Taxonomy.

The English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the northern flicker in his book "The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands" which was published between 1729 and 1732. Catesby used the English name "Gold-winged Wood-pecker" and the Latin "Picus major alis aureis". When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his "Systema Naturae" for the tenth edition, he included the northern flicker, coined the binomial name "Cuculus auratus" and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet "auratus" is a Latin word meaning "gilded" or "ornamented with gold". The type locality is South Carolina. The northern flicker is one of 13 extant New World woodpeckers now placed in the genus "Colaptes" that was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 with the northern flicker ("Colaptes auratus") as the type species.  Ten subspecies of norther flicker are recognized, of which one is now extinct. The extant subspecies were at one time considered subspecies of two separate species called the yellow-shafted flicker ("C. auratus") and the red-shafted flicker ("C. cafer"), but they commonly interbreed where their ranges overlap and are now considered one species by the American Ornithologists Union. This is an example of what is referred to as the "species problem".

Description.

Adults are brown with black bars on the back and wings. A mid- to large-sized northern flicker measures in length and in wingspan. The body mass can vary from. Among standard scientific measurements, the wing bone measures, the tail measures, the bill measures and the tarsus measures. The largest-bodied specimens are from the northern stretches of the species range, at the latitude of Alaska and Labrador, while the smallest specimens come from Grand Cayman Island. A necklace-like black patch occupies the upper breast, while the lower breast and belly are beige with black spots. Males can be identified by a black or red moustachial stripe at the base of the beak. The tail is dark on top, transitioning to a white rump which is conspicuous in flight. Subspecific plumage is variable.

Call and flight.

This bird's call is a sustained laugh, "ki ki ki ki", quite different from that of the pileated woodpecker. One may also hear a constant knocking as they often drum on trees or even metal objects to declare territory. Like most woodpeckers, northern flickers drum on objects as a form of communication and territory defense. In such cases, the object is to make as loud a noise as possible, so woodpeckers sometimes drum on metal objects. Like many woodpeckers, its flight is undulating. The repeated cycle of a quick succession of flaps followed by a pause creates an effect comparable to a roller coaster.

Behavior.

Diet.

According to the Audubon field guide, "flickers are the only woodpeckers that frequently feed on the ground", probing with their beak, also sometimes catching insects in flight. Although they eat fruits, berries, seeds, and nuts, their primary food is insects. Ants alone can make up 45% of their diet. Other invertebrates eaten include flies, butterflies, moths, beetles, and snails. Flickers also eat berries and seeds, especially in winter, including poison oak and poison ivy, dogwood, sumac, wild cherry, grape, bayberries, hackberries, and elderberries, as well as sunflower and thistle seeds. Flickers often break into underground ant colonies to get at the nutritious larvae there, hammering at the soil the way other woodpeckers drill into wood. They have been observed breaking up cow dung to eat insects living within. Their tongues can dart out beyond the end of the bill to catch prey. The flicker is a natural predator of the European corn borer, a moth that costs the US agriculture industry more than $1 billion annually in crop losses and population control. As well as eating ants, flickers exhibit a behavior known as anting, in which they use the formic acid from the ants to assist in preening, as it is useful in keeping them free of parasites.

Influence of diet on offspring.

According to an article published in Ibis, the availability of food affects the coloration of feathers in nestlings. The article focused on the correlation between melanin spots and carotenoid-based coloration on the wings of nestlings with food stress via indirect manipulation of brood size. The article found that there was a positive correlation between the quality of the nestlings' diet and T-cell-mediated immune response. T-cell-mediated immune response was found to be positively correlated with brightness of pigmentation in flight feathers, but not related to melanin spot intensity.

Habitat.

Flickers may be observed in open habitats near trees, including woodlands, edges, yards, and parks. In the western United States, one can find them in mountain forests all the way up to tree line. Northern flickers generally nest in holes in trees like other woodpeckers. Occasionally, they have been found nesting in old, earthen burrows vacated by belted kingfishers or bank swallows. Both sexes help with nest excavation. The entrance hole is about in diameter, and the cavity is deep. The cavity widens at bottom to make room for eggs and the incubating adult. Inside, the cavity is bare except for a bed of wood chips for the eggs and chicks to rest on. Once nestlings are about 17 days old, they begin clinging to the cavity wall rather than lying on the floor.

Lifespan.

A study from 2006 examined the mortality rates of male and female northern flickers over a six-year period using capture-tag-recapture techniques. The researchers observed only one to two birds out of every 300 adults were seven or more years old. This observation data correlated well with a mortality model that predicted a 0.6% seven-year survival rate. The data also illustrated that there were no significant differences between male and female survival rates for the general population. The oldest yet known "yellow-shafted" northern flicker lived to be at least 9 years 2 months old, and the oldest yet known “red-shafted” northern flicker lived to be at least 8 years 9 months old.

Reproduction.

Their breeding habitat consists of forested areas across North America and as far south as Central America. They are cavity nesters which typically nest in trees, but they also use posts and birdhouses if sized and situated appropriately. They prefer to excavate their own home, although they reuse and repair damaged or abandoned nests. Abandoned flicker nests create habitat for other cavity nesters. Flickers are sometimes driven from nesting sites by another cavity nester, the European starling.  About 1 to 2 weeks are needed for a mated pair to build the nest. The entrance hole is roughly wide. A typical clutch consists of six to eight eggs whose shells are pure white with a smooth surface and high gloss. The eggs are the second-largest of the North American woodpecker species, exceeded only by the pileated woodpecker's. Incubation is by both sexes for about 11 to 12 days. The young are fed by regurgitation and fledge about 25 to 28 days after hatching.

Wintering and migration.

Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents.

The northern flicker ("Colaptes auratus") or common flicker is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. Over 100 common names for the northern flicker are known, including yellowhammer (not to be confused with the Eurasian yellowhammer), clape, gaffer woodpecker, harry-wicket, heigh-ho, wake-up, walk-up, wick-up, yarrup, and gawker bird. Many of these names derive from attempts to imitate some of its calls.

Le Pic flamboyant (Colaptes auratus) est une espèce d'oiseaux appartenant à la famille des Picidae. Il est commun en Amérique du Nord et dans certaines parties d'Amérique centrale, on peut également le retrouver à Cuba et aux Îles Caïmans ; il s'agit d'un des rares pics qui migrent.


Early life.

Brock Edward Lesnar was born on July 12, 1977, in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Stephanie and Richard Lesnar. He grew up on his parents' dairy farm in Webster. He is of German and Polish descent, and has two

Amateur wrestling career.

Lesnar attended Webster High School, where he played football and competed in amateur wrestling, placing third in the state championships his senior year. He then attended Bismarck State College, where he won the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) heavyweight wrestling championship in his sophomore year. He transferred to the University of Minnesota on a wrestling scholarship for his

Professional wrestling career.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2000–2002).

In 2000, Lesnar signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was sent to its developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he first met future friend and manager Paul Heyman. He

WWE Champion (2002–2003).

Lesnar debuted on WWF television on the March 18, 2002, episode of "Raw" as a heel, attacking Al Snow, Maven and Spike Dudley during their match, while also being accompanied by Paul Heyman, who was seen giving instructions to Lesnar. When the brand extension was introduced in the WWF, Lesnar was drafted to the Raw brand. Later, Heyman was confirmed to be Lesnar's agent and gave Lesnar the nickname "The Next Big Thing". Lesnar's first feud was with The Hardy Boyz and Lesnar defeated Jeff Hardy by knockout after Hardy was unable to respond to referee Theodore Long at Backlash on April 21, his first official televised match. The next night on "Raw", Lesnar faced off against Jeff's brother, Matt Hardy, and defeated him in the same fashion. Lesnar and Shawn Stasiak lost to The Hardy Boyz at Insurrextion on May 4 after Stasiak was pinned, but he attacked all the participants after the match. At Judgment Day on May 19, Lesnar and Heyman defeated The Hardy Boyz.  In June 2002, Lesnar won the 2002 King of the Ring tournament, defeating Bubba Ray Dudley in the first round, Booker T in the quarter-finals, Test in the semi-finals and Rob Van Dam in the finals, earning him a shot at the WWE Undisputed Championship at SummerSlam. At Vengeance on July 21, Lesnar lost to Van Dam in a WWE Intercontinental Championship match by disqualification. On July 22, Lesnar joined the SmackDown! brand. After a quick feud with Hollywood Hulk Hogan in August 2002, Lesnar defeated The Rock at SummerSlam on August 25 to become the new WWE Undisputed

Feud with Goldberg and departure (2003–2004).

The Survivor Series in November 2003 also marked the first time Lesnar met Goldberg from the Raw brand. After Lesnar claimed in a backstage interview that he could beat anybody in the world, Goldberg interrupted the interview and introduced himself to Lesnar, shaking hands with him before leaving with a staredown. Lesnar followed this rivalry with a feud involving Hardcore Holly. In the storyline, Holly wanted revenge on Lesnar for legitimately injuring his neck during a previous match between the two in 2002 which left Holly in need of neck surgery and out of action for a year. At the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2004, Lesnar defeated Holly to retain the WWE Championship. Later in the Royal Rumble match, Lesnar attacked Goldberg with an "F-5", enabling Kurt Angle to eliminate him.  Lesnar defended the WWE Championship against Eddie Guerrero at No Way Out on February 15. Goldberg attacked

Japanese promotions (2005–2007).

On October 8, 2005, Lesnar won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on his debut match in a three-way match with Kazuyuki Fujita and Masahiro Chono at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) show in the Tokyo Dome. Lesnar is one of the few American wrestlers to have held this title. He won the match by pinning Masahiro Chono after an "F-5", which he had renamed the "Verdict" since WWE owns the trademark on the "F-5" name. After the match, Lesnar stated that this name was referring to his lawsuit against WWE, who filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent Lesnar from continuing to work with NJPW on December 6, but the court did not grant it. Following that, he had two non-title victories against Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata. Lesnar successfully defended the championship on January 4, 2006, against former champion Shinsuke Nakamura. On January 13, WWE once again filed an

Return to WWE.

Various feuds and ending The Streak (2012–2014).

Lesnar returned to WWE on April 2, 2012, on "Raw", as a heel, by confronting and delivering an "F-5" to John Cena. The following week on "Raw", General Manager John Laurinaitis revealed that he signed Lesnar to bring "legitimacy" back to WWE and become the "new face of the WWE". Laurinaitis also scheduled Lesnar to face Cena at Extreme Rules in an Extreme Rules match. At Extreme Rules on April 29, Lesnar lost to Cena despite dominating the match.  The following night on "Raw", WWE's Chief Operating Officer Triple H refused to give in to Lesnar's unreasonable contract demands (which included being given his own personal jet and having "Raw" renamed to "Monday Night Raw Starring Brock Lesnar"), resulting in Lesnar attacking him and breaking his arm

WWE World Heavyweight Champion (2014–2015).

At SummerSlam on August 17, Lesnar defeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena to become the Champion; during the match he delivered sixteen suplexes (most of which were German suplexes) and two "F-5"s to Cena, who barely managed any offense. In a rematch at Night of Champions on September 21, Lesnar was disqualified due to Seth Rollins interfering, but retained his championship. Later in the year, Rollins reunited with The Authority and was added to Lesnar's and Cena's championship match at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2015, making it a triple threat match, which Lesnar won despite (storyline) breaking a rib during the match.  Lesnar's next challenger was Roman Reigns, who had won the Royal Rumble match to earn a title match at WrestleMania 31 on March 29. During his main event match against Reigns, Lesnar delivered multiple suplexes and was heard exclaiming, "Suplex City,

Suplex City (2015–2017).

The following night on "Raw", Undertaker explained that he had attacked Lesnar not for ending his WrestleMania streak, but rather for Lesnar allowing Heyman to constantly taunt Undertaker about it, which led to the two brawling throughout the arena and a WrestleMania rematch being scheduled for SummerSlam on August 23, where Undertaker would controversially defeat Lesnar; during the match, the timekeeper rang the bell as Undertaker had supposedly submitted to Lesnar's Kimura lock, though the referee had not seen any submission. In the ensuing confusion, Undertaker hit Lesnar with a low blow and applied his "Hell's Gate" submission hold, in which Lesnar passed out. The following night on "Raw", Lesnar and Heyman challenged Undertaker to an immediate rematch, only to be confronted by Bo Dallas (who mocked Lesnar about his defeat); Lesnar responded with three German suplexes and an "F-5".  At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Lesnar defeated Undertaker in a Hell in a

Year-long Universal Championship reign (2017–2018).

The following night on "Raw", Lesnar challenged Goldberg to a final match at WrestleMania 33. On the February 6 episode of "Raw", Goldberg would accept Lesnar's challenge whilst also being named number one contender for Kevin Owens' Universal Championship, which he won at Fastlane thus turning his match with Lesnar into a title match. At WrestleMania 33, Lesnar beat Goldberg to win his fifth world title in WWE and became the first man to have won both the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship. Lesnar also became the second person to kick-out from Goldberg's

Domination of the world championship scene (2018–2020).

Lesnar returned at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in September, interrupting the Hell in a Cell match between defending Universal Champion Reigns and Strowman, kicking in the door and attacking both men, thus rendering the match a no-contest and costing Strowman his Money in the Bank cash-in match. The next night on "Raw", Acting General Manager Baron Corbin scheduled Reigns to defend the Universal Championship in a triple threat match against Lesnar and Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2. After Reigns relinquished the title due to a leukemia relapse, the match was changed to a singles match between Lesnar and Strowman for the vacant title. Lesnar defeated Strowman in three minutes to become the first two-time Universal Champion, thanks to a pre-match attack from Baron Corbin.  After his title win, Lesnar was scheduled to face WWE Champion AJ Styles at Survivor Series in another Champion vs Champion non-title match. However, five days before Survivor Series, Styles lost his title to Daniel Bryan on "SmackDown". At Survivor Series, Lesnar overcame a late rally from Bryan to defeat him. Lesnar then successfully defended the title against Finn Bálor via submission at Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019. The next night on "Raw", Lesnar attacked 2019 Royal Rumble match winner Seth Rollins with six F-5s, setting up a title match for WrestleMania 35. At the event, Lesnar attacked Rollins before the match. Rollins then attacked Lesnar with a low blow while the referee was down and pinned Lesnar, ending his second reign as Universal Champion at 156 days.  At Money in the Bank on May 19, 2019, Lesnar surprisingly replaced Sami Zayn in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Before the match, Zayn had been attacked backstage. Later, the match began with only seven of the scheduled eight participants. At

Professional wrestling style and persona.

Since Lesnar's debut, he was portrayed as a powerhouse athlete. He is often called by his nickname "The Beast Incarnate" or simply "The Beast". During his initial run when he was consistently main-eventing, WWE was in what is labeled by the company and fans as the "Ruthless Aggression Era". His go-to finishing maneuver for his entire career has been a spinning facebuster known as the "F-5" (or "The Verdict" when he wrestled outside of WWE). After his return in 2012, Lesnar focused on an MMA-orientated gimmick, sporting MMA gloves during his matches and adding the Kimura lock as a finisher. Lesnar is also known for performing several suplexes on his rivals, with these often being described as the opponent being

Professional football career.

After his match at WrestleMania XX in March 2004, Lesnar sidelined his career in WWE to pursue a career in the National Football League (NFL) despite not playing football since high school. WWE issued this statement on their official website, WWE.com, following his departure:  Lesnar later told a Minnesota radio show that he had "three wonderful years" in WWE, but had grown unhappy and always wanted to play professional football, adding that he did not want to be 40 years old and wondering if he could have "made it" in football. In an interview about the NFL, he stated:  Lesnar

Mixed martial arts career.

Hero's (2007).

On April 29, 2006, after the final match of the "K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas", Lesnar stated his intent to join K-1's mixed martial arts league, Hero's. He trained with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson and Minnesota

Ultimate Fighting Championship (2008–2011).

Debut and UFC Heavyweight Champion.

During "UFC 77" on October 20, Lesnar joined Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). On February 2, 2008, Lesnar made his debut with the promotion in an event titled "UFC 81: Breaking Point" against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Due to his large hands, Lesnar was wearing 4XL gloves for the fight, making him the second man in Nevada's combat sports history to wear such gloves, after Choi Hong-man. Lesnar secured an early takedown and began landing numerous punches, but was docked a point after a punch hit Mir on the back of the head. Following another takedown by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and forced a submission at 1:30 of the first round, causing Lesnar to lose in his UFC debut. At "UFC 82" on March 1, former UFC Heavyweight Champion and Hall of Famer Mark Coleman was announced to fight Lesnar at "UFC 87".

Title loss and first retirement.

Lesnar's next defense was against undefeated top contender Cain Velasquez on October 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California at "UFC 121". Dana White announced via SportsNation that the UFC would bring back "UFC Primetime" to hype the fight. Lesnar was defeated by Velasquez for the title by TKO in the first round.  Lesnar was advertised as a coach of "The Ultimate Fighter Season 13", opposite Junior dos Santos, with the two expected to fight on June 11 at UFC 131, but he was struck with another bout of diverticulitis and had to withdraw from the fight on May 12. He was replaced by Shane Carwin, who ended up losing against dos Santos. Lesnar underwent surgery on May 27 to help battle his problems with diverticulitis. Dana White said that he had a 12-inch piece of his colon removed.  In its May 2011 issue, "ESPN" magazine published a story listing the highest-paid athlete based on base salary

Return to the UFC (2016–2018).

Fight against Mark Hunt.

Though Lesnar said he was "closing the door on MMA" in March 2015, UFC announced on June 4, 2016 that he would return at "UFC 200" on July 9. WWE confirmed it had granted Lesnar "a one-off opportunity" to compete at "UFC 200" before he would return to the

Suspension and second retirement.

On July 15, Lesnar was notified of a potential anti-doping policy violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) stemming from an undisclosed banned substance in an out-of-competition sample collected on June 28. On July 19, a second test sample taken in-competition on July 9 was revealed as positive for the same banned substance discovered in the previous out-of-competition sample. On August 23, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) confirmed that Lesnar had twice been tested positive for the estrogen blocker clomiphene and was suspended.  On December 15, it was confirmed that Lesnar was fined $250,000 and

Personal life.

Lesnar married fellow WWE performer Rena Greek, better known as Sable, on May 6, 2006. They reside on a farm in Maryfield, Saskatchewan, having previously lived in Maple Plain, Minnesota. Together, they have two sons named Turk (born 2009) and Duke (born 2010). With his former fiancée, Nicole McClain, Lesnar also has twins who were born in 2002: a daughter named Mya Lynn (who has signed to compete in track & field at Arizona State) and a son named Luke, who plays ice hockey. He is also the stepfather of Greek's daughter, with her first husband.  Lesnar is an intensely private individual who has expressed

Legal issues.

In January 2001, Lesnar was arrested by police in Louisville, Kentucky for suspicion of possessing large amounts of anabolic steroids. The charges were dropped when it was discovered that the substances were a legal growth hormone. His lawyer described it as a "vitamin type of thing".  Lesnar had previously signed a non-compete clause in order to be released from his contract with WWE, which prohibited him from working for any other professional wrestling companies before June 2010. However, he decided to challenge this ruling in court. WWE responded with a counterclaim after Lesnar breached the agreement by appearing at a New Japan Pro-Wrestling show in 2004. In July 2005, the two sides

Other media.

In 2003, WWE Home Video released a DVD chronicling Lesnar's career entitled "Brock Lesnar: Here Comes the Pain". It was re-released in 2012 as a three-disc DVD and two-disc Blu-ray collector's edition to tie in with Lesnar's WWE return. It was also expanded to include new matches and interviews. In 2016, a new home video was released on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as a collector's edition, called "Brock Lesnar: Eat. Sleep. Conquer. Repeat." and includes accomplishments from his second run in WWE.  Lesnar was featured on the covers of "Flex" and "Muscle & Fitness" magazine in 2004 and Minneapolis' "City Pages" in 2008. He is the cover athlete for the "WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain", "UFC Undisputed 2010" and "WWE 2K17" video games.  In 2009, Lesnar signed an endorsement deal with Dymatize Nutrition. A CD containing footage of Lesnar training was included with Dymatize's "Xpand" product.  Lesnar co-wrote an autobiography with Paul Heyman, titled "Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival", which was published by William Morrow and Company in 2011.  In a 2013 post on his blog, "Attack on Titan" author Hajime Isayama revealed that he drew inspiration from Lesnar for the character of the Armored Titan.

Brock Edward Lesnar (; born July 12, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist and professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand.

Brock Edward Lesnar (né le à Webster, Dakota du Sud), est un catcheur (lutteur professionnel) et un pratiquant d'arts martiaux mixtes américain. Il travaille actuellement à la, dans la division "Raw".


History.

The site of the present town is referred to in the "Annals of the Four Masters", written in the 1630s, as "Port Laoighisi". The present town originated as a settlement around the old fort, "Fort of Leix" or "Fort Protector", the remains of which can still be seen in the town centre. Its construction began in 1548 under the supervision of the then Lord Deputy Sir Edward Bellingham, in an attempt to secure English control of the county following the exile of native Celtic chieftains the previous year. The fort's location on rising ground, surrounded to the south and east by the natural defensive barricades of the River Triogue and an esker known locally as 'the Ridge', greatly added to its strategic importance.  The town proper was established by an act of Parliament during the reign of Queen Mary in 1557. Though the early fort and its surrounding settlement had been known by a number of names, such as Governor, Port Laois, Campa and Fort Protector, the new town was named Maryborough (IPA [ˈmarbrə]) and the county was named Queen's County in Mary's honour. In about 1556, Port Laoise acquired its first parish church—Old St Peter's—situated to the west of Fort Protector. Although first built as a Catholic church, due to Queen Mary's re-establishment of Roman Catholicism, the church was used for Protestant services after the accession to the English throne of Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth.  The area had been a focus of the rebellion of Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha, a local chieftain who had rebelled and had lost his lands, which the Crown wanted to be settled by reliable landowners. For the next fifty or so years, the new English settlers in Maryborough fought a continual, low-scale war with the Gaelic chieftains who fought against the new settlement. The town had been burnt several times by the end of the 16th century. Port Laoise was granted a market in 1567, and then in 1570, a charter of Queen Elizabeth I raised the town to the rank of borough. This allowed the establishment of a Corporation of the Borough, a body which consisted of a burgomaster, two bailiffs, a town clerk, and a sergeant at arms, as well as various other officers, burgesses and freemen. Until the Act of Union took effect in 1801 and the abolition of its franchise, the town returned two members to the Irish Parliament. The Corporation itself existed until 1830.  In 1803-04, a new Church of Ireland church was built to replace the Old St Peter's; it was the first building to be erected on the new Market Square. The building is attributed to architect James Gandon. Other notable buildings constructed in Port Laoise in the 19th century included the now-destroyed French Renaissance-style Town Hall on Market Square; the Court House on Main Street, built in 1805; the County Gaol built in 1830 to a design by William Deane Butler; and the neo-classical St. Fintan's Hospital, built in 1833 on the Dublin Road.  In 1929, a few years after the foundation of the Irish Free State, the town was renamed "Portlaoighise" (later simplified to "Port Laoise") and the county was renamed County Laois.

Local government.

The town forms part of the Portlaoise Municipal District Local Electoral Area for elections to Laois County Council. This includes the urban Port Laoise area, Abbeyleix and Ballinakill and surrounding rural areas. Port Laoise's Town Council was abolished in 2014.  Port Laoise is twinned with Coulounieix-Chamiers in the Dordogne département of France.

Demography.

Portlaoise is one of Ireland's fastest growing towns, with a 37.9% increase in population from 2006 to 2011. Non-Irish nationals accounted for 21.7% of the population compared with a national average figure of 12.0%. Polish (7%) were the largest group, followed by Lithuanians (2.7%). The former Mayor, Rotimi Adebari, was the first person of African descent to become a mayor in Ireland.  Portlaoise has the highest percentage of people under the age of 18 in Ireland. Due to rapid population growth (due in particular to immigration from Eastern Europe, especially Poland and Slovakia) and its location in the commuter belt, Portlaoise has seen the development of additional services, including a new fire station and a large swimming leisure complex. Portlaoise has three new secondary schools and five new primary schools. In the 2016 Census Portlaoise was again in the top 10 fastest growing regions, with the population of Portlaoise town and its suburbs exceeding 22,000.

Economy.

Portlaoise has long been a major commercial and retail hub for the Midlands. Until the mid 20th century, the main industries of the town were flour milling and the manufacture of worsted fabric. Since their respective declines, among the largest employers are state-owned bodies such as the maximum-security Port Laoise Prison, which houses the majority of the Irish Republican political prisoners sentenced in the Republic, the Midlands Prison, the Department of Agriculture and the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. State-owned companies Córas Iompair Éireann (railways, with a National Traincare Maintenance Depot in Portlaoise), the ESB (utilities, with a training centre in the town) and also An Post are all major employers. In 2013 "MyPay", a new central payroll system for 55,000 local authority employees across Ireland, was set up in Portlaoise.  Due to its location and transport connections, the National Spatial Strategy chose Portlaoise as the location for Ireland's first "Inland Port". This designation encourages the town to focus on the growth of distribution, logistics and warehouse uses. An Post operates the second largest mail centre in Ireland (after Dublin) at their depot in Portlaoise.

Retail.

Major retail spaces include Laois Shopping Centre, The Kyle Centre, Parkside Shopping Centre, Shaws department store and retail parks in Kea Lew and on the South Circular Road.

Tourism.

Tourist sites in the area include the Rock of Dunamase, a hill-top castle which dates from the 12th Century. There is also a 12th-century round tower 12km away in Timahoe.  Also close-by is Fort Protector, a 16th century fort built to protect British colonists from Irish natives.  Emo Court is a large Georgian estate designed by James Gandon at nearby Emo.

Transport.

Portlaoise stands at a major crossroads in the Irish roads network (major roads to Dublin, Limerick, Cork) although construction in the 1990s of the M7 motorway, which bypasses the town, has reduced traffic congestion in the town centre.  Port Laoise railway station is one the busiest railway stations outside of Dublin, and is served by intercity trains between Dublin and Cork and by Dublin commuter services. Maryborough railway station opened on 26 June 1847. It is the terminus of the Portlaoise Commuter Service, which stops at all stations to Heuston and runs hourly off peak and every 20/30 minutes during peak times. It is the busiest county town railway station in the Midlands Region, with up to 32 trains to Dublin (10 non-stop) and 30 trains from Dublin (9 non-stop) per day. Córas Iompair Éireann opened a rail depot south-west of Portlaoise town centre in March 2008, with a maintenance and servicing facility for the 183 new intercity railcars and some facilities for outer suburban railcars serving the Kildare route.  Bus Éireann operates an intercity service between Dublin and Cork/Limerick which calls at Port Laoise. The town is also the terminus for Dublin-Portlaoise coach services operated by Dublin Coach, which is at James Fintan Lawlor Avenue.

Culture and community.

Nightlife.

Portlaoise’s central location within Ireland and its concentration of restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs around Market Square, Main Street and the Church Street area of the town centre and other nearby facilities such as paintball, golf, bowling and other amenities make it a popular destination for hen & stag parties and other weekend breaks. Portlaoise railway station is the closest station to Stradbally Hall where the Electric Picnic Festival is held each year.

Arts and festivals.

Every year the town hosts the Old Fort Quarter Festival in June, the Halloween Howls Comedy Festival on the October bank holiday weekend and the Leaves Literary Festival in November.  The Dunamaise Arts Centre which comprises a cinema, performance space and exhibition space is located in the building which formally housed the Maryborough Gaol. The opening of the Arts Centre in 1999 coincided with the revival of the Laois Drama Group.

Charity.

Since 2008, Port Laoise has been the Irish base of Self Help Africa, formerly Self Help Development International, a development agency engaged in implementing rural development programmes in Sub-Sahara. Established at the time of the Ethiopian Famine of 1984, the organisation is the chosen charity of the Irish Farmers Association.

Sport.

Portlaoise RFC, a local rugby club, is based outside the town at Togher. Portlaoise GAA is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club and the most successful GAA club in Leinster. Other local sports clubs include Port Laoise Association Football Club and Portlaoise Senior Basketball Club.  Sporting facilities in the area include Port Laoise Leisure Centre (which has a 25m pool, a gym, astro and soccer pitches, and a skate park) and Portlaoise Golf Club (which has an 18-hole course on the Abbeyleix Road).  Portlaoise AFC located on the Mountmellick road in Rossleighan Park.

Education.

Portlaoise College is situated just minutes from the heart of Portlaoise. Portlaoise College provides full-time education for over 300 students in Junior and Leaving Certificate Cycle.  Portlaoise Institute offers further education courses, including QQI Level 5 and 6 Courses. These include courses and professional certification in beauty therapy, hairdressing, healthcare, nursing, business studies, information technology, and sports and leisure management.

Portlaoise (Pronounced ), or Port Laoise (Irish ) is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050, which is well above the national average of 3.8%. It is the most populous and also the most densely populated town in the Midlands Region, which has a total population of 292,301 at the 2016 census. This also makes it the fastest growing of the top 20 largest towns and cities in Ireland.

Portlaoise ("Port Laoighise" en irlandais) est une ville du comté de Laois en République d'Irlande. Précédemment nommée Maryborough, la ville reprend son nom actuel en 1929, sept années après la création de l'Etat libre irlandais, son ancien nom comportant une connotation anglaise.


History.

Banking has been more regulated in some times and places than others, and some times and places it has hardly been regulated at all, giving some experiences of more or less free banking. Free banking systems have existed in more than 60 countries. The first system of competitive issue of notes began more than 1,000 years ago in China (see below). Free banking was widespread in the 19th century and the early 20th century. lists most currently known episodes of free banking and discusses in some depth a number of them, including Canada, Colombia, Foochow, France, and Ireland. Monetary arrangements with monopoly issue of notes, including government treasury issue, currency boards, and central banking, replaced all episodes of free banking by the mid 20th century. There were several reasons for the demise of free banking: (1) Economic theories claiming the superiority of central banking. (2) Desire to imitate the institutions of more advanced economies, especially Great Britain. The Bank of England was the model for many later central banks, even outside the British Empire. (3) Desire of national governments to collect seigniorage (revenue from issue) from note issue. (4) Financial crises in some free banking systems that created demands to replace free banking with another system that advocates hoped would have fewer problems.  Some prominent 18th and 19th century economists defended free banking, most notably Adam Smith, as opposed to the real bills doctrine. After the mid 19th century, though, economists interested in monetary issues focused their attention elsewhere, and free banking received little attention. Free banking as a subject of renewed debate among economists got its modern start in 1976 with "The Denationalization of Money", by economist Friedrich Hayek, who advocated that national governments stop claiming a monopoly on the issuing of currency, and allow private issuers like banks to voluntarily compete to do so.  In the 1980s, this expanded into an increasingly elaborate theory of free market money and banking, with proponents Lawrence White, George Selgin, and Richard Timberlake increasingly centering their writing and research around the concept, either regarding modern theory and application, or researching the history of spontaneously free banking.

Australia.

In the late 19th century, banking in Australia was subject to little regulation. There were four large banks with over 100 branches each, that together had about half of the banking business, and branch banking and deposit banking were much more advanced than other more regulated countries such as the UK and US. Banks accepted each other's notes at par. Interest margins were about 4% p.a. In the 1890s a land price crash caused the failure of many smaller banks and building societies. Bankruptcy legislation put in place at the time gave bank debtors generous terms they could restructure under, and most of the banks used this as a means to restructure their debts in their favor, even though they didn't really need to.

Switzerland.

In the 19th century, several Swiss cantons deregulated banking, allowing free entry and issue of notes. Cantons retained jurisdiction over banking until the enactment of the Federal Banking Law of 1881. The centralisation of note issue reduced the problem of the existence of "a bewildering variety of notes of varying qualities... at fluctuating exchange rates."

Scotland.

Scottish free banking lasted between 1716 and 1845, and is arguably the most researched and developed instance of free banking. The system was organized around three chartered banks, the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and the British Linen Company, and numerous unchartered banks. It resulted in a highly stable and competitive banking system.

United States.

Although the period from 1837 to 1864 in the US is often referred to as the Free Banking Era, the term is a misnomer in terms of the definition of "free banking" above. Free Banking in the United States before the Civil War refers to various state banking systems based on what were called at the time "free banking" laws. These laws made it necessary for new entrants to secure charters, each of which was subject to a vote by the state legislature with obvious opportunities for corruption. These general banking laws also restricted banks' activities in important ways. Most importantly, US free banks could have only one office and had to provide security for their notes by gold reserves but also by purchasing and surrendering to state banking authorities certain securities the state law deemed acceptable for the purpose. The securities generally included bonds of state governments. The depreciation of these bonds was the chief cause of free bank failures in various episodes when many banks in a state failed. The lack of branch banking, in turn, caused state-issued banknotes to be discounted at varying rates once they had traveled any considerable distance from their sources, which was an inconvenience. Depreciation of assets more generally is also used to explain failures. Several authors attribute the high-rate of bank failures during the Free Banking era in the US ultimately to restrictions on banks' portfolios of assets. For reviews of the literature, see and Then, from 1863 to 1913, known as the, state-chartered banks were operating under a free banking system. Some scholars have found that the system was mostly stable compared to National Banks of that era.

Sweden.

Sweden had two periods of free banking, 1830–60 and 1860-1902. Following a bank crisis in 1857, there was a rise in popular support for private banks and private money issuers (especially Stockholms Enskilda Bank, founded in 1856). A new bank law was adopted by parliament in 1864, deregulating the interest rate. The following decades marked the height of the Swedish free banking era. After 1874, no new private banks were founded. In 1901, issuing of private money was prohibited. Research on the Swedish free banking era suggest stability, and a single bank failure related to fraud in 70 years.

China.

Jiaozi was a form of banknote which appeared around 10th century in the Sichuan capital of Chengdu, China. Between 960 and 1004, the bank notes were totally run by private merchants. Until government decided to regulate the business on alleged increasing fraud cases and disputes, and it granted 16 licenses to the biggest merchants of all.

Free banking is a monetary arrangement where banks are free to issue their own paper currency (banknotes) while also subject to no special regulations beyond those applicable to most enterprises.

Une banque libre telle que la définit Kevin Dowd est un système financier qui n'implique pas de banque centrale ni aucun autre régulateur financier, y compris le gouvernement, cela afin que les institutions financières puissent agir librement, tel que défini par les forces en présence sur le marché.


Pre-race.

On 20 February 1992 Mexico city officials put out a smog alert due to the dangerous air pollution levels in the city. Alerts mandated restrictions on operating heavy motorized equipment. The Mexican Grand Prix committee had to delay work paving sections of the track.  The planned pre-qualifying session was again cancelled, as it had been in South Africa, where the Andrea Moda team was excluded from the event due to non-payment of the $100,000 guarantee required for new teams. With the guarantee now paid, FISA clarified that if Andrea Moda came to Mexico with two new cars that met the regulations, the team would be reinstated in the Championship. Therefore team owner Andrea Sassetti abandoned the C4B car with its Coloni origins, and brought forward the introduction of their new car, the Simtek-designed Andrea Moda S921, which was originally intended for the fourth round in Spain. The team brought two hastily-built S921s for Alex Caffi and Enrico Bertaggia, but the cars could not be made ready in time for pre-qualifying. So Sassetti withdrew his cars, citing "freight delays" as extenuating circumstances. With only four cars remaining in the pre-qualifying pool, the session was cancelled.

Qualifying.

Qualifying report.

During Friday's practice Ayrton Senna hit one of the bumps in the Esses, crashed his McLaren, and injured his leg, but was fit for qualifying.  This was the first time that neither Brabham made the grid. Stefano Modena had to start from the pit lane. Nigel Mansell was obliged to switch to the spare Williams FW14B car for qualifying but this did not faze him and he made pole alongside teammate Riccardo Patrese.

Race.

Race report.

Nigel Mansell dominated the race straight from the pole position, finishing the race 12 seconds ahead of Patrese and 21 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher. Senna's transmission broke on the 11th lap, ending his race prematurely; teammate Berger finished 4th, salvaging some pride for McLaren in the farewell race for the MP4/6. After the pit stops were made, Gerhard Berger managed to get ahead of Martin Brundle with a battle that managed to last for eight laps until Brundle was able to move back up to fourth on lap 44 but soon retired with engine trouble on lap 47, ending the battle for fourth. At the front, Mansell won with Patrese making it a Williams 1–2 again ahead of Schumacher, Berger, de Cesaris and Mika Häkkinen scoring the final point for Lotus for the second race in succession from South Africa and respectively the Finn's first point of the season.

The 1992 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City on 22 March 1992. It was the second race of the 1992 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Résultats du Grand Prix automobile du Mexique 1992 de Formule 1 qui a eu lieu sur le circuit de Mexico le 22 mars.


Qualifying.

Pre-qualifying report.

During the Friday morning pre-qualifying session, Olivier Grouillard was fastest for the first time this season, in the Osella. The Larrousse-Lolas of Éric Bernard and Aguri Suzuki were second and fourth, with the EuroBrun of Roberto Moreno between them in third place.  For the third Grand Prix in succession, the AGS cars missed out in fifth and sixth positions, with Yannick Dalmas faster than Gabriele Tarquini this time. AGS technical director Hugues de Chaunac left the team prior to this event, frustrated at the team's lack of progress. Seventh again was Bertrand Gachot in the Coloni, although he was much closer to the pace on this occasion, just three tenths of a second behind Tarquini. Claudio Langes was a distant eighth again after only completing the minimum three laps required by the regulations, as the team concentrated on Moreno. Bottom of the time sheets as usual was Bruno Giacomelli in the Life, only managing an out-lap before his engine failed. Team manager Sergio Barbasio confirmed that his engineers were working on converting the L190 chassis to run with the Judd CV engines he now claimed to have bought from Lotus.

Qualifying report.

There were no driver changes as the F1 show moved to Mexico City. The weather was changeable during the weekend, catching some drivers out, with both of the Larrousse team's drivers having major accidents on the Saturday morning. Despite that, both Aguri Suzuki and Éric Bernard managed to qualify for the race. The Leyton House drivers Ivan Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin both failed to qualify. At the front of the grid, Gerhard Berger took pole from Riccardo Patrese, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, Thierry Boutsen, Jean Alesi, Pierluigi Martini, Nelson Piquet, Satoru Nakajima, and Stefano Modena, with championship contender Alain Prost, not happy with the qualifying set up of his Ferrari so deciding instead to qualify with his race set up, 13th. Roberto Moreno was disqualified for receiving a push start in qualifying.

Race.

Race report.

Sunshine greeted the drivers on race day and at the start it was Patrese who got away from Senna, Berger, Boutsen, and Piquet. Senna and Berger both passed Patrese on lap 2, and the McLaren drivers opened a significant lead over the rest of the field. Prost was charging through the field from his poor grid position, while Piquet moved up to third. Berger's run in second place came to an early end when he had to stop for new tyres on lap 13, leaving Piquet in second but under pressure from his former team-mate Nigel Mansell, who was able to pass him soon afterwards. Prost continued his charge through the field, eventually taking second from Mansell with 15 laps to go. Prost proceeded to set off after Senna, who was beginning to slow with tyre problems. The Brazilian had gambled on tyre durability by not making a stop for fresh rubber. On lap 60, Prost got past Senna with a simple move and three laps later Senna's rear tyre exploded, forcing him to retire from his 100th Grand Prix. As he had completed over 90% of the race, he was classified as a finisher in 20th place, the lowest classified result of his career. The battle for second place between Mansell and Berger culminated in Mansell passing around the outside of Berger going into the ultra-fast Peraltada corner. Mansell thus finished second behind Prost, with Berger third from Alessandro Nannini, Boutsen, and Piquet.

The 1990 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on 24 June 1990. It was sixth race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship, the 14th Mexican Grand Prix and the fifth since the Mexico City circuit returned to the Formula One calendar in 1986. It was held over 69 laps of the 4.4 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 305 kilometres.

Résultats du Grand Prix automobile du Mexique de Formule 1 1990 qui a eu lieu sur le circuit de Mexico le.


Early life and education.

Azhari was born in Shiraz in 1912 (or in 1917). He was a graduate of Iran's war college. He was also trained at the National War College in Washington in the 1950s.

Career.

Azhari worked at the CENTO. He was appointed chief of staff of Iran's armed forces in 1971 and his tenure lasted until 1978. He served as interim prime minister of a military government until a civilian government could be chosen. He served as prime minister from 6 November 1978 to 31 December 1978. He formed the first military government in Iran since 1953.  On 21 December 1978, Azhari, then the prime minister, told U.S. Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan that, "You must know this and you must tell it to your government. This country is lost because the Shah cannot make up his mind." Azhari had a heart attack in January 1979 and resigned on 2 January. Then he was succeeded by Abbas Gharabaghi as the chief of the army staff. Shapour Bakhtiar succeeded Azhari as prime minister. On 18 February 1979 Azhari was retired from the army "in absentia".

Cabinet.

His cabinet was composed of eight members (five military men and three civilians):  However, it is also reported that the government was of eleven men and six of them were military officers.

Later years and death.

Azhari suffered a heart attack while serving as prime minister. After leaving office he went to the US in January 1979 for heart surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital. After surgery he did not return to Iran and settled in McLean, Virginia. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, a religious judge and then chairman of the Revolutionary Court, informed the press that the death sentence was passed on the members of the Pahlavi family and former Shah officials, including Azhari.  He died of cancer in McLean, Virginia, USA, on 5 November 2001.

Arteshbod Gholam Reza Azhari (; 18 February 1912 – 5 November 2001) was a military leader and Prime Minister of Iran.

Gholam Reza Azhari est un chef militaire et un Premier ministre iranien né en 1912 et mort le. Né à Chiraz, il entre à l'école militaire et gravit rapidement les échelons.


Topography.

The land rises steeply from near the water's edge and the town is boxed in along the shoreline by the heights above. The small harbour itself is protected from swells by a breakwater that was built with thousands of huge blocks of sandstone quarried out of the face of the mountain above.  Simon's Town is now in effect a suburb of greater Cape Town. The Simon's Town railway station is the terminus of the Southern Line, a railway line that runs south from the central business district of Cape Town. In places, the railway line runs along the steep eastern shore of False Bay, and in bad weather waves and foam from some heavy swells wet the trains.

Attractions and amenities.

Boulders Beach.

Boulders Beach is located a few kilometres to the south of Simon's Town, in the direction of Miller's Point. Here small coves and beaches are interspersed between boulders of Cape granite. There has been a colony of African penguins at Boulders Beach since 1985. There is no record of the birds having lived here prior to that date. There are only three penguin populations on the mainland in southern Africa; the others are close to Hermanus at Stoney Point and Betty's Bay.

Martello Tower.

In the last weeks of 1795 or the first weeks of 1796 the British built a round tower on a site that today falls within the Naval Base. Britain had just annexed the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope and wanted to establish some defences to ward off possible Dutch or French attacks. The resulting tower was high, had a base diameter of, and walls thick, though there is no evidence that the British ever installed the guns the tower was designed to hold. In front of the tower the British also constructed a battery that they did arm with cannons. The Martello tower was used as a navigational beacon for ships entering Simon's Bay and was consequently white-washed in about 1843. The tower was restored in 1972 by the Simon's Town Historical Society (in conjunction with the South African Navy), and proclaimed a provincial heritage site; today it houses a small museum.

South African Naval Museum.

The South African Naval Museum is a maritime museum, which contains collections and artefacts related to the maritime history of South Africa and the South African Navy.

Simon's Town Museum.

Simon's Town Museum is a community museum established in 1977 and located in The Residency, an historical building erected by Governor Joachim van Plettenberg in 1777. The museum records and preserves all aspects of the history of the Simon's Town community.

Public art.

In 1985, a statue of Just Nuisance, the only dog ever to be officially enlisted in the Royal Navy, was erected in a position overlooking the harbour. The Simon's Town Museum has an exhibition dedicated to his story.

Economy.

Simon's Town became a free port in 1832.

Coat of arms.

The Simon's Town municipal council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Adelbert Bonn, in September 1905. It was granted by the College of Arms on 27 September 1957.  The design is described as: "Quarterly: I and IV, per pale, the dexter Argent, three towers placed 2 and 1 Gules, the sinister per fess Or and Azure, in chief on a mount Vert a peacock in his pride proper and in base three plates placed 2 and 1 Argent; II and III, Azure, an estoile and in chief three crescents Argent; over all an oval cartouche with scrolled edges Or, charged with a demi-lion rampant Gules, issuant from three barrulets wavy Vert". In layman's terms, the shield is divided into four quarters. The first quarter is divided vertically, one half depicting three red towers on a silver background, the other a peacock on a gold background above three silver discs on a red background; the second quarter is blue, with three silver crescents at the top and a wavy star below on a blue background; the third quarter is the same as the second and the fourth the same as the first; in the centre is an oval with a decorative edge displaying a red lion emerging from wavy green stripes on a golden background.  These were a slightly modified version of the arms of Willem Adriaan van der Stel, which Bonn mistakenly thought were those of his father Simon van der Stel.  The crest was the figure of Britannia resting on a golden naval crown. Two golden anchors were placed behind the shield. The motto was "Fac et spera".  When the municipality was dissolved in 1996, the council placed its regalia, including the letters patent from the College of Arms, in the custody of the Simon's Town Historical Society. The society registered the arms in its own name at the Bureau of Heraldry in October 1999.

Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town which is administratively a South Peninsula suburb of Cape Town, and is home to the South African Navy's Naval Base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been a naval base and harbour (first for the British Royal Navy and now the South African Navy). The town is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony.

Simon's Town (aussi connue sous le nom de "Simonstown" et, en afrikaans, de "Simonstad"), est une ville et une base navale située en Afrique du Sud dans la province du Cap-Occidental. Baptisée en l'honneur du gouverneur Simon van der Stel, elle est juchée sur les rives de False Bay, au sud-est du Cap au bord de l'océan Atlantique.


History.

The observatory was founded on February 15, 1859, in the city of Allegheny, Pennsylvania (incorporated into the City of Pittsburgh in 1907) by a group of wealthy industrialists calling themselves the Allegheny Telescope Association. The observatory's initial purpose was for general public education as opposed to research, but by 1867 the revenues derived from this had receded. The facility was then donated to the Western University of Pennsylvania, today known as the University of Pittsburgh.  The University hired Samuel Pierpont Langley to be the first director. One of the research programs initiated under his leadership was of sunspots. He drew very detailed drawings of sunspots which are still used in astronomical textbooks to this day. He also had the building expanded to include dark rooms, class rooms, dormitories, and a lecture hall.  In 1869, Langley created income for observatory by selling subscription service to time that was accurately determined by astronomical measurements and transmitted over telegraphs to customers. The Pennsylvania Railroad was the most influential subscriber to the "Allegheny Time" system. The Allegheny Observatory's service is believed to have been the first regular and systematic system of time distribution to railroads and cities as well as the origin of the modern standard time system. By 1870, the Allegheny Time service extended over 2,500 miles with 300 telegraph offices receiving time signals. On November 18, 1883, the first day of railroad standard time in North America, the Allegheny Observatory transmitted a signal on telegraph lines operated by railroads in Canada and the United States. The signal marked noon, Eastern Standard Time, and railroads across the continent synchronized their schedules based on this signal. The standard time that began on this day continues in North American use to this day.  The revenues from the sale of time signals covered Langley's salary and the bills. Allegheny Observatory continued to supply time signals until the US Naval Observatory started offering it for free in 1920.  More recently George Gatewood began using the Allegheny Observatory to search for extrasolar planets as well as to follow up on claims of extrasolar planets, starting in 1972. This is done using astrometry, which is the practice of measuring the position of stars. In addition to studying the positions of stars on the thousands of photographic plates in the vaults of the observatory, George Gatewood also designed the Multichannel Astrometric Photometer (MAP) for use with the Thaw telescope to measure the position of a target star and its close neighbors on images taken 6 months apart. This technique takes advantage of parallax. If the target star has a companion then it will wobble due to the gravitational pull of the unseen companion. The size of the companion can be measured by the size of the wobble.  MAP is no longer in use and the Thaw telescope is in the process of rewiring and upgrading.  A model of the original observatory can be found in the Miniature Railroad & Village exhibit at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh and in 2012 a documentary film was released covering the observatory's history.

The Lens-napping.

Langley was the director when he returned home in Allegheny City on July 8, 1872, following a conference. Observatory staff advised him that the lens of the 13 inch Fitz Telescope had been taken for ransom which Langley refused to pay; an argument with the unknown lens-napper ensued without resolve. It has been speculated that Langley knew the identity of the lens-napper, his or her identity is still a mystery. The lens-napper thought that with the involvement of the newspapers investigating the incidents his identity may be discovered so told Langley he could have back the lens. No clue was given as to its location but it was eventually found in a Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, hotel wastepaper basket. It being scratched made it useless so it was re-ground by lens maker Alvan Clark. When it was reinstalled the clarity was improved so the lens-napping benefited the observatory. In gratitude, Langley added Clark's name to the telescope.

Heavier-than-air flight research.

Langley also researched heavier-than-air flight behind the observatory. To study the aerodynamic behavior of different forms traveling at high speeds he built a large spring "whirling arm" to which stuffed birds and wings he made were attached. After leaving Allegheny Observatory to become secretary of the Smithsonian in 1888, he continued his flight research, designing and flying the first, unmanned, aircraft capable of stable continuously powered flight from a houseboat on the Potomac River. His full-size manned Aerodrome was funded by the U.S. Army. Two well-publicized crashes of the Aerodrome in 1903 ended his flight research.

The New Allegheny Observatory.

The original observatory building was replaced by the current structure, shown in the photograph above. It was designed in the Classic Revival style by Thorsten E. Billquist. The cornerstone was laid in 1900, and the new structure was completed in 1912. It is located four miles north of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at Riverview Park. The building is a tan brick and white terra cotta hilltop temple whose Classical forms and decoration symbolize the unity of art and science. The L-shaped building consists of a library, lecture hall, classrooms, laboratories, offices, and three hemispherical domed telescope enclosures. Two were reserved for research; one for use by schools and the general public. The core of the building is a small rotunda, housing an opalescent glass window depicting the Greek muse of astronomy, Urania, designed by artist Mary Elizabeth Tillinghast. A crypt in the basement of the observatory holds the ashes of two eminent astronomers and former directors of the Allegheny Observatory, James Edward Keeler and John Brashear. In addition, the crypt holds the remains of Brashear's wife Phoebe and Keeler's wife Cora Matthews Keeler and son Henry Bowman Keeler.  The original observatory building was converted into an athletics training facility 1907 and used by the university's football team. The original observatory building was sold, along with the rest of the adjacent university buildings, to the Protestant Orphan Asylum prior to the move of the main academic portion of the university to the Oakland section of Pittsburgh in 1909. The original observatory building was torn down in the 1950s and the site is now occupied by Triangle Tech.

Current work.

The main active research pursuit at the Allegheny Observatory involves detections of extrasolar planets. This is done using photometry, which is the practice of measuring the brightness of stars. The brightness of a target star and its close neighbors are measured on digital images taken every 30–60 seconds, and if a planet crosses (transits) in front of its parent star's disk, then the observed visual brightness of the star drops a small amount. The amount the star dims depends on the relative sizes of the star and the planet. The research team consists of students at the University of Pittsburgh whose observations have recently contributed to a collaborative effort to observe a transit of the planet HD 80606 b. The group is also actively contributing to upgrading the Allegheny Observatory. In 2009, the university's Department of Geology and Planetary Science installed Western Pennsylvania's only seismic station, which is connected to IRIS Consortium networks, in the observatory.

Tours.

When the new Allegheny Observatory was designed it was done with the public in mind; the floor plan included a lecture hall. When the new facility first went into operation, on every clear evening it was opened for the public to look through the 13" telescope but if it were a cloudy night "they would be given an illustrated lecture on astronomy." John Brashear once said "the Allegheny observatory would remain forever free to the people" and to this day it has although in modern times the free public tours are only offered a couple nights each week.

External links.

Video

The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historical Places (ref. # 79002157, added June 22, 1979) and is designated as a Pennsylvania state and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation historic landmark.

L'observatoire Allegheny est un centre de recherche astronomique américain faisant partie du département de physique et d'astronomie de l'université de Pittsburgh.


Location.

The mountain lies near the town of Tonadico in Trentino, the southern part of the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, and is the watershed between the Cismón valley and the Travignolo valley. It is the northernmost peak in the chain of the Pale di San Martino and is flanked by the Vezzana. Between the high, steep walls of the two peaks and descending to the north, lies a steep glacier called Travignolo, which is the source of a river of the same name, a tributary of the Avisio.

Route.

The peak can be attained by a route which, while easy, requires good experience, called the "Variation for the Summit". This departs from a bivouac shelter called Fiamme Gialle, at a height of 3,005 metres, which is reached by the Bolver-Lugli "via ferrata", not technically demanding, but tiring. This mountain route, equipped with fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges, was constructed by a group of mountain guides from San Martino di Castrozza, known in the mountaineering world as the Eagles of San Martino, to mark the centenary in 1970 of the first ascent of the peak on 3 June 1870 by Edward Robson Whitwell and his guides Santo Siorpaes, of nearby Cortina d'Ampezzo, and Christian Lauener of Lauterbrunnen.  A good access to the "via ferrata" is by way of the gondola lift from San Martino di Castrozza to Colverde, which operates between the middle of June and the end of September.

History.

The mountain brought the first tourists into the Primiero valley. In 1862, British travellers Josiah Gilbert and George Cheetham Churchill saw a picture of the Cimon della Pala in an inn. Fascinated by it, they wanted to see it at first hand, and wrote of it in their account "The Dolomite Mountains: Excursions Through Tyrol, Carinthia, Carniola & Friuli" (London, 1864). In later years there was an influx of tourists, at first mostly from outside Italy, who were interested in the whole chain of the Pale.  The mountain can be seen on the coat of arms ("pictured") of the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian law enforcement agency which is one of the Italian Armed Forces and which has its Alpine School not far from the Cimon della Pala.

Cimon della Pala, sometimes called Cimone and The Matterhorn of the Dolomites ("il Cervino delle Dolomiti"), is the best-known peak of the Pale di San Martino group, in the Dolomites, northern Italy. Although it is not the highest peak of the group, the Cima Vezzana being a few metres higher, its slender point, which can be seen from the Rolle Pass, dominates the landscape.

Le Cimon della Pala est un sommet des Alpes, à, dans les Dolomites, et en particulier dans le chaînon des Pale, en Italie (Trentin-Haut-Adige). Il est surnommé le « Cervin des Dolomites ».


Background and recording.

Jones wrote most of the songs on the album when she was on tour during 2004 and 2005; for example, "Until the End" was written in the South Pacific, "Rosie's Lullaby" in Australia, and "The Sun Doesn't Like You" in Brazil. Jones wrote "Thinking About You" in 1999 with Ilhan Ersahin, her then-bandmate in Wax Poetic, but she thought it was too much of a pop song for her to record and rejected a version she recorded for "Feels like Home". Jones had an acoustic guitar with her on the tour and wrote more songs with it than she previously had: "The guitar is simple and a lot easier to carry than a piano", she said.  After the tour concluded, Jones began recording the album with Alexander, who "tweak[ed]" the lyrics of the songs and "pulled [them] into better shape", according to Jones. "Not Too Late" was mostly recorded at Jones's home studio and is the first album Jones recorded without producer Arif Mardin, who died in the summer of 2006. Jones described the sessions as "fun, relaxed and easy" and without a deadline; executives at Blue Note Records reportedly did not know they were recording an album. Many of the sessions were "spur of the moment", with friends of Jones and musicians they recommended being asked to play. The album features guest appearances by organist Larry Goldings, singer-songwriter M. Ward, and Kronos Quartet cellist Jeff Ziegler. Jones said the songs on the album are "not so cut-and-dried" compared to her earlier material and have "a twist to them". In contrast to her previous albums, the piano, organ and Wurlitzer are not as prominent as the guitar: "the piano is always loud in the mix, but I've never been into it being the main rhythm instrument unless we're playing something funky. I've always liked the guitar as the rhythmic instrument", Jones explained.

Critical reception.

"Not Too Late" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 68 out of 100, which indicates "generally favorable reviews" based on 23 reviews.  "Mojo" gave the album four stars out of five and said that its majority "hums with a placid darkness and neurosis which is as delicious as it is unexpected." "Uncut" also gave it four stars and said, "What's especially daring about "Not Too Late" is the degree to which Jones and [producer Lee] Alexander trust their songs and her languorous voice to hold the listener's interest." musicOMH likewise gave it four stars and said that "This collection of quaint, feel-good numbers is not going to set the world alight, but it offers something warm and comforting to come home to." "Now" gave it the similar four stars out of five score and called it "A very good showcase for Jones's evolution as a writer and musician." "The Phoenix" gave it three stars out of four and said of Jones, "Too good to hate, not exciting enough to love, she still makes most of what’s out there sound like phony baloney." "Hartford Courant" gave it a positive review and also said of Jones, "Subtlety was a defining characteristic of her first two records, and it carries over onto 'Not Too Late,' where even the differences are understated and discreet."  Other reviews are average or mixed: "The Austin Chronicle" gave the album three stars out of five and said, "Jones has concocted a pleasing effort underneath its delicate air." Yahoo! Music UK gave it six stars out of ten and called it "Norah's most personal collection of songs to date." Drowned in Sound likewise gave it a score of six out of ten and said that while the album "is a shade darker than her mega-selling, Grammy-winning template, it's highly unlikely to win all that many new converts, and fans may find this album a little bit of a slog in places." "Q" gave it three stars out of five and said, "With a surfeit of samey country-rock ballads, Not Too Late ultimately proves rather a long haul." "Blender" gave the album two stars out of five and said that "the results are a mutant virus of gorgeous and bland, grainy and slick." "The Village Voice" gave it a mixed review and stated that Jones' voice "is still 'that voice,' but gravity was never what made it fly."

Accolades.

By January 29, 2007, the album had become the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon.com, and was Jones' second album ("Feels like Home") to reach Amazon's all-time top ten pre-order list.  The first single from the album was "Thinking About You", which was released in the U.S. in early December 2006 and was one of the first songs by a major artist to be available for paid digital download in mp3 format. "Not Too Late" was released as a radio single in Taiwan in early 2007. For the week beginning January 23, the entire album was streamed on VH1.com's "Hear Music First" program. Jones recorded an hour-long performance for UK BBC radio and television that was aired in late January, and she performed via simulcast on the feature "Live@BT: Norah Jones" for Canada's Citytv in early February. The third single from the album was "Sinkin' Soon", released in March.  Jones was scheduled to embark on a twenty-two date concert tour of North America, beginning on April 13 and ending on May 12. One of the dates was to take place at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on April 28. On February 16, 2008, "Not Too Late" re-entered the Greek International Albums Chart at number fourteen and climbed to number thirteen the next week. On August 18, the album returned to the top ten on the French Albums Chart and reached number seven.

Commercial performance.

"Not Too Late" debuted at number one on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 405,000. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it was the 18th highest selling album of 2007 in the US, with 1.5 million copies sold. In the United Kingdom, it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, becoming the 800th number-one album in the history of the chart; it sold 60,500 copies in its first week. It debuted at number five in Japan, opening with sales of 36,400 copies; in Canada, the album entered at number one with opening week sales of 36,000. In Australia, it entered the ARIA Albums Chart at number two and was certified gold with shipments of 35,000 copies. The album reached number one in seventeen countries, including Germany and France. (For more information, see Charts.) According to a press release from EMI, "Not Too Late" is certified gold or platinum in twenty-one countries as of February 2007. In February, the IFPI awarded the album a platinum certification for shipping one million copies in Europe.

Track listing.

Japan bonus track

Personnel.

Musicians  Technical

Not Too Late is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Norah Jones, released on January 30, 2007, through Blue Note Records. It was produced by Lee Alexander, the songwriter and bassist featured on Jones's previous albums, "Come Away with Me" and "Feels like Home". The album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, making it Jones' third consecutive number one album.

Selon l'IFPI, cet album est la dixième meilleure vente en 2007. L'album est produit par le bassiste Lee Alexander qui a déjà accompagné Norah Jones dans ses deux premiers albums.


Life and career.

Education.

Sheldrake was born in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, to Doris (née Tebbutt) and Reginald Alfred Sheldrake (1903–1970) on 28 June 1942. His father graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in pharmacy and was also an amateur naturalist and microscopist. Sheldrake credits his father with encouraging him to follow his interest in animals, plants and gardens.  Although they were Methodists, Sheldrake's parents sent him to Worksop College, a Church of England boarding school. Sheldrake says,I

Career.

After obtaining his PhD, Sheldrake became a fellow of Clare College, working in biochemistry and cell biology with funding from the Royal Society Rosenheim Research Fellowship. He investigated auxins, a class of phytohormones that plays a role in plant vascular cell differentiation. Sheldrake and Philip Rubery developed the chemiosmotic model of polar auxin transport.  Sheldrake says that he ended this line of research when he concluded, Having an interest in Indian philosophy, Hinduism and transcendental meditation, Sheldrake resigned his position at Clare and went to work on the physiology of tropical crops in Hyderabad, India, as principal plant physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) from

Personal life.

Sheldrake reported "being drawn back to a Christian path" during his time in India, and self-identifies as

Selected books.

Reviews of Sheldrake's books have at times been extremely negative over their scientific content, but some have been positive. In 2009, Adam Rutherford, geneticist and deputy editor of "Nature", criticised Sheldrake's books for containing research that was not subjected to the peer-review process expected for science, and suggested that his books were best "ignored."

"A New Science of Life" (1981).

Sheldrake's "A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Morphic Resonance" (1981) proposed that through morphic resonance, various perceived phenomena, particularly biological ones, become more probable the more often they occur, and that biological growth and behaviour thus become guided into patterns laid down by previous similar events. As a result, he suggested, newly-acquired behaviours can be passed down to future generations − a biological proposition akin to the Lamarckian inheritance theory. He generalised this approach to assert that it explains many aspects of science, from evolution to the laws of nature which, in Sheldrake's formulation, are merely

"The Presence of the Past" (1988).

In "The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature" (1988), Sheldrake expanded on his morphic resonance hypothesis and marshalled experimental evidence which he said supported the hypothesis. The book was reviewed favourably in "New Scientist" by historian Theodore Roszak, who called it "engaging, provocative" and "a tour de force." When the book was re-issued in 2011 with those quotes on the front cover, "New Scientist" remarked, "Back then, Roszak gave Sheldrake the benefit of the doubt. Today, attitudes have hardened and Sheldrake is seen as standing firmly on the wilder shores of

"The Rebirth of Nature" (1991).

Published in 1991, Sheldrake's "The Rebirth of Nature: The Greening of Science and God" addressed the subject of New Age consciousness and related topics. A column in "The Guardian" said that the book "seeks to restore the pre-Enlightenment notion that nature is 'alive'," quoting Sheldrake as saying that "indeterminism, spontaneity and creativity

"Seven Experiments That Could Change the World" (1994).

In 1994, Sheldrake proposed a list of "Seven Experiments That Could Change the World", subtitled "A do-it-yourself guide to revolutionary science." He encouraged lay people to conduct research and argued that experiments similar to his own could be conducted with limited expense.  Music critic of "The Sunday Times" Mark Edwards reviewed the book positively, arguing that Sheldrake "challenges the complacent certainty of scientists," and that his ideas "sounded ridiculous... as long as your thinking is constrained by the current scientific orthodoxy."  David Sharp, writing in "The Lancet", said that the experiments testing paranormal phenomena carried the "risk of positive

"Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home" (1999).

"Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home", published in 1999, covered his research into proposed telepathy between humans and animals, particularly dogs. Sheldrake suggests that such interspecies telepathy is a real phenomenon and that morphic fields are responsible for it.  The book is in three sections, on telepathy, on sense of direction, including animal migration and the homing of pigeons, and on animal precognition, including premonitions of earthquakes and tsunamis. Sheldrake examined more than 1,000 case histories of dogs and cats that seemed to anticipate their owners' return by waiting at a

"The Sense of Being Stared At" (2003).

Sheldrake's "The Sense of Being Stared At" explores telepathy, precognition, and the "psychic staring effect." It reported on an experiment Sheldrake conducted where blindfolded subjects guessed whether persons were staring at them or at another target. Sheldrake reported subjects exhibiting a weak sense of being stared at, but no sense of not being stared at, and attributed the results to morphic resonance. Sheldrake reported a hit rate of 53.1%, describing two subjects as "nearly always right, scoring

"The Science Delusion" ("Science Set Free") (2012).

"The Science Delusion", published in the US as "Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery", summarises much of Sheldrake's previous work and encapsulates it into a broader critique of philosophical materialism, with the title apparently mimicking that of "The God Delusion" by one of his critics, Richard Dawkins.  In the book Sheldrake proposes a number of questions as the theme of each chapter which seek to elaborate on his central premise that science is predicated on the belief that the nature of reality is fully understood, with only

"Science and Spiritual Practices" (2017).

Adam Ford, reviewing the book for the "Church Times", says that Sheldrake "takes issue with the new atheism

Public reception.

Sheldrake's ideas have been discussed in academic journals and books. His work has also received popular coverage through newspapers, radio, television and speaking engagements. The attention he receives has raised concerns that it adversely affects the public understanding of science. Some have accused Sheldrake of self-promotion, with Steven Rose commenting, "for the inventors of such hypotheses the rewards include a degree of instant fame which is harder to achieve by the humdrum pursuit of more conventional science."

Academic debate.

A variety of responses to Sheldrake's ideas have appeared in prominent scientific publications.  Sheldrake and theoretical physicist David Bohm published a dialogue in 1982 in which they compared Sheldrake's ideas to Bohm's implicate order. In 1997, physicist Hans-Peter Dürr speculated about Sheldrake's work in relation to modern physics.  Following the publication of "A New Science of Life", "New Scientist" sponsored a competition to devise empirical tests for morphic resonance. The winning idea involved learning Turkish nursery rhymes, with psychologist and broadcaster Sue Blackmore's entry involving babies' behaviour coming second. Blackmore found the results did not support morphic resonance.  In 2005, the "Journal of Consciousness Studies" devoted a special issue to Sheldrake's work on the sense of

"A book for burning?".

In September 1981, "Nature" published an editorial about "A New Science of Life" entitled "A book for burning?" Written by the journal's senior editor, John Maddox, the editorial commented: Maddox argued that Sheldrake's hypothesis was not testable or "falsifiable in Popper's sense," referring to the work of philosopher Karl Popper. He said Sheldrake's proposals for testing his hypothesis were "time-consuming, inconclusive in the sense that it will always be possible to account for another morphogenetic field and impractical." In the editorial, Maddox ultimately rejected the suggestion that the book should be burned. Nonetheless, the title of the piece garnered widespread publicity. In a subsequent issue, "Nature" published several letters expressing disapproval of the editorial, including one from physicist Brian Josephson, who criticised Maddox for "a failure to admit even the possibility that genuine physical facts may exist which lie outside the scope of current scientific descriptions."  In 1983, an editorial in

Sheldrake and Steven Rose.

During 1987 and 1988 Sheldrake contributed several pieces to "The Guardian"'s "Body and Soul" column. In one of these, he wrote that the idea that "memories were stored in our brains" was "only a theory" and "despite decades of research, the phenomenon of memory remains mysterious." This provoked a response by Steven Rose, a neuroscientist from the Open University, who criticised Sheldrake for being "a researcher trained in another discipline" (botany) for not "respect[ing] the data collected by neuroscientists before begin[ning] to offer us alternative explanations," and accused Sheldrake of "ignoring or denying" "massive evidence," and arguing that "neuroscience over the past two decades has shown that memories are stored in specific changes in brain cells." Giving an example of experiments on chicks, Rose asserted "egregious errors that Sheldrake makes to bolster his case that demands a new vague but all-embracing theory to resolve."  Sheldrake responded to Rose's article, stating that there was experimental evidence that showed that "memories can survive the destruction of the putative memory traces." Rose responded, asking Sheldrake to "get his facts straight," explaining the research and concluding that "there is no way that this straightforward and impressive body of evidence can be taken to imply that memories are not in

On television.

Sheldrake was the subject of an episode of "Heretics of Science", a six-part documentary series broadcast on BBC2 in 1994. In this episode, John Maddox discussed "A book for burning?," his 1981 "Nature" editorial review of Sheldrake's book, "A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Morphic Resonance". Maddox said that morphic resonance "is not a scientific theory. Sheldrake is putting forward magic instead of science, and that can be condemned with exactly the language that the

Public debates and lectures.

Sheldrake debated with biologist Lewis Wolpert on the existence of telepathy in 2004 at the Royal Society of Arts in London. Sheldrake argued for telepathy while Wolpert argued that telepathy fits Irving Langmuir's definition of pathological science and that the evidence for telepathy has not been persuasive. Reporting on the event, "New Scientist" said "it was clear the audience saw Wolpert as no more than a killjoy. (...) There are sound reasons for doubting Sheldrake's data. One is that some parapsychology experimenters have an uncanny knack of finding the effect they are looking

In popular culture.

Between 1989 and 1999, Sheldrake, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna and mathematician Ralph Abraham recorded a series of discussions exploring diverse topics relating to the "world soul" and evolution. These also resulted in a number of books based on these discussions: "Trialogues at the Edge of the West: Chaos, Creativity and the Resacralization of the World" (1992), "The Evolutionary Mind: Trialogues at the Edge of the Unthinkable" (1998), and "The Evolutionary Mind: Conversations on science, imagination & spirit" (2005). In an interview for the book "Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse", Sheldrake states he believes the use of psychedelic drugs "can reveal a world of consciousness and interconnection" which he says he has experienced.  Sheldrake's work was amongst those cited in a faux research paper written by Alan

Origin and philosophy of morphic resonance.

Among his early influences Sheldrake cites "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (1962) by Thomas Kuhn. Sheldrake says that the book led him to view contemporary scientific understanding of life as simply a paradigm, which he called "the mechanistic theory of life." Reading Kuhn's work, Sheldrake says, focused his mind on how scientific paradigms can change.  Sheldrake says that although there are similarities between morphic resonance and Hinduism's akashic records, he first conceived of the idea while at Cambridge, before his travel to India where he later developed it. He attributes the origin of his morphic resonance idea to two influences: his studies of the holistic tradition in biology, and French philosopher Henri Bergson's book "Matter and Memory". He says that he took Bergson's concept of memories not being materially embedded in the brain and generalised it to morphic resonance, where memories are not only immaterial but also under the influence of the collective past memories of similar organisms. While his colleagues at Cambridge were not receptive to the idea, Sheldrake found the opposite to be true in India. He recounts his Indian colleagues saying, "There's nothing new in this, it was all known millennia ago to the ancient rishis." Sheldrake thus characterises morphic resonance as a convergence between Western and Eastern thought, yet found by himself first in Western philosophy.  Sheldrake has also noted similarities between morphic resonance and Carl Jung's collective unconscious, with regard to collective memories being shared across individuals and the coalescing of particular behaviours through repetition, described by Jung as archetypes. However, whereas Jung assumed that archetypal forms were transmitted through physical inheritance, Sheldrake attributes collective memories to morphic resonance, and rejects any explanation of them involving what he terms "mechanistic biology."  Lewis Wolpert, one of Sheldrake's critics, has described morphic resonance as being an updated Drieschian vitalism.  With Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna: With Matthew Fox: With Kate Banks: With Michael Shermer:

Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author, and researcher in the field of parapsychology, who proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture which lacks mainstream acceptance and has been characterised as pseudoscience. He worked as a biochemist at Cambridge University from 1967 to 1973 and as principal plant physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in India until 1978.

Rupert Sheldrake (né le ), est un auteur parapsychologue anglais. Depuis 1981 ses écrits sont essentiellement centrés sur son concept de.


Novel.

The story was adapted from the novel of Jean-Marc Roberts "Affaires étrangères", which won in 1979 the Prix Renaudot.

Plot.

Louis Coline (Gérard Lanvin) is an executive assistant in a declining Paris department store. While he is not ambitious and has little to do, he is content with his wife Nina (Nathalie Baye), visits to his mother and grandmother and nights out with his friends playing poker. However, the manipulative Bertrand Malair (Michel Piccoli) becomes the store's new manager, and arrives to shake up the company. Louis fears for his job, but Bertrand draws him into his inner circle of confidants. Bertrand starts to control Louis' life, while Louis is afraid of losing his privileged position. To maintain it Louis works overtime, accepts Bertrand's invitations to nightclubs and dinners with an androgynous woman, and places his house at Bertrand's disposal. Nina sees through her husband's behaviour and objects, but Louis cannot refuse Bertrand's demands, and she is unable to make him see how much his personality has changed. Desperate, she leaves her husband, which only draws him further under Bertrand's control. Bertrand soon disappears as mysteriously as he came, and Louis finds himself unable to revert to his previous self.

Awards.

The film won the Louis Delluc Prize and the César Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and it received César nominations for best actor, best supporting actor, best director and best writing. Michel Piccoli won the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival.

Strange Affair () is a 1981 French drama film directed by Pierre Granier-Deferre, and starring Michel Piccoli, Gérard Lanvin and Nathalie Baye.

Une étrange affaire est un film français réalisé par Pierre Granier-Deferre, sorti en 1981, tiré du roman de Jean-Marc Roberts "Affaires étrangères".


Lines.

The station is located at the intersection of:

The station.

History.

The railway reached Abancourt in 1867 when the Nord company built the line between Amiens and Rouen. The station was built approximately 1 km from the town, in the hamlet of Hennicourt. Following test runs, the line entered service on 18 April 1867, with general service trains taking 3 hours 50 minutes to complete the run from Amiens to Rouen, at an average speed of 35 km/h.  The station was enlarged in 1873 when the stretch of line to Longroy-Gamaches (towards Le Tréport-Mers) was opened, and again in 1875 for the Abancourt - Beauvais stretch.  Because of its location at the junction of two lines, as well as arrangements put in place during World War I, the station has approximately ten sidings, in addition to facilities for serving an agricultural silo.

During the Second World War.

Because of its key position in the rail network (between Nord, Picardy, Paris and Le Havre), the German army made use of the Abancourt station. Anti-aircraft railcars were used to protect convoys. The station was bombed multiple times by squadrons of the Royal Air Force.  Reinforced concrete shelters remain in place today beside the sidings.

Today.

The station is served by TER Normandie and TER Hauts-de-France trains on the lines between Beauvais and Le Tréport-Mers and between Rouen and Amiens and Lille.  The line was electrified with 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current on 27 August 1984 (freight lines and branch lines continuing to use diesel), and the restrained permissivity automatic blocking system was installed on the line, offering increasingly less satisfactory service with respect to the growing mixed passenger-goods traffic on the line since the 1990s.  The station is one of the few on the 139 km long line which are still important; according to the SNCF it averaged 95 passengers per operating day in 2003. One of the peculiarities of this line is that goods traffic is far more important than passenger traffic. In 1992-93 8,000 tonnes of freight were transported daily on the line, 60% in the Amiens-Rouen direction. This is explained by the industrial importance of the two regions linked by the line and by the ports of Rouen and Le Havre at the Rouen end. On the other hand, passenger demand is weak but tends to be focussed by the express TER Rouen - Amiens - Arras - Douai - Lille axis.  In 2008 the station underwent renovations as part of a programme of increasing accessibility on the Beauvais - Abancourt stretch of line. The platforms were enhanced and passenger use and information facilities (lighting, signage, shelters, clocks, and ticket machines) were replaced. An audiovisual information system was to be installed in addition. The station approaches and parking facilities were to be modernised.  A TER demand responsive transport service has been put in place to enable residents of Moliens to use the station.

Points of interest.

The station has a manual system of train signage on the platforms which uses sliding metal panels.

Abancourt is a railway station located in the commune of Abancourt in the Oise department, in Picardy, France. It is primarily served by TER Hauts-de-France trains.

La gare d'Abancourt est une gare ferroviaire française de la ligne d'Épinay - Villetaneuse au Tréport - Mers et de la ligne de Saint-Roch à Darnétal-Bifurcation, située sur le territoire de la commune d'Abancourt, dans le département de l'Oise, en région Hauts-de-France.