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Tōzai Line (Kyoto)

The Tozai Line (東西線) is a Kyoto Municipal Subway line which runs from the southeastern area of the city (starting from Rokujizo Station), then east to west (i.e. tōzai in Japanese) through the Kyoto downtown area. The Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau operates the system along with the Karasuma Line and the City Bus. The present terminal stations are Rokujizo Station in Uji and Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station in Ukyō-ku, Kyoto. It handles an average of 241,133 passengers daily (2009 data ).

The stations are wheelchair-friendly, with elevators, narrow gaps between platform and train, and no height differences at places like restrooms. Each station has a colour code for easy recognition. All platforms on the line are island platforms, and have platform screen doors separating the platform from the tracks.

The line is 17.5 km long with a track gauge of. The entire length is double-track. Trains are electric, operating on 1,500 V DC. Trains travel between Rokujizō and Uzumasa Tenjingawa in 34 minutes.

On October 12, 1997, the section the line from Daigo to Nijō opened. On November 26, 2004, the line from Daigo to Rokujizō opened. An extension westward from Nijō to Uzumasa Tenjingawa began service on January 16, 2008.

Kyoto Municipal Subway

 * 50 series

Keihan Electric Railway

 * 800 series

The Kyoto Municipal Subway train is based at Daigo Depot, while the Keihan Electric Railway train is based at Nishigōri Depot located on the Keihan Ishiyama Sakamoto Line.

Events leading up to construction
After World War II, the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau discussed the possibility of creating a new municipal streetcar system, connecting Rokujizō, Daigo, and Keage, before cutting along the centre of Oike-dōri (an elevated line was also considered). Before long, the proposal was at an impasse in the face of ever-increasing automobile use in the city. However, the plan was eventually reworked as a subway line.

The population along the east-west route showed a considerable trend of growth, but road development in the vicinity could not overcome traffic congestion, so a plan for transportation facilities connecting the eastern part of the city (Yamashina-ku and the eastern portion of Fushimi-ku) with the city center was developed starting in 1965, and it was officially approved by the city government in 1969. The construction of the segment from Daigo to Nijō was set to start in 1975.

At that time, however, the Keihan Keishin Line ran above-ground between Misasagi and Sanjo Keihan along the planned route, and the issue of competition arose. As a result of negotiations, Kyoto City and Keihan Electric Railway agreed to establish a Third Sector (public-private partnership) company to obtain a Type-3 railroad business permit and control the tracks, while the City of Kyoto would obtain a Type-2 railroad business permit and operate the trains on that section. Thus the Kyoto Rapid Railway Corporation was born. Founded in 1986, then-mayor Masahiko Imagawa assumed duties as its president. Kyoto Rapid Railway constructed the subway through the Japan Railway Construction Group, and along with the Keihan Keishin Line's incorporation, the above-ground section was set to be eliminated.

Over the course of construction work underneath Kyoto, the project faced frequent, unavoidable interruptions due to discoveries of remains and ruins, and experienced difficult work in tunneling underneath the Kamo River and Tōkaidō Shinkansen. The section from Daigo to Nijō opened in 1997, and the Keihan Keishin Line was integrated from Misasagi to Kyoto Shiyakusho-mae.

The reason that the Keishin Line does not terminate at Sanjo Keihan as it originally did when above-ground, is that the necessary amount of space for a returning track could not be provided (not only is there a sharp curve directly to the west of that station, but the extra dead-end track would be directly underneath the Kamo River, so it was not feasible). The reason it did not originally continue to the (then-)terminus at Nijō was for the Kyoto Municipal Transportation Bureau to keep the calculated costs of running the trains balanced. However, since the opening of the extension in 2008, this is no longer the case and trains of the Keishin line now continue to the present terminus at Uzumasa Tenjingawa.

When the above-ground Keishin Line portion was demolished, Kujōyama Station and Hinooka Station (which have no subway counterparts) were demolished as well. City residents who lived near Kujōyama Station demanded that there be a Kujōyama subway station, but due to anticipated difficulties in construction (local topography would have either made a station on the subway line as it stands extremely deep or required steep grades on either side), as well as an insufficient estimated number of riders, this request went unfulfilled.

Extension west
A plan exists to extend the Tōzai Line as far west as Rakusai in Nishikyō-ku, but for the time being, the extension will be stopped at Uzumasa Tenjingawa; prospects beyond that are as-yet still unclear. There are several issues to be considered:
 * The population of Rakusai New Town is holding steady or decreasing;
 * Rakusaiguchi Station on the Hankyū Kyoto Main Line and Katsuragawa Station on the JR Kyoto Line are already in service, so the inconvenience of transportation in that area has already been resolved to a degree;
 * The subway's high construction costs;
 * and the population of the Umezu and Kamikatsura districts leading into Rakusai New Town along the route are not very large.

Timeline

 * October 12, 1997: Opening of the section from Daigo to Nijō. The Keihan Keishin Line is incorporated into the subway.
 * November 26, 2004: Opening of the section from Rokujizō to Daigo.
 * January 16, 2008: Opening of the section from Nijō to Uzumasa Tenjingawa.

Sights of note along the line

 * Daigo Station: Daigo-ji, a Buddhist temple with a pagoda and Japanese garden; connections to Toyotomi Hideyoshi
 * Kyōto Shiyakusho-mae Station: Kyoto City Hall; nearby, the rebuilt Honnō-ji, the original of which (in another part of the city) burned in the attack by Akechi Mitsuhide against Oda Nobunaga
 * Nijō-jō-mae Station: The Nijo Castle of Tokugawa Ieyasu

title: Tōzai Line (Kyoto)


text:
Talk:Tōzai Line (Kyoto)

source and characters
Adapted from Japanese Wikipedia

Thanks to lanb for putting in the macrons. I copied and pasted into one or two more places. Also, in the article title, I changed the macron back to the plain o since Kyoto is fully assimilated into English as a word, like Tokyo (the example given in the Wikipedia style guide), but kept the macron in the romanization of the Japanese in parentheses after it, and put a macron in the name of the station Kyoto shiyakusho-mae, which is part of a Japanese phrase, rather than the English word Kyoto. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fg2 (talk • contribs) 02:22, 2 August 2004 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Tōzai Line (Kyoto)


text:
Adventure film

An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, comedy, drama, fantasy, science fiction, family, horror, war, or the medium of animation.

Overview
Setting plays an important role in an adventure film, sometimes itself acting as a character in the narrative. They are typically set in far away lands, such as lost continents or other exotic locations. They may also be set in a period background and may include adapted stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes within the historical context. Such struggles and situations that confront the main characters include things like battles, piracy, rebellion, and the creation of empires and kingdoms.

A common theme of adventure films is of characters leaving their home or place of comfort and going to fulfill a goal, embarking on travels, quests, treasure hunts, heroic journeys; and explorations or searches for the unknown. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, animation, comedy, drama, fantasy, science fiction, family, horror, or war.

History
In the early days of adventure films, the protagonists were typically male. These characters were courageous, often seen as heroes fighting suppression and facing tyrants.

Adventure film popularity peaked in the 1930s and 1940s, when films such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro were regularly made with major stars, notably Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power, who were closely associated with the genre. Saturday morning serials used many of the same thematic elements as high-budget adventure films.

Early influential adventure film creators were Douglas Fairbanks (The Mark of Zorro, The Three Musketeers, Robin Hood, The Black Pirate), Zoltan Korda (The Four Feathers, Jungle Book, Sahara, The Macomber Affair) and John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen).

A revival was initiated by the beginning of the Indiana Jones series in the early 1980s. Some films of this period were Romancing the Stone and two Allan Quatermain films (King Solomon's Mines and The Lost City of Gold).

More recent adventure films have featured heroines as protagonists, e.g. in the Lara Croft film franchises.

title: Adventure film


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Kulm Family Association

Google returns 5 hits for "Kulm Family Association". The website has three registered users, an empty FAQ, empty download section, and lots of other empty sections. Looks like vanity to me. Delete Chris 73 | Talk 12:01, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I forgot: If deleted, also remove the link in the Kulm disambiguity page -- Chris 73 | Talk 12:03, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * I think the latter comment is overkill (or overdeletion). I don't care for having what is almost a stub article on the dab page itself—the paragraph beginning "An association of descendants of Alexander and Magdalena Kulm..."—and that should be removed. But since the page does exist anyway, I think it's reasonable to keep the entry nothing that Kulm can also be a surname. And having that much, it's reasonable to provide a link. This can be done in about one line:
 * Kulm - a surname of many German-Russian people who now live in the U.S. and Canada. See Kulm family association.
 * [[User:dpbsmith|dpbsmith (talk)]] 14:45, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) P. S. I just took my own suggestion and edited Kulm accordingly. [[User:dpbsmith|dpbsmith (talk)]] 14:54, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Creator of the article left a message on my talk page: This is MORE than personal. It has to do with over 3000 people tracing their ancestry to the Kulm family. I wouldn't put it here if it wasn't important! Historical significance:  Chris 73 | Talk 12:46, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Kulm
 * Catherine the Great
 * Peter the Great
 * German-Russian
 * Russia
 * Stalin
 * Lenin
 * Poland
 * Bessarabia
 * Russian Steppes

Do not Delete, as stated above: this has extensive historical significance.

RE: Kulm.org, it is a new site done by volunteers; that is why it has several empty sections. Though there are extensive pictures in the gallery.  Jeremy99362 | Talk 6:16, 1 Aug 2004 (PDT)

 * Delete. Genealogy project, see point 17. Andrewa 13:54, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete with a polite reverence to What Wikipedia is not, case 17 (which Andrewa found faster). Rossami 14:14, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Delete as genealogy. Geogre 14:17, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * This might be historically significant for the Kulm family, but I don't see any evidence of notability. As established by others, Wikipedia is not a genealogy repository. Delete. --Ianb 14:25, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Delete, for reasons given by Andrewa and Rossami, and because the Kuln family as an entity is not sufficiently notable. [[User:dpbsmith|dpbsmith (talk)]] 14:45, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) Further comments:
 * To preserve the work that was put into the article, allow for future reworking, and keep the material available within Wikipedia, the author of the article should create an account, assuming he has not done so already (I'm guessing he's Jeremy99362 Talk) and should move or copy this material to his user page or to a subpage thereof. If the author wants to do this and isn't sure how, I or others would be glad to help. This material is perfectly suitable for a user page and is not unreasonably long.
 * Kulm Family Association not the right title, as the association is surely not notable. There is an article about the Bach family and if the article survives VfD it should be moved to Kulm family and reworded accordingly. There's no point in doing this if the article is going to be deleted, though; this can wait until the Vfd outcome is known.
 * I find no evidence that the Kulm family as a family is notable. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica has only one entry under "Kulm" and it is about the town in Germany. The current Encyclopaedia Britannica appears to have no entries under Kulm at all. Wikipedia includes more and has a lower threshold of notability than the Britannica so this is not a fatal objection.
 * I would suggest that rather than trying to emphasize the notability of the family as a whole, the author should try to identify individual members of the family whose notability rises to encyclopedic standards and contribute articles about these individuals. [[User:dpbsmith|dpbsmith (talk)]] 14:45, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * General entry for a family I think would be at least three but preferably more notable persons who are closely related. see e.g. Bush family Darwin -- Wedgwood family, which reminds me I need to write Keynes family and Galton family. This, delete. Dunc_Harris|☺ 15:30, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. 3000 x personal = (still) personal. Elf-friend 19:21, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, this is not a genealogy website. Do NOT create a Kulm family article until and unless there are several notable articles on individual members of the family.  RickK 20:08, Aug 1, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete for reasons stated. This isn't a genealogy site. - Lucky 6.9 00:46, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. DJ Clayworth 18:06, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Whaley Bridge

 * Perhaps someone who really knows local history could add to this, and anyone with nice pictures could add them.

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Petroleum Development Oman

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. The Company delivers the majority of the country's crude oil production and natural gas supply. The company is owned by the Government of Oman (with a 60% interest), Royal Dutch Shell (34%), TotalEnergies (4%) and Partex (2%). The first economic oil find was made in 1962, and the first oil consignment was exported in 1967.

History
A geological survey of the country in 1925 by the D'Arcy Exploration Company found no conclusive evidence of oil. Twelve years later, when American geologists began intensively searching for oil in neighboring Saudi Arabia, Sultan Said bin Taimur granted a 75-year concession for central Oman to the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), and a separate concession for the province of Dhofar. Pausing only for the Second World War, exploration for oil was under way in Oman.

IPC created an associate company, Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Ltd, to operate the concession. The company had the same five shareholders as IPC, four of which had an interest of 23.75%: the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the Anglo-Persian Company (which would eventually become the British Petroleum Company, or BP), Compagnie Française des Pétroles (a predecessor of today's Total) and the Near East Development Company (whose shareholders were Standard Oil of New Jersey and Socony-Vacuum, today's ExxonMobil), and the remaining 5% stake being held by the fifth shareholder, Partex, representing the interests of the oil magnate, Calouste Gulbenkian.

In 1951, the Dhofar concession was allowed to expire and the company dropped 'Dhofar' from its title, becoming Petroleum Development (Oman) Ltd.

Having landed at Duqm in February 1954, IPC geologists were faced with tribal conflicts which made access to the most promising oil prospect, Jebel Fahud, difficult. They reached the jebel in October 1954 and began to survey the surrounding terrain. Supplies had to be transported from Duqm. In January 1956 the company started drilling its first well at Fahud but did not find any oil. Later, when the supply line was switched to the Sumail Gap, warring tribes were able to disrupt convoys and bring operations to a halt.

Further dry wells were drilled and this lack of success, combined with worsening logistical problems and a glut of oil on the world market, led most of the partners to withdraw from the venture in 1960. Only Shell and Partex opted to remain in Oman to continue the search for oil. The first successful findings, on an commercially relevant level, were made at Yibal in April 1962.

In 1963 the Natih field was discovered, followed closely by success at Fahud, only a few hundred metres from the original IPC well. Investment in a pipeline to the coast and all the other hardware necessary to transport and export Oman's crude was made. A 276-kilometre pipeline requiring 60,000 tons of steel pipe was laid, the labour being provided by the inhabitants of whichever villages happened to be near the worksite. The pipe laying was followed closely by the construction of an industrial complex at Saih al Maleh (later renamed Mina al Fahal), the building of a tank farm, the installation of single-buoy moorings for seagoing tankers and the erection of a 20-megawatt power plant. The whole development — including the pipeline, the coastal industrial area, the tank farm, the marine terminal, a chain of radio repeater stations and housing for staff at Ras al Hamra — cost $70 million.

The first export of Omani oil took place on 27 July 1967. The original debit note shows that the consignment consisted of 543800 oilbbl of oil valued at $1.42 a barrel. A month before, in June, the Compagnie Française des Pétroles rejoined the partnership by taking over two-thirds of Partex's equity share, resulting in the following shareholding in the company that by then had changed its name to Petroleum Development (Oman): Shell 85%, Compagnie Francaise des Petroles 10% and Partex 5%.

In 1969, the Dhofar concession was reacquired and was once again integrated into the companies operations.

On 23 July 1970 His Majesty Sultan Qaboos took over from his father as ruler of the country. He made his first visit to the PD(O) offices on 18 August 1970.

Consolidation
All through the 1970s, PD(O) strove to maintain its production and replace its reserves while developing its professionalism. Some significant discoveries early in the decade contributed to that objective: Ghaba North in 1972, followed by Saih Nihayda, Saih Rawl, Qarn Alam and Habur. All five fields were on stream by 1975, the crude oil being transported via a new 20 in pipeline to the main pipeline 75 kilometers east of Fahud. Thanks in part to these new sources of oil, production averaged 281778 oilbbl/d (bpd) in 1972 and 341000 oilbbl/d in 1976/76.

The first half of the 1970s was important for other reasons as well. On 1 January 1974 the Government of Oman acquired a 25% shareholding in the Petroleum Development (Oman); six months later the shareholding was increased to 60%, backdated to the beginning of the year. As a result, the foreign interest in PD(O) was now made up of the Shell (34%), Compagnie Française des Petroles (4%) and Partex (2%). These shareholdings have remained unchanged to the present day. The company, however, underwent a change six years later. On 15 May 1980, it was registered by Royal Decree as a limited liability company under the name Petroleum Development Oman — now without parentheses in its name. Its current nautilus logo was also introduced then.

Maturity (1994–2002)
By the end of 2000 PDO witnessed an increase in production. This was due to the increase in production arose from the application of the latest technology to increase oil recovery in existing fields. And some of the production increase over the years was made up of "new oil" from fields that were not only found but also developed at an ever-accelerating pace. During the period 1967–1980 all of PDO's production came from 11 fields; by 1988, 50 fields provided the sum total of PDO's oil output; by 1990 it was 60, and in 1999 it was nearly 100.

When PDO's gas-exploration campaign in the early 1990s made it clear how bountiful the country's gas fields were, the Government decided to establish a completely new industry: the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 1996 PDO concluded an agreement with the Government to develop the central Oman gas fields in order to supply gas to an LNG plant in Qalhat, near Sur. To fulfill its end of the agreement, the company had to drill wells, hook them up to a new gas processing plant at Saih Rawl, and then transport the processed gas via a 352-kilometre pipeline to Qalhat. Furthermore, PDO would then be responsible for guaranteeing the delivery of gas for 25 years.

This upstream LNG project, costing $1.2 billion, is the single biggest project in PDO's history. And it was executed as planned. The Saih Rawl Central Processing Plant and the gas pipeline from Saih Rawl to Qalhat were dedicated to the nation in November 1999, the first downstream cargo of LNG was shipped to Korea in April 2000, and His Majesty the Sultan officially opened the LNG plant six months later.

Having built up such momentum in its oil production as it entered the 1990s, the Company fully expected the trend to continue. Unfortunately, the company's field-development strategy for the start of the 21st century – based on incremental infill drilling with horizontal wells and extensive waterflooding – had its momentum dissipated before the waterflooding projects, which require comprehensive reservoir studies, could be fully implemented. The natural production-rate decline of its major oil fields eventually caught up with the Company at the start of the millennium. In 1997, the 35-year old Yibal field began to decline in production. Two scientific papers published in 2003 showed a decline of about 12 percent annually since 1997, with 5 percent being the regional average.

Sustainability (2002–present)
Following a comprehensive review in 2002 that led to a sweeping change programme, PDO laid out ambitious production-recovery plans based not only on waterflooding but also on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques: the application of heat, chemicals or gas solvents to alter the way oil or injected water flows in a reservoir. But, in order for them to be sustainable in the long run, the plans had to be executed for substantially less money than originally envisaged, making them all the more challenging. A total of $2 billion in cost savings over the five-year period 2002–2008 were incorporated into the company's budget. Fortunately, because of the long-term nature of investments that would be required, the Omani Government agreed at the end of 2004 to extend PDO's exploration and production concession and operating agreements for 40 years – until 2044.

Meanwhile, gas continues to be a growth area for the company. A new gas-processing plant was commissioned in Saih Nihayda in 2005, and another one is due in 2008 for PDO's newest gas field in Kauther. With the addition of those two processing plants, nearly one-third of the hydrocarbon energy that PDO supplies will come from natural gas—the fuel that has a central role in the Government's economic diversification plans.

Faced with oil prices above $100 a barrel and sinking field capacities, PDO was one of the many companies to introduce in-site combustion, an enhanced oil recovery technique involving lighting fires within the reservoirs, in 2008.

In 2010, the company announced the discovery of three new oil- and one gas field.

Since 2010, PDO has been working on the Miraah Solar Project, a 1,021 megawatt solar thermal facility, which is to be used in EOR from 2017/2018 onwards.

In 2011, a series of strikes and protests took place in Oman that also involved hundreds of PDO workers demanding higher wages.

Since the decline of natural production capacity, PDO has invested heavily to keep up and try to increase production again. Having to rely on marginal wells and enhanced oil recovery techniques more and more, the overall quality of oil is getting heavier and drifting down said the director of Purvin & Gertz, an international energy consulting firm, in 2011.

In 2013, a team of members from Manpower Ministry and Oman's Trade Union Federation found nearly 50 labor law violations and mistakes in safety norms during an inspection at PDO's Fahud facilities.

In 2014, P. Mohamed Ali, the former managing director of Galfar Engineering and Contracting, was sentenced to three years in jail for bribes made to PDO. In the same year Juma Al Hinai, the former head of the tender committee at PDO, was also charged with bribery and sentenced to three years in jail, including a fine of 600,000 rials. He was banned from public office for 20 years. Subsequently, the head of PDO warned all contractors to adhere to anti-bribery and -corruption policies.

In 2016, PDO launched a $3.4 billion loan program with HSBC bank. In the same year, PDO signed a contract with GE Oil & Gas to provide Progressive cavity pump (PCP) equipment and related services from late 2016 onwards.

In 2017, following many years of reconstruction and oilfield optimization, PDO confirmed a new combined oil, gas and condensate production record (1.293 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, BOE) for 2016. The company is still faced with a low price environment and continues to work on cost controlling measures. The company in 2017 also celebrated 50 years of oil exports and announced a continually growing expansion into hydrocarbon and renewable energy generation and water management – turning PDO into a fully diversified energy company. Around 80% of operations are estimated to remain in the oil and gas sector until 2027.

The largest onshore discovery in 2018 was a gas-condensate area, found on the Mabrouk North East field, operated by PDO.

Board of directors
The Board consists of twelve members and includes the chairman, who is the Minister of Oil & Gas His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad bin Saif al Rumhy, who represents the Government of Oman and representation from PDO's private shareholders, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and Partex.

Managing Director's Committee
The Managing Director's Committee (MDC) shares responsibility for the company's overall performance and business direction. The committee is headed by the managing director who is assisted by fifteen other Directors, who are responsible for setting the technical standards, the allocation of staff and their development.

Operations
PDO operates in a concession area of about 90,000 km2 (one third of Oman's geographical area), has around 130 producing oil fields, 14 producing gas fields, around 8,000 active wells, a diverse workforce of more than 8,500 employees of 64 nationalities, and more than 45,000 contractors.

The primary objective of PDO is to engage efficiently, responsibly and safely in the exploration, production, development, storage and transportation of hydrocarbons in the Sultanate.

Oil exploration and production
PDO finds oil fields and develops them into productive assets by drilling wells and constructing and operating various hydrocarbon treatment and transport facilities. The crude oil that is produced from the fields is not sold by the company but rather delivered to a storage facility at Mina al Fahal, where it is loaded onto seagoing tankers at the discretion of the company's shareholders. As such, the Company does not earn any money from the sale of oil; its shareholders do. The shareholders in turn cover all budgeted operating and capital expenditure.

Gas exploration and production
PDO also finds, develops and operates natural gas fields and their associated production systems all on behalf of the Government of Oman. The Company delivers gas to the Government Gas System, which supplies fuel for most of Oman's power stations and some of its industries, and to the Oman LNG plant at Qalhat, near Sur. As part of its gas production operations, PDO also supplies some 50000 oilbbl/d of condensate liquid hydrocarbons that condense out of natural gas and about 200 tonnes per day of liquefied petroleum gas, which is mainly used for cooking.

Solar
Since 2010, PDO has been working together with partnering GlassPoint to create the Miraah Solar Project, a 1,021 megawatt solar thermal facility which has been under construction in Southern Oman since 2015. The facility produces steam, which will be used for thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR), extracting heavy oils from the Amal oilfield. The plant is one of the largest solar plants in the world and will generate around 6,000 tons of solar steam every day, and by replacing the current EOR system which relies on the burning of natural gas, it will reduce Carbon dioxide emissions by over 300,000 tons annually.

Education and training
In addition, PDO plays a key role in educating and developing young Omani talent through its comprehensive education and training programmes. It also supports and encourages local businesses and communities through its Business Development Centre. PDO believes that the sustainable development of the country is furthered through its education and training initiatives and through its efforts to stimulate successful Omani businesses throughout the country. The PDO established the Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre in Muscat in 1995 to educate those in fossil fuel development in the country.

Awards
PDO has been awarded more than 50 different honors since 2011.

Since 2011, PDO has received various awards for the Nimr Reed Beds water treatment plant, including The Global Water Award, presented to BAUER water by Kofi Annan in 2011, the Shell Award for the Best Innovative Project. In 2012 PDO won the Oman Green Innovation Award, the ADIPEC Best MENA Oil and Gas HSE Award and an award for Excellence in Environmental Project and Products by the Regional Clean Sea Organisation (RECSO) that same year. In 2013, PDO won almost 20 awards, including different awards for their Amal Solar project, the Oman Green Innovation Awards for the Ras Al Hamra International School. In 2015, PDO won four different Shell Impact International Impact Awards. Amongst the awards in 2016, the company was awarded the APIPEC award for Best Oil and Gas Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Project, and the Best Practice Award for early monetization of new discoveries through Early Development Facilities.

Miscellaneous
PDO has a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) team of 20 employees that work to create an environment free from any form of harassment and discrimination.

In 2017, PDO donated six fire trucks to the International College of Engineering & Management (ICEM) and announced to support 18 new initiatives in Oman, focusing on health and safety, community infrastructure, employability training, charities, and animal welfare.

title: Petroleum Development Oman


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Alien Nation (novel series)

Alien Nation was a science fiction novel series, based on the movie and television series of the same name. It began in March 1993 with Pocket Books publishing the series. Various books of the series were written by L. A. Graf, Peter David, K. W. Jeter, Barry B. Longyear, David Spencer, Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Judith Reeves-Stevens. All of the books follow the adventures of the Human Detective Matthew Sikes, and his Tenctonese partner George Francisco. Like the TV series, most of the books have two parallel storylines that converge at the end, and most of the novels take modern day issues and put a slightly alien twist on them.

Alien Nation: A Novelization
This book was written by Alan Dean Foster, and was released in 1989. It is an adaptation of the movie.

Alien Nation #1: Day of Descent
This book was written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and was released in 1993. It is a prequel to both the movie and television series, in the months leading up to the arrival of the Tenctonese on Earth. Matthew Sikes, a rookie detective, is on his first murder investigation when he stumbles onto a deadly conspiracy that threatens his whole world. Light-years away, a Tenctonese slave named Stangya Soren'tzahh (later to be known as George Francisco) is swept up into his people's fight for freedom against their ruthless masters, the Overseers. The slave ship crash lands on Earth, where Matt and George unknowingly work together to prevent a disaster that could destroy both their species.

Alien Nation #2: Dark Horizon
This book was written by K. W. Jeter, and was released in 1993. It was released prior to the production of the television movie of the same name. It was written to tie up some of the loose ends of the Alien Nation series at a time when it looked like it was never going to return to television. It recaps the events of "Green Eyes", the last episode of the series, and used the un-produced script from "Dark Horizon", the first episode of what would have been the second season.

The Tenctonese are faced with a deadly new bacteria created by a Purist group determined to rid the Earth of all Newcomers. George Francisco's wife & eldest daughter are infected with the bacteria, and as they lay close to death, a threat to the whole world appears. Someone has come from space to force the Tenctonese back into slavery, and they plan on taking all of humanity too.

Alien Nation #3: Body and Soul
This book was written by Peter David, and was released in 1993. It was a novelization of the then-unproduced script for what would become the second two-hour television movie of the same name. As with Dark Horizon, the later film was somewhat different from the novel. Matt and George investigate the rumor of the birth of a half-human, half-Tenctonese child. Meanwhile, Sikes' relationship with Tenctonese woman Cathy Frankel starts to get serious.

Alien Nation #4: The Change
This book was written by Barry B. Longyear, and was released in 1994. It was based on an unproduced script for what would have been the second television season. George Francisco undergoes a metamorphosis that could mean the beginning of a new life - or his death. George must also face a vicious killer who has sworn revenge on him and his loved ones.

Alien Nation #5: Slag Like Me
This book was written by Barry B. Longyear, and was released in 1994. The plot concerns a journalist named Micky Cass who goes undercover as a Newcomer to expose the racism and discrimination suffered by the Tenctonese. Now Cass is missing, and Matthew Sikes must also disguise himself as a Newcomer to find him. This places Matt in the path of the worst violence the city has ever seen - and forces him to confront a hidden truth inside himself.

Alien Nation: Slag Like Me is an allusion to the book Black Like Me, a 1961 non-fiction book by Caucasian journalist John Howard Griffin, who travelled throughout the racially segregated states of the American South passing as a black man.

Alien Nation #6: Passing Fancy
This book was written by David Spencer, and was released in 1994. The plot follows Matt who meets a mysterious woman from his past and is thrown into an investigation of a lethal Newcomer drug. He must then ask the woman he loves to risk her life for someone she's never even met. The case causes tension to mount between Matt and George as they discover that some Newcomers will do anything to assimilate into human society - even if it means their destruction.

The book Black Like Me is again mentioned here and is read by Sikes in order to understand.

Alien Nation #7: Extreme Prejudice
This book was written by L.A. Graf, and was released in 1995. It sees Matt, the Franciscos' and Cathy attending a conference in Pittsburgh when a series of murders has them suspecting a Tenctonese creature is on the loose.

In a tongue-in-cheek joke by the author, a Tenctonese husband-and-wife writing team use the pen name "L.A. Graf" for the author of a series of science fiction novels.

Alien Nation #8: Cross of Blood
This book was written by K.W. Jeter, and was released in 1995. The most radical of all of the books, "Cross of Blood" explores the possibility of Tenctonese female Cathy Frankel getting pregnant with human Matt Sikes' child. The resulting political tension and racial riots threaten to tear Los Angeles apart.

This book recalls characters and events from Dark Horizon.

title: Alien Nation (novel series)


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title: File:JolandaEnRonInSixx.jpg


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Melsen

Melsen is a village in the province of East Flanders, Belgium, and is a part of the municipality of Merelbeke. It covers an area of roughly 3 square kilometers. Its terrain is largely made up of one great hill. The northern and southern slopes of the hill, which are fairly steep for the surrounding area (about 20 meters), form the natural boundaries with the bordering villages of Vurste and Schelderode. The eastern slopes of the hill evolve into agricultural land and farther east into the forest of Makkegem. The western slope descends into a marsh that is connected to the Schelde (Scheldt) river.

Most of the land used to be for agricultural purposes, or covered with forests and marshes, but now most of the western and northern part of the village is almost fully covered by a network of streets and houses. Only some fields on the borders of the village remain.

History
From the documents of the medieval abbey of Ename, it can be concluded that Melsen was in existence in the 9th century AD, and probably before that time as well. Its name, which roots back to proto-Germanic and could either mean 'pig stable' or 'marsh', seems to hint at an earlier origin, although there is no evidence to support this. There have also been archeological findings that have shown human presence in the area of the village dating back to Prehistory, but these were not permanent settlements.

Despite its long history, documents from the Middle Ages suggest that it has always been a small village without an important role. During the civil war that raged in the Low Countries in the 16th century, one of the feudal lords of Melsen, Filips III van der Gracht, was decapitated in Ghent along with others for his rebellion against the Spanish occupiers. His tombstone, although heavily eroded, can still be seen at the church of Melsen.

Incidentally, this church is probably one of the oldest buildings in the village, its foundations dating back to the 9th or 10th century, although most of its present-day form was built in the 17th century and rebuilt after World War II destroyed part of its walls and glass windows. Locally it is known for its long, slender and sharp bell tower. Although Melsen was ruled by aristocrats until 1977, not many of them have been buried at its cemetery. The 'castle' of Melsen is another old building in the village, dating back from the 16th or 17th century. Other houses or buildings in the village also date back 300 years or more.

Another famous building in the village is the 'Stone Mill'. In 1940, the retreating Belgian army put the mill on fire to prevent it from being used as a watchtower by the German occupiers, because geographically, the 'Stone Mill' was the highest architectural point in a circle of about 10 kilometers. The mill was never rebuilt and is still an impressive ruin, with only the bricks left (hence its current name). Although successive generations since World War II have claimed it could collapse at any time, it still hasn't happened. It is currently a big nesting place for birds.

In 1977, Melsen merged with Schelderode, Bottelare, Lemberge, Munte and Merelbeke to form the municipality of greater Merelbeke, although most original plans had provided for Melsen to become the centerpiece of this new town. Its old town hall is currently a bank office. In the mid and late nineties the village saw an explosive growth due to the influx of newcomers, making its population nowadays almost 2000 people.

Language and dialect
The local dialect belongs to the group of central East-Flemish dialects but, like almost all dialects in this area, is strongly recessive because of its low prestige, greater mobility of people and the pervasive influence of both surrounding dialects, Standard Dutch and the so-called 'Verkavelingsvlaams', a mixture of Standard Dutch and Flemish sounds and words. The future of the dialect is uncertain.

The current form of the dialect contains over 16 vowels and 5 diphthongs and differs especially in this respect from Standard Dutch. Its consonant system is more like Standard Dutch, although some phonemes are missing entirely. Its vocabulary and grammar seem to be both a simplified and archaic version of many typical Dutch and Germanic root-words, with many French words intermixed. To German ears, it has been described as sounding a bit like Swedish, while speakers of English have sometimes interpreted it as a very deviant form of Scots. The dialect will usually be understood by most Flemings, except those in Limburg.

title: Melsen


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Deux Frères

Deux Frères may refer to:
 * French ship Deux Frères, an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy
 * Deux Freres (1798 ship), a tartane that the French Navy requisitioned in 1798, that the Royal Navy captured in 1799, and that was lost that same year in a gale.
 * Deux frères (TV series) (fr), a controversial 1999 Québec TV series
 * Deux frères (album), an album by French rap duo PNL

title: Deux Frères


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Russian Public Opinion Research Center

Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC) (Всероссийский центр изучения общественного мнения – ВЦИОМ) is a state-owned polling institution established in 1987, known as the All-Union Center for the Study of Public Opinion until 1992.

VCIOM is the oldest polling institution in post-Soviet Russia and one of Russia's leading sociological and market research companies. It was established in 1987 under the decree issued by VCSPS (All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions) and USSR State Committee of Labor as the All-Union Public Opinion Research Center (and in 1992 renamed the Russian Public Opinion Research Center). In 2003 VCIOM became an 'open joint-stock company with full state ownership'. VCIOM conducts "full cycle" marketing, social and political research, from instrument design and data collection to analysis and presentation of findings to its clients.

VCIOM branch offices operate in all seven of Russia's federal districts. Besides its own branches, Center has partnership agreements with a significant number of local regional research firms. VTsIOM has its own interviewers’ network, which consists of about 5,000 people.

Science and teaching
VTsIOM holds the status of scientific institution. Besides that, there is a scientific Expert Council functioning in the Center, which consists of Russian sociologists, political scientists, marketologists, philosophers, and historians. VTsIOM holds competitions of scientific works among young researchers.

Since 2003, it has published its own journal, called Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes, which is issued six times a year. Since 2009 it has been available via open Internet access (both its Archive and recent issues). The Editorial Boarl includes leading Russian sociologists (Russian Academy of Science staff, Moscow State University, Russian State Social University, Higher School of Economics, Institute for Market Research GFK-Rus staff and others). There is VTsIOM Department Chair in the Higher School of Economics that has been operating since 2008, and VTsIOM Research Center in the Russian State Social University operating since 2008.

The Center designs and publishes monographs and edited volumes of sociological research devoted to the state of the public opinion in Russia. The recent monographs are: From Eltsin to Putin: three epochs in the historical consciousness of Russians (2007), Political Russia: pre-elections guide – 2007, Political Dictionary of The Present (2006), Russia on the Crossroads of the 2d Term (2005). For more details see: "VCIOM Library: some of the recent books" Public opinion research dating prior to 1992 are stored in an archive. The results of the public opinion polls "Express" since 1992 have been stored in “Archivist Database”.

VTsIOM is the member of international professional networks including InterSearch and the Eurasian Monitor. It is guided by the European Society for Opinion and Market Research ESOMAR standards and norms. There are more than 70 specialists employed in the company headquarters in Moscow (with expertise in sociology, marketing, political science, finance, psychology, and statistics), as well as dozens in its offices around the country. The head of the Center is Valery Fedorov.

Foundation (1987)
The Decree to launch VTsIOM (All-Union in those times) was adopted at the July meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1987. The founders were VCSPS (All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions) and USSR State Committee of Labour. The first director was Tatyana Zaslavskaya (academician). Zaslavskaya tells that the Institute of Demoscopy (Federal Republic of Germany) headed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann was taken as a model when establishing the Center.

Grushin made many efforts in 1987-1988 to set up a network of sociological centers in the Republics of the USSR and regions of Russia. That made possible to conduct the first mass surveys on a representative samples among adults in November 1988; a year later these surveys became systematical.

In 1988 Yury Levada together with his students (Lev Gudkov, Boris Dubin, Alexey Levinson and others) went to work in VTsIOM (first as the head of the Theoretical Research Department and later – since 1992 as the head of the company). In an interview Yuri Levada talks about the first years of VTsIOM, refers to Tatyana Zaslavskaya (Татьяна Заславская) and Boris Grushin (Борис Грушин) as the founders of VTsIOM in 1987 and states that he was invited by them to join VTsIOM.

Growth, 1989–2003
VTsIOM became widely respected for its objectivity and professionalism among academics and journalists in both the Soviet Union and the West. In the 1990s, the agency's polls gained a reputation for being very reliable. During this period VTsIOM had conducted over 1,000 polls.

Being the first sociological institution in the USSR (and Russia), VTsIOM served as the cradle for numerous marketing and sociological centers of the country.

In August 1989 Boris Grushin left VTsIOM to establish his own organization studying the public opinion "Vox Populi - Glas Naroda" (People’s Voice).

In 1992 the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) that was originally established as a Division of the Center for raising charity funds, separated from VTsIOM. In 1999 VCIOM achieved scientific institute status.

Conflict (2003)
Although VTsIOM received no budget money and funded itself with private and public sector polling contracts (grants) from the breakdown of Soviet Union in 1992 to 2003, Levada had not addressed the fact that the polling agency remained a state-owned company as a FGUP (Russian abbreviation for: Federal State Unit). In 2003 the Ministry of Property of the Russian Federation decided to transform FGUP VTsIOM to JSC "Russian Public Opinion Research Center", 100% share of which was to be held by the state. There still would have been no budget allocated for it from the state and the company was to continue its work based on financing from both private and public institutions. However this change was taken by Yuri Levada as an attempt to affect the outcomes of VTsIOM studies. As a result, the previous VTsIOM employees left the company and followed Yuri Levada to the new established non-governmental Levada Center.

A young political scientist - Valery Fedorov who, as some sources note, was close to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation headed the office.

VTsIOM carried on research programs introduced by its previous staff and continued to publish the Monitoring of Public Opinion journal; in 2003 former editorial board members began publishing a new journal called the Public Opinion Herald.

There is conflicting data about response from other Russian sociologists to the breakup of VTsIOM. Some sources reported that every sociologist left with Levada while others claims they were silent, except for Grushin. The dispute over the legality of using the VTsIOM brand in sociological community ended up in 2004 The Federal Antimonopoly Service decided to give VTsIOM the full right of use of the brand "VTsIOM" and prohibited Levada-Center to use it.

When asked about VTsIOM management change during his visit to Columbia University in the United States in September 2003, Russian president Vladimir Putin was supportive of the change in management.

Present role as the state's main sociological research center
The research priorities today are political ratings, social mood indices, governmental programs, and reforms. VTsIOM still conducts research for the most significant Russian private and public institutions. New - applied and pragmatic focus of research programs is expressed in a change in its slogan - "Information for success!" instead of the former "From opinion – towards understanding".

Criticism
The Center is sometimes criticized by its subjects of study. Gennady Zyuganov (leader of Communist Party of Russian Federation) criticized VTsIOM's objectivity when evaluating media request results of VTsIOM study on Lenin's Mausoleum stating "I think this is an unprofessional study". According to VTsIOM, Russians supported burying Lenin's remains in a cemetery rather than keeping them in the mausoleum.

According to Berlin-based bne IntelliNews, VTsIOM’s question about the 2019 Moscow protests was "subtly designed to give a result that supports the government’s point of view."

Research
VTsIOM conducts research on both regional and federal levels, as well as in the post-Soviet space (together with colleagues from the former USSR—members of "Eurasian Monitor" Agency) and other countries.

Topics of interest include:
 * Politics: elections, politician approval ratings, protest potential
 * Social sphere: education, health care, family, housing, corruption
 * Business: finance and insurance, product and corporate brand development, corporate reputation, trademarks, IT and media, auto sector, real estate, sports industry

Methods
A wide range of research techniques, such as personal interviews, focus groups, mystery shopping, hall tests, exit polls, expert surveys, and telephone interviews, is used. Research methods include both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis, as well as sample building programs. Surveys based on a representative sampling are conducted every week on 1,600 people from 140 places throughout the 42 regions of Russia.

Selected VTsIOM projects
VTsIOM regularly coordinates and implements international research projects for foreign and Russian customers such as UNDP, U.S. State Department, NATO Bureau in Moscow and others. Since 2004 the Center has actively participated in designing the system of regular sociological research in the post-Soviet area (in the framework of "Eurasian Monitor", VTsIOM is one of the founders of Eurasian Monitor as well as other sociological services in the former USSR republics.

 * "Exit Polls at parliamentary and presidential elections" (client – "1st TV Channel") 2007 - 2008
 * "Evaluation of the company-employer image" ("RosNeft") 2007
 * "Evaluation of the company-employer image" ("Severstal") 2008
 * "Evaluation of the company-employer image" ("RusAl – management company") 2007
 * "Study on the Brand General Fame" ("Heineken-Commercial") 2007
 * "Social Adaptation of HIV-infected: Estimating the situation in healthcare, education and employment" (UNDP) 2007
 * "Study of national relationship upon the results of Nationwide surveys" (Institute for Diaspora and Integration) 2007
 * "Study of entrepreneurial environment conditions, evaluation of business and power interaction" (RSPP) 2007-2008
 * "Study of the level of trust of Russians towards mass media" (Office of the Public Chamber of Russia) 2007
 * "Attitude of Russians towards Justice" (Office of the Public Chamber of Russia) 2007
 * "Sociological research on unfair competition" (Federal Antimonopoly Service) 2007
 * "Factors and perspectives of the development of football in Russia" (National Football Academy" Fund) 2006
 * "Evaluation of housing attractiveness of investment project "Bolshoe Domodedovo" ("Coalco") 2006-2007
 * "Study of the perception of NATO by Russians" (NATO Bureau in Moscow) 2006
 * "Analysis and evaluation of the perception of corruption in the public sector by population" (UNDP and RF Accounting Chamber) 2006
 * "Investment Behavior of the Population and Awareness about the Deposit Insurance System" (Deposit Insurance Agency) 2005-2006
 * "Study on the perception of large pharmaceutical brands in Russia and Eastern European countries" (Stanton Beringer consulting), annually since 2005
 * "Small enterprises functioning conditions in the regions of Russia" (OPORA Russia) 2004-2006
 * "Evaluation of the reputational indicators" (Aeroflot – Russian Airlines), annually beginning since 2005
 * "Syndicated research of corporate reputation of ten biggest companies of Russia", twice a year since 2004
 * "Monitoring of the main indicators of social mood in post-soviet area countries". Participants: leading sociological services in 14 post-Soviet countries. Twice a year since 2003, in the framework of "Eurasian Monitor"

title: Russian Public Opinion Research Center


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Talk:Russian Public Opinion Research Center/Archive 1

Naming conventions
I copied the content written by User:Andris and me on User:172/VTsIOM sandbox and started the article. The article still needs a note on the naming conventions, an intro, and a section on methodology. 172 12:29, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)

(Posting by User:A. Shetsen taken from Talk:Russian constitutional crisis of 1993)

 * Thanks a lot, 172! So, here's my take on it.  Sorry if I'm duplicating known information... R Всероссийский Центр Изучения Общественного Мнения (ВЦИОМ) /vs'eross'ijsk'ij tsentr izutS'enija obS'estv'enn@v@ mn'en'ja/ lit. "All-Russian Centre for the Study of Public Opinion".  The letter in question is Ц /ts/.  Wiki-SAMPA and the Google test, therefore, call for VTsIOM.  However:  the C transliteration is quite common in Russia today for the Ц, especially in several computer-latinizations of Cyrillic (which are used if nothing but a Latin keyboard is available).  C=Ц is traditional: the Russian reading of the letters of the alphabet used to write Latin has been /a/, /bE/, /tsE/, etc., since at least the eighteenth century, and was given further support by C's former use in German: 18th c. accent > 20th c. akzent /aktsEnt/ "accent".  Self naming and a known historical tradition therefore support VCIOM.  My conclusion?  almost a coin toss, but...  Go with VCIOM or VTsIOM (Rus ВЦИОМ) for the first reference, VCIOM for all the ones following and for the title. I can very easily see someone coming across that entity for the first time in Wikipedia surfing over to V..IOM's web site if they are really interested. A. Shetsen 18:03, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Wow! Thanks for all the help! I'll get ready to write the article. 172 01:24, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)
 * Added several sections - on methodology, history, projects, staff, criticisms, science and teaching, etc... Stenton (talk) 14:39, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Stenton: Your addition seems to have erased some of the quotes and references. I moved them over to Levada Center for now.  Please consider improving the grammar and wikifying the text with related articles.  I do not understand why your addition had to erase the previous work of others.--ilgiz (talk) 15:51, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ilgiz, the text about VCIOM had little to do with it. It was dedicated mostly to one of its former directors - Yuri Levada. And overlooked its founder Tatyana Zaslavskaya, its current director Valery Fedorov. Had nothing in there about other marketing and sociological centers of the FSU that sprouted from VCIOM - among them FOM and Comcon (the leading polling companies in moder Russia), for instance. It also had nothing about VCIOM's organizational structure, methodology, scientific work, projects, etc... Even the history section was, again, centered around one person - Levada. I think you decision to move it to the web-page of Levada-Center at Wiki is a good one and support it. Or, maybe, it would have been even better to move it to the web-page of Yuri Levada. As for the quotes and references - mea culpa, will check this and try to bring them back!!!  Stenton (talk) 09:27, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ilgiz, I returned the quotes and references you mentioned were deleted by me by chance in the course of editing. Kind regards. Stenton (talk) 10:10, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Requested move

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

The result of the move request was: moved. Number   5  7  11:56, 2 October 2014 (UTC)

VTSIOM → Russian Public Opinion Research Center – Move to full, proper name (WP:TITLE). DA Sonnenfeld (talk) 09:42, 24 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Support - No English reader would recognize the lesser-known acronym. --George Ho (talk) 19:57, 28 September 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.


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Bonaventure Island

Bonaventure Island (officially in île Bonaventure) is a Canadian island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence located 3.5 km off the southern coast of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, 5 km southeast of the village of Percé. Roughly circular in shape, it has an area measuring 4.16 km2.

History
Bonaventure Island (Île Bonaventure), with Percé, was among the early seasonal fishing ports of New France, and was associated with the lineage of Nicolas Denys. Settlers from southern Ireland came in the early 1790s. Peter Du Val, a native of Jersey, set up a fishery company on lot number one before 1819, population rose to an apex, but the company endured until 1845.

The island became a migratory bird sanctuary in 1919 due to the 1916 Migratory Bird Convention between Canada and the United States. The Province of Quebec acquired ownership of the entire island by act of expropriation in 1971, evicting the whole population. At this time approximately 35 families were forced to move elsewhere, all residents were evicted. Later the Province of Quebec grouped it together with Percé Rock into the Parc national de l'île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé (Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park) in 1985. One of the largest and most accessible bird sanctuaries in the world, with more than 280,000 birds, Bonaventure Island is a major tourist destination with boat and island tours from May to October.

The aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure was named after the island.

Birds
218 different species of birds have been recorded as visiting, migrating to, or living on Bonaventure island.

The most common bird found on the island is the northern gannet. The island is home to one of the largest colonies of gannets in the world, with 51,700 pairs in 2011. Other populous colonies include the black-legged kittiwake and the common murre. Terns, black guillemots, herring gulls, great black-backed gulls, razorbills, Leach's storm-petrels, great cormorants, double-crested cormorants, Atlantic puffins, boreal chickadees and blackpoll warblers can also be observed on Bonaventure.

Poetic landmark
Bonaventure Island has been an important source of inspiration to numerous artists and poets. The surrealist writer André Breton declared that, while working on his novel Arcane 17, as he stayed in Percé (1944), he would never tire watching the birds of the Island. The island never ceased attracting painters and writers : the American painter Frederick James (d. 1905), Franco-Germans Claire et Yvan Goll (1946) — by the sixties several artists would spend the summer on the island, and would stay over the summer with the inhabitants—descendants of Irish and Norman settlers—the best known of whom was the naturalist William Du Val. Among these inspired visitors: painter Jacques Hurtubise and Kittie Bruneau, the sculptor Morton Rosengarten, the poet Michaël La Chance. Artists and landowners were evicted in the seventies.

title: Bonaventure Island


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Nellie Lutcher

Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007) was an American R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Lutcher was most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation and was credited as an influence by Nina Simone among others.

Childhood
Lutcher was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the eldest daughter of the 15 children of Isaac and Suzie Lutcher. She was the sister of saxophonist Joe Lutcher. Her father was a bass player and her mother a church organist. She received piano lessons, and her father formed a family band with her playing piano. At age 12, she played with Ma Rainey, when Rainey's regular pianist fell ill and had to be left behind in the previous town. Searching for a temporary replacement in Lake Charles, one of the neighbors told Rainey that there was a little girl who played in church who might be able to do it.

Career
Aged 15, Lutcher joined her father in Clarence Hart's Imperial Jazz Band, and in her mid-teens also briefly married the band's trumpet player. In 1933, she joined the Southern Rhythm Boys, writing their arrangements and touring widely. In 1935, she moved to Los Angeles, where she married Leonel Lewis and had a son. She began to play swing piano, and also to sing, in small combos throughout the area, and began developing her own style, influenced by Earl Hines, Duke Ellington and her friend Nat "King" Cole.

She was not widely known until 1947 when she learned of the March of Dimes talent show at Hollywood High School, and performed. The show was broadcast on the radio and her performance caught the ear of Dave Dexter, a scout for Capitol Records. She was signed by Capitol and made several records, including "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" and her first hit single, the risqué "Hurry On Down", which went to No. 2 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart and sold a million copies globally. This was followed by her equally successful composition "He's A Real Gone Guy", which also made No. 2 on the R&B chart and crossed over to the pop chart where it reached No. 15.

In 1948, she had a string of further R&B chart hits, the most successful being "Fine Brown Frame", her third No. 2 R&B hit. Her songs charted on the pop, jazz, and R&B charts, she toured widely and became well known. She wrote many of her own songs and, unlike many other African-American artists of the period, retained the valuable publishing rights to them.

In 1950, Lutcher duetted with Nat "King" Cole on "For You My Love" and "Can I Come in for a Second". The same year, her records began to be released in the UK and were actively promoted by radio DJ Jack Jackson. She headlined a UK variety tour, compered by Jackson, with great success, later returning there to tour on her own.

With an orchestra for the first time, Lutcher recorded "The Birth of the Blues" and "I Want to Be Near You" in 1951, but she was losing her appeal with the record-buying public and Capitol dropped her the following year. She went on to record, much less successfully, for other labels including Okeh, Decca and Liberty, and gradually wound down her performance schedule.

In 1952, Lutcher was contacted to perform on first a "happy new years" television special, however after she finished her song, it was revealed that she was on the set of, and the honoree of, a This Is Your Life episode.

She died in Los Angeles in 2007, aged 94. She was the aunt of Latin jazz percussionist Darryl "Munyungo" Jackson and singer Jacquelyn Levy.

Discography

 * Nellie Lutcher (album of three 78 records, Capitol, 1950))
 * Real Gone! (Capitol, 1950)
 * Whee! Nellie! (10" album, Epic, 1955)
 * Our New Nellie (with Russ Garcia And His Orchestra) (Liberty, 1956)

title: Nellie Lutcher


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List of prisoners with whole life orders

This is a list of prisoners who have received a whole life order, formerly called a whole life tariff, through some mechanism in jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. From the introduction of the whole life order system in 1983 until an appeal by a prisoner named Anthony Anderson in 2002, a whole life order was set by government ministers. Thereafter only a judicial body could decide to impose such an order. The effect of a whole life order is that the prisoner serves the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Whole life orders have been reportedly issued in approximately 100 cases since introduction in 1983, although some of these prisoners have since died in custody, or had their sentences reduced on appeal. By 2023, there were believed to be more than 70 prisoners currently serving whole life sentences in England and Wales. These include some of Britain's most notorious criminals, including the serial murderer, Rosemary West and the premature baby serial killer, Lucy Letby.

Other criminals such as David Copeland have had their initial minimum sentences increased. His trial judge recommended a minimum of 30 years, but this was eventually increased to a minimum of 50 years by the High Court. Copeland can only be released after 50 years if considered not to be dangerous at that point. This is set to keep him imprisoned until at least 2049 and the age of 73.

Several prisoners serving whole life sentences have challenged the legality of whole life sentences in the High Court or European Court of Human Rights. These include Jeremy Bamber and Gary Vinter, whose second legal challenge to the European Court of Human Rights was successful, although the High Court later ruled that whole life sentences could still be issued as long as they were reviewed within 25 years. Arthur Hutchinson has challenged his sentence several times in both the High Court and the European Court of Human Rights, but has been unsuccessful each time.

Despite the fact that ministers can no longer decide when or if a life sentence prisoner can be considered for parole, they still retain the power to release a prisoner during their sentences on compassionate grounds. This normally includes cases only when a prisoner is incapacitated, seriously ill or of great age.

Several months before ministers were stripped of their powers to set minimum sentences, the High Court also stripped ministers of their power to overrule the Parole Board's decision that a life sentence prisoner can be paroled.

Imposed by Home Secretaries
Successive Home Secretaries are known to have imposed whole life orders for at least 23 murderers between 1983 and 2002 (note, this list is incomplete). In 2002, a former Junior Home Office Minister during the 1980s, Douglas Hogg, admitted to setting 600 tariffs between 1986 and 1989 on behalf of the Home Secretary.

Sentenced by judges
Since the European Court of Human Rights decision, only trial judges and the High Court have had the power to impose a whole life order. In that time, there have been at least 64 instances of trial judges recommending that an offender should never be released.

Several of these prisoners have had their whole life tariffs reduced on appeal by the High Court.

Quashed whole life orders

 * Harry Roberts was one of the perpetrators of the Shepherd's Bush murders in 1966, in the course of which three police officers were shot dead during a traffic stop on Braybrook Street. Roberts had personally shot two of the three victims, Christopher Head and David Wombwell. At his trial in December 1966, Mr Justice Glyn-Jones sentenced Roberts to a minimum of 30 years in prison with a recommendation that he never be released. He was repeatedly told while in prison that he would never be released, and Home Secretary David Blunkett repeatedly blocked efforts to secure Roberts' release or transfer to an open prison. Roberts was eventually granted parole in 2014, after spending 48 years in prison.
 * Patrick Magee, who bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton in October 1984, killing five people and nearly killing his intended target Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her Cabinet. He was convicted in 1985 of five counts of murder and several explosive and terrorism offences, with a recommendation that he serve 35 years in prison, which was increased later to whole life by Michael Howard. He was released after 14 years in 1999 as part of the Good Friday Agreement.
 * Joe O'Connell, Eddie Butler, Hugh Doherty and Harry Duggan were members of IRA active service unit the Balcombe Street Gang, that terrorised London in the mid-1970s, killing six people, injuring many others and planning more attacks which were later foiled or never carried out. They were caught after they took a couple hostage in their flat in Marylebone while attempting to escape police pursuit and surrendered after six days. They were later each given whole life tariffs by the Home Secretary, however they were released as part of the Good Friday Agreement. During their trial they admitted to the Woolwich pub bombing and Guildford pub bombing, which others were convicted of and served time for.
 * Harry Mackenney was convicted of four counts of murder in 1980 alongside his co-defendant Terry Pinfold who was convicted of procuring Harry Mackenney to murder business associate Terrence Eve after murderer John Childs turned evidence against the two. He was cleared in 2003 along with Terry Pinfold after spending over 20 years in prison when the court of appeal accepted that John Childs was a compulsive liar. He was originally sentenced to life with a recommended minimum term of 25 years by Mr Justice May, but was told in 1996 by the home secretary that he would never be released.
 * Ronald William Barton was convicted of murdering his 14-year-old stepdaughter Keighley Barton in October 1986, in what was believed as an attempt on Barton's part to stop Keighley from testifying against him for child abuse and to gain revenge against her mother. He had several previous convictions for gross indecency against Keighley and sexual assault against other teenage girls, one of which he had been in prison for. After his conviction, his trial judge recommended a minimum sentence of 25 years; but the Lord Chief Justice then ruled that life must mean life, which the Home Secretary agreed with. The term was reset in 1997 to the original 25 years, which was reduced again to 23 years in 2006.
 * IRA terrorists Thomas Quigley and Paul Kavanagh were both convicted of two murders in a bomb attack in 1981 by the Chelsea Barracks which also injured 39 people. They were both sentenced to 35 years in prison each in 1985 and were told in 1996 by the Home Secretary Michael Howard that they were to receive whole life tariffs, however the order was reversed by the Belfast High Court in 1997 after an appeal by the two men and they were released under the Good Friday Agreement.
 * David Wynne Roberts was convicted of murdering a pensioner who was a friend of his grandmother in Anglesey, Wales when he was 14 in 1969 and served seven years in youth detention before being released in 1976 and moving to the North West of England. In 1985, he went to Blackpool where he met a staff from a hotel in Ambleside, Cumbria and stayed with them until he disappeared in early-1986 when the body of the hotel owner was discovered in a cottage, where she was stabbed and strangled with her own scarf. He gave himself in to police in London within a month after the crime and was convicted of murder with a recommended minimum of 18 years, with the Home Secretary setting a whole life tariff in 1988, before being reduced to 22 years in 2005 on appeal.
 * John Cannan, who was convicted of the murder of Shirley Banks in Bristol on 8 October 1987, attempted kidnapping of Julia Holman and a rape in Reading. He was sentenced with a recommendation that should never be released from prison by Mr Justice Drake at Exeter Crown Court in April 1989, however this was overturned when the Lord Chief Justice and the Home Secretary at the time decided that he should serve at least 35 years instead.
 * Howard Hughes, who was convicted in July 1996 of the Murder of Sophie Hook in Llandudno 12 months earlier. He denied the murder of Sophie, of Great Budworth, Cheshire, who was seven years old when she died, but was found guilty of rape and murder at Chester Crown Court – largely on the basis of his father's claim that he admitted the murder shortly after his arrest – and jailed for life with a recommendation that he should never be released. Two subsequent appeals against his conviction were rejected, despite a number of sources casting doubt over his guilt and no forensic evidence directly linking him to the crime. In November 2002, Hughes was one of four convicted child murderers who received 50-year minimum terms imposed by the-then Home Secretary David Blunkett shortly before politicians were stripped of their powers to decide minimum terms for life sentence prisoners. The 50-year minimum term meant that Hughes would not be able to apply for parole until 2045 and the age of 80.
 * Timothy Morss and Brett Tyler, who murdered nine-year-old Daniel Handley from East London in October 1994 and buried his body near Bristol, where it was found five months later. They were sentenced to life imprisonment in May 1996 and the trial judge recommended that they should never be released, as he felt they would never cease to pose a danger to children. In November 2002, the pair were among four convicted child murderers who were issued with 50-year minimum terms by the then Home Secretary David Blunkett, just before politicians were stripped of their powers to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners; this meant that Morss and Tyler would both be over 80 years old before parole could be considered.
 * Roy Whiting, who murdered Sarah Payne in West Sussex in July 2000, was told by his trial judge when convicted in December 2001 that his crime (combined with the fact that he had a previous conviction for child abduction and indecent assault) was a rare case for which a life sentence should mean life. In November 2002, Home Secretary David Blunkett ruled that Whiting should serve at least 50 years in prison, meaning he would only qualify for parole if he lived to the age of 92 or beyond, although this in practice revoked the whole life tariff recommended in court. Whiting appealed against this ruling, his lawyers arguing that Blunkett's ruling had been politically motivated as he was on the verge of losing his powers to set minimum terms for life sentence prisoners, and that the government was under mounting pressure from the British public due to the recent start of a firefighters strike. The crime had also attracted widespread media and public attention, and led to calls for tighter laws regarding the monitoring of convicted sex offenders. The ruling also came days after the death of Myra Hindley, whose continued imprisonment saw her described by some sources as a "political prisoner" whose sentence was repeatedly increased to serve the interests of the serving government. Whiting's appeal was heard in June 2010, when the High Court (which by this stage now had the final say on how long a life sentence prisoner should serve before being considered for parole) reduced Whiting's minimum sentence to 40 years, meaning that he will first qualify for parole from 2041 and the age of 82.
 * David Morris was convicted in 2002 murdering three generations of the same family in 1999. His victims were 80-year-old Doris Dawson, her 34-year-old daughter Mandy Power and her two granddaughters, 10-year-old Katie and 8-year-old Emily, by beating them with a pole and then setting the house on fire where their bodies were discovered by firefighters and the trial judge said that the "exceptional savagery" of the murders meant that Morris should never be released. However, in July 2007, the sentenced was reduced to a recommendation of 32 years in prison.
 * David Bieber, an American former marine who fatally shot an already wounded policeman in the head and wounded two others in Leeds on Boxing Day 2003, also injuring two other officers (which saw him convicted on two counts of attempted murder),was jailed for life in December 2004 with a recommendation he should never be released. The whole life tariff was quashed in July 2008 and replaced by one of 37 years. This means he will be at least 75 before parole can be considered.
 * Stephen Ayre, who was paroled in 2005 after serving 20 years of a life sentence for the murder of a 25-year-old woman, committed rape of a 10-year-old boy at knifepoint in Bradford within months of his release. He was sentenced to life imprisonment again at his trial in April 2006, and told that he should never be released, a recommendation normally only made in the case of people convicted of murder. However, his whole life tariff was later quashed on appeal and replaced with a minimum of 10 years. However Ayre was never released and died in prison from lung cancer on September 15, 2018.
 * Trevor Hamilton, jailed for life in August 2006 for the murder of 65-year-old librarian Attracta Haron in Northern Ireland in December 2003. Hamilton, who was 21 when he committed the murder and 24 when jailed, had his whole life tariff reduced to 35 years on appeal in June 2008, meaning that he will be in his late fifties before parole can be considered.
 * Clement McNally who was serving a life term for stabbing a friend outside a house in 2002, strangled his cellmate Anthony Hesketh in Manchester's Strangeways Prison in September 2003 and pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a whole life tariff as a result. In October 2009, it was reduced on appeal to 20 years in prison on account of his mentally abnormal condition.
 * Reginald Wilson was convicted in 1991 of murdering skin specialist David Birkett with a hammer in 1990 and was sentenced to life in prison. Three years later he was informed by the Home Secretary that life should mean life. This was reduced to a 30-year tariff in 2008. He has proved to be a disruptive and dangerous prisoner; he tried to stab a prison officer in 1999 and was transferred to the prisons close supervision centre unit where he is held in the exceptional risk unit.
 * John Hilton was convicted of murder with two other men, Philip Kelly and Charles Connelly during the Mitcham Co-op Robbery and was sentenced to life in prison, while his accomplice George Thatcher was sentenced to death by hanging for capital murder in 1963, only to have his death sentence quashed soon afterwards and replaced with a life sentence from which he was paroled after 18 years. John Hilton served 15 years and was released on licence in 1978, where a month after he shot and killed a diamond jeweller and accidentally shot his partner who then bled to death, he was then given a whole life tariff. The sentence was later reduced to 25 years in prison in 2009 on account of exceptional progress in prison.
 * Peter Bryan killed Nisha Sheth, the daughter of an employer who sacked him for stealing, with a hammer in 1993. He was released in 2004 and by agreement of the doctors at the Newham General Hospital allowed to leave the ward on which he was staying whenever he liked. On this ward, he murdered Bryan Cherry by dismembering him and then eating a part of his brain. When he was admitted to Broadmoor, he killed Richard Loudwell, who was awaiting trial for murder by bashing his head against the floor and strangling him and as a result was given a whole life tariff. It was reduced on appeal to 15 years in 2006 on the basis that the trial judge didn't give enough consideration to his mental health.
 * Brian Maurice Hogg was convicted alongside Jeremy Wing of raping two young children, leaving them with lifelong trauma and injuries. Hogg also had previous convictions for similar offences against children. Both men received whole-life orders in 2002. An appeal in 2007 later reduced Hogg's prison term to life imprisonment with a minimum of ten years on the basis that his crimes were not severe enough to warrant a whole-life order, with Mrs. Justice Swift ruling that the trial judge's sentencing of Hogg had been "wrong in principle". Hogg died from sepsis while still a prisoner in 2015, at the age of 73.
 * Danilo Restivo was convicted in 2011 for the 2002 murder of Heather Barnet. In a second trial, Restivo was later sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of a teenager in his native Italy in 1993. In 2012 his term was reduced to 40 years as part of a joint appeal by several prisoners with long sentences.
 * Michael Roberts was convicted in 2012 of numerous offences between 1988 and 2005, including rapes. His sentence was reduced to life with a 25-year minimum at the same appeal that reduced Restivo's sentence.
 * Anthony Entwistle, then aged 38, murdered 16-year-old Michelle Calvy in April 1987, abducting her from a towpath in Blackburn, raping her, and strangling her with her T-shirt. He dumped her body in Tockholes. The murder was 18 days after his release from a 10-year sentence in 1980 for rape, which followed another seven-year sentence in 1974 for sexually assaulting two women. He was found guilty of Calvy's murder at Preston Crown Court in March 1988, and sentenced to life imprisonment with trial judge Mr. Justice Rose recommending a minimum term of 25 years. He was later given a whole-life tariff by the Home Secretary Douglas Hurd. In 2009, Mr. Justice Davis ruled at the High Court that Entwistle could be considered for release after 25 years (less 10 months spent on remand) if he was judged to no longer be a threat to the public, rather than imposing a whole life tariff, saying that "He can only be released if ever (and it may be never) he is assessed as no longer a danger to the public." The parole board turned down his request for release in June 2013.
 * David Martin Simmons had originally received a whole-life term for rape and false imprisonment. This was reduced to a ten-year minimum when he appealed alongside Restivo, Roberts, and others whose appeals were not successful.
 * Donald Andrews had received a whole-life term for rape and kidnapping in 2012, while having two previous convictions for manslaughter. This was reduced to a twelve-year minimum when he appealed in 2015, making him eligible for release in 2024.
 * Simon Smith was convicted of murdering three of his children (all under a year old) between 1989 and 1994, which were initially believed to be cot deaths. His trial judge at Stafford Crown Court in 1996 recommended that he should never be released. Smith was however told at a later date he could apply for parole from 2020 after serving a minimum of 24 years.
 * Ian Stewart was convicted of murdering his fiancée Helen Bailey and later his wife Diane Stewart and sentenced to life without parole. However, Stewart appealed to the Court of Appeal and had his sentence for Bailey's murder reduced to a minimum of 35 years. Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard, appealed alongside Stewart but his whole-life order was upheld.


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André Morell

Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958–59), and as Doctor Watson in the Hammer Film Productions version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).

He also appeared in the films The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Ben-Hur (1959), in several of Hammer's horror films throughout the 1960s and in the acclaimed ITV historical drama The Caesars (1968). His obituary in The Times newspaper described him as possessing a "commanding presence with a rich, responsive voice… whether in the classical or modern theatre he was authoritative and dependable."

Early life and career
Morell was born in London, the son of André and Rosa Mesritz. Prior to taking up acting professionally he trained as a motor engineer, while also participating in amateur theatrical productions. He turned professional in 1934, initially acting under the name André Mesritz; he anglicised his surname to Morell in 1936, and adopted the latter name legally by deed poll in 1938.

In 1938 he joined the Old Vic theatre company, and appeared in several of their high-profile productions both at their home theatre and on tour throughout Britain and across the rest of the world. He appeared in Hamlet as Horatio opposite Alec Guinness in the title role, and as Alonso in John Gielgud's production of The Tempest. He played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet mounted by the Old Vic company at Streatham in 1939, with Robert Donat as Romeo. This was Morell's favourite role from his career. His performance in the play was praised by The Times's critic as "a neat and carefully studied portrait; he is admirable in all his cynical and humorous passages", although the reviewer did add that "one could wish that he had left this manner for the speech about Queen Mab and addressed this, as a piece of direct poetry, directly to the audience."

Towards the end of the 1930s he began appearing in films, making his debut on the big screen in 13 Men and a Gun (1938). He appeared frequently in several early drama productions on the BBC's fledgling television service, featuring in such roles as Mr Wickham in Pride and Prejudice (1938) and Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac (1938). The onset of the Second World War interrupted his acting career, and he joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1940. He served with the regiment until 1946, by which time he had attained the rank of major.

Major film and television roles
Morell returned to the theatre after the war, including another period at the Old Vic in the 1951–52 season. The New Statesman's critic T. C. Worsley wrote of his performance in a star-studded revival of King Lear that "Mr Morell's Kent is the best I remember since Sir Ralph Richardson's." Of his performance in the title role in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Timon of Athens, the Daily Mail wrote: "From his stage and screen performances we know him already as an eminently dependable actor, but last night he became a spectacular actor."

The same profile quoted Morell's catholic approach to stage assignments: "If a part is a good part and I feel I can enjoy playing it, it doesn't matter whether it's Shakespeare or modern farce … I'd hate to be bogged down in Shakespeare or classic theatre all my life. It's a good thing for an actor to do many different kinds of theatre, because it keeps his imagination stimulated."

However, he now increasingly began to win leading parts on television, and in 1953 was cast by the television director Rudolph Cartier in a play called It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer. Cartier was impressed with Morell's performance in this play, and offered him the leading role in a science-fiction serial he was preparing with the writer Nigel Kneale, entitled The Quatermass Experiment. Morell considered the not-yet-completed script, but decided to decline the offer; the part went instead to his co-star from It Is Midnight, Dr Schweitzer, Reginald Tate.

He did take one of the leading parts in another Cartier and Kneale production the following year, when he played O'Brien in their version of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, opposite Peter Cushing as Winston Smith. This was a successful and controversial production which provoked much comment and debate; Morell's part in it has been praised for his "coolly menacing performance [that] is at least equal to Cushing's."

This successful collaboration with Cartier and Kneale resulted, four years later, in him once again being offered the role of Professor Bernard Quatermass for the pair's third serial in the series, Quatermass and the Pit, although on this occasion another actor – Alec Clunes – had already turned them down. This time Morell accepted the part, and is regarded by several critics as having provided the definitive interpretation of the character. Morell personally found that in later years it was the role for which he was most often remembered by members of the public.

As well as these and other television appearances, Morell gained several notable film roles towards the end of the 1950s. He appeared in two films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture; The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), as Colonel Green, and Ben-Hur (1959) as Sextus.

With Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, he played Arthur Conan Doyle's character Doctor John H. Watson, in Hammer Film Productions' version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (also 1959). Morell was particularly keen that his portrayal of Watson should be closer to that originally depicted in Conan Doyle's stories, and away from the bumbling stereotype established by Nigel Bruce's interpretation of the role. An earlier Hammer film in which Morell appeared was The Camp on Blood Island (1957).

In 1960, Morell appeared as Judge Brack in a production of Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler at the Oxford Playhouse. Starring opposite him in the title role was the film actress Joan Greenwood. They fell in love and flew in secret to Jamaica, where they were married, remaining together until his death.

Later career
Morell continued to appear in Hammer's horror films in the ensuing decade. He had parts in the Shadow of the Cat (1960), She (1964, again with Peter Cushing) and its sequel The Vengeance of She (1967), the lead in The Plague of the Zombies (1965), and The Mummy's Shroud (1966). He also starred with Cushing in Hammer's Cash on Demand, playing the same role he had played opposite Richard Vernon in the original TV play, The Gold Inside, but turned down the opportunity of reprising the title role in Hammer's feature film adaptation of Quatermass and the Pit (1967).

Morell continued to act successfully on television throughout the decade, with guest roles in episodes of series such as The Avengers (1963 and 1965), Danger Man (1965), Doctor Who (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve 1966), The Saint (1965) and in The Caesars (1968) in a prominent role as the Roman emperor Tiberius.

In 1969, he became the vice president of Equity, the trade union for British actors and performers. He then served as president of the organisation for a year from 1973–74. During this time he was involved in a dispute in which Equity threatened to expel Laurence Olivier as a member due to comments he made in a newspaper feature about the possibility of forming a breakaway union. The union also suffered from financial problems, and Morell continued to warn against destructive divisions amongst the members when he stepped down as president.

Despite his involvement in union business he continued to be a busy working actor. He appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975) as a nobleman friend of the title character. His last television work was an episode of the ITV series The Professionals in 1978, the year of his death. The animated film version of The Lord of the Rings, in which he voiced the character of Elrond, was released the same year, but his final film work was not seen until the year after his death. This was as the judge in The First Great Train Robbery.

Morell, who smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day until he gave up in 1976, died from lung cancer in London on 28 November 1978, at the age of 69. He and his wife Joan Greenwood had a son, Jason Morell, who also became an actor, appearing in films such as Mrs Brown (1997, as Lord Stanley) and Wilde (also 1997, as Ernest Dowson).

Filmography

 * 13 Men and a Gun (1938) - Kroty
 * Many Tanks Mr. Atkins (1938) - Hart
 * Ten Days in Paris (1940) - Victor
 * Three Silent Men (1940) - Charles Klein
 * Unpublished Story (1942) - Marchand
 * Against the Wind (1948) - Abbot (uncredited)
 * That Dangerous Age (1949) - Doctor McCatcheon
 * No Place for Jennifer (1950) - William's Counsel
 * Madeleine (1950) - Dean of Falcuty
 * Stage Fright (1950) - Inspector Byard
 * So Long at the Fair (1950) - Doctor Hart
 * Trio (1950) - Dr. Lennox (in segment Sanatorium)
 * Seven Days to Noon (1950) - Superintendent Folland
 * The Clouded Yellow (1950) - Secret Service Chief Chubb
 * Flesh & Blood (1951) - Dr. Marshall
 * High Treason (1951) - Supt. Folland
 * The Tall Headlines (1952) - George Rackham
 * Stolen Face (1952) - David
 * His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) - Alfred Tetins
 * The Golden Link (1954) - Supt. Blake
 * The Black Knight (1954) - Sir Ontzlake
 * Three Cases of Murder (1955) - Dr. Audlin ("Lord Mountdrago" segment)
 * Summertime (1955) - Englishman (uncredited)
 * The Secret (1955) - Chief Inspector Blake
 * They Can't Hang Me (1955) - Robert Isaac Pitt
 * The Man Who Never Was (1956) - Sir Bernard Spilsbury
 * The Black Tent (1956) - Sheik Salem ben Yussef
 * The Baby and the Battleship (1956) - Marshal
 * Zarak (1956) - Maj. Atherton
 * Interpol (1957) - Commissioner Breckner
 * The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - Colonel Green
 * Diamond Safari (1958) - Williamson
 * Paris Holiday (1958) - American Ambassador
 * The Camp on Blood Island (1958) - Col. Lambert
 * The Giant Behemoth (1959) - Prof. James Bickford
 * The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) - Doctor Watson
 * Ben-Hur (1959) - Sextus
 * Cone of Silence (1960) - Capt. Edward Manningham
 * Shadow of the Cat (1961) - Walter Venable
 * Cash on Demand (1961) - Colonel Gore Hepburn
 * The Human Jungle
 * Woman of Straw (1964) - Judge (uncredited)
 * The Moon-Spinners (1964) - Yacht Captain
 * She (1965) - Haumeid
 * The Plague of the Zombies (1966) - Sir James Forbes
 * Judith (1966) - Haim
 * The Wrong Box (1966) - Club Butler (uncredited)
 * The Mummy's Shroud (1967) - Sir Basil Walden
 * Dark of the Sun (1968) - Bussier
 * The Vengeance of She (1968) - Kassim
 * Julius Caesar (1970) - Cicero
 * 10 Rillington Place (1971) - Old Bailey: Judge Lewis
 * Pope Joan (1972) - Emperor Louis
 * Barry Lyndon (1975) - Lord Gustavus Adolphus Wendover
 * The Slipper and the Rose (1976) - Bride's Father
 * The Message (1976) - Abu-Talib
 * The Lord of the Rings (1978) - Lord Elrond (voice)
 * The First Great Train Robbery (1979) - Judge (final film role)

title: André Morell


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Eduardo Castex

Eduardo Castex is a small city, capital of Conhelo, in La Pampa Province, Argentina.

The city is a centre of agricultural activity and the main producer of wheat in La Pampa. Its name comes from the founder Ingeniero (Engineer) Eduardo Castex, in the first years of the 20th century. From the 1920s to the 1940s, it was populated with immigrants coming from Italy, and parts of Spain such as many of Salamanca or Zamora. The population for Eduardo Castex is 9,347.

Economy
Its economic activity is concentrated in livestock and agriculture. In recent years, tourism has gained strength.

title: Eduardo Castex