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Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal

The Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal (MOVSM) is a military award which was created under Executive Order 12830 by George H. W. Bush on January 9, 1993. The medal was designed by the Institute of Heraldry and was first issued in December 1993.

General information
The MOVSM recognizes those members of the military (active duty, reserve and National Guard) who perform substantial volunteer service to the local community above and beyond the duties required as a member of the United States Armed Forces. Such volunteer service must be made in a sustained and direct nature towards the civilian community, must be significant in nature to produce tangible results, and must reflect favorably on the military service and the United States Department of Defense. The definition of volunteer service is left intentionally vague, allowing for a wide variety of activities and volunteer duties which would qualify a service member for the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Typical volunteer work includes Volunteer Emergency Services (like the Civil Air Patrol, Coast Guard Auxiliary, or volunteer firefighting / EMS / Rescue Squad). Other volunteer opportunities that would qualify include Boy Scouts of America, Habitat for Humanity, soup kitchen work, or local, state, or federal parks and forests.

There is no specific time period to qualify for the MOVSM (for example 500 hours of community service within 24 calendar months), approval authorities will ensure the service to be honored merits the special recognition afforded by this medal. The MOVSM is intended to recognize exceptional community support over time and not a single act or achievement. Further, it is intended to honor direct support of community activities. For the purpose of this award, attending membership meetings or social events of a community service group is not considered qualifying service, while manning a community crisis action telephone line is considered qualifying service.

Approval authority for award of the MOVSM is held by commanders serving in the rank of lieutenant colonel (or commander) or above. Before the recommendation is forwarded to the award approval authority, the recommender must certify that the service member meets the eligibility criteria for award of the MOVSM. Substantiating documentation, such as record of hours contributed, letters or certificates from activity supervisors, or other proof of the service member's volunteer services may be attached as enclosures to the recommendation.

The MOVSM cannot be awarded more than once during a given duty assignment or tour of duty. It may be awarded posthumously, but is not authorized for presentation to foreign personnel.

The authority governing this award is DoD Manual 1348.33-V2 December 21, 2016.

Appearance
The MOVSM is a bronze medal, 1 1/8 inches in diameter. The obverse bears five interlaced annulets behind a five-pointed star, surrounded by a laurel wreath. On the reverse is an oak sprig with three leaves and two acorns between the inscription OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER SERVICE above and UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES below.

The suspension and service ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 1/8 inch bluebird; 1/8 inch goldenlight; 3/16 inch bluebird; 1/16 inch green; 5/32 inch goldenlight; center 1/16 inch green; 5/32 inch goldenlight; 1/16 inch green; 3/16 inch bluebird; 1/8 inch goldenlight; and 1/8 inch bluebird.

Multiple awards are indicated using five-pointed bronze service stars (one additional award each), and five-pointed silver service stars (five awards each).

Notable recipients

 * Greg Ballard
 * Kenneth Braithwaite
 * Paul W. Brier
 * William B. Caldwell IV
 * Daryl Caudle
 * Brian W. Cavanaugh
 * Ronald P. Clark
 * Charles Cooper II
 * Dondi E. Costin
 * Samuel D. Cox
 * Jay A. DeLoach
 * James H. Dickinson
 * R. Scott Dingle
 * Brian S. Eifler
 * Ivan Edwards
 * Robert H. Foglesong
 * Luis Fonseca (United States Navy)
 * William M. Fraser III
 * Walter E. Gaskin
 * Ronald L. Green
 * David Goggins
 * Harry B. Harris Jr.
 * Henry J. Hendrix
 * Mark Hertling
 * P. Gardner Howe III
 * Lisa Jaster
 * Tracy W. King
 * Eric D. Little
 * Paula Lodi
 * Stephen J. Maranian
 * John Mustin
 * Samuel Paparo, Jr.
 * Gary Peters
 * Shane R. Reeves
 * A. C. Roper
 * Michael S. Rogers
 * Roger A. Towberman
 * Tony L. Whitehead
 * David Wilson (two awards)
 * Kaleth O. Wright


text:
Category:Mushroom types

de:Kategorie:Mykologie

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

title: Category:Mushroom types


text:
DJ Hype

Kevin Ford (born 1968 ), better known as DJ Hype, is a British jungle and drum and bass producer and DJ.

Biography
Hype first became involved in music as a teenager in 1982, assisting PJ and Smiley with their sound system Heatwave in East London, which evolved into Shut Up and Dance.

Hype began producing in 1989, engineering and co-producing tracks (including "Exorcist" and "The Bee") for Kickin'Records, Strictly Underground and Suburban Base. UK garage producer Wookie remembers that Hype worked with The Scientist on "The Bee" to create one of the first jungle tunes to hit big, following "£10 to Get In" by Shut Up and Dance in 1989. Around this time, Hype hosted a show on the London pirate radio station Fantasy FM, and he was famed for his mixing and scratching skills.

Suburban Base released Hype's track "Shot in the Dark" that made the UK Singles Chart in 1993. By 1994, he had become a big name in the breakbeat hardcore and jungle raves - landing awards for Best Male DJ and Best Radio DJ (in 1994 and 1995 respectively) at the UK's Hardcore Awards, and hosting a show on the legal station Kiss 100.

Hype's Ganja Records label gained popularity primarily through dance floor fillers such as "You Must Think First", "Tiger Style" and DJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter". Their popularity peaked in 1996 with the release of their first album, Still Smokin' , a label compilation released jointly by Ganja and Pascal's Frontline imprint. Re-released in 1997, its success also led to a major label deal with BMG's Parousia sub-label and the establishment of True Playaz, an MC-led deejay and production unit also including DJ Zinc, Pascal and Rude Bwoy Monty. Hype's 1997 Parousia EP, New Frontiers, with Ganja Kru, reached No. 56 in the UK Albums Chart.

Hype is known for his jump-up deejay sets, including appearances at the Playaz night at Fabric.

On 30 March 2009, Hype released a new double album mix compilation on Rhino Records, entitled DJ Hype presents Drum and Bass Essentials.

Singles/EPs

 * Exorcist / The Bee (with The Scientist) (Kickin'Records)
 * Shot in the Dark (Suburban Base)
 * Roll the Beats (Suburban Base)
 * Computerised Cops / You Must Think First (with The Ganja Kru) (Ganja Records)
 * Tiger Style / Mash Up da Place (with The Ganja Kru) (Ganja Records)
 * Super Sharp Shooter (with The Ganja Kru) (Parousia/BMG)

Mixes/compilations

 * Drum & Bass Selection
 * FabricLive.03
 * FabricLive.18 with Andy C
 * Dubplate Killaz
 * Dubplate Killaz 2: Return of the Ninja
 * World Dance - The Drum 'n' Bass Experience
 * Drum & Bass Arena Presents: DJ Hype
 * Drum & Bass Essentials - a triple CD compilation mixed by DJ Hype

title: DJ Hype


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/cueing

Cueing was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was DELETE

Dicdef, and a bad one at that. -R. fiend 18:18, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Speedy deleted by a bitter Geogre. -- Cyrius|✎ 00:07, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

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

title: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/cueing


text:
Fresno Falcons

The Fresno Falcons were a minor league hockey team. They were charter members of several long standing leagues in the western United States including the Pacific Southwest Hockey League and the West Coast Hockey League. In their final years, they were members of the ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League). They were located in Fresno, California.

Early history
The Fresno Hockey Club, originally known as the Flyers, was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League, where they played until the league folded in 1950. The all time goal leader is Adrian Marin with 40 goals in a season

The team picked up in 1952 for a season in the Pacific Coast Senior League. Following just one season, hockey was dormant in Fresno until 1968, when the Fresno Aces were introduced for a season in the short-lived Cal-Neva Hockey League.

Cal-Neva was a loosely linked group of professional and semi-pro teams from around the West Coast. The league lacked structure, and played games for a selection of regional championships rather than a league championship. In the 1970–71 season, the Las Vegas Gamblers club was expelled from the league, following numerous rules violations. The Gamblers were in first place at the time, and all records of games involving them were voided. The league was dissolved following the 1971-72 season, as league commissioners cited the need for more structure, and without a Nevada team, a need for a new name.

During the 1968–69 season, Fresno's team was officially known as the Fresno Aces. For 1969–70, the name was changed back to the Fresno Falcons.

Playing in the PSHL
The Pacific Southwest Hockey League was founded in 1972 following the dissolution of the Cal-Neva Hockey League. and the Falcons were one of the league's staples, as the only franchise in the league that was present from its beginning, throughout to the 1995–96 merger that formed the West Coast Hockey League.

The Falcons were the PSHL's signature franchise largely due to convenience and the availability of a then-relatively new showcase arena, Selland Arena in Fresno's Convention Center. At times throughout the league's history, some games even if not involving the Falcons were held at Selland Arena, including several Championship Finals series throughout the 1970s.

A PSHL season ranged from 15 to 30 games each between anywhere from 4 to 8 teams. Franchises shifted frequently, often with new teams appearing the next season from the same cities. The mainstays of the league were the Falcons, the Los Angeles Bruins and later in the league's history, the Burbank or Los Angeles Jets and the West Covina or California Blackhawks (later just Hawks).

Falcons games were often paired with side attractions when it came to teams' marketing, including broomball and roller derby.

Joining the WCHL/merging with the ECHL
Following an experimental partnership with the Sunshine Hockey League in 1994–95, The Falcons became a charter member of the professional West Coast Hockey League to begin the 1995–96 season. The team was a member throughout the league's eight-year existence. During the 1997–98 season they were known as Fresno's Fighting Falcons. Fresno won the league's Taylor Cup championship for the 2001–02 season, defeating the Idaho Steelheads in the finals.

Along with other active WCHL teams, the Falcons joined the ECHL after the West Coast Hockey League was absorbed by the larger league in 2003.

Arenas
For most of its history, the team played at Fresno's Selland Arena, and their green and gold colors and hard-knocks play made them a staple of sports and entertainment in Fresno. The Falcons were the centerpieces of the league, as the Falcons dominated, winning sixteen league championships in 24 seasons.

The Falcons moved to the Save Mart Center on the campus of California State University, Fresno to coincide with their transfer to the ECHL in 2003. They played there until returning to Selland Arena in 2008.

Financial troubles and franchise's end
On December 22, 2008, Fresno Hockey Club, LLC announced that the Fresno Falcons team would cease operations immediately citing operating cost due to dwindling attendance, lack of corporate sponsorships and the faltering economy.

President Dave Dakers of the Victoria Salmon Kings ECHL team expressed some negative commentary on the Falcons team management abilities, but praised the team itself as being "competitive". The owners did not do all they could to salvage the situation, according to Dakers and gave up too easily as there were still other options available to minimize the economic damage. He was rather disappointed and not too pleased as quoted in the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper article.

The Falcons were the second team that season to fold, following the Augusta Lynx. Arguments were made that the ECHL had expanded into markets that were unable to sustain their market, though the perception in Fresno's case was that the franchise had issues beyond that which prevented the team from being profitable. Fresno was without hockey at any level until the Fresno Monsters began play in the 2009–10 season in the Tier III Junior A Western States Hockey League. The city briefly hosted two junior teams called the Monsters from 2010 to 2013 when the Tier II North American Hockey League expanded into Fresno. In 2013, the NAHL Monsters relocated to Wenatchee, Washington; however, the Monsters continue to field a team in the WSHL.

Championships
1968–69 San Joaquin Valley Champions

1970–71 Cal-Neva Hockey League Champions

1972–73 PSHL champions

1973–74 PSHL champions

1974–75 PSHL champions

1975–76 PSHL champions

1977–78 PSHL champions

1979–80 PSHL champions

1983–84 PSHL champions

1985-86 PSHL champions

1986-87 PSHL champions

1993–94 PSHL champions

2001–02 Taylor Cup Champions (WCHL)

2005–06 Pacific Division Champions (ECHL)

title: Fresno Falcons


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Green Village, New Jersey

Green Village is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within portions of both Harding Township and Chatham Township in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located just north of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. It is named after Ashbel Green, former president of Princeton University.

Green Village has its own post office and fire department, as well as a plant nursery known as The Farm at Green Village, a deli, a Methodist church, and a gas station. Additionally, a number of residents maintain farms and sell produce (including pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelons), eggs, and firewood. Green Village principally consists of three streets, namely Green Village Road, Meyersville Road, and Britten Road. Subject to an ongoing surveying controversy, it may include a portion of Woodland Road.

In the Forbes magazine 2006 ranking of the Most Expensive ZIP Codes in the United States, Green Village was ranked as the 282nd most expensive in the country, with its median home sale price in 2005 of $777,465. As of 2021, the median home value within Green Village lies at $1,069,200.

Demographics
As of the 2020 United States census, the area had a population of 1,103.

Education
Students attend schools in either Harding Township or Chatham, depending on which side of Green Village they live in.

Green Village Fire Department
Prior to 1922, the Madison Fire Company responded to fire alarms in the Green Village area. In March 1922 a formal meeting was held in the school house, now the Green Village Deli. Chief Philhower of the Madison Fire Company explained the requirements and responsibilities of a volunteer fire company and gave advice on how to organize one. Papers of incorporation were drawn up and signed by the men present at the meeting, thus becoming charter members of the company. The certificate of incorporation was issued on April 17, 1922.

On November 22, 1922, a group of women met at the school house an organized the Green Village Ladies Auxiliary, their mission being to "aid and benefit the firemen and foster a spirit of friendliness among the community". The first social affair was a dance held at Holly Hill Farm in December 1922. While the fire house was being built, the Auxiliary raised money though suppers, teas and card parties.

One of the fire company's first requirements was that each member purchase a fire bucket to be kept ready for emergencies at all times. The buckets had rounded bottoms so that they could not be set down and instead had to be hung; it was thought that buckets with flat bottoms would be used for a variety of purposes and would not be available when an alarm sounded. The buckets were actually used at several fires by forming two lines of firemen between the waters source and the fire. One line of men passed buckets of water to the fire while the other passed back the empty buckets for more water.

The fire company's first piece of equipment was a four-wheeled wagon carrying a chemical tank, purchased from the Newark Fire Department. The wagon was taken to fires by hitching it to the back of an automobile. The first piece of motorized equipment was a Reo truck, which carried four copper chemical tanks. Purchased in 1923, it was used for more than 15 years.

Work on the firehouse was begun a few weeks after the organization of the fire company. The land was donated by Mr. William DeMott, who owned a saw mill and basket factory in Green Village. Trees were donated by the residents, which members of the fire company then cut into logs. The logs were hauled by teams of horses driven by Jacob Hinds, Elijah Hinds, Dudley Jackson and George Sutter to Daniel Pierson's saw mill on Southern Boulevard where they were sawed into lumber free of charge. The original firehouse, with the exception of the roof, was built by members of the Green Village Fire Company who donated their time and skills.

An addition to the firehouse, consisting of two extra bays for fire trucks, was dedicated in 1954. Further expansion occurred in the mid-1980s, again enlarging the bay area, forming a command office and creating a banquet room that is available for public use. All of the architectural designs were done by Walter Pfeiffer, who also donated the beautiful chandeliers. In 1990, Robert Swenor renovated the kitchen and foyer.

title: Green Village, New Jersey


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Fletcher Steele

John Fletcher Steele (June 7, 1885 – July 16, 1971) was an American landscape architect credited with designing and creating over 700 gardens from 1915 to the time of his death.

Early life
Steele was born in Rochester, New York, United States to a lawyer father and pianist mother. He graduated with a B.A. from Williams College in 1907. While there, he was a member of the fraternity of Delta Psi (St. Anthony Hall). He then enrolled in the young landscape architecture program at Harvard University where Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. was one of his professors. In 1908 Steele left Harvard to accept an apprenticeship with Warren H. Manning.

Career
In 1913 Steele embarked on a four-month tour of Europe to study European designs. Upon his return to America, he opened his own practice. His early garden plans are generally in the English Arts and crafts style of Gertrude Jekyll, Reginald Blomfield, and T. H. Mawson, but ornamented with Italianate detailing such as balustrades, hedges, urns, statuary, stone pineapples, and flights of water steps. During World War I, Steele served in the American Red Cross in Europe. After war's end he regularly returned in summers.

His conversion to an Art Deco style began in 1925 when he visited the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (the 'Art Deco Exposition') and saw its examples of cubist gardens with mirrors, concrete and coloured gravel. By 1930 Steele was writing with enthusiasm of André Vera, Tony Garnier (architect), and Gabriel Guevrekian.

Steele's designs and writings of this period were influential during the stylistic transition from Art Deco to Modernism. He helped shape Modernism through younger design students at Harvard, notably Dan Kiley, Garrett Eckbo, and James C. Rose, to who Steele showed the possibilities of modern art and the creativity inherent within the design process. Kiley later wrote that "Steele was the only good designer working during the twenties and thirties, also the only one who was really interested in new things." Eckbo noted that "Fletcher Steele was the transitional figure between the old guard and the moderns. He interests me because he was an experimenter." Steele's own designs, however, were sufficiently removed from the Modern style so that his works were generally out of fashion until the modern era had passed.

Steele was based in Boston for more than 50 years. In pursuit of his career he traveled by train extensively in the United States. Toward the end of his life, he lived in Pittsford, New York. The local library there has a Fletcher Steele Room and books on display from his private collection.

Steele is interred in the Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester, New York. His papers are archived in the Library of Congress, the Rochester Historical Society and in the Franklin Moon Library, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York. Images from the Steele manuscript collection can be found in the SUNY D-Space digital repository.

Projects
Steele is noted for a number of major works including Naumkeag, Peters Reservation, Ancrum House, Whitney Allen House, Standish Backus House, Turner House, Lisburne Grange. His most famous work by far is Naumkeag.

These projects were not all viewed with high regard at the time, and only relatively recently have historians begun to appreciate Steele's impact on garden design and landscape architecture.

According to Robin Karson's 1991 book about Steele's life and his landscape architecture, the only two of his gardens that remain in existence (as originally created) are at Naumkeag and at the Whitney Allen House. However, Melissa McGrain, with the support of her husband Andrew Stern, bought the estate containing Nancy and Richard Turner's house in Pittsford, New York and did excellent work in restoring the garden that Steele designed and developed for the Turners.

Selected writing

 * Design in the little garden, Boston, The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1924.
 * The House beautiful gardening manual; a comprehensive guide, æsthetic and practical, for all garden lovers, both those who are still planning their gardens on paper and those who have had gardening experience, including plant lists compiled with the help of horticulturalists in all sections of the country, and an introductory chapter on garden design by Fletcher Steele, Boston, The Atlantic monthly press, 1926.
 * Gardens and people, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1964.
 * ISBN 9781558499072

External links and sources

 * The Fletcher Steele Archives at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
 * www.gardenvisit.com
 * GoldsmithBirdhouses.com Birdhouse reproduction from Fletcher Steele design
 * Fletcher Steele at Naumkeag An online film on Fletcher Steele's designs at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
 * Fletcher J. Steele Papers at Williams College Archives & Special Collections

title: Fletcher Steele


text:
Symbolic Cholesky decomposition

In the mathematical subfield of numerical analysis the symbolic Cholesky decomposition is an algorithm used to determine the non-zero pattern for the $$L$$ factors of a symmetric sparse matrix when applying the Cholesky decomposition or variants.

Algorithm
Let $$A=(a_{ij}) \in \mathbb{K}^{n \times n}$$ be a sparse symmetric positive definite matrix with elements from a field $$\mathbb{K}$$, which we wish to factorize as $$A = LL^T\,$$.

In order to implement an efficient sparse factorization it has been found to be necessary to determine the non zero structure of the factors before doing any numerical work. To write the algorithm down we use the following notation:

 * Let $$\mathcal{A}_i$$ and $$\mathcal{L}_j$$ be sets representing the non-zero patterns of columns $i$ and $j$ (below the diagonal only, and including diagonal elements) of matrices $A$ and $L$ respectively.
 * Take $$\min\mathcal{L}_j$$ to mean the smallest element of $$\mathcal{L}_j$$.
 * Use a parent function $$\pi(i)\,\!$$ to define the elimination tree within the matrix.

The following algorithm gives an efficient symbolic factorization of $A$ :

\begin{align} & \pi(i):=0~\mbox{for all}~i\\ & \mbox{For}~i:=1~\mbox{to}~n\\ & \qquad \mathcal{L}_i := \mathcal{A}_i\\ & \qquad \mbox{For all}~j~\mbox{such that}~\pi(j) = i\\ & \qquad \qquad \mathcal{L}_i := (\mathcal{L}_i \cup \mathcal{L}_j)\setminus\{j\}\\ & \qquad \pi(i) := \min(\mathcal{L}_i\setminus\{i\}) \end{align} $$

title: Symbolic Cholesky decomposition


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Fill-in

Fill-in can refer to:

 * A puzzle, see Fill-In (puzzle)
 * In numerical analysis, the entries of a matrix which change from zero to a non-zero value in the execution of an algorithm; see Sparse matrix
 * An issue of a comic book produced by a different creative team than the one regularly assigned to the series, published either to avoid missing a deadline or to give one or more of the series's regular creators a break

title: Fill-in


text:
String Quartets, Op. 59 (Beethoven)

The three Razumovsky (or Rasumovsky) string quartets, opus 59, are a set of string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven. He wrote them in 1806, as a result of a commission by the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky:
 * String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59, No. 1
 * String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2
 * String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3

They are the first three of what are usually known as the "Middle Period" string quartets, or simply the "Middle Quartets." The other two are opus 74 and opus 95. Many quartets record all five as a set.

Beethoven uses a characteristically Russian theme in the first two quartets in honour of the prince who gave him the commission: All three quartets were published as a set in 1808 in Vienna.
 * In Op. 59 No. 1, the "Thème russe" (as the score is marked) is the principal theme of the last movement.
 * In Op. 59 No. 2, the Thème russe is in the B section of the third movement. This theme is based on a Russian folk song which was also utilised by Modest Mussorgsky in the coronation scene of his opera Boris Godunov, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in the introduction to act III of his opera Mazeppa, by Sergei Rachmaninoff in the sixth movement of his 6 Morceaux for Piano Duet, Op.11 "Glory" ("Slava"), and by Igor Stravinsky in his ballet The Firebird.
 * In the quartet Op. 59 No. 3, there is no Thème russe explicitly named in the score, but a secondary theme in the second movement has a passing resemblance to a traditional Russian song, which may well account for the Russian flavour noted by a number of writers, including Lewis Lockwood.

Reception
Although the quartets are now mainstream repertoire, they were generally received with uncertainty, as they deviated from the established genre of string quartets in their content and emotional range. However, one review published in 1807 stated that "Three new, very long and difficult Beethoven string quartets … are attracting the attention of all connoisseurs. The conception is profound and the construction excellent, but they are not easily comprehended."

References and further reading

 * Joseph Kerman, The Beethoven Quartets. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1966.  ISBN 0-393-00909-2
 * Robert Winter and Robert Martin, ed., The Beethoven Quartet Companion. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1994. ISBN 0-520-08211-7

title: String Quartets, Op. 59 (Beethoven)


text: Talk:David Hall (Australian politician)

title: Talk:David Hall (Australian politician)


text:
Southern Nevada Water Authority

The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is a government agency that was founded in 1991 to manage Southern Nevada's water needs on a regional basis in Clark County.

SNWA provides wholesale water treatment and delivery for the greater Las Vegas Valley and is responsible for acquiring and managing long-term water resources for Southern Nevada.

From its inception, the SNWA has worked to acquire additional water resources, manage existing and future water resources, construct and operate regional water facilities and promote water conservation.

The SNWA is governed by a seven-member board of directors, which comprises one elected official from each governing board of the SNWA's seven member agencies. While the Board of Directors sets policy direction for the SNWA, the Las Vegas Valley Water District is responsible for the day-to-day management of the organization through an agreement between the SNWA member agencies.

Member agencies

 * Big Bend Water District (Laughlin): Steve Sisolak (Democratic)
 * Boulder City: Peggy Leavitt (Republican)
 * Clark County Water Reclamation District: James B. Gibson (Democratic)
 * Henderson: John Marz (Republican)
 * Las Vegas: Bob Coffin (Democratic)
 * Las Vegas Valley Water District: Marilyn Kirkpatrick (Democratic)
 * North Las Vegas: John Jay Lee (Democratic)

Water supply and distribution
Southern Nevada gets nearly 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River. The other 10 percent of the water comes from groundwater that is pumped out through existing wells within Clark County. Perchlorates in ground water in Henderson and associated runoff into the Las Vegas Wash has been a concern since 1997.

Treatment facilities

 * Alfred Merritt Smith Water Treatment Facility
 * River Mountains Water Treatment Facility

These facilities first treat the water with ozone to kill any potentially harmful microscopic organisms. As the water leaves the water treatment facilities, chlorine is added to protect it on the way to customers' taps. Since 2000, SNWA has also added fluoride to the municipal water supply.

Major distribution systems

 * East Valley Lateral
 * North Valley Lateral
 * South Valley Lateral
 * West Valley Lateral

Reservoirs

 * Brock Reservoir which is partly funded by SNWA - 8000 acre.ft
 * Burkholder Reservoir - 50 e6USgal
 * Decatur Reservoir - 20 e6USgal
 * Grand Teton Reservoir - 10 e6USgal
 * Horizon Ridge Reservoir - 20 e6USgal

Major pumping stations

 * Decatur Pumping Station (81 e6USgal/d capacity)
 * Foothills Pumping Station (140 e6USgal/d capacity
 * Gowan Pumping Station (24 e6USgal/d capacity)
 * Lamb Pumping Station (111 e6USgal/d capacity)
 * River Mountains Pumping Station (315 e6USgal/d capacity)
 * Simmons Pumping Station (71 e6USgal/d capacity)
 * Sloan Pumping Station (111 e6USgal/d capacity)

title: Southern Nevada Water Authority


text:
Santiago de los Caballeros

Santiago de los Caballeros (Saint James of the Knights), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Province and the largest major metropolis in the Cibao region of the country. Santiago is the largest Caribbean city that is not a capital city, and it is also the largest non-coastal metropolis in the Caribbean islands. The city has a total population of 771,748 inhabitants (2022). Santiago is located approximately 155 km northwest of the capital Santo Domingo with an average altitude of 178 m.

Founded in 1495 during the first wave of European settlement in the New World, the city is the "first Santiago of the Americas". Today it is one of the Dominican Republic's cultural, political, industrial and financial centers. Due to its location in the fertile Cibao Valley it has a robust agricultural sector and is a leading exporter of rum, textiles, and cigars. Santiago is known as "La Ciudad Corazón" (the "Heartland City").

Santiago de los Caballeros has historically been an important strategic city in the Dominican War of Independence. The name of the city, Saint James of the Knights, refers to the Hidalgos de la Isabela, a group of knights who had come from La Isabela city to stay in Santiago. Sometimes the city is called Santiago de los 30 Caballeros (English: Saint James of the 30 Knights).

History
The name of the city (Saint James of the Knights) refers to the Hidalgos de la Isabela, a group of knights who had come from La Isabela to settle in Santiago. The colony originally was located in the town of San Francisco de Jacagua (now a suburb of the city) which was founded in 1495, but when it was destroyed by an earthquake it was moved to its current location in 1506. In granting in 1508 the Royal Privilege of Concession de Armas to the Villa de Santiago of Hispaniola, the heraldic emblem that was included in his shield was venerated. The royal decree signed by King Ferdinand as administrator of the kingdoms of his daughter Joanna I of Castile. The city was devastated by another earthquake on December 2, 1562. The survivors settled on land belonging to Petronila Jáquez of Minaya, adjacent to the Yaque del Norte, which is the current location of the city's river. The domination of the French during the Peace of Basel (which yielded the Spanish part of the island to France in 1795) left its mark on Santiago. During this era Santiago began its modern urban planning. European neoclassicism is represented at the Palace Hall, built between 1892 and 1895, by a Belgian architect named Louis Bogaert. The late 1800s saw a peak of architecture in the city. Numerous residences were built in European styles, which make up the central core of Santiago.

Geography
Santiago de los Caballeros is located on a hilly terrain in the middle of the Cibao Valley in the Central Region of the Dominican Republic, one of the most fertile lands found in the island. The Yaque del Norte River passes by Santiago which is in between the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Septentrional, two of the three major mountain ranges on the island of Hispaniola, forming the Cibao Valley.

Climate
Santiago features a tropical monsoon climate (Am) under the Köppen climate classification. The average temperature varies little in the city, because the tropical trade winds help mitigate the heat and humidity throughout the year. December and January are the coolest months and July and August are the warmest. Santiago and the rest of the country are in the Caribbean and have a tropical climate, which, when coupled with the city's altitude, 183 meters above sea level, causes cloudy conditions to persist through much of the year. While the entire country is susceptible to Atlantic hurricanes, Santiago and its environs are more sheltered than other parts of the country from their effects because of its location in the Cibao Valley.

Economy
Santiago's economy is mainly based by the commercialization and industrialization of its products and finished goods, production of goods in the free zones, and by commerce. The city has headquarters and branches of all the main stores, supermarkets, restaurants and financial entities of the country. The city also has several shopping centers and multinational companies.

Since it is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic, it currently produces the second highest percentage of the nation's GDP, while also having one of the highest incomes per capita, and a large middle-class population. Telecommunications, such as; wireless phones, cable service, internet service and other services are important for the local economy. Tourism, to a lesser extent, also accounts for a portion of the city's economy. Santiago, like most cities and towns in the Cibao valley, has historically benefited from the fertile lands of this region. This makes Santiago de los Caballeros an important area for farming and livestock. Santiago's industrial sector is also one of the most dynamic in the country. It has the concentration of 15% of domestic industries. This means 308 manufacturing companies, which in 2004 employed more than 14,000 people or 12% of the labor of Dominican manufacturing work. The products range from cigars, coffee, and alcoholic beverages, to concrete, plywood and sheet products.

The Mercado Modelo on Calle del Sol is a shopping center where there are various stores of handicrafts and native articles made by hand.

Growth and development
Santiago has recently experienced an era of rapid growth and development. It has become a city of great importance for the nation and the region's development. The population of Santiago was about 771,748 inhabitants as of 2022, making it the second most populous city in the Dominican Republic and one of the largest in the Caribbean (behind Santo Domingo, Havana, and Port-au-Prince), as well as the largest city that isn't a capital (although it once was).

Architecture
The Victorian era was the zenith of architecture in the city. Numerous residences were built in this European style, which makes up the historic center of Santiago. The neo-classical gothic Cathedral of Santiago was built in 1895 by Onofre de Lora, an architect native to the city.

The Hermanos Patiño Bridge is both the largest and oldest bridge in the city connecting the North and South sides of the city of Santiago. Its construction was started by Rafael Leónidas Trujillo and inaugurated in 1962, one year after his death. The bridge is named after the five brothers that died in an effort to end Trujillo's regime and dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in the mid 20th century. The anti-Trujillo legacy of the Patiño family did not begin with the brothers, but with their father who was killed in 1931 in the first anti-Trujillo insurrection of the Dominican Republic.

On a hill overlooking Santiago is the city's tallest structure, a 67 m high marble monument named the Monumento de Santiago. Construction of the monument began in 1944 on the orders of then-dictator Rafael Trujillo. Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración Trujillo was assassinated in 1961, after which the monument was renamed the Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración ("Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration" in English), in honor of the Dominican Restoration War of 1863, in which the Dominican Republic regained its independence from Spain.

Museums
Museums in the city include the Museo Folklórico Yoryi Morel which exhibits Santiago's Carnival culture, and displays some garments worn by lechones of Santiago Province in the Carnival, as well as those worn in other provinces. The museum is named after noted Santiago painter Yoryi Morel. Museo del Tabaco or The Tobacco Museum which shows manufacturing methods as well as the effect of the tobacco plantations along the city's history, the Museo Histórico Fortaleza San Luis or Historic San Luis Fort Museum which previously served as a municipal prison., the Museo de los Héroes de la Restauración or Restoration Heroes Museum is currently under construction and houses a display of pictures from the Restoration War from the 1863–1865 battles between the Dominican Government and the Spanish army. and Centro León which displays elements of the Caribbean and Dominican experience, natural Dominican history, and the evolution and culture of the indigenous Taíno peoples.

Sports
As much as the rest of the nation, Santiago residents enjoy baseball and look forward to the Dominican winter season with the local team being the Águilas Cibaeñas. Besides baseball, basketball is also played at a professional level in the city of Santiago. The institution in charge of organizing these events is the Asociación de Baloncesto de Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros (ABASACA) Santiago de Los Caballeros is the most successful city in the Dominican Republic based on Dominican League teams. Águilas Cibaeñas is the most successful baseball team not only in the Dominican Republic, but in the Caribbean, this team has 22 National Championship, and 6 Caribbean titles. This is what causes what a lot of people call Baseballs most intense rivalry, which is a long historic Rivalry between Águilas Cibaeñas and Tigres del Licey, being "Licey" the most popular winter league baseball team in the world, and Águilas Cibaeñas being close second.

Santiago's major baseball and basketball teams are Las Aguilas Cibaeñas and Los Metros de Santiago.

Santiago has two stadiums, and the stadiums are The Estadio Cibao home of the Aguilas Cibaeñas and The Gran Arena del Cibao home of Los Metros De Santiago

The Female Volleyball Team have claimed two bronze medals in the professional Dominican Volleyball League.

In early 2015, there was the official launch of Liga Dominicana de Fútbol in the Dominican Republic. Santiago is the first city in the country to hold a FIFA Certified Stadium, which was built in the campus of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra and became the home of the major and first city soccer team Cibao FC from Liga Dominicana de Fútbol.

Education
Santiago is home of several universities including the prestigious Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) and Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA). Other higher learning institutions present in Santiago are: Universidad Organización & Método (O&M), Universidad Abierta para Adultos (UAPA), Universidad Nacional Evangélica and one regional campus belonging to the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo

Santiago is also home to a Binational Center, the Centro Cultural Domínico-Americano (CCDA), which was founded in 1962 by a group of Dominicans and Americans living in Santiago. At the beginning, the CCDA set about providing English language courses. Later, the library was opened and included the lending of overhead projectors and documentary films. These last two were sponsored by the American Embassy.

CCDA is located on Estrella Sadhalá Avenue. These facilities of the CCDA were opened on July 23, 1962. Throughout its 50 years of existence, the CCDA has taught English language courses, painting classes and manual activities.

Transportation

Santiago has share taxis (often called carros públicos or conchos) and private and independent bus owners who form their own routes according to their demands.

The city has private bus transportation to other cities. Bus companies include Dioni, Metro, Caribe Tours, Transporte Espinal, and Aetra Bus. The Autopista Juan Pablo Duarte highway, officially known as DR-1, passes by the city center and connects the city directly to Santo Domingo. Other minor highways connect the city to Puerto Plata, Samaná, and the northwestern region of the country.

The Cibao International Airport serves mostly Dominicans living in the United States and other Caribbean islands like Cuba, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Puerto Rico, as well as Panama. The airport of the city was the Santiago Municipal Airport, a regional airport that closed in March 2002. It serves destinations such as San Juan, Port-au-Prince, New York City, Miami and Santo Domingo with regular services.

On March 30, 2022, President Luis Abinader formally commenced construction of the first rapid transit system in Santiago De Los Caballeros. The Monorail project will be the first of its kind in the Caribbean and Central America. Completion is estimated at the end of 2024.

Health
Facilities include Hospital Cabral y Baez, Clínica Corominas, Hospital De Especialidades Medicas Materno Infantil, Union Médica, and Hospital Metropolitano De Santiago (HOMS), being the largest hospital in all of the Dominican Republic and in all the Caribbean.

Sites
In the Strategic Plan of Santiago it is indicated that the construction of the Metropolitan Park would increase the Santiagos green area from its currently 1.1% to 4%.
 * Estadio Cibao
 * Estadio Cibao FC
 * Gran Arena del Cibao Dr. Oscar Gobaira
 * Monumento de Santiago
 * Gran Cibao Hotel – 11 stories high, it is the largest hotel in the Cibao region. It has also been an on hold project for several years.
 * Light Rail in Santiago – A Light Rail development in the city's metro area has been proposed. If completed it will be the second city In the nation to have a mass transit system and would be 3.4 mi longer than the Metro of Santo Domingo. The Light Rail will have 12 stops, its route will be from the Cemetery to the Airport. Construction was scheduled to begin in October 2007 but currently the project has been delayed and on Hold.
 * Electric "Highway" from Santo Domingo – Santiago's power comes from Puerto Plata, but the government commenced the building of the Electric "Highway" that will feed Santiago electric energy from Santo Domingo's generators. construction started in February 2007.
 * Parque Central de Santiago The industrialists of Santiago have defended the project since it is considered to be a solution to the lack of green spaces suitable for relaxation in the city. Nevertheless, it has been argued that the granting of contracts for the different phases from this project violate the frame of transparency and legality.

 * Santiago Inteligente and Santiago Massive Training Program (SMART)-An initiative launched by Eddy Martinez Manzueta during his tenure at the Center for Exports and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD, 2004-2012), and the Plan Estrategico de Santiago seeking to foster the new regional economic development and branding strategy and the promotion of Santiago as a knowledge-based production center in both conventional and emerging sectors, including Health Tourism, ITES-BPO, biotechnology and agro-business, as well as High-value manufacturing and Fashion (textiles and apparel, footwear), among others.

Recreation
Some of the recreational places found in Santiago are:

 * Centro Español: located in the Panamericana Avenue, this place is heavily frequented during the summer by Santiago's local population and tourists. Many activities take place in it, such as sports; swimming, basketball, baseball, softball, football, golf, table games, and children summer camps. They also host parties with famous Dominican and international artists. Its access is restricted to registered members only.
 * Gurabito Country Club: Another popular club located in Panamericana Avenue, it is another recreational center. They have sports activities, such as baseball and basketball. Parties with Dominican artist take place periodically in this club as well as some pool parties with Dominicans singers. Access is restricted to members only.
 * Mundo Acuático: Located in Hispanoamericana Avenue too, is a water theme park. This locale is open to the general public. Renamed from Kaskada Park to Mundo Acuatico.

Actors, artists, musicians, writers

 * Johnny Pacheco – musician
 * Fernando Cabrera – poet, visual artist and songwriter
 * Aisha Syed Castro – violinist
 * Laura García-Godoy – actress
 * Eddy Herrera – Merengue singer
 * Krisspy – Merengue singer
 * Clara Ledesma – painter
 * Ñico Lora – Merengue musician
 * La Materialista – rapper and actress
 * Manny Pérez – actor
 * Frank Perozo – actor
 * Mu-Kien Adriana Sang – historian, essayist, analyst, political scientist, and academic
 * Luis Vargas – Bachata singer
 * Julio Vega Batlle – author and diplomat
 * Miguel Vila Luna – architect and painter
 * Natti Natasha – musician
 * Clarissa Molina – actress

Athletes

 * Edward Cabrera – baseball player for the Miami Marlins
 * Luis Felipe Lopez – 1st Dominican born player drafted in the 1st round of the 1998 NBA Draft
 * Reyes Moronta – baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants
 * Franquelis Osoria – baseball player
 * Francisco Peña – baseball player for the New York Mets; son of Tony Peña and brother of Tony Peña Jr.
 * Ramón Peña – former baseball relief pitcher and member of the famous baseball Pena family
 * Tony Peña Jr. – baseball player
 * Jhonny Peralta – baseball player
 * Hipólito Pichardo – former baseball of the Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox and the Houston Astros
 * Luis Polonia – baseball player
 * Luis Pujols – former baseball player
 * José Cabrera – MLB player for the Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers
 * José Lima – baseball player
 * Ángel Berroa – baseball player
 * Jose Reyes – baseball player for the New York Mets
 * Joaquín Benoit – baseball player
 * Rafael Belliard – baseball player and cousin of Washington Nationals 2B Ronnie Belliard
 * Carlos Almanzar – baseball player
 * Bill Castro–MLB player for the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, and the Kansas City Royals; pitching coach of the Milwaukee Brewers
 * Carlos Gómez – baseball player for the Texas Rangers
 * Leonardo Cruz – boxer
 * Kelvin Cáceres – baseball player
 * Bernie Castro – baseball player
 * Winston Llenas – former baseball player
 * Al Alburquerque – baseball player
 * Víctor Díaz – baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles
 * Leo Garcia – former baseball player
 * Robinson Checo – former baseball player
 * Rudy Hernández – former baseball player
 * Victor Martinez – IFBB bodybuilder, runner-up many years for Mr. Olympia
 * Marcos Diplan – Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Victor Estrella Burgos – tennis player, first Dominican to win an ATP tournament, first Dominican on the ATP top 100
 * Luis Silverio – former baseball player who is now a coach
 * Alfredo Simón – baseball player for the Baltimore Orioles
 * Julián Tavárez – baseball player
 * Carlos Triunfel – baseball for the Seattle Mariners organization
 * Carlos Villanueva – MLB player for the Toronto Blue Jays
 * Ramon Antonio Nery – boxer
 * Christopher Morel - baseball player for the Chicago Cubs

Politicians

 * Joaquín Balaguer – Dominican President
 * Salvador Jorge Blanco – Dominican President, lawyer and a writer
 * Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly – Dominican President, lawyer, scholar and diplomat
 * Ulises Francisco Espaillat – Dominican President, and author
 * Rafael Estrella Ureña – Dominican President
 * Antonio Guzmán Fernández – Dominican President
 * Hipólito Mejía – Dominican President
 * Raquel Peña de Antuña - Dominican Vice President
 * Francisco Augusto Lora – Dominican Vice President, Ambassador to Washington, USA, lawyer
 * Abel Martínez – Dominican and current Mayor of Santiago, lawyer

Other

 * Miguel Cocco – businessman
 * Martha Heredia – Latin American Idol
 * Clarissa Molina – Miss Dominican Republic 2015 - Nuestra Bellaza Latina VIP 2016
 * Mons. Agripino Núñez Collado – former rector of Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
 * Ercilia Pepín - teacher, feminist, and equal rights activist
 * Rosa Smester Marrero – educator and feminist writer, who founded a hospice and school in the city.
 * Amelia Vega – Miss Dominican Republic 2002, Miss Universe 2003

Twin towns – sister cities
Santiago has twinning agreements with the following sister cities:
 * 🇺🇸 Fort Myers, Florida (United States)
 * 🇨🇺 Havana (Cuba)
 * 🇪🇸 Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
 * San Juan, Puerto Rico (United States)
 * Mayagüez, Puerto Rico (United States)

title: Santiago de los Caballeros


text:
Kyburg

Kyburg may refer to:
 * Henry E. Kyburg, Jr. (1928–2007), philosopher/logician
 * Kyburg, Zurich, a town in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
 * Kyburg (castle), a castle in the municipality Kyburg, Switzerland
 * House of Kyburg that took their name from the castle
 * County of Kyburg, a former administrative unit in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
 * Kyburg-Buchegg, a municipality in the Canton of Solothurn, Switzerland

title: Kyburg


text:
Gai-Jin

Gai-Jin (Japanese for "foreigner") is a 1993 novel by James Clavell, chronologically the third book in his Asian Saga, although it was the last to be published. Taking place about 20 years after the events of Tai-Pan, it chronicles the adventures of Malcolm Struan, the son of Culum and Tess Struan, in Japan. The story delves deeply into the political situation in Japan and the hostility Westerners faced there, and is loosely based on the Namamugi Incident and the subsequent Anglo-Satsuma War.

Plot summary
The story opens with a fictional rendition of the Namamugi Incident. On September 14, 1862, Phillip Tyrer, John Canterbury, Angelique Richaud, and Malcolm Struan are riding on the Tōkaidō, when they are attacked by Shorin Anato and Ori Ryoma, both Satsuma samurai and rōnin shishi in the sonnō jōi movement, cells of revolutionary xenophobic idealists. Canterbury is killed, Malcolm seriously wounded, and Tyrer receives a minor arm injury; only Angelique escapes back to Yokohama unharmed to get help. Tyrer and Malcolm make their way to Kanagawa (Kanagawa-ku) later that day, where Dr. Babcott operates on Malcolm. Meanwhile, at a village inn in Hodogaya the daimyō Sanjiro of Satsuma, meets with Katsumata, one of his advisors, and receives Ori and Shorin, with whom he plots an overthrow of the current Shogunate. Two days later Malcolm is moved to the merchants' settlement in Yokohama. He is not expected to last long and while he is in bed sick, he shows his emotions for Angelique, a voluptuous but penniless French girl.

The novel spins two story lines which intertwine with ever increasing complexity: one follows the "gaijin" (foreign) community in Yokohama, the other, the Japanese, both the government (Bakufu) run by a Council of Elders who advise the young Shōgun, and the anti-government, xenophobic, pro-Emperor forces, focusing on the "shishi". The Japanese distrust the foreigners only slightly more than they distrust each other. The various nationalities that make up the foreign community likewise plot against and socialise with each other warily. Both Japanese and foreigners are convinced of their own superiority.

While Malcolm slowly recovers from his wounds and falls in love with Angelique, she is raped by one of the Japanese samurai assassins, Ori Ryoma, as she lies sedated to treat her shock. Horrified, she keeps this a secret but later discovers she is pregnant. Desperate, she obtains Chinese medicine that precipitates an abortion, with the help of a French spy who later blackmails her with this knowledge. At the same time, she learns her father is a degenerate gambler in jail for debt, and her uncle loses her capital in a failed investment. Marriage to the infatuated Malcolm seems increasingly attractive but she must keep her rape an absolute secret. Obsessed with her, Ori rapes her again. This time, Angelique is not drugged, but she yields and tricks Ori into leaving afterwards instead of killing her, as she knew he intended. He is shot outside her window but no-one suspects he was leaving; it is rumored that he was trying to break in.

Yoshi Toranaga, a descendant of Lord Toranaga in Shogun and one of the Council of Elders, narrowly escapes various assassination attempts while he tries to out manoeuvre his fellow councilors, all of whom mistrust each other, as well as hunt down the rogue shishi. He hates the foreigners as passionately as the shishi do, but recognizes that their superior military technology makes sonnō jōi impossible for the present. This position puts him at odds with almost everyone around him. A meeting is arranged between the council and the representatives of the foreign community to deal with their demands for reparations and justice for the murderous attack, only one of several such incidents. Despite much Japanese prevarication, and the three-way interpreting necessary (English–Dutch–Japanese), a deal is struck.

Malcolm Struan is heir to the Noble House of Struan's, but he is not yet of age and therefore technically not tai-pan. Meanwhile, his mother, Tess Struan, runs the business and urges him to return to Hong Kong and give up his infatuation with this unsuitable penniless French "gold-digger". Her imperious attitude angers him and he resists, determined to marry Angelique and be taipan.

The brothels of Yokohama are where Japanese and foreigners meet. The French spy is besotted with a Japanese prostitute, whose Madame is associated with the "shishi" and who exchanges favours for information. The French spy introduces Tyrer to the delights and protocols of Japanese brothels. Later, Tyrer befriends a young Japanese and they begin to teach each other, although, unbeknownst to Tyrer, the Japanese is a fanatical "shishi". He gradually adopts the same position as Lord Yoshi, his implacable enemy: the only way to purge Japan of these revolting barbarians is to learn their military and technological secrets.

Malcolm marries Angelique irregularly on board ship, but dies on their wedding night when his wound hemorrhages. His mother is now officially tai-pan. Angelique is at first hysterical and nearly goes mad. When she recovers, she find she has gained wisdom and an icy calm and lost all fear. She plans to outwit Tess Struan, with the help of Edward Gornt, who hopes to marry her and also obtain revenge on Tess' family.

Tyrer discovers his "friend" is a dangerous assassin wanted by Lord Yoshi and must be handed over as part of a deal, but the shishi disappears. He hides out with his "sensei" and others in the brothel district. As the government samurai close their net, the sensei decides on a suicide mission: to set fire to the Yokohama settlement and sink the largest foreign ship in the harbour. Tyrer's friend is horrified but cannot disobey. The firebombs go off, the shishi saves Tyrer's life while the French spy dies in the flames. Though the brothel district and native village are destroyed, the foreign settlement and military camp are relatively undamaged, so the foreigners do not leave, thus subverting the purpose of the arson. To escape certain death and also to further his study of the source of foreign power, the shishi gets himself shipped off to England with Tyrer's help.

The story closes with a brief narration of the bombardment of Kagoshima and its aftermath.

Historical basis
As with Clavell's other novels, the setting and many characters are based on actual events, which set the stage for the novel.

Gai-jin characters and firms
Struan and Company (the "Noble House" trading company of the novel) is based on Jardine Matheson Holdings, a massive Scottish trading company that continues to this day as an Asia-based trading company.

 * Malcolm Struan: loosely based on the real-life Jardine taipan William Keswick.
 * Jamie McFay: based on Thomas Blake Glover.
 * Edward Gornt: loosely based on John Samuel Swire, founder of John Swire & Sons Limited and Swire Pacific.
 * Angelique Richaud: based on Amelia Dubeux, who was married to William Keswick.
 * Sir William Aylesbury: based upon Edward St. John Neale
 * Phillip Tyrer: loosely based upon Ernest Mason Satow
 * George Babcott: Dr. William Willis (1837–1894)
 * John Canterbury – based on the real-life Charles Lennox Richardson, murdered by Satsuma samurai

Japanese characters

 * Lord Toranaga Yoshi, Guardian of the Heir: Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837–1913)
 * Lady Hisako (Hosaki), his wife: Ichijō Mikako (1835–1894)
 * Misamoto, his interpreter: loosely based on Nakahama Manjirō (1827–1898)
 * Shōgun Toranaga Nobusada: Tokugawa Iemochi (1846–1866)
 * The Emperor: Emperor Kōmei (1831–1867)
 * Lady Yazu: Chikako, Princess Kazu (1846–1877)
 * Lord Anjo: Andō Nobumasa (1820–1871)
 * Lord Sanjiro of Satsuma: Shimazu Hisamitsu (1817–1887)
 * Lord Ogama of Choshu: Mōri Takachika (1819–1871)
 * Rezan Hiraga, alias Ukiya, Nakama and Otami: Itō Hirobumi (1841–1909)
 * Akimoto: Inoue Kaoru (1836–1915)
 * Katsumata: anachronistically based on Yoshida Shōin, though the real-life Yoshida had been executed in 1859, three years prior to the events depicted.

Principal characters

 * Malcolm Struan – grandson of Dirk Struan, eldest son of Culum Struan and heir and soon to be tai-pan of the Noble House
 * Jamie McFay – manager of Struan's in Japan
 * Dr. Ronald Hoag – Struan family physician
 * Sir William Aylesbury, KCB – British Chief Minister to the Japans, head of legation
 * Dr. George Babcott – British Deputy Minister and surgeon
 * Phillip Tyrer – diplomat and apprentice Japanese interpreter
 * Norbert Greyforth – head of Brock and Sons in Japan
 * Lieutenant John Marlowe – captain of HMS Pearl, aide-de-camp to Admiral Ketterer
 * Edward Gornt – gentleman Shanghai trader from Virginia, illegitimate son of Morgan Brock through Kristian Gornt. It is through Gornt that Brock's descendants continued to flourish in Asia. His great-grandson Quillan Gornt was a major character in Noble House.
 * Henri Bonaparte Seratard – French Minister
 * André Édouard Poncin, French spy, ostensibly a trader
 * Count Alexi Zergeyev – Russian Minister
 * Angelique Richaud – beloved of Malcolm Struan, ward of the French Minister
 * Lord Toranaga Yoshi – the Guardian of the Heir
 * Misamoto – Lord Yoshi's interpreter
 * Hiraga – also known as Ukiya, Nakama and Otami, leader of the Choshu shishi
 * Shōgun Nobusada Toranaga – heir to the title of Shōgun and to the Toranaga family; also mentioned in Noble House and Whirlwind
 * Lady Yazu, wife of Nobusada, stepsister of Emperor Komei
 * Lord Nori Anjo – daimyō of Kii and Mikawa, head of the Council of Elders
 * Lord Sanjiro – daimyō of Satsuma
 * Katsumata – advisor of Sanjiro and secret head of the shishi
 * Lord Ogama – daimyō of Choshu
 * Raiko – mama-san of Yokohama's House of the Three Carp
 * Ori Ryoma – shishi, leader of a Satsuma cell, obsessed with Angelique
 * Sumomo – shishi, Hiraga's fiancée

Secondary characters

 * Culum Struan – son of Dirk Struan, second tai-pan, father of Malcolm
 * Tess (Hag) Struan – de facto tai-pan of the Noble House
 * Gordon Chen – Compradore of the Noble House, illegitimate son of Dirk Struan
 * Admiral Charles Ketterer – commander of the British fleet
 * Captain Settry Pallidar – captain of the Dragoons
 * Dmitri Syborodin – American trader of Cossack descent
 * Heatherly Skye – the only solicitor in Japan
 * John Canterbury – a British trader; killed by samurai while guiding new arrivals on a routine tour of the Tōkaidō road.
 * Sir Morgan Brock
 * General Thomas Ogilvy
 * Isiah Adamson – American Minister
 * von Heimrich – Prussian Minister

Background
James Clavell announced in 1981 he wanted to write a novel called Nippon which dealt with descendants of the characters from Shogun in the era of Perry. However he got distracted writing Whirlwind instead and did not get around to his Japanese story until years later.

Clavell later reflected on this period in history: "Because of the opening, the Japanese saw very quickly that they needed to be on equal terms with the Westerners. The Westerners forced their way ashore with their ships and their cannons and their rifles. Very logically, the Japanese said, 'How does a little island nation like Britain, which is smaller than Japan, rule the world?' A stupid Englishman explained to them, 'Well, you do it with big navies and cannons.' So the Japanese said, 'Domo.' And they got together and asked, 'How the hell are we going to get big ships, bigger than them, and cannons?' What are the Japanese doing now? It's all in 'Gai-Jin.' They're doing economically what they could not do militarily. . . . And there's the Japanese tradition that the student has the duty to surpass his teacher. But nobody explains that to anybody. So I think if I were Japanese, I would be very teed off to have this Japan-bashing when they're only doing what they were told to do. On the American side, I say, 'Hey, let's talk about rice, reciprocity, trade imbalance.' Nobody understands nobody. I'm hoping that 'Gai-Jin' and 'Shogun' and the other books explain." Clavell says he was "surprised" that the protagonist of the novel turned out to be Malcolm Struan's wife Angelique instead of Malcolm. "But you never know how these things are going to turn out. For example, I was expecting Mrs Struan... to arrive from Hong Kong on every damned boat, but she never appeared. That's the way it happened."

Clavell says the death of Malcolm in the book was not planned. "That death frightened me to death", he said. "The number of people who ring me up saying 'You killed him!'. I say I didn't kill him, so-and-so killed him."

Clavell said that he did not plot his books. "I write it pretty much as you read it. Of course I may have to go back and change something because of what I have written later, but usually it just runs through. I always have trouble deciding when to stop. I didn't know how this was going to end until I got there."

"Obviously, with 1,700 pages of manuscript, I can't keep in all in my head", he added. "So from time to time I will say to my wife, 'Give me a number from one to 500.' I then look at the page corresponding to the number she's just given me, and see if anything on that page makes me want to know what happens next, or what happened just previously. The magic of storytelling is to want to make people listen breathlessly, if you're telling the story orally, or turn the page, if you're writing it. That's why, at the end of every one of my chapters, there's a big fat hook."

"The only thing that makes a best book – I don't like 'bestseller' – is that somebody tells them", he said. People who read my books expect to be entertained, to be forced to turn the page, to learn something on route. Gai-jin is a very easy way of learning about Japanese characters, characteristics, attitudes toward sex, food and politics, which apply today... If people are going to give me two or three weeks of their time, you have to repay them. I have to entertain them, I have to instruct them, and I have to allow them to learn something."

Reception
The book was a best seller.

Proposed adaptation
In 1993 NBC, who had huge success with a TV version of Shogun, announced they would broadcast an eight-hour mini series based on the book for the 1994–95 season. The series would have been a co-production between NBC Productions and RCS Video, the Italian-based international producer and distributor. "Gai-Jin will establish a landmark in international television co-productions and a new relation in the industry between the United States and Europe", said Paolo Gilsenti, managing director of RCS. Clavell and Susan Baerwald were to be executive producers.

Filming was to start February 25, 1995 outside Hiroshima, with a budget of $30 million and a cast including Edward Woodward, Diana Rigg, Ben Cross, Tim Curry and Roddy McDowall and Richard Chamberlain doing the narration. However a week into filming, production was halted. The reason given was an earthquake and rising production costs.

Clavell died in September 1994 and Gai-Jin was his last completed novel (he said he was working on a new one after Gai-Jin was published).

title: Gai-Jin


text:
Javier Otxoa

Javier Otxoa Palacios (30 August 1974 – 24 August 2018) was a Spanish cyclist who was a member of the Kelme cycling team. His name was sometimes spelled Javier Ochoa in media reports.

Road cycling career
In 2000 Otxoa won a mountain stage in the Tour de France on top of the Hautacam on a cold and rainy day. He broke away with Nico Mattan with 155 km to race and dropped him on the col de Marie Blanque. Mattan rejoined him on the descent. Otxoa then dropped him again on the climb to the col de l'Aubisque and rode alone through the col du Soulor with nine minutes' lead as he reached the foot of the Hautacam. He paid for his earlier efforts on the hors categorie but held on to finish with 42 seconds advantage Lance Armstrong.

Accident
In February 2001 a driver of a car hit him and his twin brother Ricardo during training. Ricardo died. Javier survived but was in a coma for a month and became seriously disabled. He continued cycling, however.

Paralympics cycling career
In the 2004 Summer Paralympics he won a gold in the road race/time trial event and a silver in the individual pursuit. Otxoa was disqualified during the preliminary round of the individual pursuit (CP 3) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, for riding too close behind his opponent, Darren Kenny, who had overtaken him. Kenny stated that he was disappointed by this as he would have liked to compete against Otxoa in the final.

At the time of his death in 2018, Otxoa resided in Alhaurín de la Torre, Málaga.

Major results

 * 1996
 * General Classification Circuito Montañés

 * 2000
 * 13th Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 10
 * 2nd Mountains classification
 * 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia

 * 2004
 * 1st Road race/time trial, 2004 Summer Paralympics
 * 2nd Pursuit, 2004 Summer Paralympics

 * 2008
 * 1st time trial, 2008 Summer Paralympics
 * 2nd road race, 2008 Summer Paralympics

title: Javier Otxoa


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Chitinozoan

Chitinozoa (singular: chitinozoan, plural: chitinozoans) are a group of flask-shaped, organic walled marine microfossils produced by an as yet unknown organism. Common from the Ordovician to Devonian periods (i.e. the mid-Paleozoic), the millimetre-scale organisms are abundant in almost all types of marine sediment across the globe. This wide distribution, and their rapid pace of evolution, makes them valuable biostratigraphic markers.

Their bizarre form has made classification and ecological reconstruction difficult. Since their discovery in 1931, suggestions of protist, plant, and fungal affinities have all been entertained. The organisms have been better understood as improvements in microscopy facilitated the study of their fine structure, and it has been suggested that they represent either the eggs or juvenile stage of a marine animal. However, recent research has alternatively suggested that they represent the test of a group of protists with uncertain affinities.

Chitinozoan ecology is also open to speculation; some may have floated in the water column, where others may have attached themselves to other organisms. Most species were particular about their living conditions, and tend to be most common in specific paleoenvironments. Their abundance also varied with the seasons.

Anatomy
Chitinozoa range in length from around 50 to 2000 micrometres. They appear dark to almost opaque when viewed under an optical microscope. Their anatomy is based around the broad chamber, a radially symmetrical region involving a central cavity encased by two layers of a chitin-like substance. The chamber narrows towards the main opening (the aperture), though a circular plug prevents direct contact between the central cavity and its surroundings. This plug may be called an operculum (if it lies at the tip of the aperture) or a prosome (if it lies deep within the narrowed region or neck). The rim of the aperture, known as the collarette, often has a distinctive form or texture.

The base of the chitinozoan lies at the opposite end from the aperture. The base may involve various ornamentation derived from the internal layer. The edge of the base (basal margin) may extend into a sharp radial plate, the carina. Alternatively, it could send out large spines or branches, known as processes. In chitinozoans which attach to substrates or each other in large chains, the center of the base is augmented with apical structures which project down to assist attachment.

External ornamentation is often preserved on the surface of the fossils, in the form of hairs, loops or protrusions, which are sometimes as large as the chamber itself. The range and complexity of ornament increased with time, against a backdrop of decreasing organism size. The earliest Ordovician species were large and smooth-walled; by the mid-Ordovician a large and expanding variety of ornament, and of hollow appendages, was evident. While shorter appendages are generally solid, larger protrusions tend to be hollow, with some of the largest displaying a spongy internal structure. However, even hollow appendages leave no mark on the inner wall of the organisms: this may suggest that they were secreted or attached from the outside. There is some debate about the number of layers present in the organisms' walls: up to three layers have been reported, with the internal wall often ornamented; some specimens only appear to display one such wall layer. The multitude of walls may indeed reflect the construction of the organism, but could be a result of the preservational process.

"Immature" or juvenile examples of chitinozoans have not been found; this may suggest that either they did not "grow", that they were moults (unlikely), or that the fossilisable parts of the organism only formed after the developmental process was complete. However in 2019 a study found that morphological variation of specimens of Desmochitina likely represented a growth series.

Many chitinozoans are found as isolated fossils, but chains of multiple tests, joined from aperture to base, have been reported for all genera. Very long chains twist into helical (spring-shaped) forms. Occasionally, clusters or condensed chains are found, packed in an organic "cocoon".

Classification

Alfred Eisenack's original description of the chitinozoans placed them in three families, spanning seven genera, based on morphological grounds. Further genera were identified, at first on an annual basis, as time progressed. Since its publication in 1931, Eisenack's original classification has been much honed by these additional discoveries, as well as advances in microscopy. The advent of the scanning electron microscope in the 1970s allowed the improved detection of surface ornamentation which is hugely important in identification—as can be appreciated by a comparison of the images on this page. Even the light microscope image here is of far greater quality than could have been achieved earlier in the century, using poorly preserved specimens and less advanced microscopes.

The original three families proposed by Eisenack represented the best classification possible with available data, based largely on the presence or absence of chains of organisms and the chamber's shape. The orders were subsequently revised to conform better to Linnean taxonomy, placing related organisms more closely together. This was made possible as scientific advances permitted the identification of distinctive traits in organisms across Eisenack's groups. Features of the base and neck, the presence of spines, and perforations or connections are now considered the most useful diagnostic features.

Chitinozoans are placed into two orders. The order Operculatifera includes those with an operculum over the aperture and no distinct neck. The order Prosomatifera includes those with a clearly discernable neck and an internal prosome.

Young graptolites
The graptolites are colonial organic walled fossils which also occurred from the Ordovician to the Devonian; only part of their life cycle is known and it is not clear how they reproduced. It has been suggested that the Chitinozoa may represent the pre-sicula stages of graptolites—the period between the colony's sexual reproduction, and the formation of a new colony. This hypothesis appears to be supported by the co-occurrence of graptolite and chitinozoan fossils, whose abundances appear to mirror one another. The similar chemical composition of the fossils has been seized by both sides of the argument. Proponents suggest that the use of the same chemical framework is an indicator that the two may be related. However, this factor means that situations favouring the preservation of one will also tend to preserve the other—and the preparation techniques used to extract the fossils will also favour or disfavour the two groups equally. Therefore, the apparent co-occurrence of the two fossils may merely be an artifact of their similar composition. The hypothesis struggles to explain the continuing abundance of chitinozoans after the middle Devonian, when graptolites became increasingly rare.

Eggs
The test of the Chitinozoa was fixed—there was no scope for any parts of it to move or rotate. This makes it seem likely that the tests were containers, to protect whatever was inside—whether that was a "hibernating" or encysted organism, or a clutch of hatching eggs. There are several arguments behind an association of the chitinozoans with annelids or gastropods, and it is not impossible that the chitinozoans are a convergent phenomenon laid by both groups. In fact, the spirally coiled nature of chitinozoan chains has been used to suggest that they were laid by a spirally coiled organism, such as the gastropods; were this inference true, uncoiled chains could be attributed to the (straight) annelid worms or other organisms.

Recent excavations of the Soom Shale, an Ordovician konservat-lagerstätten in South Africa, have yielded chitinozoans alongside a wide range of other organisms. It has been suggested that if whatever organism created the Chitinozoa was fossilisable, it would be present in the Soom biota—from which gastropods and graptolites are notable in their absence. Most organisms present in the shale can be ruled out for a variety of reasons, but polychaete worms, Promissum conodonts and orthocone cephalopods remain as likely candidates. However, further evidence connecting chitinozoans to any of these groups is circumstantial at best.

Protists
Alfred Eisenack's original guess was that the Chitinozoa were amoebae, specifically the rhizopod order Testacea, since similar chitin-based tests were produced by the extant members of this group. However, the chemistry of these tests differs from that of the fossils, and modern Testacea are almost exclusively fresh-water—an extremely different environment. Within a year, he had abandoned this initial idea.

Arguments put forwards by Obut (1973) proposed that the organisms were one-celled "plants" similar to the dinoflagellates, which would now be grouped into the Alveolata. However, as mentioned previously, spines and appendages are attached from the exterior of the vessel: only animals have the cellular machinery necessary to perform such a feat. Further, no analogy for the cocoon envelope can be found in this kingdom.

The cyst forms of a particular group of ciliates, the tintinnids have been suggested to be affiliated to chitinozoans.

In 2020, exceptionally preserved remains of chitinozoans were described, showing the remains of smaller tests within larger ones, suggesting asexual reproduction.

Ecology
It is not immediately clear what mode of life was occupied by these improbably shaped fossils, and an answer only becomes apparent after following several lines of reasoning.

The fossils' restriction to marine sediments can be taken as sound evidence that the organisms dwelt in the Palæozoic seas—which presents three main modes of life:
 * Infaunal – living within the sediment—the "burrowers"
 * Benthic – dwelling upon the sea floor, perhaps anchored in place—the "sitters"
 * Pelagic – free-floating in the water column—the "drifters"

An infaunal mode of life can be quickly ruled out, as the fossils are sometimes found in alignment with the depositing current; as nothing attached them to the bottom, they must have fallen from the water column.

The ornament of the chitinozoans may cast light on the question. Whilst in some cases a defensive role—by making the vessel larger, and thus less digestible by would-be predators—seems probable, it is not impossible that the protrusions may have anchored the organisms to the sea floor. However, their low-density construction makes this unlikely: perhaps more plausible is that they acted to attach to other organisms. Longer spines also make the organisms more buoyant, by decreasing their Rayleigh number (i.e. increasing the relative importance of water's viscosity)—it is therefore possible that at least the long-spined chitinozoans were planktonic "floaters". On the other hand, the walls of some chitinozoans were probably too thick and dense to allow them to float.

Whilst little is known about their interactions with other organisms, small holes in the tests of some chitinozoans are evidence that they were hosts to some parasites. Although some forms have been reinterpreted as "pock-marks" caused by the disintegration of the diagenetic mineral pyrite, the clustering of cylindrical holes around the chamber—where the flesh of the organism was likely to be concentrated—is evidence for a biological cause. Corals in Gotland with daily growth markings have been found in association with abundant chitinozoans, which allow the detection of seasonal variation in chitinozoan abundance. A peak in abundance during the late autumn months is observed, with the maxima for different species occurring on different dates. Such a pattern is also observed in modern-day tropical zooplankton. The diversity of living habits is also reflected by the depth of water and distance from the shore. Different species are found in highest abundance at different depths. While deeper waters around 40 km from the shoreline are generally the optimal environment, some species appear to prefer very shallow water. On the whole, chitinozoans are less abundant in turbulent waters or reef environments, implying an aversion to such regimes when alive, if it is not an effect of sedimentary focusing. Chitinozoans also become rarer in shallower water—although the reverse is not necessarily true. They cannot survive freshwater input.

Stratigraphic application
Since Alfred Eisenack first recognised and named the group in 1930, the Chitinozoa have proven incredibly useful as a stratigraphic markers in biostratigraphy during the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian periods. Their utility is due to the rapidity of their morphological evolution, their abundance—the most productive samples bearing almost a thousand tests per gram —and the easy identification (due largely to the large variation in shapes) and short lifetimes (<10 million years) of most species. They are also widely distributed and appear in a variety of marine depositional settings, making correlation easier; better still, they can often be recognised in even quite strongly metamorphosed rocks. However, convergence of morphological form to similar environments sometimes leads to the mistaken identification of a species in several areas separated by vast differences in space and time, but sharing a similar depositional environment; clearly, this can cause major problems if the organisms are interpreted as being the same species. Aside from the acritarchs, chitinozoans were the only reliable means of correlating palæozoic units until the late 1960s, when the detailed study of conodonts and graptolites fully unleashed their stratigraphic potential.

The oldest known chitinozoans appear to be phosphatized remains tentatively referred to the genus Eisenackitina. They were recovered from the Middle Cambrian (Stage 5)–age Gaotai Formation, more than 20 million years before the group is found elsewhere in the Ordovician. Chitinozoans appear to have become extinct at the end of the Devonian; rare Carboniferous and Permian remains may represent reworked fossils or fungal spores.

title: Chitinozoan


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Tetracanthus

Tetracanthus (Greek "four spines") is an epithet for several different species:

 * Nandopsis tetracanthus, a fish in the genus Nandopsis
 * Neolamprologus tetracanthus, a fish
 * Scatophagus tetracanthus, a fish in the genus Scatophagus
 * Zelus tetracanthus, an insect in the genus Zelus
 * Echinocactus tetracanthus, synonym of Parodia erinacea, a cactus in the genus Parodia

title: Tetracanthus


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Irbid

Irbid (إِربِد), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a population of around 2,003,800. As a city, Irbid is Jordan's third-largest, after Amman and Zarqa.

Irbid is located about 70 km north of Amman on the northern ridge of the Gilead, equidistant from Pella, Beit Ras (Capitolias), and Um Qais, and approximately 20 km south of the Syrian border.

Irbid was built on successive Early Bronze Age settlements and was possibly the biblical Beth Arbel and the Arbila of the Decapolis, a Hellenistic league of the 1st-2nd century BCE. The population of Irbid swelled in the late 19th century, and prior to 1948 it served as a significant centre of transit trade.

The city is a major ground transportation hub between Amman, Syria to the north, and Mafraq to the east. The Irbid region is also home to several colleges and universities. The two most prominent universities are Jordan University of Science and Technology and Yarmouk University.

Name
The original spelling was probably ארבאל, a name that also appears in Hosea 10:14. This name persisted among Jews and was later transmitted to the Arabs. Greek sources from the same periods also confirm this, often featuring a final 'a', which might indicate an official version of the name.

History

Artifacts and graves in the area show that Irbid was inhabited in the Bronze Age. Pieces of pottery and wall stones found at Tell Irbid were estimated to be made in the year 3200 B.C. A city wall dated to around 1300-1200 BC.

 * Phase III (c. 3200 BC)
 * Phase II (c. 1300-1150 BC)
 * Phase I (c. 1150-800 BC)

In the Hellenistic period, Irbid, then known as Arabella was a major trade center. Before the advent of Islam, Arabella was famous for producing some of the best wines in the ancient world. The area in the region had extremely fertile soil and moderate climate, allowing the growing of high quality grapes.

After the Muslim conquests, the city came under the rule of the Rashidun Caliphate and became known as Irbid, at which time it shifted from wine to olive oil production. Wheat was also an important product in the area.

In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named as Irbid, situated in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Juhma, part of the Hauran Sanjak. It had 72 households and 35 bachelors; all Muslim. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products; including wheat (22,500 akçe), barley, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and bee-hives; in addition to a market toll. The total tax was 38,116 akçe.

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Irbid (Arbela) as being a place with Sunni Muslim.

The Jordanian census of 1961 found 44,585 inhabitants in Irbid.

Irbid today combines the bustle of a provincial Middle Eastern town and the youthful nightlife of a typical college town. The city is home to four major universities: Yarmouk University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid National University and Jadara University. In addition, it is home for two campuses of Balqa Applied University and several private colleges. University Street, which defines the western border of the Yarmouk University campus, is popular with locals as well as with the occasional foreign visitors who stop by to relax in any of its numerous restaurants and cafés that open late into the night.

Though not usually a major tourist destination itself, Irbid is home to two notable museums: the Museum of Jordanian Heritage and the Jordan Natural History Museum, both on the campus of Yarmouk University. Furthermore, Irbid's strategic location in northern Jordan makes it a convenient starting point for tourists interested in seeing the northern Jordan Valley; visiting Umm Qais, Beit Ras (Capitolias), Pella, Ajloun, Umm el-Jimal and other historical sites; or traveling on to Syria.

Geography
Irbid is situated in northern Jordan, on a fertile plateau. As of 2010, the city of Irbid encompassed an area of 30 km2, with residential areas making up 74.3% of the total area, followed by the Services areas occupying 9.5%, then Empty or unoccupied areas of 7.7%, then 4.2% is classified as Commercial areas, and 3.3% as Industrial areas, and finally gardens occupied 1% of the total city area.

Border cities

 * Um Qais
 * Al Koura
 * Mafraq
 * Ar Ramtha

Climate
Irbid has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), common in the Levant region. Summers are hot at days with warm nights, while winters are cool and wet, with two snowy days on average.

Districts of Greater Irbid Municipality
Irbid is divided into 23 city districts forming smaller cities within the metropolitan sphere of influence of Irbid:

Cities, Towns, and Villages
Many villages surround the city of Irbid including:

 * Birqish-Kufr Rakeb (برقش - كفر راكب)
 * Irbid (اربد)
 * Aṭ-Ṭaībah (الطيبة)
 * Natfeh (ناطفه)
 * Habaka (حبكا)
 * Kufr-Rahta (كفررحتا)
 * Al-Mazar Al-Shamali (المزار الشمالي)
 * Hareema (حريما)
 * Al'aal (علعال)
 * Kufr Asad (كفرأسد)
 * Kufr Aan (كفرعان)
 * Jumha (جمحة)
 * Kufryuba (كفر يوبا)
 * Zahar (زحر)
 * Qum (قمّ)
 * Sammou' (سمّوع)
 * Izmal (زمال)
 * Kufrelma (كفر الماء)
 * Sawm (سوم)
 * Saydoor (صيدور)
 * Kufr Soom (كفر سوم)
 * Sama al-Rousan (سما الروسان)
 * Ibser Abu Ali
 * Assarieh (الصريح)
 * Aidoon (ايدون)
 * Al Husn (الحصن)
 * Baleela (بليلة)
 * Beit Ras (بيت راس)
 * Dowgarah (دوقرة)
 * En-Nu`aymeh (النعيمة)
 * Habaka (حبكا)
 * Houfa Al-Westiyyah
 * Qumaim (قميم)
 * Bushra (Jordan) (بشرى)
 * Huwwarah (حوارة)
 * Imrawah
 * Al Ramtha (الرمثا)
 * Sal (سال)
 * Samad (صمد)
 * Al Shajara (الشجرة)
 * Al Turrah (الطرة)
 * Fou'ara (فوعرة)
 * Zoubia ( زوبيا)
 * Jdaita (جديتا)
 * Rehaba (رحابا)
 * Kufor Alma (كفرالماء )
 * Kharja (خرجا)
 * Dair Yousef (دير يوسف)
 * Dair Abos'eed (دير أبو سعيد)
 * Kufor Kefia (كفر كفية)
 * Summer (سمر)
 * E'nbeh (عنبة)
 * Bayt Yafa (بيت يافا)
 * Dair Esse'neh (دير السعنة)
 * Mandah (منده)
 * Maru (Irbid) (مرو)
 * Zabda (زبدة)
 * Bait Idis (بيت ايدس)
 * Makhraba (مخربا)
 * Al-Murajjam
 * Al Mughayer (المغير)

Hospitals

 * Abu Obaida Hospital
 * Al-Najah Hospital
 * Al-Qawasmi Hospital
 * Al-Ramtha Hospital
 * Al-Yarmouk Hospital
 * Ibn-Alnafees Hospital
 * Irbid Islamic Hospital
 * Irbid Speciality Hospital
 * King Abdullah University Hospital
 * Muaath Bin Jabal Hospital
 * Princess Badeea Hospital
 * Princess Basma Hospital
 * Princess Rahma Hospital
 * Princess Raya Hospital
 * Rahbat Al-Wardieh Hospital
 * Roman Catholic Hospital

Education
As of 2007, there were 70,000 registered students in Irbid's 10 universities, community colleges and institutes, of whom 8,000 were international students from 47 countries. This high concentration of institutions of higher education has played a key role in carving a unique identity of the city. The largest universities in Irbid are:

 * Yarmouk University
 * Jordan University of Science and Technology
 * Irbid National University
 * Al-Balqa` Applied University (Irbid campus)
 * Jadara University

Private Schools in Irbid (sorted by alphabetical order):
 * Adventist School
 * Al-Arabiya Model School
 * Al-Manara Schools      [P]
 * Al-Nahda Private School [P]
 * Alwatany center
 * American University School of the Middle East
 * Dar Al Uloum Schools   [P]
 * Greek Catholic School
 * Irbid International Schools
 * Irbid Model School     [P]
 * Islamic School [P] (Al-Madares Al-Islamiya)
 * Jeel Al Jadeed School
 * Jordan National Schools [P]
 * Khawla Bint Alazwar [P]
 * Rosary Sisters School
 * Shoa'a Alammel School [P]
 * Yarmouk University Model School   [P]
 * Al Sareeh Secondary School For girls [P]

Economy

Most of the city's economy is based on the services sector, that is directly or indirectly related to the higher education institutions in the city, as an example there are 26 book publishing companies in the city. The number of internet cafes per capita is the highest in the world that took Irbid to the Guinness Book of World Records. Irbid is considered the cultural capital of Jordan. There is one Qualifying Industrial Zone in Irbid.

Sports
The Irbid-based club Al-Hussein (Irbid) was ranked fourth in the Jordanian football premier league in the year 2008. Its home matches are held in Prince Hasan Youth City's Stadium. The other major football club in Irbid is Al-Arabi. Established in 1945, it is one of the oldest athletic clubs in the country. As of 2008, there are 22 cultural and sport clubs registered in Irbid. Irbid hosted the 1999 Pan Arab Games.

Twin towns – sister cities
Irbid is twinned with:

 * 🇹🇷 Gaziantep, Turkey
 * 🇨🇳 Zhengzhou, China

General bibliography

 * El-Khouri, Lamia, "Roman and Byzantine Settlements in the Region of West Irbid," Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139,3 (2007), 166–185.
 * El-Khouri, Lamia, "Roman and Byzantine Settlements in the Region of West Irbid," Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139,3 (2007), 166–185.
 * El-Khouri, Lamia, "Roman and Byzantine Settlements in the Region of West Irbid," Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 139,3 (2007), 166–185.

title: Irbid


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File:Nightwish Angels Fall First.jpg

Summary
Nightwish: "Angels Fall First" album cover

title: File:Nightwish Angels Fall First.jpg


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Shilka

Shilka may refer to:
 * Shilka (river), a river in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia
 * Shilka (town), a town in Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia
 * Shilka, alternative name of ZSU-23-4 Shilka, a Russian self-propelled radar-guided anti-aircraft weapon system

title: Shilka