Antiquity.

A Roman road crossed the region from south to north, traversing the Alps by the Splügen Pass and, following the right bank of the Rhine at the edge of the floodplain, was uninhabited for long lengths of time because of periodic flooding. Roman villas have been excavated in Schaanwald and Nendeln. The late Roman influx of the Alemanni from the north is memorialized by the remains of a Roman fort at Schaan.

Middle Ages.

The area, part of Raetia, was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and divided into countships, which became subdivided over the generations. Because the Duchy of Swabia lost its duke in 1268 and was never restored, all vassals of the duchy became immediate vassals of the Imperial Throne (as has happened in much of Westphalia when the duchy of Saxons was divided and partially dissolved in aftermath of the defeat of Henry the Lion). Until about 1100, the predominant language of the area was Romansch, but thereafter German gained ground, and in 1300 an Alemannic population called the Walsers (originating in Valais) entered the region. In the 21st century, the mountain village of Triesenberg still preserves features of Walser dialect.  The medieval county of Vaduz was formed in 1342 as a small subdivision of the Werdenberg county of the dynasty of Montfort of Vorarlberg. The 15th century brought three wars and some devastation.  The Principality takes its name from the Liechtenstein family, rather than vice versa, and the family in turn takes its name from Liechtenstein Castle in Lower Austria, which it owned from at least 1140 until the 13th century and from 1807 onwards. Over the centuries, the family acquired huge landed estates, mostly in Moravia, Lower Austria and Styria.  All of these rich territories were held in fief under other more senior feudal lords, particularly under various lines of the Habsburg family, to which many Liechtensteins were close advisors. Thus, without holding any land directly under the Holy Roman Emperors, the Liechtenstein dynasty was unable to meet the primary requirement to qualify for a seat in the Imperial Diet, (German "Reichstag"), although its head was elevated to princely rank in the late 17th century.

Early modern era.

The area that was to become Liechtenstein was invaded by both Austrian and Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War of 1618–1648. During the 17th century the country was afflicted by a plague and also by a witch hunt, in which more than 100 persons were persecuted and executed.  Prince Johann Adam Andreas of Liechtenstein bought the domain of Schellenberg in 1699 and the county of Vaduz in 1712. This Prince of Liechtenstein had wide landholdings in Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, but none of his lands were held directly from the Emperor. Thus, the prince was barred from entry to the Council of Princes and the prestige and influence that would entail.  By acquiring the Lordships of Schellenberg and Vaduz, modest areas of mountain villages each of which was directly subordinate to the Emperor because there no longer being a Duke of Swabia, the Prince of Liechtenstein achieved his goal. The territory took the name of the family which now ruled it. On January 23, 1719, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, decreed that the counties of Vaduz and Schellenberg be promoted to a principality with the name Liechtenstein for his servant Anton Florian of Liechtenstein whereby he and his successors became Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

Nineteenth century.

After having narrowly escaped mediatization to Bavaria in 1806, Liechtenstein became a sovereign state later that year when it joined Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine upon the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.  The French under Napoleon occupied the country for a few years, but Liechtenstein retained its independence in 1815. Soon afterward, Liechtenstein joined the German Confederation (20 June 1815 – 24 August 1866, which was presided over by the Emperor of Austria).  Then, in 1818, Johann I granted a constitution, although it was limited in its nature. 1818 also saw the first visit of a member of the house of Liechtenstein, Prince Alois. However, the first visit by a sovereign prince would not occur until 1842.  In 1862, a new Constitution was promulgated, which provided for a Diet representative of the people.  During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Prince Johann II placed his soldiers at the disposal of the Confederation but only to “defend the German territory of Tyrol”. The Prince refused to have his men fight against other Germans. The Liechtenstein contingent took up position on the Stilfse Joch in the south of Liechtenstein to defend the Liechtenstein/Austrian border against attacks by the Italians under Garibaldi. A reserve of 20 men remained in Liechtenstein. When the war ended on July 22, the army of Liechtenstein marched home to a ceremonial welcome in Vaduz. Popular legend claims that 80 men went to war but 81 came back. Apparently an Italian liaison officer joined up with the contingent on the way back.  In 1868, after the German Confederation dissolved, Liechtenstein disbanded its army of 80 men and declared its permanent neutrality, which was respected during both World Wars.

Liechtenstein during the World Wars.

Liechtenstein did not participate in World War I, claiming neutrality. However, until the end of the war, Liechtenstein was closely tied to Austria. In response, the Allied Powers imposed an economic embargo on the principality. The economic devastation forced the country to conclude a customs and monetary union with Switzerland. In 1919 Liechtenstein and Switzerland signed a treaty under which Switzerland assumes the representation of Liechtenstein interests at the diplomatic and consular level in countries where it maintains a representation and Liechtenstein does not.  In the spring of 1938, just after the annexation of Austria into Greater Germany, eighty-four-year-old Prince Franz I abdicated and was succeeded by his thirty-one-year-old grand nephew, Prince Franz Joseph II. While Prince Franz I claimed that old age was his reason for abdicating, it is believed that he had no desire to be on the throne if Germany were to invade and occupy its new neighbour, Liechtenstein. The Princess of Liechtenstein Elisabeth von Gutmann, whom he married in 1929, was a wealthy Jewish woman from Vienna, and local Liechtenstein Nazis had already singled her out as their anti-Semitic "problem". A Nazi sympathy movement had been simmering for years within its National Union party and there was a national socialist political party - the German National Movement in Liechtenstein.  Prince Franz Josef II became the first Prince of Liechtenstein to take up permanent residence in Liechtenstein.  During World War II, Liechtenstein remained neutral, while family treasures within the war zone were brought to Liechtenstein (and London) for safekeeping. At the close of the conflict, Czechoslovakia and Poland, acting to seize what they considered to be German possessions, expropriated the entirety of the Liechtenstein dynasty's hereditary lands and possessions in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia — the princes of Liechtenstein lived in Vienna until the Anschluss of 1938. The expropriations (subject to modern legal dispute at the World Court) included over 1,600 square kilometres (600 mi.2) of agricultural and forest land (most notably the UNESCO listed Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape), and several family castles and palaces. Citizens of Liechtenstein were also forbidden from entering Czechoslovakia during the Cold War.  Liechtenstein gave asylum to approximately five hundred soldiers of the First Russian National Army (a collaborationist Russian force within the German Wehrmacht) at the close of World War II; this is commemorated by a monument at the border town of Hinterschellenberg which is marked on the country's tourist map. The act of granting asylum was no small matter as the country was poor and had difficulty feeding and caring for such a large group of refugees. Eventually, Argentina agreed to permanently resettle the asylum seekers. In contrast, the British repatriated the Russians who fought on the side of Germany to the USSR, where they were summarily treated as traitors and most of them executed, including their families.

The Post-War era.

In dire financial straits following the war, the Liechtenstein dynasty often resorted to selling family artistic treasures, including for instance the portrait "Ginevra de' Benci" by Leonardo da Vinci, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Art of the United States in 1967. Liechtenstein prospered, however, during the decades following, as its economy modernized with the advantage of low corporate tax rates which drew many companies to the country. Liechtenstein became increasingly important as a financial center.  In 1989, Prince Hans-Adam II succeeded his father to the throne, and in 1996, Russia returned the Liechtenstein family's archives, ending a long-running dispute between the two countries. In 1978, Liechtenstein became a member of the Council of Europe, and then joined the United Nations in 1990, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1991, and both the European Economic Area (EEA) and World Trade Organization in 1995.

Liechtenstein during the 21st century.

In a referendum on March 16, 2003, Prince Hans-Adam, who had threatened to leave the country if he lost, won a large majority (64.3%) in favour of overhauling the constitution to effectively give him more powers than any other European monarch. The new constitution gave the prince the right to dismiss governments and approve judicial nominees and allowed him to veto laws simply by refusing to sign them within a six-month period.  On August 15, 2003, Hans-Adam announced he would step down in one year and hand over the reins to his son Alois.  On July 1, 2007, the first two Consuls in the history of the Principality were appointed to represent Liechtenstein in the United States of America.

Political identity came to the territory now occupied by the Principality of Liechtenstein in 814, with the formation of the subcountry of Lower Rhætia. Liechtenstein's borders have remained unchanged since 1434, when the Rhine established the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Swiss cantons.

Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Geschichte Liechtensteins. Der heutige Staat Liechtenstein entstand 1719 aus der Grafschaft Vaduz und der Herrschaft Schellenberg, die bereits seit 1434 unter gemeinsamer Verwaltung standen. Seit damals beherrschen die Fürsten von Liechtenstein das 160 km2 grosse Gebiet am Alpenrhein.


Geology.

The Mieminger Mountains lie in a particularly interesting region from a geological standpoint. Between the peaks of the Sonnenspitze, Wetterstein and Daniel, three geological units meet that, during the course of mountain building, were piled on top of one another as nappes and today are adjacent to one together. The Mieminger Mountains are located in one of these stacks: the Inn Valley or Inntal Stack. Almost all the rocks in the Mieminger range were formed at one stage on the seabed and consist of limestone and its derivative, dolomite. In addition there are sandstones, argillites, hornfels, carbonate breccias (rauhwackes) and volcanic tuffs.  In relation to the total age of the Earth, which is about 4,500 million years, the rocks of the Mieminger Mountains come mainly from two relatively small windows of time. One of these began about 250 million years ago and ended 130 million years ago (during the Triassic and Jurassic Periods), whilst the second window is the last 10,000 years since the end of the Würm glaciation (part of the Cenozoic). There are no older rocks that predate those from in the first window, and the more recent ones have been eroded by wind, weather and water since the Alpine orogeny about 35 million years ago.

Mesozoic Era.

The mountains' geological history began in tropical climes, on the edge of a broad and shallow sea: the Alpine Tethys. To begin with, material was deposited that had been washed into the sea from the land; then the sea level rose and limestone-forming organisms began to populate it. Marine deposits that were near the shore, made of limestones, dolomitic rocks and breccias, are still layered in places in a narrow strip of land between Langlehn and Igelskar (Reichenhall Strata). Because they weather relatively easily, they form cols ("Scharte") and "Törle" like the "Biberwierer Scharte" or the "Tajatörl".  During the next time period, a thick sequence of dark limestones was formed - the Alpine muschelkalks - which, when struck, often smell slightly of bitumen and are striking because of their uneven, irregular surface layers. Irregularly shaped, dark brown to black hornfels nodules ("Knauern") and greenish tuffs occur in these limestones that indicate the presence of nearby Stromboli-like volcanoes. This sequence arose from a shallow, oxygen-rich marine environment, in which reefs and basins alternated with one another. Some time afterwards the Partnach Strata were formed that are especially attractive in the "Schwärz" between the "Marienbergspitzen" and "Wampertem Schrofen". They consist of light-coloured limestone interbedded with argillites.  Next, reefs began to develop in the shallow waters of the sea, in which small coralline algae (haptophytes) and corals lived. Their dead, limy skeletons form the most important rock: Wetterstein limestone. This mostly bright white and weather-resistant limestone contrasts strongly with the other rocks. It forms the striking summits of the Mieminger and Wetterstein Mountains, not least the Sonnenspitze, Igelskopf and Zugspitze. Because Wetterstein limestone contains few plant nutrients, its scree and talus slopes are largely unvegetated and this tends to characterise the scene above the tree line.  A feature of Wetterstein limestone is silver-containing lead and zinc ore. These were mined at Silberleithe and in the rest of the Mieminger Mountains. The Triassic Period in the Mieminger Chain ends with Wetterstein limestone and is then followed by the Jurassic whose deposits are of less importance. They were largely carried off in the course of the millions of years and only still exist in a few sheltered sites or underground.

Alpine Orogeny.

At the time of their deposition the rocks of the Northern Limestone Alps were located several hundred kilometres south of their present position. About 35 million years ago, tectonic forces, that are still active today, began to push these geological units northwards. At that time several kilometres of rock and several hundred metres of water lay on top of the rocks visible today. As a result there was a massive overlapping pressure that prevented the formations underneath from breaking up as they were pushed together.  As a result of the compressional forces, thrust faulting occurred piling the rock layers up into nappes ("Gesteinsdecken"). For example, the steep slopes falling away from the Mieminger Mountains into the Ehrwald Basin or the Leutasch River are the front of such a nappe, also called the Inn Valley Stack ("Inntaldecke"). At the same time the rocks were uplifted. Taken together these processes are referred to as orogeny or mountain building.

Ice ages.

The relatively recent deposits in the up to 70 metre deep moors are predominantly gravels, shingles, clay, humus and peat; the latter even being used at one time near Lermoos for the lead-zinc smelter of the Silberleithen cooperative ("Gewerkschaft"). The finishing touches to the mountains and valleys took place during the Würm glaciation. The ice sheet of the Loisach Glacier was about 1,000 metres thick and, after the ice had melted about 10,000 years ago, it left behind that typical feature of ice age terrain: moraines. The remnants of the ice sheet in the mountains formed classic cirques, in which the last moraines of the glacier have survived.  The major change to the landscape since the last ice age was the Fern Pass landslide that filled the valley between Biberwier and Nassereith to a depth of 200 metres. Since then the scenery has changed very little. Occasionally there are rock avalanches, landslides or mudflows. Water, ice and wind continue to attack the rocks, transporting their debris down the mountain torrents into the valleys and reminding us that these geological processes continue today.

Neighbouring ranges.

The Mieminger Chain borders on the following other mountain ranges of the Alps:  In the "AVE", the Alpine Club classification of the Eastern Alps, published in 1984, the Mieminger and Wetterstein ranges are shown as a single unit.

Boundaries.

To the south the River Inn forms the boundary of the range from the Niederbach stream near Inzing upstream as far as its confluence with the Gurglbach near Imst. Its western boundary runs along the Gurgltal valley from Imst to Nassereith and over the Fern Pass to Ehrwald. To the north its boundary runs from Ehrwald along the Gaisbach stream and the Ehrwalder Alm into the Gaistal (Leutascher Ache) and continues through Leutasch–Oberweidach and past the Simmelberg to the north to the Drahnbach. The eastern boundary runs along the stream of Drahnbach and over the Seefelder saddle, then downhill along the Niederbach to its confluence with the Inn.  The Fern Pass links the Mieminger range with the Lechtal Alps. The unnamed saddle near the Ehrwalder Alm is the link between the Mieminger Chain and the Wetterstein. The Seefelder saddle links the Mieminger Chain with the Karwendel.

Sub-divisions.

The Alpine Club Guide divides the Mieminger Chain into the following sub-groups:

Peaks.

The 10 highest peaks in the Mieminger Chain are the:  In the Mieminger Mountains there are over 60 named peaks with spot heights. The best known, in order of height, are the:  In the area of the 1,789 m high Marienbergjoch is a ski area.

Tourism.

Huts.

There are three Alpine Club huts in the Mieminger Mountains, only one of which is managed.

Long-distance trails.

The Via Alpina, a cross-border long-distance trail with five sections through the whole Alps, runs through the Mieminger Mountains.  The Red Path ("Rote Weg") of the Via Alpina has two stages running through the range as follows:

The Mieming(er) Range, Mieminger Chain () or Mieminger Mountains ("Mieminger Gebirge"), is a mountain range of the Northern Limestone Alps in the Eastern Alps. It is located entirely in Austria within the state of Tyrol. This sub-group is somewhat in the shadows of its more famous neighbour, the Wetterstein to the north. Whilst the region around the Coburger Hut and the lakes of Seebensee and Drachensee in the west (Ehrwalder Sonnenspitze and Vorderer Tajakopf with its new "klettersteig" over the Tajakante) and the Hohe Munde in the extreme east receive large numbers of visitors, the less developed central area remains very quiet. The Hohe Munde is also a popular and challenging ski touring destination.

Das Mieminger Gebirge (auch Mieminger Kette genannt) ist eine Gebirgsgruppe der Nördlichen Kalkalpen in den Ostalpen. Es befindet sich vollumfänglich in Österreich im Bundesland Tirol. Die Untergruppe befindet sich etwas im Schatten des berühmteren, direkt im Norden anschließenden Wettersteins, mit dem zusammen sie die AVE-Gruppe 4 "Wettersteingebirge und Mieminger Kette" bildet. Während das Gebiet um Coburger Hütte, Seeben- und Drachensee im Westen (Ehrwalder Sonnenspitze und Vorderer Tajakopf mit Klettersteig über die Tajakante) und die Hohe Munde ganz im Osten regen Besuch erhalten, ist es im wenig erschlossenen Mittelteil sehr ruhig geblieben. Die Hohe Munde ist auch ein beliebtes anspruchsvolles Skitourenziel.


Teams and drivers.

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Driver changes.

The 2001 season featured several driver line-up changes prior to the season, and more changes during the season proper, as follows in the table:  Before the season opener in Australia, the following lineup changes had occurred:  During the season even more changes occurred:

Report.

Michael Schumacher started the new season where he left off last year, with a dominant win from pole position in the first race in Australia. Arch-rival Mika Häkkinen lost second after a suspension failure, giving second to his teammate David Coulthard, with Schumacher's teammate Rubens Barrichello completing the podium. Kimi Räikkönen finished his first F1 race in the points with sixth place. The race was marred by the death of Graham Beveridge, a track marshal who was hit by debris after a collision between Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher and Ferrari teammate Barrichello started 1–2 in Malaysia and maintained their positions at the first corner, but there was a massive rainshower on the second lap, during which both Ferraris went off the track. After everyone pitted to change tyres, the Ferraris were down in 10th and 11th, but they changed to intermediates while all others had changed to wets. This masterstroke meant that the Ferraris were able to charge back up the order, and get back first and second. Schumacher won, with Barrichello completing a Ferrari 1–2, and Coulthard was third.  Schumacher was on pole in Brazil, but a collision on the first lap brought out the safety car. As the race restarted, Williams rookie Juan Pablo Montoya shocked Schumacher by coming up the inside of him and taking the lead. Montoya was well set for a stunning maiden win until he got hit from behind by Jos Verstappen while lapping him. It began to rain, and after everyone changed the tyres, Schumacher was leading but then Coulthard passed him on the first turn when they were lapping Tarso Marques in a move reminiscent to the one made by Mika Häkkinen on Schumacher in Belgium last year. Coulthard went on to win, with Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld second and third.  In Ferrari's first 'home' race in San Marino, their chief rivals McLaren stunned them by qualifying 1–2, with Coulthard on pole. Schumacher was fourth behind his brother Ralf Schumacher. Ralf shot to the lead at the start, passing both McLarens before the first corner, and was never headed. Coulthard ran him close, and finished second, with Barrichello jumping Häkkinen in the stops to take third. Michael Schumacher had a miserable afternoon suffering a gearbox glitch early on and then having to retire after a puncture which damaged the wheel rim and a brake duct.  After 4 races, Schumacher and Coulthard were level on the standings with 26 points, Barrichello and Ralf were third with 14 and 12 points respectively. Häkkinen had only 4, and was only seventh in the standings. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with 40, with McLaren second with 30. Williams were third with 12. The next round in Spain was the first after the reintroduction of traction control systems for the first time since 1993. The driving aids were brought back to ensure no teams were cheating but questions were raised over the reliability. Its first victim was David Coulthard who stalled on the grid and had to start from the back. The race was a battle between Schumacher and Häkkinen, with the former winning pole and leading the first two parts of the race. During the second pit stop, Schumacher had a problem and lost a lot of time, giving the lead to Häkkinen, who then stretched it to half a minute, as Schumacher was struggling with a suspension problem. Ironically, it was Häkkinen's car which gave out first, on the last lap with a clutch failure, giving the win to Schumacher. Montoya finished second, and Jacques Villeneuve completed the podium. Coulthard recovered to fifth after his start line problems. The sixth round was in Austria, and the two Williams cars outdragged polesitter Schumacher into the first corner. Ralf retired with a brake problem, and this left Montoya under attack from Schumacher. Schumacher tried to pass, but instead both went into the gravel, and rejoined sixth and seventh. Coulthard took the lead by jumping Rubens Barrichello in the second round of stops, and won, while Barrichello had to yield second to a recovering Schumacher on the final lap.  Round 7 was in Monaco, and Coulthard took pole but stalled on the grid after again suffering problems with the launch control system. This left the two Ferraris and Häkkinen to battle for the win, and when Häkkinen's engine failed early on, the Ferraris cruised to a 1–2 finish, with Schumacher winning ahead of Barrichello. The demise of the McLarens allowed Eddie Irvine to get a podium, while Coulthard recovered to fifth despite spending the majority of the race stuck behind Enrique Bernoldi. The round in Canada was a battle between the Schumacher brothers, with Michael taking pole and maintaining his lead at the first corner. Ralf, however, kept up with him, and when his brother pitted, upped the pace with a string of quick laps, and came out five seconds ahead. Ralf cruised to victory, with his brother making it the first time ever that brothers have finished 1–2 in a race, and Häkkinen finished third, his first podium of the season. Coulthard was set for third, but retired when his engine failed 15 laps from the finish.  With nearly half the season complete, Schumacher had 58 points, and leads Coulthard by 18 points, mostly courtesy of the seventh and eighth rounds. Coulthard, had a further 16 points over Barrichello who had 24 points, and 18 over Ralf, who had 22. Häkkinen was fifth with 8. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari with 82 points had a huge lead over McLaren, who had 48. Williams were third with 28.  The next race, the European Grand Prix was again all about the Schumacher brothers, and Michael took his seventh pole of the season, ahead of his brother. The brothers maintained their positions at the start, and Ralf was able to keep up in second during the first stint. However, he passed the white line after his first stop, and received a stop-go penalty which dropped him out of contention. This left Michael Schumacher to cruise to another victory, with Montoya in second, and Coulthard third. Ralf, even with his penalty was able to get fourth ahead of Barrichello and Häkkinen.  In the French Grand Prix, the Schumacher brothers started 1–2 again, but it was Ralf who took pole, his first ever career pole. Ralf maintained his lead at the start but his brother jumped him at the first round of stops and then pulled away. Coulthard, who had started third was in contention until he went over the white line while coming out of the pit lane and received a stop-go penalty. Montoya was running quickly, and could have challenged his teammate for second had his engine not blown up. Schumacher won comfortably from brother Ralf, with Barrichello holding off Coulthard for third. Schumacher took pole for the British GP and maintained his position at the first corner, but Häkkinen, who was on a two-stopper passed him on the fifth lap. Häkkinen never looked back and dominated to take his first win of the year. Schumacher, whose one-stop strategy didn't work out well, was over half a minute back in second, and Barrichello completed the podium.  The weekend of the German GP was dominated by the Williams team, and their drivers locked out the front row, and Montoya took his first career pole. Montoya converted his pole to a lead at the start, and was looking well set to win until his engine blew up. This left Ralf to cruise to victory, and Barrichello took second and Jacques Villeneuve got his second podium of the season in third, both capitalising on Schumacher's retirement with a fuel pressure problem, and both McLarens retiring with engine failures.  Schumacher now had no less than 84 points, and it seemed inevitable that he would win the championship. A win in the next round in Hungary would be enough. Coulthard was a distant second with 47, and was looking anxiously over his shoulders, as Ralf with 41 and Barrichello with 37 were hot on his heels. Häkkinen and Montoya were fifth and sixth with 19 and 15 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari led with 121 compared to McLaren's 66, and a 1–2 in Hungary will wrap up the title. Williams were third with 56, with touching distance of McLaren. Schumacher took another step to winning the title by taking pole in the Hungarian GP, ahead of Coulthard and Barrichello. Schumacher kept first at the start, but Coulthard was passed by Barrichello. Schumacher pulled away, while Barrichello kept Coulthard at bay. Coulthard jumped Barrichello at the first round of stops, only for the Brazilian to return the favour at the second. Schumacher won the race and the championship, and Barrichello made it a Ferrari 1–2 which gave Ferrari the Constructors' Championship. A disappointed Coulthard finished third.  The two Williams cars of Montoya and Ralf qualified 1–2 for the Belgian GP, but that soon came to nothing for the former when he stalled on the grid, and started at the back. Ralf was quickly passed by world champion Michael Schumacher into the first corner. After a few laps, there was a collision between Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti, and the latter ran head on into the tyres. The race was stopped, while Burti was treated for his injuries. While the injuries were not serious, Burti was never to race in F1 again. A new race, shortened to 36 laps was started, and the top 3 in the new grid were: Michael Schumacher, his brother Ralf and Barrichello. Ralf's car was on its jacks when the warmup started, and he too had to start at the back. Michael kept first at the start, and pulled away, while Barrichello lost out to Giancarlo Fisichella. Barrichello lost further time when he ran over a bollard at the Bus Stop chicane and damaging his front wing, and he had to around for an entire lap before pitting to change the wing. This left the two McLarens behind Fisichella. Coulthard was able to pass him with 10 laps left. Schumacher took his 52nd career win, breaking Alain Prost's record of most wins ever, with Coulthard and a superb Fisichella completing the podium.  The next round was in Italy, the first race after the September 11 attacks and before the race Michael Schumacher wanted all the drivers to go slowly at the first corner, due to 9/11 and a horrific accident in ChampCar the day before in which former F1 driver Alessandro Zanardi suffered serious injuries but this plan did not work out because Jacques Villeneuve and Benetton boss Flavio Briatore did not accept it. The Ferrari team ran without sponsors' logos in deference to sponsor Philip Morris and a black tip on their nose, as respect for 9/11. Montoya took pole, ahead of the two Ferraris of Barrichello and Schumacher. The top 3 maintained their positions at the start, but Montoya was soon passed by a two-stopping Barrichello. Montoya and Barrichello battled it out with different plans, and Montoya came out on top after Barrichello suffered problems during his first stop which cost him 7 seconds. A jubilant Montoya took his first career win, with Barrichello and Ralf second and third. The US GP was the host of the penultimate round, and Schumacher took pole ahead of his brother and Montoya. Schumacher led into the first corner, while Ralf lost out to both Montoya and Barrichello. A two-stopping Barrichello soon took the lead, and pitted. Montoya passes Schumacher before the round of stops, but retired two laps after his stop when his engine failed. With everyone stopping once, Barrichello was leading from Häkkinen, Schumacher and Coulthard. Barrichello rejoined second behind Häkkinen after his stop and started to close in until his engine failed on the penultimate lap. Häkkinen took a superb win (which turned out to be his last), and Barrichello's demise left Schumacher and Coulthard to take second and third.  Going into the final race, this were the championship standings: Schumacher the champion with 113 point, Coulthard second with 61, Barrichello third with 54, Ralf fourth with 48, Häkkinen fifth with 34, and Montoya sixth with 25. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was a winner with 167 points, McLaren with 95 was confirmed in second, and Williams with 73 was confirmed in third.  The last round was in Japan, and Schumacher took pole again, ahead of Montoya and Ralf. The top 3 kept their places into the first corner, even though Ralf was soon passed by a three-stopping Barrichello. Barrichello was unable to pass Montoya, and this ruined his strategy. Ralf was given a stop-go penalty for cutting the chicane at the last corner too frequently. This left Häkkinen running third in his last race in F1, but he gave the position to teammate Coulthard as a token of gratitude to all the support Coulthard gave him during the previous seasons. Schumacher capped off the season with a victory ahead of Montoya and Coulthard. Häkkinen was fourth in his last ever race, ahead of Barrichello and Ralf.  At the end of the season, Schumacher was a dominant champion with 123 points. Coulthard with 65 was a distant second, 58 points behind. Barrichello was third with 56, Ralf fourth with 49, Häkkinen fifth with 37 and Montoya sixth with 31. This meant that Schumacher had collected more than second and third placed drivers' (Coulthard's and Barichello's) totals put together. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was a winner with 179 points, a massive 77 ahead of second-placed McLaren with 102, and Williams was third with 80 points.

New safety car.

For this season, Mercedes-Benz provided a new safety car in the shape of the SL55 AMG, which also performed this duty during 2002 and replaced the previous CL55 AMG. It was first deployed during the German Grand Prix.

Results and standings.

Scoring system.

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race as follows:

World Drivers' Championship standings.

Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

The 2001 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 55th season of FIA Formula One racing. It featured the FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on 4 March 2001 and ended on 14 October after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers' title with a record margin of 58 points, after achieving nine victories and five second places and Ferrari won the Constructors' award. The season marked the reintroduction of traction control, with the FIA permitting its use starting at the Spanish Grand Prix. Traction control had been banned since. Schumacher also broke the all-time Formula One Grand Prix wins record during the season, his victory at the Belgian Grand Prix marking his 52nd career win.

Die Formel-1-Weltmeisterschaft 2001 war die 52. Saison der Formel-1-Weltmeisterschaft. Sie wurde über 17 Rennen in der Zeit vom 4. März 2001 bis zum 14. Oktober 2001 ausgetragen. Michael Schumacher und Ferrari verteidigten beide Weltmeistertitel.


Nearby galaxies and group information.

NGC 300 and the irregular galaxy NGC 55 have traditionally been identified as members of the Sculptor Group, a nearby group of galaxies in the constellation of the same name. However, recent distance measurements indicate that these two galaxies actually lie in the foreground. It is likely that NGC 300 and NGC 55 form a gravitationally bound pair.

Distance estimates.

In 1986, Allan Sandage estimated the distance to NGC 300 to be 5.41 Mly (1.66 Mpc). By 1992, this had been updated to 6.9 Mly (2.1 Mpc) by Freedman et al. In 2006, this was revised by Karachentsev et al. to be (). At about the same time, the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) method was used to produce an estimate of () using edge detection and () using maximum likelihood. These results were consistent with estimates using near-infrared photometry of Cepheid variables by Gieren et al. 2005 that provided an estimate of (). Combining the recent TCGB and Cepheid estimates the distance to NGC 300 is estimated at ().

NGC 300-OT.

On a CCD image obtained on May 14, 2008, amateur astronomer L.A.G. Berto Monard discovered a bright optical transient (OT) in NGC 300 that is designated NGC 300-OT. It is located at RA: and DEC: in a spiral arm containing active star formation. Its broad-band magnitude was 14.3 in that image. An earlier image (from April 24, 2008), taken just after NGC 300 reemerged from behind the Sun, evidenced an already brightening OT at ~16.3 magnitude. No brightening was detected on a February 8, 2008 image or on any earlier ones. The transient's peak measured magnitude was 14.69 on May 15, 2008.  At discovery, the transient had an absolute magnitude of, making it faint in comparison to a typical core-collapse supernova but bright in comparison to a classical nova. Additionally, the photometric and spectroscopic properties of the OT imply that it is not a luminous blue variable either. Since its peak, brightness dropped smoothly through September 2008 while becoming continuously redder. After September 2008, brightness continued to fall at a lower rate in the optical spectrum but with strong Hα emissions. Further, the optical spectrum is mostly made up of fairly narrow Hydrogen Balmer and Ca II emission lines coupled with strong Ca II H&K absorption. Research into historical Hubble images provide an accurate upper bound on the progenitor star's brightness. This suggested a low-mass main sequence star as progenitor with the transient resulting from a stellar merger similar to red Galactic nova V838 Monocerotis. Analysis of historical images of the area of the OT suggest with 70% certainty that the progenitor formed in a burst of stars around 8–13 Myr ago and implies the progenitor's mass to be 12–25 M assuming the OT is due to an evolving massive star.  However, in 2008 a bright mid-infrared progenitor to the transient was discovered in historical Spitzer data. This was a star that was obscured by dust, with energy distribution analogous to a black-body of AU and radiating at K with. This demonstrated that the transient was associated with an energetic explosion of a low-mass ≈ 10 M star. The transient's low luminosity as compared to typical core-collapse supernova, combined with its spectral attributes and dust covered properties, make it nearly identical to NGG 6946's SN 2008S.  The spectrum of NGC 300-OT observed with Spitzer shows strong, broad emission features at 8 μm and 12 μm. Such features are also seen in Galactic carbon-rich protoplanetary nebulae.

SN 2010da.

On May 23, 2010, Monard discovered another transient object of 16th magnitude, denoted as SN 2010da. The optical transient was detected 15".9 west and 16".8 north the center of the galaxy at coordinates 00 55 04.86 -37 41 43.7.  Two sets of independent follow-up spectroscopy data suggested that this was again another optical transient rather than a supernova, possibly an outbursting luminous blue variable star according to one spectrum, as earlier predicted from the nature of the candidate mid-infrared progenitor. The transient faded by 0.5-0.7 mag in 9 days, much faster than the 2008 transient in NGC 300.

Binary black hole system.

The x-ray source at the core of NGC 300 is designated NGC 300 X-1. Astronomers speculate that NGC 300 X-1 is a new kind of Wolf-Rayet black hole binary system similar to the confirmed such system IC 10 X-1. Their shared properties include an orbital period of ~30 hours and x-ray brightness of ~1 ergs.

NGC 300 (also known as Caldwell 70) is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. It is one of the closest galaxies to the Local Group, and probably lies between the latter and the Sculptor Group. It is the brightest of the five main spirals in the direction of the Sculptor Group. It is inclined at an angle of 42° when viewed from Earth and shares many characteristics of the Triangulum Galaxy. It is 94,000 light-years in diameter, somewhat smaller than the Milky Way.

NGC 300 ist eine Galaxie mit ausgeprägter Spiralstruktur (Typ Sc) im Sternbild Bildhauer am Südsternhimmel. Sie hat eine Winkelausdehnung von 19' × 12,9' und eine scheinbare Helligkeit von 8,1 mag. Sie ist rund 5 Millionen Lichtjahre von der Milchstraße entfernt und mit einem Durchmesser von etwa 45.000 Lichtjahren deutlich kleiner als unsere Milchstraße mit ca. 100.000 Lichtjahren Durchmesser.


The Ross Perot movement.

Ross Perot's 1992 presidential election campaign.

The party grew out of Ross Perot's efforts in the 1992 presidential election, where—running as an independent—he became the first non-major party candidate since 1912 to have been considered viable enough to win the presidency. Perot received attention for focusing on fiscal issues such as the federal deficit and national debt; government reform issues such as term limits, campaign finance reform, and lobbying reform; and issues on trade. A large part of his following was grounded in the belief he was addressing vital problems largely ignored by the two major parties.  A Gallup poll showed Perot with a slim lead, but on July 19 he suspended his campaign, accusing Republican operatives of threatening to sabotage his daughter's wedding. He was accused by "Newsweek" of being a "quitter" in a well-publicized cover-page article. After resuming his campaign on October 1, Perot was dogged by the "quitter" moniker and other allegations concerning his character. On Election Day many voters were confused as to whether Perot was actually still a candidate. He ended up receiving about 18.9 percent of the popular vote, a record level of popularity not seen in an independent candidacy since former President Theodore Roosevelt ran on the "Bull Moose" Progressive Party ticket in 1912. He continued being politically involved after the election, turning his campaign organization (United We Stand America) into a lobbying group. One of his primary goals was the defeat of the North American Free Trade Agreement during this period.

Foundation and rise of the party.

In 1995, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, largely on the strength of the "Contract with America", which recognized and promised to deal with many of the issues Perot's voters had mobilized to support in 1992. However, two of the major provisions (Constitutional amendments for term limits and the balanced budgets) failed to secure the two-thirds congressional majorities required to be submitted to the states.  Dissatisfied, the grassroots organizations that had made Perot's 1992 candidacy possible began to band together to found a third party intended to rival the Republicans and Democrats. For legal reasons, the party ended up being called the "Reform Party" ("Independent Party" was preferred, but already taken, as were several variants on the name). A drive to get the party on the ballot in all fifty states succeeded, although it ended with lawsuits in some regions overstate ballot access requirements. In a few areas, minor parties became incorporated as state party organizations.

Apex: 1996 presidential election.

Nomination campaign.

At first, when the 1996 election season arrived, Perot held off from entering the contest for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, calling for others to try for the ticket. The only person who announced such an intention was Dick Lamm, former Governor of Colorado. After the Federal Election Commission indicated only Perot and not Lamm would be able to secure federal matching funds—because his 1992 campaign was as an independent—Perot entered the race. Some were upset that Perot changed his mind because, in their view, Perot overshadowed Lamm's run for the party nomination. This built up to the beginning of a splinter within the movement, when it was alleged certain problems in the primary process—such as many Lamm supporters not receiving ballots, and some primary voters receiving multiple ballots—were Perot's doing. The Reform Party claimed these problems stemmed from the petition process for getting the Reform Party on the ballot in all of the states since the party claimed they used the names and addresses of petition signers as the basis of who received ballots. Primary ballots were sent by mail to designated voters. Eventually, Perot was nominated and he chose economist Pat Choate as his vice-presidential candidate.

Exclusion from the debates.

Between 1992 and 1996, the Commission on Presidential Debates changed its rules regarding how candidates could qualify to participate in the presidential debates. As Perot had previously done very well in debates, it was a decisive blow to the campaign when the Commission ruled that he could not participate on the basis of somewhat vague criteria — such as that a candidate was required to have already been endorsed by "a substantial number of major news organizations," with "substantial" being a number to be decided by the Commission on a case-by-case basis. Perot could not have qualified for the debates in 1992 under these rules, and was able to show that various famous U.S. presidents would likewise have been excluded from the modern debate by the Commission on Presidential Debates.  Despite legal action by the Perot team, and an 80 percent majority of Americans supporting his participation in the debates, the Commission refused to budge and Perot was reduced to making his points heard via a series of half-hour "commercials". In the end, Perot and Choate won 8 percent of the vote.

Plateau and decline.

1997.

By October 1997, factional disputes began to emerge with the departure of a group that believed Perot had rigged the 1996 party primary to defeat Lamm. These individuals eventually established the "American Reform Party" (ARP). The ARP is actually a minor political action committee. Then chairman, Roy Downing, said the split came about when it was "...discovered [that the Reform Party] was a top-down party instead of a bottom-up organization." Although members of the group attempted to persuade former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm – Perot's chief rival for the nomination – to run for president as an Independent, he declined, pointing out that he had promised before running that he would not challenge the party's decision. During this time, Perot himself chose to concentrate on lobbying efforts through United We Stand America.

American Reform Party.

When the ARP was founded, Jackie Salit noted in the "Christian Science Monitor": "At its founding meeting in Kansas City in 1997, the 40 black delegates in the room, led by the country’s foremost African-American independent – Lenora Fulani – represented the first time in US history that African-Americans were present at the founding of a major national political party."  The ARP has yet to organize in more than a few states. In the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections, the American Reform Party supported Ralph Nader for president. The ARP is not a political party in the conventional sense. It does not have ballot access in any state, and it does not run candidates. It supports third-party candidates and independents who support the primary principals of the Party's platform.  About 2010–2011, the party shifted from a relatively centrist platform to a Tea Party-style fiscal conservative one. In the 2012 presidential election, the ARP endorsed Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney against incumbent president Barack Obama. In the 2016 presidential election, the Party endorsed the Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Mid-term elections of 1998.

In 1998, the Reform Party received a boost when Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota. According to the League of Women Voters, the Reform Party USA obtained more votes nationwide in 1998 than did any other third party in America (without those garnered by Ventura). Counting Ventura's performance, Reformers took in more votes than all other third parties in the United States combined, establishing the Reform Party as America's third-largest party.

2000 presidential election.

The Reform Party's presidential candidate for the 2000 election was due federal matching funds of $12.5 million, based on Perot's 8 percent showing in 1996. Early on, there was a failed effort to draft Ron Paul.  Donald Trump entered the race briefly, giving television interviews outlining his platform. Trump was progressive on social issues, and supported allowing openly gay soldiers in the military, saying: "it would not disturb me". Trump considered himself a conservative, but criticized Pat Buchanan, saying: "I'm on the conservative side, but Buchanan is Attila the Hun." He withdrew from the race citing the party's infighting, as did Jesse Ventura and the Minnesota Reform Party. Donald Trump stated: "So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep." "Mr. Duke" was a reference to David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.  Pat Buchanan decided to leave the Republican Party because: "The Republican Party at the national level has ceased to be my party. This divorce began around the end of the Cold War when President (George) Bush declared it to be a New World-order party and began intervening all over the world. While he and I were allies and friends during the Cold War, I just felt that once the Cold War was over the United States should return to a more traditional non-intervention foreign policy."  After a bitter fight, Pat Buchanan secured the Reform Party nomination over John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party. Hagelin and an anti-Buchanan faction walked out and held a separate convention across the street, where they nominated Hagelin as the party's candidate. The dispute went to the courts and the FEC decided that Buchanan was the legitimate nominee and awarded him $12.6 million in campaign funds. Buchanan's running mate was Ezola B. Foster. Buchanan got 449,225 votes, 0.4 percent of those voting, and the party lost its matching funds for 2004.  In 2002, Buchanan returned to the Republican Party. Many of his campaign supporters also left the Reform Party to form the America First Party.

2004 presidential election.

By the October 2003 National Convention, the Reform Party had only begun rebuilding, but several former state organizations had elected to rejoin now that the interference from the Freedom Parties was gone. They increased their ranks from 24 to 30 states and managed to retrieve ballot access for seven of them. (Buchanan's poor showing in 2000 had lost ballot access for almost the entire party.)  Because of organizational and financial problems in the party, it opted to support the independent campaign of Ralph Nader as the best option for an independent of any stripe that year. While the endorsement generated publicity for Nader and the Reform Party, the party was only able to provide Nader with seven ballot lines down from the 49 of 51 guaranteed ballot lines the party had going into the 2000 election.

Collapse.

Activities of the party in 2005.

In 2005, a dispute arose: the number of National Committee members required under the party's by-laws to call meetings of the National Committee, and the Executive Committee did so. These members came from several states including Texas, Michigan, and Florida. At both meetings, it was determined that a national convention would be called and held in Tampa, Florida. The Chairman at the time and National Committee members from Arizona, California, and Oklahoma boycotted the National and Executive Committee meetings, claiming the meetings were illegitimate. As a result, those states held a second convention in Yuma, Arizona.  In response to a suit filed by the group that met in Tampa, leaders of the Reform Party filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) complaint claiming the Tampa group were extremists and guilty of conspiracy.

2006 candidates.

In 2006, the Reform Party nominated candidates in Arizona, and petitioned to regain ballot access in several other states where state Reform Party organizations were active. The Reform Party of Kansas nominated a slate of candidates, led by Iraq War veteran Richard Ranzau. In Colorado's 4th congressional district, "fiscal conservative" Eric Eidsness (a former assistant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator and Navy veteran) ran on the Reform Party ticket. He received 11.28 percent of the vote, five times the winning candidate's margin of victory; he later switched his affiliation to the Democratic Party. The Florida Reform Party granted use of its ballot line for governor to Max Linn of Florida Citizens for Term Limits (a Republican-leaning organization) in the 2006 gubernatorial election. Linn retained professional campaign staff with connections to the Perot and Ventura campaigns, but received only 1.9 percent of the vote. As of March 2007, the Reform Party had ballot access for the 2008 presidential election in four states (Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi) and had already started petitioning in an additional four.

2008 National Convention.

The Reform Party held its 2008 National Convention in Dallas, July 18–20.  At the national convention, Ted Weill of Mississippi was nominated to be the party's 2008 presidential candidate. Frank McEnulty of California, the 2008 presidential candidate of the New American Independent Party, was nominated to be the party's 2008 vice-presidential candidate. David Collison of Texas was elected national chairman of the party. However, the party could not announce the results of the national convention on its web site until October because of a court order obtained by a dissident faction associated with the Independence Party of New York. Therefore, the Weill/McEnulty ticket appeared on the ballot only in Mississippi, in which it received 481 votes.  An erroneous news report was broadcast by ABC News that stated the party had endorsed John McCain. Frank MacKay of the dissident Independence Party of New York faction had made the endorsement, not the Reform Party USA. Reform Party USA Reference David Collison, the Reform Party's chairman, said during a 2009 interview, "Do you believe that any legitimate national party would endorse the Republican candidate for President rather than have a candidate of their own?"  The candidates for the nomination included:

2009 legal action.

A long-standing feud in the party involved John Blare, of the Reform Party of California, and the Reform Party officers.  On December 4, 2009, a New York Federal judge heard "MacKay v Crews" on the question of who are the legal Reform Party officers. On December 16, 2009 the judge ruled in favor of David Collison's faction.  Collison said: "After over two years of litigation in Texas and New York, it is my profound pleasure to announce that US District Court Judge Joseph Bianco of the Eastern District of New York has ruled in our favor, and has further reinforced the 2008 ruling of Judge Carl Ginsberg of the 193rd District Court in Texas."

2010.

In January 2010, Central Intelligence Agency operations officer Charles S. Faddis announced his support of the party in "The Baltimore Sun": "I have decided to throw in my lot with the Reform Party of the United States." Faddis later left the party, and ran in 2016 for Maryland's 5th congressional district as a Republican.  In February 2010, former Reform Party Chairman Pat Choate emerged to discuss the appeal of the Tea Party movement, contrasting it with Ross Perot's party, saying: "The difference with the Tea Party is it's been heavily pushed by a bunch of talk-show conservatives. You have the Republican Party attempting to use this as a means to pull independents or conservative independents to their policies, to their agenda."  In February, Congressional candidates filed to run as Reform Party candidates in all four of Mississippi's congressional districts, but none for any statewide offices. Among these were Barbara Dale Washer, Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill, and Anna Jewel Revies.  In April 2010, former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle condemned the Reform Party on CBS, saying: "Many remember the Reform Party of the 1990s, which formed around the candidacy of Ross Perot. I sure do, because it eliminated any chance that President George H.W. Bush and I would prevail over Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992. Speaking on behalf of the Bush-Quayle campaign, to this day we firmly believe that Perot cost the Republican Party the White House."  Pat Choate in an April 28, 2010 interview with Monmouth University's student newspaper remained suspicious of the Tea Party movement, saying: "At these [Tea Party] events, a professional Republican always speaks. What to me is questionable is that the Tea Parties endorse candidates, but never endorse Democrats—they seem to be a front for the Republican Party. We were seen as very serious. Perot gave millions, we fielded candidates, and we were a real threat to the status quo. The media treats the Tea Parties as a sign of dissatisfaction, and views them skeptically."  Kristin M. Davis, the Manhattan madam involved in the Eliot Spitzer scandal, announced on June 27, 2010, that she was running for governor on an independent line in New York State using the name, Reform Party without Reform Party authorization after failing to secure the Libertarian Party nomination. Davis condemned the Democrats and Republicans for catering to wealthy white males, saying: "Where are the women, the Hispanics, the African-Americans, and the gay people? We must reject their tired old thinking..."  On June 29, 2010, Reform Party National Committee chairman David Collison sent Davis a cease-and-desist notice demanding that she immediately change the name under which she was seeking to run for governor. Davis made no attempt to obtain permission to run as an official Reform Party candidate, and therefore withdrew her use of the Reform Party name. Davis was not a member of the Reform Party. Davis changed her Independent Ballot Line name and filed as an independent candidate by obtaining the required signatures needed in New York State to run for governor on the "Anti-Prohibition" line.

2012 presidential election.

The Reform Party held its 2012 National Convention in Philadelphia, August 11–12, 2012.  At the national convention, the Reform Party nominated Andre Barnett from New York for president and Ken Cross from Arkansas for vice president. Among those who sought the nomination before dropping out several months prior to the convention were former Savannah State University football coach Robby Wells, economist Laurence Kotlikoff, historian Darcy Richardson, and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer.

2016 presidential election.

The Reform Party co-nominated the American Delta Party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates Rocky de la Fuente and Michael Steinberg as their 2016 presidential ticket.

2020 presidential election.

On June 20, 2020 during a virtual convention, the Reform Party again nominated Rocky de la Fuente for President. De la Fuente defeated three other recognized candidates, Max Abramson, Souraya Faas, and Ben Zion (formerly the nominee for the Transhumanist Party).

Platform.

The Reform Party platform includes the following:  A noticeable absence from the Reform Party platform has been social issues, including abortion and gay rights. Reform Party representatives had long stated beliefs that their party could bring together people from both sides of these issues, which they consider divisive, to address what they considered to be more vital concerns as expressed in their platform. The idea was to form a large coalition of moderates; that intention was overridden in 2001 by the Buchanan takeover which rewrote the RPUSA Constitution to include platform planks opposed to any form of abortion. The Buchananists, in turn, were overridden by the 2002 Convention which reverted the Constitution to its 1996 version and the party's original stated goals.

Active state affiliates.

The party's active state affiliates are:

The Reform Party of the United States of America (RPUSA), generally known as the Reform Party USA or the Reform Party, is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot.

Die Reform Party of the United States of America (auch Reform Party USA oder RPUSA, ) ist eine US-amerikanische politische Partei, die 1995 vom Unternehmer und Präsidentschaftskandidaten von 1992, Ross Perot, gegründet wurde.


Legal.

In the theory of law, a controversy differs from a legal case; while legal cases include all suits, criminal as well as civil, a controversy is a purely civil proceeding.  For example, the Case or Controversy Clause of Article Three of the United States Constitution (, Clause 1) states that "the judicial Power shall extend... to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party". This clause has been deemed to impose a requirement that United States federal courts are not permitted to hear cases that do not pose an actual controversy—that is, an actual dispute between adverse parties which is capable of being resolved by the [court]. In addition to setting out the scope of the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary, it also prohibits courts from issuing advisory opinions, or from hearing cases that are either unripe, meaning that the controversy has not arisen yet, or moot, meaning that the controversy has already been resolved.

Benford's law.

Benford's law of controversy, as expressed by the astrophysicist and science fiction author Gregory Benford in 1980, states: "Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available." In other words, it claims that the less factual information is available on a topic, the more controversy can arise around that topic – and the more facts are available, the less controversy can arise. Thus, for example, controversies in physics would be limited to subject areas where experiments cannot be carried out yet, whereas controversies would be inherent to politics, where communities must frequently decide on courses of action based on insufficient information.

Psychological bases.

Controversies are frequently thought to be a result of a lack of confidence on the part of the disputants – as implied by Benford's law of controversy, which only talks about lack of information ("passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real information available"). For example, in analyses of the political controversy over anthropogenic climate change, which is exceptionally virulent in the United States, it has been proposed that those who are opposed to the scientific consensus do so because they don't have enough information about the topic. A study of 1540 US adults found instead that levels of scientific literacy correlated with the strength of opinion on climate change, but not on which side of the debate that they stood.  The puzzling phenomenon of two individuals being able to reach different conclusions after being exposed to the same facts has been frequently explained (particularly by Daniel Kahneman) by reference to a 'bounded rationality' – in other words, that most judgments are made using fast acting heuristics that work well in every day situations, but are not amenable to decision making about complex subjects such as climate change. Anchoring has been particularly identified as relevant in climate change controversies as individuals are found to be more positively inclined to believe in climate change if the outside temperature is higher, if they have been primed to think about heat, and if they are primed with higher temperatures when thinking about the future temperature increases from climate change.  In other controversies – such as that around the HPV vaccine, the same evidence seemed to license inference to radically different conclusions. Kahan et al. explained this by the cognitive biases of biased assimilation and a credibility heuristic.  Similar effects on reasoning are also seen in non-scientific controversies, for example in the gun control debate in the United States. As with other controversies, it has been suggested that exposure to empirical facts would be sufficient to resolve the debate once and for all. In computer simulations of cultural communities, beliefs were found to polarize within isolated sub-groups, based on the mistaken belief of the community's unhindered access to ground truth. Such confidence in the group to find the ground truth is explicable through the success of wisdom of the crowd based inferences. However, if there is no access to the ground truth, as there was not in this model, the method will fail.  Bayesian decision theory allows these failures of rationality to be described as part of a statistically optimized system for decision making. Experiments and computational models in multisensory integration have shown that sensory input from different senses is integrated in a statistically optimal way, in addition, it appears that the kind of inferences used to infer single sources for multiple sensory inputs uses a Bayesian inference about the causal origin of the sensory stimuli. As such, it appears neurobiologically plausible that the brain implements decision-making procedures that are close to optimal for Bayesian inference.  Brocas and Carrillo propose a model to make decisions based on noisy sensory inputs, beliefs about the state of the world are modified by Bayesian updating, and then decisions are made based on beliefs passing a threshold. They show that this model, when optimized for single-step decision making, produces belief anchoring and polarization of opinions – exactly as described in the global warming controversy context – in spite of identical evidence presented, the pre-existing beliefs (or evidence presented first) has an overwhelming effect on the beliefs formed. In addition, the preferences of the agent (the particular rewards that they value) also cause the beliefs formed to change – this explains the biased assimilation (also known as confirmation bias) shown above. This model allows the production of controversy to be seen as a consequence of a decision maker optimized for single-step decision making, rather than as a result of limited reasoning in the bounded rationality of Daniel Kahneman.

Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin "controversia", as a composite of "controversus" – "turned in an opposite direction".

Eine Kontroverse (v. lat.: "contra" entgegen; "versus" gerichtet) ist ein länger anhaltender Streit, Disput oder eine Debatte. Bei einem Disput wird ein kontrovers geführtes Gespräch u. U. zu einem Streitgespräch. Die Person oder Personen die in einem Disput handeln oder interagieren tragen ein Wortgefecht aus und versuchen, die eigenen Argumente zu einem beliebigen Standpunkt vorzutragen und sein Gegenüber von der eigenen Position zu überzeugen. Als Kontroverse lassen sich sowohl eine private Debatte zweier Einzelpersonen als auch mächtige soziale Unruhen bezeichnen (z. B. Streit zweier Parteien, Debatte).


Party history.

Foundation.

The SGP was founded on 24 April 1918, by several conservative members of the Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). They did not support female suffrage, which the ARP had made possible. Furthermore, they were against the alliance the ARP had formed with the General League of Roman Catholic Caucuses. The leading figure in the party's foundation was Yerseke pastor Gerrit Hendrik Kersten, who envisioned a Netherlands "without cinema, sports, vaccination and social security".

1922–1945.

The party entered the 1918 general elections, but was unable to win any seats. In the 1922 election the party entered Parliament when Kersten won a seat in the House of Representatives. In this period the SGP became most noted for proposing, during the annual parliamentary debate on the budget of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, to abolish Dutch representation to the Holy See. Each year the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU) also voted in favour of this motion. The CHU was in cabinet with the Catholic General League, but many of its members and supporters still had strong feelings against the Catholic Church. In 1925, the left-wing opposition (the Free-thinking Democratic League and Social Democratic Workers' Party) also voted in favour of the motion. They were indifferent to the representation at the Holy See, but saw the issue as an opportunity to divide the confessional cabinet. The cabinet fell over this issue, in what is known as the "Nacht van Kersten" ("Night of Kersten").  The party gained another seat in the 1925 election, and a third seat in the 1929 election. It retained three seats in the 1933 election, but lost a seat in the 1937 election, in which the ARP led by prime minister Hendrikus Colijn performed particularly well. During World War II, Kersten cooperated with the German occupiers to allow his paper, the "Banier", to be printed. He also condemned the Dutch Resistance, saying the German invasion was divine retribution for desecrating the Lord's Day. After the war, he was branded a collaborator and permanently stripped of his seat in the House of Representatives.

1945–present.

Kersten was succeeded by, under whose leadership the SGP was very stable, continually getting 2% of votes. In the 1956 election, the SGP profited from the enlargement of Parliament, and entered the Senate for the first time. It lost that seat in 1960, but regained it in 1971. In 1961 Zandt died and was succeeded by, a chemist. After ten years he stood down in favour of Reverend Hette Abma, who also stepped down after ten years, in favour of Henk van Rossum, a civil engineer. In the 1984 European Parliament election, the SGP joined the two other orthodox Protestant parties (the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF) and the Reformed Political League (GPV)). They won one seat in the European Parliament, which was taken by SGP member Leen van der Waal, a mechanical engineer. In 1986, Van Rossum was succeeded by Bas van der Vlies, who led the party till March 2010, when he was succeeded by Kees van der Staaij. In the 1994 election the party lost one seat in the House, regained it in 1998, and lost it again in 2002. After the general election of 2003, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) held talks with the SGP — the first time in memory that the SGP was seriously considered as a possible coalition partner. Ultimately, the Democrats 66 joined the second Balkenende cabinet instead of the SGP, mostly because of the ideological differences between VVD and SGP.  On 7 September 2005, the district court of The Hague judged that the party could no longer receive subsidies from the government, because women were not allowed to hold positions in the party. This was found to be a violation of the 1981 UN Treaty on Women in which the Netherlands committed to fighting discrimination. It also was a violation of the first article of the Dutch constitution, the principle of non-discrimination. The Dutch Council of State overturned the decision nevertheless, maintaining that a party's political philosophy takes precedence, and that women have the opportunity to join other political parties where they can obtain a leadership role.  Female members of the Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which did allow female membership, said however that they did not feel discriminated or repressed. During a party congress on 24 June 2006, the SGP lifted the ban on female membership. Political positions inside and outside the party are open to women. On 19 March 2014, the first female SGP delegate was elected to the municipal council in Vlissingen.

Ideology and issues.

As a Protestant fundamentalist party, the SGP draws much from its ideology from the reformed tradition, specifically the ecclesiastical doctrinal standards known as the Three Forms of Unity, including an unamended version of the Belgic Confession ("Nederlandse Geloofsbelijdenis"). The latter text is explicitly mentioned in the first principle of the party, where it is stated that the SGP strives towards a government totally based on the Bible. This first principle also states that the uncut version of the Belgic Confession is meant, which adds the task of opposing anti-Christian powers to the description of the government's roles and tasks. The party is a strict defender of the separation between church and state, rejecting "both the state church and church state". Both church and state are believed to have distinct roles in society, while working towards the same goal, but despite this, some accuse the SGP of advocating for theocracy. The SGP opposes freedom of religion, but advocates freedom of conscience instead, noting that "the obedience to the Law of God cannot be forced".  The SGP opposes feminism, and concludes, on Biblical grounds, that men and women are of equal value ("gelijkwaardig") but inherently different ("gelijk"). Men and women, so the party claims, have different places in society. This belief led to restricting party membership to men until 2006, when this restriction became subject to controversy and was eventually removed. It has traditionally opposed universal suffrage, seeking to replace this with a form of "organic suffrage" (, "suffrage of the pater familias") restricted to male heads of households. In the 2018 local elections, the party for the first time allowed several women to lead lists.  In controversial discussions in the Dutch House of Representatives "(Tweede Kamer)", the SGP often stresses the importance of the rule of law, parliamentary procedure and rules of order, regardless of ideological agreement. The party favours the re-introduction of the death penalty in the Netherlands. They base this on the Bible, specifically on Genesis 9:6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man", and Exodus 21:12, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death."

Electoral results.

This is a list of representations of Reformed Political Party in the Dutch parliament, as well as the provincial, municipal and European elections. The party's "lijsttrekker" has been the same as the "fractievoorzitter" (parliamentary group leader) of that year in every election.

Leadership.

House of Representatives.

Since the 2012 elections the party has had three representatives in the House of Representatives:

Senate.

Since the 2015 Senate elections, the party has had two representatives in the Senate:

European Parliament.

Since the 1984 European Parliament election the party has one elected representative in the European Parliament. From 1984 to 1997 Leen van der Waal was the representative, from 1999 until now Bas Belder is the party's representative. In the European elections, the SGP formed one parliamentary party with the Christian Union, called Christian Union-SGP. It was part of the Independence/Democracy (Ind/Dem) European parliamentary group. Following the results of the 2009 European Parliament elections, the Ind/Dem group was disbanded, and the SGP joined the Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) European parliamentary group. After the 2014 European Parliament elections, the SGP left the EFD and joined the Christian Union in the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group:

Municipal and provincial government.

Provincial government.

In provincial governments, the party participates in the Zeeland provincial executive. There, the party is the strongest, with over 10% of the vote. It has 18 members of provincial legislature independently, while another two seats were won by combined lists with the Christian Union.  The table below shows the election results of the 2019 provincial election in each province. It shows the areas where the Reformed Political Party is strong, namely in the Bible Belt: a band from Zeeland, via parts of South Holland and Utrecht, Gelderland to Overijssel. <nowiki>*</nowiki> result of combined ChristianUnion/SGP lists.

Municipal government.

6 of the 342 mayors of the Netherlands are members of the SGP, and the party participates in several local executives, usually in municipalities located within the Bible Belt. The party has 40 aldermen and 244 members of local legislature. In many municipalities where the SGP is weaker, it cooperates with the ChristenUnie, presenting common lists.

Electorate.

The SGP has had a very stable electorate since first entering the States-General in 1922. Since winning a second seat in 1926, it has usually varied between two and three seats in the House of Representatives. The party has been called “an almost perfect illustration of Duverger's category of 'fossilised' minor party."  Most of its electorate is formed by so-called "bevindelijk gereformeerden", Reformed Christians for whom personal religious experience is very important. This group is formed by several smaller churches such as the Christian Reformed Churches, Reformed Congregations, Restored Reformed Church, and Old-Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands, as well as the conservative wing of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the Reformed Association. However, not all members of these churches / church wings vote SGP.  The SGP's support is concentrated geographically in the Dutch bible belt, a band of strongly Reformed municipalities ranging from Zeeland in the South via Goeree-Overflakkee and the Alblasserwaard in South Holland and the Veluwe in Gelderland to the Western part of Overijssel, around Staphorst. The SGP is also very strong on the former island Urk and also in Uddel; in both places it received a majority of the vote in 2017.

Organisation.

Organisational structure.

The highest organ of the SGP is the congress, which is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the Senate, House of Representatives, European Parliament candidates list and has the last say over the party program. The SGP chairman is always a minister. Since 2001 this position is ceremonial, as the general chair leads the party's organisation.  The party has 245 municipal branches and has a provincial federation in each province, except for Limburg.

Linked organisations.

The party publishes the Banner two-weekly since 1921. The scientific institute of the party is called the, which publishes the magazine Zicht (Sight). The youth organisation of the SGP is called the Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which with its approximately 12,000 members is the largest political youth organization in the Netherlands.  The SGP participates in the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy, a democracy assistance organisation of seven Dutch political parties.

Pillarised organisations.

The SGP still has close links with several other orthodox Protestant organisations, such as several reformed churches and the newspaper "Reformatorisch Dagblad". Together they form a small but strong orthodox-reformed pillar.

Relationships to other parties.

Until 1963, the SGP was relatively isolated in parliament. The strongly antipapal SGP refused to cooperate with either the Catholic People's Party or the secularist People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA). The larger Protestant Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) had some sympathy for the party, but cooperated tightly with the KVP and the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU). In 1963 another orthodox Protestant party, the Reformed Political League (GPV) entered parliament, in 1981 they were joined by the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF). Together these three parties formed the "Small Christian parties". They shared the same orthodox Protestant political ideals and had the same political strategy, as testimonial parties. They cooperated in municipalities, both in municipal executives, where the parties were strong, as well as in common municipal parties, where the parties were weak. In the 1984 European Parliamentary election the parties presented a common list and they won one seat in parliament. After 1993 the cooperation between the GPV and the RPF intensified, but the SGP's position at the time on female suffrage prevented the SGP joining this closer cooperation. However, in 2000 the GPV and RPF merged to form the ChristianUnion (CU). Traditionally the SGP and the CU worked together closely as they were both based on Protestant Christian politics. Recently however, as the CU has moved more towards the centre-left, discernible differences of philosophy between the SGP and CU have caused the parties to not join together in elections. The most notable example was the 2011 senate election where the SGP and CU did not combine their votes.  Prime Minister Mark Rutte's first government depended on the SGP's support in the Senate to pass legislation where it fell one seat short of a majority in the 2011 provincial elections. As a result, the party was able to achieve a number of its own political objectives: continuing child support for larger families, and restricting business hours on Sundays. As previously mentioned, it was seriously considered as a coalition partner in 2003. These are among the few times in recent memory that the SGP has had any national impact.

The Reformed Political Party (, SGP) is an orthodox Calvinist political party in the Netherlands. The term "Reformed" is not a reference to political reform but is a synonym for Calvinism—a major branch of Protestantism. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form and has been in opposition for its entire existence. Owing to its orthodox political ideals and its traditional role in the opposition, the party has been called a testimonial party. Since the general election of 2017, it has held 3 of the 150 seats of the House of Representatives.

Die Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP; deutsch "Reformierte Politische Partei") ist eine kleine reformierte politische Partei in den Niederlanden. Sie wurde 1918 in Middelburg (Zeeland) gegründet und ist damit die älteste noch aktive Partei der Niederlande.


Biography.

He was born in 1943 in Al Shindagha, Dubai to the Al Maktoum family of the Al Bu Falasah tribe. His father Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum became the Ruler of Dubai upon the death of his own father, Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum (Saeed II), in 1958. Sheikh Maktoum was Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates first from the country's independence on 9 December 1971 until 25 April 1979, when he was replaced by his father, who had been Vice President since 1971. Following his father's death on 7 October 1990, he resumed his position as Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and also took over as Ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates. He served in all three positions until his death on 4 January 2006.  Sheikh Maktoum also briefly served as acting President of the United Arab Emirates on 2–3 November 2004 between the death of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the proclamation and installation of his son Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan as President of the United Arab Emirates on 4 November 2004. Sheikh Maktoum ran the emirate of Dubai along with his two brothers, Sheikh Mohammed (Crown Prince and Minister of Defense) and Sheikh Hamdan (Minister of Finance) of the United Arab Emirates. Internationally, he was also known as co-owner (with his brothers) of Dubai's Godolphin Stables, which competes in major horse races around the world.  Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum died on the morning of 4 January 2006, suffering a heart attack while staying at Palazzo Versace Hotel in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. He was succeeded by his brother, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as ruler of Dubai. His body was brought back from Australia and buried in Dubai.

Personal life.

Wife and children.

Sheikha Alia bint Khalifa bin Saeed al Maktoum was Al Maktoum's wife until his death in 2006. They were married on 12 March 1971. Sheikha Alia, like other members of the Maktoum family, is involved in horse racing. In 2005, she purchased four horses. Her horse Eilean Ban won the EBF Fillies' Conditions Stakes on September 2, 2005, at the Newmarket Racecourse.  Al Maktoum's daughter with Alia bint Khalifa bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is Lateefa bint Maktoum Al Maktoum (born 11 February 1985). This branch lives away from Dubai public life. Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum is founder of the art center, Tashkeel Dubai.  Sheikha Bouchra from Morocco was Al Maktoum's second wife and had three sons with him. She was a hobbyist painter and a horse racing enthusiast.

Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (ca. 1941 – 4 January 2006) (; ), also referred to as Sheikh Maktoum (honorific) was the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the emir (ruler) of Dubai.

Samdech Hun Sen (* 5. August 1952 in Peam Koh Sna, Provinz Kampong Cham) ist ein kambodschanischer Politiker. Er ist seit 2015 Generalsekretär der Kambodschanischen Volkspartei (, abgekürzt PPC) und seit 1985 Ministerpräsident. Der Namensteil "Samdech" wurde ihm 1993 von König Norodom Sihanouk als Ehrentitel verliehen.