History.

The palace was commissioned and built with the personal funds of King Alexander I from his private funds for his three sons. Alexander was assassinated during a state visit to Marseille, France, the same year construction on the palace began. Supervision of construction was overtaken by the Prince Regent Paul until its completion in 1937. Queen Maria and her three sons, including the 11-year-old King Peter II, continued to reside in the Royal Palace during this time. Prince Paul was the only member of the royal family to reside in the palace before the outbreak of the Second World War and invasion of Yugoslavia.  Following the end of the war, the new communist government seized the assets and property of the royal family. Beli dvor was periodically used by presidents Josip Broz Tito and later by Slobodan Milošević for official state functions and foreign visits. Milošević received U.S. envoy Richard Holbrook at the palace before the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia began; Milošević later officially resigned his presidency in front of the palace fireplace.  The White Palace is open for public visitations on weekends during the tourist season from April to November.  The Royal Compound has also participated in Tourism Fairs in Belgrade and Novi Sad and during the Days of the European Cultural Heritage.

Art collection.

The qualified tour guides at the Palace will tell any visitor that Beli dvor's notable works of art include paintings by: Piero di Cosimo, Biagio d'Antonio, Nicolas Poussin (3 works), Giovanni Cariani, Sébastien Bourdon, Albrecht Altdorfer, Titian, Rembrandt attribution, Palma Vecchio (2 paintings), Carlo Caliari, Peter Paul Rubens, Carel Fabritius, Simon Vouet, two paintings by Brueghel, Antonio Canaletto, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Giuseppe Crespi, Nicolae Grigorescu, Franz Xaver Winterhalter, Eugène Fromentin, Gaspard Dughet, Richard Parkes Bonington, Đura Jakšić, Ivan Meštrović, Vlaho Bukovac and others. The green and white Sèvres porcelain service was purchased in 1932 in Paris from the gallery Charpentier. The service once belonged to the Comte d'Artois.

Lootings and theft.

Many works of art were looted by communist Partisans in 1944, following the liberation of Belgrade from German occupation. One of looted pieces includes Rembrandt school's painting 'Klint Tabie Maximus'.

The White Palace, Beli Dvor, is located in the Royal Compound, the official residence of the Karađorđević royal family- Karađorđević dynasty, in the Dedinje neighborhood of Belgrade.

Das königliche Schloss Beli Dvor (kyrillisch Бели Двор, deutsch der "Weiße Hof") in Belgrad liegt auf dem höchsten Hügel des Dedinje.


The Shio-Mgvime complex.

According to a historic tradition, the first monastic community at this place was founded by the 6th-century monk Shio, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who came to Georgia as Christian missionaries. St. Shio is said to have spent his last years as a hermit in a deep cave near Mtskheta subsequently named Shiomghvime ("the Cave of Shio") after him. The earliest building – the Monastery of St. John the Baptist – a cruciform church, very plain and strict in its design, indeed dates to that time, c. 560s-580s, and the caves curved by monks are still visible around the monastery and along the road leading to the complex. The church has an octagonal dome covered with a conic floor and once housed a masterfully ornate stone iconostasis which is now on display at the Art Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi. The monastery was somewhat altered in the 11th and 18th centuries, but has largely retained its original architecture.  The Upper Church ("zemo eklesia") named after the Theotokos is a central part of the Shio-Mgvime complex constructed at the verge of the 12th century at the behest of King David IV of Georgia. Initially a domed church, it was subsequently destroyed by a foreign invasion and restored, in 1678, as a basilica. A refectory was built between the 12th and 17th centuries and directly communicates with the Cave of St. Shio. A 12th-century small chapel adorned with medieval murals stands separately on a nearby hill.  An archaeological expedition revealed, in 1937, a 2 km long aqueduct supplying the monastic communities from the nearby village of Skhaltba, and chronicled in 1202 as being constructed by Bishop Anton of Chkondidi, a minister at Queen Thamar’s court.

History.

Shio-Mgvime quickly turned into the largest monastic community in Georgia and by the end of the 6th century it was populated by as many as 2,000 monks. It became a vibrant center of cultural and religious activities and remained under the personal patronage of Catholicoi of Georgia. David IV "the Builder" (1089-1125) made it a royal domain and dictated regulations ("typicon") for the monastery (1123). The downfall of the medieval Georgian kingdom and incessant foreign invasions resulted in the decline of the monastery. It saw a relative revival when the Georgian king George VIII (r. 1446-1465) granted Shio-Mgvime and its lands to the noble family of Zevdginidze-Amilakhvari to whom the monastery served as a familial burial ground up to the 1810s.  The monastery was ravaged by the invading Persian troops sent by Shah Abbas I of Safavid in 1614-6. Prince Givi Amilakhvari reconstructed it in 1678, but the 1720s Ottoman occupation of Georgia brought about another devastation and depopulation of Shio-Mgvime. Restored by Prince Givi Amilakhvari in 1733, the monastery was raided and the monks massacred by the Persians less than two years later. Subsequently, Shio-Mgvime was restored and its interior renovated in the 19th century, but it never regained its past importance and role in the spiritual life of Georgia. Under Bolshevik rule, the monastery was closed, but it is now functional and attracts many pilgrims and tourists.

The Shio-Mgvime monastery (, "Shiomghvime", literally meaning "the cave of Shio") is a medieval monastic complex in Georgia, near the town of Mtskheta. It is located in a narrow limestone canyon on the northern bank of the Kura River, some 30 km from Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital.

Die Klosteranlage von Schiomghwime (georgisch შიომღვიმე) liegt in Georgien sieben Kilometer (Luftlinie) westlich vom Stadtzentrum der alten Hauptstadt Mzcheta, etwa 30 km nördlich von Tiflis in der heutigen Verwaltungsregion Mzcheta-Mtianeti.


Route description.

State Route 266 begins at the western terminus of Nevada State Route 266 at the Nevada state line. The route travels west-northwest, then turns to the west for another before approaching Oasis, the only community that the route passes through. At Oasis, SR 266 intersects SR 168, which serves as the gateway into the Owens Valley from Nevada. Upon leaving Oasis, SR 266 continues to the west briefly, then turns north-northwest. Within the last, SR 266 slowly curves northwest as the route approaches the Nevada state line. The route ends at the state line at the southern terminus of Nevada State Route 264. As the route has more connections to Nevada than the rest of California, Caltrans and the Nevada DOT have entered into a joint agreement on snow removal and other short term maintenance duties for the route.  The section of SR 266 from the western terminus to the junction with SR 168 is designated by the California State Legislature as eligible by law for the State Scenic Highway System; but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation. The entire route, consisting of two lanes for two-way traffic, traverses on the flat land in the Fish Lake Valley east of the White Mountains, and it can serve as transportation of agricultural goods between California and Nevada via the route's only junction State Route 168. In the event that SR 168 is closed, SR 266 connects to Nevada State Route 264, which intersects with U.S. Route 6 in order to provide an alternate access to California.

History.

The southern half of modern SR 266 (from Oasis to Nevada State Route 266 near Lida, Nevada) predates the era of numbered highways and formed part of the Midland Trail, one of the first auto trails crossing the entire country. Construction for a road from Oasis to the Nevada state line to be added to the State Highway System was authorized in 1931. This road was initially designated Legislative Route 63 and later signed as California State Route 168. In 1965, route 266 was designated incorporating what is the northern half of modern SR 266 connecting with modern Nevada State Route 264, using the alignment of an existing Mono County road. In 1986, the definition of SR 266 was extended to its modern form, with both termini at the Nevada state line, absorbing what was previously a portion of SR 168. With this change Nevada and California routes 266 connected at the state line.

State Route 266 (SR 266) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The route traverses Fish Lake Valley, which is part in California and part in Nevada. The route connects two Nevada state routes that traverse the Nevada portion of the valley, NV 264 and NV 266. The only connection from SR 266 to the rest of California's road network is via SR 168 in the community of Oasis. Prior to 1986 the southern and northern halves of modern SR 266 had separate numerical designations. The southern portion of the highway, along with modern SR 168, dates to the auto trail era, forming part of the Midland Trail.

Die California State Route 266 (kurz CA 266) ist eine State Route im US-Bundesstaat Kalifornien, die in Nord-Süd-Richtung verläuft. Die State Route beginnt an der Nevada State Route 266 an der Grenze zu Nevada und endet südlich von Dyer an der Nevada State Route 264. Nach 4,3 Meilen zweigt zudem die California State Route 168 bei Oasis ab, die bis zum US 395 verläuft.


Types.

Religious tourism has been characterised in different ways by researchers. Gisbert Rinschede distinguishes these by duration, by group size, and by social structure. Juli Gevorgian proposes two categories that differ in their motivation, namely "pilgrimage tourism" for spiritual reasons or to participate in religious rites, and "church tourism" to view monuments such as cathedrals. The Christian priest Frank Fahey writes that a pilgrim is "always in danger of becoming a tourist", and vice versa since travel always in his view upsets the fixed order of life at home, and identifies eight differences between the two:

Pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage is spiritually- or religiously-motivated travel, sometimes over long distances; it has been practised since antiquity and in several of the world's religions. The world's largest mass religious assemblage takes place in India at the Kumbh Mela, which attracts over 120 million pilgrims. Other major pilgrimages include the annual Hajj to Mecca, required once in a Muslim's life.

Religious sightseeing.

Religious sightseeing can be motivated by any of several kinds of interest, such as religion, art, architecture, history, and personal ancestry. People can find holy places interesting and moving, whether they personally are religious or not. Some, such as the churches of Italy, offer fine architecture and major artworks. Others are important to world religions: Jerusalem holds a central place in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Others again may be both scenic and important to one religion, like the Camino de Santiago in Spain, but have been adopted by non-religious people as a personal challenge and indeed as a journey of self-discovery. Religious tourism in India can take many forms, including yoga tourism; the country has sites important to Buddhism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism, as well as magnificent architecture and, for some travellers, the attraction of orientalism. Japan too offers beautiful religious places from Buddhist temples to Shinto shrines.

Secular pilgrimage.

A category intermediate between pilgrims belonging to a major world religion and pure tourism is the modern concept of secular pilgrimage to places such as the Himalayas felt to be in some way special or even sacred, and where the travel is neither purely pious, nor purely for pleasure, but is to some degree "compromised". For example, New Age believers may travel to such "spiritual hotspots" with the intention of healing themselves and the world. They may practise rituals involving (supposedly) leaving their bodies, possession by spirits (channelling), and recovery of past life memories. The travel is considered by many scholars as transcendental, a life learning process or even a self-realization metaphor.

Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.

Spiritueller Tourismus ist eine Sammelbezeichnung für Reisen mit dem Ziel der Gewinnung von wie auch immer gearteten „spirituellen Erlebnissen“. Der Begriff wird sowohl in der Reisebranche als auch in der Pastoraltheologie verwendet. Letztere berücksichtigt vor allem die Zunahme von Pilger- und Klosterreisen mit einem Akzent auf geistlichen, religiösen oder kirchlichen Inhalten.


Life.

McFarland was born in Los Angeles, on October 23, 1933, but grew up in Grants Pass, Oregon.  He attained a small following after working with Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Johnny Hodges, John Lewis, Stan Getz, Bob Brookmeyer, and Anita O'Day.  As well as his own albums and arrangements for other musicians he composed the scores to the films "Eye of the Devil" (1966) and "Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name?" (1971). By the end of the 1960s, he was moving away from jazz towards an often wistful or melancholy style of instrumental pop, as well as producing the recordings of other artists on his Skye Records label (run in partnership with Gábor Szabó and Cal Tjader until its bankruptcy in 1970).

Legacy.

Around 1971, McFarland had been considering a move into writing and arranging for film and stage. But, at age 38, on November 3, 1971 – the same day that he completed the Broadway album, "To Live Another Summer; To Pass Another Winter" – McFarland died in New York City at St. Vincent's Hospital from a lethal dose of liquid methadone that, apparently, he had ingested while at Bar 55 at 55 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. It will never be known whether he took the drug on purpose or whether someone spiked his drink, as inexplicably, the police never investigated. Gary McFarland had been married since 1963 to Gail Evelyn Frankel (maiden; 1942–2007) and, together, they had a son, Milo McFarland (1964–2002) and a daughter, Kerry McFarland. Milo McFarland, also at age 38, died of a heroin overdose.  On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Gary McFarland among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.

Discography.

As leader.

Skye  Impulse!  Verve  Other labels

As sideman.

With Bob Brookmeyer

Gary Robert McFarland (October 23, 1933 – November 3, 1971) was a composer, arranger, vibraphonist and vocalist, prominent on Verve and Impulse! Records during the 1960s, when he made "one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz".

Gary McFarland (* 23. Oktober 1933 in Los Angeles; † 3. November 1971 in New York City) war ein US-amerikanischer Komponist, Arrangeur und Vibraphonist des Modern Jazz.


Plot.

In 2007, David Moran, a Wall Street player, witnesses a man hit and run by a car. He responds to the situation and tries to resuscitate the victim. That evening, he reflects on his past in the summer of 1958, when he meets his first teenage crush, Meg Loughlin. Meg and her disabled sister Susan have lost their parents in a car accident and are now living with their aunt, Ruth Chandler, and her sons, Willie, Ralphie, and Donny.  Ruth freely allows her sons and their neighborhood friends to her house, where she entertains them and offers them beer and cigarettes. Meanwhile, Ruth starves Meg, accuses her of being a whore and subjects her to misogynistic lectures, whilst her children listen. She even beats Susan after Meg hits Ralphie when he inappropriately touches her.  Meg reports the abuse to Officer Jennings. As punishment, Ruth and her sons bind Meg in the basement and torment her, strip her, and then leave her overnight, hanging by the arms from the rafters. She eventually becomes dehydrated and is unable to even eat the dry toast that Ruth feeds her. Ruth again beats Susan as punishment for Meg.  With Ruth's approval, the neighborhood children visit the Chandler residence to tie, beat, burn and cut Meg for fun. Ruth cauterizes the wounds Meg receives with cigarettes. David tries to tell his parents but is unable to do so. Officer Jennings checks in once more, answering a call about Meg being used as a "punching bag". Before answering the door, Ruth threatens to kill Meg and David if they make a noise in the basement. While Ruth and her sons are upstairs, David loosens Meg's bindings and tells her to escape that night. She is unsuccessful.  David returns to the Chandler (aka Jungatin) house and is guided to the basement, where Meg is being raped as punishment for trying to escape. Ralphie suggests to Ruth that she should “cut” Meg so that she'll be known as a whore. Ruth agrees and carves the words "I FUCK, FUCK ME" on Meg's abdomen with a heated bobby pin. She taunts Meg about how no man will want her now. Ruth then decides to perform a clitorectomy. David attempts to flee, but is caught and tied up. Ruth mutilates Meg's vagina with a blowtorch.  The next morning, David awakes still on the basement floor. He frees himself from his bindings and finds Susan sitting with an unconscious Meg. Susan tells David that Meg did not escape because she was caught trying to take Susan with her instead of waiting to come back for her. She blames herself for telling Meg about Ruth molesting her. David plans their escape, and lights a fire in the basement. As Ruth enters, David bludgeons her to death with Susan's crutches. Willie and Donnie come down to the basement, and Willie attacks David with a knife. Officer Jennings intervenes and arrests the Chandler boys. The police take Susan from the basement and leave Meg with David. She dies after thanking David.  Back in 2007, the adult David reflects on how his past still haunts him to his present day, though as Meg taught him, "It's what you do last that counts."  Additionally, Mark Margolis portrays the homeless man struck by a vehicle at the beginning of the film and Peter Stickles portrays an EMT. Jack Ketchum, the author of the novel that the film is based on, appears as a carnival worker.

Reception.

The film had a polarizing effect on film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds a 67% "Fresh" rating. In contrast, Metacritic assigns it a 29.  Stephen King said about the film, "The first authentically shocking American film I've seen since "" over 20 years ago. If you are easily disturbed, you should not watch this movie. If, on the other hand, you are prepared for a long look into hell, suburban style, "The Girl Next Door" will not disappoint. This is the dark-side-of-the-moon version of "Stand by Me"."

The Girl Next Door (also known as Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door and, in Germany, Jack Ketchum's Evil) is a 2007 American horror drama film directed by Gregory M. Wilson from a screenplay by Daniel Farrands and Philip Nutman. It is based on Jack Ketchum's 1989 novel of the same name, which was inspired by the real-life murder of Sylvia Likens.

Jack Ketchum’s Evil ist der deutsche Titel des US-amerikanischen Spielfilms "The Girl Next Door" aus dem Jahre 2007; einer Verfilmung des Romans Evil von Jack Ketchum. Der Film entstand unter der Regie von Gregory M. Wilson.


Early life and education.

Singer was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Jewish family, where his father was a jeweler and his mother a homemaker. When the Nazis invaded, the family fled, Singer leaving on a children's transport train with other Jewish children. He ended up in England, where he lived in Northumberland, working for a time as a teenage optician. Several years later he emigrated to Ohio and became an American citizen in 1944. He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (B.E.E.) from Ohio State University in 1943, and an A.M. in physics from Princeton in 1944. He taught physics at Princeton while he worked on his masters and his doctorate, obtaining his Ph.D. there in 1948. His doctoral thesis was titled, ""The density spectrum and latitude dependence of extensive cosmic ray air showers"." His supervisor was John Archibald Wheeler, and his thesis committee included J. Robert Oppenheimer and Niels Bohr.

Career.

1950: United States Navy.

After his masters, Singer joined the armed forces, working for the United States Navy on mine warfare and countermeasures from 1944 until 1946. While with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory he developed an arithmetic element for an electronic digital calculator that he called an "electronic brain". He was discharged in 1946 and joined the Upper Atmosphere Rocket Program at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland, working there until 1950. He focused on ozone, cosmic rays, and the ionosphere, all measured using balloons and rockets launched from White Sands, New Mexico, or from ships out at sea. Rachel White Scheuering writes that for one mission to launch a rocket, he sailed with a naval operation to the Arctic, and also conducted rocket launching from ships at the equator.  From 1950 to 1953, he was attached to the U.S. Embassy in London as a scientific liaison officer with the Office of Naval Research, where he studied research programs in Europe into cosmic radiation and nuclear physics. While there, he was one of eight delegates with a background in guided weapons projects to address the Fourth International Congress of Astronautics in Zurich in August 1953, at a time when, as "The New York Times" reported, most scientists saw space flight as thinly disguised science fiction.

1951: Design of early satellites.

Singer was one of the first scientists to urge the launching of earth satellites for scientific observation during the 1950s. In 1951 or 1952 he proposed the MOUSE ("Minimal Orbital Unmanned Satellite, Earth"), a satellite that would contain Geiger counters for measuring cosmic rays, photo cells for scanning the Earth, telemetry electronics for sending data back to Earth, a magnetic data storage device, and rudimentary solar energy cells. Although MOUSE never flew, the "Baltimore News-Post" reported in 1957 that had Singer's arguments about the need for satellites been heeded, the U.S. could have beaten Russia by launching the first earth satellite. He also proposed (along with R. C. Wentworth) that satellite measurement of ultraviolet backscatter could be used as a method to measure atmospheric ozone profiles. This technique was later used on early weather satellites.

1953: University of Maryland.

Singer moved back to the United States in 1953, where he took up an associate professorship in physics at the University of Maryland, and at the same time served as the director of the Center for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Scheuering writes that his work involved conducting experiments on rockets and satellites, remote sensing, radiation belts, the magnetosphere, and meteorites. He developed a new method of launching rockets into space: firing them from a high-flying plane, both with and without a pilot. The Navy adopted the idea and Singer supervised the project. He received a White House Special Commendation from President Eisenhower in 1954 for his work.  He became one of 12 board members of the American Astronautical Society, an organization formed in 1954 to represent the country's 300 leading scientists and engineers in the area of guided missiles—he was one of seven members of the board to resign in December 1956 after a series of disputes about the direction and control of the group.  In November 1957 Singer and other scientists at the university successfully designed and fired three new "Oriole" rockets off the Virginia Capes. The rockets weighed less than and could be built for around $2000. Fired from a converted Navy LSM, they could reach an altitude of and had a complete telemetry system to send back information on cosmic, ultraviolet and X-rays. Singer said that the firings placed "the exploration of outer space with high altitude rockets on the same basis, cost-wise and effort-wise, as low atmosphere measurements with weather balloons. From now on, we can fire thousands of these rockets all over the world with very little cost."  In February 1958, when he was head of the cosmic ray group of the University of Maryland's physics department, he received a special commendation from President Eisenhower for "outstanding achievements in the development of satellites for scientific purposes." In April 1958, he was appointed as a consultant to the House Select Committee on Astronautics and Space Exploration, which was preparing to hold hearings on President Eisenhower's proposal for a new agency to handle space research, and a month later received the Ohio State University's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He became a full professor at Maryland in 1959, and was chosen that year by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of the country's ten outstanding young men.  In a January 1960 presentation to the American Physical Society, Singer sketched out his vision of what the environment around the earth might consist of, extending up to into space. He became known for his early predictions about the properties of the electrical particles trapped around the earth, which were partly verified by later discoveries in satellite experiments. In December 1960, he suggested the existence of a shell of visible dust particles around the earth some 600 to in space, beyond which there was a layer of smaller particles, a micrometre or less in diameter, extending 2,000 to. In March 1961 Singer and another University of Maryland physicist, E. J. Opik, were given a $97,000 grant by NASA to conduct a three-year study of interplanetary gas and dust.

1960: Artificial Phobos hypothesis.

In a 1960 "Astronautics" newsletter, Singer commented on Iosif Shklovsky's hypothesis that the orbit of the Martian moon Phobos suggests that it is hollow, which implies it is of artificial origin. Singer wrote: "My conclusion there is, and here I back Shklovsky, that if the satellite is indeed spiraling inward as deduced from astronomical observation, then there is little alternative to the hypothesis that it is hollow and therefore martian made. The big 'if' lies in the astronomical observations; they may well be in error. Since they are based on several independent sets of measurements taken decades apart by different observers with different instruments, systematic errors may have influenced them." Later measurements confirmed Singer's "big "if"" caveat: Shklovsky overestimated Phobos' rate of altitude loss due to bad early data. Photographs by probes beginning in 1972 show a natural stony surface with craters. Ufologists continue to present Singer as an unconditional supporter of Shklovsky's artificial Phobos hypothesis.  "Time" magazine wrote in 1969 that Singer had had a lifelong fascination with Phobos and Mars's second moon, Deimos. He told "Time" it might be possible to pull Deimos into the Earth's orbit so it could be examined. During an international space symposium in May 1966, attended by space scientists from the United States and Soviet Union, he first proposed that manned landings on the Martian moons would be a logical step after a manned landing on the Earth's moon. He pointed out that the very small sizes of Phobos and Deimos—approximately and in diameter and sub milli-g surface gravity—would make it easier for a spacecraft to land and take off again.

1962: National Weather Center and University of Miami.

In 1962, on leave from the university, Singer was named as the first director of meteorological satellite services for the National Weather Satellite Center, now part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and directed a program for using satellites to forecast the weather. He stayed there until 1964. He told "Time" magazine in 1969 that he enjoyed moving around. "Each move gave me a completely new perspective," he said. "If I had sat still, I'd probably still be measuring cosmic rays, the subject of my thesis at Princeton. That's what happens to most scientists." When he stepped down as director he received a Department of Commerce Gold Medal award for Distinguished Federal Service.  In 1964, he became the first dean of the School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the University of Miami in 1964, the first school of its kind in the country, dedicated to space-age research. In December 1965, "The New York Times" reported on a conference Singer hosted in Miami Beach during which five groups of scientists, working independently, presented research identifying what they believed was the remains of a primordial flash that occurred when the universe was born.

1967: Department of Interior and EPA.

In 1967 he accepted the position of deputy assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of the Interior, where he was in charge of water quality and research. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created on 1970, he became its deputy assistant administrator of policy.

1971–1994 University of Virginia.

Singer accepted a professorship in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia in 1971, a position he held until 1994, where he taught classes on environmental issues such as ozone depletion, acid rain, climate change, population growth, and public policy issues related to oil and energy. In 1987 he took up a two-year post as chief scientist at the Department of Transportation, and in 1989 joined the Institute of Space Science and Technology in Gainesville, Florida where he contributed to a paper on the results from the Interplanetary Dust Experiment using data from the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite. When he retired from Virginia in 1994, he became Distinguished Research Professor at the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University until 2000.  Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway say that Singer was involved in the Reagan administration's efforts to prevent regulatory action to reduce acid rain.

Consultancies.

Singer worked as a consultant for several government agencies, including the House Select Committee on Space, NASA, the Government Accountability Office, the National Science Foundation, the United States Atomic Energy Commission, National Research Council, the Department of Defense Strategic Defense Initiative, Department of Energy Nuclear Waste Panel, and the Department of the Treasury. Other clients included the states of Virginia, Alaska, and Pennsylvania. In the private sector he worked for Mitre Corporation, General Electric, Ford, General Motors; during the late 1970s Singer consulted with Exxon, Shell, Unocal Sun Oil, and ARCO; and Lockheed Martin, Martin–Marietta, McDonnell Douglas, ANSER, and IBM on space research. He also advised the Independent Institute, the American Council on Science and Health, and the Frontiers of Freedom Institute.

Public debates.

Writing.

Throughout his academic career Singer wrote frequently in the mainstream press, including "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", and "Wall Street Journal", often striking up positions disputing mainstream thinking. His overall position was one of distrust of federal regulations and a strong belief in the efficacy of the free market. He believed in what Rachel White Scheuering calls "free market environmentalism": that market principles and incentives should be sufficient to lead to the protection of the environment and conservation of resources. Regular themes in his articles have been energy, oil embargoes, OPEC, Iran, and rising prices. Throughout the 1970s, for example, he downplayed the idea of an energy crisis and said it was largely a media event. In several papers in the 1990s and 2000s he struck up other positions against the mainstream, questioning the link between UV-B and melanoma rates, and that between CFCs and stratospheric ozone loss.  In October 1967, Singer wrote an article for "The Washington Post" from the perspective of 2007. His predictions included that planets had been explored but not colonized, and although rockets had become more powerful they had not replaced aircraft and ramjet vehicles. None of the fundamental laws of physics had been overturned. There was increased reliance on the electronic computer and data processor; the most exciting development was the increase in human intellect by direct electronic storage of information in the brain—the coupling of the brain to an external computer, thereby gaining direct access to an information library.  He debated the astronomer Carl Sagan on ABC's "Nightline", regarding the possible environmental effects of the Kuwaiti oil fires. Sagan argued that if enough fire-fighting teams were not assembled in short order, and if many fires were left to burn over a period of months to possibly a year, the smoke might loft into the upper atmosphere and lead to massive agricultural failures over South Asia. Singer argued that it would rise to then be rained out after a few days. In fact, both Sagan and Singer were incorrect; smoke plumes from the fires rose to 10,000–12,000 feet and lingered for nearly a month, but despite absorbing 75–80% of the sun's radiation in the Persian Gulf area the plumes had little global effect.  The public debates in which Singer received most criticism have been about second-hand smoke and global warming. He questioned the link between second-hand smoke and lung cancer, and was an outspoken opponent of the mainstream scientific view on climate change; he argued there is no evidence that increases in carbon dioxide produced by human beings is causing global warming and that the temperature of the earth has always varied. A CBC "Fifth Estate" documentary in 2006 linked these two debates, naming Singer as a scientist who has acted as a consultant to industry in both areas, either directly or through a public relations firm. Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway named Singer in their book, "Merchants of Doubt", as one of three contrarian physicists—along with Fred Seitz and Bill Nierenberg—who regularly injected themselves into the public debate about contentious scientific issues, positioning themselves as skeptics, their views gaining traction because the media gives them equal time out of a sense of fairness.

Second-hand smoke.

According to David Biello and John Pavlus in "Scientific American", Singer was best known for his denial of the health risks of passive smoking. He was involved in 1994 as writer and reviewer of a report on the issue by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, where he was a senior fellow. The report criticized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for their 1993 study about the cancer risks of passive smoking, calling it "junk science". Singer told CBC's "The Fifth Estate" in 2006 that he stood by the position that the EPA had "cooked the data" to show that second-hand smoke causes lung cancer. CBC said that tobacco money had paid for Singer's research and for his promotion of it, and that it was organized by APCO. Singer told CBC it made no difference where the money came from. "They don't carry a note on a dollar bill saying 'This comes from the tobacco industry,'" he said. "In any case I was not aware of it, and I didn't ask APCO where they get their money. That's not my business." In December 2010 he wrote in "American Thinker" that he is nonsmoker who finds second-hand smoke an unpleasant irritant that cannot be healthy; he also wrote that his father, a heavy smoker, died of emphysema when relatively young. According to Singer, he serves on the advisory board of an anti-smoking organization, and has never been paid by Philip Morris or the tobacco lobby.

Global warming.

In a 2003 letter to the "Financial Times", Singer wrote that "there is no convincing evidence that the global climate is actually warming." In 2006, the CBC's "Fifth Estate" named Singer as one of a small group of scientists who have created what the documentary called a stand-off that is undermining the political response to global warming. The following year he appeared on the British Channel 4 documentary "The Great Global Warming Swindle". Singer argues there is no evidence that the increases in carbon dioxide produced by humans cause global warming, and that if temperatures do rise it will be good for humankind. He told CBC: "It was warmer a thousand years ago than it is today. Vikings settled Greenland. Is that good or bad? I think it's good. They grew wine in England, in northern England. I think that's good. At least some people think so." "We are certainly putting more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," he told "The Daily Telegraph" in 2009. "However there is no evidence that this high CO is making a detectable difference. It should in principle, however the atmosphere is very complicated and one cannot simply argue that just because CO is a greenhouse gas it causes warming." He believes that radical environmentalists are exaggerating the dangers. "The underlying effort here seems to be to use global warming as an excuse to cut down the use of energy," he said. "It's very simple: if you cut back the use of energy, then you cut back economic growth. And believe it or not, there are people in the world who believe we have gone too far in economic growth."  Singers's opinions conflict with the scientific consensus on climate change, where there is overwhelming consensus for anthropogenic global warming, and a decisive link between carbon dioxide concentration and global average temperatures, as well as consensus that such a change to the climate will have dangerous consequences. In 2005 Mother Jones magazine described Singer as a "godfather of global warming denial." However, Singer characterizes himself as a "skeptic" rather than a "denier" of global climate change. In an article in "American Thinker", he complains about bad arguments used by the "deniers," saying that "Climate deniers are giving us skeptics a bad name."

SEPP and funding.

In 1990 Singer set up the Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) to argue against preventive measures against global warming. After the 1991 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Earth Summit, Singer started writing and speaking out to cast doubt on the science. He predicted disastrous economic damage from any restrictions on fossil fuel use, and argued that the natural world and its weather patterns are complex and ill-understood, and that little is known about the dynamics of heat exchange from the oceans to the atmosphere, or the role of clouds. As the scientific consensus grew, he continued to argue from a skeptical position. He has repeatedly criticized the climate models that predict global warming. In 1994 he compared model results to observed temperatures and found that the predicted temperatures for 1950–1980 deviated from the temperatures that had actually occurred, from which he concluded in his regular column in "The Washington Times"—with the headline that day "Climate Claims Wither under the Luminous Lights of Science"—that climate models are faulty. In 2007 he collaborated on a study that found tropospheric temperature trends of "Climate of the 20th Century" models differed from satellite observations by twice the model mean uncertainty.  Rachel White Scheuering writes that, when SEPP began, it was affiliated with the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, a think tank founded by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon. A 1990 article for the Cato Institute identifies Singer as the director of the science and environmental policy project at the Washington Institute for Values in Public Policy, on leave from the University of Virginia. Scheuering writes that Singer had cut ties with the institute, and is funded by foundations and oil companies. She writes that he has been a paid consultant for many years for ARCO, ExxonMobil, Shell, Sun Oil Company, and Unocal, and that SEPP has received grants from ExxonMobil. Singer has said his financial relationships do not influence his research. Scheuering argues that his conclusions concur with the economic interests of the companies that pay him, in that the companies want to see a reduction in environmental regulation.  In August 2007 "Newsweek" reported that in April 1998 a dozen people from what it called "the denial machine" met at the American Petroleum Institute's Washington headquarters. The meeting included Singer's group, the George C. Marshall Institute, and ExxonMobil. Newsweek said that, according to an eight-page memo that was leaked, the meeting proposed a $5-million campaign to convince the public that the science of global warming was controversial and uncertain. The plan was leaked to the press and never implemented. The week after the story, "Newsweek" published a contrary view from Robert Samuelson, one of its columnists, who said the story of an industry-funded denial machine was contrived and fundamentally misleading. ABC News reported in March 2008 that Singer said he is not on the payroll of the energy industry, but he acknowledged that SEPP had received one unsolicited charitable donation of $10,000 from ExxonMobil, and that it was one percent of all donations received. Singer said that his connection to Exxon was more like being on their mailing list than holding a paid position. The relationships have discredited Singer's research among members of the scientific community, according to Scheuering. Congresswoman Lynn Rivers questioned Singer's credibility during a congressional hearing in 1995, saying he had not been able to publish anything in a peer-reviewed scientific journal for the previous 15 years, except for one technical comment.

Criticism of the IPCC.

In 1995 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report reflecting the scientific consensus that the balance of evidence suggests there is a discernible human influence on global climate. Singer responded with a letter to "Science" saying the IPCC report had presented material selectively. He wrote: "the Summary does not even mention the existence of 18 years of weather satellite data that show a slight global cooling trend, contradicting all theoretical models of climate warming." Scheuering writes that Singer acknowledges the surface thermometers from weather stations show warming, but he argues that the satellites provide better data because their measurements cover pole to pole. According to Edward Parson and Andrew Dessler, the satellite data did not show surface temperatures directly, but had to be adjusted using models. When adjustment was made for transient events the data showed a slight warming, and research suggested that the discrepancy between surface and satellite data was largely accounted for by problems such as instrument differences between satellites.  Singer wrote the "Leipzig Declaration on Global Climate Change in the U.S." in 1995, updating it in 1997 to rebut the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was the result of an international convention held in Kyoto, Japan, during which several industrialized nations agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Singer's declaration read: "Energy is essential for economic growth... We understand the motivation to eliminate what are perceived to be the driving forces behind a potential climate change; but we believe the Kyoto Protocol—to curtail carbon dioxide emissions from only a part of the world community—is dangerously simplistic, quite ineffective, and economically destructive to jobs and standards-of-living."  Scheuering writes that Singer circulated this in the United States and Europe and gathered 100 signatories, though she says some of the signatories' credentials were questioned. At least 20 were television weather reporters, some did not have science degrees, and 14 were listed as professors without specifying a field. According to Scheuering, some of them later said they believed they were signing a document in favour of action against climate change.  Singer set up the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) in 2004 after the 2003 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Milan. NIPCC organized an international climate workshop in Vienna in April 2007, to provide what they called an independent examination of the evidence for climate change. Singer prepared an NIPCC report called "Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate," published in March 2008 by the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank. ABC News said the same month that unnamed climate scientists from NASA, Stanford, and Princeton who spoke to ABC about the report dismissed it as "fabricated nonsense". In a letter of complaint to ABC News, Singer said their piece used "prejudicial language, distorted facts, libelous insinuations, and anonymous smears".  On September 18, 2013, the NIPCC's fourth report, entitled "Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science," was published. As with previous NIPCC reports, environmentalists criticized it upon its publication; for example, David Suzuki wrote that it was "full of long-discredited claims, including that carbon dioxide emissions are good because they stimulate life". After the report received favorable coverage from Fox News Channel's Doug McKelway, climate scientists Kevin Trenberth and Michael Oppenheimer criticized this coverage, with Trenberth calling it "irresponsible journalism" and Oppenheimer calling it "flat out wrong".

Climategate.

In December 2009, after the Climatic Research Unit email controversy, Singer wrote an opinion piece for Reuters in which he said the scientists had misused peer review, pressured editors to prevent publication of alternative views, and smeared opponents. He said the leaked e-mails showed that the "surface temperature data that IPCC relies on is based on distorted raw data and algorithms that they will not share with the science community." He argued that the incident exposed a flawed process, and that the temperature trends were heading downwards even as greenhouse gases like CO were increasing in the atmosphere. He wrote: "This negative correlation contradicts the results of the models that IPCC relies on and indicates that anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is quite small," concluding "and now it turns out that global warming might have been'man made' after all." A British House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee later issued a report that exonerated the scientists, and eight committees investigated the allegations, finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct.

Siegfried Fred Singer (September 27, 1924 – April 6, 2020) is an Austrian-born American physicist and emeritus professor of environmental science at the University of Virginia. Trained as an atmospheric physicist, Singer is known for climate change denial, as well as for rejecting the scientific consensus on UV-B exposure and melanoma rates, the use of chlorofluoro compounds and stratospheric ozone loss, and the health risks of passive smoking. He is the author or editor of several books including "Global Effects of Environmental Pollution" (1970), "The Ocean in Human Affairs" (1989), "Global Climate Change" (1989), "The Greenhouse Debate Continued" (1992), and "Hot Talk, Cold Science" (1997). He also co-authored "" (2007) with Dennis Avery, and "Climate Change Reconsidered" (2009) with Craig Idso.

Siegfried Frederick Singer (* 27. September 1924 in Wien, Österreich; † 6. April 2020 in Rockville, Maryland, Vereinigte Staaten), kurz Fred Singer, war ein US-amerikanischer Atmosphärenphysiker und eine bekannte Persönlichkeit in der Klimaleugnerszene. Er entwickelte unter anderem Satellitenkameras, die zur Messung der Konzentration von Ozon in der Stratosphäre eingesetzt werden, und Messsysteme zur Untersuchung der kosmischen Strahlung.


Efficiency level certifications.

For the higher certification levels, the requirement of 0.9 or better power factor was extended to apply to 20% and 50% load levels, as well as at 100% load. The Platinum level requires 0.95 or better power factor for servers.  The Climate Savers Computing Initiative efficiency level targets for workstations for 2007 through 2011, correspond to the 80 Plus certification levels. From July 2007 through June 2008, basic 80 Plus level (Energy Star 4.0). For the next year, the target is 80 Plus Bronze level, the following year 80 Plus Silver, then 80 Plus Gold, and finally Platinum.  Redundancy is typically used in data centers.

Misleading power supply advertising.

There have been instances where companies claim or imply that their supplies are 80 Plus when they have not been certified, and in some cases do not meet the requirements. When a company resells an OEM power supply under a new name it must be certified under the new name and company, even if the OEM supply is certified. In some instances, a reseller has claimed a higher wattage than the supply can deliver – in which case, the reseller's supply would not meet 80 Plus requirements. The 80 Plus website has a list of all certified supplies, so it is possible to confirm that a supply really meets the requirements.  Although some power supply manufacturers name their products with similar names, such as "85 Plus", "90 Plus" and "95 Plus" there is no such official certification or standard.

Technical overview.

The efficiency of a computer power supply is its output power divided by its input power; the remaining input power is converted into heat. For instance, a 600-watt power supply with 60% efficiency running at full load would draw 1000 W from the mains and would therefore waste 400 W as heat. On the other hand, a 600-watt power supply with 80% efficiency running at full load would draw 750 W from the mains and would therefore waste only 150 W as heat.  For a given power supply, efficiency varies depending on how much power is being delivered. Supplies are typically most efficient at between half and three quarters load, much less efficient at low load, and somewhat less efficient at maximum load. Older ATX power supplies were typically 60% to 75% efficient. To qualify for 80 Plus, a power supply must achieve at least 80% efficiency at three specified loads (20%, 50% and 100% of maximum rated power). However, 80 Plus supplies may still be less than 80% efficient at lower loads. For instance, an 80 Plus, 520 watt supply could still be 70% or less efficient at 60 watts (a typical idle power for a desktop computer). Thus it is still important to select a supply with capacity appropriate to the device being powered.  It is easier to achieve the higher efficiency levels for higher wattage supplies, so gold and platinum supplies may be less available in consumer level supplies of reasonable capacity for typical desktop machines.  Typical computer power supplies may have power factors as low as 0.5 to 0.6. The higher power factor reduces the peak current draw, reducing load on the circuit or on an uninterruptible power supply.  Reducing the heat output of the computer helps reduce noise, since fans do not have to spin as fast to cool the computer. Reduced heat and resulting lower cooling demands may increase computer reliability.  The testing conditions may give an unrealistic expectation of efficiency for heavily loaded, high power (rated much larger than 300 W) supplies. A heavily loaded power supply and the computer it is powering generate significant amounts of heat, which may raise the power supply temperature, which is likely to decrease its efficiency. Since power supplies are certified at room temperature, this effect is not taken into account.  80 Plus does not set efficiency targets for very low load. For instance, generation of standby power may still be relatively inefficient, and may not meet requirements of the One Watt Initiative. Testing of 80 Plus power supplies shows that they vary considerably in standby efficiency. Some power supplies consume half a watt or less in standby with no load, where others consume several times as much at standby, even though they may meet higher 80 Plus certification requirement levels.

80 Plus (trademarked 80 PLUS) is a voluntary certification program intended to promote efficient energy use in computer power supply units (PSUs). Launched in 2004 by Ecos Consulting, it certifies products that have more than 80% energy efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% of rated load, and a power factor of 0.9 or greater at 100% load. Such PSUs waste 20% or less electric energy as heat at the specified load levels, reducing electricity use and bills compared to less efficient PSUs.

80 PLUS ist eine nordamerikanische Initiative zur Förderung von PC-Netzteilen, die einen Wirkungsgrad von 80 % oder höher aufweisen. Die Initiative listet auch konforme Geräte und stellt die entsprechenden Messprotokolle im Internet zur Verfügung.


Biography.

He received his first instruction from the learned Eigil, Abbot of Fulda, 818-822. Abbot Ratgar (802-817) sent the gifted scholar to Einhard at the court of Charlemagne, where he most probably learned the art he employed later in decorating with pictures the western apse of St. Salvator, the so-called "Ratgerbasilica", to which, in 819, the remains of Saint Boniface were transferred. When Rabanus Maurus was made abbot (822), Candidus (who describes himself as a "magister" or teacher) may have succeeded him as head of the monastic school of Fulda. In any case as one of the most distinguished scholars of his monastery and as a renowned artist, he was among the leaders of the community of Fulda. In his later life he was adopted as an administrator of one of the so-called "ministeria," administration units of the landed property outside of Fulda. Yet this honorable function gave him reason to complain of the lack of intellectual conversation in his loneliness far from the monastic community of Fulda.  In the crisis caused by the austerity and severity of Abbot Ratgar, he seems to have tried to mediate between the struggling parties, but without lasting success. Finally in 817, Ratgar was deposed by the Emperor Louis the Pious. After one year under two missi of the emperor who introduced the Anianian reform, the monastery was allowed to elect a new abbot. Eigil, the leader of the opposition against Ratger, was elected as his successor. Eigil's life is the subject of the only surviving work of Candidus. (His life of Baugulf, abbot of Fulda 779-802, has been lost.)  During his later years Candidus saw the increasing conflicts between Louis the Pious and his sons and, after their father’s death, between the sons themselves. This difficult political situation inevitably resulted in a new crisis for Fulda, because abbot Rabanus Maurus, who was a follower of Louis the Pious and after his death of the eldest son Emperor Lothar I, was forced to resign by King Louis the German after the former’s defeat in the battle of Fontenoy (25. June 841). The abbey's fragile peace was threatened by a new conflict between followers of the warring kings as well as a struggle between candidates for the abbacy. Bruun Candidus seems to have had ambitions to succeed Rabanus Maurus. In his "Vita Aegili abbatis Fuldensis", he implicitly promotes his candidacy by showing his expertise in all questions of monastic life. It was not Candidus, however, but Rabanus' close friend Hatto who was elected abbot in 842. Candidus died in 845.

Wrongly attributed works.

Some scholars saw Candidus even as a philosopher. But, as Christine Ineichen-Eder has pointed out, the so-called "Dicta de imagine mundi" or "Dei", twelve aphoristic sayings strung together without logical sequence, are the work of Candidus-Wizo, a pupil of Alcuin. The doctrine is taken from the works of St. Augustine, but the frequent use of the syllogism marks the border of the age of Scholasticism.

Proof of God's existence.

In his last saying Candidus makes somewhat timidly the first attempt in the Middle Ages at a proof of God's existence. This has a striking similarity to the ontological argument of St. Anselm. ("Man, by intellect a better and more powerful being that the rest, is not almighty; therefore a superior and almighty being — God — must exist").  The third saying, which denies that bodies are true, since truth is a quality of immortal beings only, is based on that excessive realism which led his contemporary, Fredegisus, to invest even nothingness with being.  The other sayings deal with God's image in man's soul, the concepts of existence, substance, time, etc. The philosophy of Candidus marks a progress over Alcuin and gives him rank with Fredegisus, from whom he differs by rarely referring to the Bible in philosophical questions, thus keeping apart the domains of theology and philosophy.

"Dicta Candidi".

The only complete edition of the "Dicta Candidi" is in Hauréau. There is a more critical edition of a portion of it in Richter. Candids-Wizo, not Bruun Candidus of Fulda, is also the author of an "Exposition Passionis D.N.J. Chr." and of a letter concerning the question, "Quod Christus dominus noster, in quantum homo fuit, cum hic mortalis inter mortales viveret, Deum videre potuisset".

Genuine Works.

The preserved "Life" of Abbot Aegil of Fulda (died 822) in prose and verse and the lost "Life" of Abbot Baugolf of Fulda (d. 802) were both written by Bruun Candidus of Fulda. The "Life" of Abbot Eigil ("Vita Aegili"), written around 840, is the first known illustrated biography. The "Vita Aegili" is an "opus geminatum" or "twinned work," that is, a work consisting of a pair of texts, one in prose and one in verse. Candidus says that the Abbot of Fulda, Raban Maur, instructed him to compose the life. The "Vita Aegili" is an outstanding specimen of biography from the Carolingian Renaissance and an important source for the monastic reform of Benedict of Aniane. Candidus describes the conflict between Eigil's predecessor Ratgar (whom Candidus depicts as the unicorn that attacks the shepherd in Psalm 21) and the monastic community, which led to his deposition by Louis the Pious in 817, and also provides information about the discussions concerning the election of Ratgar's successor. He also describes two churches built at Fulda: first St. Salvator, the so-called Ratger-basilica, completed and augmented with two crypts by the monk Rachulf and dedicated 1. November 819, and second, St. Michael erected by Rabanus Maurus and dedicated 15. January 822. Candidus explains that its architecture—a centralized building with eight columns in the nave, one central column in the crypt and one single keystone in the vault—has a spiritual meaning, representing Christ and his ecclesia. Candidus also quotes the "tituli" (inscriptions) that Rabanus composed for the altars of both churches, and Eigil's two epitaphs, written by Eigil himself and by Rabanus. Candidus also recounts the dedication ceremony of St. Salvator and the translation of the relics of St. Boniface from his tomb in the centre of the church to his new crypt in the western apse. The hymns"Te deum" and "Gloria in excelsis", which were sung during the ceremony, are translated into verse. The source for the Vita's lost illustration to this hymns may have been the aforementioned apse picture, which Candidus claims he executed, and which is probably reflected in three sacramentary manuscripts of the Ottonian age (Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek 2° Ms. theol. 231 Cim., fol. 111r; Udine, Archivio Capitolare, Cod. 1, f. 66v; Bamberg State Library, Msc.Lit.1, fol. 165v).

External links.

"This article incorporates text from the 1913 "Catholic Encyclopedia" article "Candidus" by John M. Lenhart, a publication now in the public domain. Some corrections and additions are made by Gereon Becht-Jördens."

Candidus (Bruun) of Fulda was a Benedictine scholar of the ninth-century Carolingian Renaissance, a student of Einhard, and author of the "vita" of his abbot at Fulda, Eigil.

Brun Candidus (auch Bruun) (* ca. 770–780; † 845), Maler und Schriftsteller, war Priestermönch im Kloster Fulda, wo er als Urkundenschreiber 811 bis 813 mehrfach belegt ist. Er ist zum einen Verfasser zweier Abtsbiographien, der verlorenen Vita Abt Baugulfs von Fulda und der erhaltenen Vita Abt Eigils von Fulda, die er seinem Mitbruder Reccheo Modestus widmete. (Weitere unter dem Namen Candidus überlieferte theologisch-philosophische Lehrschriften stammen dagegen von dem Alkuinschüler Candidus Wizo). Zum anderen ist er mit hoher Wahrscheinlichkeit ein Hauptmeister der Fuldaer Malschule des 9. Jahrhunderts (s. Karolingische Buchmalerei), der sich sowohl in der Buch- als auch in der Wandmalerei betätigte.


Rafting missions.

In its early years, the group actively rescued rafters from Cuba and claims to have saved thousands of Cubans, who were emigrating from the country. Eventually, the group's focus shifted after changes in US immigration policy meant that rafters would be sent back to Cuba.  The group's founder has stated that after August 1995, it stopped seeing rafters in the water. Heavily dependent on funding for rafting activities, the group's funding rapidly dropped to $320,455 in 1995, down from $1.5 million the year before. As a result, the group focused more on civil disobedience against the Cuban government. At least once, the group's founder dropped leaflets on Cuba.

Roque and Wasp Network.

One of the group's pilots, Cuban Juan Pablo Roque, a former major in the Cuban air force, unexpectedly left on February 23, 1996, the day before the two planes were shot down, and he turned up in Havana where he condemned the group. Roque had left Cuba four years earlier and was shortly after recruited by Brothers, where he flew several missions.  Despite being dismissed as a Cuban agent by US officials, Roque denied working for the Cuban government and claimed to have returned home after being disillusioned with the Brothers. He claimed that they had plans to carry out attacks on military bases in Cuba and to disrupt its defence communications.  Roque appeared on Cuban television on February 26, 1996, where he denounced the Brothers as an illegal and anti-Cuban organization the fundamental purpose of which is to provoke incidents that aggravated relations between Cuba and United States. In an interview with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he stated that the group had planned to introduce anti-personnel weapons into Cuba and blow up high tension pylons to interrupt the energy supply.  While in Miami, Roque had contacts with and was paid by the FBI. His claims brought questions about the role of agencies such as the FBI and CIA in the activities of the exile community. However, White House spokesperson David Johnson said that "there does not exist, nor has there existed, any tie between the North American intelligence services and Hermanos al Rescate," adding that the organization is "not a front" for those services, nor is it financed by them. José Basulto agrees with US officials that Roque was a Cuban spy who, along with the Wasp Network, infiltrated the Brothers.  Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel after the shoot down, Roque has lived in a government-provided home with security since the incident. In an interview with "The Miami Herald" in 2012, he expressed remorse for the shootdown. "If I could travel in a time machine," he said, "I'd get those boys off the planes that were shot down." In 1999, he was indicted on federal charges of defrauding the FBI and failing to register as a foreign agent. However, Cuba has refused to extradite him. To this day, the Cuban exile community in South Florida considers Roque a traitor.  Rene Gonzalez, another Wasp Network spy, also infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and regularly sabotaged aircraft and reported on its activities until his subsequent arrest.

1996 shootdown incident.

On February 24, 1996, two of the Brothers to the Rescue Cessna Skymasters involved in releasing leaflets to fall on Cuba, were shot down by a Cuban Air Force MiG-29UB. They were pilots Carlos Costa; Armando Alejandre, Jr.;Mario de la Peña; and Pablo Morales.

Brothers to the Rescue () is a Miami-based activist nonprofit right wing organization headed by José Basulto. Formed by Cuban exiles, the group is widely known for its opposition to the Cuban government and its former leader Fidel Castro. The group describes itself as a humanitarian organization aiming to assist and rescue raft refugees emigrating from Cuba and to "support the efforts of the Cuban people to free themselves from dictatorship through the use of active non-violence". Brothers to the Rescue, Inc., was founded in May 1991 "after several pilots were touched by the death of" fifteen-year-old Gregorio Perez Ricardo, who "fleeing Castro's Cuba on a raft, perished of severe dehydration in the hands of U.S. Coast Guard officers who were attempting to save his life."

Brothers to the Rescue (spanisch: Hermanos al Rescate, deutsch: "Brüder für die Rettung", BTTR) war eine in Miami ansässige und 1991 vom Exilkubaner José Basulto gegründete Freiwilligen-Organisation von Piloten, die bis 2003 aktiv war. Gründungszweck und Hauptbetätigung der Gruppe war die Unterstützung von kubanischen Bootsflüchtlingen durch Entdeckung und Hilfe aus der Luft.


Life.

He entered the English East India Company at the age of fifteen and eventually became Clive's private secretary. During the 1757 Plassey campaign against the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj Ud Daulah, John Walsh was awarded £56,000 in prize money. Upon his return to England in 1759, his fortune was estimated at £147,000, and he quickly sought to purchase the necessary trappings of aristocratic power in eighteenth century Britain: land and political influence. In late 1764, Walsh purchased the large estate of Warfield Park, near Bracknell in Berkshire and spent the next two years doing it up. He was MP for Worcester from 1761 to 1780. He continued to serve Robert Clive, or 'Clive of India' as he became known, and attempted to form a parliamentary interest in his favour.  In later life, John Walsh's interests were scientific, with a particular interest in electric fish. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1770 and awarded their Copley Medal in 1773 for a paper on the electrical properties of torpedo fish.  Upon his death in 1795, Sir John Walsh, as he was then known, left his fortune to his niece, Margaret Walsh, and her husband, John Benn, on the condition that they change their surname to Benn-Walsh. With his own fortune of £80,000 made in India while Assistant to the Resident of Benares, his brother-in-law Francis Fowke in the 1770s, John Benn-Walsh had become a very wealthy man and went on to inherit extensive estates in Warfield, Buckinghamshire, in Radnorshire, and in Ormathwaite, Cumberland and be created Baron Ormathwaite.

John Walsh (1 July 1726 – 9 March 1795) was a British scientist and Secretary to the Governor of Bengal.

John Walsh (* 1. Juli 1726 in Fort St. George, Madras; † 9. März 1795 in London) war ein britischer Naturforscher und Politiker.


History.

Before the 1989 revolution, Czechoslovakia was a socialist dictatorship ruled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, technically together with the coalition of the so-called National Front. Before the free democratic elections could take place after the revolution, a transitional government was created. 1989 President of Czechoslovakia Gustáv Husák sworn in the Government of National Understanding (, ) headed by Marián Čalfa and he himself abdicated. It consisted of 10 communists and 9 non-communists and its main goal was to prepare for democratic elections, to establish market economy in the country and to start preparing a new constitution.  On 8–9 June 1990, the Czechoslovakian parliamentary election of 1990 took place. Čalfa's second government was disbanded on 27 June 1990, when it was replaced by the Government of National Sacrifice (, ), also headed by Marián Čalfa. On 5–6 June 1992, the last elections in Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovakian parliamentary election of 1992 took place. Čalfa's third government was disbanded on 2 July 1992, when it was replaced by the Caretaker Government of Jan Stráský (, ), headed by Jan Stráský. The caretaker government was disbanded on 31 December 1992 together with the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic.  Due to federalism, immediately after the 1989 revolution, two national governments (one for the Czech Republic, one for Slovakia) were created as well under the federal Czechoslovak government. In Slovakia it was headed by Milan Čič and it was established on 12 December 1989 and disbanded on 26 June 1990. On 8–9 June 1990, the Slovak parliamentary election of 1990 took place together with the federal Czechoslovak elections. Čič's government was followed by the First Government of Vladimír Mečiar (1990-1991), Government of Ján Čarnogurský (1991-1992) and the Second Government of Vladimír Mečiar (1992-1994). On 5–6 June the Slovak parliamentary election of 1992 took place.

Legal system.

The Constitution of the Slovak Republic was ratified 1 September 1992 and became effective 1 October 1992 (some parts 1 January 1993). It was amended in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president and again in February 2001 due to EU admission requirements. The civil law system is based on Austro-Hungarian codes. The legal code was modified to comply with the obligations of Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to expunge the Marxist–Leninist legal theory. Slovakia accepts the compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction with reservations.

Executive branch.

The president is the head of state and the formal head of the executive, though with very limited powers. The president is elected by direct, popular vote, under the two round system, for a five-year term.  Following National Council elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president. Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister has to receive the majority in the parliament. From July 2006 till July 2010 the coalition consisted of Smer, SNS and HZDS. After the 2010 elections a coalition was formed by the former opposition parties SDKÚ, KDH and Most–Híd and newcomer SaS. From 2012 to 2016, after the premature elections, whole government consisted of members and nominees of the party SMER-SD, which also had majority in the parliament. The 2016 parliamentary election gave a coalition of parties SMER-SD, SNS and Most-Híd. After the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities won the election and Igor Matovič is the Prime Minister.

Legislative branch.

Slovakia's sole constitutional and legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic. Delegates are elected for 4-year terms on the basis of proportional representation.  The National Council considers and approves the Constitution, constitutional statutes and other legal acts. It also approves the state budget. It elects some officials specified by law as well as the candidates for the position of a Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic and the Prosecutor General. Prior to their ratification, the parliament should approve all important international treaties. Moreover, it gives consent for dispatching of military forces outside of Slovakia's territory and for the presence of foreign military forces on the territory of the Slovak Republic. Current Chairman of the National Council is Andrej Danko.

Political parties and elections.

Suffrage.

18 years of age; universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

Presidential election.

The president is elected by direct, popular vote, under the two round system, for a five-year term. Two rounds of the last election were held on March 16 and 30, 2019.

Parliamentary election.

Members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (), are elected directly for a 4-year term, under the proportional representation system. Like the Netherlands, the country is a single multi-member constituency. Voters may indicate their preferences within the semi-open list. The election threshold is 5%. Latest elections were held on March 5, 2016.

2020 parliamentary election.

Other election results:

Political parties.

The Slovak political scene supports a wide spectrum of political parties including the communists (KSS) and the nationalists (SNS). New parties arise and old parties cease to exist or merge at a frequent rate. Major parties are members of the European political parties. Some parties have regional strongholds, for example SMK is supported mainly by the Hungarian minority living in southern Slovakia. Although the main political cleavage in the 1990s concerned the somewhat authoritarian policy of HZDS, the left-right conflict over economic reforms (principally between Direction - Social Democracy and Slovak Democratic and Christian Union - Democratic Party) has recently become the dominant power in Slovakia's politics.

Judicial branch.

The country's highest appellate forum is the Supreme Court ("Najvyšší súd"), the judges of which are elected by the National Council; below that are regional, district, and military courts. In certain cases the law provides for decisions of tribunals of judges to be attended by lay judges from the citizenry. Slovakia also has the Constitutional Court of Slovakia ("Ústavný súd Slovenskej Republiky"), which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by Parliament.  In 2002 Parliament passed legislation which created a Judicial Council. This 18-member council, composed of judges, law professors, and other legal experts, is now responsible for the nomination of judges. All judges except those of the Constitutional Court are appointed by the president from a list proposed by the Judicial Council. The Council also is responsible for appointing Disciplinary Senates in cases of judicial misconduct.

International organization participation.

Slovakia is member of ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, European Audiovisual Observatory, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNTSO, UPU, Visegrád Group, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

Politics of Slovakia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in the parliament and it can be exercised in some cases also by the government or directly by citizens.

Das politische System der Slowakischen Republik ist als Republik mit parlamentarischem Regierungssystem organisiert. Zentrale Bedeutung haben die stark miteinander konkurrierenden politischen Parteien. Die legislative Gewalt bildet der Nationalrat, ein Einkammerparlament. Die Wahlen in den Nationalrat sowie die Europawahlen werden als Verhältniswahlen durchgeführt. Staatsoberhaupt ist der Präsident, der direkt vom Volk gewählt wird. Über die Einhaltung der Verfassung wacht das Verfassungsgericht.


History.

Dissatisfied with the state of the music scene in their hometown of Tel Aviv, the Israeli trio Monotonix formed in November 2005. They began by playing shows at local venues. They frequently set up on the floor among the crowd, playing shows raucous enough to result in the power being shut off or the police called in.  Eventually, finding themselves banned from most of the venues in Tel Aviv, the band decided to leave Israel and tour the United States and Europe. In 2006 and 2007, Monotonix played over 300 shows around the world, including appearances at festivals in the US and Europe, and a few tours with Silver Jews, for whom they opened in Israel and befriended. Monotonix were known for setting themselves and their equipment on fire, stealing drinks from audience members to pour on themselves, turning their shows into frenzied dance parties, and, later, for their unique take on raw garage rock.  In 2008, the band signed to Drag City and released "Body Language". The track was recorded by Tim Green of the Fucking Champs. They never let up on their nonstop touring though, playing over 250 shows that year alone.  On September 1, 2009, having recently released their first full length, "Where Were You When It Happened", they opened (along with Dinosaur Jr.) for the reunited Faith No More at a sold-out concert at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, and followed that show with tours in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. "Set Me Free" from "Where Were You When It Happened" was used in the opening scene of an episode of cult TV show House.  In 2009, their song "Body Language" was featured on the video game "" and on "" on the fictional indie radio station Radio Broker.  In 2009, their song "Set Me Free" was the music over the opening parkour scene in "House M.D." (Brave Heart episode (06), season 06).  In January 2010, while performing in Florida, singer Ami Shalev broke his leg, leading the band to cancel one subsequent show in Athens, Georgia. The rest of the tour continued in equal manic energy with Shalev sometimes singing while atop venue bars on crutches.  Between tours that year, the band rented a studio space in the center of Tel Aviv and wrote the 10 songs that would appear on their next album. It was recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago with engineer Steve Albini. Two 7-inch releases of these sessions came out in April and June 2010, serving as the appetizer for the band's second full length, "Not Yet", which was released on January 25, 2011.  During their US tour supporting "Not Yet" the band announced multiple times that the tour would be their last, first in Echoplex in Los Angeles, and afterward in sold out shows in San Francisco and New York City. The US tour was followed by a final tour of Europe. March 6, 2011, the band's final concert took place in London and became 15 minutes of complete chaos which completely destroyed the band's equipment and got shut down by the venue, ending with the band gifting their remaining tour merchandise and equipment to the audience. Shalev and Fershtman returned to Israel the next day, while Gat stayed in Europe and eventually would move to New York.  On March 25, 2011, the band posted a picture in a post on their Myspace blog showing a sign saying "The End" above the band's name. The post was titled "THANK YOU!".  In 2014, band founder and guitarist Yonatan Gat released the "Iberian Passage" EP under his own name. The album was recorded by Yonatan himself in Portugal with Portuguese drummer Igor Domingues. He followed it up with "Director" a year later, and embarked on extensive tours of the United States and Europe. Steve Albini produced an EP for Gat the same year titled "Physical Copy". Gat released his second full-length album on Joyful Noise Recordings, "Universalists", in 2018 to critical acclaim.

Monotonix were a garage rock band from Tel Aviv, Israel. The band — singer Ami Shalev, guitarist Yonatan Gat, and drummer Ran Shimoni (later replaced by Haggai Fershtman) — released their debut EP in 2008 and toured mostly in the United States and Europe, including notable appearances at SXSW. Monotonix subsequently released two full-length records: "Where Were You When It Happened?" and "Not Yet". Over the span of five years (ending in 2011 with the breakup of the band), Monotonix played 1000 shows. They were famously dubbed, "the most exciting live band in rock 'n' roll" by Spin Magazine. The band is also noted as guitarist and co-founder Yonatan Gat's first band, before he continued to a prolific solo career.

Monotonix ist der Name einer 2005 gegründeten Rockband aus Tel Aviv in Israel. Ihr Musikstil basiert auf Rockmusik der 1970er und hartem Crossover-Sound der 1990er Jahre.


Early life.

Lacombe was born in the provincial town of Pamiers in southwestern France. She became an actress at a young age and appeared in theatrical productions in the provinces before arriving in Paris in 1792. She was not an outstanding success in the theater, and she was not entirely happy with her life. The acting company that Lacombe worked for moved from town to town and sometimes went to castles and the country houses of aristocrats. This probably had an influence in her decision to quit the company to become a revolutionary.

Revolutionary career.

In Paris during the insurrection of 10 August 1792, Lacombe fought with the rebels during the storming of the Tuileries. She was shot through the arm but kept fighting on, earning herself the lifelong sobriquet, "Heroine of August Tenth". For her bravery, she was awarded a civic crown by the victorious "fédérés".  Lacombe became a frequent attendee at meetings of the Cordeliers Club through which she became involved with the most radical elements of the Revolution. In February, 1793, Lacombe and another female revolutionary, Pauline Léon, founded the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. Composed chiefly of working-class women, the Society associated with the most militant sans-culottes and "enragés". They functioned partly as a fighting force among the market women of Paris, and employed violent tactics to root out anti-revolutionaries.  Despite the deeply entrenched chauvinism of the time, Lacombe met a few revolutionary men who fought for women's rights. One of these was Théophile Leclerc, with whom she lived for a while, until he left her to marry Pauline Léon.  Under the Reign of Terror, the "enragés" were suppressed along with most other extremist groups, including the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women. On September 16, 1793, Lacombe, then president of the Society, was publicly denounced by the Jacobins to the Committee of General Security. The Jacobins accused her of "making counterrevolutionary statements" and having associated and aided a "notorious counterrevolutionary, the énrage Leclerc".  Lacombe did her best to defend herself, but it was too late. She was briefly detained and then set free. The seed of distrust had been planted. The Society tried in vain to continue to petition the Convention. Most of the issues that they now dealt with were more trivial and less radical than their previous campaigns. The group had ostensibly been so notorious that the National Convention specifically banned women's organizations on 30 October 1793. However, Chaumette's subsequent comments about men's having a "right" to having women care for the family, and how that was the only civic dutyy women had, reveals other reasons for the ban taking place.  Barred from any political activity, Lacombe considered returning to her acting career. In April 1794, she was arrested as she prepared to leave for a theater in Dunkirk. Lacombe was finally released from prison on 20 August 1795 (by order of 18 August 1795 signed by the Committee of General Security). She went back to the theater but quit again after three months, and settled into a life of unrecorded obscurity.

Claire Lacombe (4 August 1765-?) was a French actress and revolutionary. She is best known for her contributions during the French Revolution. Though it was only for a few years, Lacombe was a revolutionary and a founding member of the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women.

Claire Lacombe (* 4. August 1765 in Pamiers (Département Ariège); †?) war eine Theaterschauspielerin, Revolutionärin und Frauenrechtlerin zur Zeit der Französischen Revolution.


Biography.

Neverov was born on 20 December 1886 in the village of Novikovka Melekess, Samara Province. His father was a farmer, a former non-commissioned officer of the Life Guard Lancers who later withdrew from the village and served as a doorman in the city. Neverov spent his childhood, until the age of 16, living in the home of his grandfather. This was due mostly to his father's military service.  He received his earliest education at a local church school. In 1903 he was accepted at a secondary school in Ozerkino. He graduated after three years of study with a diploma which gave him the qualifications of an elementary school teacher. In his third year in Ozerkino he published his first story in "The Temperance Messenger", a St Petersburg newspaper.  After 1906, Neverov worked as a rural teacher, while at the same time publishing stories in magazines. He married in 1912. In 1915 he spent time as a nurse in Samara. During the Revolution he became friendly with members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, but in 1919 joined the Bolsheviks, and held significant positions in various institutions of Samara. He was one of the founders of the local folk theater, and in 1919 he wrote his first plays, one of which, "Baba", won first place in a contest in Moscow.  During the famine years of 1920-1921, together with a mass of hungry people, he fled from the Volga Region into Tashkent. In the fall of 1921, after the death of one of his three children, he conceived a plan of moving to Moscow. He travelled first to Tashkent in order to obtain food for his family. This harrowing journey was the inspiration for his novel "City of Bread". In spring of 1922 he moved to Moscow where he joined the group "The Forge". He affiliated himself with a number of revolutionary periodicals, wrote short stories, published his earlier stories in book form, and began work on a novel, "Story of Women", which he never finished.  Neverov died suddenly of heart failure on 24 December 1923 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery.  His complete works, released in 1926, were reprinted five times before 1930.  "Taschkent, die brotreiche Stadt", the German translation of "City of Bread", was burned by Nazis during the extensive Nazi book burnings in 1933.

Alexander Sergeyevich Neverov (), (24 December 1886 – 24 December 1923), was a Russian/Soviet writer and teacher. Neverov was his pseudonym; his real last name was Skobelev.

Alexander Sergejewitsch Newerow (; * als "A. S. Skobelew/" in Nowikowka, Gouvernement Samara (heute zur Oblast Uljanowsk); † 24. Dezember 1923 in Moskau) war ein russischer Prosaschriftsteller und Dramatiker.