BBC Sessions and Other Polished Turds is a compilation album by The Vandals, released August 12, 2008 by Kung Fu Records. It was released as a digital download through iTunes and the band's website, as well as on CD in Japan, and finally on CD and Vinyl in the US in 2019. The album collects rare songs by the band from compilations and out-of-print singles, as well as five songs recorded during various sessions at the BBC. It was promoted as "A collection of the band's most rare tracks all sharing one thing in common in that they were recorded when the band didn't give a crap, so they are fun, funny, and unpretentious".

Included are cover versions of songs by the Ramones, Little Jimmy Osmond, the Falling Idols (in which Vandals singer Dave Quackenbush played guitar before joining the Vandals), Supernova, Jilted John, Alice Cooper, Sublime, ZZ Top, and Queen, as well as a cover of the song "Heigh-Ho" from the Walt Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs which originally appeared on a Japanese Disney tribute album.

In fact, only four of the album's sixteen songs were written by The Vandals. "Change the World with My Hockey Stick" originally appeared on the soundtrack album to the film Glory Daze. The BBC sessions include performances of "My Neck, My Back" from the band's album Hollywood Potato Chip and "Canine Euthanasia" from The Quickening. The album's final track is a remix of "You're Not the Boss of Me (Kick It)" from the album Look What I Almost Stepped In...

The band described the album in typical tongue-in-cheek fashion:

Some may think this is a joke, or a hoax, but over the years the Vandals have indeed recorded over a dozen songs for the BBC, mostly for BBC 1’s Lock-Up Sessions with Mike Davis. Here are some of the best from those sessions featuring some ZZ Top, Sublime, Queen, and a tear jerking piano version of the dead pet lament "Canine Euthanasia."
The cover songs come from ancient Ramones tributes (try to find any better Ramones renditions than these – impossible), lame Alice Cooper tribute albums, and even a Japanese Disney tribute. The gayest of the gay, however, has to be the Vandals version of the song 9 year-old Jimmy Osmond topped the U.K. pop charts with for 6 weeks in 1972 "Long Haired Lover From Liver Pool." Think of this release as 20 years of people asking for extra songs and the Vandals delivering in their own special way.

Track listing

Personnel
Dave Quackenbush – lead vocals
Warren Fitzgerald – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" and "Don't Stop Me Now"
Joe Escalante – bass guitar, backing vocals
Josh Freese – drum kit, lead vocals on "Costa Mesa Hates Me"
Scott Aukerman – backing vocals on "Heigh-Ho"

References

The Vandals albums
2008 compilation albums
2008 live albums
BBC Radio recordings


Elisa Cegani (11 June 1911 – 23 February 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1935 and 1983.

Partial filmography

 Aldebaran (1935) - Nora Bandi
 Cavalry (1936) - Speranza di Frassineto
 The Countess of Parma (1937) - Marcella
 But It's Nothing Serious (1937) - Gasperina
 Naples of Olden Times (1938) - Maria
 Ettore Fieramosca (1938) - Giovanna di Morreale
 Lancieri di Savoia (1939) - The Daughter
 Backstage (1939) - Diana Martelli - la pianista
 The Iron Crown (1941) - La madre di Elsa & Elsa
 The Jester's Supper (1942) - Laldòmine
 Gioco pericoloso (1942) - Augusta Barrat
 Harlem (1943) - La donna del gangster
 Gente dell'aria (1943) - Elena Sandri
 La carica degli eroi (1943)
 Nessuno torna indietro (1945) - Silvia Custo
 The Ten Commandments (1945) - (segment "Non dire falsa testimonianza")
 Un giorno nella vita (1946) - Suor Maria
 Eleonora Duse (1947) - Eleonora Duse
 Monaca di Monza (1947)
 Fabiola (1949) - Sira
 The Glass Castle (1950) - Eléna
 In Olden Days (1952) - Giulia Fabbri (segment "La morsa")
 La fiammata (1952) - Yvonne Stettin
 Fishing School (1952) - Madame Charpentier
 The Enemy (1952) - Duchessa Anna di Nemi
 Prisoner in the Tower of Fire (1952) - Bianca Maltivoglio
 Passionate Song (1953) - Carla Parodi
 A Slice of Life (1954) - Contessa Livia (segment "Scena all'aperto)
 Nel gorgo del peccato (1954) - Margherita Valli
 House of Ricordi (1954) - Giuseppina Strepponi
 A Free Woman (1954) - La signora Giovanna Franci
 The Courier of Moncenisio (1954)
 Loving You Is My Sin (1954) - Countess Danieli - Giorgio's mother
 Graziella (1955) - Madre di Alphonse
 Nana (1955) - Comtesse Muffat
 Lucky to Be a Woman (1956) - Elena Sennetti
 La donna del giorno (1957) - Signora Attenni
 Amore e chiacchiere (Salviamo il panorama) (1958) - Signora Clara Bonelli
 Si le roi savait ça (1958) - Norine
 The Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1958, TV series) -  Signorina La Creevy
 Ciao, ciao bambina! (1959) - Bice Pavese - la moglie di Filippo
 Constantine and the Cross (1961) - Elena
 The Last Judgment (1961) - Giovanna's mother
 La monaca di Monza (1962) - La Monaca Portinaia
 The Reluctant Saint (1962) - Sister
 Perseo l'invincibile (1963) - Danae
 Jacob and Esau (1963) - Rebecca - Rebekah
 Liolà (1964) - Aunt Gesa
 Saul e David (1964) - Akhinoam
 Me, Me, Me... and the Others (1966) - Francesca, Peppino's Housekeeper
 Un killer per sua maestà (1968)
 Simón Bolívar (1969) - Conchita Diaz Moreno
 La rosa rossa (1973)
 Languidi baci... perfide carezze (1976) - Clorinda
 Beyond Good and Evil (1977) - Franziska / Fritz's mother
 Tomorrow We Dance (1982) - Mother of Mariangela

References

External links

1911 births
1996 deaths
20th-century Italian actresses
Italian film actresses


Discrete Mathematics is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal in the broad area of discrete mathematics, combinatorics, graph theory, and their applications. It was established in 1971 and is published by North-Holland Publishing Company. It publishes both short notes, full length contributions, as well as survey articles. In addition, the journal publishes a number of special issues each year dedicated to a particular topic. Although originally it published articles in French and German, it now allows only English language articles. The editor-in-chief is Douglas West (University of Illinois, Urbana).

History
The journal was established in 1971. The very first article it published was written by Paul Erdős, who went on to publish a total of 84 papers in the journal.

Abstracting and indexing
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:

According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 0.87.

Notable publications

 The 1972 paper by László Lovász on the study of perfect graphs ()
 The 1973 short note "Acyclic orientations of graphs" by Richard Stanley on the study of the chromatic polynomial and its generalizations ()
 Václav Chvátal introduced graph toughness in 1973 ()
 The 1975 paper by László Lovász on the linear programming relaxation for the set cover problem.
 The 1980 paper by Philippe Flajolet on the combinatorics of continued fractions. ()
 The 1985 paper by Bressoud and Zeilberger proved Andrews's q-Dyson conjecture ()

References

External links

Combinatorics journals
English-language journals
Discrete mathematics
Academic journals established in 1971
Elsevier academic journals
Semi-monthly journals


Settle is an indie rock band from Easton, Pennsylvania currently signed to Epitaph Records whose debut album, At Home We Are Tourists, was released May 19, 2009. The signing of Settle is part of Epitaph's efforts to expand its sound beyond its pop punk roots.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links
 Settle Official Website
 Settle on Epitaph Records

Indie rock musical groups from Pennsylvania
Epitaph Records artists


When Red is Black is Qiu Xiaolong's third Inspector Chen mystery and provides an insightful look into modern China.

Plot summary
When the murder of a woman is reported to the Shanghai police while Inspector Chen is on vacation, Sergeant Yu is forced to take charge of the investigation. The victim, Yin Lige, a novelist known for her banned book, has been found dead in her tiny, humble room off the stairwell of a converted multi-family house. It seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, for the building is kept locked at night. But there is no apparent motive. Sergeant Yu tries to unravel the reclusive woman's past and begins to realize it may have larger political implications. The Cultural Revolution might be more than 30 years in the past, but its effects can still be felt at every level of Chinese society.

This is the third critically acclaimed Inspector Chen mystery set in post-Cultural Revolution China.

Literary review
When Red Is Black offers a complex and riveting portrait of Shanghai, a city in transition from a proletarian dictatorship to a capitalist playground where "nostalgia sells". The larger and more disquieting mystery of what will happen to dutiful workers like Detective Yu and Chief Inspector Chen as Chinese society continues to change is necessarily left unsolved.

References

2004 American novels
Novels by Qiu Xiaolong
Novels set in China


Roman Bezjak (born 21 February 1989) is a Slovenian footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian side USV Wies. He made his debut for the Slovenia national team in 2013, making a total of 33 appearances and scoring 5 goals.

Club career

Celje
Bezjak made his debut for Celje on 9 April 2008 against Maribor, coming on as a substitute for the last six minutes. The following season he made his first start for Celje, on 2 August 2008, in a 0–0 home draw against Domžale before being substituted by Saša Bakarić. Two weeks later, he scored his first goal in a 2–2 away draw against Primorje. He began to establish himself in the Celje first team from the 2009–10 season, making 24 league appearances and scoring 6 goals.

Ludogorets Razgrad
On 22 August 2012, Bezjak signed a four-year contract with Bulgarian A Group side Ludogorets Razgrad. He made his debut for Ludogorets against CSKA Sofia on 22 September where he came on as a substitute in a 1–0 home win. His first goals for Ludogorets came on 3 May 2013 when he scored twice in a 3–0 home win over Chernomorets Burgas. He made 14 appearances during the 2012–13 season, finishing with 5 goals.

In the following season Bezjak became a first team regular. He scored his first goal of the season in the second league game, a 1–0 win at home to Chernomorets Burgas on 27 July 2013. On 27 October 2013, he scored his first-ever career hat-trick, netting four goals in a 5–1 league win over Lyubimets 2007. He also scored three goals in two matches against PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the Europa League. In February 2014, he netted in both legs of the 4–3 aggregate victory over Lazio in the round of 32 of the Europa League. On 13 March 2014, he earned а penalty kick in the 3–0 home loss against Valencia, but missed from the spot. On 15 May 2014, Bezjak scored the winning goal in the 1–0 victory over Botev Plovdiv in the 2014 Bulgarian Cup Final to help his team achieve a double. He ended the season as the club's top scorer, scoring 20 goals in all competitions.

Rijeka
On 14 May 2015, HNK Rijeka announced that Bezjak had signed a three-year contract, tying him with the club until June 2018. He made his official début for the club on 10 July 2015, in a goalless away draw against Inter Zaprešić in Round 1 of the Croatian First Football League. On 19 July 2015, Bezjak scored a brace in a 3–3 home draw against Slaven Belupo. With 13 goals to his account, he was the club's top scorer during the 2015–16 season.

Jagiellonia Białystok
On 1 February 2018, Bezjak signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Jagiellonia Białystok. His debut for Jagiellonia was against Piast Gliwice in a 2–0 victory, when he was subbed in during the second half. Bezjak's first goal for the club was on 23 February 2018 against Lechia Gdańsk in a 4–2 win at home.

International career
Bezjak earned his first cap for Slovenia on 14 August 2013, after coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 loss against Finland in a friendly match. On 23 March 2016, Bezjak scored his first goal for Slovenia in the 1–0 win against Macedonia. On 8 October 2017, Bezjak scored twice for the 2–2 draw between Slovenia and Scotland.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Slovenia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bezjak goal.

Honours
Ludogorets
 Bulgarian A Group: 2012–13, 2013–14
 Bulgarian Cup: 2013–14
 Bulgarian Supercup: 2014

Rijeka
 Croatian First League: 2016–17

APOEL
 Cypriot First Division: 2018–19
 Cypriot Super Cup: 2019

References

External links

Roman Bezjak at NZS
Roman Bezjak at ÖFB

1989 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Slovenj Gradec
Men's association football forwards
Slovenian men's footballers
Slovenia men's youth international footballers
Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers
Slovenia men's international footballers
NK Celje players
NK Zagorje players
PFC Ludogorets Razgrad players
HNK Rijeka players
SV Darmstadt 98 players
Jagiellonia Białystok players
APOEL FC players
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players
Balıkesirspor footballers
Slovenian PrvaLiga players
Slovenian Second League players
First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players
Croatian Football League players
Bundesliga players
2. Bundesliga players
Ekstraklasa players
Cypriot First Division players
TFF First League players
Austrian 2. Landesliga players
Slovenian expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria
Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in Poland
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Poland
Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Austria
Slovenian expatriate sportspeople in Austria


Akbara () is an Arab village in the Israeli municipality of Safed, which included in 2010 more than 200 families. It is 2.5 km south of Safed City. The village was rebuilt in 1977, close to the old village destroyed in 1948 during  the 1947–1949 Palestine war.

Location
The village of 'Akbara was situated 2.5 km south of Safad, along the two sides of a deep wadi that ran north–south. Southeast of the village lay Khirbet al-'Uqeiba, identified as the Roman village Achabare, or Acchabaron. This khirba was a populated village as late as 1904.

History

The first 'Akbara mention is during Second Temple period by Josephus Flavius, he noted the rock of Acchabaron (Ακχαβαρων πετραν) among the places in the Upper Galilee he fortified as a preparation for the  Jewish Revolt. At the time Josephus Flavius was commanding Jewish rebel forces fighting Romans  in the Galilee.

The nearby Khirbet al-'Uqeiba was first excavated during the Mandate period, and was shown to contain remains such as building foundations, hewn stones, and wine presses. Cisterns, tombs, oil press and walls of ancient synagogue  have also been found. Foerster identifies the ruins as the  "early Galilean type" synagogue. Above the settlement, a 135 m high vertical cliff is located. There are one hundred and twenty-nine natural and man-made caves interconnected by passages in the cliff. According to tradition, those caves were used for shelter by Jews during their war with Romans. During archeological excavations, coins from Dor and Sepphoris were found in the caves, dating to the Roman emperor Trajan period.

Akbara/Akbari/Akbora/Akborin is mentioned several times in Rabbinic literature as early as second half of the third century CE. According to some traditions Rabbi Yannai disciplines lived in 'Akbara forming an agricultural community; R. Yannai established a bet midrash there. The earliest mention of this bet midrash is in the context of discussions between Rabbi Yohanan and sages of 'Akbara. According to Talmud school of Rabbi Jose bar Abin was also in Akbara.  Several of the rabbis mentioned in Pirkei Avot lived in 'Akbara. Akbara is mentioned as the burial place of several Talmudic sages: Rabbi Nehurai also Rabbi Yannai and Rabbi Dostai his son are buried "in the gardens" "by the spring".  According to tradition, the body of Rabbi Elazar ben Simeon was laying for twenty two years in his widow's garret in Akbara since he told her not to allow his colleagues to bury him. Rabbi Elazar ben Simeon feared to be dishonoured due to his aid to the Romans.

The local Jewish community is attested during Fatimid rule of 969 to 1099 by the Cairo Geniza. Samuel ben Samson visited 'Akbara during his 1210 Palestine pilgrimage, he described the tomb of Rabbi Meir he had found there.  In 1258 Jacob of Paris visited Akbara and found there, according to Pirkei Avot, tombs of Rabbi Nehurai.

Ottoman era
'Akbara, was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Moshe Basola visited the village In 1522 and said that he had found there "destroyed synagogue, 3 cubits high remaining on two sides". Later in 1968 the remains of the synagogue were identified by Foester.  In the census of 1596 the village was part of the  nahiya ("subdistrict") of Jira, part of Liwa Safad, with a population of 36 households and 1 bachelor, all Muslims. It paid taxes on a number of crops and produce, including wheat, barley, summer crops,   olives, occasional revenues, goats,  beehives, and a press which was either used for processing grapes or olives; a total of 6,115 akçe. 6/24 of the revenue went to a waqf.

In 1648 a Turkish traveler Evliya Tshelebi visited Galilee and reflected on history of Akbara cliff caves, which according to tradition were used as a shelter by Jews: "The children of Israel escaped the plague and hid in
these caves. Then Allah sent them a bad spirit which caused them to perish within the caves. Their skeletons, heaped together, can be seen there to this day."

In 1838, it was noted as a village in the Safad district, while in 1875 Victor Guérin visited, and described it: "The ruins of Akbara cover a hillock whose slopes were formerly sustained by walls forming terraces; the threshing floors of an Arab village occupy the summit. Round these are grouped the remains of ancient constructions now overthrown."
"The village lies on the east of the wady. It is dominated by a platform on which foundations can be traced of a rectangular enclosure called el Kuneiseh, measuring thirty paces in length by twenty-three in breadth. It stands east and west, and was firmly constructed of good cut stones. The interior is at present given up to cultivation. This enclosure seems to have been once a Christian church."

In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP)  described Akbara as a village built of stone and adobe with about 90 inhabitants who cultivated olive and fig trees.

A population list from about 1887 showed  Akbara to have about 335 inhabitants, all Muslims.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Akbara  had a population of 147; all Muslims, increasing in the 1931 census to 275, still all  Muslims, in a total of 49 houses.

During this  period the village houses were made of masonry.  In  the  1945 statistics the population was 390 Muslims,  and the total land area was 3,224  dunums;  2,222 dunums was used for  cereals, 199 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards, while 6 dunams were built-up (urban) land.

Israeli era
During the siege of Safad 'Akbara was targeted for occupation in line with Plan D. The Hagana attack was launched on 9 May and completed by the Palmach first battalion. It was found that many of the villagers had fled due to news of Deir Yassin and 'Ein al Zeitun, the village was then blown up and destroyed.

On 25 May 1948, during Operation Yiftah, under the command of Yigal Allon, Galilee was cleared of its Palestinian Arab population. The Palmach's First Battalion. Following the 25 May exodus of al-Khisas the last 55 villagers who had remained in their homes for just over a year were 'transferred' by Israeli forces despite having good relations and collaborating with Jewish settlements in the area. During the night of 5/6 June 1949, the village of al-Khisas was surrounded by trucks and the villagers were forced into the trucks ’with kicks, curses and maltreatment,’ in the words of a Mapam Knesset member, Elizer Peri, quoted by Morris: "The remaining villagers said that they had been ’forced with their hands to destroy their dwellings,’ and had been treated like ’cattle.’ They were then dumped on a bare, sun-scorched hillside near the village of ’Akbara [by then an abandoned Palestinian Arab village] where they were left ’wandering in the wilderness, thirsty and hungry.’ They lived there under inhuman conditions for years afterwards," along with the inhabitants of at least two other villages (Qaddita and al-Ja'una) expelled in similar circumstances. The expellees remained at ’Akbara for eighteen years until agreeing to resettlement in Wadi Hamam.

Salman Abu-Sitta, author of the Atlas of Palestine, estimated that the number of Palestinian refugees from 'Akbara in 1998 was 1,852 people.

Of what remains of 'Akbara's built structures, Walid Khalidi wrote in 1992 that, "The original inhabitants of the village were replaced by "internal" refugees from Qaddita villages several kilometers north of Safad. Since 1980, however, these internal refugees have been gradually relocated to the nearby, planned village of 'Akbara, 0.5 km west of the old village site. As a precondition of the relocation, each family was required to demolish its home in the former village. Today, fifteen of the old houses still stand on the site, in addition to the school. The new village of 'Akbara was placed under the administration of the city of Safad in 1977. It is now a neighbourhood of the city of Safed.

See also

 List of massacres committed during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war

References

Bibliography

 (p. 205)

External links
 Welcome to Akbara
 'Akbara,  Zochrot
Survey of Western Palestine, Map 4: IAA, Wikimedia commons
 'Akbara,  at Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
 Akbara,  Dr. Khalil Rizk.
3akbara from Dr. Moslih Kanaaneh

Arab villages depopulated prior to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War
District of Safad
Safed
Establishments in the Herodian kingdom
Ancient Jewish settlements of Galilee


Univocity of being is the idea that words describing the properties of God mean the same thing as when they apply to people or things. It is associated with the doctrines of the Scholastic theologian John Duns Scotus.

Scotus
In medieval disputes over the nature of God, many theologians and philosophers (such as Thomas Aquinas) held that when one says that "God is good" and that "man is good", man's goodness is only analogous to, i.e. similar to but distinct from, God's goodness. John Duns Scotus, while not denying the analogy of being à la St. Thomas, nonetheless holds to a univocal concept of being. It is important to note that Scotus does not believe in a "univocity of being", but rather to a common concept of being that is proper to both God and man, though in two radically distinct modes: infinite in God, finite in man.

The claim here is that we understand God because we can share in his being, and by extension, the transcendental attributes of being, namely, goodness, truth, and unity. So far as Scotus is concerned, we need to be able to understand what ‘being’ is as a concept in order to demonstrate the existence of God, lest we compare what we know - creation - to what we do not - God. Thomas Williams has defended a version of this argument.

Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze borrowed the doctrine of ontological univocity from Scotus. He claimed that being is univocal, i.e., that all of its senses are affirmed in one voice. Deleuze adapts the doctrine of univocity to claim that being is, univocally, difference. "With univocity, however, it is not the differences which are and must be: it is being which is Difference, in the sense that it is said of difference. Moreover, it is not we who are univocal in a Being which is not; it is we and our individuality which remains equivocal in and for a univocal Being."
Deleuze at once echoes and inverts Spinoza, who maintained that everything that exists is a modification of the one substance, God or Nature. He claims that it is the organizing principle of Spinoza's philosophy, despite the absence of the term from any of Spinoza's works. For Deleuze, there is no one substance, only an always-differentiating process, an origami cosmos, always folding, unfolding, refolding. Deleuze and Guattari summarize this ontology in the paradoxical formula "pluralism = monism".

See also
 Unus mundus
 Fundamental ontology
 Henology
 Law of noncontradiction

References

Medieval philosophy
Religious philosophical concepts
Scotism
Conceptions of God

Further reading
 Horan, Daniel P. OFM, "Postmodernity and Univocity - A Critical Account of Radical Orthodoxy and John Duns Scotus" Fortress Press, 2014.


The Marilyn Davies College of Business is the business school of the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD), with programs fully accredited by the AACSB International.  It is one of five academic units at UHD, and is housed in the  Shea Street Building.

Departments and programs
The Marilyn Davies College of Business offers an MBA designed for working professionals, enabling them to
continue their careers while earning an advanced business education. Additionally, graduate students may pursue a Masters of Security Management, and a number of certificates. At the undergraduate level it offers a BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) degree in nine major areas of studies within four academic departments:

Accounting & International Business
Finance, & Management Information Systems
General Business, Marketing, & Supply Chain Management
Management & Insurance Risk Management

Centers and Institutes
The Marilyn Davies College of Business houses five centers and institutes:
Center for Entrepreneurship
Institute for Financial Literacy
Institute for Business, Ethics, and Public Issues
Insurance and Risk Management Center
Supply Chain Research Center

References

External links

University of Houston–Downtown
Business schools in Texas


Kjell Stormoen (24 March 1921 – 22 October 2010) was a Norwegian actor, scenographer and theatre director.

An actor and director at Rogaland Teater in the early 1950s, he was later assigned as actor to the theaters Riksteatret, Den Nationale Scene and Nationaltheatret, and was director at Trøndelag Teater from 1973 to 1979. He participated in more than twenty films, and received the Amanda Award in 1995 for his role in Eggs.

Personal life
Born in Bergen on 24 March 1921, Stormoen was a son of Trygve H. Stormoen (1896–1971) and Hjørdis Henriksen (1897–1975). He was a first cousin of Guri Stormoen, and also related to Harald and Hans Stormoen. He was married twice, the first time to actor Elna Kimmestad from 1945 to 1972. They were parents of actor Even Stormoen.

Career
Stormoen was educated as an engraver, but also participated in the dramatic society Bergens Dramatiske Klubb. He was a scenographer at the Trøndelag Teater from 1945 to 1948. After some time as a scenographer at the newly opened Riksteatret in 1949, he became an actor at Rogaland Teater in the same year. He was theatre director at Rogaland Teater from 1951 to 1952, and worked as an actor at Riksteatret from 1952 to 1953, at Den Nationale Scene from 1953 to 1969 and at Nationaltheatret from 1969 to 1973. He was director at Trøndelag Teater from 1973 to 1979, and again actor at Nationaltheatret from 1980 to 1986. As a film actor he participated in more than twenty movies, including Kimen (1974), Streik! (1975) and Eggs (1995). His role in Eggs earned him the Amanda Award (shared with Sverre Hansen). In 2003 he was made an honorary member of the Norwegian Actors' Equity Association.

Stormoen died on 22 October 2010, at age 89.

References

1921 births
2010 deaths
20th-century engravers
Norwegian engravers
Norwegian theatre directors
Norwegian male stage actors
Male actors from Bergen
Norwegian male film actors
Theatre people from Bergen


Memmo Carotenuto (23 August 1908 – 23 December 1980) was an Italian actor. He appeared in 125 films between 1941 and 1980.

Selected filmography

The Wedding Trip (1969)
 Assassination in Rome (1965)
 Male Companion (1964)
 Cocagne (1961)
 Ten Ready Rifles (1959)
 Ferdinando I, re di Napoli (1959)
 Everyone's in Love (1959)
 My Wife's Enemy (1959)
 Tuppe tuppe, Marescià! (1958)
 The Italians They Are Crazy (1958)
 Legs of Gold (1958)
 Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
 The Most Wonderful Moment (1957)
 Fathers and Sons (1957)
 Poveri ma belli (1957)
 The Bigamist (1956)
 Lucky to Be a Woman (1956)
 The Band of Honest Men (1956)
 Chéri-Bibi (1955)
 Bread, Love and Jealousy (1954)
 A Slice of Life (1954)
 Too Bad She's Bad (1954)
 Disowned (1954)
 The Three Thieves (1954)
 House of Ricordi (1954)
 Via Padova 46 (1953)
 Pane, Amore e Fantasia (1953)
 If You Won a Hundred Million (1953)

References

External links

1908 births
1980 deaths
Italian male film actors
Male actors from Rome
Nastro d'Argento winners
20th-century Italian male actors
Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio


María Isabel Martín Martínez (1 November 1954 in Madrid, Spain), better known as Maribel Martín, is a Spanish actress.

Career
She made her acting debut at age seven in the film Tres de la Cruz Roja (1961),a film directed by Fernando Palacios. She had a career as a child actress in films like: La gran familia (1962), by Fernando Palacios and El Camino (1963) directed by Ana Mariscal.
At the end of the 1960s, she took more important roles in films like: The House That Screamed (1969) by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador and La Cera Virgen (1971) directed by Jose Maria Forque. She had her first starring role in The Blood Spattered Bride under the direction of Vicente Aranda. During the 1970s she concentrated her work in the theater and television. Among her films of this period are: Los Viajes Escolares (1973) directed by Jaime Chávarri; La Espada Negra (1976) film directed by Francisco Rovira Beleta.
Campana del Infierno (1973) by Claudio Guerin.

After her starring role in Últimas tardes con Teresa (1983) directed by  Gonzalo Herralde, she created the production company Ganesh Films with actor Julian Mateos and from then on she has taken roles in some of their production: The Holy Innocents (1984), by Mario Camus and Moon Child (1989), a film directed by Agusti Villaronga. Her most recent film is Engendro (2005) under the direction of Luis Cabeza.

Selected filmography
 La gran familia (1962)
 The House That Screamed (1969)
 The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)
 The Bell from Hell (1973)
 The Great House (1975)
 Forget the Drums (1975)
 Fortunata y Jacinta  (1980)
 Últimas tardes con Teresa (1983)
 The Holy Innocents (1984)
 Moon Child (1989)

References
 Torres, Augusto, Diccionario del cine Español, Espasa Calpe, 1994,

Notes

External links

20th-century Spanish actresses
1954 births
Living people
Spanish film actresses
Spanish television actresses


Shin Min Daily News () is a Singapore Chinese-language afternoon newspaper currently published by SPH Media. First started on 18 March 1967, by Singapore businessman Liang Runzhi (梁潤之) and the renowned Hong Kong writer Louis Cha as an offshoot of Hong Kong's Ming Pao, it featured exclusive serializations of some of Cha's wuxia novels in its early days.  In the early 1980s, Cha sold his shares in the paper after the Singapore government ruled that foreigners could only hold up to 3% of shares in locally based papers.

Shin Min is a tabloid-style paper focusing on entertainment and local news with sensationalised headlines, although it is printed on broadsheets.  Its main competitor was Lianhe Wanbao, which was also published by the SPH. Wanbao ceased publication on 24 December 2021 and merged into Shin Min.

Shin Min was also published in Malaysia until 1994, and it was the first Chinese language newspaper to be published in tabloid.

References

External links
 https://www.shinmin.sg/
Shin Min Blog
Omy Shin Min News Source
Shin Min Daily News Facebook

See also
List of newspapers in Singapore
List of newspapers

1967 establishments in Singapore
1994 disestablishments in Malaysia
Newspapers published in Singapore
SPH Media
Chinese-language newspapers (Simplified Chinese)
Chinese-Singaporean culture
Newspapers established in 1967
2021 mergers and acquisitions
Overseas Chinese newspapers
Defunct newspapers published in Malaysia


The Awakened, A Fellowship in Christ was a Christian group founded on Easter Sunday, 1932, by Melvin L. Severy.

It was created after Severy had been invited to see a painting of Christ by Charles Sindelar. Severy was very taken with the painting, and became convinced that the painting should be used to help gather the people of earth into fellowship centered on Christ. With the help of Sindelar, Severy formed the group for the purpose of preparing the world for the beginning of a new age as promised by the Bible. The group's future was to be determined on the basis of revelation over time.

Some years later, Guy Ballard came to visit Sindelar's studios. On seeing the painting, Ballard said the portrait was that of the Master Jesus, whom Ballard had been in communication with. Sindelar was very impressed by Ballard, and turned over the resources of The Awakened to the "I Am" Activity.

References

Christian organizations established in 1932
Defunct Christian organizations
Christian parachurch organizations


The discography of Japanese musician Angela Aki consists of seven studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play, thirteen singles, and five video albums. Her debut album, These Words, was released independently in the United States in early 2000 and was sung entirely in English. After returning to Japan in 2003, Aki followed this with a Japanese-language extended play, One, released under Virgo Music in 2005.

Game musician Nobuo Uematsu offered Aki the chance to sing the theme song for the game Final Fantasy XII after hearing one of her demos in 2003. Aki made her major debut under the Sony Music Japan sub-label Epic Records Japan in 2005 with the single "Home" and released the Final Fantasy XII theme song "Kiss Me Good-Bye" in 2006. Her debut album, Home (2006), was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan.

Her most commercially successful singles were released between 2006 and 2008: "This Love" (2006), which was used as an ending theme song for the anime Blood+, "Sakurairo" (2007), and "Tegami (Haikei Jūgo no Kimi e)" (2008), which was the compulsory song learnt by junior high choirs for the 2008 Nationwide Contest of Music sponsored by NHK. "Sakurairo" has been certified gold twice by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, while "This Love" and "Tegami (Haikei Jūgo no Kimi e)" have been certified multi-platinum. Aki's second and third albums, Today (2007) and Answer (2009), both debuted at number one on the Oricon albums chart. For the fifth anniversary since her major-label debut single "Home", Aki released White (2011), an album composed of a mix of new songs, re-recordings, and covers. In 2012, Aki released Songbook, a collection of Western music covers from her discography that she had performed on her NHK Educational TV television show Angela Aki no Songbook in English.

After releasing her first greatest hits album Tapestry of Songs: The Best of Angela Aki in 2014, Aki took an indefinite hiatus from music in Japan, moving to the United States to enrol in a music school to learn how to write musicals.

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Extended play

Singles

Promotional singles

Video albums

Other appearances

Notes

References

Discographies of Japanese artists
Pop music discographies


Henry Pinkerton (7 May 1915 – 1986) was a Scottish footballer.

Career
Pinkerton played for Hull City before joining Port Vale in May 1935. After just two games he was released at the end of the 1935–36 season, at which point he moved on to Burnley. He made his Burnley debut on 26 September 1936 in the goalless draw with Swansea Town at Turf Moor. Pinkerton made two further league appearances for Burnley in the 1937–38 campaign, before leaving to play for Falkirk and later Bo'ness United. After quitting professional football, he emigrated to Canada to work as a coach.

Career statistics
Source:

References

External links
 London Hearts profile

Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish men's footballers
Scotland men's wartime international footballers
Men's association football inside forwards
Hull City A.F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Falkirk F.C. players
Bo'ness United F.C. players
English Football League players
Scottish Junior Football Association players
Scottish Football League players
Association football coaches
Scottish emigrants to Canada
1915 births
1986 deaths


Corey Smith (born September 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Mr. Serv-On, is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Serv-On  is best known for his time spent with No Limit Records in the mid-to-late 1990s.

Music career

Music beginnings
A high school friend of Master P, Mr. Serv-On was one of the first rappers signed to No Limit, first appearing on albums by Master P, TRU and Mia X. His first appearance was on Soulja Slim's (then known as Magnolia Slim) album "Soulja fa Lyfe", in 1994.

TRU, No Limit, Life Insurance and Da Next Level
On August 12, 1997, Mr Serv-On's debut album, Life Insurance was released. Life Insurance met with commercial and critical success, peaking at number 23 on the US charts and number 5 on the R&B charts; in 2013, it was ranked 20th on a list of the top 25 No Limit releases.

On February 16, 1999, Mr. Serv-On would release his second album Da Next Level it would be released to a bigger commercial success, making it to number 1 on the R&B charts selling 297,000 copies in its first week. Part of the reason he gained more mainstream attention is because of his featuring of the rapper Big Pun on his album. The guest verse from Pun on the first single from the album titled "From N.Y. To N.O." was ranked on a list of his best guest verses. On December 29, 1999, the album had sold 973,000 copies in the U.S. being certified platinum by the RIAA. After the album's release Mr. Serv-On would disband from No Limit Records and start his own label, Lifetime Entertainment.

War Is Me, Pt. 1: Battle Decisions, Take a Sip and No More Questions
On June 20, 2000, Mr. Serv-On would release his third album and first independent album titled War Is Me, Pt. 1: Battle Decisions, it only made it to number 75 on the R&B charts. On October 30, 2001, Mr. Serv-On would release his fourth album titled Take a Sip via Lifetime, K.O.K., Street Level, the album would fail to make any of the Billboard charts. On March 18, 2003, Mr. Serv-On released his fifth album and second independent album titled No More Questions via Lifetime, the album would fail to make any of the Billboard charts.

Life Insurance 2 (Heart Muzik) and Gangsta 1 More Time
On March 18, 2003, Mr. Serv-On would release his sixth album and third independent album titled Life Insurance 2 (Heart Muzik) via Lifetyme, the album would fail to make any of the Billboard charts. Mr. Serv-On signed to  Killa C's Dirty Thug Recordz in 2009 and would release his seventh album titled Gangsta 1 More Timeon November 17, 2009, the album would fail to make any of the Billboard charts. On March 18, 2003, Mr. Serv-On would release his eighth album titled Internet Platinum via Lifetyme, Hustle Blooc the album would fail to make any of the Billboard charts.

Street Dreams and The Fallen Soldier
On December 20, 2013, he announced the release of his new mixtape  "Guaparation Canal", which was slated to be released in February 2014.

On March 4, 2014, Revolution Entertainment would release the collaborative album "Known Associates" by SC and Mr. Serv-On.

On September 18, Serv-On announced his next release would be Boss Certified with a release date of October 28, 2014. This album will be distributed through Serv-On`s own label, Hot City Music. On December 2, 2014, Mr. Serv-On released his ninth album Street Dreams, this album was released through Timez Up. Ent. and was executive produced by DJ Suckafree. On June 19, 2015 Mr. Serv-On would release his tenth album titled The Fallen Soldier via Hot City Music and Timez Up.

Other ventures

Acting career
Mr. Serv-On appeared in the movie "I'm Bout It" in 1997, and in a documentary 10 years later called "Grittin 2 Get It In Tha Rock." In 2008, Mr. Serv-On was interviewed for the Underground Kingz Magazine DVD. In 2014, Mr. Serv-On appeared in the documentary "We Are One: Street Music of New Orleans."

Author
In 2008, Mr. Serv-On wrote a dating book for black women.

Philanthropy
In October 2014, Mr. Serv-On participated in a gun buy-back program in New Orleans.

Discography

Studio albums

Independent albums

Extended Play's

Collaboration albums

Soundtrack albums

Mixtapes

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Filmography

See also
 No Limit Records
 Beats by the Pound

References

African-American male rappers
American male rappers
Living people
No Limit Records artists
Rappers from New Orleans
Gangsta rappers
1969 births
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people


Dejan Urbanč (born 13 April 1984) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a midfielder.

External links

PrvaLiga profile

1984 births
Living people
People from Brežice
Slovenian men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
NK Celje players
NK Krško players
NK Olimpija Ljubljana (1945–2005) players
Slovenian PrvaLiga players
Slovenia men's youth international footballers
Slovenia men's under-21 international footballers


Applecross was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1989 to 1996.

The district was based in the inner southern suburbs of Perth. First contested at the 1989 state election, it was held for two terms by Liberal MP Richard Lewis, who had previously been member for East Melville. The district was abolished ahead of the 1996 state election.

Members for Applecross

Election results

Applecross
Constituencies established in 1989
1989 establishments in Australia
Constituencies disestablished in 1996
1996 disestablishments in Australia


EXT3 is a human gene.

It is associated with hereditary multiple exostoses.

References


The Horseman (, ) is an opera in three acts by Aulis Sallinen, based on a libretto by Paavo Haavikko. It was premiered by the Savonlinna Opera Festival on 17 June 1975 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Olavinlinna Castle, and is the first of Sallinen's operas, and is replete with heavy symbolism and historical allegories. According to George Loomis, writing in The New York Times, the work "is widely credited for helping to precipitate a wave of Finnish operas".

A critic at the premiere described the work as a "timeless parable of a country and nation ground between, and harried by two mighty neighbours" (Sweden and Russia), depicting "the sufferings of individuals speak for the sufferings of a long downtrodden nation".

Sallinen's music is described as "immediately and excitingly accessible... with powerful dramatic feeling."

The work won the composer's prize of the Nordic Council (Nordic Council Music Prize) in 1978.

Roles

Performance history
The opera premiered at the 1975 Savonlinna opera festival. It was also performed in place of the first night of Boris Godunov on July 24 that season due to a badly inflamed foot injury to Martti Talvela (who was to play Boris); cast and technicians, uncontactable by phone, were gathered from day trips in the local countryside, and the conductor was flown by seaplane from the Helsinki archipelago for a last-minute replacement evening.

The opera was revived at the 2005 Savonlinna Opera Festival with Juha Uusitalo as Antti and Johanna Rusanen as Anna, conducted by Ari Rasilainen in a new production directed by Vilppu Kiljunen.

A live recording of the premiere performance was released on LP by Finlandia Records in 1979, and later re-issued on CD by the same label.

The opera was performed by the Savonlinna Festival forces at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2006.

Synopsis

Act 1
The story begins at Eastertide in 16th century Russia where Anna and her husband are kept as serfs in a merchant's household in Novgorod. Anna seduces the merchant but the wife of the merchant finds this out and humiliates Antti; she then insists that her husband kills Antti and Anna. Antti binds the merchant and his wife and sets fire to their house. As he dies the merchant predicts Antti his death.

Act 2
They escape to Finland, where, in the second act a series of cases are heard in a courtroom at Olavinlinna castle. The first defendant turns out to be Anna who is accused of burying her baby by an unknown man in the forest. Anna declares herself a widow whose husband appears to her in a dream. Antti appears disguised as an old man, to give evidence of Anna husband's death. The horseman reports on the night in Novgorod, when the house of the merchant burned and they all perished. By the end of the act all the prisoners escape.

Act 3
The last act is set in a forest place near the hovel of a poacher, Matti Puikkanen where are living Antti, Anna, a woman, and a groom. People come with plans to attack the royal castle. The people ask Antti to lead their army, as he has experience of war, and he agrees. Women try to persuade guards to open the castle gates but the army has secretly followed the plans and starts shooting the rebels. Antti and his group are killed; Anna sings a lament for her slain husband.

References

Finnish-language operas
Operas
1975 operas
Operas set in Finland
Operas by Aulis Sallinen


Lleida Pirineus ("Lleida Pyrenees") is an important railway station serving the city of Lleida in Catalonia, Spain. It is located between the neighbourhoods of Pardinyes and Rambla de Ferran. The first train services in Lleida date of 1860, but the station wasn't built until 1927, and it did not adopt its current official name until 2003, when it underwent an ambitious reform. As a transport hub connecting the interior of Spain with the Corredor Mediterráneo, it serves both broad gauge and standard gauge trains, operated by both Adif-Renfe and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya. It is the terminus of several regional railway services centered in Aragon and Catalonia. It's also one of the stations on the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line, and it was its north-eastern terminus until 2008.

Name
Although Lleida is not located in the Pyrenees mountain range, a part of the Catalan Pyrenees is located within the province of Lleida, and Lleida Pirineus station is the terminal station of FGC Lleida - La Pobla de Segur line that connects the city of Lleida with those mountains.

Rail services

Other transport
A bus station is currently projected immediately next to Lleida-Pirineus to replace the decaying one located in Carrer de Blondel.

References

External links
 Lleida Pirineus listing at Adif website
 Lleida Pirineus listing at Rodalies de Catalunya website
 Information and photos of the station at Trenscat.com

Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line
Railway stations in Catalonia
Buildings and structures in Lleida
Railway stations in Spain opened in 1927
Rodalies de Catalunya stations
Transport in Lleida
Railway stations in Spain opened in 1860


The list of ship launches in 1923 includes a chronological list of ships launched in 1923.

References

Sources

1923
1923 in transport


The South West College operates in Northern Ireland on four campuses in Cookstown, Dungannon, Enniskillen and Omagh and, of the six new area based colleges, it is the smallest in size, but it covers the largest geographical area of counties Tyrone and Fermanagh.

The South West College has 18,500 student enrolments, is involved in a number of European projects, has a staffing complement of some 500 full-time staff and a similar number of part-time staff and a budget of £32 Million.

References

External links
South West College Website

Universities and colleges in Northern Ireland
Cookstown
Educational institutions established in 2007
2007 establishments in Northern Ireland


Cuba has suffered from widespread and rampant corruption since the establishment of the Republic of Cuba in 1902. The book Corruption in Cuba states that public ownership resulted in "a lack of identifiable ownership and widespread misuse and theft of state resources... when given opportunity, few citizens hesitate to steal from the government." Furthermore, the complex relationship between governmental and economic institutions makes them especially "prone to corruption."

The question of what causes corruption in Cuba presently and historically continues to be discussed and debated by scholars. There is the traditional principles of governance it inherited from Spain which was known as a notoriously corrupt of regimes in its interactions in the new world. Jules R. Benjamin suggests that Cuba's corrupt politics were a product of the colonial heritage of Cuban politics and the financial aid provided by the United States that favoured international sugar prices in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Following the Second World War, the level of corruption in Cuba, among many other Latin American and Caribbean countries, was said to have risen significantly. Some scholars, such as Eduardo Sáenz Rovner, attribute this to North America's increased involvement in Cuba after the First World War that isolated Cuban workers. Cubans were excluded from a large sector of the economy and unable to participate in managerial roles that were taken over by United States employers. Along similar lines, Louis A. Pérez has written that “World War Two created new opportunities for Cuban economic development, few of which, however, were fully realized. Funds were used irrationally. Corruption and graft increased and contributed in no small part to missed opportunities, but so did mismanagement and miscalculation.”

Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index gave Cuba a score of 45 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Cuba ranked 65th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 12 (ranked 180). For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among the countries of the Americas was 74, the average score was 43 and the lowest score was 14.

History

Pre-Revolution
For more information: Republic of Cuba (1902-1959)

The Republic of Cuba at the turn of the 20th Century was largely characterized by a deeply ingrained tradition of corruption where political participation resulted in opportunities for elites to engage in opportunities for wealth accumulation. Cuba's first presidential period under Don Tomas Estrada Palma from 1902 to 1906 was considered to uphold the best standards of administrative integrity in the history of the Republic of Cuba. However, a United States intervention in 1906 resulted in Charles Edward Magoon, an American diplomat, taking over the government until 1909. It has been debated whether Magoon's government condoned or in fact engaged in corrupt practices. Hugh Thomas suggests that while Magoon disapproved of corrupt practices, corruption still persisted under his administration and he undermined the autonomy of the judiciary and their court decisions. Cuba's subsequent president, Jose Miguel Gomez, was the first to become involved in pervasive corruption and government corruption scandals. These scandals involved bribes that were allegedly paid to Cuban officials and legislators under a contract to search the Havana harbour, as well as the payment of fees to government associates and high-level officials. Gomez's successor, Mario Garcia Menocal, wanted to put an end to the corruption scandals and claimed to be committed to administrative integrity as he ran on a slogan of "honesty, peace and work." Despite his intentions, corruption actually intensified under his government from 1913-1921. Instances of fraud became more common while private actors and contractors frequently colluded with public officials and legislators. Charles Edward Chapman attributes the increase of corruption to the sugar boom that occurred in Cuba under the Menocal administration. Furthermore, the emergence of World War One enabled the Cuban government to manipulate sugar prices, the sales of exports and import permits.

Alfredo Zayas succeeded Menocal from 1921–25 and engaged in what Calixto Maso refers to as the most "maximum expression of administrative corruption." Both petty and grand corruption spread to nearly all aspects of public life and the Cuban administration became largely characterized by nepotism as Zayas relied on friends and relatives to illegally gain greater access to wealth. Due to Zaya's previous policies, Gerardo Machado aimed to diminish corruption and improve the public sector's performance under his successive administration from 1925-1933. While he was successfully able to reduce the amounts of low level and petty corruption, grand corruption still largely persisted. Machado embarked on development projects that enabled the persistence of grand corruption through inflated costs and the creation of "large margins" that enabled public officials to appropriate money illegally. Under his government, opportunities for corruption became concentrated into fewer hands with "centralized government purchasing procedures" and the collection of bribes among a smaller number of bureaucrats and administrators. Through the development of real estate infrastructures and the growth of Cuba's tourism industry, Machado's administration was able to use insider information to profit from private sector business deals.

Argote-Freyre points out that Cuba's population under the Republic had a high tolerance for corruption. Furthermore, Cubans knew and criticized who was corrupt, but admired them for their ability to act as "criminals with impunity." Corrupt officials went beyond members of congress to also include military officials who granted favours to residents and accepted bribes. The establishment of an illegal gambling network within the military enabled army personnel such as Lieutenant Colonel Pedraza and Major Mariné to engage in extensive illegal gambling activities. Mauricio Augusto Font and Alfonso Quiroz, authors of The Cuban Republic and José Martí, say that corruption pervaded in public life under the administrations of Presidents Ramón Grau and Carlos Prío Socarrás. Prío was reported to have stolen over $90 million in public funds, which was equivalent to one fourth of the annual national budget. Senator Eduardo Chibás dedicated himself to exposing corruption in the Cuban government, and formed the Partido Ortodoxo in 1947 to further this aim.

Prior to the Communist revolution, Cuba was ruled under the elected government of Fulgencio Batista from 1940-1944. Throughout this time period, Batista's support base consisted mainly of corrupt politicians and military officials. Batista himself was able to heavily profit from the regime before coming into power through inflated government contracts and gambling proceeds. In 1942, the British Foreign Office reported that the U.S. State Department was "very worried" about corruption under President Fulgencio Batista, describing the problem as "endemic" and exceeding "anything which had gone on previously." British diplomats believed that corruption was rooted within Cuba's most powerful institutions, with the highest individuals in government and military being heavily involved in gambling and the drug trade. In terms of civil society, Eduardo Saenz Rovner writes that corruption within the Police and government enabled the expansion of criminal organizations in Cuba. Batista refused U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt's offer to send experts to help reform the Cuban Civil Service.

Later in 1952, Batista led a U-S backed military coup against Prío Socarrás and ruled until 1959. Under his rule, Batista led a corrupt dictatorship that involved close links with organized crime organizations and the reduction of civil freedoms of Cubans. This period resulted in Bastista engaging in more "sophisticated practices of corruption" at both the administrative and civil society levels. Batista and his administration engaged in profiteering from the lottery as well as illegal gambling. Corruption further flourished in civil society through increasing amounts of police corruption, censorship of the press as well as media, and creating anti-communist campaigns that suppressed opposition with violence, torture and public executions. The former culture of toleration and acceptance towards corruption also dissolved with the dictatorship of Batista. For instance, one citizen wrote that "however corrupt Grau and Prío were, we elected them and therefore allowed them to steal from us. Batista robs us without our permission.” Corruption under Batista further expanded into the economic sector with alliances that he forged with foreign investors and the prevalence of illegal casinos and criminal organizations in the country's capital of Havana.

Post-Revolution
For more information: Cuban Revolution

Corruption in the Batista government has been cited as a key factor that led to his overthrow in 1959. Despite the United States' initial support of Batista, John F. Kennedy stated in 1961 that,"The character of the Batista regime in Cuba made a violent popular reaction almost inevitable. The rapacity of the leadership, the corruption of the government, the brutality of the police, the regime's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic opportunity-all these, in Cuba as elsewhere, constituted an open invitation to revolution."Once the Communist Party of Cuba took control of the government, Fidel Castro immediately began to eliminate all remnants of the former batistiano system that was seen as highly corrupt. This involved executing several dozen batistianos and calling for the confiscation of wealth of corrupt officials among other actions. In 1959, Fidel Castro issued a series of law decrees that enabled the confiscation of private property in addition to funds that were previously controlled by Batista and his collaborators. The Cuban government thus transformed from a corrupt military dictatorship to a single-party socialist state.

Despite their efforts to rid Cuba of any former corruption that persisted under Batista, Sergio Diaz-Briquets and Jorge F. Pérez-López, in the book Corruption in Cuba, argue that the government of Fidel and Raul Castro institutionalized corruption with government monopolies, cronyism, and lack of accountability. Moreover, Daniel Erikson writes that Castro's control of economic resources transformed Cuba into "the most captured state in Latin America" and suggests that corruption might have increased, rather than decreased after the Cuban Revolution. While the state has no toleration for political or economic opposition to the government, a system of special advantages evolved for high-ranking members of the Cuban nomenklatura and the military as they were able to enjoy privileges that were unavailable to ordinary citizens. The nomenklatura, a term adopted by the former Soviet Union, referred to list of key positions and appointments within the government made by the Communist Party. This privileged group of political elites were particularly subject to corruption due to their access to state resources. As such, the nomenklatura were able to benefit from certain privileges that are not available to the general public including, but not limited to, being exempt from the rationing system, obtaining imported foods and consumer goods, gaining access to better housing as well as special hospitals and medications, and having the ability to travel abroad. The Cuban nomenklatura were also referred to as pinchos, pinchos grandes or mayimbes.

Cuba's Socialist Economy and Corruption
By 1968, the Cuban state had nationalized 100% of the industry, construction, transportation, retail trade, wholesale and foreign trade, banking and education. By 1988, they further controlled 92% of the state's agriculture. As a result of their large share of ownership, measuring corruption in Cuba proves to be difficult. Citizens have limited possibilities to appeal against arbitrary or take actions against instances of unjust government action. However, as Pérez-López writes, there is some available information on Cuba's corrupt activities regarding former black market operations, the misuse of office and presence of the Cuban nomenklatura. Other forms of corrupt behaviour such as paying bribes were likely present, but are much more difficult to measure. Professor Esteban Morales Domínguez also states that the illegal market in Cuba's economy was able to emerge due to "large imbalances between supply and demand" that result in "hidden leaders" offering alternatives to state resources and services.

On a micro-level, corruption under the socialist economy involved ordinary citizens engaging in acts of petty corruption in everyday life. Díaz-Briquets and Pérez-López have argued that the socialist economy resulted in the rise of social attitudes that condone taking advantage of inequalities in income and assets for personal benefit. This was mainly developed through the confiscation of private assets and expropriation of personal property. As a result, they suggest that the scarcity of goods and services resulted in the widespread prevalence of petty corruption and crimes. On the other hand, Mark Kruger states that Cuba has had one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically referencing the low rates of domestic violence and violence against women. Nonetheless, theft from the state sector became the main source of resources and products that entered the black market in Cuba. One Cuban attorney from a cigar factory described the petty theft issue as individuals "faced with shortages of food and basic consumer-products, workers steal from the workplaces where something is made in order to ease their needs." Other instances of documented theft included stealing bottles of rum, beer, slaughtering stolen cattle, stealing cigarette papers, and more.

From a government standpoint, public officials in Cuba largely engaged in corrupt practices through the diversion of state resources for personal gains and taking bribes in return for discussing benefits. For example, one scandal broke out in which a manager of the Antonio Guiteras sugar mill had used construction materials to build his own personal pig pen outside of his home. Through a centrally planned economy, the lack of independent civil society organizations and a government controlled press, Klitgaard suggests that this created the perfect conditions under a socialist society for which corruption could flourish. Cuban government officials were able to enjoy privileges possessed by few others along with a low degree of accountability for their actions and control over the supply of goods and services.

In the 1990s, corruption changed its form and visibility due to the changing economic structures that enabled more space for the private sector. Jorge Dominguez thus writes that the marketization of the economy in the 1990s contributed to corruption through the "interaction of state and economy" despite its limited nature. New opportunities for corruption were created due to the lack of legal institutions and property rights to account for the transitioning economy. The new economic system of the 1990s in Cuba included new, limited opportunities for self-employment in newly private industries such as restaurants. However, due to the scarcity of these jobs, a large proportion of the Cuban population resorted to working in the black market and underground economy. Cuban citizens further depended on black markets for access to basic resources that exhibit high costs under state-led businesses.

Sociolismo

Sociolismo is the informal term used in Cuba to describe the reciprocal exchange of favours by individuals, usually relating to circumventing bureaucratic restrictions or obtaining hard-to-find goods. Ramón de la Cruz Ochoa, Cuba's General Prosecutor of the Republic, stated that he viewed sociolismo as one of the main corruption problems in Cuba. This system involves rewarding friends and family of government officials and generally results in individuals disregarding the rule of law. Gary Marx wrote that "in cash-poor Cuba, connections are as good as currency" and thus the system of sociolismo is able to flourish. Furthermore, sociolismo expanded into daily life as it involved maintaining relationships with individuals that had access to resources. Personal ties are used in Cuba in nearly every aspect of daily life, from receiving extra food that is rationed by the government to securing spaces in schools for children. In relation to sociolismo, Fernández also uses the term lo informal to refer to the behavioural patterns involving likability (simpatia), familiarity that leads to trust (confianza), and being a nice person (ser buena gente) that serve create informal networks and bypass legal norms. In turn, participation in lo informal results in individuals engaging in a "culture of illegality" and becoming accustomed to breaking the law. In terms of the word's origin, it is derived from the Spanish word socio which means business partner or buddy, and is a pun on socialismo, the Spanish term for socialism. It is analogous to the blat of the Soviet Union.

Cuba in the 21st Century: Combatting Corruption
Erikson identifies the control of corruption as one of the main obstacles that Cuba must overcome in order to transition successfully away from authoritarian rule to democracy. The Cuba Transition Project (CTP) has aimed to propose anti-corruption policies as an important component of a greater transition strategy for Cuba. In 2001, the Cuban Government set up a Ministry for Auditing and Control to investigate corruption and improve efficiency in the Cuban economy. However, Lopez and Diaz-Briquets have pointed out that this system relies upon transparency and accountability in order to function, which is lacking in Cuba through their tendencies to hide budgetary and financial information. A BBC News article stated that foreign businessmen in Cuba said levels of corruption were lower than in most other countries in Latin America. BBC says that "Inspectors went to thousands of state-run enterprises and consistently found customers being short-changed. The offences included beer mugs being only partially filled, taxi rides being charged at almost five times the going rate, government price lists being hidden, even shoe repairers charging vastly inflated rates."

Fidel Castro announced in 2005 his new efforts to root out cases of corruption and avoid maldistribution of government goods and services. This included a major housing initiative that involved the participation of local governments and citizens as a strategy to prevent corrupt practices and maximize the benefits of the housing program. Castro later promised in the same year to embark on a battle against theft, immoral conduct and misuse of government resources. After Raúl Castro took power in 2006, over 10 corruption scandals have been uncovered and several public servants were arrested. In 2008, Raúl Castro's government led additional initiatives to crack down on possible corruption cases through auditing and inspections. This led to the conviction of Rogelio Acevedo who had leased Cuba's airline's planes and was found with millions of dollars worth of cash in his home. Raúl Castro later created the Office of the Comptroller General to fight corruption after stating that corruption risked destroying Cuba's "values and morality and it corrodes our institutions." Among other convictions, high-level employees from the Tourist Agency Sol y Son as well as the food company Río Zaza were arrested for fraud and bribery. Both companies were said to have had ties to a previously arrested corrupt businessman and close friend of Fidel Castro.

Notes

See also
 International Anti-Corruption Academy
 Group of States Against Corruption
 International Anti-Corruption Day
 ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management systems
 United Nations Convention against Corruption
 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
 Transparency International

References

Government of Cuba
Economy of Cuba
Cuba


Together Forever is the debut album by Puerto Rican-American singer Lisette Melendez, released in 1991 by Columbia Records. The album reached the top ten of the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

Three singles were released. "Together Forever" reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1991. The second single, "A Day in My Life (Without You)", rose to number 49 on the Hot 100. "Never Say Never" appeared on the dance charts at number 45 in March 1992.

The album was released in Japan on July 1, 1994, after the success of the song "Goody Goody" and the album True to Life. Together Forever stayed for one week on the Oricon chart, peaking at number 100.

Track listing

Charts

Singles - Billboard (United States)

References

1991 debut albums
Lisette Melendez albums


Charles W. Fairbairn (4 July 1837 – 26 April 1911) was a farmer, businessman and political figure in Ontario, Canada. He represented Victoria South in the House of Commons of Canada from 1890 to 1896 as a Liberal-Conservative member.

He was born near Lakefield, Ontario, the son of a Scottish immigrant, and was educated in Peterborough. In 1861, he married Heather Fee. Fairbairn served on the town council for Bobcaygeon and was reeve for Verulam Township. He also served as warden for Victoria County in 1879. He was an unsuccessful candidate for a seat in the Ontario legislative assembly in 1883 and 1890. Fairbairn was first elected to the House of Commons in an 1890 by-election held after the death of Adam Hudspeth; that election was declared void but he won the by-election which followed in 1891.

A rural post office in Verulam Township was named Fairbairn in his honour.

References

1837 births
1911 deaths
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs


Chillinji pass is a high mountain pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It connects the Karambar valley in Ishkoman with the Chapursan river valley in Upper Hunza. Its elevation is variously marked as either  or . Its name is also spelled Chilinji.

The pass is 6 miles to the north of Koz Sar peak. To the west of the pass is river Karambar that is known as Ishkoman river south of Imit, and joins Ghizar river at Gahkuch to become Gilgit river. To the east of the pass is Chapursan river that flows southeast and joins Hunza river at Khudabad at Karakorum Highway. As such, Chillinji pass is the closest natural path between upper Gilgit and Hunza valleys.

References

Mountain passes of Gilgit-Baltistan


The siege of Musa Qala took place between July 17 and September 12, 2006 in Afghanistan's Helmand province. A small force of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops and Afghan security forces were besieged by Taliban insurgents inside the district centre of Musa Qala.

Situation in Musa Qala

Musa Qala ("the fortress of Moses") is the capital of Musa Qala District, lying on the banks of the Musa Qala River, a tributary of the Helmand River. Its population was variously estimated at 15,000 or 20,000, who for the most part belong to the Alizai Pashtun tribe, which is itself divided into six principal clans. Infighting between clans is a common occurrence, as they compete for power and resources.

In 2001, when the US-led intervention drove the Taliban from power, the local tribesmen accepted the advent of the Karzai administration, and they convinced the Taliban not to conduct guerrilla warfare in their area. Without popular support, the Taliban were forced to abandon Musa Qala and take refuge in nearby villages. However, the local people gradually became disillusioned with the central government. In 2003, the governor of Helmand province, Sher Mohammed Akhundzada, conducted a raid into the village of Akhtak, in Baghran District, where insurgents were sheltering, killing 80 people, most of which were civilians. The governor pledged to pay compensation to the relatives of the deceased, but never kept his promise. Promises of reconstruction were not kept either, and the tribesmen were angered by the corruption and thievery of local officials. By 2006, the Taliban had regained much of their influence in Musa Qala, a development which they attributed to the depredations of governor Akhundzada and his militias.

Deployment of ISAF troops

In 2006, the ISAF mandate was expanded to include the restive provinces of southern Afghanistan. Helmand became the responsibility of a primarily British unit, Task Force Helmand. Due to his involvement in the opium trade and links with the insurgency, the British insisted that Governor Akhundzada be removed from his post. His replacement, engineer Mohammad Daoud lacked local support, and as Akhundzada's militias had become inactive, the Taliban hastened to fill the power vacuum, and the situation rapidly deteriorated.

On May 18, 2006, insurgents attacked the Afghan National Police (ANP) force in Musa Qala, killing 20 policemen. The British Pathfinder Platoon was deployed to Musa Qala for five days to assist the police before being replaced by an American unit. On June 14, they were ordered to return to Musa Qala. The 25-man Pathfinder Platoon, commanded by Major Nick Wight-Boycott, was primarily a mobile reconnaissance unit, and thus were not best suited for garrison duties. However, the Battle Group's resources were already stretched and there were no other units available.

The Musa Qala district centre was a cluster of low cement and mud buildings surrounded by a 10-foot wall. Situated in the middle of the town, it housed the local police headquarters, a prison and a clinic built by the Americans. The Pathfinders took over a building in the center of the compound and emplaced three sangars  (fortified posts), with one on the roof of their building, one facing east towards the market, and one on a building just outside the compound walls. The tallest building in the district centre was the prison, which was soon nicknamed "the Alamo" by the Pathfinders, who sited a .50 calibre machine gun on its roof. An 80-man Afghan National Police detachment also garrisoned the district centre. The ANP were hated by the local population, who accused them of thievery and pedophilia. Their leader, whose name was Abdul Wulley, was known to the British and the Taliban alike as "Coco". A veteran of Afghanistan's 30 years of war, and himself a former Taliban member, he regularly communicated with the insurgents, and had extensive knowledge of their movements. The Musa Qala police were, the British noted, undisciplined and slack about their duties, but they were also more than willing to fight the insurgents.

Two weeks after the arrival of the Pathfinders, an American convoy was ambushed in the nearby green zone, and several vehicles were lost. The Americans responded with massive firepower, including an airstrike from a B-1 bomber and attacks by AH-64 Apache helicopters. Following this incident, the population of Musa Qala began to flee and British intelligence suggested the Taliban had encircled the district centre. However, on the next day, coalition jets conducted low-level flyovers over the town, and no Taliban attack occurred, though some small arms fire struck the base. The Pathfinders were joined by 6 Platoon, B Company, 3 PARA (the Guards Parachute Platoon), freeing them to conduct patrols through the town, and by July 1, the population had gradually returned to their homes.

On July 6, the Pathfinders were scheduled to be replaced by G battery, 7 Para RHA, who were supposed to drive into Musa Qala through the green zone. The Pathfinders escorted the ANP contingent in their Land Rover WMIK in order to secure the route, but when they were fired upon by insurgents, the policemen broke formation to engage their enemies, and the operation broke down in confusion. After a similar attempt on the next day also failed, the Guards Parachute Platoon were flown out and a mixed force of 20 gunners from I Battery, 7 RHA, 15 engineers, five Danish and ten Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers were flown in. The engineers were put to work consolidating the defenses of the base with locally-purchased materials.

The siege

At one o'clock on July 17, 2006, the British garrison observed several figures approaching the district centre through their night vision devices. Shortly afterward, the Taliban opened fire with a volley of four or five RPGs followed by small-arms fire. The Pathfinders returned fire with their SA80 rifles, machine-guns and 51 mm mortars. Major Wight-Boycott ordered an artillery strike on a nearby building where a group of insurgents had taken refuge. The building, that happened to be a mosque, was heavily damaged by the strike, and a large number of Taliban were killed. When "Coco" the police chief reported that Taliban trucks were moving down a nearby wadi, the garrison called for an airstrike that destroyed one of the trucks. Two insurgents were subsequently killed by machine-gun fire as they were seen crawling towards the base. British intelligence suggested the Taliban had taken heavy losses, and in a report filed the next day, Wight-Boycott hoped he had given them a "bloody nose". This, however, did not prevent the Taliban from regrouping and again advance towards the district centre on the night of July 19. The defenders called an artillery fire mission, and several aircraft flew overhead, deterring the insurgents from attacking. After this, the Taliban returned every evening to launch limited harassment attacks.

By this time, the Pathfinders had spent six weeks in the field, and they were beginning to show signs of exhaustion, while their equipment was becoming worn by constant use in difficult conditions. They were due to be relieved by the Danish light reconnaissance squadron, a 140-man force equipped with Mowag Eagle armoured vehicles. The Danish forces, accompanied by some British signals specialists, departed Camp Bastion on July 21. As the relief force approached Musa Qala from the west, the Pathfinders observed groups of Taliban regrouping to ambush them, and directed a Harrier GR7 strike against the insurgents, killing several. The Taliban had blocked the road with barrels, and attacked the Danish column from three sides with machine guns and RPGs. The column halted when one Eagle was destroyed by a mine and its three crewmen were wounded, and, after having directed an airstrike from a B-1 bomber against Taliban positions, it withdrew into the desert, much to the dismay of the Pathfinders. The garrison had now run out of food and water, and were reduced to drinking goat's milk, while their ammunition was also running low, and they had no more batteries for their night vision devices. The Taliban chose July 24 to launch their largest attack thus far against the district centre, in the form of a concerted assault by 300 militants against every side of the base. The attack opened with an RPG strike that destroyed one of the sangars, causing a Danish soldier to fall outside of the compound. Private Mark Wilson of the Pathfinders used an old bedstead to climb the compound wall and help the injured Dane to safety under enemy fire, for which he was later awarded the Military Cross. Air support took 90 minutes to arrive, during which the base was subjected to continuous fire, which would have been even heavier if the Danish column had not intercepted Taliban reinforcements approaching from Now Zad.

On July 26, after coalition aircraft dropped six 1,000-pound bombs on known Taliban positions, the relief force finally broke into Musa Qala. There were no casualties, except for a Pathfinder sergeant who was accidentally shot by an ANP guard. A Danish officer, Major Lars Ulslev Johannesen, took over command of the district centre. On July 27, an airstrike mistakenly destroyed the mosque adjoining the base, infuriating the police chief and the town elders. Major Johannesen had to convene a shura and promise that the mosque would be rebuilt at the coalition's expense. When asked whether the inhabitants should evacuate the town, Johannesen answered that they should stay, but over the following days, the population gradually abandoned their homes, leaving the area as a battleground between the Taliban and the ISAF coalition.

Relief of the Pathfinders

Operation Nakhod
The long-overdue evacuation of the Pathfinders remained a priority for the British. The first attempt, code-named Operation Nakhod, was made on August 1, but ended in failure. The relief force, consisting of a patrol of D Squadron, Household Cavalry Regiment, was ambushed on the outskirts of the town. A Spartan APC was destroyed by a roadside bomb, killing the patrol commander, Captain Alex Eida, and two soldiers, Second Lieutenant Ralph Johnson and Lance-Corporal Ross Nicholls. A Scimitar scout vehicle that came to their rescue was destroyed by multiple RPG hits, forcing its crew to bail out. The crew's commander, Corporal Mick Flynn, took charge of the survivors, and gave covering fire to Lance-Corporal Andrew Radford as he rescued an injured colleague. For their actions, they were later respectively awarded the Military Cross and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. A company of British paratroops was later airlifted to the area to recover the bodies and destroy any sensitive equipment. The British drew several lessons from the failure of Operation Nakhod. The Household Cavalry, operating in their traditional role of long-distance armoured reconnaissance units, were commanded by the brigade headquarters in Kandahar, whose lack of situational awareness and vague orders had contributed to the setback. As a result, they were transferred to the battle group, and the idea of employing armoured units without infantry support in built-up areas was abandoned. The failed operation also demonstrated that the Taliban firmly controlled the area surrounding Musa Qala, and that nothing short of a full battle group operation could relieve the garrison.

Operation Snakebite
In response to an obvious shortage of manpower, two platoons and a mortar section from the Royal Irish Regiment were deployed to Afghanistan, almost all volunteers. The Somme Platoon and the mortar troop were due to replace the Pathfinders.

The operation, codenamed Mar Chichel (Snakebite in Pashto), was the largest to date carried out by the coalition in Helmand, involving 500 troops. It began on August 6, and, in the first move, the Royal Irish units and a paratroop platoon secured a landing zone to the west of Musa Qala for 3 PARA's B and C companies. The 300 men then conducted an advance with fixed bayonets. Meanwhile, a Canadian unit in LAV III armoured vehicles broke through the green zone and assisted in linking up with the Danish troops. The Pathfinders were then able to drive away from Musa Qala where they had stayed for eight weeks, of which three were spent under constant attack. The Taliban compounds had been abandoned after heavy bombardment by B-1s, and the operation met only sporadic resistance, though one British supply convoy was fired upon as it departed, and Private Andrew Cutts of the Royal Logistic Corps was killed. An inquest held by an Oxfordshire coroner concluded that Private Cutts had probably fallen victim to "friendly fire" from British positions.

Siege renewed
After Mar Chichel, Taliban attacks resumed, using every weapon in their arsenal, including machine guns, RPGs, mortars and Chinese-made 107 mm rockets. The ISAF coalition forces, now consisting of 140 Danish troopers and 38 Royal Irish Rangers, were corralled into the district centre. The Danish squadron, known as the Griffins, had eight .50 calibre heavy machine guns mounted on the base's sangars, giving them an all-round field of fire, and built ramps for their armoured vehicles so that they could shoot over the compound walls. Added to the Royal Irish's two 81 mm mortars, and coalition air support, they were sufficient to keep the Taliban at bay. The mortars proved particularly effective in dislodging the insurgents who sheltered in nearby buildings.

On August 12, Major Johannesen announced to the garrison that they would be evacuating their exposed position, much to the soldiers' relief. British General David Richards, who had taken command of the ISAF on August 1, had expressed his dissatisfaction with the "platoon house" strategy. However, the local authorities feared that Musa Qala would fall to the Taliban, and the Helmand governor appealed to the prime minister of Afghanistan. Under political pressure, the ISAF presence was prolonged, much to the puzzlement of the ISAF garrison, who observed that the danger posed to casualty evacuation helicopters meant that coalition patrols in the town had been curtailed, leaving it completely under Taliban control, except for the district centre.

After four weeks presence, the Griffins were withdrawn from Musa Qala. They were replaced by the Barossa Platoon of the Royal Irish Regiment, and an ad hoc company headquarters formed from 3 PARA personnel, led by Major Adam Jowett. Within the task force's order of battle, the new unit took the letter E, and thus became known as "Easy Company". The Danes had become suspicious of police chief "Coco" and his relations with the insurgents, so the resident police force were replaced by 70 non-Pashtun officers from northern Afghanistan, who were free of tribal links with the local population that had cast a doubt on the loyalty of their predecessors. "Operation Atomi", involving more than 500 troops, was conducted on August 25, in order to reinforce the Musa Qala police force.

The departure of the Griffins led to a weakening of the base's defenses, as Easy Company now had only two .50 cal machine guns and nine 7.62×51mm NATO GPMGs. The Taliban became aware of the decrease in coalition combat power and began launching probing attacks against the district centre. On several occasions, insurgents crawled up to the compound walls and had to be driven back with hand grenades. On August 26, an insurgent group, that reports later estimated at 150 fighters, launched a massed attack on the district centre. The attack dissipated after an airstrike by an A-10, but began again at 4:55 the next day, and lasted until 7:00 am. During the firefight, Lance-Corporal John Hetherington was killed, as well as several Taliban, whose bodies were left lying across the street until, by tacit agreement, the insurgents were allowed to retrieve them.

By that time, the Taliban frontal attacks had failed with heavy loss, and their supply lines were being interdicted by D squadron, Household Cavalry Regiment, who operated in mobile operations groups in the desert. For a time, the insurgents were forced to resort to long-distance strikes with mortars and rockets. On September 1, one such mortar attack killed Ranger Anare Draiva, and mortally wounded Corporal Paul Muirhead of the Royal Irish Regiment.

On September 2, six more British troops were injured, and three days later, the Taliban once again tried to storm the base, but were repelled by the defenders with air support from Harriers and A-10s. On September 6, a casevac Chinook was flown into Musa Qala to evacuate two wounded soldiers who had suffered shrapnel wounds from mortar rounds, but the Taliban were expecting the move, and opened a heavy fire at the helicopter, forcing it to turn back. On returning to Camp Bastion, the crew found that their aircraft had been hit by four rounds, one of which had almost severed a rotor blade. Another casevac mission was flown into Musa Qala later the same day, but this time it was escorted by Apaches, A-10s and an AC-130 Spectre gunship that suppressed the Taliban, enabling the Chinook to complete its mission.

The Musa Qala agreement

Despite waging an effective defense, Easy Company's situation continued to deteriorate. During a period of 40 days, they had repelled over 100 attacks, but only six resupply flights were flown in during their stay, and they soon began to run low on ammunition. By September 8, the mortar team was down to thirty 81 mm rounds, and when the Minimi gunners ran out of link ammunition for their weapons, they were forced to spend long hours filling used belts with 5.56 mm rounds left over by the Danes.

Meanwhile, debate continued within the British command. Battle Group leader Brigadier Ed Butler was in favour of a rapid pullout from Musa Qala, as the coalition presence, in his view, created an intolerable liability. Intelligence reports suggested the Taliban had identified the base's dependence on helicopter resupply, and they would try and destroy one, thereby gaining a resounding propaganda victory. Such an event would also have a disastrous effect on British public opinion, which was already unfavourable to the Afghan mission. Butler expressed his views to the new Chief of the General Staff of the British Army Sir Richard Dannatt when he visited Afghanistan, and to the Permanent Joint Headquarters, who left him free to make his own decision. Accordingly, on September 8, Easy Company received news that they would be withdrawing in the next few days. However, the plan was met with strong opposition from General Richards, who perceived that an unconditional withdrawal would be interpreted by the insurgents as a historical success comparable to the 19th century battle of Maiwand, when a British brigade was defeated by Afghan forces near Kandahar. Richards believed Helmand's population would consider the British untrustworthy, and they would be encouraged to support the Taliban, if only to be on the winning side. Richards attempted to garner support from Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser to the British prime minister, and from Sir Jock Stirrup, the Chief of the Defence Staff. The move was also opposed by the Afghan central government, who viewed the abandonment of Musa Qala as a disaster.

Eventually, the quandary was solved by the inhabitants of Musa Qala themselves, who wished to end the hardships caused by the siege. Much of the town centre had been destroyed in the fighting, and most of the population had fled to nearby villages, preventing them from trading, collecting their crops, or sending their children to school. On August 26, a woman and her child were killed in the bazaar during a firefight. The town's elders blamed the Taliban and the coalition equally for their suffering. First they turned to the insurgents, and tried to persuade them that only negotiations could break the deadlock. The Taliban, who had suffered heavily in their unsuccessful attempts to capture the district centre, readily agreed. The elders then exposed their proposition to Governor Daoud, who passed it on to Brigadier Butler on September 12. The brigadier, after receiving confirmation that the insurgents were ready to accept the deal, ordered a cease-fire that took effect at 9:41 pm.

The following day, a delegation of 60 elders visited the district centre in order to discuss the situation with Major Adam Jowett. The visit convinced Jowett that their plan was serious, and in the afternoon, a shura took place in the desert west of Musa Qala. The British were represented by Brigadier Butler, and by a Foreign Office representative. The elders were accompanied by men dressed in black, that Butler identified as Taliban, but who stayed in the background and took no part in the discussion. General Richards had insisted that if the ceasefire held out for one month, both sides could then withdraw, and leave control of the town to its inhabitants. The elders agreed, and promised to supply the garrison with food and water.

At first, Easy Company did not have much confidence in the truce, and they continued to strengthen their defenses, but Musa Qala remained peaceful, allowing the inhabitants to return to their normal activities. A 14-point plan drawn up by Governor Daoud for handing over Musa Qala to the elders was gradually implemented. According to this plan, the Flag of Afghanistan would continue to fly over the district centre, while the elders would select 60 members of their families to form a local police force, and they would permit reconstruction and development projects to continue.

The extraction of Easy company from Musa Qala took place on October 13, by which time the Helmand Task Force had been taken over by 3 Commando Brigade, and Ed Butler had been replaced by Brigadier Jerry Thomas. Ensuring the safety of the withdrawal became the first large-scale offensive operation for the newly-arrived commandos, codenamed Operation Omer. By arrangement with the elders, Easy Company were to be evacuated in Afghan "jingly" lorries, for which the elders had promised to guarantee safe passage, with an elder climbing onto each lorry. The operation went smoothly without a shot being fired, and the convoy was able to rendez-vous safely with the men of 42 Commando in the desert. The elders held a last shura with Major Jowett and Colonel Matt Holmes, the commanding officer of 42 Commando, who thanked them for their collaboration, and the permanent ISAF presence in Musa Qala came to an end.

Reactions and aftermath
The ceasefire agreement drew significant criticism, not only in Afghanistan, but also among the ISAF leadership, where it was sometimes viewed as a major concession to the insurgency. Sayed Mustafa Kazemi, a member of the Afghan parliament and former member of the Afghan Northern Alliance that had fought the Taliban in the 1990s, called the plan a "model for the destruction of the country". Noorulhaq Olemi, another member of parliament, criticized the accord for weakening the central government and empowering traditional tribal leadership, thereby limiting the influence of democratic institutions in Afghanistan. American officials believed that the Taliban would capture Musa Qala as soon as coalition forces withdrew, and favoured a more aggressive approach to engaging with the insurgents. General Dan K. McNeill, who succeeded Richards as commander of the ISAF, voiced opposition to the deal. Conversely, the British presented the deal as a model of an "Afghan solution", and US criticism led to a strain in the relations between the two allies, that reached an all-time low over the issue. Many Afghan officials, like President Karzai himself, took a more guarded view, and supported the agreement while waiting to see if it would succeed.

The volatile situation of Helmand province, compounding foreign intervention, drug trafficking and tribal rivalries, eventually caused the fragile truce to unravel. The British did not retreat very far from Musa Qala, and continued to patrol around the town, regularly clashing with insurgent groups. In early 2007, the elders expelled Mullah Abdul Ghafour from the town. Later on, a coalition airstrike targeted Mullah Ghafour, killing his brother and 20 followers. Suspecting the elders had taken part in the attack, and determined to exact revenge, Mullah Ghafour led a group of 200-300 militants who stormed into the town on February 2. They disarmed the police, razed the government buildings to the ground and executed Hajji Shah Agha, the leader of the elders who had negotiated the truce with the coalition. On February 4, a coalition airstrike killed Mullah Ghafour and on February 14, another strike killed Mullah Manan, but the Taliban retained control of Musa Qala. They imposed their rule on the town, restricting women's movements, levying taxes and imposing conscription, while using Musa Qala as a base for operations in neighbouring districts. Beginning on December 7, 2007, the coalition launched an offensive, driving the insurgents from the area.

See also
 Battle of Musa Qala

References

Bibliography

Footnotes

External links

2006 in Afghanistan
2007 in Afghanistan
Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United Kingdom
Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving the United States
Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Denmark
Musa Qala