During the 1950s, the Golani Brigade participated in many operations, most notably the 1951 operation against Syria and the October 1955 operation against Egypt. In the 1956 Sinai Campaign Golani's task was to capture the area around the city Rafah in the Sinai desert.
At Golani Junction in the north of Israel stands the Golani Brigade Museum commemorating the brigade and its heroes. The Golani brigade has earned a reputation for its tough soldiers. They are known as being very brave and friendly, but also as being very reckless when things do not go their way. That is why they are so feared by Israel's enemies. Also, the Golani Brigade is the only brigade with the heavy IDF Achzarit armored personnel carriers. The Achzarit is a very heavily-armored vehicle designed for the requirements of urban fighting.
Golani's recon company (Sayeret Golani) is one of the most respected special forces units in the IDF. This unit, together with Sayeret Matkal, re-took the Mount Hermon position in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. This unit's soldiers are so dedicated that in 1994 one it commanders rescued himself from an enemy minefield after half his right leg was blown-off. He applied the bandages to his leg himself, and he is now a senior commander in the IDF. In 1976, elements of the Golani Brigade were sent to Uganda to rescue 246 Jewish hostages on Air France flight 139, hijacked by PLO terrorists. Despite winning the battle,the mission commander was killed.
As of 2004, Golani operates within the northern border of Israel and in the West Bank (mainly Jenin). During 2004, a Golani battalion reinforced the Givati Brigade in the Gaza Strip. In July 2006 Golani took part in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict and the fierce battle of Bint Jbeil where it lost 9 troops.
Salt mine
A salt mine is a mine where salt is taken from the earth. Very often, this is done in the mountains. It is different from a salt evaporation pond, where salt is taken from salt water. Getting salt from different layers of rock in a mountain used to be a very dangerous job. The Romans used to sentence prisoners to this kind of labour.
Usually the salt is mixed with rock that has chlorides and sulfates.
Empty salt mines are used very often as a storage area, for example, for unused radioactive elements (from nuclear power plants). Salt mines are empty if there is no salt left to take, or if taking the salt that is left would be too expensive.
Key signature
A key signature is a group of sharps or flats which are printed at the beginning of a line/measure of music. It shows which notes have to be changed into sharps or flats. For example: if there is one sharp in the key signature it will be an F sharp. It means that every time the note F is written one plays (or sings) an F sharp (on a keyboard: the black note just to the right of the F) instead.
There are twelve major and twelve minor keys (properly called “modes"). This is because a scale can start on any note, and there are twelve notes within an octave: seven white notes and five black notes on a keyboard. Each major key has its own key signature. The relationship between the keys is explained in the article "circle of fifths". Each minor key shares a key signature with one of the major keys.
There are fifteen possible key signatures: up to seven sharps, up to seven flats, or no sharps or flats. The reason why there are fifteen and not twelve is because three of them have two possible names: F sharp major (6 sharps) can also be called G flat, C sharp is D flat and B is C flat. We call these enharmonic i.e. the same note but with a different name.
There are two reasons for writing a key signature. Firstly, it saves writing out lots of sharps or flats during the piece. Secondly, it helps the player to think in the key (music) of the piece. This helps to understand the music better.
If the composer wants any extra sharps or flats during the piece, or he wants to cancel the ones in the key signature, these can be written in the music. These are called accidentals. An accidental is always written before the note it belongs to (we say “C sharp” but we write the sharp sign and then the note C). As an example: in a piece in G major all Fs are F sharps. If the composer wants a C sharp he writes a sharp sign in front of the C that needs to be sharpened. This will last for the rest of the bar (measure). If he wants a B flat he has to write it in. If he wants an F instead of the usual F sharp he writes a natural sign. There are also double sharps (the sign looks like an x) and double flats (two flat signs). An F double sharp is an F sharp that has been sharpened. It is the same note as G.
Key signatures are written at the beginning of each line of music. This helps the player to remember what the key signature is. The time signature, however, is only written at the beginning of the piece (the order is: clef – key signature – time signature). Sometimes music changes key (modulates) during a piece. If the music is going to stay in the new key for some time the composer may decide to change the key signature. Another reason for changing the key signature might be that the music has modulated to a key like G sharp major with eight sharps (including a double sharp). It is easier to read the music if it is written in A flat major (4 flats).
One can tell from the key signature what key a piece is in so long as one knows whether it is major or minor (see “mode”). For example: a key signature of one sharp is either G major or E minor. The best way to find out which it is would be to see whether the end of the piece is based on G major or E minor. Also: if the piece is in the minor key it is very likely that there will be several accidentals in the piece which sharpen the 7th note of the scale (in this case changing a lot of the Ds to D sharps).
Some modern composers do not use key signatures. This is often the case when the music is atonal or not very firmly in one key. If there are lots of sharps and flats and the bars are very long they may write accidentals in front of every note that needs one instead of just once in a bar. This should be explained at the top of the music. It may also be because the piece is modal.
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is someone (usually in the performing arts) who is an expert in his or her field.
A musical virtuoso is one who plays a musical instrument very well. Musicians who have exceptional talent and can play extremely fast and difficult music are "virtuosi" (plural of "virtuoso"). In the 19th century Niccolò Paganini was a virtuoso violinist as well as a composer. Franz Liszt was a virtuoso pianist and composer.
Musicians may sometimes talk about “virtuoso music” meaning music which is so difficult that only a virtuoso could play it.
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi (born March 26, 1940) is an American politician. She became the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives on January 3, 2019. She was also Speaker from 2007 to 2011. She represents the 12th district of California, which is part of the city of San Francisco. She was first elected to Congress in 1987.
Pelosi is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to lead a major party in the United States Congress. She is also the first woman and the first Italian-American to be the Speaker of the House. On January 3, 2019, Pelosi was elected speaker for the second time. This would make her the first former speaker to become speaker again since Sam Rayburn in 1955.
On September 24, 2019, Pelosi announced the start of first impeachment hearings into Donald Trump. In December 2019, the House formally impeached Trump, though he was later acquitted in the Senate.
On January 14, 2021, Pelosi announced the start of the second impeachment hearings into Donald Trump. In February 2021, the Senate acquitted Trump with a vote of 57 senators voting "guilty" to 43 "not guilty".