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Kerr-McGee

The Kerr-McGee Corporation, founded in 1929, was an American energy company involved in oil exploration, production of crude oil, natural gas, perchlorate and uranium mining and milling in various countries. On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleum acquired Kerr-McGee in an all-cash transaction totalling $16.5 billion plus $2.6 billion in debt and all operations moved from their base in Oklahoma, United States. As a result of further acquisitions, most of the former Kerr-McGee is now part of Occidental Petroleum.

History
The company later known as Kerr-McGee was founded in 1929 as Anderson & Kerr Drilling Company by Oklahoma businessman-politician Robert S. Kerr (1896-1963) and oil driller James L. Anderson. When Dean A. McGee (1904-1989), a former chief geologist for Phillips Petroleum, joined the firm in 1946, it changed its name to Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Incorporated. The company initially focused mostly on off-shore oil exploration and production, being one of the first companies to use drillships in the Gulf of Mexico, and later one of the first companies to use a Spar platform in the area.

With the acquisition of the Oryx Energy Company of Dallas, Texas in 1999, Kerr-McGee gained more onshore assets, as well as significant assets in several foreign areas in Algeria and western Kazakhstan. Later acquisitions of HS Resources and Westport Resources Corp. established the base of operations in Denver, Colorado and added large resource areas throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Until 2005, Kerr-McGee had two major divisions: chemical and oil-related. On November 21, 2005, its chemical division, based in Oklahoma City, was sold as an IPO, Tronox, thereby making Oklahoma City home to the administrative side of Kerr-McGee, while exploration and production management was located in Denver and Houston.

On June 23, 2006, Anadarko Petroleum, based in The Woodlands, Texas, purchased Kerr-McGee in an all-cash transaction totaling $16.5 billion plus the assumption of $2.6 billion in debt. Kerr-McGee shareholders approved the offer on August 10, 2006, and Kerr-McGee ceased to exist independently. All operations with the exception of Tronox which had been spun off in 2005 moved out of Oklahoma. Within a few years, the top positions at Anadarko had been filled by Kerr-McGee employees and many long-time Anadarko employees had left or been removed from the company, making the merger between Anadarko and Kerr-McGee a "wag the dog" transaction.

Kerr-McGee Corp. v. Navajo Tribe
Kerr-McGee v. Navajo Tribe, 471 U.S. 195 (1985), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that an Indian tribe is not required to obtain the approval of the Secretary of the Interior in order to impose taxes on non-tribal persons or entities doing business on a reservation.

In 1978, the Navajo Tribal Council passed two tax ordinances. The first was a tax of 3% on leaseholds (such as mineral rights) and the second was a 5% tax on business activity.

Kerr-McGee held substantial mineral rights on the Navajo Nation and filed a lawsuit in the federal district court seeking an injunction to prohibit the tribe from collecting the tax. Kerr-McGee argued that any tax of non-Indians by a tribe required approval by the Secretary of the Interior and the district court agreed, granting the injunction. The tribe appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Ninth Circuit overruled the district court, finding no federal statute or regulation required such approval. Kerr-McGee then appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted certiorari and agreed to hear the case. The court decided unanimously that the Navajo Nation had the right to tax Kerr-McGee because tribal authority to tax had already been recognized, and because no federal law prohibited exercising tribal sovereignty in enacting a tax.

United States
Main oil and gas operations in the US were the Mid-Continent, Rocky Mountains, onshore Louisiana, and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Main offices were located in downtown Denver and the Greenspoint area of Houston.

Corporate headquarters were located in Downtown Oklahoma City. In the 1970s the company had a forest products division, and mineral mining in New Mexico, Arizona, and Idaho, and coal mining in Wyoming and Illinois. Most of the U.S operations were on land owned by the U.S. government (i.e. Bureau of Land Management, National Forest) and the Navajo Indian tribe. Kerr-McGee owned a potash operation in California from 1974 to 1990.

Mainland China
Kerr-McGee had exploration, development, and production projects in Bohai Bay, China, near Beijing. Additional exploration was planned for the South China Sea. These operations were run primarily from an office in Beijing.

Other locations
Kerr-McGee and its subsidiaries formerly operated in western Kazakhstan, western Australia, Brazil, Trinidad, Benin, the United Kingdom and several other more minor locations around the world at various times.

Exploration in disputed regions of Western Sahara
Kerr-McGee received international criticism for undertaking exploration for hydrocarbon resources offshore the Moroccan controlled area of the disputed territory of Western Sahara in 2001. In 2003, one of Norway's main private investment funds, Skagen Vekst, sold their €3.6 million stake in the oil company, referring to ethical problems surrounding Kerr-McGee's engagement in Western Sahara. In May 2005, despite the number of growing protests, the company renewed the contract signed with Moroccan authorities until October. In June 2005, the Norwegian government sold the $52.7 million it had invested in the company through the Government Petroleum Fund (one of the biggest investment funds of the world), characterizing Kerr-McGee's contract in Western Sahara as having "particularly serious violations of fundamental ethical norms". That same month, another two Norwegian private investment funds (Storebrand and KLP) sold their participations on Kerr-McGee, €1 million and €1.45 million respectively. On May 2, 2006, the company declared its intention to no longer drill off the coast of the Western Sahara, by not renewing the contract signed with Morocco.

Under-payment of royalties to the U.S. government
On June 14, 2004, Bobby Maxwell, a senior government auditor for the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service ("MMS"), filed suit in federal court on behalf of the U.S. Government against Kerr-McGee, under the whistle-blowing provisions of the False Claims Act ("FCA"). In the suit, Mr. Maxwell alleged that, based on the information uncovered during his audit, "Kerr-McGee knowingly made false and/or fraudulent statements on the monthly royalty reports submitted to the MMS and 'understated and underpaid' its federal royalties." In January 2007, after a full trial on the issues, Kerr-McGee was found by a jury to have failed to report earnings, and thus, under-paying royalties due to the U.S. government. The jury award damages in the amount of US$7.6 million. Despite the jury's verdict, however, before entering judgment, the court reconsidered an earlier Motion for Summary Judgement filed by Kerr-McGee and reversed its prior holding, this time determining that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case at all. The case was appealed by Mr. Maxwell, and on September 10, 2008, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the ruling of the lower court, remanding it back for further proceedings. On September 16, 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Marcia S. Krieger of Colorado ordered Kerr-McGee to pay treble damages, or almost $23 million. As a whistle-blower under the FCA, Mr. Maxwell would be entitled to twenty-five percent of the amount recovered for the government, or approximately $5.7 million. Per Mr. Maxwell, however, most of the money awarded would go to pay the legal fees associated with his almost-10-year fight to force Kerr-McGee to change its deceptive practices and pay what it owed to the public.

Karen Silkwood
It is alleged that Karen Silkwood was negligently or purposefully contaminated with plutonium while working at Kerr-McGee's Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site and investigating safety violations at the plant. Her activism and November 1974 death were the subject of the 1983 film Silkwood. In a civil suit against Kerr-McGee by the Estate of Karen Silkwood, Judge Frank Theis told the jury, "If you find that the damage to the person or property of Karen Silkwood resulted from the operation of this plant, Kerr-McGee is liable."

The jury rendered its verdict of $505,000 in damages and $10,000,000 in punitive damages. On appeal, the judgment was reduced to $5,000. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court restored the original verdict (Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 283 (1984)). The suit was headed for retrial when Kerr-McGee settled out of court in 1986 for $1.38 million, admitting no liability. Gerry Spence, the noted trial lawyer from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, represented the Karen Silkwood estate in this litigation.

Environmental record
Kerr-McGee is at least partially responsible for large scale perchlorate water contamination first discovered in the Lower Colorado River in 1997; It stemmed from land used by a facility in Henderson, Nevada which was owned and operated by Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC (as of 2011 Tronox LLC), where perchlorate was produced from 1945 until 1998.

In May 2007, Kerr-McGee Corp spent $18 million on pollution controls in the first comprehensive settlement under the Clean Air Act that reduced harmful emission and conserved natural gas at production facilities across Utah and Colorado. The settlement addressed violations discovered at several of Kerr-McGee's natural gas compressor stations located on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation near Vernal, Utah, and in the Denver Julesburg Basin near Weld County, Colorado. In addition to implementing pollution controls, the agreement required Kerr-McGee to pay a $200,000 penalty, and spend $250,000 on environmental projects to benefit the areas in which violations occurred. In July 2005, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled with Kerr McGee Chemical in Henderson, Nevada that required the company to pay $55,392 penalty to resolve air permitting violations at its facility that began in 1993. The EPA cited Kerr-McGee for failing to install carbon monoxide emissions controls required under the Clean Air Act when it installed a new open hearth furnace in 1993. The company spent $4.8 million to install proper pollution controls at the facility reducing total carbon monoxide emission by 115 tons per year, an 80% reduction from previous levels.

Nuclear production
Kerr-McGee was involved in several nuclear endeavors. Sources:

In 1952 Kerr-McGee bought the Navajo Uranium Mining Company, including an interest in a number of mines. It also bought an ore buying station at Shiprock, New Mexico. In 1953 it built a processing plant (called the Shiprock Mill) near the buying station. In 1963 the mines and mill were sold to the Vanadium Corporation of America.

Later a partnership with other companies was formed called the Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation. In 1957-58 this partnership built a uranium mill near Grants, New Mexico and Ambrosia Lake. In 1983 the mill was taken over by a new Kerr-McGee subsidiary called the Quivira Mining Corporation. Quivira was sold to Rio Algom in 1989.

Kerr-McGee purchased the Lakeview Mining Company of Lake County, Oregon in 1961. The plant was shut down in late 1960 or 1961 and sold to Atlantic Richfield in 1968.

From about 1962-1966 Kerr-McGee processed uranium at its oil refinery site in Cushing, Oklahoma. It received licenses in 1962 for processing uranium and thorium, and in 1963 for enriched uranium. In 1966 it stopped production. An attempt was made to move all regulated nuclear material to the company's new Cimarron facility at Crescent, OK. Cleanups were attempted in 1966, 1972, 1979–82, and the 1990s

In about 1965 Kerr-McGee started producing uranium fuel at its Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site. This was located near the Cimarron River and Crescent, Oklahoma. From 1973 to 1975 it would also produce mixed Plutonium-Uranium Oxide (MOX) 'driver fuel pins' for use in the Fast Flux Test Facility at the Hanford Site in Washington State. The plant shut down in 1976.

In 1967 Kerr-McGee bought the American Potash and Chemical Company, which owned the Rare Earths Facility in West Chicago, Illinois. This facility produced thorium, radium, and uranium by acid leaching of monazite sands and other ores. It stopped work in 1973.

In 1968 the company started construction on what would become the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation plant in Gore, Oklahoma. In 1970 the plant started turning yellowcake uranium into uranium hexafluoride. In 1987 it began producing depleted uranium tetrafluoride using depleted uranium hexafluoride as input. In 1988 SFC was sold to General Atomics. In late November 1993 production ceased after a stuck valve in the processing plant stuck open and caused an uncontrolled reaction. The uncontrolled reaction resulted in a large visible cloud leaving the plant. Production ceased immediately and the plant operations were suspended to never resume.

Nuclear corporations, subsidiaries, and spinoffs
In 1956 Kerr-McGee formed the Kermac Nuclear Fuels Corporation in partnership with Anderson Development Corp, and Pacific Uranium Mines Co. It was active in New Mexico.

Some time in the 1970s, the Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation was formed. In 1983 it split into the Quivira Mining Corporation and Sequoyah Fuels Corporation. Quivira got the Ambrosia Lake, NM mine, while Sequoyah Fuels took over the Sequoyah plant in Gore, OK, as well as the Cimarron plant in Crescent, OK. Sequoyah was sold to General Atomics in 1988. and Quivira was sold to Rio Algom in 1989.

The Cimarron Corporation was a subdivision that took control of the Cimarron plant in 1988. When Tronox was spun off in 2006, it would get ownership of Cimarron Corporation and responsibility for the plant as well.

Kerr-McGee bought the American Potash and Chemical Company in 1967, including its Rare Earths Facility that processed uranium and thorium. AMPOT became Kerr-McGee Chemical Company around 1970 or 1974. In 2005 this became Tronox. Tronox became independent in 2006, a few months before Kerr-McGee was sold to Anadarko Petroleum. Tronox later went bankrupt, blaming in part the environmental liabilities inherited from KMC. In 2009 purchasers of Tronox filed a class action lawsuit against Anadarko for having allegedly misled investors.

Licenses
In the US, nuclear companies must get licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Kerr-McGee licenses follow:

 * SNM-928 - Cimarron - uranium fuel fabrication
 * SNM-1174 - Cimarron - mixed oxide fuel (MOX) fabrication - ?-1993
 * STA-583 - Rare Earths Facility
 * SMB-664 - Cushing refinery - uranium and thorium. 1962-1966
 * SNM-695 - Cushing refinery - enriched uranium. 1963-1966
 * SNM-1999 - Cushing refinery - cleanup. 1993-2006
 * SUB-1010 - Sequoyah
 * SUA-1473 - Ambrosia Lake source materials license (currently managed by BHP)

title: Kerr-McGee


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Unionist Democratic Union

The Unionist Democratic Union (الاتحاد الديمقراطي الوحدوي; Union démocratique unioniste) is a political party in Tunisia with pan-Arabist ideology.

History and profile
The party was founded on 30 November 1988 when it was recognized by the authorities. Its founder and first secretary-general Abderrahmane Tlili had been a member of the RCD before he founded the UDU in order to gather Arab nationalists, including Baathists and Nasserists, in a party that was close to the government. The party publishes a newspaper, entitled Al Watan.

In 1994, the electoral law was changed, ensuring the parliamentary representation of minor parties. The MDS received three of 163 seats (19 being reserved for the opposition). In the 1999 election, the party won seven seats, which it won again in the 2004 election. In 2009, this increased to nine seats.

In the election for the Constituent Assembly after the Tunisian revolution of 2011, the UDU failed to win any seats.

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

title: Unionist Democratic Union


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Battle of Łódź (1914)

The Battle of Łódź (Лодзинская операция), (Schlacht um Łódź) took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. Battles were fought between German units of the Eighth army, Ninth Army, Austrian First Army, and the Russian First, Second, and Fifth Armies, in harsh winter conditions. The Germans redeployed their Ninth Army around Thorn, so as to threaten the Russian northern flank, following German reversals after the Battle of the Vistula River. The German objective was to prevent an invasion of Germany, by encircling and destroying the Russians, as a result, Germans themselves were surrounded and actually lost 2 corps, although the invasion of Germany was prevented Battle had a strong impact on both the Western and Eastern fronts. It ended with the victory of the Russian troops, although the planned invasion of Germany was canceled

Background
Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolayevich favored Nikolai Ruzsky's plan to invade Silesia on 14 November, with the Russian Second, Fifth, and Fourth Armies. The Russian Tenth and First Armies maintained pressure on East Prussia, while the Eighth Army pressed against the Carpathian passes, the Eleventh besieged Przemyśl, and the Third army advanced on Kraków. Hindenburg and Ludendorff had moved the German Ninth Army to the Thorn area, in an attempt to defend Silesia. The Ninth Army consisted of the XI, XVII, and XX Corps, plus the 3rd Guards Infantry Division, and the I Reserve and XXV Reserve Corps from the Eighth Army. Four divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Second Army took over the German Ninth Army's former positions, the remainder of Second Army troops then came under the command of the Austro-Hungarian Third army. The Germans had placed 15 infantry divisions, and 5 cavalry divisions, under Mackensen's Ninth Army in its drive on Łódź. However, the German advance faced 24 Russian infantry divisions and 8 cavalry divisions. The Scheidemann's Russian Second army was deployed around Łódź, with his IV, I and XXIII Corps on the Warta, and his II Corps at Łęczyca. Rennenkampf's Russian First Army was deployed further east, along the Vistula.

On 1 November, Paul von Hindenburg was appointed commander of the two German armies on the Eastern Front. His Eighth Army was defending East Prussia. Knowing Silesia would be invaded on 14 November, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided not to meet the attack head-on, but to seize the initiative by shifting their Ninth Army north by railway to the border south of the German fortress at Thorn, where they were reinforced with two corps transferred from Eighth Army. The enlarged Ninth Army would then attack the Russian right flank, cutting Łódź off from Warsaw, and eliminating any troops thus encircled. In ten days Ninth Army was moved north by running 80 trains every day.

Battle

On 11 November, Mackensen's German Ninth Army I and XXV Reserve Corps struck at the V Siberia Corps of Rennenkampf's First Army, located near Włocławek on the left bank of the Vistula, before they could prepare defensive positions. The German XX Corps advanced on Lubraniec so as to attack the V Siberian Corps flank. Rennenkampf was refused permission to send his VI Siberian Corps from Wyszogród to the aid of the V Siberian Corps, who had to retreat. On 12 November, a gap formed between the Russian II and V Siberian Corps, as the V Siberian Corps was forced to retreat to the southeast, which Mackensen took advantage of on 13 November. On 14 November, Mackensen ordered his entire German Ninth Army to advance, with his XI Corps attacking the Russian XXIII Corps northern flank, his XVII and XX Corps engaging the Russian II Corps, and his I Reserve Corps was to capture Łowicz, while containing the VI Siberian Corps. Yet, the Russians were still unaware of the German force attacking them, as they started their invasion of Silesia. On 15 November, the Germans captured Kutno, and on 16 November, crossed the Bzura, while Scheidemann ordered his Russian I and IV Corps to retreat towards Łódź. As the German XX Corps captured Stryków, the XXV Reserve Corps captured Brzeziny on 18 November, while XX and XVII engaged the defenses of Łódź. The Russian Fifth Army's XIX and V Corps were ordered north to Skierniewice, in support of Second Army's left flank. It was Plehve's Russian Fifth Army which prevented German encirclement of Łódź from the south. In the interim, Rennenkampf's Russian First Army remained stationary, content to guard the approach to Warsaw.

Grand Duke Nicholas's primary objective was saving Second Army and avoiding a repeat of the disaster at Tannenberg. On 16 November he ordered Wenzel von Plehve's Russian Fifth Army to abandon the proposed offensive into Silesia and to move northward towards Łódź; they marched 116 km in only two days. As soon as Hindenburg saw the transcript of this order, he knew that his maneuver had succeeded. Now seven Russian corps were defending the city. Plehve smashed into Mackensen's right flank on 18 November in bitter winter conditions (at times the temperature dropped as low as 10 F.

By 19 November, the Germans were facing a numerically superior Russian force, with the intention of the Russians to attack the German penetration east of Łódź on 21 November. Yet, Mackensen still ordered his XX and XXV Reserve Corps to continue their effort to outflank the Russian Łódź defenses. The Germans made little progress on 20 November. On 21 November, a group commanded by Vladimir Slyusarenko in Rennenkampf's Russian First Army, advanced from Łowicz towards Bielawy and Strykow, in an attempt to close the 30 mi gap between the Russian First and Second Armies. Slyusarenko's force consisted of the 43rd Infantry Division, the 6th Siberian Infantry Division, and 3 additional brigades. Only the German 19th Dragoon Regiment opposed this Russian threat to Friedrich von Scholtz's XX Corps rear, whose front faced southwest, south, and east.

The German Ninth Army's right wing was XXV Reserve Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Reinhard von Scheffer-Boyadel, a 63-year-old who had been recalled from retirement. With Lieutenant General Manfred von Richthofen's, great uncle of the flying ace, cavalry in the van, they were pushing southeast between Łódź and the Vistula. Part of Rennenkampf's First Army was finally moving east to attack the Germans. Their repositioning was hindered when a makeshift bridge across the river collapsed, so they had to cross by ferry or on the nearest usable crossing 85 km upstream. Once over they attacked the weakly defended side of the corridor extending south from the German frontier to their advancing spearhead. The Russians reoccupied Brzeziny, cutting the roads used by German XXV Reserve Corps, whose progress south was now blocked by the Russian Fifth Army. Scheffer was ordered to stop advancing, but the order did not reach him. Suddenly it was the Germans who were ensnared in a pocket. Mackensen stopped attacking toward Łódź, turning to help to extricate them. The ecstatic Russians ordered trains for up to 20,000 prisoners, actually the German fighting strength in the pocket was about 11,000, but there were also 3,000 wounded. Other sources state that 50,000 prisoners were anticipated.

Hindenburg was alarmed by the intercepted wireless messages ordering the trains, but Mackensen assured him that they would prevail. In the pocket, Richthofen's cavalry, which had been leading the advance, reversed direction to screen the rear of three infantry columns Scheffer formed along the roads for the retreat back northwest. The frozen, hungry Germans pushed on through the icy night. They reached the outskirts of Breziny unobserved, because most of the 6th Siberian Division were huddling in their sleeping quarters, trying to keep from freezing. The Germans attacked at dawn with bayonets on unloaded rifles and occupied much of the town before a shot was fired. The commander of 6th Siberian Division, Gennings, broke down. Swamped with conflicting accounts of German movements, and with the weather too foggy and the days too short for aerial observation, Ruzsky issued a series of orders, each contradicting the one before.

Scheffer's left column, led by Karl Litzmann's 3rd Guards Infantry Division, had reached Breziny on the morning of 24 November. Litzmann wrote, on the retreat through Gałków Mały beforehand, "...the sleeping Russians were hauled out of the houses and taken prisoner." Litzmann led the "overwhelming and sudden" attack on Breziny, of which, "The success reinvigorated us," he later wrote. According to Buttar, "The confusion in command was widespread throughout the Russian formations involved in the fighting. It seems that the moves by Mackensen to aid the breakout by directing elements of XX Corps and I Reserve Corps to attack the encircling Russians distracted many local commanders, who directed their troops into positions from where they could cover any new German advance from the north, rather than a breakout from the encirclement." Scheffer's central column was led by Thiesenhausen's 49th Reserve Division messaged Scheffer, "There is no doubt: if we don't get through today, we will all be left lying on this ground, or will be en route for Siberia." By the end of the day, all three of Scheffer's columns were united in Brzeziny, including the right column consisting of Hans von der Goltz's 50th Reserve Division. In the words of Buttar, "It was the end of the encirclement of Scheffer's command."

Scheffer's XXV Reserve Corps was able to link up with the German XX Corps, when the Alexei Churin's Russian II Corps abandoned Strykow. Scheffer's men had escaped with their wounded, 12,000 Russian prisoners, and 64 captured Russian guns.

Inconclusive fighting continued until 29 November when at a conference with his front commanders Grand Duke Nicholas ordered his forces in Poland to withdraw to defensible lines nearer to Warsaw. Hindenburg learned from an intercepted wireless that Łódź was to be evacuated. The Germans moved in on 6 December, occupying a major industrial city with a population of more than 500,000 (about 70% of the population of Warsaw). German casualties were 35,000, while Russian losses were 70,000 plus 25,000 prisoners and 79 guns.

Aftermath
Mackensen, Scheffer and Litzmann were awarded the Pour le Mérite, while Litzmann earned the nickname 'the Lion of Brzeziny'. According to Buttar, "The encirclement of XXV Reserve Corps was broken for several reasons: lack of coordination by First, Second, and Fifth Armies; the extraordinary muddle of command in the Lowicz detachment; and Ruzsky's oscillation between his deep-rooted caution and his almost impulsive issuing of orders for all-out attacks." For the Russian Army, Łódź became the furthest point of advance towards Germany's heartland. Ruzsky retreated to a defensive line along the Bzura and Rawka rivers.

The Russians were able to avoid a full cauldron in a semi-circle and repel all attacks of their enemy, thereby avoiding a new Tannenberg. This meant that the Germans' encirclement plans were thwarted and the battle ended in a tactical victory for the Russians. The Germans themselves, e.g., Max Hoffmann and Ludendorff, admitted that the battle was not successful for them in terms of achieving operational and tactical objectives.

Hindenburg summed it up: "In its rapid changes from attack to defense, enveloping to being enveloped, breaking through to being broken through, this struggle reveals a most confusing picture on both sides. A picture which in its mounting ferocity exceeded all the battles that had previously been fought on the Eastern front!" The Polish winter bought a lull to the major fighting. A Russian invasion of Silesia must wait for spring. By this time, the Russians feared the German army, which seemed to appear from nowhere and to win a strategic victory despite substantial odds against them, while the Germans regarded the Russian army with "increasing disdain." Hindenburg and Ludendorff were convinced that if sufficient troops were transferred from the Western Front, they could force the Russians out of the war.

Thus, the battle turned out to be a kind of "Tannenberg on the contrary". If the East Prussian operation is a vivid example of a brilliant tactical victory and a strategic unsuccess for the Germans (as they moved from the west the needed troops in the form of 2 corps and 1 cavalry division that could be useful at the First Battle of the Marne), then the opposite is true with the Łódź operation. Technically, Łódź was a victory for Russia, but the Germans achieved their aim, and after the Russian withdrawal, Russia never came so close to German soil.

Central Powers Forces
[North to South]
 * 9th Army [as of Nov. 11, 1914] – Gen. August von Mackensen
 * Corps "Thorn" – Gen. Gustaf von Dickhuth-Harrach
 * 99th Reserve Infantry Brigade (from 50th Reserve Infantry Division)
 * 21st Landwehr Infantry Brigade
 * Brigade "Westernhagen" (Landwehr & Landsturm)
 * XXV Reserve Corps
 * 49th Reserve Infantry Division
 * 100th Reserve Infantry Brigade (from 50th Reserve Infantry Division)
 * I Reserve Corps
 * 1st Reserve Infantry Division
 * 36th Reserve Infantry Division
 * HKK 1 – Gen. Manfred von Richthofen
 * 6th Cavalry Division
 * 9th Cavalry Division
 * XX Corps
 * 37th Infantry Division
 * 41st Infantry Division
 * XVII Corps
 * 35th Infantry Division
 * 36th Infantry Division
 * XI Corps
 * 22nd Infantry Division
 * 38th Infantry Division
 * HKK 3 – Gen. Rudolf Ritter von Frommel
 * 5th Cavalry Division
 * 8th Cavalry Division
 * Austrian 7th Cavalry Division
 * Landsturm Brigade "Doussin" (part of Corps "Posen")
 * In reserve: 3rd Guards Infantry Division
 * Reinforcements:
 * Arrived starting mid-November:
 * Approximately 5 towed foot artillery battalions with 10 batteries of 21 cm heavy howitzers plus 1 Austro-Hungarian 30.5 cm siege howitzer battery (from the eastern fortresses and the west)
 * Mid-November:
 * Corps "Posen" (four weak brigades composed of Landwehr, Ersatz and Landsturm troops) – Gen. Fritz Wilhelm von Hernhaußen
 * End of November:
 * II Corps (from the west)
 * 3rd Infantry Division (later one brigade transferred to Corps "Gerok")
 * 4th Infantry Division
 * Corps "Gerok"
 * 48th Reserve Infantry Division (from the west)
 * Corps "Breslau" (later added to Corps "Gerok")
 * Division "Menges"
 * Brigade "Schmiedecke"
 * 1st Infantry Division (from I Corps of 8th Army in East Prussia)
 * 4th Cavalry Division (from southern part of the East Prussian front)
 * Beginning of December:
 * Corps "Fabek" (from the west)
 * 26th Infantry Division
 * 25th Reserve Infantry Division
 * III Reserve Corps (from the west)
 * 5th Reserve Infantry Division
 * 6th Reserve Infantry Division
 * Mid-December:
 * 1st Guard Reserve Infantry Division (from Army "Woyrsch")

Russian Forces
Northwestern Front – Gen. Ruzsky

 * 1st Army – Gen. Paul von Rennenkampf (from 2 Dec. Gen. Alexander Litvinov)
 * I Turkestan Corps
 * 11th Siberian Rifle Division
 * 1st Turkestan Rifle Brigade
 * 2nd Turkestan Rifle Brigade
 * V Siberian Corps
 * 50th Infantry Division
 * 79th Infantry Division
 * VI Corps
 * 4th Infantry Division
 * 16th Infantry Division
 * VI Siberian Corps
 * 13th Siberian Rifle Division
 * 14th Siberian Rifle Division
 * Combined Cossack Division
 * Guard Cossack Division
 * 4th Don Cossack Division
 * 6th Cavalry Division
 * Ussuri Mounted Brigade
 * Reinforcements:
 * II Corps (from 2nd Army)
 * 6th Siberian Rifle Division (from 10th Army)
 * 55th Infantry Division (from army reserve)
 * 67th Infantry Division (from army reserve)
 * 63rd Reserve Division (half) (from Warsaw fortified area)
 * 3rd Turkestan Rifle Brigade
 * Rifle Officers’ School Regiment (from Warsaw fortified area)
 * 2nd Army – Gen. Sergei Scheidemann
 * I Corps
 * 22nd Infantry Division
 * 24th Infantry Division
 * II Corps
 * 26th Infantry Division
 * 43rd Infantry Division
 * II Siberian Corps
 * 4th Siberian Rifle Division
 * 5th Siberian Rifle Division
 * IV Corps
 * 30th Infantry Division
 * 40th Infantry Division
 * XXIII Corps
 * 3rd Guard Infantry Division
 * 1st Rifle Brigade
 * one brigade of 2nd Infantry Division
 * Cavalry Corps "Novikov"
 * 5th Cavalry Division
 * 8th Cavalry Division
 * 14th Cavalry Division
 * Caucasus Cavalry Division
 * Reinforcements in Dec:
 * 2nd Cavalry Division (from 10th Army)
 * 62nd Reserve Division (from army reserve)
 * 5th Army – Gen. Pavel Plehve
 * I Siberian Corps
 * 1st Siberian Rifle Division
 * 2nd Siberian Rifle Division
 * V Corps
 * 5th Infantry Division
 * 10th Infantry Division
 * XIX Corps
 * 17th Infantry Division
 * 38th Infantry Division
 * 5th Don Cossack Division
 * Turkmen Cossack Brigade

title: Battle of Łódź (1914)


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Popular Unity Party (Tunisia)

The Popular Unity Party (حزب الوحدة الشعبية; Parti de l'Unité Populaire, PUP) is an Arab nationalist party in Tunisia.

History and profile
The party was founded in 1981 as a breakaway from the left-wing Popular Unity Movement (MUP) by members who disagreed with MUP leader Ahmed Ben Salah's policy to boycott elections. In 1983, the government of Mohammed Mzali legalised two moderate oppositional parties, including the PUP.

The party won two seats in the general election held on 20 March 1994.

Following the elections of 1999, the PUP had seven members in the Tunisian parliament. At the 2004 legislative elections, the party won 3.6% of the popular vote and 11 out of 189 seats. The same day, its candidate Mohamed Bouchiha, won 3.8% at the presidential elections. In 2006, the PUP tried to form an alliance with three other minor oppositional parties, the Social Liberal Party (PSL), the Unionist Democratic Union (UDU) and the Green Party for Progress (PVP). However, the alliance quickly collapsed when some of the participants were accused of pursuing particular interests rather than unity of the opposition. At the 2009 legislative elections, the PUP won 3.4% of the popular vote and 12 out of 214 seats.

After the Tunisian revolution of 2011, the PUP participated in elections for the Constituent Assembly, but failed to win any seats.

The party has published a weekly newspaper under the title of Al Wahada.

title: Popular Unity Party (Tunisia)


text:
Herbert Wehner

Herbert Richard Wehner (11 July 1906 – 19 January 1990) was a German politician. A former member of the Communist Party, he joined the Social Democrats (SPD) after World War II. He served as Federal Minister of Intra-German Relations from 1966 to 1969 and thereafter as chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag until 1983.

During his tenure in the Bundestag from 1949 to 1983, Wehner became (in-)famous for his caustic rhetoric and heckling style, often hurling personal insults at MPs with whom he disagreed. He holds the record for official censures (77 by one count, 78 or 79 by others) handed down by the presiding officer.

Life
Herbert Wehner was born in Dresden, the son of a shoemaker. His father was active in his trade union and a member of the Social Democratic Party. More radical than his father, Wehner engaged in anarcho-syndicalist circles around Erich Mühsam, driven by the 1923 invasion of Reichswehr troops into the Free State of Saxony at the behest of the DVP–SPD Reich government of Chancellor Gustav Stresemann. He also fell out with Mühsam, whose pacifist manners he rejected and was accused of stealing money by him, which Wehner never denied. He finally joined the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1927, becoming an official of the party's Rote Hilfe organisation the same year.

Wehner rose quickly and was elected to the Landtag state legislature of Saxony in 1930. Nevertheless, he resigned one year later to work at the KPD politburo in Berlin with Walter Ulbricht. After Hitler's seizure of power in January 1933, he participated in the communist resistance against the Nazi regime from the Saar Protectorate. When the Saar was re-incorporated in 1935, Wehner went into exile, first to Paris, then in 1937 to Moscow, where he lived at Hotel Lux, wrote for the Deutsche Zentral-Zeitung and had to face Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937–38. After Wehner's death, German news magazine Der Spiegel documented accusations that he informed the NKVD on several party fellows like Hugo Eberlein, presumably to save his own life. After being sent to neutral Sweden in 1941 in order to re-enter Germany, he was arrested at Stockholm and interned for espionage in 1942. Whether he deliberately went into custody has not been conclusively established; at least he was excluded from the Communist Party by politburo chief Wilhelm Pieck.

Upon his return to Germany in 1946, Wehner joined the Social Democratic Party in Hamburg and soon became an aide of Chairman Kurt Schumacher. After the 1949 federal election he entered the Bundestag parliament and remained an MP until his retirement from politics in 1983, from 1952 to 1958 also as a member of the European Parliament. In 1957/58 and again from 1964 to 1966, he served as deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. Wehner was instrumental in the party's adoption of the Godesberg Program in which the Social Democrats repudiated a fixation on Marxist ideology and broadened its appeal. In 1966, he was named Federal Minister for All-German Affairs in the CDU–SPD grand coalition government of Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The cooperation between the ex-communist and the former member of the Nazi Party went well; Wehner even promised the CDU partners to stabilize the coalition by backing the implementation of a plurality voting system, which he later denoted as "nonsense". When the SPD assumed the reins of government under Chancellor Willy Brandt upon the 1969 federal election, Wehner became chairman of the SPD parliamentary faction. He was known as a hard disciplinarian who kept his members in line. When the CDU on 27 April 1972 waged a constructive vote of no confidence against Brandt, he ordered the SPD deputies not to participate in the ballot in order to exclude possible bribed dissidents. The opposing candidate Rainer Barzel failed to reach the absolute majority by two votes. After Brandt was re-elected in 1972, the relations between the two men cooled down during the 1973 oil crisis, when Wehner increasingly viewed the chancellor's policies as indecisive. In the course of the Guillaume Affair, he did not make great efforts to persuade Brandt to stay in office and promoted the chancellorship of Helmut Schmidt.

Already Father of the House from 1980, Wehner did not seek re-election in 1983, after the social-liberal coalition had finally broken up. He retired to Bonn, where he died in 1990 at the age of 83 after a long illness, suffering from Diabetes mellitus and Binswanger's disease.

Rhetoric
Wehner held an infamous reputation among members of the Bundestag (and the public) for his sharp, and often insulting, rhetoric towards MPs that disagreed with him. His remarks about political opponents often revolved around insulting word plays with their respective last names. One notable exception is his pejorative neologism "Düffeldoffel" which he used to insult Helmut Kohl. His sharp comments would not stop at his own party either: When the SPD-MP Franz Josef Zebisch complained about how the alphabetic seating order in the Bundestag in the 1960s left him at the back of the room, Wehner told him to just rename himself to “Comrade Asshole”.

German media occasionally depicts Wehner and CSU-politician Franz Josef Strauß to have been political rivals as both had highly influential yet never the highest positions within their respective parties and Strauß was also known for a fierce albeit less personally insulting rhetoric.

Wehner's reception across the aisle among CDU/CSU politicians was mostly negative due to his rhetoric. However, CDU politician Heiner Geißler acknowledged Wehner's uncompromising style of standing up for his party's positions as "the biggest parliamentary howitzer of all time".

title: Herbert Wehner


text:
Social Democrats (Denmark)

The Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet,, lit. 'The Social Democracy') is a social democratic political party in Denmark. A member of the Party of European Socialists, the Social Democrats have 50 out of 179 members of the Danish parliament (following the latest Danish general election held in 2022), Folketing, and three out of fourteen MEPs elected from Denmark.

Founded by Louis Pio in 1871, the party first entered the Folketing in the 1884 Danish Folketing election. By the early 20th century, it had become the party with the largest representation in the Folketing, a distinction it would hold for 77 years. It first formed a government after the 1924 Danish Folketing election under Thorvald Stauning, the longest-serving Danish Prime Minister of the 20th century. During Stauning's government which lasted until the 1926 Danish Folketing election, the Social Democrats exerted a profound influence on Danish society, laying the foundation of the Danish welfare state. From 2002 to 2016, the party used the name Socialdemokraterne in some contexts. The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International from 1923 to 1940. A member of the Socialist International until 2017, the party withdrew to join the Progressive Alliance, founded in 2013.

The party was the major coalition partner in government from the 2011 Danish general election until the 2015 Danish general election, with then-party leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt as Prime Minister. After losing power in the 2015 election, Thorning-Schmidt was succeeded as party leader on 28 June 2015 by the former Vice Leader Mette Frederiksen, who shifted the party back to the political left on economics, while criticising mass immigration. Frederiksen led the party to win the 2019 and 2022 Danish general election, forming a single-party minority government from 2019 to 2022 and a majority grand-coalition government with the centre-right Venstre and the centrist Moderates since 2022.

Overview
The party traces its own history back to the International Labour Association, founded in 1871 and banned in 1873, loosely re-organised in the Social Democratic Labour Party which in 1876 issued the Gimle program, but as a formal political party it was first founded from 11–12 February 1878 as the Social Democratic Federation. This name was formally carried by the party for almost a hundred years, although in practice it also used a number of other names until it changed its name to Social Democracy in 1965. At a congress in Aalborg in 2002, the party changed its name to the Social Democrats, but from 2016 again only Social Democracy is used.

The party has the letter A as a symbol, but the abbreviation S is often used in the media. The party's classic symbol is a red rose and in recent times an A in a red circle. Aside from the classical socialist red colour, the party has recently adopted a more light red colour called competition orange.

The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940. It is now a member of the Progressive Alliance, an association of progressive social-democratic parties. The Social Democrats are also a member of the Party of European Socialists while the party's MEPs sit in the Socialists & Democrats group.

19th century
The party was founded as the International Labour Association of Denmark on 15 October 1871 by Louis Pio, Harald Brix and Paul Geleff. The goal was to organise the emerging working class on a democratic and socialist basis. The industrialisation of Denmark had begun in the mid-19th century and a period of rapid urbanisation had led to an emerging class of urban workers. The social-democratic movement emerged from the desire to give this group political rights and representation in the Folketing, the Danish parliament. In 1876, the party held an annual conference, adopting the first party manifesto.

The stated policy was as follows: "The Danish Social Democratic Labour Party works in its national form, but is convinced of the international nature of the labour movement and ready to sacrifice everything and fulfill all obligations to provide: Freedom, equality and brotherhood among all nations."

In 1884, the party had their first two members of parliament elected, namely Peter Thygesen Holm and Chresten Hørdum.

20th century
In 1906, the party created the Social Democratic Youth Association, lasting until 1920 when the Social Democratic Youth of Denmark and current party's youth wing was founded.

In the 1924 Danish Folketing election, the party won the majority with 36.6 percent of the vote and its first government was put in place with Thorvald Stauning as Prime Minister. That same year, he appointed Nina Bang as the world's first female minister, nine years after women's suffrage had been given in Denmark. Stauning stayed in power until his death in 1942, with his party laying the foundations for the Danish welfare state based on a close collaboration between labor unions and the government.

In January 1933, Stauning's government entered into what was then the most extensive settlement yet in Danish politics, namely the Kanslergade settlement (Kanslergadeforliget) with the liberal party Venstre. The settlement was named after Stauning's apartment in Kanslergade in Copenhagen and included extensive agricultural subsidies and reforms of the legislation and administration in the social sector. In 1935, Stauning was reelected with the famous slogan "Stauning or Chaos".

Stauning's second cabinet lasted until the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1940, when the cabinet was widened to include all political parties for a national unity government and the Danish government pursued a collaborative policy with the German occupiers. Through the 1940s and until 1972, most of Denmark's Prime Ministers were from the party.

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen government coalition: 1993–2001
The Social Democrats' social policy through the 1990s and continuing in the 21st century involved a significant redistribution of income and the maintenance of a large state apparatus with collectively financed core public services such as public healthcare, education and infrastructure.

Social Democrats-led coalition governments (the I, II, III and IV Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen) implemented the system known as flexicurity (flexibility and social security), mixing strong Scandinavian unemployment benefits with deregulated employment laws, making it easier for employers to fire and rehire people in order to encourage economic growth and reduce unemployment.

The Cabinets of Poul Nyrup Rasmussen maintained a parliamentary majority during the period from 1993 to 2001 by virtue of their support from the Socialist People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance.

Towards the end of the 1990s, a trade surplus of 30 billion kroner (US$4.9 billion) turned into a deficit. To combat this, the government increased taxes, limiting private consumption. The 1998 initiative, dubbed the Whitsun Packet (Danish: Pinsepakken) from the season it was issued, was not universally popular with the electorate; it may have also been a factor in the Social Democrats' defeat in the 2001 Danish general election.

In opposition: 2001–2011
After being defeated by the Liberal Party in the 2001 Danish general election, the party chairmanship went to former finance and foreign minister Mogens Lykketoft. Following another defeat in the 2005 Danish general election, Lykketoft announced his resignation as party leader and at an extraordinary congress on 12 March it was decided that all members of the party would cast votes in an election of a new party leader. The two contenders for the leadership represented the two wings in the party, with Helle Thorning-Schmidt being viewed as centrist and Frank Jensen being viewed as slightly more left-leaning. On 12 April 2005, Thorning-Schmidt was elected as the new leader.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt government coalition: 2011–2015
In the 2011 Danish general election, the Social Democrats gained 44 seats in parliament, the lowest number since 1953. Nonetheless, the party succeeded in establishing a minority government with the Danish Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party. The incumbent centre-right coalition led by the Liberal Party lost power to a centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats, making Thorning-Schmidt the country's first female prime minister. The Danish Social Liberal Party and the Socialist People's Party became part of the three-party centre-left coalition government. The new parliament convened on 4 October. The government rolled back anti-immigration legislation enacted by the previous government and passed a tax-reform with support from the liberal-conservative opposition. The tax reform raised the top tax threshold, which had previously applied to over half the working population. The aim of the tax reform was to increase labour output to fend off a projected labour shortage within the next decades. The stated goal was to entice Danes to work more in order to compensate for the decreasing workforce by lowering tax on wages and gradually lowering welfare payments to those outside of the labour market to increase the economic benefit of working relative to receiving welfare.

On 3 February 2014, the Socialist People's Party left the government in protest over the sale of shares in the public energy company DONG Energy to the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Because of the government's minority status and of its dependency on the support of the Danish Social Liberal Party, the government had to jettison many of the policies that the Social Democrats–Socialist People's Party coalition had given during the campaign. Although critics have accused the government of breaking its promises, other studies argue that it accomplished half of its stated goals, blaming instead poor public relations strategies for its increasingly negative public image. The government pursued a centrist compromise agenda, building several reforms with support from both sides of the parliament. This caused friction with the supporting Red–Green Alliance, who were kept outside of influencing decisions.

In opposition: 2015–2019
In the 2015 Danish general election, the Social Democrats gained seats and became the biggest party in the parliament again since 2001, yet lost the government because the right-wing parties had a majority. The results of the 2015 election and the defeat of the left-bloc led Thorning-Schmidt to resign as prime minister on election night and making way for the next leader Mette Frederiksen. Under Frederiksen, the Social Democrats voted in favor of a law allowing Danish authorities to confiscate money, jewellery and other valuable items refugees crossing the border may have as long as those valuables have no sentimental value, despite harsh condemnation from the United Nations Human Right Council and widespread comparisons between the plan and the treatment of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. The law had been used 17 times in the first six years.

Similarly, the Social Democrats voted for a law banning wearing of burqas and niqabs, while abstaining during a vote on a law on mandatory handshakes irrespective of religious sentiment at citizenship ceremonies and on a plan to house criminal asylum seekers on an island used for researching contagious animal diseases. Frederiksen has also backed the right-wing populist Danish People's Party in their paradigm shift push to make repatriation rather than social integration the goal of asylum policy. She has called for a cap on non-Western immigrants, expulsion of asylum seekers to a reception centre in North Africa and forced labour for immigrants in exchange for benefits. Labeling foreign policies of Europe as too economic liberal, Frederiksen has criticised other social democratic parties for losing their voters' trust by failing to prevent globalisation chipping away at labour rights, increasing inequality and exposing them to uncontrolled immigration.

2019–present: Frederiksen I and II
In the 2019 Danish general election, the Social Democrats gained one further seat and the opposition red bloc of left-wing and centre-left parties (the Social Democrats, the Danish Social Liberal Party, the Socialist People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance along with the Faroese Social Democratic Party and Greenland's Inuit Ataqatigiit and Siumut) won a majority of 93 out of 179 seats in the Folketing while support for the Danish People's Party and the Liberal Alliance collapsed, costing Lars Løkke Rasmussen his majority. With the result beyond doubt on election night, Rasmussen conceded defeat and Frederiksen has been commissioned by Queen Margrethe II to lead the negotiations to form a new government.

On 27 June 2019, Frederiksen was successful in forming the Frederiksen Cabinet, an exclusively Social Democrats minority government supported by the red bloc, becoming the second woman in the role after Thorning-Schmidt as well as the youngest prime minister in Danish history at the age of 41. Despite having run on an anti-immigration stance during the election, Frederiksen shifted her stance on immigration by allowing more foreign labour and reversing government plans to hold foreign criminals offshore after winning government.

Platform
Since its foundation, the lemma of the party has been "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" and these values are still described as central in the party program. In the political program, these values are described as being consistent with a focus on solidarity with the poorest and social welfare to those who need it, with individual responsibility in relation to other members in society and with an increased involvement in the European Union project.

As well as adopting more left-leaning economics, the party has become increasingly sceptical of mass immigration from a left-wing perspective in the late 2010s. The party believes that immigration has had negative impacts for much of the population, a more pressing issue since at least 2001 after the 11 September attacks which intensified during the 2015 European migrant crisis. It also returned to a more sceptical view of economic liberalism, including the view that perception of adopting the Third Way and practicing centrist, neoliberal economics, and supporting unrestricted economic globalisation contributed to its poor electoral performance in the late 2000s and early 2010s. In a biography written before becoming the prime minister in 2019, Mette Frederiksen wrote: "For me, it is becoming increasingly clear that the price of unregulated globalisation, mass immigration and the free movement of labour is paid for by the lower classes."

Political leadership
The current Party Leader is Mette Frederiksen. She succeeded Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who stepped down after the left bloc's defeat in the 2015 Danish general election. Deputy Party Leaders are Lennart Damsbo-Andersen and Christian Rabjerg Madsen. The Secretary General is Annette Lind.

Prime ministers

 * Thorvald Stauning (1924–1926, 1929–1942)
 * Vilhelm Buhl (1942, 1945)
 * Hans Hedtoft (1947–1950, 1953–1955)
 * Hans Christian Hansen (1955–1960)
 * Viggo Kampmann (1960–1962)
 * Jens Otto Krag (1962–1968, 1971–1972)
 * Anker Jørgensen (1972–1973, 1975–1982)
 * Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (1993–2001)
 * Helle Thorning-Schmidt (2011–2015)
 * Mette Frederiksen (2019–incumbent)

Election results
The Social Democrats governed Denmark for most of the 20th century, with a few intermissions such as the Conservative People's Party-led government of Poul Schlüter in the 1980s. It continued to be Denmark's largest party until 2001 when Anders Fogh Rasmussen's liberal Venstre party gained a landslide victory, becoming the largest party and forming a centre-right government. The Social Democrats returned to government from 2011 to 2015 and since 2019.

Folketing
At the 2019 election the Social Democrats won 48 seats in parliament. Henrik Sass Larsen was originally elected, but resigned his seat on 30 September 2019, after which Tanja Larsson took over his seat. Ida Auken was originally elected as a member of the Socialist People's Party, but switched to the Social Democrats on 29 January 2021.

European Parliament
At the 2019 European Parliament election, the Social Democrats won three seats. The Social Democrats are part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
 * Niels Fuglsang
 * Christel Schaldemose
 * Marianne Vind

Nordic Council
Of the 16 Danish members of the Nordic Council, four are members of the Social Democrats. The members of the Nordic Council are not elected by the public, but instead chosen by the parliamentary party groups. The Social Democrats are part of The Social Democratic Group in the Nordic Council.
 * Orla Hav
 * Anders Kronborg
 * Henrik Møller
 * Kasper Roug

Youth wings
The Social Democratic Youth of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Socialdemokratiske Ungdom) is the Social Democrats' youth wing. It was founded on 8 February 1920 and is an independent organization from the Social Democrats. This allows them to formulate their own policies and make their own campaigns. Prominent Social Democrats beginning their political work in the Social Democratic Youth include prime ministers Hans Hedtoft, H. C. Hansen, Jens Otto Krag, Anker Jørgensen and Mette Frederiksen, as well as ministers Per Hækkerup and Morten Bødskov.

Frit Forum is the Social Democrats' student organization. It was founded in 1943 in Copenhagen. It has since 1973 been organizationally part of Social Democratic Youth. Prominent members previously leading Frit Forum include prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and other leaders of the Social Democrats Mogens Lykketoft and Svend Auken.

title: Social Democrats (Denmark)


text:
Lewis Howard Latimer

 Lewis Howard Latimer (September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928) was an American inventor and patent draftsman. His inventions included an evaporative air conditioner, an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments for light bulbs, and an improved toilet system for railroad cars. In 1884, he joined the Edison Electric Light Company where he worked as a draftsman. The Lewis H. Latimer House, his landmarked former residence, is located near the Latimer Projects at 34-41 137th Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City.

Early life and family
Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, the youngest of the four children of Rebecca Latimer (1823–1910) and George Latimer (1818–1897). Before Lewis was born, his mother and father escaped from slavery in Virginia and fled to Chelsea, Massachusetts on October 4, 1842. The day they arrived in Boston, George was recognized by a colleague of his former slave owner and was arrested a few days later, on October 20, 1842. George's trial received great notoriety; he was represented by Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. He was eventually able to purchase his freedom and live with his family in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

When Latimer was young he spent time helping his father in his barbershop. Lewis Latimer also spent time at night hanging wallpaper with his father.

When Latimer was 10, his mother decided to split the family after the Dred Scott case ruled individual slaves needed to prove they had the consent of their owner to legally become free; prior to this ruling, many slaves had attained freedom by escaping into free states and becoming state citizens, which gave them some protection from the efforts of interstate slave catchers. Lewis's father, George Latimer, had no proof of his emancipation and likely fled to protect his family.

After his father had to flee and his mother had to split the family, Lewis and his brothers were sent to a farm school, and his sisters were sent to stay with a family friend.

Lewis Howard Latimer joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 16 on September 16, 1864, and served as a Landsman on the USS Massasoit. After receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy on July 3, 1865, he gained employment as an office boy with a patent law firm, Crosby Halstead and Gould, with a $3.00 per week salary. He learned how to use a set square, ruler, and other drafting tools. Later, after his boss recognized his talent for sketching patent drawings, Latimer was promoted to the position of head draftsman earning $20.00 a week by 1872 ($438.59 today).

Lewis H. Latimer married Mary Wilson Lewis on November 15, 1873, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Mary was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of Louisa M. and William Lewis. The couple had two daughters, Emma Jeanette (1883–1978) and Louise Rebecca (1890–1963). Jeanette married Gerald Fitzherbert Norman, the first black person hired as a high school teacher in the New York City public school system, and had two children: Winifred Latimer Norman (1914–2014), a social worker who served as the guardian of her grandfather's legacy, and Gerald Latimer Norman (1911–1990), who became an administrative law judge.

In 1879, Latimer and his wife, Mary, moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, along with his mother, Rebecca, and his brother, William. They settled in a neighborhood called "Little Liberia," which had been established in the early 19th century by free blacks. (The landmark Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses are the last surviving buildings on their original foundations of this community.) Other family members already living there were his brother, George A. Latimer, his wife, Jane, his sister, Margaret, and her husband, Augustus T. Hawley, and their children. Mary died in Bridgeport in 1924.

Inventions and technical work
In 1874, Latimer co-patented (with Charles M. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363).

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer, then a draftsman at Bell's patent law firm, to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's telephone.

In 1879, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting Company, a company owned by Hiram Maxim, a rival of Thomas Edison. While Latimer was there he invented a modification to the process for making carbon filaments which aimed to reduce breakages during the carbonization process. This modification consisted of placing filament blanks inside a cardboard envelope during carbonization. While in England on behalf of the Maxim light company he taught the entire process for making Maxim lights, including glassblowing in 9 months to get the factory up and running.

In 1884, he was invited to work with Thomas Edison. Along with the work he did with Edison, he was also responsible for translating data into German and French, as well as gathering that information.

Latimer also developed a forerunner of the air conditioner called "Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting".

In 1894, Latimer pursued a patent on a safety elevator that prevented the riders from falling out and into the shaft.

In 1924, after the Board of Patent Control dissolved Latimer went on to work with Hammer and Schwartz until he retired.

Edison Pioneers
On February 11, 1918, Latimer joined the Edison Pioneers. Lewis Latimer was the first person of color to join this group of 100.

Light bulb
Latimer received a patent on September 13, 1881, along with Joseph V. Nichols, for a method of attaching carbon filaments to conducting wires within an electric lamp, and another patent on January 17, 1882, for a "process of manufacturing carbons", a method for the production of carbon filaments for light bulbs which reduced breakages during the production process by wrapping the filaments in a cardboard envelope.

The Edison Electric Light Company in New York City hired Latimer in 1884 as a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation on electric lights. While at Edison, Latimer wrote the first book on electric lighting, entitled Incandescent Electric Lighting (1890), and supervised the installation of public electric lights throughout New York, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London.

When that company was combined in 1892 with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric, he continued to work in the legal department.

In 1911, he became a patent consultant to law firms.

Patents

 * "Improvement in water-closets for railroad-cars" (with Brown, Charles W.), February 10, 1874
 * "Electric lamp" (with Nichols, Joseph V.), September 13, 1881
 * "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", January 17, 1882
 * "Supporter for electric lamps" (with Tregoning, John), March 21, 1882
 * "Apparatus for cooling and disinfecting", January 12, 1886
 * "Locking rack for hats, coats, and umbrellas", March 24, 1896
 * "Book Supporter", February 7, 1905
 * "Lamp fixture" (with Norton, William Sheil), August 30, 1910

Writing and other activities

 * A book of poetry called Poems of Love and Life.
 * A technical book, Incandescent Electric Lighting (1890).
 * Various pieces for African-American journals.
 * A petition to Mayor Seth Low to restore a member to the Brooklyn School Board.

Teaching
Latimer taught English and drafting courses to immigrants at the Henry Street Settlement in New York.

Other activities
Latimer played the violin and flute, painted portraits, and wrote plays.

He was an early advocate of civil rights. In 1895 Lewis wrote a statement in connection with the National Conference of Colored Men about equality, security, and opportunity.

In later life, even though Latimer was no longer active military, he remained patriotic. He was an early and active member of the veteran organization, Grand Army of the Republic. He acted as secretary and adjutant.

Death and legacy
For 25 years, from 1903 until he died in 1928, Latimer lived with his family in a home on Holly Avenue in what is known now as East Flushing section of Queens, New York. Latimer died on December 11, 1928, at the age of 80. Approximately sixty years after his death, his home was moved from Holly Avenue to 137th Street in Flushing, Queens, which is about 1.4 miles northwest of its original location.
 * Latimer is an inductee of the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on electric filament manufacturing techniques.
 * The Latimer family house is on Latimer Place in Flushing, Queens. It was moved from the original location to a nearby small park and turned into the Lewis H. Latimer House Museum in honor of the inventor.
 * Latimer was a founding member of the Flushing, New York, Unitarian Church.
 * A set of apartment houses in Flushing are called "Latimer Gardens".
 * P.S. 56 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is named Lewis H. Latimer School.
 * An invention program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, is named after him.
 * On May 10, 1968, a school in Brooklyn, New York was rededicated to The Lewis H. Latimer School in his memory.
 * In 1988, a committee was formed, the Lewis H. Latimer Committee, to save his home in Flushing, New York.
 * On September 23, 2023, a gravestone was dedicated to him at his grave in Fall River, Massachusetts.

title: Lewis Howard Latimer


text:
Ettajdid Movement

The Ettajdid Movement (Movement for Renewal ; حركة التجديد, Ḥarakat et-Tajdīd ; Mouvement Ettajdid), also referred to simply as Ettajdid, was a centre-left secularist political party in Tunisia, active from 1993 to 2012.

History and profile
Ettajdid evolved out of the old Tunisian Communist Party, when it abandoned its former ideology in 1993. During the Ben Ali rule, it was one of the legal, although oppressed opposition parties. After the Tunisian revolution of 2011, it became part of the Democratic Modernist Pole alliance and in 2012 it merged into the Social Democratic Path. It was led by its First Secretary Mohamed Harmel from its creation until 2007 and then by Ahmed Brahim until its dissolution.

Adopting its new name and abandoning communism in April 1993, the party adopted a social economic programme, and it was legalised in November 1993. In the 1994 election, the party won four seats. This increased to five in 1999, before falling to three in the 2004 election and to two in 2009, making it the smallest of the seven parties represented in the Tunisian parliament.

After massive protests in January 2011, Ettajdid gained a post for Ahmed Brahim as Minister of Higher Education. For the Constituent assembly election, Ettajdid formed a strongly secularist alliance called Democratic Modernist Pole (PDM), of which it was the mainstay.

On 1 April 2012, it merged with the Tunisian Labour Party and some individual members of the Democratic Modernist Pole to form the Social Democratic Path.

Ettajdid published Attariq al Jadid (New Path).

title: Ettajdid Movement


text:
Point at infinity

In geometry, a point at infinity or ideal point is an idealized limiting point at the "end" of each line.

In the case of an affine plane (including the Euclidean plane), there is one ideal point for each pencil of parallel lines of the plane. Adjoining these points produces a projective plane, in which no point can be distinguished, if we "forget" which points were added. This holds for a geometry over any field, and more generally over any division ring.

In the real case, a point at infinity completes a line into a topologically closed curve. In higher dimensions, all the points at infinity form a projective subspace of one dimension less than that of the whole projective space to which they belong. A point at infinity can also be added to the complex line (which may be thought of as the complex plane), thereby turning it into a closed surface known as the complex projective line, CP1, also called the Riemann sphere (when complex numbers are mapped to each point).

In the case of a hyperbolic space, each line has two distinct ideal points. Here, the set of ideal points takes the form of a quadric.

Affine geometry
In an affine or Euclidean space of higher dimension, the points at infinity are the points which are added to the space to get the projective completion. The set of the points at infinity is called, depending on the dimension of the space, the line at infinity, the plane at infinity or the hyperplane at infinity, in all cases a projective space of one less dimension.

As a projective space over a field is a smooth algebraic variety, the same is true for the set of points at infinity. Similarly, if the ground field is the real or the complex field, the set of points at infinity is a manifold.

Perspective
In artistic drawing and technical perspective, the projection on the picture plane of the point at infinity of a class of parallel lines is called their vanishing point.

Hyperbolic geometry
In hyperbolic geometry, points at infinity are typically named ideal points. Unlike Euclidean and elliptic geometries, each line has two points at infinity: given a line l and a point P not on l, the right- and left-limiting parallels converge asymptotically to different points at infinity.

All points at infinity together form the Cayley absolute or boundary of a hyperbolic plane.

Projective geometry
A symmetry of points and lines arises in a projective plane: just as a pair of points determine a line, so a pair of lines determine a point. The existence of parallel lines leads to establishing a point at infinity which represents the intersection of these parallels. This axiomatic symmetry grew out of a study of graphical perspective where  a parallel projection arises as a central projection where the center C is a point at infinity, or figurative point. The axiomatic symmetry of points and lines is called duality.

Though a point at infinity is considered on a par with any other point of a projective range, in the representation of points with projective coordinates, distinction is noted: finite points are represented with a 1 in the final coordinate while a point at infinity has a 0 there. The need to represent points at infinity requires that one extra coordinate beyond the space of finite points is needed.

Other generalisations
This construction can be generalized to topological spaces. Different compactifications may exist for a given space, but arbitrary topological space admits Alexandroff extension, also called the one-point compactification when the original space is not itself compact. Projective line (over arbitrary field) is the Alexandroff extension of the corresponding field. Thus the circle is the one-point compactification of the real line, and the sphere is the one-point compactification of the plane. Projective spaces P$n$ for $n$ > 1 are not one-point compactifications of corresponding affine spaces for the reason mentioned above under, and completions of hyperbolic spaces with ideal points are also not one-point compactifications.

title: Point at infinity


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Social Liberal Party (Tunisia)

The Social Liberal Party (الحزب الاجتماعي التحرري ; Parti social-libéral), abbreviated to PSL, is an opposition liberal political party in Tunisia. The party is a member of the Liberal International and the Africa Liberal Network.

The party was founded in September 1988 under the name "Social Party for Progress" (Parti social pour le progrès), but was renamed in October 1993 to reflect its liberal ideology. At the 1999 election, it won election for the first time, winning its first two seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

They retained these two seats at the 2004, when its candidate Mohamed Mouni Béji also won 0.8% at the presidential elections. In 2005, Mongi Khamassi, one of the party's founders, split to form the Green Party for Progress. Despite this, the PSL quadrupled its seats to eight in the 2009 election, making it the fifth-largest party.

As well as liberal social and political reforms, the PSL advocates economic liberalisation, including the privatisation of state-owned firms.

title: Social Liberal Party (Tunisia)


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Line at infinity

In geometry and topology, the line at infinity is a projective line that is added to the real (affine) plane in order to give closure to, and remove the exceptional cases from, the incidence properties of the resulting projective plane. The line at infinity is also called the ideal line.

Geometric formulation
In projective geometry, any pair of lines always intersects at some point, but parallel lines do not intersect in the real plane. The line at infinity is added to the real plane. This completes the plane, because now parallel lines intersect at a point which lies on the line at infinity. Also, if any pair of lines do not intersect at a point on the line, then the pair of lines are parallel.

Every line intersects the line at infinity at some point. The point at which the parallel lines intersect depends only on the slope of the lines, not at all on their y-intercept.

In the affine plane, a line extends in two opposite directions. In the projective plane, the two opposite directions of a line meet each other at a point on the line at infinity. Therefore, lines in the projective plane are closed curves, i.e., they are cyclical rather than linear. This is true of the line at infinity itself; it meets itself at its two endpoints (which are therefore not actually endpoints at all) and so it is actually cyclical.

Topological perspective
The line at infinity can be visualized as a circle which surrounds the affine plane. However, diametrically opposite points of the circle are equivalent—they are the same point. The combination of the affine plane and the line at infinity makes the real projective plane, $$\mathbb{R}P^2$$.

A hyperbola can be seen as a closed curve which intersects the line at infinity in two different points. These two points are specified by the slopes of the two asymptotes of the hyperbola. Likewise, a parabola can be seen as a closed curve which intersects the line at infinity in a single point. This point is specified by the slope of the axis of the parabola. If the parabola is cut by its vertex into a symmetrical pair of "horns", then these two horns become more parallel to each other further away from the vertex, and are actually parallel to the axis and to each other at infinity, so that they intersect at the line at infinity.

The analogue for the complex projective plane is a 'line' at infinity that is (naturally) a complex projective line. Topologically this is quite different, in that it is a Riemann sphere, which is therefore a 2-sphere, being added to a complex affine space of two dimensions over C (so four real dimensions), resulting in a four-dimensional compact manifold. The result is orientable, while the real projective plane is not.

History
The complex line at infinity was much used in nineteenth century geometry. In fact one of the most applied tricks was to regard a circle as a conic constrained to pass through two points at infinity, the solutions of

 * X2 + Y2 = 0.

This equation is the form taken by that of any circle when we drop terms of lower order in X and Y. More formally, we should use homogeneous coordinates

 * [X:Y:Z]

and note that the line at infinity is specified by setting

 * Z = 0.

Making equations homogeneous by introducing powers of Z, and then setting Z = 0, does precisely eliminate terms of lower order.

Solving the equation, therefore, we find that all circles 'pass through' the circular points at infinity

 * I = [1:i:0] and J = [1:−i:0].

These of course are complex points, for any representing set of homogeneous coordinates. Since the projective plane has a large enough symmetry group, they are in no way special, though. The conclusion is that the three-parameter family of circles can be treated as a special case of the linear system of conics passing through two given distinct points P and Q.

title: Line at infinity


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Plane at infinity

In projective geometry, a plane at infinity is the hyperplane at infinity of a three dimensional projective space or to any plane contained in the hyperplane at infinity of any projective space of higher dimension. This article will be concerned solely with the three-dimensional case.

Definition
There are two approaches to defining the plane at infinity which depend on whether one starts with a projective 3-space or an affine 3-space.

If a projective 3-space is given, the plane at infinity is any distinguished projective plane of the space. This point of view emphasizes the fact that this plane is not geometrically different than any other plane. On the other hand, given an affine 3-space, the plane at infinity is a projective plane which is added to the affine 3-space in order to give it closure of incidence properties. Meaning that the points of the plane at infinity are the points where parallel lines of the affine 3-space will meet, and the lines are the lines where parallel planes of the affine 3-space will meet. The result of the addition is the projective 3-space, $$P^3$$. This point of view emphasizes the internal structure of the plane at infinity, but does make it look "special" in comparison to the other planes of the space.

If the affine 3-space is real, $$\mathbb{R}^3$$, then the addition of a real projective plane $$\mathbb{R}P^2$$ at infinity produces the real projective 3-space $$\mathbb{R}P^3$$.

Analytic representation
Since any two projective planes in a projective 3-space are equivalent, we can choose a homogeneous coordinate system so that any point on the plane at infinity is represented as (X:Y:Z:0). Any point in the affine 3-space will then be represented as (X:Y:Z:1). The points on the plane at infinity seem to have three degrees of freedom, but homogeneous coordinates are equivalent up to any rescaling:

 * $$ (X : Y : Z : 0) \equiv (a X : a Y : a Z : 0) $$,

so that the coordinates (X:Y:Z:0) can be normalized, thus reducing the degrees of freedom to two (thus, a surface, namely a projective plane).

Proposition: Any line which passes through the origin (0:0:0:1) and through a point (X:Y:Z:1) will intersect the plane at infinity at the point (X:Y:Z:0).

Proof: A line which passes through points (0:0:0:1) and (X:Y:Z:1) will consist of points which are linear combinations of the two given points:
 * $$ a (0:0:0:1) + b (X:Y:Z:1) = (bX :bY: bZ: a + b). $$

For such a point to lie on the plane at infinity we must have, $$ a + b = 0$$. So, by choosing $$ a = - b$$, we obtain the point $$(bX:bY:bZ:0) = (X : Y : Z : 0) $$, as required. Q.E.D.

Any pair of parallel lines in 3-space will intersect each other at a point on the plane at infinity. Also, every line in 3-space intersects the plane at infinity at a unique point. This point is determined by the direction—and only by the direction—of the line. To determine this point, consider a line parallel to the given line, but passing through the origin, if the line does not already pass through the origin. Then choose any point, other than the origin, on this second line. If the homogeneous coordinates of this point are (X:Y:Z:1), then the homogeneous coordinates of the point at infinity through which the first and second line both pass is (X:Y:Z:0).

Example: Consider a line passing through the points (0:0:1:1) and (3:0:1:1). A parallel line passes through points (0:0:0:1) and (3:0:0:1). This second line intersects the plane at infinity at the point (3:0:0:0). But the first line also passes through this point:
 * $$ \lambda (3:0:1:1) + \mu (0:0:1:1) $$
 * $$ = (3 \lambda : 0 : \lambda + \mu : \lambda + \mu)$$
 * $$ = ( 3 : 0 : 0 : 0) $$

when $$\lambda + \mu = 0$$. ■

Any pair of parallel planes in affine 3-space will intersect each other in a projective line (a line at infinity) in the plane at infinity. Also, every plane in the affine 3-space intersects the plane at infinity in a unique line. This line is determined by the direction—and only by the direction—of the plane.

Properties
Since the plane at infinity is a projective plane, it is homeomorphic to the surface of a "sphere modulo antipodes", i.e. a sphere in which antipodal points are equivalent: S2/{1,-1} where the quotient is understood as a quotient by a group action (see quotient space).

title: Plane at infinity


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Sámi music

In traditional Sámi music songs (e.g. Kvad and Leudd songs ) and joiks are important musical expressions of the Sámi people and Sámi languages. The Sámi also use a variety of musical instruments, some unique to the Sámi, some traditional Scandinavian, and some modern introductions.

Highly spiritual songs called joiks (vuolle) are the most characteristic song type. (The same word sometimes refers to lavlu or vuelie songs, though this is technically incorrect.) Joiks may have few or no lyrics, do not rhyme, and have no definite structure. They are typically about any subject of importance to the singer, and vary widely in content. In Northern areas each person often has their own joik, sometimes given to them at birth, which is seen as personal to and representative of them, like a name. Purely folk joiks have declined in popularity over the 20th century, due to the influence of pop radio and religious fundamentalism, especially Laestadianism. Joiking first came to prominence within Sweden and Scandinavia as a whole with the 1959 release of Sven-Gosta Jonsson's "I'm a Lapp", which featured the singer singing about joiking towards heathen stones over a modern, skiffle-like beat. The first commercial recordings of joiking were performed by Nils-Aslak Valkeapää in 1968, in Finland. Valkeapää's recordings, however, differed from traditional hoiking by including both instrumentation and ambient sounds, such as barking dogs and the wind.

Nevertheless, joik performers of some fame include Angelit (former Angelin tytöt, Girls of Angeli), Wimme Saari and Nils-Aslak Valkeapää from Finnish Sápmi. Many modern singers are signed to DAT, the premier record label in Sámi music.

The most famous Sámi singer is Mari Boine of Norway, who sings a type of minimalist folk-rock with joik roots. Some non-Sámi artists, including RinneRadio, Xymox, and Jan Garbarek, have used joik and other Sámi styles in their music.

The Finnish folk metal band Sháman (now known as Korpiklaani) introduced what some call "yoik metal" in the late 1990s, drawing attention to Sámi music in the heavy metal scene. Their music incorporated Sámi elements such as yoik singing, Sámi lyrics, and shamanic drum. The vocalist has also yoiked for fellow Finnish folk metal band Finntroll. Also Finnish black metal band Barathrum (On Eerie album's first track) and Swedish black metal band Arckanum have used joik parts in couple of their songs.

In January 2008, the Sámi artist Ann Marie Anderson, singing "Ándagassii" qualified to the finals of Melodi Grand Prix 2008, (the Norwegian national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2008), but she did not win. In Mars 2015 the Swedish Sámi artist Jon Henrik Fjallgren came second with his song "Jag ar fri" in the finals in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. In the October 2018 final episode of the Norwegian televised music contest Stjernekamp, 20-year-old Sámi artist Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen was voted the winner; her final performance on the show was a yoik.

At the Eurovision Song Contest itself, joik appeared in Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with "Sámiid ædnan", where Mattis Hætta performed a yoik he had composed, and 2019 thanks to the song "Spirit in the Sky" performed by the KEiiNO trio representing Norway. Parts in this language joik were performed by the Saami singer and rapper Fred Buljo, who is a member of the group. The KEiiNO team won the audience vote, but after adding up the total vote of the jury (40 points) and the audience (170 points), the trio took only 6th place in the general classification of the grand final of the competition.

Musical instruments
Some sources have commented on a supposed lack of musical instruments among the Sámi, with one 1885 work noting: "They cannot claim to possess a single instrument of their own, not even the most primitive." Despite these beliefs, the Sámi employ a variety of musical instruments, several unique to them. Among these instruments are the fadno, a reedpipe made from Angelica archangelica stalks, and the Sámi drum. Late 18th century researchers also noted two bagpipes in Lapland: the sak-pipe and the wal-pipe.

Other Sámi instruments of wider Scandinavian usage include the lur (a long horn trumpet), and the harpu, a zither to the Finnish kantele. Willow flutes are often made from the bark of the quicken tree or mountain ash.

Modern bands use a wide variety of instruments, especially the fiddle, concertina, and accordion.

title: Sámi music