Wednesday, December 5, 2007


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Magyarization or Magyarisation (or "Hungarization", "Hungarianization" or "Hungarianisation", etc.) is a common designator applied to a number of ethnic assimilation policies implemented by various Hungarian authorities at various times. These policies aimed at imposing or maintaining the dominance of Hungarian language and culture in Hungarian-ruled regions by encouraging or compelling (often by forcible means) people of other ethnic groups to adopt the Hungarian language and culture, and to develop a Hungarian identity.

Origin of the term
The term is also sometimes used to refer to broader ethnic discrimination, which was used as a rationale for Magyarization. From the Hungarian point of view, historically notable personalities that came from Magyarized families were Hungarian.

Magyarization in broader sense
The term Magyarization is usually used in regards to the national policies implemented by the government of the Kingdom of Hungary, which was part of the Habsburg Empire. The onset of this process dates to the late 18th century The policies of Magyarization aimed to make the fluency in Hungarian language a requirement for access to basic government services such as local administration, education, and justice.

Magyarization in the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary
The first Hungarian government after the Ausgleich, the 1867–1871 liberal regime led by Count Gyula Andrássy and sustained by Ferenc Deák and his followers, passed the 1868 Nationality Act, that declared "all citizens of Hungary form, politically, one nation, the indivisible unitary Hungarian nation (nemzet), of which every citizen of the country, whatever his personal nationality (nemzetiség), is a member equal in rights." The Education Act, passed the same year, shared this view as the Magyars simpy being primus inter pares ("first among equals"). At this time ethnic minorities "de jure" had a great deal of cultural and linguistic autonomy, including in education, religion, and local government.). These empty lands were repopulated, by administrative measures adopted by the Vienna Court especially during the 18th century, by Hungarians and Slovaks from the northern part of the Kingdom that avoided the devastation (see also Royal Hungary), Swabians, Serbs (Serbs were majority in most southern parts of the Pannonian Plain during Ottoman rule, i.e. before those Habsburg administrative measures), Croats and Romanians. The result of this migration was that on a large swath of land, roughly between Kecskemét and the southern border areas, various ethnic groups lived side by side (this ethnic heterogeneity is preserved until today in certain parts of Vojvodina, Bačka and Banat). After 1867, Hungarian became the lingua franca on this territory in the interaction between ethnic communities, and individuals who were born in mixed marriages between two non-Magyars often grew a full-fledged allegiance to the Hungarian nation (the best-known example being Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian national poet born from a Serbo-Slovak marriage). Since Latin was the official language until 1842 and the country was directly governed from Vienna (which excluded any large-scale governmental assimilation policy from the Hungarian side before the 1867 Ausgleich), the factor of spontaneous assimilation should be given due weight in any analysis relating to the demographic tendencies of the Kingdom of Hungary in the 19th century.

State policy and ethnic relations
Although the policy of Magyarisation was mainly pursued in the form of discrimination (see the sections below), the measures were backed by the state police and secret police One of the incidents that shocked the European public opinion was the Černová massacre in 1907.

Violent oppression
Schools funded by churches and communes had the right to provide education in minority languages. These church-funded schools, however, were mostly founded before 1867, that is, in different socio-political circumstances. Clause 38 of the 1868 law

Education
The central part of the Kingdom of Hungary was colonized with settlers belonging to different nationalities in the 18th century. Colonization was implemented in the Dunántúl consider that Count Grassalkovich settled Slovaks and Rusyns among Hungarians with the goal to increase number of Hungarians. Separated from their main ethnic territory in Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, these two groups would be easily assimilated by the Hungarians. It is evident that most of the Slovaks of Roman Catholic faith that were settled in Vojvodina were later assimilated into the Hungarians, while those that were Protestants retained their Slovak ethnicity.
The settling in of Hungarians into the region continued until the end of the First World War. The statistics for 1880-1900 period show that the ordinary population growth in the Kingdom of Hungary for this period was +10.3%. However, the comparison between population growth of Serbs and Hungarians in the cities of Vojvodina show that Serb population growth was -19.5%, while Hungarian population growth was +105.2%. The last number, however, indicate both, colonization and Magyarization of non-Hungarians from the area.

Colonization
The census system of the post-1867 Kingdom of Hungary was unfavourable to nationalities. According to the 1874 election law, which remained unchanged until 1918, only the upper 5.9% of whole population had voting rights. That high census effectively excluded almost the whole peasantry and the working class from the political life. The percentage of low-income people was somewhat higher among the nationalities than among the Magyars, except the Germans who were generally richer.
In 1900, nearly 33% of the deputies were elected by less than 100 and close upon 66% of the deputies were elected by less than 1000 votes. The Magyars who gave the 54.5% of the whole population (in Hungary proper) had 60.2% majority in the electorate. Ethnic Germans participated with 10.4% in population and 13.0% in the electorate. The participation of other ethnic groups was as follows: Slovaks (10.7% in population, 10.4% in the electorate), Romanians (16.1% in population, 9.9% in the electorate), Rusyns (2.5% in population, 1.7% in the electorate), Croats (1.1% in population, 1.0% in the electorate), Serbs (2.2% in population, 1.4% in the electorate), and others (2.2% in population, 1.4% in the electorate).
Officially, Hungarian electoral laws haven't contained any legal discrimination based on nationality or language. The high census wasn't uncommon in other European countries in the 1860s but later the countries of Western-Europe gradually lowered and at last abolished their censi. That never happened in the Kingdom of Hungary, although electoral reform was one of the main topic of political debates in the last decades before WW1.

Magyarization Names
As a result of the Magyarization policy
People moved chiefly for economic reasons (labour migration) and, until 1914, 25% of the emigrants returned (this process was stopped by World War I). The majority of the emigrants came from the most indigent social groups, especially from the agrarian sector. Almost 530,000 people left the country between 1905 and 1907, which shows a direct connection between the U.S.'s trade fluctuation and Hungary's developing stages (the living standard of the peasantry, decline of agrarian movements, and even the Phylloxera plague).

Emigration
The Jewish population of the Kingdom of Hungary may have been the only minority to actively embrace Magyarization, because it saw it as an opportunity for assimilation without conceding their religion. Stephen Roth writes, "Hungarian Jews were opposed to Zionism because they hoped that somehow they could achieve equality with other Hungarian citizens, not just in law but in fact, and that they could be integrated into the country as Hungarian Israelites. The word 'Israelite' (Hungarian: Izraelita) denoted only religious affiliation and was free from the ethnic or national connotations usually attached to the term 'Jew', which could therefore be regarded as a derogatory. Hungarian Jews attained remarkable achievements in business, culture and less frequently even in politics. But even the most successful Jews were not fully accepted by the majority of the Magyars as one of their kind — as the events following the Nazi invasion of the country in WW II so tragically demonstrated."

Magyarization Jews
As a result of the forced Magyarization policy in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Slovaks were a culturally, politically, etc. decimated nation. Although the share of Slovaks within the electorate (10,4%) largely reflected their weight in the total population of Hungary proper (10,7%) Slovaks had extremely marginal representation in the parliament (0 or 1 deputy out of 420 MPs). Although at the time of the Ausgleich there were more than one thousand Slovak elementary schools, their number was gradually reduced to 322 until 1918. Slovaks had no institutions, offices, judges, they were often prevented from voting

Magyarization in Upper Hungary

1844 - Hungarian is gradually introduced for all civil records (kept at local parishes until 1895). German became an official language again after the 1848 revolution, but the laws reverted in 1881 yet again. From 1836 to 1881, 14,000 families had their name Magyarized in the area of Banat alone.
1898 - Simon Telkes publishes the book "How to Magyarize family names".
1897 - The Bánffy law of the villages is ratified. According to this law, all officially used village names in the Hungarian Kingdom had to be in Hungarian language.
1907 - The Apponyi educational law made Hungarian a compulsory subject in all schools in the Kingdom of Hungary. This also extended to confessional and communal schools, which had the right to provide instruction in a minority language as well. "All pupils regardless of their native language must be able to express their thoughts in Hungarian both in spoken and in written form at the end of fourth grade [~ at the age of 10 or 11]" See also

Tuesday, December 4, 2007


Hills District is a general, but unofficial, term for the north-western suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Hills District is also referred to as The Hills. These suburbs are generally located within the local government area of Baulkham Hills Shire but parts of the City of Parramatta. City of Blacktown and Hornsby Shire are also included in the area that is given the appellation "Hills District".
It is so called for its characteristically comparatively hilly topography, and the fact that several of its suburbs have the word 'Hills' in their names, such as Pennant Hills, Castle Hill, West Pennant Hills and Baulkham Hills.
The Hills District is characterised by its relatively affluent households, usually families, living in low-density housing. It is the most rapidly growing region of Sydney.
The regional designation is a largely artificial construct and actual suburbs and localities that are considered to be in "the Hills" can be somewhat amorphous and varies according to who is doing the listing. For example the Hills District Historical Society restricts its remit to the Baulkham Hills Shire local government area. However notwithstanding this, suburbs or parts of suburbs that appear in all or some published listings of the "Hills District" such as Yellow Pages, local newspapers and businesses include: Baulkham Hills, Beaumont Hills, Bella Vista, Carlingford, Castle Hill, Cheltenham, Cherrybrook, Dural, Epping Galston, Glenhaven, Glenorie, Glenwood, Kellyville, Kellyville Ridge, Kenthurst,Kings Langley, North Rocks, Pennant Hills, Round Corner, Rouse Hill, Thompsons Corner, Seven Hills, West Pennant Hills and Winston Hills. [1]
It should be noted that the Local Government Authority that comprises "the heart" of the notional region is a member of WSROC a grouping which characterises itself as "Greater Western Sydney" region.
Land grants in the district were made shortly after settlement began, however much of the district owes its development to the construction of the railway line between Strathfield and Hornsby, which wasn't declared open until 17th September 1886, some 15 years before Federation, and almost a century after land grants were first made in the area. [2]
At present, the district boasts Sydney's largest cinema complex, spanning both the Castle Hill Piazza and Castle Towers.[3]

Geography
The area is notable for the fact that it has the highest rate of religious service attendance in Australia . Many religious denominations and belief systems are represented throughout the district, including, notably, the Mormon's Sydney Australia Temple in Carlingford, the Hillsong Church situated in Norwest Business Park. As with other urban regional areas in Australia there are numerous other places of worship catering to a wide range of belief systems including Anglican, Baptist, Buddhist, Hindu, Uniting, Chinese Christian, Islamic, Spiritualist, Roman Catholic and Sikh.

Hills District (Sydney) Religion
Observations and figures provided regarding housing and financial well-being, age distribution in the population, and religious attendance have led to a stereotype of the residents of the Hills District as docile, elderly, upper-middle class conservatives.

Hills District (Sydney) Stereotype In Popular Culture
The Hills District boasts both State Transit services and a number of private services.
The train network spans five CityRail network train stations, encompassing sections of the Northern Line, the Carlingford Line, and the Newcastle & Central Coast Line, including the western terminus of the Epping to Chatswood line.
An extensive list of bus services operate in the district, including Westbus, HillsBus, Harris Park Bus, CityBus Direct, Busways, Glenorie Bus Company, and Sydney Buses.

Public Transport Network
The district is home to 53 primary schools, 24 secondary schools, one TAFE college and numerous pre-schools and kindergartens, including both public and private systems, and selective schools. [4]

Education
The area hosts a large number of licensed premises where residents and visitors can obtain alcoholic refreshments, food service, gaming and other entertainment facilities. Notable among such venues are The Mean Fiddler in Rouse Hill and The Bull and Bush in Baulkham Hills, both of which are heritage listed properties.

Sport

Monday, December 3, 2007

Arizona Legislature
The Arizona Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. There are 60 Representatives and 30 Senators. The state legislature meets in the Capitol Complex in the state capital, Phoenix.

Term limits

Arizona State Capitol
Arizona House of Representatives
Arizona Senate

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Chermside, Queensland
Chermside is a suburb on the north side of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Chermside is a key destination along Queensland Transport's future Northern Busway. Chermside is home to Brisbane's largest Westfield shopping centre which now contains a 3 story Myer and a 16 screen cinema complex.
Together with Indooroopilly, in the west; Carindale, in the southeast; and Mount Gravatt, on the south side; the suburb has been described as a mini-CBD.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Alexander Stepanov


This article is about the key person behind the C++ Standard Template Library. For other notable people named Stepanov, see Stepanov (disambiguation).
Alexander Stepanov (born November 16, 1950 in Moscow) is the key person behind the C++ Standard Template Library, which he started to develop around 1993 while employed at HP Labs. He had earlier been working for Bell Labs close to Andrew Koenig and tried to convince Bjarne Stroustrup to introduce something like Ada Generics in C++. He is currently employed by Adobe Systems. Stepanov is the father of eight grown children and is a grandfather to four.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Organizational performance
Organizational performance comprises the actual output or results of an organization as measured against its intended outputs (or goals and objectives).
Specialists in many fields are concerned with organizational performance including strategic planners, operations, finance, legal, and organizational development.
In recent years, many organizations have attempted to manage organizational performance using the balanced scorecard methodology where performance is tracked and measured in multiple dimensions such as:
- financial performance (e.g. shareholder return) - customer service - social responsibility (e.g. corporate citizenship, community outreach) - employee stewardship

Thursday, November 29, 2007


Gainesville is the largest city and county seat of Alachua County, Florida.

History
Gainesville is located at 29°39'55" North, 82°20'10" West (29.665245, -82.336097),which is roughly the same latitude as Houston, Texas. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.1 square miles (127 km²), of which 48.2 square miles (125 km²) is land and 0.9 square miles (2 km²) is water. The total area is 1.87% water.
Gainesville is one of the southernmost cities in the United States where deciduous trees predominate, and has been recognized every year since 1982 as a "Tree City, USA". There are deciduous trees farther south, but they are not as abundant as they are from Alachua County northward. The city is also an important way station for automobile travelers, as it is located nearly midway between Atlanta and Miami, five hours from Miami, and five from Atlanta.
The North Florida area in which Gainesville is located is known to natives as the "end of the South." This is most likely due to the fact that south of Alachua County or Marion County, starting somewhere north of Orlando, there are fewer native Floridians (and effectively native Southerners) and the sprawling development that defines South and Central Florida begins. However, it should be noted that due to large levels of migration, much of it related to the University of Florida, the western sector of the city holds more in common culturally and visually with Central and Southern Florida, whereas the eastern sector of the city holds more in common culturally and visually with "the South".

Climate
The destruction of the city's landmark Victorian courthouse in the 1960s, which some considered unnecessary, brought the idea of historic preservation to the attention of the community. The bland county building which replaced the grand courthouse became known to some locals as the "air conditioner." Additional destruction of other historic buildings in the downtown followed as the city tried to modernize, but succeeded in diminishing the city's historic charm. After many years of little progress, revitalization of the city's core has picked up, and many parking lots and underutilized buildings are being replaced with infill development and near-campus housing which blend in with existing historic structures. There is talk of rebuilding a replica of the old courthouse on a parking lot one block from the original location.
Helping in this effort are the number of areas and buildings which have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Dozens of examples of restored Victorian and Queen Anne style residences constructed in the city's agricultural heyday of the 1880s and 1890s can be found in the following districts:
Historic structures on the Register in and around downtown are:
There are three listings for places on the outskirts of Gainesville:

Northeast Gainesville Residential District
Southeast Gainesville Residential District
Pleasant Street Historic District
Bailey Plantation House (1854)
Matheson Center Home (1867)
Thomas Hotel (1928)
The Old Post Office (now the Hippodrome State Theatre) (1913)
Masonic Temple (1913)
Seagle Building (1937), thirteen stories, downtown's only "skyscraper."
Baird Hardware Company Warehouse (1910)
Cox Furniture Store (1887)
Cox Furniture Warehouse (c. 1890)
Epworth Hall (1884)
Old Gainesville Depot (1850s)
Mary Phifer McKenzie House (1895)
Star Garage (1903)
Liberty Hill Schoolhouse (????)
Boulware Springs Water Works (1895)
Kanapaha (c. 1854-56) Cityscape
As of the census

Demographics
Gainesville has a fairly well-known punk and ska music scene and has spawned a number of bands including Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Less Than Jake, The Usuals, Hot Water Music (hence The Draft), Against Me!, Sister Hazel, and For Squirrels. It is also the location of the independent label No Idea Records and the annual underground rock festival known as The Fest, which is co-operated by No Idea. The hip hop scene is just as well known with artists such as Ciara, Lil Boosie, Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, and in her earlier years Lil Mama, performing in the area.
Gainesville's reputation as an independent music mecca can be traced back to October 1984 when a local music video station was brought on the air. The station was called TV-69, broadcast on UHF 69 and was owned by Cozzin Communications. The channel drew a lot of local media attention thanks in part to its promotion by famous comedian Bill Cosby, who was part-owner of that station when it started. TV-69 featured many videos by punk and indy-label bands and even had several locally produced videos ("Clone Love" by a local parody band, and a Dinosaur Jr song).
Cultural facilities include the Florida Museum of Natural History, Harn Museum of Art, the Hippodrome State Theatre, Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and The Civic Media Center. Smaller theaters include the Acrosstown Repertory Theatre (ART) and the Gainesville Community Playhouse (GCP). GCP is the oldest community theatre group in Florida, and last year christened a new theatre building.
Numerous guides such as the 2004 book Cities Ranked and Rated: More than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada have mentioned Gainesville's low cost of living. The restaurants near the University of Florida also tend to be inexpensive. The property taxes are high to offset the cost of the university, as the university's land is tax-exempt. However, the median home cost remains slightly below the national average, and Gainesville residents, like all Floridians, do not pay state income taxes.
This city's job market scored only 6 points out of a possible 100 in the Cities Ranked and Rated guide, as the downside to the low cost of living is an extremely weak local job market that is oversupplied with college-educated residents. The University of Florida, the Shands Healthcare system (a private-public-university partnership), and the city government are the only major employers for the city. The median income in Gainesville is slightly below the U.S. average.
The east side of Gainesville houses the majority of the African-American community within the city, while the west side consists of the mainly white student and resident population. There are also large-scale planned communities on the far west side, most notably Haile Plantation, which was built on the site of a former plantation.
Gainesville is informally called "Hogtown" by many current and former residents, after Hogtown Creek, which runs through the city and was the original name of a town nearby, which was eventually incorporated into the growing city. It was the center of the Gainesville Eight case in the 1970s, and is known to some as the Berkeley of the South. This nickname was probably afforded to Gainesville because of the presence of a relatively prestigious university, and the liberal tendencies of its voting base. All of the counties surrounding Alachua County vote heavily Republican, while Gainesville votes strongly Democratic. In the 2000 election there was a 15% gap in votes in Alachua county between Gore and Bush, while Nader received under 4%. This liberal lean is attributed to the presence of the University in tandem with the presence of a large black community that consistently votes Democratic.
The city is characterized by its medium size, semi-rural location (about 90 minutes driving time away from Jacksonville or Orlando), and large public university. Suburban sprawl has, as of late, become a concern for the city commissioners. However, the "New Urbanization" plan to gentrify the area between historic Downtown and the University of Florida may slow the growth of suburban sectors and spark a migration toward upper-level apartments in the inner city. The area immediately north of the University of Florida is also seeing active redevelopment.
The National Coalition for the Homeless cited Gainesville in 2004 as the 5th meanest city for their criminalization of homelessness.

Culture
All of the Gainesville urban area is served by the School Board of Alachua County, which has some 75 different institutions in the county, most of which are in the Gainesville area. Gainesville is also home to the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College. The University of Florida is a major financial boost to the community, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenues are created by the athletic events that occur at UF, including SEC football games.
Other educational institutions include Saint Leo University, City College/Gainesville Campus, P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, Gainesville High School, Eastside High School, Buchholz High School, Santa Fe High School and Saint Francis Catholic High School.
The Alachua County Library District provides public library service to a county-wide population of approximately 190,655. The Library District has reciprocal borrowing agreements with the surrounding counties of Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Putnam and Union. These agreements are designed to facilitate access to the most conveniently located library facility regardless of an individual's county of residence.

Education
Gainesville has an extensive road system, which is served by Interstate 75, and several Florida State Routes, including State routes 20, 24, and 26, among others. Gainesville is also served by US 441 and nearby US 301, which gives a direct route to Jacksonville, Ocala, and Orlando. The primary intersection in the city is the intersection of 13th Street (US 441), the main north-south route, and University Avenue (SR 26) the main east-west route. This intersection is at the northeast corner of the University of Florida campus and thirteen blocks west of the center of downtown, where Main Street intersects University Avenue.
The city's streets are set up on a grid system with four quadrants (NW, NE, SW and SE). All streets are numbered, except for a few major thoroughfares which are often named for the towns to which they lead (such as Waldo Road (SR 24), Hawthorne Road (SR 20), Williston Road (SR 121), Archer Road (also SR 24) and Newberry Road (SR 26). Residents sometimes use the acronym APRiL to remember the orientation of the streets on the grid: all streets with the suffix Avenue, Place, Road, or Lane run east-west. Any other suffix denotes a street that runs north-south.
Daily Amtrak service to and from Waldo, 12 miles (19 km) NE of the city, has been replaced with Amtrak shuttle buses which re-connect with the rail system further south. Full Amtrak service is available at Palatka, 32 miles (51 km) to the east.
In addition to its extensive road network, Gainesville is also served by Gainesville Regional Transit System, or RTS, which is the fourth largest mass transit system in the state. The area is also served by Gainesville Regional Airport in the northeast part of the city, with daily service to Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, and Charlotte.

Transportation
Gainesville is served by the following Newspapers:

The Gainesville Sun
The Independent Florida Alligator Gainesville, Florida Media

Florida Museum of Natural History (including the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit)
Harn Museum of Art
Hippodrome State Theatre
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens
University of Florida
The Devil's Millhopper
Payne's Prairie
Civic Media Center
San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park
Lake Alice
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field
Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Newnan's Lake
Ligature Design Symposium
Gainesville Raceway Points of interest
This section has been tagged since July 2007.
Celebrities that live or have lived in Gainesville include:

Notable residents

Individuals

Aslyn, singer/songwriter Musicians

Lisa Nicole Carson, actress Actors/Performers
Chris Leak, NFL Draft pick

Corey Brewer, NBA Draft pick
Lyubov Denisova, Marathon runner
Doug Dickey, Hall of Fame Football Coach
Ric Flair, professional wrestling personality
Taurean Green, NBA Draft pick
Al Horford, NBA Draft pick
Darrell Jackson, football player
Marty Liquori, Olympic track & field athlete and TV announcer
Roger Maris, baseball player (first to break Babe Ruth's home run record)
Andrew Miller, baseball player
Heather Mitts, soccer player
Rodney Mullen, professional skateboarder
Joakim Noah, NBA Draft pick
Clinton Portis, football player
Chris Richard, NBA Draft pick
Emmitt Smith, professional football player
Steve Spurrier, football player and coach
Abby Wambach, soccer player
Bernard Williams, sprinter and Olympic gold medalist
Jack Youngblood, professional football player & NFL Hall of Famer Athletes

Kiki Carter, environmental activist, organizer, musician, writer
Michael Connelly, multiple-bestselling thriller/mystery writer
Harry Crews, Southern Gothic author
Nancy Yi Fan, children's book author
Joe Haldeman, science fiction author
Tom Meek, newspaper columnist and writer Other Notable Individuals
Other celebrity ties to Gainesville include Faye Dunaway, who went to the University of Florida, Malcolm Gets, who grew up there, graduated from the university, and wrote and performed at the Community Playhouse and the Hippodrome, and Bob Vila, who graduated from the College of Journalism and Communications. Renee Richards lived in Gainesville for a time.

Against Me!
Aleka's Attic
As Friends Rust
The Draft
Holopaw
Hot Water Music
Less than Jake
Mudcrutch
Rehasher
Sister Hazel

Wednesday, November 28, 2007


Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993), was an Oscar-nominated American actress. The American Film Institute named Gish 17th among the greatest female stars of all time.

Lillian Gish Early life
Their first role was in Griffith's short film An Unseen Enemy. Lillian went on to star in many of Griffith's most acclaimed films, among these The Birth of a Nation (as Elsie), Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, and Orphans of the Storm.
Having appeared in over 25 short films and features in her first two years as a movie actress, Lillian became a major star, becoming known as "The First Lady of the Silent Screen" and appearing in lavish productions, frequently of literary works such as The Scarlet Letter (1926). MGM released her from her contract in 1928 after the failure of The Wind, now recognized by many as among her finest performances and one of the most distinguished works of the late silent period.
She directed one film, Remodeling Her Husband (1920), when D.W. Griffith took his unit on location -- he told Gish that he thought the crew would work harder for a girl. Gish apparently preferred to remain in front of the camera rather than behind it, since she never directed again. She told reporters at the time that directing was a man's job.
With her debut in talkies only moderately successful, she acted on the stage for the most part in the 1930s and early 1940s, appearing with distinction in roles as varied as Ophelia in Guthrie McClintic's landmark 1936 production of Hamlet (with John Gielgud and Judith Anderson) and Marguerite in a limited run of La Dame aux Camélias. Of the former, she said, with pride, "I played a lewd Ophelia!," contrasting the role with the virginal "ga-ga babies" she had tired of portraying on screen.
Returning to movies, Gish was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1946 for Duel in the Sun. She appeared in films from time to time for the rest of her life, notably in Night of the Hunter (1955) and A Wedding (1978). She was considered for various roles in Gone with the Wind ranging from Ellen O'Hara, Scarlett's mother to the red-headed prostitute Belle Watling.
Gish made numerous television appearances from the early 1950s into the late 1980s. Her most acclaimed television work was starring in the original production of The Trip to Bountiful in 1953. She appeared as Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in the short-lived 1965 Broadway musical Anya.
In addition to her latter-day acting appearances, Gish became one of the leading advocates on the lost art of the silent film, often giving speeches and touring to screenings of classic works. In 1975 she hosted The Silent Years, a PBS film program of silent films.
Gish received a special Academy Award in 1971 "for superlative artistry and for distinguished contribution to the progress of motion pictures." In 1984 she received an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, only the second female recipient (Bette Davis was first in 1977) and only recipient who was a major figure in the silent era. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1720 Vine Street.
Her last film role was in The Whales of August in 1987 at the age of 93, with Vincent Price, Bette Davis, who was dying of cancer, and Ann Sothern, who earned her only Academy Award nomination for her final film performance.
Her final professional appearance was a cameo on the 1988 studio recording of Jerome Kern's Show Boat starring Frederica von Stade and Jerry Hadley, in which she affectingly spoke the few lines of The Old Lady on the Levee in the final scene. The last words of her century-spanning career: "Good night, dear."
Some in the entertainment industry were angry that Gish had not received an Oscar nomination for her role in The Whales of August, despite the fact that it was obviously her swan song. Gish, herself, was more complacent, remarking that it saved her the trouble of "losing to Cher" (who did, in fact, win the Oscar for her performance in Moonstruck). Ironically enough, Cher's then-boyfriend, Rob Camiletti, confided to a friend before the nominations were announced that, while Cher deserved to win the Oscar, she didn't have a chance of winning because the Academy would inevitably give it to Lillian Gish.

Career
The association between Gish and Griffith was so close that some suspected a romantic connection, an issue never acknowledged by Gish although several of their associates were certain they were at least briefly involved. For the remainder of her life she always referred to him as "Mr. Griffith".
She was involved with Charles Duell (a producer) and the drama critic and editor George Jean Nathan. Gish's association with Duell was something of a tabloid scandal in the 1920s after he sued her and made the details of their relationship public.
During the period of political turmoil in the United States that lasted from the outbreak of World War II in Europe until the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was unable to find work in Hollywood due to being blacklisted for her outspoken non-interventionist stance. She was an active member of the America First Committee, a controversial anti-intervention organization founded by retired General Robert E. Wood with aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh as its leading spokesman.[1]
She maintained a very close relationship with her sister Dorothy, as well as with Mary Pickford for her entire life. One of her closest friends was actress Helen Hayes. Gish was the godmother of Hayes' son James MacArthur.
She was a Republican.
She died in her sleep on February 27, 1993 as a result of heart failure aged 99. Her estate, which she left to Helen Hayes, who died a month later, was valued at several million dollars, and went to provide prizes for artistic excellence.
The main street in Massillon, Ohio is named after Gish, who had lived there during an early period of her life and fondly referred to it as her hometown throughout her career. She was interred beside her sister Dorothy at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church Columbarium in the undercroft of the church in the heart of New York City.

Filmography
Autobiographical:
Biographical & Other:

The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me (with Ann Pinchot) (Prentice-Hall, 1969)
Dorothy and Lillian Gish (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973)
An Actor's Life For Me (with Selma G. Lanes) (Viking Penguin, 1987)
Lillian Gish an Interpretation - Edward Wagenknecht (University of Washington, 1927)
Life and Lillian Gish - Albert Bigelow Paine (Macmillan, 1932)
Star Acting - Gish, Garbo, Davis - Charles Affron (E.P. Dutton, 1977)
A Moment with Miss Gish - Peter Bogdanovich (Santa Teresa Press, 1995)
Lillian Gish A Life on Stage and Screen - Stuart Oderman (McFarland & Company, 2000)
Lillian Gish Her Legend, Her Life - Charles Affron (Scribner, 2001) Books

Gish's life is documented in Terry Sanders' 1988 documentary Lillian Gish: An Actor's Life for Me.
Actress Jeanne Moreau produced a documentary on Lillian in the 1980s that has not been released. Documentaries about Lillian Gish

1893 Born in Springfield, Ohio on October 14
1912 Appeared in her first film, D.W. Griffith's An Unseen Enemy
1920 US Census in Mamaroneck, New York as "Lillian Gish"
1987 The Whales of August as final film
1993 Death in Manhattan on February 27 Trivia

Women's Cinema

Tuesday, November 27, 2007


Ferdinand Foch OM GCB (October 2, 1851March 20, 1929) was a French soldier, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French Army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French Army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its final year, 1918. Shortly after the start of the Spring Offensive, Germany's final attempt to win the war, Foch was chosen as supreme commander of the allied armies, a position that he held until November 11, 1918, when he accepted the German Surrender.
He advocated peace terms that would make Germany unable to ever pose a threat to France again. His words after the Treaty of Versailles, "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years," would prove prophetic.

Early life
On the outbreak of the war, Foch was in command of XX Corps, part of the Second Army of General de Castelnau. On August 14 the corps advanced towards the Sarrebourg-Morhange line, taking heavy casualties in the Battle of the Frontiers. The defeat of XV Corps to its right forced Foch into retreat. Foch acquitted himself well, covering the withdrawal to Nancy and the Charmes Gap, before lauching a counter-attack that prevented the Germans from crossing the Meurthe.
He was then selected to command the newly formed Ninth Army, which he was to command during the Battle of the Marne and the Race to the Sea. With his Chief of Staff Maxime Weygand, Foch managed to do this while the whole French Army was in full retreat. Only a week after taking command of 9th Army, he was forced to fight a series of defensive actions to prevent a German breakthrough. It was then that he spoke the famous words: "Hard pressed on my right. My center is yielding. Impossible to maneuver. Situation excellent. I am attacking." His counter-attack was an implementation of the theories he had developed during his staff college days, and succeeded in stopping the German advance. Foch received further reinforcements from the Fifth Army and, following another attack on his forces, counter-attacked again on the Marne. The Germans dug in before eventually retreating. Foch had been instrumental in stopping the great retreat and stabilising the Allied position.
Foch's successes gained him a further promotion, on October 4, when he was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief with responsibility for the Northern Army Group. When the Germans attacked on October 13, they narrowly failed to break through the British and French lines. They tried again at the end of the month during the First Battle of Ypres; this time suffering terrible casualties. Foch had again succeeded in co-ordinating a defence and winning against the odds. In October 1914, he was appointed to joint commander in chief with General Joffre. In 1915, he conducted the Artois Offensive, and, in 1916, the Battle of the Somme. He was strongly criticised for his tactics and the heavy casualties that were suffered by the Allied armies during these battles, and in December 1916 was removed from command, by General Joffre, and sent to command in Italy; Joffre was himself sacked days later.
Just a few months later, after the failure of General Nivelle, Foch was recalled and promoted to Chief of the General Staff under General Pétain.
On March 26, 1918, Foch was appointed Allied Supreme Commander with the title of Généralissime ("supreme General") with the job of co-ordinating the activities of the Allied armies. Despite being surprised by the German offensive on the Chemin des Dames, Foch prevented the advance of the German forces during the great Spring Offensive of 1918 at the Second Battle of Marne in July 1918. On 6 August 1918, Foch was made Marshal of France. Along with the British commander Field Marshal Haig, Foch planned the Grand Offensive, opening on September 26, 1918, which led to the defeat of Germany. Foch accepted the German surrender in November. On the day of the armistice, he was elected to the Académie des Sciences. Ten days later, he was unanimously elected to the Académie française.

Foch and World War I
In January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference Foch presented a memorandum to the Allied plenipotentiaries in which he stated:
Henceforward the Rhine ought to be the Western military frontier of the German countries. Henceforward Germany ought to be deprived of all entrance and assembling ground, that is, of all territorial sovereignty on the left bank of the river, that is, of all facilities for invading quickly, as in 1914, Belgium, Luxembourg, for reaching the coast of the North Sea and threatening the United Kingdom, for outflanking the natural defences of France, the Rhine, Meuse, conquering the Northern Provinces and entering the Parisian area.

Paris Peace Conference
Foch was made a British Field Marshal in 1919, and, for his advice during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, as well as his pressure on Germany during the Great Poland Uprising, he was awarded with the title of Marshal of Poland in 1923.
On November 1, 1921 Foch was in Kansas City to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the Liberty Memorial that was being constructed there. Also present that day were Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy and General John J. Pershing of the United States. One of the main speakers was Vice President Calvin Coolidge of the United States. In 1935 bas-reliefs of Foch, Jacques, Diaz and Pershing by sculptor Walker Hancock were added to the memorial.
Foch died on March 20th, 1929, and was interred in Les Invalides, next to Napoleon and many other famous French soldiers and officers.
A statue of Foch was set up at the Compiègne Armistice site when the area was converted into a national memorial. This statue was the one item left undisturbed by the Germans following their defeat of France in June, 1940. Following the signing of France's surrender on June 21, the Germans ravaged the area surrounding the railway car in which both the 1918 and 1940 surrenders had taken place. The statue was left standing, to view nothing but a wasteland.
A heavy cruiser and an aircraft carrier were named in his honour, as well as an early district of Gdynia, Poland. The latter was, however, renamed by the Communist government after World War II. Nevertheless, one of the major avenues of the town of Bydgoszcz, located in then in the Polish corridor, holds his name -as sign of gratitude for campaigning for Free Poland. A street in Paris is named after him, Avenue Foch, one in Grenoble, Boulevard Marechal Foch, as are Mariscal Foch in Quito, Ecuador, Rue Foch - a luxury shopping street in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, and Marshall Foch Street in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana.Fochville in South Africa was also named in his honor. A statue of Foch stands near to Victoria Station in London.

Ferdinand Foch Notes

Army Manoeuvres of 1912

Monday, November 26, 2007


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Religious persecution is systematic mistreatment of an individual or group due to their religious affiliation.
In a secular state, claims of religious persecution are effectively a demand of the fulfilment of Freedom of religion and Religious pluralism. In a non-secular state, they are laments about the intolerance of the state religion and the demand for Religious toleration or disestablishment.
Often it is the alleged persecution of individuals within a group in the attempt to maintain their religion identity, or the exercise of power by an individual or organization that causes members of a religious group to suffer. Persecution in this case may refer to unwarranted arrest, false imprisonment, beatings, torture, unjustified execution, denial of benefits, and denial of civil rights and liberties and especially other acts of violence, such as war, torture, and ethnic cleansing.It also may refer to the confiscation or destruction of property, or incitement to hate among other things.
Not only theorists of secularization (who presume a decline of religiosity in general) would willingly assume that religious persecution is a thing of the past. However, with the rise of fundamentalism and religiously related terrorism this assumption has become even more controversial. Indeed, in many countries of the world today, religious persecution is a human rights problem.

Reasons for religious persecution

Main article: Religious intolerance Persecution for heresy and blasphemy
More than 300 Roman Catholics were put to death by English governments between 1535 and 1681 for treason, thus for secular than religious offences. This dramatically worsened the situation of the Catholics in England. English governments continued to fear Popish Plot;

Persecution for political reasons
Out of Egypt came monotheistic Judaism under Moses, its prophet. Among the Ten Commandments of the new religion was one that forbade the worship of any other god than its one true God. When Imperial Rome extended its reach to their area, various conflicts arose.
Out of Judaism came Christianity, which because it was strictly monotheistic and also encouraged conversion was a much more powerful threat to the established pantheistic order than had been Judaism. The Jewish exemption from the requirement to participate in public cults was lifted and the anti-monotheistic religious persecution of the Christians began under Nero.
By the eighth century Christianity had attained a clear ascendancy in Europe and neighboring regions and a period of consolidation began marked by the pursuit of heretics and various other forms of monotheistic religious persecution. Christian monotheistic religious persecution perhaps reached its apex with the Inquisition.
Meanwhile south and east of the Christian empires yet another monotheist religion had arisen: Islam. Generally following the Jewish tradition of tolerance towards non-believers provided they maintained the outward habits of believers, Muslims spread across northern Africa, the Middle East, northern India, and adjoining regions. Those who actively oppose Islam or try to persuade people in their community not to convert to Islam may face persecution or death threats (which may even be carried out). At times, attempts at peaceful persuasion against Islam have led to persecution.
See also: Historical persecution by Christians, Persecution of Ancient Greek religion

Historical persecution
Since the 18th century there have been many occasions where religious persecution has occurred.

Present Period

Main article: Persecution of Bahá'ís Bahá'ís in Iran

Main article: anti-Semitism Judaism
It is estimated that over 1.5 million Christians have been killed by the Janjaweed, the Arab Muslim militia, and even suspected Islamists in northern Sudan since 1984.

Christianity
Some people believe that both the United States and Al-Qaeda are involved in religious persecution. The September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States have been suspected by religious figures of happening because of America's relative secularity; though, it should be noted that Al Qaida never once in their public statements used that as a justification for 9/11 or any other attack. The reasons Al Qaida give for their attacks are the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia, the location of Islam's holy sites, which they consider sacrilege, the occupation of Muslim territory, and American financial support of Israel.
Christian churches have been bombed in Pakistan and there have been attempted attacks on churches elsewhere. Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Istanbul in Turkey etc have been attacked, mainly because these governments are seen by the extremists to be collaborating with foreign non-Islamic powers.
On the other hand, shortly after September 11 there was a sharp increase of Islamophobia in the United States and the United Kingdom, where Muslims are sometimes attacked in public or even killed [5]. The 21st century "War on terror" was at one point referred to as a "crusade" until the Muslim understanding of the term was pointed out, and abuses by American soldiers during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (e.g. the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse) made some Muslims felt that they were being persecuted, therefore giving rise to anti-American feelings, coordinated attacks by extremist Islamic groups and insurgency in the Middle East.

United States and Islam

Main article: anti-Mormon United States and Mormonism
The government of People's Republic of China in mainland China has banned the spiritual group Falun Gong and conducted massive crackdown of the group, including using torture and "re-education" camp to force the adherents to abandon Falun Gong. There are reports indicating that the PRC has engaged in organ harvesting from live Falun Gong adherents, among other human rights abuses.

People's Republic of China
Religious persecution and discrimination have been an official part of U.S. governmental policies and law regarding Native Americans. For example, traditional indigenous ceremonies such as the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance were officially outlawed in the late 1800s.
In modern times, charges of religious persecution by the U.S. government against Native Americans continue. These charges have largely centered on the eagle feather law which governs the possession of eagle feathers for religious use, the use of ceremonial peyote, and the repatriation of Native American human remains and cultrual and religious objects found in museums and private collections.
The eagle feather law, which governs the possession and religious use of eagle feathers, was officially written to protect then dwindling eagle populations while still protecting traditional Native American spiritual and religious customs, of which the use of eagles are central. The eagle feather law later met charges of promoting racial and religious discrimination due to the law's provision authorizing the possession of eagle feathers to members of only one ethnic group, Native Americans, and forbidding Native Americans from including non-Native Americans in indigenous customs involving eagle feathers — a common modern practice dating back to the early 1500s.
Peyote, a spineless cactus found in the desert southwest and Mexico, is a commonly used in certain traditions of Native American religion and spirituality, most notably in the Native American Church. Prior to the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) in 1978, and as amended in 1994, the religious use of peyote was not afforded legal protection. This resulted in the arrest of many Native Americans and non-Native Americans participating in traditional indigenous religion and spirituality. Many individuals today encounter harassment and persecution by their employers for ingesting peyote while participating in the Native American Church due to the cactus containing the psychotropic mescaline, a controlled substance.
Native Americans often hold strong personal and spiritual connections to their ancestors and often believe that their remains should rest undisturbed. This has often placed Native Americans at odds with archaeologists who have often dug on Native American burial grounds and other sites considered sacred, often removing artifacts and human remains – an act considered sacrilegious by many Native Americans. For years, Native American communities decried the removal of ancestral human remains and cultural and religious objects, charging such activities as acts of genocide, religious persecution, and discrimination. Many Native Americans called on the government, museums, and private collectors for the return of remains and sensitive objects for reburial. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which gained passage in 1990, established a means for Native Americans to request the return or "repatriation" of human remains and other sensitive cultural, religious, and funery items held by federal agencies and federally assisted museums and institutions.

United States and Native Americans

"I have come from a country where people are hanged if they talk." — Leonhard Euler
"Religious persecution has come about because others are too afraid to learn about something new..." — Zachary Jensen
"No orthodox church ever had power that it did not endeavor to make people think its way by force and flame. And yet every church that ever was established commenced in the minority, and while it was in the minority advocated free speech -- every one. John Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian Church, while he lived in France, wrote a book on religious toleration in order to show that all men had an equal right to think; and yet that man afterward, clothed in a little authority, forgot all his sentiments about religious liberty, and had poor Serviettes burned at the stake, for differing with him on a question that neither of them knew anything about. In the minority, Calvin advocated toleration -- in the majority, he practiced murder." — Robert Green Ingersoll. Literature