Friday, March 28, 2008

Cruachan
Cruachan may refer to:
Cruachan, Ireland, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Connacht in Ireland
Cruachan (band), an Irish Celtic metal band
Ben Cruachan, a Scottish mountain

Thursday, March 27, 2008


The Musqueam Indian Band is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and is the only Indian band whose reserve lies within the boundaries of the City of Vancouver.
Their traditional language, now nearly extinct, is h-un-q-uh-mi-n-uhm, a subdialect of the Salishan language Halkomelem, and they are closely related to neighbouring peoples of the lower Fraser River. The nearby Kwantlen and Katzie peoples just upriver share the same Hun'qumi'num' dialect, while the upriver Sto:lo people speak another dialect, Halq'əméyləm. The Straits Salish peoples of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of the southern Gulf of Georgia speak another dialect, Hul'q̱'umi'num.
The Musqueam are the oldest-known residents of Vancouver. Located near their main residential area is the Musqueam midden, a thousands-year old deposit of shells and other household debris. Formerly there was a second residential area near the current one, Mahlie. The area of the Musqueam Reserve is the closest Hudson's Bay Company explorer Simon Fraser made it to the Strait of Georgia; he was driven back by hostile Musqueam who had had bad experiences with white men on ships just previously. The chief Whattlekainum warned Fraser of an impending attack which is said saved his life.
Though today limited to the Fraser River banks of the city, their territory also once included Burrard Inlet until they were displaced

Musqueam Notes

Wednesday, March 26, 2008


John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (September 13, 1860July 15, 1948) was an officer in the United States Army. Pershing is the only person, while still alive, to rise to the highest rank ever held in the United States ArmyGeneral of the Armies—equivalent only to the posthumous rank of George Washington. Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force in World War I and was regarded as a mentor by the generation of American generals who led the United States Army in Europe during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley and George S. Patton.

West Point years
Pershing reported for active duty on September 30, 1886, and was assigned to Troop L of the 6th U.S. Cavalry stationed at Fort Bayard, New Mexico. While serving in the 6th Cavalry, Pershing participated in several Indian campaigns and was cited for bravery for actions against the Apache.
Between 1887 and 1890, Pershing served with the 6th Cavalry at various postings in California, Arizona, and North Dakota. He also became an expert marksman and, in 1891, was rated second in pistol and fifth in rifle out of all soldiers in the U.S. Army.
On December 9, 1890, Pershing and the 6th Cavalry arrived at Sioux City, Iowa where Pershing played a role in suppressing the last uprisings of the Lakota (Sioux) Indians. A year later, he was assigned as an instructor of military tactics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pershing would hold this posting until 1895, but was not promoted, remaining as a second lieutenant at the age of 35 years old.
While in Nebraska, Pershing also attended law school and graduated in 1893. Additionally, he formed a drill company, Company A, in 1891 that won the Omaha Cup. In 1893, Company A became a fraternal organization, changing its name to the Varsity Rifles. The group changed its name for the last time in 1894, renaming itself the Pershing Rifles in honor of its founder.
On October 1, 1895, Pershing was promoted to first lieutenant and took command of a unit within the United States Army's 10th Cavalry Regiment (one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments), which was composed of African-American soldiers under white officers. From Fort Assinniboine in north central Montana, he commanded an expedition to the south and southwest that rounded up and deported a large number of Cree Indians to Canada. Though, like the most of the nation at the time, he was unsympathetic to Native Americans, Pershing was an outspoken advocate of the value of African American soldiers in the U.S. military.
In 1897, Pershing became an instructor at West Point, where he joined the tactical staff. While at West Point, cadets upset over Pershing's harsh treatment and high standards took to calling him "Nigger Jack" as a reference to his service with the 10th Cavalry. This was softened to "Black Jack" by reporters covering Pershing during World War I.

John J. Pershing Early career
Upon the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, First Lieutenant Pershing (now 38 years old) was offered a brevet rank and was commissioned a Major of Volunteers on August 26, 1898. He fought with distinction at Kettle and San Juan Hill in Cuba and was cited for gallantry. In 1919, he was awarded the Silver Citation Star for these actions and, in 1932, the award was upgraded to the Silver Star Medal.
In March 1899, after suffering from malaria and spending a sick furlough in the United States, Pershing was put in charge of the Office of Customs and Insular Affairs which oversaw occupation forces in territories gained in the Spanish-American War, to include Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam.
When the Philippine-American War broke out, Pershing was ordered to Manila and reported for duty on August 17, 1899. He was assigned to the Department of Mindanao and Jolo and commanded efforts to suppress the Philippine resistance. On November 27, 1900, Pershing was appointed Adjutant General of his department and served in this posting until March 1, 1901. He was cited for bravery for actions on the Cagayan River while attempting to destroy a Philippine stronghold at Macajambo.
In the spring of 1901, Pershing's brevet commission was revoked and he was recommissioned as a captain in the Regular Army. He served with the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines, continuing actions against the Philippine resistance. He later joined the U.S. 15th Cavalry Regiment where he served as an intelligence officer, participating in actions against the Moros, where he was cited for bravery at Lake Lanao. In June 1901, he also briefly served as Commander of Camp Vicars, Philippines, after the previous camp commander had been promoted to brigadier general.

Spanish and Philippine-American wars
In June 1903, Pershing was ordered to return to the United States. He was forty-three years old and still a captain in the U.S. Army. President Theodore Roosevelt petitioned the Army General Staff to promote Pershing to colonel, but Pershing's superiors declined the notion and also would not consider a promotion to lieutenant colonel or even major. This angered Roosevelt, but since the President could only promote army officers in the General ranks, his hands were tied.
In 1904, Pershing was assigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff of the Southwest Army Division stationed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In October 1904, he attended the Army War College and then was ordered to Washington, DC for "general duties unassigned".
Since Theodore Roosevelt could not yet promote Pershing, he petitioned the United States Congress to authorize a diplomatic posting and Pershing was stationed as military attaché in Tokyo in 1905. Also, in 1905, Pershing married the daughter of powerful U.S. Senator Francis E. Warren, a Wyoming Republican. The union greatly helped his military career.
After serving as an observer in the Russo-Japanese War, Pershing returned to the United States in the fall of 1905. In a move that shocked the army establishment, President Roosevelt convinced Congress to authorize the appointment of Pershing as a brigadier general, skipping three ranks and more than 835 officers senior to him. This promotion outraged several high ranking Army officers who would state, for the rest of their careers, that Pershing's appointment was the result of political connections and not military abilities (his father-in-law was chair of the U.S. Military Appropriations Committee).
In 1908, Pershing briefly served as a U.S. military observer in the Balkans, an assignment which was based out of Paris. Upon returning the United States, at the end of 1909, Pershing was assigned once again to the Philippines, an assignment which he served until 1912. While in the Philippines, he served as Commander of Fort McKinley, near Manila, and also was the governor of the Moro Province. The last of Pershing's four children was born in the Philippines and it was during this time that he became an Episcopalian.

Rise to general
In January 1914, Pershing was assigned to command the Army 8th Brigade in Fort Bliss, Texas, responsible for security along the U.S.-Mexico border. In March 1915, under the command of General Frederick Funston, Pershing led the 8th Brigade on the failed 1916–17 Punitive Expedition into Mexico in search of the revolutionary leader Pancho Villa. General Pershing was assigned a 1915 Dodge Brothers touring car, serial number 3066. During this time, George S. Patton served as one of Pershing's aides.
After a year at Fort Bliss, Pershing decided to bring his family there. The arrangements were almost complete, when on the morning of August 27, 1915, he received a telegram telling him of a tragic fire in the Presidio of San Francisco, where a lacquered floor blaze had rapidly spread, resulting in the smoke inhalation deaths of his wife and three young daughters. Only his six-year-old son Warren was saved. Many who knew Pershing said he never recovered from the deaths. After the funerals at Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Pershing returned to Fort Bliss with his son, Warren, and his sister Mae, and resumed his duties of commanding officer.

Pancho Villa, personal tragedy and the Mexican Revolution
The start of World War I caused President Woodrow Wilson to consider mobilizing an army to join the fight. Frederick Funston, Pershing's superior in Mexico, was being considered for the top billet as the Commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) when he died suddenly from a heart attack in the early summer of 1917. Following America's entrance into the war, Wilson named Pershing to command, a post which he retained until 1918. Pershing, who was a major general, was promoted to full general (the first since Philip Sheridan in 1888) in the National Army, and was made responsible for the organization, training, and supply of a combined professional and draft Army and National Guard force that eventually grew from 27,000 inexperienced men to two armies (a third was forming as the war ended) totalling over two million soldiers.
During this time, George C. Marshall served as one of Pershing's assistants, and Douglas MacArthur served in turn as chief of staff of, then as a brigade commander in, and then for the final month of the war, commander of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division. Pershing's initial chief of staff was James Harbord, who would work as Pershing's closest assistant through the years and remain extremely loyal to Pershing.
Token American forces deployed at the end of 1917, with an enormous tonic effect on Allied morale, and in early 1918, entire divisions were beginning to serve on the front lines alongside French troops. Pershing insisted that the AEF fight as units under American command rather than being split up by battalions to augment British and French regiments and brigades (although the U.S. 27th and 30th divisions, loaned during the desperate days of spring 1918, fought with the British/Australian/Canadian Fourth Army until the end of the war, taking part in the breach of the Hindenburg Line in October).
American forces first saw serious action during the summer of 1918, contributing eight large divisions, alongside 24 French ones, at the Second Battle of the Marne. Along with the Fourth Army's victory at Amiens, the Franco-American victory at the Second Battle of the Marne marked the turning point of the war on the Western Front.
By the autumn, the U.S. First Army had been formed, at first under Pershing's direct command and then, when the Second Army under Robert Bullard was added, under that of Hunter Liggett. After a quick victory at Saint-Mihiel, east of Verdun, some of the more bullish AEF commanders had hoped to push on eastwards to Metz, but this did not fit in with the plans of the Allied Supreme Commander, Marshal Foch, for three simultaneous offensives into the "bulge" of the Western Front (the other two being the Fourth Army's breach of the Hindenburg Line and an Anglo-Belgian offensive, led by Plumer's Second Army, in Flanders). Instead, the AEF was required to redeploy and, aided by French tanks, launched a major offensive northwards in very difficult terrain at Meuse-Argonne. Initially enjoying numerical odds of eight to one, this offensive eventually engaged 35 or 40 of the 190 or so German divisions on the Western Front, although to put this in perspective, around half the German divisions were engaged on the BEF sector at the time.
When he arrived in Europe, Pershing had openly scorned the slow trench warfare of the previous three years on the Western Front, believing that American soldiers' skill with the rifle would enable them to avoid costly and senseless fighting over a small area of no man's land. This was regarded as unrealistic by British and French generals, and (privately) by a number of American generals such as Army Chief of Staff Tasker H. Bliss and Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett. The AEF had done well in the relatively open warfare of the Second Battle of the Marne, but the eventual U.S. casualty rates against German defensive positions in the Argonne (120,000 U.S. casualties in six weeks, against 35 or 40 German divisions) were not noticeably better than those of the Franco-British offensive on the Somme two years earlier (600,000 casualties in five and a half months, versus 50 or so German divisions). More ground was gained, but then the German Army was in worse shape than in previous years.
Some writers (e.g., David Trask (1993)) have speculated that Pershing's frustration at the slow progress through the Argonne was the cause of two incidents which then ensued. Firstly, he ordered the U.S. First Army to take "the honor" of recapturing Sedan, site of the French defeat in 1870; the ensuing confusion (an order was issued that "boundaries were not to be considered binding") exposed U.S. troops to danger not only from the French on their left, but even from one another, as the 1st Division tacked westward by night across the path of the 42nd (accounts differ as to whether Douglas MacArthur was really mistaken for a German officer and arrested). Liggett, who had been away from headquarters the previous day, had to sort out the mess and implement the instructions from Supreme Commander Marshal Foch, allowing the French to recapture the city; he later recorded that this was the only time during the war in which he lost his temper.
Secondly, Pershing sent an unsolicited letter to the Allied Supreme War Council, demanding that the Germans not be given an armistice and that instead, the Allies should push on and obtain an unconditional surrender. Although in later years, many, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt, felt that Pershing had had a point, at the time, this was a breach of political authority. Pershing narrowly escaped a serious reprimand from Wilson's aide, Colonel House, and later apologized.
At the time of the Armistice, another U.S.-French offensive was due to start on 14 November, thrusting towards Metz and into Lorraine, to take place simultaneously with further BEF advances through Belgium.
In his memoirs, Pershing claimed that the U.S. breakout from the Argonne at the start of November was the decisive event leading to the German acceptance of an armistice, because it made untenable the Antwerp-Meuse line. This is probably an exaggeration; the outbreak of civil unrest and naval mutiny in Germany, the collapse of Bulgaria, Turkey and particularly Austria-Hungary following Allied victories in Salonika, Syria and Italy, and the Allied victories on the Western Front were among a series of events in the autumn of 1918 which made it clear that Allied victory was inevitable, and diplomatic inquiries about an armistice had been going on throughout October. President Wilson was keen to tie matters up before the mid-term elections, and the other Allies did not have the strength to defeat Germany without U.S. help, so had little choice but to follow Wilson's lead.
By the end of the war, U.S. troop strength in Europe (1.8 million or more) was slightly greater than that of the BEF (1.7m). French strength (three Army Groups, totalling 2.5m) was still greater, but much of it was deployed in quiet sectors such as Alsace, and after horrendous casualties and mutiny earlier in the war, France was only able or willing to undertake major offensives in conjunction with U.S. troops. Combatant strength was approximately 60% of these ration strengths in each case. Although the war ended before U.S. front-line strength vastly outstripped that of the other Western Allies as would happen in 1944-5, the threat of ever-greater U.S. commitment was another factor driving the German leadership to ask for an armistice.
American successes were largely credited to Pershing, and he became the most celebrated American leader of the war. Critics, however, would claim that Pershing commanded from far behind the lines and was critical of commanders who personally led troops into battle. This critique would become a sore point with Douglas MacArthur, who saw Pershing as a desk soldier, and the relationship between the two men deteriorated by the end of the war. Similar criticism of senior commanders by the younger generation of officers (the future generals of World War II) was made in the British and other armies, but in fairness to Pershing it should be noted that, although it was not uncommon for brigade commanders to serve near the front and even be killed, the state of communications in World War I made it more practical for senior generals to command from the rear.

World War I
In 1919, in recognition of his distinguished service during World War I, the U.S. Congress authorized the President to promote Pershing to General of the Armies of the United States, the highest rank possible for any member of the United States armed forces and was created especially for him and one that only he held at the time (Lieutenant General George Washington was posthumously promoted to this rank by President Gerald Ford in 1976). Pershing was authorized to create his insignia for the new rank, and chose to wear four gold stars for the rest of his career, which separated him from the four (temporary) silver stars worn by Army Chiefs of Staff, and even the five star General of the Army insignia worn by Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and H. 'Hap' Arnold in World War II (Pershing outranked them all).
There was a movement to make Pershing President of the United States in 1920, but he refused to actively campaign. In a newspaper article, he said that he "wouldn't decline to serve" if the people wanted him and this made front page headlines. Though Pershing was a Republican, many of his party's leaders considered him too closely tied to the policies of the Democratic Party's President Wilson. The Republican nomination went to Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio, who won the 1920 presidential election.
In 1921, Pershing became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, serving at this posting for three years. He created the Pershing Map, a proposed national network of military and civilian highways. The Interstate Highway System instituted in 1956 bears considerable resemblance to the Pershing map. In 1924, then sixty four years old, Pershing retired from active military service, yet continued to be listed on the active duty rolls as part of his commission as General of the Armies.
On November 1, 1921 Pershing 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, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France and General Armando Diaz of Italy. One of the main speakers was Vice President Calvin Coolidge of the United States. In 1935, bas-reliefs of Pershing, Jacques, Foch and Diaz by sculptor Walker Hancock were added to the memorial.
During the 1930s, Pershing maintained a private life, but was made famous by his memoirs, My Experiences in the World War, which were awarded the 1932 Pulitzer Prize for history.
In 1940, Pershing was an outspoken advocate of aid for the United Kingdom during World War II. In 1944, with the creation of the new five star rank General of the Army, Pershing was acknowledged as the highest ranking officer of the United States military. When asked if this made Pershing a six star General, the then Secretary of War (Henry L. Stimson) commented that it did not, since Pershing never wore more than four stars but that Pershing was still to be considered senior to the present five star generals of World War II.
During World War II, Pershing was visited by Free French leader General de Gaulle, who, when Pershing asked after the health of his old friend, Marshal Petain (now heading the pro-German Vichy regime), replied tactfully that as far as he knew, the marshal was quite well.
On July 15, 1948, he died at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. (his home after 1944). Pershing is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near the gravesites of the soldiers he commanded in Europe, after a state funeral.

Later career

Summary of service
As there was no official insignia, General Pershing wore four gold stars.

Dates of rank

1882: Cadet, United States Military Academy
1886: Troop L, Sixth Cavalry
1891: Professor of Tactics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
1895: Commanding Officer, 10th Cavalry Regiment
1897: Instructor, United States Military Academy, West Point
1898: Major of Volunteer Forces, Cuban Campaign, Spanish-American War
1899: Officer-in-Charge, Office of Customs and Insular Affairs
1900: Adjutant General, Department of Mindanao and Jolo, Philippines
1901: Battalion Officer, 1st Cavalry and Intelligence Officer, 15th Cavalry (Philippines)
1902: Officer-in-Charge, Camp Vicars, Philippines
1904: Assistant Chief of Staff, Southwest Army Division, Oklahoma
1905: Military attaché, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, Japan
1908: Military Advisor to American Embassy, France
1909: Commander of Fort McKinley, Manila, and governor of Moro Province
1914: Brigade Commander, 8th Army Brigade
1916: Commanding General, Mexican Punitive Expedition
1917: Commanding General for the formation of the National Army
1918: Commanding General, American Expeditionary Forces, Europe
1921: Chief of Staff of the United States Army
1924: Retired from active military service
1925: Chief Commissioner assigned by the United States in the arbitration case for the provinces of Tacna and Arica between Peru and Chile. Assignment history

Awards and decorations
In 1932, seven years after Pershing's retirement from active service, his silver citation star was upgraded to the Silver Star Medal and he became eligible for the Purple Heart. In 1941, he was retroactively awarded the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal for service in Germany following the close of World War I.

Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
World War I Victory Medal (with 15 battle clasps)
Indian Campaign Medal
Spanish Campaign Medal (with Silver Citation Star)
Army of Cuban Occupation Medal
Philippine Campaign Medal
Mexican Service Medal United States decorations

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (Britain)
Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor (France)
Military Medal (France)
Croix de Guerre with Palm (France)
Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold (Belgium)
Croix de Guerre (Belgium)
Virtuti Militari (Poland)
Order of the White Lion (1st Class with Sword) (Czechoslovakia)
Czechoslovakian War Cross
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Precious Jade (China)
Order of the Golden Grain (1st Class) (China)
Order of the Redeemer (Greece)
Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy (Italy)
Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (Italy)
Order of the Rising Sun (Japan)
Medaille Obilitch (Montenegro)
Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I (Montenegro)
Medal of La Solidaridad (1st Class) (Panama)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (Peru)
Order of Michael the Brave (1st Class) (Romania)
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Liberator (Venezuela)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Karageorge with Swords (Serbia) International awards

Congressional Gold Medal of Honor
Thanks of the United States Congress
Special Medal of the Committee of the city of Buenos Aires Other honors

Warren Pershing, John J. Pershing's son, served in the Second World War as an advisor to Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall and ended the war as a (full) colonel. He was father to two sons, Richard W. Pershing and John Warren Pershing III.
General Pershing's grandson, 2nd Lieutenant Richard W. Pershing, was killed in action on the 17 February 1968 whilst serving in the 502nd Infantry during the Vietnam War.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

House of Theodosius
The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman family that rose to eminence in the waning days of the Roman Empire.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Liberty International
Liberty International REIT (LSELII) is UK property investment and insurance company. Formerly a plc, it switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The company developed into a leading firm in life insurance and pension funds in the 1980s. It later diversified its activities into property investment and has now abandoned its life insurance and pension fund businesses.
The company has property investments of £6.2 billion through its two principal subsidiaries: Capital Shopping Centres and Capital & Counties. The Capital Shopping Centres subsidiary owns the Braehead in Glasgow and the MetroCentre in Gateshead and a number of other UK shopping centres. The Capital & Counties subsidiary invests in both residential and commercial real estate in the UK and also in California in cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Liberty International was founded by Sir Donald Gordon, who previously headed up the Liberty Life Group in South Africa.

Sunday, March 23, 2008


Willenhall is a suburb of Coventry in the West Midlands of England.
Willenhall is in the south-east of the city adjacent to the suburbs of Binley, Ernesford Grange and Whitley. It covers the area bounded by the Rugby to Coventry railway line, the River Sowe and the city's boundary with Warwickshire.
For general election purposes it is part of the Coventry South Constituency and for local elections it forms part of the Binley and Willenhall ward on Coventry City Council.
Willenhall was originally a small village that was absorbed into the city as it expanded. During the Second world war the Chace National Service Hostel was built in the area to accommodate the influx of munitions workers to the City. After the war the estate became established with the building of a large number of council houses. The area today remains mainly residential though to the south-east there is 9 hectars of woodland called Willenhall Wood which has been designated a nature reserve.
Willenhall is now the location of the Chace Avenue police station which is the home of the M2 operational command unit of the West Midlands Police that covers most of the south and south-eastern areas of Coventry.

Willenhall, Coventry Schools
Willenhall was the site of a major air crash when at 9:52 a.m. on 21 December 1994 an aircraft approaching Coventry Airport, in poor visibility, crashed in to Willenhall Wood, killing all five crew on board. The aircraft was a Boeing 737 that was owned and operated by Air Algerie but leased by Phoenix Aviation to undertake a number of live veal calf export flights from the airport.
A brass plaque remembering the event is now located in Middle Ride, close to the crash scene, which was erected on the crash's 10th anniversary by the Willenhall Wood Residents Association.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

New Hall, Cambridge
New Hall
New Hall is a women-only college in the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954, at a time when Cambridge had the lowest proportion of women undergraduates of any university in the UK and when only two other colleges (Girton and Newnham) could admit women students.

Alumnae

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, CBE, now Research Professor, University of Oxford, formerly researcher in the university radio astronomy group who discovered the first four pulsars
Barbara Stocking, Director of Oxfam
Dr Julia King, CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of Aston, Birmingham
Joanna MacGregor, concert pianist
Tilda Swinton, actress
Sue Perkins, comedian
Lisa Burke, TV weather presenter
Claudia Winkleman
Mishal Husain, BBC World News Anchor

Friday, March 21, 2008


G4techTV Canada is a Canadian English language category 1 digital cable specialty channel co-owned by Rogers Media and G4 Media [1]. Its programming is devoted to the technology genre including computers, internet, video games and more.

History
As a category 1 television service, it is mandatory for all digital cable and direct broadcast satellite providers in Canada to carry the channel that have the capacity to do so.
G4techTV Canada is also broadcasted internationally in the Barbados market. The government-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in Barbados switched from providing the American-based feed, in favour of the Canadian-based feed for its cable television network known as Multi-Choice TV.

G4techTV Canada Distribution
Although G4techTV Canada airs a large amount of G4 shows such as Attack of the Show!, Cinematech, X-Play and more; its schedule largely differs from its American counterpart due to the fact that G4 has shifted towards a male orientated programming direction with less of an emphasis on gaming and technology and more on male general interests.
G4techTV Canada was the final home to Call for Help with Leo Laporte. The taping location was moved to the Rogers Media studios in Toronto, Canada after the show was cancelled in the United States as a result of the merger. In early 2007, Call for Help Production was outsourced to Greedy Productions in Vancouver, Canada and the show was renamed The Lab with Leo Laporte.
Until 2006, the station was not allowed to by its license to broadcast dramatic programming. This changed in September 2006, and G4techTV can now send a limited amount of drama, such as anime.

Logos

G4
TechTV

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Chuck Klosterman
Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman (born June 5, 1972, in Breckenridge, Minnesota) is an American pop-culture journalist, critic, humorist, and essayist. He was raised on a farm near Wyndmere, North Dakota and graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1994. After college he was a journalist in Fargo, North Dakota and later an arts critic for the Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio, before moving to New York City in 2002.
Klosterman was a senior writer for Spin and had a column titled "My Back Pages," formerly "Rant and Roll Over" and "### Words from Chuck Klosterman." In early March 2006, it was reported that Klosterman left or was fired after the magazine was sold and editor-in-chief Sia Michel was replaced, along with many other staffers. He still regularly contributes as a featured columnist to Esquire and has written for GQ, The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and The Washington Post.
Klosterman participated in an e-mail exchange on ESPN's Page2 with writer Bill Simmons in August 2004. In September 2005, Simmons interviewed him in his "Curious Guy" segment. Though initially recognized for his rock writing, Klosterman has written extensively about sports and began contributing articles to Page2 on November 8, 2005. The ESPN site featured his week-long blog from Super Bowl XL in February 2006, as well as a weekend-long blog covering his experience at the NCAA basketball Final Four in 2007.

Books

Wednesday, March 19, 2008


Nancy Campbell Cartwright (born October 25, 1957 in Dayton, Ohio) is an American voice actress. She is best known for providing the voice of Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz and Ralph Wiggum on the animated television show The Simpsons. She also provides the voice of Chuckie Finster on All Grown Up! instead of Christine Cavanaugh. A graduate of Kettering Fairmont High School, Cartwright attended Ohio University before transferring to UCLA where she earned a degree in theatre.

Nancy Cartwright (actress) Awards
Cartwright actively supports many nonprofit organizations that help children, including Famous Fone Friends, Make-a-Wish Foundation, The Way To Happiness Foundation and World Literacy Crusade. She is co-founder of "Happy House", a non-profit organization dedicated to building better families. She is a member of Women in Film, ASIFA , Women in Animation and The Chouinard Foundation. Recently, Cartwright has become a contributor to ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Archive Project.
In 2005 , an incorrect news story circulated that Cartwright had entered politics and been elected mayor of Northridge, California. In fact, Cartwright had been honored with the ceremonial title of "Honorary Mayor" by the Northridge Chamber of Commerce. Northridge is a neighborhood of Los Angeles and has no office of mayor.[1]
She is a member of the Church of Scientology,

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Victoria Philharmonic Choir
The Victoria Philharmonic Choir is an important auditioned symphonic choir choral with 85 voices based in Victoria British Columbia. It complements the nationally known Victoria Symphony and Pacific Opera Victoria.

Projects

2007/2008 Season
6 November: University of Victoria and 11 November 2006 Port Theatre, Nanaimo. Requiem by Karl Jenkins. Canadian Premiere performance
5, 7 & 8 April McPherson Playhouse Victoria. Samson by GF Handel
This performance was set in 1964 Palestine drawing inspiration from theKing David Hotel bombing [2] This setting which turned out to be very contoversial brought the choir to prominence in National [3] and International media [4] , [5] because although no words of the original oratorio were changed, Samson was cast as a suicide bomber rather than using his brute strength to destroy the temple of his enemies. The artistic director wished people to think about what motivates suicide bombing today in comparison to samson's wish to destoy the Phillistine Temple. See also: [6] Most of those that saw the performance were touched by the performance, some of those who did not including Rex Murphy of the Globe and Mail were critical of updating timeless masterpieces in this way.
13,14 May Royal Theatre, Victoria. Choral Fantasy (Beethoven) , Ave verum corpus[7] (Mozart) with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra

Monday, March 17, 2008


In astronomy and physical cosmology, the metallicity of an object is the proportion of its matter made up of chemical elements other than hydrogen and helium. (This terminology is used differently to the usual meaning of the word 'metal', since on the grandest of scales the universe is overwhelmingly composed of hydrogen and helium, astronomers label all the heavier elements "metal"). as subsequent generations of stars were born they became more metal-enriched, as the gaseous clouds from which they formed received the metal-rich dust manufactured by previous generations. As those stars died, they returned metal-enriched material to the interstellar medium via planetary nebulae and supernovae, enriching the nebulae out of which the newer stars formed ever further. These youngest stars, including the Sun, therefore have the highest metal content, and are known as Population I stars.
Across the Milky Way, metallicity is higher in the galactic centre and decreases as one moves outwards. The gradient in metallicity is attributed to the density of stars in the galactic centre: there are more stars in the centre of the galaxy and so, over time, more metals have been returned to the interstellar medium and incorporated into new stars. By a similar mechanism, larger galaxies tend to have a higher metallicity than their smaller counterparts. In the case of the Magellanic Clouds, two small irregular galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud has a metallicity of about forty per cent of the Milky Way, while the Small Magellanic Cloud has a metallicity of about ten per cent of the Milky Way.

Calculation
Population I or metal-rich stars are those young stars whose metallicity is highest. The Earth's Sun is an example of a metal-rich star. These are common in the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy.
Generally, the youngest stars, the extreme Population I, are found farther in and intermediate Population I stars are farther out, etc. The Sun is considered an intermediate Population I star. Population I stars have regular elliptical orbits of the galactic centre, with a low relative velocity. The high metallicity of Population I stars makes them more likely to possess planetary systems than the other two populations, since planets, particularly terrestrial planets, are formed by the accretion of metals.
Between the intermediate populations I and II comes the intermediary disc population.

Population I Population I stars
Population II or metal-poor stars are those with relatively little metal. The idea of a relatively small amount must be kept in perspective as even metal-rich astronomical objects contain low quantities of any element other than hydrogen or helium; metals constitute only a tiny percentage of the overall chemical makeup of the universe, even 13.7 billion years after the Big Bang. However, metal-poor objects are even more primitive. These objects formed during an earlier time of the universe. They are common in the bulge near to the centre of the galaxy, the intermediate Population II; and also, in the galactic halo, the halo Population II, which is older and thus more metal-poor. Globular clusters also contain high numbers of Population II stars. It is believed that Population II stars created all the other elements in the periodic table, except the more unstable ones.
Scientists have targeted these oldest stars in several different surveys, including the HK objective-prism survey of Timothy C. Beers et al. and the Hamburg-ESO survey of Norbert Christlieb et al., originally started for faint quasars. Thus far, they have uncovered and studied in detail about ten very metal-poor stars (as CS22892-052, CS31082-001, BD +17° 3248) and two of the oldest stars known to date: HE0107-5240 and HE1327- 2326.

Sunday, March 16, 2008


The keffiyeh (Arabic: كوفية, kūfīyä; plural: كوفيات, kūfīyāt) is also known as a shmagh, shemagh or yashmag (شماغ, šmāġ), a ghutra (غترة, ġuträ) or a hatta (حطّة, ḥaṭṭä), and is a traditional headdress of Arab men, made of a square of cloth ("scarf"), usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head. It is commonly found in arid climate areas to provide protection from direct sun exposure, as well as for occasional use in protecting the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand.
Local variations exist. Many Palestinian keffiyeh are a mix of cotton and wool, which lets them dry quickly and keep the wearer's head warm. The keffiyeh is usually folded in half, into a triangle, and the fold is worn across the forehead. Often, the keffiyeh is held in place by a rope circlet, called an agal (Arabic: عقال, ʿiqāl). Some wearers wrap the keffiyeh into a turban, while others wear it loosely draped around the back and shoulders. Sometimes a skullcap is worn underneath the keffiyeh, and, in the past, it has also been wrapped around the rim of the fez. The keffiyeh is almost always of white cotton cloth, but many have a checkered pattern in red or black stitched into them. The plain, white keffiyeh is most popular in the Gulf states, almost excluding any other style in Kuwait and Bahrain. The black-and-white keffiyeh is most popular in the Levant. The red-and-white keffiyeh is worn throughout these regions, but is most strongly associated with Jordan, where is it known as shmagh mhadab. The Jordan keffiyeh has cotton-made decorative strings on the sides. It is believed that the bigger those strings the more value it has and the higher a person's status is. It has been used by Bedouins through out the centuries and was used as a symbol for honor and tribal identification.
Keffiyeh is often spelled kaffiyah, keffiya, kaffiya, kufiya or some other variation. There is little basis for considering any one of these more correct than the others, as the varied spellings simply show different understandings of the pronunciation in Arabic, which differs from region to region, as well as different methods of transliteration from the Arabic alphabet to the Latin alphabet. The name keffiyeh is purported to come from the name of the city Kufa (Arabic: الكوفة, al-kūfä) or from the word for the palm of the hand (الكف, al-kef) (the other meaning of the word is "napkin" (held in hands).
The keffiyeh, especially the all-white version, can also be called a ghutra (غترة, ġuträ), particularly in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain (where the skullcap is confusingly called keffiyeh), but is also known in some areas a shmagh (شماغ, šmāġ) or a hatta (حطّة, ḥaṭṭä).

Palestinian national symbol
The British Colonel T. E. Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia), probably the best-known Western wearer of the keffiyeh, wore a plain white one with agal during his involvement in the Arab Revolt in World War I. This image of Lawrence was later popularized by the film epic about him, Lawrence of Arabia, in which he was played by Peter O'Toole.
Possibly due to the view of Arabs as part of the allies of World War I, the 1920s "silent-film" era of American cinema saw studios take to Orientalist themes of the "exotic" Middle East, and keffiyehs became a standard part of the theatrical wardrobe. These films and their male leads (as with The Sheik and The Son of the Sheik, starring heart-throb actor Rudolph Valentino) typically had Western actors in the role of an Arab, often wearing the keffiyeh with the agal.
In current times, in the music video for the Nine Inch Nails single "Survivalism," Trent Reznor can be seen wearing a shemagh around his neck, though the use of the shemagh in the video is appropriated in part to represent the Art is Resistance movement in the band's promotional alternate reality game for its album Year Zero.

Westerners in keffiyeh
Increased sympathy and activism by certain Westerners toward Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the years of the Oslo Peace Accords and Second Intifada have led to the wearing of keffiyehs as a sign of their solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian people. For example, the slang "keffiyeh kinderlach" refers to young left-wing Jews, particularly college students, who sport a keffiyeh around the neck as a political/fashion statement. This term may have first appeared in print in an article by Bradley Burston in which he writes of "the suburban-exile kaffiyeh kinderlach of Berkeley, more Palestinian by far than the Palestinians" in their criticism of Israel.
While Western protesters wear differing styles and shades of keffiyeh, the most prominent is the black-and-white keffiyeh. This is typically worn around the neck like a neckerchief, simply knotted in the front with the fabric allowed to drape over the back. Other popular styles include rectangular-shaped scarves with the basic black-and-white pattern in the body, with the ends knitted in the form of the Palestinian flag. Since the Al-Aqsa Intifada, these rectangular scarves have increasingly appeared with a combination of the Palestinian flag and Al-Aqsa Mosque printed on the ends of the fabric.

Keffiyeh Symbol of solidarity
For some years, the wearing of the keffiyeh has been almost ubiquitous amongst British soldiers, who now, almost exclusively, refer to them as shemaghs. Their use by some units and formations of the military and police forces of the former British Empire and subsequent Commonwealth dates back to before the Second World War. Because of its utility it was adopted by the Palestine Police Force, the Trans Jordan Frontier Force, the Sudan Defence Force, the Arab Legion, the Libyan Arab Force, the Long Range Desert Group, the Special Air Service and Popski's Private Army, amongst others, who wore them while operating in North Africa. After the war, their use by the Army continued with the keffiyeh being worn in both desert and temperate environments in theatres such as Dhofar. Since the beginning of the War on Terror, these keffiyeh, usually cotton and in military olive drab or khaki with black stitching, have been adopted by US troops as well. Their practicality in an arid environment, as in Iraq, explains their constant popularity with soldiers. Soldiers often wear the keffiyeh folded in half into a triangle and wrapped around the face, with the halfway point being placed over the mouth and nose, sometimes coupled with goggles, to keep sand out of the face.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Ismail Omar Guelleh
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh shake hands at the Presidential residence in Djibouti
Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (Somali: Ismaaciil Cumar Geelle. Arabic: اسماعيل عُمر جليه) (born November 27, 1947 in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia) is the second president of Djibouti. He succeeded his uncle, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in 1999.

Elected president in April, 1999

(French) Bernard Borrel
(English) Bernard Borrel
Heads of State of Djibouti
Politics of Djibouti
Radio France Internationale (RFI)'s censored interview about judge Bernard Borrel's 1995 suspicious death

Friday, March 14, 2008

Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania
The Philomathean Society of the University of Pennsylvania is the oldest continuously-existing literary society in the United States and the oldest student group at Penn. Founded in 1813, its goal is "to promote the learning of its members and to increase the academic prestige of the University." Philomathean is derived from the Greek philomath, which means "a lover of learning." The motto of the Philomathean Society is sic itur ad astra (Latin for "thus we proceed to the stars").
The society is governed by a Cabinet of eight officers: the Moderator, First Censor, Second Censor, Scriba, Recorder, Treasurer, Librarian and Archivist. The first four are attired in full academic gown at all society meetings, which are held eight times per semester on the top floor of College Hall. Philo also has regular afternoon teas with professors and sponsors other academic events such as lecture series.
Traditionally, the Society emphasized the arts of rhetoric, oratory, and writing. Its three-step membership process retains vestiges of this emphasis, but its modern members' activities extend to a broad range of academic and artistic pursuits.
"Philo," as members affectionately refer to the Society, is credited with helping to found entire academic departments, including American History, Comparative Literature, and History of Science, and many campus groups and publications, including the Daily Pennsylvanian and the Mask and Wig Club.
The Society has published several books, including, most recently, The Philomathean Society Anthology of Poetry in Honor of Daniel Hoffman — Hoffman, a former professor at the university and a distinguished poet in his own right, had brought many renowned poets and authors, including John Updike, Seamus Heaney, Joyce Carol Oates, and Yevgeny Yevtushenko, to read in the Philomathean Halls.
In 1858, the Society published the first complete English translation of the Rosetta Stone. The work was performed solely by three undergraduate members, Charles R Hale, S Huntington Jones, and Henry Morton. The translation quickly sold out two editions, and was internationally hailed as a monumental work of scholarship. In 1988, the British Museum bestowed the honor of including the Philomathean Rosetta Stone Report in its select bibliography of the most important works ever published on the Rosetta Stone. The Philomathean Society maintains a full-scale cast of the stone in its meeting room.
Every year, Philo brings a public annual oration to the University, given by a prominent figure in the arts and sciences. Recent orations have been given by Arthur Miller (2004) [1] and Salman Rushdie (2003) [2].
Prominent Philomatheans include founder of the Wharton School for Business Joseph Wharton, statesman Robert J. Walker, US Senator and CSA diplomat James M. Mason, US Attorney General Henry Dilworth Gilpin, seminal science fiction author Alfred Bester, founder of the Philadelphia Museum of Art Eli K. Price, and philosopher Hilary Putnam.

Thursday, March 13, 2008


Pendleton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population is 14,390. Its county seat is Falmouth.

Geography

Kenton County (northwest)
Campbell County (north)
Clermont County, Ohio (northeast, across the Ohio River)
Bracken County (east)
Harrison County (south)
Grant County (west) Pendleton County, Kentucky Adjacent counties
The County was named after Edmund Pendleton (1721-1803), a longtime member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1752-74), the Continental Congress and chief justice of Virginia. [1]
During the American Civil War, the county sent men to both armies. A Union Army recruiting camp was established in Falmouth in September 1861. Two Confederate recruiters were captured and executed by the Union Army in the Peach Grove area of northern Pendleton County. In July 1862 a number of county citizens were rounded up by Union troops during a crackdown against suspected Confederate sympathizers. In June 1863 a number of women were arrested at Demossville because they were believed to be potential spies dangerous to the Federal government. Falmouth was the site of a small skirmish on September 18, 1862, between twenty-eight Confederates and eleven Home Guardsmen.
The city of Butler was established around 1852 when the Kentucky Central Railroad was built through the area. The city was named for William O. Butler, U.S. congressman from the area (1839-43), when it was incorporated on February 1, 1868.

Pendleton County, Kentucky Demographics
Pendleton County High School, just north of Falmouth, is the public high school. It currently is home to fewer than 1000 students. The mascot for PCHS is the wildcat, and the school colors are red, black and white, which are featured on all athletic uniforms. Ron Livingood is the school's principal. The high school is currently undergoing construction, with the additions including an auditorium to seat 450 people, several classrooms, a second gym, and a media center.
Other schools in the county are Sharp Middle School, located between Falmouth and Butler, Northern Elementary in Butler, and Southern Elementary in Falmouth.

Education
Pendleton County is home to Kincaid Regional Theatre. Their performances take place at the Falmouth School Center (Old Middle School) in Falmouth, KY. This season's performance was "The Music Man".

Cities and towns
Fryer House, an 1811 stone house, home of the Pendleton County Historical Society