John Fitzpatrick (athlete)

John Richardson Fitzpatrick (March 21, 1907 – July 9, 1989) was a Canadian athlete who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.
Background.
Fitzpatrick was born on March 21, 1907 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to John Duncan Fitzpatrick and Agnes Elizabeth Willson.
While enrolled at the University of Toronto, he was a member of the intercollegiate championship team in 1927. He completed a degree in engineering at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1933. In 1934, he married Grace Cowan, the daughter of Hugh Cowan and the sister of James Alexander Cowan, in Toronto. They had two sons, John McGillivray Fitzpatrick and Murray Alan Stuart Fitzpatrick.
Career.
After serving briefly with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, he went on to work at Shell Canada researching diesel engines and fuels. A career in sales followed with construction companies in Toronto and Hamilton. In the early 1960s, Fitzpatrick worked for the Ontario's Ministry of Highways, rising to the position of deputy chief of the equipment section.
Athlete.
Fitzpatrick raced out of the Hamilton Olympic Club. He played with the Hamilton Tigers as a senior member in 1926 and 1928, wherein they won the Grey Cup. In the same year, he was able to become part of Canada's Olympic track and field team. He competed in the 100 meters where he finished fifth place and in the 200 meter race where he finished as a semifinalist. He was also a member of the Canadian relay team where they competed in the 4 x 100 meter relay; they were disqualified. In 1930, he won Canada's first medal at the inaugural 1930 British Empire Games held in Hamilton.
When he entered the university, he was considered an important member of the University of Toronto Varsity Blues from 1929 to 1932. During his last year with the Varsity Blues, they were able to win the Yates Cup. He was also a leading member of intercollegiate track championship teams from 1927 to 1930. Within those three years, he won 10 medals wherein 7 of which are gold.
In 1932 to 1933, he served in the University of Toronto Men's Athletic Directorate.
Inventor.
John Fitzpatrick invented a structure known as the Fitzpatrick Dome to store large quantities of road sand/salt mixtures used to treat roads in winter when ice and snow make driving hazardous. The igloo type design was helpful in areas where snowfall would otherwise accumulate on a flat-roof structure. The dome is a 20-sided conical shell 100 feet in diameter and 50 feet in height. As it is prefabricated, larger or smaller domes can be erected simply by adding or deleting rings.
The first test structure was built in 1968 at a cost of C$17,000. The result was so successful that between 1968 and 1978, approximately 200 structures were erected in Ontario. John Fitzpatrick was granted a patent in 1972 for the invention. These structures continue to be used in Canada and internationally.
While serving at the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario in the 1970s, John Fitzpatrick devised a bubbling system used in the St. Lawrence River to prevent ice from forming in the winter. The formation of ice had hindered ferries from connecting the people of the Frontenac Islands to the mainland. The invention pumps compressed air through a network of perforated pipes at the river bottom that run between the docks and along the routes of the ferries. The bubbles hinder ice from forming which allows the ferries to function regularly in the winter.
Death.
Fitzpatrick died on July 9, 1989 in Toronto at the age of 82. His resting place is at the Sanctuary Park Cemetery in Toronto.


Space Test and Training Range

The Space Test and Training Range (STTR) is a space electronic warfare range controlled by the United States Space Force and is located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. The 25th Space Range Squadron and their reserve associate unit, the 379th Space Range Squadron operate and maintain the STTR.
Mission.
The mission of the STTR is mainly operated out of the Space Range Operations Center (SROC) but the space range is also world-wide deployable. Currently, L3Harris is responsible for sustainment of the SROC. The STTR's operating contractor is currently JT4 who also assists in operating the NTTR, the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR), and various other military ranges.
The STTR has deployed equipment and personnel to support combatant commander operations and large force exercises such as Austere Challenge.
History.
The space range mission was conceived by Air Force Space Command in 2001 and the creation of the Space Range Management Office occurred shortly after. On July 1, 2004, Air Force Space Command activated the 25th Space Control Tactics Squadron with a mission to develop and document space tactics, operate the Space Range and propagate approved tactics and space control employment concepts to warfighters. However, Nov. 11, 2007, the squadron was re-designated the 25th Space Range Squadron due to the focus shifting more to controlling the space range rather than developing tactics and techniques. On April 1, 2012, the STTR gained its reserve component, the 379th Space Range Squadron. Both units are located at Schriever AFB and typically work jointly to complete their mission. Then on April 1, 2013, the STTR was moved under Air Combat Command (ACC) as a subordinate mission to the NTTR.
On March 31, 2020, the United States Air Force announced it would transfer the 25th Space Range Squadron to the United States Space Force.


USCGC Benjamin B. Dailey

USCGC "Benjamin Dailey" (WPC-1123) is the United States Coast Guard's 23rd cutter. She is the first cutter of her class stationed in the Coast Guard's Eight District, with a homeport in Pascagoula, MS.
The vessel's manufacturer, Bollinger Shipyards, of Lockport, Louisiana, delivered the ship to the Coast Guard, in Key West, on April 20, 2017, for final outfitting and crew training.
USCGC "Benjamin Dailey" was commissioned at a ceremony held in Pascagoula, Mississippi on July 4, 2017.
Mission.
The Sentinel-class cutters are lightly armed patrol vessels with a crew of approximately two dozen sailors, capable of traveling almost 3,000 nautical miles, on five-to-eight day missions. The cutter is a multi-mission vessel intended to perform law enforcement, search and rescue, fisheries and environmental protection, and homeland security tasks.
Namesake.
In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the United States Coast Guard's most senior non-commissioned officer, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism. In 2014 the Coast Guard announced that Benjamin B. Dailey, keeper of the Cape Hatteras Lifesaving Station, would be the namesake of the 23rd cutter.
Dailey, and the crew of Life Saving Service surfmen he commanded, had rescued nine crewmen from the wreck of the Ephraim Williams, and were awarded the Gold Life Saving Medal.
Operational history.
Shortly after being commissioned, "Benjamin Dailey" deployed on behalf of her operational commander, the Eighth CG District, conducting counter-narcotics, fisheries enforcement, and border security off southern Texas. In August 2017, the ship provided rescue and assistance for Houston after Hurricane Harvey struck the city.
In May 2018, "Benjamin Dailey" participated in GOMEX 2018, a five-day exercise between the US Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Navy, and the Mexican Navy in Tampico, MX.


United States Navy Armed Guard

United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and Headquartered in New Orleans. The purpose of the guard was to man the deck guns of merchant ships to provide a nominal defense against attack. This was to counter the constant danger presented by enemy submarines, surface raiders, fighter aircraft and bombers. There was a shortage of escort vessels to provide the merchant vessels with adequate protection. The NAG had three training centers: Norfork, VA, San Diego, CA, and Gulfport, MS. At wars end 144,857 men would serve in the Navy Armed Guard on 6,200 ships.
Unit composition.
The United States Navy Armed Guard (USNAG) were U.S. Navy gun crews consisting of Gunner's Mates, Coxswains and Boatswains, Radiomen, Signalmen, an occasional Pharmacist's Mate, and toward the end of the war a few radarmen serving at sea on merchant ships. Armed Guard crews served on Allied merchant marine ships in every theatre of the war. Typically the crew was led by a single commissioned officer, but earlier in the war chiefs and even petty officers had command.
Duty.
The assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger. Merchant ships were slow, unwieldy, and priority targets of submarines and planes. Furthermore, merchant ships were among the last to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war, some ships only had a few machine guns, so the crews painted telephone poles to imitate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament mounted on merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deck guns.
When practicable, the Navy Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship would provide cross-training to merchant crew members in the use of the guns in the event the Navy personnel were killed or injured. The Navy Armed Guardsmen would typically sail round trip on the same ship, occasionally they would get a different assignment upon reaching their destination depending on convoy schedules.
In film.
The 1943 film "Action in the North Atlantic", featuring Humphrey Bogart, Raymond Massey, and Alan Hale, illustrates the importance of the Naval Armed Guard and how it interfaced with the Merchant Marine officers and crew.


Andriy Biletsky

Andriy Biletsky is a popular Ukrainian name which may refer to following people


Ensign Bafflestir

Ensign Bafflestir is a cartoon strip created by the artist Ron Marlett during his enlistment in the United States Coast Guard. The cartoon ran from 1971 to 1974 in the US Coast Guard publication "Pacific Shield", and featured a tongue-in-cheek look at daily life in the Coast Guard, as expressed through the exploits of a fictional ensign.
Background.
As a teenager, Marlett's sense of humor was influenced by "Mad" magazine, especially the one-page cartoon strips contributed by Don Martin. In 1970, Ron joined the Coast Guard and was stationed aboard the 255-foot cutter "Winnebago", homeported at Honolulu, Hawaii. The following year, the Coast Guard District Office was in need of a driver who would also serve as a representative in their Public Relations office. Ron was chosen for the position, and within a couple of weeks was spending most of his time answering the public relations phone and working on a monthly news magazine called "Pacific Shield". The public relations officer Lt Gary Boyer came up with the idea of having Ron create a small cartoon strip that would run every month in "Pacific Shield". Ron drew a four-panel strip, and JO1 (Journalist 1st Class) Jim Gilman wrote the dialogue for the characters. Gilman named the tall, skinny ensign in the strip "Ensign Bafflestir;" Ron liked the name so much that the next issue of "Pacific Shield" saw the strip christened "Ensign Bafflestir". Ron took over the responsibility of writing his own storyboard, and the strip eventually became a full-page piece. "Ensign Bafflestir" became famous within the Coast Guard, and Ron enjoyed an unusual working relationship with the commissioned officers. After Ron's discharge from active service in 1974, he pursued a career in the fine arts, and "Ensign Bafflestir" was shelved.
Setting.
The adventures of Ensign Bafflestir take place in the 14th Coast Guard District, which encompasses the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, and American Samoa in the early 1970s. The main characters were assigned not to one station, but to different stations, depending upon how the location served the storyboard. The locations included cutters stationed at the Coast Guard Base on Sand Island, Honolulu, Hawaii, and various aircraft at Barbers Point Air Station. Other locations are imaginary, such as the Chung Wong's Polynesian Restaurant and the Coast Guard One Man Station.
Characters.
Ensign Bafflestir is a tall and skinny ensign with an adult-child demeanor. Bafflestir's devotion to the Coast Guard is equally matched by his extreme enthusiasm to perform every task in his life to the extreme. His motto might have been "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
Captain Doinkadilly is a captain who has adopted a short-fused temper and uncontrolled rage to compensate for his small physical statue. Like Bafflestir, Doinkadilly takes his life too seriously and becomes easily disappointed in his experiences.
Chief Barnflower is a large, overweight chief boatswain's mate who is constantly eating while overseeing the deck department. He dislikes officers, and expresses his frustrations by tormenting the sailors under his command.
Seaman is a curly-haired, small young seaman who becomes the innocent victim of Ensign Bafflestir, Captain Doinkadilly, and Chief Barnflower's predicaments. His youthful appearance represents the contrast in age between new recruits and older career personnel.
Popularity.
After spending a year aboard the "USCGC Winnebago", Seaman Ron Marlett was transferred to the district office in Honolulu. His duties included being a driver for the District Office and working as an artist on the "Pacific Shield", a monthly publication that presented interesting stories and news for the coastguardsmen and their families living in the 14th Coast Guard District. "Ensign Bafflestir" started as a small, four-panel gag about coastguardsmen concealing long hair beneath their hats. JO1 Jim Gilman conceived and wrote the first cartoon and had Ron illustrate the story. After receiving positive feedback from the 14th Coast Guard District Commander, Admiral Prins, the Admiral's Aide, Lieutenant Gary Boyer, gave Ron creative control of the cartoon along with the request that "Bafflestir" fill a whole page in future publications of "Pacific Shield". Ron's sense of humor originated from the pages of "MAD" magazine, especially its featured cartoonist, Don Martin. When Ron took the responsibility of writing his own cartoon strip., he applied his style of exaggeration toward military cliches and Coast Guard culture, which instantly catapulted "Ensign Bafflestir" into a controversial arena within the Coast Guard. Some coastguardsmen and their families saw "Ensign Bafflestir" as amusing entertainment, while others saw it as undermining military discipline and promoting unfair criticism of the service they devoted their lives to. African Americans serving in the Coast Guard during the early 1970s embraced the cartoon as a symbol of their fight for social equality. "Seaman's" curly hair and broad nose made the character easily identifiable to blacks, who saw "Seaman" as a black being treated unfairly by "Bafflestir", "Doinkadilly", and "Barnflower". After a year of publication, "Ensign Bafflestir" was circulated in other Coast Guard Districts. Coastguardsman Jim Castagnera from the 9th Coast Guard District wrote a several page spread on Ron Marlett titled "The View From Here", which appeared in the 9th District's news magazine "Shipmates". Castagnera included several "Ensign Bafflestir" pieces and compared Marlett to the famous military cartoonist Bill Mauldin. During an admirals' conference in Washington DC, some admirals voiced their opposition toward "Ensign Bafflestir" and complained that Ron's cartoons promoted insubordination within the ranks. Admiral Prins defended the cartoon strip, proclaiming that "Ensign Bafflestir" was good for morale because it provided entertainment that coastguardsmen could relate to. This belief was shared by the majority of district commanders.
In 1973, Admiral Morrison replaced Admiral Prins as District Commander and Lieutenant Mark O'Hare replaced Lieutenant Boyer as Admiral's Aide. The change of command was favorable toward Marlett's cartoons, except for one incident: Marlett created a storyboard that poked fun at a recent district inspection that the admiral planned and managed. Admiral Morrison called Marlett to his office and made it clear how offended he was with the cartoon. Marlett apologized to the admiral and the offending storyboard was replaced with another idea. After the uncomfortable situation with the admiral, Lieutenant O'Hare became more vigilant and required Marlett to have future storyboards meet his approval before turning the sketches into original artwork.
Ron Marlett was honorably discharged from active service on February 9, 1974. The day before Ron's discharge, Lieutenant O'Hare planned a surprise lunch for him that included all the 14th Coast Guard unit commanders and civilian employees. During the luncheon, Ron was presented with the Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal and a plaque that recognized his creative talent in drawing the "Ensign Bafflestir" cartoons. Lieutenant O'Hare became the conservator to all the "Ensign Bafflestir" originals and had each cartoon strip framed. Before O'Hare was transferred to Washington DC, he successfully shipped the framed cartoons to other district offices as a way of preserving the history of an unorthodox approach to Coast Guard morale in the early 1970s.


David C. Norton

David Charles Norton (born July 25, 1946) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Education and career.
Born in Washington, D.C., Norton received a Bachelor of Arts degree from in 1968 and was in the United States Navy from 1969 to 1972. He then received a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1975, and was in private practice in Charleston, South Carolina until 1977. He was an assistant deputy solicitor for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Charleston, South Carolina from 1977 to 1980. He was a city attorney of Isle of Palms, South Carolina from 1980 to 1985. He was in private practice in Charleston from 1981 to 1990, and was a partner at the law firm of Holmes & Thomson.
Federal judicial service.
On April 18, 1990, Norton was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina that was vacated by Judge Solomon Blatt Jr.. Norton was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 28, 1990, and received his commission on July 12, 1990. He served as Chief Judge from 2007 to 2012.
Norton is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Charleston School of Law.
Notable cases.
Norton presided over the criminal case of Michael Slager, a police officer who killed Walter Scott, an unarmed black man, in April 2015 after a traffic stop in North Charleston, South Carolina. Scott was fleeing the officer when he was shot five times in the back. Slager pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Scott's civil rights. Norton sentenced Slager to 20 years' imprisonment, a sentence within the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
In July 2017, Norton found that plaintiffs with mesothelioma still needed to prove defendants specifically caused their diseases, even though every exposure to asbestos is unsafe.
On August 3, 2018, Norton ruled that Charleston cannot require that tour guides pass a history test before being licensed.
On August 17, 2018, Norton ruled the Trump administration did not properly seek public input when it suspended protections designed to thwart waterway pollution. Seen as a win for environmental groups, Norton's ruling allows restrictions on development around certain waterways.
On March 11, 2020, Norton ruled that South Carolina cannot ban the mention of same-sex relationships or other LGBTQ+ topics in sex education classes. Norton ruled that the law discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation, violated the Constitution's equal protection clause, and had no rational relations to any legitimate state interest. Norton's decision will allow schools to include same-sex relationships or other aspects of LGBTQ+ life in sex ed courses but will not require it.


Armenian volunteer units during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War

The term fedayee was originally used during the Armenian national movement of late 19th and early 20th centuries, but it was also used to refer to the Armenian irregular forces in the early 1990s when the dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh was turning into the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Role.
According to some estimates, the detachments played one of the decisive roles in the victory of the Armenian army, as they were the main force that fought in the first years of the war. These volunteer units ended up forming the basis for the Armed Forces of Armenia.
List.
Here is a list of the major Armenian volunteer detachments during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
! Name
! In Armenian
! Transcribed
! Number<br>
! Commander
! Notes


National Army (Uruguay)

The National Army of Uruguay () is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay.
Organization.
The Army consists of some 15,000 personnel organized into four divisions. His superior is the President of the Republic, who acts as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.


USCGC Joseph Napier

USCGC "Joseph Napier" is a homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
She is the fifteenth Sentinel class to be delivered, and the third of six to be assigned to Puerto Rico. she was commissioned on 29 January 2016.
Like her sister ships, she is equipped for coastal security patrols, interdiction of drug and people smugglers, and search and rescue. Like the smaller she is equipped with a stern launching ramp. The ramp allows the deployment and retrieval of her high speed water-jet powered pursuit boat without first coming to a stop. She is capable of more than and armed with a remote controlled M242 Bushmaster autocannon; and four crew-served Browning M2 machine guns.
Operational history.
"Joseph Napier" intercepted a fishing vessel in February 2017, that was attempting to smuggle over four tons of cocaine. "Lady Michelle"s crew of four individuals from Guyana were taken to the U.S. Virgin Islands, for prosecution. The cocaine's street value was estimated at 125 million USD.
Namesake.
She is named after Joseph Napier, who had commanded a lifeboat station at St. Joseph, Michigan.
Napier was an employee of the United States Lifeboat Service, one of the precursor services that were amalgamated into the Coast Guard.
Lore.
Being one of seven FRC's home ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico is a big job and eventually each boat carves out their own niche. The USCGC "Joseph Napier" (WPC-1115) has carved out that spot being known as "El bote de gente soñolienta". The crew of the aptly named Bote de gente soñolienta can often been seen lounging on the outside decks on beanbag chairs or logging countless hours of rack ops in an attempt to break the long standing record held by the USCGC.


Air War Plans Division

The Air War Plans Division (AWPD) was an American military organization established to make long-term plans for war. Headed by Harold L. George, the unit was tasked in July 1941 to provide President Franklin D. Roosevelt with "overall production requirements required to defeat our potential enemies." The plans that were made at the AWPD eventually proved significant in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The AWPD went beyond offering basic production requirements and provided instead of a comprehensive air plan which was designed to defeat the Axis powers. The plan, AWPD-1, was completed in nine days. The plan emphasized using heavy bombers to carry out precision bombing attacks as the primary method of defeating Germany and her allies. A year later, after the United States became directly involved in World War II, AWPD delivered a second plan—AWPD-42—which slightly changed the earlier plan to incorporate lessons learned from eight months of the war. Neither AWPD-1 nor AWPD-42 were approved as combat battle plans or war operations; they were simply accepted as guidelines for the production of materiel and the creation of necessary air squadrons. Finally, in 1943, an operational aerial warfare plan was hammered out in meetings between American and British war planners, based on a combination of British plans and those from the AWPD, to create the Anglo-American Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO).
Founding.
On 20 June 1941, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) were established as a way to combine and streamline two conflicting air commands: GHQ Air Force and the Army Air Corps. Major General Henry H. Arnold commanded the USAAF and formed an Air Staff to lead it; within the Air Staff, the Air War Plans Division was established with Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. George at its head. George was to coordinate his planning efforts with War Plans Division (WPD).
Up to this point, the WPD of the War Department was responsible for planning all aspects of Army, and Army Air Corps expansion in the U.S. George was challenged by WPD which contested AWPD's and Air Staff's authority to make strategic plans. WPD recommended that AWPD is limited to tactical planning, and that the Air Staff, in a subordinate role, should advise the WPD rather than make its own operational or strategic plans. George pushed for greater autonomy—he wished to prepare all plans for all air operations.
On 9 July 1941, President Roosevelt asked Frank Knox, the Secretary of the Navy, and Henry L. Stimson, the Secretary of War, for an exploration of the total war production required for the United States to prevail in case of war. The WPD, in order to project long-term numbers, realized that Rainbow 5 would now be used as a basis for production quantities, but it lacked detailed air power figures. Stimson requested of Robert A. Lovett, Assistant Secretary of War for Air, that the USAAF be tapped for their ideas about production numbers. After some bureaucratic delay, the AWPD received the request.
AWPD-1.
In early 1941, American, Canadian and British war planners convened in Washington D.C. for a series of secret planning sessions called American–British Conference, or ABC-1, to determine a course of action should the United States become a belligerent in the war. An overarching strategy of Europe first was agreed to, where American energies would primarily be directed against Germany, Italy and their European conquests, during which a secondary defensive posture was to be held against Japan. Royal Air Force Air Vice-Marshal John Slessor and other airmen present at the conference agreed on the general concept of using strategic bombing by both British and American air units based in the United Kingdom to reduce Axis military power in Europe. Incorporating this work in April 1941, the joint U.S. Army-Navy Board developed Rainbow 5, the final version of general military guidelines the U.S. would follow in case of war.
At the beginning of August 1941, the AWPD consisted of only four officers: Harold L. George, Orvil Anderson, Kenneth Walker (each one a lieutenant colonel), and Major Haywood S. Hansell. To help answer the urgent need for planning, George could have sent a couple of his air officers to WPD to assist them, following the standard Army policy since air warfare first arose in World War I. An air plan would have been made emphasizing tactical air coordination with ground forces, one which targeted Axis military formations and supplies in preparation and support of an invasion. George wished to implement the strategic bombing theories that had been debated and refined at the Air Corps Tactical School (ACTS) during the preceding decade, but was faced with the sure knowledge that the Army and the War Department would not accept a strategy that assumed air attack would prevail alone. Instead, George intended to implement a middle path which began with strategic air attack but contained allowances for the eventual support of a ground invasion. In requesting autonomy to make his own plans, George gained approval from General Arnold and from General Leonard T. Gerow, head of the overworked WPD, who approved as long as AWPD held to the guidelines of ABC-1 and Rainbow 5.
George sought out men he knew were bombing advocates. He obtained temporary help from five more air officers: Lieutenant Colonels Max F. Schneider and Arthur W. Vanaman, and Majors Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Laurence S. Kuter, and Samuel E. Anderson. All but Samuel E. Anderson had passed through ACTS where precision bombing theories were ascendant. Orvil Anderson was assigned to continue with ongoing projects while the rest of the men concentrated on the new request. On 4 August 1941, the augmented AWPD set to work.
George, Walker, Kuter, and Hansell provided the key concepts for the AWPD task force. George's vision was that the plan should not be a simple list of quantities of men and materiel—it should be a clear expression of the strategic direction required to win the war by use of air power. The main feature of the plan was the proposal to use massive fleets of heavy bombers to attack economic targets, the choke points of Axis industry. Hansell, fresh from a fact-finding mission to England in which he was briefed on British appreciations of German industrial and military targets, immediately became immersed in the job of target selection.
"Munitions Requirements of the Army Air Forces to Defeat Our Potential Enemies", or AWPD-1, standing for "Air War Plans Division, plan number one", was the first concrete result of AWPD; delivered on 12 August after nine days of preparation. The plan used industrial web theory to describe how air power could be used to attack vulnerable nodes in Germany's economy, including electrical power systems, transportation networks, and oil and petroleum resources. The civil population of Berlin could be targeted as a final step to achieving enemy capitulation, but such an attack was optional: "No special bombardment unit [would be] set up for this purpose."
The plan also described, in less detail, how to use air power to draw a defensive perimeter around the Western Hemisphere and around America's interests in Alaska, Hawaii, Dutch East Indies and the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic, AWPD indicated bases be developed in Iceland, Newfoundland, and Greenland to augment bases in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, bases were to be established in India and staging areas arranged in Siberia.
Finally, the plan detailed large tactical air formations to assist in an invasion of Europe and to fight in the land campaigns to follow, to be ready by Spring 1944—the same time that invasion forces would be ready.
Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall approved AWPD-1 in September, as did Secretary of War Stimson. Army planners were worried that both the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom would be defeated, and that an invasion of Europe would become remote. The strategy of weakening Germany by bombing, long before an invasion could be prepared, gave hope that America would not lose any allies in the interim.
AWPD-2.
On 9 September 1941, the president asked for more detail regarding allocation of aircraft based on estimates of peacetime production for the next nine months. In AWPD-2, Arnold and George designated two-thirds of the aircraft to be pooled for anti-Axis purposes such as Lend-Lease and one-third to be sent to the USAAF.
Public knowledge.
Roosevelt incorporated the Army's, Navy's and Air Staff's detailed plans into an executive policy he called his "Victory Program". Roosevelt hoped to engage public opinion in favor of the Victory Program because the increase in production it promised meant more jobs and a healthier economy. Opponents of the policy included a powerful supporter of the isolationist America First Committee, Senator Burton K. Wheeler. Wheeler obtained a copy of the Victory Program, classified Secret, from a source within the Air Corps, and leaked the plan to two isolationist newspapers on 4 December 1941, the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald. Vocal public opposition to the plan ceased three days later on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Congress soon passed the Victory Program with few changes.
German agents monitoring American newspapers wired the compromised secret program to Berlin where Franz Halder, Chief of the German General Staff, realized its critical importance. On 12 December, Adolf Hitler issued Directive 39 which countered the American strategic bombing and invasion plans by massing air defenses around key industries and by greatly increasing Atlantic Ocean attacks so that an Allied invasion fleet could not be formed. Hitler directed his forces opposing the Soviet Union to go on the defensive so that they could hold their ground at least cost. Four days later, after visiting the Eastern Front and seeing the extent of his strategic failures there, Hitler "angrily and irrationally rescinded Directive 39" and focused his armies once again on the attack.
AWPD-4.
After 7 December, all of America's former plans required revision—none had projected such early involvement in direct combat. Orvil Anderson was asked to rewrite the air plans. On 15 December, Anderson submitted AWPD-4, mostly a restatement of the goals of AWPD-1, but with augmented quantities to meet the greater needs of a two-front war. The number of combat aircraft was increased by 65%, and total aircraft production was more than doubled.
AWPD-42.
On 24 August 1942, in light of the grim global situation, President Roosevelt called for a major reassessment of U.S. air power requirements, "in order to have complete air ascendancy over the enemy." The Japanese had expanded quickly in the Pacific Theater, and North Africa was being rolled up by Rommel with Egypt threatened, Soviet forces were falling back against the German advances toward Stalingrad and the oilfields of the Caucasus, and German U-boats in the Atlantic sank 589 ships in early 1942. On 25 August, Arnold received word of the president's request from Army Chief of Staff George Marshall. The individual AWPD-1 team members had been reassigned to a wide variety of posts and duties, so to perform the reassessment Arnold recommended Hansell, recently made brigadier general. Marshall cabled Hansell in the UK where he had been working under General Dwight D. Eisenhower as Air Planner, and under General Carl Andrew Spaatz as Deputy Theater Air Officer. Marshall ordered Hansell to hurry back to AWPD and that "the results of the work of this group are of such far-reaching importance that it will probably determine whether or not we control the air." Hansell brought with him VIII Bomber Command Chief of Intelligence Colonel Harris Hull and RAF Group Captain Bobby Sharp, as well as the little data compiled from five UK-based raids which had been flown by U.S. bombers. Hansell was assisted on a consultative basis by George, Kuter and Walker, old AWPD-1 hands, and by Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Moss who was a sharp businessman in civil life. The team had just 11 days to finish the work. Arnold was more closely involved than before in leading the group and formulating the new plan. Like AWPD-1, the new framework was based largely on untried bombing theory. The report, entitled "Requirements for Air Ascendancy, 1942", or AWPD-42, was submitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on 6 September 1942. Harry Hopkins had obtained his copy at 1 am the day it was to be released, and Hopkins read it in time to tell Roosevelt over breakfast that the plan was sound. Roosevelt called Stimson to say he approved it, but Stimson hadn't seen it, nor had Marshall when Stimson called "him". Hansell left hurriedly for England so that he would not have to face Marshall's anger at being caught unprepared.
AWPD-42 was written under the assumption that the Soviet Union would be knocked out of the war, and that German forces in the East would then be brought to bear against the West. The plan thus assumed that German ground forces defending Europe would be numerically superior to Allied invasion forces, making invasion extremely costly and perhaps impossible. As well, two-front tension in the German economy would lessen, and Allied damage to Axis industry would be more easily absorbed. An increase in American air power was projected as the best way to reduce Axis industrial might. An air campaign against two major European objectives was encompassed: first to paralyze Axis industrial power, and second to defeat Axis air power. Axis aircraft factories and aircraft engine plants were to be targeted during 1943–1944 so that, in the Spring of 1944, an invasion of Europe could be undertaken.
In the president's request, he had not asked for the combined numbers of U.S. Army and U.S. Navy aircraft; he asked for the "number of combat aircraft by types which should be produced in this country for the Army and our Allies in 1943..." This meant that the Navy's aircraft needs, which were significant, were not requested, but that the aircraft needs for America's allies would be included, allies that were to receive a certain number of Navy-type aircraft. Hansell decided to make his plan wholly inclusive of "all" American aircraft requirements—Army, Navy, and Allied—so that there would be no misunderstanding about how aircraft-producing resources would be allocated. Hansell accepted the aircraft production plans that the Navy submitted, but with one vital change: the four-engined bombers the Navy wanted would be built as Air Corps bombers, flown by USAAF units.
The Navy was not at all satisfied with AWPD-42. The Navy's intention to divert 1250 land-based heavy bombers from AAF requirements to use for long-range patrol and for attacking enemy vessels was dismissed in favor of USAAF flights to achieve the same goals. The Navy expected that command and control differences between the services, as well as differing targeting preferences, would create impossible barriers to successful employment of the notional USAAF patrol bombers against enemy naval forces. The Navy flatly rejected AWPD-42, which barred acceptance by the JCS, but by 15 October 1942 the president had established it as the U.S.'s aircraft manufacturing plan, saying that the lofty aircraft production proposal "will be given the highest priority and whatever preference is needed to insure its accomplishment."
Quantities.
AWPD-1 called for the production of 61,800 aircraft of which 37,000 would be trainers and 11,800 would be for combat. The remaining 13,000 would be military transport aircraft and other types. Of the combat aircraft, 5000 were to be heavy and very heavy bombers. AWPD-4 upped the combat aircraft to 19,520 and the total to 146,000. Numbers increased again in AWPD-42 which proposed that combat aircraft should top 63,000 in 1943. Total U.S. aircraft production, including for the Navy, was set at 139,000 until it was realized that the goal could not be reached by American industry. 107,000 was instead proposed.
AWPD-1 projected a force of 2.1 million airmen. AWPD-42 increased this to 2.7 million.
In drawing up AWPD-1, George had predicted that two very heavy bombers that were on the drawing board, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and the Consolidated-Vultee B-36, would be ready in time to take part in the attack on Germany. Delays in both programs kept them from consideration in Europe. In AWPD-42, the B-29 was shifted to attacks on Japan, and the B-36 development at Consolidated-Vultee was slowed in favor of manufacturing more B-24 Liberators. The extra long range of the B-36 would not be needed now that the United Kingdom appeared secure from attack.
Targets.
AWPD-1 identified 154 targets in four areas of concern: Electric power, transportation, petroleum and the "Luftwaffe", the German Air Force. An arbitrary time frame was given, suggesting that six months after the strategic bombing forces were ready for large-scale attacks, the enemy targets would be destroyed.
AWPD-42 called for 177 targets to be hit, covering seven strategic areas, with the highest priority being enemy aircraft production. Other priorities were submarine pens and building yards, transportation systems, electric power generation and distribution, the petroleum industry, aluminum refining and manufacture, and the synthetic rubber industry. Hansell considered it a mistake to remove electricity from the top priority, and worse still to place submarine pens there. Political expediency dictated the shift in target priorities, not pure strategic considerations.
Subsequent groups.
Targeting proved a difficult task for AWPD—attaining the proper selection required a wide range of intelligence input as well as operational considerations. In December 1942, Arnold set up the Committee of Operations Analysts (COA) to better study the problem. The COA performed target selection for the USAAF.
In January 1943 at the Casablanca Conference, the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreed to begin the Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) in June and set targeting priorities. Based on these priorities but with some changes, the British Air Ministry issued the Casablanca directive on 4 February, targeting the German military, German industrial and economic systems, and German morale. More methodically, USAAF General Ira C. Eaker assembled an Anglo-American planning team to take the COA's list of targets and schedule them for combined bomber operations. This unnamed group, sometimes called the CBO Planning Team, was led by Hansell and included among others USAAF Brigadier General Franklin Anderson and RAF Air Commodore Sidney Osborne Bufton. Finished in April 1943, the plan recommended 18 operations during each three-month phase against a total of 76 specific targets. The Combined Bomber Offensive began on 10 June 1943.
In late 1944, the COA was superseded by the Joint Target Group, a combined service unit organized by the JCS.


Ernest R. May

Ernest Richard May (November 19, 1928 – June 1, 2009) was an American historian of international relations, whose 14 published books include analyses of American involvement in World War I and the causes of the Fall of France during World War II. His 1997 book "The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis" became the primary sources of the 2000 film "Thirteen Days" starring Kevin Costner that viewed the Missile Crisis from the perspective of American political leaders. He served on the 9/11 commission and highlighted the failures of the government intelligence agencies. May taught full-time on the faculty of Harvard University for 55 years, until his death. May was also a recipient of the 1988 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for "Ideas Improving World Order", co-authored with Richard Neustadt.
Scholarship.
Harvard University.
He joined the Harvard University faculty following the completion of his military service in 1954, and remained there full-time until his death. May was named as associate professor of history in 1959 and as a full professor in 1963. He served as the dean of Harvard College for two years starting in 1969, and served as chairman of the Harvard history department from 1976 to 1979. At the John F. Kennedy School of Government, May also served on the faculty. May and historian Richard Neustadt created a course that had students make choices for current political issues based on a thorough review of choices made over the course of history. Their work together became the basis for the 1986 book "Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision-Makers", published by the Free Press that has been widely used by students and professionals in the field.
Books and essays.
His first book, "The World War and American Isolation 1914-17", published in 1959, was based on material seized by the Allies after the conclusion of World War II from German records. The book was honored by the American Historical Association with its George Louis Beer Prize, which recognizes the best work each year published on European international history. The book was included on a list of 1,780 books chosen to be included in the White House library.
Together with historian Philip D. Zelikow, May edited the 1997 book "The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis", published by Harvard University Press. The book provided details based on taped recordings of conversations made in 1962 by President of the United States John F. Kennedy as he considered options to deal with the Cuban Missile Crisis that included unilateral air strikes to destroy the Soviet missiles based in Cuba or the imposition of naval quarantine around the island to prevent further deliveries of new missiles and materials. The book offered a word-for-word transcription by May and Zelikow of the secret White House recordings made during the crisis. The book was used as the source for the 2000 film "Thirteen Days" with Kevin Costner as presidential advisor Kenneth O'Donnell and Bruce Greenwood as President Kennedy.
"Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France", published by Hill and Wang in 2000, tells the chain of events that led to the rapid fall of the French Army in the Battle of France. The book counters the perception that the Armistice of 22 June 1940 was inevitable, and recounts the chain of events on the political and military fronts that led to the collapse. Reviewer David Stafford of the "New York Times" records how May documents that French military had more and better-trained troops than the Germans and had more tanks, bombers and fighters. The French general staff was competent and confident, while their German counterparts were cautious and leery of success. The fall began with intelligence failures by the French that led them to misjudge German plans such as their sweep through the Ardennes around the Maginot Line.
May's specialty of studying the effects of intelligence failures led to his role as a senior advisor on the 9/11 Commission, in which he played a role in the preparation of the 604-page report it issued documenting the attacks and offering recommendations for the future.
His final essay addressed the China's peaceful rise as a major world power, a situation that was a major foreign policy turning point for the United States but May believed that war between the two was not inevitable as the decision by the Chinese government to focus on economic growth would allow it to remain at peace with its trading partners.
Personal life.
May was born on November 19, 1928, in Fort Worth, Texas, and grew up as an only child. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1948 and received his Ph.D. in 1951. After his graduation, he served during the Korean War in the United States Navy.
A resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, May died at age 80 on June 1, 2009, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, due to complications resulting from cancer surgery. He was survived by Susan Wood, his second wife. Nancy Caughey, his first wife, had died in 2000, and May was survived by their son and two daughters, as well as three grandchildren.


Nova (Sam Alexander)

Nova (Sam Alexander) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, a space-faring member of the intergalactic police force known as the Nova Corps, was created in 2011 by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness, based on the original Nova Richard Rider. The Sam Alexander version of the character first appeared in the "Marvel Point One" one-shot in November 2011 before starring in his own series beginning in February 2013.
Publication history.
Sam Alexander first appeared in "Marvel Point One" #1 (November 2011), created by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness. The character was named after Loeb's son, who died after a three-year battle with bone cancer at the age of 17.
Fictional character biography.
Sam Alexander is a thirteen-year-old living in Carefree, Arizona with his father, mother, and little sister. His father is always drunk and often talks about his supposed life as a Nova Centurion, and shirks his duties as janitor at his son's school. Sam's mother is a Latina homemaker. When Sam comes home from school to find his father missing, Sam accidentally injures himself and wakes up in a hospital. There, Rocket Raccoon and Gamora reveal Sam's father really was in the Nova Corps. After putting on his father's helmet, Sam travels to the moon, meeting Uatu the Watcher, who reveals an invasion fleet of alien ships belonging to the Chitauri. Upon returning to Earth, Rocket Raccoon and Gamora train him and tell him to scout the fleet.
Sometime later, Sam is on a mission to warn planets in its path that Dark Phoenix is coming for them. He crashes on Earth, but is able to deliver the warning to the Avengers. After recovering, Nova joins the Avengers and the X-Men against Cyclops, who has become the new Dark Phoenix after Jean. Thor asks Sam to join the Avengers, and Sam eventually accepts. Afterwards, he encounters the previous Nova's recurring enemy Diamondhead, but easily defeats him.
During the events of "Infinity", Sam learns from his crush, Carrie, that she knows he is Nova. Shocked, he flies into the sky, but accidentally removes his helmet and lands in a coma. He wakes up to Justice and Speedball, who offer him a spot on the New Warriors. He next faces off against Kaldera, an agent of Proxima Midnight and defeats her in combat. Sam becomes cocky and prideful and begins to feel above the New Warriors and disregard his mother's rules. He gets into an argument with Carrie and gets mad at Justice and Speedball. He eventually speaks to Uatu who gives Sam some advice and he returns to Earth to agree to his mother's rules and joins the New Warriors.
During a day of training with Uatu at the Watcher's moon base at the start of the "Original Sin" storyline, Uatu reveals that Sam's father Jesse Alexander is alive. Sam leaves where he is happy with the information he just learned.
Following the "Civil War II" storyline, Sam leaves the Avengers to join the Champions. The team heads to Lasibad, Sharzad to rescue a group of women and girls being attacked by terrorists.
Powers and abilities.
Sam Alexander wears a helmet that gives him access to the Nova Force, which grants him superhuman strength and durability, flight, energy projection, telekinesis, force fields, universal translation and the ability to breathe underwater and survive in space.
In other media.
Books.
In the children's book "Spider-Man: Attack of the Heroes", Nova is among the heroes replaced by the Chameleon in an attempt to frame him as a supervillain. However, Nova is later freed by Spider-Man.
Reception.
The first issue of "Nova" debuted to positive reviews, including a perfect score at IFanboy.com. Reviewing for Multiversity Comics, Matthew Meylikhov called the series a "rather exciting prospect" and gave the issue a "Buy" rating, but derided its pacing.


Soviet Army Signal Corps


Gendarmerie General Command

Yashica

Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, originally active from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner, Kyocera, ceased production.
In 2008, the Yashica name reappeared on cameras produced by the Hong Kong-based MF Jebsen Group. In 2015, trademark rights were transferred to Yashica International Company Limited and appointed 100 Enterprises International Group Co. Limited as Yashica Global Sole Agent.
History.
The company began in December 1949 in Nagano, Japan, when the Yashima Seiki Company was founded with an initial investment of $566. Its eight employees originally manufactured components for electric clocks. Later, they began making camera components, and by June 1953 had introduced their first complete camera, the Yashimaflex, a twin-lens reflex (TLR) medium-format camera designed for 6x6 cm medium format film. While the Yashimaflex used lenses labeled "Tri-Lausar", successive models used "Yashikor" and "Yashinon" lenses. All of these lenses were manufactured for Yashica by the Tomioka Optical Works, beginning a relationship that would last for many years. Late in 1953, Yashima Seiki Company became Yashima Optical Industry Company, Ltd.
In 1957, Yashima founded Yashica, Inc., a subsidiary arm in New York City to manage marketing efforts in the United States. 1957 also marked the introduction of a popular new TLR camera series, the Yashica Mat line., as well as an 8mm cine movie camera. During the next year and a half, Yashima continued to grow, with 1,982 employees by 1958. Later in 1958, Yashima changed its name to Yashica Company, Ltd, when it acquired the Nicca Camera Company, Ltd. The Nicca acquisition was fortuitous, as the designs acquired assisted Yashica in expanding its product line into advanced 35 mm rangefinder cameras.
The Yashica Pentamatic, an advanced, modern 35 mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera with a proprietary bayonet-mount, automatic diaphragm (offered only with the "Auto Yashinon" 50mm/1.8 lens), and interchangeable lenses, was introduced in 1959. As before, Yashica continued to source its lenses from the Tomioka Optical factory.
Around 1959–1960, Yashica acquired the assets of the bankrupt Zunow Optical Industry Co. Ltd. Though a small company, Zunow had become known for limited production of a very advanced 35 mm SLR camera, along with several high-quality, fast 35 mm camera and 8mm cine (movie) lens designs and a proprietary bayonet-mount lens system similar to that of Yashica Pentamatic. With the assistance of Tomioka Optical Works, Yashica adapted Zunow lens designs into its own 8mm turret cine (movie) cameras.
Like Zunow, Yashica found it difficult to gain market acceptance with its proprietary SLR lens mount, and redesigned its SLR camera line in 1962 to accept the Contax/Praktica M42 lens mount. The new SLR camera was introduced as the Penta J.
In December 1965, Yashica introduced the world's first commercially successful electronically controlled 35 mm camera, the Electro 35, a popular rangefinder model that in various model subvariants eventually sold 8 million units. The company continued to expand its international markets, and in August 1968, Yashica finally acquired its lens manufacturer, the Tomioka Optical and Machine Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (later renamed the Tomioka Optical Co. Ltd.). By this time, Tomioka was one of the largest and most reputable lens manufacturers in Japan. Sales of 35 mm SLRs continued to grow steadily, and Yashica was quickly acquiring a reputation for both electronic camera expertise and high-quality optics. 1968 also marked the year of Yashica's last major TLR camera design, the Yashica Mat-124, a popular model which combined some of the best features of Yashica's earlier TLR cameras.
In 1968, Yashica introduced the TL Electro-X 35 mm single lens reflex (SLR) camera and produced it until 1974. It had a screw thread lens mount, the M42 lens mount, for its interchangeable lenses. It also had an all-electronic through-the-lens exposure meter in the viewfinder using lighted arrows (not true LEDs, which were first introduced with the Fujica ST801). The Copal Square SE shutter, a vertically-travelling metal blade focal plane shutter made by Copal Corporation, used in the camera, was electronically controlled.
In 1972, Yashica introduced the TL Electro 35 mm SLR camera which was similar to the Pentax Spotmatic camera made by the Asahi Optical Company (Pentax). The TL Electro also used a lighted exposure meter display similar to that in the TL Electro-X, as well as the M42 screw threaded lens mount for its interchangeable lenses.
In 1973, Yashica the company began a collaboration with Carl Zeiss it called "Top Secret Project 130" to produce a new, professional 35 mm SLR with an electronically controlled shutter bearing the Contax brand, and called the RTS (for "Real Time System"). A new prestige line of Yashica/Contax lenses designed by Carl Zeiss were introduced for the camera, with a common C/Y bayonet mount allowing lens interchange between all 35 mm Contax and Yashica SLR camera models. The F. Alexander Porsche Group was hired to complete an ergonomic and styling study of the new camera. The new Contax RTS appeared at photokina in 1974, and became a commercial success.Yashica soon introduced several new 35 mm SLR cameras beginning with the FX-1 (1975) and FX-2 (1976). Also in that year, in response to the success of the Contax RTS, Yashica developed the upscale Yashica FR using some of the features of the RTS, including its electromagnetic shutter release. The FR was capable of using the entire range of Carl Zeiss T* lenses. In contemporaneous tests, the FR was described as being tougher in some ways than the more expensive Contax RTS, including better sealing against dust and contaminants. This practice of "pairing" similar Contax models with more affordable, less full-featured, but still high-quality Yashica models would continue for the next ten years. The FR was quickly followed in April 1977 by the FR-I and FR-II. The FR-I was a 35 mm SLR offering even more features of the RTS, including an electronic shutter with both manual and aperture priority modes, and marked the high point for the Yashica brand in competing with Nikon, Canon, and Minolta for the semi-professional SLR camera market.
In 1979, Yashica introduced a new inexpensive 35 mm consumer SLR, the FX-3, intended for entry-level buyers. Like all Yashica manual-focus bodies, the affordable FX-3 featured a C/Y lens mount that would also accept Carl Zeiss T* lenses. This simple, lightweight manual-exposure SLR camera sold well, and with minor revisions, stayed in production until 2002.
In October 1983, Yashica Company Ltd. was acquired by ceramics giant Kyocera. Initially, the merger resulted in few outward changes. The manual-focus (MF) FX-103 Program, introduced in 1985, continued the "pairing" tradition of high-end Yashica SLR models with Contax (Contax 159 mm), and was the first Yashica SLR with TTL flash and full programmed exposure capabilities.
After 1983, all Yashica brand cameras were marketed by Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics), which also made newer Contax cameras. By 1985, the company was facing intense market competition from other manufacturers, especially Minolta, which had introduced a competitively priced and advanced autofocus 35 mm SLR camera. Yashica eventually introduced its own autofocus 35 mm SLR camera line that was overpriced and poorly marketed in comparison to its competition. In response, Kyocera gradually repositioned the brand as a budget-priced point-and-shoot camera line, moving production from Japan to Hong Kong, and discontinued high-end SLR camera production.
In 2005, Kyocera halted production on all Contax, Yashica, and other Kyocera-branded film and digital cameras. In 2008, Kyocera sold the trademark rights of Yashica to Hong Kong-based MF Jebsen Group, and is under its subsidiary JNC Datum Tech International, Limited. Yashica's products from JNC Datum Tech International including digital cameras, digital camcoders, digital photo frames, portable DVD players, digital audio players, digital voice recorders, binoculars, mobile phones and SD cards. In March 2015, 100 Enterprises International Group Co. Ltd. has been appointed as Yashica Global Sole Agent.
Camera models.
TLRs.
This was perhaps the most evolved of the TLR variants. Like several of the earlier versions it did feature a built in light meter. Settings to the shutter speed and aperture had to be made manually but it did allow the camera to be used without an additional handheld meter.This model also allowed the simple conversion from 120 roll film to 220 roll film. Another advantage to this model was the shutter and film advance were controlled by the film advance handle. Earlier models had a separate mechanism for cocking the shutter. This system was prone to inadvertent double exposures.


Dante Ferretti

Dante Ferretti (, born 26 February 1943) is an Italian production designer, art director, and costume designer.
Biography.
Throughout his career, Ferretti has worked with many acclaimed directors, both American and Italian, including; Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elio Petri, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Franco Zeffirelli, Martin Scorsese, Anthony Minghella, and Tim Burton. He frequently collaborates with his wife, set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo.
Ferretti was a protégé of Federico Fellini, and worked under him for five films. He also had a five-film collaboration with Pier Paolo Pasolini and later developed a very close professional relationship with Martin Scorsese, designing nine of his last eleven movies.
In 2008, he designed the set for Howard Shore's opera "The Fly", directed by David Cronenberg, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
Ferretti has won three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction; for "The Aviator", "", and "Hugo". He had seven previous nominations. In addition, he was nominated for Best Costume Design for "Kundun". He has also won three BAFTA Awards.
In 2012, he designed the decor for Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto, a restaurant on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
For the 2015 Expo held in Milan, Italy Ferretti was commissioned to do a series of statues articulating the concept "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life".
He is member of the Italy-USA Foundation.


Sergiy Vilkomir

Sergiy A. Vilkomir (November 19, 1956 – February 9, 2020) was a Ukrainian-born computer scientist.
Sergiy Vilkomir was born in 1956 in present day Ukraine. He finished Mathematical College at the Moscow State University National Mathematical Boarding High School no. 18 (Head-Academician A. Kolmogorov, 1972–74), studied for an MSc degree in Mathematics and Mathematics Education at Kharkov State University (1974–79), and for a PhD degree at Kharkov Polytechnic Institute (1985–90). In Kharkiv, Ukraine, he then worked at the Ukrainian Polytechnic Institute (1979–82), the Central Institute of Complex Automation (1985–91), the Institute of Safety and Reliability of Technological Systems (1992–93), the Ukrainian State Scientific and Technical Centre on Nuclear and Radiation Safety (part of the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority of Ukraine, 1993–2000). His role included licensing and audits of computer-based safety systems at nuclear power plants.
In 2000, Vilkomir moved to the Centre for Applied Formal Methods at London South Bank University, becoming a Research Fellow there. He then joined the University of Wollongong in Australia, also as a Research Fellow. He subsequently worked with David Parnas at the University of Limerick in Ireland, before moving to the United States, initially as Research Associate Professor and the University of Tennessee during 2007–8, then rising to be an associate professor position at East Carolina University, which he joined in 2008. There he achieved academic tenure in 2012 and was Head of the Software Testing Research Group (STRG).
Vilkomir's main research contributions have been in the formalization of software testing. In particular, he proposed reinforced condition/decision coverage (RC/DC), a stronger version of the modified condition/decision coverage (MC/DC) coverage criterion for software testing in safety-critical systems.
Vilkomir was awarded the Google Faculty Research Award for 2010–11, the East Carolina University Scholar-Teacher Award in 2015, and the UNC Board of Governors Distinguished Professor of Teaching Award in 2017. He was a Senior Member of both the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM, from 2013) and the IEEE.
Sergiy Vilkomir died on February 9, 2020. He was married to Tetyana Vilkomir.


In Decay

In Decay is a compilation album by American electronic musician Seth Haley's project Com Truise, released on July 16, 2012, by the independent record label Ghostly International. It is a collection of tracks that, prior to the release, were only available as tracks found on Haley's internet mixtape series, "Komputer Kasts", and his SoundCloud account. These early tracks, some of which were produced before the release of his debut EP, "Cyanide Sisters" (2010), showcase Haley exploring an electropop funk music sound that would later come to define Com Truise. Critical reception upon release was mixed; a common praise was the album's sound design, while frequent criticisms were its repetition, and lack of distinct tone and feel of each track. A follow-up compilation album, "In Decay, Too", was released in 2020.
Background and release.
For Haley's second studio album of his Com Truise project, he initially planned to "kind of experiment more, because I was feeling a little trapped for a while there, after doing a bunch of touring and stuff." However, following demands from his label Ghostly International and emails sent by listeners to issue a collection of his tracks that were previously only on internet-distributed mixtapes, such as those from his "Komputer Kasts" series, and his SoundCloud account, Haley ultimately decided to make his next release a collection of these tracks. After "Open" was released as the lead single from "In Decay" on June 26, 2012, "Stereogum" premiered the compilation on July 16, 2012.
Content.
"In Decay" is a collection of Com Truise's early recordings, some from Truise's online mixtapes and some unreleased; they were mastered for the album by Haley. The earliest-made tracks were composed before the release of the project's debut EP "Cyanide Sisters" (2010), which Haley described as less "experimental" and more "structured" than his later material. As Haley explained, "some of those tracks are maybe a continuation [of the themes and sounds on "Galactic Melt"], and there are parts of them which follow the same path. But there are others which are pretty old, at least to me. It feels different." "In Decay" maintains the same electropop funk music structure that consists of 1980s synthesizers, tough bass sounds, and science fiction elements as Com Truise's previous releases. Some reviewers have described the songs on the album as lo-fi, "somewhat grittier," and "slightly rougher-around-the-edges" versions of the sound of the project's past records. Ghostly's press release explained that the compilation features Haley exploring parts of this sound, such as "8-bit influenced experimentalism" and "distinctly danceable beats." Some tracks on "In Decay" are slow-tempo, calm-vibe dance songs, while others are extraterrestrial psychedelic cuts similar to the works of Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh.
Patric Fallon of "XLR8R" highlighted "In Decay"'s experimentation absent from the normal output of the Com Truise project; examples include the minimal music structure of "Yxes" and the use of live bass guitar on the songs "Alfa Beach" and "Dreambender." "Pitchfork" journalist Andrew Gaerig analyzed that while previous releases of Com Truise focused on Haley being able to skillfully wind synthesizer sounds "into pleasing shapes that his compositions can sound complex when they're not," "In Decay" is where drum sounds such as "grid-worshipping snares" manage to "give him" with the target away and go against "the more formed melodic ideas."
Critical reception.
"In Decay" was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Jonah Ollman of CMJ described the music as "lush," commended the synth soundscapes, and concluded that the album is "just as satisfying and cohesive as a proper sophomore album." Fallon highlighted the unreleased tracks to have a certain "depth" not present in Com Truise's past releases.
Ben Sullivan, reviewing for "Tiny Mix Tapes", called it rare for a compilation album of tracks that were previously unreleased but still made before an act's first studio album to be better than said first album: "While it may obvious that Haley should now start to explore sounds and motifs exogenous to his coterie of synths, "In Decay" has an immediacy and satisfying mix that would only benefit an exploration of its hints of Negativland, mid-career DJ Shadow, and mid-2000s IDM." He wrote that the best tracks of "In Decay", the cuts "that really go places," are better than the greatest tracks on "Galactic Melt". He was critical of the track lengths and the lack of "attention to sequencing," which led to problems like "rhythmic redundancies" on songs such as "Dreambender", "Klymaxx", and "Yxes". He wrote that "half of these tracks could end two minutes short of their run times."
A common criticism pointed out in mixed reviews of "In Decay" was its focus on repetition and the lack of "differentiation" in terms of tone and feel. Adam Kivel of "Consequence of Sound" wrote that, while he felt there was enough material for Com Truise fans to enjoy before the next release of the project, issuing a rarities compilation so early in Truise's career is a "strange choice, as it sets the bar low." He criticized most of the tracks for how they build based on their repetition, writing that "the shapeshifting doesn't always provide that large of a difference in tone from the original iteration." Kivel also disliked the hazy sound of the material, opining that it "can tend to overrun everything else, softening the edges of feelings that could otherwise be crushingly powerful."
An "Exclaim!" critic wrote, "[Haley's] sonic ideas are circular lines constantly spiralling into themselves ― simple, looped melodies, a flourish here, a hazy sample there, lather, rinse, repeat ― but there's very little difference in tone to keep your attention." Gaerig, who called the album's songs "deceptively underdeveloped," "too dull and passive to threaten," said it "baubles, pure sonic fetishes that that fail to provoke discernible imagery or mood beyond a noirish appreciation for the oscillators of Christmas past." He wrote that "nothing here dispels the notion that [Haley's] vision is more limited" than other acts influenced by 1980s synthpop.
Track listing.
All songs written and produced by Seth Haley.


List of Steins;Gate episodes

 is an anime adaptation of a visual novel game of the same name by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It follows a self-proclaimed mad scientist named Rintaro Okabe who, along with his friends, invents a microwave that can send text messages into the past, leading to him discovering that he retains his memory between alternate timelines.
The series is produced by White Fox and aired in Japan from April 6, 2011 to September 13, 2011, also being simulcast on Crunchyroll. An original video animation episode was released with the final BD/DVD volume on February 22, 2012. The series has been licensed in North America by Funimation Entertainment. The anime features two pieces of theme music; the opening theme is "Hacking to the Gate" by Kanako Itō while the ending theme is by Yui Sakakibara. The ending theme for episode 23 is by Kanako Itō, which is the opening theme to the console version of the visual novel. An animated film sequel, "", was released on April 20, 2013. A series of short original net animation episodes, titled "Steins;Gate: Sōmei Eichi no Cognitive Computing", have also been produced in collaboration with IBM. On December 2, 2015, an alternate version of the 23rd episode was aired as a part of the rebroadcast of the series, in order to promote "Steins;Gate 0" and its anime adaptation.


Lyle Lovett

Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and released 25 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man". Lovett has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Album. "It's Not Big It's Large" was released in 2007, where it debuted and peaked at number 2 on the Top Country Albums chart. A new studio album, "Natural Forces", was released on October 20, 2009 by Lost Highway Records. The last studio album on his Curb Records contract, "Release Me, "was released in February 2012.
Biography.
Early life.
Lovett was born in Houston, Texas, when his family lived in the nearby community of Klein. He is the son of William Pearce and Bernell Louise (née Klein) Lovett, a marketing executive and training specialist, respectively. He was raised in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. Lovett attended Texas A&M University, where he received Bachelor of Arts degrees in both German and Journalism in 1980. In the early 1980s, Lovett often played solo acoustic sets at the small bars just off the A&M campus.
Career.
Lovett began his music career as a songwriter, but he soon signed with MCA Records in 1986 and released his eponymous debut album. While typically associated with the country genre, Lovett's compositions often incorporate folk, swing, blues, jazz and gospel music as well as more traditional country & western styling. He has won four Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album (1996 for "The Road to Ensenada"), Best Country Duo/Group with Vocal (1994 for "Blues For Dixie" with the Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel), Best Pop Vocal Collaboration (1994 for "Funny How Time Slips Away" with Al Green) and Best Country Male Vocal (1989 for "Lyle Lovett and His Large Band"). In 1995, Lovett performed a duet of "You've Got a Friend in Me" with Randy Newman for "Toy Story". He plays Collings acoustic guitars.
Lovett has acted in a number of films, notably four for director Robert Altman: "The Player" (1992), "Short Cuts" (1993), "Prêt-à-Porter" (1994), and "Cookie's Fortune" (1999). He also composed the score for the director's "Dr. T & the Women" (2000). Some of his other film roles include "Bastard Out Of Carolina" (1996), "The New Guy" (2002), "" (2007), and a humorous role in "Angels Sing", a family Christmas movie (alongside fellow actors and musicians such as Harry Connick, Jr., Connie Britton, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson). His television acting forays include guest roles on "Mad About You" and "Castle", a recurring role on "The Bridge" (as Flagman, a lawyer), and appearances as himself on "Dharma & Greg" and "Brothers & Sisters".
Mary Chapin Carpenter's 1992 song "I Feel Lucky" makes reference to Lovett, as does Bloodhound Gang's 1999 song "The Bad Touch", which includes the lyric, "and you'll Lovett just like Lyle."
Lovett was given an award called an "Esky" for Surest Thing in Esquire's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue. The magazine said of Lovett: "The secret of Lyle Lovett's endurance comes down to the three C's: class, charisma and consistency... In the studio and on stage with his giant orchestra, he's spent two decades gracefully matching genuine songcraft with A-list musicianship".
In 2010, Lovett appeared on an episode of "" that also featured John Prine and Ray LaMontagne.
In 2011, Lovett was named "Texas State Artist Musician "by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Lovett contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Well... All Right" for the tribute album "", released on September 6, 2011.
On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Lovett among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.
On October 24, 2019, Lovett was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame.
Personal life.
Lovett married actress Julia Roberts after meeting her on the set of "The Player". Following a three-week romance, they eloped and married in June 1993 in Marion, Indiana. In March 1995, they divorced after less than two years of marriage. "People" magazine reported that the breakup was caused by career demands. They remained friends afterwards.
Since late 1997, Lovett has been in a relationship with April Kimble. They became engaged in 2003. They were married on February 4, 2017, in Harris County, Texas.
On March 28, 2002, Lovett was trapped by a bull against a fence on his uncle's farm in Klein, Texas, before being pulled to safety. He fully recovered after six months from a badly broken leg, and he began touring again in summer 2003.
Lovett was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Houston on May 15, 2010 at its general commencement ceremony. His mother was in the audience as her son was presented with an honorary doctorate from the same university from which she had received her bachelor's degree in 1960. His father was also a graduate of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture of the University of Houston.
In 2015, Lovett received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Texas A&M University.
Lovett is also a horse enthusiast and co-owns and competes in reining competitions with world class Quarter Horse, Smart and Shiney. In 2012, Lovett was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. In 2018, he was awarded the National Reining Horse Association Lifetime Achievement Award in the National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame.


Seasar

Seasar2 is an open-source application framework similar to the
Spring Framework (Java). Initially, it was developed for the Java platform by Yasuo Higa, but .NET and PHP platforms are currently supported as well.
Seasar2 has a large base of Japanese users, but there is a steady increase of
non-Japanese users since English support was announced at the JavaOne 2005 Tokyo conference.
Seasar2 is currently supported by the Seasar Foundation, a non-profit open source organization.
History.
Seasar was initially made public on August 2003 at SourceForge.jp as an
application server using Jetty (web server) and HSQLDB.
The name was coined by the initial developer Yasuo Higa after an Okinawan mystical creature Shisa."
On March 2004, Seasar was re-introduced as light weight dependency injection and AOP container and renamed Seasar2. Even though, development of Seasar came to a halt, the last release, seasarsetupV1Final With Nazuna, may still be downloaded from the
Seasar2 site.
On April 2005, Seasar2 obtained assistance from OSCJ.net (Open Source Collaboration Joint Network) and moved out from SourceForge.jp.
Introduction.
Like other DI container frameworks, components are defined in external XML files. There is, also, a strong support for database and unit testing with JUnit.
The main difference with other frameworks is the support of the
concept "Convention over Configuration" to reduce the XML
configuration prominent when using framework such as Spring.
The aim is to reduce the number or eliminate configuration files by making developers conform to programming and configuration conventions and letting the framework do the work.
For example, if a property type is an interface and there is an object that implements this interface, dependency is configured by the container. If the test method name ends with a "Tx", a transaction
is initiated before the unit test and rolledback after the test.
Modules.
Seasar2 support of other open source software are prefixed with S2.
Like most open source software, Seasar2 software may be divided into 3 major categories:
Related software may further be subdivided into the following subdivision:
Seasar2 Core.
Seasar2 core is the central software common to all Seasar2 related software.
Transaction control module (S2Tx), database connection pooling (S2DBCP), and
JUnit testing (S2Unit) are all bundled with this core.
Cross-Platform Support.
Seasar is currently supported on Java/Java EE, PHP5, and .NET.
Future.
On April 22, 2005 at Seasar Strategies Day 2005, project Kuina was announced as the next release
of Seasar2. At the conference, it was announced that Kuina will support for EJB3.0 (JSR220) as well as J2SE 5.0 annotation.
From http://ml.seasar.org/archives/seasar-user-en/2010-March/000039.html :
Events.
Seasar Foundation periodically holds "Karasawagi" conferences around Japan to allow
developers and users to talk with each other.
Seasar is also featured in JavaOne conference.


List of Chaos;Child episodes

 is an anime adaptation of 5pb.'s video game of the same name. The series was directed by Masato Jinbo at Silver Link, and aired in Japan from January to March 2017; it was followed by the theatrical film "Chaos;Child: Silent Sky" in June 2017, which adapts the game's ending.


Gallery of Fashion

The Gallery of Fashion was a British fashion magazine, published between 1794 and 1803. It was the first British fashion magazine, being the first publication in Britain devoted exclusively to fashion.
The magazine was published in London by Nicholas Heideloff. It was produced following the model of the first fashion magazine in Europe, the Cabinet des Modes, which had been both exported as well as copied in the rest of Europe but discontinued during the French revolution.


Kit Williams

Christopher "Kit" Williams (born 28 April 1946) is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book "Masquerade", a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden (18 carat) jewelled hare created by Williams and then buried "somewhere in Britain".
Williams published three other books and was commissioned to create three public clocks with elaborate mechanisms and moving parts, such as animals, for visual interest.
Born in Kent, England, Williams continues to paint figurative art at his studio in Gloucestershire.
Work.
Kit Williams now primarily works as a figurative painter in which he uses traditional oil-painting techniques, fashioning first a wooden panel covered in linen and oil gesso. He then uses many layers of opaque and transparent Dutch oil paint to create luminous images.
Williams likes to maintain complete control of every aspect of his artwork including making the clothes worn by the models, creating sets and props, and often making mechanisms either within the frame or the painting that reveal moving elements of the artwork and encourage interaction by the viewer.
Using marquetry, he has always made his own frames which enables him to make pictures of any shape and allow elements of the picture to continue into the frame in often intricate detail.
Past work.
As well as his best-known book, "Masquerade", Williams wrote "The Bee on the Comb", a puzzle book with a bee theme. The book was initially published without a visible title, and readers were challenged to work out the title from clues inside the book and send in their answer without using the written word. This competition ran for just a year and a day, and the winner was revealed on the live BBC TV chatshow "Wogan".
In 1985 Kit Williams designed the Wishing Fish Clock, a centrepiece of the Regent Arcade shopping centre in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. More than 45 feet tall, the clock features a duck that lays a never-ending stream of golden eggs and includes a family of mice that are continually trying to evade a snake sitting on top of the clock. Hanging from the base of the clock is a large wooden fish that blows bubbles every half-hour. Catching one of these bubbles entitles you to make a wish, hence the name of the clock. The clock has undergone essential restoration work and is back in full working order .
Other clocks designed by Williams can be found in Telford Shopping Centre and in the Midsummer Place section of Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre.
Williams was also involved in the design of the Dragonfly Maze in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England, which comprises a yew maze with a pavilion at the centre. The object is not only to reach the pavilion, but to gather clues as one navigates the maze. Correctly interpreting these clues when one reaches the pavilion allows access to the maze's final secret.
"Masquerade" and the Golden Hare.
In August 2009 Kit Williams was reunited with the golden hare from "Masquerade", which he had not seen for more than 30 years. He was quoted as saying:
This reunion was revealed in a 60-minute documentary about Williams's work, "The Man Behind The Masquerade", shown on BBC Four on 2 December 2009. The programme began with "Masquerade" and ended with an exhibition of the best 18 pieces of his art from the previous 30 years at the Portal Gallery, which had first exhibited his work in the 1970s. The programme showed Williams being reunited with the golden hare for the first time when it was loaned by its anonymous present owner, who lives in East Asia.
The hare was on display at the V&A Museum, London, as part of its retrospective "British Design 1948–2012" from 31 March to 12 August 2012.


The Sims Mobile

The Sims Mobile is a life simulation game based on "The Sims 4" and "The Sims FreePlay" for Android and iOS devices. It was announced on May 9, 2017 in a launch trailer. The game was released on March 6, 2018. It features a multiplayer component and includes story elements.
Gameplay.
In "The Sims Mobile", players are able to create unique Sims with the in-game character creator (Create-a-Sim), build houses, start families and control the lives of their Sims. The game introduces multiplayer elements, as players can 'interact with other players' Sims by attending their parties, tapping on an NPC (non-playable character), or rating their Sims as through a sticker system.
Similarly to previous mobile games in "The Sims" franchise, energy is used when players take actions with their Sims. Energy can be restored through SimCash, which is earned through in-game quests and micro-transactions. SimCash can also be used to purchase certain premium clothing and furniture options in the game.
Unlike its predecessor "The Sims FreePlay", "The Sims Mobile" offers a closer experience to the PC series of games. There is a focus on telling stories through Sim's actions, chosen by the player as their Sims go through their career or make relationships. As Sims play through these stories, they are able to level up and unlock new cutscenes. Advancing stories may also unlock new furniture or clothing items.
Release.
On May 9, 2017, the game was available for testing on the App Store and Google Play in Brazil. On March 6, 2018, "The Sims Mobile" was launched worldwide, but Hong Kong, Mainland China and other parts of Asia are still not open for download.
In 2019, development has been transferred from Maxis to Firemonkeys Studios, which also develops "The Sims FreePlay".
Reception.
"The Sims Mobile" received "Mixed or average reviews" from critics, holding an aggregated Metacritic score of 73/100.
Common Sense Media gave the game 3/5 stars, describing it as an "Energy-based life sim" that is "progress purchase-dependent". The Verge praised the game, declaring : "Maxis has successfully pared down a very full series into an accessible, easy-to-play game for your commute or bedtime routine". Kotaku complimented the timer and energy meters and praised the relationship mechanic. Shacknews criticized the timers and the micro-transactions, saying : "As it stands, unless you're really jonesing for a Sims fix while on the go, there isn't much of a reason to let The Sims Mobile insult you by peppering you with its seemingly endless barrage of microtransactions".
Upon its release, "The Sims Mobile" topped the App Store. During its four months release, "The Sims Mobile" generated a total of US$15 million. As of July 2018, the game generated between US$20 million and US$25 million.
Awards.
The game was nominated for "Outstanding Video Game" at the 30th GLAAD Media Awards.


Flag of Alsace

The flag of Alsace (Alsatian: or , "red and white") is the original red and white flag of the region, and can be traced to the red and white banner of Gerard, Duke of Lorraine in the 11th century.
Particularly since the introduction of new French region Grand Est, the traditional " flag of Alsace has been widely promoted by the advocates of the Alsace autonomous movement.
History.
" (from the 11th century).
The original flag of Alsace, the "", dates back to the red and white banner of Gerard, Duke of Lorraine in the 11th century.
Red and white colours are commonly found on the coat of arms of Alsatian cities such as Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Sélestat, and additionally of many Swiss cities, especially in the region of Basel-Landschaft.
Departments flag (1949–2008).
Perhaps as the ' marks the Germanic roots of Alsace, it was replaced in 1949 by a new flag, representing the union of the two ' of and , however without real historical relevance. It was subsequently modified to a slightly different appearance, yet also representing the two departments.
Controversy.
There is controversy around the recognition of the Alsatian flag.
With the purpose of "Francosizing" the region, the ' has not been recognised by the French government. Some French politicians have erroneously called this a "Nazi invention" — while the ' is still known as the real historical emblem of the region by most of the population and the departments' parliaments.
Subsequently, the "" has been widely used during protests against the creation of a new "super-region" Grand Est, gathering Champagne-Ardennes, Lorraine and Alsace, namely on Colmar's statue of liberty.


The Parallax View (book)

The Parallax View (2006) is a work of critical theory by Slavoj Žižek. Like many of Žižek's books, it covers a wide range of topics, including philosophy, psychoanalysis, neuroscience, politics, literature, and film. Some of the authors discussed in detail include Jacques Lacan, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Alain Badiou, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Daniel Dennett, Antonio Damasio, Franz Kafka, and Henry James.
The book was described by Žižek as his "magnum opus", and it is considered notable because Žižek attempts therein to outline his system of thought. According to Žižek's introduction to the book, it is divided into three main sections (philosophical, scientific, and political) in order to introduce "a minimum of conceptual order." Although the book was largely well-received, some questioned whether it truly had a systematic approach.
The most enduring concept developed throughout the book is the parallax, which refers to the different apparent position of an object when it is seen from different perspectives. Žižek uses this idea, which comes from Kojin Karatani's "Transcritique", to rework the Hegelian dialectic from a materialist perspective.
Interpretation.
Parallax.
A parallax shift refers to the apparent motion of an object when it is seen from different perspectives. Using this notion, Žižek claims that both positions viewing the object are Kantian antinomies, meaning that they are completely incompatible and irreducible ways of seeing something. Fredric Jameson argues that Žižek is after the "absolute incommensurability of the resultant descriptions or theories" of whatever object is discussed. Traditionally, this would be seen as a problem for the Hegelian dialectic, in which thesis and antithesis come together in a synthesis, rather than remaining entirely opposed. Žižek argues, however, that this is an incorrect view of the dialectic. Instead, Žižek writes, Hegel does not overcome the Kantian division, but rather asserts it as such. The Hegelian synthesis, in other words, is the recognition of the insurmountable gap between two positions. This synthesis can only be achieved through a parallax shift.
Ontology.
Adrian Johnston maintains that Žižek is an "emergent dual-aspect monist." This refers to the belief that, although there is ultimately one substance that makes up the world, it appears divided and refracted into "distinct, disparate attributes." Žižek promotes a substance that is constantly "fracturing itself from within so as to produce parallax splits between irreconcilable layers and tiers of existence." In other words, the multiple appears because of a split in the Real. This could be contrasted to the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who maintain that multiplicity is the "primary ontological fact."
Neuroscience.
In neuroscience, Žižek confronts contemporary theorists like Daniel Dennett and Antonio Damasio in terms of materialism and idealism. According to Johnston, Žižek asserts that although the mental arises from material neuronal processes, it nonetheless "breaks away" from being determined by those processes. In Johnston's words, "the mental phenomena of thought achieve a relatively separate existence apart from the material corporeality serving as the thus-exceeded ontological underbelly of these same phenomena."
Politics.
Žižek makes two major political points. The first involves a split between the economy and politics. He insists that although the economy is the real area where struggle occurs and that politics is simply a shadow of that, the battle must still be fought in politics. Additionally as the book concludes, he describes Herman Melville's Bartleby as a new key figure in politics; Bartleby's consistently repeated phrase, "I would prefer not to," marks a purely formal refusal that must be adopted politically. According to Dean, Žižek advocates for a "withdrawal from resistance and from charity... a withdrawal from the whole variety of micropolitical practices..." He offers, ultimately, a political figure of "unbearable, inert, insistent, immobile violence."
Psychoanalysis.
There are a number of Lacanian and psychoanalytic concepts that are reworked throughout the course of the book. The parallax concept, for example, has important implications for Lacan's concept of the Real. Whereas the Real for Lacan meant a hard kernel that resisted symbolization, for Žižek the term refers to the "gap in perspectives." Another concept that Žižek redefines is the superego. According to Jameson, Žižek's revision looks beyond the superego as the "instance of repression and judgment, of taboo and guilt" toward a new definition that states that the superego today has become "something obscene, whose perpetual injunction is: 'Enjoy!'" Whereas the superego was once thought by Freud to prohibit certain activities, today, Žižek argues, it commands people toward the pursuit of pleasure. Jameson claims that the "death drive" is another one of Žižek's persistent fundamental themes. In his revision of the Freudian Thanatos, Žižek suggest that the death drive's true horror is that it lives through us, embodied in life itself. The concept of "jouissance" also receives a revision; according to Žižek, the envy of the Other's "jouissance" accounts for "collective violence, racism, nationalism and the like, as much as for the singularities of individual investments, choices and obsessions..." One final and crucial concept in the book involves the Lacanian "gap." According to Jameson, this refers to the doctrine that "the human subjectivity is permanently split and bears a gap within itself, a wound, an inner distance that can never be overcome."
Reception.
Marxist political theorist Jodi Dean wrote that, although the book may not necessarily be a magnum opus, as Žižek suggested, it is certainly his best book since "The Ticklish Subject", which was published in 1999. Fredric Jameson assessed the book positively, writing that the chapter on cognitive science is a "superb achievement," and that the political lesson of the book is "as indispensable as it is energizing"; he considered these sections to stand as "major statements." He expressed some reservation, however, about the book's style; he claimed that the book functioned as a "theoretical variety show," and that the drawback of such a style is that, at the end, the reader is "perplexed as to the ideas that have been presented, or at least to the major ones to be retained." In a similar vein, Alexei Bogdanov described the book as a "vast battlefield of opinions, where the author's own position is often hard to pinpoint." Adrian Johnston also noted this aspect of the book, observing that although the book purports to be systematizing, "certain readers might experience a feeling of frustration in their attempts to discern the systematic unity supposedly underlying and tying together the wide-ranging discussions of the vast amount of diverse content contained in this text." Ultimately, Johnston asserts that there is an "integrated logic/pattern" to the book. Jameson discussed a similar problem and noted that, in theorizing the parallax explicitly, Žižek may have produced a new concept and system, despite the inherently "anti-philosophical" position of the concept.


Joe Fugate

Joe D. Fugate, Sr. is a writer and game designer who has written on model railroading topics and has worked on role-playing games. Fugate is the founder and publisher of Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine (MRH).
Career.
Editors Gary Thomas and Joe D. Fugate, Sr. founded Digest Group Publications (DGP) in 1986 as a business that they ran part-time while working at other jobs. Fugate's work in the company's digest-sized magazine "The Traveller's Digest" got the attention of Marc Miller at Game Designers' Workshop, who invited Fugate and Thomas to expand and revise the material for GDW; the result was "Book 8: Robots" (1986) for "Traveller", which would be the start of a working relationship between the two companies that lasted several years. In 1993, Fugate announced in "The MegaTraveller Journal" #4 that DGP was leaving "Traveller" behind, saying that they had a "puppet on a string relationship" with GDW.
Roger Sanger, a fan of "Traveller", came to Fugate's door one morning late in 1994, looking to buy books from Digest Group Publications; Sanger bought some of the remaining backstock at that time, as Fugate was still paying back creditors and holding onto the boxes of remaining DGP items that he owned. Over the next nine months Sanger came to an agreement whereby he paid Fugate a few thousand dollars for the remaining assets of DGP, including copyrights and trademarks; Fugate would keep the larger debts, but Sanger would take care of the smaller debts. Fugate agreed to this arrangement, and Sanger became owner of DGP.
Fugate later ran a model railroad site, and produced professional how-to videos for "Model Railroader" magazine. He produced these videos from 2005-2007.
In July 2008, Joe D. Fugate, Sr. started Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine and an associated website to go with the magazine. Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine (MRH) Issue 01 was published January 2009. Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine (MRH) is a digital publication in the same genre as * "Model Railroader" and * "Railroad Model Craftsman"
Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine started as a quarterly publication in 2009, went to bimonthly in 2010, and since 2011 has been a monthly publication running over 100 pages per issue. As of 2015, MRH reports that it has about 30,000 subscribers.