Posts: 4,591
Threads: 52
Joined: Jun 2017
A gun is a ranged weapon typically designed to pneumatically discharge solid projectiles[1] but can also be liquid (as in water guns/cannons and projected water disruptors) or even charged particles (as in a plasma gun) and may be free-flying (as with bullets and artillery shells) or tethered (as with Taser guns, spearguns and harpoon guns).
The means of projectile propulsion vary according to designs, but are traditionally effected by a high gas pressure contained within a shooting tube (gun barrel), produced either through the rapid combustion of propellants (as with firearms), or by mechanical compression (as with air guns). The high-pressure gas is introduced behind the projectile, accelerating it down the length of the tube, imparting sufficient launch velocity to sustain its further travel towards the target once the propelling gas ceases acting upon it at the end of the tube. Alternatively, acceleration via electromagnetic field generation may be employed, in which case the shooting tube may be substituted by guide rails (as in railguns) or wrapped with magnetic coils (as in coilguns).
The first devices identified as guns appeared in China from around CE 1000. By the 12th century, the technology was spreading through the rest of Asia, and into Europe by the 13th century.[2]
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons built to launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry's small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and led to heavy, fairly immobile siege engines. As technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery cannons developed for battlefield use. This development continues today; modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the large share of an army's total firepower.
In its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armor. Since the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, the word "artillery" has largely meant cannon, and in contemporary usage, it usually refers to shell-firing guns, howitzers, mortars, and rocket artillery. In common speech, the word artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings, although these assemblages are more properly called "equipment". However, there is no generally recognized generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth: the United States uses "artillery piece", but most English-speaking armies use "gun" and "mortar". The projectiles fired are typically either "shot" (if solid) or "shell" (if not). "Shell" is a widely used generic term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions.
By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines. In some armies, one arm has operated field, coastal, anti-aircraft artillery and anti-tank artillery, in others these have been separate arms and in some nations coastal has been a naval or marine responsibility. In the 20th century, technology-based target acquisition devices (such as radar) and systems (such as sound ranging and flash spotting) emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms. The widespread adoption of indirect fire in the early 20th century introduced the need for specialist data for field artillery, notably survey and meteorological; in some armies, provision of these are the responsibility of the artillery arm.
Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships. The early 20th century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft: anti-aircraft guns.
Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, and has been since at least the early Industrial Revolution. The majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery.[1] In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was "the God of War".[1]
Posts: 4,591
Threads: 52
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 4,591
Threads: 52
Joined: Jun 2017
Calgary (/ˈkælɡri/ (About this soundlisten)) is a city in the western Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies and roughly 299 km (185 mi) south of the provincial capital of Edmonton. The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor.[13]
The city had a population of 1,285,711 in 2019, making it Alberta's largest city. It is the third-largest municipality in Canada (after Toronto and Montreal), and the largest in western Canada. Also in 2016, Calgary had a metropolitan population of 1,392,609, making it the fourth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada and second-largest in western Canada.
Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors.[14] The Calgary CMA is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations.[15] In 2015 Calgary had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any major Canadian city.[16] In 1988 it became the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympic Games.
The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Calgary the most livable city in North America in both 2018 and 2019. Calgary has been a top 5 contender for this title for the last 10 years.[17] Calgary was also ranked the best city in the world for drivers in 2019.[18]
Harts Range is a location in the Northern Territory, located on the Plenty Highway 215 km (134 mi) by road northeast of Alice Springs. Most of its population are of Aboriginal descent, residing in the nearby community of Atitjere. Since 1947, each year an annual racing meet has been held at the Harts Range Racecourse on the Picnic Day long weekend. The event has grown to include rodeo, novelty, and family events in a three-day festival known as the "Harts Range Bush Sports Weekend".[1] A police station at Harts Range services the surrounding district, comprising remote cattle stations and Aboriginal communities. A transmitter for the Jindalee Operational Radar Network is located near Harts Range.[2] The area was shortlisted as a potential site for a low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste storage and disposal facility, raising concerns that the local hydrogeology could result in spills contaminating the ground water.[3]
Posts: 4,591
Threads: 52
Joined: Jun 2017
Cardia or Kardia (Ancient Greek: Kαρδία), anciently the chief town of the Thracian Chersonese (today Gallipoli peninsula), was situated at the head of the Gulf of Melas (today the Gulf of Saros). It was originally a colony of the Milesians and Clazomenians; but subsequently, in the time of Miltiades (late 6th century BC), the place also received Athenian colonists,[1] as proved by Miltiades tyranny (515–493 BC). But this didn't make Cardia necessarily always pro-Athenian: when in 357 BC Athens took control of the Chersonese, the latter, under the rule of a Thracian prince, was the only city to remain neutral; but the decisive year was 352 BC when the city concluded a treaty of amity with king Philip II of Macedonia. A great crisis exploded when Diopeithes, an Athenian mercenary captain, had in 343 BC brought Attic settlers to the town; and since Cardia was unwilling to receive them, Philip immediately sent help to the town. The king proposed to settle the dispute between the two cities by arbitration, but Athens refused.[2] Demosthenes, the famous Greek patriot and orator, spoke on this very matter to the Athenian Senate in 341 BC his "Oration On The State Of The Chersonesus" [3]:
"Our present concernment is about the affairs of the Chersonesus, and Philip's expedition into Thrace...but most of our orators insist upon the actions and designs of Diopithes...which, if one moment neglected, the loss may be irreparable; here our attention is instantly demanded...shall Philip be left at full liberty to pursue all his other designs, provided he keeps from Attica; and shall not Diopithes be permitted to assist the Thracians? And if he does, shall we accuse him of involving us in a war?...none of you can be weak enough to imagine that Philip's desires are centered in those paltry villages of Thrace...and has no designs on the ports...arsenals...navies...silver mines, and all the other revenues of Athens; but that he will leave them for you to enjoy...? Impossible! No; these and all his expeditions are really intended to facilitate the conquest of Athens....let us shake off our extravagant and dangerous supineness; let us supply the necessary expenses; let us call on our allies...so that, as he hath his force constantly prepared to injure and enslave the Greeks, yours too may be ever ready to protect and assist them."
The town was destroyed by Lysimachus about 309 BC[4], and although it was afterwards rebuilt, it never again rose to any degree of prosperity, as Lysimachia, which was built in its vicinity and peopled with the inhabitants of Cardia, became the chief town in that neighbourhood.[5] Cardia was the birthplace of Alexander's secretary Eumenes[6] and of the historian Hieronymus.[4]
Plutarch in the "Life of Eumenes" writes that the young men and boys of Cardia were exercising in the Pankration and wrestling.[7]
Kevin M. Kolevar is Vice President, Government Affairs, Public Policy and Issues Management at the Dow Chemical Company. He joined Dow Chemical in 2009[1] after serving as the Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in the United States Department of Energy.
Kolevar is a graduate of the University of Michigan. After graduation, he spent over ten years serving as a member of United States Senate staff in the offices of Senators Spencer Abraham and Connie Mack III.
Following the inauguration of President George W. Bush in 2001, Kolevar joined the Department of Energy as a Senior Policy Advisor. From 2003 to 2005, Kolevar served as Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow. He then led the newly created Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability and was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability in 2007.[2]
In his position with Dow Chemical, Kolevar has been an outspoken supporter of advanced manufacturing policies for the US, workforce equality issues, comprehensive natural gas export policy, and the Export–Import Bank of the United States.
Posts: 4,591
Threads: 52
Joined: Jun 2017
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement (Irish: Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or Comhaontú Bhéal Feirste; Ulster-Scots: Guid Friday Greeance or Bilfawst Greeance)[1] was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, both agreed in Belfast on Good Friday, 10 April 1998:
a multi-party agreement by most of Northern Ireland's political parties (the Multi-Party Agreement);
an international agreement between the British and Irish governments (the British–Irish Agreement).
The agreement set out a complex series of provisions relating to a number of areas including:
The status and system of government of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. (Strand 1)
The relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. (Strand 2)
The relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. (Strand 3)
Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, demilitarisation, justice, and policing were central to the agreement.
The agreement was approved by voters across the island of Ireland in two referendums held on 22 May 1998. In Northern Ireland, voters were asked in the 1998 Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement referendum whether they supported the multi-party agreement. In the Republic of Ireland, voters were asked whether they would allow the state to sign the agreement and allow necessary constitutional changes (Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland) to facilitate it. The people of both jurisdictions needed to approve the agreement in order to give effect to it.
The British–Irish Agreement came into force on 2 December 1999. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was the only major political group in Northern Ireland to oppose the Good Friday Agreement.[2]
Basilica Hudson is an arts and performance venue in Hudson, New York, USA. It was established in 2010 out of a 19th-century factory located near the city's "South Bay" riverfront along the Hudson River.
Basilica Hudson schedules its programming between spring and fall. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival and the 24 Hour Drone music festival,
Its creative directors in 2013 are musician Melissa Auf der Maur and independent filmmaker Tony Stone.
In 2012, The Guardian named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.[1]
History of the site
The building that currently houses Basilica Hudson was originally built in the 1880s as a foundry that produced railroad car wheels.[2][3] Later, it was converted into a glue factory that closed in the 1980s.[2][4]
In 1999, the site was slated for inclusion in a redevelopment proposal by the Americlean corporation to build a processing facility for the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene. The successful campaign to defeat this proposal was led by the newly formed Friends of Hudson environmental organization.[5] After the defeat of the Americlean proposal, the property was acquired by a Florida developer who sought unsuccessfully to establish an arts center.[6]
In 2001, developers and civic activists Patrick Doyle and Catherine Dodge Smith acquired the property and opened it as a community arts center under the name Basilica Industria.[7] The venue was the site of a 2003 Patti Smith concert benefiting the Friends of Hudson campaign to stop development of a 1,800-acre cement plant in neighboring town of Greenport.[8][9] By 2008, musician Melissa Auf der Maur and filmmaker Tony Stone, then newcomers to Hudson, began curating events, filming, and holding band practice in the space.[2]
In 2010, Doyle and Smith sold the property to Auf der Maur, Stone, and his parents, artists Bill Stone and Nancy Stone. They renamed the property 'Basilica Hudson' and repurposed it as an arts and performance venue.[7] Basilica Hudson launched its music and arts programming in the summer of 2012.[10] In 2012, the Albany, NY-based publication Metroland named Basilica Hudson the "best new venue" in the Capital Region.[11] In 2012, The Guardian named Basilica Hudson one of the ten best industrial-chic spaces worldwide.[1]
Operation of venue
Basilica Hudson is an 18,000 sq. ft. space with a maximum capacity for 1,200 people.[4] It schedules its programming between spring and fall.[12] Basilica Hudson has attracted international acclaim for its unusual program of events and its owners' commitment to supporting the creative community of the Hudson Valley region. Events range from film screenings and visual art exhibitions, to annual farmers' and flea markets with local vendors. It is the setting for the annual Basilica SoundScape festival, described as 'the antifestival' by various publications for its thoughtful mix of music, visual art and literature.[13] Basilica Hudson is also home to the 24 Hour Drone music festival, which sees festival-goers camp in the space for a round-the-clock, non-stop 24-hour performance by a selection of experimental artists.
|
Join us on our TWC Discord channel
