Mawlid (), also known as Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi (), is an observation of the day when the Islamic prophet Muhammad is reported to have been born. It is commemorated in Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month in the Islamic calendar. 12th Rabi' al-awwal is the accepted date among most of the Sunni scholars, while some Shi'a scholars regard 17th Rabi' al-awwal as the accepted date.

The history of this celebration goes back to the early days of Islam when some of the Tabi'un began to hold sessions in which poetry and songs composed to honour Muhammad were recited and sung to crowds in the major cities. The Ottomans declared it an official holiday in 1588,
known as Mevlid Kandil.
The term Mawlid is also used in some parts of the world, such as Egypt, as a generic term for the birthday celebrations of other historical religious figures such as Sufi saints.

Most denominations of Islam approve of the commemoration of Muhammad's birthday; however, some denominations including Salafism, Deobandism and the Ahmadiyya disapprove its commemoration, considering it an unnecessary religious innovation (bid'ah or bidat). Mawlid is recognized as a national holiday in most of the Muslim-majority countries of the world except Saudi Arabia and Qatar which are officially Salafi. The Mawlid observance is generally approved of across the four Sunni schools of law and by mainstream Islamic scholarship.

Etymology
Mawlid is derived from the Arabic root word , meaning to give birth, bear a child, descendant. In contemporary usage, Mawlid refers to the observance of the day of birth of Muhammad. Along with being referred to as the celebration of the birth of Muhammad, the term Mawlid refers to the 'text especially composed for and recited at Muhammad's nativity celebration' or "a text recited or sung on that day". The term Mawlid is also used in some parts of the world, such as Egypt, as a generic term for the day somone was born celebrations of other historical religious figures such as Sufi saints.

Date
According to the majority of Sunni Muslims and some Shi'as, Muhammad was born on the 12th of Rabi' al-awwal. Many Twelver Shia Muslims on the other hand assert that Muhammad was born on the 17th of Rabi' al-awwal. It stands as a matter of ikhtilaf or disagreement since prominent Shia scholars such as Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni, Ibn Babawayh, and Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al-'Amili have affirmed the date of the 12th of Rabi' al-Awal. Nonetheless, others contend that the date of Muhammad's birth is unknown and is not definitively recorded in the Islamic traditions. The issue of the correct date of the Mawlid is recorded by Ibn Khallikan as constituting the first proven disagreement concerning the celebration.

History

In early days of Islam, observation of Muhammad's birth as a holy day was usually arranged privately and later was an increased number of visitors to the Mawlid house that was open for the whole day specifically for this celebration. The history of this celebration goes back to the early days of Islam when some of the Tabi'un began to hold sessions in which poetry and songs composed to honour Muhammad were recited and sung to the crowds.

The early celebrations, included elements of Sufic influence, with animal sacrifices and torchlight processions along with public sermons and a feast. The celebrations occurred during the day, in contrast to modern day observances, with the ruler playing a key role in the ceremonies. Emphasis was given to the Ahl al-Bayt with presentation of sermons and recitations of the Qur'an.

The exact origins of the Mawlid is difficult to trace. According to Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God, the significance of the event was established when Muhammad fasted on Monday, citing the reason for this was his birth on that day, and when Umar took into consideration Muhammad's birth as a possible starting time for the Islamic calendar. According to Festivals in World Religions, the Mawlid was first introduced by the Abbasids in Baghdad. It has been suggested that the Mawlid was first formalized by al-Khayzuran of the Abbasids. Ibn Jubayr, in 1183, writes that Muhammad's day of birth was celebrated every Monday of Rabi' al-awwal at his birthplace, which had been converted into a place of devotion under the Abbasids.

According to the hypothesis of Nico Kaptein of Leiden University, the Mawlid was initiated by the Fatimids. It has been stated, "The idea that the celebration of the mawlid originated with the Fatimid dynasty has today been almost universally accepted among both religious polemicists and secular scholars." Annemarie Schimmel also says that the tendency to celebrate the memory of Muhammad's day of birth on a larger and more festive scale emerged first in Egypt during the Fatimids. The Egyptian historian Maqrizi (d. 1442) describes one such celebration held in 1122 as an occasion in which mainly scholars and religious establishment participated. They listened to sermons, distributed sweets, particularly honey, Muhammad's favourite and the poor received alms. This Shia origin is frequently noted by those Sunnis who oppose Mawlid. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, however, what the Fatimids did was simply a procession of court officials, which did not involve the public but was restricted to the court of the Fatimid caliph. Therefore, it has been concluded that the first Mawlid celebration which was a public festival was started by Sunnis in 1207 by Muẓaffar al-Dīn Gökburi.

It has been suggested that the celebration was introduced into the city Ceuta by Abu al-Abbas al-Azafi as a way of strengthening the Muslim community and to counteract Christian festivals.

Start of a public holiday
In 1207, the Turkic general Gökböri started the first annual public festival of the Mawlid in Erbil. Gökböri was the brother-in-law of Saladin and soon the festival began to spread across the Muslim world. Since Saladin and Gokburi were both Sufis the festival became increasingly popular among Sufi devotees which remains so till this day. The Ottomans declared it an official holiday in 1588, known as Mevlid Kandil.

Observances

Where
Mawlid is celebrated in almost all Islamic countries, and in other countries that have a significant Muslim population, such as Ethiopia, India, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Nigeria, Cote d'lvoire, Iraq, Iran, Maldives, Morocco, Jordan, Libya, Russia and Canada. Hari Maulaud Nabi is a public holiday in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Where & why not

The only exceptions are Qatar and Saudi Arabia where it is not an official public holiday and is forbidden.

In the last decades of the late 20th century there has been a trend to "forbid or discredit" Mawlid because of the rise of Salafism.

Sufi festival
Often organized in some countries by the Sufi orders, Mawlid is celebrated in a carnival manner, large street processions are held and homes or mosques are decorated. Charity and food is distributed, and stories about the life of Muhammad are narrated with recitation of poetry by children. Scholars and poets celebrate by reciting Qaṣīda al-Burda Sharif, the famous poem by 13th-century Arabic Sufi Busiri. A general Mawlid appears as "a chaotic, incoherent spectacle, where numerous events happen simultaneously, all held together only by the common festive time and space". These celebrations are often considered an expression of the Sufi concept of the pre-existence of Muhammad. However, the main significance of these festivities is expression of love for Muhammad.

Sunni tradition
The first Sunni mawlid celebration that we have a detailed description of was sponsored by Saladin's general, Muzaffar al-Din Kokburi (Gökböri) and included the slaughtering of thousands of animals for a banquet which is believed to have cost 300,000 dirhams.

The presence of guests and the distribution of monetary gifts at mawlid festivals had an important social function as they symbolized "concretizing ties of patronage and dramatizing the benevolence of the ruler" and also held religious significance, as "issues of spending and feeding were pivotal both to the religious and social function of the celebration."

Theological pros and cons

Early fatwas and criticisms of the mawlid have taken issue with the "possibility of coerced giving" as hosts often took monetary contributions from their guests for festival costs.

Jurists often conceptualized the observance of Muhammad's day of birth as a "form of reciprocation for God's bestowal of the Prophet Muhammad" as a way of justifying celebrations. According to this thought, the bestowal of such a gift required thanks, which came in the form of the celebration of the mawlid. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (1392 CE) and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalini (1449 CE) both expressed such ideas, specifically referencing the hadith about the Jews and the fast of 'Ashura', but broadening the conception of "thanks to God" to multiple forms of worship including prostration, fasting, almsgiving, and Qur'anic recitation. The only limitation Ibn Hajar places on forms of celebration is that they must be neutral under Shari'a.

By country

Pakistan

During Pakistan's Mawlid, the day starts with a 31-gun salute in federal capital and a 21-gun salute at the provincial capitals and religious hymns are sung during the day.

Indonesia

In many parts of Indonesia, the celebration of the Mawlid al-nabi "seems to surpass in importance, liveliness, and splendour" the two official Islamic holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

Tunisia
In Qayrawan, Tunisia, Muslims sing and chant hymns of praise to Muhammad, welcoming him in honor of his birth. Also, generally in Tunisia, people usually prepare Assidat Zgougou to celebrate the Mawlid.

Turkey
In Turkey, Mawlid is widely celebrated. It is referred to as Mevlid Kandili in Turkish, which means "the candle feast for the Prophet's day of birth". Traditional poems regarding Muhammad's life are recited both in public mosques and at home in the evening. The most celebrated of these is the Mawlid of Süleyman Çelebi. Plenty of other mawlids were written in Ottoman times.

India
Among non-Muslim countries, India is noted for its Mawlid festivities. The relics of Muhammad are displayed after the morning prayers in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir at the Hazratbal Shrine, where night-long prayers are also held. Hyderabad Telangana is noted for its grand milad festivities. Religious meetings, night-long prayers, rallies, parades and decorations are made throughout the city.

Mawlid texts
Along with being referred to as the celebration of the birth of Muhammad, the term Mawlid also refers to the 'text especially composed for and recited at Muhammad's nativity celebration' or "a text recited or sung on that day". Such poems have been written in many languages, including Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish. These texts contain stories of the life of Muhammad, or at least some of the following chapters from his life, briefly summarized below:

 The Ancestors of Muhammad
 The Conception of Muhammad
 The Birth of Muhammad
 Introduction of Halima
 Life of Young Muhammad in Bedouins
 Muhammad's orphanhood
 Abu Talib's nephew's first caravan trip
 Arrangement of Marriage between Muhammad and Khadija
 Al-Isra'
 Al-Mi'radj, or the Ascension to heaven
 Al-Hira, first revelation
 The first converts to Islam
 The Hijra
 Muhammad's death

These text are only part of the ceremonies. There are many different ways that people celebrate Mawlid, depending on where they are from. There appears to be a cultural influence upon what kind of festivities are a part of the Mawlid celebration. In Indonesia, it is common the congregation recite Simthud Durar, especially among Arab Indonesians.

Permissibility

Among Muslim scholars, the legality of Mawlid "has been the subject of intense debate" and has been described as "perhaps one of the most polemical discussions in Islamic law". Traditionally, most Sunni and nearly all of the Shia scholars have approved the celebration of Mawlid, while Salafi, Deobandi and Ahmadiyya scholars oppose the celebration.</ref> In the past, the Mawlid was thought of as a bidah (innovation). Saudi Arabia currently forbids the celebration of the Mawlid.

Support
Examples of historic Sunni scholars who permitted the Mawlid include the Shafi'i scholar Al-Suyuti (d 911 A.H.). He was a scholar who wrote a fatwa on the Mawlid, which became one of the most important texts on this issue. Although he became famous outside of Egypt, he was caught in conflicts in Egypt his entire life. For example, he believed that he was the most important scholar of his time, and that he should be regarded as a mujtahid (a scholar who independently interprets and develops the Law) and later as a mujaddid (a scholar who appears at end of a century to restore Islam). These claims made him the most controversial person of his time. However, his fatwa may have received widespread approval and may not have provoked any conflicts.

He stated that:My answer is that the legal status of the observance of the Mawlid – as long as it just consists of a meeting together by the people, a recitation of apposite parts of the Qur'an, the recounting of transmitted accounts of the beginning of (the biography of) the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – and the wonders that took place during his birth, all of which is then followed by a banquet that is served to them and from which they eat-is a good innovation (bid'a hasana), for which one is rewarded because of the esteem shown for the position of the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – that is implicit in it, and because of the expression of joy and happiness on his – may God bless him and grant him peace – noble birth.Al-Suyuti thought that the Mawlid could be based on the fact that Muhammad performed the sacrifice for his own birth after his calling to be a prophet. He said that Abu Lahab, who he called an unbeliever, had been condemned by what was revealed in the Quran but was rewarded in the fire "for the joy he showed on the night of the birth of the Prophet" by releasing from slavery Thuwayba when she had informed him of the birth of Muhammad. Therefore, he talked about what would happen to a Muslim who rejoiced in his birth and loved him.

In response to al-Fakihani, al-Suyuti said a few things. He said that "because a matter is not known it does not necessarily follow that the matter does not exist nor ever has existed." He also said that a "learned and judicious ruler introduced it," in responding to al-Fakihani's statement that "on the contrary, it is a bida that was introduced by idlers... nor the pious scholars..." Al-Suyuti also said in response to "Nor is it meritorious, because the essence of the meritorious is what the Law demands," that "the demands of meritorious are sometimes based on a text and sometimes on reasoning by analogy." Al-Suyuti said that bidas are not restricted to forbidden or reprehensible, but also to the permitted, meritorious, or compulsory categories in response to al-Fakihani's statement that "according to the consensus of the Muslims innovation in religion is not permitted." In response to al-Fakihani's statement that "This, not withstanding the fact that the month in which he… is born namely Rabi'I, is exactly the same as the one in which he died. Therefore joy and happiness in this month are not any more appropriate than sadness in this month,"> al-Suyuti said that "birth is the greatest benefaction which has ever befallen us, but his death the greatest calamity that has been visited upon us." He said that the law allows expression of gratitude for benefactions, and that Muhammad had prescribed the sacrifice after the birth of a child because this would express gratitude and happiness for the newborn. Indeed, al-Suyuti said that the principles of the law say it is right to express happiness at Muhammad's birth.

The Shafi'i scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d 852 A.H.) too approved of the Mawlid and states that:As for what is performed on the day of the Mawlid, one should limit oneself to what expresses thanks to God, such as the things that have already been mentioned: [Qur'anic] recitation, serving food, alms-giving, and recitation of praise [poems] about the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – and asceticism which motivate people to perform good deeds and act in view of the next world.

The Damascene Shafi'i scholar Abu Shama (died 1268) (who was a teacher of Imam al-Nawawi (d 676 A.H.)) also supports the celebration of the Mawlid. The Maliki scholar Ibn al-Hajj (d 737 A.H.) also spoke positively of the observance of the Mawlid in his book al-Madhkal. Al-Hajj addresses his thoughts on the paradoxical problem of misguided Mawlid observance when he says:

 This is a night of exceeding virtue and what follows from an increase in virtue is an increase in the thanks that it merits through the performance of acts of obedience and the like. [However], some people, instead of increasing thanks, have increased innovations on it.

Likewise, the Shafi'i Egyptian scholar Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (d. 974 A.H.) was an avid supporter of the Mawlid and wrote a text in praise of it. This was supported and commented on by the Egyptian scholar and former head of Al-Azhar University Ibrahim al-Bajuri and by the Hanafi Syrian Mufti Ibn Abidin. Another Hanafi Mufti Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 A.H.) too supported the celebration of the Mawlid and wrote a text on the subject as did the Moroccan Maliki scholar Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Kattānī (d. 1345 A.H.). Ibn al-Jazari (d. 833 A.H.), a Syrian Shafi'i scholar considers the celebration of the Mawlid to be a means of gaining Paradise.

In the Muslim world, the majority of Sunni Islamic scholars are in favor of the Mawlid. Examples include the former Grand Mufi of Egypt Ali Gomaa, Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki of Saudi Arabia, Yusuf al-Qaradawi the primary scholar of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Habib Ali al-Jifri, Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, Muhammad bin Yahya al-Ninowy of Syria, president of the Heritage and History Committee of the United Arab Emirates Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Khazraji and Zaid Shakir, all of whom subscribe to Sunni Islam, have given their approval for the observance of Mawlid.

Opposition
Taj al-Din al-Fakihani (d. 1331), an Egyptian Maliki, considered Mawlid to be a blameworthy innovation that was either makruh or haram. Al-Fakihani said that there was no basis of this in the Book of God, nor in the sunnah of Muhammad, and that there was no observance of it on authority of scholars of the umma. He said that it was a "bida that was introduced by idlers, and a delight to which gluttons abandon themselves." He mentioned how the five legal categories included whether it is compulsory, meritorious, permitted, reprehensible, or forbidden. He said it was not compulsory, meritorious, or permitted, and therefore it was reprehensible or forbidden. He said that it was reprehensible when a person observed at their own expense without doing more at the gathering than to eat and abstain from doing anything sinful. The second condition of the category of forbidden, according to al-Fakihani, was when committing of transgressions entered into the practice, such as "singing–with full bellies–accompanied by instruments of idleness like drums and reed flutes, with the meeting of men with young boys and male persons with attractive women–either mixing with them or guarding them–, just like dancing by swinging and swaying, wallowing in lust and forgetting of the Day of Doom." He also said, "And likewise the women, when they come together and there lend their high voices during the reciting with sighing and singing and thereby during the declaiming and reciting disobey the law and neglect His word: 'Verily, your Lord is on a watchtower' (Sura 89:14)." He further said, "Nobody with civilized and courteous manners approves of this. It is only pleasing to people whose hearts are dead and do not contain few sins and offenses." Finally, he said that the month when Muhammad was born was also the month in which he died, and so implied that joy and happiness in that month are not more appropriate than sadness in that month.

Fellow Egyptian Maliki Ibn al-Haj al-Abdari also considered Mawlid as a blameworthy innovation that was either makruh or haram, who added that the celebration was never practiced by the Salaf. However Ibn al-Haj affirms the auspicious qualities of the month of the Mawlid in the most effusive terms and considers Muhammad's date of birth as a particularly blessed time of the year. The Maliki scholar Al-Shatibi considered Mawlid an illegitimate innovation. The Andalusian jurist Abu 'Abd Allah al-Haffar (d. 1408) opposed Mawlid, noting that had the Sahaba celebrated it then its exact date would not be a matter of uncertainty. The former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, along with Hammud ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tuwayjiri (d. 1992), another Saudi scholar, in their opposition also argued that there were many worthy occasions in Muhammad's life which he never commemorated, such as the revelation of the first verses of the Qur'an, the Night Journey and the hijra.

In 1934, the minister of education in Egypt criticized the "useless stories" which filled Mawlid poetry, as he believed these were incompatible with a modern and scientific viewpoint that represented Muhammad on a more sober level. Similar criticism arose in 1982 when a chairman of the Mecca-based Orthodox Muslim Organization Rabita declared celebrations of Mawlid an "evil innovation."

While the Ahmadiyya deem the perpetual commemoration of Muhammad's life as highly desirable and consider the remembrance of him as a source of blessings, they condemn the common, traditional practices associated with the Mawlid as blameworthy innovations, Gatherings limited to the recounting of Muhammad's life and character and the recitation of poetry eulogising him, whether held on a specific date of Rabi' al-awwal or in any other month, are deemed permissible. Formal gatherings called Jalsa Seerat-un-Nabi commemorating Muhammad's life and legacy, rather than specifically his birth, are frequently held by Ahmadis and are often oriented towards both Muslim and non-Muslim audiences. These gatherings could be held in the month of the Mawlid but are promoted often throughout the year.

Ambiguity
Thr position of Ibn Taymiyyah (1263–1328) on the Mawlid has been ambiguous. On the one hand, he considered that it was a reprehensible (makrūh) devotional innovation and criticised those who celebrated the Mawlid out of a desire to imitate the Christian celebration of Jesus's day of birth. On the other hand, he recognised that some observe Muhammad's day of birth out of a desire to show their love and reverence of him and thus deserve a great reward for their good intentions. The Salafi writer Hamid al-Fiqi (d. 1959) criticised Ibn Taymiyya for holding this view and stating that "How can they receive a reward for this when they are opposing the guidance of God's Messenger (pbuh)?".

Ibn al-Hajj (c. 1250/56-1336) praised carrying out ceremonies and expression of gratitude during the festival, but rejected the forbidden and objectionable matters that took place at it. He objected to certain things, such as singers performing to the accompaniment of percussion instruments, pointing to their blameworthiness. He asked about what connections there might have been between percussion instruments and the month of Muhammad's day of birth. However, he said that it was right to honor and distinguish the day of birth because it showed respect for the month. He also said that excellence lied in devotional acts. Therefore, al-Hajj said that "the respect of this noble month should consist of additional righteous works, the giving of alms and other pious deeds. If anybody is not able to do so, let him then in any case avoid what is forbidden and reprehensible out of respect for this noble month." He said that even though the Quran might be recited, the people actually were "longing for the most skilled adepts of folly and stimulating means to entertain the people," and said that this was "perverse". Therefore, he did not condemn the Mawlid, but only "the forbidden and objectionable things which the Mawlid brings in its wake." He did not disapprove of preparing a banquet and inviting people to participate. In addition, Ibn al-Hajj also said that people observed the Mawlid not just from reasons of respect but also because they wanted to get back the silver they had given on other joyous occasions and festivals, and said that there were "evil aspects" attached to this.

Skaykh al-Islam, Abu I-Fadl ibn Hajar, who was "the (greatest) hafiz of this time," said that the legal status of the Mawlid was that it was a bida, which was not transmitted on the authority of one of the pious ancestors. However, he said that it comprised both good things, as well as the reverse, and that if one strove for good things in practicing it and evaded bad things, the Mawlid was a good innovation, and if not, then not. He said that the coming of Muhammad was a good benefaction, and said that only the day ought to be observed. He said that "it is necessary that one restricts oneself to that which expresses gratitude to God… namely by reciting the Quran, the giving of a banquet, almsgiving, declamations of some songs of praise for the Prophet and some ascetic songs of praise, which stimulate the hearts to do good and to make efforts to strive for the Hereafter." He also said that the "sama and the entertainment and the like" may have been in line with the joyous nature of the day, but said that "what is forbidden or reprehensible, is, of course, prohibited. The same holds true for what is contrary to that which is regarded as the most appropriate."

Other uses

In some countries, such as Egypt and Sudan, Mawlid is used as a generic term for the celebration of the day of birth of local Sufi saints and not only restricted to the observance of the birth of Muhammad. Around 3,000 Mawlid celebrations are held each year. These festivals attract an international audience, with the largest one in Egypt attracting up to three million people honouring Ahmad al-Badawi, a local 13th-century Sufi saint.

Gallery

See also

Bayt al-Mawlid, the house where Muhammad is believed to have been born
Durood
Hamd
Haḍra
Madih nabawi
Mawsim
Mehfil
Na'at
Mawlid al-Barzanjī
Islamic poetry
Mid-Sha'ban
Tweeza
Ya Muhammad

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

 Mawlid from the Encyclopedia of the Orient
 The Mawlid: The Conservative View
 The Mawlid: A Time to Celebrate
Eid Milad un Nabi Images
 Eid Mawlid Nabi: Celebrate

Birthdays
Life of Muhammad
Kandil
Islamic holy days
Public holidays in Algeria
Public holidays in Indonesia
Public holidays in Sri Lanka
Shia days of remembrance
Islamic terminology
Sufism
Sufism in Algeria
Festivals in Algeria

Mawlid


The Abel Brockway House is a single family home located at 1631 Brockway Street in Saginaw, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Home is claimed to be haunted

History
Abel Brockway was born in 1818, and arrived in Saginaw in 1856. A shrewd businessman, he invested in a number of early ventures in Saginaw, including lumbering, railroads, banking, and other industries. In 1859, he purchased a plot of farmland (now bounded by Wells, Thurman, Gratiot, and Brockway Streets) from Benjamin Cushway. In 1864, he built a house, which is the center section of what now is known as the Brockway House. Brockway lived in the house until his death in 1886, after which it passed to his daughter Mary. Mary, however, had a wealthy husband and no need of the house or land, and so donated some of the land to the city and platted the rest, selling off lots.

Around 1920, Harker Jackson purchased the house and the surrounding land. Jackson designed and constructed the additions to the house.

Description
The Abel Brockway House is a mix of an original two-story Greek Revival home with -story Colonial Revival wings and a front portico. The columns on the portico are from Dr. Florentine's Hospital for Women, one of Saginaw's earliest medical facilities. It is a symmetrical house with a gable roof and clapboard siding, and features a balanced window placement.

Paranormal Interest
The home is also the current interest in a local movie series that chronicles supposedly haunted buildings and areas throughout Saginaw County, Michigan. The 10th installment, Haunted Saginaw: A Haunting on Brockway Street by Steven T. Shippy and his production crew chronicles their multi-week investigation into the house and the paranormal activity that has been witnessed by the current owners and the filming crew.

References

National Register of Historic Places in Saginaw County, Michigan
Greek Revival architecture in Michigan
Colonial Revival architecture in Michigan
Residential buildings completed in 1864

Abel Brockway House


The Parthenon in Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, is a full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens. It was designed by architect William Crawford Smith and built in 1897 as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition.

Today, the Parthenon, which functions as an art museum, stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a large public park just west of downtown Nashville. Alan LeQuire's 1990 re-creation of the Athena Parthenos statue in the naos (the east room of the main hall) is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. Since the building is complete and its decorations were polychromed (painted in colors) as close to the presumed original as possible, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Treasury Room (the west room of the main hall) are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating to 438 BC. The surviving originals are housed in the British Museum in London and at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

History

Nashville's nickname, the "Athens of the South", influenced the choice of the building as the centerpiece of the 1897 Centennial Exposition. A number of buildings at the exposition were based on ancient originals. However, the Parthenon was the only one that was an exact reproduction. It was also the only one that was preserved by the city, although the Knights of Pythias Pavilion building was purchased and moved to nearby Franklin, Tennessee.

Major Eugene Castner Lewis was the director of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and it was at his suggestion that a reproduction of the Parthenon be built in Nashville to serve as the centerpiece of Tennessee's Centennial Celebration. Lewis also served as the chief civil engineer for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad. Originally built of plaster, wood, and brick, the Parthenon was not intended to be permanent, but the cost of demolishing the structure combined with its popularity with residents and visitors alike resulted in it being left standing after the Exposition.

In 1895 George Julian Zolnay was "employed to make models for the ornamentation" for the building. Within the next 20 years, weather had caused deterioration of the landmark; it was then rebuilt on the same foundations, in concrete, in a project that started in 1920; the exterior was completed in 1925 and the interior in 1931. Local architect Russell Hart was hired for the reconstruction.

Some of the most elaborate events that occurred at the Parthenon were the Spring Pageants of 1913 and 1914. These extravaganzas were theatrical productions. With casts of up to 500, the pageants attracted audiences from surrounding states and rail prices were lowered to encourage attendance. The city of Nashville celebrated the "Athens of the South". The 1913 performance was entitled The Fire Regained, a play written by Sidney Mttron Hirsch, and featured a mythological story line enhanced by theatrical spectacle popular in that era. The 1914 production, "The Mystery at Thanatos", had a similarly mythological plot, but was shorter and better received. A copy of the script is on file at the Nashville Public Library. Both shows featured displays ranging from chariot races to large dance numbers to thousands of live birds to set pieces that shot flames, all set against the backdrop of the Nashville Parthenon.

Current use
As an art museum, the Parthenon's permanent collection on the lower level exhibits 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists, donated by James M. Cowan in 1927–1929. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for temporary shows and exhibits. The main level contains a replica, completed in 1990, of the Athena Parthenos statue that was in the original Parthenon in Athens.

In 1982, Alan LeQuire was commissioned to create the statue of Athena Parthenos as a reconstruction, to scholarly standards, of the long-lost original: she is cuirassed and helmeted, carries a shield on her left arm, a 6-foot-high (1.8 m) statue of Nike (Victory) in her right palm, and stands 42 feet (13 m) high, gilt (as of 2002) with more than 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of gold leaf; an equally colossal serpent rears its head between her and her shield.

In the summertime, local theater productions use the building as a backdrop for classic Greek plays such as Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Antigone, performing (usually for free) on the steps of the Parthenon. Other performances, such as Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, have been held inside, at the foot of Athena's statue.

In 2001, the Nashville Parthenon received much needed cleaning and restoration of the exterior. The exterior lighting was upgraded to allow the columns of the building to be illuminated with different colors than the facade.

In popular culture
The Parthenon served as the location for the political rally in the climactic scene of Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville.

It was used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

It features in the title and lyrics of the song Nashville Parthenon from the album Etiquette, by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, as well as the song's 2011 sequel Goodbye Parthenon.

It was used in the 2000 PBS series Greeks: Crucible of Civilization.

A poem titled "Ganymede" in Heather Ross Miller's Celestial Navigator: Writing Poems with Randall Jarrell features the Parthenon.

The structure figures in the climax of the Hector Lassiter novel Three Chords and The Truth, by Craig McDonald.

Gallery

References

External links

 Nashville Parthenon Official Website
 1909 Panoramic photograph of the Nashville Parthenon from the Library of Congress
 Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition (1897) Collection, 1895-1900, Tennessee State Library and Archives

1925 establishments in Tennessee
Museums in Nashville, Tennessee
Art museums and galleries in Tennessee
Buildings and structures in Nashville, Tennessee
Buildings and structures completed in 1925
Greek Revival architecture in Tennessee
Replica buildings
World's fair architecture in Tennessee
Museums of ancient Greece in the United States
Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition
Temples of Athena
National Register of Historic Places in Nashville, Tennessee
Parthenon

Parthenon (Nashville)


Bekbol Sagyn currently serves as Akim (known as head of local government) of the Aktobe District, Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan. He came to the position simply because his predecessor had moved to a new employment.

Biography
Sagyn was born in 1972. He enrolled in the Kazakh State Academy of Management. He later transferred to the Kazakh Humanitarian Law University, and later graduated from the Kazakh Engineering and Technical Academy with an undergraduate degree. Sagyn later received a graduate degree in economic sciences.

References

Living people
1972 births
Aktobe Region
Kazakhstani politicians

Bekbol Sagyn


Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) is a technology for automatically reading vehicle number plates. The Home Office states ANPR is used by law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom to help detect, deter and disrupt criminality including tackling organised crime groups and terrorists.

Vehicle movements on UK roads are recorded by a network of 11,000 cameras that read around 60 million number plates daily. ANPR data is collated from all police forces into a central database and retained for a period of one year, at the National ANPR Data Centre (NADC), which can be accessed, analysed and used as evidence as part of investigations by UK law enforcement agencies.

The Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government placed ANPR under statutory regulation through the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. This established a right in law to collect the data, and placed controls on its use, storage and access by third parties.

The ANPR CCTV network

In 2005, the Independent reported that by the following year, the majority of roads, urban cetres, London's congestion charge zone, ports and petrol station forecourts will have been covered by CCTV camera networks using automatic number plate recognition. Their report said already in use cameras in some areas were being updated to feed data to a new centralised network, as part of a national surveillance strategy.

"What we're trying to do as far as we can is to stitch together the existing camera network rather than install a huge number of new cameras," - Frank Whiteley, ANPR steering committee chairman

Whilst some covert cameras are in use, most are standard CCTV cameras that were modified to be able to identify number plates. All British police forces were to be given dedicated ANPR vehicles, with all the data generated being fed The National ANPR Data Centre.

National ANPR Data Centre
The National ANPR Data Centre stores all ANPR data feed from the various police forces, currently it does not take data from CCTV networks in the UK. It is based at Hendon in north London, on the same site used for the Police National Computer. In March 2006 the National ANPR Data Centre claimed they could store 'reads' of up to 50 million number plates per day, with plans to expand capacity to 100 million reads in subsequent years. Vehicle sighting data is by default stored for two years. At the present 27 million clocks a day, over 18 billion ANPR records would be recorded every year.  According to the National Policing Improvement Agency 25,000 hits per day against the ANPR database generate a transaction against the Police National Computer.

Crosschecks

The National ANPR Data Centre is connected to the Police National Computer to provide up-to-date lists of vehicles connected by the police to crimes.
Other crosschecks will include insurance-industry data to identify uninsured drivers, vehicles without a valid MoT test certificates, vehicles who have failed to pay for valid vehicle excise duty, and/or with vehicles with unlawful number plates.

The National ANPR Data Centre allows analysis across police force boundaries. If a vehicle enters the ANPR network, the police should receive a photograph of the vehicle entering and leaving the zone. As the data generated is stored for two years the police argue criminals could be identified and linked to vehicles.

Data mining

The National ANPR Data Centre will make it possible for software to data mine previous sightings of license plate to identify patterns in the data. Patterns can be used to build up intelligence of a vehicle's movements on the road network or to find cloned vehicles by searching the database for impossibly quick journeys.

"We can use ANPR on investigations or we can use it looking forward in a proactive, intelligence way. Things like building up the lifestyle of criminals - where they are going to be at certain times. We seek to link the criminal to the vehicle through intelligence. Vehicles moving on the roads are open to police scrutiny at any time. The Road Traffic Act gives us the right to stop vehicles at any time for any purpose" - Frank Whiteley, Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and Chair of the ACPO ANPR Steering Group

The database
The National ANPR Data Centre uses Java software in conjunction with an Oracle database, using closed-access intranets instead the internet to transmit data.
The system will be designed to work with possible future electronic vehicle identification marks on the bodywork of cars.

Data access

Police

All police forces have real-time access to ANPR camera data through direct links to the National ANPR Data Centre. Effectively, the police (and the security services) can track any car (technically any numberplate) around the country in close to real time.

The current restrictions have been a source of contention due to the lack of regulation in access to data, though access is limited due to computing capacity rather than civil liberties. Giving every police officer open access would be taxing on the software, "[making] it unstable, slow it down", according to John Dean, a National ANPR co-ordinator. ANPR records younger than 91 days can only be accessed on the NADC with an Inspector's authority to investigate serious and major crime. Enquiries over 90 days to a year require a Superintendent's authority and any searches over a year require a Superintendent's authority and must be for Counter Terrorism only.

Mobile ANPR systems such as ProVida ANPR are becoming more popular, with forces having systems in traffic police intercept cars. The advantage of this is that officers can get real time 'hits' from passing vehicles as they are on patrol.

Legislation
In 2012, the government enacted the Protection of Freedoms Act which includes several provisions related to controlling and restricting the collection, storage, retention, and use of information about individuals. Under this Act, the Home Office published a code of practice in 2013 for the use of surveillance cameras, including ANPR, by government and law enforcement agencies. The aim of the code is to help ensure their use is "characterised as surveillance by consent, and such consent on the part of the community must be informed consent and not assumed by a system operator. Surveillance by consent should be regarded as analogous to policing by consent." In addition, a set a standards were introduced in 2014 for data, infrastructure, and data access and management.

History

In August 2004 a presentation by John Dean, the Association of Chief Police Officers' (ACPO) National ANPR Co-ordinator at IFSEC revealed how ANPR was being used to 'deny criminals the use of the road'.

On 18 November 2005 British police constable Sharon Beshenivsky was shot and killed during a robbery in Bradford.  The CCTV network was linked into an ANPR system and was able to identify the getaway car and track its movements, leading to the arrest of six suspects. At its launch in May, Ch Supt Geoff Dodd of West Yorkshire Police, called the ANPR system a "revolutionary tool in detecting crime".

Project Laser in the United Kingdom
In March 2005, plans were announced to set up a nationwide system of over 2,000 automatic number plate recognition cameras in the United Kingdom.

This followed the successful rollout of Project Spectrum in which all 43 Police Forces in England and Wales were supplied by the Home Office with an ANPR capable mobile unit, and a 'Back Office'. A subsequent series of trials were then commenced in 2002 when the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) was given funding by the Home Office to work with the Police Standards Unit and develop "Project Laser" using the equipment supplied under Project Spectrum.  With the aim of running the ANPR system nationwide, it was initially trialled by nine police forces and ran between 30 September 2002 and March 2003.  Those police forces covered the areas of Greater Manchester, North Wales, Avon and Somerset, Northampton, London, Kent, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands

The second phase of the project ran between 1 June 2003 and 21 June 2004 and involved 23 police forces in total.  The DVLA is also involved with Project Laser, using the system to gather details on unregistered and unlicensed vehicles and those without a valid MOT certificate or insurance cover.
"Eventually the database will link to most CCTV systems in town centres, meaning that all vehicles filmed on one of the many cameras protecting Bedford High Street, for instance, can be checked against the database and the movements of wanted cars traced to help with serious crime investigations."
— Bedfordshire Police

The project was seen as a success despite a Home Office report showing that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) trial had an error rate of up to 40%, with claims that the system was contributing "…in excess of 100 arrests per officer per year – ten times the national average…"
Further findings went on to show that the error rate dropped to 5% when infrared systems and more regular updates of information were used.

During the second phase of the project around 28 million number plates were spotted in total, with 1.1 million (3.9%) of these matching an entry in one of the databases.  180,543 vehicles were stopped (101,775 directly because of the ANPR system), leading to 13,499 arrests (7.5% of the total) and the issue of 50,910 fines (28.2%).  1,152 stolen vehicles (worth £7.5 million in total), £380,000 worth of drugs and £640,000 worth of stolen goods were also recovered.  The primary goal of the second phase was to see how well the costs of the ANPR system could be covered.  The final conclusion was that less than 10% of the expenditure incurred was recouped, with the Home Office claiming that the failure of drivers to pay fines contributed to this low figure, and continued to recommend the system be deployed throughout the UK. Report (PDF)

Funding is now in place for the construction of the National ANPR Data Centre capable of holding 50 million ANPR reads per day, destined to form the basis of a vehicle movement database.

There have been stories in the national press suggesting that the use of the network could be extended to catch drivers using mobile phones illegally, and those failing to wear seat belts, although the current system only retains text-strings consisting of number, date, & time.

Project Champion
Project Champion is a project to install a £3m network of 169 ANPR cameras to monitor vehicles entering and leaving the Sparkbrook and Washwood Heath neighbourhoods of Birmingham, both of which have large Muslim communities. Its implementation was frozen in June 2010 amid allegations that the police deliberately misled councillors about its purpose, after it was revealed that it was being funded as an anti-terrorism initiative, rather than for 'reassurance and crime prevention'.

Criticism
Speaking on 14 September 2008, Simon Davies, the director of Privacy International stated that the database would give police "extraordinary powers of surveillance" and claimed that "this would never be allowed in any other democratic country".

John Catt, 80 whilst driving with his daughter Linda - was stopped on 31 July 2005, despite neither having a criminal record. City of London Police searched their vehicle under section 44 powers of the Terrorism Act 2000 and were threatened with arrest if they refused to answer police questions. After making formal police complaints, it was discovered they were stopped after their vehicle had been picked up by roadside ANPR CCTV cameras, due to their vehicle being marked in the Police National Computer database as a result of them being spotted attending EDO MBM demonstrations in Brighton. Supporters of the Catts highlight the fact that John and Linda Catt had been suspected of no crime, and argue that they were unfairly targeted due to their associations. Police spokesmen described the campaign Catt had been taking part in as a "campaign of illegality designed to pressurise EDO to cease its lawful business" which resulted in convictions for campaigners, and argued that surveillance of Catt was necessary because "his voluntary association at the Smash EDO protests forms part of a far wider picture of information which it is necessary for the police to continue to monitor in order to plan to maintain the peace, minimise the risks of criminal offending and adequately to detect and prosecute offenders". Sussex Police refused to confirm or deny whether a tag exists on their car. As of February 2012 John Catt did not have a criminal record. Catt commented "That our participation in peaceful protest outside an arms factory led to our arbitrary stop-check for terrorist activities many miles away by another force is a very disturbing development of the 'police state'."

The Register has noted that "in theory a system could be organised in such a way that records of law-abiding drivers weren't generated at all, but that hasn't been the way things have panned out."

Car cloning
The success of ANPR in detecting vehicles of interest to police has led to a new kind of crime - car cloning.  Criminals target vehicles of the same make and model to copy these number plates so that ANPR systems will record a read on the make and model relating to a fake number plate. Any legal transgressions could then lead to the legitimate owner receiving notification of enforcement action instead of the criminal.  There is very little monitoring of number plate manufacture, particularly websites offering "vanity plates"  (plates that are supposedly usable only in off-road circumstances, such as car shows) and this gives criminals avenues to attempt to evade detection, however ANPR will often show that there are multiple vehicles using the same registration number and prove that the genuine owner is innocent as well as providing images to identify the culprits.

See also
 Civil liberties in the United Kingdom
 Mass surveillance in the United Kingdom
 Privacy

References

Applied data mining
Automatic number plate recognition
Information technology in the United Kingdom
Automatic Numberplate Recognition in the UK
Surveillance

Automatic number-plate recognition in the United Kingdom


VirtualDub is a free and open-source video capture and video processing utility for Microsoft Windows written by Avery Lee. It is designed to process linear video streams, including filtering and recompression. It uses AVI container format to store captured video. The first version of VirtualDub, written for Windows 95, to be released on SourceForge was uploaded on August 20, 2000.

In 2009, the third-party software print guide Learning VirtualDub referred to VirtualDub as "the leading free Open Source video capture and processing tool". Due to its "powerful" versatility and usefulness especially in the field of video processing (see below), PC World has referred to VirtualDub as "something of a 'Photoshop' for video files", PC Perspective recommends it for its low overhead, and nextmedia's PC & Tech Authority particularly praises it for its Direct stream copy feature to avoid generational degradation of video quality when performing simple editing and trimming tasks and the fact that VirtualDub "offers several valuable features that other packages lack, and helps you get quick results without any fuss or patronising wizards".

VirtualDub is recommended for use by professional computer and tech magazines, guides, and reviewers such as PC World, PC & Tech Authority, PC Perspective, technologies guide website MakeTechEasier, freeware and open source software review site Ghacks, Speed Demos Archive, as well as third-party professional video production companies, and the creators of Wine (software).

Several hundred third-party plug-ins for VirtualDub exist, including by professional software companies. Furthermore, Debugmode Wax allows use of VirtualDub plug-ins in professional video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Vegas Pro.

Features
VirtualDub is designed for Microsoft Windows but may run on Linux and Mac OS X using Wine (for example, to use it with the popular Deshaker plugin). However, native support for these systems is not available.

VirtualDub was made to operate exclusively on AVI files; however, a plugin API was added from version 1.7.2 which allows the import of other formats. Appropriate video and audio codecs need to be installed.

Video capture
VirtualDub supports both DirectShow and Video for Windows for video capture. Capture features include capture to any AVI variant, audio VU meters, overlay and preview modes, histogram, selectable crop area, video noise reduction, auto stop settings (based on capture time, file size, free space, and/or dropped frames), and designate alternate drive(s) for capture overflow.

VirtualDub can help overcome problems with digital cameras that also record video. Many models, especially Canon, record in an M-JPEG format incompatible with Sony Vegas 6.0 and 7.0. Saving AVI files as "old-style AVI" files allows them to appear in Vegas.

VirtualDub supports DV capture from Type 2 (VfW) FireWire controllers only (It cannot work with Type 1). There is no DV batch capture, still image capture, or DV device control capability.

Video assembly
VirtualDub can create a video file from a series of image files in Truevision TGA or Windows Bitmap file formats. Individual frames must be given file names numbered in sequential order without any gaps (e.g. 001.bmp, 002.bmp, 003.bmp..). From those, the frame rate can be adjusted, and other modifications such as the addition of a soundtrack can be made.

VirtualDub can also disassemble a video by extracting its soundtracks saving its frames into Truevision TGA or Windows Bitmap files.

Editing
VirtualDub can delete segments of a video file, append new segments, or reorder existing segments. Appended segments must have similar audio and video formats, dimensions, number of audio channels, frame rates and sampling rates. Otherwise, VirtualDub is incapable of mixing dissimilar video files or adding transition effects between segments.

Video processing
VirtualDub comes with a number of video editing components known as "filters". They can perform basic tasks as arbitrary resize, converting the video to grayscale, arbitrary rotation, crop, or changing simple values like brightness and contrast. Filters may be used during the video assembly as well. Filter plug-ins further extend VirtualDub's capabilities. A plug-in SDK is available for developers to create their own video and audio filters.

Besides those basic features, its many third-party plug-ins make VirtualDub a "powerful" open-source tool when it comes to linear video processing, and in fact most of the hundreds of third-party plug-ins available for VirtualDub are filters related to either aesthetic effects or cleaning, fixing, and restoring image quality, such as various denoising and sharpening methods targeted especially at analogue and digital video signal and film defects (be they related to VHS, faulty cables, a distorted analogue terrestrial or satellite TV reception, or digital compression), deinterlacing and fields manipulation, colorspace conversion and manipulation, reverse telecine aka IVTC, deflickering, deshaking, adding and removing logos and subtitles, analysis of video content, etc.

All of these processing features are fully batchable to apply the same effects on a large number of files.

Development
VirtualDub is free software, released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later and hosted on SourceForge.net.

VirtualDub was originally created by the author, when a college student, for the purpose of compressing anime videos of Sailor Moon.  It was written to read and write AVI videos, but support for input plug-ins was added, enabling it to read additional formats including MPEG-2, Matroska, Flash Video, Windows Media, QuickTime, MP4 and others. Development stopped as of 2013  and the site's forums closed down in 2015.

VirtualDub has spawned several forks, including VirtualDubMod and Nandub.

VirtualDub2
The latest fork is called VirtualDub2 (formerly VirtualDub FilterMod). It has all the features of the original VirtualDub, plus support for high bit-depth (i.e., deep color). It is no longer limited to Video for Windows (Video Compression Manager) codecs, and AVI format limitations (such as limited VBR support, H.264/HEVC minor incompatibilities etc.).

VirtualDub2 has built-in encode/decode of any container and video and audio compression formats supported by FFmpeg (H.264, HEVC, VP9, AAC, Opus and other formats) and can open and save QuickTime File Format (MOV), MP4, Matroska, WebM, AVI based on FFmpeg or only the audio from a video in M4A, Opus in Matroska, Ogg Opus, Vorbis, AAC or MP3 formats.

It also has improved navigation, display and user interface (e.g. pan display when zoomed in, color format selection), improved performance, and support for high bit-depth color formats.

Past legal issues
Early versions of VirtualDub supported importing of Microsoft's Advanced Systems Format, but this was removed in version 1.3d following an informal phone call from a Microsoft employee in 2000 claiming that it infringed one of Microsoft's patents. Microsoft never identified any specific patent numbers that it believed to have been infringed, but speculation by others is that  (expired in 2017) might be relevant.

In August 2006, VirtualDub's German users who hosted copies of VirtualDub, or even linked to them on their web pages, began receiving cease and desist letters from a private individual that claimed to have German word mark on "VirtualDub". However this issue has been resolved: the word mark in Germany has been deleted and an injunction has been granted against the former owner of said word mark.

See also

 List of video editing software
 Comparison of screencasting software
 Comparison of video editing software
 Avidemux
 AviSynth
 MediaCoder
 VirtualDubMod

References

External links

 VirtualDub2 on SourceForge

Video editing software
Free video software
Free software primarily written in assembly language
Free software programmed in C++
Windows-only free software
Portable software
Software that uses FFmpeg
Free screencasting software

VirtualDub


Alessandro Kokocinski (born Alejandro Kokocinski; 3 April 1948 – 12 December 2017) was an Italian-Argentine painter, sculptor and set designer, of Polish-Russian origin.

Early life
Born in the refugee camp at Porto Recanati, to a mother who had escaped Nazi deportation and a father who had fought with the Anglo-Polish forces, in late 1948 he and his family moved to South America. He spent the first few years of his life in the Misiones and Iguazú forests, and in Paraguay and the Chaco region. In Buenos Aires he witnessed the bombing of the Casa Rosada, and the fall of Perón (1955).

Career

When Kokocinski was young, he joined the circus in the Argentine capital. He soon moved into theatre, having studied set design at the school of Saulo Benavente. He designed the sets for "El Guapo del Novecento". After being filed on police record by the military regime, he was forced to take refuge in Santiago de Chile. His drawings of political protest were exhibited at various universities in Chile. His works were presented by the art critic Mario Pedrosa, and by writers Enrique Araya and Delia del Carril.

He worked on the Allende government's agrarian reform, in partnership with the Catholic University of Santiago de Chile. Kokocinski was already in Europe by the time Allende fell from government. He exhibited first in Hamburg and later in Rome, presented by Rafael Alberti (who dedicated a poem to him, entitled "Alejandro Kokocinski 1971, pintor". He settled in Rome and became a pupil of Riccardo Tomassi Ferroni, with whom he shared a studio in Trastevere, together with Carlo Quattrucci.

In 1986 he moved to the Far East and lived there for a few years, travelling between South East Asia and China. In the late 1980s he moved to Germany, where he lived for four years.

He then returned to Italy for good, and there founded the Kosa theatre company with the actress and singer Lina Sastri. He designed lighting, costumes and sets for six of the company's shows, all directed by and starring Sastri.
In 2003 he moved to Tuscania (Lazio), where he moved his studio into an ancient, deconsecrated church. He set up the Fondazione Alessandro Kokocinski in the town, an organization aimed at supporting the creativity of young artists (from Italy and all over the world), through training and specialization courses, residential training programmes and exhibitions and events.

In 2016 Kokocinski created the set design and lighting design for Lina Sastri è il mio nome, a musical theatrical show which opened on 4 October 2016 at the Teatro Quirino, Rome. Neapolitan actress and singer Sastri spoke to Il Messaggero newspaper about the "prolific imagination of Alessandro Kokocinski, a truly internationally-renowned painter who observes the world through the eyes of the heart". She said she "hope[d] the audience appreciates his visually dramatic touch, with which I fully identify".

Selected exhibitions

Kokocinski staged his second solo show in Buenos Aires in 1969. The exhibition included a series of dramatically stylized black and white pencil drawings. The subject matter was: the difficulty of a life in poverty; work; and suffering in general.

In 1979 he took part in a group show at the Printshop Gallery in Amsterdam. The title of the exhibition was "L'immagine dell'uomo dal 1945 ad oggi" ("The image of man from 1945 to the present"). The selection of works was intended to illustrate how artistic creativity had reinterpreted the vision of humanity since the end of the Second World War.

In 1987, at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, eighteen of Kokocinski's pieces went on display in a solo exhibition, which grouped together artists from all over the world in the then-British colony. These works mainly focused on images from the circus tradition, with acrobats and dancers moving across canvases, accompanied by impetuously leaping horses.

In 1999, in Rome, three exhibitions running almost simultaneously at the Istituto Italo-latinoamericano, Palazzo della Pigna and the Galleria Italarte celebrated Kokocinski as a "world pilgrim". His portraits of men and women were "loaded with pathos and pain", according to La Stampa, and painted using superimpositions and faded colours/elements of pain to accentuate their dramatic impact.

Palazzo Venezia in Rome staged an extensive one-man exhibition on Kokocinski in 2003. The exhibition comprised more than sixty works from various takes of his long creative career. One of the most important of these was La Trasfigurazione, a polyptych measuring more than 4 metres high and 14 metres long, made up of five polychrome fiberglass sculptures mounted on wooden panels resting on iron joists.

In 2005 Kokocinski had an exhibition at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant' Angelo, Rome, with a sculpture cycle, "L'Ombra delle idee" ("The Shadow of Ideas"), inspired by the philosopher Giordano Bruno. The historian and art critic Claudio Strinati introduced the exhibition.
In the same year, he took part in a group show curated by Vittorio Sgarbi entitled "Il Male – Esercizi di Pittura crudele" ("Evil – Exercises in Cruel Painting") at the Palazzina di Caccia di Stupinigi, in Turin, Italy.

One of the artist's major achievements has been the solo show in 2006 in Beijing, at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), as part of the events held to celebrate the 'Year of Italy in China'.

In 2008, at the Regia Hall in the Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, Kokocinski presented "La Potenza dello Spirito", a painting cycle inspired by classicism and myths.

Kokocinski was one of the most popular artists in the group exhibition "Las Americas latinas. Las fatigas del querer" curated by art critic Philippe Daverio in 2009 at the Spazio Oberdan, Milan.

In 2011 Kokocinski was one of the artists chosen to exhibit at the 54th Venice Art Biennale, selected by Vittorio Sgarbi, who curated the Italian Pavilion at the Arsenale.

In Milan, in 2013, the Artespressione gallery presented a series of Kokocinski's drawings, made using mixed media on books and antique paper. The theme was the circus, that magical and mysterious environment in which the artist lived and worked when living in Buenos Aires as a young man.

In September 2015 the Fondazione Roma Museo staged a one-man show on the artist at Palazzo Cipolla, called "Kokocinski. La vita e la Maschera: da Pulcinella al Clown" ("Kokocinski. The life and the Mask: from Pulcinella to Clown"). The exhibition reflects both "the history of a tormented man who has personally experienced exile, political persecution and the cruelty of the world" and the history "of the artist who transforms this into art with paintings, sculptures and installations in which the mask, the clown and Pulcinella become central subjects". The works "present themselves as the spectacle of human fragility. Restless, suffering figures yet full of hope, always struggling to defend the true sense of existence", commented the President of the Fondazione Roma Museo.

Death
Kokocinski died on the morning of 12 December 2017 in Tuscania, Italy, at the age of 69 after suffering from a long illness.

Gallery

References

External links

 Official website for solo exhibition at Palazzo Cipolla Rome, 2015

1948 births
2017 deaths
Argentine artists
20th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
21st-century Italian painters
Argentine people of Polish descent
Argentine people of Russian descent
Italian people of Polish descent
Italian people of Russian descent
Italian people of Argentine descent
20th-century Italian male artists
21st-century Italian male artists
People from the Province of Macerata

Alessandro Kokocinski


The National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) is a political party in Trinidad and Tobago.

History
The party was established in February 1969 by Makandal Daaga (then known as Geddes Granger), who was dissatisfied with the fact that most businesses in Trinidad at the time were owned by the white minority. The party first contested national elections in 1981, when it received 3.3% of the vote, but failed to win a seat. In the 1986 elections the party's vote share was reduced to 1.5% and it remained seatless. In the 1991 elections it received just 1.1% of the vote and again failed to win a seat.

The party was part of the victorious People's Partnership alliance for the 2010 general elections. In October 2013, the party contested the Point Fortin Regional Corporation in an alliance with the People's Partnership and lost all seats.

References

Black Power
Political parties established in 1969
Political parties in Trinidad and Tobago

National Joint Action Committee


ʿAbu al-Ḥasan Alāʾ al‐Dīn bin Alī bin Ibrāhīm bin Muhammad bin al-Matam al-Ansari known as Ibn al-Shatir or Ibn ash-Shatir (; 1304–1375) was an Arab astronomer, mathematician and engineer. He worked as muwaqqit (موقت, religious timekeeper) in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and constructed a sundial for its minaret in 1371/72.

Biography
Ibn al-Shatir was born in Damascus, Syria around the year 1304. His father died when he was six years old. His grandfather took him in which resulted in Ibn al-Shatir learning the craft of inlaying ivory. Ibn al-Shatir traveled to Cairo and Alexandria to study astronomy, where he fell in, inspired him.  After completing his studies with Abu 'Ali  al-Marrakushi, Ibn al-Shatir returned  to his home in Damascus where he was then appointed muwaqqit (timekeeper) of the Umayyad Mosque. Part of his duties as muqaqqit involved keeping track of the times of the five daily prayers and when the month of Ramadan would begin and end. To accomplish this, he created a variety of astronomical instruments. He made several astronomical observations and calculations both for the purposes of the mosque, and to fuel his later research. These observations and calculations were organized in a series of astronomical tables. His first set of tables, which have been lost over time, allegedly combined his observations with those of Ptolemy, and contained entries on the Sun, Moon and Earth.

Astronomy
Ibn al-Shatir most important astronomical treatise was kitab nihayat al-sul fi tashih al-usul ("The Final Quest Concerning the Rectification of Principles"). In it he drastically reformed the Ptolemaic models of the Sun, Moon and planets. His model incorporated the Urdi lemma, and eliminated the need for an equant (a point on the opposite side of the center of the larger circle from the Earth) by introducing an extra epicycle (the Tusi-couple), departing from the Ptolemaic system in a way that was mathematically identical (but conceptually very different) to what Nicolaus Copernicus did in the 16th century. This new planetary model was published in his work the al-Zij al-jadid (The New Planetary Handbook.) Before the kitab nihayat al-sul fi tashih al-usul was made, there was a treatise that Ibn al-Shatir made which described the observations and procedures that lead to him creating his new planetary models.

Unlike previous astronomers before him, Ibn al-Shatir was not concerned with adhering to the theoretical principles of natural philosophy or Aristotelian cosmology, but rather to produce a model that was more consistent with empirical observations and contemporary theory. For example, it was Ibn al-Shatir's concern for observational accuracy which led him to eliminate the epicycle in the Ptolemaic solar model and all the eccentrics, epicycles and equant in the Ptolemaic lunar model. Shatir's new planetary model consisted of new secondary epicycles instead of equant, which improved on the Ptolemaic model. His model was thus in better agreement with empirical observations than any previous model, and was also the first that permitted empirical testing. His work thus marked a turning point in astronomy, which may be considered a "Scientific Revolution before the Renaissance".

Drawing on the observation that the distance to the Moon did not change as drastically as required by Ptolemy's lunar model, Ibn al-Shatir produced a new lunar model that replaced Ptolemy's crank mechanism with a double epicycle model that reduced the computed range of distances of the Moon from the Earth. This was the first accurate lunar model which matched physical observations.

Solar Model
Ibn al-Shatir's Solar Model exemplifies his commitment towards accurate observational data, and its creation serves as a general improvement towards the Ptolemaic model. When observing the Ptolemaic solar model, it is clear that most of the observations are not accounted for, and cannot accommodate the observed variations of the apparent size of the solar diameter. Because the Ptolemaic system contains some faulty numerical values for its observations, the actual geocentric distance of the Sun had been greatly underestimated in its solar model. And with the problems that had arisen from the Ptolemaic models, there was an influx of need to create solutions that would resolve them. Ibn al-Shatir's model aimed to do just that, creating a new eccentricity for the solar model. And with his numerous observations, Ibn al-Shatir was able to generate a new maximum solar equation (2;2,6°), which he found to have occurred at the mean longitude λ 97° or 263° from the apogee. As the method was deciphered through geometric ways, it was easy to identify that 7;7 and 2;7 were the radii of the epicycles. In addition, his final results for apparent size of the solar diameter were concluded to be at apogee (0;29,5), at perigee (0;36,55), and at mean distance (0;32.32). This was partially done by reducing Ptolemy's circular geometric models to numerical tables in order to perform independent calculations to find the longitude of the planets. The longitude of the planets was defined as a function of the mean longitude and the anomaly. Rather than calculating every possible value, which would be difficult and labor-intensive, four functions of a single value were calculated for each planet and combined to calculate quite accurately the true longitude of each planet.

To calculate the true longitude of the moon, Ibn al-Shatir assigned two variables, η, which represented the Moon's mean elongation from the Sun, and γ, which represented its mean anomaly. To any pair of these values was a corresponding e, or equation which was added to the mean longitude to calculate the true longitude. Ibn al-Shatir used the same mathematical scheme when finding the true longitudes of the planets, except for the planets the variables became α, the mean longitude measured from apogee (or the mean center) and γ which was the mean anomaly as for the moon. A correcting function c3' was tabulated and added to the mean anomaly γ to determine the true anomaly γ'. As shown in Shatir's model, it was later discovered that Shatir's lunar model had a very similar concept as Copernicus. Ibn al-Shatir never gave motivation towards his two epicycles to be adopted, so it was hard to tell the difference between his model and the Ptolemaic model.

Possible influence on Nicolaus Copernicus
Although Ibn al-Shatir's system was firmly geocentric (he had eliminated the Ptolemaic eccentrics), the mathematical details of his system were identical to those in Copernicus's De revolutionibus. Furthermore, the exact replacement of the equant by two epicycles used by Copernicus in the Commentariolus paralleled the work of Ibn al-Shatir one century earlier. Ibn al-Shatir's lunar and Mercury models are also identical to those of Copernicus. Copernicus's Mercury model was flawed in the fact that he was not able to properly understand the model first created by Ibn al-Shatir. Copernicus also translated Ptolemy's geometric models to longitudinal tables in the same way Ibn al Shatir did when constructing his solar model. This has led some scholars to argue that Copernicus must have had access to some yet to be identified work on the ideas of Ibn al-Shatir.  It is unknown whether Copernicus read Ibn al-Shatir and the argument is still debated. The differences between the two can be seen in their works. Copernicus followed a heliocentric model (planets orbit the Sun) while Ibn al-Shatir followed the geocentric model (as mentioned earlier). Also Copernicus followed the inductive reasoning while Ibn al-Shatir followed the Zij traditions. A Byzantine manuscript containing a solar model diagram with a second epicycle, was discovered to have been in Italy at the time of Copernicus. The presence of this eastern manuscript containing the ideas of Islamic scholars in Italy provides potential evidence of transmission of astronomical theories from the East to Western Europe.

Instruments
The idea of using hours of equal time length throughout the year was the innovation of Ibn al-Shatir in 1371, based on earlier developments in trigonometry by al-Battānī. Before the Islamicate scholar created the improved sundial, he had to understand the sundial created by his predecessors. The Greek had sundials too, but they had nodus-based with straight hour lines which meant that the hours in the day would be unequal (temporary hours) depending on the season. Each day was split into twelve equal segments which meant that the hours would have been shorter in the winter and longer in the summer due to the activity of the sun. Ibn al-Shatir was aware that "using a gnomon that is parallel to the Earth's axis will produce sundials whose hour lines indicate equal hours on any day of the year." His sundial is the oldest polar-axis sundial still in existence. The concept later appeared in Western sundials from at least 1446.

Ibn al-Shatir also invented a timekeeping device called "Sandūq al‐Yawāqīt li maʿrifat al-Mawāqīt" (jewel box), which incorporates both a universal sundial and a magnetic compass. He invented it for the purpose of finding the times of prayers. The "Sandūq al‐Yawāqīt li maʿrifat al-Mawāqīt" had a moveable hole in it which allowed the user to find the hour angle of the sun. If this angle was suitable with the horizon, then the user could use it as a polar sundial. This device is preserved in the museum of Aleppo (largest museum in the city of Aleppo, Syria).  He also created a sundial which was placed on top of the Madhanat al-Arus (The Minaret of the Bride) in the Umayyad Mosque. The sundial was created on a slab of marble which was approximately 2 meters by 1 meter. The sundial being engraved on the marble was so that Ibn al-Shatir could read the time of the day in equinoctial (equal times) hours for the prayer times. This sundial was later removed in the eighteenth century and a replica was put in its place. The original sundial was placed in the Damascus archeology museum. He also created another sundial but in smaller dimensions (12 cm x 12 cm × 3 cm) to find out the prayer times of midday and the afternoon. This sundial was able to tell the local meridian and the direction of the mecca (located in Saudi Arabia). Other notable instruments invented by him include a reversed astrolabe and an astrolabic clock. The astrolabe that he created was called the al‐āla al‐jāmiʿa (the universal instrument). This astrolabe was created by Ibn al-Shatir when he wrote on the ordinary planispheric astrolabe and when he wrote on the two most common quadrants (the astrolabic and the trigonometric varieties). These two common quadrants were modified versions of the sine quadrant. He also created a set of tables that had values of spherical astronomical functions for prayer times. The tables displayed the times for the morning, afternoon, and evening prayers. The latitude that was used to create the table was 34° (which was correspondent to a location north of Damascus).

See also
List of Arab scientists and scholars
Islamic scholars

Notes

References
 Fernini, Ilias. A Bibliography of Scholars in Medieval Islam. Abu Dhabi (UAE) Cultural Foundation, 1998

 Kennedy, Edward S. (1966) "Late Medieval Planetary Theory." Isis 57:365–378.
 Kennedy, Edward S. and Ghanem, Imad. (1976) The Life and Work of Ibn al-Shatir, an Arab Astronomer of the Fourteenth Century, History of Arabic Science Institute, University of Aleppo.
 Linton, Chris. From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of Mathematical Astronomy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004, .
 Roberts, Victor.  "The Solar and Lunar Theory of Ibn ash-Shatir: A Pre-Copernican Copernican Model". Isis, 48(1957):428–432.
 Roberts, Victor and Edward S. Kennedy. "The Planetary Theory of Ibn al-Shatir". Isis, 50(1959):227–235.
 Saliba, George.  "Theory and Observation in Islamic Astronomy: The Work of Ibn al-Shatir of Damascus".  Journal for the History of Astronomy, 18(1987):35–43.
 Turner, Howard R.  Science in Medieval Islam, an illustrated introduction.  University of Texas Press, Austin, 1995.  (pb)  (hc)

Further reading
  (PDF version)

External links
Science in Medieval Islam by Howard R. Turner
The Lights of the Stars

1304 births
1375 deaths
14th-century Arab people
Inventors of the medieval Islamic world
Medieval Syrian astronomers
Astronomers of the medieval Islamic world
14th-century Syrian people
Medieval Syrian mathematicians
Clockmakers of the medieval Islamic world
Scientists who worked on qibla determination
14th-century astronomers
14th-century inventors

Ibn al-Shatir


Luke Miles (born 30 October 1986) is an Australian rules footballer who has played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and Swan Districts Football Club in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL).

After attending Guildford Grammar School in Perth, Western Australia, Miles began his career with WAFL club Swan Districts, playing in the Swan Districts reserves premiership team in 2005 and winning the Swan Districts League best and fairest award in 2006. He was drafted by St Kilda with the 24th selection of the 2008 Rookie Draft and after two seasons with St Kilda's Victorian Football League (VFL) affiliate Casey Scorpions, Miles was elevated to St Kilda's senior list with the 93rd selection in the 2009 AFL Draft.

Miles made his senior AFL debut in round 21 of the 2010 AFL season. He played again the next week, but was dropped from the senior team for the finals series. After winning the 2010 AFL Grand Final sprint, Miles was delisted by St Kilda on 10 October 2010.

Miles returned to Swan Districts for the 2011 WAFL season.

References

External links

St Kilda Football Club players
Swan Districts Football Club players
Casey Demons players
Australian rules footballers from Western Australia
1986 births
Living people
People educated at Guildford Grammar School

Luke Miles


The banded quail (Philortyx fasciatus) is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae. It is found only in Mexico where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.

Description
The banded quail is an inconspicuous brown bird with a comparatively long tail. It has a dark crest on its head, its throat is pale and its under tail-coverts are barred in black and white. The juvenile plumage is streaked with white at first but after a moult at eight to twelve weeks the plumage is similar to that of the adults apart from a nearly black face and throat. The full adult plumage develops at sixteen to twenty weeks.

Distribution and habitat
The banded quail is endemic to western central Mexico where its main habitat is dry scrubby countryside with shrubs but it also sometimes moves onto cultivated land and pasture. It is commonest in the region bordering on the Balsas River. Its elevational range is from sea level up to about  and it is a non-migratory species.

Behaviour
The banded quail is a ground-dwelling bird usually found in groups of about a dozen birds although sometimes larger groups of up to thirty are seen. It is a shy bird that seldom strays far from cover. When alarmed, it tends to run rather than fly, but when a group take to the wing, the individuals fly off in different directions which may confuse a potential predator. It feeds on a variety of seeds and on tubers, buds and insects, increasing the proportion of animal food when there are chicks to be fed. Breeding takes place between August and September and the crest is used during display behaviour. About five eggs are laid in a grass-lined nest that may be partially roofed and the incubation period is about twenty two days.

Status
The banded quail is found over a range of about  and the total number of individual birds is estimated to be somewhere between 50,000 and 500,000. The bird is hunted for food but the population size seems to be stable and the bird faces no other particular threats so the IUCN has listed it as being of "Least Concern" in its Red List of Threatened Species.

References

banded quail
Endemic birds of Mexico
banded quail
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Birds of the Sierra Madre del Sur
Birds of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
Balsas dry forests

Banded quail


Faro mey refer tae:

Places
Faro Destrict, in the Algarve, soothren Portugal.
Faro, Portugal, main ceety in Faro destrict.
Faro Airport in Faro, Portugal (IATA: FAO).
Roman Catholic Diocese o Faro, in Faro, Portugal.
Faro, Yukon, Canadae.
Faro Airport (Yukon) in Faro, Yukon, Canadae (IATA: ZFA).
Faro/Johnson Lake Water Aerodrome, in Faro, Yukon, Canadae.
Faro (electoral destrict), in Faro, Yukon, Canadae.
Faro, Spain, parish in Lugo, Spain.
Fårö, Swadish island in Baltic Sea.
Punta del Faro, northeastren pynt o Sicily, Italy.
Faro (department), a diveesion o the North province in Cameroon.
Faro National Park, naitional pairk in Cameroon.
Faro, a veelage in North Carolina, Unitit States that wis the steid o the 1961 Goldsboro B-52 crash

Fowk
Rodrigo Faro, Brazilian actor.
Saunt Faro, kent as Burgundofaro an aw, Roman Catholic Bishop o Meaux, Fraunce.
Faro, pseudonym o Faith an Ross Eckler
FAro, pseudonym o Faith Eckler
faRO, pseudonym o Ross Eckler

Biggins an structurs
Faro de Moncloa, transmission touer in Madrid, Spain.
Faro del Comercio, biggin in Monterrey, Mexico.
El Faro towers, complex o twa touers in Buenos Aires, Argentinae.

Ither

 Faro's Daughter, a novel bi Georgette Heyer
 Faro de Vigo, a Galician newspaper frae Vigo, Spain
 Faro (card game), a card game descendant o Basset
 Faro shuffle, a method o shufflin playin caurds
 Faro (mythology), a god in Mande meethology
 Faro (beer), a teep o Belgian ale
 Faro Technologies, a Unitit States technological company
 "Buddy Faro", a short-lived telly series

Relatit pages
9358 Fårö, main belt asteroid.
Farø Bridges, in Denmark
Faros, veelage in Greece
Faroe Islands, Dens aorchipelago in the North Atlantic
Ferro (disambiguation)
Farro, a wheat plant kent as Emmer an aw
Pharo, programming leid
Pharos (disambiguation)
Pharaoh (disambiguation)
Pharao (disambiguation)

Faro


The Schneeberg Altarpiece (or Schneeberg Reformation Altar) is a Lutheran winged altarpiece created in 1539 by Lucas Cranach the Elder for the Church of St. Wolfgang in Schneeberg in Saxony, Germany.
The altarpiece was commissioned in 1531–1532 by the Elector of Saxony John I of Saxony and installed in the church in 1539, making it the first Protestant altarpiece of Reformation which is considered a Saxon masterpiece of art.

History and description
Made and painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder, his son Lucas Cranach the Younger and his workshop, it was handed over to the parish in 1539 and installed in the St. Wolfgang Church in Schneeberg the same year. According to church registers, the Lutheran congregation of Schneeberg paid 357 guilders and three groschen for the altarpiece. Throughout the course of its history, the altarpiece went through numerous calamities. It was looted by imperial troops during the Thirty Years' War in 1633 and taken to Prague to be recovered 16 years later. In the course of the Baroque re-design in 1705, it was "altered in a tasteless way", namely dismantled into parts to be re-installed in the church outside the altar area. The altar survived the city fire in 1719 undamaged. After the bombing of Schneeberg on April 19, 1945, the altarpiece was rescued from the already burning church by many volunteers. Until 1969, some of the paintings were hung in the Trinity Church. After an extensive restoration, the double-opening winged altar can now be viewed in the form intended by Cranach.

Interpretation of the altarpiece
The altar consists of twelve panels, each with a main image and a predella on the front and back and the four painted wings on the front and back. The inner wings can be folded. The predella depicts the Last Supper on the front — that is, the side facing the nave of the church. The painting on the back was completely destroyed in 1945 and could not be restored. Among the Biblical themes depicted on both the insides and outsides of the wings include the scene of the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Crucifixion of Jesus, Resurrection of Jesus, Last Judgment, along with the Old Testament stories of the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, with local rulers of Saxony depicted kneeling in prayer.
The altarpiece represents the Lutheran theology at its most basic level by forming a visual interpretation of Lutheran ideas such as justification of the sinner through grace, and John the Baptist pointing believers to the crucified Christ as the sole source of their salvation. Since the congregation walked around the altar during the Eucharist to receive the bread on one side, and the chalice containing the wine on the other, in accordance with the rites of Lutheranism, the back panel also painted for this purpose with the central picture showing the reception of the believers in the 'Kingdom of Heaven' with Christ's victory over death at the top, and the damnation of the evil shown below. Josef Heller describes the altar as "one of the most comprehensive major works with excellent execution" which represents the Lutheran approach to the sacred imagery and liturgy, along with the Protestant theological concept of 'Law and Grace' by reflecting the devotional forms of Nordic art of the 15th and early 16th centuries.

See also
Wittenberg Altarpiece
Weimar Altarpiece

References

External links

 Official website of St. Wolfgangskirche on altar
 In the footsteps of Cranach

Paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Cranach
1539 paintings
Christian paintings
German Renaissance paintings
Paintings in Saxony
Reformation in Germany
Altarpieces
Lutheran art
Paintings of the Resurrection of Christ
Paintings depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus
Paintings depicting Judas Iscariot
Paintings depicting John the Baptist
Demons in art
Polyptychs
16th-century allegorical paintings

Schneeberg Altarpiece


Bridget Hall (born December 12, 1977) is an American model.

Early life
Hall was born in Springdale, Arkansas. At the age of 10, she was modeling in Dallas, Texas. At this time she was living in the suburb of Farmers Branch, where she briefly attended R. L. Turner High School. Shortly thereafter, she moved with her mother Donna Hall to New York City to pursue her modeling career.

Career
By the age of 17, she was listed in Forbes as one of the "best ten" moneymaking supermodels along with Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.

Formerly with Ford Models, she signed with IMG Models and has appeared on fashion magazine covers such as Vogue,  Harper's Bazaar, ELLE and Allure and in fashion shows in New York City, Paris and Milan. Hall has worked for a wide variety of clients including Pepsi, Guess Jeans, and Anne Klein. Hall is also signed to Independent Models in London and 1 Model Management in New York City.

She was included in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue from 2002 to 2005. She was the object/subject of Joanne Gair body painting works in several editions.

References

External links

Bridget Hall web page

1977 births
Living people
People from Springdale, Arkansas
People from Farmers Branch, Texas
Female models from Arkansas
Female models from Texas
21st-century American women

Bridget Hall


Forex autotrading is a slang term for algorithmic trading on the foreign exchange market, wherein trades are executed by a computer system based on a trading strategy implemented as a program run by the computer system.

The trading strategy consist of a set of criteria, and is typically programmed, but can also be created by using a method combining the set of criteria visually without programming. It can be run in highly specialized setups, but is also used by private traders on more simple platforms.

The set of criteria used in a trading strategy for Automated Trading are mostly based on technical analysis.

Types
There are two types of automated forex trading which consist of:

A completely automated system or known as a robotic forex trading: Generally, this method is what you would classify as a "trading machine" or "black box trading" which executes orders based on certain algorithms based on its creator. The creator of the automatic trading script has already decided on the aspects of the order such as the timing, price or quantity and initiates the order automatically. Users can only interfere by tweaking the technical parameters (such as lot size, risk parameters, stop-losses and take profit) of the program; all other control is handed over to the trading script.
A Signal-based forex generator: You need to manually execute orders generated by a trading system which has an algorithm in-built to highlight a potential entry and close signal and a user manually executes these trade orders with a broker.

Advantages
An automated trading environment can generate more trades per market than a human trader can handle and can replicate its actions across multiple markets and time frames. An automated system can trade tirelessly and continuously without any disturbance. An automated system is also unaffected by the psychological swings that human traders are prey to. This is particularly relevant when trading with a mechanical model, which is typically developed on the assumption that all the trade entries flagged will actually be taken in real time trading.

Disadvantages
While Forex autotrading systems, especially cloud-based ones that are active 24/7, are an attractive idea to many investors, as a decentralized and relatively unregulated market, the risk of Forex scams is high. Forex autotrading, as it brings Forex trading to the masses, makes even more people susceptible to frauds. Bodies such as the National Futures Association and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have issued warnings and rules to avoid fraudulent Forex trading behavior.

See also
Automated trading system
Retail forex
Forex signal
Retail forex platform
Algorithmic trading
National Futures Association (NFA)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

References

Foreign exchange market

de:Forexbot

Foreign exchange autotrading


The Naturals were a professional wrestling tag team made up of Andy Douglas and Chase Stevens. They are best known for their work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where they are former three-time NWA World Tag Team Champions.

History
While working for USA Championship Wrestling, Douglas and Stevens were paired together by booker Bob Ryder. They were briefly known as "Natural Heat" before shortening their name to "The Naturals". In USA CW, The Naturals were old-school Southern style heels.

Douglas and Stevens began working for Jerry Lawler's Memphis Wrestling promotion in 2003, where they were renamed "The Alternative Express". The Alternative Express—a gothic pair of rock fans who wore black clothing and recolored their hair and fingernails—were managed by The Goddess Athena. Athena later left The Naturals after a falling out, and they gained a new manager, April Pennington.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Douglas and Stevens were brought into Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in late 2003 as "The Naturals", immediately beginning a lengthy feud with America's Most Wanted (AMW). In the course of the feud, they defeated AMW for the NWA World Tag Team Championship on July 7, 2004 in a twelve-second long match after hitting James Storm with one of the title belts. The Naturals successfully defended their titles against Triple X, but were eventually beaten by Chris Harris and Elix Skipper (one member of each team) on September 8, 2004.

In 2005, the Naturals formed a stable with Chris Candido, who also became their manager. They became peripheral members of Planet Jarrett in early 2005. On April 26 they defeated America's Most Wanted to become NWA World Tag Team Champions for a second time. The sudden death of Candido two days later led to them turning face due to fan reaction.  They stated later in May that they were being advised through the ordeal by a "legendary figure" in professional wrestling, though they declined to say who at the time.

On June 19, 2005 at Slammiversary the Naturals were assisted in a title defense against Team Canada by Jimmy Hart, who was revealed to be their secret advisor. Hart acted as their manager throughout the summer of 2005 before he left his voluntary on-screen capacities with TNA in September. In their feud with Team Canada, they briefly formed an alliance with AMW. Their animosity, however, won out as infighting cost them an eight-man tag team match with Team Canada at Sacrifice on August 14.

The Naturals survived an Elimination Match involving Team Canada, AMW, and Alex Shelley (who was supposed to team with Sean Waltman, who no-showed, and instead was assisted by Johnny Candido) to retain the titles at Unbreakable on September 11. Their reign ended on the October 22 episode of Impact! when they lost to AMW following interference from Jeff Jarrett and Gail Kim. They were defeated by AMW in their rematch at Bound For Glory on October 23, again following interference from Kim.

On October 25, Stevens injured his neck when he landed bad on his head during a tag-team match being taped for the October 29 episode of Impact! The injury was minor, and not expected to require surgery. The match, however, was omitted, and a replacement match was taped the next day. He returned on November 13 at Genesis.

The Naturals went to the background in the early months of 2006. After Scott Steiner brutalized Douglas in March, Stevens spent about two months in singles action in the X Division with limited success. When Douglas returned and they tagged again and "The Franchise" Shane Douglas (no relation to Douglas), a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and TNA official, took an interest in them. After they lost to The Diamonds in the Rough on June 15, Shane confronted them, telling them they were squandering their talent. Invoking his friend and their former manager Chris Candido, he offered to be their new manager. With much audience approval, they accepted Shane's offer, and, after a month of intense training overseen by The Franchise, faced and defeated The Diamonds in the Rough in a rematch at Victory Road. The Naturals then entered a feud with Team 3D, even handing Team 3D their first loss in a Tables Match in TNA, but after a loss to Team 3D in a Tables Match one month later, Shane Douglas abandoned them, saying "This experiment is over".

After the end of the Shane Douglas angle TNA were said to be done with the Naturals as a team, saying that they had given the team several opportunities to show their charisma, but had not delivered. The situation has since been rectified to an extent and after two house show appearances for TNA, one in January and one in March (2007), The Naturals returned to TNA on Xplosion, in mid-April 2007.

The Naturals appeared at the Lockdown FanFest held in St. Louis on April 14, 2007. Stevens and Douglas were released from TNA Wrestling as of May 10, 2007, but TNA Mobile announced soon afterward that they would be working for TNA without a contract from time to time.

International Wrestling Association
The Naturals went to IWA in mid-2007, where they held the IWA World Tag Teams Championships until they vacated the titles after leaving the IWA.

World Wrestling Entertainment
The Naturals competed in a taped match for the 21 March 2008 episode of SmackDown, teaming with Luke Hawx in a losing effort against The Big Show. Stevens wrestled Jack Swagger on ECW in a losing effort on September 16, 2008. Stevens was later defeated by Mike Knox on September 23's edition of ECW, followed by a post-match beating from Swagger which prompted a Tommy Dreamer run-in.

Championships and accomplishments
Birchfield Pro Wrestling
BPW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
Great Championship Wrestling
GCW Tag Team Championionship (1 time)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times)
USA Championship Wrestling
USACW Tag Team Championionship (1 time)
International Wrestling Association
IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

References

Impact Wrestling teams and stables
Independent promotions teams and stables
WWE teams and stables
Sigma Alpha Epsilon members

The Naturals