Henri Laurens (February 18, 1885 – May 5, 1954) was a French sculptor and illustrator.

Early life and education
Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor. From 1899 to 1902, he attended drawing classes at the École d'Art Industriel, during which he produced works that were greatly influenced by the popularity of Auguste Rodin.

Career
Later Laurens was drawn to a new gathering of artistic creativity in Montparnasse. From 1915, he began to sculpt in the Cubist style after meeting Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Léger.

Laurens was exempted from call-up for the First World War, after having a leg amputated in 1909 due to osteo-tuberculosis.

Multi-talented, Laurens worked with poster paint, and collage. He was an engraver, and created theatre design and decoration. In 1915, he illustrated a book for his friend, the author Pierre Reverdy.

In 1937, he was awarded the Helena Rubinstein Prize, which brought him in additional commissions. In 1938, he shared an exhibition with Braque and Picasso that travelled to major Scandinavian cities. In 1947, he made prints for book illustrations. In 1948, he exhibited his art at the important international Venice Biennale. That same year, he exhibited at the Galerie d'Art Moderne in Basel, Switzerland.

Many of his sculptures are massive objects. An example of this style is the monumental piece L'Amphion, which he first designed on a smaller scale before created the final version in 1952 for the Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, after a request from the architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva.

Laurens' sculptural work influenced the work of architect Jørn Utzon, famous for the Sydney Opera House, in particular Laurens' tomb for an aviator designed for the cemetery of Montparnasse, Paris, in 1924.

Death
Henri Laurens died in Paris, after collapsing while out on an evening walk, and was interred in the Cimetière du Montparnasse there. His tomb is decorated with his sculpture, La Douleur.

See also
Crystal Cubism

References

External links

 Henri Laurens in the collections of the V&A

1885 births
1954 deaths
Cubist artists
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
20th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors

Henri Laurens


In Christianity Divine Grace means a favour of God for humankind. God favours every person, without looking at what they did or how much they are worth. This grace of God to humans may happen in the gifts that God gives him, such as creation or salvation.

Types of Grace

Common Grace
Common grace refers to blessings which God gives to everyone.  Jesus said that God "sends the rain upon the just and the unjust.  This idea is found in Greek philosophy.  Plato spoke of God's "gifts".  The Reformers listed many ways in which God gives undeserved gifts to mankind. These include life itself, food and earthly pleasures. God also restrains evil so that people will not destroy themselves in wars and conflict.

Prevenient Grace
Prevenient grace (or enabling grace) is a Christian teaching in Arminian theology. It appeared earlier in Catholic and early Anabaptist teaching. It is divine grace that goes before human decision. In other words, God will start showing special love to a person at a certain time of his life.

Prevenient grace is taught by Christians who are influenced by the theology of Jacob Arminius or John Wesley. Wesleyan Arminians believe God helps people to accept the gift of salvation.

Saving Grace
This refers to the good things that God gives to those who believe in Jesus.  The gifts include forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and the power to live a good and holy life.

In Popular Culture

"Grace" is a common girl's name in many countries.

"Amazing Grace" is a song that became very popular.  It is played at funerals, sometimes on a bagpipe. This song was written by John Newton who was an evil slave trader.  His life was changed when he became a Christian.  He later worked to stop the practice of slavery. His story is told in a 2006 movie.

References

Christian theology

Divine grace


The Benois de la Danse is one of the most prestigious ballet competitions. It was started by the International Dance Association in Moscow in 1991.  It takes place each year on or around April 29 and is jury-based in its judging. The members of this jury change every year and have only top ballet personages.

Statuettes are given to the winners in the categories of lifelong achievement, ballerina, danseur, choreographer, composer and designer.

History

The idea for the Benois de la Danse was started in Moscow.  The founders got support of UNESCO in the autumn of 1992.  Its scheduling at the end of April is to match with the birthday of Alexandre Benois (1870–1960).

French sculptor Igor Ustinov designed the statuette of the Benois de la Danse award in 1992. He is the son of the famous actor Peter Ustinov, a great-nephew of Alexandre Benois.

Goals of competition
 To give the Benois audience the best performances of the works that have been entered, regardless of whom they were made by.
 To bring the best representatives of different dance styles and schools together.
 To support veterans of ballet financially, with funds from the gala concerts

References

Ballet
International competitions
Moscow

Prix Benois de la Danse


Argyroxiphium is a small genus of plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae.  Its members are known by the common names of silversword or greensword due to their long, narrow leaves and the silvery hairs on some species.

The Silversword plant grows only at high elevations on the Island of Maui in Hawaii.

The silversword is a noticeable, round-shaped rosette plant with rigid (swordlike), succulent leaves densely covered by silver hairs. When a plant flowers at the end of its life, it produces a spectacular flowering stalk 0.5-2.0 m (1.6-6.4 ft) tall, typically with hundreds of maroon sunflowerlike flower heads. This plant receives more attention from visitors to Haleakala National Park than any other plant or animal because of its striking appearance and restricted distribution.

The strikingly beautiful Haleakala silversword has always aroused the curiosity of human visitors to Haleakala Volcano. In pre-park days, plants were often removed by travelers to Haleakala Volcano as proof that the party had reached the summit, a practice that eventually seriously affected the silversword population. Browsing by feral goats and domestic cattle was also a significant factor in the silversword decline, but it was not a species preferred by these animals. By the 1920s, silversword numbers were so depleted that the Maui Chamber of Commerce sent a petition to Washington, DC, requesting that a serious effort be made to save the species (Loope and Crivellone 1986).

References

Asteraceae

Argyroxiphium


Vladimir Valentinovich Krylov () (born 26 February 1964) is a former Soviet athlete. He was Soviet 100, 200 and 400 metres champion, and also Soviet indoor 200 metres in 1989.

He was the  winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

A year later he was first in the European cup sprint relay, as well as third in the 100 metres.

Born in Sengiley, Sengileyevsky District, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Krylov trained at Dynamo in Ulyanovsk. He finished fifth in 400 m at the 1985 IAAF World Cup.

In the next year, at the 1986 European Championships, Krylov surprisingly won the 200 m and was third in 4x400 m relay. At the 1987 World Championships, he finished fifth in 200 m and was a member of Soviet 4x100 m relay team, which won the silver medal.

At the Seoul Olympics, Krylov reached the semifinals of 100 m, but did not start there. He was also a member of the Soviet 4x100 m relay team, which won the gold medal.

Krylov made his final start at the international championships at the 1990 European Championships, where he finished seventh in 100 m.

References

External links

1964 births
Living people
Russian male sprinters
Soviet male sprinters
Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union
Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
People from Sengileyevsky District
World Athletics Championships medalists
European Athletics Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games
Sportspeople from Ulyanovsk Oblast

Vladimir Krylov


The Reich Bride Schools (German: Reichsbräuteschule) were institutions established in Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. They were created to train young women to be "perfect Nazi brides", indoctrinated in Nazi ideology and educated in housekeeping skills. The fiancées of prominent  SS members and senior Nazi Party officials (and later a wider range of German women) were taught skills including cooking, child care, ironing and to how to polish their husbands' uniforms and daggers. They were required to swear oaths of loyalty to Adolf Hitler, to pledge to raise their children as Nazis and to marry in what the Nazis alleged to be ceremonies based on pre-Christian model—ceremonies that Nazi officials presided over, rather than ceremonies in churches.

Although a number of bride schools were established in locations across Germany, the demands of the Second World War made it impossible for the Nazis to realise their ideal of women as being exclusively home-bound. Many women took up work instead in munitions factories and other war-related roles. Even so, the schools appear to have continued until as late as May 1944 but their existence faded from memory after the war, perhaps as a result of an unwillingness on the part of former Nazi brides to discuss their enrollment. The discovery in 2013 of original documentation relating to the schools resulted in attention being brought to this institution of Nazi Germany.

Women in the Nazi worldview

Women had a clearly defined position in the Nazi worldview. They were not deemed suitable for professions such as medicine, the law or the civil service, from which they were banned. They were instead expected to stay at home, maintain the household and have as many children as possible. A woman's place was defined by the slogan "kinder, küche, kirche" ("children, kitchen, church"). Reproductive success was rewarded with the Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter (Cross of Honour of the German Mother), which was awarded in bronze, silver and gold ranks – the latter going to mothers who had eight or more children. The Nazis considered that the social changes that had taken place since the end of the First World War, including a fall in birth rates and an increasing number of divorces, were undermining German society and the German race. Large families and a reversion to traditional gender roles were seen as essential, not least as a means of breeding future soldiers. The Nazi government passed a Law for the Encouragement of Marriage which enabled newlyweds to take out a state loan of 1,000 reichsmarks (approximately €3,500) and keep a quarter for each child they had, in effect subsidising procreation.

Hitler told a conference of the National Socialist Women's League (NS-Frauenschaft) in September 1938, "The slogan 'Emancipation of women' was invented by Jewish intellectuals and its content was formed by the same spirit. In the really good times of German life the German woman had no need to emancipate herself ... If the man's world is said to be the State, his struggle, his readiness to devote his powers to the service of the community, then it may perhaps be said that the woman's is a smaller world. For her world is her husband, her family, her children, and her home." The Nazi viewpoint was summed up by Hermann Göring in his Nine Commandments for the Workers' Struggle, published in 1934, in which he exhorted women to "take hold of the frying pan, dust pan, and broom, and marry a man." Young girls were compelled to join the League of German Girls (Bund Deutscher Mädel) while older women became members of the NS-Frauenschaft. Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, the head of the NS-Frauenschaft, told a Nazi party conference in 1935 that "women must be the spiritual caregivers and the secret queens of our people, called upon by fate for this special task."

Establishment
In 1936, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler came to an agreement with Scholtz-Klink to put her views into practice, with Himmler issuing a decree ordering women engaged to SS members to undergo training in how to become brides who would conform to the Nazi ideal of how women should live. They were also to undergo training to provide them with "special knowledge of race and genetics." A newspaper article published at the time stated that the schools they would attend would aim "to mould housewives out of office girls."

Schools for mothers (Mütterschulen) were not a new phenomenon in Germany; the first had been established in Stuttgart in 1917. By 1933 there were 37 such institutions in Germany, aiming to counteract the high infant mortality rate that resulted from the poor diet, bad hygiene and arduous working lives of many women in Weimar Germany. Housekeeping was a much more complex and labour-intensive task than it is today, with tasks such as cleaning, laying a fire, shopping, cooking and looking after children requiring much more effort. After 1933 the Nazis saw Mütterschulen as providing not only a way of educating women in housekeeping, but a means of indoctrinating them in Nazi ideology. The administration of the Mütterschulen was taken over by the NS-Frauenschaft and the Deutsches Frauenwerk (German Women's Enterprise) and the number of women attending grew rapidly; by 1937, 1.14 million women had participated in over 53,000 courses.

The first Reich Bride School was established in 1937 on Schwanenwerder, an island in the Havel river in the Berlin locality of Nikolassee. It occupied a villa which served as a model household, in which groups of up to twenty young women would live for a six-week course. An official pamphlet stated: "In circles of 20 students, young girls should attend courses at the institute, preferably two months before their wedding day, to recuperate spiritually and physically, to forget the daily worries associated with their previous professions, to find the way and to feel the joy for their new lives as wives." They were charged 135 reichsmarks (equivalent to about €470 at today's prices) for the course. Other Reich Bride Schools were soon established; by 1940 there were nine in Berlin alone, and schools were also established in other German cities such as Oldenburg and Tübingen.

Training and indoctrination

The training given at the schools included a variety of household skills such as cooking, ironing, gardening, child care and animal husbandry. Even interior design was addressed; an article in the magazine Das schöne Heim ("The Beautiful Home") described how Nazi brides were encouraged to adopt a "clear and clean" interior style in which only "German woods are used in beautiful grain." Other topics of study included how to make suitable conversation at cocktail parties, cleaning a husband's uniform and polishing a husband's boots and dagger. They were also taught German folk songs, legends and fairy tales to infuse them with a sense of "national community" (Volksgemeinschaft). The women were required to pledge to raise their children in accordance with National Socialist beliefs, to be loyal to Hitler throughout their lives and to marry in faux neo-pagan ceremonies led by Nazi Party members, rather than in church. On completion of the course, they were issued with certificates stamped with the Lebensrune symbolising life; if they dropped out, they were refused permission to marry.

The schools were initially aimed at educating the future wives of the Nazi elite – prominent members of the SS and the Nazi Party. Eventually they were opened to all "racially suitable" German women, thus excluding anyone with Jewish or gypsy heritage, physical disability, or a history of mental illness. Nazi propaganda publicised the schools' activities in articles such as one covering the Oldenburg Reich Bride School, published in May 1940 in the Frauen Warte, the Nazi Party's bi-weekly illustrated magazine for women. It showed in a series of photographs how the brides were taught how to use gardening tools, practising cooking and animal husbandry, picking and arranging flowers, and undergoing courses in cooking, sewing, and baby care, knitting and weaving. The accompanying text, written from the point of view of a mother recalling her time at the Reich Bride School, says:

According to Dr Marius Turda of Oxford Brookes University, "the bride schools perfectly illustrate the Nazi regime's ambition to control its population, both privately and publicly. A good German wife was supposed to be a supportive mother and a promoter of racial values in the family." They also represented a political gambit by NS-Frauenschaft leader Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, whose collaboration with Himmler to set up the schools resulted in a politically valuable alliance between her organisation and the SS, a rising power within the Nazi establishment. According to the historian Michael Burleigh, the explicitly faux neo-pagan and anti-Christian stance of the bride schools was particularly noteworthy. Dr Julia Torrie of St Thomas University in New Brunswick notes that the underlying theme of the bride schools was that they defined the family as exclusively Aryan; as she puts it, "Exercising the kind of domesticity that a woman learnt at an SS bride school was, in a sense, 'living' her Nazism."

The Reich Bride Schools continued their activities until at least May 1944, but the pressures of war appear to have curtailed them before the final collapse of Nazi Germany the following year. Women took up new roles on the "home front", working in munitions factories or assisting the military. Although this contradicted the original idea of women being confined to the home, Scholtz-Klink justified it on the grounds that they now had a "higher obligation" that demanded their contributions to the war effort. After the war, the bride schools fell into obscurity and information about them is still scarce; as Marius Turda puts it, "It is possible that, after the war, former Nazis and their spouses who had graduated were rather reluctant to talk about these schools." However, in 2013, Nazi-era documentation about the schools was discovered in the German federal archives in Koblenz, including a rule book containing details of the oaths that brides had to swear and the certificates awarded to them at the end of their courses.

References

Further reading
Deutsche Mutter, bist du bereit...: Alltag im Lebensborn, Verlag, Berlin 1997, .

Women in Nazi Germany
Education in Nazi Germany
1930s establishments in Germany

Reich Bride Schools


S.A or SA designates a type of limited company in certain countries, most of which have a Romance language as their official language and employ civil law.

As with bearer bonds, anonymous unregistered share ownership and dividend collection enabled money laundering, tax evasion, and concealed business transactions in general, so governments passed laws to audit the practice. Nowadays, shareholders of S.A.s are not anonymous, though shares can still be held by a holding company in order to obscure the beneficiary.

Other Websites
 Global Witness on Anonymous Companies

Companies of France

S.A. (corporation)


The North Circular Road (), often referred to locally as NCR, is a residential road on the northside of Limerick, Ireland. Historically one of the more sought-after addresses in the city, house prices on the North Circular Road have declined since the Celtic Tiger though it remains one of the more prosperous areas of the city.

Description
The west end of the North Circular Road contains mostly large detached houses. This stretch of the road and its surroundings are among the most affluent areas in Limerick. It is linked to the Ennis Road by Fortmary Park and borders Bracken Gardens and Ashbrook. The east end of the road is predominantly middle class and contains mostly semi-detached houses alongside some apartment blocks. At this end, the North Circular Road is linked to Roses Avenue, the Lower Shelbourne Road and Clanmaurice Avenue.

Amenities
The Ardhú Bar is the local pub, situated at the top of Roses Avenue near the Ennis Road. Westfield Park is a public park next to the housing estate of the same name which is located off the North Circular Road. The park's walkways are linked by road crossing to the pathway along the River Shannon. There is a Roman Catholic church, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, situated between the North Circular Road and the Ennis Road.

Education
John F. Kennedy Memorial School, a primary school for boys, and Salesian Infant School Fernbank for girls are located on the east side of the North Circular Road, as is the large public secondary school for boys Ardscoil Rís. Salesian Secondary School was a public secondary school for girls previously situated on the North Circular Road. However, in 2015, Salesian merged with St Nessan's Community College and formed Thomond Community College, based at St Nessan's former location in Woodview, Caherdavin.

The North Circular Road is also home to Villiers School, a private, Protestant secondary school.

References

Streets in Limerick (city)
Roads in Ireland

North Circular Road, Limerick


David Rounds (October 9, 1930, Bronxville, New York – December 9, 1983, Lomontville, Ulster County, New York) was an American actor of stage and screen. He received both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award in 1980 for his role in Morning's at Seven. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during the Korean War.

Rounds played several reoccurring television roles, including appearing in two episodes of the sitcom Alice. He played Christopher Spencer in the miniseries The Blue and The Grey. His last New York appearance was in the one-man show Herringbone at Playwrights Horizons a year before his death from cancer at age 53.

References

External links

1930 births
1983 deaths
American male stage actors
American male television actors
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Male actors from New York (state)
Denison University alumni
Drama Desk Award winners
People from Bronxville, New York
Tony Award winners
20th-century American male actors

David Rounds


The Hudson Bay expedition of 1686 was one of the Anglo-French conflicts on Hudson Bay. It was the first of several expeditions sent from New France against the trading outposts of the Hudson's Bay Company in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay.  Led by the Chevalier de Troyes, the expedition captured the outposts at Moose Factory, Rupert House, Fort Albany, and the company ship Craven.

Although France and England were then at peace, war broke out between them in 1689, and the conflict over the Hudson Bay outposts continued.  One of Troyes' lieutenants, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, made further expeditions against HBC holdings; these culminated in the French victory at the 1697 naval Battle of Hudson's Bay.  At the end of the war, the French controlled all but one of the company's outposts.

Background
In 1679, French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson and financier Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye met in Paris, and laid the foundations for the establishment of a fur trading company they called the Compagnie du Nord.   Its objective was to engage in fur trade in northern North America, where the English Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had realized significant profits in that business.  The Compagnie's first major expedition in 1682 successfully seized York Factory.  After the Compagnie's profits were virtually wiped out by taxes imposed by authorities in New France, Radisson entered service with the HBC, and led several profitable shipping expeditions to Hudson Bay, including recovering for the company York Factory and the furs taken there.

The Compagnie then convinced New France's governor, the Marquis de Denonville, to organize a military expedition against HBC outposts on Hudson Bay.  He recruited Pierre de Troyes, Chevalier de Troyes, a French soldier, and assembled a small force for an overland expedition.  It consisted of 30 French regulars, 70 Canadian volunteers, and a few Indian guides. Among the Canadians were three brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, Jacques le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène, and Paul Le Moyne de Maricourt, who later became well known for their exploits.

By 1686, the Hudson's Bay Company had established several outposts in Hudson Bay and James Bay, the southernmost finger of the larger bay. Moose Factory and Rupert House were established on rivers near where they emptied into James Bay.  In addition to York Factory, located near the mouth of the Nelson River, there were outposts on the Albany and Severn Rivers where they emptied into Hudson Bay on its western side.  All of these outposts were wooden fortresses with some cannons; Fort Albany was the most heavily defended.

Expedition

The expedition left Montreal in March 1686, and traveled more than  over a period of 82 days. North of Fort Témiscamingue the route had not been explored by white men.  The route was up the Ottawa River to Lake Temiskaming, then over portages and down the Abitibi River and Moose River. When they arrived at Moose Factory, it was occupied by 16 men; its governor, John Bridgar, had sailed for Rupert House the day before.  In the pre-dawn, brothers Pierre and Jacques Le Moyne led teams quietly into the fort, where they tied down its three cannons before launching an attack on the sleeping garrison.  Pierre Le Moyne forced his way into the redoubt housing the defenders, but the defenders shut the gate behind him, and he had to single-handedly defend himself with sword and musket until his soldiers forced the gate open.  After a two-hour battle, the garrison surrendered.

Leaving 40 of his men to guard the fort, De Troyes led the rest toward Rupert House,  northeast across James Bay.  Once again they attacked a sleeping garrison, gaining access to the fort via a ladder that had been left propped against one of the fort's walls.  They also acquired the HBC ship Craven, which had transported Governor Bridgar from Moose Factory. De Troyes brought the captives taken to Moose Factory, and sent d'Iberville and the Craven, carrying heavy guns loaded from Rupert House, to attack Fort Albany on the west side of the Bay.

Fort Albany was not visible from the water, and De Troyes spent some time searching for it.  Its location was finally revealed to him when one of the fort's cannons was helpfully fired at sunset.  The French unloaded the heavy guns and dragged them to the fort.  According to one source, after firing into the fort without any return fire, they heard faint cries of "Vive le Roi!" from deep inside the fort; the men in the fort were cowering in the fort's cellar. Another describes a more determined resistance.

De Troyes shipped all of the HBC captives off to Charlton Island, where a company supply ship eventually picked them up.  He then left d'Iberville and 40 men to hold the outposts, and returned overland to Montreal.

Fort Moose (now, Moose Factory, Ontario), changed hands a few times but in 1713, the area was formally given to the British under the Treaty of Utrecht.

Aftermath
D'Iberville, after wintering over in the north, made his way first to Quebec, and then France.  There he was given command of the Soleil d'Afrique, with which he returned to Hudson Bay in 1687 to recover the furs that had been seized during the expedition.  While he was at Fort Albany, two English warships arrived.   Since England and France were at peace, the English settled on an island nearby, and took no offensive measures.  D'Iberville, however, did, and captured the ships from the numerically superior English.

Meanwhile, James II and Louis XIV had negotiated a 'Treaty of Peace, good Correspondence and Neutrality in America' to settle the Anglo-French conflict on the Bay. It provided that each side would keep whatever it 'now possessed'. France knew about the forts and England did not. In 1688 James II was overthrown, England and France went to war and the treaty became moot.

Effect on First Nations traders
When these three outposts were taken from the British by the French, the First Nations traders were unable to meet trade requirements. "Ever since the destruction of Fort Charles in 1686 the Rupert River had been without an English fort, the Indians going to Eastmain or to Moose Fort."

Notes

References

King William's War
Battles involving England
Battles involving France
Conflicts in 1686
17th century in Canada
New France
Military history of Ontario
Military history of Manitoba
Hudson's Bay Company
Military expeditions
Expeditions from France
1686 in North America

Hudson Bay expedition (1686)


Scoville "Toby" Browne (October 13, 1909, Atlanta – October 3, 1994) was an American jazz reedist.

Browne played in the late 1920s with Junie Cobb's band and the Midnight Ramblers in Chicago; in 1931–32 he played saxophone and clarinet for Fred Avendorph. He worked with Louis Armstrong from 1933–35, and in the mid- and late 1930s with Jesse Stone, Jack Butler, Claude Hopkins, and Blanche Calloway. At the end of the decade he attended the Chicago College of Music. In the 1940s Browne played with Slim Gaillard, Fats Waller, Buddy Johnson, Hot Lips Page, and Eddie Heywood before serving in the U.S. military during World War II. Following his discharge he played with Hopkins again and with Buck Clayton.

Browne worked as a bandleader on and off in the 1950s, and also studied classical music. He played with Lionel Hampton and Muggsy Spanier late in the 1950s, and appears in the 1958 photograph A Great Day in Harlem. Browne continued to do work with Hopkins into the 1970s. He never recorded as a bandleader.

References

[ Scoville Browne] at Allmusic

1909 births
1994 deaths
American jazz saxophonists
American male saxophonists
American jazz clarinetists
Jazz musicians from Chicago
20th-century American saxophonists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians

Scoville Browne


Compound File Binary Format (CFBF), also called Compound File, Compound Document format, or Composite Document File V2 (CDF), is a compound document file format for storing numerous files and streams within a single file on a disk. CFBF is developed by Microsoft and is an implementation of Microsoft COM Structured Storage.

Microsoft has opened the format for use by others and it is now used in a variety of programs from Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access to Business Objects. It also forms the basis of the Advanced Authoring Format.

Overview
At its simplest, the Compound File Binary Format is a container, with little restriction on what can be stored within it.

A CFBF file structure loosely resembles a FAT filesystem. The file is partitioned into Sectors which are chained together with a File Allocation Table (not to be mistaken with the file system of the same name) which contains chains of sectors related to each file, a Directory holds information for contained files with a Sector ID (SID) for the starting sector of a chain and so on.

Structure
The CFBF file consists of a 512-Byte header record followed by a number of sectors whose size is defined in the header.  The literature defines Sectors to be either 512 or 4096 bytes in length, although the format is potentially capable of supporting sectors ranging in size from 128-Bytes upwards in powers of 2 (128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.).  The lower limit of 128 is the minimum required to fit a single directory entry in
a Directory Sector.

There are several types of sector that may be present in a CFBF:

 File Allocation Table (FAT) Sector – contains chains of sector indices much as a FAT does in the FAT/FAT32 filesystems
 MiniFAT Sectors – similar to the FAT but storing chains of mini-sectors within the Mini-Stream
 Double-Indirect FAT (DIFAT) Sector – contains chains of FAT sector indices
 Directory Sector – contains directory entries
 Stream Sector – contains arbitrary file data
 Range Lock Sector – contains the byte-range locking area of a large file

More detail is given below for the header and each sector type.

CFBF Header format
The CFBF Header occupies the first 512 bytes of the file and information required to interpret the rest of the file.  The C-Style structure declaration below (extracted from the AAFA's Low-Level Container Specification) shows the members of the CFBF header and their purpose:
 typedef unsigned long ULONG;    // 4 Bytes
 typedef unsigned short USHORT;  // 2 Bytes
 typedef short OFFSET;           // 2 Bytes
 typedef ULONG SECT;             // 4 Bytes
 typedef ULONG FSINDEX;          // 4 Bytes
 typedef USHORT FSOFFSET;        // 2 Bytes
 typedef USHORT WCHAR;           // 2 Bytes
 typedef ULONG DFSIGNATURE;      // 4 Bytes
 typedef unsigned char BYTE;     // 1 Byte
 typedef unsigned short WORD;    // 2 Bytes
 typedef unsigned long DWORD;    // 4 Bytes
 typedef ULONG SID;              // 4 Bytes
 typedef GUID CLSID;             // 16 Bytes

 struct StructuredStorageHeader { // [offset from start (bytes), length (bytes)]
     BYTE _abSig[8];             // [00H,08] {0xd0, 0xcf, 0x11, 0xe0, 0xa1, 0xb1,
                                 // 0x1a, 0xe1} for current version
     CLSID _clsid;               // [08H,16] reserved must be zero (WriteClassStg/
                                 // GetClassFile uses root directory class id)
     USHORT _uMinorVersion;      // [18H,02] minor version of the format: 33 is
                                 // written by reference implementation
     USHORT _uDllVersion;        // [1AH,02] major version of the dll/format: 3 for
                                 // 512-byte sectors, 4 for 4 KB sectors
     USHORT _uByteOrder;         // [1CH,02] 0xFFFE: indicates Intel byte-ordering
     USHORT _uSectorShift;       // [1EH,02] size of sectors in power-of-two;
                                 // typically 9 indicating 512-byte sectors
     USHORT _uMiniSectorShift;   // [20H,02] size of mini-sectors in power-of-two;
                                 // typically 6 indicating 64-byte mini-sectors
     USHORT _usReserved;         // [22H,02] reserved, must be zero
     ULONG _ulReserved1;         // [24H,04] reserved, must be zero
     FSINDEX _csectDir;          // [28H,04] must be zero for 512-byte sectors,
                                 // number of SECTs in directory chain for 4 KB
                                 // sectors
     FSINDEX _csectFat;          // [2CH,04] number of SECTs in the FAT chain
     SECT _sectDirStart;         // [30H,04] first SECT in the directory chain
     DFSIGNATURE _signature;     // [34H,04] signature used for transactions; must
                                 // be zero. The reference implementation
                                 // does not support transactions
     ULONG _ulMiniSectorCutoff;  // [38H,04] maximum size for a mini stream;
                                 // typically 4096 bytes
     SECT _sectMiniFatStart;     // [3CH,04] first SECT in the MiniFAT chain
     FSINDEX _csectMiniFat;      // [40H,04] number of SECTs in the MiniFAT chain
     SECT _sectDifStart;         // [44H,04] first SECT in the DIFAT chain
     FSINDEX _csectDif;          // [48H,04] number of SECTs in the DIFAT chain
     SECT _sectFat[109];         // [4CH,436] the SECTs of first 109 FAT sectors
 };

File Allocation Table (FAT) Sectors
When taken together as a single stream the collection of FAT sectors define the status and linkage of every sector in the file.  Each entry in the FAT is 4 bytes in length and contains the sector number of the next sector in a FAT chain or one of the following special values:

 FREESECT (0xFFFFFFFF) – denotes an unused sector
 ENDOFCHAIN (0xFFFFFFFE) – marks the last sector in a FAT chain
 FATSECT (0xFFFFFFFD) – marks a sector used to store part of the FAT
 DIFSECT (0xFFFFFFFC) – marks a sector used to store part of the DIFAT

Range Lock Sector

The Range Lock Sector must exist in files greater than 2GB in size, and must not exist in files smaller than 2GB.  The Range Lock Sector must contain the byte range 0x7FFFFF00 to 0x7FFFFFFF in the file.  This area is reserved by Microsoft's COM implementation for storing byte-range locking information for concurrent access.

Glossary
 FAT – File Allocation Table, also known as: SAT – Sector Allocation Table
 DIFAT – Double-Indirect File Allocation Table
 FAT Chain – a group of FAT entries which indicate the sectors allocated to a Stream in the file
 Stream – a virtual file which occupies a number of sectors within the CFBF
 Sector – the unit of allocation within the CFBF, usually 512 or 4096 Bytes in length

See also
 Structured Storage
 Advanced Authoring Format (AAF)
 Cabinet (file format)

References

External links

Computer file formats
Digital container formats

Compound File Binary Format


The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten agreement after the American Civil War between leaders of the Democrats, who mostly ruled the South, and the Republicans, who mostly ruled the North. The Democrats agreed to settle the Presidential election of 1876 by allowing Rutherford B. Hayes to become President and not their own candidate, Samuel J. Tilden.

The Republicans promised to remove the Army from the occupied territory of the South, thus ending the Reconstruction era. The Democrats promised they would maintain African American rights.

The government stopped trying to fix Southern society and stopped helping the African Americans and Republicans there. Additional details are unclear, because it was an unwritten agreement.

1877
1870s in the United States
American civil rights

Compromise of 1877


Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the physical strength and endurance. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the weight/gravity training and the training with the help of resistive equipment.

When properly performed, strength training can provide significant functional benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being, including increased bone, muscle, tendon and ligament strength, improved joint function, reduced potential for injury, increased bone density, a temporary increase in metabolism, improved cardiac function.

Training commonly uses the technique of progressively increasing the force output of the muscle through incremental increases of weight, elastic tension or other resistance, and uses a variety of exercises and types of training equipment to target specific muscle groups. Strength training is primarily an anaerobic activity.

Strength training differs from bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting, and strongman, which are sports rather than forms of exercise, although training for them totally depends on strength training. Many other sports use strength training as a part of their training regimen, notably football, lacrosse, basketball, hockey and track and field.

Some samples
Some samples of strength training exercises in a gym are presented in the picture gallery below.

Basic principles
The basic principles of strength training involve a number of repetitions (reps), sets, tempo, exercises and force to cause desired changes in strength, endurance, size or shape by overloading of a group of muscles. Specific combination of reps, sets, exercises, resistance and force depend on the purpose of the individual performing the exercise: sets with fewer reps can be performed using more force, but have a reduced impact on endurance.

Related pages
 Calisthenics
 Exercise
 Flexibility training
 Healthy lifestyle
 Jogging
 Mixed martial arts
 Physical fitness
 Training
 Weight training

References

Fitness

Strength training


Swaminarayan (IAST: ; 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and ascetic, who is believed by followers to be a manifestation of Krishna,  or as the highest manifestation of Purushottama, and around whom the Swaminarayan Sampradaya developed.

In 1800, he was initiated into the Uddhava sampradaya by his guru, Swami Ramanand, and was given the name Sahajanand Swami. Despite opposition, in 1802, Ramanand handed over the leadership of the Uddhava Sampradaya to him before his death. According to the Swaminarayan tradition, Sahajanand Swami became known as Swaminarayan, and the Uddhava Sampradaya became known as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, after a gathering in which he taught the Swaminarayan Mantra to his followers.

He emphasized "moral, personal, and social betterment," and ahimsa,. He is also remembered within the sect for undertaking reforms for women and the poor, and performing large scale non-violent yajñas (fire sacrifices).

During his lifetime, Swaminarayan institutionalized his charisma and beliefs in various ways. He built six mandirs to facilitate devotional worship of God by his followers, and encouraged the creation of a scriptural tradition, including the Shikshapatri, which he wrote in 1826. In 1826, through a legal document titled the Lekh, Swaminarayan created two dioceses, the Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi (Vadtal Gadi) and Nar Narayan Dev Gadi (Ahmedabad Gadi), with a hereditary leadership of acharyas and their wives from his own extended family, who were authorized to install statues of deities in temples and to initiate ascetics.

Biography

Childhood as Ghanshyam

Swaminarayan was born on 3 April 1781 (Chaitra Sud 9, Samvat 1837) in Chhapaiya, a village near Ayodhya in present-day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Born into the Brahmin or priestly caste of Sarvariya, Swaminarayan was named Ghanshyam Pande by his parents, Hariprasad Pande (father, also known as Dharmadev) and Premvati Pande (mother, also known as Bhaktimata and Murtidevi). The birth of Swaminarayan coincided with the Hindu festival of Rama Navami, celebrating the birth of Rama. The ninth lunar day in the fortnight of the waxing moon in the month of Chaitra (March–April), is celebrated as both Rama Navami and Swaminarayan Jayanti by Swaminarayan followers. This celebration also marks the beginning of a ritual calendar for the followers.

A Swaminarayan sectarian legend tells how Narayana from the Nara Narayana pair, was cursed by sage Durvasa to incarnate on the earth as Swaminarayan.

Swaminarayan had an elder brother, Rampratap Pande, and a younger brother, Ichcharam Pande. He is said to have mastered the scriptures, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata by the age of seven.

Travels as Nilkanth Varni

After the death of his parents, Ghanshyam Pande left his home on 29 June 1792 (Ashadh Sud 10, Samvat 1849) at the age of 11. He took the name Nilkanth Varni while on his journey.  Nilkanth Varni travelled across India and parts of Nepal in search of an ashram, or hermitage, that practiced what he considered a correct understanding of Vedanta, Samkhya, Yoga, and Pancaratra. To find such an ashram, Nilkanth Varni asked the following five questions on the basic Vaishnava Vedanta categories:
 What is ?
 What is ?
 What is ?
 What is ?
 What is ?

While on his journey, Nilkanth Varni mastered Astanga yoga (eightfold yoga) in a span of nine months under the guidance of an aged yogic master named Gopal Yogi. In Nepal, it is said that he met King Rana Bahadur Shah and cured him of his stomach illness. As a result, the king freed all the ascetics he had imprisoned. Nilkanth Varni visited the Jagannath Temple in Puri as well as temples in Badrinath, Rameswaram, Nashik, Dwarka, and Pandharpur.

In 1799, after a seven-year journey, Nilkanth's travels as a yogi eventually concluded in Loj, a village in the Junagadh district of Gujarat. In Loj, Nilkanth Varni met Muktanand Swami, a senior disciple of Ramanand Swami. Muktanand Swami, who was 22 years older than Nilkanth, answered the five questions to Nilkanth's satisfaction. Nilkanth decided to stay for the opportunity to meet Ramanand Swami, whom he met a few months after his arrival in Gujarat. He later claimed in the Vachnamrut that during this period, he took up a severe penance to eliminate his mother's flesh and blood from his body so that the sign of his physical attachment to family, was completely removed.

Leadership as Sahajanand Swami

According to the sect, Nilkanth's understanding of the metaphysical and epistemological concepts of the pancha-tattvas (five eternal elements), together with his mental and physical discipline, inspired senior swamis of Ramanand Swami.

Nilkanth Varni received sannyasa initiation from Ramanand Swami on 20 October 1800, and with it was granted the names Sahajanand Swami and Narayan Muni to signify his new status.

At the age of 21, Sahajanand Swami was appointed successor to Ramanand Swami as the leader of the Uddhava Sampradaya by Ramanand Swami, prior to his death. The Uddhava Sampradaya henceforth came to be known as the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. According to sources he proclaimed the worship of one sole deity, Krishna or Narayana. Krishna was considered by him his own ishtadevata. In contrast with the Vaishnava sect known as the Radha-vallabha Sampradaya, he had a more puritanical approach, rather than the theological views of Krishna that are strongly capricious in character and imagery. While being a worshipper of Krishna, Swaminarayan rejected licentious elements in Krishnology in favor of worship in the mood of majesty, alike to earlier Vaishnava teachers, Ramanuja and Yamunacharya.

Manifestation of God
According to Swaminarayan-tradition, Sahajanand Swami was later known as Swaminarayan after the mantra he taught at a gathering, in Faneni, a fortnight after the death of Ramanand Swami. He gave his followers a new mantra, known as the Swaminarayan mantra, to repeat in their rituals: Swaminarayan. When chanting this mantra, some devotees went into samadhi, and claimed that they could see their personal gods. Swaminarayan also became known by the names Ghanshyam Maharaj, Shreeji Maharaj, Hari Krishna Maharaj and Shri Hari.

As early as 1804, Swaminarayan, who was reported to have performed miracles, was described as a manifestation of God in the first work written by a disciple and paramahamsa, Nishkulanand Swami. This work, the Yama Danda, was the first piece of literature written within the Swaminarayan sect. Swaminarayan himself is said to have intimated that he was a manifestation of God in a meeting with Reginald Heber, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, in 1825.

Some of Swaminarayan's followers believe he was an incarnation of Krishna. The images and stories of Swaminarayan and Krishna have coincided in the liturgy of the sect. The story of the birth of Swaminarayan parallels that of Krishna's birth from the scripture Bhagavata Purana. Most of his followers believe that Swaminarayan is the complete manifestation of Narayana or Purushottama Narayana - the Supreme Being and superior to other avatars.

The belief of many followers that their founder was the incarnation of the Supreme God has also drawn criticism. According to Professor Raymond B. Williams, Swaminarayan was criticized because he received large gifts from his followers and dressed and traveled as a Maharaja even though he had taken the vows of renunciation of the world. Swaminarayan responded that he accepts gifts for the emancipation of his followers.

Dharma
Swaminarayan encouraged his followers to combine devotion and dharma to lead a pious life. Using Hindu texts and rituals to form the base of his organisation, Swaminarayan founded what in later centuries would become a global organisation with strong Gujarati roots. He was particularly strict on the separation of sexes in temples. Swaminarayan was against the consumption of meat, alcohol or drugs, adultery, suicide, animal sacrifices, criminal activities and the appeasement of ghosts and tantric rituals.  Alcohol consumption was forbidden by him even for medicinal purposes.  Many of his followers took vows before becoming his disciple. He stated that four elements need to be conquered for ultimate salvation: dharma, bhakti (devotion), gnana (knowledge) and vairagya (detachment). Doctrinally, Swaminarayan was close to eleventh century philosopher Ramanuja and was critical of Adi Shankara's concept of Advaita, or monistic non-dualism. Swaminarayan's ontology maintained that the supreme being is not formless and that God always has a divine form.

Relations with other religions and the British Government

Swaminarayan strived to maintain good relationships with people of other religions, sometimes meeting prominent leaders. His followers cut across religious boundaries, including people of Muslim and Parsi backgrounds. Swaminarayan's personal attendants included Khoja Muslims. In Kathiawad, many Muslims wore kanthi necklaces given by Swaminarayan. He also had a meeting with Reginald Heber, Lord Bishop of Calcutta and a leader of Christians in India at the time. Bishop Heber mentions in his account of the meeting that about two hundred disciples of Swaminarayan accompanied him as his bodyguards mounted on horses and carrying Matchlocks and swords. Bishop Heber himself had about a hundred horse guards accompanying him (fifty horses and fifty muskets) and mentioned that it was humiliating for him to see two religious leaders meeting at the head of two small armies, his being the smaller contingent. As a result of the meeting, both leaders gained mutual respect for one another.

Swaminarayan enjoyed a good relationship with the government of the ruling East India Company. The first temple he built, in Ahmedabad, was built on  of land given by the company government. The company officers gave it a 101 gun salute when it was opened. It was in an 1825 meeting with Reginald Heber that Swaminarayan is said to have intimated that he was a manifestation of Krishna. In 1830, Swaminarayan had a meeting with Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay (1827 to 1830). According to Malcolm, Swaminarayan had helped bring some stability to a lawless region. During the meeting with Malcolm, Swaminarayan gave him a copy of the Shikshapatri. This copy of the Shikshapatri is currently housed at the Bodleian Library at University of Oxford.

Temples and ascetics

Swaminarayan ordered the construction of several Hindu temples and he had built six huge temples by himself and installed the idols of various deities such as Radha Krishna, Nara-Narayana, Laksmi Narayana, Gopinath, Radha Ramana, and Madanamohana. The images in the temples built by Swaminarayan provide evidence of the priority of Krishna. Disciples of Swaminarayan composed devotional poems which are widely sung by the tradition during festivals. Swaminarayan introduced fasting and devotion among followers. He conducted the festivals of Vasant Panchami, Holi, and Janmashtami with organization of the traditional folk dance raas.

The first temple Swaminarayan constructed was in Ahmedabad in 1822, with the land for construction given by the  Company Government. Following a request of devotees from Bhuj, Swaminarayan asked his follower Vaishnavananand to build a temple there. Construction commenced in 1822, and the temple was built within a year. A temple in Vadtal followed in 1824, a temple in Dholera in 1826, a temple in Junagadh in 1828 and a temple in Gadhada, also in 1828. By the time of his death, Swaminarayan had also ordered construction of temples in Muli, Dholka and Jetalpur.

From early on, ascetics have played a major role in the Swaminarayan sect. They contribute towards growth and development of the movement, encouraging people to follow a pious and religious life. Tradition maintains that Swaminarayan initiated 500 ascetics as paramahamsas in a single night. Paramahamsa is a title of honour sometimes applied to Hindu spiritual teachers who are regarded as having attained enlightenment. Paramahamsas were the highest order of sannyasi in the sect. Prominent paramahamsas included Muktanand Swami, Gopalanand Swami, Brahmanand Swami, Gunatitanand Swami, Premanand Swami, Nishkulanand Swami, and Nityanand Swami.

Ahmedabad and Vadtal Gadi
Prior to his death, Swaminarayan decided to establish a line of acharyas or preceptors, as his successors. He established two gadis (seats of leadership). One seat was established at Ahmedabad (Nar Narayan Dev Gadi) and the other one at Vadtal (Laxmi Narayan Dev Gadi) on 21 November 1825. Swaminarayan appointed an acharya to each of these gadis to pass on his message to others and to preserve his fellowship, the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. These acharyas came from his immediate family after sending representatives to search them out in Uttar Pradesh. He formally adopted a son each from his two brothers and appointed them  to the office of acharya. Ayodhyaprasad, the son of Swaminarayan's elder brother Rampratap, and Raghuvira, the son of his younger brother Ichcharam, were appointed acharyas of the Ahmedabad Gadi and the Vadtal Gadi respectively. Swaminarayan decreed that the office should be hereditary so that acharyas would maintain a direct line of blood descent from his family. The administrative division of his followers into two territorial dioceses is set forth in minute detail in a document written by Swaminarayan called Desh Vibhag Lekh. Swaminarayan stated to all the devotees and saints to obey both the Acharyas and Gopalanand Swami who was considered as the main pillar and chief ascetic for the sampradaya.

The current acharya of the Ahmedabad Gadi is Koshalendraprasad Pande and Ajendraprasad Pande, of the Vadtal Gadi.

Death

In 1830, Swaminarayan gathered his followers and announced his departure. He later died on 1 June 1830 (Jeth sud 10, Samvat 1886), and it is believed by followers that, at the time of his death, Swaminarayan left Earth for Akshardham, his abode. He was cremated according to Hindu rites at Lakshmi Wadi in Gadhada.

Social views

Women
Swaminarayan insisted that education was the inherent right of all people, including women, despite considerable criticism from those in his own contemporary society who "loathed the uplift of lower caste women". At that time, influential and wealthy individuals educated their girls through private and personal tuition. Male followers of Swaminarayan made arrangements to educate their female family members. The literacy rate among females began to increase during Swaminarayan's time, and they were able to give discourses on spiritual subjects. Members of the sect consider Swaminarayan a pioneer of education of females in India.

According to the author Raymond Brady Williams, "Swaminarayan is an early representative of the practice of advocacy of women's rights without personal involvement with women". To counter the practice of sati (self-immolation by a widow on her husband's funeral pyre), Swaminarayan argued that, as human life was given by God, it could be taken only by God, and that sati had no Vedic sanction. He went to the extent to call sati nothing but suicide. Swaminarayan offered parents help with dowry expenses to discourage female infanticide, calling infanticide a sin. For calling a halt to these prevailing practices, Swaminarayan's "contemporaries naturally saw in him a pioneer of a reformed and purified Hinduism, and Swaminarayan Hinduism an 'ingrazi dharma' or British religion."

Professor David Harman observed that Swaminarayan "criticized the popular shakta cults and 'gosai' and 'nath' ascetics for the contemptuous and instrumental way in which they viewed and treated women. These cults were often responsible for gross sexual abuse of women." Hardiman added that Swaminarayan's view towards women was not in line with this type of misogyny and was rooted in his desire to prevent ill-treatment of women along with promoting celibacy for ascetics. Swaminarayan "forbade all sadhus and sadhvis (that is, male and female ascetics) of his sect from having any contact whatsoever with members of the opposite sex." This strict precept was one he likely internalized "after travelling as an ascetic throughout India [when] he was reported to vomit if approached by even the shadow of a woman". To help his male ascetic followers maintain their vow of celibacy, Swaminarayan taught "the woman who attracts attention is made up of bones, blood vessels, spittle, blood, mucus and feces; she is simply a collection of these things, and there is nothing to be attractive.

Members of the faith are defensive of the fact that some practices seem to restrict women and make gender equality in leadership impossible. They are only permitted to enter special sections of the temple reserved for women or have to go to separate women's temples. As with practices of niddah in Orthodox Judaism, concepts of pollution associated with the menstrual cycle lead to the exclusion of women from the temples and daily worship during the affected time. Swaminarayan also directed male devotees not to listen to religious discourses given by women.

In the case of widows, Swaminarayan directed those who could not follow the path of chastity to remarry. For those who could, he lay down strict rules which included them being under the control of male members of the family. This may seem regressive, however, it gave them "a respected and secure place in the social order" of the time.  Swaminarayan restricted widows "to live always under the control of male members of their family and prohibited them from receiving instruction in any science from any man excepting their nearest relations."

Caste system and the poor

After assuming the leadership of the sampradaya, Swaminarayan worked to assist the poor by distributing food and drinking water. He undertook several social service projects and opened almshouses for the poor. Swaminarayan organized food and water relief to people during times of drought.

Some suggest that Swaminarayan worked towards ending the caste system, allowing everyone into the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. However partaking in the consumption food of lower castes and caste pollution was not supported by him. A political officer in Gujarat, Mr. Williamson reported to Bishop Herber that Swaminarayan had "destroyed the yoke of caste." He instructed his paramahamsas to collect alms from all sections of society and appointed people from the lower strata of society as his personal attendants. Members of the lower castes were attracted to the movement as it improved their social status. Swaminarayan would eat along with the lower Rajput and Khati castes but not any lower. He allowed dalits and lower caste people to visit places of worship . However, Dalits - those outside of the caste system - were formally excluded from Swaminarayan temples. Members of a lower caste are prohibited from wearing a full sect mark (tilak chandlo) on their forehead. Even now, however, for the vast majority of Gujarat's lower-caste, Untouchable and tribal population, the sect is out of bounds.

Reginald Heber, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, noted that disciples of Swaminarayan cut across all castes, and even included Muslims. He writes "they all pray to one God with no difference of castes. They live as if they were brothers." Furthermore, in a meeting with Swaminarayan, he noted that "[Swaminarayan] did not regard the subject as of much importance, but that he wished not to give offense (to ancient Hindu system); that people might eat separately or together in this world, but that above "oopur" pointing to heaven, those distinctions would cease." Swaminarayan worked thus to dispel the myth that moksha (salvation) was not attainable by everyone. He taught that the soul is neither male nor female, nor yoked to any specific caste.

Animal sacrifices and yajnas
Swaminarayan was against animal sacrifices.  To solve this problem, Swaminarayan conducted several large-scale yajnas involving priests from Varanasi. Swaminarayan was successful in reinstating ahimsa through several such large-scale yajnas. Swaminarayan stressed lacto vegetarianism among his followers and forbade meat consumption, codifying the conduct in the Shikshapatri.

Scriptures

Swaminarayan propagated general Hindu texts. He held the Bhagavata Purana in high authority. However, there are many texts that were written by Swaminarayan or his followers that are regarded as shastras or scriptures within the Swaminarayan sect. Notable scriptures throughout the sect include the Shikshapatri and the Vachanamrut. Other important works and scriptures include the Satsangi Jeevan, Swaminarayan's authorized biography, the Muktanand Kavya, the Nishkulanand Kavya and the Bhakta Chintamani.

Shikshapatri

Swaminarayan wrote the Shikshapatri on 11 February 1826. While the original Sanskrit manuscript is not available, it was translated into Gujarati by Nityanand Swami under the direction of Swaminarayan and is revered in the sect. The Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency summarised it as a book of social laws that his followers should follow. A commentary on the practice and understanding of dharma, it is a small booklet containing 212 Sanskrit verses, outlining the basic tenets that Swaminarayan believed his followers should uphold in order to live a well-disciplined and moral life. The oldest copy of this text is preserved at the Bodleian Library of Oxford University and it is one of the very few presented by Sahajanand Swami himself. Acharya Tejendraprasad of Ahmedabad has indicated in a letter that he is not aware of any copy from the hand of Sahajanand older than this text.

Swaminarayan in various places of Shikshapatri describes Shri Krishna as the greatest entity. In Shikshapatri shlok 1 and 108 are few places that mention that Swaminarayan prayed on Shri Krishna.

Shikshapatri shlok 1

वामे यस्य स्थिता राधा श्रीश्च यस्यास्ति वक्षसि।

वृन्दावनविहारं तं श्रीकृष्णं हृदि चिन्तये॥ 1॥

vāmē yasya sthitā rādhā śrīśca yasyāsti vakṣasi ǀ

vṛndāvanavihāraṁ taṁ śrīkṛṣṇaṁ hṛdi cintayē ǁ 1 ǁ

Translation: With all My heart, I meditate on Shri Krishna, who resides in the divine abode Vrindavan; with Radha on his left and Shree residing within his heart.

Shikshapatri shlok 108 also mentions that Shri Krishna is the greatest entity.

स श्रीकृष्णः परंब्रह्म भगवान् पुरुषोत्तमः।

उपास्य इष्टदेवो नः सर्वाविर्भावकारणम्॥ 108॥

sa śrīkṛṣṇaḥ parambrahma bhagavān puruṣōttamaḥ ǀ

upāsya iṣṭadēvō naḥ sarvāvirbhāvakāraṇam ǁ 108 ǁ

Translation: The Lord, Shri Krishna is the greatest entity. I admire Him the most. He is the cause of all incarnations and is thus truly worthy to be worshiped.

Vachanamrut

The Vachanamrut (IAST: Vacanāmṛta, lit. "immortalising ambrosia in the form of words") is a sacred Hindu text consisting of 273 religious discourses delivered by Swaminarayan from 1819 to 1829 CE and is considered the principal theological text within the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. Compiled by four of his senior disciples, Swaminarayan edited and approved the scripture. As followers believe Swaminarayan to be Parabrahman, or God, the Vachanamrut is considered a direct revelation from God and thus the most precise interpretation of the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and other important Hindu scriptures. This scripture is read by followers regularly and discourses are conducted daily in Swaminarayan temples around the world.

Satsangi Jeevan

Satsangi Jeevan is the authorised biography of Swaminarayan. The book contains information on the life and teachings of Swaminarayan. It is written by Shatanand Swami and completed in Vikram Samvat 1885. Swaminarayan decided to make Gadhada his permanent residence on the insistence of Dada Khachar and his sisters. Swaminarayan instructed Shatanand Swami to write a book on his life and pastimes.

To enable Shatanand Swami to write from His childhood, Swaminarayan had blessed Shatanand Swami with Sanjay Drishti - special power to see the entire past right from His childhood.

Once written by Shatanand Swami, this book was verified and authenticated by Swaminarayan. He was much pleased to read the book. Swaminarayan then asked his disciples to do Katha of Satsangi Jeevan.

Philosophy
Swaminarayan's philosophy asserts that Parabrahman and Aksharabrahman are two distinct eternal realities.

Legacy

Schisms
Decades after his death, several divisions occurred with different understandings of succession. This included the establishment of Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), the founder of which left the Vadtal Gadi in 1905, and Maninagar Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan, the founder of which left the Ahmedabad Gadi in the 1940s. The followers of BAPS hold Gunatitanand Swami as the spiritual successor to Swaminarayan, asserting that on several occasions Swaminarayan revealed to devotees that Gunatitanand Swami was Aksharbrahm manifest. Followers of BAPS believe that the acharyas were given administrative leadership of the sect while Gunatitanand Swami was given spiritual leadership by Swaminarayan. The current spiritual and administrative leader of BAPS is Mahant Swami Maharaj. The followers of the Maninagar Swaminarayan Gadi Sansthan hold Gopalanand Swami as the successor to Swaminarayan. The current leader of this sect is Purushottampriyadasji Maharaj.

Growth

According to the biographer Raymond Williams, when Swaminarayan died, he had a following of 1.8 million people. In 2001, Swaminarayan centres existed on four continents, and the congregation was recorded to be five million, the majority in the homeland of Gujarat. The newspaper Indian Express estimated members of the Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism to number over 20 million (2 crore) worldwide in 2007.

Reception
The manifestation belief and Swaminarayan's teachings were criticized by Hindu reformist leader Dayananda Saraswati (1824–1883). He questioned the acceptance of Swaminarayan as the Supreme Being and was disapproving towards the idea that visions of Swaminarayan could form a path to attaining perfection. Accused of deviating from the Vedas, his followers were criticised for the illegal collection of wealth and the "practice of frauds and tricks." In the views of Dayananda, published as early as 1875, it was a "historical fact" that Swaminarayan decorated himself as Narayana in order to gain followers.

In 1918, Mahatma Gandhi in the letter to his nephew, expressed that Swaminarayan's values didn't align perfectly with his interpretation of Vaishnavism and the love taught by Swaminarayana was all about sentimentalism. According to Gandhi, Swaminarayan had not grasped the essence of non-violence. In 1924, Gandhi applauded efforts of Swaminaryan and added that "what was accomplished in Gujarat by one person, Sahajanand [Swaminarayan], could not be accomplished by the power of the State".

See also
 Akshar-Purushottam Darshan

Notes

References

Sources
Printed sources

Web-sources

External links

1781 births
1830 deaths
19th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians
Indian Hindu spiritual teachers
Indian theologians
Indian Vaishnavites
People considered avatars by their followers
Regional Hindu gods
18th-century Hindus
19th-century Hindus
Scholars from Uttar Pradesh
Swaminarayan Sampradaya
Vaishnava saints
Vaishnavite religious leaders
Vishishtadvaita Vedanta
Hindu reformers

Swaminarayan


Saint Irenarch or Irenarchus the Recluse of Rostov is honoured in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Irenarchus, Hermit of Rostov, was born into a peasant family in the village of Kondakovo in the Rostov district of Russia. In Baptism he received the name Elias. In his thirtieth year, he was tonsured a monk at the Rostov St.s Boris and Gleb Monastery. There he began fervently to labor at monastic tasks, he attended church services, and by night he prayed and slept on the ground. Once, taking pity on a vagrant who did not have shoes, St Irenarchus gave him his own boots, and from that time he began to go barefoot through the snow.

Irenarchus was a mystic and visionary.  After his death many physical, psychological, and spiritual healings were attributed to the touching of his relics.  He is commemorated 13 January in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Irenarchus was a companion of John the Hairy.

References

 http://www.oca.org/FSlives.asp

Christian saints in unknown century
Ascetics
Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Year of birth unknown

pl:Irenarch

Irenarch of Rostov


The Heckler & Koch MK 23, MK 23 MOD 0, Mark 23, or USSOCOM MARK 23 is a semi-automatic large-frame pistol chambered in .45 ACP, designed specifically to be an offensive pistol. The USSOCOM version of the MK23 came paired with a laser aiming module (LAM) and suppressor. The USSOCOM MK23 was adopted by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for special operations units, beating out the nearest competitor, Colt's OHWS. Development of the pistol began in 1991 as special operations representatives identified the need for an "Offensive Handgun Weapons System—Special Operations Peculiar", and delivery of the pistols began in May 1996 to the special operation units.

While the USSOCOM MK23 designation usually applies to the complete system, it is also commonly used in reference to the pistol component alone. The LAM and suppressor were developed by Insight Technology and Knight's Armament Company (KAC), respectively. The civilian version of the Mk23 sold by itself is designated the Mark 23.

Overview
The MK 23 is considered a match grade pistol, and is capable of making a  group at . The MK 23 is designed for exceptional durability in harsh environments, being waterproof and corrosion-resistant. It uses a polygonal barrel design, which is reported to improve accuracy and durability, and is much more expensive to produce. It also features an ambidextrous safety and magazine release on both sides of the frame. The magazine release is at the rear edge of the trigger guard, which is wide enough to allow the use of gloves. A decocking lever is on the left side, which will silently lower the cocked hammer. The MK 23 is part of a larger weapon system that includes an attachable Laser Aiming Module (LAM), a suppressor, and some other features such as a special high-pressure match cartridge (.45 +P ammunition).

The firearm was tested and found to be capable of firing tens of thousands of rounds without a barrel change. It remains reliable in harsh conditions, making it suitable for use by special forces. The .45 ACP round is subsonic in the standard loading, making it suitable for use with a suppressor.

Development
In 1989, US SOCOM began reviewing their equipment to see which gear fit the needs of their special close quarters battle role.  Studying small arms revealed that there were 120 types and configurations of infantry weapons in different units.  The logistics of getting spare parts for all these weapons was overwhelming.  In response, SOCOM decided to standardize small arms among all units.  One area of improvement was the pistol, undertaken by the Offensive Handgun Weapon System (OHWS) competition.  It would replace pistols like the 9 mm M9, which was used by regular troops as a secondary weapon.  SOCOM's use of small units that operate in close means that pistols are more likely to be used as primary weapons.

The caliber for the OHWS was quickly decided not to be the NATO standard  9 mm due to lack of stopping power.  The FBI had selected the 10 mm auto to replace their 9 mm pistols, but it was too powerful, few manufacturers produced it, and the round caused short weapon service life.  The .45 ACP caliber was chosen and improved upon with the high velocity, high pressure  +P loading.

The OHWS pistol had to fire many types of rounds in addition to the +P cartridge and have a long service life with the high pressure ammo.  The M1911 had been proven in service for over 70 years, but was rejected.  High pressure rounds would destroy it and it did not fire reliably with a suppressor.  Upgrading the M1911 would cost more than it was worth, so it was decided that they would select an entirely new design.  A request for quote was for a system that included a pistol, suppressor, and laser aiming module.  The pistol had to be corrosion resistant, have a high mean rounds between failures (MRBF), and be able to serve as a primary weapon.

After several tests, Heckler & Koch and Colt submissions were selected to move to phase I of the OHWS program in August 1991. They were awarded developmental contracts to produce 30 systems. At the time the program was beginning, HK was studying what aspects were most desirable in handguns for the U.S. civilian market.  They came up with a design that had these features including reliability, durability, affordability, and others by February 1991.  Colt however essentially drew upon existing technologies for their submission called the Colt OHWS.  They used an M1911 frame that could accept a 10-round magazine, the decocking mechanism from the Colt Double Eagle, and the rotating barrel locking system from the All American 2000.  The barrel of the Colt OHWS could not directly attach a suppressor, so a mounting was added to a rail in front of the handguard.

Colt was eliminated after phase I, leaving only HK to move on to phase II.  This phase subjected the pistols to the strictest reliability testing any pistol ever went through.  The requirement was for no less than 2,000 MRBF; the HK OHWS averaged 6,027 MRBF and could reach 15,122 MRBF.  Three pistols went through a 30,000-round endurance test and maintained accuracy of  at 25 meters; only the O-ring needed replacement after 20,000 rounds.  The weapons worked in temperatures from -25 degrees Fahrenheit to 140 degrees Fahrenheit while exposed to mud, ice, and sand.  Phase III was the awarding of a production contract to HK in June 1995.  Their pistol was type classified as the Mark 23 Mod 0, and 1,950 systems were ordered at $1,186 each.  All pistols were produced in Germany and the first was delivered to SOCOM on 1 May 1996.

Even though the Mark 23 had performed admirably, several factors worked against its use.  Previous operators were trained to fire multiple 9 mm rounds and they thought firing extra rounds made up for not using harder hitting but larger and heavier .45 ACP rounds.  The introduction of the smaller and lighter HK USP, political pressures, and shortages of +P ammunition also contributed against the pistol.  As the War on Terror went on, operators saw the effectiveness of the .45 ACP in combat and renewed use of the Mark 23, as well as other pistols chambered for the round.

Adoption
The MK 23 MOD 0 was built as an "offensive" handgun for U.S. special operations forces under USSOCOM, per request made in 1989. Military versions of the firearm have the writing "MK23 USSOCOM" engraved on the slide. The first MK 23 production models were delivered to SOCOM on May 1, 1996.

HK commercially markets the MK 23 and derivatives of it, but not the complete SOCOM system. The suppressor is made by Knight's Armament Company, and was selected over the one HK originally included as part of its entry. Insight Technology won the contract to produce the laser aiming module, later designated AN/PEQ-6. One version of the LAM produces a visible light dot, while another produces an infrared dot that can only be seen through night vision goggles. There have since been different LAM models and, at least commercially, different suppressors as well. It has been reported by some users that the cumulative effects of recoil may occasionally cause the can of the suppressor to become slightly unscrewed, but that it is relatively easy to improvise solutions for the problem.

Civilian Mark 23
Heckler & Koch has offered the MK 23 on the civilian market and law enforcement as the MARK 23. It is distributed by its subsidiaries HK Inc. (United States) and HKJS GmbH (Germany).

The models for the U.S. market initially came with a 10-round magazine, to comply with the U.S. Assault Weapons Ban. In 2004 the ban expired, and the civilian Mark 23 comes with the same 12-round magazine as the government variants, except in a few states that enforce their own bans on magazines larger than 10 rounds. In Canada, the Mark 23 pistol is still supplied only with 10-round magazines, as per the 1995 Firearms Act.

According to the Operators Manual, there are few differences between the civilian Mark 23 and the government MK 23. These differences are the slide engraving "Mark 23" which is only for the first half of the first year of production in 1996 (KG date code), the roll-mark "MARK 23" which is for mid 1996 to now, these instead of "MK23 USSOCOM", Matte vs shiny finish for different civilian years, tan vs black frame (500 tan ones were made),  and a barrel conforming to SAAMI headspace specifications for the military vs civilian made, as the military barrels were made to allow ball ammunition to work more reliably.

Alternatives
In spite of its positive points, the MK 23's large size and weight have resulted in some criticism. The handgun was designed for offense rather than defense, the size and weight intentionally incorporated to help absorb recoil forces and retain greater accuracy; but this also decreased its ease of use, comfort, and draw speed in defensive situations which require a more conventional, compact pistol.

In response, HK developed the USP Tactical pistol based on the original USP. The USP Tactical and MK 23 look similar, although they are different pistols by design and purpose, the Tactical retains much of the performance of the MK 23 without the bulky size. It uses a different suppressor (due to 16 x 1mm left handed threading, as opposed to 16 x 1mm right-handed on the MK 23). An even more compact pistol than the USP Tactical for counter-terrorist and special forces use is the HK USP Compact Tactical, which has its own optional LAM. The USP-CT is lighter and is capable of fitting a suppressor, making it a prime choice for Special Forces on covert operations. Recently, HK has developed the HK 45, a much more contoured pistol based on the P2000, P8 and P30 models.

In popular culture
The Mk.23 SOCOM is famously known for being used by Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid.

Users

: Used by the Peel Regional Police
: Komando Pasukan Katak (Kopaska) tactical diver group and Komando Pasukan Khusus (Kopassus) special forces group.
: MK 23 MOD 0 adopted by Pasukan Gerakan Khas Counter-terrorism Police Squad of the Royal Malaysia Police and Pasukan Khas Laut Maritime Counter-terrorism group of the Royal Malaysian Navy.
: Used by GROM.
: Used by the SOF, SOTF and the Special Warfare Group of the RSN
: Adopted by the U.S. SOCOM. Deliveries commenced in 1996.

See also
 List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
 MEU(SOC) pistol—the Marine equivalent

References

Further reading
Jane's Guns Recognition Guide by Ian V. Hogg

External links

Mark 23 Official website
Mark 23 Operator's Manual
MK 23 Video

.45 ACP semi-automatic pistols
MK23
Silenced firearms
Post–Cold War weapons of Germany
Semi-automatic pistols of Germany
Semi-automatic pistols of the United States
Short recoil firearms
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1996

Heckler & Koch Mark 23


Ruth Roberts (August 31, 1926 – June 30, 2011) was an American songwriter.

Life and career
She was born in Port Chester, New York, to Robert and Lillian Mulwitz.  She was educated at Port Chester High School, Northwestern University, and the Juilliard School.

She had a long professional collaboration with lyricist Bill Katz. Their most notable collaboration was the 1961 fight song "Meet the Mets", the official theme song of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. Some of Roberts' other songs included "The First Thing Ev'ry Morning (And the Last Thing Ev'ry Night)" (co-written with and recorded by Jimmy Dean) and "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues". The latter song was first recorded by Buddy Holly on his 1958 self-titled album. It was later recorded by The Beatles in 1969 for their album Let It Be, but their version was not released until 1996.

She died in Rye Brook, New York.  She was married to Gene Piller a Hollywood screenwriter.  She was the mother of Michael Piller, screenwriter/producer best known for three Star Trek series and Dead Zone.

References

1926 births
2011 deaths
Juilliard School alumni
Northwestern University alumni
People from Port Chester, New York
Songwriters from New York (state)
People from Rye Brook, New York
American women songwriters
21st-century American women

Ruth Roberts


Juan Álvarez Mendizábal (born Juan Álvarez Méndez; 25 February 1790 – 3 November 1853), was a Spanish economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 25 September 1835 to 15 May 1836.

Biography
He was born to Rafael Álvarez Montañés, a cloth merchant, and Margarita Méndez, of converso origin. He was given training in banking, first working in a bank and then in the military administration during the Peninsular War. At the time he became a member of "Taller Sublime", a Cádiz masonic lodge.

In 1820, he was appointed military supplier of the troops that Ferdinand VII had sent to America to suppress the revolts. Taking advantage of this situation he financed Rafael del Riego's military uprising. During the Trienio liberal Mendizábal renounced to the Public Administration, although he had actively participated in the revolts against absolutism.

When Ferdinand VII renounced the Constitution of 1812 and restored his absolute power in 1823, Mendizábal and many other revolutionary liberals went into exile: in the United Kingdom he opened a trade business.

In 1835, under José María Queipo de Llano's presidency, he was appointed Minister of the Treasury. On 14 September he succeeded Queipo de Llano, keeping the Treasury portfolio during a delicate economic situation due to the First Carlist War's military expenses. Queen Regent Maria Christina thought a liberal prime minister would hold the rebellions. Mendizábal's political program included the Desamortización Eclesiástica ("Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal"), the immediate end to the Carlist war and the elimination of the public debt.

The Liberal movement, the Queen Regent and Mendizábal were supported by the new owners of the confiscated properties, though the measures only benefited the big land tycoons. The impossibility of ending the Carlist revolts forced Mendizábal's resignation in 1836. A few months later a revolt in La Granja made the Queen accept a radical government and the restoration of the Spanish Constitution of 1812. Mendizábal was appointed Minister of Finance and a series of revolutionary measures were taken: the abolition of tithe and señoríos, freedom of the press, confiscation of the Church properties). In 1837 a more moderate government was elected. Mendizábal was again appointed Minister of Finance in 1843 but had to go in exile again when the moderates came back to power.

In 1847, he came back to Spain and occupied a seat in the Cortes until his death in 1853.

See also
Spanish confiscation
Monument to Mendizábal (Madrid)

References

Sources
Biography of Mendizábal

|-

|-

1790 births
1853 deaths

People from Chiclana de la Frontera
Prime Ministers of Spain
Economy and finance ministers of Spain
Progressive Party (Spain) politicians
Spanish people of Jewish descent

Juan Álvarez Mendizábal


Langworthy is an unincorporated community in north-central Jones County, Iowa, United States.  It lies along U.S. Route 151 north of the city of Anamosa, the county seat of Jones County.  Its elevation is 860 feet (262 m).

History
Langworthy was platted in 1858 by Col. W. T. Shaw.

Langworthy's post office was established on 25 January 1875 and discontinued on 18 January 1974, at which time it was attached to the Monticello post office.  Although its post office is gone, Langworthy retains its own ZIP Code, 52252.

Langworthy's population in 1915 was 26.

References

Unincorporated communities in Jones County, Iowa
Unincorporated communities in Iowa

Langworthy, Iowa


A swan (Cygnini) is a kind of water bird, from the genera Cygnus and Coscoroba. They are in the subfamily Anserinae, in the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks.

Many swans live in colder places, such as northern Europe, Asia and North America. They live on water. They swim on top of the water and eat plants off the bottom of ponds, lakes, or oceans. They also eat insects and other small animals. A baby swan is called a cygnet.

Swans are tough, strong birds who will stand no nonsense from dogs or cats. They may open their wings as a warning, but from then on a person is advised to keep clear. Swans are highly protective of their nests. They will attack anything they see as a threat to their chicks, including humans.

Description
The swans are some of the largest flying birds. They are large in size and have large feet and long necks. The males are usually bigger and heavier than females. The mute swan, trumpeter swan, and whooper swan are the largest swans. They can be over 1.5m (60 inches) long. They can weigh over 15kg (33 pounds). Their wingspans (this means the length of both wings) can be almost 3m (10 ft).

Most swans are white. They are found in the Northern Hemisphere. This means they are found in Europe, Asia and North America. However, the black swan is black with a red beak. It lives in Australia.  The black necked swan has white flight feathers, and black outer feathers. It lives in South America. They also have a small area of skin between the eyes and beak that has no feathers. This area can be different colors, such as yellow (for example, on a Bewick's swan) or orange (for example, on a mute swan).

Wild swans migrate.  They spend the cold part of the year eating and getting fat in one place and move to a warmer place to lay eggs and raise chicks, called cygnets.

The coscoroba swan is different to the other swans. Some scientists think it is more like a duck or a goose. It is the smaller than the other swans. This swan lives in South America.

Climate change

Bewick's swans used to spend a lot of time in Ireland and Britain and the Netherlands, but scientists say they have been moving east into Germany.  They spend less time in their winter feeding grounds than they did in 1970.  Scientists say they are following the changes in temperature in Europe.  The scientists found that individual swans do not change where they like to go during their own lifetimes.  Instead, different generations of swans go to different places from their parents and grandparents.

Taxonomy
 Genus Cygnus
 Black swan (Cygnus atratus)
 New Zealand swan (Cygnus atratus sumnerensis) †
 Trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator)
 Bewick's swan (Cygnus bewickii)
 Whistling swan (Cygnus columbianus)
 Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus)
 Black-necked swan (Cygnus melancoryphus)
 Mute swan (Cygnus olor)
 Genus Coscoroba

References

Swan


Yang Jun (楊駿) (died 23 April 291), courtesy name Wenzhang (文長), was a Western Jin official during the reign of Emperor Wu and regent for Emperor Hui.

Life
Yang Jun was from Huayin in Hongnong Commandery (弘農, roughly modern Sanmenxia, Henan).  His niece Yang Yan was Emperor Wu's first wife and empress.  As she neared death in 274, she feared that whoever would be empress next would endanger the crown prince status of her developmentally disabled son, Sima Zhong.  She therefore asked Emperor Wu to marry her cousin, Yang Jun's daughter Yang Zhi.  Emperor Wu agreed, and after her death later during the year, he married Yang Zhi in 276 and created her empress.  Yang Jun, as the empress' father, became an increasingly important official in government, and became exceedingly arrogant.  In Emperor Wu's later years, when he became obsessed with feasting and women, Yang Jun and his brothers Yang Yao (楊珧) and Yang Ji (楊濟) became effectively in power.

As Emperor Wu grew ill in 289, he considered whom to make regent. He considered both Yang Jun and his uncle Sima Liang the Prince of Ru'nan, the most respected of the imperial princes. As a result, Yang Jun became fearful of Sima Liang and had him posted to the key city of Xuchang. Several other imperial princes were also posted to other key cities in the empire. By 290, Emperor Wu resolved to let Yang and Sima Liang both be regents, but after he wrote his will, the will was seized by Yang Jun, who instead had another will promulgated in which Yang alone was named regent. Emperor Wu died soon thereafter.  Crown Prince Zhong succeeded to the throne as Emperor Hui.

Yang Jun became Emperor Hui's regent, and became much criticized for spending his energy on making himself secure—including not attending Emperor Wu's burial.  Fearful of Emperor Hui's ambitious wife Empress Jia Nanfeng, he ordered that imperial edicts be cosigned by his daughter, Empress Dowager Yang.  Yang knew that he had made a lot of enemies, and tried to pacify them by giving widespread promotions, but those promotions only served to show his weakness.  His associates, including his brother Yang Ji, tried to persuade him to alleviate the tension by inviting Sima Liang back to the capital Luoyang to serve as coregent, a move that Yang Jun repeatedly rebuffed.

Empress Jia, who wanted her hand in governance, was dissatisfied with the situation, and conspired with the eunuch Dong Meng (董猛) and the generals Meng Guan (孟觀) and Li Zhao (李肇) against the Yangs. She tried to include Sima Liang into the conspiracy, but Sima Liang declined; instead, she persuaded Emperor Hui's brother, Sima Wei the Prince of Chu, to join her plan. In 291, after Sima Wei returned to Luoyang from his defense post (Jing Province (荊州, modern Hubei and Hunan)) with his troops, a coup went into progress.

Empress Jia, who had her husband easily under her control, had him issue an edict declaring that Yang Jun had committed crimes and should be removed from his posts. It also ordered Sima Wei and Sima Yao (司馬繇) the Duke of Dong'an to attack Yang's forces and defend against counterattacks. Quickly, it became clear that Yang was in trouble, particularly after he declined his strategists' suggestion to burn the palace gate to temporarily halt the advance of the imperial guards.  Empress Dowager Yang, trapped in the palace herself, wrote an edict ordering assistance for Yang Jun and put it on arrows, shooting it out of the palace. Empress Jia then made the bold declaration that Empress Dowager Yang was committing treason. Yang Jun was quickly defeated, and his clan was massacred.

References

 Fang, Xuanling. Book of Jin (Jin Shu). Vols. 3, 4, 40.
 Sima, Guang. Zizhi Tongjian.

Year of birth unknown
291 deaths
Jin dynasty (266–420) regents
Executed Jin dynasty (266–420) people
People executed by the Jin dynasty (266–420)
3rd-century executions
3rd-century regents

Yang Jun (minister)


Warren William Brown (January 3, 1894 – November 19, 1978) was an American sportswriter for over 50 years, spending the majority of his career in Chicago. He won the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in 1973.

Early life
Brown was born in Somersville, California, a mining town near San Francisco. His father Patrick was the local saloon keeper. When the Somersville mines flooded, the family moved to San Francisco, where Brown was a firsthand witness to the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Brown attended St. Ignatius College (later renamed The University of San Francisco) for his prep school as well as university years. During his college years Brown played baseball for the Sacramento minor league team in the summers.

Career
After getting his undergraduate degree he began his sportswriting career with the San Francisco Bulletin. After serving in U.S. Army intelligence stateside during World War I, Brown returned to the Bulletin, but soon moved to William Randolph Hearst's San Francisco Call & Post. Brown was one of the first sportswriters to hail a local boxer named Jack Dempsey. He also doubled as the paper's drama critic, specializing in vaudeville and musical comedy. In the early 1920s Brown was transferred to the Hearst paper in New York for a year. That is where he hired a young sportswriter named Ed Sullivan, who went on to be a society columnist and then a mid-century American icon with his TV variety show. Starting in 1920, Brown saw every World Series for fifty years. Brown's final move was to Chicago to be the sports editor of Hearsts Chicago Herald-Examiner. He was a sports editor, columnist and baseball beat writer (usually at the same time) for several Chicago papers over the next 40 years. While working at the Chicago American as sports editor he mentored a young sportswriter named Brent Musburger.

Brown was a friend and confidant of legendary University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Brown and former Notre Dame running back Marchy Schwartz had dinner with Rockne in Chicago the night before his ill-fated plane crash. He wrote Rockne's biography in 1931.

Long credited to Grantland Rice, Brown was actually the person that coined the nickname for fabled Illinois running back Red Grange. He wrote a column describing Grange's running style and said he was like a "Galloping Ghost." The nickname is one of the most famous in sports annals. Brown also coined the nickname "The Sultan of Swat" for legendary baseball icon Babe Ruth.

As a beat writer and columnist he was known for his acerbic wit and breezy reporting style. Following the 1945 World Series, he wrote a history of the Chicago Cubs as part of the Putnam series of books that covered all the major league baseball teams. Mr. Brown's famous quote from the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Tigers of "I don't think either one of them is good enough to win it" usually surfaces as the Cubs reach rare playoff appearances.

It was sufficiently well-received that The Chicago Cubs is one book in that series that has been periodically re-issued. In 1947 he wrote a memoir of sorts called Win, Lose or Draw. It was a collection of anecdotes about celebrated figures in sports Brown had crossed paths with in his first 30 years as a sportswriter.

In late 1973, Brown was named a recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He was honored in ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Personal life
Brown's three sons were all athletes at the University of Notre Dame. Sons Bill and Pete were swimmers while youngest son, Roger, was a backup quarterback for the Fighting Irish on the 1946 and 1947 National Championship teams. Brown also had a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Rempe (née Brown).

Warren Brown died at age 84 in Forest Park, Illinois, and is buried in Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, next to his beloved wife and best friend, Olive Burns Brown.

Books
Rockne (Chicago: Reilly & Lake, 1932)
The Chicago Cubs (New York: Putnam, 1942)
Win, Lose, or Draw (New York: Putnam, 1946)
The Chicago White Sox (New York: Putnam, 1952)

References

External links
Baseball Hall of Fame

Sportswriters from Illinois
University of San Francisco alumni
1894 births
1978 deaths
BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients
People from Contra Costa County, California
Journalists from California
Sportswriters from California
20th-century American journalists
American male journalists

Warren Brown (sportswriter)