and obtained his degree there in 1965. Later he studied at the Varbanov Institute for Textile Art, which is part of the Art Academy of Zhejiang. He completed this study in 1986. In 1988 he started to cultivate silk worms, to meet his attraction to rough silk which he uses amply in his art works.

He exhibits internationally. Among others, he has presented his work at the biennales of Venice (1999), Istanbul (1999), Lyon (2000) and Shanghai (2000 and 2006).

Work
Most notable are Liangs creations within the Natural Series. His creations have been characterized as unique meditations over nature and the human existence.

One of these creations is a video recording (no. 25). In it he hurts his feet until they bleed, in order to suppress the pain of the silk works whilst weaving their web on metal scobs. The idea behind this work lies in the century-old Chinese philosophy that man and animal should live together as equals and in harmony. He admitted later though that the production of the video had been more painful than he had realized before.

Candles (no. 87) is another work from his Natural Series. Here he places pieces of bamboo on a row, filled them with wax, and weaved silk threads around them. This work is a presentation of funerals and Buddhist rituals and goes back to an old Chinese poem from the 9th century, in which a comparison is made between the last drop the wax of a candle and the last end of a thread of a silk worm.

Cloud (no. 101) shows a square mirror on a mountain that consists of a number of smaller square mirrors. It seems like clouds are reflected at a background of a blue sky. In reality, however, it is a combination of silk worms on mirror glass. The work is meant to be a musing of the concept of time.

Helmets (no. 102) is a memorial of the victims under miners. The work consists of miner helmets covered with a web of fine silk as an expression of the fear and pain that are suppressed in these helmets.

Awards
Liang received a number of awards. In 2002, he was honored with a Chinese Contemporary Art Award.

In 2009, Liang was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands. He received the award for his "evocative artworks that offer a meditative approach in which art becomes nature and nature becomes art, for his artistic integrity in working outside the mainstream, and for his insightful investigation of the ethics of the human condition and relationship with nature."

External links
 ShanghART Gallery, exhibition of the work of Liang

References

Artists from Shanghai
Living people
1945 births
People from Zhongshan

Liang Shaoji


The Brigelser Hörner is a mountain massif in the Glarus Alps, and a range overlooking Breil/Brigels and Trun in canton of Graubünden. To its northern side above Val Frisal lies a nameless firn field. They are connected to the north by the saddle Barcun risal Sut () with Piz Frisal and Piz Durschin at the border to canton of Glarus.

It consists of the following peaks, from west to east:
Cap Grond, 3195 m
Cavistrau Grond, 3251 m
Cavistrau Pign, 3219 m
Piz Tumpiv, 3100 m

In a broader sense, the following peaks are also part of the Hörner:
Piz Dadens, 2772 m
Piz Dado, 2698 m

References

Mountains of the Alps
Alpine three-thousanders
Mountains of Switzerland
Mountains of Graubünden

Brigelser Hörner


"Ahab the Arab" (also written "Ahab, the Arab") is a novelty song written and recorded by Ray Stevens in 1962.

Lyrics
In the song, Arab is pronounced  () to rhyme with Ahab. The hero of the story is Clyde the camel and Stevens has made references to Clyde numerous times throughout his career.
The song portrays a "sheik of the burning sands" named Ahab. He is highly decorated with jewelry, and every night he hops on his camel named Clyde on his way to see Fatima, who is the best dancer in the Sultan's harem.  Fatima is described with a modified quote from the 1909 hit, "I've Got Rings On My Fingers": "with rings on her fingers and bells on her toes and a bone in her nose, ho ho". During the ride, Ahab "speaks" (actually, produces ululations that parody the Arabic language) to Clyde. A 1969 re-recording adds the advertising catch phrase "Sold, American!" to the end of one chant. The phrase was well known from the commercials for radio's popular The Jack Benny Program, sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes. The program began and ended with two tobacco auctioneers rattling off prices in a rapid-fire similar to Stevens' delivery, ending with "Sold American!"

When Ahab finds Fatima in her tent, she is ironically engaged in stereotypically Western behavior: "eating on a raisin, and a grape, and an apricot, and a pomegranate, a bowl of chittlins, two bananas, three Hershey bars, and
sipping on an RC co-cola, and eating a Moon Pie, listenin' to her transistor, watchin' the Grand Ole Opry, and readin' Mad Magazine while she sung, 'Does your chewing gum lose
its flavor?'" Ahab woos Fatima with another mock Arabic chant, this time a quote from the song "Let's Twist Again" by Chubby Checker. Fatima (portrayed by Stevens in falsetto) responds to Ahab's advances with laughter and an (English) utterance that Ahab is "crazy".

Ahab loves Fatima, which apparently does not sit too well with the Sultan, whose appearance prompts an escape attempt, which does succeed, because Clyde was the fastest camel in the desert, and they "lived happily ever after" (the original single version was edited and does not mention the escape attempt at all, instead ending the song with Fatima saying, "Crazy, baby!").

In Stevens' career
It followed "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills", becoming his second top 40 hit. It reached number five on Billboard's Hot 100 and number nine on the Billboard R&B chart. It remains one of the best-selling records of Stevens' career. Stevens has recorded the song at least three times and there have also been edited versions.  Along with "The Streak", it was one of Stevens' biggest hits and contributed greatly to his popularity.

A later song by Stevens, a Christmas novelty number called "Santa Claus Is Watching You", features a "cameo" by Clyde. The intrepid camel is pressed into service in place of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (in different recordings of the song, the famous reindeer's reason for being absent alternates between "He's on a stakeout at your house" or being "all stove up in the hospital" after injuring himself during "a twist contest"). The song also repeats the "Ahab the Arab" schtick of reciting a random list of objects, in this case gifts for "all the good little girls and boys."

Stevens has said that Clyde the camel was named after rhythm-and-blues singer Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead singer of The Drifters.  Clyde is arguably the most memorable character of the song, due to Stevens' exaggerated imitation of a camel's braying vocalization.  Clyde has become something of a mascot for Stevens, and for several years in the late 1990s and early 2000s the artist released albums and video entertainment under the label Clyde Records (complete with camel-shaped logo). Clyde Records continues to be the outlet for a lot of contemporary material from Stevens.

Stevens' music publishing company was once named Ahab Music Inc. before he changed its name in 1977 to Ray Stevens Music. His publishing company is affiliated with BMI.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions
Stevens re-recorded the song for his 1969 album Gitarzan and again for the song's music video in 1995.
A cover version of Stevens' song was released in July 1962 by Jimmy Savile, backed by the English pop group The Tremeloes, featuring Brian Poole.
Kinky Friedman recorded the song for his 1977 album Lasso from El Paso.
Cledus T. Judd covered the song in his 2007 album Boogity, Boogity – A Tribute to the Comedic Genius of Ray Stevens.

References

1962 singles
Ray Stevens songs
Novelty songs
Fictional Arabs
Songs written by Ray Stevens
1962 songs
Mercury Records singles
Songs about Asia
Songs about fictional male characters
Songs about race and ethnicity
Ethnic humour
Stereotypes of Arab people
Jimmy Savile

Ahab the Arab


John Selkirk (1782 – 1843) was a Tyneside songwriter of the 18th and 19th century. His best known works are those about Bob Cranky and the Swalwell Hopping.

Early life
John Selkirk was born in 1782 in Gateshead (just o'er the blue stane o' the brig), The son of George Selkirk, a local barber who had a shop in The Close, Newcastle.
John joined Messrs Strake and Boyd of The Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne as a clerk.
His songs turn up on "The Northern Minstrel or Gateshead Songster 1806-07".
He has been described as "The Otway of the local muse".

Later life
He did at one stage move to London in attempt to find success as a merchant but this eluded him, and he returned to his native Tyneside in 1830, a failure and destitute.
His final years were lived in poverty and misery.
He sadly fell into the River Tyne at or near Sandgate and drowned when aged 60/61. The report of the inquest in the Newcastle Chronicle 18 November 1843 stated ""....on the body of John Selkirk aged 60 who fell into the river near Sandgate on Saturday evening, and was drowned.  The deceased was a person of singular habits and disposition, and had formerly been a respectable merchant in London; but latterly was so reduced in circumstances as to subsist upon the charity of the benevolent.  For some time in the past he had slept nights on the shavings of a joiner's shop in Sandgate, and refused to accept parochial relief. On Saturday evening he was observed to carry a tin bottle to the river to obtain water, when he unfortunately fell in....".
He was buried on 14 November 1843 in Ballast Hills burial-ground (plot Number 655).

Works

The main character he seemed to write about was Bob Cranky, a habitual braggart, and written in his 20s.

This material includes :-

Bob Cranky's 'Size Sunday ('Size being an abbreviation for Assize) (1804)
Bob Cranky's Complaint and
Swalwell Hopping to the tune of Irish air "Paddy's Wedding" (1807).

See also
 Geordie dialect words

References

External links
 John Selkirk 1782–1843
 John Selkirk
 Swalwell

English male poets
English male songwriters
People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district)
Musicians from Tyne and Wear
1843 deaths
1782 births
19th-century English musicians

John Selkirk