Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Electronic media
Electronic media are media that utilize electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user (audience) to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which are most often created electronically, but don't require electronics to be accessed by the end user in the printed form. The primary electronic media sources familiar to the general public are better known as video recordings, audio recordings, multimedia presentations, slide presentations, CD-ROM and Online Content. Most new media are in the form of digital media. However, electronic media may be in either analog or digital format.
Although the term is usually associated with content recorded on a storage medium, recordings are not required for live broadcasting and online networking.
Any equipment used in the electronic communication process (e.g. television, radio, telephone, desktop computer, game console, handheld device) may also be considered electronic media.

Electronic media Uses

Electracy
Electromechanics
Format war
Electronic art

Monday, October 29, 2007

Sportscotland
sportscotland, formerly the Scottish Sports Council, is the national body for sport in Scotland. Their stated aim is to help everyone in Scotland enjoy sport's many benefits.
The Scottish Sports Council was established in 1972 by royal charter:
In 1998 sportscotland set up the Scottish Institute of Sport at the University of Stirling.

Inverclyde, Ayrshire
Glenmore Lodge, near Aviemore
National Watersports Centre, Isle of Cumbrae

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Mike Von Erich
Michael Brent Adkisson (March 2, 1964April 12, 1987) was an American professional wrestler under the ring name Mike Von Erich. His four brothers, David, Kerry, Kevin and Chris, also wrestled. He was the son of longtime Texas wrestler and wrestling promoter Fritz Von Erich and a member of the famous Von Erich family.

Career
Several wrestlers associated with Mike, such as his brother Kevin, King Kong Bundy and Jake Roberts, have stated that he never wanted to be a wrestler. He was not a natural athlete like his older brothers, and wanted to work for his father's company, World Class Championship Wrestling, as a cameraman. He also played guitar and wanted to be a musician away from the industry.
When his brother David died in 1984, Mike was forced into the ring. He was never a very good wrestler, he was pushed into the business. WCCW tried to hide his lack of wrestling skills by keeping his matches rather short. He was teamed with his brothers Kerry and Kevin and put into a long feud with the Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts). He also had a feud with Gino Hernandez. His last match was in 1987 against Brian Adias, whom he defeated in five seconds.
On August 22, 1985, Mike's shoulder was operated on due to an injury suffered during a wrestling tour of Israel. He was released from the hospital in good condition, but his fever shot up to 107 degrees four days later. It was later found that Mike suffered from toxic shock syndrome, a rarity among men. It was said in various publications that he suffered some brain damage from his illness, and he lost a great deal of weight.
Mike had a difficult time returning to the ring, and was not able to perform as well as before. While Mike was not the same physically, his promos also suffered, as his speech was often slurred. Meanwhile, Mike's drug and alcohol dependencies worsened as a result of depression over his condition, and his personal behavior became extremely erratic. He was accused (and later acquitted) of assaulting an emergency room physician while being treated for his shoulder problem. In 1986, he suffered head injuries from a car accident in which his vehicle overturned after he lost control. After his battle with toxic shock syndrome, many wrestlers have also stated that Mike bragged to them about his sexual exploits with underage girls while inebriated. In addition, Kevin mentioned an incident in which Mike attacked a streetlight in frustration over his current condition.
Kevin once said that Mike also suffered from the pressure of having to "be David" after his brother's death. Since the two had similar facial features, many fans saw David in Mike, and from the beginning of his career the pressure was on for Mike to succeed on the same level of his brothers.
A few days before his death, Mike was arrested on drunk driving and drug charges. On April 12, 1987, he left a suicide note for his family, wrapped himself in a sleeping bag, then committed suicide by overdosing on the tranquilizer Placidyl. He was 23 years old. His brothers Kerry and Chris also committed suicide.

Saturday, October 27, 2007


Islam in IndiaMughal architecture History
Mughal architectureIndo-Islamic Architecture
AkbarAhmed Raza KhanMaulana AzadSir Syed Ahmed Khan
North Indian MuslimsMappilasTamil Muslims Konkani MuslimsMarathi MuslimsMemons North East MuslimsKashmirisHyderabadi Muslims Dawoodi BohrasKhojaNawayathMeo Sunni BohrasKayamkhaniBengali Muslims
DeobandiBarelviShia
Muslim culture of Hyderabad
Ahle Sunnat Movement in South AsiaIndian Muslim nationalismIndian Wahabi movementMuslim chronicles for Indian history
Mughal architecture is the distinctive style of Islamic, Persian and Indian architecture, developed by the Mughal Empire in India in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Akbar
Under Jahangir (1605–1627) the Hindu features vanished from the style; his great mosque at Lahore is in the Persian style, covered with enamelled tiles; his tomb nearby (1630-1640) was made a quarry of by the Sikhs from which to build the Golden Temple at Amritsar. At Agra, the tomb of Itimad-ud-Daula completed in 1628, built entirely of white marble and covered wholly by pietra dura mosaic, is one of the most splendid examples of that class of ornamentation anywhere to be found. Jahangir also built the Shalimar Gardens and its accompanying pavilions on the shore of Dal Lake in Kashmir.

Jahangir
The force and originality of the style gave way under Shah Jahan (1627-1658) to a delicate elegance and refinement of detail, illustrated in the magnificent palaces erected in his reign at Agra and Delhi, the latter one the most exquisitely beautiful in India. The most splendid of the Mogul tombs, and the most renowned building in India, is the Taj Mahal at Agra, the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan. It is surrounded by a garden, as were almost all Moslem tombs. So also of the surpassingly pure and elegant Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) in the Agra Fort, all of white marble: these are among the gems of the style. The Jama Masjid at Delhi is an imposing building, and its position and architecture have been carefully considered so as to produce a pleasing effect and feeling of spacious elegance and well-balanced proportion of parts. In his works Shah Jahan presents himself as the most magnificent builder of Indian sovereigns.

Shah Jahan

Main article: Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal
In Aurangzeb's reign (1658–1707) squared stone and marble gave way to brick or rubble with stucco ornament. Srirangapatna and Lucknow have examples of later Indo-Muslim architecture.

Characteristic elements of Mughal architecture

Mughal gardens
Jharokha
Ebba Koch
Safdarjung's Tomb

Friday, October 26, 2007


Jeulmun Period Mumun Period Gojoseon, Jin Proto-Three Kingdoms:  Buyeo, Okjeo, Dongye  Samhan   Ma, Byeon, Jin Three Kingdoms:  Goguryeo  Baekje  Silla, Gaya North-South States:List of Rulers of Korea  Unified Silla  Balhae  Later Three Kingdoms Goryeo Joseon Korean Empire Japanese rule  Provisional Gov't Division of Korea North, South Korea
Korean dynasties are listed in the order of their fall.
This list includes the monarchs' romanized posthumous or temple names and reign dates. Names are romanized according to the South Korean Revised Romanization of Korean. McCune-Reischauer romanizations may be found at the articles about the individual monarchs.
See also List of legendary monarchs of Korea.

List of monarchs
Military history
Naval history
Timeline Gojoseon
from Gyuwon Sahwa, considered legendary:

Dangun Wanggeom 왕검 (BCE 2333-BCE 2240)
Buru 부루 (BCE 2240-BCE 2206)
Gareuk 가륵 (BCE 2206-BCE 2155)
Osa 오사 (BCE 2155-BCE 2106)
Gueul 구을 (BCE 2106-BCE 2071)
Dalmun 달문 (BCE 2071-BCE 2039)
Hanyul 한율 (BCE 2039-BCE 2014)
Seohan 서한 (BCE 2014-BCE 1957)
Asul 아술 (BCE 1957-BCE 1929)
Noeul 노을 (BCE 1929-BCE 1906)
Dohae 도해 (BCE 1906-BCE 1870)
Ahan 아한 (BCE 1870-BCE 1843)
Heuldal 흘달 (BCE 1843-BCE 1800)
Gobul 고불 (BCE 1800-BCE 1771)
Beoreum 벌음 (BCE 1771-BCE 1738)
Wina 위나 (BCE 1738-BCE 1720)
Yeoeul 여을 (BCE 1720-BCE 1657)
Dongeom 동엄 (BCE 1657-BCE 1637)
Gumoso 구모소 (BCE 1637-BCE 1612)
Gohol 고홀 (BCE 1612-BCE 1601)
Sotae 소태 (BCE 1601-BCE 1568)
Saekbullu 색불루 (BCE 1568-BCE 1551)
Amul 아물 (BCE 1551-BCE 1532)
Yeonna 연나 (BCE 1532-BCE 1519)
Solla 솔나 (BCE 1519-BCE 1503)
Churo 추로 (BCE 1503-BCE 1494)
Dumil 두밀 (BCE 1494-BCE 1449)
Haemo 해모 (BCE 1449-BCE 1427)
Mahyu 마휴 (BCE 1427-BCE 1418)
Nahyu 내휴 (BCE 1418-BCE 1365)
Deungol 등올 (BCE 1365-BCE 1359)
Chumil 추밀 (BCE 1359-BCE 1351)
Gammul 감물 (BCE 1351-BCE 1342)
Orumun 오루문 (BCE 1342-BCE 1322)
Sabeol 사벌 (BCE 1322-BCE 1311)
Maereuk 매륵 (BCE 1311-BCE 1293)
Mamul 마물 (BCE 1293-BCE 1285)
Damul 다물 (BCE 1285-BCE 1266)
Duhol 두홀 (BCE 1266-BCE 1238)
Dareum 달음 (BCE 1238-BCE 1224)
Eumcha 음차 (BCE 1224-BCE 1205)
Euruji 을우지 (BCE 1205-BC 1196)
Mulli 물리 (BCE 1196-BCE 1181)
Guhol 구홀 (BCE 1181-BCE 1174)
Yeoru 여루 (BCE 1174-BCE 1169)
Boeul 보을 (BCE 1169-BCE 1158)
Goyeolga 고열가 (BCE 1158-BCE 1128) Gija-Gojoseon
Main article: Wiman Joseon earliest attested by contemporaneous records:

Wiman of Gojoseon 위만 衛滿 (194 BCE? - ?)
Unknown, (? - ?), son of Wiman
Ugeo of Gojoseon 우거왕 右渠王 (? - 108 BCE), grandson of Wiman Wiman Joseon
Buyeo (c.239 BC - 494 CE) ruled in modern-day Manchuria. The rulers continued to use the titles of Dangun. Some records refer to Bukbuyeo (North Buyeo) and Dongbuyeo (East Buyeo). It was absorbed into Goguryeo.

Haemosu of Buyeo 해모수 (239 - 195 BCE)
Mosuri of Buyeo 모수리 (195 - 170 BCE)
Go Haesa of Buyeo 고해사 (170 - 121 BCE)
Go Uru of Buyeo 고우루 (121 - 86 BCE) Buyeo
(c.108 BCE–c.58 BCE)

Go Dumak of Bukbuyeo 고두막 (108 - 60 BCE)
Go Museo of Bukbuyeo 고무수 (60 - 58 BCE) Bukbuyeo
(c.86 BCE–22 CE) The rulers of Dongbuyeo submitted to Bukbuyeo in 86 BC, and thus used the title Wang ("King").

Hae Buru of Dongbuyeo 해부루왕 解夫婁王 (86 - 48 BCE)
Geumwa of Dongbuyeo 금와왕 金蛙王 (48 - 7 BCE)
Daeso of Dongbuyeo 대소왕 臺素王 (7 BCE - 22 CE) Dongbuyeo
Goguryeo (37 BC - 668 CE) was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Goguryeo rulers may have used the title of Taewang (太王, "Greatest King"). [1]
Notes: [1] Some of Goguryeo's own records of individual kings, especially of the 19th (Gwanggaeto), use the title "Taewang" or "Hotaewang", roughly meaning Greatest King or Very Greatest King. Some argue that the title should be translated as "Emperor," equivalent of the Chinese title 皇帝, but this is not widely accepted. The most complete and oldest existing Korean history text, the Samguk Sagi and the Samguk Yusa, written centuries after Goguryeo was defeated, uses the title "Wang", meaning King.
[2] The king names generally derive from the location of the king's burial, and do not necessarily correspond to the Chinese concept of 諡號.
[3] Goguryeo kings had the surname Go, except for the second (Yuri) through fifth (Mobon), whose surnames are recorded as Hae. All of the kings are recorded to belong to the same patrilineal bloodline. It is not clear whether the two surnames are different transcription of the same name, or evidence of a power struggle.
[4] The Samguk Sagi and Samguk Yusa, and sometimes other records mention "other names," "birth names," "childhood names," or "personal names."
[5] The Legendary line names and dates are from the Samguk Sagi. The Wei shu (History of the Wei dynasty) gives the following names: 朱蒙 Jumong, 閭達 Yeodal, 始閭諧 Shiryeohae, 如栗 Yeoyul, and 莫來 Mangnae. The legendary line had already been formed with some variants in the early 5th century when king Jangsu built a monument for his father and Goguryeo made contact with the Northern Wei. The inscription of that monument gives these names: 鄒牟 Chumo, 儒留 Yuryu, and 大朱留 Daejuryu. The connections between those names are not clear.
Sources: http://kdaq.empas.com/koreandb/history/koreanking/html/person/koguryeo_king.html (The Academy of Korean Studies) and http://enc.daum.net/dic100//topView.do (Korea Britannica Corp.)

Goguryeo
The Kingdom of Bodeok (668-883) was a Goguryeo revival movement led by General Geom Mojam, and Prince Anseung, who was a grandson of Bojang Taewang. This kingdom allied itself with Later Silla, and fought to remove all Tang armies and authority out of the Korean Peninsula. The Kingdom of Goguryeo fell when Anseung ordered the assassination of Geom Mojam. After this event, Anseung and the remainder of the revival movement fled down to Silla, where Anseung was married to a Silla princess and given land near Iksan. Bodeok was the name given to Anseung's small kingdom near Iksan after the fall of the Goguryeo revival movement of Geom Mojam.

Anseung (고안승) (668-683) Bodeok (Kingdom of Goguryeo)
Baekje (18 BC - AD 660) was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Temple names were the same as personal names, unless noted otherwise.

Source: [1] Baekje
After the fall of Baekje in 660, several loyal Baekje generals gathered like-minded people and began organizing revival movements of their country. The most prominent among these revival movement leaders were General Heukchi Sang-ji, and General Boksin. These two generals worked together, and later decided that the new kingdom would need a ruler, and brought Prince Buyeo Pung from the Yamato Kingdom. The revival movement resulted in failure due to mistrust and infighting.

Pungjang of Baekje (부여풍) (r.661-663) Baekje Revival Movememt
Silla (57 BC - 935 CE) was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In the early years, Silla was ruled by the Pak, Seok, and Kim families. Rulers of Silla had various titles, including Isageum, Maripgan, and Daewang. Like some Baekje kings, some declared themselves emperor.

Hyeokgeose Geoseogan 혁거세 거서간 (57 BCE4 CE)
Namhae Chachaung 남해 차차웅 (4–24)
Yuri Yisageum (24–57) 유리이사금 儒理尼師今 (Kings Yuri to Heurhae bore the Korean title Isageum, an old word for "ruler")
Talhae Isageum 탈해이사금 脫解尼師今 (57–80)
Pasa Isageum 파사이사금 婆娑尼師今 (80–112)
Jima Isageum 지마이사금 祗摩尼師今 (112–134)
Ilseong Isageum 일성이사금 逸聖尼師今 (134–154)
Adalla Isageum 아달라이사금 阿達羅尼師今 (154–184)
Beolhyu Isageum 벌휴이사금 伐休尼師今 (184–196)
Naehae Isageum 내해이사금 奈解尼師今 (196–230)
Jobun Isageum 조분이사금 助賁尼師今 (230–247)
Cheomhae Isageum 첨해이사금 沾解尼師今 (247–261)
Michu Isageum 미추이사금 味鄒尼師今 (262–284)
Yurye Isageum 유례이사금 儒禮尼師今 (284–298)
Girim Isageum 기림이사금 基臨尼師今 (298–310)
Heulhae Isageum 흘해이사금 訖解尼師今 (310–356)
Naemul Maripgan 내물마립간 奈勿麻立干 (356–402) (Kings Naemul to Soji bore the Korean title Maripgan, an old word for "ruler")
Silseong Maripgan 실성마립간 實聖麻立干 (402–417)
Nulji Maripgan 눌지마립간 訥祗麻立干 (417–458)
Jabi Maripgan 자비마립간 慈悲麻立干 (458–479)
Soji Maripgan 소지마립간 炤智麻立干 (479–500)
King Jijeung 지증왕 智證王 (500–514) (Kings Jijeung to Gyeongsun bore the title Wang (the modern Korean word for "king"), with the exceptions noted below)
King Beopheung the Great 법흥태왕 法興太王 (514–540) ("King Beopheung the Great" is a translation of Beopheung Taewang, "Taewang" meaning "great king")
King Jinheung the Great 진흥태왕 眞興太王 (540–576) ("King Jinheung the Great" is a translation of Jinheung Taewang, "Taewang" meaning "great king")
King Jinji 진지왕 眞智王 (576–579)
King Jinpyeong 진평왕 眞平王 (579–632)
Queen Seondeok 선덕왕 善德王 (632–647)#Queen Jindeok 진덕대왕 眞德大王 (647–654)
King Muyeol the Great 태종무열왕 太宗武烈王 (654–661) ("King Muyeol the Great" is a translation of Muyeol Daewang, "Daewang" meaning "great king") Silla

King Munmu 문무대왕 文武大王 (661–681)
King Sinmun 신문왕 神文王 (681–691)
King Hyoso 효소왕 孝昭王 (692–702)
King Seongdeok the Great 성덕대왕 聖德大王 (702–737) ("King Seongdeok the Great" is a translation of Seongdeok Daewang, "Daewang" meaning "great king")
King Hyoseong 효성왕 孝成王 (737–742)
King Gyeongdeok 경덕왕 景德王 (742–765)
King Hyegong 혜공왕 惠恭王 (765–780)
King Seondeok 선덕왕 宣德王 (780–785)
King Wonseong 원성왕 元聖王 (785–798)
King Soseong 소성왕 昭聖王 (798–800)
King Aejang 애장왕 哀莊王 (800–809)
King Heondeok 헌덕왕 憲德王 (809-826)
King Heungdeok 흥덕왕 興德王 (826–836)
King Huigang 희강왕 僖康王 (836–838)
King Minae 민애왕 閔哀王 (838–839)
King Sinmu 신무왕 神武王 (839)
King Munseong 문성왕 文聖王 (839–857)
King Heonan 헌안왕 憲安王 (857–861)
King Gyeongmun 경문왕 景文王 (861–875)
King Heongang 헌강왕 憲康王 (875–886)
King Jeonggang 정강왕 定康王 (886–887)
Queen Jinseong 진성왕 眞聖王 (887–897)
King Hyogong 효공왕 孝恭王 (897–912)
King Sindeok 신덕왕 神德王 (913–917)
King Gyeongmyeong 경명왕 景明王 (917–924)
King Gyeongae 경애왕 景哀王 (924–927)
King Gyeongsun 경순왕 敬順王 (927–935) Later Silla (Unified Silla)
Gaya confederacy (42 - 532) consisted of several small statelets. All rulers of Gaya bore the title Wang ("King").

Gaya confederacy
This list is of the Kim Dynasty of Geumgwan Gaya (42-532).

Geumgwan Gaya
Only four of the sixteen kings of Daegaya (42 - 562) are known by name.
1. King Ijinashi of Daegaya 이진아시왕, also known as Naejinjuji 내진주지 or Noejiljuil 뇌질주일
9. King Inoe of Daegaya 이뇌왕, 8th generation descendant of Yi Jinashi
?. King Haji of Daegaya 하지왕, generation unknown; possibly also known as King Gasil [2]; sent emissary to 南齊 China in 479, joined Baekje to aid Silla from Goguryeo attack in 481 [3] [4]
16. King Doseolji of Daegaya 도설지왕, submitted to Silla

Daegaya
Balhae (669-926) followed Goguryeo in the northern territories when Silla unified most of the Korean peninsula. The founder called the state Jin, claiming to be the successor to Goguryeo, but it became known as Balhae (Pohai in Chinese) after establishing relations with China.

Balhae
The State of Je (765-819), also known as Chi-Chung, was founded by General Yi Jeonggi, a Tang general and son of a Goguryeo captive. Yi Jeonggi took advantage of the Tang Empire's pre-occupation with the An Lushan Rebellion, and established the kingdom of Chi-Chung, later called Je, claiming it a successor-state of Goguryeo. Chi-Chung took control of the Shandong Peninsula, and regions surrounding it. In this way, the kingdom posed a grave threat to the Tang Empire. After four generations, the Kingdom of Chi-Chung fell to a Tang-Silla alliance army. Before its destruction, Chi-Chung was said to have had a very unique system of administration that combined both Goguryeo and Tang elements of government. It was also said to have had heavy influence in commerce and trading in East Asia.

Yi Jeonggi (Hangul : 이정기 Hanja/Hanzi :李正己/李定己) 765CE - 781CE
Yi Nab (Hangul : 이납 Hanja/Hanzi :李納) 781CE - 793 CE
Yi Sago (Hangul : 이사고 Hanja/Hanzi :李師古) 793CE - 807CE
Yi Sado (Hangul : 이사도 Hanja/Hanzi :李師道) 807CE - 819 CE Je
Hubaekje (900-936) was founded by Gyeon Hwon, who was a general during Later Silla's period of decline. Gyeon Hwon was known among the people as a hero, and a patriot. When General Gyeon Hwon started a rebellion, many people followed, and assisted in his establishing of a new kingdom. Peace did not last as Gung-ye established Hugoguryeo in the north. Thus began the Later Three Kingdoms period. Hubaekje met its downfall at the hands of Gyeon Hwon, who led the Goryeo armies alongside Emperor Wang Geon to capture Singeom, who had betrayed Gyeon Hwon.

Gyeon Hwon (견훤) (r.900-935)
Gyeon Singgeom (견신검) (r.935-936) Later Baekje
Later Goguryeo (901-918), also known as Ma-jin or Taebong, was established by Gung-ye, an outcast prince of Silla. Gung-Ye joined General Yang-Gil's rebellion, and rose through the ranks. He eventually assassinated Yang-Gil and established a new kingdom, naming it Later Goguryeo. Gung-Ye turned out to be a tyrant, and was overthrown by his generals, opening the way for General Wang Geon, who established Goryeo.

Gung-ye (궁예) (r.901-918) Later Goguryeo
Goryeo (918-1392) was ruled by the Wang Dynasty. The first ruler had the temple name Taejo, which means "great progenitor", and was applied to the first kings of both Goryeo and Joseon, as they were also the founders of the Wang and Yi Dynasties respectively. Starting with Gwangjong, rulers of Goryeo styled themselves emperors, with the first three rulers elevated to that title posthumously. With the Mongol conquest, however, the title of the ruler was demoted to a king, or "Wang."
The next twenty-three emperors (until Wonjong) are also referred to by their temple names, ending in jong. Beginning with Chungnyeol (the twenty-fifth king), all the remaining kings of Goryeo had the title Wang ("King") as part of their temple names. Era names are in bracket where available

Goryeo
Joseon (1392–1897) followed Goryeo. In 1897, when Joseon became the Korean Empire, some of the Joseon kings were posthumously raised to the rank of emperors.
Joseon monarchs had temple names ending in jo or jong. Jo was given to the first kings/emperors of new lines within the dynasty, with the first king/emperor having the special name (Taejo), which means "great progenitor" (see also Goryeo). Jong was given to all other kings/emperors.
Two kings, Yeonsangun and Gwanghaegun, were not given temple names after their reigns ended.
Each monarch had a posthumous name that included either the title Wang ("King"), Hwangje ("Emperor"), Daewang ("King X the Great"), or Daeje ("Emperor X the Great"). For the sake of consistency, the title "King/Emperor" has been added to each monarch's temple name in the list below.

see Korean Empire section Joseon
The Korean Empire (1897-1910) was declared to indicate the end of the tributary relationship with China. Technically, the emperors should be referred to by their era names rather than their temple names, but the latter are commonly used.

See also

Thursday, October 25, 2007

William Samuel Stephenson Early life
After the war Stephenson returned to Winnipeg and with a friend Wilf Russell he started a hardware business - largely inspired by a can opener Stephenson had taken from his POW camp. The business was unsuccessful and he left Canada for England where Stephenson became a wealthy industrialist with business contacts in many countries. In 1924 he married American tobacco heiress, Mary French Simmons, of Springfield, Tennessee.
As early as April 1936, Stephenson was voluntarily providing confidential information to the British, passing on detailed information to British opposition MP Winston Churchill about how Adolf Hitler's Nazi government was building up its armed forces and hiding military expenditures of eight hundred million pounds sterling. This was a clear violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and showed the growing Nazi threat to European and international security; Churchill used Stephenson's information in Parliament to warn against the appeasement polices of the government of Neville Chamberlain.

Between the Wars
After World War II began (and over the objections of Sir Stewart Menzies, wartime head of British intelligence) now-Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent Stephenson to the United States on June 21, 1940 to covertly establish and run the British Security Coordination (BSC) in New York City, over a year prior to the U.S. entering the war.
The BSC office, headquartered in room 3603 in Rockefeller Center, became an umbrella organization that by the end of the war represented the British intelligence agencies MI5, MI6 (SIS or Secret Intelligence Service), SOE (Special Operations Executive) and PWE (Political Warfare Executive) throughout North America, South America and the Caribbean.
Stephenson's initial directives for BSC were 1) to investigate enemy activities, 2) institute security measures against the threat of sabotage to British property, and 3) organize American public opinion in favour of aid to Britain. Later this was expanded to included "the assurance of American participation in secret activities throughout the world in the closest possible collaboration with the British."
Stephenson's official title was British Passport Control Officer. His unofficial mission was to create a secret British intelligence network throughout the western hemisphere, and to operate covertly and very broadly on behalf of the British government and the Allies in aid of winning the war. He also became Churchill's personal representative to U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Stephenson was soon a very close advisor to FDR, and suggested to Roosevelt that he put Stephenson's good friend William J. 'Wild Bill' Donovan in charge of all U.S. intelligence services. Donovan founded the U.S. wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which eventually became the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
In his role as the senior representative of British intelligence in the western hemisphere, Stephenson was one of the few people in the hemisphere authorized to view raw Ultra transcripts from the British Bletchley Park codebreaking of German Enigma ciphers. He was trusted by Churchill to decide what Ultra information to pass along to various branches of the U.S. and Canadian governments.
Under Stephenson, the BSC directly influenced U.S. media (including the writing of American newspaper columnists Walter Winchell and Drew Pearson) and other media in the hemisphere towards pro-British and anti-Axis viewpoints. Once the U.S. had entered the war, BSC then went on to train U.S. propagandists from the American Office of War Information in Canada from 1941-1944. BSC covert intelligence and propaganda efforts directly affected wartime developments in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, the Central American countries, Bermuda, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
Stephenson worked for no salary. He hired hundreds of people, mostly Canadian women, to staff his organization and paid for much of the expense out of his own pocket. Among his employees were secretive communications genius Benjamin deForest (Pat) Bayly and future advertising wizard David Ogilvy. At the height of the war Bayly, a University of Toronto professor from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, created the Rockex, the fast secure communications system eventually relied on by all the Allies.
Not least in Stephenson's accomplishments and contributions to the war effort was the setting up by BSC of Camp X in Whitby, Ontario, the first training school for clandestine wartime operations in North America. Around 2,000 British, Canadian and American covert operators were trained here from 1941 through 1945, including students from the ISO, OSS, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, U.S. Navy and U.S. Military Intelligence services, and the Office of War Information, among them five future directors of what would eventually become the American Central Intelligence Agency.
Graduates of Camp X operated in Europe in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Balkans as well as in Africa, Australia, India, and the Pacific. They included Ian Fleming, later the author of the popular James Bond books. It has been said Goldfinger's fictional raid on Fort Knox was inspired by a Stephenson plan (never carried out) to steal $2,883,000,000 in Vichy French gold reserves from the French Caribbean colony of Martinique.
BSC purchased a ten-kilowatt transmitter from Philadelphia radio station WCAU and installed the transmitter at Camp X. By mid-1944, Hydra was transmitting 30,000 and receiving 9,000 message groups daily, much of the secret Allied intelligence traffic across the Atlantic.

Recognition and honours
British-born Canadian author William Stevenson (no relation) wrote a 1976 book A Man Called Intrepid about Stephenson. There are doubts about the veracity of much of what he wrote.
Nigel West in Counterfeit Spies casts doubt on much of Stevenson's account; the award of the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes and the Legion d'Honneur - according to West no such record exists of either award.
John Colville (who was one of Churchill's private secretaries) in his 1981 book The Churchillians took issue with Stevenson's description of Stephenson's relationship with Churchill during the war. He pointed out that Stephenson was not Churchill's personal liaison with Roosevelt, that in fact (as is well known) the two men corresponded directly and constantly. Indeed Colville never heard Churchill speak of Stephenson at all.
There are however numerous other references to the Stephenson-Churchill connection in, for example, Maclean's magazine December 1, 1952, The Times October 21, 1962 and many references to the relationship in Hyde's biography The Quiet Canadian (1962). Churchill was still alive.
Former British intelligence agent Kim Philby refers to Stephenson as a friend of Churchill in his book My Silent War. Stephenson's personal secretary and personal cipher clerks talk of Stephenson-Churchill communication in the book The True Intrepid and in the documentary Secret Secretaries. There is chapter on the relationship in CIA historian Thomas Troy's Wild Bill and Intrepid.
Controversial historian David Irving in Churchill's War reveals evidence of a secret communications link between Roosevelt and Churchill that was run by the FBI but controlled through Stephenson's office. There are references to this link in The True Intrepid.
A dinner in Stevenson's book at Lord Beaverbrook's house in May or June 1940 is highly doubtful too. Colville described the printed letter of invitation from Churchill as clearly an invention, since Churchill was punctilious and never called Beaverbrook "the beaver", and for obvious reasons never signed himself W.C. Lord Trenchard is described discussing his fighter aircraft, where in fact it had been 10 years since Trenchard held a RAF post. Colville's conclusion was to hope that Stevenson's book was not ever "used for the purpose of historical reference."
In the papers of William Stevenson at the University of Regina there is only one reference to the Beaverbrook dinner. Stephenson cables the author that he did not recall the exact date of the gathering decades before, and there is no mention of him receiving a written note invitation. (Macdonald page 372", Troy page 237) In a foreword to Richard Dunlop's Donovan, Stephenson writes he received a telephone invitation to the dinner and he refers to "Boom Trenchard of RAF and Scotland Yard fame."

Wednesday, October 24, 2007


Subclass: Librostoma
Trilobites are extinct arthropods that form the class Trilobita. They appeared in the 2nd Epoch (Series 2) of the Cambrian period and flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before beginning a drawn-out decline to extinction when, during the Late Devonian extinction, all trilobite orders, with the sole exception of Proetida, died out. The last of the trilobites disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 250 million years ago (m.y.a.).
Trilobites are very well-known, and possibly the second-most famous fossil group after the dinosaurs. When trilobites appear in the fossil record of the Lower Cambrian they are already highly diverse and geographically dispersed. Because of their diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record with some 17,000 known species spanning Paleozoic time. Trilobites have been important in biostratigraphy, paleontology, and plate tectonics research. For example, trilobites have been important in estimating the rate of speciation during the period known as the Cambrian Explosion because they are the most diverse group of metazoans known from the fossil record of the early Cambrian (Lieberman, 1999), and are readily distinguishable because of complex and well preserved morphologies. The trilobites are often placed either within subphylum Chelicerata or grouped as its sister group to form the group Arachnomorpha, although several alternative taxonomies are found in the literature.
Different trilobites made their living in different ways. Some led a benthic life as predators, scavengers or filter feeders. Some swam (a pelagic lifestyle) and fed on plankton. Still others (particularly the family Olenidae) are thought to have evolved a symbiotic relationship with sulfur-eating bacteria from which they derived food.

Agnostida
Nectaspida
Redlichiida
Corynexochida
Lichida
Phacopida
Proetida
Asaphida
Harpetida
Ptychopariida Phylogeny
The bodies of trilobites are divided into three parts (tagmata): a cephalon (head), composed of the two preoral and first four postoral segments completely fused together; a thorax composed of freely articulating segments; and a pygidium (tail) composed of the last segments fused together with the telson. The pygidia are fairly rudimentary in the most primitive trilobites. The thorax is fairly flexible—fossilised trilobites are often found curled up like modern woodlice for protection.
Trilobites had a single pair of preoral antennae and otherwise undifferentiated biramous limbs. Each exopodite (walking leg) had six segments, analogous to those of other early arthropods. The first segment also bore a feather-like epipodite, or gill branch, which was used for respiration and, in some species, swimming. The limbs were covered by lateral projections of the exoskeleton called pleural lobes, extending outward from a central axial lobe.
Although trilobites were only armored on top, they still had a fairly heavy exoskeleton, composed of calcite and calcium phosphate minerals in a protein lattice of chitin. Unlike other groups of armored arthropods, which resorb most of their skeletal minerals prior to molting, a trilobite would cast off a fully mineralized molt. Thus a single trilobite animal could potentially have left multiple well-mineralized skeletons behind -- further enhancing the apparent abundance of trilobites in the fossil record. During molting, the exoskeleton generally split between the head and thorax, which is why so many trilobite fossils are missing one or the other. In most groups there were facial sutures on the cephalon to make shedding easier. The cheeks (genae) of the cephalon of trilobites, except some sightless species, supported a pair of compound eyes. The earliest trilobite known from the fossil record is the genus Fallotaspis within Order Redlichiida, dated to some 543 million years ago. Other early genera include Profalloptaspis and Eofallotaspis, all appearing about the same time.
This early trilobite had complex, compound eyes with lenses made of calcite, a unique characteristic of all trilobite eyes. This confirms that eyes of arthropods and probably other animals were already quite developed at the beginning of the Cambrian. Improving eyesight of both predator and prey in marine environments probably provided one of the evolutionary pressures furthering an apparent rapid development of new life forms during what is known as the Cambrian Explosion.
Some trilobites such as those of the order Lichida evolved elaborate spiny forms, from the Ordovician until the end of the Devonian period. Examples of these specimens have been found in the Hamar Laghdad Formation of Alnif in Morocco. Collectors of this material should be aware of a serious counterfeiting and fakery problem with much of the Moroccan material that is offered commercially. Spectacular spined trilobites have also been found in western Russia; Oklahoma, USA; and Ontario, Canada. These spiny forms could possibly have been a defensive response to the evolutionary appearance of fish.
According to New Scientist magazine (May 2005), "some... trilobites... had horns on their heads similar to those of modern beetles." Based on the size, location, and shape of the horns, Rob Knell, a biologist at Queen Mary, University of London and Richard Fortey of London's Natural History Museum, concluded that the most likely use of the horns was combat for mates, making trilobites the earliest exemplars of this behavior. While this study only considered members of the Asaphida family Raphiophoridae, the conclusions are likely to be applicable to other trilobites as well, such as in the Phacopid trilobite Walliserops trifurcatus that had prominent horn-like spines on its cephalon.
Trilobites range in length from one millimeter to 72 cm (1/25 inch to 28 inches), with a typical size range of two to seven centimeters (1 to 3½ inches). The world's largest trilobite, Isotelus rex, was found in 1998 by Canadian scientists in Ordovician rocks on the shores of Hudson Bay.

Sensory organs
Holochroal eyes had a great number of (tiny) lenses (sometimes over 15,000), and are found in all orders of trilobite. These lenses were packed closely together (hexagonally) and touch each other. A single corneal membrane covered all lenses. These eyes had no sclera, the white layer covering the eyes of most modern arthropods.

Holochroal eyes
Schizochroal eyes typically had fewer (and larger) lenses (to around 700), and are found only in Phacopida. The lenses were separate, with each lens having an individual cornea which extended into a rather large sclera.

Schizochroal eyes
Abathochroal eyes had around 70 small lenses, and are found only in Cambrian Eodiscina. Each lens was separate and had an individual cornea. The sclera was separate from the cornea, and did not run as deep as the sclera in schizochroal eyes.



Abathochroal eyes
An egg hatched to give a tiny larva called a protaspid, in which all segments are fused into a single carapace. Subsequent thoracic segments were added just ahead of the pygidium ("pygidial release") in successive molts during an intermediate stage called meraspid, until finally the adult number of segments was reached, at which point the animal is called a holaspid. In many species, molting continued during the holaspid stage with no changes in segment number. Trilobite larvae are reasonably well known and provide an important aid in evaluating high-level phylogenetic relationships among trilobites.

Development
When describing differences between different taxa of trilobites, the presence, size, and shape of the cephalic features above are often mentioned.
Figure 1 shows gross morphology of the cephalon. The cheeks (genae) are the pleural lobes on each side of the axial feature, the glabella. When trilobites molted or died, the librigenae (the so-called "free cheeks") often separated, leaving the cranidium (glabella + fixigenae) exposed. Figure 2 shows a more detailed view of the cephalon.

Trilobite Terminology
Based on morphological similarities, it is possible that the trilobites have their ancestors in arthropod-like creatures such as Spriggina, Parvancorina, and other trilobitomorphs of the Ediacaran period of the Precambrian. There are many morphological similarities between early trilobites and other Cambrian arthropods known from the Burgess Shale, the Maotianshan shales at Chengjiang and other fossiliferous locations. These are investigated further here: [1] It is reasonable to assume that the trilobites share a common ancestor with these other arthropods prior to the Ediacaran-Cambrian boundary.

Origins
The exact reason for the extinction of the trilobites is not clear, although it would seem to be no coincidence that their numbers began to decrease with the appearance of the first sharks and other early gnathostomes in the Silurian and their subsequent rise in diversity during the Devonian periods. Trilobites may have provided a rich source of food for these new animals.
Additionally, their relatively low numbers and diversity at the end of the Permian no doubt contributed to their extinction during that great mass extinction event. Foreshadowing this, the Ordovician mass extinction, though somewhat less substantial than the Permian one, also seems to have significantly narrowed trilobite diversity.
The closest extant relatives of trilobites may be the horseshoe crabs, according to Fortey (2000), or the cephalocarids, according to Lambert (1985).

Extinction
Trilobites appear to have been exclusively marine organisms, since the fossilized remains of trilobites are always found in rocks containing fossils of other salt-water animals such as brachiopods, crinoids, and corals. Within the marine paleoenvironment, trilobites were found in a broad range from extremely shallow water to very deep water. The tracks left behind by trilobites crawling on the sea floor are occasionally preserved as trace fossils. Trilobites, like brachiopods, crinoids, and corals, are found on all modern continents, and occupied every ancient ocean from which fossils have been collected.
Trilobite fossils are found worldwide, with many thousands of known species. Because they appeared quickly in geological time, and moulted like other arthropods, trilobites serve as excellent index fossils, enabling geologists to date the age of the rocks in which they are found. They were among the first fossils to attract widespread attention, and new species are being discovered every year. Some Native Americans, recognizing that trilobites were water creatures, had a name for them which means "little water bug in the rocks".
A famous location for trilobite fossils in the United Kingdom is Wren's Nest, Dudley in the West Midlands, where Calymene blumenbachi is found in the Silurian Wenlock Group. This trilobite is featured on the town's coat of arms and was named the "Dudley locust" or "Dudley bug" by quarrymen who once worked many of the now abandoned limestone quarries. Other trilobites found there include Dalmanites, Trimerus, Bumastus and Balizoma. Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales, is another famous trilobite location.
Spectacular trilobite fossils, showing soft body parts like legs, gills and antennae, have been found in British Columbia (Burgess Shale Cambrian fossils, and similar localities in the Canadian Rockies); New York State (Odovician Walcott-Rust Quarry, near Utica, N.Y., and the Beecher Trilobite Beds, near Rome, N.Y.), in China (Burgess Shale-like Lower Cambrian trilobites in the Maotianshan shales near Chengjiang), Germany (the Devonian Hunsrück Slates near Bundenbach, Germany) and, much more rarely, in trilobite-bearing strata in Utah and Ontario.
Trilobites are collected commercially in Russia (especially in the St. Petersburg area), Germany, Morocco's Atlas Mountains, (where a burgeoning trade in faked trilobites is also under way), Utah, Ohio, British Columbia, and in other parts of Canada.

Gallery

Prehistoric life
List of trilobites

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Middle East Times
Middle East Times is a daily newspaper, owned by News World Communications, a corporation owned and operated by the Unification church, published in Cairo, Egypt. Its print content is tightly controlled by the Egyptian Ministry of Information, though it does publish stories censored by the ministry on its website.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Roman Lyashenko
Roman Lyashenko (May 2, 1979July 5, 2003) was a Russian hockey player.
Born in Murmansk, he started his career in the NHL with the Dallas Stars during the 1999-2000 season. He went to the Stanley Cup Finals that season, but his team was defeated by the New Jersey Devils in six games. He played with Dallas until he was traded to the New York Rangers, along with Martin Rucinsky, in exchange for Manny Malhotra and Barrett Heisten on March 12, 2002. He spent the rest of the season with the Rangers.
The following year, he played only two games with the New York Rangers while spending the majority of that season with their farm team, the Hartford Wolf Pack. On July 7, 2003, he was found dead in a hotel room in Turkey where he was vacationing with his mother and sister -- it was reported that he took his own life.
Apparently, he had tried to slit his wrists, then hanged himself with a belt. One source to the Rangers was heard saying he did it because of "lack of playing time."
He is interred at Leontyevskoe Cemetery in Yaroslavl, Russia.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Eva Cassidy
Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 in Washington, DCNovember 2, 1996 in Bowie, Maryland) was an American vocalist described by the British newspaper The Guardian as "one of the greatest voices of her generation." She had a diverse repertoire of jazz, blues, folk, gospel and pop. Cassidy remained virtually unknown outside of her native Washington, DC, when she died of melanoma in 1996. However, her posthumously released recordings have since sold in excess of four million copies, and in early 2001 the compilation album Songbird reached #1 on the UK album charts.

Biography
During the later part of Eva Cassidy's performing and recording career, she was accompanied by a core group of musicians:

Keith Grimes - guitar
Lenny Williams - keyboard
Chris Biondo - bass
Raice McLeod - drums Accompaniment

In 1998, a compilation of tracks from Cassidy's three released recordings was assembled into the CD Songbird. This CD lingered in obscurity for a few years until being given airplay on BBC Radio Two by presenter Terry Wogan following recommendation by his producer Paul Walters. In 2001 the album reached #1 in the UK after the BBC television show Top Of The Pops 2 aired a video of Over The Rainbow to massive public reaction. The Songbird CD also achieved significant chart success throughout Europe and has achieved gold status in the United States.
Since then, several CDs have been released: Time After Time (2000) and Imagine (2002) and "American Tune" (2003). In 2001 a book entitled Songbird was released in the UK on the life and work of Cassidy, based on interviews with close family and associates. The hardcover edition has since sold in excess of 100,000 copies. A U.S. edition (softcover, published by Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group USA) was released in late 2003 and included additional chapters.
Sting, the songwriter for "Fields of Gold", was reportedly
Later in the year Olympic Gold Medalist Kristi Yamaguchi skated to Eva's rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine."
Eva's performance of "Kathy's Song" can be heard in the feature film Maid in Manhattan which was released in 2002 as well. This version was used at the suggestion of the song's writer Paul Simon.
Another film soundtrack to feature Eva's singing was 2002's The Man from Elysian Fields starring Mick Jagger and Andy Garcia.
In the first season of Smallville at the end of the episode "Crush", Eva Cassidy's song "Time After Time" is featured in a moving funeral scene.
In 2003, Anglo/Georgian singer Katie Melua released her song "Faraway Voice", in memory of Cassidy. She has also performed Eva's arrangement of "Anniversary Song" in concert. On Christmas Eve 2006 BBC1 aired a programme of "impossible duets" in which she duetted with Eva on Over The Rainbow.
In 2003, American Tune became Eva's third consecutive #1 album in the UK. No other recording artist in popular music history has been able to match this posthumous success, including Elvis Presley or Jimi Hendrix.
Eva's song Songbird was featured in the feature film Love Actually which was released in the fall of 2003.
Irish singer Chris De Burgh has stated in concert that his song "Songbird" from his album The Road to Freedom was written in honor of Eva Cassidy.
In 2004, singer Mary Chapin Carpenter made poignant reference to Eva Cassidy in her song "My Heaven" on the album Between Here and Gone: "More memories than my heart can hold, when Eva's singing Fields of Gold."
Olympic Gold Medalist Sarah Hughes skated to "Over the Rainbow" during the "Smuckers Stars on Ice" tour, and World Champion Kimmie Meissner, a teenager from Maryland, also chose "Over the Rainbow" at the exhibition gala following the World Championships.
2006 Eva's voice was heard on another movie soundtrack when her "Over the Rainbow" opened the film Alpha Dog.
In season 5 (2006) of the TV show American Idol, the runner up, Katharine McPhee, sang a song chosen by Simon Cowell. He chose Eva Cassidy's 1996 unique rendition of "Over the Rainbow" for McPhee. Jackson was blown away, calling her "a hot one," and declaring that she had the best song of the season. Abdul was also impressed, saying that song was her "element." Cowell said that he was very happy for McPhee and, putting the fact that he chose the song aside, he thought it was the best performance of the competition to date. He also added that it was brilliant.
In (2006), on the The X Factor (TV series), Leona Lewis sang Eva's version of Over the Rainbow. Simon Cowell commented saying, "That was the single best performance I have ever witnessed".
In (2007), on the TV show America's Got Talent, Julienne Irwin sang Cassidy's rendition of "Over the Rainbow." Posthumous recognition and popularity
In an nbc4.com interview, her parents mention the possibility of a future film:
"Eva's parents said Kirsten Dunst or Emily Watson have been suggested as possible actresses who could play their daughter.
The Cassidys said they have shown their tapes to several producers, and hope for a documentary first, then a feature." [3]

Possibility of future film

"She could sing anything . . . and make it sound like it was the only music that mattered." -- Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, Nov. 17, 1996 [4]
"Eva Cassidy's is the most remarkable posthumous career trajectory in pop music history." -- Daily Telegraph Videography

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