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Parvovirus B19

Human parvovirus B19, generally referred to as B19 virus (B19V), parvovirus B19 or sometimes erythrovirus B19, is a known human virus in the family Parvoviridae, genus Erythroparvovirus; it measures only 23–26 nm in diameter. Human parvovirus b19 is a below-species classification of Erythroparvovirus primate1. The name is derived from Latin parvum, meaning small, reflecting the fact that B19 ranks among the smallest DNA viruses. B19 virus is most known for causing disease in the pediatric population; however, it can also affect adults. It is the classic cause of the childhood rash called fifth disease or erythema infectiosum, or "slapped cheek syndrome". The name comes from it being the fifth in a list of historical classifications of common skin rash illnesses in children.

The virus was discovered by chance in 1975 by Australian virologist Yvonne Cossart. The name B19 originated from the coding of a serum sample, number 19 in panel B.

Virology
Erythroviruses belong to the Parvoviridae family of small DNA viruses. Human parvovirus B19 is a non-enveloped, icosahedral virus that contains a single-stranded linear DNA genome of approximately 5,600 base pairs in length. B19V's nonenveloped viral particles are ~22 to 24 nm in diameter which are quite small compared to other parvoviruses. The infectious particles may contain either positive or negative strands of DNA. The icosahedral capsid consists of 60 capsomeres, consisting of two structural proteins, VP1 (83 kDa) and VP2 (58 kDa), which are identical except for 227 amino acids at the amino-terminal of the VP1-protein, the so-called VP1-unique region. VP2 is the major capsid protein, and comprises approximately 95% of the total virus particle. VP1-proteins are incorporated into the capsid structure in a non-stoichiometrical relation (based on antibody-binding analysis and X-ray structural analysis the VP1-unique (VP1u) region is assumed to be exposed at the surface of the virus particle. VP1u is located in the N-terminus of the VP1. At each end of the DNA molecule there are palindromic sequences which form "hairpin" loops. The hairpin at the 3' end serves as a primer for the DNA polymerase. It is classified as an erythrovirus because of its capability to invade red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. Three genotypes (with subtypes) have been recognised.

The genome of human parvovirus B19 encodes four other proteins in addition to VP1 and VP2 and also some smaller proteins whose function is still unknown. The most notable of these is the large nonstructural protein commonly referred to as NS1. NS1 is a multifunctional protein that has a role in binding and operating on the p6 promoter which gives NS1 the ability to control the transcription of the B19V genome. NS1 sequence-specifically binds and cleaves DNA via restriction endonuclease activity at its N-terminus. NS1 is responsible for the regulation of certain cellular promoters including the p21/WAF1 promoter, and is thought to regulate the virus' own promoter. The 11 kDa protein encoded by the viral genome has been implicated in viral DNA replication.

The nucleotide substitution rate for total coding DNA has been estimated to be 1.03 (0.6-1.27) x 10−4 substitutions/site/year. This rate is similar to that of other single-stranded DNA viruses. VP2 codons were found to be under purifying selection. In contrast VP1 codons in the unique part of the gene were found to be under diversifying selection. This diversifying selection is consistent with persistent infection as this part of the VP1 protein contains epitopes recognised by the immune system.

Like other nonenveloped DNA viruses, pathogenicity of parvovirus B19 involves binding to host cell receptors, internalization, translocation of the genome to the host nucleus, DNA replication, RNA transcription, assembly of capsids and packaging of the genome, and finally cell lysis with release of the mature virions. In humans the P antigen (also known as globoside) is the cellular receptor for parvovirus B19 virus that causes erythema infectiosum (fifth disease) in children. This infection is sometimes complicated by severe aplastic anemia caused by lysis of early erythroid precursors.

Evolution
The most recent common ancestor of the extant strains has been dated to about 12,600 years ago. Three genotypes—1, 2 and 3 -- are recognised. A recombination between types 1 and 3 gave rise to genotype 2 between 5,000 and 6,800 years ago.

Transmission
The virus is primarily spread by infected respiratory droplets; however, blood-borne transmission has also been reported. As with all respiratory pathogens once presumed to transmit via respiratory droplets, it is highly likely to be carried by the aerosols generated during routine breathing, talking, and even singing. The secondary attack risk for exposed household persons is about 50%, and about half of that for classroom contacts. Transmission can happen from a mother that has B19V infection during pregnancy. The baby can get infected by bloodstream and therefore develop a severe anemia.

Infectivity and symptoms
2 out of 10 infected people don't experience any symptoms but are still highly infective. The B19V infection starts with flu-like symptoms consisting fever, headache, runny nose, sore throat, joint pain and rash. Symptoms begin some six days after exposure (between 4 and 28 days, with the average being 16 to 17 days ) and last about a week. The rash that children experience will appear after few days after the initial symptoms and can spread all over the body.

Infected patients with normal immune systems are contagious before becoming symptomatic, but probably not after. Individuals with B19 IgG antibodies are generally considered immune to recurrent infection, but reinfection is possible in a minority of cases. About half of adults are B19-immune due to a past infection.

Immunocompromised patients (organ transplant, HIV etc.) are prone to complications that affect the nerves, joints or bloodstream.

Epidemiology
A significant increase in the number of cases is seen every three to four years; the last epidemic year was 1998. Outbreaks can arise especially in nurseries and schools.

Parvovirus B19 causes an infection in humans only. Cat and dog parvoviruses do not infect humans due to animals having their own parvoviruses. There is always a possibility for a spillover. There is no vaccine available for human parvovirus B19, though attempts have been made to develop one.

Fifth disease
Fifth disease or erythema infectiosum is only one of several expressions of parvovirus B19. The associated bright red rash of the cheeks gives it the nickname "slapped cheek syndrome". Any age may be affected, although it is most common in children aged six to ten years. It is so named because it was the fifth most common cause of a pink-red infection associated rash to be described by physicians (many of the others, such as measles and rubella, are rare now).

Once infected, patients usually develop the illness after an incubation period of four to fourteen days. The disease commences with high fever and malaise, when the virus is most abundant in the bloodstream, and patients are usually no longer infectious once the characteristic rash of this disease has appeared. The following symptoms are characteristic:
 * A usual brief viral prodrome with fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea.
 * As the fever breaks, a red rash forms on the cheeks, with relative pallor around the mouth ("slapped cheek rash"), sparing the nasolabial folds, forehead, and mouth.
 * "Lace-like, (reticular)" red rash on trunk or extremities then follows the facial rash. Infection in adults usually only involves the reticular rash, with multiple joint pain predominating.
 * Exacerbation of rash by sunlight, heat, stress.

Papular purpuric gloves and socks syndrome
Teenagers or young adults may develop the so-called Papular purpuric gloves and socks syndrome. It is a cutaneous condition characterized by pruritus, edema, and erythema of the hands and feet. In 1996, an association with parvovirus B19 was described, after virus was demonstrated in skin biopsy samples, subsequently corroborated in numerous publications.

Polyarthropathy syndrome
Arthralgias and arthritis are commonly reported in association with parvovirus B19 infection in adults in the absence of skin findings, whereas erythema infectiosum is the main symptom observed in children. The occurrence of arthralgia coincides with the initial detection of circulating IgM- and IgG-antibodies against the viral structural proteins VP1 and VP2. Parvovirus B19 infection may affect the development of arthritis. In adults (and perhaps some children), parvovirus B19 can lead to a seronegative arthritis which is usually easily controlled with analgesics. Women are approximately twice as likely as men to experience arthritis after parvovirus infection. Possibly up to 15% of all new cases of arthritis are due to parvovirus, and a history of recent contact with a patient and positive serology generally confirms the diagnosis. This arthritis does not progress to other forms of arthritis. Typically joint symptoms last 1–3 weeks, but in 10–20% of those affected, it may last weeks to months.

A Danish study has links between B19 with polymyalgia rheumatica.

Aplastic crisis and chronic erythroid hypoplasia
Although most patients have a decrease of erythropoiesis (production of red blood cells) during parvovirus infection, it is most dangerous in patients with pre-existing bone marrow stress, for example sickle cell anemia or hereditary spherocytosis, and are therefore heavily dependent on erythropoiesis due to the reduced lifespan of the red cells. This is termed "aplastic crisis" (also called reticulocytopenia). It is treated with blood transfusion.

Parvovirus B19 is a cause of chronic anemia in individuals with immunodeficiency, receiving immunosuppressive therapy or with HIV infection. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin usually resolves the anemia although relapse can occur. Parvovirus infection may trigger an inflammatory reaction in AIDS patients who have just begun antiretroviral therapy.

Hydrops fetalis
Parvovirus infection in pregnant women is associated with hydrops fetalis due to severe fetal anemia, sometimes leading to miscarriage or stillbirth. This is due to a combination of hemolysis of the red blood cells, as well as the virus directly negatively affecting the red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. The risk of fetal loss is about 10% if infection occurs before pregnancy week 20 (especially between weeks 14 and 20), but minimal after then. Routine screening of the antenatal sample would enable the pregnant mother to determine the risk of infection. Knowledge of her status would allow the mother to avoid contact with individuals suspected or known to have an ongoing infection, however, at the present time, antenatal testing for immunity is not recommended, since there is no good means to prevent the infection, there is no specific therapy and there are no vaccines available. It may increase maternal anxiety and fear without proven benefit. The best approach would be to recommend all pregnant women to avoid contact with children with current symptoms of infection, as described above. The risk to the fetus will be reduced with correct diagnosis of the anemia (by ultrasound scans) and treatment (by blood transfusions). There is some evidence that intrauterine parvovirus B19 infection leads to developmental abnormalities in childhood.

Treatment
At the moment, there are no treatments that directly target parvovirus B19 virus. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) therapy has been a popular alternative because doctors can administer it without stopping chemotherapy drugs like MEL-ASCT. Also, the treatment's side effects are rare as only 4 out of 133 patients had complications (2 had acute kidney injury and 2 had pulmonary edema) even though 69 of the patients had organ transplants and 39 of them were HIV positive. This is a large improvement over administering rituximab. The monoclonal antibody against the CD20 protein has been shown to cause acute hepatitis, neutropenia via parvovirus B19 reactivations, and even persistent parvovirus B19 infection. However, it is important to note that IVIG therapy is not perfect as 34% of treated patients will have a relapse after 4 months.

Diagnostics and Vaccination
There is no routine laboratory test for B19V, but in case of the doctor is suspecting a B19V infection patient's blood will be drawn. The blood is then tested for antibodies.

As of 2020, no approved human vaccine existed against parvovirus B19. Bernstein et. al. tested in 2011 a possible candidate vaccine that was produced in insect cells. For the vaccine VP2/VP1 VLPs (virus-like particle) were used. This vaccine was approved to the I clinical phase, but was stopped due to unexplained reactions in patients. It was argued that the reaction could have been due to the PLA2 activity in VP1u. The reaction was either to the PLA2 activity releasing arachidonic acid and precursors of inflammatory mediators or the usage of insect cells. The PLA2 activity can be reduced or fully removed with site-directed mutagenesis. So this could still act as a candidate vaccine, but further research is needed.

title: Parvovirus B19


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Quincunx (Roman coin)

The quincunx was a bronze coin minted during the Roman Republic. It was not part of the standard coinage of the Roman monetary system. The quincunx was produced only during the Second Punic War (218 to 204 BC), by mints at Luceria (mod. Lucera), Teate (mod. Chieti), Larinum (mod. Larino), and northern Apulia. After the defeat of Cannae during the Second Punic War, a coin with the same value was minted in Capua.

The word quincunx comes from Latin quinque meaning "five" and uncia meaning "one-twelfth", since the coin was valued at five-twelfths of a bronze as (also called a libra).

Its value was sometimes represented by a pattern of five dots arranged at the corners and the center of a square, like the pips of a die. So, this pattern also came to be called quincunx.

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

title: Quincunx (Roman coin)


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The Barber of Seville (play)

The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution (Le Barbier de Séville ou la Précaution inutile) is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, with original music by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. It was initially conceived as an opéra comique, and was rejected as such in 1772 by the Comédie-Italienne. The play as it is now known was written in 1773, but, due to legal and political problems of the author, it was not performed until February 23, 1775, at the Comédie-Française in the Tuileries. It is the first play in a trilogy of which the other constituents are The Marriage of Figaro and The Guilty Mother.

Though the play was poorly received at first, Beaumarchais worked some fast editing of the script, turning it into a roaring success after three days. The play's title might be a pun on Tirso de Molina's earlier play El Burlador de Sevilla (The Trickster of Seville).

Mozart wrote a set of 12 variations, K. 354, on one of Baudron's songs, "Je suis Lindor".

Synopsis
The story follows a traditional commedia dell'arte structure, with many characters seemingly based on famous stock characters. The plot involves a Spanish count, called simply The Count, although "Almaviva" appears as an additional name (whether it is a first name or a surname is not clear), who has fallen in love at first sight with a girl called Rosine. To ensure that she really loves him and not just his money, the Count disguises himself as a poor college student named Lindor, and attempts to woo her. His plans are foiled by Rosine's guardian, Doctor Bartholo, who keeps her locked up in his house and intends to marry her himself. The Count's luck changes, however, after a chance reunion with an ex-servant of his, Figaro, who is currently working as a barber and therefore has access to the Doctor's home. After being promised money, and afraid the Count will seek revenge on him if he refuses, Figaro devises a variety of ways for the Count and Rosine to meet and talk, first as Lindor, then as Alonzo, a fellow student of the same music master, Bazile. The story culminates in the marriage of the Count and Rosine.

Characters

 * Count Almaviva, a Spanish grandee who is in love with Rosine
 * Figaro, barber of Seville
 * Rosine, Don Bartholo's ward
 * Don Bartholo, a doctor and Rosine's guardian
 * Don Bazile, an organist who is Rosine's singing teacher
 * La Jeunesse (Youth), Bartholo's elderly servant
 * L'Éveillé (Livelihood), another servant of Bartholo who is very lazy
 * A Notary
 * An Alcade

Act 1
Scene: the street in front of Dr. Bartholo's house in Seville. The Count, disguised as a poor university student, waits in hope of catching a glimpse of Rosine, whom he encountered in Madrid and has followed to Seville. To this point they have never spoken to each other. Figaro happens to come down the street, singing a song ("Bannissons le chagrin"); he and the Count recognize each other. While the two men talk, Dr. Bartholo and Rosine come to a window of the house. Rosine pretends to drop a piece of sheet music from her window inadvertently. While the doctor is coming down the stairs to retrieve it, Rosine instructs the Count to pick up the sheet himself. He does, and finds a note from Rosine hidden inside it; in the note she asks him to explain who he is and why he has followed her to Seville, by way of singing his answer to the tune of the song. Figaro tells the Count that Rosine is the ward of Dr. Bartholo, and adds that as he is the doctor's barber and apothecary, he frequents the house. He proposes a plan to smuggle the Count into the house by disguising him as a drunken soldier in need of lodging.

The two are interrupted when they overhear Dr. Bartholo making plans to secretly marry Rosine during the night, before he leaves to see his friend Bazile, who is to make the arrangements. Afterwards, the Count sings to Rosine ("Vous l'ordonnez, je me ferai connaître... Je suis Lindor"), introducing himself as a poor man named Lindor who is in love with her. From inside the house, Rosine sings a verse to the tune of Maître en droit, requiting his affections, before she is caught by someone else inside and is forced to retreat. Figaro and the Count go their separate ways, agreeing to meet again to put their plan in action.

Act 2
In Dr. Bartholo's house, Rosine writes a note to "Lindor". When Figaro drops in, she asks if he will deliver the note. Figaro agrees. The moment he steps out, Dr. Bartholo comes in, complaining that Figaro has given incapacitating medical treatments to all the servants. He notices ink stains on Rosine's fingers; suspicious, he demands to know what she wrote. When she continues to deny writing anything, he accuses Figaro of having seduced her. Rosine leaves. Figaro is shown to be hiding in a cabinet. He listens as Bartholo and Bazile discuss the inquiries Count Almaviva has been making all over town about Rosine. They hatch a plan to spread malicious gossip about the Count so that if he ever should find her, she will be too disgusted with him to want to form a relationship.

They leave. Figaro goes to Rosine and warns her that Bartholo plans to force her to marry him before morning. At this point the Count enters disguised as an inebriated soldier, and sings a song to the tune of "Vive le vin". He presents a forged lodging billet. The doctor explains he is exempted from the law that requires people to lodge soldiers. When he goes to find the paperwork that certifies this, the Count slips a note to Rosine. The doctor returns and sends the Count away. He sees Rosine with the note and demands she show it to him; but she is able to switch it with an innocent letter that extinguishes Bartholo's fears. Rosine reads the actual note, which contains instructions for her to start a fight with Bartholo.

Act 3
The Count comes to the house again, disguised this time as a teacher. He tells Bartholo that Bazile is sick and has sent him as a substitute to give Rosine her music lesson for the day. Rosine enters pretending to be quite angry, having chosen the music lesson as an excuse to pick a fight with Bartholo. She recognizes the Count ("Lindor") and becomes calm. The Count accompanies Rosine on the piano as she sings ("Quand, dans la plaine"). Lulled by the music, Bartholo keeps falling asleep; each time he does so the Count begins kissing Rosine, the music stops and the Doctor wakes up, forcing Rosine and the Count to scurry back to their music, and the lazzo repeats. After the lesson, the doctor sings his own song to Rosine ("Veux-tu, ma Rosinette"). Figaro arrives and tries to distract Dr. Bartholo by shaving him so that Rosine and the Count will be alone together, but Bartholo catches on, especially when Bazile arrives to give Rosine her music lesson. The Count discreetly hands Bazile a bag of money, bribing him to play along, and they are able to settle the doctor's fears once more. The Count tells Rosine he will return at night to visit.

Act 4
The stage is dark and music suggesting a lightning storm is played. Bazile admits to Bartholo what happened earlier in the day, and speculates that the man in the house may have been the Count. He advises against Bartholo's plan to force a marriage with Rosine, but Bartholo takes no heed. Rosine then comes out, looking for the Count; Bartholo goes to her and tells her that the man in the house was working for a notorious womanizing count named Almaviva, who plans to have his agents kidnap her. Rosine believes this story and becomes outraged. She agrees to marry Bartholo, and he goes out to find a judge to perform the marriage ceremony. Rosine runs to lock herself in Marceline's room to avoid the impending abduction she expects.

Figaro and the Count break into the house, discussing the Count's plan to propose marriage to Rosine, and worrying about how to break the news that he is really a count. Rosine comes back out to yell at him, and tell him she knows all about his horrible scheme to kidnap her: she notices that Figaro keeps addressing him as "my lord", however, and inquires as to the reason. The Count then reveals his true identity, and Rosine forgives him. The Judge enters, and the Count takes him and has him draw up a marriage contract between himself and Rosine. Bartholo comes in just a moment after it is signed, and after making some futile arguments against the contract's validity, resigns himself. As a consolation he is given Rosine's dowry money to keep.

Operas
Beaumarchais's play has been adapted into several operas, most of them forgotten today. Giovanni Paisiello's The Barber of Seville, dramma giocoso in four acts first performed in 1782, is probably the earliest opera adaptation still occasionally heard in the repertoire. The most famous opera adaptation is Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville, commedia in two acts premiered in 1816. Despite the opera’s disastrous premiere its popularity even overshadows Beaumarchais' original play. Other lesser-known adaptions include those by Nicolas Isouard in 1796, Alexander Reinagle, Samuel Arnold in 1794, and Francesco Morlacchi in 1816.

Character of Figaro
Figaro is inspired by the commedia dell'arte character of Brighella, and like his predecessor he is a clever liar; moral and yet unscrupulous; good humored, helpful and brave, though somewhat embittered and cynical. As he says in The Barber of Seville: "I must force myself to laugh at everything lest I be obliged to weep." Though he is normally calm, collected and intelligent, he can be irrational when angered. The name "Figaro" was invented by Beaumarchais for this character, and it has been theorized by Frédéric Grendel that it is made from a phonetic transcription of the words "fils Caron" (Caron having been the given surname of the playwright).

The role was created in The Barber of Seville by Beaumarchais's friend Préville. When The Marriage of Figaro went into production almost a decade later, however, he felt himself too old to repeat the part and turned it over to fellow actor Jean Dazincourt.

According to the information Figaro gives at various points throughout the plays, his life story appears to be thus: he was the illegitimate son of Dr. Bartholo and his maid Marceline, and presumably therefore given his mother's family name, was born Emmanuel de Verte-Allure. He was kidnapped as a baby and raised by gypsies, who are probably the ones that renamed him Figaro. After he grew "disgusted with their ways" he left to become a surgeon, and apparently took up a short-term job in the household of Count Almaviva during this time to support himself. Though the Count referred to him as a "rather bad servant," he was pleased enough with Figaro to write him a recommendation to the Bureau in Madrid, where he was given a job as an assistant veterinary surgeon, much to his disappointment. While working there, he began dabbling in a literary career, apparently with great success. He was fired from the Bureau but stayed on in Madrid for a time trying to work as a publisher and playwright. He angered the censors with several of his works, and was briefly imprisoned. Eventually he gave up writing, and set himself up as a barber surgeon. After "pensively proceeding through the two Castilles, la Mancha, Extremadura, the Sierra Morena, and Andalusia" he set up shop in Seville, where he became reacquainted with Count Almaviva, and after assisting him with some romantic troubles, was hired as the Count's personal valet. He evidently retains this position for the remainder of his life. It is after he returns to work for the Count that he marries Suzanne, though at what point he met her is unclear. Given that Suzanne's uncle Antonio works for the Count, it seems likely she was hired on his recommendation when the Countess moved into the palace and a maid was needed for her, in which case she and Figaro would have met after the events of The Barber of Seville.

In The Barber of Seville, Rosine claims that Figaro has a daughter, but because this is never mentioned again by any other characters or in the other plays, and because it comes up during a lie Rosine tells to conceal her relationship with the Count, it is probable that she made this up. In The Guilty Mother, the children of the Count and Countess are named, but no offspring from Figaro or Suzanne are referenced, which suggests they remain childless.

title: The Barber of Seville (play)


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Prayer for the dead

Religions with the belief in a final judgment, a resurrection of the dead or an intermediate state (such as Hades or purgatory) often offer prayers on behalf of the dead to God.

Buddhism
For most funerals that follow the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, common practices include chanting the name of Amitabha, or reciting Buddhist scriptures such as the Sutra of The Great Vows of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Amitabha Sutra, Diamond Sutra or a combination of classic Buddhist scriptures, such as the Great Compassion Mantra, the Heart Sutra, the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra and Sapta Atitabuddha Karasaniya Dharani (or Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan 七佛滅罪真言).

Other practices include Ritsu offer refuge, Pure Land Buddhists nianfo or chant Pure Land Rebirth Dhāraṇī and Tibetan Buddhists chant Om mani padme hum repeatedly. Prayers such as Namo Ratnasikhin Tathagata are for animals.

New Testament
A passage in the New Testament which is seen by some to be a prayer for the dead is found in, which reads as follows:
 * May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me (the Lord grant to him to find the Lord's mercy on that day); and in how many things he served at Ephesus, you know very well.

As with the verses from 2 Maccabees, these verses reflect the deep-felt desire that God will deal mercifully with the deceased "on that day" (perhaps Judgement Day, see also Eschatology). It is not stated that Onesiphorus, for whom Saint Paul or the writer of the epistle prayed, was dead, though some scholars infer this, based on the way this only refers to him in the past tense, and prays for present blessings on his household, but for him only "on that day". And towards the end of the same letter, in, we find a greeting to "Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus", distinguishing the situation of Onesiphorus from that of the still living Prisca and Aquila.

Tradition
Prayer for the dead is well documented within early Christianity, both among prominent Church Fathers and the Christian community in general. In the Catholic Church the assistance that the dead receive by prayer on their behalf is linked with the process of purification known as purgatory. In Eastern Orthodoxy, Christians pray for "such souls as have departed with faith, but without having had time to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance". While prayer for the dead continues in both these traditions and in those of Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East, many Protestant groups reject the practice.

The tomb of the Christian Abercius of Hieropolis in Phrygia (latter part of the 2nd century) bears the inscription: "Let every friend who observes this pray for me", i.e. Abercius, who throughout speaks in the first person.

The inscriptions in the Roman catacombs bear similar witness to the practice, by the occurrence of such phrases as:
 * Mayst thou live among the saints (3rd century);
 * May God refresh the soul of ... ;
 * Peace be with them.

Among Church writers Tertullian († 230) is the first to mention prayers for the dead: "The widow who does not pray for her dead husband has as good as divorced him". This passage occurs in one of his later writings, dating from the beginning of the 3rd century. Subsequent writers similarly make mention of the practice as prevalent, not as unlawful or even disputed (until Arius challenged it towards the end of the 4th century). The most famous instance is Saint Augustine's prayer for his mother, Monica, at the end of the 9th book of his Confessions, written around 398.

An important element in the Christian liturgies both East and West consisted of the diptychs, or lists of names of living and dead commemorated at the Eucharist. To be inserted in these lists was a confirmation of one's orthodoxy, and out of the practice grew the official canonization of saints; on the other hand, removal of a name was a condemnation.

In the middle of the 3rd century, St. Cyprian enjoined that there should be no oblation or public prayer made for a deceased layman who had broken the Church's rule by appointing a cleric trustee under his will: "He ought not to be named in the priests prayer who has done his best to detain the clergy from the altar."

Although it is not possible, as a rule, to name dates for the exact words used in the ancient liturgies, yet the universal occurrence of these diptychs and of definite prayers for the dead in all parts of the Christian Church, East and West, in the 4th and 5th centuries shows how primitive such prayers were. The language used in the prayers for the departed is asking for rest and freedom from pain and sorrow. A passage from the Liturgy of St James reads: "Remember, O Lord, the God of Spirits and of all Flesh, those whom we have remembered and those whom we have not remembered, men of the true faith, from righteous Abel unto to-day; do thou thyself give them rest there in the land of the living, in thy kingdom, in the delight of Paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our holy fathers, from whence pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away, where the light of thy countenance visiteth them and always shineth upon them."

Public prayers were only offered for those who were believed to have died as faithful members of the Church. But Saint Perpetua, who was martyred in 202, believed herself to have been encouraged in a vision to pray for her brother, who had died in his eighth year, almost certainly unbaptized; and a later vision assured her that her prayer was answered and he had been translated from punishment. St. Augustine thought it needful to point out that the narrative was not canonical Scripture, and contended that the child had perhaps been baptized.

Catholic Church
In the West there is ample evidence of the custom of praying for the dead in the inscriptions of the catacombs, with their constant prayers for the peace and refreshment of the souls of the departed and in the early liturgies, which commonly contain commemorations of the dead; and Tertullian, Cyprian and other early Western Fathers witness to the regular practice of praying for the dead among the early Christians.

However, in the case of martyred Christians, it was felt that it was inappropriate to pray "for" the martyrs, since they were believed to be in no need of such prayers, having instantly passed to the beatific vision of Heaven. Theoretically, too, prayer for those in hell (understood as the abode of the eternally lost) would be useless. However, since there is no certainty that any particular person is in hell, prayers are offered for all the dead, except for those believed to be in heaven who are prayed to, not for. In prayers for the dead, there is usually reference to them being in purgatory. In view of the certainty that by the process of purification and with the help of the prayers of the faithful they were destined for heaven, they are referred to as the "holy souls".

Limits were placed on public offering of Mass for the unbaptised, non-Catholics, and notorious sinners, but prayers and even Mass in private could be said for them. The present Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church states that, unless the person concerned gave some signs of repentance before death, no form of funeral Mass may be offered for notorious apostates, heretics and schismatics; for those who for anti-Christian motives chose that their bodies be cremated; and for other manifest sinners to whom a Church funeral could not be granted without public scandal to the faithful.

On the other hand, "provided their own minister is not available, baptised persons belonging to a non-catholic Church or ecclesial community may, in accordance with the prudent judgement of the local Ordinary, be allowed Church funeral rites, unless it is established that they did not wish this."

During the slaughter of the First World War, Pope Benedict XV on 10 August 1915 allowed all priests everywhere to say three Masses on All Souls' Day. The two extra Masses were in no way to benefit the priest himself: one was to be offered for all the faithful departed, the other for the Pope's intentions, which at that time were presumed to be for all the victims of that war. The permission remains.

Each Eucharistic Prayer, including the Roman Canon of the Order of Mass, has a prayer for the departed.

In Communio Sanctorum, the Lutheran and Catholic Churches in Germany agreed that prayer for the dead "corresponds to the communion in which we are bound together in Christ ... with those who have already died to pray for them and to commend them ... to the mercy of God." Likewise, in the United States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and Catholic Church formulated a statement The Hope of Eternal Life, which affirmed that "there is communion among the living and the dead across the divide of death. ...Prayerful commendation of the dead to God is salutary within a funeral liturgy. ...Insofar as the resurrection of the dead and the general final judgment are future events, it is appropriate to pray for God's mercy for each person, entrusting that one to God's mercy."

Theology
Eastern and Oriental Orthodox reject the term "purgatory". Prayer for the dead is encouraged in the belief that it is helpful for them, although how the prayers of the faithful help the departed is not elucidated. Eastern Orthodox simply believe that tradition teaches that prayers should be made for the dead.

Saint Basil the Great (379 CE) writes in his Third Kneeling Prayer at Pentecost: "O Christ our God ... (who) on this all-perfect and saving Feast, art graciously pleased to accept propitiatory prayers for those who are imprisoned in hades, promising unto us who are held in bondage great hope of release from the vilenes that doth hinder us and did hinder them, ... send down Thy consolation ... and establish their souls in the mansions of the Just; and graciously vouchsafe unto them peace and pardon; for not the dead shall praise thee, O Lord, neither shall they who are in Hell make bold to offer unto thee confession. But we who are living will bless thee, and will pray, and offer unto thee propitiatory prayers and sacrifices for their souls."

Saint Gregory Dialogus († 604) in his famous Dialogues (written in 593) teaches that, "The Holy Sacrifice (Eucharist) of Christ, our saving Victim, brings great benefits to souls even after death, provided their sins (are such as) can be pardoned in the life to come." However, St. Gregory goes on to say, the Church's practice of prayer for the dead must not be an excuse for not living a godly life on earth. "The safer course, naturally, is to do for ourselves during life what we hope others will do for us after death." Father Seraphim Rose († 1982) says: "The Church's prayer cannot save anyone who does not wish salvation, or who never offered any struggle (podvig) for it himself during his lifetime."

Eastern Orthodox praxis
The various prayers for the departed have as their purpose to pray for the repose of the departed, to comfort the living, and to remind those who remain of their own mortality. For this reason, memorial services have an air of penitence about them.

The Church's prayers for the dead begin at the moment of death, when the priest leads the Prayers at the Departure of the Soul, consisting of a special Canon and prayers for the release of the soul. Then the body is washed, clothed and laid in the coffin, after which the priest begins the First Panikhida (prayer service for the departed). After the First Panikhida, the family and friends begin reading the Psalter aloud beside the casket. This reading continues and concludes until the next morning, in which usually the funeral is held, up until the time of the orthros.

Orthodox Christians offer particularly fervent prayers for the departed on the first 40 days after death. Traditionally, in addition to the service on the day of death, the memorial service is performed at the request of the relatives of an individual departed person on the following occasions:
 * Third day after death
 * Ninth day
 * Fortieth day
 * First anniversary of death
 * Third anniversary (some will request a memorial every year on the anniversary of death)

In addition to Panikhidas for individuals, there are also several days during the year that are set aside as special general commemorations of the dead, when all departed Orthodox Christians will be prayed for together (this is especially to benefit those who have no one on earth to pray for them). The majority of these general commemorations fall on the various "Soul Saturdays" throughout the year (mostly during Great Lent). On these days, in addition to the normal Panikhida, there are special additions to Vespers and Matins, and there will be propers for the departed added to the Divine Liturgy. These days of general memorial are:
 * Meatfare Saturday (two Saturdays before Great Lent begins); in some traditions families and friends will offer Panikhidas for their loved ones during the week, culminating in the general commemoration on Saturday
 * The second Saturday of Great Lent
 * The third Saturday of Great Lent
 * The fourth Saturday of Great Lent
 * Radonitsa (the second Tuesday after Easter)
 * The Saturday before Pentecost; in some traditions families and friends will offer Panikhidas for their loved ones during the week, culminating in the general commemoration on Saturday
 * Demetrius Saturday (the Saturday before the feast of Saint Demetrius, October 26). In the Bulgarian Orthodox Church there is a commemoration of the dead on the Saturday before the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, November 8, instead of the Demetrius Soul Saturday.

The most important form of prayer for the dead occurs in the Divine Liturgy. Particles are cut from the prosphoron during the Proskomedie at the beginning of the Liturgy. These particles are placed beneath the Lamb (Host) on the diskos, where they remain throughout the Liturgy. After the Communion of the faithful, the deacon brushes these particles into the chalice, saying, "Wash away, O Lord, the sins of all those here commemorated, by Thy Precious Blood, through the prayers of all thy saints." Of this action, Saint Mark of Ephesus says, "We can do nothing better or greater for the dead than to pray for them, offering commemoration for them at the Liturgy. Of this they are always in need. ...The body feels nothing then: it does not see its close ones who have assembled, does not smell the fragrance of the flowers, does not hear the funeral orations. But the soul senses the prayers offered for it and is grateful to those who make them and is spiritually close to them."

Normally, candidates for sainthood, prior to their Glorification (Canonization) as a saint, will be commemorated by serving Panikhidas. Then, on the eve of their Glorification will be served an especially solemn Requiem, known as the "Last Panikhida".

Lutheran Church
The Lutheran Reformers recognized that the early Church had practiced prayer for the dead, and accepted it in principle. Thus in the 1580 Book of Concord, the Lutheran Church taught:

"... we know that the ancients speak of prayer for the dead, which we do not prohibit; but we disapprove of the application ex opere operato of the Lord's Supper on behalf of the dead."

The Lutheran cleric Richard Futrell wrote that "The historic practice within the Lutheran Church had prayers for the dead in their Prayer of the Church. For example, if we were to look at a typical Lutheran service during Luther’s lifetime, we would find in the Prayer of the Church not only intercessions, special prayers, and the Lord’s Prayer, which are still typical today in Lutheran worship, but also prayers for the dead." For those who have died, Martin Luther declared that 'I regard it as no sin to pray with free devotion in this or some similar fashion: Dear God, if this soul is in a condition accessible to mercy, be thou gracious to it. (Luther’s Works, Volume 37) To console women whose children were not born and baptized, Martin Luther wrote in 1542: "In summary, see to it that above all else you are a true Christian and that you teach a heartfelt yearning and praying to God in true faith, be it in this or in any other trouble. Then do not be dismayed about your child or yourself. Know that your prayer is pleasing to God and that God will do everything much better than you can comprehend or desire. 'Call upon me,' he says in Psalm 50. 'In the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' For this reason, we ought not to condemn such infants. Believers and Christians have devoted their longing and yearning and praying for them." However, with regard to what he perceived as nonscriptural extensions of the practice (such as repeated Requiem Masses for the dead), in the same year 1542 he stated in his Preface to the Burial Hymns: "Accordingly, we have removed from our churches and completely abolished the popish abominations, such as vigils, Masses for the dead, processions, purgatory, and all other hocus-pocus on behalf of the dead".

The largest Lutheran denomination in the United States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, "remembers the faithful departed in the Prayers of the People every Sunday, including those who have recently died and those commemorated on the church calendar of saints". In Funeral rites of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, "deceased are prayed for" using "commendations: 'keep our sister/brother ... in the company of all your saints. And at the last ... raise her/him up to share with all the faithful the endless joy and peace won through the glorious resurrection of Christ our Lord.'" The response for these prayers for the dead in this Lutheran liturgy is the prayer of Eternal Rest: "Rest eternal grant him/her, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him/her".

On the other hand, the edition of Luther's Small Catechism widely used among communicants of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod recommends:"For whom should we pray?...We should pray for ourselves and for all other people, even for our enemies, but not for the souls of the dead."This question and answer do not appear in Luther's original text, but reflect the views of the twentieth-century Lutherans who added this explanation to the catechism.

Similarly, the conservative Lutheran denomination WELS teaches:"Lutherans do not pray for the souls of the departed. When a person dies his soul goes to either heaven or hell. There is no second chance after death.  The Bible tells us, 'Man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment' (Hebrew 9:27, see also Luke 16:19-31).  It would do no good to pray for someone who has died."

Anglicanism
The Church of England's 1549 Book of Common Prayer still had prayer for the dead, as (in the Communion Service): "We commend into thy mercy all other thy servants, which are departed hence from us with the sign of faith and now do rest in the sleep of peace: grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy mercy and everlasting peace." But since 1552 the Book of Common Prayer has no express prayers for the dead, and the practice is denounced in the Homily "On Prayer" (part 3). Nonjurors included prayers for the dead, a practice that spread within the Church of England in the mid-nineteenth century, and was authorized in 1900 for forces serving in South Africa and since then in other forms of service. Many jurisdictions and parishes of the Anglo-Catholic tradition continue to practice prayer for the dead, including offering the Sunday liturgy for the peace of named departed Christians and keeping All Souls' Day.

The 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church (United States) includes prayers for the dead. The prayers during the Sunday Eucharistic Liturgy include intercessions for the repose of the faithful departed. Furthermore, most of the prayers in the burial rite are for the deceased, including the opening collect: "O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of thy servant N., and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen."According to the Catechism in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, "We pray for (the dead), because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God's presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until they see him as he is." Although this statement indicates that prayer is typically made for those who are known to have been members of the Church ("those who have chosen to serve him"), prayer is also offered for those whose faith was uncertain or unknown – authorized options in the Prayer Book burial rite allow for prayers that thus entrust the deceased to the mercy of God while retaining integrity about what was known of the deceased's religious life. For example, following the intercessions, there are two options for a concluding prayer: the first begins, "Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to you our brother (sister) N., who was reborn by water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism ..."; the second, however, would be appropriate for one whose faith and standing before God is not known:"Father of all, we pray to you for N., and for all those whom we love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May his soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen."

Methodist Church
John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, stated that: "I believe it to be a duty to observe, to pray for the Faithful Departed". He "taught the propriety of Praying for the Dead, practised it himself, provided Forms that others might." Two such prayers in the Forms are "O grant that we, with those who are already dead in Thy faith and fear, may together partake of a joyful resurrection" and also, "By Thy infinite mercies, vouchsafe to bring us, with those that are dead in Thee, to rejoice together before Thee." As such, many Methodists pray "for those who sleep." Shane Raynor, a Methodist writer, explains the practice saying that it is "appropriate to pray for others in the community, even across time and space", referencing the doctrine of Communion of Saints being a "community made up of all past, present, and future Christians". In a joint statement with the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Methodist Church of Great Britain affirmed that "Methodists who pray for the dead thereby commend them to the continuing mercy of God."

Moravian Church
In its Easter liturgy, the Moravian Church prays for those "departed in the faith of Christ" and "give[s] thanks for their holy departure".

Reformed Churches
Reformed churches are often opposed to prayer for the dead, because it is seen as useless. However the Presbyterian Church USA has a "commemoration of those who have died in the faith", they are not petitions for the dead but reminders that the church on earth is a part of a larger company of saints with the church in heaven, other prayers combine thanksgivings for the dead with petitions for the living.

Irvingian Churches
The New Apostolic Church, the largest of the Irvingian Churches, practices prayer for the dead. Divine Services for the faithful departed take place thrice a year; additionally, "New Apostolic Christians also pray that souls who have died in an unredeemed state may find salvation in Christ."

Other churches
Prayer for the dead is not practiced by members of Baptist and nondenominational Christian churches. For example, members of the Baptist churches hold that "dead men receive no benefit from the prayers, sacrifices, &c. of the living."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a number of sacred ordinances and rituals that are performed for the dead. Among these are baptism for the dead and the sealing of the dead to families. These practices are based upon multiple New Testament scriptures, some of which are 1 Corinthians 15:29-32 and Matthew 16:19.

Hinduism
In Hinduism there are funeral speeches with prayers for the dead. Many of these funeral speeches are read out from the Mahabharata, usually in Sanskrit. Family members will pray around the body as soon as possible after death. People try to avoid touching the corpse as it is considered polluting.

Islam
In Islam, Muslims of their community gather to their collective prayers for the forgiveness of the dead, a prayer is recited and this prayer is known as the Salat al-Janazah (Janazah prayer). Like Eid prayer, the Janazah prayer incorporates an additional (four) Takbirs, the Arabic name for the phrase Allahu Akbar, but there is no Ruku' (bowing) and Sujud (prostrating). Supplication for the deceased and mankind is recited. In extraordinary circumstances, the prayer can be postponed and prayed at a later time as was done in the Battle of Uhud.

Dogma states it is obligatory for every Muslim adult male to perform the funeral prayer upon the death of any Muslim, but the dogma embraces the practical in that it qualifies: when Janazah is performed by the few it alleviates that obligation for all.

In addition, "Peace be upon him" (sometimes abbreviated in writing as PBUH) is a constantly repeated prayer for dead people such as prophet Mohammed.

Judaism
Prayers for the dead form part of the Jewish services. The prayers offered on behalf of the deceased consist of: Recitation of Psalms; Reciting a thrice daily communal prayer in Aramaic which is known as Kaddish. Kaddish actually means "Sanctification" (or "Prayer of Making Holy") which is a prayer "In Praise of God"; or other special remembrances known as Yizkor; and also a Hazkara which is said either on the annual commemoration known as the Yahrzeit as well on Jewish holidays. The form in use in England contains the following passage: "Have mercy upon him; pardon all his transgressions. ...Shelter his soul in the shadow of Thy wings. Make known to him the path of life."

El Maleh Rachamim is the actual Jewish prayer for the dead, although less well known than the Mourner's Kaddish. While the Kaddish does not mention death but rather affirms the steadfast faith of the mourners in God's goodness, El Maleh Rachamim is a prayer for the rest of the departed. There are various translations for the original Hebrew which vary significantly. One version reads: "God, filled with mercy, dwelling in the heavens' heights, bring proper rest beneath the wings of your Shechinah, amid the ranks of the holy and the pure, illuminating like the brilliance of the skies the souls of our beloved and our blameless who went to their eternal place of rest. May You who are the source of mercy shelter them beneath Your wings eternally, and bind their souls among the living, that they may rest in peace. And let us say: Amen."

A record of Jewish prayer and offering of sacrifice for the dead at the time of the Maccabees is seen being referred to in 2 Maccabees, a book written in Greek, which, though not accepted as part of the Jewish Bible, is regarded as canonical by Eastern Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church: "But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain. They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this, he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin."

Jacques Le Goff, French historian and agnostic, concluded: "At the time of Judas Maccabeus – around 170 B.C., a surprisingly innovative period – prayer for the dead was not practiced, but that a century later, it was practiced by certain Jews."

This extract does not explain on what grounds Le Goff argued that prayer for the dead was not in use in the first half of the 2nd century BC. The account of the action of Judas Maccabaeus was written midway through the second half of the same century, in about 124 BC, and in the view of Philip Schaff its mention of prayer for the dead "seems to imply habit".

Mandaeism
In Mandaeism, the masiqta is a lengthy ceremony for the dead performed over many days. Many prayers from the Qolasta and other Mandaean texts are recited during a masiqta, of which there are several types.

Baháʼí Faith
Followers of the Baháʼí Faith believe that the soul continues to progress toward God in the afterlife. In fact, the Baháʼí definition of heaven and hell are nearness and remoteness from God in the afterlife, respectively. The belief is that souls continue their journeys through can be aided in their progress by the saying of prayers for the departed. Here is a sample of one such prayer: "O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions!

Verily, I beseech thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world.

O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount. - ʻAbdu'l-Bahá"

The Prayer for the Dead is a particular prayer for the departed, said at Baháʼí funerals before interment.

Taoism
Taoists chant Qinghuahao (青華誥) or Jiukujing (救苦經).

Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrians chant prayers for the dead in their funeral ceremonies, asking God to forgive the deceased.

Other religions
Many spiritual traditions have prayers for the dead as part of their liturgy, whether these prayers are salutational, to welcome the spirits of the deceased, or to remember their names.

African Traditional and Diasporic traditions often have incorporated ancestral veneration practices. In orisha based traditions, the mojuba is the praise chant which praises Olodumare, the orishas, the religious lineage, the blood lineage of ancestors, and the various other beings of the universe.

title: Prayer for the dead


text:
Parti de la Démocratisation Économique

The Parti de la Démocratisation Économique (Party of Economic Democratization) was a group of five candidates in Quebec, Canada, who unsuccessfully sought election to the House of Commons of Canada in the 25 June 1968 federal election. Together, they won 2,651 votes, or 1.7% of the popular votes in the ridings in which they ran.

 * Source: Parliament of Canada History of the Federal Electoral Ridings since 1867

title: Parti de la Démocratisation Économique


text:
Bantha

Banthas are fictional creatures in the Star Wars franchise. They are large, quadrupedal mammals with long, thick fur, and are first seen in the film Star Wars (1977), where they are used as beasts of burden by Tusken Raiders on the planet Tatooine. They have since been featured in several other Star Wars works, including the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequel films The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002), and the television shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett, as well as video games and books.

One of the first creatures introduced in the Star Wars franchise, banthas were created by George Lucas, who was inspired in part by creatures called Banths in John Carter of Mars. Ralph McQuarrie designed the concept art for the banthas, with original sketches depicting them as horse-like creatures before they were changed to be elephant-sized. Art director Leon Erickson led the creation of the bantha costume for Star Wars, the base of which was an elephant saddle with palm fronds and yak hair to create a shaggy coat, as well as a head mask molded from chicken wire, curved horns made from ventilation tubing, and a tail crafted from wood covered with thick thistles.

The bantha's moan was created by sound designer Ben Burtt, who slowed down a bear sound originally collected to help create the voice of the Wookiee character Chewbacca. The banthas in Star Wars were portrayed by a female Asian elephant named Mardji, who was provided by the Marine World Africa USA amusement park. Her scenes were filmed in Death Valley National Park in California, and Mardji kept shrugging the heavy costume off her body during filming due to the intense heat.

The elephant's gait served as the model for the movement of AT-AT walkers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and banthas also inspired the creation of the luggabeast creature in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and the Corellian hounds in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Banthas that have appeared in subsequent Star Wars films and shows were digital creations modeled after the creature from Star Wars. The bantha shares characteristics with several real-life animals, including bighorn sheep, muskoxen, woolly mammoths, and domestic yaks, and its use of fur to help insulate itself from excess heat is a trait shared by such animals as the antelope, camel, and jerboa. The bantha has been described as a favorite among fans, as well as the cast and crew of the films; Anthony Daniels, the actor who portrayed C-3PO, called it "one of the best things in the movie".

Biology and characteristics
Banthas are large, quadrupedal mammals with long, thick fur of brown or black. The creatures have long, furry tails, and a pair of spiraling horns extruded from their skulls, which resemble those of the real-life bighorn sheep,  as well as the muskox, one of the inspirations behind the bantha. Star Wars books and media have established biological details about the bantha that go beyond the creature's appearances in the films and television shows. About 8 to 10 ft in height, banthas breathe oxygen, have a lifespan of 80 to 100 years, a gestation period of 30 months, and reach sexual maturation at 20 years of age. They weigh 50 kg at birth and reach weights of up to 4000 kg at maturity. Banthas are extremely strong, capable of carrying up to 500 kilograms of cargo or an average of five passengers. Their planet of origin is unknown, but since they could be found on most agricultural systems, it was believed early settlers transported them to new worlds. Works of Star Wars media have established that bantha remains have been discovered that predate most known species in the franchise.

Although often associated with the planet of Tatooine, banthas can be found on many worlds in the Star Wars universe and have adapted to a variety of climates and terrains, ranging from deserts to tundra. Rather than serving as a hindrance in the heat of the desert planet of Tatooine, bantha fur helped insulate the animal and keep away excess cold or heat. This is a characteristic shared with several real-life desert animals, including the antelope, camel, and jerboa. Since the heat generated by a sun is absorbed by the fur on the bantha's back, it prevents the heat from penetrating deeper into the creature's skin, helping it survive even in harsh conditions. Science writer Sandhya Ramesh noted that large bodies have greater thermal inertia, meaning the bantha's large body would be more difficult to heat them up compared than those of smaller animals, making it well suited to survive in Tatooine's harsh environment. Marcus Schneck of The Patriot-News has noted the bantha shares similarities to the domestic yak, a bulky, hairy animal used by humans for transportation and food.

Bantha horns grow a new segment each year, and the strength of a given creature's horns are indicative of its health and environment: thick, crenellated horns usually signify that the bantha is well fed and healthy, while thin, cracked, or underdeveloped horns indicate the bantha is unhealthy due to drought or famine. Male banthas develop thicker and longer horns than females, and males typically complete two horn spirals over the course of their lifetimes, while females usually only complete one. The horns of male banthas could reach a width of up to 3 meters at the shoulders. Bantha horns sometimes become locked when they fight each other, which can lead to exhaustion and death, particularly in difficult terrains like Tatooine. Banthas have a long tongue that help the animal compensate for its short neck when eating and drinking. The bantha tongue is highly sensitive, structurally complex, and very strong, containing gripping knobs at the end and spiracles along the edges for scenting. The tongue can be used for probing into the ground for food or water, holding and carrying items, and as a signifier for communications with other members of the species. Banthas also have extremely sharp incisors.

Although only one type of bantha is shown in the Star Wars film (known as a "common bantha"), other media from the franchise have established that multiple sub-species of banthas exist, each varying in size, social behavior, metabolic specifics, and coloration. Among these sub-species are dwarf banthas and dune banthas. Dwarf banthas are smaller and more shy than the common bantha, living in remote outer areas, while dune banthas are more slender and less furry, and able to survive in very high temperatures with relatively little water. The Kashyyyk bantha is a sub-species adapted to survive on the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk, which lacks the shaggy coat and horns of a common bantha and instead has large bony plates used as battering rams. The Kilian bantha, a type native to the planet Kilia IV, was another sub-species.

Behavior and culture
According to Star Wars works, banthas are herbivores, with a peaceful and docile manner, surviving on grasses and other native flora. Due to their size and internal reserves, they can survive up to a month without food or water. Highly intelligent creatures, they can be found both in the wild and domesticated. Banthas are extremely social pack animals who travel in herds. which can reach sizes of up to 25 individuals. Banthas are non-confrontational and usually flee when attacked, fighting only when necessary to defend the herd or their young. When they do fight, banthas attack by lowering their heads and ramming their horns against attacks, and adult banthas form a circle around their calves to protect them from threats. Despite their gentle temperaments, the size and strength of banthas often lead them to be used as beasts of burden and animals of war, with riders spurring them to charge at foes and trample them. Banthas have few natural enemies, and the only creature that hunts them for food are krayt dragons, massive carnivorous reptiles even larger in size than banthas.

Banthas in the wild belong to a matriarchal social system, and are led by the oldest, strongest, and most capable female in the herd. Matriarchs are most responsible for protecting the others for dangerous predators, though a lone male bantha often acts as a sentry for the herds. As the matriarch ages, she relinquishes control of the herd to the next qualified female bantha candidate. If a herd grows too large in size, it will occasionally split, with the second-oldest and strongest female becoming the matriarch of the new herd. Banthas treat the remains of their ancestors with a sense of reverence, gathering their bones into special areas known as "bantha graveyards" and fondling the bones with their tongues. Mothers have carried deceased newborn banthas many kilometers to these graveyards. Other species consider it bad luck to enter a bantha graveyard.

Star Wars books and media outside the films have established that banthas are an integral part of the culture of Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, with a deep spiritual and emotional connection developing between each bantha and its Tusken rider. When a Tusken Raider reaches age seven, a bantha of the same gender is ceremonially presented to the child as its partner in life. The young Tusken cares for and raises the bantha as it grows, and once it reaches maturity, the Tusken rides it and takes it into the desert for initiatory ceremonies and tasks. When Tusken Raiders marry, the couple's banthas also mate, and when the Tusken couple has children the banthas will often produce offspring as well. When a Tusken Raider dies, the bantha is sent into the desert to find another bonding partner; however, the bond between the Tusken and bantha is so strong that banthas would often fall into depression or commit suicide in such cases. Likewise, if a bantha dies before its Tusken Raider, the Tusken clan would cast that Raider into the desert on a vision quest, to either die in isolation or be adopted by another wild bantha. If the latter occurs, the Tusken is allowed to return to his or her tribe. No other cultures or species share such a bond with banthas.

Other species have used bantha hides for clothing,  with such items as bantha-skin boots and carrying cases fetching high prices. Bantha meat has often been processed for food and beverages, and "bantha steaks" are a common food in works of Star Wars media. In one scene from the original Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker's aunt Beru pours a cup of what is known as "blue milk"; it is later established that the milk comes from banthas. Bantha blue milk has reappeared in several Star Wars films, books, games, and other mediums, including the film Rogue One (2016), and is sold as a real-life beverage at the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, the Star Wars themed area within Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Fictional bantha hides make an alcoholic drink when mixed with fermented grain. One such drink is called "Jawa Juice", named after the Jawa alien species, which is served to Obi-Wan Kenobi at a restaurant in a scene from Attack of the Clones (2002). A flying reptile species on Tatooine known as skettos would gather loose wool from the backs of banthas for use in building nests. Tusken Raiders collect the bones of deceased banthas for use as tent supports and other purposes.

Star Wars appearances
Banthas first appear in Star Wars (1977), the first film in the original Star Wars trilogy, during a scene in which protagonist Luke Skywalker is stalked and attacked by Tusken Raiders in a region of Tatooine known as the Jundland Wastes. After observing Luke from afar, the Tuskens mount their nearby banthas and begin their approach to ambush him. Luke later uses binoculars to survey the area and spots two banthas and a Tusken Raider in the distance, before another Tusken surprise attacks him and renders him unconscious. Other works of Star Wars media have established that the specific bantha most prominently featured in the film was a male named R'rrr'ur'R, whose name is similar to the guttural sounds of the Tusken language. According to his backstory, R'rrr'ur'R had been the alpha male of his herd before he was raised by the Tusken Raider RR'uruurrr for the personal use of URoRRuR'R'R, the leader of the tribe. Later in the film, while Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi are surveying the wreckage of a destroyed sandcrawler, Kenobi correctly assesses that the craft was attacked not by Tusken Raiders but by Imperial stormtroopers serving the Galactic Empire. He reaches this conclusion by noting that the footprints left by the attackers were side by side, whereas Tusken Raiders and their banthas travel in single file to hide their numbers.

Chewbacca's son Lumpawaroo plays with a plush toy version of a bantha in the Star Wars Christmas Special (1978),  and comedian Harvey Korman appears in the special as a four-armed alien chef and parody of Julia Child, who cooks a meal called "Bantha Surprise". Banthas have played a part in stories for the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game first published in 1987, including a bantha stampede caused by Tusken Raiders as an attack against the players. The game also introduced the Dim-U, a cult-like sect of monks that worship banthas as deities, believing the creatures' far-reaching presence on multiple worlds was a sign of a message from a higher power.

In the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi (1983) released in 1997, a shot with a herd of banthas walking through the Tatooine desert was added to the film, just before the scene in which the sail barge vehicle of the character Jabba the Hutt passes. Star Wars creator George Lucas said he added the shot because it allowed him to expand the environment of the fictional universe and add more nuance to the setting of the film. Banthas appear in two of the Star Wars prequel trilogy films. In the first film, The Phantom Menace (1999), a bantha can be seen in the background when the characters Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé Amidala, and Jar Jar Binks enter the Tatooine city of Mos Espa. In the second film, Attack of the Clones (2002), a small herd of banthas are present in another scene set in Mos Espa, next to a docking bay where Anakin Skywalker and Padmé land their ship.

Banthas have appeared in the 3D CGI television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, once again on the planet Tatooine, and have been mentioned in the television shows Star Wars Rebels, and Star Wars Resistance. A bantha doll can be seen in the bedroom of Torra Doza in "The High Tower", the fifth episode of Resistance, which first aired on October 28, 2018. Obi-Wan Kenobi walks among a herd of banthas in the 20th issue of the Star Wars comic book series by Marvel Comics. In the issue, released on June 15, 2016, Kenobi speaks to the banthas as if they are friends, referring to two in particular by the names Dolo and Nara. Banthas were also featured in an episode of The Mandalorian, a Star Wars television series featured on the streaming service Disney+. The episode, entitled "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger", was first made available on December 6, 2019. In it, the title character and a bounty hunter named Toro Calican search Tatooine for a mercenary named Fennec Shand. During the search, Toro looks through a pair of binoculars and spots two banthas and their accompanying Tusken Raiders in the distance, a first-person camera angle that references a similar shot from the original Star Wars film when Luke Skywalker observes the banthas through binoculars.

Banthas appear in several Star Wars video games, including as minor villain characters that Luke Skywalker can fight in Super Star Wars, the 1992 video game for Super Nintendo. They also appear as a creature the player-controlled character can ride in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003), Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006), Star Wars: The Old Republic (2008), Disney Infinity 3.0 (2015),  and the upcoming Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (2020). In Star Wars: Battlefront (2004), the player who is killed the most often in some games receives an award called "bantha fodder". The word "bantha" has been used throughout other Star Wars stories. The hovercraft that Jabba the Hutt used to transport the imprisoned Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Chewbacca to the Sarlacc monster in Return of the Jedi was called a "Bantha-II cargo skiff". One alcoholic drink often consumed at the Jabba's palace was called a "Bantha Blaster", and one type of space vessel was named the Bantha-class assault shuttle. Additionally, in the television series Star Wars: A Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker orders his starfighter squadron to use a single-file starfighter formation known as the "Bantha formation". A children's story called "The Little Lost Bantha Cub" is featured in the Jedi Academy trilogy of novels released in 1994, and a restaurant and entertainment complex called Bantha Traxx appears in the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, which included a gift shop that sold toy banthas.

Concept and creation
Banthas were created by George Lucas, who was inspired in part by Banths, lion-like carnivorous creatures in the science fantasy serial story John Carter of Mars. They were one of the first creatures introduced in the Star Wars universe, with the first use of a variation of the word "bantha" appearing in an early Star Wars film draft from May 1974, in which an antagonist Sith character had the callsign "Banta Four". A second version of this draft, dated January 1978, featured a Rebel starfighter pilot with the callsign "Banta One" during the attack on the Death Star. The first mention of banthas as a creature was in the third draft of the screenplay from August 1975, which described a group of Tusken Raiders riding "monstrous banthas", and includes a scene in which the creatures attack Luke Skywalker after he spots them. Ralph McQuarrie, a production illustrator on Star Wars, designed the early concept art for the banthas. The original sketches depicted them as horse-like creatures, but with other attributes ultimately used in the final design, including a shaggy coat and two horns around the animal's mouth. The Tusken Raiders that would be riding banthas were at this time envisioned to be a smaller alien species, and once they were changed to the size of fully-grown humans, the banthas were changed to be the size of elephants.

The bantha was created through the visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic. Art director Leon Erickson created the bantha costume, leading a crew of six total crew members in the work. It took about one month to finish it. The base of the costume was a howdah, or elephant saddle, with palm fronds added to create the bantha's shaggy coat. Yak hair was also used to create the fur. A head mask was molded from chicken wire and sprayed with foam to create the creature's facial features,  and a beard made from horse hair was added. The bantha's curved horns were made from flexible home ventilation tubing,  and its tail was crafted from wood covered with thick thistles. Early plans called for the tail to be carried in the air as the bantha walked, but due to the challenges associated with making this happen, Industrial Light & Magic determined it would be dragged on the ground instead. The costume ultimately weighed about 300 pounds. The bantha's moaning sound was created by sound designer Ben Burtt, who had collected a large number of bear sounds to create the voice of the Wookiee character Chewbacca. Burtt created the bantha's noise by slowing down one a specific bear recording that had been provided to him by documentary producer George Casey.

Filming and production
The first bantha to appear onscreen was in the original 1977 Star Wars film. The filmmakers had the option of creating the bantha through stop motion animation or by filming an elephant in a bantha costume, and Lucas decided on the latter because he wanted a Tusken Raider to jump onto the back of the bantha in the scene, which could not be realistically done using stop motion. The bantha appeared in scenes on the desert planet of Tatooine, most of which were filmed in Tunisia. However, the production team had an insufficient budget to transport an elephant to the North African country, and large storms there would have prevented them from doing so even if they could. Lucas thus elected to film the bantha scenes in the United States, with sound to be added later, so that the scenes could be edited into the Tunisia-filmed scenes in post-production. Death Valley National Park in California offered to provide the scenery for the footage, and arrangements were made for an elephant, which was provided by the Marine World Africa USA amusement park in Redwood City, California. The bantha scenes were shot by second unit director Carroll Ballard. The elephant used to portray the bantha was a female Asian elephant named Mardji, who was 22 years old when Star Wars was filmed, and weighed about 8,500 pounds. Her trainer at the time, Bob Spiker, played the Tusken Raider that rode the Bantha in the first movie installment. Mardji had previously been trained to perform tricks, such as water skiing,  and she had previously appeared in television commercials for Skippy Peanut Butter.

The bantha scenes were filmed in mid-January 1977,  in an area of Death Valley known as Desolation Canyon,  which marked the first time Mardji ventured out into the wild. She reportedly enjoyed the experience, playing in a creek during shooting breaks. This bantha costume designed for Mardji proved problematic during filming, as the elephant was unaccustomed to the intense heat of Death Valley and kept shrugging the heavy costume off her body, which slowed production. Crew members were worried the weight of the head mask would cause Mardji problems;  special make-up effects artist Rick Baker was particularly concerned. But the elephant experienced more difficulty dragging the costume's tail. Additionally, although Mardji was trained to tuck her trunk into her mouth to conceal it while wearing the bantha costume, her trunk would also occasionally fall out of the costume and become visible during shooting. Mardji's trainer fed her apples as a reward between scenes to help keep her focused and help overcome the challenges from the costume. Lucas said filming with an elephant was more frustrating than using a visual effect because he felt it limited the environment in which he could place the creature. Nevertheless, Mardji was largely good-natured throughout the shoot, and the footage was captured without major incident.

Anthony Daniels, the actor who played C-3PO in the Star Wars films, first saw the bantha footage while recording dialogue during the dubbing process and was so impressed he asked George Lucas how the creature was brought to life, which Lucas did not reveal. During one scene in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker looks through a pair of binoculars and sees two banthas. Only one was used in filming due to budget restraints, and the second bantha in the shot was created using optical compositing. Lucas later said he felt a deep connection with Mardji and "fell in love" with the elephant, regularly visiting her at Marine World after filming. In November 1995, aged 44, Mardji was euthanized at the University of California, Davis because of an untreatable and painful bone condition in her front legs. Mardji had been having difficulty walking due to the ailments, and had undergone two major surgeries for treatment in the years prior to her death. When Lucas revised Star Wars and released a new Special Edition version in 1997, he decided to retain the original shots of the elephant, rather than replacing the bantha with computer-generated imagery. The bantha costume used in Star Wars was on display at Marine World Africa USA for a time after Mardji's death, but elements of it deteriorated because it was not sufficiently protected, and it was later destroyed.

Mardji's gait served as the model for the movement of AT-AT walkers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The idea was conceived by special effects artist Jon Berg, who felt the walkers looked so much like elephants that they should mimic their movements as well. During the production of Empire, Berg and fellow special effects artists Phil Tippett and Dennis Muren visited Mardji at Marine World Africa USA and shot footage of her walking back and forth for use as a reference in creating the walker's movements. Each appearance of banthas in films and television after the original Star Wars films were digital creations modeled after the original creature in Star Wars, rather than again using an elephant in costume. The first such use of digitally-created banthas was the shot of a bantha herd in the Special Edition re-release of Return of the Jedi. Rick McCallum, a producer with the Special Edition films, said the digital banthas allowed for greater flexibility and freedom of movement than the original version, which he described as "laboriously-made creatures that you couldn't sync up". An entirely new digital model for the bantha had to be created for its appearance in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars to match the show's unique visual style.

The bantha inspired the creation of luggabeasts, semi-mechanical beasts of burden used by scavengers in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), the first film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Concept designer Christian Alzmann said the crew sought to make updated versions of the creatures from the original films, and banthas from the original Star Wars film helped inspire this approach. Additionally, the use of a live elephant for the original bantha inspired the special effects team behind Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) to use actual dogs to portray Corellian hounds, quadrupedal creatures featured in that film. Special effects artist Neal Scanlan said the bantha in Star Wars "set that whole thing up for me. It's our responsibility to carry that magic forward."

Critical reception
The bantha has been described as a favorite among fans, as well as the cast and crew of the films. Anthony Daniels, the actor who portrayed C-3PO, called the bantha "one of the best things in the movie". Ted Edwards, author of The Unauthorized Star Wars Compendium, wrote that the shot of a herd of banthas added in to the Special Edition version of Return of the Jedi was "probably the single most striking image added to any of the three films". Gary Arnold, senior film critic with The Washington Times, said he appreciated that the bantha was not replaced by a digital creation in Star Wars re-releases like other creatures were, and that it represented an authenticity that fans appreciate. The bantha was included on HowStuffWorks' list of "11 Wacky Star Wars Creatures We Love", calling it "a wacky combination of animal parts in a memorable form". Brian Linder of IGN praised banthas as a positive addition to the Star Wars universe, writing: "Banthas are the choice beast of burden of the Tusken frickin' Raiders. That alone makes them cool."

Cultural references
The first name of the original newsletter of the Official Star Wars Fan Club was Bantha Tracks, inspired by the creature. Originally entitled simply Official Star Wars Fan Club when first published in 1978, the newsletter was renamed after a contest in the second issue invited readers to submit new names. Preston Postole of Avon, Ohio, submitted the winning title of Bantha Tracks. During one scene in Return of the Jedi, Jabba the Hutt insults Han Solo by saying: "You may have been a good smuggler, but now you're bantha fodder." The line became a popular one among Star Wars fans, with "bantha fodder" becoming a well-known Star Wars-related insult. An Australian punk band called Bantha Fodder takes its name from the line. In Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, a 2014 Star Wars-themed episode of the animated series Phineas and Ferb, villain character Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz sings a song that ends with the line "Darth Vader can kiss my bantha!" A September 18, 2014 episode of the educational children's television series Sesame Street featured a Star Wars-inspired segment in which Mr. Snuffleupagus, a woolly mammoth-like Muppet character, appeared as a bantha.

Merchandise
A bantha action figure was planned for the Star Wars: The Power of the Force toy line by Kenner Products in 1985, and concept artwork was prepared for the toy, but it was never produced before Kenner ended the toy line. A bantha figure would not be created until Hasbro revived the Power of the Force line in 1995. Several miniature bantha figures have since been released for use in Star Wars role-playing games, including one by West End Games, and a five-inch figurine through the Star Wars Miniatures toyline by Wizards of the Coast. Original t-shirts for official members of the Star Wars fan club featured a photo of a bantha. In 2014, Hallmark released a miniature bantha plush toys through its Itty Bittys toy line, sold in a two-pack along with a Tusken Raider. A bantha ride had been planned for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, but it was ultimately not created. The planned attraction would have allowed visitors to ride on platforms atop large animatronic banthas, which would then embark on a tour of the area.

title: Bantha


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Talk:Agile software development

Micromanaging?
Old fart here. I have spent 42 years in the mainframe industry, both as an all-round business analyst, database designer and developer and (last 10 years) database administrator. I retired in September, but found retirement a bit dull, so I have started up as a consultant. And now I have found that literally every company is going Agile. We're doing "standups" every morning, we have sprint planning sessions every two weeks, we have refinement sessions, we have PI's (program increments) consisting of 5 two-week sprints, and every PI – i.e. every 10 weeks – there is a two-day planning session with the whole IT department, 40–45 people. So, they are basically burning money, at least in my view; having 40–45 people in a two-day planning session consumes as many manhours as one person can do in about four months.

And now that I read about Agile, it says that the Waterfall model was criticized for "micromanaging". Eyeroll. I guess it could be, but that depends on the project leader. Agile appears to be micromanaging by design.

I'm an impatient person and I'm used to rolling up my sleeves and just do what's needed, and I don't know how long I can stand this.

Agile is a fad. It will go away.

This is a comment to the cn tag I just put on the article.

HandsomeFella (talk) 11:00, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

 * Software dev has been agile for a long long time. Scrum is new, and I too find it to have a hefty taint of micromanage via daily intimidation.  I've yet to hear of its value or justification, particularly onerous in the wrong hands: Agile/scrum means we work in isolation.  Looking at what it does, daily, it gets engineers to speak (presuming they don't) and if you're really lucky, someone addresses the blocking, but not seeing the purported scrum master doing so. 149.32.192.43 (talk) 19:25, 6 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Scrum is not new. Have you not read the article? Both agile and scrum came up to be at about the same time, in mid 90's. Unless you are arguing that Agile is older than that. Then I would ask you to elaborate on that. 181.221.20.233 (talk) 14:23, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

 * At Meta, we weren't "Agile" but the use of meetings and overmanagement are as you described. I am one of those people where you can just tell me the problem and I'll go take care of it. So you can imagine my frustration when our policy was to have multiple meetings planning out the solution before anyone does anything, then we finally go to enact the solution and find out one of our assumptions was wrong, so back to the drawing board with more meetings. Plus you the people in the meetings are often managers and nontechnical people who don't really know what's going on, but we are all supposed to plan this together somehow. So my impression is that these overmanagement methods are part of a general push for "inclusion" which effectively means that the person whose best for the job (the expert) can't just solve the problem before including lots of other people who only slow things down.2405:9800:B650:C3C0:AC8A:AD67:68D1:6DE (talk) 09:23, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

 * Agree. And not only is it micromanagement, it's stealth authoritarian, disguised in thick layers of fake friendliness and fake good humor. It probably stems from 1) a need for detail control (which managers in the IT industry can dream of, but will never have), and 2) a desire of making everyone replaceable, in order to avoid dependency on a few individuals, and being able to kick anyone anytime, and thus stave off requests for a raise. But guess what: people make the employer having to replace them continuously by quitting. It's what's happening here: four out of 45 people have quit the last 6 months, another one is leaving this week. I will leave at the end of March, but they don't know that yet. HandsomeFella (talk) 13:03, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * What is your point? What do you suggest to change in the article? Stevebroshar (talk) 09:37, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Less marketing speak?
Reading over this article a few times, and this whole thing feels less like a plain explanation of a software development process and more along the lines of a cult recruitment manifesto.

Key issues: Too many words to explain nothing, Long run on paragraphs that aim to make the eyes glaze over. Should the entire manifesto be even printed within the article instead of just being left as an external link? An absurd amount of hideous buzzwords complimenting the look as a cult manifesto. The porthole portal of links in the middle of the article, spinning potential readers about into a traffic circle of useless information.

Trying to summarize for a more concise article: Agile is a hope & pray type philosophy towards development schemed up by people who don't know software development. It relies on being a constantly moving target with irresponsibly short goals, and overrelies on kissing the butt of a potential customer by overcommunicating with them daily. If left to their own devices, Agile developers would skip many of the standards and testing required of them by ISO and other such associations. Documentation is considered a devil of the details and other people should document the code made in 24 hours on a 7 hour coffee bender. 2601:540:C700:42DF:76C8:5F43:53F1:5C95 (talk) 06:49, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

 * Interesting summary. Not completely off the mark, but hyperbolic, negative, pessimistic and fear-based. Stevebroshar (talk) 12:19, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

Confusing table perhaps showing non-tabular data?
The table titled "Home grounds of different development methods" starts off being tabular, with each row seeming to address one feature of the development environment—criticality, developer experience, etc. But at the fourth row it goes off the rails, with the first two columns addressing the number of developers and the third column mentioning (again) requirements. The fifth row mentions culture in the first two columns and "Extreme quality" in the third.

Essentially it would seem impossible to add row labels to the table because it is unclear how one would label rows 4 and 5.

Perhaps it could be expanded with some blank cells so the nonsequitor entries in column 3 be in their own rows.38.23.161.163 (talk) 21:48, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

 * Do you want to add rows? What do you think should be done? You have not made an actionable suggestion IMO. Stevebroshar (talk) 09:35, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Duplicate/missing paragraphs
The paragraphs titled "Behavior-driven development", "Continuous integration", and "Cross-functional team" all contain the same text, which is a copy of the "Agile Testing" paragraph.38.23.161.163 (talk) 22:08, 16 January 2024 (UTC)

 * Seems to be fixed. Stevebroshar (talk) 09:29, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Every project schedule has the shape of cascade so every project is Waterfall
Every project schedule created in MS Project or any other tool has the shape of a waterfall, so every project is a Waterfall. Only the production process can be agile. Konsul28 (talk) 09:03, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

 * What's your point? Stevebroshar (talk) 09:26, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

Every project schedule has the shape of cascade so every project is Waterfall
https://www.academia.edu/118622542/The_twilight_of_AGILE_propaganda_Why_AGILE_is_not_a_Project_Management_Methodology_ Konsul28 (talk) 09:14, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

 * Why two topics with the same name? Stevebroshar (talk) 09:26, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Agile software development


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Jedediah Strutt

Jedediah Strutt (1726 – 7 May 1797) or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England.

Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed the production of ribbed stockings. Their machine became known as the Derby Rib machine, and the stockings it produced quickly became popular.

Early life
He was born in South Normanton near Alfreton in Derbyshire into a farming family in 1726.

In 1740 he became an apprentice wheelwright in Findern. In 1754 he inherited a small stock of animals from an uncle and married Elizabeth Woolatt in 1755 in Derbyshire. He moved to Blackwell where he had inherited a farm from one of his uncles and, in addition developed a business carrying coal from Denby to Belper and Derby.

The Derby Rib
Strutt's brother-in-law, William Woolatt, employed one Mr. Roper of Locko who had produced an idea for an attachment to the stocking frame to knit ribbed stockings. He had made one or two specimens which he showed to his friends, though he lacked the interest (and the capital) to develop his idea. Woolatt conferred with Strutt, who sold a horse and paid Roper £5 for his invention. Strutt and Woolatt turned the device into a viable machine and took out a patent in 1759.

Their machine became known as the Derby Rib machine, and the stockings it produced quickly became popular. Cotton was cheaper than silk and more comfortable than wool but demand was far exceeding supply.

Cotton mills
Strutt and another spinner, Samuel Need, were introduced to Richard Arkwright who had arrived in Nottingham in about 1768, and set up his spinning frame there using horse-power to run the mill, but this was an unsatisfactory power source. In Derby, John Lombe had built a successful silk spinning mill using water power. Strutt and Need joined Arkwright in the building of a cotton mill at Cromford, using what was henceforth called Arkwright's water frame. This was the first of its kind in the world, marking the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Strutt bought land in 1777 for his first mill in Belper, which at that time was a hamlet of framework knitters and nail makers. In 1781 he bought the old forge at Makeney by Milford Bridge from Walter Mather. Belper opened in 1778 and Milford in 1782. For each he built long rows of substantial worker's houses and both are now part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

In time there would be eight Strutt mills at Belper which would grow to a population of 10,000 by the mid-nineteenth century and be the second largest town in the county.

Family
Strutt was the second son of William Strutt of South Normanton and Martha Statham of Handley near Shottle, Derbyshire, England. In 1755, he married Elizabeth Woollatt. They had five children before Elizabeth's death in London in 1774. In 1781, Strutt married again, to Ann Cantrell, the widow of George Daniels of Belper. There were no children from this marriage.

Jedediah and Elizabeth's children were:
 * William (1756–1830), who married Barbara Evans, daughter of Thomas Evans (by his second wife), and who invented the Belper stove. Their son was the Liberal politician Edward Strutt, 1st Baron Belper.
 * Elizabeth (1758–1836), who married William Evans, son of Thomas Evans (by his first wife).
 * Martha (1760–1793), who married Samuel Fox.
 * George Benson (1761–1841), who married Catherine Radford, daughter of Anthony Radford of Holbrook.
 * Joseph (1765–1844), who married Isabella Douglas, daughter of Archibold Douglas.

Jedediah died in Derby in 1797 and is buried in the Unitarian Chapel in Field Row, Belper, which he had built in 1788/9. His final home, Friar Gate House, Derby, is marked with a blue plaque. The house was designed by his son, William Strutt.

title: Jedediah Strutt


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User:Sayeth

On break

title: User:Sayeth