title: Satana (Marvel Comics)

text: Satana is a half-demon/half-human hybrid, and a succubus; she has some innate mystical abilities inherited from her father, as well as some that her father granted to her. As a succubus, she is able to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human male souls to increase her abilities and magical powers. For a time, Satana had to extract and feed upon the psychic energy of human souls periodically to survive. She has the ability to manipulate magical forces for a variety of effects, including inter-dimensional teleportation, levitation, and the projection of concussive bolts of eldritch energy in the form of "soulfire" or hellfire. She also had a limited ability to hypnotize her victims and control their minds psionically. If she touches an object used to kill someone (like a knife or sword) she can absorb its "blood energy" to become stronger in proportion to the souls the weapon has taken. She also has superhuman strength. For a time, she had the ability to contain the Basilisk, a powerful demon, within her spirit and to release it to do her bidding and then return within herself. Satana also trained in the mystic arts and learned how to cast spells and perform witchcraft. She was trained by her father "Satan" in the use of her demonic powers.


title: Satana (Marvel Comics)

text: Marc Buxton of "Den of Geek" referred to Satana as one of the "greatest monstrous creations that ever sprang from the nightmares of the House of Ideas," writing, "The devil’s daughter herself, Satana, burst open the Marvel black and white scene in the early seventies and was a nice tribute to cleavage laden, Technicolor Hammer Horror of the era. Satana is a succubus who seduced sinners and reduced their souls into butterflies, which she then kept in a little box and at times devours. Some of the finest artists of the Bronze Age worked on Satana’s early adventures starting with Roy Thomas and John Romita Sr. and moving on to Chris Claremont and Estaban Moroto. Her adventures were clearly cut for the same cloth as the Vampirella/Harris Comics stable of fright characters but they were also adult oriented, sexy, and atmospheric." Georgeof Chrysostomou of "Screen Rant" asserted, "Satana is another classic Marvel character who has been around for a long time despite not becoming widely recognized. She may be another powerful member of the Thunderbolts, but she is one that is traditionally used to working solo, to follow her own self-interests. More of an anti-hero, Satana comes from a Hellish background. With demon parents, not only does Satana carry with her satanic powers, but she is often mistrusted because of her origins. She's manipulative, a sorceress, and incredibly dangerous. Her odd human and demonic heritage certainly makes the character unique."


title: Satana (Marvel Comics)

text: In a 4-issue alternate reality miniseries called "The Supernaturals", Satana is Melissa Ramos, a Catholic girl who is possessed by a demon. She is recruited by a magician named Brother Voodoo, along with alternate versions of the Werewolf, the Black Cat, the Ghost Rider, and the Gargoyle to fight a mystical threat. This version of Satana has mystical control over fire, as well as the power to fly. Despite her demonic possession, she has a very pure soul, and was going to be offered as a sacrifice by a demon called the Jack 'O' Lantern, until she was saved by the Werewolf.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: , also known as , was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was especially known as the leading general on the defending side of the Siege of Osaka.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: Yukimura was called "A Hero who may appear once in a hundred years", "Crimson Demon of War" and "The Last Sengoku Hero". The famed veteran of the invasion of Korea, Shimazu Tadatsune, called him the .


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: He was the second son of Sanada Masayuki (1547–1611). His elder brother was Sanada Nobuyuki. He was married to Chikurin-in (Akihime), Ōtani Yoshitsugu's daughter and adopted daughter of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: Three other wives of Yukimura were his first wife the daughter/sister of Hotta Sakubei, who lost her status to Chikurin-in; Takanashi Naiki's daughter and Ryūsei-in (a daughter of Toyotomi Hidetsugu).


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: In 1575, the Battle of Nagashino claimed the lives of two of Sanada Masayuki's elder brothers. Masayuki, previously serving Takeda Shingen and Takeda Katsuyori as a retainer, inherited the Sanada clan and left for Ueda Castle. Yukimura also went, taking the Sanada name as well.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: By 1582, the Oda-Tokugawa forces had destroyed the Takeda clan. The Sanada initially surrendered to Oda Nobunaga, but, after the incident at Honnō-ji, it became independent again, drifting between stronger "daimyōs" such as the Uesugi clan, the Later Hōjō clan, and the Tokugawa clan. Eventually, the Sanada clan became a vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: In 1600, before the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu rallied various "daimyōs" to attack Uesugi Kagekatsu. The Sanada clan complied as well, but when Ishida Mitsunari decided to challenge Ieyasu, Masayuki and Yukimura joined the western forces, parting ways with Masayuki's eldest son and Yukimura's brother, Nobuyuki, who joined the eastern forces. It has been said that at first Yukimura followed Ieyasu but, after Ieyasu tried to seize his territory he betrayed Ieyasu. The true motive of Masayuki and Yukimura's decision is disputed with many theories, but there are two main schools of thought: in one, Masayuki made the decision (and Yukimura agreed); he expressed the willingness to take a gamble, so that if he were to join the weak side and win the battle, the Sanada would gain much more power. The other theory is the opposite where they planned a safety net; Masayuki, Yukimura, and Nobuyuki discussed the situation when Ieyasu asked them to state their allegiance clearly, and they decided to join separate sides, so that, regardless of the outcome of the battle, the Sanada clan would survive.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: The Sanada retreated and fortified Ueda Castle. When Tokugawa Hidetada marched a sizable army on the Nakasendō, the Sanada resisted and were able to fight Hidetada's 40,000 men with only 2,000. However, as the castle did not fall in the short time that he expected, Hidetada gave up and joined the main Tokugawa army, too late however, to participate in the crucial Battle of Sekigahara. After the battle Masayuki's territory was seized and he and Yukimura were exiled to Mt. Koya in the Kii Peninsula. Ueda was given to Nobuyuki. Yukimura rose against the Tokugawa when the Winter Battle of Osaka Castle broke out in 1614.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: The Siege of Osaka Castle was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan’s destruction. Divided into two stages (Winter Campaign and Summer Campaign), lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate’s establishment. The end of the conflict is sometimes referred to as the Genna Armistice (Genna Embu), because the era name was changed from Keichō to Genna immediately following the siege.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: The winter campaign began on November 19, 1614; Osaka Castle siege commenced on December 4, 1614, and lasted until January 22, 1615, when truce was reached.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: On November 19, Tokugawa forces (approx. 3,000 men) attacked a fort across the Kizu River, destroying it. A week later, Tokugawa forces attacked the village of Imafuku with 1,500 men against a defending force of 600. With the aid of a squad of arquebusiers, the Tokugawa claimed victory once again. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on Osaka Castle itself began on December 4, 1614. Yukimura built a small fortress called Sanada-maru in the southwest corner of Osaka Castle. The Sanada-maru was an earthwork barbican defended by 7,000 men under Yukimura's command. From there, he defeated the Tokugawa forces (approx. 30,000 men) with groups of 6,000 arquebusiers. The Shōgun's forces were repeatedly repelled, and the Sanada troops launched a number of attacks against the siege lines, breaking through three times. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery, which included 17 imported European cannons and domestic wrought iron cannons, as well as sappers employed to dig under the walls of the fortress. The fortress was impregnable; the Tokugawa suffered many losses.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: Ieyasu gave up trying to destroy the castle during this battle, and sued for peace with Toyotomi Hideyori. He proposed a condition for the reconciliation, i.e. to destroy the outer moat of the castle. When his envoy entered the castle grounds, they destroyed not only the outer moat but the inner moat as well.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: On June 3, 1615 (6th day of 5th month of 20 year of Keicho era), at the Battle of Dōmyōji, Sanada Yukimura was in command of the Osaka Army on the right wing and engaged in a battle with Date Masamune forces in the area of Emperor Ōjin's Tomb and Konda Hachiman Shrine. This fight took place at around 12:00 and by 5:00 PM Sanada Yukimura made the decision to retreat towards Osaka Castle.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: On June 3, 1615 (7th day of 5th month of 20 year of Keicho era), at the Battle of Tennōji after hurrying back to Osaka castle, Yukimura found the massive Tokugawa force of nearly 150,000 moving into positions in order to make their final assault on the castle. As the Tokugawa units were still moving into formation, the Toyotomi forces launched a last ditch offensive with their approximate 54,000 to 60,000 troops that hoped to take the still loose Tokugawa formations off-guard. As the vanguard of the Tokugawa left flank under Matsudaira Tadanao marched to their positions, Yukimura's troops charged down from Chausuyama (茶臼山) and fought with desperate abandon together with Mori Katsunaga's contingent. As Matsudaira’s line began to crumble, Ieyasu rushed his personal body of troops up to support Matsudaira and Yukimura saw his chance to smash through the center. If he could keep the center of the Tokugawa forces tied up long enough for Hideyori to sally out of the castle and lead a general charge on the exposed Tokugawa flank, the Toyotomi forces might have a chance at victory—or so he hoped. Thus, at this moment, Yukimura dispatched his son, Sanada Daisuke back to the castle to urge Hideyori to seize the moment and sally forward. But Hideyori was too late. As the fighting raged around him, the exhausted Yukimura collapsed on a camp stool. According to legend, Yukimura's last words were along the lines of "Who dares to take my head?" Nishio Nizaemon, a Tokugawa samurai, recognized Yukimura and charged forward, issuing a challenge. Unable to muster the strength to fight, Yukimura acknowledged who he was and took off his helmet. Seconds later, his life came to an abrupt end.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: Yasui Shrine located to the west of Shitennoji Temple in Osaka, and his grave is in Zenmyosho-In in Ueda.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: According to primary historical sources and personal letters, he was never referred to as Yukimura. That name surfaced in a military novel written during the Edo period and has since been popularized in modern plays, books, novels, and different media of entertainment. The historical documents use his historical name "Nobushige".


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: A legend says that Yukimura had ten heroes who took an active role at the battles at Osaka Castle. They were called the Sanada Ten Braves, a group of ninja.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: A myth says he indeed managed to kill Ieyasu, but the Ogoshō was replaced by a "kagemusha" (a decoy or doppelganger) called Ogasawara Hidemasa. This myth is a testimony to the respect modern Japanese have for Yukimura's skills as a military commander.


title: Sanada Yukimura

text: Another legend states that in the Winter of 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent an envoy to Yukimura with a notice that, if he were to abandon the Toyotomi cause, that he would give his entire prefecture of Shinano and 400,000 koku. Yukimura laughed and posted the notice on the wall for all in the castle to see.


title: Sigala

text: Bruce Fielder, known professionally as Sigala, is a British DJ and music producer. He has had eight songs peak within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, including his 2015 debut single "Easy Love", which samples "ABC" by the Jackson 5.


title: Sigala

text: Fielder was born and raised in Norfolk, England. He first got into music at age 8, when he began to play the piano, which he has up to grade 8. He attended Reepham High School and Norwich City College, before graduating with a BA honours degree in commercial music from the University of Westminster. He is based at Verdansk Studios in Kings Cross, London.


title: Sigala

text: After university, Fielder was a member of several unsigned bands before moving on to mixing and producing works for others, including co-writing "Good Times" by Ella Eyre with Sigma.


title: Sigala

text: His debut single, "Easy Love", came about after Fielder drank a six-pack of Desperados, a tequila-flavoured beer, in sheer tiredness and frustration after being asked to perform a thirty-seventh mix for a popular artist and downloaded an a cappella of the Jackson 5's single "ABC". In an interview with the Official Charts Company, he stated that the record was written on a Sunday evening out of a desire to create music for himself outside of the confines of "somebody asking me to create a song that had a certain sound to it or had to be a certain way".


title: Sigala

text: A video was commissioned for it, set in Los Angeles, and features Lucky Aces, a Canadian duo composed of 12-year-olds, Lucky and C, dancing to it; in the video, after meeting each other, they challenge a number of child gangs. It was directed by Craig Moore, who said that he opted to shoot in Los Angeles due to the "pool of talent that would've been hard to find anywhere else", and that his attention was caught by Lucky Aces after spotting them on "The Ellen Show". Within a few days, it had been picked up by Ministry of Sound, and the song entered at number 71 on the UK Singles Chart on 4 September 2015 – for the week ending dated 10 September 2015 – based on streams alone. The following week, it peaked at the top of the chart.


title: Sigala

text: Sigala's second single was called "Sweet Lovin'". Released on 4 December 2015, and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, with vocals from singer-songwriter Bryn Christopher.


title: Sigala

text: Sigala released his third single, "Say You Do", on YouTube on 23 January 2016, and the single was released officially on 18 March 2016. It features a sample of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" and DJ Fresh, with vocals from singer Imani Williams.


title: Sigala

text: Sigala was reported to be working on his debut studio album, revealing that his dream collaborations would be Stevie Wonder and Chris Martin. Shortly after this was announced, his next single, "Give Me Your Love", featuring vocals from John Newman and partial production works from Nile Rodgers, was released on 8 April 2016.


title: Sigala

text: Sigala contributed to "Only One" with Digital Farm Animals on 2 December 2016 and "Show You Love" with KATO, featuring vocals from American singer Hailee Steinfeld on 17 January 2017.


title: Sigala

text: On 9 June 2017, Sigala collaborated with British singer-songwriter Ella Eyre for his sixth single "Came Here for Love".


title: Sigala

text: On 23 February 2018, Sigala released a single with Paloma Faith titled "Lullaby". On 13 March 2018, Sigala said on Twitter that he had nearly finished his debut album.


title: Sigala

text: On 24 May 2018, Sigala announced his upcoming debut album "Brighter Days", which was released on 28 September 2018. It peaked at number 14 in the UK. A mini-concert tour took place in the United Kingdom and Ireland in support of the album.


title: Sigala

text: Sigala released "Feels Like Home" with British recording artist Fuse ODG and Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, featuring guest vocals from American recording artist Kent Jones on 14 June 2018 as the eighth single. "We Don't Care" was released on 27 July 2018 with British pop rock band The Vamps as the ninth single off the album.


title: Sigala

text: On 7 September 2018, Sigala released the tenth and final single from the album titled "Just Got Paid" with Ella Eyre and American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, featuring American rapper French Montana.


title: Sigala

text: On 19 October 2019, Sigala announced that Ella Henderson would feature on his next single "We Got Love".The song was released on 1 November 2019.


title: Sigala

text: On 23 June 2020, Sigala announced on social media that Becky Hill would once again be featured on a new single, making it their second collaboration since the release of "Wish You Well" in May 2019. The single was titled "Heaven on My Mind" and was released on 25 June 2020.


title: Sigala

text: On 27 August 2020, Sigala announced that he would release a song called "Lasting Lover" with British singer James Arthur which was written by Lewis Capaldi. The song was released alongside two vertical lyric videos on 4 September 2020. The song samples "Time to Pretend" by American indie band MGMT. At the APRA Music Awards of 2022 "Lasting Lover" won Most Performed International Work.


title: Sigala

text: On 22 June 2021, Sigala announced his new single "You For Me" with British singer-songwriter Rita Ora. The song was released on 2 July 2021.


title: Sigala

text: On 20 May 2022, Sigala collaborated with British singer-songwriter and YouTuber Talia Mar on the song "Stay the Night".


title: Sigala

text: On 2 September 2022, Sigala teamed up with French DJ David Guetta and British singer-songwriter Sam Ryder on the song "Living Without You".


title: Overwolf

text: Overwolf is a software platform designed to help developers create extensions for video games, which are then offered to users through Overwolf's "App Store". The platform was created by Overwolf Ltd., and extensions are often focused on providing in-game services that would normally require a user to exit the game, such as the use of a web browser or an IM client. Other extensions provide game-specific features that can remind users about certain in-game events, easing the game experience. The platform has gained traction in competitive video games, such as esports and MMORPGs, where native extensions are often forbidden due to concerns about cheating. Overwolf extensions sidestep this concern, since they do not interact with the game engine; they operate exclusively on the overlay created by the main Overwolf program.


title: Overwolf

text: Overwolf was founded in 2010 by Uri Marchand, Gil Or, Alon Rabinowitz and Nir Finkelstein with a cash seed investment from Joseph (Yossi) Vardi. In September 2013, another $5.3 million was invested by Venture Capital Marker LLC. At the start of the Beta release, Overwolf had 50,000 users. As of early 2013, Overwolf had reached 1 million users and grew to 5.5 million installs by the end of 2013.


title: Overwolf

text: In September 2012, Overwolf opened its Software Development Kit to allow users and developers to create applications for games. An improved version of their SDK is expected to be released in mid to late 2014. At the same time, the Overwolf App Store went live allowing user created programs to be distributed to all users of Overwolf.


title: Overwolf

text: In March 2022, Overwolf acquired the UK-based payment platform software specialist Tebex in a $29 million deal.


title: Overwolf

text: Overwolf has partnered with a number of organizations. Partnerships with organizations such as Wargaming


title: Overwolf

text: , Webzen, gPotato, Intel, EA, Buff and Infernum were made to promulgate the software among their user bases and to tailor versions of the software for the partner. Other partnerships, like those with Teamspeak, were made to develop special apps such as the creation of the Official Teamspeak in-game overlay.


title: Ciara Hanna

text: Ciara Chantel Hanna is an American actress and model. She is known for playing the roles of Gia Moran in "Power Rangers Megaforce" and Nicole Parker in "".


title: Ciara Hanna

text: Hanna was born in Orange, California, as the first of three children to Mark and Kimberly Hanna. She has a younger sister, Krystal Hanna, and a younger brother, Dalton Hanna. She attended Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, and graduated in 2009.


title: Ciara Hanna

text: Hanna entered the entertainment industry at the age of 8, traveling around California with a singing group. At age 10, she started acting and modeling, producing commercials for Orange and modeling for companies such as Mattel, Robinsons-May, and Macy's. In 2009, she was a semifinalist in 13th season of "America's Next Top Model", which specifically scouted models who are 5'7" and under, but she did not make it to the final cast. In 2012, she was cast as Gia Moran, the Megaforce Yellow Ranger, in the television series "Power Rangers Megaforce".


title: Ciara Hanna

text: She then went on to make many appearances in numerous shows and music videos. She is currently known for being a model.


title: Ciara Hanna

text: Hanna dated the lead singer of Waterparks, Awsten Knight, from 2015 until December 2017. At the time, Knight was living in Houston while she was in Los Angeles until it was revealed Hanna had cheated on Knight, releasing song "Worst" in November 2017. On the 30th of August 2020, she became engaged to Chase Pino. Around September 2020, the couple expected a child. On March 15, 2021, she gave birth to a baby boy named Canyon Cruz Pino.


title: Walk of Life

text: "Walk of Life" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, the third track on their fifth studio album "Brothers in Arms" (1985). It subsequently appeared on their live album "On the Night" (1993). It was released as a single October 1985 but had first been available as the B-side of "So Far Away" released in advance of "Brothers in Arms".


title: Walk of Life

text: The track peaked at number seven in the US charts, becoming their third and last top ten hit. It was their biggest commercial hit in the UK (along with "Private Investigations"), peaking at number two. The track also appeared on three compilation albums: 1988's "Money for Nothing", 1998's "", and 2005's "The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations".


title: Walk of Life

text: Mark Knopfler had not originally intended "Walk of Life" for the album, but rather as a b-side to one of the singles. Dire Straits manager Ed Bicknell heard it when it was being mixed and convinced Knopfler to include it on the album at the last minute.


title: Walk of Life

text: A simple rock and roll rhythm is used, with chord changes limited to I, IV and V chords. The long introduction has become iconic in some circles, with an instantly recognisable riff played on a synthesizer-driven keyboard with hints of the blues. The singer mentioned in the lyrics, "Johnny," is said to perform "down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay," a reference to busking in the subway. The songs he plays are oldies, including "I Got a Woman," "Be-Bop-A-Lula," "What'd I Say," "My Sweet Lovin' Woman," and "Mack the Knife." He also plays talking blues.


title: Walk of Life

text: Two music videos were produced for "Walk of Life," the first video features the band playing the song in concert while the character Johnny is playing 1950s songs in a tunnel, the second video features the band playing with clips of sports bloopers.


title: Walk of Life

text: "Cash Box" said that song recalls "the band’s ’50s rock infatuation first heard on 'Twisting by the Pool,'" but that it "is a more profound but equally energetic effort." "Cash Box" later said that "a light sound is balanced by a meaningful lyric and wrapped in trademark Knopfler guitar accents." "Billboard" said that "Knopfler and friends bob out to a cajun/zydeco track that might have sounded weird if Rockin' Sidney hadn't broken the ice."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The Great Controversy is a book by Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and held in esteem as a prophetess or messenger of God among Seventh-day Adventist members. In it, White describes the "Great Controversy theme" between Jesus Christ and Satan, as played out over the millennia from its start in heaven, to its final end when the remnant who are faithful to God will be taken to heaven at the Second Advent of Christ, and the world is destroyed and recreated. Regarding the reason for writing the book, the author reported, "In this vision at Lovett's Grove (in 1858), most of the matter of the Great Controversy which I had seen ten years before, was repeated, and I was shown that I must write it out."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The name "Great Controversy" first applied to volume 1 of the 4 volume set "Spiritual Gifts" published in 1858. That single volume was then expanded to a 4 volume set entitled "The Spirit of Prophecy" subtitled "The Great Controversy" with the volumes published separately from 1870 to 1884. The last volume was also subtitled, "From the Destruction of Jerusalem, to the End of the Controversy". The 4 volume set was then expanded to 5 volumes entitled "the Conflict of the Ages Series" with the last volume given the name "The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan During the Christian Dispensation" published in 1888. Volume 5 was again expanded and published in 1911. The 1884, 1888, and 1911 books incorporate historical data from other authors.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: This synopsis is only of the current, 1911 edition and its predecessor, the 1888 edition. While the original 1858 edition covered the entire history of sin from its beginning in heaven until it is eradicated in the new earth, these two editions cover just the Christian dispensation.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The book begins with a historical overview, which begins with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, covers the Reformation and Advent movement in detail, and culminates with a lengthy description of the end times. It also outlines several key Seventh-day Adventist doctrines, including the heavenly sanctuary, the investigative judgment and the state of the dead.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Much of the first half of the book is devoted to the historical conflict between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. White writes that the Papacy propagated a corrupt form of Christianity from the time of Constantine I onwards, and during the Middle Ages was opposed only by the Waldensians and other small groups, who preserved an authentic form of Christianity. Beginning with John Wycliffe and Jan Huss and continuing with Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and others, the Reformation led to a partial recovery of biblical truth. In the early 19th century William Miller began to preach that Jesus was about to return to earth; his movement eventually resulted in the formation of the Adventist Church.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The second half of the book is prophetic, looking to a resurgence in papal supremacy. The civil government of the United States will form a union with the Roman Catholic Church as well as with apostate Protestantism, leading to enforcement of a universal Sunday law (the mark of the beast), and a great persecution of Sabbath-keepers immediately prior to the second coming of Jesus. And these will be part of the end time remnant of believers who are faithful to God, which will be sealed and manifested just prior to the second coming of Jesus.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The official Ellen G. White Estate web site views the 1888 version as the original "Great Controversy," with the 1911 edition being the only revision.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: While working to complete the book in 1884, White wrote, "I want to get it out as soon as possible, for our people need it so much... I have been unable to sleep nights, for thinking of the important things to take place... Great things are before us, and we want to call the people from their indifference to get ready."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In the 1911 edition preface, the author states the primary purpose of the book to be "to trace the history of the controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to shed a light on the fast approaching struggle of the future."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: There are four major editions of the book commonly called "The Great Controversy". While currently all editions printed by Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses are based on the 1911 edition, the first three editions have also been reprinted by Seventh-day Adventist publishing houses as facsimile reproductions, and several Seventh-day Adventist laymembers have reprinted them in various formats, with various titles also.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In 1858, at Lovett's Grove, Ohio, Sunday, 14 March, a funeral was held in a schoolhouse where Ellen and James White were holding meetings, James was asked to speak and Ellen was moved to bear her testimony. Part way through her talk, she went into a two-hour vision in front of the congregation. The vision mostly concerned the matter of the "great controversy," which she had seen ten years before (1848). She was told that she must write it out. The next day on a train they began arranging plans for writing and publishing the future book immediately on their return home. At a stopover, Ellen experienced a stroke of paralysis, which made writing virtually impossible.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: For several weeks afterward, Ellen could not feel pressure on her hand or cold water poured on her head. At first, she wrote but one page in a day and then rested for three. But as she progressed, her strength increased, and by the time she finished the book, all effects of the stroke were gone. The book was completed by mid-August and subsequently published as "Spiritual Gifts", Vol. 1,: "The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels".


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: It is written in the first-person present tense, with the phrase "I saw" being used 161 times to refer to the author's experience in receiving the vision given to enable her to write this book. The book describes the whole history of sin chronologically, from before sin ever entered the universe to after its final destruction in The New Earth.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Plans were laid in the late 1860s for the "Spirit of Prophecy" series, an expansion of the 1858 "Great Controversy" theme into four volumes, designed especially for Seventh-day Adventist reading. Volume 1, dealing with Old Testament history, was published in 1870. The New Testament history required two volumes which were published in 1877 and 1878.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: For volume 4, Ellen was instructed through vision to present an outline of the controversy between Christ and Satan as it developed in the Christian dispensation to prepare the mind of the reader to understand clearly the controversy going on in the present day. She explained:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His Word, and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known to others that which has thus been revealed—to trace the history of the controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to shed a light on the fast approaching struggle of the future. The great events which have marked the progress of reform in past ages, are matters of history, well known and universally acknowledged by the Protestant world; they are facts which none can gainsay. The facts having been condensed into as little space as seemed consistent with a proper understanding of their application."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Much of this history had passed before her in vision but not all the details and not always in precise sequence. In a statement read on October 30, 1911, carrying Ellen's written endorsement, W. C. White said:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "She (Ellen) made use of good and clear historical statements to help make plain to the reader the things which she is endeavoring to present. When I was a mere boy, I heard her read D'Aubigne's "History of the Reformation" to my father. She read to him a large part, if not the whole, of the five volumes. She has read other histories of the Reformation. This has helped her to locate and describe many of the events and the movements presented to her in vision."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: While verbs used are still generally present tense, the first person aspect is not present. The book was published in two bindings, one, olive in color, carrying the title "The Great Controversy", the other in black cloth titled "Spirit of Prophecy", volume 4. The book was sold to both Seventh-day Adventists and the general public. Fifty thousand copies were distributed within three years' time.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The 1884 Great Controversy had enjoyed escalating sales. In 1887, C. H. Jones, manager of Pacific Press, informed Ellen that they needed to completely reset the type for the book because the old type was worn out. This was, therefore, a good time to improve and make corrections to the book.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The 1884 book was reaching beyond the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists. Yet the terminology and, in some cases, the content was directed largely to Adventists. Expressions familiar to Adventists were sometimes incomprehensible to the ordinary reader. Also, some subjects were too briefly treated because the readers were expected to be familiar with them. Some adaptation of wording seemed desirable and also changing of the verb tense from present to past.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: At that time, Ellen was living in Europe, the land of Reformation history, a subject that is an important part of the book. Accordingly, she added a chapter on Huss and Jerome of Prague, who had previously been but briefly mentioned. More was added about Zwingli and John Calvin. Other chapters were enlarged and important additions were made about the sanctuary. Additional scriptures were introduced and footnote references were increased.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The book was also translated into French and German. The translators and proofreaders, along with Ellen and her editors, would read, discuss, and translate chapters of the book as it was being reviewed for the new edition. By this means, the translators got the spirit of the work and so could improve the translation.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: The introduction describes the work of God's prophets and details God's commission to her to write the book:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the long-continued conflict between good and evil have been opened to the writer of these pages. From time to time I have been permitted to behold the working, in different ages, of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God's holy law.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: She wrote, "While writing the manuscript of "Great Controversy" I was often conscious of the presence of the angels of God... And many times the scenes about which I was writing were presented to me anew in visions of the night, so that they were fresh and vivid in my mind."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In the 1884 "Great Controversy", Ellen quoted from D'Aubigne, Wylie, etc. In this enlargement, she brought in considerably more of such materials. At times she quoted, at times paraphrased, and at times depicted, in her own words, the events of history that formed the vehicle for presenting the larger picture, the behind-the-scenes controversy, that had been opened up to her in vision. In keeping with the thinking in those times, she and those associated with her did not consider this use of available materials as a matter that called for specific recognition.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: By 1907, so many copies had been printed that repairs had to be made on the most badly worn plates. At the same time, the illustrations were improved and a subject index was added. Then in 1910, C. H. Jones, the manager of Pacific Press, wrote saying that the plates were totally worn out and needed to be replaced before another printing could be done. Since White owned the printing plates, whatever would be done with "The Great Controversy" had to be done under her direction and at her expense.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: At first, the procedures seemed routine and uncomplicated. No alterations in the text were contemplated, beyond technical corrections as might be suggested by Miss Mary Steward, a proofreader of long experience and member of Ellen's staff. However, Ellen White decided to examine the book closely and make changes as needed:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "When I learned that "the Great Controversy" must be reset, I determined that we would have everything closely examined, to see if the truths it contained were stated in the very best manner, to convince those not of our faith that the Lord had guided and sustained me in the writing of its pages."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In addition, Willie White, Ellen's son and agent, following Ellen's desires, sought helpful suggestions from others. He reported:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "We took counsel with the men of the Publishing Department, with State canvassing agents, and with members of the publishing committees, not only in Washington, D.C., but in California, and I asked them to kindly call our attention to any passages that needed to be considered in connection with the resetting of the book."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Suggestions from around the world were received. These were blended into a group of points to study, first by Ellen's staff and finally by Ellen herself. While Ellen delegated the details of the work to members of her experienced office staff, she carried the responsibility for changes in the text. She was ultimate judge and final reviewer of the manuscript.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: When the type was set and proof sheets were available from the publishers, a marked set, showing clearly both the old reading and the new, was submitted to Ellen for careful reading and approval. By early July 1911, the book was in the binderies of Pacific Press and the Review and Herald.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In a letter to A. G. Daniells, White wrote in August 1910, shortly before the 1911 edition was published:


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: "Message after message has come to me from the Lord concerning—the dangers surrounding you and Elder Prescott. I have seen that Satan would have been greatly pleased to see Elders Prescott and Daniells undertake the work of a general overhauling of our books that have done a good work in the field for years."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: In addition to the major Adventist publishing houses, the book has also been printed and distributed by various independent initiatives. Remnant Publications sent more than 350,000 copies of the book to residents of Charlotte, North Carolina in 2014, after having already sent a million books to people in Manhattan and over 300,000 to people in Washington, D.C.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Walter Rea (book published 1983), Donald McAdams (circulated unpublished manuscript ~1976), and other critics of "The Great Controversy" maintain that the book plagiarizes from a variety of sources.


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: White stated in the introduction to both the 1888 and 1911 editions before any charges of plagiarism: "In some cases where a historian has so grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been quoted; but except in a few instances no specific credit has been given, since they are not quoted for the purpose of citing that writer as authority, but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has occasionally been made of their published works."


title: The Great Controversy (book)

text: Ramik cleared her of breaking the law of the land/time (copyright infringement/piracy), not of plagiarism in the academic sense. In 1911, more than 70 years before charges of plagiarism, White wrote in the introduction to "The Great Controversy" her reason for quoting, in some cases without giving due credit, certain historians whose "statements affords a ready and forcible presentation on the subject." That means that she acknowledged the charges of plagiarism and pleaded guilty (in the academic sense, not juridically).


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The 1992 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament following the National Basketball Association's 1991-92 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Chicago Bulls defeating the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan was named NBA Finals MVP for the second straight year.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The Blazers won their second Western Conference title in the past three years, third overall in franchise history, behind the leadership of Clyde Drexler.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The Jazz made the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. They returned in 1994 and 1996 before finally breaking through in 1997.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The fourth-year Miami Heat became the first of the 1988 and 1989 expansion teams to make the playoffs, though they were swept in the first round by the Bulls. In 2006, the Heat would become the first of these teams to win the NBA title.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the first year since 1987 that the Bulls and Pistons did not meet in the playoffs. They did not meet again until 2007.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the first time since 1986, that the Pistons did not reach the Eastern Conference Finals, as well as, losing in the first round.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The Clippers made it to the playoffs for the first time since 1976, when they were the Buffalo Braves. It was also the first time since the Clippers arrival in Los Angeles in 1984 that both of Los Angeles' NBA teams, the Clippers and Lakers, qualified for postseason play together.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: Despite Magic Johnson's stunning retirement due to testing HIV positive prior to the start of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers still managed to make their 16th straight NBA playoff appearance. It was their first appearance since 1974 without Johnson, Michael Cooper, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: Two games were postponed due to the Los Angeles riots following the Rodney King verdict, one being the Trail Blazers at the Lakers and the other was the Jazz at the Clippers. For safety purposes, both the Lakers and Clippers decided to move their home games to a nearby alternate venue; the Lakers played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada (formerly an alternate home arena of the Jazz in 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons; later host to the 2007 NBA All-Star Game) for Game 4, the Clippers at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California for Game 4 (the Clippers returned to Anaheim at Arrowhead Pond in 1994 as an alternate venue and played there until 1999 whenever the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was unavailable).


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: Game 4 of the Blazers-Suns series was the last game ever played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It was a long game which lasted two overtimes and broke the NBA's playoff game record for points scored in one game, the Trail Blazers outlasting the Suns by a score of 153-151.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: The Celtics' first round sweep of the Pacers would be their last playoff series win until 2002. After losing in the second round to Cleveland, Larry Bird retired after 13 seasons. As for the Cavs, it was their first Conference Finals appearance since 1976, but fell to the Bulls in 6 games. They would not return again until 2007.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first meeting.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning one series apiece.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Warriors winning the first meeting.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first three meetings.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning the first two meetings.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Suns winning two of the first three meetings.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first two meetings.


title: 1992 NBA playoffs

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Trail Blazers winning the first meeting.


title: Dubai Creek

text: Dubai Creek () has been described as a natural saltwater creek, tidal inlet, and watercourse or waterway in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It extends about inwards and forms a natural port that has traditionally been used for trade and transport. The creek ranges from in width while the average depth is about . Previously, it extended to Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary but as part of the new Business Bay Canal and Dubai Canal, it extends a further to the Persian Gulf. Some sources say that the creek historically extended as far inland as Al Ain, and that the Ancient Greeks called it River Zara.


title: Dubai Creek

text: In the 1950s, extensive development of the creek began, including dredging and construction of breakwaters. A number of bridges allow movement of vehicles across the creek while abras are used as taxis. The banks and route alongside the creek houses notable government, business and residential areas. A number of tourist locations and hotels are situated along the creek.


title: Dubai Creek

text: Historically, the creek divided the city into two main sections – Deira and Bur Dubai. It was along the Bur Dubai creek area that members of the Bani Yas tribe first settled in the 19th century, establishing the Al Maktoum dynasty in the city. In the early 20th century, the creek, though incapable then of supporting large scale transportation, served as a minor port for dhows coming from as far away as India or East Africa. Although it impeded the entry of ships due to current flow, the creek remained an important element in establishing the commercial position of Dubai, being the only port or harbour in the city. Dubai's pearling industry, which formed the main sector of the city's economy, was based primarily on expeditions in the creek, prior to the invention of cultured pearls in the 1930s. Fishing, also an important industry at the time, was also based along the creek, whose warm and shallow waters supported a wide variety of marine life. Dhows used for purposes of fishing were also built on the foreshore of the creek.


title: Dubai Creek

text: The importance of the creek as a site of commercial activity was a justification to introduce improvements to allow larger vessels to transit, as well as to facilitate loading and unloading activities. This led, in 1955, to a plan to develop the creek, which involved dredging shallow areas, building of breakwaters, and developing its beach to become a quay suitable for loading and unloading of cargo. The creek was first dredged in 1961 to permit draft vessels to cross through the creek at all times. The creek was dredged again in the 1960s and 1970s so that it could offer anchorage for local and coastal shipping of up to about 500 tons. The dredging opened up the creek to much more continuous traffic of merchandise, including the development of re-export, and gave Dubai an advantage over Sharjah, the other dominant trading centre in the region at the time.


title: Dubai Creek

text: Al Maktoum Bridge, the first bridge connecting Bur Dubai and Deira was constructed in 1963. Although the importance of the creek as a port has diminished with the development of the Jebel Ali Port, smaller facilities, such as Port Saeed, continue to exist along the creek, providing porting to traders from the region and the subcontinent.


title: Dubai Creek

text: In September 2007, a Dhs. 484 million (US$ 132 million) extension of the creek was finished, which now ends just south of the Metropolitan Hotel and projects on Shaikh Zayed Road. A final 2.2-kilometre extension, called the Dubai Water Canal was inaugurated 9 November 2016, crossing Shaikh Zayed Road in a northerly route, passing through Safa Park and then through Jumeirah 2. The channel is expected to continue through Jumeirah Beach Park where it will reach the shores of the Persian Gulf. The extension is part of the Dubai's Business Bay development.


title: Dubai Creek

text: Additionally, a new project consisting of seven islands known as Dubai Creek Harbour was proposed to be built on Dubai Creek. The centerpiece of this project would be the Dubai Creek Tower, which is set to become the tallest building in the world. Three additional bridges are being planned for Dubai Creek, which are the Seventh Crossing, the Al Shindagha Bridge, and the Fifth Bridge.


title: Dubai Creek

text: The Dubai Festival City Mall on Dubai Creek opened in 2007. Mohammed Bin Rashid Library is being built in the Al Jaddaf area on the Creek. Dhows are constructed in this area too on the bankside. The Green Line of the Dubai Metro terminates at the Dubai Creek metro station. Close to this metro station is the Al Jaddaf Marine Station, operating ferries on the Creek, including across the Creek to the Dubai Festival City Mall.


title: Dubai Creek

text: The creek's initial inlet into mainland Dubai is along the Deira Corniche and Al Ras areas of eastern Dubai and along the Al Shindagha area of western Dubai. It then progresses south-eastward through the mainland, passing through Port Saeed and Dubai Creek Park. The creek's natural ending is at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, from its origin at the Persian Gulf. The traditional form of transport between the eastern and western sections of Dubai via the creek was through "abras", which continue to operate in Dubai. In addition, the eastern and western sections are linked via four bridges (Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Garhoud Bridge, Business Bay Crossing, and Floating Bridge) and one tunnel (Al Shindagha Tunnel).


title: Dubai Creek

text: The creek has been extended by through Business Bay, Dubai Canal and through Jumeirah into the Persian Gulf.


title: Dubai Creek

text: Including the most remarkable buildings alongside the Deira side of the Creek are the Deira Twin Towers, the old Dubai Creek Tower, Sheraton Dubai Creek, National Bank of Dubai, and Chamber of Commerce. On the other side of Al Maktoum Bridge along Dubai Creek is Dubai Creek Park, one of the largest parks in Dubai.


title: Dubai Creek

text: The creek is also home to the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, comprising an 18-hole tournament golf course, clubhouses, residential development and the Park Hyatt hotel.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Karim Asad Ahmad Khan KC (born 30 March 1970) is a British lawyer and specialist in international criminal law and international human rights law who has served as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court since 2021.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Following his appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, he was, until 2021, an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and served as the Special Adviser and Head of the UN Investigative Team for the Promotion of Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD), which was established pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2379 (2017) to support domestic efforts to hold the Islamic State accountable for acts that may amount to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Iraq.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: On 12 February 2021, Khan was elected the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Educated at Silcoates School, Khan earned an LLB degree and AKC from King's College London. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Lincoln's Inn in 1992. He later attended Wolfson College at Oxford University as a Doctoral candidate (D.Phil.) in law, although he did not complete the course and does not hold a Doctorate. Between 1993 and 1996 Khan was a Crown Prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, as well as a Senior Crown Prosecutor in 1995.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: From 1997, Khan worked as a Legal Officer at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) between 1997 and 1998. He later served as Legal Adviser at the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) until 2000.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Between 2006 and 2007 Khan was lead defence counsel to former President of Liberia Charles Taylor before the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Khan spent several years engaged in leading cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). In 2008, he was appointed Lead Counsel to former "Le Monde" journalist Florence Hartmann, who had served as chief spokesperson to ICTY and ICTR prosecutor Carla del Ponte, when she was charged with contempt of court. Between 2008 and 2010, he was engaged as Lead Counsel before the ICC representing Sudanese rebel leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda, the first ICC suspect to voluntarily surrender to the jurisdiction of the Court. In January 2011, he was instructed as Lead Counsel to represent Francis Muthaura before the ICC in relation to the post-election violence in 2007-2008. He later served as Lead Counsel for Deputy President of Kenya William Ruto before the ICC, and Lead Counsel for Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Fatmir Limaj before the EULEX Court in Kosovo from 2014 until 2017. He also served as the Lead Counsel for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and Baghdadi Mahmudi at the ICC.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Khan represented a group of Anglophone human rights lawyers charged with terrorism and other offences before the Military Court in Yaoundé, Cameroon, as international counsel from February 2017 until September 2017. He led the team that advised Cham and Albanian communities in relation to their expulsion from Greece, and subsequent expropriation of property after the Second World War. He was lead counsel for a large victims case in Sierra Leone arising out of the ECOMOG intervention in 1999–2002, and he represented more than 100,000 victim claimants from the Kipsigi and Talai communities in Kenya seeking redress for alleged human rights violations committed during the colonial period.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Until June 2021, Khan was based in Baghdad, Iraq, and served as Special Adviser and Head of the Investigative Team for the United Nations Investigative Team for the Promotion of Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da'esh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD), established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017). Khan led the team in achieving its mandate in the collection, storage, and preservation of evidence related to crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL; the promotion throughout the world of accountability for the crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL; to work with survivors in recognition of their interest in the achievement of accountability for crimes to which they have been subjected; to respect the sovereignty of the Government of Iraq in performing this investigation.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Khan met with government, religious, and community leadership across Iraq as part of his mandate at UNITAD.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: In February 2021, Khan was elected chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on a nine-year term during the second round of voting, receiving votes from 72 out of 123 member states (62 needed). Khan was the third chief prosecutor elected in the ICC's history, and the first one elected by secret ballot. Khan had been nominated by the United Kingdom. He took office in June 2021, replacing Fatou Bensouda.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: In 2022, Khan stated about the war in Ukraine "We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed"


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Between 1996 and 1997, Khan was a member of the Law Commission of England and Wales. He is a life member of the Human Rights Institute, International Bar Association (IBA), and a founding director of the Peace and Justice Initiative, a Hague-based NGO focused on effective implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court at national levels.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Khan served until 2018 as a member of the executive council and the victims committee of the International Criminal Court Bar Association, and he was the president of the ICCBA from June 2017 to June 2018. At the end of his tenure, Khan was appointed the first honorary president of the ICCBA. In July 2018, he was recognised as a worldwide ambassador of the African Bar Association.


title: Karim Ahmad Khan

text: Khan is mixed race, Pakistani father and white British mother. One of his brothers is the former independent (previously Conservative) British MP Imran Ahmad Khan.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: In mathematical dynamics, discrete time and continuous time are two alternative frameworks within which variables that evolve over time are modeled.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Discrete time views values of variables as occurring at distinct, separate "points in time", or equivalently as being unchanged throughout each non-zero region of time ("time period")—that is, time is viewed as a discrete variable. Thus a non-time variable jumps from one value to another as time moves from one time period to the next. This view of time corresponds to a digital clock that gives a fixed reading of 10:37 for a while, and then jumps to a new fixed reading of 10:38, etc. In this framework, each variable of interest is measured once at each time period. The number of measurements between any two time periods is finite. Measurements are typically made at sequential integer values of the variable "time".


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Unlike a continuous-time signal, a discrete-time signal is not a function of a continuous argument; however, it may have been obtained by sampling from a continuous-time signal. When a discrete-time signal is obtained by sampling a sequence at uniformly spaced times, it has an associated sampling rate.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Discrete-time signals may have several origins, but can usually be classified into one of two groups:


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: In contrast, continuous time views variables as having a particular value only for an infinitesimally short amount of time. Between any two points in time there are an infinite number of other points in time. The variable "time" ranges over the entire real number line, or depending on the context, over some subset of it such as the non-negative reals. Thus time is viewed as a continuous variable.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: whose domain, which is often time, is a continuum (e.g., a connected interval of the reals). That is, the function's domain is an uncountable set. The function itself need not to be continuous. To contrast, a discrete-time signal has a countable domain, like the natural numbers.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: A signal of continuous amplitude and time is known as a continuous-time signal or an analog signal. This (a signal) will have some value at every instant of time. The electrical signals derived in proportion with the physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, sound etc. are generally continuous signals. Other examples of continuous signals are sine wave, cosine wave, triangular wave etc.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: The signal is defined over a domain, which may or may not be finite, and there is a functional mapping from the domain to the value of the signal. The continuity of the time variable, in connection with the law of density of real numbers, means that the signal value can be found at any arbitrary point in time.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: In many disciplines, the convention is that a continuous signal must always have a finite value, which makes more sense in the case of physical signals.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: For some purposes, infinite singularities are acceptable as long as the signal is integrable over any finite interval (for example, the formula_7 signal is not integrable at infinity, but formula_8 is).


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Any analog signal is continuous by nature. Discrete-time signals, used in digital signal processing, can be obtained by sampling and quantization of continuous signals.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Continuous signal may also be defined over an independent variable other than time. Another very common independent variable is space and is particularly useful in image processing, where two space dimensions are used.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Discrete time is often employed when empirical measurements are involved, because normally it is only possible to measure variables sequentially. For example, while economic activity actually occurs continuously, there being no moment when the economy is totally in a pause, it is only possible to measure economic activity discretely. For this reason, published data on, for example, gross domestic product will show a sequence of quarterly values.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: When one attempts to empirically explain such variables in terms of other variables and/or their own prior values, one uses time series or regression methods in which variables are indexed with a subscript indicating the time period in which the observation occurred. For example, "y" might refer to the value of income observed in unspecified time period "t", "y" to the value of income observed in the third time period, etc.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Moreover, when a researcher attempts to develop a theory to explain what is observed in discrete time, often the theory itself is expressed in discrete time in order to facilitate the development of a time series or regression model.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: On the other hand, it is often more mathematically tractable to construct theoretical models in continuous time, and often in areas such as physics an exact description requires the use of continuous time. In a continuous time context, the value of a variable "y" at an unspecified point in time is denoted as "y"("t") or, when the meaning is clear, simply as "y".


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Discrete time makes use of difference equations, also known as recurrence relations. An example, known as the logistic map or logistic equation, is


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: in which "r" is a parameter in the range from 2 to 4 inclusive, and "x" is a variable in the range from 0 to 1 inclusive whose value in period "t" nonlinearly affects its value in the next period, "t"+1. For example, if formula_10 and formula_11, then for "t"=1 we have formula_12, and for "t"=2 we have formula_13.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Another example models the adjustment of a price "P" in response to non-zero excess demand for a product as


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: where formula_15 is the positive speed-of-adjustment parameter which is less than or equal to 1, and where formula_16 is the excess demand function.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: Continuous time makes use of differential equations. For example, the adjustment of a price "P" in response to non-zero excess demand for a product can be modeled in continuous time as


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: where the left side is the first derivative of the price with respect to time (that is, the rate of change of the price), formula_18 is the speed-of-adjustment parameter which can be any positive finite number, and formula_16 is again the excess demand function.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: A variable measured in discrete time can be plotted as a step function, in which each time period is given a region on the horizontal axis of the same length as every other time period, and the measured variable is plotted as a height that stays constant throughout the region of the time period. In this graphical technique, the graph appears as a sequence of horizontal steps. Alternatively, each time period can be viewed as a detached point in time, usually at an integer value on the horizontal axis, and the measured variable is plotted as a height above that time-axis point. In this technique, the graph appears as a set of dots.


title: Discrete time and continuous time

text: The values of a variable measured in continuous time are plotted as a continuous function, since the domain of time is considered to be the entire real axis or at least some connected portion of it.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroading with the chartering in 1848 of the Chicago and Aurora Railroad, a direct ancestor line of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, which lends Burlington to the names of various merger-produced successors.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: Burlington Northern acquired the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway on December 31, 1996, to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (later renamed BNSF Railway), which was owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation. That corporation was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 2009 which is controlled by investor Warren Buffett.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The Burlington Northern Railroad was the product of the merger of four major railroads: the Great Northern Railway, the Northern Pacific Railway, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The four railroads shared a very intertwined history, due to the efforts of James J. Hill, the railroad tycoon who had founded the Great Northern Railway. Hill purchased an interest in the Northern Pacific in 1896 as the railway endured a period of financial turmoil. Hill attempted to merge the two railways but was rebuffed by the leaders of the Northern Pacific.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: In 1901, the two railways teamed up to purchase nearly all shares of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, giving both a needed connection to Chicago, the nation's railroad hub. That same year, came the next attempt to merge the railroads with the establishment of the Northern Securities Company, a trust that controlled all three, with Hill serving as president. The company was sued in 1902 under the Sherman Antitrust Act and in 1904 the Justice Department won in the Supreme Court ruling "Northern Securities Co. v. United States."


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: Although the ruling forced the three companies to be operated independently, they were still closely linked, even sharing a headquarters building, the Railroad and Bank Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1905, the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was founded. Like the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, this new railroad was co-owned by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific and allowed both to access the Pacific Northwest.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The four railroads were finally cleared to merge on March 2, 1970, after a legal challenge that once again went to the Supreme Court. A newly established holding company, Burlington Northern, Inc. purchased the four railroad companies and merged them into the Burlington Northern Railroad.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: To further expand the Burlington Northern, a single track was constructed in 1972 into the Powder River Basin to serve various coal mines. The expansion was a source of traffic unprecedented in United States railroad history. In 1971, the first full year for the new railroad, trains carried 64,116 million revenue ton-miles of freight, by 1979 the total was 135,004 million. Most of the increase was attributed to Powder River coal from Wyoming.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The Burlington Northern, along with handling freight trains, briefly operated inter-city passenger trains. The BN had started operations just a matter of weeks before the end of service of the original "California Zephyr", which had been operated by the CB&Q, in conjunction with the Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific railroads, and continued to operate the "North Coast Limited", "Mainstreeter", "Empire Builder", "Western Star", "Denver Zephyr", "Gopher", and "International", until Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in May 1971, thus becoming the last "new" Class I railroad to operate its own passenger trains. The BN also operated a commuter line inherited from the CB&Q from Chicago Union Station to Aurora, Illinois. This line is still owned and operated to this day by the BNSF Railway under a purchase-of-service agreement with Metra.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: In May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted, the BNR owned the land around the summit of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. In the 19th century, the United States government distributed land to railroads as a way to open up the American West and the 9,677-foot peak was granted to the Northern Pacific. It was inherited in the 1970 merger by Burlington Northern. Following the eruption the land including the volcano was subsequently transferred in a land swap between the railroad and the United States Forest Service so the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument could be established.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: On November 21, 1980, the St. Louis–San Francisco Railway was acquired, giving the railroad trackage as far south as Florida.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: In the early 1980s two independently operated railroads, owned by Burlington Northern Inc. were absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad; the Colorado and Southern Railway was absorbed in 1981, followed by the Fort Worth and Denver Railway in 1982.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The railroad relocated its headquarters from Saint Paul to Seattle, Washington in 1981, as well as its parent company and sister companies.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: All of Burlington Northern, Inc's non-rail operations were spun off to a new company, Burlington Resources in 1988.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The railroad once again relocated its headquarters in 1988, moving from Seattle to Fort Worth, Texas.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: On September 22, 1995, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway merged with the Burlington Northern to create the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. However, the merger was not official until December 31, 1996, when a common dispatching system was established, Santa Fe's non-union dispatchers were unionized and the implementation of Santa Fe's train identification codes systemwide. On January 24, 2005, the railroad shortened its name to BNSF Railway.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: The Burlington Northern traversed the most northerly routes of any railroad in the western United States. These routes started at Chicago, Illinois and ran west-northwest to La Crosse, Wisconsin. From here the routes continued northwest through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to Grand Forks, North Dakota. From Grand Forks the routes ran west through North Dakota, Montana, and Idaho to Spokane, Washington. The former GN routed through North Dakota/Northern Montana, crossing the continental divide at Marias Pass, while the former NP line routed through the southern part of Montana (which was spun off to Montana Rail Link in 1987), crossing the continental divide at Mullan and Homestake Passes. At Spokane the routes split into three. The former Great Northern route ran west to Wenatchee, Washington, crossed under the Cascade Range at New Cascade Tunnel on Stevens Pass, and descended to the Puget Sound region through Everett, Washington. The former Northern Pacific turned southwest towards the Tri-Cities, then northwest to Yakima, Washington, and crossed under the Cascade Range at Stampede Tunnel, descending to the Green River Valley at Auburn, Washington where it connected with existing NP lines from British Columbia to Portland, Oregon. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle ran southwest to the Tri-Cities, then followed the north bank of the Columbia River to Vancouver, Washington.With the acquisition of the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway the route was extended into the South Central and Southeastern United States.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: "Transport Statistics" shows BN operated 23609 miles of line and 34691 miles of track at the end of 1970; it shows 4547 SLSF miles of line not including QA&P and AT&N. At the end of 1981 BN showed 27374 miles of line and 40041 miles of track.


title: Burlington Northern Railroad

text: At the time of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens the summit of the volcano that was blasted away was owned by Burlington Northern. Following the eruption, Burlington Northern agreed to a land swap with the U.S. government and exchanged its square mile of land on the mountain for national forest land elsewhere to allow for the creation of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument to preserve the volcano and allow for its aftermath to be scientifically studied.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Karen conflict is an armed conflict in Kayin State, Myanmar (formerly known as Karen State, Burma). It is a part of the wider internal conflict in Myanmar, the world's longest ongoing civil war.


title: Karen conflict

text: Karen nationalists have been fighting for an independent state, known as Kawthoolei, since 1949. The Karen National Union and its Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) are the most prominent Karen rebel groups. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced through the course of the conflict, many of whom have fled to neighbouring Thailand and remain confined to refugee camps. Karen nationalists in the region also have connections with other separatist groups.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Karen people are one of the largest ethnic minorities in Myanmar with a population of 5 to 7 million. There are around twenty different Karen dialects, of which Sgaw and Pwo are the most widely spoken. The Karen languages are part of the Tibeto-Burman languages which are a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages.


title: Karen conflict

text: It is generally agreed that the Karen began to arrive in what is today known as Myanmar around 500 BC. The Karen are believed to have come from the Mongolian region, having travelled south through three river valleys: the Mekong Valley, the Irrawaddy Valley and the Salween valley. The Karen traditionally have five oral legends which explain their ancestry. The word 'Karen' is derived from different Tai and Burmese names for a collective term referring to people in the forest and in the mountains. The term Karen was never used by the people who are referred to by the term today. It was not until the nineteenth century that Christian missionaries from America and British colonial officers labelled these people 'Karen'.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Karen are not a homogenous group. Different groups of Karen did not share the same history within the kingdoms of pre-colonial Burma or the British colonial empire. Some Karen fulfilled functions as ministers in urbanised kingdoms like the Pegu kingdom in the sixteenth century. Other Karen developed a subsistence way of living in the forests bordering Thailand and some Karen still practice this way of life. Around 20% of the Karen are Christian, whereas 75% are Buddhists. A small percentage of Karen are animist, and in the lowland river delta the so-called 'black Karen', a small minority, is Muslim. The Sgaw speaking population constitutes around 80% of the total Karen population and they are mainly Buddhist.


title: Karen conflict

text: The speakers of Pwo Karen live in the plains of central and lower Burma and were assimilated into the dominant Mon social system throughout history. These 'Mon-Karen' or "Talaing Kayin" had a special status and were an essential part of Mon court life. The "Bama Kayin" or Sgaw Karen were either absorbed into Burmese society or pushed towards the mountains bordering Thailand in the east and Southeast of Burma by the Burmese population. The Karen living in Burma’s eastern hills named the Dawna Range and the Tenasserim Hills bordering Thailand developed their own distinct society and history. The hill Karen communities developed a subsistence way of life.


title: Karen conflict

text: Today, about three million Karen living in the Irrawaddy river delta and they have developed an urbanised society based on the agriculture of rice. Karen communities are religiously, linguistically, culturally separated and geographically dispersed.


title: Karen conflict

text: The outbreak of the Karen conflict has its roots in the British colonial era. In the nineteenth century, certain Karen hill tribes were Christianized by American missionaries. During the conquering of Burma in the nineteenth century, the British made use of the existing antagonism between Burmans and Karens. Karen assisted British armies in the Anglo-Burmese wars. At the same time, American missionaries Christianized the Sgaw Karen and helped these Karen climb to higher positions in Burmese society.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Christian Karen developed a loyalist relationship with the British regime. Through Christian education the Karen were taught how to speak, read, and write English. This process led to 'Karenization' by the British colonial administrative body. Exclusion of ethnic Burmese from the army and other colonial state bodies had a significant impact on Burmese resisting the colonial state.


title: Karen conflict

text: The first American missionary arrived in Burma in 1813. The first recorded Karen to convert to Christianity was on 16 May 1828. American Baptists quickly discovered that the Sgaw Karen were easier to convert to Christianity than the Pwo, as the Pwo Karen had just been converted to Buddhism en masse before the arrival of the missionaries.


title: Karen conflict

text: The introduction to and the acceptance of Christianity by the Sgaw Karen provided a way to distinguish themselves from Burmese Buddhists. To convert more Karen, the missionaries learned their language. Subsequently, they modernised the Karen script using the Burmese alphabet. Dr. Jonathan Wade was involved in producing dictionaries and establishing grammar rules for both the Pwo and Sgaw Karen dialects. In 1853 Dr. Francis Mason published the first bible in the Sgaw Karen Language. A Pwo Karen bible was also published by Reverend D.L Brayton.


title: Karen conflict

text: Between 1860 and 1890, many Karen were converted to Christianity. In 1875, the Baptist college was opened in Rangoon, and would later be known as 'Karen College'. Schools were built and through education the Christian Karen learned English. This group of Karen were thus able to improve their economic, educational and social situation. In 1922, Reverend H. Marshall wrote:


title: Karen conflict

text: "A considerable number of Karen young men and a few young women are college graduates and are leading useful lives in various communities, as may be seen by looking over the list of officers in government positions in the Education, Forest, Police, Military and subordinate branches."


title: Karen conflict

text: The American missionaries also tried to explain the origin of the Karen, the missionaries did so by creating the category of Karen and Karen history and traditions. The missionaries modernised the Karen script and translated the Bible into Pwo and Sgaw Karen. The modernisation of the Karen script and the growth in literacy among Sgaw Karen led to a stimulation of secular Karen literature and journals. In 1842 the Baptist Mission began publication in Sgaw Karen of a monthly magazine called 'The Morning Star' (Hsa Tu Gaw), which continued all the way up to the takeover of General Ne Win in 1962. The missionaries taught these people to feel group pride and dignity. This in turn led to a Karen national consciousness.


title: Karen conflict

text: The American missionaries focused on the hill tribes and not on the valley peoples of Burma. The loyalist relationship which subsequently developed between the British and these groups of Karen also stemmed from the position these Karen held within Burmese history. Never before had these hill tribe Karen developed their own kingdom or gained any political or economical influence. Aligning themselves with the British was seen as an opportunity to improve their lives. At some point the 'thirst for Christian education', as written by a missionary, was so big that the 'Eastern Karen' demanded a permanent teacher. Otherwise they would apply to other missionary churches.


title: Karen conflict

text: The relationship between the Karen and the colonial British created much resentment among the Burman population. At the same time, the authority of the Burmese state in the nineteenth century pushed the Karen more towards the British. Britain did not control the whole of Burma before 1886. In Burmese controlled territory Karen were not allowed to educate themselves at these American Baptist established schools. Many Karen were tortured and killed. The Karen who allied themselves to the British helped them gain total control of Burma in 1886.


title: Karen conflict

text: Literacy, knowledge of the English language and access to Christian education gave the Sgaw Karen an advantage over other Karen linguistic groups of Buddhist Karen by the British colonial government. Their Christian identity helped to develop a loyalist relationship with the British. At the same time, Christian missionaries taught these people to be Karen and thus not Burman. The primary result of the Christianization of the Sgaw Karen is the construction of a Karen identity and their political influence over other Karen groups. Due to their improved economical and social status, the Sgaw Karen were the first group of Karen to develop a feeling for a Karen nation. It was this group who created the first Karen political organisations and therefore always dominated the Karen nationalist movement and its organisation.


title: Karen conflict

text: The British conquered Burma between 1826 and 1886. The Karen provided important military support for the British in these Anglo-Burmese wars. In the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824 to 1826 Karen provided guidance to British armies. Burmese authorities tried to punish the involved Karen for this. Some Karen fled to areas now occupied by the British or put up some form of resistance.


title: Karen conflict

text: After the British conquered the territory which was to be the future state of Burma the British colonial state had a hard time pacifying the country. Burmese resisted the authority of the colonial state on a continual basis. After the Burmese capital of Mandalay was conquered by the British in the Third Anglo-Burmese War in 1885 with help of some Karen, Burmese in the southern delta started a rebellion. During this crucial period in which the British proclaimed martial law, American missionaries successfully lobbied to recruit more Karens as auxiliaries to put down Burmese rebellions throughout the colony. The success surprised the British and the missionaries proudly commented on the results.


title: Karen conflict

text: The colonial policy was driven by the quest for resources for the capitalist market system of the expanding British empire. The riverplains of Burma were used for the production of agricultural products, while the hill areas surrounding these river plains were of much less economic value to the British. The colonial policy based these two political entities developed. Central Burma was governed through direct rule and the frontier area, where most ethnic minorities lived and still live was governed through indirect rule.


title: Karen conflict

text: To pacify the country mainly Indian, Karen and other ethnic minorities were used. The 'direct and indirect rule' policy has had a huge influence on political developments in postcolonial Burma.


title: Karen conflict

text: In the years 1930–1932, Burmese rebelled against the colonial state in what became known as Saya San Rebellion. The Karen helped to repress this rebellion. Other rebellions Christian and other Karen helped to suppress were the 1936 student strike and the general strike of 1938.


title: Karen conflict

text: In 1937 Burma finally reached the status of an individual colony. Burma was not to be governed from India from that point onwards. Finally a space was created to include Burmese people into the colonial administrative and military bodies. The Burmese nationalist movement started developing in the 1920 and by 1937 saw entering the colonial army as 'collaborating' with the British. Thus the 'Burmese' army continued to be made out of Burma's ethnic minorities.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Karen were the first ethnic group in Burma to establish political organizations. Already in 1840 the Karen Baptist Convention (KBC) was established. This Christian organization trained Karen at conferences which were attended by Karen who had rarely left their village. The first Karen political organisation was established in 1881 and carried the name Karen National Association (KNA). The KNA aimed to represent all Karen regardless of language, religion or location. From the beginning however the KNA was dominated by Christian Karen.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Buddhist wing of the Buddhist Karen National Association (BKNA) was only established in 1939. The KNA developed close relations with the British and the BKNA established relations with the Burmese. The KNA assisted the British army in the last Anglo-Burmese war in 1886. Pwo Buddhists resisted the efforts of Christian Karen to represent them in any political organization. There were also Pwo Karen however who were a member of the KNA and were represented by them.


title: Karen conflict

text: The KNA became an important political organization in colonial Burma. In the 1920s the Karen nationalist movement (and at the same time the Burmese nationalist movement) gained momentum. Dr. San C. Po, a lawyer educated in the West and ethnic Karen made the first public announcement of the Karen's aim to create their own state in 1928. The same year a KNA member, Saw Tha Aye Gyi, wrote the Karen national anthem.


title: Karen conflict

text: In 1937 a Karen flag was created, thus symbolising the Karen peoples as a nation. The colonial government appointed the inauguration day of this flag as a public holiday. The British colonial government endorsed the Karen view of their history by these event. The Karen identified themselves as the first inhabitants of Burma. A claim which has had a variation of political consequences in modern-day Burma.


title: Karen conflict

text: The KNA developed into the Karen National Union or KNU in February 1947, one year before independence. The KNU charter of 1947, like the KNA charter of 1881 included all Karen, regardless of subgroup, religion or language. In 1947 the KNU formed the armed wing of the KNU, the Karen National Liberation Army or KNLA. The KNU-KNLA has functioned as a government for half a century. Running the area of what is known as Karen State practically as a government, including levying taxes.


title: Karen conflict

text: The majority of the Karen never supported an armed conflict and have never affiliated with the armed struggle of the KNU-KNLA. The Karen National Union (KNU) controlled areas rarely constitute a Karen majority. Most Karen actually lived outside KNU dominated territory in the past six decades. This fact has always been the main problem for the unification of the Karen in one Karen State.


title: Karen conflict

text: The organisational structure of the KNU has been so successful it has been copied by other insurgent groups in Burma. Each unit of the KNU was self-supporting. Not only the armed units, but also the hospitals and schools were self-supporting. The strength of this strategy is that it is hard to erase such a movement since it is very spread out and lacks a centre. The weakness and disadvantage of the KNU has been that KNU units had trouble getting help from their neighbouring KNU units.


title: Karen conflict

text: Before the outbreak of World War II the Karen nationalist movement was moving completely opposite of the Burmese nationalist movement. The Karen were imagined to be Christian and loyal to Britain. The Burmese nationalist movement was anti-imperialist and Buddhist. In 1941 just before the outbreak of the Second World War in Asia the Karen in the army constituted 35% while the Karen represented 9.34% of the population in Burma. Ethnic Burmans made up 23.7% of the total in the army while they accounted for 75.11% of the total population in Burma. This means that the recruitment of Karen per head of the population was much higher than the recruitment of Burmans.


title: Karen conflict

text: The invasion of the Japanese army in Burma in 1942 was the start of a destructive period for Burma's people and its institutions. To control the country the Japanese allowed a Burmese Independence Army (BIA) to be formed. It was the first time in Burma's history that a specific Burmese national army was formed. For the first time ethnic Burmans were allowed to form a political and military institute. This helped to strengthen Burmese nationalist discourse. One characteristic of the BIA is that they excluded all ethnic minorities because they were associated with the British colonial government. The first Karen battalion was only established in 1943. The establishment of the BIA was to have a big influence on Burma's future since the war in Burma was fought along ethnic lines.


title: Karen conflict

text: The Christian Karen mostly stayed loyal to the British throughout the Japanese occupation and the Second World War. The Karen were of particular importance for British units for their knowledge of the jungle and their bravery. Under guidance and with support of the British a Karen resistance army was built in the eastern hills of Burma. By 1945 their numbers would reach 12,000 Karen soldiers. This Karen army was trained to fight the Japanese and thus the Burmans who cooperated with them. Some British officials made promises to Karen leaders that after the war they would gain independence.


title: Karen conflict

text: These trained Karen established a resistance network with the Karen in the river delta to fight the Japanese. The Japanese discovered this and heavily punished the Karen. During the retreat of the Japanese army in December 1944, Karen armed units were crucial in the defeat of the Japanese at Taungoo. In the Dawna Range the Karen managed to resist Japanese war efforts for a long time. The 12,000 man strong army actually managed to capture and/or kill a retreating army of 50,000 Japanese.


title: Karen conflict

text: After the war there was a strong sense among Karen soldiers that they would be granted their own state by the British because of their war efforts. The sense among Karen veterans that they deserved at least self-determination explains partly the failure of later peacetalks between the KNU and the Tatmadaw.


title: Karen conflict

text: BIA troops attacked ethnic Karen in early 1942 during what is known as the Myaungmya Incident. Four hundred villages to six hundred villages in the Myaungmya District area, 15-30% of the villages in the district, were destroyed and the violence is estimated to have resulted in between 1,800 deaths and 5,000 deaths. The more Buddhist Pwo Karen who suffered from these attacks despite the relative lack of association with the British-aligned Karen began to see themselves as part of Karen nationalist causes. The Myaungmya Incident incited a new shared understanding of "Karen-ness" that had been mostly discursiveiscursive beforehand. The incident laid the foundations for the ethnic conflict we see today to have gone beyond religious lines and involve Buddhist Karen. Aung San himself tried to smooth out in later years.


title: Karen conflict

text: After the defeat of the Japanese the British returned to Burma to continue their colonial rule. But the British returned to a devastated Burma. State institutions were destroyed, the agricultural sector was in ruins and there was no central authority. Burma was ruled by local warlords and a wide variation of armed groups. The BIA under command of Aung San emerged as one of the strongest parties from this chaotic period. To merge the different factions Lord Mountbatten proposed the creation of a two wing army.


title: Karen conflict

text: One wing would consist of Burmans and the other wing of non-Burmans, both would be under the command of a British officer. Eventually the army which was established in mid-1945 in reality were two armies. Each which its own history, traditions and different maps of the future nation. Four Burman Battalions were established together with two Karen people, two Kachin people and 2 Chin people battalions. Aung San's demand for retaining his former PBF units together in the new army was confirmed in the Kandy Conference of 6–7 September 1945 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.


title: Karen conflict

text: The British followed a policy of creating two post-colonial political units in the territory of Burma after World War II. However the influence of Aung San and his Patriotic Burmese Forces (PBF) backed up by the political party Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) grew bigger. The Karen and other minorities were afraid to be forced into a state which would be dominated by Burmans. In August 1945 Karen leaders Saw Ba U Gyi and Sydney Loo-Nee proposed to a British army official to create a new state called 'Karenistan'. In September 1945 a group of Karen drafted a memorial demanding the creation of the United Frontier Karen States.


title: Karen conflict

text: The biggest dilemma for Karen in this period and the future was the territory inhabited by Karen. Mary Callahan, an expert on Burmese Tatmadaw history, writes: "However, some combination of confidence (due to their experiences in prewar and wartime western institutions) and fear of mistreatment by the Burman majority kept Karen leaders in the army and in the society from moving toward a compromise with the AFPFL." In 1946 the Goodwill mission left for London. A delegation of four Karen went to London to state the Karen's case to the British government. They returned without having reached any agreement. One reason for this might be the rise of other ethnic demands from the Kachin, Chin and Shan people.


title: Karen conflict

text: Aung San however tried to incorporate all ethnic minorities into a future Burma. On 12 February 1947 Aung San signed the Panglong Agreement with representatives of the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples. A formal representative delegation of the Karen was absent. Supposedly because the Karen leadership did not believe in the Burman leaderships' determination for the creation of a Karen State. But the KNU's leadership by this time was boycotting all official government organised gatherings.


title: Karen conflict

text: A few days prior to the Panglong Agreement the KNA, Baptist KNA, Buddhist KNA, the KCO and its youth wing established the Karen National Union or the KNU. The KNU used a sharper tone, demanding independence and boycotting constituent Assembly elections. This boycott effectively removed a Karen voice from the critical debates which were to come in the future.


title: Karen conflict

text: In 1947 the Burmese government produced a new constitution, but this document failed to address and resolve the Karen question. On 17 July 1947 the KNU headquarter in Rangoon ordered the establishment of karen fighting units, known as Karen National Defence Organisation or KNDO's. The KNU also established an underground communication line with the Karen Rifles within the Burmese army. In October 1947 the AFPFL government proposed to the KNU to create a Karen state but the KNU refused. The KNU demanded more territory than was included in the proposal.