Background.

In January 2010, German media reported that Christian Wulff, then Minister-President of Lower Saxony, had accepted a complimentary flight upgrade from Air Berlin for a family trip to Miami on September 15, 2009. In doing so, he violated ministerial laws of Lower Saxony, which prohibit members of state government from accepting gifts worth more than 10 Euro. Subsequently, Wulff paid Air Berlin the 3,000 Euro the flights would have cost. Following this incident, the Green faction in Lower Saxony's state parliament began a parliamentary inquiry to find out more about business dealings between Wulff and Egon Geerkens, a local entrepreneur. Responding to the inquiry, the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony denied any business relationship between Wulff and Geerkens. In June 2010, Wulff was elected German President.  Following rumors about possible favors obtained by Wulff in connection with the purchase of a house in early 2009, the news magazine "Der Spiegel" contacted the local registry of deeds on December 14, 2010 to request access to his files. The request was denied on December 16, 2010, prompting "Der Spiegel" to call on the Higher Regional Court in Celle to overturn that decision. After that court only partially overturned the earlier determination, "Der Spiegel" appealed to the Federal Court of Justice, which sustained the appeal and ordered the registry of deeds to grant the news magazine access to Wulff’s files. On October 20, 2011, "Der Spiegel" accessed the registry of deeds and discovered that the house had a lien of 500,000 Euro against it and that the Stuttgart-based BW Bank had provided a financing loan of 415,000 Euro.

Loan scandal.

In an email sent to Wulff on November 28, 2011, the German tabloid "Bild" requested additional information concerning the details of the house purchase. On December 5, 2011 Olaf Glaeseker, then Wulff’s spokesperson, provided a copy of the loan agreement, which showed that entrepreneur Erich Geerkens’ wife Edith had loaned 500,000 Euro to Wulff in the fall of 2008. The loan had a very favorable interest rate of only four percent and contained no provisions for repayment.  On December 10, 2011, "Bild" contacted Wulff again by email and asked why he had not disclosed the loan contract with Edith Geerkens when responding to the parliamentary inquiry in February 2010 and whether he had tried to deceive the state parliament of Lower Saxony. In addition, “Bild’ requested detailed information about financial transactions between Geerkens and Wulff. At the time of this request, Wulff was on an official visit to Dubai.  On December 12, 2011, Bild reported the loan from Edith Geerkens to Wulff and raised the question whether he had misled Lower Saxony's State Parliament in February 2010.  On December 13, 2011, the German Federal Presidential Office confirmed Edith Geerken's loan to Wulff and declared that he had correctly responded to the parliamentary inquiry, as the funds were provided by Mrs. Geerkens and that there was therefore no business relationship between Wulff and Egon Geerkens.  On December 15, 2011, Wulff issued a written statement reiterating that he did not have a business relationship with Mr. Geerkens and that he had correctly responded to the parliamentary inquiry. At the same time, he expressed regret that he may have created a wrong impression. Wulff declared that he had paid back Edith Geerkens in full in March 2010 by taking on a short-term, flexible-interest rate loan from Stuttgart-based BW-Bank through contacts arranged by Egon Geerkens. In the meantime, Wulff said, the loan had been converted into a long-term loan.  In an article published on December 16, 2011, "Der Spiegel" quoted Egon Geerkens as saying he had led the loan negotiations with Wulff. While the money did indeed come from his wife's bank account, Egon Geerkens stated that he had signed the cheque and given it to Wulff.  On December 18, 2011, Wulff's lawyers published a list of personal holiday trips where he had been a house guest with friends. Six such trips were listed between 2003 and 2010, including stays with Mr. and Mrs. Geerkens, with Carsten Maschmeyer and Wolf-Dieter Baumgartl. One day later, journalists were given access to this list along with documents pertaining to the controversial loan.  On December 21, 2011, Wulff's lawyer confirmed that Egon Geerkens was involved in the loan negotiations and that he also participated in the prior search for a suitable property.  The following day, Wulff suddenly relieved his long-time spokesman and advisor Olaf Glaeseker of his duties. German media reported that Glaeseker tendered his resignation because of fears that the ongoing investigation could compromise his family's privacy. On December 22, 2011, Wulff also held a press conference where he apologized for his conduct in connection with the loan scandal. Wulff conceded that he should have made his personal records available more quickly, "that was not straightforward and I am sorry," he said. At the same time, he stressed his desire to stay in office and asked the German people trust him. That same day, the district attorney's office in Hanover also announced that it would not start a formal investigation into Wulff's loan dealings.  In the evening of December 22, reports surfaced that in March 2010, the government of Lower Saxony under Wulff may have given a false response to a parliamentary inquiry related to the funding and organization of the so-called "Nord-Sued Dialog", an event designed to promote the public image of the states of Lower Saxony and Baden-Wuerttemberg. In March 2010, the state government of Lower Saxony had denied any financial or organizational ties to this event, which had been organized by the event manager Manfred Schmidt.  On December 27, 2011, it became known that the supervisory board of BW-Bank, which had provided Wulff with a loan to pay back the Geerkens loan, requested additional information concerning this transaction as the bank had previously not been informed of the loan.  On December 30, 2011, BW-Bank provided the German public with the details of its business relationship with Wulff. Accordingly, the first talks between Wulff and the bank started in December 2009 and were arranged by Egon Geerkens. On March 21, 2010, these negotiations led to the signing of a "short-term, flexible-interest rate loan" which Wulff used to pay back Edith Geerkens. On December 12, 2011, the bank sent Wulff a contract to convert the short-term flexible interest-rate loan into a long-term loan. BW-Bank received the contract signed by Wulff on December 21. The contract mentions January 16, 2012 as the start date. Critics charged that Wulff had not yet finalized the long-term loan when he made his public statement on December 15, 2011. In response, Wulff's lawyers declared that the interest rate for this loan had already been fixed as of November 15, 2011.  On December 31, 2011, "Der Spiegel" raised the question whether the conditions of Wulff's BW-Bank loan were somehow connected to his role in the takeover of Porsche by Volkswagen. As member of the Volkswagen supervisory board, Wulff played an important role in making the takeover possible. However, all parties concerned denied any connection to the BW-Bank loan.

Media scandal.

On December 31, 2011 it was reported that Wulff had tried to call "Bild" editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann on December 12, 2011, one day before the tabloid's first article on the loan scandal. Wulff, who was on a state visit to the Persian Gulf at the time, left an aggressive message on Diekmann's mailbox and threatened to take legal steps against the relevant journalists if "Bild" were to publish the article. In this context, Wulff also spoke of a "final break" and "war" between him and "Bild". Furthermore, Wulff also tried to intervene by calling Matthias Doepfner, CEO of Axel-Springer, the publishing house that owns "Bild", and left a similarly aggressive message on his mailbox. Doepfner called Wulff back but rejected his demands. Two days later, Wulff apologized to Diekmann for his message. After Wulff's attempts to interfere with "Bild", coverage of the loan scandal became public he was widely criticized.

TV interview and 400 questions.

On January 4, 2012, Wulff was interviewed by both the ARD and ZDF German national television channels. Wulff admitted personal wrongdoing, and referred to his call to Kai Diekmann as a "grave mistake". Wulff indicated that by calling Diekmann he had only tried to delay, but not to prevent publication of the article. In contrast, Wulff defended both his private vacations with entrepreneur friends and the personal loan from Edith Geerkens. Wulff declared that journalists had sent him a list of more than 400 questions, and announced that he would publish all questions and answers on the Internet.  Kai Diekmann rejected Wulff's characterization of his mailbox message and asked for the president's permission to make the recording public. Wulff did not authorize the release of the message. In contrast to Wulff's earlier announcement that all questions and answers related to the loan scandal would be published online, his law firm issued only a six-page summary on January 5, 2012 and placed it online, as a press release. On January 10, 2012 Wulff's lawyer declared that attorney-client privilege prevented a more detailed release of information. Within a week several newspapers began making use of their right to publish their own enquiries with the respective responses. On January 18, 2012 after a barrage of criticism from within Wulff's own party, including Chancellor Merkel, his lawyer released a total of 237 pages with question and answers related to the loan scandal and put it online. His lawyer also presented online transcripts of legally released interviews by journalists.

David Groenewold and Nord-Süd-Dialog.

On January 14, 2012 it was reported that David Groenewold ́, a media executive, had invited the Wulff couple to the Octoberfest 2008 in Munich and covered part of their hotel bill - without their knowledge, according to Groenewold. On January 16, 2012 the district attorney's office in Hanover declared that there was not yet an initial suspicion but that investigations were still ongoing - especially in light of Wulff's hotel upgrade paid for by Groenewold that had just became public.  In connection with "Nord-Süd-Dialog" it was reported on January 18 that Wulff had become actively involved in contacting potential sponsors. A spokesperson for Talanx, an insurance company, confirmed that its CEO Herbert Haas had been approached by Wulff. Talanx ended up sponsoring the event to the tune of 10,000 Euro.  On January 19, 2012 the district attorney's office in Hanover searched the home and offices of Wulff's former spokesman Olaf Glaeseker as part of its investigation into potential corruption in connection with "Nord-Süd-Dialog". The raid was based on accusations that Glaeseker, during his time in public office, had strongly promoted the event's organization and fundraising activities in exchange for free personal holidays in the vacation homes of "Nord-Süd-Dialog" event manager Manfred Schmidt. Schmidt's offices were also searched on the same day.  On January 20, 2012 it became known that the state chancellery of Lower Saxony led by Wulff was actively involved in conducting "Nord-Süd-Dialog" in 2009. For example, Wulff's then-spokesman Olaf Glaeseker had requested 44 students from the Hanover's Medical University as service personnel but had failed to pay the subsequent invoice sent by the state of Lower Saxony. Furthermore, Glaeseker had instructed the Lower Saxonian agriculture ministry to pay for 800 cook books that were distributed to the guests of the Nord-Sued-Dialog. A few days later, on January 24, 2012 it was confirmed that Glaeseker had also reached out to potential sponsors of the Nord-Sued-Dialog 2009 on behalf of Wulff. On January 26, 2012 the district attorney's office in Hanover ordered a search of Glaeseker's former office in the German Federal Presidential Office and seized various documents and computers.

Developments leading up to the Resignation.

On January 30, 2012, it became known that Egon Geerkens had been a client of Wulff's former law firm until 2004. Furthermore, Geerkens had rented office space to the law firm until 2007. In response, the law firm declared that Wulff had not worked for them since 1994. This was confirmed by Wulff's lawyer.  Following media reports that the Wulff couple had benefited from exceptionally favorable conditions in connection with the leasing of an Audi Q3, the district attorney's office in Berlin began an investigation into potential favoritism. Wulff's lawyer and Audi rejected the allegations. In this context, Audi declared that the agreed monthly leasing rate of 850 Euro was "in line with market conditions".  On February 8, 2012, there were media reports about a joint vacation of the Wulff family and David Groenewold on the island of Sylt that was booked and paid for by Groenewold. In this context, Wulff declared that he had immediately reimbursed Groenewold for his share of the hotel bill in cash when he checked out of the hotel.  As David Groenwold had previously received credit guarantees from Lower Saxony worth several million Euro, German media reported on February 9, 2012 that the district attorney's office in Hanover had started an investigation into potential favoritism charges in connection with the Sylt vacation.  On February 16 the district attorney's office in Hanover requested the lifting of Wulff's presidential immunity due to well-founded initial suspicions of favoritism and unethical behavior.  On February 17, 2012, Wulff resigned as German Federal President. Explaining his resignation, Wulff stated that "(the German people's) trust and thus his effectiveness have been seriously damaged" and that "for this reason it is no longer possible for him to exercise the office of president at home and abroad as required." A new presidential election was required within a month to elect his successor. Until a new President was elected, Horst Seehofer of the Christian Social Union (CSU) was Acting President of Germany|acting president. The new president, Joachim Gauck, was elected on 18 March by a Federal Convention.

Further developments.

After the request by the district attorney's office in Hanover to lift Wulff's immunity had been leaked to the press, there were media reports that the prosecutors had questioned Wulff's explanation that he reimbursed Groenwold in cash when checking out of the hotel in Sylt in August 2008. The investigations showed no corresponding withdrawals on Wulff's bank account that would back up his claim. In view of Wulff's negative account balance leading up to the Sylt vacation, prosecutors deemed the possibility that Wulff had kept a cash gift from December 2007 until August 2008 as "economically unwise".  On February 26, 2012, further details emerged regarding the cash gifts that Wulff received in December 2007. According to Wulff, he received 1,000 euro as a birthday present and a Christmas present of 2,500 euro from his mother-in-law to his wife Bettina. Six days after receipt of the birthday gift, the Wulffs left for a Sylt vacation in December 2007. Regarding the Sylt trip in August 2008, the district attorney's office said that they had questioned Wulff's cash reimbursement explanation because there was an eight-month gap between the Christmas gift in December and the Sylt vacation in August 2008, and because Wulff's bank account was in the red by more than 10,000 euro in July 2008.  On March 1, 2012, the district attorney searched David Groenewold's home and offices with his permission and seized a large volume of documents and data.  One day later, the district attorney searched Wulff's personal home and seized one computer among other things. Since the search was conducted with the permission of the Wulff family, no search warrant was required.  On June 1, it became known that the district attorney's office in Berlin had closed its probe into allegations that Wulff had engaged in unethical behavior in connection with, among other things, the leasing of an Audi Q3. The investigation did not yield firm evidence backing up the accusations.  In January 2013, a report by the State Police Office in Hanover became public indicated that the investigators were not able to find evidence of corruption that could be used in court. Wulff's mother-in-law had confirmed his statement regarding the cash gifts to her daughter. According to Wulff, he had used the money to pay for the hotel. Furthermore, investigators confirmed the legality of Wulff's room upgrade at a Munich hotel by David Groenewold in 2008. Since Wulff had the right to be reimbursed for this trip by the State of Lower Saxony, he did not derive a personal benefit from the upgrade. According to the investigators, this refuted the claims of corruption levelled at Wulff.  On January 26, 2013, German media reported about a letter from David Groenewold to Wulff dated September 29, 2008. The letter had been turned over by the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony to the district attorney's office in Hanover in late 2012. In the letter, Groenewold had asked Wulff for support in the marketing of his movie "John Rabe". In particular, the letter referred to the Siemens which Groenewold had not yet managed to secure as a sponsor. In late 2008, Wulff wrote a letter to Siemens CEO Peter Loescher and asked him to support the movie. The district attorney's office subsequently called on two of Wulff's former aides as witnesses in the investigation.  In February 2013 further details emerged about Wulff's personal finances between 2007 and 2011. According to the district attorney leading the investigation, Wulff found himself in a permanently strained financial situation with a bank account that was at times more than 80,000 in the red.  In March 2013 the Hanover district attorney offered to settle the case in exchange for a fine. On April 9, Wulff announced that he had rejected this deal. Three days later the prosecution filed corruption charges against Wulf. The only remaining allegation against him concerned a Munich hotel and food bill of 770 euro paid by Groenwold. On August 27, 2013, the Hanover regional court announced that it would try Wulff on accepting unfair advantages, after downgrading the initial corruption charges.  On February 27, 2014, two years after his resignation, Christian Wulff was acquitted of all corruption charges by the Hanover regional court.

Causa Wulff (English: "~The Wulff Case") refers to several political scandals that ultimately led to the resignation of Christian Wulff as President of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the beginning, there were questions concerning the purchase of a house for which Wulff had accepted a loan from an entrepreneur family with whom he was friends.

Als Wulff-Affäre wird eine Affäre um den ehemaligen Bundespräsidenten Christian Wulff bezeichnet; sie begann im Dezember 2011 und führte im Februar 2012 zu seinem Rücktritt.


Design.

Based on the earlier E2 series trains, the E7 series trains are designed with a "Japanese" theme inside and out, combining futuristic styling with traditional design elements overseen by industrial designer Ken Okuyama together with Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Externally, the roof is finished in a "sky blue" colour, and the bodysides are "ivory white" with "copper" and "sky blue" lining. The bodyside logos consist of a number "7" in silver stylized as an arrowhead, and include the lettering "East Japan Railway Company".  Manufacture of the E7 series sets was shared between Hitachi in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, J-TREC in Yokohama, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe.  The trains have a maximum design speed of, but operate at a maximum speed of on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, limited to on the Jōetsu Shinkansen tracks between Omiya and Takasaki, and to on the Tohoku Shinkansen tracks between Tokyo and Omiya. Increased power output enables the trains to maintain speeds of at least on the steep gradients of the Hokuriku Shinkansen.  Car 12 (Gran Class) is equipped with full active suspension, and the other cars are equipped with semi-active suspension.

Operations.

The trains entered regular passenger service from the start of the revised JR East timetable on 15 March 2014, with three trainsets introduced on "Asama" services on the Hokuriku Shinkansen (then still called the Nagano Shinkansen) between Tokyo and Nagano. Initially, E7 series trainsets operated seven return "Asama" services daily, with a further four return workings added from 19 April 2014.  Since 14 March 2015, with the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Nagano to Kanazawa, E7 series trainsets are also used on "Hakutaka", "Kagayaki", and "Tsurugi" services alongside the similar design JR West W7 series trains.

Formations.

The 12-car sets are numbered "F1" onward, and consist of 10 motored intermediate cars with non-powered (trailer) end cars. Car 11 provides Green car (first class) accommodation, and car 12 provides Gran Class luxury accommodation. Sets are formed as shown below, with car 1 at the Tokyo end.  Cars 3 and 7 are each equipped with a single-arm pantograph.

Interior.

The 12-car trains have accommodation in three levels of service: Gran Class, Green car, and ordinary-class cars, with a total seating capacity of 934. Gran Class seating (car 12) is arranged 2+1 abreast with a seat pitch of, Green car seating (car 11) is arranged 2+2 abreast with a seat pitch of, and ordinary seating (cars 1 to 10) is arranged 3+2 abreast with a seat pitch of. AC power outlets are provided for each seat in all three classes. The Gran class seats are supplied by Toyota Boshoku. Car saloons and vestibule areas are equipped with security cameras. Between October and December 2015, luggage racks are scheduled to be added at one end of each of the even-numbered ordinary class cars and also in Green car 11, by removing a pair of seats (1D and 1E). The luggage racks are to cater to the increased number of overseas tourists with suitcases and also passengers with ski and snowboard equipment in the winter season.

History.

In December 2011, the "Mainichi Shimbun" reported that JR East was considering developing new E7 series 10-car sets based on the existing E2 series design for use on Hokuriku Shinkansen services. Details of the new trains were formally announced jointly by JR East and JR West on 4 September 2012.  The first E7 series train was delivered to Sendai Depot in November 2013, and shown off to the media on 28 November. Night-time testing commenced in December 2013 on the Nagano Shinkansen, with daytime test-running between Nagano and Tokyo starting on 8 January 2014. The design of the logo to be applied to the sides of cars 1 and 12 was officially unveiled in February 2014.  The first three trains, sets F1 to F3, entered regular passenger service from the start of the revised JR East timetable on 15 March 2014. The entire fleet of 17 sets, numbered F1 to F17, was delivered by the start of the 14 March 2015 timetable revision, although sets F16 and F17 did not enter revenue service until after this date.  In April 2015, JR East announced that it was ordering an additional E7 series set to be introduced from autumn 2015, replacing the remaining E2 series trainsets used on regularly scheduled Hokuriku Shinkansen "Asama" services.  In May 2015, the E7 series and JR West W7 series were awarded the 2015 Blue Ribbon Award, presented annually by the Japan Railfan Club. A presentation ceremony was held at JR West's Hakusan Depot on 24 October 2015.  On October 12, 2019, 8 E7 series (sets F1, F2, F7, F8, F10, F14, F16 and F18) and 2 W7 series (sets W2 and W7) trains were damaged due to floodwaters from Typhoon Hagibis, while they were stored at JR East Nagano Shinkansen Vehicle center.

Fleet list.

, 22 sets are in service, with build details as follows. *Sets F1, F2, F7, F8, F10, F14, F16 and F18 were withdrawn in 2019 following flood damage sustained during Typhoon Hagibis. 19 sets are based at Nagano Shinkansen Depot and three sets are based at Niigata Depot.

The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) on the Hokuriku Shinkansen since 15 March 2014. It also operates on the Jōetsu Shinkansen following the March 2019 timetable revision.

Die Shinkansen-Baureihe E7 (jap., "Shinkansen E7-kei densha") und die Shinkansen-Baureihe W7 (jap., "Shinkansen W7-kei densha") sind zwei baugleiche japanische Hochgeschwindigkeitszüge, die für den Einsatz auf der Hokuriku-Shinkansen von JR East und JR West beschafft werden.


Life.

Bulfinch split his career between his native Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC, where he served as Commissioner of Public Building and built the intermediate United States Capitol rotunda and dome. His works are notable for their simplicity, balance, and good taste, and as the origin of a distinctive Federal style of classical domes, columns, and ornament that dominated early 19th-century American architecture.

Early life.

Bulfinch was born in Boston to Thomas Bulfinch, a prominent physician, and his wife, Susan Apthorp. At the age of 12, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from this home on the Boston side of the Charles River.  He was educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard University, from which he graduated with an AB in 1781 and master's degree in 1784.  He then made a grand tour of Europe from 1785 to 1788, traveling to London, Paris, and the major cities of Italy. Bulfinch was greatly influenced by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. He was also influenced by the classical architecture in Italy and the neoclassical buildings of Sir Christopher Wren, Robert Adam, William Chambers, and others in the United Kingdom. Thomas Jefferson became something of a mentor to him in Europe, as he would later be to Robert Mills.  Upon his return to the United States in 1787, he became a promoter of the ship "Columbia Rediviva's" voyage around the world under command of Captain Robert Gray (1755–1806). It was the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. In 1788, he married Hannah Apthorp, his first cousin. Their sons include Thomas Bulfinch (1796–1867), author of "Bulfinch's Mythology", and Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch (1809–1870), Unitarian clergyman and author.

Career.

Bulfinch's first building was the Hollis Street Church (1788). Among his other early works are a memorial column on Beacon Hill (1789), the first monument to the American Revolution; the Federal Street theater (1793); the "Tontine Crescent" (built 1793–1794, now demolished), fashioned in part after John Wood's Royal Crescent; the Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut (1796); and the Massachusetts State House (1798). He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791.  Over the course of ten years, Bulfinch built a remarkable number of private dwellings in the Boston area, including Joseph Barrell's Pleasant Hill (1793), a series of three houses in Boston for Harrison Gray Otis (1796, 1800, 1806), and the John Phillips House (1804). He built several churches in Boston, of which New North (built 1802–1804) is the last standing.  Serving from 1791 to 1795 on Boston's board of selectmen, he resigned due to business pressures but returned in 1799. From 1799 to 1817, he was the chairman of Boston's board of selectmen continuously, and served as a paid police superintendent, improving the city's streets, drains, and lighting. Under his direction, both the infrastructure and civic center of Boston were transformed into a dignified, classical style. Bulfinch was responsible for the design of the Boston Common, the remodeling and enlargement of Faneuil Hall (1805), and the construction of India Wharf. In these Boston years, he also designed the Massachusetts State Prison (1803); Boylston Market (1810); University Hall for Harvard University (1813–1814); the Meeting House in Lancaster, Massachusetts (1815–1817); and the Bulfinch Building, home of the Ether Dome at Massachusetts General Hospital (1818), its completion overseen by Alexander Parris, who was working in Bulfinch's office at the time the architect was summoned to Washington.  Despite this great activity and civic involvement, Bulfinch was insolvent several times starting in 1796, including at the start of his work on the statehouse, and was jailed for the month of July 1811 for debt (in a prison he had designed himself). There was no payment for his services as selectman, and he received only $1,400 for designing and overseeing the construction of the State House.  In the summer of 1817, Bulfinch's roles as selectman, designer, and public official coincided during a visit by President James Monroe. The two men were almost constantly in each other's company for the week-long visit, and a few months later (1818), Monroe appointed Bulfinch the successor to Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764–1820) as Architect of the Capitol in Washington, DC (the Capitol Building had been partially burned by the British in 1814.) In this position, he was paid a salary of $2,500 per year plus expenses.  As Commissioner of Public Building, Bulfinch completed the Capitol's wings and central portion, designed the western approach and portico, and constructed the Capitol's original low wooden dome to his own design (replaced by the present cast-iron dome completed in the mid-1860s). In 1829 Bulfinch completed the construction of the Capitol, 36 years after its cornerstone was laid. During his interval in Washington, Bulfinch also drew plans for the State House in Augusta, Maine (1829–1832), a Unitarian Church and prison in Washington, D.C.. In 1827, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member. He returned to Boston in 1830, where he died on April 15, 1844, aged 80, and was buried in King's Chapel Burial Ground in Boston. His tomb was later moved to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1943, a United States Liberty ship named the SS "Charles Bulfinch" was launched. The ship was scrapped in 1971.

Charles Bulfinch (August 8, 1763 – April 15, 1844) was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession.

Charles Bulfinch (* 8. August 1763 in Boston, Massachusetts; † 15. April 1844 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Architekt. Er wird als der erste in den USA geborene Mensch angesehen, der die Architektur zu seinem Beruf machte.


Plot.

In a quest to find a source of radioactive material more powerful than uranium, Major Perry Rhodan leads a four-man mission to the Moon on the rocketship "Stardust".  On the Moon, they find a stranded Arkonide spaceship, where Commander Thora is trying to save a scientist named Crest, along with a crew of robots. The earthmen find that Crest is suffering from leukemia, for which there is a cure available on Earth. Perry and others take an Arkonide shuttlecraft to Earth to bring back a doctor with the cure.  One of the Earth crewmen is a traitor, however, supplying information to a crime lord who is after the radioactive material, but who sees the encounter with the Arkonides as providing an opportunity for an even greater prize. The crime lord arranges to replace the doctor and nurses with his own people, and upon arriving at the Arkonide ship they kidnap Thora in a bid to gain Arkonide technology.  However, Crest provides Rhodan and Bull with Arkonide technology, which helps them rescue Thora as well as the real doctor, who is able to cure Crest. They soon leave the Moon in the "Stardust", promising to return with materials the Arkonides need to repair their spaceship.

Release.

"Mission Stardust" opened in Rome in August 1967 under the title "4... 3... 2... 1... morte" with a running time of 95 minutes.

Reception.

In a contemporary review, "Variety" noted the dubbing in the film, stating that it was "only fair" and that the special effects were "crude, the color uneven, but the very audaciousness of the admixture keeps the attention." The review also praised the rock music film score by Anton G. Abril.  From retrospective reviews, Gary Westfahl in his book "The Spacesuit Film: A History, 1918-1969" noted that the film contained "shoddy special effects" and recalled "Saturday afternoon serials more than science fiction films of the 1960s". Westfahl referred to the film as "one of the era's most reviled genre films."

Mission Stardust () is a 1967 science fiction film based on the early novels of the popular German "Perry Rhodan" series by K.H. Scheer and Walter Ernsting.

Perry Rhodan – SOS aus dem Weltall (Spanisch: Órbita mortal, Italienisch:...4...3...2...1...morte) ist ein italienisch-deutsch-spanischer Science-Fiction-Film aus dem Jahre 1967. Er ist der einzige Kinospielfilm, in dessen Mittelpunkt der Heftroman-Held Perry Rhodan steht. Die deutsche Fassung ist gegenüber der angloamerikanischen (Mission Stardust) um ca. 15 Minuten gekürzt.


Personal life.

Fowler was born in Lambeth, South London on 10 December 1926. As a "near illiterate newspaper boy" making eight shillings a week, he told film historian Brian McFarlane, he was invited on to radio to speak about his life in wartime London.  In 1951, Fowler married actress Joan Dowling, who committed suicide in 1954. In 1960, he married Catherine Palmer, who survived him.  Fowler died on 4 January 2012. He had no children.

Career.

Fowler made his on-screen debut as Ern in the 1942 film "Those Kids from Town", a propaganda piece about wartime evacuee children from London. This role was given to him after film company executives heard him speaking on the radio about his experiences in wartime London. After a screen test at Elstree Studios, Fowler was given the part to star alongside George Cole. His fee was 2 guineas (42 shillings) a day, compared with the 8 shillings a week he had been earning as a newspaper boy up to his audition.  His early juvenile roles included "Hue and Cry" (1947), usually considered the first of the Ealing Comedies. Fowler later married Joan Dowling, one of his co-stars in the Ealing film. Dowling committed suicide in 1954, aged 26.  During the Second World War, he served as an aircraftman in the Royal Air Force and played a cheerful cockney character with the same job in the film "Angels One Five" (1952), a portrayal he used in other contexts, often with a humorous slant, mostly especially during his year in "The Army Game" (1959–60) TV series.  He played Harry Danvers in the clerical comedy "Our Man at St Mark's" (1965–66) opposite Donald Sinden and made several appearances on children's television during the 1970s, reading on "Jackanory" and hosting the series "Get This" and "Going a Bundle" with Kenny Lynch. He is also noted for having narrated Bob Godfrey Films' "Great: Isambard Kingdom Brunel" (1975), the first British cartoon to win an Academy Award. His familiar voice was regularly used for TV commercials.  In 1975, Fowler took the part of Eric Lee Fung, described as "a Chinese cockney spiv", in "The Melting Pot", a sitcom written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand. The series was cancelled by the BBC after the first episode had been broadcast.  He was awarded an MBE in 1970, as part of Harold Wilson's Resignation Honours.  In his book British Film Character Actors 1982, Terence Pettigrew wrote that Fowler 'was as English as suet pudding...his characters were neither honest nor irretrievably delinquent, merely wise in the ways of the streets, surviving through a combination of wit and stealth. He had a certain arrogance, but there was an appealing vulnerability, too.'

Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than sixty years, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen.

Henry James „Harry“ Fowler (* 10. Dezember 1926 in Lambeth, London; † 4. Januar 2012 ebenda) war ein britischer Schauspieler.


Types.

Compost heap.

The traditional compost heater exploits the heat of a large compost heap to warm a house. This type requires a big heap, intertwined with a spiral water hose. The circulating water conducts heat to the building, where it can be fed to a heating circuit.  The heap must contain at least 8,000 liters of biomass to maintain a temperature during the winter.  For this purpose, chipped wood is usually piled up and a water hose is passed through it. A microbiological degradation process generates heat for up to 24 months. The heat produces hot water, which is then fed to a heating circuit. With sufficient oxygen supply, the biomass is degraded by aerobic decomposition. The activity of the microorganisms can be regulated by the moisture content.

Hot water and biogas.

Pain's 'Biomeiler' combines composting with biogas.  The raw materials of Pain's compost heap were saplings, branches and underbrush. He developed the machines that grind these materials to the proper size. One of his machines, a tractor-driven model, earned fourth prize in the 1978 Grenoble Agricultural Fair. After Pain had ground the raw materials, Pain would construct a heap three metres high and six metres across (10 × 20 feet). The heap weighed approximately, and was mounted over a steel tank. This tank was 3/4 full of compost, which had first been steeped in water for two months. The hermetically sealed tank was connected by tubing to 24 truck tire inner tubes, gathered nearby to collect the methane gas. The gas was distilled by washing and compressing it through small stones in water. Pain used the gas for cooking and producing electricity. He also fueled a light van. Pain estimated that of brushwood would supply the gas equivalent of. of petrol.  It took about 90 days to produce of gas - enough to keep two ovens and three burner stoves going for a year. The methane-fueled combustion engine drove a generator that produced 100 watts of electricity. This charged a battery, providing the light needed. Skepticism has been leveled at Pain's estimates for methane extraction and it is not known if anyone has been able to reproduce his results.  Pain's compost heaps generated hot water via of pipe buried inside the compost mound. The pipe was wrapped around the methane generator with an inlet for cold water and an outlet for hot water. The heat from the decomposing mass produced of hot water heated to — enough to meet central heating, bathroom and kitchen requirements. The heap composted for nearly 18 months, after which it was dismantled. The humus was used to mulch soils.

Heater silo.

The composting process runs in an airtight container inside a house. The heat can be radiated directly to the interiors of the house or distributed by a heating circuit. An additional water pipe can be vertically built into the silo for warming water.  The silo is the central part of an in-house compost heater. In autumn the silo is filled up with fresh biomass, after which the silo delivers comfortable heat throughout the winter.  Inlet air and outlet air provide the necessary oxygen. The outlet air goes out of the house. Silo moisture is higher than in a regular compost heap. The decay process produces additional water, which is drained at the bottom of the silo. A part of this water enters the top of the silo for better distribution in the processing volume. If pumped periodically or continuously to the top to rinse through the silo, the whole system becomes a "wet composting" system.

A compost heater (or Biomeiler) is a structure for the energetic use of biomass for the heating of buildings. The method was developed by Jean Pain in the 1970s. Compost heaters are used primarily for demonstration purposes as small systems for heating a house. Local waste can be converted to energy.

Ein Biomeiler (auch Kompostheizung) ist eine Anlage zur energetischen Nutzung von Biomasse, genauer gesagt zur Erzeugung von Wärme für Heizungszwecke. Dazu wird meist zerkleinertes Holz zu einem Haufen aufgeschichtet und ein Wasserschlauch hindurchgeführt. Durch mikrobiologische Abbauprozesse wird in einem Zeitraum von 18 bis 24 Monaten Wärme frei, mit der Warmwasser erzeugt werden kann, welches zur Heizung verwendet werden kann. Durch ausreichende Sauerstoffzufuhr wird die eingesetzte Biomasse durch aerobe Verwesung abgebaut. Im Gegensatz zur Biogasproduktion findet im korrekt aufgebauten Biomeiler keine Fäulnis statt. Die Aktivität der Mikroorganismen lässt sich mittels Wasser regulieren. Nach der Nutzungsdauer ist aus den Holzabfällen wertvoller Kompost entstanden.


Technical characteristics.

The vehicle is equipped with night-day and thermal imaging cameras attached to the Remote Weapon Station and driver cabin. Electronics include similar to an MBT's friend or foe recognition set, as well as digital controls and satellite connected navigation. It also includes the latest communication systems.  The armored hull of the vehicle is based on a tracked chassis. The layout houses an engine compartment in the front, crew cab in the center and troop compartment at the rear. The power pack is placed at the front of the hull, with the exhaust outlet on the right. The vehicle can accommodate 10 personnel, including three crew plus seven infantrymen. The troop section is provided with individual mine blast seats for passengers. Troops can enter and exit the vehicle through a power-operated ramp at the rear. An emergency door is also provided on the ramp. The combat weight of the vehicle is 14t, which is considered to be much lighter in comparison with other modern IFVs. Primarily designed to transport a squad of infantry and their weapons, Lazika delivers mobility, protection and fire power for the operators. The driver's cabin and remotely controlled weapon station are equipped with day / night and thermal imaging cameras. The observation systems aboard the vehicle can detect and identify multiple targets located at long ranges. Four roof hatches are provided for observation purposes. The fire control system ensures accurate firing in all weather conditions. Other equipment includes friend or foe (IFF), digital controls and satellite linked navigation. The modern communication systems fitted on the vehicle ensure effective communication between troops.

Armament.

The current armament consists of a 23×152mm 2A14 autocannon (100 cartridge) and a twinned 7.62×54mmR PKT machinegun (500 cartridge), which are installed on a remote weapon station. The Lazikas universal fighting module allows the mounting of different types of armament such as MLRS, SAMs and ATGMs. The aiming system consists of combined video thermal chambers integrated into a permanent 27/12V weapon control system.

Armour.

The hull of the vehicle is attached with combined armour against 14.5mm AP rounds to the front and flanks and 7.62mm AP rounds to the rear. Lazika offers STANAG Level IV mine blast protection. The vehicle can withstand 10 kg anti-tank mine blasts underneath and 6 kg mine blasts by direct hull contact.  Lazika is considered to be one of the best protected infantry fighting vehicles in the world, yet having lighter weight than a vehicle of similar types would expose. The armour solution bears similarities with the advanced armour solutions employed by Israeli armoured vehicles but yet remains highly classified. Eight smoke-grenade dischargers mounted on the top of the forward hull improve the survivability of the vehicle. The vehicle can be fitted with NBC protection and automatic fire suppression systems.

Engine and mobility.

The vehicle is powered by a turbocharged diesel engine which is capable of developing a power of 300 hp. The power pack provides a maximum speed of 70 km/h. The vehicle has an operational range of 200 km, which can be increased to 400 km by additional fuel tanks. It is fitted with torsion bar suspension system. The running gear on either side of the vehicle's hull includes five road wheels with the drive sprocket at the front and idler at the rear. The upper part of the suspension is covered by armour plates.  The Lazika delivers superior mobility over difficult terrain and offers better obstacle climbing power and greater manoeuvreability than other tracked IFVs. It can negotiate a 60% gradient and 30% side slopes. The vehicle is capable of crossing vertical steps of 0.7m and trenches of 2m depth as well as standing and driving on 30% lateral deviation and 1.2m deep water pass. Precise weight distribution for excellent stability is provided as well as unprepared water fording capability. The IFVs chassis was tested on various ground conditions and has high power to rate ratio in general.

Modules.

Due to the universal modular design the Lazika can change its role from IFV to APC, command and control unit, ambulance, recovery vehicle, reconnaissance vehicle, mobile SAM, artillery or ATGM system.

The LAZIKA () is a proposed Georgian Infantry fighting vehicle, developed by the Scientific Technical Center STC Delta and funded by the Georgian military. One of its main characteristics is the relatively thick armor compared to the vehicle's size. Another feature is the remote weapon station. A number of vehicles has been produced, but the project itself is still under development with various versions including uparmored ones, being taken into consideration.

Der Lazika (, "Lasika") ist ein georgischer Schützenpanzer, welcher im Februar 2012 zum ersten Mal auf einem Militärgelände zur Schau gestellt wurde. Die Entwicklung durch den georgischen Rüstungsbetrieb STC Delta soll nicht mehr als ein Jahr in Anspruch genommen haben. Weitere Varianten des Fahrzeuges sind geplant. Teilweise basiert er auf Komponenten des sowjetischen Schützenpanzers BMP-1. Das Hauptmerkmal ist seine im Vergleich zu ähnlichen Modellen starke Panzerung. Der Lazika ist das dritte militärische Fahrzeug, das in Georgien seit 2010 für die eigenen Landstreitkräfte entwickelt wurde.


Services.

The National Center for Charitable Statistics collects data on charities in the U.S. and shares this data with the public.  The National Center for Charitable Statistics maintains a free online directory of charities, listed by mission and location.  When the Electronic Data Initiative for Nonprofits Coalition was formed in 2002, the National Center for Charitable Statistics advised the group in furtherance of the goal of integrated federal and state electronic reporting and dissemination of data on nonprofit organizations.  GuideStar works with the National Center for Charitable Statistics to get each Form 990 filed by a nonprofit organization online and readily available to the public. The National Center for Charitable Statistics buys scans of each organization's annual Form 990 on CDs from the Internal Revenue Service, and the scans are then posted online in order to help donors decide to which organizations they wish to give their donations.

History.

The National Center for Charitable Statistics was established on March 15, 1982, as a research division of Independent Sector. Russy Sumariwalla was the first executive director of the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Prior to its establishment, no one knew exactly how many nonprofit organizations existed and how nonprofit organizations were using their donations, and enacting laws and policies related to nonprofit organization was very difficult.  The National Center for Charitable Statistics was transferred to the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy (CNP) at the Urban Institute on July 1, 1996.  The National Center for Charitable Statistics, along with several other nonprofit organizations, was instrumental in creating the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities classification system or NTEE Codes. The National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities classifies organizations into more than 100 different categories based on the mission and program activities of an organization. The Internal Revenue Service uses this system to classify newly registered tax-exempt organizations.

The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is a clearing house of data on the U.S. nonprofit sector. The National Center for Charitable Statistics builds national, state, and regional databases and develops standards for reporting on the activities of all tax-exempt organizations.

Das National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) ist ein Clearinghaus für Daten des US-Nonprofit-Sektors. Es wurde 1982 gegründet. Der Sitz ist in Washington, D.C.


History and current status.

Ronald Fisher introduced random effects models to study the correlations of trait values between relatives. In the 1950s, Charles Roy Henderson provided best linear unbiased estimates (BLUE) of fixed effects and best linear unbiased predictions (BLUP) of random effects. Subsequently, mixed modeling has become a major area of statistical research, including work on computation of maximum likelihood estimates, non-linear mixed effects models, missing data in mixed effects models, and Bayesian estimation of mixed effects models. Mixed models are applied in many disciplines where multiple correlated measurements are made on each unit of interest. They are prominently used in research involving human and animal subjects in fields ranging from genetics to marketing, and have also been used in baseball and industrial statistics.

Definition.

In matrix notation a mixed model can be represented as  where

Estimation.

The joint density of formula_2 and formula_5 can be written as: formula_18. Assuming normality, formula_19, formula_20 and formula_21, and maximizing the joint density over formula_4 and formula_5, gives Henderson's "mixed model equations" (MME):  The solutions to the MME, formula_25 and formula_26 are best linear unbiased estimates (BLUE) and predictors (BLUP) for formula_4 and formula_5, respectively. This is a consequence of the Gauss–Markov theorem when the conditional variance of the outcome is not scalable to the identity matrix. When the conditional variance is known, then the inverse variance weighted least squares estimate is BLUE. However, the conditional variance is rarely, if ever, known. So it is desirable to jointly estimate the variance and weighted parameter estimates when solving MMEs.  One method used to fit such mixed models is that of the EM algorithm where the variance components are treated as unobserved nuisance parameters in the joint likelihood. Currently, this is the implemented method for the major statistical software packages R (lme in the nlme package, or lmer in the lme4 package), Python (statsmodels package), Julia (MixedModels.jl package), and SAS (proc mixed). The solution to the mixed model equations is a maximum likelihood estimate when the distribution of the errors is normal.

A mixed model (or more precisely mixed error-component model) is a statistical model containing both fixed effects and random effects. These models are useful in a wide variety of disciplines in the physical, biological and social sciences. They are particularly useful in settings where repeated measurements are made on the same statistical units (longitudinal study), or where measurements are made on clusters of related statistical units. Because of their advantage in dealing with missing values, mixed effects models are often preferred over more traditional approaches such as repeated measures ANOVA.

Ein gemischtes Modell ( "mixed model") ist ein statistisches Modell, das sowohl feste Effekte als auch zufällige Effekte enthält, also gemischte Effekte. Diese Modelle werden in verschiedenen Bereichen der Physik, Biologie und den Sozialwissenschaften angewandt. Sie sind besonders nützlich, sofern eine wiederholte Messung an der gleichen statistischen Einheit oder Messungen an Clustern von verwandten statistischen Einheiten durchgeführt werden.


Synopsis.

Across Europe, car engines are spontaneously exploding; this coincides with the spectre of a potential war throughout the continent, resulting in Captain Haddock being mobilised into the navy. Although detectives Thomson and Thompson initially suspect that the oil crisis is a scam intended to drive up business for a local roadside assistance company, Tintin learns from the managing director of Belgium's leading oil company, Speedol, that it is a result of someone tampering with the petrol at its source, and discovers a conspiracy involving a crew member of one of their petrol tankers, the "Speedol Star". The three work undercover as new members of the "Star"'s crew as it sets off for the Middle Eastern kingdom of Khemed. Recognising Snowy from Tintin's earlier scouting of the ship, the treacherous mate attempts to drown the dog, but becomes amnesiac in an altercation with Tintin.  Upon arrival, Tintin and the detectives are framed and arrested by the authorities under various charges. Thomson and Thompson are cleared and released, but Tintin is kidnapped by the Arab insurgent Bab El Ehr, who mistakenly believes that Tintin has information for him concerning an arms delivery. Tintin escapes and encounters an old enemy, Dr. Müller, sabotaging an oil pipeline. He reunites with Thomson and Thompson during a sandstorm and eventually arrives in Khemed's capital city of Wadesdah. When Tintin narrates the sabotage orchestrated by Müller to the Emir Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab, one of the Emir's attendants, Ali Ben Mahmud, informs the Emir that his son Prince Abdullah is kidnapped. Tintin suspects that Müller is responsible and assures the Emir that he would rescue Abdullah.  While on Müller's trail, he happens to meet his old friend, the Portuguese merchant Oliveira da Figueira. With Figueira's help, Tintin enters Müller's house and knocks the criminal unconscious. He finds the prince, who is imprisoned in a dungeon, and rescues him as Haddock arrives with the authorities. Müller is revealed to be the agent of a foreign power responsible for the tampering of the fuel supplies, having invented a type of chemical in tablet form, codenamed Formula 14, which increases the explosive power of oil by a significant amount. Thomson and Thompson find the tablets and, mistaking them for aspirin due to their being packaged as such, swallow them, resulting in them growing long hair and beards that change colour. After analysing the tablets, Professor Calculus develops an antidote for Thomson and Thompson and a means of countering the affected oil supplies.

History.

Background and influences.

Georges Remi—best known under the pen name Hergé—was employed as editor and illustrator of (""The Little Twentieth""), a children's supplement to (""The Twentieth Century""), a staunchly Roman Catholic, conservative Belgian newspaper based in Hergé's native Brussels, formerly run by the "Abbé" Norbert Wallez, who had subsequently been removed from the paper's editorship following a scandal. In 1929, Hergé began "The Adventures of Tintin" comic strip for, revolving around the exploits of fictional Belgian reporter Tintin. Hergé incorporated several characters into the story who had previously been introduced in earlier "Adventures"; this included Dr. Müller, a German villain who had previously appeared in "The Black Island", and the Portuguese merchant Oliveira da Figueira, who had first appeared in "Cigars of the Pharaoh". Hergé also included a reference to the recurring character Bianca Castafiore, whose singing appears on the radio in one scene. He also introduced a number of new characters in the story; this included the Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, a character who was based largely on Ibn Saud, the king of Saudi Arabia, whom Hergé had learned about from a 1939 book by Anton Zischke. It has also been suggested that the character was partly inspired by the deceased Iraqi leader, Faisal I. The character of the Emir's son, Prince Abdullah, was inspired by the King of Iraq, Faisal II, who was appointed monarch in 1939 aged four, although in creating this character Hergé had also been influenced by an obnoxious child character that appears in the work of O. Henry.  The idea of European nations rivaling each other for oil supplies was inspired by a February 1934 issue of "Le Crapouillot" magazine. The fictional Arabic names that Hergé integrated into the story were parodies based on the Marollien dialect of Brussels; "Wadesdah" translated as "what is that?", "Bab El Ehr" was Marollien for chatterbox, Kalish Ezab derived from the Marollien term for liquorice water, and Moulfrid, the last name of Kalish Ezab's military adviser Yussuf Ben Mulfrid (Youssouf Ben Moulfrid in the original French version), is named after a dish named "Moules-frites".  ""Boum!"", an iconic song by Charles Trenet, appears in parody as the roadside assistance company's advertising jingle, which plays on Thomson and Thompson's car radio at the very beginning of the story. The Supermarine Spitfire, a British single-seat fighter aircraft, was used as the model for Kalish Ezab's plane which drops leaflets onto Bab El Ehr's camp. In creating "Land of Black Gold", Hergé adopted many elements from a previously aborted idea about militants blowing up prominent buildings in Europe; rather than European buildings, this story would involve industrial sabotage.

First version: 1939–40.

Following the German invasion of Poland, Hergé was conscripted into the Belgian Army and temporarily stationed in Herenthout. Discharged within the month, he returned to Brussels and began "Land of Black Gold". The story subsequently began serialisation in "Le Vingtième Siècle" on 25 September 1939. He was re-mobilised in December and stationed in Antwerp, from where he continued to send the Tintin strip to "Le Petit Vingtième". However, he fell ill with sinusitis and boils and was declared unfit for service in May 1940. That same day, Germany invaded Belgium, and "Le Vingtième Siècle" was shut down part way through the serialisation of "Land of Black Gold", on 8 May. The point at which the story was ended corresponds to pages 28 and 30 of the current book edition, when Tintin is caught in a sandstorm following his first confrontation with Müller. This version, which amounts to 58 pages, has never been collected in book form.  Given its portrayal of Germans as the antagonists of the story, it would not have been appropriate for "Land of Black Gold" to continue serialisation under Nazi occupation. After being published in Belgium, the story began serialisation in neighbouring France; initially appearing in the magazine "Cœurs Vaillants-Âmes Vaillants" from 4 August 1940, the story was ultimately interrupted, and would only recommence in June 1945, this time in the magazine "Message Aux Cœurs Vaillants". From December 1945 to May 1946 it then appeared in a youth supplement to the newspaper "La Voix de l'Ouest" under the title of "Tintin et Milou au pays de l'or liquide" ("Tintin and Snowy in the Land of Liquid Gold").

Second version: 1948–49.

By the late 1940s, after the end of the Second World War, Hergé was continuing to produce new instalments of "The Adventures of Tintin" for the Belgian magazine "Tintin", of which he was the artistic director. After completing serialisation of "Prisoners of the Sun" in April 1949, he ordered his staff to re-serialise one of his old stories, "Popol and Virginia", while he took a three-month break. At this point, Hergé was depressed and suffering from a range of physical ailments, including boils and eczema on his hands. Although fed up with "The Adventures of Tintin", he felt great pressure on him to continue producing the series for "Tintin" magazine. Hergé was planning on creating a story in which Tintin travels to the moon, but his wife Germaine and close friend Marcel Dehaye both advised him to revive "Land of Black Gold" instead, recognising that it would entail less work and thus cause him less stress. Thus, "Land of Black Gold" was revived after an eight-year hiatus. In a letter to Germaine, he stated that "I don't like to restart things that are already finished, or to make repairs. "Black Gold" was a repair, and I abandoned it."  The story began serialisation in "Tintin" magazine from 16 September 1948, before beginning its serialisation in the French edition of the magazine from 28 October 1948. Rather than continuing at the point where he had previously left off, Hergé restarted the story from scratch. He nevertheless made revisions to the early part of the story, namely by reworking the characters of Captain Haddock (who now first appears in a new scene on page 3) and Professor Calculus, as well as the location of Marlinspike Hall, into the narrative, all of which were elements that had been introduced to the "Adventures of Tintin" during the intervening eight years. Other alterations include new scenes of Tintin making a divining rod, Tintin disguising himself as one of Müller's henchmen, and a restructuring of the Thompsons' humorous antics while driving a Jeep (a Peugeot 201 in the original version) prior to their reunion with Tintin; the scene in which they fall asleep at the wheel and crash into a mosque, for instance, originally took place without Tintin's presence. Hergé was contractually obliged to produce two pages of comic for each issue, and in the previous adventure, "Prisoners of the Sun", had fulfilled this by producing two pages of new Tintin stories each week. Seeking to limit his workload, he would only produce one page of "Land of Black Gold" per issue, with the other page being filled by a re-serialisation of old stories from his "Jo, Zette and Jocko" series.  On 4 August 1949, the story was suspended part way through its serialisation as Hergé left Belgium for a holiday near to Gland in Switzerland. The magazine used this as a publicity stunt, posting a headline in their next issue declaring "Shocking News: Hergé Has Disappeared!" to encourage speculation as to his whereabouts among the young readership. His co-workers and staff at "Tintin" magazine were increasingly annoyed by unplanned absences such as this, which affected the entire production; his colleague Edgar P. Jacobs sent him letters urging him to return to work. After an absence of twelve weeks, "Land of Black Gold" continued serialisation on 27 October 1949. Following its serialisation, "Land of Black Gold" was collected together and published in a 62-page colour volume by Editions Casterman in 1950.

Third version: 1971.

After Hergé had redrawn "The Black Island" for publication in the United Kingdom, his British publishers at that time, Methuen, suggested that alterations be made to "Land of Black Gold" before releasing it into the UK market; in compliance with their requests, virtually all of the content between pages 6 and 26 was rewritten and redrawn. Hergé's assistant, Bob de Moor, was responsible for many of the alterations. De Moor was sent to the port at Antwerp to sketch a 1939 oil tanker that would provide a basis for a ship that appears in the story, the "Speedol Star". For this version, Hergé transplanted the events of the story from Palestine to the fictional Emirate of Khemed and its capital city of Wadesdah, a setting that he would reuse in a later adventure, "The Red Sea Sharks". This modernised third version was issued by Casterman in 1971.  In the original versions, Tintin arrived at Haifa in British-occupied Palestine, where he was arrested by British police before being captured by members of the Zionist terrorist organization the Irgun, who mistake him for one of their own agents (named "Finkelstein" in the first version, "Salomon Goldstein" in the second), before being abducted by a henchman of Bab El Ehr. In this revised version, Tintin arrives at Khemkhah in Khemed, where he is arrested by the Arab military police before being captured and taken directly to Bab El Ehr. The inclusion of forces from the British Palestinian Mandate and the Irgun were no longer seen as relevant and thus were removed from the story, including the characters of the British officers Commandant ["sic"] Thorpe and Lieutenant Edwards (respectively responsible for the Thompsons' detainment and release, and the arresting of the Irgun agents who kidnapped Tintin). These changes were also applied to a scene which a Supermarine Spitfire drops propaganda leaflets on Bab El Ehr's camp: in the earlier versions, the plane is British and Bab El Ehr threatens to shoot anyone who reads the leaflets; in the revised scene, the plane is from an unidentified rival Arabic nation and Bab El Ehr laughs off the bombardment as his men are illiterate. As a result of the truncation of Tintin's kidnapping, which now occurs two pages earlier than in the second version, the Thompsons' crash into a palm tree in the desert now takes place after the aforementioned scene. Background details was changed accordingly, with Jewish shop fronts with Hebrew signage being removed, and the nonsensical pseudo-Arabic script from the earlier versions was replaced with real Arabic text. The political rivalry between Britain and German that was present in the earlier versions was also toned down.

Critical analysis.

Hergé biographer Benoît Peeters stated that "no book has gone through more ups and downs" than "Land of Black Gold", adding that it carries a "mood of foreboding" caused by the impending war in the story. He also felt that the introduction of the Emir and Abdullah was "the most striking innovation in this story", and elsewhere declared that its earlier versions contained "not the slightest trace of anti-Semitism", despite allegations that a number of other "Adventures" featuring Jewish characters exhibited anti-Semitic stereotypes.  Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier believed that "Land of Black Gold" suffered from having been "rebaked", being "pulled between the 'old' pre-war Tintin and the more modern one." The Lofficiers opined that the story's "clear concern about war and rumours of war" enable it to fit well after "King Ottokar's Sceptre", at the point at which Hergé had initially developed it. They felt that this pre-Second World War atmosphere also pervaded the second, coloured version of the book, but that they had nevertheless been partly removed by the creation of the third version. Despite this, they felt that the third version of the story was "better" because it incorporated elements from the spy thrillers that had become increasingly popular in Western Europe during the 1950s. Despite its problems, they thought that the Thom(p)sons' ingestion of Formula 14 was "virtually inspired", showing that Hergé "had lost none of his touch when it comes to creating unforgettable images". They opined that the character of Abdullah "indisputably steals the show" in "Land of Black Gold", commenting on his "love-hate" relationship with Haddock and suggesting that he is "possibly the only character to have ever succeeded in driving Tintin so batty that he loses his cool." They ultimately awarded the story two stars out of five, feeling that Hergé had been unable to develop its "greater potential".  Michael Farr believed that "Land of Black Gold" illustrated how "shelved material could be usefully resuscitated." He added that in making revisions to the story for the 1971 version, "the result is disappointing, lacking the pungency which the contemporary allusion gave the earlier version". Farr felt that in this story, the Thom(p)sons "have a splendid adventure" with the various scenarios that they get into. Harry Thompson described "Land of Black Gold" as a "patchwork effort", believing that the final result owed little to the "story's original satirical thrust". He praised Khemed as Hergé's "most successful imaginary country", something that he attributed to its "geographic accuracy" and to the "realistic parody" of Arabic names. However, he criticised the way in which Haddock had been integrated into the story, deeming this to be "the least satisfying aspect" of it. Believing that it offered a "fine swansong" for the decline of the Thom(p)sons as central characters in the series, ultimately Thompson felt that "Land of Black Gold" retained a "somewhat fragmentary air". Differing from Thompson's assessment, Hergé biographer Pierre Assouline felt that the inclusion of Haddock into the story was successful, "precisely because [it] defied all logic".  Literary critic Tom McCarthy believed that in the story, the desert represented "a space of multiple misreading", which included the mirages, fake documents, and cases of mistaken identity. Focusing on those fake documents, he believed that it represented the theme of fakery which recurs throughout the series. Describing the scenario in which Thomson and Thompson are lost and driving around the desert, he refers to it as a "brilliantly allegorical scene", before highlighting Hergé's "wishful retroactive wiping out of history" by evading the war. In his psychoanalytical study of the "Adventures of Tintin", the literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès dealt only briefly with "Land of Black Gold", commenting that Calculus' development of a cure for the Thom(p)sons' consumption of N14 was a sign of his growing status and reputation as a scientist, as he moved from being the "small-time, ridiculous" inventor of "Red Rackham's Treasure" and came to establish himself as the internationally renowned scientist of "Destination Moon".

Adaptations.

In 1991, a collaboration between the French studio Ellipse and the Canadian animation company Nelvana adapted 21 of the stories into a series of episodes, each 42 minutes long. "Land of Black Gold" was the thirteenth episode of "The Adventures of Tintin" to be produced. Directed by Stéphane Bernasconi, the series has been praised for being "generally faithful", with compositions having been actually directly taken from the panels in the original album.

Land of Black Gold () is the fifteenth volume of "The Adventures of Tintin", the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplement, in which it was initially serialised from September 1939 until the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940, at which the newspaper was shut down and the story interrupted. After eight years, Hergé returned to "Land of Black Gold", completing its serialisation in Belgium's "Tintin" magazine from September 1948 to February 1950, after which it was published in a collected volume by Casterman in 1950. Set on the eve of a European war, the plot revolves around the attempts of young Belgian reporter Tintin to uncover a militant group responsible for sabotaging oil supplies in the Middle East.

Im Reiche des schwarzen Goldes (französischer Originaltitel: "Tintin au Pays de l'or noir") ist ein Comic aus der Reihe Tim und Struppi des belgischen Zeichners Hergé, welches erstmals am 28. September 1939 in Le Petit Vingtième veröffentlicht wurde.


General description.

The spotted jelly is so named because of the little dots that garnish its jelly. It usually measures between in length and between in diameter but some individuals can reach long. Contrary to most medusozoans, "Mastigias papua" does not have stinging tentacles. However, some individuals may contain some rare cnidocytes spread on the arms of the animal but they are inoffensive because they have lost their stinging power.  Like all medusozoans, "Mastigias papua" is 95% composed of water. This water similar density enables it to easily float.

Alimentation.

Jellyfishes with stinging tentacles are usually hunters. Cnidocyte cells enable them to catch their preys before eating them. The spotted jelly has developed another way to feed itself; it lives in symbiosis with a unicellular photosynthetic organism called zooxanthellae. This unicellular organism settles in the tissue of jellyfishes. It provides products of photosynthesis to the jellyfish, and in return, the jellyfish provides it minerals and nutrients from the soil and the sea water.  In addition to this symbiosis, the spotted jelly has several small mouths used to grab animal plankton. These mouths are disposed all along its oral arms.

Habitat.

Spotted jellies have been recorded many times in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, between Japan and Australia. They live in shallow waters, and for this reason they are usually found in coastal and lagoonal waters, but also in marine lakes.  This species of jellyfish is well known for living in huge groups, forming aggregates. This atypical behaviour becomes a tourist attraction. The most famous spot to admire these organisms is the Ongeim’l Tketau Lake in Palau. This lake has been formed 15,000 years ago. Like many other lakes of this region, it was initially joined to the Pacific Ocean, and because of geological movements, the lake has progressively become separated from the rest of the ocean. "Mastigias papua" has therefore been isolated in this closed lake, with other species of medusa. Out of reach of predators, it has progressively lost its cnidocyte cells, and is therefore now totally harmless to scuba divers. The lake of Palau now counts around 10 million individuals of this species.

Symbiosis with zooxanthellae.

The spotted jelly lives in trophic mutualism with a unicellular organism capable of photosynthesis: zooxanthella. This mutualism is based on a life cycle which permits an exchange of energy between the two species.  "Mastigias papua" has two different ways of life through 24 hours. During the day, it stays at the surface of the water, in the photic zone. The photic zone is located between the surface of the sea and approximately 100 meters deep. It corresponds to the zone where photosynthetic organisms can use sunlight as an energy source. The jellyfish swims almost 2 kilometres a day, following the sun, therefore allowing zooxanthellae living in its tissue to optimize their photosynthetic activity. Organic matter produced from this biochemical process is shared between the algae and its host. When the sun goes down, "Mastigias papua" gains deeper areas and zooxanthellae stop their photosynthetic activity. The jellyfish takes over the role of energy provider. It absorbs nutrients in the soil and stores them in its tissues. When the sun rises again, the jellyfish returns to the photic zone of and makes the absorbed nutrients available to the zooxanthellae.

The spotted jelly ("Mastigias papua"), lagoon jelly, golden medusa, or Papuan jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish from the Indo-Pacific oceans. Like corals, sea anemones, and other sea jellies, it belongs to the phylum Cnidaria. "Mastigias papua" is one of the numerous marine animals living in symbiosis with zooxanthellae, a photosynthetic alga.

Mastigias papua ist eine Schirmqualle (Scyphozoa), die im Pazifischen Ozean in Lagunen und Inselseen vorkommt. Die Art hat durch ihr Massenvorkommen im Ongeim'l Tketau (Quallensee) auf dem der Insel Koror vorgelagerten Eiland Eil Malk (Palau) eine gewisse Bekanntheit unter Tauchsportinteressierten und in den Medien gefunden. Der taxonomische Status der Art und seine große Verbreitung wird allerdings aufgrund neuer morphologischer und molekularer Daten diskutiert. Es handelt sich wahrscheinlich eher um einen Artkomplex von mehreren kryptischen Arten.


Event History.

The BNP Paribas Showdown is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2017. In 2008, the event was known as the NetJets Showdown, the return of tennis to Madison Square Garden after almost a decade hiatus. A sold-out crowd saw Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, arguably considered the two greatest players in history at the time, face-off. Federer defeated Sampras in a classic, 6–3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6).  2009 marked the inaugural year of the Billie Jean King Cup and the first time women's tennis had been played at Madison Square Garden since 2000, when the year-ending Chase Championships were held there. The event featured Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Janković. Serena Williams won her semifinal match against Ana Ivanovic 6–3, and Venus Williams won hers 6–4 against Jelena Janković. The final was won by Serena 6–4, 6–3. The Billie Jean King Cup returned in 2010 and was won by Venus Williams.  In 2011, the event was renamed the BNP Paribas Showdown and was a celebration of American tennis legends and two of the greatest rivalries in the sport's history: Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. From 2011 to 2016, several other Grand Slam champions and former World No. 1's have played at the Garden.  In 2013, the BNP Paribas Showdown event was expanded and was held in Hong Kong for the first time. That event was also played in 2014. In 2014, the Showdown expanded from New York and Hong Kong and was played in London.  The 2017 BNP Paribas Showdown featured a team format for the first time in the event's history. It also featured mixed doubles as an official event for the first time. Team World, captained by Lleyton Hewitt, defeated Team Americas, captained by Andy Roddick 29–24.

Tennis Night in America (TNIA).

In 2009, Tennis Night in America launched as one of the USTA's top national marketing initiatives designed to increase grassroots tennis participation across the country. The promotion underscored a "National Junior Tennis Registration Night" at over 700 locations on March 2, the date of the 2009 Showdown at Madison Square Garden, which also coincided with the start of the professional tennis season in North America.  Connecting grassroots tennis with professional tennis, Tennis Night in America was able to deliver the 2009 Showdown via closed circuit television to tennis clubs throughout the country, allowing one night in March to bring together tennis players of all ages and abilities, as they pay tribute to the game that they love so much.  The 2017 edition will be played on 6 March 2017, introducing a new "Fast Format" for the 4 matches that will be played. The schedule was announced on 26 October 2016.

World Tennis Day.

In 2014, following the success of the 2013 BNP Paribas Showdown in both New York and Hong Kong, StarGames launched World Tennis Day as part of an effort to increase global tennis participation. World Tennis Day is highlighted by international grassroots initiatives and culminates with the BNP Paribas Showdown.

The BNP Paribas Showdown (formerly NetJets Showdown, Billie Jean King Cup) was a one-night exhibition tennis event operated by GF Sports and held at Madison Square Garden in New York City each February or March since 2008.

Der BNP Paribas Showdown war ein Schau-Turnier, das von 2008 bis 2017 jährlich im New Yorker Madison Square Garden stattfand. Zusätzlich wurden in den Jahren 2013 und 2014 auch Turniere in Hongkong und London durchgeführt. Das Einladungsturnier diente als Eröffnung der Tennis-Saison in Amerika und wurde jeweils vor den Masters-1000-Turnieren in Indian Wells und Miami ausgetragen.


History.

Design, construction and launch.

Following the failure of the Phase 3A launcher, design studies were undertaken and construction started for two successor satellites, that became AO-10 (Phase 3B) and AO-13 (Phase 3C) respectively.  After the launch of AO-13, design commenced for a Phase 4 satellite. This idea was later shelved, and design of Phase 3D (on-orbit name: AO-40) was undertaken under direction of the project team based in Germany, involving amateur radio payloads from many countries in Europe.  Assembly was done at AMSAT's Spacecraft Integration Facility in the 'Free Trade Zone Building' at the Orlando International Airport, Orlando, Florida from 1994 to 2000.  It was launched on 16 November 2000, on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from Kourou, in French Guiana, and reported cost was 4.5 Million USD.

Operational problems.

On 13 December 2000 at 11:23 UTC, transmissions from AO-40 ceased during the exercising of its 400 newton motor. The Command Team were able to infer that there had been an explosion caused by pressure in the propellant pipes caused by malfunction of the control valves. A protective cap that was supposed to be removed from the motor before launch, was left in place. This error occurred because of a difference between the venting mechanism of the 400N motor used in AO-13 and the one in AO-40, complicated by a misunderstanding between the propulsion team and the engine manufacturer. When the motor was fired, pressure built up where it shouldn't, and destructive failure occurred. The loss of the motor caused AO-40 to be left in an equatorial orbit that the satellite was not designed for.  As a result of this incident several pieces of radio equipment no longer functioned or were not able to be commissioned. Following strenuous efforts by the Command Team, signals were restored on 25 December 2000 at 2145 UTC when Command Team member Ian Ashley (amateur radio call sign ZL1AOX) of New Zealand successfully sent a'reset' signal to the satellite. Onboard cameras were used to establish the attitude of the satellite, and the magnetorquer system was used to spin-stabilize the satellite.  During June 2001, gas from the arcjet thruster was vented during apogee to raise perigee and stabilize the orbit of the satellite. Because of issues with the initial 400N burn, the apogee of the spacecraft was considerably higher than initially designed, but this was not a major issue. Subsequently, the communication packages and cameras were gradually re-activated.

Failure.

On 25 January 2004, telemetry from the main battery was observed to go to an extremely low voltage by Stacey Mills (amateur radio call sign W4SM), a member of the Command Team. This caused the onboard Internal Housekeeping Unit (IHU) computer to cut power to the transponder payloads. Earlier in the same orbit the progressive drop in voltage caused the auxiliary battery to come online in parallel with the main battery. However the auxiliary battery was not being maintained in a charged state. Tying the two batteries in parallel did not result in an obvious change in voltage, but meant that the auxiliary battery could not be tested independently. Many attempts were made to disconnect the main battery, but insufficient voltage was available to drive the relays. It is possible that one day an open-circuit failure may occur in the main battery, in which case the spacecraft may come to life again via the auxiliary batteries. However, for reasons discussed below this is highly unlikely. The command team believes that the main battery failure was probably a consequence of damage done during the initial explosive event, and it is likely that similar damage was done to the auxiliary battery, making an eventual recovery of AO-40 unlikely. It is clear that the initial explosion blew open the end of the spacecraft to which the omni antennas were attached. This exposed the underlying batteries to major fluctuations in temperature and the explosion itself may have caused physical damage to the cells.  Following this final failure, the new keplerian elements have persistently shown an increase in orbital period corresponding to an increase in the semi-major axis of AO-40's orbit by approximately 2.7 km. Assuming AO-40 had a mass of 400 kg, this change required approximately 160,000 joules of energy directed along the velocity vector of the orbit. Since an explosion would be unlikely to focus its energy so precisely, it is likely that a considerably larger explosion occurred synchronous with the final battery failure. The source of this energy release is unknown, but it strongly suggests that recovery will not occur. (W4SM)  On 9 March 2004, Colin Hurst (amateur radio call sign VK5HI) of Australia, a member of the command team, heard a change in the level of radio noise at the expected beacon frequency during the period 0310 to 0320 UTC (orbit 1541).  All telemetry captured by the command team, and its network of helpers, is archived on the web at the AMSAT website.

AMSAT-OSCAR-40, also known as AO-40 or simply OSCAR 40, was the on-orbit designation of an amateur radio satellite of the OSCAR series. Prior to launch, the spacecraft was known as Phase 3D or "P3D". AO-40 was built by AMSAT.

OSCAR 40 (auch "AMSAT-OSCAR 40" genannt, COSPAR-Bezeichnung: 2000-072B) ist ein Amateurfunksatellit der OSCAR-Reihe. Vor dem Start trug er als vierter Satellit der Phase 3 die Bezeichnung P3D. Er wurde unter der Projektleitung der AMSAT-Deutschland unter Beteiligung zahlreicher internationaler AMSAT-Organisationen konstruiert und wurde am 16. November 2000 mit einer Ariane-5-Trägerrakete vom Centre Spatial Guyanais als zusätzliche Nutzlast neben den Satelliten PAS 1R, STRV 1c und 1d in eine geostationäre Transferbahn gebracht. Die Bahn wurde mit den bordeigenen Triebwerksystemen mehrfach geändert.


Biography.

Tatyana Zaslavskaya was born in Kiev in 1927 and brought up in Moscow. She studied at the Physics Department of Moscow State University for three years, and then graduated from the Economics Department of the University in 1950. She finished her post-graduate study at the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences with the degree of Kandidat in 1956 under the supervision of Professor Vladimir Venzher (Владимир Григорьевич Венжер). In 1963 she joined the Novosibirsk Institute of Economics headed by Abel Aganbegyan (Абел Аганбегян) to work in a command of young and talented scientists. In 1965 she did her Doctorate in Economics and in 1968 she was elected an Associate Member (член-корреспондент) of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Research.

The analysis of the economic situation in Soviet agriculture led Zaslavskaya to the conclusion that the revealed problems cannot be explained without sociological analysis, which bordered with blasphemy within the canonical Marxist science, which postulated that the development of the society is derived from the economical relations, and not vice versa. At these times Soviet sociology was under the tight scrutiny of the Communist Party (from the position of bourgeois pseudoscience through a brief period of liberalisation during the Khrushchev Thaw to sharp criticism during the Leonid Brezhnev era). The remoteness and relative scientific freedom of the young department of the USSR Academy of Science at Novosibirsk allowed Zaslavskaya to do her research in sociology of the agricultural sector by studying the Siberian countryside, Altai Krai in particular.  In the later years of the Soviet Union accurate detailed information regarding conditions in Soviet agriculture was considered a state secret when not censored outright. A major breach in security occurred in 1983 when the details of a classified paper, "for internal use only", the report from the closed conference in Novosibirsk by Tatyana Zaslavskaya regarding the crisis in Soviet agriculture, were published in the "Washington Post". It was called «О совершенствовании социалистических производственных отношений и задачах экономической социологии» (“About the perfection of socialist relations of production and problems of economic sociology”) and was next to the United States also published in Germany. In the USSR all copies of the “Novosibirsk manifesto” were withdrawn by the KGB. Later it became known as the Novosibirsk Report in the West and was often considered one of the first signs of perestroika. Although expressed in terms of Marxist theory, this paper—an outline of a proposed research project to study the social mechanisms of economic development as exemplifed in Siberian agriculture—was sharply critical of current conditions. Zaslavskaya was the author of a number of works in Russian which deal with economics and social conditions in Soviet agriculture although some of her work was suppressed by Soviet censors. For example, "The Methodology of Comparing Labour Productivity in Agriculture in the USSR and the USA", written together with M.I. Sidorova, was suppressed due to its pessimistic results  In 1988 Zaslavskaya came back to Moscow for the formation of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center VCIOM which she was the director of until 1992. Afterwards she became the honorable president of VCIOM and later the honorable president of the Analytical Center of Yuri Levada (the Levada Center since 2004).  In 1993 she became the co-president of the Interdisciplinary academic center of social sciences (Russian: Интерцентра). Since 1993 the “Intercenter” has been carrying out ten annual international conferences concerning the question: “Where is Russia going?” under Zaslavskaya direction. Many representatives of different sciences (historians, jurists, sociologists, economists, political scientists, culturologists, and philosophers) participate in these conferences debating topics such as a better judgment of the post-communist transformation processes or modern problems and prospects of development of the Russian society.  Zaslavskaya's arguments evolved over time. In the "Second Socialist Revolution" she imagined that the USSR was experiencing a democratic revolution that would make Russia genuinely socialist. In the next two decades she puzzled over the form and nature of the transition that actually took place in Russia arguing in 1999 that it was some kind of revolution but then in 2002 concluding that "there was no new social revolution in Russia." She saw social change as occurring through crises involving "random transformation" as in the 1990s the Yelt'sin group lost control of the situation. This led her to try to devise various analyses of social groupings and models of change which tended to description and classification.  She died in 2013 having left her role as a member of parliament twenty years before to teach and write. She was survived by her husband Mikhail and her daughter Oksana.

Memberships and awards.

Member of Academy of Europe, European-Mediterranean Academy, honorary member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the doctor of philosophy of Oberlin college, member of the International sociological institute.  The winner of the (Fund Tyopfera, 1989, Germany), the Demidov Prize (Demidovsky fund, 2000, Russia, Yekaterinburg), founder of the Novosibirsk economic-sociological school.  She with Soviet orders Order of the Badge of Honour (1972), Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1975), Order of Friendship of Peoples (1981), Order of the October Revolution (1987).

Tatyana Zaslavskaya (, September 9, 1927 – August 23, 2013) was a Russian economic sociologist and a theoretician of perestroika. She was the prime author of the Novosibirsk Report and several books on the economy of the Soviet Union (specializing in agriculture) and in sociology of the countryside. She was a member of the Consulting Committee to the President of Russia from 1991 to 1992 and also a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Zaslavskaya was the founder of VCIOM and also its director in the years from 1987 to 1992. In 2000 she was the Laureate of the Demidov Prize and the honorary president of the Levada Center.

Tatjana Iwanowna Saslawskaja (; * 9. September 1927 in Kiew; † 23. August 2013 in Moskau) war eine Professorin der Soziologie und Meinungsforscherin.


Background.

Nirvana's Paramount performance was the third of three shows in the Pacific Northwest with fellow Seattle band Mudhoney, and the final show of the North American leg of their "Nevermind" tour before the band departed for Europe. The three concerts, which also featured shows in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada, had been booked two months earlier and were originally to feature Mudhoney as the headliners. However, the surprising success of the band's second album, "Nevermind", which had been released the previous month, led to Nirvana being moved to the headlining spot. The Seattle show, which also featured American rock band Bikini Kill on the bill, also had to be moved from the smaller Moore Theatre to the Paramount due to the demand for tickets.

The performance.

Nirvana's Paramount performance featured a typical set list of the time, with material from "Nevermind" and the band's 1989 debut album "Bleach", as well as set list regulars "Aneurysm," "Been a Son" and the 1990 single, "Sliver." The show also featured a cover of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" by Scottish rock band The Vaselines, and an early version of "Rape Me," which Cobain had written while "Nevermind" was being mixed, and eventually appeared on the band's third and final studio album, "In Utero", in 1993.  The show was filmed by a video crew the band's co-manager, John Silva, had hired for $250,000. Cobain had invited Ian Dickson and Nikki McClure, two friends of his from Olympia, Washington, to dance onstage, and they wore shirts that read "Girl" and "Boy," respectively.  English music journalist Everett True, a friend of Cobain's, described the Paramount show as "the end of an era" that showed that "incontrovertibly, Nirvana was now big news." Seattle photographer Charles Peterson, acclaimed for his role in documenting the rise of the city's grunge scene, recalled that "the record label, unbeknownst to Nirvana, had set up a big film shoot. There were six guys all clad in black running around with compact 35mm movie cameras and I was like, 'This is the beginning of the end.' It was so unfair to their home audience because it stilted the performance. It reeked of money."

Previously-released songs.

The idea of releasing the Paramount show in its entirety dates back to the band's lifetime. In his 1993 Nirvana biography "", Michael Azerrad wrote that the show "may one day be edited into a full-length film." By the time of Cobain's death in April 1994, several songs from the soundboard recording, mixed by Andy Wallace, had been officially released. "School" and "Drain You" appeared on the second single from "Nevermind," for the song "Come As You Are," in March 1992. "Been a Son" appeared on the following single, for "Lithium," in July 1992. Footage from the performance appeared in the music video for "Lithium," directed by Kevin Kerslake.  In November 1994, the Paramount versions of "About a Girl," "Breed," "Polly" and "Endless, Nameless" appeared in the home video "Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!", which had been compiled by Cobain but unfinished at the time of his death. In October 1996, the Paramount version of "Negative Creep," from Wallace's mix, was released on the live compilation album "From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah", compiled primarily by Nirvana bassist, Krist Novoselic. The video of "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" was released on the DVD of the band's rarities box set, "With the Lights Out", in November 2004, while the video of "Polly" was re-released as a bonus feature on the "" DVD in March 2005.  The full soundboard of the Wallace mix had been available in trading circles for years before the release of "Live at the Paramount", but remains unreleased.

Reception.

Jayson Greene of "Pitchfork" wrote that "the joy of "Live at the Paramount" is hearing the charge of this moment: a great band newly famous, still reeling and flooded with nervy adrenaline." Mark Deming of "Allmusic" compared the release to the 1964 film "A Hard Day's Night" in that they "captured the artists at a moment where success was a pleasure, just before it became a burden."  Reviewing the vinyl release in 2019, "Kerrang!'s" Nick Ruskell wrote that the concert "doesn’t even sound like the best show Nirvana ever played. But that’s what makes this special – a truly spectacular band captured without hype, in the moment, just doing what they do. And for a band so steeped in legend, that is a rare thing to have.

Blu-ray synchronization issues.

The Blu-ray version has been widely criticized for having audio sync problems. Amazon has posted a statement from Universal that denies the problem exists, but the review at the website Blu-ray.com gives the audio a score of 0/5 because of the sync issues.  Encore:

Bonus features.

Easter Eggs.

All video releases, the stand-alone DVD, Blu-ray, and the DVD that comes with the "Nevermind" "Super Deluxe" boxset, feature the following hidden tracks (easter eggs) from March 8, 1991, at the Commodore Ballroom in Canada.

Nevermind Super Deluxe DVD.

The DVD that comes with the limited edition "Nevermind" "Super Deluxe" boxset features the music videos for the four singles from the "Nevermind" album. However these are not included with the standalone DVD or Blu-ray release.

2019 vinyl release.

The concert was released as a double LP vinyl set on April 12, 2019, which came with a 12x24" poster and a replica of the VIP pass that was used on the night as a download card.

Track listing.

Side A  Side B  Side C  Side D

Live at the Paramount is a live video and album by American rock band Nirvana, released in September 2011. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc as part of the 20th anniversary of the band's second album and mainstream breakthrough, "Nevermind".

Live at the Paramount ist ein Live-Konzert der US-amerikanischen Rockband Nirvana. Es fand am 31. Oktober 1991 im Paramount Theatre, Seattle, statt. Veröffentlicht wurde es auf DVD und Blu-ray-Disc erst am 27. September 2011 zum 20-jährigen Jubiläum von "Nevermind". Am 12. April 2019 erschien es auch auf Schallplatte und zum Download.