The Future Foundation is a fictional organization appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Jonathan Hickman, the team first appeared in Fantastic Four #579 (July 2010) and stars in the series FF, written by Hickman and illustrated by Steve Epting. The Future Foundation is a philanthropic organization created by Mister Fantastic to better serve humanity's future.

Publication history
Jonathan Hickman published FF in May 2011 with various artists assisting him. The volume ran for 23 issues.

As part of Marvel NOW!, FF was relaunched with creative team of Matt Fraction and Mike Allred in November 2012 and ended with issue #16 in January 2014.

A new volume of Future Foundation was released by writer Jeremy Whitley in 2019, but was canceled after five issues due to low sales.

Fictional history
After becoming discouraged by how Earth's scientists view science and its applications, Mister Fantastic forms a new group to create a better future for all of humanity. After the death of the Human Torch in "Annihilation," Mister Fantastic plans to mold the young and great minds he has gathered into a team that will form solutions to the world's problems.

Zero-G (Alex Power); Dragon Man; evolved Moloids Tong, Turg, Mik, and Korr; and Bentley 23 (a clone of the Wizard) are the first recruits to the organization. Artie Maddicks then joins the Future Foundation, as does Leech.

The organization next gains Mister Fantastic's father Nathaniel Richards followed by Uhari co-heirs Vii and Wuu. Spider-Man joins the team as well at a final request from Human Torch. Mister Fantastic is disturbed to discover that his daughter and father have also invited Doctor Doom to join, following Valeria's proposition for Doctor Doom to help the Future Foundation. After learning about Doctor Doom being a member of the Future Foundation, the Thing objects and attacks him, but Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman break up the fight. Later, Reed takes everyone to the Room, a classroom where the Future Foundation has sharing time and naps. One of their early projects is to create a stylish tuxedo for the Thing. When Valeria asks Doctor Doom if he has a backup for restoring his memories, he reveals that Kristoff Vernard is his best man. Afterward, Mr. Fantastic, Spider-Man, Nathaniel, Valeria, and Doctor Doom head to Latveria to meet with Kristoff and request his help. Mister Fantastic sets up a brain-transfer machine to help restore Doctor Doom's memories and knowledge, which is successful. When Kristoff wants to return the throne to him, Doctor Doom states that it is not time yet because of a promise he made to Valeria. When Mister Fantastic asks what promise Doctor Doom made to Valeria, Doctor Doom states that he made a promise to help defeat Mister Fantastic.

Doctor Doom decides to hold a symposium on how to finally defeat Reed Richards. The Thing and the evolved Moloids give an invitation to the High Evolutionary. Dragon Man and Alex Power give an invitation to Diablo. Upon receiving an invitation from Spider-Man, Mad Thinker is convinced to take part in the event. Bentley 23 even gives an invitation to his creator, the Wizard, along with two A.I.M. lieutenants. However, it is subsequently revealed that the 'Richards' they have been invited to defeat are actually members of the "Council of Reeds" (alternate versions of Reed who were trapped in this universe by Valeria a while back, possessing Reed's intellect while lacking his conscience).

While Spider-Man and Invisible Woman make sandwiches for the kids, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Doom, Valeria, and Nathaniel Richards meet with the supervillain geniuses and Uatu the Watcher to discuss about what to do with the Council of Reeds.

During Reed's discussion with the supervillains, Invisible Woman, Spider-Man, and Alex Power go to Old Atlantis where they find Mole Man and an alternate Mister Fantastic attacking it.

While the Future Foundation is dealing with the remaining Alternate Reed Richards, Black Bolt suddenly returns to the Universal Inhumans. It was revealed that Black Bolt was trapped in the Fault following the events of War of Kings. Black Bolt was able to hold his own, but he was unable to escape until Lockjaw found him. After killing the minister who objected to returning to Earth's Moon, Black Bolt and the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family return to the Moon as do the other Inhumans, the Badoon, the Centaurians, the Kymellians, and the Dire Wraiths. The prophecy that ended the Inhuman experiments spoke of five brides and one king with a mighty voice. However, another prophecy comes closer to fruition which ended up being a prophecy of four cities and a war to shatter everything.

Spider-Man and the Future Foundation investigate several rifts in the space-time continuum: one in the Microverse, another in the distant future, and another on present-day Earth. Spider-Man and the Future Foundation arrive on a Caribbean island where the tribal natives are being attacked by zombie pirates. When Franklin Richards claims that the battle is similar to the Scooby-Doo cartoons, Invisible Woman uses her powers to discover that one of the zombie pirates is actually Mysterio in disguise. It also turns out that the tribal chief is a disguised Chameleon. Soon the rest of the Sinister Six arrive, though Spider-Man comes to realize that Doctor Octopus, Electro, Rhino, and Sandman are all robots. Meanwhile, the real Doctor Octopus infiltrates the Baxter Building to look for specific technology plans.

During the "Fear Itself" storyline, the Future Foundation is analyzing one of the seven hammers that fell from the sky and landed near the Baxter Building. The Thing ends up lifting it and is transformed into Angrir, Breaker of Souls. Although the Thing is almost killed in battle by Thor, Franklin is able to use his powers to restore him to his original rocky form.

The Future Foundation discovers that Human Torch is alive and that the insects implanted into him by Annihilus revived him. Human Torch was surprised that his teammates have formed the Future Foundation in his absence.

The Future Foundation visits Africa, specifically Wakanda where Valeria meets Onome, the daughter of a Wakandan engineer. Valeria secures a spot for Onome with the Future Foundation.

During the "Secret Wars" storyline, most of the Future Foundation members are loaded into Mister Fantastic's lifeboat during the final Incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610. A hull breach occurs, separating the part of the ship carrying Invisible Woman, Thing and most of the young Future Foundation where they are destroyed by the Incursion before Mister Fantastic can rescue them. When the Multiverse is restored, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Valeria, Franklin, the members of Future Foundation, and Molecule Man work to restore the Multiverse one reality at a time with Molecule Man creating clones of himself as anchors.

Some years later, the Future Foundation, Mister Fantastic, and Invisible Woman are confronted by the Griever at the End of All Things after Franklin's reality-warping abilities have become depleted. When Molecule Man is killed by the Griever, Mister Fantastic persuades Griever to let him summon Human Torch and Thing. Griever agrees to the condition as Mister Fantastic summons them and anyone else that has been a part of the Fantastic Four at some points in their lives, including Iceman. After Griever is defeated and retreat to her home-world, all of the expanded Fantastic Four members, and Iceman returns to their former locations. However, due to the device to transport to Earth-616 is limited since it was temporarily destroyed to prevent Griever from invading the said Earth, Dragon Man and the other staying Foundation members sacrifice their turn for the Fantastic Four and both Franklin and Valeria to return to their home-world, as the latter are needed there, with the Foundation continues their journey across the multiverse.

Members
The Future Foundation consists of a combat team along with a science team, with some members being part of both groups. Other groups include a replacement group for the core members of the original Fantastic Four as well as a temporary supervillain group.

The Future Foundation

Current members
 Alex Power
 Julie Power
 Leech
 Artie
 Bentley-23 - A clone of the Wizard
 Dragon Man
 Onome - The daughter of one of Wakanda's greatest engineers
 Vil - The female co-heir to the Uhari throne
 Wu - The male co-heir to the Uhari throne
 Mik - An evolved Moloid who identifies itself as a male
 Korr - An evolved Moloid who identified itself as a male
 Turg - An evolved Moloid who identified itself as a male
 Tong - An evolved Moloid who formerly identified itself as a male and now identifies itself as a female

Former members
 Luna
 Medusa
 Mister Fantastic
 Invisible Woman
 Thing
 Human Torch
 Spider-Man
 Doctor Doom
 Valeria Richards
 Franklin Richards
 Original Earth-616
 Earth-10235
 Valeria Richards from Earth-10235
 Nathaniel Richards
 Ant-Man
 She-Hulk
 Adolf - The son of the Impossible Man
 Ms. Thing

Council of Doom
The following supervillain geniuses were recruited by Mister Fantastic and Doctor Doom to deal with the alternate Mister Fantastics:

 Diablo
 High Evolutionary
 Mad Thinker
 Wizard

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel
In Ultimate Marvel's Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates, the Maker (Reed Richards as a villain) sets up an experiment inside a dome to force people to evolve or become extinct. His test subjects are wearing a variation of the Future Foundation costume, and Reed welcomes them "to tomorrow". It would later be revealed that these people were grown in a lab, with no contact with the outside world. Known as "The Children of Tomorrow", they would launch an attack on the super-team Excalibur including Captain Britain and come across Thor. They wished to capture these superhumans but were very unsatisfied until they examined Thor and found a link connecting him and Yggdrasil. Realizing that the Asgardians could harm them, they would follow the link and launch a massive attack on Asgard, eventually killing all the other gods except Thor.

In the wake of the Cataclysm crossover, a new Future Foundation title was launched, starring Susan Storm, Falcon, Iron Man, Machine Man (Danny Ketch), and Phil Coulson. The book was written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and drawn by Mario Guevra.

Secret Wars (2015)
During the Secret Wars storyline, there is a group called the Foundation that is based on the Future Foundation where they operate at the Foundation's Department of Science in the Battleworld domain of Doomstadt. The Foundation consists of Valeria Richards, Dragon Man, Bentley-32, Minister Alex Powers, Psycho-Man, a variation of Nostradamus, and Night Machine (a variation of Nikola Tesla).

In other media

Film
In the 2015 Fantastic Four film, the team briefly wear white outfits that were potentially inspired by the Future Foundation uniforms.

Video games
 Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume is unlockable in Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
 A colour-inverted version of the Future Foundation costume is unlockable in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012 video game).
 The Future Foundation costumes for Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, and Spider-Man are featured as unlockable costumes in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
 The Future Foundation costumes for Spider-Man, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, and Doctor Doom appear in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.
 The Future Foundation costumes for Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, and Human Torch appear in Marvel Super War.
 The Future Foundation costumes for Spider-Man, Thing, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, and Doctor Doom appear in Marvel Heroes.
 The Future Foundation costumes for Mister Fantastic, The Thing, Invisible Woman, and Spider-Man appear as their alternate costumes in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
 Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume is available in Spider-Man Unlimited.
 Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume is available in Marvel's Spider-Man.
Spider-Man's Future Foundation costume was available in Fortnite Battle Royale as an unlockable bonus style for the Spider-Man outfit in the Chapter 3 Season 1 Battle Pass.

Collected editions

References

External links
 Future Foundation at Marvel Wiki
 Future Foundation at Comic Vine
 Spider-Man Joins The FF!

Fantastic Four
Fictional explorers
Fictional families
Marvel Comics superhero teams
Superhero comics
Comics by Jonathan Hickman

Future Foundation


Huun-Huur-Tu (Tuvan: Хүн Хүртү, Khün Khürtü) is a music group from Tuva, a Russian Federation republic on the Mongolian border.

Huun Huur Tu performs throat singing, in which the singers sing more than one note at a time. One of the notes sometimes sounds like a flute, whistle or bird, but is actually a person's voice.

The group mostly uses native Tuvan instruments such as the igil, khomus (Tuvan jaw harp), doshpuluur, and dünggür (shaman drum).  However, in recent years, the group has started using western instruments, such as the guitar.  Huun Huur Tu's music is mostly Tuvan folk music, but they also experiment with Western instruments and electronic music.

1992 establishments in Asia
Russian musical groups

Huun-Huur-Tu


The Durham and Southern Railway operated  of railroad from Dunn to Durham, North Carolina, USA.  It was originally chartered as the Cape Fear and Northern Railway by Holly Springs resident George Benton Alford in 1892 and construction began in 1898. The name was changed to Durham and Southern in 1906. In 1979 it became part of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad a predecessor to the
CSX system. The tracks between Apex and Erwin Junction were removed in 1981 and the Dunn to Erwin segment (via Erwin Junction) was sold to the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad who operated it as a separate entity, the Dunn-Erwin Railway, until merging it into their operations in 1990. The closure of the cotton and denim mill in Erwin in 2000 led to the abandonment of these tracks and the conversion of the right-of-way to a rail trail. The Durham to Apex segment remains in use by CSX.

Stations
Timetable #20, dated September 20, 1959 listed the following stations:
Durham at Mile Post 0 (The D&S shared Durham's Union Station with several other railroads)
"East Durham" at Mile Post 2.3 (Interchanging with and crossing the Southern Railway)
"D.& S.C. Junction" at Mile Post 3.8 (Interchanging with and crossing Norfolk Southern Railway's leased Durham & South Carolina Railroad)
"Few" at Mile Post 5.7
Genlee at Mile Post 10.4
Carpenter at Mile Post 14.2
Upchurch at Mile Post 16.7
Apex at Mile Post 20.7 (Interchanging with and crossing the Seaboard Air Line Railroad)
Holly Springs at Mile Post 26.9
"Wilbon" at Mile Post 30.5
Fuquay-Varina at Mile Post 33.4 (Interchanging with and crossing the Norfolk Southern Railway)
Kennebec at Mile Post 38.2
Angier at Mile Post 40.4 (At one time the southern terminus of the Durham & Southern)
Barclaysville at Mile Post 44.5
Coats at Mile Post 48.8
Turlington at Mile Post 51.8
"Erwin Junction" at Mile Post 53.4, where a short branchline to Erwin began on the third leg of a wye track
Erwin (site of Erwin Mills #2 from 1903 - 2000) was on a branchline 2.0 miles from Erwin Junction
Dunn at Mile Post 56.8 (Interchanging with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad)

References

External links

 History of the Durham & Southern Railroad
 History and photos of Durham's Union Station
 History of Angier, NC (a town that was an outgrowth of the D&S station house)
 Operations and Timetable of the Durham & Southern Railroad
 History of the Erwin Cotton Mills Company at Erwin, NC
 Rails-to-Trails Conservancy detail of Dunn-Erwin Rail-Trail

Defunct North Carolina railroads
Transportation in Durham County, North Carolina
Transportation in Wake County, North Carolina
Transportation in Harnett County, North Carolina
Predecessors of CSX Transportation
Railway companies established in 1904
Railway companies disestablished in 1981

Durham and Southern Railway


Michael Bernard Mukasey (; born July 28, 1941) is an American attorney and former federal judge who served as the 81st Attorney General of the United States from 2007 to 2009.

Born in New York City in 1941, Mukasey attended Ramaz School, graduated from Columbia College with a degree in history and received a Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School. He worked in private practice for two decades and spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Mukasey to serve as a District Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He took the bench in 1988, became the Chief Judge in 2000 and served until his retirement in 2006.

Mukasey was nominated to be Attorney General by President George W. Bush following the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. Mukasey was the second Jewish U.S. Attorney General. Mukasey left office after Bush's term as president ended. He is currently of counsel at the international law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. Mukasey, pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), is registered as working on behalf of the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Early life and education
Mukasey was born in 1941 in New York City. His father was born near Baranavichy in Belarus (then in the Russian Empire) and emigrated to the U.S. in 1921.

Mukasey graduated in 1959 from the Ramaz School, an independent (formerly boys' and now co-educational) Modern Orthodox Jewish prep school in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. His wife, Susan, was later a teacher and headmistress of the lower school at Ramaz, and both of their children (Marc and Jessica) attended the school.

As an undergraduate student, Mukasey was the editorials editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator at Columbia University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963, majoring in history. He received his Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1967. He was a friend of fellow student Sanford Greenberg.

Early career
Mukasey practiced law for 20 years in New York City, serving for four years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in which he worked with Rudolph Giuliani. From 1967 to 1972, he was an associate with the law firm of Webster Sheffield Fleischmann Hitchcock & Brookfield, later known as Webster & Sheffield. In 1976, he joined the New York law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, to which he returned after retirement from the U.S. District Court. Mukasey began teaching at Columbia Law School in the spring of 1993 and has taught there every spring semester since.

Mukasey's adopted son, Marc L. Mukasey, is a founding partner of Mukasey Frenchman LLP, a small law firm in New York City. The Mukaseys have a professional relationship with Rudy Giuliani; Mukasey and son were also justice advisers to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign. Mukasey administered the oath of office to Mayor-elect Giuliani in 1994 and 1998.

Judicial career
On July 27, 1987, Mukasey was nominated to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan by President Ronald Reagan, to a seat vacated by Abraham David Sofaer. Mukasey was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 6, 1987, and received his commission on November 9, 1987; he took the bench in 1988. He served in that position for 18 years, including tenure as Chief Judge from March 2000 through July 2006.

During his service on the bench, Mukasey presided over the criminal prosecution of Omar Abdel Rahman and El Sayyid Nosair, whom he sentenced to life in prison for a plot to blow up the United Nations and other Manhattan landmarks uncovered during an investigation into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. During that case, Mukasey spoke out against leaks by law enforcement officials regarding the facts of the case allegedly aimed at prejudicing potential jurors against the defendants. During that case, Mukasey also refused to recuse himself, warning that the demand for his recusal would "disqualify not only an obscure district judge such as the author of this opinion, but also Justices Brandeis and Frankfurter ... each having been both a Jew and a Zionist."

Mukasey also presided over the trial of Jose Padilla, ruling that the U.S. citizen and alleged terrorist could be held as an enemy combatant but was entitled to see his lawyers. Mukasey also was the judge in the litigation between developer Larry Silverstein and several insurance companies arising from the destruction of the World Trade Center. In a 2003 suit, he issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Motion Picture Association of America from enforcing its ban against the distribution of screener copies of films during awards season, ruling that the ban was likely an unlawful restraint of trade unfair to independent filmmakers.

In June 2003, Democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer submitted Mukasey's name, along with four other Republicans or Republican appointees, as a suggestion for Bush to consider for nomination to the Supreme Court.

On October 14, 2004, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Mukasey reversed his September 2002 decision and dismissed a case in which plaintiffs in twenty consolidated actions sued the Italian insurance company Generali S.p.A. (Generali), seeking damages for nonpayment of insurance proceeds to beneficiaries of policies purchased by Holocaust victims before the end of World War II. In so ruling, Mukasey gave deference to "a federal executive branch policy favoring voluntary resolution of Holocaust-era insurance claims."

Retirement
Although Article III of the U.S. Constitution entitles district court judges to hold their judicial appointments for life, in June 2006 Mukasey announced that he would retire as a judge and return to private practice at the end of the summer. On August 1, 2006, he was succeeded as Chief Judge of the Southern District by Judge Kimba Wood, entering senior status on the same day. Mukasey's retirement took effect on September 9, 2006. On September 12, 2006, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler announced that Mukasey had rejoined the firm as a partner.

On the March 18, 2007, episode of Meet the Press, Sen. Schumer suggested Mukasey as a potential Attorney General nominee who, "by [his] reputation and career, shows that [he] put rule of law first."

After retiring from the bench, Mukasey made campaign contributions to Giuliani for president and Joe Lieberman for Senate. Mukasey was also listed on the Giuliani campaign's Justice Advisory Committee.

He is the recipient of several awards, most notably the Learned Hand Medal of the Federal Bar Council.

Extrajudicial opinions on law and terrorism
In May 2004, while still a member of the judiciary, Judge Mukasey delivered a speech (which he converted into a The Wall Street Journal opinion piece) that defended the USA PATRIOT Act; the piece also expressed doubt that the FBI engaged in racial profiling of Arabs and criticized the American Library Association for condemning the Patriot Act but not taking a position on librarians imprisoned in Cuba.

On August 22, 2007, The Wall Street Journal published another op-ed by Mukasey, prompted by the resolution of the Padilla prosecution, in which he argued that "current institutions and statutes are not well suited to even the limited task of supplementing . . . a military effort to combat Islamic terrorism." Mukasey instead advocated for Congress, which "has the constitutional authority to establish additional inferior courts," to "turn [its] considerable talents to deliberating how to fix a strained and mismatched legal system."

U.S. Attorney General
On September 17, 2007, Mukasey was nominated by President Bush to replace Alberto Gonzales as the Attorney General. At his nomination press conference with the President, Mukasey stated, "The task of helping to protect our security, which the Justice Department shares with the rest of our government, is not the only task before us. The Justice Department must also protect the safety of our children, the commerce that assures our prosperity, and the rights and liberties that define us as a nation."

Because Mukasey would likely serve only until the end of President Bush's term of office in January 2009, the White House hoped Mukasey would be confirmed by the Senate by October 8, 2007. At first, a quick confirmation seemed likely. Senator Patrick Leahy, the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was pleased that Mukasey was committed to a new administrative rule that would reduce the influence of the White House and other politicians on Justice Department investigations and personnel. This concession sought to avoid problems that arose during the controversy over the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys under the previous Attorney General's tenure.

However, during confirmation hearings, controversy arose over Mukasey's responses to questions about torture. Mukasey refused to state a clear legal position on the interrogation technique known as waterboarding (in which water is poured over a rag on the prisoner's face to simulate drowning). Leahy and the other nine Democratic committee members indicated to Mukasey, via letter, that they were "deeply troubled by your refusal to state unequivocally that waterboarding is illegal during your confirmation hearing..."

It appeared that Mukasey may have been concerned about the potential pursuit of government employees or agents, and their authorizing superiors, in American or foreign courts under criminal charges, when responding to the Senate Judiciary committee questions.
In describing the issue's challenges to the Bush administration, The New York Times quoted Scott L. Silliman, director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University, as saying about such court cases, which could ultimately reach the president: "You would ask not just who carried it out, but who specifically approved it."

However, Robert M. Chesney, of Wake Forest University School of Law, and other national security specialists have pointed out that prosecution within the United States would be impeded by laws adopted since 2005 which permit safe-harbor protections to interrogators for governmentally authorized actions. It was believed that secret Justice Department legal opinions approved waterboarding and other procedures officially called "harsh interrogation techniques".

By November 1, 2007, five senators – Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Joseph Biden of Delaware, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont – in addition to Leahy had announced their intention to vote against Mukasey's confirmation due to concerns about his stance on torture. Nevertheless, on November 6 the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed the nomination of Mukasey, by an 11 to 8 vote, and sent his confirmation on to the full Senate.  Two days later, the Senate confirmed Mukasey by a 53–40 vote. The tight vote was the narrowest margin to confirm an attorney general in more than 50 years. Mukasey was sworn in at a private ceremony on November 9, 2007.

In 2009, legal ethics complaints were filed against Mukasey and other Bush administration attorneys for their roles in advocating torture.

Notable issues and comments

Relationship with Rudy Giuliani
Mukasey and Giuliani have been friends since working at the same law firm in the early 1970s. Mukasey pledged to recuse himself from cases involving Giuliani. Newspaper reports assumed that Mukasey would further recuse himself from cases involving Bernard Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner under Giuliani, who was under federal investigation for bribery and other offenses. However, neither presidential spokespersons nor Mukasey returned reporters' inquiries into whether Mukasey would recuse himself from the Kerik case.

During Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign, Mukasey's stepson, Marc, was assigned by Giuliani's campaign to block Kerik's legal defense team from interviewing witnesses that might assist his defense in an attempt to protect Giuliani from the Kerik case.

During an Oval Office meeting with Rudy Giuliani in 2017, Mukasey pressed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for the release of the indicted Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab.

Crack cocaine stance
In 2007 the United States Sentencing Commission amended the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to lessen the disparity between the penalties for the possession and trafficking of powder cocaine and crack cocaine, citing racial disparity and the unfairness of the 100-1 crack-powder penalty threshold ratio. The Commission instead implemented an 18-1 ratio. Michael Mukasey, in the Attorney General's capacity, vehemently opposed and testified against this change, warning that thousands of violent criminals may be released under the guidelines and endanger the community. Mukasey's move was criticized by advocates of elimination of crack-powder disparity.

Remarks about 9/11 terrorist punishment
Speaking in London on March 14, 2008, Mukasey said that he hopes the detainees currently charged with participating in the September 11 attacks are not executed if found guilty in order to avoid creating any martyrs. Speaking in New York on March 5, 2012, Mukasey said his comments in 2008 were taken out of context. His "martyr" comment was a humorous reason offered as the only reason not to seek the death penalty. He then said if the detainees were found guilty, they should be executed in the due process of the law and not make an exception.

Remarks about alleged pre-9/11 terrorist phone call
Speaking in San Francisco to the California Commonwealth Club of California on March 27, 2008, Mukasey defended President Bush's program of wiretapping calls between Americans and suspected foreign terrorists without court authorization, and implied that the government might have been able to prevent the attacks of September 11, 2001, if it had been able to wiretap a specific call to the U.S. from Afghanistan. Before September 11, 2001, Mukasey said, "We knew that there had been a call from someplace that was known to be a safe house in Afghanistan, and we knew that it came to the United States. We didn't know precisely where it went." He paused, seemed to stifle tears or at least suppress emotion, then continued, "You've got 3,000 people who went to work that day, and didn't come home, to show for that."

Mukasey's comments were described by the Electronic Frontier Foundation as "a gross distortion of the facts and the law", as both Executive Order 12333 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act had offered a number of avenues for the United States government to intercept the phone call without a court order. Commentator Glenn Greenwald questioned Mukasey's honesty, as the alleged phone was unknown to the 9/11 Commission. In a subsequent letter to Mukasey, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers questioned whether any such phone call had ever actually occurred and, if so, why the government hadn't been able to use its then-existing legal authority and technological capabilities to monitor it.

Violations of the law are not always crimes
On August 12, 2008, Mukasey told American Bar Association annual meeting delegates that "not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime," with "only violations of the civil service laws" being found among hiring practices during Gonzales' tenure as Attorney General.  For example, a civil violation is not a crime.

Defense of waterboarding
On December 11, 2014, Mukasey publicly stated on CNN that he believed waterboarding could not be called torture. In a 2008 hearing, he said waterboarding would feel like torture if he were subjected to it.
Asked directly if Michael Mukasey was a liar because he claimed that enhanced interrogation produced useful intelligence, Sen. John McCain stated unequivocally,  "Yes, I know that he is. Even if we had gotten useful information, the propaganda and the image and the behavior of the greatest nation on earth from torturing people is not what we want and it helps the enemy."

Defense of attorney-client privilege
On April 18, 2018, Mukasey published an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Trump, Cohen and Attorney-Client Privilege" attacking the use of a search warrant by the federal government to search Mr. Cohen's legal records, and attacking the track records of former FBI Directors / assistant US Attorneys General Robert Mueller and James Comey.

See also
 List of Jewish American jurists

References

External links

 Questionnaire for Michael B. Mukasey, Attorney General Nominee
 Balancing Democracy, Justice, and Security November 2009 speech at the American University of Paris (with video)

1941 births
Living people
20th-century American judges
21st-century American politicians
American Orthodox Jews
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Assistant United States Attorneys
Columbia University faculty
Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy
George W. Bush administration cabinet members
Jewish American members of the Cabinet of the United States
Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Lawyers from New York City
New York (state) Republicans
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler people
People associated with Debevoise & Plimpton
Politicians from the Bronx
Ramaz School alumni
United States Attorneys General
United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan
Columbia College (New York) alumni
Yale Law School alumni

Michael Mukasey


Steve Angello (aka Steve Josfesson Fragogiannis) is part quartet The Swedish House Mafia together with Eric Prydz, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell. He is a world-famous House producer, remixer and DJ, and currently is the co-owner of Size Records.

Steve Angello grew up in a crime family in Athens, and watched his father die at 13 years of age. Determined not to follow the family's criminal traditions, music took the better of him. He started out as a Turntablist fusing hip-hop, breakbeats and 70's classics, in the club life of Stockholm.
1982 births
Living people
Swedish musicians

Steve Angello


People of Ya-Sin or Ashab al-Qarya () is the phrase used by Muslims to refer to an ancient community that is mentioned in the 36th chapter of the Quran as the People of the City or the Companions of the City.  The location and people of this city has been the subject of much scholarly debate in Islam.

In the Quran
According to the Quran, God sent two prophets to this particular community. When the people of the city refused to hear their words, God sent a third prophet to strengthen them. The prophets told the people: "Truly we have been sent on a mission to you". The community mocked the message of the prophets and said  "You are only humans like us, and the Most Compassionate has not revealed anything. You are simply lying!" The prophets, in reply, rebuked the community, saying: "Our Lord doth know that we have been sent on a mission to you: "And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message."

The Quran goes onto say that the prophets were threatened with stoning and torture, but they refused to give in and continued to warn the people to end their sinful ways. Then, from the farthest part of the city, there came running a man who exhorted the people to believe the message and told them: "O my people! Obey the messengers: "Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have themselves received Guidance. The following verses, which describe the man's entrance in to "the garden" (Jannah), which refers to Heaven, has been interpreted by some scholars to mean that the believing man was martyred for his faith.

Accounts in exegesis

Classical commentators on the Quran popularly identified the "People of the City" with the city of Antioch. Those scholars who identified the city with Antioch, however, were divided over the date of the event. One group believed that this event took place after Jesus and explained that the Quran's use of the word "Messenger" in this context refers not to three prophets but to three of Jesus's disciples who were sent to Antioch to proclaim the message. The name of this martyr is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in Qur'an or Hadith, though he is known as The Believer of YaSin. Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir (Commentary) on Quran 36 references a narration that identifies the three disciples sent were Sham'un (Simon Peter), Yuhanna (John) and the name of the third was Bulus (Paul). Other commentators who believe that the city does refers to Antioch, explained that this is the narrative of a far older incident, and that the three "messengers" mentioned were indeed prophets, namely Saduq, Masduq and Shalum.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali did link the narrative of the story with the preaching of Paul and Barnabas as described in Acts of the Apostles. As with Antioch, the city of Jerusalem is also not directly mentioned by name in the Qur'an, nor is it mentioned by its Arabic translation (Al Quds).

See also
Acts 13:4–5
Acts 14:1–5, 8–13

References

Ancient peoples
Semitic-speaking peoples
Ya-Sin

People of Ya-Sin


Chicago, Illinois is the third largest city in the United States of America.

Chicago may also mean:
 The University of Chicago
 Chicago (band), a pop-rock-jazz band
 Their second album, Chicago, released in 1970
 Chicago (CTA), stations on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, all named for their location on Chicago Avenue
 Chicago (CTA Brown Line)
 Chicago (CTA Red Line)
 Chicago (CTA Blue Line)
 Chicago (typeface), a classic Apple Macintosh font
 Chicago house, a genre of electronic dance music
 Chicago Powerfest, a metal festival held annually near Chicago
 Windows 95, codenamed "Chicago"
 Chicago Manual of Style, published by the University of Chicago
 USS Chicago, the name given to several United States Navy vessels
 334 Chicago, an asteroid
 Chicago (poker game), a Swedish poker game (or any one of several stud poker variants, including "Chicago," "Big Chicago," and "Little Chicago")
 Chicago, Western Cape, a suburb of Paarl, South Africa
Club Atlético Nueva Chicago
There are several Chicago schools of thought, generally named after distinguished programs of the University of Chicago. These include:
 Chicago school (architecture)
 Chicago school (economics)
 Chicago school (literary criticism)
 Chicago school (sociology)

In Entertainment:
 Chicago (band)
 Chicago, a play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, first performed in 1926
 Chicago (1927 film), based on the 1926 play
 Chicago (musical), first performed in 1975, based on the 1926 play
 Chicago (2002 film), based on the 1975 musical
 Chicago (magazine), published by the Tribune Company
 Chicago (art magazine)
 Chicago (album), by rock band Chicago
 "Chicago" (1957 song), by Fred Fisher
 "Chicago" (1970 song), by Graham Nash
 "Chicago" (2005 song), by Sufjan Stevens
 "Chicago" (2006 song), by Clueso
 "Chicago" (poem), by Carl Sandburg
 "Chicago" (Prison Break episode), the 38th episode of the American television series Prison Break
 Chicago (Sam Shepard play), a 1965 play by Sam Shepard
 Chicago (Trance artist)

Chicago (disambiguation)


Felipe Songsong (May 1, 1611 – January 11, 1686) was a Philippine Jesuit.  He was born to a noble family of Macabebe, Pampanga. Songsong was the second Filipino Jesuit. He was married and had a son. After the death of his wife, he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 57 as a donado and volunteered for the mission in the Marianas under Blessed Diego Luis de San Vítores.   His superiors called him "the saintly Philippine" and noted that "(his) solid virtues were an example to his countrymen, and being a noble among his people, (he) is now, we believe, from his blameless life, a most noble citizen of the Realm of Heaven."

Life
He was born on May 1, 1611, to a family of politicians and soldiers in Macabebe, Pampanga. His father, Don Ramón Sonsong, was gobernadorcillo of Macabebe twice, in 1630 and 1632, and Felipe's brother, Agustín Sonsong, was cabeza de barangay of Caputatan, Macabebe in 1633, and later appointed captain of a company of Macabebe soldiers in the Spanish royal infantry, which guarded the Intramuros. Agustin (presumably together with Felipe) is also known to have helped the Spaniards quash a revolt of the Chinese in 1639 and subdue a small Kapampangan uprising in Gapan, Nueva Ecija in 1645.

Thus, the Sonsongs were loyal to Spain but only until 1660, when the Great Kapampangan Revolt broke out, led by Francisco Maniago. This was the time the Sonsongs, like many affluent families in Pampanga, cut their ties with the Spanish civil government (they continued being loyal to the Spanish religious missions). In fact, Agustin's son (Felipe's nephew), Agustin Pamintuan de Sonsong, was Maniago's emissary to Pangasinan and Ilocos, supplying critical information to other rebel groups in the north wanting to join the Kapampangans' rebellion against Spain.

Felipe Sonsong was already a 50-year-old soldier at the time of the Kapampangan revolt. The failure of that revolt, as well as his wife's death in 1667, made Felipe turn his back at the world. He left everything to his son Jeronimo (who served as Macabebe gobernadorcillo for an unprecedented 10 terms) and volunteered his services first to the Augustinians in Pampanga and then to the Dominicans in Manila, working as domestic help and carpenter, despite his advanced age and noble background. And when the Jesuits needed laymen to accompany Diego de San Vitores in his mission to the Marianas, Felipe Sonsong crossed over to the Jesuits.

A party of seventeen, which included Saint Pedro Caluñgsod, and Sonsong's young provincemates, Nicolás de Figueroa, Juan de los Reyes and Andrés de la Cruz, left for Hagåtña aboard the San Diego in 1668. In the Marianas, the saintly Fr. Diego de San Vitores (recently beatified) ordered Felipe to sew pieces of colored sinamay cloth to adorn the chapel's altar, and to make clothes to cover the nakedness of the islanders' chieftains. Felipe also sewed and mended the habits of the missionaries and lay volunteers (including probably Pedro Calungsod, who was in Fr. San Vitores' group), and made rosaries for the newly baptized islanders. "He presented himself for the execution of every task with great charity," the 1686 document says, "in particular of mending and sewing the clothes of those who needed it... When with great promptness he finished one task, he went on to another... And if on some day he had no occupation, or on feast days, he was totally occupied in devotions and spiritual books, in having many periods of prayer, and in giving good advice to those of his nation."

Martyrdom

On July 24, 1684, a band of forty warriors entered the stockade at Agaña under the pretense of attending Mass, attacked the Spanish force, and killed several of the defenders. Felipe Songsong was nearly beheaded but because of his strong physique despite his age, he died of the severe wounds six months later.

The initial processes of the cause for beatification of San Vitores were held in Guam, Manila, Mexico City and Toledo, Spain in the last quarter of the 17th century. The cause was shelved indefinitely upon the suppression of the Jesuits in the 18th century. It was revived only in 1980. San Vitores was finally beatified in 1985 and Pedro Calungsod was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012.

Beatification
The Center for Kapampangan Studies of Holy Angel University has submitted its recommendation to the Archdiocese of San Fernando, for the cause of beatification of Felipe Songsong. However, the process between the initial beatification and canonization at the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican is a long process.

References

Bibliography
Santiago, Luciano P. R. The Cornerstone: Kapampangan Pioneers in the Catholic Church (1592 – 2001). Angeles City: Center for Kapampangan Studies, 2002.

1611 births
1685 deaths
Jesuit martyrs
People from Pampanga
Filipino Jesuits
17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs

Felipe Songsong


A dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Revival, Greek Revival, Renaissance Revival, Second Empire, and Beaux-Arts architecture. Dentillation refers to use of a course of dentils.

History

Origin
The Roman architect Vitruvius (iv. 2) states that the dentil represents the end of a rafter (asser). It occurs in its most pronounced form in the Ionic temples of Asia Minor, the Lycian tombs and the porticoes and tombs of Persia, where it clearly represents the reproduction in stone of timber construction. The earliest example is found carved into the rock of the tomb of Darius, c. 500 BC, reproducing the portico of his palace. Its first employment in Athens is in the cornice of the caryatid portico of the Erechtheum (480 BC). When subsequently introduced into the bed-mould of the cornice of the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates it is much smaller in its dimensions. In the later temples of Ionia, as in the temple of Priene, the larger scale of the dentil is still retained.

Later use
The dentil was the chief feature employed in the bedmould by the Romans and in the Italian Renaissance architecture. As a general rule, the projection of the dentil is equal to its width, thus appearing square, and the intervals between are half this measure. In some cases, the projecting band has never had the sinkings cut into it to divide up the dentils, as in the Pantheon at Rome, and it is then called a dentil-band. In the porch of the Studion cathedral at Constantinople, the dentil and the interval between are equal in width, and the interval is splayed back from top to bottom; this is the form it takes in what is known as the Venetian dentil, which was copied from the Byzantine dentil in Santa Sophia, Constantinople. There, however, it no longer formed part of a bed-mould: its use at Santa Sophia was to decorate the projecting moulding enclosing the encrusted marbles, and the dentils were cut alternately on both sides of the moulding. The Venetian dentil was also introduced as a label round arches and as a string course.

Gallery

See also
 Modillions: more ornate
 Corbel table: more ornate and taller
 Dog-tooth: arch decorations

References

External links

Architectural elements
Columns and entablature

Dentil


Nicolò Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi (5 April 1673 (bap) – 1 January 1732) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato who is best remembered today for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in two of whose early operas he sang. Grimaldi was usually known by his stage name of Nicolini.

Nicolini was born in Naples, where he made his operatic début in 1685. He also sang sacred music as a soprano in the Cathedral and Royal Chapel (to which extant libretti from the 1690s identify him as virtuoso). Between 1697 and 1731 he sang many operatic roles at various Italian cities in works by composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, and Johann Adolf Hasse. Other composers who wrote major roles for him included Francesco Provenzale (who was his teacher), Pollarolo, Ariosti, Lotti, Giovanni and Antonio Maria Bononcini, Caldara, Albinoni, Leo, and Riccardo Broschi.  Of more than a hundred productions in which he took part, thirty-six were in Naples, thirty-four in Venice, and fifteen in London.

Nicolini first visited London in 1708, where his fine singing and critically renowned acting were crucial to the success of Italian opera, and, more specifically, opera seria in London. In 1711 he created the title role in Handel's Rinaldo, a work whose immediate popularity was instrumental in the establishing of Handel's lengthy career in England. He also sang the title role in Handel's Amadigi in 1715 and continued to sing in London, usually in various pasticcios, until 1717. The eighteenth-century musicologist Charles Burney described Nicolini as "this great singer, and still greater actor", while Joseph Addison labelled him "the greatest performer in dramatic Music that is now living or that perhaps ever appeared on a stage". His Handel roles reveal that he possessed exceptional vocal agility and virtuosity. Between 1727-1730 he performed with Farinelli in Italy. In 1731 he planned to sing at Naples in Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's first opera seria, La Salustia, but became ill and died during rehearsals.

Further reading
 Charles Ancillon: Eunuchism display'd; describing all the different sorts of eunuchs; the esteem they have met with in the world, and how they came to be made so; wherein principally is examin'd, whether they are capable of marriage, and if they ought to be suffer'd to enter into that state; the whole confirm'd by the authority of civil, canon, and common law, and illustrated with many remarkable cases by way of precedent; also a comparison between Signior Nicolini and the three celebrated eunuchs now at Rome, viz. Pasqualini, Pauluccio, and Jeronimo (or Momo); with several observations on modern eunuchs; occasion'd by a young lady's falling in love with Nicolini, who sung in the opera at the Hay-market, and to whom she had like to have been married. Published 1718 by E. Curll in London.
Winton Dean: "Grimaldi, Nicolo", Grove Music Online ed L. Macy (Accessed 10 February 2007), grovemusic.com , subscription access.

Castrati
Italian opera singers
1670s births
1732 deaths
18th-century Italian male actors
Italian male stage actors
Directors of La Monnaie

Nicolò Grimaldi


Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down is a National Trust countryside property in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs above the village of Streatley and overlooking the Goring Gap. The property comprises an outstanding area of 27 hectares (67 acres) of downland and woodland with many attractive walks and views. Lardon Chase, and a part of the Holies known as Holies Down, are also designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The property lies within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and in an area known for the  presence of several Neolithic and Iron Age forts.

Lardon Chase and Lough Down comprise a spur of downland which lies to the west of Goring and Streatley.  Since it was acquired by the National Trust, the land has been managed by a mixture of scrub clearance and cattle grazing, so as to encourage the growth of chalk-loving plants. The Holies is a woodland fringed grassy coombe which is separated from Lardon Chase and Lough Down by the B4009 road from Streatley to Newbury. Before acquisition by the National Trust, the Holies was used for motorbike scrambling and turf stripping, resulting in considerable damage to the ground. The National Trust is encouraging the natural recolonisation of the area by chalk-loving plant species. There are three turf mazes in the Holies.

The slopes of the property form one of the largest remaining areas of chalk grassland in the county and support a wide range of flowers and butterflies. Plants found in the grassland include autumn gentian, clustered bellflower, blue fleabane, vervain, common rock-rose, horseshoe vetch, kidney vetch, marjoram, yellow-wort, purging flax, wild carrot, chalk milkwort, stemless thistle, eyebright, mouse-ear hawkweed, salad burnet, ragwort, wild thyme, hairy violet, squinancywort, hawkweed ox-tongue, common spotted orchid and pyramidal orchid. Scattered bands of hawthorn scrub provide shelter for insect life and several butterfly species can be found, including chalkhill blue, marbled white, adonis blue, grizzled skipper and dingy skipper.

The property is accessible from a car park located on the B4009, or by steeply climbing footpaths from Streatley village. The Holies is also accessible (on foot only) from the A329 road south of Streatley, whilst Lough Down can be accessed from the ancient track of The Ridgeway on its northern boundary. Access is free, and available at all times. The property adjoins the Goring & Streatley Golf Club.

References

External links

Hills of Berkshire
National Trust properties in Berkshire
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Berkshire
Protected areas of Berkshire

Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down


Critical mass is the amount of fissile material needed to sustain nuclear fission.

Critical mass may also refer to:

Science and technology
 Critical mass (sociodynamics), a stage in social-system innovation
 Critical mass (software engineering), a stage in the product life cycle of software

Organizations
 Critical Mass (cycling), a form of direct action involving large groups of bicycle riders
 Critical Mass (pressure group), a UK political pressure group
 Critical Mass Energy Project, an anti-nuclear umbrella group founded by Ralph Nader
 Critical Mass Journal, published in 1977 by the Critical Mass Energy Project
 Critical Mass, a co-working center sponsored by the New England Venture Capital Association
 Critical Mass, a robotics team of the Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, New Jersey

Literature
 Critical Mass (book), a 2004 book by Philip Ball
 Critical Mass (2013 book), a 2013 novel by Sara Paretsky
 "Critical Mass" (Pohl and Kornbluth short story), a 1962 story by Frederik Pohl and Cyril M. Kornbluth
 "Critical Mass" (Arthur C. Clarke short story),  a 1949 short story by Arthur C. Clarke
 Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978, a 1998 book by Thomas Wellock
 Critical Mass, a 1990 seven-issue comic book anthology printed under Epic Comics's Shadowline Saga imprint
 Critical Mass a 2023 follow-up novel to Delta-v by Daniel Suarez

Film and television
 Critical Mass, a 1971 experimental short film from Hollis Frampton's Hapax Legomena cycle
 Critical Mass (anime), a subdivision of the video publisher and distributor Right Stuf Inc.
 Critical Mass (film), a 2000 film starring Treat Williams and Lori Loughlin
 "Critical Mass" (Stargate Atlantis), an episode of Stargate Atlantis
 "Critical Mass" (The Burning Zone), an episode of The Burning Zone

Gaming
 Duke Nukem: Critical Mass, a shooter game developed by Frontline Studios
 Critical Mass (1985 video game) or Power!, a computer game by Durell Software
 Critical Mass (1982 video game), an adventure game by Sirius Software
 Critical Mass, a set of collectible miniature game figures by HeroClix

Music

Bands
 Critical Mass (Canadian band), a Catholic rock band formed in 1997
 Critical Mass (Dutch band), a Dutch happy hardcore group

Albums and songs
 Critical Mass (Dave Holland album), 2006
 Critical Mass (Threshold album), 2002
 Critical Mass (Matthew Shipp album), 1995
 Critical Mass (Ra album), 2013
 "Critical Mass", a song by Aerosmith from Draw the Line
 "Critical Mass", a song by Nuclear Assault from Handle with Care
 "Critical Mass", a song by Chrome from Half Machine Lip Moves

Critical mass (disambiguation)


Sikandar Ali Wajd (1914–1983) was a talented Urdu poet from Aurangabad, Maharashtra India. He had equal proficiency in composing gazals and poems.

Professional life
He was born on 22 January 1914, in Aurangabad. In 1935, he was selected for Hyderabad Civil Service. Later he was appointed as Munsif Magistrate in Judicial Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a sessions judge. In the year 1972, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) from Maharashtra State.

Literary works
He was President of the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, Maharashtra and was awarded Padma Shri in 1970 for his literary services. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru released Wajd's third collection "Awarq-e-Mussavar". Prior to this collection his other poetical works 'Laho-Tarung', 'Aftab-e-Taza' and 'Bayaz-e-Maryan' were published in 1944,1952 and 1974 respectively. He was well versed in Urdu Persian and English. As he was gifted with a melodious voice, wherever he recited his gazals and poems, the audience listened to him in rapt attention. His poems 'Ajanta', 'Ellora', 'Taj Mahal', and 'Karvan e Zindagi' are well known.

He died on 16 June 1983 at Aurangabad. The Sikandar Ali Wajd Memorial Trust at Aurangabad is involved in promoting cultural and literary activities in the city, there is also an auditorium near Town Hall built in the memory of the poet.
His wife continues to live at Jublee Park, Aurangabad.

See also

Wali Aurangabadi
Siraj Aurangabadi
Azad Bilgrami
Urdu
Urdu poetry
List of Urdu language poets
Padma Shri Awards (1970–1979)

References
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Urdu Literature By Abida Samiuddin vol 2

External links
 urdupoetry
Urdu poetry forum
 Three-day Urdu conference at Aurangabad

1914 births
1983 deaths
People from Aurangabad, Maharashtra
Urdu-language poets from India
20th-century Indian Muslims
Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra
Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education
20th-century Indian poets
People from Marathwada
Indian male poets
Poets from Maharashtra
20th-century Indian male writers

Sikandar Ali Wajd


Keith Gordon Cox FRS (25 April 1933 – 27 August 1998) was a British geologist and academic at the University of Oxford. He had a particular interest in flood basalts and was regarded as one of the leading experts in this area.

Life and career

Cox was born in Birmingham, England, where his father, Sir Gordon Cox FRS, was a university lecturer in chemistry.  After wartime evacuation to Canada, Cox attended King Edward's School, Birmingham and Leeds Grammar School.  He completed national service in the Royal Engineers between 1950 and 1952. He then took a scholarship to The Queen's College, Oxford, where he obtained a first-class degree in geology in 1956. He lost an eye in an accident in the Lake District whilst on a field trip in 1955. After Oxford, Cox carried out further research at the University of Leeds before being appointed lecturer in petrology at Edinburgh University. In 1972 he became a lecturer in geology at Oxford, being appointed a fellow of Jesus College, Oxford in 1973. He was appointed a Reader in 1988, the same year in which he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. He made several trips to South Africa and collaborated with local geochemists such as Dr. A.J. Erlank. He drowned in a sailing accident at Erraid off the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides on 27 August 1998.

Work
Cox's doctoral and post-doctoral research at Leeds was on the Masukwe Complex in the Nuanetsi region of what was then called Southern Rhodesia. This led to his developing a particular interest in flood basalts, upon which topic he in due course became a world expert. Cox contemplated the significance of the geochemistry of these rocks during his work in the Karoo region and, whilst at Edinburgh, also studied comparable rocks from the Deccan area of India, as well as rocks from southern Arabia.  His research at Oxford also covered flood basalts in the Parana region of South America, the Hebrides and Antarctica. He also studied kimberlites.

He edited the Journal of Petrology (1971–83) and Earth and Planetary Science Letters (1981–85). He also wrote two textbooks: An Introduction to the Practical Study of Crystals, Minerals and Rocks (1967) (with N. B. Price and B. Harte) and The Interpretation of Igneous Rocks (1979) (with J. D. Bell and R. J. Pankhurst).

References

1933 births
1998 deaths
Academics of the University of Edinburgh
Accidental deaths in Scotland
Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom
Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford
Fellows of the Royal Society
People educated at Leeds Grammar School
Petrologists

Keith Cox


Lady Holding a Balance (sometimes Lady Testing a Balance) is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer. It was painted around 1664. It measures 39.7 x 35.5 cm (15 5/8 x 14 in.) It hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. The Gallery writes, "Woman Holding a Balance is an allegorical scene that urges us to conduct our lives with temperance and moderation. The painting within the painting offers an important clue in that Christ's Last Judgment is echoed by the woman's own actions. Before her are earthly treasures; behind her is the symbol of the eternal consequences of her actions here on earth. In waiting for the balance to rest at equilibrium she acknowledges the importance of judgment in weighing her own actions in anticipation of the life to come."

References

Paintings by Johannes Vermeer
1660s paintings
Paintings in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Lady Holding a Balance


Hollands Diep (pre-1947 spelling: Hollandsch Diep) is a river in the Netherlands, and an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Through the Scheldt-Rhine Canal it connects to the Scheldt river and Antwerp.

The Bergse Maas river and the Nieuwe Merwede river join near Lage Zwaluwe to form the Hollands Diep. The Dordtsche Kil connects to it near Moerdijk. Near Numansdorp it splits into the Haringvliet and the Volkerak.

History
The Hollands Diep was formed as a result of the extensive flood of 1216, which breached the dunes of Voorne and created a deep saltwater inlet (the current Haringvliet). During a second flood, the St. Elizabeth floods, this inlet connected to the Merwede and became an important estuary of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. From that moment on, the freshwater part of the estuary (east of the Hellegatsplein) was renamed Hollands Diep. The former river Striene, that used to connect the Meuse with the Scheldt, was completely destroyed by these floods and can no longer be recognised on maps.

River crossings
At this point where the Hollands Diep splits, there is a road traffic node on an artificial island (the Hellegatsplein), connecting to the Hoeksche Waard island on the north by the Haringvliet bridge, to the Goeree-Overflakkee on the west by the Hellegatsdam, and to the mainland on the southeast by the Volkerak Sluices.

On the east side of the Hollands Diep the Moerdijk bridges connect the Dordrecht island on the north to the mainland on the south: a road bridge, a railroad bridge; a second railroad bridge has recently been constructed for the HSL-Zuid.

References

Estuaries of Europe
Rivers of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta
Rivers of the Netherlands
Ramsar sites in the Netherlands
Rivers of North Brabant
Rivers of South Holland
Hoeksche Waard
Drimmelen
Moerdijk

Hollands Diep


Marjorie Prime is a 2017 American science-fiction film written and directed by Michael Almereyda, based on Jordan Harrison's play of the same name. It stars Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins, Geena Davis, and Lois Smith. Footage was screened for buyers at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. It premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Plot
Around the year 2050, 85-year-old Marjorie is experiencing the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. To bring her comfort her daughter Tess and son-in-law Jon hire a service called Prime, designed to assist Alzheimer patients by creating holographic projections of deceased family members which are "fed" with the patients' memories so that they can "retell" them back in case they forget them. Marjorie has chosen a younger version of her late husband Walter, who died fifteen years ago. This choice disturbs Tess as she does not trust the system's functionalities, so she does not talk to Walter's hologram. Marjorie tells stories of her life to Walter Prime and enjoys listening to him tell them back, usually asking him to embellish some to make them better and prettier the next time he tells them, so that the new story will become her new memory. Meanwhile, Julie, Marjorie's caretaker, moves in with the family to watch over her and confides in Walter.

In time, Walter Prime becomes curious about the real Walter's personal and professional lives and starts asking Jon about them. He appears to desire to know the reason why he couldn't tell his children how much he loved them. Jon tells Walter Prime a family secret that must never be repeated to Marjorie: she and Walter had a son named Damian who committed suicide forty years earlier and, before doing so, killed the beloved family dog Toni II (a black French poodle who looked just like the family's previous dog, Toni) to take her with him. Marjorie hasn't said Damian's name since then. Despite Walter Prime's understanding about not telling her, Marjorie suddenly asks for Damian in a bout of dementia. Tess finds a Bible in the living room table and accuses Julie (who had given it to Marjorie) of taking advantage of Marjorie's condition to religiously manipulate her (since Marjorie has always been an atheist), which prompts Marjorie to become upset and urinate herself.

Later on Tess and Marjorie are sitting on the couch talking. It is soon revealed that Marjorie has died and Tess is talking to a Prime version of Marjorie; Jon recommended the Prime Program for his wife to help her cope with the death of her mother. Tess remains highly skeptical of the Prime program, especially because Marjorie Prime is constantly smiling and appears to be too understanding to truly impersonate Marjorie's real personality. This leads Tess to realize she has chosen the aged version of her mother because this is the version she still has things she needs to say to. Meanwhile, in a flashback to when Walter was alive, he and Marjorie are sitting on the couch watching the nightly news, which shows "The Gates", an art exhibit by Christo and Jean-Claude that ran in Central Park during February 2005. As was explained in an earlier scene, this is shortly after Walter and Marjorie's son, Damian, kills Toni II and commits suicide. Walter and Marjorie become emotional and embrace one another.

Sometime later, Jon is talking to Tess in the living room. It is then revealed it is a Prime version of her; a year has passed and Tess, apparently still unable to deal with Marjorie's death, had hanged herself during a vacation in Madagascar. Jon brings Tess' granddaughter to meet Tess Prime because she never met the real Tess while she was alive due to Tess' estrangement from her daughter.

Years later, Tess' granddaughter is grown up and Jon is very old. In the house's living room, Walter Prime, Marjorie Prime, and Tess Prime talk about the old days, reliving old memories. They discuss a memory of the dog Toni, believing Tess was the one who picked him out. Walter tells them that Tess didn't pick Toni: Damian did. He picked her because she looked like their old dog, also named Toni, who died before Tess was born and whom she never knew existed. After hearing the story, Marjorie and Tess can remember Damian too. As Walter apologizes for saddening them, Marjorie responds by saying the only thing she can think of is "how nice that we could love somebody".

Cast

 Lois Smith as Marjorie/Marjorie Prime
 Hannah Gross as Young Marjorie
 Jon Hamm as Walter/Walter Prime
 Tim Robbins as Jon
 Geena Davis as Tess/Tess Prime
 Stephanie Andujar as Julie
 Leslie Lyles as Mrs. Salveson

Release
FilmRise acquired distribution rights to the film after its premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Reception

Critical response
Marjorie Prime received critical acclaim. It holds an approval rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 92 reviews, with an average rating of 7.42/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Intimate in setting yet ambitious in scope, the beautifully acted Marjorie Prime poses thought-provoking questions about memory, humanity, and love." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades
The film won the Sloan Feature Film Prize, which includes a $20,000 cash award, presented at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. The award jury awarded the film for its "imaginative and nuanced depiction of the evolving relationship between humans and technology, and its moving dramatization of how intelligent machines can challenge our notions of identity, memory and mortality." The jury members were Heather Berlin, Tracy Drain, Nell Greenfieldboyce, Nicole Perlman, and Jennifer Phang.

References

External links

2017 films
2010s science fiction drama films
American films based on plays
American science fiction drama films
Films directed by Michael Almereyda
Films set in Long Island
Films set in the future
Films shot in New York (state)
2017 drama films
Alfred P. Sloan Prize winners
Sundance Film Festival award-winning films
2017 independent films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films

Marjorie Prime


Brian Christopher Kay (born 12 May 1944) is an English radio presenter, conductor and singer. He is well-known as the bass in the King's Singers during the group's formative years from 1968 to 1982, and as such is to be heard on many of their 1970s recordings. He was also the voice of Papageno in the film Amadeus and the lowest frog in the Paul McCartney song "We All Stand Together" ("The Frog's Chorus").

He is noted as a choral conductor, being the former conductor (and now president) of the Leith Hill Musical Festival and former director of the Huddersfield Choral Society. He is principal conductor of the Really Big Chorus.

On radio, he has been a presenter of Friday Night is Music Night on BBC Radio 2 and until 2006 presented 3 for All and Brian Kay's Light Programme, a weekly programme about light music on BBC Radio 3. In 1996 he won the Sony Radio Award as Music Presenter of the Year.

He is a patron of Bampton Classical Opera and president of The English Arts Chorale, the Harrogate Choral Society and the Bristol Bach Choir.

Kay is the vice president of the Royal School of Church Music and of the Association of British Choral Directors.

References

External links
Article about the cancellation of Brian Kay's Light Programme

1944 births
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
BBC Radio 3 presenters
British radio DJs
British television presenters
English conductors (music)
British male conductors (music)
Living people
The King's Singers members
21st-century British conductors (music)
21st-century British male musicians
Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge

Brian Kay


Zachary Rodin Fleishman (born March 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player.

Personal life
Fleishman was born in Santa Monica, and attended UCLA for one year before turning pro.  He is currently the Chief Operating Officer at Shark Wheel, a company that reinvented the wheel into a sine wave-shaped design.

Tennis career
Fleishman began playing tennis at the age of 8. At the age of 18, he played one season (1998–99) of collegiate tennis at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), at the No. 2 position. That year Fleishman helped UCLA to the No. 1 ranking in the country, and to the final of the National Collegiate Athletics Association championships. In the ITF junior world rankings, he reached No. 18 in singles in 1998. After one year of competing on the collegiate level, Fleishman opted to turn professional in 2000.

He has won seven professional singles titles (and numerous doubles titles) in his career, starting with back-to-back satellite wins in El Salvador on hard court, followed by a win in Honduras on red clay.  Fleishman then won back-to-back titles again, this time in his native California, winning two futures events in Redding and Chico (he also won the doubles title).  Later, he was able to establish himself on the challenger circuit, winning a US$25,000 event in Ecuador on red clay and then a US$50,000 event in Vietnam on hard court.  This propelled his ranking to 11th in the United States and World # 127.  In 2008, Zack added another professional tournament victory to his resume winning the Costa Mesa Tennis Futures.

In his career Fleishman notably defeated Fernando González, David Nalbandian, Vince Spadea, Agustín Calleri, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri, Daniel Nestor, Tomáš Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Kevin Anderson, Santiago Giraldo, Yen-Hsun Lu, Denis Istomin, Nicolas Mahut, and Joachim Johansson.

2006
In 2006, Fleishman qualified for his first Grand Slam event: the Australian Open.  He won three qualifying matches and then drew world No. 85 Dick Norman of Belgium. Fleishman rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set.  However, Fleishman was unable to capitalize on his momentum, and lost the fifth set and the match.

2007
In 2007, Fleishman again qualified for the Australian Open.  This time, he defeated World # 26 Agustín Calleri of Argentina in the first round, before falling to Australian Wayne Arthurs in the second round.

The same year, Fleishman won three matches and qualified at Wimbledon, where he faced World No. 10 Tommy Haas.  On July 17, 2007, Fleishman achieved his first victory over a top-ten player, defeating world No. 6 Fernando González, in the first round of the Los Angeles Tennis Center's Countrywide Classic.  He proceeded to beat fellow American Robert Kendrick, in the second round, compiling his first ever back-to-back wins in an Association of Tennis Professionals event.  In the quarterfinals, however, Fleishman fell to the eventual tournament champion Radek Štěpánek.

2008
In September 2008, Fleishman won the USA F23 in California, beating Michael McClune in the finals in three sets. He and McClune partnered to win the doubles in the tournament, dropping only one set along the way.

References

External links

 UCLA bio
 NAB Taste of Tennis Australia

Interviews
Podcast Interview

Sponsor Interview
Fleishman # 13 with picture of the 20 Most Memorable moments in Australian Open History. The article does not include his 138 mph serve which was the 4th-fastest serve at the Australian Open in 2007

USPTA Certified Professional Level 1

Living people
1980 births
American male tennis players
Tennis players from Los Angeles
Tennis players from Santa Monica, California
UCLA Bruins men's tennis players
Jewish American sportspeople
Jewish tennis players
Crossroads School alumni
21st-century American Jews

Zack Fleishman


The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped Tour. They are well known for their use of humor, preferring to use their music as a vehicle for comedy and sarcasm rather than as a platform for more serious issues. Kung Fu Records, founded in 1996 by Escalante and Fitzgerald has signed and launched many punk rock bands.

The band's lineup fluctuated significantly over their first nine years, though founding members Steven Ronald Jensen, guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann, and first consistent drummer Joe Escalante remained regular fixtures. Of the early members, only Escalante has remained through all subsequent incarnations of the band. The current lineup of Escalante, Dave Quackenbush, Warren Fitzgerald, and Josh Freese has remained intact since 1990 and is generally considered far removed from the band's early 1980s incarnation. Since 2002 Escalante has released all of the band's albums through his Kung Fu Records label, with Fitzgerald generally producing.

History

Early years (1980–1984)
The Vandals formed in 1980 in Huntington Beach, California, by guitarist Jan Nils Ackermann. Soon vocalist Steven Ronald "Stevo" Jensen (1959 – August 21, 2005) was found and he and Ackermann practiced and performed with a rotating cast of other members before a permanent lineup coalesced to include bassist Steve "Human" Pfauter and drummer Joe Escalante. Other early members included Steve Gonzalez on bass and Vince Mesa on drums.

The band quickly built a reputation in the Los Angeles and Orange County punk rock community. The Vandals distinguished themselves in their scene by sticking to humorous subject matter rather than the typical social and political topics addressed by most punk bands of the time.

In 1982 the group became the second band to sign with Epitaph Records, the Los Angeles label run by Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, who released their first EP Peace thru Vandalism. The record contained several songs that would become fan favorites and remained in the band's live set well into the 1990s, including "Urban Struggle," which became a local hit after receiving airplay on KROQ-FM's Rodney on the ROQ program.

Most of the record's subject material was drawn directly from the band's own experiences in their local punk rock scene. "The Legend of Pat Brown" told tales of a substance-abusing friend of the band who was notorious for causing mayhem, while "Pirate's Life" dealt with the experience of riding Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride while taking LSD. The aforementioned "Urban Struggle" dealt with the constant fights that would occur between the punk rock fans who congregated at a Costa Mesa club called the Cuckoo's Nest and the country music fans who gathered at nearby Zubie's. "Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government)" approached the philosophy of anarchism, advocated by many early punk bands, from a humorous perspective and became one of the band's most popular songs throughout their career.

In 1984 the band appeared in the film Suburbia by invitation of director Penelope Spheeris, who had also directed the influential The Decline of Western Civilization. They also played a benefit concert for the Cypress College Young Republicans, along with the Circle Jerks, the Dickies and D.I., an action which prompted derision from the traditionally leftist and anarchist punk community. It would not be the last time the band's actions would draw criticism, with their music generally maintaining an apolitical position.

When Pfauter left the band in 1984, Eric VonArab (Love Canal) filled in on bass while the band was writing and rehearsing for their first album until Brent Turner was brought in to play bass on the recording of that album, When in Rome Do as the Vandals. By the time of its release in 1985 on National Trust Records Chalmer Lumary had joined as the band's full-time bassist. The album explored different musical styles and contained several songs that would become fan favorites. "Ladykiller" incorporated scratching and dance beats, while "Mohawk Town" explored a mixture of punk rock and country music. Personality clashes between members led to Stevo's departure from the band shortly thereafter. He was replaced by Dave Quackenbush of the band Falling Idols, who has remained the Vandals' vocalist. In 1987 the band appeared in another Penelope Spheeris film, Dudes.

Quackenbush, Fitzgerald, and Freese join (1984–1989)
By 1989 Lumary had left the band and Robbie Allen joined them in the studio to play bass on the album Slippery When Ill. The album was something of a departure from the punk rock formula of their previous releases, fusing country and western styles with their humorous brand of punk into a sound the band called "cow punk," somewhat mocking the resurgence in popularity of country music in their native Huntington Beach. The joking style confused many of their fans and the album would remain in obscurity until its 1999 re-release as The Vandals Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes. By the time of the album's release the band had recruited new drummer Doug MacKinnon and Escalante had moved to bass, a position he would remain in for the rest of the band's career.

Following the release of Slippery When Ill the band went through several lineup changes, as drummer MacKinnon and founding-guitarist Ackermann both left the group.

With Escalante asserting control over the band, Stevo, Ackermann, Lumary, and T.S.O.L. drummer Todd Barnes played a show billed as the Vandals, later as S.N.I.V. (Stevo's New and Improved Vandals). Escalante has stated that the older members relinquished control of the band's name and rights to him in exchange for permission to play the show, but the others deny this claim and point out that Escalante served an injunction against them during the performance preventing them from further use of the name and music.

The departure of Ackermann and MacKinnon left Escalante and Quackenbush searching for a new guitarist and drummer. The Vandals had previously played shows with a band called Doggy Style and had been intrigued by the wacky antics of their guitarist Warren Fitzgerald, and they soon recruited him as their new permanent guitarist. Also around this time Escalante and Quackenbush made many visits to Disneyland, where they witnessed Josh Freese playing electronic drums in the children's cover band Polo on the Tomorrowland Terrace stage. They persuaded him to join, solidifying the Vandals lineup of Quackenbush, Fitzgerald, Escalante, and Freese which would remain constant throughout the rest of their career (with occasional substitutes filling in for Freese).

Role in '90s punk revival (1990–2000)
In 1990 the new lineup recorded Fear of a Punk Planet, an album which established their presence amongst an emerging new crop of California punk rock bands including Green Day, NOFX, the Offspring, Rancid, Pennywise, and Sublime. It spawned their first music video, for the song "Pizza Tran," which received airplay on local punk and rock television shows.

In 1992 Escalante graduated from law school and became a television executive at CBS, using money from his job to finance the band and his television connections to allow them to play on late-night rock shows. At a New Year's Eve party at which Escalante was unable to play, actor Keanu Reeves filled in for him on bass. Fitzgerald and Freese, meanwhile, moved towards careers as professional musicians. Freese became a sought-after studio drummer, while Fitzgerald began a three-year stint as guitarist for Oingo Boingo.

In 1992, Freese and Fitzgerald formed Xtra Large with vocalist Darren McNamee and Big Drill Car bassist Bob Thomson. Xtra Large released one album on Giant Records, titled Now I Eat Them.

In 1994 the band released Sweatin' to the Oldies, a live album and video which featured mostly performances of songs from Peace thru Vandalism and When in Rome. From this point on the band would play fewer and fewer of these older songs in their live sets, concentrating instead on newer material.

By 1995 punk rock had gained nationwide mainstream popularity, and the Vandals signed to Offspring singer Dexter Holland's new label Nitro Records. They released the album Live Fast, Diarrhea to positive reception and supported it with tours throughout the United States and Europe, including a spot opening for fellow Orange County rockers No Doubt. The album and band garnered increased attention thanks to an episode of the popular television show The X-Files in which actor Giovanni Ribisi played a character who wears Vandals T-shirts and listens to their music.

1996 saw the release of The Quickening, a slightly more nihilistic and aggressive album that was supported by a music video for "It's a Fact." That year Escalante and Fitzgerald also founded the record label Kung Fu Records, initially created in order to release an album by the Riverside band Assorted Jelly Beans. The label also released the soundtrack to the movie Glory Daze, which featured music from both the Vandals and Assorted Jellybeans and a theme written by Fitzgerald. At the end of the year the band also released a Christmas album, Oi to the World!, on Kung Fu. Although it remained the band's most obscure release for several years, the title track became somewhat famous when it was covered by No Doubt in 1997. Their version was produced by Fitzgerald and made into a music video. Other than "Oi to the World!," songs from the album are generally not part of the Vandals' live setlist, except for their annual "Winter Formal" concert at which they generally perform the album in its entirety. Sweatin' to the Oldies was also re-released by Kung Fu in 1997 with bonus tracks.

In 1998 the band released Hitler Bad, Vandals Good, their most popular album yet which focused more on lighthearted humor with songs such as "My Girlfriend's Dead" and "I've Got an Ape Drape." The band continued to tour, including stints on the Vans Warped Tour. In 1999 they re-released most of Slippery When Ill as The Vandals Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes on Kung Fu. The members also starred in the Kung Fu-produced internet television series Fear of a Punk Planet, later released on DVD.

2000 saw a trio of releases from the band, beginning with a 10-year anniversary edition of Fear of a Punk Planet that was released by Kung Fu. This was followed by Look What I Almost Stepped In..., their final album under their contract with Nitro. Because of other musical commitments Freese was unavailable to play on the album, so substitute Brooks Wackerman filled in as drummer for the album's recording and some accompanying tours. At the end of the year Kung Fu re-released Oi to the World!, making it much more widely available than it had been in previous years. Escalante also launched the Kung Fu imprint Kung Fu Films in 2000 with the release of the film That Darn Punk, in which he starred and the other band members also appeared. The Vandals also contributed new songs to the film's soundtrack.

Kung Fu Records years (2000–present)
By the end of 2000 the Vandals had fulfilled their contractual obligations to Nitro Records, and moved their operations fully to Kung Fu. The Kung Fu label had grown since its founding in 1996 and was well-positioned to provide the recording, marketing, and touring support the band's popularity now necessitated, including marketing and touring opportunities in Japan. With Escalante acting as president of the label the band's operations could also run more smoothly. In 2001 the band performed on the entire run of the Vans Warped Tour.

The band's first new album for Kung Fu was Internet Dating Superstuds, released in 2002. They held an online contest in which the winners were each awarded a "date" with one of the band members. These "dates" were filmed and included on the CD-ROM portion of the album, which used an internet theme in its artwork. They once again performed on the Warped Tour, and would play select dates on subsequent Warped Tours over the next 3 years. The Sweatin' to the Oldies video was also re-released on DVD that year by Kung Fu.

In July 2003 the Vandals filmed a live concert album and DVD at the House of Blues in Anaheim as part of Kung Fu's The Show Must Go Off! series. It was released the following year and featured mostly songs written from 1995 to 2002. 2003 also saw the release of Hollywood Potato Chip, which strayed a bit from the pop-punk formula of their 1990s work.

In December 2004 the band traveled to Iraq and played several shows for US troops in the area, with drummer Byron McMackin of Pennywise filling in for Freese. Some fans and contemporaries in the punk community criticized this decision, claiming that it implied the band supported the US-led war in Iraq. The band members defended their actions by pointing out that their music is deliberately apolitical and that whatever their individual political views might be, they were eager to show support for the troops. This was followed by a tour of Europe, on which some dates were cancelled due to protests and picketing by groups who felt the band's actions constituted a pro-war stance.

In 2005 the Shingo Japanese Remix Album was released, composed of versions of the band's songs remixed by Japanese DJ Shingo Asari. That August the band played a benefit show for the legendary New York rock club CBGB. In the same month, original singer Stevo died of a drug overdose.

In April 2006 the Vandals once again returned to the Middle East with McMackin to perform for US troops, this time in Afghanistan. They continue to tour when the members' schedules permit, as they also have other music-related obligations outside the band. Freese continues to act as a studio drummer for a multitude of recording artists. Fitzgerald writes and produces songs and albums for other artists as well as movie scores, and occasionally acts, having starred in the Kung Fu film Cake Boy. Escalante continues to own and operate Kung Fu Records and Kung Fu Films, signing bands and making films such as the Show Must Go Off! series and Cake Boy. He retired from legal practice in 2005 and hosted the call-in radio show Barely Legal Radio on Indie 103.1 FM, where he dispensed entertainment and legal advice to aspiring musicians. In May 2006 he became the station's drive-time morning show host, replacing former Mighty Mighty Bosstones singer Dicky Barrett. In 2007 the Vandals played the first four dates of the Warped Tour.

In August 2008 the Vandals played nine dates of the 2008 Warped Tour with Sum 41 drummer Steve Jocz filling in for Josh Freese, who was touring with Nine Inch Nails. On August 12 the band released BBC Sessions and Other Polished Turds, a collection of rare songs and b-sides, exclusively as a digital release.

In January 2015, the band recorded a version from the song I'm An Individual, originally recorded by the Australian footballer Mark Jacko Jackson, for the Australian Soundwave 2015 Compilation, launched in February of that year.

In July 2020 the band released a new rarities album named Curse of the Unripe Pumpkin.

Original band's reformation
In 1989, the original Vandals reformed with original singer Stevo, Jan Nils Ackermann on guitar, Chalmer Lumary on bass and with Todd Barnes on drums, playing a show. Legal matters ensued, preventing further performances. Then, In 2008, the original Vandals reunited once more under the new moniker of "Anarchy Taco" as to prevent further legal action and restrictive measures on the group's original members.

Similar to the 1989 reunion, Anarchy Taco was put together by the band's founder, Jan Nils Ackermann. The band collects alumni Steve "Human" Pfauter and Chalmer Lumary from the group's original records, as well as vocalist Worm, and drummer James. The group's setlist usually encompasses the material recorded by the band from 1982–1984.

Lawsuit between members
A CD re-release combining Peace thru Vandalism and When in Rome Do as the Vandals had also been in print since 1989 through Time Bomb Recordings with the credit "all songs written by Joe Escalante." The former members asserted that most of these songs had been written before Escalante joined the group, that he had misappropriated their intellectual property, and that he had not paid them royalties due from the licensing of these songs. Escalante then threatened to sue whoever spoke up.  Lawsuits ensued, resulting in an undisclosed settlement which allowed Escalante to continue licensing the band's back catalogue. A subsequent licensing of the song "Urban Struggle" for the movie Jackass Number Two credited the group as a whole.

Band members

Current members
 Joe Escalante – bass (1988–present), drums (1980–1988), backing and occasional lead vocals (1980–present)
 Dave Quackenbush – vocals, occasional guitar (1984–present)
 Warren Fitzgerald – guitars, backing and lead vocals (1989–present)
 Josh Freese – drums (1989–present)

Past members
 Jan Nils Ackermann – guitars, backing vocals (1980–1989)
 Steven Ronald Jensen ("Stevo") – lead vocals (1980–1984; died 2005)
 Vince Mesa – drums (1980)
 Steve Gonzalez – bass (1980)
 Bob Emory – bass (1980)
 Steve "Human" Pfauter – bass (1980–1984; died 2022)
 Brent Turner – bass (1984)
 Chalmer Lumary – bass (1984–1985), (1989)
 Robbie Allen – bass, backing vocals (1985–1989)
 Doug MacKinnon – drums (1988–1989)
 Todd Barnes – drums (1989; died 1999)

Notable fill-ins

Due to Josh Freese's job as a full-time studio drummer he has sometimes been unable to play live or on tours with the band. Temporary drummers have included:

 Brooks Wackerman (Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Bad Religion, Avenged Sevenfold)
 Adrian Young (No Doubt)
 Byron McMackin (Pennywise)
 Derek Grant (The Suicide Machines, Alkaline Trio)
 Ty Smith (Guttermouth, Bullets and Octane, Black President, Jughead's Revenge)
 Damon De La Paz (Fenix TX, 30 Foot Fall)
 Eric VonArab (Love Canal, Doggy Style) on bass, Escalante moved to drums
 Steve Jocz (Sum 41)
 Actor Keanu Reeves also filled in on bass at a New Year's Eve show in 1993 when Escalante was unable to perform.

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
When in Rome Do as the Vandals (1984)
Slippery When Ill (1989)
Fear of a Punk Planet (1990)
Live Fast, Diarrhea (1995)
The Quickening (1996)
Oi to the World! (1996)
Hitler Bad, Vandals Good (1998)
Look What I Almost Stepped In... (2000)
Internet Dating Superstuds (2002)
Hollywood Potato Chip (2004)

References

External links

Skate punk groups
Musical groups from Orange County, California
Nitro Records artists
Epitaph Records artists
Pop punk groups from California
Punk rock groups from California
American comedy musical groups
Comedy rock musical groups
Restless Records artists
Enigma Records artists
1980 establishments in California

The Vandals


International relations is a branch of political science. Predominant study topics are politics, economics and law on a global level. It represents the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, diplomacy, international organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs).

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization that describes itself as a "global association of governments facilitating co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, and social equity"; It is the most prominent international institution. Many of the legal institutions follow the same organisational structure as the UN.

Economic institutions
World Trade Organisation
World Bank
International Monetary Fund
African Development Bank
Asian Development Bank

International legal bodies

Human rights
United Nations Human Rights Council
Human Rights Committee
European Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Court

Legal
International Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
African Court of Justice
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

Regional security arrangements
ASEAN
Arab League
CIS
CSCAP
Maritime security regime
NATO
RECAAP
SCO

Related pages
Neutrality (international relations)
Realism theory
Thomas Hobbes Leviathan
Immanuel Kant Perpetual Peace
Niccolò Machiavelli The Prince
Jean-Jacques Rousseau The social contract
Thucydides The History of the Peloponnesian war

International relations


is a cave in Japanese mythology. According to the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon Shoki, the bad behavior of Susano'o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu into the Ama-no-Iwato cave.  The land was thus deprived of light.

In order to get Amaterasu out of the cave the other gods called Yao-yorozu-no-kami threw a party outside with wisdom of Omoikane. The goddess Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto performed a lewd dance, eliciting laughter. Amaterasu grew curious about the source of amusement and peeked out of the cave entrance. She became fascinated by her own reflection in the Yata no Kagami mirror which the other gods had crafted and hung before the cave for that purpose, and stood transfixed. Ame-no-tajikarao then forced the cave open and the world was bathed in light once again. As Amaterasu stepped out of the cave a holy seal was applied to it so that she could never go back into hiding.

Higashihongu
The main shrine called Higashihongu and a hall of worship called Nishihongu (west hall) face each other across the Iwato River gorge. The Amano Iwato cave is an object of worship in festivals and is a rock cave on the other side of the Iwato River from Nishihongu. You can see the cave from Nishihongu after participating in a Shinto ritual for purification. Photography of any kind is prohibited.

The grounds contain many plants and old trees. There are also rare ancient ginkgo and Magnolia compressa trees, which have been considered sacred in Japan since ancient times.

See also
Harae
Vala (Vedic)

References

Locations in Japanese mythology
Japanese gods
Shinto kami

Amano-Iwato


Bjarkarímur is a 15th-century Icelandic rímur cycle on the Skjöldungs (the Scyldings of Beowulf), and retells among other things the adventures of Hróarr (Hroðgar) and his brother Helgi (Halga), and those of Böðvarr Bjarki. It appears to be based on the lost Skjöldunga saga and is one of the extant sources of information on that work.

References
 Jónas Kristjánsson, Eddas and Sagas: Iceland's Medieval Literature, trans. by Peter Foote (Reykjavík: Hið Íslenska bókmenntafélag: 1988), p. 353.

Old Norse poetry
Rímur

Bjarkarímur


Nikki Nelson (born January 3, 1969, in La Mesa, California) is an American country music singer. When she was seven, she and her family moved to Topaz Lake, Nevada. In 1991, she replaced Paulette Carlson as lead vocalist for the band Highway 101, and their first album together was that year's Bing Bang Boom. She also sang lead vocals on the band's next album, 1993's The New Frontier.

Carlson returned to Highway 101 in 1995 for the album Reunited, and Nelson signed a solo recording deal with Columbia Records, Nashville. She released the single "Too Little Too Much" in 1997 and charted at No. 62 on the Hot Country Songs charts. Chrislynn Lee replaced Carlson after the Reunited album, and remained that band's lead vocalist until 2006, when Nelson rejoined.

Discography

Singles

Music videos

References

1969 births
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
Columbia Records artists
Living people
Singer-songwriters from California
Highway 101 members
Country musicians from California
21st-century American women

Nikki Nelson