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Jerry Chamberlain

Jerry Chamberlain is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer, best known for his work with the rock bands Daniel Amos and the Swirling Eddies (credited as "Spot").

In late 1974, Chamberlain was asked to join Jubal's Last Band, a band that consisted of Terry Scott Taylor, Steve Baxter and bassist Kenny Paxton. Marty Dieckmeyer was soon brought in as a replacement for the departing Paxton. Sometime in the middle of 1975, Jubal's Last Band or Jubal (as a shortened form of the name was briefly used) auditioned for Maranatha! Music and Calvary Chapel (without Baxter, who couldn't get off work) in hopes of signing a recording and performance contract. At a Maranatha Music meeting, another band led by Darrell Mansfield, was also using the name, Jubal. The two bands decided to change their names to avoid confusion. Mansfield renamed his band Gentle Faith, and Jubal's Last Band/Jubal became Daniel Amos.

Daniel Amos succeeded in landing a recording and performance contract, and quickly recorded their first song for the label, Taylor's "Ain't Gonna Fight It" for the Maranatha 5 compilation. A full album, produced by Al Perkins, followed. Chamberlain quickly became an important part in the sound of D.A. In the band's early days of country/rock, Chamberlain would often launch into a rock and roll guitar solo inappropriately in the middle of "Happily Married Man." In the later years, his guitar playing drove songs like "Endless Summer" and "I Love You #19".

Although Chamberlain left DA in late 1983, he did return on a few later albums including MotorCycle (1993) (which he co-produced), BibleLand (1994) and Songs of the Heart (1995).

In 2001, Chamberlain and Sharon McCall recorded a song ("Message from the Country") with pop rocker Doug Powell, drummer Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo) and session musician Jonathan Yudkin for the Jeff Lynne tribute Lynne Me Your Ears (2002) under the moniker, The Balls of France.

The years 2004–2005 saw Chamberlain and McCall join forces with friends to form an all-British Invasion outfit called The Pickled Beats. The band continues, with slight lineup changes, to play the occasional live performance.

In 2006, Chamberlain once again joined forces with Terry Taylor by lending a hand on the Lost Dogs album The Lost Cabin and the Mystery Trees. Chamberlain also returned to his Swirling Eddies pseudonym "Spot," for the 2007 release The midget, the speck and the molecule.

After meeting and doing gigs together over 30 years ago in California, Chamberlain and Pam Mark Hall joined forces as the duo, Pamelita and Parker, in late 2008.

title: Jerry Chamberlain


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Black comedy

Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, gallows humor, black humor, or dark humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction, for example, the term black comedy can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Cartoonist Charles Addams was famous for such humor, e.g. depicting a boy decorating his bedroom with stolen warning signs including "NO DIVING – POOL EMPTY", "STOP – BRIDGE OUT" and "SPRING CONDEMNED."

Black comedy differs from both blue comedy—which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, and body fluids—and from straightforward obscenity. Whereas the term black comedy is a relatively broad term covering humour relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Black humour can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humour with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes.

Etymology
The term black humour (from the French humour noir) was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift. Breton's preference was to identify some of Swift's writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism, often relying on topics such as death.

Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor (Anthologie de l'humour noir), in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor (particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants (1731), A Modest Proposal (1729), Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1710), and in a few aphorisms). In his book, Breton also included excerpts from 45 other writers, including both examples in which the wit arises from a victim with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which the comedy is used to mock the victim. In the last cases, the victim's suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as analogously found in the social commentary and social criticism of the writings of (for instance) Sade.

History
Among the first American writers who employed black comedy in their works were Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov. The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after the publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor, edited by Bruce Jay Friedman. The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre. With the paperback, Friedman labeled as "black humorists" a variety of authors, such as J. P. Donleavy, Edward Albee, Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Vladimir Nabokov, Bruce Jay Friedman himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Among the recent writers suggested as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl, Kurt Vonnegut, Warren Zevon, Christopher Durang, Philip Roth, and Veikko Huovinen. Evelyn Waugh has been called "the first contemporary writer to produce the sustained black comic novel." The motive for applying the label black humorist to the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays, and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner. Comedians like Lenny Bruce, who since the late 1950s have been labeled as using "sick comedy" by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with "black comedy".

Nature and functions
Sigmund Freud, in his 1927 essay Humour (Der Humor), although not mentioning 'black humour' specifically, cites a literal instance of gallows humour before going on to write: "The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure." Some other sociologists elaborated this concept further. At the same time, Paul Lewis warns that this "relieving" aspect of gallows jokes depends on the context of the joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else.

Black comedy has the social effect of strengthening the morale of the oppressed and undermines the morale of the oppressors. According to Wylie Sypher, "to be able to laugh at evil and error means we have surmounted them."

Black comedy is a natural human instinct and examples of it can be found in stories from antiquity. Its use was widespread in middle Europe, from where it was imported to the United States. It is rendered with the German expression Galgenhumor (cynical last words before getting hanged ). The concept of gallows humor is comparable to the French expression rire jaune (lit. yellow laughing),  which also has a Germanic equivalent in the Belgian Dutch expression groen lachen (lit. green laughing).

Italian comedian Daniele Luttazzi discussed gallows humour focusing on the particular type of laughter that it arouses (risata verde or groen lachen), and said that grotesque satire, as opposed to ironic satire, is the one that most often arouses this kind of laughter. In the Weimar era Kabaretts, this genre was particularly common, and according to Luttazzi, Karl Valentin and Karl Kraus were the major masters of it.

Black comedy is common in professions and environments where workers routinely have to deal with dark subject matter. This includes police officers, firefighters, ambulance crews, military personnel, journalists, lawyers, and funeral directors, where it is an acknowledged coping mechanism. It has been encouraged within these professions to make note of the context in which these jokes are told, as outsiders may not react the way that those with mutual knowledge do.

A 2017 study published in the journal Cognitive Processing concludes that people who appreciate dark humor "may have higher IQs, show lower aggression, and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it."

Black comedy in film
Examples of black comedy in film include:

 * Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) – A drama critic's engagement announcement is interrupted by the revelation that his spinster aunts and estranged brother have been independently committing multiple murders.
 * Dr. Strangelove (1964) – A Cold War satire dealing with the attempts of government officials to avoid nuclear annihilation.
 * Pink Flamingos (1972) - A Baltimore criminal known by the name Divine fights to keep her title as “The Filthiest Person Alive” against local perverts Connie and Raymond Marbles.
 * Network (1976) – A TV station exploits the rantings of an insane anchorman for ratings and profit.
 * Wrong Is Right (1982) – A false flag attack is used to justify war and the media is complicit in exchange for ratings.
 * The King of Comedy (1982) - A delusional aspiring comedian kidnaps a talk show host to receive his dream of fame.
 * Beetlejuice (1988) – A recently deceased couple hire an obnoxious poltergeist to scare away a family who has moved into their old house.
 * Heathers (1989) - A high school girl teams up with a new student to kill off the popular Heathers clique.
 * Pulp Fiction (1994) – The lives of two hitmen, a washed-up boxer, a mob wife and a couple of restaurant thieves intertwine in 1990s Los Angeles.
 * Fargo (1996) – A car salesman's plan to have his own wife kidnapped goes awry.
 * Trainspotting (1996) - A group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh desperately search for their next high.
 * The Cable Guy (1996) - A lonely cable installer becomes dangerously obsessed with a new customer, turning the man's life into a nightmare.
 * Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – A drug-addled journalist and his insane lawyer search for the American Dream in 1970s Las Vegas.
 * Happiness (1998) – Three sisters, their perverted neighbor, and a pedophile therapist search for pleasure and meaning in their empty lives.
 * American Psycho (2000) – A young Wall-Street investment banker leads a double life as a serial killer.
 * Bad Santa (2003) – A drunken, sex-addicted professional thief poses as a department store Santa and befriends a lonely young boy.
 * Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) - A small-time thief is mistaken for an actor and thrown into a Hollywood murder mystery.
 * Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) – A Kazakhstani journalist heads to America and makes a documentary to learn more about their culture and improve his own.
 * Little Miss Sunshine (2006) - A family goes on a road trip to support its youngest daughter in a beauty pageant.
 *  In Bruges (2008) - Two hitmen hide out and lay low in Belgium.
 * World's Greatest Dad (2009) – A failed novelist makes his son's death from autoerotic asphyxiation look like a suicide.
 * It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) – Follows a man grappling with the meaning of life in the wake of troubling events.
 * The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – A depraved stockbroker uses increasingly illegal methods to make money.
 * The Brand New Testament (2015) – God exists. He lives in Brussels.
 * The Death of Stalin (2017) – A satirical depiction of the power struggle following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953.
 * Knives Out (2019) – An eccentric detective investigates the death of a famous mystery novelist.
 * Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - A fading TV actor tries to secure his biggest film role yet alongside his stunt double in 1969 Hollywood.
 * Parasite (2019) - A poor family infiltrate the life of a wealthy family.
 * Jojo Rabbit (2019) - A young German boy discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home during World War II, all while his imaginary friend - a quirky version of Adolf Hitler - gives him misguided advice.
 *  Red Rocket (2021) – A middle-aged adult entertainer returns to his rural hometown and begins dating a seventeen-year-old girl.
 * Triangle of Sadness (2022) – A celebrity couple on a luxury cruise with wealthy guests are stranded on a desert island.
 *  The Menu (2022) – A foodie and his date travel to an exclusive restaurant with a celebrity chef on a remote island.
 *  Saltburn (2023) – A scholarship student fixated with a fellow aristocratic student is invited to spend the summer at his eccentric family's estate.

Black comedy in television
Examples of black comedy in television include:

 * South Park (1997–present) – Four grade-school friends have surreal misadventures in their not-so-quiet Colorado mountain town.
 * Midsomer Murders (1997-present) - The supposedly cozy village of Midsomer faces a new murder every week.
 * Jam (2000) - An unconnected series of disturbing and surreal sketches.
 * Six Feet Under (2001-2005) - A dysfunctional family runs a funeral home in Los Angeles.
 * Peep Show (2003–2015) – A socially awkward loan manager and a slacker navigate their daily lives as roommates in South London.
 * Arrested Development (2003-2019) - The story of a wealthy family who lost everything and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together.
 * It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005–present) – Five friends have various misadventures involving abortion, kidnapping, stalking, blackmail, etc.
 * The Thick of It (2005–2012) – Satirical spoof of the British political system, following the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship's regular blunders and the attempts of Communications Director Malcolm Tucker to halt the damage.
 * Wilfred (2011–2014) – After a suicide attempt, a young man sees his neighbor's dog as a profane man in a dog suit.
 * Fleabag (2016–2019) – An outspoken young woman in London tries to deal with life after suffering several personal tragedies.
 * Atlanta (2016–2022) – Earn and his cousin, Alfred, try to make their way in the world through Atlanta's rap scene. Along the way they come face-to-face with social and economic issues touching on race, relationships, poverty, status and parenthood.
 * Succession (2018–2023) – Multiple people vie for control of a media conglomerate from its aging patriarch.
 * You (2018-present) - A charming young man goes to many extreme lengths to date women he falls in love with.
 * Russian Doll (2019–present) – A woman tries to find her way out of a time loop after reliving the day of her death over and over.
 * The Boys (2019-present) - Vigilantes team up to take down a group of corrupt superheroes.
 * Beef (2023) – A minor road rage incident consumes the lives of two people, leading to a feud that spirals out of control.
 * The Curse (2023–present) – A couple tries to improve a small community while dealing with an obnoxious producer and an alleged curse on their heads.

Gallows speeches
Examples of gallows speeches include:

 * In Edo period Japan, condemned criminals were occasionally executed by expert swordsmen, who used living bodies to test the quality of their blade (Tameshigiri). There is an apocryphal story of one who, after being told he was to be executed by a sword tester, calmly joked that if he had known that was going to happen, he would have swallowed large stones to damage the blade.
 * As Thomas More climbed a rickety scaffold where he would be executed, he said to his executioner: "I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see me safe up; and for my coming down, let me shift for myself."
 * Robert-François Damiens, a French man who attempted to assassinate King Louis XV, was sentenced on March 26, 1757, to be executed in a gruesome and painstakingly detailed manner. He would first be led to the gallows, holding a torch with two pounds of burning wax. Pliers would then be used to tear his skin at the breast, arms and legs. Then his right arm, which held the knife he had used for his crime, would be burned with sulfur. The aforementioned areas with ripped skin would then be poured upon with molten lead, boiling oil, burning pitch, wax and sulfur. His body would then be dismembered by four horses, the members and trunk consumed in fire, and the ashes would be spread in the wind. After hearing the sentence, Damiens is reported to have replied: "Well, it's going to be a tough day."
 * During the French Revolution, Georges-Jacques Danton, who had facial scars from smallpox, when he was about to be beheaded with a guillotine on April 5, 1794, is reported to have said to the executioner: "Don't forget to show my head to the people, it's well worth it!"
 * At his public execution, the murderer William Palmer is said to have looked at the trapdoor on the gallows and asked the hangman, "Are you sure it's safe?"
 * Murderer James French days prior to his death by electric chair, exchanged these words with reporter Bob Gregory: "[S]haking hands as French prepared to return to death row, he leaned over to say: –If I were covering my execution, do you know what I'd say in the newspaper headline? –What? –'French Fries' See ya."
 * John Amery, hanged for treason in 1945, said to the executioner Albert Pierrepoint "I've always wanted to meet you, Mr. Pierrepoint, though not of course under these circumstances!"
 * Neville Heath was hanged for murder in 1946. A few minutes prior to his execution, as was the custom, Heath was offered a glass of whisky to steady his nerves by the prison governor. He replied, "While you're about it, sir, you might make that a double."
 * Saint Lawrence, after distributing treasures of the Church to the poor rather than turning them over to the prefect of Rome who demanded them as tribute, was martyred in the year 258 by being grilled alive upon a gridiron with hot coals beneath. It is reported that after a long while of enduring this torture, he quipped cheerfully to his executioners: "I'm well done on this side. Turn me over!"

Military
Military life is full of gallows humor, as those in the services continuously live in the danger of being killed, especially in wartime. For example:
 * The Imperial Japanese Navy Mitsubishi G4M (code named Betty bomber) Isshikirikkо̄ (イッシキリッコウ) bomber aircraft was called "Hamaki" (葉巻), meaning cigar by the Japanese crews not only because its fuselage was cigar-shaped, but because it had a tendency to ignite and burn violently when it was hit.
 * When the survivors of HMS Sheffield (D80), sunk in 1982 in the Falklands War, were awaiting rescue, they were reported to have sung the Monty Python song, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".
 * Soviet pilots in World War II joked that the true meaning of the type designation of the LaGG-3 was "Лакированный Гарантированный Гроб" (romanized: Lakirovannyy Garantirovannyy Grob), "varnished guaranteed coffin".
 * In World War II, American escort carriers had the hull classification code "CVE"; among their crews, CVE was sarcastically said to stand for "Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable". CVEs were called "Kaiser coffins" in honor of Casablanca-class manufacturer Henry J. Kaiser.
 * American tanks of the Second World War, such as the M3 Lee medium tank, which were supplied to the USSR under the Lend-Lease program, got sarcastic name interpretations from Soviet soldiers. Thus, the letter sign BM-7 ("General Lee" model) was understood as "братская могила на семерых" (romanized: bratskaya mogila na semerykh), and similarly, BM-6 ("General Grant" model) as "братская могила на шестерых" (romanized: bratskaya mogila na shesterykh), meaning "mass grave for seven/six crewmen" – as penetrative hits would fragment inside the vehicles, killing the crew. Similar name reinterpretations were created for domestic multi-turreted tanks, chiefly the T-28 medium tank and T-35 heavy tank models, for their cramped internal layouts and poor armor protection.
 * In the Battle of Jutland (May 31 – June 1, 1916), the destroyer HMS Tipperary (1915) was sunk in an overnight engagement with the heavily armed German dreadnought SMS Westfalen. Only 13 crewmen survived out of a complement of 197 officers & men. The survivors were identified in the darkness by the crew of HMS Sparrowhawk (1912) because they were heard in the distance, singing, "It's a long way to Tipperary".

Emergency service workers
Workers in the emergency services are also known for using black comedy:
 * Graham Wettone, a retired English police officer who wrote a book How To Be A Police Officer, noted the presence of black comedy in the police force. He described it as "often not the type of humour that can be understood outside policing or the other emergency services." For example, an officer who had attended four cases of suicide by hanging in six months was nicknamed "Albert" (after the hangman Albert Pierrepoint) and encountered comments like "You hanging around the canteen today?"
 * In 2018, a Massachusetts firefighter was reprimanded for a response to a call about a cat stuck in a tree. The firefighter told the caller that the cat would probably make its own way down as he had never seen a cat skeleton in a tree before. An opinion article in Fire Chief magazine said that these kinds of jokes were common in the fire service, but would be inappropriate to share with a concerned member of the public.

Other
There are several titles such as It Only Hurts When I Laugh and Only When I Laugh, which allude to the punch line of a joke which exists in numerous versions since at least the 19th century. A typical setup is that someone badly hurt is asked "Does it hurt?" – "I am fine; it only hurts when I laugh."

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Black comedy


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Steve Hindalong

Steve Hindalong (born November 29, 1959) is an American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer best known for his work with the alternative rock band the Choir. Since 2006, Hindalong has also been an official member of the alternative country supergroup Lost Dogs.

After becoming a prolific producer in the late 1990s, Hindalong received several Dove awards (2001 and 2003, "Special Event Album of the Year") for his work on the City on a Hill project. Hindalong also co-wrote God of Wonders with Marc Byrd, which was used by NASA to wake up Discovery astronaut Michael Fossum.

The Choir

 * Shades of Gray (1986) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Diamonds and Rain (1986) – Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Chase the Kangaroo (1987) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums
 * Wide-Eyed Wonder (1989) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums
 * Circle Slide (1990) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums
 * Kissers and Killers (1993) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion, Harmonica, Vocals
 * Speckled Bird (1995) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
 * Free Flying Soul (1996) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion, Child's Piano, Kenyan Whistle, Vocals
 * Flap Your Wings (2000) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen (2005) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Burning Like the Midnight Sun (2010) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * "De-Plumed" (2011) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * The Loudest Sound Ever Heard (2012) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Shadow Weaver (2014) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion

Solo credits

 * To Hell with the Devil (1996) Flying Tart
 * Skinny (1998) Cadence Records, Reviews: HM Magazine, The Phantom Tollboth)
 * The Warbler (2016)

Performing credits

 * Ideola – Tribal Opera, Mark Heard (1987) – Digital Sampling
 * Briefing for the Ascent, Terry Scott Taylor (1987) – Drums
 * Pain, Veil of Ashes (1989) – Background Vocals
 * Big Big Town, Riki Michele (1989) – Songwriter, Cymbal Overdubs, Percussion, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar, Jingly Stick
 * Homeboys, Adam Again (1990) – Songwriter, Drums
 * Dr. Edward Daniel Taylor: The Miracle Faith Telethon, Terry Scott Taylor (1990) – Drums
 * At the Foot of the Cross -Volume 1- Clouds, Rain, Fire (1991) – Producer, Songwriter, Drums, Percussion
 * Second Hand, Mark Heard (1991) – Drums
 * Holes in the Floor of Heaven, Ric Alba (1991) – Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Drums, Percussion
 * Poplife, Lifesavers (1991) – Drums
 * Just Keep Going On, Rev. Dan Smith (1992) – Percussion, Hand Claps
 * The Embarrassing Young, John Austin (1992) – Producer, Drums, Percussion
 * Grape Prophet, The, L.S.U. (1992) – Percussion, Voice of Grape Prophet
 * Plague of Ethyls, Plague of Ethyls (1992) – Producer, Drums, Percussion
 * Motorcycle, Daniel Amos (1993) – Drums, Percussion
 * Orphans And Angels, Julie Miller (1993) – Percussion
 * Brow Beat Unplugged Alternative (1993) – Percussion
 * Shawl, The Prayer Chain (1993) – Producer, Shaker, Tambourine, Harmonica
 * Mindsize, Poor Old Lu (1993) – Percussion
 * High Noon, Mark Heard (1994) – Drums
 * Grace Shaker, L.S.U. (1994) – Cat Food Tin, Plastic Waste Receptacle
 * Mercury, The Prayer Chain (1995) – Producer, Percussion, Vox Continental Organ
 * Skywire, Common Children (1996) – Producer, Percussion, Toy Piano
 * Antarctica, The Prayer Chain (1996) – Producer, Percussion
 * All Star United, All Star United (1997) – Percussion
 * Images of Faith, Marty McCall (1997) – Drums, Percussion
 * Redemption, White Heart (1997) – Percussion
 * Delicate Fade, Common Children (1997) – Producer, Percussion
 * International Anthems for the Human Race, All Star United (1998) – Percussion
 * Back From Nowhere, Polarboy (1998) – Percussion
 * ''Starlight Wishlist", Glisten (1998) – Percussion
 * Worldwide Favorites, Adam Again (1999) – Songwriter, Drums
 * Transparent, Broomtree (1999) – Percussion
 * Homeboys / Dig, Adam Again (2000) – Songwriter, Drums
 * When Worlds Collide: A Tribute to Daniel Amos (2000) – Percussion
 * Live in Nash-Vegas, Michael Knott (2000) – Percussion
 * Live at Cornerstone 2000, Adam Again (2001) – Songwriter, Vocals
 * Chasing the Horizon, Mitch McVicker (2001) – Percussion
 * The Inbetween Time, Common Children (2001) – Percussion
 * Random Acts & Hodgepodge, Terry Scott Taylor (2002) – Songwriter, Vocals
 * Nazarene Crying Towel, Lost Dogs (2003) – Percussion
 * Sound of Melodies, Leeland (2006) – Percussion
 * R U Ready , Godfrey Birtill (2008) Percussion

Producing/songwriting credits

 * Ten Songs by Adam Again, Adam Again (1988) – Songwriter
 * Whirlpool EP, The Prayer Chain (1992) – Producer
 * Shawl, The Prayer Chain (1993) – Producer
 * Mercury, The Prayer Chain (1995) – Producer, Songwriter on "Bendy Line"
 * Super Deluxe, Morella's Forest (1995) – Producer
 * Skywire, Common Children (1996) – Producer
 * The Violet Burning, The Violet Burning (1996) – Producer
 * Grace and Dire Circumstances (cover of "Chase the Kangaroo"), Farewell to Juliet (1998) – Songwriter
 * Water – Between Thieves (1998) – Producer
 * Starlight Wishlist, Glisten (1998) – Producer
 * In the Company of Angels, Caedmon's Call (2001) – Producer, Songwriter
 * Invade My Soul, By The Tree (2002) – Producer
 * Invisible Empires, Sara Groves (2011) – Producer

title: Steve Hindalong


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Xylene

In organic chemistry, xylene or xylol ( IUPAC name: dimethylbenzene) are any of three organic compounds with the formula (CH3)2C6H4. They are derived from the substitution of two hydrogen atoms with methyl groups in a benzene ring; which hydrogens are substituted determines which of three structural isomers results. It is a colorless, flammable, slightly greasy liquid of great industrial value.

The mixture is referred to as both xylene and, more precisely, xylenes. Mixed xylenes refers to a mixture of the xylenes plus ethylbenzene. The four compounds have identical empirical formulas C4H5. Typically the four compounds are produced together by various catalytic reforming and pyrolysis methods.

Occurrence and production
Xylenes are an important petrochemical produced by catalytic reforming and also by coal carbonisation in the manufacture of coke fuel. They also occur in crude oil in concentrations of about 0.5–1%, depending on the source. Small quantities occur in gasoline and aircraft fuels.

Xylenes are produced mainly as part of the BTX aromatics (benzene, toluene, and xylenes) extracted from the product of catalytic reforming known as reformate.

Several million tons are produced annually. In 2011, a global consortium began construction of one of the world's largest xylene plants in Singapore.

History
Xylene was first isolated and named in 1850 by the French chemist Auguste Cahours (1813–1891), having been discovered as a constituent of wood tar.

Industrial production
Xylenes are produced by the methylation of toluene and benzene. Commercial or laboratory-grade xylene produced usually contains about 40–65% of m-xylene and up to 20% each of o-xylene, p-xylene and ethylbenzene. The ratio of isomers can be shifted to favor the highly valued p-xylene via the patented UOP-Isomar process or by transalkylation of xylene with itself or trimethylbenzene. These conversions are catalyzed by zeolites.

ZSM-5 is used to facilitate some isomerization reactions leading to mass production of modern plastics.

Properties
The physical properties of the isomers of xylene differ slightly. The melting point ranges from −47.87 °C (m-xylene) to 13.26 °C (p-xylene)—as usual, the para isomer's melting point is much higher because it packs more readily in the crystal structure. The boiling point for each isomer is around 140 °C. The density of each isomer is around 0.87 g/mL and thus is less dense than water. The odor of xylene is detectable at concentrations as low as 0.08 to 3.7 ppm (parts of xylene per million parts of air) and can be tasted in water at 0.53 to 1.8 ppm.

Xylenes form azeotropes with water and a variety of alcohols. The azeotrope with water consists of 60% xylenes and boils at 94.5 °C. As with many alkylbenzene compounds, xylenes form complexes with various halocarbons. The complexes of different isomers often have dramatically different properties from each other.

Terephthalic acid and related derivatives
p-Xylene is the principal precursor to terephthalic acid and dimethyl terephthalate, both monomers used in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles and polyester clothing. 98% of p-xylene production, and half of all xylenes produced is consumed in this manner. o-Xylene is an important precursor to phthalic anhydride. The demand for isophthalic acid is relatively modest, so m-xylene is rarely sought (and hence the utility of its conversion to the o- and p-isomers).

Solvent applications and industrial purposes
Xylenes are used as a solvent in printing, rubber, and leather industries. It is a common component of ink, rubber, and adhesives. In thinning paints and varnishes, it can be substituted for toluene where slower drying is desired, and thus is used by conservators of art objects in solubility testing. Similarly it is a cleaning agent, e.g., for steel, silicon wafers, and integrated circuits. In dentistry, xylene can be used to dissolve gutta percha, a material used for endodontics (root-canal treatments). In the petroleum industry, xylene is also a frequent component of paraffin solvents, used when the tubing becomes clogged with paraffin wax.

Laboratory use
Xylene is used in the laboratory to make baths with dry ice to cool reaction vessels, and as a solvent to remove synthetic immersion oil from the microscope objective in light microscopy. In histology, xylene is the most widely used clearing agent. Xylene is used to remove paraffin from dried microscope slides prior to staining. After staining, microscope slides are put in xylene prior to mounting with a coverslip.

Precursor to other compounds
In one large-scale application, para-xylene is converted to terephthalic acid. The major application of ortho-xylene is as a precursor to phthalate esters, used as plasticizer. Meta-xylene is converted to isophthalic acid derivatives, which are components of alkyd resins.

Chemical properties
Generally, two kinds of reactions occur with xylenes: those involving the methyl groups and those involving the ring C–H bonds. Being benzylic and hence weakened, the C–H bonds of the methyl groups are susceptible to free-radical reactions, including halogenation to the corresponding xylene dichlorides (bis(chloromethyl)benzenes), while mono-bromination yields xylyl bromide, a tear gas agent. Oxidation and ammoxidation also target the methyl groups, affording dicarboxylic acids and the dinitriles. Electrophiles attack the aromatic ring, leading to chloro- and nitroxylenes.

Health and safety
Xylene is flammable but of modest acute toxicity, with ranges from 200 to 5000 mg/kg for animals. Oral for rats is 4300 mg/kg. The principal mechanism of detoxification is oxidation to methylbenzoic acid and hydroxylation to hydroxylene.

The main effect of inhaling xylene vapor is depression of the central nervous system (CNS), with symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. At an exposure of 100 ppm, one may experience nausea or a headache. At an exposure between 200 and 500 ppm, symptoms can include feeling "high", dizziness, weakness, irritability, vomiting, and slowed reaction time.

The side effects of exposure to low concentrations of xylene (< 200 ppm) are reversible and do not cause permanent damage. Long-term exposure may lead to headaches, irritability, depression, insomnia, agitation, extreme tiredness, tremors, hearing loss, impaired concentration and short-term memory loss. A condition called chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy, commonly known as "organic-solvent syndrome" has been associated with xylene exposure. There is very little information available that isolates xylene from other solvent exposures in the examination of these effects.

Hearing disorders have been also linked to xylene exposure, both from studies with experimental animals, as well as clinical studies.

Xylene is also a skin irritant and strips the skin of its oils, making it more permeable to other chemicals. The use of impervious gloves and masks, along with respirators where appropriate, is recommended to avoid occupational health issues from xylene exposure.

Xylenes are metabolized to methylhippuric acids. The presence of methylhippuric acid can be used as a biomarker to determine exposure to xylene.

title: Xylene


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Battle of Austerlitz

The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important military engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire (now Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic). Around 158,000 troops were involved, of which around 24,000 were killed or wounded. The battle is often cited by military historians as one of Napoleon's tactical masterpieces, in the same league as other historic engagements like Cannae or Gaugamela. The military victory of Napoleon's Grande Armée at Austerlitz brought the War of the Third Coalition to an end, with the Peace of Pressburg signed by the French and Austrians later in the month. These achievements did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose armies protected Sicily from a French invasion, to settle. Prussian resistance to the growing power of French military invasions in Central Europe led to the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806.

After eliminating an Austrian army during the Ulm campaign, French forces seized Vienna in November 1805. The Austrians avoided further conflict until the arrival of the Russians, who helped increase the allied numbers. Napoleon sent his army north in pursuit of the Allies but then ordered his forces to retreat so he could feign a grave weakness to lure the Allies into thinking that they were facing a weak army, while it was in fact formidable. Napoleon gave every indication in the days preceding the engagement that the French army was in a pitiful state, even abandoning the dominant Pratzen Heights near Austerlitz. He deployed the French army below the Pratzen Heights and weakened his right flank, enticing the Allies to launch an assault there to roll up the French line. A forced march from Vienna by Marshal Davout and his III Corps plugged the gap left by Napoleon just in time. The Allied deployment against the French right weakened the Allied centre on the Pratzen Heights, which was attacked by the IV Corps of Marshal Soult. With the Allied center demolished, the French swept through both flanks and routed the Allies, which enabled the French to capture thousands of prisoners.

The Allied disaster significantly shook the faith of Emperor Francis in the British-led war effort. France and Austria agreed to an armistice immediately, and the Treaty of Pressburg followed shortly after, on 26 December. Pressburg took Austria out of both the war and the Coalition while reinforcing the earlier treaties of Campo Formio and of Lunéville between the two powers. The treaty confirmed the Austrian loss of lands in Italy and Bavaria to France, and in Germany to Napoleon's German allies. It also imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the Habsburgs and allowed the fleeing Russian troops free passage through hostile territories and back to their home soil. Critically, victory at Austerlitz permitted the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German states intended as a buffer zone between France and the eastern powers, Austria, Prussia and Russia. The Confederation rendered the Holy Roman Empire virtually useless, so Francis dissolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, but remained as emperor of Austria. These achievements failed to establish a lasting peace on the continent. Prussian worries about the growing French influence in Central Europe led to the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806.

Background
Europe had been in turmoil since the start of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792. In 1797, after five years of war, the French Republic subdued the First Coalition, an alliance of Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, and various Italian states. A Second Coalition, led by Britain, Austria and Russia, and including the Ottoman Empire, Portugal and the Kingdom of Naples, was formed in 1798, but by 1801, this too had been defeated, leaving Britain the only opponent of the new French Consulate. In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to end hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens.

However, many problems persisted between the two sides, making implementation of the treaty increasingly difficult. The British government resented having to return the Cape Colony and most of the Dutch West Indian islands to the Batavian Republic. Napoleon was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta. The tense situation only worsened when Napoleon sent an expeditionary force to crush the Haitian Revolution. In May 1803, Britain declared war on France.

Third Coalition
In December 1804, an Anglo-Swedish agreement led to the creation of the Third Coalition. British Prime Minister William Pitt (the Younger) spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France, and by April 1805, Britain and Russia had signed an alliance. Having been defeated twice in recent memory by France and being keen on revenge, Austria joined the Coalition a few months later.

French Imperial army
Before the formation of the Third Coalition, Napoleon had assembled an invasion force called the Armée d'Angleterre (Army of England) around six camps at Boulogne in Northern France. He intended to use this force, amounting to 150,000 men, to strike at England and was so confident of success that he had commemorative medals struck to celebrate the conquest of the English. Although they never invaded, Napoleon's troops received careful and invaluable training for any possible military operation. Boredom among the troops occasionally set in, but Napoleon paid many visits and conducted lavish parades to boost morale.

The men at Boulogne formed the core for what Napoleon would later call La Grande Armée. The army was organized into seven corps, which were large field units that contained 36 to 40 cannons each and were capable of independent action until other corps could come to their aid. A single corps (adequately situated in a solid defensive position) could survive at least a day without support. In addition to these forces, Napoleon created a cavalry reserve of 22,000 organized into two cuirassier divisions, four mounted dragoon divisions, one division of dismounted dragoons and one of light cavalry, all supported by 24 artillery pieces. By 1805, the Grande Armée had grown to a force of 350,000 men, who were well equipped, well trained, and led by competent officers.

Russian Imperial army
The Russian army in 1805 had many characteristics of Ancien Régime organization. There was no permanent formation above the regimental level, and senior officers mostly belonged to aristocratic circles. The Russian infantry was considered one of the hardiest in Europe, with fine artillery crewed by experienced professional soldiers.

Austrian Imperial army
Archduke Charles, brother of the Austrian Emperor, had started to reform the Austrian army in 1801 by taking away power from the Hofkriegsrat, the military-political council responsible for the armed forces. Charles was Austria's most able field commander, but he was unpopular at court and lost much influence when, against his advice, Austria decided to go to war with France. Karl Mack became the new main commander in Austria's army, instituting reforms on the eve of the war that called for a regiment to be composed of four battalions of four companies, rather than three battalions of six companies.

Preliminary moves

In August 1805, Napoleon, Emperor of the French since December of the previous year, turned his sights from the English Channel to the Rhine to deal with the new Austrian and Russian threats. On 25 September after a feverish march in great secrecy, 200,000 French troops began to cross the Rhine on a front of 260 km. Mack had gathered the greater part of the Austrian army at the fortress of Ulm in Swabia.

Napoleon swung his forces southward in a wheeling movement that put the French at the Austrian rear while launching cavalry attacks through the Black Forest, which kept the Austrians at bay. The Ulm Maneuver was well-executed, and on 20 October, 23,000 Austrian troops surrendered at Ulm, bringing the number of Austrian prisoners of the campaign to 60,000. Although this spectacular victory was soured by the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar the following day, French success on land continued as Vienna fell in November. The French gained 100,000 muskets, 500 cannons, and intact bridges across the Danube.

Russian delays prevented them from saving the Austrian armies; the Russians withdrew to the northeast to await reinforcements and link up with surviving Austrian units. Tsar Alexander I appointed general Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov commander-in-chief of the combined Russo-Austrian force. On 9 September 1805, Kutuzov arrived at the battlefield, quickly contacting Francis I of Austria and his courtiers to discuss strategy and logistics. Under pressure from Kutuzov, the Austrians agreed to supply munitions and weapons promptly. Kutuzov also spotted shortcomings in the Austrian defense plan, which he called "very dogmatic". He objected to the Austrian annexation of the land recently under Napoleon's control because this would make the local people distrust the allied force.

The French followed after Kutuzov but soon found themselves in a difficult position. Prussian intentions were unknown and could be hostile; the Russian and Austrian armies had converged, and French lines of communication were extremely long, requiring strong garrisons to keep them open. Napoleon realized that to capitalize on the success at Ulm, he had to force the Allies to battle and then defeat them.

On the Russian side, Kutuzov also realized Napoleon needed to do battle, so instead of clinging to the "suicidal" Austrian defense plan, Kutuzov decided to retreat. He ordered Pyotr Bagration to contain the French at Vienna with 600 soldiers. He instructed Bagration to accept Murat's ceasefire proposal so the Allied Army could have more time to retreat. It was later discovered that the proposal was false and had been used to launch a surprise attack on Vienna. Nonetheless, Bagration held off the French assault for a time by negotiating an armistice with Murat, thereby providing Kutuzov time to position himself with the Russian rearguard near Hollabrunn.

Murat initially refrained from an attack, believing the entire Russian army stood before him. Napoleon soon realized Murat's mistakes and ordered him to pursue quickly, but the allied army had already retreated to Olmütz. According to Kutuzov's plan, the Allies would retreat further to the Carpathian region and "at Galicia, I will bury the French."

Napoleon did not stay still. The French Emperor decided to set a psychological trap to lure the Allies out. Days before any fighting, Napoleon had been giving the impression that his army was weak and desired a negotiated peace. About 53,000 French troops—including Soult, Lannes, and Murat's forces—were assigned to take Austerlitz and the Olmütz road, occupying the enemy's attention. The Allied forces, numbering about 89,000, seemed far superior and would be tempted to attack the outnumbered French army. However, the Allies did not know that Bernadotte, Mortier and Davout were already within supporting distance and could be called in by forced marches -- Bernadotte from Iglau, and Mortier and Davout from Vienna -- which would raise the French number to 75,000 troops.

Napoleon's lure did not stop at that. On 25 November, General Savary was sent to the Allied headquarters at Olmütz to deliver Napoleon's message, expressing his desire to avoid a battle while secretly examining the Allied forces' situation. As expected, the overture was seen as a sign of weakness. When Francis I offered an armistice on the 27th, Napoleon accepted enthusiastically. On the same day, Napoleon ordered Soult to abandon both Austerlitz and the Pratzen Heights and, while doing so, to create an impression of chaos during the retreat that would induce the enemy to occupy the Heights.

The next day (28 November), the French Emperor requested a personal interview with Alexander I. He received a visit from the Tsar's most impetuous aide, Prince Peter Dolgorukov. The meeting was another part of the trap, as Napoleon intentionally expressed anxiety and hesitation to his opponents. Dolgorukov reported an additional indication of French weakness to the Tsar.

The plan was successful. Many Allied officers, including the Tsar's aides and the Austrian Chief of Staff Franz von Weyrother, strongly supported an immediate attack and appeared to sway Tsar Alexander. Kutuzov's plan to retreat further to the Carpathian region was rejected, and the Allied forces soon fell into Napoleon's trap.

Battle

The battle began with the French army outnumbered. Napoleon had some 72,000 men and 157 guns for the impending battle, with about 7,000 troops under Davout still far to the south in the direction of Vienna. The Allies had about 85,000 soldiers, seventy percent of them Russian, and 318 guns.

At first, Napoleon was not confident of victory. In a letter written to Minister of Foreign Affairs Talleyrand, Napoleon requested Talleyrand not tell anyone about the upcoming battle because he did not want to disturb Empress Joséphine. According to Frederick C. Schneid, the French Emperor's chief worry was how he could explain to Joséphine a French defeat.

Battlefield
The battle took place about six miles (ten kilometres) southeast of the city of Brno, between that city and Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) in what is now the Czech Republic. The northern part of the battlefield was dominated by the 700-foot (210-metre) Santon Hill and the 880-foot (270-meter) Žuráň Hill, both overlooking the vital Olomouc/Brno road, which was on an east–west axis. To the west of these two hills was the village of Bellowitz (Bedřichovice), and between them, the Bosenitz (Roketnice) stream went south to link up with the Goldbach (Říčka) stream, the latter flowing by the villages of Kobelnitz (Kobylnice), Sokolnitz (Sokolnice), and Telnitz (Telnice).

The centrepiece of the entire area was the Pratzen (Prace) Heights, a gently sloping hill about 35 to 40 feet (10 to 12 metres) in height. An aide noted that Napoleon repeatedly told his marshals, "Gentlemen, examine this ground carefully, it is going to be a battlefield; you will have a part to play upon it."

Allied plans and dispositions

The Allied council met on 1 December to discuss proposals for the battle. Most Allied strategists had two fundamental ideas: contacting the enemy and securing the southern flank that held the communication line to Vienna. Although the Tsar and his immediate entourage pushed hard for a battle, Emperor Francis of Austria was more cautious, and, as mentioned, he was seconded by Kutuzov, the Commander-in-chief of the Russians and the Allied troops. The pressure to fight from the Russian nobles and the Austrian commanders, however, was too strong, and the Allies adopted the plan of the Austrian Chief-of-Staff, Franz von Weyrother. This called for a main drive against the French right flank, which the Allies noticed was lightly guarded, and diversionary attacks against the French left. The Allies deployed most of their troops into four columns that would attack the French right. The Russian Imperial Guard was held in reserve while Russian troops under Bagration guarded the Allied right. The Russian Tsar stripped Kutuzov of his authority as Commander-in-Chief and gave it to Franz von Weyrother. In the battle, Kutuzov could only command the IV Corps of the Allied army, although he was still the nominal commander because the Tsar was afraid to take over if his favoured plan failed.

French plans and dispositions

Napoleon hoped that the Allied forces would attack, and to encourage them, he deliberately weakened his right flank. On 28 November, Napoleon met with his marshals at Imperial Headquarters, who informed him of their qualms about the forthcoming battle. He shrugged off their suggestion of retreat.

Napoleon's plan envisaged that the Allies would throw many troops to envelop his right flank to cut the French communication line from Vienna. As a result, the Allies' center and left flank would be exposed and become vulnerable. To encourage them to do so, Napoleon abandoned the strategic position on the Pratzen Heights, faking the weakness of his forces and his caution. Meanwhile, Napoleon's main force was to be concealed in a dead ground opposite the Heights. According to the plan, the French troops would attack and recapture the Pratzen Heights, then from the Heights, they would launch a decisive assault to the center of the Allied army, cripple them, and encircle them from the rear. "If the Russian force leaves the Pratzen Heights in order to go to the right side, they will certainly be defeated."

The massive thrust through the Allied centre was conducted by 16,000 troops of Soult's IV Corps. IV Corps' position was cloaked by dense mist during the early stage of the battle; in fact, how long the mist lasted was vital to Napoleon's plan: Soult's troops would become uncovered if the mist dissipated too soon, but if it lingered too long, Napoleon would be unable to determine when the Allied troops had evacuated Pratzen Heights, preventing him from timing his attack properly.

Meanwhile, to support his weak right flank, Napoleon ordered Davout's III Corps to force march from Vienna and join General Legrand's men, who held the extreme southern flank that would bear the heaviest part of the Allied attack. Davout's soldiers had 48 hours to march 110 km. Their arrival was crucial in determining the success of the French plan. Indeed, the arrangement of Napoleon on the right flank was precarious as the French had only minimal troops garrisoning there. However, Napoleon was able to use such a risky plan because Davout—the commander of III Corps—was one of Napoleon's best marshals, because the right flank's position was protected by a complicated system of streams and lakes, and because the French had already settled upon a secondary line of retreat through Brunn. The Imperial Guard and Bernadotte's I Corps were held in reserve while the V Corps under Lannes guarded the northern sector of the battlefield, where the new communication line was located.

By 1 December 1805, the French troops had been shifted in accordance with the Allied movement southward, as Napoleon expected.

Battle begins
The battle began at about 8 a.m., with the first allied lines attacking the village of Telnitz, which the 3rd Line Regiment defended. This battlefield sector witnessed heavy fighting in this early action as several ferocious Allied charges evicted the French from the town and forced them onto the other side of the Goldbach. The first men of Davout's corps arrived at this time and threw the Allies out of Telnitz before they, too, were attacked by hussars and re-abandoned the town. Additional Allied attacks out of Telnitz were checked by French artillery.

Allied columns started pouring against the French right, but not at the desired speed, so the French successfully curbed the attacks. The Allied deployments were mistaken and poorly timed: cavalry detachments under Liechtenstein on the Allied left flank had to be placed in the right flank, and in the process, they ran into, and slowed down, part of the second column of infantry that was advancing towards the French right. At the time, the planners thought this slowing was disastrous, but later on, it helped the Allies. Meanwhile, the leading elements of the second column were attacking the village of Sokolnitz, which was defended by the 26th Light Regiment and the Tirailleurs, French skirmishers. Initial Allied assaults proved unsuccessful, and General Langeron ordered the bombardment of the village. This deadly barrage forced the French out, and at about the same time, the third column attacked the castle of Sokolnitz. The French, however, counterattacked and regained the village, only to be thrown out again. Conflict in this area ended temporarily when Friant's division (part of III Corps) retook the village. Sokolnitz was perhaps the most contested area on the battlefield and would change hands several times as the day progressed.

While the Allied troops attacked the French right flank, Kutuzov's IV Corps stopped at the Pratzen Heights and stayed still. Just like Napoleon, Kutuzov realized the importance of Pratzen and decided to protect the position. But the young Tsar did not, so he ordered the IV Corps to withdraw from the Heights. This act quickly pushed the Allied army into its grave.

"One sharp blow and the war is over"

At about 8:45 a.m., satisfied at the weakness in the enemy center, Napoleon asked Soult how long it would take for his men to reach the Pratzen Heights, to which the Marshal replied, "Less than twenty minutes, sire." About 15 minutes later, Napoleon ordered the attack, adding, "One sharp blow and the war is over."

A dense fog helped to cloud the advance of St. Hilaire's French division, but as they ascended the slope, the legendary 'Sun of Austerlitz' ripped the mist apart and encouraged them forward. Russian soldiers and commanders on top of the heights were stunned to see so many French troops coming towards them. Allied commanders moved some of the delayed detachments of the fourth column into this bitter struggle. Over an hour of fighting destroyed much of this unit. The other men from the second column, primarily inexperienced Austrians, also participated in the struggle and swung the numbers against one of the best fighting forces in the French army, eventually forcing them to withdraw down the slopes. However, gripped by desperation, St. Hilaire's men struck hard again and bayoneted the Allies out of the heights. To the north, General Vandamme's division attacked an area called Staré Vinohrady ("Old Vineyards") and, through talented skirmishing and deadly volleys, broke several Allied battalions.

The battle had firmly turned in France's favor, but it was far from over. Napoleon ordered Bernadotte's I Corps to support Vandamme's left and moved his command center from Žuráň Hill to St. Anthony's Chapel on the Pratzen Heights. The problematic position of the Allies was confirmed by the decision to send in the Russian Imperial Guard; Grand Duke Constantine, Tsar Alexander's brother, commanded the Guard and counterattacked in Vandamme's section of the field, forcing a bloody effort and the only loss of a French standard in the battle (a battalion of the 4th Line Regiment was defeated). Sensing trouble, Napoleon ordered his own heavy Guard cavalry forward. These men pulverized their Russian counterparts, but with both sides pouring in large masses of cavalry, no victory was clear.

The Russians had a numerical advantage, but soon the tide swung as Drouet's Division, the 2nd of Bernadotte's I Corps, deployed on the flank of the action and allowed French cavalry to seek refuge behind their lines. The horse artillery of the Guard also inflicted heavy casualties on the Russian cavalry and fusiliers. The Russians broke, and many died as they were pursued by the reinvigorated French cavalry for about a quarter of a mile. Kutuzov was severely wounded, and his son-in-law, Ferdinand von Tiesenhausen, was killed.

Endgame
"I was ... under fierce and continuous canister fire ... Many soldiers, now incessantly engaged in battle from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., had no cartridges left. I could do nothing but retreat ..."

Meanwhile, the northernmost part of the battlefield also witnessed heavy fighting. The Prince of Liechtenstein's heavy cavalry began to assault Kellerman's lighter cavalry forces after eventually arriving at the correct position in the field. The fighting initially went well for the French, but Kellerman's forces took cover behind General Caffarelli's infantry division once it became clear that Russian numbers were too great. Caffarelli's men halted the Russian assaults and permitted Murat to send two cuirassier divisions (one commanded by d'Hautpoul and the other one by Nansouty) into the fray to finish off the Russian cavalry for good. The ensuing mêlée was bitter and long, but the French ultimately prevailed. Lannes then led his V Corps against Bagration's men and, after hard fighting, drove the skilled Russian commander off the field. He wanted to pursue, but Murat, who was in control of this sector on the battlefield, was against the idea.

Napoleon's focus shifted towards the southern end of the battlefield, where the French and the Allies were still fighting over Sokolnitz and Telnitz. In an effective double-pronged assault, St. Hilaire's division and part of Davout's III Corps smashed through the enemy at Sokolnitz, which persuaded the commanders of the first two columns, Generals Kienmayer and Langeron, to flee as fast as they could. Buxhowden, the commander of the Allied left and the man responsible for leading the attack, was completely drunk and fled as well. Kienmayer covered his withdrawal with the O'Reilly light cavalry, who managed to defeat five of six French cavalry regiments before they had to retreat.

General panic seized the Allied army, and it abandoned the field in all possible directions. A famous, albeit disputed, episode occurred during this retreat: Russian forces that the French had defeated withdrew south towards Vienna via the frozen Satschan ponds. French artillery pounded towards the men, and the ice was broken due to the bombardment. The men drowned in the cold ponds, dozens of Russian artillery pieces going down with them. Estimates of how many guns were captured differ: there may have been as few as 38 or more than 100. Sources also differ about casualties, with figures ranging between 200 and 2,000 dead. Many drowning Russians were saved by their victorious foes. However, local evidence later made public suggests that Napoleon's account of the catastrophe may have been exaggerated; on his instructions, the lakes were drained a few days after the battle and the corpses of only two or three men, with some 150 horses, were found. On the other hand, Tsar Alexander I attested to the incident after the wars.

Military and political results
Allied casualties stood at about 36,000 out of an army of 89,000, representing about 38% of their effective forces. The French were not unscathed in the battle, losing around 9,000 out of an army of 66,000, or about 13% of their forces. The Allies also lost some 180 guns and about 50 standards. The victory was met by sheer amazement and delirium in Paris, where the nation had been teetering on the brink of financial collapse just days earlier. Napoleon wrote to Josephine, "I have beaten the Austro-Russian army commanded by the two emperors. I am a little weary. ... I embrace you." Napoleon's comments in this letter led to the battle's other famous designation, "Battle of the Three Emperors". However, Napoleon was mistaken as Emperor Francis of Austria was not present on the battlefield. Tsar Alexander perhaps best summed up the harsh times for the Allies by stating, "We are babies in the hands of a giant." After hearing the news of Austerlitz, British Prime Minister William Pitt said of a map of Europe, "Roll up that map; it will not be wanted these ten years."

France and Austria signed a truce on 4 December, and the Treaty of Pressburg 22 days later took the latter out of the war. Austria agreed to recognize French territory captured by the treaties of Campo Formio (1797) and Lunéville (1801), cede land to Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden, which were Napoleon's German allies, pay 40 million francs in war indemnities and cede Venice to the Kingdom of Italy. It was a harsh end for Austria but certainly not a catastrophic peace. The Russian army was allowed to withdraw to home territory, and the French ensconced themselves in Southern Germany. The Holy Roman Empire was extinguished, 1806 being seen as its final year. Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, a string of German states meant to serve as a buffer between France and Prussia. Prussia saw these and other moves as an affront to its status as the main power of Central Europe, and it went to war with France in 1806.

Rewards
Napoleon's words to his troops after the battle were full of praise: ''Soldats! Je suis content de vous'' (Soldiers! I am pleased with you). The Emperor provided two million golden francs to the higher officers and 200 francs to each soldier, with large pensions for the widows of the fallen. Orphaned children were adopted by Napoleon personally and were allowed to add "Napoleon" to their baptismal and family names. This battle is one of four for which Napoleon never awarded a victory title, the others being Marengo, Jena, and Friedland.

In popular culture

Artists and musicians on the side of France and her conquests expressed their sentiments in the popular and elite art of the time. Prussian music critic E. T. A. Hoffmann, in his famous review of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, "singles out for special abuse a certain Bataille des trois Empereurs, a French battle symphony by Louis Jadin celebrating Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz."

Leo Tolstoy dramatized the battle as the conclusion of Book 3 and Volume 1 of War and Peace, making it a crucial moment in the lives of both Andrei Bolkonsky, who is badly wounded, and of Nikolai Rostov.

Archibald Alison in his History of Europe (1836) offers the first recorded telling of the apocryphal story that when the Allies descended the Pratzen Heights to attack Napoleon's supposedly weak flank, "The marshals who surrounded Napoleon saw the advantage, and eagerly besought him to give the signal for action; but he restrained their ardour ... 'when the enemy is making a false movement we must take good care not to interrupt him.'"

In subsequent accounts, this Napoleonic quote would undergo various changes until it became: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

Historical views

Napoleon did not succeed in defeating the Allied army as thoroughly as he wanted, but historians and enthusiasts alike recognize that the original plan provided a significant victory, comparable to other great tactical battles such as Cannae. Some historians suggest that Napoleon was so successful at Austerlitz that he lost touch with reality, and what used to be French foreign policy became a "personal Napoleonic one" after the battle. In French history, Austerlitz is acknowledged as an impressive military victory, and in the 19th century, when fascination with the First French Empire was at its height, the battle was revered by French authors such as Victor Hugo, who wrote of the "sound of heavy cannons rolling towards Austerlitz" echoing in the "depths of [his] thoughts". In the 2005 bicentennial, however, controversy erupted when neither French President Jacques Chirac nor Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin attended any functions commemorating the battle. On the other hand, some residents of France's overseas departments protested against what they viewed as the "official commemoration of Napoleon", arguing that Austerlitz should not be celebrated since they believed that Napoleon committed genocide against colonial people.

After the battle, Tsar Alexander I blamed Kutuzov, the Commander-in-chief of the Allied Army. However, it is clear that Kutuzov planned to retreat farther to the rear, where the Allied Army had a sharp advantage in logistics. Had the Allied Army retreated further, they might have been reinforced by Archduke Charles's troops from Italy, and the Prussians might have joined the Coalition against Napoleon. A French army at the end of its supply lines, in a place that had no food supplies, might have faced a very different ending from the one they achieved at the real battle of Austerlitz.

Monuments and protection of the area

In the years following the battle, many memorials were set up around the affected villages to commemorate both the individual episodes of the battle and the thousands of its victims. Since 1992, the area where the Battle of Austerlitz took place has been protected by law as a landscape monument zone. Its value lies in the historical peculiarities of the place, the historical connections of settlements, landscapes and terrain formations, and the overall landscape image. The area extends to 19 of today's municipalities:

 * Blažovice
 * Holubice
 * Hostěrádky-Rešov
 * Jiříkovice
 * Kobylnice
 * Křenovice
 * Podolí
 * Ponětovice
 * Prace
 * Sivice
 * Šlapanice
 * Slavkov u Brna
 * Sokolnice
 * Telnice
 * Tvarožná
 * Újezd u Brna
 * Velatice
 * Žatčany
 * Zbýšov

Near Prace is the Cairn of Peace Memorial, claimed to be the first peace memorial in Europe. It was designed and built in the Art Nouveau style by Josef Fanta in 1910–1912. World War I postponed the monument's dedication until 1923. It is 26 m high, square, with four female statues symbolizing France, Austria, Russia and Moravia. Within is a chapel with an ossuary. A nearby small museum commemorates the battle. Every year, the events of the Battle of Austerlitz are commemorated in a ceremony.

Other memorials located in the monument zone include, among others:
 * The Staré Vinohrady height near Zbýšov saw the bloody collision of the French and Russian guards. In 2005, the Monument to the Three Emperors has been erected here.
 * Stará Pošta ("Old Post") in Kovalovice is an original building from 1785, which now serves as a hotel and restaurant. On 28 November 1805, the French cavalry general Murat set up his headquarters here. On the day of the battle, the Russian general Bagration had his headquarters here. After the battle, Napoleon slept in this house and held preliminary negotiations about an armistice. A small museum commemorates these events.
 * On Santon Hill in Tvarožná is a small white chapel. The hill was a mainstay of the French position and allowed the French artillery to dominate the northern portion of the battlefield. Below the hill, the yearly historical reenactments take place.
 * On Žuráň Hill, where Napoleon was headquartered, a granite monument depicts the battlefield positions.
 * Slavkov Castle, where an armistice was signed between Austria and France after the battle on 6 December 1805. There is a small historical museum and a multimedia presentation about the battle.

Several monuments to the battle can be found far beyond the battle area. A notable monument is the Pyramid of Austerlitz, built by French soldiers stationed there to commemorate the 1805 campaign near Utrecht in the Netherlands. In Paris, the 44-metre-high bronze Colonne Vendôme, a celebration of Napoleon, also stands on the Place Vendôme. The monument was initially called the Column of Austerlitz and, according to propaganda, was cast from the melted-down barrels of Allied guns from the Battle of Austerlitz. Several other sites and public buildings commemorate the encounter in Paris, such as Pont d'Austerlitz and nearby Gare d'Austerlitz. A scene from the battle is also depicted on the bas-relief of the eastern pillar of the Arc de Triomphe and Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.

General references

 * Castle, Ian. Austerlitz 1805: The Fate of Empires. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-136-2
 * Castle, Ian. Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Eagles of Europe. Pen & Sword Books, 2005. ISBN 1-84415-171-9.
 * Dupuy, Trevor N. (1990). Understanding Defeat: How to Recover from Loss in Battle to Gain Victory in War. Paragon House. ISBN 1-5577-8099-4.
 * Farwell, Byron (2001). The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. ISBN 0-393-04770-9.
 * Goetz, Robert. 1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition (Greenhill Books, 2005). ISBN 1-85367-644-6.
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Dupuy, Trevor N. (1990). Understanding Defeat: How to Recover from Loss in Battle to Gain Victory in War. Paragon House. ISBN 1-5577-8099-4.
 * Farwell, Byron (2001). The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View. New York: W. W. Norton and Company. ISBN 0-393-04770-9.
 * Goetz, Robert. 1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition (Greenhill Books, 2005). ISBN 1-85367-644-6.
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Goetz, Robert. 1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition (Greenhill Books, 2005). ISBN 1-85367-644-6.
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Marbot, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Marcelin. "The Battle of Austerlitz", Napoleon: Symbol for an Age, A Brief History with Documents, ed. Rafe Blaufarb (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008), 122–123.
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3
 * Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace. London: Penguin Group, 1982. ISBN 0-14-044417-3

title: Battle of Austerlitz


text:
Roman Tam

Roman Tam Pak-sin (12 February 1945– 18 October 2002), known professionally by his stage name Law Man, was a Hong Kong singer. He is regarded as the "Grand Godfather of Cantopop".

Career
Born in Baise, Guangxi, China, with family roots in Guiping, Guangxi. He moved to Guangzhou (Canton) in 1947 at the age of 2. He later emigrated to Hong Kong in 1962 at the age of 17 because his mother fell ill and was only able to get better medical treatment in Hong Kong. He was poor and was only able to sleep with a sleeping bag and a radio on the floor of a banking building. His musical interests started from listening to the radio. After forming a short-lived band known as Roman and the Four Steps to emulate The Beatles and winning a talent contest in Japan, he became a contract singer under studios term at TVB. He briefly switched to Asia Television in the early 1990s. His stage name was actually a transliteration of his English name, Roman.

During the 1990s, he accepted many budding singers as his students. Some of whom that became famous included Shirley Kwan, Joey Yung and Ekin Cheng. He had sung many well-known solos and duets for various TV series including Below the Lion Rock, and the famous 1983 TVB TV series The Legend of the Condor Heroes main theme duet with Jenny Tseng.

Tam was also known for bending and breaking gender norms, with a "flamboyant" on-stage persona. He was the first Hong Kong pop star to perform in drag and was featured in a magazine while posing in the nude. Although the latter was controversial at the time, Tam "'got away with his on-stage flamboyance because of his off-stage discretion' and was accepted 'in mainstream Chinese culture at a time when homosexuality was outlawed'". He never married and maintained a high degree of privacy in his personal life.

Tam officially retired in 1996, but continued to perform occasionally with other artists.

On 19 October 2002, Tam died in Hong Kong at Queen Mary Hospital from liver cancer at the age of 57. Then-Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho expressed his condolences.

title: Roman Tam


text:
Art Olivier

Arthur C. Olivier (born August 24, 1957) is an American politician. He is the former mayor of Bellflower, California, and was the Libertarian candidate for vice president in the 2000 United States presidential election as the running mate of presidential candidate Harry Browne.

He ran in the 2024 Libertarian Party presidential primaries for the party's presidential nomination.

Art Olivier is a graduate of Cerritos College with a degree in Design Technology. He has three children.

Olivier served as a councilman (1994–1997), mayor pro tempore (1997–1998) and mayor (1998–1999) of Bellflower, a Los Angeles suburb with 77,000 residents. Olivier is a Realtor with Cogburn Realty.

During his five years on the City Council (1994–99), Olivier privatized the city's tree trimming, crossing guards, street sweeping and the Building Department. He eliminated the city's lighting tax assessment and did not allow eminent domain to be exercised while on council.

Views
During the campaign for vice president, Olivier advocated smaller government, "We have to reduce the size of the federal government back to the size of its constitutional limits." Critical of the U.S. foreign policy of interventionism,  he said he would like the government to return U.S. troops from abroad and make the Department of Defense get back to defending us, and not be a Department of Offense that bombs little countries." "I don't believe we should be the world's policeman." He believes that U.S. foreign policy should be governed by an avoidance of “entangling alliances." "The conflicts this country has entered into cause others to look badly upon America."

Olivier ran uncontested for governor in the 2006 Libertarian primary. He received 114,329 votes (1.3%) in his loss to incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger in the general election. Olivier criticized Governor Schwarzenegger for passing a budget that was “30% larger than the one that got Governor Gray Davis recalled just three years ago.” Olivier's main earned media was talk radio, advertising his opposition to illegal immigration. Olivier favored having the government build a wall on the border and cut off all tax-funded programs to illegal immigrants.

2000 Libertarian vice presidential nominee
On July 4, 2000, Olivier was chosen as the Libertarian Party's Vice Presidential nominee for the 2000 Presidential Election. He beat Steve Kubby on the second ballot. He ran with Harry Browne. They got 5th place and 384,431 votes.

2006 California gubernatorial campaign

In the 2006 California Gubernatorial Election, Olivier ran angainst Arnold Schwarzenegger and Phil Angelides. He said he appeared on more talk radio shows than all other candidates combined. Olivier finished in 4th place. He got around 1% of the vote.

2024 Libertarian presidential campaign
Olivier ran for president in the 2024 Libertarian Party primaries. He earned 5 votes in the primaries.

In the first round of voting in the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, Olivier got 4 delegate votes. He was eliminated in the first round. The nomination eventually went to Chase Oliver.

Operation Terror
Olivier is supportive of the 9/11 truth movement. In 2012, he wrote and produced the thriller film Operation Terror, which depicted a fictionalized version of the September 11 attacks in New York City, 2001. The movie's plot centered on a group of American government insiders that organized and assembled a group of people to attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In writing Operation Terror, Olivier used dialogue taken from transcripts of the investigation by the 9/11 Commission and based the film's characters on real-life players in the 9/11 attack.

The film premiered on September 11, 2012, in Los Angeles, and received the Honorable Mention Award at the International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration and Equality and won the Genre Film: Thriller award at the International Movie Awards. The film's director, Paul Cross, was also nominated for Best Director at the Fajr International Film Festival.

title: Art Olivier


text:
MIC

Mic or MIC may refer to:
 * Microphone, an acoustic transducer

Places

 * Federated States of Micronesia, UNDP country code
 * Miami Intermodal Center, a mega-transportation hub in Miami, Florida

People

 * Mic (name), numerous people

Arts, entertainment, and media

 * M.I.C. (band), a Chinese band formed by Taihe Rye Music
 * Mic (media company), a media company focused on news for millennials
 * Mic, an abbreviation for referencing the Book of Micah
 * Made in Chelsea, a television series

Business

 * Metal Improvement Company, a company specializing in metal surface treatments
 * Merida Industry Co., Ltd., a bicycle manufacturing company in Taiwan
 * Military Industries Corporation (Saudi Arabia), the main armament industry for the Saudi military
 * Military Industry Corporation, the main armament industry for the Sudanese military
 * Myanmar Investment Commission, a government-appointed body
 * Mortgage investment corporation, a Canadian investment and lending company
 * Motorcycle Industry Council, an American non-profit trade association
 * MIC (organization), a Russian construction organization

Government and politics

 * Malaysian Indian Congress, a Malaysian political party
 * Military–industrial complex, the relationship between a nation's military forces, its arms industry, and government
 * Military Intelligence Corps (Sri Lanka), a Sri Lankan military corp that is responsible for gathering, analyzing, and distributing military intelligence
 * Military Intelligence Corps (United States Army), the intelligence branch of the United States Army, responsible for gathering, analyzing, and distributing military intelligence
 * Ministry of Information and Communication (South Korea), a government agency
 * Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a Japanese government agency

Other organizations

 * Marians of the Immaculate Conception, a Roman Catholic clerical congregation
 * Mary Immaculate College, a college in Limerick, Ireland
 * Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference, a high school athletic conference in Indiana, United States
 * Midwest Independent Conference, United States, NCAA women's gymnastics conference
 * Multan Institute of Cardiology, Pakistan

Science and medicine

 * Major immunogene complex, gene complex coding immune response
 * Maximal information coefficient, a statistical measure of association between variables
 * Medical image computing, an interdisciplinary field
 * Metal-induced crystallization, a method for turning amorphous silicon into polycrystalline silicon
 * Metastable intermolecular composite, a type of reactive material in explosives research
 * Methyl isocyanate, a chemical compound used in pesticides
 * Microbial corrosion, or microbially-induced corrosion, corrosion caused or promoted by microorganisms
 * Microscopium (constellation), abbreviation Mic
 * Minimum inhibitory concentration, in microbiology, the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial that will inhibit growth of a microorganism
 * Morbus ischaemicus cordis, Latin for coronary artery disease
 * Medically induced coma

Technology

 * Machine Identification Code, a watermark generated by some printers
 * Mandatory Integrity Control, a new security feature in Microsoft Windows Vista
 * Intel MIC, Intel's Many Integrated Core processor architecture
 * Media Interface Connector, for fiber optics
 * Message Integrity Code, a cryptographic checksum used in wireless communications
 * Micrometer (device), a measuring tool
 * Microscope, an instrument for optical magnification
 * Microsoft Innovation Center, Microsoft partners
 * Microwave integrated circuit, a type of integrated circuit

Other uses

 * Market Identifier Code, or ISO 10383, a unique identification code, which serves as a standard to identify securities trading exchanges, regulated and non-regulated trading markets
 * Mi'kmaq language, by ISO 639 alpha-2 language code
 * Middle income country, a developing country
 * Crystal Airport (Minnesota), by IATA code

title: MIC


text:
Talk:Philip I of France

old comments
Russian mother? what Russians at 11 century?

There is an inconsistency within the 'pedia regarding the date of his death. This article says July 29, whereas the July 31 entry says otherwise. -User:Olivier

 * He died sometime during the night between July 29 and July 30, at Melun, so it definitely shouldn't be July 31. Someone else

There is another inconsistency regarding the spelling of his name. The entire article has it spelt "Philippe" and the title says "Philip". Although it would seem that the article is right because AFAIK that is the proper French spelling of the name, I am not sure. --Lucky13pjn 17:01, Aug 24, 2004 (UTC)

U are american ... dnt say in consistansee — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.56.134.253 (talk) 19:14, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

dates
does anyone know where the birth dates of Philip's children with Bertrade can be found in the sources? CR

As far as I know, no source states the births of Philippe's three children by Bertrade. They must've been born between 1092 (when Bertrade ran off with Philippe) and 1108, when Philippe died. I think the daughter, Cecile, was probably the firstborn, as she left France in 1106 with her brother-in-law, Bohemund I of Antioch, to marry Bohemund's nephew Tancred. If she were born in 1093, she would have been about thirteen or so, a common enough age for marriage. See Genealogiae Comitum Flandriae for Philippe and Bertrade's children. Missi 00:52, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

Battle of Cassel
"Richilda requested aid from Philip, who defeated Robert at the battle of Cassel in 1071." I don't think "defeated" is the proper word here although Philip actually took Robert prisoner. / Ola

title: Talk:Philip I of France


text:
Malaysian Indian Congress

The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC; மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ்; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is a Malaysian political party. It is one of the founding members of the coalition Barisan Nasional, previously known as the Alliance, which was in power from when the country achieved independence in 1957 until the elections in 2018. The party was among the first to fight for Malayan Independence and is one of the oldest parties in Malaysia.

The MIC was established in August 1946 to advocate for Indian independence from British colonial rule. After India gained its independence, MIC turned its focus to the struggle for the independence of Malaya (now Malaysia), which was achieved in 1957. It positioned itself to represent the Indian community in Malaya in the post-World War II development of the country. The MIC, the United Malays National Organisation and the Malaysian Chinese Association formed the National Alliance in 1954. The National Alliance incorporated additional parties and became the Barisan Nasional in 1973.

The MIC was once the largest party representing the Indian community, but has performed poorly in elections since 2008, losing out to Pakatan Harapan, which also represents majority of the Indian community.

John Thivy and Indian nationalism
John Thivy, the founder of the MIC, met Mahatma Gandhi at London while studying law. He was inspired by Gandhi's ideology and Nehru's vision and became determined to fight for Indian independence. He became actively involved in the Indian nationalist movement and returned to Malaya. He founded the Malaya Indian Congress (renamed Malaysian Indian Congress after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963) in August 1946, and was party president until 1947. The word 'Congress' in the party's name refers to the Indian National Congress, the party Mahatma Gandhi led to fight for Indian independence.

Baba Budh Singh Ji, Ramanathan, and opposition to the Malayan Union
After India gained independence in 1947, the MIC changed its focus and started to fight for the independence of Malaya. Baba Budh Singh Ji became president of MIC in 1947. After World War II, the British had established the Malayan Union, unifying the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. Although a majority of the Indian community supported the Malayan Union, the MIC did not. The Malayan Union was dissolved in 1948 after widespread Malay protests and replaced with the Federation of Malaya. The MIC later joined the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action under Tun Tan Cheng Lock in opposition to the Federation of Malaya Agreement.

K. Ramanathan became president in 1950. By this time, the MIC was the leading party representing Indians in Malaya. Ramanathan advocated for the relaxation of the language proficiency test as a prerequisite for citizenship for Indians, and urged Indians to obtain federal citizenship.

K.L. Devaser and a focus on Malayan independence
The MIC's fourth President, Kundan Lal Devaser, served from 1951 to 1955. It was during his period that MIC started to focus on the fight for Malayan independence.

Under Devaser, the MIC contested the 1952 Kuala Lumpur Municipal Elections in alliance with the Independence of Malaya Party, Dato' Onn bin Jaafar and other non-communal organisations. The election ended with a failure for MIC as their coalition was defeated by the Alliance Party. The defeat showed MIC that it stood a better chance of gaining influence by joining the Alliance. In 1954 the MIC joined the United Malays National Organisation and the Malayan Chinese Association in the Alliance, securing a place for Indians in the administration. The party's broader membership was less enthusiastic than the MIC leadership about joining the Alliance but were willing to support the move if the party could secure concessions from the Alliance on inter-communal issues, particularly on education.

Devaser was primarily popular among the urban-based Indian elite, and lacked wider grassroots support. For the first eight years, MIC leaders were either of North Indian or Malayalee origin, a minority among Malayan Indians. The majority of Indians in Malaya at that time were Tamils, most of whom were labourers in plantations. Indian plantation workers experienced enforced segregation because of plantation compound housing. The plantation labour system also worked against the integration of Indian workers into society and perpetuated racial and occupational differentiation. Plantation workers were unable to acquire the skills required to move to better-paying jobs.

Migrant plantation workers were both marginalised and polarised in Malaya. Their wages were tied to rubber prices, falling when the rubber price fell, and were about 50c per day. Devaser came under heavy criticism from the Tamil media for not addressing the pressing issues facing the community. Some in the party felt that there was a need for a leader with a stronger relationship with the party's grassroots. In March 1955, the local daily Tamil Murasu urged Tamils to boycott the MIC. This was followed by a call for change in MIC's leadership, led by Tamil MIC leaders, and Devaser stepped down. The MIC then faced the challenge of reconciling the political aspirations of the middle class with the needs of the working class, who at the time comprised 84% of the plantation workforce.

V. T Sambanthan and becoming a Tamil party
In May 1955, Tun V. T. Sambanthan was elected as the fifth President of the Malayan Indian Congress. Sambanthan started a recruitment campaign among plantation workers, relying on the patronage of Hinduism in its popular South Indian form, increased use of the Tamil language, and encouraging Tamil cultural activities. He personally toured plantations and encouraged Tamils to join the MIC. This led to a fragmentation of the Indian community, with traditionalists and the lower middle class becoming prominent in the party while upper-class professionals and the intelligentsia moved away from it. Two paths to leadership emerged in the Indian community, via politics or via trade union activism, with very little interaction between them.

Under Sambanthan's leadership, the MIC effectively became a Tamil party. Sambanthan served as president of the MIC until 1971 and was largely responsible for the transformation of the party to a conservative and traditionalist party emphasising Indian culture, religion and language. It was the weakest of the three main political parties, with the smallest electorate (7.4% in 1959) and had little support from the Indian community at large.

The Indian community was geographically dispersed and divided and comprised less than 25% of the population in any constituency. The MIC's overriding concern was therefore to remain a partner in the Alliance and obtain whatever concessions it could from the dominant UMNO. This led the MIC to compromise on priorities such as the political and economic rights of workers.

Sambanthan sold approximately half of his father's 2.4 km2 rubber estate and donated part of the money to the MIC. He was not uniformly popular but was able to gradually unite a party that had significant internal divides. During his presidency, in 1957, Malaysian independence was achieved. Sambanathan was involved in the negotiations with the British government's Reid Commission to draw up the new Malayan constitution. In 1963 Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak merged with the Federation of Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia, and the MIC renamed itself the Malaysian Indian Congress.

Sambanathan was forced to retire in favour of V. Manickavasagam in 1973 after a rebellion by five MIC leaders including Samy Vellu.

Manickavasagam and non-political ventures
Manickavasagam served as president of MIC from 1973 to 1978. During this period, Malaysia's New Economic Policy was being developed, and the MIC convened two economic conferences in an unsuccessful effort to advocate for the interests of Indians.

It was during this period that the MIC, as member of the Alliance, became part of the Barisan Nasional. The party sponsored the Nesa Multipurpose Cooperative and the MIC Unit Trust as part of its programme for economic ventures. It also set up the MIC Education Fund for members' children and the Malaysian Indian Scholarship Fund for higher education as well as acquiring an Institute for training Indians in technical and trade skills.

Manickavasagam appointed several new representatives to leadership positions, including Subramaniam Sathasivam, Datuk K. Pathmanaban, a Harvard MBA holder, and several others. They were young, well-educated and ambitious but lacked grassroots experience. Subramaniam was hand-picked by Manickavasagam to become deputy president and succeed him, but the party elected Samy Vellu as Deputy President instead, by a narrow margin of 26 votes.

Samy Vellu and emphasis on education
Samy Vellu became MIC president in 1979 and served until 2010. Under his leadership, in 1984, the MIC founded the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) to offer educational opportunities and financial support to Indian students in Malaysia. Since its establishment, more than 10,000 students have obtained loans and scholarships totaling about RM60 million MIED fund as of 2013. In 2001, the MIC and MIED launched an AIMST University with the stated goal of helping Indians acquire professional training. Vellu was the founding chancellor of the university. By 2018, the university had achieved a score of 4 on the Malaysian Higher Education Institution's 5-point rating scale. However, AIMST's commitment to training Indian students has been questioned.

Vellu was succeeded by G. Palanivel who served from 2010 to 2014. Subramaniam was then elected, initially in an acting role, serving from 2014 to 2018. , the party is led by Vigneswaran Sanasee.

Central Working Committee

 * President: Vigneswaran Sanasee
 * Deputy President: Saravanan Murugan
 * 1st Vice-president: T. Mohan
 * 2nd Vice-president: T. Murugiah
 * 3rd Vice-president: M. Asojan
 * 4th Vice-president: Vell Paari
 * 5th Vice-president: Kohilan Pillay Appu
 * Secretary-General: R. T. Rajasekaran
 * Treasurer-General: Tan Sri Ramasamy
 * Information Chief: R.Thinalan

 * Executive Secretary: T.Kumaressan
 * Youth Leader: Raven Kumar Krishnasamy
 * Deputy Youth Leader: Andrew David
 * Women Leader: Mohana Muniandy Raman
 * Deputy Women Leader: Vickneswary Babuji
 * Putera Leader: Dr. A. Kishva
 * Deputy Putera Leader: Dr. Shatesh Kumar Sangar
 * Puteri Leader: R. Shaliny
 * Deputy Puteri Leader: S. Teeba

44 Central Working Committee Members: • # M. Veeran

• # K. Subramaniam

• # D. Tharma Kumaran

• # K. Balasundaram

• # P. Kamalanathan

• # K. Parthiban

• # D. Vincent

• # S. Tamilvanan

• # S. Suppayah

• # M. Mathuraiveran

• # S. Marathamuthu

• # N. Maneanay @ Muneandy

• # Dr. T. Novalan

• # G. Sivah

• # M. Karuppanan

• # K. Sathasivam

• # R. Supramaniam

• # R. Rajandran

• # G. Raman

• # M. Rajandran

• # Dr. S. Ananthan

• # V. Arumugam

• # J. Dhinagaran

• # S. Rajah

• # V. Elango

• # R. Vidyananthan

• # L. Manickam

• # Dr. A. Mangleswaran

• # S. Renugopal

• # V. P. Shanmugam

• # Peer Mohamad Bin Kadir

• # C. Sivaraajh

• # K. Ramalingam

• # S. Murugavelu

• # A. Sakthivel

• # N. Sivakumar

• # Siva Subramaniam

• # R. Balasubramaniam

• # A. Krishnaveny

• # R. Inbavally

• # K. Arvind

• # K. Kesavan

• # N. Saraswati

• # R. Nelson Source:

Senators

 * 1) Vell Paari Samy Vellu – appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
 * 2) Mohamed Haniffa Abdullah	 – appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
 * 3) Nelson Renganathan – appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong

Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament
, MIC has only 1 MP in the House of Representatives.

Malaysian State Assembly Representatives
Johor State Legislative Assembly Malacca State Legislative Assembly Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly Perlis State Legislative Assembly

Kedah State Legislative Assembly Kelantan State Legislative Assembly Terengganu State Legislative Assembly

Penang State Legislative Assembly Perak State Legislative Assembly Pahang State Legislative Assembly

Selangor State Legislative Assembly Sabah State Legislative Assembly Sarawak State Legislative Assembly

title: Malaysian Indian Congress