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Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.

Darin started his career as a songwriter for Connie Francis. In 1958, Darin co-wrote and recorded his first million-selling single, "Splish Splash", which was followed by Darin's own song "Dream Lover", then his covers of "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea", which brought him worldwide fame. In 1962, Darin won a Golden Globe Award for his first film, Come September, co-starring his first wife, actress Sandra Dee.

During the 1960s, Darin became more politically active and worked on Robert F. Kennedy's Democratic presidential campaign. He was present at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the time of Robert Kennedy's assassination in June 1968. That same year, Darin discovered the woman who had raised him was his grandmother, not his mother as he thought, and learned that the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother. Those events deeply affected Darin and sent him into a long period of seclusion.

Although Darin made a successful comeback (in television) in the early 1970s, his health was beginning to fail due to a weak heart. The knowledge of Darin's vulnerability had always spurred him on to use his musical talent while still young. Darin died in 1973 at the age of 37 in a hospital recovery room after having open heart surgery in Los Angeles.

Early life
Darin was born Walden Robert Cassotto in East Harlem, New York City, on May 14, 1936, to Vanina Juliette "Nina" Cassotto (born November 30, 1917). Because his mother was only 18 at the time of his birth, Darin's maternal grandmother became his mother and Nina his older sister.

Darin's maternal grandmother, Vivian "Polly" Fern Walden, (born in 1891) was of English, Danish and Norwegian ancestry  and had been a vaudeville singer before Darin's birth. His maternal grandfather, Saverio Antonio "Big Sam Curly" Cassotto (born January 26, 1882), was of Italian descent. He had been a made man and "soldier" in the Genovese Crime Family as well as a close associate of Frank Costello. Sam served as a witness at Costello's 1914 wedding, though the relationship soured after he accused Costello of withholding money that was meant for Cassotto's family. Sam Cassotto died from pneumonia in 1935 while in prison, a year before Darin's birth.

In 1968, when Darin was 32 and considering entering politics, Nina told him the truth, reportedly devastating Darin. She refused to reveal the identity of his biological father and took that secret to her grave when she died in 1983. The man's identity remained unknown until 2020. In April of 2020, Emilio "Milton" Lepore (1911 or '12 – 1965) was traced, through familial DNA, as being Darin's biological father.

Darin moved to the Bronx early in his life (with a rented summer home in Staten Island) and graduated from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. In later years, Darin attributed his arrogance to his experiences there, where Darin was surrounded by brighter students who teased him. Darin then enrolled at Hunter College and soon gravitated to the drama department. After only two semesters, he dropped out to pursue an acting career. Darin was an ambitious young adult and aspired to be an actor, go on Broadway, and become a recording artist.

By the time he was a teenager, Darin could play several instruments, including piano, drums, and guitar. He later added harmonica and xylophone. Darin took his stage name, Bobby Darin, when he began to record. One version of how Darin got the name is that the first three letters on a Mandarin Chinese restaurant were burned out. According to another version, he adapted it from the first name of actor Darren McGavin, TV's Mike Hammer. Darin said: "My legal name will remain Cassotto. Cassotto was my mother's name, and it will be my children's name."

1950s
Darin's career took off with a songwriting partnership, formed in 1955 with Don Kirshner, whom he met at a candy store in Washington Heights. They wrote jingles and songs, beginning with "Bubblegum Pop". In 1956, Darin's agent negotiated a contract with Decca Records. The songs recorded at Decca had minimal commercial success.

A member of the Brill Building gang of struggling songwriters, Darin was introduced to singer Connie Francis, for whom he helped write several songs. They developed a romantic interest, but her father was not fond of Darin and did not approve of the relationship, and the couple split up. At one point, Darin wanted to elope immediately; Francis has said that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life.

Darin left Decca to sign with Atlantic Records' Atco subsidiary, where he wrote and arranged music for himself and others. Songs Darin recorded, such as Harry Warren's "I Found a Million Dollar Baby", were sung in an Elvis style, which did not suit Darin's personality.

Guided by Atlantic's star-maker Ahmet Ertegun, Darin's career finally took off in 1958 when he recorded "Splish Splash". Darin co-wrote the song with radio D.J. Murray Kaufman after a phone call from Kaufman's mother, Jean, a frustrated songwriter. Her latest song idea was: "Splish, Splash, Take a Bath". Both Kaufman and Darin felt the title was lackluster, but Darin, with few options, said: "I could write a song with that title." Within an hour, Darin had written "Splish Splash". The single, Darin's first successful foray into the rock and roll genre, sold more than a million copies. His partnership with Kirshner, who was not involved in the writing of that song, ended at that time. Darin made another recording in 1958 for Brunswick Records with a band called The Ding Dongs. With the success of "Splish Splash" the single was re-released by Atco Records as "Early in the Morning" with the band renamed as The Rinky Dinks. It charted, and made it to number 24 in the United States.

In 1959, Darin recorded the self-penned "Dream Lover", a ballad that became a multi-million seller. With it came financial success and the ability to demand more creative control of his career; Darin meant for his That's All album to show that he could sing more than rock and roll as a result. Darin's next single, "Mack the Knife", the standard from Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, was given a vamping jazz-pop interpretation. Although Darin was initially opposed to releasing it as a single, the song went to No. 1 on the chart for nine weeks, sold two million copies, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960. He was also voted the Grammy Award for Best New Artist that year, and "Mack the Knife" has since been honored with a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Darin followed "Mack" with "Beyond the Sea", a jazzy English-language version of Charles Trenet's French hit song "La Mer". Both tracks were produced by Atlantic founders Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun with staff producer Jerry Wexler and they featured arrangements by Richard Wess.

The late-1950s success included Darin setting the all-time attendance record at the Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan and headlining at the major casinos in Las Vegas.

1960s
Darin's 1960 recording of "Artificial Flowers", a song by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock from the Broadway musical Tenderloin about the death of a child laborer, featured a jazzy, big band arrangement by Richard Behrke, that was in sharp contrast to its tragic lyrics.

In the 1960s, Darin owned and operated, with Doris Day's son Terry Melcher, a music publishing and production company (TM Music/Trio). Darin signed Wayne Newton and gave him the song "Danke Schoen", which became Newton's breakout hit. Darin also was a mentor to Roger McGuinn, who worked for him at TM Music and played the 12-string guitar in Darin's nightclub band before forming the Byrds. Darin also produced Rosey Grier's 1964 LP Soul City, and Made in the Shade for Jimmy Boyd.

In 1962, Darin began to write and sing country music, with hit songs including "Things" (US No. 3/UK No. 2) (1962), "You're the Reason I'm Living" (US No. 3), and "18 Yellow Roses" (US No. 10). The latter two were recorded by Capitol Records, which he joined in 1962, before returning to Atlantic three years later. Darin left Capitol in 1964. Two years later, he had his final UK hit single, with a version of Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter", which peaked at No. 9 (No. 8 in the US). Darin performed the opening and closing songs on the soundtrack of the 1965 Walt Disney film That Darn Cat!. "Things" was sung by Dean Martin in the 1967 TV special Movin' With Nancy, starring Nancy Sinatra.

Acting career
In the fall of 1959, Darin played "Honeyboy Jones" in an early episode of Jackie Cooper's CBS military sitcom/drama Hennesey. That same year, he became the only actor ever to have been signed to five major Hollywood film studios. Darin wrote music for several films in which he appeared.

Darin's first major film, Come September (1961), was a teenager-oriented romantic comedy with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida and featuring 18-year-old actress Sandra Dee. They met during the production of the film and they soon married on December 1, 1960. Dee gave birth to a son, Dodd Mitchell Darin (also known as Morgan Mitchell) on December 16, 1961. Dee and Darin made a few films together with moderate success, such as If a Man Answers (1962), and That Funny Feeling (1965).

In 1961, Darin starred as a struggling jazz musician in Too Late Blues, John Cassavetes' first film for a major Hollywood studio. Writing in 2012, Los Angeles Times critic Dennis Lim observed that Darin was "a surprise in his first nonsinging role, willing to appear both arrogant and weak". In 1962, Darin won the Golden Globe Award for "New Star of the Year – Actor" for his role in Come September. The following year he was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for Pressure Point.

In 1963, Darin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a shell-shocked soldier in Captain Newman, M.D. Throughout his acting career, Darin appeared alongside a series of Hollywood leading men Sidney Poitier, Steve McQueen, and Gregory Peck.

In October 1964, Darin appeared as a wounded ex-convict who is befriended by an orphan girl in "The John Gillman Story" episode of NBC's Wagon Train western television series.

Politics
Darin became more politically active as the 1960s progressed, and his musical output became more "folksy". In 1966, Darin had a hit with folksinger Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", securing a return to the Top 10 after a two-year absence.

Darin traveled with Robert F. Kennedy and worked on the politician's 1968 presidential campaign. He was with Kennedy on June 4, 1968, the day he traveled to Los Angeles for the California primary, and Darin was also at the Ambassador Hotel later that night when Kennedy was assassinated. That event, combined with learning about his true parentage, had a deep effect on Darin, who spent most of the next year living in seclusion in a trailer near Big Sur. In 1968–69, he wrote and recorded two albums that covered issues such as civil rights, poverty, the Vietnam War and the death of RFK – Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto (1968) and Commitment (1969).

Direction Records
Returning to Los Angeles in 1969, Darin started his own record label which was titled Direction Records, putting out folk and protest music. Darin wrote "Simple Song of Freedom" in 1969, which, in an interesting turn of events, was first recorded by Tim Hardin and the song became Hardin's best-selling record. It reached #48 in Canada. Also in Canada, a version by Buckwheat reached #52. Darin himself sang the song "live" on several television variety shows.

Of his first Direction album, Darin told the press, "The purpose of Direction Records is to seek out statement-makers....The album is solely comprisedof [sic] compositions designed to reflect my thoughts on the turbulent aspects of modern society." Darin was struggling with his finances as his music career was dwindling. Darin's venture into protest music was not received favorably and generated little or no profits. In late 1969, Darin sold his songs, his record label (Direction Records), and publishing company (TM Music), losing the copyright to his own music and eventually, their worth. The company Darin sold them to went bankrupt. It was believed that during his final days, Darin was still trying to gain back the rights to his music.

1970s
In 1970, Darin proposed a self-directed and written film The Vendors (1970), about the life of a folk singer. However, the production left him broke and was not released, which led Darin to return to music. In spite of his declining health, Darin's last venture was spent performing live, while undergoing heart surgery and receiving post-treatment medication. He released his last album, self-titled (1972) on Motown.

NBC Variety shows
Beginning on July 27, 1972, Darin starred in his own television variety show on NBC, Dean Martin Presents: The Bobby Darin Amusement Company, which ran for seven episodes ending on September 7. Beginning on January 19, 1973, Darin starred in a similar show on NBC called The Bobby Darin Show. That show ran for 13 episodes, ending on April 27. Darin subsequently made television guest appearances and remained a top draw.

Style and influence
Darin was on par with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. In 1960, Darin infamously told Life magazine that he wanted to be established as a legend by the age of 25. Darin's off-the-cuff statements generated a rivalry and playful banter between Sinatra and himself. Sinatra released a cover version of "Mack the Knife" on the 1984 album L.A. Is My Lady, perhaps a testament to Darin.

Darin and Elvis Presley were notable friends and teen idols in the 1950s. On occasion, Presley would sneak into Darin's concerts and watch him perform.

In his short life, Darin explored all genres of music, such as pop, jazz, country, and folk music. In a 1988 Rolling Stone interview, Neil Young confessed: "I used to be pissed off at Bobby Darin because he changed styles so much. Now I look at him and I think he was a fucking genius."

Other interests
Darin was an enthusiastic chess player. His television show included an occasional segment where he would explain a chess move. Darin arranged with the United States Chess Federation to sponsor a grandmaster tournament, which pitted him against the young Eastern Division champion Stephen Ryder, with the largest prize fund in history, but the event was canceled after Darin's death.

Relationship with Connie Francis
In 1956, Darin and Connie Francis met after their manager, George Scheck arranged for Francis to record a song Darin had written. They were soon in what Darin's friends described as, "an intense romance". However, Francis's parents did not approve of Darin and one night after returning from a date, Francis found her bags packed and waiting for her on the front step. Darin proposed almost immediately. When her father found out about the engagement, he stormed into the rehearsals of The Jackie Gleason Show with a gun and threatened to shoot Darin, who managed to escape out of a window. Darin and Francis talked briefly after the show, but parted ways. Over a four-month period in 1956, the two maintained a secret correspondence involving love letters. Darin kept the letters until his death, and the letters were auctioned. These exact letters were returned to Francis later in life.

In the following years, they saw each other several times while appearing on the same television shows but were never romantically involved again. In 1960, Francis heard on the radio that Darin had married Sandra Dee — just as she and her father were driving through the Lincoln Tunnel. Francis later wrote: "I wished that somehow God would cause the Hudson River to come gushing in and entrap us in that tunnel." Francis has said that not marrying Darin was the biggest mistake of her life.

Marriages
Darin married actress Sandra Dee on December 1, 1960. They met in Rome, Italy, while filming Come September (which was released in 1961). It was Dee's mother, Mary Douvon, who convinced the actress to go on a date with Darin. Later commenting on their relationship, Dee stated: "Bobby loved me. He was a calculating guy, but I don't think he arrived in Rome with a plan to marry this new little Mary Pickford of Hollywood. Aside from the fact that he was rude, brash and always trying to get a reaction, I didn't like this person. I just thought, this is a conniving SOB." On December 16, 1961, they had a son named Dodd Mitchell Darin. In the early 1960s, the pair became Hollywood's golden couple, but they had a troublesome marriage. Dee and Darin divorced on March 7, 1967.

Darin's second wife was Andrea Yeager, a legal secretary whom he met in 1970 and married on June 25, 1973, after the couple had lived together for three years. Four months later, in October 1973, the couple divorced amid strain caused by Darin's worsening health problems.

Health
Darin had poor health throughout his life. Darin was frail as an infant and, beginning at age eight, had recurring bouts of rheumatic fever that left him with a seriously weakened heart. Darin was well aware that he was in possession of a short life, and lived his life accordingly.

During his first heart surgery in January 1971, Darin had two artificial valves implanted, then spent most of that year recovering from the surgery. In the last few years of his life, Darin was often administered oxygen during and after his performances on stage and screen.

Death
In 1973, after failing to take antibiotics to protect his heart before a dental visit, Darin developed sepsis, an overwhelming systemic infection, which further weakened his body and affected one of his heart valves. On December 11 of that year, Darin checked himself into Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles for another round of open-heart surgery to repair the two artificial heart valves he had received in January 1971. On the evening of December 19, a four-person surgical team worked for over six hours to repair Darin's damaged heart. Shortly after the surgery ended in the early morning hours of December 20, Darin died in the recovery room without regaining consciousness. He was only 37 years old.

Darin's last wish in his will was that his body be donated to science for medical research, and Darin's remains were transferred to the UCLA Medical Center shortly after his death.

Legacy
In 1990, Darin was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with singer and close friend Paul Anka announcing the honor. In 1999, Darin was voted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Songwriter Alan O'Day alluded to Darin and his recording of "Mack the Knife" in the song "Rock and Roll Heaven" (made a hit by the Righteous Brothers), a tribute to dead musicians, which O'Day wrote shortly after Darin's death.

On May 14, 2007, Darin was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars to honor his contribution to making Las Vegas the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and named him one of the twentieth century's greatest entertainers. Fans paid for the star. Darin also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On December 13, 2009, at its 2010 Grammy Awards ceremony, the Recording Academy awarded Darin a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award.

Biopic
In 1986, director Barry Levinson intended to direct a film based on Darin's life and had begun preproduction on the project by early 1997. He abandoned the project, the rights to which were subsequently bought by actor Kevin Spacey, along with Darin's son, Dodd. The resultant biopic, Beyond the Sea, starred Spacey as Darin, with the actor using his own singing voice for the musical numbers. The film covers much of Darin's life and career, including his marriage to Sandra Dee, portrayed by Kate Bosworth.

Beyond the Sea opened at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. Although Dodd Darin, Sandra Dee, and Blauner responded enthusiastically to Spacey's work and the film was strongly promoted by the studio, Beyond the Sea received mixed-to-poor reviews upon wide release, and box office results were disappointing. Spacey, however, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor—Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but the award that year went to Jamie Foxx for his portrayal of Darin's musical contemporary Ray Charles.

Musical
In September 2016, Dream Lover: The Bobby Darin Musical had its world premiere at Sydney Lyric Theatre, Australia. The production featured the story of Darin with an 18-piece big band. Darin was played by David Campbell. Darin had an unusual upbringing, being raised by a "mother" who was actually his grandmother and alongside a "sister" who was actually his mother, a fact Darin did not discover until he was 31 years old. Campbell grew up in a similar circumstance, leading Bobby's son Dodd Darin to describe Campbell as perfect for the role, stating, "You have to have lived something like that to understand it and [Campbell] has, and I think he can relate to my dad, he can relate to the pain." Campbell made similar observations, describing playing Darin as a "cathartic experience", and stating, "I feel like I'm healing things during this show." The production was nominated in six categories in the 18th Helpmann Awards, including for Best Musical, with Campbell receiving the Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Musical.

Discography
Studio albums

 * Bobby Darin (1958)
 * That's All (1959)
 * This Is Darin (1960)
 * For Teenagers Only (1960)
 * The 25th Day of December (1960)
 * Two of a Kind (1961)
 * Love Swings (1961)
 * Twist with Bobby Darin (1961)
 * Bobby Darin Sings Ray Charles (1962)
 * Things and Other Things (1962)
 * Oh! Look at Me Now (1962)
 * You're the Reason I'm Living (1963)
 * It's You or No One (1963)
 * 18 Yellow Roses (1963)
 * Earthy! (1963)
 * Golden Folk Hits (1963)
 * Winners (1964)
 * From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie (1964)
 * Venice Blue (1965)
 * Bobby Darin Sings The Shadow of Your Smile (1966)
 * In a Broadway Bag (Mame) (1966)
 * If I Were a Carpenter (1966)
 * Inside Out (1967)
 * Bobby Darin Sings Doctor Dolittle (1967)
 * Bobby Darin Born Walden Robert Cassotto (1968)
 * Commitment (1969)
 * Bobby Darin (1972)

Filmography
Films starred

 * Pepe (1960)
 * Come September (1961)
 * Too Late Blues (1961)
 * State Fair (1962)
 * Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
 * If a Man Answers (1962)
 * Pressure Point (1962)
 * Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
 * That Funny Feeling (1965)
 * Gunfight in Abilene (1967)
 * Stranger in the House (1967)
 * The Happy Ending (1969)
 * Happy Mother's Day, Love George (1973)

Books

 * Dodd Darin and Maxine Paetro: Dream Lovers: the Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee. New York: Warner Books, 1994. ISBN 0-446-51768-2
 * David Evanier: Roman Candle: The Life of Bobby Darin. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2010. ISBN 978-1-4384-3458-2
 * Shane Brown: "Bobby Darin: Directions. A Listener's Guide: 2nd edition". 2018 ISBN 978-1790349470

title: Bobby Darin


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Talk:List of intelligence agencies

Iceland
For years there have been 3 items in the section for Iceland. It should not come as a surprise to anybody that Iceland has no intelligence agencies. These are the entries that have been listed as Icelandic intelligence agencies:

 * Greiningardeild Ríkislögreglustjóra
 * Greiningardeild Varnarmálastofnunar Íslands
 * Skattrannsóknarstjóri Ríkisins

The first is just a division of the national police and may merit being listed as they do some minor intelligence gathering. The second was also a division of an agency that ceased to exist a decade ago. The third was just an agency that did tax fraud investigations and has been merged with the internal revenue service as of last month. Stefán Örvar Sigmundsson (talk) 23:51, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
 * This is just a list, the two entries there now have linked articles. Do you plan to update those pages? If the MIS has stopped operating, then the main article should reflect that, with sourcing. That seems to be only issue if you agree the NSA should stay and the tax-guys didn't belong anyway. - wolf  00:08, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Those names, NSA and MIS seem to be entirely made up. I have never heard of those divisions – they are not even agencies – referred to be those names. The MIS link is to an entirely unsourced section of the article Iceland Crisis Response Unit where there is no mention of "MIS" but rather the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. What this list refers to as NSA is a division of the national police and I can not tell from their web site that the division has any official English name. A literal translation would be "Analytical Division of the National Police Commissioner" (greiningardeild ríkislögreglustjóra). My best guess is that some years ago somebody got a bit carried away in their creative editing. Stefán Örvar Sigmundsson (talk) 21:46, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
 * On that last point I absolutely agree with you. I just made some changes to this article, and in the coming days, planning to go country by country and remove anything that isn't linked to a WP article or has a source attached (similar to the List of military special forces units). As for the initialisms, I was just going by what's on the page. Anyway, with list articles, I usually leave entries linked to an article, having faith that the article is sufficient in content and sourcing. If you don't feel either of the Iceland entries here belong, then remove them again, I won't contest it. I will just ask that you check that the linked articles. Cheers - wolf  01:18, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Information Does Not Match Subject
The presented information is not a list of the world's intelligence agencies. The lust of countries opens to a profile of that nation and may not list the intelligence agency at all. WriterCPA (talk) 06:30, 13 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Feel free to WP:FIXIT! -  wolf  15:50, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 05:52, 29 January 2022 (UTC)
 * National Intelligence Organization (Turkey).png

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

title: Talk:List of intelligence agencies


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Talk:Sung Document

The Sung document predates Zheng He by several hundred years so it is unlikely the two are related. Imran

Can someone provide the author's name or more detail about this so-called Sung document? Is it the official record of the Song Dynasty or anything else?Ktsquare

 * Searching the internet the document seems to be universally known as the "Sung document" with no attributed author, several websites indicate that the document was described in the 1933 book Khotan Amiers. --Imran

Unsourced statements should be deleted
They present unqualified information. 90.193.39.164 (talk) 04:00, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Article is confusing
Is this saying that muslims crossed the Atlantic, then crossed America on foot, and then ended up in California, only to repeat the journey? And that the Chinese wrote it? I would assume if the Chinese wrote it, and they're talking about the Pacific coast of America, then the claim would be they crossed the Pacific. 184.166.4.117 (talk) 04:58, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sung Document


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Talk:Secret service

Untitled
In the USA, AFAIK, "secret service" always refers to the United States Secret Service. I think we may need some kind of disambiguation here.

 * I think this was far better the way it used to be. Haven't you ever heard of 007?  Who does he work for? --Daniel C. Boyer 17:54 12 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * he works for MI6. i personally believe it should redirect Cryo921 22:30, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Lol, Daniel's question was rhetorical, but you're correct. 007 works for the Secret Service, which in this case, is MI6. - M0rphzone (talk) 21:47, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

USSS
The United States Secret Service is not a secret service.

According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, a secret service is: "1. Intelligence-gathering activities conducted secretly by a government agency. 2. A government agency engaged in intelligence-gathering activities."

According to United States Secret Service: The Secret Service has primary jurisdiction over the prevention of counterfeiting of currency and U.S. treasury bonds and notes, and protection of the President, Vice President, their immediate families, other high ranking government officials, past presidents and their spouses, certain candidates for the offices of President and Vice President, and visiting foreign heads of state and government (all called "protectees").

Secret and Service
Presumably, two of the criteria of a secret service are that such an organization should: (i) be a service (i.e. a body in government employ) and (ii) be "secret".

Question: what is it in terms of secrecy that defines a secret service ? Not wanting to be difficult, but genuinely seeking info on this, let's take the USSS as an example, as opposed to "secret services" in general. What is it about the USSS that is "secret" ? For example, is it that members are not allowed to have their faces photographed for the press, as in the British SAS ?

Confederate Secret Service
I'm hoping to work on a series of linked articles about secret operations during the US Civil War. During the Civil War the term secret service meant spies and saboteurs, not secret police. the Secret Service article really needs to be cleaned up. If the term relates to too many thigns, maybe this should just be a portal to "see also" secret police (domestic); spies and saboteurs, the USSS, etc.

Merger proposal
I propose that secret service be merged into secret police. I think that the content in this article is more or less identical to the secret police article (though, admittedly, both could stand to be improved), and the secret police article is of a reasonable size that the merging of will not cause any problems as far as article size or undue weight is concerned. -- 50.53.112.55 (talk) 08:20, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Secret police and secret service are considered two different things where the secret police are the police force that works for the government. That's what makes it different from the secret service. --Rtkat3 (talk) 23:20, 30 November 2015 (UTC)
 * VASTLY different concepts, although primarily a product of actual usage rather than merely the words themselves. "Secret police" has a strong connotation of a powerful domestic Federal police force which operates outside the normal laws and in secrecy against political crimes, like the KGB or the Stasi. They would be more accurately known as "political police". In the US, the Secret Service are bodyguards for the government and anti-counterfeiters; by intentional design, they have zero authority to investigate or prosecute any other kind of crime and must defer to the FBI (the Federal police force). In England, "secret service" refers to the Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6, which (like the American CIA) is only allowed to operate outside the country; again, by design, they are prevented from having any role as domestic police. 45.47.184.148 (talk) 20:08, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Secret service


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Ganesa

Ganesa may refer to:

 * Gaṇeśa, alternate spelling for the name of the Hindu god

 * Ganesa (gastropod), a genus of marine snails in the family Turbinidae
 * Gaṇeśa Daivajna, 16th century Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer

title: Ganesa


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MI8

MI8, or Military Intelligence, Section 8 was a British Military Intelligence group responsible for signals intelligence and was created in 1914. It originally consisted of four sections: MI8(a), which dealt with wireless policy; MI8(b), based at the General Post Office, dealt with commercial and trade cables; MI8(c) dealt with the distribution of intelligence derived from censorship; and MI8(d), which liaised with the cable companies. During World War I MI8 officers were posted to the cable terminals at Poldhu Point and Mullion in Cornwall and Clifden in County Galway, continued until 1917 when the work was taken over by the Admiralty. In WW2, MI8 was responsible for the extensive War Office Y Group and briefly, for the Radio Security Service.

History

MI8 was the signals intelligence department of the War Office that ran a worldwide Y-stations network. Additionally, for an 18-month period, from late 1939 to mid 1941, it also ran the Radio Security Service, under the designation of MI8c, but this was quickly handed over to MI6. The remainder of this page relates only to this small organisation, with, regrettably, no information concerning the major role of MI8.

MI8c
The Radio Security Service evolved from the Illicit Wireless Intercept Organisation (IWIO), which was given the designation MI1g and run by Lt Col. J S Yule. From an office in Broadway, IWIO collaborated with Military Intelligence, Section 5 (MI5) and with the General Post Office (GPO) to set up and control a small network of Direction Finding (DF) and intercept stations, to locate illicit transmissions inside Britain. Col Yule also made detailed plans for similar networks in British overseas territories, before IWIO evolved into RSS in September 1939.

But Lt Col Adrian Simpson developed a proposal which stated that a small number of stations, located around Britain, would not work. At the start of World War II, Vernon Kell, the head of MI5, introduced a contingency plan to deal with the problem of illicit radio transmissions. A new body was created, the Radio Security Service (RSS), headed by Major J.P.G. Worlledge. Until 1927, Worlledge had commanded a Wireless Company in Palestine. His brief was to "intercept, locate and close down illicit wireless stations operated either by enemy agents in Great Britain or by other persons not being licensed to do so under Defence Regulations, 1939". As a security precaution, RSS was given the cover designation of MI8(c).

Working from cells at HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs, Worlledge selected Majors Sclater and Cole-Adams as his assistants, and E.W.B. Gill as his chief traffic analyst. Gill had been engaged in wireless interception in World War I and decided that the best course of action would be to find the transmissions of the agent control stations in Germany. He recruited a research fellow from Oxford, Hugh Trevor-Roper, who was fluent in German. Working alongside them, at Wormwood Scrubs, was John Masterman, who ran MI5's double agent XX program. Masterman already had Agent SNOW, and Gill used his codes as the basis for decrypting incoming agent traffic.

RSS assigned the task of developing a comprehensive listening organization to Ralph Mansfield, 4th Baron Sandhurst. Sandhurst was an enthusiastic amateur radio operator. He had served with the Royal Engineers Signal Service during World War I and had been commissioned as a major in the Royal Corps of Signals in 1939.

Sandhurst was given an office in the Security Service's temporary accommodation in Wormwood Scrubs's prison. He began by approaching the President of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB), Arthur Watts. Watts had served as an analyst in Room 40 during World War I, following the loss of a leg at Gallipoli. Watts recommended that Sandhurst recruit the entire RSGB Council. He did. The RSGB Council then began to recruit the society's members as Voluntary Interceptors (VIs). Radio amateurs were considered ideal for such work because they were widely distributed across the United Kingdom.

The VIs were mostly working men of non-military age, working in their own time and using their own equipment (their transmitters had been impounded on the outbreak of war, but their receivers had not). They were ordered to ignore commercial and military traffic, to concentrate on more elusive transmissions. Each VI was given a minimum number of intercepts to make each month. Reaching that number gave them exemption from other duties, such as fire watching. Also, many VIs were issued a special DR12 identity card. This allowed them to enter premises which they suspected to be the transmission source of unauthorized signals.

RSS also established a series of Radio Direction Finding stations, in the far corners of the British Isles, to identify the locations of the intercepted transmissions.

The recruitment of Voluntary Interceptors (VIs) was slow, since they had to be skilled, discreet, and dedicated. But, within three months, 50 VIs were at work and had identified over 600 transmitters - all firmly on the other side of the English Channel. It became apparent that there were no enemy agents transmitting from the UK. All German agents entering the UK were promptly captured and either interned or "turned" to operate as double agents under the supervision of the "XX Committee". In some cases, a British operator took over their transmissions, impersonating them. The German military did not realize this.

By May 1940, it was clear that RSS's initial mission - to locate enemy agents in the UK - was complete.

Arkley View
Initially, messages logged by VIs were sent to Wormwood Scrubs. However, as the volume became great and as Wormwood began to suffer from German air attacks, RSS was in need of larger premises and chose Arkley View, a large country house near the village of Arkley, in Hertfordshire, which had already been requisitioned as an intercept station. It was given the cryptic postal address of Box 25, Barnet. There, a staff of analysts and cryptographers began their duties.

MI6 takeover
RSS had in effect become the civilian counterpart of the military's "Y Service" intercept network. By mid-1941, up to 10,000 logs (message sheets) a day were being sent to Arkley, then forwarded to the code-breaking centre at Bletchley Park.

In May 1941, RSS's success and the fact that some of its personnel had managed to decode some Abwehr cyphers ahead of Bletchley, caused control of the organization to be transferred. There was brief conflict over who would control it. In the end, it became the communication and interception service of Military Intelligence, Section 6 (MI6). Previously, MI6 had possessed no such capability.

The new controller of RSS was Lieutenant-Colonel E.F. Maltby. From 1942, Lt. Col. Kenneth Morton Evans was appointed Deputy Controller. Roland Keen, author of Wireless Direction Finding, was the officer in charge of engineering. The service was well-financed. It was equipped with a new central radio station at Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire (designated Special Communications Unit No.3 or SCU3). The Abwehr was now monitored around the clock. The volume and regularity of the obtained material, enabled Bletchley to achieve one of its great triumphs in December 1941, when it decoded the Abwehr's Enigma cypher, giving enormous insight into German intelligence operations.

At its peak in 1943-1944, RSS employed - apart from VIs - more than 1,500 personnel, most of whom had been amateur radio operators. Over half of these worked as interceptors while a further number investigated the numerous enemy radio networks. This revealed important information, even when it was not possible to decode messages. Few transmissions by secret agents of German Intelligence evaded RSS' notice. Changes in procedure, which the Germans used for security, were in many cases identified before the enemy had become familiar with them.

Following the end of the war, RSS HQ moved to Eastcote and was absorbed by the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).

title: MI8


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Parvati

Parvati (पार्वती, ), also known as Uma (उमा, ) and Gauri (गौरी, ), is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. In her complete form, she is a physical representation of Mahadevi also known as Adi Shakti, the primordial power behind the creation of the universe, the creator and destroyer. She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism, and the supreme goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Sarasvati, she forms the Tridevi.

Parvati is married to Shiva. She is a primordial goddess in Hinduism. Parvati and Shiva have taken many incarnations and divine forms together. Parvati is the mother of the Hindu deities Ganesha and Kartikeya, Ashokasundari and many other deities. The Puranas also say that she is the companion of the river goddess Ganga. For Hindus, she is considered to be the divine energy between a man and a woman, like the energy of Shiva and Shakti.

Parvati is a powerful, primordial mother goddess, and also has several fearsome forms and killed evil beings in forms such as Gauri, Durga, Kali, the ten Mahavidyas, and the Navadurgas.

Parvati is an embodiment of Shakti. In Shaivism, she is the recreative energy and power of Shiva, and she is the cause of a bond that connects all beings and a means of their spiritual release. She is also well known as Kamarupa (the embodiment of one's desires) and Kameshvari (the lordess of one's desires). In Hindu temples, shrines are dedicated to her and Shiva, she is symbolically represented as the argha. She is found extensively in ancient Indian literature, and her statues and iconography are present in Hindu temples all over South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Etymology and Nomenclature
Parvata (पर्वत) is one of the Sanskrit words for "mountain"; "Parvati" derives her name from being incarnated as the daughter of king Himavan (also called Himavata, Parvata) and mother Menavati. King Parvata is considered lord of the mountains and the personification of the Himalayas; Parvati implies "she of the mountain". Aparneshara Temple of yama, Udhampur in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is considered as the birthplace of Parvati and site of Shiva-Parvati Vivaha.

Parvati is known by many names in Hindu literature. Other names which associate her with mountains are Shailaja (Daughter of the mountains), Shailaputri (Daughter of Mountains), Haimavati (Daughter of Himavan), Maheshvari (Maheshvara’s wife), Girirajaputri (Daughter of king of the mountains) and Girija (Daughter of the mountains)

Shaktas consider the Parvati as an incarnation of Lalita Tripurasundari. Two of Parvati's most famous epithets are Uma and Aparna. The name Uma is used for Sati (Shiva's wife, who is the incarnation of Parvati) in earlier texts, but in the Ramayana, it is used as a synonym for Parvati. In the Harivamsa, Parvati is referred to as Aparna ('One who took no sustenance') and then addressed as Uma, who was dissuaded by her mother from severe austerity by saying u mā ('oh, don't'). Uma also means that "the One born out of Om (The Pranava Mantra) She is also referred to as Ambika ('dear mother'), Shakti ('power'), Mataji ('revered mother'), Maheshwari ('great goddess'), Durga (invincible), Bhairavi ('ferocious'), Bhavani ('fertility and birthing'), Shivaradni ('Queen of Shiva'), Urvi or Renu, and many hundreds of others. Parvati is also the goddess of love and devotion, or Kamakshi (the goddess of fertility), abundance and food/nourishment, or Annapurna. She is also the ferocious Mahakali that wields a sword, wears a garland of severed heads, and protects her devotees and destroys all evil that plagues the world and its beings.

The apparent contradiction that Parvati is addressed as the golden one, Gauri, as well as the dark one, Kali or Shyama, as a calm and placid wife Parvati mentioned as Gauri and as a goddess who destroys evil she is Kali. Regional stories of Gauri suggest an alternate origin for Gauri's name and complexion. In parts of India, Gauri's skin color is golden or yellow in honor of her being the goddess of ripened corn/harvest and fertility.

The divine hymns such as Lalita Sahasranama, Mahalakshmi Ashtakam that gives many epithets to the goddess based on the demons she had won over such as Mahishasuramardini(‘the One who killed demon Mahishasura’), Raktabeejasamharini (‘the One who killed demon Raktabeeja’), Chamundi (‘the One who killed the demon brothers Chanda and Munda’), Mookambika (‘the killer of Mookasura’), Kolasurabhayankari (‘the killer of Kolasura’), Bhandasuravibedhini (‘the killer of Bhandasura) and many more.

History

The word Parvati does not explicitly appear in Vedic literature. Instead, Ambika, Rudrani and others are found in the Rigveda. The verse 3.12 of the Kena Upanishad dated to mid-1st millennium BCE contains a goddess called Uma-Haimavati, a very common alternate name for Parvati. Sayana's commentary in Anuvaka, however, identifies Parvati in the Kena Upanishad, suggesting her to be the same as Uma and Ambika in the Upanishad, referring to Parvati is thus an embodiment of divine knowledge and the mother of the world. She appears as the shakti, or essential power, of the Supreme Brahman. Her primary role is as a mediator who reveals the knowledge of Brahman to the Vedic Trideva of Agni, Vayu, and Varuna, who were boasting about their recent defeat of a group of demons. But Kinsley notes: "it is little more than conjecture to identify her with the later goddess Satī-Pārvatī, although [..] later texts that extol Śiva and Pārvatī retell the episode in such a way to leave no doubt that it was Śiva's spouse.." [IAST original].

Sati-Parvati appears in the epic period (400 BCE–400 CE), as both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata present Parvati as Shiva's wife. However, it is not until the plays of Kalidasa (5th–6th centuries) and the Puranas (4th through the 13th centuries) that the stories of Sati-Parvati and Shiva acquire more comprehensive details. Kinsley adds that Parvati may have emerged from legends of non-aryan goddesses that lived in mountains. While the word Uma appears in earlier Upanisads, Hopkins notes that the earliest known explicit use of the name Pārvatī occurs in late Hamsa Upanishad.

Weber suggests that just like Shiva is a combination of various Vedic gods Rudra and Agni, Parvati in Puranas text is a combination of wives of Rudra. In other words, the symbolism, legends, and characteristics of Parvati evolved fusing Uma, Haimavati, Ambika in one aspect and the more ferocious, destructive Kali, Gauri, Nirriti in another aspect. Tate suggests Parvati is a mixture of the Vedic goddesses Aditi and Nirriti, and being a mountain goddess herself, was associated with other mountain goddesses like Durga and Kali in later traditions.

Iconography & Symbolism

Parvati, the gentle aspect of Devi Shakti, is usually represented as fair, beautiful, and benevolent. She typically wears a red dress (often a sari), and may have a head-band. When depicted alongside Shiva she generally appears with two arms, but when alone she may be depicted having four. These hands may hold a trident, mirror, rosary, bell, dish, goad, sugarcane stalk, or flowers (such as a lotus). One of her arms in front may be in the Abhaya mudra (hand gesture for 'fear not'), one of her children, typically Ganesha, is on her knee, while her younger son Skanda may be playing near her in her watch. In ancient temples, Parvati's sculpture is often depicted near a calf or cow. Bronze has been the chief metal for her sculpture, while stone is the next most common material.

Parvati and Shiva are often symbolized by a yoni and a linga, respectively. In ancient literature, yoni means womb and place of gestation, the yoni-linga metaphor represents origin, source or regenerative power. The linga-yoni icon is widespread, found in Shaivite Hindu temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia. Often called Shivalinga, it almost always has both linga and the yoni. The icon represents the interdependence and union of feminine and masculine energies in recreation and regeneration of all life. In some depictions, Parvati and Shiva are shown in various forms of sexual union.

In some iconography, Parvati's hands may symbolically express many mudras (symbolic hand gestures). For example, Kataka — representing fascination and enchantment, Hirana — representing the antelope, the symbolism for nature and the elusive, Tarjani by the left hand—representing the gesture of menace, and Chandrakal — representing the moon, a symbol of intelligence. Kataka is expressed by hands closer to the devotee; Tarjani mudra with the left hand, but far from the devotee.

If Parvati is depicted with two hands, Kataka mudra—also called Katyavalambita or Katisamsthita hasta—is common, as well as Abhaya (fearlessness, fear not) and Varada (beneficence) are representational in Parvati's iconography. Parvati's right hand in Abhaya mudra symbolizes "do not fear anyone or anything", while her Varada mudra symbolizes "wish-fulfilling". In Indian dance, Parvatimudra is dedicated to her, symbolizing divine mother. It is a joint hand gesture, and is one of sixteen Deva Hastas, denoting the most important deities described in Abhinaya Darpana. The hands mimic motherly gesture, and when included in a dance, the dancer symbolically expresses Parvati. Alternatively, if both hands of the dancer are in Ardhachandra mudra, it symbolizes an alternate aspect of Parvati.

Parvati is sometimes shown with golden or yellow color skin, particularly as goddess Gauri, symbolizing her as the goddess of ripened harvests.

In some manifestations, particularly as angry, ferocious aspects of Shakti such as Kali, she has eight or ten arms, and is astride on a tiger or lion, wearing a garland of severed heads and skirt of disembodied hands. In benevolent manifestations such as Kamakshi or Meenakshi, a parrot sits near her right shoulder symbolizing cheerful love talk, seeds, and fertility. A parrot is found with Parvati's form as Kamakshi – the goddess of love, as well as Kama – the cupid god of desire who shoots arrows to trigger infatuation. A crescent moon is sometimes included near the head of Parvati particularly the Kamakshi icons, for her being half of Shiva. In South Indian legends, her association with the parrot began when she won a bet with her husband and asked for his loincloth as victory payment; Shiva keeps his word but first transforms her into a parrot. She flies off and takes refuge in the mountain ranges of south India, appearing as Meenakshi (also spelled Minakshi).

Parvati is expressed in many roles, moods, epithets, and aspects. In Hindu mythology, she is an active agent of the universe, the power of Shiva. She is expressed in nurturing and benevolent aspects, as well as destructive and ferocious aspects. She is the voice of encouragement, reason, freedom, and strength, as well as of resistance, power, action and retributive justice. This paradox symbolizes her willingness to realign to Pratima (reality) and adapts to the needs of circumstances in her role as the universal mother. She identifies and destroys evil to protect (Mahakali), as well as creates food and abundance to nourish (Annapurna).

From being born as a human, showing determination and perseverance in marrying Shiva (who preferred being an ascetic), to realizing with the great effort her true power and potential, awakening the Adishakti in herself, and becoming a goddess venerated by the Trimurti and the rest of the entire universe, Parvati inspires a person to embrace their human strengths and flaws, and utilize them to achieve their highest potential, to live life with their head held up high.

Manifestations
Several Hindu stories present alternate aspects of Parvati, such as the ferocious, violent aspect as Shakti and related forms. Shakti is pure energy, untamed, unchecked, and chaotic. Her wrath crystallizes into a dark, blood-thirsty, tangled-hair Goddess with an open mouth and a drooping tongue. This goddess is usually identified as the terrible Mahakali (time). In Linga Purana, Parvati undergoes a metamorphosis into Kali, at the request of Shiva, to destroy an asura (demon) Daruk. Even after destroying the demon, Kali's wrath could not be controlled. To lower Kali's rage, Shiva appeared as a crying baby. The cries of the baby arouse the maternal instinct of Kali who reverts to her benign form as Parvati. Lord Shiva, in this baby form is Kshethra Balaka (who becomes Rudra Savarni Manu in future).

In Skanda Purana, Parvati assumes the form of a warrior-goddess and defeats a demon called Durg who assumes the form of a buffalo. In this aspect, she is known by the name Durga. Although Parvati is considered another aspect of Shakti, just like Kali, Durga, Kamakshi, Meenakshi, Gauri and many others in modern-day Hinduism, many of these "forms" or aspects originated from regional legends and traditions, and the distinctions from Parvati are pertinent.

According to Shaktism and Shaivism traditions, and also in Devi Bhagavata Purana, Parvati is the lineal progenitor of all other goddesses. She is worshiped as one with many forms and names. Her form or incarnation depends on her mood.

 * Akhilandeshwari, found in coastal regions of India, is the goddess associated with water.
 * Uma devi/Tripura Parvati, a goddess who looks like Bhuvaneshvari. She assumed to destroy ego of Devas. Her Dhyana Shloka is mentioned in 13th chapter of Devi Mahatmya.
 * Shiva himself, Shiva and Parvati are sometimes thought of as being identical and the same as a higher "God" who is both male and female

Legends
The Puranas tell the tale of Sati's marriage to Shiva against her father Daksha's wishes. The conflict between Daksha and Shiva gets to a point where Daksha does not invite Shiva to his yagna (fire-sacrifice). Daksha insults Shiva when Sati comes on her own. She immolates herself at the ceremony. This shocks Shiva, who is so grief-stricken that he loses interest in worldly affairs, retires, and isolates himself in the mountains, in meditation and austerity. Sati is then reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himavat and Mainavati, and is named Parvati, or "she from the mountains", after her father Himavant who is also called king Parvat.

According to different versions of her chronicles, the maiden Parvati resolves to marry Shiva. Her parents learn of her desire, discourage her, but she pursues what she wants. Indra sends the god Kama – the Hindu god of desire, erotic love, attraction, and affection, to awake Shiva from meditation. Kama reaches Shiva and shoots an arrow of desire. Shiva opens his third eye in his forehead and burns the cupid Kama to ashes. Parvati does not lose her hope or her resolve to win over Shiva. She begins to live in mountains like Shiva, engage in the same activities as Shiva, one of asceticism, yogin and tapas. This draws the attention of Shiva and awakens his interest. He meets her in disguised form, tries to discourage her, telling her Shiva's weaknesses and personality problems. Parvati refuses to listen and insists on her resolve. Shiva finally accepts her and they get married. Shiva dedicates the following hymn in Parvati's honor,

I am the sea and you the wave, You are Prakṛti, and I Purusha. – Translated by Stella Kramrisch

After the marriage, Parvati moves to Mount Kailash, the residence of Shiva. To them are born Kartikeya (also known as Skanda and Murugan) – the leader of celestial armies, and Ganesha – the god of wisdom that prevents problems and removes obstacles.

There are many alternate Hindu legends about the birth of Parvati and how she married Shiva. In the Harivamsa, for example, Parvati has two younger sisters called Ekaparna and Ekapatala. According to Devi Bhagavata Purana and Shiva Purana mount Himalaya and his wife Mena appease goddess Adi Parashakti. Pleased, Adi Parashakti herself is born as their daughter Parvati. Each major story about Parvati's birth and marriage to Shiva has regional variations, suggesting creative local adaptations. The stories go through many ups and downs until Parvati and Shiva are finally married.

Kalidasa's epic Kumarasambhavam ("Birth of Kumara") describes the story of the maiden Parvati who has made up her mind to marry Shiva and get him out of his recluse, intellectual, austere world of aloofness. Her devotions aimed at gaining the favor of Shiva, the subsequent annihilation of Kamadeva, the consequent fall of the universe into barren lifelessness, regeneration of life, the subsequent marriage of Parvati and Shiva, the birth of Kartikeya, and the eventual resurrection of Kamadeva after Parvati intercedes for him to Shiva.

Parvati's legends are intrinsically related to Shiva. In the goddess-oriented Shakta texts, that she is said to transcend even Shiva, and is identified as the Supreme Being. Just as Shiva is at once the presiding deity of destruction and regeneration, the couple jointly symbolize at once both the power of renunciation and asceticism and the blessings of marital felicity.

Parvati thus symbolizes many different virtues esteemed by Hindu tradition: fertility, marital felicity, devotion to the spouse, asceticism, and power. Parvati represents the householder ideal in the perennial tension in Hinduism in the household ideal and the ascetic ideal, the latter represented by Shiva. Renunciation and asceticism is highly valued in Hinduism, as is the householder's life – both feature as Ashramas of ethical and proper life. Shiva is portrayed in Hindu legends as the ideal ascetic withdrawn in his personal pursuit in the mountains with no interest in social life, while Parvati is portrayed as the ideal householder keen on nurturing worldly life and society. Numerous chapters, stories, and legends revolve around their mutual devotion as well as disagreements, their debates on Hindu philosophy as well as the proper life.

Parvati tames Shiva with her presence. When Shiva does his violent, destructive Tandava dance, Parvati is described as calming him or complementing his violence by slow, creative steps of her own Lasya dance. In many myths, Parvati is not as much his complement as his rival, tricking, seducing, or luring him away from his ascetic practices.

Three images are central to the mythology, iconography, and philosophy of Parvati: the image of Shiva-Shakti, the image of Shiva as Ardhanarishvara (the Lord who is half-woman), and the image of the linga and the yoni. These images that combine the masculine and feminine energies, Shiva and Parvati, yield a vision of reconciliation, interdependence, and harmony between the way of the ascetic and that of a householder.

The couple is often depicted in the Puranas as engaged in "dalliance" or seated on Mount Kailash debating concepts in Hindu theology. They are also depicted as quarreling. In stories of the birth of Kartikeya, the couple is described as love-making; generating the seed of Shiva. Parvati's union with Shiva symbolizes the union of a male and female in "ecstasy and sexual bliss". In art, Parvati is depicted seated on Shiva's knee or standing beside him (together the couple is referred to as Uma-Maheshvara or Hara-Gauri) or as Annapurna (the goddess of grain) giving alms to Shiva.

Shaiva's approaches tend to look upon Parvati as the Shiva's submissive and obedient wife. However, Shaktas focus on Parvati's equality or even superiority to her consort. The story of the birth of the ten Mahavidyas (Wisdom Goddesses) of Shakta Tantrism. This event occurs while Shiva is living with Parvati in her father's house. Following an argument, he attempts to walk out on her. Her rage at Shiva's attempt to walk out manifests in the form of ten terrifying goddesses who block Shiva's every exit.

David Kinsley states,

"The fact that [Parvati] can physically restrain Shiva dramatically makes the point that she is superior in power. The theme of the superiority of the goddess over male deities is common in Shakta texts, [and] so the story is stressing a central Shakta theological principle. ... The fact that Shiva and Parvati are living in her father's house in itself makes this point, as it is traditional in many parts of India for the wife to leave her father's home upon marriage and become a part of her husband's lineage and live in his home among his relatives. That Shiva dwells in Parvati's house thus implies Her priority in their relationship. Her priority is also demonstrated in her ability, through the Mahavidyas, to thwart Shiva's will and assert her own."

Ardhanarisvara
Parvati is portrayed as the ideal wife, mother, and householder in Indian legends. In Indian art, this vision of the ideal couple is derived from Shiva and Parvati as being half of the other, represented as Ardhanarisvara. This concept is represented as an androgynous image that is half man and half woman, Siva and Parvati, respectively.

Ideal Wife, Mother & More
In Hindu Epic the Mahabharata, she as Umā suggests that the duties of wife and mother are as follows – being of a good disposition, endued with sweet speech, sweet conduct, and sweet features. Her husband is her friend, refuge, and god. She finds happiness in her husband's and her children's physical and emotional nourishment and development. Their happiness is her happiness. She is cheerful even when her husband or children are angry; she is with them in adversity or sickness. She takes an interest in worldly affairs beyond her husband and family. She is cheerful and humble before family, friends, and relatives; she helps them if she can. She welcomes guests, feeds them, and encourages a righteous social life. Parvati declares her family life and home are heaven in Book 13 of the Mahabharata.

Rita Gross states, that the view of Parvati only as ideal wife and mother is incomplete symbolism of the power of the feminine in the mythology of India. Parvati, along with other goddesses, is involved with a broad range of culturally valued goals and activities. Her connection with motherhood and female sexuality does not confine the feminine or exhaust their significance and activities in Hindu literature. She is balanced by Durga, who is strong and capable without compromising her femaleness. She manifests in every activity, from water to mountains, from arts to inspiring warriors, from agriculture to dance. Parvati's numerous aspects state Gross, reflects the Hindu belief that the feminine has a universal range of activities, and her gender is not a limiting condition.

Parvati is seen as the mother of two widely worshipped deities — Ganesha and Kartikeya.

Ganesha
Hindu literature, including the Matsya Purana, Shiva Purana, and Skanda Purana, dedicates many stories to Parvati and Shiva and their children. For example, one about Ganesha is:
 * Once, while Parvati wanted to take a bath, there were no attendants around to guard her and stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence she created an image of a boy out of turmeric paste which she prepared to cleanse her body and infused life into it, and thus Ganesha was born. Parvati ordered Ganesha not to allow anyone to enter the house, and Ganesha obediently followed his mother's orders. After a while Shiva returned and tried to enter the house, Ganesha stopped him. Shiva was infuriated, lost his temper, and severed the boy's head with his trident. When Parvati came out and saw her son's lifeless body, she was very angry. She demanded that Shiva restore Ganesha's life at once. Shiva did so by attaching an elephant's head to Ganesha's body, thus giving rise to the elephant-headed deity.

Festivals
Teej is a significant festival for Hindu women, particularly in the northern and western states of India. Parvati is the primary deity of the festival, and it ritually celebrates married life and family ties. It also celebrates the monsoon. The festival is marked with swings hung from trees, girls playing on these swings typically in a green dress (seasonal color of crop planting season), while singing regional songs. Historically, unmarried maidens prayed to Parvati for a good mate, while married women prayed for the well-being of their husbands and visited their relatives. In Nepal, Teej is a three-day festival marked with visits to Shiva-Parvati temples and offerings to linga. Teej is celebrated as Teeyan in Punjab.

The Gowri Habba, or Gauri Festival, is celebrated on the seventh, eighth, and ninth of Bhadrapada (Shukla paksha). Parvati is worshipped as the goddess of harvest and protector of women. Her festival, chiefly observed by women, is closely associated with the festival of her son Ganesha (Ganesh Chaturthi). The festival is popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka.

In Rajasthan, the worship of Gauri happens during the Gangaur festival. The festival starts on the first day of Chaitra the day after Holi and continues for 18 days. Images of Issar and Gauri are made from Clay for the festival.

Another popular festival in reverence of Parvati is Navratri, in which all her manifestations are worshiped over nine days. Popular in eastern India, particularly in Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Assam, as well as several other parts of India such as Gujarat, with her nine forms, that is, Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kaalratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.

Another festival Gauri Tritiya is celebrated from Chaitra Shukla third to Vaishakha Shukla third. This festival is popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka, less observed in North India, and unknown in Bengal. The unwidowed women of the household erect a series of platforms in a pyramidal shape with the image of the goddess at the top and a collection of ornaments, images of other Hindu deities, pictures, shells, etc. below. Neighbors are invited and presented with turmeric, fruits, flowers, etc. as gifts. At night, prayers are held with singing and dancing. In south Indian states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the Kethara Gauri Vritham festival is celebrated on the new moon day of Diwali and married women fast for the day, prepare sweets and worship Parvati for the well-being of the family.

Thiruvathira is a festival observed in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is believed that on this day, Parvati met Shiva after her long penance and Shiva took her as his wife. On this day Hindu women perform the Thiruvathirakali accompanied by Thiruvathira paattu (folk songs about Parvati and her longing and penance for Lord Shiva's affection).

Arts
From sculpture to dance, many Indian arts explore and express the stories of Parvati and Shiva as themes. For example, Daksha Yagam of Kathakali, a form of dance-drama choreography, adapts the romantic episodes of Parvati and Shiva.

The Gauri-Shankar bead is a part of religious adornment rooted in the belief of Parvati and Shiva as the ideal equal complementing halves of the other. Gauri-Shankar is a particular rudraksha (bead) formed naturally from the seed of a tree found in India. Two seeds of this tree sometimes naturally grow as fused and are considered symbolic of Parvati and Shiva. These seeds are strung into garlands and worn, or used in malas (rosaries) for meditation in Saivism.

Numismatics
Ancient coins from Bactria (Central Asia) of Kushan Empire era, and those of king Harsha (North India) feature Uma. These were issued sometime between the 3rd- and 7th-century AD. In Bactria, Uma is spelled Ommo, and she appears on coins holding a flower. On her coin is also shown Shiva, who is sometimes shown in the ithyphallic state holding a trident and standing near Nandi (his vahana). On coins issued by king Harsha, Parvati and Shiva are seated on a bull and the reverse of the coin has Brahmi script.

Major Temples
Parvati is often present with Shiva in Saivite Hindu temples all over South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Some locations (Pithas or Shaktipeeths) are considered special because of their historical importance and legends about their origins in the ancient texts of Hinduism.

List Of Temples
Each major Parvati-Shiva temple is a pilgrimage site that has an ancient legend associated with it, which is typically a part of a larger story that links these Hindu temples across South Asia with each other. Some temples where Parvati can be found include:
 * In Karnataka: Chamundeswari Temple Mysore
 * in Kerala: Annapurneshwari Temple, Cherukunnu, Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Oorpazhachi Kavu, Irumkulangara Durga Devi Temple, and Kadampuzha Devi Temple
 * in Maharashtra: Tulja Bhavani Temple
 * in Meghalaya: Nartiang Durga Temple
 * in Tamil Nadu: Meenakshi Amman Temple, Kamakshi Amman Temple, Sri Siva Durga Temple, Bannari Amman Temple, Samayapuram Mariamman Temple, Vekkali Amman Temple, Mutharamman Temple, Kulasekharapatnam, Tiruverkadu Devi Karumariamman Temple, Nellaiappar Temple, Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Masani Ammam temple, Gomathi Amman, Punnainallur Mariamman
 * in Tripura: Tripura Sundari Temple
 * in Uttar Pradesh: Vishalakshi Temple, Vishalakshi Gauri Temple and Annapurna Devi Temple

Outside India
Sculpture and iconography of Parvati, in one of her many manifestations, have been found in temples and literature of Southeast Asia. For example, early Saivite inscriptions of the Khmer in Cambodia, dated as early as the fifth century AD, mention Parvati (Uma) and Siva. Many ancient and medieval era Cambodian temples, rock arts and river bed carvings such as the Kbal Spean are dedicated to Parvati and Shiva.

Boisselier has identified Uma in a Champa era temple in Vietnam.

Dozens of ancient temples dedicated to Parvati as Uma, with Siva, have been found in the islands of Indonesia and Malaysia. Her manifestation as Durga has also been found in southeast Asia. Many of the temples in Java dedicated to Siva-Parvati are from the second half of 1st millennium AD, and some from later centuries. Durga icons and worship have been dated to be from the 10th- to 13th-century.

Derived from Parvati's form as Mahakali, her nipponized form is Daikokutennyo (大黒天女).

In Nakhorn Si Thammarat province of Thailand, excavations at Dev Sathan have yielded a Hindu Temple dedicated to Vishnu (Na Pra Narai), a lingam in the yoni, a Shiva temple (San Pra Isuan). The sculpture of Parvati found at this excavation site reflects the South Indian style.

Parvati, locally spelled as Parwati, is a principal goddess in modern-day Hinduism of Bali. She is more often called Uma, and sometimes referred to as Giriputri (daughter of the mountains). She is the goddess of mountain Gunung Agung. Like Hinduism of India, Uma has many manifestations in Bali, Indonesia. She is married to deity Siwa. Uma or Parwati is considered as the mother goddess that nurtures, nourishes, grants fertility to crop and all life. As Dewi Danu, she presides over waters, lake Batur and Gunung Batur, a major volcano in Bali. Her ferocious form in Bali is Dewi Durga. As Rangda, she is wrathful and presides over cemeteries. As Ibu Pertiwi, Parwati of Balinese Hinduism is the goddess of earth. The legends about various manifestations of Parwati, and how she changes from one form to another, are in Balinese literature, such as the palm-leaf (lontar) manuscript Andabhuana.
 * Bali, Indonesia

Related Goddesses
Tara found in some sects of Buddhism, particularly Tibetan and Nepalese, is related to Parvati. Tara too appears in many manifestations. In tantric sects of Buddhism, as well as Hinduism, intricate symmetrical art forms of yantra or mandala are dedicated to different aspects of Tara and Parvati.

Parvati is closely related in symbolism and powers to Cybele of Greek and Roman mythology and as Vesta the guardian goddess of children. In her manifestation as Durga, Parvati parallels Mater Montana. She is the equivalent of the Magna Mater (Universal Mother). As Kali and punisher of all evil, she corresponds to Proserpine and Diana Taurica.

As Bhawani and goddess of fertility and birthing, she is the symbolic equivalent of Ephesian Diana. In Crete, Rhea is the mythological figure, goddess of the mountains, paralleling Parvati; while in some mythologies from islands of Greece, the terrifying goddess mirroring Parvati is Diktynna (also called Britomartis). At Ephesus, Cybele is shown with lions, just like the iconography of Parvati is sometimes shown with a lion.

Carl Jung, in Mysterium Coniunctionis, states that aspects of Parvati belong to the same category of goddesses like Artemis, Isis and Mary. Edmund Leach equates Parvati in her relationship with Shiva, with that of the Greek goddess Aphrodite – a symbol of sexual love.

title: Parvati


text:
Airey Neave

Lieutenant Colonel Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave,  (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979.

During the Second World War he was the first British prisoner-of-war to succeed in escaping from Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, and later worked for MI9. After the war he served with the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trials. He later became Conservative MP for Abingdon.

Neave was assassinated in a car bomb attack at the House of Commons. The Irish National Liberation Army claimed responsibility.

Early life
Neave was the son of Sheffield Airey Neave CMG, OBE (1879–1961), an entomologist, who lived at Ingatestone, Essex, and his wife Dorothy, the daughter of Arthur Thomson Middleton. His father was the grandson of Sheffield Neave, the third son of Sir Thomas Neave, 2nd Baronet (see Neave baronets).

The family came to prominence as merchants in the West Indies during the 18th century and were raised to the baronetage during the life of Richard Neave, Governor of the Bank of England. Neave spent his early years in Knightsbridge in London, before he moved to Beaconsfield. Neave was sent to St. Ronan's School, Worthing, and from there, in 1929, he went to Eton College. He went on to read Jurisprudence at Merton College, Oxford.

While at Eton, Neave composed a prize-winning essay in 1933 that examined the likely consequences of Adolf Hitler's rise to supreme power in Germany, and Neave predicted then that another widespread war would break out in Europe in the near future. Neave had earlier been on a visit to Germany, and he witnessed the Nazi German methods of grasping political and military power. At Eton, Neave served in the school cadet corps as a cadet lance corporal, and received a territorial commission as a second lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on 11 December 1935.

When Neave went to Oxford University, he purchased and read the entire written works of the general and military theorist Carl von Clausewitz. When Neave was asked why, he answered: "since war [is] coming, it [is] only sensible to learn as much as possible about the art of waging it". During 1938, Neave completed his third-class degree. By his own admission, while at Oxford University, he did only the minimum amount of academic work that was required of him by his tutors.

Second World War
Neave transferred his territorial commission to the Royal Engineers on 2 May 1938 and following the outbreak of war he was mobilised. Sent to France in February 1940 with 1st Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery, he was wounded and captured by the Germans at Calais on 23 May 1940. He was imprisoned at Oflag IX-A/H near Spangenberg and in February 1941 moved to Stalag XX-A near Thorn in German-occupied western Poland. Meanwhile, Neave's commission was transferred to the Royal Artillery on 1 August 1940.

In April 1941 he escaped from Thorn with Norman Forbes. They were captured near Ilow while trying to enter Soviet-controlled Poland and were briefly in the hands of the Gestapo. In May, they were both sent to Oflag IV-C (often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location).

While in Colditz, the French military prisoners asked the Germans to have the Jewish military prisoners separated from the gentile French military prisoners, which resulted in about 80 French Jewish military prisoners being confined in a crowded attic of the castle. Neave and many British officers were appalled at the French prisoners for this request. In demonstration of their solidarity with the French Jews, the British invited the French Jews to dinner in the British mess, where Neave made a speech denouncing the prejudice.

Neave made his first attempt to escape from Colditz on 28 August 1941 disguised as a German NCO. He did not get out of the castle as his hastily contrived German uniform (made from a Polish army tunic and cap painted with scenery paint accompanied with cardboard belt painted silver) was rendered bright green under the prison searchlights. Together with Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn he made a second attempt on 5 January 1942, again in disguise.

Better uniforms and escape route (they made a quick exit from a theatrical production using the trap door beneath the stage) got them out of the prison and by train and on foot they travelled to Leipzig and Ulm and finally reached the border to Switzerland near Singen. Via France, Spain and Gibraltar, Neave returned to England in April 1942. Neave was the first British officer to escape from Colditz Castle. On 12 May 1942, shortly after his return to England, he was decorated with the Military Cross. He was subsequently promoted to war substantive captain and to the permanent rank of captain on 11 April 1945. A temporary major at the war's end, he was appointed an MBE (Military Division) on 30 August 1945, and awarded the DSO on 18 October. As a result, the earlier MBE appointment was cancelled on 25 October 1945.

After his escape from the Germans, Neave was recruited as an intelligence officer for MI9, supporting underground escape organizations, such as the Pat O'Leary Line and Comet Line in occupied Europe, with equipment, agents and money; assisting downed Allied airmen and other Allied military personnel evade and escape capture by the Germans. In Western Europe, about 5,000 British and American military personnel were rescued by the escape organizations and repatriated to the United Kingdom, mostly through neutral Spain, before D-Day. After D-Day in Operation Marathon, Neave journeyed to France and Belgium and, with help from the Comet Line and the Resistance, rescued more than 300 allied airmen who had taken refuge in forest camps after being shot down. While at MI9, he was the immediate superior of the future comedian Michael Bentine, also an Old Etonian.

He also served with the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trials, investigating Krupp. He was supported by the work of his secretary Joan Tutte. As a well-known war hero – as well as a qualified lawyer who spoke fluent German – he was honoured with the role of reading the indictments to the Nazi leaders on trial. He wrote several books about his war experiences including an account of the trials.

A temporary lieutenant-colonel by 1947, he was appointed an OBE (Military Division) in that year's Birthday Honours. He was awarded the Bronze Star by the US government on 20 July 1948, and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 1 April 1950, At the same time, his promotion to acting major was gazetted, with retroactive effect from 16 April 1948. He entered the reserves on 21 September 1951.

Political career
Neave stood for the Conservative Party at the 1950 election in Thurrock and at Ealing North in 1951. He was elected for Abingdon in a by-election in June 1953, but his career was held back by a heart attack he suffered in 1959.

He was a Governor of Imperial College between 1963 and 1971 and was a member of the House of Commons select committee on Science and Technology between 1965 and 1970. He was on the governing body of Abingdon School from 1953 to 1979.

Edward Heath, when Chief Whip, was alleged to have told Neave that after he suffered his heart attack his career was finished but in his 1998 autobiography, Heath strongly denied ever making such a remark. He admitted that in December 1974 Neave had told him to stand down for the good of the party. During the final two months of 1974, Neave had asked Keith Joseph, William Whitelaw and Edward du Cann to stand against Heath, and said that in the case of any of them challenging for the party leadership, he would be their campaign manager. When all three refused to stand, Neave agreed to be the campaign manager for Margaret Thatcher's attempt to become leader of the Conservative Party, which was eventually successful.

When Thatcher was elected leader in February 1975, Neave was rewarded by becoming head of her private office. He was then appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, at the time of his death, was poised to attain the equivalent Cabinet position in the event of the Conservatives winning the general election of 1979. In opposition, Neave was a strong supporter of Roy Mason, who had extended the policy of Ulsterisation.

Neave was author of the new and radical Conservative policy of abandoning devolution in Northern Ireland if there was no early progress in that regard, and concentrating on local government reform instead. This integrationist policy was hastily abandoned by Humphrey Atkins, who became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the role Neave had shadowed.

Politician Tony Benn records in his diary (17 February 1981) that a journalist from the New Statesman, Duncan Campbell, told him that he had received information two years previously, from an intelligence agent, that Neave had planned to have Benn assassinated if, following the election of Labour government, Labour leader James Callaghan resigned and there was a possibility that Benn might be elected in his place. Campbell said that the agent was ready to give his name and the New Statesman was going to print the story. Benn, however, discounted the validity of the story, writing in his diary: "No one will believe for a moment that Airey Neave would have done such a thing." The magazine printed the story on 20 February 1981, naming the agent as Lee Tracey. Tracey said he had met Neave, who asked him to join a team of intelligence and security specialists which would "make sure Benn was stopped". A planned second meeting never took place because Neave was murdered with a car bomb.

Assassination
Airey Neave was critically wounded on 30 March 1979 when a car bomb fitted with a tilt-switch exploded under his Vauxhall Cavalier at 14:59 as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park. He lost both legs in the explosion and died of his wounds at Westminster Hospital an hour after being rescued from the wrecked car. He was 63.

The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) afterwards claimed responsibility for the assassination. Neave had been pressing within Conservative Party circles and in Parliament throughout the Troubles for the British Government to abandon its strategy of containment (including "Ulsterisation") of Irish republican paramilitarism within Northern Ireland, and switch to one of pursuing its military defeat. It is believed that this is what led to his being targeted.

Following his death, Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher said of Neave:

"He was one of freedom's warriors. No one knew of the great man he was, except those nearest to him. He was staunch, brave, true, strong; but he was very gentle and kind and loyal. It's a rare combination of qualities. There's no one else who can quite fill them. I, and so many other people, owe so much to him and now we must carry on for the things he fought for and not let the people who got him triumph."

Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan said: "No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism."

The INLA issued a statement regarding the murder in the August 1979 edition of The Starry Plough:

"In March, retired terrorist and supporter of capital punishment, Airey Neave, got a taste of his own medicine when an INLA unit pulled off the operation of the decade and blew him to bits inside the 'impregnable' Palace of Westminster. The nauseous Margaret Thatcher snivelled on television that he was an 'incalculable loss'—and so he was—to the British ruling class."

Neave's death came two days after the vote of no confidence which brought down Callaghan's government and a few weeks before the general election, which brought about a Conservative victory and saw Thatcher come to power as Prime Minister. Neave's wife Diana, whom he married on 29 December 1942, was subsequently elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Airey of Abingdon.

Neave's biographer Paul Routledge met a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the political wing of INLA) who was involved in the killing of Neave and who told Routledge that Neave "would have been very successful at that job [Northern Ireland Secretary]. He would have brought the armed struggle to its knees".

As a result of Neave's assassination the INLA was declared illegal across the whole of the United Kingdom on 2 July 1979.

Media depictions
Neave was portrayed by Geoffrey Pounsett in Nuremberg (2000), Dermot Crowley in Margaret (2009), Nicholas Farrell in The Iron Lady (2011) (in a piece of dramatic licence Thatcher is shown in that film as an eyewitness to his death) and Tim McInnerny in Utopia (2014).

In 2014, 35 years after Neave's death, a fictionalised account of Neave's murder was depicted in the Channel 4 drama Utopia, where he was portrayed as a drinker who colluded with spies and whose assassination was perpetrated by MI5. This led to condemnation of the broadcaster, with Norman Tebbit, a friend and political colleague of Neave, saying "To attack a man like that who is dead and cannot defend himself is despicable".

Works

 * 1953 – They Have Their Exits
 * 1954 – Little Cyclone
 * 1969 – Saturday at MI9 (U.S. title: The Escape Room)
 * 1972 – The Flames of Calais: A Soldier's Battle, 1940
 * 1978 – Nuremberg (U.S. title: On Trial at Nuremberg)

title: Airey Neave


text:
Environmentally sensitive area

An environmentally sensitive area (ESA) is a type of designation for an agricultural area which needs special protection because of its landscape, wildlife or historical value. The scheme was introduced in 1987. Originally it was administered by Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, then the Rural Development Service for the United Kingdom Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and currently Natural England following successive re-organisation of the departments. In 2005 the scheme was superseded by Environmental Stewardship and closed to new entrants. Existing agreements remain active until they expire, meaning the designation will remain active until 2014.

Farmers entered into a 10-year contract with the government and received an annual payment for the area that is part of the scheme. Farmers were expected to adopt environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

There are 22 ESAs in England:
 * Avon Valley
 * Blackdown Hills
 * Breckland
 * Broads
 * River Clun
 * Cotswold Hills
 * Dartmoor
 * Essex Coast
 * Exmoor
 * Lake District
 * North Kent Marshes
 * North Peak
 * Pennine Dales
 * Shropshire Hills
 * Somerset Levels and Moors
 * South Downs
 * South Wessex Downs
 * South West Peak
 * Suffolk River Valleys
 * Test Valley
 * Upper Thames Tributaries
 * West Penwith

There are 10 ESAs in Scotland
 * Breadalbane
 * Loch Lomond
 * Machair (Western Isles)
 * Stewartry
 * Central Borders (inc Whitlaw Eildon)
 * Central Uplands
 * Western Uplands
 * Cairngorm Straths
 * Shetland Islands
 * Argyll Islands

title: Environmentally sensitive area


text:
Special Protection Area

A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds. Together with special areas of conservation (SACs), the SPAs form a network of protected sites across the EU, called Natura 2000. Each SPA has an EU code – for example the North Norfolk Coast SPA has the code UK9009031.

In the United Kingdom
As at 21 September 2006, there were 252 classified SPAs and 12 proposed SPAs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994 implement the terms of the Directive in Scotland, England and Wales. In Great Britain, SPAs (and SACs) designated on land or in the intertidal area are normally also notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and in Northern Ireland as Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs). For example, the Broadland SPA in eastern England is a conglomeration of some 28 SSSIs. SPAs may extend below low tide into the sea, and for these areas SSSI notification is not possible. In Scotland, some SPAs have been classified without any underpinning designation by SSSI.

In Poland
Special Protection Areas for Birds in Poland are called OSOPs (Obszar Specjalnej Ochrony Ptaków). As of 2005, there were 72 OSOP Areas designated as such.

In Portugal
The Castro Verde SPA extends into six municipalities of Baixo Alentejo Subregion: Aljustrel, Almodôvar Municipality, Beja Municipality, Castro Verde Municipality, Mértola and Ourique Municipality, a total area of 79,007 hectares (790 km 2).

In Spain
The Spanish term is ZEPA. There were 658 Spanish sites as at 2021.

In the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic uses the term Ptačí oblast (PO, bird area) for SPAs. Between 2004 and 2009, 41 bird areas were declared by government directives. They cover 9% of the state area.

title: Special Protection Area


text:
Talk:W. T. Cosgrave

Discussion
Reference the correction of "Collins's"

Although there is no universally accepted rule of thumb governing the formation of the positive case of names which end in "s", the most accepted practice would seem to be not just to place an apostrophe at the end of the word but to add another "s" - Mr Jones's coat, St. James's Street; not Mr Jones' coat, St. James' Street.

According to the American Heritage® Book of English Usage online it depends on whether it is pronounced "Coll-ins" and spelled Collins' or pronounced "Coll-ins-es" and then spelled Collins's. Personally I am one of those they mention that always spell s'. Rmhermen 21:24, Oct 9, 2003 (UTC)

 * In the case of Michael Collins, the majority of people say Coll-ins. Coll-ins-es is a largely regional variation in south-west Ireland. So it is written generally as Collins' view was . . .  whereas people write and say Saint James's Hospital. FearÉIREANN 21:46, 9 Oct 2003 (UTC)

---

Please can we use the spelling 'jail'? I know there is some talk about the nativity of spellings and subjects being in agreement, but 'gaol' is no longer current in any english dialect. It is irrelevant whether or not early 20th century Hiberno-English had 'gaol'.

Sure enough Wilde's 'Ballad of Reading Gaol' should remain as such, but articles written this day should have spellings of this day and not of yesterday. All other paths shall lead to an absurdity of spellings. - stet 20:51, 9 Oct 2003 (UTC)

It is still widely used in Hiberno-English and as such belongs in relevant articles. You may not use it. Many, including historians do. It is also officially used in preference to jail (which is seen as 'cowboy American') in the official name of some prisons. FearÉIREANN 21:11, 9 Oct 2003 (UTC)

 * What does 'widely used' count for? The Independent (Ireland's largest selling newspaper) has this on the front of its website: ' Outrage as toddler joins mum in jail after bin protest ruling ', I would say 'jail' is just as common in as hiberno english as it is in british english. The word 'gaol' is no longer preferred in any english dialect.

 * For proper names I insist that 'gaol' spellings are stuck to where already in existence, but we ought not try avoid the word because some people object to 'Americanisms'. What you suggest in using 'gaol' is an effect of, not native, but period spellings. Wikipedia policy supports only nativity of spellings. - stet 17:45, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Wiki policy is not to enforce uniformity in english but to accept variations in english usage. Gaol is in use. The Irish Indo was talking about the the bin protests. It uses gaol when writing of Collins and the War of Independence and in other contexts. I know from personal experience, I write freelance for it, its sister paper the Sunday Independent, the Irish Times, the Irish Examiner, the Sunday Times and other newspapers. FearÉIREANN 18:47, 10 Oct 2003 (UTC)

 * I don't suppose I can compete your bigname list. I yet think it is wrong, and the papers more so for publishing it when they ought to know better. 'Gaol' is unnecessary in any context but proper names, but if you wish to conserve it go ahead. You shall as you will. - 195.92.168.165 01:10, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)

 * Jail and gaol are two words with the same meaning. The former was American English, the latter British English and Hiberno-English. As happens sometimes, one form has become the dominant one internationally, in this case the American english version. However gaol still is used though less regularly in British English and Hiberno-English, and as such is a perfectly valid term to use under wiki english usage policy. More english speakers internationally use colour than color, foetus than fetus etc but as both are still used and understood, both are used on wiki. The same is true with gaol. In contrast Apothecary is no longer used for pharmacists in english, so it does not feature in wiki articles. FearÉIREANN 18:02, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)

I've moved the page to its correct location. His name may technically be William T. Cosgrave but he very rarely called that. He was invariably called W.T. (the joke at the time was that even his wife didn't know what the W stood for!). A small minority of those close to him called him Willie but William T was not a widely used version. It is exactly the same as with John A. Costello who was almost always called John A or by those close to him Jack but never ever John Costello (which is where, at one stage, his page was put on Wikipedia. Fear ÉIREANN (talk) 02:07, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Citation needed on last para of Legacy
I have added a tag to the last para of the section on W.T.'s Legacy. The reported comments by DeV to his son Viv are significant, but are hard to rely on unless sourced. --BrownHairedGirl 11:54, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

 * The source was Tim Pat Coogan's book on de Valera, p.426. I've added in the info into the article. FearÉIREANN [[Image:Ireland-up.png|15px]]\(caint)  17:44, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Requested move
W.T. Cosgrave → W. T. Cosgrave – Naming conventions -Justin (koavf)·T·C·M 15:15, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Survey
Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~

 * Support. Djegan 19:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose. Per comments. Djegan 06:36, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment. Dáil Éireann - Volume 92 - 02 December, 1943 has "W.T. Cosgrove", as did every other Parliamentary Debate page that I could be bothered checking. The article says "W.T." rather than "W. T.". If the man was called W.T., that's what the page should be called, likewise "W. T.". Which was it ? Angus McLellan (Talk)
 * *Support. Scolaire 22:01, 29 August 2006 (UTC) - not sufficiently bothered. Scolaire 19:23, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose. One of the strange quirks of the English language seems to be that where someone is known by a number of initials, and the first name is initialised rather than spelt out, the set of initials are written in one of three formats: (1) bunched together; (2) written with a space between each but no period; or (3) written with periods but no spaces between them. So one writes FDR, F D R or F.D.R. but not F. D. R.; JFK, J F K or J.F.K. but not J. F. K.; PW Botha, P W Botha or P.W. Botha, but not P. W. Botha. Similarly here one writes either WT Cosgrave, W T Cosgrave or W.T. Cosgrave. One doesn't write W. T. Cosgrave however. (I did write W. T. Cosgrave in a college essay once and had it marked as wrong!) English is full of these quirks. Often they aren't even formally defined. They just develop. This article is correctly laid out. W. T. Cosgrave would be incorrect, and also look very strange. FearÉIREANN [[Image:Ireland-up.png|15px]]\(caint)  00:13, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose ant_ie 07:36, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose - Although the proposal seems to be better English, it is I think, inappropriate in this instance. zoney ♣ talk 14:34, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oppose per Jtdirl. Angus McLellan (Talk) 18:36, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Discussion
Add any additional comments
 * Two days for discussion, then the move. Teke ( talk ) 17:27, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Moved denied by the community. Teke ( talk ) 04:20, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Move back?
Can we move the article back to W.T. Cosgrave, with no space between the W. and the T. ? Ian Cheese (talk) 15:45, 8 February 2009 (UTC) Ian Cheese (talk) 13:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * What's the nameing convention for people known by ther initials? Has it changed? Will you fix all the redirects? Snappy (talk) 00:40, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, I'm trusting jtdirl above. I'll fix the the redirects (but redirects are not a reason to hold off fixing this mistake). Will I move it?

Order?
What is the star and riband being worn in this picture? Is it something papal? Opera hat (talk) 20:26, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX, awarded 1925.. Opera hat (talk) 20:40, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Category added for it. Snappy (talk) 21:09, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

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Bias?
This reads too much like a hagiography of the man. A more objective view should be taken of his record in Government. 195.195.218.133 (talk) 20:46, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:W. T. Cosgrave