title: Hotel rating

text: In France, the rating is defined by the public tourist board (Atout France) using a four-star system (plus "L" for Luxus), which has changed to a five-star system from 2009 on. In South Africa, the Tourist Grading Council of South Africa has strict rules for a hotel types granting up to 5 stars. In India, the classification of hotels is based on two categories such as "Star" and "Heritage". Hotels in India are classified by Hotel and Restaurant Association Classification Committee (HRACC), Ministry of Tourism, India. In New Zealand, hotels and other tourism services are graded by Qualmark, which is owned by Tourism New Zealand, a government organisation.


title: Hotel rating

text: In Australia, the industry accommodation rating scheme and Star Rating trademarks, known as Star Ratings Australia, are owned by the Australian Tourism Industry Council. A Star Rating represents the quality and condition of guest facilities which is determined by 200 criteria. Star Ratings are awarded to hotels, motels, serviced apartments, self-catering, hosted accommodation and caravan-holiday parks. The scheme uses physical visits, reviews and mystery guest stays to make their accreditation on the accommodation's ratings.


title: Hotel rating

text: Australia's star ratings have been operating since the 1950s as both an accreditation as well as a booking service. It was first owned by the state based automobile clubs including NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RAC, RAA and RACT. It was then organized by the Australian Automobile Association Tourism (AAA Tourism) as a peak body. However, the booking service in the motoring clubs was not continued and later the annual accommodation guide book ceased to be printed with the accommodation guide going online. AAA Tourism closed in 2013, but Star Ratings Australia continued as an inspection and star rating service only, as well as an accommodation website.


title: Hotel rating

text: In 2015 Star Ratings Australia became one of the first independent accommodation classification systems in the world to incorporate a consumer 'voice'. Their website also shows a Travellers' Rating which is presented in parallel to the independent Star Rating and is an aggregate of past guest ratings and reviews from more than 100 websites in 45 different languages. The rating is shown as a 10 point score. Weighting applies to the popularity of the source site and the date of the last guest review. The William Angliss Institute in Melbourne developed an independent benchmarking framework to show if a property has met or exceeded guest expectations.


title: Hotel rating

text: On 28 February 2017, Michael Reed, CEO of Australian Motoring Services, advised clients of the closure of Star Ratings Australia brand and asked to remove star rating and automobile club logos from their accommodation and promotional information by June 2017. It was said that competition from online travel agencies such as TripAdvisor and their customer rating system led to its demise.


title: Hotel rating

text: The brand was then transferred to the Australian Tourism Industry Council. In early 2019, Star Ratings were rebranded under the council's "Quality Tourism" Accreditation Program.


title: Hotel rating

text: Star Ratings in Australia stand for independently reviewed quality standards and are defined as such:


title: Hotel rating

text: In the United Kingdom hotels are rated from one star to five stars. The RAC pulled out of accommodation grading in 2008 so the only grading schemes in operation are those operated by the AA (Automobile Association) and the national tourist boards: Visit England, Visit Wales, the Scottish Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The schemes were all 'harmonised' to ensure consistency between the schemes. This applies to all accommodation types apart from self-catering that the AA started offering in 2009. The AA criteria are available on its website. In addition to the usual black stars (ranging from one (the lowest) to five (the highest), the AA awards red stars to the highest-rated, which are deemed 'Inspectors' Choice'. Each of the national tourist boards have grading explanations on their web sites.


title: Hotel rating

text: In the Philippines, the Department of Tourism has an accreditation system for hotels, apartment hotels and resorts. The current system which uses a "star system" which rates establishments from 1 to 5 stars was adopted in 2012. The rating of the aforementioned facilities are determined through a points system. Hotels, apartment hotels, and resorts are graded according to their service, facility quality and condition, and business practices. The Department of Tourism classifies the criteria used into seven dimensions or "business area" namely: Arrival & Departure, Public Areas, Bedrooms, Food & Beverage, Lounge Area, Kitchen Area, Amenities, and Business Practices, all common to the three categories except Kitchen and Lounge Area which is only applicable to apartment hotels. 1,000 points is the maximum number of points an establishment can attain.


title: Hotel rating

text: The HOTREC (Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe) is an umbrella organization for 39 associations from 24 European countries. At a conference in Bergen in 2004, the partners drafted a hotel classification system in order to harmonize their national standards. In 2007 HOTREC launched the European Hospitality Quality scheme (EHQ) which has since accredited the existing national inspection bodies for hotel rating.


title: Hotel rating

text: Under the patronage of HOTREC, the hotel associations of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland created the Hotelstars Union. On 14 September 2009, the Hotelstars Union classification system was established at a conference in Prague. This system became effective in these countries in January 2010, with the exception of Hungary, Switzerland and the Netherlands, who have chosen later dates for the change. Later more countries have joined the HOTREC hotelstars system: Estonia (2011), Latvia (2011), Lithuania (2011), Luxembourg (2011), Malta (2012), Belgium (2013), Denmark (2013), Greece (2013), Liechtenstein (2015), Slovenia (2017), Azerbaijan (2020) and Georgia (2021).


title: Hotel rating

text: The European Hotelstars Union system is based on the earlier German hotelstars system that had widely influenced the hotel classifications in central Europe, with five stars and a Superior mark to flag extras. Instead of a strict minimum in room size and required shower facilities (e.g. a bath tub in a four-star hotel) there is a catalogue of criteria with 7 qualification areas encompassing 247 elements, where some are mandatory for a star and others optional. The main criteria are in quality management, wellness and sleeping accommodation. In the catalogue of criteria each entry is associated with a number of points – each Hotelstars level requires a minimal sum of points besides some criteria being obligatory for the level. The minimum requirement for the Superior flag requires the same sum of points as for the next Hotelstars level which however was not awarded due to at least one obligatory requirement being left out.


title: Hotel rating

text: For hotels with three to five stars, the Hotelstars Union will use "mystery guests" to check the service quality regularly.


title: Hotel rating

text: There is so far no international classification which has been adopted. There have been attempts at unifying the classification system so that it becomes an internationally recognized and a reliable standard, but they have all failed.


title: Hotel rating

text: It has been considered that, as it has been the case in other areas (e.g. international accounting standards), hotel classification standards should result from a private and independent initiative. This may be the case of the World Hotel Rating (WHR) project, which notably aims to set international classification standards and rating criteria along the lines of a world star-rating system. It will also establish an information platform on the hotel industry which will be multilingual and multicultural. WHR intends to play a key role in the development of quality hotel services, as well as equitable and sustainable tourism, and the protection of the world's cultural and natural heritage. In addition, WHR will develop labels to promote hotels distinguished by specific features, such as a family and child-friendly disposition. A test period was scheduled for 2010.


title: Hotel rating

text: Some hotels have been advertised as seven star hotels. The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai was opened in 1998 with a butler for every room – this has been the first hotel being widely described as a "seven-star" property, but the hotel says the label originates from an unnamed British journalist on a press trip and that they neither encourage its use nor do they use it in their advertising. Similarly the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi (open since 2005) is sometimes described as seven star as well, but the hotel uses only a five star rating.


title: Hotel rating

text: The Galleria in Milan, Italy was opened in 2007 and it claims to have a seven star certificate from SGS Italy2008. However the SGS Italy (not the official tourism agency) only has five stars in the general hotel stars categorization, with the full title of the certificate being left unknown, just as the renewal process is unknown. Overall, as no traditional organization or formal body awards or recognizes any rating over five-star deluxe, such claims are predominantly used for advertising purposes.


title: Hotel rating

text: Historically, luxury hotels have used the membership in The Leading Hotels of the World to document regular inspection on an additional level. This organization had been formed in 1928 and it reorganized in 1971 introducing a worldwide inspection service.


title: Hotel rating

text: In recent years, alternative hotel ratings are starting to appear in an effort to promote sustainability or cultural diversity in international tourism.


title: Hotel rating

text: Green Key International is a voluntary eco-classification awarded to around 2,900 hotels and other establishments in 57 countries by the Foundation for Environmental Education.


title: Hotel rating

text: Green Key Global is a voluntary eco-classification awarded to around 1,850 hotels and venues in 15 countries. In 2009, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts joined the Green Key Global program.


title: Hotel rating

text: Green Globe is a certification for sustainable tourism. Membership is reserved for companies and organizations who are committed to making positive contributions to the planet. The Green Building Initiative (GBI) acquired the U.S. rights to the Canadian Green Globes building assessment and certification for the program in 2004 and adapted it for the U.S. market.


title: Hotel rating

text: Salam Standard is a classification system for Muslim-friendly hotels. Hotels can get certified based on certain Muslim-friendly criteria such as offering prayer mats, removing alcohol from the room and offering halal restaurant recommendations; it is divided into 4 tiers (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). Archipelago Hotels, Indonesia's biggest hospitality firm, is a prominent member of the Salam Standard system.


title: Bluey (dog)

text: Bluey (7 June 1910 – 14 November 1939) was a female Australian cattle dog owned by Les and Esma Hall of Rochester, Victoria, Australia. According to "Guinness World Records", Bluey lived 29 years, 5 months, and is the oldest dog ever verified. Three owners have made claims for longer-lived dogs—Max, Maggie, and Bella—but these claims have not been independently verified.


title: Bluey (dog)

text: Bluey's age, along with that of "Chilla", a Labrador Retriever and Australian Cattle Dog mix reported to have lived to the age of 32 years and 12 days, prompted a study of the longevity of the Australian Cattle Dog to examine if the breed might have exceptional longevity. The 100-dog survey yielded a mean longevity of 13.41 years with a standard deviation of 2.36 years. The study concluded that while the Australian Cattle Dogs do live almost a year longer than most dogs of other breeds in the same weight class on average, the cases of Bluey and Chilla should be regarded as uncharacteristic exceptions rather than as indicators of common longevity for this entire breed. She was euthanised in 1939.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Sergi Roberto Carnicer (, born 7 February 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Mainly a central midfielder, he can also operate as a defensive midfielder, full-back or winger.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: He has spent most of his career with Barcelona after making his first-team debut at the age of 18, going on to win several accolades with the club including six La Liga championships and two Champions Leagues.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Born in Reus, Tarragona, Catalonia, Sergi Roberto began playing football with local UE Barri Santes Creus at the age of 8, arriving in Barcelona's youth academy six years later from neighbours Gimnàstic de Tarragona. In the 2009–10 season, at only 17, he first appeared with "Barça"'s reserves, contributing 29 appearances as they returned to the Segunda División after 11 years.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: On 10 November 2010, Roberto made his debut for the first team, playing the second half of a 5–1 home win against Ceuta for the campaign's Copa del Rey (7–1 on aggregate). On 27 April of the following year he made his first UEFA Champions League appearance, coming on as a substitute for David Villa in the last minute of a 2–0 away victory over Real Madrid in the competition semi-finals' first leg.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Roberto first appeared in La Liga on 21 May 2011, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–1 win at Málaga in the season's last round. His first start for the main squad came on 6 December of that year, against BATE Borisov in the Champions League group stage, as manager Pep Guardiola rested all his starters for the upcoming "El Clásico": in the 35th minute, he opened the scoring in an eventual 4–0 home win.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: In only his third official appearance for Barcelona's first team, on 12 January 2012, Roberto scored his second goal, helping the visitors come from behind to win 2–1 against Osasuna in the domestic cup (6–1 on aggregate). On 16 December 2014, also in that competition, he netted another, contributing to an 8–1 demolition of Huesca at the Camp Nou.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: In the 2015–16 season, after being reconverted by manager Luis Enrique and merely months after nearly being deemed surplus to requirements, Roberto appeared as a right-back in several games. In two consecutive matches against Athletic Bilbao in January 2016, one in the league and another in the Spanish Cup, he featured on the other flank in the place of injured Jordi Alba, going on to play in as many as seven different positions.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: On 20 August 2016, Roberto started as a right-back and provided two assists in a 6–2 home defeat of Betis in the opening match of the campaign. On 24 September, from the same position, he again contributed two decisive passes in a 5–0 away rout of Sporting de Gijón.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: On 8 March 2017, Roberto scored the final goal in the 95th minute as part of a decisive 6–1 home victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16, making Barcelona the first club to overcome a four-goal deficit in the competition. On 22 February 2018, he extended his contract until 2022.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: In injury time of the first half of "El Clásico" on 6 May 2018, Roberto was shown a straight red card after punching Marcelo, in an eventual 2–2 home draw. He was first-choice right-back during the season ahead of newly signed Nélson Semedo, and his side won the national championship after a one-year wait.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: In October 2009, shortly after making his Barcelona B debut, Sergi Roberto was called by the Spain under-17 team for the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria. On 5 November, before being substituted by Javier Espinosa in the 88th minute, he scored a hat-trick against Burkina Faso at the Sani Abacha Stadium in Kano. Spain eventually finished third in the tournament, with him and Atlético Madrid's Borja Bastón accounting for eight of the team's total goals.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Roberto made his debut for the under-21 side on 5 September 2011, playing the last four minutes of the 2–0 win in Lugo over Georgia for the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers. He received his first call up to the senior squad in March 2016, for friendlies against Romania and Italy. His debut took place in the former match on the 27th, as he started in a 0–0 draw in Cluj-Napoca.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Sergi Roberto plays predominantly as a full-back, but also excels in midfield. In the 2015–16 season, under Luis Enrique, he played in seven different positions with Barcelona. This versatility, combined with his pace, strength, rigorous work rate and accurate passing earned the praise of the manager: "In a team like ours, except in goal, he could play in any position, it's no surprise. The most difficult thing is doing it well all over the field and Sergi Roberto does that." He is best utilized as a box-to-box player.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: In 2014, Sergi Roberto started dating Israeli model Coral Simanovich (step-daughter of Israeli singer and former politician Pnina Rosenblum). They became engaged in early September 2017, and got married in Tel Aviv on 30 May 2018. Their first child, Kaia, was born in 2019.


title: Sergi Roberto

text: Roberto's mother, María Rosa Carnicer, died in December 2019, a year after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.


title: Peter Michael Escovedo

text: Escovedo was born in Alameda County, California, and is a member of a musical family, the son and namesake of percussionist Pete Escovedo. His siblings are percussionists Juan Escovedo and Sheila Escovedo (known as Sheila E.). His uncle is percussionist Coke Escovedo and his cousin is drummer René Escovedo. He is the biological father of Nicole Richie.


title: Peter Michael Escovedo

text: Escovedo has worked as a musical director for television programs including the Wayne Brady Show and Martin Short Show and performers including Mos Def, Barry Manilow, Stevie Nicks, Justin Timberlake and Luther Vandross. He has toured with headliners including Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Sheena Easton and Tina Turner and has recorded with artists such as Barbra Streisand, Patti LaBelle and Kenny G.


title: Peter Michael Escovedo

text: In 2014, Peter Escovedo was invited along with his father Pete and his brother Juan, by producer Gerry Gallagher to record with Latin rock legends El Chicano as well as Alphonse Mouzon, Brian Auger, Alex Ligertwood, Siedah Garrett, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Ray Parker Jr., Vikki Carr, Marcos J. Reyes, Lenny Castro, Salvador Santana, and David Paich and is featured on percussion on a remake of a song co-written by Willie Bobo called "Sixty Two Fifty", which is featured on Gallagher's most recent studio album due out in 2019.


title: Peter Michael Escovedo

text: Escovedo is the biological father of television personality Nicole Richie. As he could not afford to provide for her financially at that time, they let her move in with Lionel Richie and Brenda Harvey at the age of three. In 2003, Nicole told "People" "My parents were friends with Lionel," and "They trusted that they would be better able to provide for me."


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Ministry of Finance (IAST: "Vitta Maṃtrālaya") is a ministry within the Government of India concerned with the economy of India, serving as the Treasury of India. In particular, it concerns itself with taxation, financial legislation, financial institutions, capital markets, centre and state finances, and the Union Budget.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Ministry of Finance is the apex controlling authority of "four" central civil services namely Indian Revenue Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Indian Economic Service and Indian Civil Accounts Service. It is also the apex controlling authority of one of the central commerce services namely Indian Cost and Management Accounts Service


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: R. K. Shanmukham Chetty was the first Finance Minister of independent India. He presented the first budget of independent India on 26 November 1947.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Department of Economic Affairs is the nodal agency of the Union Government to formulate and monitor country's economic policies and programmes having a bearing on domestic and international aspects of economic management. A principal responsibility of this department is the preparation and presentation of the Union Budget to the parliament and budget for the state Governments under President's Rule and union territory administrations. Other main functions include:


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), housed in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, was an inter-ministerial body, responsible for processing of FDI proposals and making recommendations for Government approval. FIPB is now abolished as announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during 2017-2018 budget speech in Lok Sabha.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Department of Expenditure is the nodal department for overseeing the public financial management system (PFMS) in the Central Government and matters connected with the state finances. The principal activities of the department include a pre-sanction appraisal of major schemes/projects (both Plan and non-Plan expenditure), handling the bulk of the Central budgetary resources transferred to States, implementation of the recommendations of the Finance and Central Pay Commissions, overseeing the expenditure management in the Central Ministries/Departments through the interface with the Financial Advisors and the administration of the Financial Rules / Regulations /Orders through monitoring of Audit comments/observations, preparation of Central Government Accounts, managing the financial aspects of personnel management in the Central Government, assisting Central Ministries/Departments in controlling the costs and prices of public services, assisting organizational re-engineering thorough review of staffing patterns and O&M studies and reviewing systems and procedures to optimize outputs and outcomes of public expenditure. The department is also coordinating matters concerning the Ministry of Finance including Parliament-related work of the Ministry. The department has under its administrative control the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM), Faridabad.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The business allocated to the Department of Expenditure is carried out through its Establishment Division, Plan Finance I and II Divisions, Finance Commission Division, Staff Inspection Unit, Cost Accounts Branch, Controller General of Accounts, and the Central Pension Accounting.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: under the overall direction and control of the Secretary (Revenue). It exercises control in respect of matters relating to all the Direct and Indirect Union Taxes through two statutory Boards namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Each Board is headed by a Chairman who is also "ex officio" Special Secretary to the Government of India (Secretary level). Matters relating to the levy and collection of all Direct taxes are looked after by the CBDT whereas those relating to levy and collection of GST, Customs Duty, Central Excise duties and other Indirect taxes fall within the purview of the CBIC. The two Boards were constituted under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. At present, the CBDT has six Members and the CBIC has five Members. The Members are also "ex officio" Secretaries to the Government of India. Members of CBDT are as follows:


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Department of Financial Services covers Banks, Insurance, and Financial Services provided by various government agencies and private corporations. It also covers pension reforms and Industrial Finance and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise. It started the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: Presently there are 28 nationalised financial market exchanges in India and currently only six are operating


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed as Department of Investment and Public Asset Management or 'DIPAM', a decision aimed at the proper management of Centre's investments in equity including its disinvestment in central public sector undertakings. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced the renaming of the Department of Disinvestment in his budget speech for 2016-17. Initially set up as an independent ministry (The Ministry of Disinvestment) in December 1999, the Department of Disinvestments came into existence in May 2004 when the ministry was turned into a department of the Ministry of Finance. The department took up all the functions of the erstwhile ministry which broadly was responsible for a systematic policy approach to disinvestment and privatisation of Public Sector Units (PSUs).


title: Ministry of Finance (India)

text: Department of Public Enterprises which was earlier part of the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises will now be under Ministry of Finance. Finance Ministry will now have six departments while DPE's hereto parent ministry, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises will now be called the Ministry of Heavy Industries. The shift of DPE to the Finance Ministry will help in efficient monitoring of the capital expenditure, asset monetisation and financial health of the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs).


title: Military transport aircraft

text: A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply lines to forward bases that are difficult to reach by ground or waterborne access, and can be used for both strategic and tactical missions. They are also often used for civilian emergency relief missions by transporting humanitarian aid.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: Fixed-wing transport aeroplanes are defined in terms of their range capability as strategic airlift or tactical airlift to reflect the needs of the land forces which they most often support. These roughly correspond to the commercial flight length distinctions: Eurocontrol defines short-haul routes as shorter than , long-haul routes as longer than and medium-haul between.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: The military glider is an unpowered tactical air transport which has been used in some campaigns to transport troops and/or equipment to the battle front.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: Military transport helicopters are used in places where the use of conventional aircraft is impossible. For example, the military transport helicopter is the primary transport asset of US Marines deploying from LHDs and LHA. The landing possibilities of helicopters are almost unlimited, and where landing is impossible, for example densely packed jungle, the ability of the helicopter to hover allows troops to deploy by abseiling and roping.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: Transport helicopters are operated in assault, medium and heavy classes. Air assault helicopters are usually the smallest of the transport types, and designed to move an infantry squad or section and their equipment. Helicopters in the assault role are generally armed for self-protection both in transit and for suppression of the landing zone. This armament may be in the form of door gunners, or the modification of the helicopter with stub wings and pylons to carry missiles and rocket pods. For example, the Sikorsky S-70, fitted with the ESSM (External Stores Support System), and the "Hip E" variant of the Mil Mi-8 can carry as much disposable armament as some dedicated attack helicopters.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: Medium transport helicopters are generally capable of moving up to a platoon of infantry, or transporting towed artillery or light vehicles either internally or as underslung roles. Unlike the assault helicopter they are usually not expected to land directly in a contested landing zone, but are used to reinforce and resupply landing zones taken by the initial assault wave. Examples include the unarmed versions of the Mil Mi-8, Super Puma, CH-46 Sea Knight, and NH90.


title: Military transport aircraft

text: Heavy lift helicopters are the largest and most capable of the transport types, currently limited in service to the CH-53 Sea Stallion and related CH-53E Super Stallion, CH-47 Chinook, Mil Mi-26, and Aérospatiale Super Frelon. Capable of lifting up to 80 troops and moving small Armoured fighting vehicles (usually as slung loads but also internally), these helicopters operate in the tactical transport role in much the same way as small fixed wing turboprop air-lifters. The lower speed, range and increased fuel consumption of helicopters are more than compensated by their ability to operate virtually anywhere.


title: Political economy

text: Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour markets and financial markets, as well as phenomena such as growth, distribution, inequality, and trade, and how these are shaped by institutions, laws, and government policy. Originating in the 16th century, it is the precursor to the modern discipline of economics. Political economy in its modern form is considered an interdisciplinary field, drawing on theory from both political science and modern economics.


title: Political economy

text: Political economy originated within 16th century western moral philosophy, with theoretical works exploring the administration of states' wealth; "political" signifying the Greek word "polity" and "economy" signifying the Greek word ""; household management. The earliest works of political economy are usually attributed to the British scholars Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, although they were preceded by the work of the French physiocrats, such as François Quesnay (1694–1774) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (1727–1781).


title: Political economy

text: In the late 19th century, the term "economics" gradually began to replace the term "political economy" with the rise of mathematical modeling coinciding with the publication of an influential textbook by Alfred Marshall in 1890. Earlier, William Stanley Jevons, a proponent of mathematical methods applied to the subject, advocated economics for brevity and with the hope of the term becoming "the recognised name of a science". Citation measurement metrics from Google Ngram Viewer indicate that use of the term "economics" began to overshadow "political economy" around roughly 1910, becoming the preferred term for the discipline by 1920. Today, the term "economics" usually refers to the narrow study of the economy absent other political and social considerations while the term "political economy" represents a distinct and competing approach.


title: Political economy

text: Originally, political economy meant the study of the conditions under which production or consumption within limited parameters was organized in nation-states. In that way, political economy expanded the emphasis on economics, which comes from the Greek "oikos" (meaning "home") and "nomos" (meaning "law" or "order"). Political economy was thus meant to express the laws of production of wealth at the state level, quite like economics concerns putting home to order. The phrase "économie politique" (translated in English to "political economy") first appeared in France in 1615 with the well-known book by Antoine de Montchrétien, "Traité de l’economie politique". Other contemporary scholars attribute the roots of this study to the 13th Century Tunisian Arab Historian and Sociologist, Ibn Khaldun, for his work on making the distinction between "profit" and "sustenance", in modern political economy terms, surplus and that required for the reproduction of classes respectively. He also calls for the creation of a science to explain society and goes on to outline these ideas in his major work, the "Muqaddimah". In Al-Muqaddimah Khaldun states, “Civilization and its well-being, as well as business prosperity, depend on productivity and people’s efforts in all directions in their own interest and profit” – seen as a modern precursor to Classical Economic thought.


title: Political economy

text: Leading on from this, the French physiocrats were the first major exponents of political economy, although the intellectual responses of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, Henry George and Karl Marx to the physiocrats generally receive much greater attention. The world's first professorship in political economy was established in 1754 at the University of Naples Federico II in southern Italy. The Neapolitan philosopher Antonio Genovesi was the first tenured professor. In 1763, Joseph von Sonnenfels was appointed a Political Economy chair at the University of Vienna, Austria. Thomas Malthus, in 1805, became England's first professor of political economy, at the East India Company College, Haileybury, Hertfordshire. At present, political economy refers to different yet related approaches to studying economic and related behaviours, ranging from the combination of economics with other fields to the use of different, fundamental assumptions challenging earlier economic assumptions.


title: Political economy

text: Political economy most commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies drawing upon economics, sociology and political science in explaining how political institutions, the political environment, and the economic system—capitalist, socialist, communist, or mixed—influence each other. The "Journal of Economic Literature" classification codes associate political economy with three sub-areas: (1) the role of government and/or class and power relationships in resource allocation for each type of economic system; (2) international political economy, which studies the economic impacts of international relations; and (3) economic models of political or exploitative class processes. Within the field of political science, there is generally a distinction between international political economy (studied by international relations scholars) and comparative political economy (studied by comparative politics scholars).


title: Political economy

text: Public choice theory is a microfoundations theory closely intertwined with political economy. Both approaches model voters, politicians and bureaucrats as behaving in mainly self-interested ways, in contrast to a view, ascribed to earlier mainstream economists, of government officials trying to maximize individual utilities from some kind of social welfare function. As such, economists and political scientists often associate political economy with approaches using rational-choice assumptions, especially in game theory and in examining phenomena beyond economics' standard remit, such as government failure and complex decision making in which context the term "positive political economy" is common. Other "traditional" topics include analysis of such public policy issues as economic regulation, monopoly, rent-seeking, market protection, institutional corruption and distributional politics. Empirical analysis includes the influence of elections on the choice of economic policy, determinants and forecasting models of electoral outcomes, the political business cycles, central-bank independence and the politics of excessive deficits.


title: Political economy

text: A rather recent focus has been put on modeling economic policy and political institutions concerning interactions between agents and economic and political institutions, including the seeming discrepancy of economic policy and economist's recommendations through the lens of transaction costs. From the mid-1990s, the field has expanded, in part aided by new cross-national data sets allowing tests of hypotheses on comparative economic systems and institutions. Topics have included the breakup of nations, the origins and rate of change of political institutions in relation to economic growth, development, financial markets and regulation, the importance of institutions, backwardness, reform and transition economies, the role of culture, ethnicity and gender in explaining economic outcomes, macroeconomic policy, the environment, fairness and the relation of constitutions to economic policy, theoretical and empirical.


title: Political economy

text: Because political economy is not a unified discipline, there are studies using the term that overlap in subject matter, but have radically different perspectives:


title: Polka

text: Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.


title: Polka

text: The term "polka" referring to the dance is derived from the Czech word "Polka" meaning "Polish woman" (feminine form corresponding to "Polák", a Pole). Czech cultural historian Čeněk Zíbrt also attributes the term to the Czech word "půlka" (half), referring to both the half-tempo and the half-jump step of the dance. The word was widely introduced into the major European languages in the early 1840s.


title: Polka

text: The polka's origin story first appears in the periodical "Bohemia" in 1844, in which it was attributed to a young Bohemian woman named Anna Slezáková (born Anna Chadimová). As told by Čeněk Zíbrt, the music teacher Josef Neruda noticed her dancing in an unusual way to accompany a local folk song called ""Strýček Nimra koupil šimla"", or "Uncle Nimra Bought a White Horse" in 1830. The dance was further propagated by Neruda, who put the tune to paper and taught other young men to dance it. Some versions of this origin story placed the first polka as being danced in Hradec Kralove, while others claimed it occurred in the village of Labska Tynica. Historians believe the polka evolved as a quicker version of the waltz, and associate the rapid bourgeoning in popularity of the polka across Europe in the mid-1800s with the spread of the Romantic movement, which emphasized an idealized version of peasant culture.


title: Polka

text: By 1835, this dance had spread to the ballrooms of Prague. From there, it spread to classical music hub Vienna by 1839, and in 1840 was introduced in Paris by Johaan Raab, a Prague dance instructor. It was so well received in Paris that its popularity was referred to as "polkamania." The dance soon spread to London in 1844, where it was considered highly fashionable, and was also introduced to America. It remained a popular ballroom dance in America, especially with growing Central, Northern, and Eastern European immigrant groups until the late 19th century.


title: Polka

text: There are various styles of contemporary polka besides the original Czech dance, which is still the chief dance at any formal or countryside ball in the Czech Republic.


title: Polka

text: In the 1850s, the polka was expanded among Belarusians. Although the polka is a borrowed dance, close to Belarusian folk choreography, it has been greatly transformed in the National plan, while having a strong influence on other dances. Having entered the life of the Belarusians, it was transformed into the national spirit. In different regions, local variants arose, which assimilated with local choreographic folklore and became popular. The ease of penetration of the polka into Belarusian choreography is due to its certain proximity to Belarusian national choreographic traditions.


title: Polka

text: The 2/4 meter polka merged well with the Belarusian traditional dance, which had a similar meter. So, for example, "Trjasucha" (Belarusian: ""Трясуха", "Trjasucha"" or ""Пацяруха", "Paciaruchais"") a symbol of a typical folk dance, from which it got its name, and polka. often accompanied by chastushkae.


title: Polka

text: Belarusian polkas are extremely rich in their choreographic and musical patterns, they are distinguished by great modal and intonation diversity. Polka demanded from the dancers both skill and physical endurance.


title: Polka

text: Like the square dance, the polka also has many local variants: "Віцебчанка, Viciebčanka", "Барысаўская, Barysaŭskaja", "Ганкоўская, Hankoŭskaja", and the names were also given according to the peculiarities of the choreography: "Through the leg", "With a podkindes", "With squats", "On the heel", "Screw" and others.


title: Polka

text: In the United States, polka is promoted by the International Polka Association based in Chicago, which works to preserve the cultural heritage of polka music and to honor its musicians through the Polka Hall of Fame. Chicago is associated with "Polish-style polka," and its sub-styles including "The Chicago Honky" (using clarinet and one trumpet) and "Chicago Push" featuring the accordion, Chemnitzer and Star concertinas, upright bass or bass guitar, drums, and (almost always) two trumpets.


title: Polka

text: Polka is popular in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the "Beer Barrel Polka" is played during the seventh-inning stretch and halftime of Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks games. Polka is also the official state dance of Wisconsin.


title: Polka

text: The United States Polka Association is a non-profit organization based in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland is associated with North American "Slovenian-style polka", which is fast and features piano accordion, chromatic accordion, and/or diatonic button box accordion. North American "Dutchmen-style" features an oom-pah sound often with a tuba and banjo, and has roots in the American Midwest.


title: Polka

text: "Conjunto-style" polkas have roots in northern Mexico and Texas, and are also called "Norteño". Traditional dances from this region reflect the influence of polka-dancing European immigrants. In the 1980s and 1990s, several American bands began to combine polka with various rock styles (sometimes referred to as "punk polka"), "alternative polka", or "San Francisco-style".


title: Polka

text: Comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic is a fan of polka, and on every album since 1984 (with the exception of "Even Worse"), Al has taken bits of famous songs and modified them to fit polka style.


title: Polka

text: The Grammy Awards were first presented for polka in 1985. The first award went to Frankie Yankovic, known as "America's Polka King", for his "70 Years of Hits" album on Cleveland International Records. Cleveland International Records had another polka Grammy winner with Brave Combo's "Polkasonic" in 1999. Other polka Grammy nominees included Frankie Yankovic's "America's Favorites" (1986), "Songs of the Polka King Vol. I", "Songs of the Polka King Vol. II" (1997), and Brave Combo's "Kick Ass Polkas" (2000). Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra is one of the most popular polka bands in America, having won 18 of the 24 awards for Grammy Award for Best Polka Album.


title: Polka

text: "Polka Varieties" was an hour-long television program of polka music originating from Cleveland, Ohio. The show, which aired in several U.S. cities, ran from 1956 until 1983. At that time, it was the only television program for this type of music in the United States. A number of polka shows originated from the Buffalo Niagara Region in the 1960s, including WKBW-TV's "Polka Time", which was hosted for its first half-year on air by Frankie Yankovic, and cross-border station CHCH-TV's "Polka Party", hosted by Walter Ostanek. In 2015, when Buffalo station WBBZ-TV launched the weekly "Polka Buzz" hosted by Ron Dombrowski, who also hosts the Drive Time Polkas radio show on WXRL Mondays-Saturdays from 5pm-7pm and on WECK Sundays from 8am-11am.)


title: Polka

text: Beginning with its inception in 2001, the RFD-TV Network aired "The Big Joe Show", a television program that included polka music and dancing. It was filmed on location in various venues throughout the United States from 1973 through 2009. RFD-TV replaced The Big Joe Show with Mollie Busta's Polka Fest in January 2011; after Big Joe's death, reruns of "The Big Joe Show" returned to RFD-TV in 2015.


title: Polka

text: In 2009, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Grammy Awards, announced that it was eliminating the polka category "to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape". A declining number of polka albums were considered for the award in previous years.


title: Polka

text: Peruvian polkas (becoming very popular in Lima). In the pampas of Argentina, the "polca" has a very fast beat with a time signature. Instruments used are: acoustic guitar (usually six strings, but sometimes seven strings), electric or acoustic bass (sometimes fretless), accordion (sometimes piano accordion, sometimes button accordion), and sometimes some percussion is used. The lyrics always praise the gaucho warriors from the past or tell about the life of the gaucho campeiros (provincial gauchos who keep the common way). The polka was very popular in South and Southwest of Brazil, where it was mixed with other European and African styles to create the Choro. There also exist Curaçaoan polkas.


title: Polka

text: The polka ("polca" in the Irish language) is also one of the most popular traditional folk dances in Ireland, particularly in Sliabh Luachra, a district that spans the borders of counties Kerry, Cork and Limerick. Many of the figures of Irish set dances, which developed from Continental quadrilles, are danced to polkas. Introduced to Ireland in the late 19th century, there are today hundreds of Irish polka tunes, which are most frequently played on the fiddle or button accordion. The Irish polka is dance music form in , typically 32 bars in length and subdivided into four parts, each 8 bars in length and played AABB. Irish polkas are typically played fast, at over 130 bpm, and are typically played with an off-beat accent.


title: Polka

text: The polka also migrated to the Nordic countries where it is known by a variety of names in Denmark (galopp, hopsa), Finland (polkka), Iceland, Norway (galopp, hamborgar, hopsa/hopsar, parisarpolka, polka, polkett, skotsk) and Sweden (polka). The beats are not as heavy as those from Central Europe and the dance steps and holds also have variations not found further south. The polka is considered a part of the gammeldans tradition of music and dance. While it is nowhere near as old as the older Nordic dance and music traditions, there are still hundreds of polka tunes in each of the Nordic countries. They are played by solo instrumentalists or by bands/ensembles, most frequently with lead instruments such as accordion, fiddle, diatonic accordion, hardingfele and nyckelharpa.


title: Polka

text: Bedřich Smetana incorporated the polka in his opera "The Bartered Bride" () and in particular, Act 1.


title: Polka

text: While the polka is Bohemian in origin, most dance music composers in Vienna (the capital of the vast Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was the cultural centre for music from all over the empire) composed polkas and included the dance in their repertoire at some point in their careers. The in Vienna, for example, while better-known for their waltzes, also composed polkas that have survived. Joseph Lanner and other Viennese composers in the 19th century also wrote polkas to satisfy the demands of the dance-music-loving Viennese. In France, another dance-music composer, Émile Waldteufel, wrote polkas.


title: Polka

text: The polka evolved during the same period into different styles and tempi. In principle, the polka written in the 19th century has a four-theme structure; themes 1A and 1B as well as a 'Trio' section of a further two themes. The 'Trio' usually has an 'Intrada' to form a break between the two sections. The feminine and graceful 'French polka' (polka française) is slower in tempo and is more measured in its gaiety. Johann Strauss II's , Op. 114, "Demolirer-Polka, Op. 269, the "Im Krapfenwald'l", Op. 336, and the "Bitte schön!" polka, Op. 372, are examples of this type of polka. The polka-mazurka is also another variation of the polka, being in the tempo of a mazurka but danced in a similar manner as the polka. The final category of the polka form around that time is the "Polka schnell", which is a fast polka or "galop". Eduard Strauss is better known for this last category, as he penned the "Bahn Frei" polka, Op. 45, and other examples. Earlier, Johann Strauss I and Josef Lanner wrote polkas designated as a "galop" (quick tempo) or as a regular polka that may not fall into any of the categories above.


title: Polka

text: The polka was a further source of inspiration for the Strauss family in Vienna when Johann II and Josef Strauss wrote one for plucked string instruments (pizzicato) only, the . Johann II later wrote the "Neue Pizzicato Polka" (New pizzicato-polka), Op. 449, culled from music of his operetta "". Much earlier, he also wrote a "joke-polka" (German "scherz-polka") entitled "Champagner-Polka", Op. 211, which evokes the uncorking of champagne bottles.


title: Polka

text: Other composers who wrote music in the style of the polka were Jaromír Weinberger, Dmitri Shostakovich and Igor Stravinsky.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: Girlfriends is an American sitcom television series that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: The series debuted on UPN on Monday September 11, 2000. After airing for several years on the network at 9/8C on Mondays, The CW moved "Girlfriends" to Sundays at 8/7C. After this, the ratings plummeted. On October 9, 2006, "Girlfriends", along with The CW's other African-American programs, moved back to Mondays. At this point, "Girlfriends" returned to its original time slot.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: While UPN was still airing new episodes of "Girlfriends", the network also began airing reruns five days per week. When the show moved to The CW network after UPN merged with The WB network, MyNetwork TV (which was created to take over UPN's former affiliate stations) picked up the rights to air reruns of "Girlfriends", although they eventually discontinued running them. WE tv, a network primarily focused on women's programming, later acquired exclusive rights to air the limited-release episodes on Sundays and exercised an option to not allow broadcast television networks re-broadcast rights to these reruns.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: Due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, the last episodes produced aired on February 11, 2008. The CW had announced plans to move the series to Sunday nights. However, it was later announced on February 13, 2008 that the series was cancelled after 8 seasons and a proper series finale would not be produced. A representative from The CW stated that the network was going to cancel the series due to low ratings and that it would have been too expensive to re-enter production.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: A retrospective episode was in development to conclude the series but was later scrapped. The network had offered the actors only half of their usual episodic salary to take part, and the actors collectively turned the offer down.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: A 2006 episode of "Girlfriends" titled "The Game" featured guest star Tia Mowry as Joan's cousin Melanie Barnett, an aspiring medical student, who wants to give up her future to follow her professional athlete boyfriend to San Diego. That episode was the launching pad for "The Game", a spin-off series, which was canceled by The CW television network. In April 2010, BET announced that it would pick up the series, which aired new episodes until the August 5, 2015 series finale. When the fourth season of "The Game" premiered in 2011 it received 7.7 million viewers, which at the time of its airing, made the show the most watched sitcom premiere in cable television history. In November 2021, a revival spin-off of the series was picked up and released to Paramount+, serving as a direct sequel from the original series and was promoted as a refreshed series while also subsequently continuing the overall total seasons "". The new inception continues where it left off from the 2015 finale a few years later switching gears set in the new location of Las Vegas with the new protagonists of reprised characters, chronicling Tasha Mack and her struggles of being a woman of color sports agent; while her son Malik Wright learns to make important decisions in his sports career while quietly battling mental health issues and Brittany Pitts who is navigating her adult life taking on serious financial hardships and responsibilities becoming independent away from her Pro-Football dads' (Jason Pitts) image and inheritance. The revived series also introduces new characters to the storyline. The reboot has also garnered favorable and positive reviews from media outlets.


title: Girlfriends (2000 TV series)

text: The series is available to stream on The CW's free digital-only network, CW Seed. The entire series began streaming on Netflix on September 11, 2020 to commemorate the show's 20th anniversary.


title: Atalanta

text: There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Calydonian boar hunt and the Argonauts; and the other from Boeotia, who is the daughter of King Schoeneus and is primarily noted for her skill in the footrace. In both versions, Atalanta was a local figure allied to the goddess Artemis; in such oral traditions, minor characters were often assigned different names, resulting in minor regional variations.


title: Atalanta

text: At birth, Atalanta was taken to Mount Parthenion to be exposed because her father had desired a son. A she-bear—one of the symbols of Artemis—whose cubs had been recently killed by hunters came upon Atalanta and nursed her until those same hunters discovered her and raised her themselves in the mountains. Atalanta then grew up to be a swift-footed virgin who eschewed men and devoted herself to the huntress Artemis.


title: Atalanta

text: Atalanta modelled herself after Artemis, wearing a simple sleeveless tunic that reached her knees and living in the wilderness. While living in the wild, Atalanta slew two centaurs, Rhoecus and Hylaios, with her bow after her beauty caught their attention and they attempted to rape her.


title: Atalanta

text: Atalanta is only occasionally mentioned in the legend of the Argonauts; however, her participation is noted in Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, which says that during the search for the Golden Fleece, Atalanta, who was invited and invoked the protection of Artemis, sailed with the Argonauts as the only woman among them. In Diodorus Siculus's account, Atalanta is not only noted to have sailed with the Argonauts but to have fought alongside them at the battle in Colchis, where she, Jason, Laertes, and the sons of Thesipae were wounded and later healed by Medea. In the account of Apollonius of Rhodes, Jason prevents Atalanta from joining not because she lacks skill but because as a woman she has the potential to cause strife between men on the ship.


title: Atalanta

text: After the death of King Pelias in Iolcus, funeral games were held in which Atalanta defeated Peleus in a wrestling match. This match became a popular subject in Greek art.


title: Atalanta

text: In an annual celebration, King Oeneus of Calydon had forgotten to honour Artemis with a sacrifice in his rites to the gods. In anger, she sent the Calydonian boar, a monstrous wild boar that ravaged the land, cattle, and people, and prevented the crops from being sown. Atalanta was called upon to join Meleager, Theseus, Pollux, Telamon, Peleus, and all those who were part of the Argonaut expedition on the hunt for the boar. Many of the men were angry that a woman was joining them, but Meleager, though having a family of his own, convinced them otherwise as he desired to father a child with Atalanta after hearing of her expertise in archery and beauty while hunting.


title: Atalanta

text: During the hunt Hyleus and Ancaeus were killed, Peleus accidentally injured a fellow hunter and others were wounded. Atalanta drew first blood on the boar with her bow. After this feat, killing the boar became a collective effort as, after the initial blow, Amphiaraus shot the boar's eye and Meleager ended its life. Meleager awarded the hide to Atalanta for her valour, but it was taken away by Meleager's uncles, Plexippus and Toxeus, who considered it dishonourable for a woman to hold such a prize. In response, Meleager killed his uncles. Althaea, Meleager's mother, became grief-stricken after hearing of her brothers’ deaths and threw the log that was tied to her son's life into a fire, killing him.


title: Atalanta

text: According to Ovid, before her adventures, Atalanta had consulted an oracle who prophesied that marriage would be her undoing. As a result, she chose to live in the wilderness. After the Calydonian boar hunt, Atalanta was discovered by her father, who accepted her as his daughter and began to arrange a marriage for her. To prevent this, she agreed to marry only if a suitor could outrun her in a footrace, which swift-footed Atalanta knew was impossible. If the suitor was unsuccessful, he would be killed. Her father agreed to the terms, and many suitors died in the attempt until Hippomenes, who fell in love with Atalanta at first sight. Hippomenes knew he could not best Atalanta even with the advantage of a head start, so, he prayed to the goddess Aphrodite for assistance. Aphrodite, who felt spurned because Atalanta was a devotee of Artemis and rejected love, gave Hippomenes three irresistible golden apples. As the race began, Atalanta, wearing armour and carrying weapons, quickly passed Hippomenes, but she was diverted off the path as he tossed an apple for her to retrieve; each time Atalanta caught up with Hippomenes, he would toss another apple, ultimately winning the race and Atalanta herself.


title: Atalanta

text: Atalanta bore a son, Parthenopaios (who may have been fathered by Meleager or Ares), who became one of the Seven against Thebes.


title: Atalanta

text: After the footrace, Hippomenes had forgotten to thank Aphrodite for her aid, and while the couple were out hunting the goddess afflicted them with sexual passion so that they had sex in a sanctuary belonging to either Zeus or Rhea. They were turned into lions for their sacrilege by either Artemis (angered by Atalanta losing her virginity), the goddess Cybele, or Zeus himself. The belief at the time was that lions could not mate with their own species, only with leopards; therefore Atalanta and Hippomenes would never be able to have “intercourse of love”.


title: Atalanta

text: This view has been criticized, however. In her book "The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World", Adrienne Mayor argues there is no evidence to support the notion that the Ancient Greeks believed male and female lions could not engage in sexual intercourse. Rather, Mayor contends the transformation of Atalanta and her lover into lions occurred at a moment of emotional and sexual bliss, which can be interpreted as divine sympathy for a couple who defied traditional Greek gender roles, and thus turning them into lions enabled the lovers to hunt and mate together for all eternity outside of Greek society, which would not have accepted their relationship.


title: Atalanta

text: The Italian football club Atalanta took its name from the heroine. In addition, the club's crest depicts the face of the heroine.


title: Atalanta

text: A version of Atalanta's story appears in the multimedia children's entertainment project "Free to Be... You and Me". She is also the focus of the 2017 historical novel "For the Winner", by the British Classicist and author Emily Hauser, which retells the story of Atalanta's voyage with the Argonauts.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: "Blackbird" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album "The Beatles" (also known as "the White Album"). It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, and performed as a solo piece by McCartney. When discussing the song, McCartney has said that the lyrics were inspired by hearing the call of a blackbird in Rishikesh, India, and alternatively by racial tension in the United States.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: McCartney explained on "Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road", aired in 2005, that the guitar accompaniment for "Blackbird" was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's "Bourrée in E minor", a well-known lute piece, often played on the classical guitar. As teenagers, he and George Harrison tried to learn "Bourrée" as a "show off" piece. The "Bourrée" is distinguished by melody and bass notes played simultaneously on the upper and lower strings. McCartney adapted a segment of the "Bourrée" (reharmonised into the original's relative major key of G) as the opening of "Blackbird", and carried the musical idea throughout the song.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: The first night his future wife Linda Eastman stayed at his home, McCartney played "Blackbird" for the fans camped outside his house.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Since composing "Blackbird" in 1968, McCartney has given various statements regarding both his inspiration for the song and its meaning. In one of these scenarios, he has said he was inspired by hearing the call of a blackbird one morning when the Beatles were studying Transcendental Meditation in Rishikesh, India. In another, he recalls writing it in Scotland as a response to racial tensions escalating in the United States during the spring of 1968.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: In May 2002, following a show in Dallas, Texas, McCartney discussed the song with KCRW DJ Chris Douridas, saying:


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: I had been doing some [poetry readings] in the last year or so because I've got a poetry book out called "Blackbird Singing", and when I would read "Blackbird", I would always try and think of some explanation to tell the people … So, I was doing explanations, and I actually just remembered why I'd written "Blackbird", you know, that I'd been, I was in Scotland playing on my guitar, and I remembered this whole idea of "you were only waiting for this moment to arise" was about, you know, the black people's struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird. It's not really about a blackbird whose wings are broken, you know, it's a bit more symbolic.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: In 2018, McCartney further elaborated on the song's meaning, explaining that "blackbird" should be interpreted as "black girl", in the context of the civil rights troubles in southern 1960s US.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: A third scenario came from the recollection of his stepmother, Angie McCartney. She said that McCartney wrote it for her elderly mother, Edith Stopforth, who was staying at Jim McCartney's house while recovering from a long illness. Angie recalled that McCartney visited the house and sat at Edith's bedside, where Edith told him that she would listen to a bird singing at night.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: The lyrics have invited similarly varied interpretations – as a nature song, a message in support of the Black Power movement, or a love song. Writing in the 1990s, Ian MacDonald noted the theory that "Blackbird" was intended as "a metaphor for the black civil rights struggle", but pointed to the composition's romantic qualities, arguing that the early-morning bird song "translates … into a succinct metaphor for awakening on a deeper level". However, during an informal rehearsal at EMI Studios on 22 November 1968, before he and Donovan took part in a Mary Hopkin recording session, McCartney played "Blackbird", telling Donovan that he wrote it after having "read something in the paper about the riots" and that he meant the black "bird" to symbolise a black woman.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Along with McCartney's "Helter Skelter", "Blackbird" was one of several White Album songs that Charles Manson interpreted as the Beatles' prophecy of an apocalyptic race war that would lead to him and his "Family" of followers ruling the US on countercultural principles. Manson interpreted the lyrics as a call to black Americans to wage war on their white counterparts, and instructed his followers to commit a series of murders in Los Angeles in August 1969 to trigger such a conflict.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: The song was recorded on 11 June 1968 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London, with George Martin as the producer and Geoff Emerick as the audio engineer. It is a solo performance with McCartney playing a Martin D 28 acoustic guitar. The track includes recordings of a male common blackbird singing in the background.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Apart from the blackbird, only three sounds were recorded: McCartney's voice, his guitar, and a tapping that keeps time on the left channel. This tapping "has been incorrectly identified as a metronome in the past", according to engineer Geoff Emerick, who says it is actually the sound of Paul tapping his foot. McCartney also said the same in The Beatles' "Anthology" documentary. Emerick recalls [Paul's foot-taps, presumably] as being mic'd up separately. Footage included in the bonus content on disc two of the 2009 remaster of the album shows McCartney tapping both his feet alternately while performing the song.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: The mono version contains the bird sounds a few seconds earlier than the stereo recording, and was originally issued on a mono incarnation of "The Beatles" (it has since been issued worldwide as part of "The Beatles in Mono" CD box set). The song appears on "Love" with "Yesterday", billed as "Blackbird/Yesterday". "Blackbird" provides an introduction to "Yesterday".


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: In 1973, McCartney included the song, along with the Beatles track "Michelle", as part of his acoustic medley in the television special "James Paul McCartney".


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Starting with his 1975–76 world tour with the band Wings, McCartney has performed "Blackbird" on every one of his concert tours. A solo performance of the song, followed by "Yesterday", appears on Wings' 1976 live album "Wings Over America".


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: McCartney also included "Blackbird" in his set at the Party at the Palace concert in June 2002. In 2009, McCartney performed the song at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, commenting prior to singing it on how it had been written in response to the Civil Rights Movement, and added, "It's so great to realise so many civil rights issues have been overcome."


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: A live version appears in the multi-CD collection "Good Evening New York City", which was released in 2009 and recorded inside the American stadium Citi Field.


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its release, Jacob Stolworthy of "The Independent" listed "Blackbird" at number five in his ranking of the White Album's 30 tracks. He said that its "beautiful calmness" was at odds with the growing racial tensions that allegedly inspired the song, and concluded: "For many, it's the apotheosis of McCartney's career and remains a standout in his solo live shows." Although the 1985 Mr. Mister song "Broken Wings" contains an identical lyric, "Take these broken wings and learn to fly", Mr. Mister member Richard Page has described this as "a mindless unintentional reference" attributable to songwriter John Lang being inspired by Kahlil Gibran's 1912 book "Broken Wings".


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: "Blackbird" was the eighth-most recorded song of all time up to December 2008. Among the most notable examples are:


title: Blackbird (Beatles song)

text: Ludington Daily News. (2004, May 27). The moment they've waited. Ludington Daily News. https://www.google.com/search?q=Ludington+Daily+News&rlz=1CAJIKU_enUS1021&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range commercial transport market. More than 700 were built and many still fly in cargo, military, and wildfire control roles.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The DC-6 was known as the C-118 Liftmaster in United States Air Force service and as the R6D in United States Navy service prior to 1962, after which all U.S. Navy variants were also designated as the C-118.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The United States Army Air Forces commissioned the DC-6 project as the XC-112 in 1944. The Army Air Forces wanted a lengthened, pressurized version of the DC-4-based C-54 Skymaster transport with more powerful engines. By the time the prototype XC-112A flew on 15 February 1946, the war was over, the USAAF had rescinded its requirement, and the aircraft was converted to YC-112A, being sold in 1955.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Douglas Aircraft modified the design into a civil transport longer than the DC-4. The civil DC-6 first flew on 29 June 1946, being retained by Douglas for testing. The first airline deliveries were to American Airlines and United Airlines on 24 November 1946. A series of inflight fires (including the fatal crash of United Airlines Flight 608) grounded the DC-6 fleet in 1947. The cause was found to be a fuel vent next to the cabin cooling turbine intake; all DC-6s were modified and the fleet was flying again after four months on the ground.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: In April 1949, United, American, Delta, National, and Braniff were flying DC-6s in the United States. United flew them to Hawaii, Braniff flew them to Rio de Janeiro, and Panagra flew Miami-Buenos Aires; KLM, SAS, and Sabena flew DC-6s across the Atlantic. BCPA DC-6s flew Sydney to Vancouver, and Philippine flew Manila to London and Manila to San Francisco.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Pan Am used DC-6Bs to start transatlantic tourist-class flights in 1952. These were the first DC-6Bs that could gross , with CB-17 engines rated at on 108/135 octane fuel. Several European airlines followed with their own transatlantic services. The DC-6B and C subtypes could often fly nonstop from the eastern US to Europe, but needed to refuel in Goose Bay, Labrador or Gander, Newfoundland when flying westbound into prevailing westerly winds.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Douglas designed four variants of the DC-6: the basic DC-6, and the longer-fuselage () higher-gross-weight, longer-range versions—the DC-6A with cargo doors forward and aft of the wing on the left side, with a cargo floor; the DC-6B for passenger work, with passenger doors only and a lighter floor; and the DC-6C convertible, with the two cargo doors and removable passenger seats.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The DC-6B, originally powered by Double Wasp engines with Hamilton Standard 43E60 constant-speed reversing propellers, was regarded as the ultimate piston-engine airliner from the standpoint of ruggedness, reliability, economical operation, and handling qualities.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The military version, similar to the DC-6A, was the USAF C-118 Liftmaster; the USN R6D version used the more powerful R-2800-CB-17 engines. These were later used on the commercial DC-6B to allow international flights. The R6D Navy version (in the late 1950s and early 1960s) had Curtiss Electric constant-speed reversing propellers.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: The USAF and USN renewed their interest in the DC-6 during the Korean War, and ordered 167 C-118/R6D aircraft, some of which later found their way to civil airlines. Harry Truman's first presidential aircraft was an Air Force short-fuselage DC-6 which was designated VC-118, and named "The Independence". It is preserved in the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, Ohio.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: In the 1960s two DC-6s were used as transmitter platforms for educational television, based at Purdue University, in a program called the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Many older DC-6s were replaced in airline passenger service from the mid-1950s by the Douglas DC-7, but the simpler, more economical engines in the DC-6 have meant the type has outlived the DC-7, particularly for cargo operations. DC-6/7s surviving into the jet age were replaced in frontline intercontinental passenger service by the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Basic prices of a new DC-6 in 1946–47 were around £210,000–£230,000 and had risen to £310,000 by 1951. By 1960, used prices were around £175,000 per aircraft. Prices for the DC-6A in 1957–58 were £460,000–£480,000. By 1960, used prices were around £296,000. Equivalent prices for the DC-6B in 1958 were around £500,000. Used prices in 1960 were around £227,000.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: From 1977 to 1990, five yellow-painted Douglas DC-6Bs were used as water bombers in France by the Sécurité Civile. They were registered F-ZBAC, F-ZBAD, F-ZBAE, F-ZBAP, and F-ZBBU.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Today, most DC-6s are inactive, stored, or preserved in museums. A number of DC-6s are still flying in northern bush operations in Alaska, while several are based in Europe and a few are still in operation for small carriers in South America.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: A great number of airlines and air forces from several countries included the DC-6 in their fleets at some point in time; these are further detailed in the list of Douglas DC-6 operators.


title: Douglas DC-6

text: Beginning in the 1980s, several DC-6Bs were used as fire retardant tankers by Conair Aerial Firefighting of Abbotsford, Canada. The last aircraft was sold to Everts Air Cargo in Fairbanks, AK in the late 2000s.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Virginia "Ginni" Thomas ( Lamp; born February 23, 1957) is an American attorney and conservative activist. In 1987, she married Clarence Thomas, who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1991. Her conservative commentary and activism have made her a controversial figure, especially because spouses of Supreme Court justices typically avoid politics.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas began her career working for Republican Hal Daub while he was a member of the United States House of Representatives. After Thomas graduated from Creighton University School of Law, she worked for the United States Chamber of Commerce. She later worked for the United States Department of Labor and as an aide to Republican Dick Armey while he was a member of the House of Representatives. In 2000, she joined The Heritage Foundation, where she was a liaison between the conservative think tank and the George W. Bush administration. In 2009, Thomas founded Liberty Central, a conservative political advocacy nonprofit organization associated with the Tea Party movement. She founded Liberty Consulting in 2010.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas supported Donald Trump during his presidency, offering the administration recommendations on individuals to hire through her work with the conservative Groundswell group. Following Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, she repeatedly urged Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows to take steps to overturn the result. Thomas also emailed state lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin, urging them to ignore the results of the 2020 presidential election and vote instead for an alternate slate of electors. She made an early social media endorsement of the Trump rally that preceded the January 2021 attack on the United States Capitol before the violence took place, and she later apologized for contributing to a rift among her husband's former Supreme Court clerks concerning that riot.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, the youngest of four children born to Donald Lamp, an engineer who owned his own firm, and Marjorie Lamp, a stay-at-home mother. Her parents were Republicans.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas attended Westside High School in Omaha, where she was a member of student government, the debate club, and the Republican club. While she was in high school, her ambition was to be elected to Congress. She enrolled in a women's college in Virginia because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., subsequently transferred to the University of Nebraska, and then moved to Creighton University to be closer to a boyfriend. She received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and business communication from Creighton University (1979) and a Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law (1983), after a hiatus working as a legislative aide for Representative Hal Daub.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: When Daub took office in 1981, Thomas moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in his office for 18 months. After completing her degree at Creighton University School of Law in 1983, she worked one more year for Daub in Washington as his legislative director. From 1985 to 1989, she was employed as an attorney and labor relations specialist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, attending congressional hearings where she represented the interests of the business community. Her advocacy included arguing against the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. In 1989, she became manager of employee relations at the Chamber of Commerce.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In 1991, Thomas returned to government service in the Legislative Affairs Office of the U.S. Department of Labor, where she argued against comparable-worth legislation that would have mandated equal pay for women and men in jobs deemed to be comparable.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: That year, her husband, Clarence Thomas, was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to fill the open seat on the U.S. Supreme Court left by the retirement of Justice Thurgood Marshall. She attended the contentious U.S. Senate confirmation hearings and stood by her husband as he was accused of sexual harassment.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: During the confirmation hearings, several Democratic senators questioned whether her job with the Labor Department could create a conflict of interest for her husband if he were to be seated on the Supreme Court. After her husband was confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48, she described the televised scrutiny and confirmation process as a "trial by fire".


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Her next job was as a policy analyst for Representative Dick Armey, who was the House Republican Conference chairman.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: By 2000, she was working for the Heritage Foundation, where she collected résumés for potential presidential appointments in the George W. Bush administration when the Supreme Court was deciding "Bush v. Gore". She continued to work at the Heritage Foundation during the administration of George W. Bush, serving as the White House Liaison for the think tank.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In late 2009, Thomas established the nonprofit lobbying group Liberty Central to organize conservative activists, issue legislative scorecards for U.S. Congress members, and be involved in elections. The group was aimed at opposing what Thomas called the "leftist tyranny'" of President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, and "protecting the core founding principles" of the nation. Thomas's lobbying activities were raised as a potential source of conflict of interest for her husband. Thomas was interviewed by Sean Hannity on his Fox News show "Hannity" in June 2010. Asked about potential conflicts between her Liberty Central activities and her husband's position, Thomas replied that "there's a lot of judicial wives and husbands out there causing trouble. I'm just one of many." Liberty Central ceased operations in 2012.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In February 2011, "Politico" reported that Thomas was the head of a new company, Liberty Consulting, which filed incorporation papers in mid-November 2010. The company's website stated that clients could use Thomas's "experience and connections" to help with "governmental affairs efforts" and political donation strategies. "The Washington Post" described Liberty Consulting as "a one-woman shop" where Thomas advised political donors how to direct funds in the post-"Citizens United v. FEC" landscape. Also in 2011, Thomas became a special correspondent for "The Daily Caller".


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. She supported Donald Trump after he won the Republican nomination, and has served on the advisory council of Turning Point USA. Thomas has drawn attention for making controversial social media posts; "The Washington Post" wrote that she had shared "nakedly partisan, erroneous propaganda". On Facebook, she has shared a George Soros conspiracy theory meme and criticized gun control advocates such as survivors of the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas is a member of the informal conservative Groundswell group, which she founded with the support of Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor. According to a February 2020 report by Jonathan Swan in "Axios", Thomas actively urged Trump to change the personnel in his administration. Swan reported that Thomas had given Trump a memo with names of individuals recommended by the Groundswell network.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: On May 28, 2020, Trump appointed Thomas as a member of the trust fund board of the Library of Congress.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: She is a member of the conservative Council for National Policy, and in 2019, she became part of its board.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: According to "The New York Times", in the days following the 2020 presidential election, the board of the Council for National Policy issued a call to action to its members to keep Trump in power, despite his loss. The call to action instructed members to "pressure Republican lawmakers into challenging the election results and appointing alternate slates of electors." In May 2022, "The Washington Post" obtained emails Thomas had sent to Arizona legislators beginning days after the November 2020 election, urging them to choose "a clean slate of Electors." Though the emails did not mention either presidential candidate, Biden had been declared the winner in Arizona. She wrote the emails on a platform that allowed pre-written form emails to be sent to multiple elected officials, and she sent them to 29 lawmakers. In September 2022, "The Washington Post" reported that Thomas emailed Wisconsin state senator Kathy Bernier and Wisconsin state representative Gary Tauchen with verbatim copies of the Arizona emails urging them to set aside the results of the popular vote and choose their own electors.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Prior to January 6, Thomas promoted a Stop the Steal rally on Facebook. Thomas told the "Washington Free Beacon" that she attended the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack but left before Trump took the stage at noon.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: After January 6, baseless claims that Thomas had paid to shuttle demonstrators to Washington D.C. proliferated online. A year after the attack, fact checkers again debunked claims that Thomas was one of the organizers of the events of January 6, 2021.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: "The Washington Post" reported that after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Thomas, on a private email LISTSERV of her husband's former law clerks, expressed her apologies for contributing to a rift among the group. The internal rift reportedly concerned "pro-Trump postings and former Thomas clerk John Eastman, who spoke at the rally and represented Trump in some of his failed lawsuits filed to overturn the 2020 election results." Eastman is a close friend of both Thomases.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: An April 2022 Quinnipiac poll found that 52% of Americans said that, in light of Ginni Thomas's texts to Trump's White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows about overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election, Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from cases about the 2020 election.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In March 2022, texts between Thomas and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows from 2020 were handed to the Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. The texts show her repeatedly urging Meadows to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and repeating conspiracy theories about ballot fraud. She urged that conspiracy theorist attorney Sidney Powell be retained by the Trump campaign efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In the quoted texts, Thomas described an unknown number of American citizens that she hoped would be "living in barges off GITMO" in accord with the QAnon-affiliated conspiracy theory that President Biden, his family, and thousands of state and county election officials, administrators, and volunteers successfully orchestrated and performed a vast conspiracy to rig the 2020 elections across thousands of administrative districts or wards. Public perception of the likelihood of such QAnon-style conspiracy theories influencing a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court was widespread enough that President Biden was asked what he thought about whether Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from any January 6-related cases. He replied that the answer is for others to determine, mentioning the congressional investigating committee and the Department of Justice. Under U.S. law, each justice of the court is the main and possibly only person who has power over his or her own recusal.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: CNN reported in June 2022 that the Select Committee possessed email correspondence between Thomas and John Eastman. The emails were part of Eastman's correspondence related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In the wake of revelations regarding her correspondence with Eastman, Thomas was asked to testify before the committee. In an interview with the Daily Caller, Thomas stated that she "can't wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them." Thomas previously signed on to a letter to House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, calling for the removal of Rep. Liz Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger from the Republican conference for their participation on the Select Committee and describing the January 6 investigations as "bringing disrespect to our country's rule of law." Mark Paoletta, Thomas's attorney, wrote the committee days later that she would not agree to be interviewed unless additional information came to light that might warrant testimony, but one of her attorneys subsequently announced she would speak voluntarily with the committee. The committee interviewed her on September 29.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Days after it became known Eastman and Thomas had communicated by email, Eastman posted on his new Substack blog one email that he captioned, "OMG, Mrs. Thomas asked me to give an update about election litigation to her group. Stop the Presses!" In the December 4, 2020 email, Thomas invited Eastman to speak four days later at a gathering of "Frontliners," which she described as a group of "grassroots state leaders." A private Facebook group named "FrontLiners for Liberty," which included over 50 people and was created in August 2020, showed Thomas as an administrator. The group's front page carried a banner stating, "the enemy of America...is the radical fascist left." After CNBC asked Thomas about the group, its public pages were either made private or deleted. CNBC also contacted Stephanie Coleman, who was also listed as a group administrator. She is the widow of former Texas solicitor general Greg Coleman, who had clerked for Clarence Thomas. Numerous photos of her and Thomas are on her personal Facebook page, including one of both of them with former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon in December 2016. The Thomas email was among those federal judge David Carter ordered Eastman to release to the January 6 committee in June 2022, as Eastman sought to withhold them. Carter found ten documents he ordered released to the committee relating to three December 2020 meetings by a secretive group strategizing about how to overturn the election, which included who he characterized as a "high-profile" leader. Carter noted one email in particular among those he ordered released that contained what he found was likely evidence of a crime. Thomas attended a meeting of FrontLiners for Liberty on March 6, 2021, at which a speaker declared Trump was still the "legitimate president," to enthusiastic applause.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas also emailed state lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin, urging them to ignore the results of the 2020 presidential election and vote instead for an alternate slate of electors.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas converted from Protestantism to her husband's Catholic faith in 2002. She was inspired by his devotion of praying the Litany of Humility and participating in the Mass. She credits Justice Antonin Scalia and his wife Maureen for helping her husband back into the Church.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: On October 9, 2010, Thomas left a voicemail message for Anita Hill, whose accusations of sexual harassment against her husband complicated his Supreme Court nomination hearings 19 years earlier. In the voicemail, Thomas said that Hill should apologize to her husband. Hill responded that there was nothing to apologize for and said that her 1991 testimony about her interactions with Clarence Thomas was truthful.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In 2011, Clarence Thomas amended 20 years worth of his financial disclosures to include Virginia Thomas's places of employment.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: In the 1980s, while a congressional aide, Thomas took training with the self-awareness program Lifespring. In 1987, she related to "The Washington Post" that, during her training several years earlier, she had been "confused and troubled" by lessons such as one where trainees were told to disrobe to bikinis and bathing suits then "made fun of fat people's bodies and ridiculed one another with sexual questions". After realizing that membership in her Lifespring group was separating her from her family, friends, and co-workers, Thomas began what proved to be a difficult and months-long process of breaking away. At one point, she hid in another part of the U.S. to avoid a constant barrage of high-pressure phone calls from Lifespring members, who felt they had a duty to keep her in the organization.


title: Ginni Thomas

text: Thomas came to believe that Lifespring was a cult. After leaving the group in 1985, she sought counseling and joined the Cult Awareness Network. She became a critic of controversial religious groups, speaking on panels and organizing anti-cult workshops for congressional staffers in 1986 and 1988. In a 1991 interview, Thomas remarked, "I was once in a group that used mind control techniques", and she called its members "pretty scary people".


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourth-largest city in Indiana. The metropolitan area had a population of 324,501 in 2020, while its combined statistical area had 812,199. The city is located just south of Indiana's border with Michigan.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: The area was settled in the early 19th century by fur traders and was established as a city in 1865. The St. Joseph River shaped South Bend's economy through the mid-20th century. River access assisted heavy industrial development such as that of the Studebaker Corporation, the Oliver Chilled Plow Company, and other large corporations.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: The population of South Bend declined after 1960, when it peaked at 132,445. This was chiefly due to migration to suburban areas as well as the demise of Studebaker and other heavy industry. Today, the largest industries in South Bend are health care, education, small business, and tourism. Remaining large corporations based in the area include Crowe, Honeywell, and AM General. The city's economy and culture are influenced by the nearby University of Notre Dame.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: In the 2010s, the city's population started to increase for the first time in nearly 50 years. The old Studebaker plant and surrounding area, now called Ignition Park, is being redeveloped as a technology center to attract new industry.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: The city was featured in national news coverage of former mayor Pete Buttigieg, a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and current Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: The St. Joseph Valley was long occupied by Native Americans. One of the earliest known groups to occupy what would later become northern Indiana was the Miami tribe. Later, the Potawatomi moved into the region, utilizing the rich food and natural resources found along the river. The Potawatomi occupied this region of Indiana until most of them were forcibly removed in the 1840s. The South Bend area was popular because its portage was the shortest overland route from the St. Joseph River to the Kankakee River. This route was used for centuries, first by the Native Americans, then by French explorers, missionaries and traders. The French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the first white European to set foot in what is now South Bend, used this portage between the St. Joseph River and the Kankakee River in December 1679.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: The first permanent white settlers of South Bend were fur traders who established trading posts in the area. In 1820, Pierre Frieschutz Navarre arrived, representing the American Fur Company (AFC) of John Jacob Astor. He settled near what is now downtown South Bend. Alexis Coquillard, another agent of the AFC, established a trading post known as the Big St. Joseph Station. In 1827, Lathrop Minor Taylor established a post for Samuel Hanna and Company, in whose records the name St. Joseph's, Indiana was used. By 1829, the town was growing, with Coquillard and Taylor emerging as leaders. They applied for a post office. Taylor was appointed postmaster, and the post office was designated as Southold, Allen County, Indiana. The following year, the name was changed to South Bend, probably to ease confusion, as several other communities were named Southold at the time.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: In 1831, South Bend was laid out as the county seat and as one of the four original townships of St. Joseph County with 128 residents. That same year, Horatio Chapin moved to the settlement, opened the first general store with imported (out of state) goods and helped established the first church and Sunday school. Around the same time, design began on what would become the town of South Bend. The town was formally established in 1835, with Chapin as the first president of the board of town trustees. In 1856, attorney Andrew Anderson, Chapin's son-in-law, founded May Oberfell Lorber, the oldest continuous business in St. Joseph County. He compiled a complete index of South Bend's real estate records.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: In 1841, Schuyler Colfax was appointed St. Joseph County deputy auditor. Colfax purchased the "South Bend Free Press" and then turned it into a pro-Whig newspaper, the "St. Joseph Valley Register". He was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1850, at which he opposed the barring of African American migration to Indiana. He joined the Republican Party, like many Whigs of his day, and was elected to Congress in 1855, becoming Speaker of the House in 1863 during the administration of Abraham Lincoln. In 1868, he was elected vice president under Ulysses S. Grant. Colfax returned to South Bend after his stint in Washington and is buried in City Cemetery, west of downtown.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: During the late 1830s through the 1850s, much of South Bend's development centered on the industrial complex of factories located on the two races (man-made canals along the St. Joseph River in South Bend). Several dams were created and factories were built on each side of the river. On October 4, 1851, the first steam locomotive entered South Bend. This shifted commerce from the river to the railroad. In 1852, Henry Studebaker set up Studebaker wagon shop, later becoming the world's largest wagon builder and the only one to later succeed as an automobile manufacturer. The Singer Sewing Company and the Oliver Chilled Plow Company were among other companies that made manufacturing the driving force in the South Bend economy until the mid-20th century. Another important economic act was the dredging of the Kankakee River in 1884 to create farmland. During this time period there was a great immigration of Europeans, such as Polish, Hungarian, Irish, German, Italian, and Swedish people to South Bend because of available employment in area factories.


title: South Bend, Indiana

text: South Bend benefited from its location on the Michigan Road, the main north–south artery of northern Indiana in the 19th century. Another significant development occurred near South Bend in 1842, when Father Edward Sorin founded the University of Notre Dame just north of the town. It became a major factor in the area's economy and culture.