In Greek mythology, Cisseus (Ancient Greek: Κισσεὺς means "wreathe with ivy") may refer to the following personages:

Cisseus, an Egyptian prince as one of the sons of King Aegyptus. His mother was the naiad Caliadne and thus full brother of Eurylochus, Phantes, Peristhenes, Hermus, Potamon, Dryas, Lixus, Imbrus, Bromius, Polyctor and Chthonius. In some accounts, he could be a son of Aegyptus either by Eurryroe, daughter of the river-god Nilus, or Isaie, daughter of King Agenor of Tyre. Cisseus suffered the same fate as his other brothers, save Lynceus, when they were slain on their wedding night by their wives who obeyed the command of their father King Danaus of Libya. He married the Danaid Antheleia, daughter of Danaus and the naiad Polyxo.
Cisseus, a Thracian king and father of Theano, the wife of Antenor, as related in Homer's Iliad.  His wife was Telecleia, a daughter of King Ilus of Troy. No mythographer (Homer included) provides any further details about this Cisseus, although Strabo suggests that he was associated with the town of Cissus in western Thrace (later Macedonia). Hecabe (Hecuba), the wife of Priam, is sometimes given as a daughter of Cisseus; but she is more usually described as a Phrygian, and daughter of King Dymas. Cisseus was remembered for giving Anchises a bowl engraved with figures as a memento and a pledge of their friendship.
 Cisseus, son of Melampus and an ally of Turnus, the man who opposed Aeneas in Italy. He was killed by Aeneas.
Cisseus, also the name of a local king, defeated by Macedonians, Perdiccas, Caranus and Archelaus in various versions of the myth. He received Archelaus and promised to give him his kingdom and his daughter but later, going back on his word, tried to kill him. But Archelaus, who is counted among the Heraclides, killed Cisseus instead.

Notes

References

 Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
Euripides, The Complete Greek Drama edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. in two volumes. 1. Hecuba, translated by E. P. Coleridge. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 1. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1902. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
 Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Publius Vergilius Maro, Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics. J. B. Greenough. Boston. Ginn & Co. 1900. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Princes in Greek mythology
Sons of Aegyptus
Mythological kings of Thrace
Kings in Greek mythology
Ancient Mygdonia
Greek mythology of Thrace
Thraco-Macedonian mythology

Cisseus


The Andalite's Gift is the first book in the  series, a set of companion books to the Animorphs series. With respect to continuity, it takes place between Book #7: The Stranger and Book #8: The Alien. The Andalite's Gift was originally published as two parts and later put together as one book as #2 of Megamorphs came out.

The  books are narrated by all six members of the Animorphs, in turns, but there is no specific order, unlike the order of narration in the regular series. This is the first Animorphs book to feature narration by more than a single character. This is also the first book where Ax narrates, predating any of his own books. While each chapter header in  includes a small icon showing the face of the chapter's narrator, Ax's chapters have no icon; he also does not appear on the front cover, or in the illustration. Ax's physical appearance would not be depicted until his first book, The Alien.

Plot summary

The Animorphs plan to have a lazy summer, with several Animorphs attending a pool party and Rachel going to a gymnastics camp. However, before she can leave for the camp, Rachel - in her eagle morph - takes a cruise through the air and, seeing Ax, attempts to say hello but is mobbed by smaller birds, who cause her to crash and lose consciousness. When she awakens, she has demorphed to human but has amnesia.

Meanwhile, Jake and Cassie are attending the pool party. Because Marco was not invited, he decides to take Ax along. The two of them morph into mice and crash the party. After they are done terrorizing the guests, they run into the basement to demorph. However, when they demorph, they are attacked by a massive flying monster, known as a Veleek (Yeerk word for "pet"). It destroys the house before abruptly dissolving into dust and leaving. The Animorphs regroup and discover that Rachel never made it to the gymnastics camp. Jake, Marco, and Tobias head into the forest to look for her. As Jake and Marco morph to wolves, the Veleek begins to chase after them, and they realize that the Veleek is drawn by the energy generated through morphing. Moments before they are about to collapse from exhaustion, the Veleek flies away.

Rachel has been captured by a crazy ex-Controller, who locks her in a wooden shack and sets fire to it. Rachel inadvertently morphs into a grizzly bear to escape, and is then attacked by the Veleek. The two begin to fight, until Ax encounters them mid-combat. He begins to morph and the Veleek captures him and returns to the Blade ship, delivering Ax to Visser Three. Rachel demorphs and makes her way into town, where she hides out in an empty house. When police surround the house and tell her to come out, she morphs into an elephant and breaks through the side of the house.

Meanwhile, Jake, Marco and Cassie notice the Veleek floating through the air as dust, and steal Cassie's father's truck in order to chase after it. They attempt to play a game of "keepaway", by continually morphing to distract the Veleek, but their plan does not succeed. The truck crashes into Rachel's elephant form, restoring her memory but drawing the Veleek to all four Animorphs. The Veleek attempts to capture Rachel, but cannot lift her. Jake and Marco continue on in the truck, but crash it again, and Marco is captured by the Veleek.

Marco and Ax, now prisoners of Visser Three, are on board the Blade Ship. Ax morphs into a flea and hides on the Visser's body. He slightly demorphs and remorphs to attract the attention of the Veleek. The Veleek begins to attack Visser Three, causing Visser Three to order the water turned on. In the confusion, Ax and Marco escape from the Blade Ship, morphing into birds moments before they hit the ground. From this event, the Animorphs realize that the Veleek does not like water.

The next day, Cassie develops a plan in which they hope to stop the Veleek: the Animorphs head out to sea, where Cassie finds and acquires a humpback whale. She morphs into a cockroach, and Tobias flies her as high up as he can. While the remaining Animorphs morph and demorph dolphins to keep the Veleek distracted, Cassie demorphs and then morphs into the whale, all the time falling back to the sea. The Veleek attempts to capture her but cannot carry the whale's weight, and it is dragged into the sea and drowns.

Morphs

Trivia
The summary on the back cover is narrated by Jake.

TV adaptation
The Andalite's Gift was adapted as part of the Animorphs TV series, which aired on Nickelodeon and YTV between the fall of 1998 and the spring of 2000. The first <Megamorphs> book was covered by the thirteenth episode, "The Forgotten", which is the name of the eleventh book in the series (the TV episode bears no resemblance to its namesake book). The TV episodes did not follow the books faithfully, altering many aspects of the characters' roles within the Animorphs, the events in the war against the Yeerks, and added plot lines that were not present in the books. The Veleek and its associated plot line are not present in the TV episode.

Animorphs books
1997 science fiction novels
1997 American novels
Fiction about amnesia
Novels with multiple narrators

The Andalite's Gift


Rugby union () is a popular team sport on the island of Ireland, organised on an all-Ireland basis, including players and teams from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its governing body, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), was founded in 1879, making it the third oldest rugby union in the world after the RFU (England) and the SRU (Scotland).

The Ireland national team is currently third in the World Rugby Rankings, and has won the Six Nations Championship (and its predecessor competitions) fifteen times, including four Grand Slams, the most recent being a Grand Slam in 2023. Ireland has four professional provincial teams, Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht, who compete in the United Rugby Championship, the European Rugby Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup. Munster are the reigning champions of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship. Fifty club sides compete in the five divisions of the All-Ireland League, of which Terenure College RFC are the current champions.

Governing body

The Irish Rugby Football union was formed in 1879, after the merger of the Irish Football Union, which controlled rugby in Leinster, Munster and parts of Ulster, and the Northern Football Union of Ireland, which controlled in the game in the Belfast area. As part of this amalgamation, the IRFU established three provincial branches to run the game in Leinster, Munster and Ulster; a fourth branch was founded for Connacht in 1885. The IRFU was a founding member of the International Rugby Board (now called World Rugby) in 1986. Despite the partition of Ireland in 1921, the IRFU continues to run the game on an all-island basis.

International rugby

The Ireland national team represents the whole Island of Ireland, selecting players from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its first international match was a 7-0 defeat by England in 1875.

Since 1995 the Ireland national team has been fully professional. They play their home games at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship, the four-yearly Rugby World Cup, and various mid-year and autumn international matches.

The national team has won several Triple Crowns and three Grand Slams and is able to play at a competitive level with the world's rugby giants, having beaten all including New Zealand in the last five years.

Development teams
As with all top-tier rugby nations, and many lower-tier countries, Ireland field an "A" national side, a second-level national selection primarily intended to develop younger talent for possible future duty on the senior national team. Since February 2010, the IRFU have rebranded the A side as Ireland Wolfhounds. The Wolfhounds generally play "A" teams of the other major European powers and senior sides of lower-tier nations. Ireland also field an occasional development team, Emerging Ireland, used to try out promising young players. The Ireland national under-20 rugby union team competes in the annual Six Nations Under 20s Championship and World Rugby U20 Championship tournaments. The Ireland national schoolboy rugby union team competes in the Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship.

IQ Rugby (formerly the Irish Exiles) is a development programme to identify potential Ireland players from the Irish diaspora.

Ireland Sevens
The Ireland national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Unlike the national team, sevens players are not selected from the provincial teams, although some go on to play for the provincial teams.

Ireland Women
The Irish Women's Rugby Football Union (IWRFU) was founded in 1991, and the Ireland women's national rugby union team made their international debut in 1993. The IWRFU became affiliated to the IRFU in 2001, and was incorporated into the IRFU in 2008. The Ireland women's team have competed in the Women's Rugby World Cup since its second edition in 1994, and the Women's Six Nations Championship (and its predecessor competitions) since 1996. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, and lost to Wales 17–27 in the eighth place play off.

Provincial rugby
The four branches of the IRFU each organise a provincial team: Leinster, based at the RDS Arena in Dublin; Munster, based at Thomond Park in Limerick; Ulster, based at Ravenhill in Belfast; and Connacht, based at the Sportsgrounds in Galway. In the amateur era, they were representative teams, selected from the best club players in the province, and competed in the annual IRFU Interprovincial Championship, as well as playing against international touring teams. After rugby union was declared open to professionalism in 1995, they were developed into professional teams.

Today, they compete in the United Rugby Championship (URC) alongside teams from Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa, and the European Rugby Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, which also include teams from France and England. All four provinces have been champions of the URC (or its predecessor competitions), Leinster eight times, most recently in 2021; Munster four times, most recently in 2023; Ulster once in 2006; and Connacht once in 2016. Leinster have won the Champions Cup four times, most recently in 2018; Munster twice, most recently in 2008; and Ulster once in 1999. Leinster have won the Challenge Cup once, in 2012.

To encourage the development of Irish talent, the provinces are allowed only three non-Irish-qualified players in their squads. Each province has an academy programme to develop young players from local schools and clubs to professional level. Regular internationals are signed on central contracts to the IRFU, meaning that they, and not the provinces, control when the players play and when they rest.

Each province also has a women's team which competes in the annual IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series.

Club rugby

Since 1990, the top club sides in Ireland have competed in the All-Ireland League. It originally featured nineteen clubs in two divisions, and currently has fifty clubs in five divisions, 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B and 2C, with promotion and relegation between them. The bottom team in Division 2C is relegated to their province's Junior League. Playoffs are held between the winners of the four provincial Junior Leagues to decide who will replace them. The Bateman Cup is played for annually by the winners of the provincial Senior Cups. The Women's All-Ireland League was founded in 1992 has one division containing nine clubs. The provincial branches each organise a pyramid of league and cup competitions for both men's and women's teams.

Schools rugby
Each province has a senior schools' tournament: the Leinster Schools Rugby Senior Cup; the Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup; the Ulster Schools' Cup; and the Connacht Schools Rugby Senior Cup; and an under-15 tournament: the Leinster Schools Junior Cup; the Munster Schools Junior Cup; the Ulster Medallion Shield; and the Connacht Schools Junior Cup.

Demographics

Playing numbers

The last report on the number of players playing rugby union conducted by World Rugby in 2019 showed 79,000 registered players (ie those registered with clubs, including the 21,000 adult players) and an overall total of 196,000, incorporating women' players, schools, sevens etc.

Stadiums and attendance
The professional era and the advent of the competitions now known as United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup have seen rugby union become a major spectator sport in Ireland. European Cup games are generally well supported in all the provinces, with sellouts the norm and massive crowds in Dublin's Lansdowne Road for quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Ulster, Munster and Leinster have all won the Heineken Cup. In the past Ulster led the then-Celtic League attendances for 3 years in the row and Connacht, Munster and Leinster's crowds have grown year on year and with the later two setting new world records for province/club attendance.

Munster extensively renovated and expanded their traditional home of Thomond Park in a project that was completed in 2008. The Royal Dublin Society expanded their RDS Arena in the same time period, which prompted Leinster to make it their primary home while they were planning to expand their own traditional ground at Donnybrook. After the Donnybrook plans fell through, Leinster chose to remain at the RDS and in 2023 Leinster embarked on renovation plans to increase the capacity of the arena. Connacht completed ground expansion and renovation works in time for the 2011/2012 season with the construction of the Clan Terrace. And in 2014, Ulster completed the complete reconstruction of Ravenhill Stadium into a modern 18,000 capacity stadium. Munster are currently in the process of construing a new stand at their secondary home of Musgrave Park.

Before the opening of Aviva Stadium, Ireland international games sold out against all but the weakest opposition, and with the team playing at Croke Park during the reconstruction of Lansdowne Road, attendances regularly topped 80,000. However, the Aviva saw disappointing attendance during its first Tests in 2010, with no match selling out; media reports indicated that this was largely due to an IRFU ticketing strategy that made little sense in an uncertain economy. More recent Tests have seen crowds much closer to capacity, including sellouts or near-sellouts for all of Ireland's Six Nations home fixtures.

History

Early years
Rugby clubs started to appear in Ireland in the mid-19th century. Dublin University Football Club was in existence by 1855, giving it a strong claim to being the world's oldest extant football club of any code. Other early clubs still in existence include Wanderers (founded 1869), Queen's University (1869), Lansdowne (1873), Dungannon (1873) and University College Cork (1874). Ballinasloe, founded in 1875, merged with Athlone in 1994 to form Buccaneers; North of Ireland, founded in 1868, merged with Collegians in 1999 to form Belfast Harlequins.

The Irish Football Union was founded to govern the game in Leinster, Munster and parts of Ulster in December 1874. The Northern Football Union of Ireland was founded in January 1875, and controlled the game in the Belfast area The two unions amalgamated to form the IRFU in 1879, but not before the first interprovincial match, between Ulster and Leinster, and Ireland's first international match against England, both in 1875. Ireland played their home games at Lansdowne Road in Dublin from 1878. The earliest competitions include the Ulster Schools' Cup, first held in 1876, and the Dublin Hospitals Rugby Cup, first held in 1881.

The amateur era

Club rugby
The Leinster Challenge Cup, later known as the Leinster Senior Cup, was first played in 1882, won by Dublin University. Senior Cup competitions followed in the other provinces: the Ulster Senior Cup was first won by North of Ireland in 1885; the Munster Senior Cup was first won by Bandon in 1886; and the Connacht Senior Cup was first won by Galway Town in 1896. Ulster was the first province to establish a provincial league, the Ulster Senior League, first won by Queen's in 1891. The Munster Senior League followed, first won by Garryowen in 1903; the Connacht Senior League was first won by Galwegians in 1926; the Leinster Senior League was not founded until 1971, and was first won by St. Mary's College in 1972. The All-Ireland League, featuring clubs from all four provinces, was founded in 1990, and was first won by Cork Constitution.

Provincial rugby
The IRFU Interprovincial Championship, between the provincial representative teams of Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht, was first played in 1946, with Ulster being the first champions.

International rugby
The Home Nations Championship, ancestor of today's Six Nations Championship, was first played in 1883, between the Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales national teams. It became the Five Nations Championship in 1910 with the addition of France. Ireland first won the competition in 1926, jointly with Scotland. Their first outright win, and Grand Slam, came in 1948.

The Rugby World Cup was first held in 1987; Ireland were knocked out by Australia in the quarter-finals. In the 1991 Rugby World Cup, they again went out to Australia in the quarter-finals. In the final World Cup of the amateur era in 1995 they were knocked out in the quarter-finals once more, this time by France.

Ireland's most capped players of the amateur era include North of Ireland centre Mike Gibson (69), Ballymena lock Willie John McBride (63), Blackrock flanker Fergus Slattery (61), Dungannon lock Paddy Johns (59), and Old Wesley prop Philip Orr (58). Dublin University centre Brendan Mullin is Ireland's top try scorer of the amateur era with 17; Dolphin centre Michael Kiernan is top points scorer with 308.

The professional era
On 26 August 1995, rugby union was declared open to professionalism by the International Rugby Board. The IRFU had been opposed to this, and rugby in Ireland was poorly prepared for professionalism. Amid fears that Irish players could be signed up by English clubs, they began by offering contracts to international players.

Provincial rugby
The Heineken Cup, now known as the European Rugby Champions Cup, was launched the same year.  Ireland was given three places, and rather than enter clubs, the IRFU entered three of the four provincial teams, Munster, Ulster and Leinster. This led to the development of the provincial sides as professional teams, starting with match fees, and later contracts for provincial players. Ulster won the competition in 1999. Munster have won it twice, in 2006 and 2008, and Leinster four times, in 2009, 2011, 2012 (defeating Ulster), and 2018. In addition, Leinster won the European Challenge Cup in 2013 after having parachuted in from that season's Heineken Cup.

The Celtic League, featuring all four Irish provinces alongside teams from Scotland and Wales, was launched in 2001. The IRFU Interprovincial Championship was discontinued. The League expanded to a 22-match schedule in 2003, and for the first time the Irish provinces could operate as full-time professional teams, with players only rarely able to play for their clubs. The competition was renamed the Pro12 in 2011 with the addition of two teams from Italy; the Pro14 in 2017 with the addition of two teams from South Africa; and the United Rugby Championship in 2021 with the incorporation of four South African teams. Irish provinces have won the competition fourteen times in 22 seasons, and all four provinces have won it at least once. Leinster won the league in 2002, 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2018; Munster won in 2003, 2009, 2011 and 2023; Ulster won it in 2006; and Connacht won it in 2016.

International rugby
The Five Nations became the Six Nations Championship in 2000 with the addition of Italy. Ireland's first win of the professional era came with a Grand Slam in 2009. They won it again in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2023 (the last two also being Grand Slams). They went out in the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1999 (to Argentina); 2003 (to France); at the group stage in 2007; and in the quarter-finals in 2011 (to Wales), 2015 (to Argentina), and 2019 (to New Zealand). After a victorious tour of New Zealand in 2022, Ireland go into the 2023 Rugby World Cup as one of the favourites.

The old Lansdowne Road stadium was demolished in 2007, and the new Aviva Stadium, built on the same site, opened in 2010. In the meantime, home internationals were played at the Gaelic Athletic Association's stadium, Croke Park.

Ireland's most-capped players of the professional era include Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll (133), Munster out-half Ronan O'Gara (128), Leinster prop Cian Healy (125), Ulster hooker Rory Best (123) and Leinster out-half Johnny Sexton (116). O'Driscoll is Ireland's record try scorer with 46; Sexton is their leading points scorer with 1095.

Irish society and politics

Although rugby has traditionally been associated with the more anglophile elements of Irish society, it has not been without its following in the nationalist and republican communities. For example, the longest serving taoiseach, Éamon de Valera was a former player, and lifetime fan of the game. At the age of sixteen, De Valera won a scholarship to Blackrock College, County Dublin. It was at Blackrock College that de Valera began playing rugby. Later during his tenure at Rockwell College, he joined the school's rugby team where he played fullback on the first team, which reached the final of the Munster Senior Cup. De Valera was a close friend of the Ryan brothers at Rockwell who played on Ireland's Triple Crown-winning team in 1899. De Valera remained a lifelong devotee of rugby, attending numerous international matches up to and towards the end of his life despite near blindness.

Other notable politicians, from very different backgrounds, who have played rugby for Ireland include Tyrone Howe (a former Unionist Party councillor), Trevor Ringland (a Unionist Parliamentary candidate) and Dick Spring (former Tánaiste and Labour Party TD).

Nowadays, rugby is played by both nationalists and unionists. Historically, it tended to be popular with different social groups in different parts of Ireland, although generally speaking it is regarded as a middle-class sport in Ireland and further afield. In Limerick city, it is enjoyed across the social spectrum, while in Leinster and Cork City it remains very much a middle-class game. Rugby traditionally isn't as prevalent in Connacht, although it is less defined there by social class.  In Northern Ireland it is traditionally played in mainly-middle-class Protestant grammar schools. The changing climate in Northern Ireland politics has altered this perceived tradition with the introduction of rugby into an increasing number of Roman Catholic grammar and secondary schools which were previously exclusively associated with Gaelic games.

Rugby and the GAA

During the late 19th century, in response to the perceived encroachment of English sports, including rugby, Irish nationalist Michael Cusack set up the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Rule 42 of the GAA's Official Guide prohibited the playing of non-Gaelic games in GAA stadiums, including rugby until it was lifted in 2007. However, the rule was relaxed while Lansdowne Road was being redeveloped, and rugby was played in Croke Park including a match between Leinster and Munster that broke the club rugby attendance record; see List of non-Gaelic games played in Croke Park for exceptions to this rule.

The first game to take place under the relaxed Rule 42 took place on 11 February 2007.  It was a Six Nations Championship rugby match between Ireland and France which Ireland lost 17–20. The following match against England generated some controversy, since it involved the playing of God Save the Queen at a ground where British soldiers had killed fourteen spectators on Bloody Sunday, 1920. There was a small protest by Republican Sinn Féin outside the ground which included a man holding a sign saying No to foreign games while ironically wearing a Celtic FC tracksuit.

A Heinkeen Cup semi-final was played in Croke Park on 2 May 2009, when Leinster defeated Munster 25–6. The attendance of 82,208 set a new world record attendance for a club rugby union game.

References

 Richards, Huw A Game for Hooligans: The History of Rugby Union (Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2007, )
 Rugby Union, Irish Nationalism and National Identity in Northern Ireland
 IRB statistics for Ireland

External links

Irish Rugby Football Union
Rugby news from RTE
Irish rugby union news from Planet Rugby

Sports league systems

Rugby union in Ireland


Colonsay House is a Georgian country house on the island of Colonsay, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is a Category B listed building, and is now in the ownership of the Barons Strathcona. The gardens are open to the public on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between April and October, and are listed on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of historic gardens.

Colonsay House
The central part of the house was built by the McNeill family in 1722. It is a medium-sized Georgian country house on the island of Colonsay, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. It is often said in twentieth-century sources to have been built on the site of an earlier abbey, but there is no evidence in any charter or list of Scottish monasteries of any abbey (or any other monastic foundation) having been here.  Nor is there any mention in any medieval witness-list of a prior or abbot of Kiloran.  We must regard the story as a fable, though the church (and the island as a whole) did belong to the abbey of Iona by at least the early thirteenth century, if not before.

This is the earliest Classical House in Argyll. It has been extended twice in between 1722 and the early 20th century. Since 1904 the house has been the property of the island's owners, the Barons Strathcona, and is currently occupied by the 5th Baron and his family.

Colonsay House Gardens

The house has a public rhododendron and woodland garden covering some . Located centrally in the island of Colonsay, this informal woodland garden is famous for the outstanding collection of species and hybrid rhododendrons, and for unusual trees and shrubs sourced from all over the world from the 1930s. It is considered to be one of the finest rhododendron gardens in Scotland.

As the climate is mild, it is possible to grow a large variety of plants, including subtropical and more tender plants. There are eucalyptus, myrtle, acacia, eucryphia and  magnolias dotted throughout the garden. Other plants include crinodendron, the dramatic flame red embothrium, gunnera and cordyline, giving the gardens a subtropical feel. In spring, paths are lined with Himalayan primula, bluebells and other wild flowers.
The walled gardens and rolling lawns are more formal. A Dicksonia antarctica stands among lomatia, crinodendron and camellia. Abutilon, olearia and, later in the year, eucryphia, flower profusely alongside enormous Cupressus macrocarpa.

The island's mill used to stand in the spot which is now The Dell garden. An 8th-century cross (a hybrid phallic and early Christian form) from the abandoned village of Riasg Buidhe stands below the house. A focal point is the Lighthouse Garden, featuring the Fresnel lens from Islay. The Old Workshop cafe in the gardens was built for the 4th Lord Strathcona by his father around 1935.

Gallery

References

External links

 Colonsay Estate Website
 Glorious Gardens of Argyll and Bute
 Gardener's World: James Alexander-Sinclair's blog
  Colonsay Community Website

Country houses in Argyll and Bute
Colonsay
Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes
Gardens in Argyll and Bute
Category B listed buildings in Argyll and Bute
Listed houses in Scotland
Woodland gardens

Colonsay House


Burn scar contracture is the tightening of the skin after a second or third degree burn. When skin is burned, the surrounding skin begins to pull together, resulting in a contracture. It needs to be treated as soon as possible because the scar can result in restriction of movement around the injured area. This is mediated by myofibroblasts.

Diagnosis

Treatment
Burn scar contractures do not go away on their own, although may improve with the passage of time, with occupational therapy and physiotherapy, and with splinting. If persistent  the person may need the contracture to be surgically released. Techniques may include local skin flaps (z-plasty) or skin grafting (full thickness or split thickness). There are also pharmacy and drug-store treatments that can be used to help scar maturation, especially silicone gel treatments. Prevention of contracture formation is key.  For instance, in the case of a burned hand one would splint the hand and wrap each finger individually.  In the instance of burns on the neck, hyperextension of the neck (i.e. no use of pillows) should be maintained during the healing process. Carbon dioxide laser therapy is now also used to aid in the loosening of surrounding skin, although is yet to form as part of an official global rehabilitation program.

References

Scarring
Burns

Burn scar contracture


A draw bench is a machine used to do cold work on a metal, such as changing the shape of the metal without applying heat and applying only pressure.

Machine construction
It consists of a chain drive, driven by a motor and a set of gears. The other end of the machine consists of a die mounted on a thick steel plate. The workpiece is inserted through the die and clamped on a trolley which then is hooked onto the chain for pulling across.

Die
The die is usually made of tungsten carbide with a steel housing. The die can be made to any desired shape (round, square, rectangular, triangular, half round, L-shaped, oval etc.).

Metal forming

Draw bench


The River of Golden Dreams, officially Alta Creek, is a short river in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, connecting Alta Lake (south) to Green Lake (north), which is drained by the Green River.

The river was named in emulation of the popular song Down the River of Golden Dreams which was on the hit parade during the heyday of the Rainbow Lodge, popular with Vancouver-area entertainers as a weekend railway getaway.  The river's gentle current, compounded with a golden sunset on the day, is said to have inspired the name, which was popular with boating parties from the Lodge, the original location of which was at the river's egress from Alta Lake and is now a heritage park preserving the lodge's original cabins.

Because of its meandering course, the river's full length is over 5 km, while in absolute terms of the distance covered between Alta and Green Lakes is only 3 km.

References
"River of Golden Dreams", Whistler Tourism website

Rivers of the Pacific Ranges
Whistler, British Columbia
New Westminster Land District

River of Golden Dreams


Giacomo Gentilomo (5 April 1909 – 16 April 2001) was an Italian film director and painter.

Biography

Born in Trieste, at very young age Gentilomo moved to  Rome, where at 21 years old he entered the cinema industry, working as a script survivor and an assistant director. Active  between 1933 and 1937 as a film editor, in 1939 he debuted as a director with Il Carnevale di Venezia. In 1945 his film O sole mio got critical acclaim, but later his career was mainly devoted to genre films, and failed to achieve significant critical interest. Dissatisfied with cinema, in the mid-1960s Gentilomo decided to abandon films and to fulfill his passion for painting.

Filmography

References

External links

1909 births
2001 deaths
Italian film directors
Italian film editors

Giacomo Gentilomo


The Elmira and Williamsport Railroad (earlier Williamsport and Elmira Railroad) is a historic railroad that operated in Pennsylvania.

The W&E was organized in 1832 and ran between Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Elmira, New York. It was reorganized as the E&W in 1860, and operated its own property until 1863.

The railroad originally ran north from Williamsport along Lycoming Creek as far as the village of Ralston, and was only extended beyond it to Elmira in 1854.

In 1863 the line was leased by the Northern Central Railway, and in 1910 the line was leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The line continued to operate until 1972, when it was destroyed by flooding from Hurricane Agnes.

References

Defunct Pennsylvania railroads
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Railway companies established in 1860
Railway companies disestablished in 1969

Elmira and Williamsport Railroad


The Book of Sirach is a book of the Bible. It is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon. It was put forward by the Council of Carthage in 397. It was confirmed by Catholic leaders at the Council of Trent in the 16th century. It was written roughly in the year 180 BC in Jerusalem by a Jew named Ben Sira. Its main theme is that of wisdom.

Books of the Bible

Book of Sirach


The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an operation against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004.

The chief catalyst for the operation was the highly publicized killing and mutilation of four Blackwater USA private military contractors, and the killings of five American soldiers in Habbaniyah a few days earlier.

The battle polarized public opinion within Iraq.

Background

Fallujah had generally benefited economically under Saddam Hussein, and many residents were employed as military and intelligence officers by his administration. However, there was little sympathy for him following the collapse of his government, which many residents considered oppressive. The city was one of the most religious and culturally traditional areas in Iraq.

Following the collapse of the Ba'ath infrastructure in early 2003, local residents had elected a town council led by Taha Bidaywi Hamed, who kept the city from falling into the control of looters and common criminals. The town council and Hamed were both considered to be nominally pro-American, and their election originally meant that the United States had decided that the city was unlikely to become a hotbed of activity, and didn't require any immediate troop presence. This led to the United States committing few troops to Fallujah from the start.

Although Fallujah had seen sporadic air strikes by American forces, public opposition was not galvanized until 700 members of the 82nd Airborne Division first entered the city on 23 April 2003, and approximately 150 members of Charlie Company occupied al-Qa'id primary. On 28 April, a crowd of approximately 200 people gathered outside the school past curfew, demanding that the Americans vacate the building and allow it to re-open as a school. The protesters became increasingly heated, and the deployment of smoke gas canisters failed to disperse the crowd. The protest escalated as gunmen reportedly fired upon U.S. forces from the protesting crowd and U.S. Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division returned fire, killing 17 people and wounding more than 70 of the protesters. There were no U.S. Army or coalition casualties in the incident. U.S. forces said that the shooting took place over 30–60 seconds, however other sources claim the shooting continued for half an hour.

Two days later, a protest at the former Ba'ath party headquarters decrying the American shootings was also fired upon by U.S. forces, this time the U.S. 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which resulted in three more deaths. Following both incidents, coalition forces asserted that they had not fired upon the protesters until they were fired upon first.

The 82nd Airborne soldiers were replaced by soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and 2/502nd Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On 4 June, members of B Company ("Renegades"), 2/502nd, came under attack after a presence patrol on foot. An RPG round struck the lead vehicle as these soldiers mounted vehicles to return to base; PFC Brandon Oberleitner was killed and six were injured. Oberleitner's death was the only loss of life for B. Co. during the deployment. Soon after this attack, the 3rd Armored Cavalry requested an additional 1,500 troops, to counter growing resistance in Fallujah and nearby al-Habaniyya.

In June, American forces began confiscating motorcycles from local residents, claiming that they were being used in hit-and-run attacks on coalition forces.

On 30 June, a large explosion occurred in a mosque in which the imam, Sheikh Laith Khalil and eight other people were killed. While the local population claimed that Americans had fired a missile at the mosque, U.S. forces claimed that it was an accidental detonation by insurgents constructing bombs.

On 12 February 2004, insurgents attacked a convoy carrying General John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, and the 82nd Airborne's Major General Charles Swannack, firing on the vehicles from nearby rooftops with RPGs, after seemingly infiltrating the Iraqi security forces.

Eleven days later, insurgents diverted Iraqi police to a false emergency on the outskirts of the city, before simultaneously attacking three police stations, the mayor's office and a civil defence base. At least 17 police officers were killed, and as many as 87 prisoners released.

During this time, the 82nd Airborne was conducting regular "lightning raids" inside the city, where Humvee convoys would destroy road barriers and curbs that could hide IEDs, and oversee searches of homes and schools, which frequently saw property damage, and led to shoot-outs with local residents.

In March 2004, Swannack transferred authority of the Al-Anbar province to the I Marine Expeditionary Force commanded by Lt. General Conway.

By early March 2004, the city began to fall under the increasing influence of guerrilla factions. The rising violence against the American presence resulted in the complete withdrawal of troops from the city, with only occasional incursions trying to gain and reinforce a "foothold in the city" being attempted. This was coupled with one or two patrols around the outer limits of FOB Volturno, the former site of Qusay and Uday Hussein's palace.

On 27 March, a JSOC surveillance team was compromised in the town and had to shoot its way out of trouble.

On the morning of 31 March, a combat engineer team from the 1st Engineer Battalion/1st Infantry Division was sent out on a route clearance mission in support of the 82nd Airborne and Blackwater movements. While en route from Habbaniyah to Fallujah, they were hit with the largest roadside bomb used at that point in the war, resulting in the deaths of 5 Bravo Company soldiers.

Blackwater deaths

On 31 March 2004, Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah ambushed a convoy containing four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA who were conducting delivery for food caterers ESS.

The four armed contractors, Scott Helvenston, Jerko Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Michael Teague, were killed by machine gun fire and a grenade thrown through a window of their SUVs. A mob then set their bodies ablaze, and their corpses were dragged through the streets before being hung over a bridge crossing the Euphrates. The insurgents provided images to news agencies for broadcast worldwide, causing a great deal of indignation and moral outrage in the United States. An announcement of an upcoming "pacification" of the city promptly followed.

The intended Marine Corps strategy of foot patrols, less aggressive raids, humanitarian aid, and close cooperation with local leaders was suspended on orders to mount a military operation to clear guerrillas from Fallujah.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was originally suspected as the organiser of the ambush as he was known to be planning terror attacks and believed to be in the area. The intelligence community was doubtful, however, because the exhibitionism of broadcasting images of the desecration of the victim's bodies was uncharacteristic of al-Zarqawi, whose typical style was to leak to Al Jazeera that he had planned an attack some weeks after it occurred. Intelligence reports ultimately concluded that Ahmad Hashim Abd al-Isawi was the mastermind behind the attack. By September 2004, al-Zarqawi was the "highest priority" target in Fallujah for the United States military; he died in a targeted killing in June 2006 when a United States Air Force jet dropped two 500-pound (230 kg) guided bombs on the safehouse in which he was attending a meeting.

al-Isawi was also an important target, whose attacks continued until a 2009 SEAL special operation raid captured him without a shot being fired. He made accusations of mistreatment while in custody, and testified in April 2010 at the ensuing courts-martial against three Navy SEALs (all of whom were acquitted). Subsequently, he was handed over to Iraqi authorities, who tried and executed him by hanging at some point before November 2013.

Campaign

On 1 April, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of U.S. military operations in Iraq, promised an "overwhelming" response to the Blackwater USA deaths, stating "We will pacify that city."

On 3 April 2004, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force received a written command from the Joint Task Force, ordering offensive operations against Fallujah. This order went against the wishes of the Marine Commanders on the ground who wanted to conduct surgical strikes and raids against those suspected of involvement in the Blackwater deaths.

On the night of 4 April 2004, American forces launched a major assault in an attempt to "re-establish security in Fallujah" by encircling it with around 2000 troops. At least four homes were hit in aerial strikes, and there was sporadic gunfire throughout the night.

By the morning of 5 April 2004, headed by the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, American units had surrounded the city with an aim towards retaking it. American troops blockaded roads leading into the city with Humvees and concertina wire. They also took over a local radio station and handed out leaflets urging residents to remain inside their homes and help American forces identify insurgents and any Fallujans who were involved in the Blackwater deaths.

It was estimated that there were 12–24 separate "hardcore" groups of insurgents, armed with RPGs, machine guns, mortars and anti-aircraft weapons, some of it supplied by the Iraqi Police. By 6 April 2004, U.S. military sources said that "Marines may not attempt to control the center of the town".

In the opening days, it was reported that up to a third of the civilian population had fled the city.

The siege forced the closing of Fallujah's two main hospitals, Fallujah General Hospital and the Jordanian Hospital, which were re-opened during the ceasefire on 9 April 2004. Also on that date, the port visit to Jebel Ali by the aircraft carrier  was cancelled, and the George Washington carrier strike group and its embarked Carrier Air Wing Seven were ordered to remain on station in the Persian Gulf as fighting intensified between Coalition Forces and Iraqi insurgents around Fallujah.

The resulting engagements set off widespread fighting throughout Central Iraq and along the Lower Euphrates, with various elements of the Iraqi insurgency taking advantage of the situation and commencing simultaneous operations against the Coalition forces. This period marked the emergence of the Mahdi Army, the militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, as a major armed faction which, at that time, actively participated in anti-Coalition operations. The happenings were also punctuated by a surge of a Sunni rebellion in the city of Ramadi. During this period, a number of foreigners were captured by insurgent groups. Some were killed outright, whilst others were held as hostages in an attempt to barter for political or military concessions. Some elements of the Iraqi police and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps also turned on the Coalition forces or simply abandoned their posts.

The rebels in Fallujah held on, as the Americans attempted to tighten their hold on the city. Air bombardments rained on insurgent positions throughout the city, Lockheed AC-130 gunships attacked targets with their Gatling guns and howitzers a number of times. Scout Snipers became a core element of the Marines' strategy, averaging 31 kills apiece in the battle, while PSYOP Tactical Psychological Operations Teams from Tactical Psychological Operations Detachment 910 lured Iraqis out into the open for the Scout Snipers by reading scripts that were aimed at angering insurgent fighters and by blaring AC/DC along with Metallica and other rock music over their loud speakers.

After three days of fighting, it was estimated that the United States had gained control over 25% of the city, and it suggested that the insurgents had lost a number of key defensive positions.

Due to the fact that American attacks were taking a toll on civilians as well as Iraqi insurgents, coalition forces faced growing criticism from within the Iraqi Governing Council, where Adnan Pachachi said, "these operations by the Americans are unacceptable and illegal."

Al-Jazeera reporter Ahmed Mansur, and cameraman Laith Mushtaq, the only two non-embedded journalists covering the conflict since 3 April 2004, reported that an unknown source stated that United States insisted that the reporters be withdrawn from the city, as a pre-condition to the ceasefire.

At noon on 9 April 2004, under pressure from the Governing Council, Paul Bremer announced that the U.S. forces would be unilaterally holding a ceasefire, stating that they wanted to facilitate negotiations between the Iraqi Governing Council, insurgents, and city spokespersons, and to allow government supplies to be delivered to residents.

As a consequence, much-needed humanitarian relief which had been held up by the fighting and blockade finally managed to enter the city, notably a major convoy organized by private citizens, businessmen and clerics from Baghdad as a joint Shi'a-Sunni effort. Some U.S. forces used this time to occupy and scavenge abandoned houses and convert them into de facto bunkers, while a number of insurgents did the same.

At this point, it was estimated that 600 Iraqis had been killed, at least half of whom were non-combatants.
Although hundreds of insurgents had been killed in the assault, the city remained firmly under their control. American forces had by then only managed to gain a foothold in the industrial district to the south of the city. The end of major operations for the time being led to negotiations between various Iraqi elements and the Coalition forces, punctuated by occasional firefights.

On 12 April 2004, Two U.S. Marines (Robert Zurheide and Brad Shuder) along with an ally interpreter were killed in a friendly fire mortar mission at a schoolhouse in Fallujah.

On 13 April 2004, U.S. Marines fell under attack from insurgents located within a mosque. An airstrike destroyed the mosque, prompting a public outcry.

On 15 April 2004, an American F-16 Fighting Falcon dropped a  JDAM GPS guided bomb over the northern district of Fallujah.

On 19 April 2004, the ceasefire seemed to be consolidated with a plan to reintroduce joint US/Iraqi patrols in the city. Over time this arrangement broke down and the city remained a major center of opposition to the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Interim Government. Additionally, the composition of the armed groups in Fallujah changed during the following months, shifting from domination by secular, nationalist and ex-Ba'athist groups towards a marked influence of warlords with ties to organized crime and groups following a radical Wahhabi stance.

On 27 April 2004, insurgents attacked U.S. defensive positions, causing the Americans to call in air support. In response, on 28 April 2004, the aircraft carrier  launched squadrons VFA-136, VFA-131, VFA-11, and VFA-143 to fly combat air sorties against insurgents in Fallujah. During this operation, aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Seven dropped 13 GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs on insurgent positions and also provided combat air support to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

US withdrawal

On 1 May 2004, the United States withdrew from Fallujah, as Lieutenant General James Conway announced that he had unilaterally decided to turn over any remaining operations to the newly formed Fallujah Brigade - a Sunni security force formed by the CIA, which would be armed with U.S. weapons and equipment under the command of former Ba'athist Army General Jasim Mohammed Saleh. Several days later, when it became clear that Saleh had been involved in military actions against Shi'ites under Saddam Hussein, U.S. forces announced that Muhammed Latif would instead lead the brigade. Nevertheless, the group dissolved and had turned over all the supplied weapons to the insurgency by September. The Brigade soldiers declared loyalty to the insurgents and joined various jihadist and nationalist groups that vied for authority in the town.

The loss of the Fallujah Brigade prompted the Second Battle of Fallujah in November that year. After intense fighting, the Americans successfully occupied the city.

During the interim period between the two battles, U.S. forces maintained a presence at Camp Baharia, a few miles outside the city limits.

Legacy

The largest combat mission since the declaration of the end of "major hostilities", the First Battle of Fallujah marked a turning point in public perception of the ongoing conflict. This was because insurgents, rather than Saddam loyalists, were seen as the chief opponents of U.S. forces. It was also judged by both military and civilian agencies, that reliance upon U.S.-funded regional militias, such as the failed Fallujah Brigade, could prove disastrous. American strategists were mercurial about the outcome of the battle with one writing "the handwriting is on the wall. The Battle of Fallujah was not a defeat—but we cannot afford many more victories like it."

The battle also pushed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi into the public spotlight as the best-known commander of anti-Coalition forces in Iraq, and brought public attention to the concept of a Sunni Triangle.

27 U.S. servicemen were killed during the battle in Fallujah. Iraq Body Count estimated that around 800 Iraqis died in the battle as well, of which 572–616 were civilians and 184–228 insurgents. Many of the Iraqis killed were buried inside the city's former football stadium, which became known as the Martyrs' Cemetery.

Participating units
 1st Marine Division
 1st Battalion 5th Marines
 2nd Battalion 1st Marines
 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines
 2nd Battalion 7th Marines
 3rd Battalion 7th Marines
 3rd Battalion 4th Marines
 3rd Battalion 24th Marines
 1st Tank Battalion
 1st Battalion 11th Marines (Alpha Battery)
 Marine Wing Support Squadron 374
 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion (Alpha Company)
 1st Reconnaissance Battalion
 1st Force Reconnaissance Company
 MCSOCOM Detachment One
 2nd Battalion 11th Marines (Echo Battery)
 1st Combat Engineer Battalion
 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion
 Naval Mobile Construction Battalion-74
 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion
 A co. 112 Military Police Battalion 89th BDE. - made up by PA & RI National Guard  (Operationally Controlled Under the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force)
 21st Military Police Company (Airborne)|21st Military Police Company (Operationally Controlled Under the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force)
 1st Intelligence Battalion
 1st Force Service Support Group
 Combat Service Support Company 113
 Combat Service Support Company 111
 1st Infantry Division
 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry
 1st Engineer Battalion
 5th Special Forces Group
 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta
 Department Of Defense Security Forces, Tactical Response Team
 101st Airborne Division
 82nd Airborne Division
 10th Mountain Division
 HMM-161
 HMLA-775
 HMLA-167
 VFA-131
 HMM-764
 Combat Service Support Battalion 1
 505th Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC)
 30th Iraqi Commando Battalion, Iraqi Special Operations Brigade
 Iraqi National Counter-Terrorism Force
 1st Battalion 11th Marines (Alpha Battery)
Headquarters 10th Marines Counter Battery Radar/ Target Acquisition Platoon
 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron
 492nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron

In popular culture
 No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah, by Bing West (2005) ()
 Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq, by David J. Danelo (2007) ()
 Boredom By Day, Death By Night: An Iraq War Journal, by Marine Sgt Seth Connor (2007) ()
 Once a Marine: An Iraq War Tank Commander's Inspirational Memoir of Combat, Courage, and Recovery, by Nicholas Popaditch, with Mike Steere (2008) ()
 "Fallujah Forensics" a documentary film by Tara Sutton
 Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq, by Dahr Jamail (2007) () Haymarket Books.

See also
 Second Battle of Fallujah
 United States occupation of Fallujah
 2004 in Iraq
 History of Iraqi insurgency
 Iraqi insurgency

References

 Operation Vigilant Resolve at GlobalSecurity
 Iraq: The Siege of Falluja, Guardian Unlimited. Detailed interactive on the Fallujah battles.

External resources
 "U.S. Launches 'Vigilant Resolve'", Associated Press, 5 April 2004. News article published at the start of the operation.
 Hardball with Chris Matthews, 7 April 2004. MSNBC transcript of a television report providing information on Operation Vigilant Resolve and the rest of the spring uprisings.
 "Private Warriors", PBS Frontline.

Conflicts in 2004
2004 in Iraq
Battles of the Iraq War in 2004
Battles of the Iraq War involving Iraq
Battles of the Iraq War involving the United States
Operations involving American special forces
Urban warfare
Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
United States Marine Corps in the Iraq War
Fallujah
April 2004 events in Iraq
May 2004 events in Iraq

First Battle of Fallujah


Sepia kiensis is a species of cuttlefish native to the Indo-Pacific, specifically the Kai Islands, possibly to Timor and northern Australia. It lives at depth to 256 m. The validity of S. kiensis has been questioned.

Sepia kiensis grows to a mantle length of 37 mm.

The type specimen was collected off Kai Island in the Arafura Sea. It is deposited at The Natural History Museum in London.

References

External links

Cuttlefish
Molluscs described in 1885
Taxa named by William Evans Hoyle

Sepia kiensis


A barrel barbecue is a type of barbecue made from a 55-gallon barrel. Vents are cut into the top and bottom for airflow control. A lid is used to retain heat. A chimney is not needed because the length of the barrel acts as its own chimney and provides a draft. Short horseshoe-like legs are attached for stability.

Gallery

See also
 Beverage can stove

References

Barbecue

Barrel barbecue


Latin for Lovers was a Doris Day album, mostly composed of songs originating in Latin America, released by Columbia Records on March 22, 1965 as a monophonic LP (catalog number CL-2310) and a stereophonic album (catalog number CS-9110).

Although "Fly Me to the Moon" was not of Latin-American origin, it was an early song adapted to the bossa nova dance then becoming popular, and so associated at the time with Latin America.

A Columbia 45 r.p.m. single. #4-43278, was released to coincide with the album. It featured "How Insensitive" as the a-side and "Meditation" as the b-side. Neither song charted.

The songs were arranged by Mort Garson, who also conducted the orchestra.

The album was reissued in 2001, combined with Doris Day's Sentimental Journey, as a CD.

Track listing
"Corcovado" (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Gene Lees) (recorded November 2, 1964) - 2:54
"Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)" (Bart Howard) (recorded November 5, 1964) - 2:33
"Meditation"(Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça, Norman Gimbel) (recorded November 2, 1964) - 2:54
"Dansero" (Richard Hayman, Lee Daniels, Sol Parker) (recorded November 9, 1964) - 2:22
"Summer Has Gone" (Gene DiNovi, Bill Comstock) (recorded November 2, 1964) - 2:16
"How Insensitive" (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinícius de Moraes, Norman Gimbel) (recorded November 9, 1964) - 3:39
"Slightly Out of Tune (Desafinado)" (Antônio Carlos Jobim, Newton Mendonça, Jon Hendricks, Jesse Cavanagh) (recorded November 2, 1964) - 2:49
"Our Day Will Come" (Mort Garson, Bob Hilliard) (recorded November 5, 1964) - 2:40
"Be True to Me (Sabor A Mi)" (Mel Mitchell, Alarcon Carillo) (recorded November 5, 1964) - 3:04
"Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps (Quizás, Quizás, Quizás)" (Osvaldo Farrés, Joe Davis) (recorded November 5, 1964) - 2:31
"Be Mine Tonight (Noche De Ronda)" (Maria Teresa Lara, Sunny Skylar) (recorded November 9, 1964) - 3:22
"Por Favor" (Joe Sherman, Noel Sherman) (recorded November 9, 1964) - 2:22

References

1965 albums
Doris Day albums
Columbia Records albums
Albums arranged by Mort Garson
Albums conducted by Mort Garson
Covers albums

Latin for Lovers


The flat earth is a scientifically false hypothesis that the surface of the Earth is not roughly a sphere, but rather flat (a plane). Belief in a flat Earth is found in writings predating around 500 BC. Early Mesopotamian maps showed the world  as a flat disk floating in the ocean.

This was a common belief until the Classical Greeks began to discuss the Earth's shape about the 4th century BC. One of the "giveaways" is that ships' masts disappear as they move away from shore.

Eratosthenes (276 BC–194 BC) calculated the circumference of the Earth quite well. From then on, few educated people ever believed in its being flat, though the idea of a flat earth was still common among the less educated. Aristotle knew the Earth was round, that is to say, roughly spherical. (330 BC).

The large-scale shape of the Earth only matters when considering large distances, as it is hard to see the Earth's curve from the ground. Therefore in the Ancient world only sailors, astronomers, philosophers, and theologians would have cared about the Earth's large-scale shape.

The following authors argued for a spherical or ball-shaped earth: King Alfred of the Anglo-Saxons, Hildegard von Bingen, Thomas Aquinas, Snorri Sturluson, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Columbus

Portuguese people explored Africa and Asia, Columbus sailed to the Americas (1492) and Ferdinand Magellan circumnavigated (sailed all round) the earth (1519-21). This proved finally, and in a practical way, that the Earth is a globe.

During the 19th century, the Romantic ideas about a European "Dark Age" made the Flat Earth model look more important than it ever had been in history.

In 1849, the Flat Earth movement was revived by Samuel Rowbotham, who wrote the book Zetetic Astronomy, which says that the results of his Bedford level experiment proved that the earth was flat.

The widely circulated woodcut is of a man poking his head through the firmament of a flat Earth to see the machines working the spheres.  It was made in 16th century style but cannot be traced to an earlier time than Camille Flammarion's L'Atmosphère: Météorologie Populaire (Paris, 1888, p. 163). The woodcut illustrates the statement in the text that a missionary in the middle Ages claimed that "he reached the horizon where the Earth and the heavens met".  That story may be traced back to Voltaire, but not to any known source in the Middle ages. The original woodcut had a decorative border that places it in the 19th century; in later publications, some claimed that the woodcut dated from the 16th century and the border was removed. According to an unproved story Flammarion ordered the woodcut himself; certainly no source of the image earlier than Flammarion's book is known.

An early mention in literature was Ludvig Holberg's comedy Erasmus Montanus (1723). A great many people disagree with Erasmus Montanus when he claims the Earth is round, since all the peasants believe it is flat. He is not allowed to marry his fiancée until he cries "The earth is flat as a pancake". In Rudyard Kipling's The Village that Voted the Earth was Flat, the main characters spread the rumor that a Parish Council meeting had voted in favor of a flat Earth.

Myth
The myth of the flat Earth, or the flat earth error, is a modern wrong idea. It says that European scholars and educated people during the Middle Ages believed the Earth to be flat. They did not.

Fantasy fiction

Fantasy fiction often imagines a flat Earth. In C. S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader the fictional world of Narnia is "round like a table" (i.e., flat), not "round like a ball", and the characters sail toward the edge of this world. Terry Pratchett's Strata and Discworld novels (1983 onwards) are set on a flat, disc-shaped world resting on the backs of four huge elephants which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle.

Related pages
 Flat Earth Society
 Geoid

References

Earth

Flat Earth


Luis Silva (November 5, 1943 – October 22, 2008) was a Tejano music songwriter, considered by music critics to have been one of the "most well-known and prolific songwriters in the history of Tejano music" and "one of the most influential and prolific songwriters and record label promoters in Tejano music history". Silva wrote two winning Tejano Music Awards for Song of the Year, won three consecutive times for Songwriter of the Year, and remains the most awarded songwriter for the Tejano Music Award for Single of the Year category. He is part of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and his songwriting career spanned three decades and included a roster from Ram Herrera, Mazz, La Mafia, David Marez, among others.

Career
Recordings written by Silva include "Boulevard de Suenos" (Fama), "Te Voy a ensenar a Querer" (Gary Hobbs), "Entre mas Lejos me Vaya," (David Marez), "Borracho de Besos," (La Fiebre); "Laura Ya No Vive Aquí," "Ahora Quiero que me Quieras", "Ayer y Hoy", and "No quiero Olvidarte Otra Vez" (Mazz). In 1985, Silva wrote "Somos Hermanos" for the Hunger Aid campaign.

Silva also helped kickstart the careers of La Mafia and Mazz. He is considered to have also begin the Tejano renaissance era in the 1990s, during which the genre entered the mainstream market. In 2007, Silva was inducted into the Premis a La Musica Latina Hall of Fame. Silva previously worked at Freddie Records.

Death
Silva died of a heart attack after having dinner with his daughter on October 22, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. According to his daughter, Silva had visited her to see her new house and that after going out for dinner Silva's condition began to deteriorate. Silva laughed it off and continued to tour his daughter's house, when Silva entered one of the bedrooms, he sat down and his daughter noticed his eyes rolled up, she tried to hold him but couldn't because of his weight, she subsequently called the emergency responders; but said he immediately died after the responders arrived.

Popular culture
In Netflix's Selena: The Series, Silva is portrayed by Joe Lorenzo.

References

Notes
 - Read online, registration required

1943 births
2008 deaths
American musicians of Mexican descent
Polka musicians
Musicians from Texas
Tejano musicians
Songwriters from Texas
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
American male songwriters

Luis Silva (songwriter)


Copera marginipes, commonly known as the yellow bush dart, is a species of damselfly in the family Platycnemididae. It is native to Asia, where it is widespread and common.

Description and habitat
It is a medium sized damselfly with brown-capped yellow eyes with a narrow equatorial black band encircling them. Its thorax is black on dorsum with a yellow mid-dorsal carina and a narrow greenish-yellow humeral stripe, split in two and overlap each other. This stripe is followed by a broad black fascia, on the middle of the lateral side of the thorax, peppered with small pale yellow spots. The lateral sides beyond this is yellow, marked with an irregular black stripe on the anterior border of postero-lateral suture, and another one on the middle portion of metepimeron. Abdomen is black on dorsal half up to segment 8; paler on ventral half and with bluish-white basal annules. Segment 9 is bluish-white on dorsal half and black below it. Segment 10 is bluish-white.

Anal appendages are pale yellow to white, the inferiors tipped with black. The superiors are half the length of segment 10 and inferiors are at least four times the length of superiors. In the related species, Copera vittata, the superiors are as long as segment 10 and the inferiors nearly twice the length of superiors. The inferiors are pale within, blackish-brown externally.

The female is more robust compared to the male, dull in colors and marks less conspicuously defined. Tenerals of both sex can be whole white with few black markings.

Commonly found in among undergrowth along the banks of rivers and streams, often at lowland.

See also
 List of odonates of India
 List of odonata of Kerala

References

External links

Platycnemididae
Odonata of Asia
Insects described in 1842

Copera marginipes


In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disease by maintaining a physical distance between people and reducing the number of times people come into close contact with each other. It usually involves keeping a certain distance from others (the distance specified differs from country to country and can change with time) and avoiding gathering together in large groups.

By minimising the probability that a given uninfected person will come into physical contact with an infected person, the disease transmission can be suppressed, resulting in fewer deaths. The measures may be used in combination with others, such as good respiratory hygiene, face masks and hand washing. To slow down the spread of infectious diseases and avoid overburdening healthcare systems, particularly during a pandemic, several social-distancing measures are used, including the closing of schools and workplaces, isolation, quarantine, restricting the movement of people and the cancellation of mass gatherings. Drawbacks of social distancing can include loneliness, reduced productivity and the loss of other benefits associated with human interaction.

Social distancing measures are most effective when the infectious disease spreads via one or more of the following methods, droplet contact (coughing or sneezing), direct physical contact (including sexual contact), indirect physical contact (such as by touching a contaminated surface), and airborne transmission (if the microorganism can survive in the air for long periods). The measures are less effective when an infection is transmitted primarily via contaminated water or food or by vectors such as mosquitoes or other insects. Authorities have encouraged or mandated social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic as it is an  important method of preventing transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 is much more likely to spread over short distances than long ones. However, it can spread over distances longer than 2 m (6 ft) in enclosed, poorly ventilated places and with prolonged exposure.

The term "social distancing" was not introduced until the 21st century. Social distancing measures have been successfully implemented in several epidemics. In St. Louis, shortly after the first cases of influenza were detected in the city during the 1918 flu pandemic, authorities implemented school closures, bans on public gatherings and other social-distancing interventions. The influenza fatality rates in St. Louis were much less than in Philadelphia, which had fewer cases of influenza but allowed a mass parade to continue and did not introduce social distancing until more than two weeks after its first cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested using the term "physical distancing" instead of "social distancing" because it is physical separation which prevents transmission; people can remain socially connected by meeting outdoors at a safe distance (when there is no stay-at-home order) and by meeting via technology.

Definition

The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have described social distancing as a set of "methods for reducing frequency and closeness of contact between people in order to decrease the risk of transmission of disease". During the 2009 swine flu pandemic the WHO described social distancing as "keeping at least an arm's length distance from others, [and] minimizing gatherings". During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC defined social distancing as "remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately ) from others when possible".

Social distancing, combined with the use of face masks, good respiratory hygiene and hand washing, is considered the most feasible way to reduce or delay a pandemic.

Measures

Several social distancing measures are used to control the spread of contagious illnesses. Research indicates that measures must be applied rigorously and immediately in order to be effective.

Avoiding physical contact

Keeping a set physical distance from each other and avoiding hugs and gestures that involve direct physical contact, reduce the risk of becoming infected during outbreaks of infectious respiratory diseases (for example, flu pandemics and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.) These distances of separation, in addition to personal hygiene measures, are also recommended at places of work. Where possible, remote work may be encouraged.

The distance advised by authorities varies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, the World Health Organization recommends that a distance of  or more is safe. Subsequently, China, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Lithuania and Singapore adopted a 1 m social distancing policy. South Korea adopted . Australia, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain adopted . The United States adopted , and Canada adopted . The United Kingdom first advised 2 m, then on July 4, 2020 reduced this to "one metre plus" where other methods of mitigation such as face masks were in use.

The WHO's one-metre recommendation stems from research into droplet-based transmission of tuberculosis by William F. Wells, which had found that droplets produced by exhalation, coughs, or sneezes landed an average of  from where they were expelled. Quartz speculated that the U.S. CDC's adoption of  may have stemmed from a study of SARS transmission on an airplane, published in The New England Journal of Medicine. When contacted, however, the CDC did not provide any specific information.

Some have suggested that distances greater than  should be observed. One minute of loud speaking can produce oral droplets with a load of 7 million SARS-CoV-2 virus per milliliter that can remain for more than eight minutes, a time-period during which many people could enter or remain in the area. A sneeze can distribute such droplets as far as  or . Social distancing is less effective than face masks at reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Various alternatives have been proposed for the tradition of handshaking. The gesture of namaste, placing one's palms together, fingers pointing upwards, drawing the hands to the heart, is one non-touch alternative. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, this gesture was used by Prince Charles upon greeting reception guests, and has been recommended by the Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other alternatives include the popular thumbs up gesture, the wave, the shaka (or "hang loose") sign, and placing a palm on one's heart, as practiced in parts of Iran.

School closures

Mathematical modeling has shown that transmission of an outbreak may be delayed by closing schools. However, effectiveness depends on the contacts children maintain outside of school. Often, one parent has to take time off work, and prolonged closures may be required. These factors could result in social and economic disruption.

Workplace closures
Modeling and simulation studies based on U.S. data suggest that if 10% of affected workplaces are closed, the overall infection transmission rate is around 11.9% and the epidemic peak time is slightly delayed. In contrast, if 33% of affected workplaces are closed, the attack rate decreases to 4.9%, and the peak time is delayed by one week. Workplace closures include closure of "non-essential" businesses and social services ("non-essential" means those facilities that do not maintain primary functions in the community, as opposed to essential services).

Canceling mass gatherings

Cancellation of mass gatherings includes sports events, films or musical shows. Evidence suggesting that mass gatherings increase the potential for infectious disease transmission is inconclusive. Anecdotal evidence suggests certain types of mass gatherings may be associated with increased risk of influenza transmission, and may also "seed" new strains into an area, instigating community transmission in a pandemic. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, military parades in Philadelphia and Boston may have been responsible for spreading the disease by mixing infected sailors with crowds of civilians. Restricting mass gatherings, in combination with other social distancing interventions, may help reduce transmission. A recent peer-reviewed study in the British Medical Journal (The BMJ) also suggested it as one of the key components of an effective strategy in reducing the burden of COVID-19.

Travel restrictions
Border restrictions or internal travel restrictions are unlikely to delay an epidemic by more than two to three weeks unless implemented with over 99% coverage. Airport screening was found to be ineffective in preventing viral transmission during the 2003 SARS outbreak in Canada and the U.S. Strict border controls between Austria and the Ottoman Empire, imposed from 1770 until 1871 to prevent persons infected with the bubonic plague from entering Austria, were reportedly effective, as there were no major outbreaks of plague in Austrian territory after they were established, whereas the Ottoman Empire continued to suffer frequent epidemics of plague until the mid-nineteenth century.

A Northeastern University study published in March 2020 found that "travel restrictions to and from China only slow down the international spread of COVID-19 [when] combined with efforts to reduce transmission on a community and an individual level. ... Travel restrictions aren't enough unless we couple it with social distancing." The study found that the travel ban in Wuhan delayed the spread of the disease to other parts of mainland China only by three to five days, although it did reduce the spread of international cases by as much as 80 percent.

Shielding
Shielding measures for individuals include limiting face-to-face contacts, conducting business by phone or online, avoiding public places and reducing unnecessary travel.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, shielding referred to special advisory measures put in place by the UK Government to protect those at the highest risk of serious illness from the disease. This included those with weakened immune systems (such as organ transplant recipients), as well as those with certain medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis or severe asthma. Until June 1, 2020, those shielding were strongly advised not to leave home for any reason at all, including essential travel, and to maintain a  distance from anyone else in their household. Supermarkets quickly made priority grocery delivery slots available to those shielding, and the Government arranged for food boxes to be sent to those shielding who needed additional assistance, for example elderly people shielding on their own. This was gradually relaxed from June to allow shielders to spend more time outside, before being suspended indefinitely from August 1.

Quarantine

During the 2003 SARS outbreak in Singapore, approximately  people were subjected to mandatory home quarantine and an additional  were required to self-monitor for symptoms and make daily telephone contact with health authorities as a means of controlling the epidemic. Although only 58 of these individuals were eventually diagnosed with SARS, public health officials were satisfied that this measure assisted in preventing further spread of the infection. Voluntary self-isolation may have helped reduce transmission of influenza in Texas in 2009. Short and long-term negative psychological effects have been reported.

Stay-at-home orders

The objective of stay-at-home orders is to reduce day-to-day contact between people and thereby reduce the spread of infection During the COVID-19 pandemic, early and aggressive implementation of stay-at-home orders was effective in "flattening the curve" and provided the much needed time for healthcare systems to increase their capacity while reducing the number of peak cases during the initial wave of illness. It is important for public health authorities to follow disease trends closely to re-implement appropriate social distancing policies, including stay-at-home orders, if secondary COVID-19 waves appear.

Cordon sanitaire

In 1995, a cordon sanitaire was used to control an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Kikwit, Zaire. President Mobutu Sese Seko surrounded the town with troops and suspended all flights into the community. Inside Kikwit, the World Health Organization and Zaire's medical teams erected further cordons sanitaires, isolating burial and treatment zones from the general population and successfully containing the infection.

Protective sequestration

During the 1918 influenza epidemic, the town of Gunnison, Colorado, isolated itself for two months to prevent an introduction of the infection. Highways were barricaded and arriving train passengers were quarantined for five days. As a result of the isolation, no one died of influenza in Gunnison during the epidemic. Several other communities adopted similar measures.

Other measures
Other measures include shutting down or limiting mass transit and closure of sport facilities (community swimming pools, youth clubs, gymnasiums). Due to the highly interconnected nature of modern transportation hubs, a highly contagious illness can achieve rapid geographic spread if appropriate mitigation measures are not taken early. Consequently, highly coordinated efforts must be put into place early during an outbreak to proactively monitor, detect, and isolate any potentially infectious individuals. If community spread is present, more aggressive measures may be required, up to and including complete cessation of travel in/out of a specific geographic area.

Communicating social distancing public health guidelines
Public health messaging, gaining the public's trust (countering misinformation), ensuring community involvement and two-way exchange of ideas can affect the uptake, adherence, and effectiveness of best-evidence social distancing approach to preventing disease spread. The communication approaches, messaging, and delivery mechanisms need to be flexible so that they can be changed as both the best-evidence social distancing measures change and as the community needs change.

History
Leper colonies and lazarettos were established as a means of preventing the spread of leprosy and other contagious diseases through social distancing, until transmission was understood and effective treatments invented.

1916 New York City polio epidemic
During the 1916 New York City polio epidemic, when there were more than 27,000 cases and more than 6,000 deaths due to polio in the United States, with more than 2,000 deaths in New York City alone, movie theaters were closed, meetings were cancelled, public gatherings were almost non-existent, and children were warned not to drink from water fountains, and told to avoid amusement parks, swimming pools and beaches.

Influenza, 1918 to present

During the influenza pandemic of 1918, Philadelphia saw its first cases of influenza on 17 September. The city continued with its planned parade and gathering of more than  people on 28 September and over the subsequent three days, the city's 31 hospitals became fully occupied. During the week ending 16 October, over  people died. Social distancing measures were introduced on 3October, on the orders of St. Louis physician Max C. Starkloff, more than two weeks after the first case. Unlike Philadelphia, St. Louis experienced its first cases of influenza on 5October and the city took two days to implement several social distancing measures, including closing schools, theatres, and other places where people get together. It banned public gatherings, including funerals. The actions slowed the spread of influenza in St. Louis and a spike in cases and deaths, as had happened in Philadelphia, did not occur. The final death rate in St. Louis increased following a second wave of cases, but remained overall less than in other cities. Bootsma and Ferguson analyzed social distancing interventions in sixteen U.S. cities during the 1918 epidemic and found that time-limited interventions reduced total mortality only moderately (perhaps 10–30%), and that the impact was often very limited because the interventions were introduced too late and lifted too early. It was observed that several cities experienced a second epidemic peak after social distancing controls were lifted, because susceptible individuals who had been protected were now exposed.

School closures were shown to reduce morbidity from the Asian flu by 90% during the 1957–1958 pandemic, and up to 50% in controlling influenza in the U.S., 2004–2008. Similarly, mandatory school closures and other social distancing measures were associated with a 29% to 37% reduction in influenza transmission rates during the 2009 flu epidemic in Mexico.

The 2009 swine flu pandemic caused social distancing to rise in popularity, most notably in Mexico, with the country's Ministry of Health advising people to avoid handshakes and kissing as ways of greeting people. A mandatory nationwide school closure enacted in Mexico, which lasted for 18 days from late April 2009 to early May 2009, was a form of social distancing aimed at reducing the transmission of Swine flu. A study from 2011 found the mandatory nationwide school closure and other forms of social distancing in Mexico were effective at reducing influenza transmission rates.

During the swine flu outbreak in 2009 in the UK, in an article titled "Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic" published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, a group of epidemiologists endorsed the closure of schools to interrupt the course of the infection, slow the further spread and buy time to research and produce a vaccine. Having studied previous influenza pandemics including the 1918 flu pandemic, the influenza pandemic of 1957 and the 1968 flu pandemic, they reported on the economic and workforce effect school closure would have, particularly with a large percentage of doctors and nurses being women, of whom half had children under the age of 16. They also looked at the dynamics of the spread of influenza in France during French school holidays and noted that cases of flu dropped when schools closed and re-emerged when they re-opened. They noted that when teachers in Israel went on strike during the flu season of 1999–2000, visits to doctors and the number of respiratory infections dropped by more than a fifth and more than two fifths respectively.

SARS 2003
During the SARS outbreak of 2003, social distancing measures were implemented, such as banning large gatherings, closing schools and theaters, and other public places, supplemented public health measures such as finding and isolating affected people, quarantining their close contacts, and infection control procedures. This was combined with the wearing of masks for certain people. During this time in Canada, "community quarantine" was used to reduce transmission of the disease with moderate success.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing and related measures are emphasized by several governments as alternatives to an enforced quarantine of heavily affected areas. According to UNESCO monitoring, more than a hundred countries have implemented nationwide school closures in response to COVID-19, impacting over half the world's student population. In the United Kingdom, the government advised the public to avoid public spaces, and cinemas and theaters voluntarily closed to encourage the government's message.

With many people disbelieving that COVID-19 is any worse than the seasonal flu, it has been difficult to convince the public—particularly youth, and the anti vaxx community to voluntarily adopt social distancing practices. In Belgium, media reported a rave was attended by at least  before it was broken up by local authorities. In France, teens making nonessential trips are fined up to . Beaches were closed in Florida and Alabama to disperse partygoers during spring break. Weddings were broken up in New Jersey and an 8p.m. curfew was imposed in Newark. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania were the first states to adopt coordinated social distancing policies which closed down non-essential businesses and restricted large gatherings. Shelter in place orders in California were extended to the entire state on 19 March. On the same day Texas declared a public disaster and imposed statewide restrictions.

These preventive measures such as social-distancing and self-isolation prompted the widespread closure of primary, secondary, and post-secondary schools in more than 120 countries. As of 23 March 2020, more than 1.2 billion learners were out of school due to school closures in response to COVID-19. Given low rates of COVID-19 symptoms among children, the effectiveness of school closures has been called into question. Even when school closures are temporary, it carries high social and economic costs. However, the significance of children in spreading COVID-19 is unclear. While the full impact of school closures during the coronavirus pandemic are not yet known, UNESCO advises that school closures have negative impacts on local economies and on learning outcomes for students.

In early March 2020, the sentiment "Stay Home" was coined by Florian Reifschneider, a German engineer and was quickly echoed by notable celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Busy Philipps in hopes of reducing and delaying the peak of the outbreak. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram also joined the campaign with similar hashtags, stickers and filters under #staythefhome, #stayhome, #staythefuckhome and began trending across social media. The website claims to have reached about two million people online and says the text has been translated into 17 languages.

Impact on mental health

There are concerns that social distancing can have adverse affects on participants' mental health. It may lead to stress, anxiety, depression or panic, especially for individuals with preexisting conditions such as anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, and paranoia. Widespread media coverage about a pandemic, its impact on economy, and resulting hardships may create anxiety. Change in daily circumstances and uncertainty about the future may add onto the mental stress of being away from other people.

People with autism also suffer impact from social distancing. Adjusting to a new routine can be stressful for everyone within the spectrum but especially for children who have trouble with change. Children with autism may not know what is going on or might not be able to express their fears and frustrations. They also may need extra support to understand what's expected of them in some situations. The adjustment to a new situation can lead to challenging behavior uncharacteristic of the autistic individual's true character. In some countries and demographics, teenagers and young adults within the autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) receive support services including special education, behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, speech services, and individual aides through school, but this can be a major challenge, particularly since many teenagers with ASD already have social and communication difficulties. Aggressive and self-injurious behaviors may increase during this time of fear and uncertainty.

Portrayal in literature
In his 1957 science fiction novel The Naked Sun, Isaac Asimov portrays a planet where people live with social distancing. They are spread out, miles from each other, across a sparsely-populated world. Communication is primarily through technology. A male and a female still need to engage in sex to make a baby, but it is seen as a dangerous, nasty chore. In contrast, when communication is through technology the situation is the reverse: there is no modesty, and casual nudity is frequent. The novel's point of departure is a murder: this seemingly idyllic world, in fact, has serious social problems.

Theoretical basis
From the perspective of epidemiology, the basic goal behind social distancing is to decrease the effective reproduction number,  or , which in the absence of social distancing would equate to the basic reproduction number, i.e. the average number of secondary infected individuals generated from one primary infected individual in a population where all individuals are equally susceptible to a disease. In a basic model of social distancing, where a proportion  of the population engages in social distancing to decrease their interpersonal contacts to a fraction  of their normal contacts, the new effective reproduction number  is given by:

Where the value of  can be brought below1 for sufficiently long, containment is achieved, and the number infected should decrease.

For any given period of time, the growth in the number of infections can be modeled as:

where:
  is the number of infected individuals after  incubation periods (5 days, in the case of COVID-19)

Using COVID-19 as an example, the following table shows the infection spread given:
 A: No social distance mitigation
 B: 50% reduction in social interaction
 C: 75% reduction in social interaction

Effectiveness
An empirical study published in July 2020 in The BMJ (British Medical Journal) analyzed data from 149 countries, and reported an average of 13% reduction in COVID-19 incidence after the implementation of social distancing policies. Another study found that four social distancing interventions combined resulted in a reduction of the infection rate from 66% to less than 1%.

See also
 COVID-19 party
 Civil inattention
 Herd immunity
 Lockdown
 Pest house
 Stay-at-home order

References

External links

 CDC Social Distancing
 American Red Cross: How to Social Distance
 Johns Hopkins: Social and Physical Distancing

Infectious diseases
Quarantine
Epidemics
Epidemiology
Medical hygiene

Social distancing