History.

The project began in 1982, when the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) proposed the development of a natural gas pipeline throughout West Africa. In 1991 a feasibility report conducted by the World Bank on supplying Nigerian gas on West African markets deemed that a project was commercially viable.  In September 1995, the governments of four African countries signed a Heads of State Agreement. The feasibility study was carried out in 1999. On 11 August 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by participating countries in Cotonou, Benin. In February 2000, an Inter-Governmental Agreement was signed. The WAGP implementation agreement was signed in 2003. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the project were held at Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, on 3 December 2004. Construction began in 2005.  The offshore pipeline was completed in December 2006 and was scheduled to start operating on 23 December 2007 but was delayed after leaks were detected in supply pipelines in Nigeria. The second delivery deadline was scheduled on 13 February 2008, but regular deliveries were delayed again, when one of the contractors of Willbros was shot and killed in Nigeria by armed robbers.  Gas deliveries were expected by the end of 2009 after commissioning regulating and metering stations in Takoradi and Tema, Ghana, Lagos Beach, Nigeria, Cotonou, Benin, and Lomé, Togo in May 2008. However, deliveries were postponed again due to an irregular amount of moisture found inside the onshore gas pipeline.

Route.

The pipeline consists three sections with a total length of. The long offshore section starts at starts the Itoki terminal in southeastern Nigeria and runs through the waters of Benin, Togo and Ghana parallel to the coastline, approximately to offshore in water depths of between and. The Nigerian onshore section of the pipeline connects the offshore section compressor station at Lagos Beach with the Chevron-owned Escravos–Lagos Pipeline System, operational since 1989. It is possible that later the WAGP will be extended to Côte d'Ivoire and in longer term even to Senegal.

Technical description.

The diameter of the onshore section is. The diameter of the offshore pipeline is and the capacity is 5 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas per year. The pipeline was constructed by Willbros, with Bredero Shaw Ltd applying a concrete coating to the pipeline at its facility in Tema, Ghana. The pre-commissioning services were provided by BJ Process and Pipeline Services. The total pipeline costs around US$974 million, for which the World Bank provided a guarantee of $50 million for Ghana, while the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency provided a $75 million political risk guarantee for WAGPo as a whole.

Project company.

The pipeline is owned by West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAGPCo), a consortium of Chevron (36.7%), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (25%), Royal Dutch Shell (18%), Volta River Authority of Ghana (16.3%), Société Togolaise de Gaz (SoToGaz - 2%) and Société Beninoise de Gaz S.A. (SoBeGaz - 2%). The managing director of the company is Walter Perez. It is operated by Chevron Corporation.

Consumers.

In Ghana, provided gas was intended for the Takoradi Power Station at Aboadze near Takoradi, operated by Volta River Authority and the Takoradi International Company's (TICO). As of 2014, however, most of the gas was being consumed in Lagos.

Controversy.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth has criticized the project, after local communities in Nigeria complained it would damage land, destroy livelihoods and pollute fishing areas.

Damage by Pirates.

On August 27, 2012, the West African Gas Pipeline was damaged when pirates who had tried to board an oil tanker in an attempt to get away from the pursuing Togolese Navy, severely damaged the pipeline with their anchor. For nearly a year, the supply of gas to Ghana, Togo and Benin ceased, causing major power supply problems to the affected countries.

The West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) is a natural gas pipeline to supply gas from Nigeria's Escravos region of Niger Delta area to Benin, Togo and Ghana. It is the first regional natural gas transmission system in sub-Saharan Africa.

Le West African Gas Pipeline (Gazoduc de l'Afrique de l'Ouest) est un gazoduc fournissant du gaz naturel depuis le Nigeria (delta du Niger) vers le Bénin, le Togo et le Ghana.


History.

In November 2014, Colonel Abdullah al-Rifai of the 11th Special Forces Division of Saraya Ahl al-Sham was arrested by the Lebanese Armed Forces near Arsal. He was detained by the General Directorate of General Security and released on 2 January 2015. On 14 August, he was assassinated in Arsal.  On 30 September 2015, Sham Liberation Army, along with 12 other FSA and Islamist rebel factions, formed Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the western Qalamoun Mountains. The group maintained "good" relations with al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front and other groups in the former Army of Conquest's Qalamoun branch.  In February 2016, the SLA along with eh Saraya Ahl al-Sham rejected the inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, remaining neutral in the conflict and stating that its only opponent is the Syrian government. However, during the eastern Qalamoun offensive (September—October 2016), the group joined with the other rebels in fighting ISIL.  In February 2017, negotiations between Saraya Ahl al-Sham and Hezbollah began in order to install a ceasefire and for residents to return to the contest towns and villages between Hezbollah and the rebels.  On 27 May 2017, Tahrir al-Sham and Saraya Ahl al-Sham clashed with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the western Qalamoun Mountains near Arsal. 33 fighters were killed from both sides.  On 27 July 2017, a ceasefire agreement was reached by Hezbollah with Tahrir al-Sham and Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the Lebanese portion of the Qalamoun Mountains. The agreement called for Tahrir al-Sham forces to withdraw from Lebanon to Idlib, Saraya Ahl al-Sham forces to withdraw to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains, where opposition forces maintain a pocket of control, and exchanges of prisoners from both sides.  On 14 August 2017, the last 400 fighters of Saraya Ahl al-Sham coalition and their families departed the Lebanon–Syria border and headed to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains.  In April 2018, the SLA, along with the rest of Saraya Ahl al-Sham evacuated to Afrin.  On 7 April 2018, the group published a statement condemning the Syrian Government, the Russian intervention and Hezbollah involvement in the war and requested that the United Nations send in military forces to intervene.

The Sham Liberation Army (), originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade (), is an armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and is led by Firas Bitar, a captain who defected from the Syrian Arab Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias; it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.

Jaych al-Tahrir al-Cham (, « L'Armée de la Libération du Levant ») est un groupe rebelle de la guerre civile syrienne.


European migration.

The organization is best known for its actions during the European migrant crisis of rescuing migrants from sinking vessels in international waters north of Libya and providing the survivors with medical care and shelter, before being disembarked in a place of safety mostly in European ports in Italy and Malta. Since the start of the rescue operation in 2015, the Aquarius has saved more than 29000 lives. They are considered a "taxi service for migrants" by Italian Minister of the Interior, deputy prime minister and leader of the far right anti-migration party La Lega Matteo Salvini and have been denied entry to Italy and Malta. They work in partnership with Doctors Without Borders. SOS Méditerranée clashed with Libyan coastguards during 2017 but continues to operate in the Libyan search and rescue region in international waters north of Libya.

Network.

SOS Méditerranée works as a European association with teams in Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland in a European network, jointly financing and operating the rescue ship Aquarius, which has been in continuous operation since February 2016 in international waters between Italy and Libya.  The medical care has been provided by Doctors without Borders since May 2016.

The Aquarius.

It is a robust and seaworthy ship that offers wide spaces below deck, making it very suitable for year-round use as a rescue ship in the Mediterranean. Until 2009 the Aquarius was operated as a fishery protection vessel.

Funding.

SOS MEDITERRANEE is a non-profit association and is financed exclusively through private donations.  Its partner Doctors Without Borders (MSF) contributes to the monthly costs for the Aquarius and staffs the medical team on board.

SOS Méditerranée is a European, maritime-humanitarian organisation for the rescue of life at sea, currently operating in the Mediterranean sea in international waters north of Libya. The organization charteres the Aquarius in order to rescue people fleeing by sea from Libya and who risk drowning. The group was founded in June 2015 by German former captain Klaus Vogel and Frenchwoman Sophie Beau after the Italian navy ended the rescue operation Mare Nostrum in 2014. Its headquarters are based in Marseille, France.

SOS MEDITERRANEE est une association civile et européenne de recherche et sauvetage en haute mer, créée le 9 mai 2015, par des citoyens voulant agir pour mettre fin aux naufrages en Méditerranée centrale. Le réseau européen est constitué de quatre associations localisées en France, en Allemagne, en Italie et, depuis août 2017, en Suisse.


Early Years.

She was born in Paris, the daughter of Betty von Rothschild (1805–1886) and James Mayer de Rothschild (1792–1868). Charlotte de Rothschild was raised by very wealthy parents who were at the center of Parisian culture. They patronized a number of major figures in the arts community including Gioacchino Rossini, Frédéric Chopin, Honoré de Balzac, Eugène Delacroix, and Heinrich Heine. Chopin had become Charlotte's piano teacher in 1841, and as a tacit acknowledgment of the many years of support extended by Baron James and his wife Betty, dedicated to her (almost certainly as an 1843 wedding present) his celebrated Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, and four years later another work, his Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2.

Married Life.

In 1842, Charlotte married her English-born cousin Nathaniel de Rothschild (1812–1870) and in 1850 they moved to Paris, where he went to work at her father's bank, de Rothschild Frères. They were the parents of:  While Charlotte de Rothschild and her husband would always live in Paris, in 1853 they purchased the Château Brane-Mouton vineyard that they renamed Château Mouton Rothschild. In 1878, Charlotte bought the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay in Cernay-la-Ville in the Vallée de Chevreuse, at the time only a ruins of a Cistercian abbey built in 1118. She undertook extensive restoration work and new construction to make the lakeside property into a country home. The property remained in family hands until 1945 when it was by sold by her grandson Henri James de Rothschild to aircraft manufacturer Félix Amiot. Like her father, Charlotte de Rothschild was a collector of art and grew up around his artistic friends. As an adult, Charlotte would count amongst her friends the likes of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Henri Rousseau, and Édouard Manet. Her art purchases included works by Henri Fantin-Latour, Louis-Léopold Boilly, Anthony van Dyck plus a number by Rococo painters Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and François Boucher. However, Charlotte de Rothschild's interest in art went beyond collecting. Talented in her own right, she studied with Nélie Jacquemart (1841–1912) and would earn respect for her landscape paintings, watercolors and engravings, enough so that she is recognized in the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. She exhibited in 1872 at the Paris Salon as well as at an 1879 exhibition in London, and from 1879 showed work at the annual salon of the Société des aquarellistes français. Although a minor artist, her work has been on display at the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris and other museums around France. Her illuminated Haggadah of Pesach is in the Braginsky Collection.  Charlotte de Rothschild's interest extended to music, entertaining musician friends such as Georges Bizet and Camille Saint-Saëns. Charlotte de Rothschild's lifetime of involvement in art and music would greatly influence her offspring, producing writers, actors and playwrights.

Later Years.

Tragedy struck her family in 1881 when she lost her eldest surviving child, thirty-seven-year-old James-Edouard. An attorney in the Rothschild bank in Paris, James-Edouard de Rothschild had served in the Garde Mobile during the Franco-Prussian War and suffered from a number of illnesses, including depression that led to his suicide.

Charlotte de Rothschild (6 May 1825 – 20 July 1899) was a French socialite, painter, and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France.

Charlotte de Rothschild (également appelée Charlotte Nathaniel de Rothschild), née le à Paris, et morte le à Paris, est une artiste peintre et « socialite » française, membre de la famille Rothschild. Elle est aussi graveuse et musicienne, élève de Chopin.


Botany.

In botany and horticulture, deciduous plants, including trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year. This process is called abscission. In some cases leaf loss coincides with winter—namely in temperate or polar climates. In other parts of the world, including tropical, subtropical, and arid regions, plants lose their leaves during the dry season or other seasons, depending on variations in rainfall.  The converse of deciduous is evergreen, where foliage is shed on a different schedule from deciduous trees, therefore appearing to remain green year round. Plants that are intermediate may be called semi-deciduous; they lose old foliage as new growth begins. Other plants are semi-evergreen and lose their leaves before the next growing season, retaining some during winter or dry periods.  Many deciduous plants flower during the period when they are leafless, as this increases the effectiveness of pollination. The absence of leaves improves wind transmission of pollen for wind-pollinated plants and increases the visibility of the flowers to insects in insect-pollinated plants. This strategy is not without risks, as the flowers can be damaged by frost or, in dry season regions, result in water stress on the plant.  The conditions that trigger leafout in spring can vary depending on the species or genera of plant. Most herbaceous perennials and some woody plants are triggered to leaf out by warming air or soil temperatures, for example birches ("Betula") and willows ("Salix") will attempt to send out flowers and/or leaves if there are a few days where ambient air temperatures exceed 50°F (10°C). This strategy is risky as a renewed burst of cold air may freeze off the new growth. Other woody plants such as oaks, walnuts, and hickories leaf out based on photoperiod, meaning they wait until the day length is long enough. These tend to be plants that have frost-intolerant foliage, so leafout is held off until late spring when the danger of frost has largely passed.  Leaf drop in the fall months is based on photoperiod and varies by genera and species. Walnuts tend to drop their leaves early while some trees such as Norway Maple and willows have extremely late leaf drop, often in the middle of November.  Leaf drop or abscission involves complex physiological signals and changes within plants. The process of photosynthesis steadily degrades the supply of chlorophylls in foliage; plants normally replenish chlorophylls during the summer months. When autumn arrives and the days are shorter or when plants are drought-stressed, deciduous trees decrease chlorophyll pigment production, allowing other pigments present in the leaf to become apparent, resulting in non-green colored foliage. The brightest leaf colors are produced when days grow short and nights are cool, but remain above freezing. These other pigments include carotenoids that are yellow, brown, and orange. Anthocyanin pigments produce red and purple colors, though they are not always present in the leaves. Rather, they are produced in the foliage in late summer, when sugars are trapped in the leaves after the process of abscission begins. Parts of the world that have showy displays of bright autumn colors are limited to locations where days become short and nights are cool. In other parts of the world, the leaves of deciduous trees simply fall off without turning the bright colors produced from the accumulation of anthocyanin pigments. The beginnings of leaf drop starts when an abscission layer is formed between the leaf petiole and the stem. This layer is formed in the spring during active new growth of the leaf; it consists of layers of cells that can separate from each other. The cells are sensitive to a plant hormone called auxin that is produced by the leaf and other parts of the plant. When auxin coming from the leaf is produced at a rate consistent with that from the body of the plant, the cells of the abscission layer remain connected; in autumn, or when under stress, the auxin flow from the leaf decreases or stops, triggering cellular elongation within the abscission layer. The elongation of these cells break the connection between the different cell layers, allowing the leaf to break away from the plant. It also forms a layer that seals the break, so the plant does not lose sap.  Some trees, particularly oaks and beeches, exhibit a behavior known as "marcescence" whereby dead leaves are not shed in the fall and remain on the tree until being blown off by the weather. This is caused by incomplete development of the abscission layer. It is mainly seen in the seedling and sapling stage, although mature trees may have marcescence of leaves on the lower branches.  A number of deciduous plants remove nitrogen and carbon from the foliage before they are shed and store them in the form of proteins in the vacuoles of parenchyma cells in the roots and the inner bark. In the spring, these proteins are used as a nitrogen source during the growth of new leaves or flowers.

Function.

Plants with deciduous foliage have advantages and disadvantages compared to plants with evergreen foliage. Since deciduous plants lose their leaves to conserve water or to better survive winter weather conditions, they must regrow new foliage during the next suitable growing season; this uses resources which evergreens do not need to expend. Evergreens suffer greater water loss during the winter and they also can experience greater predation pressure, especially when small. Deciduous trees experience much less branch and trunk breakage from glaze ice storms when leafless, and plants can reduce water loss due to the reduction in availability of liquid water during cold winter days.Losing leaves in winter may reduce damage from insects; repairing leaves and keeping them functional may be more costly than just losing and regrowing them. Removing leaves also reduces cavitation which can damage xylem vessels in plants. This then allows deciduous plants to have xylem vessels with larger diameters and therefore a greater rate of transpiration (and hence CO uptake as this occurs when stomata are open) during the summer growth period.

Deciduous woody plants.

The deciduous characteristic has developed repeatedly among woody plants. Trees include maple, many oaks and nothofagus, elm, beech, aspen, and birch, among others, as well as a number of coniferous genera, such as larch and "Metasequoia". Deciduous shrubs include honeysuckle, viburnum, and many others. Most temperate woody vines are also deciduous, including grapes, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, wisteria, etc. The characteristic is useful in plant identification; for instance in parts of Southern California and the American Southeast, deciduous and evergreen oak species may grow side by side.  Periods of leaf fall often coincide with seasons: winter in the case of cool-climate plants or the dry-season in the case of tropical plants, however there are no deciduous species among tree-like monocotyledonous plants, e.g. palms, yuccas, and dracaenas. The hydrangea hirta is a deciduous woody shrub found in Japan.

Regions.

Forests where a majority of the trees lose their foliage at the end of the typical growing season are called deciduous forests. These forests are found in many areas worldwide and have distinctive ecosystems, understory growth, and soil dynamics.  Two distinctive types of deciduous forest are found growing around the world.  Temperate deciduous forest biomes are plant communities distributed in North and South America, Asia, Southern slopes of the Himalayas, Europe and for cultivation purposes in Oceania. They have formed under climatic conditions which have great seasonable temperature variability with growth occurring during warm summers and leaf drop in autumn and dormancy during cold winters. These seasonally distinctive communities have diverse life forms that are impacted greatly by the seasonality of their climate, mainly temperature and precipitation rates. These varying and regionally different ecological conditions produce distinctive forest plant communities in different regions.  Tropical and subtropical deciduous forest biomes have developed in response not to seasonal temperature variations but to seasonal rainfall patterns. During prolonged dry periods the foliage is dropped to conserve water and prevent death from drought. Leaf drop is not seasonally dependent as it is in temperate climates, and can occur any time of year and varies by region of the world. Even within a small local area there can be variations in the timing and duration of leaf drop; different sides of the same mountain and areas that have high water tables or areas along streams and rivers can produce a patchwork of leafy and leafless trees.

In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous (; ) means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of "deciduous" in the botanical sense is evergreen.

En botanique et horticulture, les plantes décidues, plantes à feuilles caduques ou plantes caducifoliées, sont celles qui perdent toutes leurs feuilles pendant une partie de l'année, qu'il s'agisse d'arbres, d'arbustes, arbrisseaux ou d'herbacées vivaces. Le processus de chute des feuilles est l'abscission. Dans les régions de climat tempéré ou polaire, la chute des feuilles coïncide avec la survenue de l'hiver. Dans d'autres régions du monde, à climat tropical, subtropical ou aride, les plantes perdent leurs feuilles pendant la saison sèche ou d'autres saisons, en fonction des variations de la pluviométrie.


Biography.

Early life and education.

Andrei Sergeevich Smirnov was born on 12 March 1941 in Moscow to the family of writer Sergei Smirnov - author of books about the defenders of the Brest Fortress.  When the young man studied in the seventh grade, the family moved to Maryina roshcha District, where Andrei continued his studies in a special French school.  After finishing school, he was accepted at the directing department of VGIK, Mikhail Romm's workshop. He graduated in 1962.

Career.

As a director, he made his debut with the war film "The Land of the Earth" (1964, together with Boris Yashin) based on the story of the same name by Grigory Baklanov.  Andrei Smirnov's first great success came when he directed the 1971 drama film "Belorussian Station", which showed the psychological atmosphere of events closely intertwined with the memory of the Great Patriotic War.  In his next film, "Autumn" (1974), he turned to the theme of love, with an unusual for that time boldness about the relationship between the thirty-year-old man and woman.  After the film "Faith and Truth" (1979), devoted to different stages of the construction of Moscow, Smirnov decided to leave the filmmaking. The reason was the criticism of various authorities and dissatisfaction with his own work.  Smirnov began to work mainly as a screenwriter and playwright. His play "My Own" in 1985 was staged by the Moscow Satire Theatre.  He wrote screenplays for the films "Sentimental Journey to Potatoes" (1986), "I Did Everything I Could" (1986), and also the episodes "The Medicine of Fear" in the second season of television series "Beyond the Wolves" (2004).  In the 1990s, Smirnov staged television performances, television concerts, and theater productions. Among them - "Dinner" in the Moscow Art Theatre - Theater-Studio O. Tabakov (1994), "A Month in the Country" in Comédie-Française (1997).  In 2011, he returned to filmmaking and made a national drama "Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman", acting simultaneously as a screenwriter and producer. The picture was recognized as the best film of the year according to the Russian cinema award Nika. It also received four more Nika prizes - for the best script work, best female role, best supporting actor and for the best work of the costume designer.  Andrei Smirnov as an actor starred in a number of notable roles. Among his works - the main roles in the films "Chernov" (1990) by Sergei Yursky, "His Wife's Diary" (2000) by Alexei Uchitel, "Fathers and Sons" (2008) by Avdotya Smirnova and "Elena" (2011) by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Smirnov also starred in the series "The Right to Defense" (2002), "The Idiot" (2003), "The Instructor" (2003), "Moscow Saga" (2004), "The First Circle" (2006), "The Apostle" (2008) ), "Heavy Sand" (2008), "Churchill" (2009), "The Thaw" (2013), "Black Cats" (2013), etc.  Andrei Smirnov was engaged in public activities. In 1988-1990, he was Acting First Secretary of the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR.  Between 1987-1995 he was the artistic director of the studio "Debut".  He taught at the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors.

Personal life.

Andrei Smirnov is married with a second marriage to Honored Artist of Russia Elena Prudnikova. His first wife was actress Natalia Rudnaya. Smirnov has two daughters from his first marriage - Avdotya and Alexander, from the second - daughter Aglaya and son Alexey. Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova - a well-known screenwriter and director, was the host of the television program "School of Slander". Andrei acted in her films "The Mania of Giselle", "His Wife's Diary" (Avdotya is credited as screenwriter), "Fathers and Sons", "Two Days".

Andrei Sergeyevich Smirnov (; born 12 March 1941, Moscow) is a Russian actor and film director who is known for directing the films "Angel" (1967), "Belarus Station" (1973) and "Autumn" (1974). He was a member of the jury at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival in 1988. In 2003 he was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia.

Andreï Smirnov (né à Moscou le ) est un acteur et réalisateur russe, notamment connu comme réalisateur des films "Le Début d'un siècle inconnu" (') (1967), "La Gare de Biélorussie" (') (1971) et "Automne" (') (1974), et comme acteur dans "Elena" (') d'Andreï Zviaguintsev. Il a été membre du jury à la Berlinale 1988.


Élections législatives norvégiennes de 2017

Previous election.

The last parliamentary elections in Norway were held on 9 September 2013. The outcome was a victory for the Conservatives and their populist right-wing allies. The Conservative Party, led by Erna Solberg, and the right-wing populist Progress Party formed a two-party minority government, with Solberg as Prime Minister. The two parties received confidence and supply from two centrist parties, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats.

Electoral system.

The election used party-list proportional representation in nineteen multi-member constituencies, one for each of the counties of Norway.  The number of members to be returned from each constituency varies between 4 and 19. To determine the apportionment of the 169 seats amongst the 19 counties, a two-tier formula is used, based on population and geographic size. Each inhabitant counts one point, while each square kilometer counts 1.8 points.  150 of the seats are regular district seats. These are awarded based on the election results in each county, and are unaffected by results in other counties. Nineteen of the seats (one for each county) are leveling seats, awarded to parties who win fewer seats than their share of the national popular vote otherwise entitles them to. A modification of the Sainte-Lague method, where the first quotient for each party is calculated using a divisor of 1.4 instead of 1, is used to allocate both the constituency and leveling seats. A party must win 4% of the popular vote in order to win compensation seats, but may still win district seats even if it fails to reach this threshold. The system for apportioning seats is biased in favour of rural areas since the area of the county is a factor, but the system of compensation seats reduces the effect this has on final party strength.

Date.

According to the Norwegian constitution, parliamentary elections must be held every four years. The Norwegian parliament may not be dissolved before such a four-year term has ended, a rather rare trait of a political system found in few, if any democracies besides Norway and the USA.  On 22 April 2016, the Norwegian government announced that the date of the election is set to be Monday, 11 September 2017. Additionally, each municipal council may vote to extend voting by one day, by also opening the polling stations on Sunday, 10 September.

Participating parties.

Eight political parties were represented in the Norwegian parliament prior to the election, all of whom went on to contest the 2017 election.  Additionally, the far-left Red Party led by Bjørnar Moxnes secured its first seat via a direct mandate in Oslo district. It had failed to secure representation in previous elections. The party is officially Communist in orientation and is a successor to the Red Electoral Alliance, which had previously won a seat in the 1993 election.

Government formation and aftermath.

Prime Minister Solberg set out to form a governing coalition between the Conservative Party, Progress Party, Liberal Party, and the Christian Democrats. In late-September 2017, the Christian Democrats left coalition talks due to the inclusion of the Progress Party.  On 14 January 2018, a government was formed by the Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Liberal Party.  The Christian Democrats voted at a party conference to join Solberg's government on 2 November 2018 and on 16 January 2019, Solberg's Conservatives struck a deal with the Christian Democratic Party. This marked the first time since 1985 that Norway would be getting a majority government representing right-wing parties in the Storting.  On 20 January 2020, the Progress Party decided to withdraw from the government due to a decision by Solberg to repatriate a woman linked to Islamic State and her children back to Norway. Solberg said that she would continue to head a minority government and the other parties in the coalition (Liberal Party, Christian Democrats) said they would also continue to serve in it.

A parliamentary election was held in Norway on 11 September 2017 to elect all 169 members of the unicameral Norwegian Parliament, the Storting. The non-socialist parties retained a reduced majority of 88 seats, allowing Prime Minister Erna Solberg's Conservative-Progress coalition to remain in government. The Liberal Party joined the coalition in January 2018 but it remained a minority cabinet until the Christian Democratic Party joined the coalition in 2019. The three largest centre-left parties won 79 seats. The Green Party retained its single seat, while the Red Party won its first ever seat.

Les élections législatives norvégiennes de 2017 se déroulent le. Le bloc bourgeois mené par la première ministre Erna Solberg remporte l'élection et s'assure de plus au pouvoir. Le Parti travailliste est le grand perdant de cette élection et perd six sièges tandis que le Parti du centre en est le grand gagnant avec neuf sièges supplémentaires.


Life.

Early life.

Arcangelo Palmentieri, was born in Casoria, near Naples, on 11 March 1814. He apprenticed as a cabinet maker in his youth. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Friars Minor on 1 July 1832, taking the name Ludovico. Ludovico was ordained five years later and was appointed to teach philosophy, mathematics, and chemistry to the younger members of the Order at the Franciscan priory of Saint Peter (San Pietro) in Naples.  Ludovico reported having a mystical experience in 1847, after which he embarked on a lifetime of establishing works to care for the poor and needy of the time, founding dispensaries and orphanages. About 1852 he opened a school for the education of African boys and girls redeemed from slavery. He also founded institutions for the deaf and the mute. He also worked to provide care for the elderly members of his own Order. In addition to an infirmary for friars of his province, he began charitable institutes in Naples, Florence and Assisi.

Founder.

Following the advice of his superiors to find others to whom he could entrust this work, in 1859 he instituted a community of men as a religious congregation of the Franciscan Third Order Regular at San Pietro. The group was composed of men who had belonged to the Secular Franciscans. They became known as the Gray Friars of Charity () on account of the traditional grayish color of the Franciscan religious habit. Three years later, he instituted likewise a congregation of religious women, known as the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth ("Suore Elisabettiane Bigie"), whom he placed under the protection of Elizabeth of Hungary, one of the first members of the Third Order of Saint Francis and its patron saint.  The work of the friars spread to the United States, where they served the Italian American community in New Jersey; the Holy See formally approved the friars in 1877. Due to the small number of members still in the congregation, the Holy See disbanded the friars in 1971. A new group of men and women, dedicated to his vision, however, currently exists in the process of forming.  The Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth currently serve in Italy, the United States of America, Ethiopia, India, Panama and the Philippines.

Death and veneration.

A serious and painful illness attacked Ludovico around 1876; he never completely recovered and died nine years later.  Within months after the death of Ludovico, the cause for his canonization was introduced in Rome. Pope John Paul II beatified him on 18 April 1993 and Pope Francis canonized him in 2014 on 23the of November. His annual feast day is celebrated on 30 March.  His spiritual testament begins: "The Lord called me to himself with a most tender love, and with an infinite charity he led and directed me along the path of my life." ((Saint of the Day ))  The reconstructed body of San Ludovico da Casoria is visible in the Basilica of Santa Chiara. The new transparent urn replaces the small reliquary that contained the bones of the friar since 2015. On 1 November, after the mass celebrated by the provincial father of the Friars Minor, Carlo D'Amodio, the urn showing the body in its natural was discovered anatomical conformity, covered by the Franciscan habit. The skeleton, preserved in its entirety, was reconstituted by medical experts Professor Michele Papa, Professor of Normal Human Anatomy at the Luigi Vanvitelli University of Naples, Professor Rosaria Maria Anna Costanzo, Pathological Anatomy Researcher and Doctor Domenico Ronga, emeritus Primary Pascale Institute of Naples. The body is visible in the plastic image of the moment of death, which occurred at 7.15 am on 30 March 1885 in the Marino hospice of Posillipo.  http://www.napolipost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Ludovico-da-Casoria-1728x800_c.jpg

Ludovico of Casoria (11 March 1814 – 30 March 1885) - born Arcangelo Palmentieri - was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor. He was a renowned social reformer who founded both the Grey Friars of Charity and the Grey Franciscan Sisters of Saint Elizabeth.

Ludovic de Casoria, dans le siècle Arcangelo Palmentieri, né le à Casoria et mort le à Naples, est un franciscain réformé italien ayant marqué le milieu religieux italien de son époque, notamment par ses conseils et par la multiplicité de ses œuvres, et notamment par la fondation des Franciscaines Élisabethaines. Il est vénéré comme saint par l'Eglise catholique.


History.

A post office called Pilot Mound has been in operation since 1865. The post office antedates the town's existence. Pilot Mound was laid out as a town in 1881. The community took its name from a prominent summit which affords a clear view of the surrounding area.

Geography.

Pilot Mound is located at (42.162554, -94.014372).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, all land. Bluff Creek flows near the town site.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 173 people, 83 households, and 47 families living in the city. The population density was. There were 99 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 96.0% White, 2.3% African American, 0.6% Native American, and 1.2% from two or more races.  There were 83 households of which 20.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 3.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.4% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 18% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.68.  The median age in the city was 51.9 years. 15% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.6% were from 25 to 44; 34.1% were from 45 to 64; and 24.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 52.6% male and 47.4% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 214 people, 96 households, and 55 families living in the city. The population density was 225.6 people per square mile (87.0/km2). There were 102 housing units at an average density of 107.5 per square mile (41.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 99.53% White and 0.47% Native American.  There were 96 households out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.9% were married couples living together, 3.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.79.  In the city, the population was spread out with 20.1% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 30.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 120.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.8 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $29,750, and the median income for a family was $35,313. Males had a median income of $28,125 versus $22,031 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,414. About 4.9% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 14.5% of those sixty five or over.

Education.

Pilot Mound is a part of the Southeast Webster-Grand Community School District, established on July 1, 2005 by the merger of the Grand Community School District and the Southeast Webster Community School District.

External links.

Pilot Mound is a city in Pilot Mound Township, Boone County, Iowa, United States. The population was 173 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is a part of the larger Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area.

Pilot Mound est une ville du comté de Boone, en Iowa, aux États-Unis. Elle est fondée en 1881 et incorporée le.


115e division d'infanterie (Empire allemand)

Combat chronicle.

The 115th Infantry Division initially fought on the Western Front in World War I, entering the line in the Artois in April 1915, fighting in the Second Battle of Artois, and then moving to the Aisne region. On July 30, the division left the line and was transported to the Eastern Front, arriving in August and entering the line in the siege of Kovno. It participated in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive and was in the line until November 1916, when it went to the Romanian Front. It fought on the Romanian front into late 1917, and then remained in Romania for several months after the armistice on that front. In April 1918, the division was transported back to the Western Front. After a period in reserve and on the Belgian/Dutch border, it entered combat in June 1916 in the Champagne region. It remained in the Champagne, Verdun and Woëvre regions and then fought against the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Allied intelligence rated the division as third class.

Order of battle on formation.

The 115th Infantry Division was formed as a triangular division. The order of battle of the division on April 3, 1915, was as follows:

Late-war order of battle.

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on February 1, 1918, was as follows:

The 115th Infantry Division ("115. Infanterie-Division") was a formation of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on April 2, 1915, and organized over the next several weeks. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

La d'infanterie est une unité de l'armée allemande créée en 1915 qui participe à la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle est engagée au printemps en Artois, puis est transférée sur le front de l'est. Présente sur le front dans les pays baltes, la division combat lors de l'offensive de Sventiany.


History.

SCUBA Diving International, launched in 1998 or 1999, is the sister organization of Technical Diving International. SDI was created by dive professionals from the technical diving field. This gives the organization the perspective of teaching recreational diving through the lens of experienced technical diving.  SDI's philosophy is to improve recreational scuba diving training, enhancing older diving practices by incorporating new diving technology and emphasizing safety. The curriculum is set up to take divers from the beginner level to instructor level and structures its courses around a logged dive and specialty course approach. Divers who progress through SDI's recreational diving courses are then in a position to advance to technical diving with the courses offered by Technical Diving International.

Training.

Whereas TDI and ERDI (the two sister companies of SDI) handle technical diving courses and emergency personnel courses respectively, SDI covers the recreational aspect of diving by offering the following courses:  SDI requires students to have access to a modern dive computer on all dives during training from the very start.  SDI is also unusual amongst recreational diver training organisations in that it recognises solo diving as part of recreational diving, and offers a special training course relating to it. Most major recreational diver training organisations mandate diving with a "buddy" at all times.

Entry Level Courses.

These courses are meant for people interested in taking the first steps towards Scuba diving:

Specialty Courses.

Advanced Diver Development Program - The aim of this program is for the diver to experience four different specialties to improve comfort level and skills in the water. To qualify as an advanced diver a minimum of 25 logged dives, which may include training dives, is required. These courses are for already certified divers, independent of their skill level, who wish to expand their knowledge of a specific area of interest:

Advanced Courses.

These courses are for already certified divers, wishing to further progress on their certification level:

Professional Courses.

The courses below are considered professional courses as they allow the diver to engage in appropriate paid work:

EUF Certification.

The SDI and the TDI training systems obtained CEN certification from the EUF certification body in 2006 with certificate number "S EUF CB 2006002", and is currently certified until 2022.

Corporate affiliates.

Scuba Diving International is one of the subsidiaries of International Training whose group includes Emergency Response Diving International, First Response Training International, Performance Freediving International and Technical Diving International.

Scuba Diving International (SDI) is a Scuba training and certification agency. It is the recreational arm of Technical Diving International, a technical diver training organization.

La Scuba Diving International (SDI) est une agence de formation et de certification de plongée sous-marine. C'est la branche récréatif de Technical Diving International, la plus grande organisation de formation de plongeurs techniques au monde.


Biography.

Alexandre François Augustin Liautard was born on 15 February 1835 at 33 rue Neuve-Saint- Augustin, now rue Saint-Augustin, in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. He was the son of Jean-François Liautard, a locksmith contractor, and Charlotte Gabrielle Héloïse Vives, born in Paris, and who died in 1841 when Alexandre Liautard was only five years old. He had two sisters. His maternal uncle Étienne Gabriel Vives was a veterinarian in the military profession.

Veterinary studies.

In 1851, Alexandre Liautard was accepted as pupil at the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort. In 1855, his father died and, five days later, Alexandre was expelled from Alfort « for a very serious breach of discipline » the subject of which is unknown. In addition, he had been unable to take the exams at the end of the first semester, due to illness. After halting his studies for several months he was admitted to the École nationale vétérinaire de Toulouse where he finished his fourth year and obtained his diploma in 1856.

Veterinary practitioner in New-York.

His activities between 1856 and 1859 remain unknown. His award certificate for the Legion of Honor mentions three years of military service, and although this was initially quoted by Lester Crawford an investigation carried out at the Service historique de l'armée de terre (Army history department) in France did not find any mention of his name. In addition, the military service period was six years at that time, and in accordance with the Gouvion-Saint-Cyr law, admission was by recruitment or by random draw. It is therefore most likely that Liautard drew a "good number" and was not recruited.  He arrived at New York in 1859 where he settled and quickly opened a veterinary clinic. The city was in full expansion at that time, despite the Civil War which began in 1861. Developments were not only economic but also occurring at the university level. Fifteen universities were created during this wartime period, including Cornell, Swarthmore College and the MIT. Minds were also open to the creation of professional colleges.  At the beginning of Liautard’s career in New York, very few American veterinarians possessed diplomas and all those who did had received veterinary training in Europe. Many « horse doctors » were simply farriers. It was in this context that Liautard was able to establish himself in New York, despite the inevitable difficulties of acclimatizing to a new culture and working in a language foreign to him. He settled in the centre of New York City, at 215, Lexington Avenue. At the same time, he acquired the diploma of medical doctor (doctor in medicine) at the University Medical College, now the New York University School of Medicine. The intense activity that he deployed as a practitioner during his forty years of professional life in the United States enabled him to become very affluent, even wealthy, judging by his real estate acquisitions on his return to France in 1900. Above all, it provided him with the means to finance his undertakings in veterinary education and publishing in the United States.  To emphasize the extent of the market open to the veterinary profession, Liautard periodically published, in the American Veterinary Review, statistics on American livestock and meat exports which he compared with those of the main European countries and their imports. Horses were extremely important in towns at that time, due to the use of horse-drawn vehicles.

Importance of the equine population in the United States.

The end of the 19th century marked the heyday of the horse. Long considered as the century of steam and railways, the 19th century was above all an equine century. Rail transport and horse-drawn transport were complementary. During the Gilded Age the equine population in the United States rose from 7 million in 1860 to 25 million in 1900. Although town horses only represented 11 to 12% of this population, their importance in urban development was considerably greater. In 1900, the average density was 426 horses per square mile in the 46 largest cities of the United States, and 500 in New York City and Chicago. In 1900, horses lived and worked in Manhattan, in Chicago, and in Philadelphia. In 1879, the New York Times wrote : « "New York must move on wheels, the whole population must drive...This is obviously a « stable city" ».  Horse-drawn vehicles in the streets of New York, 1880-1900

Family life and return to France.

In New York, Alexandre Lieutard married Emily Joséphine Stouvenel the daughter of French immigrants to New-York. Their only daughter, Marie-Louise was born in 1864 in New York where she was brought up. In 1890, she married Octave Boyer who had come to New York to set up a branch of the Grande Maison de Blanc, a luxury Brussels store in Opéra district of Paris. The New York store on Fifth avenue was closed down in the 1960s. In 1900, when Octave Boyer was made director of the Grande Maison de Blanc, boulevard des Capucines, in Paris, Alexandre Liautard retired and returned to France with his wife, then confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral infarction, and with his daughter and son-in-law. It seems that Liautard was too attached to his daughter to let her leave without him. They lived in a vast apartment on the fourth floor of a luxury building at 14, avenue de l'Opéra.  Although no longer a practitioner, Liautard continued to develop numerous activities. As honorary dean of New York American Veterinary College, he kept up extensive correspondence from France with his American colleagues and continued to write editorials for his American Veterinary Review. He took part in the meetings of the Central Society of Veterinary Medicine which, in 1928 and thanks to Emmanuel Leclainche, became the Veterinary Academy of France (Académie vétérinaire de France). He became its president in 1911. From 1914 onwards he provided financial support for the activities of the Commission for Relief in Belgium initiated by Herbert Hoover (who would later become President of the United States), to provide aid to German-occupied Belgium. In 1911, he purchased a small 19th century chateau, La Mare aux Cerfs, at Bois-Jérôme-Saint-Ouen, near to Vernon, in the Eure. It was there that he died on April 18th 1918 following a heart attack.

Work and achievements.

Although Alexandre Liautard remains little known in France, he is famous and recognized by the veterinary world of the United States as a dominant figure in the history of the American veterinary profession. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), in 2013, an article in the association’s journal, the JAVMA, dated January 1st 2013, described him as one of the 12 most famous figures in the history of the American veterinary profession and, during that year, devoted the first of the twelve biographies of founders published by the journal, to him: « Dr Alexandre Francois Liautard, the father of the American veterinary profession, almost single-handedly transformed the uneducated, disorganized veterinarians of the United States into a learned profession. He founded two veterinary schools that served as the blueprints for veterinary education as it exists today. He also helped establish the AVMA and was the first editor of its Journal. »

« Entrepreneur » of veterinary education, founder and dean of the veterinary school.

In the United States (as in Great Britain) but unlike France, the first veterinary schools were private enterprises. Like the universities to which they are attached, many still are today. The first American Veterinary colleges, recognized legally as such, were created between 1850 and 1860 at Philadelphia, Boston and New York City. Today, the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1879, the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (PennVet) founded in 1884, the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine founded in 1885, and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1894, are the four oldest American veterinary establishments still functioning. For the record, the French veterinary schools of Lyon and Alfort were founded in 1761 and 1765, respectively, the École nationale vétérinaire de Toulouse was created in 1825 and inaugurated in 1835 and the Royal Veterinary College of London in 1791. The first Principal of this latter was a French veterinarian, Charles Vial de Saint Bel, who trained at the Veterinary School of Lyon.

The New York College of Veterinary Surgeons.

The first three American veterinary colleges at Philadelphia, Boston and New York were not successful and did not last long. The New York College of Veterinary Surgeons, founded in 1857 by Dr John Busteed (1815-1876), a doctor of Irish origin, is considered as the veritable precursor of veterinary teaching in the United States, but the establishment had to close down in 1859, due to lack of pupils. Dr Busteed did not abandon his project and reorganized his school in 1862. Liautard had been in New York since 1860 and had already set up premises at 205 Lexington Avenue. His notoriety must have already been well-established and his position sufficiently secure for him to be able to house this college in his own building, by private arrangement, where it opened in 1864. He was a member of the teaching staff and continued his activity as practitioner on the premises, which remained his property. Doctors formed part of the teaching staff. In 1870, Busteed retired and Liautard succeeded him as president of the teaching body. The establishment was directed by a board of trustees. In 1875, dissension arose within the board of trustees. All the teaching staff resigned and followed Liautard who founded his own school: the « American Veterinary College ».  The New York College of Veterinary Surgeons continued to function as best it could and finished by merging in 1899 with the American Veterinary College directed by Liautard. He trained a total of 292 graduate veterinary surgeons. In the meantime, some teachers left to create the « Columbia Veterinary College » which lasted from 1878 to 1884 and trained a total of 82 graduates.

The American Veterinary College.

In April 1875, two months after closure of the New York College of Veterinary Surgeons, the American Veterinary College opened as a private establishment under the direction of Liautard, in a new building that he had purchased at 141 West 54th Street. Both the College and veterinary clinic were owned by Liautard who taught and had a practice there until his retirement and return to France in 1900. The College rapidly became very famous, mainly due to the personal genius of Liautard on all fronts, not only as a teacher and reputed clinician, but also as manager and remarkable organizer of a professional network of former pupils he had trained, and with whom he corresponded and supported through his journal, the « American Veterinary Review ». In April 1887, Liautard wrote: The clinical activities of the Hospital Department of the American Veterinary College were published annually; in 1887 he summarized the 12 previous years as follows :  It is remarkable that, throughout this entire period, all these results were obtained by self-financing with hardly any external support. Nevertheless, Liautard’s ambitions to develop his school would require such support, if not as aid from the public authorities, at least as private contributions, in accordance with the American culture favoring private initiative, and it was to these that he appealed in 1887. He relied on the results of the American Veterinary College and on a favorable editorial published by the New York Herald, then the most widely-read newspaper in the United States, from which Liautard reproduced the following extracts in the American Veterinary Review ː Between 1875 and 1899, the American Veterinary College trained 629 graduates.

Liautard and the creation of new veterinary colleges.

More than his own professional success, which was certainly fundamental but above all provided the means to satisfy his ambitions, Liautard’s grand project was to create or encourage the emergence of an organized American veterinary profession, recognized professionally and scientifically like the medical profession. He considered the Union territory sufficiently vast for other initiatives like his to be developed in other States and encouraged all of them provided that the professional standard, which he never ceased to promote, was respected.  His relationship with James Law, another great name in the history of American veterinary medicine, is highly instructive in this respect. James Law, a veterinarian of Scottish origin, was recruited by Ezra Cornell to provide veterinary teaching in the specialized University of Agronomy that he had founded at Ithaca, now Cornell University, in New York State. In 1894, James Law was responsible for creating the College of veterinary medicine within this private university, even though the American Veterinary College existed in the same State, in New York City, in Manhattan. Liautard opened the columns of his Journal to Law and supported his teaching and university projects, provided that they ultimately resulted in a college of veterinary medicine which applied the same statutes and professional standards to train veterinarians as those laid down for the American Veterinary College, and that in no case would it be a question of training empirics ː To which Law vigorously defended himself in the American Veterinary Review, explaining his vision and project which already corresponded to the demands of Research-linked higher education and received support for this from the public authorities. Many former pupils of Liautard taught at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and in veterinary colleges in other States of the Union. James Law was the first veterinary professor of an American university and greatly improved the scientific standard of veterinary training.

« Triumph and Tragedy : The Story of Law and Liautard ».

« "Triumph and Tragedy : The Story of Law and Liautard" » : It is in these terms that Donald Smith, who was dean of Cornell Veterinary College from 1997 to 2007, described the relationship between Liautard and Law, a « "triumph" » for Law who saw the fruition of his life’s work, in the creation of Cornell Veterinary College, which was ranked first of the 30 veterinary schools in the United States, and therefore first in the world, right from the beginning until just a few years ago, before being dethroned by that of Davis, in California. And yet a « "tragedy" », in the opinion of dean Smith, who considered Liautard’s strategic vision to have a major veterinary school in the university world of New York City, rather than in the countryside of Ithaca, was the better one

Integration of the Veterinary Colleges into the university system.

In 1899, the American Veterinary College merged with the New York College of Veterinary Surgeons to form the New York American Veterinary College, of which Liautard was dean. At the same time the college became part of the University of New York, (a private university), thereby satisfying Liautard’s expectations who considered the insertion of veterinary training into the American university systemn, like all American establishments of higher education, self-evident. This attachment was a prerequisite to obtaining the hoped-for aid, as the New York State Veterinary College, from the State of New York, just like the veterinary College of Cornell set up in 1894 within Cornell University, (a private university). According to T.F. Jones, New York University historian, « "the Veterinary School was, from its beginning, hampered by a meagreness of resources that was relieved only by the self-sacrifice of an enthusiastic faculty" ». Accreditation of the New York American Veterinary College as the New York State Veterinary College would have made it possible to hope that « "the metropolitan school would receive the same financial support from the Albany Assembly as that of its rural sister college at Ithaca" » but Liautard retired and returned to France in 1900. This objective was attained in 1913.  The 50th anniversary of the American Veterinary Medical Association celebrated in 1913 was the occasion to remember Liautard’s contribution to American veterinary medicine and to re-deliver the toasting speech made to him by Rush S. Huidekoper during the 25th anniversary of the American Veterinary College ː

Closure of New York University New York State Veterinary College.

In 1923, New York University New York State Veterinary College was closed down, leaving only the New York State Veterinary College of Cornell University. The severe diminution of the horse population, due to rapid expansion of the automobile, and before being supplanted by the dog as a pet animal, together with the enormous correlated reduction in the number of veterinary candidates (between 1914 and 1924, the number of veterinary students fell by 75 % throughout the Union), contributed to this closure. The decisive element, after death of the College dean, Horace Hoskins, in 1921, was the discontinuation of financial support from the New York State administration for the year 1921-1922, who concentrated their financial support on Cornell College. Thus there is no longer any veterinary college in New York City today.  The two main veterinary colleges in the United States ceased activity at the same time and for the same reasons : the Chicago Veterinary College (1883-1920) which trained graduates, notably for the army, and the Kansas City Veterinary College (1891-1918) which trained, and also the Mc Killip Veterinary College of Chicago (1892-1920), which trained graduates and was associated with enormous clinical activity ( cases treated in 1899). These creations and closures of veterinary colleges constitute an essential trait in the history of veterinary teaching in the United States where 41 veterinary schools were closed down.

Organizer of the American veterinary profession : at the origin of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

In 1863, during a local meeting of veterinarians at Philadelphia, Robert Jennings (founder of the first college of veterinary medicine at Philadelphia) proposed that a national congress should be held to improve the level of veterinary practice in the United States and for this invited veterinarians including John Busteed (founder of the New York College of Veterinary Surgeons), A.S. Copeman, A. Liautard, and Charles M. Wood. It was decided to meet in NewYork City on June 9, 1863. Colonel Charles A. Stetson, friend and supporter of the veterinary profession, lent them a large room in his hotel, Astor House, then the most prestigious hotel in New York. This first congress assembled 40 delegates representing 7 states : New York (state), Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maine, Ohio and Delaware. The association, entitled the United States Veterinary Medical Association, was created on June 10, 1863. Liautard was elected secretary. Aged 28 at that time, he had been living in America for only three years and was already considered as one of the profession’s most prominent figures. He would go on to be the president in 1874-1875, 1875-1876 and 1886-8732. In 1907, after retiring to France in 1900, Liautard wrote in the American Veterinary Review : Each time that the occasion presented itself, and in terms of encouragement, Liautard never omitted to emphasize the strong points of American veterinary medicine as compared with European veterinary medicine, including that of France.  In 1898, the United States Veterinary Medical Association became the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). In 1913, during the 50th anniversary meeting of the Association, held at New York, on September 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, at the Hotel Astor, Dr Hoskins rendered a resounding tribute to « "the father of the profession" » who had had to remain in France with his wife : During the inaugural session, the speech that Liautard had sent in was read, in which he retraced the history of the association.  Today the AVMA is a powerful professional organization and has more than members divided between the different professional groups, freelance veterinarians, the Administration, Teaching and Research, Industry etc. Its headquarters are at Shaumburg in Illinois.

Liautard, journalist and editor ː the American Veterinary Review.

On March 20, 1876, the USMVA, which preceded the American Veterinary Medical Association, launched publication of the American Veterinary Review. Alexandre Liautard was made chief writer, a post that he occupied until 1900, he was also the editor. In 1881, the Association donated it to him, in recognition of the work he had accomplished for the Review and for the profession. According to J. Fred Smithcors, the American veterinary profession historian, by taking over control of the Review, he was then able to express his ideas and his professional development program « totally independently » :  Liautard, owner of the Journal, made it a vector for the propositions that he put forward and developed in all fields of activity in the veterinary profession, current or yet to come. He also used it as a weapon, with his concise and potent editorials, in which he was prompt to denounce anything that seemed, to him, an obstacle to the common good, the national interest or professional ethics.

Organizing the profession.

Amongst his numerous and varied professional undertakings, particular mention must be made of those concerning veterinary public health and defense of the veterinary diploma :

Veterinary public health.

As early as 1880, during an outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, Liautard urged the federal government and the States within the Union to set up a health program for the control of infectious diseases. In 1881, he demanded the creation of State veterinarians. This epidemic was so serious that it resulted in an embargo by the British government prohibiting the export of American cattle to Great Britain and Canada. In 1883, this embargo led the federal authorities to create a veterinary service within the USDA, to eradicate the disease, entrusting its direction to Daniel Elmer Salmon who, in 1884, made it the Bureau of Animal Industry. Liautard strongly encouraged his students to become involved or take a position in this newly created public service and would, if necessary, defend them. Thus in 1889, he spoke out vehemently against what he called the « political guillotine » used on public service veterinarians, victims of the spoils system which could result in their dismissal, in response to political changes, without any consideration of their competence.

Regulation of the veterinary diploma.

In 1880, Liautard was the only American representative among the 65 foreign honorary members of the British veterinary evaluation organization, the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  Using this British model as a basis, in January 1882 he devoted an editorial to promote the creation of a College of veterinary surgeons of America in the form of an association of member veterinarians responsible for electing a board of examiners which had the exclusive right to grant a diploma, which would be the only qualification recognized and required to exercise veterinary medicine, and which would require students to take a final exam before this board of examiners.  This project was launched in 1948 with the creation by the AVMA of the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (NBVME), and the commissioning in 1954 of a National Board Examination (NBE). To avoid conflicts of interest, the NBVME is now independent of the AVMA, and has been renamed International Council for Veterinary Assessment (ICVA). In January 1998, a computerized evaluation procedure, the North American Veterinary Licensing Examination (NAVLE®) replaced the NBE

The promotion of scientific advances.

At the same time, the American Veterinary Review served not only for information and professional training but also as a means to diffuse scientific knowledge thanks to contributions by the greatest European scientists working in the field of animal health, such as Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, Edmond Nocard, Henri Toussaint, Auguste Chauveau etc., whose articles he translated into English.

Support for Pasteur.

In the very first issues of the American Veterinary Review in 1877, Liautard asserted that he was a « rational Pasteurian », adhering to the germ theory of disease, like Henri Bouley, the most illustrious French veterinarian of the time, teacher and practitioner, publishing the latter’s famous lecture at the French Academy of Sciences, May 7th 1877, on the bacterial etiology of anthrax. Through his writings and teaching, he led the entire American veterinary profession to subscribe to this approach, in the same way that the French would do after Bouley, whereas in both the United States and France the medical world would do so much later.

Handover period: the JAVMA.

In 1896, Roscoe R. Bell, former pupil and professor at the American Veterinary College, became co-editor with Liautard. In 1900, Dr Robert W. Ellis became owner of one third of the Journal and was responsible for its management. Liautard continued as senior editor and Bell as editor. In September 1915, the American Veterinary Medical Association purchased the Review and the publication was renamed Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the JAVMA, that we know today as the official periodical of the association of American veterinarians. Liautard, who had retired to France in 1900, continued to contribute to each issue until his death

Personality.

His exceptional energy and capacity for hard work, the charisma exerted by this teacher on his students and former pupils, and the admiration, respect and affection that they accorded him in return, stand out as one reads the proceedings of the meetings and testimonials reported in the American Veterinary Review and the JAVMA.

The impact of Liautard on his pupils and on the veterinarians of his time.

Smithcors writes :

Liautard and American nationality.

In the obituary published in 1918 by the « Société Centrale de Médecine Vétérinaire » of which he had been president in 1911, one reads : Nevertheless, despite his remarkable success and perfect integration into American society, Liautard retained his French nationality. In a letter dated September 28, 1902, written from Paris to Henry MacCracken, chancellor of New York University, who had begged Liautard to return to New York to take up the post of dean of New York University New York American Veterinary College, Liautard replied : « the fact that I kept my nationality could raise objections, as was the case when I lived in New York ». Smithcors also mentioned: « Although he lived in the United States for forty years and amassed a small fortune, he never became a citizen. For much of his life here he was referred to affectionately as "Frenchy" by his closest associates - although perhaps not to his face ».

An element of mystery.

The reasons for his expulsion as a pupil from the Veterinary School of Alfort at the beginning of his fourth academic year, for « grave misconduct », after he had already received a reprimand in his 3rd year, remain unknown. But one can easily imagine such a forceful and outspoken character getting into conflict with some of his superiors who were not lucky enough to meet his esteem. It is not impossible that he made them aware of this in the same scathing terms that he would later use in America to stigmatize colleagues who hadn’t either. If this was the case, and knowing the extremely severe disciplinary regulations in French veterinary schools at this time, one can understand the sanction that followed. Liautard does not seem to have borne any grudge against the School of Alfort, and certainly not against the most illustrious figures that were there at that time, notably the director Eugène Renault, and the clinical professor Henri Bouley, to whom he paid tribute on numerous occasions in his Review.  Nor do we dispose of any financial accounts of his professional activity which enabled him to amass a « small fortune » according to Smithcors, but we can guess that he not only exerted powerful leadership within the school, of which he was the owner, but also had the eminent and lucrative position of being the most prominent veterinary practitioner in New York at this time.  His total investment in both his teaching and professional activities, right to the very end of his life, meant that his return to France not only came as a surprise but also created a vacuum that was difficult to fill, to such an extent that, as indicated above, the chancellor of New York University, Henry MacCracken, asked him to return to exercise his function as dean. It has been suggested that Liautard was too attached to his only daughter to agree to be separated from her when she returned to France. His devotion to the end to his wife, now in a state of profound mental impairment, also shows that, at that moment, he chose what he considered to be his family duty after devoting forty years of his life to his profession, even if he continued to serve this latter until the very end of his life.

Distinctions and tributes.

The only French distinctions that Liautard received were those of Knight of the Order of Agricultural Merit and Knight of the Legion of Honor. His Legion of Honor certificate indicates that this was awarded in recognition of services rendered in facilitating the installation of the Pasteur Institute at New York, he was the veterinary consultant. The greatest tribute rendered to Alexandre Liautard is to be honored today, as he was when still alive, and as written on the marker at the Père Lachaise cemetery, as the « Father of the American Veterinary Profession ».

Alexandre François Augustin Liautard was a French veterinarian born on February 15, 1835 in Paris and died April 20, 1918 at Bois-Jérôme-Saint-Ouen, ( Eure, France). After graduating from the École nationale vétérinaire de Toulouse in 1856, he emigrated to the United States in 1859 to exercise his profession of veterinary practitioner in New York until 1900, when he retired and returned to France. The name of Alexandre Liautard is associated with the beginning of private veterinary education in America. Liautard was the founder and dean of the New York American Veterinary College. He participated in organizing the American Veterinary profession and founded the United States Veterinary Medical Association, now the American Veterinary Medical Association, of which he was for many years a driving force. His name is still cited in the American veterinary press as a dominant figure in the history of the profession for having defined its professional standards and missions, and been a uniting force, and as founder of the American Veterinary Review, now the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA).

Alexandre François Augustin Liautard est un vétérinaire français né le à Paris et décédé le à Bois-Jérôme-Saint-Ouen, (Eure). Diplômé de l’École nationale vétérinaire de Toulouse en 1856, il émigra aux États-Unis en 1859 pour exercer sa profession de vétérinaire praticien à New York jusqu’en 1900, date à laquelle il revint en France où il prit sa retraite. Le nom d’Alexandre Liautard est associé aux débuts de l’enseignement vétérinaire américain sous un statut privé. Liautard fut le fondateur et le doyen du New York American Veterinary College. Il participa à l’organisation professionnelle vétérinaire américaine et à la fondation de la United States Veterinary Medical Association, aujourd’hui American Veterinary Medical Association, dont il fut un moteur pendant de nombreuses années. Son nom est toujours cité dans la presse vétérinaire américaine comme l'une des personnalités dominantes de l'histoire de la profession pour en avoir forgé le standard professionnel et les missions, pour en avoir été le fédérateur, et en tant que fondateur de l’American Veterinary Review dont l’héritier est l’actuel Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA).


Early life and education.

Puzder was born on July 11, 1950, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Winifred M. (Franklin) and Andrew Frank Puzder, a car salesman. He grew up in a working class community in Russell Township.  Earning his way through college and law school, while supporting his family by working construction, landscaping, and painting houses, he attended Kent State University, but later dropped out in 1970 to play guitar and perform in bands.  Puzder would later move to Cleveland Heights where he managed a guitar studio while attending Cleveland State University, receiving a BA in history in 1975. He then attended Washington University School of Law where he was the senior editor of the "Washington University Law Quarterly", receiving his JD in 1978. Puzder would become the first in his family to graduate from college.

Career.

Early legal career.

From 1978 to 1991, Puzder was a commercial trial lawyer in St. Louis at the law offices of famed attorney Morris Shenker, whom he represented in various matters from 1978 to 1984. In 1984 he moved to the Stolar Partnership where he worked with trial attorney Charles A. Seigel from 1984-1991. During this time he also served as a trial lawyer in St. Louis and was involved in a number of high-profile cases until 1997.

Pro-Life Movement.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Puzder was considered Missouri's leading pro-life lawyer and was active in the pro-life advocacy group Lawyers for Life. In 1984, Puzder and another lawyer wrote an article for the Stetson Law Review proposing a Missouri law that would define life as beginning at conception in the broad context of contract or property law. Working with St. Louis area Congresswoman Ann Wagner's mother-in-law, Puzder reasoned that if fetuses were recognized as having rights in other contexts, it would establish a foundation for challenging "Roe v. Wade" later on.  It would also influence one section of Missouri House Bill 1596, an abortion law prohibiting the use of state money for abortions and declaring that life begins at conception. Following a challenge, the Supreme Court in 1989 upheld the law in "Webster v. Reproductive Health Services". The watershed decision opened the door for new state-level restrictions on abortion.  Following the Webster decision in 1990, Puzder authored a commentary article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that "called on his colleagues and abortion-rights supporters to work together for new laws to help pregnant women and their children." BJ Isaacson Jones, the Director of Reproductive Health Services (the abortion clinic involved in the "Webster" case), contacted him and they began talking about areas where they could find common ground in an effort to help women and children.[13][14] Their common ground efforts grew into a national organization known as the Common Ground Network for Life and Choice with the objective of helping "activists get beyond their differences and, together, help pregnant women." The Network had an office in Washington DC and held two national conferences. In 1995, Puzder and Isaacson-Jones co-authored a pamphlet entitled "Adoption as Common Ground" and Isaacson Jones opened an adoption agency in the clinic.  In July 1989, Puzder was appointed chair of the Task Force for Mothers and Unborn Children by Missouri Governor John Ashcroft. After "The Riverfront Times" published an article detailing allegations that he had abused his wife, he offered up his resignation to the Governor, which the Governor later rejected.  His former wife subsequently "fully" withdrew those allegations in 1990 and has been adamant that Puzder was "not abusive" and that she would "most definitely confirm to anyone who may ask that in no way was there abuse." In a letter dated Jan. 18, 2017 that she sent to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, she stated: "Let me be clear. Andy is not and was not abusive or violent. He is a good, loving, kind man and a deeply committed and loving father." She acknowledged that she was "misled by faulty advice of someone I trusted" and noted that "[t]he fact that my attorney used 'adult abuse' as a vehicle to gain leverage in our divorce proceedings has haunted me as well as our children to this day."  Puzder left the task force a few months later due to workload according to "St. Louis Post-Dispatch".

CKE Restaurants.

Puzder represented Carl Karcher, the founder of the Carl's Jr. quick-service restaurant chain, while practicing law in St. Louis. Karcher was under investigation into insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC filed suit saying that Karcher had told several relatives to sell their stock ahead of a poor earnings report. In July 1989, Karcher paid $664,000 to settle the case. Puzder organized a transaction in which Karcher would sell a stake in his company to William P. Foley, the Chairman and CEO of Fidelity National Financial. In 1991, Karcher asked Puzder to move to Orange County, California and become his personal attorney and Puzder did so. Puzder has been credited with resolving Karcher's financial dilemma, allowing Karcher to avoid bankruptcy and retain a significant ownership interest in the company he founded, CKE Restaurants, Inc. (CKE). Puzder was a partner in the Costa Mesa-based law firm Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard from September 1991 to March 1994 and a shareholder in Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth from March 1994 to 1995.  In 1993, Foley became Chairman and CEO of CKE Restaurants and Karcher became Chairman Emeritus. In January 1995, Puzder became Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Fidelity, managing one of the largest corporate legal departments in the country until June 2000. Puzder also worked with Foley to create Santa Barbara Restaurant Group, a conglomerate of restaurant chains that was purchased by CKE in 2002. Puzder served as the company's CEO.  In 1997, Puzder was also named Executive Vice President and General Counsel for CKE and CKE purchased the Hardee's quick-service restaurant brand. The transaction burdened CKE with $700 million in debt. The company underperformed and its market capitalization dropped to about $200 million. Faced with serious financial and operational issues, CKE's Board of Directors named Puzder as president and CEO of Hardee's Food Systems in June 2000 and named him president and CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc. in September of that year. Puzder is credited with turning around both the Hardee's brand and CKE, allowing the company to survive, become financially secure and return to growth.

Sales to Apollo and Roark Capital.

In July 2010, Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, acquired CKE for $700 million in a transaction valued at $1 billion and took the company private. In December 2013, Roark Capital Group purchased CKE and retained CKE's management team including Puzder, who remained CEO until replaced in June 2017.

Awards and honors in the food service industry.

PR News and CommCore Consulting named Puzder its 2005 Spokesperson of the Year for his work in representing the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's brands on television and radio. Puzder earned the Golden Chain Award in 2008 from Nation's Restaurant News, in honor of his accomplishments and career achievements as a multi-unit foodservice executive. In 2010, the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association awarded Puzder with the Food Service Operator of the Year Silver Plate Award in recognition of outstanding service and dedication to the foodservice industry. In 2012, Washington University School of Law named Puzder Distinguished Alumni of the Year.

Advertisements.

CKE has been criticized for frequently showing thin, scantily dressed female celebrities eating large hamburgers in Carl's Jr. and Hardee's advertisements, including: "Top Chef"'s Padma Lakshmi, in which she eats a hamburger in a low-cut dress on some stairs. And there's the 2009 ad starring Kim Kardashian that featured salad dressing dripping down her chin and a bubble bath. There is also the 2012 ad starring Kate Upton in which she strips down while eating a burger in the back of a vintage car. More recently, Hardee's ran this ad for its “bacon three-way” burger." Puzder has defended the CKE advertisements saying “We saved the company with those ads, we saved a lot of jobs,” and “I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American. I used to hear, brands take on the personality of the CEO. And I rarely thought that was true, but I think this one, in this case, it kind of did take on my personality.”

Media appearances.

Puzder is a frequent author on economic and legal issues in periodicals such as "The Wall Street Journal", "Forbes", Real Clear Politics, CNBC online, "National Review", "The Hill", "Politico", and the "Orange County Register". He has been a guest on business news programs including "Your World with Neil Cavuto", "Varney & Co.", "Mornings with Maria", "The O'Reilly Factor" with Bill O'Reilly, "Mad Money" with Jim Cramer, "Fast Money", "Power Lunch", "Lou Dobbs Tonight", and "Squawk on the Street". He has co-hosted both "Varney & Co." and "Squawk on the Street". He is also a frequent speaker at colleges, universities, and other venues on economic issues and the impact of government regulations on corporations.  In 2010, Puzder and David Newton co-wrote the book "Job Creation: How It Really Works and Why Government Doesn't Understand It". In the book, Puzder and Newton sharply criticize trade unions and argue in favor of deregulation, tax cuts, government spending cuts, and an increase in domestic oil production.  In 2018, Puzder wrote the book "The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left’s Plot to Stop It". In the book, Puzder discusses how Donald Trump's presidency has impacted the U.S. economy.

Political involvement.

Presidential campaign of Mitt Romney.

In 2011, Puzder contributed to Believe in America, Mitt Romney's Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth. He was an Economic Adviser and a spokesman for the Romney campaign for President. Puzder also served as a Delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention and as the Chairman of the Platform Committee's Sub-Committee on the Economy, Job Creation, and the Debt.

Presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

In 2016, Puzder raised money for the Trump campaign for President, and with his wife contributed $332,000 to Trump's campaign, joint fundraising committees, and the Republican National Committee, according to the Federal Election Commission. He was a Trump Presidential Trustee, Victory Finance Chair for California, spokesperson, and Senior Economic Advisor to the campaign. Puzder also served as a Delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention and as the Chairman of the Platform Committee's "Restoring the American Dream" Sub-Committee on the economy, job creation, and the debt.

Secretary of Labor nomination.

On December 8, 2016, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Puzder to be United States Secretary of Labor.  Puzder's confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee was delayed several times due to the Office of Government Ethics not having finalized its review specifying how Puzder would avoid ethical conflicts. A source close to Puzder, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused Democrats of stalling the process: "With regards to Andy's paperwork, the Democrats and the Committee have been moving the goal post," the source said via email. Sources close to Puzder insist that he had maintained transparency and provided an enormous amount of detail in order to streamline the confirmation process.  Puzder had "come under intense fire from Democrats and liberal groups who accused him of mistreating his workers, opposing the minimum wage and supporting automation in the workplace" as well as conservatives who criticized Puzder's "employment of an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper and his failure to pay taxes for her services." On February 15, 2017, the eve of his scheduled confirmation hearing, Puzder withdrew his nomination, after "it became clear to Republican Senate leaders that they did not have the votes to confirm him" in the Senate confirmation.

Political views.

Puzder has been critical of raising the federal minimum wage, claiming that a $15 per hour minimum wage would increase costs for consumers and increase automation, leading to fewer jobs. He also opposes raising the $2.13 per hour minimum wage for tipped workers. In an interview published by Fox Business in May 2016, Puzder said: "There are solutions to this problem, and increasing the minimum wage is not the best solution. If we are going to increase the minimum wage at all, we’ve got to keep a lower minimum wage for entry-level workers, or these people are just going to be shut out of the workforce....The Congressional Budget Office came out with a report last year that said you could raise the minimum wage to about $9 without much impact on jobs, and you probably could do that". He said that protesters who are demanding a $15/hour minimum wage "should really think about what they’re doing".  Puzder opposed a never-enacted rule that would have required time and a half overtime pay to certain workers when they worked more than 40 hours per week. In an editorial published by "Forbes Magazine" in 2016, Puzder wrote: "This new rule will simply add to the extensive regulatory maze the Obama Administration has imposed on employers, forcing many to offset increased labor expense by cutting costs elsewhere. In practice, this means reduced opportunities, bonuses, benefits, perks and promotions". Under his tenure, CKE paid $20 million over class-action lawsuits due to various overtime rule violations.  Puzder supports repealing the Affordable Care Act. In an opinion editorial published in the "Wall Street Journal" in October 2016, Puzder referred to the law as the "Non-Affordable Care Act" and said that "the burden these increased health-care costs place on working and middle-class Americans is inexcusable". He stated that rising premiums have created a "government-mandated restaurant recession" because people have less money to spend dining out.  Speaking to "Business Insider" in 2016, Puzder said that increased automation could be a welcome development because machines were "always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall or an age, sex, or race discrimination case." However, Puzder does not advocate completely removing humans from the "fast food equation," and has mentioned several drawbacks to increased automation, including detrimental effects on customer service and difficulty in building company culture.  He backed comprehensive immigration reform in 2013. At that time, Puzder stated "If we had immigration reform and were able to hire these people who really want to work, we’d have a more diverse, incentivized and productive workforce, you’d really reinforce this idea that the United States is the land of opportunity, the land of entrepreneurial vision — and that could use some reinforcing.” In 2013, Puzder said "Immigrants appreciate what America offers. They are not taking jobs from Americans, because there are not sufficient Americans applying for jobs. Maybe they feel they have better options."

Personal life.

Puzder was married to Lisa Fierstein Henning from 1973 until their divorce in 1987, and they had two children together. During the divorce trial, his ex-wife alleged that Puzder had abused her. She later retracted the allegations. Puzder married Deanna L. Descher in 1987. He has six children and six grandchildren. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his wife. Puzder is Roman Catholic.

Affiliations.

Puzder is a member of:  In 2013, Puzder was elected as a director of the International Franchise Association.

Andrew Franklin Puzder (born July 11, 1950) is an American attorney, author, and businessman. He is the former chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr., a position he held from September 2000 to March 2017. He was previously a commercial trial lawyer in private practice from 1978 to 1995 who handled many high-profile cases and was active in the pro-life movement.

Andrew Franklin Puzder, né le à Cleveland, est un homme d'affaires américain. Il dirige le groupe CKE Restaurants, spécialisé dans la restauration rapide, qui regroupe plusieurs chaînes dont Carl's et Hardee's.


Design.

German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. "U-959" had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of, a pressure hull length of, a beam of, a height of, and a draught of. The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to.  The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of. When submerged, the boat could operate for at ; when surfaced, she could travel at. "U-959" was fitted with five torpedo tubes (four fitted at the bow and one at the stern), fourteen torpedoes or 26 TMA mines, one SK C/35 naval gun, 220 rounds, and one twin C/30 anti-aircraft gun. The boat had a complement of between 44 — 52 men.

Service history.

On 2 May 1944, "U-959" was sunk by depth charges, south-east of Jan Mayen Island, in the Norwegian Sea, from a British Swordfish of 842 Squadron/K RNFAA from the escort carrier. Her crew of 53 were all lost.  The wreck is located at.

Wolfpacks.

"U-921" took part in two wolfpacks, namely.

German submarine "U-959" was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" during World War II. She was ordered on 5 June 1941, and was laid down on 21 March 1942 at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, as yard number 159. She was launched on 3 December 1942 and commissioned under the command of "Oberleutnant zur See" Martin Duppel on 21 January 1943.

L'Unterseeboot 959 ou U-959 est un sous-marin allemand (U-Boot) de type VIIC utilisé par la Kriegsmarine pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.