Oxford University Press (OUP) is the largest university press in the world, and the second-oldest, after Cambridge University Press. It is a department of the University of Oxford. It is governed by the Delegates of the Press. This is a group of 15 members of the university. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as OUP' s chief executive and as its major representative on other university bodies. Oxford University has been using this system of contol since the 17th century.
The university started printing books around 1480. It soon grew into a major printer of Bibles, prayer books, and scholarly works. It began what later became the "Oxford English Dictionary" in the late 19th century. Over the last hundred years, Oxford has grown and now publishes children's books, school text books, music, journals, the World's Classics series, a best-selling range of English Language Teaching texts, as well as its academic and religious titles. It opened its first international office in New York in 1896. Changes caused by computer technology and the need to lower costs, led to the Press contracting out its printing and binding work. The Press's printing house at Oxford was closed in 1989. Its former paper mill at Wolvercote was demolished in 2004.
The Press publishes about 6,000 new titles around the world every year. It is a charitable organization, its profits go to the University of Oxford. The university's aims of excellence in scholarship, research, and education are supported through its publishing activities.
Moeraki Boulders
The Moeraki Boulders are a rock formation in New Zealand. They are unusually large and spherical boulders on Koekohe Beach on the Otago coast, between Moeraki and Hampden. Some of the boulders are in groups, while others stand by themselves. The area has been protected in a scientific reserve.
The boulders sit in mudstone, which is eroded by the action of the waves along the beach. This leaves the boulders exposed on the sand.
Local Māori legends say the boulders as the remains of eel baskets, calabashes, and kumara washed ashore from the wreck of Arai-te-uru, a large sailing canoe. The rocks that extend seaward from Shag Point are the petrified hull of this shipwreck. A nearby rocky promontory is the body of the canoe's captain.
In 1848 a drawing of the beach and its boulders, shows there were more than now. This picture is now in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington. The boulders were described in 1850 colonial reports and numerous popular articles since that time. In more recent times they have become a popular tourist attraction, often described and pictured in numerous web pages and tourist guides.
Religious law
Religious law comes from the sacred texts of various religions. They cover most parts of personal and contract law. Most religious law systems are either based on Islamic law (Sharia) or Judaic law ("Halakha"). Religious laws generally are used in countries that also have other legal systems such as civil or common law.
Religious laws are seen to be eternal and do not change over time. Secular laws (non-religious) can be changed by their lawmakers. Religious laws govern people's behaviors and their beliefs. Secular laws deal with people's actions and how they affect other people. In religious law, disputes are settled by officials of that religion combining the actions of a judge and a priest. In secular systems the judiciary is independent.
Sharia deals with many topics, including crime, politics, marriage contracts, trade regulations, religious instructions, and economics. It also covers personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, everyday etiquette and fasting. to sharia is an important part of the Muslim faith. In the est sense, sharia is considered in Islam as the infallible law of God.
There are two primary sharia: the Quran, and the Hadiths (opinions and life example of Muhammad). For issues not directly covered in these primary sources, sharia is used. The sources differ between the various sects of Islam (Sunni and Shia are the majority). They also differ by the various jurisprudence schools such as Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi'i.
Historically, in the diaspora, halakha served many Jewish communities as both civil and religious law. There was no difference in classical Judaism. Modern religious leaders have come to view the halakha as less binding in day-to-day life. This is because it relies on Rabbinic interpretation instead of the pure, written words written in the Hebrew Bible.
Under contemporary Israeli law certain areas of Israeli family and personal law are under the authority of the rabbinic courts. This means they are treated according to "halakha". Some differences in "halakha" itself are found among Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, Sephardi, Yemenite and other Jews who historically lived in isolated communities.
Buckwheat Zydeco
Buckwheat Zydeco was the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. (November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016) was an American accordionist and zydeco musician.
He was one of the few zydeco artists to become popular. His music group was known as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Son Partis Band, but often they perform as merely "Buckwheat Zydeco".
Dural died of lung cancer at age 68 on September 24, 2016 in a hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Elsie Tu
Elsie Tu, GBM, CBE (née Hume; ; 2 June 1913 – 8 December 2015), was an English-born Hong Kong social activist. She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. She was an elected member of the Urban Council of Hong Kong, and member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. She became known for her strong opposition of colonialism and corruption.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) is a law that was passed by the United States Congress in 1990. President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA, making it an official United States law, on July 26, 1990. Later, President George W. Bush amended (changed) the ADA and signed those changes into law. The changes started on January 1, 2009.
The ADA is a detailed civil rights law whose goal is to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. Before the ADA, people with disabilities did not have many legal protections. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. This law made it illegal to discriminate against people because of their race, religion, gender, national origin (home country), and many other things. But people with disabilities were not included or protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ADA gave the Civil Rights Act's protections - and some others - to people with disabilities.
The ADA protects people with disabilities. The ADA says that a disability is a physical or mental problem that makes it very difficult to do at least one "major life activity." Major life activities are things like walking, breathing, learning, reading, communicating, seeing, hearing, thinking, and other very important tasks.
The ADA does not include a complete list of all possible disabilities, but it does give some examples. As long as they make it very difficult to do at least one major life activity, examples of disabilities protected under the ADA include:
The ADA also counts some other groups of people as "people with disabilities" to protect them from discrimination:
The ADA lists some conditions that are not counted as disabilities. People with these conditions are not protected by the ADA. The goal of not including these people was to make sure the ADA's goal of protecting people with disabilities was not abused.
Conditions that do not count as disabilities under the ADA include:
The ADA has five sections, which are called "titles". Each title protects against a different kind of discrimination. The titles are numbered in Roman numerals: I (one), II (two), III (three), IV (four), and V (five).
Title I of the ADA protects against discrimination in employment (work).