Austria is unique among Western European countries. It is until now the only country that has granted Muslims the status of a recognized religious community. They were first recognised after Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878. Austria has regulated the religious freedoms of the Muslim community with the so called "Anerkennungsgesetz" ("Act of Recognition"). This law was reactivated in 1979 when the Community of Muslim Believers in Austria ("Islamische Glaubensgemeinschaft in Österreich") was founded. This organization has the right to give lessons of religious education in state schools. It could also collect "church tax", but so far it has not exercised this privilege. It does not build, finance or administer mosques in Austria.
Parallel structures exist within the Islamic religious group. The religious life takes place in mosques belonging to organisations. These organisations represent one of the currents of Turkish, Bosnian and Arab Muslims. Among the Turkish organisations, the "Federation of Turkish-Islamic Associations" is controlled by the Directorate for Religious Affairs, whereas the other groups, such as the "Süleymancı"s and "Milli Görüş" can be seen as branches of the pan-European organisation centered in Germany.
Clever Hans
Clever Hans (in German, der Kluge Hans) was a horse that was supposed to be able to do lots of difficult mathematical sums and solve complicated problems. Later, it was discovered that the horse was giving the right answers by watching the reactions of the people who were watching him.
Hans was a horse that lived in Germany in the early 20th century. He belonged to a man called Wilhelm von Osten. Von Osten was a teacher who taught mathematics at a local school. He was an amateur horse trainer.
This was a time when people were becoming interested in how intelligent animals were. This was largely because of what Charles Darwin had been writing about.
Von Osten taught Hans to add, subtract, multiply, divide, work with fractions, tell the time and date, read and spell and to understand German. If he asked the horse a question such as: "What is 12 plus 12", the horse would tap its hoof 24 times. Von Osten traveled round the country with Hans, showing off his clever horse to the public.
Scientists became interested in Clever Hans. The psychologist Carl Stumpf got a group of people together to study what was happening. His assistant Oskar Pfungst was the main investigator. The horse almost always gave the right answer when he could see his owner. He also gave the right answer if someone else asked him a question. This showed that Von Osten was not deliberately giving him secret signs.
Pfungst provided the horse with blinders, which meant the horse could see only straight ahead. If he could see the person asking him the question, he got the answers right 89% of the time. If the person asking the questions was standing to the side, where the horse could not see, the answers were right only 6% of the time. Also, the horse did not get the answer right if the person asking the question did not know the answer himself.
When the horse could answer the question, it started to tap more slowly when it got near to the right answer. Then it stopped when it got to the right answer. This showed that the horse was watching the person asking the question, and could sense when the person was expecting him to stop. Von Osten probably did not realize that he was giving the horse signals just by looking at him. The horse was, indeed, clever to guess what was wanted of him, but of course it did not understand the mathematics. The final proof was that Pfungst discovered how to signal to the horse, by slightly raising his eyebrows. Then he could get the horse to give any response he wanted.
This effect is often called the "Clever Hans effect". It is used in psychology to describe when an animal or a person senses what someone wants them to do, even though they are not deliberately being given signals. It is important to take this effect into account when testing animals' intelligence or human intelligence. An animal may need to be separated from its trainer if their true intelligence is to be observed. On the other hand, an animal may be upset when it cannot see its trainer, so it might not give the right answer. This problem can often be solved by creating a situation in which the trainer does not know the right answer.
The Clever Hans effect is famous, and has been used in popular culture. For example, there is an episode of "The Simpsons" ("Smart and Smarter"), in which Lisa Simpson becomes jealous of her baby sister Maggie because Maggie seems to be even more intelligent than Lisa. Then it is discovered that Maggie has been watching Lisa so carefully that she could sense what the answers were. Lisa is relieved to discover this.
Rick Mercer
Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian who has been on shows like "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and his own show "The Rick Mercer Report".
Mercer is openly gay.
London Passenger Transport Board
The London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, England, United Kingdom, and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.
Historically, bus routes run by London Transport were grouped by the type of service that they provided.
The 1924 London Traffic Act imposed a numbering scheme known as the Bassom Scheme, named after Chief Constable A.E. Bassom of the Metropolitan Police who made it. Changing and short lines used letter suffixes. The numbers were grouped also by the company that operated the route.
The numbering was revised in 1934 after London Passenger Transport Board was formed:
County of London
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area today known as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888.
Brockley
Brockley is an area and electoral ward of the London Borough of Lewisham in England. It is about south east of Charing Cross, it is covered by the London postcode district SE4.
Downham
Downham is a district occupying much of the boundary between the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Bromley; it is the name of an electoral ward covering much of the area on the Lewisham side. Downham was named in honour of Lord Downham, who was chairman of the London County Council between 1919-20.
Archway, London
Archway is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington.
Howie Morenz
Howard William Morenz (June 21, 1902 – March 8, 1937) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played centre for three National Hockey League (NHL) teams: the Montreal Canadiens (in two stints), the Chicago Black Hawks, and the New York Rangers. Before joining the NHL, Morenz was a very good player in the junior Ontario Hockey Association, where his team played for the Memorial Cup, the championship for junior ice hockey in Canada. In the NHL, he was one of the best players in the league and set several league scoring records. A strong skater, Morenz was called the "Stratford Streak" and "Mitchell Meteor" because he was very fast.
Considered one of the first stars of the NHL, Morenz played 14 seasons in the league. He was a member of a team that won the Stanley Cup three times, all of them being the Canadiens. During his NHL career he was in the top 10 leading scorers ten times. For seven seasons in a row Morenz led the Canadiens in both goals scored and points. Three times in he was named the most valuable player of the league, and he led the league once in goals scored and twice in points scored. He was named to the NHL All-Star Team three times.