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Exhaust gas

Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, fuel oil, biodiesel blends, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack, or propelling nozzle. It often disperses downwind in a pattern called an exhaust plume.

It is a major component of motor vehicle emissions (and from stationary internal combustion engines), which can also include crankcase blow-by and evaporation of unused gasoline.

Motor vehicle emissions are a common source of air pollution and are a major ingredient in the creation of smog in some large cities. A 2013 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) indicates that 53,000 early deaths occur per year in the United States alone because of vehicle emissions. According to another study from the same university, traffic fumes alone cause the death of 5,000 people every year just in the United Kingdom.

Composition
The largest part of most combustion gas is nitrogen (N2), water vapor (H2O) (except with pure-carbon fuels), and carbon dioxide (CO2) (except for fuels without carbon); these are not toxic or noxious (although water vapor and carbon dioxide are greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change). A relatively small part of combustion gas is undesirable, noxious, or toxic substances, such as carbon monoxide (CO) from incomplete combustion, hydrocarbons (properly indicated as CxHy, but typically shown simply as "HC" on emissions-test slips) from unburnt fuel, nitrogen oxides (NOx) from excessive combustion temperatures, and particulate matter (mostly soot).

Exhaust gas temperature
Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) is important to the functioning of the catalytic converter of an internal combustion engine. It may be measured by an exhaust gas temperature gauge. EGT is also a measure of engine health in gas-turbine engines (see below).

Cold engines
During the first two minutes after starting the engine of a car that has not been operated for several hours, the amount of emissions can be very high. This occurs for two main reasons:
 * Rich air-fuel ratio requirement in cold engines: When a cold engine is started, the fuel does not vaporize completely, creating higher emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide, which diminishes only as the engine reaches operating temperature. The duration of this start-up phase has been reduced by advances in materials and technology, including computer-controlled fuel injection, shorter intake lengths, and pre-heating of fuel and/or inducted air.
 * Inefficient catalytic converter under cold conditions: Catalytic converters are very inefficient until warmed up to their operating temperature. This time has been much reduced by moving the converter closer to the exhaust manifold and even more so placing a small yet quick-to-heat-up converter directly at the exhaust manifold. The small converter handles the start-up emissions, which allows enough time for the larger main converter to heat up. Further improvements can be realised in many ways, including electric heating, thermal battery, chemical reaction preheating, flame heating and superinsulation.

Passenger car emissions summary
Comparable with the European emission standards EURO III as it was applied in October 2000

In 2000, the United States Environmental Protection Agency began to implement more stringent emissions standards for light duty vehicles. The requirements were phased in beginning with 2004 vehicles and all new cars and light trucks were required to meet the updated standards by the end of 2007.

Spark-ignition and Diesel engines
In spark-ignition engines the gases resulting from combustion of the fuel and air mix are called exhaust gases. The composition varies from petrol to diesel engines, but is around these levels:

The 10% oxygen for "diesel" is likely if the engine was idling, e.g. in a test rig. It is much less if the engine is running under load, although diesel engines always operate with an excess of air over fuel. The CO content for petrol engines varies from ≈15 ppm for well tuned engine with fuel injection and a catalytic converter up to 100,000 ppm (10%) for a richly tuned carburetor engine, such as typically found on small generators and garden equipment.

Nitromethane additive
Exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine whose fuel includes nitromethane will contain nitric acid vapour, which is corrosive, and when inhaled causes a muscular reaction making it impossible to breathe. People who are likely to be exposed to it should wear a gas mask.

Gas-turbine engines

 * In aircraft gas turbine engines, "exhaust gas temperature" (EGT) is a primary measure of engine health. Typically the EGT is compared with a primary engine power indication called "engine pressure ratio" (EPR). For example: at full power EPR there will be a maximum permitted EGT limit. Once an engine reaches a stage in its life where it reaches this EGT limit, the engine will require specific maintenance in order to rectify the problem. The amount the EGT is below the EGT limit is called EGT margin. The EGT margin of an engine will be greatest when the engine is new, or has been overhauled. For most airlines, this information is also monitored remotely by the airline maintenance department by means of ACARS.

Jet engines and rocket engines
In jet engines and rocket engines, exhaust from propelling nozzles which in some applications shows shock diamonds.

From burning coal

 * Flue gas

Steam engines
In steam engine terminology the exhaust is steam that is now so low in pressure that it can no longer do useful work.

NOx
Mono-nitrogen oxides NO and NO2 (NOx) (whether produced this way or naturally by lightning) react with ammonia, moisture, and other compounds to form nitric acid vapor and related particles. Small particles can penetrate deeply into sensitive lung tissue and damage it, causing premature death in extreme cases. Inhalation of NO species increases the risk of lung cancer and colorectal cancer. and inhalation of such particles may cause or worsen respiratory diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis and heart disease.

In a 2005 U.S. EPA study the largest emissions of came from on road motor vehicles, with the second largest contributor being non-road equipment which is mostly gasoline and diesel stations.

The resulting nitric acid may be washed into soil, where it becomes nitrate, which is useful to growing plants.

Volatile organic compounds
When oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in the presence of sunlight, ground level ozone is formed, a primary ingredient in smog. A 2005 U.S. EPA report gives road vehicles as the second largest source of VOCs in the U.S. at 26% and 19% are from non road equipment which is mostly gasoline and diesel stations. 27% of VOC emissions are from solvents which are used in the manufacturer of paints and paint thinners and other uses.

Ozone
Ozone is beneficial in the upper atmosphere, but at ground level ozone irritates the respiratory system, causing coughing, choking, and reduced lung capacity. It also has many negative effects throughout the ecosystem.

Carbon monoxide (CO)
Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries. Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless and tasteless, but highly toxic. It combines with hemoglobin to produce carboxyhemoglobin, which blocks the transport of oxygen. At concentrations above 1000ppm it is considered immediately dangerous and is the most immediate health hazard from running engines in a poorly ventilated space. In 2011, 52% of carbon monoxide emissions were created by mobile vehicles in the U.S.

Hazardous air pollutants (toxics)
Chronic (long-term) exposure to benzene (C6H6) damages bone marrow. It can also cause excessive bleeding and depress the immune system, increasing the chance of infection. Benzene causes leukemia and is associated with other blood cancers and pre-cancers of the blood.

Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5)
The health effects of inhaling airborne particulate matter have been widely studied in humans and animals and include asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, premature death. Because of the size of the particles, they can penetrate the deepest part of the lungs. A 2011 UK study estimates 90 deaths per year due to passenger vehicle PM. In a 2006 publication, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) state that in 2002 about 1 per-cent of all PM10 and 2 per-cent of all PM2.5 emissions came from the exhaust of on-road motor vehicles (mostly from diesel engines). In Chinese, European, and Indian markets, both diesel and gasoline vehicles are required to have a tailpipe filter installed, while the United States has mandated it for diesel only. In 2022, British testing specialist Emissions Analytics estimated that the 300 million or so gasoline vehicles in the US over the subsequent decade would emit around 1.6 septillion harmful particles.

Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Motor vehicle CO2 emissions are part of the anthropogenic contribution to the growth of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere which according to the vast majority of the scientific community is causing climate change. Motor vehicles are calculated to generate about 20% of the European Union's man-made CO2 emissions, with passenger cars contributing about 12%. European emission standards limit the CO2 emissions of new passenger cars and light vehicles. The European Union average new car CO2 emissions figure dropped by 5.4% in the year to the first quarter of 2010, down to 145.6 g/km.

Water vapour
Vehicle exhaust contains much water vapour.

Water recovery
There has been research into ways that troops in deserts can recover drinkable water from their vehicles' exhaust gases.

Pollution reduction
Emission standards focus on reducing pollutants contained in the exhaust gases from vehicles as well as from industrial flue gas stacks and other air pollution exhaust sources in various large-scale industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, natural gas processing plants, petrochemical plants and chemical production plants. However, these are often referred to as flue gases. Catalytic converters in cars intend to break down the pollution of exhaust gases using a catalyst. Scrubbers in ships intend to remove the sulfur dioxide (SO2) of marine exhaust gases. The regulations on marine sulfur dioxide emissions are tightening, however only a small number of special areas worldwide have been designated for low sulfur diesel fuel use only.

One of the advantages claimed for advanced steam technology engines is that they produce smaller quantities of toxic pollutants (e.g. oxides of nitrogen) than petrol and diesel engines of the same power. They produce larger quantities of carbon dioxide but less carbon monoxide due to more efficient combustion.

Health studies
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health say preliminary results of their statistical study of children listed in the California Cancer Registry born between 1998 and 2007 found that traffic pollution may be associated with a 5% to 15% increase in the likelihood of some cancers. A World Health Organization study found that diesel fumes cause an increase in lung cancer.

Localised effects
The California Air Resources Board found in studies that 50% or more of the air pollution (smog) in Southern California is due to car emissions. Concentrations of pollutants emitted from combustion engines may be particularly high around signalized intersections because of idling and accelerations. Computer models often miss this kind of detail.

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Spider-Woman

Spider-Woman is the code name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first major version is Jessica Drew (and later impersonated by Veranke), the second major version is Julia Carpenter, and the third major version is Mattie Franklin. Several alternate reality incarnations of the character have additionally received notoriety, including the Ultimate Spider-Woman, Ashley Barton, and Gwen Stacy.

Publication history
Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 (Feb. 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue self-titled series (cover-dated April 1978 – June 1983), the character originated because,

"I suddenly realized that some other company may quickly put out a book like that and claim they have the right to use the name, and I thought we'd better do it real fast to copyright the name. So we just batted one quickly, and that's exactly what happened. I wanted to protect the name, because it's the type of thing [where] someone else might say, 'Hey, why don't we put out a Spider-Woman; they can't stop us.' ... You know, years ago we brought out Wonder Man, and [ DC Comics ] sued us because they had Wonder Woman, and ... I said okay, I'll discontinue Wonder Man. And all of a sudden they've got Power Girl [after Marvel had introduced Power Man ] . Oh, boy. How unfair."

Following that initial Spider-Woman series, more followed. Volume two was a miniseries published from November 1993 through February 1994; volume three was published from July 1999 through December 2000; and volume four, featuring Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, was published from November 2009 through May 2010.

Volume Five ran from November 2014 through the fall of 2015, featuring Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman. In the March 2015 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #13, Jessica boasts "I have never needed rescuing. Ever. See my wiki entry." In November 2015, Spider-Woman Vol. 6 launched as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different event with the same creative team as Volume 5. This volume saw her wearing the same costume as in Volume 5, but now she was pregnant and working as a private investigator. In October 2020, Spider-Woman #5, the fifth issue of Volume 7, being written by Karla Pacheco, marked the 100th issue of the title and Marvel celebrated the occasion with a special giant-sized issue.

Jessica Drew
Jessica Drew is the original Spider-Woman who left the role in the early 1980s and returned to her mantle by the late 2000s.

Julia Carpenter
Julia Carpenter is the second Spider-Woman who was a former member of the Avengers and Omega Flight and also used the Arachne and Madame Web mantles.

Mattie Franklin
Mattie Franklin briefly impersonated the then-retired Spider-Man before receiving her own short-lived comics series as well as also appeared in Alias #16–21, before going on to appear in the 2007–2008 Loners miniseries.

Charlotte Witter
Charlotte Witter is a supervillain who used the Spider-Woman name.

Veranke
Veranke is a Super-Skrull and a queen of the Skrulls who impersonated Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman over a long period of time and was a founding member of the New Avengers.

Ultimate Marvel
A gender-swapped clone of Spider-Man appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint.

Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy is Earth-65's version of Spider-Woman.

Ashley Barton
In the pages of Old Man Logan, Ashley Barton is the daughter of Tonya Parker and Hawkeye who did not like the way that Kingpin was running Hammer Falls. She becomes "Spider-Bitch", allying herself with a new Punisher and Daredevil, and plans to take back Hammer Falls, only for the group to be captured and Daredevil and Punisher to be fed to the carnivorous dinosaurs. Hawkeye breaks his daughter out of her cell, whereafter Ashley immediately beheads Kingpin which avenges Daredevil and Punisher's deaths. Then she attempts to kill her father, before taking over Hammer Falls as the new Kingpin. Old Man Logan rescues Hawkeye as Ashley sends her men after them. The character appears in the "Spider-Verse" and Spider-Geddon storylines, now referred with her father's surname as Ashley Barton, and alternately referred to as "Spider-Girl" and "Spider-Woman" due to the family-friendly nature of the narrative, and is among the spider-powered characters who are recruited by Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus's mind in Peter Parker's body) to help fight the Inheritors, before returning to the Wastelands in "Venomverse" and "Old Man Quill".

Earth X
On Earth X, a character named Spidra appears. She was one of the last survivors of the Microverse following Psycho-Man's attempt to drive the entire realm mad. Escaping with the rest of the Ant Men, who were formerly known as the Microns, Spidra and the rest of the Ant Men are charged with watching Immortus. They are later present at the wedding of King Britain and Medusa.

Erin Hasko
During the Web Warriors ongoing series, on accidentally coming across actors Felix Lifson and Erin Hasko, in a world where Spider-Man is fictional, shooting a Spider-Man movie (in which Erin is playing Gwen "Spider-Gwen" Stacy / Spider-Woman), Octavia Otto and the Web Warriors invite the duo to join the team, initially not noticing the pair to be actors shooting the film. On clearing up the misunderstanding, Octavia nonetheless makes the offer again, if either of them would be open to it, and excitedly noting that she learned three different types of martial arts for a previous role, Erin joins the Web Warriors and ventures into the multiverse with them, leaving her shocked crew behind, as Felix asks if they were still filming.

Erin returns in the video game Spider-Man Unlimited, now wielding a specialized set of web-shooters made for those lacking spider-strength as a "real" Spider-Woman. After the Spider-Queen escapes from Spider-Force custody, the game's protagonist Spider-Man realizes that since Erin isn't a Spider-Totem, the Queen cannot control her, and sends her on a mission to Horizon Labs to collect a device to suppress the Queen's control over other spiders and Spider-People. Listed as "Spider-Gwen (Erin Hasko"; in her character description, Erin is revealed to have been acting since she was three-years-old, with the film she was filming on her recruitment having been titled Spider-Woman: Goblin's Revenge.

Helen Goddard
An unrelated earlier Spider-Woman was published by Harry "A" Chesler's Dynamic Comics in 1944. She was Helen Goddard, a non-superpowered crime-fighter who made her first and only appearance in the Golden Age comic book Major Victory #1.

Marvel 2099
In the unified Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, a Spider-Woman with the real name of Sivern Dru appears as a member of the 2099 version of the New Avengers. She comes from an as-yet-unidentified alien species.

Mary Jane Watson
There are several alternate versions of Mary Jane Watson known as Spider-Woman. The first version is a ninja of the Spider-clan in the Marvel Mangaverse, and another version is featured in the Exiles series.

Mayday Parker
Mayday Parker, Peter and MJ's daughter from the alternate future MC2 who is commonly known as Spider-Girl, began calling herself Spider-Woman after her father's death.

Spider Super Stories
A character called Spider-Woman (Valerie the Librarian) appears in the recurring live-action skit "Spidey Super Stories" on the 1970s PBS children's television series The Electric Company. She also appears as Spider-Woman in the spin-off comic book series Spidey Super Stories #11 (August 1975) where she has no superpowers.

Squadron Supreme
In the Squadron Supreme series, Nell Ruggles was a young troubled girl, who upon gaining her powers killed her classmates, who had bullied her in the past. However, her superhuman powers allowed her to be traced back to a device which the Icarus One astronauts brought back from the Moon. Running away from home, she was captured by the Blur and turned over to Nick Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. Thanks to an electroshock collar, she has been prevented from leaving, though she appears to be making the best of the situation, having made friends and eventually falling in love with Tucker Ford, Biogeneral.

Television

 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman appears in Spider-Woman (1979), voiced by Joan Van Ark.
 * The Julia Carpenter incarnation of Spider-Woman appears in Iron Man, voiced by Casey DeFranco in season one and Jennifer Hale in season two.
 * The Mary Jane Watson incarnation of Spider-Woman, also referenced as Spider-MJ, appears in Ultimate Spider-Man, voiced by Tara Strong.

Film

 * The Gwen Stacy incarnation of Spider-Woman appears in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Hailee Steinfeld.
 * The Gwen Stacy incarnation of Spider-Woman and a character based on Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman named Jess Drew appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, voiced again by Hailee Steinfeld and Issa Rae respectively.
 * The Jess Drew and Gwen Stacy incarnations of Spider-Woman will appear in a female-centered spin-off of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
 * The Julia Carpenter and Mattie Franklin incarnations of Spider-Woman appear in Madame Web, portrayed by Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O'Connor respectively.

Video games

 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman appears as a playable character in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Tasia Valenza. This version possesses her comic book counterpart's powers except her super-strength. Additionally, Julia Carpenter's Arachne suit and Mayday Parker's Spider-Girl suit also appear as alternate skins. Originally, Mattie Franklin's costume was intended to be one of the alternate costumes, but was replaced by Spider-Girl's.
 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman appears in the PS2 and PSP versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Elizabeth Daily.
 * Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman, Julia Carpenter / Arachne, and Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman appear as playable characters in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.
 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman appears as a playable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.
 * Gwen Stacy, Mayday Parker, Julia Carpenter, Charlotte Witter, Mattie Franklin, Ashley Barton, Erin Hasko, and both the mainstream and Ultimate versions of Jessica Drew all appear as playable characters in Spider-Man Unlimited, with Jessica Drew voiced by Laura Bailey.
 * The Jessica Drew and Gwen Stacy incarnations of Spider-Woman appear as playable characters in Marvel Heroes, voiced by Ashley Johnson.
 * The Jessica Drew and Gwen Stacy incarnations of Spider-Woman appear as playable characters in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
 * The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman, referred to as "Spider-Girl" for unknown reasons, appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel's Avengers as part of the Spider-Man DLC pack.
 * The Gwen Stacy incarnation of Spider-Woman appears as a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, voiced by Allegra Clark.

Miscellaneous

 * Spidey Super Stories #56 (January 1982) features Mary Jane Watson dressed as the Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman for a costume party.
 * The Jessica Drew incarnation of Spider-Woman was among ten Marvel characters who appeared in a set of Marvel Comics Super Heroes commemorative postage stamps that were issued in 2007.
 * An English version of Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in the Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. motion comic, voiced by Nicolette Reed.

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

title: Spider-Woman


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Aert van der Neer

Aert van der Neer, or Aernout or Artus (c. 1603 – 9 November 1677), was a landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, who specialized in small night scenes lit only by moonlight and fires, and snowy winter landscapes, both often looking down a canal or river. He was a contemporary of Aelbert Cuyp and Meindert Hobbema, and like the latter he lived and died in comparative obscurity.

Biography
Van der Neer was born in Gorinchem. According to Arnold Houbraken, he worked as a steward to the lords of Arkel, which would account for the absence of any pictures dating from his early years. He became an amateur painter possibly upon contact with the Amsterdam painters Rafael and Joachim Govertsz Camphuysen, whose sister Lysbeth he married in 1629. They had six children: Grietje (1629), Eglon (~1635), Cornelia (1642), Elisabeth (1645), Pieter (1648), and Alida (1650). Five were baptized in the Nieuwe Kerk, not far from Kalverstraat where he lived.

Van der Neer was barely able to support his family by selling his landscapes, which were not highly valued. In 1659 it seemed necessary to supplement his income by keeping a wine tavern, but two years later he went broke. He died at Kerkstraat in abject poverty, and his art was so little esteemed that the pictures left by him were valued at about five shillings apiece. His son Eglon became a portrait painter himself.

Career

The earliest pictures in which Van Der Neer coupled his monogram of A.V. and D.N. interlaced with a date are a winter landscape in the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam (dated 1639), and another in the Martins collection at Kiel (1642) immature works both, of poor quality. Far better is the Winter Landscape (1643), and the Moonlight Scene (1644) once in the d'Arenberg collection in Brussels.

In 1652 Van Der Neer witnessed the fire which consumed the old town-hall of Amsterdam. He made this accident the subject for two or three pictures, now in the galleries of Berlin and Copenhagen. Though Amsterdam appears to have been constantly Van Der Neer's domicile, his pictures tell that he was well acquainted with the canals and woods about Haarlem and Leiden, and with the reaches of the Meuse and Rhine. Dordrecht, the home of Aelbert Cuyp, is sometimes found in his pictures, and substantial evidence exists that there was friendship between the two men. At some period of their lives they laid their hands to the same canvases, on each of which they left their joint mark. On some it was the signature of the name, on others the more convincing signature of style. There are landscapes in the collections of the dukes of Bedford and Westminster, in which Cuyp has represented either the frozen Maes with fishermen packing herrings, or the moon reflecting its light on the river's placid waters. These are models after which Van Der Neer appears to have worked.

The same feeling and similar subjects are found in Cuyp and Van Der Neer, before and after their partnership, but Cuyp was the leading genius. Van Der Neer got assistance from him; Cuyp expected none from Van Der Neer. He carefully enlivened his friend's pictures, when asked to do so, with figures and cattle. It is in pictures jointly produced by them that we discover Van Der Neer's presence at Dordrecht. We are near Dordrecht in the landscape sunset of the Louvre, in which Cuyp evidently painted the foreground and cows. In the National Gallery, London picture Cuyp signs his name on the pail of a milkmaid, whose figure and red skirt he has painted with light effectiveness near the edge of Van Der Neer's landscape. Again, a couple of fishermen with a dog, and a sportsman creeping up to surprise some ducks, are Cuyp's in a capital Van Der Neer at the Staedel Institute in Frankfurt.

Van Der Neer's favourite subjects were the rivers and watercourses of his native country either at sunset or after dark. His peculiar skill is shown in realizing translucence which allows objects even distant to appear in the darkness with varieties of warm brown and steel greys. Another of his fancies is to paint frozen water, and his daylight icescapes with golfers, sleighers, and fishermen are as numerous as his moonlights. But he always avoids the impression of frostiness, which is one of his great gifts.

His pictures are not scarce. They are less valuable in the market than those of Cuyp or Hobbema; but, possessing a charm peculiarly their own, they are much sought after by collectors. Out of about one hundred and fifty pictures accessible to the public, the choicest selection is in the Hermitage at Saint Petersburg. In England paintings from his brush are to be found at the National Gallery and Wallace Collection.

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Category talk:Politics by country

undated comment
Shall I add the articles on List of politics by country articles here or should they rather go to the subcategories (only) ? -- User:Docu

title: Category talk:Politics by country


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Force Works

Force Works was the name of different fictional superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history
The first version of Force Works appeared in the comic book Force Works #1, (July 1994) created by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and initially drawn by Tom Tenney. The team was formed from the remains of the West Coast Avengers, after leader Iron Man left the Avengers due to an internal dispute. Force Works maintained a different outlook than that of the Avengers, trying to preempt natural and man-made disasters.

The second version of Force Works was mentioned in Civil War #6.

From the ashes of West Coast Avengers
Force Works began shortly after the West Coast Avengers disbanded. Tony Stark, otherwise known as the superhero Iron Man, sought to form a superhero group with a different philosophy than its predecessors (most notably the East Coast branch of the Avengers): they would not just stop disasters, but prevent them. The team was initially composed of Iron Man, U.S. Agent, Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter), Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man. By the end of their first mission, Wonder Man was thought dead at the hands of the invading Kree, and shortly thereafter the alien Century replaced him. The group used a combination of the Chaos Computer (a supercomputer that used incoming information to predict future events) and the Scarlet Witch's powers to attempt to prevent major world problems.

Force Works used a Stark Enterprises facility known as The Works as their base. The building was fully equipped for the team's use; it featured powerful security and stealth systems and incorporated nanotechnology that would repair the building if it were damaged. It was maintained by a Stark Industries staff, leaving Force Works to focus on its duties. The facility was also administered by an artificial intelligence system called P.L.A.T.O. (Piezo-electrical Logistic Analytical Tactical Operator). The Works also included living and training accommodations and could also produce hard-light holographs.

Although Force Works was officially led by the Scarlet Witch, Iron Man would often act insubordinately and make his own decisions during their missions. Later it was revealed that Iron Man was under the influence of the time-traveling villain Kang the Conqueror (even later revealed to be his future self Immortus in disguise). The team fought several battles, existed for just less than two years, and disbanded. Most of its members rejoined the Avengers or sank into obscurity.

Shortly after the disintegration of the group, Tony Stark died in his attempts to regain control of himself from "Kang" and was replaced by a younger, alternate-reality version of himself. The original Stark did not remain dead for long, due to the events that culminated in the "Heroes Reborn" storyline.

Force Works in the Fifty State Initiative
A new version of Force Works was mentioned as being active and sent to Iowa as a part of the Fifty State Initiative. Although no members were shown or even named. According to editor Tom Brevoort on a Newsarama interview it could be that the team consists of new super-heroes, some could be existing "Pro-reg" heroes and some could be established heroes "with an upgrade".

Force Works was again mentioned as a team when War Machine was sent into space to deal with attacking Skrulls. Investigating a Stark satellite, he discovered Cybermancer there, and it was implied by War Machine she was a member of Force Works.

2020 Force Works
In light of an uprising of robots and A.I. during the "Iron Man 2020" event, a new Force Works team becomes formed at the request of the US government to act as the nations last, best line of defense. In East Brunswick, New Jersey, a group of robots associated with the A.I. Army are attacked by Force Works members Solo, Gauntlet, and War Machine where one of them self-destructs. Three hours later, Maria Hill, Force Works’ commander, meets up with War Machine after the badly-ended mission, informing him Gauntlet will be in the hospital for a few weeks, Solo quit because he did not think War Machine was teammate material and another agent has gone missing. Three more hours later, Maria Hill remotely briefs Quake in an airplane on her mission to find the missing agent on the island of Lingare. She informs Quake if the mission fails, then she is to implement the Poseidon Protocols. When the airplane is attacked, Quake is saved by War Machine, while U.S. Agent, her partner piloting the airplane, bails out. Landing in the jungle, he is held at gunpoint by Lingares soldiers until a disguised Mockingbird, the missing agent, rescues him. Quake and War Machine meet up with them as Mockingbird explains she cannot leave the island until her investigative mission is complete, as something huge is happening on it. They are then attacked by Deathloks who soon overwhelm them, and War Machine sends out a priority one distress call asking for assistance.

After War Machine, Quake, U.S. Agent, and Mockingbird are captured by the Deathloks, they are thrown, stripped of their equipment, into a cage with some Lingares soldiers (including those they had fought earlier). Quake starts conversing with the soldiers, explaining their dead captors are Deathloks, then after hearing their story she explains it to War Machine, U.S. Agent, and Mockingbird: When something large appeared and started killing people, someone called the "Scientist" showed up claiming to help them where he made the Deathloks from the fallen countrymen to help deal with the giant. Unfortunately, when their numbers proved insufficient, the Deathloks rebelled, having since started taking prisoners so as to make more of them. Some Deathloks come in to take some more men causing Force Works to fight back, but more Deathloks arrive and use their electrical guns to stun them. As the Deathloks start to take War Machine, Quake recovers from the paralysis first and shakes the ground as hard as she can without her gauntlets. As a Deathlok attacks her and forcing her to stop, something is heard causing the Deathloks to run out of the cage. Quake frees herself and her fellow prisoners, referred to by the Deathloks as "parts". It is then that they discover the giant attacking Lingares is Ultimo. As Quake, U.S. Agent, and Mockingbird get the prisoners to safety, War Machine fights off his paralysis and tries his best to fight the Deathloks trying to experiment on him. Meanwhile, Force Works becomes caught in a three-way fight against Ultimo and the Deathloks. War Machine is then saved by someone the Deathloks call their maker and whom he recognizes, and says is in need of his services. Moments later, War Machine rejoins the rest of Force Works with his armor, U.S. Agent's shield, and the equipment of Quake and Mockingbird and fights off the Deathloks. As Ultimo leaves to pursue the Deathloks, the rest of Force Works learns that War Machine's rescuer is MODOK Superior, who intends to add his brainpower to Force Works as its newest member.

Having no other choice but for them to work together, MODOK Superior explains to Force Works his prior studies of Ultimo allowed him to make a device that will use radioactive signatures to weaken the robot. Though Lingares doesn't have enough radioactive signatures for them to harness, they will make use of the War Machine's arc reactor as MODOK Superior tells Quake to call Ultimo. She sends out tremors on Lingares, and Ultimo arrives and so does the Deathloks. MODOK Superior explains the Deathloks would only target Ultimo, and tells War Machine to aim the attack towards Ultimo's head. One of the Deathloks speaks in Spanish stating for them to join Ultimo and his creator and even reveals that MODOK Superior had made them for the purpose of capturing Ultimo. Once War Machine gets a clear shot on the head, MODOK Superior reveals his true motives: to connect to Ultimo's headless body to become Ulti-MODOK. Retreating into a bunker, Mockingbird states the Poseidon Protocols will have Quake sink the island if Ultimo can't be stopped, but Quake refuses to do this to the innocent lives on Lingares. As War Machine tells Force Works he has a plan that doesn't involve killing anybody, Ulti-MODOK assaults the bunker, explaining he found Ultimo asleep beneath Lingares until he awoke him and created the Deathloks when he couldn't stop him on his own. War Machine's plan involves using a generator in the bunker to jump start his armor's arc reactor. Once his arc reactor has been re-energized, James Rhodes has Quake distract Ulti-MODOK in the War Machine armor to buy the rest of Force Works time to figure out how to stop the Deathloks. Rhodes finds the central processor in the command unit as U.S. Agent takes down the bearded Deathlok that has it. The Deathloks are soon controlled by Rhodes after he partially turns himself into a Deathlok to use the command unit. Ulti-MODOK falls into the lava of the chasm that Quake opens as Rhodes has the Deathloks attack and follow him in. Rhodes almost goes in as well due to being under the influence of the Deathlok programing, but is rescued by Mockingbird and U.S. Agent while Quake closes the chasm. A day later at a secure medical facility, Maria Hill reprimands War Machine, U.S. Agent, Mockingbird, and Quake for everything they did that turned the mission into a huge fiasco. After finishing the lecture by revealing she has sent out a scrub team with flamethrowers and EMP guns to destroy the evidence of what happened on Lingares, she fires them from Force Works and takes the flash drive with MODOK's Deathlok plans from U.S. Agent. The rest of the group is against Maria obtaining the Deathlok plans, until Mockingbird deduces U.S. Agent is against it as well, having given Maria an empty drive.

Members

 * Iron Man
 * Century
 * Cybermancer
 * Moonraker
 * Scarlet Witch
 * Spider-Woman
 * U.S. Agent
 * War Machine
 * Wonder Man
 * Solo
 * Gauntlet
 * Mockingbird
 * Quake
 * Maria Hill

In other media
Force Works appears in the first season of Iron Man (1994), consisting of Iron Man, War Machine, Spider-Woman, the Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Century. Additionally, U.S. Agent appears in the eight-issue comic adaptation of the series. Shortly after the characters were written out, Force Works was canceled at issue #22 (April 1996).

title: Force Works


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Earthship

An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as passive solar earth shelters made of both natural and upcycled materials such as earth-packed tires. Earthships may feature a variety of amenities and aesthetics, and are designed to withstand the extreme temperatures of a desert, managing to stay close to 70 °F (21 °C) regardless of outside weather conditions. Earthship communities were originally built in the desert of northern New Mexico, near the Rio Grande, and the style has spread to small pockets of communities around the globe, in some cases in spite of legal opposition to its construction and adoption.

Reynolds developed the Earthship design after moving to New Mexico and completing his degree in architecture, intending them to be "off-the-grid-ready" homes, with minimal reliance on public utilities and fossil fuels. They are constructed to use available natural resources, especially energy from the sun and rain water. They are designed with thermal mass construction and natural cross-ventilation to regulate indoor temperature, and the designs are intentionally uncomplicated and mainly single-story, so that people with little building knowledge can construct them. They can be perceived as a realization of the utopia of autonomous housing and sustainable living.

History

Earthship architecture began development in the 1970s, when the architect Michael Reynolds set out to create a home that would fulfill three criteria. First, it would utilize sustainable architecture, and materials indigenous to the local area or recycled materials wherever possible. Second, it would rely on natural energy sources and be independent from the electrical grid. Third, it would be feasible for a person with no specialized construction skills to build. Eventually, Reynolds's vision was transformed into the common U-shaped earth-filled tire homes seen today.

The name is based on the idea of a ship or a space ship, in order to allude to the home's ability to provide everything for their inhabitants to survive: shelter, power, waste management, water, and food.

Construction and design

Earthships are constructed based on six design principles that help contribute to the goal of environmentally sustainable building design:

 * 1) Building with natural and repurposed materials: Earthships utilize materials such as used tires, cans, bottles, wood, and mud.
 * 2) Thermal or solar heating and cooling: Earthships heat and cool themselves using thermal mass and solar gain. They do not use electricity or the burning of fuel to maintain temperature.
 * 3) Electricity from solar and wind: Electricity is collected using photovoltaic panels and occasionally windmills. Additionally, the electrical requirements of the buildings are minimized through the use of energy efficient lighting and appliances.
 * 4) Water harvesting: Water is collected from rain and snowmelt in the roof and is then stored in a cistern for future use.
 * 5) Sewage treatment: Self-contained sewage treatment and water recycling.
 * 6) Food production: In-home organic food production capability.

The buildings are often horseshoe-shaped due to the difficulty of creating sharp 90 degree angles with rammed tires. In Reynolds's prototype at Taos, the opening of the horseshoe faces 10–15 degrees east of south to maximize natural light and solar-gain during the winter months, with windows on sun-facing walls admitting light and heat.

The book, Earthship I, describes how to find the best angle depending on the building's geographic location. The thick and dense walls provide thermal mass that naturally regulates the interior temperature during both cold and hot outside temperatures. The outer walls in the majority of Earthships are made of earth-rammed tires, but any dense material with a potential to store heat, such as concrete, adobe, earth bags, or stone, could in principle be used to create a building similar to an Earthship. The tire walls are staggered like traditional brick work, and often have "concrete half blocks" every other course, to equal the length of the staggered tire below. In an effort to cut down the use of concrete even further, they also use "squishies" - tires rammed in between a tight space to even out the course or to compensate for varying tire size.

The rammed earth tires of an Earthship are assembled by teams of two people. One person shovels dirt and places it into the tire one scoop at a time. The other person, who stands on the tire, uses a sledgehammer to pack the dirt in while moving in a circle around the tire to keep the dirt even and to avoid warping the tire. Rammed earth tires can weigh up to 300 lb, so they are typically filled in place. Because the tire is full of soil, it does not burn when exposed to fire. In colder climates, extra insulation is added on the outside of the tire walls.

On top of the tire walls are either "can and concrete bond beams" made of reused cans joined by concrete, or wooden bond beams with wooden shoes. These are attached to the tire walls using concrete anchors, poured blocks of concrete inside the top tires. Wooden shimming blocks placed on top of the wooden bond beam make up the wooden shoes. The wooden bond beam consists of two layers of lumber bolted on to the concrete anchors. Re-bar is used to "nail" the wooden shoes to the wooden bond beam.

Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a honeycomb of reused cans joined by concrete; these are nicknamed tin can walls. These walls are usually thickly plastered with adobe, and resemble traditional adobe walls when finished.

The roof is made using trusses, or wooden support beams called vigas, that rest on the wooden shoes or the tin can walls placed on the bond beams. The roof as well as the north, east and west facing walls are heavily insulated to reduce heat loss.

The average cost in 2019 including labour and land is about $500,000.

Water

Earthships are designed to catch all the water they need from the local environment. Water used in an Earthship is harvested from rain, snow, and condensation. Each inch of rain collected pers square foot of water yields 2/3 gallons of water. As water collects on the roof, it is channeled through a silt-catching device and into a cistern. The cisterns are positioned to gravity-feed a water organization module (WOM) that filters out bacteria and contaminants, making it suitable for drinking. The WOM consists of filters and a DC-pump. Water is then pushed into a conventional pressure tank to create common household water pressure.

Water collected in this fashion is used for every household activity except flushing toilets. The toilets are flushed with greywater which has been used at least once already. Typically it is filtered waste-water from sinks and showers.

Greywater, recycled water unsuitable for drinking, is used within the Earthship primarily for flushing toilets. Before the greywater can be reused, it is channeled through a grease and particle filter/digester and into a 30–60 in deep rubber-lined botanical cell, a miniature living machine, within the Earthship. Here the water is oxygenated and filtered using bacteria and plants to reduce the nutrient load. Water from the low end of the botanical cell is directed through a peat moss filter and collected in a reservoir or well. The reclaimed water is passed once more through a greywater board and used to flush conventional toilets.

Black water is water that has been used in a toilet. Earthships utilize anaerobic digestion in their septic tanks, which naturally separate solid waste. The black water is used in concrete cells containing plants, separate from the grey water plants in the greenhouse; it may also be used in exterior planters. Studies on the safety of growing food plants in a black water system show low levels of E. coli bacteria. It is not recommended to plant edibles in black water; building permits may be refused for plans indicating such usage of black water.

Where it is not possible to use flush-toilets operating on water, dry solar toilets are recommended.

Power
Earthships are designed to collect and store their own energy. The majority of electrical energy is harvested from the sun and wind. Photovoltaic panels and wind turbines on or near the Earthship generate DC electricity that is stored in deep-cycle batteries. The batteries are housed in a purpose-built room on the roof. Additional energy can be obtained from gasoline-powered generators or by integrating with the city grid. For Canadian winters the solar cell exposed surface areas needs to be increased by over three times.

In an Earthship, a Power Organizing Module (POM) takes a proportion of stored energy from batteries and invert it for AC use. The Power Organizing Module is a prefabricated system provided by Earthship Biotecture that is simply attached to a wall on the interior of the Earthship and wired in a conventional manner. It includes the necessary equipment such as circuit breakers and converters. The energy run through the Power Organizing Module can be used to run any household appliance including washing machines, computers, kitchen appliances, print machines, and vacuums. Ideally, none of the electrical energy in an Earthship is used for heating or cooling.

Thermal performance
Earthships rely on a balance between the solar heat gain and the ability of the tire walls and subsoil to transport and store heat. They are designed to use the properties of thermal mass and with the intent that the exterior earth-rammed tire walls provide thermal mass that will soak up heat during the day and radiate heat during the night, keeping the interior climate relatively comfortable all day. In addition to the exterior tire walls, some Earthships are sunk into the earth to take advantage of earth-sheltering to reduce temperature fluctuations.

Some earthship structures have suffered from heat loss into the ground during the heating season. This may be due to climatic differences between New Mexico where earthships were first built and cloudier, cooler, and wetter climates. Thermal performance problems may also have occurred due to thermal mass being erroneously equated to R-value. The imperial R-value of soil is about 1 per foot. Malcolm Wells, an architect and authority on earth-sheltered design, recommends an imperial R-value 10 insulation between deep soils and heated spaces. Wells's insulation recommendations increase as the depth of the soil decreases (a negative correlation).

In addition to thermal mass, Earthships use passive solar heating and cooling. Large front windows with integrated shades, trombe walls and other technologies such as skylights or Steve Baer's "Track Rack" solar trackers are used for heat regulation. Earthships are positioned so that its principal wall, which is nonstructural and made mostly of glass sheets, faces directly toward the equator. This positioning allows for optimum solar exposure. To allow the sun to heat the mass of the Earthship, the solar-oriented wall is angled so that it is perpendicular to light from the winter sun. This allows for maximum exposure in the winter, when heat is wanted, and lesser exposure in the summer, when heat is to be avoided. Some Earthships, especially those built in colder climates, use insulated shading on the solar-orientated wall to reduce heat loss during the night.

Current Earthship designs like the global module have a "double greenhouse" where the outside glass is angled toward the equator, and an internal glass wall forms a walk way or hallway as you step into the Earthship. This greenhouse is primarily used to grow food; it also creates a barrier for the 'comfort zone' inside the house.

Ventilation

Earthships structures have a natural ventilation system based on convection. A 30 ft pipe extends from the interior of the house under the berm, cooling the air by the time it gets to the comfort zone. As the hot air rises, the system creates a steady airflow - of cooler air coming in, and warmer air blowing out though a smaller vented window in the greenhouse.

Africa
The first earthship in South Africa was built by Angel and Yvonne Kamp between 1996 and 1998. They rammed a total of 1,500 tires for the walls. The Earthship, near Hermanus, is located in a 60 ha private nature reserve which is part of a 500 ha area enclosed in a game fence and borders the Walker Bay Nature Reserve.

The second earthship in South Africa is a recycling centre in Khayelitsha run as a swop shop concept. The centre was finished in December 2010. Another low cost house built with tires is in development in Bloemfontein.

The earthship inspired experiment in South Africa is a combined living quarters and the Sonskip / Aardskip open air museum in Orania. This earthship is based on the global earthship model and is built with a foundation of tires, has roof bearing walls built with earthbags, and interior walls built with cob, cans and plastic bottles. This earthship adheres to all six principles of an earthship. This is the largest earthbag earthship in the world.

A residential house was in the planning phase for Eswatini in 2013.

In 2011, construction began on the Goderich Waldorf School of Sierra Leone. The school was the first educational institution to use earthship architecture. Although Mike Reynolds and a team of interns helped complete the first two classrooms, the majority of the building was built by community members who had been trained in Reynolds' building techniques.

A new project was scheduled to commence in Malawi in October 2013.During that first visit, the team was able to complete two of the intended 8 rooms. Biotechure Planet Earth came back to collaborate on the Malawi project in 2015 in order to complete the community center for the rural village. The crew was made up of a group of volunteers as well as locals all made up to create an 8-room building made out of tires, cans and bottles. Finally, in a webpost uploaded in February 2020, it was confirmed that the community structure in Kapita, Malawi was able to be finished.

Australia
Earthship Ironbank was built by Martin and Zoe Freney south-east of Adelaide in South Australia and is the first earthship constructed with council permission in Australia.

Europe

In 2000, Michael Reynolds and his team came to build the first residential earthship in Boingt (Belgium). While water, power module, solar panels and the team were on their way to Europe, the mayor of Boingt put his veto on the building permit. Josephine Overeem, the woman who wanted to build the earthship, and Michael Reynolds decided to do a demonstration model in her back yard at her residence in Strombeek (Belgium). CLEVEL invited Reynolds from Belgium to Brighton in the UK, and orchestrated plans for the earthship in Brighton, started in 2003. This was the beginning of a series of trips made by Reynolds and the construction of earthships in the UK, France and the Netherlands.

In 2004, the very first Earthship in the UK was opened at Kinghorn Loch in Fife, Scotland. It was built by volunteers of the SCI charity. In 2005, the first earthship in England was established in Stanmer Park, Brighton with the Low Carbon Trust. In 2007, CLEVEL and Earthship Biotecture obtained planning permission to build on a development site overlooking the Brighton Marina in the UK. The application followed a six-month feasibility study, orchestrated by Daren Howarth, Kevan Trott and Michael Reynolds and funded by the UK Environment Agency and the Energy Savings Trust. The successful application was for sixteen one, two, and three-bedroom earthship homes on this site, expected to have a sale price of 250 - 400,000 pounds. The homes are all designed according to basic earthship principles developed in the United States and adapted to the UK. 15,000 tires will be reused to construct these homes (the UK burns approximately 40 million tires each year). The plans include the enhancement of habitats on the site for lizards that already live there, which is the reasoning behind entitling the project "The Lizard". This would have been the first development of its kind in Europe.

The first official Earthship home in mainland Europe with official planning permission approval was built in a small French village called Ger. The home, which was owned by Kevan and Gillian Trott, was built in April 2007 by Kevan, Mike Reynolds and an Earthship Crew from Taos, it was sold to a family in 2014. The design was modified for a European climate and is seen as the first of many for the European arena. It is currently used as a holiday home for eco-tourists.

Further adaptation to the European context was undertaken by Daren Howarth and Adrianne Nortje in Brittany, France. They obtained full planning permission in 2007 and finished the Brittany Groundhouse as their own home during 2009. The build experience and learning is documented in the UK Grand Designs series and in their book.

Earthships have been built or are being built in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Estonia and Czech Republic.

The first official earthship district (23 earthships) in Europe was developed in Olst (the Netherlands). Building started in Spring 2012 and completed in December, 2014. In Belgium, 1 earthship hybrid is also being built, intended as demonstration buildings. Since it is illegal to use tires in Belgium (for risk of leaking toxic metals like lead and zinc), the project uses earthbags instead.

The Earthships built in Europe by Michael Reynolds have to be adapted to perform as intended. Some showed problems with moisture and mould. Some research into thermal performance was done by the University of Brighton on the Brighton Earthship. The first successful construction of an Earthship in Germany (Tempelhof/Kreßberg, 2015/16) used fewer thermal bridges but increased insulation in cooperation with a Fraunhofer Institute to prevent any mould problems.

Central America
An earthship was constructed in 2015 by the Atkinson family in southern Belize. It featured on the June 2015 UK Channel 4 TV programme Escape to the Wild, season 1, episode 3.

Guatemala also hosts two earthships.

South America
The first Earthship in South America was built in January 2014 in the town of Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Today this building functions as a visitor center and example of self-sustainable living.

In March 2016, an Earthship school was built in Jaureguiberry, Uruguay. In May 2018, another Earthship school was built in Mar Chiquita, Argentina.

New Zealand
An earthship has been built by Dawn and Lance Kirtlan near Ashburton, Canterbury. They were inspired by Mike Reynold's books and worked with a local architect and engineer, reporting that the local council were very supportive of the project.

In popular culture
The film Garbage Warrior is about Earthships and Reynolds' struggle with obtaining permits to build out of unconventional material and off the grid.

The television series Building Off the Grid which aired on the DIY Network featured a home construction episode on building an Earthship.

title: Earthship


text:
Reichelsheim

Reichelsheim is the name of two communes in Hesse, Germany

 * Reichelsheim (Wetterau)
 * Reichelsheim (Odenwald)

title: Reichelsheim


text:
Reichelsheim (Odenwald)

Reichelsheim (Odenwald) is a municipality in the Odenwaldkreis (district) in Hesse, Germany.

Location
Reichelsheim lies in the middle Odenwald at elevations between 200 and 538 m in the middle of the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald.

Neighbouring communities
Reichelsheim borders in the north on the communities of Fränkisch-Crumbach, Brensbach and Brombachtal, in the east on the town of Michelstadt and the community of Mossautal (all in the Odenwaldkreis), in the south on the community of Fürth and in the west on the town of Lindenfels (both in Bergstraße district).

Constituent communities
Reichelsheim’s Ortsteile, besides the main one, also called Reichelsheim, are Beerfurth, Bockenrod, Eberbach, Erzbach, Frohnhofen, Gersprenz, Gumpen, Klein-Gumpen, Laudenau, Ober-Kainsbach, Ober-Ostern, Rohrbach and Unter-Ostern.

History
In 1303, Reichelsheim had its first documentary mention.

Politics
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Mayors
In the mayoral election in 2008, Stefan Lopinsky (RWG) was elected with 61.2% of the vote.

From 1990 to 2008, the community’s mayor was Gerd Lode (SPD).

Coat of arms
The community’s arms might heraldically be described thus: Gules on a mount Or three oaks Or, in between also two oak saplings Or, above them three mullets of six argent, the sinister and dexter slightly lower.

Fairytale and Saga Days
Since 1995, yearly on the last weekend in October, the Reichelsheimer Märchen- und Sagentage are held, during which the Wildweibchenpreis (or “Wild Woman Prize”, this “wild woman” being a character in German legend) is awarded. Many mediaeval sets and costumes are on show to admire.

Regional museum
This is housed in the former town hall, Germany’s oldest timber-frame town hall with the stud bracing called a Mannform in German. Exhibition highlights are mining, typical handicrafts such as gingerbread baking, Gäulchesmacher (woodcarvers who carve horses), shakemakers and shoemakers along with village school life of yore and the old Reinheim-Reichelsheim railway.

Schloss Reichenberg
Today’s Schloss Reichenberg (palace) came into being as Richenburg Castle in the 13th century, and had its first documentary mention in 1307. Worth noting is the Herrenhaus (“Lord’s house”), or Palas. The Palas was called the Crooked Building (Krummer Bau) for its crooked footprint.

Here on 14 February 1776, Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck, who later became a prominent botanist, zoologist and mycologist, was born. He was a friend of Goethe’s, a cofounder of the University of Bonn and the Bonn Botanical Garden, President of the Leopoldina for 40 years and Director of the Botanical Garden in Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland), where he died on 16 March 1858.

Until the mid 19th century, the castle was undergoing continual changes in noble ownership. From 1876 to 1924, the castle, now styled Schloss Reichenberg, was used as a private upperclass boys’ school. Thereafter, the Siefert family from the Frohnhof took over the palace. They sold some of the buildings in 1963 as a holiday home to Deutsche Bundespost.

In July 1979, Schloss Reichenberg was bought by the ecumenical community Offensive Junger Christen (OJC, literally “Young Christians’ Offensive”, but known in English as the Reichenberg Fellowship). They converted it into a publicly accessible international meeting and conference centre with a palace café. The upper, older part of the palace, the so-called Crooked Building, is currently being renovated.

Transport
By way of Bundesstraßen 47 (Nibelungenstraße between Michelstadt and Worms) and 38 (between Roßdorf bei Darmstadt and Weinheim/Mannheim), which together run through the community, Reichelsheim is linked to the long-distance road network. Bus connections to Bensheim, Fürth im Odenwald, Reinheim and Michelstadt afford a link to the public railway network (Deutsche Bahn and Odenwaldbahn).

Sons and daughters of the community

 * Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (1776-1858), botanist and natural philosopher
 * Carl Geist (1870-1931), German landscape painter
 * Seligmann Meyer (1853-1925), Rabbi and community leader in Regensburg, Bavaria
 * Claude Howard Haring (1903-1967) American Major League Baseball broadcaster in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh

title: Reichelsheim (Odenwald)


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Sleeper (band)

Sleeper are an English rock band formed in London in 1992. The group had eight UK top 40 hit singles and three UK top 10 albums during the 1990s. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of the pop cultural hit movie Trainspotting. The band split up in 1998, but reunited in 2017.

First three albums (1992–1998)
Jon Stewart met Louise Wener at Manchester University in 1987 in a political philosophy class. They played in a number of bands at university, including jazz outfit the Lime Street Blues Band, then after graduating in 1988, moved to London to seek gigs. Wener later wrote that "we sounded not unlike the Sundays, but as time went on our music became increasingly influenced by US bands such as Hole, Nirvana and, most especially, the Pixies". They advertised for new band members in Melody Maker ("Bass player and drummer wanted. Influences The Pixies and The Partridge Family") and recruited Diid Osman and Andy Maclure. Wener solicited interest from record label representatives by sending out a fake NME review, a move she called "pure cheek and cut-and-paste fakery."

At one point, the band called themselves Surrender Dorothy, after the smoke trail in the sky from the Wizard of Oz movie, but abandoned this idea after discovering that several other bands had done the same thing. They subsequently chose the name "Sleeper" after the Woody Allen film Sleeper, and also because the word has a number of different meanings (a spy, an unexpected hit, etc.). In 1993 Sleeper signed to Indolent Records, a subsidiary of RCA Records, and released three EPs and singles before their breakthrough single release, "Inbetweener", which notably featured UK TV personality Dale Winton in the promo video. Prior to the release of "Inbetweener" Sleeper had been the opening act for Blur on that band's tour to promote the Parklife album, and became closely associated with Britpop as a result.

The band's debut album release Smart was certified gold by the BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was followed by the platinum-selling (over 300,000 copies) release The It Girl which yielded four top 20 hit singles "What Do I Do Now?", "Nice Guy Eddie", "Sale of the Century" and "Statuesque". Sleeper recorded a cover of the Blondie song "Atomic", which was used in the film Trainspotting, after Blondie refused to allow the use of the original version. "Statuesque" also features in the movie and its follow-up soundtrack volume. The band’s third album, Pleased to Meet You, released October 1997, was a UK Top 10 hit and certified silver, though had fewer sales than the previous albums; the band split in March 1998 after a tour in which venues had been cancelled or downsized due to lower than expected ticket sales.

Post-split (1999–2016)
After Sleeper split, Wener and Maclure recorded material for a new project, aimed at a more mainstream market and featuring a guest appearance by George Michael. However, the project was not completed at the time, and Wener went on to have a career as a novelist. Her fourth book for Hodder & Stoughton was published in 2008. Wener also features prominently as an interviewee in John Dower's feature film documentary on Britpop, Live Forever (2003).

Stewart moved to Los Angeles, California, where he played with West Coast band UFO Bro and contributed as a session guitarist to k.d. lang's album Invincible Summer (2000) and Melanie C's album Reason. After returning to the UK he became Course Leader of the BA (Hons) Music Business and a lecturer in popular culture and music history at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in Brighton, where his former students include The Kooks, James Bay, Black Honey, The Xcerts, Kate Walsh and Luke Sital-Singh, as well as members of As It Is and Miss Vincent, amongst others. Stewart also wrote a monthly column for Guitarist magazine from 2002 to 2010, and gained a PhD in Music from the University of Southampton in 2018. In 2019 he joined The Wedding Present as guitarist during their thirtieth anniversary Bizarro UK and EU tour.

Osman subsequently went on to become a session player with Parlophone records band Dubstar and later became an artist manager, with bands including Infectious Music outfit My Vitriol, Hell Is For Heroes on EMI and Atlantic Records band The Glitterati, and helped writer-producer Justin Parker sign to Sony Music publishing. Maclure later ran a "Punk Rock Karaoke" enterprise with DJ Steve Lamacq.

A greatest hits compilation, with a tracklisting selected by and artwork designed by the band themselves, was released on Sony/BMG in 2007. Their first two albums were reissued as deluxe versions on 29 November 2010, with second discs of B-sides and live tracks.

By 2014, Wener and MacLure had formed another band, Huge Advance, although they only played in and around their residential suburb of Crouch End.

Reunion (2017–present)
Sleeper reformed in 2017 to play in four British cities in July and August, as part of the Star Shaped Festival, alongside other Britpop acts including Space, Dodgy and The Bluetones. These dates saw Wener, Maclure and Stewart joined on bass by new member Kieron Pepper, previously known as live drummer for The Prodigy from 1997 to 2007, and were followed by an eleven-date headline tour of the UK in spring 2018.

In the summer of 2018, Sleeper announced that they were recording a new album in collaboration with their old producer Stephen Street for release in early 2019 and that this would be accompanied by another headline UK tour. Lead single "Look at You Now" premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music on 4 December 2018, while presenter Steve Lamacq announced the title of the new album was The Modern Age.

During 2020 Wener and Maclure compiled unreleased material from previous recording sessions, including the George Michael collaboration, with new material as the basis for a new Sleeper album This Time Tomorrow, released on 14 December 2020.

In 2021, Sleeper were credited on "Bad Things", an R&B-laced indie-pop track by Greater Manchester based band The Lottery Winners. The track features vocals from Louise Wener and can be found on an eight-track EP by The Lottery Winners called Start Again.

The band toured the UK in Spring 2022 performing their 1996 album The It Girl. The Lottery Winners were the support act. In 2023 the band undertook a UK acoustic tour as 'Sleeper unplugged'.

Image
Frontwoman Louise Wener, along with Elastica's Justine Frischmann, was one of Britpop's biggest female stars, and became one of its enduring sex symbols, placing highly in Melody Maker and NME "Sexiest Woman" polls two years running. Wener enjoyed significant media coverage, including an NME front cover and a slot as guest presenter of Top of the Pops. The band had multiple appearances on The Word (TV series) and also on TFI Friday. Billboard described how Wener's "forthright opinions on female sexuality, censorship, and other issues, have been manna for feature editors."

The band was the inspiration for the phrase "Sleeperbloke", referring to the disparity between the glamorous singer Wener and the other frequently ignored members of the band (who tended to be far more anonymous and stood at the back). This pejorative term was used by music press journalists and musicians, to refer to any person of limited standing within a band or an especially drab and unremarkable individual. The "Sleeperblokes" themselves were reported to be highly amused by the phrase, and even produced an ironic "Sleeperbloke" T-shirt to go with Wener's "Another Female Fronted Band" T-shirt, both of which sold well.

Members
Current
 * Louise Wener – vocals, rhythm guitar (1993–1998, 2017–present)
 * Jon Stewart – lead guitar (1993–1998, 2017–present)
 * Andy Maclure – drums (1993–1998, 2017–present)
 * Kieron Pepper – bass guitar (2017–present)

Past
 * Diid Osman – bass guitar (1993–1997)
 * Chris Giammalvo – bass guitar (1997)
 * Dan Kaufmann – bass guitar (1997–1998)

title: Sleeper (band)


text:
Category:Transhumanism

Transhumanism is an international and intellectual movement that aims to transform the human condition by developing and making widely available sophisticated technologies to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities. Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics of using such technologies. The most common transhumanist thesis is that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into different beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the natural condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.

title: Category:Transhumanism


text:
War Machine

War Machine is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared in Iron Man #118 (1979) and became a superhero with the Iron Man armor in issue #169 (1983). War Machine has since been established as an independent superhero and appeared in multiple standalone series in addition to his appearances in Iron Man comics.

War Machine is the title adopted by James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes after he acquired the War Machine armor. He is a military veteran and pilot who began working for Tony Stark, eventually discovering that he was Iron Man and then taking Stark's place when he was incapacitated. Stark subsequently gave Rhodes the War Machine armor. The character is among the earliest African American superheroes in mainstream comics. His race, his military experience, and his sense of morality are often used to contrast him with Tony Stark and to analyze the themes of Iron Man stories through a different perspective. War Machine is the primary romantic interest of Carol Danvers, while many of his other supporting characters and villains overlap with those of Iron Man.

War Machine has been the main character of two War Machine volumes (1994–1996 and 2009–2010), as well as other stories including The Crew (2003), Iron Man 2.0 (2011), and Iron Patriot (2014). An adaptation of War Machine appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Terrence Howard in Iron Man (2008) and by Don Cheadle in subsequent appearances.

20th century
James Rhodes was created by writer David Michelinie with artists John Byrne and Bob Layton. Rhodes first appeared in a single panel of Iron Man #118 (1979), introduced as a friend of Tony Stark, and he saw a recurring role as Stark's personal helicopter pilot. Many comic books and other works in popular culture had begun introducing duos of one white character and one black character. Such a development had not occurred in Iron Man until Rhodes's introduction. One African American character, Eddie March, was introduced as Iron Man's successor in Iron Man #21 (1970), but this character was severely injured and written out of the series before being elevated as Iron Man's partner. Shortly after his first appearance, Rhodes assisted Iron Man in defeating Justin Hammer throughout issues published in 1979. He was established as a more prominent supporting character in Iron Man #144 (1981), which described his connection to Tony Stark and how they met during the Vietnam War. This depiction of Rhodes made him a central character in Iron Man's history and origin, elevating his importance beyond what had been written for Marvel's black characters to that point.

When Denny O'Neil was the writer for Iron Man comics, he chose to write Stark out of the role entirely in favor of Rhodes. Rhodes was first portrayed using Iron Man armor in Iron Man #169 (1983), when he had to fight a villain in the stead of a drunk and defeated Tony Stark. A black superhero replacing a white one was almost unprecedented at the time, with DC Comics having only recently attempted a similar change with its character John Stewart, who was created by O'Neil. From this change, O'Neil created a story arc in which Stark relapsed into alcoholism and Rhodes reluctantly took up the armor and the title of Iron Man. The change saw mixed reactions from readers, as Rhodes's tenure as Iron Man emphasized his lack of experience or expertise regarding the Iron Man armor. For the duration of the story arc, the Iron Man series focused primarily on Rhodes, with Stark's recovery being relegated to a subplot. It also included the Secret Wars crossover event, which featured Rhodes as Iron Man rather than Stark. Stark resumed the role of Iron Man in Iron Man #200 (1985).

During Iron Man's 1988 Armor Wars story arc, Rhodes accompanies Iron Man in his mission to fight those who had acquired the Iron Man armor technology. Rhodes again served as a replacement for Stark beginning in Iron Man #284 (1992), while Stark was in suspended animation. He began using the War Machine armor at this time, continuing as Iron Man until Stark returned the following year in issue #289. Keeping the War Machine armor, Rhodes was established as a new superhero, War Machine. He subsequently appeared in Avengers West Coast beginning in issue #94 (1993), but the series ended shortly afterward. Iron Man writer Len Kaminski did not intend to give Rhodes the War Machine armor permanently, but editor Nel Yomtov insisted after it was well received.

War Machine was one of several characters to serve as grittier and more violent anti-hero versions of established characters during the 1990s. The character received his own series with the release of War Machine #1 (1994), written by Kaminski and Scott Benson and penciled by Gabriel Gecko. This series featured Deathlok and Cable as supporting characters, and it ran for twenty-five issues across two years. War Machine was introduced with a story relating to Africa and the continent's politics, reflecting Western interest in the subject following widespread reporting of the Somali, Rwandan, and Liberian civil wars. By issue #15 (1995), the focus shifted to speculative fiction involving aliens and time travel. Rhodes was given an alien symbiote armor during this series to differentiate him from Iron Man, but the change was short-lived. The series ended during a larger reorganization of Marvel amid financial problems. In the years following the end of War Machine, Rhodes became a minor character with only limited appearances.

21st century
The short-lived 2003 series The Crew by Christopher Priest and Joe Bennett featured War Machine as a main character. This role saw him entirely separate from Iron Man for the first time, as he pawns off parts from his armor. He subsequently appeared in the Sentinel Squad ONE miniseries. As anti-terrorism became a prominent theme in fiction after the September 11 attacks, War Machine slowly became a more significant supporting character. Stark's central role in the Marvel Universe elevated War Machine, as did Rhodes's own military backstory. During the 2008 Secret Invasion event, writer Christos Gage wrote issues #33–35 of Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in which War Machine replaced Iron Man as the main character.

A second War Machine series ran for one year from 2009 to 2010, following a similar plot to the African story arc of his first series but instead taking place in the Middle East, reflecting American interest in the region during the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. War Machine became more well known after the character was adapted to film, beginning in 2008. He had a significant presence in the comic series The Invincible Iron Man, which began the same year and ran until 2012. In this series, writer Matt Fraction had Rhodes join the military as War Machine. Rhodes's next solo series was Iron Man 2.0 (2011). Following this, Rhodes was reintroduced as the Iron Patriot, reflecting changes made to the film adaptation of the character. The political thriller series Iron Patriot ran in 2014, written by Ales Kot and drawn by Garry Brown. As part of Marvel's 2016 Civil War II event, Rhodes's character was killed off to emphasize the story's stakes. The choice was controversial, both for the lack of narrative payoff and for the choice of killing one of Marvel's main non-white characters. The character was resurrected in Invincible Iron Man #600 (2018).

Fictional character biography
James Rhodes grew up in South Philadelphia until he enlisted in the military. While serving in the Vietnam War, Rhodes encounters Iron Man, who had just built his first armor and escaped from his captors, and the two work together to reach safety at the U.S. embassy. As time went on and the Vietnam War no longer corresponded with Rhodes's age, the conflict was retroactively changed to a war in the fictional nation of Siancong. He eventually began working for Stark as a pilot, and the two became friends. When Stark's alcoholism prevents him from fighting the supervillain Magma, Rhodes takes the Iron Man armor and continues the fight. Stark's alcoholism grows worse, and Rhodes takes the armor to become Iron Man. As Iron Man, he resigns from the Avengers and destroys the other Iron Man armors to keep them from being taken by Obadiah Stane.

As Stark begins to recover, Rhodes accompanies him in a new business venture, and they begin sharing the role of Iron Man. Since the armor was not designed for Rhodes, he begins experiencing headaches and mood swings, eventually returning the role to Stark in its entirety. When Stark is believed to be dying, he appoints Rhodes as his successor. Rhodes becomes the CEO of Stark Industries, and he becomes the new Iron Man using the War Machine armor. He gives up the role when he discovers that Stark faked his death, but he keeps the War Machine armor on Stark's insistence. Becoming a new superhero, War Machine, Rhodes briefly joins the West Coast Avengers and then becomes a solo superhero after the team is disbanded. When human rights activist Vincent Cetewayo is kidnapped by his corrupt government in the fictional African country of Imaya, War Machine partners with Deathlok to stage an extralegal intervention and topple the government, despite protest from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. In response, Stark disables the War Machine armor until he needs Rhodes's assistance to defeat the Mandarin. Rhodes retires from superhero work, and he briefly runs a salvage business until he finds himself investigating the death of his sister. He then works as a combat instructor for the Sentinel Squad.

When Rhodes is injured in a terrorist attack, he is augmented with cybernetic body parts, permanently turning him into War Machine. He travels to the fictional Middle Eastern country Aqiria where he encounters a military contractor that tortures and experiments on prisoners. Rhodes takes action without authorization, and he is put on trial for committing war crimes. His cybernetic body is destroyed in the subsequent jailbreak, but a cloned version of his healthy body had been made and his mind is transferred into it. Rhodes later takes on a new title, Iron Patriot, wearing armor in the national colors of the United States. In this new role, he goes to New Orleans, where he assesses the environmental risk posed against the city. He also rejects any further alignment with the military, unless it is purely in the capacity of domestic action or rescue operations. Rhodes is killed in a fight against Thanos, triggering a schism within the superhero community. He is later resurrected by Stark, who had discovered that their bodies could be restored due to the various augmentations that they had undergone while using the Iron Man armor.

Personality and motivations
Rhodes is moralistic relative to Stark, divesting Stark Industries from nuclear technology as CEO over objections from the board and taking action against foreign nations without regard for legalities. He takes actions that he believes to be right even when others believe it to be ill-advised, and he believes in ideals of "freedom and love". He is willing to give the benefit of the doubt to other characters as opposed to Stark's brasher approach. This aspect of his character was emphasized in the 2014 series Iron Patriot, which contrasted his sense of moral duty with his responsibility to his family. Writer Christos Gage described War Machine as someone prefers to lead soldiers into battle rather than deploy them.

When Rhodes first experienced the power of the Iron Man armor, he developed an addiction to it that mirrored Stark's addiction to alcohol that necessitated his replacement. As a superhero, Rhodes pledged to help anyone without regard for race, nationality, or beliefs. His opposition to discrimination also included discrimination against mutants. He believes that the role of superheroes goes beyond fighting supervillains and that they should also take action against global problems such as world hunger and oppressive governments.

Themes and motifs
War Machine is an African American superhero in a genre that historically presented white characters as the default without meaningfully portraying the lives or worldviews of racial minorities. Rhodes's origin, a black boy who left the ghetto to enlist in the military, reflected conservative sentiments in the late 1970s that African Americans should seek betterment through individual agency and that the military was a place where success was based on merit rather than race. His unsuccessful tenure as Iron Man similarly reflected the conservative belief that racial minorities were harmed by sudden increases in power. Conversely, his tenure as CEO of Stark Industries and his second tenure as Iron Man in 1992 reflected the increased acceptance of African Americans being depicted in popular culture. This depiction put him on a more equal ground to Stark, portraying Rhodes as a capable CEO and hero in his own right. When Rhodes became the main character of Iron Man, he faced many of the same obstacles as Stark, and many of the same themes were explored. Rhodes allowed these issues to be explored from a different perspective, of a character who diverged from the realism associated with Stark's Iron Man and whose views were influenced by his African American identity. In the 1990s, Rhodes was one of several African American characters whose comics incorporated imagery associated with African American culture. Unlike other black Marvel heroes such as Falcon and Cloak, Rhodes's race is not explicitly invoked as a defining aspect of his character or a common source of conflict.

Rhodes's relationship with Stark evokes ideas of control and agency. Stark has control over the armor that Rhodes wears, and this becomes even more apparent when Stark installs the armor through cybernetics as part of Rhodes's body. During Rhodes's earliest outings in the Iron Man armor, he was pretending to be Stark's Iron Man rather than acting independently with his own identity. This was somewhat addressed when Rhodes received his own standalone series, but the nature of the character inherently ties his identity to that of Iron Man. Their relationship also has a racial component, as Stark, the man in control of Rhodes's destiny, is white. Despite this, any possible racial conflict between the two is not addressed explicitly.

War Machine writer Len Kaminski intentionally challenged the violent imagery of a heavily-armed character named War Machine by focusing on themes related to global human rights and liberal internationalism. He described the decision saying that "it could subvert some of the people who might be attracted to it for all the wrong reasons, and maybe [the writers will] get them thinking". Rhodes is contrasted with Stark in his sense of responsibility. His backstory as a soldier became relevant in the 2000s when the United States engaged in the controversial Iraq War, and the character was used to explore ideas relating to such wars.

Powers and abilities
Rhodes becomes a superhero by using the War Machine armor. His first version of this armor, the "Variable Threat Response Battle Suit", was equipped with heavy weapons for more direct combat than the standard Iron Man armor. The armor uses a black and gray color scheme; it was originally going to be changed to blue and gold after its debut appearance, but the black and silver design was popular enough that it was retained. Following the destruction of the War Machine armor during a 1995 issue of War Machine, he adopts an extraterrestrial biological armor, the Eidolon Warwear. Stark builds a new War Machine armor directly into Rhodes's body after he sustains serious injuries. This was eventually replaced when Rhodes inhabited a healthy cloned body. As of 2010, Marvel Comics described his armor as giving him the power to lift 100 tons and to fly at Mach 2. Besides his armor, Rhodes's history in the military includes combat training and experience, as both a soldier and a pilot.

Supporting characters
Rhodes was initially created as a supporting character for Tony Stark. They began as friends, but their relationship became more acrimonious as they adjusted to Rhodes's status as a superhero. After Rhodes was acclimated to using the War Machine armor, their shared experiences created a sense of trust between them, and Rhodes became one of Stark's closest allies. Rhodes has fought many of Stark's enemies, including Mandarin, Radioactive Man, and Thunderball. War Machine has adopted several of Stark's allies as his own supporting characters, including Suzi Endo and Bethany Cabe. He has also formed alliances with new partners, including Parnell Jacobs, Glenda Jacobs, and Jake Oh. Parnell Jacobs, established as a friend-turned-enemy of Rhodes, acquired War Machine armor and used it as a mercenary. He returned as a supporting character in volume two of War Machine when Rhodes called on him as an ally, given his experience with the War Machine armor. The title of War Machine has also been used by the Punisher, who acquired the armor in the limited series Punisher: War Machine.

Carol Danvers, the superhero Captain Marvel and a fellow military veteran, has been the primary romantic interest for Rhodes. The two had a relationship leading up to the Civil War II event and Rhodes's death. They reunited following his resurrection and Danvers's return to Earth, with a brief interruption when Danvers went to the future and realized that Rhodes's daughter was not hers. He has also had relationships with other characters, such as Stark Enterprises public relations director Marcy Pearson and Stark's ex-girlfriend Rae LaCoste. In the 2014 Iron Patriot series, Rhodes's father Terrence and his niece Lila are major supporting characters. The death of his sister Jeanette is a plot point in the 2003 series The Crew.

Reception and legacy
Rhodes has historically taken a secondary role to Iron Man, though War Machine maintained independent popularity among comic book readers at times when Stark's Iron Man was relatively forgotten. War Machine's design fit closely with the aesthetic adopted by comic books in the 1990s. Portrayals of the character have been criticized for the subservient nature of Rhodes's black character to Stark's white character.

In other media
War Machine has been featured as a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This version of Rhodes begins as the military liaison to Stark Industries as well as Tony Stark's best friend, and he serves as the responsible character who acts as a foil to Stark's impulsiveness. He first appeared in the franchise's inaugural film, Iron Man (2008), played by Terrence Howard. Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle, who played the character in Iron Man 2 (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), and Secret Invasion (2023). Adaptations of War Machine have appeared in various animated television series either as a supporting character to Iron Man or in guest appearances on programs about other Marvel superheroes.

title: War Machine


text:
Talk:Upaya

Fitting the audience
I edited this page because the original author, I believe, missed the more important aspect of upaya and focused on the subject of -is lying with good intention considered 'skillful means'?

In my reading, the important concept to grab in skill-in-means is that one use teachings that fit the audience to be taught, not does the intent justify the means. I left most of the end as it appeared origianlly. Caroline Fisher

To Do

 * Within the Mahayana schools, I understand that the canonical explanation for upaya pertains to the metaphor of "different medicines for different diseases".

 * Here's an article that traces the notion of upaya to Nagarjuna:Nagarjuna and the doctrine of "skillful means" by John Schroeder, Philosophy East and West, v50, n4, October 2000, pp559-583

 * "Clever" has some tricky connotations in English. See Thanissaro Bhikku's Kusala Sutta which he translates as "Skillful". (I understand kusala to be the Pali equivalent of kaushalya/kausalya)

 * As a curiousity, there is such a thing as the Pali Upaya Sutta.

 * Even though the word upaya doesn't seem to appear much in the Pali canon. if you search on "skillful" at accesstoinsight.org, you get hundreds of hits, which I take it refer to kusala. Is it really so irrelevant that skillfulness appears so frequently in the Pali canon? You may say that it's often/usually not used the same way that Mahayanists use it—but very notably, the Ahara Sutta outlines five of the various Hindrances (apparently, a subset of the ten fetters), and for each Hindrance the Ahara identifies distinct "mental qualities...skillful and unskillful...to foster appropriate attention to them". There is much more on that general topic in The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest by Nyanaponika Thera, The Wheel, No. 26, Buddhist Publication Society, 1993. Also very notably, the phrase "just as a skillful turner" introduces the many meditation practices of the classic Satipatthana Suta. Awareness of breath, posture, mindfulness, not to mention the contemplation of the repulsiveness of the body, the cemetary contemplations...hey, whatever works, right? Note also the Pali canon's famous simle of the raft, which you leave behind after use. For what it's worth, the disease/medicine metaphor also seems to have a precursor in the Pali simile of the arrow (which, like mental suffering, the Buddha removes rather than responding to the useless questions of the patient, like metaphysical questions). While the Mahayana schools certainly generated a larger number of different practices, it seems very likely to me that the notion we know today as upaya originated in an earlier tradition. If that sounds too much like a theory, then I would say that "The Pali canon contains abundant precursors to the Mahayana notion of upaya, notably in the Ahara Sutta, the Sattipatthana Sutta, in the simile of the raft, and the simile of the arrow" or words to that effect.

user:munge 08:16 modified 23:30 UTC 28 Dec 2004

 * Munge, I would tend to agree with your thesis. It appears that the 'ownership' by the Mahayana of Upaya is more of an artefact of Western scholars than anything else. Certainly there does not appear to be any traditional reference that indicates Upaya to belong solely to the Bodhisattva path. (20040302)

 * Well, the Mahayana do seem to have greatly amplified the teaching of "expedients", may have introduced the notion of a provisional teaching, and may have invented the metaphor of the physician in a crucial way, to "different medicines for different diseases". Plus there's a Upaya-Kusala sutra somewhere in the prajnaparamita literature (might be same as Chapter 20 of 8000-line version, or might be something different). I'm still working on it. That said, in a bookstore today I did see some kind of reference in the Pali Canon, something like "let no two of you take the same way" or some such; it was in a book edited/translated by Conze, in a chapter titled "Skill in Means". Meanwhile, looking it up on the Web, I find this interesting article: Skill-in-means and the Buddhism of Tao-sheng (subtitle) "A study of a Chinese reaction to Mahaayaana of the fifth century", David C. Yu, Philosophy East and West, vol.24.no.4, 1974, pp413-427 user:munge crossout --Munge 04:54, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * Two points: 1) "Let not two of you go the same way" turns out to be irrelevant; that phrase seems to basically be about telling Buddhist evangelists to spread out. But the same text apparently advises those evangelists to be "influencing men according to their schools". 2) One of several sutras in the Nikaya tradition called the Samadhi Sutra advises those with tranquility but not insight to seek counsel from those with insight; those with insight but not tranquility to seek counsel from those with tranquity; those with neither to seek counsel from those with both; and advises those with both to be "tuning" such skills. --Munge 04:54, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:23, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was no evidence to support proposal. JPG-GR (talk) 19:47, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Upaya → Upāya — diacritics assist pronunciation and exacting scholarship — B9 hummingbird hovering (talk • contribs) 11:54, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Survey

 * Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with  or  , then sign your comment with  . Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's naming conventions.

 * Diacritics make linking more difficult and appeal to pedantry. We are optimized for lay readers, not for scholars; we should use such terms only where it is conventional to do so in writing addressed to a non-technical audience; this is especially true in the titles of articles, which we want readers to be able to find. Compare Mahayana and Devanagari, both of which contain ā in Sanskrit. Oppose proposal without evidence. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 15:35, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Discussion
The scrupulous transliteration should of course be included in the article (it wasn't); but this doesn't require a page move. Septentrionalis PMAnderson
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

upa√i?
Is there a reason that the term is spelled this way in the first paragraph or is it just a bizarre typo? babbage (talk) 18:17, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Skillful vs. expedient
I would agree that "expedient means" comes closest to capturing the original meaning, but I think "skillful means" is a much more common term. It should be mentioned in the first sentence or two that these are the same thing.

I agree with the above paragraph, though I did not write it. makeswell (talk) 17:46, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Upaya is a dialectic?
I saw this sentence in the lede, "It is essentially the Buddhist term for dialectics." and removed it because, after a google search for 'what is the meaning of dialectics?' I found that dialectics refers to something other than what upaya refers to, and is defined as referring to on this page. Maybe I'm wrong. Correct me I guess. Anyways, I removed the sentence. makeswell (talk) 17:46, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Upaya