text:
Doug Henning

Douglas James Henning (May 3, 1947 – February 7, 2000) was a Canadian magician, illusionist, escape artist and politician.

Early life
Henning was born in the Fort Garry district of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and began practicing magic at Oakenwald School in Fort Garry, later moving to Oakville, Ontario.

Henning became interested in magic after seeing the Peruvian magician Richiardi Jr. perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. He subsequently learned a variety of tricks and performed for his relatives. Eventually he named himself "The Astounding Hendoo" and started advertising in local newspapers.

After Henning graduated from Oakville Trafalgar High School, he stopped doing magic, not wanting to do it for a living. He felt that there were only two kinds of magicians, "...magicians for kids, and magicians for nightclub acts. I didn't want to be either kind."

So, instead, he enrolled and became a student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and studied psychology, in preparation for a medical degree. It was there that Henning met Ivan Reitman, when he appeared in the 1968 Reitman-directed production of Li'l Abner in the role of Lonesome Polecat.

To support himself during this time, he worked at the Toronto International Airport loading and unloading crates. He found the work to be too heavy and tiring; so, with the help of his partner Mars Barrick, he formed the partnership of Henning and Mars, and they performed at local bars and nightclubs.

On May 19, 1967, Doug's father, an Air Canada pilot, was killed during a training flight when the DC-8-54 crashed near the Ottawa airport (CYOW).

Career
After graduating with honors with a degree in science and psychology, Henning decided to take a couple of years off before entering medical school to continue with his magic. Henning and Mars successfully performed with the top entertainers in Canada and traveled from one end of the country to the other.

He soon realized that he needed more theatrical training as well as the principles of magic. He applied for a grant with the Canada Council Arts Bursary in the theater division with a proposal that used the equation that magic plus theater equals art. Henning was awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant for $4,000.

After being awarded the grant for a one year study of the art of magic, he studied mime under Adrian Pecknold as well as dance with a Canadian choreographer. He sifted through magic literature in the hopes of developing an all-around magic education in manipulation and being an illusionist.

He visited the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, a private club for magicians. After an impromptu performance in the Wine Cellar, he met resident magician, guru, and fellow Canadian Dai Vernon, known as "The Professor". Since the terms of the grant required Henning to study magic, he got up the nerve later in the year to write the Professor and asked him if he could take lessons with him. Thereafter, Henning traveled to Hollywood to study with Vernon, then with another magic great, Slydini, whom he considered to be his primary teacher of magic.

With the intention of returning magic to its "glory days", Henning worked to perfect his craft. Garnering financial support, he developed a live theatrical show, Spellbound, which was written by David Cronenberg and directed by Henning's college friend Ivan Reitman. Along with music by Howard Shore and co-starring actress Jennifer Dale, Henning created a musical that combined a dramatic story and his magic.

Henning borrowed money for the project and spent $5,000 to build and design illusions. They set up a backer's audition in Toronto. One man found potential in the project and invested $70,000. It took so long to work out a plot around his illusions that there was time only for two dress rehearsals, neither of which was in the theater.

The show opened at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, where it broke box-office records. Henning reworked the show after catching the attention of New York producers and took it to Broadway as The Magic Show, with songs composed by Stephen Schwartz. Debuting in 1974, the show ran for four and a half years and earned Henning a Tony Award nomination.

Following his Broadway success, Henning approached NBC with the idea of producing a television special. It was not until Henning suggested that he would reproduce live Harry Houdini's famous and dangerous water-torture escape—for the first time since Houdini performed it himself—that the NBC executives signed him.

Henning spent the next eight months reworking his stage act for TV and practicing the water-torture escape act. More than 50 million viewers tuned in for the December 1975 broadcast of Doug Henning's World of Magic, hosted by Bill Cosby.

In 1977, Henning co-wrote a biography of Houdini, Houdini: His Legend and His Magic. He created illusions for an Earth, Wind and Fire tour in 1979, and for two of singer Michael Jackson's concerts, including his 1984 Victory Tour.

In 1983, Henning was the producer and star of the Broadway musical Merlin. In 1984, he began a solo show on Broadway called Doug Henning and His World of Magic.

In 1985, a set of plush toys called "Doug & Debby Henning's: Wonder Whims" were made by Panosh Place and copyrighted by Marvin Glass and Associates. There were a total of six Wonder Whim characters. Each came with an animal friend, a personalized story, and a magic kaleidoscope wand of colors and patterns.

In the mid-1980s, Henning quit his profession, sold his props, and moved to India in order devote his time to Transcendental Meditation.

The World of Magic specials
Henning's first World of Magic special aired on NBC on December 26, 1975. Henning successfully performed the water torture illusion, although he did not break Houdini's time record. Produced by famed talk show host David Susskind and sponsored by Mobil, the show ran live in the eastern United States without commercials. The event was the first of seven annual broadcasts, which eventually brought Henning seven Emmy Award nominations, including two back-to-back in 1976 and 1977 for World of Magic.

In December 1976, Doug Henning's World of Magic II aired, again live and with only two commercial breaks, on NBC. The theme for this show was "Fire, Water and Air" and it was hosted by actor Michael Landon, with guest star Joey Heatherton. The show included Henning vanishing an elephant and also included a segment with special guest magician Ricky Jay.

On December 15, 1977, Doug Henning's World of Magic III aired live with guests Glen Campbell and Sandy Duncan; the hyped illusion was "Walking Through a Brick Wall".

On December 14, 1978, Doug Henning's World of Magic IV aired with the theme "A Magical Journey Through Time"; however, due to numerous problems that occurred during the telecast, this was the last special broadcast live.

On February 15, 1979, there was a broadcast of the fifth World of Magic special, which was taped at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Doug Henning's World of Magic VI, taped at Osmond Studios in Orem, Utah, was broadcast February 22, 1980, on NBC. Bill Cosby made his second appearance as special guest. Marie Osmond also appeared on the program. Several revamped versions of illusions from earlier specials appeared. The finale was an escape and reappearance featuring a huge Rube Goldberg machine.

Henning's last TV special was World of Magic VII in 1982, which featured guest (as Bruce) Caitlyn Jenner and several revamped versions of illusions from earlier specials. The theme was Henning's magical house, with rooms featuring magic from the past, present and future. In the show's finale, Henning created the illusion of turning a black horse and a white horse into a zebra.

At the end of each World of Magic performance, Henning addressed the audience with the same monologue: "Anything the mind can conceive is possible. Nothing is impossible. All you have to do is look within, and you can realize your fondest dreams. I would like to wish each one of you all of life's wonders and a joyful age of enlightenment."

Other television appearances
On May 20, 1974, Henning appeared as a guest on the game show To Tell the Truth. He received two of the four votes and then performed the Metamorphosis trick.

On December 13, 1977, Henning appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. While Henning performed illusions and chatted with host Johnny Carson and his other guests, he also plugged his new book on Houdini and announced his impending marriage to Barbara De Angelis.

In 1979, Henning appeared on The Crystal Gayle Special, a variety program starring singer Crystal Gayle and featuring, along with Henning, B.B. King and the Statler Brothers.

In 1980, Henning appeared on The Muppet Show, where he performed several tricks. He demonstrated chink-a-chink for Scooter, did a flying handkerchief trick for Kermit the Frog's nephew Robin, segmented a Muppet monster into four pieces (and put him together wrongly), and performed The Metamorphosis: a bit where he swapped places with an assistant who was locked inside a trunk.

In December, Henning appeared on The Osmond Family Christmas Special, starring the popular brother/sister act Donny and Marie Osmond, as a guest with such entertainers as Peggy Fleming and Greg Evigan, at the time star of NBC's B. J. and the Bear.

On February 13, 1981, Henning made his seventh appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. This show marked the first time that Henning was Carson's first guest.

A version of The Magic Show was mounted in Toronto at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The purpose of this show was to film in front of a live audience of several thousand people for broadcast on CBC Television. Henning came back to the show that had made him a star, and many changes were made for this new production. Notably, most of the cast was changed, notably the role of Cal, now performed by Didi Conn. Some script changes were made (the night club was now known as "Chez Manny" and the older, drunk magician was now named "Van Zyskin"). Some of the songs in the Broadway version were also changed (notably the risqué lyrics of Charmin's lament), or replaced totally, such as the song "Solid Silver Platform Shoes" (the once popular shoe style, by then out of fashion), which was replaced with "It's Gonna Take a Magician". The film version of the production was only aired once on Canadian television, but released on DVD decades later.

Henning was featured in television commercials during 1984 to promote the Plymouth Voyager minivan.

In 1993, he released a video for the Canada Natural Law Party, made up of excerpts from his World of Magic specials along with newly recorded linking dialogue detailing his philosophy of how the world's problems could be solved by meditation and yogic flying.

Transcendental Meditation
In the mid-1980s, Henning retired from the stage and had an increasing interest in Transcendental Meditation. He received a Ph.D. in the Science of Creative Intelligence from the Maharishi University in Switzerland.

In 1992, Henning and the Transcendental Meditation founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, drafted plans for a 1.5 billion-dollar project called "Maharishi Veda Land" near Niagara Falls, Ontario, that would "combine astonishing, unique visual and sensory effects, state-of-the-art 3D imagery, and ultra high-tech entertainment technology with his best original magic illusion secrets". Attractions were to include a building suspended above water and a journey into the heart of a rose, but at the time of Henning's death the project's status was uncertain.

Political career
In 1992, Henning was a Natural Law Party candidate in the United Kingdom's general election, contesting the Parliamentary constituency of Blackpool South in Lancashire. As a Canadian citizen, Henning qualified as a candidate under British electoral law, which allows candidates from Commonwealth nations. He finished fourth of four candidates, polling 173 votes. He was senior vice president of the Natural Law Party of Canada ("NLPC"), and ran as the party's candidate for the former Toronto riding of Rosedale in the 1993 federal election, finishing sixth out of ten candidates.

Personal life
Henning married Barbara De Angelis in 1977. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1981, and Henning married Debby Douillard in the Ladies' Dome in Fairfield, Iowa, in December of that year.

Death and legacy
Henning died aged 52 on February 7, 2000, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, five months after being diagnosed with liver cancer. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off Redondo Beach, California.

In 2005, a handwritten letter from Henning to James Randi was placed for auction on eBay, unbeknownst to Randi. When Randi learned of it, he announced on his blog that the letter had been "stolen" from his files. A week later, Randi wrote that he "managed to have the sale stopped" and that the letter was back in his possession, but did not elaborate on further details of the controversy. Randi claimed that Henning had immersed himself so thoroughly in Transcendental Meditation that he "abandoned regular medical treatment for liver cancer, continued to pursue his diet of nuts and berries, and died of the disease."

On June 8, 2010, it was announced that Henning would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. His "Zig Zag Girl" illusion is housed at the American Museum of Magic.

title: Doug Henning


text:
Liver tumor

Liver tumors (also known as hepatic tumors) are abnormal growth of liver cells on or in the liver. Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. Liver tumors can be classified as benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous) growths. They may be discovered on medical imaging (even for a different reason than the cancer itself), and the diagnosis is often confirmed with liver biopsy. Signs and symptoms of liver masses vary from being asymptomatic to patients presenting with an abdominal mass, hepatomegaly, abdominal pain, jaundice, or some other liver dysfunction. Treatment varies and is highly specific to the type of liver tumor.

Classification
Liver tumors can be broadly classified as benign or malignant:

Benign
There are several types of benign liver tumors. They are caused by either abnormal growth of neoplastic cells or in response to liver injury, known as regenerative nodules. One way to categorize benign liver tumors is by their anatomic source, such as hepatocellular, biliary, or stromal.

Hemangiomas
Cavernous hemangiomas (also called hepatic hemangioma or liver hemangioma) are the most common type of benign liver tumor, found in 3%–10% of people. They are made up of blood clusters that are surrounded by endothelial cells. These hemangiomas get their blood supply from the hepatic artery and its branches. These tumors are most common in women. The cause of liver hemangiomas remains unknown; however, it may have congenital and genetic components. They are not known to become malignant based on the available existing literature.

Liver hemangiomas do not usually cause symptoms. They are usually small, with sizes up to 10 centimeters. Their size tends to remain stable overtime. However, if the hemangioma is large it can cause abdominal pain, a sense of fullness in right upper abdominal area, heart problems, and coagulation dysfunction. Cavernous hemangiomas are diagnosed with medical imaging (do not usually need biopsy to confirm diagnosis).

Given their benign course and often asymptomatic nature, cavernous hemangiomas are typically diagnosed incidentally (e.g. when medical imaging is obtained for another reason). In terms of management, they are usually monitored with periodic imaging as well as more closely if the person becomes pregnant. If the cavernous hemangioma grows quickly or the patient is symptomatic, further medical intervention is warranted. Therapies include open or laparoscopic surgical resection, arterial embolization, or radio-frequency ablation. In terms of complications of hepatic hemangiomas, it is very rare for a hepatic hemangioma to rupture or bleed.

Focal nodular hyperplasia
Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is the second most common benign tumor of the liver. FNH is found in 0.2%–0.3% of adults worldwide. FNH is more common in females (10:1 female to male ratio) except in Japan and China, in which there is a more equal prevalence of cases between females and males. FNH is associated with women of childbearing years and has been associated with women taking hormonal oral contraceptives. This tumor is the result of a congenital arteriovenous malformation hepatocyte response. This process is one in which all normal constituents of the liver are present, but the pattern by which they are presented is abnormal.

These tumors usually do not have any symptoms. If large, they may present with abdominal pain. It is common for patients to have multiple distinct liver lesions; however, they do not tend to grow over time and they do not typically convert to malignant tumors. Diagnosis is made mainly with medical imaging, such as ultrasound or MRI with contrast. The majority of FNH have a characteristic "central scar" on contrast-enhanced imaging, which helps to solidify the diagnosis. However, if a central scar is not present on imaging, it is hard to tell the difference between FNH, hepatic adenoma, and hepatocellular carcinoma, in which cases biopsy is the next step to aid in the diagnosis process.

Given the benign nature of FNH and the fact that they rarely progress in size or undergo malignant transformation, FNH tumors are usually managed with clinical monitoring. Surgical indications or arterial embolization for FNH include if the FNH lesion is large, symptomatic, or there is uncertainty surrounding the correct diagnosis.

Hepatic adenoma
Hepatocellular adenomas (also called hepatocellular adenoma) are rare benign liver tumors made up of hepatocytes, with estimates indicating hepatocellular adenomas make up 2% of liver tumors. They are most common in women using contraceptives or hormone replacement therapies containing estrogen, women who are pregnant, or people mis-using steroids. They are also associated with glycogen storage diseases (subtypes I and III), and newer studies are suggesting that diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia are risk factors for hepatic adenomas.

Hepatocellular adenomas are most often asymptomatic and often found incidentally on imaging. However, if signs and symptoms are present they include non-specific abdominal pain, yellowing of skin, and higher than normal gamma glutamyl transferase and alkaline phosphatase laboratory values. They are, in most cases, located in the right hepatic lobe and are frequently seen as a single lesion. Their size ranges from 1 to 30 cm. They can be difficult to diagnosis with imaging studies alone, because it can be hard to tell the difference between hepatocellular adenoma, focal nodular hyperplasia, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Molecular categorization via biopsy and pathological analysis aids in both diagnosis and understanding prognosis, particularly because hepatocellular adenomas have the potential to become malignant.  It is important to note, percutaneous biopsy should be avoided, because this method can lead to bleeding or rupture of the adenoma. The best way to biopsy suspected hepatic adenoma is via open or laparoscopic excisional biopsy.

Because hepatocellular adenomas are so rare, there are no clear guidelines for the best course of treatment. The complications, which include malignant transformation, spontaneous hemorrhage, and rupture, are considered when determining the treatment approach Estimates indicate approximately 20-40% of hepatocellular adenomas will undergo spontaneous hemorrhage. The evidence is not well elucidated, but the best available data suggests that the risk of hepatocellular adenoma becoming hepatocellular carcinoma, which is malignant liver tumor, is 4.2% of all cases. Transformation to hepatocellular carcinoma is more common in men. Currently, if the hepatic adenoma is >5 cm, increasing in size, symptomatic lesions, has molecular markers associated with HCC transformation, rising level of liver tumor markers such as alpha fetoprotein, the patient is a male, or has a glycogen storage disorder, the adenoma is recommended to be surgically removed. Like most liver tumors, the anatomy and location of the adenoma determines whether the tumor can removed laparoscopically or if it requires an open surgical procedure. Hepatocellular adenomas are also known to decrease in size when there is decreased estrogen or steroids (e.g. when estrogen-containing contraceptives, steroids are stopped, or post-partum).

Women of childbearing age with hepatic adenomas were previously recommended to avoid becoming pregnant altogether; however, currently a more individualized approach is recommended that takes into account the size of the adenoma and whether surgical resection is possible prior to becoming pregnant. Currently, there is a clinical trial called the Pregnancy and Liver Adenoma Management (PALM) study that is investigating management of hepatic adenomas during pregnancy; however, the results of this trial have not been published as of February 2021.

Liver Cell Adenomatosis
Liver cell adenomatosis (also called hepatic adenomatosis) is a related but distinct diagnosis from hepatocellular adenoma. On medical imaging and histopathological biopsy results they are the same as hepatic adenomas. Liver cell adenomatosis differs from hepatic adenomas by its definition of more than 10 hepatic adenomas that are in both liver lobes in a person who does not have a glycogen storage disease and is not taking exogenous hormones. Liver cell adenomatosis is not associated with steroid use (e.g. their size does not change when taking or not taking oral contraceptives containing estrogen or anabolic steroids), which is another distinction from hepatic adenomas. Liver cell adenomatosis is associated with liver dysfunction and higher rates of bleeding than hepatic adenomas alone. Available evidence suggests that bleeding occurs in approximately 63% of patients with liver cell adenomatosis. Liver cell adenomatosis is also associated with becoming hepatocellular carcinoma. Like hepatic adenomas, they are diagnosed with imaging and biopsies as needed. Treatment of liver cell adenomatosis is difficult due to the multiple, widespread lesions. Liver imaging should be reviewed to see if it is possible to surgically remove the tumors. Liver transplantation is a treatment option for some patients.

Simple Liver Cysts
Liver cysts are common. They are fluid-filled contained structures within the liver. Simple liver cysts are seen most commonly in women and kids. In terms of pathophysiology, they are formed in response to developmental events and in response to trauma and inflammation. In addition, liver cysts can be seen with polycystic kidney disease and echinococcosis infection (hydatid disease).

Pseudotumors:

Pseudotumors differ from liver tumors in that they are not a proliferation of abnormal cells but are "local variations" of tissue type. Notably, liver pseudotumors can be confused for a liver tumor on initial imaging studies when diagnostically working up a liver mass. Examples of pseudotumors include: distinct areas of hepatic fibrosis, pockets of fatty liver changes, and inflammatory pseudotumor.

Cancerous

 * Most cases are metastases from other tumors, frequently of the GI tract (like colon cancer, carcinoid tumors mainly of the appendix, etc.), but also from breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer, renal cancer, prostate cancer, etc.
 * The most frequent, malignant, primary liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma.
 * Other forms of primary forms of liver cancer include cholangiocarcinoma, mixed tumors, sarcoma, and hepatoblastoma.

Diagnosis
Upon discovery of a liver tumor, the main issue in the workup is to determine whether the tumor is benign or malignant. Many imaging modalities are used to aid in the diagnosis of malignant liver tumors. These include sonography (ultrasound), computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Tumor markers, chemicals sometimes found in the blood of people with cancer, can be helpful in diagnosing and monitoring the course of liver cancers. High levels of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in the blood can be found in many cases of HCC and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Cholangiocarcinoma can be detected with these commonly used tumor markers: carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19–9), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen 125 (CA125). These tumour markers are found in primary liver cancers, as well as in other cancers and certain other disorders.

Ultrasound
Ultrasonography of liver tumors involves two stages: detection and characterization. Tumor detection is based on the performance of the method and should include morphometric information (three axes dimensions, volume) and topographic information (number, location specifying liver segment and lobe/lobes). The specification of these data is important for staging liver tumors and prognosis. Tumor characterization is a complex process based on a sum of criteria leading towards tumor nature definition. Often, other diagnostic procedures, especially interventional ones are no longer necessary. Tumor characterization using the ultrasound method will be based on the following elements: consistency (solid, liquid, mixed), echogenicity, structure appearance (homogeneous or heterogeneous), delineation from adjacent liver parenchyma (capsular, imprecise), elasticity, posterior acoustic enhancement effect, the relation with neighboring organs or structures (displacement, invasion), vasculature (presence and characteristics on Doppler ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Computed tomography
When evaluating hepatic masses by abdominal computed tomography (CT), it can be advantageous to have both late arterial and portal venous phase images since some tumors enhance briskly during the arterial phase (hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatic adenoma, follicular nodular hyperplasia (FNH), and hypervascular metastasis), but maybe occult or difficult to characterize on portal venous phase imaging alone. However, it should be stressed that the addition of late arterial phase images is only indicated if one of these tumors is suspected, or if there is a need for further characterization of a hepatic mass, since the large majority of patients will not benefit from the addition of this phase. In addition, if there is a need to definitively characterize a hepatic mass, MRI is generally more sensitive and specific, with no associated radiation dose.

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

title: Liver tumor


text:
Gales Point

Gales Point Manatee  is a village in Belize District in the nation of Belize, Central America. The village is bordered by five other communities, namely Mullins River, St. Margaret, La Democracia, Gracie Rock, and Freetown Sibun. The village is bordered east by the Caribbean Sea. In 2000, Gales Point had a population of about 500 people, most of whom subsist on fishing and farming.

Most recently, in 2010, the population was placed at 296.

Gales Point Manatee or Malanti is the local name for the village. The majority of the village’s population lives on a peninsula located in the Southern Lagoon, which is a manatee reserve. The Southern Lagoon's water is brackish. This lagoon connects directly to the Caribbean Sea through the Manatee Bar River. It also has 14 sqmi of wildlife reserve known as the Gales Point Wild Life Sanctuary.

Demographics
At the time of the 2010 census, Gales Point had a population of 297. Of these, 89.2% were Creole, 6.1% Mixed, 2.4% East Indian, 0.7% Caucasian, 0.7% Garifuna and 0.3% Mestizo.

History
Ritamae Hyde (2009) recently established that, based on (textual and oral) evidence, Gales Point Manatee was an early maroon community, a settlement made by persons who resisted enslavement by fleeing the control of the colonial authorities and "slave masters" to live in self-sufficient communities in the hinterlands.

It is believed that Gale's Point became one of such communities where "ex-enslaved" persons from "nearby areas such as Sibun River, Runaway Creek, Mullins River and Main River" established around the late 1700s and early 1800s (Hyde: 2009, p. 13, 16).

Colonial knowledge of maroonage in British Honduras dates to 1816 when Superintendent Col. George Arthur recorded that there was "a community 'near Shiboon River, very difficult to discover'" outside the influence of the colonial authorities (quoted in Shoman: 2000, 51).

In 1820, Arthur again made reference to "two Slave Towns, which it appears have been long formed in the Blue Mountains to the Northward of Sibun" (ibid).

In around 1944, Gales Point became the first village in Belize to have a village council. Nurse Cleopatra White, first nurse in the village, recognized the need for managing village affairs and organized a council. Her idea later became the model for the current village council system which has been implemented throughout the country.

Culture
Due to the geographic isolation of Gales Point Manatee from the rest of the country, some traditional African practices continue to be observable (see Iyo, et al. 2007; Hyde: 2009).

Food and drinks
Like many West African cultures, the people of Manatee were traditionally reliant on ground food and other locally planted crops for subsistence.

Fishing and hunting were also a much greater source of food for the community. For example, fish seré is a dish which is essentially a coconut-milk soup of fish and ground foods (yam, coco, potato, etc.). It may also be served along with white rice.

The people at Manatee are also well known for their homemade wines from local berries and cashews, amongst others fruits.

Sambai
The origin of the word Sambai is not fully known, but Sambai refers to the rhythm style, drum style and event from the village of Gales Point Manatee. The Sambai rhythm is the most unusual aspect of Kriol culture from Manatee (taken from National Kriol Council).

It is theorized that since the escaped slaves, or maroons, were likely first generation slaves, they probably remembered rituals and rhythms from their home in Africa. Since the Goombay (gumbeh) drum was not outlawed until 1790, it's easy to say that these rhythms were brought with these escaped slaves to the area near Runaway Creek. It is likely that the rhythms migrated from their origins as the people themselves did carrying with them the flowing and mutating rhythmic dialects of their own style, still strongly rooted in Africa.

The Sambai is by tradition considered a fertility dance and occurs during the full moon cycle. Farmers plant and harvest crops directly related to lunar cycles as well and this may contribute to the reason that the Sambai is considered a fertility ritual. Also, many lyrics are sexual in nature such as:

"Hok-i-nani-beh…here here ….hok-i-nani-beh…koko faiya."

In recent times the Sambai has developed into simply a social event and is no more a fertility ritual. It is done along with most other nighttime activities involving other dances. Elders remember the days when children were not allowed to participate in the Sambai. Although children are allowed to be at a Sambai now the event has not changed much since the old days. A circle of dancers and drummers gather around a pine wood fire. Drummers begin playing and "call" the song then the crowd answers. This "call and response" style is typical of the African tradition. For example: Call: "Aanti Kala Kala Kalala sohnting so" Response: "Aanti noh badi mi".

The dancers enter one at a time and "Jump Sambai" as it is referred to. When the individual exits the ring he or she chooses the next dancer by pointing to or "reeling in" with a gesture or simply exits next to the person they are calling in.

Often subtle courtships were explored as individuals frequently choose the candidate of their pursuit for the evening. If the person was interested they would return the gesture by choosing back the potential partner. If the person was not interested in the courtship then the discrete lack of reciprocation would be noticed only by the pursuer of the courtship.

Story telling
Storytelling has always been an important form of entertainment in the village.

The introductions always started with a bizarre exaggeration to make the crowd laugh such as "Back in the day when monkey use to chew tobacco" and ended with the classic Creole line "if the pin neva ben, di story neva end".

Some of the stories are long and have morals that can only be captured if one pays keen attention.

The story may also change according to the mood of the teller. For example, the storyteller mentioned or integrated Hurricane Richard in two of the stories, making the audience laugh at a recent disaster that affected the community.

Outside influences
It is important to recognize that culture is always in a process of change due to both internal and external occurrences and influences. Gales Point is not in total isolation or unaffected by the broader Belizean cultural lifestyles and 'Western culture'. Many things have changed in the community.

For example, the Sambai is no longer the same. There are more children participating in the dance than actual adults. In the past, no children were allowed to do the Sambai.

People now live in concrete houses as opposed to thatched houses in the past. Processed and canned foods are available in the village. There is a local Christian church. Rastafari, or at least the growing of 'locks', is now quite common among the youth (for discussion on Rastafari in Belize, see Lawrence: 2012).

These modern influences at the same time have benefited the community. For example, they now have access to electricity and water. There is little economic activity occurring in the village which leads people to migrate out of the community. Many persons hope that increase tourist arrivals will increase the economic activities of the community and decrease outward migration.

Tourism
The village of Gales Point has some tourism, mostly for those interested in seeing the rich ecosystem of the area, including a large West Indian manatee population. It is also possible to camp at Methos Campsite near the end of the point.

At the end of the point is a lodge called Manatee Lodge, which offers hikes, manatee spotting trips, and snorkelling in the Caribbean Sea at nearby islands and cayes.

title: Gales Point


text:
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election, reduced to two seats in 1969, albeit both before the party was fully legal. For most of its existence, the party was split between the hardline Khalq and moderate Parcham factions, each of which claimed to represent the "true" PDPA.

The party adhered to Marxist–Leninist ideology and toed a staunch pro-Soviet political line. The PDPA's secret constitution, which was adopted by the party during its founding congress in January 1965 but never publicly released to party cadres, described itself as "the vanguard of the working class and all laborers in Afghanistan" and defined its party ideology as "the practical experience of Marxism–Leninism". While PDPA's internal documents incorporated explicitly Marxist terminology, the party refrained from formally branding itself as "communist" in public, instead using labels such as "national democratic" and "socialist". PDPA's public platform document published in April 1966 asserted that its political objectives involved the creation of a "democratic national government" as well as the long-term goal of establishing a socialist state.

The Khalq-Parcham organizational split erupted within the PDPA in 1967. While the Khalqists adhered to rigid Marxist–Leninist dogma and toed a militant revolutionary line, the Parchamis wanted to establish a "common front" with other left-wing parties. In July 1977, Khalq and Parcham factions re-merged into the PDPA after Soviet mediation, with the objective of preparing a coup against Daoud Khan's regime. During the initial period of Khalqist rule from 1978 to 1979, PDPA portrayed itself as advancing a "socialist revolution" in Afghanistan. After the ouster and killing of Hafizullah Amin in a palace coup launched by Soviet military forces in December 1979, a Parchamite-dominated PDPA claimed that its government was facilitating what it described as the "national-democratic stage" of Marxist transformation. In its final years, the party gradually moved away from Marxism–Leninism and towards Afghan nationalism.

While a minority, the party helped Mohammad Daoud Khan, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, overthrow King Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1973 and establish the Republic of Afghanistan. Initially, the PDPA was highly represented in the government cabinet, but many PDPA officials were later dismissed as relations between the party and President Daoud Khan worsened. In 1978 the PDPA, with help from members of the Afghan National Army, seized power from Daoud Khan in what became known as the Saur Revolution. The PDPA led by Nur Muhammad Taraki established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan which would last until 1987. After National Reconciliation talks in 1987, the official name of the country reverted to the "Republic of Afghanistan" (as it was known before 1978). Under the leadership of Mohammad Najibullah in 1990, the party was renamed the Homeland Party (حزب وطن, ) and much of the party's symbols and policies were altered or removed. The republic lasted until 1992, when mujahideen rebels seized the capital Kabul and took over the country's government. The PDPA was subsequently dissolved, with some officials joining the new government, some joining militias, and others deserting.

History
Nur Mohammad Taraki started his political career as an Afghan journalist. On 1 January 1965, Taraki, with Babrak Karmal, established the Democratic People's Party of Afghanistan. In the beginning the party ran under the name People's Democratic Tendency, since secularist and anti-monarchist parties were illegal. The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was officially formed at the unity congress of the different factions of the Socialist Party of Afghanistan on 1 January 1965. Twenty-seven men gathered at Taraki's house in Kabul, elected Taraki as the first party Secretary General and Karmal as Deputy Secretary General, and chose a five-member Central Committee (also called a Politburo). Taraki was invited to Moscow by the International Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) later that year.

The PDPA was known in Afghan society at that time as having strong ties with the Soviet Union. Eventually, the PDPA was able to get three of its members into parliament, in the first free elections in Afghan history; these three parliamentarians were Karmal, Anahita Ratebzad, Nur Ahmed Nur. Later on, Taraki established the first radical newspaper in Afghan history under the name The Khalq; the newspaper was eventually forced to stop publishing by the government in 1966.

Khalq and Parcham
In 1967 the party divided into several political sects, the biggest being the Khalqs and the Parchams, as well as the Setami Milli and Grohi Kar. These new divisions started because of ideological and economic reasons. Most of Khalqs supporters came from ethnic Pashtuns from the rural areas in the country. The Parchams supporters mostly came from urban citizens who supported social-economic reforms in the country. The Khalqs accused the Parchams of allegiance to King Mohammed Zahir Shah because their newspaper, the Parcham, was tolerated by the king and published from March 1968 to July 1969.

Karmal sought, unsuccessfully, to persuade the PDPA Central Committee to censure Taraki's excessive radicalism. The vote, however, was close, and Taraki in turn tried to neutralize Karmal by appointing new members to the committee who were his own supporters. After this incident, Karmal offered his resignation, which was accepted by the Politburo. Although the split of the PDPA in 1967 into two groups was never publicly announced, Karmal brought with him less than half the members of the Central Committee.

As a result of the internal strife within the party, the party's representation in the Afghan parliament decreased from four to only two seats in the Afghan parliamentary election in 1969. In 1973 the PDPA assisted Mohammed Daoud Khan with a seizure of power from Zahir Shah in a nearly bloodless military coup. After Daoud had seized power, he established Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan. After the coup, the Loya jirga approved Daoud's new constitution, establishing a presidential one-party system of government in January 1977. The new constitution alienated Daoud from many of his political allies.

Reconciliation
The Soviet Union set in Moscow played a major role in the reconciliation of the Khalq faction led by Taraki and the Parcham faction led by Karmal. In March 1977, a formal agreement on unity was achieved, and in July the two factions held their first joint conclave in a decade. Since the parties division in 1967 both sides had held contact with Soviet government.

Both parties were consistently pro-Soviet. There are allegations that they accepted financial and other forms of aid from the Soviet embassy and intelligence organs. However, the Soviets were close to King Zahir Shah and his cousin Daoud Khan—the first Afghan President—and it could have damaged their relations. There are no facts proving that the Soviets provided financial help to either Khalqis or Parchamis.

Taraki and Karmal maintained close contact with the Soviet Embassy and its personnel in Kabul, and it appears that Soviet Military Intelligence (Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye – GRU) assisted Khalq's recruitment of military officers.

Saur Revolution
In 1978 a prominent member of the PDPA on the Parcham side of the party, Mir Akbar Khyber, is claimed to have been assassinated by the government and its associates. While the government rejected any claims of having assassinated him, the PDPA members apparently feared that Mohammad Daoud Khan was planning to exterminate them all. Shortly after a massive protest against the government during the funeral ceremonies of Khaibar, most of the leaders of PDPA were arrested by the government. With a number of Afghan military officers supporting the Khalq faction of the PDPA wing, Hafizullah Amin stayed out of prison long enough to organize an uprising with the group. On the eve of the coup, the Afghan police did not send Amin to immediate imprisonment, as it did with the three Politburo members and Taraki on 25 April 1978. His imprisonment was postponed for five hours, during which time he was under house arrest. He gave instructions to the Khalqi military officers through his family before being sent to jail on 26 April 1978.

The regime of President Daoud came to a violent end in the early morning hours of 28 April 1978, when military units from the Kabul military base loyal to the Khalq faction of the party stormed the Presidential Palace in Kabul. The coup was also strategically planned for this date because it was the day before Friday, the Muslim day of worship, and most military commanders and government workers were off duty. Tanks were utilized in the coup d'état, with Major Aslam Watanjar commanding the tank units. With the help of the Afghan air force led by Colonel Abdul Qadir, the insurgent troops overcame the resistance of the Presidential Guard, assassinated Daoud, and killed most members of his family. Hafizullah Amin renamed the country to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), and Qadir assumed the control of the country from 27 to 30 April 1978 as the Head of the Military Revolutionary Council.

New reforms
The divided PDPA succeeded the Daoud regime with a new government under the leadership of Nur Muhammad Taraki of the Khalq faction. In Kabul, the initial cabinet appeared to be carefully constructed to alternate ranking positions between Khalqis and Parchamis. Taraki was Prime Minister, Babrak Karmal was senior Deputy Prime Minister, and Hafizullah Amin was foreign minister.

Once in power, the PDP embarked upon a program of rapid modernization centered on separation of Mosque and State, eradication of illiteracy (which at the time stood at 90%), land reform, emancipation of women, and abolition of feudal practices. A Soviet-style national flag replaced the traditional black, red, and green.

Traditional practices that were deemed feudal – such as usury, bride price and forced marriage – were banned, and the minimum age of marriage was raised. The government stressed education for both women and men, and launched an ambitious literacy campaign. Sharia Law was abolished, and men were encouraged to cut off their beards.

These new reforms were not well received by the majority of the Afghan population, particularly in rural areas; many Afghans saw them as un-Islamic and as a forced approach to Western culture in Afghan society. Most of the government's new policies clashed directly with the traditional Afghan understanding of Islam, making religion one of the only forces capable of unifying the tribally and ethnically divided population against the unpopular new government, and ushering in the advent of Islamist participation in Afghan politics.

The first signs of a rebellion appeared on 20 July 1978 in the far eastern provinces of Nuristan and Kunar.

Repression
The new government launched a campaign of repression, which killed thousands, mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison. Estimates for the number executed at the prison, between April 1978 and December 1979, are as high as 27,000.

Despite accusations and predictions by conservative elements, a year and a half after the coup no restrictions had been placed on religious practice.

Parcham rule
In the 1979 Soviet Operation Storm-333, the Soviet special force Spetsnaz stormed the Tajbeg Palace and killed PDPA general secretary Hafizullah Amin. The death of Amin led to Babrak Karmal becoming the new Afghan leader and General Secretary of the PDPA. The Soviet-Afghan War followed the death of Amin, and Karmal was exiled to Prague in Czechoslovakia, where he assumed the role of Afghan ambassador. According to photographic evidence, the PDPA established its own tea brand which would be handed out to government employees, contractors and factory workers under Parcham rule.

The Khalq-Parcham rivalry remained in place. Clashes between members often resulted in fatalities, with rival gangs of each side firing at each other.

Moscow came to regard Karmal as a failure and blamed him for the problems. Years later, when Karmal's inability to consolidate his government had become obvious, Mikhail Gorbachev, then General Secretary of the CPSU, said:

"The main reason that there has been no national consolidation so far is that Comrade Karmal is hoping to continue sitting in Kabul with our help."

Additionally, some Afghan soldiers who had fought for the socialist government began to defect or leave the army. In May 1986, Karmal was replaced as party general secretary by Mohammad Najibullah, and six months later he was relieved of the presidency. His successor as head of state was Haji Mohammad Chamkani. Karmal then moved (or, allegedly, was exiled) to Moscow.

National reconciliation
After the Soviet Union had leveled most of the villages south and east of Kabul, creating a massive humanitarian disaster, the demise of the PDPA continued with the rise of the Mujahideen guerrillas, who were trained in Pakistani camps with US support. Between 1982 and 1992, the number of people recruited by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency to join the insurgency topped 100,000.

The Soviet Union withdrew in 1989, but continued to provide military assistance worth billions of dollars to the PDPA regime until the USSR's collapse in 1991.

Homeland Party
The Soviet troop withdrawal in late 1989 changed the political structure that had enabled the PDPA to stay in power all those years. Inner collapse of the government started when Gulbuddin Hekmatyar withdrew his support for the government. Later in March 1990 Defense Minister and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Shahnawaz Tanai tried to seize power in a military coup. The coup failed and Tanai was forced to flee the country. Najibullah still hung on to the presidency, so in June 1990 he renamed the party the Homeland Party. The party dropped the Marxist–Leninist ideology that had been held previously by the PDPA.

In 1991, the USSR dissolved. All support for the government stopped. In April 1992, the PDPA regime in Afghanistan collapsed after the sudden change of allegiance of General Abdul Rashid Dostum following President Najibullah's resignation. Post-Najibullah interim leader Abdul Rahim Hatif agreed on 22 April 1992 to a rebel-led state. The party was banned on May 6, 1992, by the Jamiat-i Islami Government.

Ideology
Since 1919, the Soviet Union had strongly influenced Afghan politics, economy and military (see Soviet–Afghan relations before 1979). The thousands of Afghan academic students and military trainees in the USSR were compelled to study Marxism–Leninism and the international communist movement; some of them converted to that ideology. Nur Muhammad Taraki, the first PDPA General Secretary in 1978, had worked and studied in India in 1932, had met members of the Communist Party of India there, and had converted to communism. Hafizullah Amin, the second PDPA General Secretary, had seen his leftist beliefs strengthened during his studies in the United States in the late 1950s. Taraki and Babrak Karmal (the third PDPA General Secretary) were Soviet agents since the 1950s.

From its inception in 1965 until at least 1984, the PDPA labeled themselves "national democratic", not communist; however, in its view of international relations, the PDPA was clearly pro-Soviet oriented. The party also publicly asserted that their desired changes could be achieved peacefully, however their ultimate goal was a revolution, and they were aware that it could only be accomplished through violence. The secret party constitution of 1965 called for "expanding and strengthening Afghan-Soviet friendly relations". A party history in 1976 stated, "The party struggles against imperialism, particularly American imperialism and its ally, Maoism, and is fighting alongside our brother parties, foremost among them the Leninist party of the Soviet Union." In a 1978 party pamphlet, the PDPA described itself as a "vanguard of the working class" and General Secretary Taraki as an "experienced Marxist–Leninist". These descriptions led Western authors to label PDPA as either of "clear Marxist orientation", "an avowedly pro-Soviet socialist movement", or reformist "with a socialist bent". The PDPA's party constitution leaked in 1978 explicitly mentioned Marxism-Leninism as the future of Afghanistan and by the end of 1978, Amin declared the Saur revolution as the "continuation of [the] Great October Revolution", leaving no doubts about the PDPA's orientation.

After the April 1978 PDPA coup d'état, PDPA general secretary Taraki stated that the PDPA were nationalists and revolutionaries but not communists, and declared a commitment to Islam within a secular state. Once in power, however, it became clear that the PDPA was dominated by an urban intelligentsia and lacked any real social base in the overwhelmingly rural and Islamic communities of Afghanistan. The party launched a programme ranging from land redistribution to emancipation and education of women, which violated traditional customs, religious laws, and the balance of power between Kabul and the rural localities. The radical reform program, class-struggle, anti-imperialistic rhetoric, the signing of a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, increased presence of Soviet advisers in the country, and support of countries like Cuba and North Korea led to the international media and domestic opponents giving the label of "communist" to the PDPA.

Pro-Najibists relaunched the Hezb-e Watan in 2004 and again in 2017.

Congress

 * 1st Congress (1967)
 * 2nd Congress (1987)

Central Committee
In the period April 1978 – September 1979 the Central Committee contained 38 individuals, of these, 12 were either purged, imprisoned or executed on the orders of Taraki after the Saur Revolution. With Taraki's ouster and execution in 1979, another member was removed. During Hafizullah Amin's short rule, September–December 1979, the Central Committee had at most 33 members, 12 of which were appointed by him. Upon Babrak Karmal's ascension to power 25 members were either executed or purged on his orders (76% of the members). He reinstated 14 members (including himself), who had been purged by either Taraki or Amin, appointed 15 newcomers and retained 7 Amin appointees. The Central Committee now contained 36 members. A year later, in June 1981, 10 new members were appointed to the Central Committee (the body now containing a record high 46 members), in a bid to increase the representation of Parchamites. Two years later, in 1983, six more members were appointed, with the Central Committee now containing 52 full members and 27 candidate members. Of these 52 members, only three had held offices continuously through Taraki's, Amin's and Karmal's rule; they were Abdur Rashid Arian, Mohammed Ismail Danesh and Saleh Mohammad Zeary (often referred to as a Khalqist).

General Secretary, Politburo and Secretariat
The Politburo and Secretariat were elected by a plenum of the Central Committee, exactly as how it was done within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). As in the CPSU, the Politburo was the main executive and legislative body of the PDPA when the congress, conference nor the Central Committee were in session. All decisions of the Politburo were implemented by the Secretariat, a body concurrently in session with the Politburo.

Throughout its existence, the body usually had between 7 and 9 members. During Taraki's rule, 10 members had held seats in the PDPA Politburo, this was reduced to seven by Amin (only four members from the Taraki period were retained under Amin), and it was increased back to nine by Karmal. 6 members from the Amin period were either executed or disappeared, and Karmal turned the Politburo into a Parcham-dominated body. In the immediate aftermath of the Saur Revolution, there was "almost an even balance" between the Khalqist and the Parchamites in the body, but Khalqist representation was continuously increased under they formed a majority under Amin. The Politburo had one female member throughout its existence; Anahita Ratebzad. Unlike the Soviet practices the PDPA did not publish the list of Politburo members according to rank, but rather by alphabetical order. There is one exception however, and it was published in the book Handbook for Party Activists of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (published after the 6th Plenary Session of the 1st Central Committee in June 1981).

 * Nur Muhammad Taraki, 1965–1979
 * Hafizullah Amin, 1979
 * Babrak Karmal, 1979–1986
 * Mohammad Najibullah, 1986–1992

Subordinate bodies
The PDPA Central Committee had several specialized commissions which handled day-to-day affairs. For instance, the party had the International Relations Commission, responsible for PDPA's relations with other parties, the Organization Commission, responsible for personnel appointments nationwide, and the Defense and Judicial Commission, responsible for military policy.

Lower-level organizations
From 1982 onward, the PDPA experienced an organizational expansion into the countryside. For instance, in 1982 there existed 144 district and sub-district party committees, by mid-1984 it had increased to 205. Out of Afghanistan's fifty-five border districts, fifteen of them lacked a primary party organization (PPO), another nineteen had only one PPO in each district, and in the remaining twenty-one the party, while better organized, remained ineffective. Despite this, in the period 1982 to 1987 the PDPA did witness an organizational growth; witnessing a growth of PPOs form 443 to 1,331. However, the main problem facing the party was that it was not organized in the small villages scattering Afghanistan; out of an estimated 25,000 villages which existed in Afghanistan, the party was organized in an estimated 2,000. Another daunting problem was that the central party leadership had little contact with lower-level organizations in the provinces or, in general, with the people. In 1987, during Najibullah's rule, village-level party secretaries were appointed to the Central Committee in a bid to strengthen central-local contact. Concurrently, a threefold increase in visits by central party personnel to the provinces occurred, in another bid to strengthen the party's contact with the PDPA's lower-level and non-members alike.

A major problem throughout PDPA's rule was that the majority of mid-level cadres resided in Kabul, rather than the places they were responsible for. Of the 10,000 mid-level cadres in the mid-1980s, 5,000 of them resided in Kabul. For instance, in the period 1982–83 the governor of Faryab province only visited the province during the winter months, since the mujahideen withdrew their troops from the area during those months. Another problem, in Faryab province the PDPA was inactive and the majority of the locals believed that Mohammad Daoud Khan, the president which the communists overthrew in 1978, was still ruling the country. Another case, that of Nangrahar province (in which the government was in complete control) faced a similar problem; the party organization laying dormant. To solve this problem, the PDPA sought to improve the cadres' education by enrolling them to educational institutions within the PDPA, public universities or giving them educational opportunities in the Eastern Bloc or the Soviet Union. The Social Science Institute of the PDPA had a capacity of 2,500 students, and by the end of the 1980s it had given degrees to over 10,000 individuals. Despite all this, the main problem facing the party was the unsafe conditions facing party members serving in the countryside; for instance, when the Ghazni Provincial Committee convened for a meeting the participants had to wait for three months to get home (waiting for an armoured column and a helicopter).

Membership
The PDPA had 5,000 to 7,000 members upon taking power. However, author Bruce Amstutz believes that PDPA membership probably stood at around 6,000 when Karmal took power. A little over a year later, the membership was estimated to stand between 10,000 and 15,000. By 1984, the party had between 20,000 and 40,000 members (this figure included both ordinary and probationary members), as a result of concerted membership drives in government institutions, state-owned enterprises, and the military. However, at the 1st PDPA Conference, Karmal claimed that the party had 62,820 ordinary and probationary members; this number was exaggerated. The conference reported a growth of 21,700 members since August 1981. From then until a party meeting in 1983, leading party officials claimed the party had between 63,000 and 70,000 members. Half of the members in 1982, were in the armed forces (which was dominated by the Khalqists). In August 1982, Karmal alleged that the PDPA had 20,000 members within the military, and said that "the army party organization forms the greatest part of the PDPA". Earlier that year, in March, Soviet sources stated that the largest concentration of PDPA members were to be found in Kabul Polytechnic Institute (with an estimated 600 members) and at Kabul University (with an estimated 1,000 members). In 1983, Karmal claimed that party membership had grown 35% to 90,000, the following year it had allegedly grown 33% to 120,000 members.

While the membership increase did make the PDPA look more powerful than it really was, the increase was concurrently followed with increased indiscipline amongst members (a majority joined because of sheer opportunism). Before the 1973 coup led by Mohammad Daoud Khan, the vast majority of members either had "graduates of junior colleges or colleges", with many of them either being students or working in the public sector. After the 1973 coup, the Khalqist began recruiting members amongst the Officers Corps, which was proven successful by the takeover of 1978. However, in the aftermath of the coup, membership decreased notably (probably because of the increasing authoritarian policies of the government). By 1979, only the most blatant opportunists would be willing to join the party; the party was at its nadir. After the Soviet intervention, the Soviets forced the PDPA to recruit more members; in 1981 the probationary period for a new member was reduced from one year to six months, and to join a person needed fewer party sponsors. The 1981–83 recruitment drive increased party membership; the majority of the new members worked either in state-owned enterprises, the military. The main problem was that most of these new recruits were "functional illiterate", which in reality led to an overall decline in the quality of party members. In April 1981, 25–30% of members were "workers, farmers, soldiers, and other toilers"; this increased to 38% (both ordinary and probationary members) in 1982 and in 1983, according to Karmal, 28.4% were ordinary members.

Receivers
In 1997, Watan Party of Afghanistan was formed, which made attempts to register the old name of the PDPA, but the party was refused registration. In 2003, the National United Party of Afghanistan, which sought to unite former PDPA members, was registered.


text:
St. George's Caye

St. George's Caye (Spanish: Cayo San Jorge) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, eight miles east of Belize City. It is part of the Belize District of Belize, Central America. The village on the island is also known as St. George's Caye. As of 2000, St. George's Caye had a permanent population of about 20 people.

St. George's Caye was previously known by the Spaniards as "Cayo Cocina", or "Kitchen Cay". It was settled as a town in 1650, and was the largest settlement in what was then British Honduras in the 17th century and 18th century; however, its importance was eventually eclipsed by the growth of Belize City. St.George's Caye was Belize's first capital in the 1700s. Following Spanish Capture of Cayo Cocina in 1779, from 3 September through 10 September 1798, British settlers fought and defeated a small Spanish fleet sent to drive them from the area; this battle is marked as a national holiday in Belize each September 10 as the Battle of St. George's Caye.

The British Army had an adventure training establishment on the island, allowing members of the British Forces stationed at the nearby British Army Training and Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) and their families a chance to take part in such activities as diving and sailing. However, the army decided to close the BATSUB in the late 20th century.

Aside from several private residences, the island also has St. George's Caye Resort. Resort activities focus on diving, sailing, and snorkeling.

title: St. George's Caye


text:
Bumper sticker

A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker designed to be attached to the rear of a car or truck, often on the bumper. They are commonly sized at around 25.4 cm by 7.6 cm (10 in by 3 in) and are typically made of PVC.

Bumper stickers serve various purposes, including personal expression, promotion, humor, or political activism. They encompass commercial, religious, secular, military, and sports-related themes, allowing individuals to showcase affiliations or support for various causes, regions, or groups. While they are widely used in the United States to display political support during elections, their prevalence is comparatively lower in countries like the United Kingdom.

Before the emergence of bumper stickers, advertising took various forms, including horsefly nets, metal or cardboard bumper signs, and window shield decals. The advancement of fluorescent inks during World War II and the accessibility of pressure-sensitive and adhesive materials in the post-war period played a significant role in the development and widespread adoption of bumper stickers.

Purpose

Bumper stickers can be commercial, religious, secular, humorous, or in support of a sports team or other organization. They may promote or oppose a particular philosophical or political position. Or they may go a different route and show a funny cartoon or punchline. In some countries, such as the United States, bumper stickers are a popular way of showing support for a candidate for a government seat and become more common during election years. In others, such as the United Kingdom, they are rarely seen in any form.

One variety of bumper stickers is the country tag. This is typically used for cars crossing international borders, and is overseen by the United Nations as the Distinguishing Signs of Vehicles in International Traffic, being authorized by the UN's Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (1949) and Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1968). Often the country code is displayed on the license plate itself.

These have (usually in the United States) been appropriated into tags indicating a country with which the driver affiliates, or more humorously to indicate things like a region (OBX), support for rabbit rescue groups (BUN), etc.

People who opt to exhibit their individuality through these decals may take part in more acts of road rage. Colorado State University social psychologist William Szlemko found that aggressive driving is linked to the number of markers a person has on their car, regardless of the messages portrayed.

Application and removal
Early bumper stickers had printed directions on the back removable liner for applying them to the bumper of a car. Due to the movement of the vehicle and changing weather conditions, the sticker needed to adhere well to the bumper surface.

There are some "easy to remove" bumper stickers and magnetic bumper stickers. Bumper stickers can be removed with a razor blade, penetrating oil or a heat gun. Home remedies also include using common household items, such as WD-40 or paint thinner.

History
Before bumper stickers, advertisers used other methods of displaying their wares. In the horse-drawn carriage era, advertisers printed on horsefly nets with the name of a business. In the 1930s and 1940s, bumper signs were printed on metal or cardboard and wired to the chrome bumpers. Lester Dill, promoter of Meramec Caverns in Missouri, was an ardent adopter of the bumper sign to attract motorists to his site. Using a windowshield decal was another option. These paper strips could be wetted and placed inside a car window. However, these strips did not hold up well when placed on a bumper.

Various factors contributed to the development of the bumper sticker. Developments in material manufacturing during World War II led to the widespread use of daylight fluorescent inks, which were invented by Bob Switzer and his brother Joe. These inks appeared to glow during the daytime and were useful to support various wartime activities; they were favored by early bumper sticker manufacturers after the war. In addition, the first commercially produced pressure-sensitive stickers appeared after World War II; new developments in adhesive materials led to the production of paper strips with adhesive on the back. In addition, increased use of vinyl by the general public after World War II led to the eventual use of this material in bumper stickers.

Many experts credit Forest P. Gill, a silkscreen printer from Kansas City, USA, as the developer of the bumper sticker. Gill recognized that the self-adhesive paper used during the second world war could be used to advertise promotional products in the late 1940s and beyond.

Early widespread uses of the advertising bumper sticker were for tourist attractions, such as Marine Gardens, Florida, Seven Falls, Colorado, Meramec Caverns in Missouri, and Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Another popular advertisement was the "See Rock City" sticker. In the 1940s and 1950s, visitors to the site had a sticker applied to their car, which duplicated the famous signs painted on the roofs of barns throughout the southeastern USA. Tourist attraction staff would circulate through the parking lot, applying the promotional sticker to every car.

The first documented presidential election that used adhesive bumper stickers in political campaigns was the 1952 election between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson II. Bumper stickers allowed citizens to show support for a candidate while still maintaining some anonymity.

Bumper stickers have caused legal issues between people and states. In 1989, a man with a bumper sticker containing indecent wording was convicted. The man's conviction was reversed in Cunningham v. State (1991). The court referenced the First Amendment, stating "the provision regulating profane words on bumper stickers reaches a substantial amount of constitutionally protected speech and unconstitutionally restricts freedom of expression".

Around the world
Considerable variation exists around the world as to the context and purpose of stickers. For example many Veterans and military family members use military and war related stickers on their cars.

They have also been extensively applied to rear windows as well, where legislative measures have not banned such use. For instance, in Sweden, this is the normal place to put them; bumper stickers are referred to as "bakrutedekal" in Swedish, meaning "rear window decal".

More recently, bumper stickers have become a route for advertising and a few companies offer to match car owners to advertisers willing to pay for the ad.

"Shirat Hasticker" ("The Sticker Song") by Hadag Nachash is an Israeli song composed entirely of bumper sticker slogans.

Variants of the bumper sticker have developed in recent years, including vinyl decals meant to be applied to a car's rear windshield, and chrome emblems to be affixed to the body of the car itself, generally on the rear (the "Jesus fish" and its "Darwin fish" counterpart are popular examples).

License plate frames and vanity plates can serve a similar purpose to bumper stickers, although the law may place restrictions on messages they display.

title: Bumper sticker


text:
Cotinga

The cotingas are a large family, Cotingidae, of suboscine passerine birds found in Central America and tropical South America. Cotingas are birds of forests or forest edges, that are primary frugivorous. They all have broad bills with hooked tips, rounded wings, and strong legs. They range in size from 12 - 13 cm of the fiery-throated fruiteater (Pipreola chlorolepidota) up to 48 - 51 cm of the Amazonian umbrellabird (Cephalopterus ornatus).

Description
Cotingas vary widely in social structure. There is a roughly 50/50 divide in the family between species with biparental care, and those in which the males play no part in raising the young. The purple-throated fruitcrow lives in mixed-sex groups in which one female lays an egg and the others help provide insects to the chick.

In cotinga species where only the females care for the eggs and young, the males have striking courtship displays, often grouped together in leks. Such sexual selection results in the males of these species, including the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, being brightly coloured, or decorated with plumes or wattles, like the umbrellabirds, with their umbrella-like crest and long throat wattles. Other lekking cotingids like the bellbirds and screaming piha, have distinctive and far-carrying calls. In such canopy-dwelling genera as Carpodectes, Cotinga, and Xipholena, males gather high in a single tree or in adjacent trees, but male cocks-of-the-rock, as befits their more terrestrial lives, give their elaborate displays in leks on the ground.

The females of both lekking and biparental species are duller than the males.

Breeding
Nests range from tiny to very large. Many species lay a single egg in a nest so flimsy that the egg can be seen from underneath. This may make the nests hard for predators to find. Fruiteaters build more solid cup nests, and the cocks-of-the-rock attach their mud nests to cliffs. The nests may be open cups or little platforms with loosely woven plant material, usually placed in a tree. The clutches comprise one to four eggs. Incubation typically takes 15–28 days. Fledging usually occurs at 28–33 days.

Habitat
Deserts, open woodlands, coastal mangroves, and humid tropical forests comprise their habitats. Cotingas face very serious threats from the loss of their habitats.

Taxonomy and systematics
The family Cotingidae was introduced by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1849. According to the International Ornithological Committee, as of July 2021, the family contains 66 species divided into 24 genera.

A 2014 molecular phylogenetic study of the cotingas by Jacob Berv and Richard Prum found that the genera formed five monophyletic clades and they proposed that the family could be divided into five subfamilies. The following cladogram is based on a molecular phylogenetic study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators published in 2020.

The genus Tijuca was found to be embedded in Lipaugus, a position that was confirmed by a more detailed 2020 study.

A number of species previously placed in this family are now placed in the family Tityridae (genera Laniisoma, Laniocera and Iodopleura)

title: Cotinga


text:
La Ferté-Alais Air Show

The La Ferté-Alais Air Show is an annual meeting of aviation enthusiasts, flight organizations, companies, and pilots in the village of La Ferté-Alais, France.

It takes place during Pentecost at the Cerny airfield (ICAO: LFFQ), which is owned and operated by the "Amicale Jean-Baptiste Salis" (AJBS). The airfield is also the site of the Musée Volant Salis, hosting 70 aircraft from the past century.

In preparation for the airshow, dozens of vintage aircraft are come from Europe and the US for display and flight demonstrations.

The show regularly starts with a flight demonstration of vintage aircraft such as the Blériot XI and Stearman. It is then usually followed with an aerobatic and pyrotechnic display of warbirds such as the T-6 texan and T-28 Trojan. The French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) then often presents some of the aircraft in their fleet, such as the Rafale, Atlantique and Mirage aircraft. The French Sécurite Civile sometimes comes to demonstrate their technology such as water bombers and surveillance helicopters. This is followed by personal presentations of special individual aircraft performing aerobatics and flight demonstrations. The airshow usually ends with demonstrations by the Patrouille de France and Rafale Solo Display.

On rare occasions, Air France performs a flyby with their flagship aircraft, such as the Concorde in 1988 or the Boeing 777 in 2019.

Media Presence
The B-17 Flying Fortress The Pink Lady used in the motion picture Memphis Belle is a permanent project of the AJBS group.

title: La Ferté-Alais Air Show


text:
Talk:Hybrid electric

This article, along with the article on gas-electric hybrid engine, seem to overlap with the one on hybrid car. It would be good to find some way to combine them together. -- Arteitle 06:22 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hybrid electric


text:
Formicariidae

Formicariidae is a family of smallish suboscine passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America known as antthrushes. They are between 10 and 20 cm in length, and are most closely related to the ovenbirds in the family Furnariidae, and the tapaculos in the family Rhinocryptidae. The family Formicariidae contains 12 species in two genera.

These are forest birds that tend to feed on insects at or near the ground. Most are drab in appearance with shades of (rusty) brown, black, and white being their dominant tones. Compared to other birds that specialize in following ants, this family is the most tied to the ground. The long, powerful legs (which lend the birds a distinctive upright posture) and an essentially vestigial tail aid this lifestyle.

They lay two or three eggs in a nest in a tree, both sexes incubating.

Systematics
The antthrushes are similar in appearance to small rails. Their sexes are alike in plumage, and they walk like starlings. The thrush part of the name refers only to the similarity in size (and in Chamaeza also coloration) to true thrushes, not to an evolutionary relationship.

Molecular phylogenetic studies indicated that the Formicariidae as previously delimited were highly paraphyletic, judging from comparison of several mt and nDNA sequences. The aberrant bar-bellied "antpittas" of the genus Pittasoma, which were formerly placed here, belong to the gnateater family (which initially was also considered part of the Formicariidae); as the gnateaters proper, they are sexually dichromatic. In addition, the true antpittas formerly placed in this family are now found in their own family, the Grallariidae. On the other hand, at least a large proportion of the Rhinocryptidae (tapaculos), including the type genus Rhinocrypta, seem to be closer to the antthrushes, but are still considered a distinct family.

The following cladogram shows the phylogeny of the antthrush family. It is based on a large molecular phylogenetic study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators that was published in 2020. The species are those recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).

The short-tailed antthrush was found to be paraphyletic. Eleven subspecies are recognised in several disjunct areas and ornithologists had suspected that more than a single species was involved.

title: Formicariidae


text:
Antpitta

Grallariidae is a family of smallish suboscine passerine birds of subtropical and tropical Central and South America known as antpittas. They are between 10 and 20 cm (4–8 in) in length, and are related to the antbirds, Thamnophilidae, and gnateaters, Conopophagidae.

The antpittas were formerly placed in the family Formicariidae. Beginning in 2002 a series of molecular genetic studies found that Formicariidae, as then defined, was non-monophyletic. In 2008, the American Ornithologists' Union reorganised the genera to create monophyletic families and moved the antpittas to their own family Grallariidae. This family now contains 68 species in one large and four fairly small genera.

These are forest birds that tend to feed at or near the ground since many are specialist ant eaters. Most are drab in appearance with shades of (rusty) brown, black, and white being their dominant tones. Compared to other birds that specialize in following ants, this family is the most tied to the ground. The long, powerful legs (which lend the birds a distinctive upright posture) and an essentially vestigial tail aid this lifestyle.

The antpittas are sexually monomorphic; they resemble the true pittas in that they are virtually tailless; they hop like some thrushes, and are much easier to hear than see—although their vocalizations may be rather atypical for perching birds.

They lay 1 to 6 eggs in a nest in a tree, both sexes incubating.

Taxonomy
The following cladogram shows the phylogeny of the antipitta family. It is based on a large molecular phylogenetic study of the suboscines by Michael Harvey and collaborators that was published in 2020. The three species in the genus Myrmothera were found to be embedded in the genus Hylopezus. The species are those recognised by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).

Species
Typical antpittas – tribe Grallariini/subfamily Grallariinae
 * Genus Grallaria (47 species)

Lesser antpittas – possibly tribe Myrmotherini/subfamily Myrmotherinae
 * Genus Cryptopezus (1 species)
 * Genus Hylopezus (6 species)
 * Genus Myrmothera (6 species)
 * Genus Grallaricula (10 species)

title: Antpitta


text:
Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Ambient 1: Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by Brian Eno, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. It is the first of Eno's albums released under the label of ambient music, a genre of music intended to "induce calm and a space to think" while remaining "as ignorable as it is interesting". While not Eno's earliest entry in the style, it is credited with coining the term.

The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. Eno defined his approach in opposition to "canned" Muzak and easy listening practices. The album was the first of four albums released in Eno's Ambient series, which concluded with 1981's Ambient 4: On Land.

In 2004, Rolling Stone credited the album with defining the ambient genre. In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it the greatest ambient album of all time.

Background and concept
Eno became interested in ambience when he suffered an automobile accident that sent him to the hospital in the mid-1970s. His friend Judy Nylon visited Eno in the hospital and left an album playing quietly before leaving. The sound blended with the rain outside the room and, unable to get up and adjust the volume, Eno allowed it to create an ambience aligned with his fluctuating attention. The album Discreet Music (1975), per Eno's own judgement, was his first foray into ambient music.

After spending several hours waiting for a flight at Germany's Cologne Bonn Airport and becoming annoyed by its uninspired atmosphere, Eno conceived an album of music "designed for airports". He intended for the album to still function within various other situations. Ambient music was then a "relatively modest field", "more a concept than a genre", and mostly created against the context of dominant muzak practices. Eno's concept was distinct from elevator music and easy listening's "derivative" background noise approach, and was instead to be used as a means of creating space for thought. In the album's liner notes, Eno explained:

"Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to `brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting."

Eno later named the Ray Conniff Singers and the "Borgesian idea" of a self-generated "world in reverse" which is centered around music as inspirations during this period.

Recording and composition
All tracks were composed by Eno except "1/1", which was co-composed by Eno with former Soft Machine drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt and with producer Rhett Davies.

Music for Airports makes use of spliced tape loops. Recalling its creation, Eno said it was "conceived as deliberately austere and unemotional" and "was essentially made by machines". He began work during the creation of David Bowie's Low. With regards to their instrumentation, dynamic range, timbre, harmony, tonality and texture, the tracks are confining and feature a "contained repertory of pitches, gestural shapes, and motivic content that lasts throughout its entirety". Variations of timbre are seen when comparing the tracks, such as the warm "1/1" contrasting with the cold and dark "1/2". They are without backing rhythms and instead irregular repetition.

He has stated a connection to death. Not wanting it to be "all bright and cheerful", Eno, a self-proclaimed "nervous flyer", considered the feelings that arise from being at an airport, including the supposed mortality salience and hoped the album would bring solace: "Really, it’s music to resign you to the possibility of death". John L. Waters described the album as a "logical progression from the work of the experimental and systems-based 'serious' musicians (John White, Gavin Bryars, Christopher Hobbs, Michael Parsons, Michael Nyman) that Eno recorded and championed for his label Obscure". David Stubbs noted similarities to the work of Erik Satie.

"1/1", features piano loops performed in an arrhythmic manner – piano being the dominant instrument throughout the album. The track arose from two pianists improvising whereby neither could clearly hear the other, leading to separate yet complementary melodies being played. Various motifs, played in a fitful manner, are featured. Philosopher of art John Lysaker, while discussing the album's general sense of aimless direction, noted that "1/1" "holds together no better (and no worse) than a cloud". The music throughout is down-tempo, without "distinct melodic or harmonic development[;] no highs or lows". "1/1" is the only track to feature a melody.

"2/1" and "1/2" make use of vocal loops; the former designed to have them fluctuate in synchrony. The disparate lengths of "2/1" were the result of each singer's differing capabilities. He modified the tape recordings offhandedly to loops, desiring "a silence at least twice as long as the sound" and "complicated rather than simple relationships". "And then I started all the loops running, and let them configure in the way they chose to configure". Music professor Victor Szabo described the track as "ghostly", writing that the "non-vibrato" tape loops are "uncannily lifeless": "Through such compositional techniques and affective-expressive codes, ‘2/1’ intimates human absence more overtly than any other track".

"2/2" was performed with an ARP 2600 synthesiser. Brian Eno described how this piece was recorded: [...] The second piece on the second side of Music for Airports was done with an ARP 2600. It's a beautiful sound, I think, and one that I couldn't have got from any other synthesizer that I know of. The thing that makes it so luscious is that it's slowed down, and it has three kinds of echo on it.

Critical reception
The first album of ambient music to become popular – and later recognised as the "first deliberately 'ambient' recording" – it was initially dismissed by critics, audiences and some of Eno's peers alike, bewildering some of the former. It only became more favoured by the 1990s, having "entered the modern musical canon".

Blandness was a very common critique in the initial reviews, a possible by-product of its unvarying and populist conception, wrote Szabo. In a 1979 review for Rolling Stone, Michael Bloom found Ambient 1 self-indulgent and lacking focus. "There's a good deal of high craftsmanship here," Bloom said. "But to find it, you've got to thwart the music's intent by concentrating." In another contemporary review for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote that "these four swatches of modestly 'ambient' minimalism have real charms as general-purpose calmatives. But I must also report that they've fared unevenly against specific backgrounds." He later called it "a bore". Writing for The Globe and Mail, around the time of its release, Alan Niester categorized the album as alien, calling it "background grunge" that was best suited for "dish-doing [and] bed-making". In a 1979 interview with Eno for Musician, critic Lester Bangs described Music for Airports as having "a crystalline, sun-light-through windowpane quality that makes it somewhat mesmerising even as you half-listen to it," and recounted a personal experience in which the album induced him into a dream state featuring Charles Mingus.

PopMatters journalist John Davidson was enthusiastic in a retrospective review, deeming Music for Airports a masterpiece whose value "can only be appreciated by listening to it in a variety of moods and settings. Then you are likely struck by how the music allows your mind the space to breathe", Davidson wrote, "and in doing so, adapts itself to your mood". AllMusic reviewer Linda Kohanov stated that "like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener [...] yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music." Sasha Frere-Jones wrote that, by strength of its compositions, Music for Airports fails to facilitate an easily disregarded listening experience: "the album is too beautiful to ignore". Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the effect of the compositions as "sheer weightlessness." Q described it as "soothing and sublime, a useful album when you're feeling particularly delicate." In a positive review, Pitchfork's Grayson Haver Currin wrote that "to hear Music for Airports as more than a background balm, these four tracks remain wondrous and transformative, able to rearrange the air in a room."

Legacy
Ambient 1 was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Chuck Eddy from Spin later named it the fourth most essential ambient album. In September 2016, Pitchfork named the record the best ambient album of all time.

The album has been recognized as a seminal and influential release, an icon of the genre and Eno's discography. J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide that the record defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. Chris Richards of The Washington Post wrote that it "taught an entire generation of musicians to consider music as a texture". Reflecting on the album, Jon Caramanica called it the best of Eno's work which shortly followed Roxy Music. Due in part to Music for Airports, perception of Eno's career shifted and he became aligned with highly influential minimalist composers: Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, and La Monte Young. Artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Riley and Harold Budd would expand on Eno's style of ambient music, which would feature prominently on his following albums; Music for Airports acted as a genesis for Eno and collaborators exploring the style, such as in the numbered Ambient series (1978–82). His conception would soon become more mallable and less reliant upon locations.

Over the years, the album has sold over 200,000 copies, making it one of his best-selling solo albums.

Installation and covers
The album has been installed and performed in at least five airports; it has been met with resistance from some travellers and workers, who deem it disruptive. Clinics and hospitals have used the albums to soothe patients. In 1998, Bang on a Can performed the album live, favouring a "technicolour style". Discussing their performance, Eno described it as the ensemble "trying to act like machines, but they don't sound like machines at all, they sound like people and it's quite touching when that appears". He felt the rendition's emotive quality was the result of the supposed human element; it moved him to tears, he said, and others he knew – such as Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson – had similar reactions. Critics echoed Eno's praise, including that of the rendition's superiority.

In 2010, The Black Dog, by means of their ninth studio album, Music for Real Airports, issued a "musical rebuttal", chastising the perceived dehumanisation of airports and Eno's supposed intention of "lull[ing] customers".

Track listing
The track labelling refers to the album's first release (1978) as an LP, and so the first track means "first track, first side", and so on. The CD pressing adds 30 seconds of silence after every track, including "2/2".

The album's back cover features four abstract graphic notation images, one for each track, representing their structure and instrumentation.

Personnel

 * Brian Eno – synthesiser, electric piano, vocals
 * Christa Fast – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
 * Christine Gomez – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
 * Inge Zeininger – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
 * Robert Wyatt – acoustic piano ("1/1", "1/2")

 * Recording
 * Brian Eno – producer, engineer
 * Dave Hutchins – engineer ("2/1", "1/2")
 * Conny Plank – engineer ("2/2"),
 * Rhett Davies – engineer ("1/1")

 * Design
 * Brian Eno – cover art

 * Recording Location
 * London ("1/1", "1/2", "2/1")
 * Plank's Studio, Cologne ("2/2")

Usage

 * Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan is a 1981, 47-minute ambient video created by Eno which uses music from both the albums Ambient 4: On Land and this album. This title was later included with his Thursday Afternoon video on the Rykodisc DVD compilation 14 Video Paintings.
 * Music from the album has been covered by:
 * Makyo — "2/1 (Night Flight Mix)", on the double compilation CD Minimalism: More Or Less, 1998, Law & Auder (LA05CD)
 * nalptenalp, "Re: 1/1" (2020), which is a reconstruction of "1/1".
 * Arrangements of the album performed by the Bang on a Can All-Stars were made into a video filmed and edited by Frank Scheffer, entitled Music For Airports / In The Ocean
 * The first track is used in the PBS special The Creation of the Universe. Eno is the sole music credit, and he also wrote original music for the documentary.
 * "1/1" is frequently used as background music on the US public radio program This American Life.
 * "1/1" is used as background music in the 1986 film 9½ Weeks.
 * "1/1" features prominently in the opening scene of the 2009 motion picture The Lovely Bones.
 * Excerpts of Ambient 1 appear in Robert Hughes' documentary on Modern Art The Shock of the New, episode 4 Trouble in Utopia.
 * Prior to the first hosted live broadcast of Apple's Beats 1 internet radio station, music from the album was played on the service's audio stream.

title: Ambient 1: Music for Airports