The Shin Meiwa PS-1 and US-1A is a large STOL aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and air-sea rescue (SAR) work respectively by Japanese aircraft manufacturer Shin Meiwa. The PS-1 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) variant is a flying boat which carried its own beaching gear on board, while the search-and-rescue (SAR) orientated US-1A is a true amphibian.

Development of the PS-1 has its origins in flying boat research performed by the Shin Meiwa during the 1950s. The company, believing that their design was capable of regular use upon the open sea, petitioned the Japanese military to acquire the type as a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA). Following the demonstration of a converted Grumman HU-16 Albatross testbed aircraft, referred to as the UF-XS, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) awarded Shin Meiwa a contract in 1966 to further develop its design via two further prototypes, which were designated PS-X. During 1969, the JMSDF placed the first order for an eventual fleet of 21 ASW aircraft, designated PS-1; orders for the SAR variant, designated US-1A, were also issued during the 1970s.

Shin Meiwa were keen to develop additional variants and derivative aircraft, including substantially larger designs which they had studied, but many of these ambitions remained as paper projects only. During the 1980s, the JMSDF decided to adopt land-based Lockheed P-3 Orions, displacing the PS-1s from the ASW role and leading to the variant's retirement during 1989. Following the withdrawal of the last active US-1A in 2017, the type has been replaced by the ShinMaywa US-2, a modernised variant.

Design and development

Background
Following the end of the Second World War and the start of the Occupation of Japan, a ban on aircraft manufacturing imposed during December 1945 required Japan's aircraft industry to find other work. During the late 1940s, Japanese aircraft manufacturer Kawanishi Aircraft Company reorganised itself, becoming ShinMeiwa Industries. During the 1950s, the emergence of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the aircraft construction ban being rescinded; Shin Meiwa, which had turned to heavy machinery and engine manufacturing for the intervening years, decided to resurrect their old aircraft works. Initially, the company focused on smaller efforts, such as subcontracting work, the production of drop tanks, and performing airframe overhauls of both Japanese and American aircraft, such as the US Navy's Martin P5M Marlin flying boats. However, senior figures, such as chief aircraft designer Shizo Kikuhara and founder Ryuzo Kawanishi were keen to pursue projects of a greater scope.

During the early 1950s, Kawanishi had formed a committee headed by Kikuhara which was tasked with developing seaplane designs that would feature greater seaworthiness. Unlike most seaplanes, they held the ambitious aim of producing an aircraft that could land upon rough seas and encounter little impact from waves and spray. By 1959, the committee felt that it had developed an appropriate design to meet its specification. Two years later Kikuhara, who now headed up the company's Amphibian Development Division, was lobbying the Japanese Defense Agency to consider the adoption of a flying boat to meet the nation's requirement for an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol aircraft. Shin Meiwa stated that they would produce a specialised design to undertake the ASW mission. Crucial support came from the US Navy, who were keen to see Japan's ASW capabilities expand to help track and contain the growing Soviet submarine presence in the Pacific.

Concept and testing
To support the development of the Shin Meiwa's ideas, the Americans provided a single Grumman HU-16 Albatross flying boat, which was disassembled, reverse engineered and reassembled into a flying testbed aircraft, referred to as the UF-XS. The converted flying boat featured numerous adaptations, including a novel boundary layer control system to provide enhanced Short Takeoff/Landing (STOL) performance, while the Albatross's two  Wright R-1820 radial engines were supplemented by two  Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engines on the aircraft's wings, with an additional  General Electric T58 turboshaft inside the aircraft's hull to drive the boundary layer control system. The UF-XS also featured a new T-tail arrangement, hull-based deflectors, and a rounded stubby nose radome which resembled that of the P5M Marlin.

From 1962 onwards, the UF-XS performed numerous test flights, demonstrating the improved features which enabled a flying boat to both land and take-off from the open ocean; these tests were closely followed and critiqued by the Japanese military. Over time, the UF-XS continued to be modified to improve its stability and other key performance criteria. In 1966, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) awarded Shin Meiwa a contract to further develop its design to produce a patrol aircraft capable of the ASW mission; accordingly, two further prototypes were constructed under the designation PS-X. In addition to Shin Meiwa, other Japanese companies, such as Fuji Heavy Industries and NIPPI Corporation, also played major roles in the PS-X's development. The adaptions resulted in significant seaworthiness improvements; during tests conducted in the Kii Channel during 1968, the PS-X successfully landed amid formidable four-meter waves, despite these being in excess of its design goal of three meters.

Having been suitably impressed, during 1969, the JMSDF issued a production order for a batch of 21 aircraft, which were given the designation PS-1, to meet its ASW requirement. In spite of its demonstrated performance, the project was not without its critics. The programme soon became politically controversial as its relatively small production run had resulted in an extremely high unit-cost for these aircraft, largely due to the inherent costs involved in the development of brand new aircraft designs. For its part, Shin Meiwa made efforts to commercialise design elements of the aircraft, such as its hydraulics and engine control systems; it exported its rough-sea roll-damping technology to other seaplane companies.

Further development

The PS-1 had not been in service long before the JMSDF requested the development of a search-and-rescue (SAR) variant. Shin Meiwa, being keen to pursue the aircraft's development, embarked upon fulfilling this request. By deleting much of the PS-1's military equipment, room was freed up to provide the aircraft with a greater fuel capacity, retractable landing gear, and rescue equipment. The new variant, which was designated the US-1A, could also quickly be converted for troop-carrying. The US-1A was Japan's first amphibian, operating from land and sea, which meant that it could transfer survivors to land facilities via ambulance more quickly. First flown on October 15, 1974, it was accepted into service during the following year, and eventually 19 aircraft were purchased. From the seventh aircraft on, an uprated version of the original engine was used, all aircraft were eventually modified to this US-1A standard.

During the 1990s, by which point the US-1A fleet was beginning to show its age, the JMSDF attempted to obtain funding towards acquiring a replacement, but could not secure enough to develop an entirely new aircraft. Therefore, during 1995, ShinMaywa (as Shin Meiwa had been renamed, reportedly so that the name would be easier to pronounce for non-Japanese speakers) set about planning to produce an upgraded version of the US-1A, initially referred to as the US-1A kai (US-1A 改 - "improved US-1A"). This aircraft features numerous aerodynamic refinements and modernised systems, along with a pressurised hull, and the adoption of more powerful Rolls-Royce AE 2100 engines. Flight tests of the new variant began on December 18, 2003. The JMSDF has chosen to purchase up to 14 of these aircraft, which has entered service as the ShinMaywa US-2.

Unbuilt concept aircraft
In 1977, Shin Meiwa revealed that it had several ideas for its STOL flying boat concept on the drawing board, but ultimately none of these were ever built. They were the Shin Meiwa LA (Light Amphibian), a 40-passenger light amphibian for inter-island feeder service; the 400-passenger Shin Meiwa MA (Medium Amphibian); the Shin Meiwa MS (Medium Seaplane) a 300-passenger long-range flying boat with its own beaching gear; and the gargantuan Shin Meiwa GS (Giant Seaplane) with a capacity of 1200 passengers seated on three decks. Unlike the Shin Meiwa LA and MA which were like the US-1 in design, the Shin Meiwa MS and GS had their engines located in front of and above the wing to take advantage of the Coandă effect. In the end, none of the four designs got beyond paper studies.

Operational history

Between 1971 and 1978, 21 PS-1 flying boats entered service with the JMSDF; starting in 1973, they were operated as Fleet Air Wing 31. The PS-1 ASW variant carried homing torpedoes, depth charges and 127mm Zuni rockets as offensive armament, but lacked any defensive weapons. It was equipped with dipping sonar, which had limited use as it required the aircraft to land on water to deploy. It could also carry 20 sonobuoys. It had a crew of ten: pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, navigator and six sensor/weapons operators. On a typical ASW mission, a PS-1 would range over hundreds of square miles of ocean, landing between 12 and 16 times to dip its sonar.

The type was capable of numerous feats, such as being able to routinely land in seas with waves of up to  in height. Water distance for takeoff or landing with  aircraft weight was  with no wind or  into a 15-knot wind. Apart from the boundary layer control system, which was powered by an independent gas turbine housed within the fuselage, the aircraft had a number of other innovative features, including a system to suppress spray during water handling, and directing the propwash from the aircraft's four turboprop engines over its wings to create yet more lift.

During 1976, a single PS-1 was experimentally modified to perform aerial firefighting missions; it possessed an internal capacity of  of water. During the 1980s, the JMSDF decided to replace the PS-1 in the ASW role with land-based Lockheed P-3 Orions; the last examples of the ASW variant were phased out of service in 1989. It was outlived by the Search-and-Rescue oriented US-1A fleet, which continued to be used into the 21st century.

The US-1A's first rescue was from a Greek vessel in 1976. Despite having been envisioned largely to perform air-sea rescues of military personnel, the US-1A has mostly been involved in civilian assistance operations. Between 1976 and 1999, Japan's US-1A fleet has reported been used in over 500 rescues and were responsible for the saving of 550 lives. The US-1A was retired on December 13, 2017, when the last example in JMSDF service conducted its final flight. According to aviation periodical Air International, a total of 827 people have been rescued by US-1s since the type had entered service during 1976. It has been succeeded in its role by the modernised US-2.

Operators

 Japan Maritime Self Defense Force

Specifications (US-1A)

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

 ShinMaywa aircraft page
 Footage of US-1A operations - YouTube.com
 The Shin Meiwa PS-1 / US-1 & Harbin SH-5 Flying Boats - airvectors.net

US-1
1960s Japanese anti-submarine aircraft
1960s Japanese military rescue aircraft
Flying boats
High-wing aircraft
Four-engined tractor aircraft
Four-engined turboprop aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1967
T-tail aircraft

Shin Meiwa US-1A


Charla Sedacca (born Charla Lineman, January 18, 1960 in Western Pennsylvania) was a female bodybuilder from the United States in the late 1980s.  Her older sister Janice Graser also competed in bodybuilding during the same period.  The sisters made history in 1987 when both won their classes at the NPC Nationals, with Charla winning the lightweight class and Janice the heavyweight.  Charla defeated Janice and middleweight class winner Renee Casella for the overall title.  The victory earned Charla her pro card, but she only competed in one professional contest before retiring from competition.  She is best remembered for her incredibly peaked biceps (nearly 15" at only 5'1½" and a contest weight of around 114 lbs.). She is now a pharmaceutical sales representative in Texas.

Contest history
 1986 NPC USA Championship - 2nd (MW)
 1986 NPC Nationals - 3rd (LW)
 1987 NPC USA Championship - 1st (MW)
 1987 NPC Nationals - 1st (LW and overall)
 1988 Pro World Championship - 16th

References

1960 births
American female bodybuilders
Living people
Professional bodybuilders
21st-century American women

Charla Sedacca


GRU  is in the military intelligence service of the Russian Federation, (formerly the Red Army of the Soviet Union).

"GRU" is the English version of the Russian acronym ГРУ, which means Main Intelligence Directorate.

The GRU is Russia's largest foreign intelligence agency. In 1997 it had six times as many agents in foreign countries as the SVR (The SVR is the successor to the KGB's foreign operations directorate). The GRU commanded 25,000 Spetsnaz ('special') troops in 1997.

History
The GRU's first predecessor in post-tsarist Russia was created on October 21, 1918 under the sponsorship of Leon Trotsky, who was then the civilian overseer of the Red Army. It was originally known as the Registration Directorate (Registrupravlenie, or RU). In his history of the early years of the GRU, Raymond W. Leonard writes:"As originally established, the Registration Department was not directly subordinate to the General Staff [of] the Red Army... In 1921... it was elevated in status to become the Second (Intelligence) Directorate of the Red Army Staff.

It was given the task of handling all military intelligence, particularly the collection of intelligence of military or political significance from sources outside the Soviet Union.  The GRU operated residencies all over the world. They ran with the SIGINT (signals intelligence) in Cuba, and throughout the former Soviet bloc countries, especially in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The GRU was well known in the Soviet government for its fierce independence from the rival "internal intelligence organizations", such as NKVD and KGB.  At the time of the GRU's creation, Lenin infuriated the Cheka (predecessor of the KGB) by ordering it not to interfere with the GRU's operations.  Nonetheless, the Cheka infiltrated the GRU in 1919.  This planted the seed for a fierce rivalry between the two agencies, which were both engaged in espionage. The rivalry was even more intense than that between the FBI and CIA.

The existence of the GRU was not publicized during the Soviet era. Documents about it became available in the West in the late 1920s, and it was mentioned in the 1931 memoirs of the first OGPU defector, Georges Agabekov. Walter Krivitsky, the most senior Red Army intelligence officer ever to defect, described it in detail in his 1939 autobiography (I was Stalin's agent).

It became widely known in Russia, and the West  during perestroika. Viktor Suvorov (Vladimir Rezun), a GRU agent who defected to Great Britain in 1978, wrote about his experiences in the Soviet military and intelligence services.  According to Suvorov, even the General Secretary of the CPSU could not enter GRU headquarters without going through a security screening.

The GRU is still a very important part of the Russian Federation's intelligence services, especially since it was never split up like the KGB.  The KGB was dissolved after aiding a failed coup in 1991 against the then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. It has since been divided into the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and the Federal Security Service (FSB).

The GRU was officially dissolved on 7 May 1992. It continues as the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces.

References

Russian intelligence agencies
Soviet intelligence agencies
1918 establishments in the Soviet Union
1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
Russian military organizations

GRU


GNU Gatekeeper (abbreviated as GnuGk) is a free software project that implements an H.323 Gatekeeper based on the OpenH323 or H323Plus stack. A gatekeeper provides address translation, admissions control, call routing, authorization and accounting services to an H.323 system defined on the H.323 standard by ITU-T.

Features
GnuGk's set of features include:
 Created for Linux, Windows, macOS, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD
 A policy-based flexible routing mechanism
 Calling and called numbers rewriting, including CLI rewriting
 Full H.323 proxy, including Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) media channels, and T.120 data channels
 NAT traversal using a number of protocols, including H.460.17, H.460.18 and H.460.19
 IPv6 support (incl. IPv4-IPv6 proxying)
 LDAP directory support (H.350)
 Call retry-failover
 Clustering support by neighbors, parent-child, alternates GK
 Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) status port for monitoring and external call routing
 H.235 security
 Accounting and call authorization via SQL database, RADIUS
 ENUM support

License
It is covered by the GPL-2.0-only license. Besides, the authors explicitly grant the right to link it to the OpenH323 and OpenSSL libraries. This is necessary, since GNU GPL is incompatible with the licenses of these libraries.

History
Originally, a proof-of-concept gatekeeper was developed by Xianping Chen, Joe Metzger and Rajat Todi for an experiment. At the start of 1999, Jan Willamowius convinced the first authors to license their code under GNU GPL and began the project.

The code was named OpenH323 Gatekeeper, short OpenH323GK. A team at mediaWays provided LDAP subsystem and overlapped sending. In 2000, there are tens of people contributed to the project for coding and testing.

At the start of 2001, Chih-Wei Huang at Citron and his team began to use and modify the project for their VoIP services. In September 2001 Openh323GK version 1.0 was released.

In 2002, GnuGk 2.0 was released. It had new architecture for gatekeeper routed mode which can handle thousands of concurrent calls, and introduced full H.323 proxy and Citron's NAT technology. These features made it a carrier-graded H.323 gatekeeper suitable for commercial operations.

To avoid confusion with other OpenH323 based gatekeepers, the project was renamed GNU Gatekeeper, short GnuGk, to reflect that it was the only gatekeeper available under a GNU license.

In 2004, version 2.2 was released with a redesigned architecture, followed by the more stable version 2.2.1 in 2005.

In 2006, version 2.2.4 introduced call failover, ENUM and CLI rewriting.

In 2012, version 3.0 added IPv6 and full H.460.18/H.460.19 traversal zone support.

Compatibility
The official website maintains an interoperability list for H.323 software and products.

Contributors
Jan Willamowius is the project founder and still the maintainer .

Over the years dozens of people contributed code and bug fixes. Among the most active were the team a Mediaways (LDAP), Michal Zygmuntowicz (radius support), Chih-Wei Huang (2.2 redesign), and Simon Horne (NAT features).

See also
 H.323 protocol
 H.323 Gatekeeper
 H.323 Gateway
 Voice over IP (VoIP)
 Network Address Translation

References

External links

Blog
German site
Web Interface a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the GNU Gatekeeper
GnuGk ACD an automatic call distributor (ACD) for the GNU Gatekeeper

Free VoIP software
Free communication software
Free server software
Free software programmed in C++
Cross-platform free software
Videotelephony

GNU Gatekeeper


Trpimir Macan (born August 20, 1935) is a Croatian historian and lexicographer.

He was born in Dubrovnik. He studied history in Zagreb and Sarajevo, where he graduated in 1959. In 1971 he received his Ph.D. in Zagreb with a thesis Life and work of Miho Klaić (Život i rad Miha Klaića ), which was in 1980 published as a monograph titled Miho Klaić. He worked in Metković, whence he relocated to Zagreb, and since 1965 he has been working at the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute as an editor of historical encyclopedias and lexicons. He is the serving Editor-In-Chief of the Croatian Biographical Lexicon (since 1990) and an anthology Biobibliographica (since 2003).

His scientific research deals with the history of Dubrovnik and Neretva region. He has authored a number of historical contributions to Croatian history and politicians of the 19th and 20th century (Miho Klaić, Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski, Petar Preradović, Stjepan Radić). He edited Povijest Hrvata od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX stoljeća ("History of Croats from the earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century"; multiple editions since 1972) by Vjekoslav Klaić, Pregled povijesti hrvatskog naroda ("Review of Croatian history"; 1975) by Ferdo Šišić, Sjećanja ("Memoirs"; 1995) by Zvonimir Vrkljan, Moj životopis ("
My biography"; 1996) by Tias Mortigjija, and an anthology Hrvatska i održivi razvitak: humane i odgojne vrednote ("Croatia and sustainable development: the human and educational values"; 1999).

Works
His seminal work Povijest hrvatskog naroda ("The History of the Croatian people"; 1971) was destroyed after the fall of the Croatian Spring, and was republished in a revised edition in 1992. His other works are:
 Iz povijesti Donjeg Poneretavlja (1971, extended edition in 1990)
 Susreti s hrvatskom Kliom (1991)
 Kratka povijest Hrvatske (A Short History of Croatia, co-authored with Josip Šentija, 1992)
 Povijesni prijepori (1992)
 Hrvatska povijest (1995)
 Rat i dokolica (1995)
 Rt Oštra u povijesti i politici (1998)
 Spremnost (1998)
 Posljednja opsada Dubrovnika (2001)
 Hrvatskom prošlosti: pogledi i osvrti (2011).

In 2005 he published a book of poetry Oskoruše.

References

20th-century Croatian historians
Croatian lexicographers
Living people
1935 births
21st-century Croatian historians
Writers from Dubrovnik

Trpimir Macan


Heinrich Zeller House, also known as Fort Zeller and Zeller's Fort, is a historic -story building that has served as a fort, block house and residence. The historic structure is located in Millcreek Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.

Description

Zeller's Fort was built in 1745 in the Pennsylvania German Traditional architectural style. The Zeller family, neighbors and the Pennsylvania militia used the fort during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) as refuge and defense against Native American Indian raids. It was actually a fortified house that replaced an earlier log house that was originally built in 1723 near the same location. During the French and Indian War, Lebanon County was susceptible to Native American Indian attacks so many fortifications, forts and blockhouses were constructed in this area. These fortifications included seven private fortresses: Bethel Moravian Church Fort (Fredericksburg), Benjamin Spycker's Stockade (Jackson Township), George Gloninger's Fort (Pleasant Hill), Isaac Meier Homestead (Myerstown), Light's Fort (Lebanon), Ulrich's Fort (Annville) and Zeller's Fort - Heinrich Zeller House (Newmanstown); one fort built by the Pennsylvania Colonial Militia: Fort Swatara (Inwood); and four blockhouses: Adam Harper's (Harper Tavern), Joseph Gibber's (Fredericksburg), Martin Hess' (Union Township) and Philip Breitenbach's (Myerstown). The Pennsylvania colonial militia used these fortifications during skirmishes or when troops were scouting or deployed in the area.

Fort Zeller has been used as a Zeller family gathering place for more than 200 years.

The structure was built into a bank over an everflowing spring that flows naturally from the bedrock into a creek from an arched opening in the basement. The spring provided fresh drinking water and provided a naturally cool area for storage. The building has an Alsatian / Swiss appearance.

Corner Stone and Front Picture Gallery

Interior
The first floor includes a twelve foot long fireplace located in the center of the structure which was used for heat and a cooking area, kitchen, living room, storage room and a staircase that leads to the second floor. The original windows included washbasins built into the sills. Water from the spring would flow into the sill and would be used to wash up. A wooden plug was used to allow water to flow into the sill and to exit underneath the window pane. The interior flooring, roofing and walls are framed with heavy timbers. The second floor includes a bedroom, which has the oldest hanging shutter in Pennsylvania.

Exterior
A Zeller family crest (stone carving) hangs over the front door which is also a sign of their faith. The roof is a steep gable style and the original windows were designed for defensive purposes and were narrow and irregularly spaced and measured only twelve by six inches. The exterior walls are constructed of twelve-inch thick limestone covered with stucco.

Basement
There were two original access points to the basement. One was an exterior door that led out in the same direction as the creek, and the second was a trap door located in the floor of the living room. The spring made the basement cool all year and provided cold storage areas for food and water.

Exterior Side Views Picture Gallery

Commemorative Plaque

At the entrance to Zeller's Fort is a large boulder monument with a commemorative plaque which includes the original documents from the colony. The monument includes the crest, the silhouette of Clothilde Valois de Zeller, and a reproduction of the Zeller land grant.

National Register of Historic Places

Fort Zeller was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

References

External links
Fort Zeller website

Friends of Light's Fort
The house of Benjamin Spycker
Fort Swatara
The Isaac Meier Homestead
Lebanon County Historical Society
The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
Historic American Buildings Survey in Pennsylvania
Houses completed in 1745
Houses in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
Swiss-American culture in Pennsylvania
National Register of Historic Places in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania
1745 establishments in Pennsylvania
Colonial forts in Pennsylvania

Heinrich Zeller House


is a public university in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan. The school's predecessor was founded in 1872, and it was chartered as a university in 1921. KPUM differs from Kyoto University, or "Kyodai" which is located nearby across the Kamo River, in that Kyoto University was nationally incorporated in 2004, and as such falls partly under the control of the Japanese Ministry of Education(文部科学省 Monbu-kagaku-shō). Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine declined to become nationally incorporated in order to retain a degree of academic freedom and independence. A major difference between the two schools can be described in terms of specialization. KPUM has medicine as its primary focus, whereas Kyodai concentrates on providing recruits for corporate Japan. Both schools pursue a shared passion for a recently developed concept known as "Gurobaru Jinzai Ikusei", reaching past borders for Japan's future success.

Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Hospital (京都府立医科大学附属病院)  has a long history in the Kansai area beginning in 1872, more than 4 years after the Meiji Restoration that ended the Late Tokugawa Shogunate. Due to wishes from the citizens for western style medicine to be more accessible, a local hospital and training institute was lobbied for, but owing to the political turmoil of these early years, the new government couldn't do much to help. So the people took on the mission and through fundraising from businesses, temples and individuals, the hospital finally was built. Since that time, the hospital has been designated as a central facility for the treatment of cancer, and is one of fifteen centres nationwide for the treatment of childhood cancer. There is also a facility with an integrated approach to the treatment of dementia.

The University has two main divisions - a medical school and a nursing school. Yearly student capacity is just over 100 for medical, and 75 to 80 for nursing enrollment. It is a government supported university with the distinction of being the third oldest in Japan. A major goal for KPUM has been the broadcasting of leading edge medical knowledge and technique to the outer limits of Kyoto prefecture, which covers over 4600 square kilometres straight across to the Sea of Japan. To accomplish this, the 'KPUM Medical Care Center' was established in 1971 as an official administrative body in charge of sending graduate medical doctors to affiliated hospitals, medical agencies and health care centres throughout the greater Kyoto region. This program is regular and ongoing, and involves 120 hospitals.

Graduate School of Health Nursing was originally established in 1889 as the University Midwife School, and through the years has morphed and transformed through various names and additions such as Kyoto Prefectural Medical School University Midwife and Nursing School, College of Medical Technology Midwifery Department, as well as a Graduate School of Cancer Nursing Specialist course(CNS) added in 2011.

The Pediatric Research Institute that was set up in 1979 is mainly concerned with severe childhood related diseases that are hard to treat by regular healthcare institutions. Along the same lines as Toronto's Hospital For Sick Children, wards were created in the hospital's newly built headquarters, and the Institute was renamed 'Children's Medical Care Center' in 2011. The president is 竹中洋 Takenaka Hiroshi, M.D., Ph.D.

Alumni
Hitoshi Okamura
Kazuki Ōmori
Tatsu Tanaka

External links

Educational institutions established in 1872
Public universities in Japan
Universities and colleges in Kyoto Prefecture
1872 establishments in Japan
Medical schools in Japan


Boot Hill Museum is an American historical museum located in Dodge City, Kansas.

A non-profit entity, the mission of the museum is to preserve the history of the Old West with emphasis on Dodge City. There are over 20,000 artifacts in the complex, including more than 200 original guns. In addition to its historical and educational focus, the museum also provides entertainment for visitors in the form of simulated gunfights and saloon shows.

The Kansas Cowboy Hall of Fame is housed in the museum complex.

Origin of the name
The museum is named after the Boot Hill Cemetery, which sits on the northeast corner of the museum complex. "Boot Hill" was a common name for cemeteries used to bury gunslingers in the American West. The term refers to the fact that these men had "died with their boots on" – in other words, in a violent manner, whether in a gunfight or perhaps even by hanging.

Incidents
On July 6, 1992, the "dry goods store" portion of the museum caught fire.  It has since been rebuilt.

In July 2010, a local resident was badly burned by a flash fire during a Bull Fry and Bash event at the museum.  Following this accident, new fryers were purchased as a safety measure.

Role in Heritage District plans
Dodge City has embarked on a plan to develop a Heritage District, of which expanding the Boot Hill Museum will be a particular focus. The expansion of the museum would highlight the old heritage of the town, but the Heritage District will also include a water park, additional hotels, new restaurants, and an RV park.

References

Further reading

External links
 Boot Hill Museum – official site

Museums in Ford County, Kansas
Buildings and structures in Dodge City, Kansas
Boot Hill cemeteries
History museums in Kansas
American West museums

Boot Hill Museum


Daniel (Aramaic and ; ; ) is the main character of the Book of Daniel. According to the Hebrew Bible, Daniel was a noble Jewish youth of Jerusalem taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, serving the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel. While some conservative scholars hold that Daniel existed and his book was written in the 6th century BCE, most scholars agree that Daniel is not a historical figure and that much of the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Six cities claim the Tomb of Daniel, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. He is not a prophet in Judaism, but the rabbis reckoned him to be the most distinguished member of the Babylonian diaspora, unsurpassed in piety and good deeds, firm in his adherence to the Law despite being surrounded by enemies who sought his ruin, and in the first few centuries CE they wrote down the many legends that had grown up around his name. He is considered a prophet in Christianity, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a prophet.

Background

Daniel's name means "God (El) is my judge". While the best known Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel who interprets dreams and receives apocalyptic visions, the Bible also briefly mentions three other individuals of this name:
 The Book of Ezekiel (14:14, 14:20 and 28:3) refers to a legendary Daniel famed for wisdom and righteousness. In verse 14:14, Ezekiel says of the sinful land of Israel that "even if these three, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness." In chapter 28, Ezekiel taunts the king of Tyre, asking rhetorically, "art thou wiser than Daniel?" The author of the Book of Daniel appears to have taken this legendary figure, renowned for his wisdom, to serve as his central human character.
 The Book of Ezra (8:2) mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra.
 The First Book of Chronicles (3:1) mentions a son of David called Daniel.

Daniel (Dn'il, or Danel) is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit. (Ugarit was a Canaanite city destroyed around 1200 BCE – the tablet containing the story is dated c. 1360 BCE.) This legendary Daniel is known for his righteousness and wisdom and a follower of the god El (hence his name), who made the god's will known through dreams and visions. It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, but it seems reasonable to suppose that some connection exists between the two. The authors of the tales in the first half of the Book of Daniel were likely also unaware of the Ugaritic Daniel and probably took the name of their hero from Ezekiel; the author of the visions in the second half in turn took his hero's name from the tales.

Tales of Daniel

The Book of Daniel begins with an introduction telling how Daniel and his companions came to be in Babylon, followed by a set of tales set in the Babylonian and Persian courts in the late 7th and early 6th centuries BCE, followed in turn by a set of visions in which Daniel sees the remote future of the world and of Israel. The tales in chapters 1–6 can be dated to the 3rd or early 2nd centuries BCE; it is generally accepted that these were expanded by the addition of the visions in chapters 8–12 between 167 and 164 BCE.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah are taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The four are chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained in the Babylonian court, and are given new names. Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar (, written as NIN9.LUGAL.ŠEŠ), while his companions are given the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Daniel and his friends refuse the food and wine provided by the king of Babylon to avoid becoming defiled. They receive wisdom from God and surpass "all the magicians and enchanters of the kingdom." Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue made of four metals with feet of mingled iron and clay, smashed by a stone from heaven. Only Daniel is able to interpret it: the dream signifies four kingdoms, of which Babylon is the first, but God will destroy them and replace them with his own kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a great tree that shelters all the world and of a heavenly figure who decrees that the tree will be destroyed; again, only Daniel can interpret the dream, which concerns the sovereignty of God over the kings of the earth. When Nebuchadnezzar's son Belshazzar uses consecrated vessels from the Jewish temple as serving vessels for his extravagant feast, a hand appears and writes a mysterious message on a wall, which only Daniel can interpret; it tells the king that his kingdom will be given to the Medes and Persians, because Belshazzar, unlike Nebuchadnezzar, has not acknowledged the sovereignty of the God of Daniel. The Medes and Persians overthrow Nebuchadnezzar and the new king, Darius the Mede, appoints Daniel to high authority. Jealous rivals attempt to destroy Daniel with an accusation that he worships God instead of the king, and Daniel is thrown into a den of lions, but an angel saves him, his accusers are destroyed, and Daniel is restored to his position.

In the third year of Darius, Daniel has a series of visions. In the first, four beasts come out of the sea, the last with ten horns, and an eleventh horn grows and achieves dominion over the Earth and the "Ancient of Days" (God) gives dominion to "one like a son of man". An angel interprets the vision. In the second, a ram with two horns is attacked by a goat with one horn; the one horn breaks and is replaced by four. A little horn arises and attacks the people of God and the temple, and Daniel is informed how long the little horn's dominion will endure. In the third, Daniel is troubled to read in holy scripture (the book is not named but appears to be Jeremiah) that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years. Daniel repents on behalf of the Jews and requests that Jerusalem and its people be restored. An angel refers to a period of 70 sevens (or weeks) of years. In the final vision, Daniel sees a period of history culminating in a struggle between the "king of the north" and the "king of the south" in which God's people suffer terribly; an angel explains that in the end the righteous will be vindicated and God's kingdom will be established on Earth.

Additional tales (Greek text)

The Greek text of Daniel contains three additional tales, two of which feature Daniel (the third is an expansion of the tale of the fiery furnace).
 The tale of Susanna tells how Daniel saves the reputation of a young Jewish married woman when two lecherous Jewish elders condemn her to death, supposedly for unchastity, but actually because she resisted their advances. Daniel's clever cross-examination unmasks their evil and leads to their deaths. The story is unique in that the villains are Jews instead of heathens; it may have been written as a polemic by the Pharisees against the Saducees, who, according to their opponents, were abusing their control of the courts.
 Bel and the Dragon consists of two episodes. In the first Daniel exposes the deceptions of the heathen priests, who have been pretending that their idols eat and drink (in fact it is the priests who have been consuming the food set out for the false gods). In the second Daniel destroys a giant serpent that Cyrus believes to be a god; the Babylonians revolt, Cyrus imprisons Daniel without food, the prophet Habakkuk miraculously feeds him, and Cyrus repents.

Death and tomb of Daniel

The last mention of Daniel in the Book of Daniel is in the third year of Cyrus (). Rabbinic sources suppose that he was still alive during the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus (better known as Artaxerxes – Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 15a, based on the Book of Esther 4, 5), but he was killed by Haman, the wicked prime minister of Ahasuerus (Targum Sheini on Esther, 4, 11).

The 1st century Jewish writer Josephus reported that Daniel's body lay in a tower in Ecbatana in Parthia, alongside the bodies of the kings of the Medes and Persians; later Jewish authorities said he was buried in Susa, and that near his house were hidden the vessels from the Temple of Solomon. Muslim sources reported that the Muslims had discovered his body, or possibly only a box containing his nerves and veins, together with a book, a jar of fat, and a signet ring engraved with the image of a man being licked by two lions. The corpse was reburied, and those who buried it were decapitated to prevent them from revealing the spot.

Today six cities claim Daniel's Tomb: Babylon, Kirkuk and Muqdadiyah in Iraq, Susa and Malamir in Iran, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. The most famous is that in Susa, (Shush, in southern Iran), at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. According to Jewish tradition the rich and poor of the city quarreled over possession of the body, and the bier was therefore suspended from a chain over the centre of the river. A house of prayer open to all who believed in God was built nearby, and fishing was prohibited for a certain distance up and down the river; fish that swam in that section of the river had heads that glinted like gold, and ungodly persons who entered the sacred precinct would miraculously drown in the river. To this day the tomb is a popular site of pilgrimage.

Daniel in later tradition

Judaism

Daniel is not a prophet in Judaism: prophecy is reckoned to have ended with Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In the Hebrew Bible his book is not included under the Prophets (the Hebrew Bible has three sections, Torah, Prophets and Writings), perhaps because its content does not match the prophetic books; but nevertheless the eight copies found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and the additional tales of the Greek text are a testament to Daniel's popularity in ancient times.

The Jewish rabbis of the first millennium CE reckoned Daniel to be the most distinguished member of the Babylonian diaspora, unsurpassed in piety and good deeds, firm in his adherence to the Law despite being surrounded by enemies who sought his ruin, and in the first few centuries CE they wrote down the legends that had grown up around his name. His captivity was foretold by the prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah in these words, "they (Hezekiah's descendants) shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon." This misfortune was turned to a blessing when Daniel and his three companions were able to show their mutilated bodies to Nebuchadnezzar and so prove their innocence of charges of leading an unchaste life.

Daniel kept the welfare of Nebuchadnezzar in mind continually, and when the king was condemned by God to live as a beast for a certain period Daniel prayed that the period of punishment should be shortened, and his prayer was granted. When Nebuchadnezzar was dying he wished to include Daniel among his heirs, but Daniel refused the honour, saying that he could not leave the inheritance of his forefathers for that of the uncircumcised. Daniel also restored the sight of king Darius, who had wrongly thrown the pious Daniel into prison on false charges, upon which many converted to Judaism.

Christianity

The New Testament makes a reference to Daniel at Matthew  24:15, in reference to the abomination of desolation. He is commemorated in the Coptic Church on the 23rd day of the Coptic month of Baramhat. On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, the feast days celebrating St. Daniel the Prophet together with the Three Young Men, falls on December 17 (during the Nativity Fast), on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (the Sunday which falls between 11 and 17 December), and on the Sunday before Nativity. Daniel's prophecy regarding the stone which smashed the idol () is often used in Orthodox hymns as a metaphor for the Incarnation: the "stone cut out" being symbolic of the Logos (Christ), and the fact that it was cut "without hands" being symbolic of the virgin birth. Thus the hymns will refer to the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) as the "uncut mountain".

The Roman Catholic Church commemorates St. Daniel in the Roman Martyrology on July 21. Some local liturgical calendars of dioceses also list his feast, sometimes on July 21 and sometimes on another day. For example, the archdiocese of Gorizia celebrates the feast of St. Daniel, prophet and confessor, on September 11. The reading of the Mass is taken from the Book of Daniel, chapter 14; the Gradual from Psalm 91; the Alleluia verse from the Epistle of James 1; and the Gospel from Matthew 24. The Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod commemorates Daniel, together with the Three Young Men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), on December 17.

Islam

Daniel (Arabic: دانيال, Dānyāl) is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but there are accounts of his prophet-hood in later Muslim literature, which tells how he was rescued from lions with the aid of the prophet Jeremiah (in Bel and the Dragon it is the prophet Habakkuk who plays this role) and interpreted the king's dream of a statue made of four metals destroyed by a rock from heaven, as having interpreted the writing on the wall, investigation, etc. All sources, both classical and modern, describe him as a saintly and righteous man. Abdullah Yusuf Ali (1872–1953) in his Qur'anic commentary says:

In Kitab al-Kafi, Imam Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin asserts that Allah revealed to Daniel that, "The most hated among my creatures are the ignorant ones who disrespect the scholars and do not follow them. The Most beloved to Me in My servants are the pious ones who work hard to become entitled for greater rewards, who always stay close to the scholars, follow the fore-bearing people and accept (the advice of) people of wisdom". Shiʾa hadith affirm Daniel as a prophet of God, and affirm the events aligning to the biblical narrative of Daniel as well.

Bahá'í
Daniel is considered a minor prophet in the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. Some Bahá'í converts introduced the principle of reincarnation, specifically that of Daniel and John.

See also

 Apocalypse of Daniel
 Arioch, Captain of the guard
 List of names referring to El
 Persian Jews

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Ancient apocalypticists
Ancient Jewish writers
Angelic visionaries
Book of Daniel people
Dragonslayers
Hebrew Bible people
Iranian Jews
Jewish writers
People whose existence is disputed
Prophets in Christianity

Daniel (biblical figure)


George Henry Poste, CBE FRS, is a former Director of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.

Career
Poste is the Del E. Webb Professor of Health Innovation and Chief Scientist at The Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative (CASI) at Arizona State University (ASU). This program integrates research in genomics, synthetic biology and high performance computing to study the altered regulation of molecular networks in human diseases to develop new diagnostic
tests for precision medicine and the remote monitoring of health status using miniaturized body sensors and mobile devices. He assumed this post in 2009. From 2003 to 2009 he directed and built The Biodesign Institute at ASU.

Effective 1 January 2021 he will assume additional leadership of the new Institute for Future Health (IFH) a joint venture between ASU and the University of Arizona in precision health and digital health. This will focus on remote health monitoring technologies with a focus on the use of digital psychiatry and cognitive computing to address the growing burden of mental illness.

He has published more than 400 research papers and edited 14 books on pharmaceutical technologies, cancer and infectious diseases. He has received honorary degrees in science, law and medicine and was awarded the rank of Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to research and international security.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Exelixis, Caris Life Sciences, MediSix (Singapore) and the Scientific Advisory Boards of the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan, Synthetic Genomics, Vir Biotechnology, iNanoBio and Haplogen GmbH (Vienna).

From 1992 to 1999, he was Chief Science and Technology Officer and President, R&D, of SmithKline Beecham (SB) (now GlaxoSmithKilne). During his tenure at SB, he was associated with the successful registration of multiple drug, vaccine and diagnostic products. He has served on the Board of Directors of Illumina, Structural Genomix (acquired by Lilly), Orchid Biosciences (acquired by LapCorp), diaDexus (acquired by Vaxgen), Monsanto (acquired by Bayer) and Advanced PCS (acquired by CVS-Caremark).

In 2004 he was named "R&D Scientist of the Year" by R&D Magazine, he received the Einstein award from the Global Business Leadership Council (2006), the Scrip Lifetime Achievement award voted by the leadership of the global pharmaceutical industry (2009) and the Arizona Bioindustry Association Pioneer Award (2016).

He is a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Society, the Royal College of Pathologists, the U.K. Academy of Medicine and The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a member of EU Academy of Sciences, the Council for Foreign Relations and the US Academy of Medicine Forum on Global Health. He served as a member of the Defense Science Board of the U.S. Department of Defense and currently serves on advisory committees for several U.S. government agencies in defense, intelligence, national security and healthcare and is an Ex-Officio Member of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.

History and schooling
Educated in the United Kingdom at Bexhill-on-Sea Grammar school and the University of Bristol.

Honours and awards
Poste has received honorary doctorates in law and science for his contributions to international health policy and is board certified in pathology.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1997.  He was appointed CBE in the 1999 New Year Honours.

He is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medicine, The Royal College of Pathologists and a Member of the Council for Foreign Relations.

References

External links
 Curriculum Vitae (2019)
 Complex Adaptive Systems Website
 Health Technology NetworksWebsite
 The Biodesign Institute Website
 Arizona State University Website

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Medical doctors from London
English emigrants to the United States
Academics from Arizona
Hoover Institution people
Arizona State University faculty
Alumni of the University of Bristol
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal Society
American scientists

George Poste


With the declaration of the British protectorate over Tonga Mateialona became the new prime ministers. Luckily he had a good collaboration with the British consul, Hamilton Hunter.

In 1909 a cooperative trading society known as the Tonga maʻa Tonga Kautaha was established, mainly to sell copra, which was a great success, because it gave much more profit to the Tongan participants than any dealing of them with foreign traders, who put most of the profits in their own pockets. Of course they did not like that and started courtcases, so that soon the kautaha had become a political issue. King Tupou was manoeuvred to one side, for the Tongans. The British to the other, to the bad guys. And Mateialona, still friend with them, therefore fell. He resigned in May 1912, supposedly retiring, although he may have remained on as caretaker until September that year. Tēvita Polutele Kaho, the chief of police would succeed him.

Later he became governor of Haʻapai, in 1918, one of the first appointments by the new queen [[Sālote Tupou III].

Although Mateialona was a grandson of Tupou I, he had not really a chiefly rank, as his father ʻIsileli Tupou had been declared illegitimate by the great man, and his mother was no great name either. Yet, with the house of Tupou running thin at the time, he was still a possible candidate for succession to the throne. In 1921 Sālote rewarded his support towards her by elevating him to a noble with the title Tupoutoʻa, making him essentially the crown prince.

I.C. Campbell; Island kingdom; Canterbury press, 2001

Sione Tupou Mateialona/en


The South Branch of the Ashuelot River is a  river located in southwestern New Hampshire in the United States. It is a tributary of the Ashuelot River, itself a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.

The South Branch begins in the town of Troy, New Hampshire, at the confluence of Rockwood Brook and Quarry Brook. The river flows in a zigzag manner northwest, then southwest, then north to the Ashuelot River in Swanzey. On the river's northwest-flowing leg, it drops rapidly as it cuts a deep, narrow valley through the highlands of Troy and Marlborough. New Hampshire Route 12 and an abandoned railroad line follow the river along this section. When the river turns southwest, the valley widens, except for a brief section where the river passes the village of East Swanzey. The final, north-flowing leg of the river is through a broad, flat intervale, where the river makes numerous tight meanders.

See also

List of rivers of New Hampshire

References

Rivers of New Hampshire
Tributaries of the Connecticut River
Rivers of Cheshire County, New Hampshire

South Branch Ashuelot River


The Church of St Cuthbert is an Anglican parish church in Wells, Somerset, England, dating from the 13th century. It is often mistaken for the cathedral. It has a fine Somerset stone tower and a superb carved roof. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The dedication of the church to St Cuthbert suggests Saxon origins. Originally an Early English building (13th century), from which the arcade pillars survive, it was much altered in the Perpendicular Period (15th century), when the clerestory and angel roof were added to the seven-bay aisled nave.

It is built of Doulting ashlar stone to most of the south side. The north side is rubble with ashlar dressings. The north transept (St Catherine's Chapel) has the remains of its 13th century reredos on the east wall, which was rediscovered in 1848. The south transept which is otherwise known as The Lady Chapel has another stone reredos dating from 1470, based on the Tree of Jesse theme.

Until 1561 the church had a central tower which either collapsed or was removed, as a result of alterations to the structure and decoration of the church in line with the changes in theological and liturgical practice during the Protestant Reformation. It has been replaced with the current tower over the west door. Bells were cast for the tower by Roger Purdy. The present tower, the third highest in Somerset, is of 3 stages, with the top stage occupying half the total height. The height to the battlements is 123 feet (37 metres), and when the top stones of the pinnacles are included, the total height is 151 feet (46 metres).

The nave's coloured ceiling was repainted in 1963 at the instigation of the then Vicar's wife, Mrs Barnett. During the restoration works in the 1960s a 15th-century carved and panelled ceiling was found above the side chapel which had been covered with plaster during the 18th or 19th century.

In 1975 a lightning strike caused one of the tower pinnacles to fall through the roof of the nave and damage the nave floor. The replacement pinnacle remained much paler than the other three for some years.

There is a  carved wood pulpit of 1636, with an elaborate stair and two carved coats of arms, of Charles I, and Charles II.

Organ

The church contains a pipe organ originally by Henry Lincoln dating from 1820. It was rebuilt by William Sweetland of Bath in 1864, George Osmond of Taunton in 1959 and Percy Daniel in 1984. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Filming location
The church played an important role in the feature film Hot Fuzz, which was filmed largely in Wells (which became the fictional town of Sandford); most notably the church fete scene where Adam Buxton's character is killed by a falling part of the church tower masonry. In the early 1970s a lightning strike caused a pinnacle to fall through the nave roof, which may have inspired the scene.

Parishes
Wells St Cuthbert In
Wells St Cuthbert Out

See also
 List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells

References

External links
St Cuthbert's Church, Wells website

13th-century church buildings in England
15th-century church buildings in England
Grade I listed churches in Somerset
St. Cuthbert's Church
Grade I listed buildings in Mendip District
Church of England church buildings in Mendip District

St Cuthbert's Church, Wells


An archenemy is the main enemy of someone. In a work of fiction the protagonist's archenemy is an antagonist normally the antagonist that is hardest to defeat. If the protagonist is a hero then the archenemy will be a villain. A lot of comic book superheroes have supervillains as their archenemies.

People

Archenemy


Andrew Kevin Walker (born August 14, 1964) is an American screenwriter. He is known for having written Seven (1995), for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as several other films, including 8mm (1999), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and many uncredited script rewrites.

Early life and education
Walker was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, though some time during his childhood, he moved to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was raised. He attended the Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School until his graduation in 1982. Walker soon enrolled in Penn State University to pursue a career in film production. He graduated from Penn State in 1986, with a Bachelor of Arts in film and video.

Film career
Shortly after completing his education, he moved to New York City and took a job at Tower Records. During that time, he worked on several projects, but Walker was unable to find much success until 1991, when he completed the script for Seven. Walker decided to move to Los Angeles to sell his screenplay. There, he personally contacted screenwriter David Koepp, who showed the script to executives at New Line Cinema, who ended up purchasing the rights to it. The film, however, took nearly three years to begin production. Christmas Vacation director Jeremiah S. Chechik was originally chosen to direct the optioned film but he asked for a number of modifications, including the changes to the ending, particularly the removal of the head in a box scene. Walker continued reworking the script but the film got passed around in Hollywood. The project finally went ahead when David Fincher agreed to direct the film after he read the original draft, which was accidentally sent with the ending intact.

While the project was ongoing, Walker found other work as a screenwriter, including a short stint with HBO's television series Tales From the Crypt, as well as writing two other films, Brainscan (1994) and the novel adaptation Hideaway (1995).

Seven began production between his two other films, headed by Fincher as the director and starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey. At one point during production, the studio proposed several changes — which would later become a recurring theme throughout Walker's career — deeming it too dark for its target audience. Both Fincher and Freeman backed Walker's original script, and it eventually went unchanged. The film was met with critical acclaim and enormous box office success, earning $327,311,859 worldwide. It would allow Walker to make a name for himself in the movie industry.

However, Walker would not earn another film credit to his name for another four years, though he penned several uncredited rewrites during this period, including The Game (on which he again worked with David Fincher) and Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon. In 1999, Walker's 8MM finally saw the light of day, having been sold by him for a reported $1.25 million. Once again, the film's production encountered concerns regarding the dark subject matter, and the studio asked Walker to lighten the film's tone. With Joel Schumacher as director, Walker felt a rewrite would no longer be needed. But as it turned out, Schumacher supported the studio and made changes of his own, leading to a much-publicized fallout between the two, with Walker virtually disowning the film and walking away from the set. He refused to even watch the film, which became a critical failure. In an interview with The Guardian, he said that "it was such an inherently depressing experience that the very least I can do is protect myself from the miserable experience of actually watching it." In 2015, he expressed his openness to a redo 8MM instead of remaking Seven. The latter had left the studios and producers unhappy with Somerset merely standing there helpless as Mills shot John Doe.

Walker found other success in 1999, as he penned uncredited rewrites to the critical hits Stir of Echoes and Fight Club, now considered a cult classic. Walker's adaptation of Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" also wrapped up production as Sleepy Hollow, directed by Tim Burton. While Burton admired Walker's original script, he hired the playwright and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard to tone down the violence. The film, starring Johnny Depp, was still a box office and critical success.

Since the mid-1990s, Walker wrote several screenplays that were never greenlit or have yet to go into production, such as a script for a movie starring the superhero Silver Surfer, a version of X-Men (2000; his script was written in 1994), and a film tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman. The latter film was set to go into production, but Warner Bros. opted to revive their franchises separately, and so the script was shelved. After the announcement and subsequent successes of Batman Begins and Superman Returns, the film seemed to be shelved permanently, though Wolfgang Petersen, who was due to direct the feature, had continued to express his interest in the project. That script and version of the project was permanently shelved in favor of the Zack Snyder helmed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Walker wrote the 2016 animated dark comedy Nerdland, starring Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt.

Walker also wrote as-yet unproduced screenplays for the American version of The Girl Who Played with Fire and a remake of The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, both for Seven director David Fincher, as well as the adaption of the graphic novel "The Killer" by Alexis Nolent, which has been filmed by Fincher and stars Michael Fassbender.

Other projects
Walker also wrote two shorts for the BMW Films series The Hire, starring Clive Owen: Ambush, directed by John Frankenheimer, and The Follow, by Wong Kar-wai.

Walker also co-wrote (with David Self and Paul Attanasio) the screenplay for The Wolfman, a remake of the Universal Studios classic. The remake, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Benicio del Toro in the title role, received a 2010 release.

Amazon named Walker's 2015 Kindle Single, Old Man Johnson (his first novel), among its "Best of the Year."

Appearances in film

Walker is known for making short cameos in films for which he served as a writer. In Panic Room, he appears as a sleepy neighbor; in Fight Club, three detectives are named, respectively, Andrew, Kevin and Walker; and in Seven, he is the corpse near the very beginning of the movie.

Filmography

Film
Writer

Script doctor
 Event Horizon (1997)
 The Game (1997)
 Fight Club (1999)
 Stir of Echoes (1999)

Other credits

Television

References

External links

1964 births
American male screenwriters
Annie Award winners
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications alumni
Living people
People from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
Screenwriters from Pennsylvania

Andrew Kevin Walker


The Profane Oaths Act 1745 (19 Geo. 2. c. 21) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1746, in effect from 1 June 1746, and formally repealed in 1967. It established a system of fines payable for "profane cursing and swearing".

The preamble described the ubiquity of the "horrid, impious, and execrable vices of profane cursing and swearing" in the country, saying that this "may justly provoke the divine vengeance to increase the many calamities these nations now labour under", and that the existing laws designed to prevent this were ineffective. Many of the provisions in this Act were essentially the same as those in the 1694 Act which it replaced.

Overview
The Act established that any person who cursed profanely or swore, on the conviction by the oath of witnesses in front of a justice of the peace or by their own confession, was liable to be fined; if the crime took place in front of a justice of the peace (or a town's mayor, bailiff, etc.), then they could be convicted requiring no other evidence. Any constable or peace officer who observed anyone not known to them breaking the Act was empowered to arrest the person and bring them before the justice, where they were to be convicted on the officer's oath; if the person was known to them, they were to lay that information before the justices, who were to charge them to appear for conviction.

All convictions were to take place within eight days of the offence, be recorded in a specified form, and archived in the county records.

Fines
The fines were established at 5s for any person at or above the degree of a gentleman; 2s for any person below that degree; and 1s for a "day labourer" or any common soldier, sailor or seaman. A second offence was to be fined at double the rate, and a third or later offence at treble. Should an offender not pay the fine or give security, they were to be imprisoned in the house of correction for ten days of hard labour; if a soldier or seaman, they were to be set in the stocks for an hour (or for two hours, for multiple offences). The offender was liable for all costs, or for six additional days imprisonment if costs were not paid, and all fines were to be disposed of to the poor of the parish.

Any justice or magistrate who avoided carrying out their duties under the Act were to be fined £5, half going to the informant and half to the parish poor relief; any constable or peace officer doing the same was liable to a fine of 40s, divided the same way, and if unable to meet this was liable to a month's imprisonment.

The Act was to be read four times a year in all parish churches and public chapels, with the parson or curate liable to a fine of £5 if this duty was omitted.

Repeal of earlier Acts
The Act repealed the existing legislation on the matter, the Profane Swearing Act 1623 and the Profane Swearing Act 1694.

Repeal of 1745 Act
The 1745 Act was formally repealed by the Criminal Law Act 1967. Today swearing in public is often dealt with by the police and courts under section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986. However a person is only guilty of this offence if it is committed "within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby."

In fiction

One of A P Herbert's misleading cases was Rex v Haddock: Is a Golfer a Gentleman? Summoned under the Act, Haddock argued that while playing golf, he was so bad at it that he could no longer be regarded as a gentleman, and therefore his fine for swearing should be lower.

References
The statutes at large from the 15th to the 20th year of King George III [vol. XVIII]; Charles Bathurst, London. 1765.
Chronological table of the statutes; HMSO, London. 1993.

Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1745
Repealed Great Britain Acts of Parliament
Profanity

Profane Oaths Act 1745


Cecil Edgar Tilley FRS HonFRSE PGS (14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973) was an Australian-British petrologist and geologist.

Life

He was born in Unley, Adelaide, the youngest child of John Thomas Edward Tilley, a civil engineer from London, and his wife South Australia-born wife, Catherine Jane Nicholas.

Cecil was educated at Adelaide High School, then studied Chemistry and Geology under William Rowan Browne at the University of Adelaide, and the University of Sydney, graduating in 1915.  In 1916, during the First World War, he went to South Queensferry near Edinburgh in Scotland to work as a chemist Department of Explosives Supply. He returned to Australia in December 1918.

He won an Exhibition of 1851 scholarship to the University of Cambridge in 1919, where he studied petrology under Alfred Harker, and completed his PhD in 1922. From 1923 he was employed at Cambridge University, first as demonstrator in petrology, and then lecturer in petrology in 1929. In 1931, following the retirement of Harker, he was appointed as the first Professor of Mineralogy and Petrology. Most of the remainder of his life was spent in England, though he spent 1938–9 in Australia and visited regularly after the Second World War.

In 1929, while investigating a volcanic plug at Scawt Hill, near Larne, Northern Ireland for the Mineralogical Magazine he identified and named the new minerals larnite and scawtite.

In 1938 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and served as their Vice President 1949/50. He won the Society's Royal Medal in 1967.

From 1948 to 1951 he was President of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain. He was President of the Geological Society 1949/50. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1957.

He died at home in Cambridge on 24 January 1973 aged 78, and his body was cremated.

Family

In 1928 he married Irene Doris Marshall at Holy Trinity Church, Kingsway, London.

They had one daughter.

Publications
Alfred Harker 1859-1939 (1940) co-written with Albert Seward
Waldemar Christofer Brogger 1851-1940 (1941)
Hawaiian Volcanoes (1961)
Origin of Basalt Magmas (1962)

References

External links
 G. A. Chinner, Memorial of Cecil Edgar Tilley 14 May 1894 – 24 January 1973, American Mineralogist, Volume 59, pages 427-437, 1974
  Tilley, Cecil Edgar (1894–1973)  Australian Dictionary of Biography

1894 births
1973 deaths
Fellows of the Royal Society
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Wollaston Medal winners
University of Adelaide alumni
Scientists from Adelaide
Royal Medal winners
Presidents of the International Mineralogical Association
Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
University of Sydney alumni
Australian people of English descent
People educated at Adelaide High School
Professorship of Mineralogy and Petrology (Cambridge)

Cecil Edgar Tilley


Oltu stone () is a kind of jet found in the region around Oltu town within Erzurum Province, eastern Turkey. The organic substance is used as semi-precious gemstone in manufacturing jewellery.

Location and extraction
Oltu stone, sometimes called also "Erzurum stone", is principally mined in the villages northeast of Oltu town, around Tutlu Dağı (Yasak Dağ) as well as in Alatarla, Hankaskışla and Çataksu villages. The mountainous, rough region with steep slopes is  high.

Oltu stone beds are formed when fossilized trees are subject to diastrophism resulting in folding. Beds of this organic substance are  in thickness. Extraction is done by digging narrow tunnels and shafts below ground. There are around 600 quarries in the region.

Properties
It is a very dense mineral-like substance of the nature of coal that does not demonstrate crystallinity. It generally comes in black, but can also be velvet-black, blackish brown, grey or greenish.

Oltu stone's most interesting characteristic is its softness when excavated. It only begins to harden when exposed to the air. For this reason, it can be carved very easily.

It attracts, by way of static electricity, light substances like dust when rubbed. Oltu stone burns bursting in flames, and leaves ash behind.

To distinguish true Oltu stone from the artificial jet, it is rubbed against unglazed porcelain. Real Oltu stone will leave a chocolate brown streak. The structure of Oltu stone, which is remarkably like that of wood, can be seen under magnification.

Jewellery
Oltu stone is cut or carved in desired form and polished to manufacture various decorative ornaments and utensils like rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, tie pins, smoking pipes,  cigarette holders, and prayer beads.

References

Erzurum Province
Fossil resins
Gemstones
Mining in Turkey
Organic gemstones
Coal

tr:Oltu taşı

Oltu stone


The Luzon montane forest mouse (Apomys datae)  is a species of rodent in the family Muridae, from the genus Apomys.
It occurs only in the Philippines, where it has been found on the large northern island Luzon (in the Cordillera Central and on the coast of Ilocos Norte). It is most closely related to the large Mindoro forest mouse, which occurs on Mindoro. There may be another related species in the Sierra Madre, but this species is yet undescribed. The Luzon montane forest mouse is a relatively large, ground-dwelling rat with a tail that is quite short for its genus.

Discovery
The Luzon montane forest mouse was the first species of Apomys ever to be discovered. In 1895, an expedition was organised which brought to Europe the first specimens of several genera, including Carpomys, Rhynchomys and Crunomys. During this expedition, in February, England explorer John Whitehead captured a number of unknown rats on a site called Lepanto on Mount Data, at an altitude of approximately . In 1898, British biologist Oldfield Thomas described these animals as an "interesting species", but identified them as Mus chrysocomus, a species from Sulawesi that is now known as yellow-haired hill rat (Bunomys chrysocomus) and reckoned among the genus Bunomys, which is not actually closely related to Apomys. Thomas sent a specimen to the Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, where Adolf Bernard Meyer concluded that the animal did not resemble Mus chrysocomus. Meyer described th animal as Mus datae in 1899, after its type locality – Mount Data (at the time the generic name Mus was used more broadly than it is now). For a long time, little was known about Mus datae, until 1913, when American biologist Ned Hollister described eight rats from Luzon under the name Epimys datae ("Epimys" was the name of the genus that would later become Rattus). These were in fact examples of the Himalayan field rat (Rattus nitidus), but they were only identified as such in 1977, by Guy Musser, another American biologist. Meanwhile, in Britain, John Ellerman had finally placed Mus datae with its relatives in Apomys, in 1941. Eleven years later, in 1952, American zoologist Colin Campbell Sanborn announced that he had captured 54 specimens of A. datae on Mount Data. A good part of this catch, however, was later found to consist of specimens of the Luzon Cordillera forest mouse (A. abrae), a species which had been described by Sanborn in the same article in which he had made his announcement.

In a 1982 article, Musser defined the genus Apomys and gave the first modern description of A. datae, while also correcting Sanborn's mistake in the identification of his collection. It was revealed that Sanborn had not been the only one to get the major species of Apomys from Luzon confused: the holotype of the species Apomys Major, described by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. of the Smithsonian Institution in 1910, turned out to have been a specimen of A. datae, while the other animals to have been identified as A. major were discovered to be examples of A. abrae. Since that time, Apomys major has been considered a subjective synonym of A. datae. Musser identified A. datae as the only member of the "Apomys datae group" within the genus, being different from all other species. In 1993 and 1994, the species was observed in the Sierra Madre, at an altitude between , but this probably concerns a population of a separate, undescribed species. A second species within the A. datae group was described by Luis Ruedas, in 1995: Apomys gracilirostris. In the 21st century, the knowledge about A. datae was expanded with data from genetic research. In 2002, the karyotype was revealed, and in 2003, the phylogenetic relationship with A. gracilirostris was confirmed, based on common features in the species' DNA. Most recently, the animal has been found on several new locations in North Luzon.

Evolution and phylogenetic relationships
The Luzon montane forest mouse belongs to the Chrotomys division, a group within the Murinae that occurs exclusively on the Philippines, and in addition to Apomys, also includes Rhynchomys, Chrotomys and Archboldomys. Animals in this division share several morphological and genetic features. Within this group, Apomys is by far the biggest and most extensive genus, containing small, inconspicuous wood mice which are common to the whole of the Philippines, while the other, more specialized genera are barely ever found outside Luzon. Apomys itself was divided into two groups, in the aforementioned article by Musser from 1982: the datae group, containing only A. datae, and the abrae-hylocetes group, containing all other species. Animals in these two groups differ in the way in which the head is supplied with blood from arteries. Since the publication of Musser's article, another species has been described that falls into the datae group: A. gracilirostris. This relationship is further supported by other similarities: both species are relatively large for the genus and have a relatively long snout.

In 2003, a phylogenetic study was published which compared DNA sequences from the cytochrome b gene of thirteen species of Apomys. This study confirmed the proposed relationship between the large Mindoro forest mouse (A. gracilirostris) and the Luzon montane forest mouse (A. datae), as well as the status of the datae group as a sister group of the other species of Apomys.

The phylogenetic relationships of the Luzon montane forest mouse can be summarized as follows.

According to this study, the split between the Luzon montane forest mouse and the large Mindoro forest mouse took place some three million years ago, as calculated using a molecular clock, putting it in the pliocene. It was also estimated that Apomys dates back more than four million years, with the Chromotys division being again more ancient by another two million years. Another, more elaborate study concluded that the Chromotys division was older still, at more than ten million years, and that the split between the Chromotys division and its closest relatives, a predominantly African group including Mus, Otomys and Mastomys, took place some sixteen million years ago. Seeing as Apomys probably originated on Luzon, the Luzon montane forest mouse likely developed directly from the ancestor species of the datae group, while the large Mindoro forest mouse is the result of a pliocene migration to Mindoro.

Identification
The genus Apomys, of which the Luzon montane forest mouse is a member, can be identified by its small size, long tail, elongate, narrow hind feet, the presence of four abdominal mammary glands, and a large number of skull characteristics.

The Luzon montane forest mouse is a large, thickset species with a tail that is about the same length as the body. The soft, thick dorsal fur is dark brown, while the ventral side of the body is a cream white. The hind feet are partly brown in colour on the dorsal side, but otherwise white. The tail is brown on the dorsal side, and a cream white ventrally. The animal has a large skull with a square-shaped neurocranium. Some of its skull characteristics are so special that they set the animal apart from most every other species of Apomys. One specimen has a head-torso-length of 143 mm, a tail length of 144 mm and a hind feet length of 34 mm. The specimens captured by Sanborn on Mount Data have a mean skull length of 39.2 mm (37.0 to 40.6 mm with a standard deviation of 1.1 mm). The Luzon montane forest mouse's holotype has a skull length of 39.9 mm; that of A. major has a length of 38.4 mm.

The animal has a karyotype of 2n=44 and FN=54, which consists of five pairs of four-armed chromosomes and sixteen pairs of two-armed (telocentric) chromosomes. The X-chromosome is a large, and the Y-chromosome a small telocentric chromosome. This karyotype has much in common with that of the least forest mouse (Apomys musculus), while at the same time being very different from the karyotypes of species form other parts of the Philippines (the karyotype of the large Mindoro forest mouse, on a side note, is unknown).

Notes and references

Further reading

Apomys
Fauna of Luzon
Mammals described in 1899
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Luzon montane forest mouse


Anambra Pillars Football Club was a Nigerian football club based in the city of Onitsha.

History
They were founded in 2005 under the name "Power United" and played in the Nigeria Amateur League Division 3. They won promotion up one level for every year of their existence, but in 2008 they had to forgo promotion to the professional Nigerian National League due to lack of funds. After changing its name to Anambra Pillars, the club again won their division in 2009 (by one point) to finally make it to the professional ranks.

External links
Official website

Football clubs in Anambra State
Association football clubs established in 2005
2005 establishments in Nigeria
Defunct football clubs in Nigeria

Anambra Pillars F.C.


Kellen Damico (born March 16, 1989 in Torrance, California) is an American former professional tennis player. Alongside Nathaniel Schnugg he won the 2006 Wimbledon Championships junior doubles title.

Junior career
Damico reached an ITF junior high combined ranking of World No. 5, on January 1, 2007.

Damico and partner Nathaniel Schnugg won the 2006 Wimbledon Championships boys' doubles title and were runners-up of the 2006 Australian Open tournament. The following year Damico and partner Jonathan Eysseric reached the semi-finals of the 2007 French Open – Boys' doubles tournament.

Damico's best singles result as a junior was reaching the semi-finals of the 2007 French Open – Boys' singles tournament, as the No. 10 seed, where he lost to eventual champion Uladzimir Ignatik in a third set tie-break. At Wimbledon that year he reached the third round.

Senior tennis
Damico has only played a handful of senior tour events, twice in the U.S. Open as a wildcard in doubles with Schnugg, and in a handful of ITF Futures tournaments.  He played all these events while still junior age and has not played an event since August 2007.

At the Open, Damico and Schnugg lost both times in the first round, 5–7, 2–6 to David Ferrer and Fernando Vicente in 2006 and 4–6, 2–6 to Jonas Björkman and Max Mirnyi the following year, in what has been Damico's last world tour match, to date.  His best Futures event result was reaching the second round, which he did in doubles in three of five tournaments played and in singles in four out of five events.  His best singles win was beating World No. 306 Travis Rettenmaier 7–6, 6–2 in May 2006 in Tampa (U.S.A. F11).

College tennis
Damico is currently finishing his junior year at the University of Texas at Austin where he plays for the Texas Longhorns tennis team.  His current Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles ranking, released May 3, 2010, is No. 99 and his doubles ranking is No. 40.  He finished his sophomore year ranked No. 80 in singles.

His Longhorns player bio lists Damico's hometown as Parker, Colorado.

Personal
Kellen's sister Krista Damico also played top-level junior tennis.  Her best result was reaching the second round of the 2008 Easter Bowl.

Junior Grand Slam finals

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

External links

USTA: Junior Spotlight of the Week
Texas Longhorns Player Bio

1989 births
Living people
American male tennis players
People from Parker, Colorado
Sportspeople from Douglas County, Colorado
Sportspeople from Torrance, California
Tennis people from California
Tennis people from Colorado
Texas Longhorns men's tennis players
Wimbledon junior champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' doubles

Kellen Damico


In South Africa, a stokvel is an invitation-only club of twelve or more people serving as a rotating credit union or saving scheme. Members contribute fixed sums of money to a central fund on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. The name stokvel originates from the concept of "stock fairs", as the rotating cattle auctions of English settlers in the Eastern Cape during the early 19th century were known.

Stokvels generally have a constitution which dictates the size of the contributions, when the accumulated money is to be paid out and the roles and responsibilities of the members. Each month a different member receives the money in the fund, which was collected during that period. Defaults on contribution are quite rare as other members will know if one has not paid their contribution, and also because the regular meetings serve as reminders. Depending on the type of stokvels, the members can use the collected fund for their own use, for payment or investment purposes.

It is estimated that half of adult South Africans are member of at least one of 800,000 stokvels. South Africans invest approximately R50 billion in stokvels a year.

Stokvels are regulated by the National Stokvel Association of South Africa (NASASA), a self-regulatory organisation approved by the Prudential Authority. NASASA is also a registered Financial Co-operative. The organisation was established in 1988 by founder and still-chairman, Andrew Lukhele. Its board of directors includes Miziyonke Mtshali (CEO), Siphumelele Macozoma (COO) and Nsika Masondo (CFO).

Types

Contribution Stokvels
Traditional savings scheme in which members contribute a fixed amount of money to a common pool weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Members would receive the lump sum on a rotational basis, and they are free to use the money for any purpose.

Basic Stokvels
Differ from the contributions stokvel in that it functions as a savings scheme that pays out for specific events, such as for a death, or at Christmas.

Grocery Stokvels
Collects the grocery or cash coupons that members receive from supermarket chains when they buy provisions for the stokvel parties throughout the year, and distributed these coupons at the end of the saving period.

Purchasing Stokvels
Collects pool money on a regular basis and uses it to purchase big items that can be used by the group to generate an income for example, a marquee that could be rented out to the community for use on special occasions.

Family Stokvels
Invest the pooled money in formal bank accounts or financial services. The money is paid out according to the needs of the family, but generally the funds are used for buying land or cars, for business investments, or for deposits on bank loans.

Investment Group
Invests money in order to benefit from the interest. When an investment pays out, the money is split but, in some cases, part of it will be kept back for reinvestment.

Party Stokvels
Arranges street or jazz parties, often with live entertainment. An entrance fee is charged, and food and drink is sold. Members then share in the profits.

Borrowing Stokvels
Which loans money at high monthly interest rates (20–50%) to members and sub-members from its regular pool money.

Burial societies

A burial society provides "informal insurance" to help families with the costs of a funeral in the event of a death. Burial societies also provide practical support for the family during the preparations; for example, by helping to prepare food. This is similar to a stokvel, in that monthly fees are collected. However, the main difference is that periodical payouts are not made and new member can only benefit after a three-month waiting period.

Burial societies are invariably intended for poorer and less educated people. Burial societies can be seen as the product of urban living and appear to have evolved in order to aid migrants from the rural areas who find themselves facing problems in a strange and hostile environment.
In South Africa, the disadvantaged, and the poorer and less educated classes, have historically been Africa and Coloured people. The burial societies help alleviate the expenses incurred when burying a loved one. It therefore comes as no surprise to find that burial societies tend to be more popular in these communities.

Benefits

 The peer pressure encourages members to save.
 Pooled money can earn better returns, at a lower cost. Banks offer higher interest rates on bigger amounts and banking costs are lowered (or in some cases, free) if the amount is large enough.
 Sense of community and socialising. Stokvel members traditionally meet regularly and make an occasion of the meetings.
 Educational. Some stokvels operate like investment clubs and invest in the stock exchange or companies. Members do their homework, deliberate about which shares or companies to invest in and make investment decisions.
 Knowing when a windfall will be received makes it easier to plan one's finances.
 Reduces chances of savings being stolen if the money is moving rather than saving the money at home.

Pyramid schemes
In 2022, after receiving several complaints from the public, South Africa's Financial Sector Conduct Authority released an official warning to the public regarding "The Prosperity Grid", saying that although it resembled a traditional stokvel, they considered its structure to be a pyramid scheme in the style of the 1980s US "airplane game".

See also

 Rotating savings and credit association
 Collaborative finance
 Kitty party

References

Credit unions of South Africa

Stokvel


Melaleuca pauciflora is a shrub in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. Its decussate leaf arrangement and its small heads of white flowers on the sides of its branches are diagnostic. This is probably the least spectacular of all the melaleucas.

Description
Melaleuca pauciflora is a bushy shrub usually growing to a height of about . Its leaves are in alternate pairs, the pairs at right angles to the ones above and below so that there are four rows of leaves along the stems. The leaves are  long and  wide, glabrous and elliptic in shape but tapering towards the end.

The flowers are white, in small heads up to  in diameter and contain 2 to 8 flowers. The petals are  long and fall off as the flowers mature. The stamens are arranged in five bundles around the flower, each bundle with 2 to 7 stamens. Flowers appear in summer and are followed by fruit which are woody capsules .

Taxonomy and naming
Melaleuca pauciflora was first formally described in 1847 by Nikolai Turczaninow in "Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou". The specific epithet (pauciflora) is from the Latin words paucus meaning "few" or "little" and flos meaning "flower" or "blossom" referring to the inflorescences which are small and have few flowers.

Distribution and habitat
Melaleuca pauciflora occurs between the Perth area and Albany in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. It grows in sand in estuaries, swamps and other winter-wet areas.

Conservation
This species is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.

References

External links
Melaleuca pauciflora Occurrence data from the Australasian Virtual Herbarium

pauciflora
Myrtales of Australia
Plants described in 1847
Taxa named by Nikolai Turczaninow
Endemic flora of Western Australia

Melaleuca pauciflora


Fort Edgecomb, built in 1808–1809, is a two-story octagonal wooden blockhouse with restored fortifications located on Davis Island in the town of Edgecomb, Lincoln County, Maine, United States. It is the centerpiece of the Fort Edgecomb State Historic Site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969, with its boundaries increased to create a historic district in 1991.

Description
Fort Edgecomb is located on Davis Island, actually a peninsula jutting into the Sheepscot River across from the village center of Wiscasset.  Davis Island is separated from the mainland by a short neck, and Fort Edgecomb is located at the island's southern end.  Its most prominent feature is an eight-sided blockhouse, whose second floor is larger than its first, measuring  compared to .  The ground floor walls have loopholes through which muskets could be fired, while the upper level had portholes for firing cannons. Although the blockhouse is the most visible feature, the fort's main armament was a water battery to defend the river. This battery originally had five cannons, including a 50-pounder columbiad and four 18-pounder smoothbore cannons. Each cannon was in its own bastion, with the bastions arranged in three tiers. The blockhouse also had two carronades, which were a relatively short cannon of large bore.

History
The fort was built as part of the second system of US fortifications, guarding the then-important port of Wiscasset, then one of the largest shipbuilding centers in New England. A war scare with the British over US trade with France during the Napoleonic Wars sparked the building of these forts, along with Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807, which closed US ports and vessels to foreign trade. The fort's construction was supervised by US Army engineer Moses Porter, later commander of the Regiment of Light Artillery. Although the fort was built for defense, its first use (as with most of Maine's second system forts) was to enforce the embargo. This embargo was not popular with Maine's merchants, and it is said that one of two times Fort Edgecomb's cannon were fired was in salute at James Madison's inauguration on 4 March 1809 (or, less tactfully, to celebrate his lifting of Jefferson's embargo). Eventually the War of 1812 broke out. The cannons were also fired on 14 February 1815, when word was received of peace with the British.

During the War of 1812, this post saw considerable activity, holding British prisoners of war, many of them brought to Wiscasset harbor by American privateers. In 1814, Fort Edgecomb became an important base in defending against a possible British attack on mid-coast Maine. It remained manned until 1818, and was reactivated during the Civil War.

The Friends of Fort Edgecomb celebrated its bicentennial on 13 June 2009, on the grounds of the fort.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Maine

References

External links

Fort Edgecomb State Historic Site Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
 Edgecomb Historical Society / Friends of Fort Edgecomb official site
 Fort Edgecomb at FortWiki.com

Further reading

Smith, Joshua M. Blockhouse & Battery: A History of Fort Edgecomb (Edgecomb, ME: Friends of Fort Edgecomb, 2009)
Smith, Joshua M. Borderland Smuggling (University Press of Florida, 2006)
Smith, Joshua M. "Maine's Embargo Forts," Maine History, Vol. 44, No. 2 (April 2009), 143–154.

Edgecomb
Edgecomb
Octagonal buildings in the United States
Pre-statehood history of Maine
Maine state historic sites
Tourist attractions in Lincoln County, Maine
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Maine
Edgecomb
1808 establishments in Maine
Edgecomb
1865 disestablishments in Maine

Fort Edgecomb


Hans Crocker (June 11, 1815 – March 16, 1889) was an American lawyer and Wisconsin politician.

He began his career as a member of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, but later became a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Crocker was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1815, and emigrated to the United States with his family. He was raised in Utica, New York. After high school, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he studied law privately.

Crocker is closely associated with Byron Kilbourn and his projects to develop Milwaukee and Wisconsin over the years. Crocker first moved to Milwaukee in 1836 and became the first editor of the Milwaukee's first newspaper, the Milwaukee Advertiser.

The Advertiser served as Kilbourn's trumpet to promote settlement in Kilbourntown, the area on the west side of the Milwaukee River where he owned large tracts of land, over settlement in the neighboring Juneautown. In fact, Crocker bought tracts of land in the Kilbourntown area himself. He stayed on as editor for a few months before entering into a private law practice in the area. He would continue to practice law privately until 1844.

Crocker was actively involved in the political and legal fields in Wisconsin. Crocker served as private secretary to Henry Dodge, the first governor of the Wisconsin Territory, in 1836. In 1838 he was Judge Advocate General of the Wisconsin Territorial Guard.

From 1842 to 1844, he served two terms in the upper house of the territorial assembly. In 1853, he served one term as mayor of Milwaukee. He was a Wisconsin delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention which selected Abraham Lincoln as its candidate for the presidency.

Crocker also was involved in the development of public improvements in the area, especially those devised by Kilbourn. Crocker was canal commissioner in 1839, president of the Milwaukee Board of Trade in 1850, director of the Milwaukee and Watertown Plank Road and president of the Lake Hydraulic Company in 1852, director of Kilbourn's Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad and president of the Milwaukee Gas and Light Company in 1853, commissioner reporting on the Fox River Valley Railroad in 1856, receiver for the Portage and La Crosse Division of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad in 1857, and vice-president of the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railroad in 1858.

In 1856, a private ship named the Hans Crocker was commissioned in Milwaukee. It eventually would be stranded near Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1876.

Crocker married Augusta Potter on March 21, 1844. He died at age 73 and is buried in Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery.

References

1815 births
1889 deaths
Members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature
Mayors of Milwaukee
Politicians from Utica, New York
Irish emigrants to the United States
Editors of Wisconsin newspapers
Wisconsin Democrats
Wisconsin Republicans
19th-century American journalists
American male journalists
19th-century American male writers
19th-century American politicians
Journalists from New York (state)

Hans Crocker