text:
Pen register

A pen register, or dialed number recorder (DNR), is a device that records all numbers called from a particular telephone line. The term has come to include any device or program that performs similar functions to an original pen register, including programs monitoring Internet communications.

The United States statutes governing pen registers are codified under 18 U.S.C., Chapter 206.

Definitions
The term pen register originally referred to a device for recording telegraph signals on a strip of paper. Samuel F. B. Morse's 1840 telegraph patent described such a register as consisting of a lever holding an armature on one end, opposite an electromagnet, with a fountain pen, pencil or other marking instrument on the other end, and a clockwork mechanism to advance a paper recording tape under the marker.

The term telegraph register came to be a generic term for such a recording device in the later 19th century. Where the record was made in ink with a pen, the term pen register emerged. By the end of the 19th century, pen registers were widely used to record pulsed electrical signals in many contexts. For example, one fire-alarm system used a "double pen-register", and another used a "single or multiple pen register".

As pulse dialing came into use for telephone exchanges, pen registers had obvious applications as diagnostic instruments for recording sequences of telephone dial pulses. In the United States, the clockwork-powered Bunnell pen register remained in use into the 1960s.

After the introduction of tone dialing, any instrument that could be used to record the numbers dialed from a telephone came to be defined as a pen register. Title 18 of the United States Code defines a pen register as:

"a device or process which records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted, provided, however, that such information shall not include the contents of any communication, but such term does not include any device or process used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing, or recording as an incident to billing, for communications services provided by such provider or any device or process used by a provider or customer of a wire communication service for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business"

This is the current definition of a pen register, as amended by passage of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act. The original statutory definition of a pen register was created in 1984 as part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which defined a "Pen Register" as:

"A device which records or decodes electronic or other impulses which identify the numbers called or otherwise transmitted on the telephone line to which such device is dedicated."

A pen register is similar to a trap and trace device. A trap and trace device would show what numbers had called a specific telephone, i.e., all incoming phone numbers. A pen register rather would show what numbers a phone had called, i.e. all outgoing phone numbers. The two terms are often used in concert, especially in the context of Internet communications. They are often jointly referred to as "Pen Register or Trap and Trace devices" to reflect the fact that the same program will probably do both functions in the modern era, and the distinction is not that important. The term "pen register" is often used to describe both pen registers and trap and trace devices.

Background
In Katz v. United States (1967), the United States Supreme Court established its "reasonable expectation of privacy" test. It overturned Olmstead v. United States (1928) and held that warrantless wiretaps were unconstitutional searches, because there was a reasonable expectation that the communication would be private. From then on, the government was required to get a warrant to execute a wiretap.

Twelve years later the Supreme Court held that a pen register is not a search because the "petitioner voluntarily conveyed numerical information to the telephone company." Smith v. Maryland, 442 U.S. 735, 744 (1979). Since the defendant had disclosed the dialed numbers to the telephone company so they could connect his call, he did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the numbers he dialed. The court did not distinguish between disclosing the numbers to a human operator or just the automatic equipment used by the telephone company.

The Smith decision left pen registers completely outside constitutional protection. If there was to be any privacy protection, it would have to be enacted by Congress as statutory privacy law.

Pen Register Act
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was passed in 1986 (Pub. L. No. 99-508, 100 Stat. 1848). There were three main provisions or Titles to the ECPA. Title III created the Pen Register Act, which included restrictions on private and law enforcement uses of pen registers. Private parties were generally restricted from using them unless they met one of the exceptions, which included an exception for the business providing the communication if it needed to do so to ensure the proper functioning of its business.

For law enforcement agencies to get a pen register approved for surveillance, they must get a court order from a judge. According to 18 U.S.C. § 3123(a)(1), the "court shall enter an ex parte order authorizing the installation and use of a pen register or trap and trace device anywhere within the United States, if the court finds that the attorney for the Government has certified to the court that the information likely to be obtained by such installation and use is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation". Thus, a government attorney only needs to certify that information will "likely" be obtained in relation to an 'ongoing criminal investigation'. This is the lowest requirement for receiving a court order under any of the ECPA's three titles. This is because in Smith v. Maryland, the Supreme Court ruled that use of a pen register does not constitute a search. The ruling held that only the content of a conversation should receive full constitutional protection under the right to privacy; since pen registers do not intercept conversation, they do not pose as much threat to this right.

Some have argued that the government should be required to present "specific and articulable facts" showing that the information to be gathered is relevant and material to an ongoing investigation. This is the standard used by Title II of the ECPA with regard to the contents of stored communications. Others, such as Daniel J. Solove, Petricia Bellia, and Dierdre Mulligan, believe that probable cause and a warrant should be necessary. Paul Ohm argues that standard of proof should be replaced/reworked for electronic communications altogether.

The Pen Register Act did not include an exclusionary rule. While there were civil remedies for violations of the Act, evidence gained in violation of the Act can still be used against a defendant in court. There have also been calls for Congress to add an exclusionary rule to the Pen Register Act, as this would make it more analogous to traditional Fourth Amendment protections. The penalty for violating the Pen Register Act is a misdemeanor, and it carries a prison sentence of not more than one year.

USA PATRIOT Act
Section 216 of the 2001 USA PATRIOT Act expanded the definition of a pen register to include devices or programs that provide an analogous function with Internet communications. Prior to the Patriot Act, it was unclear whether or not the definition of a pen register, which included very specific telephone terminology, could apply to Internet communications. Most courts and law enforcement personnel operated under the assumption that it did, however, the Clinton administration had begun to work on legislation to make that clear, and one magistrate judge in California did rule that the language was too telephone-specific to apply to Internet surveillance.

The Pen Register Statute is a privacy act. As there is no constitutional protection for information divulged to a third party under the Supreme Court's expectation of privacy test, and the routing information for phone and Internet communications are divulged to the company providing the communication, the absence or inapplicability of the statute would leave the routing information for those communications completely unprotected from government surveillance.

The government also has an interest in making sure the Pen Register Act exists and applies to Internet communications. Without the Act, they cannot compel service providers to give them records or do Internet surveillance with their own equipment or software, and the law enforcement agency, which may not have very good technological capabilities, will have to do the surveillance itself at its own cost.

Rather than creating new laws regarding Internet surveillance, the Patriot Act simply expanded the definition of a pen register to include computer software programs doing Internet surveillance by accessing information. While not completely compatible with the technical definition of a pen register device, this was the interpretation that had been used by almost all courts and law enforcement agencies prior to the change.

NSA call database controversy
When, in 2006, the Bush administration came under fire for having secretly collected billions of phone call details from regular Americans, ostensibly to check for calls to terror suspects, the Pen Register Act was cited, along with the Stored Communications Act, as an example of how such domestic spying violated Federal law.

In 2013, the Obama administration sought a court order "requiring Verizon on an 'ongoing, daily basis' to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries". The order was approved on April 25, 2013, by federal Judge Roger Vinson, member of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), which court had been created by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The order gave the government unlimited authority to compel Verizon to collect and provide the data for a specified three-month period ending on July 19. This is the first time significant and top-secret documents have been revealed exposing the continuation of the practice on a massive scale under U.S. President Barack Obama.

According to The Guardian, "it is not known whether Verizon is the only cell-phone provider to be targeted with such an order, although previous reporting has suggested the NSA has collected cell records from all major mobile networks. It is also unclear from the leaked document whether the three-month order was a one-off or the latest in a series of similar orders".

Hemisphere DEA call database controversy
On September 1, 2013, the DEA's Hemisphere Project was revealed to the public by The New York Times. In a series of PowerPoint slides acquired through a lawsuit, AT&T is revealed to be operating a call database going back to 1987 which the DEA has warrantless access to with no judicial oversight under "administrative subpoenas" originated by the DEA. The DEA pays AT&T to maintain employees throughout the country devoted to investigating call records through this database for the DEA. The database grows by 4 billion records per day, and presumably covers all traffic that crosses AT&T's network. Internal directives instructed participants never to reveal the project publicly, despite the fact that the project was portrayed as a "routine" part of DEA investigations; several investigations unrelated to drugs have been mentioned as using the data. When questioned on their participation, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile refused to comment on whether they were part of the project, generating fears that pen registers and trap and trace devices are effectively irrelevant in the face of ubiquitous private-public-partnership surveillance with indefinite data retention.

Information collected
Information that is legally collectible according to 2014 pen trap laws includes:

Phone

 * Dialed numbers
 * Received call numbers
 * The time the call was made
 * Whether the call was answered, or went to voice-mail
 * The length of each call
 * Content of SMS text messages
 * Post-cut-through dialed digits--(digits dialed after call is connected, like banking personal identification number (PIN) or prescription refill numbers)
 * The real-time location of a cell phone to within a few meters

Email

 * All email header information other than the subject line
 * The email addresses of the people to whom an email was sent
 * The email addresses of people who received the email
 * The time each email is sent or received
 * The size of each email that is sent or received

Internet

 * IP address, port, and protocol used
 * The IP address of other computers on the Internet that information was exchanged with
 * Time-stamp and size information of Internet access
 * Protocol traffic analysis to obtain URL web addresses surfed on the web, emails posted or read, instant messages exchanged, and information posted onto message boards

title: Pen register


text:
Gregory Keyes

Gregory Keyes (born April 11, 1963) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and Greg Keyes.

Early life
Keyes was born in Meridian, Mississippi, as John Gregory Keyes. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State University and the University of Georgia before becoming a full-time writer.

Writing career
He is famous for his tetralogy The Age of Unreason, a steampunk/alchemical story featuring Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Newton. He wrote the Babylon 5 Psi Corps trilogy, a history of the Psi Corps and a biography of Psi Corps member Alfred Bester.

In 2003 he began a fantasy series titled The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, the first volume of which was The Briar King. The second book in the series The Charnel Prince was published in 2004 and the third, The Blood Knight, was published in July 2006. His fourth and final book of the quartet, The Born Queen, was released in March 2008.

In 2009 it was announced that Keyes would be writing two novels based on the successful computer game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The first of these, The Infernal City, was published by Random House in November 2009. The second, Lord of Souls, went on sale on September 27, 2011.

Style
Greg Keyes builds his stories around multiple main characters who meet only rarely, but allow the reader to follow different threads of the same events. Most of the chapters in his books focus on one of the main characters. Chapters often end in a surprise or a cliffhanger as the story moves to follow another character.

Keyes's knowledge of fencing and linguistics also figures heavily in his books. For example, Stephen Darige, one of the main characters in The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, is an adept linguist, and his knowledge and skills play an important role in the development of the story.

Chosen of the Changeling

 * The Waterborn (1996), ISBN 0-345-40393-2
 * The Blackgod (1997), ISBN 0-345-40394-0

The Age of Unreason

 * Newton's Cannon (1998), ISBN 1-56865-829-X
 * A Calculus of Angels (1999), ISBN 0-7394-0260-9
 * Empire of Unreason (2000), ISBN 0-345-40609-5
 * The Shadows of God (2001), ISBN 0-345-43904-X

Babylon 5: The Psi Corps Trilogy

 * Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps (1998), ISBN 0-345-42715-7
 * Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant (1999), ISBN 0-345-42716-5
 * Final Reckoning: The Fate of Bester (1999), ISBN 0-345-42717-3

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order

 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest (2001), ISBN 0-345-42864-1
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth (2001), ISBN 0-345-44610-0
 * "Emissary of the Void" (2002), short story published in Star Wars Gamer, issues 8-10, and Star Wars Insider, issues 62-64
 * The Final Prophecy (2003), ISBN 0-345-42875-7

The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone

 * The Briar King (2003), ISBN 0-345-44066-8
 * The Charnel Prince (2004), ISBN 0-345-44067-6
 * The Blood Knight (2006), ISBN 0-345-44068-4
 * The Born Queen (2008), ISBN 0-345-44069-2

The Elder Scrolls

 * The Infernal City (2009), ISBN 978-0-345-50801-0 - based on The Elder Scrolls video game series
 * Lord of Souls (2011), ISBN 978-0-345-50802-7 - based on The Elder Scrolls video game series

The High and Faraway Series

 * The Reign of the Departed (2018), ISBN 1-543680-30-5
 * Kingdoms of the Cursed (2019), ISBN 1-597809-95-0
 * The Realm of the Deathless (2022)

Other

 * The Hounds of Ash: and Other Tales of Fool Wolf (2008), ISBN 1-894063-09-0
 *  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Firestorm (2014), ISBN 978-1783292257
 *  XCOM 2: Resurrection (2015), ISBN 978-1608877126
 *  Interstellar: The Movie Novelization (2014), ISBN 978-1783293698
 * Independence Day: Crucible (2016), ISBN 978-1785651304
 *  War for the Planet of the Apes: Revelations (2016), ISBN 978-1785654725
 * ''Planet of the Apes: Caesar's Story (2018), ISBN 978-0316485395
 * Godzilla: King Of The Monsters - The Movie Novelization (2019)
 * Marvel's Avengers: The Extinction Key (2020)
 *  Godzilla: Dominion (2021)
 *  Godzilla vs. Kong: The Movie Novelization (2021)

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

title: Gregory Keyes


text:
John Gray (American Revolutionary War soldier)

John Gray (January 6, 1764 – March 29, 1868) was the last verified veteran of the American Revolutionary War. He was confirmed a veteran of the war and awarded a pension of $500 semi-annually by House Bill 1044 (passed by Congress February 22, 1866). Journalist/attorney James M. Dalzell wrote a book (published by Gibson Brothers, Printers in 1868) titled John Gray, of Mount Vernon: the Last Soldier of the Revolution. As of the Fall of 1867 after the death of Samuel Downing in Edinburgh, Saratoga County, New York, John Gray was then believed by the Bureau of Pensions of the U.S. Department of the Interior to be the last surviving veteran.

His claim to the "last surviving veteran" of the War depends primarily on the failure of his competitors Daniel F. Bakeman and George Fruits (the former died a year later and the latter died several years after him) to prove service during the war. Samuel Downing and Gray had been granted pensions, by special act of the U.S. Congress (in February 1867, retroactive to June 1, 1866). The special act was required because the two had not previously applied for pensions or service land grants. Bakeman was unable to prove his service; Gray, while able to prove his service, had only served six months; Fruits had never had any pension.

Gray was born near the Mount Vernon plantation, home of George Washington. His father, John Gray Sr., fought in the war and was killed in the Battle of White Plains. Gray joined at age 16 in 1780, and was present at the Battle of Yorktown. After the war he moved to the Northwest Territory, and lived out most of his life in Noble County, Ohio. He had three wives during his life and fathered at least four children. He died at age 104 years, 2 months, 23 days.

A memorial to Gray is located along State Route 821 in Noble County's Noble Township.


text:
Tai languages

The Tai, Zhuang–Tai, or Daic languages (ภาษาไท or ภาษาไต, transliteration: or,  or phasa tai; ພາສາໄຕ, Phasa Tai) are a branch of the Kra–Dai language family. The Tai languages include the most widely spoken of the Tai–Kadai languages, including Standard Thai or Siamese, the national language of Thailand; Lao or Laotian, the national language of Laos; Myanmar's Shan language; and Zhuang, a major language in the Southwestern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, spoken by the Zhuang people (壯), the largest minority ethnic group in China, with a population of 15.55 million, living mainly in Guangxi, the rest scattered across Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.

Name
Cognates with the name Tai (Thai, Dai, etc.) are used by speakers of many Tai languages. The term Tai is now well-established as the generic name in English. In his book The Tai-Kadai Languages, Anthony Diller claims that Lao scholars he has met are not pleased with Lao being regarded as a Tai language. For some, Thai should instead be considered a member of the Lao language family. One or more Ancient Chinese characters for 'Lao' may be cited in support of this alternative appellation. Some scholars, including Benedict (1975), have used Thai to refer to a wider (Tai) grouping and one sees designations like proto-Thai and Austro-Thai in earlier works. In the institutional context in Thailand, and occasionally elsewhere, sometimes Tai (and its corresponding Thai-script spelling, without a final -y symbol) is used to indicate varieties in the language family not spoken in Thailand or spoken there only as the result of recent immigration. In this usage, Thai would not then be considered a Tai language. On the other hand, Gedney, Li and others have preferred to call the standard language of Thailand Siamese rather than Thai, perhaps to reduce potential Thai/Tai confusion, especially among English speakers not comfortable with making a word initial unaspirated voiceless sound for Tai, which in any event might sound artificial or arcane to outsiders.

According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Tai/Thai (or Tay/Thay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being' through the following chain: kəri: > kəli: > kədi:/kədaj (-l- > -d- shift in tense sesquisyllables and probable diphthongization of -i: > -aj). This in turn changed to di:/daj (presyllabic truncation and probable diphthongization -i: > -aj). And then to *dajA (Proto-Southwestern Tai) > tʰajA2 (in Siamese and Lao) or > tajA2 (in the other Southwestern and Central Tai languages by Li Fangkuei). Michel Ferlus' work is based on some simple rules of phonetic change observable in the Sinosphere and studied for the most part by William H. Baxter (1992).

The Central Tai languages are called Zhuang in China and Tay and Nung in Vietnam.

History
Citing the fact that both the Zhuang and Thai peoples have the same exonym for the Vietnamese, kɛɛuA1, derived from the name of Jiaozhi in Vietnam, and that the indigenous Bai Yue were given family names by their northern rulers during the Northern and Southern dynasties, while the Thai didn't have family names into the 19th century, Jerold A. Edmondson of the University of Texas at Arlington posited that the split between Zhuang (a Central Tai language) and the Southwestern Tai languages happened no earlier than the founding of Jiaozhi in 112 BCE but no later than the 5th–6th century AD. Based on layers of Chinese loanwords in Proto-Southwestern Tai and other historical evidence, Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2014) suggests that the dispersal of Southwestern Tai must have begun sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.

Connection to ancient Yue language(s)
The Tai languages descend from proto-Tai-Kadai, which has been hypothesized to originate in the Lower Yangtze valleys. Ancient Chinese texts refer to non-Sinitic languages spoken across this substantial region and their speakers as "Yue". Although those languages are extinct, traces of their existence could be found in unearthed inscriptional materials, ancient Chinese historical texts and non-Han substrata in various Southern Chinese dialects. Thai, as the most-spoken language in the Tai-Kadai language family, has been used extensively in historical-comparative linguistics to identify the origins of language(s) spoken in the ancient region of South China. One of the very few direct records of non-Sinitic speech in pre-Qin and Han times having been preserved so far is the "Song of the Yue Boatman" (Yueren Ge 越人歌), which was transcribed phonetically in Chinese characters in 528 BC, and found in the 善说 Shanshuo chapter of the Shuoyuan 说苑 or 'Garden of Persuasions'. In the early 1980s the Zhuang linguist Wei Qingwen using reconstructed Old Chinese for the characters discovered that the resulting vocabulary showed strong resemblance to modern Zhuang. Later, Zhengzhang Shangfang (1991) followed Wei's insight but used Thai orthography for comparison, since this orthography dates from the 13th century and preserves archaisms vis-à-vis the modern pronunciation.

Haudricourt (1956)
Haudricourt emphasizes the specificity of Dioi (Zhuang) and proposes to make a two-way distinction between the following two sets. The original language names used in Haudricourt's (1956) are provided first; alternative names are given in parentheses.

 * Tai
 * Dioi group: Yei Zhuang, Yongbei Zhuang, Youjiang Zhuang, Bouyei (Buyi)
 * Tai proper: Ahom, Shan, Siamese (Thai), Lao, White Tai (Tai Dón), Black Tai (Tai Dam), Southern Zhuang, Tho (Tày), Nung

Characteristics of the Dioi group pointed out by Haudricourt are
 * r- corresponding to the lateral l- in the other Tai languages,
 * divergent vowel system characteristics, e.g. 'tail' has an /a/ vowel in Tai proper, as against /ə̄/ in Bo-ai, /iə/ in Tianzhou, and /ɯə/ in Tianzhou and Wuming, and
 * the lack of aspirated stops and affricates, which are found everywhere in Tai proper.

Li (1977)
Li Fang-Kuei divided Tai into three sister branches.

 * Tai
 * Northern Tai
 * Central Tai
 * Southwestern Tai (Thai)

Li's Northern group corresponds to Haudricourt's Dioi group, while his Central and Southwestern groups correspond to Haudricourt's Tai proper. The three last languages in Haudricourt's list of 'Tai proper' languages are Tho (Tày), Longzhou, and Nung, which Li classifies as 'Central Tai'.

This classification scheme has long been accepted as standard in comparative Tai linguistics. However, Central Tai does not appear to be a monophyletic group.

Gedney (1989)
Gedney (1989) considers Central and Southwestern Tai to form a subgroup, of which Northern Tai is a sister. The top-level branching is in agreement with Haudricourt (1956).

 * Tai
 * Northern Tai
 * Central Tai
 * Southwestern Tai
 * Southwestern Tai

Luo (1997)
Luo Yongxian (1997) classifies the Tai languages as follows, introducing a fourth branch called Northwestern Tai that includes Ahom, Shan, Dehong Dai, and Khamti. All branches are considered to be coordinate to each other.

 * Tai
 * Northern Tai
 * Central Tai
 * Southwestern Tai
 * Northwestern Tai

Overview
Pittayawat Pittayaporn (2009) classifies the Tai languages based on clusters of shared innovations (which, individually, may be associated with more than one branch) (Pittayaporn 2009:298). In Pittayaporn's preliminary classification system of the Tai languages, Central Tai is considered to be paraphyletic and is split up into multiple branches, with the Zhuang varieties of Chongzuo in southwestern Guangxi (especially in the Zuo River valley at the border to Vietnam) having the most internal diversity. The Southwestern Tai and Northern Tai branches remain intact as in Li Fang-Kuei's 1977 classification system, and several of the Southern Zhuang languages allocated ISO codes are considered to be paraphyletic. The classification is as follows.

 * Tai
 * D: Northern Tai
 * I: Qinzhou Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of Qinzhou)
 * J
 * M: Wuming Zhuang, Yongnan Zhuang, Long'an Zhuang, Fusui
 * N: Core Northern Tai: Saek, Bouyei, Yay, Youjiang Zhuang and others
 * C: Chongzuo Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of Chongzuo), Shangsi Zhuang (Yongnan Zhuang of Shangsi), Caolan (Vietnam)
 * B: Ningming Zhuang (Zuojiang Zhuang of Ningming)
 * A
 * F: Lungchow Zhuang, Leiping Zhuang
 * E
 * H: Lungming Zhuang, Daxin Zhuang
 * G
 * L (Nung): Yang Zhuang of Debao, Yang Zhuang of Jingxi, (Western) Nung of Mường Khương District, Nong Zhuang of Wenshan City), Nong Zhuang of Yanshan
 * K
 * P (Tay): Tày of Bảo Yên, Tày of Cao Bằng, Dai Zhuang of Wenma (文麻)
 * O
 * R: Sapa (Vietnam)
 * Q: Southwestern Tai (Laos, Thailand, Burma)

Standard Zhuang is based on the dialect of Shuangqiao (双桥), Wuming District.

Sound changes
The following phonological shifts occurred in the Q (Southwestern), N (Northern), B (Ningming), and C (Chongzuo) subgroups (Pittayaporn 2009:300–301).

Furthermore, the following shifts occurred at various nodes leading up to node Q.
 * E: *p.t- > *p.r-; *ɯm > *ɤm
 * G: *k.r- > *qr-
 * K: *eː, *oː > *ɛː, *ɔː
 * O: *ɤn > *on
 * Q: *kr- > *ʰr-

Edmondson (2013)
Jerold A. Edmondson's (2013) computational phylogenetic analysis of the Tai languages is shown below. Tay and Nung are both shown to be coherent branches under Central Tai. Northern Tai and Southwestern Tai are also shown to be coherent branches.

 * Tai
 * Northern Tai: Buyi, Yay, Po-Ai, Wuming Zhuang, Mashan Zhuang
 * Central Tai
 * core Central Tai: Nung Chau, Pingxiang Zhuang, Leiping Zhuang, Ningming Zhuang
 * Nung: Western Nung, Nung Yang, Nung An, Thu Lao
 * Tay: Tay Bao Lac, Tay Khanh Trung, Cao Lan
 * Southwestern Tai: Ahom, Shan, Dehong, Tai Theeng (Nghe An), Black Tai, White Tai, Padi, Lao, Thai
 * Southwestern Tai: Ahom, Shan, Dehong, Tai Theeng (Nghe An), Black Tai, White Tai, Padi, Lao, Thai

Reconstruction
Proto-Tai has been reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-Kuei and by Pittayawat Pittayaporn in 2009. Proto-Southwestern Tai has also been reconstructed in 1977 by Li Fang-Kuei and by Nanna L. Jonsson in 1991.

Others have taken up specific area reconstructions, such as David Strecker's 1984 work regarding "Proto-Tai Personal Pronouns." Strecker's proposed system of personal pronouns in Proto-Tai involves "three numbers, three persons, an inclusive/exclusive distinction and an animate/non-animate distinction in the third person non-singular."

Comparison
Below is comparative table of Tai languages.

Writing systems
Many Southwestern Tai languages are written using Brahmi-derived alphabets. Zhuang languages are traditionally written with Chinese characters called Sawndip, and now officially written with a romanized alphabet, though the traditional writing system is still in use to this day.
 * Thai script
 * Lao script
 * Sawndip
 * Shan script
 * Ahom script
 * Tai Viet script
 * Tai Le script
 * New Tai Lue alphabet
 * Tai Tham script

title: Tai languages


text:
Talk:Add Insult to Injury

VfD talk....

 * Delete - dictionary definition - Texture 16:19, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Wiktionary material? - Fredrik 16:31, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * It is usual to redirect proverbs to [List of English proverbs] (or appropiate language of origin) because there is rarely much to say about them. This isn't really a proverb though... is there a similar appropiate list? Also it may need to be transwikied to wikiquote? Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 16:33, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete or improve: it is not even definition, or explanation. The article doesn't go beyond rephrasing the expression in 11 times more words (and not necessarily more clear ones than the phrase itself). Mikkalai 16:44, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * This should be moved to Wiktionary unless more can be said about it. Mikkalai is right; there needs to be more substance to this article if it is to be kept in Wikipedia (e.g. origins, historical usage, etc.)
 * More can probably added to make it acceptable. In its current state it is a dicdef, and should be moved or deleted. Ludraman 11:30, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * i added another meaning (an album). Muriel 08:49, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Is this 'turn of phrase' common everywhere? UK vs. US, etc.? If not, keep or have it redirect to general list. Zoney 14:07, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete Quinwound 03:52, Mar 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * Please delete. It's really not anything more than a definition, is it? Two halves 04:16, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Near the end of the review period and it's still a definition plus a single line about an album that is already amply covered in the article about the band. The one link in (from Injury) does not make sense to me given the context of that article. Please delete. I don't think this is even strong enough to move to Wiktionary. Rossami 22:21, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, this isn't even a proverb, it's just an idiom. - DropDeadGorgias (talk) 16:49, Mar 16, 2004 (UTC)

 * Deletion cannot be the right answer, as if the idiom content is removed it should simply be a redirect to the band, but that feels wrong too. Talk continues at Talk:Add insult to injury. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 09:14, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)
 * I'm okay with redirect it if you think anyone will ever follow it. I also think it would be okay to delete. If the album ever becomes really important, we can always recreate the article with the content then. Rossami 13:42, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

from pump
Not sure if this is the best place to address this, but this article still exists with a VfD tag from March--the Talk page seems to have a pretty clear consensus to delete. Niteowlneils 02:00, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

 * It's listed in the Ongoing discussions section, although this seems to have been a unilateral action by Pete/Pcb21 despite what looks like a clear consensus to delete. I've turned it into a stub for the album, but left the VfD tag. - Lee (talk)  10:57, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

 * As I said on vfd, the consensus was to delete the article about the phrase, but if the phrase is deleted, then we either have an article about the album, or redirect to the creators of the album. Either way, it is not a deletion issue but a content issue, I'll remove the vfd tags. I wasn't being unilateral, I was responding to the outcome of the discussion. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 20:17, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Add Insult to Injury


text:
Laupheim

Laupheim (Swabian: Laoba) is a major district town in southern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Laupheim was first mentioned in 778 and gained city rights in 1869. One of the main trading routes, from Ulm to Ravensburg and then on towards Lake Constance ran through Laupheim. Having developed from a rural settlement into a small urban area, Laupheim is home to a number of small to medium-sized industries and businesses. One of the largest employers are the German Armed Forces which maintain an airbase close to Laupheim, Laupheim Air Base.

Laupheim was the administrative centre of the district of Laupheim from 1842 until 1938 when the district was abolished. The southern parts of it were incorporated into the district of Biberach (including Laupheim itself) whereas the remainders were allocated to the district of Ulm.

In the second half of the 19th century Laupheim was home to the largest Jewish community in the Kingdom of Württemberg.

After World War II, Laupheim became part of the French occupation zone in 1945 and became part of the newly founded state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern in 1947.

Laupheim is the educational centre for the surrounding rural areas particularly with regards to secondary education.

Geography
Laupheim is situated in the region of Upper Swabia approximately 20 km north of Biberach and 20 km south of Ulm on the Bundesstraße 30. Laupheim is the second largest city in the district of Biberach. The original settlement of Laupheim was located close to the Rottum which still runs through the city but since 1950 the city has expanded and sprawls onto the surrounding slopes.

With effect of 1 Januar 2016 Laupheim has been awarded the status of major district town.

The elevation within the city confines ranges from 509 m (1670 ft) above sea level at the bottom of the valley to 539 m (1768 ft) in the outlying suburban areas.

Apart from the city of Laupheim itself, the following once autonomous villages nowadays belong administratively to Laupheim: Baustetten (population 2121), Obersulmetingen (population 1389), Untersulmetingen (population 2082) and Bihlafingen (population 853), which, with an elevation of 580 m (1903 ft), has the highest elevation of the administrative area.

History
The area in and around Laupheim has been settled from very early times onwards. Archaeological evidence shows that 15000 years ago nomadic tribes roamed the countryside. From ca. 2000 BCE onwards, Celts inhabited this area. From the first century CE until around the year 260 CE, it was part of the Roman province of Raetia, after which the Alamanni invaded the Agri Decumates, eventually also settling in the area that was to become Laupheim. During archaeological excavations in 1840-1842 graves dating from the Merovingian period were discovered in the northern part of the town.

Laupheim was first mentioned as Louphaim in a charter dated 778. The charter is still kept in the archives of the monastery of St Gallen, Switzerland. This reference is the earliest of any city in Upper Swabia and any parish in the district of Biberach.

Situated in the vicinity of two major trade routes between the Lake of Constance and Ulm and the Swabian Alb and the valley of the river Iller respectively, Laupheim developed into a major settlement. In 853, it was elevated to the status of town when a court responsible for the Rammachgau (also spelled Rammagau) was set up there.

During the 9th century, parts of Laupheim came into the possession of the monastery of Weißenburg which was afterwards passed on to successive minor Swabian aristocratic houses.

As early as the 10th century, Laupheim possessed a parish church with subsidiaries. In 926, Laupheim and its surroundings were destroyed by the Hungarians. A castle is mentioned around the year 1100.

Laupheim appears to have been home of an indigenous noble family, whose members used the suffix von Laupheim. They were attested for the first time in 1110 with Landoldus de Lobhein and seemed to have been in service of the counts of Kirchberg. The last known member of this family was Berchtolt von Laupheim who was a citizen of Ulm 1372, long after his family has lost possession of any rights in Laupheim around 1310.

After the collapse of the Empire of the Staufers during the 13th century, the castle and parish of Laupheim came into the possession of the Truchsessen von Waldburg who, in 1331, sold Laupheim together with their other possessions in Upper Swabia to the Austrian House of Habsburg.

The Habsburgs mortgaged Laupheim in 1334 to the barons von Ellerbach and enfeoffed this baronial family in 1407 with castle, town and patronage of the church.

The village was badly affected by the crisis of the mid 14th century, caused by the Black Death and other factors. The population shrunk and as a consequence the hamlet of Ringelhausen, situated between Laupheim and Bronnen, was abandoned and eventually lost in the 15th century. Only the name of a street and a development area in the city of Laupheim nowadays hints at the existence of this hamlet.

The Herren von Ellerbach had St Leonhard's Chapel built in 1448, which soon became a place of pilgrimage.

In 1430, Emperor Sigismund bestowed upon Burkhard von Ellerbach the right to hold regular markets, Laupheim thereby becoming a market town, and also the privilege of inflicting high justice, which gave him the right to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty. The local ruler was now master of life and death. Due to the weekly market and the annual Gallus-market, Laupheim quickly developed into a commercial centre.

During the course of the German Peasants' War 1525, Laupheim Castle was destroyed by the Baltringer Haufen, an army of peasants named after the nearby village of Baltringen, where approximately 12.000 farmers gathered to form an army. After the suppression of the revolt, the peasants were forced to rebuild the castle.

After the agnatic line of the Ellerbach dynasty became extinct in 1570, Laupheim passed through Hans Pankraz von Freyberg to the Herren von Welden in 1582. They turned Laupheim into their permanent residence and established the first school in 1584. From 1582 until 1806, Laupheim was a Lordship (Reichsritterschaft) ruled by the heir of the Welden family, whose title was "Imperial Knight" (Reichsritter).

In 1596, the right to bear a coat of arms was given to Laupheim, showing the colours of green, white and red together with three leaves on a three hills, thereby incorporating the coat-of-arms of the family of Welden with the three leaves, referring to the name of the town on the hills of the valley of the river Rottum.

The last member of the House of Ellerbach, Anna von Freyberg, founded the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in 1601, the building of which still exists and now functions as a retirement home.

Between 1623 and 1661, the church St. Peter and Paul was built in the vicinity of the castle.

Due to the inheritance laws of the house of Welden, the market town was divided into two different territories, Großlaupheim and Kleinlaupheim (Great Laupheim and Little Laupheim), in 1621, at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), each territory being ruled by its own dynasty. As a consequence economic growth slowed down. During the Thirty Years' War, Laupheim repeatedly fell victim to the ravages of war, mainly due to marauding troops, both imperial, that is Catholic, and Swedish, their Protestant opponents. A massive outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1635 further diminished the population. At the close of the Thirty Years' War, Laupheim had lost two-thirds of its pre-war population, so that ultimately towards the end of the 17th century, Laupheim had sunk to the status of an unimportant, impoverished village. As a consequence of the Thirty Years' War, the feudal lords attempted to increase taxation and extend the amount of socage the peasants had to do for them. This led to legal conflicts between the two parties, which lasted for decades.

In order to stimulate the local economy and income generated by taxation, Carl Damian von Welden allowed the first Jewish families to settle in Großlaupheim in the 1720s. This which was made possible by a contract, protecting the Jews. The Jews were made to settle in an area of the town soon to be called Judenberg (literally Jews' mountain or Jews' hill). Subsequently, a Jewish quarter evolved, with a cemetery, synagogue, school and a Rabbi's office.

During the 18th century, the Welden dynasty had the old castle, Großlaupheim Castle, restored, and subsequently renewed in Baroque-style in 1752. Between 1766 and 1769, the branch of the Welden dynasty that ruled Kleinlaupheim had their residence renewed in Baroque-style by architect Johann Georg Specht. This castle is now called Schloss Kleinlaupheim (Kleinlaupheim Castle). This makes Laupheim unique in that it has two castles within its city boundaries, as a result of once having been two independent states.

In 1778, a town hall and the granary were built in the Upper Market Square.

Following the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the mediatisation and secularisation of numerous secular and ecclesiastical principalities within the former Holy Roman Empire, both parts of Laupheim were annexed by the newly formed Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806. The last ruler of Laupheim was Constantin von Welden. Laupheim first became administratively part of the district of Wiblingen, but in 1845 the district administration was moved to Laupheim, creating the district of Laupheim. The district as abolished in 1938 when Laupheim became part of the district of Biberach.

Due to laws based on the ideas of the enlightenment, servitude in the Kingdom of Württemberg was abolished in 1836. During the same period, laws forcing Jews to live in separate quarters and excluding them from most business activities were revoked. This enabled them to contribute enormously to the economic upturn Laupheim was experiencing, even though complete civil rights were not granted until 1864.

In 1848, with the arrival of civil servants from the original Duchy of Württemberg (Altwürttemberg), a Protestant parish was founded.

In 1850, a train station opened two kilometers west of Laupheim, on the railway line Ulm-Friedrichshafen from Ulm to Friedrichshafen, this station therefore being named as Laupheim-West.

In 1869, Laupheim was granted a city charter by King Karl I. of Württemberg. In the same year, the first institute of further education, a Lateinschule, was established in Laupheim. In 1871, Laupheim, being part of the Kingdom of Württemberg, was incorporated into the German Empire.

During the steep economic growth of the Gründerzeit, the period between 1871 and 1914, Laupheim had the highest density of public houses in the whole Kingdom of Württemberg.

In 1904, the city was connected to the railway line Ulm-Friedrichshafen by a branch line, linking the railway artery with the city itself. At the same time a train station was built in the city. This extension of the railway line went on for a further 16 km, terminating at the village of Schwendi.

Before World War I, Laupheim had one of the largest Jewish communities in Württemberg. However, the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and the systematic deprivation and subsequent suppression of Jews in Germany, also had their effects on Laupheim, culminating in the destruction by fire of the synagogue during Kristallnacht 1938.

Due to the programme of aryanization, many businesses in Laupheim originally owned by Jews, were expropriated and transferred into German ownership. 126 of 312 Jewish inhabitants of Laupheim managed to flee abroad, most of them after the so-called Kristallnacht. In 1939, the remaining Jews in Laupheim were resettled within the city, only to be deported to concentration and extermination camps in 1941 and 1942. After the last of four transports, the Jewish community in Laupheim ceased to exist on 19 August 1942.

Sixty-two Jewish citizens of Laupheim were murdered in the Shoah, only two survived.

After World War II, in the 1960s, Laupheim began to renew and modernize its appearance. New schools were built: a grammar school, a realschule and a new town hall. From the 1980s onwards, these projects were followed by a new district hospital, a public in-doors swimming pool, a renovated stadium, named after Gretel Bergmann who was born in Laupheim, and an omnibus interchange.

Additionally, several industrial estates on the outskirts of the city were established in order to attract trade and industry. As a consequence, companies from outside Laupheim established offices and production facilities there, as well as companies that formerly had been operating from the city centre.

Population
Having developed from a rural market town into a city, predominated by industry, trade and the service industries, the demographics of Laupheim have changed as well.

After growing continuously from 1871 until 1933, from the Gründerzeit until the Nazis came to power, this development came to a halt. The stagnation and eventual decrease in population was due to increasing persecution of the Jews, as a result of which many Jewish inhabitants left Laupheim or, after 1940, were deported and subsequently murdered.

Since 1945, the population of Laupheim has almost doubled. This is due to the fact that a great number of refugees from formerly German territories east of the Oder-Neisse line were settled in Laupheim.

The establishment of a German Army Aviation Corps airbase in 1964 further contributed to the growth in population.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an influx of ethnic Germans from the Commonwealth of Independent States added to the population growth.

As of 31 December 2019, the number of non-German inhabitants of Laupheim totals 3,269 (14.58% of the total population).

City council
The city council consists of 27 members.

During the local elections on 26 May 2019, all seats on the city council were contested. The elections gave the following result:

The next local elections are due to be held in 2024.

Members of state and federal parliaments
Laupheim is part of the constituency of Biberach for elections to the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg as well as the Bundestag.

The following politicians were or are from Laupheim:
 * Franz Pfender, (5 August 1899 – 9 July 1972), CDU, member of the Bundestag 1949–1953.
 * Franz Baum, (born 6 May 1927), CDU, member of the Landtag 1972–1988.
 * Franz Romer, (born 2 February 1942), CDU, member of the Bundestag 1990–1994, 1996–2009.
 * Gerd Sheffold, (born 27 January 1954), CDU, member of the Landtag 1992–2001.
 * Thomas Dörflinger, (born 12 September 1969), CDU, member of the Landtag since 2016.

International links
Laupheim is formally twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Feyzin, France
 * 🇩🇪 Neustadt an der Orla, Thuringia (former GDR)

Traffic

 * Road: the western borders of the city itself are marked by the Bundesstraße 30. Laupheim is connected by three junctions to this federal road. It was planned to upgrade this federal road to autobahn status, turning it into the A89. These plans were dropped in the early 1980s.
 * Railway: the Württemberg Southern Railway (Ulm-Friedrichshafen) passes Laupheim about 2 km from the built-up area. Laupheim-West railway station serves passengers from the surrounding area. From this railway station another line branches off into Laupheim, terminating at the city railway station. It was part of a longer railway line, originally leading to Schwendi. However, during the 1970s and 1980s, the whole extension was gradually closed down, dismantled, and the service replaced by buses. Only the section leading from the city railway station to Laupheim-West remained and was later renovated and re-opened in 1999 with a direct connection to Langenau via Ulm Central Station. Passengers travelling south to Biberach an der Riß still had to change trains at Laupheim-West station. Plans existed, however, to establish direct trains from Laupheim to Biberach an der Riß. In June 2011, after construction works lasting two years a new southern route towards Biberach was opened. In order to facilitate railway traffic a second railway platform was built at Laupheim city station.

 * Bus: Laupheim, being part of the regional Danube-Iller Traffic Network, is at the centre of a network of local and regional buslines leading into all directions, serving the surrounding villages.

Industry
The following companies, some of them operating internationally, are based in Laupheim:
 * Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG : manufacturer of machines for packaging of pharmaceutical products.
 * Rentschler Holding GmbH: pharmaceutical products.
 * Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug: snow grooming vehicles.
 * Diehl Aerospace: manufacturer of interior aircraft components.
 * Kronenbrauerei Laupheim: brewery (since 1753)
 * Hamann Motorsport GmbH: car tuning and aerodynamic body kits.
 * JERMI Käsewerk GmbH & Co. KG.: cheese products.
 * Lindenmaier AG: manufacturers of metal parts and mechanical engineering.
 * Kekeisen GmbH & Co.KG: mechanical engineering and toolmaking.
 * Colep Laupheim GmbH & Co.KG: manufacturer of aerosol sprays.
 * Bergmann GmbH & Co. KG: wigs and other hair products.

Education
The following educational establishments exist in Laupheim and its subordinate villages:
 * Primary schools
 * Anna-von-Freyberg-Grundschule (Grundschule: primary school)
 * Grundschule Bronner Berg (Grundschule: primary school)
 * Grundschule in Bihlafingen (Grundschule: primary school)
 * Grundschule in Untersulmetingen (Grundschule: primary school)
 * Primary and secondary schools
 * Ivo-Schaible-Grund- und Hauptschule in Baustetten (Grundschule: primary school, Hauptschule: secondary school for general studies)
 * Bischof-Ulrich Grund-, Haupt- und Werkrealschule in Obersulmetingen (Grundschule: primary school, Hauptschule: secondary school for general studies, Werkrealschule: offering additional year to obtain O-levels)
 * Secondary schools
 * Friedrich-Uhlmann-Schule (Hauptschule: secondary school for general studies)
 * Friedrich-Adler-Realschule (Realschule: secondary school leading up to O-levels)
 * Carl-Laemmle-Gymnasium (Gymnasium: secondary school leading up to A-levels)
 * Vocational training school
 * Kilian-von-Steiner-Schule (Berufsschule: vocational training school)
 * Other
 * Wieland-Förderschule (Förderschule: school for children with special needs)
 * Staatlichen Seminars für Didaktik und Lehrerbildung Laupheim (teacher-training college)

Legal
Laupheim had a magistrates' court which was a branch of the district court of Biberach. The Laupheim branch was closed on 1 April 2004. The town hall houses the offices of the district notary.

Media

 * Schwäbische Zeitung (Swabian Newspaper) contains a local supplement for Laupheim and its surroundings.
 * Wochenblatt (Weekly Paper), free weekly newspaper.

Military

Laupheim was home to Medium Transport Helicopter Regiment 25 "Oberschwaben" (Upper Swabia) and Support Squadron 10 of the German Army Aviation Corps (Heeresflieger). The German Army Aviation Corps base was established in 1964 utilizing already existing facilities. Medium Transport Regiment 25 was disbanded on 31 December 2012 when personnel and material were transferred to the German Air Force and re-established as Helicopter Wing 64 on 1 January 2013. Helicopter Wing 64 is equipped with transport helicopter CH-53 and light utility helicopter H145M LUH SOF. German Army Aviation Corps Support Squadron 10 was equipped with helicopters of the type Bo-105. The unit disbanded in 2007.

Until the beginning of the 1990s the regiment had only seen service in other NATO countries, mainly while on manoeuvre or on aid-missions after natural disasters. Since then, however, it has been deployed abroad on various aid-missions and so far has seen service on NATO and United Nations peacekeeping missions, first in Iraq after the 1st Gulf War, then on the Balkans with IFOR, KFOR, SFOR and EUFOR, in Afghanistan as part of ISAF, which is ongoing, and most recently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of EUFOR RD Congo to support the UN mission MONUC to monitor the general elections in 2006. This mission began in June 2006 and ended with the last soldiers returning in December of the same year.

With a workforce of about 1,350, both military and civilian, the base is the largest, single employer in Laupheim.

Großlaupheim Castle
Großlaupheim Castle is situated on a hill on the verge of the city close to the local parish church. The existence of a castle in Laupheim was documented for the first time around the year 1100. There is no evidence that the castle originally consisted of more than a wooden structure. This castle existed until the Peasants' War in 1525, when it was destroyed by rebellious peasants. After the end of hostilities, the peasants were forced to rebuild the castle in stone. The structure as it stands today was erected in three different phases:
 * The so-called Feudal Castle (Lehenschloss), the oldest part, dates from the middle of the 16th century. It consists of a three-storey, square edifice with two flanking round towers.
 * Adjoining it, the so-called New Castle (Neues Schloss) (built between 1660 and 1680) with an early Baroque square flanked by arcades and a gateway.
 * Somewhat removed but still part of the complex, the so-called Little Castle (Kleines Schlössle) was built in the middle of the 17th century. It was used by the Freiherren von Welden as dwelling place for the widows of former rulers of Laupheim. On a terrace below the castle buildings, a small rose garden was designed in Baroque-style.

Museum of the History of Christians and Jews
The Museum of the History of Christians and Jews is situated in Großlaupheim Castle. It is unique in Germany in that its collection concentrates on the documentation of the relationship between Christians and Jews on a local level, using Laupheim, which once had the largest Jewish community in the Kingdom of Württemberg, as an example. The exhibition documents in chronological order all aspects of more than 200 years of Jewish life in Laupheim.

Castle Park
The park is situated at the bottom of the hill on top of which Schloss Großlaupheim lies. The castle park was designed in the English Style by Kilian von Steiner. A huge number of trees, meadows and lakes created an impressive appearance. Originally, it was well known for its exotic trees and plants. Formerly, there were five lakes, which, during winter, provided a brewery with ice. During summer, the lakes were used for raising trout. However, in recent times the maintenance of the ground and the lakes was neglected due to a lack of council funding. In recent years efforts have been made to restore the park, at least in parts, to its former glory. In 2011, the park was declared a "Garden Monument' by the state of Baden-Württemberg's National Trust.

Kleinlaupheim Castle
Kleinlaupheim Castle is situated on a hill south-west of the river Rottum within the city limits of Laupheim. In its present state it was built between 1766 and 1769 as a place of residence for the ruler of Kleinlaupheim at the time, the Freiherr Joseph Ignaz von Welden-Kleinlaupheim (1721–1802). It was designed by Johann Georg Specht of Lindenberg in Baroque-style. It consists of a three-storey building with a curved mansard roof. Pilasters, cornices and gables enliven the facade of the building. Inside there is a remarkable grand staircase in the vestibule.

It now houses the local police station and an art gallery, Die Wache Galerie, a pun on words in that Wache can mean police station as well as alert or awake.

Parish Church St Peter and Paul
The Parish Church St Peter and Paul, built between 1623 and 1661, lies in close proximity to Großlaupheim Castle. It was designed by Martino I. Barbieri from Roveredo in Baroque-style, showing influences of manierism. The interior of the church is decorated with sculptures by Dominikus Hermenegild Herberger and paintings by Johann Georg Bergmüller.

Planetarium and Public Observatory
The planetarium and public astronomical observatory of Laupheim (Volkssternwarte Laupheim) counts about 40000 visitors each year. It is run on a mostly voluntary basis by the club Volkssternwarte Laupheim e.V. (founded 1975), providing high quality astronomical education. The work of the club has been recognized by astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker, who named the asteroid 7167 Laupheim in honour of the institution.

The Laupheimer Kinder- und Heimatfest
The annual historical festival, the Kinder- und Heimatfest, takes place during the last weekend of June. It consists of processions and parades, performed by various groups, incorporating performances in historical costumes, concert bands and floats, referring to contemporary and historical events. There is also a funfair, accompanied by several pole marquees, as well as much revelling in the bars, cafes and pubs of the city.

Brunnenfest
On the last Sunday of the summer holidays, the traditional Brunnenfest (fountain party) takes place in the city centre. A street party, it is concentrated on the Upper and Lower Market Square. The name of the event derives from the Neptune-fountain, situated in the Upper Market Square. A great number of stalls serves Swabian and international cuisine as well as a large variety of beverages. The stalls are organised and staffed by local clubs. Concert bands, Jazz bands and Volksmusik bands entertain visitors. On a stage dance and sport performances are shown. Additionally, a flea market is held at the same time.

Other

 * Laupheim is situated on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route, a touristic route along the most notable architectural remains of Baroque-style in Upper Swabia.
 * Jugendstil Cafe Hermes on Kapellenstraße, birthplace of Friedrich Adler.

Sport

 * FV Olympia Laupheim 1904: football club, currently playing in the 6th division (Verbandsliga Württemberg).
 * Rot-Weiss Laupheim: handball club
 * Karateverein Laupheim: karate club
 * Schachclub Laupheim 1962: chess club.
 * Schützenverein Laupheim 1864: shooting club for handguns and rifles.
 * Segelclub Laupheim: sailing club.
 * Taekwondo Laupheim: taekwondo club.
 * Tanzclub Schloß Laupheim: ballroom dancing club
 * Tauchsportgruppe Laupheim: diving club
 * Tennisclub Laupheim 1904: tennis club
 * TSV Laupheim 1862: sport club with several sub-divisions

Honorary citizens

 * Carl Laemmle (17 January 1867 – 24 September 1939), German-American film producer (All Quiet on the Western Front), founder of Universal Studios.
 * Anton Schmid (24 June 1864 – 25 August 1964), headmaster.
 * Georg Schenk (14 December 1894 – 25 December 1971), teacher and local historian.
 * Father Ivo Schaible SDS (8 July 1912 – 13 September 1990), artist.
 * Dean Philipp Ruf (8 November 1900 – ?), dean of Catholic church in Laupheim.
 * Josef Braun (6 September 1910 – 2003), deputy headmaster, historian.
 * Otmar Schick (8 September 1935 – 23 November 2016), mayor from 1966 – 2002.
 * Ernst Schäll (18 March 1927 – 28 October 2010), restorer of physical Jewish heritage in Laupheim.
 * Brigitte Angele (born 1946), former member of the city council.
 * Franz Romer (born 1942) in Untersulmetingen, politician (CDU), former member of the Bundestag.

Notable people from Laupheim

 * Ludwig von Welden (16 June 1780 – 7 August 1853), commander-in-chief of Austrian Imperial and Royal Army's artillery.
 * Kilian von Steiner (9 October 1833 – 11 November 1903), banker.
 * Moritz Henle (7 August 1850 – 24 August 1925), cantor and composer of Jewish reform movement.
 * Carl Laemmle (17 January 1867 – 24 September 1939), film producer, founder of Universal Studios.
 * Franz Laub (1872 – 30 April 1945), composer, music director of the city, music director of the music federation of Upper Swabia.
 * Friedrich Adler (29 April 1878 – 1943), Jugendstil and Art Deco designer; murdered in Auschwitz.
 * Franz Pfender (5 August 1899 – 9 July 1972), politician, Centre Party and Christian Democratic Union.
 * Josef Uhlmann (21 October 1902 – 20 Juli 1968), Olympic fencer and entrepreneur.
 * Hugo Mann (17 November 1913 – 20 December 2008), retail entrepreneur.
 * Gretel Bergmann (12 April 1914 – 25 July 2017), internationally renowned high jumper of the 1930s was excluded from the 1936 Olympic team due to being Jewish.
 * Siegfried Einstein (30 November 1919 – 25 April 1983 in Mannheim), author, poet and journalist.
 * Gertrud Zelinsky (born 11 April 1937), author.
 * Ivo Gönner (born 1 March 1952), former Lord Mayor of Ulm.
 * Hermann Gaub (born 11 October 1954), biophysicist.
 * Thorsten Wollmann (born 10 February 1966), jazz musician and composer.
 * Sandra Hoffmann (born 11 May 1967), writer.
 * Anja Reinalter (born 1 May 1970), politician, Alliance 90/The Greens.
 * Maja Weber (born June 1976), journalist and news presenter.
 * Philip Türpitz (born 23 August 1991), professional football player.

title: Laupheim


text:
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India. It consists of a chairperson and not more than two full-time members and not more than two part-time members. The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.

History
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established on 20 February 1997 by an Act of Parliament to regulate telecom services and tariffs in India. Earlier, regulation of telecom services and tariffs was overseen by the Central Government.

TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for the growth of telecommunications in India to enable the country to have a leading role in the emerging global information society.

One of its main objectives is to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market. TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, direct to home services and mobile number portability.

In January 2016, TRAI introduced an important change in telecommunication to the benefit of consumers, where they would be compensated inr 1 for every dropped call, subject to a maximum of three dropped calls in a day. In May 2016, this regulation was revoked by the Supreme Court on the grounds of being "unreasonable, arbitrary and unconstitutional".

Secretariat
TRAI is administered through a secretariat headed by a secretary. All proposals are processed by the secretary, who organises the agenda for authority meetings (consulting with the chairperson), prepares the minutes and issues regulations in accordance to the meetings. The secretary is assisted by advisors. These include Mobile Network, Interconnection and FixeNetwork, BroadBand and Policy Analysis, Quality of Service, Broadcasting & Cable Services, Economic Regulation, Financial Analysis & IFA, Legal, Consumer Affairs & International Relation and Administration & Personnel. Officers are selected from the Indian Telecommunications Service and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

List of Chairpersons (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)
List of Chairpersons:

TRAI Mobile Apps
On 6 June 2017, TRAI launched three new apps and a web portal to highlight the telecom services that are being offered to the users.

Mycall app, MySpeed app and Do not disturb (DND 2.0) apps can be used to ensure that there is transparency between what consumers are paying for and what telecom operators are promising to provide at a certain rate.

In December 2018, TRAI released another app called TRAI Channel Selector. Using this app, they can add, remove and manage their channels.

Recent TRAI initiatives
In order to increase broadband penetration in India, TRAI has proposed WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) architecture. If implemented, it may lead to set up of Public Data Offices (PDOs) where Wi-FI Internet would be available on demand. TRAI relates the same with PCOs which were used to do the voice calls and were very popular hotspots before the mobile phones or home landlines became the ultimate mode of communication.

TRAI reports
To increase transparency and give a data-based overview of Indian Telecom Industry at regular intervals, TRAI publishes multiple reports under Release/Publication "Reports" section on its website.

Jio
Allegedly, TRAI bent its rules multiple times to let Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, become a market leader in the span of a few years. Jio was allowed to "test" its services for a much longer period and with a much larger subscriber base than was the industrial norm. In a letter to the telecom department, Rajan Mathews of the Cellular Operators Association of India wrote that Reliance's offers were "full-blown and full-fledged services masquerading as tests, which bypass regulations and can potentially game policy features." TRAI was also accused of modifying its definition of "significant market power" so as to exclude Jio from strict scrutiny. Whilst initially the definition of market power was based on total network activity, the parameters were changed to subscriber share and gross revenue. Jio qualified as a significant market power according to the first definition, but not the second.

title: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India