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Trypanosomiasis

Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus Trypanosoma. In humans this includes African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. A number of other diseases occur in other animals.

African trypanosomiasis, which is caused by either Trypanosoma brucei gambiense or Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, threatens some 65 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in rural areas and populations disrupted by war or poverty. The number of cases has been going down due to systematic eradication efforts: in 1998 almost 40,000 cases were reported but almost 300,000 cases were suspected to have occurred; in 2009, the number dropped below 10,000; and in 2018 it dropped below 1000. Chagas disease causes 21,000 deaths per year mainly in Latin America.

Signs and symptoms
The tsetse fly bite erupts into a red chancre sore and within a few weeks, the person can experience fever, swollen lymph glands, blood in urine, aching muscles and joints, headaches and irritability. In the first phase, the patient has only intermittent bouts of fever with lymphadenopathy together with other non-specific signs and symptoms. The second stage of the disease is marked by involvement of the central nervous system with extensive neurological effects like changes in personality, alteration of the biological clock (the circadian rhythm), confusion, slurred speech, seizures and difficulty in walking and talking. These problems can develop over many years and if not treated, the person dies. It is common in Subsaharan Africa.

Diagnosis
Cattle may show enlarged lymph nodes and internal organs. Haemolytic anaemia is a characteristic sign. Systemic disease and reproductive wastage are common, and cattle appear to waste away.

Horses with dourine show signs of ventral and genital edema and urticaria.

Infected dogs and cats may show severe systemic signs.

Diagnosis relies on recognition of the flagellate on a blood smear. Motile organisms may be visible in the buffy coat when a blood sample is spun down. Serological testing is also common.

One common way in which trypanosomiasis can be diagnosed in humans is through the detection of antibodies against trypanosomes made by host organisms. One commonly used antibody test which operated based on this principle is the card agglutination test, C.A.T.T. for T. gambiense. In this test, reagent is mixed with blood and shaken. Within a matter of minutes, a researcher or public health professional can determine whether someone has made these antibodies and therefore is infected with trypanosomes. Regarding the accuracy of this test, it is reported to have an 87 to 98 percent sensitivity rating.

Another way to diagnose trypanosomiasis in humans is to detect the trypanosome protozoans themselves. One way to do this would be to use lymph node aspirate. In this test, which has a sensitivity of between 40 and 80 percent, a healthcare worker will first find a cervical lymph node which is enlarged. Once the healthcare worker has punctured that lymph node, its aspirate is examined under a microscope for trypanosomes to confirm diagnosis.

Prevention
The use of trypanotolerant breeds for livestock farming should be considered if the disease is widespread. Fly control is another option but is difficult to implement. The main approaches to controlling African trypanosomiasis are to reduce the reservoirs of infection and the presence of the tsetse fly. Screening of people at risk helps identify patients at an early stage. Diagnosis should be made as early as possible and before the advanced stage to avoid complicated, difficult and risky treatment procedures.

Treatment
Stage I of the condition is usually treated with pentamidine or suramin through intramuscular injection or intravenous infusion if sufficient observation is possible. Stage II of the disease is typically treated with melarsoprol or eflornithine preferably introduced to the body intravenously. Both pentamidine and suramin have limited side effects. Melarsoprol is extremely effective but has many serious side effects which can cause neurological damage to a patient, however, the drug is often a patient's last hope in many late stage cases. Eflornithine is extremely expensive but has side effects that may be treated with ease. In regions of the world where the disease is common eflornithine is provided for free by the World Health Organization.

Epidemiology
Trypanosomes and trypanosomiasis disease is transmitted through the tsetse fly. As many as 90 percent of sleeping sickness cases are caused by the Glossina fuscipes subspecies of the fly. The palpalis subspecies contributes the majority of the rest of the cases. The different subspecies of fly dominate different habitats. For instance, the Glossina Morsitans subspecies inhabits savannahs while the Glossina Palpalis subspecies prefers woody riverine habitats. However, all flies are susceptible to extremes in temperature (outside of the 16-40 degree Celsius range). Furthermore, trypanosomes are only able to reproduce in tsetse flies between the 25 to 30 Celsius range. These factors mean that only a minority of tsetse flies, around 20 percent, are estimated to carry trypanosomes. These flies can also adapt to human activity, thus causing changes in disease patterns. For example, when brush is cleared for agriculture, the flies can retreat into the savannah and conversely when humans move into brush, the flies will reproduce and feed more frequently. As a result, large increases of population associated with expansion into woody habitats often coincides with trypanosomiasis epidemics.

Humans, their livestock, or wild animals can all act as reservoirs of trypanosomiasis disease. However, the reservoirs used differ based on subspecies of trypanosoma protozoans and thus the variants of trypanosomiasis disease. There are two main variants of trypanosomoiasis which are in turn transmitted by different subspecies of the trypanosome protozoans. Trypanosoma brucei rhodiense tends to result in more acute forms of disease and is mainly transmitted form one human to another. Most patients with this variant of disease will die within six months of infection. Cattle can also act as a reservoir in areas where disease incidence is lower. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense is the second type of protozoan which usually results in more chronic disease patterns. Its main reservoir is the cattle populations. Although it is also fatal, death can take months or years to occur. Geographical separation of these two variants of trypanosomes occurs along the Rift Valley. Trypanosoma brucei rhodiense is usually found on the eastern side of the valley while the gambiense variant resides on the western side. The ranges of the two disease variants could overlap in Uganda, Tanzania, and Congo in the future.

Research
Trypanosomiasis could, in future be prevented by genetically altering the tsetse fly. As the tsetse fly is the main vector of transmission, making the fly immune to the disease by altering its genome could be the main component in an effort to eradicate the disease. New technologies such as CRISPR allowing cheaper and easier genetic engineering could allow for such measures. A pilot program in Senegal, funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, has considerably reduced the tsetse fly population by introducing male flies which have been sterilized by exposure to gamma rays. This has allowed a change of cattle breeds from lower producing trypanotolerant breeds to higher-producing foreign breeds, and was selected as one of the Best Sustainable Development Practices on Food Security by EXPO Milan 2015.

Other animals

 * Nagana, or animal African trypanosomiasis, also called 'Souma' or 'Soumaya' in Sudan.
 * Surra
 * Mal de cadeiras, or Quebra Bunda (of central South America, Brazil)
 * Murrina de caderas (of Panama; Derrengadera de caderas)
 * Dourine
 * Cachexial fevers (various)
 * Gambian horse sickness (of central Africa)
 * Baleri (of Sudan)
 * Kaodzera (Rhodesian trypanosomiasis)
 * Tahaga (a disease of camels in Algeria)
 * Galziekte, galzietzke (bilious fever of cattle; gall sickness of South Africa)
 * Peste-boba (of Venezuela; Derrengadera)

Some species of cattle such as the African buffalo, N'dama, and Keteku appear trypanotolerant and do not develop symptoms. Calves are more resistant than adults.

Tsetse-borne species of trypanosomes have entered zoos outside the traditional tsetse zone in infected animals imported for the zoo.

title: Trypanosomiasis


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Mount Jackson (Antarctica)

Mount Jackson (Mount Andrew Jackson and Mount Ernest Gruening) is a mountain that dominates the upland of the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is located in Palmer Land, within the Antarctic claims of Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom. With an elevation of 3184 m, Mount Jackson was once thought to be the highest mountain in the Antarctic Peninsula and the British Antarctic Territory, before the true height of Mount Hope (Eternity Range) was measured. Discovered by members of the United States Antarctic Service, 1939–41, it was named for Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States. The first ascent of Mount Jackson was made by a team led by John Crabbe Cunningham of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in 1964. Mount Jackson's geology was studied in 1972 as part of the Palmer Island investigations by a team of geologists.

Topography
Mount Jackson and the Welch Mountains demarcate the central Black Coast, which is dissected by many inlets and is bounded on the west by Dyer Plateau of central Palmer Land. The two mountains rise above the ice shelf with reliefs of about 1200 - 1500 m towards the east. They are interconnected by icefall zones forming a plateau with steep snow slopes. Mount Jackson rises from its southeast flanks, displaying a steeple summit, whilst the north flank is occupied by a vast cirque. Supraglacial moraines on the mountain's east side measure between 1 - 5 km in length and display boulders at their distal ends.

History

The first topographic mapping of Mount Jackson was carried out in November 1940 by a sledge party of the United States Antarctic Service (USAS). The ground survey was facilitated by aerial photographs and aerial observations. The height was estimated at 4200 m, and the mountain was named Mount Ernest Gruening after the Governor of the Alaska Territory at that time, Ernest Gruening. USAS later renamed it Mount Jackson for the seventh President of the United States. President Jackson signed the bill into law authorizing the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42. The expedition, led by Lt. Charles Wilkes, included exploration and surveying of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands, including Antarctica.

In November 1947, a Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey ground party based at Stonington Island observed Mount Jackson and estimated its height at 3050 m, considerably lower and more accurate than the first estimate in 1940. After the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey was renamed the British Antarctic Survey in 1962, a series of depots were developed, including one at Mount Jackson. BAS members were successful in making many first ascents of the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula, and John Cunningham, who served at the BAS base at Adelaide Island, was the first to climb Mount Jackson. Traveling by dog sled for 400 mi, his team reached the summit on 23 November 1964.

A precise height of the summit was determined by a BAS survey party who ascended the peak during the austral summer of 1996–97.

Geography
The mountain is 3184 m in height, with a prominence of 1384 m and a saddle DEM of 1901 m. Mount Jackson and the Welch Mountains demarcate the central Black Coast, which is dissected by many inlets and is bounded on the west by Dyer Plateau of central Palmer Land, with elevation ranging between 2000 - 3000 m, and on the west side of the central Black Coast. The two mountains rise above the ice shelf with reliefs of about 1200 - 1500 m towards the east. They are interconnected by icefall zones forming a plateau with steep snow slopes. The northern part of the mountain system, which extends over 990 mi, covers most of the Antarctic Peninsula, and Mount Jackson is its highest peak.

Mount Jackson rises from its southeast flanks, displaying a steeple summit, whilst the north flank is occupied by a vast cirque. Supraglacial moraines on the mountain's east side measure between 1 - 5 km in length and display boulders at their distal ends. Mount Jackson and the Rowley Massif are separated by Odom Inlet. Cline Glacier drains eastern Mount Jackson before arriving at Odom Inlet.

Mount Jackson's geology was studied in 1972 as part of the Palmer Island investigations by a team of geologists. They identified various rock types and underlying volcanic activity. The relief of the west facing slopes is gentler when compared to the eastern side, characterized by a steep rocky face. Rock weathering is intense in the area spread with scree and felsenmeer. Fresh rock formations and bedrock disintegration are noted.

Nearby features
Nnearby features include, from north to south, Mount Van Buren, Swarson Nunatak, Davis Ridge and Musson Nunatak.

Mount Van Buren
-71.3°N, -63.5°W. The prominent mountain 3 nmi north-northwest of Mount Jackson, at the east side of the Dyer Plateau. Mapped by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 1974. The name was applied by the United States Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in association with Mount Jackson. Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) was the eighth President of the United States, 1837-41. He was Vice President, 1833-37, during the second term of President Andrew Jackson.

Swarsen Nunatak
-71.41667°N, -63.65°W. A conspicuous nunatak, largely snow covered, located 5 nmi southwest of Mount Jackson. Mapped by the USGS in 1974. Named by the US-ACAN for Lieutenant Commander Ronald J. Swarsen, United States Navy Reserve, Medical Officer at Byrd Station, 1971, and at the South Pole Station, 1973.

Davis Ridge
-71.4°N, -63°W. A ridge of irregular shape, apparently an outlier of the Mount Jackson massif. It rises above the ice surface 6 nmi east-southeast of the summit of Mount Jackson. Mapped by the USGS in 1974. Named by the US-ACAN for Brent L. Davis, USARP biologist at Palmer Station, 1971, and in the Antarctic Peninsula area, 1974-75 season.

Musson Nunatak
-71.51667°N, -63.45°W. A pyramidal nunatak standing 10 nmi south of Mount Jackson, at the east margin of the Dyer Plateau. Mapped by the USGS in 1974. Named by the US-ACAN for John M. Musson, PH2, United States Navy, photographer and member of the cartographic aerial mapping crew in LC-130 aircraft of Squadron VXE-6, 1968-69.

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

title: Mount Jackson (Antarctica)


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Talk:Mount Jackson (Antarctica)

Comment
The initial information for this mountain was obtained by a query search at GNIS Antarctica Data Base Query Form. RedWolf 17:53, May 9, 2004 (UTC)

Opening line
The opening line possibly needs rewording IMO as the word massive, in it's context, doesn't sound very encyclopedic.  Rob van  vee  05:49, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

Mount Hope
The information at is consistent with two of my satellite sources. If it is correct then Mount Jackson is not the highest point of the Antarctic Peninsula or even an ultra prominent peak. Mount Hope, its replacement, appears to be at S 69:47:52 W 64:27:18. Viewfinder (talk) 05:14, 11 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Here's the press release from British Antarctic Survey. - 4ing (talk) 08:37, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mount Jackson (Antarctica)


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Background independence

Background independence is a condition in theoretical physics that requires the defining equations of a theory to be independent of the actual shape of the spacetime and the value of various fields within the spacetime. In particular this means that it must be possible not to refer to a specific coordinate system—the theory must be coordinate-free. In addition, the different spacetime configurations (or backgrounds) should be obtained as different solutions of the underlying equations.

Description
Background independence is a loosely defined property of a theory of physics. Roughly speaking, it limits the number of mathematical structures used to describe space and time that are put in place "by hand". Instead, these structures are the result of dynamical equations, such as Einstein field equations, so that one can determine from first principles what form they should take. Since the form of the metric determines the result of calculations, a theory with background independence is more predictive than a theory without it, since the theory requires fewer inputs to make its predictions. This is analogous to desiring fewer free parameters in a fundamental theory.

So background independence can be seen as extending the mathematical objects that should be predicted from theory to include not just the parameters, but also geometrical structures. Summarizing this, Rickles writes: "Background structures are contrasted with dynamical ones, and a background independent theory only possesses the latter type—obviously, background dependent theories are those possessing the former type in addition to the latter type."

In general relativity, background independence is identified with the property that the metric of spacetime is the solution of a dynamical equation. In classical mechanics, this is not the case, the metric is fixed by the physicist to match experimental observations. This is undesirable, since the form of the metric impacts the physical predictions, but is not itself predicted by the theory.

Manifest background independence
Manifest background independence is primarily an aesthetic rather than a physical requirement. It is analogous and closely related to requiring in differential geometry that equations be written in a form that is independent of the choice of charts and coordinate embeddings. If a background-independent formalism is present, it can lead to simpler and more elegant equations. However, there is no physical content in requiring that a theory be manifestly background-independent – for example, the equations of general relativity can be rewritten in local coordinates without affecting the physical implications.

Although making a property manifest is only aesthetic, it is a useful tool for making sure the theory actually has that property. For example, if a theory is written in a manifestly Lorentz-invariant way, one can check at every step to be sure that Lorentz invariance is preserved. Making a property manifest also makes it clear whether or not the theory actually has that property. The inability to make classical mechanics manifestly Lorentz-invariant does not reflect a lack of imagination on the part of the theorist, but rather a physical feature of the theory. The same goes for making classical mechanics or electromagnetism background-independent.

Theories of quantum gravity
Because of the speculative nature of quantum-gravity research, there is much debate as to the correct implementation of background independence. Ultimately, the answer is to be decided by experiment, but until experiments can probe quantum-gravity phenomena, physicists have to settle for debate. Below is a brief summary of the two largest quantum-gravity approaches.

Physicists have studied models of 3D quantum gravity, which is a much simpler problem than 4D quantum gravity (this is because in 3D, quantum gravity has no local degrees of freedom). In these models, there are non-zero transition amplitudes between two different topologies, or in other words, the topology changes. This and other similar results lead physicists to believe that any consistent quantum theory of gravity should include topology change as a dynamical process.

String theory
String theory is usually formulated with perturbation theory around a fixed background. While it is possible that the theory defined this way is locally background-invariant, if so, it is not manifest, and it is not clear what the exact meaning is. One attempt to formulate string theory in a manifestly background-independent fashion is string field theory, but little progress has been made in understanding it.

Another approach is the conjectured, but yet unproven AdS/CFT duality, which is believed to provide a full, non-perturbative definition of string theory in spacetimes with anti-de Sitter asymptotics. If so, this could describe a kind of superselection sector of the putative background-independent theory. But it would still be restricted to anti-de Sitter space asymptotics, which disagrees with the current observations of our Universe. A full non-perturbative definition of the theory in arbitrary spacetime backgrounds is still lacking.

Topology change is an established process in string theory.

Loop quantum gravity
A very different approach to quantum gravity called loop quantum gravity is fully non-perturbative and manifestly background-independent: geometric quantities, such as area, are predicted without reference to a background metric or asymptotics (e.g. no need for a background metric or anti-de Sitter asymptotics), only a given topology.

title: Background independence


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Society for German–Soviet Friendship

The Society for German–Soviet Friendship (in German, Gesellschaft für Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft/DSF) was an East German organization set up to encourage closer co-operation between the German Democratic Republic and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

It was founded from the Society for the Studies of Soviet Culture to teach about Russian culture to Germans unfamiliar with it. It quickly turned into a propaganda tool and eventually changed its name.

Due to the immense popularity of Mikhail Gorbachev with ordinary East Germans disillusioned with their own hardline Communist leaders, the DSF's membership grew massively in the last years of the regime which many interpret as a sign of support of Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika by the East German people. In 1989 there were 6.3 million members.

Following the disbanding of the German Democratic Republic, the organization was dissolved.

The name has inspired band names that play on the name of the DSF, for instance the German band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, which means German-American Friendship, as well as Jewish Ukrainian Freundschaft (J.U.F.).

Literature

 * Matthias Klingenberg: "Culture as vehicle : the history of the German-Soviet Friendship-Society (1947-1953)", Heidelberg 2001.

title: Society for German–Soviet Friendship


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dragon Dictates

This page is an archive of the discussion surrounding the proposed deletion of the page entitled Dragon Dictates.

This page is kept as an historic record.

The result of the debate was to delete the article.

yoinked text, wierd format

 * Copyvio, belongs on Copyright problems -- Cyrius|&#9998 18:26, May 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * Listed as copyvio by Mikkalai a few days ago. --Zigger 19:28, 2004 May 13 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue or the deletion should be placed on other relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


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Bob Dornan

Robert Kenneth Dornan (born April 3, 1933) is an American actor, radio talk show host, combat veteran, and Republican politician from California. Dornan represented two Southern California districts in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1997, where he became known as a "leading firebrand" on the party's conservative wing. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 1982 and for President of the United States in 1996.

A former actor and television and radio talk show host, Dornan had a flair for the dramatic that drew supporters and detractors well beyond his congressional district. Though never a major power in Washington, he became one of the most well-known members of the House of Representatives as a participant in televised "special orders" speeches and was described as "one of the leading firebrands among American politicians". He has become well known for publicly outing fellow Republican U.S. Representative Steve Gunderson as gay on the House of Representatives floor in 1994.

Early life
Dornan was born in New York City, the son of Gertrude (McFadden) Dornan (1900–1967) and Harry Joseph Dornan (1892–1975). In New York, Dornan's mother had been a vaudeville performer as part of an act called the McFadden Sisters and a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl, and had performed under the stage name Bara Wilkes; her sister was the wife of actor Jack Haley. Harry Dornan owned a haberdashery. After moving to California, he became a real estate entrepreneur in West Los Angeles. He was active in harness racing, a pastime in which many celebrities participated during the 1940s and 1950s. Robert Dornan took advantage of his family's entertainment industry experience and connections after he embarked on his own acting and talk show career. He used celebrity endorsements and campaign contributions to launch his political career.

Dornan attended Loyola University of Los Angeles (later renamed Loyola Marymount University) from 1950 to 1953. At age 19, Robert joined the United States Air Force. He became a fighter pilot, and during his time in the Air Force, he survived two emergency parachute ejections and two "dead stick" forced landings (including one of an F-100). He was on active duty until 1958, and attained the rank of captain. He served in the California Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve until retiring in 1975. Dornan also served as a combat journalist and photographer on several missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the Vietnam War and flew relief flights into Biafra.

Entertainment
Dornan was involved in the entertainment industry as an actor. He starred in the film The Starfighters, cast as Lt. Witkowski, an Air Force pilot who was the son of a U.S. congressman. The Starfighters aired on Mystery Science Theater 3000 on October 29, 1994.

In 1962, he portrayed Air Force Lieutenant Alden in the episode "Dennis at Boot Camp" of the CBS sitcom, Dennis the Menace, starring Jay North and Gale Gordon, with Roy Roberts in this segment as Captain Stone.

In 1966 he co-starred in and possibly co-wrote To the Shores of Hell.

Dornan had a frequent role as Captain Fowler on ABC's 12 O'Clock High television series and smaller roles on ABC's Bewitched and NBC's I Dream of Jeannie. Dornan was an Emmy-award-winning television talk show host on Tempo and The Robert K. Dornan Show broadcast from Los Angeles from 1967 to 1973.

Politics
Dornan has said he took an active role in the civil rights movement. He did attend the historic 1963 March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr.; when this claim was questioned in 1994, he circulated a photo of himself in his Air Force uniform seated in the audience for King's speech. News accounts also indicate he participated in voter registration drives for African Americans in Mississippi. However, a 1998 Washington Post article indicated there is no corroborating information (such as news clippings from the era) to confirm this claim.

Dornan moved into politics in 1973 as national spokesman for the Citizens for Decency Through Law advocacy group. He made an unsuccessful run for mayor of Los Angeles the same year. In 1976, Dornan was elected to the House of Representatives, representing the 27th congressional district in western Los Angeles County. He was re-elected twice. He was such an unswerving advocate for the development of the B-1 bomber, that he was soon nicknamed "B-1 Bob".

In November 1977, he was an opposition speaker at the 1977 National Women's Conference with Lottie Beth Hobbs, Dr. Mildred Jefferson, Phyllis Schlafly and Nellie Gray.

After the 1980 census, California's congressional map was redrawn. Dornan's district, previously a Republican-leaning swing district, was made significantly more Democratic. Believing he had no chance of winning this new district, he opted to run for the United States Senate in 1982. He finished fourth in the Republican primary behind San Diego mayor and future Governor Pete Wilson, who won in November.

Dornan moved to Garden Grove, in the more Republican Orange County. In 1984, he was elected to Congress from the 38th district in central Orange County, defeating 10-year Democratic incumbent Jerry M. Patterson by a 53% to 45% margin amid Ronald Reagan's massive landslide that year. In 1986, he won a tough race against Democratic state Assemblyman Richard Robinson, winning by a 55% to 43% margin. He was re-elected four more times and served on the Intelligence Committee.

Dornan made headlines in March 1985 for a confrontation with Representative Thomas Downey (a Democrat from New York) on the House floor. Downey asked Dornan about comments he had made calling Downey "a draft-dodging wimp". (Downey was exempt from the Vietnam War draft because of a perforated eardrum. ) According to Downey, Dornan, grabbing him by collar and tie, said, "It's good you're being protected by the sergeant-at-arms. If I saw you outside, it would be a different story" and threatened him "with some form of bodily harm". Dornan claimed he was merely straightening Downey's tie and refused to apologize for the incident or the derogatory comment. A Dornan aide said, "It will be a cold day in hell before he gets an apology from Bob Dornan".

Dornan's record was staunchly conservative. However, he did hold some positions that some might call liberal, including sponsoring animal protection acts, earning him the recognition of PETA in 1988.

In 1994, during his final successful run for Congress, it was reported that Dornan's wife, Sallie, had made multiple allegations of domestic violence against him earlier in their marriage. In 1966, Dornan had been convicted of a domestic violence offense and sentenced to jail time; however, it was unclear whether his sentence had ever been served. After the allegations were made public, Sallie Dornan retracted them, stating that she had made false claims about her husband during a period when she was struggling with prescription drug addiction. The Dornans' five children asserted that their father had not been physically abusive. During the same campaign, Dornan had signs posted at polling places that warned voters in Spanish that they should be prepared to prove their citizenship in order to vote. The signs suggested that immigration officials would be present at the polls. The success of this action was believed to have kept enough Latino voters away from the polls to eke out a victory for Dornan against Mike Farber.

In 1995, Dornan received a minor reprimand from the House for stating in a floor speech that President Bill Clinton had "given aid and comfort to the enemy" during the Vietnam War.

Dornan was a dark horse candidate for president of the United States in 1996. In a GOP debate in Iowa on January 13, Dornan called Clinton a "criminal" and a "pathological liar". Dornan later dropped out of the presidential race and ran for reelection to his seat in the House; he was defeated by Democrat Loretta Sanchez by less than 1,000 votes.

Following the narrow defeat, Dornan alleged that Sanchez's winning margin was provided by illegal voting from non-U.S. citizens. A thirteen-month House of Representatives investigation ensued, during which Sanchez was seated provisionally, pending the inquiry. A task force found 748 votes that had been cast illegally—624 from non-citizens in addition to 124 that had already been thrown out by California officials. This was not enough to overturn Sanchez's margin of victory and she was allowed to keep her seat. However, in consultation with the INS, the House committee identified 4,762 questionable registration affidavits.

In September 1997, while his 1996 bid against Sanchez was still being contested, Dornan confronted then-Representative Bob Menendez on the House floor, using profanity and calling Menendez an "anti-Catholic coward". This encounter led to Menendez filing a resolution to bar Dornan from the House floor until the election was resolved, which passed by a vote of 289–65.

Controversial statements
During his political career, Dornan became known for his controversial or offensive statements. Among his remarks:

 * During a House debate in 1994, Dornan outed fellow Republican representative Steve Gunderson, accusing him of having a "revolving door on his closet."
 * In a 1986 U.S. House speech, he called Soviet journalist Vladimir Posner a "disloyal, betraying little Jew who sits there on television claiming that he is somehow or other a newsman." This was the only statement Dornan apologized for, saying, "That's the only thing in my life I ever lost sleep over." Dornan also said that he intended "to say 'Judas', not 'Jew'," as a rebuttal to Posner's insistence that the Soviet Union was free of anti-Semitism.
 * "Every lesbian spear chucker in this country is hoping I get defeated" to a Los Angeles television reporter in 1992 regarding a female challenger in the primary election.
 * On a January 28, 1994, appearance on Politically Incorrect, Dornan declared it was "The Year of the Penis" due to recent events in the news. This was a joke in regard to the 1992 media and political reference as that election being referred to as "The Year of the Woman", when four women won election to the United States Senate.
 * "You are a slimy coward. Go register in another party" to Orange County Republican Central Committee member William Dougherty after he supported Dornan's opponent in 1996.

In 1994, a 120-page book of quotations of Dornan was compiled by Nathan Callahan and William Payton and published as Shut Up, Fag! The quotation that gives the book the title was actually shouted by Dornan's wife, Sallie, at an AIDS activist during an Orange County town forum. Dornan claimed the book was backed by director Oliver Stone, whom Dornan labeled "a Bolshevik enemy".

Dornan's comments and behavior led his political opponents to question his mental health. Mike Kaspar of the Orange County Democratic Party said, "The primary issue is Bob Dornan, himself. I think his character and his own sanity are an issue here." At a White House Correspondents Dinner, Al Franken, who had worked once on Politically Incorrect with Dornan, joked "having Al D'Amato leading an ethics investigation is like getting Bob Dornan to head up a mental health task force." Michael Moore devoted an entire chapter of his book Downsize This! to his efforts to get Dornan involuntarily committed for psychiatric examination.

Later career
Dornan ran against Loretta Sanchez again in 1998, but was defeated.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Dornan hosted The Bob Dornan Show, a radio talk show syndicated nationally by Talk Radio Network.

In 2004, Dornan challenged Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a fellow Republican, in the primary. Dornan charged Rohrabacher with being soft on terrorism and being too close to Islamic extremists. However, he lost by 84% to 16%.

During the summer of 2005, Dornan briefly expressed interest in the 48th congressional district seat that became vacant when then U.S. Congressman Christopher Cox resigned to become chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was interested in running as the nominee of the American Independent Party but did not, allegedly rebuffed by party officials.

Personal life
In 1955, Dornan married Sallie Hansen. They have five children.

title: Bob Dornan


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Died Pretty

Died Pretty, sometimes The Died Pretty, were an Australian alternative rock band founded by mainstays Ron Peno (lead singer) and Brett Myers (lead guitarist and backing vocalist) in Sydney in 1983. Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with psychedelic influences, including The Velvet Underground and Television. They were managed by John Needham, who is the owner of Citadel Records, their main label.

Died Pretty's 1990s albums, Doughboy Hollow, Trace and Sold, appeared on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Charts but they had more success on the alternative scene. According to rock music historian Ian McFarlane they "unashamedly plundered rock's past to arrive at an original sound that was always passionate, atmospheric and uplifting ... produced some of the most inspirational rock music heard in Australia". The group formally disbanded in 2002 but the members reunited on a number of occasions for short tours in Australia. They undertook a joint national tour with Radio Birdman in June and July 2017.

1983–1989: Formation and early years
Died Pretty was formed in 1983 in Sydney after vocalist Ron Peno had left his previous band, Screaming Tribesmen. Peno had been a member of Sydney punk band The Hellcats (as Ronnie Pop, 1977), and followed with The 31st (in Brisbane, 1979–1981) and Screaming Tribesmen (Brisbane then Sydney, 1981–1983). In April 1983, music journalist and keyboardist Frank Brunetti of Super K had formed a duo with lead guitarist and vocalist Brett Myers from The End (in Brisbane then Sydney). Myers was a fan of American group Velvet Underground and the duo modelled themselves after experimental New York protopunk band Suicide. Brunetti suggested Peno join as singer and their first five performances were in Brisbane under the name Final Solution, after the song by Pere Ubu. Peno provided the name Died Pretty, and on drums, they recruited Rob Younger (Radio Birdman, Super K) for two months. After various bass guitarists, Jonathan Lickliter joined and Younger was replaced by Colin Barwick both from The End with Myers. Younger concentrated on his career as producer for Citadel Records. Died Pretty signed with Citadel and were managed by the label's owner John Needham. Their music started from a base of early electric Bob Dylan with psychedelic influences, including The Velvet Underground and Television. According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, they "unashamedly plundered rock's past to arrive at an original sound that was always passionate, atmospheric and uplifting ... produced some of the most inspirational rock music heard in Australia".

The band came to the attention of the Australian independent music scene and inner city circuit. In January 1984 they recorded "Out of the Unknown", with Younger producing, which was released on Citadel as their first single. Before touring to Melbourne, Lickliter was replaced on bass guitar by Mark Lock (The Phantom Agents, End). In August they recorded a 10-minute psychedelic epic "Mirror Blues" (issued split over a 7" in Australia and intact on 12" in the United Kingdom). Barwick was dissatisfied with Died Pretty and the band tried to recruit Chris Welsh (The 31st, Screaming Tribesmen) but initially could not finance a drum kit for him. With Welsh finally on board, they recorded the extended play (EP), Next to Nothing, released in August 1985. It held a top ten position on the alternative charts for nearly 12 months, starting their career with critical attention and three alternative chart No. 1 hits in a row. UK label, What Goes On, compiled their early singles as The Died Pretty on a three-track EP and French label Closer released Next to Nothing in 1985. Three releases achieved 'Single of the Week' in UK music weekly Melody Maker, though the band did not achieve a great deal of popularity or notice by the UK public. The next single "Stoneage Cinderella" was released in June 1986, taken from their first album Free Dirt, produced by Younger, which followed in August. Free Dirt was released internationally by What Goes On and Citadel. The band went on its first tour to Europe and the United States in October, which included two weeks in France with drummer Andrew Edge filling-in for Welsh, who had broken his foot in London. Died Pretty became a popular attraction in France and Italy.

The second album, Lost, was released in June 1988 on the Blue Mosque label, an offshoot of Citadel and major label Festival Records, and outside Australia through Beggars Banquet and Closer. It was the second highest selling alternative album for the year and peaked at No. 3 in Italy. Myers produced two albums for Citadel label mates Porcelain Bus. Lock departed after recording Lost but before its release – he had grown weary of touring – and was replaced on bass guitar by Steve Clark (The Glass, 30/40 Purple). Died Pretty undertook their second tour of US and Europe. Lost provided three singles – "Winterland", "Towers of Strength" and "Out of My Hands". Brunetti had left in April 1988 – his last recording, "Everybody Moves", was released as a single in 1989 – and was replaced by John Hoey, (Thought Criminals, X-Men, New Christs) on keyboards. The band went on a third tour of Europe and US, but remained in Los Angeles at tour's end to prepare for their next album.

1990–2002: Second phase
Died Pretty recorded their third album, Every Brilliant Eye, in Los Angeles with Jeff Eyrich (The Gun Club, The Plimsouls) producing. It was released on Blue Mosque in April 1990. The album featured a more polished production with leaner, more rock-oriented songs – it spawned the singles, "Whitlam Square" (February), "True Fools Fall" (May) and "Is There Anyone?".

Their fourth album, Doughboy Hollow, was released in August 1991 on Blue Mosque and Beggars Banquet, which peaked at No. 24 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart. The album was "[b]rimming with passionate, dramatic and alluring musical vistas". It was produced by Englishman Hugh Jones (The Damned, Echo & the Bunnymen, Simple Minds). Its singles, "Stop Myself", "D.C." and "Sweetheart", despite being "near-perfect pop", did not achieve mainstream chart success. After recording the album, Brisbane bass guitarist Robert Warren replaced Clark. The band were nominated for two ARIA Awards in 1992. Welsh was replaced by a succession of drummers, Murray Shepherd (Screaming Tribesmen), Warwick Fraser (Screaming Tribesmen) and Stuart Eadie (Clouds) before he returned at year's end.

Reuniting with producer Hugh Jones, their next album, Trace was released worldwide by Sony Music in September 1993, and became their biggest-selling album to date, peaking at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It spun off four singles and videos, "Caressing Swine", "Harness Up", "Headaround" and "A State of Graceful Mourning'. The video for "A State of Graceful Mourning" was filmed in a forest that had been burned out by the 1994 Eastern seaboard fires. Soon after the release of Trace, long-time drummer Welsh left and became an English teacher in Thailand. A CD-EP, Days was issued late in 1994 with Nick Kennedy (Big Heavy Stuff) on drums. They supported R.E.M., at that band's request, on the Australian leg of their Monster Tour, in early 1995.

Their next album, Sold, released in February 1996, was recorded with contributions by two drummers - Kennedy had been replaced by Shane Melder (on loan from Sidewinder). Sold reunited them with original producer Younger, who co-produced with Wayne Connolly. It was also mixed at the well-known Fort Apache Studios in Boston by Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade (Buffalo Tom, Radiohead, Dinosaur Jr). A rougher, harder-sounding collection than Doughboy or Trace, it gained critical acclaim and reached the Top 30. Its singles "Cuttin' Up Her Legs" and "Good at Love" failed to chart and Died Pretty were dropped by Sony in April 1996. Simon Cox (Juice) joined on as full-time drummer in May and the group signed back with Citadel, and released a four-track EP, Deeper in November. The EP has a guest appearance by Hoodoo Gurus guitarist Brad Shepherd and has Peno playing harmonica on the opening track "You Need Wings". The EP was produced by Connolly, who had become the band's producer of choice and would work on all their subsequent studio output.

Their last two studio albums, Using My Gills As a Roadmap (1998) and Everydaydream (2000) showed the band moving away from basic guitar rock and making greater use of electronics, citing Kraftwerk, David Bowie's Low and obscure Euro dance records as influences. They released a compilation, Out of the Unknown – The Best of Died Pretty (1999), on Citadel.

Bass guitarist Warren departed the band temporarily in December 2001 due to tinnitus. Myers and Peno – the band's main songwriters – began working on a proposed new album, but this proved difficult as Peno had moved to Melbourne. In May 2002, Died Pretty announced they would disband after a final Australian tour with Warren back on board. They released a three-track 'farewell' single, "My Generation Landslide" in August.

2002–2023: Later projects and reformations
Peno joined with guitarist and vocalist Kim Salmon (The Scientists, Beasts of Bourbon) in 2005 to form country music group, Darling Downs. They recorded two albums, How Can I Forget This Heart of Mine? (2005) and From One to Another (2007). In 2007, Peno and Myers recorded an independently released album as Noises and Other Voices. It included material originally written for Died Pretty's unrecorded final album, along with some newly written songs. Peno and Myers played occasional 'Songs of Died Pretty Unplugged' shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, including the Queenscliff music festival.

In February 2008, Died Pretty re-formed to perform Doughboy Hollow in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties-curated Don't Look Back series, using that album's line-up – Clark, Hoey, Myers, Peno and Welsh – playing together for the first time in sixteen years. Peno revealed that a documentary was pending – featuring interviews with band members, and rehearsal and concert footage from the Melbourne shows. Doughboy Hollow was remastered, expanded and reissued by Citadel Records in February. The tour included shows in all major capital cities. The line-up continued with appearances at the 2008 Homebake Festival in Sydney and EG Awards Hall of Fame inductees on 4 December in Melbourne. They appeared on the nationwide Big Day Out tour in January 2009, having played the inaugural Big Day Out back in 1992. A 2×CD deluxe reissue of their debut album Free Dirt was released through Aztec Music in late 2008, and an expanded reissue of 1988's Lost was released in June 2013. Peno & Myers performed an acoustic set at the Orient Hotel, Brisbane, on 7 November 2009 for a private party. Peno had returned to his solo career by May 2010. In October 2010, Doughboy Hollow (1991) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.

In April 2012, Died Pretty performed as part of the Dig It Up! series of concerts around Australia, organised to celebrate 30 years of recorded music by fellow Australian band Hoodoo Gurus.

In March 2016, the band played across Australia as part of the 'A Day on the Green' concert series, with Hoodoo Gurus, Sunnyboys, Violent Femmes and Ratcat. They also played some headline shows in clubs.

The band undertook a joint national tour with Radio Birdman in June and July 2017.

On 14 February 2019, it was announced that Ron Peno had been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and that all upcoming Died Pretty shows would be cancelled while he underwent immediate treatment. A further message on the band's Instagram page stated that he "stands strong to beat it."

In August 2019, Peno successfully completed chemotherapy, and the tumour in his oesophagus was surgically removed. Medical staff are confident that all the cancer has been removed from his body. In December, Died Pretty announced Australian concerts for April and May 2020.

The band officially returned to the stage with a performance at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on 17 April 2021.

The band released a double live album, simply titled Live, on 24 March 2023. The album was recorded during a show at Melbourne's Forum Theatre in 2008, when the band reformed to play a series of gigs across Australia to celebrate Doughboy Hollow as part of the Don't Look Back concert series.

The band had intended to return to the stage for a live tour in October 2023; this was cancelled in July, however, due to both Peno and Welsh battling different forms of cancer. Peno died on 10 August 2023, at the age of 68.

Personnel
Final line-up
 * Brett Myers – guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals (1983–2002, 2008–2009, 2012, 2016–2023)
 * Ronald S. Peno – lead vocals (1983–2002, 2008–2009, 2012, 2016–2023; died 2023)
 * Chris Welsh – drums, percussion (1985–1992, 1993–1995, 2008–2009, 2012, 2016–2023)
 * Dr Steve Clark – bass guitar (1988–1991, 2008–2009, 2012, 2016–2023)
 * John Hoey – keyboards (1988–2002, 2008–2009, 2012, 2016–2023)

Former members
 * Frank Brunetti – keyboards (1983–1988)
 * Rob Younger – drums (1983)
 * Colin Barwick – drums (1983–1985)
 * Jonathan Lickliter – bass guitar (1983–1984)
 * Mark Lock – bass guitar (1984–1988)
 * Robert Warren – bass guitar, backing vocals (1991–2002)
 * Murray Shepherd – drums (1992)
 * Warwick Fraser – drums (1992)
 * Stuart Eadie – drums (1992–1993)
 * Nick Kennedy – drums (1995)
 * Shane Melder – drums (1995)
 * Simon Cox – drums (1996–2002)

Timeline
Additional musicians
 * Louis Tillett – piano
 * Graham Lee – pedal steel guitar
 * John Papanis – mandolin
 * Julian Watchhorn – violin
 * Tim Fagan – saxophone
 * Astrid Munday – backing vocals
 * Don Walker – piano
 * J'Anna Jacobi – violin
 * Shandra Beri – backing vocals
 * Gary McLaughlin – percussion
 * Gonzalo Quintana III – drums
 * Amanda Brown – violin
 * Sarah Peet – cello
 * Sunil de Silva – percussion
 * Eleanor Rodgers – harmonies
 * Caroline Lavelle – cello
 * Jack Howard – trumpet

ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

 * Ref.
 * rowspan="2"| 1989
 * Lost
 * Best New Talent
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|
 * Robyn Stacey & Richard Allan – Lost
 * Best Cover Art
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"| 1992
 * Doughboy Hollow
 * Album of the Year
 * Nominated
 * rowspan="2"|
 * Marcel Lunam for Died Pretty – "D.C."
 * Best Video
 * Nominated
 * Marcel Lunam for Died Pretty – "D.C."
 * Best Video
 * Nominated
 * Nominated

The Age EG Awards
The Age EG Awards are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005.

 * 2008
 * Died Pretty
 * Hall of Fame
 * inductee
 * inductee

title: Died Pretty


text:
Neogastropoda

Neogastropoda is an order of sea snails, both freshwater and marine gastropod molluscs.

Description
The available fossil record of Neogastropoda is relatively complete, and supports a widely accepted evolutionary scenario of an Early Cretaceous origin of the group followed by two rapid diversification rounds in the late Cretaceous and the Paleocene.

These sea snails have only one auricle, one kidney and one monopectinate gill, i.e. the gill filaments develop on only one side of the central axis.

The shell has a well-developed siphonal canal. The elongated trunk-like siphon is an extensible tube, formed from a fold in the mantle. It is used to suck water into the mantle cavity. At the base of the siphon is the bipectinate (branching from a central axis) osphradium, a sensory receptacle and olfactory organ, that is more developed than the one in the Mesogastropoda. They achieved important morphological changes including e.g., the elongation of the siphonal canal, a shift in the mouth opening to a terminal position on the head, and the formation of a well-developed proboscis.

The nervous system is very concentrated. Many species have the ganglia in a compact space.

The rachiglossate (rasp-like) radula, a layer of serially arranged teeth within the mouth, has only three denticles (small teeth) in each transverse row.

The Neogastropoda have separate sexes.

There are about 16,000 species. Neogastropoda includes many well-known gastropods including the cone snails, conchs, mud snails, olive snails, oyster drills, tulip shells, and whelks. The Neogastropoda all live in the sea, except Clea, and Rivomarginella that are freshwater genera. The neogastropods are most diverse in tropical seas. They are mostly predators, but some are saprophagous (scavengers).

Taxonomy
According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the clade Neogastropoda consists of these superfamilies:
 * Buccinoidea Rafinesque, 1815
 * Conoidea Fleming, 1822
 * Cancellarioidea Forbes & Hanley, 1851 : since 2017 treated as the superfamily Volutoidea Rafinesque, 1815
 * Mitroidea Swainson, 1831 : added in 2017
 * Muricoidea Rafinesque, 1815
 * Olivoidea Latreille, 1825
 * † Pholidotomoidea Cossmann, 1896
 * Pseudolivoidea (de Gregorio, 1880) : since 2017 treated as a synonym of the superfamily Olivoidea Latreille, 1825
 * Turbinelloidea Rafinesque, 1815
 * Volutoidea Rafinesque, 1815

When Neogastropoda was an order, it was placed within the prosobranch gastropods according to the taxonomy developed by Thiele (1921). The families which used to form the order Neogastropoda are now included in the clade Neogastropoda Cox, 1960.

Ever since Thiele (1929), Neogastropoda have been considered a natural group, clearly differentiated from other Caenogastropoda. The monophyly of the group is widely accepted among morphologists, and it is based on several synapomorphies mostly related with the anatomy of the digestive system. Current classifications of Neogastropoda generally recognize up to six superfamilies: Buccinoidea, Muricoidea, Olivoidea, Pseudolivoidea, Conoidea, and Cancellarioidea. Phylogenetic relationships among neogastropod superfamilies based on morphological characters are rather unstable, and for instance, Cancellarioidea or Buccinoidea have been alternatively proposed as the sister group of the remaining Neogastropoda.

Families
According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the taxonomy of clade Neogastropoda is as follows:
 * Unassigned to a superfamily
 * † Family Johnwyattiidae
 * † Family Perissityidae
 * † Family Sarganidae
 * † Family Speightiidae
 * † Family Taiomidae
 * † Family Weeksiidae
 * Superfamily Buccinoidea
 * Family Belomitridae Kantor, Puillandre, Rivasseau & Bouchet, 2012
 * Family Buccinidae
 * Family Busyconidae Wade, 1917 (1867)
 * Family Colubrariidae
 * Family Columbellidae
 * † Family Echinofulguridae Petuch, 1994
 * Family Fasciolariidae
 * Family Melongenidae
 * Family Nassariidae
 * Superfamily Mitroidea Swainson, 1831
 * Family Charitodoronidae Fedosov, Herrmann, Kantor & Bouchet, 2018
 * Family Mitridae
 * Family Pyramimitridae Cossmann, 1901
 * Superfamily Muricoidea
 * Family Muricidae
 * Family Babyloniidae
 * Family Costellariidae
 * Family Cystiscidae
 * Family Harpidae
 * Family Marginellidae
 * † Family Pholidotomidae
 * Family Pleioptygmatidae
 * Family Strepsiduridae
 * Family Turbinellidae
 * Family Volutidae
 * Family Volutomitridae
 * Superfamily Olivoidea
 * Family Olividae
 * Family Olivellidae
 * Superfamily Pseudolivoidea: since 2017 treated as a synonym of the superfamily Olivoidea Latreille, 1825
 * Family Pseudolividae
 * Family Ptychatractidae
 * Superfamily Conoidea
 * Family Conidae
 * Family Clavatulidae
 * Family Drilliidae
 * Family Pseudomelatomidae
 * Family Strictispiridae
 * Family Terebridae
 * Family Turridae
 * Superfamily Cancellarioidea: since 2017 treated as the superfamily Volutoidea Rafinesque, 1815
 * Family Cancellariidae

title: Neogastropoda


text:
Alexander Kluge

Alexander Kluge (born 14 February 1932) is a German author, philosopher, academic and film director.

Early life, education and early career
Kluge was born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony (now Saxony-Anhalt), Germany.

After growing up during World War II, he studied history, law and music at the University of Marburg Germany, and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. He received his doctorate in law in 1956.

While studying in Frankfurt, Kluge befriended the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno, who was teaching at the Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School. Kluge served as a legal counsel for the Institute, and began writing his earliest stories during this period. At Adorno's suggestion, he also began to investigate filmmaking, and in 1958, Adorno introduced him to German filmmaker Fritz Lang, for whom Kluge worked as an assistant on the making of The Tiger of Eschnapur.

Cinematic works
Kluge directed his first film in 1960, Brutality in Stone, a twelve-minute, black and white, lyrical montage work which, against the German commercial (Papa's Kino) cinematic amnesia of the prior decade, inaugurated an exploration of the Nazi past. The film premièred in 1961 at what would become the showcase for the new generation of German filmmakers, the Westdeutsche Kurzfilmtage (now known as the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen) in Oberhausen, Germany.

Kluge was one of twenty-six signatories to the Oberhausen Manifesto of 1962, which marked the launch of the New German Cinema. That same year, with filmmakers Edgar Reitz and Detlev Schleiermacher, Kluge established the Ulm Institut für Filmgestaltung at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm, to promote the critical and aesthetic practices of Young German Film and the New German Cinema.

In 1965 he was a member of the jury at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival.

He has gone on to direct a number of films which have an inherent critique of commercial cinema and television through the creation of a counter-public sphere and their deployment of experimental forms, including montage. They include Abschied von Gestern (Yesterday Girl) (1966), an adaptation of Kluge's story "Anita G."; Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos (Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed) (1968); and The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time (1985).

In 2017, Kluge and his studio are featured in the film Finite and Infinite Games by artist Sarah Morris. The film, which focuses around the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Germany, includes debate between Kluge and Morris on architecture, music, and the religious philosophy of American academic James P. Carse.

Television work
In 1987, Kluge founded the television production company Development Company for Television Program mbH (DCTP), which produces late-night and night-time independent television slots on the private channels RTL Television, Sat.1, and VOX.

Much of the DCTP programs consist of television documentaries by Kluge (often characterized by the lack of spoken narration and a heavy reliance upon text as well as graphical montages and image editing) as well as many interviews Kluge leads with various international personalities from the fields of arts, entertainment, science, philosophy, and politics. Some of the interviewed are fictitious characters portrayed by professional actors Helge Schneider and Peter Berling, or factual people parodied by the two, including, but not limited to, Adolf Hitler, historical Roman generals, Napoleon's political advisors, or the lawyer of Michael Jackson.

Beside Kluge's own productions, DCTP also co-produces so-called Magazinsendungen, which are investigatory programs in cooperation with Der Spiegel (SPIEGEL TV), Stern (stern TV), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Süddeutsche TV), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ Format), and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Literary works
Kluge is also one of the major German fiction writers of the late-20th century and an important social critic. His fictional works, which tend toward the short story form, are significant for their formal experimentation and insistently critical thematics. Constituting a form of analytical fiction, they utilize techniques of narrative disruption, mixed genres, interpolation of non-literary texts and documents, and perspectival shifts. The texts frequently employ a flat, ironic tone. One frequent effect approximates what Viktor Shklovsky and the Russian formalists identified as defamiliarization or ostranenie. In an interview with 032c magazine, Kluge described his point of view on writing with a quote by Georg Büchner: "I've always wanted to see what my head looks like from above." Kluge explains that when "writing literary texts, you look—if you're going about it correctly—down to yourself, to your head from above. Then you no longer have a relationship with yourself. At the most, you have trust in yourself that a text will emerge from this and that you still have the sovereignty and the strength to throw it away if it amounts to nothing." Kluge has used several of his stories as the bases for his films.

Kluge's major works of social criticism include ''Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung. Zur Organisationsanalyse von bürgerlicher und proletarischer Öffentlichkeit'', co-written with Oskar Negt and originally published in 1972, and "Geschichte und Eigensinn", also co-authored with Negt. "Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung" has been translated into English as Public Sphere and Experience: Toward an Analysis of the Bourgeois and Proletarian Public Sphere and "Geschichte und Eigensinn" was translated into English as History and Obstinacy, published in 2014 by Zone Books.

"Public Sphere and Experience" revisits and expands Jürgen Habermas's notion of the public sphere (which he articulated in his book Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere) and calls for the development of a new "proletarian public sphere" grounded in the life experience of the working class. "Geschichte und Eigensinn" continues this project and tries to rethink the very nature of proletarian experience and develops a theory of "living labour" grounded in the work of Karl Marx.

He has also published numerous texts on literary, film and television criticism. In discussing his literary technique of blending fiction and reality with author Gary Indiana, Kluge also offers a critique of the media industry's presentation of "reality", which he asserts is intrinsically false: "...Human beings are not interested in reality. They can't be; it's the human essence. They have wishes. These wishes are strictly opposed to any ugly form of reality. They prefer to lie than to become divorced from their wishes...[they] forget everything and can give up everything except this principle of misunderstanding reality, the subjective... If this is real, then the media industry is realistic in telling fiction, and the construction of reality founded on this basis can only lie. This is one of the reasons why history isn't realistic: it's not documentary, it's not genuine, and it's not necessary."

Learning Processes with a Deadly Outcome (1973) is one of Kluge's original contributions to the science-fiction genre.

In 2000, he published Chronik der Gefühle (Chronicle of Feelings), which critic Matthew D. Miller describes as a "modern epic".

Since 2016 Kluge has been collaborating with the American writer Ben Lerner. Their collaborations are collected in The Snows of Venice, published in 2018 by Spector Books.

Personal life
His sister, Alexandra Kluge, was a film actress.

Awards and honors
His awards include the Italian Literature Prize Isola d'Elba (1967), and almost every major German-language literary prize, including the Heinrich von Kleist Prize (1985), the Heinrich-Böll-Preis (1993) and the Schiller Memorial Prize (2001). Kluge received the Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs-Award for TV Journalism (2001). He has also received the Georg Büchner Prize (2003), Germany's highest literary award. In recent years Kluge received the triennial Theodor W. Adorno Award of 2009. In 2010 Kluge received the Grimme Award, one of the most important German television awards, in the category "Special mention" in honour of his lifetime achievements.

Selected filmography

 * 1966 Yesterday Girl (director and screenwriter)
 * 1968 Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed (director, producer and screenwriter)
 * 1973 Gelegenheitsarbeit einer Sklavin (director and screenwriter)
 * 1974  (co-director: Edgar Reitz)
 * 1976  (director, narrator, producer and screenwriter)
 * 1978 Germany in Autumn (director and screenwriter, along with three other filmmakers)
 * 1979  (director and producer)
 * 1980 The Candidate (director)
 * 1982 Biermann-Film (director)
 * 1982 War and Peace (director and screenwriter (adapted from his book))
 * 1983 The Power of Emotion (director, narrator, producer and screenwriter)
 * 1985 Vermischte Nachrichten (director, producer and screenwriter)
 * 1986 The Blind Director (director and screenwriter)
 * 1989 C*A*S*H: A Political Fairy Tale (producer)
 * 1995 Die Nacht der Regisseure (actor – as himself (uncredited))
 * 2008 Nachrichten aus der ideologischen Antike: Marx – Eisenstein – Das Kapital (director and screenwriter)

Selected bibliography

 * Die Universitäts-Selbstverwaltung. Ihre Geschichte und gegenwärtige Rechtsform (1958).
 * Lebensläufe (1962). Attendance List for a Funeral, trans. Leila Vennewitz (1966); later reprinted as Case Histories (1988).
 * This collection includes the story "Anita G.", which Kluge adapted into the film Yesterday Girl. Vennewitz's translation does not include "Korti" and in its place includes three additional stories not in the original German collection: "Attendance List for a Funeral", "Sergeant Major Hans Peickert", and "Mandorf".
 * Schlachtbeschreibung (1964). The Battle, trans. Leila Vennewitz (1967).
 * Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: ratlos. Die Ungläubige. Projekt Z. Sprüche der Leni Peickert (1968)
 * Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung – Zur Organisationsanalyse von bürgerlicher und proletarischer Öffentlichkeit (with Oskar Negt) (1972). Public Sphere and Experience: Analysis of the Bourgeois and Proletarian Public, trans. Peter Labany, Jamie Owen Daniel, and Assenka Oksiloff (Verso Books, 2016).
 * Lernprozesse mit tödlichem Ausgang (1973). Learning Processes with a Deadly Outcome, trans. Christopher Pavsek (Duke University Press, 1996).
 * Gelegenheitsarbeit einer Sklavin. Zur realistischen Methode (1975).
 * Unheimlichkeit der Zeit. Neue Geschichten (1977). New Stories, Notebooks 1–18: "The Uncanniness of Time". A collection of several hundred stories, some only one-page long, interspersed with documents, charts and images.
 * Die Patriotin. Texte/Bilder 1–6 (1979).
 * Geschichte und Eigensinn (with Oskar Negt) (1981). History and Obstinacy, trans. Richard Langston (Zone Books, 2014).
 * Die Macht der Gefühle (1984). The Power of Feelings.
 * Maßverhältnisse des Politischen (with Oskar Negt) (1992).
 * Die Wächter des Sarkophags. 10 Jahre Tschernobyl (1996).
 * In Gefahr und größter Not bringt der Mittelweg den Tod. Texte zu Kino, Film, Politik (1999).
 * Chronik der Gefühle (2000). Chronicle of Emotions. In two volumes: Basisgeschichten and Lebensläufe. Includes, in addition to a large amount of new material: Schlachtbeschreibung (1964); Unheimlichkeit der Zeit (1977); Lernprozesse mit tödlichem Ausgang (1973); and Lebensläufe (1962).
 * Der unterschätzte Mensch (with Oskar Negt) (2001). The Undervalued Man. In two volumes. The first book includes: Suchbegriffe (26 conversations and interviews); Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung; and Maßverhältnisse des Politischen (revised). The second book is Geschichte und Eigensinn.
 * Verdeckte Ermittlung (2001).
 * Die Kunst, Unterschiede zu machen (2003).
 * Die Lücke, die der Teufel lässt. Im Umfeld des neuen Jahrhunderts (2003). The Devil's Blind Spot, trans. Martin Chalmers and Michael Hulse (New Directions, 2004). This collection of 500 stories includes some earlier works; an abridged English-language translation appeared in 2004 containing 173 of the 500 stories.
 * Vom Nutzen ungelöster Probleme (2003).
 * Fontane – Kleist – Deutschland – Büchner: Zur Grammatik der Zeit (2004).
 * Tür an Tür mit einem anderen Leben. 350 neue Geschichten (2006).
 * Geschichten vom Kino (2007). Cinema Stories, trans. Martin Brady and Helen Hughes (New Directions, 2007).
 * Der Luftangriff auf Halberstadt am 8. April 1945 (2008). Air Raid, trans. Martin Chalmers (Seagull Books, 2012).
 * Soll und Haben. Fernsehgespräche (with Joseph Vogl) (2009).
 * Das Labyrinth der zärtlichen Kraft. 166 Liebesgeschichten (2009). The Labyrinth of Tender Force: 166 Love Stories, trans. Wieland Hoban (Seagull Books, 2019).

 * Dezember (with Gerhard Richter) (2010). December, trans. Martin Chalmers (Seagull Books, 2012).

 * Das Bohren harter Bretter. 133 politische Geschichten (2011). Drilling Through Hard Boards: 133 Political Stories, trans. Wieland Hoban (Seagull Books, 2017).
 * Das fünfte Buch: Neue Lebensläufe. 402 Geschichten (2012).
 * Personen und Reden (2012).
 * Die Entsprechung einer Oase. Essay für die digitale Generation (2013).
 * "Wer ein Wort des Trostes spricht, ist ein Verräter." 48 Geschichten für Fritz Bauer (2013). Anyone Who Utters a Consoling Word Is a Traitor: 48 Stories for Fritz Bauer, trans. Alta L. Price (Seagull Books, 2020).
 * Nachricht von ruhigen Momenten (with Gerhard Richter) (2013). Dispatches from Moments of Calm, trans. Nathaniel McBride (Seagull Books, 2016).
 * 30. April 1945 (with Reinhard Jirgl) (2014). 30 April 1945: The Day Hitler Shot Himself and Germany's Integration with the West Began, trans. Wieland Hoban and Iain Galbraith (Seagull Books, 2015).
 * Le Moment fugitif (2014).
 * Kongs große Stunde. Chronik des Zusammenhangs (2015). Kong's Finest Hour: A Chronicle of Connections (Seagull Books, 2021).
 * Ferngespräche. Über Eisenstein, Marx, das Kapital, die Liebe und die Macht der zärtlichen Kraft (with Rainer Stollmann) (2016).
 * Weltverändernder Zorn: Nachricht von den Gegenfüßlern (with Georg Baselitz) (2017). World-Changing Rage: News of the Antipodeans, trans. Katy Derbyshire (Seagull Books, 2019).
 * Schnee über Venedig (with Ben Lerner) (2018). The Snows of Venice (2018).
 * Russland-Kontainer (2020). Russia Container, trans. Alexander Booth (Seagull Books, 2022).
 * Trotzdem (with Ferdinand von Schirach) (2020).
 * Senkblei der Geschichten (with Joseph Vogl) (2020).
 * Zirkus / Kommentar (2022). Circus / Commentary, trans. Alexander Booth (Seagull Books, 2024).
 * Das Buch der Kommentare. Unruhiger Garten der Seele (2022). The Book of Commentary / Unquiet Garden of the Soul, trans. Alexander Booth (Seagull Books, 2023).
 * Kriegsfibel 2023 (2023). War Primer, trans. Alexander Booth (Seagull Books, 2024)

Compilations in English

 * Alexander Kluge: Theoretical Writings, Stories, and an Interview. October, Vol. 46 (1988).
 * (editor)
 * Temple of the Scapegoat: Opera Stories (New Directions, 2018)
 * Difference and Orientation: An Alexander Kluge Reader. Edited by Richard Langston (Cornell University, 2019)
 * The Principles of Life on Black Friday: Chronicle of Emotions, Notebook 1, trans. Martin Chalmers and Richard Langston (Seagull Books, 2023)

title: Alexander Kluge


text:
Brooklyn-class cruiser

The Brooklyn-class cruiser was a class of nine light cruisers built for the United States Navy between 1935 and 1938. Armed with five triple 6 in gun turrets (three forward, two aft), they mounted more main battery guns than any other standard US cruiser. The Brooklyn-class ships were all commissioned between 1937 and 1939, in the time between the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War and before the invasion of Poland. They served extensively in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters during World War II.

USS Helena (CL-50) was sunk in the Pacific, and while some of the others were heavily damaged, the remaining ships of the class were decommissioned shortly after the end of the war. Six were transferred to South American navies in 1951, where they served for many more years. One of these, ARA General Belgrano, formerly USS Phoenix (CL-46), was sunk during the Falklands War in 1982.

The Brooklyn-class ships had a strong influence on US cruiser design. Nearly all subsequent US cruisers, heavy and light, were directly or indirectly based on them. Notable among these are the Cleveland-class light cruiser and Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of World War II.

Design
The Brooklyn-class design was a further refinement of the New Orleans-class cruiser heavy cruiser that preceded it. The desire for the Brooklyns arose from the London Naval Treaty of 1930, which limited the construction of heavy cruisers, i.e., ships carrying guns with calibers between 6.1 and 8 in. Great Britain needed trade control cruisers and hoped that the treaty would limit nations to smaller cruisers with a 6000 to 8000 LT range that she could afford. Agreement to the London Treaty and the proceeding with the American light cruiser design can be focused to Admiral William V. Pratt, who overrode the vehement objections of the General Board.

Under the treaty the US was allowed 180000 LT for 18 heavy cruisers and 143500 LT, with no limit on the number of ships, for light cruisers. The United States needed large cruisers to deal with the extreme ranges that operations in the Pacific Ocean required. Cruisers with 6 in guns and 10000 LT were therefore desired. The US Navy's experience with the Omaha-class cruiser was not all that could be hoped for. The light hull design caused a stressed hull and was very overweight. Design started in 1930, with the first four of the class ordered in 1933, and an additional three ships in 1934. Basic criteria had been that speed and range should match heavy cruisers, and when the Japanese Mogami-class cruiser carrying fifteen 6-inch main guns appeared, the new US ships would match their weaponry. Various combinations of armor and power plants were tried in the efforts to stay below the Treaty 10,000 ton limit. Aviation facilities were moved to the stern of the ship from the amidships position of the New Orleans-class cruisers.

From 1942, the bridge structure was lowered and radar was fitted.

St. Louis subclass
The last two ships of the class, USS St. Louis (CL-49) and USS Helena (CL-50), were slightly modified versions of the design with new higher pressure boilers and a unit system of machinery that alternated boiler and engine rooms to prevent a ship from being immobilized by a single unlucky hit; this system would be used in all subsequent US cruisers. Additionally, AA armament was improved. They were the first US cruisers to be armed with twin 5-inch (127 mm)/38-caliber guns. They could be distinguished visually from the other Brooklyns by the placement of the after deckhouse, immediately abaft the second funnel, and by the twin 5-inch mounts.

Armament
The Brooklyn class was equipped with 15 6-inch/47 caliber Mark 16 naval guns, developed from the 6-inch/53 caliber Mark 8 used on the Omaha-class cruiser. The decision was reached as the gun could achieve up to ten rounds per minute rate of fire. This gave the class the ability to send up to 150 rounds a minute at its intended target. This allowed the cruiser to smother an enemy ship with fire. The turret arrangement was five turrets, each mounting three guns on a single sleeve, which did not allow the guns in a turret to move independently. The 6-inch guns were of a new design, the Mark 16, which could fire a 130 lb armor-piercing shell (AP) up to 26100 yd with twice the penetrative power of the old gun. The ammunition was of the semi-fixed type. The impact of the shell changed the General Board's view on the usefulness of light cruisers in service.

As designed, the anti-aircraft weaponry specified eight 5 in/25 caliber guns and eight .50 in caliber M2 Browning machine guns. The intention to mount 1.1 in/75 caliber anti-aircraft guns was frustrated and the requirement was not fully met until 1943. The weapon as deployed was less than satisfactory with frequent jamming and weight being serious issues. Some of the class had 5-in/38 caliber guns installed versus the 5-in/25 guns. There were varied mixes of 20 mm Oerlikon cannons and 40 mm Bofors gun mountings actually installed during World War II, 28 40 mm (4 × 4, 6 × 2) and twenty 20 mm (10 × 2) being the most common.

Fire control
The Brooklyn class was deployed with the Mark 34 director and later the Mark 3 radar. This would be upgraded to the Mark 8 and again to the Mark 13 radar. The secondary battery was controlled by the Mark 28 and upgraded to the Mark 33 fire control systems. The associated radars were the Mark 4 fire control radar and upgraded again to the Mark 12. Two anti-aircraft fire directors were fitted to each ship. A late World War II refit saw the Mk 51 director installed for the Bofors guns. Night engagements were improved when in 1945, the Mark 57 and 63 directors were installed.

Successors
The vast majority of cruisers built by the United States during World War II derive from the Brooklyn design. Modifications of the Brooklyn-class hull were the predecessors to the two main lines of wartime cruisers, respectively the Cleveland-class cruiser light cruiser armed with 6-inch guns and Baltimore-class cruiser heavy cruiser armed with 8-inch guns. The third line, the Atlanta-class cruiser light cruiser armed with 5-inch guns, shared the same unit system of machinery arrangement as the other two lines, but on a smaller hull with two shafts instead of four.

The Brooklyn class would lead to the Cleveland-class light cruiser (less a fifth triple 6-inch turret), which then led to the Fargo-class cruiser and finally the Worcester-class cruiser. The other successor was USS Wichita (CA-45), built on a modified Brooklyn-class hull, with a heavy cruiser armament featuring three rather than five triple turrets, but each turret containing larger 8-inch guns, and increased armor. Wichita was succeeded by the Baltimore class and the later Oregon City-class cruiser class, and finally the upgraded Des Moines-class cruiser. The Atlanta class would be succeeded by the Juneau-class cruiser and then almost by the cancelled CL-154-class cruiser. As the Baltimore class began building about a year after the Cleveland class, later Cleveland developments and improvements were incorporated into the Baltimore-class hull.

Finally, both Cleveland and Baltimore hulls were converted to light aircraft carriers. The Independence-class aircraft carrier of light aircraft carriers, were converted from Cleveland-class cruisers under construction, and the Saipan-class aircraft carrier light carriers used the basic form of the Baltimore-class cruiser design.

War service
Several Brooklyns were seriously damaged during World War II, although all but one of the cruisers survived. USS Boise (CL-47) was severely damaged by a shell that hit her forward turret magazine during the Battle of Cape Esperance on 11 October 1942, suffering many casualties, but the magazine (being partially flooded as a result of shell hits in her hull) did not explode. USS Nashville (CL-43) was hit by a kamikaze attack on 13 December 1944, off Mindoro, which killed or wounded 310 crewmen. USS Honolulu (CL-48) was torpedoed at the Battle of Kolombangara on 12–13 July 1943, as was her near-sister USS St. Louis (CL-49). After being repaired in the United States, Honolulu returned to service only to be torpedoed by a Japanese aircraft on 20 October 1944, during the invasion of Leyte. On 11 September 1943, USS Savannah (CL-42) was hit by a German Fritz X radio guided bomb which penetrated her #3 turret and blew out the bottom of the ship. Skillful damage control by her crew saved her from sinking. While under repair in the United States, Savannah and Honolulu were rebuilt with a bulged hull that increased their beam by nearly 8 ft and their 5-inch/25 caliber guns were replaced by four twin 5-inch/38 caliber guns, although the repairs to Savannah were completed too late for her to see frontline action again.

Helena was sunk in 1943 during the Battle of Kula Gulf. The remains of the ship were discovered below the surface of New Georgia Sound by Paul Allen's research ship RV Petrel in April 2018. St. Louis was seriously damaged twice, but survived the war.

Post-war
All ships of the class went into reserve in 1946-47. Six were sold to South American countries in the early 1950s, and served for many more years: Brooklyn and Nashville to Chile, St. Louis and Philadelphia to Brazil, and Boise and Phoenix to Argentina. Savannah and Honolulu remained in reserve until struck in 1959. ARA General Belgrano (ex-Phoenix) was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Conqueror (S48) during the Falklands War, while CHILEAN CRUISER O'Higgins (ex-Brooklyn) remained in service with the Chilean Navy until 1992. She sank under tow, on her way to the scrappers, in the mid-Pacific in 1992.

title: Brooklyn-class cruiser


text:
Crown Point (Oregon)

Crown Point (also known historically as Thor's Heights or Thor's Crown) is a basalt promontory on the Columbia River Gorge and an associated state park in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located in eastern Multnomah County, approximately 15 mi east of Portland. Crown Point is one of the scenic lookouts along the Historic Columbia River Highway, providing a panoramic view of part of the Columbia River. It stands 733 ft above the river and is the remains of a lava flow that filled the ancestral channel of the Columbia River 14 to 17 million years ago. The Point was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1971.

Vista House
The 1918 Art Nouveau style Vista House is an observatory at Crown Point that also serves as a memorial to Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The site, on a rocky promontory, is 733 ft above the Columbia River on the south side of the Columbia River Gorge. The building shows great sensitivity to its site in the Columbia River Gorge near Corbett, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Crown Point Viaduct
The Crown Point Viaduct, built in 1914, is a viaduct consisting of an elevated sidewalk supported by columns and a retaining wall which encircle the tight loop of roadway around Vista House (1918). The viaduct is a contributing structure in the National Historic Landmarked and National Register of Historic Places-listed Historic Columbia River Highway. Per the 2000 NHL nomination of the highway:"This 560 ft spiral viaduct was constructed of reinforced concrete and runs for 225 degrees of a circle around Crown Point. It functions as a 7 ft sidewalk and curb with a 4 ft parapet wall on the outside of a 24 ft roadway cut into the rock formation. A dry masonry retaining wall stabilizes the hillside above and below the viaduct and masonry parapet walls that ring Vista House."

title: Crown Point (Oregon)


text:
Avantasia

Avantasia is a German supergroup metal opera project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist of the band Edguy. It has been characterized as a rock opera, as it features the contributions of various vocalists and musicians and it consists of concept albums. The name is a blend of the words Avalon and fantasia ('fantasy') and describes "a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the booklet of the debut album).

Conceived in 1999 as studio-only, two-album project, Avantasia has since released seven other studio albums and has toured the world multiple times. It can be divided into four periods of activity. The first, 1999–2002, saw the release of a self-titled single and the full-length albums The Metal Opera and The Metal Opera Part II. The second, 2006–2011, consists of the EPs Lost in Space Part 1 & 2 and The Wicked Trilogy, composed of the albums The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon. The third, 2013–2016, includes the albums The Mystery of Time and Ghostlights. The fourth period, 2019–2022, comprises the albums Moonglow and A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society.

Some of the guest vocalists and musicians that have been featured on Avantasia are Michael Kiske, Jørn Lande, Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine, Dee Snider, Hansi Kürsch, Jon Oliva, Biff Byford, Joe Lynn Turner, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Geoff Tate, Kai Hansen, Rudolf Schenker, Bruce Kulick, Sascha Paeth, Eric Singer, Bob Catley, Roy Khan, Russell Allen, Timo Tolkki, Rob Rock, David DeFeis, Andre Matos, Sharon den Adel, Floor Jansen, Ralf Scheepers, Marko Hietala, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Henjo Richter, Markus Grosskopf, Jens Johansson, Eric Martin, Ronnie Atkins, Oliver Hartmann, Mille Petrozza, Candice Night and Amanda Somerville.

The Metal Operas (1999–2002)
In Spring 1999, during Edguy's 'Theater of Salvation' tour, Tobias Sammet began to outline his ideas for a metal opera concept album featuring a number of guest musicians. When the tour finished, he began collaborating with metal vocalists like Michael Kiske, Andre Matos, Kai Hansen, Rob Rock, David Defeis, Sharon den Adel, Bob Catley and Oliver Hartmann to record the project. At this stage the core band consisted of four members, Sammet on keyboards, Henjo Richter on guitar, Markus Grosskopf on bass and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, a self-titled single and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project went on hiatus after the release of The Metal Opera Part II in September 2002.

The Wicked Trilogy (2006–2011)
At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. Two EPs named Lost in Space Part 1 and Part 2 were released on 19 November 2007, while the full-length album, The Scarecrow, was released on 25 January 2008. The Scarecrow marked the first chapter of "The Wicked Trilogy" concept and was also the first of many Avantasia releases to feature Sascha Paeth on the role of main guitarist and producer. The album included guest performances by drummer Eric Singer, guitarists Henjo Richter and Rudolf Schenker and singers Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann.

After the release of The Scarecrow, Tobias Sammet was invited to perform a headlining show at Wacken Open Air, an offer that producer/guitarist Sascha Paeth convinced him to accept. That led to 13 shows between 5 July and 13 August. The shows at Masters of Rock and Wacken Open Air were recorded and the live DVD The Flying Opera, based on the footage, was released in March 2011. The line-up for the short tour consisted of Tobias Sammet, Andre Matos, Jørn Lande, Kai Hansen, Bob Catley, Amanda Somerville, Cloudy Yang, Sascha Paeth, Oliver Hartmann, Robert Hunecke, Miro and Felix Bohnke (Edguy).

In November 2009, Sammet announced that he was recording two new albums, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon, to be released on 3 April 2010. The concept of the albums was a continuation of The Scarecrow story and these three albums together are often referred to as "The Wicked Trilogy". The special guests included drummers Eric Singer, Alex Holzwarth and Felix Bohnke, guitarists Bruce Kulick and Oliver Hartmann, keyboardist Jens Johansson and vocalists Jørn Lande, Russell Allen, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Klaus Meine, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Jon Oliva, Andre Matos, Cloudy Yang and Ralf Zdiarstek. The Scarecrow, The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon have scored high positions in various international music charts.

A 12 show tour of Europe, South America and Asia took place during December 2010, with the exception of one concert at the Wacken Open Air festival in August 2011. The concerts lasted for almost three hours and many of them were sold out days before. The ensemble was almost the same as on The Scarecrow Tour in 2008, with two changes. Andre Matos was replaced by ex-Helloween and current Unisonic singer Michael Kiske (with Kai Hansen also participating on this tour, there were a lot of instances when the two ex-Helloween members shared the same stage) and the fact that Cloudy Yang was not part of the line-up.

Both tours were closely documented by Amanda Somerville on her YouTube channel. The videos show various interesting backstage moments such as rehearsals, cancelled flights, or the ensemble travelling by a regular train.

The Ghostlights saga (2012–2017)
In August 2012, Sammet announced that "I didn‘t foresee how much I need Avantasia when I decided to finish this chapter of my life in 2011. After the worldwide success of the latest studio releases, an arena world tour that was sold out pretty much everywhere, collaborations with childhood heroes...I 'knew' that I had said everything I could possibly say in the name of Avantasia. But that's not what Avantasia is all about. I wanna create more great music, I wanna create more fantasy-worlds, the bigger and the more epic, the better. And listening to the material that I have created for this forthcoming chapter in the history of Avantasia, I know there is no way I am not going to do it! I have got the feeling and the certainty, that this is absolutely meant to happen and to be."

During December 2012 it was revealed on Sammet's Avantasia website that the new album would be called The Mystery of Time and was due for release on 30 March 2013. The Mystery of Time marked the beginning of a new concept and was the first Avantasia release to feature the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg. The album included guest performances by drummer Russell Gilbrook, guitarists Bruce Kulick, Oliver Hartmann and Arjen Anthony Lucassen, while the guest vocalists were Joe Lynn Turner, Biff Byford, Michael Kiske, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin, Bob Catley and Cloudy Yang. The Mystery Of Time scored high positions in several international music charts and even enabled the project to enter the US Billboard charts for the very first time.

Avantasia's second biggest world tour took place between April and August 2013. The tour consisted of 30 concerts and included 7 headlining festival appearances in Europe, one festival performance in Canada and three hour long shows in South America, Japan, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Holland. The line-up for the tour consisted of vocalists Tobias Sammet, Michael Kiske, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin, Bob Catley, Thomas Rettke, Amanda Somerville and musicians Sascha Paeth, Oliver Hartmann, Miro, Andre Neygenfind and Felix Bohnke.

According to Sammet: "I wanna put on the biggest thing you have ever seen, I wanna bring more vocalists, play longer shows, and just make it a giant Rock Opera. I love to headline festivals, you run over people in 90 minutes and kick ass. But I also like to do our own Avantasia indoor tour because we can make it much more Avantasia oriented and play almost three hours...It will be huge."

With two shows remaining at the end of the tour, Sammet held a press conference in which he announced that Avantasia would perform a headline performance at Wacken Open Air Festival in 2014. He also indicated that this would be a farewell performance as no further Avantasia activities were planned for the near future:

There won't be any further Avantasia activities, it'll be just a single show. I may be back with an idea and go for it somewhere in the distant future, I won't say farewell is forever this time, but I have no clue as to when and where and who would be able to join us and what it would sound and look like, if we'd ever do this again in a couple of years. So, get your tickets for Wacken 2014 cause it'll be your last chance to catch us, if not forever at least for some years. See you, T

In a May 2014 interview regarding Edguy's then latest release Space Police: Defenders of the Crown, Sammet said that The Mystery of Time hinted at a possible sequel. The new album, entitled Ghostlights, was released on 29 January 2016 and featured guest performances by guitarists Bruce Kulick and Oliver Hartmann, while the guest vocalists were Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Dee Snider, Geoff Tate, Marko Hietala, Ronnie Atkins, Sharon den Adel, Bob Catley, Robert Mason and Herbie Langhans. Ghostlights scored the highest positions of any Avantasia release in several international music charts and even enabled Avantasia to enter the US Billboard charts for the second time.

The "biggest world tour so far" took place between March and August 2016. According to Avantasia's website it consisted of approximately 40 concerts in Europe, North America, South America, Canada, Japan, Russia and Scandinavia. With the exclusion of 8 headlining European summer festival performances, each concert lasted for over three hours. The ensemble was almost the same as on the previous tour with the addition of Jørn Lande and Herbie Langhans. As he did after announcing the 2014 Wacken performance, Sammet once again suggested that the Ghostlights World Tour might be the project's last activity in a long time:

After the completion of the tour, Avantasia headlined both Wacken Open Air and Barcelona Rockfest during the summer of 2017.

The Moonglow saga (2018–present)
In March 2018, Sammet posted a picture on his Facebook announcing he had begun the creative process regarding the eighth Avantasia album.

On 10 October Nuclear Blast officially announced the new album Moonglow would be released on 15 February 2019, and would feature guest vocals by Jørn Lande, Geoff Tate, Ronnie Atkins, Hansi Kürsch, Bob Catley, Michael Kiske, Candice Night, Eric Martin and Mille Petrozza. Subsequently, the album was accompanied by the Moonglow World Tour 2019 consisting of 29 concerts across Europe, Australia, and the United States and South America taking place between March and June 2019.

In March 2020, Tobias posted that he is about to start working on a successor album to Moonglow. The writing of the new album was in progress throughout 2020 and 2021. The album was released on 21 October 2022 under the title A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society and featured guest vocals by Floor Jansen, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Ralf Scheepers, Bob Catley, Geoff Tate, Eric Martin and Ronnie Atkins.

Studio albums

 * The Metal Opera (2001)
 * The Metal Opera Part II (2002)
 * The Scarecrow (2008)
 * The Wicked Symphony (2010)
 * Angel of Babylon (2010)
 * The Mystery of Time (2013)
 * Ghostlights (2016)
 * Moonglow (2019)
 * A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society (2022)

Current core members

 * Tobias Sammet – lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards (2001–present)
 * Sascha Paeth – guitars, producer (2007–present)
 * Miro – keyboards, orchestration (2007–present)
 * Felix Bohnke – drums (2010, 2015–present)

Former core members

 * Markus Grosskopf – bass guitar (2001–2002)
 * Henjo Richter – guitars (2001–2002, 2007–2010)
 * Alex Holzwarth – drums (2001–2002, 2010)
 * Eric Singer – drums (2002, 2007–2010), vocals (2007)
 * Russell Gilbrook – drums (2013)

title: Avantasia


text:
Tachyon condensation

Tachyon condensation is a process in particle physics in which a system can lower its potential energy by spontaneously producing particles. The end result is a "condensate" of particles that fills the volume of the system. Tachyon condensation is closely related to second-order phase transitions.

Technical overview
Tachyon condensation is a process in which a tachyonic field—usually a scalar field—with a complex mass acquires a vacuum expectation value and reaches the minimum of the potential energy. While the field is tachyonic and unstable near the local maximum of the potential, the field gets a non-negative squared mass and becomes stable near the minimum.

The appearance of tachyons is a potentially serious problem for any theory; examples of tachyonic fields amenable to condensation are all cases of spontaneous symmetry breaking. In condensed matter physics a notable example is ferromagnetism; in particle physics the best known example is the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model that breaks the electroweak symmetry.

Condensation evolution
Although the notion of a tachyonic imaginary mass might seem troubling because there is no classical interpretation of an imaginary mass, the mass is not quantized. Rather, the scalar field is; even for tachyonic quantum fields, the field operators at spacelike separated points still commute (or anticommute), thus preserving causality. Therefore, information still does not propagate faster than light, and solutions grow exponentially, but not superluminally (there is no violation of causality).

The "imaginary mass" really means that the system becomes unstable. The zero value field is at a local maximum rather than a local minimum of its potential energy, much like a ball at the top of a hill. A very small impulse (which will always happen due to quantum fluctuations) will lead the field to roll down with exponentially increasing amplitudes toward the local minimum. In this way, tachyon condensation drives a physical system that has reached a local limit and might naively be expected to produce physical tachyons, to an alternate stable state where no physical tachyons exist. Once the tachyonic field reaches the minimum of the potential, its quanta are not tachyons any more but rather are ordinary particles with a positive mass-squared, such as the Higgs boson.

In string theory
In the late 1990s, Ashoke Sen conjectured that the tachyons carried by open strings attached to D-branes in string theory reflect the instability of the D-branes with respect to their complete annihilation. The total energy carried by these tachyons has been calculated in string field theory; it agrees with the total energy of the D-branes, and all other tests have confirmed Sen's conjecture as well. Tachyons therefore became an active area of interest in the early 2000s.

The character of closed-string tachyon condensation is more subtle, though the first steps towards our understanding of their fate have been made by Adams, Polchinski, and Silverstein, in the case of twisted closed string tachyons, and by Simeon Hellerman and Ian Swanson, in a wider array of cases. The fate of the closed string tachyon in the 26-dimensional bosonic string theory remains unknown, though recent progress has revealed interesting new developments.

title: Tachyon condensation