The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance—place it in the conservative wing of the Reformed family of Protestant churches. Below the Bible—which is held as divinely inspired and without error—the church is committed to several "subordinate standards," together considered with its constitution: the Westminster Confession of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, along with its Testimony, Directory for Church Government, the Book of Discipline, and Directory for Worship.

Primary doctrinal distinctions which separate the RPCNA from other Reformed and Presbyterian denominations in North America are: its continued adherence to the historical practice of Reformed Christianity, contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, of practicing exclusive psalmody, and its continuing affirmation of Jesus as mediatorial king, ruling over all nations. Prior to the 1960s, the RPCNA refused to vote in elections or participate in government in the United States due to it not directly acknowledging Christ's authority over it, and since has continued (at some times more heavily than others), to lobby the federal government to expressly submit to the authority of Jesus Christ in the United States Constitution.

The RPCNA has a long history, having been a separate denomination in the United States since the Colonial era. In Scotland, where the denomination originated, Reformed Presbyterians have been a separate branch since the late 17th century, and prior to that, a part of the original Presbyterian Church of Scotland that came out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century.

As its name suggests, the RPCNA is presbyterian in polity, with each individual congregation being governed by two or more elders. The church considers to be the only divinely-appointed method of church government. As with most Presbyterian denominations, the RPCNA is divided into several presbyteries, but unlike several other smaller Presbyterian denominations, the supreme governing body is a single synod, not a general assembly. Each congregation may send one ruling elder delegate (two for larger congregations) to its presbytery meeting, as well as to the annual Synod meeting. Each minister (teaching elder), whether serving as the pastor of a congregation or not, is automatically a delegate to his presbytery and to the synod.

Terminology
The following terminology is derived from the Directory for Church Government in the RPCNA's church constitution:
Baptized member: a member, almost always the child of communicant members, who has been baptized but has not yet professed Christian faith. Baptized members may not receive the Lord's Supper or vote in congregational business meetings.
Communicant member: a member who has professed Christian faith and adherence to church standards. Communicant members may receive the Lord's Supper and vote in congregational business meetings.
Elder: a man elected and ordained to lead a congregation. This includes both ruling elders (laymen) and teaching elders (clergy), which are considered equal in status but different in role. Under normal circumstances, each ruling elder is a member of his congregation's session, as is every active pastor. However, an ordained minister who is not currently active as a pastor may serve only as a ruling elder in his congregation. Each congregation must have at least two elders in order to be legitimately constituted.
Presbytery: a group of several congregations in a specific area, governed by the ministers in that area along with one or more ruling elders from each of those several congregations.
Session: a governing board in each congregation, composed of the ruling elders in that congregation and the congregation's pastor(s).
Synod: a governing body above the presbytery, composed of all ministers and one or more ruling elders from each congregation in the denomination.

History

The RPCNA, like the other churches of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Alliance, descends from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which formed in 1690. From the time of the Revolution Settlement in 1691, the foremost of Reformed Presbyterian "distinctive principles" was the practice of political dissent from the British government.

The first Reformed Presbyterian congregation in North America was organized in Middle Octorara (Lancaster County, Pennsylvania) in 1738, but the first presbytery, organized by four immigrant Irish and Scottish Reformed Presbyterian ministers, was not formed until 1774. At this time, Reformed Presbyterians were mostly concentrated in eastern Pennsylvania and northern South Carolina, but small groups of Reformed Presbyterians existed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, western Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. During the American Revolution, most Reformed Presbyterians fought for independence—the one minister that served in South Carolina was even arrested for insurrection and brought before Lord Cornwallis in 1780.

After the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, the denomination held the document (and therefore all governments under it) to be immoral, and participation in such a government to be likewise immoral, because the constitution contained no recognition of Christ as the King of Nations. Therefore, the RPCNA eschewed various civic rights, such as voting and jury service, and church courts disciplined members who exercised them. As few Americans held such principles, and as obedience sometimes caused difficulty (for example, oaths of allegiance were prohibited, preventing foreign-born Reformed Presbyterians from becoming citizens, and preventing Reformed Presbyterians to make use of the Homestead Act), many Reformed Presbyterians began to differ with the denomination's official position. Between 1774 and 1891, the denomination experienced four schisms, three of them involving members who deemed the denomination's position too strict.
 In 1782, almost all of the church merged with the Associate Presbyterian Church (the Seceders) to form the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, holding that the new situation of independence removed the reasons for political dissent. The few remaining members who refused to join the merger, including just two congregations, were reorganized into a presbytery in 1798.
 In 1833, the church split down the middle, forming the New Light and Old Light RP Synods. The New Lights, who formed the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod and exercised political rights, grew for some years but suffered splits and went into decline, eventually merging in 1965 with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (formerly the Bible Presbyterian Church-Columbus Synod) to form the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod, which in 1982 merged with the Presbyterian Church in America.
 A third split, in 1840, resulted in two ministers and a few elders leaving to form the Reformed Presbytery (nicknamed the Steelites, after David Steele, their most prominent leader), which continues today. Unlike with the other splits, this was occasioned by the departed ministers and members holding that the denomination itself had fallen away from its covenants and "historical attainments" by allowing "occasional hearing," political activity, and membership in "voluntary associations".
 The main body of the RPCNA suffered another split, the "East End Split," in 1891, again on the matter of political activity and office-holding.  Statistics reveal that denominational membership suffered a net loss of 11% in 1891, most of whom joined the United Presbyterian Church.

Despite such disagreements, the denomination held to its doctrines with few changes. Holding to the principle that covenants should continue to be updated and sworn, the RPCNA adopted the "Covenant of 1871" as their new church covenant in that year. Some members saw certain aspects of this covenant as major departures from historic Reformed Presbyterian positions, causing some to leave and join the Reformed Presbytery.

Perhaps the most enduring change during the 19th century involved participation in social reform movements. One cause favored by the denomination was the abolition of slavery, beginning officially in 1800, when members were prohibited from slave owning and from the slave trade. Enthusiastically supported by most members, the denomination took a strong stance against the Confederacy and faithfully supported the North in the Civil War, as Reformed Presbyterians enlisted to fight against the "slaveholders' rebellion." Abolition was a major factor in the decline of the denomination's South Carolina and Tennessee congregations: most members there, finding it hard to be abolitionists in slave-owning societies, moved to southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; by the beginning of the Civil War, all of the old congregations in South Carolina and Tennessee were gone. The only congregations remaining in slave-holding territory were in Baltimore, Maryland, and in Roney's Point, Virginia (now West Virginia), near Wheeling. Another area of social activism focused on alcohol and tobacco. While drunkenness had always been prohibited, members were prohibited from the alcohol business in 1841, and by the 1880s, both church officers and ordinary members were prohibited from alcohol use.  By 1886, tobacco use was strongly condemned as well, with ordination being prohibited to anyone who used it. As a result, the denomination explicitly supported the Eighteenth Amendment and other prohibition efforts for many decades.

Immigration from Reformed Presbyterian churches in Ireland and Scotland provided sustained growth for the denomination. Some congregations, especially those on the East Coast, saw rapid growth; over ninety members, many of them immigrants, joined the Baltimore, Maryland, congregation in a single three-year period. Meanwhile, members moved west and many congregations were organized.  In 1840, there were four East Coast city congregations and zero congregations west of the Mississippi River, the farthest west congregation being in southwestern Illinois. In 1865, there were nine East Coast city congregations and eight congregations west of the Mississippi, as far west as southwestern Iowa. In 1890, there were twelve East Coast city congregations and thirty-five congregations west of the Mississippi, as far west as Seattle, Washington.  More presbyteries were organized as well: in 1840, there were 5; in 1850, 5; in 1860, 6; in 1870, 8; in 1880, 10; in 1890, 11.

During the middle decades of the 19th century, the denomination experienced widespread growth. Many congregations in the East were organized in cities, while many others were countryside congregations. Farther west, however, most congregations were founded in the countryside. This is due in large part to the way of life of many Reformed Presbyterian settlers. Typically, a large group of settlers would gather and move to an area favorable for farming, where a congregation would soon be organized for them. Some congregations saw extremely fast growth in this way: the North Cedar (Denison, Kansas) congregation did not exist in 1870 but had eighty-four members in 1872. Other growth came from different sources. Although American congregations had been governed by an American church since 1798, the Scottish and Irish synods continued to operate missions in Canada. Over the years, several Scottish-synod congregations joined the North American synod, and with the blessing of the Irish synod, an entire presbytery ("New Brunswick and Nova Scotia") transferred in 1879. Few complete congregations have joined the RPCNA over the years, other than these, although the denomination has seen one merger: in 1969, the RPCNA merged with the remnants of the Associate Presbyterian Church, which by this point consisted of just four churches.

After sixty years of nearly constant growth, the denominational split in 1891 led to a denomination-wide downturn. Although the departure of twelve hundred members in the split still left over ten thousand communicant members, nearly constant loss led to a total of just 3,804 communicant members by 1980. During this time, the large congregations in the big cities of the East gradually withered: while in 1891, there were two congregations in Boston, Massachusetts, five in New York City, three in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one in Baltimore, in 1980 there were only four in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia combined. Settlement and growth in the western United States continued for a time, with new presbyteries being organized in Colorado, the Pacific Coast, and the Prairie Provinces of Canada. However, the countryside congregations also dwindled, from 83 in 1891 to 25 in 1980. Presbyteries, too, were disorganized and combined, with only seven presbyteries remaining in 1980. Perhaps the most drastic examples of both congregational and presbyterial decline involve New York: by 1980, four presbyteries (Philadelphia, New York, Vermont, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) had been combined into the New York Presbytery (since renamed Atlantic), while five New York City congregations with 1,075 communicant members had been reduced to one congregation of only about forty people. Although large numbers of losses were due to individuals leaving for other churches, some departures involved many people at once. For example, over 100 communicant members left First Boston congregation when their pastor left the denomination in 1912, while Craftsbury, Vermont, and Second Newburg (Newburgh, New York) congregations left the denomination as entire congregations, in 1906 and 1919 respectively. After the mid-1910s, even the founding of new congregations was uncommon, with only three each in the 1920s and 1930s, and none at all between 1937 and 1950.

Beliefs and practices

The Reformed Presbyterian Church has held to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms since the 17th century. Instead of adopting revised versions of the Confession, as most other Westminsterian Presbyterian churches in North America have done, the RPCNA instead holds to the original Westminster Confession, but states a few objections in its official testimony, which it prints side-by-side with the Confession. Today, the RPCNA denied only three small portions of the original Confession, besides qualifying the Confession's naming of the Pope as Antichrist. In view of its confessional adherence, the RPCNA is doctrinally close to other Reformed denominations.

Historically, the "distinctive principles" of Reformed Presbyterians were political: they held to a continuing obligation of the Covenants, both National and Solemn League, upon all who had sworn them and upon all their descendants, and the belief that governmental rejection of such documents caused the government to become immoral or even undeserving of obedience. This led them to reject the government of Scotland after the Glorious Revolution, as well as those of Ireland and England, which had also acknowledged but later dropped the Covenants. Furthermore, as the American colonies had been under English jurisdiction at the time of the Solemn League, the United States was held as responsible to uphold the Covenants. Since the Constitution contains no reference to Christ or to the Covenants, Reformed Presbyterians refused to vote, hold governmental office, serve on juries, or swear any oath of loyalty to the United States government or any lower government; Canadian members similarly refrained from such activities. Members who did participate in the political process would typically be disciplined by their congregational session.  Although the RPCNA held these principles firmly for many decades, it moderated its positions beginning in the 1960s; by 1969, the official position allowed members to vote and run for office. Some members yet continue the historic dissenting positions, but the majority of members participate like members of most other conservative Christian denominations, and Reformed Presbyterian Bob Lyon served in the Kansas Senate from 2001 to 2005.

Another long-held belief distinguishing the RPCNA from other churches was its prohibition of occasional hearing, the practice of attending worship services or preaching by ministers of other denominations. Although the practice is permitted today, it was long prohibited. For example, records from an eastern Pennsylvania congregation note that two women were "severely admonished" for attending a weekday Methodist camp-meeting in 1821. The grounds for this prohibition were historical: the Church of Scotland, of which the  Reformed Presbyterian Church considered itself a continuation, had been established as the state church throughout Great Britain. As the Reformed Presbyterian Church believed that that state church had never officially been disestablished in a legal manner, it considered other churches to have no legal right to exist. Therefore, attending a worship service of any other church amounted to participation in an illegal organization.

In common with other churches in the Reformed Presbyterian lineage, the RPCNA holds to the Regulative Principle of Worship and construes it to require a cappella singing of the Psalms only in worship, as they believe it to be the only form of congregational singing evidenced in and thus permitted by the Bible. While this practice was not unusual in past centuries, many other denominations have permitted hymns and instrumental music over the years. As a result, the RPCNA's manner of worship is quite distinctive today, and with the change in the official position on political action, the manner of worship is the chief distinction of the RPCNA today.

Although alcohol use was prohibited for all members for many decades, in recent years both ordinary members and ordained officers have been permitted to use it. Chapter 26 of the RPCNA Testimony states that abstinence from alcohol is still a fitting choice for Christians.

Along with many other conservative denominations, the RPCNA interprets the Bible as requiring all elders to be male. Unlike most related denominations, however, deacons in the RPCNA may be either male or female; the first women deacons were ordained in 1888 (with attempts to limit the diaconate to men having failed as recently as 2002). In 1939, a committee of the Synod brought in a unanimous recommendation that women may be ordained as elders. The Synod did not adopt the committee recommendation.

The sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or Communion, is served to all communicant members present at a church celebrating the sacrament. Until recent decades, only Reformed Presbyterians were permitted to take the sacrament, but members of other denominations considered to be Bible-believing have been extended this privilege in recent decades. However, the RPCNA requires that members of other denominations who take communion be personally interviewed by the session before partaking, another practice that distinguishes the RPCNA from other Reformed denominations.

The Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America is also a member of the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), an organization of confessional Presbyterian and Continental Reformed churches, which also includes the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in America, the United Reformed Churches in North America, Reformed Church in the United States, and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church along with a few other smaller Reformed and Presbyterian denominations as members.

Organization

Today, the RPCNA has congregations in twenty-eight U.S. states and three Canadian provinces throughout North America, as well as maintaining close relations with "sister churches" of Reformed Presbyterians in South Sudan, Ireland, Scotland, and Australia. There is also a mission presbytery in Kobe, Japan, as well as an associated mission congregation in Larnaca, Cyprus.

The RPCNA is composed of the following presbyteries:
Alleghenies: including congregations in Maryland, northeastern Ohio, western and central Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Atlantic: including congregations in Massachusetts, New Jersey, southeastern New York, eastern Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island
Great Lakes-Gulf: including congregations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, western Ohio, and South Carolina.
Midwest: including congregations in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming.
Pacific Coast: including congregations in Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Nevada, and Washington
St. Lawrence: including congregations in upstate New York, Ontario, and Quebec.
Japan: including congregations in Kobe

Membership
Since 1980, the denomination has experienced growth, seeing an increase of approximately 25% in membership and 11% in the number of churches. This growth has not been uniform, however; many churches have been started in urban areas, while many older congregations, especially in rural areas, have continued to decline.

As of 31 December 2007, the RPCNA had 6,334 members in 75 North American congregations, along with 238 more members in four congregations in Japan. By 2016 communicant membership had risen to 7,076. The "stronghold" areas of the denomination are in northeastern Kansas, central Indiana, and western Pennsylvania. The denomination sponsors Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (all members of the Board of Corporators are required to be Reformed Presbyterians), and operates the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The denomination holds a week-long International Conference every four years; the most recent was held in July 2016 at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. A denominational magazine, the Reformed Presbyterian Witness, is published monthly.

Missions

The RPCNA has sponsored missions in several different fields throughout the years. In North America, several different home missions were established among specific people:
Jewish Missions were established by congregations in Philadelphia and Cincinnati.
A Chinese Mission was run for a short time in Oakland, California.
The Indian Mission, which worked primarily with members of the Comanche and Apache nations, was established in the countryside near Apache, Oklahoma, in 1889.  A congregation that resulted from this mission existed until 1971.
Several small Southern Missions were run throughout the South during and after the Civil War, mostly working with freed slaves. The last of these, established in Selma, Alabama in 1875, resulted in the establishment of a congregation still in existence.

Several other missions were organized for foreign work:
In 1847, a missionary was sent out to begin work in Port-au-Prince, Haïti. This mission was ended abruptly within two years when the missionary joined the Seventh Day Baptist Church.
Missionaries were first sent to Syria in 1856. After a short exploratory period, several mission stations were organized in Latakia and the surrounding area.  This mission was continued until the late 1950s, when Syrian governmental policies forced the RPCNA to cut its ties with the churches there.
Work was begun in the area around Mersin, in Asia Minor, around 1882 and continued until around 1932.
In 1888, work was begun in Cyprus, and congregations were established in Larnaca and Nicosia. Mission work continued until the 1970s. Today, a single congregation in Larnaca is affiliated with the RPCNA and is pastored by an RPCNA missionary, but is not related to the previous mission.
Missionaries were first sent to the town of Tak Hing, in South China, in 1895. This mission proved to be quite fruitful, resulting in over eight hundred members by the early 1940s. However, with the communist revolution in 1949, the mission was closed.
A mission was begun in Qiqihar, Manchuria, in the early 1930s. Communist control of the area forced the mission's closure before 1949.
With the closure of the Chinese missions in 1949, the unemployed missionaries were soon sent to Kobe, Japan. This field, the only one currently operated by the RPCNA, is the site of a small mission presbytery.

Other missionary works supported by the RPCNA include the National Reformed Presbyterian Church of Bolivia and Reformed Presbyterian Church in Chile.

Several short-term mission trips are sponsored by the denomination each year, both foreign and domestic. As well, some RPCNA members work formally or informally as missionaries in other countries, although not officially with the RPCNA's Global Mission Board.

Relations with other churches
Fraternal relations are maintained with the following bodies:
 Other Reformed Presbyterian Churches:
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Australia
 Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
 Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland
 Reformed Presbyterian Church of South Sudan
 Trinity Community Christian Fellowship (the aforementioned congregation in Larnaca, Cyprus)
 American Presbyterian Church
 Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
 The North American Synod of the Free Church of Scotland
 Korean-American Presbyterian Church
 Église réformée du Québec
 Orthodox Presbyterian Church
 Presbyterian Church in America
 Reformed Church in the United States
 United Reformed Churches in North America

From 1946 through 2008 inclusive RPCNA held membership in the National Association of Evangelicals.

See also
Stafford Reformed Presbyterian Church
Reformed Presbyterian Church of Vernon

References

External links
RPCNA website
Reformed Presbyterian Missions
Reformed Presbyterian Witness
History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America

Presbyterian denominations in the United States
Presbyterian denominations in Canada
Reformed Presbyterian Church (denominational group)
Religious organizations established in 1774
Presbyterian organizations established in the 18th century
Protestant denominations established in the 18th century
Evangelical denominations in North America
1774 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies


The GT42CU AC is a model of diesel electric locomotives manufactured by EDi Rail, Maryborough between 1999 and 2005 under licence from Electro-Motive Diesel, for use on narrow gauge railways in Queensland.

History
In March 1998, Queensland Rail ordered 38 GT42CU ACs from Clyde Engineering. They were the first locomotives ordered from Clyde Engineering after its takeover by Evans Deakin Industries and were built at the latter's Maryborough factory.

Designated the 4000 class, the first was delivered in October 1999. After an extensive evaluation process, the first entered service in May 2000 with all in service by May 2001. The dramatic increase in tractive effort and adhesion of the AC traction motors compared to the previous DC traction motors exceeded all expectations and revolutionised diesel operations in Queensland. A further 11 were ordered in March 2003 and entered service in 2004–05.

They are primarily used on the Blackwater and Moura coal networks, and on phosphate trains between Mount Isa and Townsville. All were included in the transfer of Queensland Rail's freight business to QR National in July 2010.

In February 2004, Pacific National ordered 13 GT42CU ACs to commence operations in Queensland. Designated the PN class, they entered service in 2005 and are used on intermodal services on the North Coast line between Brisbane and Cairns.

The design evolved into the GT42CU ACe which has different computer system and traction motors.

Fleet

Related Development
 UGL Rail C44aci, standard gauge competitor
 Downer EDI Rail GT46C, standard gauge variant
 Downer EDI Rail GT46C ACe, standard gauge successor
 Downer EDI Rail GT42CU ACe, successor

References

Aurizon diesel locomotives
Diesel locomotives of Queensland
Pacific National diesel locomotives
Queensland Rail locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1999
3 ft 6 in gauge locomotives of Australia
Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia


La Visa Loca is a 2005 Filipino comedy-drama film directed by Mark Meily, produced by Sharon Cuneta, and starring Robin Padilla, Rufa Mae Quinto and Johnny Delgado. The plot concerns a taxi driver who dreams of going to the United States.

Plot
Jess Huson (Robin Padilla) is a Filipino taxi driver who dreamed of obtaining a visa to be able to go to the United States. Jess meets his ex-girlfriend (Rufa Mae Quinto) and her young son Jason (Kurt Perez) who might actually be his. However, his visa application was denied. Jess's aging but randy diabetic father (Johnny Delgado) spends his days watching TV. One day, the famous TV host Nigel Adams came to the Philippines and Jess becomes his guide. He learns Nigel's brother was the one who operated one of the biggest nursing aid agencies in the US East Coast.

Cast
Robin Padilla as Jess Huson
Johnny Delgado as Papang
Rufa Mae Quinto as Mara
Paul Holme as Nigel Adams
David Shannon as David
Kurt Perez as Jason
RJ Padilla as Young Jess

Film name
The name of the film is a reference to one of Ricky Martin's famous songs, "Livin' la Vida Loca".

External links

2005 films
Philippine comedy-drama films
2000s Tagalog-language films
2005 comedy-drama films
2000s English-language films
Films directed by Mark Meily


My Chief and My Regiment (), also known in short by its fans as simply "Chief" (团长) or "The Chief Show" (团剧), is a highly popular 2009 Chinese TV series produced by Huayi Brothers Media Group.  The series is directed by Kang Honglei (康红雷), with Wu Yi (吴毅) as the chief producer, and is based on the novel of the same name by award-winning author Lan Xiaolong (兰晓龙).  Both Kang and Lan were famous for making of the popular 2006 military drama series Soldiers Sortie.

Story
The series is about the Chinese National Revolutionary Army Expeditionary Force in Burma fighting the Imperial Japanese Army during the 1942 Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road at the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Chinese troops landed in Burma to support the British allied forces operations.  The aim was to protect the road since it served as an important supply route after China's ports fell under Japanese control.  When the British forces withdrew their support and surrendered, part of the remaining Chinese troops was forced to abandon their heavy equipment and retreat in loose formations through the harsh Burmese jungles, experiencing constant enemy pursue and ambush.  Of the 100,000 strong Chinese Expeditionary Force sent to fight, only around 40,000 returned home.

The story follows a small group of soldiers being refuged in Yunnan, and is narrated through the eyes of a limping young Beiping student-turned-soldier named Meng Fanliao (孟烦了).  After experiencing various NRA defeats during the battles of the China proper, the battle-weary soldiers had lost hope and largely forgotten by their superiors.  When the 1st Burma Campaign went away, these pessimistic men from all parts of China were again conscripted into the newly regrouped "Sichuan Regiment" and airlifted into Burma.  However, before they could be properly armed and supplied, a general retreat was ordered and the group was left fleeing from the enemy.  Cornered and stranded, they ran into a mysterious man named Long Wenzhang (龙文章), who claimed to be a lieutenant colonel and their regiment commander.  Under Long's command, the group rallied other scattered fellow troopers, regained their honor and hope, and fought back fiercely against the superior Japanese forces.  Within one day and night, the encircled men drove the Japanese off a hill top and repelled 17 counterattacks, enduring constant artillery barrages and a bloody nocturnal tear gas bayonet assault, earning time for the Nu River defence to be organized.

When the only 11 survivors of the 1,000-strong regiment made it alive back to the friendly side, they were shocked to discover that Long was not their chief at all, but merely a lowly lieutenant logistics officer (the rank was achieved through bribery), who stole the insignia and uniform of a fallen commander.  After court-martial, they all believed that Long was certain to be executed for the felony, but to their surprises Long was later appointed their genuine regiment chief.  The new detachment was disfavored by other regular troops and was badly undersupplied, and Long's unorthodox leadership style (which upset the divisional command) only added salt to injury.  The disesteemed "Cannon Fodder Regiment", as expendable "fuel of war", was then put in charge of a high-risk assault operation on a strongly fortified mountain occupied by the Japanese forces.

Differences between novel and TV version
The TV production of My Chief and My Regiment is more-or-less faithful to Lan Xiaolong's original novelized storyline, however there are some discrepancies due to various reasons. Although some believed the novel came after the TV show, making the novel a supplement of the TV show that is abridged due to production cost and accidents.

For instance, the TV show ends with climactic Battle of the South Heaven's Gate (the mountain fortress assault), and then switches to modern times with an aged Meng Fanliao rekindling his wartime memories while walking home.  The novel however, continued into the Chinese Civil War and narrated Long's suicide in defiance against orders to fight his fellow countrymen, the regiment's break-up/demise after his death, and Meng Fanliao's capture and recruitment by a young PLA soldier from a "7th Company" (implied to be the later "Steely 7th Company" of Soldiers Sortie).  This part of the plot was originally considered as the final 4 episodes of the TV production, but was later scrapped.  This caused great disappointment among die-hard fans as they felt that the television's ending did not do justice for the author's intention.

The final fates of many of the main characters are also changed in the TV production.  Mi Long (迷龙), the squad machine gunner, survived the final battle in the TV series, but in the novel Long was forced to personally execute him for shooting a fleeing artillery commander (the nephew of an army commander) during a Japanese air raid.  Zhang Lixian (张立宪), an arrogant elite from the divisional reconnaissance battalion, committed suicide after being disfigured by Japanese mustard gas, while in the novel he lived on to become a loyal member of the regiment.  In the novel there are actually 22 survivors crossing the Nu River after the regiment's first last stand battle with the Japanese, but only 11 in the TV series (in both versions, one men was thought to be dead but later found alive in a grave condition).  Meng's father, a pedantic old-fashioned scholar, was merely a docile civilian who surrendered to the Japanese in order to preserve his precious book collection, in the novel he actually went further and became a Japanese puppet (a proxy village supervisor) and was committing the treacherous act of keeping a comfort woman for the invaders.  Some of the characters from the original novel was also omitted to unnamed supporting characters in the TV series.

Cast
Duan Yihong as Long Wenzhang
Zhang Yi as Meng Fanliao
Zhang Guoqiang as Zhang Milong
Xing Jiadong as Yu Xiaoqing
Li Chen as Zhang Lixian
Wang Dazhi as Deng Bao
Wang Xun as Li Sifu

Inspiration
Director Kang Honglei, instead of feeling joyful after the run-away success of Soldiers Sortie, became very worried that this would be his career apogee (and hence the start of downfall).  He began looking for new ideas for his upcoming productions.  In early 2007, Kang set his eyes on The Stilwell Papers, the compiled journal of Joseph Stilwell during the American general's time in China as the Allied commander.  Kang was immediately interested in the Yunnan-Burma theatre of the struggle against Imperial Japan, as the fighting in southwestern China was often neglected in modern Chinese history textbooks.

Kang, together with his friend Lan Xiaolong, travelled to Yunnan in April 2007, visiting local war museums, soldiers' cemeteries and interviewing many aged surviving veterans.  They were shocked by the sheer numbers of casualties and sacrifices, and was ashamed of their own lack of knowledge in that part of history.  Lan reportedly broke down in tears after returning to his hotel.  Feeling owing to the unnamed fallen heroes, Kang decided that his next TV production will be focused on NRA's Yunnan battlefront.  One year later, Kang led a 200-man production team to Yunnan, and spent over 6 months shooting the series.  Kang insisted his team to work in the most harsh environment in order for the actors to experience the harsh reality of battlefield.  Many actors later stated that the time in Yunnan was like "fighting a war" and a few had openly claimed the decision not to act in any war dramas in the near future.

The final battle in My Chief and My Regiment was directly inspired by the Battle of Mount Song (松山战役) in 1944, the largest campaign in southwestern China during the Second World War.  The Chinese casualties in that battle numbered in the rank of over 20,000.  The series presented an alternative outcome of the battle (Long's attack squad infiltrated the Japanese tunnel system and disrupted the enemy lines), but the sand table battle in Episode 31 to 33 is actually a true depiction of what really happened (a Chinese frontal assault that was repeatedly ambushed, causing heavy casualty).

Airing chaos and rating war during initial broadcast
The promotion of My Chief and My Regiment was nothing short of extravagant.  The series enjoyed high expectations from die-hard fans of Soldiers Sortie as the hyped "sister production" of the latter (almost the entire cast from Soldiers Sortie returned for major roles or cameo appearances).  The series was purchased at a record-high price of over 1 million yuan per episode for the initial round of airing by 4 major provincial satellite TV stations — Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Yunnan, in agreement that all will air the series on March 2, 2009.  In late February, Beijing TV requested postponing the airing to March 9 due to clashes of slots with its current-running drama series, drawing complaints from other stations.  After much negotiating, the stations agreed that none will air the series prior to March 5.

Jiangsu TV then announced that it will begin the series in a commercial-free timeslot at 12 am sharp on March 5, exploiting a loophole in the agreement.  The 3-episode midnight run set an all-time record in terms of ratings, and successfully established Jiangsu TV a head-start against its competitors.  To maintain that advantage, Jiangsu TV then proceeded to run 2 episodes per day as agreed, followed by an unprecedented 11-episode re-run during the following weekend.

The other stations then scrambled to catch up, but restricted by the "2 episodes per day" agreement, resorted to various unusual (sometimes unethical) strategies.  Yunnan TV for instance, introduced the "24-hour rolling" airing dedicated to the show.  Eastern TV (Shanghai TV) in particular, shortened 3 episodes into 2 by deleting scenes in order to speed up the broadcast, leading to frustration among viewers.  The rumor then came that Eastern TV declined payment to the series' distributor as it claimed others had violated the airing agreement.  The subsequent verbal sparring and disruption of normal programming eventually led to the intervention of SARFT and signing of a new regulation by all TV stations across the country.

Ironically, the money/rating-centric attitude of the TV stations only served to their disfavor, as annoyed viewers were deterred away causing the TV ratings to drop.  The series however was very successful in DVD sales, and set records to online streaming as well as peer-to-peer downloads on major websites such as Youku and Tudou.  The series' original novelized screenplay also sold exceptionally well.

The series is currently due for the 2nd-round airing by another 4 provincial satellite TV networks — Zhejiang, Shandong, Hebei and Sichuan.  The 3rd-round airing will be done by Guangdong TV after the 2nd round.

Accidents during production
On April 8, 2008, while shooting battle scenes, the chief firework technician Guo Yan (郭岩) and 2 of his assistants were caught in a blast when nearby live-charges accidentally exploded.  Guo was fatally hit in the chest by a flying shrapnel.  The incident was a huge blow to the crew, and the production was halted for a week.

On April 20, a temporary hut built on a local bridge collapsed on set.  Falling debris injured up to 50 civilian actors who were recruited for a crowd scene.  No fatalities were reported.  Though the production was not delayed, a large amount of compensation was paid, driving up the production cost.

Receptions and complaints
My Chief and My Regiment received polarized receptions from TV audiences.  Many rated the series highly, calling it "a milestone in Chinese TV productions" for the innovative break-away from the traditional style of war dramas.  The series' recreation of realistic battlefields was also praised by the majority audience.  The series' die-hard fans, known as "Chief fans" (团粉), often considered themselves "suffering from the Chief addiction (团毒)" that made them distasted to other politically "glorified" but unrealistic mainstream war dramas.  However, some viewers disliked the series' portrayal of the war-fatigued soldiers, criticizing the dirty and undisciplined appearance as "eyesores".  The series was also branded a "divide" as many felt marginalized by the series' complex straight play-style dialogues.  Some viewers experienced difficulty in understanding dialogues and the messages they conveyed, and often had to go and consult the novel.

Many netizens in China have complained about 3 seconds of footage that seemed to be copied straight from the 2001 American movie Pearl Harbor, particularly the aerial combat scenes where specific aircraft are being analyzed and modified to fit into the series' 3D special effects.

Some viewers complained about the military equipment in the show being like a "mixing pot", as the regiment was equipped with weapons and helmets varying from British, French, German, to Japanese and American, not typical of NRA soldiers, who were usually thought to be American-trained and equipped.  The TV series actually portrayed history faithfully as the 1st Burmese Expedition of 1942 were organized mainly from former local Chinese warlords from Yunnan, Sichuan and Guangxi provinces, whose military equipment varied greatly.  The series' dedicated regiment was also defined as a delinquent group neglected and disliked by their superiors, and hence scavenged any utilities they could find, while the elite elements of NRA was portrayed as either German or American-equipped.  In fact, the production team used real weapons from local war museums that fired blank rounds for sense of realism.

Some viewers also criticized one particular scene where NRA soldiers surround and bash a Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go tank with dadaos and buttstocks, calling the scene as "ridiculous" and "degrading to fallen soldiers".  However, this is historically factual as many National Revolutionary Army soldiers (especially those from local armed forces) were illiterate conscripts who had never seen tanks previously.  The NRA also lacked sufficient anti-tank weapons, leaving its troopers often resort to desperate and extreme measures to fight against the enemy.  One Japanese painting named "The desperate fight of the mini-tank" specifically portrayed Chinese soldiers charging a stalled tank with their bayonets.

The series has received several minor awards after its release, and is ranked 3rd of all television series released in Mainland China during 2009 by various entertainment journals.  It was nominated for "Best Screenplay", "Best Director", "Best Leading Actor" and "Gold Award" at the 15th Shanghai Television Festival.

See also

Soldiers Sortie
commons:China Burma India Theater of World War II
commons:Sun Li-jen
commons:China Expeditionary Force
commons:Chinese Army in India
commons:Salween River Bridge
commons:Merrill's Marauders
commons:Flying Tigers

References

External links
Flickr image:My Chief and My Regiment
My Chief and my Regiment (Sina.com direct)

2009 Chinese television series debuts
World War II television drama series
Chinese war television series
Second Sino-Japanese War television drama series
Television series by Huayi Brothers


Locust Hill is an early 19th-century Federal-style mansion north of Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Locust Hill was the home of John Thomson Mason (15 March 1765–10 December 1824), a prominent American jurist and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806 and nephew of Founding Father of the United States George Mason.

History
Locust Hill is believed to have been built for John Thomson Mason, a nephew of George Mason of Gunston Hall and son of Thomson Mason of nearby Raspberry Plain. Although no definite date of construction has been determined, stylistically the house probably dates from the first quarter of the 19th century.

Architecture
Locust Hill is a Federal-style Flemish-bond brick house situated on the first rise of the eastern slope of Catoctin Mountain. The residence features a brick water table, twelve-over-twelve double-sash windows, and fanlights over each of the formal entrances. Locust Hill's two-story front portico with stylized American order capitals served as the inaugural stand from Franklin D. Roosevelt's second presidential inauguration in 1937.

Locust Hill's property also features several farm buildings, one which is an early 20th-century frame barn with a jerkinhead roof.

Events
Ann Mason Tutt (1807–1873), daughter of Charles Pendleton Tutt and Ann Mason Chichester, married Charles Bonnycastle at Locust Hill on 10 January 1826.
Mary Barnes Tutt (1815–1898), daughter of Charles Pendleton Tutt and Ann Mason Chichester, married John Aris Throckmorton at Locust Hill on 14 March 1839.

References

Mason family residences
Houses in Loudoun County, Virginia
Houses completed in the 19th century
Federal architecture in Virginia
Plantation houses in Virginia


Alvan Cordell "Hap" Hadley (March 16, 1895 – August 4, 1976) was an American artist specializing in pen and ink representations of popular subjects.  He created posters for various films, including Buster Keaton's The General (1926) and Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928), as well as promotional posters for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and billboards for Roy Rogers. A movie poster of The General was sold by Christie's East on December 5, 1994, for $46,000.

He was also an actor, performing in the 1920–21 Broadway revue The Greenwich Village Follies of 1920 at the Shubert Theatre in New York City and the 1924 film Floodgates.

References

External links
"Hap Hadley Posters" at WorthPoint.com, including a fairly detailed biography
"Alvan Hadley - Movie Poster Artist" at vintagemovieposters.com.au

American artists
Film poster artists
American male stage actors
1895 births
1976 deaths


William Frank Hillenbrand (March 29, 1922 – July 17, 1994) was an American professional football halfback and return specialist who played professionally in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). He attended Indiana University, where he played for the Indiana Hoosiers. In 1942, he was a consensus All-American and was drafted by the New York Giants in the 1st round (6th pick overall) in the 1944 NFL Draft. He played three seasons in the AAFC from 1946 to 1948 for the Chicago Rockets and Baltimore Colts. He was a versatile player, who scored 186 points gained over 4,000 all-purpose yards in three years of professional football—1,987 receiving, 1,042 on kickoff returns, 889 rushing, and 612 on punt returns.  He also had a 48-yard interception return, a 96-yard kickoff return, and an 89-yard punt return. In 1948, his total of 970 receiving yards, and his average of 11.2 yards per touch was the best in the AAFC, and his total of 2,067 all-purpose yards was second best in the league.

See also
 List of NCAA major college yearly punt and kickoff return leaders

References

External links

1922 births
1994 deaths
American football halfbacks
American football return specialists
Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players
Chicago Rockets players
Indiana Hoosiers football players
Third Infantry Cockades football players
All-American college football players
People from Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Players of American football from Indiana


An LED-backlit LCD is a liquid-crystal display that uses LEDs for backlighting instead of traditional cold cathode fluorescent (CCFL) backlighting. LED-backlit displays use the same TFT LCD (thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display) technologies as CCFL-backlit LCDs, but offer a variety of advantages over them.

While not an LED display, a television using such a combination of an LED backlight with an LCD panel is advertised as an LED TV by some manufacturers and suppliers.

Comparison with CCFL-backlit LCDs

Advantages
When compared with earlier CCFL backlights, using LEDs for backlighting offers:

 Wider color gamut (with RGB-LED or QDEF) and dimming range
 Greater contrast ratio
 Very slim (some screens are less than  thin in edge-lit panels)
 Significantly lighter and cooler, as much as half the total chassis and system weight of a comparable CCFL
 Typically 20–30% lower power consumption and longer lifespan
 Greater reliability

Disadvantages
Unlike OLED and microLED displays, LCDs cannot achieve true blacks for pixels which are illuminated by the backlight. Some LED-backlit LCDs use local dimming zones to increase contrast between bright and dim areas of the display, but this can result in a "blooming" or "halo" effect on dark pixels in or adjacent to an illuminated zone. This can be considered a disadvantage compared to CCFL-backlit LCDs; however, if the display allows for the local dimming algorithm to be disabled via software, doing so will remove any blooming at the cost of negating some of the display's contrast-enhancing capabilities.

LED arrangements

LED backlights replace CCFL (fluorescent) lamps with a few to several hundred white, RGB or blue LEDs. An LCD with LED-Backlight may be edge- or direct-lit:

edge-lit (ELED): LEDs form a line around the rim of the screen. May additionally support:
frame dimming: adjusts the brightness of the entire backlight based on the content displayed, as if local dimming was supported but only with a single zone
local dimming: multiple vertical or horizontal zones are individually controlled
direct-lit (DLED) or full-array: LEDs form an array directly behind the screen at equally spaced intervals. May additionally support:
frame dimming: adjusts the brightness of the entire backlight based on the content displayed, as if local dimming was supported but only with a single zone
local dimming: multiple direct-lit LED clusters (rectangles) are individually controlled. Commonly referred to as Full Array Local Dimming (FALD).

Additionally a special diffusion panel (light guide plate, LGP) is often used to spread the light evenly behind the screen.

The local dimming method of backlighting allows to dynamically control the level of light intensity of specific areas of darkness on the screen, resulting in much higher dynamic-contrast ratios, though at the cost of less detail in small, bright objects on a dark background, such as star fields or shadow details.

A 2016 study by the University of California (Berkeley) suggests that the subjectively perceived visual enhancement with common contrast source material levels off at about 60 LCD local dimming zones.

Technology
LED-backlit LCDs are not self-illuminating (unlike pure-LED systems). There are several methods of backlighting an LCD panel using LEDs, including the use of either white or RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) LED arrays behind the panel and edge-LED lighting (which uses white LEDs around the inside frame of the TV and a light-diffusion panel to spread the light evenly behind the LCD panel). Variations in LED backlighting offer different benefits. The first commercial full-array LED-backlit LCD TV was the Sony Qualia 005 (introduced in 2004), which used RGB LED arrays to produce a color gamut about twice that of a conventional CCFL LCD television. This was possible because red, green and blue LEDs have sharp spectral peaks which (combined with the LCD panel filters) result in significantly less bleed-through to adjacent color channels. Unwanted bleed-through channels do not "whiten" the desired color as much, resulting in a larger gamut. RGB LED technology continues to be used on Sony BRAVIA LCD models. LED backlighting using white LEDs produces a broader spectrum source feeding the individual LCD panel filters (similar to CCFL sources), resulting in a more limited display gamut than RGB LEDs at lower cost.

Television sets described as "LED TVs" are LCD-based, with the LEDs dynamically controlled using the video information (dynamic backlight control or dynamic "local dimming" LED backlight, also marketed as HDR, high dynamic range television, invented by Philips researchers Douglas Stanton, Martinus Stroomer and Adrianus de Vaan

The evolution of energy standards and the increasing public expectations regarding power consumption made it necessary for backlight systems to manage their power. As for other consumer electronics products (e.g., fridges or light bulbs), energy consumption categories are enforced for television sets. Standards for power ratings for TV sets have been introduced, e.g., in the US, EU, Australia, and China. A 2008 study showed that among European countries power consumption is one of the most important criteria for consumers when they choose a television, as important as the screen size.

Using PWM (pulse-width modulation), a technology where the intensity of the LEDs are kept constant but the brightness adjustment is achieved by varying a time interval of flashing these constant light intensity light sources, the backlight is dimmed to the brightest color that appears on the screen while simultaneously boosting the LCD contrast to the maximum achievable levels, drastically increasing the perceived contrast ratio, increasing the dynamic range, improving the viewing angle dependency of the LCD and drastically reducing power consumption.

The combination of LED dynamic backlight control in combination with reflective polarizers and prismatic films (invented by Philips researchers Adrianus de Vaan and Paulus Schaareman make these "LED" (LCD) televisions far more efficient than the previous CRT-based sets, leading to a worldwide energy saving of 600 TWh in 2017, equal to 10% of the electricity consumption of all households worldwide, or twice the energy production of all solar cells in the world.

The prismatic and reflective polarization films are generally achieved using so called DBEF films manufactured and supplied by 3M. These reflective polarization films using uniaxial oriented polymerized liquid crystals (birefringent polymers or birefringent glue) were invented in 1989 by Philips researchers Dirk Broer, Adrianus de Vaan and Joerg Brambring.

A first dynamic "local dimming" LED backlight was public demonstrated by BrightSide Technologies in 2003, and later commercially introduced for professional markets (such as video post-production). Edge LED lighting was first introduced by Sony in September 2008 on the  BRAVIA KLV-40ZX1M (known as the ZX1 in Europe). Edge-LED lighting for LCDs allows thinner housing; the Sony BRAVIA KLV-40ZX1M is 1 cm thick, and others are also extremely thin.

LED-backlit LCDs have longer life and better energy efficiency than plasma and CCFL LCD TVs. Unlike CCFL backlights, LEDs use no mercury, an environmental pollutant, in their manufacture. However, other elements (such as gallium and arsenic) are used in the manufacture of the LED emitters; there is debate over whether they are a better long-term solution to the problem of screen disposal.

Because LEDs can be switched on and off more quickly than CCFLs and can offer a higher light output, it is theoretically possible to offer very high contrast ratios. They can produce deep blacks (LEDs off) and high brightness (LEDs on). However, measurements made from pure-black and pure-white outputs are complicated by edge-LED lighting not allowing these outputs to be reproduced simultaneously on screen.

Full-array mini-LED backlights, consisting of several thousand WLEDs, were being researched for TVs and mobile devices in 2017.

The white LEDs in LED backlights may use special silicate phosphors, which are brighter but degrade faster. The size of the LEDs is one of the factors that determines the size of the bezel of LED-backlit LCDs.

Quantum dot enhancement film (QDEF)

Quantum dots are photoluminescent; they are useful in displays because they emit light in specific, narrow normal distributions of wavelengths. To generate white light best suited as an LCD backlight, parts of the light of a blue-emitting LED are transformed by quantum dots into small-bandwidth green and red light such that the combined white light allows a nearly ideal color gamut to be generated by the RGB color filters of the LCD panel. The quantum dots may be in a separate layer as a quantum dot enhancement film, or replace pigment-based green and red resists normally used in LCD color filters. In addition, efficiency is improved, as intermediate colors are no longer present and do not have to be filtered out by the color filters of the LCD screen. This can result in a display that more accurately renders colors in the visible spectrum. Companies  developing quantum dot solutions for displays include Nanosys, 3M as a licensee of Nanosys, QD Vision of Lexington, Massachusetts, US and Avantama of Switzerland. This type of backlighting was demonstrated by various TV manufacturers at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015. Samsung introduced their first 'QLED' quantum dot displays at CES 2017 and later formed the 'QLED Alliance' with Hisense and TCL to market the technology.

Mini LED

Mini LED displays are LED-backlit LCDs with mini-LED–based backlighting supporting over a thousand full array local dimming (FALD) zones, providing deeper blacks and a higher contrast ratio.

Backlight-dimming flicker
LED backlights are often dimmed by applying pulse-width modulation to the supply current, switching the backlight off and on more quickly than the eye can perceive. If the dimming-pulse frequency is too low or the user is sensitive to flicker, this may cause discomfort and eyestrain similar to the flicker of CRT displays at lower refresh rates. This can be tested by simply waving a hand in front of the screen; if it appears to have sharply-defined edges as it moves, the backlight is pulsing at a fairly low frequency. If the hand appears blurry, the display either has a continuously-illuminated backlight or is operating at a frequency too high to perceive. Flicker can be reduced (or eliminated) by setting the display to full brightness, although this can degrade image quality and increases power consumption.

See also
 Uniformity tape

References

External links

Display technology
Japanese inventions
Light-emitting diodes
Television technology


Christopher "Chris" Howarth (born 25 December 1960) is a British former competitive figure skater. He is the 1981 British national champion and competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, where he placed 15th.

Howarth is a commentator for British Eurosport, as well as a skating coach and assistant general manager at the Glacier Ice Arena, in Vernon Hills, Illinois. He has also worked for the Dutch Figure Skating Association.

Results

References

British male single skaters
Figure skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics
Olympic figure skaters for Great Britain
Figure skating commentators
1960 births
Living people
People from Vernon Hills, Illinois
Sportspeople from Lake County, Illinois


Paul Sixsmith (born 22 September 1971) is a retired Maltese international footballer.

Playing career
Born in Bolton, England, Sixsmith played youth football with both Manchester United and Preston North End, but did not make a league appearance for either team. He then moved to Malta, where he played with Naxxar Lions and the Maltese national side before retiring in 2006.

References

External links

1971 births
Living people
Footballers from Bolton
People with acquired Maltese citizenship
Maltese men's footballers
Malta men's international footballers
Manchester United F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
Naxxar Lions F.C. players
Men's association football defenders
English men's footballers


Thế Sơn (born 10 October 1965) is a Vietnamese language pop singer from southern Vietnam, and is a long-time member of the long running Vietnamese diaspora variety show Paris by Night.  He performed in Paris By Night from July 1994 until July 2014 and Asia Music Corporation from 2014 until 2018.

Thế Sơn's father was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and was imprisoned by the communists after the fall of Saigon. Thế Sơn took up singing to support his family and formed a duet with Thủy Tiên. He attended Marie Curie High School and La San Taberd High School (Trường Trung học La San Taberd), now renamed as Trần Đại Nghĩa High School. Thế Sơn completed a university degree in music (singing) at the Saigon Conservatory of Music and moved to the United States, now residing in Southern California. He is known for singing songs from the 1940s to the 1970s.

References

Living people
20th-century Vietnamese male singers
Place of birth missing (living people)
1965 births
21st-century Vietnamese male singers
Vietnamese emigrants to the United States


The granulated catfish (Pterodoras granulosus) is a species of thorny catfish found in the Paraná and Amazon basin as well as the coastal drainages of Suriname and Guyana.  This species is commercially caught for human consumption as well as being displayed in public aquaria.

Description
This species grows to a length of  TL and to a weight of . The colour pattern of these catfish varies depending upon the location that they originate from, though they are usually a muddy-brown colour with some darker spots over the body and fins. Adults are darker and the spotting fades from juvenile coloration. There are no scales, but the skin is thick and tough; also, 23–28 shallow lateral plates known as scutes are found along the length of the body. Their eyes are very small in comparison to the rest of the fish and they have three simple pairs of barbels. They have a deeply forked caudal fin, which also helps to distinguish this fish from other large Doradids.

Ecology
P. granulosus occurs in small groups.

P. granulosus is a nocturnal predator. It is an opportunistic omnivore with a wide food spectrum, consuming vascular plants, mollusks, and other food depending on their availability. It has been shown that this species feeds on an introduced species of bivalve, Corbicula fluminae, and may be able to act as a form of biological pest control. There is evidence that P. granulosus may be important for seed dispersal as seeds have been found in their stomachs; seeds of the families Gramineae, Moraceae, and Polygonaceae are most often present in their stomachs.

P. granulosus is a migratory species of catfish. From March to July, there is little migration and any movement is downstream. In August, the upstream migration begins, intensifying in October and peaking in January.

References

Doradidae
Fish of South America
Taxa named by Achille Valenciennes
Fish described in 1821


Pterodoras rivasi is a species of thorny catfish found in the Orinoco River basin of Colombia and Venezuela.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Fish of Venezuela
Fish described in 1950


Rhinodoras armbrusteri is a species of thorny catfish known from the Takutu River and Ireng Rivers that
drains into the upper Rio Branco in Guyana and Roraima State, Brazil; it is also known from the Rupununi River  in the Essequibo River basin in southwestern Guyana.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Vertebrates of Guyana
Fish of Brazil
Fish of South America
Fish described in 2008


Rhinodoras boehlkei is a species of thorny catfish found in the upper Amazon basin of Ecuador and Peru.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Fish of South America
Fish of Ecuador
Fish of Peru
Fish described in 1976


Rhinodoras dorbignyi is a species of thorny catfish found in the Paraná River basin in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.  This species grows to a length of  TL.

Etymology
Named after Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny.

References

Doradidae
Fish of South America
Fish of Argentina
Fish of Bolivia
Fish of Brazil
Fish of Paraguay
Fish of Uruguay
Taxa named by Rudolf Kner
Fish described in 1855


Sonal Shah may refer to:

Sonal Shah (actress) American actress on TV's Scrubs
Sonal Shah (economist) (born 1968), American economist


Rhinodoras gallagheri is a species of thorny catfish known from Apure River, Capanaparo River, and Arauca River, all left bank tributaries of the middle Orinoco, in the llanos regions of Apure and Barinas States of Venezuela. It is also known from the Aguas de Limon River in the Arauca Department of Colombia.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Fish of Venezuela
Fish described in 2008


Rhinodoras thomersoni is a species of thorny catfish native to Colombia and Venezuela where it is found in the river basins along the southwest shore of Lake Maracaibo (Santa Ana, Catatumbo and Escalante Rivers).  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Fish of Venezuela
Fish described in 1984


Rhynchodoras castilloi is a species of thorny catfish endemic to Venezuela where it is found in the middle to lower Apure River.  It is found only in deep water.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Fish of Venezuela
Endemic fauna of Venezuela
Fish described in 2007


Rhynchodoras xingui is a species of thorny catfish endemic to Brazil where it is found in the upper Xingu River basin.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Fish of South America
Fish of Brazil
Endemic fauna of Brazil
Taxa named by Wolfgang Klausewitz
Fish described in 1961


The president of the Congress of Deputies, also known as the president of the Cortes, is the highest authority of the Congress of Deputies of Spain, the lower house of the . The President is elected by and among the incumbent members of congress (diputados).

The office was established in 1810 when the Supreme Central Junta convened the first Spain's general election to form the Cortes of Cádiz. In the first meeting of the Cortes, on 24 September 1810, the first president was elected, Ramón Lázaro de Dou y de Bassols, although Benito Ramón Hermida Maldonado held the office as acting president during the beginning of that meeting. During this time, the Cortes were a unicameral parliament and the tenure of the president of the house was one month. In 1814, King Ferdinand VII dissolved the parliament and abolished the 1812 Constitution, restoring absolutism. Briefly, from 1820 to 1823, the Constitution was restored against the will of the monarch and in 1823 the King abolished it again until his death in 1833, when Queen Regent Maria Christina, in order to gain the favour of the Liberals to support the reign of her daughter, Isabella II, approved the Royal Statue of 1834, creating a bicameral parliament and restoring the office. The parliament was inactive in three more times in Spanish history: from 1923 to 1927 due to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (although he created an advisory assembly from 1927 to 1929), from 1929 to 1931 after the dictatorship and from 1939 to 1943, after the Civil War.

After 1834, none of the constitutions or the different internal rules of the Congress established a time limited to held the office, so it is understood that he or she occupies it for the time of the legislature, an idea that continues today in force. Another peculiarity of Spanish parliamentarism is the existence of the position of acting president. After every general election and before the Congress is fully constituted, the Congress' internal rules from 1834 to 1982 established that an acting president had to be elected, and, once the Congress is fully constituted, the House must ratified the appointment or elect a new president. In 1982, this provision disappeared.

The current and 182nd President, Francina Armengol, was elected on August 17, 2023. Armengol, former president of the Government of the Balearic Islands, currently represents the electoral district of the Balearic Islands.

List of presidents
Since its creation in 1810, 138 people have served as president in 182 presidencies. The first president was Ramón Lázaro de Dou y de Bassols who served during the first month. The shortest presidency was that of the Francisco Salmerón y Alonso which was president briefly between March 19 and March 22, 1873, and the longest was that of Esteban de Bilbao Eguía serving 22 years, 6 months and 13 days. Many presidents have served in non-consecutive terms in office; The Marquess of Vega de Armijo served in five non-consecutive terms while Francisco Martínez de la Rosa and Francisco Javier Istúriz y Montero served in four. The first woman who have served as president was Luisa Fernanda Rudi Ubeda, between 2000 and 2004.

Presidents by time in office
The length of time given below is based on the difference between dates. Many presidents were elected multiple times, and to terms that were, in several instances, not consecutive; the length of time given for each president measures their cumulative length of incumbency as president (even if they were elected as acting president). The time after adjournment of one Congress but before the convening of the next Congress is also counted.

References

Presidents
Congress

Lists of political office-holders in Spain


Trachydoras brevis is a species of thorny catfish found in the Negro and Essequibo River basins of Guyana and Brazil.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Fish of South America
Fish of Brazil
Vertebrates of Guyana
Taxa named by Rudolf Kner
Fish described in 1853


Bothwell Cheese is Canada's largest independently owned cheese maker, known for its cheeses which are branded under the same name. The company, located in New Bothwell, Manitoba, was founded in 1936 as a co-operative by local farmers.  It operated as such until 2002, when it was purchased by a group of private investors.

Products
Bothwell Cheese produces over 25 varieties of cheddar, mozzarella, smoked, traditional, and specialty cheeses.  It also sells cheese curds, different flavors of shredded cheese, and variety packages.

The company operates retail shops in New Bothwell and Winnipeg where it sells fresh cheese and company branded merchandise.
  It also ships more than two million kilograms of cheese to grocery retailers throughout Canada each year, including major grocery chains Costco, Sobeys, Safeway, Giant Tiger and Loblaws.

Awards
In 2014, Bothwell Cheese took top prize for its Marble in the cheddar class at the British Empire Cheese Show, a title it has earned eight of the past nine years.  It was also awarded first place in the Monterrey Jack class the previous year.  This competition is one of Canada's most prestigious cheese competitions and features distinguished cheese makers from around the world.

Bothwell Cheese also took home three awards at the 2006 Canadian Western Agribition Cheese Competition in Regina, Saskatchewan. Bothwell was named Grand Champion in the two-year-old aged white cheddar class, while also receiving awards in the cheddar and open classes.

The Manitoba Chamber of Commerce named Bothwell Cheese the 2011 Business of the Year and their Manitoba Business Awards.  It has also been nominated in the category of Outstanding Manitoba Ambassador.

See also

 List of cheesemakers

References

External links
Official Website

Companies based in Manitoba
Cheesemakers
1936 establishments in Manitoba
Dairy products companies of Canada
Agricultural organizations based in Manitoba
Mennonite cuisine
Cuisine of Manitoba
Eastman Region, Manitoba


Trachydoras microstomus is a species of thorny catfish that is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Venezuela.  It occurs in the Essequibo, Orinoco and Amazon basins.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Fish of Bolivia
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Fish of Guyana
Freshwater fish of Peru
Fish of Venezuela
Fish described in 1912
Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann


Trachydoras nattereri is a species of thorny catfish native to the Amazon basin of Brazil, Colombia and Peru.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Freshwater fish of Peru
Fish described in 1881
Taxa named by Franz Steindachner


Trachydoras paraguayensis is a species of thorny catfish found in the Paraná River basin of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Catfish of South America
Fish of Argentina
Fish of Bolivia
Fish of Brazil
Fish of Paraguay
Fish described in 1907
Taxa named by Carl H. Eigenmann


Trachydoras steindachneri is a species of thorny catfish native to the Amazon basin of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Doradidae
Fish of Bolivia
Freshwater fish of Brazil
Freshwater fish of Colombia
Freshwater fish of Ecuador
Freshwater fish of Peru
Fish of the Amazon basin
Fish described in 1897


Conta conta, the Conta catfish, is a species of South Asian river catfish.  This species grows to a length of  TL.

Distribution and habitat
C. conta is distributed in the Ganges and Brahmaputra drainages, India and Bangladesh. C. conta is also listed to originate from Bhareli and Mahananda Rivers, northeast Bengal, Garo Hills, Meghalaya; and Bangladesh; and also Sarda River, Uttar Pradesh.  This species occurs in rocky streams at the bases of hills.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Asia
Fish of India
Fish of Bangladesh
Taxa named by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton
Fish described in 1822


Conta pectinata is a species of South Asian river catfish endemic to India where it occurs the Brahmaputra River drainage of Assam.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Erethistidae
Catfish of Asia
Fish of India
Taxa named by Heok Hee Ng
Fish described in 2005


Visual semiotics is a sub-domain of semiotics that analyses the way visual images communicate a message.

Studies of meaning evolve from semiotics, a philosophical approach that seeks to interpret messages in terms of signs and patterns of symbolism. Contemporary semiotics consists of two branches originating contemporaneously in late 19th century France and the United States. Originating in literary and linguistic contexts, one branch (referred to as semiology) originated from the work of Swiss linguist Ferdinand Saussure. The second branch expands on the work of American pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.

A sign can be a word, sound, a touch or visual image. Saussure divides a sign into two components: the signifier, which is the sound, image, or word, and the signified, which is the concept or meaning the signifier represents. For Saussure, the relation between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary and conventional. In other words, signs can mean anything we agree that they mean, as well as mean different things to different people.

Peircean semiotics works from a different notion of what a sign is. A sign is something that stands for something else (the sign's object) to a receptive mind. The effect the sign has on the receiving mind is called the interpretant. Note that the interpretant may not be identical to the sign's object (something we call a "mis-understanding") but we are eternally prevented from assurance of this match or mismatch because they only way we have of verifying the match is to use additional signs!

In Peircean semiotics, signs that have an arbitrary or conventional relation to their objects are called symbols. But there are two other kinds of sign-object relations which are not completely arbitrary: icons are signs that resemble their objects, and indexes are signs that relate to their objects by some actual contact or environmental contiguity.

Belgian input
The Belgian Mu Group (Groupe μ) (founded 1967) developed a structural version of visual semiotics, on a cognitive basis, as well as a visual rhetoric.

Most signs operate on several levels—iconic as well as symbolic and/or indexical. This suggests that visual semiotic analysis may be addressing a hierarchy of meaning in addition to categories and components of meaning. As Umberto Eco explains, "what is commonly called a 'message' is in fact a text whose content is a multilevel discourse".

Whether the analyst works from a Saussurean or a Peircean perspective, semiotic analysis of visual texts involves taking apart the various levels of visual signs to understand how the parts contribute to the meaning of the whole.

The broadening concept of text and discourse encourages additional research into how visual communication operates to create meaning. Deely explains that "at the heart of semiotics is the realization that the whole of human experience, without exception, is an interpretive structure mediated and sustained by signs." Semiotics now considers a variety of texts, using Eco's terms, to investigate such diverse areas as movies, art, advertisements, and fashion, as well as visuals. In other words, as Berger explains, "the essential breakthrough of semiology is to take linguistics as a model and apply linguistic concepts to other phenomena--texts--and not just to language itself." Anthropologists like Grant McCracken and marketing experts like Sydney Levy have even used semiotic interpretations to analyze the rich cultural meanings of products and consumer consumption behaviors as texts.

Visual texts are an important area of analysis for semioticians and particularly for scholars working with visually intensive forms such as advertising and television because images are such a central part of our mass communication sign system. Linda Scott has deconstructed the images in perfume advertising as well as in Apple's "1984" commercial using close readings of the various messages that can be interpreted from the ads. Shay Sayre has also looked at perfume advertising images and the visual rhetoric in Hungary's first free election television advertisements using semiotic analysis. Also using semiotics, Arthur Asa Berger has deconstructed the meaning of the "1984" commercial as well as programs such as Cheers and films such as Murder on the Orient Express.

Systems of meaning, Culler and Berger tells us, are analyzed by looking at cultural and communication products and events as signs and then by analysing the relationship between these signs. The categories of signs and the relationships between them create a system. Barthes, for example, has analyzed the "fashion system," and classified the system of communication through fashion into two categories: image clothing and descriptive clothing. Likewise, an advertisement has its own system of meaning. We expect an appeal to purchase, either directly or implied, to be made and a product to be shown, for example, as part of the advertising system.

In their book Discourses in Place: Language in the material world, Ron Scollon and Suzie Wong Scollon note that visual semiotics has to do with turning "from the spoken, face-to-face discourses to the representations of that interaction order in images and signs" (82). Interaction order involves the various social interactions that takes place in any setting, such as being alone, being with a companion, at a meeting, watching a show etc., and it "is almost always complex", with various interactions occurring at once (83). When it comes to images, says Scollon and Wong, there are also multiple relationships. These include the relationships between the components of a visual image, the relationships between the producers of the visual image, the relationships between the producers and the components, as well as the relationships between the components of an image and those who are viewing it. That's are the main point.

This interaction order has four main semiotic systems, says Scollon and Wong. These include represented participants, modality, composition and interactive participants. Represented participants are elements of a visual image, and are either narrative ("present unfolding actions and events or... processes of change") or conceptual ("show abstract, comparative or generalized categories") (Scollon and Wong 86). Modality is how true to reality a visual image is, and main indicators include color saturation, color differentiation, depth, illumination and brightness, among others. With modality, it is often found "that truth, veracity, or sincerity might be expressed in very different ways from one society to another," with Western cultures favoring naturalistic representation, or as true to seeing it in person as possible (Scollon and Wong 89-90).

Composition is the way in which represented participants within a visual image are arranged in relation to one another, with the three main systems of compositions being ideal-real(top to bottom), given-new(left to right), and center-margin relationships (Scollon and Wong 92). So for example, when reading a menu at a fast food restaurant, the given information would be something such as "hamburger", and the new information would be the price, read left to right and recognized in that order. As mentioned above, interactive participants, explain Scollon and Wong, are the various relationships that occur around a visual image, such as those between the producers of the image and the represented participants in that image. In this way, these four components work together to help convey the meaning of signs and symbols.

Association of Visual Semiotics
The International Association of Visual Semiotics was formed in 1989. The Association, being of an international nature, recognizes three official languages: English, French, and Spanish. The Association is in French and Spanish:  Association Internationale de Sémiotique Visuelle and El Asociación Internacional de Semiótica Visual, respectively.

Congresses have been held in Blois (France) 1989,  Bilbao (Spain) 1992, Berkeley (California, USA) 1994,  São Paulo (Brazil) 1996, Siena (Italy) 1999, Québec (Canada) 2001, Mexico city 2003, Lyon (France) 2004, Istanbul (Turkey) 2007, Venice (Italy) 2010, and Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2012.

 President: José Luis Caivano (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
 General Secretary: Göran Sonesson (University of Lund, Sweden).

Previous Presidents: Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (2001-2012), Paolo Fabbri (1998-2001), Ana Claudia de Oliveira (1996-1998), Jacques Fontanille (1994-1996), Fernande Saint-Martin (1990-1994), Michel Costantini (1989-1990).

Visual Semiotics are also associated with that of Film, Fashion and Advertising. it is suggested that the use of semiotics in films are used to connote a specific underlying theme like that of the nuclear bomb in Godzilla.

See also
Theory of painting
Symbolic interactionism

References

Semiotics


The 2009 Grey Power Players' Championship was the last Grand Slam event of both the World Curling Tour and Women's World Curling Tour for the 2008-09 season. This was the seventeenth time the event has taken place, and the fourth time since it was switched to joint men's/women's format. The event was held in Grande Prairie, Alberta April 14-19. Since the event was a part of the Olympic qualifying process in Canada, only Canadian teams were invited. The total purse for each event is $100,000.

Edmonton's Randy Ferbey won the men's event securing a spot for his rink at the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.  On the women's side, Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones rink won their third Players' title.

Men's event

Teams

Results

A event

B event

C event

Playoffs

Women's event

Teams

Results

A event

B event

C event

Playoffs

Notes

References

April 2009 sports events in Canada
2009 in Alberta
Players Championships, 2009
Sport in Grande Prairie
Curling competitions in Alberta
Players' Championship


The Cassino War Cemetery is a war grave cemetery in the commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone,  south-east of Rome, Italy.

Of the burials, 289 servicemen are unidentified. Within the cemetery stands the Cassino Memorial which commemorates over 4,000 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the Italian campaign and whose graves are not known.

Cassino Memorial
Whenever possible, these war memorials were placed within military cemeteries near the theatres of operations. During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian Campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome. The majority of those buried in the war cemetery died in the battles during these months.  there are 4,271 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Cassino War Cemetery. From Canada, 194 servicemembers are honoured on the Cassino Memorial.

One soldier memorialized on the cenotaph is Yeshwant Ghadge (1921–1944), who served in the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry in the British Indian Army. For gallantry against the enemy, Ghadge was awarded the Victoria Cross. Another is Dan Billany, who served in the East Yorkshire Regiment and was also a novelist, who disappeared after escaping from enemy captivity in 1943.

See also
 Polish cemetery at Monte Cassino

References

External links

 CWGC: Cassino Memorial

Battle of Monte Cassino
World War II memorials in Italy
Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in Italy


Hara filamentosa or Erethistes filamentosus is a species of South Asian river catfish found in Myanmar and Thailand. It can be found in the Ataran, Sittang, and Salween River drainages. It occurs in fast-flowing rivers with stony or sandy bottom. This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Myanmar
Fish of Thailand
Fish described in 1860
Taxa named by Edward Blyth


Hara hara is a species of South Asian river catfish that occurs in Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal.  This species grows to a length of  TL.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Bangladesh
Freshwater fish of China
Freshwater fish of India
Fish of Myanmar
Fish of Nepal
Taxa named by Francis Buchanan-Hamilton
Fish described in 1822


Beneath the Skin is the second studio album by Collide, released in January 1996 by Re-Constriction Records.

Reception
Aiding & Abetting praised Beneath the Skin and said "the music and vocals build slowly around a pulsating beat, culminating with a orgy of sonic delights" and "the title track really show off Statik's talent for crafting a massively attractive sound." Alternative Press commended the band for being unique to Re-Constriction Records' roster and was especially praising of the track "Falling Up", which the critic claimed weaves "kaRIN's threads through a quilt of distant voices, submerged electric guitar chords, Laibachian ghosts and a Banshee beat." very atypical for the Re-Constriction label, breaking away from its traditional industrio-guitar sound." Jennifer Barnes of Black Monday "there's a lot that can be done with those contrasts, and I’m not sure they use noise to  fullest potential" and "the music is put together almost flawlessly and is a little too perfect for my taste." Sonic Boom commended the writing of founding member Eric Anest, saying he "is able to compose music which completely compliments Karin's voice without always having to resort to slow drawn out ballads and other conventional roles that female vocalists have been pigeon holed by popular music." A critic at Lollipop Magazine compared the band favorably to Front Line Assembly and Front Line Assembly "Collide creates a sound that is at once mysterious and obvious."

Track listing

Personnel
Adapted from the Beneath the Skin liner notes.

Collide
 Eric Anest (as Statik) – programming, noises, production, engineering, mixing, mastering
 Karin Johnston (as kaRIN) – vocals

Production and design
 Durmel DeLeon – photography
 Susan Jennings – cover art, illustrations, design, photography
 Jack Pedota – photography
 Steve West – photography

Release history

References

External links
  Beneath the Skin at collide.net

  Beneath the Skin at Bandcamp
 Beneath the Skin at iTunes

Collide (band) albums
1996 albums
Re-Constriction Records albums


Gehenu Lamai () is a 1978 Sri Lankan Sinhala teenage drama film directed by Sumitra Peries and produced by her husband Lester James Peries for Lster Films. The film introduced Vasanthi Chathurani into Sinhala cinema. Along with her, film stars Ajith Jinadasa and Jenita Samaraweera in lead roles along with Shyama Anandan and Cyril Kothalawala. Music composed by Nimal Mendis. It is the 390th Sri Lankan film in the Sinhala cinema.

The film received positive reviews from critics and earned box office success.

Plot
Kusum witnesses Nimal leading a procession into their village.

Kusum then recalls her childhood spent with friend Nimal. She is taught by the older boy. Kusum then starts boarding school with a transition to her at an older age. She gains a friend in Podmini who admires Kusum's innocence.

When Kusum visits home, she takes to helping out at the home of Nimal's mother, Mrs. Satharasinghe. On one such visit Nimal engages Kusum in a relationship. They fall in love though Kusum starts to feel guilty due to her lower class status. Soma is chosen to be part of a beauty contest and Kusum and Nimal take the chance to spend time together.

Mrs. Satharasinghe finds out about the encounter and confronts Kusum causing her to reveal her relationship with Nimal. Mrs. Satharasinghe scolds her and relieves her of her duties helping out at their home. Driven by guilt, Kusum breaks off all contact with Nimal. Soma, meanwhile, gets pregnant and is abandoned by the father. Kusum starts to take care of the child.

Nimal becomes a teacher at Kusum's school causing them to come in contact again. She tries to keep their encounters formal though at the prodding of Podmini takes some notes from him ahead of another girl. The girl bullies Kusum before Podmini comes to her rescue. Kusum then rejects Nimal's help.

The story then returns to the present with Nimal arriving at the village. Kusum reveals she failed to get into college and is now unemployed. She questions if this is her fate.

Cast
 Vasanthi Chathurani as Kusum Liyanage — A girl from a lower-class family who falls in love with Nimal, a member of a family she works for and had known since she was a kid. She's extremely obedient not willing to go against the wishes of her parents and other elders. Two more characters as Danthala Weerasinghe and Achala Weerasinghe.
 Ajith Jinadasa as Nimal Satharasinghe — A member of a higher class family who engages in a relationship with Kusum, a young passive girl who works at his house. He trains to be a teacher.
 Jenita Samaraweera as Soma Liyanage — The sister of Kusum. She, unlike her sister, goes against traditions and meets with an unfortunate result. Two more characters as Inoka Amarasena and Thanoja Dilhani.
 Shyama Anandan as Padmini — Best friend of Kusum who admires her innocence and tries to protect it from corruption.
 Trilicia Gunawardena as Mrs. Jenny Liyanage — Mother of Kusum and Soma. Works as a basket lady.
 Chitra Wakishta as Kamalawathie Satharasinghe — Haughty contradictory woman who praises her servant Kusum while viewing her as an unsuitable suitor to her son.
 Senaka Perera as Mr. Liyanage — Sick father of Kusum and Soma.
 Nimal Dayaratne as Gunapala — Friend of Podmini.
 Dayamanthi Pattiarachchi as Maduri — Cousin of Nimal who is westernized and looks down on Kusum.
 Joe Abeywickrema as Doctor — Cameo role by Abeywickrema of a doctor who supplies the Liyanage family with medicine free of charge.

Songs

References

External links
Sri Lanka Cinema Database

1978 films
Films set in Sri Lanka (1948–present)
1978 drama films
Sri Lankan drama films


is the name for medium fatty tuna when served in sushi restaurants. A bluefin tuna yields akami (red meat), chūtoro, and .

Chūtoro is usually found near the skin on the back and belly. It combines the lighter but deep, slightly bitter flavor of an akami with the sweet tenderness of an ōtoro. It is quite expensive and usually served only on special occasions.

References

Tuna


Hara horai is a species of South Asian river catfish endemic to West Bengal, India where it is found in the Terai and Duars in the middle and upper Brahmaputra River drainage. This species grows to a length of  TL.

References

Erethistidae
Endemic fauna of India
Freshwater fish of India
Taxa named by Kamla Sankar Misra
Fish described in 1976


Hara jerdoni, common name in English Sylhet Hara; also known as Asian Stone Catfish, or Dwarf Anchor Catfish, is a species of South Asian river catfish native to northeastern India and Bangladesh. This species grows to a length of  TL.  It is sometimes seen in the aquarium trade.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Bangladesh
Freshwater fish of India
Fish described in 1870
Taxa named by Francis Day


Riverview Hospital may refer to:
 Riverview Hospital (Coquitlam), a mental health facility in Coquitlam, British Columbia
 Riverview Hospital (Red Bank), a hospital in Monmouth County, New Jersey
 Riverview Hospital (Noblesville), in Noblesville, Indiana
 Riverview Psychiatric Center, in Augusta, Maine

See also
Riverview (disambiguation)


Erethistes maesotensis is a species of South Asian river catfish native to Myanmar and Thailand where it is known from Moei River near Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border.  E. maesotensis has been observed to inhabit fast-moving waters; during the rainy season, the water depth can increase by at least 3 metres (10 ft). The substrate mainly consists of small stones and sand with numerous empty gastropod shells.  This species grows to a length of  SL.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Asia
Fish of Thailand
Taxa named by Maurice Kottelat
Fish described in 1983


Erethistes pusillus is a species of South Asian river catfish native to India, Bangladesh and Myanmar where it is mostly found in hill streams. This species prefers muddy portions of rivers that are overgrown with vegetation.  This species grows to a length of  SL. It is kept in tropical aquaria, but its occurrence in the aquarium trade is very rare.

References

Erethistidae
Fish of Asia
Fish of India
Fish of Bangladesh
Taxa named by Johannes Peter Müller
Taxa named by Franz Hermann Troschel
Fish described in 1849


Love Worth Finding is an American radio and television ministry founded by Adrian Rogers, who was the president and CEO, as well as the chairman of the board of directors of it before his death. In 2003, it could be seen and heard worldwide on more than 14,000 television outlets and 2,000 radio stations in the United States and in more than 120 countries. Trans World Radio broadcasts Love Worth Finding in the UK.

Before Rogers died in 2005, he wrote in a letter that he wanted the ministry to continue.

References

External links

Christian mass media companies


Omkar Goswami is an Indian economist and business journalist for Business India. He is the founder and chairperson of Corporate and Economic Research Group Advisory Private Limited (CERG).

Early life and education

Goswami did his B.A. from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, and Calcutta University. Omkar Goswami holds a Master's in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, in 1978, and in 1982 he received the doctor of philosophy  in Economics from Oxford University for the thesis "The jute economy of Bengal, 1900–1947: unequal interaction between the industrial, trading, and agricultural sectors" under the supervision of Tapan Raychaudhuri, the eminent Indian historian.

His daughter, Shahana Goswami, is a film and television actress.

Career
Returning from Oxford, he worked most notably with Lovraj Kumar in the Government of India and had various academic associations. In March 1997, he became Editor of Business India magazine.

Dr. Goswami serves as a Director on the boards of Forbes, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, DSP Merrill Lynch Fund Managers Limited, Infrastructure Development and Finance Company Limited, Crompton Greaves, Sona Koyo Steering Systems Limited, Ambuja Cements Limited, Cairn India Limited, Infosys, and Bajaj Finserv.

He is the Founder and Chairman of CERG Advisory Private Limited (CERG: Corporate and Economic Research Group).

He held the position of Chief Economist with the Indian business association, the Confederation of Indian Industry, from August 1998 up to March 2004.

Works
 The Jute Economy of Bengal 1900-1947: a study of interaction between the industrial, trading and agricultural sectors. University of Oxford Faculty of Modern History. Published by University of Oxford, 1982.
 Electronics in India, 1985-86 to 1989-90: Targets and Policies : a Report. Published by Association of Indian Engineering Industry, 1984.
 Industry, Trade, and Peasant Society: The Jute Economy of Eastern India, 1900-1947. Oxford University Press, 1991. .
 Policy reform in India, by Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Rakesh Mohan, Omkar Goswami, Charles Oman. Published by Development Centre, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 1996.
 Corporate bankruptcy in India: a comparative perspective. Published by OCDE.
 Goras and Desis: Managing Agencies and the Making of Corporate India, by Omkar Goswami, with an introduction by Gurcharan Das. Published by Penguin Random House India, 2016.

Further reading
 Omkar Goswami articles at Business World
 Omkar Goswami articles at Outlook

References
https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/cg-power-mails-show-deliberate-attempt-to-deny-thapar-info/1679626

External links
 Omkar Goswami profile at BusinessWeek
 Dr. Omkar Goswami Profile Hindustan Times

 https://m.economictimes.com/industry/energy/power/cg-power-mails-show-deliberate-attempt-to-deny-thapar-info/articleshow/72405791.cms

20th-century Indian economists
Indian male journalists
Living people
University of Calcutta alumni
Delhi School of Economics alumni
Harvard University staff
Tufts University faculty
Rutgers University faculty
Indian business and financial journalists
Alumni of the University of Oxford
Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University
Delhi University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)