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2212435 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Alexandre%20L%C3%A9on%20Durand%20Linois | Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois | Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand, Comte de Linois (27 January 1761 – 2 December 1848) was a French admiral who served in the French Navy during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. He commanded the combined Franco-Spanish fleet during the Algeciras Campaign in 1801, winning the First Battle of Algeciras before losing the Second Battle of Algeciras. He then led an unsuccessful campaign against British trade in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea in 1803, being defeated by a harmless fleet of the East India Company during the Battle of Pulo Aura and ending his cruise and sea-going career being bested in battle by John Warren in the action of 13 March 1806. Following the Bourbon restoration, Linois was appointed Governor of Guadeloupe. He supported Napoleon during the Hundred Days and so, on his return to France, he was forced to resign and was court martialled. Although acquitted, he was placed in retirement and never served again.
Biography
Born in Brest, Linois joined the French Navy as a volunteer in 1776, when he was 15 years old, serving aboard the ships Cesar and Protée in his home port. In August 1778, during the American War of Independence, he joined Bien-Aimé , part of d'Orvilliers' fleet in the Caribbean where, after only eight months service, he was temporarily appointed, lieutenant de frégate pour le campagne. He served aboard the newly built Scipion from May 1779 to January 1781, when his two-year probationary period expired and he was confirmed, ensigne de vaisseau. Between October 1782 and April 1783, Linois served aboard Diadème, his last appointment of the war.
Service in the Indian Ocean
In March 1784, Linois joined the storeship Barbeau, carrying supplies and despatches to the Isle de France (now Mauritius). He left Barbeau in January 1785 and in March sailed for the Caribbean on the 64-gun Réfléchi where he remained for the next two years. Arriving at Saint-Domingue on 23 April, Linois spent eight months on the frigate, Danaé before rejoining Réfléchi. In May 1786, he took a land-based post as sous-lieutenant de port at Port-au-Prince, returning to sea aboard the frigate, Proserpine in December 1786. This was a short-lived appointment; on 1 March 1787, Linois left for home on the same storeship that had conveyed him to the Isle de France two years earlier.
Another position ashore, as lieutenant de port at Brest, ended a period of unemployment that had lasted until 1 May 1789 and was followed, on 12 October 1790, by a posting to the ship-of-the-line, Victoire. From 1791 to 1793 he served with the French forces in the Indian Ocean. He left for Isle de France on 25 January on board the 32-gun frigate Atalante as second officer to Denis Decres. On 15 May, the newly published naval list named Linois as lieutenant de vaisseau with his promotion backdated to 1 May 1789. On their return home in April 1794, Decres was arrested as an aristocrat and Linois was given command of Atalante.
The Brest Fleet
While acting as a decoy for an important convoy of wheat from the United States, Linois was captured by the Royal Navy at the action of 7 May 1794. On 5 May, Atalante, in company with the corvette Levrette, encountered a British convoy three days out from Cork. The convoy was under the protection of two ships of the line, the 74 and the 64-gun , which immediately hoisted their colours and opened fire. Linois realising he was outgunned, as senior officer, ordered his ships to divide and effect an escape. Levrette; managed to evade her pursuer, St Albans during the night but Atalante was unable to shake off Swiftsure which continued her chase throughout the following day. By 0325 on 7 May, Atalante had been overhauled and so badly damaged during the two-day running battle, Linois was forced to surrender. He and his crew were taken prisoner and Atalante was eventually taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Espion
Linois was exchanged and returned home in March 1795. He was promoted to capitaine de vaisseau in May, backdated to January 1794, taking command of the 74-gun Formidable of the Brest Fleet. The following year, in June, he was captured again at the battle of Groix, when his ship was one of the three rearmost in Villaret's withdrawing squadron. He was twice wounded in the battle and lost the sight of an eye. He was quickly exchanged and returned in August. In 1796 he took part in the Expédition d'Irlande as a chief of division, leading a 3-ship of the line and 4-frigate squadron, with his flag on Nestor. On arrival in Bantry Bay, the generals opposed a landing, and the squadron headed back to Brest. Linois moved his flag to the 74-gun Jean-Jacque Rousseau on 22 April 1798 and in the following February, took up the position of Chief of Staff at Brest.
Admiral
In 1799 Linois was promoted to Rear-Admiral and sent to the Mediterranean under Admiral Bruix. He joined the 120-gun flagship, Océan, in which he took part in Bruix' cruise of 1799. On 8 August, the expedition returned to Brest where Linois continued as Chief of Staff until 28 October 1800, when he was posted to Toulon as second in command to Admiral Ganteaume.
Linois did not join Ganteaume in the unsuccessful attempt to bolster the French forces in Egypt but instead commanded the remainder of the Toulon fleet at the Siege of Porto Ferrajo and orchestrated the attack on Elba in May 1801. In June, with Ganteaume still on manoeuvres, Linois was ordered to assemble a new combined French and Spanish naval force at Cadiz. Aboard Formidable and in company with Desaix, Indomptable and Muiron, he set sail on 13 June, passing Gibraltar on 3 July and capturing the British brig . After hearing from Speedy's captain, Thomas Lord Cochrane, that a powerful squadron under Sir James Saumarez was blockading Cadiz, Linois sought shelter beneath the Spanish guns of Algeciras. In addition to these land batteries, by the time Saumerez arrived with six ships-of-the-line, either end of the French line had been reinforced with Spanish gunboats. Linois' squadron was thus able to prevail during the first part of the Battle of Algeciras, aided by a lack of wind which prevented Saumarez' force arriving as one and left the British ships drifting helplessly. HMS Hannibal ran aground and was captured.
Both sides were still effecting repairs when, on 9 July, the French were joined by five Spanish ships-of-the-line from Cadiz. This combined fleet left for Cadiz at dawn on 12 July and Saumarez, who had been reinforced by , followed, intending to harass the Franco-Spanish fleet once it had moved out of range of the shore guns. Hannibal caused problems and at 19:45, Indienne was ordered to tow her back to Algeciras. The Spanish commander then turned the fleet towards Cadiz, heading into the Gut of Gibraltar. The British followed and at 20:40, Saumerez ordered independent action.
Superb was first into the action, engaging Real Carlos. Some of the shot was high and passed through her rigging, hitting the ship to her larboard, San Hermenegildo. Thinking the shot came from Real Carlos and that she was an enemy, San Hermenegildo fired into her. In about ten minutes the Real Carlos was on fire. When San Hermenegildo crossed her stern to deliver a raking fire, a sudden gust of wind brought them together and the fire spread through both ships, which subsequently blew up. In the meantime, Superb had moved on and forced the surrender of San Antonio. An independently sailing, Spanish frigate was also sunk during the battle but the remaining French and Spanish ships escaped into Cadiz the following morning. Linois was commended for his part in the battle and the previous one on 6 July, and received the 'Sabre of Honour' from Napoleon. He and his combined fleet however, were blockaded in Cadiz until peace negotiations began with Britain in October.
Early in 1802, Linois participated in an expedition to Saint-Domingue to depose the governor, Toussaint Louverture and reassert French control there. Louverture was a former slave who was suspected of trying to gain independence for the colony. In January Linois took command of a squadron of troopships, comprising three ships-of-the-line and three frigates, and sailed out to reinforce the 20,000 troops already there. The campaign was ultimately unsuccessful and Linois returned to France on 31 May.
Napoleonic wars
In 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte appointed him to command the French forces in the Indian Ocean and to convey the new Captain-General of French India, Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen to Pondicherry. Flying his flag aboard the 74-gun-ship Marengo, Linois left Brest on 6 March with only three frigates in company; much of the French fleet still being occupied at Saint-Domingue. On arrival however, the British forces there, under Arthur Wellesley, refused to leave and Linois was obliged to detour to the Ile-de-France.
Linois received news that the war had resumed when he was joined by the 22-gun corvette, Berceau in September. Leaving half the troops to defend the Ile de France, Linois left with the remainder and his squadron for Batavia on 8 October; raiding a British trading station on Sumatra on the way, capturing eight merchant vessels, destroying three others and setting light to three stocked warehouses. Arriving at Batavia on 10 December, Linois was appraised of a British convoy returning from China. After dropping off the soldiers and adding the 16 gun brig-corvette, Adventurier, to his force, set sail on 28 December.
The Battle of Pulo Aura occurred on 14 February 1804 when Linois' squadron encountered the British China Fleet. Although lightly armed, the British merchant ships outnumbered Linois' forces and manoeuvred as though preparing to defend themselves. Some of the larger indiamen, with gun ports painted on and flying naval ensigns, formed a mock line of battle. With these tactics, the convoy commodore, Nathaniel Dance, fooled Linois into believing that the British fleet was defended by naval escorts and the French retired without attacking the virtually defenceless British.
In June, Linois embarked on a second cruise, this time minus the 40-gun Belle Poule, which was despatched on a separate mission. Setting out in Marengo with the 44-gun Atalante and Semillante, Linois first scoured the channel between Mozambique and Madagascar, before crossing the Indian Ocean to patrol the waters around Ceylon. After taking some lucrative prizes, Linois headed up the Coromandel Coast to Vizagapatam, having heard about a British convoy heading there. The French squadron arrived on 15 September to find two British east indiamen loading in the roadstead, under the protection of the 50-gun and 3 guns on the shore. Linois was cautious and, after Atalante had been chased off, decided to engage Centurion from distance. The damage inflicted by both ships therefore was superficial but while Centurion was occupied, Semilante was able to capture one of the indiaman and drive the other onto the shore. On the return journey, Linois' ships took another prize, and arrived at Ile de France on 1 November, to find Belle Poule with a capture of her own.
In May 1805, while Atalante and Semilante were attending to other duties, Linois took Marengo and Belle Poule into the South Atlantic. This cruise was not productive and, after visiting Cape Town, the squadron patrolled the east coast of Africa and the Red Sea. This also proved fruitless and it was not until 11 July, following a decision to search the sea lanes between Cape Town and Ceylon that any enemy vessels were encountered. It was off the coast of Ceylon they fell in with two unprotected merchant ships, one of which was driven onto the shore and the other, the east indiaman Brunswick, captured. With Brunswick under a prize crew, the squadron sailed for the Cape of Good Hope and at 16:00 on 6 August it encountered a convoy of ten east indiamen, accompanied by the 90-gun . Linois sent Brunswick to Ile de France and, with his remaining ships, fell down on the rear of the convoy. Unable to scatter the convoy and pick off prizes piecemeal, Marengo and Belle Poule sailed along its flank, engaging Blenheim for 30 minutes, on the way. By the time Belle Poule and Marengo had completed their pass at 18:00, they both required repairs; the former had received two holes in the hull and the latter, damage to the mainmast and foreyard. During the hours of darkness, the two French ships crossed the bows of the convoy and in the morning, occupied the weather gage. Two further attacks were made during the day but the French were unable to make an impression and with ammunition supplies dwindling, Linois gave the order to withdraw.
Having spent 17 weeks at sea, on 13 September, Linois' ships entered Simon's Bay for some much needed repairs. During the eight week stay, they were briefly reunited with Atalante which, shortly after arrival, foundered. The crew was saved but the ship could not be. On 11 November, Marengo and Belle Poule left on a cruise of the west coast of Africa, travelling as far as Cape Lopez, Gabon, but only managing to secure a ship and a brig. With only two ships at his disposal, Linois' options had dwindled to chasing lone ships and unarmed convoys. Realising his best chance of catching them was to scout around choke points, in December, his small squadron sailed for the popular British stop over of St Helena. On 29 January 1806, Linois learned from an American ship of the British capture of Cape Town. With the last accessible port closed, Linois could only turn around and head for home.
On the return journey to France, Marengo and Belle Poule encountered a large British squadron under Admiral Warren off Cape Verde. In the action of 13 March 1806, the 90-gun HMS London, the 80-gun HMS Foudroyant and the 38-gun frigate HMS Amazon, were sailing some miles ahead of their compatriots when, at 03:00, Linois' ships were spotted. The three British ships immediately gave chase and by 05:30, London had overhauled and begun an exchange with both French ships. By 06:00 Linois realised that he was unable to win the battle and attempted to move off, issuing orders for Belle Poule to do likewise.
Both Marengo and Belle Poule had been severely battered in the rigging and were finding it increasingly difficult to manoeuvre. Marengo could not avoid London's continuing fire nor the cannonade from Amazon as she passed in pursuit of Belle Poule. London too had been heavily damaged and was beginning to drift astern but the appearance of Foudroyant, and HMS Repulse at 10:25 and HMS Ramillies at 11:00, left the French ships with no option but to surrender.
Linois had been wounded and was captured again. Napoleon had ended the practice of exchanging officers and Linois remained a prisoner of war until Napoleon fell in 1814. In 1810, while held by the British, Linois was named Comte de Linois by Napoleon.
Following the Bourbon restoration, Louis XVIII named him to be Governor of Guadeloupe. During the Hundred Days, Linois finally declared for Napoleon but news of the emperor's return did not reach the West Indies until the day after the battle of Waterloo. He surrendered to British forces on 10 August. On his return to France, Linois was forced to resign. He was court martialled but acquitted on 11 March 1816. However, he was placed in retirement and never served again, although he was appointed as an honorary Vice-Admiral in May 1825 and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour in March 1831. He lived in Versailles, where he died in 1848. His name is inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe.
In fiction
Linois is a minor, but highly respected, character in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian. Frederick Marryat describes the Battle of Pulo Aura in his 1832 novel Newton Forster.
Citations
References
1761 births
1848 deaths
French Navy officers from Brest, France
French Navy admirals
French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
French naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom
French prisoners of war in the Napoleonic Wars
Burials at the Cemetery of Saint-Louis, Versailles
French prisoners of war in the 18th century
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe |
2120456 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony%20Perkins%20%28politician%29 | Tony Perkins (politician) | Anthony Richard Perkins (born March 20, 1963) is an American politician and evangelical lobbyist. He is president of the Family Research Council, a Christian conservative policy and lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C. Perkins, an ordained Southern Baptist pastor, was previously a police officer and television reporter, served two terms as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002. On May 14, 2018, he was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and on June 17, 2019, the Commission elected him Chairman.
Early life and career
Perkins was born and raised in the northern Oklahoma city of Cleveland and graduated in 1981 from Cleveland High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Liberty University. He later earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. After college, Perkins entered the United States Marine Corps. Following his tour of duty, he became a reserve deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office and also worked with the U.S. State Department's Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program instructing hostage negotiation and bomb disposal to hundreds of police officers from around the world.
After the federal contract for the anti-terrorism program ended, Perkins left law enforcement to work for KBTR, the Baton Rouge TV station owned by then-State Representative Woody Jenkins. At KBTR, Perkins opened a news division.
Political career
Louisiana House of Representatives
Perkins won an open seat in the Louisiana House representing District 64 (the eastern Baton Rouge suburbs, including part of Livingston Parish) when he defeated Democrat Herman L. Milton of Baker 63% to 37% in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 21, 1995. He was elected on a conservative platform of strong families and limited government. Four years later, he was reelected without opposition. He retired from the legislature in 2004, fulfilling a promise to serve no more than two terms.
While in office, Perkins authored legislation to require Louisiana public schools to install Internet filtering software, to provide daily silent prayer, and to prevent what he termed "censorship of America's Christian heritage". Perkins also authored the nation's first covenant marriage law, a voluntary type of marriage that permits divorce only in cases of physical abuse, abandonment, adultery, imprisonment or after two years of separation.
Perkins opposed casino gambling in Louisiana, calling a 1996 plan to restrict the location of gambling riverboats to one side of the river, "putting lipstick on a hog". It doesn't make the bill any better, it just looks a little better." Perkins was described as "staunchly anti-abortion" by Public Broadcasting Service which also credited him with working on law and order and economic development issues while in the state house. Perkins was instrumental in increasing state regulation of Louisiana abortion clinics; he sponsored a law to require state licensing and sanitary inspections.
2002 U.S. Senate election
Perkins ran for the United States Senate in 2002 as a social and religious conservative Republican. Louisiana's then-Governor, Murphy J. Foster Jr., and the National Republican Senatorial Committee backed other candidates. Perkins finished in fourth place in the nonpartisan blanket primary with just under 10% of the vote. The Democratic incumbent, Mary Landrieu, was re-elected in the general election against another Republican, Suzanne Haik Terrell.
USCIRF appointment
On May 14, 2018, he was appointed as one of nine commissioners to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). His appointment was opposed by the Hindu American Foundation for his track record of "hateful stances against non-Christians."
On June 17, 2019, the USCIRF elected Perkins as chair for the commission. On June 16, 2020, he became the USCIRF vice chair.
Political future
Perkins was floated as a potential Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate against Mary Landrieu in the 2014 election. Despite strongly criticising Bill Cassidy, the main Republican challenger to Landrieu, as "pretty weak on the issues", Perkins said in an interview in January 2014 that he would not run against Landrieu. He did however express interest in running for David Vitter's U.S. Senate Seat, should Vitter be elected Governor of Louisiana in 2015. Vitter lost the election and announced he would not run for re-election to the Senate, but Perkins declined to run in the 2016 election and endorsed John Fleming for the seat.
Activism
Louisiana Family Forum
According to the Baptist Press, Perkins' "concern about the influence of the homosexual movement" led to his involvement in the 1998 founding of the Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative, faith-oriented, anti-abortion, and non-profit group.
Family Research Council
In September 2003, Perkins withdrew from the race for Louisiana state insurance commissioner to become the president of the conservative Christian Family Research Council (FRC). He replaced Ken Connor. In addition to his duties as president of the FRC, Perkins hosts a radio program, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.
Perkins was involved in the 2005 controversy over the disconnection of life support for Terri Schiavo, a woman who had been in a "persistent vegetative state" for a number of years. After a final court order permitted Schiavo's husband to remove her feeding tube and thereby cause her to die, Perkins stated, "we should remember that her death is a symptom of a greater problem: that the courts no longer respect human life."
In October 2008, Perkins called the passage of California Proposition 8 (which prohibited same sex marriage in the state) "more important than the presidential election", adding that the United States has survived despite picking bad presidents in the past but "we will not survive if we lose the institution of marriage."
In 2010, Perkins dismissed the SPLC hate group designation as a political attack on the FRC by a "liberal organization" and as part of "the left's smear campaign of conservatives".
Political positions
Candidates
In 2015, Perkins affirmed the debate over Obama's birth certificate as "legitimate", remarking that it "makes sense" to conclude that Obama was a Muslim. That year, a survey reported that "54 percent of GOP voters thought Obama was a Muslim".
In 2016, Perkins endorsed Ted Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination.
In 2017, some supporters of a political candidate, Wesley Goodman, who was alleged to have committed a sexual assault in 2015, complained that Perkins did not reveal information to the public about Goodman's actions.
In 2018, Perkins was willing to overlook Donald Trump's past, stating that President Trump should be given a "Mulligan". Perkins opined that Trump was "providing the leadership we need at this time, in our country and in our culture."
Israel
In 2014, Perkins released an editorial explaining why he supports Israel.
Judicial nominees
In 2005, Perkins opposed the filibustering of certain right-leaning federal judicial nominees by U.S. Senate Democrats, arguing that the Democrats were waging a "campaign against orthodox religious views", and that the judicial nominees were being persecuted for their Christian faith. He became one of the organizers and hosts of Justice Sunday, a series of events that sought to mobilize the evangelical Christian base in support of the nominees.
LGBT issues
In 2010, Perkins opposed the overturning of the "Don't ask, don't tell" law that prohibited people who were openly gay or lesbian from serving in the U.S. military. Perkins argued that the repeal would, among other things, infringe on the religious liberty of military chaplains and other service members holding orthodox Christian views.
In 2006, Perkins urged Congress to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as the union between one man and one woman. He explained his reasoning in a 2006 Human Events column:
The definition... is rooted in the order of nature itself. It promotes the continuation of the human race and the cooperation of a mother and a father in raising the children they produce. This union can only be protected through amending the United States Constitution. If it's not, activists will continue using the courts to sell a five-legged dog.
Perkins believes natural disasters are divine punishments for homosexuality. His own home was destroyed in the 2016 Louisiana floods, which he described as "a flood of near-biblical proportions". News outlets noted the irony.
Minimum wage
Perkins opposes any increases in the minimum wage, which he stated in a book that he co-authored with Harry R. Jackson, Jr. in 2008. Jackson stated that the minimum wage is rooted in racism.
Religion
In June 2019, Perkins advocated for the "fundamental human right of religious freedom" for non-Christians.
He criticized the persecution of Uyghurs in China and religious minorities in Iran.
In September 2010, Perkins claimed that "the ultimate evil has been committed" when Muslims interpret the Quran in its literal context, that Islam "tears at the fabric of democracy," and that world history classes dishonestly portray Islam in a positive light by providing an "airbrushed" portrait of the religion itself.
In 2007, Perkins opposed the first-ever Hindu prayer before the United States Senate, saying, "There is no historic connection between America and the polytheistic creed of the Hindu faith." He also opposed a US Marines yoga and meditation program for PTSD prevention, characterizing the Hindu and Buddhist practices as "goofy".
Second Amendment
Perkins is a self-described "ardent supporter of the Second Amendment" who is "willing to talk about laws regarding the ownership and use of guns by those who should not have them."
2020 election results
Perkins signed a December 10, 2020, letter from the Conservative Action Project asking state legislatures in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan to exercise their plenary power under the Constitution to overturn Joe Biden's victory by appointing pro-Trump slates of electors to the Electoral College.
Controversies
On May 17, 2001, Perkins gave a speech to the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist group that has described black people as a "retrograde species of humanity". Perkins said he did not know the group's ideology at the time. In an April 26, 2005, article in The Nation, Max Blumenthal reported that while managing the unsuccessful U. S. Senate campaign of Woody Jenkins in 1996, Perkins "paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list." Perkins denied knowing about the purchase. A document authorizing the payment was reported to contain Perkins' signature. The incident resurfaced in the local press in 2002, during Perkins' unsuccessful Senate run.
Personal life
Perkins is married to Lawana Perkins (née Lee), with whom he has five children. He also adopted 16-year-old Boko Haram-held captive, Nigerian Leah Sharibu.
He has been affiliated with the National Rifle Association of America, the American Legion, the Christian Coalition, and the Baton Rouge Rescue Mission. Perkins served as president of the Council for National Policy.
Perkins' family was affected by the 2016 Louisiana floods, and had to evacuate their Louisiana home by canoe.
References
External links
Tony Perkins on Gab
Louisiana Family Forum's website
The Family Research Council's Tony Perkins is a rising star in a crowded universe of evangelical Christian leaders (Bill Berkowitz, on mediatransparency.com, June 17, 2005)
People for the American Way: Family Research Council
Perkins, Tony. "Congress Fails Americans on Marriage ."
|-
1963 births
Living people
20th-century Baptists
21st-century Baptists
American Christian religious leaders
American Christian Zionists
American police officers
American television reporters and correspondents
American anti-same-sex-marriage activists
Baptists from Louisiana
Baptists from Oklahoma
American conspiracy theorists
American critics of Islam
American gun rights activists
Human Events people
Journalists from Louisiana
Liberty University alumni
Louisiana State University alumni
Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives
People from Cleveland, Oklahoma
Politicians from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Southern Baptists
United States Marines
American far-right politicians
Christian fundamentalists
Christian nationalists |
29985758 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Cadfael%20Chronicles | The Cadfael Chronicles | The Cadfael Chronicles is a series of historical murder mysteries written by the linguist-scholar Edith Pargeter (1913–1995) under the name "Ellis Peters". Set in the 12th century in England during the Anarchy, the novels focus on a Welsh Benedictine monk, Cadfael, who aids the law by investigating and solving murders.
In all, Pargeter wrote twenty Cadfael novels between 1977 and 1994, plus one book of short stories. Each draws on the storyline, characters and developments of the previous books in the series. Pargeter planned the 20th novel, Brother Cadfael's Penance, as the final book of the series, and it brings together the loose story ends into a tidy conclusion. Pargeter herself died shortly after its publication, following a long illness. Many of the books have been adapted as radio episodes, in which Ray Smith, Glyn Houston and subsequently Philip Madoc played the titular character. An ITV television series was also developed from the books, which starred Derek Jacobi as Cadfael.
Pargeter's Cadfael Chronicles have been credited for popularizing the genre of historical mystery novels.
Brother Cadfael
Unlike his fellow monks, who took their vows as youths (and some as children), Cadfael is a conversus who entered the cloister in his forties after being a well-travelled crusader and sea captain. His experiences give him an array of talents and skills useful in monastic life and in his frequent role as investigator. He is a skilled observer of human nature and a talented herbalist, a skill he learned from Muslims in the Holy Land. He is inquisitive and energetic, and has an innate though obviously modern sense of justice and fair play. Abbots call upon him as a medical examiner, detective, doctor and diplomat. His worldly knowledge, although useful, gets him into trouble with the more doctrinaire characters of the series, and the seeming contradiction between the secular and the spiritual worlds forms a central and continuing theme.
Historical background
The stories are set between 1137 and 1145, during the Anarchy, the destructive contest for the crown of England between King Stephen and Empress Matilda (also known as Empress Maud). Many historical events are described or referred to in the books. For example, the translation of Saint Winifred to Shrewsbury Abbey is fictionalised in the first chronicle, A Morbid Taste for Bones, and One Corpse Too Many is inspired by the siege of Shrewsbury Castle by Stephen in 1138. The burning of Worcester puts the characters on the run into the countryside around the town in The Virgin in the Ice. The pillage of Winchester and the burning of the abbey there sends the monks who are at the centre of the story to Shrewsbury Abbey in An Excellent Mystery. In Dead Man's Ransom the fictional characters are involved with the small group of Welshmen who take part in the Battle of Lincoln, drawing the historical prince of Gwynedd, Owain, into the plot. Empress Matilda's brief stay in London, when she tried to gain approval for her coronation while she held Stephen in prison, is the starting point for one character in The Pilgrim of Hate. The next turning of Henry of Blois's coat and the rising fortunes of King Stephen involve the Abbot and send three new people into the Foregate and the Abbey in The Raven in the Foregate. One main character in The Hermit of Eyton Forest arrives in Shropshire while the Empress is besieged in Oxford Castle. In The Potter's Field Hugh Beringar's force is called to the Fens to aid King Stephen in controlling the rampaging Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex; on return the Sheriff doublechecks the story of a character who escaped from that area back to Shropshire. The quarrel between Owain Gwynedd and his impetuous younger brother Cadwaladr on account of Cadwaladr's murder of the prince of a southern principality in Wales, combined with the push to spread the Roman rite into Wales, are parts of the story told in The Summer of the Danes.
In novels where the plot does not hinge on a historical event or have historical characters walking through the story the focus is on one or two aspects of life in medieval England. Examples include the importance of pilgrimage in The Heretic's Apprentice, the wool and clothmaking trades in The Rose Rent, the rules of inheritance under Welsh law in Monk's Hood, and specific merchant trades in Saint Peter's Fair and The Sanctuary Sparrow. The annual fair raised funds for the Abbey, authorised by Earl Roger or King Henry I. The use of a house of worship for sanctuary from secular law is also a feature of The Sanctuary Sparrow. Cadfael is an herbalist, whose skills and potions bring him into contact with people outside the monastery, integral in the plots not dependent on a historical event.
The real people portrayed in the series include:
King Stephen
Empress Matilda (whom Peters usually calls Empress Maud)
Robert of Gloucester and his son Philip
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex
Robert of Leicester
Owain Gwynedd, his brother Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, and his son Hywel
William of Ypres
Bishop Henry of Blois
Bishop Roger de Clinton
Abbots Heribert (1128–1138), Radolfus (1138–1148) and Robert Pennant (prior to 1148, then abbot to 1168)
Henry I of England (1068/9–1135)
Themes
Cadfael and love
A distinctive feature of the series is a pair of star-crossed lovers in nearly every book, who invariably get the full sympathy of Brother Cadfael (and the reader). Typically, Cadfael bends his full energy and ingenuity to the double task of solving the mystery and bringing the lovers to a happy union. In this latter, he seems the literary descendant of Shakespeare's Friar Laurence who made great (though ultimately futile) efforts to help Romeo and Juliet. Cadfael is far more successful, with virtually all pairs of lovers in the series getting off to happy consummations, except when one of them turns out to be the wanted murderer. In one case, indeed, the lovers get their happy ending with Cadfael's help, even though one of them is the murderer.
Lovers in the Cadfael books face a whole series of obstacles, which sometimes seem insurmountable (in one book, it seems they are relatives too close to marry) but are invariably overcome. However, the problem is almost never a significant difference in social status between the two. In this series, aristocratic boys usually fall in love with aristocratic girls, artisans fall for the daughters of artisans, and a lowly wandering juggler is charmed beyond measure by a lowly kitchen maid. In The Hermit of Eyton Forest a prosperous forester's daughter falls in love with a runaway villein, a skilled leatherworker who will work his year and a day to establish himself in his trade in Shropshire before he marries her. In St. Peter's Fair, a tradesman's daughter settles for another tradesman's son after her aristocratic first choice turns out to be a cad, calling her a "shopkeeper's girl of no account." In most cases, it seems that Pargeter's characters deliberately curtail their romantic aspirations where class conflict would undermine them. There are some exceptions to this class consciousness; in The Virgin in the Ice a noblewoman marries her guardian's favourite squire, though he is the illegitimate son of a footsoldier and a Syrian widow, and in The Pilgrim of Hate an aristocratic youth marries the daughter of a tradesman.
Aristocracy
A passage in The Confession of Brother Haluin introduces a nobleman whom the reader (and Cadfael) had not met before:
Here he came, Audemar de Clary, on a tall chestnut horse, a big man in dark, plain, workmanlike riding clothes, without ornament, and needing none to mark him as having authority here. (...) Not a man to be crossed lightly, but no one feared him. They approached him cheerfully and spoke with him boldly. His anger, when justified, might be withering, even perilous – but it would be just.
This is fairly typical of most members of the aristocracy depicted in the series, who are described as fair-minded and just to their underlings, within the context of the hierarchical feudal social system and ideology.
The books do present some manifestly unjust, tyrannical and or outright cruel members of the aristocracy, though they are definitely in the minority. Faced with such, peasants can and do resort to the "safety-valve" built within the feudal system itself, by escaping from their lord to a chartered borough where after a stay of one year and one day they become free. On several occasions, Cadfael facilitates and helps such escapes.
Also, cruel and unjust landowners may end up as the victims of the murder which Cadfael needs to solve, in which case the reader is curious to know the solution of the mystery, but is not particularly eager to see the perpetrator punished.
Civil war
The civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud is a constant background to the series, called the Anarchy by many. Despite the lack of newspapers and other mass news media, the inhabitants of Shrewsbury are kept well informed of the latest developments as the town is a major centre of commerce, constantly getting visitors from all over the country.
In One Corpse Too Many, the second book in the series, Shrewsbury itself is a battlefield, and the wholesale execution of the defeated garrison by order of King Stephen forms the gruesome background to the book's murder mystery.
Further on, however, Shrewsbury is an island of calm in the raging storm. Refugees as well as spies and conspirators constantly come in, considerably impacting life in the town and setting up the plot for many of the books. Characters occasionally set out to the battlefields, either to take direct part in the fighting or (as in the case of Cadfael himself) to offer some needed aid or rescue. Stories of woe and disaster come in from other locations, such as Worcester (The Virgin in the Ice), Lincoln (Dead Man's Ransom) or Winchester (An Excellent Mystery). Moreover, Shrewsbury is in close proximity to the border of Wales, which has its own troubles and wars – distinct from, though often interconnected with, those of England (Dead Man's Ransom). In the last novel, Brother Cadfael's Penance, Cadfael and Sheriff Hugh Beringar start out at a peace conference in Coventry, but Cadfael ends up in the midst of a castle under siege, with castellan Philip FitzRobert seriously wounded by a projectile lobbed in by a siege machine. The castle was not too far from Gloucester, among the ongoing battles in the Thames Valley.
For all that, for most of the series the war happens elsewhere. Hugh Beringar, though in effect assuming the functions of a military governor and civil administrator as well as head of the police, finds the time and energy to personally work with Cadfael on solving a new mystery. Though living in a war-torn country, Cadfael is often seen sitting contented in his garden and reflecting on the harmonic turn of the year's seasons. An Excellent Mystery concludes:September was again September, mellowed and fruitful after the summer heat and drought. After every extreme the seasons righted themselves, and won back the half at least of what was lost.
In general, the war is seen as mainly the concern of the nobility. Some of its members take up a staunch and unwavering loyalty to one side or the other, and opposing partisans treat each other with utmost respect, as prescribed by the code of chivalry. Others are utterly opportunistic and seek only to make use of the situation for personal profit and advancement, and are regarded with contempt by the more principled characters (and seemingly by the writer as well).
The lower classes, burghers and peasants, in general have little interest in who would win the war as long as the death and destruction end, either by one of the contenders winning or by their reaching some kind of compromise (the latter is what the Church is shown as trying to achieve, with little success). In the manorial system they have no share in political power; however, workers on a manor were called up for service as men-at-arms when the need arose (An Excellent Mystery).
The burghers of Shrewsbury are concerned to repair the damage caused to their city during fighting in which they had little interest (the question who would pay for it is an undercurrent in Saint Peter's Fair). Thereafter, the traders and artisans of the city are well-content to live under the reasonably efficient and honest administration offered on behalf of King Stephen by Prestcote and later by Beringar. They might have been equally content to live under the Empress Maud, provided only that her local representatives offer them the same possibility of developing undisturbed their trade and commerce. This cannot be known, as Maud never held Shropshire, nor protected their farms, trade and commerce.
The series ends with the battles ongoing, though it is a stalemate, and the earls and barons began to make their own peace treaties. There was an effort to bring about a peaceful resolution ending in nought. The fighting ended mainly three years after the last book when Robert of Gloucester died, and Empress Maud returned to Normandy. A new era opened for England when King Stephen died in 1154, having signed a treaty with his successor, Henry FitzEmpress, eldest son of Maud and her second husband Geoffrey of Anjou. But for the writer's death, the format of the series – chronologically consecutive – might have left room for additional volumes before the end of Stephen's reign was reached. Cadfael would have been in his 70s, and based on actual history, Prior Robert Pennant would have become the Abbot in place of Radulfus, so the last book was perhaps a satisfying close, with Cadfael's personal life expanding, his son safe, and the lack of interest in the ongoing strife growing clear.
Crusades in the background
The Crusades form an important part of the backdrop to the books. There are Cadfael's own memories of his crusading life, which occur in virtually every one of the books, and the circumstances of Olivier's early life. In addition, most of Cadfael's knowledge of herbs and medicine was learned in the East, from more sophisticated sources than he would have found in England. (In the TV version of Virgin in the Ice, when Cadfael is treating a gravely wounded brother, the best remedy another brother can suggest is bleeding, which Cadfael scorns.)
Several of the books feature returning crusaders who have central roles in the plot, while in others there are characters who depart England on the way eastwards. All of these crusading characters are depicted as sterling, model knights, brave and chivalrous, and the crusading enterprise itself is invariably regarded by all characters as a most noble and worthy cause.
There is occasional oblique mention of acts of cruelty committed in the course of the Crusades. In conversation with a fellow crusader, Cadfael remarks, "After the killing that was done in Jerusalem, of so many who held by the Prophet, I say they deserved better luck against us than they had." In adding that his companion was never accused of brutality, he implicitly passes judgment on the Crusades as a whole (The Leper of Saint Giles). While on various occasions Cadfael makes remarks showing him not pleased with such brutalities, the references are rarely specific. Cadfael (as all other characters) never casts any doubt on the morality of carving out a Christian kingdom in the Muslim East and maintaining it by force; indeed, it would have been anachronistic to have him express such doubts.
Cadfael's experience of the Crusades didn't lead to bigotry. Cadfael remembers Mariam, a Muslim woman, as "well worth the loving," and had many other profitable friendships with Arabs and Muslims. His companion from The Leper of Saint Giles, who spent many years as a captive of the Fatimid Egyptians, agrees, saying he always found his hosts "chivalrous and courteous," who gave him medical help and supported him in his convalescence.
Differences between books and television series
Thirteen of the books were adapted for television. They starred Derek Jacobi. The sequence of the television episodes differs from the sequence of the novels. Within the individual screenplays, with one major exception, most are reasonably faithful to the books, being modified primarily to minimise the size of the speaking cast, the running time of the script, or the need for extravagant special effects. Only in the books, Cadfael speaks Welsh and translates for several non-English-speaking Welshmen.
One episode, The Pilgrim of Hate, bears almost no resemblance to the eponymous book save the presence of a few characters sharing the names (but not the actions) of the characters in the book. In The Holy Thief, one of the characters is turned into a villain. In A Morbid Taste For Bones the climax sequence is altered, giving Cadfael more of a speaking role. In the episode Monk's Hood, Hugh has a somewhat larger role than in the book, following Cadfael to the court and suffering a stab wound when he walks in unexpectedly on Cadfael's accusation of the true criminal. In The Rose Rent, Cadfael gives the young wife a potion to ease her terminally ill husband's pain, warning her that too much will kill him; in the next scene, the man is dead, implying a mercy killing. In the book, there is no such implication; the man dies of his illness without any hint that Cadfael or the widow acted to hasten his end.
The character of Hugh Beringar is markedly different in the television series, particularly in his relationship with Cadfael. In the series, Hugh is the sheriff who sometimes helps, and sometimes hinders Cadfael - friendly but maintaining a professional relationship. In the books, despite the more than thirty years difference in their ages, Hugh and Cadfael are best friends who think alike in crucial ways, particularly as to what is justice.
Hugh and Aline Siward are both introduced in One Corpse Too Many. Hugh appears in all of the books except A Morbid Taste for Bones and The Leper of St Giles whilst Aline does not appear in any of the subsequent television episodes. She appears in several of the books, where she plays an important role in sheltering women (Saint Peter's Fair, An Excellent Mystery, One Corpse Too Many, The Sanctuary Sparrow), and even when she does not appear in the books, Hugh speaks of her constantly and fondly. In the books, Hugh marries Aline and they have a son, Giles, named for Aline's dead brother. Cadfael is the godfather of Hugh's son, and he confides several of his deepest secrets only to Hugh.
Bibliography
Cadfael novels
These are numbered in order of the time in which the novel was set and the order of publication. Each book has been published in hardback and paperback, and in a number of languages. The first publication in the UK, by Macmillan (or Headline Book Publishing, beginning with The Hermit of Eyton Forest), is the year of first publication.
A Rare Benedictine is in the order of publication, but not in the order of setting. That book includes three short stories describing how Cadfael, man-at-arms in the Crusades and Normandy, joined a Benedictine monastery.
A Morbid Taste for Bones (published in August 1977, set in 1137)
One Corpse Too Many (July 1979, set in August 1138)
Monk's Hood (August 1980, set in December 1138)
Saint Peter's Fair (May 1981, set in July 1139)
The Leper of Saint Giles (August 1981, set in October 1139)
The Virgin in the Ice (April 1982, set in November 1139)
The Sanctuary Sparrow (January 1983, set in the Spring of 1140)
The Devil's Novice (August 1983, set in September 1140)
Dead Man's Ransom (April 1984, set in February 1141)
The Pilgrim of Hate (September 1984, set in May 1141)
An Excellent Mystery (June 1985, set in August 1141)
The Raven in the Foregate (February 1986, set in December 1141)
The Rose Rent (October 1986, set in June 1142)
The Hermit of Eyton Forest (June 1987, set in October 1142)
The Confession of Brother Haluin (March 1988, set in December 1142)
A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael (September 1988, set in 1120)
The Heretic's Apprentice (February 1989, set in June 1143)
The Potter's Field (September 1989, set in August 1143)
The Summer of the Danes (April 1991, set in April 1144)
The Holy Thief (August 1992, set in February 1145)
Brother Cadfael's Penance (May 1994, set in November 1145)
Note that the numbering of the Brother Cadfael Chronicles as published in paperback by Mysterious Press does not include A Rare Benedictine (instead, the cover refers to it as "The Advent Of Brother Cadfael"); the total of the numbered chronicles (by Mysterious Press) is therefore 20 (per the covers of this set).
All of the novels are also available as audiobooks. Narrators include Vanessa Benjamin (The Devil's Novice from Blackstone Audio), Philip Madoc, Derek Jacobi, Roe Kendall, Stephen Thorne, Patrick Tull and Johanna Ward. The series is also available as e-books from multiple sources, as noted in the publication history for each novel.
The first two novels in the series, along with Cadfael Country: Shropshire and the Welsh Borders, are available as one edition from Mysterious Press.
Seven Cadfael Omnibus editions were published, with three novels in each volume. Most are available as paperbacks, and were later published in hardback.
First Cadfael Omnibus A Morbid Taste for Bones, One Corpse Too Many, Monk's-Hood (December 1990 Sphere / 9780751504767 UK edition)
Second Cadfael Omnibus Saint Peter's Fair, The Leper of Saint Giles, The Virgin in the Ice (October 1991 Sphere / 9780751507294 UK edition)
Third Cadfael Omnibus The Sanctuary Sparrow, The Devil's Novice, Dead Man's Ransom (September 1992 Sphere / 9780751501117 UK edition)
Fourth Cadfael Omnibus Pilgrim of Hate, An Excellent Mystery, The Raven in the Foregate (September 1993 Sphere / 9780751503920 UK edition)
Fifth Cadfael Omnibus The Rose Rent, The Hermit of Eyton Forest, The Confession of Brother Haluin (September 1994 Sphere / 9780751509496 UK edition)
Sixth Cadfael Omnibus The Heretic's Apprentice, The Potter's Field, The Summer of the Danes (January 1996 Sphere / 9780751515893 UK edition)
Seventh Cadfael Omnibus The Holy Thief, Brother Cadfael's Penance, A Rare Benedictine (September 1997 Sphere / 9780751520811 UK edition)
There is also a three books "collection pack set" containing the first three books ("A Morbid Taste for Bones", "One Corpse Too Many" and "Monk's Hood" as separate books.
An omnibus edition published as The Brother Cadfael Mysteries (published by Quality Paperback Book Club, New York, in 1995) contains The Leper of Saint Giles, Monk's Hood, The Sanctuary Sparrow and One Corpse Too Many.
Short stories
Published in A Rare Benedictine: The Advent of Brother Cadfael (1988):
A Light on the Road to Woodstock (set in Autumn 1120)
The Price of Light (set at Christmas 1135)
Eye Witness (set in Spring 1140)
Adaptations
Stage
A stage adaptation of The Virgin in the Ice starred Gareth Thomas as Cadfael.
Radio
BBC Radio 4 produced adaptations of several novels in the Cadfael Chronicles with three different actors voicing Cadfael.
Starring Ray Smith as Cadfael:
1 - A Morbid Taste for Bones (1980) with Steven Pacey as "Brother John"
Starring Glyn Houston as Cadfael:
2 - One Corpse Too Many (1989) with Geoffrey Whitehead as "Adam Courcelles"
Written and produced by Bert Coules and starring Philip Madoc as Cadfael:
3 – Monk's Hood (1991), with Sir Michael Hordern as "The Narrator", Geoffrey Whitehead as "Prior Robert" and Timothy Bateson as "Father Heribert"
6 – The Virgin in the Ice (1992) with Sir Michael Hordern as "The Narrator" and Douglas Hodge as "Hugh Beringar"
9 – Dead Man's Ransom (1995) with Michael Kitchen as "The Narrator", Jonathan Tafler as "Hugh Beringar" and Susannah York as "Sister Magdelen"
Television dramas
Produced in Britain by Central for ITV, 75 minutes per episode. Filmed on location in Hungary and starring Sir Derek Jacobi.
All thirteen episodes have been released on DVD.
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
"The world of Brother Cadfael" Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, Winter, 2008 by H. Wendell Howard
"Master of the medieval mystery" 11 June 2009 Guardian
"That Healing Touch in a Brutal Century" New York Times. January 3, 1999
Mystery novels by series
Crime novel series
Historical novels by series
British crime novels
Historical novels
British novels adapted into television shows
Novels set in Shropshire
Novels set in the 12th century
The Anarchy
Cultural depictions of Empress Matilda
Clerical mysteries
Historical mystery novels |
7306949 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Devil%20and%20God%20Are%20Raging%20Inside%20Me | The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me | The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me is the third studio album by American rock band Brand New. It was recorded from 2005 to 2006 in studios in Long Island and Massachusetts with producer Mike Sapone, and released on November 21, 2006 through Interscope Records, making it their major label debut. The album arose following the online leaking of several unfinished demos that were meant to be early blueprints of the upcoming record. Two singles from the album were released – "Sowing Season" on November 21, 2006, and "Jesus Christ" on April 30, 2007. The album peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200, becoming the band's highest-charting record at the time of its release.
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me received positive reviews from critics, with many music publications pronouncing it as one of the best albums of the decade. Its legacy has grown immensely in the years since, and it is now credited as one of the most important and influential albums in the genres of alternative rock, post-hardcore and emo by fellow musicians, critics and music writers. Considered Brand New's best work by various sources including the band itself, the album shows the continuing progression and maturity as lyricists and songwriters by delving into darker subject matters such as existentialism, death, depression and religion. Musically, Brand New built off their pop punk origins and added in elements of indie rock, experimental rock and post-hardcore. The band embarked on a tour in 2016 to specifically commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the album's release, playing the seminal album in its entirety. On November 15, 2022, the album received a Gold certification from the RIAA, denoting sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States alone.
Background and recording
In mid-2004, after four years of regular touring and recording as Brand New, they decided to take time off and concentrate on their personal lives and pursuing other projects. At this point, the band had already written and recorded "10 or 11 songs" that they believed would form the next album. In late 2005, when the band reunited to continue work on the album, they found that the music they were writing was entirely different to the tracks they had previously recorded for the album, leading them to start over.When the band reentered the recording studio, they began working with producer Dennis Herring in Oxford, Mississippi. Lacey recalled that Herring understood exactly what the band was trying to do with the album, but due to time constraints and lack of money they instead opted to work with Mike Sapone, with whom they had worked with on their first album. Sapone acted more as a "fifth or sixth bandmember" than as a producer, Lacey recalled, which allowed the band the involvement and control over the production that they were looking for, as well as allowing the band freedom to be more experimental. Throughout the writing and recording, Jesse Lacey, Vincent Accardi, Garrett Tierney, Brian Lane and Derrick Sherman were each plagued with death and illness amongst their families and friends. Lacey recalled that each of them had become a little too comfortable with the idea of a funeral.
Recording with Sapone took place over the winter of 2005 through until the spring of 2006 at Longview Farm and later Cove City and Sapone's studio in the basement of his house.
Live guitarist Derrick Sherman who had been touring with the band for some time was also present during the recording sessions, contributing parts to all of the album's tracks. After the initial scrapped album session from 2004 and leaked demos in 2006, the band had written and recorded around forty tracks for the album.
As the band's first release on a major label, the band expressed hesitancy and nervousness over their increased fame. In an interview with their street team, Tierney said his biggest fear was "get[ting] too big", while Lacey's was that he was "scared of the hype" and "scared of people who never heard our band trying to sell it to people who are, you know, breathing it already."
Music executive Luke Wood of Interscope Records expressed frustration with the math rock and Slint influence on the early drafts of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. "I thought you were going to be like Bruce Springsteen," he told the band. Wood and Jimmy Iovine had multiple discussions with the band in order to make the album something that Interscope felt was worth releasing.
Leaked demos
On January 24, 2006, nine untitled demos for the album leaked onto the Internet. The band was disappointed to hear of the leak; however, they had already been performing new tracks at live shows.
Initially leaked without song titles, two of the songs would be re-recorded for the album, with two others being re-recorded and released on singles from the album. Early versions of "Sowing Season" and "Luca" (with a possible early title of "Mamas") feature on the demos, with the original recording of the latter seeing official release in the UK edition of the album as "Luca (Reprisal Version)". "Brother's Song" was reworked as "aloC-acoC" and released on the "Sowing Season" single, while the original demo featured the "Jesus Christ" single under the title "Brothers". A completed version of "(Fork and Knife)" recorded during The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me sessions was released as a standalone single in 2007.
Music writer Channing Freeman of Sputnikmusic commended the band for their reaction to the leaks, praising them for starting over and recording original tracks that showed more growth and development than the demos. "It was probably the best thing that could have happened to Brand New," he said, "because it forced them to rewrite the album with an even greater purpose and attention to detail."
Often referred to by fans as Fight Off Your Demons, the batch of leaked demos were remastered and officially released to the public on December 2, 2015 as Leaked Demos 2006, made available digitally and on cassette. On July 13, 2016, the band released 3 Demos, Reworked, an EP that consisted of re-recorded versions of "Brother's Song", "Missing You" and "1996". With that release, only one demo ("Good Man") has yet to be re-recorded or reworked.
Music and influence
Vocalist and guitarist Jesse Lacey wrote lyrics for all of the album's tracks with the exception of "Handcuffs", which was written by Vincent Accardi. The tracks "Degausser" and "Sowing Season" were composed spontaneously as a band, whilst Accardi composed the music for "Handcuffs", "Not the Sun" and "Welcome to Bangkok", with Lacey writing the rest.
Death and illness became two of the main themes present on the record. In an interview Lacey commented that the band purposely immersed themselves in the loss of friends and family to channel it into their songwriting and expel it. The liner notes dedicate the album to "Robert Sherman, Red Lacey, Leo Lacey, Bill and Virginia Sherman, James McAuliffe, Rosemary Kancelerski, Frances Ambrosio, Manfred Cardone III, Sid Rosen, Seymour Lane, Michelle Lane, George Moe, Alexander Lambros, and Omir Ortega, all of whom left us between the start and completion of the record."
Lyrical content
Lacey suffered from depression during the writing stage of the album due to anxiety revolving around the high expectations put upon the band following the critical success of Deja Entendu.
As with previous Brand New records, Lacey drew inspiration from popular culture and literature for his lyrics. Lacey also wrote about subjects that he would discuss with his friend Kevin Devine, with some of Lacey's lyrics directly responding to questions that Devine would ask him during writing.
The second verse to opening track "Sowing Season" is inspired by the Rudyard Kipling poem If— whilst the title of "Sowing Season" is a reference from Stephen King's novel Secret Window, Secret Garden, where the main character had written a short story of the same title. The song deals with topics such as death (as per the notable opening line of the album, "was losing all my friends, was losing them to drinking and to driving") and the desire to better oneself.
"Millstone", track two, is described by Sputnikmusic as being about "not a loss of hope but rather a loss of innocence", citing lines such as "I used to pray that God was listening / I used to make my parents proud" as examples of such. "Jesus Christ" is about "analyzing crises of faith" in a conversation with God, making references to Biblical figures such as Thomas the Apostle and Elijah. Its lyrics touch on loneliness, the validity of the afterlife and the struggle to maintain faith, influenced by Lacey's religious upbringing and his attending South Shore Christian School during his adolescence. The single's artwork pays homage to the album Goat by The Jesus Lizard.
Fourth track "Degausser" borrows the lyric "Take apart the demon, in the attic to the left" from the Roky Erickson track "Bloody Hammer".
Fifth song on the album "Limousine" is about the death of seven-year-old Katie Flynn from the band's hometown of Long Island. Travelling home with her family after a wedding, their limousine was hit by drunk driver Martin Heidgen, a few miles from where Lacey was living at the time, leading to the decapitation of the young Flynn, whose severed head fell into her mother's arms. In the track, Lacey tells the story from various perspectives, including that of Flynn's mother, Heidgen and Flynn herself. Lacey has commented that the story particularly resonated with him as he knew people who drove drunk the week the accident took place. Producer Mike Sapone had the idea to include samples of explosions in the track, hence the subtitle "MS Rebridge", with MS being Sapone's initials. At seven minutes and forty-two seconds, it remained Brand New's longest song until 2017's "Batter Up," which is eight minutes and twenty-eight seconds long. The track's bridge repeats itself seven times as Lacey counts up, one for each year of Flynn's life. "Limousine" is often cited as Brand New's greatest song.
Writing for Team Rock, Mischa Pearlman believed the title and lyrics of "Luca" reference the fictional character Luca Brasi of the 1972 American crime film The Godfather. "The Archers' Bows Have Broken" is described as being about people who use religion for self-serving purposes instead of the intentions of the prophets, including in politics. Its aural traits include "the sound of nihilism and religion converging, and the world burning down as a result."
Title and artwork
The name of the album came from a conversation Jesse Lacey had with a friend regarding Daniel Johnston, a musician who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The album cover is a picture titled "Untitled #44" from Nicholas Prior's "Age of Man" collection which the band saw at an art show in New York City. The outside of the cardboard case contains no song listings, and doesn't contain the name of the album or the band name anywhere but on the spine. The record company instead placed stickers on the plastic wrapping to indicate the name of the album and band, and on the UK version to indicate that it had the bonus track.
Release and promotion
Original release and touring
In June and July 2006, the band went on their first tour in three years, during which, they debuted "Sowing Season", "Degausser", "Luca", and "(Fork and Knife)". The album was announced September 10, 2006. On October 5, the album's title and track listing was revealed. From mid October to early December, the band went on a U.S. tour alongside Dashboard Confessional. On October 18, the album's cover art was revealed. Two days later, "Sowing Season" was made available for streaming via the band's Myspace account. Throughout October and November the band performed a series of in-store acoustic gigs. On November 14, "Degausser" was made available for streaming via the band's PureVolume account. The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was made available for streaming on November 20, and released a day later through Interscope. The album was original planned to be released on DreamWorks, but the label was folded into Interscope. People that pre-ordered the album received a CD single of "Sowing Season" with the B-side "Coca Cola". People that pre-ordered the album from BestBuy were able to download a video for "--".
In January 2007, the band announced they were in the process of making a music video. In February, the band went on their first UK tour in three years. After touring and promoting previous record Déjà Entendu, the band became increasingly reluctant to give interviews or talk to the press in promotion of the record. In one of a few exceptions during the UK tour, Lacey discussed that this was due to many journalists and publications misrepresenting and taking quotes out of context to make their interviews more interesting. Lacey also felt "more comfortable" not having to worry about photo shoots and music videos and instead just concentrate on writing and performing music. Few television, radio or online performances were given either. Lead singer Jesse Lacey was interviewed by WFNX on April 24, 2007 at the First Act Guitar Studio, Boston as part of an acoustic performance for VW Green Room that was subsequently made available to download. The track "Jesus Christ" was performed on both NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.
In March and April 2007, the band went on a tour of the U.S. "Jesus Christ" was released to radio on March 27. The song peaked at No. 30 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, beating the No. 37 peak of "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" to become the band's biggest hit on alternative radio. In July and August, Lacey went on a solo tour with Kevin Devine and Grace Read. In August, the band played several European festivals including Reading and Leeds in the United Kingdom, Lowlands in the Netherlands, FM4 Frequency Festival in Austria. From mid October to mid December, the band went on a tour of the U.S. with Thrice and MewithoutYou. A music video for "Jesus Christ" directed by Moh Azima was produced; however, it was never used by the band. Originally made available in 2009 before being taken down, Azima made the video available to stream on his own website in January 2012.
"Archers" was featured in the 2008 racing video game Burnout Paradise, and "Sowing Season" was included in the 2009 rhythm music game Guitar Hero 5. A live fancam performances of "Sowing Season" from the band's show at The Academy in Newcastle in February 2012 was made available by O2, with another performance from Brasil in July 2014.
In 2023, Interscope's Wood recalled the lack of promotion the band wanted to do for the album. "There wasn’t a music video, there wasn’t even a photo shoot. There wasn’t a bio. They wanted none of it. They were retreating from the commercialization of the genre they came from. They were like, 'Okay, everybody else is this, we’re gonna be that.'" The one event that Brand New agreed to do was the performance of "Jesus Christ" on Conan O'Brien and David Letterman.
Vinyl release and lyric booklets
After a July 30, 2008 solo show, Lacey stated that the long wait for the vinyl release of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was due primarily to the band's failure to secure the rights of Nicholas Prior's photograph. Lacey continued on saying that after the band either secured the rights to the picture, or chose an alternate cover, only then would the album be released on vinyl. The band managed to secure the rights to the image by 2010, and released the album on vinyl in that same year.
On January 11, 2010, Brand New announced via their Twitter account that The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me would be released as a double vinyl LP set through Procrastinate! Music Traitors and Triple Crown Records. This version included a lyric sheet that was not included with the original CD. The vinyl set was made available in stores on March 23, 2010. Another pressing of the album was done by Academy Fight Song, which went up for pre-order on their website on May 17, 2010. This pressing was released on September 17, 2010. The album was repressed by Music on Vinyl in late 2013.
Upon the album's release, the band requested in the liner notes for fans to send them $1 in the mail to receive a lyric booklet. In April 2015 the band began sending out lyric booklets to fans that had sent them $1 nine years previously. The first pressing of the lyric booklets titled Pogolith 000 contained a number of stickers, patches and a poster alluding to the release of the leaked demos from the album. A second "no thrills" version was subsequently made available at the band's merchandise kiosk at shows and on their website.
Critical reception
The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 78, based on 17 reviews. Critics emphasized the album's artistic leap in songwriting from the band's previous records.
In a positive review, Piero Scaruffi praised how "[t]he sonic quality is worthy of Pink Floyd, and guitarist Accardi especially shines as an atmospheric soundpainter... Few bands have changed so dramatically in the course of just three albums."
Channing Freeman, a Sputnikmusic staff member, gave the album a perfect five stars, firmly declaring "there are hundreds of albums to which I am connected in unique ways but this is the only one that asks me big questions, expects big answers, and does not hold it against me when I come up with the same old pile of bullshit that I always do." Praising "Limousine" as Lacey's best song lyrically and a "pinnacle of modern songwriting" along with "Degausser", "Sowing Season" and "You Won't Know", Freeman stated that the album "features one of the largest progressions I have ever seen from a band... most bands don't show that sort of growth even once throughout their career, but Brand New have done it twice."
Writing for AllMusic, Corey Apar called the record "dark and dense, yet accessible, a shadowy air permeating every crevice where Jesse Lacey's plaintive and often tortured lyrics aren't already residing." believing the album would give them to opportunity to break into the mainstream if they wanted to. Alternative Press highlighted how there was not a song on the album that could even be compared to material from their debut Your Favorite Weapon, whilst only "Not the Sun" and "Archers" bared any resemblance to material from Déjà Entendu believing the album to be dark, difficult, depressing and desolate, "Devil is the sound of four men hitting absolute rock bottom and desperately trying to rescue themselves through any means necessary; we as listeners are forced to hear the band suffer as a means to reach catharsis-all presumably for our edification" likening it to Modest Mouse and Radiohead's The Bends. Ben Sisario of Blender proclaimed the album to be "as creepy as it is magnificent" hailing Lacey's ability to write songs that "teeter between the gorgeously placid and the exhilaratingly hideous, Lacey leads a bipolar odyssey of blood and guts and desperate prayer". Andrew Blackie of PopMatters praised the album, calling it "certainly more mature, putting breakup and self-infliction clichés, thankfully, behind them".
Accolades
Commercial performance
The album debuted at No. 31 on the Billboard 200, in comparison to the No. 63 debut of their prior album Deja Entendu. It sold 60,000 copies in its first week. It also peaked at No. 5 on Billboard's Digital Albums Chart. A 2014 vinyl repressing of the album led to a No. 10 peak on the August 23, 2014 edition on the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.
In November 2022, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying 500,000 copies sold.
Legacy and influence
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me was Brand New's most critically acclaimed record until the release of Science Fiction in 2017 and was frequently considered to be their best album. During a 2012 interview, Lacey said the album "saved Brand New", calling it a "course correction" for the band's musical path. In 2016, ten years after its release, Lacey mentioned this album as a particularly important work for the band, and one that they "still use as a measuring post with which we compare the music we make now".
It was rated the best album of 2006 by Punknews and placed at number 74 in NME's list of the one-hundred best albums of the 2000s. Sputnikmusic's ranked the album No. 20 on their list of the Top 100 Best Albums of the 2000s, as voted by staff members, and it was ranked at number 16 in Kerrang!s "50 Albums You Need to Hear Before You Die" list.
The tenth anniversary of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me spawned several discussions regarding the album's legacy on Brand New, on the genres of post-hardcore, indie rock and emo, and on music as a whole. In a retrospective review, Ian Cohen of Pitchfork said that "by leaving his words and intentions up to interpretation, Lacey unwittingly shifted from a minor celebrity to a generational voice", giving the album an 8.5 out of 10 and comparing it to other critically acclaimed indie rock records of the 2000s such as Kid A and The Moon & Antarctica. Nina Corcoran of Consequence of Sound credited Brand New for "end[ing] the need to feel ashamed for connecting to emo", noting that the album's influence "altered the path of emo and alternative rock bands at large, blurred genre lines and bolded something beyond the band." In an article titled "The Immortality of Brand New's 'The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me'", Vice staff writer Ryan Bassil declared "by cutting to the core of the darkest elements of the human experience, never answering any questions, but presenting the feeling within them, it is a record that has the ability to grow with the listener, gaining more and more significance as life goes on."
Fellow musicians also commented on the album's influence and legacy. Tour mate and friend of the band Kevin Devine reflected on the first time he heard the track "Jesus Christ", praising it as "the best song [Brand New] had ever written... emotionally, educationally, intellectually, structurally, in every way". Labeling "Degausser" and "You Won't Know" as other album highlights, Devine referred to the bridge of "Not the Sun" as "[his] favorite minute of music in their catalog" and the album's legacy as "The Dark Side of the Moon but for emo", a comparison that he did not expect upon first listen. Andy Hull, frontman of American indie rock band Manchester Orchestra, complimented Lacey on being "a very clever songwriter", while guitarist Mike Weiss of mewithoutYou compared the influence of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me to that of Nirvana's Nevermind in how it "acted as sort of a pioneering watermark for musical genres that existed in our country", noting how it "broke the barrier [and]... destroyed that entire limitation, that boundary – and that is the importance of this record."
Geoff Rickly, the lead singer of Thursday, recalled how the album musically dwarfed the material his band was making at the same time. "I listened to Devil and God, and I remember about halfway through the third song maybe or fourth song, it just sorta sank on me like a ton of bricks that like, I thought our record [A City by the Light Divided] was a fairly radical change and I was pretty proud of it, and then I heard this absolute masterpiece that was totally different. Basically I was just crushed at how good that record was."
Jason Tate, the founder of music website AbsolutePunk, said that "After Brand New released Devil and God, you’d see all these bands that had been playing pop-punk make their attempt at a rock opus. Usually very badly."
The album's cover art, "Untitled #44" by Nicholas Prior, has been regarded as "iconic". The young girl depicted in the image, four years old when the picture was taken, was seventeen at the time of the record's tenth anniversary. When discussing her opinions on being the subject of such a notable image, Prior answered, "She's seen her likeness in stores, on T-shirts and tattooed on people's arms... while it's always meant something positive to her, I think the significance of it grows and evolves and she does." In a text to Prior, the girl replied, "The album art contributes a lot to the music's meaning, so by simply being in the photo, I feel like I’m contributing to an emotion felt by [their] fans. I consider myself a small part of the vehicle to help people learn more about themselves and what they love, which is a real honor."
In August 2016, Brand New announced that they would be touring the United States in the autumn with Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms as supporting acts, playing smaller cities and venues that were not covered on the band's summer tour with Modest Mouse. A month later, as the band postponed the release of their unreleased fifth album from 2016 to 2017, they announced that they would be playing the entirety of The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me on the tour, honoring the tenth anniversary of their most important album.
Track listing
Personnel
Brand New
Jesse Lacey – vocals, rhythm guitar
Vincent Accardi – lead guitar, backing vocals
Garrett Tierney – bass
Brian Lane – drums, percussion
Derrick Sherman – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Production and recording
Mike Sapone – production
Brand New – production
Claudius Mittendorfer – recording
R. Peterson – additional recording
Rich Costey – mixing
Emily Lazer – mastering
Sarah Register – mastering
L. Wood – A&R
Additional musicians
Irina Yalkowsky – theremin on "Luca"
Ron Piscitello – percussion
Brent Arnold – Cello on "Handcuffs”
Margaret White – Viola
Art and design
Jason Noto – art direction and layout
Morning Breath Inc. – art direction and layout
Jesse Lacey – photographs
Brand New – photographs
Borucki – photographs
N. Prior – cover
E. DeAngelis – skeletons
Charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)
2006 albums
Brand New (band) albums
Interscope Records albums
Albums produced by Mike Sapone
Albums recorded at Long View Farm |
5195425 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Target%20%28The%20Wire%29 | The Target (The Wire) | "The Target" is the series premiere of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by Simon and Ed Burns and was directed by Clark Johnson. It originally aired on June 2, 2002. The title refers to Detective Jimmy McNulty setting his sights on Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale's drug-dealing organization as the target of an investigation.
Plot summary
Baltimore homicide detective Jimmy McNulty investigates the murder of Omar "Snot Boogie" Betts, a "rip and run" kid who was shot while attempting to rob a back alley craps game. An eyewitness describes to McNulty the illogical, but to that point accepted, pattern of the regulars allowing Snot Boogie to join the game each week, knowing in advance he would rob it, followed by their chasing him down to beat him and retrieve their money. McNulty, "in exchange for some Grape Nehi and a few Newports", persuades the witness to testify in court. The following day, McNulty observes the courtroom trial of D'Angelo Barksdale, a young drug dealer charged with killing a low-ranking gang member. One of the two witnesses, a security guard named Nakeesha Lyles, changes her story on the stand and refuses to identify D'Angelo, resulting in an acquittal.
McNulty vents his frustration to Judge Daniel Phelan about the Baltimore Police Department's failure to investigate D'Angelo's uncle Avon and his right-hand man Stringer Bell, who are major players in West Baltimore's drug trade. Phelan makes a call to Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell. Later, Major William Rawls, incensed that McNulty went around the chain of command, forces him to write a report for Burrell about the Barksdale murders. Sergeant Jay Landsman warns McNulty that his behavior could end with reassignment. He asks where McNulty would not want to be reassigned, and McNulty admits he dreads being posted to the harbor patrol unit.
Wee-Bey Brice drives D'Angelo to Orlando's strip club, a front for the Barksdale Organization. When D'Angelo discusses the trial in Wee-Bey's car, Wee-Bey curtly reminds him not to discuss business in the car or on the phone, in case both are being monitored. Avon chides D'Angelo for committing a needless public murder, costing the organization time, effort, and money. D'Angelo also meets a stripper called Shardene Innes. When D'Angelo arrives at the high-rise Franklin Terrace housing projects, Stringer tells him he has been demoted to heading a crew in the low-rise projects, dubbed "the Pit." This new crew includes Bodie Broadus, Poot Carr, and young Wallace.
Narcotics lieutenant Cedric Daniels is tasked by Burrell with organizing a detail to investigate the Barksdales. Burrell wants to keep the investigation quick and simple, appeasing Phelan without becoming drawn into a protracted case. Daniels brings narcotics detectives Kima Greggs, Thomas "Herc" Hauk, and Ellis Carver with him. Rawls sends McNulty and Michael Santangelo, one of Homicide's more inept detectives. McNulty's FBI contact, Agent Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh, shows him the Bureau's far superior surveillance equipment, but explains that their drug investigations are winding down due to the War on Terror. McNulty objects to Daniels' plan of buy busts and suggests using a wiretap to get a conviction. However, Daniels insists on a fast-paced investigation, suggesting that the detail looks at old murders tied to the Barksdales.
McNulty goes drinking with his Homicide partner Bunk Moreland and complains about his ex-wife, who makes it difficult for him to see his two sons. Greggs returns home to her partner Cheryl. A heroin addict called Bubbles and his protege, Johnny Weeks, buy drugs with counterfeit money, but when they try to repeat the scam, Bodie leads the crew in beating Johnny. Bubbles is also a confidential informant for Greggs, and agrees to give her information on the Barksdales as revenge for the beating. At the start of his second day working the Pit, D'Angelo is shocked to find the murdered body of William Gant, another witness at his trial, lying in the street.
Production
Epigraph
This line is taken from a conversation in which McNulty criticizes his colleague Bunk Moreland for taking on a homicide case that he could have avoided – it not being his turn in the rotation to take the next case. Bunk took the case because he knew the corpse was found in a house, which statistically gave him a much better chance of solving the case than if the victim had been found outdoors. The conversation is ironic since McNulty has broken the rules in a much more serious fashion by circumventing the chain of command.
Commentary
The DVD release featured a commentary track recorded by creator and writer/producer David Simon. Simon discusses the season's novelistic structure and the theme of the corrupting influence of the institutions that the characters have committed to. He mentions many real-life inspirations for events and characters on the show.
He discusses the technique of using surveillance methods within shots (TV monitors, security cameras etc.) to give the sense of always being watched and a need to process the vast amount of information available to the show's detective characters. He also talks about trying to ground the show in realism by using only diegetic music.
Throughout the commentary, Simon tries to distinguish The Wire from other television crime dramas. He makes the point that the detectives are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminals they are chasing.
At the end of the episode, when the body of Gant is found, there is a brief flashback to the trial, re-identifying the character for the audience. David Simon cites it as one of the few things HBO urged them to do, to make sure audiences recognized the character. Although Simon concedes that 'maybe they were right', he says that they were reluctant to put it in as it broke from the style of the show. The show's storytelling has been entirely linear ever since.
Non-fictional elements
Both the Snot Boogie murder story and Bunk's tale of shooting a mouse in his kitchen are anecdotes from Simon's time researching his non-fiction book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). A real police officer named Jay Landsman is also a character in the book.
Reviewers have noted the pilot's grounding in the non-fiction political climate. The San Francisco Chronicle commented that the show had forecast a reduction of the FBI's attention to the War on Drugs because of the competing War on Terror. Simon confirms that the pilot was shot only a few weeks after 9/11, but that the writers correctly predicted what the FBI's response would be.
Locations
The opening scene (the Snot Boogie crime scene) was filmed at the corner of Fulton and Lexington in West Baltimore. The scenes set at Orlando's gentleman's club were filmed at the Ritz Cabaret in Fells Point.
Credits
Starring cast
The credited starring cast consists of Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty), John Doman (William Rawls), Idris Elba (Stringer Bell), Frankie Faison (Ervin Burrell), Larry Gilliard, Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), Deirdre Lovejoy (Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman), Wendell Pierce (Bunk Moreland), Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels), Andre Royo (Bubbles), and Sonja Sohn (Kima Greggs).
Guest stars
Peter Gerety as Judge Daniel Phelan
Seth Gilliam as Detective Ellis Carver
Domenick Lombardozzi as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk
Leo Fitzpatrick as Johnny Weeks
J. D. Williams as Preston "Bodie" Broadus
Hassan Johnson as Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice
Michael B. Jordan as Wallace
Clayton LeBouef as Wendell "Orlando" Blocker
Melanie Nicholls-King as Cheryl
Doug Olear as FBI Special Agent Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh
Delaney Williams as Sergeant Jay Landsman
Richard De Angelis as Major Raymond Foerster
Wendy Grantham as Shardene Innes
Michael Kostroff as Maurice Levy
Michael Salconi as Detective Michael Santangelo
Ingrid Cornell as Nakeesha Lyles
Larry Hull as William Gant
Lucy Newman-Williams as Assistant State's Attorney Taryn Hansen
Michael Stone Forrest as Detective Frank Barlow
The episode introduces many characters who are important over the course of the series, despite only being credited as guest stars. Domenick Lombardozzi plays Herc. Leo Fitzpatrick plays homeless, hapless drug addict Johnny Weeks. Hassan Johnson plays criminal enforcer Wee-Bey Brice. Michael B. Jordan plays naive sixteen-year-old drug dealer Wallace. Melanie Nicholls-King plays Detective Greggs' domestic partner Cheryl. Doug Olear plays FBI Special Agent Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh. Richard DeAngelis plays Major Raymond Foerster. Wendy Grantham plays stripper Shardene Innes. Michael Kostroff plays defense lawyer Maurice Levy. Michael Salconi plays Detective Michael Santangelo.
Reviewers have noted that several actors appearing in the series have previously appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street and Oz. In addition to Reddick and Harris, Oz alumni include Seth Gilliam (Ellis Carver) and J.D. Williams (Bodie Broadus). Peter Gerety (Judge Phelan) and Clayton LeBouef (Orlando) were both major characters on Homicide, on which Delaney Williams (Sgt. Jay Landsman) had also appeared. This episode was the first of several directed by Clark Johnson, also an alumnus of Homicide. The Corner star Larry Hull appears as maintenance man and witness William Gant.
Reception
The Guardian Unlimited review noted the pilot episode established the series' themes of institutional dysfunction, the ineffectiveness of the War on Drugs and novelistic structure. The review compared the series to Richard Price's 1992 novel Clockers and wondered if the pace could be sustained for an entire season. The review picked out the characters of Jimmy and Avon as particularly significant. An Entertainment Weekly reviewer praised Johnson's direction of the episode and credited him with drawing subtle performances out of Gerety and Reddick. Tim Goodman of The San Francisco Chronicle characterized the show as another success for the HBO network and a well-produced and complex subversion of the cops and robbers genre. He credited Simon's reporter's eye for detail for the series' verisimilitude. He also noted the series themes of institutional dysfunction, the ineffectiveness of the War on Drugs, and novelistic structure. A separate Chronicle article highlighted the theme of institutional dysfunction through the comparable experience of characters on opposite sides of the law using Jimmy and D'Angelo as examples. The review also made favorable comparisons between the show and Simon's previous work on Homicide: Life on the Street, attributing the improvement to the switch to cable television for The Wire from the NBC network who produced Homicide.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was more critical of the show. They stated that the producers' expectations that the audience would have the patience for a complex, morally ambiguous, and slowly unfolding story might prove unfounded. They noted the cast members from Homicide and Oz and described The Wire as less accessible than either of these shows and also compared the pacing to Farscape. They praised the performances of some of the cast and said that the show had moments that drew the viewer in but ultimately required too much of its audience. The New York Times also felt that the show "went out of its way to be choppy and confusing" and eschewed conventions of signposting the introduction of characters and obvious exposition but commented that while some viewers may be alienated others would find this refreshing. They noted the theme of institutional dysfunction and the use of parallel storylines for characters in different organizations to highlight this, citing the pariah status of Jimmy and D'Angelo. The review also criticized the show's attempts at realistic dialogue, saying that it often seemed self-conscious, and the examination of the detectives' personal lives, saying that it had been done before. The review stated that the show's success would hinge not on its apparent high quality but on the tolerance of the viewer for the complexity of the continuing narrative, which they characterized as considerably more downbeat than high-octane shows like 24.
The opening scene at the Snot Boogie crime scene has been praised as being a "perfectly crafted set-up" for the series' themes of institutional dysfunction, devaluing human life, and epitomizing the bleak humor of the show.
References
External links
"The Target" at HBO.com
The Wire (season 1) episodes
2002 American television episodes
American television series premieres
Television episodes directed by Clark Johnson
Television episodes written by David Simon |
59633251 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borze%C8%99ti%20Petrochemical%20Plant | Borzești Petrochemical Plant | Borzeşti Petrochemical Plant (formerly GIP - Borzeşti Petrochemical Industrial Group) is an industrial complex consisting of five large-scale plants: Synthetic Rubber and Petrochemicals Complex, No. 10 Oil Refinery, Borzești Chemical Plant, Borzești Power Plant and Chemical Equipment Company, being the largest industrial complex in Bacău County and the largest unit of its kind in Romania, which covers an area of , with an average length of and a width of . It is located on the Trotuș Valley, on the northeastern outskirts of Onești (named between 1965 and 1990 Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej).
Its construction began in 1952 and the first plants were put into operation in 1956 at the No. 10 Oil Refinery.
On April 1, 1969, the three distinct plants on the industrial platform in Borzeşti merged into the giant "Petrochemical Industrial Group Borzeşti" complex, and in 1973 it was renamed the "Borzeşti Petrochemical Plant". The abandonment of the centralized management system of the Romanian economy in 1990 determined the reappearance of the distinct entities, thus the Petrochemical Platform was divided into the private companies: Carom Onești, Rafo, Chimcomplex, Întreprinderea Electrocentrale Borzeşti and Uton.
Emplacement
The space occupied by the petrochemical plant is located in the north-northeast of Onești, near the former village of Borzești. It stretches on the lower terraces of the Trotuș River in the valley of the confluence area with altitudes of and . It has a rectangular shape oriented north-east, southwest with an average length of and a width . The choice of place is motivated by the relatively flat levels of the terraced bridges, with passages dimmed by the colluvium, the presence of the Trotuş River water on the northern and north-eastern side, the existence of the communication ways.
History
In 1952, a team of geographers and urbanists headed by Mihail Florescu, Minister of Chemical Industry, went to the Trotuş Valley to establish the location of a city and a large industrial compound. In this team was also the geographer Vintilă M. Mihăilescu. It was preferred Onești because:
is located at the meeting place of Trotuș River () with its most important tributaries: Cașin River (), Oituz River () and Tazlău River ().
is situated at a convergence of roads in four main directions: towards Brașov via Târgu Secuiesc through the Oituz Pass; towards Târgu Ocna (with a branch to Slănic-Moldova), Comănești (with a branch to Moinești) and Miercurea Ciuc through Ghimes-Palanca Pass; towards Bacău, through the Tazlău subcarpathian depression (with a branch pointing to Moinești); towards Adjud, in the lower valley of the Trotuș River.
is seated in a well-populated area.
is set in a relief made up of a slab built of sandstone gravel in a thick blanket covered with clay, consisting of two terraces, a taller one and a lower one.
However, natural elements were not enough to achieve a medium-sized city (40 to 60,000 inhabitants). This is consistent with the French geographer Paul Vidal de La Blache in the sense that "the elements of the site have elements of fixation, whereas those of the situation (geographical position) are factors of progression, of development. The site receives the city, but it is the situation which vivifies it." Vidal's concept was also verified in the case of Onești, the potential regional elements were concentrated in the petrochemical plant: petroleum crude oil from Bacău Region oilfield, sodium chloride from Târgu Ocna mine. The energy base was completed with the methane gas transported through the trans-Carpathian pipeline Nadeș-Oituz Pass.
The location between Onești and of a large petrochemical industrial complex - approved by H.C.M. (Hotărârea Consiliului de Miniștrii) No. 1638/1952, an integral part of the measures taken by the Romanian Workers' Party for the development of Moldavia, proved to be optimal on technical, economical and social criteria, taking into account the amounts of considerable natural resources in the Trotuș basin. The same decision stipulated the need for the construction of a thermal power plant in Borzeşti, which was to supply the new industrial complex in Onesti with electric and thermal energy. The data in 1951 showed that the electricity demand in Moldova amounted to 1,350 million KWh for the year 1955, that is for 5.6 times more than the entire production of the first year of the 1951-1955 Five-Year Plan.
By the Decision of the Council of Ministers (H.C.M.) No. 1635/1952, it was envisaged that in the Bacău Region, Târgu Ocna Raion, the construction of Borzești Industrial Group and the related proletarian city, Onești. The industrial zone was built northeast of the former village of Borzești, between the railway and the Trotuș River, its surface exceeding that of other parts of the city. As a result of this decision, in 1952, the colonies for construction workers began to be built and then the foundations of the first apartment buildings. At the city and industrial sites have worked alongside construction workers assembled in colonies and common law detainees or political prisoners. Soon the city had the highest number of intellectuals per thousand inhabitants, and the average age was 28 years old.
The petrochemical plant was built in four stages: First stage (1952-1960), comprises the first works from the Borzești Thermal Power Plant (1952), the No. 10 Oil Refinery (by H.C.M .1683/1952), the Rubber Plant (H.C.M. 1498/1957) grouped on 610 ha; (1961-1965), the phenol, acetone equipments (1961), synthetic rubber (1963) and styrene-polystyrene (1964), the industrial platform exceeds 846 ha. In the third stage (1966-1970), works were started at Refinery II and the Poly-isoprenic factory. In the fourth stage, two industrial objectives were put into operation: Synthetic Rubber Plant II and Refinery II. The surface of the platform has exceeded 1000 hectares and includes the city platform based on the food industry, wood processing and others.
At the same time, beginning construction of the electrolytic caustic soda plant (H.C.M. 2068/1954), later became the Borzesti Chemical Plant, whose first capacities were put into operation in 1960, when the salt brought directly from the Târgu Ocna mine or the brine transported through the plants in pipelines began to be transformed into highly demanded products: caustic soda, chlorine, hydrogen.
Between June 18–25, 1962, a Soviet delegation led by Nikita Khrushchev took place in Romania. The Delegation, accompanied by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, visited the town of Onești and the industrial group. In the same year, between September 15–21, a government delegation of the German Democratic Republic, headed by Walter Ulbricht, visited Romania. It also visited the town of Onesti and the industrial complex. In September 1966 the Industrial Complex and the city were visited by Nicolae Ceaușescu and Ion Gheorghe Maurer.
Installations commissioned in 1960 were: diaphragm electrolysis, liquid chlorine evaporation-melting, lime chloride, sulfuric acid, monochlorobenzene, Detexan and hexachlorane - commissioning continued in 1961 with chlorination plants and methylene chloride. Featuring chlorine in large quantities, this plant becomes one of the largest chlorinated insecticides producers in the country, managing to cover not only the needs of agriculture, but also to provide products for export.
The operation of the third industrial unit on the current petrochemical complex was carried out in 1962, when the first quantities of Isopropylbenzene, phenol and acetone were produced. For industrial complex and for the national economy, this year was a crucial moment, since the commissioning of the Synthetic Rubber and Petrochemicals Complex has created the premises for a broad economic development for the coming years and a jump in the economic potential of Bacău County. These units continued with new technologies, at the oil refinery the atmospheric and vacuum distillation plants no. 3, thermal cracking, catalytic cracking no. 1 and 2, absorption-fractionation gas, coke calcination, catalytic reforming complex and furfurol gas oil solvent plant, which have created opportunities to capitalize products at a higher level. At the same pace, the electrolytic caustic soda plant increased production. At old plants have been added new ones: fatty alcohols, vinyl compounds, caustic soda. At the rubber plant, new polyisoprene rubber plants were put into operation.
On April 1, 1969, the three factories on the Borzești Industrial Complex merged into the giant "Petrochemical Industrial Group Borzeşti", and in 1973 it became the "Borzeşti Petrochemical Plant", comprising 12,000 of employees, out of which 463 have higher education. In the over 20 years that have passed since the establishment of the first plant, through an organic bonding between technological processes and through superior valorization, it has continuously strengthened its economic power, maintaining itself as the most important industrial unit of Bacău County.
In 1970 the chemical production of the Borzesti Petrochemical Industrial Group accounted for 99.9% of the production of the chemical industry of Bacău County and 8% of the chemical industry of the country.
At the end of 1979, the value of the fixed assets in the endowment amounted to 7860 million lei, resulting in an industrial production of almost 7 billion lei, representing 26% of the entire industrial production of the county. Value production in 1979 was 3.4 times higher than in 1965, when the average annual growth rate was 9.2%. Significant increases were recorded over 1965 in a series all products such as: caustic soda 1.9 times, synthetic rubber 4.7 times, phenol 2.4 times, polystyrene 3.7 times, gasoline 2.3 times, vinyl polychloride 1.4 times, insecticides 1.5 times.
The products manufactured by the petrochemical complex have been exported to more than 40 countries including: The union of Soviet Socialist Rebublics, China, Germany, Hungary, Yugoslavia, England, Italy, Spain, France Egypt, Israel, Czechoslovakia, Iran, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, India, Poland, Bulgaria, Sweden, Turkey and others.
Between 11 and 14 October 1976, King Baudouin of Belgium, accompanied by Queen Fabiola, visited Romania, among others by visiting the petrochemical complex.The platform had 12,000 workers in 1980, achieving a productivity of 2.8 times higher than in 1965. The benefits obtained in 1979 by this unit amounted to 520 million lei.
The Petrochemical plant Borzeşti directly influenced the establishment and development of a new city, which became the municipality of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (Onești), which ensures conditions for the petrochemical workers of Trotuș Valley. The new city is remarkable by the pace of development and specialization, modern architecture and a dynamic influence area. These qualities were synthesized by the French geographer André Blanc - "Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej is the brightest example of the creative transformation of the natural environment based on systematic studies in order to raise the economic level of a region that was underdeveloped until short time ago."
Industrial structure
The Trotuș basin had a natural and human potential corresponding to economic and social transformations. After World War II, oversized industrial construction plans were developed that surpassed regional potential, leading to large investments, difficulties in raw materials supply and distribution of products and, in some cases, pollution of the area. In 1986, the workers of the Onești industry exceeded 22,000 people and the industrial platform reached 1,038 ha. In the first stage of development, the foundations of an energy industry were established.
After 1980 there were significant mutations in the structure of production, in the superior valorization of raw materials in the area. In 1984 over 54% of industrial production was petroleum products, 21,8% synthetic rubber and latex, 5,5% plastics, 4,8% insecticides, fungicides and herbicides for agriculture, 3,7% caustic soda and 9% organic and inorganic chemicals, solvents, chlorinates.
Energy industry
The Borzești Power Station began building in 1956, when the first 25 MW generator was installed. Until 1966 were completed with 25 MW, in 1957, 50 MW in 1960, 25 MW in 1961, 50 MW in 1962 and 1966. The largest increase in capacity was in 1969 with 2x200 MW, the main fuels being oil and the gas flowing from the Tazlău Valley. The installed power of the thermal plant in 1970 exceeded the installed power of existing generating sets throughout the country in 1938.
The grid generated electricity over the requirements of the industrial complex and the residential city, with production increasing 63.7 times in 1985 compared to 1956, so 110 kV, 220 kV and 400 kV power lines were built for the industrial centers in Moldavia and southeastern Transylvania and the railway networks in the Trotuș, Olt and Siret valleys.
Petrochemical industry
The No. 10 Oil Refinery is part of the large refinery category with capacity over 1 million tons. It consists of: Refinery I ("Onești 10") with electrical desalination plants (1957-1960), atmospheric distillation (1961) and Refinery II with gas fraction sections (1980), catalytic reforming (1980) hydrofinishing of gasoline (1980).
The refinery processes oil from Bacău County and some quantities are transferred from refineries in Muntenia or distributed from export. The transport of regional oil and petroleum products is done through pipelines or the railway network. Products include petrol, fuel oil, diesel fuel and derivatives such as benzene, xylene, orthoxylene, ethylbenzene, liquefied gases, and the like.
The Synthetic Rubber and Petrochemicals Complex produced the first quantities of synthetic ethylene-styrene butadiene rubber, being the only enterprise of its kind in the country. The construction took place between 1958 and 1963. Unlike the refinery which primarily processes petroleum into petroleum products (fractions), the rubber plant transforms oil fractions into finished products, such as polystyrene, phenol, acetone, benzene, used in the medicine and paint industry. Since 1976, a second polyisoprene rubber plant has been put into operation and later facilities for the manufacture of latex and butadiene-styrene rubbers.
The synthetic rubber output was 30,820 tonnes in 1965 and 155,909 tonnes in 1985, of which the polyisoprene rubber was 57,079 tonnes in 1985.
In 1970 the fourth line of rubber was put into operation and 70,000 tons of synthetic rubber was produced in that year. The manufactured rubber products were: CAROM 1500: for automotive tires, tractors, scooters, motorcycles, technical articles, conveyor belts, transmission belts and other items requiring good physical properties and good strength. CAROM 1502: for black and colored technical articles, sanitary ware, rubber cloth, carpets. CAROM 1503: for consumer goods, especially footwear. CAROM 1712: for cable and yarn insulation, technical articles, tires and many other applications.
Chemical industry
The Borzesti Chemical Plant is located in the southeastern part of the industrial platform. It was built between 1956 and 1964 with the following structure: caustic soda plant (1960), toxan plant (1961) and polyvinyl chloride - PVC (1964) plant with acetylene, monomer, polychlorinated vinyl emulsion, vinyl polychloride suspension. Acetylene was obtained from a mixture of methane and propane gas by the arc cracking process developed by Aurel Ionescu (1902-1954). The initial profile included chlorosodic products: caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), hydrochloric acid, aluminum chloride, lime chloride, further diversifying production, adding organic solvents: methyl chloride, methylene chloride, cloroform; plastics: vinyl polychloride, emulsion and suspension, ferric vinyl; fatty alcohols, liquid chlorine, and the like. In addition, installations for the production of ammonium chloride, chlorinated insecticides and others have been put into operation.
The chemical plant participated in the national production in the chemical branch by 14% - 25.6%. The production of caustic soda recorded an increase of 48.7 times in 1980 compared to 1960 and the production of insecticides by 30.6 times.
Machine building industry
Borzești Chemical Equipment Company was established between 1973 and 1976, in the following years, manufacturing products such as: technological equipment for chemical, petrochemical, crude, pulp and paper processing; metal structures and mounting elements. The raw materials used were purchased mainly from the Galați Steel Works, Roman Steel Pipes Works, "Republica" Bucharest Steel Pipes Works.
In 1980, I.U.C. Borzești was the only manufacturer of equipment for pilot plants in the chemical industry in the country. In the same year export activity started in countries such as: Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Austria and Germany.
References
Sources
Dr. Pintilie Rusu (coordinator); Stelian Nanianu, Nicolae Barabaș, Ioan Mirea, Dumitru Zaharia, Gheorghe Bucur, Vasile Florea (contributors); Județele Patriei – Județul Bacău, Ed. Sport-Turism, București (1980), pp. 158–160
Rozalia și Teodor Verde; Monografia Municipiului Onești – în date și evenimente , July 2003, pp. 44–47
Șandru Ioan, Toma V. Constantin, Aur Nicu; Orașele Trotușene – Studiu de geografie umană II, Întreprinderea Poligrafică Bacău (1989), pp. 190–197, 208
External links
Romanian Television (TVR) shooting, CAROM and No. 10 Oil Refinery, 1963
TVR shooting, inside the rubber plant CAROM, interview with sound, 1964
TVR shooting, No. 10 Oil Refinery, 1965
TVR shooting, Power Plant Borzești, 1973
TVR shooting, construction of L.E.A. Borzești-Iași, 1973
British Movietone archived shooting by AP Archive with the No. 10 Oil Refinery, 1956
Cineclub Cotidian Onești: "Întunecare" ("Darkness"), directed by Giliu Maximov, 1975 - cinematographic approach to the consequences of ingestion of methyl alcohol from the Borzești Chemical Plant
Cineclub Cotidian Onești: "Nuntă în cer" ("Wedding in the sky"), directed by Giliu Maximov, 1988 – the same topic with the short film "Darkness", after a real fact.
Documentary movie RAFO Onești, 2002
Documentary movie CAROM Onești, 2002
Reportage "România, te iubesc!", Prin cenușa imperiului petrochimic ("Through the ashes of the petrochemical empire"), 11–30 October 2015, part. 1, 2, 3 and part. I, II, III.
Energy infrastructure in Romania
Oil refineries in Romania
Rubber industry
Chemical plants
Companies of Bacău County |
29691020 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla%20Model%20X | Tesla Model X | The Tesla Model X is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV built by Tesla, Inc. since 2015. Developed from the full-sized sedan platform of the Tesla Model S, the vehicle notably uses falcon wing doors for passenger access.
The Model X has an EPA size class as an SUV, and shares around 30 percent of its content with the Model S, half of the originally planned 60 percent, and weighs about 10 percent more. Both the Model X and Model S are produced at the Tesla Factory in Fremont, California. The prototype was unveiled at Tesla's design studios in Hawthorne, California on February 9, 2012. First deliveries of the Model X began in September 2015. After one full year on the market, in 2016, the Model X ranked seventh among the world's best-selling plug-in cars. A refresh of the Tesla Model X was introduced in 2021, offering a new "Plaid" performance model, along with a revised interior, powertrain, and suspension.
, the Model X is available as a Long-Range version with an estimated EPA range of and a high performance "Plaid" version with an estimated EPA range of .
History
Initially, Tesla planned for deliveries to commence in early 2014. However, in February 2013, the company announced that deliveries had been rescheduled to begin by late 2014 in order to achieve its production target of 20,000 Model S cars in 2013. In November 2013, Tesla said it expected to begin Model X high volume production the second quarter of 2015. In November 2014, Tesla again delayed and announced that Model X deliveries would begin in the third quarter of 2015. Deliveries began on September 29, 2015. Among the reasons for delay were problems with the falcon-wing doors and cooling the motors when hauling trailers.
In 2016, the company filed a lawsuit against Swiss hydraulics firm Hoerbiger Holding for not producing satisfactory falcon-wing doors for the Model X. Tesla claimed the doors suffered from oil leakage and overheating. Many believe this is one of the reasons for the delay of the Model X. The lawsuit was settled in September 2016.
On July 13, 2016, Tesla introduced its Model X 60D, which is slightly lower priced than the Model X's starting price. The Model X 60D has a range and can accelerate from in 6 seconds, with a top speed of . The battery capacity in the Model X 60D is 75 kWh but has been software restricted to 60 kWh. Post purchase, owners have the option to unlock the additional 15 kWh, bringing the 60D to 75D range specifications.
Global sales passed the 10,000 unit mark in August 2016, with most cars delivered in the United States. In August 2016, Tesla introduced the P100D with Ludicrous Mode to be the new top Model X. The P100D has a 100 kWh battery, accelerate from in 2.9 seconds ( in 3.1 seconds) and of range. In October 2016 Tesla discontinued the 60D version and made the "Smart Air Suspension" standard instead of coil springs, increasing the base price to $85,000. In June 2017, the 90D version was discontinued.
In August 2017, Tesla announced that HW2.5 included a secondary processor node to provide more computing power and additional wiring redundancy to slightly improve reliability; it also enabled dashcam and sentry mode capabilities.
In March 2018 it was announced that Tesla upgraded the MCU to version 2. MCU 2 improved the performance of the 17 inch center console screen.
Global cumulative sales since inception totaled 106,689 units through September 2018.
In January 2019, Tesla discontinued the 75D version, making the 100D the base version of the Model X. The base price of the Model X 100D is $97,000 (~$ in ) as of Jan 2019. In July 2019, Tesla added a Long Range model of the Model X with a 325-mile EPA range priced at $84,500 (~$ in ).
In an engineering refresh in May 2019, range was increased to and smart air suspension was added.
In February 2020 Tesla increased the range of the Model X to of range.
In October 2020 Tesla increased the range of the Long Range Plus to , and the Performance increased to .
In September 2023, Tesla heavily discounted the price of a base Long Range Model X In the United States to US$79,990, allowing it to fall under the US$80,000 MSRP cap for a federal tax rebate under Inflation Reduction Act.
Design
A series production vehicle was unveiled on September 29, 2015. It has a panoramic windshield. According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, it is the safest SUV in terms of frontal and side impact crash, being more than twice as safe as the next closest SUV in rollover tests as well. The Model X does come with Autopilot as standard, and has an optional full self-driving system. The Model X has standard a collision avoidance system that uses radar-based autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and side-directed ultrasound detection that steers the car away from threats. Tesla uses a wide-band radar system to help prevent the falcon wing doors from hitting nearby objects when opening or closing.
The Model X has double-hinged falcon wing doors which open upwards, allowing the leading edge of the door to remain tucked close to the body, unlike traditional gull-wing doors. Tesla claims the falcon-wing (modified gull-wing) doors ease access to the vehicle by having the door raise up vertically, rather than swinging out hinged at the front, which tremendously reduces accessibility. The Model X offers room for seven adults and their luggage in three rows of seating and front and rear trunks.
As of mid 2021 it's the largest fully electric SUV in terms of exterior dimensions.
Specifications
The Model X weighs about 8% more than the Model S and shares about 30% of its parts content – down from around 60% expected when development began. The cargo space is 87.8 ft³.
Over the years, the Model X has been available with four lithium-ion battery packs, rated at either 60, 75, 90, or 100 kW·h. The highest performance version, the Model X Performance, goes from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 97 km/h) in 2.6 seconds and the in 11.4 seconds, outperforming the fastest SUVs and most sports cars. The Model X's all-wheel-drive system uses two motors (one for the front and the other for the rear wheels), unlike conventional AWD systems that have a single source of power. The 2020 Tesla Model X Long Range Plus has an official EPA rated range of up to .
The company planned to offer rear-wheel-drive models, but instead all models use all-wheel drive. The standard AWD has on both the front and rear motors, while the performance edition has front and rear. With an optional towbar, the Model X has a towing capacity of up to 5000 lb or 2250 kg. At the towing speed limit in California, a Model X may have 70% of the EPA-registered range when pulling a travel trailer.
Energy consumption
The following table shows the EPA's official ratings for fuel economy in miles per gallon gasoline equivalent (MPGe) for the variants of the Model X rated and as displayed in the Monroney label.
Production and sales
Tesla started taking reservations for the Model X in February 2012 without announcing prices. The standard Model X required a deposit, while the limited time production Signature model required a deposit in 2013. More than 20,000 Model Xs had been reserved by September 2014. In August 2015, user groups estimated around 30,000 Model X pre-orders had been received, compared to 12,000 for the Model S.
The first six Founders Series models were delivered at a market launch event in the Fremont factory on September 29, 2015. The first Signature edition was delivered on December 18, 2015. Pricing for the limited edition Signature version of the Model X varies between and , while the standard production version of the Model X will be priced at more than a comparably equipped AWD Model S that is priced at for the base Model 70D.
After the first quarter of 2016 all Tesla Model X deliveries had gone to US customers. Nevertheless, in January 2016 a Tesla car other than the Model S was registered in Germany and a Tesla Model X was sighted driving there with a license plate from Ingolstadt. Since the Audi headquarters are located in Ingolstadt, this led to speculation that Audi has acquired a Tesla Model X as part of its effort to develop its own battery-electric SUV.
Tesla produced 507 Model X in the fourth quarter of 2015, of which 206 were delivered to customers. Model X sales totaled 2,400 units during the first quarter of 2016. According to Tesla Motors, deliveries were lower than expected because production was impacted by severe Model X supplier parts shortages in the first two months of 2016, and because Tesla had been too ambitious in wanting advanced features (committed "hubris"). The first Model X that didn't need corrections was made in April 2016.
Sales during the second quarter of 2016 totaled 4,638 units. Although production was up 20% from the previous quarter, the number of vehicles in transit at the end of June 2016 was much higher than expected (5,150 including Model S cars), representing 35.8% of the number of cars delivered in the quarter (14,402 vehicles including the Model S). Global sales passed the 10,000 unit mark in August 2016. A total of 8,774 units were delivered in the third quarter of 2016, totaling 15,812 Model X cars sold during the first nine months of 2016.
The Model X ranked as the top-selling plug-in electric car in Norway in September 2016. However, when Volkswagen Golf nameplate registrations are broken down by each variant's powertrain, the all-electric e-Golf registered 392 units, the Golf GTE plug-in hybrid 358, and the internal combustion-powered Golf only 242 units. Therefore, the Model X also ranked as the top-selling new car model in September 2016. Norway was the world's first country to have all-electric cars topping the new car sales monthly ranking. Previously, the Model S had been the top-selling new car four times, and the Nissan Leaf twice.
According to Tesla, with 5,428 units sold in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2016, the Model X captured a 6% market share of the luxury SUV market segment, outselling Porsche and Land Rover, but behind seven SUV models manufactured by Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Volvo, Audi, and Lexus. With an estimated 9,500 units delivered worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2016, global sales in 2016 totaled 25,312 Model X cars, allowing the Model X to rank seventh among the world's top ten best-selling plug-in cars just in its first full year in the market.
, cumulative sales totaled 25,524 units since its inception. The United States is its main country market with 18,240 units delivered through December 2016, of which, an estimated 18,028 Model X vehicles were delivered during 2016, making the electric SUV the third best-selling plug-in electric in the American market that year after the Tesla Model S and the Chevrolet Volt. Registrations in California totaled 6,289 units in 2016, representing a 7.0% market share of the state's luxury mid-size SUV segment, ranking as the fifth best-selling car in this class, which was led by the Lexus RX with 20,070 units. Retail deliveries in China began in June 2016, and a total of 4,065 Model X vehicles were sold in 2016.
Global sales totaled about 11,550 units during the first quarter of 2017. A severe production shortfall of 100 kWh battery packs limited the second quarter of 2017 global deliveries to just about 10,000 Model X vehicles, with a slight increase to 11,865 vehicles during the third quarter of 2017. An additional 13,120 units were delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, for total annual deliveries of 46,535 units globally. , cumulative sales since inception totaled about 72,059 units. Global sales during the first nine months of 2018 totaled 34,630 units, allowing the Model X to pass the 100,000 milestone in September 2018, with 106,689 units delivered since inception.
On April 30, 2019, 5 Model X 75Ds were bought and operated by Blue Bird Group for their premium taxi service, Silver Bird, in Indonesia.
In the UK from 2021 to 2022, deliveries of Model X vehicles dropped significantly to almost zero. In 2023, Tesla also stated that the Model X will not be sold in the UK or Ireland in right-hand drive for the 'foreseeable future'.
Reception
Consumer Reports wrote that the all-wheel-drive Model X 90D largely disappoints, as rear doors are prone to pausing and stopping, the second-row seats that cannot be folded, and the cargo capacity is too limited. Even its panoramic, helicopter-like windshield was disapproved of as it is not tinted enough to offset the brightness of a sunny day. Also, Consumer Reports added that overall "the ride is too firm and choppy for a $110,000 car".
Car and Driver, despite some criticism of the Model X's falcon wing doors, approved of the panoramic windshield, stating "We were left dumbfounded, like slack-jawed tourists endlessly looking upward. Lose the Falcon Wing doors, Elon; the windshield is the Model X's best gimmick". Overall, it was given a rating of 5/5 stars, stating "There are no other electric SUVs at the moment. And even against fossil-fuel-fed SUVs, the Tesla's effortless performance and efficiency can't be matched."
Motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson's made his first review of a Tesla vehicle after 10 years on his TV show The Grand Tour in February 2018; Clarkson gave a positive review of the car that he called "fabulous" that is unlike anything on the road. Lawyers were present during the review presumably because Clarkson's previous scathing review of the original Roadster caused a lawsuit.
The 2016 Model X was named one of the top ten tech cars in 2016 by IEEE Spectrum.
Awards
On November 16, 2015, the Tesla Model X was chosen as AutoGuide.com's 2016 Reader's Choice Green Car of the Year and Luxury Utility Vehicle of the Year awards. The model was noted for its falcon-wing doors, long range, efficiency, and acceleration.
On November 8, 2016, the Model X was awarded the Golden Steering Wheel (), one of the most prestigious automotive awards in the world, in the "Large SUV" category. Candidates for this award are nominated by hundreds of thousands across Europe for excellence across six categories. The Golden Steering Wheel jury, composed of professional race car drivers, accomplished technicians, editors, designers, and digital and connectivity experts, then spent three days judging Model X.
On April 18, 2017, the American Automobile Association named the Tesla Model X 75D its Top Green Vehicle overall, as well as best in the SUV/Minivan category, with a score of 100/130. The vehicle scored 10/10 for its EPA Emissions Score, crashworthiness, Fuel Economy and Luggage Capacity. Though ambivalent toward Autopilot and the Model X's glass roof, AAA favoured its falcon-wing doors, and approved of the vehicle's performance, stating that its "acceleration is smooth and strong, as is the braking."
On June 8, 2017, the Model X was awarded the Australian Good Design Award in the Automotive and Transport category. The design of the vehicle was described as "set with an athletic build, whilst remaining proportional. Delivering on the functional form of a cross between SUV and people mover, the design remains true to a sports SUV."
On December 11, 2017, Forbes named the Model X 100D Best Vehicle of the Year stating that "Tesla makes every internal combustion vehicle on the highway seem a clunky, clumsy relic of the 20th century."
Use by SpaceX
Starting from 2020, modified Tesla Model X (with umbilical for the astronauts) were used to transport astronauts, especially for SpaceX Commercial Crew Program missions from NASA, for examples:
Crew Dragon Demo-2 – the two vehicles used had the NASA meatball logos on the driver and passenger doors, while the Worm logos were on the upper part of the rear window, and have special license plates, dubbed ISSBND for "ISS Bound".
SpaceX Crew-1 – the three vehicles used had same characteristics as Demo-2 except for the special license plates, dubbed L8RERTH for "(see you) later, Earth".
SpaceX Crew-2 – the three vehicles used had no NASA logos (both meatball and worm) and have special license plates, each of them dubbed "REDUCE", "REUSE", and "RECYCLE", since the mission was originally scheduled on Earth Day.
SpaceX Crew-3 – all three vehicles had the NASA worm logo on the doors painted in grey. The meatball logo was on the rear windshield. The license plates on all of them read "S3ND IT" for "SEND IT".
Guinness World Record
On May 15, 2018, the Tesla Model X and Qantas set the Guinness World Record for "heaviest tow by an electric production passenger vehicle." The Model X was able to tow a Boeing 787–9 nearly on a taxiway at Melbourne Airport.
Issues with production units
The Tesla Model X faced criticism in 2016 for issues with the falcon-wing doors, which sometimes did not open or latch properly in some early production units, and the windows, which sometimes did not open or close all the way. Tesla addressed these issues with several software updates, and no known issues remained after the 8.0 firmware was released. On June 27, 2016, Tesla settled on a lawsuit over usability concerns, accepting that the Model X was rushed to production before it was ready, and by October 2016, Tesla claimed the problems had been reduced by 92%.
In 2017 Chinese newspaper Xinhua reported that security researchers from Keen Security Lab at Tencent were able to remotely gain control of the Tesla Model X, allowing them to remotely open the car's doors, blink the lights and control their brakes. They found zero day vulnerabilities that allowed them to install new firmware. The lead researcher for the team said they informed Tesla of the findings and most of the cars were patched by an update one month after Tesla was made aware of issues.
Recalls
, Tesla has had four product safety recalls the Model X:
On April 11, 2016, 2,700 Model X vehicles were recalled due to the third-row seats unlatching during collision testing, folding over to the second row.
On April 20, 2017, Tesla recalled 53,000 (~70%) of the 76,000 Model S and Model X vehicles it sold in 2016 due to faulty parking brakes.
In October 2017, Tesla issued an 11,000 vehicle recall for a faulty locking cable mechanism in the second-row seats, estimating that about 3% of recalled vehicles may be affected.
In February 2020, 15,000 vehicles Model X vehicles were recalled due to corrosion found on aluminum bolts that attach the electric power steering motor.
Safety
NHTSA
On June 13, 2017, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced its crash testing results for the 2017-manufactured Tesla Model X, revealing 5-star ratings in all assessed categories, the only SUV to have done so. Tesla attributed the ratings to safety-focused design, in addition to a low centre-of-gravity resulting from its battery pack, adding "More than just resulting in a 5-star rating, the data from NHTSA's testing shows that Model X has the lowest probability of injury of any SUV it has ever tested. In fact, of all the cars NHTSA has ever tested, Model X's overall probability of injury was second only to Model S."
Euro NCAP
The Model X has been tested and received five stars from Euro NCAP.
See also
Electric car use by country
Government incentives for plug-in electric vehicles
List of production battery electric vehicles
List of Easter eggs in Tesla products
Tesla Supercharger
References
External links
Model X – video of production
Model X – emergency response guide
2020s cars
Automobiles with gull-wing doors
Cars introduced in 2015
Crossover sport utility vehicles
Electric car models
Electric cars
Full-size sport utility vehicles
Euro NCAP large off-road
Production electric cars
Model X |
7668434 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danell%20Nicholson | Danell Nicholson | Danell Nicholson (born November 15, 1967) is a former American Olympian and a boxer in the heavyweight division. He held the IBO World Heavyweight title in 1994, and in 2003 challenged Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight title.
Professional career
Amateur
Nicholson was a member of the 1992 United States Olympic Team as a Heavyweight. His results were:
Defeated Paul Lawson (Great Britain) 10-2
Defeated Zeljko Mavrovic (Croatia) 9-6
Lost to Félix Savón (Cuba) 13-11
Professional
He boxed professionally from 1992 to 2003 training under Emanuel Steward. Perhaps his best win as a professional was his split decision win over future heavyweight titlist John Ruiz on August 4, 1994. With that win came the lightly regarded International Boxing Organization heavyweight title. Other notable fighters he faced but to whom he lost were Andrew Golota, Kirk Johnson, David Tua, and Wladimir Klitschko.
Professional boxing record
|-
|align="center" colspan=8|42 Wins (32 knockouts, 10 decisions), 5 Losses (4 knockouts, 1 decision)
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Result
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Round
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Loss
|
|align=left| Wladimir Klitschko
|TKO
|4
|20/12/2003
|align=left| Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Ken Murphy
|TKO
|2
|14/06/2003
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Sione Asipeli
|UD
|6
|23/03/2003
|align=left| Temecula, California, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Melvin Foster
|TKO
|4
|18/01/2002
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| David Tua
|KO
|6
|23/03/2001
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Reynaldo Minus
|TKO
|2
|04/11/2000
|align=left| New York City, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tim Pollard
|KO
|2
|25/06/2000
|align=left| Elgin, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Terrence Lewis
|TKO
|2
|31/03/2000
|align=left| New York City, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tony LaRosa
|TKO
|2
|09/02/2000
|align=left| Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Marcellus Brown
|TKO
|2
|05/08/1999
|align=left| Tunica, Mississippi, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Abdul Muhaymin
|UD
|8
|17/06/1999
|align=left| Worley, Idaho, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Frankie Swindell
|UD
|10
|12/03/1999
|align=left| New York City, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Levi Billups
|TKO
|4
|07/01/1999
|align=left| Tunica, Mississippi, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Jimmy Haynes
|TKO
|1
|22/09/1998
|align=left| New York City, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Mike Sedillo
|PTS
|10
|03/09/1998
|align=left| Mashantucket, Connecticut, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Everett Martin
|TKO
|4
|16/06/1998
|align=left| Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Everett Mayo
|TKO
|3
|31/01/1998
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Thomas Williams
|TKO
|2
|30/08/1997
|align=left| Buenos Aires, Argentina
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Moses Harris
|TKO
|3
|26/04/1997
|align=left| Cicero, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Marcos Gonzalez
|KO
|2
|03/04/1997
|align=left| Worley, Idaho, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Kirk Johnson
|UD
|10
|23/08/1996
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Andrew Golota
|TKO
|8
|15/03/1996
|align=left| Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Darren Hayden
|PTS
|8
|21/12/1995
|align=left| Bossier City, Louisiana, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Jesse Ferguson
|TKO
|8
|19/10/1995
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Anthony Willis
|TKO
|6
|11/08/1995
|align=left| New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Art Card
|KO
|2
|31/03/1995
|align=left| Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| William Morris
|TKO
|5
|07/03/1995
|align=left| Prior Lake, Minnesota, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Larry Davis
|TKO
|1
|10/02/1995
|align=left| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Terry Anderson
|KO
|2
|19/01/1995
|align=left| Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| John Basil Jackson
|TKO
|5
|20/12/1994
|align=left| Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| John Ruiz
|SD
|12
|04/08/1994
|align=left| Mashantucket, Connecticut, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Mark Young
|UD
|10
|17/02/1994
|align=left| Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| David Graves
|PTS
|6
|06/12/1993
|align=left| Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Michael Greer
|TKO
|4
|27/08/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Phil Scott
|TKO
|2
|23/07/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Nick Kendrick
|KO
|1
|25/06/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Loss
|
|align=left| Jeremy Williams
|KO
|2
|08/05/1993
|align=left| Stateline, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Tim Morrison
|TKO
|3
|26/04/1993
|align=left| Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Rocky Bentley
|KO
|3
|26/03/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Luis Torres
|KO
|3
|13/03/1993
|align=left| Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Mark Posey
|KO
|1
|26/02/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Danny Blake
|UD
|6
|22/01/1993
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Jordan Keepers
|KO
|1
|08/01/1993
|align=left| Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| James Holly
|KO
|1
|11/12/1992
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Don Blake
|KO
|1
|25/11/1992
|align=left| Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Dave Slaughter
|KO
|1
|23/10/1992
|align=left| Countryside, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|-
|Win
|
|align=left| Dan Nieves
|UD
|4
|14/10/1992
|align=left| Rosemont, Illinois, U.S.
|align=left|
|}
References
External links
HBO Boxing Archive
Living people
1967 births
Boxers from Chicago
Heavyweight boxers
Olympic boxers for the United States
Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics
American male boxers |
13264467 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol%20Stein | Sol Stein | Sol Stein (October 13, 1926 – September 19, 2019) was the author of 13 books and was Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Stein and Day Publishers for 27 years.
Early life
Born in Chicago on October 13, 1926, Stein was the son of Louis Stein and Zelda Zam Stein. The family moved to New York in 1930. In 1941, while living in the Bronx, Sol Stein wrote his first book, "Magic Maestro Please", followed shortly by "Patriotic Magic". He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he served on the Magpie literary magazine with Richard Avedon and James Baldwin. He graduated in 1942 and enrolled at CCNY, which then provided a free education.
Between the time of Stein's enlistment in the Army Air Corps in 1944 and being called to active duty on March 1, 1945, Stein had completed nearly three years of infantry ROTC at CCNY. After qualifying for pilot and bombardier training, a backlog of pilots caused Stein to voluntarily transfer to the infantry. Overseas, he served as an Information & Education officer in the Headquarters of the 1st Infantry Division (United States) in Germany as Commandant of Division Schools, located in three cities, Regensburg, Ansbach, and Triesdorf. On 5 November 1946 Stein was cited by Lt. General Geoffrey Keyes for having organized and commanded the best occupational training schools in the Third Army Area in the American Zone of Germany.
Upon returning from Europe in 1946, Stein completed work for his degree at CCNY and simultaneously with his graduation in 1948 was employed at the college as a lecturer in social studies. While teaching, he took his master's degree in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in 1949 and was accepted for the famed doctoral seminar conducted jointly by Lionel Trilling and Jacques Barzun, both of whose writings Stein was later to edit.
Script writer for the Voice of America
From 1951 to 1953 Stein was employed by the Voice of America, eventually as senior editor of the Ideological Advisory Staff of the Voice of America. He wrote daily scripts that were translated into 46 languages and broadcast to two million people risking their lives listening behind the Iron Curtain. It was at the Voice that Stein's association with Bertram Wolfe began; Stein was instrumental in causing the re-publication of Wolfe's masterpiece, Three Who Made a Revolution, which had been allowed to go out of print. The book subsequently sold half a million copies in a few years and was adopted in almost all Soviet Studies programs in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In 1953 Stein, a centrist, was appointed Executive Director of the American Committee for Cultural Freedom, an organization of 300 leading American intellectuals of left and right working together in support of civil liberties and battling Senator Joseph McCarthy in the U.S. and Soviet propaganda and influence among intellectuals in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. It was in this period that the eventual publisher supervised the writing and publication of McCarthy and the Communists, which made The New York Times Bestseller List for 13 weeks and was credited with contributing to the unseating of Senator McCarthy.
Playwright
In 1952 Stein was granted a leave of absence from the Voice of America to accept back-to-back fellowships at Yaddo, an artists’ colony, and the MacDowell Colony.
At MacDowell, Stein completed his first play, Napoleon, under the watchful eye of Thornton Wilder, a fellow at the same time. The verse drama was produced the following year by the New Dramatists organization at the ANTA Theater in New York and was chosen by the Dramatists Alliance as “the best full length play of 1953”.
Stein completed a second play, A Shadow of My Enemy, originally intended as an adaptation of Whittaker Chambers' best-selling memoir, Witness (1952), but, when denied rights, based on public record and published in 1957. The play, whose synopsis runs "A senior editor of Time magazine accuses his closest friend of being a Communist", was originally commissioned by the Theater Guild and subsequently produced on Broadway by Roger Stevens, Alfred deLiagre Jr., and Hume Cronyn. The cast starred Ed Begley and Gene Raymond.
In the early 1950s, Stein and Elia Kazan formed a friendship that was cemented in 1955 when Stein served as the production observer from first reading to opening night of the Tennessee Williams play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama that year. Stein's play A Shadow of My Enemy was produced in 1957 by Roger Stevens, Alfred deLiagre Jr. and Hume Cronyn at the National Theater in Washington and the ANTA theatre on Broadway in New York starring Ed Begley and Gene Raymond. In 1957 Stein was one of 10 founding members of the Playwrights Group at the Actors Studio in New York with William Inge, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, and others.
From 1957–1959 Stein served for two and a half years as Managing Editor of the Executive Membership Division of the Research Institute of America.
Editor and publisher
In 1953 Stein edited and supervised the publication of McCarthy and the Communists by James Rorty and Moshe Decter for the Beacon Press in Boston. Melvin Arnold, director of the Beacon Press appointed Stein as General Editor of Beacon's Contemporary Affairs Series in the book size trade paperback format developed by Stein. Working as a freelance contractor, Stein's first list for Beacon included Three Who Made a Revolution by Bertram Wolfe, Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell, The Century of Total War by Raymond Aron, An End to Innocence by Leslie Fiedler, The Need for Roots by Simone Weil, The Hero in History by Sidney Hook, Social Darwinism in American Thought by Richard Hofstadter, and The Invisible Writing by Arthur Koestler.
Sol Stein edited the classic work Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin, selected as #19 of the “100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century”; Elia Kazan's America America; and Lionel Trilling’s Freud and the Crisis of Our Culture. He was also responsible for the continued publication of Bertram D. Wolfe’s The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera and George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia, selected as #42 of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.
In 1959 Lionel Trilling, Jacques Barzun, W. H. Auden and Sol Stein launched The Mid-Century Book Society, an upscale book club, which was an immediate success.
Stein and Day
In 1962 Stein founded the New York-based publishing firm Stein and Day with his then-wife, Patricia Day. Stein was both publisher and editor-in-chief of the firm. The publishing house’s first book was Elia Kazan’s America America, which sold three million copies in hardback, paperback, and book club editions. The success of many of Stein and Day’s books was attributable in part to the amount of publicity work that Stein and Day did for each book. Stein worked with Kazan daily for five months on Kazan’s s first novel The Arrangement, which was #1 on The New York Times bestseller list for 37 consecutive weeks.
The firm relocated from Manhattan to Briarcliff Manor, New York in 1975, and published about 100 books each year until the company was compelled to close its doors, the background of which was the subject of Stein’s nonfiction book, A Feast for Lawyers. The New York Times said, “He has produced an appalling, Dickensian portrait of the entire system...ought to be read not only by executives facing Chapter 11 but by all entrepreneurs and indeed by anyone who fantasizes about running his own company." Stein's book was honored by The American Bankruptcy Association at its annual convention in Washington, D.C. Columbia University now hosts the Stein and Day Archives, which chronicles the firm's 27 years of existence. Stein and Day was the originating publisher of works by Leslie Fiedler, David Frost, Jack Higgins, GordonThomas, Budd Schulberg, Claude Brown, Bertram Wolfe, Mary Cheever, Harry Lorayne, Barbara Howar, Elaine Morgan, Wanda Landowska, Marilyn Monroe, Oliver Lange, and F. Lee Bailey, among others. Stein and Day was also the American publisher of J. B. Priestley, Eric Partridge, Anthony Sampson, Maxim Gorky, Che Guevara, L. P. Hartley, and George Bernard Shaw.
The WritePro Corporation
In 1989 Stein founded a software publishing company with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his youngest son, David Day Stein. Together they took their combined knowledge of writing with their son's technical expertise and created software to teach aspiring writers how to write fiction. WritePro® teaches in-depth character creation, how to create plot, suspense and conflict through the interaction of characters and more advanced topics. WritePro® has over 100,000 users in 38 countries and received many accolades in its reviews.
After the success of WritePro®, they created two sets of writing tools for professional writers called FictionMaster® and FirstAid for Writers®. Though they were also successful, Stein chose to license the software to another company in 1995.
The licenses were taken back in 2010 and the process of updating the programs began in 2011 and The New WritePro was launched in 2012. However, Stein became ill shortly thereafter and work to bring back the professional tools was interrupted. Stein's son David still hopes to bring them back some day with the help of his brother Leland who now co-owns The WritePro Corporation with him. The New WritePro® is still available through writepro.com.
Honors
Honorary Life Member, International Brotherhood of Magicians, Ring 26, 1947.
Honorary Phi Beta Kappa, College of the City of New York, tc
Distinguished Instructor Award, University of California at Irvine, 1992
Bibliography
Novels
The Husband, Coward-McCann, 1969, Pocket Books, 1970. British Commonwealth: Michael Joseph, Mayflower. Translated into German, Spanish, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch.
The Magician, Delacorte, 1971, Dell, 1972. Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club. British Commonwealth: Michael Joseph, Mayflower. Translated into French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian. Film rights to Twentieth-Century Fox. Screenplay by Sol Stein.
Living Room, Arbor House, 1974, Bantam, 1975. The Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club. British Commonwealth: The Bodley Head, New English Library. Translated into French, German (2 editions), Italian, Japanese.
The Childkeeper, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, Dell, 1976. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. Translated into German, Spanish. German-language TV motion picture released
Other People, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, Dell, 1981. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. French, German, Italian (3 editions), Greek.
The Resort, Morrow, 1981, Dell, 1982. British Commonwealth: Collins, Fontana. Translated into Russian. Motion picture rights optioned (twice).
The Touch of Treason, Marek/St. Martin's Press, 1985, Berkley, 1986. British Commonwealth: Macmillan. Translated into German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian.
A Deniable Man, McGraw-Hill, April, 1989. Translated into German.
The Best Revenge, Random House, 1991.
Nonfiction books
A Feast for Lawyers, hardcover, M. Evans, 1989, paperback 1992. Trade paperback, Beard Books, 1999.
Stein on Writing, St. Martin's Press, 1995 hardback, 2000 paperback; British Commonwealth under the title Solutions for Writers, Souvenir Press. German edition, Zweitausendeins.
How to Grow a Novel, St. Martin's Press, 1999, British Commonwealth under the title Solutions for Novelists, Souvenir Press, 2000, in German, Zweitausendeins 2000.
Native Sons, correspondence and commentary with James Baldwin, 2004)
Plays and screenplays
Napoleon (previously titled The Illegitimist), produced New York and California, 1953, winner of Dramatists Alliance Prize, “best full-length play of 1953”
A Shadow of My Enemy, produced by Roger Stevens, Hume Cronyn, and Alfred DeLiagre, ANTA Theater, 1957, starring Ed Begley and Gene Raymond
The Magician, screenplay, 20th Century Fox
Software
WritePro® and The New WritePro®, Fiction writing lessons, created in 1989 with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein.
FictionMaster®, tools for fiction writers, created with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein.
FirstAid for Writers®, tools for fiction and non-fiction writers, created with his wife Patricia Day Stein and his son David Day Stein.
References
External links
Sol Stein Papers at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University
1926 births
Writers from New York (state)
American publishers (people)
City College of New York alumni
DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
2019 deaths
People from Briarcliff Manor, New York
American people of Jewish descent |
1887690 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James%20H.%20Cone | James H. Cone | James Hal Cone (August 5, 1938 – April 28, 2018) was an American theologian. He is best known for his advocacy of black theology and black liberation theology. His 1969 book Black Theology and Black Power provided a new way to comprehensively define the distinctiveness of theology in the black church. His message was that Black Power, defined as black people asserting the humanity that white supremacy denied, was the gospel in America. Jesus came to liberate the oppressed, advocating the same thing as Black Power. He argued that white American churches preached a gospel based on white supremacy, antithetical to the gospel of Jesus.
Cone's work was influential from the time of the book's publication and his work remains influential today. His work has been both used and critiqued inside and outside the African-American theological community. He was the Charles Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Columbia University-affiliated Union Theological Seminary until his death.
Life and career
Cone was born on August 5, 1938, in Fordyce, Arkansas, and grew up in the racially segregated town of Bearden, Arkansas. He and his family attended Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church. He attended Shorter College (1954–1956), a small AME Church junior college, before receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Philander Smith College in 1958, where he was mentored by James and Alice Boyack. In his 2018 memoir Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody, Cone wrote that they were the first whites he met who respected his humanity. Although he had decided against parish ministry, their advice led him to obtain a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1961, and Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Northwestern University in 1963 and 1965, respectively. He was shocked to learn that most northern whites would not treat him with respect like the Boyacks. Yet he was excited to learn of unfamiliar theologians, controversies, and biblical study methodologies. At the urging of and with support from the white theologian William Hordern at Garrett he applied and gained acceptance into the doctoral program in theology.
He taught theology and religion at Philander Smith College, Adrian College, and beginning in 1970 at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he was awarded the distinguished Charles A. Briggs Chair in systematic theology in 1977. In 2018, he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Cone and his wife, Rose Hampton, married in 1958 and divorced in 1977. They had two sons, Micheal and Charles. In 1979, Cone married Sondra Gibson, who died in 1983. They raised two daughters, Krystal and Robynn. He died on April 28, 2018.
Theology
Hermeneutics
Cone wrote, "Exodus, prophets and Jesus—these three—defined the meaning of liberation in black theology." The hermeneutic, or interpretive lens, for James Cone's theology starts with the experience of African Americans, and the theological questions he brings from his own life. He incorporates the powerful role of the black church in his life, as well as racism experienced by African Americans. For Cone, the theologians he studied in graduate school did not provide meaningful answers to his questions. This disparity became more apparent when he was teaching theology at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Cone writes, "What could Karl Barth possibly mean for black students who had come from the cotton fields of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, seeking to change the structure of their lives in a society that had defined black as non-being?"
Cone's theology also received significant inspiration from a frustration with the black struggle for civil rights; he felt that black Christians in North America should not follow the "white Church", on the grounds that it was a willing part of the system that had oppressed black people. Accordingly, his theology was heavily influenced by Malcolm X and the Black Power movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was also an important influence; Cone describes King as a liberation theologian before the phrase existed. Cone wrote, "I was on a mission to transform self-loathing Negro Christians into black-loving revolutionary disciples of the Black Christ." Nevertheless, "The black church, despite its failures, gives black people a sense of worth."
Methodology
His methodology for answering the questions raised by the African-American experience is a return to scripture, and particularly to the liberative elements such as the Exodus-Sinai tradition, prophets and the life and teaching of Jesus. However, scripture is not the only source that shapes his theology. In response to criticism from other black theologians and religious scholars (including his brother, Cecil), Cone began to make greater use of resources native to the African-American Christian community for his theological work, including slave spirituals, the blues, and the writings of prominent African-American thinkers such as David Walker, Henry McNeal Turner, and W. E. B. Du Bois. His theology developed further in response to critiques by black women, leading Cone to consider gender issues more prominently and foster the development of womanist theology, and also in dialogue with Marxist analysis and the sociology of knowledge.
Contextual theology
Cone's thought, along with Paul Tillich, stresses the idea that theology is not universal, but tied to specific historical contexts; he thus critiques the Western tradition of abstract theologizing by examining its social context. Cone formulates a theology of liberation from within the context of the black experience of oppression, interpreting the central kernel of the Gospels as Jesus' identification with the poor and oppressed, the resurrection as the ultimate act of liberation.
As part of his theological analysis, Cone argues for God's own identification with "blackness":
Despite his associations with the Black Power movement, however, Cone was not entirely focused on ethnicity: "Being black in America has little to do with skin color. Being black means that your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body are where the dispossessed are."
In 1977, Cone wrote, with a still more universal vision:
I think the time has come for black theologians and black church people to move beyond a mere reaction to white racism in America and begin to extend our vision of a new socially constructed humanity in the whole inhabited world ... For humanity is whole, and cannot be isolated into racial and national groups.
In his 1998 essay "White Theology Revisited", however, he retains his earlier strong critique of the white church and white man for ignoring or failing to address the problem of race.
Early influences
Cone credits his parents as being his most important early influences. His father had only a sixth-grade education but filed a lawsuit against the Bearden, Arkansas, school board despite threats on his life. White professors of religion and philosophy, James and Alice Boyack at Philander Smith College aided his belief in his own potential and deepened his interest in theodicy and black suffering. He found a mentor, advisor and influential teacher in Garrett scholar William E. Hordern. Professor Philip Watson motivated him to intensive remedial study of English composition. Classmate Lester B. Scherer was a great help in this. Scherer volunteered to edit manuscripts of Cone's early books while Cone's wife Rose typed them, yet Cone complained that neither understood him. Cone wrote his doctoral thesis on Karl Barth. A 1965 breakfast meeting with Benjamin Mays, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, convinced him that teaching and scholarship were his true calling. The sociologist C. Eric Lincoln found publishers for his early books (Black Theology and Black Power and A Black Theology of Liberation) which sought to deconstruct mainstream Protestant theologians such as Barth, Niebuhr and Tillich while seeking to draw on the figures of the black church such as Richard Allen (founder in 1816 of the AME Church), black abolitionists ministers Henry Highland Garnet, Daniel Payne, and Henry McNeil Turner ("God is a Negro") and Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, James Baldwin, and other figures of the black power and black arts movement.
Criticism
Womanist critique
Womanist theologians, such as Delores Williams, have critiqued Cone for both male-centered language and for not including the experiences of black women in his sources. Williams, in 1993, acknowledged in a footnote in her book Sisters in the Wilderness, that Cone has modified exclusive language for the reprinting of his works and acknowledged the issues with the previous language. However, she argues that he still does not use the experiences of African-American women in his method, and therefore still needs to deal with the sexism of his work.
Other scholarly critiques
Other critiques of Cone's theological positions have focused on the need to rely more heavily on sources reflecting black experience in general, on Cone's lack of emphasis on reconciliation within the context of liberation, and on his ideas of God and theodicy. Charles H. Long and other founding members of the Society for the Study of Black Religion were critics of Cone's work. Long rejected black theology, contending that theology itself was a western invention alien to the black experience. Others objected to his endorsement of Black Power, lack of interest in reconciliation and concern with scoring academic points.
Political commentary and controversy
Aspects of Cone's theology and words for some people have been the subject of controversy in the political context of the 2008 US presidential campaign as Jeremiah Wright, at that time pastor of then-candidate Barack Obama, noted that he had been inspired by Cone's theology.
Some scholars of black theology noted that controversial quotes by Wright may not necessarily represent black theology. Cone responded to these alleged controversial comments by noting that he was generally writing about historic white churches and denominations that did nothing to oppose slavery and segregation rather than any white individual.
Hoover Institute fellow Stanley Kurtz, in a political commentary in National Review, wrote:
Educator
After receiving his doctorate, Cone taught theology and religion at Philander Smith College and Adrian College. At the urging of his mentor, C. Eric Lincoln, Union Theological Seminary in New York City hired him as assistant professor in 1969. He remained there until his death in 2018 rising to assume an endowed full professorship. Cone made significant contributions to theological education in America. Prior to Cone's arrival in 1969, Union Theological Seminary had not accepted a black student into its doctoral program since its founding in 1836. During his career there, Cone supervised over 40 black doctoral students. These included Dwight Hopkins and some of the founders of womanist theology Delores Williams, Jacquelyn Grant, and Kelly Brown Douglas. He also taught Conrad Tillard, the former Minister of Mosque No. 7 and the Nation of Islam. He delivered countless lectures at other universities and conferences.
Works
Black Theology and Black Power (1969, ) | Find at Orbis Books
A Black Theology of Liberation (1970, ) | Find at Orbis Books
The Spirituals and the Blues: An Interpretation (1972 ) | Find at Orbis Books
God of the Oppressed (1975, ) | Find at Orbis Books
For My People: Black Theology and the Black Church (Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?) (1984, ) | Find at Orbis Books
Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986, )
Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare? (1992, ) | Find at Orbis Books
Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation, 1968-1998 (1999, )
The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2011, ) | Find at Orbis Books — German edition: Kreuz und Lynchbaum (2019, ) | Find at mutual blessing edition
My Soul Looks Back (1982,) | Find at Orbis Books
Said I wasn't gonna tell nobody : the making of a Black theologian (2018, ) | Find at Orbis Books
See also
Albert Cleage
Gustavo Gutiérrez
J. Deotis Roberts
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
External links
Orbis Books James H. Cone's works available at Orbis Books
James Hal Cone Resources from UrbanMinistry.org
Speaking the Truth
Jeremy D. Lucas, The Segregated Hour: A Layman's Guide to the History of Black Liberation Theology, Wipf & Stock, 2009,
Interview with James Cone.
washingtonpost.com / Samuel G. Freedman: One of America’s most influential religious figures has died. He deserves more notice
1936 births
2018 deaths
20th-century African-American writers
20th-century American theologians
20th-century Methodist ministers
20th-century Protestant theologians
Adrian College faculty
African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy
African-American Methodist clergy
African-American theologians
American anti-capitalists
American Christian theologians
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni
Liberation theologians
Methodist theologians
Northwestern University alumni
People from Fordyce, Arkansas
People from Ouachita County, Arkansas
Philander Smith College alumni
Systematic theologians
Union Theological Seminary (New York City) faculty |
5704868 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss%20Life | Swiss Life | The Swiss Life Group is the largest life insurance company of Switzerland and one of Europe’s leading comprehensive life and pensions and financial services providers, with approximately CHF 276.3 bn of assets under management. Founded in 1857 in Zurich as the Schweizerische Lebensversicherungs und Rentenanstalt cooperative, the company entered the Swiss stock market in 1997 and adopted its current name in 2002. In 2022 the group declared an adjusted profit from operations of CHF 2.06 billion, a 17% decrease compared to the previous year. Net profit increased by 16% to CHF 1.46 billion. Swiss Life is one of the twenty companies listed under the Swiss Market Index, as SLHN.
History
Foundation and growth
Conrad Widmer established the Schweizerische Rentenanstalt ("Swiss annuity institution") in 1857 as the first life insurance company in Switzerland, backed by guarantees from Schweizerische Kreditanstalt. Prominent Zurich politician Alfred Escher was closely involved in the development of the cooperative, whose goal was to provide Swiss families with insurance against the uncertainties of life: the company's board included representatives of most Swiss cantons. In 1866, Widmer obtained a license in Prussia, and a year later, the Rentenanstalt had business operations in Hamburg and Bremen. Beginning in 1894, it was one of the first insurance institutions to offer occupational insurance. Between 1866 and 1987, Rentenanstalt expanded to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Spain, Luxembourg, and Italy. In 1988 it took over La Suisse insurance company of Lausanne.
The first registered office of Rentenanstalt was in the Tiefenhoefe buildings on the Paradeplatz in Zurich. Rapid expansion saw the offices moving in quick succession from the Gruene Schloss on Zwingliplatz, to the Chamhaus on the Untere Zäune and finally to the Alpenquai, where the new head office was opened in 1898. Although this building was spacious for its time, further expansion in the interwar period necessitated yet another move. During 1937–1939 a modern building designed by the Pfister firm of architects was constructed close to the old head office. It is this building, extended during 1961–1963 and later, that houses today's company head office in Zurich.
Going corporate
In 1997, under the management of Manfred Zobl, Rentenanstalt changed from a mutual into a publicly traded proprietary company, with Rentenstalt/Swiss Life shares debuting in the Swiss Market Index in 1998. Swiss Life then embarked on an expansionary strategy, acquiring Livit, Banca del Gottardo, the Lloyd Continental and UTO Albis in 1999, and Schweizerische Treuhandgesellschaft in 2000, and taking over the real estate properties of Oscar Weber Holding AG in 2001. In 2002, the rapid acquisitions ceased as the company looked to restructuring and going back to its core business.
Acquisitions and divestments
In 2002, the company changed its name to Swiss Life for all its operations except in the Netherlands, where it remained under the old name Zwitser Leven (Dutch for "Swiss Life"); the Netherlands company was sold in 2007 to SNS Reaal together with the Belgium business. In 2004, it sold its British operations to Resolution Life Group. In November 2007, Swiss Life sold off Banca del Gottardo for 1.775 billion CHF. On 3 December 2007, Swiss Life announced that it had launched a takeover bid for AWD Holding; on 13 March 2008, it succeeded in acquiring a total of 86.2% of AWD, which became Swiss Life Select in 2013. The acquisition of Corpus Sireo, a German real estate asset management service provider, was completed in the summer of 2014, and that of Mayfair Capital, a UK real estate investment management firm, in 2016. In 2021, Swiss Life Asset Managers acquired the real estate business of Ness, Risan & Partners, a provider of real estate projects and funds in the Nordic region.
Acquisition history
Schweizerische Lebensversicherungs und Rentenanstalt (Founded 1857 by Conrad Widmer)
Rentenstalt/Swiss Life shares (Acq 1998, Launch on Swiss stock market)
Livit (Acq 1999)
Banca del Gottardo (Acq 1999)
Lloyd Continental (Acq 1999)
UTO Albis (Acq 1999)
Schweizerische Treuhandgesellschaft (Acq 2000)
Oscar Weber Holding AG (Acq 2001)
AWD Holding (Acq 2008)
Swiss Life Select
Corpus Sireo (Acq 2014)
Mayfair Capital (Acq 2016)
Ness, Risan & Partners (Acq 1999)
elipsLife (Acq 2021)
Versdiagnose (Acq 2022)
Franke und Bornberg (Acq 2022)
Corporate structure
The Swiss Life Group reports by country. Besides the three core markets Switzerland, France and Germany, the Group separately discloses its cross-border segments International and Asset Managers.
Switzerland
Swiss Life Switzerland is a comprehensive life and pensions and financial service provider with the brands Swiss Life and Swiss Life Select, and is one of the leading providers with over one million insured persons.
France
Swiss Life France specialises in personal insurance but also provides, through its Swiss Life Banque Privée subsidiary, asset management and insurance services combined with private banking for high net worth individuals.
Germany
The German branch of Swiss Life, founded in 1866, is based in Munich and offers private and corporate clients services in pensions saving and financial security. Core competencies are occupational disability insurance and occupational pensions. Swiss Life's financial distribution subsidiaries (Swiss Life Select, HORBACH, Tecis and Proventus) are headquartered in Hanover.
International
With locations in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Singapore, Swiss Life International offers Private placement life insurance (a form of investment with an insurance wrapper) for high-net-worth individuals in Europe and Asia, and provides employee benefits for large corporate clients. The financial advisors from Swiss Life Select Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Chase de Vere in the UK also operate under the Swiss Life International umbrella.
Asset Managers
Swiss Life Asset Managers offers institutional and private investors access to investment and asset management services. In Switzerland, it is one of the largest institutional asset managers and the third largest fund provider in the country. In Germany, Swiss Life Asset Managers significantly strengthened its position in the market with the acquisition of the real estate asset management service provider Corpus Sireo in 2014. The real estate management company Livit AG is also a subsidiary of the Swiss Life Asset Management entity, along with London-based Mayfair Capital Investment which was acquired in 2016. In 2018, Swiss Life Asset Managers acquired the German real estate company BEOS AG and in 2019 Fontavis, an investment manager for clean energy and infrastructure funds.
Corporate governance
Board of directors
The board of directors is responsible for the general direction of the Group and the supervision of the Corporate Executive Board. The Board is elected for one-year terms and is composed as follows:
Corporate executive board
The group CEO directs the business operations of the group and works out the long-term objectives and strategic orientation of the group, together with the corporate executive board.
Group CEO: Patrick Frost
Group CFO: Matthias Aellig
Group CIO: Stefan Mächler
CEO Switzerland: Markus Leibundgut
CEO France: Tanguy Polet
CEO Germany: Jörg Arnold
CEO International: Nils Frowein
Financials
According to Swiss law, shareholders are obliged to disclose information regarding their shareholdings in Swiss-based companies when these amount to or exceed 3%. Shareholders currently holding registered shares (purchasing positions included) of Swiss Life Holding Ltd., are BlackRock Inc. (over 5%), and UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG (over 3%).
CSR and sponsorship
The “Perspectives Foundation” of Swiss Life, established in 2005, promotes charitable initiatives in the Swiss home market in the areas of health, science, education, culture and sport, donating between CHF 1.3 and 1.5 million every year to social and charitable projects.
Swiss Life also jointly founded the Swiss Climate Foundation with eleven other companies in 2008. All partners donate their net gains from redistributed levies to the foundation, which in turns supports projects helping small and medium-sized enterprises to reach voluntary target agreement with the Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW), develop operational energy savings and climate protection systems.
In March 2016, the Swiss Life Group presented its first Corporate Responsibility Report in accordance with the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), as an integral part of the Annual Report 2015. The Corporate Responsibility Report focuses on business activities, society, employees and the environment and is guided by the principle of materiality. The report is published annually.
From 2004 to 2020, Swiss Life sponsored the Swiss national football team.
In the field of culture, Swiss Life supports, among others, the Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), the Lucerne Festival, the Zurich Opera House, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Davos Festival.
Since the 2015/16 season, Swiss Life has been supporting the ice hockey club ZSC Lions as general sponsor. Swiss Life Arena, the hockey and sports arena for 12,000 fans of the ZCS Lions club in Altstetten, is also named after Swiss Life. The opening took place in October 2022.
See also
Swiss Insurance Association
Swiss Life Select
References
Financial services companies established in 1857
Insurance companies of Switzerland
Swiss Life (demutualized 1997)
Life insurance companies
Swiss brands
Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange
Swiss Life |
24496299 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tech%20Valley | Tech Valley | Tech Valley began as a marketing name for the eastern part of the U.S. state of New York, encompassing the Capital District and the Hudson Valley. Originating in 1998 to promote the greater Albany area as a high-tech competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston, the moniker subsequently grew to represent the counties in New York between IBM's Westchester County plants in the south and the Canada–United States border to the north, and has since evolved to constitute both the technologically oriented metonym and the geographic territory comprising most of New York State north of New York City. The area's high technology ecosystem is supported by technologically focused academic institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute.
Tech Valley grew to encompass 19 counties straddling both sides of the Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway, and with heavy state taxpayer subsidy, has experienced significant growth in the computer hardware side of the high-technology industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector, digital electronics design, and water- and electricity-dependent integrated microchip circuit manufacturing, involving companies including IBM in Armonk and its Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, GlobalFoundries in Malta, and others. As of 2015, venture capital investment in Tech Valley had grown to US$163 million. Westchester County has developed a burgeoning biotechnology sector in the 21st century, with over US$1 billion in planned private investment as of 2016, earning the county the nickname Biochester. In April 2021, GlobalFoundries, a company specializing in the semiconductor industry, moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley, California to its most advanced semiconductor-chip manufacturing facility in Saratoga County, New York near a section of the Adirondack Northway, in Malta, New York.
History
The name "Tech Valley", or "Techneurial Valley" as was originally used, is usually credited to Wallace "Wally" Altes, a former president of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce ("the Chamber"), while the shortened name from "Techneurial" to "Tech" was the idea of Jay Burgess. In 1998, the Albany-Colonie Chamber began using Tech Valley as a marketing name for an initial ten-county area centered on New York's Capital District to show in name the merging of entrepreneurial activity and high-tech companies in the region. Tech Valley then evolved into a 19-county region in eastern New York stretching from the Canadian-US border to the northern suburbs of the city of New York. The 19 counties were Albany, Clinton, Columbia, Dutchess, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Orange, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Ulster, Warren, and Washington. That region was 15,637 square miles, about 270 miles north–south at its longest and about 80 miles east–west at its widest. In 2010, those 19 counties had a population estimate in 2010 of 2,312,952, a 9.2 percent increase over the 2000 census; population density was 148 people/sq. mile. 51 percent of the population was female, with 48.2 percent male. 88.5 percent of the population was White, 6.2 percent Black, 4.9 percent Latino, 1.5 percent Asian, with a median age of 37.5 years.
From the inception of the name, the Chamber stated that it would not limit the label of Tech Valley to just the Capital District; rather, Tech Valley was envisioned as running from IBM's Westchester County plants and headquarters north to Saratoga Springs and west up the Mohawk Valley. Early businesses that used the Tech Valley name helped spread the word, businesses such as Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) who used the phrase in its job recruitment material, MapInfo Corporation, Tech Valley Communications, Tech Valley Office Interiors, and Tech Valley Homes Real Estate. The first use of the phrase by a business may have been the accounting firm Urbach, Kahn, & Werlin in 1998, which put the Tech Valley name and logo on its postage meter, shortly before that the Chamber had begun instituting a new telephone greeting, "Albany-Colonie Chamber. Tech Valley. May I help you".
Also in 1998, Rupprecht & Patashnick put "Made in New York's Tech Valley" stickers on all its air quality sensors for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) national monitoring network. In 2000, Tech Valley license plates became available, with three numbers and the letters TEC, for a $34.50 fee, they were the first plates in New York that had a website on them- techvalley.org.
Initially, the name Tech Valley was derided as over-enthusiastic self-boosterism, but SEMATECH's decision in 2002 to relocate its headquarters to the University at Albany, SUNY began Tech Valley's rise in the public's perception. In 2004, however, when Bill Gates was asked by an Albany Times Union reporter what he thought about Tech Valley, he responded that he had no idea where that was; two years later though, $400,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was used to fund the Tech Valley High School.
Luring a chip-fab plant
The goal of luring a computer chip fabrication plant (chip fab) was one of the earliest goals of, and reasons underlying, the Tech Valley name. The plan to get a chip fab to the Capital District predates the Tech Valley slogan. In 1997, New York set out submissions for possible chip fab sites that it could whittle to 10 sites around the state that would be pre-approved and pre-permitted for a chip plant. Years before that the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's RPI Tech Park had been visited by semiconductor companies, but they had chosen not to build. The renewed interest by the region in luring them was spurred by the research centers and training of specialists for the industry by area colleges such as the University at Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Hudson Valley Community College. Responding to the state's request for potential sites, Rensselaer County proposed the same RPI Tech Park site; Schenectady County proposed two sites, one of which was in Hillside Industrial Park in Niskayuna; Saratoga County proposed two sites; and Albany County proposed three sites, two in Bethlehem and one in Guilderland. The state ultimately decided on 13 sites it would aggressively promote, most of which were in Tech Valley. As one of the thirteen sites chosen, the RPI Tech Park site originally met little opposition from the town of North Greenbush in which it sat. As time progressed opposition grew in response to concerns about potential impacts on traffic and the environment. The RPI Tech Park site, which by October 1999 had become one of only nine sites still being marketed by the state, ended when the North Greenbush town council voted to terminate the review process. A site in Wallkill, Orange County was the first site in Tech Valley and in the entire state to receive pre-approval for a chip fab.
In 2002, the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) began to tout its proposed tech park, to be named the Luther Forest Technology Campus, in Malta, New York, along the Adirondack Northway within Saratoga County, as a site for a chip plant. It would be there that GlobalFoundries, a spin-off of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), decided to build a $4.2 billion chip fab, ground breaking was in July 2009. The State of New York gave nearly $1.4 billion in cash and tax incentives, the largest such package in state history. New York's incentive package was the same as that offered by Russia, China, and Brazil; though it was not the deciding factor it meant that any region not offering the package was out of contention for the fab. The deciding factor on picking Tech Valley was the $5 billion College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the resulting "high-tech ecosystem" put in place during Governor George Pataki's administration. Subsequently, in April 2021, GlobalFoundries, a company specializing in the semiconductor industry, moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley, California to its most advanced semiconductor-chip manufacturing facility in Malta, Saratoga County, New York.
Tech Valley Chamber Coalition
The Tech Valley Chamber Coalition is an organization that is made up of 24 local chambers of commerce from 19 counties of Tech Valley. Those 24 chambers represent over 21,000 businesses, schools, and organizations that employ more than 531,000 workers. It was formed in June 2002 and manages the Tech Valley Portal, and publishes an annual publication called Images of Tech Valley.
The 24 local chambers are-
Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce
Adirondacks Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce
Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce
Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of Schenectady County
Chamber of Southern Saratoga County
Colonie Chamber of Commerce
Columbia County Chamber of Commerce
Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce
Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce
Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce
Greene County Chamber of Commerce
Guilderland Chamber of Commerce
Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce
Mechanicville/Stillwater Area Chamber of Commerce
Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce
Orange County Chamber of Commerce
Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce
Rensselaer County Regional Chamber of Commerce
Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce
Ulster County Chamber of Commerce
Whitehall Chamber of Commerce
Organizations that use the Tech Valley name
Tech Valley Communications (1999)
Tech Valley Homes Real Estate (2001)
Tech Valley Angel Network (2001)
Tech Valley Chamber Coalition (2002)
Tech Valley Technologies (2003)
Tech Valley Office Interiors (2005)
Tech Valley Exotic Dance Emporium
Tech Valley High School (2007)
Tech Valley Talent
Leadership Tech Valley
Tech Valley Center of Gravity (2012)
StartUp Tech Valley (2013)
Tech Valley Game Space (2014)
FIRST NY Tech Valley Regional Robotics Competition (2014)
Tech Valley Machine Learning, Data Science, and AI Meetup (2016)
Tech Newbies in Tech Valley Meetup (2017)
NetSquared Tech Valley (2018)
See also
BioValley
Silicon Alley
Silicon Hills
Silicon Valley
References
High-technology business districts in the United States
Economy of New York (state)
Regions of New York (state)
Hudson Valley
Capital District (New York) |
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