The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent.  It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day (normally November 2) for all departed souls (Purgatory), and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent. The work is composed of different psalms, scripture, prayers and other parts, divided into The Office of Readings, Lauds, Daytime Prayer, Vespers and Compline.

In the postconciliar form
The current form, according to the 2000 Liturgia Horaria (Liturgy of the Hours) editio typica altera (second typical edition) includes the normal cycle of a typical ferial office, namely an Office of Readings (Matins), Morning Prayer (Lauds), Daytime Prayer (Midmorning Prayer (Terce), Midday Prayer (Sext), or Midafternoon Prayer (None)), and Evening Prayer (Vespers). The final hour, Night Prayer (Compline), is taken from Sunday. The Office of Readings includes Psalms 40 [39]: 2-14, 17-18 (this psalm selection is split between verses 9 and 10 into two sections, to keep the character of threefold cycle of Psalms for the hour); and 42 [41]. These psalms are followed by two longer readings which are variable and come from one of multiple options.  Morning Prayer (Lauds) includes Psalm 51 [50], the Canticle of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:10-14, 17-20), and either Psalm 146 [145] or 150.  These are followed by a short reading, a responsory, the Canticle of Zechariah (Benedictus) and the intercessions (preces). Daytime Prayer consists of Psalms 70 [69], 85 [84], and 86 [85]. These are followed by a short reading and a versicle which vary depending on which of the little hours are being used for Daytime Prayer. Evening Prayer (Vespers) includes Psalms 121 [120], 130 [129], and a canticle from Philippians, known sometimes as the Kenotic Hymn (Phil 2:6-11). This is followed by a short reading, a responsory, the Canticle of Mary (Magnificat), and the intercessions (preces). The hour of Night Prayer (Compline) is taken from Sunday after Evening Prayer II (Second Vespers).

In the preconciliar form
This office, as it exists in the Roman Rite up to and including the current 1960 Roman Breviary, is composed of First Vespers, Mass, Matins, and Lauds. The editor is not known, but the office as it existed before the alternative was no older than from 7th or 8th century. A well-known refrain from the cycle is Timor mortis conturbat me, "The fear of death disturbs me" or, more colloquially, "I am scared to death of dying". The word dirge comes from the cycle.

The Vespers of the older form of the office comprise Psalms 114 (116), 119 (120), 120 (121), 129 (130), and 137 (138), with the Magnificat and the preces. Matins, composed like those of feast days, had three nocturns (with one of the three nocturns being said at any given votive Office), each consisting of three psalms and three lessons; Lauds had five Psalms: 50 (51), 64 (65), 62 (63) and 66 (67) recited as one psalm, the canticle of Ezechias, and the three Laudate psalms recited as one psalm.  Then followed the verse and response, the Benedictus, then a series of preces including Psalm 129. Pope Pius X's reform of the Breviary deleted Psalms 66, 149, and 150 from Lauds in any case where they had been attached to other psalms, and this reform was also applied to the Office of the Dead. The office differs in important points from the other offices of the Roman Liturgy. It lacks the Little Hours, the Second Vespers, or the Compline. In this respect it resembles the ancient vigils, which began at eventide (First Vespers), continued during the night (Matins), and ended at the dawn (Lauds); Mass followed and terminated the vigil of the feast. The absence of the introduction, "Deus in adjutorium", the hymns, absolution, blessings, and of the doxology in the psalms also recall ancient times, when these additions had not yet been made. The psalms are chosen not in their serial order, as in the Sunday Office or the Roman ferial Office, but because certain verses, which serve as antiphons, seem to allude to the state of the dead. The use of some of these psalms in the funeral service is of high antiquity, as appears from passages in Saint Augustine and other writers of the fourth and fifth centuries. The lessons from Job, so suitable for the Office of the Dead, were also read in very early days at funeral services. The responses, too, deserve notice, especially the response "Libera me, Domine, de viis inferni qui portas æreas confregisti et visitasti inferum et dedisti eis lumen . . . qui erant in poenis . . . advenisti redemptor noster" etc. This is one of the few texts in the Roman Liturgy alluding to Christ's descent into hell. It is also a very ancient composition (see Cabrol, "La descente du Christ aux enfers" in "Rassegna Gregor.", May and June, 1909).

The "Libera me de morte æterna", which is found more complete in the ancient manuscripts, dates also from an early period (see Cabrol in "Dict. d'archéol. et de liturgie", s. v. Absoute). Mgr Batiffol remarks that it is not of Roman origin, but it is very ancient (Hist. du brév., 148). The distinctive character of the Mass, its various epistles, its tract, its offertory in the form of a prayer, the communion (like the offertory) with versicles, according to the ancient custom, and the sequence "Dies Iræ" (q.v.; concerning its author see also BURIAL), it is impossible to dwell upon here. The omission of the Alleluia, and the kiss of peace is also characteristic of this mass. There was a time when the Alleluia was one of the chants customary at funeral services (see Dict. d'archéol. et de liturgie, s. v. Alleluia, I, 1235). Later it was looked upon exclusively as a song of joy, and was omitted on days of penance (e.g. Lent and ember week), sometimes in Advent, and at all funeral ceremonies. It is replaced today by a tract. A treatise of the 8th-9th century published by Muratori (Liturg. Rom. vet., II, 391) shows that the Alleluia was then suppressed. The omission of the kiss of peace at Mass is probably because that ceremony preceded the distribution of the Eucharist to the faithful and was a preparation for it, so, as communion is not given at the Mass for the Dead, the kiss of peace was suppressed.

Not to speak of the variety of ceremonies of the Mozarabic, Ambrosian, or Eastern rites, even in countries where the Roman liturgy prevailed, there were many variations. The lessons, the responses, and other formulæ were borrowed from various sources; certain Churches included in this office the Second Vespers and Compline; in other places, instead of the lessons of the Roman Ritual, they read Saint Augustine, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, Osee, Isaiah, Daniel, etc. The responses varied likewise; many examples may be found in Martène and the writers cited below in the bibliography. It is fortunate that the Roman Rite preserved carefully and without notable change this office, which, like that of Holy Week, has retained in its archaic forms the memory and the atmosphere of a very ancient liturgy. The Mozarabic Rite possesses a very rich funeral ritual. Dom Férotin in his "Liber Ordinum" (pp. 107 sqq.) has published a ritual (probably the oldest extant), dating back possibly to the 7th century. He has also published a large number of votive Masses of the dead. For the Ambrosian Rite, see Magistretti, "Manuale Ambrosianum", I (Milan, 1905), 67; for the Greek Ritual, see Burial, pp. 77–8.

Notably, the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church retained The Office of the Dead after the Reformation.

History

The Office of the Dead has been attributed at times to St. Isidore, to St. Augustine, to St. Ambrose, and even to Origen. The Catholic Encyclopedia dismisses these attributions as unfounded, arguing that it cannot be older than the 7th or even 8th century. Its authorship is discussed at length in the dissertation of Horatius de Turre. Pierre Batiffol attributes it to Amalarius of Metz, who does refer to the "Agenda Mortuorum" contained in a sacramentary, but without claiming authorship. Bäumer-Biron, on the other hand, attributes it to Alcuin. who is known to have written various liturgical texts; but Fernand Cabrol argues that there is no reason for considering him the author of this particular office.

The Gregorian Antiphonary contains a mass and an office in agenda mortuorum, but it is admitted that this part is an addition; a fortiori this applies to the Gelasian. The Maurist editors of St. Gregory are inclined to attribute their composition to Albinus and Etienne of Liège (Microl., lx). But if it is impossible to trace the office and the mass in their actual form beyond the 9th or 8th century, it is notwithstanding certain that the prayers and a service for the dead existed long before that time. They appear in the 5th, 4th, and even in the 3rd and 2nd century. Pseudo-Dionysius, Sts. Gregory of Nyssa, Jerome, and Augustine, Tertullian, and the inscriptions in the catacombs afford a proof of this (see Burial, III, 76; PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD; Cabrol, "La prière pour les morts" in "Rev. d'apologétique", 15 September 1909, pp. 881–93).

Practice and obligation
The Office of the Dead was composed originally to satisfy private devotion to the dead, and at first had no official character. Even in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, it was recited chiefly by the religious orders (the Cluniacs, Cistercians, Carthusians), like the Little Office of Our Lady (see Guyet, loc. cit., 465). Later it was prescribed for all clerics and became obligatory whenever a ferial office was celebrated. It has even been said that it was to remove the obligation of reciting it that the feasts of double and semi-double rite were multiplied, for it could be omitted on such days (Bäumer-Biron, op. cit., II, 198). The reformed Breviary of St. Pius V assigned the recitation of the Office of the Dead to the first free day in the month, the Mondays of Advent and Lent, to some vigils, and ember days. Even then it was not obligatory, for the Bull "Quod a nobis" of the same pope merely recommends it earnestly, like the Office of Our Lady and the Penitential Psalms, without imposing it as a duty (Van der Stappen, "Sacra Liturgia", I, Malines, 1898, p. 115). At the present time, it is obligatory on the clergy only on the feast of All Souls and in certain mortuary services. Some religious orders (Carthusians, Cistercians etc.) have preserved the custom of reciting it in choir on the days assigned by the Bull "Quod a nobis".

References

External links

A complete office of the dead from Google Books
Hypertext Book of Hours - Contains the Western Office of the Dead.

Liturgy of the Hours
Observances honoring the dead

Office of the Dead


Anabela Braz Pires (born 22 September 1976 in Almada) is a Portuguese singer and musical theatre actress, best known in Portugal by her first name, Anabela.

Her career in music has spanned over decades, and she is well known for representing Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest, her work as a solo recording artist, and her work in musical theatre collaborating with producer Filipe La Féria. In a 2006 interview with Selecções do Reader's Digest, she joked that in the national consciousness, she went from being known as "the Eurovision girl" to "the La Féria girl."

Early life and career

Anabela Braz Pires was born on 22 September 1976 in Almada, Portugal, a suburb of Lisbon situated across the Tagus River. She started singing professionally at the age of eight, participating in various children's festivals. In 1989, at age 12, she won the Grande Noite do Fado. That year she represented Portugal at the UNICEF Song Festival in the Netherlands where she received second place and won the Danny Kaye Award for Best Interpreter.

In 1991, she participated in the Sopot International Song Festival representing Portugal with the song "Brother." From there, she released albums in 1991 and 1992, Anabela and Encanto (Charm), released on the Ovação fado music label.

Music career

1993: Festival RTP da Canção and Eurovision

On 10 January 1993, when Anabela was 16, she entered the Festival RTP da Canção (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal Song Festival), where she competed in the first round's second heat and tied for joint first place with Grupo Até Jazz with their song "Pó de melhorar" (Get well powder). Both songs progressed to the final held on 11 March, where they competed against six other winners from various first round heats.

In the end, Anabela won, and on 15 May she went on to represent Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 in Millstreet, Ireland, with the song she performed at the Festival RTP da Canção, "A cidade (até ser dia)" (The city, until dawn). She placed tenth with 60 points from various competing countries. It was Portugal's first top ten ranking in the Contest in two years, and only the second top ten placement since 1980. The song was the lead single on her third album, also called A cidade, até ser dia.

1996–2002: Solo work and musical theater debut

Her fourth album was released in 1996 and was called Primeiras Águas (First Water), which yielded the hit song "Avenidas" written by Clara Pinto Correia and Rui Veloso. That year she also participated in Filipe La Féria's children's musical Jasmim ou o Sonho do Cinema (Jasmine: The Dream of Cinema). In 1999, Anabela worked with La Féria again, starring in the musical Koko. She released another album that same year, heralded by HMV Japan as "the new generation of fado," called Origens (Sources).

In 2000, she recorded four tracks with the Galician musician Carlos Núñez for his album Mayo Longo (Long May), and participated in the promotional tour, which lasted two and a half years and took her around the world. Returning to Portugal in 2002, she continued her association with La Féria, playing protagonist Eliza Doolittle in the Lisbon production of My Fair Lady.

2005: Experimental album

In 2005, she released her first album in six years, which was an interpretation of poems called Aether. With the help of Carlos Maria Trindade, she interpreted the poems of Portuguese writers Florbela Espanca, Fernando Pessoa, Manuel Alegre and José Carlos Ary dos Santos. She also released a Spanish version of her album on Resistencia Records. In March 2006, she performed three special concerts in Spain and two in the Azores, performing some of the works on the Aether album.

2006–present: Música no Coração, Jesus Cristo Superstar and Amor Sem Barreiras

In 2006, Anabela and popular singer Lúcia Moniz took turns playing the part of Maria von Trapp in Música no Coração (roughly translated as Music in the Heart), the Portuguese production of The Sound of Music at the Teatro Politeama in Lisbon. This was a continuation of Anabela's working relationship with La Féria, as he directed the production.

In December 2007, the show was taken on the road to Porto, where Anabela reprised her role at the Teatro Rivoli with Wanda Stuart. The musical celebrated its 500th show in Portugal in April 2008 and finished its run on 4 May 2008.

Taking a break of less than a month, Anabela returned to the stage on 30 May 2008 at the Teatro Politeama, in Lisbon, working again with La Féria. She stepped into the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus Cristo Superstar, the Lisbon production of Jesus Christ Superstar, taking over the part from Sara Lima. For the entire month of August 2008, Anabela and the entire company performed the musical in Portimão, in the Algarve.

As of 28 November 2008, she is participating in La Féria's newest musical production, Amor Sem Barreiras, the Portuguese adaptation of West Side Story, at Lisbon's Politeama. Anabela plays the role of Anita, the sensual and confident woman whose boyfriend is the leader of the Sharks, a gang composed by the first generation of Americans from Puerto Rico. Again, her part is performed in turns with Lúcia Moniz. Talking about her character, Anabela confessed it is her "career's greatest challenge. Completely different from what I have been doing so far." She further explains that "the attitude, poise and voice are very distinct from mine and clash with the roles of young innocent girl that I am used to performing."

Dubbing
In addition to being a recording artist and stage actress, Anabela is also known for her dubbing work as a singing voice. For Disney she was the singing voices for Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid, the title character in Mulan and Rapunzel in Tangled. In addition to her Disney voices, she was the singing voice for Kayley in The Quest for Camelot for Warner Bros. and the singing voice for Miriam in The Prince of Egypt for DreamWorks.

DiscographyAnabela (CD, Ovação, 1991)Encanto (CD, Ovação, 1992)A cidade, até ser dia (CD, Discossete, 1993)Primeiras Águas (CD, Movieplay, 1996)Origens (CD, Movieplay, 1999)Aether (CD, Elec3city, 2005)Encontro (CD, Zona Música, 2006) (duet album with Carlos Guilherme)Nós'' (CD, iPlay, 2010)

References

External links

1976 births
Living people
People from Almada
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1993
Portuguese fado singers
Portuguese musical theatre actors
Portuguese pop singers
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Portugal
Portuguese voice actresses
Portuguese actresses
21st-century Portuguese women singers
20th-century Portuguese women singers

Anabela Braz Pires


HMP Greenock is a prison located in Greenock, Scotland, serving designated courts in western Scotland by holding male prisoners on remand, and short-term convicted prisoners. It also provides a national facility for selected prisoners serving 12 years or over, affording them the opportunity for progression towards release. It also accommodates a small number of female prisoners ranging from remand to long-term. Although officially labelled as HMP Greenock, it continues to be known by its original name Gateside Prison.

Senior Management
HMP Greenock's Governor is Mrs Morag Stirling and the Deputy Governor is Mr. Gerry Watt.

Residential areas
HMP Greenock is divided into five separate residential areas.

Arran and Bute
Work began to build Arran and Bute halls in August 2013, with work completed in July 2014. These Halls are a new type of facility called Community Integration Units (CIU) They will hold 8 and 6 prisoners respectively, who will use their time there as a stepping stone in to the community.

Ailsa Hall
Ailsa Hall is the Prison's largest hall with a design capacity of 131, although this is usually exceeded. It holds remand prisoners, short term prisoners (STPs) and a small selection of long term prisoners (LTPs). This hall is all single-cell accommodation with electric power in cells and integral sanitation facilities.

Darroch Hall
Darroch Hall accommodates female offenders. This hall is all single accommodation with electric power in cells and integral sanitation facilities. Darroch Hall is designed to accommodate 56 prisoners.

Chrisswell House
The role of Chrisswell House is to prepare LTPs for progression to open conditions at HMP Castle Huntly. It has electric power in cells with shared sanitation facilities. Chrisswell House is designed to hold 64 prisoners.

Visits
Visits are run 7 days a week, with three sessions run Monday to Friday and two sessions at the weekend. The times below apply to both remand and convicted prisoners.

Ailsa Hall prisoners may receive visitors every day of the week.

Darroch Hall prisoners may receive visitors every day of the week.

Chrisswell House prisoners may receive visitors every day of the week.

Monday to Friday
Session 1: 15:10 - 15:55
Session 2: 18:45 - 19:30
Session 3: 19:50 - 20:35

For information regarding which sessions are set aside for each hall you can telephone the vestibule officer on 01475 88 33 00.
Sessions last a maximum of 50 minutes during the week, but can be cut to 30 minutes should any operational need arise, for example, an incident occurring between sessions.
Further details of local rules may be obtained at HMP Greenock visiting page.

Saturday & Sunday
Visits at weekends are either 75 minutes for the family session or 60 minutes for the remaining sessions, and may be reduced to 30 minutes for operational reasons. Rule 63 of The Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2006 for convicted prisoners and Rule 64 of The Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2006 for untried and civil prisoners

Saturday
Session 1(family with children session): 13:40 - 14:50,
Session 2 (Ailsa and Chrisswell): 15:15 - 16:15

Sunday
Session 1(Ailsa and Chrisswell) : 13:40 - 14:50,
Session 2(Darroch) : 15:15 - 16:15

Notable prisoners
 Edward Cairney – Murderer of Margaret Fleming, who in 2016 was discovered to have disappeared while under Cairney and his partner's care in 1999 or 2000. This was the subject of the 2019 BBC documentary Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming
 Abdelbaset al-Megrahi - Found guilty of 270 counts of murder in 2001 in connection with the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, which remains the worst act of terrorism to take place on British soil. Released in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to prostate cancer, from which he died in 2012.

References

1. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland, Report on HM Prison Greenock 2001

External links

 HM Prison Greenock on Scottish Prison Service website
 Full inspection report published February 2006

Prisons in Scotland
Buildings and structures in Inverclyde
1910 establishments in Scotland
Government agencies established in 1910
Young Offender Institutions in Scotland
Buildings and structures in Greenock

HM Prison Greenock


"The Return" is a science fiction short story by American writers H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire. It is not a part of either Piper's Terro-Human Future History series or his Paratime series.

It made its first appearance in the January 1954 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. The story was later edited and expanded for its appearance in the 1960 book The Science Fictional Sherlock Holmes. The differences between the two editions of the story are minor, mostly taking the form of added dialogue.

Synopsis
It has been more than 250 years since the nuclear war devastated the world, and finally the people of Fort Ridgeway (in what had once been Arizona) are advanced enough to go out looking for other surviving communities. The helicopter-borne explorers, Dr. Jim Loudons and Monty Altamont, are on their way to Pittsburgh to dig up an old cache of microfilmed books that was buried at the Carnegie Library before the war. Having so far only encountered stone-age barbarians, they are surprised to find a fort, manned by people with organization, firearms, and literacy.

The people living in the fort are descendants of an old pre-war army platoon, and they have maintained their organization and civilization as much as is possible. Also, they seem to have developed a strange religion around a god who died in battle with his adversary, both of whom were later resurrected. The adversary is behind the primitives who periodically attack the people of the "Toon," and the Toon waits for their god to come back to them. In the meantime, it is up to them to follow his teachings of deductive reading and keen observation.

Having secured the Toon's promise to assist them in retrieving the microfilm, Loudons and Altamont realize that they are being judged by the Toon. They seem to think that Monty Altamont is either their long-awaited god, or perhaps his adversary. The fate of their mission, not to mention their very lives might just depend on what the Toon decides.

Loudons and Altamont and eight members of the Toon set out for Pittsburgh aboard their helicopter. After locating the library's storage crypt, Dr. Loudons returns to the fort in the helicopter to get more workers, while Altamont and the eight Toon members stay behind. The local primitives, called Scowrers, launch an attack, appearing in larger numbers than the Toon has ever seen before. The realization that the adversary wants desperately to destroy the little band convinces the Toon members who Monty Altamont really is.

Having collected the microfilm and set off for Fort Ridgeway, Loudons tells Altamont that he has seen the sacred books of the Toon, and he is now very worried. Just what will happen to the Toon when they realize that they are mistaken, and that Loudons and Altamont are not really Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes?

References

External links

Audio recording of "The Return" at Librivox

1954 short stories
Science fiction short stories
Short stories by H. Beam Piper
Short stories by John J. McGuire
Works originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact

The Return (short story)


Newman is a small El Paso neighborhood in far Northeast El Paso, located some 16 miles northeast of downtown El Paso around the intersection of Dyer Street and Edge of Texas Drive on the New Mexico state line, and still sometimes described as a separate community. In 1990, it had a population of approximately 60 people.

It was named for real estate developer Henry L. Newman, who earlier tried to develop Newman, New Mexico, just to the north across the New Mexico border, without much success.  He fared only moderately better in Texas. In 1930,  the United States Census listed Newman as having a population of 10 people.

Newman had a post office from 1922 to 1971. Located in the neighborhood is a bar, the Last Roundup, once favored by the late University of Texas at El Paso men's basketball coach Don Haskins, and a restaurant, the Edge of Texas Steakhouse, set up  by a local cattle rancher, Jimmy Bowen, as part of his effort to diversify his businesses as development in the city of El Paso, which annexed the area including Newman in the 1980s, moved closer to his land.

Populated places in El Paso County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas

Newman, Texas


Algernon Frederick Greville (29 December 1798  – 15 December 1864) was an English soldier, cricketer, and officer of arms who served as private secretary to the Duke of Wellington.

Life
He was commissioned an ensign in the Grenadier Guards on 1 February 1814, and fought with that regiment at Quatre Bras and Waterloo. He was also present at the capture of Péronne, and soon after was appointed aide-de-camp to General Sir John Lambert. He later became ADC to the Duke of Wellington, and served on his staff until the end of the occupation of France.

The Duke made him his private secretary upon being appointed Master-General of the Ordnance in 1819, and he continued to serve in this capacity when Wellington was made commander-in-chief (1827), prime minister (1828), foreign secretary (1834), and commander-in-chief again (1842).

Greville was appointed Bath King of Arms in 1829, and served as secretary to the Cinque Ports while Wellington was Lord Warden. He died in 1864 in Hillingdon.

Family
Greville was the second son of Charles Greville, himself a son of Fulke Greville and descendant of both the Duke of Beaufort and the Baron Brooke, and Lady Charlotte Cavendish-Bentinck, the daughter of William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland and also granddaughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire. He was the brother of Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville, the diarist, and of Henry William Greville.
He married Charlotte Maria Cox (d. 10 April 1841) on 7 April 1823, by whom he had five children:
Frances Harriett Greville (8 March 1824 – 8 March 1887), married Charles Gordon-Lennox, 6th Duke of Richmond on 28 November 1843
Georgiana Maria Greville (3 May 1826 – 14 January 1872)
Lt. Col. Arthur Charles Greville (18 May 1827 – 27 May 1901)
Augusta Mary Greville (24 June 1831 – 1921), married George Montagu Warren Sandford in 1858
Lt. Cavendish Hubert Greville (3 September 1835 – 5 November 1854), killed at the Battle of Inkerman

Cricket
Greville made 7 known appearances in first-class matches from 1815 until 1823. He was mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) but also played for Middlesex and Hampshire.

References

External sources
 CricketArchive record

1798 births
1864 deaths
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1787 to 1825
Grenadier Guards officers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Gentlemen cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Algernon
George Osbaldeston's XI cricketers
Presidents of the Marylebone Cricket Club

Algernon Greville


Colonel (Later Brigadier General) Salihu Tunde Bello was Administrator of Kebbi State in Nigeria from December 1993 to August 1996 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
During his administration he achieved significant development of the state infrastructure.
In July 1999, after the return to democracy, all armed forces officers that had served in military governments for six months or more were forced to retire.
Brigadier-General Salihu Bello was among those affected by this decision.

Membership of professional body
In 2009 Salihu Bello was a member of the board of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).

References

Nigerian generals
Living people
Yoruba military personnel
Governors of Kebbi State
Year of birth missing (living people)

Salihu Tunde Bello


Nominal analogue blanking is the outermost part of the overscan of a standard definition digital television image. It consists of a gap of black (or nearly black) pixels at the left and right sides, which correspond to the end and start of the horizontal blanking interval: the front porch at the right side (the end of a line, before the sync pulse), and the back porch at the left side (the start of a line, after the sync pulse and before drawing the next line).  Digital television ordinarily contains 720 pixels per line, but only 702 (PAL) to 704 (NTSC) of them contain picture content. The location is variable, since analogue equipment may shift the picture sideways in an unexpected amount or direction.

The exact width is determined by taking the definition of the time required for an active line in PAL or NTSC, and multiplying it by the pixel clock of 13.5 MHz of Digital SDTV.  PAL is exactly 52μs, so it will equate to exactly 702 pixels.

Notably, screen shapes and aspect ratios were defined in an era of purely analogue broadcasting for TV.  This means that any picture with nominal analogue blanking, whether it be 702,  around 704, or less, will be — by definition — a 4:3 picture.  Therefore, when cross-converting into a square-pixel environment (like MPEG-4 and its variants), this width must always scale to 768 (PAL) or 640 (NTSC).  This has the outcome of causing a full picture of 720x576 or 720x480 to be wider than 4:3.  In fact, a purely digitally sourced SDTV image, with no analogue blanking, will be close to 788x576 or 655x480 once stretched to square pixels.

Standard definition widescreen pictures were also defined in an analogue environment and must also be treated as such.  This means that a purely digitally sourced widescreen SDTV image, with no analogue blanking, will be close to 1050x576 or 873x480.

For details, see the technical specifications of overscan amounts.

References
 ITU-R BT.601: Studio encoding parameters of digital television for standard 4:3 and wide screen 16:9 aspect ratios
 ITU-R BT.1700: Characteristics of composite video signals for conventional analogue television systems

See also
 Safe area
 Overscan
 Horizontal blanking interval
 Vertical blanking interval

Television technology

Nominal analogue blanking


The Monastery of Sendomir () is a 1920 Swedish drama film directed by Victor Sjöström, based on an 1828 short story by Franz Grillparzer. It has also been released in the UK as The Secret of the Monastery. A German adaptation of the story The Monastery of Sendomir, directed by Rudolf Meinert, had been released the previous year.

Plot
The main part of the film is told in a flashback by a monk to two visiting noblemen on their way to Warsaw in the 17th century. He tells them how a mighty count named Starschensky once ruled Sendomir (Sandomierz), but after an intrigue in which his wife was unfaithful with her own cousin he had to use all his resources to build the monastery where they are now staying. At the end it is revealed that the monk is in fact Starschensky himself.

Cast
 Tore Svennberg as Count Starschensky
 Tora Teje as Elga
 Richard Lund as Oginsky
 Renée Björling as Dortka
 Albrecht Schmidt as Manager
 Gun Robertson as Starschensky's Daughter
 Erik A. Petschler as Nobleman
 Nils Tillberg as Nobleman
 Gustaf Ranft as Abbot
 Yngwe Nyquist as Servant
 Axel Nilsson as Friar
 Jenny Tschernichin-Larsson as Coal Miner's Wife
 Emil Fjellström as Friar

See also
Confessions of a Monk (1922)

References

External links

The Monastery of Sendomir available for free download at Internet Archive

1920 films
1920 drama films
Swedish silent feature films
Swedish black-and-white films
Films directed by Victor Sjöström
Films based on short fiction
Films set in the 17th century
Films set in Poland
Films based on works by Franz Grillparzer
1920s Swedish-language films
Silent Swedish drama films
1920s Swedish films

The Monastery of Sendomir


The Fate of the Earth is a 1982 book by Jonathan Schell. Its description of the consequences of nuclear war "forces even the most reluctant person to confront the unthinkable: the destruction of humanity and possibly most life on Earth". The work is regarded as a key document in the nuclear disarmament movement.

The book is composed of three essays, which originally ran in The New Yorker in three issues in February of 1982. The first, "A Republic of Insects and Grass," is a description of the consequences of a nuclear holocaust. The second, "The Second Death," is metaphysical in nature, urging readers to respect the humanity and perhaps even the divinity of future generations, who will not be born due to the self-extermination of the human race. The third, "The Choice," describes the source of the nuclear threat is the nation-state system and argues that a choice must be made between national sovereignty and survival.

Reviews and criticism
The Yale University sociologist Kai T. Erikson, reviewing the book in The New York Times, wrote, "This is a work of enormous force. There are moments when it seems to hurtle, almost out of control, across an extraordinary range of fact and thought. But in the end, it accomplishes what no other work has managed to do in the 37 years of the nuclear age. It compels us - and compel is the right word - to confront head on the nuclear peril in which we all find ourselves. In some regards, it is tempting to treat Jonathan Schell's achievement as an event of profound historical moment rather than as a book."

Professor Erikson went on: "Throughout the whole of this marvelous work, Schell is vulnerable to charges of an almost romantic simplicity of vision—a risk that he, a seasoned observer of the human scene, must have known he was taking. This may be the price one has to pay for the attempt to enlarge perspectives and to turn away from 'crusted and hardened patterns of thought and feeling.'"

In an unpublished review of The Fate of the Earth, the social scientist Brian Martin was skeptical of Schell's conclusions, positing that the author's argument that "most people" would die in the nuclear war was exaggerated, especially for the Global South. Martin wrote: "The perplexity is explained by Schell's process of continually taking worst interpretations and bending the evidence to give the worst impression. And usually when he spells out a worst case as a possibility—for example… a 10,000 Mt attack on the United States—this becomes implicitly a certainty for later discussion, with qualifications dropped."

In the book, Schell appeared to have anticipated such criticism. "To say that human extinction is a certainty would, of course, be a misrepresentation—just as it would be a misrepresentation to say that extinction can be ruled out," he wrote. "To begin with, we know that a holocaust may not occur at all. If one does occur, the adversaries may not use all their weapons. If they do use all their weapons, the global effects, in the ozone and elsewhere, may be moderate. And if the effects are not moderate but extreme, the ecosphere may prove resilient enough to withstand them without breaking down catastrophically". (pp. 93-94.)

More generally, Schell's analysis of the effects of a full-scale nuclear exchange proceeds from a stance of cognitive modesty: "In weighing the fate of the earth and, with it, our own fate, we stand before a mystery, and in tampering with the earth we tamper with a mystery. We are in deep ignorance. Our ignorance should dispose us to wonder, our wonder should make us humble, our humility should inspire us to reverence and caution, and our reverence and caution should lead us to act without delay to withdraw the threat we now pose to the earth and to ourselves." (p.95)

In popular culture
 In the 1985 Infocom interactive fiction game A Mind Forever Voyaging, The Fate of the Earth is on the list of banned books, tapes, and programs issued by the Morality Bureau of the government in Rockvil's Main Library in the 2071 simulation.

See also
 List of books about nuclear issues
 On Nuclear Terrorism
 Nuclear winter

References

External links
 The Fate of the Earth by Jonathan Schell

1982 non-fiction books
1982 in the environment
Books about politics of the United States
Books about nuclear issues

The Fate of the Earth


John Mosher (1928–1998) was an American jazz bassist, classical bassist and composer who worked, recorded and toured with a wide range of primarily West Coast artists from the 1950s through the mid-1990s.

Early years

A native of Sioux City, Iowa, John Mosher was raised on the city's west side, the son of a vaudeville-era bandleader. He studied piano and violin as a child. While attending Central High School he was befriended by veteran big band sideman Johnny Kopecky, under whom he studied both the double bass and violin. After military service in an Army band near the close of World War II, Mosher returned to Sioux City where he landed a steady job as bassist in the house band led by tenor sax player Don Couch at the Turin Inn, a venerable Sioux City jazz club that regularly featured big name touring jazz artists—including the Bud Powell Trio. He then moved to Boston for concentrated double bass studies at the Schillinger Institute, which later became the Berklee School of Music.

Professional biography

In 1949, Mosher got his first major professional engagement when he joined the Les Brown Band, with whom he toured widely. While in Los Angeles with the Brown band, Mosher also performed some local LA club dates with both Zoot Sims and Chet Baker. Leaving the Brown band the following year, Mosher enrolled at the University of Iowa to continue his musical education.

He moved to California in 1955 where he immediately found work with both the Glenn Miller Orchestra—then under the direction of Jerry Gray—and with pianist Conley Graves.  Mosher recorded with Graves on two sessions that became the LPs Genius at Work  and VIP: Very Important Pianist, released on the Liberty label. Mosher's bowed solos on several tracks of these sessions was a bold departure from the jazz norm of the time and was only paralleled by a then-up-and-coming Paul Chambers. Relocating to San Francisco in 1957, Mosher quickly established himself as an in-demand bassist and worked in the house bands at both the Hungry I and Purple Onion clubs and also made regular appearances at the Hangar Club accompanying, at various times, both pianist Earl Hines and vibraphonist Cal Tjader.  Tjader subsequently included Mosher's original composition, "SS Groove" on his Concert On Campus album.

Mosher worked often with Bay-Area pianist John Marabuto and drummer John Markham and the three musicians became known locally as the JM Trio. The tight team of Mosher, Marabuto and Markham became the nucleus for the Brew Moore Quintet and together backed Moore on most of his recording sessions in 1957 - 1958 that were subsequently released on LP under the eponymous title Brew Moore in 1958. This album, which contained some of Moore's finest work, and is one of his few recordings, became a rare commodity after Moore's untimely death in Europe, and copies of the LP became a collector's item for jazz aficionados for many years. It was re-released on CD in the early 2000s.

Mosher next joined the Red Norvo ensemble and again went on tour. In 1960, this ensemble recorded albums with singers Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra, and Mosher appeared in a scene with Norvo's combo in the original 1960 version of the Sinatra film Ocean's 11. Returning to San Francisco, Mosher became staff bassist for ABC TV's  daytime Tennessee Ernie Ford Show and backed Ford on two blues-oriented LPs in the early 1960s. Concurrently Mosher worked by night as house bassist at the San Francisco Playboy Club and frequently also appeared at Club Neve. Mosher also recorded an album with Art Van Damme for release in Germany on the BASF Label in 1971. Throughout the next decade Mosher continued to work regularly in the studios and occasionally appeared on dates with husband and wife artists Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, with whom Mosher also recorded in 1993.

An equally talented classical bassist, Mosher occasionally performed with the Griller Quartet string ensemble in appearances in the San Francisco area, including appearances on KQED. Mosher succumbed to cancer in 1998.

Of Mosher, the San Francisco Gate wrote, 'He was among the best, best known and most appealing of Bay Area bassists: friendly, witty, generous with his time.'

External links

All Music:
 http://www.allmusic.com/album/genius-at-work-mw0000364220
 http://www.allmusic.com/album/brew-moore-1958-mw0000901018 |

Discogs:

Obituary

References

People from Sioux City, Iowa

American jazz composers
American male jazz composers
1928 births
1998 deaths
American jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
20th-century American composers
United States Army personnel of World War II
20th-century double-bassists
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century jazz composers
Deaths from cancer in California
United States Army Band musicians
BASF record label artists

John Mosher


Celemantia (or Kelemantia; the modern name of the site is Leányvár) was a Roman castellum and settlement on the territory of the present-day municipality Iža (Hun: Izsa), some 4 km to the east of Komárno in Slovakia. It is the biggest known Roman castellum in present-day Slovakia. It was a part of the Roman limes, the frontier-zone of the Empire.

A Germanic settlement "Celemantia" in this area is mentioned by Claudius Ptolemaios in the 2nd century AD. It could be identical with the remnants of a civil settlement found next to the castellum or with another unknown settlement or, as some historians assume, it is the name of both the castellum and the remnants of the civil settlement.

The construction of the castellum started in the 2nd half of the 1st century. It was conquered during the Marcomannic Wars (166–180) and burned down by Germanic tribes, and was rebuilt later. It ceased to exist around 400 (beginning of the Migration Period). The ruins were very well visible up to the late 18th century, but afterward people used stones from the constructions to build the fortress and other buildings in Komárno.

According to a local legend, a Roman soldier, Valentin, kept his mistresses in the fortress. The fictitious story explains the origin of the name Leányvár, meaning Girl Castle in Hungarian. However, the name probably refers to the fact that the ruins of the castle were donated by King Béla IV of Hungary to the Dominican nuns of Margitsziget who later built a small fortress among them.

In July 2021, Celemantia was added to the UNESCO's World Heritage List as part of the Western segment of the Danubian Limes of the Roman Empire.

References

Roman frontiers
Former populated places in Slovakia

Roman fortifications in Slovakia
World Heritage Sites in Slovakia

Celemantia


Ebonite is a brand name for a material generically known as hard rubber, obtained via vulcanizing natural rubber for prolonged periods. Ebonite may contain from 25% to 80% sulfur and linseed oil. Its name comes from its intended use as an artificial substitute for ebony wood. The material has also been called vulcanite, although that name formally refers to the mineral vulcanite.

Charles Goodyear's brother, Nelson Goodyear, experimented with the chemistry of ebonite composites. In 1851, he used zinc oxide as a filler. Hugh Silver was responsible for giving it its name.

Properties

The sulfur percentage and the applied temperatures and duration of vulcanizing are the main variables that determine the technical properties of the hard rubber polysulfide elastomer. The occurring reaction is basically addition of sulfur at the double bonds, forming intramolecular ring structures, so a large portion of the sulfur is highly cross-linked in the form of intramolecular addition. As a result of having a maximum sulfur content up to 40%, it may be used to resist swelling and minimize dielectric loss. The strongest mechanical properties and greatest heat resistance is obtained with sulfur contents around 35% while the highest impact strength can be obtained with a lower sulfur content of 30%. The rigidity of hard rubber at room temperature is attributed to the van der Waals forces between the intramolecular sulfur atoms. Raising the temperature gradually increases the molecular vibrations that overcome the van der Waals forces making it elastic. Hard rubber has a content mixture dependent density around 1.1 to 1.2. When reheated hard rubber exhibits shape-memory effect and can be fairly easily reshaped within certain limits. Depending on the sulfur percentage hard rubber has a thermoplastic transition or softening temperature of .

The material is brittle, which produces problems in its use in battery cases for example, where the integrity of the case is vital to prevent leakage of sulfuric acid. It has now been generally replaced by carbon black-filled polypropylene.

Ultraviolet and daylight exposure
Under the influence of the ultraviolet portion of daylight, hard rubber oxidizes. Subsequent exposure to moisture bonds water with free sulfur on the surface, creating sulfates and sulfuric acid at the surface that are very hygroscopic. The sulfates condense water from the air, forming a hydrophilic film with favorable wettability characteristics on the surface. These aging processes will gradually discolor the surface grayish green to brown and cause rapid deterioration of electric surface resistivity.

Contamination
Contaminated ebonite was problematic when it was used for electronics. During manufacturing the ebonite was rolled between metal foil sheets, which were peeled off, leaving traces of metal behind. For electronic use the surface was ground to remove these metal particles.

Applications

Hard rubber was used in early 20th century bowling balls; however, it was phased out in favor of other materials (the Ebonite name remains as a trade name for one of the major manufacturers of polymer balls). It has been used in electric plugs, tobacco pipe mouthpieces (in competition with Lucite), hockey pucks, fountain pen bodies and nib feeds, saxophone and clarinet mouthpieces, as well as complete humidity-stable clarinets. Hard rubber is often seen as the wheel material in casters. It is also commonly used in physics classrooms to demonstrate static electricity, because it is at or near the negative end of the triboelectric series.

Hard rubber was used in the cases of automobile batteries for years, thus establishing black as their traditional colour even long after stronger modern plastics like polypropylene were substituted.  It was used for decades in hair combs made by Ace, now part of Newell Rubbermaid, although the current models are known to be produced solely with plastics.

Ebonite is used as an anticorrosive lining for various (mainly storage) vessels that contain diluted hydrochloric acid. It forms bubbles when storing hydrofluoric acid at temperatures above room temperature, or for prolonged durations.

References

Materials
Synthetic resins
Organic polymers

Ebonite


Autoionization is a process by which an atom or a molecule in an excited state  spontaneously emits one of the outer-shell electrons, thus going from a state with charge  to a state with charge , for example from an electrically neutral state to a singly ionized state.

Autoionizing states are usually short-lived, and thus can be described as Fano resonances rather than normal bound states. They can be observed as variations in the ionization cross sections of atoms and molecules, by photoionization, electron ionization and other methods.

Examples
As examples, several Fano resonances in the extreme ultraviolet photoionization spectrum of neon are attributed to autoionizing states. Some are due to one-electron excitations, such as a series of three strong similarly shaped peaks at energies of 45.546, 47.121 and 47.692 eV which are interpreted as 1s2 2s1 2p6 np (1P) states for n = 3, 4 and 5. These states of neutral neon lie beyond the first ionization energy because it takes more energy to excite a 2s electron than to remove a 2p electron. When autoionization occurs, the np → 2s de-excitation provides the energy needed to remove one 2p electron and form the Ne+ ground state.

Other resonances are attributed to two-electron excitations. The same neon photoionization spectrum considered above contains a fourth strong resonance in the same region at 44.979 eV but with a very different shape, which is interpreted as the 1s2 2s2 2p4 3s 3p (1P) state. For autoionization, the 3s → 2p transition provides the energy to remove the 3p electron.

Electron ionization allows the observation of some states which cannot be excited by photons due to selection rules. In neon for example again, the excitation of triplet states is forbidden by the spin selection rule ΔS = 0, but the 1s2 2s2 2p4 3s 3p (3P) has been observed by electron ionization at 42.04 eV. Ion impact by high energy H+, He+ and Ne+ ions has also been used.

If a core electron is missing, a positive ion can autoionize further and lose a second electron in the Auger effect. In neon, X-ray excitation can remove a 1s electron, producing an excited Ne+ ion with configuration 1s1 2s2 2p6. In the subsequent Auger process a 2s → 1s transition and simultaneous emission of a second electron from 2p leads to the Ne2+ 1s2 2s1 2p5 ionic state.

Molecules, in addition, can have vibrationally autoionizing Rydberg states, in which the small amount of energy necessary to ionize a Rydberg state is provided by vibrational excitation.

Autodetachment
When the excited state of the atom or molecule consists of a compound state of a neutral particle and a resonantly attached electron, autoionization is referred to as autodetachment. In this case the compound state begins with a net negative charge before the autoionization process, and ends with a neutral charge. The ending state will often be vibrationally or rotationally excited state as a result of excess energy from the resonant attachment process.

References

Atomic physics
Molecular physics
Quantum chemistry

Autoionization


River Bank filtration is a type of filtration that works by passing water to be purified for use as drinking water through the banks of a river or lake. It is then drawn off by extraction wells some distance away from the water body. The process may directly yield drinkable water, or be a relatively uncomplicated way of pre-treating water for further purification.

Procedure

Three filtration mechanisms are possible.  Physical filtration or straining takes places when suspended particulates are too large to pass through interstitial spaces between alluvial soil particles.  Biological filtration occurs when soil microorganisms remove and digest dissolved or suspended organic material and chemical nutrients.

Chemical filtration or ion exchange may take place when aquifer soils react with soluble chemicals in the water.  Most 'normal' contaminants (microbial organisms and inorganic or organic pollutants) will be removed by bank filtration, either because they get filtered out by the sand/earth of the bank, or because the passage time (which may be days or potentially weeks) is sufficient to render them inactive. Research has also shown that the removal efficiency depends not only on the contaminant, but also on the "hydraulic and chemical characteristics of the bottom sediment and the aquifer, the local recharge-discharge conditions, and biochemical processes".

There have been indications that some pharmaceutical compounds (medical drug traces from human use) may not always be sufficiently removed by bank filtration, and that in areas with substantial contamination of this type, additional treatment may be needed.

History
The process has been in use in Europe, especially in Germany along the Rhine and later in Berlin, since the 1870s. Major facilities also exist in many other countries, including the United States, where Nebraska is leading in the use of such facilities.

Wastewater applications
Alluvial soils may also be used to purify waste-water being returned to a river after use.  Treated wastewater is typically discharged into a percolation pond on the alluvial flood plain rather than flowing directly into the river.  Chemical filtration will cease when all reactive sites within the flow pathway through aquifer soil have reacted.  Physical filtration tends to become more effective as trapped particulates block interstitial passages between alluvial soil particles; but may ultimately limit flow rates through the soil.  Particulates on the river side of the soil interface may be periodically scoured away by turbulent flow.  Wastewater percolation ponds may require maintenance to break up or remove a scum layer (Schmutzdecke) forming at the bottom of the pond.  Biological filtration remains effective unless organic loading causes anaerobic conditions within the riverbed alluvium.

See also
 Biofilter
 Folkewall
 Trickling filter

References

External links
BankFiltration.Org
Water Filters For Clean Water
Removal of iron and manganese using granular activated carbon and zeolite

Water filters

Bank filtration


Leila (, also Romanized as Leyla, Leilā, and Leylā) is a 1997 Iranian film directed by Dariush Mehrjui.

Plot
Leila and Reza are a modern Iranian couple, content with their recent marriage. However, Leila learns that she is unable to conceive. Reza's mother insists that he, as the only son, must have children ("everything goes to the son"), despite Reza's insistence that he does not want children, and suggests that he get a second wife. He adamantly refuses the idea; his mother champions it. Leila gets caught between the two worlds; elated at spending time with Reza one moment and torn apart by his nagging mother the next.

References

External links

1997 films
Iranian drama films
1997 drama films
1990s Persian-language films
Polygamy in fiction
Films directed by Dariush Mehrjui
Films set in Iran

Leila (1997 film)


The Alexandra Road estate (officially the Alexandra and Ainsworth estate, but often referred to as Rowley Way, the name of its main thoroughfare) is a housing estate in the London Borough of Camden, North West London, England. It was designed in a brutalist style in 1968 by Neave Brown of Camden Council's Architects Department. Construction work commenced in 1972 and was completed in 1978. It is constructed from site-cast, board-marked white, unpainted reinforced concrete. Along with 520 apartments, the site also includes a school, community centre, youth club, heating complex, and parkland.

Estate
The estate consists of three parallel east–west blocks, and occupies a crescent-shaped site bounded on the south by Boundary Road, Loudoun Road on the east, Abbey Road on the west, and by the West Coast Main Line to the north. The desire to control the sound and vibration from passing trains was a major consideration in the layout of the estate. Two rows of terraced apartments are aligned along the tracks. The higher, eight-story block directly adjacent to the railway line is organised in the form of a ziggurat, and acts as a noise barrier that blocks the noise of the trains from reaching the interior portion of the site, and its foundations rest on rubber pads that eliminate vibration. A lower, four-storey block runs along the other side of a continuous pedestrian walkway, known as Rowley Way, serving both terraced rows of buildings. The third row of buildings, along the southern edge of the site, parallels another public walkway, Langtry Walk, between this row and the existing earlier buildings of the Ainsworth Estate and defines a public park with play areas between the second and third row of dwellings.

The lower four-storey building along Rowley Way contains maisonettes with shared access, terraces, and gardens overlooking the park at the rear. Maisonettes also occupy the top two levels of the larger eight-storey building opposite, with entrance from a walkway on the 7th floor that runs the entire length of the structure. Dwellings in the lower floor in this block  are entered from open stairs serving two dwellings per floor. The flat roofs of the stepped elevation provides private outdoor areas for every home. Garage parking is located beneath the building, and underneath the building at the rear alongside the railway tracks.

Development and history
Since the early 1950s, tower blocks surrounded by public open space had been the method of choice for councils to replace terraced housing in poor condition while keeping the same high population density. However, by the mid-1960s, even before the collapse of Ronan Point, the shortcomings of that method were becoming apparent. Neave Brown believed that ziggurat style terraces, little higher than the terraces they replaced, could provide a better solution.  Vehicular traffic could be restricted to basement level.  Family-sized flats, bright and airy due to the set-back upper floors, could open, via their own "defensible" front garden, onto ground floor streets/play areas, whilst the higher levels could be used for smaller flats, each with a private balcony.

The Alexandra Road Estate may be seen as Brown's culminating, and largest scale, effort to apply these principles to the design of high-density public housing. Five houses on Winscombe Street, built in 1967, were his first experiment with the terrace type. The Fleet Road project, begun about the same time and consisting of 71 houses, a shop, and a studio, arranged in parallel terraced rows, was a further application of the idea.

Public Inquiry
The estate received much criticism during and after its construction because of its very high cost (particularly compared with tower blocks), caused by the complicated nature of its construction, unforeseen foundation problems, and the delays caused by those at a time of very high inflation, reaching 20% per year at one point in the 1970s. In 1978 a Public Inquiry was launched by the Labour-run council to investigate the reasons for overshooting the budget and timetable.

Although there were indeed a significant delay and an increase in cost of approximately four times the originally commissioned tender, the Inquiry may have been politically motivated. Mark Swenarton cites several factors for its launch: The campaigning Conservatives tried to allege that Labour was incompetent in managing the council and an increasingly pressured Labour hoping to relieve itself from the public anger of the spending by raising the transparency and potentially find the roots of the problem with the Conservative leadership 1968–1971.

The outcome of the Inquiry published in seven reports mainly made "the apparent failure of the councillors to understand the contractual obligations that they had undertaken" responsible for the mismanagement and was not successful in blaming the architect as had been hoped by some. Despite there being no findings of a mismanagement on his part, however, being the subject of a Public Inquiry destroyed Neave Brown's reputation in the UK where he never built again.

Alexandra Road Estate today
The estate has suffered less vandalism than many Camden estates, and it was granted Grade II* listed status on 18 August 1993, the first post-war council housing estate to be listed. It was described by Peter Brooke, then Heritage Secretary, as "one of the most distinguished groups of buildings in England since the Second World War."

After a continuing career including international town planning and post-graduate teaching, Brown retrained as a fine artist, to which occupation he devoted his retirement. In October 2017, Brown won the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Brown died, aged 88, in January 2018.

Other sites
The Highgate New Town/Whittington Estate by Peter Tábori has a similar design.

References

Further reading

External links

 Municipal Dreams: The Alexandra Road Estate, Camden: 'a magical moment for English housing', a blog article including an extensive list of sources.
 One Below the Queen: Rowley Way Speaks for Itself A 2010 documentary made by Alexandra Road estate residents themselves. Viewable online.
 Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate Tenants and Residents Association

Brutalist architecture in London
Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
Housing estates in the London Borough of Camden
Ziggurat style modern architecture
1978 establishments in England

Alexandra Road Estate


Holly Suzette Dunn (August 22, 1957 – November 14, 2016) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 1995 and 1997. She released 10 albums and charted 19 singles, plus two duets on the Hot Country Songs charts. Two of her single releases, "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me" and "You Really Had Me Going", went to No. 1 on that chart. Other songs for which she is known include "Daddy's Hands" and "Maybe I Mean Yes". Dunn's brother, Chris Waters, is a songwriter and record producer, having worked with both his sister and other artists in these capacities. Dunn retired from music in 2003, and died of ovarian cancer in 2016.

Biography

Early years and MTM Records
Holly Suzette Dunn was born August 22, 1957. Her parents were a Church of Christ preacher and a landscape painter.

While attending high school, Dunn performed in a band called Freedom Folk Singers, which toured the Southern United States. She attended Abilene Christian University and performed in a school-sponsored group called The Hilltoppers.  Dunn also wrote songs with her brother, Chris Waters, who  later became a prolific songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. One of their collaborations, "Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind", was recorded by Cristy Lane. After graduating from college, Dunn moved to Nashville, where she worked as a demo singer before both  Waters and she became songwriters at CBS Records, and then MTM Records. Louise Mandrell had a top-10 hit in 1984 with "I'm Not Through Loving You Yet", which the two co-wrote. By 1985, Dunn was signed to a record contract with MTM.

Dunn's first two releases — "Playing for Keeps" and "My Heart Holds On" — both failed to make the Top 40 on the Hot Country Songs charts, while "Two Too Many" peaked at No. 39. Her first Top 10 hit came in 1986, when "Daddy's Hands", a tribute to her father, peaked at No. 7 on that chart. Dunn, who wrote "Daddy's Hands" single-handedly, noted that the song's success led to many fans sharing positive experiences about their own fathers with her. The song was included on her self-titled debut, from which it served as the final single. Following this song, she sang guest vocals on Michael Martin Murphey's Top 5 hit "A Face in the Crowd", from his album Americana. She was named the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist in 1986, and then the winner of Country Music Association's Horizon Award in 1987.

Her second MTM album, Cornerstone, produced three straight top-10 hits in "Love Someone Like Me", "Only When I Love", and "Strangers Again". Across the Rio Grande in 1988 included the singles "That's What Your Love Does to Me" and "(It's Always Gonna Be) Someday", before MTM Records filed for bankruptcy and closed.

Warner Bros. Records, Grand Ole Opry, River North Records
In 1989, Dunn moved to Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division. Her first release for the label, The Blue Rose of Texas, produced her first number-one hit in "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me", followed by "There Goes My Heart Again" at number four. The latter was co-written by a then-unknown Joe Diffie, who also sang backing vocals on it. She also became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1989. She also sang on Kenny Rogers' late 1990 hit "Maybe", from his album  Something Inside So Strong.

Dunn's second Warner Bros. album, Heart Full of Love, was released in 1990. Although its lead single "My Anniversary for Being a Fool" failed to make the top 40, the followup "You Really Had Me Going" became her second and final number-one hit, while the title track was a top-20 hit.

In 1991, Dunn released her first greatest hits package, Milestones: Greatest Hits. It included the new release "Maybe I Mean Yes", which became controversial due to some listeners interpreting the song as condoning date rape. As a result, Dunn asked for the single to be withdrawn from rotation. Her final Warner Bros. release, Getting It Dunn, failed to produce a top-40 hit, and she exited the label in 1993.

Dunn signed to River North Records in 1995 and released two albums for the label: Life and Love and All the Stages in 1995 and Leave One Bridge Standing two years later. The former produced her final chart entry in "I Am Who I Am". Shortly before the release of Leave One Bridge Standing, she joined country music radio station WWWW in Detroit, Michigan, as morning show co-host. It was not her first time behind the radio mike, as she had served as a DJ during her college years. However, the decision forced her to give up touring for a time. Later, she co-hosted Opry Backstage on the Nashville Network in 1999–2002.

Retirement and death
In 2003, Dunn announced her retirement from her musical career and released her final album, Full Circle, which was her only gospel album, to devote full-time to her other passion, art. Her paintings deal primarily with subjects from the Southwestern United States.

On November 14, 2016, Dunn died of ovarian cancer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 59.  She was survived by her wife, Melissa Taylor, and her brothers, Chris, Jerry and Rodney.

Discography

Studio albums
 Holly Dunn (1986)
 Cornerstone (1987)
 Across the Rio Grande (1988)
 The Blue Rose of Texas (1989)
 Heart Full of Love (1990)
 Getting It Dunn (1992)
 Life and Love and All the Stages (1995)
 Leave One Bridge Standing (1997)
 Full Circle (2003)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

|-
|rowspan=2| 1987
|rowspan=2| "Daddy's Hands"
|Best Female Country Vocal Performance
|
|-
|Best Country Song
|
|-
|1988
|"A Face in the Crowd"
|Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
|
|}

TNN/Music City News Country Awards

|-
|rowspan=2| 1988
|rowspan=3| Holly Dunn
|Female Artist of the Year
|
|-
|rowspan=2| Star of Tomorrow
|
|-
|1989
|
|}

Academy of Country Music Awards

|-
|1987
|Holly Dunn
|Top New Female Vocalist
|
|}

Country Music Association Awards

|-
|rowspan=3| 1987
|"Daddy's Hands"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Holly Dunn
|Horizon Award
|
|-
|Holly Dunn and Michael Martin Murphy
|Vocal Duo of the Year
|
|}

References

External links

1957 births
2016 deaths
Abilene Christian University alumni
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
American members of the Churches of Christ
Deaths from cancer in New Mexico
Deaths from ovarian cancer
Grand Ole Opry members
Jefferson High School (San Antonio, Texas) alumni
MTM Records artists
Musicians from San Antonio
Singer-songwriters from Texas
Warner Records artists
Country musicians from Texas
LGBT people from Texas
American LGBT singers
American LGBT songwriters
River North Records artists

Holly Dunn


The vertebrate brain is the main part of the central nervous system. In vertebrates (and most other animals) the brain is at the front, in the head. It is protected by the skull and close to the main senses of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell. As an animal moves forward, its senses collect data about the surroundings, and that data goes directly to the brain.

Brains are extremely complex. The brain controls the other organs of the body, either by activating muscles or by causing secretion of chemicals such as hormones and neurotransmitters. Muscular action allows rapid and coordinated responses to changes in the environment; hormones and the autonomic nervous system make slower changes in the body.
It is also a part of human and animal body. The brain of  an adult human weights about  13001400 grams

In vertebrates, the spinal cord by itself can cause reflex responses as well as simple movement such as swimming or walking. However, sophisticated control of behaviour requires a centralized brain.

The structure of all vertebrate brains is basically the same. At the same time, during the course of evolution, the vertebrate brain has undergone changes, and become more effective. In so-called 'lower' animals, most or all of the brain structure is inherited, and therefore their behaviour is mostly instinctive. In mammals, and especially in man, the brain is developed further during life by learning. This has the benefit of helping them fit better into their environment. The capacity to learn is seen best in the cerebral cortex.

Three principles
 The brain and nervous system is essentially a system which makes connections. It has input from sense organs and output to muscles. It is connected in several ways with the endocrine system, which makes hormones, and the digestive system and sex system. Hormones work slowly, so those changes are gradual.
 The brain is a kind of department store. It has, all inter-connected, departments which do different things. They all help each other gather senses.
 Much of what the body does is not conscious. A person breathes, heart beats, intestines digest, hair grows, thoughts pop into their mind... Some of this can be noticed by a person, and some (like breathing) can be influenced to some extent. But, basically, much of the body runs on automatic, adjusted by the autonomic nervous system. The brain, too, does much of its work without a person noticing it. The unconscious mind refers to the brain activities which are seldom noticed.

Vertebrate brain regions

Several brain areas have kept their identities across the whole range of vertebrates, from hagfishes to humans. Here is a list of some of the most important areas, with a brief description of their functions as currently understood. These functions may still be disputed to some degree. Starting from the back (or, in humans, the underneath part) the regions are:
 The medulla (and the spinal cord) have many small nuclei, which deal with various autonomic functions. These include the heart beat and blood pressure, breathing, and vomiting.ch 44, 45
 The pons is a relay station, carrying messages between the cerebrum and the medulla and cerebellum.
 The hypothalamus is a small region at the base of the forebrain. It is the central control station for sleep/wake cycles, control of eating and drinking, control of hormone release, and many other functions. It sits immediately above the pituitary gland, and secretes hormones into the gland. These hormones inhibit or stimulate the pituitary gland. The gland, in turn, makes hormones which affect the rest of the body.
 The thalamus sits above the hypothalamus, and below the cerebral cortex. It is a collection of nuclei with various functions. It acts as a relay station, gathering sense information of all kinds (except olfactory) and passes it on to the cerebral cortex. Also, it has a role in consciousness and sleep. There are action systems for several types of behaviour, including eating, drinking, defecation, and copulation.
 The cerebellum adjusts the output of other brain systems to make them more precise. Removal of the cerebellum does not prevent an animal from doing anything in particular, but it makes actions hesitant and clumsy. This precision is not built-in, but learned by trial and error. Learning how to ride a bicycle is an example of a type of neural plasticity that may take place largely within the cerebellum.ch 42
 The tectum, often called 'optic tectum', directs actions to points in space.  Its best studied function is to direct eye movements.  It also directs reaching movements.  It gets strong visual inputs, and inputs from other senses which are useful in directing actions. Sound in owls, input from the thermosensitive pit organs in snakes, scent in dogs, are examples.  In some fish, such as lampreys, it is the largest part of the brain.
 The hippocampus is, strictly speaking, only in mammals, but it has counterparts in all vertebrates. It is involved in spatial memory and navigation in fishes, birds, reptiles, and mammals.
 The basal ganglia are a group of structures in the forebrain, which are strongly connected to the cerebral cortex and the thalamus. The main function of the basal ganglia seems to be selecting actions. They send inhibitory signals to all parts of the brain that can generate actions. In the right circumstances they release the inhibition, so that the action-generating systems can execute their actions. Rewards and punishments exert most important neural effects on the basal ganglia.
 The cerebral cortex is a layer of grey cells that is on the surface of the forebrain. It is involved in multiple functions, including olfaction and spatial memory. In mammals, where it dominates the brain, it controls functions from many subcortical areas.
 The olfactory bulb is a special structure that processes olfactory sensory signals (smells), and sends its output to the olfactory part of the cerebral cortex. It is a major brain component in many vertebrates, but much reduced in primates. Dogs are the classic example of a mammal whose scent perception is in many ways the basis of their sensory life.

Brain size
The relationship between brain size, body size and other variables has been studied in a wide range of vertebrate species. Brain size increases with body size but not proportionally.

Mammals
Averaging across all mammals, it follows a power law, with an exponent of about 0.75. This formula applies to the average brain of mammals but each family departs from it, reflecting their sophistication of behavior. For example, primates have brains 5 to 10 times as large as the formula predicts. Predators tend to have larger brains. When the mammalian brain increases in size, not all parts increase at the same rate. The larger the brain of a species, the greater the fraction taken up by the neocortex.

References

Brain
Vertebrates

Vertebrate brain


The Von Brauners were a professional wrestling tag team/stable that operated from the 1950s through the 1970s. The teams consisted of Karl Von Brauner (Doug Donnan), Kurt Von Brauner #1 (Jimmy Brawner), Eric Von Brauner (Ron Donnan), and Kurt Von Brauner #2 (Willy Rutgowsky). The chosen gimmick was that of a team of evil German twins.

The four members worked as the Von Brauners for approximately 15 years. The team of Karl and Kurt #1 captured World Tag Team gold 20 times. All versions of the team captured a total of 35 world tag team championships plus five regional tag team championships.

Professional wrestling career
Jimmy Brawner and Doug Donovan began tag teaming together in January 1960 as Kurt and Karl Von Brauner, respectively, with the gimmick of evil German twins. Some promotional material cited them as descending from Teutonic royalty. Fellow professional wrestler Dick Steinborn suggested the two wrestle together after noting that they resembled each other. The duo first teamed together in Oklahoma. They were paired with Saul Weingeroff as their manager in the early 1960s, and Weingeroff frequently interfered in their matches by wielding his cane against the Von Brauners' opponents. Later, they were booked by Nick Gulas in NWA Mid-America. When Jimmy Brauner and Doug Donovan split up in 1965, Donovan's real life brother Ron "Red" Donnan began teaming with him as Karl and Eric Von Brauner. Eric retired in the late 1960s and was replaced by the second Kurt Von Brauner, played by Willy Rutgowsky. They teamed together in San Francisco with Gerhardt Kaiser as their manager. While the team has been said to be disbanded in 1974, the team continued on in NWA Hollywood Wrestling with Karl and Cliff Von Brauner(Mike McManus) in what may have been the final run of the Von Brauners.

Personal lives

Karl Von Brauner
Doug Donovan played the Karl Von Brauner character. He was born Doug Donnan on a dairy farm in Stirling, Ontario. He played junior football in Edmonton, Alberta. While working at a gym, Stu Hart "discovered" Donovan and trained him to be a professional wrestler. During his wrestling years, he changed his name to Donovan, and at 5′10″, he weighed 215 pounds. Donovan had some early success with Pacific Northwest Wrestling as a singles wrestler, winning the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship once, as well as the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship five times (including twice with his brother Red). Later, Donovan legally changed his name to Karl Von Brauner.

In the mid-1960s, Donovan teamed with Al Costello as The Internationals with Gary Hart as their manager. The team was later managed by George "Crybaby" Cannon. The Internationals worked mainly in Tennessee and Texas for NWA Western States. In Texas, they won the Texas version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Donovan also later held this title with partner Luke Graham. The Internationals were also billed as the first NWA American Tag Team Champions, titles that were also recognized by World Class Championship Wrestling in addition to the Western States promotion. The Internationals lost the American Tag Team title to Fritz and Waldo Von Erich on February 21, 1967.

While Donovan was said to have retired from professional wrestling in 1975, to work as an air freight pilot in California, he wrestled as Inferno #1 of  The Infernos for NWA Hollywood Wrestling and then reformed The Von Brauners with Cliff Von Brauner in NWA Hollywood Wrestling after the Infernos lost their masks. In the years before his death, he worked as a crop duster. He had a wife Sherry and two sons named Jeff and Chris. After a stroke and open heart surgery, he died on July 5, 2009.

Kurt Von Brauner #1
Jimmy Brawner played the first version of Kurt Von Brauner. Brawner was originally from Tennessee. He was of German heritage and was able to speak German, as well. Brawner later legally changed his name to Kurt Von Brawner to protect kayfabe. After retiring from professional wrestling, he worked for the Southland Corporation in Tampa and later for the Shriners as chief of security for their hospital. Brawner died from a stroke on July 4, 2004. He lived in Tampa with his wife Joann until his death.

Eric Von Brauner
Doug Donovan's real life brother Ron "Red" Donnan played Eric Von Brauner. Red was two years younger than his brother Doug, but he was also born on a dairy farm in Stirling, Ontario. Red worked for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He trained as a professional wrestler with Bert Ruby in Detroit. In the late 1950s, he worked in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship twice with his brother. Red retired from professional wrestling in the late 1960s and joined the fire department in Memphis. He later moved to Covington, Georgia.

Kurt Von Brauner #2
The second incarnation of Kurt Von Brauner was played by Willy Rutgowsky, who also previously wrestled under the name  Kurt Von Stroheim. Under the  Von Stroheim name, Rutgowsky teamed with the original Kurt Von Brauner, Jimmy Brawner. He was also of German heritage, and was interned by the Nazis during World War II before becoming a professional wrestler. Rutgowsky died on February 17, 1993.

Cliff Von Brauner
Cliff Von Brauner was portrayed by Mike McManus in 1976. Little is known of McManus' career due to McManus often wrestling under masks. He wrestled as "Bruiser" McManus and was a journeyman wrestler. He made appearances as Inferno #3 as early as 1967 for NWA Mid-America and was part of the Infernos team from 1975-1976 in NWA Hollywood Wrestling and in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He later became "Cliff Von Brauner" for NWA Hollywood Wrestling in 1976 and teamed up with Curtis Smith as, "The Challengers.

Championships and accomplishments

Karl and Kurt Von Brauner
 Western States Sports
 NWA World Tag Team Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time)

Karl and Kurt Von Brauner #1
American Wrestling Association
AWA World Tag Team Championship (Indiana version) (1 time)
National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (8 times)
NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (2 times)
NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (6 times)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (3 times)
World Wrestling Association
WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)

Karl and Eric Von Brauner
National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (2 times)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time)

Karl and Kurt Von Brauner #2
National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (10 times)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (3 times)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Tennessee version) (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time)
NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (2 times)

Kurt and Fritz Von Brauner
Georgia Championship Wrestling
NWA International Tag Team Championship (Georgia version) (1 time)

References

External links
The Von Brauners at OWW.com

American Wrestling Association teams and stables
Faux German professional wrestlers
Independent promotions teams and stables
Stampede Wrestling alumni

Von Brauners


Christopher John Emile Bliss, FBA (born 1940) is a British economist who was the Nuffield Professor of International Economics at the University of Oxford between 1992 and 2007.

Born in 1940, Bliss was educated at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1962 and then completing a PhD there in 1966. He was elected to a fellowship at Christ's College, Cambridge in 1965, the same year he was appointed to an assistant lectureship at the University of Cambridge. Promoted to a full lectureship in 1967, he moved to the University of Essex in 1971 to be Professor of Economics, before moving again in 1977, this time to the University of Oxford where he was appointed Nuffield Reader in International Economics and elected to a fellowship at Nuffield College. In 1992, he was appointed Nuffield Professor of International Economics, retiring in 2007. He was elected fellow of the Econometric Society in 1975 and Fellow of the British Academy in 1988 and sat on the Academy's council from 2006 to 2007.

Bibliography

 Capital Theory and the Distribution of Income (North-Holland Publishing Company, 1975).
 (with Nicholas Stern) Palanpur: the Economy of an Indian Village (Oxford University Press, 1982).
 (edited with Jorge Braga De Macedo) Unity with Diversity in the European Economy: The Community's Southern Frontier (Cambridge University Press, 1990).
 Economic Theory and Policy for Trading Blocks (Manchester University Press, 1994).
(edited with Avi J.Cohen, and G. C. Harcourt) Capital: An Elgar Reference Collection (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2005).
 Trade, Growth, and Inequality (Oxford University Press, 2007).

References

Living people
1940 births
British economists
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge
Academics of the University of Cambridge
Academics of the University of Essex
Academics of the University of Oxford
Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the Econometric Society

Christopher Bliss


A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities from show business (motion picture movie stars, theater, and television actors), politicians, professional sports stars, and other wealthy people or public figures. Some gossip columnists broadcast segments on radio and television.

The columns mix factual material on arrests, divorces, marriages and pregnancies, which are obtained from official records, with more speculative gossip stories, rumors, and innuendo about romantic relationships, affairs, and purported personal problems.

Gossip columnists have a reciprocal relationship with the celebrities whose private lives are splashed about in the gossip column's pages. While gossip columnists sometimes engage in (borderline) defamatory conduct, spreading innuendo about alleged immoral or illegal conduct that can injure celebrities' reputations, they also serve as an important part of the publicity machine that turns actors and musicians into celebrities and superstars that are the objects of the public's obsessive attention and interest. The publicity agents of celebrities often provide or "leak" information or rumors to gossip columnists to publicize the celebrity or their projects, or to counteract "bad press" that has recently surfaced about their conduct.

Libel and defamation
While gossip columnists' "bread and butter" is rumor, innuendo, and allegations of scandalous behavior, there is a fine line between the legally-acceptable spreading of rumors and the making of defamatory statements, the latter of which can provoke a lawsuit. Newspaper and magazine editorial policies normally require gossip columnists to have a source for all of their allegations to protect the publisher from lawsuits for defamation (libel).

In the United States, celebrities or public figures can sue for libel if their private lives are revealed in a gossip column and they believe that their reputation has been defamed – that is, exposed to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or pecuniary loss. Gossip columnists cannot defend against libel claims by arguing that they merely repeated but did not originate the defaming rumor or claim. Instead, a columnist must prove that the allegedly defaming statement was truthful or that it was based on a reasonably reliable source.

In the mid-1960s, rulings by the United States Supreme Court made it harder for the media to be sued for libel in the US. The Court ruled that libel occurs only if a publication prints falsehoods about a celebrity with "reckless disregard" for the truth. A celebrity suing a newspaper for libel must prove that the paper published the falsehood with actual malice or with deliberate knowledge that the statement was both incorrect and defamatory.

Moreover, the Court ruled that only factual misrepresentation, not expression of opinion, is libel. Thus, if gossip columnists write that they "think that Celebrity X is an idiot", the columnist does not face a risk of being sued for libel. On the other hand, if columnists invent an allegation that "Celebrity X is a wife beater" with no supporting source or evidence, the celebrity can sue for libel on the grounds that their reputation was defamed.

In some circumstances, however, gossip columnists do not fact-check the information that they receive from their sources before they publish their stories. Also, some gossip columnists who are not themselves reputable post articles about celebrities. As a result, there is a chance of published stories leading to the defamation of celebrities.

History

The precursors to gossip columns were the society columns of the 19th and early 20th centuries. James Gordon Bennett Sr. is credited with first creating this position at the New York Herald in 1840.

Walter Winchell, a gossip columnist famous in the 1930s and 1940s, was the first writer to have a syndicated gossip column. Winchell used his political, entertainment, and social connections to mine information and rumors, which he either published in his column On Broadway or traded to accumulate more power. He has been referred to as "the most feared journalist" of his era. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the two best-known Hollywood gossip columnists were the competing Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons.

In Hollywood's "Golden Age" in the 1930s and 1940s, gossip columnists were courted by the movie studios so that the studios could use gossip columns as a powerful publicity tool. During that period, the major film studios had "stables" of contractually-obligated actors, and controlled nearly all aspects of the lives of their movie stars. Well-timed leaks about a star's purported romantic adventures helped movie studios to create and sustain public interest in their star actors. The studios' publicity agents also acted as unnamed "well-informed inside sources." In this capacity, agents could counteract whispers about celebrity secrets, such as homosexuality or an out-of-wedlock child, which could severely damage both the individual reputation of a movie star and their greater box office viability.

Having fallen into ill-repute after the heyday of Hopper and Parsons, gossip columnists saw a comeback in the 1980s. Many mainstream magazines such as Time, which once considered the hiring of gossip columnists as beneath their stature, now have sections titled "People" or "Entertainment". Such mainstream gossip columns provide a light, chatty glimpse into the private lives and misadventures of the rich and famous.

At the other end of the journalism spectrum, there are entire publications that deal primarily in gossip, rumor, and innuendo about celebrities, such as the British 'red-top' tabloids and the celebrity 'tell-all' magazines.

Notable gossip columnists

Notable gossip columnists include:

Columns not named for a columnist
Gossip columns that are not named after a specific columnist, along with the media source, include:

 3am — Daily Mirror, a British newspaper.
 Access Hollywood — a syndicated television program
 Bizarre — The Sun, a London newspaper
 Page Six — New York Post, a New York City newspaper
 Inside New York, in New York Post, New York City newspaper
 Inside the Beltway — The Washington Times, a Washington, D.C. newspaper
 Off the Record — The New York Observer, a New York newspaper
 Vegas Confidential — Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Las Vegas newspaper

See also
 Blind item
 Defamation
 Gossip
 Innuendo
 Roman à clef

References

Journalism occupations
Tabloid journalism

Gossip columnist