The Pond (intelligence organization)

The Pond was a small, secret organization formed by the government of the United States which operated between 1942 and 1955. It engaged in espionage. It was formally acknowledged by the US government in 2001.
History.
In the spring of 1942, Brigadier General Hayes Kroner, the head of the War Department's Military Intelligence Service, was given the go-ahead to set up an espionage organization separate from William "Wild Bill" Donovan's Office of Strategic Services. He selected to head it U.S. Army Captain (Jean) John V. Grombach, who was a rival and previous employee of Donovan.
In 1955, The Pond was disbanded by the American government because of post-war centralization of intelligence gathering and questions about the organization's effectiveness.
On April 27, 2008, the Associated Press reported that the Central Intelligence Agency planned to "release a stash of Pond-related papers accidentally discovered in a Virginia barn in 2001" and hand them over to the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
John Grombach.
Jean (John) Valentin Grombach led the Pond in intelligence operations from 1942 to 1955. Grombach was an anti-Communist who had an obsession with secrecy and security. Grombach was born in New Orleans in 1901 to a French family. He was an accomplished athlete who had a love for fencing and boxing, even competing on the United State's Olympic boxing team. He grew to know many important European businessmen from his father's business and shipping involvements, sports promotions, and managing the Olympics. These connections would help to shape his future in international intelligence operations.
At the age of 18, Grombach, the son of the French consul, renounced his French citizenship and obtained an American citizenship to attend West Point. Despite having 8 demerits, he graduated with a bachelors of science degree in 1923. He then spent five years on active duty where he had his first involvement in intelligence as assistant G-2.
In 1928, Grombach left the army and joined the New York National Guard. After a successful stint working for a subsidiary of CBS and Paramount Publix, Grombach produced his own radio program production companies. He returned to the army in 1941 to work for the Office of the Coordinator of Information. Grombach claims that throughout that time he was secretly working on confidential intelligence projects.
In the spring of 1942, Brig. Gen. Hayes Kroner selected Grombach to head the Pond.
Grombach was also a writer who authored an article for "Infantry Journal" titled "Kill or Get Killed," and an essay for "American Mercury."
Tactics.
Focus.
The Pond, led by Grombach, provided the FBI with information on leftist radicals and external influences on the United States. The covert organization's focus developed into the exploitation of communists, especially in America's intelligence institutions.
Secrecy.
The Pond was extremely small and unknown to most. The team used codewords and cryptic nicknames in all of the Pond's internal records. Grombach never shared the identities of his sources, totaling over 2,500 field personnel from 32 countries. Although the Pond was an Army operation, its existence was kept from the Office of Naval Intelligence, and it is not clear whether President Truman knew of it. After the end of World War II, Truman decided to shut down the OSS, largely due to Grombach's reports. The extreme secrecy and small size of the Pond are the reasons why it survived after the end of the war. The Pond remained a secret long after its operations ended.
Budget.
The War Department initially allocated $150,000 to the Pond per year, and this grew to over $300,000 by the end of World War II. The Pond collaborated with foreign businesses to increase their financial resources.
Methods.
The Pond employed personnel and agent observers from large corporations around the world. The Pond started out as a part of the War Department General Staff but became a private company working under government contract. It changed jurisdictions many times until operations ceased in 1955.
Operations.
List of OSS Soviet Agents.
Starting in 1942 as the leader of The Pond, John Grombach worked with a defected Soviet intelligence officer, Alexander Barmine to discover a list of OSS Soviet agents. This was mostly left to the wayside by the United States government because the Soviet Union was now an ally of the United States.
Project 1641.
As a study of communist subversion, John Grombach began this project as a comprehensive record of reports eliminated by Alfred McCormack along with identifying two communists that worked for McCormack and several others. The list of supposed communists included:
The monographs called for research into McCormack to be investigated by superiors, but was later set aside as Grombach was accused of discrediting an officer of the Military Intelligence Service along with inappropriately revealing classified information. Although it seemed the end, this was not so. With the abolishment of the OSS by Harry S. Truman, the branch of Research and Analysis was sent to the State Department along with Alfred McCormack, Secretary of State Byrnes. With McCormack as leader of the Interim Research and Intelligence Service, John Grombach would compile the names of 15 G-2 operatives who had moved to the state department along with McCormack and which were previously suspected of disloyalty. Grombach sent these names to the House Committee of Military Affairs where an investigation would begin. Without revealing his name, the Committee made public Grombach's allegations in March 1946, would stir up controversy between McCormack and the Committees chairman, pushing McCormack to resign in April 1946.
Marcel Petiot.
As doctor, serial killer, and source for The Pond, Petiot used his occupation as a doctor to gain information from his patients' gossip, and passed that on to John Grombach. Stationed in Paris, Petiot had German Abwehr officers and east Paris refugees as patients. With this information, Petiot identified German Abwehr officers that had been sent to the United States, which were later found by the FBI and some of who were convinced to work for the United States.
Information Transportation.
While investigating a lead that suggested German missiles were being produced in Norway and Sweden, The Pond transported its information via diplomacy from London. Grombach suspected that the pouches that British couriers were transporting were being opened, thus submitted an unopened pouch for FBI investigation, confirming that the pouch had been opened and resealed. Because of this, American couriers transported the pouches from there on out.
Hungary.
The Pond targeted Hungary both during and after World War II. During the war, they focused on gathering intelligence on battle information and Admiral Horthy's attempts to remove Hungary from the war. After the war in 1946, James McCargar became a case officer for the Pond located in Hungary and focused his reporting on an unavoidable communist takeover. His work led to the exfiltration of 75 anti-communist Hungarian political leaders.
DAHL.
Under the sponsorship of the Central Intelligence Agency, The Pond began DAHL as an information assembly in Argentina and Uruguay. John Grombach reported on Uruguayan officials that were communist, but many of the submitted reports were rejected by the CIA as a result of Grombach's unreliable sources and without proof. This may have been the operation that led to the dissolve of The Pond.
Post World War II.
Before the end of World War II, John Grombach's executive officer, Charles Stevenson, supported The Pond and it's endeavors and tried to fight for The Pond. After World War II had ended, Hoyt Vandenberg, the Director of Central Intelligence, wanted to consolidate power into the Central Intelligence Group, thus pushing against Stevenson for the closing of The Pond. In April 1947, Grombach feared that The Pond would be discontinued, and decided to reveal the organization and its accomplishments to the public by proving its existence to the New York Times. After what seemed to be a loss for Grombach, in early 1947, late 1948, the State Department began funding The Pond in secret, but at a much lower rate than the War Department had in the past.
Under the sponsorship of the State Department The Pond was struggling to maintain its merits and in March 1951 would be revealed and resolved under the Central Intelligence Agency.
The end of The Pond.
After the Pond was transferred to the Central Intelligence Agency, John Grombach began to submit phony reports against the superiors and workers that he disliked. These false reports and rumors spread by Grombach led to the CIA not renewing the Pond any further after its contract ended on August 15, 1954. All but two operations had ended by January 1, 1955. The CIA continued these last two operations until April 30, 1955. Because it did not have a congressional and public support system, the Pond was beat out by a larger espionage organization. Ultimately, Grombach's philosophy of extreme secrecy lead the Pond to its demise.


Polexit

The Polish withdrawal from the European Union or Polexit (also Poexit, a portmanteau of "Poland" and "exit") is the proposal for Poland to Leave the EU. Poland is a country which joined the EU in 2004. The term Polexit is similar to Brexit, which denotes the United Kingdom leaving the EU.
History.
Since 2020, international media has speculated about the topic of a Polexit amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 22 November 2020, "Do Rzeczy", a Polish conservative weekly newspaper, published a front-page article called "Polexit: We have the right to talk about it".
The Polish far-right Confederation Liberty and Independence party has called for a withdrawal from the European Union on several occasions.


Aareal Bank

Aareal Bank AG is an international company listed on the MDAX index with headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, which traded as DePfa Deutsche Bau- und Boden Bank AG and formed part of the DePfa Gruppe until 2002.
Aareal Bank is represented on three continents (Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region) and oversees property financing in more than 20 countries. Aareal Bank AG has been listed on the German stock exchange since 2002.
History.
The company's history dates back to two institutions: Preußische Landespfandbriefanstalt (founded in 1922) and Deutsche Wohnstättenbank AG (founded in 1923), both of which were based in Berlin. Deutsche Wohnstättenbank AG was renamed Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank in 1926.
In the years of the Nazi rule, the bank grew rapidly thanks to the bridging loan business which mainly targeted the funding of settlement and housing construction. These sectors boomed following the massive increase of the armament industry that demanded accommodation for their workers, often designed as National Socialist ideal settlements. The prospect of business opportunities due to the boom of the armament industry also fostered the bank's department for industrial loans. Millions of Reichsmark were granted to companies like Ruhrgas AG, Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG or Daimler-Benz AG. At the time of the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, already 63 of 267 employees belonged to the Nazi Party. While chairman of the supervisory board Otto Kämper was a member as well and publicly praised the success of the government in the field of housing, democrats such as Arnold Knoblauch or Eberhard Wildermuth, who was in contact with conspirators of the 20 July plot, were still holding a seat on the supervisory board until World War II.
Preußische Landespfandbriefanstalt was given the name Deutsche Pfandbriefanstalt in 1954. In 1979, Deutsche Pfandbriefanstalt acquired a majority interest in Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank. It traded as public limited company under the name Deutsche Pfandbrief- und Hypothekenbank AG from 1989, before going public in 1991 and opening its first foreign branch in Amsterdam in the same year.
In 1999, Deutsche Pfandbrief- und Hypothekenbank AG was renamed DePfa Deutsche Pfandbrief Bank AG and transferred all property activities to Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank, which was also given the name DePfa Bank AG BauBoden at this time. In 2002, the bank was divided into Aareal Bank AG (formerly Deutsche Bau- und Bodenbank), a property finance bank with headquarters in Wiesbaden, and DePfa BANK plc, a public finance bank based in Dublin. Since 2006, the company has focused on the Commercial Property Financing and Consulting/Services segments.
Bodies.
Hermann J. Merkens has been chairman of the management board of the company since 2015. The supervisory board members are elected for a period of five years each. The current term of Marija Korsch as chairman of the supervisory board began in 2013.
Shareholder structure.
(as of 31 December 2015)
Subsidiaries.
The Aareal Bank Group includes the following companies:


American College of Education

American College of Education is a private, online for-profit college based in Indianapolis, Indiana, focused on education, healthcare, and nursing. American College of Education is a certified B Corporation, and a subsidiary of ACE Holdco PBC of Dallas, Texas.
American College of Education confers degrees in a variety of programs, including a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Master of Education in Early Childhood Education, and a Master of Education in Educational Technology.<ref name="http://www.ace.edu/programs.asp"></ref> Ed.D. and Ed.S. in Leadership degrees were launched in 2013. A Bachelor's in Healthcare Administration was added in 2017, and a RN to MSN program followed in 2018. The American College of Education RN to MSN program is an accelerated program for registered nurses to earn a bachelor's degree on the way to a Master of Science in Nursing. All courses are taught online.
History.
American College of Education was formally incorporated in Illinois on February 25, 2005. Following incorporation, it
purchased the intellectual property (the academic programming) of Barat College. American College of Education
immediately applied to The Higher Learning Commission to
continue the accreditation of Barat College under its new name and ownership. The Higher Learning Commission
approved this request in March 2006.
In August 2015, The Higher Learning Commission awarded American College of Education its 10-year re-accreditation, securing the college's accreditation through 2025.
In March 2016, American College of Education announced a partnership with the National Institute for STEM Education (NISE) and Accelerate Learning, inventors of STEMScopes, to provide a pathway to STEM certification and degree programs. Educators who earn the National Certificate for STEM Teaching from NISE are able to transfer their certificate coursework to American College of Education to complete an M.Ed. in STEM Leadership.
In September 2016, American College of Education received its Certified B Corporation distinction from the nonprofit B Lab, becoming the first and only Certified B Corp and Benefit Corporation in the state of Indiana. American College of Education was recognized for its partnership with nonprofits like Kids in Need Foundation and Teachers' Treasures, and its donation drives for organizations like Feeding America and Indianapolis School of Wheels.
Following its B Corporation certification, American College of Education was awarded the 2017 Best Places to Work distinction by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce for its dynamic work environment and progressive workplace policies. They received the award again in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, American College of Education also received the When Work Works Award from the Society for Human Resource Management for exceptional employee satisfaction.
In support of its expanding healthcare offerings, American College of Education announced a transfer agreement with Ivy Tech Community College in April 2018, allowing Ivy Tech students who earn associate of science or associate of applied science degrees in the School of Health Sciences to transfer to American College of Education to complete a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration.
In June 2018, the college formally announced its intention to expand into the nursing field with the RN to MSN program, a pathway program that allows registered nurses to complete both a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing degree in a three-year span. The first cohort of the nursing program sat during the August 2018 term.
In February 2019, a Master of Special Education was added to the college's program offerings.
Academics.
American College of Education offers master's degrees, doctoral and specialist degree programs, and a bachelor's degree completion program in Healthcare Administration. The college also offers several graduate-level certificates, including programs in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education, Content Area Instruction, and Virtual Instruction.
The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).<ref name="http://www.ace.edu/about_accreditation.asp"></ref> The Professional Education Programs (M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, M.Ed. in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education, M.Ed. in Educational Technology) are also accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Nursing programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).


Recruit Global Staffing

Recruit Global Staffing (Formerly known as USG People N.V. ) is a Dutch-based recruitment and human resources company, headquartered in Almere. Recruit Global Staffing is Holland's second-largest employment company behind Randstad. The firm has a presence in thirteen countries in Central and Western Europe, operating temporary employment agencies and providing secondment and other HR services. Predecessor USG People was formed by the 1997 merger of the companies Unique International and Goudsmit, and was known as United Services Group between 2001 and 2005. The company was listed on Euronext Amsterdam as well as a constituent of the mid-cap AMX stock market index. In 2016 the Recruit Holdings (based in Japan) acquired all shares of USG People for 1.42 billion euros.
History.
The company in its current form was founded from the 1997 merger between the Benelux staffing firm Unique International B.V. and the publicly traded Goudsmit N.V., a holding company involved in various sectors including recruitment. The enlarged group changed its name to United Services Group N.V. in 2001.
In 2002 United Services Group acquired a controlling stake in the job agency Start Holding, which had been privatised by the Dutch government six years earlier. This was later expanded to full control. The deal gave USG an increased presence in countries such as Spain and Italy.
The company acquired smaller Belgian peer Solvus Resource Group for around €585 million in August 2005, after which it again changed its name to USG People N.V.
In late 2008 the company adopted a "poison pill" defence against potential acquisitors by issuing preference shares to a company foundation.
Operations.
The company operates around 1,350 branches across 10 European countries. The Dutch market remains the largest for the company, contributing nearly 40% of all revenues. Belgium and Luxembourg, France, Germany and Spain are the next largest regional divisions of the firm.
By far the company's largest business segment is general temporary work agencies, which operate under the unified "Start People" brand across all countries. USG also owns a number of specialist staffing agencies, recruiting into professions such as administration, finance, secretarial work and health care. Its professional division covers the recruitment and secondment of staff in skilled fields including engineering, telecommunications and IT, while the company also provides various other services in the field of customer services.


Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc

is a judicial decision of the United Kingdom Supreme Court relating to bank charges in the United Kingdom, with reference to the situation where a bank account holder goes into unplanned overdraft.
When a bank customer uses an unplanned overdraft and then makes a payment request (whether by standing order, direct debit or using an ATM or debit card), banks generally make the payment as requested, and then charge fees (which may include "paid item" charges and unauthorised overdraft fees) which accrue on a daily basis whilst the unauthorised overdraft continues. The Office of Fair Trading ('OFT'), acting on behalf of consumers, challenged these fees under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 ('UTCCR'), which implements European Union Unfair Contract Terms Directive. OFT claimed the sizeable fees charged were not a fair reflection of the banks' costs but were instead a penalty upon the consumer or bank account holder, hence unlawful. If these fees were confirmed to be a penalty for breach of contract then under UK law the amount that could be charged would be limited to reflect the actual (and considerably lower) costs which were incurred by the bank.
The High Court held that although the charges were not penal, they fell within the remit of the legislation and hence their fairness could be assessed by the OFT. The Court of Appeal agreed and held unanimously and emphatically that the charges could be assessed for fairness. But the UK Supreme Court reversed this decision, holding that the charges could not be assessed for fairness by the OFT, or the courts. They held that UTCCR 1999 r 6(2), as the United Kingdom chose to implement the European Directive, precluded any assessment of the "core terms" of a contract, and because overdraft fees related to a bank's remuneration, the fees charged to consumers could not be challenged. Baroness Hale asserted that while the court had no power to do anything, Parliament could have chosen to construe the directive more broadly, and it would be up to the legislature to decide differently. The Supreme Court denied any reference to the European Court of Justice (through art 234 TEC), so bringing to an end the litigation. The regulations could be challenged as failing to implement the directive through a separate case, but since any decision by the ECJ would be prospective only the government, and not the banks, would have to pay any compensation. This may be unlikely to succeed, since the Directive gives discretion to Member States to regulate all terms or non-core terms.
Facts.
Abbey National, Barclays Bank, Clydesdale Bank, HBOS, HSBC Bank, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society and the Royal Bank of Scotland asked for declarations that their standard terms for charging customers were incapable of being penalties at common law. The OFT investigated charges where bank customers requested or instructed a bank to make a payment for which they had no necessary funds and was beyond an overdraft. The OFT argued that the breach of contract was not going into overdraft, but the customer telling his bank to go into overdraft. The bank argued that using a card without funds was a breach and therefore the charge was not penal.
Judgment.
High Court.
Andrew Smith J granted declarations for the banks. His ruling applied to "[un]paid item charges, paid item charges, overdraft excess charges, and guaranteed paid item charges"
The banks, engaging nine Queen's Counsels and fifteen other barristers, successfully established that the contractual terms were not penal, because the charge was not consequent on any breach of contract by a customer. The remaining question was then whether the charges fell foul of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 (particularly s 6(2)) or the UTCCR.
Much was made by the banks of the clear, intelligible language used in the clauses in question. The judgment concluded that the language used was clear and intelligible in the contracts of HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide and RBSG; and similarly in the most part for Abbey National, Barclays, Clydesdale and HBOS although lacking in minor detail. It is unlikely that the relevant consumer protection law will be stifled by the conclusion of clear and intelligible language.
The banks attempted to establish that the statute is inapplicable to the charges in question. The essence of the argument submitted was that the charges are remuneration for the service provided by the bank (supplying a bank account) and so these particular contractual terms are not severable from the contract as a whole. This argument was rejected by the High Court.
The practical impact of this case is that customers can begin or continue claims against their banks and the lower courts will follow "Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc and Others" and assess the fairness of the clauses.
On penalties, Andrew Smith J said the following,
The banks appealed.
Court of Appeal.
After submissions on the 8 October and 5 November 2008, a combined decision of Sir Anthony Clarke, Waller LJ and Lloyd LJ held emphatically that the OFT had the jurisdiction to assess the fairness of the banks' unplanned overdraft fees. It denied leave to appeal to the House of Lords.
Supreme Court.
The banks petitioned the House of Lords (which was replaced by the Supreme Court on 1 October 2009) for permission to appeal on 25 March 2009, granted on 31 March. and the banks entered their appeal petition on 6 April 2009. After a hearing on 23–25 June 2009 by Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Mance, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, judgment was handed down by the Supreme Court at 9.45am on Wednesday 25 November 2009, with the Supreme Court judges finding unanimously in favour of the banks. They held that the bank charges were a core term of the contracts for bank accounts, relating to the banks' remuneration. Therefore, under the authority by the OFT to assess the fairness of terms under UTCCR 1999 reg. 6(2), the unplanned overdraft were not capable of assessment.
Lord Mance stated the following in his decision:


Jawan Singh

Jawan Singh (2 July 1821 – 30 August 1838), was the Maharana (r. 1828–1838) of Princely state of Udaipur. He was a son of Maharana Bhim Singh. He was also a poet under the name of Brijraj. He adopted his cousin Sardar Singh who was the great grandson of Sangram Singh II.


Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory

The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: "Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg") is located at the "Nördliche Schloßrondell" in one of the "Cavalier Houses" in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germany, and since its establishment in 1747 has produced porcelain of high quality. It is one of the last porcelain producers in the world where every single part is made entirely by hand.
History.
After his accession in 1745 Maximilian III Joseph, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, commanded the establishment of manufacturing companies in order to bail out the state finances. On 11 November 1747 the first manufactory with potters and modelling shops, painting and writing rooms was set up at the "Grüne Schlössl", "Neudeck Castle" formerly located in the area of the modern day Munich borough of Au-Haidhausen. Not until 1754 after Joseph Jakob Ringler had mastered the complex processes of production, regular manufacture of porcelain finally began to succeed. In the same year the rococo porcelain sculptor Franz Anton Bustelli came to work at the factory. In 1755 the factory received its first commission from the Bavarian court and in 1756 came the first success in painting the porcelain in colour. The skillful management of lawyer and entrepreneur Count Sigmund von Haimhausen ensured that by 1758 the factory was placed on a sound commercial footing. In 1761 the manufacture moved to a Cavalier house, a prestigious two-storey hipped roof building with a semicircular risalit center and structured plaster on the grand circle near the main entrance of the Nymphenburg Palace, where it is still located today.
Among the artists who followed Bustelli were Dominik Auliczek the elder (1734–1804) and Johann Peter Melchior. A great promoter of the works was Ludwig I, who gave them many commissions. Particular favourites were dinner services with copies of famous paintings or with Bavarian landscapes in an antique style.
In 1822 Friedrich von Gärtner, the fashionable architect, was appointed artistic director of the factory. In the middle of the 19th century its financial position deteriorated to the extent that in 1856 all artistic production was halted and it was decided to privatise the factory. It was leased out for the first time in 1862 and its focus shifted to the production of technical, medical and sanitary porcelain goods.
In 1887 Albert Bäuml (1855–1929) took a lease of the factory. His aim was to regain the previous high artistic level of the factory's products: it was Bäuml, for example, who "rediscovered" Bustelli. This aim was realised at around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and besides historical copies, elegant Jugendstil ceramics were developed.
The product range includes services, mocca cups, figurines, animal figurines, Bavarica, baskets, vases, maiolica, table decoration and accessories. The customers of these exquisite products include the international aristocracy, embassies, churches and palaces at home and abroad.
Since 1975 the factory has been leased by the Bavarian government to the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund (Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds). In 2011 it was taken over by Prince Luitpold of Bavaria.
The Nymphenburg Palace also accommodates the Nymphenburg Porcelain Museum (the Bäuml Collection). Guided tours through the factory can be arranged by prior appointment. Nymphenburg Palace is known to have been the working place of artists and sculptors like Hanns Goebl and Franz Anton Bustelli.


Walter Bailey (lawyer)

Walter Bailey is former state prosecutor and current member a member of the town council for Summerville, South Carolina. He represents the town's third district. In late July and early August 2010, he proposed and successfully passed a town ordinance that effectively bars illegal aliens from living or working in the town.
Prior to running for town council, Bailey was the first circuit solicitor for South Carolina. He was assigned the Charleston Five case after the state Attorney General, Charlie Condon removed himself as the prosecutor.


Two Fathers (film)

Two Fathers is a 1944 British wartime propaganda short film made by the Crown Film Unit, a division of the Ministry of Information, and directed by Anthony Asquith.
Plot.
An Englishman (Bernard Miles) and a Frenchman (Paul Bonifas) find themselves sharing a room in a hotel in an unidentified English location, and fall into conversation. The Englishman's son is in the Royal Air Force, and when the Frenchman shows him a photograph of his daughter, the Englishman remarks that it is less worrisome to have a daughter than a son at this time of war. The Frenchman replies that his daughter, a nurse by profession, is currently an active member of the Maquis. The Englishman says that he has received news that his son was forced to bail out of his plane over France the previous day, and the Frenchman observes that there are many thousands of French men and women who will risk their own safety to help a downed British airman.


Pany Yathotou

Pany Yathotou (; born Xiangkhouang Province, 18 February 1951) is a Laotian politician and member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party.
She was the chairwoman and governor of the Bank of the Lao P.D.R., the country's central bank, from 1988 until 1997. Yathotou later became a member of the National Assembly in 1998. She has served as the President of the National Assembly of Laos since 2010 to 2021. Yathotou is a member of Laos' Hmong ethnicity. She is the first woman to be elected as Vice President of Laos.


Justin Trudeau

Justin Pierre James Trudeau (, ; ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada since 2015 and the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. Trudeau is the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be the child or other relative of a previous holder of the post, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau.
Born in Ottawa, Trudeau attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, graduated from McGill University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature, then in 1998 acquired a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduating he taught French, humanities, math and drama at the secondary school level in Vancouver. Initially relocating back to Montreal in 2002 to further his studies; advocacy work related to youth and environmental issues would be his primary focus; serving as chair for the youth charity Katimavik, as director of the not-for-profit Canadian Avalanche Association and was appointed as chair for the "Task Force on Youth Renewal" by the Liberals in 2006.
After a successful campaign during the 2008 federal election, he was elected to represent the riding of Papineau in the House of Commons. He served as the Liberal Party's Official Opposition critic for youth and multiculturalism in 2009, and the following year, became critic for citizenship and immigration. In 2011, he was appointed as a critic for secondary education and sport. Trudeau won the leadership of the Liberal Party in April 2013 and led his party to victory in the 2015 federal election, moving the third-placed Liberals from 36 seats to 184 seats, the largest-ever numerical increase by a party in a Canadian federal election.
As Prime Minister, major government initiatives he undertook during his first term include legalizing recreational marijuana through the "Cannabis Act"; attempting Senate appointment reform by establishing the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments and establishing the federal carbon tax; while grappling with ethics investigations concerning the Aga Khan affair and later, the SNC-Lavalin affair. In foreign policy, Trudeau's government negotiated trade deals such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and signed the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Winning the most seats (157) in the 2019 federal election, Trudeau secured a second term by forming a minority government, despite the Liberal Party losing the popular vote and receiving the lowest percentage of the national popular vote of any governing party in Canadian history. During his second term, he has confronted the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, announced an assault weapons ban in response to the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, and was cleared of wrongdoing during a third ethics investigation surrounding the WE Charity scandal. In foreign policy, he led Canada's failed 2020 bid on temporary membership of the United Nations Security Council.
Early life.
Ancestry and birth.
On June 23, 1971, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) announced that Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's wife of four months, the former Margaret Sinclair, was pregnant and due in December. Justin Trudeau was born on Christmas Day 1971 at 9:27 pm EST at the Ottawa Civic Hospital. He is the second child in Canadian history to be born to a prime minister in office; the first was John A. Macdonald's daughter Margaret Mary Theodora Macdonald (February 8, 1869 – January 28, 1933). Trudeau's younger brothers Alexandre (Sacha) (born December 25, 1973) and Michel (October 2, 1975 – November 13, 1998) were the third and fourth.
Trudeau is predominantly of Scottish and French Canadian descent. His grandfathers were businessman Charles-Émile Trudeau and Scottish-born James Sinclair, who served as Minister of Fisheries in the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent. Trudeau's maternal great-grandfather Thomas Bernard was born in Makassar, Indonesia and immigrated to Penticton, British Columbia, in 1906 at age 15 with his family. Through the Bernard family, kinsmen of the Earls of Bandon, Trudeau is the fifth great-grandson of Major-General William Farquhar, a leader in the founding of modern Singapore; Trudeau also has remote ethnic Malaccan and Nias ancestry.
Trudeau was baptized with his father's niece Anne Rouleau-Danis as godmother and his mother's brother-in-law Thomas Walker as godfather at Ottawa's Notre Dame Basilica on the afternoon of January 16, 1972, which marked his first public appearance. On April 14, 1972, Trudeau's father and mother hosted a gala at the National Arts Centre, at which visiting U.S. president Richard Nixon said, "I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada, to Justin Pierre Trudeau" to which Pierre Elliott Trudeau responded that should his son ever assume the role, he hoped he would have "the grace and skill of the president". Earlier that same day U.S. first lady Pat Nixon had come to see him in his nursery to deliver a gift, a stuffed toy Snoopy. Nixon's White House audio tapes later revealed Nixon referred to that visit as "wasting three days up there. That trip we needed like a hole in the head."
Childhood.
His parents announced their separation on May 27, 1977, when Trudeau was five years old with his father having primary custody. There had been repeated rumours of a reconciliation for many years afterwards. However, his mother's attorney Michael Levine filed in Toronto to the Supreme Court of Ontario for a no-fault divorce on November 16, 1983, and finalized on April 2, 1984, with his father announcing his intention to retire as prime minister on February 29 of that year. Eventually his parents came to an amicable joint-custody arrangement and learned to get along quite well. Interviewed in October 1979, his nanny Dianne Lavergne was quoted, "Justin is a mommy's boy, so it's not easy, but children's hurts mend very quickly. And they're lucky kids, anyway." Of his mother and father's marriage, Trudeau said in 2009, "They loved each other incredibly, passionately, completely. But there was 30 years between them, and my mom never was an equal partner in what encompassed my father's life, his duty, his country." Trudeau has three half-siblings, Kyle and Alicia, from his mother's remarriage to Fried Kemper, and Sarah, from his father's relationship with Deborah Coyne.
Trudeau lived at 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, the official residence of Canada's prime minister, from his birth until his father's government was defeated in the federal election on May 22, 1979. The Trudeaus were expected to move into Stornoway, the residence of the leader of the Official Opposition, but because of flooding in the basement, Prime Minister Joe Clark offered them Harrington Lake, the prime minister's official country retreat in Gatineau Park, with the expectation they would move into Stornoway at the start of July. However, the repairs were not complete, so Pierre Trudeau took a prolonged vacation with his sons to the Nova Scotia summer home of his friend, MP Don Johnston, and later sent his sons to stay with their maternal grandparents in North Vancouver for the rest of the summer while he slept at his friend's Ottawa apartment. Justin and his brothers returned to Ottawa for the start of the school year but lived only on the top floor of Stornoway while repairs continued on the bottom floor. His mother purchased and moved into a new home nearby at 95 Queen Victoria Street in Ottawa's New Edinburgh in September 1979. The Trudeaus returned to the prime minister's official residence in February 1980 after the election that returned his father to the Prime Minister's Office.
His father had intended Trudeau to begin his formal education at a French lycée, but Trudeau's mother convinced his father of the importance of sending their sons to a public school. In the end, Trudeau was enrolled in 1976 in the French immersion program at Rockcliffe Park Public School, the same school his mother had attended for two years when her family relocated to Rockcliffe Park while her father served as a federal Cabinet minister. He could have been dropped off by limousine, but his parents elected he take the school bus albeit with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) car following. This was followed by one year at the private Lycée Claudel d'Ottawa.
After his father's retirement in June 1984, his mother remained at her New Edinburgh home while the rest of the family moved into his father's home at 1418 Pine Avenue, Montreal known as Cormier House where the following autumn he began attending the private Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, his father's alma mater. The school had begun as a Jesuit school but was non-denominational by the time Justin matriculated. In 2008, Trudeau said that of all his early family outings he enjoyed camping with his father the most, because "that was where our father got to be just our father – a dad in the woods". During the summers his father would send him and his brothers to Camp Ahmek, on Canoe Lake, in Algonquin Provincial Park, where he would later work in his first paid employment as a camp counselor.
Trudeau and his brothers were given shares in a numbered trust fund by their father, from which they receive regular dividends. As of August 2011, Trudeau's company had assets of $1.2 million.
University and early career.
Trudeau has a bachelor of arts degree in literature from McGill University and a bachelor of education degree from the University of British Columbia. In his first year at McGill, Trudeau became acquainted with his future principal secretary, Gerald Butts through their mutual friend, Jonathan Ablett. Butts invited Trudeau to join the McGill Debating Union. They bonded while driving back to Montreal after a debate tournament at Princeton University in which the Princeton team included Ted Cruz, who would go on to be elected a U.S. senator for Texas in 2013 and be candidate for the U.S. Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2016. After graduation, Trudeau stayed in Vancouver where he became a substitute teacher at local schools and worked permanently as a French and math teacher at the private West Point Grey Academy. He became a roommate at the Douglas Lodge with fellow West Point Grey Academy faculty member and friend Christopher Ingvaldson. From 2002 to 2004, he studied engineering at the École Polytechnique de Montréal, a part of the Université de Montréal. He started a master's degree in environmental geography at McGill but withdrew from the program to seek public office among other reasons.
In August 2000, Justin Trudeau attended the Kokanee Summit in Creston, British Columbia, to raise funds in honour of his brother Michel Trudeau and other avalanche victims. After the event, an unsigned editorial in the "Creston Valley Advance" (a local newspaper) accused Trudeau of having groped an unnamed female reporter while at the music festival. The editorial stated Trudeau provided a "day-late" apology to the reporter, saying, "If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward". In 2018, Trudeau was questioned about the groping incident but said he did not remember any negative incidents from that time. His apology and later statement about the event have been described as hypocritical, while responses to the story have been described as a witch hunt or non-story.
Trudeau, then 28, emerged as a prominent figure in October 2000, after delivering a eulogy at his father's state funeral. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) received numerous calls to rebroadcast the speech after its initial transmission, and leading Quebec politician Claude Ryan described it as "perhaps ... the first manifestation of a dynasty". A book issued by the CBC in 2003 included the speech in its list of significant Canadian events from the past fifty years.
In 2007, Trudeau starred in the two-part CBC Television miniseries "The Great War", which gave an account of Canada's participation in the First World War. He portrayed his fifth cousin, twice removed, Major Talbot Mercer Papineau, who was killed on October 30, 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele. Trudeau is one of several children of former prime ministers who have become Canadian media personalities. The others are Ben Mulroney (son of Brian Mulroney), Catherine Clark (daughter of Joe Clark), and Trudeau's younger brother, Alexandre. Ben Mulroney was a guest at Trudeau's wedding.
Advocacy.
Trudeau and his family started the Kokanee Glacier Alpine Campaign for winter sports safety in 2000, two years after his brother Michel died in an avalanche during a ski trip. In 2002, Trudeau criticized the Government of British Columbia's decision to stop its funding for a public avalanche warning system.
Trudeau chaired the Katimavik youth program, a project started by longtime family friend Jacques Hébert, from 2002 to 2006.
In 2002–03, Trudeau was a panelist on CBC Radio's "Canada Reads" series, where he championed "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" by Wayne Johnston. Trudeau and his brother Alexandre inaugurated the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto in April 2004; the centre later became a part of the Munk School of Global Affairs. In 2006, he hosted the Giller Prize for literature.
In 2005, Trudeau fought against a proposed $100-million zinc mine that he argued would poison the Nahanni River, a United Nations World Heritage Site located in the Northwest Territories. He was quoted as saying, "The river is an absolutely magnificent, magical place. I'm not saying mining is wrong ... but that is not the place for it. It's just the wrong thing to be doing."
On September 17, 2006, Trudeau was the master of ceremonies at a Toronto rally organized by Roméo Dallaire that called for Canadian participation in resolving the Darfur crisis.
Political beginnings.
Trudeau supported the Liberal Party from a young age, offering his support to party leader John Turner in the 1988 federal election. Two years later, he defended Canadian federalism at a student event at the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, which he attended.
Following his father's death, Trudeau became more involved with the Liberal Party throughout the 2000s. Along with Olympian Charmaine Crooks, he co-hosted a tribute to outgoing prime minister Jean Chrétien at the party's 2003 leadership convention, and was appointed to chair a task force on youth renewal after the party's defeat in the 2006 federal election.
In October 2006, Trudeau criticized Quebec nationalism by describing political nationalism generally as an "old idea from the 19th century", "based on a smallness of thought" and not relevant to modern Quebec. This comment was seen as a criticism of Michael Ignatieff, then a candidate in the 2006 Liberal Party leadership election, who was promoting recognition of Quebec as a nation. Trudeau later wrote a public letter on the subject, describing the idea of Quebec nationhood as "against everything my father ever believed".
Trudeau announced his support for leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy shortly before the 2006 convention and introduced Kennedy during the candidates' final speeches. When Kennedy dropped off after the second ballot, Trudeau joined him in supporting the ultimate winner, Stéphane Dion.
Rumours circulated in early 2007 that Trudeau would run in an upcoming by-election in the Montreal riding of Outremont. The Montreal newspaper "La Presse" reported despite Trudeau's keenness, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion wanted Outremont for a star candidate who could help rebuild the Liberal Party. Instead, Trudeau announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in the nearby riding of Papineau for the next general election. The riding, which had once been held for 26 years by André Ouellet, a senior minister under his father, had been in Liberal hands for 53 years before falling to the Bloc Québécois in 2006.
On April 29, 2007, Trudeau won the Liberal party's nomination, picking up 690 votes to 350 for Deros and 220 for Giordano against Mary Deros, a Montreal city councillor and Basilio Giordano, the publisher of a local Italian-language newspaper.
Opposition, 2008–2015.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election for October 14, 2008, by which time Trudeau had been campaigning for a year in Papineau. On election day, Trudeau narrowly defeated Bloc Québécois incumbent Vivian Barbot. Following his election win, Edward Greenspon, editor-in-chief of "The Globe and Mail", noted that Trudeau would "be viewed as few other rookie MPs are—as a potential future Prime Minister—and scrutinized through that lens".
The Conservative Party won a minority government in the 2008 election, and Trudeau entered parliament as a member of the Official Opposition. Trudeau was the first member of the 40th Parliament of Canada to introduce a private member's motion, in which he called for a "national voluntary service policy for young people". The proposal won support from parliamentarians across party lines. He later co-chaired the Liberal Party's April 2009 national convention in Vancouver, and in October of the same year he was appointed as the party's critic for multiculturalism and youth.
In September 2010, he was reassigned as critic for youth, citizenship, and immigration. During that time, he criticized the government's legislation targeting human smuggling, which he argued would penalize the victims of smuggling.
Trudeau sparked controversy when it was revealed that he earned $1.3 million in public speaking fees from charities and school boards across Canada, $277,000 of which Trudeau received after becoming an MP.
He encouraged an increase of Canada's relief efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and sought more accessible immigration procedures for Haitians moving to Canada in the time of crisis. His own riding includes a significant Haitian community.
Trudeau was re-elected in Papineau in the 2011 federal election, as the Liberal Party fell to third-party standing in the House of Commons with only thirty-four seats. Ignatieff resigned as party leader immediately after the election, and rumours again circulated that Trudeau could run to become his successor. On this occasion, Trudeau said, "I don't feel I should be closing off any options ... because of the history packaged into my name, a lot of people are turning to me in a way that ... to be blunt, concerns me." Weeks after the election, Toronto MP Bob Rae was selected to serve as the interim leader until the party's leadership convention, which was later decided to be held in April 2013. Rae appointed Trudeau as the party's critic for post-secondary education, youth and amateur sport. After his re-election, he travelled the country hosting fundraisers for charities and the Liberal Party.
Trudeau wanted to take part in a charity boxing match on behalf of the cancer research fundraising event Fight for the Cure, but was having difficulty finding a Conservative opponent until Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau agreed when asked on Trudeau's behalf by their mutual hairdresser Stefania Capovilla. The fight on March 31, 2012, in Ottawa at the Hampton Inn was broadcast live on Sun News with commentary by Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley and Trudeau won in the third round, the result considered an upset.
Leader of the Liberal Party.
Earlier speculation.
After Dion's resignation as Liberal leader in 2008, Trudeau's name was mentioned as a potential candidate with polls showing him as a favourite among Canadians for the position.
However, Trudeau did not enter the race and Ignatieff was named leader in December 2008. After the party's poor showing in the 2011 election, Ignatieff resigned from the leadership and Trudeau was again seen as a potential candidate to lead the party.
Following the election, Trudeau said he was undecided about seeking the leadership; months later on October 12 at Wilfrid Laurier University, he announced he would not seek the post because he had a young family. When interim leader Bob Rae, who was also seen as a frontrunner, announced he would not be entering the race in June 2012, Trudeau was hit with a "tsunami" of calls from supporters to reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership.
Opinion polling conducted by several pollsters showed that if Trudeau were to become leader the Liberal Party would surge in support, from a distant third place to either being competitive with the Conservative Party or leading them. In July 2012, Trudeau stated that he would reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership and would announce his final decision at the end of the summer.
2013 leadership election.
On September 26, 2012, multiple media outlets started reporting that Trudeau would launch his leadership bid the following week. While Trudeau was seen as a frontrunner for the leadership of the Liberal Party, he was criticized for his perceived lack of substance. During his time as a member of Parliament, he spoke little on policy matters and it was not known where he stood on many issues such as the economy and foreign affairs. Some strategists and pundits believed the leadership would be the time for Trudeau to be tested on these issues; however, there was also fear within the party that his celebrity status and large lead might deter other strong candidates from entering the leadership race.
On October 2, 2012, Trudeau held a rally in Montreal to launch his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party. The core people on his campaign team were considered longtime friends, and all in their 30s and 40s. His senior advisor was Gerald Butts, the former president of WWF-Canada who had previously served as principal secretary to former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty. Other senior aides included campaign manager Katie Telford, and policy advisors Mike McNeir and Robert Asselin, who had all worked for recent Liberal Party leaders. His brother Alexandre also took a break from his documentary work to be a senior advisor on Trudeau's campaign.
During the leadership campaign three by-elections were held on November 26, 2012. The riding Calgary Centre was expected to be a three-way race between the Conservatives, Liberals and Green Party. A week before by-election day Sun Media reported on comments Trudeau had made in a 2010 interview with Télé-Québec, in which he said, "Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda." Trudeau's campaign advisor said that the comments were being brought up now because of the close race in Calgary Centre. The following day, Trudeau apologized, saying he was wrong to use "Alberta" as "shorthand" in referring to Stephen Harper's government. The Conservatives held onto Calgary Centre in the by-election by less than 1,200 votes. Liberal candidate Harvey Locke said he lost the by-election on his own and that comments made by Trudeau did not influence the outcome.
Fellow leadership candidate Marc Garneau, seen as Trudeau's main challenger in the race, criticized Trudeau for not releasing enough substantial policy positions. Garneau called on him to release more detailed policies before members and supporters begin to vote. Garneau later challenged Trudeau to a one-on-one debate, and said that if Trudeau could not defend his ideas in a debate against him, he wouldn't be able to do so against Prime Minister Harper. Trudeau clashed in debates with challenger Joyce Murray, who was the only Liberal leadership candidate to speak out strongly in favour of electing the House of Commons with a system of proportional representation. She challenged Trudeau over his support for a preferential ballot voting system.
On March 13, 2013, Garneau dropped out of the leadership race, saying that polling conducted by his campaign showed he would be unable to defeat Trudeau.
With Joyce Murray, the last challenger, receiving significant press time, more Liberal politicians and public figures declared themselves for Trudeau. Trudeau was declared the winner of the leadership election on April 14, 2013, garnering 80.1 per cent of 30,800 votes. Joyce Murray finished in second place with 10.2 per cent points, ahead of Martha Hall Findlay's 5.7 per cent. Trudeau had lost only five ridings, all to Murray and all in BC.
Leadership, 2013–2015.
Polls conducted during the leadership race showed that support for the Liberals would surge if they were led by Trudeau. Days after winning his party's leadership a poll showed that the Liberal Party was the choice of 43 per cent of respondents. This compared to 30 per cent for the governing Conservatives and 19 per cent for the Official Opposition New Democrats.
According to an October 2013 EKOS poll, Trudeau's approval numbers improved to a 48–29 approval–disapproval; New Democratic leader Tom Mulcair's jumped to a slight lead at 50–25, while Conservative leader Stephen Harper's ratings sank to 24–69. A December 2013 EKOS poll showed the Liberals preferred by 32.1 per cent of voters, the Conservatives by 26.2 per cent, the NDP 22.9 per cent. Likely voters, estimated by removing those who didn't vote in 2011, moved the parties into a logjam: Liberals 29.1 per cent, Conservatives 28.5 per cent, NDP 27.2 per cent.
In 2013, Justin Trudeau chose to give up his seat at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, in deference to Irwin Cotler as representative of the Liberal Party of Canada, because of Cotler's work for and with Nelson Mandela in fighting apartheid.
During the leadership campaign Trudeau pledged to park all his assets, exclusive of real estate holdings, into a blind trust which is atypical for opposition MPs, including leaders. According to documents obtained by the "Ottawa Citizen", he fulfilled the pledge in July 2013 when the blind trust was set up by BMO Private Banking.
On January 27, 2014, Trudeau and MP Carolyn Bennett escorted Chrystia Freeland into the House of Commons, as is traditional for by-election victors. Trudeau launched an internet video the week before the 2014 Liberal party convention titled "An economy that benefits us all" in which he narrates his economic platform. He said that Canada's debt to GDP ratios have come down in recent years and now it's time for Ottawa to "step up".
2015 federal election.
On October 19, 2015, after the longest official campaign in over a century, Trudeau led the Liberals to a decisive victory in the federal election. The Liberals won 184 of the 338 seats, with 39.5% of the popular vote, for a strong majority government; a gain of 150 seats compared to the 2011 federal election.
This was the second-best performance in the party's history. The Liberals won mostly on the strength of a solid performance in the eastern half of the country. In addition to taking all of Atlantic Canada and Toronto, they won 40 seats in Quebec—the most that the Liberals had won in that province since Trudeau's father led them to a near-sweep of the province in 1980, and also the first time since then that the Liberals won a majority of Quebec's seats in an election. The 150-seat gain was the biggest numerical increase for a single party since Confederation and marked the first time that a party had rebounded from third place in the Commons to a majority government.
In addition to the appeal of his party's platform, Trudeau's success has been credited to his performance both on the campaign trail and televised leaders' debates exceeding the lowered expectations created by Conservative advertisements and conservative media outlets.
Trudeau declared victory shortly after CBC News projected that he had won a majority government. He began his speech with a reference to former Liberal prime minister Wilfrid Laurier's "sunny ways" () approach to bringing Canadians together despite their differences. According to Trudeau, Laurier "knew that politics can be a positive force, and that's the message Canadians have sent today". Harper announced his resignation as the head of the Conservative Party that night.
Prime Minister of Canada (2015–present).
Trudeau and the rest of the Cabinet were sworn in by Governor General David Johnston on November 4, 2015. He said that his first legislative priority was to lower taxes for middle-income Canadians and raise taxes for the top one per cent of income earners after parliament was reconvened on December 3, 2015. Trudeau also issued a statement promising to rebuild relations with Indigenous peoples in Canada and run an open, ethical and transparent government. On November 5, 2015, during the first Liberal caucus meeting since forming a majority government, the party announced that it would reinstate the mandatory long-form census that had been scrapped in 2010, effective with the 2016 census.
In January 2017, the ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson, began an investigation into Trudeau for a vacation he and his family took to Aga Khan IV's private island in the Bahamas. The ethics commissioner's report, released in December 2017, found that Trudeau had violated four provisions of the "Conflict of Interest Act". He became the first sitting prime minister to break federal conflict of interest rules.
In February 2018, Trudeau was criticized when his government invited Khalistani nationalist Jaspal Atwal to the Canadian High Commission's dinner party in Delhi. Atwal had previously been convicted for the shooting and attempted murder of Indian Cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu in 1986, as well as the assault on former BC premier Ujjal Dosanjh in 1985. Following the dinner, the PMO rescinded the invitation, and apologized for the incident.
During his time as Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau has been the target of multiple death threats and assassination plots.
Assessment of campaign promises.
In July 2019, a group of 20 independent academics published an assessment on Trudeau's first term as Prime Minister, called "Assessing Justin Trudeau's Liberal Government: 353 Promises and a Mandate for Change". The assessment found that Trudeau's Liberal government kept 92 per cent of pledges, including complete and partial pledges. When calculating completed and realized pledges, they found Trudeau's government kept 53.5 per cent of their campaign promises. Trudeau's government, along with the "last Harper government had the highest rates of follow-through on their campaign promises of any Canadian government over the last 35 years," according to the assessment.
Domestic policy.
The Trudeau government's economic policy initially relied on increased tax revenues to pay for increased government spending. While the government did not balance the budget in its first term, it reduced Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio every year until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Trudeau's progressive social policy has included strong advocacy for feminism and abortion rights. In his first term, Canada set targets to welcome an increased number of immigrants and refugees. Canada introduced the right to medically-assisted dying in 2016 and legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2018. In 2021, Trudeau announced the creation of a national child care plan with the intention of reducing day care fees for parents down to $10 a day per child within five years.
His environmental policy included introducing new commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% before 2030, and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. His main tool for reaching this target is a federal carbon pricing policy. Trudeau's parliament also adopted legislation for marine conservation, banning six common single-use plastic products, and strengthening environmental impact assessments. However, Trudeau is in favour of oil and gas pipelines to bring Canadian fossil fuel resources to foreign markets.
Foreign policy.
Trudeau enjoyed good relations with the like-minded United States President Barack Obama, despite Trudeau's support for the Keystone Pipeline which was rejected by the Democratic President. Trudeau's first foreign policy challenges included follow-through on his campaign promise to withdraw Canadian air support from the Syrian civil war <ref name="Iraq/Syria trainers, aid"></ref> and to welcome 25,000 Syrian war refugees.
When Donald Trump became President, Canada-US relations deteriorated. The Trump administration forced the renegotiation of NAFTA to create the CUSMA, in which Canada made significant concessions in allowing increased imports of American milk, weakening Canada's dairy supply management system. Donald Trump also implemented Tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, to which Trudeau retaliated by imposing Tariffs on American steel, aluminium and a variety of other American products.
Canada's relationship with China also deteriorated during Justin Trudeau's time as Prime Minister, chiefly as a result of the Meng Wanzhou affair. Since Wanzhou's arrest in December 2018 at the Vancouver airport, two Canadians (Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig) have been held in custody in China. Canada and China have each requested the release of their nationals, which they see as political prisoners. The Trudeau government claims that they do not have the authority to free Meng Wanzhou out of respect for Canada's extradition treaty with the United States and the rule of law.
In a similar fashion, Canada's relationship with Saudi Arabia was also put under strain, as human rights groups called on Trudeau to stop selling military equipment to that country under a deal struck by the Harper government. In 2018, Saudi Arabia recalled its Canadian ambassador and froze trade with the country in response to Canada's call for the Saudis to release opposition blogger Raif Badawi. However, in 2019, Canada doubled its weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, despite a "moratorium on export permits following the killing of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and mounting civilian deaths from the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen."
In 2020, Canada lost its bid to join the United Nations Security Council. This was the second time Canada had failed an attempt to join the Security Council, the first time being in 2009 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
SNC-Lavalin affair.
On February 8, 2019, "The Globe and Mail" reported that sources close to the government said that the Prime Minister's Office had allegedly attempted to influence Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould concerning an ongoing prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. When asked about the allegations, Trudeau said that the story in the "Globe" was false and that he had never "directed" Wilson-Raybould concerning the case. Wilson-Raybould did not comment on the matter, citing solicitor-client privilege. Soon after, Trudeau voluntarily waived privilege and cabinet confidences, permitting her to speak. On February 11, the ethics commissioner announced the opening of an investigation into the allegations. Trudeau said he "welcomed the investigation". The Justice Committee of the House of Commons has conducted a series of hearings on the alleged interference. The investigation heard from several witnesses, including Jody Wilson-Raybould, who submitted as evidence a telephone call she secretly recorded between herself and Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, which was subsequently released to the public. On the recording, Wernick is heard asking to understand why the "DPA route" is not being used, stating that people were "talking past each other", and suggesting Trudeau obtain independent legal advice from former Supreme Court chief justice Beverly McLachlin. Wilson-Raybould is heard suggesting that Trudeau would be "breaching a constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence". On March 19, 2019, the Liberal committee members voted as a bloc to shut down the Justice Committee's investigation.
Trudeau was the subject of an investigation by the ethics commissioner, pursuant to the "Conflict of Interest Act", in regards to criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin in the SNC-Lavalin affair. The commission's final report, issued August 14, 2019, concluded "Mr. Trudeau contravened section 9 of the Act".
2019 federal election.
On September 11, 2019, Trudeau visited Governor General Julie Payette, to request the dissolution of Parliament, and formally triggering an election. Prior to the formal start of the campaign, Trudeau announced his intention to only participate in the three leaders' debates, two organized by the Leaders' Debates Commission, and one organized by TVA. The CityTV/"Maclean's" debate was held on September 12, with an empty podium left on stage for Trudeau. The Munk Debate on foreign policy was originally scheduled on October 1, although its organizers cancelled the event as a result of Trudeau's decision to not attend.
In September 2019, controversial pictures and video were published showing Trudeau in brownface and blackface. On September 18, 2019, "Time" magazine published a photograph of Trudeau wearing brownface makeup in the spring of 2001, at an "Arabian Nights"-themed gala, while Trudeau was a teacher at West Point Grey Academy. Trudeau publicly apologized, agreeing the photo was racist and saying: "I shouldn't have done that. I should have known better and I didn't. I'm really sorry." He further went on to say "It was something that I didn't think was racist at the time, but now I recognize it was something racist to do". Trudeau also admitted to wearing blackface makeup in high school while singing "Day-O" at a talent show that was subsequently published by Global News. A third instance, a video, of Trudeau in racist dress was also published. After this video was published, Trudeau admitted he could not remember how often he had worn blackface makeup.
In the days following the scandal, pollsters pointed out that many Canadians either were not bothered by the scandal or had accepted Trudeau's apology. Additionally, minority community groups, racialized commentators and some of Trudeau's opponents came to his defence. Others were more critical, including members of his own party.
Two official debates were organized and held by the newly created Leaders' Debates Commission. The English language debate took place on October 7 and the French on October 10. Both debates took place at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.
2019 election results.
While Trudeau's Liberal Party lost 20 seats in the House of Commons (lowering its total from 177 to 157) from the time of dissolution, they still won the most seats of any party—enough seats to allow Trudeau to form a minority government. For the first time since 1979, the party that garnered the largest share of the national popular vote did not win the most seats; Trudeau had 33.1 per cent of the popular vote, while Conservative leader Andrew Scheer had 34.4 per cent. It was also the first time a government took power with less than 35 per cent of the national popular vote since John A. Macdonald, in 1867, who had 34.8 per cent of the votes. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Liberal party won 14 per cent and 10 per cent of the popular vote, respectively. In Ontario, Liberals won all 25 Toronto seats and 24 of 29 seats in the surrounding suburbs of the Greater Toronto Area—reportedly due in part to the unpopularity of the Progressive Conservative party government of Premier Doug Ford.
COVID-19 pandemic.
Justin Trudeau was Prime Minister during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. His government's response to the pandemic included funds for provinces and territories to adapt to the new situation, funds for coronavirus research, travel restrictions, screening of international flights, self-insolation orders under the "Quarantine Act", an industrial strategy, and a public health awareness campaign. To deal with the economic impact of the pandemic in 2020, Trudeau waived student loan payments, increased the Canada Child Benefit, doubled the annual Goods and Services Tax payment, and introduced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit as part of a first package in March. In April 2020, Trudeau introduced the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Business Account, and the Canada Emergency Student Benefit. Trudeau also deployed the Canadian Forces in long-term care homes in Quebec and Ontario as part of Operation LASER.
The spread of COVID-19 in Canada continued beyond the initial outbreak, with a strong second wave in the fall of 2020 and an even more serious third wave in the spring of 2021. Thought the crisis, Trudeau periodically extended the scope and duration of the federal aid programs. The 2021 Canadian federal budget plans to phase them out by September 2021, and projects a $354.2-billion in the 2020-21 fiscal year.
Canada's COVID-19 mass-vaccination campaign started on December 14, 2020. The federal government was responsible for procurement of the vaccines, and allocated doses to each province. Trudeau had ordered more vaccines per capita than any country in the world; around 4 vaccines per Canadian. However, the various companies producing the vaccines did not follow through, and by April 2021, only 2% of the country was inoculated. Canada doesn't have a domestic vaccine production facility since the privatization of the Connaught Laboratories in the 1980s, and the Trudeau government did not invest in building back this production capacity until 2021. As such, Canada's vaccines rollout was slowed down by companies not delivering the planned amount of vaccines, and countries such as India blocking vaccine exports. Vaccination had to be paused in many parts of Canada due to vaccine shortages. In April 2021, Trudeau received his first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a local pharmacy in Ottawa.
WE Charity ethics investigation.
Following complaints by opposition parties that the Trudeau family had ties to WE Charity, the ethics commissioner on July 3, 2020 announced an investigation into Trudeau's and the government's decision to have the charity administer a summer, student-grant program which could assist students financially during the COVID-19 epidemic. Trudeau responded by saying WE was the charity that had the capability to administer such a program. WE and the federal government decided to "part ways" leaving administration of the grant program to the federal government.
We Charity was criticized for its close ties to the Trudeau family; the investigation came after revelations that Trudeau's mother, brother, and wife were paid nearly $300,000 in total to speak at WE Charity events.
On July 16, 2020, the ethics commissioner also announced the investigation was being expanded to include Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
Personal life.
Family.
Trudeau first met Sophie Grégoire when they were both children growing up in Montreal; Grégoire was a classmate and childhood friend of Trudeau's youngest brother, Michel. They reconnected as adults in June 2003, when Grégoire, by then a Quebec television personality, was assigned as Trudeau's co-host for a charity ball; they began dating several months later. Trudeau and Grégoire became engaged in October 2004, and married on May 28, 2005, in a ceremony at Montreal's Sainte-Madeleine d'Outremont Church. They have three children: a boy Xavier born in 2007, a girl Ella-Grace born in 2009, and a boy Hadrien born in 2014.
In June 2013, two months after Trudeau became the leader of the Liberal Party, the couple sold their home in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal. They began living in a rented home in Ottawa's Rockcliffe Park, the neighbourhood near where Trudeau resided as a child during his father's time as Prime Minister.
On August 18, 2014, an intruder broke into the house while Grégoire and the couple's three children were sleeping and left a threatening note; however, nothing was stolen and there was no damage to the property. Following the incident, Trudeau, who was in Winnipeg at the time of the break-in, stated his intention to inquire with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about his home security. After his 2015 electoral victory, Trudeau opted to live at Rideau Cottage, on the grounds of Rideau Hall, until necessary repairs are completed at 24 Sussex to make it habitable.
On March 12, 2020 the Trudeau family self-isolated at their Rideau home in Ottawa after his wife began exhibiting flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for COVID-19. By March 28, she had recovered.
Religion.
Trudeau's father was a devout Roman Catholic and his mother converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism just prior to their wedding. As a child, Justin attended Mass each Sunday and said his prayers each night before bedtime. He became a lapsed Catholic at age 18, as he felt that much of his day-to-day life was not addressed by the formality and structure of the church. Trudeau described his faith during this period as "like so many Catholics across this country, I said, 'OK, I'm Catholic, I'm of faith, but I'm just not really going to go to church. Maybe on Easter, maybe midnight Mass at Christmas. After the death of his brother Michel in 1998, Trudeau was persuaded by a friend to participate in an Alpha course, during which he regained his faith. In 2011, Trudeau stated, "My own personal faith is an extremely important part of who I am and the values that I try to lead with."


Schiedmayer

Schiedmayer is the name of a German Instrument-manufacturing family. Established in 1735 as a keyboard instrument manufacturer, it is still active today as a family business.
History.
Beginnings.
The first instrument maker in the family was Balthasar Schiedmayer (1711-1781), an organ and piano maker in Erlangen, who built his first instrument in 1735. Three of his sons also learned the art of piano making:
Schiedmayer & Sons.
In 1809, Johann David's son Johann Lorenz Schiedmayer (1786-1860), together with Carl Dieudonné, founded the firm of "Dieudonné & Schiedmayer" in Stuttgart. The firm soon became well known in the area. When the composer Friedrich Silcher moved to Stuttgart, he lived for two years in Schiedmayer’s home. After the death of Dieudonné, the workshop was renamed Schiedmayer Pianofortefabrik, and after 1845, when Adolf and Hermann Schiedmayer, the older sons of Johann Lorenz Schiedmayer, joined the firm, "Schiedmayer & Sons, Pianoforte Factory". From 1821 to 1969 the factory was on what was then Neckerstrasse 14-16 and is now Konrad Adenauer Strasse in Stuttgart. This lot is occupied today by the "State High School for Music" and "Representative Arts and by the House of History".
In 1909, a major exhibit to commemorate the centenary of the firm was held in Stuttgart at the "Royal Center for Industry and Trade" (Today "House of Commerce"). Among the visitors were Württemberg’s King William II and his wife Charlotte.
J & P Schiedmayer.
Johann Lorenz Schiedmayer sent his two younger sons Julius and Paul to Paris, where they studied harmonium construction, and also met Victor Mustel, who some years later invented the celesta. After returning to Stuttgart, they founded in 1853 the firm of "J & P Schiedmayer", which soon started building pianos and later celestas. They also built unusual instruments, like the Schiedmayer-Scheola (a mixture of organ, harmonium and celesta) and some mechanical autoplay instruments.
The firm was located near "Schiedmayer & Sons". The firm later changed its name to "Schiedmayer Pianoforte Factory".
In 1969, the owner of "Schiedmayer & Sons", Georg Schiedmayer, took over the "Schiedmayer Piano Factory", previously "J & P Schiedmayer", from their then owners, Max and Hans Schiedmayer. Piano production was terminated in 1980, and the firm specialized on the manufacture of celestas and glockenspiels. In 1992, upon the death of Georg Schiedmayer, his widow, Elianne Schiedmayer, inherited the firm of "Schiedmayer & Sons GmbH & Co. KG" as well as "Schiedmayer Pianoforte Factory", previously known as "J & P Schiedmayer". In 2008 the firm of Schiedmayer Pianoforte Factory was officially liquidated at the Registry of Companies.
Schiedmayer Celesta GmbH.
In 1995 Elianne Schiedmayer launched "Schiedmayer Celesta GmbH", (formerly "Schiedmayer Celestabau GmbH"), located since 2000 in Wendlingen am Neckar near Stuttgart. Worldwide, Schiedmayer celestas and keyboard Glockenspiel are used, among others, in operas and concert halls.
Müller–Schiedmayer.
The Müller-Schiedmayer factory was founded in 1874 in Würzburg by the son of a daughter of Johann Lorenz Schiedmayer; he learned his trade at "J & P Schiedmayer" and "Schiedmayer & Sons", as well as at Steinway & Sons in New York City. The business was liquidated in 1968. The last bearer of the name was Erwin Müller-Schiedmayer.


Tibati Nkambule of Swaziland

Tibati Madvolomafisha Nkambule was the Queen Regent and Indlovukati of Swaziland from 1889 until 1894 following the death of King Mbandzeni (Dlamini IV). Tibati has been called "strong, traditionalist and well respected among her peers". She led the country during the tumultuous period before the kingdom was placed under the administration of the South African Republic in 1894.


Indiana and Ohio Railroad


Libertas ecclesiae

Libertas ecclesiae ("freedom of the Church" in Latin) is the notion of freedom of religion of ecclesiastical authority of the Catholic Church from secular or the temporal power, which guided the Reform beginning in the 11th century.
Description.
After the decentralization of the post-Carolingian period, this became the slogan of the Catholic Church in light of disapproval over lay warlords installing themselves as abbots and other high-profile churchmen. Unfit to perform theological functions, much less to defend the interests of the Catholic Church, these warlords viewed Catholic Church property as an extension of their own landholdings.
What resulted was the plunder of movable wealth (of which the monasteries had become the keepers during the period of Viking invasion) and the parcelling out of land and office as the temporal powers saw fit. This sorry state of the Catholic Church prompted enthusiasm for 'freeing' it from the direct control of these milites; Gregory VII helped frame this goal through the specifics of his reform program.
In addition to calling for spiritually pure figures at the helm of the Catholic Church, Pope Gregory VII addressed the practical problems of pluralism (holding more than one church office) and poorly educated clerics.


Skolya (Hasidic dynasty)

Skolya is a Hasidic dynasty named after the town of Skole () in Eastern Galicia (currently in Ukraine), where the founder of this dynasty lived and led his court.


Madhavan Chandradathan

M. C. Dathan is an Indian space scientist and former director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). The Government of India honoured him, in 2014, by awarding him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the fields of science and technology. In May 2016, the Government of Kerala appointed MC Dathan as the scientific advisor to chief minister.
Biography.
Madhavan Chandradathan was born to Madhavan and Vasumathy, in Varkala. He graduated in chemical engineering from the Government Engineering College, Thrissur in 1971 and secured a master's degree (MTech) from the Birla Institute of Technology in 1985.
Chandradathan started his career in 1972, by joining the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he worked for the SLV-3 project, the development of solid propellant formulations. He also contributed to the realization of solid motors for SLV-3, ASLV and PSLV projects. Later, Chandradathan took up the assignment of developing rocket nozzles primarily for solid motors. He became the head of the ablative nozzle production unit in 2000, where he remained till 2004. During this period, his team developed the flex nozzle for the S200 motor and the S200 booster for the GSLV Mk-III project.
He was promoted to Chief Executive of the Solid Propellant Plant (SPROB) for the PSLV and GSLV boosters. In this position, Chandradrathan oversaw the establishment of a new Solid Propellant Plant (SPP), which was commissioned in 2008.
Chandradathan became the Director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR (SDSC), in 2008. During his tenure as the Director, Chandradathan is reported to have contributed to the improvement of production levels of solid boosters. He is also credited with two ground tests for S200 segments of the GSLV Mk-III, expansion of the facilities, and the development of a new Mission Control Centre and Launch Control Centre.
In January 2013, he became the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), which controlled the Thiruvananthapuram, Mahendragiri and Bangalore campuses of the ISRO. In June 2014, he was made the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
He was also the head of the launch authorization board of Chandrayaan-1 project.
In May 2016, the Government of Kerala appointed MC Dathan as the scientific advisor to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Honours.
Chandradrathan is a recipient of many honours and awards, including "Performance Excellence Award" (2009) from ISRO, "Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award" (2009) from the Institution of Engineers (India) (IEI) and "Individual Service Award" (2006) from ISRO.
In 2014, the Government of India honoured him with the civilian award of Padma Shri.
Chandradathan has attended many seminars and conferences to give keynote addresses. He has also published many articles in such journals of repute as the International Astronautical Federation.


Lutero Vargas

Lutero Sarmanho Vargas (February 24, 1912 - October 4, 1989) was a Brazilian physicians, diplomat and politician. He was the oldest son of former President of Brazil Getúlio Vargas.


Staatsbank der DDR

The State Bank of the GDR () was the central bank of East Germany. It was established on 1 January 1968 from the and took over the majority of the same tasks.
The State Bank of the GDR was responsible for the administration of the internal account settlement and banking system, the issue of money and control of money circulation within the GDR, administration of the exchange control regulations and settlement of foreign currency accounts with overseas companies and governments (Zahlungsverkehr by transfer). In addition, the bank bought and sold financial securities and administered the purchase, sale and holding of precious metals for foreign exchange purposes.
The state bank was also responsible for the account processing of the state institutions and state enterprises, (Volkseigener Betrieb), having at least one main branch in each of the 15 administrative subdivisions of the German Democratic Republic.
The internal foreign exchange rate regime.
Another key task of the State Bank (on which it expended considerable resources) was attempting to control the circulation of foreign exchange within the GDR. This was primarily because of concerns that the circulation of foreign exchange (particularly the Deutsche Mark) could lead to the establishment of a parallel currency that would encourage the black market, damage the East German Mark and the internal economy, and undermine the international prestige of the GDR on its own soil.
Thus citizens of the GDR who were in the possession of foreign exchange (typically Deutsche Marks sent by Western relatives or, for a small minority such as writers and artists, overseas royalties earnings) were obliged to deposit this in a dedicated foreign exchange account with the state bank. In order to encourage compliance, and thereby help “drain” the circulation of foreign currency from the economy, these accounts carried a 1% interest rate premium over the nationally determined fixed interest of 3.25% per annum paid on all other consumer saving accounts.
However, although the interest rate on these accounts was 4.25% per annum, access to the hard currency in the account was far from easy. Technically the foreign currency on deposit was only available for use during authorised travel to Western countries, and was limited to the legitimate foreign currency travel expenses in the country concerned, plus the equivalent of 15 Deutsche Marks per day for other expenses. As the GDR only granted visas to travel to the West in limited circumstances to those below pensionable age (e.g. for weddings, funerals and serious illness of close relatives, business-based attendance at international conferences and trade fairs), and then usually only for very short periods, this effectively “neutralised” the foreign exchange held in the accounts of all those under 65 years old, and limited the usefulness of larger sums to those aged 65 and older.
Forum checks, Intershops and Genex.
In order to overcome this obvious disincentive to compliance with the internal foreign exchange rate regime, the State Bank allowed hard currency to be exchanged for Forum checks – a form of internal currency (foreign exchange certificates) that (crucially) could be spent at an Intershop. These were a chain of special shops that offered high quality East German goods (that were otherwise difficult to obtain without joining a long waiting list) at reasonable prices and otherwise unobtainable Western consumer goods (usually at near duty-free price levels) – they were accessible only to foreign tourists with hard currency and East German citizens with Forum checks. Forum checks were purchased at the unrealistic rate of 1 East German Mark for 1 Deutsche Mark – the typical black market exchange rate varied from 5 – 10 East German Marks to the Deutsche Mark.
In addition, it was also possible for holders of a foreign exchange account to order from the hard currency mail order GENEX catalog (GENEX gift service GmbH). This had originally been established to allow Westerners to legitimately send Eastern relatives Western brand (and export quality Eastern) consumer goods, wines, jewellery, delicacies etc. in exchange for hard currency. When used by the holder of a foreign exchange account for such an “internal” GENEX purchase, the cost of the order was debited directly from the account by giro or cheque clearing methods.
Political control of the State Bank.
Although the State Bank was always politically subordinate to the GDR government, this was made explicit by a law of 19 December 1974 which defined the State Bank as an organ of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic and formalised the practice of the Bank’s president being a member of the Council of Ministers. While this stood in stark contrast to the political independence of West Germany’s Bundesbank it was common during this era for there to be political control over the nation’s Central Bank-–though not usually to the extent found in East Germany and the other Eastern Bloc economies, where the policies and technical operation of the Central Bank were completely subservient to policies of the governing Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
The State Bank of the GDR was also a member of the International Bank for Economic Co-operation, a Comecon organisation founded in 1957 with its headquarters in Moscow. The nominal currencies used for trading, international clearing and settlement purposes by this organisation were transfer roubles and gold reserves.
Post reunification.
After German reunification the Bank was privatised by Treuhand and parts of other banks were taken over (see also Deutsche Kreditbank).
Accommodation.
The protected neo-classical building of 1889 at the Bebelplatz, in which the State Bank resided, was until 1945 the head office of the Dresdner Bank. After unsuccessful attempts at restitution following German reunification, the Dresdner Bank built its Berlin headquarters in Pariser Platz. The new owner of the original building was determined to be a subsidiary of Commerzbank.
After 1990 the building had mixed fortunes functioning as a local branch of the Dresdner Bank (and featured in the film "Run Lola Run"). In 2004 it was converted as part of the real estate project OpernCarrée by the hotelier Sir Rocco Forte into a luxury hotel (the Hotel de Rome). The hotel opened on 12 October 2006.


Associated Students, Chico

Associated Students, Chico (AS.) is the student government at California State University, Chico. With assets of over $19 million and annual revenue over $20 million, Associated Students, Chico is one of the largest non-profit organizations in Northern California Associated Students, Chico is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public-benefit corporation with 17,488 members. The organization owns and operates several student services on-campus including all vending machines, and foodservices, as well as the campus bookstore. The students of CSU Chico also own their own student union building named the Bell Memorial Union which houses the "Marketplace Cafe", the "AS Bookstore", and the student government offices.
The Associated Students Bylaws provide that student officers are elected annually from among and by the students. Students are assessed a mandatory Activity Fee at registration which funds the student government and other programs.
The AS. is generally divided into three areas, each the responsibility of one of three Associated Students standing committees. The AS' role as a government is manifested in the Government Affairs Committee. The student union is administered under the original authority of the Bell Memorial Union Committee. The administration of the businesses is under the original authority of the Business Committee. All of these areas are under the ultimate authority of the AS Board of Directors.
Associated Students, Chico is a dues paying member of the California State Student Association, the Auxiliary Organizations Association, and the Association of College Unions International
Board of directors.
The Associated Students Board of Directors is composed of
the four elected student executives, the two elected student directors, one faculty member jointly appointed by the AS and the university president, and two university vice presidents. All activity of the organization is ultimately under the direction of the board. Any action of any of the three standing committees of the board may be overturned only by a 2/3+1 vote of the board.
Student government.
The students of CSUC are represented on campus and in the community by the student government. The AS President is elected annually and generally supervises all elected and appointed officers. The Government Affairs Committee comprises the elected student officers. In fall 2014, the Student Academic Senate was established under the Government Affairs Committee to provide for college specific representation.
Student union.
There are several programs run by the students, under the original jurisdiction of the AS Bell Memorial Union Committee.
Student businesses.
There are several commercial enterprises run by the students, under the original jurisdiction of the AS Businesses Committee.
References.
"This article uses Creative Commons licensed material from Chico Wiki"


Honey Creek Railroad

Honey Creek Railroad was a short-line railroad in Rush County, Indiana. The line begins at its interchange with CSX on the west side of Rushville and stretches north approximately six miles, ending at the town of Sexton. Honey Creek's operations began October 1, 1993 and consist almost exclusively of hauling grain. In 2017, CSX took over the entire line.


James Braid Taylor

Sir James Braid Taylor, KCIE (21 April 1891 – 17 February 1943) was the second Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, holding office from 1 July 1937 until his death on 17 February 1943. He succeeded Sir Osborne Smith who was the Governor from 1 April 1935 to 30 June 1937. He was appointed a CIE in the 1933 New Year Honours List, knighted in the 1935 Silver Jubilee and Birthday Honours List and further appointed a KCIE in the 1939 Birthday Honours List.
Taylor, a member of the Indian Civil Service, served as a Deputy Controller in the Currency Department of the Government of India for over a decade. He later became the Controller of Currency, and additionally secretary in the Finance Department. He then became the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank and succeeded Smith as the Governor. He was closely associated with the preparation and piloting of the Reserve Bank of India Bill. He governed the bank during the war years and was involved in decision to move from a silver currency to fiat money. Even though he was the second Governor, his signature was the first to appear on the currency notes of the Indian rupee. His second term came to an end when he died in office on 17 February 1943. He was succeeded by Sir C. D. Deshmukh who became the first Indian to lead the Reserve Bank of India.