Slingo is an online single and multi-player game that combines elements of slots and bingo (the name is a portmanteau of the two games). The game was created by New Jersey real estate developer, Sal Falciglia Sr. in 1994, who also founded the company Slingo, Inc. to create and market games based on the Slingo theme. In July 2013, RealNetworks acquired Slingo for $15.6 million, and in July 2015 RealNetworks announced that it would sell Slingo to London-based gaming company Gaming Realms. Slingo has since become popular in the UK online gambling industry, with many sites now hosting the game, including its various iterations of which there are currently 12. These are known collectively and individually as 'Slingo Originals' and were developed by Gaming Realms' development and publishing branch of the same name. Both the games and brand have enjoyed commercial success, and have been praised for their playability and originality.

Play
A player has 20 turns to "spin" the numbers below his or her bingo card. Five numbers appear, and if they are found on the card, they can be marked off.

During the game, other special items may show up in the number spots below the card. Jokers are wild, and can be used to mark off any number in the column in which it appears. A joker in the center (N) column may sometimes become a Super Joker, which can be placed anywhere on the board. (When it appears, the Super Joker must be played first, before any other numbers.)

Devils also occasionally appear during the course of the game. If a devil appears in place of a number, the player's score is cut in half. Frequently though, a cherub appears and cancels the devil's effects by shooting it with an arrow.

Other special items include coins, which grant automatic points to the player, and Free Spins. The last four spins of the game (17, 18, 19, and 20) must be bought using points. A player may use accumulated free spins in place of the fee for any of the spins.

Time limits are imposed on spins as well. If a player does not begin their spin within a time limit, they lose that spin. If a player does not mark off all possible numbers or jokers within the time limit, those are considered lost.

At the end of the game, the winner is the player who has the most points.

Spinoffs and ports
Outside of internet gaming, there have been other Slingo products, including versions of the game for PC and cell phones, and as a handheld electronic game (which features no Super Jokers, multiple Joker bonuses or cherubs due to technical limitations).

Slingo has also been spun off into Slingo-themed slot machines, and scratch-off lottery tickets.

A game show version of Slingo was filmed in The Philippines and Hosted by Joey de Leon on ABC5 in 2007. In 2008, an unsold pilot was produced in the United States, hosted by Michael Burger.

Scoring
Points are earned from Slingo CD-Rom to Slingo Deluxe:

Marking a number on the board (200 points)
Covered five numbers in a row either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally (1,000 points)
Gold coin on the reel (1,000 points)
Spinning three, four, or five jokers in one spin (super joker counts) (3 = 1,000 points, 4 = 2,500 points, 5 = 10,000 points) This bonus didn't exist until the millennium version.
clearing the entire card, which earns a bonus proportional to the number of spins used:
Spin 0 - 16,000 Points (it is impossible to fill a Slingo card in less than 5 spins unless you have increasing spins freezing)
Spin 1 - 15,500 Points
Spins 2 - 15,000 Points
Spins 3 - 14,500 Points
Spins 4 - 14,000 Points
Spins 5 - 13,500 Points
Spins 6 - 13,000 Points
Spins 7 - 12,500 Points
Spins 8 - 12,000 Points
Spins 9 - 11,500 Points
Spins 10 - 11,000 Points
Spins 11 - 10,500 Points
Spins 12 - 10,000 Points
Spins 13 - 9,500 Points
Spins 14 - 9,000 Points
Spins 15 - 8,500 Points
Spins 16 - 8,000 Points
Spins 17 - 7,500 Points
Spins 18 - 7,000 Points
Spins 19 - 6,500 Points
Spins 20 - 6,000 Points

Points are deducted for:
One of the reel landed on devil (cuts the score in half)
Paying for the last four spins
spin 17 - 500 points
spin 18 - 1,000 points
spin 19 - 1,500 points
spin 20 - 2,000 points

Slingo Quest-Latest
Points are earned from Slingo Quest to Slingo Supreme 2:

making a number on the board without speed bonus (200 points)
making a number on the board with speed bonus (300, 400, 500, 700, etc.)
clearing lines of numbers either horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or with bounce (1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, etc.)
spinning three, four or five jokers in one spin (super joker counts) (3 = 3,000 points, 4 = 8,000 points, 5 = 15,000, points 6 = 24,000 points, 7 = 35,000 points)
opens a treasure without devil (earns the score by double)
clearing the entire card, which earns a bonus proportional to the number of spins used since Slingo Quest:
Spin 5: 47,500 points (it is impossible to fill the Slingo card in less than 5 spins unless either Cell Jokers, Power Shot, Instant Slingos, Speed Slingo, Cell Marbles, and/or Exploding Slingos are active)
Spin 6: 45,000 points
Spin 7: 42,500 points
Spin 8: 40,000 points
Spin 9: 37,500 points
Spin 10: 35,000 points
Spin 11: 32,500 points
Spin 12: 30,000 points
Spin 13: 27,500 points
Spin 14: 25,000 points
Spin 15: 22,500 points
Spin 16: 20,000 points
Spin 17: 17,500 points
Spin 18: 15,000 points
Spin 19: 12,500 points
Spin 20: 10,000 points
Points are deducted from Slingo Quest-Slingo Quest: Hawaii:
hitting a devil (cuts the score in 10% 20%, 30% 40%, or 50% unless you have Devil Protection)
opens a treasure to appear devil (cuts the score in half)
paying for the last four spins since Slingo Quest
 spin 17 - 10%
 spin 18 - 20%
 spin 19 - 30%
 spin 20 - 40%
Points are earned since Slingo Supreme:
winning a minigame (earns the score by double, half, or quarter)
Points are deducted since Slingo Supreme:
losing a minigame (cuts the score by 100%, half, or quarter unless you have Devil Protection and/or Lucky)
Points are earned since Slingo Supreme 2:
making a number on the board after starting a spin (200 points)
making a number on the board with speed bonus (250, 300, 400, 500, 700, 1000, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3500, 5000)
clearing lines of numbers either horizontally, vertically, diagonally, bouncing or wrapping (1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, etc.)

Millennium and Classic versions
For a while, the multiplayer version of Slingo was only available through AOL. A single-player version aimed at children on slingo.com was the closest members could get to the real thing. However, for the new millennium, Slingo launched a new version with newer graphics than the old game, and it had a resemblance to the graphics of the kid's version of the game. Also, the bonuses for three or more jokers were added into the game, and the Devil and Cherub cartoons were revamped.  Another revision was done along with a name change in September 2009 to Slingo Classic.  This included another graphics update.

Game modes
Some of the CD-ROM versions of the game had different versions of Slingo with slightly different rules:

 Classic Slingo - The original version of the Slingo game.
 Mixed Matrix Slingo - This version has all the numbers in random locations, not just limited to the traditional column. Spin Numbers can be used no matter which column it is on the board, however Jokers still can only choose numbers of the column it is under.  This is a more time-based game, since it will take longer to try and search which numbers where hit and where they are.
 Duel Slingo - Play against the computer in a 2-player game board.  Both the player & computer take turns alternating to clear the same board and compete to see which will get the highest score.
 Giant Slingo - Same as the original, but a new 'Giant' item is added to the game.  If a giant is earned during a 'Spin' and once you choose the numbers or Jokers you can, the Giant will Spin again (except the column he was under) for 4 new numbers on the same turn.  This makes it easier to clear the board with basically 2 spins on the same turn.
 Super Squares Slingo - Same as the original, however during each Spin, up to 5 of the numbers on the board will randomly turn Red each turn, indicating a 'Super Square'.  Each super square is worth 1800 point bonus if that number is marked & another point bonus is added to your score if you earn a slingo from that square.  Also, as well a normal Jokers for normal squares (if used on a super square, it will only count as a normal number), Red highlighted 'Super Jokers' can be used to mark super squares for the full bonus (it can also be used on normal numbers if no super square is in that column).

Computer versions

There have been some stand alone computer versions of the Slingo game.

 Slingo CD-ROM (Hasbro Interactive) 1998
 Slingo Deluxe (Funkitron) 2002
 Slingo Quest (Funkitron) 2006 - Winner of the 2006 People's Choice Zeeby Award for Best Card, Board, or Mah Jong Game
 Slingo Quest - Hawaii (Funkitron) 2008
 Slingo Supreme (Funkitron) 2008
 Slingo Mystery: Who's Gold (Funkitron) 2009
 Slingo Mystery 2: The Golden Escape 2010
Slingo Quest - Egypt (Funkitron) 2010
 Slingo Quest - Amazon (Funkitron) 2011
 Slingo Supreme 2 (Funkitron) 2012

Console versions

In December 2008, Slingo appeared on the Nintendo DS with a version of Slingo Quest. This version used the DS's touch screen  to duplicate the clicking of a mouse to match numbers. The game was published by Mumbo Jumbo.

Mobile versions
There have been two iterations of Slingo for play on mobile phones.

Slingo-To-Go from SuperHappyFunFun/Kayak Interactive (now part of Oberon Media) 2005 - The game featured direct play between the users of the mobile game and players on Slingo.com.
Slingo Quest Mobile (Slingo Bingo in EU) from SuperHappyFunFun/Iplay 2007 -  This is the mobile version of the Zeeby Award Winning Slingo Quest

Casino versions
Slingo has partnered with high-profile casino organizations such as AC Coin & Slot, IGT - International Game Technology, Spielo / Gtech, Planet Bingo, Sunkist Graphics, Gamelogic, and United States Playing Card Company to bring the Slingo game play to the casino floor.

Locations

Bally's Atlantic City
Caesars Atlantic City
Paris Las Vegas
Harrah's Reno

Games currently on casino floors include:
Slingo Bonus Reel Slots
Slingo Video Slots
Brasil Slingo Video Slots
Triple Slingo Jackpot
Bonus Bet 21
Slingo Bonus Deluxe
Slingo Bonus Deluxe Community
Slingo Classic Bonus

Handheld version
The Slingo LCD handheld game was created in partnership with Tiger Electronics in 1998. It plays similarly to the Classic & Millenium versions of Slingo, but it lacks Cherubs, Super Jokers, and multiple Joker bonuses due to technical limitations.

References

External links
Official Website

1994 video games
Flash games
Mobile games
Puzzle video games
Video games developed in the United States
Windows games
RealNetworks

Slingo


The 2000 Camp David Summit was a summit meeting at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat. The summit took place between 11 and 25 July 2000 and was an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The summit ended without an agreement and its failure is considered one of the main triggers of the Second Intifada.

Reports of the outcome of the summit have been described as illustrating the Rashomon effect, in which the multiple witnesses gave contradictory and self-serving interpretations.

Summit

U.S. President Bill Clinton announced his invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat on 5 July 2000, to come to Camp David, Maryland, in order to continue their negotiations on the Middle East peace process. There was a hopeful precedent in the 1978 Camp David Accords where President Jimmy Carter was able to broker a peace agreement between Egypt, represented by President Anwar Sadat, and Israel represented by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The Oslo Accords of 1993 between the later assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat had provided that agreement should be reached on all outstanding issues between the Palestinians and Israeli sides – the so-called final status settlement – within five years of the implementation of Palestinian autonomy. However, the interim process put in place under Oslo had fulfilled neither Israeli nor Palestinian expectations.

On 11 July, the Camp David 2000 Summit convened, although the Palestinians considered the summit premature. They even saw it as a trap. The summit ended on 25 July, without an agreement being reached. At its conclusion, a Trilateral Statement was issued defining the agreed principles to guide future negotiations.

Negotiations

The negotiations were based on an all-or-nothing approach, such that "nothing was considered agreed and binding until everything was agreed." The proposals were, for the most part, verbal. As no agreement was reached and there is no official written record of the proposals, some ambiguity remains over details of the positions of the parties on specific issues.

The talks ultimately failed to reach agreement on the final status issues:

 Territory
 Territorial contiguity
 Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
 Refugees and Palestinian right of return
 Security arrangements
 Settlements

Territory
The Palestinian negotiators indicated they wanted full Palestinian sovereignty over the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip, although they would consider a one-to-one land swap with Israel. Their historic position was that Palestinians had already made a territorial compromise with Israel by accepting Israel's right to 78% of "historic Palestine", and accepting their state on the remaining 22% of such land. This consensus was expressed by Faisal Husseini when he remarked: "There can be no compromise on the compromise". They maintained that Resolution 242 calls for full Israeli withdrawal from these territories, which were captured in the Six-Day War, as part of a final peace settlement. In the 1993 Oslo Accords the Palestinian negotiators accepted the Green Line borders (1949 armistice lines) for the West Bank but the Israelis rejected this proposal and disputed the Palestinian interpretation of Resolution 242. Israel wanted to annex the numerous settlement blocks on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, and were concerned that a complete return to the 1967 borders was dangerous to Israel's security. The Palestinian and Israeli definition of the West Bank differs by approximately 5% land area as the Israeli definition does not include East Jerusalem (71 km2), the territorial waters of the Dead Sea (195 km2) and the area known as No Man's Land (50 km2 near Latrun).

Based on the Israeli definition of the West Bank, Barak offered to form a Palestinian state initially on 73% of the West Bank (that is, 27% less than the Green Line borders) and 100% of the Gaza Strip. In 10–25 years, the Palestinian state would expand to a maximum of 92% of the West Bank (91 percent of the West Bank and 1 percent from a land swap). From the Palestinian perspective this equated to an offer of a Palestinian state on a maximum of 86% of the West Bank.

According to Robert Wright, Israel would only keep the settlements with large populations. Wright states that all others would be dismantled, with the exception of Kiryat Arba (adjacent to the holy city of Hebron), which would be an Israeli enclave inside the Palestinian state, and would be linked to Israel by a bypass road. The West Bank would be split in the middle by an Israeli-controlled road from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, with free passage for Palestinians, although Israel reserved the right to close the road to passage in case of emergency. In return, Israel would allow the Palestinians to use a highway in the Negev to connect the West Bank with Gaza. Wright states that in the Israeli proposal, the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be linked by an elevated highway and an elevated railroad running through the Negev, ensuring safe and free passage for Palestinians. These would be under the sovereignty of Israel, and Israel reserved the right to close them to passage in case of emergency.

Israel would retain around 9% in the West Bank in exchange for 1% of land within the Green Line. The land that would be conceded included symbolic and cultural territories such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whereas the Israeli land conceded was unspecified. Additional to territorial concessions, Palestinian airspace would be controlled by Israel under Barak's offer. The Palestinians rejected the Halutza Sand region (78 km2) alongside the Gaza Strip as part of the land swap on the basis that it was of inferior quality to that which they would have to give up in the West Bank.

Territorial contiguity
In the proposed Palestinian state, Gaza Strip would be discontinuous from the West Bank. The degree to which the West Bank itself would be dis-contiguous is disputed. Noam Chomsky writes that the West Bank would have been divided into three cantons and Palestinian East Jerusalem would have constituted the fourth canton; all 4 cantons would be separated from one another by Israeli territory. Other sources also said that the proposed West Bank would be divided into three cantons. By contrast, Ehud Barak said the West Bank would only be divided by a wedge of Israeli territory stretching from Maale Adumim to the Jordan River, but would otherwise be continuous.

The Palestinians reacted strongly negatively to the proposed cantonization of the West Bank into three blocs, which the Palestinian delegation likened to South African Bantustans, a loaded word that was disputed by the Israeli and American negotiators. Settlement blocs, bypassed roads and annexed lands would create barriers between Nablus and Jenin with Ramallah. The Ramallah bloc would in turn be divided from Bethlehem and Hebron. A separate and smaller bloc would contain Jericho. Further, the border between West Bank and Jordan would additionally be under Israeli control. The Palestinian Authority would receive pockets of East Jerusalem which would be surrounded entirely by annexed lands in the West Bank.

East Jerusalem
A particularly virulent territorial dispute revolved around the final status of Jerusalem.  Leaders were ill-prepared for the central role the Jerusalem issue in general and the Temple Mount dispute in particular would play in the negotiations. Barak instructed his delegates to treat the dispute as "the central issue that will decide the destiny of the negotiations" whereas Arafat admonished his delegation to "not budge on this one thing:  the Haram (the Temple Mount) is more precious to me than everything else." At the opening of Camp David, Barak warned the Americans he could not accept giving the Palestinians more than a purely symbolic sovereignty over any part of East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians demanded complete sovereignty over East Jerusalem and its holy sites, in particular, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, which are located on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), a site holy in both Islam and Judaism, and the dismantling of all Israeli neighborhoods built over the Green Line. The Palestinian position, according to Mahmoud Abbas, at that time Arafat's chief negotiator, was that: "All of East Jerusalem should be returned to Palestinian sovereignty. The Jewish Quarter and Western Wall should be placed under Israeli authority, not Israeli sovereignty. An open city and cooperation on municipal services."

Israel proposed that the Palestinians be granted "custodianship," though not sovereignty, on the Temple Mount (Haram al-Sharif), with Israel retaining control over the Western Wall, a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount itself. Israeli negotiators also proposed that the Palestinians be granted administration of, but not sovereignty over, the Muslim and Christian Quarters of the Old City, with the Jewish and Armenian Quarters remaining in Israeli hands. Palestinians would be granted administrative control over all Islamic and Christian holy sites, and would be allowed to raise the Palestinian flag over them. A passage linking northern Jerusalem to Islamic and Christian holy sites would be annexed by the Palestinian state. The Israeli team proposed annexing to Israeli Jerusalem settlements within the West Bank beyond the Green Line, such as Ma'ale Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, and Gush Etzion. Israel proposed that the Palestinians merge certain outer Arab villages and small cities that had been annexed to Jerusalem just after 1967 (such as Abu Dis, al-Eizariya, 'Anata, A-Ram, and eastern Sawahre) to create the city of Al-Quds, which would serve as the capital of Palestine. The historically important Arab neighborhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan and at-Tur would remain under Israeli sovereignty, while Palestinians would only have civilian autonomy. The Palestinians would exercise civil and administrative autonomy in the outer Arab neighborhoods. Israeli neighborhoods within East Jerusalem would remain under Israeli sovereignty. The holy places in the Old City would enjoy independent religious administration. In total, Israel demanded that Palestine's territory in East Jerusalem be reduced to eight sections including six small enclaves according to Palestine's delegation to the summit.

Palestinians objected to the lack of sovereignty and to the right of Israel to keep Jewish neighborhoods that it built over the Green Line in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claimed block the contiguity of the Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

Refugees and the right of return

Due to the first Arab-Israeli war, a significant number of Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes inside what is now Israel. These refugees numbered approximately 711,000 to 725,000 at the time. Today, they and their descendants number about four million, comprising about half the Palestinian people. Since that time, the Palestinians have demanded full implementation of the right of return, meaning that each refugee would be granted the option of returning to his or her home, with property restored, and receive compensation. Israelis asserted that allowing a right of return to Israel proper, rather than to the newly created Palestinian state, would mean an influx of Palestinians that would fundamentally alter the demographics of Israel, jeopardizing Israel's Jewish character and its existence as a whole.

At Camp David, the Palestinians maintained their traditional demand that the right of return be implemented. They demanded that Israel recognize the right of all refugees who so wished to settle in Israel, but to address Israel's demographic concerns, they promised that the right of return would be implemented via a mechanism agreed upon by both sides, which would try to channel a majority of refugees away from the option of returning to Israel. According to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, some of the Palestinian negotiators were willing to privately discuss a limit on the number of refugees who would be allowed to return to Israel. Palestinians who chose to return to Israel would do so gradually, with Israel absorbing 150,000 refugees every year.

The Israeli negotiators denied that Israel was responsible for the refugee problem, and were concerned that any right of return would pose a threat to Israel's Jewish character. In the Israeli proposal, a maximum of 100,000 refugees would be allowed to return to Israel on the basis of humanitarian considerations or family reunification. All other people classified as Palestinian refugees would be settled in their present place of inhabitance, the Palestinian state, or third-party countries. Israel would help fund their resettlement and absorption. An international fund of $30 billion would be set up, which Israel would help contribute to, along with other countries, that would register claims for compensation of property lost by Palestinian refugees and make payments within the limits of its resources.

Security arrangements
The Israeli negotiators proposed that Israel be allowed to set up radar stations inside the Palestinian state, and be allowed to use its airspace. Israel also wanted the right to deploy troops on Palestinian territory in the event of an emergency, and the stationing of an international force in the Jordan Valley. Palestinian authorities would maintain control of border crossings under temporary Israeli observation. Israel would maintain a permanent security presence along 15% of the Palestinian-Jordanian border. Israel also demanded that the Palestinian state be demilitarized with the exception of its paramilitary security forces, that it would not make alliances without Israeli approval or allow the introduction of foreign forces west of the Jordan River, and that it dismantle terrorist groups. One of Israel's strongest demands was that Arafat declare the conflict over, and make no further demands. Israel also wanted water resources in the West Bank to be shared by both sides and remain under Israeli management.

Aftermath

In mid-October, Clinton and the parties held a summit in Sharm El Sheikh, resulting in a "Sharm memorandum" with understandings aimed at ending the violence and renewing security cooperation. From 18 to 23 December they held negotiations, followed by Clinton's presentation of his "parameters", in a last attempt to achieve peace in the Middle East before his second term ended in January 2001. Although the official statements stated that both parties had accepted the Clinton Parameters with reservations, these reservations in fact meant that the parties had rejected the parameters on certain essential points. On 2 January 2001, the Palestinians put forward their acceptance with some fundamental objections. Barak accepted the parameters with a 20-page letter of reservations. A Sharm el-Sheikh summit planned for 28 December did not take place.

Clinton's initiative led to the Taba negotiations in January 2001, where the two sides published a statement saying they had never been closer to agreement (though such issues as Jerusalem, the status of Gaza, and the Palestinian demand for compensation for refugees and their descendants remained unresolved), but Barak, facing elections, re-suspended the talks. Ehud Barak was to be defeated by Ariel Sharon in 2001.

Responsibility for failure

Which party (parties) should be blamed for the lack of success of the Summit is hotly debated. In a 2005 book published by Heribert Adam and Kogila Moodley, the authors state "Informed observer blamed all three parties' negotiation strategies for the failure", referring to the Israeli, Palestinians and Americans.

Accusations of Palestinian responsibility
Most of the Israeli and American criticism for the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit was leveled at Arafat. Ehud Barak portrays Arafat's behavior at Camp David as a "performance geared to exact as many Israeli concessions as possible without ever seriously intending to reach a peace settlement or sign an "end to the conflict".

Clinton blamed Arafat after the failure of the talks, stating, "I regret that in 2000 Arafat missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realized in a just and lasting peace." The failure to come to an agreement was widely attributed to Yasser Arafat, as he walked away from the table without making a concrete counter-offer and because Arafat did little to quell the series of Palestinian riots that began shortly after the summit. Arafat was also accused of scuttling the talks by Nabil Amr, a former minister in the Palestinian Authority. In My Life, Clinton wrote that Arafat once complimented Clinton by telling him, "You are a great man." Clinton responded, "I am not a great man. I am a failure, and you made me one."

Dennis Ross, the US Middle East envoy and a key negotiator at the summit, summarized his perspectives in his book The Missing Peace. During a lecture in Australia, Ross suggested that the reason for the failure was Arafat's unwillingness to sign a final deal with Israel that would close the door on any of the Palestinians' maximum demands, particularly the right of return. Ross claimed that what Arafat really wanted was "a one-state solution. Not independent, adjacent Israeli and Palestinian states, but a single Arab state encompassing all of Historic Palestine". Ross also quoted Saudi Prince Bandar as saying while negotiations were taking place: "If Arafat does not accept what is available now, it won't be a tragedy; it will be a crime."

In his book, The Oslo Syndrome, Harvard Medical School professor of psychiatry and historian Kenneth Levin summarized the failure of the 2000 Camp David Summit in this manner: "despite the dimensions of the Israeli offer and intense pressure from President Clinton, Arafat demurred.  He apparently was indeed unwilling, no matter what the Israeli concessions, to sign an agreement that declared itself final and forswore any further Palestinian claims." Levin argues that both the Israelis and the Americans were naive in expecting that Arafat would agree to give up the idea of a literal "right of return" for all Palestinians into Israel proper no matter how many 1948 refugees or how much monetary compensation Israel offered to allow.

Alan Dershowitz, an Israel advocate and a law professor at Harvard University, said that the failure of the negotiations was due to "the refusal of the Palestinians and Arafat to give up the right of return. That was the sticking point.  It wasn't Jerusalem.  It wasn't borders. It was the right of return." He claimed that President Clinton told this to him "directly and personally."

Accusations of Israeli and American responsibility
Robert Malley, part of the Clinton administration and present at the summit, wrote to dispel three "myths" regarding the summit's failure. First myth, Malley says, was "Camp David was an ideal test of Mr. Arafat's intentions". Malley recalls that Arafat didn't think that Israeli and Palestinian diplomats had sufficiently narrowed issues in preparation for the summit and that the Summit happened at a "low point" in the relations between Arafat and Barak. The second myth was "Israel's offer met most if not all of the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations". According to Malley, Arafat was told that Israel would not only retain sovereignty over some Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, but Haram al Sharif too, and Arafat was also asked to accept an unfavorable 9-to-1 ratio in land swaps. The third myth was that "The Palestinians made no concession of their own". Malley pointed out that the Palestinians starting position was at the 1967 borders, but they were ready to give up Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, and parts of the West Bank with Israeli settlements. Further, the Palestinians were willing to implement Right of Return in a way that guaranteed Israel's demographic interests. He argues that Arafat was far more compromising in his negotiations with Israel than Anwar el-Sadat or King Hussein of Jordan had been when they negotiated with Israel.

The Israeli group Gush Shalom stated that "the offer is a pretense of generosity for the benefit of the media", and included detailed maps of what the offer specifically entailed. Among Gush Shalom's concerns with Barak's offer were Barak's demand to annex large settlement blocs (9% of the West Bank), lack of trust in the commitment and/or ability of the Israeli government to evacuate the thousands of non-bloc Israeli settlers in the 15-year timeline, and limited sovereignty for Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Clayton Swisher wrote a rebuttal to Clinton and Ross's accounts about the causes for the breakdown of the Camp David Summit in his 2004 book, The Truth About Camp David. Swisher, the Director of Programs at the Middle East Institute, concluded that the Israelis and the Americans were at least as guilty as the Palestinians for the collapse. M.J. Rosenberg praised the book: "Clayton Swisher's 'The Truth About Camp David,' based on interviews with [US negotiators] Martin Indyk, Dennis Ross and [Aaron] Miller himself provides a comprehensive and acute account – the best we're likely to see – on the [one-sided diplomacy] Miller describes."

Shlomo Ben-Ami, then Israel's Minister of Foreign Relations who participated in the talks, stated that the Palestinians wanted the immediate withdrawal of the Israelis from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and only subsequently the Palestinian authority would dismantle the Palestinian organizations. The Israeli response was "we can't accept the demand for a return to the borders of June 1967 as a pre-condition for the negotiation." In 2006, Shlomo Ben-Ami stated on Democracy Now! that "Camp David was not the missed opportunity for the Palestinians, and if I were a Palestinian I would have rejected Camp David, as well. This is something I put in the book. But Taba is the problem. The Clinton parameters are the problem" referring to his 2001 book Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy.

Norman Finkelstein published an article in the winter 2007 issue of Journal of Palestine Studies, excerpting from his longer essay called Subordinating Palestinian Rights to Israeli "Needs".  The abstract for the article states: "In particular, it examines the assumptions informing Ross's account of what happened during the negotiations and why, and the distortions that spring from these assumptions. Judged from the perspective of Palestinians' and Israelis' respective rights under international law, all the concessions at Camp David came from the Palestinian side, none from the Israeli side."

Berkeley political science professor Ron Hassner has argued that it was the failure of participants at the negotiations to include religious leaders in the process or even consult with religious experts prior to the negotiations, that led to the collapse of the negotiations over the subject of Jerusalem.  "Both parties seem to have assumed that the religious dimensions of the dispute could be ignored.  As a result, neither party had prepared seriously for the possibility that the Temple Mount issue would come to stand at the heart of the negotiations." Political Scientist Menahem Klein, who advised the Israeli government during the negotiations, confirmed that "The professional back channels did not sufficiently treat Jerusalem as a religious city... It was easier to conduct discussions about preservation of historical structures in the old city than to discuss the link between the political sanctity and the religious sanctity at the historical and religious heart of the city."

Public opinion towards the summit
The Palestinian public was supportive of Arafat's role in the negotiations. After the summit, Arafat's approval rating increased seven percentage points from 39 to 46%. Overall, 68% of the Palestinian public thought Arafat's positions on a final agreement at Camp David were just right and 14% thought Arafat compromised too much while only 6% thought Arafat had not compromised enough.

Barak did not fare as well in public opinion polls. Only 25% of the Israeli public thought his positions on Camp David were just right as opposed to 58% of the public that thought Barak compromised too much. A majority of Israelis were opposed to Barak's position on every issue discussed at Camp David except for security.

Concluding Trilateral statement (full text)

See also
Mitchell Report (Arab–Israeli conflict)
Proposals for a Palestinian state
Charles Enderlin

References

Bibliography
Ehud Barak. Statement by Prime Minister Barak at Press Conference upon the Conclusion of the Camp David Summit
Shlomo Ben-Ami.  Camp David Diaries.  Excerpts from a 6 April 2001 article in Ma'ariv
Gilead Sher (2006). The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Negotiations, 1999–2001.  Routledge. A first hand account from the chief negotiator for the Israeli team
Mahmoud Abbas, Reports of the Camp David Summit, 9 September 2000 Excerpts published in the Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. XXX, No. 2 (Winter 2001), pp. 168–170
Akram Haniyah, The Camp David Papers, first hand account by a member of the Palestinian negotiating team, originally published in the Palestinian daily al-Ayyam.  English translation in Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. XXX, No. 2 (Winter 2001), pp. 75–97
Madeleine Albright (2003). Madam Secretary: A Memoir. New York: Hyperion (especially chapter 28)
Bill Clinton, My Life: The Presidential Years (especially chapter 25)
Dennis Ross The Missing Peace : The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace
Kenneth Levin. The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege. Hanover: Smith and Kraus, 2005.

Further reading
Bregman, Ahron Elusive Peace: How the Holy Land Defeated America.

External links

General
Principles of Camp David's "American Plan". FMEP, Settlement Report, September–October 2000. American proposals, as reported in Ha'aretz and Yediot Aharanot.
Interview with Dennis Ross about the summit
More recent interview with Dennis Ross about the summit
Several articles on the 2000 summit, including interviews with Clinton and Ben-Ami at the Jewish Virtual Library
Camp David offer according to Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs
The Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David- July 2000 Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Maps
Camp David proposal maps (with explanations) according to MidEastWeb.
Palestinian Maps of the Camp David 2 Proposals.
West Bank Final Status Map Presented By Israel, May 2000 Foundation for Middle East Peace.
 Peres Center for Peace.
 Maps: Israeli proposals, from Camp David (2000) to Taba (2001)
Failed compromise at Camp David. December 2000 English article in Le Monde diplomatique refers to some of the above-linked French-language maps.
 and, Orient House, 2000
Barak's generous offers. Gush Shalom.

New York Review of Books series
Robert Malley and Hussein Agha. "Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors," New York Review of Books, 9 August 2001
Dennis Ross, Gidi Grinstein, Hussein Agha, Robert Malley. "Camp David: An Exchange." New York Review of Books, 20 September 2001
Camp David and After: An Exchange (1. An Interview with Ehud Barak), by Benny Morris, in response to "Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors") 13 June 2002
Camp David and After: An Exchange (2. A Reply to Ehud Barak) By Hussein Agha, Robert Malley, 13 June 2002
Camp David and After – Continued Benny Morris, Ehud Barak, Reply by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley, 27 June 2002

Views and analysis
Comparing Camp David I and II, Dr. Kenneth W. Stein, Emory University
"Was Arafat the Problem?" by Robert Wright
"Barak: A Villa in the Jungle." Uri Avnery, July 2002
"The Day Barak's Bubble Burst". 15 Sept. 2001 article, by Uri Avnery, a founder of the Israeli peace group Gush Shalom. More of their articles about Camp David are here.
Jerome M. Segal, "The Palestinian Peace Offer," originally published in Ha'aretz, 1 October 2001
Visions in Collision: What Happened at Camp David and Taba? , Dr. Jeremy Pressman, 2003.

Articles containing video clips
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
Israel–United States relations
Middle East peace efforts
2000 conferences
July 2000 events in the United States
2000 in Israel
2000 in the Palestinian territories
Diplomatic conferences in the United States
20th-century diplomatic conferences
2000 in international relations
State of Palestine–United States relations
2000 in Maryland
Yasser Arafat
Presidency of Bill Clinton

2000 Camp David Summit


Solid mechanics is the branch of mechanics, physics, and mathematics that concerns itself with how solid matter under external actions works  (such as external forces, temperature changes, applied displacements, etc.). It is part of a larger study known as continuum mechanics. One of the most common practical applications of solid mechanics is the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation.

Solid mechanics


Homesickness is a feeling of unhappiness a person may have when away from home or from familiar surroundings or people. It has a similar meaning to the word nostalgia.

Homesickness is not about how much you miss your home. It is about how much dependent you are on other people or your parents, how much pampered you are or how much difficult it is for you to be in a different place. People sometimes become homesick when they travel. They miss their own home and desperately want to go back. Children may often feel homesick, especially when they are away from their parents for the first time. Usually these feelings will go away as one gets used to the new environment, but sometimes homesickness can make a person depressed.

People may easily feel homesick if they travel to an environment in which the culture is very difficult to what they are used to, and especially if a foreign language is being spoken. Children who are sent away to boarding school will very often feel homesick.

A good way to help children overcome (or avoid) homesickness is to start with being away from home just for short periods, staying with people they know well, e.g. grandparents or good friends.

References

Emotions
Children
Travel

Homesickness


Saffron () (Persian: زَعْفَرَان) is a spice made from the stigma of the flower of the saffron plant. The spice is used in cooking as a seasoning and as a food colouring. It is native to Southwest Asia. It is the world's most costly spice, and has been for a long time.

Saffron has a bitter taste and smells like hay. This smell is caused by the chemicals picrocrocin and safranal. Saffron also contains a dye, crocin, that gives food a rich golden colour. Saffron is a part of many foods from around the world, and is also used in medicine.

The word saffron comes from the 12th century Old French word , which comes from the Latin word .  is also related to the Italian  and Spanish . Safranum comes from the Arabic word  (), which means "yellow".

Biology

The cultivated saffron (saffron crocus C. sativus) flowers in the autumn and comes up every year, so it is known as a perennial plant. It does not grow wild, and is now a triploid form of the eastern Mediterranean plant called Crocus cartwrightianus. It is thought that C. cartwrightianus came from Crete. The saffron crocus resulted when C. cartwrightianus was subjected to a lot of artificial selection by growers who wanted plants with longer stigmas. It can not reproduce because the saffron crocus's purple flowers do not produce useful seeds. This means that reproduction needs human help. The corms (underground bulb-like starch-storing organs) must be dug up, broken apart, and planted again. A corm lives for only one season, reproducing by splitting into up to ten "cormlets" that will grow into new plants. The corms are small brown balls up to  in diameter and are covered in thick parallel fibres.

After a period in summer known as "aestivation", some narrow green leaves come up from the ground. These can grow to up to  in length. The number of leaves is between five and eleven. In autumn, purple buds appear. In October, after most other flowering plants have released their seeds, the saffron grows its brightly-coloured flowers, which are coloured from light to dark purple. At the time of flowering, the plant is usually less than  in height. Inside each flower are three prongs, called the "style". Each prong has a crimson "stigma" of between 25 and 30 mm in length at the end of it.

Cultivation

The saffron crocus grows best in climates like that of the Mediterranean maquis or the North American chaparral, where hot, dry summer winds blow across the land. However, saffron can live through temperatures as cold as , and short periods of snow. Saffron needs no extra water if it grows in a wet place like Kashmir, where there is usually 1000–1500 mm of rain each year. It is also important for the rain to fall at the right time of year: there should be a lot of rain in the spring and little in the summer. Rainfall just before flowering also makes the plant give more saffron. Rainy or cold weather during flowering can cause disease, so the plant gives less saffron. Other things that can make the plant give less saffron are: the weather being damp or hot for a long time; rabbits, rats, and birds, digging in the ground near the plant; parasites such as the roundworm; fungus and corm rot. Saffron plants grow best in strong and direct sunlight. Planting is best done in fields that slope towards the sunlight (i.e. south-sloping in the Northern Hemisphere), giving the crocuses' more sunlight. In the Northern Hemisphere, planting is mostly done in June, with corms planted some 7–15 cm deep.

Growers have found that planting corms  deep and in rows spaced 2–3 cm apart makes more threads, whereas planting depths of 8–10 cm makes more flowers and corms. Saffron crocuses grow best in crumbly, moist and well-drained clay soils with high organic content. They are often planted in raised beds, to help with drainage. Farmers often use 20–30 tonnes of manure per hectare on the plants before plating the corms The buds do not start to grow until early autumn, then in the middle of autumn the plants begin to flower. Picking the flowers must be done quickly: they flower at dawn, but curl up and die during the day. The flowers of the saffron crocuses only last for one or two weeks. From 150 flowers, the farmer can get about 1 g of dry saffron threads. To produce 12 g of dried saffron (72 g freshly harvested) would take about 1 kg of flowers (1 lb for 0.2 oz of dried saffron). It can be worked out from this that one freshly picked flower makes 0.03 g of fresh saffron, or 0.007 g of dried saffron.

History

The history of saffron growing reaches back more than 3,000 years. The wild plant from which the saffron crocus came was called Crocus cartwrightianus. Humans began choosing wild plants that had long "stigmas". Gradually, a form of C. cartwrightianus, C. sativus, came into being in the late Bronze Age Crete. Experts believe that the first document to mention saffron is a 7th century BC Assyrian book about botany which was written in the time of Ashurbanipal. There is evidence for the use of saffron in the treatment of about 90 illnesses during the past 4,000 years.

Mediterranean
The Minoans had pictures of saffron in their palaces as long ago as 1500–1600 BC, showing how it could be used as a medicine. Later, Greek legends told of sea voyages to Cilicia, where adventurers hoped to find the world's most valuable saffron. Another legend tells how someone named Crocus was bewitched and transformed into the original saffron crocus. Ancient Mediterranean peoples–including perfumers in Egypt, physicians in Gaza, townspeople in Rhodes, and the Greek hetaerae courtesans–used saffron in their perfumes, ointments, potpourris, mascaras, divine offerings, and medical treatments.

In late Hellenistic Egypt, Cleopatra used saffron in her baths to make her feel good. Egyptian healers used saffron as a treatment for all types of gastrointestinal ailments. Saffron was also used as a fabric dye in such Levant cities as Sidon and Tyre. Aulus Cornelius Celsus prescribes saffron in medicines for wounds, cough, colic, and scabies, and in the mithridatium.  Such was the Romans' love of saffron that Roman colonists took their saffron with them when they settled in southern Gaul, where it was extensively cultivated until Rome's fall. Competing theories state that saffron only returned to France with 8th century AD Moors or with the Avignon papacy in the 14th century AD.

Asia

Paints made from saffron were being used for drawing 50,000 years ago. These have been found in the country that is today called Iraq. Later, people called the Sumerians used wild-growing saffron in their medicines and magical potions. Traders carried saffron for long distances before the 2nd millennium BC. Ancient Persians were growing their own type of saffron (Crocus sativus 'Hausknechtii') in Derbena, Isfahan, and Khorasan by the 10th century BC. Sometimes saffron threads were woven into textiles,. They were given as offerings to the gods and used in dyes, perfumes, medicines, and body washes. Saffron threads were also scattered across beds and mixed into hot tea as a way of curing sad feelings. Other people were afraid that the Persians would use saffron as a drug and aphrodisiac. During his Asian campaigns, Alexander the Great used Persian saffron in his tea, rice, and baths to help heal his battle wounds. Alexander's troops copied their leader's actions and brought the habit of saffron-bathing back to Greece.

No one knows how saffron arrived in South Asia. Traditional Kashmiri and Chinese accounts date its arrival anywhere between 900–2500 years ago. Historians studying ancient Persian records date the arrival to sometime before 500 BC, saying it was either Persian transplantation of saffron corms to stock new gardens and parks or a Persian invasion and colonization of Kashmir. Phoenicians then sold Kashmiri saffron as a dye and a treatment for melancholy. From there, saffron use in foods and dyes spread throughout South Asia. For example, Buddhist monks in India started wearing saffron-coloured robes after the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama's death. However, the robes were not dyed with costly saffron but turmeric, a less expensive dye, or jackfruit.

Some historians believe that saffron first came to China with Mongol invaders by way of Persia. On the other hand, saffron is mentioned in ancient Chinese medical texts, including the forty-volume Shennong Bencaojing (神農本草經—"Shennong's Great Herbal", also known as Pen Ts'ao or Pun Tsao) pharmacopoeia, a tome dating from 200–300 BC. Traditionally attributed to the legendary Yan ("Fire") Emperor (炎帝) Shennong, it documents 252 phytochemical-based medical treatments for various disorders. Yet around the 3rd century AD, the Chinese were referring to saffron as having a Kashmiri provenance. For example, Wan Zhen, a Chinese medical expert, reported that "[t]he habitat of saffron is in Kashmir, where people grow it principally to offer it to the Buddha." Wan also reflected on how saffron was used in his time: "The [saffron crocus] flower withers after a few days, and then the saffron is obtained. It is valued for its uniform yellow colour. It can be used to aromatise wine."

Europe

In Europe, saffron cultivation declined steeply following the Roman Empire's fall. Saffron was reintroduced when the Islamic civilization "Al-Andalus" spread to Spain, France, and Italy. During the 14th century Black Death, there was a huge increase in demand for saffron-based medicine. Much saffron had to be imported by Venetian and Genoan ships from southern and Mediterranean lands such as Rhodes. The theft of one such shipment by noblemen started the 14 week long "Saffron War". The conflict and resulting fear of rampant saffron piracy spurred significant saffron cultivation in Basel, which grew prosperous. Cultivation and trade then spread to Nuremberg, where epidemic levels of saffron adulteration brought on the Safranschou code. Under this law under saffron adulterers were fined, imprisoned, and executed. Soon after, saffron cultivation spread throughout England, especially Norfolk and Suffolk. The Essex town of Saffron Walden, named for its new specialty crop, became England's main saffron growing and trading center. However, an influx of more exotic spices such as chocolate, coffee, tea, and vanilla from newly contacted Eastern and overseas countries caused European cultivation and usage of saffron to decline. Only in southern France, Italy, and Spain, did significant cultivation continue.

Europeans brought saffron to the Americas when immigrant members of the Schwenkfelder Church left Europe with a trunk containing saffron corms; indeed, many Schwenkfelders had widely grown saffron in Europe. By 1730, the Pennsylvania Dutch were growing saffron throughout eastern Pennsylvania. Spanish colonies in the Caribbean bought large amounts of this new American saffron, and high demand ensured that saffron's list price on the Philadelphia commodities exchange was set equal to that of gold. The trade with the Caribbean later collapsed in the aftermath of the War of 1812, when many saffron-transporting merchant vessels were destroyed. Yet the Pennsylvania Dutch continued to grow lesser amounts of saffron for local trade and use in their cakes, noodles, and chicken or trout dishes. American saffron cultivation survived into modern times mainly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Trade and use

Saffron's aroma is often described to be something like metallic honey with grassy or hay-like notes. Its taste has also been noted as hay-like and somewhat bitter. Saffron gives a light yellow-orange colouring to foods. Saffron is widely used in Iranian (Persian), Arab, Central Asian, European, Indian,Turkish, Moroccan and Cornish cuisines. Confectioneries and liquors also often include saffron. Common saffron substitutes include safflower (Carthamus tinctorius, which is often sold as "Portuguese saffron" or "assafroa") and turmeric (Curcuma longa). Saffron has been used as a traditional medicine for a long time. Modern medicine has also discovered itas having anticarcinogenic (cancer-suppressing), anti-mutagenic (mutation-preventing), immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties. Saffron has also been used as a fabric dye, particularly in China and India, and in perfumery.

Most saffron is grown in a belt of land ranging from the Mediterranean in the west to Kashmir in the east. Annually, around 300 tonnes of saffron are produced worldwide. Iran ranks first in the world production of saffron, with more than 94 percent of the world yield. Iran's annual saffron production is expected to hit 300 tons by the end of the nation's Fourth Five-Year Socioeconomic Development Plan in 2009. Other minor producers of saffron are Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Italy. A pound of dry saffron (0.45 kg) requires 50,000–75,000 flowers. These flowers would need about a football field's area of cultivation. Some forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers. Upon extraction, stigmas are dried quickly and (preferably) sealed in airtight containers. Saffron prices at wholesale and retail rates range from US$500/pound to US$5,000/pound (US$1100–US$11,000 per kilogram)—equivalent to £250/€350 per pound or £5,500/€7,500 per kilo. In Western countries, the average retail price is $1,000/£500/€700 per pound (US$2200/£1100/€1550 per kilogram). A pound comprises between 70,000 and 200,000 threads. Vivid crimson colouring, slight moistness, elasticity, recent harvest date, and lack of broken-off thread debris are all traits of fresh saffron.

Cultivars

Several saffron cultivars are grown worldwide. Spain's varieties, including the tradenames 'Spanish Superior' and 'Creme', are generally mellower in colour, flavour, and aroma; they are graded by government-imposed standards. Italian varieties are slightly more potent than Spanish, while the most intense varieties tend to be Iranian in origin. Westerners may face significant obstacles in obtaining saffron from India. For example, India has banned the export of high-grade saffron abroad. Aside from these, various "boutique" crops are available from New Zealand, France, Switzerland, England, the United States, and other countries, some organically grown. In the U.S., Pennsylvania Dutch saffron—known for its earthy notes—is marketed in small quantities.

Consumers regard certain cultivars as "premium" quality. The "Aquila" saffron (zafferano dell'Aquila)—defined by high safranal and crocin content, shape, unusually pungent aroma, and intense colour—is grown exclusively on eight hectares in the Navelli Valley of Italy's Abruzzo region, near L'Aquila. It was first introduced to Italy by a Dominican monk from Inquisition-era Spain. But in Italy the biggest saffron cultivation, for quality and quantity, is in San Gavino Monreale, Sardinia. There, saffron is grown on 40 hectares (60% of Italian production); it also has very high crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal content. Another is the Kashmiri "Mongra" or "Lacha" saffron (Crocus sativus 'Cashmirianus'), which is among the most difficult for consumers to obtain. Repeated droughts, blights, and crop failures in Kashmir, combined with an Indian export ban, contribute to its high prices. Kashmiri saffron is recognisable by its extremely dark maroon-purple hue, among the world's darkest, which suggests the saffron's strong flavour, aroma, and colourative effect.

Grade

Saffron types are graded by quality according to laboratory measurements of such characteristics as crocin (colour), picrocrocin (taste), and safranal (fragrance) content. Other metrics include floral waste content (i.e. the saffron spice sample's non-stigma floral content) and measurements of other extraneous matter such as inorganic material ("ash"). A uniform set of international standards in saffron grading was established by the International Organization for Standardization, which is an international federation of national standards bodies. Namely, ISO 3632 deals exclusively with saffron. It establishes four empirical grades of colour intensity: IV (poorest), III, II, and I (finest quality). Saffron samples are then assigned to one of these grades by gauging the spice's crocin content, which is revealed by measurements of crocin-specific spectroscopic absorbance. Absorbance is defined as , with  as absorbance (Beer-Lambert law). It is a measure of a given substance's transparency (, the ratio of light intensity passing through sample to that of the incident light) to a given wavelength of light.

For saffron, absorbance is determined for the crocin-specific photon wavelength of 440 nm in a given dry sample of spice. Higher absorbances at this wavelength imply greater crocin concentration, and thus a greater colourative intensity. These data are measured through spectrophotometry reports at certified testing laboratories worldwide. These colour grades proceed from grades with absorbances lower than 80 (for all category IV saffron) up to 190 or greater (for category I). The world's finest samples (the selected most red-maroon tips of stigmas picked from the finest flowers) receive absorbance scores in excess of 250. Market prices for saffron types follow directly from these ISO scores. However, many growers, traders, and consumers reject such lab test numbers. They prefer a more holistic method of sampling batches of thread for taste, aroma, pliability, and other traits in a fashion similar to that practiced by practised wine tasters.

Despite such attempts at quality control and standardisation, an extensive history of saffron adulteration–particularly among the cheapest grades–continues into modern times. Adulteration was first documented in Europe's Middle Ages, when those found selling adulterated saffron were executed under the Safranschou code. Typical methods include mixing in extraneous substances like beet, pomegranate fibers, red-dyed silk fibers, or the saffron crocus's tasteless and odorless yellow stamens. Other methods included dousing saffron fibers with viscid substances like honey or vegetable oil. However, powdered saffron is more prone to adulteration, with turmeric, paprika, and other powders used as diluting fillers. Adulteration can also consist of selling mislabeled mixes of different saffron grades. Thus, in India, high-grade Kashmiri saffron is often sold mixed with cheaper Iranian imports; these mixes are then marketed as pure Kashmiri saffron, a development that has cost Kashmiri growers much of their income.

Gallery

Notes

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Other websites

 Crocus sativus List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's)

Iridaceae
Spices

Saffron


Paragúáì (US , UK ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( , Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái ), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the country from north to south. Due to its central location in South America, it is sometimes referred to as Corazón de América, or the Heart of America.

The Guaraní have been living in Paraguay since before the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, when Paraguay became part of the Spanish colonial empire. Following independence from Spain in 1811, Paraguay was ruled by a series of dictators who followed isolationist and protectionist policies. This development was truncated by the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–1870) in which the country lost 60% to 70% of its population and large amounts of territory. During a large part of the 20th century, Paraguay was ruled by Alfredo Stroessner, who led one of South America's longest lived military dictatorships. In 1989 Stroessner was toppled and free elections were celebrated in 1993. In 1994 Paraguay joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to found Mercosur.

As of 2009 the population was estimated at 6.3 million. The capital and largest city is Asunción. The official languages are Spanish and Guaraní, both being widely spoken in the country, with around 92% of the general population speaking Spanish and 98% speaking Guaraní.

Though it remains one of the region's poorest and least-developed countries, in 2010, Paraguay's economy grew by 14.5%, the largest economic expansion in Latin America, and the third fastest in the world after Qatar and Singapore. By 2011, economic growth slowed but remained high, at 6.4%.

Itokasi

Àwọn orílẹ̀-èdè Gúúsù Amẹ́ríkà

Paragúáì


The Congress of the People was a gathering organised by the National Action Council, a multi-racial organisation which later became known as the Congress Alliance, and held in Kliptown on 26 June 1955 to lay out the vision of the South African people. The Freedom Charter was drawn up at the gathering, which was statement of core principles of the Alliance and a symbol of internal resistance against apartheid.

Background

In 1953 prominent black academic Z. K. Matthews proposed that a "Congress of the People" be organised to gather and document the wishes of the people. Organising committees were set up across South Africa. A call was sent out to the people of South Africa by the group later known as the Congress Alliance for proposals for the content of a freedom charter concerning issues such as land, industry, human rights, education, and law. Proposals were received in the form of local demands, in the form of new constitutions, as documents and scraps of papers and these proposals were then developed by a sub-committee into a draft document that could be debated at a future Congress of the People.

On 23 June 1955, executives of the ANC, the South African Indian Congress (SAIC), the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), the Coloured People's Congress (CPC) and the South African Congress of Democrats (COD) met in Tongaat. This group, who later became known as the Congress Alliance, developed the document known as the Freedom Charter and planned a large multi-racial gathering to be held over two days at Kliptown on 26 June 1955, where it was intended that the Charter be ratified after being read out and discussed.

The draft proposal for the Charter was presented to each delegate when they arrived in Johannesburg for the Congress. The delegates were elected from rural and urban areas, elected by their communities or organisations with funds raised locally to get their representatives to Johannesburg. Where this was not possible, delegates from communities already present in the city were found.

26 June 1955
The Congress of the People, consisting of around 3,000 people, gathered in Kliptown, part of Soweto (a large township outside Johannesburg) on 26 June 1955 in a field surrounded by chicken-wire to give it a lawful claim of being a private gathering, so that it was not prevented from assembling by the South African government. The delegates came from all parts of the country, arriving in Johannesburg via car, bus, bicycle, by foot and horseback. The majority of the people in the gathering were black South Africans, with hundreds of Indian South Africans, whites and so-called "Coloureds".

The object of the Congress was to adopt a Freedom Charter representing the aspirations of South Africans of all races. The aim was to have a lead speaker present each section of the proposed charter and to open the section to general discussion and debate by the gathering. This did not happen due to the intervention by the government, and each section was instead agreed to, but not by general discussion.
Albert Luthuli, Yusuf Dadoo and Father Trevor Huddleston were all honoured with the ANC's highest honour, Isitwalandwe, but only Huddleston was able to receive his, the other two being subject to banning orders issued by the government.
The Congress concluded on 27 June, when the gathering was surrounded by the South African Police and broken up. They made several arrests, confiscated documents and photographed the delegates.

Ratification of the Charter

The last aim of the Congress was to collect a million signatures by 26 June 1956 to acknowledge the creation of the Freedom Charter. A quota of signatures was decided upon with the following required from each province: Transvaal 450,000; Cape Province 350,000; Natal 150,000 and the Orange Free State 50,000. The delegates then returned home to report back to their communities or organisations to spread the adoption of the Freedom Charter.

By the end of 1955, 156 leading Congress Alliance activists were arrested and tried for treason in the 1956 Treason Trial; the Charter itself was used as evidence and eventually declared illegal.

Significance of the event

The Congress of the People led to the Congress movement assuming a fully non-racial character for the first time. From this people's meeting and Charter was born a truly national liberation movement with the aim of a complete social transformation, requiring a radical restructuring of all aspects of South African society.

References

Events associated with apartheid
History of the African National Congress
Soweto
1955 in South Africa
1955 conferences
Opposition to apartheid in South Africa
June 1955 events in Africa

Congress of the People (1955)


Cerastoderma glaucum, the lagoon cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae, the cockles.

This species is found along the coasts of Europe and North Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Caspian Sea, and the low-salinity Baltic Sea. It is a euryhaline species living in salinities 4-100 ‰. In north-west Europe (including the British Isles), it typically does not live on open shores but rather in shallow burrows in saline lagoons, or sometimes on lower shores in estuaries. It cannot tolerate significant exposure to the air. The form found in lagoons is thinner-shelled than the estuarine populations.

The lagoon cockle can grow to the length of 50 mm. In north-west Europe, it spawns in May–July, and the planktonic larval phase takes 11–30 days. The life span of the settled cockle is typically 2–5 years.

The species was described as Cardium glaucum in 1789 almost simultaneously both by Bruguière and by Poiret.

Cerastoderma glaucum
Right and left valve of the same specimen:

Cerastoderma glaucum lamarcki
Right and left valve of the same specimen:

References

External links

Cardiidae
Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean
Molluscs of the Mediterranean Sea
Molluscs of the Black Sea
Marine molluscs of Europe
Molluscs of Europe
Marine molluscs of Africa
Marine molluscs of Asia
Bivalves of Asia
Bivalves described in 1789

Cerastoderma glaucum


James Leonard Reinsch (June 28, 1908 – May 9, 1991) was a broadcasting executive who became president and CEO of COX Communications. He advised four US Presidents. He assisted the White House Press Secretary office in 1945, during the transition from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to President Harry Truman, and advised Winston Churchill on his 1946 "Iron Curtain" speech.

Career
Reinsch was born in Streator, Illinois in 1908. He majored in Advertising at Northwestern University, where he won the D.F. Keller prize for this thesis. He took over the development of what was then WHIO for Governor Cox. Reinsch was sent to Atlanta, in 1939, when Cox purchased the Atlanta Journal and Georgian and the radio stations. He was put in charge of WSB radio. In 1942 he was put in charge of the three radio stations; WIOD Miami, WSB Atlanta, WHIG in Dayton.
Reinsch was called on by Cox to assist in communications at the White House during the transition from the Roosevelt to Truman administrations in 1946.

In the 1960 presidential campaign, he suggested that the two opponents stand for the hour-long debate, knowing that Richard Nixon had injured a knee when he struck it on a car door. To Mr. Reinsch's surprise, Nixon agreed. He also served as a key advisor to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

In March 1973, Reinsch was presented the coveted Gold Medal award from the International Radio and Television Society. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors from 1979 to 1985. In September 2003 the Library of American Broadcasting named Reinsch as one of the "First Fifty Giants of Broadcasting".
Mr. Reinsch retired in 1973 from Cox Broadcasting.

References

External links
J. Leonard Reinsch Oral History Interview

1908 births
1991 deaths
People from Streator, Illinois
American radio executives
Cox Enterprises
20th-century American businesspeople

J. Leonard Reinsch


Russell William Streiner (born February 6, 1940) is an American film producer and actor. He is the older brother of actor/producer Gary Streiner.

Career
Streiner is perhaps best known for his role as Johnny in Night of the Living Dead (1968). He was also one of the producers of the film. Streiner has also produced There's Always Vanilla (1971), The Booby Hatch (1976), and the remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), in which he also has a cameo appearance as Sheriff McClelland. He worked in the advertising field for several years while continuing film, television, commercial, and corporate production work. Russell has been actively involved in bringing film and television productions to western Pennsylvania throughout his career, and currently serves as chairman on the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Film Office (formerly known as the Pittsburgh Film & Television Office). He also founded the Pittsburgh Film Office.  Until 2014 Russ Streiner was also one of the co-mentors along with John A. Russo of the John Russo Movie Making Program at DuBois Business College in DuBois, Pennsylvania.

He also makes occasional appearances and signs autographs at horror conventions. Russell was married to Jackie Faust and actress Judith Ridley. Judith Ridley is an American actress best known for her appearances in Night of the Living Dead (1968) and There's Always Vanilla (1971). He is currently married to Ramona Streiner, an aspiring author and filmmaker. He continues to make his home in Pittsburgh and has two daughters, one son, one granddaughter, and one grandson.

Filmography

As producer
 One for the Fire: Night of the Living Dead 40th Anniversary Documentary (2008) (Associate Producer)
 Night of the Living Dead (1990) (Executive Producer)
 The Booby Hatch (1976)
 aka Dirty Book Store
 aka The Liberation of Cherry Janowski
 There's Always Vanilla (1971)
 aka The Affair
 Night of the Living Dead (1968)

 As actor
 Night of the Living Dead (1990) Sheriff McClelland
 The Majorettes (1986) The Preacher
 aka One by One There's Always Vanilla (1971) TV Beer Commercial Director
 Night of the Living Dead (1968) Johnny

 As writer
 The Return of the Living Dead (1985) (Story)

 Appearing as himself
 One for the Fire: Night of the Living Dead 40th Anniversary Documentary (2008)
 "Fear Files" Episode: "Zombies" (2006)
 UnConventional (2004)
 The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic (1999)
 Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary (1993)
 Drive-In Madness! (1987)
 aka Screen Scaries''

References

External links

 Pittsburgh Film Office
 John Russo Movie Making Program at DuBois Business College

1940 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Male actors from Pittsburgh
American male film actors
Film producers from Pennsylvania

Russell Streiner


Le Suquet is the old quarter of Cannes, probably best known to tourists as the climbing, winding cobbled lane lined with local restaurants, Rue St Antoine. Le Suquet contains a clock tower and church that sit high facing east overlooking the Bay of Cannes and Cannes itself.  At the bottom of Le Suquet on Rue Dr. P. Gazagnaire is the Marché Forville, where the market is held in the mornings and early afternoon.

This area is the original fishermans' residential area of Cannes. The houses are all very old.
The streets were laid out at least 400 years ago.
It is a 5-minute walk from the beach and is full of restaurants around the Rue Saint Antoine and the Rue du Suquet. A lot of the area is pedestrianised  and is a major tourist attraction for visitors to Cannes.

The rue du Suquet is the original main road into Cannes. It came in below the walls of the castle (for defence reasons). It  is a pedestrian zone and has plenty of restaurants.

Tourism in Cannes
Restaurant districts and streets in France
Tourist attractions in Alpes-Maritimes

Le Suquet


The following is an alphabetical list of terms and jargon used in relation to Gaelic games. See also list of Irish county nicknames, and these are very interesting.

Abbreviations
Competitions usually have long names, so an abbreviation system is used:

For example:
 Leinster MHC: Leinster Minor Hurling Championship
 U20 FL Div 2: Under-20 Football League, Division 2
 Westmeath JBHC: Westmeath Junior "B" Hurling Championship
Cork SCC: Cork Senior Camogie Championship
AI JLFC: All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship
The term "GAA" is not normally used in competition names, particularly in GAA-only sports.

Other abbreviations include:
 ACL = All-County League, sometimes used in counties that also have regional leagues
 AI = All-Ireland
 CLG = Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Irish for "Gaelic Athletic Association" or "Gaelic Athletic Club", e.g. CLG Naomh Anna, Leitir Móir
 CPG = Cumann Peil Gaelach, Irish for "Gaelic Football Club"
 GAA = Gaelic Athletic Association
 GAC = Gaelic Athletic Club, e.g. Kilcoo GAC
 GF = Gaelic football
 GFC = Gaelic Football Club, e.g. St Grellan's GFC
 GH = Gaelic handball
 HC = Hurling Club
 IAHA = Irish Amateur Handball Association
 ICHA = Irish Collegiate Handball Association
 LGFC = Ladies' Gaelic Football Club
 Pk = Park

A

A chara: Irish meaning literally "Dear friend". Often used to start official communications, even in English.
Alley: the court in Gaelic handball, often measuring 12.2 m by 6.1 m (40 feet by 20 feet).
All-Ireland: Adjective describing a competition, such as the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, run by the GAA and whose winners become national champions at the grade of that competition. The All-Ireland can refer to an already mentioned All-Ireland championship; more generally it can refer to the All-Ireland Senior Football or Hurling Championship.
All Star: An annual award, one of which is given to the best player in each of the fifteen positions in Gaelic football, hurling, ladies' football, and camogie.
Áras: Irish, meaning a sports centre, or club (i.e. building).

B
Bainisteoir: Irish word meaning manager.
Backdoor: Adjective describing a "knockout" championship in which defeated teams are not immediately eliminated from the competition, and remain eligible to win (e.g. Offaly in the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship). Such teams are said to re-enter the championship through the back door.
Barracks games: (derogatory) nickname for "foreign sports" (see below) from their supposed connection with the British military. Also "the barracks" as in "go to the barracks" (i.e. watch one of the foreign sports).
Bas: The flattened, curved end head of a hurley, or camán.
Big Alley: the 60x30 foot court, the indigenous handball alley.
Black card: Card shown to a player who has committed a "cynical" foul. The player is sent off to a sin bin for 10 minutes and can return to the field after that.
Block: where one player prevents an opponent's strike by trapping the ball between his hurley and the opponent's swinging hurley.
Book: See tick. Where the referee notes the name of a player by displaying their note book as they would a red or yellow card.

C

Caid: Another name for Gaelic football, usually referring to precodified varieties in the south west of Ireland.
Camán: Hurley or hurling stick.
Camóg: Hurley or stick as used in camogie. Shorter than male hurley.
Camogie (camógaíocht): Women's hurling. A GAA coinage, from the Irish.
Central Appeals Committee (CAC): Committee to which a unit or individual may bring their case if they are unsuccessful at the first hearing by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC).
Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC): Committee which organises fixtures for competitions above provincial level and proposes suspensions, fines, etc. on units and individuals who, in their view, have broken the rules.
Central Hearings Committee (CHC): Committee to which a unit or individual first bring their case if they do not accept a penalty proposed by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).
Challenge match: A type of game.
Cic Fada: A competition for Gaelic footballers based on accuracy of long kicking.
Club: the basic organisational unit of the GAA, at least one of which exists in most parishes throughout Ireland. Clubs are commonly named after either the home district, or a saint or national hero associated with that district. If the club fields teams only in Gaelic football, that name is followed by GFC (Gaelic Football Club); for hurling-only clubs it is HC (Hurling Club), but for clubs involved in two or more Gaelic sports the usual term is GAC (Gaelic Athletic Club). All clubs are controlled by locally elected volunteer committees.
Cluiche corr: rounders, the one Gaelic game widely adopted outside Ireland.
 An Coiste Náisiunta: The National Executive.
Comhairle Cluiche Corr na hÉireann: Rounders Council of Ireland.
An Comhdháil Náisiúnta: The National Council.
Compromise rules/Composite rules: Games held between hurlers, and shinty players under modified rules. Not to be confused with "international rules".
Corner back: Players who stand on either side of the full back, and who are defenders.
County: a geographic region within the GAA, controlled by a County Board (sometimes called County Committee). In Ireland, there are 32 of these, corresponding closely to the boundaries of counties currently or formerly used for administrative purposes (but not the newer administrative counties in the Republic). However, counties as used in Gaelic games sometimes admit into their competitions clubs from neighbouring administrative counties, so that the Gaelic games county boundaries are more fluid than those used for government purposes. Most Gaelic games county names in Ireland are shared with current or former administrative counties, the sole exception at present being County Derry (the largely coterminous administrative county, abolished in 1973, was County Londonderry). Outside Ireland, for GAA purposes "county" often refers to places which are not otherwise termed counties, e.g. entire countries such as Scotland or American states such as New York. Many county boards have subsidiary boards or committees for different regions within the Gaelic games county.
County colours: the colours of the kit worn by that county's representative team in inter-county competition.
County championship: A championship in football or hurling in a specific grade contested by clubs within a county.
Croke Park (in Irish Páirc an Chrócaigh; colloquially "Croker" or "Headquarters"): The principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
Cúige: Irish for a province, plural cúigí.
Cumann: Irish for club, society or association, can be found in various compounds.
Cumann Camógaíochta na nGael: Irish for Camogie Association of Ireland.
Cumann Lúthchleas Gael: the Irish language name of the Gaelic Athletic Association as a whole; also means "Gaelic Athletic Club".
Cumann na mBunscol: the voluntary organisation of primary school teachers who coach GAA.
Cumann Peil Gael na mBan: Irish for the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association

D

Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA): An external independent quasi-legal body which is the final arbiter in GAA disputes.
The Double: When a county wins the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in the same year. It is rare.
Dual county: A county which plays both football and hurling at a similar level. Most counties specialise in one sport or the other.
Dual player: A person who plays both football and hurling at a high level.

E
End line: The two shorter sides  - the ends - of a football or hurling pitch, at the centre of which the goalposts are situated.
Extra time: If the score is level in a match after normal time, extra time may be played. Initially two ten minute periods of extra time are played each way. If the score is still level, a further two five minute periods of extra time may be played each way.

F
Féile na nGael: literally "Festival of the Gaels", an annual tournament comprising the sports of hurling, camogie and handball.
Féile Peile na nÓg: literally Festival of Youth Football, national festival of football for boys and girls under 14 years of age and is based on the GAA club unit.
Fetch: To catch the ball above one's head.
Football: Always Gaelic football. Association football is referred to as "soccer" in GAA terms - see foreign sports.
Foreign sports: A phrase in common usage used to describe non-gaelic field games such as association football, rugby union, rugby league, field hockey and cricket, particularly in the sense that they rivalled Gaelic games for popularity in Ireland during the formative years of the GAA. Officially, the GAA does not use this phrase - specific sports (such as association football and horse racing) are banned from GAA grounds.
Forty-five: Kick awarded in football to the attacking side 45 metres from the defending side's goal when a player for the defending side last touches the ball before it goes over that side's end line. Formerly known as a fifty (45 metres is roughly equivalent to 50 yards). A 45-metre puck is used in camogie.
40x20: The international code of handball, introduced from the USA.
Four Codes: the four types of handball administered by the GAA, aka 40x20, 60x30, One Wall and Hardball.
Free, Free-in or Free-out: normal means of restarting play by the non-offending team after a foul.
Free Taking Competition: If the score is level in a match after the two normal halves, two ten minute periods of extra time played each way may be played (depending on the rules for the relevant competition). If the score is still level after the first two halves of extra time, a further two five minute periods of extra time may be played. If the winner has not been determined by extra time, a free-taking competition may be held. Each team will nominate five players to take frees from their chosen position in front of the posts and with no defenders – on the forty five metre line in football and from the hands or from the ground, on the sixty five metre line in hurling. If the teams score an equal number of points from their five frees, the outcome of the match is decided by sudden death frees using the same nominated players in the same order.
Full Back: Number 3. A very important defender as they normally play directly in front of the goal and are the last line of defence in front of the goalkeeper.

G
Gaelic games: The sports of Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, Gaelic handball and rounders.
Goal: A score in football, hurling and camogie – worth three points, awarded when the ball legally crosses the goal line under the bar and between the posts.
Goalkeeper: No. 1, player in football and hurling whose job it is to prevent goals being scored.
Golden score: A tie-breaking mechanism used in some knockout competitions. After a drawn game, play continues until one team scores a goal or a point; that team is the winner.
Grade: A level at which a game or competition is played, based on age (e.g., Senior, Minor), ability (e.g. Senior, Junior), gender, etc. See Senior, Under-21 and Minor. A grade can also be split further, e.g. Senior A, Senior B.

H

Hand-pass: In hurling, football and camogie, when a ball is slapped with the palm of the hand, rather than throwing (which is illegal). Hand-passing may not be used to score goals, but may be used to score points.
Hardball: the most ancient form of handball. It is also the fastest of the Four Codes.
Headquarters/HQ: Colloquial term for Croke Park, also known as "Croker".
Home final: In competitions in which an overseas team gets a bye to the final, a final played between two teams from the island of Ireland. The winning team then plays the overseas team in the final proper. For example, the 1908 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship saw Dublin beat Kerry in the home final, before becoming All-Ireland champions by beating London in the actual final, which was London's only game in that year's championship.
Hook: where a player approaches another player from a rear angle and attempts to catch the opponent's hurley with his own at the top of the swing.
Hurley: The stick or bat used in hurling, also known as a camán.

I

Intermediate: A grade, higher than junior, of competition for players not quite good enough to play at senior level. Some championships have senior and junior, but no intermediate, equivalents, for example the All-Ireland Football Championships.
Inter-county: Inter-county is Gaelic Athletic Association terminology which refers to competitions or matches between two county teams. The term can also be used to describe the players on the teams.
International rules: Games played between Gaelic footballers, and Australian rules footballers under modified rules. Not to be confused with "compromise rules".
Intervarsity: portmanteau of "Inter-university".
Irish experiment: efforts by the Australian Football League to entice Gaelic footballers to Australia to play Australian rules football professionally.
Irish handball: another name for Gaelic handball.
Irish Handball Union or IHU: the non GAA handball body.

J
Junior: A grade of competition for players not quite good enough to play at senior level, or at intermediate level where the three levels exist.

K
Kick Fada (from Irish Cic Fada): A kicking competition for Gaelic footballers.
Kickout: The kick, usually taken by the goalkeeper, which restarts a football match after the opposition has scored a goal or point or kicked a wide.

L

Liathróid: Irish word for football, or handball, i.e. the ball itself. See also peil (below). A hurling ball is a sliotar.
Liathróid láimhe: Irish for Gaelic handball.

M
Mark: A free-kick designed to encourage kicking in Gaelic football. It is available to a player who catches a ball cleanly which has travelled 20m without touching the ground in two circumstances –Kickout Mark: when the kickout travels beyond the 45m lineAdvanced Mark: when an attacking player in play (ie. not from a free-kick) on or beyond the opposition's 45m line kicks a ball over the opposition's 45m lineThe player who catches the ball, either an attacker or defender, can signal his intent to stop and take the free-kick resulting from the mark by raising an arm or playing on immediately.
Minor: A grade for under 17 or under 18 players (depending on the competition rules); also, a player who qualifies to play in the minor grade.

O
Official Guide (Treoraí Oifigiúil): The playing and organisational rules of the GAA. Part 1 contains the Association's constitution and rules, while Part 2 contains the playing rules of hurling and football.
One Wall: the most basic form of handball.
Overhand stroke: A stroke in handball, similar to pitching in baseball.
Overseas unit: GAA bodies outside Ireland.

P

Panel: The Gaelic games equivalent of a squad.
Páirc: Irish for "park", this Irish word appears in the names of some sports grounds, e.g. Páirc Esler and Páirc Tailteann
Páirc an Chrócaigh: Irish for Croke Park.
Park: (see also) Páirc, a common element in the names of GAA grounds.
Peil: Irish word for football, i.e. the game of Gaelic football. See also liathróid (above).
Peil (Ghaelach) na mBan: Ladies' Gaelic football.
Penalty shoot-out: Penalties may be taken in order to determine the winners if a game is level at the end of normal or extra time. Only goals count. Initially up to five penalties are taken by each team. If the number of goals scored from the five penalties are equal, sudden-death penalties are taken. A penalty shoot-out is sometimes used instead of a free-taking competition to determine the winners on the day.
Poc Fada: A national competition in hurling and camogie, won by striking (pucking) the ball the fewest times to cover a set distance.
Point: A score in football, camogie, ladies' football and hurling, awarded when the ball legally passes over the bar, between the posts. See also goal (above).
Pre-shoot position: In handball, this is a position six foot deeper into the court than where the ball was contacted.
Province: run by a Provincial council, these are collections of counties. They correspond to the provinces of Ireland with the addition of Britain. Provincial championships are the next level below All-Ireland.
Puck, puckout: in hurling and camogie "puck" is an anglicisation of the onomatopoeic Irish word poc, meaning striking the ball with the stick. A puckout is when a goalkeeper pucks the ball back into play.

Q
Qualifiers: Name given to a separate system from the main competition in a double-elimination tournament where beaten teams are given another chance.

R
Red card: Card shown to a player who has been sent off for committing a serious foul, or who has been shown two yellow cards or a yellow card followed by a black card.
Right Corner Back: no. 2, a defender.
Rule 21: A former rule in the GAA's Official Guide which forbade members of the British military or RUC from participation; abolished in 2001.
Rule 27: A former rule in the GAA's Official Guide which forbade members from playing or attending foreign sports; abolished in 1971.
Rule 42: A rule in the GAA's Official Guide which prevents foreign sports being played on GAA-controlled property. See List of non-Gaelic games played in Croke Park for exceptions to this rule (as from 2005).

S

Sam: The Sam Maguire Cup, awarded to the winning team in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
Scór: a division of the GAA charged with promotion of cultural activities, and the name of a series of annual competitions in such activities.
Selector: A person who helps pick a team. Usually a team has two of these, as well as a manager.
Senior: The highest grade which a player can play at, not limited by age or ability.
Shinty-hurling: composite rules
Shot anticipation: in handball, this is where you work out where the ball will bounce back to.
Sidearm stroke: A stroke in handball, where the ball is hit from around waist level.
Sideline: The two longer sides of a football or hurling pitch.
Sideline ball: A kick (football) or puck (hurling) awarded when the ball passes over the sideline. It is awarded to the opposite team to that of the player who last touched the ball.
Sidepull/Side-pull: where two players running together for the sliotar will collide at the shoulders and swing together to win the tackle and "pull" (name given to swing the hurley) with extreme force.
Sixty-five: Puck awarded in hurling to the attacking side 65 metres from the defending side's goal when a player for the defending side last touches the ball before it goes over that side's end line. Formerly known as a seventy (65 metres is roughly equivalent to 70 yards).
60x30: the "Big Alley" court form of handball indigenous to Ireland.
Sliotar: the hard leather ball used in hurling; slightly larger than a tennis ball, it has a cork core and a stitched rib. A football or handball is known as liathróid in Irish.
Solo: In hurling, to run with the sliotar balanced or bouncing on the end of the hurley (also known as a solo run). In football, to drop the ball onto the toe and kick it back into the hands.
Square: usually "the square", the small rectangle surrounding the goal in hurling, camogie and football.
Square ball: A type of foul in hurling and football -
In football
For an attacking player to enter opponents' small rectangle during play before the final play of the ball into the small rectangle
For an attacking player to enter opponents' small rectangle during set play (free kicks) before the ball enters the small rectangle
In hurling
For an attacking player to enter opponents' small rectangle before the ball enters the small rectangle
Stroke: a method of hitting the ball with the hand in handball.
The Sunday Game: RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme, on air since 1979.
Super 8s: Common term used to describe the two four-team groups introduced in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 2018 to replace the previous knock-out quarter-finals. Officially they are known as the All-Ireland Quarter-Final Groups.

T
Tailteann Games: Both a pre-Norman Gaelic sports and religious festival and a modern sports and cultural revival held 1924–32.
Throw-in: the starting of a game, or restarting after half-time, by the referee throwing the ball between two players from each team.
Tick: a mark made by the referee in their notebook against a player who has committed a certain type of foul, but not so serious as to warrant a yellow card (see below). If a player who is ticked in a match commits a second similar foul, they are shown a yellow card.
Treoraí Oifigiúil: Official Guide.

U
Umpire: One of four officials in a game of football or hurling, identifiable by their white coat, whose responsibilities include to signal a point by waving a white flag, to signal a goal by waving a green flag, to indicate which side last touched the ball before it crossed the end-line, and to alert the referee to certain foul play.
Underhand stroke: A stroke in handball, where the hand hits the ball from below the waist.
Under-21: A grade of competition for players under 21 years of age.
Up for the Match: RTÉ One programme shown broadcast twice a year on the eve of the All-Ireland hurling and All-Ireland football finals respectively.

W

Weak hand: In handball, this is the left hand for right-handed people (and right for left-handers). It is often exploited by opponents.
Wide: When the ball passes over the end line having last been touched by a player on the attacking side. The defending side is awarded a kickout (football) or puckout (hurling).
Winner on the day: If the score is level at the end of a match, the competition rules may require that a winner is determined on the day. Extra time may be played though the match could still be level at the end of this extra time. A tie-breaker in the form of a free-taking competition or penalty shoot-out will then be held.

Y
Yellow card: Card shown to a player who has been cautioned ("booked") for committing certain types of fouls, or who has been ticked twice (see Tick above). A player who is cautioned twice in a match (either two yellows or a yellow followed by a black) is immediately also shown a red card, sent off and cannot be replaced.

References

Gaelic games culture
Gaelic games-related lists

Gaelic games
Ireland-related lists
Wikipedia glossaries using unordered lists

Glossary of Gaelic games terms


Rikdag, also called Ricdag, Riddag, or Rihdag (died 985), was Margrave of Meissen from 979 until his death. In 982, he also acquired the marches of Merseburg and Zeitz. After the Great Slav Rising in 983, he temporarily reunited all of the southern marca Geronis under his command. His march included the territory of the Chutizi and Dolomici tribes.

Life

Rikdag possibly is a progenitor of the House of Wettin, the son of Volkmar I (d. before 961), a Saxon count in the Harzgau. He is mentioned as an agnatic relative of Theodoric I of Wettin, who was raised at the Meissen court, however, the exact circumstances of their family relationship are not known.

Ricdag's daughter, Oda or Hunilda, married Boleslaus I the Brave, who later became the King of Poland. However, this marriage alliance was cut short by the interests of power politics.

Rikdag was documented as a count in the Schwabengau region of Eastphalia. In 979 he followed Margrave Thietmar in the Margraviate of Meissen and in 982 was enfeoffed with the Merseburg and Zeitz marches, succeeding both Margrave Gunther and Margrave Wigger I.

In 983, following word of the defeat of  Emperor Otto II at the Battle of Stilo against the Kalbid Emirate of Sicily, the Slavic tribes bordering eastern Saxony rebelled. The episcopal seats of Havelberg and Brandenburg were destroyed and the March of Zeitz devastated. Ricdag and Dietrich of the Nordmark joined with the troops of Gisilher, Archbishop of Magdeburg and the Bishop of Halberstadt and defeated the Slavs at Belkesheim, near Stendal.

In 985, Ricdag and his sister, Eilsuit, founded the nunnery of Gerbstedt, in which he was buried and she was first abbess. Ricdag's and Dietrich's deaths in that same year were a severe setback on the middle border. By an unnamed wife, Ricdag, beside the aforementioned Oda, left a son and another daughter: Charles (died 28 April 1014), who was count in the Schwabengau in 992 and who was unjustly deprived of his benefices because of false accusations, and Gerburga (died 30 October 1022), who was later abbess of Quedlinburg.

References
Thompson, James Westfall. Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.

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985 deaths
Margraves of Meissen
Year of birth unknown

Rikdag