Structure.

Amacrine cells operate at inner plexiform layer (IPL), the second synaptic retinal layer where bipolar cells and retinal ganglion cells form synapses. There are at least 33 different subtypes of amacrine cells based just on their dendrite morphology and stratification. Like horizontal cells, amacrine cells work laterally, but whereas horizontal cells are connected to the output of rod and cone cells, amacrine cells affect the output from bipolar cells, and are often more specialized. Each type of amacrine cell releases one or several neurotransmitters where it connects with other cells.  They are often classified by the width of their field of connection, which layer(s) of the stratum in the IPL they are in, and by neurotransmitter type. Most are inhibitory using either gamma-Aminobutyric acid or glycine as neurotransmitters.

Types.

As mentioned above, there are several different ways to divide the many different types of amacrine cells into subtypes.  GABAergic, glycinergic, or neither: Amacrine cells can be either GABAergic, glycinergic or neither depending on what inhibitory neurotransmitter they express (GABA, glycine, or neither). GABAergic amacrine cells are usually wide field amacrine cells and are found in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the inner nuclear layer (INL). One type of GABAergic amacrine cell that is fairly well studied is the starburst amacrine cell. These amacrine cells are usually characterised by their expression of choline acetyltransferase, or ChAT and are known to play a role in direction selectivity and detection of directional motion. Acetylcholine is also released from these amacrine cells, but its function is not completely understood. Another subtype of GABAergic amacrine cells are those that are dopaminergic. These are all TH expressing and these amacrine cells modulate light adaption and circadian rhythm. These are widely spreading amacrine cells, and they diffusely release dopamine, while still releasing GABA and carrying out all normal synaptic release. Many other divisions of GABAergic amacrine cells have been noted, but those listed above are some of the most extensively researched and discussed.  Glycinergic amacrine cells aren't as extensively characterized as GABAergic amacrine cells. All glycinergic amacrine cells though, are marked by the glycine transporter GlyT1. One very well characterized glycinergic amacrine cell is the AII amacrine cells. These cells are present in the INL. One importance function of the AII amacrine cells is that they capture cellular input from rod bipolar cells and redistribute it to cone bipolar cells using the synaptic endings of cone bipolar cells as adaptors  Around 15% of amacrine cells are neither GABAergic or glycinergic. These amacrine cells are sometimes known as nGnG amacrine cells, and it is thought that transcription factors that act on progenitors decide the fate of amacrine cells. One transcription factor that was found to be selectively expressed in nGnG amacrine cells is Neurod6  Length of dendritic arbors: Based on length, spread of dendritic arbors, amacrine cells can be categorized as narrow field amacrine cells (around 70 micrometers in diameter), medium field amacrine cells (around 170 micrometers in diameter) and wide field amacrine cells (around 350 micrometers in diameter). These different lengths lend to different specific functions that the amacrine cells can accomplish. Narrow field amacrine cells allow vertical communication among different retinal levels. They also aid in creating functional subunits in the receptive field of ganglion cells. These narrow field amacrine cells and their overlap in these subunits can allow certain ganglion cells to detect small amounts of movement of a very small spot in a field of vision. One type of narrow field cells that does this is the starburst amacrine cell.  Medium field amacrine cells also contribute to vertical communication in the cells of the retina, but much of their overall function is still unknown. Due to the fact that their dendritic arbor size is pretty similar to that of ganglion cells, they could blur the edge of the ganglion cell visual field. Similarly, wide field amacrine cells are hard to research and even discover because they span the entire retina so there aren't many of them. In light of their size though, one of their main functions is lateral communication within a layer, though some also communicate vertically among layers.

Organization.

Amacrine cells and other retinal interneuron cells are less likely to be near neighbours of the same subtype than would occur by chance, resulting in 'exclusion zones' that separate them. Mosaic arrangements provide a mechanism to distribute each cell type evenly across the retina, ensuring that all parts of the visual field have access to a full set of processing elements. MEGF10 and MEGF11 transmembrane proteins have critical roles in the formation of the mosaics by starburst amacrine cells and horizontal cells in mice.

Function.

In many cases, the subtype of the amacrine cell speaks to its function (form leads to function), but some specific functions of the retinal amacrine cells can be outlined.  There is still much to be discovered about all of the different functions of all of the different amacrine cells. Amacrine cells with extensive dendritic trees are thought to contribute to inhibitory surrounds by feedback at both the bipolar cell and ganglion cell levels. In this role they are considered to supplement the action of the horizontal cells.  Other forms of amacrine cell are likely to play modulatory roles, allowing adjustment of sensitivity for photopic and scotopic vision. The AII amacrine cell is a mediator of signals from rod cells under scotopic conditions.

Amacrine cells are interneurons in the retina. They are named from the Greek roots "a–" ("non"), "makr–" ("long") and "in–" ("fiber"), because of their short neuritic processes. Amacrine cells are inhibitory neurons, and they project their dendritic arbors onto the inner plexiform layer (IPL), they interact with retinal ganglion cells and/or bipolar cells.

Les cellules amacrines sont des interneurones unipolaires, présents dans l'œil des vertébrés, souvent dépourvus d'axone. On les trouve au niveau de la rétine.


Personal life and education.

Cools was born and raised in Barbados, as the daughter of pharmacist Lucius Unique Cools and homemaker Rosita Gordon Miller Cools. Both her grandfather and an uncle were politically active on the island. When she was four years old, two of her siblings died from peritonitis. In Barbados, Cools attended Queen's College Girls School. In 1957, when she was 13 years old, her family immigrated to Canada, where she studied at Thomas D'Arcy McGee High School in Montreal. Cools received a B.A. degree in social sciences, sociology and psychology from McGill University. Cools is married to business consultant Rolf Calhoun. Her personal interests include classical music, playing the piano, reading, gardening and dogs.

Advocacy.

Racism.

In February 1969, Cools participated in a 13 day long civil disobedience sit-in at Sir George Williams University (later Concordia University), where over 400 students occupied the computer center to protest the school’s inadequate handling of complaints of racism against a professor. When the riot-police stormed the building, some floors were set on fire, computers were destroyed and computer cards and paper rained down from the 9th floor onto the street below, where there was a counter-demonstration chanting "let the n------ burn". While Cools were nowhere near the 9th floor, she was one of 97 students arrested, and unlike most of them, Cools refused to plead guilty to be set free, instead of serving two months in jail. About the affair, she has said that "it took me a long time to recover... it shocked me to my core". Several years later she was pardoned.

Domestic violence.

As a social worker, Cools was one of the pioneers in the protection of women from domestic abuse. In 1974, Cools moved to Toronto where she founded and served as the executive director for "Women in Transition Inc.", one of the first shelters for domestic violence victims in Canada. With a high demand for its services, Cools obtained funding for and opened a second shelter in 1987. She was the co-organizer of Canada's. She co-organized Canada’s first domestic violence conference, "Couples in Conflict".  Cools has presented evidence that men and women are equally capable of domestic violence and aggression, which is not a gendered characteristic, but a human pathology of intimacy. In January 2016, in a "Canadaland" audio podcast interview with Desmond Cole, Cools supported and cited the work of the English domestic violence pioneer and expert Erin Pizzey, when she claimed that women are equally violent as men in domestic violence conflicts.

Child custody.

Cools is a strong advocate for children's rights, that they after divorce should have continuing relationships with both mothers and fathers, and the importance of fathers for the children's development. In the 1990s, Cools was instrumental in the creation of and served on the Senate/House Special Joint Committee on Child Custody and Access, which in December 1998 issued its report, "For the Sake of the Children". A principal recommendation of this report was that following a relationship breakdown, shared parenting should be presumed to be in the best interests of the child. She was candid in her criticism of the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien when proposed legislation to be introduced in the House of Commons was shelved after intense lobbying by women's groups.

Feminism.

While a strong advocate for women and domestic violence victims, she has also criticized certain aspects of the feminist movement, e.g. stating that "this feminism that has grown up suddenly in the last few years, where all virtue and goodness are stacked up on the side of women, and all evil and violence is stacked up on the side of men—well, human nature doesn't work that way."

Political career.

National Parole Board.

From 1980 to 1984, Cools served on the National Parole Board of Canada, which is the parole board for federal prisoners.

Canadian House of Commons.

She twice sought election to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada. She lost the Liberal nomination in a highly contested race against John Evans for the 1978 by-election in Rosedale. She ran again in 1979, and won the nomination but was defeated in both the 1979 and 1980 elections by Progressive Conservative candidate David Crombie.

Canadian Senate.

In 1984, Cools was appointed to the Senate of Canada by governor general Edward Schreyer, on the recommendation of prime minister Pierre Trudeau, becoming the first black person in the Canadian senate. She had designated herself as representing the Senate division of Toronto-Centre-York.  Cools became increasingly critical of the Liberal governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, and of same-sex marriage. On June 9, 2004, she announced that she was crossing the floor to join the Conservative Party of Canada.  In the fall of 2006, Cools was barred from her committee duties for the Conservative Party, after questioning a new government accountability bill. In 2007, Cools was ousted from the Conservative party group after accusing two fellow senators of having grabbed and assaulted her. She also mentioned that she had witnessed a senator hitting a child. She sat as a non-affiliated Senator from 2007 until 2017 when she joined the Independent Senators Group.  From the retirement of Lowell Murray on September 26, 2011, until her own retirement on August 12, 2018, Cools was the longest-serving member of the Senate. She is the first female black Senator in North America. With the retirement of Charlie Watt, Cools was the last Senator appointed by Pierre Trudeau remaining in the Senate.

Anne Clare Cools (born August 12, 1943) is a former member, the first black member and the longest serving member of the Senate of Canada. As a social worker, Cools was a pioneer in the protection of women from domestic violence, running one of the first domestic violence shelters in Canada.

Anne Clare Cools, née le, est une sénatrice canadienne. Née à la Barbade, elle fut la première personne noire nommée à la chambre haute du parlement canadien.


Early career.

Monica Macovei graduated in 1982 with honors from the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest; in 1994 she received a master's of law in comparative constitutional law from the University of the State of New York/Central European University. She has served as a lecturer in law at the University of Bucharest. She has also authored a number of books and articles on legal and human rights themes.  Macovei was a prosecutor between 1983 and 1997, during the Communist and post-Communist periods. From 1997 to 2004 she was a lawyer with the Bucharest Bar.  In 1997, Macovei was an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, an honor awarded to "men and women of outstanding achievement in mid-career, who are expected to assume positions of influence and make a difference" in their home regions, countries, or globally.

Civic activist.

Prior to her appointment as Justice Minister, Macovei was a civil society activist for political reform, democratization, and human rights in post-1989 Romania. She served from 2001-2004 as president of the Association for the Defence of Human Rights in Romania - The Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH)  Macovei served as an expert/advisor to the Council of Europe, the European Roma Rights Center, the UN Development Program, the Open Society Institute, and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. She was a founding member of Transparency International-Romania. She conducted research on gender in Romanian law and on violence against women, among many other issues. As an activist, she spoke out for the need to reform Romanian justice and remove institutional protections for officials involved in corruption. She called attention to police brutality and impunity, continued political influence over the judiciary, and the lack of strong legal culture in Romania, among other issues. She represented over 20 plaintifs before the European Court of Human Rights and trained over 1,000 law enforcement personnel on the rule of law and the European Court of Human Rights.  In 2002, along with other Romanian human rights activists, she publicly opposed the indictment of a former aide to previous President Emil Constantinescu after he accused then Prime Minister Nastase of corruption. Many Romanian news commentators agreed with her, noting what they called a serious attack on the freedom of expression. Macovei, herself, characterized the arrest as "one of the worst attempts to muzzle the press in Romania" since communism collapsed. The arrest received widespread attention in Europe as an example of alleged abuses against the press at the time.  As an activist, Macovei supported LGBT rights, an issue on which she would also focus in her political career. In 2000, she assisted Romanian gay rights groups in overturning Article 200, one of the last sodomy laws in Europe. While Minister of Justice, Macovei intervened in May 2005 to help ensure that the Romanian LGBT rights group Accept could hold the country's first pride parade, the Bucharest GayFest, after the Bucharest City Hall had denied the group a parade permit. As MEP, she joined the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT rights. She was the only Romanian politician to support Bucharest GayFest 2011.

Justice Minister.

Macovei was appointed Justice Minister in December 2004, following the surprise victory of then Democratic Party (PD) leader Traian Băsescu in the second round of presidential elections against Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Adrian Năstase. Băsescu's victory was characterized in the media as Romania's "Orange Revolution," comparing the victory of perceived reformists in Romania to events in neighboring Ukraine during the same period. It was also a reference to the orange color used by the winning Justice and Truth Alliance, which comprised the PD and the National Liberal Party (PNL) led by Calin Popescu-Tăriceanu. Independent civil society organizations played an important role in securing the victory of the Justice and Truth Alliance, and Macovei's appointment was seen as acknowledgement of this contribution. As an activist who had spent much of her career advocating for judicial reform in Romania, she also appeared to be well-situated to implement extensive reforms as well as increased efforts against high profile corruption, both of which were requirements for EU accession. Anti-corruption was also a prominent theme in the parliamentary and presidential elections of that year.

Anti-Corruption Reforms.

Shortly after her appointment, Macovei stated that "fighting corruption" would be one of the top priorities of the Ministry of Justice under her leadership.  Many of Macovei's actions as minister were aimed at eliminating vestiges of communism from the Romanian justice system. She disbanded the Justice Ministry's secret service, called the General Directorate for Protection and Anti-Corruption, which had continued operating after the fall of communism. The organization had been wiretapping judges and gathering other information, which, Macovei stated, "we do not really know ended up where or with whom." She also implemented new procedures to check the backgrounds of judges and prosecutors to determine if they had worked with the former Securitate internal intelligence service and to remove those who had collaborated. Macovei secured passage of legislation to eliminate immunities accorded to former government ministers and other government notables and to make tax evasion a criminal offense. She increased the salaries of judges and prosecutors to make them less susceptible to bribes.  Macovei was also credited with invigorating the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA), which had been set up several years before to investigate and prosecute large scale corruption cases and those involving Members of Parliament and other high level officials. Macovei appointed a new head of the Directorate, prosecutor Dan Morar, under whose leadership the DNA issued an indictment against Chamber of Deputies president and former prime minister Adrian Năstase, the highest level official to face prosecution in a corruption case in the history of post-communist Romania. By January 2007, the DNA had indicted eight Members of Parliament, two serving government ministers, nine judges and prosecutors, and 70-80 police and customs officers.  Over the same period, Macovei often fought with the Romanian Parliament over her anti-corruption initiatives. Opposition MPs accused her of abuse of power, while Macovei stated that MPs sought to stop judicial reform and anti-corruption efforts to protect their own interests. In 2006, the Parliament initially voted against a measure by Macovei to keep the DNA operating as an independent office. Opposition MPs stated the negative vote was partially due to Macovei's failure to appear in the Parliament to defend the measure. They also questioned the DNA's independence from political influence. President Băsescu vetoed the Parliament's action, and, after international pressure and political negotiations, the Parliament ultimately voted on a revised measure to retain the DNA's authorities and independence. Independent political commentator Cristian Pârvulescu suggested the Parliament's initial negative vote was influenced by the large number of anti-corruption investigations initiated by the DNA under Macovei.  Macovei encountered similar resistance in efforts to create a new National Integrity Agency (ANI) to check the source of MPs and ministers' assets and investigate possible conflicts of interest. The draft law remained under consideration in the Parliament, where MPs reportedly altered and watered down the measures.  In October 2006, Macovei appointed 33-year-old lawyer Laura Kövesi as Prosecutor General In February 2007, the Romanian Senate Judicial Commission, however, voted to remove the authority of the Minister of Justice to nominate the Prosecutor General. The commission instead proposed assigning full authority over the nomination to the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM). Macovei said that the Senate's measure, if approved by the full Parliament, would greatly impede the government's ability to combat corruption as the Prosecutor General is a central figure in that effort. Kövesi remained in office and went on to pursue a number of cases against Romanian political figures. In its 2007 annual report on Romania, Reporters without Borders characterized as "encouraging" reform of the Romanian penal code initiated by Macovei that would decriminalize defamation and libel. Macovei said the proposed reformed code, which included many other changes and had been posted on the Justice Ministry's website for public debate, was necessary for modernizing Romania's legal system and to comply with EU norms. It would replace a draft penal code passed into law in 2004, but never enacted, under former Justice Minister and subsequent Conservative Party Senator Rodica Stănoiu. The Romanian Senate disagreed and, in February 2007, passed a measure to enact the so-called "Stănoiu Code" instead of Macovei's penal code. Macovei said the "Stănoiu Code," if passed by the full Parliament, would bring Romanian penal justice to a halt. Macovei was supported by the European Commission in the debate, and the Stănoiu Code was not implemented.

Parliamentary Motion against Macovei.

On February 13, 2007 the Romanian Senate passed by secret ballot a simple motion calling for Macovei's resignation. The measure, titled "Lying - Macovei's Way of Justice," was the first such motion ever passed in the Romanian Parliament against an individual cabinet member. It was supported by 81 senators out of 137. The motion accused Macovei of delaying justice reform (including application of the 2004 Penal Code), intervening in the judicial process, facilitating the release of several criminals, and attacking activities of the Parliament. It also called for measures guaranteeing the independence of judges and prosecutors from political influence. The vote was tabled by the Conservative Party, with support from the other opposition parties, primarily the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the nationalist Greater Romania Party. The number of votes against Macovei on the measure indicated that many Senators from her own center-right governing bloc did not support her.  The Constitutional Court, however, ruled that the vote of no confidence did not force her to resign and she remained in office, with the public support of the Prime Minister. A number of MPs from several parties, however, continued to call on Macovei to step down regardless of the Constitutional Court's decision. Several said they based their vote on her failure to communicate with the Parliament.  European Commissioner for Justice Franco Frattini came out quickly in support of Macovei following the motion, stating publicly that he "held Macovei in high regard." Other European officials also expressed support for her. The Social Democratic Party Deputy Speaker of the German Bundestag warned that Macovei's dismissal as a result of the parliamentary motion could lead the EU to invoke the safe guard clauses the EU introduced to prevent Romania from abandoning reform efforts after it joined the EU. The European Commission (EC) however, officially took a neutral position, with the EC spokesman stating "this vote is a domestic issue for Romania and cannot be commented upon.”  In addition, there was a demonstration against the Parliament in support of Macovei by a number of civil society organizations, including Freedom House, the Romanian Academic Society and APADOR-CH, with organizers stating that MPs passed the motion against Macovei because they were worried by her push for more transparency and stricter controls on conflicts of interest. Transparency International condemned the anti-Macovei motion, stating that the text voted by the Senate was "written in a superficial manner and motivated by political reasons, ignoring the principle of independence of judiciary." Journalist Traian Ungureanu said "We do not want our country to be stolen by a few oligarchs in the Parliament."  International media described the vote of no-confidence as an attempt to derail reforms, including Macovei's efforts to create the National Integrity Agency, which would examine legislators' accounts. "The Economist" described the motion against Macovei as a by-product of the feud between the Prime Minister and the President. The on-line journal "Southeast Europe Times" noted that Macovei had several public disputes with judges on the Superior Council of Magistrates, most of whom are associated with the opposition Social Democratic Party that supported the motion.  Macovei, herself, expressed the view that the Parliament could only be seeking to get rid of her because of her efforts against corruption, including investigations by her ministry against several members of the Senate. She stated that the investigations were carried out regardless of political party affiliation.

International and domestic recognition.

Macovei received much praise internationally from politicians and the media for the reforms she implemented while Justice Minister. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn stated that as a result of Macovei's efforts "For the first time in the history of the country, nobody is above the law."  European Commissioner for Justice Frattini said that a "big part of the success of Romania's EU accession was achieved as a result of Macovei's work."  "The Economist" described Macovei as:  Macovei was nominated for the Campaigner of the Year 2006 award, as part of the European Voice "Europeans of the Year" Awards, for "driving through tough laws tackling corruption and reforming the judiciary, improving her country’s readiness to join the EU."  Noted Romanian academic and former Foreign Minister Andrei Pleşu (who also briefly served as an advisor to President Băsescu) described Macovei, in her fight against corruption, as :

Departure from Government.

Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu dismissed Macovei on April 2, 2007, when he reshuffled his cabinet primarily to exclude the Democratic Party of President Traian Băsescu, with whom he remained engaged in a prolonged and heated public feud. Before and while she was Justice Minister, Macovei claimed to be politically independent. Nonetheless, President Băsescu's Democratic Party (PD) consistently backed her. The media reported that Popescu-Tăriceanu and his National Liberal Party (PNL) sought to expel her from the cabinet partially because she supported Băsescu and the PD in opposing Popescu-Tăriceanu's decision to postpone Romania's European Parliament elections that year due to what he characterized as ongoing domestic disputes.  International media characterized Macovei's ouster as a departure from the aggressive reform efforts Romania had enacted in the previous two years to enter the EU.  Following her departure from government, from July 2007 until April 2009, Macovei served as Anti-Corruption Advisor to the Prime Minister of Macedonia, with support from the British Foreign Office.

Member of the European Parliament.

In 2009, Macovei joined the Democratic Liberal Party (successor of the PD), and won a MEP seat on the party's list in that year's European Parliament Elections. She was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2014 and is part of the European People's Party group.  In the Parliament, she became chair of the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, a member of the Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT),of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and of the Special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering (CRIM), and a substitute on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and to the Delegation to the EU-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee.  In May 2011 she was elected as one of the 15 vice presidents for the National Coordinating Council of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL).  In 2011, she made 41 speeches on transparency and anti-corruption in the EU, and also condemned human rights violations and clashes all around the world (Pakistan, Tunisia, Belarus, Egypt, Thailand, Congo, Madagascar, Guantanamo). She also signed the motion for a resolution on the EU's efforts to combat corruption and co-signed around 40 other join motions in 2011.  On September 26, 2012, Macovei won the Parliament Magazine's Justice and civil liberties prize. As a member of parliament's justice and civil liberties committee she took the opportunity to expand her battle for anti-corruption, for transparency and for civil liberties at EU level. She also went beyond EU borders trying to ensure the rule of law, justice and civil liberties are respected in other countries and not some distant hope for the future. Since the beginning of 2012, Macovei made six speeches in plenary about human rights violations in countries such as Bahrain and Syria.  In an interview in June 2014, Macovei advocated stronger sanctions against Russia in response to Russian military aggression in Ukraine. She also noted the importance of NATO and EU accession to reform in central and eastern Europe, stating that the best window for enacting reform can be in the period between NATO and EU membership.  On October 27, 2015, she joined the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Campaign for the Romanian Presidency.

In 2014, Macovei ran as an independent candidate in Romania's presidential elections, after resigning from the PDL, which was supporting party leader and Sibiu mayor Klaus Iohannis. She ran on a platform of anti-corruption and rule-of-law, as well as on her record as Justice Minister and MEP.  In the first round of the elections in October, Macovei received 4.44% in the national vote. She received her best results in large cities: Bucharest - 12%; Cluj-Napoca - 11.87%; Timișoara – 9.23%; Constanța – 8.84%; and Iași - 10%. More than 15% of the Romanians who voted abroad voted for Macovei. Macovei stated that statistics showed that those who voted for her were mostly between 18 and 35 and with higher education. Nonetheless, her fifth place finish meant she did not go on to the second round run-off elections, in which Iohannis and Prime Minister and PSD leader Victor Ponta would compete. Macovei endorsed Iohannis, who would go on to win the elections.  At one point during the campaign, Ponta made reference to Macovei's Greek Catholic faith, to which she had converted. This was interpreted broadly as implying that she was not fully Romanian, as the large majority of citizens are Romanian Orthodox. Macovei accused Ponta and the PSD of using her religious affiliation to attack her candidacy with "xenophobia, chauvinism, and intolerance."  On November 4, 2014, following her presidential electoral defeat, Macovei said she would seek to establish a new political party in Romania, which was later called M10.

Controversies.

Macovei was involved in a number of controversies in Romania while Justice Minister, sometimes indirectly. Media and groups in support of Macovei noted that domestic criticism against her by the local media and Romanian parliament increased markedly after Romania's accession to the EU when politicians no longer worried about implications in Brussels. They also said such attacks stemmed from a broader and very public conflict between Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu and President Traian Băsescu, which divided the ruling coalition and contributed to the break-up of the "Justice and Truth Alliance." Macovei consistently stated that the attacks lodged against her by politicians were "proof that reform was on the right track" under her leadership.

Alleged abuse of power.

Monica Macovei was on several occasions accused of abuse of power in her position as Minister of Justice. One such incident involved a comment she made on national television that reporters had no right to criticize her and her ministry and that they should pay attention to their own "problems with Romanian justice." Her comment appeared aimed at the director of the Romanian newspaper "Ziua", Sorin Roşca Stănescu, who had been vocal in making allegations against Macovei and admitted having been a collaborator of the communist secret police, Securitate. Aidan White, president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), criticized Macovei's assertion, saying that "Any journalist should be granted the presumption of innocence especially by the Minister of Justice."  Stănescu and his colleague Răzvan Săvăliuc also alleged that the NGOs supporting Macovei against the Romanian Parliament had done so because they received funding from the Ministry of Justice or because they supported controversial causes linked to Macovei.  In June 2005, Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu sought Macovei's intervention in a corruption case against Rompetrol chairman and important PNL member, Dinu Patriciu. According to media, Popescu-Tăriceanu called Macovei to his office to meet with Patriciu, who complained about alleged procedural problems and other aspects of his case. Macovei fully acknowledged the meeting in the media, as well as her surprise that the Prime Minister had organized the meeting. There was no indication that Macovei allowed the meeting to affect Patriciu's case, which remained under investigation.  Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) Judge Florica Bejinaru accused Macovei of "political police-style" tactics to try to obtain her resignation. Bejinaru had reportedly been found to have worked with the Securitate intelligence service during the communist period, a factor that would generally disqualify her from holding a position on the CSM. Bejinaru admitted having collaborated with the Securitate, but denied ever harming anyone. The agency charged with reviewing the Securitate archives cleared Bejinaru of collaboration.  Macovei accused Secretary General of the Government Radu Stroe on 14 March 2007 of illegally changing the text of laws between the time they are passed by the Parliament and printed in the official monitor. Stroe denied the allegation. The media separately reported on the same day that Stroe had hired a personal advisor under criminal investigation for tax evasion and links to organized crime. Stroe dismissed the advisor after the report. Popescu-Tăriceanu publicly supported Stroe against Macovei during the row.  Shortly after Macovei became Minister of Justice, some media alleged that a court case concerning the ownership of a house was resolved in an irregular fashion to the advantage of Macovei's mother. Macovei denied any involvement in the case.

Ordinances Allowing Monitoring in Organized Crime, Terrorism Cases.

In late 2006, Macovei recommended and secured passage by the Cabinet of two emergency ordinances (no. 99 and 131) to allow monitoring in specific circumstances without warrant of phone calls, electronic mail, and bank accounts by the Department of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism Offences (DIICOT). The two ordinances have been loosely compared to the U.S. Patriot Act in terms of the powers they give to authorities investigating certain types of crime.  Critics in the Parliament, media, and civil society called the ordinances unconstitutional, a violation of privacy, and a drift towards authoritarianism. Several opposition Senators also referenced these ordinances as a reason they passed the February 2007 motion calling for her resignation.  Macovei and General Prosecutor Kövesi defended the measures by stating that investigators would not have access to the actual content of records or conversations without warrants, but rather access to information on telephone and electronic traffic. This meant investigators could find out with whom or how an individual communicated, but not what was said. Macovei said that the Romanian government obtained the technology to conduct his type of monitoring with financial support from the U.S. PD President Emil Boc stated on the Romanian talk show "Naşul" that President Băsescu recommended that Macovei pass the emergency ordinances.

Performance as Prosecutor.

A dossier released by the General Prosecutor's Office in 2008 accused Macovei of "repeated negligence in dealing with cases and repeated delays in resolving some cases" while she was a prosecutor until 1997. Macovei said she had never seen the file but had "nothing to hide" from her time as a prosecutor. She resigned from the position in 1997 following a conflict with then General Prosecutor Nicolae Cochinescu, who was dismissed by President Constantinescu the same year for allegedly blocking politically sensitive investigations.  Dan Voiculescu, media owner and leader of the Conservative Party (PC), presented in September 2006 what he claimed were several blank search warrants issued and signed by Monica Macovei in 1984 when she was a prosecutor. PC Deputy Secretary General and former Greater Romania Party member Codrin Stefanescu made a similar claim. Blank warrants were often used during the communist period in Romania to allow prosecutors or police to conduct searches without due process.  Macovei replied that the warrant Voiculescu showed to the press was worthless, as it was neither dated nor registered and therefore never valid. She accused Voiculescu of using Securitate-style tactics in making the accusations against her, a clear reference to Voiculescu's own past as a collaborator with the former communist secret police. Voiculescu was one of Macovei's strongest critics in the Parliament while she was Justice Minister.

Personal life.

Monica Macovei grew up in Bucharest, the only daughter of Vasile Gherghescu (a lawyer) and Silvia Gherghescu (a teacher). She is divorced and has one son, Radu.  In April 2006, Macovei entered her flat to smell gas fumes filling her home from a nozzle that had apparently been turned or left on. Police found no apparent explanation for the incident, although the possibility remained that it was meant to be an attack on her. The press reported that the government provided no special security for her residence.

Monica Luisa Macovei (; born 4 February 1959) is a Romanian politician, lawyer and former prosecutor, currently a Member of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists and formerly a member of the Romanian Democratic Liberal Party. She was the Minister of Justice of Romania in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu. In this position she was credited with implementing the justice reforms required for Romania to become a member state of the European Union. Macovei was also an independent candidate in Romania's 2014 presidential elections.

Monica Luisa Macovei, née le à Bucarest, est une juriste, procureure et femme politique roumaine. De 2004 à 2007, elle est ministre de la Justice du gouvernement Popescu-Tăriceanu. Pendant cette période, elle conduit les réformes judiciaires nécessaires à l'entrée de la Roumanie dans l'Union européenne. En 2014, elle se présente à l'élection présidentielle. Elle fonde en 2015 le parti politique de centre droit M10.


Background.

By 1843, several hundred enslaved people a year were successfully escaping to the North, making slavery an unstable institution in the border states.  The earlier Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 was a Federal law that was written with the intent to enforce, which required the return of runaway enslaved people. It sought to force the authorities in free states to return fugitives of enslavement to their masters.  Many Northern states wanted to disregard the Fugitive Slave Act. Some jurisdictions passed "personal liberty laws", mandating a jury trial before alleged fugitive slaves could be moved; others forbade the use of local jails or the assistance of state officials in the arrest or return of alleged fugitive slaves. In some cases, juries refused to convict individuals who had been indicted under the Federal law.  The Missouri Supreme Court routinely held with the laws of neighboring free states, that enslaved people who had been voluntarily transported by their enslavers into free states, with the intent of the enslavers' residing there permanently or indefinitely, gained their freedom as a result. The 1793 act dealt with enslaved people who escaped to free states without their enslaver's consent. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in "Prigg v. Pennsylvania" (1842), that states did not have to offer aid in the hunting or recapture of enslaved people, greatly weakening the law of 1793.  After 1840, the black population of Cass County, Michigan, grew rapidly as families were attracted by white defiance of discriminatory laws, by numerous highly supportive Quakers, and by low-priced land. Free and runaway blacks found Cass County a haven. Their good fortune attracted the attention of Southern slaveholders. In 1847 and 1849, planters from Bourbon and Boone counties, Kentucky led raids into Cass County to recapture people running away from enslavement. The raids failed but the situation contributed to Southern demands in 1850 for passage of the strengthened Fugitive Slave Act.  Southern politicians often exaggerated the number of people escaping enslavement and often blamed escapes on Northerners interfering with Southern property rights. Since there was no way to confirm the number of people running away from enslavement, Congress enacted stricter laws regarding fugitive slaves in the United States.

New law.

In response to the weakening of the original Fugitive Slave Act, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 penalized officials who did not arrest an alleged runaway slave, and made them liable to a fine of $1,000 (about $ in present-day value). Law-enforcement officials everywhere were required to arrest people suspected of being a runaway slave on as little as a claimant's sworn testimony of ownership. The suspected slave could not ask for a jury trial or testify on his or her own behalf. In addition, any person aiding a runaway slave by providing food or shelter was subject to six months' imprisonment and a $1,000 fine. Officers who captured a fugitive slave were entitled to a bonus or promotion for their work.  Slave owners needed only to supply an affidavit to a Federal marshal to capture an escaped slave. Since a suspected slave was not eligible for a trial, the law resulted in the kidnapping and conscription of free blacks into slavery, as suspected fugitive slaves had no rights in court and could not defend themselves against accusations.  The Act adversely affected the prospects of slave escape, particularly in states close to the North. One study finds that while slave prices rose across the South in the years after 1850 it appears that "the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act increased prices in border states by 15% to 30% more than in states further south", illustrating how the Act altered the chance of successful escape.

Nullification.

In 1855, the Wisconsin Supreme Court became the only state high court to declare the Fugitive Slave Act unconstitutional, as a result of a case involving fugitive slave Joshua Glover and Sherman Booth, who led efforts that thwarted Glover's recapture. In 1859 in "Ableman v. Booth," the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the state court.  In the November 1850, the Vermont legislature passed the Habeas Corpus Law, requiring Vermont judicial and law enforcement officials to assist captured fugitive slaves. It also established a state judicial process, parallel to the federal process, for people accused of being fugitive slaves. This law rendered the federal Fugitive Slave Act effectively unenforceable in Vermont and caused a storm of controversy nationally. It was considered a "nullification" of federal law, a concept popular in the South among states that wanted to nullify other aspects of federal law, and was part of highly charged debates over slavery. Noted poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier had called for such laws, and the Whittier controversy heightened angry pro-slavery reactions to the Vermont law. Virginia governor John B. Floyd warned that nullification could push the South toward secession, while President Millard Fillmore threatened to use the army to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act in Vermont. No test events took place in Vermont, but the rhetoric of this flare-up echoed South Carolina's 1832 nullification crisis and Thomas Jefferson's 1798 Kentucky Resolutions.  "Jury nullification" occurred as local Northern juries acquitted men accused of violating the law. Secretary of State Daniel Webster was a key supporter of the law as expressed in his famous "Seventh of March" speech. He wanted high-profile convictions. The jury nullifications ruined his presidential aspirations and his last-ditch efforts to find a compromise between North and South. Webster led the prosecution against men accused of rescuing Shadrach Minkins in 1851 from Boston officials who intended to return Minkins to slavery; the juries convicted none of the men. Webster sought to enforce a law that was extremely unpopular in the North, and his Whig Party passed him over again when they chose a presidential nominee in 1852.

Resistance in the North and other consequences.

The Fugitive Slave Law brought the issue home to anti-slavery citizens in the North, as it made them and their institutions responsible for enforcing slavery. "Where before many in the North had little or no opinions or feelings on slavery, this law seemed to demand their direct assent to the practice of human bondage, and it galvanized Northern sentiments against slavery." Moderate abolitionists were faced with the immediate choice of defying what they believed to be an unjust law, or breaking with their own consciences and beliefs. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852) in response to the law.  Many abolitionists openly defied the law. Reverend Luther Lee, pastor of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Syracuse, New York, wrote in 1855:  There were several instances of Northern communities putting words like these to action. Several years before, in the Jerry Rescue, Syracuse abolitionists freed by force a fugitive slave who was to be sent back to the South and successfully smuggled him to Canada. Thomas Sims and Anthony Burns were both examples of unsuccessful attempts by opponents of the Fugitive Slave Law to use force to free a captured slave. Other famous examples include Shadrach Minkins in 1851 and Lucy Bagby in 1861, whose forcible return in 1861 has been cited by historians as important and "allegorical". Pittsburgh abolitionists organized groups whose purpose was the seizure and release of any slave passing through the city, as in the case of a free black servant of the Slaymaker family, erroneously "rescued" by black waiters in a hotel dining room. If fugitive slaves were captured and put on trial, abolitionists worked to defend them in trial, and if by chance the recaptured slave had his or her freedom put up for a price, abolitionists worked to purchase it.  Other opponents, such as African-American leader Harriet Tubman, simply treated the law as just another complication in their activities. One important consequence was that Canada, not the Northern "free" states, became the main destination for escaped slaves. The black population of Canada increased from 40,000 to 60,000 between 1850 and 1860, and many reached freedom by the Underground Railroad. Notable black publishers such as Henry Bibb and Mary Ann Shadd created publications encouraging migration to Canada. By 1855, an estimated 3,500 people among Canada's black population were fugitive slaves. In Pittsburgh, for example, during the September following the passage of the law, organized "squads" of escaped slaves, armed and sworn to "die rather than be taken back into slavery", set out for Canada, with more than 200 men leaving by the end of the month. The black population in New York City dropped by almost 2,000 from 1850 to 1855.  On the other hand, many Northern businessmen supported the law, due to their business ties with the Southern states. They founded the Union Safety Committee and raised thousands of dollars to promote their cause, which gained sway, particularly in New York City, and caused public opinion to shift somewhat towards supporting the law.

End of the Act.

In the early stages of the American Civil War, the Union had no established policy on escaping slaves. Many slaves escaped from plantations to Union lines, but in the early stages of the war, runaway slaves were often returned by Union forces to their masters. General Benjamin Butler and some other Union generals, however, refused to return runaway slaves under the law because the Union and the Confederacy were at war. He confiscated the slaves as contraband of war and set them free, figuring that the loss of workers would also damage the Confederacy. Lincoln allowed Butler to continue his policy, but countermanded broader directives issued by other Union commanders that freed all slaves in places under their control.  In August 1861, the U.S. Congress enacted the Confiscation Act, which barred slaveholders from re-enslaving captured runaways. The legislation, sponsored by Lyman Trumbull, was passed on a near-unanimous vote and established military emancipation as official Union policy, but applied only to slaves used by rebel owners to support the Confederate cause. Union Army forces sometimes returned runaway slaves to masters until March 1862, when Congress enacted legislation barring Union forces from returning any runaway slaves. James Mitchell Ashley proposed legislation to repeal the Fugitive Slave Act, but the bill did not make it out of committee in 1863. Although the Union policy of confiscation and military emancipation had effectively superseded the operation of the Fugitive Slave Act, the Fugitive Slave Act was formally repealed in June 1864. The "New York Tribune" hailed the repeal, writing: "The blood-red stain that has blotted the statute-book of the Republic is wiped out forever."

The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers.

Le est le nom donné à deux textes de loi du Congrès des États-Unis votés, respectivement, le et le (dans le cadre du compromis de 1850 entre les États Sudistes agraires et esclavagistes et les États Nordistes industriels et abolitionnistes) et statuant sur les modalités de capture des esclaves évadés et de leur retour à leur propriétaire.


Background.

The Ramones began playing gigs in mid-1974, with their first show at Performance Studios in New York City. The band, performing in a style similar to the one used on their debut album, typically performed at clubs in downtown Manhattan, specifically CBGB and Max's Kansas City. In early 1975, Lisa Robinson, an editor of "Hit Parader" and "Rock Scene", saw the fledgling Ramones performing at CBGB and subsequently wrote about the band in several magazine issues. The group's vocalist Joey Ramone related that "Lisa came down to see us, she was blown away by us. She said that we changed her life; she started writing about us in "Rock Scene", and then Lenny Kaye would write about us and we started getting more press like "The Village Voice". Word was getting out, and people starting coming down." Convinced that the band needed a recording contract, Robinson contacted Danny Fields, former manager of the Stooges, and argued that he needed to manage the band. Fields agreed because the band "had everything [he] ever liked," and became the manager in November 1975.  On September 19, 1975, the Ramones recorded a demo at 914 Sound Studios, which was produced by Marty Thau. Featuring the songs "Judy Is a Punk" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", the band used the demo to showcase their style to prospective labels. Producer Craig Leon, who had seen the Ramones perform in the summer of 1975, brought the demo to the attention of Sire Records' president Seymour Stein. After being persuaded by Craig Leon and his ex-wife Linda Stein, the Ramones auditioned at Sire and were offered a contract, although the label had previously signed only European progressive rock bands. Drummer Tommy Ramone recalled: "Craig Leon is the one who got us signed, single handed. He brought down the vice president and all these people—he's the only hip one in the company. He risked his career to get us on the label." The label offered to release "You're Gonna Kill That Girl" as a single, but the band declined, insisting on recording an entire album. Sire accepted their request and agreed to release a studio album instead.

Recording and production.

In January 1976 the band took a break from their live performances to prepare for recording at Plaza Sound studio. Sessions began later that month and were completed within a week for $6,400; the instruments took three days and the vocal parts were recorded in four days. In 2004, Leon admitted that they recorded "Ramones" quickly due to budget restrictions, but also that it was all the time they needed.  The band applied microphone placement techniques similar to those which many orchestras used. The recording process was a deliberate exaggeration of the techniques used by the Beatles in the early 1960s, with a four-track representation of the devices. The guitars can be heard separately on the stereo channels—electric bass on the left channel, rhythm guitar on the right—drums and vocals are mixed in the middle of the stereo mix. The mixing of the production also used more modern techniques such as overdubbing, a technique used by studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to the material. The band also used a technique known as doubling, where the vocal line used is sung twice.  Recording for the album was expanded by Mickey Leigh (Joey's brother) and Leon with percussion effects, which went unmentioned in the liner notes to the album's release. Author Nicholas Rombes said that the production's quality sounded like "the ultimate do-it-yourself, amateur, reckless ethic that is associated with punk," but concluded that they approached the recording process with a "high degree of preparedness and professionalism."

Artwork and packaging.

Initially, the Ramones wanted an album cover similar to "Meet the Beatles!" (1964) and subsequently had pictures taken in that style by Danny Fields but Sire was dissatisfied with the results. The art direction was by Toni Wadler and, according to cartoonist John Holmstrom, the "Meet The Beatles" cover idea came out "horribly". Wadler later chose a photo by Roberta Bayley, a photographer for "Punk" magazine for the cover. The black and white photograph on the front of the album was originally in an issue of "Punk".  The cover photo features (from left to right) Johnny, Tommy, Joey and Dee Dee Ramone, staring at the camera with blank faces. They are all wearing ripped/faded blue jeans and leather jackets, standing upright against the brick wall of a private community garden called Albert's Garden, located in the Bowery neighborhood of New York City between Bowery Street and Second Street. The stance of the group members in the photograph would influence their future cover designs as well, with the majority of their succeeding albums using a picture of the band on the front cover. Music historian Legs McNeil states that "Tommy [is] standing on his tip-toes and Joey [is] hunched over a bit." The back cover art, which depicts a belt buckle with a bald eagle and the band's logo, was designed by Arturo Vega. Liner notes on the back cover fail to acknowledge backing vocalists and additional instrument players. Leigh, who performed backing vocals on several tracks, asked guitarist Johnny why he was not mentioned on the record's credits. Johnny replied: "We didn't want people to get confused with who's in the band or who's not. It's our first album, you know, and we didn't want people to get confused."  The artwork became one of the most imitated album covers in music. The image of a band in front of a brick wall dressed in ripped jeans and leather jackets was copied by Alvin and the Chipmunks in "Chipmunk Punk". "Ramones"s artwork was ranked number 58 on "Rolling Stone"s 1991 list of 100 Greatest Album Covers.

Promotion.

Singles.

There were two singles released from the album: "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". The first was released in February 1976, originally as a 7" split single with "Havana Affair" as its B-side. The release, along with the "Ramones" 2001 Expanded Edition, featured "Blitzkrieg Bop" remixed as a single version, although it maintains a time of two minutes and twelve seconds. On January 6, 2004, Rhino Entertainment re-released "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a CD single, using "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" as its B-side. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" was released in September 1976 as a 7" single. It included live versions of "California Sun" and "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You" as B-sides, recorded at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood in August 1976. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" was also released in the UK, giving the band a presence in the European marketplace. Even though the song saw some success in the UK and Europe, it failed to chart in the top 50.

Touring.

In 1974 the band played 30 performances, nearly all at the New York-based club CBGB. All but one of the band's 1975 gigs were booked for New York City, with Waterbury, Connecticut as the exception. After the album's recording, the Ramones headlined for very few shows, usually opening for an identified cover band which played Aerosmith and Boston. When they opened at Brockton, Massachusetts, the audience appeared extremely uninterested in the Ramones so Johnny swore off playing as an introduction for other bands. Following this, Fields booked several headlining shows around the Tri-state area, and they began playing frequently at gigs like CBGB and Max's Kansas City. After performing with Blondie in New Jersey, they continued their tour to Boston, Massachusetts for three shows. Leigh later said of the tour:  At the time, Leigh was road manager, stage manager, chauffeur, and head of security. Vega, who contributed to the album's packaging, helped out with the road crew as much as possible. Tommy's friend Monte Melnick occasionally helped with the audio output, but this was typically done by Leigh.  Following their debut album's release, the band performed at over 60 concerts for its promotion. While most of the gigs were booked in North America, two dates—July 4 and 5—were in London's Roundhouse venue and Dingwalls, respectively. Linda Stein pushed to make these events happen, setting up the band performances in the UK during the United States Bicentennial. Fields relates: "On the two-hundredth anniversary of our freedom, we were bringing Great Britain a gift that was forever going to disrupt their sensibilities." The band sold out for their first London performance, with an audience of roughly 3,000. Leigh described the Dingwalls gig as very similar to performances at CBGB. Likewise, these venues in future were headlined by other punk bands like the Clash and Sex Pistols. The band performed over 100 concerts the following year.

Lyrics and composition.

The songs on "Ramones" addressed several lyrical themes including violence, male prostitution, drug use, and Nazism. While the moods displayed in the album were often dark, Johnny said that when writing the lyrics they were not "trying to be offensive." Many songs from the album have backing vocals from different guests. Leigh sang backing vocals on "Judy Is a Punk", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", and in the bridge of "Blitzkrieg Bop". Tommy sang backing vocals on "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You", "Judy Is a Punk", and during the bridge of "Chainsaw". The album's engineer, Rob Freeman, sang backing vocals for the final refrain of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". The album's length is 29 minutes and four seconds and it contains 14 tracks.  The opening "Blitzkrieg Bop" was written by Tommy, and originally named "Animal Hop". Once Dee Dee reviewed the lyrics, the band changed the wording, the name, and partially the theme. According to Tommy, the song's original concept was about "kids going to a show and having a good time", but the theme became more Nazi-related after its revision. The piece begins with an instrumental interval which lasts about 20 seconds. At the 20th second, the guitar and bass cease, marking Joey's first line, "Hey ho, let's go!" The bass and guitar gradually rebuild and become "full–force" once all the instruments play together in ensemble. The piece resolves by repeating what is played from 0:22–0:33. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic described "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a "three-chord assault."  "Beat on the Brat" was said by Joey to have origins relating to the upper class of New York City. Dee Dee, however, explained that the song was about how Joey saw a mother "going after a kid with a bat in his [apartment building's] lobby and wrote a song about it."  "Judy Is a Punk" – written around the same time as "Beat on the Brat" — was written by Joey after he walked by Thorny Croft, an apartment building "where all the kids in the neighborhood hung out on the rooftop and drank." The song's lyrics are fictional and refer to two juvenile offenders in Berlin and San Francisco and their possible deaths at the conclusion of the song. "Judy Is a Punk" is the original album's shortest track at 1:39.  "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" – the album's slowest song – was solely written by Tommy and pays homage to love songs by pop music acts of the 1960s. The song used a 12-string guitar, glockenspiel, and tubular bells in its composition, and was said by author Scott Schinder to be an "unexpected romantic streak".  "Chain Saw" opens with the sound of a running circular saw and was influenced by the 1974 horror film "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". At nearly 180 beats per minute, "Chain Saw" had the fastest tempo of the album's songs and, according to Rombes, is the most "home-made" sounding.  "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" contains four lines of minimalist lyrics that depict youthful boredom and inhaling solvent vapors found in glue. "I hope no one thinks we really sniff glue," said Dee Dee. "I stopped when I was eight [years old]." Dee Dee also explained that its concept came from adolescent trauma. After several songs by the Ramones whose titles began with "I Don't Want to...", Tommy said that "Now I Want to Sniff Some Glue" is the first positive piece on the album. The song served as an inspiration for one of the first punk fanzines, Mark Perry's "Sniffin' Glue".  "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement" is also minimalist, and inspired by horror movies. The entire text is composed of three lines, and the composition was based on three major chords. With a playing time of 2:35, it is the longest piece on the album. (Asked about the bathroom at CBGB, Debbie Harry remarked: "I think that song from the Ramones is partially about that: 'I don't wanna go down to the basement...'As kids, we never wanted to go down to the basement cos it was so dark and scary. And that toilet was certainly very scary.")  "Loudmouth" has six major chords and is harmonically complex. The song's lyrics are — depending on the reading and punctuation — a single row or four very brief lines.  "Havana Affair" has a lyrical concept incorporating the comic strip "Spy vs. Spy" by Cuban-born illustrator Antonio Prohias. At roughly 170 beats per minute, "Loudmouth" and "Havana Affair" proceed at about the same tempo.  "Havana Affair" segues into "Listen to My Heart" – the first of many Ramones songs to voice an ironic and pessimistic perspective on a failing or failed relationship.  Written solely by Dee Dee, the lyrics of "53rd and 3rd" concern a male prostitute ("rent boy"), waiting at the corner of 53rd Street and Third Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. When the prostitute gets a customer, he kills the customer with a razor to prove he is not a homosexual. In interviews, Dee Dee described the piece as autobiographical. "The song speaks for itself," Dee Dee commented in an interview. "Everything I write is autobiographical and written in a very real way, I can't even write." Johnny insisted that the song is about "Dee Dee turning tricks." The half-sung and half-shouted bridge in "53rd and 3rd" are performed by Dee Dee, whose voice is described by author Cyrus Patell as what "breaks the deliberate aural monotony of the song and emphasizes the violence of the lyric."  "Let's Dance" is a cover version of the hit song by Chris Montez, featuring Leon playing Radio City's large Wurlitzer pipe organ.  "I Don't Want to Walk Around with You" consists of two lyric lines and three major chords. One of the group's earliest compositions, written at the beginning of 1974, it was the opener on their first demo.  "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You" segues into the closing track "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World", which refers to a Hitler Youth member. Seymour Stein complained about its original lyrics — "I'm a Nazi, baby, I'm a Nazi, yes I am. I'm a Nazi Schatze, y'know I fight for the Fatherland" — insisting the track was offensive. When he threatened to remove the track from the album, the band put together alternate lyrics: "I'm a shock trooper in a stupor, yes I am. I'm a Nazi Schatze, y'know I fight for the Fatherland." Stein accepted the revision and it was duly released.

Reception.

"Ramones" was released on April 23, 1976, by Sire Records and received glowing reviews. In May, John Rockwell of the "New York Times" published a rave review, saying: "What the Ramones do is deliver a nonstop set of short, brisk, monochromatically intense songs.... conventional considerations of pace and variety are thrown calculatedly to the winds. The ingredients are simplicity itself." Rockwell noted: "the effect in the end amounts to an abstraction of rock so pure that other associations get left behind." Nick Kent favourably commented in the "NME": "This record poses a direct threat to any vaguely sensitive woofer and/or tweeter lodged in your hi-fi...". Reviewing that same month in "The Village Voice", Robert Christgau said that, while the power of the band's music draws from "fairly ominous sources" like Nazi imagery and brutality, he cannot deny the "sheer pleasure" of the music: "For me, it blows everything else off the radio: it's clean the way the Dolls never were, sprightly the way the Velvets never were, and just plain listenable the way Black Sabbath never was." In July, Paul Nelson of "Rolling Stone" wrote in 1976 that the album was similar to early rock and roll, and was constructed using rhythm tracks of great intensity. In August, "Creem" dubbed "The Ramones" as "The most radical album of the past six years", saying: "[it] is so strikingly different, so brazenly out of touch with prevailing modes as to constitute a bold swipe at the status quo." Reviewer Gene Sculatti saw it as "a rock 'n' roll reactionary's manifesto"... "a sharp wedge between the stale ends of a contemporary music scene bloated with graying superstars and overripe for takeover." Critic Joe S. Harrington declared that the album was a huge landmark for music history, proclaiming that "[it] split the history of rock 'n' roll in half." Theunis Bates, a writer for "Time", summed the album up with: ""Ramones" stripped rock back to its basic elements... lyrics are very simple, boiled-down declarations of teen lust and need." Bates also said that it "is the ultimate punk statement." Charles M. Young of "Rolling Stone" regarded "Ramones" as "one of the funniest rock records ever made and, if punk continues to gain momentum, a historic turning point."  Later reviews of "Ramones" tended to praise the album's influence on rock music. In 1995, Jeff Tamarkin of "The AllMusic Guide to Rock" said that the album ignited the punk rock era, writing: "rock's mainstream didn't know what hit it." In 2001, April Long of "NME" rewarded the album with a perfect score, remarking that the Ramones were "arguably the most influential band ever," despite their lack of mainstream acceptance. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of "AllMusic" also deemed the album influential, saying "In comparison to some of the music the album inspired, The Ramones sounds a little tame—it's a little too clean, and compared to their insanely fast live albums, it even sounds a little slow." The album's sound was considered by Erlewine to be "all about speed, hooks, stupidity, and simplicity."  Regardless of this critical acclaim, "Ramones" was not successful commercially. It only reached No. 111 on the US "Billboard" 200, and sold 6,000 units in its first year. Outside the US, the album peaked at No. 48 on the Swedish Sverigetopplistan chart.  The album was included in "Spin" magazine's List of Top Ten College Cult Classics (1995), where it was noted that "everything good that's happened to music in the last fourteen years can be directly traced to the Ramones." Also in 1995, the "Spin Alternative Record Guide" named it the No. 1 alternative rock album. In 2001, the magazine also included the album in its special issue "25 Years of Punk with a list of The 50 Most Essential Punk Records", where it resided at the top spot. That same year, it was named the fourth best punk album by "Mojo", who called it the "coolest, dumbest, simplest, greatest rock'n'roll record ever to be cut by four sweet, dysfunctional screw-ups."  The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 2002 induction ceremony, with the website stating that their first album changed the rock genre from "bloated and narcissistic", to "basic" rock and roll. In 2003, "Ramones" was considered by "Spin"s Chuck Klosterman, Greg Milner, and Alex Pappademas to be the sixth most influential album of all time. They noted that the album "saved rock from itself and punk rock from art-gallery pretension." "Q" Magazine included the album in their "100 Greatest Albums Ever" (2003) list, where it was listed at No. 74. In 2006, it was chosen by "Time" as one of the 100 greatest albums ever. "Ramones" was included in Chris Smith's 2009 book "101 Albums That Changed Popular Music", who said the album "opened a whole new world of garage rock for those fed up with the excesses of existing rock gods." It was also included in the 2005 book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In 2010, it was ranked as the greatest debut album of the year in 1976. It was placed second in the "Rolling Stone" 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time list in 2013. The album went gold in the US just after its 38th anniversary, certified by the RIAA on April 30, 2014.  In 2016, Rhino Records announced the July 29 release of a 40th-anniversary deluxe edition comprising three CDs and one LP, including stereo and mono mixes of the original album; single mixes, outtakes and demos; and a live 1976 performance.

Legacy and influence.

"Ramones" is considered to have established the musical genre of punk rock, as well as popularizing it years afterward. Rombes wrote that it offered "alienated future rock", and that it "disconnected from tradition." The album was the start of the Ramones' influence on popular music, with examples being genres such as heavy metal, thrash metal, indie pop, grunge, post-punk, and most notably, punk rock. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said of their influence on rock in general:  Despite the lack of popularity in its era, the importance of the album for the development of punk rock music was incredible, influencing many of the most well-known names in punk rock, including The Damned, the Clash, Black Flag, Misfits, and Green Day. Billie Joe Armstrong, singer for Green Day, explained his reasoning for listening to the band: "they had songs that just stuck in your head, just like a hammer they banged right into your brain." The album also had a great impact on the English punk scene as well, with the bassist for Generation X, Tony James, saying that the album caused English bands to change their style. "When their album came out," commented James, "all the English groups tripled speed overnight. Two-minute-long songs, very fast." In another interview, James stated that "Everybody went up three gears the day they got that first Ramones album. Punk rock—that rama-lama super fast stuff—is totally down to the Ramones. Bands were just playing in an MC5 groove until then." In 1999, "Classic Albums" by Collins GEM recognized "Ramones" as the start of English punk rock and called it the fastest and hardest music that could possibly be concocted, stating: "The songs within were a short, sharp exercise in vicious speed-thrash, driven by ferocious guitars and yet halting in an instant. It was the simple pop dream taken to its minimalist extreme." In 2012 the album was preserved by the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."

Cover versions and tributes.

Each song on "Ramones" has been covered by various bands. Sonic Youth covered "Beat on the Brat" on their 1987 EP "Master=Dik", and, in 1991, German punk band Die Toten Hosen played "Blitzkrieg Bop" on their cover album "Learning English, Lesson One". A tribute album titled "" was released on August 30, 1991. It contained the songs "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "53rd & 3rd", "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement", "Loudmouth", and "Beat on the Brat". Screeching Weasel released "Ramones" (1992), which consisted of the band performing the entire album track list. 1998's "" featured a cover "Judy Is a Punk" in German, and in 2000, both "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Beat on the Brat" appeared on Dee Dee Ramone's solo release "Greatest & Latest". The compilation album "Ramones Maniacs" included Youth Gone Mad's version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" (featuring a guest appearance by Dee Dee Ramone) and Yogurt's rendition of "Beat on the Brat". "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Havana Affair", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" were all covered on "The Song Ramones the Same". "" (2003) featured several of the album's songs covered by bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Havana Affair"), Rob Zombie ("Blitzkrieg Bop"), Metallica ("53rd & 3rd"), U2 ("Beat on the Brat"), Pete Yorn ("I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"), and John Frusciante ("Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"). In 2006, "Blitzkrieg Bop" was reworked into a children's song on the album "".

Personnel.

Credits adapted from AllMusic.<br> Ramones  Production

References.

Citations Bibliography

Ramones is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Ramones, released on April 23, 1976 by Sire Records. After "Hit Parader" editor Lisa Robinson saw the band at a gig in New York City, she wrote about them in an article and contacted Danny Fields, insisting that he be their manager. Fields agreed and convinced Craig Leon to produce "Ramones", and the band recorded a demo for prospective record labels. Leon persuaded Sire president Seymour Stein to listen to the band perform, and he later offered the band a recording contract. The Ramones began recording in January 1976, needing only seven days and $6,400 to record the album. They used similar sound-output techniques to those of the Beatles and used advanced production methods by Leon.

Abordant des thèmes comme le nazisme, la violence, la prostitution masculine, la drogue ou encore l'amour avec dérision et sarcasme, les Ramones sont considérés comme ayant popularisé la culture punk rock avec une musique minimaliste et rapide sur trois accords. L'album influence de nombreux groupes comme les Sex Pistols et le groupe The Clash, mais aussi des genres musicaux tels que le heavy metal, le thrash metal, l'indie pop, le grunge et le post-punk, bien que son succès soit resté assez confidentiel à sa sortie avec seulement une au Billboard 200. Rejeté ou incompris sur le moment par la critique, il est malgré tout classé parmi les du magazine "Rolling Stone" et figure régulièrement dans les premières positions de nombreuses listes des albums les plus influents du rock et du punk.


History.

The "Book of Rites" is a diverse collection of texts of uncertain origin and date that lacks the overall structure found in the other "rites" texts (the "Rites of Zhou" and the "Etiquette and Ceremonial"). Some sections consist of definitions of ritual terms, particularly those found in the "Etiquette and Ceremonial", while others contain details of the life and teachings of Confucius. Parts of the text have been traced to such pre-Han works as the "Xunzi" and "Lüshi Chunqiu", while others are believed to date from the Former Han period.  During the reign of Qin Shihuang, many of the Confucian classics were destroyed during the 213 BC "Burning of the Books." However, the Qin dynasty collapsed within the decade: Confucian scholars who had memorized the classics or hid written copies recompiled them in the early Han dynasty. The "Book of Rites" was said to have been fully reconstructed, but the "Classic of Music" could not be recompiled and fragments principally survive in the "Record of Music" ("Yueji") chapter of the "Book of Rites".  Since then, other scholars have attempted to redact these first drafts. According to the "Book of Sui", Dai De reworked the text in the 1st century BC, reducing the original 214 books to 85, and his nephew Dai Sheng reduced this to 46 books. To this three were added towards the end of the Han dynasty, bringing the total to 49.  In 1993, a copy of the "Black Robes" chapter was found in Tomb 1 of the Guodian Tombs in Jingmen, Hubei. Since the tomb was sealed around 300 BCE, the find reactivated academic arguments about the possible dating of the other "Liji" chapters by the Warring States period.

"Li".

Confucius described "Li" as all traditional forms that provided a standard of conduct. "Li" literally means "rites" but it can also be used to refer to "ceremonial" or "rules of conduct". The term has come to generally be associated with "good form", "decorum" or "politeness". Confucius felt that "li" should emphasize the spirit of piety and respect for others through rules of conduct and ceremonies. As outlined in the "Book of Rites", "li" is meant to restore the significance of traditional forms by looking at the simplicity of the past. Confucius insisted that a standard of conduct that focused on traditional forms would be a way to ease the turmoil of collapsing Zhou state. The absolute power of "li" is displayed in the "Book of Rites": "Of all things to which the people owe their lives the rites are the most important..." The ideas of "li" were thought to become closely associated with human nature, ethics, and social order as the population integrated "li" into their lives. "Li" is beneficial to society because it guides people to recognize and fulfill their responsibilities toward others.

Legacy.

As a result of the "Book of Rites"' chapters, using a syncretic system and combining Daoist and Mohist beliefs, later scholars formed both the "Great Learning" and the "Doctrine of the Mean". These two books were both believed to be written by two of Confucius' disciples one specifically being his grandson. The great Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi and his edited versions of the "Great Learning" and the "Doctrine of the Mean" influenced the Chinese society to place much more attention on these and two other books creating the Four Books. Following the decision of the Yuan dynasty (followed by the Ming and Qing) to make the Five Classics and the Four Books the orthodox texts of the Confucian traditions, they were the standard textbooks for the state civil examination, from 1313 to 1905, which every educated person had to study intensively. Consequently, the "Book of Rites" and two of its by-products were large integral parts of the Chinese beliefs and industry for many centuries.

The Book of Rites, also known as the Liji, is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The "Book of Rites", along with the "Rites of Zhou" ("Zhōulǐ") and the "Book of Etiquette and Rites" ("Yílǐ"), which are together known as the "Three Li ("Sānlǐ")," constitute the ritual ("lǐ") section of the Five Classics which lay at the core of the traditional Confucian canon (Each of the "five" classics is a group of works rather than a single text). As a core text of the Confucian canon, it is also known as the Classic of Rites or Lijing, which some scholars believe was the original title before it was changed by Dai Sheng.

Le Classique des rites, Lijing ou Li King (chinois traditionnel: 禮經; chinois simplifié: 礼经 ; pinyin: Lǐjīng) désigne un ou plusieurs ouvrages attribué(s) aux sages de l’époque Zhou (en particulier le Duc de Zhou), compilé(s) et commenté(s) par les confucéens (Confucius ou ses disciples immédiats selon la tradition), traitant des rites ("Li") encadrant l’organisation sociale, administrative et politique de cette dynastie. Sous les Han occidentaux, ces textes ayant en grande partie disparu, trois ouvrages furent reconstitués d’après des fragments, des souvenirs (récitations) et des rédactions apocryphes : le Zhouli (周禮), le Yili (儀禮) et le Liji (禮記). Le terme "Lijing", qui peut désigner l’ensemble, fait le plus souvent référence au "Liji" ou "Livre des rites".


Early life.

Persis Khambatta was born in Bombay to a middle-class Parsi family. Her father left her family when she was two years old. She first gained fame when a set of her pictures casually taken by a well-known Bombay photographer was used for a successful campaign for a popular soap brand. This eventually led to her becoming a model. She entered and won the Femina Miss India contest in 1965. She was the second winner of Femina Miss India and third Indian woman to participate in the Miss Universe pageant. At the Femina Miss India contest, she also won the Miss Photogenic award.

Career.

Khambatta's first appearance at age 13 in advertisements for the soap brand Rexona set her on her way to becoming a popular model. At age 16, as Femina Miss India, Khambatta entered Miss Universe 1965 in July of that year, dressed in off-the-rack clothes she bought at the last minute. She became a model for companies such as Air India, Revlon, and Garden Vareli. Khambatta made her Hollywood début in director K. A. Abbas's "Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein" (1968), playing cabaret singer Lily who croons the film's title track. She had small roles in "Conduct Unbecoming" and "The Wilby Conspiracy" (both 1975). She went on to have a brief movie career that included the role for which she is most recognized, the bald Deltan navigator Lieutenant Ilia, in "" (1979). She shaved her head for the role. She was originally signed to play the role for five years, as the intention was to create a new "Star Trek" television series. Khambatta said that she was thrilled when the project became a movie instead, because it would have greater impact on her career, but she also recognised that she had lost five years' work. Khambatta became the first Indian citizen to present an Academy Award in 1980. She was nominated for Saturn Award for Best Actress for her role in "Star Trek". This led to roles in "Nighthawks" (1981), "Megaforce" (1982), "Warrior of the Lost World" (1983), and "She-Wolves of the Wasteland" (1988). She was considered for the title role in the James Bond film "Octopussy" (1983), but was passed over in favor of Maud Adams.  Costar Stephen Collins described Khambatta in "Star Trek" as "a very gentle person, who I think was a little overwhelmed by Hollywood". In 1980 she was seriously injured in a car crash in Germany, which left a huge scar on her head. In 1983, she underwent coronary bypass surgery. She returned to Bombay in 1985, and appeared in the Hindi bollywood movie released in 1986 "Shingora" opposite Aditya Pancholi and Marc Zuber. Soon after, Khambatta returned to Hollywood and performed in guest roles on various television series such as "Mike Hammer" and "MacGyver". In 1997, she wrote and published a coffee table book, "Pride of India", which featured several former Miss India winners. The book was dedicated to Mother Teresa, and part of the royalties went to the Missionaries of Charity. Her final appearance in an acting role was that of Chair of the Congress of Nations in the 1993 pilot episode of "".

Personal life.

She married Hollywood actor Cliff Taylor only weeks after meeting him in June 1981. Two months later they filed for divorce.

Death and legacy.

In 1983, Khambatta underwent coronary bypass surgery. In 1998, Khambatta was taken to the Marine Hospital in south Mumbai, complaining of chest pains, and she died of a massive heart attack on 18 August 1998 at the age of 49. Her funeral was held in Mumbai the following day.

Persis Khambatta (2 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian model and actress who is best remembered for playing Lieutenant Ilia in the feature film "" (1979).

Persis Khambatta ( - ), est une actrice indienne. Née à Bombay, elle est couronnée Miss Inde en 1965, elle fait alors une carrière de mannequin, notamment pour Revlon, avant de se tourner vers le cinéma.