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Background check

A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and other activities from their past. The frequency, purpose, and legitimacy of background checks vary among countries, industries, and individuals. An employment background check typically takes place when someone applies for a job, but it can also happen at any time the employer deems necessary. A variety of methods are used to complete these checks including comprehensive database search and personal references.

In America
In the 2000s, background checks became far more common after 9/11.

Purposes
There are 17 common types of background checks employers use to verify a new hire. The checks can include: Each check is briefly explained along with its purpose and how it helps employers make informed hiring decisions.
 * Criminal history
 * Past employment verification
 * Education verification
 * Reference check
 * Drug screening
 * Credit background check
 * Social media behavior check
 * Driving record
 * Professional license and certifications check
 * Social security number trace/identity check
 * Global sanctions check
 * Civil offenses check
 * Bankruptcy check
 * Financial regulations check
 * Psychometric tests
 * International background check
 * Gamer profile check

Employment screening
Employers often request background checks on job candidates for employment screening, especially for candidates seeking a position that requires high security or a position of trust, such as in a school, courthouse, hospital, financial institution, airport, and government. Background checks in the corporate realm have become a commonplace practice for many companies, aimed at mitigating legal liabilities and preventing adverse actions within their workforce.

They can also be requested when purchasing a firearm (from a legal authorization). A government agency traditionally administers these checks for a nominal fee, but private companies can also administer them. Results of a background check typically include past employment verification, credit history, and criminal history. The objective of background checks is to ensure the safety and security of the employees in the organization.

These checks are often used by employers as a means of judging a job candidate's past mistakes, character, and fitness, and to identify potential hiring risks for safety and security reasons. Background checks are also used to thoroughly investigate potential government employees to be given a security clearance. However, these checks can sometimes be used for illegal purposes, such as unlawful discrimination (or employment discrimination), identity theft, and violation of privacy.

Checks are frequently conducted to confirm information found on an employment application or résumé/curriculum vitae. One study showed that half of all reference checks done on prospective employees differed between what the job applicant provided and what the source reported. They are also conducted as a way to differentiate potential employees further and pick the one the employer feels is best suited for the position. Employers are obligated to ensure their work environment is safe for all employees and helps prevent other employment problems in the workplace.

Firearms purchases
In the United States under the Gun Control Act of 1968, citizens and US residents must be 18 years or older to purchase shotguns, rifles, or ammunition. All other firearms — such as handguns — can only be sold to individuals 21 or older. Restricted firearms (like machine guns), suppressors, explosives or large quantities of precursor chemicals, and concealed weapons permits also require criminal checks. Checks are also required for those working in positions with special security concerns, such as trucking, ports of entry, and airports (including airline transportation). Laws exist to prevent those who do not pass a criminal check from working in careers involving the elderly, disabled, or children.

Pre-employment screening
Pre-employment screening refers to the process of investigating the backgrounds of potential employees and is commonly used to verify the accuracy of an applicant's claims as well as to discover any possible criminal history, workers compensation claims, or employer sanctions.

Brazil
The Brazilian legal system prohibits discrimination against people. Many people consider background checks to be discriminatory.

Regulation and Laws on Background Checks
 * Brazilian Constitution, Article 3, IV
 * Brazilian Constitution, Article 5, X
 * Brazilian Constitution, Article 7, XXXI
 * Law No. 9.029/95

Netherlands
It is the responsibility of the employer to treat all personal information collected from the employee as confidential information and to limit the access to this information within the organization. The employer cannot retain the personal information from the applicant and must have protective measures in case of data breach. The employer must give the applicant the ability to access the personal information being held about them. Dutch Data Protection Authority must be notified of the background check.

Restrictions and Laws on Background checks

 * The Data Protection Act 2001
 * The Equal Treatment Act 1994
 * The Judicial Data and Criminal Records Act 2004
 * The Medical Examinations Act 1998
 * Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Poland
The first Polish research on the issue of pre-employment screening shows that 81% of recruiters have come across the phenomenon of lies in the CVs of candidates for the job. It is the responsibility of the employer to collect necessary information and to protect it so that only certain people in the organization can access it. The applicant must receive a copy of the background check so that the applicant has the opportunity to make sure that the information in the background check is correct. The employer is not permitted to keep the personal information for a longer period than necessary.

Restrictions and Laws on Background checks
 * The Polish Constitution dated 2 April 1997
 * Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
 * Act of 26 June 1974 on The Labour Code
 * Act of 24 May 2000 on National Criminal Records
 * Act of 4 March 1994 on the Company Social Fund
 * Act of 29 August 1997 on Personal Data Protection
 * Regulation of Work and Social Policy Minister dated 28 May 1996

United Kingdom
The employer has to treat the personal information from the applicant as confidential. The applicant has to receive a copy of the background to check or update the information that appears on the background check. The employer can not retain the information more than it is necessary. The employer has to give any one who comes in contact with the information of the applicant a code of conduct. The company has to go through an audit to make sure they are complying and protecting the data.

Restrictions and Laws on Background Checks

 * Criminal records checks: Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975
 * Ability to work in the UK: Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
 * The Equality Act 2010
 * Data Protection Act 1998
 * Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (and Human Rights Act 1998)

Since the onset of the financial crisis of 2007–2010, the level of fraud has almost doubled and some experts have predicted that it will escalate further. Background-checking firm Powerchex has claimed the number of applicants lying on their applications has been increasing since the summer of 2007 when the financial crisis began. In 2009, Powerchex claimed that nearly one in 5 applicants has a major lie or discrepancy on his or her application. Almost half (48%) of organizations with fewer than 100 staff experienced problems with vetted employees. The research shows how many failures occurred in the relationship between employer and employee over the years and what dangers it brings. Applicants usually lie about additional skills (85%), dates of employment (58%), responsibilities (53%) or positions (28%).

Regulation
The Financial Services Authority states in their Training & Competence guidance that regulated firms should have:
 * Adequacy of procedures for taking into account knowledge and skills of potential recruits for the role
 * Adequacy of procedures for obtaining sufficient information about previous activities and training
 * Adequacy of procedures for ensuring that individuals have passed appropriate exams or have appropriate exemptions
 * Adequacy of procedures for assessing competence of individuals for sales roles

The Financial Services Authority's statutory objectives:

 * 1) Protecting consumers
 * 2) Maintaining market confidence
 * 3) Promoting public awareness
 * 4) Reducing financial crime

United States
The employer must obtain consent from the applicant granting approval of the background check. The employer must be in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The employers have to guarantee that they will not discriminate against the applicant.

Most notably, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulates the use of consumer reports (which it defines as information collected and reported by third party agencies) as it pertains to adverse decisions, notification to the applicant, and destruction and safekeeping of records. If a consumer report is used as a factor in an adverse hiring decision, the applicant must be presented with a "pre-adverse action disclosure," a copy of the FCRA summary of rights, and a "notification of adverse action letter." Individuals are entitled to know the source of any information used against them, including a credit reporting company. Individuals must also consent in order for the employer to obtain a credit report.

Restriction and laws on Background Check
 * Arrest and conviction records: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.7; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.8; Cal. Pen. Code § 290.46(k)(2); 775 ILCS 5/2-103; Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, 820 ILCS 75/15; N.Y. Correct. Law § 752; N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 (15), (16); 18 Pa.C.S. § 9125
 * Credit/financial checks: Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1785.13; Cal. Lab. Code § 1024.5; 820 ILCS 70/10
 * Health checks/medical screening: Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.; Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2000ff, et seq.; Cal. Lab. Code § 132a
 * Social media: Cal. Lab. Code § 980; 820 ILCS 55/10(a)
 * Record disposal: 16 CFR Part 682
 * Record keeping: 29 CFR Part 160
 * Records/information obtained from consumer reporting agencies, including but not limited to education and employment records, credit and financial records, and social media: Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681, et seq.; Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1785.13(a)(6); Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1786.18(a)(7); Cal. Civ. Code § 1786.53
 * Political affiliation: D.C. Code § 2–1402.11; Wis. Stat. Ann. § 111.321
 * Polygraph tests: Employee Polygraph Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2002, 2006; Cal. Lab. Code § 432.2; 225 ILCS 430/14.1; N.Y. Lab. Law §§ 733–739; 18 Pa.C.S. § 7321

Florida
Title XLV, section 768.095 of the Florida Statutes is a law that allows former employers to disclose information about an employee to a future employer, protecting employers from negligent hiring liabilities. Employers use disclosed information from past employers when a background check does not provide enough information on the employee. Employers have to verify that the information disclosed to them is true because if it is false, the employer will be violating the civil rights of the employee.

Obtaining background checks
There are a variety of types of investigative searches that can be used by potential employers. Many commercial sites will offer specific searches to employers for a fee. Services like these will actually perform the checks, supply the company with adverse action letters, and ensure compliance throughout the process. It is important to be selective about which pre-employment screening agency one uses. A legitimate company will maintain a background check policy and will explain the process.

Many employers choose to search the most common records such as criminal records, driving records, and education verification. Other searches such as sex offender registry, credential verification, skills assessment, reference checks, credit reports and Patriot Act searches are becoming increasingly common.

Larger companies are more likely to outsource than their smaller counterparts – the average staff size of the companies who outsource is 3,313 compared to 2,162 for those who carry out in-house checks. Financial service firms had the highest proportion of respondents who outsource the service, with over a quarter (26%) doing so, compared to an overall average of 16% who outsource vetting to a third party provider. The construction and property industry showed the lowest level of outsourcing, with 89% of such firms in the sample carrying out checks in-house, making the overall average 16%. This can increase over the years. Companies that choose to outsource must be sure to use companies that are Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliant. Companies that fail to use an FCRA compliant company may face legal issues.

As a general rule, employers may not take adverse action against an applicant or employee (not hiring or terminating them), solely on the basis of results obtained through a database search. Database searches, as opposed to source records searches (search of actual county courthouse records), are notoriously inaccurate, contain incomplete or outdated information, and should only be used as an added safety net when conducting a background check. Failure by employers to follow FCRA guidelines can result in hefty penalties.

Criminal records
In the United States, the employer could use criminal records as verification as long as the employer does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, as analyzed under the disparate treatment and disparate impact frameworks. There are several types of criminal record searches available to employers, some more accurate and up to date than others. These "third party" background checking agencies cannot guarantee the accuracy of their information, thus many of them have incomplete records or inaccurate records. The only way to conduct an accurate background check is to go directly through the state. Most times using the state of choice is much cheaper than using a "third party" agency. Many websites offer the "instant" background check, which will search a compilation of databases containing public information for a fee. These "instant" searches originate from a variety of sources, from statewide court and corrections records to law enforcement records which usually stem from county or metro law enforcement offices. There are also other database-type criminal searches, such as statewide repositories and the national crime file. A commonly used criminal search by employers who outsource is the county criminal search.

Social media
Employers could use social media as tool to conduct a background check on an applicant. An employer could check the applicant's Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts to see how the applicant behaves outside of work. U.S. employers are legally prohibited from taking into account anything they discover about a person's marital status, sexual orientation, religion, or political views when making the final decision to hire or not hire the applicant. Some companies provide Media Mentions Reports collected from open sources including Social Media public accounts.

Character reference checks
Employers may investigate past employment to verify position and salary information. More intensive checks can involve interviews with anybody that knew or previously knew the applicant—such as teachers, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family members; however, extensive hearsay investigations in background checks can expose companies to lawsuits. Past employment and personal reference verifications are moving toward standardization with most companies in order to avoid expensive litigation. These usually range from simple verbal confirmations of past employment and timeframe to deeper, such as discussions about performance, activities and accomplishments, and relations with others. The past experiences and the companies which have provided these experiences are also verified and researched upon to detect frauds.

Identity and address verification
A fraudulent SSN may be indicative of identity theft, incorrect claims of citizenship status, or concealment of a "past life". Background screening firms usually perform a Social Security trace to determine where the applicant or employee has lived. The hiring of undocumented workers has become an increasing issue for American businesses since the formation of the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division, as immigration raids have forced employers to consider including legal working status as part of their background screening process. All employers are required to keep government Form I-9 documents on all employees and some states mandate the use of the federal E-Verify program to research the working status of Social Security numbers. With increased concern for right-to-work issues, many outsourcing companies are sprouting in the marketplace to help automate and store Form I-9 documentation.

Credit check
Credit checks are conducted for applicants who are applying to positions that deal with financial records or deal with a lot of money. For example, in the state of Illinois, employers could use an applicant's credit history, only the credit score is considered satisfactory. Individuals must also give consent in order for the employer to obtain a credit report. Pre-employment credit reports do not include a credit score. A pre-employment credit report will show up on an individual's credit report as a "soft inquiry" and do not affect the individual's credit score.

Controversies
Drug tests and credit checks for employment are highly controversial practices. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a project of the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN): "While some people are not concerned about background investigations, others are uncomfortable with the idea of investigators poking around in their personal histories. In-depth checks could unearth information that is irrelevant, outdated, taken out of context, or just plain wrong. A further concern is that the report might include information that is illegal to use for hiring purposes or which comes from questionable sources."

In May 2002, allegedly improper post-hire checks conducted by Northwest Airlines were the subject of a civil lawsuit between Northwest and 10,000 of their mechanics.

In the case of an arrest that did not lead to a conviction, employment checks can continue including the arrest record for up to seven years, per § 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act:

 * Except as authorized under subsection (b) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing . . . Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period.

Subsection (b) provides for an exception if the report is in connection with "the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more".

Some proposals for decreasing potential harm to innocent applicants include:
 * Furnishing the applicant with a copy of the report before it is given to the employer, so that any inaccuracies can be addressed beforehand; and
 * Allowing only conviction (not arrest) records to be reported.

In New Zealand, criminal checks have been affected by the Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, which allows individuals to legally conceal "less serious" convictions from their records provided they had been conviction-free for at least seven years.

In Michigan, the system of criminal checks has been criticized in a recent case where a shooting suspect was able to pass an FBI check to purchase a shotgun although he had failed the check for a state handgun permit. According to the spokesman of the local police department,

"'... you could have a clear criminal history but still have contacts with law enforcement that would not rise to the level of an arrest or conviction [that can be used] to deny a permit whether or not those involved arrests that might show up on a criminal history.'"

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has criticized the federal policy, which denies constitutional rights based on a criminal check only if the subject has been accused of a crime.

title: Background check


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FpML

FpML (Financial products Markup Language) is a business information exchange standard based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) that enables business-to-business over-the-counter (OTC) financial derivative transactions online by following W3C standards.

The standard is managed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) on behalf of a community of investment banks that make up the OTC derivatives industry. All categories of privately negotiated derivatives will eventually be included within the standard.

FpML is distinct from similar financial standards such as SWIFT and FIX because it does not specify a network or transport mechanism.

History
The FpML standard was first published by JPMorgan and PricewaterhouseCoopers on 9 June 1999 in a paper titled "Introducing FpML: A New Standard for E-commerce". As a result, the FpML standards committee was founded.

The core scope includes the products of Foreign Exchange (FX) Swaps and Options, Interest Rate Swaps, Inflation Swaps, Asset Swaps, Swaptions, Credit Default Swaps, Credit Default Swap Indices and Baskets, Equity Derivatives, Equity Swaps, Total Return Swaps, and many others.

The core processes include trading, valuation, confirmation, novation, increase, amendment, termination, allocation, position reporting, cash flow matching, formal definition of party roles, as well as trade notification between asset managers and custodians.

As of December 2021, FpML 5.12 is the latest recommended version.

Major participants

 * Bank of America
 * Barclays Capital
 * Barclays Global Investors
 * Bloomberg
 * BNP Paribas
 * Citibank
 * Credit Suisse
 * Creditex
 * Deutsche Bank
 * DTCC

 * HSBC Bank USA
 * FIS
 * Global Electronic Markets LLC
 * Goldman Sachs
 * IBM
 * ING
 * IONA Technologies
 * JPMorgan Chase
 * Morgan Stanley
 * Nomura Securities Co.

 * RBS
 * Markit Group (since acquisition of SwapsWire)
 * Rabobank
 * Standard Bank
 * Systemwire
 * TradeHeader
 * TZero
 * UBS
 * University College London
 * Wall Street Systems

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

title: FpML


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Talk:Historical kana orthography

Merge?
I don't know. There's a separate article in ja.wikipedia for ??????, and I've based the English on that (though it has already diverged!). The Japanese article is pretty long, and I'd eventually like to translate more of it.

 * It makes perfect sense to merge this. There's no rule that there must be a one-to-one correspondence between individual articles in wikipedias of different languages, and there's no real size restriction on articles.   — Gwalla | Talk 18:59, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

To me, the merger makes sense because kana article does not need to be limited to modern kana. Please don't hesitate to carry out translation, if the kana article grows too large, we can just split it off. Think, say, some article like History of computing grew too large, so we split it off. But if in some language, the article is still in stub-long length, I don't think that article needs to be splited.. -- Taku 23:17, Aug 6, 2004 (UTC)

Would something like old/new english-katakana belong here? for example, ゼラチン zerachin meaning gelatin, i think was a word japanese borrowed from english a long time ago; now, a word with the (je) sound in it would be ジェネレーション jenereishon meaning generation, (ti) ティー tii meaning tea. - KevinJr42
 * I'd suggest that this kind of thing would be better treated in Transcribing English to Japanese by inserting a History section. You could go back to really old loanwords, like shingo and ramune adamrice 15:22, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Nihon-shiki romanization?
This article claims to use the Nihon-shiki romanization but seems to use Hepburn in every way that Hepburn differs with Nihon-shiki (see: "sho" as opposed to the Nihon-shiki "syo") —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.78.59.248 (talk) 20:57, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Unmerged
This article was merged into kana. This merge was extremely badly thought out. Even if you agree with merging it somewhere, there was no justification whatsoever for merging this article (about spelling) into the article about kana (about characters). It is something like merging an article on English spelling into an article on the roman alphabet. The merge made absolutely no sense. If it was to be merged it should have been merged into the page Japanese writing system. For the time being I have unmerged it from the kana page. Anyway it's an important topic in its own right and there is little justification for merging it anywhere. --DannyWilde 07:28, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

WE (Ye?) in Ebisu (beer)
There is a Japanese brand of beer called "Ebisu" but spelled "ye-bi-su" using the character ヱ. Now I am confused as to the no-longer-usedness of "ヱ" as well as the pronounciation of it. I saw this spelling frequently in ads in Japan and it was not that many centuries ago either.

 * As far as I know, "ye" was already written エ around a thousand years ago, since that sound disappeared really early. ヱ is just we, no doubt. However, it should not be surprising that it is used for special effect, just like how people write "ye olde whatever" when they pretend to write older English without realising that the "y" is actually "th"... -- Amorette 18:52, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Some things I can think of.
One thing I think is definitely worth mentioning is the fact that words that contain kana that would be romanised as -kk- were not written with つ: for example, 学校 was written がくかう, rather than がつかう like some might expect.

Also, it says in the article that

 * "The -fu of the modern -u series of verbs (that is, those verbs using the actual kana う such as kau or omou) were not affected by the sound changes on the surface, however, some reports of Edo era Japanese indicate that verbs like tamau and harau were pronounced as tamō and harō instead"

Well, if you listen to the Gyokuon-hōsō, you would hear that he pronounced 失フ as ushinō... and the speech was made in 1945. Are you people sure that those verbs weren't affected? -- Amorette 18:48, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

My guess is probably since the rescript was in pseudo-archaic Classical Japanese, Emperor Showa might have just mindlessly read 失フ (after all, he or the speech writer was not thinking in terms of sounds when writing in CJ) according to the sound shift rules that say afu->ō. 199.192.229.217 (talk) 04:18, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Romanization
None of the ye examples given in the section actually belong here, as even the text of the article states that it is a result of a sound change and not an orthographic issue. In fact, the examples given in the article had a variety of spellings in the old system: he - Inouye (ゐのうへ, Winouhe), Iyeyasu (いへやす, Iheyasu) and Uyeno (うへの, Uheno); we - yen (ゑん, wen); and plain e/ye - Yedo (えど, Edo/Yedo) and Yezo (えぞ, Ezo/Yezo). I think these examples should be somewhere like Romanization of Japanese (mentions Portuguese-based transliteration methods including ye) or Late Middle Japanese (mentions the merger of /he/ and /we/ into /je/). VonPeterhof (talk) 13:49, 5 February 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Historical kana orthography


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Category talk:British military trainer aircraft

I don't know if anybody is reading this, but isn't this a little specialised? I mean there are only about three training aircraft serving with the RAF for each decade after WW2 - wouldn't one category for training aircraft be enough.

Incidentally, should each aircraft be listed in all the decades it served, or just the decade it first entered service? DJ Clayworth 04:04, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)


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Norse cosmology

Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology, such as notations of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthropogeny, and eschatology. Like other aspects of Norse mythology, these concepts are primarily recorded from earlier oral sources in the Poetic Edda, a collection of poems compiled in the 13th century, and the Prose Edda, authored by Icelander Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Together these sources depict an image of Nine Worlds around a cosmic tree, Yggdrasil.

Time and space
Concepts of time and space play a major role in the Old Norse corpus's presentation of Norse cosmology. While events in Norse mythology describe a somewhat linear progression, various scholars in ancient Germanic studies note that Old Norse texts may imply or directly describe a fundamental belief in cyclic time. According to scholar John Lindow, "the cosmos might be formed and reformed on multiple occasions by the rising sea."

Cosmogony
Drawing in part on various eddic poems, the Gylfaginning section of the Prose Edda contains an account of the development and creation of the cosmos: long before the Earth came to be, there existed the bright and flaming place called Muspell—a location so hot that foreigners may not enter it—and the foggy land of Niflheim. In Niflheim was a spring, Hvergelmir, and from it flow numerous rivers. Together these rivers, known as Élivágar, flowed further and further from their source. Eventually the poisonous substance within the flow came to harden and turn to ice. When the flow became entirely solid, a poisonous vapor rose from the ice and solidified into rime atop the solid river. These thick ice layers grew, in time spreading across the void of Ginnungagap.

The northern region of Ginnungagap continued to fill with weight from the growing substance and its accompanying blowing vapor, yet the southern portion of Ginunngagap remained clear due to its proximity to the sparks and flames of Muspell. Between Niflheim and Muspell, ice and fire, was a placid location, "as mild as a windless sky". When the rime and the blowing heat met, the liquid melted and dropped, and this mixture formed the primordial being Ymir, the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir sweated while sleeping. From his left arm grew a male and female jötunn, "and one of his legs begot a son with another", and these limbs too produced children.

Ymir fed from rivers of milk that flowed from the teats of the primordial cow, Auðumbla. Auðumbla fed from salt she licked from rime stones. Over the course of three days, she licked free a beautiful and strong man, Búri. Búri's son Borr married a jötunn named Bestla, and the two had three sons: the gods Odin, Vili and Vé. The sons killed Ymir, and Ymir's blood poured across the land, producing great floods that killed all of the jötnar but two (Bergelmir and his unnamed wife, who sailed across the flooded landscape).

Odin, Vili, and Vé took Ymir's corpse to the center of Ginunngagap and carved it. They made the earth from Ymir's flesh; the rocks from his bones; from his blood the sea, lakes, and oceans; and scree and stone from his molars, teeth, and remaining bone fragments. They surrounded the earth's lands with sea, forming a circle. From Ymir's skull they made the sky, which they placed above the earth in four points, each held by a dwarf (Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri—Old Norse 'north, south, east, and west', respectively).

After forming the dome of the Earth, the brothers Odin, Vili and Vé took sparks of light from Muspell and placed them around the Earth, both above and below. Some remained fixed and others moved through the sky in predetermined courses. The trio provided land for the jötnar to leave by the sea. Using Ymir's eyelashes, the trio built a fortification around the center of the landmass to contain the hostility of the jötnar. They called this fortification Miðgarðr (Old Norse 'central enclosure'). Finally, from Ymir's brains, they formed the clouds.

From Ymir's eyebrows they crafted a stronghold named Midgard. When they were walking along the seashore, they found two trees and shaped humans of them. Odin gave them spirit and life, Vili gave them wit and feeling, and Vé gave them form, speech, hearing, and sight. They gave them clothing and names: the man was called Askr, and the woman Embla. They were the ancestors of mankind who lived in Midgard. The brothers made for themselves in the middle of the world a city called Asgard, where the gods lived.

Personifications
Personifications, such as those of astronomical objects, time, and water bodies occur in Norse mythology. The Sun is personified as a goddess, Sól (Old Norse 'Sun'); the moon is personified as a male entity, Máni (Old Norse 'moon'); and the Earth too is personified (Jörð, Old Norse 'earth'). Night appears personified as the female jötunn Nótt (Old Norse 'night'); day is personified as Dagr (Old Norse 'day'); and Dagr's father, the god Dellingr (Old Norse 'shining'), may in some manner personify the dawn. Bodies of water also receive personification, such as the goddess Rán, her jötunn husband Ægir, and their wave-maiden children, the Nine Daughters of Ægir and Rán.

Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil is a tree central to the Norse concept of the cosmos. The tree's branches extend into various realms, and various creatures dwell on and around it. The gods go to Yggdrasil daily to assemble at their things, traditional governing assemblies. The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well Urðarbrunnr in the heavens, one to the spring Hvergelmir, and another to the well Mímisbrunnr. Creatures live within Yggdrasil, including the dragon Níðhöggr, an unnamed eagle, and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór.

Nine Worlds
Old Norse texts mention the existence of Níu Heimar, translated by scholars as "Nine Worlds". According to the second stanza of the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, the Nine Worlds surround the tree Yggdrasil. As recalled by a dead völva in the poem:

The Nine Worlds receive a second and final mention in the Poetic Edda in stanza 43 of the poem Vafþrúðnismál, where the wise jötunn Vafþrúðnir engages in a deadly battle of wits with the disguised god Odin: The Nine Worlds receive a single mention in the Prose Edda, occurring section 34 of the Gylfaginning portion of the book. The section describes how Odin threw Loki's daughter Hel into the underworld, and granted her power over all Nine Worlds: "Hel he threw into Niflheim and gave her authority over nine worlds, such that she has to administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age."

The Old Norse corpus does not clearly list the Nine Worlds, if it provides them at all. However, some scholars have proposed identifications for the nine. For example, Henry Adams Bellows (1923) says that the Nine Worlds consist of Ásgarðr, Vanaheimr, Álfheimr, Miðgarðr, Jötunheimr, Múspellsheimr, Svartálfaheimr, Niflheimr (sometimes Hel), and perhaps Niðavellir. Some editions of translations of the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda feature illustrations of what the author or artist suspects the Nine Worlds to be in part based on the Völuspá stanza above.

Anthropogeny
Ask and Embla—male and female respectively—were the first two humans, created by the gods from driftwood they encounter on a shore. The gods who form these first humans vary by source: According to the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, they are Hœnir, Lóðurr and Odin, whereas in the Prose Edda they are Odin, Vili, and Vé.

Eschatology
Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle, foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including various deities), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterward, the world will resurface anew and fertile, the surviving and returning gods will meet, and mankind will be repopulated by Líf and Lífþrasir, who will emerge from Yggdrasil.

title: Norse cosmology


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Lilith (novel)

Lilith: A Romance is a fantasy novel by Scottish writer George MacDonald, first published in 1895. It was reprinted in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fifth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in September 1969.

Lilith: A Romance is considered among the darkest of MacDonald's works, and among the most profound. It is a story concerning the nature of life, death, and salvation. In the story, MacDonald mentions a cosmic sleep that heals tortured souls, preceding the salvation of all. MacDonald was a Christian universalist, believing that all will eventually be saved. However, in this story, divine punishment is not taken lightly, and salvation is hard-won.

Plot summary
Mr. Vane, the protagonist of Lilith, owns a library that seems to be haunted by the former librarian, who looks much like a raven from the brief glimpses he catches of the wraith. After finally encountering the supposed ghost, the mysterious Mr. Raven, Vane learns that Raven had known his father; indeed, Vane's father had visited the strange parallel universe from which Raven comes and goes and now resides therein. Vane follows Raven into the world through a mirror (this symbolistic realm is described as "the region of the seven dimensions", a term taken from Jacob Boehme).

Inside the world, Vane learns of a house of beds where the dreamers sleep until the end of the world in death: a good death, in which life is found. Vane's grandfather refused to sleep there and is, instead, forced to do battle with skeletons in a haunted wood. After a treacherous journey through a valley (where the moon is the only thing to keep him safe), Mr. Vane meets the Little Ones, children who never grow up, remaining pure children or becoming selfish and getting bigger and dumber, turning into "bags" or bad giants. After conversing with Lona, the eldest of the children, Mr. Vane decides to help them, and sets off to gather more information, although the Raven has warned Mr. Vane that he needs to sleep along with the dreamers before he can really help them. Mr. Vane learns that the Raven is also Adam and his wife is Eve.

While on his journey, he meets Lilith, Adam's first wife and the princess of Bulika. Vane, although nearly blinded by Lilith's beauty and charms, eventually leads the Little Ones in a battle against Bulika. Lona, Vane's love, turns out to be Lilith's daughter, and is killed by her own mother. Lilith, however, is captured and brought to Adam and Eve at the house of death, where they struggle to make her open her hand, fused shut, in which she holds the water the Little Ones need to grow. Only when she gives it up can Lilith join the sleepers in blissful dreams, free of sin. After a long struggle, Lilith bids Adam cut her hand from her body; it is done, Lilith sleeps, and Vane is sent to bury the hand; water flows from the hole and washes the land over. Vane is then allowed to join the Little Ones, already asleep, in their dreaming. He takes his bed, next to Lona's, and finds true life in death.

Mr. Vane awakens in his home, then is afterwards unsure that he is really awake, but actually dreaming that he is awake. He does not attempt to re-enter the parallel world but waits "all the days of (his) appointed time ...till (his) change come".

Critical reception
James Blish ranked Lilith as "one of the great originals," saying that its "allegory is far from obtrusive, and the story proper both tense and decidedly eerie." E. F. Bleiler described it as "a long parabolic narrative heavily laden with Victorian Christian symbolism" and noted that critical opinion of the novel was sharply divided: "Some critics regard it highly for its fine images and verbal flashes", while others regard it as a most unpleasant work with an unpalatable message." Neil Barron argued that Lilith "has parallels with Phantastes (1858) and shows the slight influence of Carroll, but it is easily the strangest product of Victorian fantasy. It is the obvious parent of Lindsay's Voyage to Arcturus (1920) and fascinated C. S. Lewis; as an allegory of heterodox Christianity it bears an interesting relation to the works of T. F. Powys."

title: Lilith (novel)


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Louis-René Beaudoin

Louis-René Beaudoin (May 5, 1912 – February 21, 1970) was Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1957.

Though trained as a lawyer, Beaudoin came from a working class background and financed his education by working as a bus driver and labourer. He became a legal advisor to the Quebec Federation of Labour and volunteered for the Quebec Liberal Party prior to winning election to Parliament. He founded a law firm in Montreal with Maurice Riel during the 1950s under the name Beaudoin, Riel, Geoffrion & Vermette now known as Dunton Rainville.

Beadouin was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1945 election as a Liberal from Quebec. He became Deputy Speaker in 1952 and was appointed Speaker of the House of Commons on November 12, 1953.

Beaudoin's nomination was seconded by Leader of the Opposition George Drew. His reputation as a competent Speaker grew until the Pipeline Debate in 1956 in which the government invoked closure repeatedly in an attempt to force legislation through the house and force a vote with a minimum of debate.

In the course of the debate, Beaudoin initially ruled that debate could occur on an appeal of a ruling by the Deputy Speaker. The next day, Beaudoin reversed his ruling and moved that the vote on the appeal proceed without debate. The Opposition was outraged and a number of Members of Parliament (MPs) stormed the Chair, calling the Speaker a "traitor" and "coward".

The following Monday, George Drew introduced a motion of censure against Beaudoin whom he accused of destroying the Speakership. The Liberal majority defeated the motion, but less than a month later, Mr. Drew called attention to a newspaper in which there was a letter by Beaudoin criticizing the behaviour of opposition members during the pipeline debate. Beaudoin argued it was a private letter, not intended to be published. The following day, however, he placed his resignation before the House. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent was out of the country, but on returning, he persuaded Mr. Beaudoin to stay on until the end of the Parliament.

Beaudoin's reputation was destroyed. While he was re-elected to the House in the 1957 election, he had lost interest in political life and did not contest the 1958 election.

After obtaining a Reno, Nevada divorce from his wife of 21 years, he married Alice Margaret Outram, 24 years his junior, and moved to the United States. Briefly enrolled in a doctoral program at Columbia University, he left without finishing his thesis and spent the remainder of his life drifting from job to job, eventually finding work as a bartender at Freddy's Tavern in Tempe, Arizona. In 1964 his second marriage failed and the following year he returned to Canada. For part of 1965 he taught high school French at Morin Heights High School in the Quebec Laurentians.

In February 1970 he died aged 57 of a heart attack, "virtually penniless and alone, in the back seat of a Montreal taxi."

Archives
There is a Louis-René Beaudoin fonds at Library and Archives Canada. Archival reference number is R3298.

title: Louis-René Beaudoin


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James Wood-Mason

James Wood-Mason (December 1846 – 6 May 1893) was an English zoologist. He was the director of the Indian Museum at Calcutta, after John Anderson. He collected marine animals and lepidoptera, but is best known for his work on two other groups of insects, phasmids (stick insects) and mantises (praying mantises).

The genus Woodmasonia Brunner, 1907, and at least ten species of phasmids, are named after him.

Life and career
Wood-Mason was born in Gloucestershire, England, where his father was a doctor. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Queen's College, Oxford. He went out to India in 1869 to work in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, which in 2008 still housed his collection of insects.

In 1872 he sailed to the Andaman Islands, mostly studying marine animals, but also collecting and later describing two new phasmids, Bacillus hispidulus and Bacillus westwoodii.

Wood-Mason described 24 new species of phasmids, mostly from South Asia but also some from Australia, New Britain, Madagascar, the Malay peninsula and Fiji. His naming of Cotylosoma dipneusticum (Wood-Mason, 1878) is particularly curious as he never formally described the species; it was wrongly imagined to be semi-aquatic; it was "described with what is probably the least precise measurement ever used for a phasmid", namely ""between three and four inches in length"; and he gave its locality as Borneo, when in fact it came from Fiji.

In 1887 he became Superintendent of the Indian Museum. Also in 1887, he became vice-president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

In 1888 he sailed on the Indian Marine Survey steamship HMS Investigator (1881), working on and later describing new species of Crustacea, along with Alfred William Alcock, who recorded the voyage in his classic natural history book A Naturalist in Indian Seas (1902).

For several years he suffered from Bright's disease. On 5 April 1893, unable to work, he left India for England, but died at sea on 6 May 1893.

Flower mantis drawing
Wood-Mason gave his flower mantis drawing to Alfred Russel Wallace, who wrote in his 1889 book Darwinism:

"A beautiful drawing of this rare insect, Hymenopus bicornis (in the nymph or active pupa state), was kindly sent me by Mr. Wood-Mason, Curator of the Indian Museum at Calcutta. A species, very similar to it, inhabits Java, where it is said to resemble a pink orchid. Other Mantidae, of the genus Gongylus, have the anterior part of the thorax dilated and coloured either white, pink, or purple; and they so closely resemble flowers that, according to Mr. Wood-Mason, one of them, having a bright violet-blue prothoracic shield, was found in Pegu by a botanist, and was for a moment mistaken by him for a flower. See Proc. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1878, p. liii."

- Alfred Russel Wallace

Wallace passed the drawing to Edward Bagnall Poulton, who published it in his 1890 book The Colours of Animals.

Honours
Wood-Mason was a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. In 1888 he became a Fellow of the University of Calcutta.

Over 10 marine animals have the specific name woodmasoni in his honour, including several described by Alcock of the Investigator : Heterocarpus woodmasoni, Coryphaenoides woodmasoni, Thalamita woodmasoni, and Rectopalicus woodmasoni.

Two species of snake are named in his honour: Oligodon woodmasoni and Uropeltis woodmasoni.

Publications

 * Entomological Notes. 1. On the difference in the form of the Antennae between the Males of Idolomorpha and those of other genera of Empusidae, a subfamily of Mantidae. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, Volume 26, Issue 4, pages 259–270, December 1878.
 * List of the lepidopterous insects collected in Cachar by Mr. Wood-Mason, by J. Wood-Mason and Lionel de Nicéville. Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1887. (53 p., 4 leaves of plates: ill. (one col.)) Reprinted from the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; 55 pt.2 no.4 (1886).
 * A Catalogue of the Mantodea, with descriptions of new genera and species, and an enumeration of the specimens. Printed by order of the Trustees of the Indian Museum, 1889.
 * On the uterine villiform papillae of Pteroplataea micrura, and their relation to the embryo, being natural history notes from H.M. Indian marine survey ... R.F. Hoskyn, R.N., commanding. Harrison and Sons, 1891.
 * Further observations on the gestation of Indian rays: Being natural history notes from H.M. Indian marine survey steamer 'Investigator', Commander R.F. Hoskyn, R.N., commanding. Harrison and Sons, 1892.
 * Figures and Descriptions of Nine Species of Squillidae from the collection in the Indian Museum. Calcutta. Published by order of the trustees of the Indian Museum, 1895.

title: James Wood-Mason


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Scottish Aviation Bulldog

The Scottish Aviation Bulldog is a British two-seat side-by-side (with optional third seat) training aircraft designed by Beagle Aircraft as the B.125 Bulldog.

The prototype Bulldog flew on 19 May 1969 at Shoreham Airport. The first order for the type was for 78 from the Swedish Air Board. Before any production aircraft were built, Beagle Aircraft ceased trading and the production rights for the aircraft, with the Swedish order, were taken over by Scottish Aviation (Bulldog) Limited. All subsequent aircraft were built at Prestwick Airport by Scottish Aviation, and later by British Aerospace.

Sweden
The first 58 aircraft (known as the SK 61A and SK 61B) were delivered to the Swedish Air Force in 1971. Twenty more aircraft were delivered to the Swedish Army as FPL 61C in 1972, although these were transferred to the Air Force in 1989 as SK 61C. By 2001 all the Swedish aircraft had been withdrawn from military service. 26 were bought in 2004 by the Hungarian company AVIA-Rent.

United Kingdom
The largest customer was the Royal Air Force, which placed an order for 130 Bulldogs in 1972, entering service as the Bulldog T.1 in 1975. It was used by the Royal Air Force as a basic trainer, in particular as the standard aircraft of the University Air Squadrons and, later, Air Experience Flights, providing flying training. The aircraft was also used by the Royal Navy for Elementary Flying Training (EFT) at RAF Topcliffe.

The RAF sold off its remaining Bulldog trainers in 2001 as general aviation light aircraft for a low price. They were replaced by the Grob Tutor.

Variants
The following Bulldog models were produced:

 * Bulldog Series 1: One prototype built by Beagle Aircraft (G-AXEH), one built by Scottish Aviation; now in the collection of the National Museum of Flight at East Fortune, East Lothian.
 * Bulldog Series 100
 * Model 101: Export model for Sweden. Swedish military designation SK 61 (AF) or FPL 61 (Army). 78 built.
 * Model 102: Export model for Malaysia. 15 built.
 * Model 103: Export model for Kenya. Five built.
 * Model 104: Refurbished second prototype (G-AXIG)
 * Model 121: Primary trainer for the Royal Air Force. RAF designation Bulldog T.1. 130 built, five of which transferred (sold) to the Armed Forces of Malta in 2000.
 * Model 122: Export model for Ghana. Six built.
 * Model 122A: Export model for Ghana. Seven built.
 * Model 123: Export model for Nigeria. 37 built.
 * Model 124: Company demonstrator (G-ASAL). Used for weapons trials.
 * Model 125: Export model for Jordan. 13 built.
 * Model 125A: Export model for Royal Jordanian Air Force. Nine built.
 * Model 126: Export model for Lebanon. Six built.
 * Model 127: Export model for Kenya. Nine built.
 * Model 128: Export model for Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force. Two built.
 * Model 129: One aircraft for a civil customer in Venezuela (YV-375-CP).
 * Model 1210 : Export model for Botswana. Six built. Light attack variant with underwing hard points
 * Bulldog Series 200 : Four-seat variant with retractable undercarriage. One prototype built (G-BDOG). Also known as the Bullfinch in civilian guise.

Military operators

 * Kenya Air Force
 * Lebanese Air Force
 * Lebanese Air Force
 * Lebanese Air Force

Former military operators

 * Botswana Air Force
 * Ghana Air Force
 * Royal Jordanian Air Force
 * 🇭🇰 Hong Kong
 * Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force
 * Royal Malaysian Air Force
 * Maltese Air Wing
 * Nigerian Air Force
 * Swedish Air Force
 * Swedish Army
 * Royal Air Force
 * Maltese Air Wing
 * Nigerian Air Force
 * Swedish Air Force
 * Swedish Army
 * Royal Air Force
 * Swedish Army
 * Royal Air Force
 * Royal Air Force

Former civil operators

 * Lund University
 * Lund University

Aircraft on display

 * United Kingdom
 * Bulldog 104 G-AXIG at National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
 * Bulldog 125 G-BDIN at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Doncaster, England.
 * Bulldog T.1 XX634 at Newark Air Museum, Nottinghamshire.
 * Bulldog T.1 XX654 at Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, Shropshire.
 * Bulldog T.1 XX669 at South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum.
 * Bulldog T.1 XX520 at 172 (Haywards Heath) Squadron Air Training Corps (Haywards Heath TA Centre), Sussex
 * Bulldog T.1 XX637 at Ulster Aviation Society, Maze Long Kesh, Lisburn, Northern Ireland (Current markings are a XX530 tribute)

title: Scottish Aviation Bulldog


text:
List of Germanic deities

In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, various chronicles, runic inscriptions, personal names, place names, and other sources. This article contains a comprehensive list of Germanic deities outside the numerous Germanic Matres and Matronae inscriptions from the 1st to 5th century CE.

Pseudo-deities and purported deities

 * Astrild, a synonym for the Roman deity Amor or Cupid invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors
 * Ercol, a synonym for the Roman deity Hercules used in King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version of Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiae
 * Frau Berchta, a purported deity and female equivalent of Berchtold proposed by Jacob Grimm
 * Biel (deity), a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
 * Holda, a purported deity proposed by Jacob Grimm
 * Jecha, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
 * Jofur, a synonym for the Roman deity Jupiter invented and used by Nordic Baroque and Rococo authors
 * Lahra, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
 * Reto (deity), a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology
 * Stuffo, a purported deity potentially stemming from a folk etymology

Related deities

 * List of Anglo-Saxon deities
 * Common Germanic deities

title: List of Germanic deities


text:
List of people, items and places in Norse mythology

Norse mythology includes a diverse array of people, places, creatures, and other mythical elements.

Places

 * Álfheim
 * Asgard
 * Bifröst
 * Bilskirnir
 * Breidablik
 * Elivagar
 * Fyris Wolds
 * Gandvik
 * Ginnungagap
 * Hel
 * Hlidskjalf
 * Hvergelmir
 * Járnviðr
 * Jötunheimr
 * Leipter River
 * Kormet
 * Midgard
 * Muspelheim
 * Náströnd
 * Niðavellir
 * Niflheim
 * Ormet
 * Reidgotaland
 * Sessrúmnir
 * Slidr River
 * Svartálfaheim
 * Útgarðar
 * Valhalla
 * Vanaheim
 * Vimur
 * Yggdrasil

Events

 * Æsir–Vanir War
 * Battle of Brávellir
 * Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern
 * Ēostre
 * Fimbulwinter
 * Hjaðningavíg
 * Mōdraniht
 * Ragnarök
 * Rheda (mythology)
 * Yule

Artifacts

 * Balmung
 * Brisingamen
 * Draupnir
 * Dromi
 * Eitr
 * Gjallarhorn
 * Gleipnir
 * Gram
 * Gullinbursti
 * Gungnir
 * Hringhorni
 * Læðingur
 * Mjölnir
 * Naglfar
 * Skíðblaðnir
 * Svalinn
 * Tyrfing
 * Well of Urd

People

 * Adils
 * Alaric and Eric
 * Arngrim
 * Ask and Embla
 * Aun
 * Berserkers
 * Bödvar Bjarki
 * Dag the Wise
 * Domalde
 * Domar
 * Dyggve
 * Egil One-Hand
 * Fafnir
 * Fjölnir
 * Gudrun
 * Harald Hildetand
 * Ingjald
 * Ivar Vidfamne
 * Lif and Lifthrasir
 * Nór
 * Ohthere
 * Ragnar Lodbrok
 * Rerir
 * Raum the Old
 * Shieldmaiden
 * Sigi
 * Sigmund
 * Signy
 * Sigurd
 * Sigurd Hring
 * Skirnir
 * Skjöld
 * Starkad
 * Sveigðir
 * Volsung
 * Yngvi and Alf

Dwarves
Many dwarves are named in the poem Völuspá and repeated in Gylfaginning
 * Alvíss
 * Andvari
 * Billingr
 * Brokkr
 * Dainn
 * Durinn
 * Dúrnir
 * Dvalinn
 * Eitri
 * Fafnir
 * Fjalar and Galar
 * Gandalf
 * Hreiðmarr
 * Litr
 * Mótsognir
 * Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri
 * Ótr
 * Regin
 * Sindari
 * Sons of Ivaldi

Other assorted beings

 * Álfar
 * Auðumbla
 * Dökkálfar
 * Draugr
 * Fenrisulfr
 * Garmr
 * Geri and Freki
 * Gullinbursti
 * Gultopp
 * Hati
 * Hugin and Munin
 * Jörmungandr
 * Ljósálfar
 * Móinn
 * Níðhöggr
 * The Norns
 * Ratatoskr
 * Skoll
 * Sleipnir
 * Surtr
 * Svadilfari
 * Svartálfar
 * Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr
 * Valkyrie


text:
Haifa Wehbe

Haifa Wehbe (هيفاء وهبي ; born 10 March 1972) is a Lebanese singer and actress. She is considered one of Lebanon's most famous and successful singers, and one of the best-known artists in the Arab world.

She has been among the highest-selling and most successful Middle Eastern woman in the world, She was ranked 8th on the list of the "99 most desirable women” in 2006 by Askmen.com. During her career, she won many awards in the category of actresses, singers and performers. She has released seven studio albums, and made her acting debut in the 2008 Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars. In 2006, Wehbe was on People Magazine's 50 most beautiful people list. Wehbe is also the second richest Arab celebrity, with a reported estimated wealth of over $57 million.

In 1991, at the age of eighteen, she was chosen as Miss South Lebanon, and the holder of the title of Miss Lebanon for the year 1992, but the title was withdrawn from her because of her violation of the laws of the competition, as she was married and a mother. She began her life as a model and also participated as a model in several video clips and television commercials, then worked as a broadcaster on the Arab Radio and Television Network in 1999, and presented her first albums in 2001 and presented many albums and performed several concerts in many Arab countries. She entered the field of acting as a guest of honor in the film Bahr Al Nojoum in 2008, and in 2009 she was chosen to star in the film Dokan Shehata, which was directed by Khaled Youssef.

Early life
Haifa Wehbe was born on March 10, 1972, in Mahrouna, Tyre District, South Governorate, Lebanon to a Lebanese Shia Muslim father, Muhammad Wehbe, and an Egyptian mother, Sayeda Abd al-Aziz Ibrahim. Haifa grew up in the capital, Beirut. She has three sisters and one brother. Wehbe claimed once that she was born in 1976, a date repeated by numerous sources. At one point, she mentioned that she is three years younger than her ex-husband Ahmed Abou Hashima, who was born in 1975. Her half-sister Rola Yamout posted a leaked document indicating that she was born in 1972. Wehbe won the title of Miss South Lebanon at the age of sixteen, and was a runner-up at the Miss Lebanon competition, but the title was withdrawn later from her after it was discovered that she violated the competitions law, as she was married and a mother.

2004–2007: Baddi Aech and television career
Wehbe released her second studio album Baddi Aech (Arabic: بدي عيش, English: "I Want to Live") in early 2005, following the success of lead single "Ya Hayat Albi." Released after the assassination of Lebanese politician Rafik Hariri, the title single of the album is about "freedom, considered to be among the most basic of human rights". Follow-up single "Aana Haifa" (Arabic: أنا هيفاء, English: "I Am Haifa") became her biggest hit to date. In Summer 2005, she participated as a guest in Al Wadi, a local version of The Farm.

In 2006, she released the kids song "Bus al-Wawa" (Arabic: بوس الواوا, English: "Kiss the Booboo"), the song was later used in a Pepsi advertisement. It was also voted Song of the Year in 2006 by Radio Scope and Sawt Al Musika.

2008–2009: Film career beginnings and Habibi Aana
Wehbe starred in the Pepsi-produced film Sea of Stars released in early 2008, along with Carole Samaha, Ahmad el Sherif, Wael Kfoury, Brigitte Yaghi, and Ruwaida al-Mahrouqi.

On July 4, 2008, Wehbe released her third studio album Habibi Aana (Arabic: حبيبي أنا, English: "My Love") which contains 15 songs including the lead single "Moush Adra Estana".

2010–2012: Babe Haifa, and Malikat Jamal Al Kawn
Wehbe released a children's album Baby Haifa in March 2010 under Rotana Records. The song on the album "Baba Fein" became a big hit around the Muslim world, and is considered one of the most popular Arabic nursery rhymes, having 38 million views on YouTube.

In April 2010, Wehbe was featured on French DJ David Vendetta's album Vendetta on the song "Yama Layali".

In September 2011 Al Bawaba reported that Wehbe was threatening to leave her label Rotana "for neglecting her and not paying any attention to her work".

"Malikat Jamal Al Kawn" (MJK; English: "Miss Universe") was released on May 8, 2012 under Rotana Records, where she worked with Aphex Twin.

2013–present: Your Face Sounds Familiar, Breathing You In, and Mariam
During summer 2013, Webhe released her new song "Ghala Ghala".

In 2014, she signed with Tarik Freitekh's label and Wehbe shot her new song "Farhana" on June 21, 2014 in “Your Face Sounds Familiar” 2014 (Arabic translation: شكلك مش غريب).

In August 2014, she announced that she would be releasing a new song titled "Breathing You In" along with a video clip featuring Casper Smart.

In 2018, she starred in an Egyptian drama Lanaat Karma.

In September 2018, Haifa released her seventh studio album, Hawwa. The album features 15 songs, and debuted at No. 1 on iTunes charts. The album was produced independently by Wehbe herself, without a record label. In 2020, she accused her ex-business manager, Mohamed al-Waziry, of stealing $4m from her bank account, including also her fees from producers and party organizers.

In 2021, Haifa Wehbe released a new duet song entitled “Law Kont” with Egyptian artist Akram Hosni, and it exceeded millions of views in a few hours and remained number one on various charts across the Middle East. The music video was popular all over the world on YouTube.

Personal life
In the 1990s, Wehbe married her cousin Nasr Fayyad when she was 18 and traveled with him to Nigeria where he worked. During her pregnancy, she returned to Lebanon and separated from Fayyad, with whom she had one daughter, Zeinab.

On June 25, 2007, Wehbe survived an accident while filming a music video for the song "Hasa Ma Bena" in Lebanon. In the video, a single engine airplane was to chase Wehbe as she drove a car. However, the airplane inadvertently hit the car, taking off the front windshield of the convertible she was driving. Despite the severity of the accident, Wehbe suffered only minor cuts and bruises.

Wehbe married Egyptian businessman Ahmed Abou Hashima on April 24, 2009 in Beirut. Among the guests at the wedding party were singer Anastacia, Carmen Electra, Sean Combs, Googoosh, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Najwa Karam, Ragheb Alama, and Sherine.

It was announced that Wehbe and Ahmed Abou Hashima had split in November 2012. Wehbe is a Shiite Muslim.

Wehbe has two granddaughters, Rahab and Daniella, born to her daughter Zeinab.

Wardrobe incident
In November 2014, Wehbe caused controversy and was later heavily criticized, when she wore a revealing dress during a live episode of Arab Star Academy, where her bare buttocks were shown. She later apologized and blamed the stage lighting.

Allegations of Racism
In 2009, the lyrics to Baba Fein aroused controversy with Nubians, as the lyrics said "Where is my teddy bear and the Nubian monkey?" referring to Nubians as "monkeys". Nubians in Egypt accused her that her song aroused racism and discrimination. The lyric has since been removed from multiple music platforms.

Political and social views
During the 2006 Israel–Lebanon War, she left her home, in Verdun, Beirut and moved to Egypt for the duration of the conflict. In a concert in the Lebanese town of Jounieh, Wehbe congratulated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for his stand against Israel during the war.

Wehbe also refused to perform at any concert during the 34 days of the war, including fundraisers, saying that there were more ways than one to show support for Lebanon.

Another incident occurred after the 2009 Egypt–Algeria World Cup dispute, adding to the diplomatic tension between the two countries. Wehbe went on to make statements that she would not be performing in Algeria anytime soon, because Algerians "...wouldn't understand her music". Algeria's cultural minister responded by stating that Wehbe would be banned from performing in Algeria for insulting Algeria and the Algerian people regardless of whether she apologizes.

In January 2012, Wehbe tweeted that she loves all her fans including her "gay fan base". In June 2017, she replied to someone's criticism on Twitter by writing: "When a faggot speaks", which was later deleted. In 2018, she shared a photo on Snapchat with a rainbow flag, signaling her support for the LGBT community. In February 2019, Wehbe launched a fashion brand, Beau Voyou, which had rainbow colors, in which she commented, "For me, equality goes all the way", then added, "Get ready to celebrate unrestricted and boundless love".

Image
Wehbe was ranked 8th in the 2006 Edition of the Top 99 Most Desirable Women by the website AskMen.com.

Some in the more conservative Arab countries deem her revealing outfits as scandalous. One Bahraini member of parliament called her a sexual singer who spoke with her body, not her voice. Wehbe said she was aware of the efforts to ban her from performing at the concert but had chosen to ignore their attempts to silence her.

In November 2014, Wehbe caused controversy and was later heavily criticized, when she wore a revealing dress during a live episode of Arab Star Academy. She later apologized and blamed the stage lighting.

In April 2008, the Islamic-dominated parliament of Bahrain passed a motion urging the government to ban Haifa Wehbe's show in the country. As a result of the motion, Wehbe performed in Bahrain with more modest dress, wearing a long green gown with a low V-neckline during the performance.

Studio albums

 * Houwa Al Zaman (2002)
 * Baddi Aech (2005)
 * Farashet El Wadi (2006)
 * Habibi Ana (2008)
 * Baby Haifa (2010)
 * Malikat Jamal Al Kawn (2012)
 * Hawwa (2018)

Films

 * Sea of Stars (2008)
 * Dokkan Shehata (2011)
 * Halawet Rouh (2014)
 * Khair and Baraka (2017)
 * Renegades of Europe (2020)

TV series

 * Kalam Ala Warak (2014)
 * Mawlid wa Sahibuh Ghayb (2015)
 * Maryam (2015)
 * Al Herbaya (2017)
 * Lanaat Karma (2018)

title: Haifa Wehbe


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Expedition 6

Expedition 6 was the sixth expedition to the International Space Station (25 November 2002 – 3 May 2003). It was the last three-man crew to reside on the station until the arrival of STS-121. The crew performed two spacewalks in support of maintenance and assembly of the International Space Station.

Mission parameters

 * Perigee: 384 km
 * Apogee: 396 km
 * Inclination: 51.6°
 * Period: 92 min

Mission objectives
The Station's sixth crew was launched to the Station aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-113 in November 2002. The mission was planned to be a four-month mission that was to end in March 2003 when Atlantis STS-114 was to fly to the Station with the Expedition 7 crew. The Columbia disaster, which occurred during the mission on 1 February 2003 and resulted in the indefinite suspension of Shuttle flights, led to a change of plan such that the crew stayed on the station until May 2003. They returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-1, and a reduced Expedition 7 crew with just two members was delivered to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-2. The Space Shuttle was expected to be grounded for up to two years. Ongoing logistical support for the ISS would have to be carried out by Soyuz and Progress flights until the Space Shuttle returned to flight.

The sixth crew of the International Space Station returned to Earth just after 10 p.m. EDT on 3 May 2003, the first time U.S. astronauts landed in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, though a U.S. space tourist, Dennis Tito, had done so in 2001.

Russian Mission Control reported at approximately 2:45 a.m. on 4 May that the support helicopters had reached the crew and all three astronauts were in good health. The capsule touched down approximately 276 miles (444 km) from its planned landing zone.

Originally scheduled to fly on the Expedition 6 crew in place of Don Pettit was Donald A. Thomas.

Spacewalks
The Expedition Six crew conducted two spacewalks during its stay at the International Space Station. Both were based out of the Quest Airlock, and the spacewalkers used U.S. spacesuits, which are called Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs. The crew was originally scheduled to conduct only one spacewalk, but a second was added to the manifest for 8 April in order to prepare for future assembly missions.

The two Expedition Six extravehicular activities bring the total number of spacewalks conducted in support of ISS assembly and maintenance to 51. Of those 51 EVA's, Twenty-six have been based out of the station, with 17 staged from Quest. Bowersox and Pettit accumulated 13 hours and 17 minutes of spacewalking time at the station.

Cultural references
Expedition 6 is the subject of the book Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space, by Chris Jones.

A dramatised account of Expedition 6 is told in Expedition 6, a play by actor/playwright Bill Pullman. The play was scheduled to run at San Francisco's Magic Theater through 7 October 2007.

title: Expedition 6


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Alfred William Alcock

Alfred William Alcock (23 June 1859 in Bombay – 24 March 1933 in Belvedere, Kent) was a British physician, naturalist, and carcinologist.

Early life and education
Alcock was the son of a sea-captain, John Alcock in Bombay, India who retired to live in Blackheath. His mother was a daughter of Christopher Puddicombe, the only son of a Devon squire.

Alcock studied at Mill Hill School, at Blackheath Proprietary School and at Westminster School. In 1876 his father faced financial losses and he was taken out of school and sent to India in the Wynaad district. Here he was taken care of by relatives engaged in coffee-planting. As a boy of 17 he spent time in the jungles of Malabar.

Career
Coffee-planting in Wynaad declined and Alcock obtained a post at a commission agent's office in Calcutta. This office closed soon, and he worked from 1878 to 1880 in Purulia as an agent recruiting unskilled labourers for the Assam tea gardens. While here an acquaintance, Duncan Cameron, left him a Macmillan book by Michael Foster Physiology Primer. This book, he wrote in his autobiographical notes, "That little book was to me what the light from heaven was to St. Paul. It set my face towards natural science." He regretted that he never got to know Michael Foster, "but throughout the rest of my life I have thought of him with the gratitude of a disciple, for his Primer and for his Textbook of Physiology which I got as soon as I had mastered his Primer. Its philosophical spirit impressed me very deeply."

Another friend he made in Purulia was Lieut.-Col. J. J. Wood, then deputy sanitary commissioner there. Wood invited him to the study of botany, natural history and chemistry. During this time Alcock even dug graves to study the bodies of humans. He studied bones using Holden's Osteology – "Thence I crept on by means of a Nicholson's ' Manual of Zoology ' to the Descent of Man and the ' Origin of Species.' I was now resolved to be a doctor, but I could not think how it was to come to pass."

In 1880 he took up a post as assistant master in a European boys school at Darjeeling. Here Colonel Wood left his son under the tutelage of Alcock. In 1881 Alcock's elder sister moved to India as her husband was a distinguished officer in the Indian Civil Service. Alcock was then able to sail home to begin his medical training. He found Aberdeen University economical and entered Marischal College in October, 1881. In the first year he took the medal in Henry Alleyne Nicholson's class of Natural History. Even when "unqualified" he served as house surgeon in the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. In 1885 he graduated M.B., C.M., "with honourable distinction" and joined the Indian Medical Service.

Alcock sailed to India in 1886 and served in the north-west frontier with Sikh regiment and Punjab regiments. In Baluchistan he dealt with his first case of a fatal snake bite from an Echis carinatus. In 1888 he became Surgeon-Naturalist to the Indian Marine Survey on the survey ship Investigator. Here he studied marine zoology and he published many papers along with the zoologist James Wood-Mason and others. He wrote about these years in A Naturalist in Indian Seas (1902) which is considered a classic in natural history travel.

In 1892 Alcock resigned (having attained the rank of major) and became Deputy Sanitary Commissioner for Eastern Bengal. In 1893 Wood-Mason went home and Alcock agreed to act for him during his absence. Wood-Mason died on his way to England and Alcock was appointed as the superintendent of the Indian Museum. In 1895–96 he was on the Pamis Boundary Commission and wrote the Natural History results of this expedition. At the Indian Museum, Alcock worked on improving the public galleries of Reptiles, Fishes and Invertebrates. Sir George King, who was the chairman of the trustees, supported him; however, after his retirement, Alcock was given little support. Lord Curzon decided to exhibit the collections of the Indian Museum as a memorial to Queen Victoria in 1903 and Alcock was ordered to "vacate the gallery of Fishes at a moment's notice." Alcock protested to the trustees that "it would be disgraceful to dismantle a gallery of Invertebrates which included an exhibit of the recent mosquito-malaria discoveries, at a moment when those discoveries seemed at last to have driven into the thickest British skull the great truth that the study of zoology was of some use to mankind." The gallery was spared but the library was to be cleared. These experiences caused Alcock to quit and he returned home in 1906 writing to the Government "telling him what an impossible post the Superintendentship of the Museum was and begging him to get it improved for the sake of the Science of Zoology and of my successors." In the letter Alcock wrote that Zoology was "a branch of pure science pregnant with human interest", important to the state "in matters of education, in matters agricultural and veterinary, and in the vital matter of public health." He suggested the establishment of "an Indian Zoological Survey" with a museum and laboratory administered by zoologists along the lines of the Geological and Botanical Surveys.

He was asked to withdraw his resignation and rejoin with promises of reform at the Indian Museum, however he wrote that "I stuck to my resolve that if the position at the Indian Museum was to be improved by my efforts no cynical potentate at Simla should ever say that I had got it altered for my own benefit."

Back in London he made acquaintance with Sir Patrick Manson, who he had known since student days. He began to work on tropical medicine at the School of Tropical Medicine at the Albert Dock Seamen's Hospital, Albert Dock.

Alcock was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1901. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1903 Durbar Honours, and received the Barclay Medal from the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1907.

In 1897 he married Margaret Forbes Cornwall, of Aberdeen.

Achievements
Alcock was primarily a systematist, describing a wide range of species. He worked on aspects of biology and physiology of fishes, their distributions, evolution and behaviour. Some of his works were published in "Zoological Gleanings from the R.I.M.S. ' Investigator,' " published in " Scientific Memoirs by Medical Officers of the Army of India," Part XII, Simla, 1901.

He worked on Fishes, Decapod Crustacea, and Deep Sea Madreporarian Corals. He published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, the Annals and Magazine of Natural History as well as catalogues published by the Indian Museum. His "Illustrations of the Zoology of the R.I.M.S. ' Investigator,' ", a series with illustrations by Indian artists (mainly A. C. Chowdhary and S. C. Mondul) has been considered as exceptional in beauty and accuracy.

Alcock's school education of classics and literature led him to write in a Victorian literary style. He specialized in medical entomology, wrote a textbook "Entomology for Medical Officers " (1st edition 1911, 2nd 1920), and worked on a biography of Sir Patrick Manson.

In herpetology, Alcock described five new species of reptiles, some in collaboration with the English ornithologist Frank Finn.

Eponymous species

 * Acromycter alcocki Gilbert & Cramer, 1897
 * Bathynemertes alcocki Laidlaw, 1906
 * Sabellaria alcocki Gravier, 1907
 * Pourtalesia alcocki Koehler, 1914
 * Aristeus alcocki Ramadan, 1938
 * Pasiphaea alcocki (Wood-Mason & Alcock, 1891)
 * The Alcock’s deep-reef basslet, Plectranthias alcocki Bineesh, Gopalakrishnan & Jena, 2014 is a species of fish in the family Serranidae occurring in the Western Indian Ocean.

title: Alfred William Alcock


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Miss Lebanon

Miss Lebanon (ملكة جمال لبنان) is the national Beauty pageant in Lebanon.

History
Miss Lebanon has been broadcast on Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) since 1975 and continues up to this day, its winner will be sent to Miss Universe. It is currently organised by Miss Lebanon committee " Mr Antoine Maksoud ". The pageant has been cancelled a few times due to civil wars, conflicts with Israel and lack of protection for the delegates. The official winner represents Lebanon at the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. Miss Lebanon Organization awards its winner prizes totalling over $400,000.

Format

Every year, the Miss Lebanon pageant takes on a new format with a new number of contestants. The pageant has taken the form of a one night gala, several primes, and even reality television. Below is an outline of the recent years of the pageant's format:

International crowns

 * One – Miss Universe winner: Georgina Rizk (1971)
 * One – Miss International winner: Christina Sawaya (2002)

Titleholders

 * The winner of Miss Lebanon represents her country at the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants. On occasion, when the winner does not qualify (due to age) for either contest, a runner-up is sent. Previously, in some instances the winner has also competed at the Miss International pageant.

Titleholders under Miss Lebanon org.
The Miss Lebanon winner competes at the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. On occasion, a runner-up is sent. Here International pageants under Miss Lebanon Organization; Miss Lebanon and Miss Lebanon Emigrant who will go to Miss International pageant.

The following women represented Lebanon in the Big Four international beauty pageants, the four major international beauty pageants for women. These are Miss World, Miss Universe and Miss International

Miss Universe Lebanon

Miss World Lebanon

Miss Lebanon Emigrant

 * Started in 2007 the main winner of Miss Lebanon Emigrant under LBC goes to Miss International competition.

Miss International Lebanon 1960-2004

 * The Miss Lebanon has started to send a delegate to Miss International from 1960.

title: Miss Lebanon


text:
Cape Engaño (Luzon)

Cape Engaño is a cape and northern point of Palaui Island, an island off the northeasternmost point of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. It is administratively part of the municipality of Santa Ana in Cagayan province and is known for its lush green landscape, white sand beach and the Cape Engaño Lighthouse.

It has given its name to the World War II battle off Cape Engaño, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf, although the battle actually took place some 200 miles (322 km) to the east, in open ocean. The Japanese aircraft carriers Zuikaku, Zuihō, Chitose and Chiyoda were repeatedly bombarded and sank, as well as three light cruisers and nine destroyers.

title: Cape Engaño (Luzon)


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Cobscook Bay

Cobscook Bay is located in Washington County in the state of Maine. It opens into Passamaquoddy Bay, within the Bay of Fundy. Cobscook Bay is immediately south of the island city of Eastport, the main island of which (Moose Island) straddles the two bays. In the 1930s, Cobscook Bay was part of the aborted Passamaquoddy Bay Tidal Power Project (a.k.a., Quoddy Dam Project) to generate electricity from its large tidal range.

Geography
Cobscook Bay is a large bay in Washington County, Maine that opens into Passamaquoddy Bay within the Bay of Fundy through a relatively narrow opening. It is about 10 mi long and 10 wide and has a long, convoluted coastline with many islands. The mouth of the bay is bracketed by the island city of Eastport, which is principally on Moose Island, and by the town of Lubec. Other townships around the bay are Perry, Pembroke, Dennysville, Edmunds, and Tresscott. There are about 7,000 people living in the nine communities in the area, many of whom are fishermen or work in fish farming, shipping or tourism. There is a scallop fishery here.

The bay is both geologically and hydrologically complex. The tide has an average range of 18.4 ft (and range that can exceed 26 feet) and there are strong currents as large volumes of sea water flow into and out of the bay twice a day. The bay is very shallow with the average depth being about 10 m and about one third of its area is exposed at low water. The volume of freshwater entering from streams is relatively small and the nutrient rich waters support a great diversity of phytoplankton and algae. These support a biodiverse community of fish, shellfish, marine worms and other invertebrates. Many birds feed on these and the bay is an important visiting place for migrating birds and waterfowl.

The area surrounding the bay is well-timbered, but as well as forests there are streams, lakes, bogs, marshes and mudflats interspersed by a network of trails. Cobscook Bay State Park takes up part of the shore of the bay.

History
Communities around the bay were traditionally involved in shipbuilding, logging, farming, fishing and trading.

In 1935, a proposal by FDR friend and engineer Dexter Cooper to build a barrage to harness the power of the tides in the area was inititiated. The Quoddy Dam Project was envisaged to impound the waters of Cobscook Bay and the adjoining Passamaquoddy Bay. Construction was started and some dikes were built, but a year later, the United States Congress withdrew its support and funding and the scheme was abandoned. The Quoddy Dam Model Museum at Eastport preserves a large model of the project.

The generation of electricity from the bay's tidal currents was ultimately accomplished in September 2012 by Ocean Renewable Power Company. A turbine was installed in Cobscook Bay at the boundary of Eastport and Lubec capable of generating 180 kW of electricity, and was the first North American commercial tidal energy project to supply power to the electrical grid. The turbines did not need dams to function and were mounted on the sea bed. The turbine blades spin slowly in the current and testing seems to indicate they are harmless to marine life. Two more turbines were planned for installation in the bay within a year's time.

Ecology
This coastal area is home to many resident birds. One of these is the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and Cobscook Bay has more pairs of these rare birds per square mile than the rest of Maine. It also houses 25% of the state's black duck (Anas rubripes) population. In the fall, the bay is used by large numbers of birds migrating southwards from their summer breeding grounds. Rare species of bird to be seen here include the harlequin duck (Histrionicus histrionicus). An invertebrate of special concern is the mystery snail (Vertigo paradoxa), an air-breathing land snail. In the summer several species of whale enter the bay, including the minke, fin whale and right whale.

Conservation
Efforts are being made to preserve the biodiversity of the bay. A 250 ft buffer zone has been created adjacent to the foreshore where no development is allowed. The alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of anadromous fish which goes upstream to spawn. Efforts are being made to enable these fish to reach their traditional spawning grounds in the upper waters of the Pennamaquan River, Little River and Boyden Stream. These fish are thought to be important in the bay's ecosystem by providing food for the eagles.

Other uses of the name
"Cobscook Bay" is also the title of a song by The Mountain Goats from their EP Isopanisad Radio Hour.

title: Cobscook Bay


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John Anderson (zoologist)

John Anderson (4 October 1833 – 15 August 1900) was a Scottish anatomist and zoologist who worked in India as the curator of the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

Early life
Anderson was born in Edinburgh, the second son of Thomas Anderson, who worked in the National Bank of Scotland, and his wife Jane Cleghorn. He took an interest in natural history at an early age as did his brother Thomas Anderson, who worked at the Royal Botanic Garden in Calcutta from 1861 to 1863. He went to school at George Square Academy and Hill Street Institution before joining work at the Bank of Scotland. He left the bank to study medicine, and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1861. He studied anatomy under John Goodsir and received his MD in 1862 with a gold medal for his thesis in zoology. He was also associated with the founding of the Royal Physical Society which grew out of the Wernerian Society over which he presided. He was appointed to the chair of natural history in the Free Church College in Edinburgh and worked there for the next two years. During this period he studied marine organisms based on dredging off the coast of Scotland, and published notes in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History.

He married Grace Scott Thoms, daughter of Patrick Hunter Thoms of Aberlemno, Forfar.

India
Anderson moved to India in 1864 to take up the position as the first curator of the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1865. He catalogued the mammal and archaeological collections. He held the position of curator until 1887, when he was succeeded by James Wood-Mason and made superintendent of the museum. He made several collection expeditions to China and Burma. In 1867 he accompanied Colonel Edward Bosc Sladen as a naturalist on an expedition to Upper Burma and Yunnan. This expedition allowed him to collect the Irrawaddy dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris and compared with Orcaella fluminalis and the Gangetic dolphin, Plantanista gangetica. In 1875–6, he travelled to the same area under Colonel Horace Browne. This was cut short due to the murder of the consular officer Augustus Raymond Margary. Anderson made a third expedition for the Indian Museum in 1881–2 to the Mergui archipelago, Burma.

Anderson made comparative studies of anatomy of the species that he collected. He worked on reptiles, birds as well as mammals such as of the genus Hylomys. He also wrote on the ethnology of the Selungs of the Mergui archipelago. Many of the plant specimens that he collected are at Calcutta, Kew and the Natural History Museum, London. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1879 and was made honorary LLD of the University of Edinburgh in 1885. During the time that he held the office of superintendent of the Calcutta museum he also served as professor of comparative anatomy at the medical school in Calcutta. He and his wife Gracei travelled to Japan in 1884, forming an extensive collection of Ainu artefacts, which was donated to the British Museum and the National Museum of Scotland.

Return to Britain
He retired from service in India in 1886 just a few years after his marriage. He later made extensive zoological collections in Egypt, forming the basis of his Zoology of Egypt. He died in Buxton, England and was survived by his wife Grace Scott Thoms. They are buried together on the south side of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. The portrait head was sculpted by David Watson Stevenson.

Legacy
Species named after Anderson include:
 * Sacculina andersoni Giard, 1887, a parasitic barnacle.
 * Japalura andersoniana Annandale, 1905, a lizard
 * Opisthotropis andersonii (Boulenger, 1888), a snake
 * Trimeresurus andersonii Theobald, 1868, a venomous snake

title: John Anderson (zoologist)


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Whiteberry (music group)

Whiteberry (ホワイトベリー) were a five-piece all-girl pop/rock band from Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan. Although not reaching the cult status they enjoyed at home, the group gained a loyal following abroad with their recordings and live performances.

History
The band - vocalist Yuki Maeda, guitarist Aya Inatsuki, bassist Yukari Hasegawa, keyboardist Rimi Mizusawa, and drummer Erika Kawamura - formed in 1994 while the members - all lifelong friends, while Maeda and Kawamura were also cousins - were in elementary school. A few years and a string of local performances later, the group came to the notice of members of popular Japanese rock band Judy and Mary and were offered a recording deal with Sony Japan's Pop Artist imprint in 1999.

The group, still in high school at the time, recorded and released their first EP After School, which they quickly followed up with several singles, all original material with the exception of their fourth, a cover of the Jitterin' Jinn hit "Natsu Matsuri". The single became the band's most popular number and is now more identified with them than with the original group. Capitalizing on the momentum, the group completed and released their debut full-length album, "Hatsu".

After a fifth single, "Akubi" (a rearranged new recording of a song from their EP), the group divided their time between completing their high school education and working on the follow-up album, "Chameleon". The record's release was preceded by three new singles, "Sakura Nakimichi", "Kakurenbo" (which was tied into the Japanese release of an opening of the anime Pokémon ), and "Tachiiri Kinshi". The latter song, whose title translates to "Off Limits", raised quite a few eyebrows with its uncharacteristic aggressiveness and its music video which depicted the band in rugby uniforms, bumrushing a corporate boardroom and performing their song atop a conference table while businessmen looked on in horror.

"Chameleon" was released in January 2002 and was complimented by reviewers as being a superior follow up to "Hatsu". Whiteberry featured some darker-themed songs on the album, a contrast from some of the overtly happy material they had done before.

After a short tour behind the album, the group began to finish their final year of high school, in the meantime releasing a trilogy of three singles in late 2002 that featured a cover version of a favorite classic J-Pop or J-Rock hit on the A-side and a new Whiteberry original on the B-side. The first of these, "Jitensha Dorobou", was accompanied by a fully animated video.

Whiteberry spent most of 2003 off the road and out of the studio as their education took precedence, but were commissioned to record two songs for the soundtrack album to the TV series Superior Defender Gundam Force. Both songs were released as a single in February 2004; the A-side, "Shinjiru Chikara", featured lyrics written by all five group members stating how much they missed each other after the graduation of the band members from high school and the decision of some members to attend college. A week after the single was released, the group issued a statement announcing that after ten years together, they were amicably disbanding the group because of Aya, Yukari, Rimi, and Erika's college commitments. The group played tearful farewell shows in Tokyo and their native Hokkaidō in late March 2004. A posthumous anthology, "Kiseki", was released in May 2002, and a DVD counterpart, "Videoberry Final", followed the month afterward.

Yuki Maeda and Yukari Hasegawa re-emerged in 2006 with a new four-piece pop/punk band, Yukki; the quartet released a five-song EP, Sotsugyou, in May 2006 on the Japanese independent label Deadgirls.

As of December 2007 Yuki finished with "yukki" solo artist works. In April 2008 she formed a new band, "THE HUSKY". Yukari & Rimi now live in Tokyo, whereas Aya & Erika live in Kitami City, Hokkaido.

Singles

 * "Yuki" (December 8, 1999)
 * "Whiteberry no Chiisana Daibōken" (Whiteberryの小さな大冒険) (April 19, 2000)
 * "Natsu Matsuri" (夏祭り) (August 9, 2000)
 * "Akubi" (あくび) (November 8, 2000)
 * "Sakura Namikimichi" (桜並木道) (April 11, 2001)
 * "Kakurenbo" (かくれんぼ) (July 18, 2001)
 * "Tachiirikinshi" (立入禁止) (November 21, 2001)
 * "Jitensha Dorobō" (自転車泥棒) (September 26, 2002)
 * "Be Happy" (October 23, 2002)
 * "Koe ga Nakunaru Made" (声がなくなるまで) (November 27, 2002)
 * "Shinjiru Chikara" (信じる力) (February 11, 2004)

Albums

 * "After School" (August 4, 1999)
 * "(Hatsu)" (（初）) (September 1, 2000)
 * "Chameleon" (カメレオン) (January 23, 2002)
 * "Kiseki - The Best of Whiteberry" (April 28, 2004)
 * "Golden☆Best Whiteberry" (August 27, 2008)

title: Whiteberry (music group)


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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 6, 2004

The pufferfish (or blowfish) is a fish of the family Tetraodontidae, order Tetraodontiformes, named for its ability to inflate itself to several times its normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened. The internal organs of the pufferfish are highly toxic, but nevertheless its meat is considered a delicacy in Japan, where it is known as fugu. The pear-shaped pufferfish is not a particularly capable swimmer, and uses mainly the pectoral fins for propulsion; they appear to be rowing themselves along with their undersized fins. As such, the fish cannot escape predators very well. (more...)

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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 5, 2004

The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an English order of chivalry with a history stretching back to mediæval times; today it is Europe's oldest national order of knighthood in continuous existence and the pinnacle of the British honours system. Its membership is extremely limited, consisting of the Sovereign and not more than twenty-five full members. Male members are known as Knights Companion, whilst female members are known as Ladies Companion. The Sovereign alone grants membership of the Order; the Prime Minister does not tender binding advice as to appointments, as is done for most other orders. (more...)

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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 4, 2004

Father Damien was a Roman Catholic missionary of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who is revered primarily by Christians and residents of Hawaii for having dedicated his life in service to the lepers of Molokai in the Kingdom of Hawaii. In Catholicism, Father Damien is the spiritual patron of lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS and the State of Hawaii. Father Damien Day is celebrated each year in Hawaii on April 15. (more...)

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Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 3, 2004

Economics is the social science studying the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Understanding choices by individuals and groups is central in economics, as choosing one alternative often means foregoing another (see opportunity cost). The term economics was coined around 1870 and popularized by Alfred Marshall in his book Principles of Political Economy. Before the 1930s, most economic analysis concentrated on individual firms and industries (microeconomics); however John Maynard Keynes pioneered the more modern macroeconomics, a branch of economics that attempts to make predictions about an entire economy. (more...)

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