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Rameswaram

Rameswaram (also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 km from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. It is in the Gulf of Mannar, at the tip of the Indian peninsula. Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Varanasi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus and is part of the Char Dham pilgrimage.

According to the Ramayana, Rama is described to have built a bridge from the vicinity of this town across the sea to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from her abductor Ravana. The temple, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, is at the centre of the town and is closely associated with Rama and Shiva. The temple and the town are considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivas and Vaishnavas.

Rameswaram is the second closest point from which to reach Sri Lanka from India and geological evidence suggests that the Rama Sethu was a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka.

The town has been in the news in past due to controversies such as the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, Kachchatheevu, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and capturing local fishermen for alleged cross-border activities by Sri Lankan Forces.

Rameswaram is administered by a municipality established in 1994. The town covers an area of 53 km2 and had a population of 44,856 as of 2011. Tourism and fishery employ the majority of workforce in Rameswaram.

Legend
Rameswaram means "Lord is Rama" (Rāma-īśvaram) in Sanskrit, an epithet of Shiva, the presiding deity of the Ramanathaswamy Temple. According to Hindu epic Ramayana, Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu, prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins that he might have committed during his war against the demon-king Ravana in Sri Lanka. According to the Puranas (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages, Rama, along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the lingam (an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya incurred while killing of the Brahmin Ravana. To worship Shiva, Rama wanted to have a lingam and directed his trusted lieutenant Hanuman to bring it from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita built a lingam made of sand from the nearby seashore, which is also believed to be the one in the sanctum of the temple. Sethu Karai is a place 22 km before the island of Rameswaram from where Rama is believed to have built a floating stone bridge, the Ramsetu bridge, that further continued to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. According to another version, as quoted in Adhyatma Ramayana, Rama installed the lingam before the construction of the bridge to Lanka. But the Dvaita philosopher and vaishnava saint Madhvacharya expressed his views in his book Mahabharata tatparya nirnaya that it's actually not Rama but Shiva who had incurred brahmahatya sin as he had once chopped off Lord Brahma's head so Shiva had prayed to vishnu to relieve him of the sin and Vishnu promised to do so in his Rama avatar the moment Rama installed the shiva linga here Shiva immediately got relieved of brahmahatya sin due to the grace of Rama's touch.

History
The history of Rameswaram is centred around the island being a transit point to reach Sri Lanka (Ceylon historically) and the presence of Ramanathaswamy Temple. Tevaram, the 7th–8th century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the three prominent Nayanars (Saivites) namely Appar, Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar. The Chola king Rajendra Chola I (1012–1040 CE) had a control of the town for a short period. The Jaffna kingdom (1215–1624 CE) had close connections with the island and claimed the title Setukavalan meaning custodians of the Rameswaram. Hinduism was their state religion and they made generous contribution to the temple. Setu was used in their coins as well as in inscriptions as marker of the dynasty.

According to Firishta, Malik Kafur, the head general of Alauddin Khalji, the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, reached Rameswaram during his political campaign in spite of stiff resistance from the Pandyan princes in the early 14th century. He erected a mosque by name Alia al-Din Khaldji in honour of victory of Islam. The records left by the court historians of the Delhi Sultanate state that Malik Kafur raided Madurai, Chidambaram, Srirangam, Vriddhachalam, Rameswaram and other sacred temple towns, destroyed the temples which were sources of gold and jewels. He brought back enormous loot from Dwarasamudra and the Pandya kingdom to Delhi in 1311.

During the early 15th century, the present-day Ramanathapuram, Kamuthi and Rameswaram were included in the Pandya dynasty. In 1520 CE, the town came under the rule of Vijayanagara Empire. The Sethupathis, the breakaway from Madurai Nayaks, ruled Ramanathapuram and contributed to the Ramanathaswamy temple. The most notable of them are the contributions of Muthu Kumara Ragunatha and Muthu Ramalinga Sethupathi, who transformed the temple to an architectural ensemble. The region then fell under the rule of different leaders Chanda Sahib (1740–1754 CE), Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan (1725–1764 CE) in the middle of the 18th century. In 1795 CE, Rameswaram came under the direct control of the British East India Company and was annexed to the Madras Presidency. After 1947, the town became a part of independent India.

Geography
Rameswaram has an average elevation of 10 m. The island is spread across an area of 61.8 km2 and is in the shape of a conch. 74% of the area has sandy soil due to the presence of sea and it has many islands surrounding it, the Palk Strait in the north west and Gulf of Mannar in the south East. The Ramanathaswamy Temple occupies major area of Rameswaram. The beach of Rameswaram is featured with no waves at all – the sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm and the view looks like a very big river.

Rameswaram has dry tropical climate with low humidity, with average monthly rainfall of 75.73 mm, mostly from North-East monsoon from October to January. The highest ever temperature recorded at Pamban station was 37 C and the lowest was 17 C.

Ramsetu Bridge is a chain of limestone shoals, between Rameswaram and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The bridge is 18 mi long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (North-East) from the Palk Strait (South-West). It was reportedly passable on foot up to the 15th century until storms deepened the channel. The temple records record that Rama's Bridge was completely above sea level until it broke in a cyclone in 1480 CE. The bridge was first mentioned in the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana of Valmiki. The name Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu (Sanskrit; setu: bridge) refers to the bridge built by the Vanara (ape men) army of Rama in Hindu mythology, which he used to reach Lanka and rescue his wife Sita from the demon king Ravana. The Ramayana attributes the building of this bridge to Rama in verse 2-22-76, naming it as Setubandhanam. The sea separating India and Sri Lanka is called Sethusamudram meaning "Sea of the Bridge". Maps prepared by a Dutch cartographer in 1747 CE, available at the Tanjore Saraswathi Mahal Library show this area as Ramancoil, a colloquial form of the Tamil Raman Kovil (or Rama's Temple). Many other maps in Schwartzberg's historical atlas and other sources such as travel texts by Marco Polo call this area by various names such as Adam's Bridge, Sethubandha and Sethubandha Rameswaram.

Demographics
According to 2011 census, Rameswaram had a population of 44,856 with a sex-ratio of 969 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 5,022 were under the age of six, constituting 2,544 males and 2,478 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 6.8% and .03% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 73.36%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 10579 households. There were a total of 16,645 workers, comprising 69 cultivators, 20 main agricultural labourers, 148 in house hold industries, 15,130 other workers, 1,278 marginal workers, 11 marginal cultivators, 26 marginal agricultural labourers, 44 marginal workers in household industries and 1,197 other marginal workers. The total number of households below poverty lane (BPL) in 2003 were 976, which is 10.45% of the total households in the town and these were raised to 3003 (29.12%) in 2007.

As per the religious census of 2011, Rameswaram had 87.4% Hindus, 4.36% Muslims, 8.13% Christians, 0.03% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, and 0.07% following other religions.

Municipal Administration and politics

According to the Madras Presidency Panchayat Act of 1885, Rameswaram was declared a panchyat union during British times. It became a township during 1958 and was declared a municipality in 2004. Rameswaram is a 3rd grade municipality having 21 wards, out of which 6 are general wards for women and one is reserved for Scheduled Caste women. The major sources of budgeted income for Rameswaram municipality comes from the Devolution Fund of inr 17000000 and property tax of inr 2400000. The major expense heads are for salaries of inr 6000000, operating expenses of inr 3700000, and repair & maintenance expenditure of inr 2300000. The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: General, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, Town planning and the Computer Wing. All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the supreme executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 21 members, one each from the 21 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected Chairperson assisted by a Deputy Chairperson.

Rameswaram comes under the Ramanathapuram assembly constituency and it elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. Katharbatcha Muthuramalingam from the DMK is serving as the MLA since 2021.

Rameswaram is a part of the Ramanathapuram (Lok Sabha constituency) – it has been realigned in 2008 to have the following assembly constituencies – Paramakudi (SC), Ramanathapuram, Mudukulathur, Aranthangi, Tiruchuli (newly created). The constituency was traditionally a stronghold of the Indian National Congress that won 6 times till the 1991 elections, after which it was won twice each by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The current Member of Parliament from the constituency is A. Anwhar Raajhaa from the AIADMK party.

Economy
Being a pilgrimage town, the majority of the population is involved in tourism related industry consisting of trade and services. Service sector increased from 70% in 1971 to 98.78% in 2001, while the agricultural sector reduced from 23% in 1971 to 0.13% in 2001. Rameswaram is an industrially backward town – there has been no demarcation for industrial land due to the pilgrim sanctity and ecological fragile geography. Being an island town, the traditional occupation was fishing, but due to poor returns, the people in fishing community have gradually shifted to other professions. Banks such as State Bank of India, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India and RDCC Bank have their branches in Rameswaram.

Rameshwaram has well road connectivity from Madurai by National Highway NH87 passes through Manamadurai-Paramakudi-Ramanathapuram and National Highway NH536 from Trichy passes through Pudukkottai-Karaikudi-Ramanathapuram. Indian government and state government are keep developing the road connectivity in this region as the number of tourists gets increased every year.

Transport and communication
Pamban Bridge is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait that connects Rameswaram to mainland India. The railway bridge is 6776 ft and was opened to traffic in 1914. The railroad bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let ships pass under it. The railway bridge historically carried metre-gauge trains on it, but Indian Railways upgraded the bridge to carry broad-gauge trains in a project that finished on 12 August 2007. Historically, the two leaves of the bridge were opened manually using levers by workers. About 10 ships – cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers pass through the bridge every month. After completion of bridge, metre-gauge lines were laid from Mandapam up to Pamban Station, from where the railway lines bifurcated into two directions, one towards Rameswaram about 6.25 mi up and another branch line of 15 mi terminating at Dhanushkodi. The noted Boat Mail ran on this track between 1915 and 1964 from Chennai Egmore up to Dhanushkodi, from where the passengers were ferried to Talaimannar in Ceylon. The metre-gauge branch line from Pamban Junction to Dhanushkodi was abandoned after it was destroyed in a cyclone in 1964. There are daily express trains connecting major cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai, Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Karaikudi. There are express and passenger trains connecting to major destinations. The Ramanathapuram – Rameswaram National Highway is the main connecting link from Rameswaram to the mainland. Before the 1914 train service linked the mainland with Rameswaram, boats were the only mode of transport to Rameswaram island.

The Rameswaram municipality covers a total road length of 52 km and 20 km of national highway covering about 80 percent of the town. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation runs daily services connecting various cities to Rameswaram and operates a computerised reservation centre in the municipal bus stand of Rameswaram.

Rameswaram is the important port among all the ports in the district, having a ferry service to Talaimannar of Sri Lanka, though not operational throughout the year. Limited foreign trade is conducted with Jaffna, Kaits, Talaimannar and Colombo.

The Rameswaram TV Tower is the tallest tower in India. The tower is a 323 m tall circular concrete tower with a square steel mast of 45 m height, diameter of 24 m at the bottom tapering to 6.5 m at top. The tower has been designed for a wind velocity of 160 km/h. There are two lighthouses in Rameswaram – the Pamban lighthouse and the Rameswaram lighthouse.

Education and utility services
Ramanathapuram district has one of the lowest literacy rates in the state of Tamil Nadu and Rameswaram, following the district statistics has a lower literacy rate. There are two Government high schools, one each for boys and girls. There are seven other schools: Swami Vivekananda vidyalaya Matriculation School, St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, Mandapam Panchayat Union 9 – School, Micro Matriculation School, Sri Sankara Vidhyalaya, Holy Island Little Flower School and Kendriya Vidhyalaya School. Alagappa University Evening College is the only college present in the town and all the nearest colleges are located in Ramanathapuram and Paramakudi.

Electricity supply to the town is regulated and distributed by the Ramanathapuram circle of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). Water supply is provided by the Rameswaram Municipality – the head works is located at Nambunayaki Amman Kovil, Meyyambuli, Semmamadam & Natarajapuram and distributed through four over head tanks having a total capacity of 1430,000 litres. About 6 metric tonnes of solid waste are collected from the town every day in the four zones covering the whole of the town. Rameswaram does not have a sewerage system for disposal of sullage and the disposal system consists of septic tanks and public conveniences. Roadside drains carry untreated sewage out of the town to let out raw into the sea or accumulates in low-lying area.

Rameswaram comes under the Karaikudi Telecom circle of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India's state-owned telecom and internet services provider. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service along with other major internet service provider including Reliance.

Tourism
The town is a famous Hindu pilgrimage centre, attracting the visit of thousands of devotees everyday. Adherents assemble to receive a darshana (auspicious sight) of the temple's image of the deity Shiva, which is regarded to have been installed by Rama according to the regional legend.

Ramanathaswamy Temple
The Ramanathaswamy Temple is the most notable historic landmark of the town. Located in the centre of town, It is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva. The temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines, where Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlinga, meaning "pillar of light". It is also one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalam temples and is glorified in hymns by the three of the most revered Nayanar saints (7th century Saivite saints), Appar, Sundarar, and Tirugnana Sambandar. The temple in its current structure was built during the 12th century by Pandya Dynasty. The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. The breadth of these columned corridors varies from 17 to 21 ft with a height of 25 ft. Each pillar is sculpted in Nayak style as in Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. The contribution of the kings of the Sethupathy dynasty (17th century) to the temple was considerable. Large amount of money was spent during the tenure of Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai towards the restoration of the pagodas which were falling into ruins – the Chockattan Mantapam or the cloistered precincts of the temple was reconstructed by him. The rulers of Sri Lanka contributed to the temple – Parakrama Bahu (1153–1186 CE) was involved in the construction of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The eastern tower and shrine of Nataraja were built by Dalavai Sethupathy in 1649 CE. The second enclosure is ascribed to Chinna Udayar Sethupathy and his son Ragunatha Thirumalai (1500–1540 CE). The third enclosure was constructed by Muthu Ramalinga Sethupathy (1725–1771 CE) – his statue is located in the entrance of the corridor.

Temple tanks
There are sixty-four Tīrthas or Tirthams (holy water bodies) in and around Rameswaram. According to the Skanda Purana, twenty-four of them are important. Of the 24, 14 are in the form of tanks and wells within the precincts of the temple. Bathing in these tanks is a major aspect of the pilgrimage to Rameswaram and is considered equivalent to penance. Twenty-two of the tanks are within the Ramanathaswamy Temple. The foremost one is called Agni Tirtham, the sea (Bay of Bengal). Jatayu, a vulture/eagle demigod, is believed to have fought in vain with the rakshasa-king Ravana to save Sita, and is said to have fallen down at Jatayu Tirtham, as his wings were severed. Villoondi Tirtham literally translates to 'buried bow', is located around 7 km from the main temple on the way to Pamban. It is believed to be the place where Rama quenched the thirst of Sita by dipping the bow into the sea water. Other major holy bodies are Hanuman Tirtham, Sugriva Tirtham, and Lakshmana Tirtham.

Gandhamathana Parvatham
Gandhamathan Parvatham, a hillock situated 3 km to the north of the temple is the highest point in the island. In a two-storeyed hall, Rama's feet are venerated by adherents as an imprint on a chakra (wheel). The Ramarpatham Temple is located on the hillock.

Dhanushkodi
Dhanushkodi is the southernmost tip of the island and houses the Kothandaramaswamy Temple dedicated to Rama. Though Dhanushkodi was washed away during the 1964 cyclone, the temple alone remained intact. It is 18 km way from the centre of the town and can be reached by road. According to local tradition, Dhanushkodi is the site where Vibhishana, a brother of Ravana, surrendered to Rama in the epic Ramayana.

Hindu pilgrimage
Rameswaram is significant for many Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered to be incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The town along with the Ramanathaswamy temple is one of the holiest Hindu Char Dham (four divine sites) sites comprising Badrinath, Puri, and Dwarka. Though the origins are not clearly known, the Advaita school of Hinduism established by Sankaracharya, attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The four monasteries are located across the four corners of India and their attendant temples are Badrinath Temple at Badrinath in the North, Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the West and Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram in the South. Though ideologically the temples are divided between the sects of Hinduism, namely Shaivism and Vaishnavism, the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair. The journey across the four cardinal points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit these temples once in their lifetime. Traditionally, the trip starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction in a manner typically followed for circuambulation in Hindu temples. The temple is one of the famous pilgrimage sites historically – the Maratha kings who ruled Thanjavur established chatrams or rest houses all through Mayiladuthurai and Rameswaram between 1745 and 1837 CE and donated them to the temple.

Interaction with Sri Lanka
Rameswaram is frequently in the headlines over fishermen issues like attack, arrest and alleged harassment by Sri Lankan navy for alleged cross border activities, Sethusamudram canal project, Kachchatheevu, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and also on intercountry smuggling between India and Sri Lanka. As an initial step to curb enhanced smuggling, the Tamil Nadu government has set up 30 more marine police stations to bring the state's entire coastal belt under close vigil.

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees
During the intense civil war of Sri Lanka, post 1980, Rameswaram acted as one of the focal points of smuggling and intense patrolling was carried out during the period. There are a total of 65,940 registered destitute Sri Lankan refugees dwelling in 129 refugee camps situated in different parts of Tamil Nadu,, and a majority of them enter via Rameswaram. There are an additional 20,667 non-camp refugees who entered via Rameswaram, registered in Mandapam transit camp and opted to reside outside the camps in various parts of Tamil Nadu. On 11 March 1990, a record number of 2,337 refugees in 38 boats arrived from Talaimannar in Sri Lanka to Rameswaram – this was the largest number of refugees arriving in a single day since the ethnic violence from July 1983. , an estimated 200,000 refugees have been reported in Mandapam Camp. Sivarasan, one of the mastermind behind the Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the ex-prime minister of India registered as refugee in Rameswaram camp on 12 September 1990.

Rameswaram fishery
Being an island, a significant population is involved in fishery traditionally. There have been incremental cases of Rameswaram fishermen allegedly killed or arrested by Sri Lankan navy along the maritime borders of India and Sri Lanka from the time of Sri Lankan civil war during 1983. In the face of simmering tension after the 1985 January Colombo bound Yaldevi train attack in which 22 Sri Lankan soldiers and 16 civilians were killed, Rameswaram fishermen dared to venture to seas spelling acute hardship for the 10,000 fishermen family. An estimated 381 fishermen have been killed in the sea due to shoot outs from 1983 to 2009. The Sri Lankan army attributed the killings to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but the casualty continues even after the end of LTTE in the region. The Tamil Nadu state government has increased the compensation of casualty from the original ₹ 100,000 to 500,000 (US$1,800 to $9,000). There has not been a single prosecution in any of the 381 killings committed so far from the Indian judiciary. The cases not being filed is attributed to the fact that people killed beyond the maritime boundary of India are not eligible for compensation and not many file complaints against the Sri Lankan navy. Though the Indian judiciary has provisions to prosecute foreigners, there is little progress due to the diplomatic overheads involved. Indian government has also ventured into the use of technology like use of Global Positioning System (GPS) by the fishermen and enabling cellphone blips to alert their mobile phones whenever they are crossing into Sri Lankan waters. The Sri Lankan navy has confirmed reports on Indian fishermen risking the international boundary due to depleted catch in Indian waters.

There is a yearly 45-day ban on fishery with motorboats in the region. The fishing ban for the year 2012 was effective during the months of April–May. The jetty at Rameswaram is the largest landing centre for fishing boats in the region and it usually comes alive after the ban, with the arrival of fishermen, boat captains, shore workers and others from their native places.

Sea World Aquarium is a natural habitat lying opposite to the Rameswaram Bus Stand, having an assortment of underwater creatures – it is the only one of its kind in the state, filled with such varied marine life forms including exotic species.

Kachchatheevu
Another focal point on the simmering tension between Indian and Sri Lankan governments is over the use of Kachchatheevu, an uninhabited island 15 km north of Rameswaram, belonging to Sri Lanka. The accord of 1974 allows fishermen of both the countries for resting and soaking the nets in the island. Repeated allegations on attacks by the Lankan navy, which on many occasions killed Indian fishermen, prevented them from making it to the island. The annual two-day Saint Anthony fest at the island draws huge number of people from the fishermen community of both the countries. The number of pilgrims for the 2012 function crossed 4,000, the largest attendance in the past two decades. The feast also provides an opportunity for the Indian fishermen to meet their Sri Lankan counterparts and exchange views on their mutual problems. The event served as a meeting point to find brides and grooms from both countries, but this practice has now been stopped from the 90s due to political constraint of fishermen family living in different countries.

Sethusamudram Canal Project
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping canal through the shallow sea sometimes called Setu Samudram, and through the chain of islands variously known as Ram Setu or the Rama's Bridge. A few organisations are opposing the dredging of Rama Setu on religious, environmental and economical grounds. Many of these parties and organisations support implementation of this project using one of the five alternative alignments considered earlier without damaging the structure considered sacred by Hindus. With 22 km of dredging remaining, the project is held from March 2010 by a Supreme Court order seeking the Central Government to clarify the status of the bridge as a national monument.

Notable people

 * A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) – former President of India (2002–2007), Ex-secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Prime minister's chief scientific advisor, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist and Bharat Ratna recipient.

title: Rameswaram


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Alavieska

Alavieska is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. The word Ala means "lower", while the word Vieska is supposed to mean a "shallow ford".

The scythe theme of Alavieska's coat of arms refers to the extensive meadows in the municipality's territory. The coat of arms was designed by Kaj Kajander, and the Alavieska municipal council approved it at its meeting on September 20, 1960. The Ministry of the Interior approved the coat of arms for use on November 25 of the same year.

Geography
Neighbouring municipalities are Kalajoki, Merijärvi, Oulainen and Ylivieska.

Villages
In 1967, Alavieska had six legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):

 * Alavieska
 * Eteläranta
 * Kähtävä
 * Somero
 * Taluskylä
 * Käännänkylä

Demographics
In 2020, 19.3% of the population of Alavieska was under the age of 15, 55.8% were aged 15 to 64, and 24.9% were over the age of 64. The average age was 43.8, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 40.8. Speakers of Finnish made up 99.0% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.2%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 0.8%. Foreign nationals made up 0.6% of the total population.

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alavieska from 1975-2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Urban areas
In 2019, out of the total population of 2,519, 1,281 people lived in the sole urban area, the Alavieska parish village, while lived 1,220 in sparsely populated areas and the coordinates of 18 people were unknown. This made Alavieska's degree of urbanization 51.2%.

Economy
In 2018, 23.1% of the workforce of Alavieska worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 22.4% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 52.9% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 8.8%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 29.5%.

Notable people

 * Pentti Kahma, discus thrower
 * Teemu Kattilakoski, skier
 * Rauli Pudas, pole vaulter

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

title: Alavieska


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Talk:Hertz doctrine

Hearst Doctrine??? You've got me smiling! I assume you must have meant the Hertz Doctrine if you were trying to invoke the car-rental competitor to Avis... A google search shows the more common of the two coinings totals all of 6 references -- policy wonks have been slow to adopt the phrase for some strange reason....  one possibility I'll throw out there is the risk that the lawyers at Hertz Corporation might take a dim view of associating their trademark with the Bush Administration strategy for world-domination...  there is no question the Hertz corporate marketing folks will be horrified, if only because the tagline for Hertz is not "We're Number One" but the decidely less unilateral "Suddenly, you're free again"...  :) technopilgrim 10:15, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hertz doctrine


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Jonathan Brandis

Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American actor. Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and subsequently won television and film roles. Brandis made his acting debut in 1982 as Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. In 1990, he portrayed Bill Denbrough in the television miniseries It, and starred as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. In 1993, at the age of 17, he was cast in the role of teen prodigy Lucas Wolenczak on the NBC series seaQuest DSV. The character was popular among teenage viewers, and Brandis regularly appeared in teen magazines. He died by suicide in 2003.

Early life
Jonathan Brandis was born in Danbury, Connecticut, the only child of Mary, a teacher and personal manager, and Gregory Brandis, a food distributor and firefighter. At the age of two, he began his career as a child model for Buster Brown shoes. At the age of four, Brandis began acting in television commercials. He attended San Fernando Valley Professional School, graduating in 1993.

Career
At age six, Brandis won the role of Kevin Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. He moved to Los Angeles with his family at age nine and made guest appearances on shows such as Blossom; L.A. Law; Who's the Boss?; Murder, She Wrote; The Wonder Years; Full House; Webster and Kate & Allie.

At age 13, Brandis was cast in his first starring role as Bastian Bux in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. He played the young "Stuttering Bill" Denbrough in the 1990 television miniseries Stephen King's It, based on the epic horror novel of the same name. Brandis' performance in the miniseries was lauded by critics and audiences. Brandis was cast as the lead in two films made close together, first as Barry Gabrewski in Sidekicks and then starring as Matthew/Martha in Ladybugs.

Around age 17, Brandis landed one of his best-known roles, as scientific prodigy Lucas Wolenczak in Steven Spielberg's futuristic science fiction series seaQuest DSV. The role propelled him into teen idol status. At the height of his popularity, Brandis received approximately 4,000 fan letters a week and had to be escorted onto the set of seaQuest DSV by three studio security guards because of the many female fans present. He voiced Mozenrath, an evil young sorcerer, in Disney's animated series Aladdin.

After seaQuest DSV was canceled in 1996, Brandis appeared in the television film Her Last Chance. His next role was in the television film Born Free: A New Adventure, which was shot in South Africa. He continued his career in supporting roles in Outside Providence (1999) and Ride with the Devil (1999). In 2000, he costarred in Bad Girls from Valley High, which, because of distribution problems, was not released until 2005, two years after his death. Brandis had a small role in Hart's War (2002). In 2003, he was cast in 111 Gramercy Park, a pilot that was not picked up by the network. He made his final onscreen appearance in action drama Puerto Vallarta Squeeze in 2004. That film was also released posthumously.

Personal life
From 1995 to 1998, Brandis dated actress and singer Tatyana Ali. The then-couple appeared in an article in People magazine in July 1996.

Death
On November 11, 2003, Brandis was found hanged in the hallway of his Los Angeles apartment. He was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and died the following day of injuries sustained from the hanging. He was 27 years old.

Brandis did not leave a suicide note. After his death, friends reported that he had been depressed about his extended career lull and was reportedly disappointed when his appearance in the 2002 war drama Hart's War—a role he hoped would revive his career—was significantly reduced in the film's final cut. Brandis began drinking heavily and said that he intended to kill himself.

In 2021, his father, Greg Brandis, noted that Jonathan was probably suffering from bipolar disorder. He told People, "His death wasn't due to the entertainment industry. I look back now, and in his 20s, he showed signs of manic depression. I hope that anyone suffering can go get help."

title: Jonathan Brandis


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Izborsk

Izborsk (Избо́рск; Irboska; Irbosk, Irbuska) is a rural locality (village) in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It contains one of the most ancient and impressive fortresses of Western Russia. The village lies 30 km to the west of Pskov and just to the east of the Russian-Estonian border.

History
According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, the town was the seat of Rurik's brother Truvor from 862 to 864. Although his burial mound is still shown to occasional tourists, archaeological excavations of long barrows abounding in the vicinity did not reveal the presence of the Varangian settlement at the site, which indicates that Izborsk was an important centre of the early Krivichs.

The next mention of the town in Slavonic chronicles dates back to 1233, when the place was captured by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. In 1330, the Pskov posadnik Sheloga constructed the Izborsk fortress on the top of Zheravya hill.

In 1348, the Pskov Republic, which included Izborsk, separated from Novgorod Republic. In 1399, it became a viceroyalty of Muscovy.

In the later 16th century, Izborsk was one of the smaller but strategically-important fortresses that protected the northwestern Russian borders from invasion. The fortress was supposed to be impregnable and so the seizure of it in 1569 by a small Lithuanian regiment came as such a shock to Ivan the Terrible. The relative ease and the suspicious circumstances of the seizure of the fortress deeply troubled the already-paranoid Ivan. In the dead of night, Teterin, a Russian turncoat disguised as an oprichnik, ordered the gates of the town be opened in the name of the oprichnina, which allowed the enemy regiment to enter and overtake the fortress (the town of Izborsk, however, was never listed as territory in which oprichnina governance applied).

Though Ivan managed to retake the city with little difficulty, the treachery and the conspiracy involved in the original seizure led him to order the executions of the assistant crown secretaries of Izborsk, as well as the secretaries of the surrounding fortresses. With rumours of disaffection and growing discontent throughout the country on the rise, Ivan feared that other cities would soon follow the treasonous example of Izborsk. The proximity of the town to the cities of Novgorod and Pskov, coupled with the questionable implication of Novgorod's chancery administration in Teterin's plot, threw suspicion of treachery and defection onto the already-distrusted city.

During the Siege of Pskov (1581), Izborsk was captured by the Lithuanian troops, but after the Truce of Yam-Zapolsky (1582) handed over to the Tsardom of Russia.

After the Great Northern War, Izborsk ceased to be a western borderline fortress of Russian. In 1708, it joined the newly-established Governorate of Saint-Petersburg (until 1710 called Ingermanland Governorate), where it was listed as the centre of uyezd in the Pskov Province. In 1727, all of Pskov Province was transferred to the Novgorod Governorate and was later transformed into a part of the larger Pskov Governorate, where Izborsk was listed as a town until 1920.

In 1920, according to the Treaty of Tartu, the Russian–Estonian state boundary went east of Izborsk and so the town became part of Estonia. From 1940 to 1945, the town remained within the Estonian SSR (1941–1944 under Nazi occupation).

In 1945, the Russian-Estonian border was redefined to resemble the pre-1918 borders between the Livonia and Pskov Governorate, leaving Izborsk with the Pskov Oblast of the Russian SFSR, now the Russian Federation.

Fortress
Truvor's gorodishche is a settlement about half a kilometer north from the fortress that came about in the late 7th and early 8th century, and proceeded to grow twice in size in the 10th and 11th centuries. It was the predecessor of the Izborsk Fortress, protected by an oakwood wall which was later upgraded to stone, 3 meters in height by 3 meters in width in the 12th century.

To accommodate a larger capacity, the Izborsk Fortress was moved to its present location on the summit of Zheravya ("Crane") Hill in the year 1303, and the Lukovka Tower was built from stone on the outer edge, standing at 13 meters in height, and 9.5 meters in diameter.

First wooden fortress on the current site was built in early XIV century. The most ancient extant structure is the Tower Lukovka (literally, "Onion Tower"). At that time it was the only stone building west of Pskov and adjoined a wooden wall. The walls surrounding the fortress were modified from wood to stone soon after, in 1330. After seven other stone towers and the new stone wall were completed, Lukovka became a watch-tower and an armory. The Nativity church within the fortress was built in the 16th century.

The walls were yet again thickened in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the towers were now compatible with cannons. The side that was most prone to attack was designed thicker than the others, at 5 meters in width, while the rest range from 2.5 to 3.7 meters. The towers were built at a maximum of 60 meters apart for reinforcement.

There were two entrances to the fortress, both constructed with a barbican. The Nikolski gate, which is the larger of the two, has an inner gate with a tower and a portcullis, and is 90 meters long and 5 meters wide. The Talavski entrance is 36 meters long and 4 meters wide. The fortress' southeast side was equipped an underground stone hallway that provided access to a spring well.

Early XVIII century the fortress lost its borderline status and was abandoned. Due to the inclement weather and climate of the region, the fortress faced deterioration. First renovations of the deserted fortress were carried out in 1842 after the order approved by Nicolas I.

Recent restoration of the fortress, completed in 2012, was accompanied by gross embezzlement of money, and the fortress was severely damaged. On 15 March 2016, Grigory Pirumov, deputy minister of culture of Russia, and two other offices of the Ministry of Culture, were arrested on criminal charges related to the embezzlement. The repair and archaeological works are still in process.

Near the fortress there is a museum of stone crosses.

Though Truvor's gorodishche is mostly destroyed, a small part of the wall remains today.

In 2002, the Izborsk Fortress was nominated to be a part of Russia's World Heritage Tentative List.

Cultural references
Izborsk is the namesake of the Eurasian think tank Izborsky Club, founded in 2012 by Alexander Prokhanov.

Notable people

 * Sergei Shtsherbakov (1871–1937), Estonian farmer and politician.
 * Valentin Strukov, Estonian politician, was born in Izborsk.

title: Izborsk


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Alavus

Alavus (Alavo) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, 52 km southeast of Seinäjoki, 138 km north of Tampere and 319 km north of Helsinki. The town has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2. Neighbouring municipalities are Alajärvi, Kuortane, Seinäjoki, Virrat and Ähtäri.

Agriculture and forestry employ a significant share of the population. Most of the industry in Alavus is related to construction: materials, design and contractors. Alavus has 60 lakes with 324 km of shoreline. The town is unilingually Finnish.

Villages
In 1967, Alavus had five legally recognized villages (henkikirjakylät):
 * Alavus
 * Rantatöysä
 * Sapsalampi
 * Sulkava
 * Sydänmaa

Demographics
In 2020, 16.7% of the population of Alavus was under the age of 15, 54.6% were aged 15 to 64, and 28.7% were over the age of 64. The average age was 46.1, above the national average of 43.4 and regional average of 44.7. Speakers of Finnish made up 98.3% of the population and speakers of Swedish made up 0.1%, while the share of speakers of foreign languages was 1.6%. Foreign nationals made up 1.2% of the total population.

The chart below, describing the development of the total population of Alavus from 1975 to 2020, encompasses the municipality's area as of 2021.

Urban areas
In 2019, out of the total population of 6,919, 4,485 people lived in urban areas and 3,641 in sparsely populated areas, while the coordinates of 64 people were unknown. This made Alavus's degree of urbanization 60.7%. The urban population in the municipality was divided between three urban areas as follows:

Economy
In 2018, 9.1% of the workforce of Alavus worked in primary production (agriculture, forestry and fishing), 24.0% in secondary production (e.g. manufacturing, construction and infrastructure), and 65.6% in services. In 2019, the unemployment rate was 8.5%, and the share of pensioners in the population was 33.0%.

The ten largest employers in Alavus in 2019 were as follows: • # Kuusiolinna Terveys Oy, 551 employees

• # Town of Alavus, 518 employees

• # Veljekset Keskinen Oy, 346 employees

• # Alavus Ikkunat Oy, 100 employees

• # Riikku Group Oy, 96 employees

• # Mattiovi Oy, 90 employees

• # Etelä-Pohjanmaan Osuuskauppa, 64 employees

• # Kuusiokuntien sosiaali -ja terveyskuntayhtymä, 58 employees

• # Normek Oy, 56 employees

• # Alavuden Betoni Oy, 52 employees

Notable people

 * Mimmi Bähr (1844–1923), Finnish inventor and developer of calligraphy.
 * Erkki Huttunen (1901–1956), architect
 * Rauha S. Virtanen (1931–2019), author

title: Alavus


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Artjärvi

Artjärvi (Artsjö) is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the town of Orimattila on January 1, 2011.

The municipality was located in the Päijänne Tavastia region. It had a population of 1,412 (31 October 2010) and covered a land area of 177.01 km2. The population density was 7.98 PD/km2.

The municipality was unilingually Finnish.

History
The name Artjärvi originally only referred to a nearby lake. In the 15th century, Artjärvi was the center of a taxation division, when it was also known as Sääksjärvi. Artjärvi, at the time a part of the Lapinjärvi parish, became the center of a chapel community in 1636. It became independent in 1865.

Artjärvi was consolidated with Orimattila in 2011.

title: Artjärvi


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Manchurian

Manchurian may refer to:

 * Manchuria, a region in Northeast Asia
 * Manchurian people, a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeastern China)
 * Manchurian language, a Tungusic language spoken in Northeast China
 * Manchurian (dish), a style of food dishes such as chicken Manchurian, vegetable Manchurian, etc. in Indian Chinese cuisine
 * Manchurian, a blue aleurone malting barley variety

title: Manchurian


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Chinese linking rings

The Chinese linking rings is a classic of illusion magic in which solid metal rings appear to link and unlink, pass through each other, and form chains and other complex patterns and configurations. The rings may even be handed out to audience members for examination. Sometimes an audience member is invited onto the stage to perform alongside the magician as part of a "do as I do" routine.

History
Chinese stage magician Ching Ling Foo (1854–1922) was one of the early performers of the linking rings in the form known today. A painting by Giacomo Mantegazza in 1876 showed a harem girl holding a set of rings above her head. Speculation about the rings' origin has been traced to Turkey, Egypt and the Middle East and as long ago as the 1st century.

French magician Philippe (Jacques Andre Noel Talon) was one of the first magicians reported to use the rings. During the second half of his show, he donned an Oriental robe and conical cap. He took 8 in solid metal rings and had the audience examine them. He claimed that he learned them from a troupe of Chinese jugglers in Britain. After the rings were returned, Philippe proceeded to link and unlink them. From there, he combined glittering circles into complicated designs. According to Robert-Houdin, he said that for a finale, Philippe blew on them and they fell separately on the floor. Robert-Houdin also performed a version of the trick, as did the magician Chung Ling Soo.

In the May 2016 issue of Genii (magazine), world-famous mentalist and respected magic historian Max Maven penned a seminal article about a rare Japanese book called Hokasen that featured a routine called “The Iron Rings”. As this text was published in 1764, it is widely believed to be the earliest known written explanation of the linking rings. Maven also goes on to explain why the Japanese dubbed the rings as “Chinese”.

Recent magicians who are known for their performances with the linking rings include Dai Vernon, Richard Ross, Jack Miller, Michael Skinner, Ian Ray - "The Genie Ali Pali", Jeff McBride, Paul W Draper, Shoot Ogawa, Fu Manchu, Tina Lenert, Fábio De'Rose, Jim Cellini, Chris Capeheart, Tom Frank, Galina, Whit Haydn, Paul Daniels, and Jay Marshall. Christian Bale's character, Alfred Borden, performs the trick in The Prestige. The number of rings used can vary from two to ten, or more. A standard set of commercially available rings typically includes eight rings.

In 1988, Japanese magician Masahiro Yanagida performed with miniature Ninja rings, using four rings that were four and a half inches (or 11.43 cm) in diameter. Since then, the Chinese linking rings have also become a favourite performance item for close-up magicians.

Rings
A quality set of eight linking rings can be obtained from a supplier of magic props. Most consider 8 in rings to be the smallest size suited for stage performance, while 12 in rings are common; 15 in rings are also available, but rarely seen in use. Larger sizes are often constructed from stainless steel tubing for the best combination of durability and weight. Professionals may wish to have a set of larger-diameter rings for use on a stage, or a "close-up" set of rings in the 4 - 5 in range.

Many magicians look for rings that make a nice ringing tone when they strike each other.

Other sources

 * Whit Haydn, Comedy Four-Ring Routine, DVD
 * Harlan Tarbell, Tarbell Course in magic.

title: Chinese linking rings


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Cardinal assignment

In set theory, the concept of cardinality is significantly developable without recourse to actually defining cardinal numbers as objects in the theory itself (this is in fact a viewpoint taken by Frege; Frege cardinals are basically equivalence classes on the entire universe of sets, by equinumerosity). The concepts are developed by defining equinumerosity in terms of functions and the concepts of one-to-one and onto (injectivity and surjectivity); this gives us a quasi-ordering relation

 * $$A \leq_c B\quad \iff\quad (\exists f)(f : A \to B\ \mathrm{is\ injective})$$

on the whole universe by size. It is not a true partial ordering because antisymmetry need not hold: if both $$A \leq_c B$$ and $$B \leq_c A$$, it is true by the Cantor–Bernstein–Schroeder theorem that $$A =_c B$$ i.e. A and B are equinumerous, but they do not have to be literally equal (see isomorphism). That at least one of $$A \leq_c B$$ and $$B \leq_c A$$ holds turns out to be equivalent to the axiom of choice.

Nevertheless, most of the interesting results on cardinality and its arithmetic can be expressed merely with =c.

The goal of a cardinal assignment is to assign to every set A a specific, unique set that is only dependent on the cardinality of A. This is in accordance with Cantor's original vision of cardinals: to take a set and abstract its elements into canonical "units" and collect these units into another set, such that the only thing special about this set is its size. These would be totally ordered by the relation $$\leq_c$$, and =c would be true equality. As Y. N. Moschovakis says, however, this is mostly an exercise in mathematical elegance, and you don't gain much unless you are "allergic to subscripts." However, there are various valuable applications of "real" cardinal numbers in various models of set theory.

In modern set theory, we usually use the Von Neumann cardinal assignment, which uses the theory of ordinal numbers and the full power of the axioms of choice and replacement. Cardinal assignments do need the full axiom of choice, if we want a decent cardinal arithmetic and an assignment for all sets.

Cardinal assignment without the axiom of choice
Formally, assuming the axiom of choice, the cardinality of a set X is the least ordinal α such that there is a bijection between X and α. This definition is known as the von Neumann cardinal assignment. If the axiom of choice is not assumed we need to do something different. The oldest definition of the cardinality of a set X (implicit in Cantor and explicit in Frege and Principia Mathematica) is as the set of all sets that are equinumerous with X: this does not work in ZFC or other related systems of axiomatic set theory because this collection is too large to be a set, but it does work in type theory and in New Foundations and related systems. However, if we restrict from this class to those equinumerous with X that have the least rank, then it will work (this is a trick due to Dana Scott: it works because the collection of objects with any given rank is a set; see Scott's trick).

title: Cardinal assignment


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Talk:Agent Smith/Archive 1

As Smith is not technically human, he does not qualify as a sociopath. --Treybien 14:52 29 May 2006 (UTC)

This is an interesting article, but it's written more like an original essay than an encyclopedia article and should probably stick away from saying 'probably' so much. I think it needs to be revised, but I can't do it because I haven't seen Revolutions yet and I don't want to be spoiled ;) -- Tlotoxl 10:25, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

 * Seconded. The article is an original piece of work, not an encyclopedia article, as it stands. -- Jon Dowland 13:52, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

Smith never says that "humans" smells bad, he is talking about the Matrix as a whole. --Feitclub 19:21, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

 * He does say "I can taste your stink" to Morpheus (emphasis mine), though, which implies he's referring to the humans. Sockatume 22:19, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Hmm, good point, I was thinking of the earlier line...something like "You have to help me get out of here...I can't stand it anymore...It's the smell!" Maybe a slight edit can reflect that. --Feitclub 23:04, Oct 5, 2004 (UTC)

 * There's a certain irony to what he says: "I can taste your stink, and every time I do, I fear that I have somehow been infected by it." After all, he winds up infecting all of the Matrix himself. Ties in with "You are a virus" too. Sockatume 06:42, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

"The police guards that provide security to the Australian prime minister dress is a similar manner to Smith and his agents, and have the same type of earpieces." Why is the Australian prime minister explicitly mentioned? Both the dress and the earpiece are standard issue for bodyguards, at least in Western societies, AFAIK. --AlexR 04:48, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)

 * Probably because the movie was filmed in Australia, there's a perceived specific link.

One thing I noticed about Smith that's definitely not important enough to go in the article, but I thought I'd mention it here because it's kind of amusing - In all the fights Agent Smith get into, he starts out not fighting very intensely, but then, early on in the fight, gets his sunglasses broken, and that's when he starts fighting all out. Oracleoftruth 23:05, 9 May 2005 (UTC)

 * 5mith has emotional issues, his fighting style is brute force rather than skill.

"Smith Mad, Smith Smash!" MajinPalgen 20:11, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

secrete service
It is suggested that the Secret Service is more appropriate, as they are the ones who actually investigate hackers and computer crime. WRONG, secrete service defence the US currency and the preseident, FBI handles shit like hackers.

I didnt know where to put this, so dont get mad at me but there should be more on the specifics of smith's deletion.....it just kinda skips over WHY hes destroyed when he absorbes neo....like how the matrix could delete him because neo was connected to the source and thus so was smith after the absorption......thats the part ive had the most trouble finding information on and its totally ignored in the article...someone other than me should revise it
 * the reason that you are having so much trouble finding information on that particular question is very likely the same reason that it is not covered well in this article. that reason being, that it wasn't explained well in any source that can be considered canon. all we know is that, neo goes to the machine city, he meets with the deus ex, they make a deal and noe gets plugged in, back in the matrix, neo meets smith, they fight in a rather dragon ball z maner, neo gets thrown into the ground is looks rather defeated while smith is prepairing for the final blow, smith says something that doesn't sound right, overwrites neo, the new smith says that its finished, then back in the machine city, deus ex zapps ol' neo's body, and back in the matrix all the smiths turn into white light and everything is back to normal. its never really explained as to what exactly deus ex did to neo, or what neos plan was, or if deus just jumped on an opertunity, or what. many theories of an unencyclipedic nature cluttered this page up pretty badly until most of them were removed. sorry to be long winded, but long story short, its not on there because we don't know, untill "the matrix: tying up lose ends" comes out, then your guess is as good as anyone's. --Manwithbrisk 00:40, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Accent?
Is there some way to mention Agent Smith's slow speach and strong midwestern accent (or Canadian, I had trouble telling specifically) in this article?

This Smith picture stinks. I don't even know where in the movie it's from.
 * Well, why not instead of complaining, put your own picture in?
 * Some fan you are. It's from the scene in the hallways just before Neo meets the Archtitect.  But it does stink - my personal favorite image of him would be when he's approaching Neo in the Burly Brawl scene. Hbdragon88 07:16, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Path of Neo?
Does anyone want to mention the Path of Neo "Monster Mega-smith" ending? Even as a small note? i agree the meag smith monster was rubbish perhaps by allowing u 2 run at him then fly etc it probably could have been a lot harder big dissapointment in the matrix path of neo game

 * "Monster Mega-Smith" was a childish joke ruining the more realistic gaming sense and was by far quit easy to destroy.

 * I hate this sequence so much that I play the game until that point and simply quit and watch the tail end of Revolutions. Because in the movie Smith wins in my opinion, in the game Neo wins. I prefer Smith.

 * This is a little off topic, and I haven't even played the game. But it is not a matter of opinion - Smith doesn't win after all now, does he?

What happens to the humans?
The human that becomes Smith, what happens? Does he only take the simulated body, and what happens to the human after that?

 * 1'd guess the Matrix was defragged, then restored and the humans were all put back into their real bodies for a moment (Which is why the programs were left inside the matrix while the defrag happened) and re-introduced into the program quickly with their "digital self-images" and their minds erased of the weird events. It's as good as any guess. MajinPalgen 20:11, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I don't think it's explicitedly stated anywhere (except possibly in the Matrix Online, which I've never played.) But judging from the fact that the process would involving rewriting their brains, my guess is that it'd be irreversible. If I recall correctly, in Revolutions, there was a scene talking about all kinds of damage to Banes head when he was being examined by Maggie. Coupled with Neo's quote "It felt like dying," I'd say the overall intent was to imply that the original mind is basically dead.--Foot Dragoon 06:46, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
 * But Sati, Seraph, and the Oracle were restored intact, and I don't think human and machine minds are that different. Noneofyourbusiness 23:10, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

The Oracle
Should it be mentioned that Smith's "everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo" is exactly the same as what the Oracle said to Neo once? In my opinion that's why he got up, the fact that Smith was somehow being slightly controlled by the Oracle somehow made him realise thats how to defeat him - from the inside...

 * what i don't understand is why do we asume that the smith neo fights at the end is the one that was formerly the oracle?

was it stated in commentairy? i don't know it just seems odd that it would be that particular smith, rather than the first smith some clairification on that point would be most welcome--Manwithbrisk 20:51, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
 * It was stated the Smith Neo faces is the Oracle. She's the only one left lying in the crater, and Smith can do stuff he couldn't do before (fly, see the future, take tons more damage). Ggctuk 12:52, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

I am Legion
7he matrix has an underlying biblical sediment to it. I’ve noticed a reference to the Merovingian as the devil, like to notate a reference that Smith could also represent Legion (demon). MajinPalgen 20:11, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Theories of deletion
As fun as it is to speculate about, this whole section seems to violate WP:NOR. I don't want to be a dick but without sources it really seems like it should go, otherwise everybody will stick in their own pet theory. Going to published sources could improve the article as well as a number of smart people and academics have written about The Matrix.--ThreeAnswers 03:21, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Much agreed. The whole theory section should go. -- Jon Dowland 14:20, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

 * 1 agree that it may violate WP:NOR, but I do see a use for the possible explanations. I think we should limit it to more plausible (detailed) theories, rather than just A+B=End. I'd like to see it stay, but I know that doesn't mean that it is allowed to stay. MajinPalgen 19:31, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

 * OK, so let's start by taking some of them out... What's with that one saying the agents are possibly former "the Ones"? That's absurd. Well, It's a theory, you say. Er... NO! VdSV9• ♫ 19:01, 19 April 2006 (UTC) (you might have noticed I have taken out the a second theory is... and so on from each paragraph because it makes it seem like it is ordered as the best and most widely accepted ones first...

Do we even know that he is dead? The clones are gone, but the original may still be hanging around somewhere, sulking. :) GuesssWho 07:37, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Original research
Statements like these really need to be sourced:

"...shaped like the protein capsules of certain viruses..."

"...can be seen as the Everyman..."

"...an odd observation..."

and so on. N (t/c) 03:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I can only agree. The weasel words really need to go. Too much work has gone into an article over 3 years old for it to be degraded by such phrases. Work on it and the tags can go and the article be greatly improved. Articles like this can make great articles for people looking for this kind of information. MartinDK 20:13, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

Category:Fictional personifications of evil
Someone removed Smith from the 'fictional personifications of evil' category, saying that "This character does not seem to act as a embodiment of evil as a concept, or as a metiphorical symbol of evil, although this is debatable." Does anyone besides me totally disagree with this? Noneofyourbusiness 23:10, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I totally disagree with you. I previously removed this article from that category (it had been vastly over-populated), because I think that Smith isn't a 'personification of evil'. He doesn't represent evil as a concept, which is what would be required as a personification. If you disagree, it might be worth saying why you disagree... Wibbble 23:28, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Because he's the archetypal villain and representation of evil in the Matrix films, just as Neo is the archetypal hero and representation of humanity. Smith is the personification of an all-consuming hatred and destructive (ultimately self-destructive) impulse that would eradicate both humans and Machines. I agree with you that the category has been somewhat overpopulated with characters that are just villains and not personifications of evil, but Smith is the figure of evil in the Matrix. Noneofyourbusiness 17:41, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * But he isn't really a symbol of evil, just a villain. And he's sympathetic, in his way-confused and angry. GuesssWho 07:37, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Original research
I've tagged this article with the unreferenced tag and the original research tag. The reasons are that the article is written as if most of the information, except for the LOTR joke and the Directors' quote, was compiled from just watching the three Matrix movies. I think that qualifies as Original Research. I mean, anything other than a description of the movies' plots should include sources, such as character interpretations, analyses, and descriptions. For example, check out the following excerpts from the Stylistic genealogy section:

 * "The look and manner of Smith and his fellow Agents seem to be drawn from the common pool of paranoia and American pop culture. One influence appears to be the popular image of federal law enforcement agents as ruthlessly efficient automata who carry out their duties with cold precision and General American accents."

The phrases in bold are not objective, as are the determinations of the character's symbolism, and therefore should be verified and referenced with an outside reliable source, and not from one editor who just saw the movie. Another example:

 * "In addition, the name "Smith" is explicitly attributed (as "IS 5416" on the license plate of Smith's car in Reloaded) to the Book of Isaiah 54:16 from the Old Testament:

 * "Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy."

 * In creating such a program to carry out menial tasks, the Machines lay the foundations for their own destruction, a direct parallel to the creation of AI by humankind.

And finally, another example:

 * The two later films in the series make much of the dialectical opposition of Smith and Neo. Smith is pitiless and single-minded, focused on finality, conformity and "inevitability." As such, Smith represents determinism. By contrast, Neo, with his unpredictable, emotional, human nature, represents unbounded free will and the power of choice. Neo's solitary role as The One is contrasted by Smith, who, by replicating himself, becomes 'the many'. When Neo asks the Oracle about Smith, the Oracle explains that Smith is Neo's opposite and his negative.

This information is not explicitly expressed in the movie, it is actually a determination of the editor. Although the license plate does appear in the movie, the explanation of the plate's link to the Book of Isaiah may not be interpreted in the same way by other users. Also, the interpretation of the characters' representation is subjective. Therefore, for the sake of verifiability, original research, and NPOV guidelines, any determinations, assertions and interpretations should be referenced with an outside source.

If you disagree, let's talk about it. Post what you think. - Mtmelendez 20:04, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

The following are suggestions for references:

 * Citing interviews with the Wachowski brothers, whether it be in DVD special features, magazines, news channles, etc.
 * Citing interviews with the actors and producers
 * Citing verifiable analyses made by movie critics, experts, etc.
 * Specify the location of the source (i.e. where the interview can be found, news article date and author; movie review weblink, etc.)

The list is incomplete, but you get the picture. - Mtmelendez 20:18, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Referring to Neo as "Neo" and not Mr. (Thomas Anderson)
The article cites that Agent Smith only addressed Neo as "Neo" (as opposed to Mr. Anderson) twice and only once while face-to-face with Neo. There is one other occurance of Agent Smith referring to Neo as "Neo" while face-to-face with him. It occurs during The Matrix while Neo is being interrogated in an interview room by agents Smith, Brown and Thompson. As Agent Smith is scrolling through the book which documents his (Neo's) life in the matrix so far, Agent Smith states that he (Neo) goes by the hacker alias "Neo" and is guilty of virtually every computer crime they have a law for.

Just thought I'd mention it. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Daddyl23 (talk • contribs) 00:11, 7 April 2007 (UTC).

title: Talk:Agent Smith/Archive 1


text:
Ramona

Ramona (1884) is an American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War and annexation of the territory by the United States, Ramona explores the life of a mixed-race Scottish–Native American orphan girl. The story was inspired by the marriage of Hugo Reid and Victoria Reid.

Originally serialized weekly in the Christian Union, the novel became immensely popular. It has had more than 300 printings, and has been adapted five times as a film. A play adaptation has been performed annually outdoors since 1923.

The novel's influence on the culture and image of Southern California was considerable. Its sentimental portrayal of Mexican elite colonial life contributed to establishing a unique cultural identity for the region. As its publication coincided with the arrival of railroad lines in the region, tourists used trains to visit sites thought to be associated with the novel.

Plot
In Southern California, shortly after the Mexican–American War, a Scottish-Native American orphan girl, Ramona, is raised by Señora Gonzaga Moreno, the sister of Ramona's deceased foster mother. Ramona is referred to as illegitimate in some summaries of the novel, but chapter 3 of the novel says that Ramona's parents were married by a priest in the San Gabriel Mission. Señora Moreno has raised Ramona as part of the family, giving her every luxury. Ramona's foster mother had requested this as her dying wish. Because Ramona has partial Native American heritage, Moreno reserves her love for her only child, Felipe Moreno, whom she adores. Señora Moreno identifies as Mexican of pure Spanish ancestry. She hates Americans since the United States annexation of California following its victory in the war. They have disputed her claim to her lands, and have divided her huge rancho.

Señora Moreno delays the sheep shearing, a major event on the rancho, awaiting the arrival of a group of Native Americans from Temecula, whom she always hires for that work. The head of the Native American sheep shearers is Alessandro, son of Pablo Assís, chief of the tribe. Alessandro is portrayed as tall, wise, honest, and piously Catholic. Señora Moreno also awaits a priest, Father Salvierderra, from Santa Barbara. He will hear confessions of the workers and celebrate mass with them in her chapel after the shearing, before they return to Temecula.

Alessandro quickly falls in love with Ramona and agrees to stay on at the Rancho. In time, Ramona also falls in love with Alessandro. Señora Moreno opposes the marriage, as she does not want Ramona to marry a Native American. Realizing that Señora Moreno has never loved her, Ramona elopes with Alessandro.

The rest of the novel charts the two lovers' troubles. They have a daughter, and travel around Southern California trying to find a place to settle. In the aftermath of war, Alessandro's tribe is driven off their land, marking a new wave of European-American settlement in California from the United States. They endure misery and hardship, for the Americans who buy their land also demand their houses and their farm tools. Greedy Americans drive them off several homesteads, and they cannot find a permanent community that is not threatened by encroachment of American settlers. They finally move into the San Bernardino Mountains.

Alessandro slowly loses his mind, due to the forced relocations. He loves Ramona fiercely, and regrets having taken her away from relative comfort with Moreno. Their daughter, whose Native American name means "Eyes of the Sky", dies because an American doctor would not go to their homestead to treat her. They have another daughter, whom they name Ramona, but Alessandro still suffers. One day he rides off with the horse of an American, who follows him and shoots him, although he knew that Alessandro was mentally unbalanced.

After being away from the Moreno ranch for two years, the young widow is found by Felipe Moreno. He brings her and her daughter Ramona back to his mother's estate. Felipe has always loved the senior Ramona and finds her more beautiful than ever. Although Ramona still loves the late Alessandro, she agrees to marry Felipe. (His mother has died, so he is free to marry his choice.) They have several children together. Their favorite is Ramona, daughter of Alessandro.

Main characters

 * Ramona, Scottish-Native American orphan girl
 * Señora Gonzaga Moreno, sister of Ramona's dead foster mother
 * Felipe Moreno, Gonzaga Moreno's only child
 * Alessandro Assis, a young Native American sheepherder
 * Father Salvierderra, a Catholic priest

Major themes
Jackson wrote Ramona three years after A Century of Dishonor, her non-fiction study of the mistreatment of Native Americans in the United States. By following that history with a novel, she sought to portray the Indian experience "in a way to move people's hearts." She wanted to arouse public opinion and concern for the betterment of their plight, much as Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin had done for enslaved African Americans. Her success in this effort was limited.

Jackson intended Ramona to appeal directly to the reader's emotions. The novel's political criticism was clear, but most readers were moved by its romantic vision of colonial California under Mexican rule. Jackson had become enamored of the Spanish missions in California, which she romanticized. The story's fictional vision of Franciscan churchmen, señoritas and caballeros permeated the novel and captured the imaginations of readers. Her novel characterized the Americans as villains and the Native Americans as "noble savages".

Many American migrants to California were biased against the Mexicans who lived there. The new settlers from northern and midwestern states disparaged what they considered a decadent culture of leisure and recreation among the elite Latinos, who held huge tracts of land, lived in a region with prevailing mild weather and unusually fertile soil, and relied heavily on Native American laborers. The new settlers favored the Protestant work ethic. This view was not universal, however.

Many American settlers and readers in other regions were taken by Jackson's portrayal of the California-Mexican society. Readers accepted the Californio aristocracy as portrayed and the Ramona myth was born.

Reception
Ramona was immensely popular almost immediately upon its publication in 1884, with more than 15,000 copies sold in the ten months before Jackson's death in 1885. One year after her death, the North American Review called it "unquestionably the best novel yet produced by an American woman" and named it, along with Uncle Tom's Cabin, as one of two most ethical novels of the 19th century. By sixty years after its publication, 600,000 copies had been sold. There have been more than 300 reissues to date and the book has never been out of print.

Subtle racism may have contributed to the popularity of the character of Ramona and the novel. Of mixed race, she was described as beautiful, with black hair and blue eyes. Errol Wayne Stevens, of the California Historical Society, notes several contemporary reviews of the novel in which writers dismissed the idea that Ramona could have been part Native American, a race which they characterized as "dull, heavy and unimpressionable," and "lazy, cruel, cowardly, and covetous."

Carobeth Laird, in her 1975 autobiography, Encounter with an Angry God (p. 176), describes the reaction of her Chemehuevi Indian husband to the novel: "... when I tried to read him Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona, he grew restless, walked up and down, and finally said that the white woman knew nothing about Indians."

Jackson was disappointed that she was unable to raise public concerns about the struggles of Indians in California, as readers were attracted to the romantic vision of Californio society. Historian Antoinette May argues in her book The Annotated Ramona (1989), that the popularity of the novel contributed to Congress passing the Dawes Act in 1887. This was the first American law to address Indian land rights but was aimed at assimilation of Indian families. It forced the breakup of communal lands and redistribution of allotted acres to individual households. The government defined as "surplus land" any reservation territory remaining, and allowed its sale to non-Native persons.

Cultural influence

The widespread popularity of the novel resulted in jurisdictions naming schools (Ramona High School in Riverside), streets, freeways (the San Bernardino Freeway was originally named the Ramona Freeway) and towns (unincorporated communities called Ramona in both Los Angeles and San Diego County) after the novel's heroine. Southern California became a tourist destination, as many people wanted to see the locations featured in the book. Its publication coincided with the opening of Southern Pacific Railroad's Southern California rail lines, which fed a tourism boom.

As a result, many sites across Southern California tried to emphasize their Ramona connections. Jackson died without having specified locations for her novel. Two places claimed to have inspired her work: Rancho Camulos, near Piru, and Rancho Guajome in Vista, as she had visited both before writing her novel.

Camulos became the most accepted "Home of Ramona" due to several factors. The description of Moreno Ranch is similar to the historic Rancho Camulos. Influential writers, such as George Wharton James and Charles Fletcher Lummis, avowed that it was so. When the Southern Pacific Railroad opened its main Ventura County line in 1887, it had a stop at Camulos. With the company engaged in a rate war, the trip to Camulos became relatively easy and affordable for visitors. Finally, the Del Valle family of Camulos welcomed tourists: they exploited the association in marketing their products, labeling their oranges and wine as "The Home of Ramona" brand.

In contrast, Guajome did not publicly become associated with Ramona until an 1894 article in Rural Californian made the claim. However, as the house was nearly four miles (6 km) from the nearest Santa Fe Railroad station, getting there was not so easy. Additionally, the Couts family, who owned the property, were not eager to have flocks of tourists on the grounds, possibly due to a falling out between author Jackson and Senora Couts.

Estudillo House in Old Town San Diego identified as "Ramona's Marriage Place"; the novel said briefly that Ramona was married in San Diego. Although no record existed of Jackson's having visited there, this house became a popular tourist destination. This status continued for years. Estudillo House was unique in marketing solely in terms of Ramona-related tourism. The caretaker sold pieces of the house to tourists, which hastened its deterioration. In 1907, the new owner John D. Spreckels hired architect Hazel Wood Waterman to remodel the house to more closely match descriptions in the novel. When the reconstruction was completed in 1910, the building reopened as a full-fledged Ramona tourist attraction. Estudillo House's application for National Historic Landmark status was entitled "Casa Estudillo/Ramona's Marriage Place".

Other notable Ramona landmarks included "Ramona's Birthplace", a small adobe near Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, and the grave of Ramona Lubo on the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians reservation. Writer George Wharton James called Lubo the "real Ramona". Her life bore some resemblance to that of the fictional Ramona. Sixteen years after Lubo's death, in 1938 local people erected a "Ramona monument" at her gravesite.

The Ramona Pageant was a play adapted from the novel. It was staged outdoors, beginning in 1923 in Hemet. The pageant has been held here annually since.

Most historians believe that the fictional Moreno Ranch is an amalgamation of various locations and was not intended to represent a single place. As Carey McWilliams said in his book Southern California Country (1946):
 * Picture postcards, by the tens of thousands, were published showing "the schools attended by Ramona," "the original of Ramona," "the place where Ramona was married," and various shots of the "Ramona Country." [...] It was not long before the scenic postcards depicting the Ramona Country had come to embrace all of Southern California.

Because of the novel's extraordinary popularity, public perception merged fact and fiction. California historian Walton Bean wrote:
 * These legends became so ingrained in the culture of Southern California that they were often mistaken for realities. In later years many who visited "Ramona's birthplace" in San Diego or the annual "Ramona Pageant" at Hemet (eighty miles north of San Diego) were surprised and disappointed if they chanced to learn that Ramona was a (fictional) novel rather than a biography.

The novel contributed to the unique cultural identity of Southern California and the whole of the Southwest. The architecture of the missions had recently gained national exposure and local restoration projects were just beginning. Railroad lines to Southern California were just opening and, combined with the emotions stirred by the novel, the region suddenly gained national attention. Mission Revival Style architecture became popular from about 1890 to 1915. Many examples still stand throughout California and other southwest areas.

Adaptations
Ramona has been adapted several times for other media. The first was a silent film by the same name, released in 1910. It was directed by D. W. Griffith and starred Mary Pickford. Other versions were made in 1928, 1936 and 1946.
 * Ramona (1910 film), a 17-minute short directed by D. W. Griffith
 * Ramona (1916 film), directed by Donald Crisp
 * Ramona (1928 film), directed by Edwin Carewe, featuring Dolores del Río and Warner Baxter
 * Ramona (1936 film), directed by Henry King, featuring Loretta Young and Don Ameche
 * Ramona (1946 film), directed by Víctor Urruchúa
 * Screen Guild Theater, 1945 radio broadcast
 * Ramona (2000 TV series), a Mexican telenovela
 * The Ramona Pageant, an annual outdoor play, has been performed annually since 1923 in Hemet, California. The Ramona Pageant is the largest and longest-running outdoor play in the United States. It is the official state play of the State of California.

title: Ramona