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The Concert for Bangladesh

The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country's name was originally spelt) was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide and the 1970 Bhola cyclone. The concerts were followed by a bestselling live album, a boxed three-record set, and Apple Films' concert documentary, which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972.

The event was the first-ever benefit of such a magnitude, and featured a supergroup of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and the band Badfinger. In addition, Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan – both of whom had ancestral roots in Bangladesh – performed an opening set of Indian classical music. The concerts were attended by a total of 40,000 people, and the initial gate receipts raised close to $250,000 for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF.

After collecting the musicians easily, Harrison found it extremely difficult to get the recording industry to release the rights for performers to share the stage, and millions of dollars raised from the album and film were tied up in IRS tax escrow accounts for years, but the concert has been recognised as a highly successful and influential humanitarian aid project, generating both awareness and considerable funds as well as providing valuable lessons and inspiration for projects that followed, such as Live Aid.

By 1985, through revenue raised from the Concert for Bangladesh live album and film, an estimated $12 million had been sent to Bangladesh, and sales of the live album and DVD release of the film continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. Decades later, Shankar would say of the overwhelming success of the event: "In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh. It was a fantastic occasion."

Background
As East Pakistan struggled to become the separate state of Bangladesh during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the political and military turmoil and associated atrocities led to a massive refugee problem, with almost 10 million displaced people pouring into neighbouring India. East Pakistan had recently endured devastation as a result of the Bhola cyclone, and the Bengalis' desperate plight increased in March that year when torrential rains and floods arrived in the region, threatening a humanitarian disaster. Quoting figures available at the time, a Rolling Stone feature claimed that up to half a million Bengalis had been killed by the cyclone in November 1970 and that the Pakistani army's subsequent campaign of slaughter under Operation Searchlight accounted for at least 250,000 civilians, "by the most conservative estimates". Following the mass exodus to Calcutta, a new threat arrived as the refugees faced starvation and the outbreak of diseases such as cholera.

Appalled at the situation affecting his homeland and relatives, Bengali musician Ravi Shankar first brought the issue to the attention of his friend George Harrison in the early months of 1971, over dinner at Friar Park, according to Klaus Voormann's recollection. By April, Shankar and Harrison were in Los Angeles working on the soundtrack to the film Raga, during which Harrison wrote the song "Miss O'Dell", commenting on corruption among the Indian authorities as aid shipments of rice from the West kept "going astray on [their] way to Bombay". After returning to England to produce Badfinger's Straight Up album and take part in sessions for John Lennon's Imagine – all the while, being kept abreast of developments by Shankar, via newspaper and magazine cuttings – Harrison was back in Los Angeles to finish the Raga album in late June. By then, the Sunday Times in London had just published an influential article by Pakistani journalist Anthony Mascarenhas, which exposed the full horror of the Bangladesh atrocities, and a distraught Shankar approached Harrison for help in trying to alleviate the suffering. Harrison later talked of spending "three months" on the phone organising the Concert for Bangladesh, implying that efforts were under way from late April onwards; it is widely acknowledged that the project began in earnest during the last week of June 1971, however, five or six weeks before the event took place on 1 August.

Preparation
Shankar's original hope was to raise $25,000 through a benefit concert of his own, compered perhaps by actor Peter Sellers. With Harrison's commitment, and the record and film outlets available to him through the Beatles' Apple Corps organisation, the idea soon grew to become a star-studded musical event, mixing Western rock with Indian classical music, and it was to be held at the most prestigious venue in America: Madison Square Garden, in New York City. According to Chris O'Dell, a music-business administrator and former Apple employee, Harrison got off the phone with Shankar once the concept had been finalised, and started enthusing with his wife, Pattie Boyd, about possible performers. Ringo Starr, Lennon, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Voormann, Billy Preston and Badfinger were all mentioned during this initial brainstorming.

O'Dell set about contacting local musicians from the Harrisons' rented house in Nichols Canyon, as Harrison took the long-distance calls, hoping more than anything to secure Bob Dylan's participation. Almost all of Harrison's first-choice names signed on immediately, while a day spent boating with Memphis musician Don Nix resulted in the latter agreeing to organise a group of backing singers. A local Indian astrologer had advised early August as a good time in which to stage the concert, and as things transpired, the first day of that month, a Sunday, was the only day that Madison Square Garden was available at such short notice.

By the first week of July, Harrison was in a Los Angeles studio recording his purpose-written song, "Bangla Desh", with co-producer Phil Spector. The song's opening verse documents Shankar's plea to Harrison for assistance, and the lyrics "My friend came to me with sadness in his eyes / Told me that he wanted help before his country dies" provided an enduring image for what United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan later recognised as the basic human aspect behind the cause.

Harrison then met with Badfinger in London to explain that he would have to abandon work on Straight Up, before flying to New York on 13 July to see Lennon. During the middle of July also, once back in Los Angeles, Harrison produced Shankar's Bangladesh benefit record, an EP titled Joi Bangla. The latter featured contributions from East Bengal-born Ali Akbar Khan, on sarod, and tabla player Alla Rakha. As with Harrison's "Bangla Desh", all profits from this recording would go to the newly established George Harrison–Ravi Shankar Special Emergency Relief Fund, to be distributed by UNICEF. Also around the middle of July, the upcoming concert by "George Harrison and Friends" was announced "via a minuscule ad buried in the back pages of the New York Times", author Nicholas Schaffner wrote in 1977. Tickets sold out in no time, leading to the announcement of a second show.

Towards the end of the month, when all parties were due to meet in New York for rehearsals, Harrison had the commitment of a backing band comprising Preston on keyboards, the four members of Badfinger on acoustic rhythm guitars and tambourine, Voormann and Keltner, on bass and drums, respectively, and saxophonist Jim Horn's so-called "Hollywood Horns", which included Chuck Findley, Jackie Kelso and Lou McCreary. Of the established stars, Leon Russell had committed also, but on the proviso that he be supported by members of his tour band. Eric Clapton insisted that he too would be there, even though O'Dell and other insiders, knowing of the guitarist's incapacity due to severe heroin addiction, were surprised that Harrison had considered him for the occasion.

Among Harrison's former bandmates, Lennon initially agreed to take part in the concert without his wife and musical partner Yoko Ono, as Harrison had apparently stipulated. Lennon then allegedly had an argument with Ono as a result of this agreement and left New York in a rage two days before the concerts. Starr's commitment had never been in question, and he interrupted the filming of his movie Blindman in Almeria, Spain, in order to attend. Paul McCartney declined to take part, however, citing the bad feelings caused by the Beatles' legal problems on their break-up.

Rehearsals
The Harrisons decamped to the Park Lane Hotel in New York City, and the first rehearsal took place on Monday, 26 July, at Nola Studios on West 57th Street. Harrison had written a possible setlist for the concert while sketching design ideas for Shankar's Joi Bangla picture sleeve. As well as the songs he would go on to perform on 1 August, Harrison's list included his own compositions "All Things Must Pass" – "with Leon [Russell]", apparently – "Art of Dying" and the just-recorded B-side "Deep Blue"; Clapton's song "Let It Rain" appeared also, while the suggestions for Dylan's set were "If Not for You", "Watching the River Flow" (his recent, Leon Russell-produced single) and "Blowin' in the Wind". Only Harrison, Voormann, the six-piece horn section, and Badfinger's Pete Ham, Joey Molland, Tom Evans and Mike Gibbins were at Nola Studios on that first day, and subsequent rehearsals were similarly carried out in "dribs and drabs", as Harrison put it. Only the final run-through, on the night before the concert, resembled a complete band rehearsal.

On Tuesday, 27 July, Harrison and Shankar, accompanied by a pipe-smoking Allen Klein, held a press conference to promote the two shows; notoriously performance-shy, Harrison said "Just thinking about it makes me shake." The "Bangla Desh" charity single was issued in America on 28 July, with a UK release following two days later. Ringo Starr arrived on the Thursday, and by Friday, 30 July, Russell was in town, interrupting his US tour. Russell's band members Claudia Linnear and Don Preston were added to Don Nix's choir of backing singers; Preston would switch to lead guitar for Russell's solo spot during the shows, just as bassist Carl Radle would replace Voormann temporarily. By this point, Clapton's participation was gravely in doubt, and Harrison had drafted in Jesse Ed Davis as a probable replacement. The ex-Taj Mahal guitarist received last-minute coaching from Voormann, who was more than familiar with Harrison's songs, as well as those by Billy Preston and Starr.

The final rehearsal, the first for some of the participants, was combined with the concert soundcheck, at Madison Square Garden, late on 31 July. Both Dylan and Clapton finally appeared at the soundcheck that night. Even then, Clapton was in the early stages of heroin withdrawal – only a cameraman supplying him with some methadone would result in the English guitarist taking the stage the following day, after his then-girlfriend Alice Ormsby-Gore had been unsuccessful in purchasing uncut heroin for him on the street. To Harrison's frustration, Dylan was having severe doubts about performing in such a big-event atmosphere and still would not commit to playing. "Look, it's not my scene, either," Harrison countered. "At least you've played on your own in front of a crowd before. I've never done that."

Through Harrison's friendship with the Band, Jonathan Taplin served as production manager, while Chip Monck was in charge of lighting. Gary Kellgren from the nearby Record Plant was brought in to record the concerts, overseen by Spector, and "Klein's people", led by director Saul Swimmer, would handle the filming of the event. The official concert photographers were Tom Wilkes and Barry Feinstein, the pair responsible for the artwork on Harrison's acclaimed 1970 triple album, All Things Must Pass.

Stephen Stills, having proceeded to sell out Madison Square Garden two days before the concert on 30 July, in support of his album, Stephen Stills 2, allowed Harrison to use his stage, sound, lighting system and production manager but was upset when Harrison "neglected to invite him to perform, mention his name, or say thank you". Stills then spent the show drunk in Ringo Starr's dressing room, "barking at everyone".

Afternoon show
Except for brief support roles in December 1969 for both the Delaney & Bonnie and Friends band and Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, the Concert for Bangladesh was Harrison's first live appearance before a paying audience since the Beatles had quit touring in August 1966. Dylan had stopped touring that same year, although he had made a moderately successful comeback in August 1969 at the Isle of Wight Festival, his most recent live performance at this point. Speaking in 2005, Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner described the "buzz" preceding the first Concert for Bangladesh show as being at a level unexperienced in New York since the Beatles' 1966 visit.

In his role as master of ceremonies, Harrison began the afternoon show by asking the audience to "try to get into" the opening, Indian music portion of the programme. He then introduced Ravi Shankar and the latter's fellow musicians – sarodya Ali Akbar Khan, tabla player Alla Rakha, and Kamala Chakravarty on tamboura. Shankar first explained the reason for the concerts, after which the four musicians performed a traditional dhun, in the format of a khyal rather than a standard raga, titled "Bangla Dhun". Their set included a second piece, authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter suggest, citing Harrison's own description that each show's Indian music segment lasted for three-quarters of an hour, whereas only seventeen minutes of music appears on the Concert for Bangladesh live album. The recital was afforded a "fidgety respect" from fans eager to discover the identity of Harrison's advertised "Friends", although the audience's goodwill was more than evident. A short intermission ensued while the stage was cleared and a Dutch TV film was shown, displaying footage of the atrocities and natural tragedies taking place in former East Pakistan.

To thunderous applause from the New York crowd, Harrison appeared on stage along with his temporary band, comprising Ringo Starr, a very sick Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann, Jim Keltner and eighteen others. Backed by this "full Phil Spector/All Things Must Pass rock orchestra", Harrison began the Western portion of the concert with "Wah-Wah", followed by his Beatles hit song' "Something" and the gospel-rocker "Awaiting on You All". Harrison then handed the spotlight over to Preston, who performed his only sizeable hit (thus far), "That's the Way God Planned It", followed by Starr, whose song "It Don't Come Easy" had recently established the drummer as a solo artist. Nicholas Schaffner was in the audience for this first show and later described Starr's turn as having received the "biggest ovation" of the afternoon.

Next up was Harrison's "Beware of Darkness", with guest vocals on the third verse by Russell, who covered the song on his concurrent album, Leon Russell and the Shelter People (1971). After pausing to introduce the band, Harrison followed this with one of the best-received moments in both the shows – a charging version of the White Album track "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", featuring him and Clapton "duelling" on lead guitar during the long instrumental playout. Both the band introduction and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" are among the few selections from the afternoon show that were included on the album and in the film. Another one was Leon Russell's medley of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and the Coasters' "Young Blood", which was also a highlight of Russell's live shows at the time. With Don Preston crossing the stage to play lead guitar with Harrison, there were now temporarily four electric guitarists in the line-up. Don Preston, Harrison and Claudia Linnear supplied supporting vocals behind Russell.

In an effective change of pace, Harrison picked up his acoustic guitar, now alone on the stage save for Pete Ham on a second acoustic, and Don Nix's gospel choir, off to stage-left. The ensuing "Here Comes the Sun" – the first live performance of the song – was also warmly received. At this point, Harrison switched back to his white Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and, as recounted to Anthony DeCurtis in 1987, he looked down at the setlist taped to the body of the guitar and saw the word "Bob" followed by a question mark. "And I looked around," Harrison recalled of Bob Dylan's entrance, "and he was so nervous – he had his guitar on and his shades – he was sort of coming on, coming [pumps his arms and shoulders] ... It was only at that moment that I knew for sure he was going to do it." Among the audience, Schaffner wrote, there was "total astonishment" at this new arrival.

As Harrison had envisaged, Dylan's mini-set was the crowning glory of the Concert for Bangladesh for many observers. Backed by just Harrison, Russell (now playing Voormann's Fender Precision bass) and Starr on tambourine, Dylan played five of his decade-defining songs from the 1960s: "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", "Blowin' in the Wind", "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "Just Like a Woman".

Harrison and the band then returned to perform a final segment, consisting of "Hear Me Lord" and his recent international number one hit, "My Sweet Lord", followed by the song of the moment – "Bangla Desh".

Evening show
Harrison was reportedly delighted with the outcome of the first show, as was Dylan, who accompanied him back to the Park Lane Hotel afterwards. They discussed possible changes to the setlist for the evening performance, beginning at 8 pm.

The songs played and their sequence differed slightly between the first and second shows, most noticeably with Harrison's opening and closing mini-sets. After "Wah-Wah", he brought "My Sweet Lord" forward in the order, followed by "Awaiting on You All", before handing it over to Billy Preston. The afternoon's "creaky" "Hear Me Lord" was dropped, so that the post-Dylan band segment consisted of only two numbers: "Something", to close the show, and a particularly passionate reading of "Bangla Desh", as an encore. Dylan likewise made some changes, swapping "Blowin' in the Wind" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh" in the order, and then playing a well-received "Mr. Tambourine Man" in place of "Love Minus Zero".

The second show was widely acknowledged as superior to the afternoon performance, although Village Voice reviewer Don Heckman noted that many in the audience reacted to the Shankar–Khan opening set with a lack of respect. Not aiding the Indian musicians was the failure of a microphone on Rakha's hand drums, Heckman observed, so denying the crowd a vital element of the musical interplay between sitar and sarod.

During the Western portion of the show, Harrison's voice was more confident this time around, the music "perhaps slightly more lustrous", according to Rolling Stone. Towards the end of "That's the Way God Planned It", Preston felt compelled to get up from behind his Hammond organ and take a show-stealing boogie across the front of the stage.

Dylan's walk-on was again the show's "real cortex-snapping moment", Heckman opined. Dylan finished his final song, "Just Like a Woman", with a victorious salute – "holding up both fists like a strongman", Rolling Stone's reviewer remarked shortly afterwards. Following Dylan's set, Harrison introduced the band, before taking the show "to yet another peak" with "Something". Watching from the wings, Pattie Harrison described her husband's performance throughout that evening as "magnificent".

Following the two sellout concerts, all the participants attended a celebratory party in a basement club known as Ungano's. Dylan was so elated, Harrison recalled 16 years later, "He picked me up and hugged me and he said, 'God! If only we'd done three shows!'" Like Harrison, the experience of playing at Madison Square that day did not lead to Dylan immediately re-embracing the concert stage; only a brief guest appearance with the Band on New Year's Eve 1971–72 and sitting in during a John Prine club gig eventuated before he returned to touring in January 1974.

The post-concert party featured live performances from Harrison and Preston, after which a "roaring drunk" Phil Spector played a "unique" version of "Da Doo Ron Ron". The celebrations broke up in the early hours once Keith Moon of the Who began smashing up the drum kit, which actually belonged to Badfinger's Mike Gibbins.

Reviews
Harrison's manager, Allen Klein, immediately boasted of the entirely peaceful nature of the event: "There was no rioting. Not one policeman was allowed in there ... Zero!" In fact, as reported in The Village Voice on 12 August, midway through the evening show, a crowd of 200 non-ticket-holders charged and broke through the doors of Madison Square Garden. Aside from this episode, press reports concerning the Concert for Bangladesh shows were overwhelmingly positive.

The appearance of Bob Dylan on the same stage as two former Beatles caused a sensation, and lavish praise was bestowed on George Harrison. "Beatlemania Sweeps a City!" was a typical headline, and in Britain the NME declared the concerts "The Greatest Rock Spectacle of the Decade!" Billboard described the artists' performances as "their best music ever" and commented on the likelihood of a live album from the concerts: "there is no politics involved. What is involved is starving children and for once, relief through 35 musicians who should represent the feeling of anyone who loves their music."

Dylan's choice of songs, particularly the "apocalyptic" "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", were found to have a new relevance in the context of the early 1970s – the words made "the more chilling for the passage of years", opined Rolling Stone. The same publication stated of Starr's contribution: "Seeing Ringo Starr drumming and singing on stage has a joy in it that is one of the happiest feelings on earth still." Ravi Shankar's role as concert instigator and the true conscience of the UNICEF shows was also noted. Musically, The Village Voice observed, the pairing of Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan was "almost as unique as the mix of Dylan and Harrison".

In the wider countercultural context of the time, with disillusion increasingly rife with each post-Woodstock rock event, commentators viewed the concerts as, in the words of Rolling Stone, "a brief incandescent revival of all that was best about the Sixties". Writing in 1981, NME critic Bob Woffinden likened it to a "rediscovery of faith", adding: "Harrison had put rock music back on course."

Among Harrison's biographers, Alan Clayson describes the 1971–72 period covering the concerts and their associated releases as "the George Harrison Moment", while Gary Tillery states: "The Concert for Bangladesh sealed Harrison's stature as something more than just a major celebrity ... He changed the perception of recording artists, making it clear they could be good world citizens too – willing to set aside their egos and paychecks in order to help people who were suffering." According to Niaz Alam, writing in the Dhaka Tribune, "On artistic merit alone, as encapsulated in the film and LP, the Concert for Bangladesh perhaps holds up better than Woodstock in showcasing the best of its era in terms of music, optimism, and goodwill."

Aftermath
Politically, as Bangladeshi historian Farida Majid would note, the "warmth, care and goodwill" of the August 1971 concerts "echoed all over the world", inspiring volunteers to approach UNICEF and offer their assistance, as well as eliciting private donations to the Bangladesh disaster fund. Although the altruistic spirit would soon wane once more, the Concert for Bangladesh is invariably seen as the inspiration and model for subsequent rock charity benefits, from 1985's Live Aid and Farm Aid to the Concert for New York City and Live 8 in the twenty-first century. Unlike those later concerts, which benefitted from continuous media coverage of the causes they supported, the Harrison–Shankar project was responsible for identifying the problem and establishing Bangladesh's plight in the minds of mainstream Western society. According to Gary Tillery: "Because of its positioning as a humanitarian effort, all descriptions of the show included a summary of the catastrophe in South Asia. Overnight, because of their fascination with rock stars, masses of people became educated about geopolitical events they had not even been aware of the week before. The tragedy in Bangladesh moved to the fore as an international issue." One of these revelations was that America was supplying weaponry and financial aid to the Pakistani army, led by General Yahya Khan.

Harrison's musical biographer, Simon Leng, identifies friendship as the key factor behind the success of the two UNICEF shows, both in bringing all the participants together on the stage and in the affection with which the audience and music critics viewed the event. Klaus Voormann, a close friend of Harrison's since 1960, has often cited this quality as well.

Friendship played out through the next, significantly more lucrative stages of the Bangladesh relief project, as the associated live album and concert film were prepared for release. Harrison had assured all the main performers that their appearance would be removed from these releases if the event turned out "lousy", to save anyone having to risk possible embarrassment. Having sent out personalised letters of thanks to all the participants on 1 September, he expressed his gratitude further by guesting on Billy Preston's first album on A&M Records that autumn and donating a new song to Jesse Ed Davis.

Around the same time, there were rumours of a possible repeat of the New York concerts, to be held at London's Wembley Stadium in early October. Harrison and Klein quashed the idea, but an English version of the Concert for Bangladesh did take place, at The Oval in south London on 18 September. Titled "Goodbye to Summer – a rock concert in aid of famine relief of Bangla Desh", it included performances by the Who, the Faces, Mott the Hoople, America, Lindisfarne and Quintessence. Bangladesh refugees were also one of several charitable causes supported at the Weeley Festival, held near Clacton-on-Sea in Essex in late August. On 22 September, George and Pattie Harrison arrived home in the UK, with mixing having been completed on the upcoming live album, and Harrison due to meet with Patrick Jenkin of the British Treasury, to deal with the unforeseen obstacle of purchase tax being levied on the album. This was one of a number of problems that hindered Harrison's Bangladesh project following the Madison Square Garden shows, and the British politician would allegedly tell him: "Sorry! It is all very well for your high ideals, but Britain equally needs the money!"

On 5 June 1972, in recognition of their "pioneering" fundraising efforts for the refugees of Bangladesh, George Harrison, Ravi Shankar and Allen Klein were jointly honoured by UNICEF with its "Child Is the Father of the Man" award. In December 2008, seven years after Harrison's death, the BBC reported that moves were under way in the Bangladeshi High Court to have Harrison officially recognised and honoured as a hero for his role during the troubled birth of the nation.

Writing in 2003, author Bill Harry bemoaned the lack of recognition afforded Harrison in the UK honours system for his staging of the Concert for Bangladesh. Harry said that, given the influence of the event and Harrison's other charitable activities, and also how his company HandMade Films "virtually revived the British film industry", it was "difficult to equate" his MBE status (which he gained in 1965 as a member of the Beatles) with the knighthoods or other higher orders lavished on the likes of Bob Geldof, comedians, pop stars and other figures in the music business.

Funds and controversy
The two Madison Square Garden shows raised US$243,418.50, which was given to UNICEF to administer on 12 August 1971. By December, Capitol Records presented a cheque to Apple Corps for around $3,750,000 for advance sales of the Concert for Bangladesh live album.

Aside from complaints regarding the high retail price for the three-record set, particularly in Britain – a result of the government's refusal to waive its tax surcharge – controversy soon surrounded the project's fundraising. Most importantly, Klein had failed to register the event as a UNICEF benefit beforehand, and it was subsequently denied tax-exempt status by the US Government. As a result, most of the money was held in an Internal Revenue Service escrow account for ten years. In an interview with Derek Taylor for his autobiography in the late 1970s, Harrison put this figure at between $8 million and $10 million. Before then, in early 1972, New York magazine reported that some of the proceeds remained unaccounted for and had found their way into Klein's accounts. Klein responded by suing the magazine for $150 million in damages, and although the suit was later withdrawn, the accusations attracted unwelcome scrutiny at a time when questions were also being asked about Klein's mismanagement of the Beatles' finances. That year, an estimated $2 million had gone to the refugees via UNICEF before the IRS audit of Apple got under way; finally, in 1981, $8.8 million was added to that total following the audit.

By June 1985, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, nearly $12 million had been sent to Bangladesh for relief. Around this time, according to music journalist Mikal Gilmore, Harrison gave Geldof "meticulous advice" to ensure that Live Aid's estimated £50 million found its way, as intended, to victims of the Ethiopian famine. In an interview to promote the 1991 CD release of The Concert for Bangladesh, Harrison said that $13.5 million had been raised in the early 1970s, from the concert and the accompanying album and film. He added that, while this figured paled in comparison to ventures such as Live Aid, "you have to remember, that was at a time when nobody was really aware of this kind of benefit concert, certainly there hadn't been anything like that, and, of course, $13.5 million back then was probably much more than it's worth now."

Speaking in the 1990s, Harrison said of the Bangladesh relief effort: "Now it's all settled and the UN own the rights to it themselves, and I think there's been about 45 million dollars made." Sales of the DVD and CD of the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh continue to benefit the cause, now known as the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.

In popular culture
The Concert for Bangladesh was satirised in two episodes of The Simpsons: "Like Father, Like Clown" and "I'm with Cupid". In the former, Krusty plays the album while a visitor at the Simpsons household. In "I'm with Cupid", Apu's record collection contains The Concert Against Bangladesh, which features a picture of a mushroom cloud on the cover, reflecting contemporary Indian−Pakistani nuclear rivalry in the region.

The July 1974 ("Dessert") issue of National Lampoon magazine satirised Tom Wilkes' original cover design for The Concert for Bangladesh, by using a chocolate version of the starving child, the head of which has had a bite taken out of it. Two years before this, the National Lampoon team spoofed Harrison's humanitarian role on record, in their track "The Concert in Bangla Desh" on the Radio Dinner album. In the sketch, two Bangladeshi stand-up comedians (played by Tony Hendra and Christopher Guest) perform to starving refugees in an attempt to collect a bowlful of rice so that "George Harrison" can mount a hunger strike.

Crowd noises from the Concert for Bangladesh were put into Aerosmith's cover of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" by producer Jack Douglas. Some of stills photographer Barry Feinstein's shots from the 1971 concerts were used on the covers of subsequent albums by the participating artists, notably the compilations Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II and The History of Eric Clapton.

Harrison himself sent up the benefit-show concept on film, in the 1985 HandMade comedy Water. At the so-called Concert for Cascara, he, Starr, Clapton, Jon Lord and others make a surprise appearance on stage, supposedly before the United Nations General Assembly, performing the song "Freedom".

title: The Concert for Bangladesh


text:
Wool classing

Wool classing is the production of uniform, predictable, low-risk lines of wool, carried out by examining the characteristics of the wool in its raw state and classing (grading) it accordingly. Wool classing is done by a wool classer.

Basis for classification
Some of the qualities a wool classer examines when classing wool are:
 * Breed of the sheep: Shedding breeds will increase the risk of medullated or pigmented fibers. Any sheep likely to have dark fibers should be shorn last to avoid contamination. The age of the sheep will have a bearing on the diameter and value of the fibers of wool, too.
 * Usage of chemicals: Ensure that all rules are followed.
 * Brands, seedy jowls, and shanks: Must be removed from fleeces and broken.
 * Stains: Must be removed from bellies and fleeces and identified in a separate line.

 * Spinning capacity: The number of bends per unit length along the wool fiber approximately indicates the spinning capacity of the wool. Fibers with a fine crimp have many bends and usually have a small diameter. Such fibers can be spun into fine yarns, with great lengths of yarn for a given weight of wool, and higher market value. Fine fibers may be utilized in the production of fine garments such as men's suits whereas the coarser fibers may be used for the manufacture of carpet and other sturdy products. The unit of measurement is crimps per inch or crimps per centimeter. The average diameter or mean fiber diameter is measured in micrometers (microns). Before the advent of technology to measure crimps and diameter, English wool-handlers categorized wool based on their fineness by estimating spinning capacity using vision and touch, which is known as the Bradford system.
 * Strength (also known as tensile strength): Determines the wool's ability to withstand processing. Weaker wool produces more waste in carding and spinning, and may be used for the production of felt or combined with other fibers,.
 * Color: Indicates whether wool can be dyed in light shades. Color may be graded depending upon the natural color, impurities, and various stains present. Severely stained wool decreases prices dramatically. However, it is hard to assess color accurately without proper measurement, since some stains will wash out in the processing, whereas others are quite persistent.

Procedure
The fleece is skirted to remove excess fibres, seeds, burrs, etc. to leave the fleece as reasonably even as possible. The wool taken from different parts of a sheep are graded separately. The fleece forming the bulk of the yield is placed with other fleece wool as the main line, while other pieces such as the neck, belly, and skirting (inferior wool from edges) are sold for such purposes where the shorter wools are required (for example fillings, carpets, insulation). While in some places, crimp may determine which grade the fleece will be put into, this subjective assessment is not always reliable, and processors prefer that wools are measured objectively by qualified laboratories. Some of the superfine wool growers do in-shed wool testing, but this can only be used as a guide. This enables wool classers to place wool into lines of a consistent quality. A shed hand, known as a wool presser, places the wool into approved wool packs in a wool press to produce a bale of wool that must meet regulations concerning its fastenings, length, weight, and branding if it is to be sold at auction in Australasia. All Merino fleece wool sold at auction in Australia is objectively measured for fiber diameter, yield (including the amount of vegetable matter), staple length, staple strength, and sometimes color.

A classer is also responsible for a pre-shearing check to be made to ensure that the wool and sheep areas are free of possible contaminants. A classer supervises shed staff during shearing, and trains any inexperienced hands. At the end of shearing, classers have to provide full documentation concerning the clip.

Other systems of wool grading
"Blood" or "Blood system" was one of the old ways to grade wool. It was a term that was used with different fractions to show how much merino blood a sheep has. Each blood grade corresponds to a numerical grading system based on the yarn's fineness or count.

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

title: Wool classing


text:
User:Melissa

Melissa is from Morwell, in Victoria Australia ~ Well Its my first day on this wonderful site and I can happily say I am hooked! What a great concept and thanks to everyone who edits or reads any of my work in the near future.

 * Welcome! There are plenty of people who will answer questions if you have them, myself included. Village pump is a useful place to look if you can't find what you need in the FAQs. Vicki Rosenzweig 04:28 Feb 20, 2003 (UTC)

title: User:Melissa


text:
Returned and Services League of Australia

The Returned and Services League of Australia, known as RSL, RSL Australia and RSLA, is an independent support organisation for people who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force.

History

The League was formed in 1916 in response to the lack of a unified approach with Australian repatriation facilities and medical services for those returning from World War I. On 6 June 1916, a meeting of representatives from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria resolved to form The Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSSILA). Their intention was to lobby for better benefits, treatment and welfare of veterans and serving members of the Defence Force and to preserve the health, wellbeing and security of Australia and the Australian way of life. Before then, state Returned Service Associations had lobbied for better conditions for returned service people in their respective states. The League soon became, and remains, the nation’s largest ex-service organisation.

During the inter-war period 1919 to 1939, the RSSILA was recognised as the appropriate body to represent the interests of returned Australian service personnel in exchange for extending political cooperation to the Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. The RSSILA was noted for its right-wing politics, in 1919 drawing on its membership to form a 2,000-strong paramilitary force called the "Army to fight Bolshevism", and permitting various right-wing Australian militia groups access to its membership lists to convince returned servicemen to join them. In 1923, the League adopted the motto, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance". After the Second World War, amidst widespread antisemitism in Australia, the League published antisemitic political cartoons encouraging the Australian government and Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell to stem the flow of Jewish immigrants fleeing postwar violence. In 1948, World War I veteran and politician Fred Paterson was expelled from the organisation for being a communist.

In 1940, the name of the League changed to the Returned Sailors', Soldiers' and Airmen's Imperial League of Australia (RSSAILA). It changed in 1965 to the Returned Services League of Australia (RSL) and in 1990 to the Returned & Services League of Australia. Before that time, those who defended Darwin from Japanese bombing in World War II were not eligible to join, as they had never left Australia and thus could not be "returned."

National presidents since the league's inception are as follows:

Governance
The objects of the League remain relatively unchanged from its first incorporation. The League expresses its vision as: "Together, our vision is to help Australia’s veterans and Defence families enjoy better opportunities in all aspects of their lives." The League's mission is: To provide on behalf of Australia’s Veterans and Defence families national advocacy, supportive and coordinated national programs and activities, more funding and optimised management of the RSL brand. RSL Australia is organised as a federation of its independent state branches, which in turn consist of 1107 sub-branches delivering diverse services tailored to the priorities and needs of local veterans. The national office, in Canberra, shapes the national agenda on veterans' affairs on behalf of the state branches, provides national advocacy, and supports and coordinates national programs and activities.

The corporate entity underpinning RSL Australia is The Returned & Services League of Australia Limited – a public company limited by guarantee registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and endorsed to access GST and income tax concessions. The company is governed by a board comprising the national president and deputy national president, chairman, a director from each of the seven state/territory branches, and three independent non-member directors.

Activities
The League conducts a diverse range of programs and initiatives to serve its current membership and the next generation of veterans and their families. In 2022, it reported:
 * deep involvement with the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide: attending hearings around the country and making extensive, detailed submissions and comments on behalf of the veteran community, and implementing projects to address some of the known issues
 * initiation of an inaugural national Ex-service Organisation (ESO) Forum aimed at driving better coordination within the ESO sector and bringing together the collective thinking of Australia's leading ESOs
 * pro-active advocacy for veterans, including commentary on many current issues such as calls for government assistance for Afghan interpreters, demand-driven funding, mental health support, and proactive medical treatment for veterans
 * major observances of ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day, and support of many other anniversaries and commemorations, including the 80th anniversary of the Kokoda Campaign
 * advocacy in helping to shape the national discussion of security, veterans, services and defence preparedness
 * cooperation with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Department of Defence, particularly around the subject of transition into civilian life
 * delivering and coordinating Enhanced Employment Services to Veterans, a national employment program for veterans under Australian Government grant funding
 * reactivation of RSL Active to better coordinate sports and recreational activities across the League.

Influence
The influence of the League derives from its founding days organising rituals for ANZAC Day dawn services and marches, and Remembrance Day commemorations. In addition to pressing for benefits for veterans, the organisation entered other areas of political debate. The RSL was politically conservative, Anglophilic, and monarchist.

In the 1970s and 1980s, many defence force personnel, including veterans of the Vietnam War, found the RSL – whose members had predominantly served in the Second World War – generally unwelcoming and disdaining of their service. Since the turn of the century, with the number of Second World War veterans in the RSL dwindling, Vietnam veterans and their contemporaries, along with ex-servicemen's wives, have become mainstays of the League.

The focus of the RSL has been on the welfare of Australian men and women who have served in the armed forces. It has advocated for veterans' entitlements and the protection of former battlefields. Usually RSL members ensure that those who have served their country are commemorated by notifying funeral information and handing out poppies at the funeral.

Symbolism
The League's badge is a symbol of readiness at all times to render service to the country and to former comrades. No wealth or influence can purchase the RSL badge which may be worn only by those who are members. The shield is symbolic of the protection which the RSL gives to its members, their dependents, and widows/widowers and orphans of those who paid the supreme sacrifice. At the top of the badge is a crown, signifying allegiance to the Crown. Below the crown are the national flowers of Australia, Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland: the wattle, leek, rose, thistle, and shamrock. In the centre of the badge are a sailor, soldier, airman and service woman marching with their arms linked, symbolising friendship and the unity of all services and all ranks in comradeship. The red of the badge symbolises the blood ties of war. The white background stands for the purity of motive and the rendering of service without personal gain. The blue is a symbol of willingness to render service to a comrade anywhere under the sky.

Branches and sub-branches

Each state and territory has a branch of the League, with similar hierarchical structures. Within each branch is a series of districts and sub-branches that serve the interests of members in a particular geographic area.

The naming of these branches and sub-branches can be confused with the commercial entities generally called RSL Clubs. Ownership and operation of RSL and Services clubs differ from state to state. For example, RSL NSW and its sub-branches do not own or operate any registered clubs, nor do they own or operate poker machines; however, RSL Victoria sub-branches do.

Controversy (RSL New South Wales councillors)
On 4 October 2016, the Sydney Morning Herald and ABC News reported that RSL national president Rod White, a retired major of the Australian Army Reserve, received a share in nearly $1 million of consulting fees paid by an arm of the League, RSL LifeCare, and failed to disclose conflicts of interest. Mr White denied any wrongdoing and was quoted as saying, when questioned by an ABC News reporter: "I believe I have personally fulfilled my obligations legally and ethically and I'm just absolutely surprised at your questioning of my integrity in that regard".

In October 2016, legal advice commissioned by the RSL's New South Wales Branch indicated RSL New South Wales councillors, including Mr White, may have broken the law by receiving a share in $1 million of consulting fees while holding a voluntary position in the veteran's group: "It is possible, but not certain, that in doing so they did not meet one or more of their duties and obligations, or contravened the law." Subsequently, calls were made for Mr White to step aside in order to rebuild public trust in the League.

On 7 November 2016, ABC News reported Mr White as being likely to stand down pending an investigation into the consultancy fee payments, and that new documents obtained by ABC revealed that the quantum of consultancy fees paid was "far greater than originally thought – totalling more than $2 million since 2007".

On Remembrance Day 2016, ABC News reported that the New South Wales Branch of the RSL was at risk of losing its charity status as a result of the payment scandal and that the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission had written to the RSL "outlining its concerns that the league may not be meeting its obligations as a charity" and warning, as a worst case, that "the commission may use its powers to revoke the league's charity status if it finds evidence that the rules have been broken".

The RSL acting national president, Robert Dick, was subsequently reported as saying the league would be working with "regulatory bodies to deliver an appropriate corporate governance structure to ensure there is no maladministration in the NSW Branch. We are determined to expose any wrongdoing".

In March 2017, Mr White resigned as President of the RSL; he had held the position for eight months.

Licensed clubs

Licensed clubs were formed as commercial activities to initially provide services by sub-branches to their members, including providing an environment for the protection and promotion of the ideals of the ANZAC spirit and heritage. The venues were established to provide hospitality for war veterans and a place for comradeship. Often they were located on land granted by the state government. Over time these commercial entities, known generally as RSL Clubs (but also called Ex-Services, Memorial, Legion or other similar names) generated profits and often donated to local community services.

The membership base of the licensed clubs, totalling more than a million, differs significantly from membership of the Returned and Services League (RSL). Membership of the League does not automatically confer rights of entry or membership to a licensed club but in some jurisdictions clubs extend honorary membership to serving members of the ADF.

Licensed clubs operating under the RSL name usually have bar and dining facilities for their members and guests, and sometimes have extensive gambling areas. Each evening at 6.00 pm the Ode of Remembrance is read, followed by one minute's silence to honour those who died serving their country.

RSL NSW and its sub-Branches do not own or operate any registered clubs, nor do they own or operate poker machines.

RSL Care
The first RSL home for ex-servicemen was established in 1938. The affiliated organisation, which became RSL Care, had 26 facilities in 2011. Following a merger with the Royal District Nursing Service in Victoria, in 2016 it became RSL Care RDNS Limited, an Australian public company registered as a charity, trading as Bolton Clarke. With more than 28 retirement communities throughout Queensland and New South Wales and several others in development, it was one of Australia's largest providers of retirement living and aged care services.

RSL Cabs
Operating under a co-operative structure, in 1946 a group of returned servicemen established RSL Ex-Servicemen's Cabs & Co-Operative Members Limited to provide taxi services to Sydney. By the 1950s, the co-operative had expanded to more than 60 drivers. it operated on a commercial basis in which drivers were not required to be members of the League.

RSL Art Union
Commenced in Queensland in 1956, the RSL Art Union is a lottery that raises funds to provide welfare services to ex-service men and women, their dependents and to other members of the community. A major prize of a luxury waterfront home on Queensland's Gold Coast is usually offered, together with a range of bonus prizes. , the RSL Art Union had provided since its inception A$80 million in prizes and had raised more than A$70 million for development and maintenance of RSL nursing homes, hospitals and centres, and retirement complexes for elderly people.

Similar veterans' organisations

 * American Legion
 * Australian Legion
 * Royal British Legion
 * Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association
 * Royal Canadian Legion
 * South African Legion


text:
Scalability

Scalability is the property of a system to handle a growing amount of work. One definition for software systems specifies that this may be done by adding resources to the system.

In an economic context, a scalable business model implies that a company can increase sales given increased resources. For example, a package delivery system is scalable because more packages can be delivered by adding more delivery vehicles. However, if all packages had to first pass through a single warehouse for sorting, the system would not be as scalable, because one warehouse can handle only a limited number of packages.

In computing, scalability is a characteristic of computers, networks, algorithms, networking protocols, programs and applications. An example is a search engine, which must support increasing numbers of users, and the number of topics it indexes. Webscale is a computer architectural approach that brings the capabilities of large-scale cloud computing companies into enterprise data centers.

In distributed systems, there are several definitions according to the authors, some considering the concepts of scalability a sub-part of elasticity, others as being distinct.

In mathematics, scalability mostly refers to closure under scalar multiplication.

In industrial engineering and manufacturing, scalability refers to the capacity of a process, system, or organization to handle a growing workload, adapt to increasing demands, and maintain operational efficiency. A scalable system can effectively manage increased production volumes, new product lines, or expanding markets without compromising quality or performance. In this context, scalability is a vital consideration for businesses aiming to meet customer expectations, remain competitive, and achieve sustainable growth. Factors influencing scalability include the flexibility of the production process, the adaptability of the workforce, and the integration of advanced technologies. By implementing scalable solutions, companies can optimize resource utilization, reduce costs, and streamline their operations. Scalability in industrial engineering and manufacturing enables businesses to respond to fluctuating market conditions, capitalize on emerging opportunities, and thrive in an ever-evolving global landscape.

Examples
The Incident Command System (ICS) is used by emergency response agencies in the United States. ICS can scale resource coordination from a single-engine roadside brushfire to an interstate wildfire. The first resource on scene establishes command, with authority to order resources and delegate responsibility (managing five to seven officers, who will again delegate to up to seven, and on as the incident grows). As an incident expands, more senior officers assume command.

Dimensions
Scalability can be measured over multiple dimensions, such as:

 * Administrative scalability: The ability for an increasing number of organizations or users to access a system.
 * Functional scalability: The ability to enhance the system by adding new functionality without disrupting existing activities.
 * Geographic scalability: The ability to maintain effectiveness during expansion from a local area to a larger region.
 * Load scalability: The ability for a distributed system to expand and contract to accommodate heavier or lighter loads, including, the ease with which a system or component can be modified, added, or removed, to accommodate changing loads.
 * Generation scalability: The ability of a system to scale by adopting new generations of components.
 * Heterogeneous scalability is the ability to adopt components from different vendors.

Domains

 * A routing protocol is considered scalable with respect to network size, if the size of the necessary routing table on each node grows as O(log N), where N is the number of nodes in the network. Some early peer-to-peer (P2P) implementations of Gnutella had scaling issues. Each node query flooded its requests to all nodes. The demand on each peer increased in proportion to the total number of peers, quickly overrunning their capacity. Other P2P systems like BitTorrent scale well because the demand on each peer is independent of the number of peers. Nothing is centralized, so the system can expand indefinitely without any resources other than the peers themselves.
 * A scalable online transaction processing system or database management system is one that can be upgraded to process more transactions by adding new processors, devices and storage, and which can be upgraded easily and transparently without shutting it down.
 * The distributed nature of the Domain Name System (DNS) allows it to work efficiently, serving billions of hosts on the worldwide Internet.

Horizontal (scale out) and vertical scaling (scale up)
Resources fall into two broad categories: horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal or scale out
Scaling horizontally (out/in) means adding more nodes to (or removing nodes from) a system, such as adding a new computer to a distributed software application. An example might involve scaling out from one web server to three. High-performance computing applications, such as seismic analysis and biotechnology, scale workloads horizontally to support tasks that once would have required expensive supercomputers. Other workloads, such as large social networks, exceed the capacity of the largest supercomputer and can only be handled by scalable systems. Exploiting this scalability requires software for efficient resource management and maintenance.

Vertical or scale up
Scaling vertically (up/down) means adding resources to (or removing resources from) a single node, typically involving the addition of CPUs, memory or storage to a single computer.

Larger numbers of elements increases management complexity, more sophisticated programming to allocate tasks among resources and handle issues such as throughput and latency across nodes, while some applications do not scale horizontally.

Network scalability
Network function virtualization defines these terms differently: scaling out/in is the ability to scale by adding/removing resource instances (e.g., virtual machine), whereas scaling up/down is the ability to scale by changing allocated resources (e.g., memory/CPU/storage capacity).

Database scalability
Scalability for databases requires that the database system be able to perform additional work given greater hardware resources, such as additional servers, processors, memory and storage. Workloads have continued to grow and demands on databases have followed suit.

Algorithmic innovations have include row-level locking and table and index partitioning. Architectural innovations include shared-nothing and shared-everything architectures for managing multi-server configurations.

Strong versus eventual consistency (storage)
In the context of scale-out data storage, scalability is defined as the maximum storage cluster size which guarantees full data consistency, meaning there is only ever one valid version of stored data in the whole cluster, independently from the number of redundant physical data copies. Clusters which provide "lazy" redundancy by updating copies in an asynchronous fashion are called 'eventually consistent'. This type of scale-out design is suitable when availability and responsiveness are rated higher than consistency, which is true for many web file-hosting services or web caches (if you want the latest version, wait some seconds for it to propagate). For all classical transaction-oriented applications, this design should be avoided.

Many open-source and even commercial scale-out storage clusters, especially those built on top of standard PC hardware and networks, provide eventual consistency only, such as some NoSQL databases like CouchDB and others mentioned above. Write operations invalidate other copies, but often don't wait for their acknowledgements. Read operations typically don't check every redundant copy prior to answering, potentially missing the preceding write operation. The large amount of metadata signal traffic would require specialized hardware and short distances to be handled with acceptable performance (i.e., act like a non-clustered storage device or database).

Whenever strong data consistency is expected, look for these indicators:
 * the use of InfiniBand, Fibrechannel or similar low-latency networks to avoid performance degradation with increasing cluster size and number of redundant copies.
 * short cable lengths and limited physical extent, avoiding signal runtime performance degradation.
 * majority / quorum mechanisms to guarantee data consistency whenever parts of the cluster become inaccessible.

Indicators for eventually consistent designs (not suitable for transactional applications!) are:
 * write performance increases linearly with the number of connected devices in the cluster.
 * while the storage cluster is partitioned, all parts remain responsive. There is a risk of conflicting updates.

Performance tuning versus hardware scalability
It is often advised to focus system design on hardware scalability rather than on capacity. It is typically cheaper to add a new node to a system in order to achieve improved performance than to partake in performance tuning to improve the capacity that each node can handle. But this approach can have diminishing returns (as discussed in performance engineering). For example: suppose 70% of a program can be sped up if parallelized and run on multiple CPUs instead of one. If $$\alpha$$ is the fraction of a calculation that is sequential, and $$1-\alpha$$ is the fraction that can be parallelized, the maximum speedup that can be achieved by using P processors is given according to Amdahl's Law:

 * $$\frac 1 {\alpha+\frac{1-\alpha} P}.$$

Substituting the value for this example, using 4 processors gives

 * $$\frac 1 {0.3+\frac{1-0.3} 4} = 2.105.$$

Doubling the computing power to 8 processors gives

 * $$\frac 1 {0.3+\frac{1-0.3} 8} = 2.581.$$

Doubling the processing power has only sped up the process by roughly one-fifth. If the whole problem was parallelizable, the speed would also double. Therefore, throwing in more hardware is not necessarily the optimal approach.

Weak versus strong scaling
High performance computing has two common notions of scalability:
 * Strong scaling is defined as how the solution time varies with the number of processors for a fixed total problem size.
 * Weak scaling is defined as how the solution time varies with the number of processors for a fixed problem size per processor.

title: Scalability


text:
First Commandment

The First Commandment of the Ten Commandments may refer to:

 * "I am the Lord thy God", under the Talmudic division of the third-century Jewish Talmud
 * "Thou shalt have no other gods before me", under the Philonic division used by Hellenistic Jews and Protestants
 * "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image", under the Augustinian division used by Roman Catholics and Lutherans

Other uses

 * The First Commandment (novel), a 2007 novel by Brad Thor
 * "The First Commandment" (Stargate SG-1), a television episode

title: First Commandment


text:
Talk:Returned and Services League of Australia

Move proposal
I can't think of any good reason not to use the fuller, clearer name. ReeseM 02:30, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. — Nightst a  llion  (?) Seen this already? 12:08, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Japanese war crimes and the RSL; Yamashita´s Gold ("Operation Golden Lily") and US slush funds
Ben Chifley co-signed for Australia the 1952 peace treaty with Japan drafted by Alan Dulles of the CIA (see "Yamashita´s Gold", authors Sterling and Peggy Seagrave, 2003), with the USA having expediently failed by 1950 to prosecute Japanese war crimes to any extent in favour of rehabilitating the pre-war Jap elite (see Peter Godwin, "Betrayal in High Places"). The Stimson/John J McCloy slush funds of non-returned SE Asian assets plundered by the Japanese in Operation Golden Lily in WW2 have existed, initially under US control, from 1945 to this day, and are still in use, which is why the USA (most recently: Bill Clinton) has prohibited access to the archival files on McArthur´s post-war satrapy in Japan.

Aust. POWs, as also NZ, British, Dutch and US POWs were directly affected by this betrayal of their suffering, given art. 14 of the peace treaty. In fact, US POWs had been forced by their government to sign non-disclosure statements upon their release from Jap captivity. So why does this RSL article not discuss this matter from the standpoint of the RSL 1945 to date? Especially as there are indications of resurgent Jap militarism.

Branches and Sub Branches
It is my understanding that the RSL state divisions are called Branches and the local clubs are called Sub Branches? Does any one know about this? Ozdaren 01:03, 5 May 2007 (UTC)

That is close, but not quite correct. Yes, the state division is called a branch. The local organisation is called a sub-branch. Many sub-branches have an associated "Club", which controls the more social facilities, (such as restaurants, bars and the like). Ususally all sub-Branch members are members of the Club (some will be officers of it), but many clubs also allow the public to join it too. The public can't join the sub-Branch in the same way. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.37.212.89 (talk) 03:53, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

 * Yes that's a fair summary. In NSW there is a clear distinction between the RSL club and the sub-branch. The club is in practice the building and grounds itself - membership (and in practice anyone can join an RSL club in NSW) entitles the member to use the facilities, get discounts, etc. The sub-branch is restricted to returned servicemen or other eligible people (I believe this now includes former national service members). The relationship between the two is complex. In my old club the sub-branch was very wealthy as it owned assets whereas the club itself struggled financially.
 * I should also add there is a massive difference between RSL clubs in NSW and other states because NSW clubs have had poker machine revenue coming in for years. Things may be different these days but RSL clubs interstate use to be very modest affairs compared to something like say Rooty Hill RSL. Tigerman2005 (talk) 08:08, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I have proposed that the article RSL Queensland be merged into this article because that article mentions quite a bit about the RSL, in fact as it was when it was first created, it seemed to be simply about the RSL, certainly from the lead section which only mentioned the RSL. The sections on that article that are specific to the Queensland branch can easily be incorporated into a new section in this article about the Queensland branch. I have included this in Proposed mergers. ♦Tangerines♦ · Talk 15:55, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Support the merger. Some of the content can fit into the background of the RSL in this article. Bidgee (talk) 16:03, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

As it has been one week and there have been no objections raised I have merged the RSL Queensland article into this article retaining the only content from that article that seemed specific to RSL Queensland. The rest of the info appeared to be about the RSL in general. ♦Tangerines♦ · Talk 16:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Major-General Bill Crews
I have just read the article because I was trying to find out who the current president of the rsl is and noticed it is not stated here, anyway a quick google search revealed it is Major-General Bill Crews. maybe someone can add it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Theoneintraining (talk • contribs) 06:50, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Influence
For the person/s who wrote the citation-free section regarding the RSL's monarchism - the reason portraits of the Queen are hung is that she is the crown head of state, and that traditionally is toasted at dining-ins. Also, for a neutral, encyclopaedic article, this section portrays the RSL's portrait-hanging monarchistic tendencies in a negative manner. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.0.245 (talk) 08:38, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

New External Link added
I moderate the Culture Victoria website and have added an external link to relevant information about the history and role of the RSL. Eleworth (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:44, 28 April 2011 (UTC).

Bolton's rank?
The cited source of the Australian War Memorial reports Bolton served to 1918 at the rank of Lt Col.

Conversely, the Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate (Online edition) refers to Bolton retiring in 1920 at the rank honorary brigadier general after commanding Ballarat Training Depot. The Australian Senate dictionary refers to several creditable sources. The Australian War Memorial cite does not.

So which rank was he? — Preceding unsigned comment added by AusMilitaryHistory (talk • contribs) 04:05, 18 November 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120316083221/https://assets.clubsonline.com.au/assets/console/document/documents/RSLAnnualReport2009.pdf to https://assets.clubsonline.com.au/assets/console/document/documents/RSLAnnualReport2009.pdf
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110603235758/http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/rememwords.html to http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/rememwords.html
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Notable member
Weary Dunlop was an Honorary  Life Member  Makewa (talk) 01:46, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

Medal ribbons
I have been told that medal ribbons should be renewed every so many years in Aust. Is this correct? 2406:5A00:2C32:AB00:6979:CD8F:467B:F82F (talk) 07:44, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

Captain Patrick William Turner MBE
Retired British army captain in care home in queensland. How can we get Dad home to England ? 176.255.125.69 (talk) 07:41, 19 May 2024 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Precision-guided munition

adam's complaint
"...weapons intended to maximize damage to the target while THEORETICALLY minimizing collateral damage."

I think that the use of "theoretically" in this context is redundant and bordering on non-NPOV. It is redundant because it is already stated that these are "intended" traits. We could go even further and just define "precision-guided munition" as "weapons that maximize damage to the target while minimizing collateral damage", then we could discuss to what extent existing weapons fit that definition.

While I'm no expert on the topic, I think that existing weapons (laser guided bombs, for example) do fit that definition without any qualifiers (such as "intended" or "theoretically"). The important point is that they minimize collateral damage RELATIVE to the intended damage. This does not mean that they reduce overall collateral damage.

Finally, there should probably be some note about how these traits are relative to the expense or risk to the attacker. An assasins knife could be considered "precision guided" just because there is little chance of a random person being killed by such a weapon. However, the assasin needs to be highly trained and needs to take great risks to use it in such a precise way.

adam
 * The collateral damage aspect was mostly for civilians and pretty irrelevant till few years ago. The key problem was at first that some targets (sturdy bridges, battleships) could only be hit effectively enough by very large bombs. The bombers couldn't carry many such bombs, and unguided ones had a marginal hit probability. The end result was that sometimes a whole bomber wing bombed a bridge and didn't destroy it. Guided bombs did better - a detachment of four bombers could attack the same bridge and destroy it. That was an enormous leap in capability against suitable targets - and it was even cheaper than dumb bombs. Pretty much the same had been done with dive-bombers before, but dive-bombing required a very strong airframe, became increasingly difficult as aircraft became faster and it was only accurate if the aircraft dived low enough to be in range of light anti-air weapons. Btw, there's no mention fo "collateral" in the whole article by now. Somebody seems to have edited that already.Lastdingo (talk) 15:30, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

inappropriate deletion of appropriate links
Rebelguys2 - you just deleted the three most detailed technical tutorials on this subject matter available on the web.

 * Guided and Unguided Weapons
 * Laser Guidance
 * GPS Guided Weapons - Parts I-V

This is material which is entirely consistent with WP guidelines and I would like you to reinstate it.

Incidently I did not post these links and received a complaint about your deletion.

Ckopp 14:04, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

increased damage
Someone should put in that PGM also increase the likelihood of damage being done to the object being targetted, making them more effective weapons. Stargoat 16:56, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * It says that twice in the first paragraph - directly in the first sentence, and by implication in the second. Securiger 06:41, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

misses
I felt that this paragraph was nonsense, and removed it:

 * Ironically, despite the greater precision of precision-guided weapons, the failure of their guidance systems can cause greater damage than a miss from an ordinary bomb. Misses from older, unguided munitions are generally normally distributed around the aim point. Thus it can be assumed that the further you are from the target, the safer you are. On the other hand, most smart bomb misses are caused by system failures—a jammed steering fin, computer failure, loss of homing signal, etc. In this case, the weapon is actually more likely to miss the target by a very large distance, than by a small distance.

This seems like pure speculation and unless someone can cite examples or a credible source that makes a statement to this effect, this should stay out. The attempt to invoke some kind of probabilistic argument is particularly ill-advised. --Mike Lin 19:45, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

Too much U.S. emphasis
This article suggests that PGMs are purely an American enterprise, which is simply not true. It needs a broader perspective on non-U.S. efforts, which I'll try to add in the next week or so.

ArgentLA 21:03, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

 * How about adding a history section, including German Ruhrstahl SD 1400 and like? Talamus 20:14, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Absolutely. Also the Henshels & Fritz X, as well as (American...) Felix & GB-8. Trekphiler 12:38, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

 * There were at least German, U.S. and Japanese guided weapons in WW2, in that order of relevance. Btw, the first guided weapons that I know about were prototypes of anti-ship torpedo gliders in WWI, developed for the German Zeppelins. I have a photocopy with text & photos about that.Lastdingo (talk) 01:55, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Misleading sentance in second paragraph
"The United States Army began experimenting with radio-controlled remotely guided planes in the First World War, but the program had few successes (see Operation Aphrodite)" - know little to nothing of the subject, but according to the Operation Aphrodite entry, it was purely within WW2. Is the sentance incorrect, or is there are more appropriate entry to cite?
 * Less "Misleading" than " misreading": the U.S., along with Britain, did experiment with RC in WW1 & interwar; Aphrodite was entirely WW2, but wasn't connected (directly) to previous work. See (for instance) A J P Taylor's Jane's book of RPVs. Trekphiler 05:40, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Views Expressed in Why We Fight (2005 film)
In the aforementioned film, interviewees state (I'm paraphrasing here) that there is "no such thing as a smart bomb", and that weapons manufacturers attribute a degree of precision to their munitions which is unrealistic and difficult to attain. Now, putting ourselves above any anti-american or anti-war sentiments; is there any truth to this? The article provides many explanations for what might cause deviations from high precision; but how often do these deviations happen? How often does the GPS signal get jammed, causing JDAMs etc. to need to revert to inertial guidance? Reading the following sentence, from "Satellite-Guided": "However, if the targeting information is accurate, satellite-guided weapons are significantly more likely to achieve a successful strike in any given weather conditions than any other type of precision-guided munition."? I'm curious as to what actually constitutes a successful strike. These questions are all born out of curiosity, which was piqued by the documentary. Any thoughts on the actual relative smartness of smart bombs, in all cases and not only ideal/exceptional ones?AniRaptor2001 (talk) 04:30, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The CEP (circular error probability) is only true for munitions that worked. Guidance duds can impact a long distance away without influence on the theoretical CEP value. "Successful strike" has more to do with the weapons effects and not only with its accuracy error. Lastdingo (talk) 01:50, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

forgotten guidance: wire-guided
Several guided bombs and guided glide bombs were wire-guided, and this should be mentioned. Lastdingo (talk) 01:55, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed, in particular X-4 & X-7.  TREKphiler   hit me ♠  05:21, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Laser beam riding, semi-active radar homing and fiber-optical guidance are not mentioned as well. None is in air/ground use, though. Lastdingo (talk) 15:35, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

scope of the article
Judging by the introduction, this article seems to be about guided air-to-ground munitions. It is doubtful whether ATGMs (even helicopter-based ATGMs) fit into this category well, as air/ground weaponry of non-helicopter aircraft is usually discussed separately of helicopter arms (which often happen to be a mix of aircraft and ground system munitions). It would be good to clarify the scope of this article to air-to-ground precision guided munitions or to expand it to PGMs in general. PGMs are also in use by tanks, mortars, rocket launchers, howitzers, ship cannons - even all modern torpedoes could be (mis)understood as PGMs.Lastdingo (talk) 15:41, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

history
I wrote a blog article about guided munition history, maybe it is helpful if someone wants to write about history in this article: http://defense-and-freedom.blogspot.com/2009/02/precision-munitions-history.html Lastdingo (talk) 01:42, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

No mention of Russian precision-guided munitions?
Just wondering why there's no mentioning of PGM's such as the Krasnopol (Weapon)

Victory in Germany (talk) 07:58, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Why split into Guided bomb?
I wonder if it was really necessary to have created Guided bomb with text copied from this article. I mean, this article (size: 16k) and Guided bomb (size: 13k) have almost the same content and wording, i don't see the logic of having separate articles. EuTugamsg 18:08, 25 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Speaking of which, is there really even any definition as to what a "precision-guided munition? is? "Precision" is something that is relative; for example the WWII-era Fritz X or Azon would never be called precision-guided munitions by today's standards. However, as guidance technology improved, obviously so did the accuracy of guided munitions, to the point where we had the laser-guided bombs being used in the Vietnam War, then later the Gulf War, to eventually the JDAM and whatever else we've got today. My point is, at what point did we go from the more "primitive" guided munitions to the modern "precision-guided munition"? There's no clear line defining the two, and in fact I don't think that line exists at all, it's all been one continuous development. Which is why I say there should be just one article called "Guided munition" rather than having it named "Precision-guided munition". The latter seems to be simply a term cooked up by military PR specialists to paint a picture of American forces attacking targets with surgical precision. Not that using highly accurate bombs in wartime is a bad thing mind you, but I just think the term "precision-guided munition" is ultimately silly and misleading when you look at the history of guided munitions as a whole. —Masterblooregard (talk) 14:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)
 * I see that no justification for the article split was ever provided. Looking at the descriptions of the two topics, I see no distinction at all between a Guided bomb and a Precision-guided munition. The topic name "Guided bomb" is probably better, since it is more understandable to most people. —BarrelProof (talk) 19:45, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

Weasel words and the like
This article is a more than a little bit riddled with weasel words. Lets try and steer this article away from terms like "The Germans" and instead actually research who invented or pioneered or implicated a technology.'''Aryeonos''' (talk) 06:49, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

Is there anyway of sticking retronym into this sentence?
The advent of precision-guided munitions resulted in the renaming of older bombs as "gravity bombs", "dumb bombs", or "iron bombs". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retronym — Preceding unsigned comment added by Blix1ms0ns (talk • contribs) 01:29, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Orphaned references in Precision-guided munition
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Precision-guided munition's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "janes": From FN-6:  From Griffin LGB:  From Seirina Guided Bomb:

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 00:53, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Requested move 20 August 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Withdrawn. No support was expressed, and this seems overdue for closure. There appears to be a consensus not to rename the article, and some distinction between the two topics was expressed. —BarrelProof (talk) 21:15, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

Precision-guided munition → Guided bomb – Note that there is already an article at Guided bomb, but it was just an unjustified copy-paste fork from this one. Please see the prior discussion at Talk:Precision-guided munition. Looking at the description of the two topics, there is no real difference between them, so the copy-pasted fork should just be abandoned. But as an article name, "Guided bomb" seems better, since it is a more understandable name. There is no clear meaning to the term "precision" as used in the current article name, and "bomb" is more understandable than "munition". —BarrelProof (talk) 19:53, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

 * Oppose rename, oppose merge
 * as the creator of guided bomb . This was created in January 2011 and described as a "split". However I can't see much of a split, in terms of content being hived-off from one article to the other. So "reversing" an inappropriate split doesn't seem relevant.
 * The two articles also have different scopes, and this should be our guide as to how to move forwards, rather than questioning how we got here. Guided bombs are air-dropped bombs. Not powered missiles, not artillery shells. Also guided bombs have a relatively long, albeit imprecise, history. Precision-guided munitions in contrast are defined by their precision. A precise date on this is hard to give, but it's usually given (for combat) as the First Gulf War. Before this, bombs might be guided, but it was still no guarantee of them hitting their target. Nor are PGMs limited to air-dropped bombs. Andy Dingley (talk) 22:00, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

 * I can't remember making this split, but I agree with Andy. PGM article should use summary style to summarize the concepts. Will try to look at this later this week. Mark Schierbecker (talk) 05:00, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

 * Oppose Guided bombs are a subset of precision guided munitions. The PGM article should have a section on guided bombs, summarising the guided bombs article. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 08:22, 21 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't think they're even a simple subset. The early guided bombs (WWII at least) were guided, but not to precision standards. Andy Dingley (talk) 09:32, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

 * Oppose rename — The move would cover up a whole terminology with an established usage. --Ancheta Wis   (talk  | contribs) 11:04, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

title: Talk:Precision-guided munition


text:
Talk:Overboard (comic strip)

The author and artist's names would be useful here. Vicki Rosenzweig I miss thes guys, so much. I haven't been able to read about their antics for a dozen years, or so. The best single comic I have ever seen. PERFECT

title: Talk:Overboard (comic strip)