Alguacil

Alguacil (in Spanish), aguazil or guazil (in Portuguese) is the title for a number of governmental office-holders.
Origin.
The term "alguacil" is derived from the Arabic term ("wazir"), meaning Vizier. The first known use of the term dates back to 1579.
Historical use.
Constable.
In Nahuatl, the term "alguacil" is a Spanish loanword that means constable or a sub-Cabildo officer.
Judge.
There were two types of judges named "Alguacils": The "Alguaciles Mayores" (Chief Justice) and "Alguaciles Menores" (Justice).
The Alguacils of higher importance were the Alguaciles Mayores. These positions were held by the most prominent families, so they approximated the office of "Regidores". (At first they were also in charge of the local prison (jail), but this function was passed very soon to the responsibility of the "Alcaide" or warden.) Their function was to arrest people provided by the "Inquisitor" or investigators and the seizure of their property. To do this one had to be accompanied by the recipient, their family members and the "Secretary (minister) of Arrests" (sheriff). He could seek the support of civil authorities. It also ensured the safety of the detainees (defendants), because they had no communications with others except, of course, those authorized by the investigators. Among the junior officers, the Alguacil Mayor held the largest category with the "Secret Notaries". The others functions of an Alguacil Mayor were:
The title has also been given to inspectors of weights and measures in marketplaces, and similar officials.
Sheriff.
In history, an Alguacil is a sheriff of a Spanish municipality who acted as the executive officer of the courses, and is considered to be the equivalent of a modern bailiff. An Alguacil will execute the decisions of an alcalde, or a local judge, and will receive a portion of the judgments he executes.
An alguacil, as the principal police officer of a municipality, was allowed to carry arms during town patrols. The same privilege was extended to the alguacil's assistants, known in Spanish as "tenientes". An alguacil was not allowed to hold another office, or to have a business.
Modern use.
In Latin American countries or regions under Spanish influence, "alguacil" is currently the name for the office of sheriff or constable.
In the United States, Alguacil is used as the equivalent Spanish term for sheriff. However, the term "sheriff" has also been used, untranslated, in Spanish publications in the United States.
The term "alguacil aéreo" has been used as the equivalent Spanish term for Air Marshal, and the name "Cuerpo de Alguaciles de Estados Unidos" has been used as the Spanish name for the United States Marshals Service.
Surname.
The title is also used as a surname. The following people with the surname "Alguacil" include


Martin Birmann

Martin Birmann (26 November 1828 – 19 August 1890) was a Swiss politician and President of the Swiss Council of States (1884).


Columbia-Revelstoke

Columbia-Revelstoke was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It made its only appearance on the hustings in the general election of 1933.
For other current and historical ridings in the Kootenay region please see Kootenay (electoral districts).
Electoral history.
"Note: Winners of each election are in" bold.
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|2,694
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|15
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|%
!align="right"|
!align="right"|
The Columbia-Revelstoke riding was used only in the 1933 election. From 1937 onwards part of the area was part of Columbia and the Revelstoke area formed the Revelstoke riding.


Lodewijk Gerard Brocx

Lodewijk Gerard Brocx (31 December 1819, The Hague – 2 December 1880, The Hague) was a Dutch politician.


Operation Cerebus

Operation Cerebus was a South African Defence Force (SADF) special forces operation conducted in Angola during October 1985 during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War.
Background.
To discourage any further advances by FAPLA forces towards Mavinga after Operation Wallpaper, it was decided to further hinder Angolan airforce operations between Menongue and Cuito Cuanavale. Two captured mobile SA-9 anti-aircraft missile systems were flown into the UNITA held airfield at Mavinga by South African Air Force (SAAF) C-130 Hercules. They were then driven north-west by SADF special forces and UNITA soldiers to an area between Menongue, Longa and Cuito Cuanavale. The operation was not successful and no aircraft shot down, the Angolan's airforce avoiding the area.


North Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)

North Kerry was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922.
Prior to the 1885 general election, the area was part of the Kerry constituency. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament because it was no longer part of the United Kingdom.
Boundaries.
This constituency comprised the northern part of County Kerry.
1885–1922: The baronies of Clanmaurice and Iraghticonnor.


Poverty in Ontario

Poverty in Ontario refers to people living in Ontario deprived of or facing serious challenges in meeting basic needs such shelter, food, clothing and other essential needs. Based on relative and absolute measures, there is a significant level of poverty in Ontario.
Measures of poverty.
The provincial or federal governments of Ontario do not use a single poverty measure. Statistics Canada provides several poverty indicating measures such as Low-Income Measure (LIM), Low-Income Cut-Off (LICO) and Market-Basket Measure (MBM). Other measures used include Depth of Poverty and Ontario Housing Measure. Most of these measures are relative indicators of poverty. They are most effective in analyzing the characteristics of the relatively worst off families and reporting trends. The Ontario government uses an array of these measures for its programs.
Several reports have provided insights about the absolute level of poverty in Ontario. According to the "Household Food Insecurity in Canada" report by University of Toronto affiliated research group PROOF, 8.2% of Ontario's households face severe or moderate food insecurity. 16.4% of children live in food insecure households. According to the Salvation Army's "“Canada Speaks” Exposing Persistent Myths About the 150,000 Canadians Living on the Streets" report 6% of Ontarians are or have been homeless.
Many aboriginal communities in Ontario such as Attawapiskat, Pikangikum, Constance Lake, Eabametoong and Kashechewan have been compared to the world's poorest. They are severely lacking in basic infrastructure including clean water, sanitation, housing, roads, education, health and employment services.
Demographics of poverty.
Poverty impacts at-risk groups severely. These groups include children, women, disabled persons, single parents, aboriginals, recent immigrants, visible minorities and rural communities. For instance, in 2006 57% of First Nations children lived in low-income families compared to 21% of the non-aboriginal children. Low-income rate for lone-parents is twice that of others. Regardless of marital status, education or age, racialized groups (non-aboriginal, non-white) face high levels of poverty. In Toronto, 62% of the poor persons are from racialized groups.
Poverty by region.
In Ontario, poverty is concentrated in certain regions or neighbourhoods. As noted above, many aboriginal communities face extreme poverty. According to the "Poverty by Postal Code" report there has been a "dramatic rise in the number of higher poverty neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto in the last two decades, approximately doubling every ten years, from 30 in 1981, to 66 in 1991, to 120 in 2001". Communities impacted by sharp decline in manufacturing such as Windsor and Peterborough have a high proportion of low-income neighbourhoods.
Effects of poverty.
Health.
Poverty is an independent risk factor and social determinant of health; the lower the income level the poorer the health outcomes. In Ontario, poverty has been associated with increased rate of chronic and acute illnesses, mental illnesses, obesity and decreased life expectancy. For example, “twice as many men in the lower income group reported having diabetes as those in the highest income group, while low income women were 2.5 times as likely to have diabetes as high income women".
Poverty contributes to increased health expenditure. “It was estimated that in 2007, increasing the income of people in the lowest income quintile in Ontario to a level comparable to those in the second quintile would reduce health-care expenditures by $2.9 billion provincially and $7.6 billion federally.”
Education.
Poverty is directly linked to lower educational outcomes. Poor students face several structural and individual disadvantages due to their condition. Public schools in poor neighborhoods do not have the capacity to fundraise as schools in the rich neighborhoods. Low income households lack in school readiness and educational resources. Majority of poor students are "streamed" towards non-academic subjects in high schools. Educational funding and policies fail to adequately address educational resource and outcome inequalities. These factors contribute to much lower educational outcomes for poor students.
Majority of students dropping out of school in Ontario are raised in homes earning less than $30 000 a year. Poor students score 20-30% less in EQAO math and literacy tests than students from high income households. "In Canada, only 31% of youth from the bottom income quartile attended post-secondary education compared with 50.2% in the top income quartile."
Economy.
Poverty greatly impacts the economic productivity of Ontario. In 2008, it was estimated that Ontario loses $4 to $6.1 billion every year due to lost income tax revenue. Canada’s economic development minister Tony Clement noted “chronic housing shortages, low education outcomes and lack of access to clean drinking water jeopardize the ability of local First Nations to benefit from the significant economic, employment and business development opportunities associated with the Ring of Fire developments.”
Poverty leads to increased government costs in health care, policing and crime related costs, and social services. In 2008, it was estimated that “federal and Ontario government are losing at least $10.4 billion to $13.1 billion a year due to poverty, a loss equal to between 10.8 to 16.6 per cent of the provincial budget”.
Crime.
Poverty and crime are interlinked on several fronts. Although studies have shown that a direct link does not exist between poverty and criminal behaviour, the majority of people arrested, convicted and imprisoned for crime are young males from low-income families. Low income aboriginals and black youth are over represented in Ontario’s correctional system by many multiples. For example, “aboriginal boys aged 12 to 17 make up 2.9 per cent of the young male population. But in Ontario youth facilities they make up nearly 15 per cent of young male admissions. For black boys, the proportion of jail admissions is four times higher."
Low-income at-risk people receive more police attention, are more likely to be detained, arrested, denied bail, plead guilty, get convicted and have more difficulty reintegrating than their higher income counterparts.
Many laws target or disproportionately criminalize the poor. For example, the 1999 Safe Streets Act prohibits squeegeeing and “aggressive panhandling”. In 2007, "National Anti-Drug Strategy was shifted from Health Canada to the Justice Department". Canada’s prostitution laws have also been criticized as punishing the marginalized women. In Toronto, there have been efforts to prohibit homeless people from sleeping on the city streets and sidewalks.
Policing and justice system impose significant costs on governments. In 2008, it was estimated that Canada and Ontario can save $1.25 billion to $2.6 billion in crime-related costs by addressing poverty related factors of crime.
Social Effects.
The Canadian Senate report "Reducing Barriers to Social Inclusion and Social Cohesion" identified that "groups that are most at risk of low income, inadequate housing, and homelessness" are the same groups at risk of social exclusion. The same report identified poverty as an impediment to so social inclusion and social cohesion. Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton‟s Social Landscape report showed that "there were more areas of lower voter turnout in the parts of the riding with high rates of low income". Lower political participation, increased tension between communities and economic segregation increase the risk of social and political instability in Ontario.


List of total Commonwealth War Graves Commission burials by country

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states; United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa, established through Royal Charter to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military forces killed during the two World Wars. In this capacity, the Commission is responsible for the commemoration of 1.7 million Commonwealth servicemen and women in 150 countries worldwide.


Vue Pa Chay

Pa Chay Vue, (RPA: Paj Cai Vwj or Puas Cai Vwj; Pahawh: 𖬖𖬰𖬪𖬵 𖬋𖬯 𖬘𖬲𖬜), commonly referred to as Pa Chay or Batchai, led the Hmong people in the War of the Insane revolt against French rule in French Indochina from 1918 to 1921. He was considered a hero among the Hmong nationalists, but regarded as a crazed man among the French-subdued Hmong, but in present times, he is unanimously considered a national hero.
Political setting.
From the late 15th century onward, the European Powers raced to conquer the world. By the late 19th century the British Empire was the largest Empire in the world. France sought to balance the British influence in China and India by conquering the land in between. By the late 19th century, France had consolidated all the nations in Southeast Asia into one conglomerate known as French Indochina. In the years following the beginning of World War I, the French's colonial strangle-hold in Indochina was beginning to weaken. Though they had conquered Indochina hoping to benefit economically, the French gained little from the venture. So in response to the high cost of war in Europe, the French heavily taxed the people of Indochina in the form of silver bars, and opium cash crop. The Hmong bore the brunt of the burden because they were already marginalized by the Lao, Vietnamese, and Tai people. The situation became so bad that many were forced to sell their children to pay the tax.
Youth.
Pa Chay was an Hmong Vue orphan who grew up in Lào Cai Province, Vietnam, which is still a stronghold of the Hmong. He was raised by an Vue uncle, Xao Chu Vue (RPA: Xauv Tswb Vwj) who adopted him. After his marriage and the birth of his first child he claimed to be called by God to show the Hmong how to live in good health and harmony with their environment and to free the Hmong people from the oppressors, mainly the Tai and French. As proof of his divine calling, he performed spectacular feats, such as jumping onto the top of a house, making a ball of cotton explode, etc. He was also instructed on a Hmong writing system which was practiced by many of his followers. People began to revere Pa Chay as the long-awaited Hmong leader who the elders have been waiting for to usher a period where Hmong would again have a kingdom.
Pa Chay used his influence and the reputation of his miraculous powers to convince his followers that he could deliver his people from French domination. Many Hmong united and began a nationalist Hmong movement which drew villagers from all over northern Laos, northern Vietnam, and parts of southern China. Pa Chay then organized the Hmong nationalists to fight against the French in the rebellion known as "Guerre Du Fou" (Madman's War "Rog Paj Cai"). He also attracted the support of other oppressed minorities, mainly the Mab Daum and Khmu.
The war.
The stimulus for the rebellion was heavy taxation by the French and abuse of power by the ethnic Lao and Tai tax collectors. The Hmong people were divided into two opposing sides - those who resented the yoke of slavery under France, and those few who benefited from French patronage at the expense of their own people.
The rebellion, called "Rog Paj Cai" by the Hmong Nationalists and "Rog Phim Npab" by Hmong who sided with the French, was a self-initiated and self-sustaining movement; all the guns were the Hmong-designed and manufactured flintlocks (a bit different from the traditional western flintlock gun). The gunpowder was also of a Hmong sort (salt peter, charcoal, and guano is used similar to western black powder, but shavings from a type of tree is added to increase the explositivity). The Hmong won battle after battle, in for the majority of the rebellion; the French were surprised and did not know how to fight in the jungles nor did they know how to fight a near invisible army. France was also heavily involved in World War I in Europe, and resorted to using 50% French and 50% native Vietnamese, Lao, and Tai, and traitor Hmong soldiers, who all had little desire to fight the liberating Hmong forces.
The following below is incorrect. This was during the indochina war between the Chinese and Hmong:
One particular weapon that especially scared the French army was the Hmong cannon, made with the trunk of a tree, and packed with metal pieces from pots, and a lot Hmong gunpowder. This cannon was designed by Kuab Chav, and is said to have weighed over 200 lbs, such that only one man named Lwv was able to carry it. As the French army came up the mountainous trails, the cannon would spray the metal shards at the French army, sending them into hiding while wounding and killing many of them. They never knew what it was because they assumed the Hmong did not have the technology to build such a weapon.
The French morale was also weakened because of rumors of that Pa Chay's army was protected by magic. As the French Army chased the Hmong army through the mountainous passes and ravines, they never saw any dead Hmong soldiers. The reason was that Pa Chay had commanded his men to never leave anyone behind, and to cover up the blood as quickly as possible. This gave the illusion to the French that indeed Pa Chay's army was invincible.
Kao Mee, a sister of Pa Chay, also played an important role. She carried a white flag made of hemp, which she used to deflect bullets. She is said to have been a righteous virgin, which is why the Heavens allowed her to have such miraculous powers. She led the army into many success in battle.
At its height, the rebellion encompassed 40,000 square kilometres of Indochina, from Điện Biên Phủ in Tonkin to Nam Ou in Luang Prabang, and from Muong Cha north of Vientiane to Sam Neua in Laos. As World War I came to an end, the French reinforcements began to outnumber, and their firepower outpowered the Hmongs. They also learned from certain Hmong informants such as Lauj Kiab Toom, that the Hmong gunpowder does not work well when wet, so they attacked especially during the monsoon season. The Hmong believed their defeats were temporary, caused by violations of the Oath to Heaven by some of the soldiers, and despite these defeats, there was still strong support from the populace.
Death.
In addition to their military might, the French also understood (through the ethnographic works of François-Marie Savina, a Catholic missionary) that in order to stop the rebellion they would have to kill the "messiah" – Pa Chay. Knowing the historical conflicts between the Khmu and the Hmong, they hired Khmu mercenaries to find Pa Chay. Many Hmong believe they also hired men who were close to Pa Chay to kill him. Of the five men hired to assassinate Pa Chay, Qhua Kuam Lis is the only one known by name, and the only Hmong. One of the Khmu hired is said to have a been a close friend and high commander of Pa Chay. Pa Chay was carrying his youngest child on his back at the farm house used for his hideout in Muong Heup, Luang Prabang, on 17 November 1921. The bullet pierced the child and killed both the child and Pa Chay Vue. His head was cut off and, along with his flintlock gun, was to be taken to the French officials as proof of his death. Because of previous demonstration by Pa Chay that a steel blade could not cut him, it is believed that the bullet was shot through the child to make sure his 'magic' did not protect him. The French paid each assassin 500 bars of silver.
Aftermath.
The French were not satisfied with this however; they captured many of those who had laid down their arms and sent them to Xieng Khouang (the headquarters for the colonial power in Laos) where some of them were decapitated and some were thrown off of high platforms into glass shards. A man known as Tus Cheem Rog (the one who stopped the war - presumed by many to be Savina), came to plea on behalf of the people so that not everyone who was sent to Xieng Khouang would have to die. This man came to stay at Txooj Tub Yiv Vwj's house in Xieng Khoung and left his heavy jacket. He is described as a tall non-Hmong person who spoke fluent Hmong. Interesting enough he is also described as having worn a turban head wrap.
Kao Mee was also hunted down and killed by Khmu and French soldiers.
The French offered a bounty of 20 silver bars, and then 200 silver bars to find the family of Pa Chay. They claimed it was because they had taken away Pa Chay, so they wanted to care for his wife and kids. Of course no Hmong person was stupid enough to betray the family. Everytime the French came into his village, the villagers would tell them that Pa Chay's wife was just an old Hmoob Lauj lady with no children. They left her alone, either because she was so old, or because they knew it wasn't true. Regardless, when that old lady died, Pa Chay's family killed a white buffalo for her because she was willing to take the punishment on behalf of the family.
Legacy.
The revolt against the French served to strengthen the bond between the pro-French Hmong leaders and their colonial rulers for another generation. Kiatong LoBliaYao (Lauj Npliaj Yob), a French loyalist and puppet leader, extorted many silver bars from those who had been loyal to Pa Chay Vue in exchange for their lives, an action that many Hmong still remember even today, and which also ultimately caused his power to be given to Touby Lyfoung, his nephew. Touby Lyfoung was the famous Hmong royalist who fought, in succession, the Japanese, the Vietnamese and the Lao Communists.
To this day there is still a flower, called Pa Chay's grass (Nroj Paj Cai), that blooms every year around the months of December and January. This little red flower appeared for the first time following his death that year and thus it was named in his honor to commemorate his legacy.
The communist Vietnamese and Lao government created a military squadron in honor of Pa Chay, called, (Kong Pang Pa Chai) Koos Phaas Paj Cai. This squadron was heavily used during the Vietnam war as propaganda to recruit Hmong people, and to do ambush attacks. All members of this squadron are of the Hmong ethnic group, though in recent years there has been an effort to integrate more Laotian into the unit to prevent any possible collusion of rebellion. The squadron is heavily used to fight the Chao Fa (Hmong Freedom Fighters) in Laos.


73 Motorised Brigade (South Africa)

73 Motorised Brigade was a Formation of 7th Infantry Division (South Africa), a combined arms force consisting of infantry, armour and artillery.
History.
Origin.
19 Brigade.
71 Brigade can trace its origins back to a structure in the late 1960s, called 19 Brigade, which was headquartered at the Witwatersrand Command Complex.
On 1 August 1974, through a reorganization of the Army’s conventional force, the name was changed to 73 Motorised Brigade.
Initial Structure.
Under this reorganisation, the following units were transferred from Witwatersrand Command to the new command:
Higher Command.
73 Motorised Brigade initially resorted under the Chief of the Army until July 1986 but was then transferred to 7 Division. Eventually the entire Brigade resorted under Far North Command.
Brigade Training and Exercises.
73 Motorised Brigade would generally make use of the General de Wet Training Range, Tempe, near Bloemfontein. Notably 73 Motorised Brigade was involved in Exercise Thunder Chariot, a Divisional exercise held since 1956, at the Army Battle School. Other exercises included:
Operational Activation.
As a Citizen Force structure, 73 Motorised Brigade would make use of call-up orders for its personnel to generally report for 3 months service. Headquarters staff would then leave for Tempe near Bloemfontein, where a transfer camp would be established to process troops en route to the operational area in northern South West Africa. Processing of units would include personal documentation, a medical examination, inoculation and the issuing of equipment and weapons. Each unit on completion of the necessary processing, would entrain to the Olienhoutplaat Station for a six-day journey to Grootfontein, the railhead near the Operational Area.
Changes over time.
73 Motorised Brigade structure was not static, units were substituted as needs were adapted to Two units arrived in 73 Brigade in 1984, namely Rand Light Infantry and 7 Medium Regiment. By 1986 7 Medium Regiment was transferred under direct control of 7 Division but Regiment Uitenhage was transferred in. In 1989 Rand Light Infantry was transferred to Far North Command while the Pretoria Highlanders was added to the Brigade.
From a Conventional Brigade to a COIN Brigade.
With the independence of Namibia, the conventional threat dissipated and the Army Command began a process of rationalisation. Brigade headquarters were now focussed on counter-insurgency support to regional commands.


Commonwealth Karate Championships

The Commonwealth Karate Championships is an event that is organised by the Commonwealth Karate Federation, which aims to demonstrate that competition karate is suitable for inclusion in the Commonwealth Games. The karate federations of Commonwealth countries are invited to send their national squads to participate in the elite competition, provided that they are members of the World Karate Federation.
This was expanded in Edinburgh 2008, as an open division was introduced, allowing competitors from outside a national squad to enter the event. Further expansion occurred in Johannesburg 2009 with the introduction of cadet and junior categories in the elite competition.
Championships.
Manchester 2003.
The first Commonwealth Karate Championships were held in Manchester, England on 30–31 August 2003.
Wellington 2005.
The second Commonwealth Karate Championships were held in Wellington, New Zealand on 12–14 August 2005, hosted by Karate New Zealand.
Edinburgh 2008.
The third Commonwealth Karate Championshyytjrtips were held in Edinburgh, Scotland on 31 May to 1 June 2008, hosted by the Scottish Karate Governing Body. An open division was introduced, which allowed competitors from outside a national squad to enter the event and also provided the first children's categories at the event.
Johannesburg 2009.
The fourth Commonwealth Karate Championships were held in Johannesburg, South Africa on 16–17 October 2009, hosted by Karate South Africa. Following the introduction of an open event in Edinburgh 2009, cadet and junior categories were introduced to the elite event in line with World Karate Federation rules of competition.
Sydney 2011.
The sixth Commonwealth Karate Championships were held in Sydney, Australia on 30–31 July 2011, hosted by Australian Karate Federation.
Montreal 2013.
The seventh Commonwealth Karate Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 11–13 October 2013, hosted by Karate Canada.
New Delhi 2015.
The eighth Commonwealth Karate Championships will be held at Talkatora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, India 18–20 September 2015. It will be hosted by Karate Association of India.
Durban South Africa 2018.
The 9th Commonwealth Karate Championships will be held at Olive Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa 29 November to 2 December 2018 – It will be hosted by Karate South Africa.


Dirk Donker Curtius

Dirk Donker Curtius (19 October 1792 in Den Bosch – 17 July 1864 in Spa) was a Dutch politician.


Recorder of Lincoln

The office of the Recorder of Lincoln is occupied by His Honour Judge John Pini, QC. Judge Pini was installed as honorary recorder on 1 December 2015. He is a circuit judge having been appointed Assistant Recorder and as a Recorder both in 2000. Judge Pini was made a Queen's Counsel in 2006.
The previous recorder was His Honour Judge Sean Morris who held this position between 2010 and 2014. There have now been 21 recorders in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, the first incumbent being Lord Monson (John Monson, 3rd Baron Monson) in 1768.


Asmaa Mahfouz

Asmaa Mahfouz (, , born 1 February 1985) is an Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement. She has been credited by journalist Mona Eltahawy and others with helping to spark a mass uprising through her video blog posted one week before the start of the 2011 Egyptian revolution. She is a prominent member of Egypt's Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution and one of the leaders of the Egyptian revolution.
In 2011 she was one of five recipients of the "Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought", awarded for contributions to "historic changes in the Arab world". The other joint recipients were Ahmed al-Senussi, Razan Zaitouneh, Ali Farzat, and Mohamed Bouazizi of the Arab Spring.
"Arabian Business" placed Mahfouz at #381 on its list of the World's 500 Most Influential Arabs.
Overview.
Born on 1 February 1985 in Egypt, Asmaa graduated from Cairo University with a BA in Business Administration. She later joined several other young Egyptians in founding the April 6 Youth Movement. She currently works for a computer company.
Background.
Hosni Mubarak had ruled Egypt since 1981, gaining increasing powers over the years and eliminating individual freedoms under an emergency law allowing the police to detain activists without charge. Corruption increased, and as it did, inequality between the rich and the poor and inadequate social services resulted in widespread discontent. Those working in the textile industry in El Mahalla El Kubra became increasingly dissatisfied with their working conditions and low salaries, driving them to plan a strike in April 2008. Young activists in what became known at the April 6 Youth Movement supported the textile workers, encouraging wider action on Facebook and other social networks. Like the independent journalists, many of them had been harassed and detained by the police, but they continued to support the strikers. Asmaa Mahfouz was one of those who joined them, learning how to make effective use of networking as a means of organising protests.
January 2011 uprising in Egypt.
Mahfouz has been credited with having sparked the protests that began the uprising in January 2011 in Cairo. In a video blog posted on Facebook on 18January, she called on Egyptians to demand their human rights and to voice their disapproval of the regime of Hosni Mubarak. The video was uploaded to YouTube and, within days, went "viral". Addressing the Egyptian nation, she encouraged protesters to gather in Tahrir Square, explaining: "Four Egyptians have set themselves on fire to protest humiliation and hunger and poverty and degradation they had to live with for 30 years... Today, one of these four has died." She then called on her compatriots to "have some shame", arousing them to action. "Instead of setting ourselves on fire, let us do something positive... Sitting at home and just following us on the news or on Facebook leads to our humiliation."
In an interview with al-Mihwar TV, she recalled that a week before 25January, she had posted a video on Facebook announcing that she would be going to Tahrir Square to protest. Mahfouz said that four other young Egyptians joined her, and that the internal security services quickly surrounded and moved the group away from the square.
Following this, she posted another video announcing her intention to go to the square again on 25January, a national holiday honoring police who had died in a confrontation with British forces. In this video, she challenged Egyptians to take to the street, saying,
Later in 2011, Mahfouz was arrested on charges of defaming the Egyptian military rulers for calling them a "council of dogs". She was referred to a military court, prompting activists, as well as presidential hopefuls such as Mohamed El Baradei and Ayman Nour to protest her being charged in a military court. Mahfouz was released on bail in the amount of E£20,000 (equivalent to approximately US$3,350), and after that the Supreme Council of Armed Forces renounced the charges against Asmaa as well as another activist, Loay Nagaty. Her attorney was Hossam Eisa.
In October 2011 it was announced that, together with four other Arabs, Mahfouz would be awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize in recognition of her drive for freedom and human rights. It was explained that she had helped to motivate Egyptians to demand their rights on Tahrir Square by means of videos on YouTube and posts on Facebook and Twitter. Mahfouz was one of only two award winners who attended the presentation ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 14December 2011.
Support of Occupy Wall Street.
On 23 October 2011 Mahfouz held a teach-in at Liberty Plaza, in a show of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. When asked why she came to the OWS protest, she replied, "Many of U.S. residents were in solidarity with us. So, we have to keep going all over the world, because another world is possible for all of us."
Banned from travelling abroad.
In October 2014 Mahfouz was held for three hours at Cairo International Airport as she was preparing to leave for Bangkok. The authorities wanted to check to see whether she faced lawsuits. One case involving an attack on a supporter of Hosni Mubarak appeared to be open, but it was shown that she had been acquitted of the crime.


USAID v. Alliance for Open Society (2020)

Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, 591 U.S. ___ (2020), also known as Alliance for Open Society II (to distinguish it from the 2013 case), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that compelled speech required as a condition for funding on foreign non-governmental affiliates of U.S. non-government organizations does not violate First Amendment rights.
Background.
The United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 was signed into law as a means to fund private non-governmental organizations (NGO) to help fight AIDS and other diseases in foreign countries. As a condition of this funding, entities were required to also promote an anti-prostitution pledge requiring them to establish "a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking", a term known as the Policy Requirement. This program is overseen through the United States Agency for International Development, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This Policy Requirement was originally challenged by NGO looking to receive the funding as early as 2005 as it was seen as compelled speech, which violated their First Amendment rights and resulted in the Supreme Court case "Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, Inc.", which ruled that the anti-prostitution pledge was compelled speech on American NGOs to mirror the government's view.
Following the 2013 decision, the government subsequently backed off the Policy Requirement for those NGOs based in the United States, but maintained the requirement for affiliates that were established in a foreign country. Several of the same NGOs on the 2013 case again filed suit on the First Amendment grounds and following the Supreme Court's decision. In both the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the courts upheld in favor of the NGOs on the basis of the Supreme Court's prior ruling.
Supreme Court.
The responsible government organizations petitioned the Supreme Court, which accepted to hear the case in August 2019. Oral arguments were heard on May 5, 2020, part of the first set of arguments to be held by teleconference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Justice Elana Kagan, who took no part in the 2013 decision, also did not participate here.
The Court issued its opinion on June 29, 2020. The 5–3 majority decision reversed the Second Circuit. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the major opinion joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. Kavanaugh wrote that two factors affect the Court's judgment. First, the foreign affiliates are legally separate entities from the American NGOs, and secondly, "because foreign organizations operating abroad do not possess constitutional rights, those foreign organizations do not have a First Amendment right to disregard the policy requirement."
In a concurring opinion, Justice Thomas expressed his "continued disagreement" of the 2013 Court decision, stating the federal government's rule "does not violate the First Amendment for a far simpler reason: It does not compel anyone to say anything."
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the dissent joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Breyer wrote that the foreign NGOs were clearly extensions of the American NGOs, and that the American NGOs "speak[s] through clearly identified affiliates that have been incorporated overseas" as his reason to apply the same 2013 decision to those foreign NGOs.


Max Binder

Max Binder (born 26 November 1947) is a Swiss politician. He was a member of the National Council from the Canton of Zurich from 1991 to 2015 and served as the President (speaker) of the National Council from 2003 to 2004. A farmer by profession, he was member of the parliament of the canton of Zurich from 1985 to 1990. Since 1990, he is a municipal councilor in Illnau-Effretikon in charge of the Health Department.
He was elected to the National Council in 1991 as a candidate of the Swiss People's Party and re-elected 11 times. He paid visits to India as deputy Speaker (1993) and Bulgaria and Canada as Speaker (2004).


Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)

Kerry was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament. In 1885, it was split into four constituencies. From the time of Irish independence in 1922, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament, as it was no longer part of the United Kingdom.
Boundaries.
This constituency comprised the whole of County Kerry, except for the Borough of Tralee.
Elections.
Elections in the 1830s.
FitzGerald was appointed as Vice-Treasurer of Ireland, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s.
Browne was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.
Herbert was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, requiring a by-election.
Browne was appointed Treasurer of the Household, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1860s.
Herbert's death caused a by-election.
Browne was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s.
Browne succeeded as Earl of Kenmare, causing a by-election.
Split into four divisions in 1885.
Under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the single-seat Tralee constituency and the two-seat Kerry constituency were replaced by four single-seat constituencies:


Poverty in South Korea

Poverty in South Korea has been in drastic decline since the mid-20th century, particularly the absolute poverty rate. Relative poverty was also in decline until the late 1990s, but has risen since then. While only about 2% of South Koreans are affected by absolute poverty today, about 14-15% of these 2% are elderly and are affected by relative poverty.
Trends.
Choo, Park and Yoon noted that both absolute and relative poverty have declined in Korea from 1965 to 1990. They concluded that "rapid economic growth during [the analyzed period of 1960s-1980s] in Korea has alleviated poverty to a great extent". Philips et al. praised South Korea, noting that "South Korea has experienced one of the most dramatic declines in absolute poverty that the world has seen". They added that while over half of the Korean population was affected by absolute poverty in mid-1950s, absolute poverty had declined to only about 3.4 percent of the population by the mid-1990s. As of 2001, absolute poverty was below 2% (however, another estimate for 2000 cited 11.5%). However, more recent data suggests that relative poverty has been on the rise, growing from about 8% in the early 1990s to 15% as of 2012.
According to official estimates, about 15% of South Koreans live below the poverty line. Poverty in South Korea is defined as relative poverty. It is important to note that relative poverty is not the same as absolute poverty: relative poverty measures the share of the population living on less than half of the median income. (Median income in South Korea in 2007 was $19,179 (W20m).) About half of all citizens over the age of 65 are living in poverty, one of the highest rates among OECD countries.
Poverty among Korean elderly.
In the rapidly aging demographics in South Korea, many elderly require healthcare. Studies taken across many demographics concluded that South Korean elderly with low income lack proper social protection from the government and are the most disadvantaged. In recent years “the proportion of aged 65 and older among people with disabilities has quickly increased, from 30.3% to 43.3% in 2014”. That makes South Korea the leader in this aspect as 3 times the growth as compared to the international average.
26 percent of Korean elderly lived in poverty in 2008. Among OECD countries, the poverty risk is significantly higher for South Korea's elderly. While the number of elders living in poverty increases every year for many countries, South Korea remains with the highest poverty rate of people aged over 65 among the OECD countries. Moreover, the poverty risk is particularly high for the South Korean elderly who are less educated, living alone, living in a rural area, or are not in good health. Many low-income elderly individuals are currently living with their children, which are often providing them with financial aid, and many also depend on welfare transfers.
Reasons for poverty.
OECD listed several factors among the reasons for poverty in Korea. First, public social spending in South Korea is low. Social spending by the government in South Korea was 7.6% of GDP in 2007, compared to the OECD average of 19%. This can be explained by the Korean traditional reliance on family and the private sector to provide such services. Second, Korea's dualistic labour market, in which a significant number of workers are hired only on temporary contracts with low wages and benefits, results in high inequality in wage income.
Income inequality.
South Korea, along with many other East Asian countries, has been known for very equal distribution of income and wealth. However, this has been changing over the last couple decades. Statistics show that in the 1990s, income equality reached a peak and has declined since then. This may be in part due to the country's rapid economic growth. In a now more competitive job market, the head of the household or householder is expected to be more educated, which makes it hard for rural families to compete with a lack of access to higher education, subsequently resulting in income inequality between urban and rural areas. Some attribute income inequality to a change in traditional household head dynamics in South Korea. An increase in single headed households and a stiflingly low access to new jobs has created a financially challenging situations for many families in South Korea, leading many not to have families at all.
Welfare state.
South Korea has a seemingly brutal take on welfare and trade unions. Many trade unions and the opposition groups they represent have been shut down by the government. It was only within the last decade that a social security has been set up for the elderly, but many elderly still live in extreme poverty despite help from the government. South Korea has a comprehensive national healthcare for all of its citizens.


Adrienne Maree Brown

Adrienne Maree Brown, often styled adrienne maree brown, is an American author, doula, women's rights activist and black feminist based in Detroit, Michigan. From 2006 to 2010, she was the executive director of the Ruckus Society.
Much of her work as a writer is based around the writings of Octavia E. Butler. Her first book, "Emergent Strategy," was published in 2017 to positive reviews. Her second book, "Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good", was published in 2019 and demonstrates how activists can tap into emotional and erotic desires to organize against oppression. Her 2020 book "We Will Not Cancel Us" considers questions of harm, accountability, and transformative justice, speaking primarily to an audience of activists and others organizing in alignment with a prison abolitionist movement framework.
Early life and activism.
Brown was born in El Paso, Texas, to a mixed-race couple who met at Clemson University in South Carolina. She is the eldest of three children. Her father was in the military and she spent much of her childhood abroad in Germany, as well as in Georgia, New York, and California. As mixed-race children, Brown and her sisters experienced racism in school.
Brown attended Columbia University where she studied African American Studies, political science, and voice. She was at the university when Amadou Diallo was killed by police officers in 1999. She cites this time as being pivotal to the development of her political consciousness, especially regarding issues of policing and race. She identifies as bisexual and has recounted experiences with homophobia and sexual assault. She's been living in Detroit since 2009 where she moved to after being invited to consult with Detroit Summer in 2006 and also after dating Detroit-based rapper Invincible.
Later career.
After graduating from Columbia, Brown began working with the Harm Reduction Coalition in Brooklyn. She served as a social justice facilitator at the Social Forum and work with social justice organizations in Detroit. Of her work in Detroit, Brown wrote, "Our actions have to be towards the world we want. We need to be guerilla gardening and turning people's heat and water on. We need to be the guerillas putting up solar panels in the hood. That's what Detroit has taught me." Between 2006 and 2010, Brown also worked as the executive director of the Ruckus Society, and cofounder and director of the League of Young/Pissed Off Voters, as well as collaborating with Arctic Indigenous Youth Alliance.
In 2006, Brown served as a consultant with Detroit Summer, based out of the Boggs Center. From this Brown developed a strong relationship with Grace Lee Boggs, whom she counts as a mentor. Brown was a major figure within the Allied Media Conference as a host and facilitator.
Throughout her career, Brown has typically supported Democrats in presidential elections, encouraging her readers to vote for Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Writing.
Brown previously contributed to Detroit-based newspaper "The Michigan Citizen", and was a sex columnist for "Bitch" magazine. She has published extensively on sex, healing, self-care, trauma, and science fiction.
In 2010, she published the "Octavia Butler Strategic Reader" with Alexis Pauline Gumbs. In 2013, she received a Detroit Knight Arts Challenge Award to run a series of Octavia Butler-based science fiction writing workshops. In 2015, she collaborated with Walidah Imarisha and Sheree Renee Thomas to edit and release "Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements", a collection of 20 short stories and essays about social justice inspired by Butler. Her own writing style has been said to belong to the afrofuturism genre.
Her first book, "Emergent Strategy", which examines sustainable social change, was released in 2017 by AK Press to critical acclaim. Brown's most recent anthology, "Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good" was released in February 2019. In April 2019, it appeared on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for paperback nonfiction, where it was number six.
"Emergent Strategy" has given way to a series of essays published by AK Press on sustainable transformative justice, including the November 2020 release "We Will Not Cancel Us And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice" and "Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation", out May 2021.
Brown has contributed to many anthologies focused on justice, transformation, and feminism, including "How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office: The Anti-Politics, Un-Boring Guide to Power" (2004), "Dreaming in Public: Building the Occupy Movement" (2012), "Dear Sister" (2014), and "Feminisms in Motion" (2018), "How We Fight White Supremacy" (2019), and "Beyond Survival" (2020).
Music.
The Sabbatical Suite, released March 25th, 2021, is an EP consisting of 5 songs written on sabbatical in 2020 via voice notes set over J-Mythos' beats. According to the Instagram post, these songs in part explore the political period of 2020, especially that of Black Lives Matter activists, while maintaining the tenderness her work is known for through lullabies and storytelling.
Podcasts.
Alongside Autumn Brown, Brown runs the podcast, How to Survive the End of the World, which seeks to learn "from the apocalypse with grace, rigor and curiosity" and is currently in its 5th season, as of 2021.
Alongside Toshi Reagon, Brown runs the podcast, Octavia's Parables, which gives an in-depth dive into Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parables of the Talents.


European Democratic Union

The European Democratic Union Group was a Gaullist political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1965 and 1973.
History.
The French Gaullists split from the Liberal Group on 21 January 1965 and created a new Group called the "European Democratic Union", ("not" to be confused with the association of Conservative and Christian Democrat parties founded in 1978 called the "European Democrat Union" or "EDU", nor the Conservative Group called the "European Democratic Group" founded in 1979). The Group was renamed on 16 January 1973 to the "Group of European Progressive Democrats" when the Gaullists were joined by the Irish Fianna Fáil.


Poverty in Bangladesh

As in many developing countries, poverty in Bangladesh has been an alarming social issue for a significant amount of time. Shortly after its independence, approximately 90% of the population lived under the poverty line. However, since economic reforms and trade liberalization of early 1990s, along with accelerated economic growth since early-2000s, Bangladesh have experienced a dramatic progress in reducing poverty. The remarkable progress in poverty alleviation has been recognized by international institutions. According to World Bank, more than 33 million Bangladeshi people have been lifted out of poverty since 2000; as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms.
Since early-2000s, rapid economic growth has fueled a remarkable increase in per-capita income. Bangladesh's per capita has increased almost threefold between 2010 and 2020, from under $700 to $2,068, moving Bangladesh into the ranks of middle-income economy. At current growth, Bangladesh is projected to enter upper-middle income status by 2041. Based on the current rate of poverty reduction, Bangladesh is projected to eliminate extreme poverty by 2021, the first country in South Asia to do so.
General overview of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's economic reform started with the implementation of investment friendly economic policies, privatization of public industries, budgetary discipline, and liberalization of trade were among the key elements behind acceleration of Bangladesh's economy. Since then, Bangladesh has been among the fastest growing economies in the world, exceeding 6 percent growth annually between 2004 and 2015. The GDP growth further accelerated exceeding 7 percent mark since then, and is projected to gradually exceed 10 percent growth until 2020
Among Bangladesh's many economic and social achievements, dramatic reduction in poverty in often considered a phenomenon among international organizations such as IMF and The World Bank. Between 1972 and 2018, Bangladesh's population living on less than $1.90/day is estimated to have fallen from 90% to 9%. Between 2008 and 2018, The per capita income in the country increased 149%.
As of 2020, female labor force participation rate stands at 45%, while net female school enrollment rate stands at a staggering 98%. World Economic Forum ranks Bangladesh as the most gender-equal nation in South Asia (ranked 47th, followed by Maldives 106th; India 108th).
Rural and urban poverty.
Strong national poverty reduction, masks differences in welfare trends between rural and urban Bangladesh. The national poverty rate fell in both rural and urban areas, but the speed of reduction was much slower in urban Bangladesh, largely because of slower rates of poverty reduction in Dhaka and increasing poverty in Chittagong. There was no progress in reducing extreme poverty in urban areas: the proportion of the urban population living in extreme poverty was 7.7 percent in 2010 and 7.6 percent in 2016. Given that Bangladesh continued to urbanize during this time, there are now more people living in extreme poverty in urban Bangladesh (3.3 million) than in 2010 (3 million). Since independence the average rate of urbanization in Bangladesh is 5% (World Bank 2012) & percentage share of urban population has doubled, from 15% in 1974 to 28.4% in 2011.
Rural poverty.
Many people live in remote areas that lack services such as education, health clinics, and adequate roads, particularly road links to markets. An estimated 35 percent of the population in rural areas lives below the poverty line. They suffer from persistent food insecurity, own no land and assets, are often uneducated, and may also suffer serious illnesses or disabilities. Another 29 percent of the rural population is considered moderately poor. Though they may own a small plot of land and some livestock and generally have enough to eat, their diets lack nutritional value. As a result of health problems or natural disasters, they are at risk of sliding deeper into poverty. Women are among the poorest of the rural poor, especially when they are the sole heads of their households. They suffer from discrimination and have few earning opportunities, and their nutritional intake is often inadequate.
Urban poverty.
An estimated 21 percent of the population in urban areas lives below the poverty line. People living in urban areas, like Sylhet, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi, enjoy a better standard of living, with electricity, gas, and clean water supplies. Even in the major cities, however, "a significant proportion of Bangladeshis live in squalor in dwellings that fall apart during the monsoon season and have no regular electricity. These Bangladeshis have limited access to health care and to clean drinking water."
Causes of rural and urban poverty.
One of the biggest cause of rural poverty is due to the fast-growing population rate. It places huge pressure on the environment, causing problems such as erosion and flooding, which in turn leads to low agricultural productivity.
The causes of urban poverty are due to the limited employment opportunities, degraded environment, bad housing and sanitation. The urban poor hold jobs that are labour demanding, thus affecting their health conditions. Therefore, the urban poor are in a difficult situation to escape poverty.
Environmental problems and poverty.
With 80% of the country situated on the flood plains of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna and those of several other minor rivers, the country is prone to severe flooding.
While some flooding is beneficial to agriculture, high levels of flooding have been found to be a retardant on agricultural growth. On average, 16% of household income per year is lost due to flooding, with roughly 89% of the loss in property and assets. Of these, households engaged in farming and fishing suffer a greater loss relative to income.
A positive relationship exists between flood risk and poverty as measured by household income, with people living under the poverty threshold facing a higher risk of flooding, as measured by their proximity to rivers and flood depth. Property prices also tend to be lower the higher the risk of flooding, making it more likely that someone who lives in a flood-prone area is poor and vice versa, as they might not be able to afford safer accommodation. Also, they tend to depend solely or largely on crop cultivation and fisheries for their livelihood and thus are harder hit by floods relative to their income.
Important to the finances of farmers operating small farms is their self-sufficiency in rice and floods adversely affect this factor, destroying harvests and arable land. Farmers hit are often forced to undertake distressed land selling and in doing so, risk being pushed into or deeper into poverty. In areas hard hit by floods, especially disaster floods such as the 1988 flood, several researchers have found that many of the affected households have resorted to selling off assets such as land and livestock to mitigate losses.
Also, in an area hard-hit by poverty and prone to floods, it was found that many of the poor were unwilling to pay for flood protection. The main reason cited had been lack of financial resources although it was found that many of these people are willing to substitute non-financial means of payment such as labour, harvest or part of their land
The above is problematic as it creates a vicious cycle for the poor of Bangladesh. Because the poor may not be able to afford safer housing, they have to live near the river which raises their risk of flooding. This would result in greater damage suffered from the floods, driving the poor into selling assets and pushing them further into poverty. They would be further deprived of sufficient resources needed to prevent extensive damage from flooding, resulting in even more flood damage and poverty. It then becomes even harder to escape this cycle. Even those farmers slightly above the poverty line are but just one bad flood away from the ranks of the poor.
Implications of poverty in Bangladesh.
The Gross national income (GNI) per capita measured in 2008 prices is a staggering low of US$520 while GNI Purchasing Power Parity per capita is US$1440 (2008). This is a dismal figure when compared to other developed economies. Even though the poverty rate in Bangladesh has been decreasing, it is doing so at a slow rate of less than 2% per year. Poverty matters because it affects many factors of growth – education, population growth rates, health of the workforce and public policy. Poverty is most concentrated in the rural areas of Bangladesh, hence creating disparities between the rural and urban areas. However, urban poverty remains a problem too.
In particular, poverty has been linked strongly to education and employment. Research papers published by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) have shown that poverty acts as both a cause and effect of a lack of education, which in turn adversely affects employment opportunities. Having an unskilled workforce also greatly decreases the productivity of the workforce which decreases the appeal of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and thus impedes sustainable economic growth. In essence, education is an important contribution to the social and economic development of a country.
Secondly, rising landlessness is also a consequence of poverty in Bangladesh. In the year 2000, among the poorest of the poor – the poorest 20 percent of the population – four out of five owned less than half an acre of land. Not only did many own no acreage at all, but landlessness has been increasing in rural Bangladesh along with the number of small and marginal farms. The 2000 HIES found nearly half (48 percent) of the country's rural population to be effectively landless, owning at most 0.05 acres. Roughly three-fifths of all households in the two poorest quintiles fell into that category.
Lastly, for the chronic poor, issues such as food security and health hamper social mobility. According to a study done by the World Bank on Dhaka, the poor suffers from a lack of proper healthcare in their areas due to the expensive and poor quality health care services. The poverty stricken areas either do not have the available facilities, or can only afford low quality healthcare. This is a problem that is common in both the rural and urban poor. For the urban poor, the problem has worsened as they can only afford to stay in slums where there are problems of overcrowding and unhygienic living conditions. These two factors results in the spread of diseases amongst the poor whom cannot afford better healthcare. Also, one cannot deny that a healthy and well-fed citizen is better suited for increased productivity as part of the workforce. Thus, poverty matters because it consequences the social welfare of citizens. Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Sunday said Bangladesh will be a hunger and poverty free country within the next decade, reports UNB.


Burnaby South

Burnaby South () is a federal electoral district in British Columbia. It encompasses a portion of British Columbia previously included in the electoral districts of Burnaby—Douglas and Burnaby—New Westminster.
Burnaby South was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, scheduled for October 2015.
There was a by-election on February 25, 2019, to determine the Member of Parliament for Burnaby South, which was won by New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh. The seat was vacated by Kennedy Stewart, who resigned in September 2018 and won the 2018 Vancouver municipal election in October to become the mayor of Vancouver.
Geography.
As of the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution, the district includes the southwestern portion of the City of Burnaby and the eastern portion of the city between the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 7. More specifically...
Members of Parliament.
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:


Imperial Light Horse/Kimberley Regiment


Port Coquitlam (provincial electoral district)

Port Coquitlam is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, consisting of the entire city of Port Coquitlam. First established following the 1988 redistribution, it was contested in the 1991 and 1996 elections before being superseded by Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain. The district was reestablished by the "Electoral Districts Act, 2008". It was again contested in the 2009 election in which New Democrat, Mike Farnworth was elected its MLA.
Election results.
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Valid Votes
!align="right"|20,326
!align="right"|100%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Total Rejected Ballots
!align="right"|106
!align="right"|0.52%
!align="right"|
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|20,432
!align="right"|55.21%
!align="right"|


District officer

The District Officer (abbreviated to D.O.), was a commissioned officer of one of the colonial governments of the British Empire, from the mid-1930s also a member of the Colonial Service of the United Kingdom, who was responsible for a District of one of the overseas territories of the Empire.
Role.
The district officer was an administrator and often also a magistrate and was the link between the professional and technical services of the colonial government and the people of his district. He was at the heart of colonial administration throughout most of the British Empire, although not in British India, where the same functions were carried out by members of the Indian Civil Service, nor in the self-governing Dominions.
District Officers wore uniforms, according to the climate, but their formal tunic with gold braid was usually reserved for ceremonial occasions.
Until the 1930s, each overseas possession had its own administrative service, and prospective District Officers needed to apply to one or more of them. Once in post, an officer wishing to transfer to another colony or British protectorate had to make a new application to its government. However, in the 1930s a unified Colonial Service was created, with a number of sub-services, and each of its officers was a member of the civil service of a particular territory and also of one of the sub-services of the Colonial Service managed by the Colonial Office, based in Whitehall.
Career progression.
Before being appointed, a candidate was first a District Officer Cadet, undergoing a rigorous training, and was then promoted to Assistant District Officer, usually after two years of successful probation and after passing examinations. On being appointed as a District Officer, he took on the administration of a District, usually in the territory of the Empire where he was.
Because of the number of districts, many District Officers remained in the same role until leaving the Colonial Service. If they were promoted, they became first District Commissioners, then Provincial Commissioners. Some rose to the pinnacle of being colonial Governors, although men were also appointed as Governors whose previous careers had been in other services. In particular, the Governors of Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Malta, and Bermuda were almost invariably senior British Army or Royal Navy officers.


Communist and Allies Group

The Communist and Allies Group was a Communist political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1973 and 1989.
History.
The "Communist and Allies Group" was the first communist group in the European Parliament, founded on 16 October 1973.
The Communist and Allies Group included MEPs from the Communist parties of France and Italy.
It stayed together until 25 July 1989 when it split into two groups, "Left Unity" (LU) with 14 members and the "Group for the European United Left" (EUL) with 28 members.


Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe

Memramcook-Lakeville-Dieppe was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada.
History.
It was created in 2006 as a result the large population increase in the City of Dieppe. The district was carved largely out of the old riding of Dieppe-Memramcook taking about 1/5 of Dieppe, the village of Memramcook and surrounding areas. The community of Lakeville was also a part of this riding, having come from the neighbouring district of Moncton Crescent.


Prostitution Act

The Prostitution Act (Prostitutionsgesetz - ProstG) is a federal law in Germany that regulates the legal status of prostitution as a service in order to improve the legal and social situation of prostitutes. The law was promulgated on 20 December 2001 and has been in force since 1 January 2002. At the same time the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) §180a (exploitation of prostitutes) and §181a (pimping) were amended so that the creation of an adequate working environment is no longer punishable as long as no exploitation of prostitutes takes place.
Sexual acts in the context of a prostitution contract are now valid to establish claims for compensation since the law came into force. This has not only significance for civil law, but also criminal law (property offences). In addition, prostitutes can now regularly insure in the statutory health, unemployment and pension insurance.
Construction and content.
Legal Development.
Prior to the entry into force of the Prostitution Act, contracts for sexual services were generally regarded as immoral within the meaning of Section 138(1) of the BGB (civil code). The legal consequence of immorality was the nullity of the contract. Therefore, neither a claim of the customer for the provision of the service nor a claim of the prostitutes for the agreed consideration is valid. The result was the practice of prepayment; A refund of the fee was excluded in this case according to §817 sentence 2 BGB .
According to the Administrative court of Berlin, prostitution was no longer immoral even before the Prostitution Act: "[...] the state obligation to protect human dignity (Article 1(1) sentence 2 GG) must not be misused to harm individuals through interference with protecting individual self-determination as it were from itself." The European Court of Justice has made it clear that prostitution is a gainful employment that is" part of the common economic life "within the meaning of Article 2 EC. Rulings on immorality, however, have not been passed in civil law, due to doubts about enforceability, compensation for bad performance, etc.
This civil-law assessment also had an impact on the concept of criminal law and thus, in particular, on fraud, which requires financial loss. If the work of the prostitutes could not justify a claim, it did not belong to the criminally protected assets. Anyone who used sexual services and thus fooled about his willingness to pay, committed no fraud for lack of financial loss. The Federal Court accepts this principle. On the other hand, the prostitute, who accepts money and misleads the customer about their willingness to provide sexual services, commits a fraud, as the customer's "good money" was, in the vast majority of view, despite the immoral purpose of the client's protected assets.
This legal position was judged by the legislature to be in need of reform.
The legislative procedure was initiated in May 2001 and included several expert hearings. In addition to the factions of the government parties SPD and Greens, the opposition factions of the FDP and the PDS voted in favour of the bill introduced by the government on 19 October 2001 in the Bundestag. Only the CDU/CSU faction opposed the law.
Regulatory content.
§1 states that after the provision of sexual services, the provider is entitled to payment of the promised consideration. It clarifies that the customer does not have a claim for the performance of the service, or that the provision of the service is enforceable. As judgements on the establishment of marital union are not enforceable, (§120 paragraph 3 FamFG), enforcement would be inconsistent and possibly unconstitutional as a violation of Art. 1 GG (respect for human dignity).
§2 of the law ensures that the objection of immorality is excluded because of the nature of the service. It should not be required in court to prove the quality of the services provided. However, other circumstances, such as inability to work and probably also immorality because of usury are not excluded.
In addition, the payment claim can not be assigned. Beyond the wording, the claim also can not be asserted by means of the power of attorney or process status, although substitution (acting in a foreign name) remains possible. This makes trading in such claims impossible.
In §3 the conditions for admission to social security are created.
The enforceability of fees in practice is of little importance, since payment is almost always made in advance.
The advertising ban for sexual services (Section 119 OWiG) was not repealed by the Prostitution Act. The offence (Section 120 OWiG) and the offence (Section 184d StGB) of prohibited prostitution, ie the infringement of a restricted area decree issued on the basis of Article 297 of the CCAIL, also remained unchanged.
Criticism.
It is argued that the formulation that "further objections and objections are excluded" has gone too far and requires a teleological reduction. For even the inability to work, in particular the minority of the customer, is a (legal obstacle) objection, which should be excluded according to the wording. It could not be intended by the legislature that, for example, the minor, who can not conclude effective contracts for the acquisition of everyday objects, can now justify effective compensation claims for sexual services.
Since human dignity, as the highest constitutional value (Article 1 of the Basic Law), is not at the discretion of the state, or even by law, prostitution, according to some lawyers, continues to be immoral. In particular, it argues that § 2 ProstG only excludes the objection of immorality and § 1 speaks only of a "legally effective demand", however, does not order positively that the contract is not immoral or even effective. Also, the lack of enforceability of sexual performance shows clearly that it is still not a normal contract. However, the legal relationships are finally regulated by the Prostitution Act.
Although § 180a StGB criminalises the "exploitation of prostitutes", the paragraph is rarely used, as both economic dependence and personal dependence are difficult to prove. A conviction in criminal proceedings is unlikely without the statement of those affected.
The magazine "EMMA", which holds a critical view on prostitution in general, claims the Prostitution Act promotes forced prostitution.
The Federal Social Court found, in a judgment of 6 May 2009, that the Prostitution Act was enacted to protect employees and not to promote business. A brothel operator can not demand the placement of prostitutes by the Federal Employment Agency.
Amendment.
In the coalition agreement negotiated by the CDU, CSU and SPD after the 2013 general election, a "comprehensive revision" of the Prostitution Act was announced. In this context, the legal basis for the control of prostitution sites by the regulatory authorities should be improved. In the same section of the coalition agreement, albeit without a direct legal link to the Prostitution Act, the governing parties also announced measures against forced prostitution and trafficking. Thus, the victims should be better protected and corresponding offenders punished more consistently. In the future, action should also be taken against people "who knowingly and wilfully exploit the predicament of victims of trafficking and forced prostitution and abuse them for sexual acts".
In September 2016, the Prostitute Protection Act was passed, which introduced a compulsory registration for prostitutes, a compulsory permit for the prostitution industry and other regulations, such as regular, compulsory health advice and use of condoms.


Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration, abbreviated to CMAG, is a group of representatives of members of the Commonwealth of Nations that is responsible for upholding the Harare Declaration. That Declaration dictates the Commonwealth's fundamental political values, and sets the core membership criteria of the organisation. Its remit to evaluate the Harare Declaration lapses every two years; the remit must be renewed and its membership reviewed by the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
CMAG was established in November 1995 at Millbrook Resort, in Queenstown, New Zealand, as a result of the Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, to punish serious or persistent violations of the Harare Declaration. It is composed of the Foreign Ministers (or equivalent) of eight Commonwealth member states, which may be augmented by either one or two further representatives of a region or interest involved in a particular case. There have been twenty-seven ordinary meetings, two special meetings, and one extraordinary meeting, called unevenly over the past twelve years. For logistical reasons, 29 of the 30 meetings have been held in either London (headquarters of the Commonwealth) or New York City (headquarters of the United Nations).
History.
In its first meeting, CMAG decided that its initial focus would be upon the three (then-)military dictatorships of The Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, and approved of the Commonwealth's suspension of Nigeria from the organisation earlier in the year. These three countries would form the mainstay of the work of CMAG, and form the whole of its reports, until the 1999 coup d'état in Pakistan necessitated it to vote unanimously to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth. Nigeria's reintegration was deemed complete by 1999, when its suspension was lifted; indeed, it was chosen to be a member of CMAG prior to the thirteenth meeting.
In 2000, the situations in Fiji and the Solomon Islands were put under permanent scrutiny, as was that in Zimbabwe in 2001. Gambia was taken off the group's formal agenda at the seventeenth meeting. Due to its acrimonious withdrawal from the Commonwealth in 2003, the issue of Zimbabwe, which had dominated the affairs of the Commonwealth since 2001, became moot and was not discussed from 2004 onwards, while Fiji was taken off the agenda due to encouraging progress in that country's political progress.
At its twenty-fourth meeting, in September 2004, it was decided that (at least in principle) CMAG should meet once a year, and preferably in New York. An extraordinary meeting was called for the 8 December 2006 in light of the 2006 coup d'état, at which it was decided to suspend Fiji's membership of the Commonwealth.
On 12 November 2007, the Commonwealth gave Pakistan a 10-day deadline to restore its constitution and lift other emergency measures or face suspension. By 22 November 2007, the CMAG voted to suspend Pakistan from Commonwealth Membership.
Membership.
Since 2003, the group has included the eight members, plus a representative of the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office's country. These have been, successively, Nigeria, Malta, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago.


Workers Party of the Netherlands (build-up organisation)

Workers Party of the Netherlands (build-up organisation) (, abbreviated APN(o)) was a communist party in the Netherlands. APN(o) was founded in 1980, following a split from the Communist Workers Organisation (marxist-leninist) (KAO(ml)). It upheld the line of the Albanian Party of Labour after the Sino-Albanian split. It had an Hoxhaist ideology.
APN(o) published "Revolutionaire Arbeider".
In 1981 APN(o) released an electoral manifesto titled 'For the Socialist Republic' ("Voor de Socialistische Republiek").
In 1981 and 1982 APN(o) took part in May Day rallies together with Turkish and Surinamese organisations. In 1982 the Portuguese People's Democratic Union branch in the Netherlands took part in the May Day Committee together with APN(o).


Edmonton Riverbend

Edmonton Riverbend is a federal electoral district in Alberta.
Edmonton Riverbend was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upon the call of the 42nd Canadian federal election, scheduled for October 2015. It was created out of part of the electoral district of Edmonton—Leduc. On October 19, 2015 Matt Jeneroux was the first elected Member of Parliament for the Electoral District receiving 50% of the vote.
Members of Parliament.
This riding has elected the following members of the House of Commons of Canada:


Kim Lane Scheppele

Kim Lane Scheppele is an American scholar of law and politics. She is the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Sociology and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. Scheppele joined the Princeton faculty in 2005, after nearly a decade as the John J. O'Brien Professor of Comparative Law and Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she is still a faculty fellow. Scheppele was at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1996, and was an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor from 1993 until her departure for Penn. She received her PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago (1985) and her A.B. in urban studies from Barnard College (1975).
Scheppele is an expert on authoritarian regimes, as well as Hungarian and Poland's politics and law.
Scheppele worked in Hungary in the 1990s, during which she met Viktor Orbán. During the socialist-liberal coalition government of Gyula Horn, she was a researcher at the Constitutional Court and served as an expert advisor to the constitutional drafting committee of the Hungarian Parliament in 1995-1996. She was the founding Co-Director of the MA Program in Gender and Culture at Central European University, when the program was first accredited. She does not speak Hungarian.
Now a leading critic of the right-wing Viktor Orbán government, she has called its actions as creating an "unconstitutional constitution,", and that Hungarian democracy is in jeopardy. She called Tünde Handó a "judicial Czar" whose role damaged the independence of the Hungarian judiciary. Scheppele also called a proposed constitutional rewrite in 2013 "a toxic waste dump of bad constitutional ideas", which prompted Fidesz MEP György Schöpflin to attack her claims on the basis of political animosity. In the name of the governing Fidesz party, Gergely Gulyás published an open letter to her, claiming that the reasons for her aversion towards the legislation of the Fidesz "are mostly personal and political." She worked together with Hungarian opposition parties to bring down the Orbán government.
In 2013, she testified before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, repeating her thesis, that Hungary is slanting towards an authoritarian and oligarchic regime.
December, 2017 in an interview in the Hungarian weekly, HVG, Scheppele stated that an opposition cooperation is needed to bring down the Orbán-regime in the 2018 Hungarian elections, but the leftist opposition parties are divided, and it is possible that the Fidesz-government blackmails some of the socialist politicians. The only party which could put an end to the Orbán regime is the Jobbik, and she expressed her disapproval of the government attacks on this party. In her understanding "the electoral system has been designed in a way that makes it impossible for the opposition parties to win unless they all unite". She described Viktor Orbán as a charismatic leader "who melts people's brain by focusing his attention on them."
Also a critic of the Trump administration, Scheppele underlined that the markers of a falling democracy — "politicizing independent institutions, spreading disinformation, amassing executive power, quashing dissent, and corrupting elections—form a sort of authoritarian playbook, mirroring what scholars have observed in declining democracies around the world, in countries such as Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Venezuela" (page 29) could also be found in the actions of president Donald Trump, and tried to "illuminate similarities in the hopes that we can recognize them early enough to prevent the United States from drifting any further down these roads"(page 37).

Aronofsky was attached to "The Wolverine," which was scheduled to begin production in March 2011, but he left the project due to scheduling issues. The film was set to be sixth entry of the "X-Men" film series, featuring a story revolving around Wolverine's adventures in Japan. In December 2011, Aronofsky directed the music video for Lou Reed and Metallica's "The View" from their album "Lulu".
Aronofsky was set to direct an HBO series pilot called "Hobgoblin". Announced on June 16, 2011, the series would have depicted a group of magicians and con artists who use their powers of deception to defeat Hitler during World War II. He was set to work on the project with Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman. In June 2013, it was announced that HBO had dropped the show and Aronofsky had pulled out, as well.
In 2011, Aronofsky tried to launch production on "Noah", a retelling of the Bible story of Noah's Ark, projected for a $115 million budget. By the following year, the film had secured funding and distribution from New Regency and Paramount Pictures, with Russell Crowe hired for the title role. The film was adapted into a serialized graphic novel written by Aronofsky and Ari Handel, published in French in October 2011 by the Belgian publisher Le Lombard. By July 2012, Aronofsky's crews were building an ark set in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. Aronofsky announced the start of filming on "Noah" on Twitter in the same month, tweeting shots of the filming in Iceland. The film featured Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Logan Lerman, and Jennifer Connelly, with the latter having also starred in "Requiem for a Dream". During its opening weekend, "Noah" held the largest non-sequel opening within Russia and Brazil, and the fourth-largest opening of all time. Aronofsky did not use live animals for the film, saying in a PETA video that "There's really no reason to do it anymore because the technology has arrived". The HSUS gave him their inaugural Humane Filmmaker Award in honor of his use of computer-generated animals.
Aronofsky's next film, "mother!", was released by Paramount Pictures on September 15, 2017. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Ed Harris and Kristen Wiig. The film sparked controversy upon release for its depiction of violence, and, though it received generally positive reviews, it polarized audiences, becoming one of few films to receive a "F" CinemaScore grade. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 278 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "There's no denying that "mother!" is the thought-provoking product of a singularly ambitious artistic vision, though it may be too unwieldy for mainstream tastes."
His next film would be "A courtroom drama of Artificial intelligence", in which he would cooperate again with Paramount Pictures, having doing so in "mother!". In 2018, he was the co-executive producer of "", a virtual reality journey through the universe, that was acquired in a seven figure deal at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In January 2021, his next film was announced to be "The Whale", a film adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter's play of the same name, starring Brendan Fraser.
Directing style.
Aronofsky's first two films, "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream", were low budget and used montages of extremely short shots, also known as hip hop montages. While an average 100-minute film has 600 to 700 cuts "Requiem for a Dream" features more than 2,000. Split-screen is used extensively, along with extremely tight closeups. Long tracking shots, including those shot with an apparatus strapping a camera to an actor, called the Snorricam, and time-lapse photography are also prominent stylistic devices. Often with his films, Aronofsky alternates between extreme closeups and extreme wide shots to create a sense of isolation.
With "The Fountain", Aronofsky restricted the use of computer-generated imagery. Henrik Fett, the visual effects supervisor of Look Effects, said, "Darren was quite clear on what he wanted and his intent to greatly minimize the use of computer graphics ... and I think the results are outstanding." He used more subtle directing in "The Wrestler" and "Black Swan," in which a less-visceral directing style better showcases the acting and narratives. Aronofsky filmed both works with a muted palette and a grainy style. Part of this consistent style involves collaborations with frequent partners cinematographer Matthew Libatique, editor Andrew Weisblum and composer Clint Mansell. Mansell's music is an often important element of the films.
Themes and influences.
"Pi" features several references to mathematics and mathematical theories. In a 1998 interview, Aronofsky acknowledged several influences for "Pi": "I'm a big fan of Kurosawa and Fellini. In this film in particular I think there's a lot of Roman Polanski influence and Terry Gilliam influence as well as a Japanese director named Shinya Tsukamoto—he directed ""." The visual style of "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream" features numerous similarities to "Tetsuo: The Iron Man".
The majority of reviewers characterized "Requiem for a Dream" in the genre of "drug movies", along with films like "The Basketball Diaries", "Trainspotting", "Spun", and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". But, Aronofsky placed his movie in a wider context, saying:
Dream logic is another leitmotif.
With his friend Ari Handel, Aronofsky developed the plot for "The Fountain"; the director wrote the screenplay. In 1999, Aronofsky thought that "The Matrix" redefined the science fiction genre in film. He sought to make a science fiction film that explored new territory, as did "The Matrix" and its predecessors "Star Wars" and "". He wanted to go beyond science fiction films with plots driven by technology and science.
In the Toronto International Film Festival interview conducted by James Rocchi, Aronofsky credited the 1957 Charles Mingus song "The Clown" as a major influence on "The Wrestler". It is an instrumental piece, with a poem read over the music about a clown who accidentally discovers the bloodlust of the crowds and eventually kills himself in performance.
Aronofsky called "Black Swan" a companion piece to "The Wrestler", recalling one of his early projects about a love affair between a wrestler and a ballerina. He eventually separated the wrestling and the ballet worlds, considering them as "too much for one movie". He compared the two films: "Wrestling some consider the lowest art—if they would even call it art—and ballet some people consider the highest art. But what was amazing to me was how similar the performers in both of these worlds are. They both make incredible use of their bodies to express themselves." About the psychological thriller nature of "Black Swan", actress Natalie Portman compared the film's tone to Polanski's 1968 film "Rosemary's Baby", while Aronofsky said Polanski's "Repulsion" (1965) and "The Tenant" (1976) were "big influences" on the final film. Actor Vincent Cassel also compared "Black Swan" to Polanski's early films, commenting that it was also influenced by Alejandro Jodorowsky's movies and David Cronenberg's early work.
Controversy.
Several aspects of Aronofsky's films have been controversial, most notably "Requiem for a Dream", "Black Swan", and "mother!". "Requiem for a Dream" was originally set for release in 2000, but it met with controversy in the United States, being rated NC-17 by the MPAA due to a graphic sex scene. Aronofsky appealed the rating, claiming that cutting any portion of the film would dilute its message. The appeal was denied and the film's distributor Artisan Entertainment decided to release the film unrated.
The question of who had designed 40 ballet costumes for Portman and the dancers in "Black Swan" was one publicized controversy related to the film. The media gave substantial coverage to the dance double controversy: how much credit for the dancing in the film was being given to Portman and how much to her "dance double," Sarah Lane, an American Ballet Theatre soloist. Lane claimed to have danced more than she was credited. The director and Fox Searchlight disputed Lane's claim. Their released statements said, "We were fortunate to have Sarah there to cover the more complicated dance sequences and we have nothing but praise for the hard work she did. However, Natalie herself did most of the dancing featured in the final film."
Aronofsky said in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly":
While Aronofsky's other movies have evoked significant emotional response, they were still far from the turmoil aroused by "Noah". It was screened for the first time on March 28, 2014, and despite its PG-13 rating, it has quickly been recognized by Box Office Mojo as one of the most controversial movies of the last 35 years along with such titles as "The Passion of the Christ" or "The Da Vinci Code". "Noah" has been banned in United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Indonesia on religious grounds with other countries following suit.
Personal life.
Aronofsky began dating English actress Rachel Weisz in the summer of 2001, and in 2005 they were engaged. Their son was born on May 31, 2006, in New York City. The couple resided in the East Village in Manhattan. In November 2010, Weisz and Aronofsky announced that they had been apart for months, but were continuing to raise their son together in New York. In September 2016, he began dating actress Jennifer Lawrence, whom he met during the filming of "mother!". The relationship ended in November 2017.
He said of his spiritual beliefs in 2014, "I think I definitely believe. My biggest expression of what I believe is in "The Fountain"".
In April 2011, Aronofsky was announced as the President of the Jury for the 68th Venice International Film Festival.
In November 2014, Aronofsky was announced as the President of the Jury for the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, for February 2015.
Environmental activism.
Aronofsky is known for his environmental activism. A number of his films, notably "Noah" and "mother!", can be read as environmental parables. In 2014, he traveled to the Alberta Tar Sands with the Sierra Club's Michael Brune and Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2015, he traveled to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Brune, Keri Russell, and the leaders of several veterans groups.
In 2014, he received the Humane Filmmaker Award from the Humane Society of the United States.
In 2015, he collaborated with the artist JR on "The Standing March," a public art installation in Paris encouraging diplomats at COP21 to take action against climate change.
He is a board member of the Sierra Club Foundation and The School for Field Studies.


Celine Rattray

Celine Rattray (born 1975) is a film producer who co-founded the production company Maven Pictures. In 2010, she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Kids Are All Right". In 2020, Rattray launched Maven Screen Media with Trudie Styler, a multi-platform UK production company.
Career.
Rattray earned a degree in mathematics and philosophy from St Hilda's College, Oxford prior to entering the entertainment industry.
In 2003, Rattray co-founded New York-based production company Plum Pictures with Galt Niederhoffer and Daniela Taplin Lundberg. The company produced several films before its 2009 disestablishment, including "Grace Is Gone" (2007), which won an Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
She was president of Mandalay Vision, the independent film division of Mandalay Entertainment, until 2011. In that role she produced several films, including "The Kids Are All Right" (2010), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture BAFTA, Gold Derby Award for Best Motion Picture, and Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture. In the same year, she was nominated for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture for "The Whistleblower".
She left Mandalay Vision in 2011 to found Maven Pictures with Trudie Styler. In that role she was nominated for a Women's Image Network Award in 2017 for "Novitiate", which was also shortlisted for the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize.


Marcus Chait

Marcus E. Chait (born March 18, 1973) is an American film and television actor and producer.
Early life.
Chait was born in Menlo Park, California on March 18, 1973.
Career.
His television appearances include "ER", ' and '.
He appeared in films such as "Million Dollar Baby", "North Country" and "Proud".
Personal life.
He is married to Melissa Bell. They have one child.


Buddy Adler

E. Maurice "Buddy" Adler (June 22, 1906 – July 12, 1960) was an American film producer and production head for 20th Century Fox studios.
In 1954, his production of "From Here to Eternity" won the Academy Award for Best Picture and in 1956, his "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" was nominated for best picture. Adler also produced the 1956 film "Bus Stop", starring Marilyn Monroe.
Biography.
Adler was born in New York City in 1906 (some references have listed his birth year as 1908 or 1909). "Buddy" was a childhood nickname. His family ran a small chain of department stores and Adler did advertising copy for the chain. He began writing short stories in his spare time and published them under the name "Bradley Allen". In 1936 he moved to Hollywood where he wrote the Pete Smith short features for MGM. He wrote the screenplay for the short documentary film "Quicker'n a Wink", which won an Oscar in 1940. He also owned a small string of movie showhouses, called the Hitching Post.
During World War II, Adler served in the Signal Corps (1941–1945), ending with the rank of colonel.
In 1954 Alder moved from Columbia to Fox, where he produced several films.
Head of Fox.
In 1956 Adler was named as Head of Production for 20th Century Fox, replacing Darryl F. Zanuck. In 1957 he established the Fox Talent School, with a $1 million budget. Actors who had their first starring roles under Adler include Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Tommy Sands, Fabian, Country singer Stuart Whitman, Suzy Parker, Joanne Woodward, France Nuyen, May Britt, Bradford Dillman, Tony Randall, Barry Coe, and Diane Varsi.
Personal life.
Adler was born in New York City. He moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1936 and resided there for the rest of his life. In 1940 he married actress Anita Louise Fremault (1915–1970), with whom he had two children. The family were at his bedside when he died in 1960, from lung cancer.
Awards.
Adler received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1957. In 1958 he received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.
Death.
Buddy Adler died of lung cancer, aged 54, in Los Angeles and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. His widow, who is buried there as well, survived him by ten years.


Mark Capps

Mark Capps is an American sound engineer and music producer. He co-won the Grammy Award for Best Polka Album in 2005, 2006 and 2007.