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Gemini 8

Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) was the sixth crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was launched on March 16, 1966, and was the 14th crewed American flight and the 22nd crewed spaceflight overall. The mission conducted the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit, but also suffered the first critical in-space system failure of a U.S. spacecraft which threatened the lives of the astronauts and required an immediate abort of the mission. The crew returned to Earth safely.

Background
Command pilot Neil Armstrong resigned his commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1960, and was selected as a crew member for Gemini 8 in September 1965. His flight marked the second time a U.S. civilian flew into space (after Joe Walker on X-15 Flight 90),  and the first time a U.S. civilian flew into orbit.

Support crew

 * Walter Cunningham (Cape CAPCOM)
 * James A. Lovell (Houston CAPCOM)

Mission parameters

 * Mass: 3,789 kg
 * Perigee (min): 159.8 km
 * Apogee (max): 298.7 km
 * Inclination: 28.91°
 * Period: 88.83 min

Agena docking
March 16, 1966
 * Docked: 23:14 UTC
 * Undocked: ~23:45 UTC

Objectives
Gemini VIII was planned to be a three-day mission. After being launched into an 87 by orbit, on the fourth revolution it was to rendezvous and dock with an Agena target vehicle, which had been earlier launched into a 161 nmi circular orbit. This was to be the first space docking in history. Four separate dockings were planned.

During the first docking, Pilot David Scott planned to perform an ambitious, two-hour-and-10-minute extra-vehicular activity (EVA), which would have been the first since Ed White's June 1965 spacewalk on Gemini IV. On a 25 ft tether for one and a half revolutions around the Earth, Scott would have retrieved a nuclear emulsion radiation experiment from the front of the Gemini's spacecraft adapter, then activate a micrometeoroid experiment on the Agena. Then he was to move back to the Gemini and test a minimum-reaction power tool by loosening and tightening bolts on a work panel.

During the EVA, after Armstrong undocked from the Agena, Scott was to don and test an Extravehicular Support Pack (ESP) stored at the back of the spacecraft adapter. This was a backpack with a self-contained oxygen supply, extra Freon propellant for his Hand Held Maneuvering Unit, and a 75 ft extension to his tether. He would practice several maneuvers in formation with the Gemini and Agena vehicles (separated at distances up to 60 ft, in concert with Armstrong in the Gemini.

The flight also carried an additional three scientific, four technological, and one medical experiment.

Agena and Gemini launch

Five months earlier, NASA had launched an Agena Target Vehicle for Gemini 6, but the Atlas-Agena launch failed when the Agena's engine exploded during orbital injection and the mission had to be rescheduled. The next attempt succeeded. Everything worked perfectly; the Agena put itself into a 161 nmi circular orbit and oriented itself to the correct attitude for the docking.

The Gemini spacecraft was launched into an 86 by orbit by a modified Titan II on March 16, 1966 (coincidentally the 40th anniversary of the launch of the world's first liquid-fueled rocket by Dr. Robert H. Goddard), at 10:41:02 a.m. EST. Gemini 8's launch was nominal and no significant anomalies occurred with either the Titan II or the spacecraft.

Rendezvous and docking

Their first course adjustment was made at one hour and 34 minutes into the mission, when the astronauts lowered their apogee slightly with a five-second Orbit Attitude and Maneuvering System (OAMS) thruster burn. The second adjustment was made near apogee of the second orbit, and raised both the apogee and perigee by adding 49 ft/s to their speed. The third adjustment was made over the Pacific Ocean, a southward orbital plane change, made with a 59 ft/s sideways thruster burn. When they were over Mexico, Jim Lovell, the Houston capsule communicator, told them they needed one last correction, a 2.6 ft/s speed addition.

The rendezvous radar acquired the Agena Target Vehicle at a distance of 179 nmi. At 3 hours, 48 minutes and 10 seconds into the mission they performed another burn that put them in a circular orbit 15 nmi below the Agena. They first sighted it when they were 76 nmi away, and at 55 nmi they gave the computer automatic control.

After several small burns they were 151 ft away and with no relative velocity. After 30 minutes of visually inspecting the Agena to make sure that it had not been damaged by the launch, they were given the go for docking. Armstrong started to move towards the Agena at 3.15 inches (8 centimeters) per second. In a matter of minutes, the Agena's docking latches clicked and a green light indicated that the docking had been successfully completed. "Flight, we are docked! Yes, it's really a smoothie," Scott radioed to the ground.

Emergency

There was some suspicion on the ground that the Agena's attitude control system was malfunctioning and might not have the correct program stored in it. This suspicion was found to be incorrect. Shortly before radio blackout, Mission Control cautioned the astronauts to immediately abort the docking if any abnormalities occurred with the Agena.

After the Agena began execution of its stored command program, which instructed the Agena to turn the combined spacecraft 90° to the right, Scott noticed that they were rolling. Armstrong used the Gemini's OAMS thrusters to stop the roll, but after it stopped, it immediately started again. Gemini 8 was out of range of ground communications at this time.

Armstrong reported that the OAMS fuel had dropped to 30%, indicating that the problem could be on their own spacecraft. With concern that the high rate of rotation might damage one or both spacecraft or even cause the propellant-heavy Agena to rupture or explode, the crew decided to undock from the Agena so they could analyze the situation. Scott switched the Agena control back to ground command, while Armstrong struggled to stabilize the combined vehicle enough to permit undocking. Scott then hit the undock button, and Armstrong fired a long burst of translation thrusters to back away from the Agena. Without the added mass of the Agena, Gemini started rotating more rapidly. The astronauts realized that the problem was on the Gemini. By now the tumble rate had reached 296 degrees per second and Armstrong decided to shut down the OAMS and use the Reentry Control System (RCS) thrusters, located on the Gemini's nose, to stop the tumble. From start to finish the incident lasted nearly 30 minutes.

NASA turned off the squawk box at Armstrong's home, alarming his wife. Scott later praised Armstrong's actions as their spacecraft spun: "The guy was brilliant. He knew the system so well. He found the solution, he activated the solution, under extreme circumstances ... it was my lucky day to be flying with him." The spacecraft came in range of the ground communications ship Coastal Sentry Quebec. After steadying the spacecraft, the crew tested each OAMS thruster in turn and found that Number 8 had stuck on. Almost 75% of the reentry maneuvering fuel had been used to stop the tumble, and mission rules dictated that the flight be aborted once the Reentry Control System was fired for any reason. Gemini 8 immediately prepared for an emergency landing.

Landing and recovery
It was decided to let the spacecraft reenter one orbit later so that it could land in a place that could be reached by secondary recovery forces. The original plan was for Gemini 8 to land in the Atlantic, but that was supposed to be three days later. USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) started to steam towards the new landing site 800 km east of Okinawa and 1,000 km south of Yokosuka, Japan.

Reentry took place over China, out of range of NASA tracking stations.

Planes were also dispatched, and U.S. Air Force pilot Les Schneider spotted the spacecraft as it descended precisely on time and on target. Three pararescuers jumped from their C-54 and attached a flotation collar to the capsule.

All of the pararescuers and astronauts suffered from seasickness. Three hours after splashdown, the Leonard F. Mason had both men and the spacecraft on board. The astronauts were exhausted, but had otherwise survived the flight and their time on the water in good condition. They were briefly checked and slept for nine hours.

The next morning, the ship docked at the port of Naha. Fellow astronaut Walter Schirra and other NASA officials flew in to greet them before the astronauts were summoned back to the ship for medical tests and debriefing. After release, they were brought by limousine to waiting helicopters where they flew to Kadena Air Base and then on to Florida on a C-135.

Upon the return, the spacecraft was covered with a tarp. As part of the investigation into the mishap, ground controllers tested the Agena stage for the next several days by ordering it to perform various in-orbit maneuvers until exhausting its propellant and electrical power.

Four months later, the crew of Gemini 10 rendezvoused with the inert Agena and astronaut Michael Collins retrieved its micrometeorite collector.

Thruster incident: cause and outcome
No conclusive reason for the thruster malfunction was found. The most probable cause was determined to be an electrical short, most likely due to a static electricity discharge. Power still flowed to the thruster, even when it was switched off. To prevent recurrence of this problem, spacecraft designs were changed so each thruster would have an isolated circuit.

Quote from "Flight" by Chris Kraft, page 256: -Engineers tore into the OAMS system when the spacecraft got home and found a short circuit that made one thruster fire continuously. We learned an important lesson -never put electrical power to any system unless it’s supposed to be on. The OAMS was rewired so that a short circuit would always give us a dead thruster, not one that kept firing until a circuit breaker was opened by an astronaut.-

The Deputy Administrator of NASA, Dr. Robert Seamans, was attending a celebratory dinner sponsored by the Goddard Space Flight Center, at which Vice President Hubert Humphrey was the guest speaker, when the problem arose. The incident inspired Seamans to review NASA's problem investigation procedures, modeled after military crash investigations, and on April 14, 1966, to formalize a new procedure in Management Instruction 8621.1, Mission Failure Investigation Policy And Procedures. This gave the Deputy Administrator the option of performing independent investigations of major failures, beyond those failure investigations for which the various Program Office officials were normally responsible. It declared: "It is NASA policy to investigate and document the causes of all major mission failures which occur in the conduct of its space and aeronautical activities and to take appropriate corrective actions as a result of the findings and recommendations." Seamans first invoked this new procedure immediately following the fatal Apollo 1 spacecraft fire on January 27, 1967. It was also invoked after the next critical in-flight failure, which occurred on the Apollo 13 lunar mission in April 1970.

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, the Gemini spacecraft prime contractor, also changed its procedures. Prior to the accident, McDonnell's top engineers would be at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station for the launch, then fly to Mission Control in Houston, Texas for the rest of the mission. The problem occurred while they were en route, so it was decided to keep McDonnell engineers in Houston for the entire mission.

Insignia

The mission patch shows the whole spectrum of objectives that were hoped to have been accomplished on Gemini 8. The text at the bottom is composed of the zodiacal symbol for Gemini,, and the Roman numeral for eight, VIII. The two stars are Castor and Pollux, which are in the constellation of Gemini, and are refracted through a prism to provide the spectrum. Armstrong and Scott both designed the flight patch.

Dramatizations
The Gemini 8 mission was dramatized in episode 1 "Can We Do This?", of the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and in the 2018 Armstrong biopic, First Man. The story of the mission is told from the point of view of a fictional mission controller in For All Mankind (Season 2, Episode 8).

title: Gemini 8


text:
Hercules (comics)

The mythological hero Hercules or Heracles appears in several comics.

 * Hercules (DC Comics), a DC Comics character
 * Hercules (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character
 * Hercules (Radical Comics), a Radical Comics character
 * Hercules, a character in the comic strip Pif le chien
 * Hercules, a member of the Marvel Comics team The Order
 * Hercules, a comic book by Dell Comics adapting the 1958 film Hercules
 * Hercules Unchained, a comic book by Dell Comics adapting the 1959 film Hercules Unchained
 * Hercules, a Topps Comics series based on the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
 * Hercules: Adventures of the Man-God, a comic book series by Charlton Comics
 * Hercules Algethi, a character in the manga series Saint Seiya
 * Joe Hercules, a Quality Comics character who debuted in Hit Comics #1 (July 1940)
 * The Mighty Hercules, a comic book series by Gold Key Comics based on the animated television series The Mighty Hercules

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

title: Hercules (comics)


text:
Talk:Gemini 8

Various issues

 * Rendezvous and Docking paragraph 3, the last sentence begins "He started to slowly..." He who? My guess is Armstrong but aren't sure enough to make the change
 * The Spin Reference to Gemini 7 - I assume this should be 8? Also, the phrase "turn off" used in this section is confusing. I assume this has a particular technical meaning, but if so it isn't obvious to the casual reader. It should be either replaced with something more obvious or at least explained what it means. --Ewan 23:28, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Thanks for pointing out those two errors - it is a while since I wrote the article. Not sure how the Gemini 7 error slipped through. Evil Monkey∴Hello 10:41, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

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Getica (disambiguation)

Getica is a historical book, "De origine actibusque Getarum" ("The Origin and Deeds of the Getae/Goths") written by Jordanes in the 6th century.

Getica may also refer to:

 * Getica (Dio), a historical book which Suidas, Jordanes, and Freculphus attribute to Cassius Dio, while Philostratus sees Dio Chrysostom as its author
 * Getica (Criton), a work on the history of the Getae by Criton of Heraclea, which was at the basis of Emperor Trajan's work, Dacica
 * Getica (Pârvan) (1926), a book covering the ancient history of the Geto-Dacians by the Romanian historian and archaeologist Vasile Pârvan
 * Romanian Battlegroup Getica

title: Getica (disambiguation)


text:
European Court of Auditors

The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: Cour des comptes européenne) is the supreme audit institution of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg and is one of the seven EU institutions. The Court comprises one member from each EU member state (currently ) supported by approximately 800 civil servants.

History
The ECA was created by the 1975 Budgetary Treaty and was formally established on 18 October 1977, holding its first session a week later. At that time the ECA was not a formal institution; it was an external body designed to audit the finances of the European Communities. It replaced two separate audit bodies, one which dealt with the finances of the European Economic Community and Euratom, and one which dealt with the European Coal and Steel Community.

The ECA did not have a defined legal status until the Treaty of Maastricht when it was made the fifth institution, the first new institution since the founding of the Community. By becoming an institution it gained some new powers, such as the ability to bring actions before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). At first its audit power related only to the European Community pillar of the European Union (EU), but under the Treaty of Amsterdam it gained the full power to audit the finances of the whole of the EU.

Functions
Despite its name, the ECA has no jurisdictional functions. It is rather a professional external investigatory audit agency. The primary role of the ECA is to externally check if the budget of the European Union has been implemented correctly and that EU funds have been spent legally and with sound management. In doing so, the ECA checks the paperwork of all persons handling any income or expenditure of the Union and carries out spot checks. The ECA is bound to report any problems in its reports for the attention of the EU's Member States and institutions, these reports include its general and specific annual reports, as well as special reports on its performance audits. The ECA 's decision is the basis for the European Commission decisions; for example, when the ECA found problems in the management of EU funds in the regions of England, the Commission suspended funds to those regions and is prepared to fine those who do not return to acceptable standards.

In this role, the ECA has to remain independent yet remain in touch with the other institutions; for example, a key role is the presentation of the ECA's annual report to the European Parliament. It is based on this report that the Parliament makes its decision on whether or not to sign off the European Commission's handling of the budget for that year. The Parliament notably refused to do this in 1984 and 1999, the latter case forced the resignation of the Santer Commission. The ECA, if satisfied, also sends assurances to the Council and Parliament that the taxpayers' money is being properly used, and the ECA must be consulted before the adoption of any legislation with financial implications, but its opinion is never binding.

Organisation
The ECA is composed of one member from each EU Member State, each of whom is appointed unanimously by the Council of the European Union for a renewable term of six years. They are not all replaced every six years, however, as their terms do not coincide (four of the original members began with reduced terms of four years for this reason). Members are chosen from people who have served in national audit bodies, who are qualified for the office and whose independence is beyond doubt. While serving in the Court, members cannot engage in any other professional activities.

As the body is independent, its members are free to decide their own organisation and rules of procedure, although these must be ratified by the Council of the European Union. Since the Treaty of Nice, the ECA can set up "chambers" (with only a few Members each) to adopt certain types of reports or opinions.

The ECA is supported by a staff of approximately 800 auditors, translators and administrators recruited as part of the European Civil Service. Auditors are divided into auditor groups which inspect and prepare draft reports for the ECA to take decisions upon. Inspections take place not only of EU institutions but of any state which receives EU funds, given that 90% of income and expenditure is managed by national authorities rather than the EU. Upon finding a fault, the ECA—possessing no legal powers of its own—informs the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which is the EU's anti-fraud agency. The ECA is also assisted by the Secretary-General of the European Court of Auditors, elected by the College of ECA Members, who—along with general management and assistance to the President—draws up draft minutes and keeps archives of decisions, as well as ensuring the publication of reports in the Official Journal of the European Union.

President
The members then elect one of their members as the President of the ECA for a renewable three-year term. The election takes place by a secret ballot of those members who applied for the presidency. The duties of the President (which may be delegated) are to convene and chair the meetings of the ECA, ensuring that decisions are implemented and the departments (and other activities) are soundly managed. The President also represents the institution and appoints a representative for it in contentious proceedings.

The current President is Tony Murphy (from Ireland) who took office on October 1, 2022. He succeeded Klaus-Heiner Lehne (Germany), elected in 2016. The previous presidents were Sir Norman Price (elected in 1977, United Kingdom), Michael Murphy (1977, Ireland), Pierre Lelong (1981, France), Marcel Mart (1984, Luxembourg), Aldo Angioi (1990, Italy), André Middelhoek (1992, Netherlands), Bernhard Friedmann (1996, Germany), Jan O. Karlsson (1999, Sweden), Juan Manuel Fabra Vallés † (2002, Spain), Hubert Weber (2006, Austria), and Vítor Manuel da Silva Caldeira (2007, Portugal).

Secretary-general
The Secretary-General is the ECA's most senior member of staff. Appointed for a renewable term of six years, he is responsible for the management of the ECA's staff and for the administration of the ECA. In addition, the Secretary-General is responsible for the budget, translation, training and information technology.

List of secretaries-general

 * 1989–1994: Patrick Everard
 * 1994–2001: Edouard Ruppert
 * 2001–2008: Michel Hervé (France)
 * 2008–2009: John Speed (ad interim, United Kingdom)
 * 2009–2020: Eduardo Ruiz Garcia (Spain)
 * 2020–2020: Philippe Froidure (ad interim)
 * Since 2021: Zacharias Kolias (Greece)

Staffing
ECA staff are mainly officials recruited via the reserve lists from general competitions organised by the European Personnel Selection Office external link (EPSO). In certain circumstances, however, the ECA may also engage temporary or contract staff. To be eligible for a post at the ECA, one must be a citizen of one of the European Union Member States.

Traineeships
Just like the other EU institutions, the ECA organises three traineeship sessions per year in areas of interest to its work. Traineeships are granted for three, four or five months maximum, and may be remunerated (€1500 /month) or non-remunerated.

Work
The ECA publishes the results of its audit work in a variety of reports – annual reports, specific annual reports and special reports – depending on the type of audit. Other published products include opinions and review-based publications. In total, the ECA published 93 reports in 2017. All reports, opinions and reviews are published on the ECA's website in the official EU languages.

Statement of assurance
Since 1994 the ECA has been required to provide a "statement of assurance", essentially a certificate that an entire annual budget can be accounted for. This has proved to be a problem, as even relatively minor omissions require the ECA to refuse a statement of assurance for the entire budget, even if almost all of the budget is considered reliable.

This has led to media reports of the EU accounts being "riddled with fraud", where issues are based on errors in paperwork even though the underlying spending was legal. The auditing system itself has drawn criticism from this perception. The Commission in particular has stated that the bar is too high, and that only 0.09% of the budget is subject to fraud. The Commission has elsewhere stated that it is important to distinguish between fraud and other irregularities. The controversial dismissal in 2003 of Marta Andreasen for her criticism of procedures in 2002 has, for some, called into doubt the integrity of the institutions.

It is frequently claimed that annual accounts have not been certified by the external auditor since 1994. In its annual report on the implementation of the 2009 EU Budget, the Court of Auditors found that the two biggest areas of the EU budget, agriculture and regional spending, have not been signed off on and remain "materially affected by error". Nonetheless, the European Commission claims that every budget since 2007 has been signed off.

Terry Wynn, an MEP who served on the Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control and reached the position of chairman, has also backed these calls, stating that it is impossible for the Commission to achieve these standards. In a report entitled EU Budget – Public Perception & Fact – how much does it cost, where does the money go and why is it criticised so much?, Wynn cites consensus that practice in the EU differs from that in the US. In the US, the focus is on the financial information, not on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, 'So, other than in Europe, the political reaction in the US to the failure to obtain a clean audit opinion is only "a big yawn"'.

By comparison, the Comptroller and Auditor General for the United Kingdom stated that there were 500 separate accounts for the UK, and "in the last year, I qualified 13 of the 500. If I had to operate the EU system, then, because I qualify 13 accounts, I might have to qualify the whole British central government expenditure". Despite the problems, the Barroso Commission stated that it aimed to bring the budget within the Court's limits by the end of its mandate in 2009.

The ECA made clear in its year report for 2010 that "Responsibility for the legality and regularity of spending on Cohesion Policies starts in the Member States, but the Commission bears the ultimate responsibility for the correct implementation of the budget". In previous reports, the ECA has noted that "Regardless of the method of implementation applied, the Commission bears the ultimate responsibility for the legality and regularity of the transactions underlying the accounts of the European Communities (Article 274 of the Treaty)".

Size
The size of the ECA has also come under criticism. Owing to the one-member-per-state system, its College of Members grew from nine to twenty-eight as of 2013 (twenty-seven after completing of the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union/Brexit on 31 January 2020 ). Attempting to get consensus in the body has thus become more difficult; this led to the number of its special reports per year shrinking from fifteen to six between 2003 and 2005, despite its staff growing by 200 over the same period. Some proposals have been for its size to be reduced to five members or just one, possibly with an advisory board with members from each member state. However, neither the European Constitution nor the Treaty of Lisbon proposed any changes to its composition, despite calls by former ECA members and MEPs to embrace change.

Legislative references

 * Code of Conduct for the Members and former Members of the Court of Auditors

title: European Court of Auditors


text:
Ermanaric

Ermanaric (died 376) was a Greuthungian Gothic king who before the Hunnic invasion evidently ruled a sizable portion of Oium, the part of Scythia inhabited by the Goths at the time. He is mentioned in two Roman sources: the contemporary writings of Ammianus Marcellinus, and in Getica by the sixth-century historian Jordanes. He also appears in a fictionalized form in later Germanic heroic legends.

Modern historians disagree on the size of Ermanaric's realm. Herwig Wolfram postulates that he at one point ruled a realm stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea as far eastwards as the Ural Mountains. Peter Heather is skeptical of the claim that Ermanaric ruled all Goths except the Tervingi, and furthermore points to the fact that such an enormous empire would have been larger than any known Gothic political unit, that it would have left bigger traces in the sources and that the sources on which the claim is based are not nearly reliable enough to be taken at face value.

Etymology
The first element of the name Ermanaric appears to be based on the Proto-Germanic root *ermena-, meaning 'universal'. The second element is from the element *-rīks, Gothic reiks, meaning 'ruler'; this is found frequently in Gothic royal names.

In Roman sources
According to Ammianus, Ermanaric was "a most warlike king" who eventually committed suicide, faced with the aggression of the Alani and of the Huns, who invaded his territories in the 370s. Ammianus says he "ruled over extensively wide and fertile regions". Ammianus also says that after Ermanaric's death, a certain Vithimiris was elected as the new king.

According to Jordanes' Getica, Ermanaric ruled the realm of Oium. Jordanes describes him as a "Gothic Alexander" who "ruled all the nations of Scythia and Germania as they were his own". Jordanes also states that the king put to death a young woman named Sunilda (Svanhildr) with the use of horses, as punishment for her husband's treason. Thereupon her two brothers, Sarus and Ammius, severely wounded Ermanaric, leaving him unfit to defend his kingdom from Hunnic incursions. Variations of this legend had a profound effect on medieval Germanic literature, including that of England and Scandinavia (see Jonakr's sons). Jordanes claims that he successfully ruled the Goths until his death aged 110.

Edward Gibbon gives the version of Ammianus and Jordanes as historical, reporting that Ermanaric successively conquered, during a reign of about 30 years from AD 337 to 367, the west-goths, the Heruli, the Venedi and the Aestii, establishing a kingdom which ranged from the Baltic to the Black Sea; and died aged 110 of a wound inflicted by the brothers of a woman whom he had cruelly executed for her husband's revolt, being succeeded by his brother Vithimiris.

In Germanic sources and legends
Ermanaric appears in a variety of different Germanic heroic legends.

Iormunrek (Jörmunrekkr) is the Norse form of the name. Ermanaric appears in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian legend. In the former, the poem Beowulf focused on the image of "Eormenric's wiles and hatred". He is described in the tenth century poem Deor as a powerful but treacherous king: "We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric: far and wide he ruled the people of the realm of the Goths: he was a cruel king".

The death of Svanhildr (Svanhildr Sigurðardóttir) and Ermanaric's (Jörmunrek) subsequent death at the hands of Jonakr's sons occupies an important place in the world of Germanic legend. The tale is retold in many northern European stories, including the Icelandic Poetic Edda (Hamðismál and Guðrúnarhvöt), Prose Edda and the Volsunga Saga; the Norwegian Ragnarsdrápa; the Danish Gesta Danorum; and the German Nibelungenlied and Annals of Quedlinburg.

In the Norse Thidreks Saga, translated from Low German sources, Ermanaric is ill-advised by his treacherous counsellor Bicke, Bikka, Sifka, or Seveke (who wants revenge for the rape of his wife by Ermanaric), with the result that the king puts his own wife to death for supposed adultery with his son; he is thereafter crippled by his brothers-in-law in revenge.

In the Middle High German poems Dietrichs Flucht, the Rabenschlacht, and Alpharts Tod about Dietrich of Bern, Ermanaric is Dietrich's uncle who has driven his nephew into exile. The early modern Low German poem Ermenrichs Tod recounts a garbled version of Ermanaric's death reminiscent of the scene told in Jordanes and Scandinavian legend.

Name
Ermanaric's Gothic name is reconstructed as *Airmanareiks. It is recorded in the various Latinized forms:
 * in Jordanes' Getica, he is called Ermanaricus or Hermanaricus, but some of the manuscripts even have Armanaricus, Hermericus, Hermanericus etc.
 * in Ammianus' Res gestae, he is Ermenrichus (his name occurs only once).

In medieval Germanic heroic legend, the name appears as:
 * Old English Eormenric in Beowulf; the alternative spelling Eormanric occurs in the poems Deor and Widsith,
 * Old Norse Jǫrmunrekkr
 * (or, borrowed from Low German) Ermenrekur, Old Swedish Ermenrik or Ermentrik in the Swedish Didrik Saga,
 * Middle High German Ermenrîch.

Since the name Heiðrekr may have been confused with Ermanaric through folk etymology, Ermanaric is possibly identifiable with Heiðrekr Ulfhamr of the Hervarar saga.

title: Ermanaric


text:
Patrick Duncan (South African politician)

Sir Patrick Duncan, (21 December 1870 – 17 July 1943) was the sixth Governor-General of the Union of South Africa, holding office from 1937 until his death in 1943.

Early life
Born in Scotland in 1870, he took degrees in classics at the University of Edinburgh and at Balliol College, Oxford, and studied law in the Inner Temple, before joining the British civil service in 1894 as a Clerk of the Upper Division in the Secretaries' Office for Inland Revenue.

Colonial service
In 1901, during the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), he was recruited by Viscount Milner, to join a team of young administrators – known as "Milner's Kindergarten" – to govern and anglicise the British-occupied Transvaal. He was Colonial Secretary of the Transvaal from 1903 until the colony was granted self-government in 1907, playing an important part in the repatriation of ex-prisoners of war, and in the social and financial reconstruction of the former Boer state.

Duncan practised as an attorney from 1907 to 1910, and was a legal adviser to the Transvaal delegation to the 1908-1909 National Convention that drew up the South Africa Act that established the Union of South Africa.

Political career
He was a member of the Union Parliament from 1910 to 1936, first as a member of the Unionist Party, then of the South African Party and its successor the United Party. He was Minister of Education, the Interior, and Public Health in the SAP administration from 1921 to 1924, and Minister of Mines in the UP administration from 1933 to 1936.

Governor-General of South Africa
Duncan was appointed Governor-General in 1937, the first South African citizen appointee to hold the post. King George VI, whom he represented as head of state, knighted him and appointed him to the Imperial Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

Although widely respected and above party politics, he made himself controversial in 1939 by refusing to call a general election on the question of whether or not the Union should enter World War II. The prime minister, J.B.M. Hertzog, a former Boer General, wanted to stay neutral, but Parliament, included most members of his own party, supported his deputy, Jan Smuts. Like Hertzog, Smuts also famously commanded Boer forces during the war but nonetheless favored entering the war on the side of the Allies. Sir Patrick's refusal to call a new election rendered Hertzog a lame duck, after losing a vote of no-confidence he resigned from office. Sir Patrick swiftly commissioned Smuts to form a new government.

With Smuts as Prime Minister, South Africa entered the war as a loyal ally of Great Britain, South Africa's entry into World War II triggered both short and long term political re-alignments that eventually led to Smuts being forced out of politics after the war and South Africa withdrawing from the British Commonwealth on 31 May 1961. However, Sir Patrick would never witness these events transpire, dying in office in 1943. His ashes were interred in a monument at the new Duncan Dock in Cape Town harbour, which was named after him. The informal township of Duncan Village in East London, and the suburb of Duncanville near Vereeniging, were also named after him.

Family
Sir Patrick married Alice Dold in 1916. They had three sons and a daughter. One son, Andrew (1920–1942), was killed on active service in Libya. Another son, Patrick (1918–1967), was a well-known anti-apartheid activist.


text:
Die Stem van Suid-Afrika

Die Stem van Suid-Afrika (, lit. 'The Voice of South Africa'), also known as "The Call of South Africa" or simply "Die Stem", was the national anthem of South Africa during the apartheid era. There are two versions of the song, one in English and the other in Afrikaans, which were in use early on in the Union of South Africa alongside God Save the Queen and as the sole anthem after South Africa became a republic. It was the sole national anthem from 1957 to 1994, and shared co-national anthem status with "God Save the King/Queen" from 1938 to 1957. After the end of apartheid, it was retained as a co-national anthem along with "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" until 1997, when a new hybrid song incorporating elements of both songs was adopted as the country's new national anthem, which is still in use.

History

Background and inception
In May 1918, C.J. Langenhoven wrote an Afrikaans poem called "Die Stem", for which music was composed in 1921 by Marthinus Lourens de Villiers, a reverend. The music composed that ended up being accepted was actually a second version; the first did not satisfy Langenhoven. It was widely used by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in the 1920s, which played it at the close of daily broadcasts, along with "God Save The King". It was recorded for the first time in 1926 when its first and third verses were performed by Betty Steyn in England for the Zonophone record label; it was sung publicly for the first time on 31 May 1928 at a raising of the new South African national flag. In 1938, South Africa proclaimed it to be one of the two co-national anthems of the country, along with "God Save the King".

It was sung in English as well as Afrikaans from 1952 onward, with both versions having official status in the eyes of the state, while "God Save the Queen" did not cease to be a co-national anthem until May 1957, when it was dropped from that role. However, it remained the country's royal anthem until 1961, as it was a Commonwealth realm until that point. The poem originally had only three verses, but the government asked the author to add a fourth verse with a religious theme. The English version is for the most part a faithful translation of the Afrikaans version with a few minor changes.

Composition
It is uplifting in tone, addressing throughout of commitment to the Vaderland (Fatherland) and to God. However, it was generally disliked by black South Africans, who saw it as triumphalist and strongly associated it with the apartheid regime where one verse shows dedication to Afrikaners (though the specific mention of Afrikaners is omitted in the English version to avoid alienating the British-descent Anglophone whites living in South Africa as they are not considered Afrikaners) and another to the Great Trek of the Voortrekkers. P. W. Botha, who was the state president of South Africa during the 1980s, was fond of the song and made his entourage sing it when they visited Switzerland during his presidency.

Decline
As the dismantling of apartheid began in the early 1990s, South African teams were readmitted to international sporting events, which presented a problem as to the choice of national identity South Africa had to present. Agreements were made with the African National Congress (ANC) that "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" would not be sung at rugby matches, due to its connection to the apartheid system and minority rule (which led the ANC and other such groups at the time to view the song as offensive). However, at a rugby union test match against New Zealand in 1992, the crowd spontaneously sang "Die Stem" during a moment of silence for victims of political violence in South Africa, and although it was ostensibly agreed upon beforehand that it would not be played, an instrumental recording of "Die Stem" was played over the stadium's PA system's loudspeakers after the New Zealand national anthem was performed, and spectators sang along, sparking controversy afterwards.

Although it remained the official national anthem of the state during this time period, both the usage of it and the then-national flag began to dwindle whenever possible, particularly overseas. For example, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona that year, Schiller's "Ode to Joy", as set to Beethoven's music, was used instead of it, along with a neutral Olympic-style flag instead of the South African flag at the time.

"Die Stem van Suid-Afrika"'s future seemed in doubt as the country prepared to transition to majority rule, with many predicting that it would not remain after the transition into the new democratic dispensation. In 1993, a commission sought out a new national anthem for South Africa, with 119 entries being suggested, but none were chosen. Instead, it was decided to retain "Die Stem"'s official status after the advent of full multi-racial democracy which followed the 1994 general election. When the old South African flag was lowered for the last time at the parliament building in Cape Town, "Die Stem" was performed in Afrikaans and then in English as the new South African flag was raised. After 1994, it shared equal status with "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", which had long been a traditional hymn used by the ANC. In 1995, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was sung by a black choir at the Rugby World Cup final match, as it had been done at the 1994 South African presidential inauguration in Pretoria, first in Afrikaans and then in English.

Consolidation
The practice of singing two different national anthems had been a cumbersome arrangement during the transition to post-apartheid South Africa. On most occasions, it was usually the first verse of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" that was sung at ceremonies, in both official languages prior to 1994, with some English medium schools in what was then Natal Province singing the first verse in Afrikaans and the second in English. During this period of two national anthems, the custom was to play both "Die Stem" and "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" during occasions that required the playing of a national anthem. However, this proved cumbersome as performing the dual national anthems took as much as five minutes to conclude. In 1997, with the adoption of a new national constitution, a new composite national anthem was introduced, which combined part of "Nkosi Sikelel 'iAfrika" and part of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" into a single composition in order to form a new hybrid song.

Legacy
Since the end of apartheid and the adoption of a new national anthem in the 1990s, the status of "Die Stem" has become somewhat controversial in contemporary South Africa,  due to its connection with the apartheid regime and white minority rule.

Although elements of it are used in the current South African national anthem, in recent years some South Africans have called for those segments to be removed due to their connection with apartheid,  whereas others defend the inclusion of it, as it was done for post-apartheid re-conciliatory reasons. When "Die Stem" was mistakenly played by event organisers in place of the current South African national anthem during a UK-hosted women's field hockey match in 2012, it sparked outrage and confusion among the South African staff members and players present.

The Afrikaans version remains popular with Afrikaner nationalists and far-right organisations such as the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, where it is sometimes performed at the funerals of such groups' members or at demonstrations by them. Die Stem was also the name of a far-right periodical during the apartheid era.

In popular culture

 * "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" is featured in the films Catch a Fire and Invictus.
 * "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" is featured in the video game Nigel Mansell's World Championship Racing.
 * South African singer Lance James recorded a country-western rendition of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" for his album Die Stem Op Spesiale Versoek.
 * South African singer Manuel Escórcio used the lyrics in his song "Ons vir jou, Suid-Afrika".
 * South African rapper Jack Parow used some lines of the first three verses in his song "Veilig".

title: Die Stem van Suid-Afrika


text:
User:Keir~enwiki

Hello. I'm a writer and magazine editor living in Britain.

Wikipedia is great. To me it's the equivalent of crack cocaine. Initially I couldn't stop myself writing new entries and tweaking here and there. I'm a wikiwriter more than an editor.

That Wikipedia works is totally contrary to logic and I find very appealing. But mostly I just think it's just a splendid project - the kind of thing which makes humanity a better thing. I'm proud to put in my very small contribution.

I'm deliberately trying to write about as many diverse things as I can and keep away from the more obvious stuff like entertainment or computing. Here's a list of my recent stuff (some created before I registered this username):

 * alternative comedy - a history of the early 80s UK comedy movement (I'm very proud of this entry which hasn't yet been edited or added-to by anybody - a sign that I did a good job?)
 * John Titor - Internet hoxer of value because of the quality of the hoax (so controversial that it's been vandalised/edited out of all recognition millions of times; it shows all that can be bad about Wikipedia)
 * The Black Girl In Search Of God - entry for George Bernard Shaw's controversial short story collection
 * Buteyko Method - learn how to breathe better (this made the Wikipedia front page!)
 * Felix Dennis - a stub-ette of one my former employers which hopefully somebody will expand into a better biography (addition as of June 04: nobody has done so yet...)
 * Shane MacGowan - lead singer with The Pogues
 * The Brit Awards - susprised nobody had done this one before me
 * The First Circle - brief mention of Solzhenitsyn's novel with too much POV (but nobody appears to have noticed)
 * SylvaC - one for my Dad - a profile of the ornamental pottery firm
 * Private Eye - I've significantly expanded the entry for this British satirical magazine and newspaper
 * Primary Domain Controller - a bit about Windows NT networking technologies to prove that I'm a renaissance man
 * Eddie Braben - profile of the comedy writer who worked behind the scenes to effectively make the careers of Morecambe and Wise (I also boosted their entry quite substantially)
 * Spycatcher - an entry for the controversial book about MI5 by Peter Wright

... and other bits and pieces here and there. Lots of bits and pieces. I tend not to log on, so I come and go without being logged.

title: User:Keir~enwiki


text:
Margot Wallström

Margot Elisabeth Wallström (born 28 September 1954) is a Swedish politician of the Swedish Social Democratic Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2019 and Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2016 to 2019.

Wallström previously served as the first United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict from 2010 to 2012, as Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy from 2004 to 2010, European Commissioner for the Environment from 1999 to 2004, Minister for Consumer Affairs from 1988 to 1991 and Member of the Riksdag (MP) for Värmland from 1982 to 1999.

Early life and career
Born in Skellefteå, Wallström is a high school graduate without academic degrees. In 1973, she started her career as a banking clerk at the Alfa Savings bank in Karlstad. She worked there from 1977 to 1979, and briefly as an accountant from 1986 to 1987. Wallström was the CEO of a regional TV network in Värmland, Sweden from 1993 to 1994. Before taking up her appointment as EU Commissioner she was executive vice-president of Worldview Global Media in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Political career
Wallström has had a long career in politics in the Swedish parliament, the Swedish government, and the European Commission. At 25, she was elected to parliament. She was Environment Commissioner from 1999 to 2004, and in the Swedish government she was Minister for Consumer Affairs, Women and Youth from 1988 to 1991, Minister for Culture from 1994 to 1996, and Minister for Social Affairs from 1996 to 1998.

European Commissioner for the Environment, 1999–2004
During her time in office, Wallström pushed the European Commission's initial proposal for REACH, a regulation requiring manufacturers of industrial chemicals to test and register their products with the European Chemicals Agency before they can be used. In 2004, she approved the importation of a genetically modified corn from the United States for animal feed after a six-year moratorium, arguing in a statement that the corn produced by biotechnology company Monsanto, known as NK603 maize, had been rigorously tested and was considered "as safe as any conventional maize".

First Vice-President of the European Commission, 2004–2010
In 2004, Wallström became the first member of the European Commission to operate a blog. The comments section of her site quickly became a hotspot for arguments concerning the policies of the European Union. After the rejection of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe by French and Dutch voters, Wallström pushed forward her "plan D" (for democracy, dialogue and debate) to reconnect Citizens with the Union. Her work on such platforms, including the backing of the oneseat.eu petition, has given her a good reputation in some quarters, even being dubbed "the Citizens Commissioner" – but has earned her names like "the Propaganda Commissioner" as well from political opponents. The Economist listed her among the least effective commissioners in 2009.

In 2006, Wallström presented her a plan to transform the EU's Europe by Satellite (EbS) video-broadcast service into an EU news agency; the plan was scrapped after press organizations complained that it would undermine the work of reporters covering the EU. Following Sweden's 2006 election, in which the Social Democratic Party lost power, former Prime Minister Göran Persson announced his withdrawal from politics in March 2007. Wallström was regarded as the favourite candidate to succeed Persson as Social Democratic party leader, but made clear that she did not wish to be considered for the position. The post instead went to Mona Sahlin.

Between 2006 and 2007, Wallström served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters. Immediately after the election of Mona Sahlin as party leader, Wallström accepted a membership in a group working to develop political strategies for the upcoming election to the European Parliament in 2009. The membership in this group was considered by Swedish liberal Carl B Hamilton (and later also Fredrik Reinfeldt) to constitute a breach of the oath every member of the European Commission gives, which states that any member of the commission should work for the community's best interest with no influence from politicians. European Commission spokespeople Mikolaj Dowgielewicz and Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen stated that her new assignment was not in conflict with her commissioner position.

In December 2006, Wallström was voted the most popular woman in Sweden, beating royals and athletes in a survey carried out by ICA-kuriren and Sifo. In the previous year she had attained second place. Wallström was modest in response stating that "it might be because I'm so far away". On 16 November 2007, Margot Wallström, became Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders Ministerial Initiative. This position was previously held by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.

United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, 2010–2012
On 31 January 2010, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, announced at the African Union summit in Ethiopia his intention to nominate Wallström as his first ever United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. As a reaction, Wallström said that she felt "honoured" and "humble" to have been chosen for the job, which she started in April 2010.

In August 2010, Ban sent Wallström to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help investigate claims that rebel fighters raped more than 150 women and baby boys over four days within miles of a UN base in the country. Wallström later addressed the United Nations Security Council in a September 2010 session on the use of sexual violence as a weapon by both rebel militias and government troops in the eastern provinces of the DRC. In her speech, she demonstrated that the rapes in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces "were not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of widespread systematic rape and pillage".

On 18 September 2010, Wallström confirmed that when her assignment with the UN came to an end in February 2012, she would become the chair of the University Board at Lund University in Sweden.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, 2014–2019
On 3 October 2014, when the Social Democratic leader Stefan Löfven became Prime Minister, Wallström was appointed to the Swedish government as Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 30 October 2014, Wallström became the first EU foreign minister to recognise the State of Palestine, with a view to "facilitate a peace agreement by making the parties less unequal"; as a result, Israel the same day recalled its ambassador for consultations. Although a visit by Wallström to Israel had been planned for January 2015, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to receive her. Wallström's diplomatic immunity status in Israel was also revoked which meant that if she visited Israel she would do as an individual rather than an official of a foreign state, which would normally mean enjoying protection by security services. In a March 2018 interview, she stated that the intent behind the recognition was to speed up the process towards a Two-state solution but also admitted that no progress on that issue had been made.

In December 2014, Wallström called in the Russian ambassador to Sweden, Victor Ivanovitj Tatarintsev, over the behaviour of a Russian military jet which Swedish authorities said had caused an SAS flight from Copenhagen to Poznan, Poland, to change course off southern Sweden; the incident inflamed sensitivities over Russian flights in the Nordic region, driven in part by tensions over separatism in eastern Ukraine. On 11 September 2015, she again summoned Russia's ambassador to explain comments from the Russian foreign ministry warning of "consequences" if Sweden joins NATO.

In January 2015, Wallström tweeted criticism of Saudi Arabia's flogging of human rights activist blogger Raif Badawi, calling it a "cruel attempt to silence modern forms of expression". In May 2015, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Wallström as member of the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, an initiative aimed at preparing recommendations for the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. One of Wallström's main foreign policy goals was to secure one of the non-permanent seats for Sweden on the UN Security Council in the 2016 elections. This was achieved on 28 June 2016.

In February 2018, Wallström cancelled her visit to Turkey that was due in two weeks to protest the Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at ousting U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds from the enclave of Afrin. In December 2018, Wallström met with Iranian deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in her office, a meeting which was unannounced by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Political positions
Wallström "promised a 'feminist' foreign policy when her Social Democrats formed the coalition government" in October 2014. She has criticized the lack of women's rights in Saudi Arabia. The Spectator, the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language, wrote:

On 10 March 2015 Sweden announced it would revoke a weapons export agreement with Saudi Arabia that had been in place since 2005. Saudi Arabia retaliated by stopping visa issues for Swedish businesspeople, boycotting Wallström's speech from the Arab League, temporarily withdrawing their ambassador from Sweden, and refusing to accept four Amazonian monkeys from a Swedish zoo.

King Carl XVI Gustaf then offered to mediate with the Saudi king, and a fellow Social Democrat member of the government, Björn von Sydow, travelled to meet King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, taking him private letters from the Swedish King and from Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. These have remained classified, but in a press conference on 28 March, Wallström said: "I am very pleased to announce that we can normalize our relations immediately, and that we are able to welcome the Saudi ambassador back to Sweden. It is deeply satisfying that we have been able to clear the misunderstanding that we insulted the world religion Islam."

Wallström has called for more articles on Wikipedia about women related topics.

European integration
In 2005, Wallström, in her capacity as EU Commissioner responsible for communications, came under pressure to justify her handling of a controversial speech that linked opposition to European integration with Nazi genocide, after it emerged she had changed the version published on the internet to remove the controversial passage. The original version of the speech, given to journalists ahead of Wallström's visit to Terezin in the Czech Republic to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp, suggested that scrapping the idea of a supranational Europe could put the continent back on the road to a holocaust.

Israel
In the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris attacks in which 137 were murdered, Wallström told Swedish television network SVT2: "To counteract the radicalization we must go back to the situation such as the one in the Middle East of which not the least the Palestinians see that, for us, there is no future: we must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence." The Israeli government reacted angrily to Wallström's linking the attacks to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, summoning the Swedish ambassador and saying Wallström's statement bordered on antisemitism and blood libel.

In December 2015, Wallström denounced the ongoing wave of Palestinian knife and car-ramming attacks in Israel. On 12 January 2016, Wallström called for an investigation into whether Israel was guilty of the extrajudicial killings of Palestinians during the violence, causing further anger in the Israeli political establishment. The Foreign Ministry of Israel issued an official statement saying that Wallström's "irresponsible and delirious statements are giving support to terrorism and encouraging violence". This also caused further deterioration in Israel-Sweden relations, and Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel Tzipi Hotovely declared that Swedish politicians of the rank of deputy minister and above are not welcome in Israel. Though she later clarified that it was only the Foreign Minister and her aids what are not welcome. International law expert Noah Feldman stated Wallström misunderstands international law, which does not apply in these cases. The Simon Wiesenthal Center placed Wallström at place eight on its annual list of the worst "anti-semitic/anti-israel incidents".

Although she has criticized Israel, Wallström opposes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, supports Israel's right to defend itself, and is in favor of the two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. She expressed her condemnation of BDS during an "Israel day" conference held by the Jewish community in Sweden. During Wallström's December 2016 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, many Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, refused to meet her, citing scheduling conflicts. Some sources suggest that the refusal stemmed from Wallström's policy on Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Wallström welcomed the UN Security Council Resolution 2334 and said it confirms the position of both the EU and Sweden on the continued Israeli settlement of the occupied West Bank.

Rented apartment
On 15 January 2016, Aftonbladet published information that Wallström was one of several labour officials who rented apartment in Stockholm, owned by the Swedish Municipal Workers' Union, bypassing an average eight-year waiting list. Wallström replied that she acted in good faith and received a confirmation from highest-ranking officials, that all norms and rules were followed. Wallström accused the union's general secretary Annelie Nordström of not being truthful. The affair caused a controversy and prompted an investigation by a special prosecutor. The prosecutor closed the investigation in May 2016 and cleared Wallström, stating that there was no evidence any crime had been committed.

Turkish child sex tweet
On 24 August 2016 Wallström tweeted that "Turkish decision to allow sex with children under 15 must be reversed. Children need more protection, not less, against violence, sex abuse." This was after the Constitutional Court of Turkey cancelled a constitutional provision that made all sexual activities with children under the age of 15 criminal as sexual abuse. Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu summoned Swedish ambassador for reprimand meeting and deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek accused Wallström of being misinformed and acting without checking all facts. The original case was brought to the Constitutional Court by a lower court that was afraid there is no legal discrimination between teenagers that may understand the meaning of sex and toddlers that do not understand it.

Corporate boards

 * Edberg Dialog, Member of the Board
 * Ica Gruppen, Member of the Board of Directors (2013–2014)

Non-profit organizations

 * Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), Member of the Board (since 2020)
 * Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy (CFFP), Member of the Advisory Board
 * European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member
 * International Crisis Group, Member of the Board of Trustees
 * International Gender Champions (IGC), Member
 * Institute for Human Rights & Business (IHRB), Chair of the International Advisory Council
 * Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ), Member of the International Advisory Council
 * Svenska PostkodStiftelsen, Member of the Board of Directors
 * Enough Project, Fellow
 * Global Challenge Foundation, Member of the Board (2013–2014)
 * Institute for Human Rights and Business, Advisor (2012-2014), Chair (2020-present)
 * International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), Member of the Advisory Board (2011–2014)
 * Lund University, Chairwoman of the University Board (2012–2014)

Recognition

 * 2001 – Honorary doctor at Chalmers University, Sweden
 * 2002 – European Commissioner of the Year (by European Voice)
 * 2004 – Honorary doctor at Mälardalen University, Sweden
 * 2004 – IAIA Global Environmental Award
 * 2005 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell
 * 2008 – Göteborg Award for Sustainable Development (jointly with Theo Colborn, Jan Ahlbom and Ulf Duus
 * 2009 – Monismanien Prize for Freedom of Speech
 * 2016 – Grand Star of the Order of Jerusalem, State of Palestine

Personal life
Wallström has been married to her husband, Håkan, since 1984. She has two sons. She lives in Stockholm and Värmland.

Publications

 * 2007 Foreword to Al Gore's Swedish translation of the book An Inconvenient Truth.
 * 2004 Book (together with MEP Göran Färm): The People's Europe or Why is it so hard to love the EU?

title: Margot Wallström


text:
Court of Justice

Court of Justice may refer to:

In general

 * court, a court of law

Specific legal bodies

 * Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) of CARICOM
 * Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)
 * European Court of Justice (ECJ), the highest court in the CJEU
 * International Court of Justice (ICJ), a World Court of the UN
 * Court of Justice (Brazil)
 * Court of Justice (France), set up by the French Provisional Government after World War II
 * Ontario Court of Justice (Canada)
 * African Court of Justice of the African Union

Other uses

 * Court of Justice (film), a 1953 Spanish crime film

title: Court of Justice


text:
Washington State Ferries

Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals located around Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands, designated as part of the state highway system. The agency maintains a fleet of 21 vessels that are able to carry passengers and vehicles.

The ferry system carried a total of 18.66 million riders in 2023—9.69 million passengers and 8.97 million vehicles. WSF is the largest ferry system in the United States and the second-largest vehicular ferry system in the world behind BC Ferries. The state ferries carried an average of per weekday in.

History
The ferry system has its origins in the "mosquito fleet", a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1930s, two lines remained: the Puget Sound Navigation Company (known as the Black Ball Line) and the Kitsap County Transportation Company. A strike in 1935 caused the KCTC to close, leaving only the Black Ball Line.

Toward the end of the 1940s, the Black Ball Line wanted to increase its fares, to compensate for increased wage demands from the ferry workers' unions, but the state refused to allow this, and so the Black Ball Line shut down. In 1951, the state bought nearly all of Black Ball's ferry assets for $5 million (Black Ball retained five vessels of its fleet). The state government intended to run ferry service only until cross-sound bridges could be built, but these were never approved and left the ferries as the only means of crossing for vehicles.

The new system was operated by the Washington State Toll Bridge Authority, which ordered ten new vessels that could carry 60 to 100 vehicles. A set of revenue bonds were also issued to purchase the 16 vessels and 20 terminals of the Puget Sound Navigational Company for a total of $4.94 million. The ten initial routes were reduced to eight by the end of the year. A route between Port Townsend and Keystone on Whidbey Island was launched in June 1974 to replace a privately-run service that had lost its franchise.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, WSF reduced service on most routes and suspended trips to Sidney on the Anacortes–San Juan Islands route. The loss of workers who retired, transferred, or were fired during the pandemic caused delays and trip cancellations as service and ridership began to recover in 2021 and 2022, while vessel replacement also ran behind schedule. By early 2023, full levels of service were restored on four routes but remained limited across much of the system; the Sidney route is not expected to re-enter service until 2030. Staffing issues, particularly among ship captains and mates, continue to prevent the full restoration of service on the Seattle–Bremerton and Fauntleroy–Vashon–Southworth routes. As mitigation for the delay in restoring the Seattle–Bremerton run's second vessel, WSF funded additional trips on the parallel Kitsap Fast Ferries that serves both terminals.

Routes

WSF has 10 routes that serve 20 terminals in Puget Sound and the Salish Sea in Western Washington. The busiest route is the Seattle–Bainbridge Island ferry, which carried 4.8 million total riders in 2023; the Mukilteo–Clinton ferry carried 2.1 million total vehicles in 2023, the most of any route.

Former routes

 * Agate Pass, replaced by the Agate Pass Bridge on October 7, 1950
 * Edmonds–Port Ludlow
 * Port Gamble–Shine, replaced by South Point route on June 10, 1950
 * Seattle–Suquamish, discontinued on October 1, 1951
 * South Point–Lofall, replaced by Hood Canal Bridge in 1961
 * Tacoma Narrows, replaced by Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940 but reinstated from 1940 to 1950

Operations
In 2022, Washington State Ferries had an operating budget of $282.5 million and spent approximately $16.47 per passenger trip. The system has over 1,500 employees, but had had crew shortages in the early 2020s that have led to sailing cancellations and deferred maintenance. Onboard food service, primarily through the ship galley and vending machines, is operated by contractor Sodexo Live.

The agency allows weddings and other celebrations to take place on board ferries, as well as the scattering of cremated remains with advance reservations.

Fleet

, there are 21 ferries in the WSF fleet that serve Puget Sound. The largest vessels in this fleet carry up to 2500 passengers and 202 vehicles. They are painted in a distinctive white and green trim paint scheme, and feature double-ended open vehicle decks and bridges at each end so that they do not need to turn around. Most of the ferries feature an outdoor deck with two "pickleforks" where passengers board and disembark the vessel.

The fleet uses diesel fuel to power its engines and is the largest consumer of diesel fuel in the state government at 19 million gallons used annually prior to 2020; WSF plans to electrify its fleet over 20 years. By 2040, it intends to build 16 new hybrid-electric vessels and convert six others to have hybrid propulsion. This will reduce carbon emissions by up 180,000 tons annually and save $19 million per year in diesel fuel costs. The first vessel to undergo conversion to use hybrid-electric propulsion is MV Wenatchee, which will be converted from 2023 to 2024. The program was originally expected to begin in 2022 with a new boat constructed by Vigor Industrial, but cost overruns and disagreements led to delays. Vigor had been the sole shipbuilder for Washington State Ferries since 1997. Bids for the hybrid-electric ferries, which will carry 164 vehicles and 1,500 passengers, were opened to non-Washingtonian shipbuilders in 2024 with invitations sent to 15 interested companies.

, 9 of the 21 active ferries maintained by Washington State Ferries are considered to be in good condition. Cancellation of sailings due to mechanical problems and urgent maintenance increased in the 2010s and 2020s.

The ferry fleet consists of the following vessels:

Retired vessels

Since the beginning of state-run ferry service in 1951, WSF has retired many vessels as they have become older, too expensive to operate or maintain, or have become too small to provide adequate ferry service. WSF owned passenger-only vessels between 1985 and 2009, but after discontinuing its two passenger-only routes in the 2000s, WSF has sold its passenger-only ferries to other operators.

Below is a list of ferries that WSF has retired since 1951. Unless otherwise noted, all vessels introduced in 1951 were acquired from the Puget Sound Navigation Company (PSN), also known as the Black Ball Line, when the state took over the company's routes and ferryboats in Puget Sound.

title: Washington State Ferries


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Chaim Herzog

Major-General Chaim Herzog (חיים הרצוג; 17 September 1918 – 17 April 1997) was an Israeli politician, general, lawyer and author who served as the sixth President of Israel between 1983 and 1993. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Dublin, the son of Ireland's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935 and served in the Haganah Jewish paramilitary group during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. He returned to Palestine after the war and, following the end of the British Mandate and Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, fought in the Battles of Latrun during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He retired from the Israel Defence Forces in 1962 with the rank of major-general.

After leaving the military, Herzog practised law. In 1972 he was a co-founder of Herzog, Fox & Ne'eman, which would become one of Israel's largest law firms. Between 1975 and 1978 he served as Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, in which capacity he denounced UN General Assembly Resolution 3379—the "Zionism is Racism" resolution—and symbolically tore it up before the assembly. Herzog entered politics in the 1981 elections, winning a Knesset seat as a member of the Alignment. Two years later, in March 1983, he was elected to the largely ceremonial role of President. He served for two five-year terms before retiring in 1993. He died four years later and was buried on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.

His son Isaac Herzog, who between 2013 and 2017 led the Israeli Labor Party and was the parliamentary Opposition in the Knesset, is the incumbent President of Israel. The pair are the first father and son to have served as the nation's president.

Biography
Chaim Herzog was born on Cliftonpark Avenue in Belfast as the son of Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, who was Chief Rabbi of Ireland from 1919 to 1937 (and later of Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel), and his wife Sarah (née Hillman). His father was born in Łomża in what was then Congress Poland, part of the Russian Empire, and his mother Sarah Herzog was born in Radviliškis in Lithuania, also part of the Russian Empire at that time; his maternal grandfather was the Orthodox Jewish Talmudic scholar Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman. The family home from 1919 was at 33 Bloomfield Avenue, Portobello, Dublin.

Herzog's father, a fluent Irish speaker, was known as "the Sinn Féin Rabbi" for his support of the First Dáil and the Irish republican cause during the Irish War of Independence. Herzog studied at Wesley College, Dublin, and was involved with the Federation of Zionist Youth and Habonim Dror, the Labour Zionist movement, during his teenage years.

The family emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1935; Herzog subsequently served in the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah during the 1936–39 Arab revolt. He studied at University College, London (UCL), and was awarded Bachelor of Laws from the University of London in 1941.

He later qualified as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn. Following his time at university, Herzog held the position of Chairman of the Union of Jewish Students (at that time named the Inter-University Jewish Federation).

Military career

Herzog joined the British Army during the Second World War, operating primarily in Germany as a tank commander in the Royal Armoured Corps. There, he was given his lifelong parallel name of "Vivian" because his first commander could not pronounce "Chaim"; but another Jewish soldier explained to the commander that "Vivian" was the English equivalent of "Chaim". He was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1943. Herzog participated in the liberation of several Nazi concentration camps as well as identifying a captured German soldier as Heinrich Himmler. He left the British Army in March 1947 as a war substantive captain and was granted the honorary rank of Major.

Immediately following the war, he returned to Palestine. After the establishment of the State of Israel, he fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, serving as an officer in the battles for Latrun. His intelligence experience during the Second World War was seen as a valuable asset, and he subsequently became head of the IDF Military Intelligence Branch, a position in which he served from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1959 to 1962. From 1950 to 1954, he served as defence attaché at the Israeli Embassy in the United States. Herzog left Washington in September 1954. A State Department official had informed him that he was about to be declared persona non grata. The decision to expel him had been taken following an FBI investigation into his attempt to recruit a Jordanian diplomat. He retired from the IDF in 1962 with the rank of major-general.

Legal career
After leaving the army, Herzog opened a private law practice. He returned to public life in 1967, when the Six-Day War broke out, as a military commentator for Kol Israel radio news. Following the capture of the West Bank, he was appointed Military Governor of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

In 1972, he went into partnership with Michael Fox and Yaakov Neeman, and established the law firm of Herzog, Fox & Neeman, one of the largest law firms in Israel.

Diplomatic and political career
In 1975, Herzog was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, in which capacity he served until 1978. During his term the UN adopted the "Zionism is Racism" resolution (General Assembly Resolution 3379), which Herzog condemned and symbolically tore up (as his father had done to one of the British white papers regarding the British Mandate in Palestine), saying: "For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value. For us, the Jewish people, this is no more than a piece of paper and we shall treat it as such." In recent years British historians headed by Simon Sebag-Montefiore have included this speech in a book on speeches that changed the world, which includes others by Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy. Furthermore, Herzog raised the voice against the indifference of some Jewish leaders who seemed "to act with indifference" to the light of the said condemnation against Zionism, he asked then: "Where is the Jewish people?" in The New York Times article titled: "Herzog Asserts Jews Didn't Aid Israelis in U.N. Zionism Debate". After the publication of the editorial, "several letters of support arrived to the Israel delegation at the United Nations", he had become a hero for the common Jewish American citizen.

In the 1981 elections, Herzog entered politics for the first time, winning a seat in the Knesset as a member of the Alignment, the predecessor to the Labor Party.

President of Israel
On 22 March 1983, Herzog was elected by the Knesset to serve as the sixth President of Israel, by a vote of 61 to 57, against Menachem Elon, the candidate of the right and the government coalition. He assumed office on 5 May 1983 and served two five-year terms (then the maximum permitted by Israeli basic law), retiring from political life in 1993. As president of Israel, Herzog made a number of visits abroad, being the first Israeli president to make an official visit to Germany, as well as visiting several far-east countries, such as Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. He was also noted for pardoning the Shin Bet agent involved in the Kav 300 affair.

In 1985, during his state visit to the Republic of Ireland, Herzog visited Wesley College, Dublin, opened the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, and unveiled a sculpture in honour of his childhood friend, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, former Chief Justice of Ireland and, later, the fifth President of Ireland, in Sneem Culture Park, County Kerry.

Herzog was an opponent of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, to which he referred to as a nest "of world terror". He said the world largely dismissed Israel's warnings that Baghdad was becoming a capital of world terrorism, adding that some Western countries helped Hussein develop into a military power.

President Herzog reduced the sentences of Menachem Livni, Uzi Sharbaf and Shaul Nir, members of the Jewish Underground, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1984 murder of four Palestinians in the West Bank town of Hebron. Herzog reduced the sentences, first to 24 years, then to 15 years, and in 1989, to 10 years, which enabled the men to be released two years later on good behaviour.

Commemoration in Ireland
In 1998, the Ulster History Circle unveiled a commemorative blue plaque to Herzog at his birthplace on Cliftonpark Avenue, Belfast. The plaque was removed in August 2014 because it had been repeatedly vandalised with anti-Israel slogans. DUP councillor Brian Kingston said, "This is a shocking indication of the level of tension and anti-Semitism which currently exists in parts of Belfast."

A park is also named for him, Herzog Park, in Rathgar in south Dublin.

Death
Herzog died on 17 April 1997 in Tel Aviv, from heart failure caused by pneumonia at the age of 78. He is buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Family
Herzog's father was Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, chief rabbi of Ireland and later Israel. His brother Yaakov Herzog served as Israel's ambassador to Canada and later as Director General of the Prime Minister's Office. His brother-in-law was diplomat Abba Eban, their wives being sisters. He had four children, including Isaac Herzog, a politician who was the chairman of the Israeli Labor Party and chairman of the Jewish Agency and is now President of Israel, the first son of a president to serve as such.

title: Chaim Herzog