text:
Talk:General Jewish Labour Bund

Old talk
Re "destroyed both its base and, according to (most/some), its ideological validity" I don't want to get into an edit war, so let me explain myself. Jayjg, could you also explain why you feel so strongly about "most"? I'm not disputing that the Bund lost most of its support after the war, I'm disputing that most people think that it lots its ideological validity. They're different things, and I Think that the word "most" here is POV. (Incidentially, there were still Bundist haggadot being published in the US after the war, suggesting enough supporters still around to sustain book publishing.) Serious historians debate the cause the rise of Zionism among Holocaust survivors, but to suggest (as I think the current wording of the article does) that "most" people were liberated from concentration camps and said "oops, I guess the Bund didn't help, I guess I'll go to Israel" is historically inaccurate. -- Remes 15:32, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Note the sentence immediately following the one in question "By 1945 few of the surviving eastern European Jews believed any longer in the Bund's particular vision of socialism or in a future for the Jews in Europe, and most of the survivors emigrated to Israel." If they didn't believe in its vision, and emigrated to Israel, then who was actually supporting its ideological validity, aside from some remnants in the US who weren't directly affected by the Holocaust? Jayjg 16:02, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Well, to be honest, I don't think that sentence is so great either, because it rather flattens a good deal of historical experience and historical debate. But encylopedias flatten; so be it.  Saying that most survivors no longer supported the Bund is the same as that they denied its "ideological validity."  I disagree with lots of things without saying that they have no ideological validity.  To me, that phrase means, if it means anything at all, that the ideology in question was wrong and was always wrong.  I don't there's any evidence that says that "most" survivors thought that.  Further, I think that in this context "according to most" is a code for "according to the author."  I think it's a NPOV-seeming way around being POV, and I think that's how it will be read.  Can we compromise and say "according to many"?  Remes 04:38, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Sure. Jayjg 01:04, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Done. Incidentially, I just got a new book on Soviet anti-Bund persecution (during the Soviet occupation of Poland during the era of the non-aggression pact), so I might make some additions and changes to this article.  It probably won't be for a while though, and I'll post in Talk: if I think anything I'm doing might be controversial. Remes 04:17, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Mistransliterated?
The first paragraph currently starts with "The General Jewish Labour Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia, in Yiddish the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland". However the actual Yiddish name that's given in parentheses appears to be "Algemeyner Yidisher Arbitersbund ayn Rusland, Lite, und Poyln." Can someone who (unlike me) actually speaks the language or is familiar with the subject fix this or clarify the discrepancy? Zyqqh 11:45, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * You're right about the discrepancy, but I don't know which one is correct. Jayjg (talk) 15:51, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)

There was a long discussion about this when I first wrote this article, in which several editors highly competent in Yiddish got involved. The conclusions were (a) that Yiddish is an unstable language with several regional variants and also no fixed transliteration into the Roman alphabet and (b) that there is no one historically "correct" rendering of the name. The current version is the one they seemed to agree was least objectionable. User:Danny, if he's still around, would be able to tell you more. Adam 22:16, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * I think the question was more about the order of the countries listed, rather than the transliteration. Are you saying that the order of the country names in the title changed? Jayjg (talk)  03:44, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

 * In Yiddish, Lithuania is not "Litah", but "Lite". The letter ע in ליטע (Lite) is pronunced [e]. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%98%D7%A2 --Manfariel (talk) 17:50, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

I’ve corrected the name and its transliteration, and included a source for the former. --Babel fish (talk) 19:29, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

Hello
Hello, I am looking for people, who can tell my a bout the BUnd in Germany and today in the world --Steve2 11:18, 19 January 2006 (UTC)11:16, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Wasn't the Bundist also pro-Nazi German-American organization of the 1930s?
Thats the 2nd definition, verbatim, on the Merriam Webster online dictionary.

Also, a Nazi is called a good little bundist in the movie Stalag 17.

Sefton: "He's a Nazi, Price is. For all I know his name is Preissinger or Preishoffer. Oh, sure, he lived in Cleveland. But when the war broke out, he came back to the Fatherland like a good little Bundist. He spoke our lingo, so they sent him to spy school and fixed him up with phony dog tags."

 * I mean the jewish labor bund in germany

 * The Stalag 17 reference was to a different "Bund": see German-American Bund. The German word "Bund" means "union", and can be used as a shortcut to all kids of unions. Ahasuerus 02:34, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

Bund in germany
No I mean the General Jewish Labor Union in Germany, this Bund was also in Germany active under the jews and i want some informations

unsourced POV
"The massacre of Polish Jewry during the Holocaust destroyed both its base and, in the eyes of many surviving Polish Jews, its ideological validity."

Somehow I get the impression that a number of Wikipedians are keen to diss on everything progressive and anti-Zionist in the larger Jewish community - even if it's from sixty years ago!

Bundists in the Spanish Civil War
I think that is very important to talk about the bundism in the spanish civil war, because they some the jew communist an socialists, were in Spain defending the Second Republic. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.152.60.87 (talk) 09:02, 19 February 2007 (UTC).
 * Bundists were indeed fighting in the Spanish Civil War. We need to add this as well. After that, it should talk about this on the Spanish Civil War article, and if need be, redirect to the main article or section. --Eliscoming1234 (talk) 23:36, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Proposed merger between General Jewish Labor Union and Jewish Bolshevism
Jossi has proposed that Jewish Bolshevism be merged into this article. On first glance this seems to be a very unusual proposal. This article is about "a Jewish political party in several European countries operating predominantly between the 1890s and the 1930s" and the other article is about "an antisemitic political epithet; it is the antisemitic conspiracy theory which blames the Jews for Bolshevism and everything else." Certainly there are historical links between conspiracies and political/labor unions, and these links should be noted, but I fail to see a stronger connection.

I am unfamiliar with either the history or politics of the phrase "Jewish Bolshevism", but perhaps if this is an attempt to remove the article from Wikipedia the AfD tag would be more appropriate? --Bookandcoffee 20:06, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Jewish Bolshevism looks like a very confused article. The lede is about an epithet and antisemitic booklet, but the article is also about (genuine) Jewish Bolsheviks and Jewish revolutionary anti-Bolsheviks in the nascent Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the article does have a small section about the Bund. I oppose a merger, as the articles barely overlap. — Malik Shabazz (Talk | contribs) 21:48, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

 * Oppose as per Malik S. BobFromBrockley 17:05, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

Bund in Sweden
Interesting material, at. --Soman (talk) 13:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Picture
Can anyone verify whether Image:Ac.manif1917.jpg really is a photo of a Bund rally? http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/Beyond-The-Pale/eng_captions/41-2.html says the demonstrators belong to the Jewish Socialist Workers Party. --Soman (talk) 19:58, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * http://www.berdichev.org/jewsinurss_a_1.htm says the same. --Soman (talk) 20:56, 8 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I've changed the photo now, to an image that is definately of the Bund. --Soman (talk) 21:13, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Bad title
The organization is pretty universally known as the Bund - it seems to me that the word "Bund" ought to be in the article title. john k (talk) 06:18, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Moved now. --Soman (talk) 10:15, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

"The Bund on Wikipedia" Project PLEASE READ
Hello all,

"The Bund on Wikipedia" Project is a project that was established in order to create and edit pages about the General Jewish Labour Union, or Bund, on Wikipedia. The project's main goal is to create a network of "editors" who will continue to create and edit Wikipedia pages about the Bund. Please join the Task Force. For more info, please visit http://bundwiki.weebly.com/. Thanks. --Eliscoming1234 (talk) 03:25, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Some very general thoughts (no pun intended)
The article needs a better structure, would propose something like this: 1. Emergence 2. Growth and inter-war years 3. WW2 and destruction 4. Immediate post-war 5. Legacy

At present the ideological differences between the Bund, the Bolsheviks and Zionists are not very explicit in the article. The role of the Bund as a Jewish defence organisation should be larger, IMO, eg its support grew especially in Poland in the late 1930s as it was seen to be the most effective Jewish organisation struggling against antisemitism.--Goldsztajn (talk) 15:51, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

בונד or בּונד?
I just changed the Yiddish spelling of Bund from בונד to בּונד, however, I then noticed that the project task force page has a request for use of YIVO standardisation. It seems "בּ" for "b" is not part of the YIVO standard. I think though given that the Bund itself used בּונד (as can be seen in the photo in the lede, or in this photo) using בּ is more appropriate in this case. --Goldsztajn (talk) 12:17, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * Using בּונד is appropriate in this case. Even if the YIVO Standardization might say otherwise. That is why on the Task Force's page that you mentioned, it said when applicable. Thanks for bringing this to the discussion. --Eliscoming1234 (talk) 05:08, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Move to General Jewish Labor Union
The current title "General Jewish Labour Bund" is an odd mixture and has only 2 Google book hits, and 38 when "Labor" is used. "General Jewish Labor Union" has over 200 Google book hits, though. Also, the proper Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund has around 100 hits. -- Matthead Discuß   17:55, 17 October 2009 (UTC)

 * This is the usual problem with whether to use English or American spelling - the only Wiki guideline I'm aware of on this just says to be consistent. Personally I usually use American spelling, if for no other reason then that then my computer doesn't red-mark everything as a misspelling. Since there's more Google book hits for "Labor" - I'd support Matthead's proposal. But I don't have strong feelings either way on this.radek (talk) 05:14, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Currently, this article is titled General Jewish Labour Bund. It was recently changed to as such from what you propose, General Jewish Labour Union. Although in you may get more "hits" (results) when searching on books, it is more commonly referred to by Bundists as the "Jewish Labour Bund" (ok, so we kept the "General" part, to keep it closer to its original form - General Jewish Labour Union). I completely disagree with renaming it by its Yiddish transliteration. I propose we keep it as it is. This needs more discussion. --Eliscoming1234 (talk) 05:20, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Whatever the name or the spelling, the word "Bund" needs to be somewhere in there.radek (talk) 05:46, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 * I've seen it most commonly as "Jewish Labor Bund" (without "General"). As far as Labor or Labour, don't focus on Google hits; see WP:ENGVAR. Generally, American topics get American spelling, British topics get British spelling, and everything else depends on the style preferred by the first major contributor to the article. Most importantly, consistency counts. — Malik Shabazz 05:44, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 * My preference is to stick with British spelling. Re the name, "the Bund" is the most common term, surely.  Because "the Bund" is the most common, there is no prevailing fuller phrase, which probably reflects contemporary reality as histories and participant accounts of the Bund emerged in multiple languages and countries in the post war period. The present title may be a little cumbersome, but it is IMO the best representation in English of the full name of the organisation. --Goldsztajn (talk) 12:08, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

 * Well, "The Bund" would be my own personal preference but it does appear that there is a lot of English sources on the area of Shanghai.radek (talk) 03:40, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

split into three?
I started a thread at Wikipedia_talk:Jewish_Labour_Bund_Task_Force. --Soman (talk) 16:43, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Additional titles
In the first paragraph of this article, it says that the General Jewish Labour Bund is known as:
 * General Jewish Labour Bund of Lithuania, Poland and Russia
 * אַלגעמײַנער ײדישער אַרבעטער בּונד אין ליטע פוילין און רוסלאַנד, Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Lite, Poyln un Rusland
 * The Bund, בּונד
 * Jewish Labour Bund

It needs to also say that it is known as: (Needs to specify when it is called the Jewish Labour Bund (with a "u") and Jewish Labor Bund (without a "u").) (I think it has also been called:)
 * The General Jewish Workers Bund of Lithuania, Poland and Russia
 * The General Jewish Workers Bund
 * Jewish Labor Bund
 * The General Jewish Workers Union of Lithuania, Poland and Russia
 * The General Jewish Workers Union

I brought this up so someone can organize the titles in a better format, with the consent of everyone else. --Eliscoming1234 (talk) 22:41, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

articles in Ukrainian and Russian wikis
There is a strange sentence in, the article in the Ukrainian wiki, "Під час Першої світової війни Бунд займав соціал-шовіністичні позиції.", i.e. (according to the Google translator) "During World War Bund held social chauvinist position." ! The Russian wiki article includes interesting data (numbers of Bund's members: 34,000 during the 1905-1907 Revolution; 2,000 in October 1910; 34,000 after the February Revolution), but without sources (there are general references at the end of the article, but no inline refs). It would be interesting to somewhat coordinate the various versions of the main Bund article to modify POV versions such as the Ukrainian one and to ask the Russian contributors to add refs so that their info could be recycled on the other wikis.--Pylambert (talk) 11:24, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * It's not a strange sentence, but rather a copy-paste from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Since GSE is public domain, texts from it are used as base for articles in some of the Soviet language wikis. --Soman (talk) 11:37, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Merger proposal
I propose that General Jewish Labour Bund in Belarus be merged into General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia. See, Articles for deletion/General Jewish Labour Bund in Belarus. The are no sources that indicate the existence of a distinct organization for the Bund in present-day Belarus. Many of the cities that today are part of Belarus were epicentres of activism of the Russian Bund. The Gomel and Minsk conferences were conferences of the Russian Bund. The part on BNR participation is unsourced for years now, I could not find references online. --Soman (talk) 09:18, 15 May 2014 (UTC) ping, , , , , --Soman (talk) 09:26, 15 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Definitely not. Rather the original article should be renamed in General Jewish Labour Bund of Russia as the article states that its members were mainly against seperatism, while the article related to Belarus should be renamed into General Jewish Labour Bund of Western Lands as it seems that members of the Belarusian Bund were part of the Central Council of Ukraine, while participating in an attempt of forming a Belarusian state. Also, it looks awkwardly mentioning of Poland in the name when the Polish Bund separated soon after the occupation of Poland by German troops. Aleksandr Grigoryev (talk) 16:43, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Maybe, could there be merged the Communist Bund (Ukraine) and the General Jewish Labour Bund in Belarus? Aleksandr Grigoryev (talk) 17:01, 1 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Communist Bund (Ukraine) was a different party. Also, I think that the references for any separate party organization in Belarus or Western Lands are missing so far. --Soman (talk) 18:01, 2 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Support if renamed. Instead of "General Jewish Labour Bund of [...]" it seems natural to me to simply use "General Jewish Labour Bund", redirecting other Jewish Labour Bunds to this article and merging them. In the Bundism and International Jewish Labor Bund articles the page is also referred to as the General Jewish Labour Bund. Seriously, we have too many of these Bund and Labor articles. Prinsgezinde (talk) 00:26, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
 * The problem is that 'General Jewish Labour Bund is used for two separate parties, the Russian Bund (i.e. this article) and the Polish Bund. However, there was never a Belarusian Bund, the branches of the party in present-day Belarus was part of the Russian party. --Soman (talk) 18:59, 11 March 2015 (UTC)

@ - Just make the merge happen. The official name of the organization remains the official name of the organization; the fact is that it also conducted activities in Belorussia (and Ukraine), which can easily be described within the history of the organization. I'm gonna pull down the 1-year old Merge Discussion template... Carrite (talk) 19:21, 22 July 2015 (UTC)

Geographic conflict
Since when Ekaterinoburg and Bobruisk were part of Ukraine??? Please, check section 1917. Also, why Ekaterinoburg is redirected to Yekaterinburg? Could it be a misnomer for Yekaterinoslav?? Aleksandr Grigoryev (talk) 16:32, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

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Requested move 27 July 2018

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

The result of the move request was: moved as requested. I have created a new disambiguation page at General Jewish Labour Bund (disambiguation) and will add a hatnote to the page here that makes it clear that this article is about the "Lithuania, Poland and Russia" version. Dekimasu よ! 21:38, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia → General Jewish Labour Bund – This is the original and primary incarnation of the Bund, and the miscellany of geographical disambiguators just adds confusion as to whether this is the main one or not. This would also match more closely how the article is titled in other Wikipedia language editions. Pharos (talk) 16:04, 27 July 2018 (UTC) --Relisting. Dekimasu よ! 21:05, 3 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Support per nom.--Darwinek (talk) 23:58, 28 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose, I think this is one of the cases where having a full and formal name helps understanding. Up to 2009, this article didn't differentiate between the different Bund parties at all. A lot of literature conflates the Russia and Poland Bund parties or presume that the Bund functioned as an International of sorts (like Poalei Zion). --Soman (talk) 07:49, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think it helps but confuses; I come across this article randomly once a year or so, and I'm always perplexed by whether or not this is the primary incarnation, or one of the derivative groups.--Pharos (talk) 14:45, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

 * Support - per nom. Dreamy Jazz talk | contribs 20:38, 12 August 2018 (UTC)
 * One way or another, there should probably be a disambiguation page somewhere for General Jewish Labour Bund in Belarus, General Jewish Labour Bund in Latvia, General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia, General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland, and General Jewish Labour Party. It could go at General Jewish Labour Bund if this doesn't go through, or at General Jewish Labour Bund (disambiguation) if it does, or a WP:DABCONCEPT article could be created at the base title. Dekimasu よ! 01:42, 15 August 2018 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Belorussia
I redirected General Jewish Labour Bund in Belarus here, partially as we have no evidence that a specific Belarusian chapter of the Bund or a separate Belorussian Bund party ever existed, partially as all the material of that article is now covered elsewhere. That article essentially contained 4 disparate pieces of information; --Soman (talk) 19:19, 30 April 2020 (UTC)
 * 1) "The Belarusian chapter of the General Jewish Labour Bund was among political parties forming the government and parliament of the Belarusian People's Republic gaining independence in 1918. Members of the Bund became members of the Parliament. Bund member Mojżesz Gutman even became a Minister without portfolio in the Government of the newly created republic and drafted its constitution. The Bund left later the government bodies of the BNR." - these unsourced passages have now been included in the main Bund article. Needs references, though.
 * 2) "Contrarily to the attitude of the Communist party in Ukraine and Russia proper, the Communist Party (bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia agreed to integrate in its ranks the local Bund, renamed Belarusian Kombund in April 1920 after the Twelfth Conference of the Bund on April 12–19, 1920 in Gomel, into an autonomous Jewish Communist Party, thus not forcing individual members either to join directly the party or through the Yevsektsiya. They even demanded the Yevsektsiya to be dissolved into the Kombund. This seems however to have been a mere agreement on paper that was never implemented, a manoeuver by the Communists to attract support from Bundists as the Bund was more powerful than them in the Belarusian cities. " - this seems to refer to the Komfarband of Bielorussia and Lithuania? The dates appear mixed up, however. But I don't think this process happened twice
 * 3) "In 1921, at its Thirteenth Conference of the still "General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia", i.e. then in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, a majority of the Bundist delegates decided to dissolve the party, and part of its membership joined the R.C.P.(B.) on the basis of the rules of admission, while the minority formed the Social Democratic Bund." - there is nothing specifically 'Belorussian' about this passage. The Gomel conference was the conference of the Russian Bund. This conference is discussed in the main Bund article.
 * 4) "In West Belarus, that was part of interwar Poland, the remnants of the party finally merged into the Polish Bund, while many activists chose to join the Polish Communist Party." - this passage is now included in the main Bund article. Need a reference, though.

Party organization?
Is there any good reference on how the party was organized internally (preferably in English)? Especially with some numbers of how the membership was distributed geographically? I haven't come across any so far, but encountering a number of mentions of different regional units;

Material on party organization in current wiki article
In the article we have at the moment:
 * "In February 1905 a Polish Regional Committee was formed, gathering the local party branches in the areas of Congress Poland (except in the cities of Warsaw and Lodz). "
 * "In December 1918 the Latvia District Committee of the Bund began publishing the newspaper Undzer Tsayt ('Our Time'). "
 * "Four Bund bureaus were represented as such among the 60 delegates to the May 1918 Menshevik Party conference: Moscow (Abramovich), Northern (Erlich), Western (Goldshtein, Melamed) and Occupied Lands (Aizenshtadt). "
 * "After the issuing of the First Universal of the Central Rada (Council) of Ukraine, the Southern Bureau of the Bund issued a statement rejecting the declaration of Ukrainian autonomy. "

Local units and districts around 1903
Two accounts on the internal organization of the Bund around 1903, somewhat contradictory:
 * Vladimir Akimov's account of the history of social democracy 1897-1903 states that there were 14 local committees of Bund - Warsaw, Lodz, Belostok, Grodno, Vilna, Dvisnk, Kovno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Berdichev, Zhitomir, Riga. Per Akimov's account the local committees had six types of councils; trade councils (fakhoye skhodki), revolutionary groups, propaganda councils, councils for intellectuals, discussion groups for intellectuals and agitators' councils. Brush workers union and tanners union had committee status. Bund had organizations that weren't full-fledged committees in Pinsk, Sedlice, Petrokov, Plock, Brest-Litovsk, Vilkomir, Priluki, Rezhitsa, Kiev, Odessa, Bobruisk, and many smaller townships.

 * The report of the Bund to the 1903 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party - Districts of Bund: Vilna (Sventiany, etc.), Kovno (Ponevezh, Vilkomir, Shavli, Onikshty, Keydany, Yanovo, Shaty, Utena...), Grodno (Kartuz-Bereza, etc.), Bialystok, Dvinsk (Rezhitsa ...), Minsk (Borisov, Pinsk, Mozyr, Bobruisk, Parichi ...), Vitebsk (Beshankovichy, Liozna, Lyady ...), Warsaw, Lodz, Siedlec, Plock, Suwalki, Mariampol, Gomel (Dobryanyka, Vietka ...), Mogilev (Shklow, Orsha, Bykhov, Kopys ...), Zhytomyr, Berdichev, Odessa, Nizhyn, Bila Tserkva, Podolian Governorate (Vinnitsa, Bratslav, Tulchina, Nemirov), Lutsk, Volhynian Governorate. B. The districts of the “Union of Brush Workers”: Nevel, Kreslavka, Vilkovyshki, Kalvaria, Vladislavovo, Verzhbolovo, Vystinets, Mezhdurechye Междуречье_(Витебская_область)?, Trostyan, Knyszyn. C. District of the “Union of Tanners”: Smorgon, Oshmyany, Krynki, Zabludovo, Shishlovichi, etc. ("РАйон БУНДА А. Вильна (Свенцяны и пр.), Ковно (Поневеж, Вилькомир, Шавли, Оникшты, Кейданы, Яново, Шаты, Утяны...), Гродно (Картуз-Береза и др.), Белосток, Двинск (Режица...), Минск (Борисов, Пинск, Мозырь, Бобруйск, Паричи...), Витебск (Бешенковичи, Лиозно, Ляды...), Варшава, Лодзь, Седлец, Плоцк, Сувалки, Мариамполь, Гомель (Добрянки, Ветка...), Могилев (Шклов, Орша, Быхов, Копысь...), Житомир, Бердичев, Одесса, Нежин, Белая Церковь, Подольская губ. (Винница, Брацлав, Тульчино, Немиров), Луцк, Волынская губерния. В. Район «Союза щетинщиков»: Невель, Креславка, Вильковышки, Кальвария, Владиславово, Вержболово, Выстинец, Межречье, Тростяны, Кнышин. С. Район «Союза кожевенников»: Сморгонь, Ошмяны, Кринки, Заблудово, Шишловичи и пр.")
 * I'm a bit confused whether there would be "Lutsk, Volhynian Governorate" is one district or two distinct districts.
 * Union of Bristle-Makers, Bershter-Bund, affiliated with Bund, similar arrangement for Union of Tanners, Garber-Bund

Party committees around 1917-1921
Looking at the later stages of Bund, 1917-1921, this reference makes mention of various committees;
 * Petrograd, Moscow, Minsk, Gomel Bureau CC of Bund [does this mean the CC bureau was based in all these locations?], General Committee of Bund for Great Russia (1917-1920), Mobilization Commission of CC of Bund [seemingly coordinating bundists in the Red Army] (1919-1920), Bund had Oblast (Regional), Governorate, City, as well as other, organizations, Southern Regional Committee of Bund (1917), General Committee of the Bund for the Ukraine (1918-1920), Kiev, Ekaterinoslav, Nizhyn, Chernobyl committees of Bund (1917-1921), North-Western Regional Committee, Minsk, Barysaw, Orsha, Slutsk Committees (1917-1921), Moscow and Siberian Regional Committees, Petrograd, Penza, Harbin and other committees (1917-1920). ("Петроградского, Московского, Минского, Гомельского бюро ЦК Бунда, Главного комитета Бунда Велико- россии (1917—1920); материалы мобилизационной комиссии ЦК Бунда: постановления ЦК, переписка с организациями и отдельными лицами по вопросам мобилизации членов Бунда в Красную Армию (1919—1920); воззвания, письма, телеграммы ЦК Бунда, касающиеся работы бундовских организаций в Польше; протоколы, листовки, резолюции, письма местных организаций, присланные в ЦК Бунда в качестве информации (1917—1921); переписка [...] 4. Материалы областных (региональных), губернских, городских и др. организаций Бунда: протоколы, резолюции [...] Южного областного комитета Бунда (1917), Главного комитета Бунда Украины (1918—1920), Киевского, Екатеринославского, Нежинского, Чернобыльского комитетов (1917—1921), Северо- Западного областного комитета, Минского, Борисовского, Оршанского, Слуцкого комитетов (1917—1921), Московского и Сибирского областных комитетов, Петроградского, Пензенского, Харбинского и др. комитетов (1917— 1920)"
 * Seems that the General Committees would have appeared only after 1917? Some sort of a re-organization as Ukraine, Poland, Baltics etc separated from Russia?
 * The Southern Regional Committee would have been the Bund organization up to 1917. In 1918 a General Committee for Ukraine appears. Possibly linked to re-organization after the Kombund split Note "Южного Областного Комитета Бунда" "Главного Украинского комитета Бунда"

Seems the formal name of Bund organizations at city-level, at least in cities were the Bund had a certain size was [Foo] Committee of Bund Organizations;
 * Irkutsk Committee of Bund Organizations ("комитета иркутской организации Бунда"
 * Ufa Committee of Bund Organizations ("Составлено и подано в наш комитет заявление: «Мы, нижеподписавшиеся, бывшие члены Уфимского комитета организации Бунда, находя, что линия поведения ЦК местного комитета Бунда является преступной по отношению к")

And furthermore; --Soman (talk) 16:04, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
 * This ref indicates that there were both Odessa District and City Committees ("Район и Город Комитеты („Бунда“) Од.")
 * Glock, organ of the Bund Committee in Poland
 * North-Western Committee, representative Ester Frumkin ("Усилилась роль областных организаций Бунда . Представитель Северо - западного комитета Бунда Эстер Фрумкина отмечает, что политическая линия Сев . - западного комитета резко расходится с позицией ЦК Бунда , вполне")
 * The party had local committees ("местного комитета Бунда") ("мѣстнаго комитета Бунда")
 * Gomel Committee - activities stopped under martial law at outbreak of WWI, resumed in March 1917. Active in the Gomel soviet ("В начале Первой мировой войны и введенного военного положения деятельность комитета Бунда прекратилась и возобновилась лишь в марте 1917 г. Представители комитета вошли в состав гомельского Совета рабочих и)
 * Around 1917 there was a Kharkov-based South-East District Committee. Then a Ekaterinoslav-based District Committee for Ekaterinoslav, Kharkov, Taurida Governorates and Don Oblast. ("Наше Слове. Социал-демократ. еженедельник, орган группы членов Бунда, с 74 4 — орган юго-вост. районн. ком-та Бунда. Харьков. Ред.-изд.: Группа членов Харькове*. орг. Бунда, с /* 4 — юго-вост! район. ком-т Бунда [Л* 1 вышел 8 июня, /А 4 — 30 июля 1917 г.; с No 5 перенесено в Екатеринослав с подзаг.: Орган районн. ком-та Бунда для Екатеринославской, Харьковской, Таврич. губ. и Донской области, ред.-изд.: ред. комиссия при район. ком-те Бунда; No 8 вышел 12 янв. 1918 г.].")

 * "At the beginning of the February Revolution, large parts of the Russian Empire, such as Poland (Warsaw, Lodz), the Northwest Region (Grodno, Bialystok, Vilnius), Lithuania (Kovno), were occupied by the German army, and their political fate had Separated long ago by the fate of Russia." צום אנהייב פון דער פעברואר־רעוואלוציע זיינען גרויסע טיילן פון דער רוסישער אימפעריע, ווי פוילן (ווארשע, לאדזש), די צפוןמערב געגנט (גראדנע, ביאליסטאק, ווילנע), ליטע (קאוונע) געווען אקופירט דורך די דייטשע ארמייען, און זייער פאליטישער גורל האט זיך צעשיידט אויף לאנג פונם גורל פון רוסלאנד. - so prior to the 1917 February Revolution, Vilna had been in the Northwest Region (di tsfunmerb gegnt), and note that "[o]f all the Bund's committees, the so-called gegnt-komitet in Lite was the last to be reorganised,379 which was partially due to Vilna's unclarified status"
 * "The [Bund Central Committee] Has decided to create a bureau of its 5 members to lead the work between the plenary sessions. Two regional committees were also set up: one for the northwestern provinces in Minsk and another for southern Russia in Kiev. The Presidium of the Western Regional Committee consisted of A. Weinstein, Chairman, Dr. Y. Saumim, cashier, A. Kirzhnitz, Secretary. A commission for Central Russia was formed by [grammar check?] the Moscow Committee. It was decided that Arbeyter-Sthime in Petrograd should remain as the central organ, and in Minsk and Kiev the organs of the regional committees would be published." (דער צ . ק . האָט באשלאסן צו שאפן א ביורא פון 5 זיינע מיטגלידער, וואס זאלן פירן די ארבעט צווישן די פלענארע זיצונגען. מ׳האט אויך בא־ שטימט צו שאפן צוויי געגנט־קאמיטעטן: איינעם פאר די צפון־מערב־פרא־ ווינצן אין מינסק און א צווייטן פאר דרום־רוסלאנד אין קיעוו. דאס פרעזידיום פון דעם מערב־געגנט קאמיטעט איז באשטאנען פון א. ודינשטיין, פארזיצער, דר. י. תאומים, קאסירער, א. קירזשניץ, סעקרעטאר. ביים מאסקווער קא־ מיטעט איז געשאפן געווארן א קאמיסיע פאר צענטראל־רוסלאנד. ס׳איז באשטימט געווארן, אז די ארבייטער־שטימע זאל בלייבן אין פעטראגראד ווי דער צענטראל־ארגאן, און אין מינסק און קיעוו זאלן דערשיינען די ארגא־ נען פון די געגנט־קאמיטעטן.) - this would be sometime in spring of 1917?? --Soman (talk) 20:19, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
 * "The Provisional (Temporary?) Ukrainian General Committee of the Bund" (צייטווייליִקער אוקראינער הויפט - קאָמיטעט פֿון בונד) - however, also uses 'Provisional Bureau of the General Ukrainian Committee of Bund', so probably it was the Bureau that was provisional. Anyhow Hofn-Komitet probably corresponds to the Russian Glavnogo Komitet, just as Gegnt-Komitet then corresponds to Oblastoy Komite? --Soman (talk) 21:02, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

In Siberia

 * The ref above mentions a Siberian Regional Committee. We also have mentions of a "Western Siberian District Committee" ("член Томского и Западно-Сибирского районного комитета Бунда"), "Eastern Siberian Committee of Bund" ("разъясняющий соответствующие пункты Устава РСДРП (объединенной).100 Конференция поддержала инициативу Восточно- Сибирского комитета Бунда по организации кооперативного издательства и книжного магазина" *West Siberian Regional Committee of Bund ("Западно-Сибирского областного комитета Бунда") "Siberian Regional Committee of Bund" (" Сибирского областного комитета Бунда")

General Committee for Great Russia

 * Di Hofnung ('The Hope'), organ of the General Committee of the Bund in Great Russia, published 5 issues in 1918, Moscow (די האָפנונג, אויסגאבע פון הויפּט ־ קאָמיטעט פון בונד אין גרויס ־ רוסלאַנד, אַרויס 5 נומערן אין 1918 , מאָסקווע)
 * Di Hofnung ('The Hope'), Moscow, Organ of General Committee of the Bund for Great Russia, editor U. Rein, Editorial Board members: Abramovitch, Rubin, Heylikman. 5 issues, 10 August 19 December (די האָפנונג ", מאָסקווע .אָרגאַן פון הויפט - קאָמיטעט פון „ בונד " פאר גרויס - רוסלאַנד, רעדאַקטאָר ו . ריין , אין רעדאקציע : אבראמאוויטש , רובין , הייליקמאַן . נומער 5 - 1 , 10 אוגוסט 19 דעצעמבער) --Soman (talk) 21:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)

Lithuania?
Did the Bund in interwar Lithuania establish itself as a separate party, and if so, when and how? Noted that; --Soman (talk) 19:22, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
 * "Of all the Bund's committees, the so-called gegnt-komitet in Lite was the last to be reorganised,379 which was partially due to Vilna's unclarified status" (this refers to Dec 1918)
 * There was a General Kombund Committee of Lithuania... but of the Communist Bund (Russia) or a separate party?? - "В 1920 г . переехал в Литву, был кооптирован в члены главного комитета Комбунда Литвы — левой оппозиционной части Бунда . организаторов ликвидации Комбунда в июне 1921 г ."
 * "The PPS wanted some kind of federation with Poland and Lithuania, the Lithuanians wanted Lithuania, the White Russians White Russia, while the Bund saw Vilna's future as linked to Russia." (reference to 1918...)
 * "The right wing of the Bund, based in the Vilna Regional Committee, used the Unzer shtime, edited by Max Weinreich, to advocate Bundist participation in the kehile." (Dec 1918) --Soman (talk) 10:50, 7 May 2020 (UTC)

 * "In Moscow in November 1920, I was delegated to the Plenum of the Russian Central Committee of the "Bund" in Moscow as the messenger [representative?] of the General Committee of the "Bund" in Lithuania" (אין מאָסקווע אין נאָוועמבער 1920 ווער איך דעלעגירט צום פלענום פון רוסי לענדישן צענטראַל ־ קאָמיטעט פון „ בונד " אין מאָסקווע ווי דער שליח פון הויפּט - קאָמיטעט פון „ בונד " אין ליטע) - I'm not 100% sure whether the person talks about the Kombund or the Bund (S.D.) here... but appears that there wasn't a separate Bund party in Lithuania as of Nov 1920... --Soman (talk) 21:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * "The Vilno Bund organization, which considered itself more Russian than Polish, had split in 1920, the vast majority of its members going over to the Communist Bund."
 * From the Polish Bund wiki article: "The Bund branch in Wilno (now Vilnius) had split along the same lines as the rest of the Russian Bund in 1920, into a left-wing majority group and a right-wing minorities group. The latter was associated with the Russian Social Democratic Bund. Both groups were reluctant to join the Polish Bund, even after it had become apparent that Wilno was an integrated part of the Polish state. The Wilno Social Democratic Bund distrusted the Polish Bund for its overtures to the Comintern, stating that the Polish Bund had ceased to be a Social Democratic organization. In 1923 both Wilno Bund groups merged into the Polish Bund. " - So the right-wing Vilna Bund presumably continued to be part of the Russian Bund (S.D.) until the merger, but what about the Vilna left-wing Bund? What role did it have after the Bund in Russia proper had merged with RKP(b) and the Kombundists in Kovno had merged with the Communist Party of Lithuania? --Soman (talk) 22:52, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Bund was not represented in the Council of Lithuania - 'The Bund spoke out against Lithuania's statehood because of its political attitudes.' ("Prieš Lietuvos valstybingumą dėl savo politinių nuostatų pasisakė „Bundas".") --Soman (talk) 23:10, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * May 1917 - Bund called for Lithuanian autonomy in a federal Russian state. Bund had good relations with Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.
 * Kaunas City Council election December 1918 - "Jüdische Sozialdemokratenbund (15 kandidaten, 6 mandate)" another ref for 6 seats for Bund

Liber's entry in party leadership? Name of the party in 1918?

 * 'A brief rapprochement between the Menshevik Party and Bund occurred in May 1918, when Liber entered the makeup of the General Committee of the Bund in Soviet Russia (then Ukraine was ripped from Moscow).' (אַ קורצע דערנענטערונג סיי מיט דער מעטשעווסטישער פּאַרטיי סיי מיטן בונד איז פארגעקומען אין מאַי 1918, ווען ליבער איז אריין אין דעם באַשטאַנד פון דעם הויפט - קאָמיטעט פון בונד אין סאָוועט ־ רוסלאַנד (דעמאָלט איז אוי קראַינע געווען אָפּגעריסן פון מאָסקווע)) - I'm a bit confused here - Liber entered in the Bund CC or in one of the General Committees? Notably it seems that the Bund preferred the term 'Ratn-Rusland' rather than 'Soviet Rusland', so I'm not sure the name is authentic. And not sure when the party changed its name of 'Bund in Ratn-Rusland' (perhaps around this time?). The passage about Ukraine being separated from Moscow refers to the country, not the Bund branch presumably. --Soman (talk) 22:04, 7 May 2020 (UTC)

11th conference - consultative vote delegates?
I managed to extract the following from snippet view of p. 216 of Di Geshikhṭe fun Bund, Volume 3 רעכט זיינען געווען : ס. סעמקאווסקי (פון ו . ס . ד . א . פ . ), א. אייזענשטאט ( צ . ק . פון בונד ), א. בראון ( סערגיי - קאַנדיי דאָט צום צ . ק . פון בונד ), דר. יצחק תאומים און א. סוועטיצקי ( פון מינסקער געגנט ־ קאָמיטעט ), ראָזע לעוויט ( פון מאָסקווער געגנט ־ קאָמיטעט ) , אברהם לייב עטקין ( פון אוקראינער הויפט - קאָמיטעט ) , פראַנקפורט ( פון ווילנער געגנט ־ קאָמיטעט ) , זשעניע הורוויטש , ג - but so far haven't been able to get any useful detail from p. 217. --Soman (talk) 17:10, 10 May 2020 (UTC)
 * So delegates to the 1919 11th conference with consultative vote were: S. Semkowski (from Central Committee of U. S. D. A. F.), A. Eisenstadt (Bund Central Committee), A. Braun (Bund CC?), Dr. Isaac Saumim and A. Svetitsky (of the Minsk Regional Committee), Rose Levitt (of the Moscow Regional Committee), Abraham Leib Etkin (of the Ukrainian General Committee), Frankfurt (of the Vilna Regional Committee), Genia Horwich"
 * This would be 9 out of 19 of the consultative vote delegates. Anyone who can access p. 217 and check the others? The 10th delegate's initial would have been "G.".
 * What was the USDAF or USDAP? - RSDAP (i.e. RSDLP) presumably
 * What's סערגיי קאַנדיידאָט? A. Braun
 * Which committee or other body did Genia Horwich represent?

Merger of Communist Bund (Russia) article
I'd like to go ahead with a merger of the Communist Bund (Russia) article into this article. Most sources don't see the 1920 Kombund as a separate party from the main Bund, and I cannot find any clear indications that the Kombund would have presented itself as anything else than the Bund during this period. Notably it seems at Der Veker (Minsk), the main organ at the time, was published as the "tsentral organ fun „bund“ 'in ratn-rusland" (Central organ of the 'Bund' in Soviet Russia). --Soman (talk) 11:34, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Lithuania AfD and sources
I started an AfD, Articles for deletion/General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, since there doesn't appear to be any reference indicating that there was a separate Bund party in Lithuania during the period 1917-1921. But I did find a mention in passing here, about Bundist presence in Kovno ghetto in the 1930s. Not sure however, if this would be still the Russian Bund (S.D.), perhaps the Polish Bund, a separate party or just a more informal tendency? Notably, the Bundist periodical Foroys issue XVIII (October 1957), has articles of potential interest - "Der Bund in Irushelayem De Litte" and "Der Bund in Kovner Litte". If anyone knows if possible to get hold of that issue online would be great. --Soman (talk) 14:37, 21 May 2020 (UTC)

Question about "Bundism" Page
Is the Bundism page necessary, and can it be merged into this article? I understand this page discusses the Jewish Labour Bund as a whole, while "Bundism" discusses the ideology behind this group and its later iterations, but is that page necessary?

title: Talk:General Jewish Labour Bund


text:
What a Wonderful World

"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released in 1967 as a single. In April 1968, it topped the pop chart in the United Kingdom, but performed poorly in the United States because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, disliked the song and refused to promote it.

After it was heard in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, it was reissued as a single in 1988, and rose to number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. Armstrong's recording was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Composition and production
Thiele produced the track under his own name, but as a co-composer was initially credited under the pseudonym George Douglas. His real name has appeared on it from its 1988 issue onward.

One source claims the song was first offered to Tony Bennett, who turned it down, although Louis Armstrong biographer Ricky Riccardi disputes this. In Graham Nash's book Off the Record: Songwriters on Songwriting, George Weiss says he wrote the song specifically for Louis Armstrong, as he was inspired by Armstrong's ability to bring together people of different races.

Armstrong was gigging at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, so he chose to record the song nearby at Bill Porter’s United Recording studio. The session was scheduled to follow Armstrong's midnight show, and by 2 am the musicians were settled and tape was rolling. Arranger Artie Butler was there with songwriters Weiss and Thiele, and Armstrong was in the studio singing with the orchestra. Armstrong had recently signed to ABC Records, and ABC president Larry Newton showed up to photograph Armstrong. Newton wanted a swingy pop song like "Hello, Dolly!", a big hit for Armstrong when he was with Kapp Records, so when Newton heard the slow pace of "What a Wonderful World", he tried to stop the session. Newton was physically removed and locked out of the studio for his disruption, which resulted in Newton later refusing to promote the song.

A second problem arose with the taping session: nearby freight train whistles interrupted the music twice, forcing the orchestra to start over. Armstrong shook his head and laughed off the distractions, keeping his composure. The session ended around 6 am, going longer than expected. To be sure the orchestra members were paid extra for their overtime, Armstrong accepted only $250 musicians' union scale for his work.

Release and reception
Because Newton refused to promote the song, it initially sold fewer than 1,000 copies in the US. It was a major success in the United Kingdom, however, reaching number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it eventually reached number 116 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Chart. It was also the biggest-selling single of 1968 in the UK, where it was among the last pop singles issued by HMV before it became an exclusively classical music label. The song made Armstrong the oldest male to top the UK Singles Chart. (His record was broken in 2009 when a remake of "Islands in the Stream" recorded for Comic Relief—which included the 68-year-old Tom Jones—reached number 1.)

ABC Records' European distributor EMI forced ABC to issue a What a Wonderful World album in 1968 (catalogue number ABCS-650). It did not chart in the United States, due to ABC not promoting it, but charted in the UK where it was issued by Stateside Records with catalogue number SSL 10247 and peaked on the British chart at number 37.

Enduring success
The song gradually became something of a pop standard. An episode of The Muppet Show produced in 1977 and broadcast early in 1978 featured Rowlf the Dog singing the song to a puppy. In 1978, it was featured in the closing scenes of BBC radio's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and was repeated for BBC's 1981 TV adaptation of the series. In 1988, Armstrong's recording was used in the film Good Morning, Vietnam (despite its setting in 1965, two years before the song was recorded) and was re-released as a single, reaching number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1988. It charted at number 1 for the fortnight ending June 27, 1988 on the Australian chart.

When the ABC television sitcom Family Matters premiered in 1989, Armstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World" was used as the show's theme song. However, after the fifth episode, it was replaced by the original song "As Days Go By".

In 2001, rappers Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, and the Alchemist released "The Forest," a song that begins with three lines of lyric adapted from "What a Wonderful World", altered to become "an invitation to get high" on marijuana. The rappers and their record company, Sony Music Entertainment, were sued by Abilene Music, the owners of "What a Wonderful World". The suit was thrown out after Judge Gerard E. Lynch determined that the altered lyric was a parody, transforming the uplifting original message to a new one with a darker nature.

After it was released digitally, Armstrong's 1967 recording had sold over 2,173,000 downloads in the United States as of April, 2014.

In 2021, it was ranked at No. 171 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time".

Certifications
}

Eva Cassidy and Katie Melua version
In 2007, Georgian-British singer-songwriter Katie Melua recorded a version of "What a Wonderful World" with American singer and guitarist Eva Cassidy, who had died in 1996. Recorded by Melua singing over the original Cassidy track, the duet was released in late 2007 as a charity single for the British Red Cross. Melua, who considers Cassidy one of her musical idols, had previously sung with Cassidy in this manner on Christmas Eve 2006, when she performed "Over the Rainbow" on the BBC One television program Duets Impossible with a videotape of Cassidy singing the song. This version of "What a Wonderful World" was available for purchase only at Tesco stores and on the Tesco Direct website.

Upon its release, the single debuted at number 45 on the Scottish Singles Chart on the week of December 9, 2007. The next week, the song rose 44 positions to number one while also debuting at number one on the UK Singles Chart, giving both Cassidy and Melua their first number-one single in the United Kingdom. It became the first UK number-one single to be available through only one retailer, with 97 percent of its weekly 56,114 sales coming from the physical CD format sold at Tesco. The song quickly descended the UK chart after peaking, spending five weeks in the UK top 100. The cover was also successful in Sweden, reaching number 19 in November 2008, and became a minor hit in the Wallonia region of Belgium.

When the song reached number one in the UK, Melua thanked everyone who bought the single, saying, "Thank you to everyone who has shown such festive goodwill." The duet was later included on her 2008 compilation album The Katie Melua Collection.

Other notable versions

 * 1988: Willie Nelson, on his album What a Wonderful World (reached number 6 on the Billboard Top Country Albums)
 * 1989: Roy Clark, on his album What a Wonderful World (peaked at No. 73 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart)
 * 1992: Nick Cave and Shane MacGowan, the lead single and title track to their split album What a Wonderful World (reached number 72 on the UK charts)
 * 1993: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian ukulele version (medley with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow") on the album Facing Future (sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S. and Canada alone)
 * 1999: Anne Murray, on What a Wonderful World which also spawned a book and video (the album reached No. 1 on the US CCM chart, No. 4 on the US Country chart, No. 38 on the top 200, and No. 15 on the Canadian Country charts)
 * 2004: Rod Stewart recorded a version of the song with Stevie Wonder for Stewart's album Stardust: The Great American Songbook, Volume III (released in the United States as the lead single from the album and by early 2005 reached No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart).
 * 2010: Robert Wyatt, with Ros Stephen and Gilad Atzmon, recorded a version for the album For The Ghosts Within. The song was also released as a single.
 * 2011: Bob Thiele Jr. did a cover of the song which was performed by Alison Mosshart and the Forest Rangers for the FX series Sons of Anarchy (SE4E1 Out) and was included in Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Seasons 1-4 album.
 * 2012: Pat Byrne's version reached No. 3 in the Irish Singles Chart after appearing on The Voice of Ireland.
 * 2018: Barbra Streisand blended the song with Lennon's "Imagine" for her album Walls.
 * 2019: Reuben and the Dark contributed a cover of the song for the soundtrack of the 2020 film Dolittle.
 * 2022: Celeste sang the song live at the Queens Platinum Party at the Palace outside Buckingham Palace

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

title: What a Wonderful World


text:
Elections in Ghana

Ghana elects on national level a head of state, the president, and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. According to the constitution, each President can be elected for only two (four-year) terms after which they are no longer eligible to run for Presidency. The Parliament of Ghana has 275 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. Unlike the Presidency, parliamentarians are eligible to run for as many terms as possible so long as they are of sound mind.

Electoral system of Ghana
The presidential election is won by having more than 50% of valid votes cast, whilst the parliamentary elections is won by simple majority, and, as is predicted by Duverger's law, the voting system has encouraged Ghanaian politics into a two-party system, creating extreme difficulty for anybody attempting to achieve electoral success under any banner other than those of the two dominant parties. Elections have been held every four years since 1992.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held alongside each other, generally on 7 December every four years.

For one qualify as a Presidential candidate, the person is required to be Ghanaian citizens by birth, be at least 40 years old, and must be of sound mind. Again, the person must either be nominated by a political party or stand as independent candidate, provided the necessary requirements are met, including a full payment of presidential filing fees. Presidential campaigns typically span several months to years leading up to Election Day. Candidates are allowed to engage in rallies, debates, and media appearances to communicate their vision and developmental policies (manifestos) for the country and garner support from voters. Ghanaian citizens aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in presidential elections.

Ghana is divided into constituencies, each represented by a Member of Parliament (MP). Similar to the Presidential elections, each political party presents a list of candidates for each constituency, and voters cast their ballots. Non-aligned or independent candidates are equally eligible to stand for parliamentary elections. Candidates' filing fees for parliamentary elections is always lower compared to the presidential filing fees.

The Presidential and Parliamentary elections are organized, conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), the official body responsible for public elections and referendums in Ghana. The Commission, headed by the Electoral Commissioner, operates independently and has the mandated by the constitution to ensure the integrity and transparency of the electoral process. The EC also superintendents over nationwide voter registration, candidate nomination, ballot printing, polling station setup, collation, tabulation and announcement of election results.

Ethnic voting in Ghana
Ethnic voting is the idea that people utilize candidates' ethnic identity to decide who can be best trusted to follow through with their promises for goods to their coethnic constituents as payment for their vote. This form of vote buying in which one's vote is paid for through a targeted public good is known as clientelism and is especially popular in sub-Saharan African countries. Kanchan Chandra, one of the leading academics in Ethnic Politics, claims that there are several causes for this phenomenon in Africa. First, the individual has an incentive to seek out public goods for their vote because of one's perception that their vote individually will not lead to altering the election. Through this logic, Chandra displays that there is an incentive for people to organize for casting their vote within this context because, even if the one does not benefit from this vote individually, their collective vote may allow this group some access to favoritism from the candidate if they win thus establishing greater value in their collective votes. Furthermore, the candidate has an incentive to provide benefits to groups for their vote because an individual method of distributing jobs and services may create conflict in which providing a good to one voter may deprive another voter of that same good; therefore, a group method of distribution both allows for less conflict and greater insurance for the voter that the candidate will follow through on their end. To gain access to a salient group that desires jobs and services to target as well as establish credibility among that group, candidates often use their own ethnic identity, or coethnics, as a targeted community. Furthermore, the history of colonialism within most African countries means that ethnic identity tends to be more salient and available for candidates' access through appeals to shared ethnicity.

Ethnic Voting and Composition of Region
Ethnic favoritism in Ghana has been shown to be a method of gaining votes; however, the effectiveness among voters may vary between diverse and homogeneous communities. While not conducted in Ghana, research in sub-Saharan Africa has found that community investments are significantly more likely to occur in which there are more homogeneous communities. This displays how communities largely composed of one ethnicity may be benefiting from ethnic voting at the local level. The allocation of public goods to a homogeneous area is claimed to be a direct result of ethnic favoritism. While examining how people in Ghana vote within homogeneous, rural communities versus more diverse communities, another study finds support for this theory in that more homogeneous communities are more likely to vote for the party that supports their ethnicity. Furthermore, when there are ethnic minorities within a homogeneous and rural community, they are more likely to vote for the opposition party or their non-coethnic. The researcher explains this as voting based on the mutual benefit of targeted public goods. In this example, minorities within this homogeneous and rural community would equally benefit from the public goods placed in their area as the majority. Therefore, the minority is more likely to advocate for this candidate even though they do not specifically favor their ethnic identity. In contrast, other researchers argue that minority groups within these communities vote along non-coethnic lines due to voter intimidation. This is supported by observing how voting among these minorities for non-coethnic candidates does not vary between locations that have public goods and those that do not. Another researcher's findings display how the choice of voting by ethnicity may depend also on public versus private goods. Similarly, another researcher finds that homogeneous communities are more likely to vote for the candidate that supports their ethnic identity and minorities within those ethnically homogeneous communities are more likely to support the opposition party because they are more likely to obtain access to public goods that the homogeneous community receives. Additionally, this study also finds that diverse and urban communities often have less ethnic voting when considering public goods. However, this study also finds that ethnic minorities are more likely to have an expectation that they will receive private goods if they are within poor communities, even if they are the ethnic minority of a community.

Additionally, research shows the ethnic voting at the local level in Ghana may have greater implications for national elections. For example, ethnic voting towards the presidency may depend on the amount of clientelism taking place for local elections. This theory, "reverse coattails", supports the idea that clientelism surrounding ethnicity at the local level incentivizes individuals to participate at the party level thus aligning them with the party of a presidential candidate that their local official supports. Therefore, the support that local officials gain through co-ethnic clientelism also creates support for the executive candidate in the same party.

Implications of Ethnic Voting
Research has also displayed that the ethnic association created within politics may cause greater conflict and implicit biases between ethnic groups. Because candidates have mobilized ethnic groups through clientelist practices, ethnic groups create stronger ties to their ethnicity around times of competitive elections. By examining how people define themselves (by ethnicity, language, economic status, etc.), one cross-national study found data that when elections are closer and more competitive, it is more likely that people will identify with the ethnic category associated with their ethnicity. This supports the idea that ethnic identity is largely bound to politics because it has historically been used as a political tool. In Ghana, this theory has been supported by studying the microeconomic interactions between people of different ethnic groups. After collecting data on the price of taxis in a field experiment at various time points around an election, the study found that non-coethnics were charged more, on average, than non-ethnics. However, at election time, non-coethnics that were affiliated with an opposing political party (non-copartisans) were charged even more, while non-coethnics affiliated with the same party (copartisans) were charged less. Thus, when ethnic groups are nested in political parties, it can reduce discrimination between ethnic groups within a party but exacerbate discrimination between ethnic groups affiliated with opposing parties.

Alternative Opinions
Although these studies argue that ethnic voting is prevalent in Ghana due to the lack of political information available, other research indicates Ghanaian people do not vote primarily due to ethnicity. This research emphasizes that, although there is less information available to Ghanaian people, they are still more likely to choose a candidate based on past performance and policy plans. Therefore, there are articles indicating that the prevalence of clientelism and ethnic voting only account for a small portion of the population. Other research indicates that while clientelism is a signal of viability to voters in Ghana, it is not alone capable of "buying" one's vote. Therefore, candidates are still reliant on the information they are able to obtain concerning past political performance to judge candidates' performances. This election organization in which gifts are necessary to be seen as a viable candidate is seen as manufactured by years of clientelist practices. As candidates from different parties competed to buy votes, this transaction became standard as a way of interacting with voters.

title: Elections in Ghana


text:
Jake Thackray

John Philip "Jake" Thackray (27 February 1938 – 24 December 2002) was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise.

Thackray sang in a lugubrious baritone voice, accompanying himself on a nylon-strung guitar in a style that was part classical, part jazz. His witty lyrics and clipped delivery, combined with his strong Yorkshire accent and the northern setting of many of his songs, led to his being described as the "North Country Noël Coward", a comparison Thackray resisted, although he acknowledged his lyrics were in the English tradition of Coward and Flanders and Swann, "who are wordy, funny writers". However, his tunes derived from the French chansonnier tradition: he claimed Georges Brassens as his greatest inspiration and he was also influenced by Jacques Brel and Charles Trenet. He also admired Randy Newman. He was admired by, and has influenced, many performers including Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner, Benjamin Clementine, Mike Harding, Momus, Ralph McTell, Morrissey, and Jasper Carrott.

Early life
John Philip Thackray was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Ernest Thackray, a policeman, and Ivy May Thackray, née Armitage. He was educated at the Jesuit St. Michael's College in Leeds and St David's College, a Catholic boarding seminary in Dolgellau, north-west Wales. He considered joining the priesthood but instead chose to study English Literature and Language at Durham University. After graduation he spent three years abroad teaching English, mainly in France – in Lille, in Brittany and in the Pyrenees – but also including six months in Algeria at the height of the war for independence in 1961–1962. During his time in France he had some of his poetry published and discovered the chansonnier tradition and in particular the work of Georges Brassens. "I missed out on rock and all my influences were French," he would later say. In 1966, he had two brief columns – What is a Prof? and What is a Student? published in the BBC's The Listener magazine.

Musical career
In 1963 Thackray returned to his native Yorkshire, teaching at Intake School in Rodley, Leeds. Teaching himself to play the guitar, he found that one way to get unruly pupils to take an interest in their studies was through his songs. This and performing in folk clubs led to appearances on local BBC radio programmes, which brought him to the attention of producer Norman Newell. Thackray recorded thirty demos with Newell, eleven of which were soon to be re-recorded and released as his debut album, The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray, in 1967. Many of the songs were given Newell’s trademark orchestral accompaniment in an attempt to broaden the album’s appeal beyond folk audiences. Its title track exhorted his friends to mark his death with a party, and then forget him. The album also included "Lah-Di-Dah", in which a prospective bridegroom assures his bride he loves her so much that he will try to be nice to her dreadful family.

This in turn led to a BBC television slot, composing a weekly topical song for Bernard Braden's consumer magazine programme Braden's Week. He was not immediately popular — his first appearance in late 1968 provoked letters demanding his dismissal — but he eventually won over the audience. After Braden's Week was cancelled in 1972, Thackray took up the same role on its successor show, That's Life!. In nearly thirty years of performing he would make over a thousand radio and TV appearances, including slots on The David Frost Show and Frost Over America, and his own show, Jake's Scene, on ITV.

In 1968, he married Sheila Marian Clarke-Irons, a 21-year-old student. His second album, Jake's Progress, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios while the Beatles put the finishing touches to their Abbey Road album next door. Released in 1969, it abandoned the orchestral arrangements of its predecessor for a small acoustic band. It included the song "The Blacksmith and the Toffee Maker", which Thackray adapted from a story in Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie. He began recording a new album in 1970, but these recordings were scrapped. In 1971 he released Live Performance, a live recording of 14 songs from his 1970 performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London (an expanded, 29-song double CD of the same performance would be released in 2006).

A third studio album, Bantam Cock, followed in 1972. Its title track became a folk standard and was covered by folk singer Fred Wedlock, folk group the Corries and comedian Jasper Carrott among others. Other songs included "Isabel Makes Love upon National Monuments", "Sister Josephine", and "Brother Gorilla", an English adaptation of Georges Brassens' "Le Gorille". In 1973 he opened for Brassens when he performed at the inauguration of the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, which he would describe as the high spot of his career.

After Bantam Cock Thackray's television appearances continued, but his recording career stalled. A compilation album, The Very Best of Jake Thackray, was released in 1975. His final studio album, On Again! On Again!, appeared in 1977. Its title track, a comedic, long-winded tirade about women who talk too much, would see Thackray accused of misogyny, but the album also included "The Hair of the Widow of Bridlington", a song of female self-determination in the face of social disapproval. It also featured two more Brassens adaptations, "Isabella" (based on Brassens' "Marinette") and "Over to Isobel" (based on "Je rejoindrai ma belle"). The same year he published a book of lyrics, Jake's Progress, illustrated by Bill Tidy.

From the late 1970s, he had made most of his living on the live circuit, touring in Europe, North America and the Far East, but in 1981 he returned to television with Jake Thackray and Songs, a six-part series on BBC2 featuring Thackray and guests, including Richard and Linda Thompson and Ralph McTell, performing in a variety of venues. An album of the same name, recorded live at the Stables Theatre, Wavendon, Milton Keynes, as part of the recordings for the TV show, followed. A BBC-licensed DVD of Jake Thackray and Songs was released in 2014. Thackray's last release during his life was a compilation, Lah-Di-Dah, released in 1991.

Although he gave up teaching for show business, Thackray did not really like being what he called "a performing dick". He was uncomfortable with big audiences, and favoured pubs and community halls as performance venues in preference to grander ones such as the London Palladium (although he appeared there in a Royal Variety Performance). He became disillusioned with stage life. He is recorded as saying "I'd never liked the stage much and I was turning into a performing man, a real Archie Rice [the hack music hall comic in John Osborne's The Entertainer], so I cancelled gigs and pulled out". He was plagued by a self-doubt and a breakdown in confidence that Ralph McTell describes as "catastrophic". His style of work was also falling out of fashion: his literate, witty lyrics and tales of rural Yorkshire had little resonance in the punk and Thatcher years, folk audiences had lost interest in contemporary song and, in the days of alternative comedy, his bawdy humour was deemed sexist and outdated. He ultimately gave up performing in the early 1990s and turned to journalism: for four years he wrote a weekly column for the Yorkshire Post.

Retirement and death
In the 1990s, Thackray withdrew to his home in Monmouth, South Wales, where he had settled with his family in the late 1960s. Beset by health and financial problems: he had become an alcoholic and was declared bankrupt in 2000. He had always been an observant Roman Catholic and became increasingly religious in his later years, limiting his musical activities to performing the Angelus at his local church. He died of heart failure on 24 December 2002, at the age of 64, leaving his widow, Sheila, from whom he was separated, and three sons: Bill, Sam and Tom.

Revival in interest
In May 2002, a group of fans formed the Jake Thackray Project with the intention of making more of Thackray's work available to the public. With Thackray's cooperation, the project team, led by record producer David Harris, received permission from EMI to produce a double CD of 42 songs not on any then-available release, limited to 200 copies, which was released in November 2002 with cover art by Bill Tidy. After Thackray's death the following month, EMI consented to a further edition of 100 copies. This revival of interest led to the release of two mass market CDs the following year: The Very Best of Jake Thackray on EMI, and The Jake Thackray Collection on HMV. The Jake Thackray Project went on to release a remastered live recording (the CD Live in Germany), and two DVDs: the privately recorded Live at the Unicorn (2009) and the BBC-licensed Jake Thackray and Songs (2014). A musical written by Barnsley-born poet Ian McMillan based on Thackray's songs and their characters, Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit, premiered in 2005 and toured the north of England. A rewrite by Alan Plater was due to tour the UK in 2007, but was put on hold following the death of executive producer Ian Watson. In 2014 Jake Thackray was featured on the BBC Radio Four 'Great Lives' Series.

2006 saw a major retrospective. EMI released an expanded, 29-song double CD edition of Live Performance, and Jake in a Box, a 4-CD box set containing Thackray's four studio albums and six singles in their entirety, plus 25 unused tracks recorded in the Last Will and Testament sessions in 1967, eleven songs recorded for the abandoned album in 1970 and a handful of other rarities. Comedian and writer Victor Lewis-Smith produced a television documentary, Jake on the Box, for the BBC. In 2014, The Jake Thackray Project released a DVD of Jake Thackray and Songs, by arrangement with BBC music, featuring all of Thackray's performances from the television series, along with songs by three of the guest artists, Alex Glasgow, Pete Scott and Ralph McTell. In 2020, attempts to create a one-man show celebrating his life and work — accompanied by excerpts of his performances — formed a subplot in the mockumentary "Meet the Richardsons" in which Jon Richardson expresses his admiration for Thackray's life and works.

Singles

 * "Remember Bethlehem (The Intake School Carol)" — Columbia/EMI — 1967
 * "Lah-Di-Dah" / "The Black Swan" — Columbia/EMI — 1968
 * "Tra La La" / "Le Cygne Noir" — Columbia/EMI — 1969
 * "Country Boy" (Promo) — Columbia/EMI — 1972
 * "On Again! On Again" — EMI — 1977

Studio albums

 * The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray — Columbia/EMI — 1967
 * Jake's Progress — Columbia/EMI — 1969
 * Bantam Cock — Columbia/EMI — 1972
 * On Again! On Again! — EMI — 1977

Live albums

 * Live Performance — Columbia/EMI — 1971; reissued 1976; reissued in 2006 as an expanded double CD
 * Jake Thackray and Songs — Dingle’s Records — 1981; re-released on streaming platforms in 2022 by The Jake Thackray Project, by arrangement with the BBC. A CD release is expected in 2023.
 * Live in Germany — The Jake Thackray Project – 2005
 * Live at the Lobster Pot Volume 1 — Lobster Pot — 2005
 * Live at the Lobster Pot Volume 2 — Lobster Pot — 2005

Compilations

 * The Very Best of Jake Thackray — EMI — 1975
 * Lah-Di-Dah — EMI — 1991
 * The Jake Thackray Project — The Jake Thackray Project – 2002 (initially limited to 200 copies, with another 100 released the following year)
 * The Very Best of Jake Thackray — EMI — 2003
 * The Jake Thackray Collection — HMV/EMI — 2003
 * Jake in a Box (4-CD Box set) — EMI — 2006

DVDs

 * Live at the Unicorn  — The Jake Thackray Project — 2009
 * Jake Thackray and Songs — The Jake Thackray Project — 2014, by arrangement with BBC Music
 * Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit - The Jake Thackray Musical — 2005
 * Jake Thackray at the BBC – A double-DVD set, including all Thackray's other BBC performances. Released by The Jake Thackray Project in December 2022, by arrangement with BBC Music

Books

 * Jake’s Progress — a book written by Thackray containing the lyrics to most of his songs along with anecdotes and spoken routines from his concerts. Released by Star Books in 1977.
 * Beware of the Bull - The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray — a biography written by Paul Thompson and John Watterson, with the cooperation of the Thackray family, and published by Scratching Shed Publishing in August 2022.

title: Jake Thackray