Poverty in Mexico

Poverty in Mexico deals with the incidence of relative poverty in Mexico and its measurement. It is measured based on social development laws in the country and under parameters such as nutrition, clean water, shelter, education, health care, social security, quality and availability of basic services in households, income and social cohesion. It is divided in two categories: Moderate poverty and Extreme poverty.
Poverty is probably one of the main challenges to overcome for any governmental administration; however, it would be important to understand it more thoroughly to see how complex and extensive it is. There are various types of poverty; which are, on the one hand, poverty "per se", and on the other, extreme poverty.
It is important to mention that According to CONEVAL, institution encharged of measuring poverty in Mexico, to categorize a person with any of these types, we need to analyze not only their monetary income, but also their social lacks, which I will explain below. Six different lacks serve as indicators in terms of measuring poverty, which are educational backwardness, access to health services, access to social security, access to (decent) food, quality of housing spaces, and finally access to basic services in housing (having a roof to live in and access to certain goods and services).
As we can see in the graph, to be poor of any kind, it is enough to have an income below the well-being line (income that is less than food and non-food basic basket), regardless of the amount of social deficiencies that the person has, if any.
On the other hand, there is extreme poverty, as its name indicates, it is the most precarious situation in which a person can be, and this is manifested when the income received by a person is less than the food basket and also has three or more lacks of the previously mentioned.
While less than 2% of Mexico's population lives below the international poverty line set by the World Bank, as of 2013, Mexico's government estimates that 33% of Mexico's population lives in moderate poverty and 9% lives in extreme poverty, which leads to 42% of Mexico's total population living below the national poverty line. The extreme gap is explained by the government's adoption of the multidimensional poverty method as a way to measure poverty, which outlines that a person with an income above the "international poverty line" or "well being income line", set by the Mexican government, falls in the "moderate poverty" category if he or she has one or more deficiencies related to social rights such as education (did not complete studies), nutrition (malnutrition or obesity), or living standards (access to elemental services such as water or electricity, and secondary domestic assets, such as refrigerators). Extreme poverty is defined by the Mexican government as deficiencies in both social rights and incomes lower than the "well being income line". Additional figures from SEDESOL (Mexico's social development agency) estimate that 6% of the population (7.4 million people) lives in extreme poverty and suffers from food insecurity.
The high numbers of poverty in the country, despite Mexico's positive potential is a recurrent topic of discussion among professionals. Some economists have speculated that in four more decades of continuous economic growth, even with emigration and violence, Mexico will be among the five biggest economies in the world, along with China, the United States, Japan, and India.
Recently, extensive changes in government economic policy and attempts at reducing government interference through privatization of several sectors, allowed Mexico to remain the biggest economy in Latin America up until 2005 when it became the second-largest. Despite these changes, Mexico continues to suffer great social inequality and lack of opportunities. The previous administration made an attempt at reducing poverty in the country by providing more professional and educational opportunities to its citizens, as well as establishing a universal healthcare.
Background.
Mexico's unequal development between the richer urban zones and the considerably poorer rural zones have been attributed to the fast economic growth that took place during the so-called Mexican miracle, the period in which Mexican economy transitioned from an agricultural economy to an industrial one. This led many people to relocate to the cities. Even though investments were pouring into urban infrastructure, the government couldn't accommodate the rapid influx of people, which led to the development of slums in the outskirts of many Mexican cities. The constant government corruption is another factor to which poverty is frequently attributed. Only in recent years, after various economic setbacks, Mexico has recovered to a level where the middle class, once virtually nonexistent, is beginning to flourish.
Social stratification, still greatly present in Mexico, can be traced back to the country's origin. In the Colonial Period, before its independence, the upper class was composed of those who owned the land and the lower class was made of those who worked the land. After the Mexican Revolution, the government ceded an estimated 50 percent of the land to the general population, covering a small portion of the gap between the wealthy and the poor. Land ownership continued to be the main source of wealth for Mexicans and has dictated the hierarchy of wealth distribution amongst the population. After the country entered its economic industrial transformation, industrialists, businessmen, and politicians have controlled the direction of wealth in Mexico and have remained among the wealthy.
The average individual gross annual income in Mexico in 2002 was US$6,879.37 (2010 dollars). 12.3 percent of the Mexican labor force earns the daily minimum wage or MX$1,343.28 per month (approx. US$111.94 November 2010 exchange rates). 20.5 of the labor force earns twice the minimum wage and 21.4 percent earns up to three times the daily minimum wage while 18.6 earn no more than five daily minimum wages. Only 11.8 percent of the working population earn wages equal or above MX$6,716.40 (US$559.70) per month. According to Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Poverty Manager for Latin America, Mexico has made considerable strides in poverty reduction since the late 1990s, with performance above the Latin American average. Saavedra explained that: "Between 2000 and 2004, extreme poverty fell almost seven percentage points, which can be explained by development in rural areas, where extreme poverty fell from 42.4 per cent to 27.9 per cent. The urban poverty rate, however, got stuck at 11.3 per cent."
Government involvements.
Social development began to take place in the form of written policy in the early 1900s. The Mexican Constitution, approved in 1917, outlined the basic social protections citizens are entitled to, including the right to property, education, health care, and employment; and it establishes the federal government responsible for the execution and enforcement of these protections.
The global economic crisis of the late 1920s and forward slowed down any possibility of social development in the country. Between the 1920s and the 1940s the illiteracy levels range between 61.5 and 58 percent, due this the government focused on establishing social protection institutions. By the late 1950s, 59 percent of the population knew how to read and write. In the 2000s only 9.5 percent of the population older than 15 years was illiterated. By the 1960s, individual involvement of some states to increase social development, along with the country's economic growth, as well as employment opportunities and greater income, and the migration of people from the rural states to the urban areas, helped reduced poverty nationwide. The 1970s and 1980s saw the transformation of government and economic policies. The government gave way to flexible foreign trade, deregulation and privatization of several sectors. After the economic crisis of the 1990s, Mexico recovered to become an emerging economic power; however, the number of poor nationwide has remained constant even with the country's overall growth.
Regional variation.
Historically, southern states like Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Guerrero have remained segregated from the rest of the country. Their implementation of infrastructure, social development, education, and economic growth has been poorly accounted for. These states hold the highest levels of illiteracy, unemployment, lack of basic services such as running water and sanitation, overall urban infrastructure, and government establishment. As citizens of the least fortunate states have noticed growth and improvements in other states, many have simply left seeking better opportunities.
Causes of poverty.
The reasons for poverty in Mexico are complex and widely extensive. There is an agreement that a combination of uneven distribution of wealth and resources sponsored by economic and political agendas to favor the rich and powerful is a major contributor to the millions left behind.
Individual condition.
In the economic sense, access to insufficient monetary means to afford goods and services becomes the immediate reason to be poor. Because a person's personal income dictates what he or she can afford and what he or she will remain deprived of, the first common cause of poverty is the "individual condition". This means, a person's individual circumstances and possibilities create their opportunity for access to goods and services. This condition is triggered by a person's income, education, training or work experience, social network, age, health, and other socio-economic factors:
As population has grown, the number of students enrolled in schools throughout the country has grown tremendously since the 1950s. At the same time, government efforts to accommodate the growing student population, improving the quality of instruction and promoting prevalent school attendance has not been enough and therefore education has not remained among priorities for families who must struggle with poverty. 700,000 students grades 1-9 dropped out of school in 2009 in all of Mexico. 7.9 percent (almost 9 million) of the population is illiterate. 73% of Mexican households have at least one member without education or education below the 7th grade. 40 percent of people in the states of Chiapas, Veracruz, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and Guerrero have education below the 7th grade.
It is difficult to speak of progress anywhere, with such alarming educational lag figures, Mexico has been fighting for years against teacher unions that ask for a lot and give a little in return, that is why the quality of public education is far below of what it should be. It is difficult to access public education, and not very efficient. This is a serious problem because a low-quality early education translates into a poor human development index (HDI), which in turn shows low achievement and no expectations of personal and professional growth in the future, which generates the famous poverty trap.
Getting an education does not immediately translate to landing better paying jobs or overcoming underemployment in Mexico: According to data compiled by the Civic Observatory for Education, fewer than 20% of recent graduates manage to find an appropriate position during their first round of job-hunting. Although the country has made great strides in education and professional training, the absence of a serious employment policy means that economic expansion is sacrificed so that higher prices can be avoided. That exerts a negative impact on the labor market in both the short and medium term, and on new professionals most of all. Situations like this have caused the standard of living among the urban middle class to deteriorate and as a consequence brings on emigration from this sector to other countries, mainly the United States and Canada. Mexico has an extensive infrastructure of informal economics, which further complicates the measurement of unemployment, as people involved in these jobs are not considered unemployed, while not being officially employed either (ex. housemaids, street sellers, artisans). It is estimated that 59% of the jobs in the country belong to the informal economy.
Although Mexico's birth rate has been dropping steadily since the 1968, its population growth still exceeds its ability to pull people out of abject poverty. Contraception is widely used, despite it being a hot-button political and religious issue. Contraception is provided through a government-sponsored program called Mexfam. The average life expectancy has drastically increased from 60.52 years in 1968, to 77.14 years in 2012. Rural areas still have the highest birth rates and poverty rates in Mexico, with indigenous populations topping the list.
Mexico does not promote equal opportunity employment despite established laws forbidding most socially-recognized forms of discrimination. The government doesn't become sufficiently involved to promote opportunities to all citizens; including reducing discrimination against middle-age and elder citizens. Over a million of the unemployed face age discrimination and 55% of all unemployed face some form of discrimination when seeking employment. There are virtually no opportunities for individuals with special requirements such as the disabled. As job seekers become older, it is harder for them to get employed as employers tend to seek candidates within the "younger than 35 range". Social security (IMSS) is insufficient and there is a huge gap in proportion to the entire population (50% covered), the work force (30% covered), and the retired (33% covered). There is no unemployment insurance in Mexico.
Insufficient infrastructure.
Mexico is a country where investment on infrastructure has remained as unequally distributed as income, especially in rural areas and in the southern states. Because many people establish in rural areas, without government permission, and without paying property taxes, the government does not make significant efforts to invest in overall infrastructure of the entire country, yet it has started to do so until the 1990s. Communities often face a combination of unpaved roads, lack of electricity and potable water, improper sanitation, poorly maintained schools, vandalism and crime, and lack of social development programs. The government did not begin to focus on improving and modernizing the federal highway system up until two decades ago when it was composed of two-lane roads; often deathtraps and the scenarios of head-on collisions between truckers and families on vacation. City and state governments often face challenges providing citizens who live on informal commerce with the basic services of urbanized life. To worsen the problem the housing laws often vary greatly from one state to another, with the state of Hidalgo having no housing laws at all. Because of this, higher income communities will invest in the development of their own communities while lower income communities might be deprived of the basics such as running water and drainage in various cases.
The concentration of poverty and distribution of wealth and opportunities is clearly visible from a geographic perspective. The northern region of the country offers higher development while the southern states are the most impoverished. This is clearly the result of states equipped with better infrastructure that others. The states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Guerrero are among the least developed in the country. These states hold the highest numbers of indigenous population. As a result, 75 percent of the indigenous population lives on moderate poverty line and 39 percent of these under extreme poverty.
Unemployment.
Unemployment in Mexico has been continuous. In 2009, the unemployment rate was estimated at 5.5 percent (over 2.5 million). Although that figure is far below the unemployment indexes in the rest of Latin America, the European Union, the United States and much of Asia, Mexico faces a serious problem generating jobs. In spite of splendid macroeconomic indicators that currently exist: continuing low levels of inflation and stability in the nation's currency exchange rate; a sufficient number of formal jobs- at least one million every year to keep up with the growing population- have not been created in over ten years. With the abundance of natural resources in the country- as well as its petroleum wealth, these benefits don't seem to reach many of the people of Mexico who lack job opportunities and the means to raise their standards of living out of poverty and marginalization.
In order to improve present day employment opportunities in Mexico, existing laws and regulations must be replaced for efficient instruments with greater legal certainty; encourage private investment; increase the collection of taxes; stimulate the productivity of businesses and the training of workers; and create more and better jobs.
Mexico's wealth is unevenly distributed among its people where 10 percent of nation's wealthiest have 42.2 percent of all income and 10 percent of the nation's poorest have 1.3 of the remaining income. Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico and one of the richest in the world, has a personal fortune equal to 4 to 6 percent of the country's GDP. In spite of efforts by government officials during the past three administrations; transition to globalization, the NAFTA agreement; Mexico has been unable to create efficient public policies in order to compensate for the distortion of its market and the poor distribution of national income.
The absence of basic agreements among Mexico's main political parties for more than ten years has caused a serious backwardness in needed legislation in a number of areas. The current economic framework needs adjustment on virtually all levels including business development opportunities, fair competition, tax collection and tax law; commerce, trade and finance regulations.
The Mexican economy does not support unprivileged businesses, considering its current standards regarding monopolies, both in the public and private sectors. By law, there are public monopolies: government-owned companies controlling oil and gas, electricity, water, etc. Private sector monopolies and duopolies are found in the media, television, telecommunications, and raw materials. For this reason, clear principles of competitiveness that offer incentives to private investment, both national and foreign, are needed in order for jobs to be created.
Government and politics.
Mexico's rampant poverty lagged social development and general public welfare is strongly tied to its politics. Historically, the political system of Mexico has not favored the general population, mainly because it focused to become and be a single-party system of government, largely dubbed "institutionalized" where those in charge had a one-voice, unquestionable plan of action mainly focused to favor the few "elite" while ignoring the welfare of the rest of population. From the 1800s to the end of the 20th century, as presidential administration came and went, the forms of government has been described as authoritarian, semi-democracy, centralized government, untouchable presidencies, mass-controlling, corporatist and elite-controlled. As each administration took turn, some changes have occurred, sometimes as to contribute to the welfare of the least fortunate but, overall, the political framework behind the economic and social structure of the country continues to be the greatest contributor to inequality.
While the NAFTA agreement proved effective in increasing Mexico's economic performance, foreign trade policies have been heavily criticized by activists such as Michael Moore (in Awful Truth) as not doing enough to promote social advancement and reducing poverty. To remain competitive in the international market, Mexico has had to offer low wages to its workers while allowing high returns and generous concessions to international corporations. The words ""palancas" and "favores" are part of Mexican economic culture where high-ranking policy makers and private entrepreneurs are accused of promoting their own bottom line while ignoring the necessaries of the working class.
Current recessionary trends in the United States have an even greater impact on Mexico because of the great economic dependence on the northern neighbor. After crude oil export sales, remittances sent home by Mexicans working in the United States are Mexico's second largest source of foreign income.
Administration after administration, economic policies and social development programs have been targeted at decreasing poverty and increasing development in the country. Even with the best of intentions, friction between the "special interests"" of decision-makers and the general public welfare, makes it difficult for clear goals in the benefit of the public to be accomplished.
Cancun is an example of where the government have failed to promote general welfare and unequal distribution of wealth. While known for its crispy white beaches, fancy hotels of international renown, and spring break; Cancun shows a notorious economical inequality between the touristic urban zones, and its more rural outskirts, where in various cases, the poorest neighborhoods lack one or more basic services.
The lack of political transparency in Mexico has led to bureaucratic corruption, market inefficiencies, and income inequalities. The ability to exercise civil rights has been increasingly displaced by the control of official authorities, including access to vital information that can capture the misappropriation and mis-allocation of funds, and public participation in state and municipal-level decision-making. This opens up a channel for corruption. Evidence of this can be derived from the Corruption Perception Index 2010: Mexico received a low score of 3.1, on a scale of 0 to 10 (lower scores represent higher levels of corruption). The result is a diffusion of corruption, from the state to the municipal level, and even right down to local security.
While it can be difficult to quantify the costs of corruption with pinpoint accuracy, a report from the UN estimates that the cost is about 15 percent of Mexico's GNP, and 9 percent of its GDP. Such higher costs have adversely affected the growth of the economy, for instance deterring foreign investments due to uncertainty and risk. A study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers reveals that Mexico had lost $8.5 billion in foreign direct investments in 1999 due to corruption. Business companies admit to spend as much as 10 percent of their revenue in "bureaucratic bribes". 39 percent is spent on bribing high-ranking policy makers and 61 percent on lower-ranking bureaucratic-administrative office holders. At least 30 percent of all public spending ends up in the pockets of the corrupt.
Even the domestic impact of corruption is no less severe, incurring additional expenses on firms and households. A family on average pays 109.50 pesos as bribes to authorities; households have also reported paying up to 6.9 percent of their income as bribes. In total, the cost of corruption in terms of GDP was estimated to be about $550bn in 2000.
The situation is still problematic in spite of recent initiatives by the state to become more transparent to the public. Over the years, there has been an effort by the government to reduce opacity, but even so, these initiatives often do not realize their full potential. In June 2003, under Vincente Fox's presidency, the implementation of the Federal Law of Transparency and Access to Public Government Information (IFAI) offered civic organizations and members of the public to acquire previously undisclosed information. This reform has led to the exposure of previous under-the-radar activities, such as the government's misappropriation of 200 million pesos that was intended to combat AIDS. And yet, censorship is still prevalent: in 2008, changes were proposed to increase the subjugation of IFAI's decisions to state control, so that the distribution of information would become more centralized. A number of vertical subversions were also carried out at the time, including the merging of offices that handled information requests with less important agencies. This violated the earlier progressive changes to the constitution, including Article 6, so that transparency was threatened.
Opacity is therefore a major player as a determinant of inequality, especially in effecting the welfare of lower-class households. When resources are misallocated and official funds pocketed by illegitimate parties, the true quality of public services such as healthcare tend to be lower than expected; similarly, the secrecy of the government's budget allocation prevents public scrutiny, so it is difficult to establish financial accountability. As well, from a broader perspective, vital infrastructure from projects, especially those aimed at facilitating social mobility, will also have to deal with the potential impediments caused by the overpricing effect and unnecessary risks of corruption, thereby reducing the accessibility of infrastructure for the poor, especially in rural areas where such infrastructure is less established than in urban areas.
Government and politics (social programs).
Mexico is a country that has significantly improved in various areas such as access to health, education, life expectancy, GDP, level of exports abroad, infrastructure, labor productivity, among others. But it should also be noted that the distribution of income has become increasingly unequal; which is a serious problem because the misallocation and generation of resources inhibits economic competition in societies, leaving important groups of the population without the possibility of really competing in the economic sphere, which is one of the main obstacles to defeat and eradicate poverty of any kind.
The first time that a social program of collective and voluntary cooperation was launched was under the mandate of Carlos Salinas de Gortari and it was known as the National Solidarity Program (PRONASOL), this had as its main banner to combat conditions of extreme poverty and meet their basic needs, this program sought to foster cooperation through unpaid effort.
In other words, the government provided goods and inputs to citizens, so that through their efforts and work, they would create the necessary conditions to progress and get out, with government help, from the condition of poverty. At the beginning, this program was highly questioned due to its clientelist utility. For example, there is a record that in the places where it entered with the greatest rigor and resources was in those localities in which the electoral results did not favor that president.
PRONASOL covered different axes among which were the immediate improvement in living standards, in which the government gave direct government transfers to beneficiaries; solidarity for production, in which employment opportunities and development of productive capacities and resources were offered (investing, generating and developing human capital); solidarity for regional development, where infrastructure works of regional impact were built and development programs were carried out in specific regions (generating infrastructure by regions, employing local people).
This innovative social program achieved a downward conception of poverty rates in the country, and it was also considered a pioneer in the field to such a degree that different countries in Latin America adopted it as the main social policy against poverty. PRONASOL was very well received by Mexican society because it allowed them to observe results and perceive an economic improvement in the very short term, since it was based on a huge amount of government direct transfers.
Also, its success was based on the improvement and development of human capital; this was evident when, for example, in rural communities the government gave away corn or different seeds so that people (laborers and farmers) could work them and obtain financial and personal benefits from them; Another example is the provision of construction material for people with limited resources, to build a decent home, or if it already exists, to improve it.
It is important to note that before 2000, there wasn't an official measurement of poverty in Mexico, so it is not possible to speak of concrete figures on poverty prior to this year (all were approximations). It is known that given the distribution of money and direct government transfers to the people benefited by these programs, the situation of many improved, but we do not know for sure aggregate figures. After this year, during 2001 and 2002, SEDESOL produced the first official income-based poverty measurement.
It was not until the end of 2005 that CONEVAL was created, with the main task of measuring poverty, a mission that it carried out on a specific basis until 2009.
Reducing poverty.
Poverty aid organizations and social development groups have remained active in Mexico. Despite foreign and national aid programs in the country, the overall level of poverty in the country prevails.
Concerning the last two six-year terms of Mexican former presidents, it is important to highlight that the poverty figures were slowly decreasing. For example, according to CONEVAL numbers, in 2010 46.1% of the Mexican population was poor, however in the years up to 2016 this figure dropped to 43.6%.
In addition, during that time 3 million Mexicans were removed from extreme poverty, having gone from 11.3% of Mexicans living in extreme poverty to 7%. One of the main criticisms made of the previous six-year term is that it did indeed reduce the number of people in extreme poverty, but the number of people in moderate poverty increased in a greater proportion.
A public policy to combat the lack of food was the community kitchens implemented during the administration of Enrique Peña Nieto, which succeeded in decreasing food poverty levels.
The community kitchens program sought to improve the nutritional conditions of the population regarding boys and girls from 1 to 11 years of age, pregnant and lactating women, people with disabilities and adults over 65 years of age.
Transparency Collective.
The Transparency Collective, or El Colectivo por la Transparencia in Spanish, is a non-governmental collective organization that advocates transparency in Mexico. It was first formed by six civil society organizations in 2002 to demand for greater transparency from state agencies, and the right to access information. Currently, it consists of eleven civil society groups with the common goal of strengthening democracy and raising accountability and the transparency of the state. The Transparency Collective offers an avenue for locals to seek help in obtaining the right to information by offering manuals and online tutorials teaching the locals how to file a request for information. It also discusses topics like human rights, the legislature and government budgets so that locals will be more informed and aware of their rights. For example, Fundar, an NGO which specializes in government budget analysis, runs workshops to educate the public on disseminating information released by government agencies.
The Transparency Collective has also been working with IFAI (Federal Institute of Access to Information). The civil society was productively engaged in the reform of the constitution. For example, CIDE, an academic focusing on public policy, worked at state level helping states comply with the reform. Fundar also focused on evaluating government responses to information requests, the appeals process and on training groups to analyze information released by the government.
Despite the organizational size of the Transparency Collective, collectivization has nonetheless been an important factor in its effectiveness. The collective call for greater transparency was one of the reasons for the comprehensive reform of Article 6 of the Mexican constitution in 2007, which heralded a new level of progression for Mexico's right-to-know movement. The reforms guaranteed the public's rights to non-confidential information at all levels of the government. State transparency laws also had to be standardized around certain basic principles within a year, and states had to implement electronic information systems.
However, in spite of this, there is still a considerable way to go to achieve full transparency. The 2008 constitutional amendments, and interference of the judiciary branch with the demanded disclosure of tax information, threatened the FOI laws that were previously established. Nevertheless, this movement has been met with fierce protests from civil society groups, and the Collective continues to appeal to the government to allow for more civil participation.
Demographics.
World comparison.
"*The next comparisons are done between national poverty lines, meaning that each country has a different criteria to set its poverty line, for a comparison among countries under the same criteria see International poverty line"
Poverty and indigenous communities.
Indigenous communities suffer particularly from poverty, causing them to be marginalized from society. Although "local and federal governments implemented social protection programs so as to alleviate poverty conditions and interregional disparities, in general, conditions for indigenous people remain unchanged," (Gonzales cited World Bank, 2005). Studies have shown that ethnicity is an important cause for inequality in income distribution, access to basic health care services and education, which in turn explain the significant difference in earnings between indigenous and non-indigenous people. According to the World Bank, about three-quarters of indigenous peoples in Mexico are poor and the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous groups is very high; the difference in poverty has been divided into explained and unexplained components. The explained components are "the amount of the gap attributed to observable characteristics such as education, age, occupation, region of residence and so on," (World Bank, 2005) which account for three quarters of poverty. The unexplained components are related to the level of discrimination and explain a quarter of the poverty. Indigenous people in Mexico are faced to significant disadvantages in economic and social outcomes and although discrimination against them appears to be decreasing, the government needs to improve education and government services to reduce the poverty gap. Based on their research, the World Bank suggests the promotion of equal health care access for indigenous peoples "though the implementation of a head start program that focuses on maternal and child health issues," (World Bank, 2005) as well as improving "data collection efforts related to identifying indigenous populations," (World Bank, 2005) to better monitor progress over time.


Blastus

According to the Bible, Blastus was the chamberlain of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:20), a mediator for the Sidonians and Tyrians, and was believed to be involved in the events that led to Herod's death.
Biblical account.
According to Acts 12:20, Herod was displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and forbade the export of food to them. As they were dependent on delivery of food from Judea, and Judea was affected by famine, the Sidonians and Tyrians made Blastus "their friend" (possibly through bribery ). Blastus helped them obtain an audience with Herod.
Acts 12:23 states that Herod was struck dead by God when the people of Sidon and Tyre offered him worship.
Other contemporary accounts.
The story of Herod's death is somewhat corroborated by the contemporary historian Josephus. However, Josephus does not mention any involvement of Blastus.


Calgary Forest Lawn

Calgary Forest Lawn is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015.
Calgary Forest Lawn was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, scheduled for October 2015. It was created out of parts of the electoral districts of Calgary East and Calgary Northeast.
It is named after the Calgary neighbourhood of Forest Lawn.
Demographics.
Ethnic groups: 47.4% White, 11.0% South Asian, 7.9% Filipino, 6.7% Southeast Asian, 6.1% Black, 5.2% Chinese, 5.0% Arab, 5.0% Indigenous, 2.6% Latino, 3.1% Other
Languages: 59.1% English, 5.2% Vietnamese, 4.7% Chinese, 4.7% Tagalog, 4.6% Punjabi, 3.8% Arabic, 2.6% Spanish, 1.5% Urdu, 1.4% French, 12.4% Other
Religions: 49.6% Christian, 11.6% Muslim, 6.0% Buddhist, 4.7% Sikh, 2.2% Hindu, 0.7% Other, 25.2% None
Median income: $27,331 (2010)
Average income: $33,458 (2010)
Members of Parliament.
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:
The seat became vacant on August 2, 2019 with the death of Deepak Obhrai. Since the vacancy occurred less than nine months before the fixed-date general election of October 21, 2019, no by-election will be held.


Solomon Islands dollar

The Solomon Islands dollar (ISO 4217 code: "SBD") is the currency of Solomon Islands since 1977. Its symbol is "$", with "SI$" used to differentiate it from other currencies also using the dollar sign. It is subdivided into 100 cents.
History.
Prior to the Solomon Islands Dollar, Solomon Islands used the Australian pound sterling. However, the Solomon Islands had also issued its own banknotes, sometimes called the Solomon Islands pound.
When the Solomon Islands fell under the control of Imperial Japan during the Second World War, the Oceanian pound, a so-called "Japanese Invasion Currency", became the official currency until after the war ended and the Pound was restored.
In 1966 the Australian dollar replaced the pound and was circulated in the Solomon Islands until 1976, shortly before independence.
The Solomon Islands dollar was introduced in 1977, replacing the Australian dollar at par, following independence. Until 1979, the two dollars remained equal, then for five months the SI$ was pegged at SI$1.05 = A$1, and later floated. Economic stagnation ensued, so over the next 28 years, and especially during the civil war of 2000–2003, inflationary pressure reduced the Solomon Islands dollar to be worth 15 Australian cents.
In 2008, due to the low valuation in the currency, many Islanders took to hoarding coins and giving them to children as souvenirs, causing a coin shortage. Some more traditional monetary forms, such as dolphin teeth, have in a few areas taken the place of coins. A public awareness campaign was launched to encourage people to cash in excess coins at the bank to help alleviate the shortfall.
Coins.
In 1977, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cents and 1 dollar. The cent coins were all the same sizes, weights, and compositions as the corresponding Australian coins, with the 1 dollar an equilaterally curved seven-sided coin minted in cupro-nickel. The reverse of each of the six original coins depicts the image of an item or symbol important to native culture, with the most notable being the 10 cent piece depicting Ngoreru, a local sea god from the Temoto region.
In 1985 bronze-plated steel replaced bronze in the 1 and 2 cents, with nickel-clad steel replacing cupro-nickel in the 20 cents in 1989, and the 5 and 10 cents in 1990. 1988 saw the introduction of 50-cent coins, which were dodecagonal (twelve-sided) and minted in cupro-nickel. The 1988 50-cent was a commemorative piece celebrating the tenth anniversary of independence. Later issues simply depict the national crest. The 50-cent and 1 dollar went to nickel-clad steel in 2008.
With a high national inflation rate, the low-value 1 and 2-cent coins fell out of use, with prices rounded off to the nearest 5 cents instead.
Second coin series.
In 2012 new, smaller coins were introduced in denominations 10, 20, and 50 cents in nickel-plated steel and brass 1, and 2 dollar coins. The minting of the older coins had become too costly, with most of them being more expensive to produce than they were worth. Like the previous issue, these coins were minted by the Royal Australian Mint. The 2 dollar coin replaced the banknote while the 1, 2, and 5 cent coins were discontinued for having face value too low for production or practical use. Most notably, the 1 and 2 dollar coins have a close similarity to the 1 and 2 dollar coins of Australia being of nearly the same thickness, color, and circumference. The interrupted reeding on the edges are also identical to that of their Australian counterparts, however the metallurgical compositions and weights are slightly different and respective denominations are on the opposite sizes.
All the coins of Solomon Islands currently bear the portrait of the country's head of state, Elizabeth II, Queen of Solomon Islands.
Banknotes.
On 24 October 1977 banknotes were introduced in denominations of 2, 5 and 10 dollars, with 20-dollar notes added on 24 October 1980. The first issues of banknotes depicted Queen Elizabeth II. However, all series issued later had the national crest instead. 50-dollar notes were introduced in 1986, followed by 100-dollar notes in 2006. A polymer two-dollar banknote was issued in 2001 to replace the cotton fibre issue, but the banknote reverted to cotton in the 2006 series.
The 2006 series also saw several new security features, including brighter background colours, a micro-printed holofoil on the 50- and 100-dollar notes, a tapered serial number, and a security thread woven through the note. On 26 September 2013 the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands issued a new 50-dollar note with hybrid security features by printers De La Rue, and announced it to be the first of a series of new banknotes over the course of five years as older notes wore out.
All of the notes depict scenes of traditional daily life and things that are culturally important in the islands, with each note pertaining to a particular theme.
All banknotes are issued by the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.


Carol S. Bruch

Carol Sophie Bruch (born June 11, 1941) is an American legal scholar and professor emerita of the law school at the University of California, Davis. A recognized authority on family marital property law, and private international law, she has influenced and worked on the drafting of family law statutes in California and other US states, and also international agreements. She holds a JD from UC Berkeley School of Law and an AB from Shimer College.
Early life and education.
Bruch was born into a highly educated family in the small town of Winnebago, Illinois, near Rockford; she was the second of four children. Her mother, Margarete Willstätter Bruch, Ph.D., (1906-1964), was a chemical physicist and the daughter of Nobel laureate Richard Willstätter. Her father, Dr. Ernest Bruch (1905-1974), was a physician and director of nuclear medicine at Rockford's St. Anthony Hospital, Her parents had emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1930s as Germany became increasingly inhospitable.
In 1957, at age 16, Bruch entered Shimer College through the school's early entrance program. The program, established in 1950 under Ford Foundation support and still operating today, allows students to enter college after completing the 10th or 11th grade. Excelling in her studies, Bruch was a member of the college honor society. Her fellow honor students at Shimer, which then enrolled approximately 200 students, included future international relations scholars Alan Dowty and Robert Keohane.
As part of the experimental Great Books curriculum it shared with the University of Chicago, Shimer made extensive use of placement tests. Through these tests, Bruch acquired a total of 24 credits toward graduation before taking a class, and was therefore able to graduate after only three years.
Bruch received her A.B. degree on June 5, 1960, at age 18. Six days after graduating from Shimer, Bruch married Jack Myers. They had two children together. Bruch taught elementary school for a time in Madagascar, when her husband was working there.
After her young child started school, Bruch enrolled at the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where she received her JD in 1972.
 She was an editor of the California Law Review, and also authored an article on the conflict of laws, which has remained an area of focus throughout her career. During law school, Bruch's honors included a Selected Professions Fellowship from the American Association of University Women After graduation, she clerked for Justice William O. Douglas on the United States Supreme Court in the same term as Janet Meik Wright. Bruch was the fourth woman to hold a Supreme Court clerkship, and the first who was a mother.
Eighteen months after her law school graduation in June 1972, Bruch and her husband divorced. She has credited the experiences of both married and single parenthood with informing her life's work in family law.
Legal and academic career.
Bruch joined the faculty of the UC Davis School of Law in 1975, where she would remain throughout her career. She taught in the fields of Family Law, Marital Property Law, the conflict of laws (private and international) and Contract Law. In 1975, Bruch prepared a casebook for the study of child law entitled "Cases and Materials on Children and the Law", which she revised in 1976. Starting in 1976 she began to draft California legislation on family law issues, many in her individual capacity, and some as a consultant for the California Law Revision Commission. She taught or was a visiting scholar at law schools around the world and was a long-time board member and editor in comparative law circles.
Bruch has authored influential amicus briefs in two key California Supreme Court family law cases. The first of these was "Marvin v. Marvin", which laid the groundwork for modern California non-marital cohabitation law; an expanded version of this has been frequently reprinted. The second was "In re Marriage of Burgess", a 1996 case that established key precedents on child custody law in cases of parental relocation. The court cited and adopted elements of her reasoning in both cases.
Not limiting her academic work to the field of law, from 1995 to 2001, Bruch chaired an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in human development at UC Davis. Bruch was given the position of "Research Professor of Law" in 2001, which she continues to hold as of 2012. She was named Distinguished Professor Emerita in 2005.
Parental alienation syndrome.
Bruch is most widely known for her 2001 paper challenging the use of Richard A. Gardner's parental alienation syndrome (PAS) theory in child custody cases. She published an expanded version of this in 2002. Taking what has often been characterized as a feminist or child advocate position, Bruch argued that PAS theory was used disproportionately to the disadvantage of mothers and children in child custody cases, and that in practice it was geared to discredit accusations of sexual abuse:
Although Dr Gardner sometimes states that his analysis does not apply to cases of actual abuse, the focus of his attention is directed at discerning whether the beloved parent and child are lying, not whether the target parent is untruthful or has behaved in a way that might explain the child’s aversion.
She also criticized Gardner's excessive reliance on his own non-peer-reviewed findings. A rejoinder by Gardner was published on his website in both English and German. Bruch responded in turn with rebuttals in both English and German.
Bruch's writings, and those of other critics of PAS, have received considerable pushback from defenders of PAS, with claims including that Bruch and other critics misunderstood the theory itself, misrepresented the theory's practical application, failed to account for the full range of research findings, or unfairly disparaged Gardner himself. The doubts cast on PAS by Bruch's work and others have however proven influential, with the theory receiving an increasingly skeptical treatment by the courts and being rejected for inclusion in the DSM-V. A 2009 survey of practitioners found that few considered PAS to be admissible as evidence. PAS remains the subject of lively legal and scholarly dispute, with Bruch's paper still frequently cited.
Honors and public service.
In 1989, Bruch served as a member of the U.S. government's delegation to an Organization of American States diplomatic session that drafted Inter-American Conventions. In the same year, she joined the Advisory Committee on Private International Law to the US Secretary of State as the representative of the Association of American Law Schools, continuing to serve in that capacity until 2008. In recognition of this, her amicus briefs and her extensive pro bono legislative work, she was granted the first "Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award" of the UC Davis Academic Senate in 1990.
Bruch was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Basel in 2000, in recognition of her scholarship and activism on behalf of children.


United Nations Security Council Resolution 454

United Nations Security Council resolution 454, adopted on 2 November 1979, after hearing representations from the People's Republic of Angola, the Council recalled resolutions 387 (1976) and 447 (1979), noting its concern and condemned the continuing attacks on the country by South Africa through illegally-occupied South West Africa.
The Council demanded South Africa cease the attacks and respect Angola's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also called upon South Africa to cease using the territory of South West Africa to launch attacks against Angola and other African states. The resolution requested that Member States offer immediate assistance to Angola in order to strengthen its defence capabilities.
The resolution was approved by 12 votes to none; France, the United Kingdom and United States abstained.


United Nations Security Council Resolution 577

United Nations Security Council resolution 577, adopted unanimously on 6 December 1985, after reaffirming Resolution 571 (1985), the Council endorsed a report by the Security Council Commission of Investigation, condemning the regime in South Africa for its continued and unprovoked attacks against the People's Republic of Angola through the occupied territory of South West Africa.
The resolution demanded South Africa withdraw its troops from Angolan territory and to respect the sovereignty of Angola. The Council reaffirmed the right of Angola to claim compensation for the attacks due to the loss of life and damage to property. It also, once again, urgently requested Member States and international organisations assist in the reconstruction of economic infrastructure in Angola.
Finally, the Council required the Secretary-General to submit a report on the implementation of the current resolution no later than 30 June 1986.


Coquitlam-Moody

Coquitlam-Moody was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1979 to 1986. Its predecessor riding was Coquitlam and its successor was the Coquitlam-Maillardville riding.
For other Greater Vancouver area ridings please see New Westminster (electoral districts) and/or Vancouver (electoral districts).
Electoral history.
"Note: Winners in each election are in" bold.
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|20,629
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|223
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|28,407
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|267
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|30,618
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|364
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
Sources.
Elections BC Historical Returns


Cape Field Artillery


Poor No More

Poor No More is a 2010 documentary film directed by Canadian filmmakers Bert Deveaux and Suzanne Babin. The executive producer is David Langille. Hosted by Canadian actor and comedian Mary Walsh, the film is set at the height of the late 2000s recession and looks at solutions for Canada's working poor. The film follows two working Canadians and Mary Walsh to Ireland and then to Sweden, where they take a closer look at how the Nordic Model has affected living standards for the Swedish.
The characters are Durval Terceira and Liquor Control Board of Ontario employee Vicki Baier. Each compares their standard of living in Canada with the standard of living for the Swedes and Irish. The film discusses Canada's need for better social services in regards to unemployment insurance, universal health care, pensions, and full-time union-protected jobs. Poor No More shows how, in Sweden, the labour movement works hand-in-hand with corporate entities to ensure a stronger social safety net offering universal child care, and income and training systems for the unemployed.
A rough cut sneak preview of Poor No More was screened in several provinces as part of the first Canadian Labour International Film Festival (CLIFF), held in November 2009.


Oromocto (electoral district)

Oromocto was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada.
The district was created in 1973 from the old multi-member district of Sunbury, taking in the Town of Oromocto, CFB Gagetown and immediate surrounding areas. In 1994 its boundaries were considerably expanded, taking in larger parts of Sunbury County and parts of Queens County and it was renamed Oromocto-Gagetown (in recognition of the Village of Gagetown, not the Canadian Forces Base known as CFB Gagetown). In 2006, its boundaries were changed again when it lost all of its territory north of the Saint John River and was returned to the original name of Oromocto.


Kings South

King South is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It includes the town of Wolfville, the village of New Minas, the community of Coldbrook, and Glooscap First Nation.
Members of the Legislative Assembly.
This riding has elected the following Members of the Legislative Assembly:
Election results.


Cape Corps

The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served.
History.
As one of the military units of South Africa with one of the longest histories, the Cape Corps reflects the history of South Africa's Coloured population to a great extent.
1781–1782.
The first Coloured unit to be formed was the "Corps Bastaard Hottentoten" (Afrikaans: "Corps of Bastard Hottentots"), which was organised in 1781 by the Dutch colonial administration of the time. Based in Cape Town and drawing its members from men of mixed Hottentot and White ancestry, this unit had about 400 members under the command of Hendrik Eksteen and Gerrit Munnik. The unit was disbanded in 1782 when French mercenaries arrived in the Cape.
1793–1870.
In 1793 this unit was re-formed in Cape Town as the "Corps van Pandoeren" (Pandour Corps) with 200 men under the command of Captain Jan Cloete, only to be disbanded again in 1795.
The unit was re-formed again under the British colonial administration in May 1796, this time under the name "Hottentot Corps". It was headquartered in Wynberg and consisted of about 300 men. In 1798 the headquarters were moved to Hout Bay.
On 25 June 1801 the "Cape Regiment" was formed. It was organised as a British imperial regiment of ten companies and retained all the personnel of the "Hottentot Corps".
With the Dutch taking over colonial administration of the Cape once again, the "Corps Vrye Hottentotten" ("Corps of Free Hottentots") was formed on 21 February 1803. It was later renamed the "Hottentot Ligte Infanterie" ("Hottentot Light Infantry").
When the British returned to the Cape, they formed "The Cape Regiment" in October 1806. Headquartered in Cape Town, it was organised as a typical colonial unit with British officers and Coloured other ranks. In later years, the Regiment also had a troop of light cavalry added.
On 24 September 1817 the Regiment was reduced in size (a previous order to completely disband having either been ignored or rescinded) to two small units of about 200 men for the defence of the Cape Colony's eastern frontier. The two units were named the "Cape Cavalry" (consisting of one troop of dragoons) and the "Cape Light Infantry". Mathew Richmond, coming from the Royal Military College, joined them in 1817.
In 1820 these two units were again combined under a unified command and renamed the Cape Corps. The "Cape Mounted Riflemen (Imperial)" were formed on 25 November 1827; the cavalry wing was disbanded and the Corps reorganised as battalion of mounted infantry.
In 1850 some soldiers effectively mutinied by joining Coloured rebellion in the eastern Cape; the regiment was subsequently reconstituted as mixed unit with both White and Coloured members. Some years later, in 1854, the recruitment of Coloured members for the battalion was completely halted.
The battalion was completely disbanded in 1870 when military service was abolished for Coloureds, although its name and traditions were appropriated in 1878 by another (all-White) "Cape Mounted Riflemen".
1915–1918.
As part of South Africa's efforts for World War I, the "Cape Corps" was re-formed in the Cape Province by Sir Walter Stanford, as a single battalion in December 1915 as part of the Union Defence Force. In 1916 the Corps was expanded and a second battalion raised. The original battalion was redesignated the "1st Battalion" and the new unit (which was disbanded in 1918) as the "2nd Battalion".
1940–1950.
In order to provide additional troops for South Africa's participation in World War II, the "Cape Corps" was reconstituted again on 8 May 1940, partly from the Association of the 1915-1918 Corps.
This unit was assigned the role of a non-combatant service corps with a pioneer battalion and five motor transport companies. It was later expanded to include several motorised infantry battalions, infantry battalions, prisoner of war (POW) guard battalions and POW escort battalions. At its peak strength, the Corps had about 23,000 members. On 13 October 1942 the Corps absorbed the South African "Indian and Malay Corps" but was disbanded at the end of hostilities in 1945.
In 1947 the "Cape Corps" was reconstituted as a Permanent Force Coloured service corps only to be disbanded in 1950 by the newly elected National Party, which abolished military service for Coloureds.
1963–1991.
The "Cape Corps" was reformed again in 1963, as a non-combatant Coloured service corps; it was considered to be the successor to all the previous Coloured and Cape Corps units since 1796. The Corps was designated a Permanent Force unit of the South African Defence Force in 1972.
In 1973 the unit was renamed the "South African Cape Corps Service Battalion". When the South African Defence Act was amended in 1975 to give Coloureds "equivalent status to whites" in the South African Army, the battalion was renamed the "South African Cape Corps Battalion", its combatant status was restored and the first Coloured officers were commissioned.
During the period 1979 to 1989 the "South African Cape Corps" (SACC) was substantially expanded:
In 1990 the SACC was reduced to a single battalion and redesignated 9 South African Infantry Battalion which was reroled as a seaborne light infantry unit.
Currently, as a result of the post-1994 transformation of South Africa, Coloured soldiers, sailors and airmen serve alongside their fellow South Africans in a fully integrated South African National Defence Force.
Battle honours.
The 1915 Cape Corps did not inherit the battle honour of the Cape Mounted Riflemen.
Operations.
The Cape Corps' most famous combat operation is the Battle of Square Hill which took place in what was then known as Palestine on 16, 17 and 18 September 1918. It was this battle in particular which earned the Cape Corps its combat reputation and for which the "Palestine 1918" Battle Honour was awarded.
While known as the this unit served regularly in Namibia during the South African Border War.


Cyberspies

Intercept: The Secret History of Computers and Spies (published as Cyberspies: The Secret History of Surveillance, Hacking, and Digital Espionage in the United States) is a 2016 non-fiction book by the historian and BBC journalist Gordon Corera about the history of digital covert operations. It examines the history of digital surveillance and code-breaking, and how it has transformed into modern cyberwarfare.
Reception.
The book was very positively received. Richard Norton-Taylor writing in "The Guardian" felt that "If you are looking for a clear and comprehensive guide to how communications have been intercepted, from cable-cutting in the First World War to bulk data collection exposed by Ed Snowden, this is it ... A most readable account of how computers and the internet have transformed spying". Ed Vulliamy in "The Observer" noted that the book "takes us through the labyrinth of cyber-espionage ... It concerns a psychosis of control, whereby the digitisation of spying infests every cranny of our lives".
In "The Sunday Times" Stephen Dorril described it as "Riveting ... Making use of excellent sources...[Corera] has produced a highly relevant read that addresses the key debate in intelligence gathering - the balance between privacy and security". Alan Judd writing in "The Spectator" felt that Correa "explores the evolution of computers from what used to be called signals intelligence to their transforming role in today's intelligence world. The result is an informative, balanced and revealing survey of the field in which, I suspect, most experts will find something new" and "The Economist" wrote of the book's conclusion that "The true golden age of spying and surveillance - whether carried out by states or, increasingly, by companies - is now".


Coos Huijsen

Jacobus "Coos" Huijsen (born March 20, 1939 in The Hague) is a Dutch historian, writer, former educator, former Dutch politician, and gay rights activist. He was the first parliamentarian in the world (1976) to openly express his homosexuality.
Huijsen who was a member of the Dutch House of Representatives in 1972–1973 and from 1976 to 1977. In his first term in office, he was a member of the Christian Historical Union, which he left because the party would not support the left-leaning Den Uyl cabinet; in his second term, he sat as an independent member under his own banner of Groep-Huijsen. As a member of the House of Representatives in 1976, Huijsen came out as gay, making him the country's first openly LGBT politician and the first known openly gay member of a national legislature in the world. In 2016, Huijsen published an autobiographical account of his coming-out, in the context of a changing Dutch society in the 1970s:
In this book, Huijsen describes how he participated in the Dutch gay rights movement in the years after his coming-out, when he co-founded the Foundation for Free Relationship Rights (Stichting Vrije Relatierechten). The goal of this foundation was to make the gay community address the larger public and the political establishment, by appealing to their sense of humanity. Gay rights were human rights, and, as such, were to be put on the political agenda. It paved the way to legal equality for same-sex relationships, and, finally, in the introduction of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands (2001).
After leaving parliament, Huijsen worked as a school teacher and director. He also switched parties again, becoming a member of the Dutch Labour Party in which he was active until 2000; he left that party because he found the party put too little work into education and gay emancipation. He then pursued a career as a historian, with a specific interest in the cultural-historical context of democracy. His first book, "Nog is links niet verloren" ("The left is not yet lost"; 1982) described the widening gap between the elites of progressive political parties and their popular, traditional base. Later, Huijsen wrote multiple books about the relations between the Dutch national narrative and the royal dynasty, the House of Orange, including:
Huijsen is married and lives with his husband in Amsterdam.


Peter Blokhuis

 Peter Blokhuis (born 7 February 1947 in Baambrugge) is a Dutch philosopher and politician. From 9 April 2005 to 12 May 2012, he was Party Chairman of the ChristianUnion. He was succeeded by Janneke Louisa.


Evelien Eshuis

Eveline Luberta "Evelien" Eshuis (born 25 November 1942) is a Dutch politician who was a member of the House of Representatives in the Netherlands from 1982 to 1986. She was the first openly lesbian member of the Dutch Parliament.
Biography.
Eshuis was born on 25 November 1942 in Amersfoort, Netherlands. She worked in Ghana for a year in 1968. From 1972 to 1975, she taught at a in Amsterdam, and she worked at a community center from 1975 to 1982. Eshuis joined the Communist Party of the Netherlands in 1974 and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1982. She came out as lesbian that same year, becoming the first openly lesbian member of Parliament in the Netherlands. Eshuis is described in "Trouw" as one of the most well-known LGBT politicians in the Netherlands. In Parliament, she regularly wore a pink triangle pin as a symbol of lesbian pride. Eshuis initiated a 1983 inquiry into the shipbuilding company Rijn-Schelde-Verolme after its bankruptcy. After serving one term in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1986, she became the secretary of the district council of De Pijp. From 1993 to 2002, she was Amstelveen's director of environment and recreation, and has since worked as a consultant. She is a member of the board of "Opzij", a feminist magazine.


Frank Futselaar

Frank Futselaar (born 26 July 1979) is a Dutch politician. Since 2017 he has been an MP for the Socialist Party.


National Youth Movement

National Youth Movement was established in 1971, by Reverend Al Sharpton at the age of 16 years. After Jesse Jackson left the Southern Christian Leadership Conference over his administrative suspension, and Sharpton—who was mentored by Jackson—left the SCLC in protest and formed the National Youth Movement.
The mission of the organization was fighting drugs and raising money for impoverished children in the inner cities.


Philips van der Aa

Philips van der Aa (died after 1586) was a politician in the Seventeen Provinces and a statesman of the Dutch Republic during its struggle for independence, the Eighty Years' War.
Biography.
He was born in Mechelen, and was mayor of the city in 1564, but was banished by the Duke of Alva. He returned on the side of William I, Prince of Orange (William the Silent). In 1572, he came back to power in Mechelen by cunning. In 1573 he was assigned as councillor at the court of Diederik Sonoy, and in 1574 he became commander in Gorkum.


Halifax South

Halifax South was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It was formed in 1933 when Halifax County was divided into five distinct districts. It was renamed Halifax City South in 1966, and its boundaries were reformed in 1967 to create the district of Halifax Cornwallis.
Members of the Legislative Assembly.
Halifax South elected the following members to the Nova Scotia Legislature:


Giovanni Battista Falcieri

Giovanni Battista Falcieri (known as “Tita”) (1798–1874) was the personal servant of Lord Byron and was present at his death in Missolonghi in 1824. He later accompanied Benjamin Disraeli on his tour of the Orient, before becoming the valet of Isaac D'Israeli.
Employment by Lord Byron.
Tita was a gondolier and it was in that capacity that he first entered Lord Byron's service in 1818 during Byron's sojourn in Venice. He later became Byron's personal attendant and appears frequently in the correspondence of Byron's friends and acquaintances.
Death of Lord Byron.
According to Count Gamba's account of Byron's death:
At four o’clock, after this consultation of his physicians, he seemed to be aware of his approaching end. I think this was the exact time, and not before. Dr. Millingen, Fletcher, and Tita were round his bed. The two first could not contain their tears, and walked out of the room. Tita also wept, but he could not retire, as Byron had hold of his hand; but he turned away his face. Byron looked at him steadily, and said, half smiling, in Italian—Oh questa è una bella scena.
Falcieri accompanied Lord Byron's body to England.
Subsequent career.
Following Byron's funeral Tita remained in England and served as valet to Byron's friend John Cam Hobhouse, before returning to Greece to fight in the Greek War of Independence in 1825. In 1828 he returned to England and served as valet to James Clay on his Grand Tour 1829/30.
Falcieri subsequently joined Benjamin Disraeli on his tour of the Orient in 1830/31 and was then employed as valet to Isaac D’Israeli at Bradenham Manor in Buckinghamshire between 1832 and 1848. On Isaac D’Israeli's death, Hobhouse arranged for him to be employed as a Government messenger. He numbered among his acquaintance the Count D’Orsay, who presented him with a valuable emerald ring in gratitude for his assistance in relation to a posthumous portrait of Byron.
Posterity.
After Falcieri's death, Disraeli recommended Tita's widow to Queen Victoria for a pension from the Civil list, though she did not enjoy it for long, dying in 1877.
A portrait of Falcieri by Daniel Maclise forms part of the National Trust’s collection at Hughenden Manor.
References.
See also Claudia Oliver, "" (Claudia Oliver, 2018).


The Republicans group (Senate)

The Republicans group (), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement group (), is a parliamentary group in the Senate including representatives of The Republicans (LR), formerly the Union for a Popular Movement.
History.
The Union for a Popular Movement group ("groupe Union pour un mouvement populaire") in the Senate was officially formed on 10 December 2002 after the foundation of the Union for a Popular Movement earlier that year; at the time of its creation, it included 167 members, an absolute majority, with Josselin de Rohan elected as its first president. The group united 93 out of 94 members of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with Liberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of the Centrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit. The group maintained its absolute majority until the 2004 renewal.
On 15 January 2008, de Rohan stood down as president of the group to assume the role of president of the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee, and was succeeded the same day by the former member of the Radical Party Henri de Raincourt. De Raincourt subsequently stepped down on 6 July 2009, ahead of his appointment to the government, with Gérard Longuet elected unopposed as his successor on 7 July, his only opponent – Eric Doligé – having withdrawn his candidacy before the vote. On 7 March 2011, Longuet departed from the presidency of the group after his appointment as Minister of Defense within the government, with Jean-Claude Gaudin taking his place on 8 March uncontested; though Jean-Pierre Raffarin envisaged the possibility of presenting his candidature, he ultimately supported Gaudin for the post.
The UMP group lost its relative majority in the 2011 renewal, after which the left took control of the upper chamber for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic. Though Gaudin remained in the Senate after the 2014 renewal, he did not wish to seek the presidency of the group, leaving it to an open contest instead. On 2 October, Bruno Retailleau, a supporter of François Fillon in the disputed 2012 leadership election, was elected president of the group with 79 votes against Sarkozyist Roger Karoutchi with 39 votes and Longuet with 25. On 2 June 2015, the group was renamed
to The Republicans group ("groupe Les Républicains") following the founding congress of the renamed party.
In the 2020 French Senate election the Republicans held their majority.
Founding members.
The UMP group was founded on 10 December 2002 with 167 members, including 93 out of 94 members of the Rally for the Republic (RPR) group, 40 out of 41 members of the Republicans and Independents (RI) group (associated with Liberal Democracy), 29 out of 54 members of the Centrist Union (UC) group, 4 out of 21 members of the European Democratic and Social Rally (RDSE) group, and 1 non-inscrit.


Pascale Bruderer

Pascale Bruderer Wyss (born 28 July 1977 in Baden, Switzerland) is a Swiss politician. She was a member of the Council of States from 2011 to 2019 and a member of the National Council of Switzerland from 2002 to 2011. She was the President of the National Council in 2009 and 2010. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party.
Biography.
Bruderer attended the University of Zurich, and the University of Växjö, where she earned a master's degree in political science.
Bruderer retired from politics and did not run for re-election in 2019. She was elected to the board of Bernexpo Holding in 2019.


Calgary Confederation

Calgary Confederation is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. It was created in 2012 from the electoral districts of Calgary Centre-North (70%), Calgary West (23%) and Calgary—Nose Hill (8%).
Members of Parliament.
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:


William Alexander Morgan

William Alexander Morgan (April 19, 1928 – March 11, 1961) was a United States citizen who fought in the Cuban Revolution, leading a band of rebels that drove the Cuban army from key positions in the central mountains as part of Second National Front of Escambray, thereby helping to pave the way for Fidel Castro's forces to secure victory. Morgan was one of about two dozen U.S. citizens to fight in the revolution and one of only three foreign nationals to hold the rank of comandante in the rebel forces. He turned against Castro after the revolution when Castro began to show Communist leanings, and was one of the leaders of the CIA supplied Escambray rebellion.
Life before Cuba.
Morgan was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Alexander Morgan and German-American Loretta Morgan (née Ruderth). Raised in an affluent Toledo neighborhood, he dropped out of high school and was often in trouble with the law. Morgan joined the United States Army after World War II and married Darlene Edgerton in 1946. The marriage was annulled after a year and a half. He was stationed with Company B, 35th Infantry, in Japan, where he fathered a son with a German-Japanese hostess named Setsuko Takeda. He went AWOL, was arrested, and escaped from custody by overpowering a guard. Recaptured, he was court-martialed in 1948, received a dishonorable discharge, and spent over two years in a federal prison.
He is said to have been skilled with firearms and was rumored to have been a Central Intelligence Agency operative, though there are no public records or witness interviews to support the claim. After his discharge from the Army, Morgan apparently also worked for a local crime syndicate.
On May 11, 1954, Morgan married Ellen Theresa May Bethel, a snake charmer, in Miami. They had two children, Anne Marie (1955) and William A. Morgan Jr. (1957).
Cuban Revolution.
Opposed to the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Morgan abandoned his wife and children and went to Cuba in 1957, joining a guerrilla force of the Second National Front of the Escambray (Segundo Frente Nacional de Escambray or SFNE) that operated against Batista's soldiers in the Escambray Mountains in central Cuba.
After distinguishing himself in a series of battles, he was promoted to the rank of comandante, leading his own column. In 1958, he wrote a statement that appeared in the "New York Times" to explain his participation in Castro's revolution, "Why I Am Here". It said in part:
In December 1958, Che Guevara joined forces with Morgan's group and the "Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil" guerrillas of the Escambray mountains. Together they captured the city of Santa Clara on December 31. Twelve hours later, Batista fled Cuba. Morgan and his men occupied the city of Cienfuegos on January 1–2, 1959.
In January 1959, he told a reporter that "all I'm interested in is settling down to a nice peaceful existence" but worried how U.S. authorities would respond to his military activities in Cuba. In March 1959, officials of the U.S. embassy in Havana warned Americans that participation in foreign military service could jeopardize their citizenship.
In August 1959, Morgan gained international attention when he helped smash a coup attempt orchestrated by Dominican Republic strongman Rafael Trujillo and others by pretending to lead the takeover while quietly divulging the plot to Fidel Castro in order to help the fledgling government.
In September 1959, the U.S. State Department revoked his citizenship, a move that was prompted by members of Congress who had supported Trujillo. Morgan promised to contest the action.
Post-revolution activities.
Morgan married a Cuban, Olga María Rodríguez Farinas, also a revolutionary, and they had two daughters. In August 1959, the FBI and American authorities revoked Morgan's U.S. citizenship. On September 24, 1959, Morgan renounced his U.S. citizenship publicly on a Havana radio station. After the revolution, Morgan developed a business of frog farming; with the legs being sold to restaurants, the skin for fashion accessories, and what remained for cattle feed. During this venture, Morgan employed around 600 workers and shipped an average of 50,000 pounds of frozen frog legs to the U.S. every month.
On March 6, 1960, the French freighter La Coubre exploded in Havana Harbor killing around 100 people. An American named Jack Lee Evans, who was in Cuba at the time of the explosion with Morgan, left for Miami a few days after the incident. While in Miami, he gave an interview with the "Miami Herald" suggesting that Morgan had been involved with the sabotaging of the ship, which Morgan adamantly denied. A memorial for the explosion was held a few days later. Morgan was pictured arm and arm walking through the streets of Havana during this memorial with prominent Cuban leaders including Castro and Che.
Throughout the struggle against Batista, Morgan was vocal about Castro's supposed anti-communist beliefs. When asked during interviews about Castro's political beliefs and where the new Cuban government was leaning, he remained firm in his belief that Castro was not a communist and that Cuba would become a capitalist parliamentary democracy.
As Castro began to reveal his socialist leanings, Morgan became disenchanted with the revolutionary government, as did other members of the SFNE, who wanted Cuba to restore elections. In the middle of June 1960, Morgan and a select few former Escambray leaders met to discuss Castro's turn towards socialism and protecting the Revolution. As the arrests of Morgan's former rebel comrades for counterrevolutionary activities started to increase, Morgan organized weapons to be smuggled to the counterrevolutionaries in the Escambray.
Arrest and execution.
On October 16, 1960, Castro ordered Morgan's arrest due to counterrevolutionary activities. Three days later, Morgan was arrested while attending a meeting for the National Institute for Agrarian Reform, to which he had been summoned. Morgan was formally charged with plotting to join and lead the counter-revolutionaries who were active in the Escambray Mountains. On March 11, 1961, shortly after a military trial at La Cabaña fortress, Morgan, then 32 years old, was shot by firing squad with Fidel and Raul Castro in attendance. One month later, 1,500 CIA trained counterrevolutionaries unsuccessfully invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs resulting in Castro officially declaring the Revolution a Socialist endeavor.
Olga María Rodríguez Farinas was tried with him "in absentia". She was found guilty of co-conspiracy and sentenced to 30 years in prison. She was released after 10 years. She left for the United States in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift. In a series of interviews with "The Toledo Blade" in 2002, she admitted that she and her husband had begun running guns to anti-Castro guerrillas because they were opposed to Castro's pro-Soviet leanings. She also said she wanted Morgan's U.S. citizenship restored and his remains returned to the United States for reburial. The newspaper stories prompted two Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives, Charles Rangel and Marcy Kaptur, to travel to Cuba in April 2002 to meet Fidel Castro and ask him to return Morgan's body, and Castro agreed.
In April 2007, nearly 50 years after the government stripped him of his rights in 1959 for serving in a foreign country's military, the US State Department declared that Morgan's US citizenship was effectively restored.
Morgan in pop culture.
Morgan's story remained largely out of the American eye until the 21st century when articles, documentaries, and films introduced his story. In 2012, George Clooney planned to buy the rights and direct a film based on David Grann's 2012 "New Yorker" article on Morgan. Pulitzer prize-winning reporters Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss authored the book, "The Yankee Comandante: The Untold Story of Courage, Passion and One American's Fight to Liberate Cuba." Morgan was featured in 2015 on the PBS documentary series "American Experience" with the episode titled American Comandante.
In April 2020, Adam Driver was reported to star in a film adaptation of the "New Yorker" article, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, with shooting anticipated to begin in 2021.
American country-rock band Lucero detail Morgan's story on "Back in Ohio," a track off their 2021 album "When You Found Me."


Viktor Khilchevski

Viktor Khilchevski is a former Vice Premier and Minister for Energy, Transport and Communications of Abkhazia. Khilchevski was appointed on 15 October 2014 by newly elected President Raul Khajimba. On 30 March 2015, following the resignation of Prime Minister Beslan Butba, Khajimba abolished the Ministry for Energy, Transport and Communications and reduced the number of Vice Premiers from two to one. On 8 April, Khilchevski was replaced as Vice Premier by Dmitri Serikov.


IWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment

The iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment (formerly Regiment Oos Transvaal) is a reserve air defence regiment of the South African Army.
History.
Origin.
Regiment Oos Transvaal was established on 1 October 1964. Its first headquarters was a Magistrates Court office in Brakpan in 1968, but by 1975, its headquarters had moved on to Benoni. Renamed Apex Military Base, it was opened officially by Lt Gen Geldenhuys in 1976.
Equipment.
Regiment Oos Transvaal was originally meant to be equipped with 35mm Oerlikon but by December 1964, a decision was made that Regiment Oos Transvaal would use Bofors and Oerlikon guns, comprising a Bofors regiment, two 40mm Bofors batteries and a 35mm Oerlikon battery. In 1977 however the Regiment had been equipped as a 20mm anti-aircraft cannon regiment, with six batteries each of 18 guns.
Operations.
Regiment Oos Transvaal supplied its R Battery for service in Operation Savannah in January/March 1976 while its P Battery served in the same border area from March to May.
Regiment Oos Transvaal formed part of a reaction force in 1980 but by 1983 forward, members of the Regiment were involved directly in a number of operations such as Operation Prone in 1988.
Present day.
Regiment Oos Transvaal is currently equipped with the Oerlikon GDF Mk.5 35mm gun.
Name Change.
In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa. Regiment Oos Transvaal became the iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.
Freedom of the city.
The Freedom of Brakpan was granted to the Regiment on 14 April 1984.