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Singapore embassies attack plot

The Singapore embassies attack plot was a plan in 2001 by Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) to bomb the diplomatic missions and attack personnel of the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Israel based in Singapore. There were also several other targets. The plot was uncovered in December 2001 and as many as 15 people were arrested in Singapore within a month. Further investigation and intelligence prompted the detention of another 26 persons from 2002 to 2005. As of 2006, 37 of them were still being detained without trial, under the Internal Security Act. Four had been released on restriction orders.

JI branch in Singapore
The Singapore JI branch was started as early as 1993, when Ibrahim Maidin underwent military training in Afghanistan and was subsequently appointed leader of JI in Singapore. By conducting religious classes, Maidin began recruiting other members into the JI organisation.

At least eight of the sleeper cell members had received training in Afghanistan. Riduan Isamuddin, the leader of JI who is better known as Hambali, had arranged their travels to Pakistan, using false documents and cover stories that they were accepted by a religious school for religious studies. They stayed in an al-Qaeda safe house in Pakistan before travelling to Afghanistan, where they received training in the use of AK-47s, mortars, and military tactics. Several members also attended a training camp in southern Philippines, known as Camp Hudaybiyya, set up by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and run by Indonesian JI members.

The Singapore branch of JI was organised into at least three groups. The first cell, which was called "Fiah Ayub" (first cell) and the second cell was called "Fiah Musa". The Singapore branch was headed by Ibrahim Maidin and Faiz bin Abi Bakar Bafana was the second in command. The Singapore branch was under the command of a Malaysia-based leadership structure called a regional shura (consultative council), within the larger network of JI organisation in Southeast Asia. Members of the cell did not attend local mosque or made little contact with other mainstream Islamic organisations in the country. The group operated in tight secrecy and were using code words in their communication.

Surveillance activities
According to investigations, the cell had conducted survey for other targets as early as 1997, when the cell was planning to target Yishun MRT station, where American troops and their families used to take shuttle rides to the US Navy site at Sembawang for recreation activities at a sports complex coincidentally known as the "Terror Club", named after the Royal Navy shore accommodation establishment HMS Terror. In 1999, a member of the Singapore cell, Khalim Jaffar travelled to Afghanistan and presented the plan to Al Qaeda's leaders. Mohammed Atef, a close aide of Osama bin Laden, gave JI the go-ahead for the attack.

In April 2001, a member of the cell, who was working at ST Aerospace, took photographs of American military aircraft and personnel at Paya Lebar Airbase, and distributed them to other cell members.

The cell had also surveyed other potential targets including water pipelines at the Johor-Singapore Causeway, Singapore Changi Airport, the Singapore Air Traffic Control Center at Biggin Hill Road, Sembawang Wharves and the Ministry of Defence at Bukit Gombak.

Embassies attack plot
In early October 2001, Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi, also known as Mike, and Mohammed Jabarah, also known as Sammy, flew to Singapore and directed the sleeper cell to conduct "final reconnaissance" and video recordings of potential targets. The two operatives gave instructions to the cell to prepare for attacks in Singapore. Among the targets were U.S. and Israeli Embassies, British and Australian High Commissions, the Singapore American School, and commercial buildings housing US firms. They planned to launch the attacks in December 2001/January 2002 or April/May 2002.

Philippine authorities said that al-Ghozi, a bombmaker, had three Philippine passports and an Indonesian passport. Investigators later revealed al-Ghozi's ties with Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiyah. al-Ghozi had studied in Bashir's religious school in Indonesia for six years. The other man, Sammy, was later identified as Mohd Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian national of Arab descent, who was in US custody (as of 2003) and sentenced to life in prison in 2008.

The cell members then set off to procure 17 tons of explosives, especially that of precursor ammonium nitrate, along with trucks and chemicals. JI has close ties with Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), a militant group in Malaysia. Yazid Sufaat, a KMM member, had purchased 4 tons of ammonium nitrate which were already made available to the Singapore cell for the bombings. In an interview on PBS, Lee Kuan Yew pointed out that each bomb would be twice the size of the one detonated by Timothy McVeigh at the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City.

Failure of plot
After the 11 September 2001 attacks, an informant told the Internal Security Department about Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan, who is a Singaporean citizen of Pakistani descent and had made claims of having ties with Al-Qaeda. Khan was placed under surveillance, but he abruptly left Singapore for Pakistan on 4 October. He was later captured by United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan officials. His interrogation led investigators to the Singaporean cell.

Singapore authorities conducted the first raid on 8 December 2001, arresting six people. A total of 15 people were arrested within a month. During the raids, the police seized documents of the attack plots and bomb making information, as well as photographs and surveillance video of the intended targets including the embassies. Fake passports and forged immigration documents were also found.

Soon after, a JI-made surveillance video was recovered among the rubble of a house that was bombed by US coalition forces in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was the home of Mohammed Atef, a close aide of Osama bin Laden. The video showed a narrator in Singapore, Hashim bin Abas, describing how bombs could be hidden to attack United States interests. Besides the embassies, the plotters were also planning to target United States Air Force warplanes that were stationed at Paya Lebar Air Force Base, as well as several United States companies and businesses. There were also plans to attack U.S. Navy warships along Singapore's coastlines, similar to the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in October 2000.

The JI group were also plotting to attack United States Navy personnel and their families who often traveled between the Yishun MRT station and Sembawang Wharf via shuttle buses. The video also detailed how bombs could be planted in the sewers and drains near the Yishun MRT Station in order to cause massive casualties when targeting United States personnel. The video also showed a man describing how explosives could be strapped on bicycles and be transported without raising suspicion. Investigators in Singapore had found similar tapes at the residence of Mohamed Khalim bin Jaffar, one of arrested JI members. The Singapore government presented these material as evidence of a direct link between the JI group and Al-Qaeda.

On 15 January 2002, Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi was arrested by authorities in the Philippines. He gave police information that led to a cache of rifles, explosive and bomb-making material in Southern Philippines. These were believed to be part of the embassies attack plot.

In August 2002, ISD conducted another major security operation and arrested 18 persons, most of them were members of JI, while two were members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a militant separatist group in the Philippines.

Heightened security
Following the arrests, the U.S., British, and Australian embassies in Singapore were placed on heightened alert. Members of the elite Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force were posted at the embassies to enhance their security.

Timeline
Timeline of plot, arrests and related incidents.

 * 1993 – Sleeper cell began to form in Singapore.
 * 1997 – Cell conducted surveillance at Yishun MRT station
 * April 2001 – Cell conducted surveillance at Paya Lebar Airbase.
 * 11 September 2001 – Coordinated series of terrorist attacks in the United States by Al-Qaeda.
 * September 2001 – An informant told Internal Security Department of Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan's ties with Al-Qaeda. Ali Khan was placed under surveillance.
 * 4 October 2001 – Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan left for Pakistan, he was soon captured by Northern Alliance.
 * 7 October 2001 – U.S. invaded Afghanistan.
 * 7 October 2001 – Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi and Sammy arrived in Singapore to direct sleeper cell.
 * 8 December 2001 – ISD conducts its first raid, arresting 6 people. A total of 15 people would be arrested in December 2001.
 * January 2002 – 2 people were released on Restriction Order
 * 15 January 2002 – Al-Ghozi was arrested in the Philippines, a large cache of explosives was uncovered
 * August 2002 – ISD arrested another 21 people
 * September 2002 – 3 people were released on Restriction Order
 * 12 October 2002 – Bali bombing by Jemaah Islamiyah.

In Literature
A book entitled "Bullets and Train" has been written about an Al-Qaeda terrorist plot in Singapore which discusses the videos, making them a part of the central plot.

title: Singapore embassies attack plot


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Operation Bramble Bush

Operation Bramble Bush (מבצע שיח אטד) was an Israeli plan to assassinate Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, in 1992. It was described in full in December 2003 by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, but news reports had circulated about the plot since January 1999. The plan was conceived as retaliation for Iraqi Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War. Another motivation was the postwar revelation by UN inspectors that Iraq had been a few years away from potential nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capability as well as the missile capability to hit Israel, and the fear that Hussein would continue trying to develop such capabilities. The plan was called off after five commandos were accidentally killed during the final rehearsal for the operation; the accident is known in Israel as the Tze'elim Bet disaster (אסון צאלים ב').

IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak persuaded Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and then his successor Yitzhak Rabin to approve an operation to assassinate Saddam Hussein. In January 1992, he formed a team headed by Amiram Levin to examine ways Saddam could be assassinated. Various schemes were considered, among them crashing an Israeli plane or satellite in Iraq and then blowing it up when Hussein came to inspect it, creating a European straw company to sell him a new modern television studio from which he could broadcast his speeches and blowing it up as he broadcast, and detonating a booby-trapped monument as he stood before it at a memorial ceremony.

When Saddam's uncle, Khairallah Talfah, was discovered to be terminally ill, the Israelis decided to ambush the funeral party at the family's plot at the cemetery in Tikrit, as it was the only place outside of well-guarded Baghdad where it would surely be Saddam himself and not a body double. The Israelis closely followed Talfah's treatment in Jordan. When it was decided that he was taking too long to die, a plan was conceived for the Mossad to assassinate Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother who was then the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, and ambush Saddam at his funeral instead.

Under the plan, a commando team from the Israeli Army's elite Sayeret Matkal unit was to be inserted into Iraq by helicopter some distance away, travel to the cemetery in jeeps disguised to look like Iraqi Army vehicles and fitted with missile launchers, and kill Saddam with TV-guided "Midras" missiles.

Sayeret Matkal commandos drilled for the operation with a replica of the Hussein family's cemetery at the infantry training base near kibbutz Tze'elim in the Negev. When the commandos were declared ready, a rehearsal for the operation led by Doron Kempel was held for senior IDF commanders on November 5, 1992. Ehud Barak was among those in attendance. The operation's execution was planned for just two days away.

The members of the hit team drilled with live missiles, while members of the unit's intelligence and administrative staff played the part of Saddam and his entourage. The commandos fired live rounds at a convoy simulating the target after mistaking a "dry run", where a soldier posed as Saddam waving at crowds, for a "wet run", where Saddam's part was replaced by a mannequin due to weariness from the training as well as poor planning to the point where the same code word was used for both a "dry" and "wet" run. As a result, the commandos fired two missiles at their fellow soldiers simulating Saddam and his convoy, one of which hit the middle of the convoy while the other landed a few yards away. Five soldiers were killed and six wounded.

The plan was cancelled. Israeli press reports described the incident as a "training accident." Israeli censors tried to prevent Israeli newspapers from publishing the fact that the head of military intelligence, Uri Sagi, had witnessed the accident, but the censors relented a few weeks later. On November 24, the American newspaper The Miami Herald reported that the soldiers involved in the accident had been rehearsing a plan to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The New York Times, The Times, and the Independent also reported on the apparent attempt against Nasrallah, and the Israeli military censor complained the reporters from all newspapers involved had violated censorship laws.

Seven years later, Operation Bramble Bush II once again targeted Saddam. Mossad agents had scouted locations in Iraq for the ambush of the Iraqi leader. However, as before, the plan was scrapped, this time because of both the British-American Operation Desert Fox and concerns that of harming the Israeli-Arab peace process.

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

title: Operation Bramble Bush


text:
Chevrolet Bel Air

The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size car produced by Chevrolet for the 1950–1981 model years. Initially, only the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950 to 1952. With the 1953 model year, the Bel Air name was changed from a designation for a unique body shape to a premium level of trim applied across a number of body styles. The Bel Air continued with various other trim level designations, and it had gone from a mid-level trim car to a budget fleet sedan when U.S. production ceased in 1975. Production continued in Canada, for its home market only, through the 1981 model year.

First generation (1950–1954)
From 1950 to 1952, the Bel Air Sport Coupe name was used only for the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range, to distinguish the car from the Styleline and Fleetline models. It is named after the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles.

First-year production reached only 76,662 models built. The car cost $1,741 and weighed 3225 lb. Front suspension was independent, named "knee-action". The standard, 216.5 cuin "Thriftmaster" six-cylinder engine produced 92 hp.

The first Bel Airs of this era shared only their front sheet metal ahead of the A pillar with the rest of the range. The windshield, doors, glass, and trunk were common with the Styleline Deluxe Convertible Coupe, however, the roof, rear quarters and three-piece rear windows were unique. The chassis and mechanicals were common with the rest of the passenger car range, and the overall appearance was the same as the rest of the range, except that the roofline was lower and the unique three piece rear window gave it a longer and more balanced look. The first Bel Airs were available with only the "Deluxe" premium trim level and specification.

Apart from the usual annual grille and trim changes, the 1951–1952 Bel Air differed from the earlier 1950 model with the introduction of the higher and squarer rear guards that were across the whole range.

In 1953 Chevrolet renamed its series, and the Bel Air name was applied to the premium model range. Two lower series, the 150 and 210, also emerged (as successors to the Special and Deluxe series, respectively). The 1953 Chevrolet was advertised as "Entirely new through and through" due to the restyled body panels, front and rear ends. However, essentially these Chevrolets had similar frames and mechanicals to the 1949–1952 cars.

The Bel Air was given a facelift in 1953. The pre-war technology, such as torque tube drive, six-cylinder splash feed engines, knee-action suspension, and split windshields of the early models, was phased out, and the foundations for the first post-war modern Chevrolet passenger car were finalized. The Bel Air series featured a wide chrome strip of molding from the rear fender bulge to the rear bumper. The inside of this stripe was painted a coordinating color with the outside body color, and "Bel Air" scripts were added inside the strip. Lesser models had no model designation anywhere on the car, having only a Chevrolet crest on the hood and trunk. 1953 was the first year for a curved, one-piece windshield. The lower-cost Thriftmaster option installed on manual transmission cars was replaced by the larger "Thrift-King", a lower compression version of the 235.5 cuin Blue Flame engine producing 108 hp.

In the July 1953 issue of Popular Mechanics, a tested 1953 Bel Air went from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 19.6 seconds.

Bel Air interiors had an optional massive expanse of chrome across the lower part of the dashboard (most were painted), along with a deluxe Bel Air steering wheel with a full chrome horn ring. Carpeting and full wheel covers rounded out Bel Air standard equipment. For 1954, the Bel Air stayed essentially the same, except for a revised grille and taillights and a revised engine that had insert bearings and higher oil pressure, needed for the full-flow oil filtration system that was not available prior to 1954. Prior to 1954, the 235 and 216 cubic inch six-cylinder engines had Babbitt bearings and scoops to create oil pressure at the bottom of each rod, and the oil pressure was standard at 15-30 PSI. During these years, there were three engine choices, depending on the transmission ordered. Both 235 cubic inch engines were "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder OHV engines, featuring hydraulic valve lifters (in 1953 with automatic transmissions) and aluminum pistons. The 115 hp 235 cubic inch displacement engine was made standard on stick shift models, with solid lifters and splash plus pressure lubrication, including Babbitt bearings. Powerglide cars got a newly upgraded 125 hp version which had hydraulic lifters and full pressure lubrication.

In 1953 and 1954, Bel Airs could be ordered as a convertible, hardtop coupe, two- and four-door variant sedan, and, for 1954, the Beauville station wagon, which featured woodgrain trim around the side windows. Many new options, once only seen in more expensive luxury cars, were offered, starting in 1953. This included power steering and the Guidematic headlight dimmer in 1953, as well as power brakes, power 2-way front seat and power front windows in 1954. All 1954 models equipped with the standard transmission used the 1953 Powerglide engine.

Second generation (1955–1957)
The Bel Air received new, revamped styling for the 1955 model year. The Bel Air was 3456 lb and 16 ft long. It was called the "Hot One" in GM's advertising campaign. Bel Airs came with features found on cars in the lower models ranges plus interior carpet, chrome headliner bands on hardtops, chrome spears on front fenders, stainless steel window moldings, full wheel covers, and a Ferrari-inspired front grille. Models were further distinguished by the Bel Air name script in gold lettering later in the year. For 1955 Chevrolets gained a V8 engine option and the option of the 2 speed Powerglide automatic, or a standard three speed Synchro-Mesh manual transmission with optional overdrive. The new 265 cuin V8 featured a modern, overhead valve high compression ratio, short stroke design that was so good that it remained in production in various displacements for many decades. The base V8 had a two-barrel carburetor and was rated at 162 hp and the "Power Pack" option featured a four-barrel carburetor and other upgrades yielding 180 bhp. Later in the year, a "Super Power Pack" option added high-compression and a further 15 bhp. Warning lights replaced gauges for the generator and oil pressure. This was not the first Chevrolet with a V8 engine; the first Chevrolet with a V8 engine was introduced in 1917 and called the Series D, which was built for two years, and was manufactured before Chevrolet joined General Motors.

The 1955 Bel Air was very well received. Motor Trend magazine gave the Bel Air top marks for handling. Popular Mechanics reported acceleration for a V8 Bel Air with Powerglide as being 0-60 mph in 12.9 seconds, plus a comfortable ride and good visibility. On the other hand, the horn ring blocked some of the speedometer, regular gasoline made the engine knock and the first V8 engines off the line burned too much oil. Front legroom was 43.1". Brakes were 11" drums. A new option for V8-equipped 1955 models was air conditioning, with outlets on each side of the dashboard; a heavy-duty generator was included on cars equipped with this option; in 1955 and 1956, air conditioning could be installed on cars ordered with the standard three-speed manual transmission, overdrive or Powerglide, but from 1957 onward, an automatic transmission (or minus that, 4-speed manual transmission) was a pre-requisite option.

The 1956 Bel Air received a face-lift with a more conventional full-width grille, pleasing those customers who didn't favor the Ferrari-inspired '55 front end. Two-tone bodyside treatments and front and rear wheel openings completed the "speedline" restyling. Single housings incorporated the taillight, stoplight, and backup light, and the left one held the gas filler – an idea popularized on Cadillacs. Among the seven Bel Air models was a new Sport Sedan, a pillarless four-door hardtop that looked handsome with all the windows rolled down and allowed easy entry into the back seat. Production exceeded 103,000, compared to 128,000 two-door hardtops. Shapely two-door Nomad wagons topped the price chart at US$2,608 ($0 in dollars ), but now carried the same interior and rear-wheel sheet metal as other Bel Airs, lacking the original's unique trim. Only 7,886 were built. The least costly Bel Air, at US$2,025 ($0 in dollars ), was the two-door sedan. Seatbelts, shoulder harnesses, and a padded dashboard were available, and full-size cars could even get the hot Corvette 225-horsepower engine. In 1956 sales material there was an optional rain-sensing automatic top, which was first seen on the 1951 LaSabre concept car. However, it is believed that it was never installed on a car. Popular Mechanics reported only 7.4% of owners in their survey ordered seat belts. A '56 Bel Air 4-door hardtop, prepared by Chevrolet engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, set a new endurance/speed record for an automobile ascending Pikes Peak.

In 1957 engine displacement grew to 283 cuin with the "Super Turbo Fire V8" option (shared with the Corvette), producing 283 hp at 6200 rpm and 290 lbft at 4400 rpm of torque with the help of Rochester Ramjet continuous mechanical fuel injection (closed-loop). These so-called "fuelie" cars are quite rare, since most Bel Airs were fitted with carburetion.

The 1957 Bel Air is considered by many to be "an icon of its age. . .right alongside Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and Leave it to Beaver," and is among the most recognizable American cars of all time; well-maintained examples, especially sport coupes and convertibles are highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts. They are roomy, with tastefully restrained, period use tail fins and chrome. A second automatic transmission, Turboglide was optional. While the original two-speed Powerglide continued unchanged, Turboglide provided a continuously variable gear-ratio which made "shifting" imperceptible. The shift quadrant on Turboglide cars followed a "P R N D Gr" pattern.

From 1955 to 1957, production of the two-door Nomad station wagon was assigned to the Bel Air series, although its body and trim were unique to that model. Prior to becoming a regular production model, the Nomad first appeared as a Corvette-based concept vehicle in 1954. Chevrolet has since unveiled two concept cars bearing the Nomad name, most recently in 1999. The 1955–1957 Chevrolets are commonly referred to as Tri Fives.

The 1955–1957s were made in right-hand drive and shipped from Oshawa Car Assembly in Oshawa, Ontario, for local assembly in Australia (CKD), New Zealand (SKD) and South Africa. All three model years had a reversed version of the '55 LHD dashboard and did not get the LHD models' 1957 redesign.

A black 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air was featured in the 1973 movie American Graffiti. This '55 features a big hood scoop, and a signature cowboy hat in the rear window. In the movie, it races against a yellow 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe and crashes into a ditch. The Bel Air had a 454 cubic inch Chevrolet motor, with aluminum heads, tunnel ram intake and dual Holley carburetors.

Third generation (1958)
For 1958, Chevrolet models were redesigned longer, lower, and heavier than their 1957 predecessors, and the 348 cuin was now an option. The Bel Air gained a halo vehicle in 1958, the Impala, available only as a hardtop coupe and convertible in its introductory year. Impala styling followed the basic lines of the other Chevrolet models but received special styling cues including a different roof line, a vent above the rear window, unique side trim, and triple tail lights housed in slightly broader alcoves. Two significantly cheaper models, the Biscayne (formerly the 210) and the Delray (formerly the 150) were also available during this model year.

Chevrolet's design for the year fared better than its other GM offerings, and lacked the overabundance of chrome found on other sedans at the time. Complementing Chevrolet's front design was a broad grille and quad headlights; the tail received a fan-shaped alcove on both side panels, which housed dual tail lights. Despite being a recession year, consumers made Chevrolet the No. 1 make of automobile, and the Bel Air was at the core of Chevrolet's popularity. With its wide variety of body styles and models, Bel Airs could be optioned with almost every conceivable luxury within the Chevrolet line. The Nomad station wagon name also reappeared in 1958 when the vehicle bowed as the premium four-door Chevrolet station wagon, lacking the unique styling of the 1955-57 Nomads. Most Chevrolet station wagon models had two tail lights (one on each side of the body) housed in abbreviated alcoves, which were made smaller to accommodate the rear gate. A new dash was used.

Safety
The 1958 Bel Air featured Chevrolet's new "Safety-Girder" cruciform frame. Similar in layout to the frame adopted for the 1957 Cadillac, it featured box-section side rails and a boxed front cross member that bowed under the engine. These "x-frames" were used on other 1958 to 1964 Chevrolet cars, as well as Cadillac. The rear was tied together by a channel-section cross member. This design was later criticized as providing less protection in the event of a side impact collision, but would persevere until 1965.

For the first time, Powerglide models featured the "PRNDL" transmission selector arrangement, replacing the oft-criticized "PNDLR" quadrant that many considered confusing at best, dangerous at worst.

Fourth generation (1959–1960)
The Bel Air received a major redesign for the 1959 model year. The most visual new change was the flat, wing shaped tailfins. The car was built on a 119 in wheelbase and was 211 in long-which was 11 in longer than the 1957 model. This made Chevrolet the longest car in the low-priced range, whereas two years before it had been the shortest. In addition, the car was 3 in wider outside and had 5 in more width inside than it did in 1958, through the reduction of door thickness. The "X" frame from 1958 was continued, but enlarged and strengthened to support the new body.

The Bel Air, which had been the top line series since 1953, was now the middle range. Wagons were still classed by themselves, but had model numbers matching the car series. Parkwood 6-passenger and Kingswood 9-passenger wagons had Bel Air's model number, and as such were the middle range wagons. Under the hood, little change took place. A variety of speed options, such as fuel injection, special cams and lowered compression, gave horsepower ratings up to 315. Bel Air production was 447,100. The new Impala line surpassed Bel Air production by 20,000 units. A parking brake warning light was optional.

Little change was made for 1960. The new models were refinements of the 1959 style with a much more restrained front end, the return of the double cone tail lights of 1958 rather than the startling "cat's eyes" of 1959. Under the hood, things remained constant. Fuel injection was no longer available, but with the 348 cubic inch engine, a horsepower rating of 335 at 5800 rpm was now achieved. This involved the use of three double-barrel carburetors, a special cam and an 11.25:1 compression ratio, all sold as a package. Body style offerings followed 1959, with hardtops and sedans available. The convertible was reserved for the Impala series. The Bel Air Sport Sedan continued to use a rear window overhang and a huge wraparound rear window. Bel Airs (and Biscaynes) had two tail lights per side; the Impalas had three tail lights per side—a situation that would persist for most years through 1975. Many of the same options and accessories that were available on the Impala were also available on the Bel Air. The Bel Airs had more interior and exterior brightwork than the Biscayne.

Fifth generation (1961–1964)
For 1961, the Bel Air received a new body. Its wheelbase remained 119 in, but its length was now reduced slightly to 209.3 in. All engines options of the previous year remained in effect with the standard engines being the 235.5 CID Six of 135 hp or the 283 CID V8 of 170 hp. The V8 cost $110 more than the Six and weighed 5 lb less.

The Bel Air 2-door sedan used squared-off roof styling and large wrap-around rear window as opposed to the hardtop's swept-back design. The Bel Air 4-door Sport Hardtop still used a different roof line than did the 4-door sedan.

For 1962, all sheet metal except the door panels was changed. Overall length was stretched slightly to 209.6 in. The 4-door Sport Hardtop was no longer offered in the Bel Air series. Standard engines remained the same as the previous year. A new 327 cuin V8 of 250 or 300 hp was offered in addition to the giant (for the time) 409 cuin V8 of 380 hp or 409 hp with the dual four-barrel carburetor setup. The Turboglide was also discontinued, leaving the Powerglide as the only automatic transmission available. All wagons this year were 4-door models and separate distinctions for wagons were dropped. Now all models were either Biscayne, Bel Air or Impala series. Full carpeting returned as standard equipment on all 1962 Bel Air models for the first time in several years. The Bel Air Sport Coupe was in its last year of U.S. production, and its roofline was a carryover from the 1961 hardtop coupe.

The Bel Air was given a facelift in 1963. Its overall length increased to 210.4 in. Replacing the older 235 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine as standard equipment was a new 230 cubic-inch six-cylinder of more modern design with a 140-horsepower rating that was based on the 194 cubic-inch six introduced on the compact Chevy II Nova the previous year. The base V8 remained the 283 CID, which was upgraded to produce 195 hp. The 409 CID V8 was now offered in 340, 400 and 425 hp versions, while the small block 327 V8 continued with options of 250 and 300 horsepower. The Bel Air continued to be Chevrolet's middle range, but it now consisted of only two car models- the 2-door sedan and the 4-door sedan. 6 and 9-passenger Bel Air station wagons were again offered.

For 1964, very few changes were made except the expected sheet metal and trim renovations. Cars were 209.9 in in length while the wagons were 210.8 in long. In addition to the un-changed standard engines, there were two different 327 CID engines were offered, developing from 250 hp to 300 hp and three 409 CID engines ranging from 340 hp to 425 hp. Except for a chrome belt line and $100 difference in price there was little exterior difference between the Bel Air and Biscayne version.

RHD Bel Airs continued to be imported into Australia. Some of these cars featured a reversed 1961 Pontiac instrument panel, but others had a mirror image of the more attractive current North American panel. Even more curious was the fact that some of these Bel Airs featured Impala-style triple taillights; the center lens was amber in keeping with Australian legal standards.

Sixth generation (1965–1970)
For 1965, the full size Chevrolet was totally restyled, and the cars were stretched to 213.3 in overall, even though the wheelbase remained the same. The new stamped grille had a lower extension below the bumper which was slightly veed. Curved window glass and round taillights mounted high characterized the new styling. The interiors were also redesigned and a very attractive dash resulted. The standard V8 remained the 283 CID model of 195 hp, but options included two new 396 cuin CID engines of 325 hp and 340 hp and two 409 CID blocks of 400 hp and 425 hp.

The Bel Air used a stainless-steel belt and rocker molding, identifying signature on the rear fenders, a glove compartment light and power tailgate on 9-passenger wagons to distinguish itself from the lower-priced Biscayne series.

For 1966, Chevrolet was in its second season of a totally new body change, so mild facelifting sufficed including forward thrusting, blunted front fenders and a revised grille. At the rear, a break with the traditional round taillamps took place. Bel Air and Biscayne featured dual rectangular lamps with back-up lamps built in. Overall length was 213.2 in. The standard six-cylinder engine this year was the larger 250 CID version of 155 hp. New for the speed set was a 427 cuin V8 of 390 hp or 425 hp. Bel Air was readily distinguishable from Biscayne by its full length body side molding and rear fender Bel Air signatures. All-vinyl interiors were now standard on station wagons while cloth and vinyl trims continued on sedans.

For 1967, full-sized Chevrolets featured a new body with bulging rear fenders, one of this year's styling trends, not necessarily appreciated by everyone. Bel Air 2 and 4-door Sedans continued in addition to 6 and 9-passenger wagons. This year Bel Air featured triple taillights unlike Biscayne's dual units. Standard engines remained the same as the previous year. Optional engines were a 327 CID V8 of 275 hp, the 396 CID V8 of 350 hp; or the 427 CID V8 of 385 hp, plus various speed packages.

For 1968, the Full-sized Chevrolets received some changes but were quite similar to the 1967 models, though they had grown one inch to 214.7 in. Chevrolet's new grille design bore a strong resemblance to Cadillac's, but Bel Air's dual round taillight design was strictly Chevrolet. In an unusual move, the taillights were mounted in the bumper. In 1968 the U.S. additional safety features were required in all motor vehicles, bringing about a new standard in car safety. These features included shoulder belts for outboard front-seat occupants and side marker lights. Chevrolets with optional V8s got the engine size, in cubic inches, displayed as part of the front side maker lights.

In addition to the 250 CID Six of 155 hp, standard engines included the new 307 cuin V8 of 200 hp. The Bel Air with the standard 250 Six was capable of a top speed of 90 mph and 18.4 mpgus at cruising speeds. When powered by the new 307 CID V8, the Bel Air series cars had a top speed of 105 mph and 17.1 mpgus at cruising speeds. For the 1969 model year, the Bel Air was redesigned, with a new length, new fender and body lines, and a new front and back end, but continued using the basic 1965 chassis, innerbody structure and even the rooflines of pillared two- and four-door sedans. The cars also remained on the 119 in wheelbase, but grew to a new length of 219.9 in, while the wagons grew 4.3 in to a new length of 217.7 Engine offerings included a standard 250 cubic-inch six-cylinder and 235 hp 327 V-8, and optional V-8 engines included two 350s of 255 hp and 300 hp, a 396 rated at 265 hp and three 427 V8s of 335 hp, 390 hp, and 425 hp. This was the final year for the Bel Air 2-door sedan and the Bel Air-based station wagon was renamed Townsman, as part of a Chevrolet move to revert to the pre-1962 practice of using different nameplates on station wagons than other models. Three- and four-speed manual transmissions were again offered along with the two-speed Powerglide automatic with the six-cylinder, and 327 and 350 V-8s; and the three-speed Turbo Hydramatic, offered only with the big-block V-8s since its 1965 introduction, was now available with all engines.

For 1970, the Chevrolet line was very little changed and regulated primarily to a redesigned front end. The standard Six was still the 250 of 155 hp. The standard V8 in full-size Chevrolets was now the 350 cuin of 250 hp. Optional V-8 engines included a 300 hp 350 and 265 hp 400, with the top offering a 454 cuin of 345 hp. The Bel Air series was now a one model 4-door sedan while the station wagon was again sold under the Townsman nameplate.

The 1965-70 GM B platform is the fourth best selling automobile platform in history after the Volkswagen Beetle, Ford Model T and the Lada Riva.

Seventh generation (1971–1975)
By the late 1960s (with the introduction of the Caprice), the Bel Air and its Biscayne stablemate were primarily marketed to automotive fleet customers. However, the Bel Air remained available to retail customers who sought a basic full-sized car that was better trimmed than the low-line Biscayne. When the Biscayne was discontinued after 1972, the Bel Air was demoted to the low-level model. Bel Airs again used two-segmented taillights as opposed to the triple-segmented lights of higher-level Impala and Caprice models, except in 1972 when all models shared the same triple-segmented lights mounted in the bumper. A 250-cubic-inch six-cylinder engine and three-speed manual transmission with column shift remained standard equipment through the 1973 model year on sedans with the 350 V8 and automatic standard on wagons—the Turbo Hydramatic automatic had been the sole transmission choice on V-8-powered Bel Airs since the spring of 1971 though the old two-speed Powerglide was still offered with the six-cylinder engine through the 1972 model year. Only about 1,400 cars were built with the inline six in 1973. The engine and manual transmission were shelved by the end of the model year—marking the last full-size body-on-frame American car to offer a manual gearbox.

All Bel Air sedans built in 1974–1975 listed a 350 two-barrel V8 engine and Turbo-Hydramatic transmission as standard, with station wagons getting the 400 cuin four-barrel V8, again with Turbo-Hydramatic standard. The 400 V8 was optional on sedans and the 454 was available on both models.

With the discontinuation of the Bel Air two-door sedan after the 1969 model year, all U.S.-market Bel Airs sold between 1970 and 1975 were four-door sedans or station wagons—the latter carrying the Townsman nameplate from 1969 to 1972 and Bel Air from 1973 to 1975. However, a Bel Air hardtop coupe—based on the Impala Sport Coupe body—was sold in Canada from 1970 to 1975. This body even had a roofline similar to the original '66-67 Caprice coupe style for 1974–1975.

Most other changes to the Bel Air during its final years were identical to the more expensive Caprice and Impala lines, some of which were mandated by government safety regulations in the U.S. that included 5 mph front bumpers in 1973 and similar-designed rear bumpers in 1974. The 1975 models had a new roofline and (along with the Impala) grille that was a direct copy of the 1974 Caprice front end. Inside, there were new instrument cluster markings, radio and climate control graphics (the speedometer read up to 100 mph, and had smaller numbers for kilometers per hour). Customers could buy their 1975 Bel Air with two new options: an Econominder gauge package (which, in addition to a temperature gauge, included a gauge that monitored fuel economy, due in part to growing demands for fuel economy) and intermittent wipers.

In 1975, Consumer Reports tested a Bel Air four-door sedan with the 350 V8 engine and Turbo Hydramatic against other U.S.-built full-sized cars of that period including the Pontiac Catalina, Ford LTD and Plymouth Gran Fury. Although the car performed well in its tests and placed second to the Pontiac, Consumer Reports pointed out the Bel-Air had less noise insulation and a less-comfortable rear seat than its higher-priced siblings, and that a comparably equipped Chevrolet Impala (with additional sound insulation, and upgraded upholstery and seat padding, a $203 premium over the Bel-Air) "would be even closer to the Pontiac in overall quality." Even so, the magazine stated that—for instance—the Bel-Air was "only slightly noisier than the Pontiac". Consumer Reports concluded in its report that prospective buyers should pay the extra $200 or so to upgrade to the costlier Impala, noting advantages such as greater resale value and interior-exterior appointments more comparable to the other tested full-sized vehicles.

The last Bel Airs for the U.S. were manufactured for 1975. For 1976, a lower-trimmed Impala "S" four-door sedan was a one-year offering which had less standard equipment than regular Impalas and functioned as a replacement for the Bel Air.

Bel Air-based Pontiacs
From 1954 through 1969, GM Canada produced a unique Bel Air-based Pontiac marketed as the Laurentian. While body panels resembled contemporary U.S. Pontiacs, the Canadian Pontiac Laurentian had the chassis, power train, wheelbase, even the interior (except for the instrument panel), of the Chevrolet Bel Air. These models were exported in SKD kit form in factory right hand drive to right hand drive markets, such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and locally assembled under the Pontiac marque. All RHD export ceased after 1968 at the behest of GM in the United States.

Early generations (1970–1976)
While the last Bel Air 2-door sedan was available in the United States in 1969, Chevrolet introduced a Canadian market-only two door hardtop, the Bel Air Sport Coupe, from 1970 to 1975. Based on the Impala Sport Coupe, this new model featured Bel Air trim at a lower price than the Impala. Each year through 1975, this model's body followed the design of the contemporary Impala Sport Coupe. The 4-door sedan and station wagon continued in production, identical to the U.S. models. For 1976, the Canadian Bel Air Coupe featured the same body as the Impala Custom Coupe, with the large fixed rear quarter window and frameless front door glass.

Unlike the United States, all 1976 Canadian full size Chevys (including the Bel Air) came with steel belted radial tires and an electric rear window defroster as standard equipment.

Although the last Bel Air was produced in 1975 in the U.S., the Canadian big Chevy lineup continued to include the Bel Air for 1976 and beyond in two door, four door and station wagon body styles. The U.S. 1976 Impala line included an "S" model line, consisting of a 4-door sedan, to function as the Bel Air's replacement.

Eighth generation (1977–1981)
In Canada, Chevrolet retained the Bel Air as its lowest-priced full-size car through the 1981 model year. For 1977, Canadian Bel Airs received the same downsizing as their Impala/Caprice counterparts in the U.S. Body styles offered during this period were a four-door sedan, two-door coupe and station wagon. Reflecting the smaller size of these downsized big cars was a lineup of generally smaller engines for improved fuel economy with Chevy's 250 cubic-inch six-cylinder reinstated as standard power in sedans for the first time since 1973, with the 140 hp 305 V8 available as an option in sedans and standard on wagons. The 170 hp 350 V8, available in both models, was now the top option as the larger 400 small block and 454 big block V8s were no longer available. Standard equipment on Bel Airs during this period included small hubcaps, cloth-and-vinyl upholstery in sedans or all-vinyl in wagons, cigarette lighter, ashtray, automatic dome light for front doors, full carpeting, Astro Ventilation, Delco Freedom battery, variable-ratio power steering, power front disc brakes and Turbo Hydramatic automatic transmission. Unlike most previous model years and body styles where only two taillights were used per side, the Bel Air shared the Impala's rear end triple-taillight setup.

The 1980 Bel Air along with other full-size Chevrolets, was revised with all-new exterior sheet metal, which helped improve aerodynamics and thus fuel economy; the car was also fitted with a new grille, identical to that of the higher-priced Impala; the rear-end triple-taillight setup also continued to be shared with the Impala. Also that year, the engine lineup was revised with the inline six replaced by a new 3.8-liter or 229 cubic-inch V6 based on the small-block V8 as the base engine in sedans. The new base V8 (standard on wagons, optional on sedans) was a smaller 267 cubic-inch small-block with two-barrel carburetor, while the 305 small-block (optional on all models) got a 15 hp increase to 155 hp thanks to the change from a two-barrel to four-barrel carburetor. The 350 V8 was now restricted to police-option vehicles. Another new option for 1980-81 was the Oldsmobile-built 350 Diesel.

With a dramatic downturn in full-size car sales, the Bel Air was dropped after the 1981 model year, as were a number of other low-trim full size cars in the Canadian market including the Pontiac Laurentian, Mercury Marquis Meteor, and the Ford LTD Custom 500.

2002 concept
In 2002, a concept Bel Air convertible was shown at the North American International Auto Show. It features a few styling and design cues from the best remembered tri-five (1955–57) models, such as the chrome windshield frame, traffic light viewfinder, and a gas filler cap behind the tail light, similar to 1956–1957 Chevy's gas cap behind the chrome trim on the back of the tail fin, but more reminiscent of the 1948–1958 Cadillac gas cap tail light. It also features the same body on frame hydroforming technology (used in the frame rails of the Corvette and GM's midsize sport-utility vehicles) and a sheet metal body, on a 111 in wheelbase, and a 65 in track. Suspension is short long arm up front and Hotchkiss drive in the rear. It rides on five-spoke aluminum wheels with 18 in red line tires and anti lock discs all-round. The elegant, yet simple interior features a twin-element instrument panel, column-mounted gearshift and bench seats covered in soft high-tech fabrics colored red to match the exterior that are cleverly designed to slide forward for easier backseat entry. It also served as a showcase for their new turbocharged inline five-cylinder concept engine based on the L52 (Vortec 3500), straight-5 truck engine. According to a September 2002 GM press release, the all-aluminum 3.5 L (211 cu in) 20-valve DOHC engine, with a bore of 93.0 mm, and a stroke of 102.0 mm, that delivers up to 315 hp and 315 lbft of torque, mated to a Hydra-Matic 4L60-E electronically controlled four-speed automatic. A virtual "turbo boost" button on the steering wheel activates the powertrain control module to trigger a more aggressive spark and fueling calibration for maximum horsepower. It also led the 13th Annual Stater Brothers Route 66 Rendezvous as the official vehicle in September 2002. General Motors has shown no interest in producing the car. In 2006, it was spotted stripped down in a GM parking lot.

Australian Bel Airs
During the 1960s, Bel Air sedans were available in export markets such as Australia, where they featured right-hand drive. Due to Australian regulations requiring amber rear turn signal lamps, these Bel Air sedans featured Impala-style triple taillights during the 1960s. The center lamp was the amber turn signal lamp and the innermost lights were backup lamps. Most of these RHD Bel Airs used a 1961 Pontiac instrument panel.

title: Chevrolet Bel Air


text:
Standing desk

A standing desk or stand-up desk is a desk conceived for writing, reading or drawing while standing up or while sitting on a high stool.

History
Several writers and statesmen wrote standing up: Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Vladimir Nabokov. Some of them had specially made desks or lecterns.

Variations
Standing desks have been made in many styles and variations. Standing desks may be specialized to suit particular tasks, such as certain variations of the telephone desk and desks for architectural drafting. Some standing desks may only be used while standing while others allow users to sit or stand by adjusting the desk height with an electric motor, hand crank, or counterbalance system. Some desks are also constructed like teacher's lecterns, allowing them to be set on top of an existing desk for standing, or removed for sitting.

While height of most seated desks is standardized, standing desks are made in many different heights ranging from 70 to 128 cm. Ideally the height of a standing desk fits the height of its individual user. With seated desks, adjusting the height relative to the user can be accomplished by adjusting the height of the user's chair. However, because users of a standing desk move around more than when seated, using a pedestal to adjust the user's height is not practical.

To solve this issue, a standing desk may either be custom-made, to suit the height of the user, or made with adjustable parts. For writing or drafting, the angle or slant of the surface may be adjustable, with a typical drawing table or table à la tronchin. If the desk is made for computer use, the legs may be adjustable. Another option is a platform made to sit on top of a regular seated desk that raises the desk's surface to a useful height for standing. Such platforms may be fixed height or adjustable.

A height-adjustable desk or sit-stand desk can be adjusted to both sitting and standing positions; this is purported to be healthier than the sit-only desk. Sit-stand desks may be effective at reducing sitting time during the work day between 30 minutes and two hours per working day but the evidence is low quality.

Some antique standing desks have an open frame with drawers, and a foot rail (similar to those seen at a bar) to reduce back pain. A hinged desktop could be lifted in order to access a small cabinet underneath it so that the user could store or retrieve papers and writing implements without needing to bend over or stand back from the desk.

Effect on health
There is a significantly higher mortality rate among people who regularly sit for prolonged periods, and the risk is not negated by regular exercise, though it is lowered.

Low-quality evidence indicates that providing employees with a standing desk option may reduce the length of time some people sit in the first year. This reduction in sitting may decrease with time. It is not clear how standing desks compare to other work-place interventions to reduce the length of time employees are sitting during the work day.

Sit-stand workstations may reduce low back pain among people in the workplace. In a sedentary population, changing posture may reduce the chance of developing low back pain.

There is no international consensus on recommended levels of sitting and standing while at work, and suggested workplace practices vary in different countries.

title: Standing desk


text:
Andres Serrano

Andres Serrano (born August 15, 1950) is an American photographer and artist. His work, often considered transgressive art, includes photos of corpses and uses feces and bodily fluids. His Piss Christ (1987) is an amber-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass container of what was purported to be the artist's own urine. He also created the artwork for the heavy metal band Metallica's Load and Reload albums.

Early life
Serrano was born in New York City on August 15, 1950. He is from a half Honduran, half Afro-Cuban background, and was raised as a strict Roman Catholic. He studied from 1967 to 1969 at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, yet is considered to be a self-taught photographer. In December 1980, he married artist Julie Ault. In a 2012 interview, Serrano references Ault as his "first wife" and Irina Movmyga as his current wife. Serrano has said that he is a Christian.

Career
He worked as an assistant art director at an advertising firm, before creating his first work in 1983. Photographer Alex Harsley put Serrano's work in his first New York City show at his Fourth Street Photo Gallery.

His work has been exhibited in diverse locations around the world including the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, World without End (2001), and a retrospective at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, Body and soul (2001).

His exhibitions have often inspired angry reactions. On October 5, 2007, his group of photographs called The History of Sex were on display and several were vandalized at an art gallery in Lund, Sweden by people who were believed to be part of a neo-Nazi group. On April 16, 2011, after two weeks of protests and a campaign of hate mail and abusive phone calls to an art gallery displaying his work, orchestrated by groups of French Catholic fundamentalists, approximately a thousand people marched through the streets of Avignon, to protest outside the gallery. On April 17, 2011, two of his works, Piss Christ and The Church, were vandalized. The gallery director plans to reopen the museum with the damaged works on show "so people can see what barbarians can do".

Serrano usually makes large prints of about 20 by. He has shot an array of subject matter including portraits of Klansmen, morgue photos, and pictures of burn victims. He went into the New York City Subway with lights and photographic background paper to portray the bedraggled homeless, as well as producing some rather tender but sometimes decidedly kinky portraits of couples. One of these last shows what Adrian Searle of The Guardian described as "a young couple, she with a strap-on dildo, he with a mildly expectant expression." Many of Serrano's pictures involve bodily fluids in some way—depicting, for example, blood (sometimes menstrual blood), semen (for example, Blood and Semen II (1990)) or human breast milk. Within this series are a number of works in which objects are submerged in bodily fluids. Among these is Piss Christ (1987), a photograph of a plastic crucifix submerged in a glass of the artist's own urine, which caused great controversy when first exhibited. The work was sold for $277,000 in 1999, which was far beyond the estimated $20,000 – $30,000. Serrano, alongside other artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Barbara Degenevieve, and Merry Alpern, became a figure whom Senator Jesse Helms, and Senator Alphonse D'Amato, as well as other cultural conservatives, attacked for producing offensive art while others, including The New York Times, defended him in the name of artistic freedom. (See the American "culture wars" of the 1990s).

Serrano's series Objects of Desire, from the early 1990s, features close-ups of firearms, photographed at the Slidell, Louisiana home of artist Blake Nelson Boyd. Included is a shot, against a glowing orange background, down the barrel of a loaded .45 revolver (belonging to Boyd's grandfather) that was used by Jonas Mekas for the cover of the April–May–June 2007 Anthology Film Archives catalog.

Critical reception of Serrano's work has been mixed. In a 1989 New York Times review, critic Michael Brenson responded to Serrano's series of Cibachrome photographs of iconic objects submerged in bodily fluids: "You cannot consider the content of Mr. Serrano's work without considering his attitude toward photography. It is the photograph that breaks through convention, that makes the search possible and that enables the artist to sort out what he likes and does not like in religion and art. It is the photograph that becomes the vessel of transformation and revelation. The photograph then becomes an icon that, for Mr. Serrano, replaces the false icons in his work. The photograph is clean and purified, the reliquary or shrine in which he clearly believes that the word about the body can be stored and spread." Reviewing later work in 2001, Guardian art critic Adrian Searle was not impressed: he found that Serrano's photos were "far more about being lurid than anything else... In the end, the show is all surface, and looking for hidden depths does no good." Continuing his use of biological matter, more recent work of Serrano's uses feces as a medium.

Serrano's work Blood and Semen III is used as the cover of heavy metal band Metallica's album Load, while "Piss and Blood" is used on Reload. Serrano also directed a video for industrial metal group Godflesh, "Crush My Soul".

In 2008, Serrano's piece The Interpretation of Dreams (White Nigger) was selected to participate in The Renaissance Society's group exhibit, "Black Is, Black Ain't".

Serrano adopted the alter ego "Brutus Faust" to create the full-length album Vengeance Is Mine in July 2010. The album contains covers of classic songs from the 1960s, and original compositions including four songs written by Serrano's wife, Irina Movmyga, as well as one song co-written by Serrano, Thad DeBrock, and album producer Steve Messina of New York City–based band Blow Up Hollywood. Coinciding with the release of the album are the videos Goo Goo Gaga, Love Letters, and Bad Moon Rising. Goo Goo Gaga consists mostly of black-and-white footage from the 1940s, which makes parallels between the Depression and the present day, with the images of "Brutus" shot by Francesco Carrozzini. Love Letters is footage taken from cult director Joe Sarno's Flesh and Lace. Bad Moon Rising consists entirely of footage Serrano compiled from several short films by John Santerineross. All of these short films were edited by Vincent V.

In 2013, Serrano made a work of art called Sign of the Times by collecting 200 signs from homeless people in New York City, usually paying $20 for each sign. He described the work as "a testimony to the homeless men and women who roam the streets in search of food and shelter. It's also a chronicle of the times we live in." Over the course of several months, Serrano engaged with over 85 homeless individuals in Manhattan and photographed them for a series called Residents of New York, a site-specific public art exhibition on display from May 19 to June 15, 2014, at the West Fourth Street – Washington Square subway station, on LaGuardia Place (between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets), at Judson Memorial Church, and in phone booths and posters around the city. The installation was produced and developed by More Art, a nonprofit organization based in New York that is dedicated to the development of socially engaged public art projects. Serrano initially photographed homeless individuals in the city in 1990 for a series of studio-style portraits titled Nomads. In Residents of New York, he removed his signature studio elements, focusing instead on personal connectivity and interaction directly on the streets of New York City, where the homeless live.

title: Andres Serrano


text:
Mercury(II) chloride

Mercury(II) chloride (or mercury bichloride, mercury dichloride), historically also known as sulema or corrosive sublimate, is the inorganic chemical compound of mercury and chlorine with the formula HgCl2, used as a laboratory reagent. It is a white crystalline solid and a molecular compound that is very toxic to humans. Once used as a treatment for syphilis, it is no longer used for medicinal purposes because of mercury toxicity and the availability of superior treatments.

Synthesis
Mercuric chloride is obtained by the action of chlorine on mercury or on mercury(I) chloride. It can also be produced by the addition of hydrochloric acid to a hot, concentrated solution of mercury(I) compounds such as the nitrate:

 * Hg2(NO3)2 + 4 HCl → 2 HgCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 NO2

Heating a mixture of solid mercury(II) sulfate and sodium chloride also affords volatile HgCl2, which can be separated by sublimation.

Properties
Mercuric chloride exists not as a salt composed of discrete ions, but rather is composed of linear triatomic molecules, hence its tendency to sublime. In the crystal, each mercury atom is bonded to two chloride ligands with Hg–Cl distance of 2.38 Å; six more chlorides are more distant at 3.38 Å.

Its solubility increases from 6% at 20 C to 36% at 100 C.

Applications
The main application of mercuric chloride is as a catalyst for the conversion of acetylene to vinyl chloride, the precursor to polyvinyl chloride:
 * C2H2 +  HCl   →   CH2=CHCl

For this application, the mercuric chloride is supported on carbon in concentrations of about 5 weight percent. This technology has been eclipsed by the thermal cracking of 1,2-dichloroethane. Other significant applications of mercuric chloride include its use as a depolarizer in batteries and as a reagent in organic synthesis and analytical chemistry (see below). It is being used in plant tissue culture for surface sterilisation of explants such as leaf or stem nodes.

As a chemical reagent
Mercuric chloride is occasionally used to form an amalgam with metals, such as aluminium. Upon treatment with an aqueous solution of mercuric chloride, aluminium strips quickly become covered by a thin layer of the amalgam. Normally, aluminium is protected by a thin layer of oxide, thus making it inert. Amalgamated aluminium exhibits a variety of reactions not observed for aluminium itself. For example, amalgamated aluminum reacts with water generating Al(OH)3 and hydrogen gas. Halocarbons react with amalgamated aluminium in the Barbier reaction. These alkylaluminium compounds are nucleophilic and can be used in a similar fashion to the Grignard reagent. Amalgamated aluminium is also used as a reducing agent in organic synthesis. Zinc is also commonly amalgamated using mercuric chloride.

Mercuric chloride is used to remove dithiane groups attached to a carbonyl in an umpolung reaction. This reaction exploits the high affinity of Hg2+ for anionic sulfur ligands.

Mercuric chloride may be used as a stabilising agent for chemicals and analytical samples. Care must be taken to ensure that detected mercuric chloride does not eclipse the signals of other components in the sample, such as is possible in gas chromatography.

Discovery of the mineral acids
Around 900, the authors of the Arabic writings attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latin: Geber) and the Persian physician and alchemist Abu Bakr al-Razi (Latin: Rhazes) were experimenting with sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), which when it was distilled together with vitriol (hydrated sulfates of various metals) produced hydrogen chloride. It is possible that in one of his experiments, al-Razi stumbled upon a primitive method to produce hydrochloric acid. However, it appears that in most of these early experiments with chloride salts, the gaseous products were discarded, and hydrogen chloride may have been produced many times before it was discovered that it can be put to chemical use.

One of the first such uses of hydrogen chloride was in the synthesis of mercury(II) chloride (corrosive sublimate), whose production from the heating of mercury either with alum and ammonium chloride or with vitriol and sodium chloride was first described in the De aluminibus et salibus ("On Alums and Salts"). This eleventh- or twelfth-century Arabic alchemical text is anonymous in most manuscripts, though some manuscripts attribute it to Hermes Trismegistus, and a few falsely attribute it to Abu Bakr al-Razi. It was translated into Hebrew and two times into Latin, with one Latin translation by Gerard of Cremona (1144–1187).

In the process described in the De aluminibus et salibus, hydrochloric acid started to form, but it immediately reacted with the mercury to produce mercury(II) chloride. Thirteenth-century Latin alchemists, for whom the De aluminibus et salibus was one of the main reference works, were fascinated by the chlorinating properties of mercury(II) chloride, and they eventually discovered that when the metals are eliminated from the process of heating vitriols, alums, and salts, strong mineral acids can directly be distilled.

Historical use in photography
Mercury(II) chloride was used as a photographic intensifier to produce positive pictures in the collodion process of the 1800s. When applied to a negative, the mercury(II) chloride whitens and thickens the image, thereby increasing the opacity of the shadows and creating the illusion of a positive image.

Historical use in preservation
For the preservation of anthropological and biological specimens during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, objects were dipped in or were painted with a "mercuric solution". This was done to prevent the specimens' destruction by moths, mites and mold. Objects in drawers were protected by scattering crystalline mercuric chloride over them. It finds minor use in tanning, and wood was preserved by kyanizing (soaking in mercuric chloride). Mercuric chloride was one of the three chemicals used for railroad tie wood treatment between 1830 and 1856 in Europe and the United States. Limited railroad ties were treated in the United States until there were concerns over lumber shortages in the 1890s. The process was generally abandoned because mercuric chloride was water-soluble and not effective for the long term, as well as being highly poisonous. Furthermore, alternative treatment processes, such as copper sulfate, zinc chloride, and ultimately creosote; were found to be less toxic. Limited kyanizing was used for some railroad ties in the 1890s and early 1900s.

Historic use in medicine
Mercuric chloride was a common over-the-counter disinfectant in the early twentieth century, recommended for everything from fighting measles germs to protecting fur coats and exterminating red ants. A New York physician, Carlin Philips, wrote in 1913 that "it is one of our most popular and effective household antiseptics", but so corrosive and poisonous that it should only be available by prescription. A group of physicians in Chicago made the same demand later the same month. The product frequently caused accidental poisonings and was used as a suicide method.

It was used to disinfect wounds by Arab physicians in the Middle Ages. It continued to be used by Arab physicians into the twentieth century, until modern medicine deemed it unsafe for use.

Syphilis was frequently treated with mercuric chloride before the advent of antibiotics. It was inhaled, ingested, injected, and applied topically. Both mercuric-chloride treatment for syphilis and poisoning during the course of treatment were so common that the latter's symptoms were often confused with those of syphilis. This use of "salts of white mercury" is referred to in the English-language folk song "The Unfortunate Rake".

Yaws was treated with mercuric chloride (labeled as Corrosive Sublimate) before the advent of antibiotics. It was applied topically to alleviate ulcerative symptoms. Evidence of this is found in Jack London's book The Cruise of the Snark in the chapter entitled "The Amateur M.D."

Between 1901 and 1904 the US Marines Hospital Service quarantined and engaged in an extensive disinfection program of San Francisco's Chinatown, forcing the closure of over 14,000 rooms and eviction of thousands of Chinese whose dwellings were rendered toxic and uninhabitable from the disinfection program. Long-term mercury pollution is still a concern for construction workers in Chinatown to this day.

Historic use in crime and accidental poisonings

 * In 1613, whilst imprisoned in the Tower of London, Thomas Overbury was poisoned with an enema of mercury sublimate. The following trial saw the downfall of the murderers, Robert Carr and his wife, Frances.
 * In Volume V of Alexandre Dumas' Celebrated Crimes, he recounts the history of Antoine François Desrues, who killed noblewoman Madame de Lamotte with "corrosive sublimate."
 * In 1906 in New York, Richard Tilghman died after mistaking bichloride of mercury tablets for lithium citrate.
 * Actor Lon Chaney's estranged wife Cleva attempted suicide by swallowing mercuric chloride in 1913. Although the attempt failed, the toxic effects ruined her singing career.
 * In a highly publicized case in 1920, mercury bichloride was reported to have caused the death of 25-year-old American silent film star Olive Thomas. While vacationing in France, she accidentally (or perhaps intentionally) ingested the compound, which had been prescribed to her husband Jack Pickford in liquid topical form to treat his syphilis. Thomas died five days later.
 * Mercuric chloride was used by Madge Oberholtzer to commit suicide after she was kidnapped, raped and tortured by Ku Klux Klan leader D.C. Stephenson. She died from a combination of mercury poisoning and the staph infection that she suffered when Stephenson bit her during the assault.
 * Ana María Cires, a young wife of Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga, committed suicide by poison. After a violent fight with Quiroga, she ingested a fatal dose of "sublimado", or mercury chloride. She endured great agony for eight days before dying on December 14, 1915.
 * Ruth L. Truffant's death was called a suicide after she died from bichloride of mercury poisoning on 26 April 1914.

Toxicity
Mercury dichloride is a highly toxic compound, both acutely and as a cumulative poison. Its toxicity is due not just to its mercury content but also to its corrosive properties, which can cause serious internal damage, including ulcers to the stomach, mouth, and throat, and corrosive damage to the intestines. Mercuric chloride also tends to accumulate in the kidneys, causing severe corrosive damage which can lead to acute kidney failure. However, mercuric chloride, like all inorganic mercury salts, does not cross the blood–brain barrier as readily as organic mercury, although it is known to be a cumulative poison.

Common side effects of acute mercuric chloride poisoning include burning sensations in the mouth and throat, stomach pain, abdominal discomfort, lethargy, vomiting of blood, corrosive bronchitis, severe irritation to the gastrointestinal tract, and kidney failure. Chronic exposure can lead to symptoms more common with mercury poisoning, such as insomnia, delayed reflexes, excessive salivation, bleeding gums, fatigue, tremors, and dental problems.

Acute exposure to large amounts of mercuric chloride can cause death in as little as 24 hours, usually due to acute kidney failure or damage to the gastrointestinal tract. In other cases, victims of acute exposure have taken up to two weeks to die.

title: Mercury(II) chloride


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Violin Phase

Violin Phase is a musical work written by minimalist composer Steve Reich in October 1967.

Structure
Violin Phase is an example of Reich's phasing technique, previously used in It's Gonna Rain, Come Out, Reed Phase, and Piano Phase, in which the music itself is created not by the instruments but by interactions of temporal variations on an original melody. Music of this kind is generally referred to as process music. It is the third in a series of instrumental compositions (together with Reed Phase and Piano Phase) in which Reich explored the possibility of phasing in music for a live player with tape accompaniment or, in the case of Piano Phase, for just two players.

In Violin Phase, two violins are recorded and played back, together at first. They are then made to go slowly out of sync by adding silence to one of the tapes. A new melody is formed by the interaction of the two out of sync instruments and is then accented by a third violin. This process is repeated with variations throughout the rest of the piece.

The most conspicuous difference between a "live" process piece like Violin Phase and Reich's tape pieces is that the latter consist of "pure phasing", with a slow and regular rate of change, whereas the live pieces are "stepped", alternating sections of gradual dephasing with sections of temporary rhythmic stability.

Reich also arranged the piece for electric guitar and tape (or four electric guitars). In this form the work was recorded as Electric Guitar Phase by Pat Metheny (1987) and Dominic Frasca (2001).

Discography

 * Steve Reich: Live/Electric Music. Violin Phase (Paul Zukofsky, violin), and It's Gonna Rain. LP recording 1 sound disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm, stereo; 12 in. Columbia MS 7265. New York: Columbia Records, 1969.
 * Steve Reich. Music for a Large Ensemble; Violin Phase; Octet. Steve Reich and Musicians. The 1st and 3rd works recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, New York, Feb. 1980; the 2nd at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Mar. 1980. Shem Guibbory, violin (in the 2nd work). Violin Phase recorded Mar. 1980 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg. Music for a Large Ensemble and Octet recorded February 1980 at Columbia Recording Studios, New York. LP recording 1 sound disc: analog, 33⅓ rpm ; 12 in. ECM-1-1168. Burbank, Calif: ECM Records, 1980. Reissued on CD 1987, ECM Records 827 287-2; ECM 1168.
 * Steve Reich and Chris Hughes. "Shift from the Music of Steve Reich". (Part III is a segment from "Violin Phase"). Chris Hughes, keyboards and drums; Stuart Gordon, violin; Paul Ridout, kalimba, bells; Maire Brennan, harp. Recorded at The Woolhall, Somerset, England. Compact disc 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Point Music 314 518 843-2. London: Point Music, 1994. Reissued, Helium Records HeCD002; Helium Records B001562402; Helium Records DCAB001562402. New York: Helium Records, 2006.
 * City Life. (New York Counterpoint; Eight Lines; Octet; Violin Phase.) Roland Diry, clarinet (2nd work); Jagdish Mistry, violin (4th work); Ensemble Modern (1st and 3rd works); Peter Rundel (1st work), Bradley Lubman (3rd work), conductors. Recorded at the Sendesaal des Hessischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt, Germany, January 14–15, 1998 (1st work), April 2002 (2nd work), June 28–29, 1997 (3rd work), and May 2002 (4th work). Compact disc 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. RCA Red Seal 74321 66459 2. [N.p.]: BMG Classics, 2002.
 * Steve Reich and Musicians, Live 1977. From the Kitchen Archives no. 2. (Drumming, part four; Six Pianos; Violin Phase; Music for Pieces of Wood; Pendulum Music) Steve Reich and Musicians, recorded live at the Kitchen, New York, May 16–19, 1977. Compact disc, 1 sound disc: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Orange Mountain Music omm0018. New York: Orange Mountain Music, 2005.
 * Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters. (With works by Aphex Twin, John Cage, György Ligeti, Conlon Nancarrow, Squarepusher, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Edgard Varèse.) Clio Gould, violin; other artists. Compact disc, 2 sound discs: digital, stereo, 4¾ in. Warp WARPCD144. [N.p.]: Warp, 2006.

Violin Phase in Arts
In dance, the piece has been used in 1982 by the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker as the central part of one of her seminal works, Fase, which became a cornerstone of contemporary dance.

title: Violin Phase