text:
Talk:The Church Brew Works

Price
If prices are typical, why quote a price? That sentence reads like a travel brochure. Kingturtle 03:09, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Been to CBW often, never noticed Dave & Andy's ice cream. Oh, well. Strathmeyer 07:52, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Votes for Deletion
Page listed on vfd Feb 23 to Mar 2 2004, consensus to keep. Discussion:

Start pasted discussion

 * The Church Brew Works - I share the "Wikipedia is not paper" position, yet I don't think Wikipedia should comprise the yellow pages.DrZ 02:22, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * It's a fairly unique bar. Keep.  Anthony DiPierro 02:31, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * I agree, it's fairly unique, but the article needs to do a better job at telling that to the world. I don't know enough about it to do it myself. Right now, it is an ad. Lacking improvement... Delete. Brian Rock 02:36, 2004 Feb 25 (UTC)
 * Keep if it can be made to not sound like an ad. Everyking 03:41, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Love the place.. it SHOULD have an entry, unsure of what to add to it to make it not an ad. Will atempt to help on Friday. Lyellin 04:28, Feb 25, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Optim 04:55, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep -- Graham :) 07:38, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, but stop using the phrase "fairly unique". - DropDeadGorgias 15:32, Feb 25, 2004 (UTC)
 * But it is a rather unique bar. Anthony DiPierro 18:08, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * About 85% unique, I'd say. Maybe a little less. Onebyone 21:41, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * His point is that there's no such thing as "fairly unique". Something is either unique or it isn't. There's no middle ground on that. Bearcat 05:00, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * You math guys...Not everything is a number, you know... Unique can mean unusual or extraordinary.  There's plenty of room for middle ground on that.  Anthony DiPierro 23:58, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Hee, hee, hee, ok, I tried to strike through "fairly" in my quote, but it doesn't show up too well. Seriously though, if this entry is to be of any value, it should include some meat. The original church had a history. From what I remember about the neighborhood, it looks like it had a history. It's a beautiful building inside and out, can somebody go inside and snap a picture or two? I know someone who writes about breweries in the Upper Midwest, and I know she's familiar with this place (and the Wikipedia, too). Maybe I can get something worth reading from her. I'll take a shot, but I'm not near Pittsburgh, so I can't do any local work. Maybe somebody can talk to the owner. People want to keep this, so let's make it work. Brian Rock 22:53, 2004 Feb 25 (UTC)
 * Answering my own questions, it looks like the link to the external web site has what I feel is needed to do a good article. It's now on my (mental) list of things to get around to. But we seem to be having a revert war over this entry - not good. Brian Rock 23:13, 2004 Feb 25 (UTC)
 * Looking at the history, I don't see a single revert. Anthony DiPierro 23:58, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Hmm, poor choice of words on my part. Edit war. People keep removing stuff, and you keep putting it back. Brian Rock 00:23, 2004 Feb 26 (UTC)
 * There's no war. They brought up concerns, and I addressed them. Anthony DiPierro 00:49, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * I reread them and I see your point. Sorry. Brian Rock 02:46, 2004 Feb 26 (UTC)
 * Hehe, I see some are quite fond of this place. Where did the drink 'til you drop link go, by the way? :-) DrZ
 * Keep. An intriguing repurposing of a historic building.  I can't help but like the Latin inscription on the ceiling, too.  Smerdis of Tlön 03:48, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * There are quite a few churches turned into drinking establishments round here, many are turned into flats as well. This comes from Britain being much more secular than the USA. Would you like an article on them all? Secretlondon 19:34, Feb 27, 2004 (UTC)
 * Sure, would you mind writing them for me? Anthony DiPierro 19:36, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. I tried to help this article. But it reads like a tourist brochure. Kingturtle 01:55, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

End pasted discussion

price of a pint
What exactly is the purpose of listing the prices of items if the prices are not unusual? Kingturtle 07:04, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * To show that they are not unusual. Also for those who don't know what "usual" prices are in Pennsylvania. Anthony DiPierro 15:29, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is not a menu. We don't list prices unless it furthers the story. Kingturtle 20:23, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Like I explained, it does futher the story. And it's not a menu, it's the price of a single item, to show typical prices. Anthony DiPierro 22:02, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Please don't start adding other useless information. Kingturtle 22:04, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * I didn't add any useless information. Anthony DiPierro 22:11, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * And I appreciate it :) Kingturtle 22:13, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Are you going to update the prices everytime they change? Secretlondon 18:32, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes. Anthony DiPierro 18:35, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * How will we know if you don't? Jwrosenzweig 18:37, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * If it doesn't get updated, then I didn't. Anthony DiPierro 18:39, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * I agree with the others: having a price here is a bad idea. Wikitravel might be interested, but an encyclopedia shouldn't be. We're interested in what a place is, not whether or not it's a "good deal".  That's certain to create edit wars.Jwrosenzweig 18:37, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Whether prices are typical is part of what a place is. As for terms such as "good deal," I agree. Anthony DiPierro 18:39, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

We have prices on the LindowsOS page. Should we remove that, too? Anthony DiPierro 18:40, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Yes, we should. I just did. Jwrosenzweig 18:50, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:The Church Brew Works


text: Template:Albion class landing platform dock

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


text:
Albion-class landing platform dock

The Albion-class landing platform dock is a class of amphibious warfare ship in service with the Royal Navy. The class consists of two vessels, HMS Albion (L14) and HMS Bulwark (L15), ordered in 1996 to replace the ageing Fearless-class landing platform dock. Both ships were built by BAE Systems Marine at the former Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering yard in Barrow-in-Furness. Albion was commissioned in 2003 and Bulwark in 2004. Each of the ships has a crew of 325 and can accommodate up to 405 troops. Thirty-one large trucks and thirty-six smaller vehicles and main battle tanks can be carried inside the vehicle deck. To disembark troops and vehicles, the vessels are equipped with eight landing craft. As of 2024, both vessels were in reserve.

Development
The value of the two Fearless-class landing platform docks was highlighted during the Falklands War. Not only did the ships transport troops and vehicles to the South Atlantic, the commanders of the landing operations at San Carlos were aboard HMS Fearless (L10), and once they arrived their flight decks were used to support airborne operations by helicopters and Sea Harrier jets.

As these ships were built in the 1960s, on 18 July 1996 the British Ministry of Defence awarded a £450 million contract for their replacements to Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) in Barrow-in-Furness.

The ships' roles are "to act as the afloat command platform for the Royal Navy's Amphibious Task Force and Landing Force Commanders when embarked" and "to embark, transport, deploy and recover troops with their equipment and vehicles which form part of an amphibious assault force". They are larger and more capable than the Fearless class, and formed part of a modernization programme of the British amphibious fleet, which included the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean (L12) (until 2018), the Bay-class landing ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Point-class sealift ships.

Extended readiness
To cut the running costs of the Royal Navy, the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review concluded that one of its two Albion-class LPDs should be placed into extended readiness, or uncrewed reserve, while the other is held at high readiness for operations. The vessels were to alternate between extended readiness and high readiness throughout their service lives.

It was confirmed that Albion would be the first of the two vessels to be placed at extended readiness, for a cost of £2.5 million, as Bulwark had recently finished a major refit. Running costs while in extended readiness are estimated to be £300,000 per annum to keep the vessel available for reactivation at short notice. HMS Albion re-entered high readiness when HMS Bulwark was put into extended readiness. In 2014 Albion entered a regeneration refit and rejoined the active fleet in 2016. The running costs of one of the Albion-class vessels at high readiness ranged from £17.7 million to £38.6 million per annum from 2007 to 2011. As of late 2018 Albion was in active service while Bulwark was held at extended readiness.

In 2024, it was reported that, due to manning problems in the Royal Navy and despite the pending completion of a major refit of HMS Bulwark, both vessels were now expected to remain in reserve. In May 2024, the Navy indicated that it intended to retain both ships until 2033/34 when they would be replaced by the future Multi Role Support Ships (MRSS).

Characteristics
The Albion-class LPDs have a length of 176 m, a breadth of 28.9 m, and a draught of 7.1 m. They have a normal displacement of 14,000 t, 19,560 t at full load and 21,000 t when the dock is flooded. The ships have a crew of 325 and can accommodate up to 405 troops, including their vehicles and combat supplies, in overload conditions. The GE Electric Propulsion System is powered by two Wärtsilä Vasa 16V 32E diesel generators generating at 6.6kV which drive two electric motors, two shafts, and a bow thruster as well as providing all the services power on the vessel. The first diesel electric propulsion system to be used in a Royal Navy surface ship was in the 1960s built Hecla-class ocean survey ships. This is the first in a major surface combatant vessel. It reduces the engine room crew by about 66 per cent compared with the preceding Fearless class of ships. The diesel electric system can propel the ships to a maximum speed of 18 knots and have a range of 8,000 mi.

The aft flight deck has two landing spots for aircraft the size of a Chinook, although it has no hangar or aircraft storage facility. Below the flight deck are the dock and vehicle deck. The latter has the capacity to hold thirty-one large trucks and thirty-six smaller vehicles or six Challenger 2 tanks and thirty armoured personnel carriers. The dock can hold four Landing Craft Utility MK10, each large enough to carry vehicles up to main battle tank size, which are then launched by flooding of the dock area. Four smaller LCVP MK5 that can carry thirty-five men or two light trucks are carried on davits, two each side of the ship's superstructure. Each ship also carries a fifty-two ton tracked beach recovery vehicle for assisting with landing craft recovery, as well as two tractors: one that can lay a track-way across a landing beach, and the second fitted with an excavating bucket and forks.

Weapons and sensors
For defence against missile attack, the Albion-class LPDs were fitted with two 30 mm Goalkeeper CIWSs mounted fore and aft on the superstructure and two 20 mm cannon located on the forward superstructure. Defensive countermeasures include the Outfit DLJ decoys, eight Seagnat radar reflection / infra-red emitting decoy launchers and a BAE Systems DLH off-board decoy. In 2017, Albion had her Goalkeeper mounts removed and replaced by a pair of 20mm Phalanx mounts as part of her refit prior to returning to active service; Bulwark will have her Goalkeeper mounts removed upon her entry into Extended Readiness.

When commissioned, the ships were fitted with two Kelvin Hughes Type 1007/8 I-band radars, for navigation and aircraft control. For air and surface search, a Selex Sensors and Airborne Systems Radar Type 996 E/F band radar was fitted. From 2013 on, RT996 will be gradually replaced by the BAE Systems Maritime Services Artisan 3D E/F-band (designated RT997). HMS Iron Duke (F234) was the first Royal Navy ship so fitted; RT997 will be fitted to Albion and Bulwark by 2015. There is also an ADAWS 2000 combat data system and a UAT/1-4 Electronic support measures (ESM) system.

HMS Albion
HMS Albion was launched at Barrow-in-Furness on 9 March 2001. After completing sea trials, Albion was commissioned in June 2003 and became fully operational in April 2004. Her home port is HMNB Devonport on the south coast of England.

In December 2010, it was announced that Albion would be the next Royal Navy flagship after HMS Ark Royal (R07). She was deployed with the Response Force Task Group to the Gulf of Sidra off Libya to assist the ongoing NATO-led operation, and then moved into the Indian Ocean in June 2011 to assist with anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. In 2011 she entered a state of "extended readiness". In July 2017, she re-entered active service after a long re-fit. While remaining temporarily deployable if required, in July 2023 she entered reduced readiness (skeleton crew aboard for ship maintenance). By early 2024, she was reported to have transitioned to "extended readiness" (uncrewed reserve).

HMS Bulwark
HMS Bulwark, the second in the class, was launched at Barrow-in-Furness in November 2001, and was commissioned in December 2004.

One of Bulwark's first missions was Operation Highbrow in the Mediterranean in July 2006. Docking in Beirut, the ship evacuated around 1,300 United Kingdom nationals. In May 2010, she entered dry-dock at HMNB Devonport for a £30 million refit. In October 2011, Bulwark, having just completed an eight-month refit, became the flagship of the fleet. The refit improved her machinery and magazines, converted her to full night-vision tactical ability for landing craft and aircraft, and gave her the ability to operate two Chinook helicopters from the flight deck at the same time. She was expected to complete a lengthy refit in 2024 but remain in uncrewed reserve though with an ability to deploy, if required.

title: Albion-class landing platform dock


text:
Battle of Warsaw

Battle of Warsaw may refer to:

Northern War battles

 * Battle of Warka (April 7, 1656)
 * Siege of Warsaw (1656), Warsaw retaken by Poles from Swedes on June 30, 1656
 * Battle of Warsaw (1656), battle outside the city on July 18–20, 1656
 * Battle of Warsaw (1705), fought on July 31, during the Great Northern War
 * Battle of Praga (1705), fought on 25 October, during the Polish–Swedish War (1701–1706)

Partition and Napoleonic wars

 * Warsaw Uprising (1794), better known as the Insurrection of Warsaw
 * First Battle of Warsaw (1794), during the Kościuszko Uprising
 * Battle of Praga or Second Battle of Warsaw (1794), during the later Kościuszko Uprising
 * Battle of Raszyn (1809), during the Polish-Austrian War

November Uprising

 * First Battle of Wawer, February 19–20, 1831
 * Battle of Olszynka Grochowska, February 25, 1831
 * Second Battle of Wawer, March 31, 1831
 * Battle of Warsaw (1831), September 6–8

World War I and Polish-Soviet War battles

 * Battle of the Vistula River or the Battle of Warsaw (1914), during World War I
 * Second Battle of the Vistula River second battle of Warsaw (1915), during World war 1
 * Battle of Warsaw (1915), during World War I
 * Battle of Warsaw (1920) August 13–16, 1920, during the Polish-Soviet War
 * Battle of Radzymin (1920), one theatre of the Battle of Warsaw

World War II battles

 * Battle of Warsaw (1939), siege of Warsaw during the Invasion of Poland, at the outset of World War II
 * Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), fought in what is now the Muranow district during World War II
 * Battle of Radzymin (1944), a clash between Soviet and German tank armies
 * Warsaw Uprising or Battle of Warsaw (1944)
 * Battle of Warsaw (1945), part of Vistula–Oder Offensive

title: Battle of Warsaw


text:
HMS Bulwark (L15)

HMS Bulwark is the second ship of the Royal Navy's Albion-class landing platform dock assault ships. She is one of the United Kingdom's two landing platform docks designed to put Royal Marines ashore by air and by sea.

Although launched in 2001, delays caused the delivery date to be put back, and the ship entered service In 28 April 2005. Together with HMS Albion (L14), and other amphibious ships, she has provided a larger and more effective amphibious capability than the previous Fearless-class landing platform dock vessels. Between October 2011 and June 2015 she was the fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. She has been in extended upkeep since 2020. The ship is designed to send large numbers of troops and vehicles to shore as quickly as possible. Bulwark has supported a permanently embarked Royal Marines landing craft unit, 4 Assault Squadron Royal Marines. The rear of Bulwark opens and floods a compartment, allowing the boats inside to be launched. The 64 m flight deck is able to take two Sea King HC4 or Merlin medium-lift helicopters and stow a third. The deck can also support two Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, one down the side of the flight deck and one at the rear of the flight deck. Although the Albion design does not have a hangar, the ship has sufficient equipment to support helicopter operations.

Bulwark was launched at the BAE Systems shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, on 15 November 2001. She is, to date, the most recent surface vessel to have been constructed at Barrow with the yard currently specialising in submarine construction.

Operational history
Bulwark departed the UK in January 2006 for a six-month East of Suez maiden deployment. She conducted counter-terrorist and counter-piracy tasks in waters off the Horn of Africa. Bulwark then headed for the northern Persian Gulf to become the flagship of Task Force 158, providing security for Iraqi oil platforms. At the start of mid 2006 Bulwark was near Spain. Due to the 2006 Israel–Lebanon crisis, on 15 July 2006 she was ordered to divert to Lebanon and to support operations evacuating British citizens from the conflict area. On 20 July, she evacuated approximately 1,300 people from Beirut in the biggest British evacuation. On completion of her extended deployment the ship returned to the United Kingdom. At the start of June 2007 Bulwark was berthed at Sunderland on the River Wear.

In October 2008, Bulwark was at the Tail of the Bank in the Firth of Clyde together with the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal (R07) and the French amphibious ship FRENCH SHIP Tonnerre, taking part in Exercise Joint Warrior 2008.

On 18 February 2009, Bulwark sailed from Devonport as flagship to Commander UK Amphibious Task Group, Commodore Peter Hudson, on the Taurus 09 deployment. She was joined by Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) HMS Ocean (L12), Type 23 frigates HMS Argyll (F231) and HMS Somerset (F82) and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

In May 2010, she entered a dry-dock at HMNB Devonport to refit, eventually rejoining the fleet in March 2011, and then took over as fleet flagship from her sister ship Albion in October 2011. She made a five-day visit to London on 16 March 2011. Bulwark undertook Operational Sea Training at the end of June 2011 in preparation to take up the role of fleet flagship of the Royal Navy. Bulwark was on standby as leading ship of the UK's recently formed Response Force Task Group. In October she participated in Exercise Joint Warrior in Loch Eriboll, the largest war games staged in the UK, involving the French Marines and other NATO forces.

On 15 February 2012, Bulwark made an unscheduled stop in Kiel, Germany, after ice on the Elbe river prevented her from entering the city of Hamburg as originally planned. At the end of February, Bulwark visited the Polish port of Gdynia, carrying out exercises with two Polish frigates, ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski and ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko. She also hosted onboard over 4,000 people from the city. The vessel had entered the Baltic Sea to prepare for Exercise 'Cold Response', a NATO winter war games exercise due to take place in northern Norway in March 2012. In April, she also took part in Exercise 'Joint Warrior' with several other British and foreign vessels including the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious (R06) off the coast of Scotland. She was part of the COUGAR 13 task group, with the Commander UK Task Group and his staff embarked on board. She was visited by the Commander of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO.

At the end of May 2014, Bulwark visited Greenwich in London, where the public were able to visit the ship for tours conducted by the crew, and she also took part in celebrations marking the 350th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Marines. In late 2014 Bulwark was deployed for the COUGAR 14 Response Force Task Group annual exercise and the International Mine Counter Measures Exercise (IMCMEX).

Between April and July 2015 Bulwark was allocated to Operation Weald, the upgraded search and rescue operation of the Italian coast for migrants crossing from Libya. She was assisted by three Merlin HM.2 helicopters from 814 Naval Air Squadron. Bulwark recovered over 2,900 migrants from the sea during the operation. Bulwark assisted in providing security for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Malta in November. This duty was completed in December 2015.

In 2016, the ship was the flagship for Exercise Griffin Strike, the validation exercise for the Anglo-French Combined Joint Expeditionary Force, after which she participated in the Centenary commemorations for the Battle of Jutland in Scapa Flow. In July, the ship came alongside Sunderland and exercised the Freedom of the City of Durham with a full ceremonial parade through the streets, finishing with a service at St Cuthbert's Cathedral. In September 2016, the ship again acted as the flagship for the Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 16 deployment (the new name for the COUGAR series of deployments) and, with COMATG embarked, deployed for exercises off (and with) Albania, France, Israel, Somaliland, and Oman.

As announced in 2011, Bulwark entered extended readiness (uncrewed reserve) in early 2017, and transferred her role as Fleet Amphibious Flagship to her sister ship Albion on her emergence from refit.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the planned out-of-service date for Bulwark is 2034. However, in October 2017, the BBC's Newsnight reported that the Ministry of Defence was considering decommissioning Bulwark and Albion as part of a package of cost-cutting measures intended to mitigate the expense of the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers. This action was reversed by then Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson in September 2018.

In late 2020 Bulwark was dry-docked for phase two of her optimised support period. The ship was to remain in dry dock prior to undertaking a phase 3 "recertification package" ahead of her planned return to the fleet in 2023. In mid-2023 it was reported that the ship would not be ready for active operations until sometime in 2024. Then in March 2024 James Cartlidge, Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, stated that the ship would in fact only return to operations "if required", suggesting that she would remain in uncrewed reserve upon completing her refit.

In the media
Bulwark is the featured ship in the second series of Warship originally shown on television channel Five in the UK. The season followed her during the Taurus 09 deployment.

Bulwark was heavily featured in Episode 2 of the 2017 series of Warship on Channel 4, which although based in HMS Ocean (L12), followed the entire Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime) 16 deployment.

Affiliations
In 2015 HMS Bulwark supported the following affiliations:
 * County Durham
 * Royal Irish Regiment
 * Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers
 * HMS Bulwark, Albion, and Centaur Association
 * RAF Odiham
 * St. Aloysius' College Scout Group
 * Bishop of Durham
 * Forest of Teesdale Primary School, Co Durham
 * Durham Trinity School and Sports College
 * Monkton Combe School Combined Cadet Force
 * Training Ship Adventure, Bristol Sea Cadet Corps
 * Training Ship Rhyl, Sea Cadet Corps
 * Giggleswick School Combined Cadet Force
 * Bishop Auckland Hospital
 * Bidwell Brook School

title: HMS Bulwark (L15)


text:
Governor-General of the Philippines

The governor-general of the Philippines (Filipinas; Filipino: Gobernador-Heneral ng Pilipinas/Kapitan Heneral ng Pilipinas) was the title of the government executive during the colonial period of the Philippines, governed by Mexico City and Madrid (1565–1898) and the United States (1898–1946), and briefly by Great Britain (1762–1764) and Japan (1942–1945). They were also the representative of the executive of the ruling power.

On November 15, 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was established as a transitional government to prepare the country for independence from American control. The governor-general was replaced by an elected Filipino president of the Philippine Commonwealth, as the chief executive of the Philippines, taking over many of the duties of the governor-general. The former American governor-general then became known as the high commissioner to the Philippines.

From 1565 to 1898, the Philippines was under Spanish rule. From 1565 to 1821, the governor and captain-general was appointed by the viceroy of New Spain upon recommendation of the Spanish Cortes and governed on behalf of the monarch of Spain to govern the Captaincy General of the Philippines. When there was a vacancy (e.g. death, or during the transitional period between governors), the Real Audiencia in Manila appointed a temporary governor from among its members.

After Mexico won its independence in 1821, the country was no longer under the Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico) and administrative affairs formerly handled by New Spain were transferred to Madrid and placed directly under the Spanish Crown.

British occupation of Manila (1761–1764)
After the Spanish defeat at the Battle of Manila in 1762, the Philippines was briefly governed simultaneously by two Governors-General, one of the Spanish Empire and one of the British Empire.

Great Britain shortly occupied Manila and the naval port of Cavite as part of the Seven Years' War, while the Spanish Governor-General set up a provisional government in Bacolor, Pampanga to continue administering the rest of the archipelago.

Under New Spain (1764–1821)
After the British returned Manila to the Spanish in 1764, the Spanish Governor-General Francisco Javier de la Torre resumed administration of the Philippines under the authority of the Viceroy of New Spain in modern-day Mexico (New Spain) as part of the Spanish Empire.

The Philippines, along with the rest of the Spanish Empire, became part of the First French Empire in 1808 after Napoleon overthrew Ferdinand VII and installed Joseph Bonaparte as king until his abdication in 1813, as part of a disastrous consequence of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign, the Peninsular Wars, particularly the Battle of Vitoria, and of forming the Sixth Coalition.

Direct Spanish control (1821–1898)
After the 1821 Mexican War of Independence, Mexico became independent and was no longer part of the Spanish Empire. The Viceroyalty of New Spain ceased to exist. The Philippines, as a result, was directly governed from Madrid, under the Spanish Crown.

United States Military Government (1898–1902)
The city of Manila was captured by American expeditionary forces on August 13, 1898. On August 14, 1898, the terms of the Spanish capitulation were signed. From this date, American government in the Philippines begins. General Wesley Merritt, in accordance with the instructions of the United States President, issued a proclamation announcing the establishment of United States military rule.

During the transition period, executive authority in all civil affairs in the Philippine government was exercised by the military governor.

Insular Government (1901–1935)
On July 4, 1901, executive authority over the islands was transferred to the president of the Second Philippine Commission who had the title of Civil Governor, a position appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the United States Senate. For the first year, a Military Governor, Adna Chaffee, ruled parts of the country still resisting the American rule, concurrent with Civil Governor, William Howard Taft. Disagreements between the two were not uncommon. The following year, on July 4, 1902, Taft became the sole executive authority. Chaffee remained commander of the Philippine Division until September 30, 1902.

After his retirement as Civil Governor, Governor Taft was appointed Secretary of War and he secured for his successor the adoption by Congress of the title Governor-General of the Philippine Islands thereby "reviving the high designation used during the last period of Spanish rule and placing the office on a parity of dignity with that of other colonial empires of first importance". The term "insular" (from insula, the Latin word for island) refers to U.S. island territories that are not incorporated into either a state or a federal district. All insular areas were under the authority of the U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs, a division of the US War Department.

High Commissioner to the Philippines (1935–42 and 1945–46)
On November 15, 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was inaugurated as a transitional government to prepare the country for independence. The office of President of the Philippine Commonwealth replaced the Governor-General as the country's chief executive. The Governor-General became the High Commissioner of the Philippines with Frank Murphy, the last governor-general, as the first high commissioner. The High Commissioner exercised no executive power but rather represented the colonial power, the United States Government, in the Philippines. The high commissioner moved from Malacañang Palace to the newly built High Commissioner's Residence, now the Embassy of the United States in Manila.

After the Philippine independence on July 4, 1946, the last High Commissioner, Paul McNutt, became the first United States Ambassador to the Philippines.

Japanese military governors (1942–1945)
In December 1941, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was invaded by Imperial Japan as part of World War II. The next year, the Japanese sent a military governor to control the country during the wartime period, followed by the formal establishment of the puppet Second Philippine Republic under Jose P. Laurel.

On September 2, 1945, the position of Governor-General of the Philippines was abolished. The Philippines' independence from the United States was proclaimed by the Treaty of Manila on July 4, 1946, installing Manuel Roxas as the fifth President of the Philippines and ushering in the Third Philippine Republic.

Vice-governors of the Philippines
On October 29, 1901, the position of Vice-Governor was created. The Vice-Governor was appointed by the President of the United States to act as the Governor-General (known at that time as the Civil Governor) in case of illness or temporary absence.

title: Governor-General of the Philippines


text:
User talk:Terry Foote

Ain't nuthin' to see here, pal. Showz ovah. Move on.

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title: User talk:Terry Foote


text:
User talk:Xvdvoort

Hi there. Welcome to Wikipedia! Drop us a note at New user log to introduce yourself.

If you need editing help, visit How does one edit a page. For format questions, visit our manual of style

Some time when you're bored, you can read through our policies and guidelines. If you made any edits before you got an account, you might be interested in assigning those to your username.

If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the Village pump. You can also drop me a question on my talk page.

Happy editing, Isomorphic 03:20, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Xvdvoort


text:
Unibrow

A unibrow (or jacco brow or monobrow; called synophrys in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose. The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.

History
The word monobrow first appeared in print in 1968, and the adjectival form monobrowed followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel The Rachel Papers. The first known use of the word unibrow was in 1981.

Culture and beauty
Some nations prize the unibrow. It is a sign of beauty among Baluchi Omanis, whose women sometimes draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population. In Tajikistan, where the unibrow is similarly viewed as attractive, some women dry and extract an herb known locally as usma and daub it onto their brows to mimic one. Urban women may do the same with a kohl liner or a kajal pen.

The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked, shaved, or waxed away. Exceptions include the artist Frida Kahlo, famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits, and the Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli.

The unibrow is also the trademark of the NBA player Anthony Davis, the football player Marouane Fellaini, and the YouTuber ElectroBOOM. The boxer Roberto Elizondo famously sported a unibrow during his professional career.

Fictional characters with unibrows include Bert, Herry Monster, and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, Muppets Sam Eagle, Statler and Animal, Tim Lockwood from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spanky Ham from Drawn Together, Squilliam Fancyson from SpongeBob SquarePants, Helga Pataki and Harold Berman from Hey Arnold!, Babyball and Leto Otel from Ballmastrz: 9009, Brobee from  Yo Gabba Gabba!, Duncan from Total Drama, The Twins from Superjail!, Ed and Rolf from Ed, Edd n Eddy, and Baby Gerald from The Simpsons.

Genetics
The unibrow is a genetic trait. It is associated with the PAX3 gene.

Medical conditions
A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).

Other medical conditions associated with a unibrow include:

 * 3MC syndrome 1
 * Acromegaloid facial appearance syndrome
 * Acromesomelic dysplasia 4
 * Amaurosis-hypertrichosis syndrome
 * Arrhinia with choanal atresia and microphthalmia syndrome
 * Autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia 17
 * Blepharophimosis-impaired intellectual development syndrome
 * Blepharophimosis-ptosis-esotropia-syndactyly-short stature syndrome
 * Brachycephaly, trichomegaly, and developmental delay
 * Chromosome 1p36 deletion syndrome
 * Coffin-Siris syndrome 12
 * Cognitive impairment - coarse facies - heart defects - obesity - pulmonary involvement - short stature - skeletal dysplasia syndrome
 * Congenital muscular hypertrophy-cerebral syndrome
 * Cornelia de Lange syndrome 1-5
 * Corpus callosum agenesis-abnormal genitalia syndrome
 * Cortical dysplasia, complex, with other brain malformations 11
 * Deafness, cataract, impaired intellectual development, and polyneuropathy
 * Deficiency of transaldolase
 * DeSanto-Shinawi syndrome due to WAC point mutation
 * Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 23, 66, 83, 84, 85 (with or without midline brain defects), 100, and 105 (with hypopituitarism)
 * Developmental delay with variable intellectual disability and dysmorphic facies
 * Developmental delay, impaired speech, and behavioral abnormalities
 * Diamond-Blackfan anemia 21
 * Early-onset progressive diffuse brain atrophy-microcephaly-muscle weakness-optic atrophy syndrome
 * Epilepsy, X-linked 2, with or without impaired intellectual development and dysmorphic features
 * Epilepsy-telangiectasia syndrome
 * Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and neurodevelopmental syndrome
 * Fontaine progeroid syndrome
 * Goldberg-Shprintzen megacolon syndrome
 * Growth delay due to insulin-like growth factor I resistance
 * Hajdu-Cheney syndrome
 * Hennekam lymphangiectasia-lymphedema syndrome 3
 * Holoprosencephaly 5, 7, and 11
 * Hypotonia, ataxia, and delayed development syndrome
 * Intellectual developmental disorder 61
 * Intellectual developmental disorder with or without peripheral neuropathy
 * Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal dominant 64 and 65
 * Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal recessive 68
 * Intellectual developmental disorder, X-linked, syndromic, with pigmentary mosaicism and coarse facies
 * Intellectual disability, autosomal dominant 29, 30, 34, 43, 48, and 52
 * Intellectual disability, autosomal recessive 5, 13, 16, 45, 46, and 61
 * Intellectual disability, X-linked 21, 73, 97, and 106
 * Intellectual disability, X-linked, syndromic 33
 * Intellectual disability-brachydactyly-Pierre Robin syndrome
 * Intellectual disability-facial dysmorphism syndrome due to SETD5 haploinsufficiency
 * Joubert syndrome 35
 * KBG syndrome
 * Kleefstra syndrome 1
 * Lissencephaly 6 with microcephaly
 * Macrothrombocytopenia-lymphedema-developmental delay-facial dysmorphism-camptodactyly syndrome
 * Mandibulofacial dysostosis-macroblepharon-macrostomia syndrome
 * Marshall-Smith syndrome
 * Microcephaly 4, primary, autosomal recessive
 * Midface hypoplasia, hearing impairment, elliptocytosis, and nephrocalcinosis
 * Mitochondrial complex 4 deficiency, nuclear type 20
 * Mitochondrial complex III deficiency nuclear type 7
 * Mucopolysaccharidosis, MPS-III-A to -D
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with dysmorphic facies and variable seizures
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with facial dysmorphism, absent language, and pseudo-pelger-huet anomaly
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with growth retardation, dysmorphic facies, and corpus callosum abnormalities
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, short stature, and speech delay
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with severe motor impairment and absent language
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity and poor growth
 * Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity, cataracts, and cerebellar hypoplasia
 * Periventricular nodular heterotopia 9
 * Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 7, 8, and 10
 * Primrose syndrome
 * Severe feeding difficulties-failure to thrive-microcephaly due to ASXL3 deficiency syndrome
 * Sialuria
 * Skin creases, congenital symmetric circumferential, 2
 * Smith-Magenis syndrome
 * Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, Genevieve type
 * Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, sensorineural hearing loss, impaired intellectual development, and leber congenital amaurosis
 * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Chudley-Schwartz type
 * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Nascimento type
 * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Siderius type
 * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Snyder type
 * Trigonocephaly 1
 * Uruguay Faciocardiomusculoskeletal syndrome
 * Waardenburg syndrome types 1, 2A, and 3
 * Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome
 * Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 1, 2, and 3

title: Unibrow


text:
Aubenas

Aubenas (Aubenàs) is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in Southern France. It is the seat of several government offices. The mountainous and rugged countryside is popular for vacation homes. The river Ardèche flows through the commune. Aubenas is one of the most populous communes in the Ardèche department with 12,479 inhabitants as of 2019, after Annonay and before Guilherand-Granges and Tournon-sur-Rhône.

Aubenas is the centre of an urban area, composed of 22 towns and villages including Vals-les-Bains, with 41,568 inhabitants (2018). Aside from its long-year commercial activity, it has a good strategic position on the tourist field, at crossroads of a regional natural park, the zone of the Ardèche river canyon and the start of mountains. The chestnut industry is one testimony of the intense agricultural activity earlier in time.

Etymology
The root alb-, meaning a height, is present in the name of the city. And in fact, it is sat on the strategic position of a limestone base overlooking the valley of Ardèche. Due to the long distance from a water source, the city was known informally as the city without water until the 19th century, when on 28 June 1863, under the leadership of the then Mayor John Mathon, water was pumped from an external source which fed 50 fountains across the city. At the foot of the promontory pass route of Montélimar to Le Puy-en-Velay, lies the oldest axis of movement between the Rhone valley and the mountains of Auvergne. The privileged location between l'Ardèche méridionale (Southern Ardèche) and l'Ardèche verte (Green Ardèche) allowed for a crossroads between different types of agriculture and business.

The Middle Ages
The hill on which the city is built is mentioned during the 5th century AD. It tells of a conflict between the bishops of the hill and the bishops of Viviers, which is a local commune in the same modern day department; for the construction of a fortress. By 1084, the bishop of the hill  won the lengthy conflict. The area became the possession of the Baron, Montlaur; all the way from the Ardèche mountains to what is now the western border of the current day department of Ardèche. The Baron's family reigned 1084 to 1441 and built the tower, the wall and two large, round towers of the castle which is surrounded by a moat that is why in French Aubenas is called "La cité des Montlaur". The lords who were not only at the origin of the economic growth of the city, but also the social and material development of its residents. Their motto was: "Montlaur, au plus haut!".

Renaissance
During the Renaissance, the city became Protestant, and after the third French war of religion, the residents refused to allow royal troops within the city walls.

Local government
The Mayor of Aubenas is Jean-Yves Meyer. He entered office in 2018.

Economy

Aubenas is the seat of the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie Ardèche Méridionale. It is also the seat of the Centre de formation d'apprentis (CFA) et is a training centre.

Aubenas is a city which survives today on commerce, tourism, and food manufacturing companies, producing things like cheese, chestnuts and other foodstuffs, the likes of which one might find in a delicatessen. It is also close to the commune of Lanas, which is home to a small aeroport (an aerodrome).

The city hosted the arrival of the Tour de France on 24 July 2009, the day prior to the climbing of mount Ventoux.

The City
The city hall which is situated in the city centre is surrounded by many paved roads, this is also the highest part of the city, it overlooks the medieval castle that overlooks the valley of the Ardèche.

The city had a railway until 1969 for passengers and until 1988 for goods. The line Vogüé-Lalevade-d'Ardèche. The station still sells tickets for the SNCF.

Since 4 June 2007, the service "tout'enbus" of the community of the communes of Pays d'Aubenas-Vals has also worked in the commune of Aubenas, Saint-Privat, Ucel and Vals-les-Bains.

Places and monuments

 * Château d'Aubenas, classed as a historic monument (France), now houses the city hall. Originally it was a strong castle in the 14th century. It was refurbished in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today it boasts a large collection of paintings, sculptures and engravings. It offers an exceptional dungeon panorama.
 * The Gargoule house, from the sixteenth century, by the castle.
 * The Saint Laurent composite church.
 * The Saint-Benoît cathedral of the 17th and 18th centuries is the old chapel of a benedictine convent.

Personalities

 * Jean Mathon, old mayor of the city.
 * Albert Seibel, creator of several hybrid vines.
 * Franck Sauzée, footballer
 * Léonce Verny, engineer
 * Cédric Barbosa, footballer
 * Jean-Marc Gounon, racecar driver
 * Rémy Martin, player of rugby
 * Jean Charay, Priest and historian
 * Dominique Guillo, comedian and director
 * Laurent Paganelli, footballer
 * Jacques Espérandieu, journalist
 * Anthony Mounier, footballer
 * Renaud Cohade, footballer
 * Nimdus and bonio
 * Delphine Combe, athlete
 * Amandine Leynaud, handballer
 * Jules Gounon, racecar driver and son of Jean-Marc Gounon
 * Olivier Coste, One Championship referee

Twin towns – sister cities
Aubenas is twinned with:
 * 🇮🇹 Cesenatico, Italy
 * 🇩🇪 Schwarzenbek, Germany
 * Sierre, Switzerland
 * 🇧🇪 Zelzate, Belgium

title: Aubenas


text:
List of armed conflicts involving Poland against Russia

Armed conflicts between Poland (including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Civitas Schinesghe ("Duchy of Poland")) and Russia (including the Soviet Union and Kievan Rus') include:

 * - 16
 * - 15
 * - 9

* e.g. result unknown or indecisive/inconclusive, result of internal conflict inside Poland or Russia in which the other intervened, status quo ante bellum, or a treaty or peace without a clear result.

Poland versus Soviet Union
Originally a Polish civil war that Russia, among others, became involved in.

Originally a Hungarian revolution but was joined with Polish force on Hungarian side against Austria and Russia.

Part of the broader Russian Revolution of 1905.


text:
Auvergnat

Auvergnat or Occitan auvergnat (endonym: auvernhat ) is a northern dialect of Occitan spoken in central and southern France, in particular in the former administrative region of Auvergne.

Currently, research shows that there is not really a true Auvergnat dialect but rather a vast northern Occitan linguistic area. The word "Auvergnat" is above all a local historiographical creation. According to linguist Jean Roux, "It is by simplification that we use this term, because in no case Auvergnat can be considered as an autonomous linguistic entity".

With around 80,000 speakers in the Auvergne region at the beginning of the 21st century, it is considered to be severely endangered.

Classification
Auvergnat falls under the following categories and subcategories: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Occitan.

History
Several troubadours were from the Auvergne, including Castelloza, Dalfi d'Alvernhe, the Monje de Montaudon, the Vesques de Clarmon, Peire d'Alvernhe, Peire Rogier and Pons de Capduelh. They did not, however, compose in the Auvergnat dialect, but in the standard literary register of Old Occitan.

Official documents in Auvergnat become common around 1340 and continue to be found down to 1540, when the transition to French was complete. The high point for the use of Auvergnat as an official language was between 1380 and 1480. There is a passion play, Passion d'Auvergne, first performed in Montferrand in 1477, that is written mainly in French but which contains an Auvergnat section of 66 lines. Auvergnat had been replaced by French in official usage in the Montferrand already in 1388. French had also supplanted Auvergnat as the language of the upper classes, but it remained the language of rural communities.

Geographical distribution

The effective borders of Auvergnat do not completely coincide with those of the current Region of Auvergne or the historical region of Auvergne but can be described as follows:

 * The entire département of the Puy-de-Dôme
 * a large section of the département of Cantal, largely centred on Saint-Flour and Mauriac. Aurillac and the Pierrefort Canton speak a dialect called carladézien, a form of languedocien, with Auvergnat conjugations and the rest largely similar to standard languedocien.
 * The larger portion of the Haute-Loire aside Yssingeaux which speaks Vivaro-Alpine.
 * the southern half of Allier, or the Bourbonnais province, near Montluçon and Vichy, with the northern half toward Moulins traditionally speaking French.
 * The communities of Noirétable and La Chamba in the western side of the département of Loire.

A more precise view on Auvergnat boundaries
There are strong oppositions between Pierre Bonnaud (for whom the Auvergnat is a language of its own, see the light orange line on the map – note it is including the easternmost part of the Marchois dialect) and for instance Roger Teulat.

Language boundaries
Light blue area labelled fr is for French-Langue d'Oïl. Light purple area labelled frp is for Francoprovençal.
 * 1: Latin pratus (meadow) > pra (Occitan, Francoprovençal) vs. pré (French)
 * 2: Latin nepos (nephew) > nebot (Occitan) vs. neveu. (French, Francoprovençal)

Dialect boundaries

 * 0: Absence of paroxytonic stress in the north – defines the Marchois dialect, a name often given to the Occitan spoken in the Croissant area. The area labelled m is that of the Marchois dialect.
 * 3: The ca/cha boundary separated Northern Occitan (Limousin, Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine, Marchois) and Southern Occitan (Gascon, Languedocien, Provençal). It is part of the Auvergnat boundary, along with 7, in Cantal. Area lm is for the Limousin dialect, va for Vivaro-Alpine, lg for Languedocien.
 * 4: Feminines in –ada have lost intervocalic d and became –aa: this separates Auvergnat and Vivaro-Alpine (almost the same boundary for first person indicative present in –o [u], another characteristic of Vivaro-Alpine).

Definition boundaries
These are not characteristic of Auvergnat as a whole but allow for defining a boundary:
 * 5 and 6: These match the Core Auvergnat, according to Pierre Bonnaud. They may be used for the western boundary of Auvergnat. Area 5 has the pronunciation [jaR] of èr (around [ɛR]), area 6 has the palatalisation of 'cl' to [kʎ] or [çʎ].
 * 7: Southeastern boundary has an opposition between dreita and drecha
 * 8: This is for the southern boundary: the plural of braç has the same pronunciation than the singular; only the article allows differentiation.

Note that most Occitanists use rather 7 than 8 to define the southern boundary.

Internal variation
Note some of the definition boundaries allow defining an internal variation. The most traditional one between Lower or Northern Auvergnat and Upper or Southern Auvergnat is the mutation of s before [k], [p], and [t] (line 9). Lower Auvergnat, defined by Teulat, is the light green area labelled 1 on the map. Upper Auvergnat, defined by Teulat, is the light brown-yellow area labelled 2 on the map. A broader area (light yellow) is generally defined. A Northwestern Auvergnat may be defined as well by 5 and 6. The Northeastern (East of 5 and 6, North of 9) has, according to Bonnaud, a stronger influence from French phonetics (a bit like Marchois).

Subdialects
Auvergnat is most often categorized in the Northern Occitan dialect group, along with Limousin and Vivaro-Alpine.

There are two primary distinctions in Auvergnat:

 * Northern Auvergnat (nord-auvergnat, also bas-auvergnat) in Puy-de-Dôme and Allier (Bourbonnais) and Haute-Loire north of Brioude.
 * In the south of Allier (Bourbonnais), the local nord-auvergnat has been heavily influenced by French, but Auvergnat linguistic traits remain dominant. This transition zone to French, called locally le Croissant, includes the northern fringe of Limousin.  See also the article on Bourbonnais.
 * Southern Auvergnat (sud-auvergnat, also haut-auvergnat) spoken in Cantal, Haute-Loire (with a part of Ardèche and most of Lozère).

The suggestion that Auvergnat is an independent language, distinct from Occitan, has found little resonance with linguists, especially Romance linguists. It is strongly defended by those who espouse the norme bonnaudienne a standardization of Auvergnat.

Linguistic vitality and usage
An understanding of the vitality and overall usage of Auvergnat can be garnered from a survey carried out in 2006 in the Auvergne region.

The largest group of the two languages spoken in the Auvergne region is referred to as patois (78% of the population) compared with other regional terms, with certain cultural identities emerging, such as auvergnat (10%), occitan (8%), bourbonnais (5%) or langue d'oc (4%).

The regional language, whether Occitan (in the whole of the Auvergne region) or Oïl (the north of Allier), represents a strong presence in the region:

 * 61% claim to understand their regional language more-or-less, with 22% claiming to understand it easily or perfectly.
 * 42% claim to be able to speak it more-or-less, with 12% claiming it as easy.
 * 29% claim to read Auvergnat more-or-less, with 10% claiming it easy.
 * 17% claim to write Auvergnat more-or-less, with 4% declaring it easy.

A large part of the population that understands or speaks even a little or, moreover, fluently, neither know how to write nor read in that language.

Language learning is found to be essential within the home, according to the survey, (grandparents noted as 61%, or other family members at 50%) with a very weak result from the schools (10%). Herein is found the problem of language-transmission when dependent upon State sponsorship. 40% of adults who did not teach their language to their children report regretting it at the time of the survey. This feeling is reported more strongly among the 35 or less demographic, at 58%. The desire to learn the local language is reported strongly, with increasing representation among the young, reported at 23%. According to the survey the desire to incorporate local language learning in schools is as follows: Haute-Loire (53%), Puy-de-Dôme (51%) et Cantal (74%). The desire to teach to their own children is strong (41%) and is stronger still with the 35 and under demographic (58%). 71% of the region's inhabitants are favorable to the idea of maintaining the regional language and culture, with a stronger result in the 35-and-unders (76%). To achieve this desire, different institutions are expected to play a role (in percentage of those surveyed):

 * France 3 Auvergne, the local television channel should offer regional language programming (54%)
 * The Region (54%), National Education (43%), the Culture Ministry (42%) and the communities are seen by most Auvergnats as the most correct venues to develop and pass on the Auvergnat language and culture.

Authors
The following are authors who have published in Auvergnat:

 * Pierre Bonnaud
 * Daniel Brugès
 * Antoine Clet (1705–1785)
 * François Cognéras
 * Étienne Coudert
 * Andrée Homette
 * Karl-Heinz Reichel
 * Jean Roux (PhD thesis online, 2020).
 * Henri-Antoine Verdier, Mémoires d'un papi auvergnat, text in Auvergnat dialect and French, 2000.

Poets
Poets using Auvergnat:

 * Louis Delhostal (1877–1933)
 * Faucon, La Henriade de Voltaire, mise en vers burlesques par Faucon, Riom; 1798; Le Conte des deux perdrix
 * Roy Gelles, Le Tirage, poem, Clermont, 1836; Le Maire compétent, Clermont, 1841
 * Camille Gandilhon, Gens d'Armes
 * Ravel, La Paysade, epic poem
 * Joan de Cabanas

Songwriters
Songwriters using Auvergnat:

 * Joseph Canteloube (Chants D'Auvergne: Vol. IV, No. 6: Lou Coucut online, 2017)

title: Auvergnat


text:
IAI Kfir

The Israel Aircraft Industries Kfir (כְּפִיר, "Lion Cub") is an Israeli all-weather multirole combat aircraft based on the French Dassault Mirage 5, with Israeli avionics and an Israeli-built version of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine.

Background
The project that would ultimately give birth to the Kfir can be traced back to Israel's need for adapting the Dassault Mirage IIIC to the specific requirements of the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

The all-weather, delta-winged Mirage IIICJ was the first Mach 2 aircraft acquired by Israel from then-close ally France, and constituted the backbone of the IAF during most of the 1960s, until the arrival of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and, most importantly, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, by the end of the decade. While the Mirage IIICJ proved to be extremely effective in the air-superiority role, its relatively short range imposed some limitations on its usefulness as a ground-attack aircraft.

Thus, in the mid-1960s, at the request of Israel, Dassault Aviation began developing the Mirage 5, a fair-weather, ground-attack version of the Mirage III. Following the suggestions made by the Israelis, advanced avionics located behind the cockpit were removed, allowing the aircraft to increase its fuel-carrying capacity while reducing maintenance costs.

By 1968, Dassault had finished production of the 50 Mirage 5Js paid for by Israel, but an arms embargo imposed upon Israel by the French government in 1967 prevented deliveries from taking place. The Israelis replied by producing an unlicensed copy of the Mirage 5, the Nesher, with technical specifications for both the airframe and the engine obtained by Israeli spies.

Design

The Kfir programme originated in the quest to develop a more capable version of the IAI Nesher, which was already in series production. After General De Gaulle embargoed the sale of arms to Israel, the IAF feared that it might lose qualitative superiority over its adversaries in the future, which were receiving increasingly advanced Soviet aircraft. The main and most advanced type of aircraft available to the IAF was the Mirage, but a severe problem developed due to the Mirage fleet's depletion due to attrition after the Six-Day War. Domestic production would circumvent the embargo restrictions completely; efforts to reverse engineer and reproduce components of the Mirage were aided by Israeli espionage efforts to obtain technical assistance and blueprints from third party Mirage operators.

Two powerplants were initially selected for trials, the General Electric J79 turbojet and the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan. In the end, the J79 was selected, not least because it was the same engine used on the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, which the Israelis began to acquire from the United States in 1969, along with a license to produce the J79 themselves. The J79 was clearly superior to the original French Atar 09, providing a dry thrust of 49 kN (11,000 lbf) and an afterburning thrust of 83.4 kN (18,750 lbf).

In order to accommodate the new powerplant on the Mirage III's airframe, and to deliver the added cooling required by the J79, the aircraft's rear fuselage was slightly shortened and widened, its air intakes were enlarged, and a large air inlet was installed at the base of the vertical stabilizer, so as to supply the extra cooling needed for the afterburner. The engine itself was encased in a titanium heatshield.

A two-seat Mirage IIIBJ fitted with the GE J79 made its first flight in September 1970, and was soon followed by a re-engined Nesher, which flew in September 1971.

An improved prototype of the aircraft, with the name Ra'am B ("Ra'am" means "Thunder"; the "Ra'am A" was the Nesher), made its first flight in June 1973. It had an extensively revised cockpit, a strengthened landing gear, and a considerable amount of Israeli-built avionics. The internal fuel tanks were slightly rearranged, their total capacity being increased to 713 gal.

There were unconfirmed reports that a number of the original Mirage IIICs, re-engined with the J79 and given the name Barak ("Lightning"), took part in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, but some sources point out that there is no evidence that these aircraft ever existed.

Israel

The Kfir entered service with the IAF in 1975, the first units being assigned to the 101st "First Fighter" Squadron. Over the following years, several other squadrons were also equipped with the new aircraft. The role of the Kfir as the IAF's primary air superiority asset was short-lived, as the first F-15 Eagle fighters from the United States were delivered to Israel in 1976.

The Kfir's first recorded combat action took place on November 9, 1977, during an Israeli air strike on a training camp at Tel Azia, in Lebanon. The only air victory claimed by a Kfir during its service with the IAF occurred on June 27, 1979, when a Kfir C.2 shot down a Syrian MiG-21.

By the time of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982 (Operation Peace for Galilee) the IAF was able to use both its F-15s and F-16s for air superiority roles, leaving the Kfirs to carry out unescorted strike missions. Shortly afterwards, all IAF C.2s began to be upgraded to the C.7 version, with enhanced weight performance, making the Kfir more suitable to its new fighter-bomber role. During the second half of the 1990s, the Kfirs were withdrawn from active duty in the IAF, after almost twenty years of continuous service.

Israel Aerospace Industries announced in August 2013 it will offer pre-owned Kfir fighter jets to foreign customers, with a 40-year guarantee. Unit price is reported to be $20 million. A few Eastern European and Latin American countries have expressed interest, Israel's Globes business daily reported. By October 2013, Israel Aerospace Industries was in "very advanced negotiations" with at least two air forces interested in the Kfir Block 60. An aircraft can be delivered within one year, with two squadrons to be sold in two to three years. The Block 60 is offered with the Elta EL/M-2032 with open architecture avionics to allow a customer to install other systems. The sensor provides an all-aspect, look-down/shoot-down performance in air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, with the capability to simultaneously track up to 64 targets. The J79 has been overhauled to zero flight hours, and would need replacement after 1,600 hours.

Foreign service
Since the J79 turbojet engine is an U.S. design, although manufactured under license in Israel, all export sales of the Kfir are subject to prior approval being granted by the U.S. State Department, a fact that has limited the sale of the Kfir to foreign nations.

As of 2006, the IAI Kfir has been exported to Colombia, Ecuador, and Sri Lanka.

Colombia

As a result of a trade agreement between Colombia and Israel in 1989 the Colombian government bought a batch of 12 ex-IAF Kfir C.2s and one TC.2, which were delivered to the Colombian Air Force (FAC) in 1989–1990. Since then, all the C.2s have been upgraded to the C.7 variant. The FAC Kfirs have been widely used in ground-attack missions during counter-insurgency operations against Colombian terrorists. As of 2004 two aircraft had been lost in accidents.

In February 2008, Colombia signed a deal with the Israeli government for an additional 24 ex-IAF Kfir aircraft. It was estimated that these aircraft will most probably be upgraded by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to C.10 standard.

In June 2009, IAI delivered the first batch of upgraded Kfirs to the Colombian Air Force in a ceremony held at IAI's facilities in Israel. In attendance at the ceremony was Juan Hurtado Cano, the Colombian Ambassador to Israel, high-ranking officers from the Colombian Air Force, and executives from the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD-SIBAT). This was a part of a multi-year contract awarded in late 2007 and worth over $150 million to upgrade the existing Colombian Air Force Kfirs, and to supply additional jets. The additional Kfir jets, models C.10-C.12, have been upgraded and improved to include IAI's latest technologies and products.

On July 20, 2009, a Kfir crashed near the city of Cartagena. The Israeli pilots operating the plane were unharmed in the incident, but the jet itself was destroyed. Israel Aerospace Industries said in a statement that the plane was flying a refresher flight, and that the aircraft didn't come to a stop on the landing strip, landing outside it. The director of the Israel Aerospace Industries announced that an investigation into the incident had already begun and that a panel to probe the crash had been appointed. On July 22, 2009, IAI informed the Colombian Air Force that the accident was caused by an unspecified human error. As a result, IAI will replace the unit lost with another one and it will resume delivery to the Colombian Air Force.

On November 1, 2013, two Colombian Air Force IAI Kfirs intercepted Russian Air Force Tu-160s that had entered Colombian airspace. The Russian aircraft had taken off from Simón Bolívar International Airport Venezuela.

On October 10, 2017, Colombian IAI Kfirs were updated with the EL/M 2052 AESA Radar and incorporated the I-Derby-ER Active Air to Air Missile and the Python-5 Air to Air Infrared Missile

As of 2019, 23 Colombian IAI Kfirs remain in service.

Ecuador
In 1981, Ecuador and Israel signed a sales agreement for ten refurbished and new ex-IAF Kfir C.2s and two TC.2s, which were delivered to the Ecuadorian Air Force (FAE) in 1982–1983. The Kfirs formed the 2113rd Squadron (Lions) of the FAE's 21st Fighter Wing, based at Taura AFB, on the Ecuadorian western lowlands.

The FAE Kfirs went into action during the 1995 Cenepa War between Ecuador and Peru. Relying on its fleet of subsonic A-37Bs for low-level ground-attack missions on Peruvian positions, the Ecuadorian Air Force held back its Mirage F.1s and Kfir C.2s for use as escorts and interceptors. On February 10, 1995, a Kfir C.2 shot down a Peruvian Air Force Cessna A-37B with a Shafrir 2 IR-homing AAM.

In 1996, with tensions still running high between Ecuador and Peru, the Ecuadorians acquired four additional Kfirs (three C.2 and one TC.2) after securing approval from the U.S. State Department.

In 1998, with its aging squadron of SEPECAT Jaguar fighter-bombers about to be withdrawn from active duty, Ecuador began talks with Israel for the sale of a new batch of eight Kfirs. Fearing an escalation of the arms race in South America (Peru had recently acquired 18 MiG-29s and 18 Su-25s from Belarus), the United States blocked the deal. As an alternative, Ecuador and Israel signed an agreement in 1999 for the delivery of two Kfir C.10s and for the conversion of an undisclosed number of the FAE's original C.2s to the C.10 version, referred to in Ecuador as Kfir CE, featuring a Helmet Mounted Display System, and armed with Python 3 and Python 4 IR-homing AAMs.

By 2005, Ecuador had lost four Kfirs, including one TC.2, due to accidents since the aircraft entered service in 1982.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) acquired six Kfir C.2s and a single TC.2 in 1995–1996. A further nine aircraft had been added to the inventory by 2005, including four C.2s and four C.7s acquired in 2000. Currently the SLAF operates two TC.2s, two C.7s and six C.2s by the No. 10 "Fighter" Squadron. The SLAF used their Kfirs to carry out attacks against LTTE rebels during the Sri Lankan Civil War in Sri Lanka. Two Kfir C.7s were destroyed on the ground in an LTTE attack on SLAF Katunayake air base, part of Bandaranaike International Airport, on 24 July 2001. Three others were lost in non-combat related accidents during the Civil War period. None were lost in aerial combat. In March 2011, two Kfirs collided in mid-air during an airshow practice sortie.

On June 30, 2021, it was announced that the IAI will upgrade five Sri Lankan Kfirs for a return to service with new systems and sensors under a US$50 million contract.

United States

Between 1985 and 1989, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps leased 25 examples of the Kfir C.1, which were officially designated F-21A and modified for use as unarmed adversaries: mock opponents in dissimilar air combat training (DACT). These aircraft had narrow-span canard foreplanes and two small rectangular strakes, one on either side of the nose, which considerably improved the aircraft's maneuverability and handling at low speeds.

The 12 F-21 aircraft leased to the U.S. Navy, painted in a three-tone blue-gray "ghost" scheme, were operated by Fighter Squadron 43 (VF-43), based at NAS Oceana, Virginia. In 1988, they were returned and replaced by the F-16N. The 13 aircraft leased to the U.S. Marine Corps were operated by Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 (VMFT-401), a 4th Marine Aircraft Wing/ Marine Corps Reserve squadron at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona. In addition to the blue-gray painted aircraft, the USMC also had some F-21s painted in Israeli colors and desert "flogger" schemes (named because they were to represent the schemes often worn by Warsaw Pact MiG-23 "Floggers"). The Kfir was utilized because they both shared the common characteristic of being very fast-accelerating, as well as achieving a top speed of above Mach 2. The MiG-23 was targeted as the "enemy" aircraft because at this time the MiG-23 was being introduced in very large numbers, and was a very capable aircraft compared to earlier Soviet types. These USMC F-21 aircraft were replaced by F-5E aircraft when the F-21s were returned in 1989 (although this left the training units without any aircraft capable of accurately simulating the Mach 2+ and fast-accelerating MiG-23).

Six Kfirs are also used by the US firm Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), a civilian defense contractor that provides tactical adversary aircraft services to the US military. ATAC provides airborne tactical training, threat simulation, and research & development. ATAC's corporate headquarters and primary operating location is at Patrick Henry International Airport in Newport News, VA, with additional permanent operating locations at US Naval Air Stations and Marine Corps Air Stations in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Japan. ATAC also operates Hawker Hunter F.58s. On March 6, 2012, an ATAC Kfir, FAA registration N404AX, crashed while landing at NAS Fallon, Nevada after a flight supporting the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center. The pilot, a retired USN officer, was fatally injured.

Potential users
In the early 1990s, IAI was looking to export 40 Kfir-C fighters to the Republic of China (Taiwan) in a deal estimated to have been worth US$400 million to $1 billion; however, the deal ultimately fell through.

During 2013, the Argentine Air Force commenced negotiations with Israel for 18 Kfir Block 60 fighters as an alternative to another deal for 16 ex-Spanish Mirage F1 fighters. During mid-2014, industry sources claim IAI will "soon" receive an order from the Argentine Air Force for Kfir Block 60s after their purchase of surplus Spanish Mirage F1s failed.

Variants

 * Kfir C.1: Basic production variant without canards.
 * Kfir C.1P/Kfir Canard: Upgraded version of the Kfir C.1 meant to modify original airframes up to the C.2 standard. These aircraft had been modified and included fences on the air intakes and nose. These fences greatly improved the aircraft maneuverability and slow speed control. These aircraft also included flare/chaff dispensers.
 * F-21A Kfir: 25 upgraded Kfir C.1P aircraft, were leased to the USN and USMC for an aggressor role and were designated F-21A Lion. These aircraft were unarmed and had their internal guns removed.
 * Kfir C.2: An improved Kfir that featured many aerodynamic improvements. Changes included "dogtoothed" leading edges on the wings, fences on the nose, and large fixed canards on the air intakes.
 * Kfir TC.2: A two-seat training variant developed from the C.2. It has a longer and lowered nose to improve the pilot's view.
 * Kfir RC.2: Reconnaissance version of the C.2 commonly known as the Kfir Tzniut due to the Tzniut camera nose being fitted to it.
 * Kfir C.7: Vastly modified variant. Most if not all C.2 aircraft were modified to this variant. It included an improved J79-GE-J1E engine that provided an additional 1000 lbf of thrust at full afterburner (and as a result increasing the Maximum Take-off Weight by 3395 lb), 2 more hardpoints under the air intakes, better avionics such as a MFD.
 * Kfir TC.7: A two-seat training variant developed from the C.7.
 * Kfir C.9: Proposal for Argentina powered by Atar 9K50. Cancelled. Later developed as South Africa's Atlas Cheetah
 * Kfir C.10: A variant developed especially for export. The most important change is the adaptation of the Elta EL/M-2032 radar. Other changes include HMD capability and two 127×177mm MFDs. This variant is also known as Kfir CE ( Ecuadorean version ) and Kfir COA (Colombian version).
 * Kfir TC.10: Upgraded version of the TC.7 for the Colombian Aerospace Force.
 * Kfir C.12: Upgraded version of the C.7 for the Colombian Aerospace Force, a C.10 without the Elta EL/M-2032 radar.
 * Kfir Block 60: Upgraded version of the C.10, The main feature of this variant is the use of AESA radar, proposed to the Bulgarian Air Force and Colombian Aerospace Force.  Argentina is reported to be interested in a US$500m deal for eighteen Block 60 to replace its planned acquisition of second-hand Mirage F1M from Spain.
 * Kfir NG: Upgraded version, short for Next-Generation. Offered to current and former operators Colombia, Ecuador and Sri Lanka, revealed at Paris Air Show 2019.

Current

 * Colombian Aerospace Force : 23 in service as 2019.
 * 111 Combat Squadron
 * Sri Lanka Air Force
 * No. 10 Squadron
 * Textron subsidiary Airborne Tactical Advantage Company operates 6 IAI F-21 Kfirs
 * No. 10 Squadron
 * Textron subsidiary Airborne Tactical Advantage Company operates 6 IAI F-21 Kfirs
 * Textron subsidiary Airborne Tactical Advantage Company operates 6 IAI F-21 Kfirs

Former

 * Ecuadorian Air Force
 * Israeli Air Force
 * 101 Squadron
 * 109 Squadron
 * 113 Squadron
 * 144 Squadron
 * 149 Squadron
 * 254 Squadron
 * United States Navy
 * United States Marine Corps
 * Under the tri-service designation F-21A Lion, the type was used as an adversary fighter by the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (a.k.a. TOPGUN ), run under the auspices of the US Navy. Training of Navy and Marine Corps aviators ceased in 1988 and 1989 respectively.
 * United States Navy
 * United States Marine Corps
 * Under the tri-service designation F-21A Lion, the type was used as an adversary fighter by the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (a.k.a. TOPGUN ), run under the auspices of the US Navy. Training of Navy and Marine Corps aviators ceased in 1988 and 1989 respectively.

Israel

 * 010 - Kfir C.2 displayed as a gate guardian at Ovda Airport.
 * 310 - Kfir TC.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 419 - Kfir RC.2 Tzniut on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 451 - Kfir RC.2 Tzniut on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 514 - Kfir C.7 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 529 - Kfir C.7 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 664 - Kfir C.2 mounted on a pylon in Beersheba.
 * 712 - Kfir C.1 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 742 - Kfir C.1 on display at Madatech in Haifa.
 * 814 - Kfir C.2 on display at Ramat David Airbase.
 * 826 - Kfir C.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 853 - Kfir C.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 869 - Kfir C.2 on display at Hatzor Airbase.
 * 874 - Kfir C.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 875 - Kfir C.2 preserved in the Givat Olga neighborhood of Hadera.
 * 886 - Kfir C.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 895 - Kfir C.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * 988 - Kfir TC.2 on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * BuNo 999725 - F-21A Kfir on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.
 * BuNo 999764 - F-21A Kfir on display at the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim Airbase.

Sri Lanka

 * CF-712 - Kfir C.2 mounted on a pylon at the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum.
 * SFM-721 - Kfir C.7 on display at the Sri Lanka Air Force Museum.
 * SFM-5207 - Kfir C.2 displayed outside of SLAF Colombo in Colombo.

United States

 * BuNo 999734 - F-21A Kfir on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

title: IAI Kfir


text:
User talk:Paul Vogel/66.2.156.38

"A supremacist -- of whatever race -- is distinct from a 'separatist.' A separatist may believe that his race is superior to other races in some or all characteristics, but this is not his essential belief. The separatist is defined by his wish for freedom and independence for his people. He wishes them to have their own society, to be led by their own kind, to have a government which looks out for their interests alone. The separatist does not wish to live in a multiracial society at all, so he naturally has no desire to rule over other races -- since such rule necessitates the multiracial society the separatist wants to avoid at all costs."

See also separatism

title: User talk:Paul Vogel/66.2.156.38


text:
Bourg-Saint-Andéol

Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Bourg-Sant-Andiòu) is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France.

Geography
It lies directly along the river Rhône at the southeast end of the department 15 km south of the smaller town Viviers, 4 km from Pierrelatte eastwards across the river in the département Drôme and 10 km from Pont-Saint-Esprit, in the north of the département of Gard. 14 km to the south-west starts the nearby Ardèche Gorges in Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche.

History
The Gallic settlement on a rocky peak over the Rhône was called Bergoiata. Near the town is a sculpted bas relief of the god Mithras. It acquired its present name after Saint Andeolus, the 'apostle of the Vivarais', a disciple of St. Polycarp, supposedly arriving from Asia Minor, who evangelized the area under Emperor Septimius Severus, and was martyred in 208. The region was named Helvia in Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, with Alba-la-Romaine as capital city, then Vivarais from the mediaeval times after the see of Viviers, a region of Languedoc province during Ancien Régime until départements were created at the French Revolution. Due to the citizen's engagement for the Revolution, the town's name rejected a while the little known saint and was named Bourg-sur-Rhône. (At the Napoleonic times, Andéol had already been brought in back...) It had been the seat of a bailli (royal magistrate). And the bishop of Viviers had settled several decades in Renaissance times in the city (the Bishops' Palace). It is the seat of the mother houses of the Congregation of the Presentation of Mary and of the Religious Congregations of the Presentation.

The city had grown and become one of the most important towns of county Vivarais due to its position on the Rhône (boatmen mariniers du Rhône, trade and business in hide, fabric, wine, oil). Several patricians' houses are still to be seen in the centre of the city (although a part of it was bombed by Allied forces at the end of World War II, missing the hanging bridge - which was replaced afterwards by the existing one).

Economy
Bourg-Saint-Andéol is the shopping center for surrounding villages. In the mid 80es, several factories closed and economy almost drowned (ceramics). Nowadays, Pierrelatte with the site of Tricastin, first atomic energy plant in France, makes that many residents of Bourg-Saint-Andéol earn their livelihood by working over the Rhône. Another noticeable economical source of the area - already a typical mediterranean zone - is wine, with the Côtes du Rhône méridionales (southern) gathering four other communes around the city (Saint-Marcel-d'Ardèche, Saint-Just and Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche). An oil mill has been recently re-established for olive harvests in the area.

Tourism
The area is popular for tourism and summer homes, and the city is known as having the richest cultural heritage in Ardèche: there are many dolmens in the Bois du Laoul forest and a sculpture of Mithra near the Vauclusian springs of the Tourne. Several former noble or grand-bourgeois 18th century places are regularly used for local and visitors during summer season. A mediaeval fort with embellishments dating from the 15th and 17th century, the entire construction a classified historical monument, the Bishops' palace of Bourg-Saint-Andéol with inside the museum René Margotton, front of Rhône, is one of the largest and most complex in the Vivarais region.

Culture

 * A national institute of clownery art has been settled in Bourg-Saint-Andéol, the Institut National des Arts du Clown.

Twin cities

 * Monschau in Germany (Eifel) since 1975
 * Albertirsa in Hungary since 1998
 * Gaggiano in Italy since 2002

title: Bourg-Saint-Andéol


text:
Bran Castle

Bran Castle (Castelul Bran; Schloss Bran or Die Törzburg; Törcsvári kastély) is a castle in Bran, 25 km southwest of Brașov. The castle was built by Saxons in 1377 who were given the privilege by Louis I of Hungary. It is a national monument and landmark in Transylvania. The fortress is on the Transylvanian side of the historical border with Wallachia, on road DN73.

Commonly known outside Transylvania as Dracula's Castle, it is marketed as the home of the title character in Bram Stoker's Dracula. There is no evidence that Stoker knew anything about this castle, which has only tangential associations with Vlad the Impaler, voivode of Wallachia, who shares his name with Dracula. Stoker's description of Dracula's crumbling fictional castle also bears no resemblance to Bran Castle.

The castle is now a museum dedicated to displaying art and furniture collected by Queen Marie. Tourists can see the interior on their own or by a guided tour. At the bottom of the hill is a small open-air museum exhibiting traditional Romanian peasant structures (cottages, barns, water-driven machinery, etc.) from the Bran region.

Wooden castle of the German Order
In 1212, the Teutonic Order built the wooden castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position in the Burzenland at the entrance to a mountain pass through which traders had travelled for more than a millennium. This castle was destroyed by the Mongols in 1242.

The castle's original name, Dietrichstein or lapis Theoderici in Latin, lit. "Dietrich's Stone", seems to have been derived from the Comthur (Commander) and regional Preceptor, frater Theodericus, mentioned in a 1212 document. This Dietrich is the probable builder of the castle. A 1509 document confirms that the Törzburg county had once belonged to Commander Dietrich of the Teutonic Order.

Stone castle of the Kronstadt Saxons
The first documented mention of Bran Castle is the act issued by Louis I of Hungary on 19 November 1377, giving the Saxons of Kronstadt (modern Brașov) the privilege to build the stone castle at their own expense and labour force; the settlement of Bran began to develop nearby. In 1438–1442, the castle was used in defense against the Ottoman Empire, and later became a customs post on the mountain pass between Transylvania and Wallachia. Although many castles of the time belonged to members of the nobility, it has been established that Bran Castle was built almost exclusively for fortification and protection of German colonists in Transylvania. It is believed the castle was briefly held by Mircea the Elder of Wallachia (r. 1386–95, 1397–1418) during whose period the customs point was established. The Wallachian ruler Vlad Țepeș (Vlad the Impaler; 1448–1476) does not seem to have had a significant role in the history of the fortress, although he passed several times through the Bran Gorge. At some point, Bran Castle belonged to the Hungarian kings, but due to the failure of King Vladislas II (r. 1471–1516) to repay loans, the city of Brașov regained possession of the fortress in 1533.

In 1530, Moise of Wallachia, Voivode of Wallachia, sent an army to capture the castle, but the Székely soldiers led by the castle lord Dénes defended the building, thereby forcing the Wallachian army to retreat.

Bran played a militarily strategic role up to the mid-18th century.

Royal residence and aftermath
With the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost Transylvania, and the castle became a royal residence within the Kingdom of Romania after being given to the royal house by the Saxons of Kronstadt-Braşov, who had no more use for it and no interest in financing the time-damaged property. It became the favorite home and retreat of Marie of Romania, who ordered its extensive renovation conducted by the Czech architect Karel Zdeněk Líman. The castle was inherited by her daughter Princess Ileana who ran a hospital there in World War II. It was later seized by the communist regime with the expulsion of the royal family in 1948.

In 2005 the Romanian government passed a law allowing restitution claims on properties illegally expropriated, such as Bran, and thus a year later ownership of the castle was awarded to Archduke Dominic of Austria, a son of Princess Ileana.

On 18 May 2006, after a period of legal proceedings, the castle was legally returned to the children of Princess Ileana. However, through the Ministry of Culture, the Romanian state was also to administer it for the next three years.

In September 2007 an investigation committee of the Romanian Parliament stated that the retrocession of the castle to Archduke Dominic was illegal, as it broke the Romanian law on property and succession. However, in October 2007 the Constitutional Court of Romania rejected the parliament's petition on the matter. In addition, an investigation commission of the Romanian government issued a decision in December 2007 reaffirming the validity and legality of the restitution procedures used and confirming that the restitution was made in full compliance with the law.

On 18 May 2009 administration of Bran Castle was transferred from the government to Archduke Dominic and his sisters, Archduchess Maria Magdalena and Archduchess Elisabeth. On 1 June 2009, the Habsburgs opened the refurbished castle to the public as the first private museum in the country and presented a joint strategic concept in collaboration with Bran village to maintain their prominent role in the Romanian tourist circuit and to safeguard the economic base in the region.

"Dracula's Castle"
Though many myths have been connected to him in connection with the Dracula myth, most historians agree that Vlad III Dracula, also known as Vlad the Impaler, never set foot in Castle Bran, which was neither a friendly place for him to visit nor under his rule. It was once believed that he was imprisoned there after he was captured by the Hungarians in 1462, but historians now conclude that he was imprisoned in a fortress in Budapest.

Connection to Bram Stoker's Dracula
Bran Castle is not mentioned in the novel Dracula, and the novel's description of the castle does not match Bran Castle. The claimed connection between the castle and the Dracula legend is tourism-driven.

During Stoker's research on the region of Transylvania, he came across accounts of the atrocities committed by Vlad III, and used the Dracula name after reading on the subject; but his inspiration for Dracula was not solely based on the historical figure. It is largely due to American cinema that Vlad III is considered the inspiration for the Dracula character.

Other mentions in popular culture
Most of Laurie R. King's novel Castle Shade (2022), part of her series about Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, is set in and near Bran Castle in 1925.

title: Bran Castle


text:
Manat (goddess)

Manāt (مناة  pausa,  or Old Arabic manawat; also transliterated as manāh) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 6/7th century. She was among Mecca's three chief goddesses, alongside her sisters, Allat and Al-‘Uzzá, and among them, she was the original and the oldest.

Etymology
There are two possible meanings of the goddess' name. The first is that it was likely derived from the Arabic root "mana", thus her name would mean "to mete out", or alternatively "to determine", the second is that it derives from the Arabic word maniya meaning "fate". Both meanings are fitting for her role as goddess of fate and destinies. Pre-Islamic theophoric names including Manāt are well attested in Arab sources.

Worship
Considered a goddess of fate, fortune, time, and destiny, she was older than both Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzzá as theophoric names including hers, such as Abd-Manah or Zayd-Manah, are found earlier than names featuring Al-Lat's or Al-‘Uzzá's. But aside from being the most ancient of the three chief goddesses of Mecca, she was also very possibly among the most ancient of the Semitic pantheon as well.

Her now-lost major shrine was between Mecca and Medina on the coasts of the Red Sea, likely in al-Mushallal where an idol of her was erected. The Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj were considered to be among the most devoted of tribes to the goddess, so much that the place to make sacrifices to her was commonly referred to by its significance to the Khazraj, as known from a poem most likely written by Abd-al-‘Uzza ibn-Wadi‘ah al-Muzani: "An oath, truthful and just, I swore By Manāh, at the sacred place of the Khazraj"

Her early representations included a wooden portrait of her, which was covered with sacrificial blood, but the most notable representation of her was her idol erected in al-Mushallal. When pre-Islamic Arabians would pilgrim to al-Mushallal, they would shave their head and stand in front of Manāt's idol for a while. They wouldn't consider their pilgrimage complete without visiting her idol.

An idol of her was also likely among the 360 idols in the Kaaba. According to Ibn al-Kalbi, when worshipers would circumambulate the Kaaba, they would chant her name along with that of her sisters, al-Lat and al-Uzza, seeking their blessings and intercession.

Manat was also thought to watch over graves, as indicated by a tomb inscription reading "And may Dushara and Manat and Qaysha curse anyone who sells this tomb or buys it or gives it in pledge or makes a gift of it or leases it or draws up for himself any document concerning it or buries in it anyone apart from the inscribed above".

Mention in the "Satanic" Verses
The different versions of the story are all traceable to one single narrator, Muhammad ibn Ka'b, who was two generations removed from biographer Ibn Ishaq. In its essential form, the story reports that Muhammad longed to convert his kinsmen and neighbors of Mecca to Islam. As he was reciting these verses of Sūrat an-Najm, considered a revelation from the angel Gabriel,

 * Have you thought of al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzá
 * and Manāt, the third, the other?
 * (Quran 53:19–20)

Satan tempted him to utter the following line:

 * These are the exalted gharāniq, whose intercession is hoped for. (In Arabic تلك الغرانيق العلى وإن شفاعتهن لترتجى.)

The line was taken from the religious chant of Meccan polytheists who prayed to the three goddesses while circumambulating the Ka'aba.

Destruction of Temple
In the same month as the mission of Khalid ibn al-Walid to destroy al-Uzza and the Suwa, Sa‘d bin Zaid al-Ashhali was sent with 20 horsemen to Al-Mashallal to destroy an idol called Manāt, worshipped by the polytheist Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj tribes of Arabia. According to legend, a black woman appeared, naked with disheveled hair, wailing and beating on her chest. Sa‘d immediately killed her, destroyed the idol and broke the casket, returning at the conclusion of his errand.

The group who carried out this raid were formerly devoted worshippers of al-Manat. According to some sources, among them ibn Kalbi, Ali was sent to demolish al-Manat; however, Sir William Muir claims there is more evidence to suggest that the raid was carried out by Sa'd, and that it would have been out of character for Muhammad to send Ali, since Muhammad had been sending former worshippers to demolish idols.

Somnath temple
The attack on Somnath temple in India in 1024 by Mahmud of Ghazni may have been inspired by the belief that an idol of Manat had been secretly transferred to the temple. According to the Ghaznavid court poet Farrukhi Sistani, who claimed to have accompanied Mahmud on his raid, Somnat (as rendered in Persian) was a garbled version of su-manat referring to the goddess Manat. According to him as well as a later Ghaznavid historian Abu Sa'id Gardezi, the images of the other goddesses were destroyed in Arabia but the one of Manat was secretly sent away to Kathiawar (in modern Gujarat) for safe keeping. Since the idol of Manat was an aniconic image of black stone, it could have been easily confused with a lingam at Somnath. Mahmud is said to have broken the idol and taken away parts of it as loot and placed it on the ground so that people would walk on it. In his letters to the Caliphate, Mahmud exaggerated the size, wealth and religious significance of the Somnath temple, receiving grandiose titles from the Caliph in return.

title: Manat (goddess)


text:
Bran

Bran, also known as miller's bran, is the component of a cereal grain consisting of the hard layers - the combined aleurone and pericarp - surrounding the endosperm. Corn (maize) bran also includes the pedicel (tip cap). Along with the germ, it is an integral part of whole grains, and is often produced as a byproduct of milling in the production of refined grains. Bran is highly nutritious, but is difficult to digest due to its high fiber content; its high fat content also reduces its shelf life as the oils/fats are prone to becoming rancid. As such, it is typically removed from whole grain during the refining process - e.g. in processing wheat grain into white flour, or refining brown rice into white rice.

Bran is present in cereal grain, including rice, corn (maize), wheat, oats, barley, rye, and millet. Bran is not the same as chaff, which is a coarser, scaly material surrounding the grain, but does not form part of the grain itself, and which is indigestible by humans.

Composition
Bran is particularly rich in dietary fiber and essential fatty acids, and contains significant quantities of starch, protein, vitamins, and dietary minerals. It is also a source of phytic acid, an antinutrient that prevents nutrient absorption.

The high oil content of bran makes it subject to rancidification, one of the reasons that it is often separated from the grain before storage or further processing. Bran is often heat-treated to increase its shelf life.

Rice bran
Rice bran is a byproduct of the rice-milling process (the conversion of brown rice to white rice), and it contains various antioxidants. A major rice bran fraction contains 12%–13% oil and highly unsaponifiable components (4.3%). This fraction contains tocotrienols (a form of vitamin E), gamma-oryzanol, and beta-sitosterol; all these constituents may contribute to the lowering of the plasma levels of the various parameters of the lipid profile. Rice bran also contains a high level of dietary fiber (beta-glucan, pectin, and gum). It also contains ferulic acid, which is also a component of the structure of nonlignified cell walls. Some research suggests, though, inorganic arsenic is present at some level in rice bran. One study found the levels to be 20% higher than in contaminated drinking water.

Uses
Bran is often used to enrich breads (notably muffins) and breakfast cereals, especially for the benefit of those wishing to increase their intake of dietary fiber. Bran may also be used for pickling (nukazuke) as in the tsukemono of Japan. Rice bran in particular finds many uses in Japan, where it is known as nuka (糠; ぬか). Besides using it for pickling, Japanese people add it to the water when boiling bamboo shoots, and use it for dish washing. In Kitakyushu City, it is called jinda and used for stewing fish, such as sardines.

Rice bran is stuck to the surface of commercial ice blocks to prevent them from melting. Bran oil may be also extracted for use by itself for industrial purposes (such as in the paint industry), or as a cooking oil, such as rice bran oil.

Wheat bran is useful as feed for poultry and other livestock, as part of a balanced ration with other inputs. Wheatings, a milling byproduct comprising mostly bran with some pieces of endosperm also left over, are included in this category.

Bran was found to be the most successful slug deterrent by BBC's TV programme Gardeners' World. It is a common substrate and food source used for feeder insects, such as mealworms and waxworms. Wheat bran has also been used for tanning leather since at least the 16th century.

Research
As with cereal fiber and whole grain consumption, bran is under preliminary research for the potential to improve nutrition and affect chronic diseases.

Stability
Commonly, bran is heat-treated with the intention of slowing undesirable rancidification, but a 2003 study of heat-treatment of oat bran found a complex pattern whereby increasingly intense heat treatment reduced the development of hydrolytic rancidity and bitterness with time, but increased oxidative rancidity. The authors recommended that heat treatment should be sufficient to achieve selective lipase inactivation, but not so much as to render the polar lipids oxidizable upon prolonged storage.

title: Bran