fordblog

2006-02-15T03:37:00.000-08:00

Briana-Diggers

Briana Diggers is a fictonal character from the comic, Gold Digger. The sister of Gina and Brittany Diggers Brianna Diggers, is actually a clone of Gina and Cheetah. As such, she has some of the features of a werecheetah (size, strength, and speed) but looks reasonably human. She is about as smart as Gina, but concentrates on really, really big guns, bombs, powered armor, and similar devices that aid in the blowing up of objects. spoiler During an expedition into southwest asia, Gina and Britanny discovered the prison of the daemon mouse and were cursed by a horrible hex spell. In an effort to remove the curse, Gina constructed a synthetic proto-mass that shared the qualities of both herself and Britanny. The attempt tricked the curse into going for the fake Gina/Britanny mass, but also caused the inert mass to form itself into a body and spark it to life. Though the curse entity was soon after destroyed, Brianna remained: A clone sister of Gina and Britanny. Brianna has memories of both Gina and Britannys past all the way up to the moment of her creation. Because of this, she has had some severe identity crises in the earlier issues of GD, but she has begun to gain her own, unique memories. She has begun to grow into her own person. Brianna has gleefully taken on the role of the kid sister of the trio. After all, Kid sisters have all the fun, right? Maybe. Brianna isnt as strong as Britanny and isnt as intelligent as Gina, but shes developed her own style of doing things. (Which mainly involve large explosions and big weapons which cause them.) Brianna is not a scientist, but a tinkerer. She is not a powerhouse, but a pretty good fighter. And shes happy with that. There is one thing Brianna has that neither sister seems to have access to. Brianna seems to exhibit a latent magical talent or ability. Though she has yet to truly uncover what that ability truly does or means. Gold Digger is copywritten and trademarked by Fred Perry.(c)(1991)(2005) comics-stub

2006-02-14T15:37:00.000-08:00

Barrow-Raiders

Barrow Raiders are a Great Britain rugby league team from Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. In 2005 they will play in Rugby League National Leagues, having finished 2004 as Rugby League National Leagues champions. Barrow�s home ground is known as Craven Park. It was built in 1931, largely as a result of the efforts of supporters, 500 of whom volunteered to construct the ground. It is named after Commander G. W. Craven, a local war hero, who was instrumental in the construction. Until 1995 the team was simply titled Barrow RLFC, but they adopted the nickname Barrow Braves to coincide with rugby league�s switch to a summer season. In 1997 they merger with Cumbrian rivals Carlisle Border Raiders to form Barrow Border Raiders. The new team played all its matches in Barrow, the merger was essentially a financial arrangement only. In 2002 the Border part of the name (never that relevant to Barrow, which is in south Cumbria) was dropped. Barrows colours are blue and white. msg:Rugby-league-NL1 msg:British-Rugby-League-links

2006-02-14T03:40:00.000-08:00

USS-Amphion

The USS Amphion was a former German passenger liner (called the Koln) that later served as a troop transport for the American Expeditionary Force during World War I.

History

The USS Amphion began its life as a passenger liner the Koln in Geestemunde, Germany in 1899. When World War I broke out in 1914, the Koln was interned by the United States government. Later, in 1917 when the United States entered the war, the Koln was seized and used as a troop transport, dubbed the Amphion, by the US Army to move its expeditionary force to France. During this time, the Amphion was damaged in a battle with a German U-boat, resulting in the deaths of two crewmen, six more wounded and a lengthy stay in port. In 1919, the war over, the Amphion was given to and commissioned by the United States Navy as the USS Amphion (ID Number 1888) on April 1919. Until her decommissioning five months later in September, the Amphion made three round trips to France as part of the effort to return the American Expeditionary Force home. The Amphion was ultimatly sold for scrap in 1924 after five years of service.

2006-02-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Charles-Maginnis

Considered the dean of American Gothic architecture, Charles Donagh Maginnis was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on January 7, 1867. He emigrated to Boston at age 18 and got his first job apprenticing for architect Edmund Wheelwright as a draftsman. In 1900 he became a member of the Boston Society of Architects, serving as its president from 1924 to 1926. Though he worked in a number of styles, Maginnis became a distinguished proponent of Gothic architecture and an articulate writer and orator on the role of architecture in society. His pioneering work both influenced and was influenced by fellow Gothicist Ralph Adams Cram. With Timothy Walsh, he formed what would become one of the leading architectural firms in the first half of the twentieth century. In 1909, Maginnis & Walsh won the competition to build the new campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The collegiate Gothic design was deemed the most beautiful campus in America by The American Architect magazine and established the firms reputation in collegiate and ecclesiastical architecture. Maginnis & Walsh went on to design buildings at over twenty-five colleges and universities around the country, including the main buildings at Emmanuel College, the chapel at Trinity College and the law school at Notre Dame. Moreover, the design of Gasson Tower at Boston College is considered a predecessor of the dominant towers of collegiate Gothic campuses such as Harkness Tower at Yale and the chapel tower at Duke by Horace Trumbauer of 1930-35. In the Boston area, he also built St. Catherines Church in Somerville, Massachusetts and St. Aidans Church in Brookline, Massachusetts where he was a parishioner along with the Kennedy political family family and other prominent Irish-Americans. St. Aidans, the location of the christening of John F. Kennedy, has since been closed and converted into housing. Among his other designs are the chancel at Trinity Church in Bostons Copley Square and the high altar at St. Patricks Cathedral in New York City. From 1937 to 1939 Maginnis held the office of President of the American Institute of Architects. In 1948 the Institute presented him with the Gold Medal for outstanding service to American architecture, the highest award in the profession. He received honorary degrees from, among others, Boston College, Harvard, Holy Cross, Notre Dame and Tufts. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1955. The Charles D. Maginnis archives and the Maginnis & Walsh archives are housed at the Burns Library of Rare Books and Special Collections at Boston College. The Maginnis & Walsh collection at the Boston Public Library contains work of the architectural firm from 1913 to 1952.

2006-02-13T03:37:00.000-08:00

StudioCanal

StudioCanal (aka Le Studio Canal, Canal Plus, Canal + Distribution, and Canal + Image S.A.), is a French-based production and distribution company that owns the third-largest film library in the world. The company was founded in 1996 by Pierre Lescure. The original function was to focus on French and European productions. Over the next four years, StudioCanal began to acquire film libraries from studios that either went defunct or had merged with StudioCanal. It was not very long before StudioCanal began producing in-house productions such as Billy Elliot (2000), Bully-(movie) (2001), and Bridget Jones Diary (2001). Today, StudioCanal is a division of NBC Universal (which also owns Universal Pictures), and has a catalog that includes the film libraries of Carolco Pictures (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Chaplin, etc.), Embassy Pictures (The Graduate, The Producers, etc.), the Alexander Salkind pictures not owned by Warner Bros. (including Supergirl-(movie) and Santa Claus: The Movie), the EMI library (Highlander, Death on the Nile, etc.) and the Lumiere Pictures and Television output (including The Third Man and The Avengers-(TV series)). In the U.S., StudioCanal does not have a formal distribution unit per se, relying on other studios and video companies to handle their product.

2006-02-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

Hector-International-Airport

Hector International Airport is an airport in Fargo, North Dakota, IATA Code FAR, ICAO Code KFAR. Hector International has the longest public runway (2910m) in North Dakota, and can receive Boeing 747s. Customs service is available for aircraft arriving from Canada. As Hector has no scheduled passenger airline service out of the country, some people from larger cities claim Hector is not a true international airport. However, it is hardly uncommon for airports in both the northern and southern tiers to be called International the only requirement for the designation is customs service. Passenger service to the airport is largely provided by Northwest Airlines, although there are a few United Express flights. The airport also has extensive cargo airline activity. The airport is also home to the Happy Hooligans, an F-16 fighter unit of the Air National Guard. Airlines serving Hector International include:
Mesaba Aviation dba Northwest Airlink (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Northwest Airlines (Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Air Wisconsin and SkyWest dba United Express (Chicago OHare, Denver) On the cargo end, airlines are:
ABX Air
DHL Aviation
FedEx
United Parcel Service

2006-02-12T03:38:00.000-08:00

Balata

For the natural latex see Balat� Balata is the name of a Palestinian refugee camp established on the West Bank in 1950 adjacent to the city of Nablus. It currently houses 21,445 refugees. It is currently the largest refugee camp in the West Bank. During the Intifadah (1987-1993) the camp was very active, and the Israeli Defence Force demolished 74 shelters within the camp, killing and injuring many refugees. The United Nations funds a school in the Balata camp, which educates around 4,000 pupils. UNRWA page on the Balata camp

2006-02-11T15:39:00.000-08:00

Price-of-tea-in-China

The price of tea in China is an expression which is used to denote something which is unrelated to the current topic of discussion. This expression has stemmed from economists, who describe everything economic as affecting everything else, trying to find an expression which denotes the furthest logical connection from their current economic focus. In this way, the price of tea in China was used to denote the furthest possibility. It can also be used to denote an irrelevant topic. It has the most common form what does that have to do with the price of tea in China? There may be a second explanation. In the 19th century the price for tea in England was the highest when the first ship with the newly harvest tea came in. So for the ship owners it was important to be as fast as possible back to England with the load, otherwise the cost of the passage was not to be recovered from the sale of the tea. Thus there were real races (the tea clipper races) where the sail ships managed to travel the whole distance from China to England in about 80 to 90 days. The difference in prices from the first load to the later ones was so high that it was quite unimportant which price for the tea was originally paid in China. So the price of tea in China was something that really didnt matter for the ship owners. They had to have the tea in England as fast as possible.

2006-02-11T03:37:00.000-08:00

Pender-Island

Pender Island is a small island located in the Strait of Georgia, roughly between the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, in British Columbia. Pender Island is approximately 34 square kilometers in area and is home to about 2,200 permanent residents, as well as a large seasonal population. As part of the southern Gulf Islands, Pender Island enjoys a balmy sub-Mediterranean climate and features open farmland, rolling forested hills, several lakes and small mountains, and many coves and beaches. Pender Island actually consists of two islands, North Pender Island and South Pender Island, which are separated by a narrow canal originally dredged in 1903 and later connected by a one lane bridge in 1955. Most of the population and services reside on North Pender Island, South Pender Island is generally more rural, but features the popular Poets Cove marina development (formerly known as Bedwell Harbour). Pender Island can be accessed by regular ferry service provided by BC Ferries from Swartz Bay (near Victoria, British Columbia), Tsawwassen (near Vancouver), and other southern Gulf Islands, as well as by scheduled seaplane and water taxi service.

2006-02-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

De-Kalb,-New-York

De Kalb is a town located in St. Lawrence County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 2,213. The Town of De Kalb is in the southwest part of the county.

Geography

The Oswegatchie River flows through part of the town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 215.5 square kilometer (83.2 square mile). 213.8 km� (82.5 mi�) of it is land and 1.8 km� (0.7 mi�) of it is water. The total area is 0.82% water.

Demographics

As of the censusGeographic references 2 of 2000, there are 2,213 people, 792 households, and 582 families residing in the town. The population density is 10.4/km� (26.8/mi�). There are 889 housing units at an average density of 4.2/km� (10.8/mi�). The racial makeup of the town is 98.19% White (U.S. Census), 0.27% African American (U.S. Census), 0.27% Native American (U.S. Census), 0.09% Asian (U.S. Census), 0.00% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 0.32% from Race (U.S. Census), and 0.86% from two or more races. 0.27% of the population are Hispanic (U.S. Census) or Latino (U.S. Census) of any race. There are 792 households out of which 37.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.4% are Marriage living together, 9.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 26.4% are non-families. 21.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.79 and the average family size is 3.23. In the town the population is spread out with 30.2% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 102.1 males. The median income for a household in the town is $33,173, and the median income for a family is $37,463. Males have a median income of $29,000 versus $23,050 for females. The per capita income for the town is $13,742. 15.7% of the population and 11.4% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.2% of those under the age of 18 and 9.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Communities and locations in De Kalb

Bigelow A hamlet (place) east of Richville.
De Kalb The hamlet of De Kalb in the north part of the town.
East De Kalb A hamlet southeast of De Kalb village.
Richville, New York The Village of Richville is in the southwest part of the town.

2006-02-10T03:36:00.000-08:00

Provisional-Civil-Ensign

The Provisional Civil Ensign, or C-Pennant (German language, C-Doppelstander) was the temporary national flag imposed on Germany during its occupation by the Allied Control Council after World War II. It consisted of the international signal flag for the letter C with a triangle cut out of the center-right. Pursuant to international law, it is necessary for all ships to carry some sort of marker identifying their country of origin, it has been suggested that the flag actually selected was so chosen because its colors (red, white and blue) are the same as those found on the national flags of three of the four occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom and the United States). However, it was officially stated that this flag shall not be honored, and shall not be dipped as a salute to war and merchant ships of whichever nation. The Provisional Civil Ensign was succeeded as the flag of Germany by the black-red-gold tricolor originally used during the interbellum Weimar Republic by both the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) when both came into being in 1949, ten years later the latter added a device in the center in order to distinguish itself from the former.

2006-02-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

Logocentrism

Logocentrism, also called phallogocentrism, is a neologism coined by Jacques Derrida, used in Deconstruction (a postmodernism form of philosophy criticism and literary criticism) to refer to the perceived tendency of Western thought to locate the center of any discourse within the logos (speech and words) and the phallus (embodiments representing the male genitalia). It is also the tendential priviledging of the signified over the signifier, asserting the signifieds status as more natural or pure. This is manifested in the works of Plato, Rousseau, Saussure and Levi-Strauss in a priviledging of speech over writing, writing being seen as the supplementary and violent bastard-child of speech. philo-stub

2006-02-09T03:37:00.000-08:00

Bruce-Crozier

Bruce Crozier is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Essex (electoral district) for the Ontario Liberal Party. Crozier is a Certified General Accountant. He worked for the H.J. Heinz Company for eleven years, and was the Vice-President of Finance and Secretary-Treasurer for Bennie Lumber and Building Materials Ltd.. He was also the National Director of the Kinsman Club from 1975 to 1976, and is a Life Member of the Leamington Kinsman Club. He was elected to the Leamington, Ontario city council in 1985, and later served as the towns Mayor from 1988 to 1993. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election in on December 2, 1993 in the riding of Essex South, held after longtime Liberal MPP Remo Mancini announced his resignation from the legislature. He won this election very easily, defeating his nearest opponent (Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidate Joan Flood) by almost 10,000 votes, amid fewer than 20,000 cast. Crozier was re-elected in the Ontario general election, 1995, defeating his nearest opponent by almost 9000 votes on this occasion. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Crozier joined 29 other Liberals in the official opposition. He was re-elected in the Ontario general election, 1999 by over 10,000 votes in the redistributed riding of Essex, though again the Progressive Conservatives formed government at the provincial level. Ironically, Croziers margin of victory was actually reduced in the Ontario general election, 2003, which the Liberals won in a landslide. He faced a strong challenge from New Democratic Party of Ontario Pat Hayes, who supplanted the Tories for a second-place finish. He was not appointed to Cabinet, but was named as the Legislatures Deputy Speaker (politics) on December 8, 2003. Crozier bears a passing resemblance to former Liberal Party of Canada Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, and has frequently highlighted this connection by wearing bow-ties (for which Pearson was famous) in the Ontario legislature.

2006-02-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

Page-(U.S.-Capitol)

A page in the United States Capitol is responsible for running errands and carrying messages for United States Senator and forUnited States Representative. There is a rivalry between the two groups of pages. In 1838, the House Committee on Accounts described the page system in the following way: By inquiry from the old officers of the House, certainly as early as the first session that Congress assembled in the city of Washington, it has been the practice to employ boys to attend the House� The construction of the Hall, the seats and tables of the members, and the manner of transacting business, render the service of such attendants indispensably necessary. Thus is the page program described but it is not that simple nor is the history of the program. To start, there is the general state and size of the page program since congress�s inception. Second, their duties throughout the history of the program are interesting. Last, famous events and people have been a part of or associated with current or former pages. These are the three main aspects of page history. When people began becoming pages, it was a very ambiguous position. �The first time a congressional entity really examined the page program was in 1838. However, pages have been around in the House of Representatives (hitherto referred to as the house) to since Congress moved to D.C� (House Committee on Accounts). �The Senate got its first page in 1829. His name was Grafton Hanson� (Oliver). �Soon after in 1831, they got their second page, Isaac Bassett, who started at age 11 and worked for the Senate in various capacities for the rest of his life�(Severn, 14). Housing for early pages was up to them. �Most of the pages stayed in boarding houses and apartments which they paid for themselves. However, there have been a few pages throughout history who have lived in the houses of their sponsoring member. Having to fend for themselves, there were several common schemes the pages used to make money� (Oliver). �One of these was purchase a blank autograph book. Then, they would take into the capital and have congressional representatives sign it. After which, they would sell book to tourists� (Severn, 16). �Additionally, they would hire themselves out as agents for the printers in town. However this changed when in 1982 the house determined that the pages were causing much trouble. It was decided that the congress would establish and fund a page dormitory. The first page dormitory was on two floors in the O�neill House Office Building. Initially, Senate pages also lived in this dormitory but they eventually purchased their own dormitory located North East of the Capitol building. O�neill was demolished in 2000 and the house pages were moved into the current dormitory located at 501 1st St. SE which is exclusively a page dormitory� (Oliver) The early pages had it easy as far as school goes. �Up until the 1930�s, there was no school for the pages and even then, there was only one teacher. Then in the 40�s, a new principal, Ernest Kendall, was hired. He hired a dozen teachers and tried to transform the page�s school into a normal school. In 1948, the school was transferred to the supervision of DC Public Schools. This was when the school was moved to the Attic Level of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building and also when it was required that you be of high school age to be a page. The next change came in 1982 when the page program became exclusively for juniors. At the same time, the Senate pages bought their own dorm, they formed alternative arrangement with their school located in the basement of their dormitory� (Oliver). Being a page was like any other job, you showed up for work, did your job, and left but it was an honored position due to the fact you had to be nominated by your congress member. �Also for a large part for of congress� existence, the pages didn�t have to start until like noon and got out of work at around 5 PM. In addition, they only met from December through March (Oliver). The page program stance on gender has also changed. �For most of its life, the page program was a male only program. As early as 1939, Gene Cox, daughter of Rep. Eugene Cox, was allowed to be a page for the opening day of congress. However, in 1971, Senator�s Charles Percy and Jacob Javits appointed Ellen McConnell and Paulette Desell to be the first female senate pages. Then in 1973, Speaker Carl Albert appointed Felda Looper the first female House page to serve for more than a day. After these years, females have gradually become a greater part of the program until today�s program where there is the same number of female pages than male pages if not slightly more female pages� (Oliver). Over the years, the duties of pages have evolved. �The pages were originally only runners of documents. One of the duties they performed that has been eliminated was their role as human vote announcers. This was replaced by a bell system in 1890�s which though it as changed and expanded is still in place today. This happened around the same time that the electric page calling system was installed on the floor and the page desks were established. However, they have evolved over time to include such important tasks as raising the flag over the house and senate, ringing the bells to signal events happening in the house, answering phones in the cloakroom, and delivering documents to the rostrum� (Oliver). Over the years, pages have fulfilled several prominent duties for the congress. Rule XXXI of the House of Representatives states that �at the commencement of each Congress, immediately after the Members and Delegates are sworn in, the Clerk shall place in a b box, prepared for that purpose, a number of small balls, of marble or other material, equal to the number of Members and Delegates, which balls shall be consecutively numbered and thoroughly intermingled, and at such hour as shall be fixed by the House for that purpose, by the hands of a page, draw said balls one by one from the box and announce the number as it is drawn, upon which announcement the Member or Delegate whose name on a numbered alphabetical list shall correspond with the number on the ball shall advance and choose his seat for the term for which he was elected.� �Additionally, the Senate pages carry the electoral ballots from the Senate to the House to a joint session for counting taking place after each election� (Oliver). The pages have been part of big things, become important people in the world, have even been reported on by a celebrity, and have even been in paintings. �One of the biggest incidents involving a page took place after Puerto Rican Nationalists stormed into the House chamber and shoot at the representatives, pages helped carry stretchers carrying members that was injured out of the house chamber. In addition each year, the pages are allowed to attend the State of the Union address and Veteran�s Day Ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery� (Oliver). �Pages have also become important people among them: Bill Gates, and 23 members of congress including Rep. William Scott and Rep. Paul Kanjorski who are both from Pennsylvania� Oliver. �Senate Pages were even interviewed by Jacqueline Bouvier about what they thought of the Senators� (Bouvier). �Pages have been present in paintings as well. Pages can be seen in �the House of Representatives� by Samuel Morse and the painting of the Electoral Commission of 1876� (Oliver).

Bibliography

Oliver, Jim. �Pages of the U.S. House of Representatives.� Washington Work/Study. House Page School. House Page School, Washington, D.C.
Oliver, Jim. �Re: Report about Pages� Email to the author. 2 Feb. 2005
United States House Of Representatives. Congressional Record - 25th Congress. Washington: GPO, 1840.
Bouvier, Jacqueline. �Inquiring Camera Girl.� Washington Post ??
Andrews, Paul and Stephen Manes. Gates � How Microsoft�s Mogol Reinvented an Industry. Simon and Schuster, 1994.
Severn, Bill. Democracy�s Messengers. New York Hawthorne Books, 1975.

2006-02-08T03:36:00.000-08:00

Mukwonago,-Wisconsin

Mukwonago is a village located in Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 6,162. The village is located mostly within the Mukwonago (town), Wisconsin in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. A small portion extends into the East Troy, Wisconsin in the adjacent Walworth County, Wisconsin.

Geography

Mukwonago is located at 42�5152 North, 88�1950 West (42.864557, -88.330619) GR 1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 12.5 square kilometer (4.8 square mile). 12.1 km� (4.7 mi�) of it is land and 0.4 km� (0.1 mi�) of it is water. The total area is 2.90% water.

Demographics

As of the census GR 2 of 2000, there are 6,162 people, 2,392 households, and 1,705 families residing in the village. The population density is 507.3/km� (1,313.3/mi�). There are 2,502 housing units at an average density of 206.0/km� (533.3/mi�). The racial makeup of the village is 98.21% White (U.S. Census), 0.19% African American (U.S. Census), 0.24% Native American (U.S. Census), 0.36% Asian (U.S. Census), 0.00% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 0.29% from Race (U.S. Census), and 0.70% from two or more races. 1.90% of the population are Hispanic (U.S. Census) or Latino (U.S. Census) of any race. There are 2,392 households out of which 35.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% are Marriage living together, 9.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% are non-families. 22.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.54 and the average family size is 3.00. In the village the population is spread out with 25.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.4 males. The median income for a household in the village is $56,250, and the median income for a family is $64,354. Males have a median income of $45,824 versus $28,333 for females. The per capita income for the village is $23,993. 3.1% of the population and 2.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 3.7% of those under the age of 18 and 6.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

2006-02-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

TER

A TER is a fictional device in the sci-fi Stargate universe. TER stands for Transphase Eradication Rod. Introduced as a Tokra device to help find and defeat the Retu. The TER serves two purposes, first it has a scanning light which causes cloaked objects to appear or atleast those objects cloaked by being 180 degrees out of phase with our own reality. Secondly it is an energy weapon with the abillity of killing a Retu. First seen in the second season episode Show and Tell. It is often referenced when someone at the Stargate Command orders a TER sweep of the base.

2006-02-07T03:36:00.000-08:00

Forage-harvester

A forage harvester (also known as a silage harvester) is a farm implement that creates silage. Silage is hay or maize that has been chopped into small pieces, and compacted together in a silo to provide feed for cattle. Forage harvesters can be implements attached to a tractor, or they can be self-propelled units. In either configuration, they have a blower that blows the silage out a chute at the rear of the harvester into a wagon that is connected to the harvester. In either case, once a wagon is filled up, the wagon can be detached and taken back to a silo for unloading, and another wagon can be attached. Because corn and hay require different types of cutting equipment, there are different heads for each type of silage, and these heads can be connected and disconnected from the harvester.

2006-02-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Offset-mapping

Offset Mapping, (also, Photonic Mapping, Parallax Mapping or Virtual Displacement Mapping), is an alternative to the bump mapping and normal mapping techniques which give greater depth and a rougher, more 3D feel and detail to a texture without a performance hit. Offset mapping is done by displacing the texture coordinates such that the texture occludes itself in accordance with a height map. Next-generation 3D applications may employ offset mapping as new graphics alogrithims are developed. Offset mapping is also a way of faking displacement mapping.

2006-02-06T03:36:00.000-08:00

Darrell-Rankin

Darrell Rankin is a communist politician in Canada. He has been involved in labour activism and the peace movement for several decades, and served as leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario in the mid-1990s. Since 1996, he has been the leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba. Born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Alberta, Rankin became involved in radical left politics through an early opposition to the Vietnam War. His grandparents had been active in the Communist Party of Canada, and Rankin became a member of this organization as well. Rankin was a resident of Ottawa, Ontario, Ontario from 1983 to 1995. While living in this city, he was a leading figure in the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Ottawa Disarmament Coalition. He led the Communist Party of Canada - Ontario in the Ontario general election, 1995, and personally challenged New Democratic Party of Ontario Premier of Ontario Bob Rae in the riding of York South. Rankins campaign focused on labour issues and full employment. Rankin moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Manitoba later in 1995. The Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba had been without effective leadership for several years, and Rankin became the partys provincial organizer before the year was over. In 1996, he was elected its official leader. Rankin led the CPC-M through the elections of 1999 and 2003, and remains its leader today. In January 2004, he was challenged for the position by Paul Sidon, Rankin received 79% of delegate support, compared to 21% for Sidon. A vocal opponent of the Iraq War, Rankin was responsible for organizing several peace marches in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2003. He is a founding member of Peace Alliance Winnipeg, and occasionally writes articles for Peoples Voice, a left-wing magazine. Rankin has campaigned for public office several times, although he has never come close to being elected. At the provincial and federal levels, he has been a candidate in:
Calgary Southwest, Alberta, federal, 1993, 27 votes, winner: Preston Manning (Reform)
York South, Ontario, provincial, 1995, 105 votes, winner: Bob Rae (NDP)
Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba, federal, 1997, 108 votes, winner: Pat Martin (NDP)
Burrows, Manitoba, provincial, 1999, 41 votes, winner: Doug Martindale (NDP)
Winnipeg North Centre, Manitoba, federal, 2000, 525 votes, winner: Judy Wasylycia-Leis (NDP)
Point Douglas, Manitoba, provincial, 2003, 82 votes, winner: George Hickes (Manitoba politician) (NDP)
Winnipeg North, Manitoba, federal, 2004, 111 votes, winner: Judy Wasylycia-Leis (NDP)

2006-02-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

Sigmund

This article is about the mythological hero Sigmund, for other meanings see: Sigmund (disambiguation). In Norse mythology, Sigmund was a hero whose story is told in Volsunga saga. He and his sister, Signy, are the children of Volsung. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurd the dragon-slayer though Sigurds tale has almost no connections to the Volsung tales. In the Volsunga Saga, Signy marries Siggeir, the king of Gautland (i.e. modern G�taland and Beowulfs Geatland. However, in some English translations he is described as the king of the Goths). Volsung and Sigmund were attending the wedding feast (which lasted for some time before and after the marriage), when Odin, in the guise of a beggar, plunged a sword into the living tree around which Volsungs halls was built. The disguised Odin announced that the man who could remove the sword would have it as a gift. Only Sigmund was able to free the sword. Siggeir is smitten with envy and desire for the sword. Siggeir invited Sigmund, his father V�lsung and Sigmunds nine brothers to a visit in Gautland to see the newlyweds three months later. When the V�lsung clan had arrived they were attacked by the Gauts (Geats) and king V�lsung was killed and his sons captured. Signy beseached her husband to spare her brothers and to put them in stocks instead of killing them. As Siggeir thought that the brothers deserved to be tortured before they were killed, he agreed. He then let his shape-shifting mother turn into a wolf and each night devour one of the brothers, until only Sigmund remained. Signy had a servant smear honey on the face of Sigmund and when the she-wolf arrived she started licking the honey off Sigmunds face. She licked and stuck her tongue into Sigmunds mouth whereupon Sigmund bit her tongue off, killing her. Sigmund then hid in the forests of Gautland and Signy brought him everything he needed. Sigmund escaped his bonds and lived underground in the wilderness on Siggeirs lands. While he was in hiding, Signy came to him in the guise of a V�lva (sorceress) and conceived a child by him Sinfj�tli (the Fitela of Beowulf). Bent on revenge for their fathers death, Signy sent her sons to Sigmund in the wilderness, one by one, to be tested. As each failed, Signy urged Sigmund to kill them. Finally, Sinfj�tli (born of the incest between Signy and Sigmund) passed the test. Sigmund and his son/nephew, Sinfj�tli, grew wealthy as outlaws. In their wanderings, they came upon men sleeping in cursed wolf skins. Upon killing the men and wearing the wolf skins, Sigmund and Sinfj�tli were cursed to a type of lycanthropy. Eventually, Sinfj�tli and Sigmund avenged the death of Volsung. After the death of Signy, Sigmund and Sinfj�tli went harrying together. Sigmund married a woman named Borghild and had two sons, one of them named Helgi. Helgi and Sinfj�tli ruled a kingdom jointly. Helgi married a woman named Sigrun after killing her father. Sinfj�tli later killed Sigruns brother in battle and Sigrun avenged her brother by poisoning Sinfj�tli. Later, Sigmund married a woman named Hj�rd�s. After a short time of peace, Sigmunds lands were attacked by King Lyngi. While in battle, Sigmund matched up against an old man (Odin in disguise). Odin shattered Sigmunds sword, and Sigmund fell at the hands of others. Dying, Sigmund told Hj�rd�s that she was pregnant and that her son would one day make a great weapon out of the fragments of his sword. That son was Sigurd. Sigmunds story may be based on older material than that found in the Sigurd story and it is more directly involved in matters of family descent and the conquest of lands. If there is a historical person behind the Sigmund stories, it is probably a chieftain from the time of the first great Germanic migration in the 200s and 300s CE. Analogs for Sigmunds pulling the sword from the tree can be found in other mythologies (notably in the King Arthur legends). Sigmund/Siegmund is also the name of Sigurd/Siegfrieds father in other versions of the Sigurd story but without any of the details about his life or family that appear in Norse Volsung tales and poems. On the other hand, the Old English language poem Beowulf includes includes Sigmund the W�lsing and his nephew Fiteli in a tale of dragon slaying told within the main story. The device of the broken sword that is recast was probably drawn mainly from the Volsung account by J.R.R. Tolkien for his The Lord of the Rings (though the motif also occurs in stories about Perceval). NorseMythology

2006-02-05T03:38:00.000-08:00

U.S.-Highway-12

United States Highway 12 is an east-west United States highway. US 12 is now the only US route still serving Detroit, Michigan, whose downtown street grid was laid out perfectly for the five-way intersection of US 12, U.S. Highway 10, U.S. Highway 16, U.S. Highway 112, and U.S. Highway 25.

Termini

As of 2004, the highways eastern terminus is in Detroit, Michigan at an indeterminate point downtown. Its western terminus is in Aberdeen, Washington at an intersection with U.S. Highway 101.

States Traversed

The highway passes through the following states:
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
South Dakota
North Dakota
Montana
Idaho
Washington From Elkhorn, Wisconsin to near the Illinois/Wisconsin state line, it is a freeway with a 65 m.p.h speed limit.

Historical Route Information

Old Route 12 in Michigan

Old U.S. 12 in Michigan runs from downtown Detroit, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. It was replaced by Interstate 94 in 1952, and the state of Michigan re-routed the US 12 designation to the former route of U.S. Highway 112. It was an old highway that ran through the middle of the major towns and cities of Michigan between Detroit and Chicago. In most cases the road is still there, and is named either Michigan Avenue, Old U.S. 12 or the Red Arrow Highway, named after a World War I army division. You can still drive the highway from Belle Isle (Michigan) in Detroit all the way to The Magnificent Mile in Chicago. There are only a few places were you have to navigate around the new Interstate. The major break in Old U.S. 12 is in the middle of Michigan half way between the village of Parma, Michigan and the city of Albion, Michigan. Its at this point that I-94 cuts south a bit and bisects the old highway, forcing a motorist to navigate north on smaller roads. The highway is considered an important historic road like Route 66. Some of it had been the original Territorial Road of Michigan laid out in the early 1800s.

Michigan Cities on Old Route

Detroit, Michigan, Dearborn, Michigan, Ypsilanti, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Chelsea, Michigan, Grass Lake, Michigan, Jackson, Michigan, Parma, Michigan, Albion, Michigan, Marshall, Michigan, Battle Creek, Michigan, Kalamazoo, Michigan, St. Joseph, Michigan, Niles, Michigan, Gary, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois For a detailed discussion of the current U.S. 12 in Michigan, see the link for the old U.S. Highway 112, which received the designation U.S. 12 in the early 1960s.

Related US Routes

U.S. Highway 112 (decommissioned)
U.S. Highway 212
U.S. Highway 312 (decommissioned)
U.S. Highway 412 (not a child of US 12)
List of U.S. Highways

Sources

Endpoints of US highways (used with permission)

2006-02-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

Rafer-Johnson

Rafer Lewis Johnson (born August 18, 1935) is a former US decathlon. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but moved to Kingsburg, California at age 9. In high school, he played on the schools football (soccer), baseball and basketball teams. As a versatile athlete, he was attracted to the decathlon after seeing double Olympic Champion Bob Mathias compete. He competed in his first meet in 1954 in sports, as a freshman at UCLA. His progress in the event was impressive, and he broke the world record in his fourth competition. That same year, he also won the title at the Pan American Games. Johnson qualified for both the decathlon and the long jump events for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. However, he was hampered by an injury, and forfeited his place in the long jump. Despite this, he managed to take second place in the decathlon, finishing behind his compatriot Milton Campbell. It would turn out to be his last defeat in the event. Due to injury, Johnson missed the 1957 in sports and 1959 in sports seasons (the latter due to a car accident), but in 1958 in sports and 1960 in sports, he improved the world record two more times. The crown on his career came in 1960, at the 1960 Summer Olympics. His most important opponent was Yang Chuan-Kwang of Republic of China. Yang also studied at UCLA, and the two were training together and had become friends. After 9 events, Johnson lead Yang, but Yang was thought to be capable of overcoming this gap in the final event, the 1500 m. Johnson however managed to cling on to Yang, and won the gold. After this gold medal, Johnson ended his athletic career. He played as an actor in several movies, and worked as a sportscaster. In 1968, he worked on the presidential election campaign of Robert Kennedy and was one of those present who helped wrestle Kennedys assassin, Sirhan Sirhan to the floor. Sixteen years later, he was chosen to ignite the Olympic Flame during the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. Johnsons brother, Jimmy, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his daughter, Jennifer, competed in beach volleyball at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

2006-02-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

Agathocles-of-Bactria

-170 BCE.
Obv: Bust of Agathocles.
Rev: Zeus holding sceptre, with Hecate on extended arm. Greek legend SS GTS Under the reign of King Agathocles. Agathocles the Just was an Indo-Greek king, who reigned between around 185 BCE and 170 BCE. He was a son of Demetrius I of Bactria and one of his sub-kings in charge of the Paropamisadae between Bactria and India. He was a grandson of Euthydemus whom he qualified as God-King on his coins. Agathocles was contemporary with or a successor of king Pantaleon. He seems to have been attacked and killed by the usurper Eucratides, who took control of the Greco-Bactrian territory. Little is known about him, apart from his extensive coinage.

Pedigree coinage

Agathocles issued a series of pedigree dynastic coins, probably with the intent to advertize his lineage and legitimize his rule, linking him to Alexander the Great, the Seleucid king Antiochus II, the founder of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom Diodotus, Euthydemus, and Demetrius I of Bactria. Image:AgathoclesWithAlexander.jpg Alexander son of Philip, pedigree coin of Agathocles. Image: AgathoclesCoin.jpg Diodotus the Saviour, pedigree coin of Agathocles. Image:Euthydemus Theou.jpg Euthydemus the God, pedigree coin of Agathocles.

Nickel coins

coiffed with aegis, diademed, and wearing ivy wreath.
Rev: Panther with bell, raising paw towards a small tree. Greek legend: BASILEOS AGATHOKLEIOUS King Agathocles. Also, Agathocles and Pantaleon are unique in the ancient world, in that they were the first in the world to issue copper-nickel (75/25 ratio) coins ^{External links} an alloy technology only known by the Chinese at the time (some weapons from the Warring States Period were in copper-nickel alloy ^{External links}. These coins are indicative of the existence of trade links with China around that time (see Greco-Bactrian kingdom). Copper-nickel would not be used again in coinage until the 19th century in the United States.

Bilingual coinage

At the same time, Agathocles issued an intriguing range of bilingual coinage, displaying what seems to be Buddhist as well as Hinduism symbolism. The coins, manufactured according to the Indian standard, using either Brahmi, Greek or Kharoshthi (a first in the Greek world), and displaying symbols of the various faiths in India, tend to indicate a considerable willingness to accommodate local languages and beliefs, to an extent unseen in subsequent Indo-Greek kings. They may be indicative of the considerable efforts of the first Indo-Greek kings to secure support from Indian populations and avoid being perceived as invaders, efforts which may have subsided once the Indo-Greek kingdoms were more securely in place.

Buddhist coinage

The Buddhist coinage of Agathocles is in the Indian standard (square or round copper coins) and depicts Buddhist symbols such as the stupa, the tree in railing, or the lion. These coins sometimes use Brahmi, and sometimes Kharoshthi, whether later Indo-Greek kings only used Kharoshthi. Image:Agathocles52.jpg Buddhist coin of Agathocles, with Stupa, and tree in railing. Image:Agathocles51.jpg Buddhist coin of Agathocles, with stupa surmounted by a star, and possibly Trisula symbol. Image:Agathocles45.jpg Buddhist coin of Agathocles, with Lion.

Hinduist coinage

Samkarshana, wearing an ornate headress, earrings, sword in sheath, holding a gada in his right hand and a plow-symbol in the left. Greek legend: BASILEOS AGATOKLEOUS Of King Agathocles.
Rev: Indian god Vasudeva-Krishna, with ornate headdress, earrings, sword in sheath, holding sankha (pear-shaped vase) and chakra (wheel). Brahmi legend: RAJANE AGATHUKLAYASA King Agathocles. The Hinduist coinage of Agathocles is few but spectacular. Six Indian-standard silver drachms were discovered at Ai-Khanoum in 1970, which depict Hindu deities. These are the first known representations of Vedic deities on coins, and they display early avatars of Vishnu: Balarama-Samkarshana and Vasudeva-Krishna. The dancing girls on some of the coins of Agathocles and Pantaleon are also sometimes considered as representations of Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.

Preceded by:
Pantaleon Greco-Indian
185 BCE-170 BCE Succeeded by:
Eucratides

References

The Greeks in Bactria and India W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press

2006-02-03T15:35:00.000-08:00

Epyx-FastLoad

The Epyx FastLoad is a floppy disk fast loader cartridge (electronics) made by American software company Epyx in the early 1980s, for the Commodore 64 (C64) home computer. The FastLoad allowed software for the C64 to load into the computer from the Commodore 1541 disk drive roughly five times faster than without the cartridge. It was a very popular peripheral for the hottest selling 8-bit home computer. The FastLoads firmware program also included a disk editor which displayed raw data from floppy disks in classical hexadecimal-ASCII split screen mode, it could be used e.g. to repair damaged files. Other features of the FastLoad was a so-called disk wedge: a collection of practical one-or-two-character shortcut commands to access the disk � performing tasks such as loading, saving, and copying files, and formatting disks (some of those commands were notoriously cumbersome in the native mode of Commodore DOS). In the uncommon case that a software program wouldnt work with the FastLoad, the cartridge could be totally switched out of operation via a menu command, thus avoiding the need to physically remove and reinsert the cartridge. The overall quality and transparency of this peripheral made it so easy to use and unobtrusive that many users left the cartridge in continously, never removing it from their C64 in the entire lifetime of the machine.

2006-02-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

Andover,-Maine

Andover is a town located in Oxford County, Maine. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 864.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 148.8 square kilometer (57.5 square mile). 148.7 km� (57.4 mi�) of it is land and 0.1 km� (0.04 mi�) of it is water. The total area is 0.07% water.

Demographics

As of the censusGeographic references 2 of 2000, there are 864 people, 359 households, and 257 families residing in the town. The population density is 5.8/km� (15.1/mi�). There are 553 housing units at an average density of 3.7/km� (9.6/mi�). The racial makeup of the town is 98.96% White (U.S. Census), 0.46% African American (U.S. Census), 0.12% Native American (U.S. Census), 0.00% Asian (U.S. Census), 0.00% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 0.12% from Race (U.S. Census), and 0.35% from two or more races. 0.35% of the population are Hispanic (U.S. Census) or Latino (U.S. Census) of any race. There are 359 households out of which 27.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% are Marriage living together, 5.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 28.4% are non-families. 23.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.41 and the average family size is 2.81. In the town the population is spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 100.3 males. The median income for a household in the town is $36,058, and the median income for a family is $40,855. Males have a median income of $32,031 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income for the town is $20,253. 12.2% of the population and 9.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 18.3% of those under the age of 18 and 13.3% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

2006-02-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

The-Raven-(Stranglers-album)

The Raven is an album by The Stranglers, released in 1979 in music. The album contained a few surprises, the opener is an instrumental, there is a song of just vocals and piano accompaniment and the song Duchess was surprisingly poppy. It is often said that this album is steeped in Nordic imagery. The tracks are as follows: Longships The Raven Dead Loss Angeles Ice Baroque Bordello Nuclear Device Shah Shah A Go Go Dont Bring Harry Duchess Meninblack Genetix The CD reissue adds four bonus tracks:
Bear Cage
Fools Rush Out
NEmmenes Pas Harry
Yellowcake UF6. Track 10, Meninblack, notably ended up becoming the starting point for their followup album, The Gospel According to The Men in Black.

2006-02-01T00:52:00.000-08:00

Ordoliberalism

liberalism According to ordoliberalism, the state must create a proper legal environment for the economy and to maintain a healthy level of competition through measures that adhere to market principles. The concern is that if the state does not take active measures to foster competition, firms with monopoly (or oligopoly) power will emerge, which will not only subvert the advantages offered by the market economy, but also possibly undermine democracy itself, since strong economic power can be transformed into political power. Ordoliberalism was developed in the 1930s-1950s by German economists such as Wilhelm R�pke (who spent the Nazi period in exile) to create the German social market economy. liberal-stub