text:
Talk:Cheka

liquidated
This may sound somewhat flagrant, but I think the euphemism of "liquidated" political opponents should just be changed to "murdered". 'Cause really, who are you trying to protect from the lies? I love liquid. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.155.111.148 (talk) 20:01, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

Atrocities
I cited Ernst Nolte in the atrocities section for the previously un-cited assertion about the Cheka's infamous rat-cage torture. I also included a note to the effect that the rat-cage stories are not totally reliable. The notes were taken from the page on Ernst Nolte.Potashnik (talk) 01:34, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

The Royal Imperial Family
Should more, perhaps, be made of the Cheka's involvement with the death of the Tsar and his family be made on this page. Or is it something too trivial for want of a better word to have on the page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.160.180.208 (talk) 20:36, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Criticism of the Cheka?
This article reads like something out of the Soviet-era Pravda. How about incorporating criticism and descriptions of Cheka's totalitarian tactics instead of reproducing the official party line on this instrument of repression and violence? Porfyrios 20:40, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

See Natasha? the Cheka were really good guys after all! Wetman 17:56, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC) (awaiting further information)
 * No one likes much FBI, SIS, Siguranca, KGB, but don't forget, it is a necessary tool of the state, so better refrain from trivial good/bad black/white evaluations. No one likes hangman, and hangmen are not the prime of mankind. So if you are avaiting further information about cruelty of cheka, please pour it here only in reasonable amounts. Mikkalai 18:10, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)
 * Even so, some criticism is needed. The page is seemingly devoid of any criticism at the moment. --Flask 16:11, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

 * Interestingly, I believe it was Lenin who created the Cheka; he considered the suppression of opposition a critical step in transferring Russia through totalinarianism-socialism-communism (utopia) - this being part of the socialist element. However, he did not wish to keep the Cheka active, and would likely have dissolved them had he lived a few years longer. Failing to do so might well have been one of his reasons for stating (albeit in different words) "for god's sake don't pick Stalin" in his Testament. Rob Church 00:16, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Cheka purposes ware not to matain Bolshevik as party on power, or only party, nor destroy any ideological opposition. That's manipulating historical events. It was just intended to defend people from that older people classes that had lost their old privileges and seeked any chance for sabotage, attack and counter-revolution, and I mean in violent totalitarian fashions, never in intellectual or ideological peaceful criticisement of revolution. SFSR was a good thing, from the perspective it supposed liberation and democratical power of worker class and peasants in an underdevelopped wild capitalist country domained by Tsar and burgeoise oligarchy, that lead to endless wars, to lack of ideologic freedom, to exploitation of workers and peasants, to poorness or unfair minoritary distribution of richness and development, education system unaccessible for poorer or humbler people, etc.; and SFSR supposed a conquest by majoritary and popular classes through assumption of auto-gestionary power and establishment of a new institutional system from the basis, democratically lead by soviets, with freedom of militation and ideas, and different political organizations (not only Bolseviks, though it just was the majoritary one for it got the one that represented ideas of most of politized workers that freely joined) of just all opposite, development, equal distribution of richness and land for who cultivated it, an extraordinary implementation and investion on educational system and libraries, made accessible for everybody, organisms of democratical organization and power of people, that were soviets, as a way of democratically acting on power, adoption of legal measures that meant progress, advance and more freedom for human relationships among citizens, like adoption of consensuated divorce, equalitary laws for women and men, and right and access to work and politics and public life to women, abolishment of anti-semitic laws, implementation of salaries, etc. Much of all was wasted and critically ended or transformed with access of Stalin to central power, and transformation of it on a fashion of burocratical totalitarian power, and all the subsequent ideological manipulation, derivation and propaganda for turning socialist ideas, purposes and furtherly institutions into totalitarian Estate, militarist, doctrinary, sectary and repressive ideas and purposes, using the name and rethoric of first to fake and achieve purposes or implications of second; he was a disordered and manipulative, very dangerous and smart guy seeking for power, and he got it, couriously coinciding with the merging of SFSR anti-imperialist socialist republic into imperialist burocratic and totalitarian sigle-partyist USSR (that was a process, but too of a sudden, suspiciously, that deserves to be analysed). Such a process obviously and dangerously had to include Cheka. Of course, the fact many people participating in SRSF Cheka's committees and democratical leadership were unprepared people, for such responsabilities, lead to some unfairnesses, and the fact some innoccent people unfairly payed, but this is one thing, and what is said in the article is other very different, that doesn't analyses context and causes in an objective, non-biased way. I'd like to seek for a less propagandist and biased, more objective and neutral article, more just with history. I'll soon start making my propositions in order to achieve, and support them with sources. signed DeepQuasar

how do you create a redirect?
if the name is supposed to be "vechecka" how do i make the link from "vechecka" to "checka"? shb5ut sluod folkintould it just be a piped link? the content of vechecka should be:
 * #redirect Cheka

But "vechecka" is not used IMO, unlike "vecheka".Mikkalai 03:03, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)

date of 1922 redesignation/merge
I modified the date or renaming to GPU from Feb 8 to Feb 6 1922, which corresponds with articles GPU and chronology), and verifies against the MVD's official website: http://www.mvdinform.ru/index.php?docid=367 (in Russian) --Martyr 21:00, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

also supported on the FSB's website (also in russian)--Martyr 22:33, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Name
Personally (I am a native russian speaker) I beleive the translation of the name is way too literal, to the point that it is even comic I think a much better sounding translation would be "The Special National comitee against counter-revolutionaries and saboutage", but of course a literal translation may be of more use to people 71.139.63.68 22:14, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

YouTube clip from the Russian film "Chekist"
I was going to add the link to the article, but thought I better post it here and see if it is appropriate. It contains nudity and brutal depictions of mass executions:

"Chekist" film clip

--C.J. Griffin 19:56, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

New article for "Cheka" abbreviation ("may mean any one of these")?
As some of you may be aware, there were several other "extraordinary commissions" in existence during the Bolshevik era (notably Krupskaya's Extraordinary Commission for the Abolition of Illiteracy). Should a "Trivia" section be added to the main article to reflect this? Darth Sidious 01:09, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

 * See WP:Trivia. Trivia sections are discouraged.  Maybe we could add this information directly into the text.  S♦s♦e♦b♦a♦l♦l♦o♦s  ( Merry Christmas! ) 01:59, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

Commie Atrocities
This section reads like the typical "Communists fry babies in oil and send them in cans to the USSR" story.

The other sourced are at least scholarly - though partly biased - but the citation of Denikin is just ridiculous and should be deleted in my opinion. He was a rabid anti-Semite whose armies carried out massive pogroms in the Ukraine and buried revolutionary workers and peasants in mass graves. What's next, citing Nazi "investigations" of "Bolshevist atrocities"? Have mercy on our poor readers, who can find this tabloid crap elsewhere on the internet. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 04:24, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

10 % of Jews
I know this is controversial, but in the article Jewish Bolshevism, it says that were perhaps a total of 5 000 Jews in the Cheka out of 50 000 revolutionary agents. This could perhaps be mentioned in the article, since there have been numerous authors who have made allegations that the persecutions against the Christian clergy and the Christian bourgeoisie were actually motivated by religious or ethnic hatred on the part of members of the Cheka. ADM (talk) 23:55, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

 * What "numerous authors"? What "allegations"? And what's up with the 10% as some kind of magic threshold? If it had been 2500, would a "5% of Jews" (sic - "of Cheka") make it different? And even, where does this 5,000 supposedly come from?radek (talk) 00:19, 17 July 2009 (UTC)
 * "According to Belerosov, at first (fall and winter of 1918-1919)

the Kiev Cheka went on a 'continuous spree' of looting, extortion, and rape. Three-quarters of the staff were Jews, many of them riffraff incapable of any other work, cut off from the Jewish community although careful to spare fellow Jews." [PIPES, R.,    1990, p. 823-824]" - Richard Pipes - The Russian Revolution

There are several other mainstream authors as well. It's no secret that there was a large Jewish presence in the Cheka. I know that sort of information is off limits here, though. 72.73.112.61 (talk) 01:54, 30 January 2015 (UTC)

Needs complete rewrite.
The article is incredibly biased and the sources are completely unreputable. This needs a complete rewrite; it's unsalvageable at this point. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.122.200 (talk) 17:44, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

"Atrocities" section
Melgunov's work is a primary source written by a participant in Russian politics in 1917-21. It does not meet the criteria of a scholarly, specialized work. Prof A. Litvin writes in his book The Red and White Terror in Russia that Melgunov was biased in his writings and by his personal experiences, while the historian P. Golub showed that Melgunov made no mention of Kolchak's crimes: "He knew of course, but persistently told the big lie about the White regimes not practicing systematic terror." None of the sources cited in this article purporting to show "Cheka atrocities" actually state that they happened, but only cite the allegations of Denikin's agitprop organs. Historians do not uncritically accept the lurid claims made by OSVAG and the like, but find them "questionable...can not qualify as a scientific publication." Based on this, the "atrocities" section will be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.54.173.15 (talk) 23:12, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Cheka leather fashion influence?
The cited source for "Western communists" copying the all-black leather look of the Cheka says nothing about this. In fact, it doesn't say the Cheka "dressed in leather from head to toe", only that Dzerzhinsky diverted the shipment of coats so that his men would be less likely to contract typhus. I have tagged it as failing verification. Daniel Case (talk) 04:12, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
 * You are correct. I have deleted the "head to toe". The leather coat, is of course, famous. George Orwell, Victor Serge, Ayn Rand, Trotsky all mentioned it in their writings.Capitalismojo (talk) 03:20, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Fixed
I fixed this changes made by banned User:Jacob Peters. My very best wishes (talk) 20:59, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Cheka badge as it was in 1922
The photo in the cheka article 'Cheka badge as it was in 1922 WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Because that is not a Cheka badge, It is honorary badge of the 5th anniversary of the Cheka-GPU and the establishment of GPU NKVD RSFSR  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hermanbruner (talk • contribs) 18:42, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Large section of claims without a source/POV
"As its name implied, the Extraordinary Commission had virtually unlimited powers and could interpret them in any way it wished. No standard procedures were ever set up, except that the Commission was supposed to send the arrested to the Military-Revolutionary tribunals if outside of a war zone. This left an opportunity for a wide range of interpretations, as the whole country was in total chaos. At the direction of Lenin, the Cheka performed mass arrests, imprisonments, and executions of "enemies of the people". In this, the Cheka said that they targeted "class enemies" such as the bourgeoisie, and members of the clergy; the first organized mass repression began against the libertarians and socialists of Petrograd in April 1918. Over the next few months, 800 were arrested and shot without trial. However, within a month, the Cheka had extended its repression to all political opponents of the communist government, including anarchists and others on the left. On April 11/12, 1918, some 26 anarchist political centres in Moscow were attacked. There 40 anarchists were killed by Cheka forces, and about 500 were arrested and jailed after a pitched battle took place between the two groups. (P. Avrich. G. Maximoff) In response to the anarchists' resistance, the Cheka orchestrated a massive retaliatory campaign of repression, executions, and arrests against all opponents of the Bolshevik government, in what came to be known as "Red Terror". The Red Terror, implemented by Dzerzhinsky on September 5, 1918, was vividly described by the Red Army journal Krasnaya Gazeta"

This whole section exists without a single relevant source. This should be cleaned up and sourced properly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ComradeBiologist (talk • contribs) 06:33, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Latvian Riflemen
In his book The Big Show in Bololand (p. 347) Bertrand M. Patenaude mentioned the "so-called Latvian Riflemen" who became the "nucleus" of the Red Army during its formation in summer 1918 and what in the end led to "a position of prominence and numerical predominance" of Letts in the Cheka. So maybe the history of the Cheka should start with the "Latvian Riflemen". 130.83.23.163 (talk) 13:48, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Anton Denikin not an unbiased authority on Cheka torture
The article cites "Anton Denikin's investigation" of the use of torture by the Cheka, as if Anton Denikin was a neutral source and not a military opponent of the Bolsheviks. Denikin himself allowed his forces to engage in counter-revolutionary terror during the Civil War, especially against the Jewish population, which goes unmentioned with the Denikin citation. If Denikin's claims are going to be included in this article, it would be wise to also include his affiliation, rather than giving the appearance of Denikin as a neutral investigator. Situwannabe (talk) 18:08, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

Dangling Antecedant
Hey guys, look at the following sentence near the end: "Dzerzhinsky, who rarely drank, is said to have told Lenin – on an occasion in which he did so excessively – ". I assume "he" is referring to Dzerzhinsky, but I'm not quite sure and it was a little confusing at first. Might want to fix it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:645:8201:E3E0:992E:C39F:4689:EBAF (talk) 05:55, 27 April 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 18:52, 23 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich 1919.jpg

Atrocities
The part about torture and acts of violence against women and children are not sourced. These claims might be true but they are presented in a way that undermines the impartiality. I think the section should be reduced to stating that: the cheka conducted acts of rape and torture. At least until proper sourcing can be conducted. NadjaNoja-blippBlong (talk) 12:00, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

 * I just saw that the source was further down in the section, why isn’t it done through citations? NadjaNoja-blippBlong (talk) 12:03, 22 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Cheka


text:
Toni Braxton

Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967 ) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and numerous other accolades. In 2011, Braxton was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. In 2017 she was honored with the Legend Award at the Soul Train Music Awards.

In the late 1980s, Braxton began performing with her sisters in a music group known as The Braxtons; the group was signed to Arista Records. After attracting the attention of producers Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and being signed to LaFace Records, Braxton released her self-titled debut studio album in 1993. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 10 million copies worldwide. In addition, the singles "Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again" became international successes. The album brought Braxton three Grammy Awards, including the Grammy for Best New Artist.

Braxton experienced continued success with the albums Secrets (1996), which included the U.S. #1 hit singles "You're Makin' Me High/Let It Flow" and "Un-Break My Heart"; and The Heat (2000), which opened at #2 on the Billboard 200 and included the U.S. #2 hit single "He Wasn't Man Enough". Braxton's subsequent studio albums, More Than a Woman (2002), Libra (2005) and Pulse (2010), were released amid contractual disputes and health issues. In 2014, Braxton and longtime collaborator Babyface released a duet album entitled Love, Marriage & Divorce that earned the duo a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album in 2015. Further label changes saw the release of Sex & Cigarettes (2018) under Def Jam/Universal and Spell My Name (2020) under Island.

Braxton is also a television executive producer and personality. She competed in the seventh season of the reality competition series Dancing with the Stars. She has executive produced and starred in Braxton Family Values, a reality television series that aired on We TV from 2011 to 2020. Braxton was also an executive producer of Tamar & Vince, a spinoff reality TV series starring her younger sister, Tamar.

Early life
Toni Michele Braxton was born in Severn, Maryland, on October 7, 1967. Her father, Michael Conrad Braxton Sr., was a Methodist clergyman and power company worker, and her mother, Evelyn Jackson, a native of South Carolina, was a former opera singer and cosmetologist, as well as a pastor. Braxton's maternal grandfather was also a pastor.

Braxton is the eldest of six siblings. She has a younger brother Michael Jr. (born 1968) and four younger sisters Traci Renee (1971 - 2022), Towanda Chloe (born 1973), Trina Evette (born 1974), and Tamar Estine (born 1977). They were raised in a strict religious household, and Braxton's first performing experience was singing in her church choir.

Braxton attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree, but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr., who reportedly heard her singing to herself while pumping gas.

On her appearance May 24, 2014, broadcast of NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, she stated that she was not singing to herself at the gas station. Pettaway, working as an attendant at the Annapolis service station where she was refueling, recognized her from local performances and introduced himself, saying he wanted to produce her. Although skeptical, Braxton decided to, in her words, "take a chance" and accepted.

1989–1995: The Braxtons, Toni Braxton and breakthrough
Braxton and her four sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar began performing as The Braxtons in the late 1980s and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their first single, "Good Life", was released in 1990. Though the song was not successful, it attracted the attention of record executive Antonio "L.A." Reid and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of "Love Shoulda Brought You Home", a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy's film, Boomerang. Baker, who was pregnant at the time, did not record the song but suggested that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with "Give U My Heart", a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds' Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.

In July 1993, LaFace released Braxton's self-titled debut album. Primarily produced by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, it peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 and entered the top ten of the albums chart in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The first single, "Another Sad Love Song", peaked at number seven and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts respectively. The album's second single, "Breathe Again", peaked in the top five of both the Hot 100 and R&B singles charts and no 2 in the UK. More singles from Toni Braxton were released in 1994, including "You Mean the World to Me", "Seven Whole Days", and "I Belong to You/How Many Ways".

Braxton's debut album won her several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album). Toni Braxton was certified 8× platinum in USA and has sales of over 10 million worldwide.

1996–1999: Secrets and financial issues
In June 1996, Braxton released her second album Secrets. Motivated "to include a little bit of everything," Braxton reteamed with Babyface, but also worked with R. Kelly, Tony Rich, and David Foster on the album, which she co-produced. A major success, it peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and reached the top ten on most international charts. After 92 weeks in the charts, Secrets was certified 8× platinum, becoming Braxton's second straight 8 million-seller. Internationally, Secrets sold more than 15 million copies, further cementing Braxton's superstar status. The album's first single, "You're Makin' Me High", marked Braxton's first number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, while follow-up "Un-Break My Heart", a ballad written and composed by Diane Warren, became the biggest hit of Braxton's career yet. It spent eleven consecutive weeks at number one on the Hot 100 and enjoyed worldwide top five success.

As a result, Braxton topped several of Billboard's year-end charts, and won two Grammy Awards; one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Un-Break My Heart" and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "You're Makin' Me High" as well as two American Music Awards for Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album. Still waiting on her financial rewards, Braxton eventually launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against Arista and LaFace Records. Soon after, she filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. Public reaction to these events was very harsh, having been expressed most clearly in an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Braxton has appeared in two Disney Broadway shows: She made her Broadway debut as Belle in Beauty and the Beast beginning September 9, 1998, when she replaced Kim Huber. During her run in the show Alan Menken wrote and composed a new song for the musical, titled "A Change in Me", which he specially wrote and composed for Braxton, and was still being used in the musical as of late July 2014. She left the production on February 28, 1999, and was succeeded by Andrea McArdle. Her role in Beauty and the Beast marked the first (and only) time a black woman commanded the leading role of Belle on Broadway. (In the UK, Michelle Gayle played the role in the West End.) It also marked the first time a black woman would star in a Disney musical on Broadway. In 1999, the lawsuit against LaFace Records was settled and Braxton was given back all her possessions, giving her time to record The Heat, her first album in four years.

2000–2002: The Heat, More Than a Woman, and acting debut
After her three-year-long dispute with LaFace and Arista had been settled, Braxton signed a new $20 million contract. In April 2000, her third studio album, The Heat was released. Braxton took a more hands-on approach, co-writing and co-producing a handful of the tracks which saw her adapting a more urban sound. It opened at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 199,000 copies sold in its first week, eventually going double platinum in the United States, while selling over 4 million copies worldwide. Additionally, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 2001 Grammy Awards, while uptempo lead single "He Wasn't Man Enough", a worldwide top ten hit, won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and was nominated for Best R&B Song.

In 2001, Braxton made her movie acting debut in director Doug McHenry's comedy film Kingdom Come opposite an ensemble also starring LL Cool J, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Whoopi Goldberg A modest box-office success, it grossed $23.4 million worldwide. The same year, Braxton recorded and released the Christmas album Snowflakes which consisted R&B–led original songs co-penned with Keri Lewis and Babyface as well as several remixes and cover versions of Christmas standards and carols. It received a mixed reception by critics, many of whom compared its nature to Braxton's other work but found the stylized production and original material too contemporary to conjure images of Christmas, and failed to reach the upper half of the Billboard 200, eventually going gold in the United States.

In 2002, while gearing up for the release of her fourth studio album, Braxton discovered she was pregnant with her second child. Knowing that she would be unable to promote the album properly, she unsuccessfully lobbied Arista Records to get the label to postpone its release until after she was to give birth. In November 2002, More Than a Woman was released. Opening to an instant commercial disappointment, the album peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, but was less successful internationally. The first single "Hit the Freeway" failed to impact, resulting in lackluster sales in general and the release of no further singles. More Than a Woman was eventually certified gold in the United States and sold more than 800,000 copies worldwide.

2003–2007: Libra and Las Vegas residency
In April 2003, Braxton abruptly left Arista Records, having been there for 14 years, and immediately signed with Blackground Records, headed by Barry Hankerson, her manager at the time. She then starred in Aida as Aida beginning June 30, 2003, when she replaced actress Simone, until she left the cast on November 16, 2003. In April 2005, Braxton's new label, Blackground/Universal, released "Please", the first single from her fifth album, Libra. The album was originally planned for a June release, but it was pushed back several times and was finally issued on September 27. Libra peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 114,593 copies in the first week, and peaked at number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified gold in late 2005 and has since sold 679,000 copies worldwide.

In May 2005, Braxton made an appearance on the season finale of American Idol 5, where she performed Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto" with soon-to-be winner Taylor Hicks. A month later, "The Time of Our Lives", a duet with classical crossover vocal group Il Divo, was released as a single, serving as the official 2006 FIFA World Cup anthem. Braxton performed the song, which entered the top ten in Switzerland, at the opening ceremony in Berlin on June 9, 2005. In August 2006, Braxton replaced singer Wayne Newton as the Flamingo Las Vegas's new headlining act. The show, entitled Toni Braxton: Revealed, was to be performed six nights a week and was scheduled to run through to March 2007. Braxton later confirmed that she was extending her show through to August 2007. Due to its success, it was reported that Braxton would extend her show through to August 2008, though the show was later cancelled in order for Braxton to focus on her health after being diagnosed with microvascular angina.

On January 12, 2007, Braxton filed a $10 million lawsuit against her former manager Barry Hankerson, alleging "fraud, deception and double dealing", in addition to mismanaging her relationship with Arista Records. According to Braxton's lawsuit, Hankerson placed his personal financial interests ahead of hers by using 'double-talk' to compromise the relationship between Braxton and her former label, with Hankerson allegedly telling Arista that "Braxton no longer wanted to record for Arista," and telling Braxton that "Arista was not interested in working with her anymore". The suit was settled with Braxton being forced to return a $375,000 advance to Hankerson, who would also receive a percentage of the sales of her next album, and Hankerson releasing Braxton from her contract with him. The settlement also temporarily limited the companies with which Braxton could sign. Hankerson claimed that the problems initially arose due to a number of disputes with Braxton and her wish to include her husband in her music.

2008–2012: Pulse and television
Following the abrupt cancellation of her Toni Braxton: Revealed show, Braxton experienced financial difficulties when insurance agency Lloyd's of London refused to honor her policy that she purchased for upwards of $70,000 that included financial compensations for financial losses. Lloyd's responded with a counter-suit seeking damages against her because of an unrelated heart condition that the company was not made aware of at the time the application was filed. When Braxton acknowledged that she did not disclose her full medical history at the time, she got on the hook for all damages because of the cancelled shows, being sued by multiple companies, and had to once again file for bankruptcy. In September 2008, Braxton appeared on the seventh season of American dance competition series Dancing with the Stars; her partner was Alec Mazo. They were voted off in the fifth week of the competition.

In 2009, Braxton signed to Atlantic Records and began work on her next studio album. In February 2010, she was part of the supergroup Artists for Haiti who recorded "We Are the World 25 for Haiti", a remake of the 1985 hit "We Are the World", to help benefit the people of Haiti following the magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake. Three months later, Pulse, her seventh studio album, was released. A collection of up-tempo songs and R&B ballads with production varying from smooth to dance-based styles, it debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200, selling 54,000 copies in its first week, and topped the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, becoming Braxton's fifth US top-ten album. A moderate chart success elsewhere, it reached the top ten in Switzerland, and the top 20 in Germany and Greece. While critical reception of Pulse was generally positive, its singles "Yesterday", "Hands Tied" and "Make My Heart" achieved moderate chart success.

In 2011, Braxton signed with WE tv for a reality series, Braxton Family Values. Chronicling the lives of Braxton and her sisters Tamar, Traci, Towanda, and Trina, plus their mother Evelyn, the series debuted on April 12, 2011. It received favorable reviews from critics who recognized it as a "guilty pleasure" and spawned several seasons and spin-offs. In September 2011, Braxton parted ways with her long-time manager Vincent Herbert, husband of sister Tamar, and signed a new management deal with Los Angeles-based entertainment/production company The Collective. In March 2012, she released the standalone single "I Heart You", a dance-pop, EDM and house song that peaked at number one on the US Dance Club Songs. Also that year, Braxton played Rosalie Rosebud, a singer with an over-the-top personality, in the children's musical adventure comedy film The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure alongside Jaime Pressly and Cloris Leachman, and began filming a lead role in the Lifetime Movie Network film Twist of Faith which premiered the following year.

2013–2014: Love, Marriage and Divorce, Broadway return, and biographical film
In 2013, Braxton and longtime creative music partner Babyface began work on their collaborative studio album Love, Marriage & Divorce which was released in February 2014 under Motown Records. It received favorable reviews from music critics, who labeled it as "high-quality R&B", and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and the top of the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with first-week sales of 67,000 copies. Love, Marriage & Divorce was nominated for World's Best Album at the 2014 World Music Awards and won for Best R&B Album at the 57th Grammy Awards. Lead single "Hurt You" reached number one on the US Adult R&B Songs, becoming Braxton's first song to do so since her 2000 release "Just Be a Man About It". The song also hit number 16 on Billboard Hot R&B/ Hip Hop Airplay chart.

Braxton, alongside Babyface, made her return to Broadway in the musical After Midnight in March 2014. The third in rotation in the role of "Special Guest Star" following Fantasia Barrino and KD Lang, they performed from March 18 to 31, 2014 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. In May 2014, Braxton published a memoir, Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir, through Harper Collins Publishers. In it, Braxton discusses her career success and struggles and the self-healing she took charge of after her own diagnosis with the auto-immune disease lupus and her son's diagnosis with autism. In October 2015, Toni along with The Braxtons released the holiday album Braxton Family Christmas on Def Jam Recordings. Comprising cover versions of Christmas standards and carols as well as several original songs, it debuted and peaked at number 27 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

Lifetime premiered the biographical film Toni Braxton: Unbreak My Heart, based on Braxton's memoir, in January 2016; actress Lex Scott Davis portrayed Braxton in the film. The biopic's premiere generated 3.6 million viewers. In July, Braxton announced that she would embark on a concert tour, titled The Hits Tour, that October. She was hospitalized on October 3, five days before the tour was scheduled to begin, due to complications with lupus, resulting in the cancellation of the tour's first two dates. Braxton was admitted to hospital again on October 15, leading to another tour date cancellation, which was later rescheduled. In December, she announced that the January 2017 concert dates had been canceled.

2017–2019: Sex & Cigarettes, touring, and other ventures
In January 2018, Braxton starred in the Lifetime film Faith Under Fire. In March, her eighth studio album Sex & Cigarettes, her first solo album in eight years, was released on Def Jam Recordings. An adult contemporary R&B album with production from Fred Ball, Babyface, Dapo Torimiro, and Tricky Stewart, it debuted at number 22 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Sex & Cigarettes received mainly positive reviews from music critics, and was nominated for Best R&B Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. Second single "Long as I Live" topped the US Adult R&B Songs, becoming Braxton's eighth chart topper, while breaking a tie with singers Maxwell and R. Kelly to give her sole possession of the second-most number-one's in the chart's 24-year history. It also received Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.

Also in 2018, Braxton and Uncle Bud's Hemp products created a joint marketing campaign for the latter's products, which Braxton noted as helpful in her battle against lupus. In April 2018, Braxton and her sisters Trina and Towanda appeared on their sister Traci's single "Broken Things". In November, Braxton and Towanda appeared in the holiday film Every Day is Christmas, which premiered on Lifetime. The same month, she announced her As Long as I Live Tour, a joint concert tour with SWV, which took her to South Africa and the United Kingdom. In June 2019, Braxton headlined the 2019 Pittsburgh Pride festival.

2020–present: New record label and Spell My Name
In April 2020, it was announced that Braxton had signed with Island Records. She released the single, "Do It", her first song under the new deal on April 6, 2020. In May, Braxton released a remix EP for her second single "Dance". On June 26, 2020, Missy Elliott appeared on the official remix to the single "Do It". Elliott co-produced the track alongside Hannon Lane. On August 4, 2020, Braxton released the music video for "Dance", directed by Mike Ho. On August 27, 2020, Braxton released the song "Nothin'". Braxton's tenth studio Spell My Name was released on August 28, 2020. On October 23, 2020, Braxton released a video for her song "Gotta Move On".

In 2021, Braxton competed on season six of The Masked Singer as "Pufferfish". She was the third to be eliminated during the two-night premiere alongside Dwight Howard as "Octopus" and Vivica A. Fox as "Mother Nature". Despite being unmasked, Braxton kept on a glittered KN95 cloth face mask over her mouth due to her lupus condition. Braxton is an executive producer and star in the 2022 Lifetime movie The Fallen Angels Murder Club.

Artistry
Braxton has been recognized for her distinctive contralto voice. Her voice has been called "husky, sultry, elegant and sexy." Due to the huskiness of her voice, Braxton often used male singers such as Michael McDonald, Luther Vandross and Stevie Wonder as vocal style models. Chaka Khan and Anita Baker were two of the few female singers that she could stylize. Steve Huey of AllMusic cites a key to Braxton's success is the versatility of her voice, which he states as being "soulful enough for R&B audiences, but smooth enough for adult contemporary; sophisticated enough for adults, but sultry enough for younger listeners; strong enough in the face of heartbreak to appeal to women, but ravishing enough to nab the fellas." In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Braxton at No. 48 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Braxton began her career singing traditional R&B and soft rock ballads and love songs on her debut and second albums. However, hip-hop soul and dance music elements begun to get spun into her sound on The Heat, More Than a Woman, and Pulse. She also showcased her classical training while performing in Broadway plays Beauty and the Beast and Aida as well as her duet with Il Divo, "The Time of Our Lives".

Legacy
Toni Braxton became an R&B superstar after the release of her first album. LA Reid stated during an interview with VH1: "We called her the first lady of LaFace. She was our Diva. Clive had Whitney, Tommy had Mariah and we had Toni." BBC called the album "spiritedly, mature soul at its best – and just urban enough to make it the bedroom album for the hip hop generation." Over the span of her career Braxton has sold over 70 million records, including 40 million albums, worldwide. Her hit "Un-Break My Heart", the Diane Warren-penned ballad, spent 11-weeks at number 1. Bob McCann, author of Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television (2010), considered it "simply one of the most haunting R&B records ever made." Reviewer Mark Edward Nero named it one of the best R&B break-up songs and considered it Braxton's "finest moment". He further commented, "damn, this song is so sad it can make people cry for hours at a time." Braxton is a recipient of seven Grammy Awards, seven American Music Awards, and nine Billboard Music Awards. She has been cited as an influence by various artists, such as Beyoncé, sister Tamar Braxton, Billie Godfrey, Kelly Clarkson, Leela James, Keyshia Cole, Teyana Taylor, Kehlani, Sevyn Streeter, Ari Lennox and Anja Nissen.

Braxton's career, she made several impacts on fashion, mostly for her high splits in her dresses. In 2011, Braxton topped the list for the Grammy Award's best dressed of the decade. "I've always gone a little risque with all my other award show outfits." In 2012, Braxton made the list for VH1's 50 Greatest Women in Music. Braxton's 2000 performance at Super Bowl XXXIV is ranked as one of the most memorable Super Bowl performances. Braxton is featured alongside other R&B and pop divas as a primary character on the popular web parody Got 2B Real: The Diva Variety Show. With her Las Vegas residency Toni Braxton: Revealed, she became the first African American performer in Las Vegas to have her act enter the top ten Vegas shows charting. Braxton also made headlines for her Giantto Million Dollar Microphone that she performed every show with. Braxton said: "I think it's a great element to the show. You have to have a little sprinkle of Liberace and this is my little sprinkle of that." Braxton's prop was made up of white gold and encrusted with 650 karats of diamonds. The microphone reportedly cost $1 million.

Braxton has also been seen as a gay icon, with some of her songs becoming gay anthems, such as "Un-Break My Heart", "He Wasn't Man Enough" and "Make My Heart". The singer stated that after the release of "Un-Break My Heart", she "recognized all the support. And it was really wonderful." When asked about her gay fans, Braxton said "I love my boys because my boys help me be a better girl. My choreographer and my video director are gay, and they've been my best friends since I started in the industry. They're my favorite part of the whole industry".

Relationships
Braxton met musician Keri Lewis when his group, Mint Condition, opened for her on tour; they married on April 21, 2001. In December 2001, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis. In 2002, while gearing up for the release of her fourth studio album, Braxton discovered she was pregnant with her second child; the complicated pregnancy confined her to bed rest. The couple's second son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, was born in March 2003. As Diezel has been diagnosed with autism, Braxton has become involved with Autism Speaks, serving as their International Spokesperson. In November 2009, Braxton announced that she and her husband had separated. The couple later divorced in July 2013.

In her early 30s, Braxton had an abortion after discovering she was pregnant by then-boyfriend Keri Lewis. In her memoir Unbreak My Heart, Braxton discusses her abortion and guilt, saying that her son Diezel's autism was "God's payback". In an October 2006 concert at the Flamingo Las Vegas, Braxton broke down in tears while announcing to the audience that just before the concert began she had been told that her son, Diezel, had been diagnosed with autism. Braxton has been outspoken regarding her doctor's failure to diagnose Diezel's condition earlier, contending that if he had been diagnosed earlier he could have received treatment earlier. As well as becoming a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, she is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

On July 8, 2015, Braxton's attorney, Antavius Weems, announced that Braxton had settled her contentious child support case with her former husband, Keri Lewis. On June 2, 2016, the city and county officials of Atlanta, Georgia, named June 2 as Toni Braxton Day.

Braxton began dating rapper Birdman in May 2016, and the couple announced their engagement in February 2018. In January 2019, the couple called off the engagement. However, in April 2019, both Braxton and Birdman confirmed that they were still together. But since at least 2022, Braxton has made several television appearances, where she has declared herself single and on the dating scene, which indicates that her relationship with Birdman has ceased.

Health problems
In August 2007, rumors surfaced that Braxton had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She stated to Access Hollywood that the breast cancer rumors were false and that her health was very good. However, in 2008, she had a benign lump removed from her breast. On April 8, 2008, near the end of her two-year run at the Flamingo Hotel, Braxton was briefly hospitalized and the remaining dates on the show, which was scheduled to end on August 23, 2008, were cancelled. Later, while appearing on Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, she stated, that she has been diagnosed with microvascular angina (small vessel disease).

On November 18, 2010, Braxton revealed to CBS News that she had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease.

Braxton's uncle died of complications from lupus. While taping her reality series Braxton Family Values, she went into hospital for surgery. Braxton was hospitalized in Los Angeles in December 2012 because of "minor health issues" related to lupus.

Discography
Studio albums
 * Toni Braxton (1993)
 * Secrets (1996)
 * The Heat (2000)
 * Snowflakes (2001)
 * More Than a Woman (2002)
 * Libra (2005)
 * Pulse (2010)
 * Sex & Cigarettes (2018)
 * Spell My Name (2020)

Collaborative albums
 * Love, Marriage & Divorce (with Babyface) (2014)

Tours and residencies
Headlining
 * Secrets Tour (1996–97)
 * Libra Tour (2006)
 * 2013 Summer Tour (2013)
 * The Hits Tour (2016)
 * As Long as I Live Tour (2019)

Residencies
 * Toni Braxton: Revealed (2006–08)
 * Love & Laughter (with Cedric the Entertainer) (2024)

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

title: Toni Braxton


text:
Talk:Astraea

Comments
We - in Austria - see "Astraea" as the roman goddess of justice, known as Dike in greek mythology. -- ys Robodoc.at 17:57, 29 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Confusing
...is the mythology that explains that she ruled in the Golden Age up to and into the Iron Age, when she fled the evils of the world and went into Heaven (Olympos-something?)... except: 1. there are two intervening ages: the Silver Age and the Bronze Age, 2. according to the myth, she fled from the evil Bronze Age men Hyginus Astronomica: "Virgin" (Brazen), that Zeus drowned in the Deucalionic Deluge. ... said: Rursus (bork²) 10:37, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Requested move 7 April 2018

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: consensus to move the pages as requested, per the discussion below. Dekimasu よ! 01:47, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

– Another clear WP:PRIMARYTOPIC that should be moved to the main namespace due to historical precedence. ZXCVBNM (TALK) 23:17, 7 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Astraea (mythology) → Astraea
 * Astraea → Astraea (disambiguation)
 * Support. The goddess gets |Astraea_(album)|Astraea_(gastropod)|5_Astraea|Astraea_(plant) 86 percent of relevant pageviews. Nine Zulu queens (talk) 04:26, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Support per nom. Iazyges   Consermonor   Opus meum  10:42, 8 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Support --Katolophyromai (talk) 16:51, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Astraea
English 136.158.17.43 (talk) 13:43, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

"...Rosaura (an anagram for 'dawns')..."?
Under the heading "In literature", the second sentence of the third paragraph includes this claim: "...Calderón has a character named Rosaura (an anagram for 'dawns')..." This is nonsensical. "Rosaura" is not anagrammatic for "dawns"; they only share "s" and "a". Can anyone explain? Bricology (talk) 20:43, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Astraea


text:
Issun-bōshi

Issun-bōshi (一寸法師) is the subject of a fairy tale from Japan. This story can be found in the old Japanese illustrated book Otogizōshi. Similar central figures and themes are known elsewhere in the world, as in the tradition of Tom Thumb in English folklore.

Synopsis
The general story is: However, the version of the story written in the Otogi-zōshi has a few differences: A version where Issun-bōshi strategized to marry a rich person's daughter is recorded in the Shinkoku Gudo Zuihitsu of the Edo period. Other documents record similar tales: There are also many differences in the tale depending on the region where it is told.
 * A childless old couple prayed to the Sumiyoshi sanjin to be blessed with a child, and so they were able to have one. However, the child born was only one sun (around 3 cm or 1.2 in) in height and never grew taller. Thus, the child was named the "one-sun boy" or "Issun-bōshi".
 * One day, Issun-bōshi said he wanted to go the capital to become a warrior, so he embarked on his voyage with a bowl as a boat, a chopstick as a paddle, a needle as a sword, and a piece of straw as a scabbard. In the capital, he found a splendid big house and found employment there. When a girl of that family went on a journey to visit a palace, an oni kidnapped the girl. As Issun-bōshi attempted to save the girl, the oni swallowed him up. Issun-bōshi used the needle to stab at the oni in the stomach, making the oni surrender, saying "it hurts, stop." The oni spat Issun-bōshi back out before fleeing to the mountains.
 * Issun-bōshi picked up the magic hammer (Uchide no kozuchi) dropped by the oni and swung it to enlarge his body to a height of six shaku (about 182 cm or 6 ft) and married the girl. It is said that he was able to use that mallet to conjure food, treasures, and other things, and the family was able to prosper for generations.
 * The old couple was disturbed by how Issun-bōshi never grew larger and thought he was some kind of monster. As a result, Issun-bōshi left their house.
 * The place where Issun-bōshi lived in the capital was a chancellor's home.
 * Issun-bōshi fell in love with the chancellor's daughter at first sight and wanted to make her his wife. However, he felt that with such a small body, she would not marry him, so he thought out a plan. He brought some of the rice grains offered to the family altar and put them in the girl's mouth, and then took an empty teabag and pretended to cry. When the chancellor saw this, Issun-bōshi lied and said that the girl stole some rice that he had been storing, and the chancellor believed this and attempted to kill his daughter. Issun-bōshi mediated between them and left the house together with the daughter.
 * The boat that they rode on went with the wind and landed on an eerie island. There, they encountered an oni, and the oni swallowed Issun-bōshi whole. However, Issun-bōshi took advantage of his small body and went out of the oni's body through its eye. This repeated several times until the oni was frustrated and withdrew, leaving the magic hammer behind.
 * The rumors of Issun-bōshi spread throughout society and he was summoned to the palace. The emperor took a liking to Issun-bōshi, and raised him to the rank of Chūnagon.
 * As a result of framing the daughter, Issun-bōshi was left in charge of her. Another theory is that by putting a suitor's food into's one's mouth, a person accepts that man's proposal.
 * The boy who became betrothed used the magic hammer to grow himself into a taller man and married the girl. Some versions may be missing a theme of making a strategy or plan with regards to the girl.
 * Some versions might only have the part about beating the oni and not about making such strategies or growing larger.

Interpretation
It is unknown when the modern tale came about, but it is generally considered to have existed before the end of the Muromachi period. The theme of a "tiny child" is thought to have originated from Sukuna-hikona (written variously, including Sukunabikona) (meaning "small earth god": suku is "small", na is "the earth", hiko is "male god", and na is a suffix) of Japanese mythology.

Sukuna-hikona acts as a medium for the Dōjō Hōshi of the Nihon Ryōiki and Sugawara no Michizane of the Tenjin Engi (天神縁起) and is connected to the Kootoko no Sōshi (小男の草子, "Book about the Small Man") from the Middle Ages and the otogi-zōshi of the modern ages.

It has been pointed out that just like how the nation-creator god Sukuna-hikona appeared near water, the main character of the old tale "Chiisa-ko" (small child) is in some way related to the world of water and is related to the existence of a faith in a water god. For an old couple not to have any children is an abnormality within the community and for such abnormal persons give birth in an abnormal way such as by praying to a god and giving birth from the shin to a person in the form of a pond snail, as one would find in the tale Tanishi Chōja, is the normal course for tales about heroes and children of god.

As the Issun Bōshi of the otogi-zōshi became famous, people of various different lands started calling their folktales and legends about little people "Issun Bōshi" as well.

In the Edo period, "Issun Bōshi" was used as a pejorative term against short people, and in kyōka books about yōkai such as the Kyōka Hyakki Yakyō (狂歌百鬼夜狂) and the Kyōka Hyaku Monogatari, Issun Bōshi were written about to be a type of yōkai.

Also, Issun Bōshi's location of residence, the village of Naniwa (國難波) of Tsu Province, is said to be near the area between present-day Nanba (難波) and Mittera (三津寺). Also, in the Otogizōshi, there is the statement "Perhaps my heart longs to leave this shore of Nanba I've grown accustomed to living in and hurry to the capital" (すみなれし難波の浦をたちいでて都へいそぐわが心かな, suminareshi Nanba no ura wo tachiidete miyako he isogu wa ga kokoro ka na), so this "shore of Nanba" that was the point of departure for heading to the capital on a bowl is nowadays said to be the Dōtonbori river canal.

Folkloristics
Just like how Ōkuninushi no Mikoto (or Ōnamuchi, meaning "big earth": Ō means "big", na means "the earth", and muchi is an honorific) helped Sukuna-hikona create the nation, it often happens that a little person and giant would appear as a pair and would each separately have the different aspects for being a hero: power and knowledge.

The giant would be lacking in knowledge and would thus fall and be reduced to being an oni or laughingstock, whereas the little person, on the other hand, would make use of cunning and as a result eventually become a fully formed adult and return home to live happily ever after. A tiny child would, of course, be let off the hook for malicious deeds.

In the Tawara Yakushi, old tale about a cunning lad, a wicked and cunning child who displays not a single bit of a hero's sense of justice appears as the main character of this story, and in it he thoroughly trounces and kills his rich employer using a method similar to Issun Bōshi's but of course in a wicked manner. The child lies and tricks his master one time after another until finally he pushes his master over a levee and kills him as a result and after that forces the master's wife to marry him. Thus the story closes with "and so he became married to the unwilling former master's wife. The end" (iyagaru okami-sama to muriyari fuufu ni natta do sa. dotto harai), a comedic tone full of parody and black humor.

This boy who obtains wealth and a woman by means of lies and slaughter is basically the flip side appearance of the Issun Bōshi who obtained an oni's treasure and a woman by means of wisdom and is none other than the descendant of the aforementioned "Chiisa-ko" god.

The cruelty of the boy in the Tawara Yakushi is directed at innocent others. In fact, he would even go so far as to deceive and take advantage of the weak, such as the blind or beggars with eye illnesses, so that they would take the blame and die in his place.

This slaughter of others reveals a dark side to the village where the killing of others can be considered a form of compensation. As the tale humorously makes fun of a wicked usage of wisdom, it makes a show of how wisdom has a destructiveness that can surpass society's sense of order as well as the complexities of the village's society. It is said that wisdom is filled with dangerous power that can turn righteousness and purity meaningless and laugh away at the stability and orderliness of society important for maintaining political power. Inomata Tokiwa, a lecturer at Kyoritsu Women's Junior College, analyzes this saying that it tells of how even though Sukuna-hikona is a god who created the nation as well and the creator god of chemical technology such as drugs (medicine) and alcohol, "wisdom" by itself is not a representation of societal orderliness.

Similar tales
Stories in which "Chiisa-ko" plays a role include the all-national Issun Bōshi, the Suneko Tanpoko, the Akuto Tarō (akuto means "heel"), Mamesuke (meaning "thumb"), Yubi Tarō　("yubi", meaning "finger", refers to the place of birth), Mameichi (referring to the thumb), Gobu Tarō (or Jirō) ("Gobu" is literally "five bu" but also a general term for small things), Sanmontake ("mon" is a counter for coins, so it means "three coins height" or the height of a stack of three coins), Issun Kotarō, Tanishi (meaning "pond snail"), Katamutsuri (meaning "snail"), Kaeru (meaning "frog"), the Koropokkurukamui of the Ainu people, the Kijimuna, the Kenmun, among others, and tales of those born abnormally small such as Momotarō, Uriko-hime to Amanojaku ("Princess Uriko and the Amanojaku"), and Kaguya-hime are also related. There is a lot of variation with it comes to whether or not it includes beating an oni, scheming to marry someone, and the usage of a magical tool. Stories that start with birth from the shin or finger or small animal among other possibilities and develop into making a scheme to get someone to agree to marriage are old, but newer than the Issun Bōshi tale in the otogi-zōshi. It has left is mark popularizing old tales in the Chūgoku and Shikoku regions.

Nursery tales

 * The Meiji Period children's book Nihon Mukashibanashi (日本昔噺, "Old Tales of Japan") by Iwaya Sazanami first published in 1896 or Meiji 29 has within one of its 24 volumes popularly established the Sazanami-type Issun Bōshi. Over 20 editions of this book were printed in the approximately ten years between then and 1907 or Meiji 40, and they were widely read until the end of the Taishō period. The story currently published in children's book mostly follows this Sazanami-type Issun Bōshi tale. It removes any wickedness that was in the original and turns Issun Bōshi into a more loveable figure.
 * Among picture books, the book Issun Bōshi written by Ishii Momoko and illustrated by Akino Fuku published in 1965 by Fukuinkan Shoten Fukuinkan Shoten is of particular note.
 * Hop-o'-My-Thumb as told by Charles Perrault was introduced to Japan under the title Shōsetsu Issun Bōshi (Novelized Issun Bōshi) as it was published in the magazine Shōkokumin in 1896 (Meiji 29).

Songs

 * In 1905 (Meiji 38), Jinjō Shōgaku Shōka ("The Common Songs for Elementary Schoolers") included one titled "Issun Bōshi" by Iwaya Sazanami, and it continues to be sung by children today.

Other versions
There are many other versions of the story Issun-bōshi, but there are some that seem to take on a completely different story of their own, and have stayed that way since their new retellings. These versions include the story of Mamasuke, the adult version of Issun-boshi, and the modernized version that are seen worldwide today.

Mamesuke
The Mamesuke version of Issun-bōshi is essentially the same, except for a few key defining factors. Rather than being born from his mother's womb, Issun-boshi was born from the swelling of his mother's thumb. He was also called Mamesuke, which means bean boy instead of Issun-bōshi, even though the story is still called Issun-bōshi. He does still set out on his own at some point, but instead of being armed with a sewing needle, bowl, and chopsticks, all he has is a bag of flour. He eventually finds his way to a very wealthy wine merchant who has three daughters. Mamesuke wishes to marry the middle daughter, so he begins to work for the merchant and live there. One night, Mamesuke takes the flour he has and wipes it on the daughter's mouth, then throws the rest into the river. In the morning, he pretends to cry because his flour is gone, so the family investigates as to where it went when they discovered the flour on the middle daughter. She gets upset because she had nothing to do with the flour, but her family turns her over to Mamesuke as payment. He then begins to lead the girl home to his parents, while along the way the girl is so angry that she tries to find ways to kill him, but she could not find one. When Mamesuke returned home, his parents were so delighted with the girl that they set up a hot bath for him. Mamesuke got in and called for his bride to help him wash, but she came in with a broom instead and stirred up the water in an attempt to drown him. Mamesuke's body suddenly burst open, and out stepped a full sized man. The bride and parents were surprised yet extremely happy, so Mamesuke and his bride lived happily with his parents.

The love affair of Issun-boshi
In other media, Issun-boshi makes an appearance as the character Issun, and is depicted as a pervert of sorts. This depiction relates back to the adult version of Issun-boshi, also known as The Love Affair of Issun-bōshi. The beginning of the story is essentially the same until Issun-boshi reaches the capital. When he comes upon the home of a wealthy lord, Issun-bōshi convinces him that he can do anything, so he should let him work for him. The lord tells him to do a dance for him, and he was so amused by Issun-bōshi's dance that he decides to make him a playmate for his daughter. For a while, Issun-bōshi just listens to the daughter talk during the day, then he would tell her stories that she would fall asleep to at night. Issun-bōshi fell in love with her, and eventually she fell in love with him. One day the princess decides to head to a temple to go pray, and brings Issun-bōshi along with her. They are attacked by ogres along the way, and Issun-bōshi saves the princess, who then discovers the lucky mallet and makes Issun-bōshi normal sized. It was thought they would live happily ever after, but the couple would get into horrible fights, especially about how Issun-bōshi could not pleasure the princess like he used to. In his anger, Issun-bōshi used the lucky mallet to shrink the princess down, who in turn snatched the hammer from him and shrank him down. They went back and forth shrinking one another to the point where all that was left was the lucky mallet.

Modernized Issun-boshi
The modernized version of Issun-bōshi is very similar to the original, except there are different happenings that make it more universally acceptable. Rather than setting out on his own, Issun-bōshi's parents send him off to learn about the world on his own. He still travels to the capital and ends up in the home of a wealthy lord, but rather than his daughter disliking him, she immediately fell in love with him, as well as the other residents of the lord's home. Issun-bōshi and the girl still get attacked by ogres and obtain the lucky mallet, which is then used to make him normal sized. He grows into a fine young samurai, but it was never made clear where Issun-bōshi went from there. This abrupt ending is set up so that the audience can make their own guesses about what happened to Issun-bōshi.

In the 8th Season of Yami Shibai, Episode 07, Issub-bōshi is described as a creature which, when offended or provoked, can go inside a human body and as punishment turn it into a grotesque one, with large lumps sprouting randomly. He can also order the affected human to do evil things such as killing a person or in its words "punishing" them. The affected human will not be able to disobey said order and will forever succumb to Issub-bōshi's curse.

Themes
The story of Issun-bōshi follows three common themes that appear in almost every Japanese folk tale. The first theme is that those who are devout and pray often are blessed with a child. Issun-bōshi's parents prayed day after day until a child was born unto them. This theme also appears in the Japanese folk tale "Momotarō". The second theme is that the accomplishments of these children are so extraordinary that they achieve almost every task that the audience wishes them to accomplish. Issun-bōshi gets the love of his life, attains a normal size, and becomes a well known samurai. The third theme is that said child grows up to have a good marriage and carries a special family name. In most versions, Issun-bōshi marries some sort of official's daughter and becomes a very famous samurai.

Religious differences
In each of the different retellings of Issun-bōshi, there are different gods, goddesses, and deities that are mentioned in each, which are due to the differing regional religions at the time. In the modernized version as well as the adult versions of Issun-boshi, the princess he meets goes to pray to the Goddess Kannon. In Japan, Kannon is known as the goddess of child rearing and mercy, but the goddess has Buddhist origins. Buddhism originated in India but it grew across Asia and eventually settled in Japan as a base for Buddhism around the time Issun-bōshi became popular, which could potentially explain its influence in these versions of Issun-bōshi. In the modernized version of Issun-bōshi, his parents go pray to what they call "Sumiyoshi sanjin", which is actually the name of a temple in Osaka, Japan. This temple is used for Shinto religious purposes, so the story of Issun-bōshi actually embodies multiple religions.

title: Issun-bōshi


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User:Robodoc.at

Greetings from Austria....

de:Benutzer:Robodoc

title: User:Robodoc.at


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User:Dav4is

My name is Rod Dav4is. (The "4" is silent.) Or, sometimes: Rick.

I'm a retired IT professional, presently occupying my time compiling our family genealogy. Thus far, I have documented more than 150,000 relations in some 270 ancestral families and a like number of collateral families. I had the good foresight to be descended from many of the well-documented families of colonial New England, and many of these are connected to ancient lines in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales — and beyond, to Scandinavia and the Continent.

As a sort of sub-hobby, I have documented over 1500 celebrities to whom I am related, albeit remotely in many cases. These run the gamut from saints, various royal houses of Europe, a number of Presidents of the United States, and other politicians, lawyers and similar riff-raff.

As a sort of über-hobby, I am using my programming skills to design and produce my own pages on my website, and also on another site, The Little Nine Partners Historical Society, for which I am webmaster.

-dav4is 14:44, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

title: User:Dav4is


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Talk:Jerusalem/Archive 1

Discussion relating to Jerusalem's status as capital to Talk:Jerusalem/capital

false?
AV: You deleted this, but do you have any evidence or argument that it is false?
 * The purported Israeli annexation of Jerusalem has been declared by the UN Security Council to be "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith" (Resolution 478). Israel, as a UN member state, is obliged under international law to "accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council" (Charter of the United Nations, art. 25). But Israel refuses to accept the UN Security Council's decision, in violation of international law.

Maybe someone can answer this question which seems to be critical for some biased parts of the article: Does a Palestinian living in Westbank have free access to Jerusalem? Yes or no? According to my sources (which are a few years old - situation may have changed) a Palestinian from Westbank had to ask for special Israeli permission and was not allowed to stay over night in the city.

"The Israeli government argues it has a generous policy" is a bit vague for an argument. If the facts of access policy were accurately described, I think, we could leave this to the readers jugdement.

"Under Israel, members of all religions were largely granted access to their holy sites" would be misleading if my informations are correct and Muslim from the surrounding villages can't go to Jerusalem whenever they want. --Elian 22:54 Oct 5, 2002 (UTC)

 * It is true that Muslims from the areas surrounding Jerusalem are not able to go to Jerusalem whenever they want, however the reasons for this are entirely on a security basis (fear of terrorist actions). Whether this is justifiable or not, in all cases, may be disputable of course. Muslim residents of Jerusalem may visit any of the holy sites, as far as I know. Jews have been restricted from the Temple Mount, since September 2001, also for security reasons. -Avi Jun 26, 2003

 * Arab nations do not formally recognize neither Israel's claim to the city of Jerusalem, nor he state of Israel itself.

I was under the impression that at least some Arab states have now recognised the state of Israel, though for a long time they refused to do so.

 * Even for countries that do accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel, most of their diplomatic missions are maintained in Tel Aviv.

This appears to duplicate the paragraph immediately after it.

 * The UN resolution is formulated negatively, and does not imply a future status

This might make sense to diplomats, but it's completely unclear to me

 * The city's final status will be determined in a final status accord with the Palestinians

This prediction may or may not come true.

 * During the Arab occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, Arab governments did not view Jerusalem as having special religious significance, and no attempt was made to create either a Palestinian Arab state, nor was there any Arab desire to use the city of Jerusalem as a capitol or political center.

What exactly is "the Arab occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem"? Are we referring to the years before the formation of Israel, or a specific period between one of the many wars fought over the territory between Israel and neighbouring countries? Under both interpretations I'm skeptical of its truth, but I'd like to get clarification first...

 * I think both periods are meant. Jerusalem was held by Muslim countries from the 7th century until 1917, except for a brief period. And again from 1949 until 1967, the eastern half was held by Jordan. None of these countries made Jerusalem an official political center, and religiously Muslims have almost from the beginning held Mecca and Medina to be more important, with Jerusalem running a distant third. -Avi Jun 26, 2003

Second millenium: Jacobites in 1173? Wiki references point to the Stuart kings and the French revolution. Should be fixed! Who were these jacobites, anyway? --Cema 15:54 Apr 26, 2003 (UTC)

 * It probably refers to the Syrian Jacobites, an old Christian group that is a part of Oriental Orthodoxy. SCCarlson 03:51 Apr 27, 2003 (UTC)

 * A handy link to Jacobite

For the record: -- zero 14:05, 23 Aug 2003 (UTC)
 * Reference for 1099 quotation: Edward Peters (editor) The First Crusade: The chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and other source materials (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971) p214.
 * Reference for 1482 quotations: Palestine Pilgrims Text Society, Vol 9-10, p384-391. (Translated by A. Stewart, London, 1893; republished AMS  books, New York, 1971).

holiest place
To whoever keeps editing this page: please don't repeat edits when they have been undone by other people without investigating the talk page to find out why they were undone, or looking at the edit log. In this case there are a couple of reasons why your edit was not a good idea:

1) You need to qualify statements like 'holiest place'. Explain why it is holy. Maybe 'Sacred to three religions' would be better. 2) Check your facts. King David did not found Jerusalem, even according to biblical accounts. See Joshua 10:1, or 1 Samuel 17:54 for example. 3) Please check your spelling. Anyone can mistype, but to make the same mistake twice shows you are not checking.

DJ Clayworth 15:53, 17 Oct 2003 (UTC)

-

Had been unaware "City of Peace" was considered a religious term for Jerusalem. My mistake. I had been taught that the name was derived from the hebrew words "Eer Shel Shalom", which taking into account Old Hebrew and gradual corruption of the name would create the term "Yerushalayim". -Leumi

The Jerusalem page note that the city is highly contested, but does not (sufficiently?) indicate why the three religions and serveral population groups assign a special status to the city. Some history is provided but it is devoid of explanation for the attachment. One section entitled, Arab view of the status of Jerusalem, seems particularly mislabeled as the section notes the dates of construction of the two mosques and an earthquake? (is there significance to the earthquake of 1016?)

I would like to add a section on the significance of Jerusalem to Jews. I am not qualified to do the same for Christianity and Islam, and wish someone will take on this task.

Your thoughts, please, before the text is added. OneVoice 14:23, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)

 * That's a good idea. The history of the idea that Jerusalem is a sacred city also ought to be added. --Zero 10:07, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Wailing wall
Concerning a recent claim: there is no justification whatever for claiming that "Wailing Wall" is derogatory. It was never regarded as derogatory in the past and countless books and articles written by Jews used it freely. Even today, when "Western Wall" has become much more commonplace, the alternative "Wailing Wall" appears even on Israeli government web pages. --Zero 10:07, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

We all agree that Wailing Wall is in widespread use even by Jews and the Israeli Govenment. I know of no citation of the Jews ever using the term "Wailing Wall" till after it appeared in non-Jewish publications around 1917. The structure was always referred to as the "Kotel HaMaravi", the "Western Wall". Western Jews have the western term, perhaps to ease communication with non-Jews by using a term well-known to them. "Wailing" fits very well with the Christian doctrine of "survive but not thrive"....the Jews should be wailing and here is the wall where they wail.

This is also true of the term "Jew". It occurs nowhere in Tanach, Mishnah or Talmud. Jews have referred to themselves as "Bnei Yisrael", the Children of Israel, Israel being the name given to the Patriarch Jacob after the struggle with the angel. OneVoice 13:07, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

The precise phrase "Wailing Wall" was probably not used even in English until the 20th century, but phrases like "the place of wailing" and "Wailing Place" occur earlier. There's a story that the name has a Talmudic origin: "The Talmud teaches that when the Temple was destroyed all the Gates of Heaven were closed - except for one, the Gate of Tears. that is how the Western Wall became known as the Wailing Wall." I have no idea if that has some truth to it or is a modern invention. Still, to go back to the original question, I see no reason to call the phrase derogatory and you didn't offer any. --Zero 13:19, 21 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Demographics of Jerusalem
Why didn't "BV" mention in summary, that he/she added demographics of Jerusalem 12:05, 23 Aug 2003, especially doing so from an obscure source? 62.157.25.229 23:49, 20 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The 1922 and 1931 figures were indeed nonsense. I'll put in the British census figures in a day or two. --Zero 12:46, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * As it turned out, the only error for 1922/1931 was 10,000 missing Christians in 1922. The numbers I put in are taken from the census data for 1922 and 1931.  The 1944 figure is an estimate for the end of that year prepared by the British administration.  During these three periods, the cities with a Jewish majority were Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and Tiberias.  Incidentally, there are figures going around that show many more Arabs in Jerusalem; these are for the subdistrict of Jerusalem, not the city of Jerusalem.  The subdistrict included rural areas that were overwhelmingly Arab. --Zero 01:24, 24 Jan 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Jerusalem/Archive 1


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Diu

Diu may refer to:
 * Diu, India, a city in Diu district in the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, India
 * Diu district, part of the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
 * Diu Island, an island and part of Diu district
 * Daman and Diu (Lok Sabha constituency)
 * Daman and Diu, former union territory of India, now part of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
 * Goa, Daman and Diu, former union territory of India, divided into Goa and Daman and Diu
 * Diu Head, a headland in the Arabian Sea
 * Diu (Cantonese), a Cantonese profanity
 * Buth Diu (died 1972), Sudanese politician

DIU may refer to:
 * Dansk Interlingua Union, an organization that promotes Interlingua in Denmark
 * Defense Innovation Unit, a US Department of Defense organization
 * Diplôme interuniversitaire, a French degree
 * Diu Airport, in Diu, India, IATA code: DIU
 * Divisional Intelligence Unit, police intelligence at the divisional level
 * Down-with-Imperialism Union, a union formed by Kim Il-sung, president of North Korea
 * Dresden International University, part of Dresden University in Germany
 * Dubrovnik International University in Croatia
 * Diamond Is Unbreakable, the fourth part of manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
 * Daffodil International University in Bangladesh

title: Diu


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Province of Maine

The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. It existed through a series of land patents made by the kings of England during this era, and included New Somersetshire, Lygonia, and Falmouth (now Portland, Maine). The province was incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1650s, beginning with the formation of York County, Massachusetts, which extended from the Piscataqua River to just east of the mouth of the Presumpscot River in Casco Bay. Eventually, its territory grew to encompass nearly all of present-day Maine.

1622 patent
The first patent establishing the Province of Maine was granted on August 10, 1622 to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason by the Plymouth Council for New England, which itself had been granted a royal patent by James I to the coast of North America between the 40th to the 48th parallel "from sea to sea". This first patent encompassed the coast between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers, and an irregular parcel of land between the headwaters of the two rivers. In 1629, Gorges and Mason agreed to split the patent at the Piscataqua River, with Mason retaining the land south of the river as the Province of New Hampshire.

Gorges named his more northerly piece of territory New Somersetshire after his home county of Somerset in England. Lack of funding and the absence of a royal charter held back development, and only a few small settlements were established. Gorges sought to create a neo-feudal community similar to western England. The colony was Anglican and Royalist, and so sided with the king in the English Civil War (1642–1651).

1639 patent
In 1639, Gorges obtained a renewed patent, the Gorges Patent, for the area between the Piscataqua and Kennebec Rivers, in the form of a royal charter from Charles I of England. The area was roughly the same as that covered in the 1622 patent after the 1629 split with Mason. This renewed colonization effort was also hampered by lack of money and settlers, but continued to survive even after the death of Gorges in 1647.

Absorption by Massachusetts
Beginning in the 1640s, the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony began claiming territories north of the Merrimack River, because the Merrimack's northernmost point was farther north than its mouth. This resulted in its administration of the early settlements of what later became New Hampshire. After a survey made in the early 1650s, Massachusetts extended its land claims as far north as Casco Bay. By 1658, Massachusetts had completed the assimilation of all of Gorges' original territory into its jurisdiction.

In 1664, Charles II of England made a grant to James, Duke of York for territories north and east of the Kennebec River. Under the terms of this patent the territory was incorporated into Cornwall County, part of the duke's proprietary Province of New York. The territory stipulated in this charter encompassed the areas between the Kennebec and St. Croix Rivers. This region, which had previously been called the Territory of Sagadahock, forms the eastern portion of the present-day state of Maine. Charles had intended to include the former Gorges territory in this grant, but the Gorges' heirs instead chose to sell their remaining claims to Massachusetts.

In 1674-75, the region between the Kennebec River and Penobscot Bay was administered as Devonshire County, District of Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony, overlapping the New York claim. Starting in 1675, King Philip's War resulted in the abandonment of this area by English settlers until the 18th century.

In 1691, William III and Mary II issued a charter for the new Province of Massachusetts Bay that encompassed (in addition to other territories) the former claims of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and those of the Duke of York. The region became York County, Massachusetts and then the District of Maine, part of Massachusetts until it achieved statehood of its own in 1820.

title: Province of Maine


text: Template:National flags

title: Template:National flags