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Chavín culture

The Chavín culture was a pre-Columbian civilization, developed in the northern Andean highlands of Peru around 900 BCE, ending around 250 BCE. It extended its influence to other civilizations along the Peruvian coast. The Chavín people (whose name for themselves is unknown) were located in the Mosna Valley where the Mosna and Huachecsa rivers merge. This area is 3150 m above sea level and encompasses the quechua, suni, and puna life zones. In the periodization of pre-Columbian Peru, the Chavín is the main culture of the Early Horizon period in highland Peru, characterized by the intensification of the religious cult, the appearance of ceramics closely related to the ceremonial centers, the improvement of agricultural techniques and the development of metallurgy and textiles.

The best-known archaeological site for the Chavín culture is Chavín de Huántar, located in the Andean highlands of the present-day Ancash Region. Although Chavín de Huántar may or may not have been the center or birthplace of the Chavín culture, it was of great importance and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Achievements
The chief example of architecture is the Chavín de Huántar temple. The temple's design shows complex innovation to adapt to the highland environments of Peru. To avoid the temple's being flooded and destroyed during the rainy season, the Chavín people created a successful drainage system. Several canals built under the temple acted as drainage. The Chavín people also showed advanced acoustic understanding. During the rainy season water rushes through the canals and creates a roaring sound that emulates a jaguar, a sacred animal. The temple was built of white granite and black limestone, neither of which is found near the Chavín site. This meant that leaders organized many workers to bring the special materials from far away rather than use local rock deposits. They also may have been traded from different civilizations in the area.

The Chavín culture also demonstrated advanced skills and knowledge in metallurgy, soldering, and temperature control. They used early techniques to develop refined gold work. The melting of metal had been discovered at this point and was used as a solder. Furthermore, the people domesticated camelids such as llamas. Camelids were used for pack animals, for fiber, and for meat. They produced ch'arki, or llama jerky. This product was commonly traded by camelid herders and was the main economic resource for the Chavín people. The Chavín people also successfully cultivated several crops, including potatoes, quinoa, and maize. They developed an irrigation system to assist the growth of these crops.

Language
There is an absence of written language, so the language spoken by the Chavín people is not known, but it is likely now extinct. Some anthropologists have proposed that it was a form of Proto-Quechuan, reasoning that the Quechuan languages' highly regular morphology and syntax compared to surrounding languages would have been useful for allowing intelligible communication between communities separated by mountain ranges, as some Chavín groups were. On the other hand, Alfredo Torero dates the Proto-Quechuan languages to around the beginning of the first millennium CE when the first Chavín people had a religion.

Architecture
Chavín de Huántar was the place of origin of the second large-scale political entity in the central Andes, and this is mainly due to the extensive architecture at the site as well as the architecture is considered an engineering accomplishment. The site uses both internal and external architecture. Internal architecture refers to galleries, passageways, rooms, staircases, ventilation shafts, and drainage canals. External architecture refers to plazas, platform mounds, and terraces. Construction of the "Old Temple" took place from around 900 to 500 BCE, and construction of the "New Temple", the structure that was constructed and added on to the "Old Temple", took place from around 500 to 200 BCE. The lack of residential structures, occupational deposits, generalized weaponry, and evidence of storage further make the site's architecture more interesting, as it focuses mainly on the temples and what lies inside of them.

The monumental center at Chavín de Huántar was built in at least 15 known phases, all of which incorporate the 39 known episodes of gallery construction. The earliest known construction stage, the Separate Mound Stage, consisted of separate buildings and do not conform, necessarily, to the U-shaped pattern seen in the Initial Horizon Period and the Early Horizon Period. During the Expansion Stage, construction integrated stepped platforms and created contiguous U-shaped form by connecting the buildings, which now surround open spaces. At this stage, galleries are elaborate in form and features. During the Black and White Stage, all known plazas (the Plaza Mayor, Plaza Menor, and the Circular Plaza) were constructed. As construction came to an end, galleries took on a more standardized look. By the end of the growth process, buildings become plazas with a U-shaped arrangement and an east-west axis bisecting the enclosed space. The axis also intersects the Lanzón.

Modifications were done during all stages of construction to maintain access to the internal architecture of the site. There was a high level of interest in maintaining access to internal architecture and sacred elements of the site. The internal architecture was constructed as part of a single design and was intricately incorporated with the external architecture. Including lateral and asymmetrical growth allowed for these sacred elements to remain visible, including the Lanzón.

The Lanzón Gallery was created from an earlier freestanding structure that was then transformed into a stone-roofed internal space by constructing around it. The Lanzón was possibly present before the roofing, as it is likely that the Lanzón predates the construction of mounds and plazas. In general, galleries follow construction patterns, which indicates a massive effort in design and planning. Maintaining these galleries over time was important to architects. The galleries are known to be windowless, dead ends, sharp turns and changes in floor height, all of which were designed to disorient people walking in them.

A combination of symmetry and asymmetry was used in the design and planning of the site construction, and in fact, guided the design. There were centered placements of staircases, entrances, and patios, all of which were consistently prominent. In the last stages of construction, due to constraints, centeredness was no longer possible, so architects shifted to constructing symmetrical pairs. Externally, buildings were asymmetrical to each other.

The primary construction materials used were quartzite and sandstone, white granite, and black limestone. Alternate coursing of quartzite was used in the major platforms, while white sandstone and white granite were used interchangeably in the architecture, and were almost always cut and polished. Granite and black-veined limestone were the raw materials used in almost all of the engraved lithic art at the site. Granite was also used extensively in the construction of the Circular Plaza.

Stone-faced platform mounds at the site were made using an orderly fill of rectangular quartzite blocks in leveled layers. Platforms were built directly on top of fallen wall stones from earlier constructions, as there was little to no attempt to remove debris.

Art
The Chavín culture represents the first widespread, recognizable artistic style in the Andes. Chavín art can be divided into two phases: The first phase corresponding to the construction of the "Old Temple" at Chavín de Huántar (c. 900–500 BCE); and the second phase corresponding to the construction of Chavín de Huántar's "New Temple" (c. 500–200 BCE).

Chavín art is known for its complex iconography and its "mythical realism". There is constant evidence within all types of art (ceramics, pottery, sculptures, etc.) of human-animal interactions, which was reflective of societal interconnections and how the Chavín people viewed themselves connected with "the other world".

Some other iconography found in Chavín art continues to give a glimpse as to what the culture was like, such as the general evidence of the use of psycho-active plants in ritual. The San Pedro Cactus is often seen on various art forms, sometimes being held by humans, which is used as evidence to support the use of the plant. The stone sculpture stela of the cactus bearer shows an anthropomorphized being with serpent hair, a mouth with fangs, a belt with a two-headed serpent and claws, who in their right hand holds what appears to be a San Pedro cactus.

A general study of the coastal Chavín pottery with respect to shape reveals two kinds of vessels: a polyhedral carved type and a globular painted type. Stylistically, Chavín art forms make extensive use of the technique of contour rivalry. The art is intentionally difficult to interpret and understand, since it was intended only to be read by high priests of the Chavín cult, who could understand the intricately complex and sacred designs. The Raimondi Stele is one of the major examples of this technique. Ceramics, however, do not appear to represent the same stylistic features that are found on sculptures.

Chavín art decorates the walls of the temple and includes carvings, sculptures and pottery. Artists depicted exotic creatures found in other regions, such as jaguars and eagles, rather than local plants and animals. The feline figure is one of the most important motifs seen in Chavín art. It has an important religious meaning and is repeated on many carvings and sculptures. Eagles are also commonly seen throughout Chavín art. There are three important artifacts which are the major examples of Chavín art. These artifacts are the Tello Obelisk, tenon heads, and the Lanzón.

Tello Obelisk is a vertical, rectangular shaft with a step-like notch at the top. The obelisk is carved in relief on all four sides and consists of two representations of a single-type creature. The head, body and tail occupy one or the other broad sides, while the legs, genitalia and other subsidiary elements occupy the narrow sides. These creatures have been interpreted as a "cat-dragon" type of creature (by Tello) and as a cayman (by Rowe and Lathrop). The large artifact may portray a creation myth.

Tenon heads are found throughout Chavín de Huántar and are one of the most well-known images associated with the Chavín civilization. Tenon heads are massive stone carvings of fanged jaguar heads which project from the tops of the interior walls.

Possibly the most impressive artifact from Chavín de Huántar is the Lanzón. The Lanzón is a 4.53-meter-long carved granite shaft displayed in the temple. The shaft extends through an entire floor of the structure and the ceiling. It is carved with an image of a fanged deity, a recurring image throughout the Chavín civilization. The Lanzón is found in a gallery inside of the Old Temple. The sculpture is enhanced by the four openings of the chamber it lies in, making it so that it allows only partial and segmented views. In rollout drawings, the figures depicted are coherent to interpreters, but it's important to note that this is not how the Lanzón is meant to be seen.

Sphere of influence
The Chavín culture had a wide sphere of influence throughout surrounding civilizations, especially because of their location at a trade crossing point between the deserts and Amazon jungle. For example, Pacopampa, located north (about a 3-week trek) of Chavín de Huántar, has renovations on the main temple that are characteristic of Chavín culture. Caballo Muerto, a coastal site in the Moche Valley region, has an adobe structure created during renovation of the main temple, the adobe related to Chavín influence. Garagay, a site in the modern-day Lima region, has variations of the characteristic Chavín iconography, including a head with mucus coming from the nostrils. At the site of Cerro Blanco, in the Nepena valley, excavations revealed Chavín ceramics.

Warfare does not seem to have been a significant element in Chavín culture. The archaeological evidence shows a lack of basic defensive structures in Chavín centres, and warriors are not depicted in art, in notable contrast to the earlier art at Cerro Sechín. Effective social control may have been exercised by religious pressure, and the ability to exclude dissidents from managed water resources. The climate and terrain of the neighbouring areas outside the managed land were a daunting option for farmers wishing to flee the culture. Evidence of warfare has been found only in contemporaneous sites that were not influenced by Chavín culture, almost as if those other civilizations were defending themselves via warfare from Chavín cultural influence.

Chavín culture as a style, and probably as a period, was widespread, stretching from Piura on the far north coast to Paracas on the south coast; and from Chavín in the north highlands to Pucará in the south highlands.

Chavín horizon development
Some scholars argued that the development of Chavín social complexities coincided with the cultivation of maize and development of agricultural surpluses. Through an analysis of carbon isotope in the human bones found at Chavín sites, researchers have proved that the diet consisted mainly of C3 foods such as potatoes and quinoa, while maize, a C4 food, was not a part of the main diet. Potato and quinoa were crops better adapted to the Chavín environment. They are more resistant to the frost and irregular rain fall associated with high-altitude environments. Maize would not have been able to thrive in such conditions.

Pre-Chavín levels
The Kotosh Religious Tradition preceded the Chavín culture at various sites. Some Kotosh elements show links with the Chavín culture, such as for example the ceramic styles.

Prior to Kotosh was the Wairajirca Period. This is when the first pottery appeared. The Mito tradition was even earlier. This was a preceramic tradition. Nevertheless, public buildings were constructed.

Chavín levels
The Chavín culture archaeological horizon, itself, has three ceramic stages. They were originally identified through stratified ceramics and encompass three stages of development for the Chavín culture.
 * Urabarriu, the first stage, extends from 900 to 500 BCE. During this time at Chavín de Huántar, two small residential areas, not located directly surrounding the ceremonial center, housed a few hundred people in total. This phase showed the greatest animal diversity. The people hunted mainly deer and began to hunt and use camelids. They ate clams and shellfish from the Pacific Ocean, as well as guinea pigs and birds. Chavín people grew some maize and potatoes during this phase. The ceramics in the Urabarriu stage are highly influenced by other cultures. The archeological evidence suggests dispersed centers of production for ceramics, probably in response to a low demand from the dispersed population.
 * The Chakinani, 500 to 400 BCE, is a short time of transition in Chavín culture. During this time the residents migrated to surround the ceremonial center. The Chavín began to domesticate the llama and reduced deer hunting. Evidence of increased exchange with outside civilizations is also seen at this time.
 * The Jarabarriu, the final stage of the Chavín Horizon, lasted from about 400 to 250 BCE. Chavín culture had a dramatic increase in population. The settlement pattern changed to a proto-urban pattern, consisting of a center of lowland valley peoples and smaller satellite communities in the surrounding higher altitude areas. The culture showed specialization and social differentiation. The people who lived in the east at Chavín de Huántar are thought to have had lower prestige than the communities around the ceremonial center. A diverse and intense production of ceramics is suggested during the Jarabarriu phase, when the valley was heavily populated and the ceramic style more defined. Satellite communities also developed centers of production during this phase.

Presence of elite
At Chavín, power was legitimized through the belief in the small elite having a divine connection; shamans derived power and authority from their claim to a divine connection. The community believed in and had a desire to connect with the divine. With asymmetrical power, there is often evidence of the manipulation of traditions.

Strategic manipulation is a vehicle of change which shamans could use to produce authority. During the Chavín horizon, large changes were taking place.

"The greater degree of elaboration of persuasion evident in the rites, materials, and settings of the belief system, the more likely that not only were the leaders aware of being self-serving in their actions but also they were actually conscious of the trajectory change." The archeological evidence shows several examples of reinterpretation, use of psychotropic drugs, and landscape altering. It also shows the complex planning and construction of stone-walled galleries.

The concept of invented tradition refers to a situation in which outside elements are newly brought together to depict a seemingly old tradition. This can be seen generally in the architecture at Chavín de Huántar, which bring together many aspects of outside cultures to create a unique new, yet traditional appearance.

The use of psychotropic drugs introduces a medium for manipulation. Only indirect evidence supports the use of psychotropic drugs, as noted above. Scholars have not been able to determine if the San Pedro cactus was ingested, who consumed the cactus: only the shaman elite, or more widespread among the masses. If the masses were taking the cactus, they would be more susceptible to the influences of the shamans. If the shamans were the only ones to consume it, the practice may have been sacred and a status symbol. The shamans would be perceived to have special powers to connect with nature and the divine.

The extensive degree of landscape altering at Chavín de Huántar for temple reconstructions shows that someone or a group of people had the power to plan the reconstructions and influence others to carry out those plans. The large constructions that occurred at this site support the hypothesis of asymmetrical power.

Finally, the planning and construction of the stone-walled galleries, in particular, suggest a hierarchical system. In addition to the requirement to command and direct the manpower required, the galleries show unique planning. They allowed only one entrance; this is atypical of the time when rooms commonly had multiple entrances and exits. The iconography on the walls of the stone galleries is highly complex. The complexity suggests that only a select few people were able to understand the iconography; such people would serve as translators for the few others who were privileged to view the stone galleries. The limited access, both physically and symbolically, of the stone-walled galleries, supports the existence of a shaman elite at Chavín de Huántar. The evolution of authority at Chavín appears to have resulted from a planned strategy by the shamans and those who planned and constructed the ceremonial center.

Religion and ritual
Religion and the practices which followed had a deeper connection to the sociopolitical and economic aspects within the Chavín society. Ritual activity for the Chavín is not fully understood, but a great understanding of the overall ritual influence and impact that ritual had on the Chavín is more evident through their architectural structures, offering deposits, and artistic remains, mainly through pictographic displays. Over time, the effects of ritual moved to be more intimate and exclusive, as evident with the use and development of ritual space and architecture. Religious figures played a large role in how the site was designed and how rituals were oriented.

Sacred spaces: ritual architecture
The overall architecture at Chavín had religious influence and significance. The sacred spaces and structures within this society were evident to have ritualistic and potentially religious purposes. Understanding how the site of Chavin de Huántar is designed allows modern individuals to recognize how the site reflects intentionality of the builders to relay a specific experience. The site was considered to be sensory, meaning that the architectural structure and design elicited a certain feeling through the senses, through sight and touch. It is perception, which is essentially a series of physiological responses. Sacred spaces, such as plazas, were designed to mainly disrupt visual impact, meaning that the sacred architecture was designed to be experienced more so than actually viewed. People who designed and built the architecture at Chavín are understood to be priests or religious leaders within the community. Configuration of the site also emphasizes that there was a presence of high-ranked officials. The architecture within Chavín was dictated by these individuals to keep the ritual elements of their culture prominent. This was done so through the details and formatting of each building, which in essence created the effect that those participating in the ritual were experiencing their religious phenomena. Construction of the sacred ritual spaces was done with a diverse labor pattern and no central authority was controlling the area during its actual construction. The ritual architecture of the Chavín is similar to other Andean coastal architecture.

The earliest architectural forms on the site were plastered, rectangular chambers. One of these later housed the Lanzon. The architecture of the Chavín site allowed for a rich and diverse ritual practice within the ritualized spaces, leading scholars to speculate whether or not the Chavín served as a multi-ethnic ceremonial center; the architecture, materials, and offerings might have been inspired by other cultures, but there is a question as to whether or not it was symbolic of a greater diverse ritual practice. The ritual spaces themselves had a hierarchy, and legitimized and reflected cosmological and social order and structure.

The Chavín buildings and spaces used for ritual were constructed to elicit an experience, and encompassed many of the overall architectural facets described previously. Two of the most well-noted ritual spaces include the Old Temple and New Temple, with a shift to the New Temple as time progressed. Both temples featured pathways and deity worship spaces on the north and south wings. In addition to this, the temples, most notably the Old Temple, had deities carved into stone. The temples were conformed into a U-shaped area, encompassing a circular plaza. The temples featured ceremonial chambers and sacred hearths. Another important structure designed and utilized for ritual included plazas, of which there were many. The Circular Plaza in particular and the Square Plaza were two of the sites primarily focused around ceremonial activity.

Within the Chavín site was a structure which revealed rooms and galleries, speculated by archaeologists to be used as “ritual chambers” for a variety of ceremonies, including what could have been a ceremony surrounding fire. Major use of underground space in the form of stone-lined galleries that are often like labyrinths and run through the monuments’ major platforms and mounds has been speculated to be a center for religious activity where ceremonies occurred in several different contexts involving both audiences and participants.

The open spaces of plazas versus the small restricted spaces of Chavín galleries in the temple shows that there is a progression of how the ritual spaces and architecture was used, moving more from public to private practice. The gallery spaces are central to understanding the implications of the Chavín ritual practices.

In fact, these underground galleries were more than just a place of ritual. As was recently discovered in 2018 by a team of archaeologists led by John Rick, through the use of all-terrain robots, these galleries were the final resting place for, presumably, the temple's builders. The men's bodies weren't buried in a very honorable way: they were face-down, covered by rocks. John Rick raised the possibility, yet to be confirmed, that these people could very well have been sacrificed. This discovery shed some light as to where the people of Chavín buried their dead, although there might be other burial sites, as the director for the excavation said that he doesn't believe it was customary to bury them in those galleries, just that it sometimes happened. If it becomes known, through the study of the remains, that they were indeed sacrificed, it could also serve to prove the theory that the galleries were a place of ritual, but for now, we can only know for sure that it was the final resting place for the men who built the temple.

The sizes of the spaces in the sacred spaces provided different amounts of room for people to congregate. External spaces such as the plazas had the ability to hold more individuals for ritual practices. The Square Plaza could have held 5,200 individuals. The Circular Plaza could have held around 600 individuals. Internal spaces within the temples, for example the galleries or hallways, could have only held a small number. Within the Lanzon gallery in the Old Temple, only around 15 people could have attended a ceremony, and within the canal entries only 2 to 4 people could have witnessed the ceremony.

Practices and ceremonies
Ritualistic activity for Chavín is not necessarily original; it has deep roots connected to activities from other (Andean civilisations|Andean) societies and cultures. The rituals in the space might have been indicative of the other diverse practices that took place at that time.

The want for more followers extended more deeply than numbers, but rather the Chavín wanted to establish a central authority as well as socially integrate diverse societies. Ritual practice at this time evolved and showed evidence of both public and private religion, and showed an increased distance between participants and observers in public ceremonies. Participants are termed in the archaeology community as visitors to the site. The transition was not immediate, as ancient practices were highly appealed to frequently as rituals progressed.

There is debate as to whether or not the Chavín practices were more hierarchical or hierarchical. It is believed by archaeologists that for the Chavín to have the most successful and impact rituals, they must be more condensed and more private in their nature. But other evidence shows that central areas reflected the lack of hierarchy in ritual practice, and that the society utilised the open spaces to better demonstrate a more inclusive religious experience. This demonstrates that ritual practice might have been hierarchical or hierarchical, and reflects back to the ideas of their exclusivity with other religious institutions, rituals, and traditions. Regardless, it is understood and well accepted that the Chavin were inclusive in their ritual practices.

Important aspects of Chavín ritual activity and practice have been discovered to be processions, offerings of different materials (exotic and valuable), and the use of water. One of these offerings can be connected to the smashed pieces of obsidian found along with fragments of mirror. Other ceremonial acts for the Chavín included the smashing of pots and ceremonies surrounding the use of fire, held within certain areas of the Chavín site as a part of their ritual. Artefacts in the temples relay the ritual practice of offerings. Ceramics, for example, were believed to be offerings brought by the pilgrims. Another artefact was a conch shell, used as a trumpet. Art suggests that processions were essential to disclosing that processions were an important part of Chavín ritual. Other ritual practices were produced by the shamans, such as divination, celestial observations, calendar calculations, health, and healing.

One other ritualistic element included the use of psychotropic drugs through mescaline containing cacti. The cacti provided a psychedelic drug that caused a lot of sensory overloads. It has been displayed in art, specifically ashlar blocks with costumed figures in procession carrying the cacti. Ritual evidence in the architectural remains shows that there was paraphernalia for grinding and ingesting snuff. Artistic evidence shows that certain drawings were done by shamans whilst under the influence of the psychedelic drugs.

Music also played a role in Chavín ritual. Strombus shell trumpets were found at Chavín sites. Trumpets were stored underground and it is believed that they were used by ritual practitioners, who would use them and play in procession through the underground galleries.

Religious art
Religious art is reflective of the landscape around the Chavín and everyday experiences they lived through, including that which can be affiliated with religious practices. Art implied that there were certain deities within the Chavín culture, as well as symbols indicative of ritualistic activities. Lithic art, for example, indicates that processions were important to Chavín ritual. Other artistic expressions included images of jaguars and hybrid humans with felines, avians, and crocodilian features. These in particular are done through artistic interpretations and were believed to have been done by shamans under the influence of the psychedelic drugs. In addition to animals, art reflected plant life, including images of the cacti used as a psychedelic drug.

Deities
Deities were an important element in Chavín religious practice. Most important to the Chavín was the Lanzón, the most central deity in Chavín culture, making the Lanzón central to religious practices. It is believed to be a founding ancestor who had oracle powers. The statue of the Lanzón was carved into a large stone and was found within the Old Temple. It was originally in the rectangular chamber, and is considered to be the focal point of the Old Temple. It is carved out of stone and stands at 4.5 meters tall. The Lanzón is also represented in the New Temple. Other deities reflected the landscape around the Chavín, including animals in nature and the cosmos, and included figures such as crested eagles, hawks, serpents, crocodiles (caymans), and jaguars. They were intermingled with human aspects, becoming more of a hybrid. The Chavín were also interested in binaries and manipulating them, such as showing men and women, the sun and moon, and the sky and water in the same image.

Religious figures
Religious figures played a role in the Chavín religious ritual. In general, individuals higher up in the societal hierarchy had control over the management of the ritual activities and brought the Chavín ritual into the society. Shamans are most commonly understood to be the primary religious figure. Leaders managed daily secular functioning, and it corresponded with authority figures leading from a small group, rather than having one individual as the head figure. They lived close to the temple in residential buildings. Leaders demonstrated skills in understanding the supernatural world with the ability to manipulate it, thus making them stand out to be a religious figure.

title: Chavín culture


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Talk:Torpedo tube

Need links to specific classes of submarines, particularly some examples of how arrays of two sizes of torpedo tube have been used. Some of these articles do not yet exist. Andrewa 18:32, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Submarine torpedo tubes
I added the information on submarine torpedo tubes, and the accompanying diagram. I based this information on recall from my submarine days in the US Navy—a long time ago! If have made any mistakes in this info or left out something important, please leave me a message on my talk page. ♠DanMS 03:19, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

 * Re: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Torpedo_tube
 * One area in this wiki article that's not entirely clear is an explanation of HOW a submarine torpedo motor/engine is started. It's understood that water pressure ejects the torpedo but how and when is the torpedo motor started? Thanks for adding this info to the article. FollowingAlpha (talk) 21:02, 6 July 2023 (UTC)

speed
I came here looking for info on the time it takes to reload a torpedo tube. If somebody has a ref to this info, please add it here.

--Anniepoo 22:03, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

MTB tubes
I came to find out how above-surface tubes work - for example on the MTBs. How does the torpedo get out of the tube into the water? Can someone add a piece on this? Michael of Lucan (talk) 09:23, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I second this, I was looking to find out the same thing... does it use a lever or a spring or a charge or what? 208.100.172.164 (talk) 11:34, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Measurements
The 16-inch and 21 inch tubes, were they the diameter or the length? Alphapeta (talk) 12:59, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

Et52c torpedo luncher
How dose lunch 202.5.58.73 (talk) 17:51, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Et52c torpedo luncher
How dose lunch 202.5.58.73 (talk) 17:53, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

Et52c torpedo luncher
How dose lunch 202.5.58.73 (talk) 17:53, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Torpedo tube


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Summary execution

In civil and military jurisprudence, summary execution is the putting to death of a person accused of a crime without the benefit of a free and fair trial. The term results from the legal concept of summary justice to punish a summary offense, as in the case of a drumhead court-martial, but the term usually denotes the summary execution of a sentence of death. Under international law, it is a combatant's refusal to accept an opponent's lawful surrender and the combatant's provision of no quarter, by killing the surrendering opponents.

Summary executions have been practiced by police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are frequently associated with guerrilla warfare, counter-insurgency, terrorism, and any other situation which involves a breakdown of the normal procedures for handling accused prisoners, civilian or military.

Military jurisdiction
Under military law, summary execution is illegal in almost all circumstances, as a military tribunal would be the competent judge needed to determine guilt and declare a sentence of death. However, there are certain exceptions to this rule in emergencies and warfare where summary execution is legal.

Prisoners of war
Major treaties such as the Geneva Conventions and Hague Conventions, and customary international law from history, protect the rights of captured regular and irregular enemy soldiers, along with civilians of enemy states. Prisoners-of-war (POWs) must be treated in carefully defined ways which definitively ban summary execution, as the Second Additional Protocol of the Geneva Conventions (1977) states:

"No sentence shall be passed and no penalty shall be executed on a person found guilty of an offence except pursuant to a conviction pronounced by a court offering the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality."

- Second Protocol of the Geneva Conventions (1977), Article 6.2

Exceptions to prisoners-of-war status
However, some classes of combatants may not be accorded POW status, but that definition has broadened to cover more classes of combatants over time. In the past, summary execution of pirates, spies, and francs-tireurs have been performed and considered legal under existing international law. Francs-tireurs (a term originating in the Franco-Prussian War) are enemy civilians or militia who continue to fight in territory occupied by a warring party and do not wear military uniforms, and may otherwise be known as guerrillas, partisans, insurgents, etc. Though they could be legally jailed or executed by most armies a century ago, the experience of World War II influenced nations occupied by foreign forces to change the law to protect this group. Many of the post-war victors, such as France, Poland, and the USSR, had the experience of resistance fighters being summarily executed by the Axis if they were captured. The war also influenced them to make sure that commandos and other special forces who were caught deep behind enemy lines would be protected as POWs, rather than summarily executed as Hitler decreed through his 1942 Commando Order. The Commando Order was issued by Adolf Hitler on October 18, 1942, stating that all Allied commandos encountered by German forces in Europe and Africa should be killed immediately without trial, even in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. Any commando or small group of commandos or a similar unit, agents and saboteurs not in proper uniforms who fell into the hands of the German military forces by some means other than direct combat (through the police in occupied territories, for instance) were to be handed over immediately to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD, Security Service). The order, which was issued in secret, made it clear that failure to carry out such orders by any commander or officer would be considered to be an act of negligence punishable under German military law. This was in fact the second "Commando Order", the first being issued by Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt on July 21, 1942, stipulating that parachutists should be handed over to the Gestapo. Shortly after World War II, at the Nuremberg Trials, the Commando Order was found to be a direct breach of the laws of war, and German officers who carried out illegal executions under the Commando Order were found guilty of war crimes.

According to Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, irregular forces are entitled to prisoner of war status if they are commanded by a person responsible for the subordinates, have a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance, carry arms openly, and conduct their operations in accordance with the laws and customs of war. If they do not meet all of those conditions, they may be considered francs-tireurs (in the original sense of "illegal combatant") and punished as criminals in a military jurisdiction, which may include summary execution.

Soldiers who are wearing uniforms of the opposing army after the start of combat may be considered illegal combatants and subject to summary execution. Many armies have performed that kind of false flag ruse in the past, including both German and US special forces during World War II. However, if soldiers remove their disguises and put on proper insignia before the start of combat in such an operation, they are considered legal combatants and must be treated as prisoners of war (POWs) if captured. That distinction was settled by a military tribunal in the postwar trial of Otto Skorzeny, who led Operation Greif, an infiltration mission in which German commandos wore US uniforms to infiltrate US lines during the Battle of the Bulge.

Under martial law
Within a state's policy, martial law may be declared in emergencies such as invasions or insurrections, and in such a case constitutionally protected rights would be suspended. Depending on a state's interpretation of martial law, this may allow police or military forces to decide and carry out punishments that include death on its own citizens, in order to restore lawful authority or for other vital reasons.

That would not include killing a suspect who is directly endangering another's life, which is always legal for police, but executing a suspect under one's control as a punishment. Proving that a summary execution fell under the legal exception would be exceptionally difficult, as one would have to show why a judgment and sentence of death absolutely needed to be meted out on the spot. Hence, such extraordinary acts are almost always seen as illegal violations of human rights.

title: Summary execution


text:
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy

Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is an endoscopic medical procedure in which a tube (PEG tube) is passed into a patient's stomach through the abdominal wall, most commonly to provide a means of feeding when oral intake is not adequate (for example, because of dysphagia or sedation). This provides enteral nutrition (making use of the natural digestion process of the gastrointestinal tract) despite bypassing the mouth; enteral nutrition is generally preferable to parenteral nutrition (which is only used when the GI tract must be avoided). The PEG procedure is an alternative to open surgical gastrostomy insertion, and does not require a general anesthetic; mild sedation is typically used. PEG tubes may also be extended into the small intestine by passing a jejunal extension tube (PEG-J tube) through the PEG tube and into the jejunum via the pylorus.

PEG administration of enteral feeds is the most commonly used method of nutritional support for patients in the community. Many stroke patients, for example, are at risk of aspiration pneumonia due to poor control over the swallowing muscles; some will benefit from a PEG performed to maintain nutrition. PEGs may also be inserted to decompress the stomach in cases of gastric volvulus.

Indications
Gastrostomy may be indicated in numerous situations, usually those in which normal (or nasogastric) feeding is impossible. The causes for these situations may be neurological (e.g. stroke), anatomical (e.g. cleft lip and palate during the process of correction) or other (e.g. radiation therapy for tumors in head & neck region).

In certain situations where normal or nasogastric feeding is not possible, gastrostomy may be of no clinical benefit. In advanced dementia, studies show that PEG placement does not in fact prolong life. Instead, oral assisted feeding is preferable. Quality improvement protocols have been developed with the aim of reducing the number of non-beneficial gastrostomies in patients with dementia.

A gastrostomy can be placed to decompress the stomach contents in a patient with a malignant bowel obstruction. This is referred to as a "venting PEG" and is placed to prevent and manage nausea and vomiting.

A gastrostomy can also be used to treat volvulus of the stomach, where the stomach twists along one of its axes. The tube (or multiple tubes) is used for gastropexy, or adhering the stomach to the abdominal wall, preventing twisting of the stomach.

A PEG tube can be used in providing gastric or post-surgical drainage.

Techniques
Two major techniques for placing PEGs have been described in the literature.

The Gauderer-Ponsky technique involves performing a gastroscopy to evaluate the anatomy of the stomach. The anterior stomach wall is identified and techniques are used to ensure that there is no organ between the wall and the skin: An angiocath is used to puncture the abdominal wall through a small incision, and a soft guidewire is inserted through this and pulled out of the mouth. The feeding tube is attached to the guidewire and pulled through the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and out of the incision.
 * digital pressure is applied to the abdominal wall, which can be seen indenting the anterior gastric wall by the endoscopist.
 * transillumination (diaphanoscopy): the light emitted from the endoscope within the stomach can be seen through the abdominal wall.
 * a small (21G, 40mm) needle is passed into the stomach before the larger cannula is passed.

In the Russell introducer technique, the Seldinger technique is used to place a wire into the stomach, and a series of dilators are used to increase the size of the gastrostomy. The tube is then pushed in over the wire.

Anesthetic management
There are several techniques such as moderate sedation with left transversus abdominis plane block, and moderate sedation with local anesthetic infiltration at feeding tube site.

Contraindications
As with other types of feeding tubes, care must be made to place PEGs into an appropriate population. The following are contraindications to PEG use:

Absolute contraindications

 * Inability to perform an esophagogastroduodenoscopy
 * Uncorrected coagulopathy
 * Peritonitis
 * Untreatable (loculated) massive ascites
 * Bowel obstruction (unless the PEG is sited to provide drainage)

Relative contraindications

 * Massive ascites
 * Gastric mucosal abnormalities: large gastric varices, portal hypertensive gastropathy
 * Previous abdominal surgery, including previous partial gastrectomy: increased risk of organs interposed between gastric wall and abdominal wall
 * Morbid obesity: difficulties in locating stomach position by digital indentation of stomach and transillumination
 * Gastric wall neoplasm
 * Abdominal wall infection: increased risk of infection of PEG site
 * Intra-abdominal malignancy with peritoneal involvement (tumor seeding into formed channel with subsequent failure)

In advanced dementia
The American Medical Directors Association, the American Geriatrics Society and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine recommend against inserting percutaneous feeding tubes in individuals with advanced dementia and, instead, recommend oral assisted feedings. Artificial nutrition neither prolongs life nor improves its quality in patients with advanced dementia. It may increase the risk of the patient inhaling food, it does not reduce suffering, it may cause fluid overload, diarrhea, abdominal pain and local complications, and it can reduce the amount of human interaction the patient experiences. Lay summary:

Complications

 * Surgical site infection around the gastrostomy site. Administration of intravenous antibiotics can reduce infection around the gastrostomy site. Prophylaxis with co-amoxiclav decreases the proportion of people developing MRSA infections compared with no antibiotic prophylaxis (in people without cancer) undergoing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy insertion.
 * Hemorrhage
 * Gastric ulcer either at the site of the button or on the opposite wall of the stomach ("kissing ulcer")
 * Perforation of bowel (most commonly transverse colon) leading to peritonitis
 * Puncture of the left lobe of the liver leading to liver capsule pain
 * Gastrocolic fistula: this may be suspected if diarrhea appears a short time after feeding. In this case, the feed goes direct from stomach to colon (usually transverse colon)
 * Gastric separation
 * "Buried bumper syndrome" (the gastric part of the tube migrates into the gastric wall)

Indications

 * PEG tube no longer required (recovery of swallow after stroke or brain trauma, or after surgery or radiotherapy for head and neck cancer)
 * Persistent infection of PEG site
 * Failure, breakage or deterioration of PEG tube (a new tube can be sited along the existing track)
 * "Buried bumper syndrome"

Techniques
PEG tubes with rigid, fixed "bumpers" are removed endoscopically. The PEG tube is pushed into the stomach so that part of the tube is visible behind the bumper. An endoscopy snare is then passed through the endoscope, and passed over the bumper so that the tube adjacent to the bumper is grasped. The external part of the tube is then cut, and the tube is withdrawn into the stomach, and then pulled up into the esophagus and removed through the mouth. The PEG site heals without intervention.

PEG tubes with a collapsible or deflatable bumper can be removed using traction (simply by pulling the PEG tube out through the abdominal wall).

History
The first percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy performed on a child was on June 12, 1979, at the Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, University Hospitals of Cleveland. Michael W.L. Gauderer, pediatric surgeon, Jeffrey Ponsky, endoscopist, and James Bekeny, surgical resident, performed the procedure on a $4 1/2$-month-old child with inadequate oral intake. The authors of the technique, Michael W.L. Gauderer and Jeffrey Ponsky, first published the technique in 1980. In 2001, the details of the development of the procedure were published, the first author being the originator of the technique itself.

title: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy


text:
User talk:Netgate~enwiki

Wikipedia is not the appropriate place to advertise your products and business.

Please do not create advetisements on user talk pages for users that do not exist.

If you continue to spam Wikipedia you will be blocked from editing. - Tεx  τ  urε  18:32, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Netgate. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Netgate~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 02:08, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 16:52, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Netgate~enwiki


text:
Kendall McComas

Kendall Frederick McComas (October 29, 1916 – October 15, 1981) was an American child actor, notable for appearing as "Breezy Brisbane" in the Our Gang comedies in 1932 and Mickey Rooney's rival "Stinky Davis" in the Mickey McGuire series in 1929. He was a native of Holton, Kansas.

Career
Born in Holton, Kansas, McComas first appeared in the Mickey McGuire short subjects series as a member of Mickey McGuire's gang and stayed throughout the series run in the silent era. He also played the role of Stinky Davis in some of the series' earliest sound shorts. In 1931, he joined the Our Gang series, first appearing in the 1932 Our Gang short Readin' and Writin'. McComas stayed with Our Gang for a full year and left the series after appearing in the 1932 short Birthday Blues.

Even though he was well into his teens during his Our Gang tenure, McComas was very short for his age and thus capably portrayed his grade-school-age character Brisbane aka Breezy. Breezy's mother refers to him as "Brisbane" in the films Readin' and Writin' and Spanky, the only shorts in which that name appears; the kids refer to him as "Breezy," presumably as a nickname for Brisbane. However, the Leonard Maltin/Richard Bann book The Little Rascals: The Life & Times of Our Gang lists his character as "Breezy Brisbane," a name which does not appear in dialogue in any of the shorts in which McComas appears. However, right after getting expelled from school in Readin' and Writin', Brisbane goes to the fishing hole, and begins mentally telling himself to "Learn that poem". There, he refers to himself as "Breezy" when he thinks, "You better get busy, Breezy, and study that poem."

In 1965, he left show business and became an electrical engineer at the U.S. Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California and then an institutional mortgage-backed bond salesman under the name John Mandy.

Death
McComas committed suicide in a fit of depression two weeks before turning 65 when he was facing mandatory retirement from his job.

Our Gang filmography

 * Readin' and Writin' (1932)
 * Free Eats (1932)
 * Spanky (1932)
 * Choo-Choo! (1932)
 * The Pooch (1932)
 * Hook and Ladder (1932)
 * Free Wheeling (1932)
 * Birthday Blues (1932)

title: Kendall McComas


text:
Talk:James B. Weaver

Untitled
For some reason the comment didn't record on my edit. I changed University of Cincinnati Law School back to Cincinnati Law School, redirecting to University of Cincinnati. The name is the proper one. The U of C wasn't founded until 1870 and then absorbed several existing institutions, including the Cincinnati Law School. -- Decumanus 18:33, 2004 Nov 30 (UTC)

How come he had so little success in his home state in 1892?
Weaver won neighboring Kansas, including most of the counties directly bordering Iowa, but didn't win even one county in his home state Iowa. How come? Please add this info if you have it. -- 77.7.152.171 (talk) 16:34, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

Now a FA in Chinese Wikipedia
I have translated this article to Chinese Wikipedia here and promoted to FA status, and I want to thank User:Coemgenus for his effort to write this amazing article. --Jarodalien (talk) 13:51, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Failure for success
Definitely, the character portrayed by weaver was great. He believed in trying and success. WAKAYANGE (talk) 15:17, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

Reference
I was in the Wikipedia library and in Ancestry his death date is February 12th, not February 6th. The reference that I got it from doesn’t work for me: https://www-ancestryinstitution-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/facts?_phcmd=u(%27https://www-ancestryinstitution-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/search/ --Misc Practice (talk | contributions) 19:54, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:James B. Weaver


text: File:Silver City poster.JPG

title: File:Silver City poster.JPG


text:
Retezat National Park

The Retezat National Park (Parcul Naţional Retezat) is a protected area located in the Retezat Mountains in Hunedoara county, Romania. Founded in 1935, it is the oldest national park in the country and categorized as a category II IUCN national park.

Retezat is particularly notable for its biodiverse flora, with over 1,000 species of plants present within the park. It is also home to some of the last remaining pristine old-growth forests in Europe. Despite its protected status, recent decades have seen an increase in damaging activities such as logging and sheep-grazing in the park, as well as threats to its status as public propriety.

History
The Retezat region has been a subject of scientific interest, particularly with regard to its flora, since at least the early 19th century. During the 1930s, several scientific personalities like Alexandru Borza and Emil Racoviţă campaigned for the creation of nature reserves in the country. In 1935, the Tătărescu government set aside 100 square kilometers of the Retezat Mountains, creating the country's first national park. It took four more years for legislation to be passed regarding the park's status, paving the way for all future protected areas of Romania.

In 1979, UNESCO included the park in the Man and the Biosphere Program international network of biosphere reserves, while in 1993 it was included by the International Union for Conservation of Nature among its demonstration projects on sustainable rural development. In 2008 it was granted the European Diploma of Protected Areas.

Since the 1990s sheep grazing and logging increased considerably in the region, damaging the park's natural capital. In the 21st century Retezat has been the subject of several ecological restoration efforts.

In 2006 the Romanian state decided in favor of heirs to the Austro-Hungarian aristocratic family Kendeffy, who claimed 10,000 hectares of land in the Retezat Mountains, including large tracts of the park, under a law allowing the restitution of propriety seized by previous regimes. The Romanian Academy, who was granted the land in the 1930s, challenged the decision. After a lengthy trial, the land restitution was deemed illegal by a 2022 court decision, and the park returned to being state propriety.

Description
The park contains more than sixty peaks over 2300 m and about eighty glacier lakes, of which 54 are permanent. Peleaga, the highest peak of the Retezat Mountains, 2509 m is located in the park. Currently the park occupies 380.47 km2.

Flora
The flora of Retezat demonstrates "exceptional biodiversity", consisting of approximately 1,190 plant species, of which 130 have the "endangered" or "vulnerable" status. More than a third of Romania's flora can be found in this area. Mountain pine and juniper habitats are dominant, with spruce and rhododendron also common.

The park is often described as containing ”Europe's last intact forest", as it harbors one of the few remaining intact old-growth forest landscapes and the largest single area of pristine mixed forest on the continent.  The Gemenele ("The Twins" in Romanian) scientific reserve is a strictly protected area of the park enclosing 1,800 hectares of intact old-growth forest.

Fauna
The gray wolf, brown bear, wild boar, Eurasian lynx, European wildcat, chamois, roe deer, red deer, Eurasian badger, Eurasian otter, stoat and the beech marten are among the 55 species of mammal that live in the park, almost a quarter of all mammals in Romania being represented here. The Alpine marmot was introduced in the scientific reserve in 1973 and has since spread to the rest of the park. An important center for bat conservation, Retezat is home to 13 species of the Chiroptera order, including the Greater horseshoe bat, Parti-coloured bat and the Soprano pipistrelle.

The park is also home to more than a hundred bird species, many of which are protected in Romania. Present species include the western capercaillie, common kingfisher, lesser spotted eagle, black grouse, short-toed snake eagle, Eurasian eagle-owl, corn crake, back woodpecker, peregrine falcon, collared flycatcher, and the golden eagle, which is depicted on the park's logo. The park was included by BirdLife International among its Important Bird Areas.

Over 1000 species of butterflies were identified in the area, with the park containing two European Prime Butterfly Areas.

title: Retezat National Park


text:
Silver City (2004 film)

Silver City is a 2004 American political satire comedy-drama film written and directed by John Sayles. Chris Cooper portrays an inept Republican gubernatorial candidate, a character that was noted for similarities to U.S. President George W. Bush. The film's large ensemble cast includes, among others, Richard Dreyfuss, Danny Huston, Michael Murphy, Maria Bello, Kris Kristofferson, Mary Kay Place, Thora Birch, Tim Roth, Billy Zane and Daryl Hannah.

The film is a "murder mystery [linked] to a political satire"; according to Sayles, it is "about electoral politics, but also about the press."

Plot
Richard "Dicky" Pilager, the dim-witted scion of a powerful political dynasty, is running for Governor of Colorado. One day, while filming a campaign ad that shows him fishing at Arapahoe Lake, Pilager hooks a corpse on location. Chuck Raven, Pilager's campaign manager, hires Danny O'Brien, a former journalist who works as a private investigator, to examine the case. Raven urges O'Brien to find potential links between the body and Pilager's political enemies.

O'Brien's job is essentially to intimidate Pilager's opponents, and he has numerous revealing conversations with various people. He learns that business mogul Wes Benteen is using Pilager to promote his own agenda. The interviews also reveal further corruption: politicians, land developers, and mining companies are conspiring to ignore certain environmental issues. O'Brien also learns about illegal migrant workers, as well as a potentially damaging love affair.

Cast

 * Chris Cooper as Richard "Dicky" Pilager. Dicky Pilager is the son of an influential Colorado Senator. He was not successful in a mining enterprise, so he has decided to run for Governor of Colorado. His campaign is largely funded by family friend Wes Benteen.
 * Danny Huston as Danny O'Brien. A private investigator, Danny was a reporter for the Mountain Monitor newspaper before getting fired for reporting a false story. Now working for Chuck Raven, he is to intimidate anyone who might be trying to sabotage the Pilager campaign.
 * Richard Dreyfuss as Chuck Raven, a campaign manager for Pilager. A lifelong family friend, he is in charge of protecting the family name. He hires Danny O'Brien in a stratagem to ensure the campaign won't be tainted by political scandal.
 * Kris Kristofferson as Wes Benteen. Benteen is the billionaire mogul who is funding the campaign. His businesses benefit the Pilager family in return for political favors. His companies produce meat and agricultural products and provide medical services. He also owns a major football team, the Prospectors. He finances half the campaign in order to secure land development rights.
 * Maria Bello as Nora Allardyce, a reporter at the Mountain Monitor and Danny O'Brien's ex-wife.
 * Mary Kay Place as Grace Seymour. Seymour runs a private investigation firm and is Danny O'Brien's boss. She is a longtime associate of Chuck Raven.
 * David Clennon as Morton "Mort" Seymour, Grace's husband and a real estate developer. He is trying to gain influence with the Pilagers thru Chandler Tyson, in order to obtain approval of his Silver City project.
 * Tim Roth as Mitch Paine. Paine is Danny O'Brien's friend, and a former reporter at the Mountain Monitor who was fired for the same reason as O'Brien. He runs an underground news website and is a source of information.
 * Michael Murphy as Senator Judson Pilager, a powerful U.S. senator from Colorado and Dicky Pilager's father. He constantly bemoans his son's ineptness.
 * Daryl Hannah as Madeline "Maddy" Pilager. Maddy is a free-spirited, black sheep daughter of the Pilager family. She is one of the people whom Danny must keep out of the public eye.
 * Sal Lopez as Tony Guerra, a Mexican-American chef whom Danny enlists in an effort to learn about the dead man.
 * Luis Saguar as Vince Esparza. Vince imports undocumented Mexicans for various, cheap labor tasks. He worked for Wes Benteen at one time.
 * Miguel Ferrer as Cliff Castleton, an ultra right-wing radio commentator who has been at odds with Chuck Raven and the Pilagers for thirty years. He is also one of the people whom Danny is tasked to keep under control.
 * Ralph Waite as Casey Lyle, a former mining safety inspector who was falsely caught up in a mining accident scandal. He is also "warned" by Danny.
 * James Gammon as Sheriff Joe Skaggs, who Investigates the dead body found in the lake. His brother was being investigated by Danny in the story that got Danny fired.
 * Billy Zane as Chandler Tyson, a land developer and lobbyist in Wes Benteen's and the Pilagers' pocket. Tyson is dating Nora Allardyce.
 * Thora Birch as Karen Cross, Mitch's assistant at the website. Cross provides Danny with information.

Box office and distribution
Silver City had a limited release in the United States, where it was marketed as a comedy about an "intellectually challenged, poorly spoken politician." Sayles commented on that marketing approach in an entertainment interview for CNN:

"You basically give it to the company, and they advertise it the way that gets the most people in the theater. [When it plays in] other countries, [they] may emphasize the Chinatown aspects. The problem with all my movies, because they're complicated, is they don't boil down to two sentences, so you emphasize this part or that part of it."

The film played in 162 theaters at its widest and earned US$1.4 million at the box office in Canada and the United States. It also earned around $300,000 from both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Critical response
Silver City had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Market during the Cannes Film Festival. Critics noted the similarities between the fictitious Dicky Pilager and the real George W. Bush,   with some also seeing parallels between the fictitious campaign manager and the real Karl Rove.

Roger Ebert praised the film, but said it likely wouldn't change any votes in the 2004 election: "America is familiar with the way [George W. Bush] talks, and about half of us are comfortable with it. That's why Silver City may not change any votes. There is nothing in the movie's portrait of Pilager/Bush that has not already been absorbed and discounted by the electorate."

Ruthe Stein called the film "wildly uneven" with "dull" stretches: " . . but the movie comes alive when Cooper is in it, especially his scenes with Richard Dreyfuss as Dickie's savvy campaign manager."

Caryn James called the film's script and direction "exhilarating", characterizing the film as "a Bush-bashing work that is more than Bush-bashing" which "goes beyond election-year satire to reach broader themes of corporate power, campaign double talk and journalistic responsibility." She also called the film a "detective story with a half-dozen major characters and a twisty Chinatown plot that begins when the environmentally hostile Dickie is filming an environmentally friendly campaign ad and fishes a corpse out of a river."

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 48% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 128 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Heavy-handed and often dull."

title: Silver City (2004 film)


text:
Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety

Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game and a sequel to Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, released for Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NES and then ported to PC. One or two players team up as Spider-Man and Venom to defeat the evil symbiote Carnage. The game boasts many thugs that the player has to defeat: heavily armed Jury and Venom's symbiote children. There is also cameo assistance from Captain America, Ghost Rider, Hawkeye, and Daredevil.

The game received mediocre reviews, being criticized largely for its repetitiveness, unoriginality and lack of cutscenes.

Plot
Though the game is titled after the comic book series Venom: Separation Anxiety, the story more closely follows the events of Venom's first limited series, Venom: Lethal Protector. The game's plot loosely follows Lethal Protector in the following ways:
 * Appearance of Spider-Man (in Lethal Protector #1)
 * Confronting the digger in San Francisco (as seen in Lethal Protector #1)
 * Discovering the underground city (as seen in Lethal Protector #1)
 * Appearance of The Jury (as seen in Lethal Protector #2)
 * Removal of five symbiote seeds to create five new symbiotes (as seen in Lethal Protector #4)
 * Spider-Man and Venom's escape from the Life Foundation (as seen in Lethal Protector #5)
 * Confronting the five symbiotes at the Life Foundation Headquarters (as seen in Lethal Protector #5)

Reception
Reviewing the Genesis version, Electronic Gaming Monthly's "review crew" unanimously agreed that the game "isn't much fun", particularly finding fault in the repetitive fights with the same enemies and the cheap combat, with its constant flow of unavoidable hits. They generally regarded the ability to play as either Spider-Man or Venom to be the one good feature of the game. A critic for Next Generation commented that the game's graphics, audio, and gameplay "are all on par" with Maximum Carnage, but that there was nothing new or interesting to set the game apart from its predecessor or the other beat 'em up games on the market. GamePro's The Outlaw agreed that the level designs are unoriginal and monotonous, and was one of the few critics to find serious fault with the graphics and sound: "The sprites lack detail, the thugs have washed out faces, and the heroes look dated. The game deserves dynamic music, digitized voice, and maybe some cool effects, but lacks all these key ingredients". He nonetheless concluded it to be a solid action game worth buying, mainly citing the large variety of moves. Reviewing the Super NES version in the same issue, Air Hendrix held it to be superior to the Genesis version due to the more colorful and detailed graphics. Next Generation also found the SNES version's graphics "relatively good", but again emphasized the game's lack of originality.

A reviewer for Next Generation panned the PC port, calling it "an arcade bash-fest with little in the way of the intricacy and depth possible in a PC game". While noting that it was an extremely accurate port, he rated it lower than the Super NES and Genesis versions due to its poor value-for-money; he pointed out that a new Super NES or Genesis and a number of arcade-style beat-'em-ups for those systems could all be picked up for cheap.

title: Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety


text: Category:National parks of Romania

title: Category:National parks of Romania