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William Crawford (soldier)

William Crawford (September 2, 1722 – June 11, 1782) was an American military officer and surveyor who worked as a land agent alongside George Washington while Washington was a teenager. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War, Lord Dunmore's War and the American Revolutionary War arising to the rank of Colonel. In 1782, his unit was attacked, and while he and his surgeon escaped for less than one day, Crawford was eventually captured where he was tortured and burned at the stake by Crawford's former soldier turned British agent, Simon Girty, and Captain Pipe, a Chief of the Delaware Nation.

Early career
Crawford was born on September 2, 1722, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Before a 1995 genealogical study by Allen W. Scholl, his birth year was erroneously estimated to be 1732. He was a son of William Crawford Sr and his wife Honora Grimes, who were Scots-Irish farmers. William Crawford Sr was a Presbyterian of Scottish descent from Coleraine, Ireland in what is today Northern Ireland and Honora Grimes was a Presbyterian of Scottish descent from Ballymoney, Ireland in what is today Northern Ireland. After his father's death in 1736, Crawford's mother married Richard Stephenson. Crawford had a younger brother, Valentine Crawford, plus five half-brothers and one half-sister from his mother's second marriage. Crawford's first cousin, Benjamin Lewis, led a campaign along with Thomas Jefferson in December 1768 on the need for expanded surveys in the Kanawha and Ohio region after the ratification of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in November. Crawford under the direction of Washington eventually led subsequent surveys of the Kanawha, Ohio and Kentucky region in the years afterwards through 1773. In 1742 Crawford married one Ann Stewart, with whom he had one child, a daughter also named Ann, in 1743. Apparently she died in childbirth or soon after, and on January 5, 1744, he married Hannah Vance, said to have been born in Pennsylvania in 1723. Their son John married one Effie Grimes; Ophelia married William McCormick, who served as a Captain during the Northwest Indian Wars, and Sarah who married Major William Harrison who was captured and killed by Captain Pipe. Simon Girty, before he tortured and killed Crawford, lied and told Crawford his son-in-law was alive and being held prisoner by a separate Shawnee, who had already been killed.

In 1749, Crawford became acquainted with George Washington, who at the time was still a teenager and just recently appointed as the surveyor of Culpeper County. Crawford, more seasoned, accompanied Washington on several surveying trips. In 1755, Crawford commissioned in the Virginia militia and served in the Braddock expedition holding the rank of ensign. Like Washington, he survived the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela. During the French and Indian War, he served in Washington's Virginia Regiment, guarding the Virginia frontier against Native American raiding parties. In 1758, Crawford was a member of General John Forbes's army which captured Fort Duquesne, where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now stands. He continued to serve in the military, taking part in Pontiac's War in 1763.

In 1765 Crawford built a cabin on the Braddock Road along the Youghiogheny River in what is now Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. His wife and three children joined him there the following year. Crawford supported himself as a farmer and fur trader. When the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois opened up additional land for settlement, Crawford worked again as a surveyor, locating lands for settlers and speculators. Governor Robert Dinwiddie had promised bounty land to the men of the Washington's Virginia Regiment for their service in the French and Indian War. In 1770 Crawford and Washington travelled down the Ohio River to choose the land to be given to the regiment's veterans. The area selected was near what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Crawford also made a western scouting trip in 1773 under the approval of Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia which was led by Thomas Bullitt. The expedition of over 40 men included Joshua Morris, Capt. Matthew Arbuckle, John Alderson, and Colonel John Field. Washington could not accompany them because of the sudden death of his stepdaughter. During the expedition, Arkbuckle and Alderson found the Kanawha Burning Springs, who Thomas Hanson in 1774 described as "one of the wonders of the world. Put a blaze of pine within 3 or 4 inches of the water, and immediately the water will be in a flame, & Continue so until it is put out by the Force of wind. The Springs are small and boil continually like a Pot on the Fire; the water is black & has a Taste of Nitre."

At the outbreak of Dunmore's War in 1774, Crawford received a promotion to major from Lord Dunmore. He built Fort Fincastle at present Wheeling, West Virginia. He also led an expedition which destroyed two Mingo villages (near present Steubenville, Ohio) in retaliation for Chief Logan's raids into Virginia.

Crawford's service to Virginia in Dunmore's War was controversial in Pennsylvania, since the colonies were engaged in a bitter dispute over their borders near Fort Pitt. Crawford had been a justice of the peace in Pennsylvania since 1771, first for Bedford County, then for Westmoreland County when it was established in 1773. Beginning in 1776, Crawford served as a surveyor and justice for Virginia's short-lived Yohogania County.

American Revolution
When the American Revolutionary War began, Crawford initially was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 5th Virginia Regiment on February 13, 1776. The 5th Virginia was raised in the counties around Richmond and originally based in Williamsburg, where Crawford joined the regiment to participate in training of the recruits. Later that year, Crawford was promoted to Colonel of the 7th Virginia Regiment to fill a vacancy when Colonel William Daingerfield resigned his command of that unit.

A number of histories incorrectly state that Crawford raised the 7th Virginia Regiment near Fort Pitt at the beginning of the revolution. The 7th Virginia initially was raised in southeastern Virginia near Gloucester Court House. The confusion may be due to Crawford's role in raising another regiment near Fort Pitt, the 13th Virginia, which was redesignated the 9th Virginia in 1778 and later renumbered to the 7th Virginia in 1781 while it was stationed at Fort Pitt. Crawford commanded the 13th Virginia for a time in 1777.

Many histories also inaccurately state that Crawford led the 7th Virginia at the Battle of Long Island and the following retreat across New Jersey. Crawford's own words contradict this viewpoint in a letter written to George Washington from Williamsburg, VA on September 20, 1776: "I Should have com to new York with those Reget ordred their but the Regt I belong to is Ordred to this place."  Regimental histories of the 7th Virginia along with other historical references also reveal that the 7th Virginia did not participate in the battle of Long Island. Similar uncertainty surrounds narratives that state Crawford was with Washington at the crossing of the Delaware and the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Recent historians have sought to correct these inaccuracies, such as H. Ward in his biography of Revolutionary soldiers from Virginia: "It is disputed whether Crawford served in any part of the New York-New Jersey campaigns of 1776-1777…"

Crawford apparently left the command of the 7th Virginia in November 1776. A farewell letter to Crawford from the officers of the 7th Virginia was published in the Virginia Gazette newspaper on November 22, 1776. He responded with a letter of his own in the same edition of the Gazette, bidding farewell to the 7th Virginia.

He returned to his home on the frontier late in 1776 and was actively engaged in raising the 13th Virginia Regiment, which was authorized by Congress in September 1776 with recruiting beginning in December 1776 in the District of West Augusta of Virginia   (this region was claimed by Virginia and encompassed parts of present day western Pennsylvania and West Virginia). Crawford wrote to Washington from Fredricktown Maryland on February 12, 1777, to inform him he was coming from the frontier, where the officers of the regiment already had recruited about 500 men. He was on his way to Congress to seek funding for arms and supplies and then planned to immediately return home. The Continental Congress resolved on February 17, 1777: "That 20,000 dollars be paid to Colonel William Crawford for raising and equipping the regiment under his command, part of the Virginia new levies."

The 13th Virginia, or West Augusta regiment, was raised on the condition that it remain in the West in the event of an Indian War. However, with Washington's need for reinforcements in the East, the Continental Congress on January 8, 1777, requested the governor of Virginia to order the West Augusta regiment to join Washington in New Jersey. But with increased attacks on frontier settlements by Native Americans allied with the British in early 1777, a Council of War was held at Fort Pitt on March 24, 1777, that decided the 13th Virginia should not be deployed to the East at that time. Crawford wrote to Congress on April 22, 1777: "Honorable Sir—Having received orders to join his Excellency General Washington in the Jerseys with the battalion now under my command, which orders I would willingly have obeyed, had not a council of war held at this place (proceedings of which were transmitted to Congress by express) resolve that I should remain here until further orders." However, Colonel William Russell was now commander of the 13th Virginia and on June 9, 1777 a detachment of the regiment under Major Charles Simms marched eastward to Philadelphia. Colonel Russell apparently led another detachment of the 13th Virginia eastward in July after he was inoculated for smallpox. Likewise, Crawford may have brought a number of recruits with him when he joined Washington in July or August 1777.

During the Philadelphia campaign, Crawford was placed in command of a scouting detachment as part of the light infantry corps for Washington's army. General William Maxwell commanded the light infantry and Crawford was selected to serve as one of the field officers under Maxwell. William Walker, a member of the light infantry, described Crawford in the typical attire of a frontier rifleman: "…Colonel Crawford with his leather hunting shirt, pantaloons and Rifle…" The British forces, after landing near Head of Elk, Maryland, approached Philadelphia from the south through Delaware. Washington sent Maxwell's Light Infantry to delay the British march along the main road to Wilmington at a crossing of the Christiana Creek known as Cooch's Bridge. On September 3, 1777, the fighting was intense between Maxwell's light infantry and the British vanguard, as John Chilton of the 3rd Virginia Regiment recorded in his Diary: "3d Septr. - The enemy advanced as high as the red Lion, they were met with by our advanced party under Colo Crawford – the engagement was pretty hot. several on each side was wounded and some slain." Being outnumbered and outgunned, the light infantry was driven from Cooch's Bridge and fell back to the main American lines near Wilmington, Delaware.

Crawford continued to serve in the light infantry corps at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. On October 11, 1777, militia units from the Virginia counties of Prince William, Culpepper, Loudoun, and Berkley were formed into a brigade and placed under Crawford's command. However, as the war on the western frontier intensified late in 1777, Crawford was transferred to the Western Department of the Continental Army. On November 20, 1777, Congress requested that Washington "send Col. Wm. Crawford to Pittsburg to take command, under Brig. Gen. Hand, of the Continental troops and militia in the Western Department." He served at Fort Pitt under Generals Edward Hand and Lachlan McIntosh. Crawford was present at the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778, and helped to build Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh that year. Resources were scarce on the frontier, however, and Fort Laurens was abandoned in 1779. In 1780, Crawford visited Congress to appeal for more funds for the western frontier. In 1781, he retired from military service.

Crawford Expedition
In 1782, General William Irvine persuaded Crawford to lead an expedition against enemy Native American villages along the Sandusky River. Before leaving, on May 16 he made out his will and testament. His son John Crawford, his son-in-law William Harrison, and his nephew and namesake William Crawford also joined the expedition.

Crawford led about 500 volunteers deep into American Indian territory with the hope of surprising them. However, the Indians and their British allies at Detroit had learned about the expedition in advance, and brought about 440 men to the Sandusky to oppose the Americans. After a day of indecisive fighting, the Americans found themselves surrounded. During a confused retreat, Crawford and dozens of his men were captured. The Delaware Nation tribes tortured and executed many of the men in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre earlier in the year, in which 96 peaceful Christian Indian men, women, and children had been murdered by Pennsylvanian militiamen. Crawford's execution was brutal, and was overseen by Simon Girty, a former soldier under Crawford's command who deserted his post after being wanted for high treason in 1778 for acting as an enemy of the state while serving in the militia (the order was signed by Timothy Matlack, and George Bryan). Crawford was tortured for at least two hours before he was burned at the stake. His nephew and son-in-law were also captured and executed. The war ended shortly thereafter, but Crawford's horrific execution was widely publicized in the United States, worsening the already strained relationship between Native Americans and European Americans.

Legacy
In 1982, the site of Colonel Crawford's execution was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1877, the Pioneer Association of Wyandot County erected an 8.5 ft (2.6 m) Berea sandstone monument near the site. The Ohio Historical Society also has an historical marker nearby.

Crawford County, Ohio, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, Crawford County, Michigan, and Crawford County, Indiana, are named for William Crawford. So too is Colonel Crawford High School in North Robinson, Ohio.

There is a replica of Crawford's cabin in Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Crawford's half-brother, James Stevenson, was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate.

title: William Crawford (soldier)


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User:Jiminy Krikkitt

A history and language student at the University of Adelaide who's finally found the perfect way to procrastinate.

Personal, useful or just plain hard-to-type links:

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 * — because boilerplate welcome texts are patronising, but typing out all the helpful links is a RPITA.

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title: User:Jiminy Krikkitt


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Catch (baseball)

In baseball, a catch occurs when a fielder gains secure possession of a batted ball before it bounces, and maintains possession until they voluntarily or intentionally release the ball. When a catch occurs, the batter is out (said to have flied out), and runners are in jeopardy of being put out if any fielder with possession of the ball reaches their starting base before they do.

Unlike in American football and other sports, neither secure possession for a time nor for a number of steps is enough to demonstrate that a catch has occurred. A fielder may, for example, appear to catch and hold a batted ball securely, take a few more steps, collide with a wall or another player, and drop the ball. This is a catch.

Umpires signal a catch with the out signal: a fist raised into the air, often with a hammering motion; if there is doubt about it, the umpire will likely shout "That's a catch!" On a close no-catch, the umpire will signal with the safe signal, which is both arms swept to the side and extended, accompanied by the call "No catch, no catch!" with an emphasis on the word "no".

To avoid ambiguity with the common term catch meaning any action that gains possession of a ball, some may say that a fielder gloved a thrown or batted, bouncing ball.

Illegal catches
The fielder must catch the ball with their hand or glove. If the fielder uses their cap, protector, pocket or any other part of their uniform in getting possession, it is not a catch. Therefore, a foul ball which directly becomes lodged in the equipment of the catcher (other than their glove) is not considered a catch and hence not a foul tip.

It is not a catch if the batted ball hits a fielder, then hits a member of the offensive team or an umpire, and then is caught by another defensive player.

A catch is legal if the ball is finally held by any fielder before it touches the ground. Runners may leave their bases the instant the first fielder touches the ball. A fielder may reach over a fence, a railing, a rope, or a line of demarcation to make a catch. They may jump on top of a railing or a canvas that may be in foul ground. Interference should not be called in cases where a spectator comes into contact with a fielder and a catch is not made if the fielder reaches over a fence, a railing, a rope. The fielder does so at their own risk.

If a fielder, attempting a catch at the edge of the dugout, is "held up" and kept from an apparent fall by a player or players of either team and the catch is made, it shall be allowed.

title: Catch (baseball)


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Malazan Book of the Fallen

Malazan Book of the Fallen is a series of epic fantasy novels written by the Canadian author Steven Erikson. The series, published by Bantam Books in the U.K. and Tor Books in the U.S., consists of ten volumes, beginning with Gardens of the Moon (1999) and concluding with The Crippled God (2011). Erikson's series presents the narratives of a large cast of characters spanning thousands of years across multiple continents.

His plotting presents a complicated series of events in the world upon which the Malazan Empire is located. Each of the first five novels is relatively self-contained, in that each resolves its respective primary conflict; however, many underlying characters and events are interwoven throughout the works of the series, binding it together. The Malazan world was co-created by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in the early 1980s as a backdrop to their GURPS roleplaying campaign. In 2005, Esslemont began publishing his own series of six novels set in the same world, beginning with Night of Knives. Although Esslemont's books are published under a different series title – Novels of the Malazan Empire – Esslemont and Erikson collaborated on the storyline for the entire sixteen-book project and Esslemont's novels are considered to be as canonical and integral to the series' mythos as Erikson's own.

The series has received widespread critical acclaim, with reviewers praising the epic scope, plot complexity and characterizations, and fellow authors such as Glen Cook (The Black Company) and Stephen R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) hailing it as a masterwork of the imagination, and comparing Erikson to the likes of Joseph Conrad, Henry James, William Faulkner, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Setting
The Malazan world has no official unified name, although Steven Erikson has jokingly called it Wu.

The Malazan world is a globe.

In an interview with a Spanish fantasy blog, Erikson said that the hand-drawn version of the Malazan world which he had at home was too large to be photocopied; however, he also said that the maps created by fans were coming close.

The Malazan planet has at least four moons. Although only one is easily visible from the surface and known to the general population, three other moons are perpetually occluded from the sun's light. Early historical texts suggested that they were not always so difficult to see. Constellations visible from the world included the Roads of the Abyss and the Dagger.

Geography
There are at least six continents on the Malazan world according to Midnight Tides. However, Return of the Crimson Guard suggests twelve major landmasses exist. The definition of what constitutes a "continent", "subcontinent" or large island in the world has never been firmly defined.

The largest continent on the Malazan world has no overall name. This landmass's eastern region (comprising roughly one-third of the entire landmass) is known as Seven Cities. This region is separated from the rest of the landmass by the vast Jhag Odhan. To the west of this lies the kingdoms of Nemil and Perish, whilst to the south-west lies the substantial Shal-Morzinn Empire.

South of Seven Cities lies the Falari Isles and the small continent of Quon Tali. Quon Tali is the heartland of the Malazan Empire, which was born on an island just off its southern coast. The island of Drift Avalii is located some distance off its south-western coast.

The narrow Strait of Storms divides Malaz Island from the continent of Korelri. Korelri is a large landmass comprising two subcontinents, Fist and Stratem. Fist consists of a vast number of islands and a part of the adjacent landmass. The Aurgatt Range divides the lands of Fist from Stratem. Stratem consists of several peninsulas, divided from one another by a large inlet known as the Sea of Chimes.

South-west of Korelri and Quon Tali, beyond a vast field of floating ice, lies the small island-continent of Jacuruku. Jacuruku is a land of harsh extremes, with burning deserts on the western side and verdant jungle on the eastern.

East of Seven Cities and north-east of Quon Tali, across Seeker's Deep, lies the continent of Genabackis. Genabackis is a narrow but long continent stretching for many hundreds of leagues from north to south. To the east of Genabackis lies the Genostel Archipelago, comprising one large island (itself large enough to be counted as a subcontinent) and many smaller ones. Further east still is the Cabal Archipelago, which may lie closer to the far western coast of Seven Cities.

Due east of Quon Tali and south-east of Genabackis lies the continent of Assail. This is a long landmass comprising two distinct regions, Assail proper (which is regarded as a land of unrelenting hostility) and a more civilised peninsula area in the south, known as Bael.

East of Assail, south of western Seven Cities and south-west of Jacuruku, lies the large continent of Lether, named for its largest nation. Isolated from the rest of the world by distance and the immense ice fields near Jacuruku, Lether had little contact with other lands and nations prior to the arrival of the renegade Malazan 14th Army.

The Kharkanas Trilogy
The Kharkanas Trilogy is a prequel series written by Steven Erikson after the completion of the main series. The series deals with the Tiste before their split into darkness, light and shadow. It sheds light on the events that are often hinted at in the background of Malazan Book of the Fallen. Many of the important Tiste characters from the Malazan Book of the Fallen make an appearance like Anomander Rake, Draconus, Spinnock Durav and Andarist.

Path to Ascendancy
The Path to Ascendancy is a prequel series set in the world of Malazan, written by Ian Cameron Esslemont. The stories deal with the early adventures of Dancer and Kellanved (Dorin and Wu, in this series) and their eventual rise to power on Quon Tali.

Malazan Book of the Fallen
This is the main series, written by Steven Erikson, and commenced, in terms of publication order, before any of the other series. This first novel, Gardens of the Moon, was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award. The second novel, Deadhouse Gates, was voted one of the ten best fantasy novels of 2000 by SF Site. See the structure section below for more information.

Novels of the Malazan Empire
Six-part novel series set in the world of Malazan. It was written by Ian Cameron Esslemont. The novels cover events simultaneous with the Book of the Fallen, like the mystery of the Crimson Guard, the succession of the Malazan Empire, the situation on Korel and Jacuruku and the mystery of Assail. Some of these events are hinted at during the course of the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Characters that appear throughout the novels are Kyle, Greymane and the avowed members of the Crimson Guard like Shimmer, Blues, K'azz, Skinner and Cowl.

The Witness Trilogy
Planned trilogy written by Steven Erikson. It will be a sequel to the main series featuring Karsa Orlong and his quest to destroy civilization.

The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach (novellas)
The first three novellas were published together as The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 1. The Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, Volume 2 includes the second three novellas.
 * Blood Follows (2002)
 * The Healthy Dead (2004)
 * The Lees of Laughter's End (2007)
 * Crack'd Pot Trail (2009)
 * The Wurms of Blearmouth (2012)
 * The Fiends of Nightmaria (2016)
 * Upon a Dark of Evil Overlords (2020)

Reading order
Erikson and Esslemont recommend reading the books in order of publication. Tor.com published a reading order based on the approximate chronological order of events in the series, which the authors did not consider suitable as a reading order for a first-time reader. The publication order of the series is as follows:

Conception
The Malazan world was originally created by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont in 1982 as a backdrop for role-playing games using a modified version of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. By 1986, when the GURPS system had been adopted by Erikson and Esslemont, the world had become much larger and more complex, approaching its current scope. It was then developed into a movie script entitled Gardens of the Moon. When this was not successful in finding interest, the two writers agreed to each write a series set in their shared world. Steven Erikson wrote Gardens of the Moon as a novel in the period 1991-92 but it was not published until 1999. In the meantime, he wrote several non-fantasy novels. When he sold Gardens of the Moon, he agreed to a contract for an additional nine volumes in the series. The contract with Bantam UK was worth £675,000 making it "among the largest fees ever paid for a fantasy series".

Ian Cameron Esslemont's first published Malazan story, the novel Night of Knives, was released as a limited edition by PS Publishing in 2004 and as a mass-market hardcover by Bantam UK in 2007. The second novel, Return of the Crimson Guard, was published in 2008, with a limited PS Publishing edition preceding the larger-scale Bantam UK release. The third novel, Stonewielder, was released on 11 December 2010 in the UK by Bantam, and 11 May 2011 in the US by TOR. Orb Sceptre Throne and Blood and Bone, the fourth and fifth novels, were both published in 2012, and Assail, the sixth, was published in 2014.

After finishing the two main series, Erikson and Esslemont continued on to further projects in the Malazan universe. While writing the last novels in The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Erikson decided that his next project, The Kharkanas Trilogy, would be a "trilogy traditional in form," saying the following:"'If the Malazan series emphasized a postmodern critique of the subgenre of epic fantasy, paying subtle homage all the while, the Kharkanas Trilogy subsumes the critical aspects and focuses instead on the homage.'"The first novel in the trilogy, Forge of Darkness, was released in 2012, and the second novel, Fall of Light, was released in April 2016. Information on the third novel, Walk in Shadow, is forthcoming. As for Esslemont, the first novel in his Path to Ascendancy trilogy, Dancer's Lament, was released in February 2016.

At one point, Steven Erikson indicated that the two authors would collaborate on The Encyclopedia Malaz, an extensive guide to the series, which was to be published following the last novel in the main sequence. In an interview on a later date, however, he mentioned talks underway with an RPG 20D group to produce a game adapted from the Malazan universe, in which case the maps and notes created by Erikson and Esslemont would be released through installments or expansions rather than through the publishing of an encyclopedia.

Structure
The series is not told in a linear fashion. Instead, several storylines progress simultaneously, with the individual novels moving backwards and forwards between them. As the series progresses, links between these storylines become more readily apparent. During a book signing in November 2005, Steven Erikson confirmed that the Malazan saga consists of three major story arcs, equating them to the points of a triangle.

The first plotline takes place on the continent of Genabackis where armies of the Malazan Empire are battling the native city-states for dominance. An elite Malazan military unit, the Bridgeburners, is the focus for this storyline, although as it proceeds their erstwhile enemies, the Tiste Andii led by Anomander Rake and the mercenaries commanded by Warlord Caladan Brood, also become prominent. The novel Gardens of the Moon depicts an attempt by the Malazans to seize control of the city of Darujhistan. Memories of Ice, the third novel released in the sequence, continues the unresolved plot threads from Gardens of the Moon by having the now-outlawed Malazan armies uniting with their former enemies to confront a new, mutual threat known as the Pannion Domin. Toll the Hounds, the eighth novel in the series, revisits Genabackis some years later as new threats arise to Darujhistan and the Tiste Andii who now control the city of Black Coral.

The second plotline takes place on the subcontinent of Seven Cities and depicts a major native uprising against Malazan rule. This rebellion is known as 'the Whirlwind'. The second novel released in the sequence, Deadhouse Gates, shows the outbreak of this rebellion and focuses on the rebels' relentless pursuit of the main Malazan army as it escorts some 40,000 refugees more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) across the continent. The story of the pursuit, and the event itself, is referred to as the Chain of Dogs. The fourth novel, House of Chains, sees the continuation of this storyline with newly arrived Malazan reinforcements – the 14th Army – taking the war to the rebels. The 14th's exploits earn them the nickname, 'The Bonehunters'.

The third plotline was introduced with Midnight Tides, the fifth book released in the series. This novel introduces a previously unknown continent where two nations, the united tribes of the Tiste Edur and the Empire of Lether, are engaged in escalating tensions, which culminate in open warfare. The novel takes place contemporaneously with earlier books in the sequence and the events in it are in fact being related in flashback by a character from the fourth volume to one of his comrades (although the novel itself is told in the traditional third-person form).

The sixth book, The Bonehunters, sees all three plot strands combined, with the now-reconciled Malazan army from Genabackis arriving in Seven Cities to aid in the final defeat of the rebellion. At the same time, fleets from the newly proclaimed Letherii Empire are scouring the globe for worthy champions to face their immortal emperor in battle, in the process earning the enmity of elements of the Malazan Empire. The seventh novel, Reaper's Gale, sees the Malazan 14th Army arriving in Lether to take the battle to the Letherii homeland. The ninth and tenth novels, Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, pick up the storyline on the Lether continent and deal with the activities of the 14th Army following their successful 'liberation' of the Letherii people and the revelation that the K'Chain Che'Malle species and Forkrul Assail species have returned. The 14th Army is attempting to deal with the peril that the Crippled God has caused with his attempts to poison the warrens and to wake Burn.

Ian Cameron Esslemont's novels are labeled as Novels of the Malazan Empire, not as parts of the Malazan Book of the Fallen itself, and deal primarily with the Malazan Empire, its internal politics and characters who only play minor roles in Erikson's novels. His first novel, Night of Knives, details events in Malaz City on the night that the Emperor Kellanved was assassinated. The second, Return of the Crimson Guard, investigates the fall-out in the Malazan Empire from the devastating losses of the Genabackan, Korelri and Seven Cities campaigns following the events of The Bonehunters. Esslemont's third novel, Stonewielder, explores events on the Korelri continent for the first time in the series and focuses on the often-mentioned, rarely seen character of Greymane. The fourth novel, Orb Sceptre Throne, revisits Genebackis once again in the wake of Erikson's Toll the Hounds, and features several well known characters seen in Erikson's novels. Esslemont's fifth novel, Blood and Bone visits the continent of Jacuruku and the sixth, Assail, set on the continent of Assail, serves as a closing chapter and coda for the entire series.

Influences
In a general review of The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, edited by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn, Erikson fired a shot across the bow of "the state of scholarship in the fantastic as it pertains to epic fantasy," taking particularly to task James's opening lines in Chapter 5 of that volume. Erikson uses a handful of words from that chapter as an epigraph for a quasi-autobiographical essay in The New York Review of Science Fiction. James's sentences read in full:

""J. R. R. Tolkien said that the phrase 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit' came to his unconscious mind while marking examination papers; he wrote it on a blank page in an answer book. From that short sentence, one might claim, much of the modern fantasy genre emerged. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–5) (henceforth LOTR) looms over all the fantasy written in English—and in many other languages—since its publication; most subsequent writers of fantasy are either imitating him or else desperately trying to escape his influence.""

Erikson writes, "But epic fantasy has moved on, something critics have failed to notice." He goes on,

""One example of this can be gleaned from my own beginnings as a writer of fantasy, which I suspect was commonplace among my colleagues. In my youth, I sidestepped Tolkien entirely, finding my inspiration and pleasure in the genre through Howard, Burroughs, and Leiber. And as with many of my fellow epic fantasy writers, our first experience of the Tolkien tropes of epic fantasy came not from books, but from Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying games ... As my own gaming experience advanced, it was not long before I abandoned those tropes ... Accordingly, my influences in terms of fiction are post-Tolkien, and they came from conscious responses to Tolkien (Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series) and unconscious responses to Tolkien (Cook's Dread Empire and Black Company series)."

Erikson concludes, "So, Professor James, when you say 'since [Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings]... most subsequent writers of fantasy are either imitating him or else desperately trying to escape his influence'—sorry. You're flat-out wrong."

Themes
The Malazan series contains many themes around socio-economic inequality and social injustice throughout such as gender equality with Erikson stating "It occurred to us that it would create a culture without gender bias so there would be no gender-based hierarchies of power. It became a world without sexism and that was very interesting to explore." as well as the inevitability of and role of art in civilizational collapse and many other themes rooted in a postmodernist and post-structuralist deconstruction of the fantasy genre and magical realism.

Magic
Magic in the Malazan series is accomplished by tapping the power of a Warren or Hold, from within the body of the mage. Effects common to most warrens include enchantment of objects (investment), minor healing, large-scale blasts and travel through warren across great distances in a short period of time. Other effects are more specific to each warren. For example, Thyr is the warren of light, Telas is the warren of fire, Serc is the warren of Air, and Denul is the warren of healing. The specific uses of this power can vary depending on the ingenuity of the user. Only a minority of humans can access warrens, usually tapping and working with a single one, with High Mages accessing two or three. Two notable exceptions to this are the High Mage Quick Ben who can access seven at any single time out of his repertoire of twelve (due to his killing of and subsequent merging with the souls of eleven other sorcerers), and Beak who can access all the warrens (although he seems to have a cognitive disability). Certain Elder races have access to warrens specific to their race which seem to be significantly more powerful and cannot be blocked by the magic-deadening ore otataral. Examples of this phenomenon are Tellann, representing fire, for the T'lan Imass, and Omtose Phellack, representing ice, for the Jaghut. Further, three aspects of Kurald for each of the Tiste races: Kurald Galain, representing Dark, for the Tiste Andii; Kurald Emurlahn, representing Shadow, for the Tiste Edur; and Kurald Thyrllan, representing Light, for the Tiste Liosan.

Alternatively, a more basic form of magic can be harnessed by using or capturing natural spirits of the land, elements, people, or animals. A form of this method is also utilized when the power of an ascendant or god is called upon or channeled, although in most cases this is also linked with the warren of that being.

Soletaken and D'ivers
Some characters within the Malazan series are able to veer into animal form (shapeshifting). Characters which veer into a single animal are called Soletaken. Examples of Soletaken include Anomander Rake, the Son of Darkness (dragon) and Treach/Trake, a god of war (tiger). D'ivers can veer into a pack of animals. Prominent examples of D'ivers include Gryllen (rats, also known as the Tide of Madness) and Mogora (spiders).

Cards and Tiles
Cards are from the Deck of Dragons while the elder Tiles belong to the Tiles of the Hold. They are similar in that they are used to get information about present and future events. They are used separately on two different continents and both are not known about contiguously except by very rare people such as Bottle, a squad mage in Tavore's 14th Army. Houses (Deck of Dragons) and Holds (Tiles of the Hold) usually relate to Warrens (Deck) and Holds (Tiles). The difference between these two is marked by the progressive evolution of magic. As magic evolves, Tiles and Cards become active or inactive. Usually the two do not overlap, except in a few instances where elder realms have become active (the Beast Hold, mentioned in Memories of Ice and Midnight Tides).

Deck of Dragons
The Deck of Dragons resembles a Tarot card deck in that it consists of cards that divine the future. The difference is that a real Deck of Dragons adjusts itself to the changing circumstances of the pantheon. If an entity ascends or dies, the deck will change to reflect this fact. The pictures on the cards reflect the gods/ascendants that each is made to represent. Not all cards are active on all continents; for example, Obelisk is referred to as inactive on Seven Cities until partway through Deadhouse Gates.

Tiles of the Hold
As an alternative and older version of the Deck of Dragons, the Tiles of the Holds are also used for divination. Their use is restricted to the continent of Lether, where the influence of the Jaghut warren Omtose Phellack halted the evolution of magic in a less developed state. The Tiles of the Hold are cast rather than read.

Critical reception
The series was positively received by critics, who praised the epic scope, plot complexity and the introspective nature of the characterization, which serve as social commentary. Fellow author Glen Cook has called the series a masterwork of the imagination that may be the high water mark of the epic fantasy genre. In his treatise written for The New York Review of Science Fiction, fellow author Stephen R. Donaldson has also praised Erikson for his approach to the fantasy genre, the subversion of classical tropes, the complex characterizations, the social commentary — pointing explicitly to parallels between the fictional Letheras Economy and the US Economy — and has compared him to the likes of Joseph Conrad, Henry James, William Faulkner, and Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Reviewing for SF Site, Dominic Cilli says, The Malazan Book of the Fallen raises "the bar for fantasy literature", that the world building and the writing are exceptional. Cilli claims the series is written for the "most advanced readers out there.", going on to state that "Even they will have to make two passes through all ten books to fully comprehend the myriad of plotlines, characters and various settings that Erickson presents to us." Reading Erikson's "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" might be "the most challenging literary trial" a reader has ever tried, yet "the payoff is too enormous to ignore and well worth taking on the endeavor. Steven Erikson doesn't spoon feed his readers. He forces you to question and think on a level that very few authors would even dare for fear of finding and perhaps losing an audience."

title: Malazan Book of the Fallen


text:
Talk:Baculites

Image
I would be happy to submit an image if I could figure out how to do it. --David C. Wade (User:12.1.19.118)

 * Response on talk pages. --DanielCD 13:25, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Ooland "Baculites"
The section on "Baculites from Ooland" needs to be eliminated along with the image; these are indeed fossil cephalopods from Ooland but are unrelated to Baculites and do not date from the Cretaceous. This section and image could be moved to a stub for "orthocone," "orthoceras," or "nautiloid" instead, as long as all ocurrences of the word "Baculites" were replaced with something like "Orthoceras" or "orthocone nautiloid."

Article Name?
Why is the article named Baculite instead of Baculites? Abyssal leviathin 02:55, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

You are right. I moved the page to the appropriate genus title. --DanielCD 13:44, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Vertical?
Strikes me as a lot of nonsense regardless of arguments given. The surface sculpture consisting of slanted sinuous ribs and forwardly slanted aperture simply don't indicate such. Of course that fact that some have speculated this should be included, along with reasons for a horizontal orientation. J.H.McDonnell (talk) 16:58, 18 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Find supporting references and the article can be adjusted as needed per what the literature says.-- Kev min  § 18:41, 18 September 2010 (UTC)

Species list
While certain species, such as the type and maybe a couple of more, that can be well discussed may add tenor to the article, it seems having a long list of names serves no purpose other than than to add length. Perhaps the topic even belongs under a subheading in some other section. J.H.McDonnell (talk) 23:42, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Baculites


text:
Loris Stecca

Loris Stecca (born 30 March 1960) is an Italian former world champion boxer. He is the older brother of former featherweight world champion of boxing, Maurizio Stecca.

Professional career
Stecca held the WBA super bantamweight title for three months in 1984. He defeated Leo Cruz to win the title by twelfth round knockout, then lost it to Victor Callejas by a knockout in round eight at Mario Morales coliseum, then known as Mets Pavilion, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Stecca won five fights in a row, all by knockout, putting himself on title contention once again. In a rematch with Callejas, held in November 1985 in Rimini, Italy, however, he lost by a sixth round knockout. Ahead on the scorecards, Stecca received a punch that lifted him off the floor, sending him to the air before he landed on his knees. He got up, but his corner soon stopped the fight, and the punch made the highlights of many sports news shows.

Amateur career
Stecca was the 1979 Italian Featherweight Champion.

Attempted murder
Stecca was sentenced on 2 June 2015 to eight years in jail for the attempted murder of business partner Roberta Cester who was allegedly stabbed by the former world champion boxer during a 2013 gym confrontation.

title: Loris Stecca


text:
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear", is an 1849 poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 1850, Sears' lyrics were set to "Carol", a tune written for the poem the same year at his request, by Richard Storrs Willis. This pairing remains the most popular in the United States, while in Commonwealth countries, the lyrics are set to "Noel", a later adaptation by Arthur Sullivan from an English melody.

History

Edmund Sears composed the five-stanza poem in common metre doubled during 1849. It first appeared on December 29, 1849, in The Christian Register in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sears served the Unitarian congregation in Wayland, Massachusetts, before moving on to a larger congregation at First Church of Christ, Unitarian, in Lancaster, also known as The Bulfinch Church, for its design by Charles Bulfinch. After seven years, he suffered a breakdown and returned to Wayland. He wrote It Came Upon the Midnight Clear while serving as a part-time preacher in Wayland. Writing during a period of personal melancholy, and with news of revolution in Europe and the United States' war with Mexico fresh in his mind, Sears portrayed the world as dark, full of "sin and strife", and not hearing the Christmas message.

Sears is said to have written these words at the request of his friend, William Parsons Lunt, pastor of United First Parish Church, Quincy, Massachusetts, for Lunt's Sunday school. One account says the carol was first performed by parishioners gathered in Sears' home on Christmas Eve, but to what tune the carol was sung is unknown as Willis' familiar melody was not written until the following year.

According to Ken Sawyer, Sears' song is remarkable for its focus not on Bethlehem, but on his own time, and on the contemporary issue of war and peace. Written in 1849, it has long been assumed to be Sears' response to the just ended Mexican–American War. The song has been included in many of the Christmas albums recorded by numerous singers in the modern era.

Melody

In 1850, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, wrote the melody called "Carol". This melody is most often set in the key of B-flat major in a 6/8 time signature. "Carol" is still the most widely known tune to the song in the United States.

In Commonwealth countries, the tune called "Noel", which was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan, is the usual accompaniment. This tune also appears as an alternative in The Hymnal 1982, the hymnal of the United States Episcopal Church.

Lyrics
The full song comprises five stanzas. Some versions, including the United Methodist Hymnal and Lutheran Book of Worship, omit verse three, while others (including The Hymnal 1982) omit verse four. Several variations also exist to Sears' original lyrics.

title: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tollis

Tollis 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

Tollis
Someone's genealogical research. --jpgordon{gab} 17:23, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Yep. Delete.  Postdlf 19:05, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Wikipedia is not a genealogical site.  Geogre 19:06, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. There's no serious scholarship here and no real examination of the surname. Inky 01:46, 27 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/Tollis


text: Category:French astronomers

title: Category:French astronomers


text:
Schismatrix

Schismatrix is a science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling, originally published in 1985. The story was Sterling's only novel-length treatment of the Shaper/Mechanist universe. Five short stories preceded the novel and are published together with it in a 1996 edition entitled Schismatrix Plus. Schismatrix was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1985, and the British Science Fiction Award in 1986.

Plot
The main character, Abelard Lindsay, is born in the ancient lunar colony Mare Serenitatis Circumlunar Corporate Republic, into a family of aristocratic Mechanists, but after being sent to the Shaper's Ring Council, he receives specialized and experimental diplomatic training and gives his loyalty to the Shapers' cause. He, his best friend and fellow Shaper protégé Philip Constantine, and the beautiful and passionate Preservationist Vera Kelland lead an insurgency against the rulers of the republic, who use Mechanist technology to prolong their lives. The three of them influence the younger generation towards the Shapers' cause in their pursuit of Preservationism, a movement devoted to the preservation of Earth-bound human culture. Kelland and Lindsay agree to kill themselves as a political statement, but Lindsay reneges on his suicide pact after Kelland is dead. Constantine attempts to kill Lindsay but instead kills a Mechanist, creating a scandal.

Constantine is allowed to remain in the Republic because his knowledge is needed to keep the Republic's environment from self-destructing, but Lindsay is exiled to the Mare Tranquilitatis Circumlunar People's Zaibatsu. This lunar colony, which collapsed due to an environmental crisis, has become a refuge for "sundogs", criminals, dissidents and wanderers. There he meets Kitsune, a woman modified by the Shapers to be an ideal prostitute. Apparently a servant of the Geisha Bank, a powerful money center, she in fact rules the bank through the remotely operated body of her now brain-dead predecessor. In his months on the Zaibatsu, Lindsay uses his diplomatic talents to organize a complex fraud involving a fictitious theatrical event and befriends an old Mechanist, Fyodor Ryumin. However, eventually the fraud takes on a life of its own, and the new-formed Kabuki Intrasolar becomes a legitimate artistic and business venture. Lindsay cannot remain to enjoy the profits, though: Constantine has in the meantime overthrown the Corporate Republic's government. Constantine has abandoned Preservationism to become a Shaper militant, and sends an assassin to present a stark choice: become Constantine's pawn or be killed by the assassin. Lindsay manages to escape with a group of Mechanist pirates, in the process aiding Kitsune to take power of the Geisha Bank openly.

Lindsay joins a ship called the Red Consensus, which doubles as the nation-state of the Fortuna Miners' Democracy, after the failure of the previously independent asteroid mining Mechanist cartel. The FMD, financed by more wealthy Mechanists cartels, annexes the asteroid Esairs XII, home to the Mavrides family, a small shaper clan. Lindsay meets Nora Mavrides, a fellow diplomat. Nora informs Abelard that the subjects of the diplomatic training are in disgrace due to the high incidence of treason and defection from their ranks. The two of them work to promote peaceful coexistence between the Shaper militants and the Mechanist pirates, but after several months of conflict, espionage, murders and sabotages, open fighting breaks out. Mavrides and Lindsay, now lovers, eventually murder their companions to save one another. Before the asteroid's life-support systems shut down after the battle, the alien Investors arrive.

Peace finally comes to the Schismatrix after the aliens arrive. The alien Investors are obsessed with trade and wealth, and at first encourage humanity to focus on business instead of war. Trade flourishes and the Shapers and Mechanists put their differences aside. Lindsay and Mavrides become powerful Shaper leaders, thanks to their early contact with the Investors. The Investor Peace does not last forever, though, and tensions between Shapers and Mechanists eventually start to rise when the Investors play the factions against one another. Ultimately Philip Constantine rises to power and takes control of the Ring Council, ousting Mavride's and Lindsay's pro-détente faction. Lindsay runs away from what he sees as a hopeless battle, but Nora decides to stay in the Rings, where they had built their lives and family, to fight Constantine and his militant government.

Lindsay escapes to the Mechanist cartels in the asteroid belt, where Kitsune has again secretly taken power. There Lindsay works ceaselessly for decades to bring about the détente he believes will reunite him with Mavrides. Using a recording of an Investor's ship queen involved in some taboo activities to blackmail the alien, Lindsay contributes to the creation of Czarina-Kluster, neither Shaper nor Mechanist, which quickly becomes one of the richest and most powerful states in the solar system. Lindsay's partner, Wellspring, plans to use the colony to promote his post-humanist ideology, while Lindsay himself seeks to bring Nora to the new colony. However, Constantine discovers Mavride's plan to defect and forces her to kill herself. Consumed with hatred, Lindsay for the first time confronts his former friend directly, arranging a duel with him using an ancient alien artifact called the Arena. While Lindsay wins, the Arena leaves both him and Constantine catatonic.

Years after the duel, Lindsay wakes up on his old home, now renamed the Neotenic Cultural Republic. Constantine's militant Shaperism has been replaced by a Preservationist government, dedicated to remaining a cultural preserve where normal, unmodified human life is preserved. As part of the treatment that restored Lindsay's mind, his original Shaper diplomatic training has been removed. Having returned to a Preservationist world, and now restored to a fully human state, Lindsay decides to break with his past and embrace new dreams. He becomes a post-humanist and returns to Czarina-Kluster to work with Wellspring's 'Lifesiders' clique.

In the years during Lindsays' catatonia, the expansion of settlements throughout the Solar System has seen an economy in huge surplus; with abundant wealth, expensive and prolonged terraforming efforts are first being considered. While Wellspring seeks to terraform Mars, Lindsay attempts to create an abyssal ecology on Europa. Constantine's Shaper family has been disgraced by Constantine's defeat, and Lindsay manages to convert them to his cause, even Constantine's "daughter" Vera (created from DNA taken from Vera Kelland decades before). As time goes on, eventually Czarina-Kluster, in its turn, faces social collapse. With his Lifesiders faction's research still in its infancy, Lindsay and Vera Constantine secretly break the Interdict and bring back samples of Earth's abyssal life, providing the breakthroughs that make the Europa project a success.

As the Lifesiders transform themselves into fish-like forms capable of survival in Europa's oceans, Lindsay visits the now-cured Philip Constantine. Constantine believes that Lindsay will never see Europa, that he will leave in the end rather than see his cause through to fruition, just as he always had. He also reveals that Vera Constantine's DNA comes as much from Lindsay as Vera Kelland. Philip reconciles with Abelard, then commits suicide.

When Lindsay returns to Europa, he finds that Philip is right: he cannot bring himself to undergo the transformation. At that moment, an alien Presence, who had followed Vera Constantine since her mission in an alien embassy, reveals itself. The being explains that it has been devoted to exploring and exulting in the variety of experiences of the universe, and invites Lindsay to join it. Lindsay accepts and is transformed into a bodiless form, to explore the infinite mysteries of the universe for eternity.

Characters

 * Abelard Malcolm Tyler Lindsay: Naturally born in a Mechanist society, Lindsay undergoes an experimental intensive Shaper diplomatic training that gives him an enhanced capability for manipulation and deception. His ambition and knack for self-preservation see him frequently play a pivotal role in the Schismatrix.
 * Alexandrina: Lindsay's first wife. An aristocratic Mechanist much older than he was.
 * Kitsune: Head of the Geisha Bank. Becomes an entire ecosystem that consists entirely of her skin and body parts.
 * Margaret Juliano: Shaper scientist, she pioneers the 'Superbright' gene-line, with a natural intelligence far above even the shaper norm. The instability of the Superbrights brings suspicion on Juliano and Shaper gene-lines are limited to an IQ of 200.
 * Nora Mavrides: Lindsay's second wife. She believes deeply in the Shaper cause and chooses to fight the Mechanists when they begin to attack her state even when the situation is hopeless.
 * Philip Khouri Constantine: Former friend of Lindsay. Becomes obsessed with obtaining power and tries to bring power to the Shapers through radical means.
 * Vera Constantine: Shaper daughter of Philip Constantine, cloned from genetic material of Vera Kelland.
 * Vera Kelland: Aristocrat who also trained with Lindsay and Constantine. She commits suicide in an attempt to defy the aristocratic Republic that she and Lindsay came from.

Races

 * Humanity: Though the Earth remains a human civilization, those that colonised the rest of the Solar System have used technology and genetic engineering to such a degree that they arguably have 'evolved' into multiple new species.
 * The Investors: Massive reptilian-esque aliens, interstellar traders who closely guard the secret of their starflight. Charge excessive fares for 'humanity' to travel to other star systems to visit and study the nineteen known alien species.
 * The Gasbags: intelligent spacefaring gas entities.

Locations
Abelard Lindsays' travels in the book mirrors the expanding colonisation of the Solar System.
 * Circumlunar Space Stations (Concatenates): a series of large Space Stations orbiting the Earth's Moon. The most "Earth like" of the interstellar settlements, with arable land and strong gravity (likely centrifugal), these were mankind's first permanent habitation outside of Earth. Ten exist in total, each named after the lunar area mined to construct them.
 * Mare Serenitatis Circumlunar Corporate Republic a large space station named after the lunar feature Mare Serenitatis (the "Sea of Serenity"). Many references are made to the station's fecundity; its principal industry was likely agriculture. Later renamed "Neotenic Cultural Republic"
 * Mare Tranquilitatis People's Circumlunar Zaibatsu a large space station named after the lunar feature Mare Tranquilitatis (the "Sea of Tranquility"). The station is in some disrepair; a proportion so badly affected by radiation it has been walled off. Its main industries are agriculture (oxygen farmers), pharmaceutical (the black medicals) and prostitution (the Geisha Bank). Its main currency is credit with the Geisha bank.
 * Cirumsolar Asteroid Worlds: built in the Asteroid Belt, principally dominated by Mechanist factions.
 * Dembowska Cartel: an entity ostensibly governed by Michael Carnassus, a revered pioneer of an alien embassy, the Cartel is controlled and monitored by 'the Wallmother', the character Kitsune who has abandoned human form for an ever-growing mass of flesh. The station becomes a centre of Investor knowledge when Abelard Lindsay begins publishing his 'Journal'. Its principal industry is manufacturing (cryonics), fuelled by alien trade secrets gleaned from Carnassus.
 * Czarina-Kluster People's Corporate Republic The permanent residence of a disgraced Investor Queen, Czarina-Kluster is an ad hoc city-state of both Mechanist and Shaper construction.
 * Esairs XII, a small asteroid inhabited by a Shaper task force, involved in mining and manufacturing.
 * Ring Systems. Saturn's Rings are dominated by the Shaper faction, governed by the Ring Council. In the beginning of the novel, the rings are under a Mechanist siege.
 * Goldreich-Tremaine Council State Home of the Mavrides and Vetterling gene-lines, Goldreich-Tremaine flourishes during détente while the Shaper 'military-academic' complex has a privileged relationship with the alien Investors.
 * Skimmer's Union Council State Based in orbit of Titan, the Skimmer's Union mined the gas of Titan for organic gases.
 * Europa: the colonization of Europa begins in earnest with the end of the novel 'Schismatrix' - aquatic species based on those illegally retrieved from the Earth prepare the moon for inhabitation by posthuman 'angels', genetically engineered to survive Europa's harsh conditions.
 * Terraform-Kluster. Founded after the financial ruin of Czarina-Kluster, principally devoted to the project of terraforming Mars.

Vocabulary

 * Shapers: Group that alters the body through genetic modification and specialized mental training. They originate from the colonies orbiting Jupiter and Saturn.
 * Mechanists: Group that modifies bodies through computer software and external alterations. The Mechanists have been at war with the Shapers for decades, fighting over whose technology is more powerful and efficient. They originate from the asteroid belt's colonies.
 * Moondocks: A derisive nickname for the Circumlunar habitats which were the first centers of life in space. They are now considered obsolete relics.
 * Schismatrix: the system that includes the entire Shaper/Mechanist universe. The term is first used when the advent of détente opens the possibility of the Shaper and Mechanist factions coexisting harmoniously; a splintered posthuman settlement of the Solar System.
 * Sundog: A nomad, without strong group affiliation and the permanent residency it affords. The label probably arose as the circumsolar asteroid belt would be the main territory inhabited by these itinerants. Criminals, Refugees, political exiles and the disadvantaged would adopt this lifestyle out of necessity, criminals may prefer its anonymity.
 * Wirehead: A person who ignores or has abandoned his physical body in favor of permanent virtual reality.
 * Lobster: A mechanist faction which permanently installs their bodies into spacesuits so that they can live in the vacuum of space.
 * Looks: A language of facial expressions. To an untrained observer, they appear to be an endless series of sidelong glances.
 * Geneline: A political family structure used by Shapers. Genelines trade genetic material, power, money and influence with one another as part of the subtle interplay of Shaper politics.
 * Unplanned: A Shaper epithet for humans born naturally. Typically, such beings are unmodified genetically—but all such people are considered inferior.
 * Cicada: A person from the Czarina-Kluster

Ideologies

 * Preservationism: Contends that technology is destroying the essence of humanity. Places strict limits on anti-human technologies, advocates study of human art and history, and even for some the end of the Interdict with Earth.
 * Détente: Belief that in the face of alien contact that humanity should present a united front. Followers of détente called for increased cooperation and contact between Shapers and Mechanists. Détente ended with renewed war and the rise of the Cataclysts.
 * Militarism: Dogmatic loyalty to one's own faction, that underlies the cold war between the Shapers and Mechanists. Outright warfare is rare, as the fragility of life-supporting environments in the Solar System makes mechanized warfare an exercise in mutually assured destruction. Instead, economic warfare, political rivalry and espionage are the more socially acceptable forms of conflict.
 * Cataclysm: This ideology was first promulgated by the Superbrights. It demanded an end to artificial social controls and destruction of authority. Eventually devolved into terrorism and resulted in lingering animosity towards the Superbrights.
 * Zen Serotonin: A cult that uses biofeedback (principally neurochemical-deploying biomonitors and sleep-monitoring beds) to maintain zen-like calm and detachment. The "Nonmovement" (as it is sometimes called) looks to slow the process of societal change, and has a strong focus on social order.
 * Galacticism: A belief that mere loyalty to species was obsolete, and worked for faster than light technologies, interstellar colonization and increased contact with aliens. While not inherently militant, the resources required to pursue these goals demanded major faction support and so indirectly increased militarism as Shaper and Mechanist Galacticists competed with one another.
 * Post-Humanism: Post-humanists believe in Prigoginic Levels of Complexity and its surrounding philosophy and science. Sterling only hints at many of the tenets of post-humanism, but a key goal of post-humanists is terraforming, which they consider to be a primal duty of intelligent beings. Post-humanists are supporters of détente. Wellspring is a key ideologue for the post-humanist philosophy.

Reception
Dave Langford reviewed Schismatrix for White Dwarf #77, and stated that "Besides being highly exciting and crammed with ingenious ideas, Schismatrix paints a moving Big Picture of humanity getting a grip on its own evolution. Lindsay, however unheroically, helps nudge it the right way. Excellent sense-of-wonder stuff."

J. Michael Caparula reviewed Schismatrix in Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 80. Caparula described it as "a jolting, kaleidoscopic space saga that O.D.'s on imagination".

Schismatrix Plus
Additional short stories set in the Shaper/Mechanist universe were originally collected in the 1989 short story collection Crystal Express, and republished with Schismatrix as Schismatrix Plus (1995) with a new introduction, "The Circumsolar Frolics":
 * "Swarm" (1982; set in 2248) – Shaper Captain Simon Afriel joins a fellow researcher in an interstellar embassy, an asteroid belt inhabited by colonies of insect-like aliens. Afriel also briefly appears in "Twenty Evocations" and in Schismatrix. This was Sterling's first published story.
 * "Spider Rose" (1982; set in 2283) – An ancient Mechanist from the fringes of the solar system buys something new from the Investors: a pet. Spider Rose herself appears very briefly during happier times in Schismatrix.
 * "Cicada Queen" (1983; set in 2354) – A Shaper named Landau comes of age politically inside Czarina-Kluster, a habitat independent of faction where backroom deals and social cliques dominate, and whose stability is becoming increasingly fragile. Wellspring, a visionary rogue Mechanist and leading proponent of the post-humanist philosophy, is Landau's mentor. Schismatrix later expands on the background of both Wellspring and C-K, which he helped found.
 * "Sunken Gardens" (1984; set in 2554) – Individuals from various factions compete in a test of terraforming skills in a crater on the Martian surface. This story expands on the influence and power of Terraform-Kluster and its leader, the enigmatic Lobster King (who first appears in "Cicada Queen").
 * "Twenty Evocations" (1984; originally published as "Life in the Shaper/Mechanist Era: Twenty Evocations"; set around 2220–2400) – An experimental story built of fragments from the life of a Shaper named Nikolai Leng.

title: Schismatrix


text: Category:German theologians

title: Category:German theologians


text: Category:1497 births

title: Category:1497 births


text: Category:1497 deaths

title: Category:1497 deaths


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Petroșani

Petroșani (Hungarian: Petrozsény; German: Petroschen) is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 31,044 as of 2021. The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century.

History
"Pietros" means "stony, rocky" in Romanian. The city of Petroșani was founded in the 17th century (around 1640) with the name Petrozsény. In 1720, an Austrian cartographer mentions that the entire Jiu Valley was intensely populated and settlements could be seen from one end to the other.

At the 1818 census, Petroșani had 233 inhabitants, while the entire Valley counted 2,550. During this time, the main activity of the people was shepherding and no urban settlement had appeared yet. Around 1840, coal surface mining began in Petroșani, Vulcan, and Petrila.

After Romania joined the Allies of World War I in 1916, Romanian troops attacked the town during the Battle of Transylvania. A battalion of miners defended Petroșani in a last stand battle, refusing to give up the town. The Romanian occupation, however, did not last long: the united Austro-Hungarian and German troops regained control of the town shortly, in which guerrilla warfare, led by the local Viktor Maderspach, played an important role.

After the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, and the declaration of the Union of Transylvania with Romania, the Romanian Army took control of Petroșani in December 1918, during the Hungarian–Romanian War. The town officially became part of the territory ceded to the Kingdom of Romania in June 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon. During the interwar period, the city was the headquarters of plasa Petroșani, within Hunedoara County. After 1950, the city became the headquarters of Petroșani raion within Hunedoara Region. Following the administrative reform of 1968, Petroșani became once more part of Hunedoara County.

The population experienced massive growth only in the 20th century during the communist regime, as many workers were brought in from other parts of the country.

As other cities from the Jiu Valley, throughout the second half of the 19th century and most of the 20th century, most activities in the city revolved around the mines. But after the fall of the communist regime, many mines were closed, and the city, just like the whole valley, was forced to diversify the economy. This has also led to a significant population decline: Petroșani is one of the Romanian cities which has experienced the fastest population loss from the 1990s onwards.

Geography
Petroșani is located in the Jiu Valley, which is the entrance to the Retezat National Park and provides access to the Vâlcan, Parâng, and Retezat mountains. The city administers four villages: Dâlja Mare (Nagydilzsa), Dâlja Mică (Kisdilzsa), Peștera (Zsupinyászuvölgy) and Slătinioara (Szlatinova községrész).

Landmarks

 * Sfinții Arhangeli Church ("Holy Archangels Church"), built in the 18th century.
 * The "Ion G. Duca" school, built in 1935
 * The Hungarian school, built in 1873 by Germans and inhabited by a group of 50 Catholic nuns from a monastery near Munich
 * The Old Theater, built in 1886
 * The Lutheran Church, built between 1892 and 1896
 * The Mining Museum, built in 1920
 * The actual Sports School building, built in 1919
 * The "I. D. Sîrbu" Theater Hall, built in 1905
 * The Justice Court building, built in 1910
 * The actual Students theater, built in 1922
 * The Unitarian Church, built between 1924 and 1928
 * The University of Petroșani, built in 1948
 * The Jiul Shopping Center, re-opened in December 2007 after renovation, initially built in the early 1980s

Social events
The following social events take place in Petroșani:
 * the Dramatic Theater offers a wide variety of performance every week
 * the annual international folklore festival
 * the Folk Music Festival Cântecul Adâncului... ("Song of the Deep")
 * artistic summer camps organized by the Petroșani University
 * art, numismatic and caricatures exhibitions
 * piano and violin recitals, offered by the Music School
 * the Petroșani Days festival, usually organized in autumn
 * the annual Underground Valley Graffiti Fest

Demographics
In 1850, Petroșani was a small village, the vast majority of its 581 inhabitants being Romanian. According to the 1910 census, from 12,193 inhabitants 7,748 (63.54%) were Hungarian, 3,250 Romanian (26.65%) and 831 (6.82%) German. At the 2002 census, 83.3% of the city's inhabitants were Romanian Orthodox, 7.2% Roman Catholic, 3.7% Reformed, 2.2% Pentecostal, 0.8% Greek-Catholic, and 0.9% belonged to another religion. At the 2011 census, 90.59% of inhabitants were Romanians, 6.54% Hungarians, 1.82% Roma, and 0.35% Germans. At the 2021 census, Petroșani had a population of 31,044.

Notable people

 * Gabriel Apetri (born 1981), footballer
 * Cosmin Chetroiu (born 1987), luger
 * Aristică Cioabă (born 1971), football player and manager
 * Iuliu Farkaș (1923–1984), footballer
 * Cristina Adela Foișor (1967–2017), international chess master
 * Nicolae Guță (born 1967), Roma manele singer
 * Raluca Haidu (born 1994), artistic gymnast
 * Monica Iacob Ridzi (born 1977), politician
 * Cornel Irina (born 1976), footballer
 * Iosif Kalai (born 1980), footballer
 * Alex Leon (1907–after 1944), graphic artist and painter
 * Cătălin Mulțescu (born 1976), footballer
 * Călin Peter Netzer (born 1975), film director
 * Răzvan Oaidă (born 1998), footballer
 * Anamaria Ocolișan (born 1997), artistic gymnast
 * Mircea Popa (born 1962), footballer
 * Cosmin Rațiu (born 1979), rugby union player
 * Lóránd Szatmári (born 1988), footballer
 * Andreea Țîrle (born 2002), handball player
 * Marin Tudorache (born 1968), football player and manager
 * Vlad Tudorache (born 1995), footballer
 * Dacian Varga (born 1984), footballer
 * Patricia Vizitiu (born 1988), handball player

title: Petroșani


text:
User talk:Chadofborg

Talk to me. --Chadofborg 17:29, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Chadofborg


text:
User:Neschek/sandbox

Whatever I'm working on or thinking of working on goes here.

testing sig --  — I. Neschek |  talk 21:17, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Steingarten
Remind me to create an article about food writer Jeffrey Steingarten if nobody gets to it first.

Rhodiola Rosea
Maybe something on R. Rosea

Newfoundland's Cultural Magazine
The Great Eastern sandbox article

title: User:Neschek/sandbox


text:
BIOS parameter block

In computing, the BIOS parameter block, often shortened to BPB, is a data structure in the volume boot record (VBR) describing the physical layout of a data storage volume. On partitioned devices, such as hard disks, the BPB describes the volume partition, whereas, on unpartitioned devices, such as floppy disks, it describes the entire medium. A basic BPB can appear and be used on any partition, including floppy disks where its presence is often necessary; however, certain filesystems also make use of it in describing basic filesystem structures. Filesystems making use of a BIOS parameter block include FAT12 (except for in DOS 1.x), FAT16, FAT32, HPFS, and NTFS. Due to different types of fields and the amount of data they contain, the length of the BPB is different for FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS boot sectors. (A detailed discussion of the various FAT BPB versions and their entries can be found in the FAT article.) Combined with the 11-byte data structure at the very start of volume boot records immediately preceding the BPB or EBPB, this is also called FDC descriptor or extended FDC descriptor in ECMA-107 or ISO/IEC 9293 (which describes FAT as for flexible/floppy and optical disk cartridges).

DOS 2.0 BPB
Format of standard DOS 2.0 BPB for FAT12 (13 bytes):

DOS 3.0 BPB
Format of standard DOS 3.0 BPB for FAT12 and FAT16 (19 bytes), already supported by some versions of MS-DOS 2.11:

DOS 3.2 BPB
Format of standard DOS 3.2 BPB for FAT12 and FAT16 (21 bytes):

DOS 3.31 BPB
Format of standard DOS 3.31 BPB for FAT12, FAT16 and FAT16B (25 bytes):

DOS 3.4 EBPB
Format of PC DOS 3.4 and OS/2 1.0-1.1 Extended BPB for FAT12, FAT16 and FAT16B (32 bytes):

DOS 4.0 EBPB
Format of DOS 4.0 and OS/2 1.2 Extended BPB for FAT12, FAT16, FAT16B and HPFS (51 bytes):

DOS 7.1 EBPB
Format of short DOS 7.1 Extended BIOS Parameter Block (60 bytes) for FAT32:

Format of full DOS 7.1 Extended BIOS Parameter Block (79 bytes) for FAT32:

NTFS
Format of Extended BPB for NTFS (73 bytes):

exFAT BPB
exFAT does not use a BPB in the classic sense. Nevertheless, the volume boot record in sector 0 is organized similarly to BPBs.

title: BIOS parameter block


text: Category:1560 deaths

title: Category:1560 deaths


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Hating America

Hating America may refer to:

 * Anti-Americanism, the hate, dislike of, or, opposition to, the governmental policies of the United States of America
 * Hating America: A History, a 2004 book by Barry Rubin
 * Hating America: The New World Sport, a 2004 book by John Gibson

title: Hating America