A conventicle originally signified no more than an assembly and was frequently used by ancient writers for a church. At a semantic level conventicle is only a good Latinized synonym of the Greek word for church, and points to Jesus' promise in Matthew 18:20, "Where two or three are met together in my name."

Over time, it came to be explicitly applied to meetings of religious associations, particularly private and secret gatherings for worship. Later it became a term of deprecation or reproach, implying that those who used it opposed the ruling ecclesiastical authorities; for example, it was applied to a plot of mutinous monks in a convent or monastery.

Ultimately it came to mean religious meetings of dissenters from an established church, held in places that were not recognized as specially intended for public worship or the exercise of religious functions. It implied a condition of affairs in which the state made a distinction between the forms of religion whose practice and propagation were authorized by statute, and those that were expressly prohibited. This usage has received legal sanction in Britain.

Jesus' disciples as conventiclers
By the accepted usage of the word, Church historians properly assert that Christianity rose ecclesiastically from a conventicle. Such was the meeting in the Upper Room of the first disciples of Christ after the Ascension (Acts 1:13).

This gathering was the type that soon began to take place for prayer, mutual edification, and memorial observances in private houses such as that of Mary, the mother of John (Acts 12:12). Within a short time, they drew upon themselves the suspicions of the Jewish ecclesiastical authorities, which branded the new faith as impermissibly heretical, and instituted a persecution directed at the harrying and suppression of these conventicles, one of their most zealous agents being he who became the Apostle Paul.

Conventicles in the early Roman Empire
When Christianity became a world religion and spread in all directions throughout the Roman Empire, it was at first tolerated and enjoyed government protection, along with many other cults in vogue. Religions had to receive a license from the state, which was jealous, to secure itself against the danger of conspiracies maturing under the guise of religious confraternities. Largely through the influence of political considerations, Christianity soon became suspect, and a . Its meetings thus became strictly conventicles.

Historians have used the term to characterize such house meetings as mentioned in Col 4:15. In the succeeding century, the catacombs were the scene of Christian conventicles.

Conventicles in the later Roman Empire
With the establishment of Christianity by Constantine as the state religion, all its meetings were legitimized, and the term odium could no longer be rightly applied. In the 4th and 5th centuries, the description again became applicable to the meetings of such Christian nonconformists as the Montanists and the Donatists, which were prohibited by the state under penalty of prescription and death. This policy was rigorously encouraged by the leaders of the churches enjoying state recognition and support. The 6th canon of the Synod of Gangra pronounces against conventicles.

Conventicles in pre-Reformation Europe
In England, the word was early applied to the meetings of the followers of Wyclif, who, recognizing the incompetence and neglect of the regular clergy, sent out peripatetic preachers to meet the spiritual needs of the people. Both the practice and the word were carried by the Lollards (as the most determined supporters of Wyclif were called) to Scotland, where they did much to initiate or strengthen the movement of revolt from the ecclesiastical domination of Rome.

England under the Tudors

It was not until after the Reformation that 'conventicle' became a term with a legal connotation, according to which it was descriptive of the meeting place or assemblage for worship or consultation of those who departed from the Established Church of England. Queen Elizabeth, in her contest with Puritanism, strenuously asserted the royal supremacy in matters religious and ecclesiastical and insisted upon the rigorous application of the Act of Uniformity, which demanded that all subjects of the Realm must conform to the usages and tenets of the Church established by law. Clerical nonconformity was punished by deposition.

As a result of the following inquisition, so many ministers were deprived of their lives that their places either could not be filled at all or were filled by incompetent and unpopular substitutes. Many people refused to accept the ministrations of these substitutes and gathered together for worship in private houses or other suitable places. These conventicles were, under that name, expressly declared illegal. The 11th Article of the Book of Canons (drawn up in 1603) censures "the maintainers of conventicles"; the 12th, "the maintainers of constitutions made in conventicles"; and the 73rd runs thus:
"Forasmuch as all conventicles and secret meetings of priests and ministers have ever been justly accounted very hateful to the state of the Church wherein they live, we do ordain that no priests or ministers of the Word of God, nor any other persons, shall meet together in any private house or elsewhere to consult upon any matter or course to be taken by them, or upon their motion or direction by any other, which may any way tend to the impeaching or depraving of the doctrine of the Church of England, or the Book of Common Prayer, or any part of the government or discipline now established in the Church of England, under pain of excommunication ipso facto."

Under these enactments, the adherents of Anabaptism, which had been propagated in England by refugees from the Continent, were ordered to leave the Kingdom. Even during the subsequent reign of Puritanism, the meetings of this particular body were regarded and treated in the same fashion by the Protector Cromwell, who was incensed by their aggressive fanaticism. There was a breathing space of toleration and freedom for other persecuted sects, with only one or two exceptions.

In England, there were three acts of Parliament passed to coerce people to attend Church of England services and to prohibit unofficial meetings of laypeople:

The Religion Act 1592, stated to last for just one parliament, called for imprisonment without bail of those over the age of sixteen who failed to attend church, who persuaded others to do the same, who denied Her Majesty's authority in ecclesiastical matters, and who attended unlawful religious conventicles.

The Conventicle Act 1664 forbade conventicles of five or more people, other than an immediate family, from meeting in religious assemblies outside the auspices of the Church of England. This law was part of the Clarendon Code, named for Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, which aimed to discourage nonconformism and to strengthen the position of the Established Church.

The Conventicles Act 1670 imposed a fine of five shillings for the first offense and ten shillings for a second offense on any person who attended a conventicle (any religious assembly other than the Church of England). Any preacher or person who allowed his house to be used as a meeting house for such an assembly could be fined 20 and 40 shillings for a second offense.

England under the Stuarts
After the Restoration of the Stuart dynasty, established Episcopacy once more became intolerant under the aegis of Charles II. An Act of Uniformity was promulgated in 1662, which ordained the expulsion from his charge of any clergyman who refused to subscribe to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer and to the doctrine of the King's supremacy in matters ecclesiastical, and held by the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, prohibiting such from exercising his religious functions in private houses. In one day, two thousand clergymen were ejected for failing to comply with these tests. This enactment was reinforced in 1664 by a statute called 'the Conventicle Act,' which rendered illegal any gathering in a private house for religious worship attended by a number exceeding five the regular members of the household under penalty of fine, imprisonment, or transportation. A second version of this Act deprived these outed ministers of the right of trial by jury. It empowered any justice of the peace to convict them on the oath of a single informer, who was to be rewarded with a third of all fines levied. Large numbers of nonconformists were put in jail. Pepys, in his diary of August 7, 1664, observes: 'I saw several poor creatures carried by, by constables, for being at conventicles ... I would to God they would conform.' He refers to Quakers, amongst the worst sufferers during the persecution consequent on the passing of the Acts. Bishop Burnet, in his History of his own Time, admiringly describes how they resolutely declined to obey the law and openly and fearlessly continued their prohibited meetings. They would hold them in the street before their meeting houses closed doors when these were shut by order. The children, who might not be arrested because of their youth, would also hold conventicles in the street without their parents in jail, suffering patiently the jeers and cuffs of magistrates and unsympathetic onlookers.

Scotland under the Stuarts
There were various answers given in Scotland as to how to react to the persecution of Presbyterian Christianity under James VII and Charles I. Scottish ministers did not regard complete separation from the Church of Scotland as an option.

Identical measures were taken in Scotland under Charles II as had been taken in England, only now it was to secure the suppression of Presbyterianism in Scotland, where it had been the popular and dominant form of religion since the Reformation. From 1662 to 1678, various Acts were passed by the Privy Council and the Court of High Commission, prohibiting conventicles and imposing penalties of increasing severity upon those who attended them, masters being made responsible for their servants, landlords for their tenants, magistrates for the citizens of the burghs over which they presided. It was forbidden to supply denounced persons with meat or drink or to harbor or have intercourse with them. These measures proved unavailing to effect their purpose, and it was ultimately enacted that attendance should incur the death penalty. Those in command of the military, and even the common soldiers themselves, were given authority to inflict it immediately on the spot of capture without the formality of a legal trial. In numerous instances, this authority was used without scruple or mercy by such as Claverhouse. This policy proved, however, quite abortive. The bulk of the religious population in the south and southwest districts continued to attend the conventicles arranged and conducted by the outed ministers. Where the congregation was too large for a suitable private house, the resort had barns, granaries, or commodious buildings. The number of those who flocked to these illegal gatherings frequently amounted to thousands. The result was the institution of field conventicles''' — meetings held, sometimes under cover of night, in the open air, on moors or hills, in glens and ravines, or wherever safety and suitability could be combined.

These frequently lasted for hours, the preaching taking up much of the time. At such conventicles, the ordinances of the Church according to Presbyterianism were faithfully observed. Baptism was administered, and Communion was dispensed, often to hundreds together, and even thousands, the rite taking days to celebrate, several ministers officiating in turn. When repressive measures became more severe, and attendance at these gatherings was enacted to be a capital offense, the men came armed with such rude weapons as were obtainable — scythes, flails, etc.

A Presbyterian theology covering, amongst other topics, conventicles and even armed resistance to tyranny was given in Alexander Shields' work A Hind let Loose. It is (says MacPherson) in the second half of the book that Shields' power as a thinker is manifested. Under seven heads, he discusses the day's fundamental social, political, and ecclesiastical questions. These heads are concerning (i) hearing of curates, (ii) owning of tyrants' authority, (iii) unlawful imposed oaths, (iv) field meetings, (v) defensive arms vindicated, (vi) the extraordinary execution of judgment by private persons, and (vii) refusing to pay wicked taxations vindicated. The last-named section was added, Shields tells us, as an afterthought.

Sentinels were posted at lookout points; for the royalist soldiery, aided by spies and informers, often succeeded in surprising these meetings. It was the attack upon such a conventicle that precipitated the Battle of Drumclog, 11 June 1679, which issued in the only victory gained by the Covenanters (as the upholders of Presbyterianism were called), and the only defeat sustained by Claverhouse (known in song as 'Bonnie Dundee'), the most zealous and efficient of the military persecutors. During the years of persecution culminating in the 'Killing Times,' it is calculated that some 18,000 people suffered in one way or another for attending these conventicles.

Conventicles of believers in Reform were held in Scotland in the 1500s and are considered instrumental in the movement that drove the French regent Mary of Guise from power. From 1660 to 1688 Revolution, conventicles were usually held by Covenanters opposed to Charles II's forced imposition of Episcopalian government on the established Church of Scotland.

To protect the Presbyterian polity and Calvinist doctrine of the Church of Scotland, the pre-Restoration government of Scotland signed the 1650 Treaty of Breda with King Charles II to crown him king and support him against the English Parliamentary forces. At his Restoration in 1660, the King immediately renounced the terms of the Treaty and his Oath of Covenant, which the Scottish Covenanters saw as a betrayal.

The Rescissory Act 1661 repealed all laws made since 1633, effectively ejecting 400 Ministers from their livings, restoring patronage in the appointment of Ministers to congregations, and allowing the King to proclaim the restoration of Bishops to the Church of Scotland. The Abjuration Act of 1662 .. formally rejected the National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. These were declared to be against the fundamental laws of the Kingdom. The Act required all public office persons to take an oath of abjuration not to take arms against the king and reject the Covenants. This excluded most Presbyterians from holding official positions of trust.The resulting disappointment with Charles II's religious policy became civil unrest. It erupted in violence during the early summer of 1679 with the assassination of Archbishop Sharp, Drumclog, and the Battle of Bothwell Bridge. The Sanquhar Declaration of 1680 effectively declared the people could not accept the authority of a King who would not recognize their religion nor commit to his previous oaths. In February 1685, the King died and was succeeded by his Roman Catholic brother, the Duke of York, as King James VII.

James was eventually deposed in England in favor of his nephew, the Calvinist Stadtholder of several provinces of the Netherlands, William III of Orange and his wife, James' Protestant daughter Mary. In Scotland, a Convention of the Estates was called in Edinburgh. At this convention, it was decided after considerable deliberation that England, having been conquered by William of Orange and his troops with little or no resistance, Scotland would support William and Mary's claim to the throne of Scotland. However, in the ensuing rebellion against the Williamite coup, some of James' loyal followers – the original "Jacobites," among whose ranks were many Highlanders – inflicted a heavy defeat on the new Government's forces at Killiecrankie. The redcoats at this battle were no locally raised militia. Still, they were, in fact, the renowned Scots Brigade – a famous unit of Scottish professional soldiers in Dutch service, some of whom had come over to Britain with William. Thus in a bizarre twist of fate, it fell to a small band of men self-consciously called the Cameronian Guard after the rebel followers of the martyred Covenanter preacher Richard Cameron, to defend the new Government in a small but significant battle fought in the streets of Dunkeld against the recently victorious Jacobites. Thus former rebels fought to uphold the once-again ascendant Calvinist Protestant order in defense of the Covenant against the defenders of the old Episcopalian and Roman Catholic establishment. The Cameronians managed to hold out long enough for the Government to bring reinforcements and for the Jacobite advance to falter. The tables were now turned, and once the rebellion was defeated, the Cameronians, heirs to the victims of government-mandated "pacification" at the hands of units like the Scots Greys, were used to police the Highlands and restore order.

Ejected preachers such as John Blackadder conducted religious ceremonies at conventicles. Many of the covenanting prisoners on the Bass Rock had been charged with attending conventicles.

Scotland after the Revolution
After the Revolution of 1688 and the accession of William of Orange to the British throne, an Act of Toleration was passed, relating to England, which exempted from the penalties of the laws against conventicles those who took the oath of allegiance and subscribed to the doctrinal sections of the Thirty-nine Articles. Meeting houses were required to be registered and then came under the protection of the law. In Scotland, all the repressive Acts were abrogated; Presbyterianism was somewhat restored by the State to its ecclesiastical supremacy, although there were some Cameronian Dissenters among others who did not like the terms of the restoration. There was more tolerance in Scotland after the revolution, even before the legislation regarding the Establishment of the Church of Scotland at the Act of Union.

Low Countries
During the relentless and prolonged attempt of Philip II of Spain in the Netherlands to compel conformity to the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant party headed by  ('The Beggars') were forbidden free exercise of their worship. Immediately field preachings were organized all over the country, of the same character as those in Scotland — conducted by the excommunicated ministers and surrounded by armed guards and sentinels.

France

The same scenes were enacted in the southern districts of France during the heroic struggle of the Huguenot Camisards ('les Enfants de Dieu,' as they called themselves) to assert religious freedom against the suppressive measures of Louis xiv., inspired by Cardinal Richelieu's vision of a unified France, spurred by the incitements of Madame de Maintenon (herself once a Huguenot), and encouraged by the eloquence of the great preacher Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet. Their field conventicles were called desert preachings — the name 'desert' is borrowed from the Bible as descriptive of the solitary places in wild mountain regions where the meetings were commonly held. Antoine Court, for example, led the church while living in dens and holes in the ground. Paul Rabaut lived a similar lifestyle living as roughly as Alexander Peden in Scotland. A peculiarity of these Camisard gatherings was the large part played by the 'prophets' — men and women, and occasionally children, generally quite uneducated and often normally of small capacity for speech or thought — who spoke or were accepted as speaking under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, after the manner of the prophets in the primitive Church (Peyrat, Hist, des pasteurs du dissert, Paris, 1842; C. Tylor, The Camisards, London, 1893).

Germany
In the history of German Protestantism, the conventicle played a part in Pietism. The , established by Philipp Spener and his followers, provoked the opposition of the strictly orthodox Lutherans, and considerable disturbance was the result, as at Frankfurt, where the police interfered. All sorts of scandal were rife about these conventicles, and the over-enthusiastic manner in which some were conducted lent color to the charges. In Württemberg, a wise middle course was adopted. Those conventicles in which the great principles of Lutheranism were respected received a legal sanction, while the more radical assemblages were banned.

 Nordic countries
Philipp Jakob Spener called for such associations in his Pia Desideria'', and they were the foundation of the German Evangelical Lutheran Pietist movement. Due to concern over possibly mixed-gender meetings, sexual impropriety, and subversive sectarianism, conventicles were condemned first by mainstream Lutheranism and then by the Pietists within decades of their inception.

In Sweden, Pietist conventicles – the concept brought from Germany – existed as early as 1689, rousing similar opposition. The Conventicle Act of 1726 forbade all conventicles conducted by laypeople, though private devotional meetings under the direction of the clergy were permitted. The law was not repealed until 1858 in Sweden and 1870 in Finland, which was part of Sweden until 1809. In Finland, the conventicle has remained the base activity, especially in the Finnish Awakening revivalist movement.

Denmark–Norway had its own Conventicle Act, issued in 1741 by King Christian VI of Denmark and Norway to keep Radical Pietism in check. Norway kept the law until 1842; it was abolished after a third attempt at repeal. The law was officially repealed in Denmark in 1848.

Russia
In Russia, conventicles were held with the Orthodox Church in a position of ecclesiastical supremacy recognized by the State. Measures of repression were from time to time directed by the Government against dissenting sects which have incurred its suspicion and hostility, such as the Old Believers, Stundists, and Doukhobors, who were denied the liberty of private meetings for worship. The spirit of tolerance seemed to be rapidly gaining ground for a while, and nonconformists of any kind, on giving satisfactory assurances to the police, were generally permitted the liberty of worship according to their accepted mode.

Japan
Japanese Christian pacifist Uchimura Kanzō founded the Non-church movement in 1901. By 1979 about 35,000 people belonged to the movement, which had spread from Japan to Taiwan and South Korea.

United States
The growth of conventicles is closely related to Pietism and the Charismatic movement. In the American Lutheran Church, in particular, there has been considerable debate about conventicles stemming from 17th- and 18th-century Pietism. Thompson attributes today's Lutheran mission societies, ladies' societies, youth groups, Bible studies, group devotions beyond actual church services, Lutheran elementary schools and high schools, and charitable and fraternal organizations associated with the church as conventicles. According to C. F. W. Walther, the founder of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, such movements had to be opposed or carefully monitored, a caution that remains in effect.

According to Neville, the tradition of conventicles in Celtic lands can be found in the outdoor worship quite common in American communities, such as the South, populated by Celtic ancestors. Neville describes it as a folk tradition and ritual. Among the forms, conventicles take are frontier revivals, family reunions, and cemetery services as well as the more recent house church movement.

Conventicles in other religions
According to Smith, the mosque is a conventicle rather than an ecclesiastical institution. The mosque is an initiative of the community rather than a body led by a priesthood. In particular the Jama'at Khana (or ) approximates the status of a conventicle. According to Kaufman, modern-day Jewish synagogues resemble churches, whereas smaller meeting places—the , , , or —can be described as conventicle settings.

Early Mormon meetings were sometimes referred to as conventicles.

See also

 Free church

Citations

Sources

Christian terminology
Lutheran liturgy and worship
Protestantism-related controversies
Radical Pietism

Conventicle


Enhanced-definition television, or extended-definition television (EDTV) is a Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) marketing shorthand term for certain digital television (DTV) formats and devices. Specifically, this term defines an extension of the standard-definition television (SDTV) format that enables a clearer picture during high-motion scenes compared to previous iterations of SDTV, but not producing images as detailed as high-definition television (HDTV).

The term refers to devices capable of displaying 480-line or 576-line signals in progressive scan, commonly referred to as 480p (NTSC-HQ) and 576p (PAL/SECAM) respectively, as opposed to interlaced scanning, commonly referred to as 480i (NTSC) or 576i (PAL, SECAM). High-motion is optional for EDTV.

In Australia, the 576p resolution standard was used by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS TV) and Seven Network, being technically considered high-definition.

In Japan, the term is associated with improvements to analog NTSC called EDTV-I (or "Clear-vision") and EDTV-II (or "Wide-aspect Clear-vision") including ghost cancellation, digital sound or widescreen broadcasts, using a methods vaguely similar to PALPlus.

In Europe, it can be applied to analog PALPlus or MAC broadcasts.  In other countries definitions may vary.

Connectivity
As EDTV signals require more bandwidth (due to frame doubling) than is feasible with SDTV connection standards (such as composite video, SCART or S-Video), higher bandwidth media must be used to accommodate the additional data transfer. To achieve EDTV, consumer electronic devices such as a progressive scan DVD player or modern video game consoles must be connected through at least a component video cable (typically using 3 RCA cables for video), a VGA connector, or a DVI or HDMI connector. For over-the-air television broadcasts, EDTV content uses the same connectors as HDTV.

Broadcast and displays
EDTV broadcasts use less digital bandwidth than HDTV, so TV stations can broadcast several EDTV stations at once. Like SDTV, EDTV signals are broadcast with non-square pixels. Since the same number of horizontal pixels are used in 4:3 and 16:9 broadcasts, the 16:9 mode is sometimes referred to as anamorphic widescreen. Most EDTV displays use square pixels, yielding a resolution of 852 × 480. However, since no broadcasts use this pixel count, such displays always scale anything they show. The only sources of 852 × 480 video are Internet downloads, such as some video games. Unlike 1080i and SDTV formats, progressive displays (such as plasma displays and LCDs) can show EDTV signals without the need to de-interlace them first. This can result in a reduction of motion artifacts.  However to achieve this most progressive displays require the broadcast to be frame doubled (i.e., 25 to 50 and 30 to 60) to avoid the same motion flicker issues that interlacing fixes.

Home media
The progressive output of a DVD player can be considered the baseline for EDTV. Movies shot at 24 frames-per-second (fps) are often encoded onto a DVD at 24 fps progressive. For telecine sources, most DVD players can do the 2:2 or 3:2 pulldown conversion dealing with deinterlacing internally, before feeding the output to a progressive 576p or 480p display.

Blu-ray Discs can encode all EDTV forms, but because HDTV is a primary selling point of Blu-ray, this is only used for certain bonus content such as featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews and behind the scenes documentaries on the making of the film.

Gaming
The video resolution of video game consoles reached EDTV specifications starting with the Sega Dreamcast, becoming the first mainstream console with a VGA output, supporting EDTV. The PlayStation 2, GameCube, original Xbox and Wii are also EDTV compatible with a component connection. The Xbox 360 can output 480p via YPBPR component, VGA and HDMI (newer models only) cables. The PlayStation 3 outputs EDTV via its HDMI and component video (YPBPR) connections; 480p is only available on NTSC consoles while 576p is only available on PAL consoles.

Despite 576p being a valid output from the PS2's component out, it is never used by any games released in PAL territories; instead the few games retaining progressive scan mode in their PAL localizations output in 480p. There are homebrew solutions available to force the output to progressive scan mode (which also in turn allows 60 Hz modes for 720p and 1080p: neither of which were otherwise used in any capacity officially).

References

Television technology

Enhanced-definition television


A carputer, or car-puter, is a computer with specializations to run in a car, such as compact size, low power requirement, and some customized components. The computing hardware is typically based on standard PCs or mobile devices. They normally have standard interfaces such as Bluetooth, USB, and WiFi. The first carputer was introduced by Clarion on December 4, 1998, although on-board diagnostics have been employed since the 1980s to precisely measure the amount of fuel entering the engine as the carburetors got too complex.

A challenge to installing a computer in a car is the power supply. Energy is supplied as a nominal 12 VDC in cars or 24 VDC in some trucks. The voltage varies according to whether the engine is on or off since the battery generally delivers 12V, while the generator supplies more. There can be peaks, and at ignition time the supply current drops. External DC/DC converters can help to regulate voltages.

Police cars often have Mobile data terminals in the form of a laptop swivel mounted where the driver's armrest would be. This can be used to log data and to query networked databases.

Microsoft developed Windows Embedded Automotive and used it with the AutoPC, a brand of carputer jointly developed with Clarion. The system was released in 1998, and referred to the operating system itself as "Auto PC". It was based on Windows CE 2.0. It evolved into "Windows CE for Automotive". The platform was used for the first two generations of MyFord Touch while the third generation runs QNX from BlackBerry Limited.

Tablet computers such as the Nexus 7 can be installed either permanently (in-dash) or removably (a dock).  It can be used for watching movies or listening to music, as well as for GPS navigation. It also has Bluetooth for hands-free calls.

Computers can be used to decode on-board diagnostics (OBD) data to a visual display. Many interfaces are based on the ELM327 OBD Interpreter ICs. STN1110 is also known to be used.

See also
 Vehicular communication systems

References

In-car entertainment
Mobile computers
Windows Embedded Automotive devices
Auto parts

Carputer


Ellen Weinberg-Hughes (; born July 8, 1968) is an American former ice hockey player. She competed internationally for the US women's national team at the 1992 Women's World Championship, capturing a silver medal while being named to the tournament's all-star team. She played collegiate hockey, lacrosse and soccer for the University of New Hampshire. She was inducted into the UNH Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. After her playing career was over, she served as an assistant coach at UNH for the soccer and ice hockey teams, while attending graduate school. She also served as an advisor to Norway's women's hockey team in 1994.

Early life and athletic career

Weinberg-Hughes was born on July 8, 1968, in St. Louis, Missouri, and was raised in Dallas, Texas. She competed in three sports (ice hockey, soccer, and lacrosse) at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) during her collegiate career. As a lacrosse player, Weinberg-Hughes was a member of the UNH women's team that made it to the national semi-finals in 1987. As a soccer player, Weinberg-Hughes played midfield and forward. As a freshman, she was named to the All-New England Team, and helped her team to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) final game. She finished her soccer career at UNH having played in 70 games, recording 11 goals and 16 assists. As an ice hockey player, Weinberg-Hughes played defense, and was noted to be a smooth skater and good passer. In 1991, she was named to the ECAC All-Star Team. In her UNH ice hockey career, Weinberg-Hughes scored 6 goals and added 32 assists in 79 career games. In 2012, she was inducted in the University of New Hampshire Athletic Hall of Fame.

After completing her collegiate eligibility, Weinberg-Hughes stayed at UNH to pursue a graduate degree. During this time, she served as an assistant coach to the women's ice hockey and soccer teams. In 1992, Weinberg-Hughes was named to the US women's hockey team for the 1992 Women's World Championship. She played in five tournament games, recording 4 assists. Team USA captured a silver medal at the tournament, and Weinberg-Hughes was named to the tournament all-star team at its conclusion. In 1994, Weinberg-Hughes was serving as an adviser to Norway's national team.

Personal life
After her athletic career, Weinberg-Hughes worked in broadcasting, covering soccer and hockey. During the 1999 Women's World Cup, she worked for ESPN as a sideline reporter. She also worked covering soccer for the Big Ten Network, but stepped back from her career when her sons' playing careers got too busy. Weinberg-Hughes' husband, Jim, is a former ice hockey player and coach who has worked in the Toronto Marlies and Toronto Maple Leafs organizations. They have three sons, all of whom are considered high-level National Hockey League players. Quinn was drafted seventh overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks and currently is the team captain. Jack was drafted first overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the New Jersey Devils. Her youngest son Luke was drafted fourth overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Weinberg-Hughes taught all three of her sons how to skate. Weinberg-Hughes is Jewish.

See also
List of select Jewish ice hockey players

References

1968 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Dallas
Ice hockey people from St. Louis
Soccer players from St. Louis
Ice hockey people from Texas
Ice hockey people from Missouri
American women's ice hockey defensemen
New Hampshire Wildcats women's ice hockey players
Soccer players from Texas
Soccer players from Missouri
American women's soccer players
New Hampshire Wildcats women's soccer players
Women's association football midfielders
Women's association football forwards
Lacrosse players from Texas
American lacrosse players
New Hampshire Wildcats women's lacrosse players
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish ice hockey players
Jewish women's footballers
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American women

Ellen Weinberg-Hughes


Donal MacIntyre is an Irish investigative journalist, specialising in investigations, undercover operations and television exposés. He has also worked as a presenter of both television news and documentaries on various UK channels.

In 2007, MacIntyre directed A Very British Gangster, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. From April 2010, he presented ITV's local news show London Tonight for a few months.

In 2009, MacIntyre took part in the fourth series of Dancing on Ice, where he was runner-up to Ray Quinn. In 2014, he participated in the first series of The Jump where he was runner-up to Joe McElderry.

MacIntyre has also worked for the CBS Reality channel, including as presenter of the
documentary series Donal MacIntyre: Unsolved, which looks at unsolved criminal cases such as abductions and murders.

Early life
MacIntyre was educated in Dublin and London, and completed a Master's degree in Communication Policy at City University, London.

Career
After graduation he worked as a newspaper reporter for the Sunday Tribune and later with The Irish Press in Dublin, covering finance, sports and news. He undertook his first investigative reporting into the Law Society investigating allegations of restrictive practises. He then wrote similar investigative articles for The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Sunday Express and the New Statesman.

MacIntyre began his television career at the BBC on the investigative sports strand On-The-Line in 1993. In the wake of the Lyme Regis canoeing disaster in which four school children drowned, his canoeing experience made him the natural choice to investigate the incident and the safety culture that had allowed it. He went undercover as an Adventure Sports Instructor to expose the lack of employment standards in the industry.
This investigation led to the development of MacIntyre's distinctive investigative reporting style, which he explained as being present for the story, rather than merely reporting accounts of it:

I think print can be very reactive. It just means getting on the end of a phone and getting a quote. For TV it doesn't happen unless it's filmed and that means you have to be there. Our particular brand is called Show Me television - we don't tell you, we show you.

The first series of MacIntyre Investigates for the BBC caused some controversy when it was accused of falsifying video evidence and blackmail during its exposé of the Elite modelling agency. The BBC was sued for defamation, avoided court through a settlement, and issued a statement admitting that MacIntyre had misrepresented the agency in his programme, but that they stood by him.

Towards the end of his second series of MacIntyre Investigates for the BBC, he came under more open criticism from internal sources. The three programmes were suggested to have cost as much as £2.5 million, while an episode of Panorama by contrast typically cost £100,000 to £150,000. In return, BBC One's then controller Lorraine Heggessey expected MacIntyre Investigates to deliver the ratings, a pressure that other investigative journalists believed undermined its editorial integrity.

In 2007, MacIntyre set out to create a documentary because he wanted to "do a Michael Moore for gangsters," in penetrating a world of super-rich villains who enjoy a life of luxury with no legitimate means of support: "It was interesting to make a 180-degree turn from my covert-reporting heritage and have full access. I wanted to build a bond."

The resulting production became a film with the title A Very British Gangster which centred on the life of Manchester-based gangster and hit man Dominic Noonan, whose brother Desmond Noonan was stabbed to death during filming.

MacIntyre directed the anti-smoking commercials for the SMOKE IS POISON campaign. This series included the Polonium commercial that the British Government banned out of sensitivity to the family of the murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko who was killed using the substance.

From 6 April 2008
MacIntyre has presented a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 5 Live.

In June 2009, both he and his wife were attacked and beaten at the Cloud 9 wine bar in Hampton Court in what is believed to have been a revenge attack, linked to the prosecution of Jason Marriner and other Chelsea hooligans in the 1999 documentary.

In 2010, MacIntyre briefly co-hosted ITV1's local news show London Tonight, stepping down after six months in the post.

He writes for Sunday World and is a visiting professor of criminology at Birmingham City University in which capacity he has been a panelist on the Crime Bites Podcast.

Dancing on Ice
In 2009, MacIntyre took part in the fourth series of the television series Dancing on Ice. He and his pro-skating partner Florentine Houdiniere were the runners up.

The Jump
MacIntyre took part in the first series of Channel 4 reality series The Jump in 2014. Initially signed as a reserve in case of injury to other participants, he took the place of the incapacitated Melinda Messenger from the fifth night (30 January 2014). He finished the series second to Joe McElderry, who had also initially been a reserve contestant.

See also
At Home with the Noonans
Chris Clark, British crime writer and documentary maker who also focuses on unsolved crimes

References

External links
 Official website

1966 births
Living people
Alumni of City, University of London
BBC people
Daily Express people
Daily Mail journalists
Irish investigative journalists
Irish sports journalists
Irish people of American descent
ITV people
People from County Kildare
Journalists from Dublin (city)
Sunday Tribune people
The Guardian journalists
The Irish Press people
Irish twins

Donal MacIntyre


Deal of the Century is a 1983 American comedy film directed by William Friedkin and starring Chevy Chase, Gregory Hines, and Sigourney Weaver.

The film follows the adventures of several arms dealers that compete to sell weapons to a South American dictator.

Plot
Eddie Muntz is a small-time American arms dealer who talks his way into a job with a large defense corporation selling high-tech military unmanned aerial vehicles to a mentally unstable South American dictator. Muntz arrives in war-torn and impoverished "San Miguel" to sell weapons to both its leader and the rebels seeking his ouster.

In the middle of a sales pitch to the rebels, Muntz is caught in a firefight and is shot in the foot. Hobbling in a rundown hotel days later, Muntz meets Harold DeVoto, a sales rep for the American defense contractor, Luckup.

Muntz peddles small arms (assault rifles, anti-personnel mines, and machine-pistols disguised as cassette tape players), whereas Luckup's product is more sophisticated—the Peacemaker UAV, a military dream that operates without pilots or airbases. But the military junta of San Miguel strings DeVoto along, driving the man to suicide. Muntz successfully takes over the deal and wins a contract worth millions.

On returning to America, he is angrily confronted at gunpoint by Catherine, Harold's widow. Demanding the contract, Catherine shoots Muntz instead, reopening the wound on his foot. Waking up in the hospital, Muntz is told by Frank Stryker, a Luckup executive, that San Miguel reneged on the deal after a disastrous and highly publicized demonstration of the Peacemaker.

Muntz nevertheless decides to help Luckup re-sign San Miguel. He is joined by his partner, Ray Kasternak, an ex-fighter pilot now undergoing a religious crisis of conscience, and also by Catherine. Muntz's efforts are complicated by tensions with Luckup, Ray's religious conversion, "The Peacemaker's" many technical glitches, and his own growing moral reservations.

On the eve of a major defense industry exposition, Muntz is visited by Massagi, an immensely wealthy arms merchant who both encourages him to finalize the San Miguel deal and coaches him on how to do it. Massagi reveals that the global arms industry has a stake in sales of weapons like the Peacemaker because they allow for localized and conventional wars that will keep their business viable into the next century. Massagi also explains how recent changes to federal law not only legalize bribes to foreign dictators, but make those bribes tax deductible. These revelations spur Muntz on, while also adding to his unease.

Muntz accompanies San Miguel's dictator to the weapons expo, where billions of dollars of high technology are displayed and demonstrated. To the dictators, Muntz disparages any warplanes he sees, reminding them of the obvious benefits of pilot-less aircraft.

While Muntz demonstrates some of his own wares (including a booby-trapped urinal), Ray hijacks one of the fighter jets being demonstrated, threatening to attack the expo, also daring them to attack him. Ray circles overhead as representatives for defense contractors bicker among themselves as to whose weapons are good enough to shoot him down.

Stryker takes matters into his own hands, launching the Peacemaker. This time, the UAV proves a much more formidable threat, and not even Ray can destroy it. Misusing all of the Peacemaker's weapons, however, Stryker instead destroys the entire expo. Before he can try again for Ray, Muntz uses his cane to shut off the Peacemaker's remote control panel, allowing Ray to destroy it.

In the final scene, we learn that Ray has left the arms industry to become a missionary. Muntz is also out of weapons trafficking, but still a salesman working at his brother's used car dealership. He sells Catherine a car, and it is implied that they will be doing other deals together.

Cast

 Chevy Chase as Eddie Muntz
 Gregory Hines as Ray Kasternak
 Sigourney Weaver as Catherine DeVoto
 Vince Edwards as Frank Stryker
 Wallace Shawn as Harold DeVoto
 Richard Libertini as Kayhim Massagi
 William Marquez as Gen. Cordosa
 Eduardo Ricard as Col. Salgado
 Richard Herd as Lyle
 Graham Jarvis as Babers
 Randi Brooks as Gloria Della Rosa
 Ebbe Roe Smith as Bob
 Ray Manzarek as Charlie Simbo
 John Reilly as Swain

Uncredited
Jack Angel as the voice of the Announcer

Release
The film was released theatrically in the United States by Warner Bros. on November 4, 1983.  It grossed $10,369,581 at the domestic box office.

The film was released on DVD by Warner Home Video in 2006.  This version is currently out of print. It was eventually reissued by the Warner Archive Collection in 2014.

Reception
Deal of the Century was poorly received by critics, as the film holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 10 reviews.

References

External links

1983 films
1983 comedy films
American comedy films
Films directed by William Friedkin
Films scored by Arthur B. Rubinstein
Films set in South America
Warner Bros. films
Films about arms trafficking
1980s English-language films
1980s American films
English-language comedy films

Deal of the Century


Isola Comacina is a small wooded island of Italy's Lake Como, administratively a part of the commune of Ossuccio. It is located close to the western shore of the Como arm of the lake in front of a gulf known as Zoca de l'oli, a Lombard name referring to the local small-scale production of olive oil. In the late 6th century (c. 587) the island was a remaining Roman stronghold under Francio, a subordinate of Narses; though the areas surrounding Lake Como were entirely controlled by the Lombards. The island was besieged for a good deal of time by the Lombards under Authari who released Francio to flee back to Narses' capital at Ravenna. The Lombards found the island to contain "many riches" deposited for safekeeping by local Roman loyalists.

The island was invaded in 1169 by Frederick Barbarossa and soldiers from the town of Como. In 1175, Vidulfo, the Bishop of Como, cursed the island with the following words, "The bells will never ring, the rocks will never be placed one over the other, nobody will do here the work of the publican, the punishment a violent death."

In 1919 the island was given to Belgium, in homage to King Albert I. The island was returned the following year.

Pietro Lingeri built three houses on the island in 1939. His idea was to turn the island into a colony for artists. The houses were built in a rationalist style, made from local materials and without much decoration.

The island now consists of a restaurant, cafe, a collection of archaeological sites and the three artist houses.

References

External links
 Isola Comacina Official Website

Islands of Lombardy
Lake islands of Italy

Isola Comacina


Vopnafjörður is a veelage an municipality in Northeast Iceland, staundin on a peninsulae in the middle o a muntainous bay (fjord) bi the same name. The main industries o Vopnafjörður are fish processin, agricultur, an tourism an ither services.

Owerview
Vopnafjörður is kent for its salmon rivers an lairge auries o untouched landscape. Hofsá an Selá are twa o the maist exclusive salmon rivers in Iceland. The salmon rivers an ither attractions in an aroond Vopnafjörður hae drawn numerous foreign visitors, includin airtists, celebrities an politeecians sic as Charles, Prince o Wales, George H. W. Bush, Jack Nicklaus an Queen Paola o Belgium.

Vopnafjörður is on Route 85 an haes an airport wi scheduled flichts tae Akureyri on business days. Ither services include Vopnafjarðarskóli primar schuil wi aroond 90 students, Leikskólinn Brekkubær preschuil, Landsbankinn bank an Heilbrigðisstofnun Austurlands clinic.

HB Grandi, Iceland's lairgest fishin company, is the lairgest employer in the aurie. The company runs a heich-tech freezin plant an a fishmeal factory in Vopnafjörður.

The meeth
 The Auld Norse keengs' sagas, mair specifically Heimskringla, tell the story o a seafarer who sailed tae Iceland in auncient times. Whan he reached Vopnafjörður, he saw an enormous draigon who guardit the bay, an drove ayebody awa wi fire. The draigon wis follaeed bi a great nummer o lizards an insects.

This draigon wis ane o the fower meethical landvættir, guardians o Iceland. The draigon haes acome the icon o Vopnafjörður, an is pictured on the Coat o airms o Iceland.

History
The bay o Vopnafjörður wis first settled bi Vikings in the late 9t century CE. The name Vopnafjörður leeterally means Weapon Fjord or Weapon Bay, an comes frae the elkname o ane o the settlers, Eyvindur vopni.

Disputes atween local chieftains led tae a nummer o killins in the 10t century. The story o the disputes is tauld in Vopnfirðinga saga, ane o the classic Sagas o Icelanders, a series o epic faimily histories written in the 13t century.

Little is kent aboot the history o Vopnafjörður efter Iceland lost its unthirldom tae Norawa in 1264. Foreign mechants sailed tae Vopnafjörður in the early modren age, an it wis ane o three tred ports in East Iceland in the 17t an 18t centuries.

The Dens tradin company Ørum & Wulff haed extensive operations in Vopnafjörður in the 19t century. A local cooperative, Kaupfélag Vopnfirðinga, wis establisht in 1918, an wis ane o Vopnafjörður's lairgest employers throuoot the 20t century, but filed for bankruptcy in 2004.

In the late 19t century, poor fermers wur forcit tae muive intae the muntains abuin Vopnafjörður, whan thay coud nae langer afford livin on densely-populatit laund in the lowlands. For several decades, mony faimilies livit in the heichlands, experiencin extreme hardship. The heichland ferms inspired the settin o the novel Independent People bi Halldór Laxness. The beuk helpit him win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955.

Modren infrastructur, includin roads, harbors an brigs, wis first introducit in Vopnafjörður in the early 20t century. The day, new infrastructur is o heichest staundarts.

Emigration tae Americae
Vopnafjörður wis the lairgest port o Icelandic emigration tae Americae in the late 19t an early 20t centuries. Thoosans o North Americans hae ancestors who livit in Vopnafjörður.

Geografie
Vopnafjörður is locatit in Northeast Iceland. The Vopnafjörður aurie coastline is characterisit bi the Tangi peninsulae, coastal rocks, islets, coves, river mooths, an black saund beaches.

Durin the Ice Age (up tae 10,000 years ago) a lairge glacier covered the bay. The Ice Age Glacier carvit the diverse muntains an rock formations that characterize the aurie. Efter the Ice Age, the laund rose as the hivy load o the glacier fell awa, an began tae leuk as it daes the day.

The lairgest river tae run intae the bay is Hofsá, ane o the best salmon fishin rivers in the kintra. Krossavík Muntains at , touer ower the bay.

The veelage o Vopnafjörður is locatit on the Tangi peninsulae in the middle o the bay. Surroondin ferms reach far intae Hofsárdalur an Vesturárdalur valleys, an tae the northren coast o the bay.

Climate
Despite its extreme north Atlantic location, Vopnafjörður is hintle wairmer than maist locations at a seemilar latitude. Temperaturs vera rarely drop belaw −10 °C (14 °F) in the winter. This is acause the Icelandic coastal wather in winter is moderatit bi the wairm watters o the Guwf Stream. Simmers are ceul, wi temperaturs whiles reachin 20 °C (68 °F).

Admeenistration
The local govrenment is the municipality o Vopnafjarðarhreppur, which is govrened bi the municipal cooncil. The cooncil haes seiven members who are electit in direct elections bi the residents o Vopnafjordur for fower-year terms. Onyane who is 18 years or aulder an haes his or her legal domicile registered in Vopnafjordur haes the richt tae pairticipate in the local elections. The last municipal elections wur held in Mey 2010.

Demografics
On 1 Januar 2011, the population o Vopnafjörður wis 668, o which 529 livit in the veelage, an 139 in the landwart pairt o the municipality. 350 wur males an 318 females. 146 wur unner 18 years o age.

The tot population o Vopnafjörður wis 987 in 1901, 677 in 1950, 908 in 1990, an 789 in 2000.

Sports
Einherji is Vopnafjörður's sports team. Soccer is the maist popular sport.

Main sichts
Bustarfell, fowk museum
Gljúfursárfoss, watterfaw on Vopnafjörður's soothren coast.
Highland farms, the settin that inspired Nobel Prize-winnin author Halldór Laxness' novel Independent People.
Ljótsstaðir, bairnheid hame o Gunnar Gunnarsson.
Múlastofa, a museum aboot the lives an airt o Vopnafjörður-born muisickers an playwrichts Jón Múli Árnason an Jónas Árnason.

Fowk frae Vopnafjörður
Björgvin Guðmundsson, componer
Gunnar Gunnarsson, writer
Linda Pétursdóttir, businesswumman an Miss Warld 1988
Pálmi Gunnarsson, pop sangster
Sigurður Þórarinsson, geologist an leericist

References

Freemit airtins

Municipalities o Iceland
Populatit places in Iceland
Fjords o Iceland

Vopnafjörður


The Skating Club of Boston is a not-for-profit figure skating club based in Norwood, Massachusetts.  Founded in 1912, it is one of the oldest skating clubs in the United States, and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating, the governing body for the sport in the United States. The Club's mission is to advance participation, education and excellence in skating for people of all ages, abilities and means. The Club has over 800 active members and offers a variety of programs for the public, reaching another 2,000 children and adults. The club built its own rink in Brighton, Massachusetts in 1938 and remained there until moving to the Norwood facility in 2020. In addition, in a public private partnership with the City of Boston's Parks & Recreation Department, the Club manages the programming and facilities for The Frog Pond located at Boston Common on a year-round basis.

Facility
The club's current facility, located on University Avenue in Norwood, Massachusetts, officially opened to the public in September 2020, delayed from June 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility features three rinks including the Tenley E. Albright Performance Center, a 2,500-seat Olympic-sized arena named for the Olympic champion and Club member. Two of the club's three rinks are used exclusively for figure skating, a rarity as most skating rinks are shared between figure skating and hockey.

In addition to the ice surfaces, the club's facility is home to a gym, sports rehabilitation and off-ice conditioning center, dance studio, café, and academic center. Also within the facility is Home Ice, a store for skate fitting, sharpening, and apparel.

Club activities

Like many other skating clubs in North America, The Skating Club of Boston includes many social and volunteer activities along with skater development and athlete training. These include special dinners acknowledging volunteers, awards banquets celebrating skater achievements and competitions, and special exhibitions supporting community programs and athlete development. The Club supports a junior activities program encouraging leadership and community activities with its junior members.

The Boston Open is held annually in September and attracts skaters from across New England. Every spring the club showcases its many talented skaters in Ice Chips, the longest continuous run of any skating carnival in the world. In addition to the skaters training for local, national, and world competitions, the Club programming includes several of its own Theatre On Ice teams and provides a high performance skating program for youth interested in accelerated training, both on and off the ice. The club is affiliated with Team Excel, a synchronized skating organization.

The Club has hosted the United States Figure Skating Championships seven times, most recently in January 2014. In 2016, the Club hosted the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, a first for the city of Boston. The Club also hosted the 2011 U.S. U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships and the 2013 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships.

Notable members

A partial list of notable skaters who have trained at or represented The Skating Club of Boston include:

 Tenley Albright
 Sherwin Badger
 Theresa Weld Blanchard
 Dick Button
 Juliana Cannarozzo
 Stephen Carriere
 Marissa Castelli
 Shepherd Clark
 Louann Donovan
 Christina Gao
 Katrina Hacker
 Lorraine Hanlon
 Emily Hughes
 Nancy Kerrigan
 Jennifer Kirk
 Bradley Lord
 Gretchen Merrill
 Mark Mitchell
 Suna Murray
 Ross Miner
 Nathaniel Niles
 Albertina Noyes
 John Misha Petkevich
 Simon Shnapir
 Yasmin Siraj
 Scott Smith
 Joan Tozzer
 Suzanne Davis
 Roger F. Turner
 Laurence Owen
 Maribel Owen
 Maribel Vinson
 Paul Wylie
 Julie DeMarco
 Jessica Proctor

Current coaches at the club include Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, 1995 ISU World Figure Skating Pair Champions.

Theatre On Ice of Boston
The Skating Club of Boston's Theatre On Ice program proudly supports five full competitive teams. Theatre On Ice is a discipline of skating focusing on originality, costuming, artistry, musicality, and choreography. It promotes the team as a whole and is a great way to learn artistic and performance skating.

The adult ice theatre team, Imagica of Boston, swept the gold medals (in the National Freeskate, International Choreographic Exercise, and International Freeskate events) at the 2008 and 2009 International/National Theatre on Ice competitions, and are the 2013 Nation's Cup Gold Medalists. Imagica of Boston is directed by Tasney Mazzarino. ACT I of Boston, is The Skating Club of Boston's Senior Theatre On Ice team. They are the 2013 U.S. National Theatre on Ice Gold Medal Champions.  They have been selected to be one of three U.S. Senior Theatre On Ice teams to represent the U.S in Paris, France at the Nations Cup, International Interclub Ballet On Ice Competition in April 2015.  ACT I of Boston is made up of a strong variety of skaters many of which have toured with Disney On Ice. The Ovation of Boston team consists of skaters 9 years or older, preliminary free skate level and above. Encore of Boston competes across the country, developing their theatrical and performance skating. The Center Stage of Boston team is the 2015 United States National Champions.

The Skating Academy
The Skating Academy is the learn-to-skate school operated by The Skating Club of Boston, offering group lessons to children and adults at the Norwood facility with additional programs in several locations, including Brighton, Boston, Beverly, Brookline, Dedham, Foxboro, the Boston Common Frog Pond, Boston's North End, Somerville and West Roxbury. The Academy has over 2,000 students, and utilizes the Basic Skills curriculum of U.S. Figure Skating and USA Hockey.

Ice Chips
Ice Chips is The Skating Club of Boston's annual figure skating show and the longest running club-produced ice show in the world. The show has showcased the world's most outstanding figure skaters, including national, international and Olympic champions. The show encompasses a cast of over 480 skaters, including singles, pairs, ice dance, synchronized skating teams and Theatre On Ice teams. Since its inception, it has served as a showcase for the best figure skating talent in the world.

Ice Chips has paved the way for figure skating shows, bringing figure skating to the forefront of American entertainment and securing Boston as the center of figure skating in the United States.

The Skating Club of Boston is proud to have donated revenues from the shows to various charities over the last 80 years including:

 Boston Children's Hospital
 Make-a-Wish Foundation
 Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts

References

The great competitive legacy of the SC of Boston

External links

 The Skating Club of Boston's Official Web Site
 The Skating Academy's Official Web Site
 Team Excel Synchronized Skating
 The Boston Common Frog Pond Official Web Site
Ice Chips

Figure skating clubs in the United States
Sports in Boston
Clubs and societies in Boston
1912 establishments in Massachusetts
Sports organizations established in 1912

Skating Club of Boston


Sir William Blackstone  (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory party politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the Commentaries on the Laws of England.

Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1738. After completing a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, he was made a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in November 1743.

Blackstone was admitted to Middle Temple, and called to the Bar there in 1746. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone became heavily involved in university administration, becoming accountant, treasurer and bursar on 28 November 1746 and Senior Bursar in 1750. On 3 July 1753 he formally gave up his practice as a barrister and started a series of lectures on English law, the first of their kind. The lectures on law were massively successful. They earnt him a total of £453 (£) per year, and led to the publication of An Analysis of the Laws of England in 1756. This repeatedly sold out and was used to preface his later works.

Blackstone was made the first Vinerian Professor of English Law. He published a very successful second book, titled A Discourse on the Study of the Law. With his growing fame, Blackstone successfully returned to the bar and maintained a good practice, also securing election as Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Hindon on 30 March 1761. In November 1765 he published the first of four volumes of Commentaries on the Laws of England, his most important work. When completed, the work earned Blackstone £14,000 (£ in  terms). After some failures, he got appointed to the judiciary as a judge until his death, on 14 February 1780.

1723 births
1780 deaths
Politicians from London
Knights Bachelor
Writers from London

William Blackstone


Abbotts Hall Farm is a 282 hectare nature reserve in Great Wigborough in Essex. It is the head office of the Essex Wildlife Trust, which manages the site. It is also part of the Blackwater Estuary National Nature Reserve, Site of Special Scientific Interest, Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation, It is an important archaeological site, and includes a Scheduled Monument, Great Wigborough henge.

This is a working farm which is managed to encourage wildlife. Seawalls have been breached to create marshland, which has many fish, insects, invertebrates and plants which provide food for migrating birds. A new lake has also been constructed, and fields provide additional habitats for fauna such as skylarks.

There is access to some areas and footpaths across others.

References

Essex Wildlife Trust

Abbotts Hall Farm


In signal processing, a band-stop filter or band-rejection filter is a filter that passes most frequencies unaltered, but attenuates those in a specific range to very low levels.  It is the opposite of a band-pass filter.  A notch filter is a band-stop filter with a narrow stopband (high Q factor).

Narrow notch filters (optical) are used in Raman spectroscopy, live sound reproduction (public address systems, or PA systems) and in instrument amplifiers (especially amplifiers or preamplifiers for acoustic instruments such as acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass instrument amplifier, etc.) to reduce or prevent audio feedback, while having little noticeable effect on the rest of the frequency spectrum (electronic or software filters). Other names include "band limit filter", "T-notch filter", "band-elimination filter", and "band-reject filter".

Typically, the width of the stopband is 1 to 2 decades (that is, the highest frequency attenuated is 10 to 100 times the lowest frequency attenuated).  However, in the audio band, a notch filter has high and low frequencies that may be only semitones apart.
From the figure of the frequency response of an ideal band-stop filter, it's obvious that the band-stop filter is simply an inverted band-pass filter where they share same definition of bandwidth, pass band, stop band and center frequency. The attenuation should be infinite in the stop band and be zero in the two pass bands for an ideal band-stop filter.
Band-stop filters are designed by the combination of a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter in a parallel configuration. Overlapping does not occur in the summation of high-pass filter and low-pass filter during the design of band-stop filter. The difference in the starting and ending frequency points causes the two filters to connect effectively without any overlapping.

Mathematical description
Band-stop filter can be represented as a combination of low-pass and high-pass filters if the bandwidth is wide enough that the two filters do not interact too much.  A more general approach is to design as a low-pass prototype filter which can then be transformed into a bandstop. The simple notch filter shown can be directly analysed. The transfer function is,

Here  is zero circular frequency and   is the pole circular  frequency. Zero frequency is the cutoff frequency and  sets the type of the notch filter: standard notch when , low-pass notch () and high-pass notch () filters.  denotes the Q-factor.

For standard notch filter the formulation can be rewritten as

where   is the central rejected frequency and  is the width of the rejected band.

Examples

In the audio domain
Anti-hum filter
For countries using 60 Hz power lines:
 low frequency: 59 Hz,
 middle frequency: 60 Hz,
 high frequency: 61 Hz.
This means that the filter passes all frequencies, except for the range of 59–61 Hz. This would be used to filter out the mains hum from the 60 Hz power line, though its higher harmonics could still be present.

For countries where power transmission is at 50 Hz, the filter would have a 49–51 Hz range.

In the radio-frequency (RF) domain
Non-linearities of power amplifiers
When measuring the non-linearities of power amplifiers, a very narrow notch filter can be very useful to avoid the carrier frequency. Use of the filter may ensure that the maximum input power of a spectrum analyser used to detect spurious content will not be exceeded.

Wave trap
A notch filter, usually a simple LC circuit, is used to remove a specific interfering frequency.  This is a technique used with radio receivers that are so close to a transmitter that it swamps all other signals. The wave trap is used to remove or greatly reduce the signal from the nearby transmitter.

Software-defined radio
Most affordable software-defined radios (SDR) on the market today suffer from limited dynamic and operating ranges. In other words, in real-world operating environments, a SDR can easily be saturated by a strong signal. In particular FM broadcast signals are very strong and nearly everywhere. These signals can prevent a SDR from processing other weak signals. FM notch filters are very useful for SDR applications and have increased in their popularity.

Optical filtering (wavelength selection)

In optics, there are several methods of filtering selected wavelengths from a source or to a detector. They rely on scattering or destructive interference.

Filtering by scattering and diffraction
A diffraction grating or a dispersive prism may be used to selectively redirect selected wavelengths of light within an optical system.

In the case of transmission gratings and prisms, polychromatic light that passes through the object will be redirected according to wavelength. A slit may then be used to select wavelengths that are desired. A reflective grating may also be utilized for the same purpose, though in this case light is reflected rather than transmitted. Filters of this design may be high-pass, band-pass, or low-pass, depending on system configuration.

Filtering by interference

When using optics with real materials, light will be attenuated at various wavelengths through interference with the medium through which the light traversed. In this sense, material selection may be utilized to selectively filter light according to the wavelengths that are minimally attenuated. To some extent, all real optical systems will suffer from this phenomenon.

Alternatively, it is also possible to use an oscillating reflecting surface to cause destructive interference with reflected light along a single optical path. This principle is the basis for a Michelson interferometer.

Band-stop smoothing filter
Smoothing filter is essential in many fields, such as signal and image processing, computer vision, statistics, stated by Roonizi (2021). Algorithms such as quadratic variation regularization and smoothness priors are the most common way to perform signal denoising. These algorithms are implemented to band-stop smoothing filters and being investigated by Roonizi (2021). A naive band-stop smoothing filter is raised, which is constructed by connecting a high-pass smoothing filter and a low-pass smoothing filter. These two smoothing filter sections are configured in parallel way. Moreover, it was suggested that positive noise correlation promises to obtain the best band-stop smoothing filter.

Telecommunications
The development of telecommunications applications raises the demand of radio frequency and microwave filters, stated by Haddi (2019). Those filters are commonly used in PA systems (Public Address Systems) and speaker systems to produce audio with great quality. Microwave filters have high flexibility of actualization and low cost. The band-stop filter in the telecommunications field, has a respectable place which it is essential for microwave transceivers. For example, wireless communication systems make use of band-stop filters to achieve the requirement of miniaturization.

Microstrip Band-stop Filter
Microstrip-line band-stop filter is convenient to implement with low cost and light weight. Hsieh & Wang (2005) stated that, conventional microstrip band-stop filters are made of shunt open-circuited resonators. They usually has the characteristic of having narrow stopband. However, alternating the band-stop filter to have a wide stop band response with specific design can bring huge advantage over the conventional band-stop filters.

The advantages of the microstrip band-stop filter designed by Hsieh & Wang (2005) is its compact size and easy implementation. This improved band-stop filter with wide stop-band has additional amount of transmission zeros. The purpose of this design is to combine a shunt open-circuited quarter-wavelength resonator with one section of quarter-wavelength frequency-selecting coupling structure, stated by Hsieh & Wang (2005). As a result, a simple structured band-stop filter with easy implementation can bring advantages of lower-order resonators, great stop band performance when compared to conventional microstrip band-stop filters.

See also
Parametric equalizer

References

Linear filters
Synthesiser modules
Filter frequency response
Optical filters

Band-stop filter


The War of L'Aquila (Italian: Guerra dell'Aquila) was a conflict in 15th-century Italy. It started in 1423 as a personal conflict against the condottiero Braccio da Montone and the city of L'Aquila in Abruzzo, but later turned into a national conflict when the forces of the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples were also involved. Braccio da Montone was killed in the final battle near L'Aquila.

Background
In 1423 Braccio da Montone was named by Queen Joanna II of Naples as connestable of the Abruzzi for ten years. The condottiero, however, was fighting in Umbria, and named Ruggero d'Antignola as governor with the task to put these lands under his personal rule against the royal power of the Kingdom of Naples.

After an initial period of good relationships, in late 1422 the citizens of L'Aquila, fearing to lose their secular autonomy, rebelled under the leadership of Antonuccio Camponeschi and expelled Ruggero d'Antignola. The Camponeschi family was related with Giacomo Marzano, grand admiral of Naples, and the condottiero Muzio Attendolo, lord of Benevento and Manfredonia, as well as with Pope Martin V, who supported Louis III of Anjou's claims against Joanna. When the city declared itself under Louis' suzerainty, Braccio da Montone mobilized its forces to regain it.

History
In late 1423, Braccio da Montone's strong army started destroying the 99 historical castles (in Italian, Castelli Fondatori, meaning "founding castles") which surrounded the city. In May 1424, the population took refuge in Aquila itself and prepared for the siege. After a failed storming attempt, Braccio da Montone took a position on the Collemaggio hill, waiting for the city to surrender by famine.

In the meantime, a coalition between Florence, Milan, and the Pope mustered an army under the condottieri Jacopo Caldora and Francesco Sforza. The final clash between the two armies occurred in early June 1424. Muzio Attendolo had died in the march towards L'Aquila while wading the Pescara River.

After having been initially pushed back by Caldora, Braccio started losing ground. His vice-commander, Niccolò Piccinino, left the position on the city walls. This left his army's right flank, which was immediately attacked by Francesco Sforza. In the meantime, the Aquilans under Antonuccio Camponeschi sortied from the gates and contributed to Braccio's complete defeat. Mortally wounded in the neck, Braccio was made prisoner and transported to L'Aquila, where he died three days later, on 5 June 1424.

References

Sources

Wars involving the Papal States
Wars involving the Republic of Florence
Wars involving the Kingdom of Naples
1420s conflicts
15th century in the Papal States
15th century in the Kingdom of Naples
L'Aquila
1423 in Europe
1424 in Europe

War of L'Aquila


Crystal Decisions (previously known as Seagate Software Information Management Group) was a company that was known for its business intelligence products.

The company was formed when hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology acquired Holistic Systems and Crystal Services with the intention of pursuing better profit margins in the software market. Holistic Systems had a wide range of sales offices, infrastructure and the Holos OLAP product, whilst Crystal Services had good OEM deals for the Crystal Reports database reporting product that they had written. The first new product from the combined company was Seagate Info, which later evolved to become known as Crystal Enterprise. Crystal Analysis followed as an OLAP client.

The company's structure reflected its heritage, with OLAP technologies being developed out of the former Holistic Systems R&D site in Ipswich, Suffolk, England and Relational Database technologies being developed out of the former Crystal Services R&D centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Crystal Decisions was acquired by Business Objects in December 2003. As part of this acquisition, the former research and development site in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, was closed with a loss of about 80 jobs in order to centralize development in Vancouver and Paris, with the support for the Holos product being outsourced to Raspberry Software based near Ipswich.

The Holos product line has now ceased.

Business Objects was purchased by SAP in March 2008.

External links
Indicee Website
Sys-Con Media Article, December 17th, 2009
TechCrunch Article November 4th 2009
Press Release July 2003 - Business Objects to Acquire Crystal Decisions
TechCrunch Article October 2007 - SAP Acquires Business Objects

Business intelligence companies
Defunct software companies of the United States

Crystal Decisions


Binnein an Fhidhleir, one of the Arrochar Alps, is a mountain in southern Scotland. It is located above Butterbridge on the north side the A83 road facing Beinn an Lochain to the south. The mountain has several tops, including Creag Bhrosgan (711 m); Stob Coire Creagach, which replaced Binnein an Fhidhleir as the Marilyn in April 2006  at 817 m; one without any name at all at 748 metre; and Binnein an Fhidhleir itself, further to the west, at 811 m. Although Stob Coire Creagach is the highest summit, the name Binnein an Fhidhleir is generally used for the whole mountain.

The shortest route of ascent is directly up the hillside above Butterbridge, where there is a carpark. A number of small crags must be avoided, and the route is steep and unrelenting. Alternatively, the hill may be ascended from further up Glen Kinglas by way of Binnein an Fhidhleir's northern ridge: although longer this route is considerably less steep.

References

Marilyns of Scotland
Corbetts
Mountains and hills of the Southern Highlands
Mountains and hills of Argyll and Bute

Binnein an Fhidhleir


Chee Soo (born Clifford Soo, also known as Clifford Gibbs, 4 June 1919 – 29 August 1994) was an author of books about the philosophy of Taoism and in particular Lee-style tai chi, Qigong, Ch'ang Ming, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Feng Shou 'Hand of the Wind' kung fu.

Biography

Early life
Born on 4 June 1919 in All Souls, Marylebone, London, Chee Soo was the son of Ah Chee Soo, a Chinese seaman and a pastry chef at the Westminster restaurant. His English mother was Beatrice Annie Alice Gibbs. They lived in Westminster. Although he enlisted in the British Army under the name Clifford Gibbs, his mother's maiden name, in later life he took his father's name and was known as Chee Soo. In a 1977 LBC radio interview Chee Soo described meeting a Chinese Martial Arts teacher from Shandong called Chan Kam Lee in Hyde Park when he was fourteen years old. Chee Soo said he was invited to Chan Lee's class in the summer of 1934, and this was the beginning of his martial arts training. Chee Soo said that Chan Kam Lee adopted him as a nephew, and taught him the arts whenever his work and time permitted.

Military career
In 1937 Chee Soo joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment part of the 7th Armoured division known as the Desert rats. During the Second World War, he was promoted to Lance-Corporal and Corporal in 1941, then to "Acting Serjeant" in 1942. He was awarded the Military Medal after the Battle of Beda Fomm in Libya in February 1941, part of Operation Compass. After his regiment were transferred to Burma he was captured by the Japanese on 19 April 1942 during the Battle of Yenangyaung and forced to work on the Death Railway as a POW where he contracted Malaria, he was later classified as a war crimes witness:

In 1939 the Second World War broke out, and Chee Soo did his share of fighting as a Tank Commander in the Second Battalion of the Royal Tank Corps, in France, in North Africa — where he won the Military Medal, and in Burma where, after a hectic battle, he was finally taken prisoner by the Japanese. He went through many periods of beatings, torture, starvation and very hard work as a member of a working party in the mountains between India and Burma. Finally, three years later, as the Japanese started to retreat from the advancing Allies, he managed to escape into the Shan Mountains of West Burma and made his way over very rugged terrain and through many jungles, till finally one month afterwards he was able to make contact with the Allies again. Three months after recuperation and treatment (for he then weighed only 84 lbs), he was flown back to England, where he was able to enjoy a long leave with his wife. After that, he was discharged from the forces and took a course in book-keeping, stock control, commercial history and sales promotion.
Chee Soo claimed that he managed to make contact with Chan Lee again after the war was finished, and the class in Holborn was restarted. In 1950, Chee Soo formed his own class in Manor Road School, West Ham, East London.

The author Rupert Croft-Cooke who was Chee's friend from 1938 provides us with some biographical details of this period in Chee Soo's life in his book 'The Dogs of Peace'.
Clifford Gibbs had got his rather grand name from Dr Barnardo's Homes, for he had been reared in one of these, the son of a Chinese father and English mother, neither of whom he had ever seen. I had known him before the war and was as proud as he was of the Military Medal he had earned as a Corporal in the Royal Armoured Corps in North Africa. He had been sent to Burma and taken prisoner by the Japanese, and suffered unspeakable tortures and humiliations because of his race, separated as he was from his fellow British. He had survived and, inwardly as inscrutable as a Conrad character, a little like Wang in Victory, he had married a blonde English girl and had an exquisite baby daughter whose godfather I became at a Sunday afternoon service in an East End Anglican church.
Clifford, who went about life methodically, was severely industrious and found the means of saving for his family even in those days of grudging wages. But he had a humorous cheerful side to his character and enlivened my flat during his weekly visits between office hours and his return to Durban Street, E.15. He was an expert wrestler and had earned the Judo black belt. Only from the depths of his character emerged sometimes the exotic or oriental; in speech and manner he was very much an Englishman, and it was strange to hear from his curved lips words that might have been used by any London ex-soldier. I am glad to have had his friendship throughout those years.

Teaching the Taoist Arts
Chee Soo said that after the death of his teacher Chan Kam Lee, he went on to become the President of the International Taoist Society  and taught a variety of martial arts ranging from self-defence techniques to healing and spiritual disciplines based on Chinese Medicine, ch'i kung and meditation.

Chee Soo's daughter Lavinia Soo-Warr adds that Chee Soo began learning Judo and Kendo in London after World War 2, and followed this up with training in Aikido with Kenshiro Abbe after his arrival in London in 1955. This history states that Chee Soo "switched back to the Chinese arts", possibly influenced by his negative experiences as a Japanese prisoner-of-war during WW2. Lavinia states that Chee Soo began teaching a small group in Dunstable in "Ch'i Shu". This is probably the Aikido-influenced system which Chee Soo demonstrates and is called "Qi Shu" or "Chinese Aikido" in contemporary Movietone footage. The history says that later "as the Chi'Shu and Kung Fu systems became more popular, he introduced Taijiquan and the Chang Ming Diet", which suggests that Chee Soo was not teaching Tai Chi up to this point. Lavinia's history says that Chee Soo changed his teachings fundamentally "at least three times" during his teaching career.

According to Chee Soo, Chan Lee died in the winter of 1953–4 off the coast of China, near Canton, when the ship he was travelling in sank in a severe storm, and he was asked to take over the leadership of the association. Since then the association has grown in The British Isles, Australia, South Africa, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Mauritius and New Zealand.

Chee Soo taught 'The Eight Strands of the Brocade', comprising :
Ch'ang Ming 	—	Taoist long life health diet therapy
Ts'ao Yao 	—    	Taoist herbal therapy
Anmo          	—    	Taoist massage
Tao Yin         –    	Taoist respiration therapy
Tien Chen	—    	Taoist Acupressure (Spot Pressing)
Chen Tuan	—    	Taoist diagnosis techniques
Chili Nung	—    	(The way of occlusion)

There are two associations which are affiliated to the Chinese Cultural Arts Association and the International Wu Shu Association.

The Chinese Cultural Arts Association teach :
Tai chi	—	The Supreme Ultimate
K'ai Men	—	(Taoist Yoga or the Taoist form of Ch'i Kung)
I Fu Shou	—	(Sticky Hands)
Li Kung	        —	(Taoist development of Li energy)
Mo Kun	        —	(Taoist Wand for Li energy control)
Mo Hsiang 	—	(Taoist Meditation)
Tai chi Dance
Tai chi Stick
Tai chi sword

The International Wu Shu Association teach:
Feng Shou 	—	('Hand of the Wind' Kung fu, very soft, very gentle, and very fast, and suitable for women and men of all ages ).
Chi Shu		—	(A form of self defence with throws & breakfalls similar to Aikido, which Chee Soo studied after World War 2 )
Tao Shu (Sword)
Kan Shu (Stick/Spear)

Chee Soo was also involved as a fight choreographer with the cult TV series The Avengers during the 1960s as is evidenced by publicity photographs of him with Ray Austin (himself a Black Belt third dan Kung Fu Master and pupil of Soo's) and Diana Rigg probably taken around 1967. He brought Kung Fu before a western audience years before Bruce Lee had even been heard of.
The Guinness world record site states that "In 1965, Dame Diana Rigg (UK) became the first western actress to perform kung fu on Television when the combat choreographers Ray Austin (UK) and Chee Soo (UK/China) worked elements of the martial art into her fight scenes on The Avengers. Certificate presentation was done on The New Paul O'Grady Show."

During the 1970s he ran a Chinese Health and Herbal clinic in London.

According to a British Movietone News documentary filmed on 21 May 1970 at Guildford in Surrey – UK, Chee Soo had over 2000 students studying Wu Shu in Britain as part of the British Wu Shu Association, and was one of only three men outside of Beijing qualified to teach Wu Shu.

Chee Soo appeared in a BBC Nationwide TV interview on 21 September 1973 where he demonstrated Kung fu self-defence techniques and inner power live in the studio with presenter Bob Wellings. Chee Soo talked about the history of Kung Fu and the difference between Northern and Southern kung fu styles in China and how it differs from Karate.

In 1975 Chee Soo was filmed by the BBC at his Feng shou kung fu class in Seymour Hall in London and subsequently appeared in a documentary broadcast for schools entitled Scene:Looking for a fight. His soft style kung fu self-defence class was contrasted with boxing and hard style kung fu.

In 1977 he was interviewed by Brian Hayes on LBC radio and talked about Lee-style tai chi, meeting his teacher Chan Kam Lee and Reincarnation.

Writings
According to an interview with Marilyn Soo who is Chee Soo's widow, during the 1980s he moved to Coventry and spent his time writing and teaching courses in Lee-style tai chi and Feng Shou Kung Fu at the Alderman Callow School in Coventry (now called The Westwood Academy) and other locations around Britain, as well as visiting some of his students overseas in places like Australia and around Europe. Chee Soo was the author of five books published during his lifetime and one book published posthumously about Taoist philosophy.

He died in Ebbw Vale on 29 August 1994 as a result of an abdominal aneurism caused by Deep vein thrombosis probably aggravated by several long haul plane flights during the previous two years.

Books
Chee Soo's books were first published in hardback by Gordon and Cremonesi from 1976, then by Aquarian Press (Thorsons/HarperCollins) from 1983 who published reprints throughout the 1980s which topped the best sellers listings for several years. They have been translated into various languages including Portuguese (Brazilian), Polish, German, French (distributed in Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal), Indonesian, Spanish, and Italian and published throughout the world. His books are now published by Seahorse Books.

First published by Gordon and Cremonesi in 1976 (). This book was republished by the Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northants in 1984 (Thorsons/HarperCollins), () and the same edition with minor changes and a new cover is now published by Seahorse Books (). This book describes the Lee-style of tai chi which Chee Soo – by his own account – learned from Chan Lee who was the last member of the Lee family and who came to London to trade precious stones in the 1930s. There is a detailed history of the Lee-style and over 150 black and white photographs and descriptions detailing the Lee-style tai chi 'form' as well as explanations of Taoist philosophy and partner exercises such as I fou Shou or 'sticky hands'.

First published by Gordon and Cremonesi in 1977 under the title "The Chinese Art of K'ai Men" and then reprinted by Aquarian Press (Thorsons/HarperCollins) under the title "Taoist Yoga" in 1983, now published by Seahorse Books () describes the Taoist Ch'i gung exercises and Breathing exercises taught by Chee Soo.

First published by Aquarian Press (Thorsons/HarperCollins) in 1983 () now published by Seahorse Books () describes in Chee Soo's own words the Lee-style of Feng Shou or "Hand of the Wind" kung fu or wu shu self-defence training as taught by Chee Soo.

First published by Gordon and Cremonesi in 1979 () later published by Aquarian Press (Thorsons/HarperCollins). This book describes the natural foods diet and some Chinese Medicine techniques Chee Soo taught in his health and massage classes and has now been re-printed by Seahorse Books ().

First published by Aquarian Press (Thorsons/HarperCollins) in 1986 () This book describes Taoist Healing methods including massage, acupressure and diagnostic techniques of Chinese Medicine, now published by Seahorse Books ()

First published by Seahorse Books in 2006 () - is a diary of Chee Soo's thoughts regarding Taoist philosophy written down over eight years from 1976 to 1984, it is a guide for those interested in pursuing the study of Taoist philosophy in their daily lives.

Further reading
Chee Soo wrote six books about the Lee Style Taoist Arts

References
All quotes are reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

External links
 Chee Soo author page on Amazon
 Lee style Wiki, an online encyclopaedia of Chee Soo's writings maintained by his publisher.
 Seahorse Arts Chee Soo Biography
 Master Chee Soo (1919–1994) by Patrick Kelly

1919 births
1994 deaths
English spiritual writers
English Taoists
British tai chi practitioners
Martial arts writers
Philosophy writers
British Army personnel of World War II
English people of Chinese descent
Writers from Marylebone
Burma Railway prisoners
Recipients of the Military Medal

Chee Soo


The Poërop Arboretum (French Arboretum du Poërop) is a 22-hectare arboretum located in Huelgoat, Finistère, Brittany, France.

The garden's initial site was acquired in 1967 by a local retirement home, with the aim of creating a farm. In 1993 its first arboretum specimens were planted with residents' help, and in 1999 the site expanded by seven hectares. In 2001 its maple collection received a national commendation, and in 2004 the garden opened its Himalayan valley and collections of medicinal plants from Nepal and Yunnan.

Today, the arboretum contains about 3,600 types of trees and shrubs from five continents. Andean and Himalayan plants are strongly represented, primarily by specimens grown from seeds collected in situ. The garden contains good collections of maple (150 varieties), oak (170), pine (100), rhododendron (230), magnolia (160), and roses (200). It also contains about 100 bamboos from Asia, the Americas, and Africa, as well as a forest of eucalyptus and other trees from Australia. Its ethnobotanical garden contains sixteen beds of medicinal plants from the Himalayas.

See also
 List of botanical gardens in France

References
 Arboretum du Poërop
 1001 Fleurs entry (French)
 Parcs et Jardins entry (French)
 Conservatoire des Jardins et Paysage entry (French)
 Gralon.net entry (French)

Gardens in Finistère
Arboreta in France

Poërop Arboretum


Primordial is a metal baund frae Skerries, Dublin, Ireland. It wis formed in 1991 bi Pól MacAmlaigh (bass) an Ciarán MacUiliam (guitars). Their soond melds black metal wi Erse fowk muisic.

Biography
The baund's ruits stretch back tae 1987 when Pól an Ciarán first began playin thegither wi Pól's brither, Derek. The baund (who war cawed Forsaken for a brief period) initially played a rough, hybrid mix o early, primitive Thrash an Daith Metal (playin covers o Death, Sepultura an the like).

Vocalist Nemtheanga (Alan Averill) joined the baund efter seeing an ad for a sanger in Dublin specialist Metal store The Sound Cellar in 1991. Accordin tae Primordial lore, the ad wis pasted ower nae mair nor 2 hours efter it being put up.

Upon Nemtheanga's joinin the baund, the baund startit tae pursue a daurker direction citin influence frae Bathory, Celtic Frost an the emergin Greek an Norse Black Metal scenes.

Primordial wis the first black metal styled baund tae emerge frae Ireland wi the release o their Dark Romanticism demo in the early simmer o 1993 (Cruachan war an aa active at this time combinin Black Metal wi Fowk Muisic). The baund initially came tae the attention o Lee Barrett frae the UK label Candlelight Records but he failed tae move on signing the baund so efter a live, soondboard recordin frae Dublin frae 1994 wis sent tae Cacophonous Records, (Cradle of Filth, Bal Sagoth etc.), the baund signed wi them for the release o their debut album Imrama.

Although their debut album, Imrama, wis characteristic as being in a mair melodic black metal muisical direction, they gradually came tae refine their soond wi A Journey's End, which includit the uise o mandolins an whistles an a mair epic style. The twa subsequent releases, The Burning Season an Spirit the Earth Aflame, showed the baund's reflection o cultural geist an emotion, woven intae an amalgam o black, celtic, an fowk metal muisical styles. They hae toured wi various metal baunds in the extreme metal genre, includin Norse black metal baund Immortal.

The baund's fift album The Gathering Wilderness turned oot tae be a much daurker an bleaker record than ony Primordial haed made afore, providin the listener wi a rawer soond as well. It wis chuist as album o the month in Terrorizer Magazine an appeared in lots o top leets o the year 2005.

In Januar 2006 the baund played their first US show alangside Thyrfing an Moonsorrow at the Heathen Crusade metalfest in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

Their saxt album, To the Nameless Dead, wis released on 16 November 2007. It receivit virtually universal an owerwhelmin praise, risin tae such accolades as being namit 2008's Metal Album o the Year bi Chronicles of Chaos (continuin an unprecedentit back tae back honoring for Primordial bi the wabzine).

In November an December 2010, the baund entered Foel Studio in Wales tae wirk wi producer Chris Fielding ance again. The resultin seivent album, Redemption at the Puritan's Hand wis released via Metal Blade on 26 Aprile 2011.

Discography

Studio albums
Imrama (1995)
A Journey's End (1998)
Spirit the Earth Aflame (2000)
Storm Before Calm (2002)
The Gathering Wilderness (2005)
To the Nameless Dead (2007)
Imrama (Re-Release) (2009)
Redemption at the Puritan's Hand (2011)
Where Greater Men Have Fallen (2014)
Exile Amongst the Ruins (2018)

Live
All Empires Fall (2010)
Gods To The Godless - Live at Bang Your Head Festival Germany 2015 (2016)

EPs
The Burning Season (1999)

Demos
Dark Romanticism (1993)

Split releases
Primordial / Katatonia Split 10" (1996)
Primordial / Mael Mórdha (2006)

Members

Current
 Alan Averill "Nemtheanga" – Vocals (1991-)
 Ciáran MacUiliam – Guitars (1991-)
 Micheál O'Floinn – Guitars (2002-)
 Pól MacAmlaigh – Bass (1991-)
 Simon O'Laoghaire – Drums (1997-)

Umwhile
Feargal Flannery - Guitar (1987-2002)
Derek "D." MacAmlaigh - Drums (1987-1997)

Fremmit Airtins
Offeecial Website
Offeecial Myspace Profile
Nemtheanga's art

Muisical groups established in 1987
Muisical groups frae Dublin (ceety)
Erse hivy metal muisical groups
Erse black metal muisical groups
Celtic metal muisical groups

Primordial (baund)


In 1869, Professor Dmitri Mendeleev created the first periodic table of chemical elements. He arranged the elements from the lightest one to the heaviest one. When he proposed his periodic table, he placed empty spaces between some elements. He said that the empty spaces were for undiscovered elements. Mendeleev had also predicted the properties of these undiscovered elements.

Naming the undiscovered elements
Mendeleev gave temporary names for the undiscovered elements. He used the prefixes eka-, dvi- and tri- and combined it with any known elements in the same group with the undiscovered element. Eka-, dvi- and tri- are numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the Sanskrit language. The use of the prefix depends on how far the known element is from the unknown element. For example, germanium was called eka-silicon because silicon is placed one row above germanium, and rhenium was called dvi-manganese because manganese is placed two rows above rhenium. The names of these elements were changed after they were discovered.

Other scientists use the eka- prefix, too. Eka- is also used in the names of elements that Mendeleev did not predict. Before francium was discovered, it was called eka-caesium, and before astatine was discovered, it was called eka-iodine. The eka- prefix is also used to name transuranic elements (elements after uranium). For example, ununoctium is also called eka-radon, and untriennium (element number 139) is also called eka-actinium. Today, the IUPAC uses the systematic element name to give new elements a temporary name. This new way of naming elements depends on the atomic number of the element. It does not depend on the position of the element in the periodic table.

References

Periodic table

Mendeleev's predicted elements


Maria Rosaria Capobianchi (born 30 July 1953 in Procida) is an Italian biologist. She is the laboratory director of virology at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Lazzaro Spallanzani" (INMI). In 2020, she isolated coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.

She graduated from the Federico II University of Naples, and in Microbiology from the Sapienza University of Rome.
Her research focused on the mechanism of production and action of interferon, emerging viruses, persistent viral infections, and HIV infection. She was part of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center "Treatment, Diagnosis, Response and Training in Highly Infectious Diseases", established at INMI in 2009. She is a consultant of the National Transplant Center for viral infections in transplants.

In February 2020, her research group isolated SARS-CoV-2, with Francesca Colavita and Concetta Castilletti.

References

1953 births
Italian biologists

Maria Rosaria Capobianchi