title: Storm history of Hurricane Katrina

paragraphs: The storm history of Hurricane Katrina started on August 23, 2005. Hurricane Katrina was a highly destructive Category 5 hurricane which formed as Tropical Depression Twelve near the Bahamas. The next day, the tropical depression strengthened to a tropical storm, and was named "Katrina". Katrina continued on to make landfall on the southern part of the U.S. state of Florida as a Category 1 hurricane.

paragraphs: While passing across Florida, Katrina weakened to a tropical storm. However, the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed it to rapidly intensify to the sixth strongest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. Afterwards, Katrina made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana, and once more near the Mississippi/Louisiana border. Katrina did not stop going northward through the central United States and finally dissipated near the Great Lakes, when it was absorbed by a cold front.

paragraphs: Tropical Depression Twelve formed over the southeastern Bahamas at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) on August 23, 2005, some of the tropical depression was from the remains of Tropical Depression Ten, which had dissipated from the effects of a nearby upper tropospheric trough. While the normal standards for numbering tropical depressions in the Atlantic shows that the old name/number is kept when a depression dissipates and regenerates, satellite data indicated that a second tropical wave combined with Tropical Depression Ten north of Puerto Rico to form a new, much more advanced system, which was then named as Tropical Depression Twelve. Simultaneously, the trough in the upper troposphere weakened, causing the wind shear in the area to decrease, also allowing the new tropical depression to develop. In a later re-analysis, it was found that the low-level circulation of TD Ten had completely detached and dissipated, with only the remnant mid-level circulation moving on and merging with the second tropical wave mentioned before. As a result, the criteria for keeping the same name and identity were not met.

paragraphs: As the atmospheric conditions surrounding Tropical Depression Twelve were favorable for tropical development, the system began to strengthen, was upgraded to Tropical Storm status and given the name "Katrina" on the morning of August 24. A burst of convection allowed Katrina to become the fifth hurricane of the 2005 season on August 25, only two hours before it made landfall around 6:30 p.m. EST (2230 UTC) between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida.

paragraphs: Katrina struck the peninsula with 80 mph (130 km/h) winds, and had a well-defined eye on Doppler radar, which managed to stay undisturbed throughout its passage over Florida. The storm weakened over land on August 26 to a tropical storm, but regained its strength as a hurricane at 2:00 a.m. EDT (0600 UTC), about one hour after making landfall in Florida. Parts of the Florida Keys experienced tropical storm force winds throughout August 26, with the Dry Tortugas briefly experiencing hurricane-force winds.

paragraphs: At first, the National Hurricane Center forecasts predicted that Katrina would begin turning northward after landfall, eventually to make its second landfall on the Florida Panhandle about three to four days later. Katrina, however, continued a westerly and west-southwesterly track, which eventually made the forecasts change their predictions, and forecast Katrina to move westward into New Orleans.

paragraphs: Right after the storm entered the Gulf of Mexico, the low wind shear, good upper-level outflow, and the warm sea surface temperatures of the Gulf Loop Current caused Katrina to intensify rapidly. On August 27, the storm was upgraded to Category 3 strength, becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle inhibited strengthening of its maximum winds for about 18 hours, but nearly doubled the size of the storm as a result. The storm then began a second period of rapid intensification starting at 7:00 p.m. CDT on August 27, and by 12:40 a.m. CDT on August 28, Katrina was upgraded to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (233 km/h). It became a Category 5 storm by 7:00 a.m. CDT, twelve hours after the beginning of the second round of rapid intensification, and reached its peak intensity at 1:00 p.m. CDT with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h), gusts of 215 mph (344 km/h) and a central pressure of 902 mbar (26.64 inHg). The minimum pressure made Katrina, at the time, the fourth most intense Atlantic hurricane on record (Hurricanes Rita and Wilma would later beat Katrina's record that same year). As the hurricane came closer New Orleans, the Weather Forecast Office in Slidell, Louisiana gave out two strongly-worded warnings of the storm's danger.

paragraphs: By the afternoon of August 28, the storm was large enough that some areas of the Gulf Coast were already experiencing tropical storm-force winds. The center of Katrina was about 180 statute miles (290 km) from the mouth of the Mississippi River, but tropical storm-force winds extended 230 mi (370 km) from the center of the storm, and hurricane-force winds extended about 105 miles (170 km) away.

paragraphs: Overnight on August 29, and into the morning of the next day, Katrina quickly weakened (in terms of maximum sustained winds) as it began to enter another eyewall replacement cycle. The inner eyewall disappered before an outer eyewall had fully formed, which was one of the reasons of its rapid weakening. In 18 hours, the hurricane's maximum sustained winds decreased from 170 mph (280 km/h) to 125 mph (205 km/h). However, storm surges remained high at landfall because large waves greater than 30 feet (9.1 m) in height were generated beforehand (with a buoy recording a 55 ft/16.7 m wave at sea), when Katrina was at Categories 4 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The waves then combined with the storm surge of the large Category 3 hurricane.

paragraphs: Katrina made its second landfall at 6:10 a.m. CDT on August 29 as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. Because Katrina had just weakened from Category 4 strength, and also because of the shape of the coastline, Category 4-force winds are believed to have existed on land while the eye was over water. At landfall, hurricane-force winds were recorded 120 miles (190 km) from the center, the storm's central pressure was 920 mbar (27.17 inHg), and its forward speed was 15 mph (10 km/h). As it made its way up the eastern Louisiana coastline, most communities in Plaquemines, St. Bernard Parish, and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish were severely damaged by storm surge and the strong winds of the eyewall, which also swipped over eastern New Orleans, creating $1 billion worth of damage to the city from intense flooding and wind damage.

paragraphs: Original estimates recorded that Katrina had made this landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, with 135 mph (220 km/h) winds; however, as mentioned above, the storm weakened just before landfall to Category 3 intensity. The reasons for this weakening are not completely understood yet; while the eye-wall replacement cycle played a part, slightly increasing shear, dropping sea surface temperatures, dry air on the western semicircle of the storm and interaction with the continental landmass also may have played a role in weakening the cyclone. This follows the trend of previous strong cyclones in the Gulf of Mexico: all cyclones with minimum central pressures of 973 mbar (28.73 inHg) or less have weakened over the 12 hours before making landfall in the Gulf Coast of the United States.

paragraphs: A few hours later, after weakening slightly, Katrina made its third landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border with 120 mph (195 km/h) sustained winds and 928 mbar (27.37 inHg) pressure, still at Category 3 intensity. Its minimum pressure at its second landfall was 920 mbar (27.17 inHg), making Katrina the third strongest hurricane on record to make landfall on the United States, behind Hurricane Camille's 909 mbar (26.85 inHg) reading in 1969, and the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane's 892 mbar (26.35 inHg) record.

paragraphs: Because the storm was so large, its highly destructive eye-wall winds and the strong northeastern quadrant of the storm pushed record storm surges onshore, smashing all of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including towns in Mississippi such as Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Gautier and Pascagoula, and, in Alabama, Bayou La Batre. The surges at its peak were at 28 feet (8.5 m) in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and at 13 feet (4.0 m) as far away as Mobile, Alabama, which saw its highest storm surge since 1917. Storm surge was particularly high due to the hydrology of the region, the hurricane's extreme size, and the fact that it weakened only shortly before landfall. As Katrina moved inland diagonally over Mississippi, high winds cut a swath of damage that affected almost the entire state.

paragraphs: Katrina stayed at hurricane strength in Mississippi, but it soon weakened. It lost hurricane strength more than 150 miles (240 km) inland, near Meridian, Mississippi. Katrina was then lowered into a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee and broke in half. One half of the storm continued to race northward, affecting the Central United States, and it was last noticeable in the eastern Great Lakes region. On August 31, it was absorbed by a frontal boundary and became a powerful extratropical low, causing 1.97–6.69 inches (50–170 mm) of rain in 12 hours. It also caused gale-force wind gusts from 31 to 61 mph (50 to 98 km/h) in southeastern Quebec and northern New Brunswick. In the region of Saguenay and Côte-Nord, rain caused breakdowns and failure in roads. The Côte-Nord region was isolated from the rest of Quebec for at least 1 week. However, the other half of Katrina broke off in the eastern part of the Appalachians, which caused a major tornado outbreak in the area from central Georgia to central Pennsylvania. The tornadoes were strong, killing two people and creating heavy damage.

paragraphs: At 11:00 p.m. EDT on August 31, the center of the remaining storm that was once Katrina was absorbed by another weather system in southeastern Canada.


title: Troposphere

paragraphs: The troposphere is the lowest part of Earth's atmosphere. It contains about 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols. Its height is about 15 km. It is taller in the tropics (20 km) and shorter at the poles (7 km).

paragraphs: The troposphere is where Earth's weather like rain, snow, thunder, or storms occur. Clouds can form up to a height of 10–15 km. The troposphere is where people live, because it reaches down to ground level. The next layer up is called the stratosphere. Between the two layers there is the tropopause.

paragraphs: In the troposphere, the temperature goes down as the altitude increases. This is different from the stratosphere. This also means that the troposphere is quite unstable: gases can easily rise up or fall down. Hence the troposphere is well mixed. This vigorous atmospheric convection also causes the general atmospheric circulation.


title: Rapid deepening

paragraphs: Rapid deepening is a condition that happens when the minimum sea-level atmospheric pressure of a tropical cyclone goes down at lot very quickly. The National Weather Service describes rapid deepening as a decrease of 42 millibars in less than 24 hours. However, this phrase is usually applied to most storms that are quickly becoming stronger.


title: Doppler radar

paragraphs: Doppler radar uses the Doppler effect to measure the speed (radial velocity) of targets. Radial velocity is how fast the target is coming towards, or going away from, the radar. The Doppler effect will shift the received frequency up or down, based on the radial velocity of a target in the beam. This gives a direct and highly accurate measurement of target velocity, but only the radial velocity. Doppler radar by itself doesn't measure the azimuthal velocity (how fast it is going in other directions).

paragraphs: Doppler radars may be Coherent Pulsed, Continuous Wave, or Frequency Modulated.


title: Horseshoe crab

paragraphs: The horseshoe crab or king crab is a benthic or bottom-dwelling creature. It is not a crab at all, but a relative of the arachnids. Its main habitats are coastal areas and river estuaries.

paragraphs: "Limulus polyphemus" is the best-known of the four species.

paragraphs: On its dome-shaped carapace, the horseshoe crab has four small eyes. It has two compound eyes at the sides of the carapace, and two simple eyes on the front.

paragraphs: A horseshoe crab has twelve legs: five pairs of walking legs and a set of tiny pincers. The long, spiky tail is not used as a weapon or for defense; instead, it is just used for steering and flipping the body over if it gets turned upside down.

paragraphs: Atlantic horseshoe crabs, "Limulus polyphemus", can be found all over the eastern coast of North America and Mexico. Buried under mud or sand, they eat small clams, crustaceans, and worms. All over the coast, you will find their shells washed up on shore. Some of these shells are quite big, as the horseshoe crab can grow up to two feet long and a foot wide. Horseshoe crabs go through moults to reach that size.

paragraphs: The horseshoe crab population ranges from the Yucatán Peninsula to northern Maine, but they are most commonly found in the mid-Atlantic region between Virginia and New Jersey. Each major estuary along the coast has its own horseshoe crab population, distinguished from one another by size, colour and eye pigment. The females lay about 100,000 eggs.

paragraphs: The other three species are also called horseshoe crabs. The Japanese horseshoe crab ("Tachypleus tridentatus") is found in the Seto Inland Sea, and is considered an endangered species because of loss of habitat. Two other species occur along the east coast of India: "Tachypleus gigas" and "Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda". All four are quite similar in form and behavior.

paragraphs: Horseshoe crabs may be threatened by Asian overconsumption.

paragraphs: The horseshoe crab has an effective immune system. Its brackish maritime environment is a perfect home for bacteria.

paragraphs: The blood of horseshoe crabs contains an enzyme that causes very rapid clotting in response to the presence of infectious bacteria. This response is used by medical and pharmaceutical companies to detect those kinds of bacteria in products, before the products are sold.

paragraphs: Horseshoe crabs are relatives of the Eurypterids (sea scorpions), whose first fossils appeared at the same time. They are quite ancient. They were definitely present in the early Ordovician, 450 million years ago, in a Burgess Shale-type environment. Their body shape has not changed much since then, though fossils in this group are scarce. The Atlantic horseshoe crab itself has no fossil record at all, and the genus "Limulus" goes back only some 20 million years, not 200 million.

paragraphs: The order they belong to, the Xiphosura, are basal to a clade of the Eurypterida and the Arachnida. It is estimated that the Xiphosura diverged from the Arachnida 480 million years ago.

paragraphs: Because they are famous as so-called "living fossils", the evolutionary record and the genetics of the horsehoe crabs have been studied with interest.


title: Atlantic hurricane

paragraphs: An Atlantic hurricane is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer or autumn, with one-minute maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph (64 knots, 33 m/s, 119 km/h). When applied to hurricanes, "Atlantic" generally refers to the entire "Atlantic basin", which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

paragraphs: Most Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes form between June 1 and November 30. The United States National Hurricane Center monitors the basin and gives out reports, watches and warnings about tropical weather systems for the Atlantic Basin as one of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers for tropical cyclones as defined by the World Meteorological Organization.

paragraphs: Tropical disturbances that reach tropical storm intensity are named from a pre-determined list. On average, 10.1 named storms form each season, with an average of 5.9 becoming hurricanes and 2.5 becoming major hurricanes (Category 3 or greater). The climatological peak of activity is around September 10 every season.


title: Buras-Triumph, Louisiana

paragraphs: Buras-Triumph is an unincorporated community in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States.

paragraphs: The population was 3,358 at the 2000 census. On the peninsula, Buras is higher, with Triumph southeast of Buras.

paragraphs: Buras-Triumph has become famous as the location where, on August 29, 2005, at 6:10 AM CDT, the eye of Hurricane Katrina made its strongest landfall. However, the storm surge and high winds began on the previous day, August 28, 2005. During those 2 days, the area was destroyed as a result.


title: Dry Tortugas

paragraphs: The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands. They are at the end of the Florida Keys, United States. They are about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, at , the closest islands. Still farther west is the Tortugas Bank, which is now underwater. The islands were discovered in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. They are an unincorporated area of Monroe County, Florida and belong to the Lower Keys Census County Division. With their surrounding waters they make up the Dry Tortugas National Park.


title: Aventura, Florida

paragraphs: Aventura is a city found in the northeastern part of Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city name is from the Spanish word for "adventure," and was named "Aventura" because that was the name of the original group of condominium developments in the area. The name predates the well known mall (Aventura Mall) built near the condominium developments. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city had a population of 30,027.


title: Florida Keys

paragraphs: The Florida Keys is an archipelago of about 1700 islands in the southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas. The islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern tip of Key West is just 98 miles (157 km) from Cuba. The Florida Keys are between about 23.5 and 25.5 degrees North latitude, in the subtropics. The climate of the Keys however, is defined as tropical according to Köppen climate classification. More than 95 percent of the land area is in Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, primarily in the city of Islandia, Florida. The total land area is 355.6 km² (137.3 sq mi). As of the 2000 census the population was 79,535, with an average density of 223.66/km² (579.27/sq mi), although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.

paragraphs: The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County, which consists of a section on the mainland which is almost entirely in Everglades National Park, and the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas.


title: Climatology

paragraphs: Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences. Basic knowledge of climate can be used within shorter term weather forecasting using analog techniques such as teleconnections and climate indices.


title: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

paragraphs: Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is a 2001 single from the album "Discovery" by Daft Punk.

paragraphs: Kanye West's 2007 song "Stronger" from the album "Graduation" uses a sample from "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".


title: Fiona Apple

paragraphs: Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart, or Fiona Apple (born September 13, 1977) is an American musician. Her song "Criminal", which was on her first album, "Tidal", won a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

paragraphs: Since then Apple has released three studio albums.

paragraphs: Apple was born in New York City to singer Diane McAfee and actor Brandon Maggart. She started psychotherapy when she was 11. When she was 12 she was raped outside the apartment she lived in. She had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

paragraphs: In 1994 Apple gave demo tape containing the songs "Never Is a Promise", "Not One of Those Times", and "He Takes a Taxi" to her friend, who was the babysitter of music publicist Kathryn Schenker. Schenker passed the tape on to Sony Music executive Andy Slater. Slater signed Apple to the label. In 1996 Apple's first album "Tidal" was released. Apple won the MTV Video Music Award for "Best New Artist" for her song "Sleep to Dream" in 1997. Apple famously said that "the world is bullshit" in her acceptance speech.

paragraphs: In 1999 Apple's second album "When the Pawn..." was released.

paragraphs: Apple sang with Johnny Cash on a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge over Troubled Water" on Cash's 2002 album "American IV: The Man Comes Around".

paragraphs: Apple's third album "Extraordinary Machine" was released in 2005. Apple was on the cover of NYLON magazine.

paragraphs: In 2012 Apple's fourth album "The Idler Wheel..." was released.

paragraphs: A cover of "I'm in the Middle of a Riddle" that Apple made with her sister Maude Maggart was released on February 4 on "Sweetheart", a Valentine's album only sold at Starbucks.

paragraphs: Apple is vegan. In October 2013 she asked a fan to leave her concert in Portland, Oregon after they shouted "Get healthy!" at her.


title: Tanakh

paragraphs: Tanakh is a three-letter Hebrew acronym for the sections of the "Hebrew Bible", for which the term serves as a synonym. The tanakh is essentially the same set of texts that Christians refer to as the "Old Testament".

paragraphs: The tanakh takes its name from the first (Hebrew) letter of each of these sections. In English, the word is sometimes spelled TANAKH, TaNaKh, tenakh, tanach, or tenak.


title: Pastor

paragraphs: A pastor is what a leader is called in some Christian Churches. The word "pastor" is Latin for "shepherd".


title: Egyptology

paragraphs: Egyptology is the study of Ancient Egypt. It falls under both history and archaeology. Someone who studies or works in this field is called an Egyptologist.


title: Lichfield

paragraphs: Lichfield is a small city in Staffordshire, England.

paragraphs: The first part of the name comes from a nearby Roman-British village called "Letocetum". It was captured by the Mercians some time before 669, when it was called "Licidfelth". Between 786 and 803, the Christian archbishop in England was here, instead of Canterbury.


title: New France

paragraphs: New France was a colony settled by France in North America. The regions in New France included Quebec, Acadia, and the Louisiana Territory. Quebec City was its capital. The French settled there after finding Quebec and in doing so created New France. The colony was most valuable for its fur trade. France lost the colony during the French and Indian War and it became part of British North America, except the western part of the Louisiana Territory which France had ceded in 1762 to the Spanish Empire. In 1800 Spain returned that territory to Napoleon, who sold it to the United States in 1803.


title: El Llano, Elías Piña

paragraphs: El Llano ("The Plain") is a Dominican municipality in the Elías Piña province.

paragraphs: The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 4,193: 2,161 men and 2,032 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: El Llano became a municipality by the law 687 of 2 July 1974. Before that date, it was part of Comendador.

paragraphs: El Llano has an area of . It is to the east of Comendador, next to the San Juan province.

paragraphs: The municipality of El Llano has only one municipal district; this is:

paragraphs: The main economic activity of the municipality is farming. The main crop is rice.


title: Hondo Valle, Elías Piña

paragraphs: Hondo Valle (in English, "Deep Valley") is a Dominican municipality in the Elías Piña Province. It is in the northern "Sierra de Neiba" mountain range.

paragraphs: The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 7,194: 3,782 men and 3,412 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: Hondo Valle was elevated to the category of municipality by the law 916 of 12 August 1978. Before that date, it was a municipal district of Comendador.

paragraphs: Hondo Valle is in a small valley on the Sierra de Neiba mountain range, at an elevation of 890 m. It is at to the south of Comendador.

paragraphs: The limits of the municipality are the municipality of El Llano to the north, the municipality of Juan Santiago to the east, the Independencia province to the south and Haiti to the west.

paragraphs: Hondo Valle has a tropical wet and dry/savanna (Köppen climate classification : Aw).

paragraphs: The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with of rainfall, followed by September with .

paragraphs: The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is January with an average of and the second is December with .

paragraphs: Hondo Valle is in a warm region; the average temperature for the year is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

paragraphs: The municipality of Hondo Valle has only one municipal district; this is:

paragraphs: The main economic activity of the municipality is farming.


title: Juan Santiago, Elías Piña

paragraphs: Juan Santiago is a Dominican municipality in the Elías Piña province.

paragraphs: The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 4,360: 2,394 men and 1,966 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: Juan Santiago became a municipal district of Comendador by the law 916 of 12 August 1978. Then, in 2005, it became a municipality of the Elías Piña province.

paragraphs: Juan Santiago has an area of . The limits of the municipality are the municipality of El Llano to the north, the San Juan province to the east, the Independencia province to the south and the municipality of Hondo Valle to the west.


title: Río Limpio, Elías Piña

paragraphs: Río Limpio (in English, "Clean River") is a Dominican municipal district of Pedro Santana in the Elías Piña Province.

paragraphs: The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 3,364: 1,913 men and 1,451 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: Río Limpio became a municipal district of Pedro Santana by the law 36 of 15 November 1992.

paragraphs: Río Limpio has an area of . It is on the right side of the "Vallecito" river, a left tributary of the Artibonite river.

paragraphs: The town is to the west of the "Loma Nalga de Maco" mountain, high (), the highest mountain in the western Cordillera Central mountain range.

paragraphs: The limits of the municipality are the Dajabón province to the northwest, the Santiago Rodríguez province to the northeast, the San Juan province to the east, the municipality of Pedro Santana to the south and Haiti to the west.

paragraphs: The main economic activity of the municipality is farming. The main crops are coffee and rice.


title: Sabana Cruz, Elías Piña

paragraphs: Sabana Cruz (in English, "Savanna [of the] Cross") is a Dominican municipal district of Bánica in the Elías Piña Province. It has a total area of 66.0 km².

paragraphs: Sabana Cruz is on the southwest of the municipality of Bánica, on the border with Haiti.

paragraphs: In the last national census (2002), the population of Sabana Cruz was of 2,081 persons. The population density was 31.5 persons/km².

paragraphs: The main economic activity of the municipality is agriculture.


title: Sabana Larga, Elías Piña

paragraphs: Sabana Larga (in English, "Long Savanna") is a Dominican municipal district of Comendador in the Elías Piña Province near the border with Haiti.

paragraphs: The municipality had, in 2010, a total population of 2,056: 1,127 men and 929 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: Sabana Larga was made a municipal district of Comendador by the law 18 of 20 January 2004; a municipal district is a part of a municipality that has its own government.

paragraphs: Sabana Larga is to the northeast of the city of Comendador, on the northern side of the "Macasías" river, the main left tributary of the Artibonite river.

paragraphs: The main economic activity of Sabana Larga is farming.


title: Destiny Fulfilled

paragraphs: Destiny Fulfilled is the fourth studio album by the American R&B trio Destiny's Child. The album features the top five singles "Lose My Breath" and "Soldier" along with the top twenty single "Cater 2 U" and top thirty single "Girl".

paragraphs: "Destiny Fulfilled" debuted too early at number-nineteen on the Billboard 200 selling 61,000 copies a week before its official release. During its first official week of sales the album sold over 497,000 (558,000) copies and went to number two on the pop charts behind Eminem's "Encore" and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart (for two weeks). The album sold over 337,000 copies in its second week (number four), 164,000 in its third (number nine) and 214,000 in its fourth (number seven). "Destiny Fulfilled" was made Triple platinum by the RIAA after only eight weeks on the chart in January, 2005. It spent nine weeks in the top ten and fifty weeks on the Billboard 200 and has sold 2.7 million copies in the US says Nielsen SoundScan. The album has sold 6 million copies worldwide, to date.


title: Kanal 5

paragraphs: Kanal 5 is a Swedish television channel.


title: Decadence

paragraphs: Decadence (pronounced: DEK-a-dence) means a state in which people are behaving in a way that is regarded by some people as being morally bad. The adjective is 'decadent'. It has nothing to do with the word decade (10 years).

paragraphs: “Decadence” comes from the Latin words “de” (from) and “cadere” (to fall). Thus it means "to fall from a higher state of being".

paragraphs: Decadence is usually a state in a society which used to be good but has become bad. Many people have started to behave in a way that others think is shocking and society does not function as well as it did before. Of course, not everyone will agree what is “good” or “bad”, but some societies, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, are thought to have been decadent.

paragraphs: The end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century is often called the "fin de siècle" (end of century). It is an example of a supposed decadent society in literature and art.

paragraphs: In France there were several writers who were happy to be called “decadent”. They included Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé. In France, the symbolist artists such as Gustave Moreau regarded themselves as "decadent". In England decadent artists included the author Oscar Wilde and visual artists such as Aubrey Beardsley. The "decadents" advocated living a "decadent lifestyle", which means a lifestyle based on seeking the maximum possible amount of aesthetic pleasure.

paragraphs: In the early 1970s, glam rock musicians such as David Bowie called themselves "decadent". David Bowie's 1973 album "Diamond Dogs" is about the theme of decadence. Glam rock musicians and fans of glam rock music signaled that they were decadent by wearing platform shoes. The popular 1976 film "Rocky Horror Picture Show" was a humorous depiction of "decadence".

paragraphs: People of the goth subculture, which began in the early 1980s among fans of the band Bauhaus, generally regard themselves as being "decadent". One way they may symbolize themselves as being decadent is by wearing fishnet stockings.

paragraphs: The color lavender is usually used to symbolize decadence. Both of the books in the "further reading" list below are colored different tones of lavender. In the 1890s, the color mauve was used to symbolize decadence--the 1890s were called the "mauve decade".


title: Kanye West

paragraphs: Kanye Omari West (; born June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, film director, entrepreneur and fashion designer from Chicago, Illinois.

paragraphs: He rose to fame in the mid 2000s. His first three albums, "The College Dropout," "Late Registration" and "Graduation" received many awards, critical acclaim, and commercial success. In 2008, he released his fourth album, "808s & Heartbreak". In 2010, he released his fifth, titled "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". In 2013, he released his sixth album, "Yeezus". "Yeezus" got good reviews from music critics. In 2016, he released his seventh album, "The Life of Pablo". West also runs his own record label called GOOD Music.

paragraphs: In July 2020, West announced his Independent presidential campaign for President of the United States in the 2020 election.

paragraphs: West was born to middle-class African-American parents in Atlanta, Georgia. He moved with his mother to Chicago when he was three years old. He started writing poetry at the age of five. Kanye moved with his mother to Nanjing, China when he was 10. In 1997 West started taking painting classes at Chicago's American Academy of Art. After a short time he changed to Chicago State University to major in English. When he was 20 he left college to focus on music.

paragraphs: West started his music career after hearing the 2007 demo tape from hardcore icons Trapped Under Ice which motivated West to single handily create the music genre known as harsh noise. He would soon grow tired of it and In the late 1990s Became a member of a rap group called Go-Getters with GLC, Timmy G, and Really Doe. In 1999 they released their only album, "World Record Holders".

paragraphs: In 2003 West released his first mixtape, "Get Well Soon...". He rapped on Twista's single "Slow Jamz". In 2004 West's first album "The College Dropout" was released by Roc-A-Fella. It entered the "Billboard" 200 at number two. Five singles were released from the album. That year West started a record label called GOOD Music. John Legend is signed to the label. West was nominated for three American Music Awards.

paragraphs: In 2005 West's second album "Late Registration" was released. Five singles were released from the album. The second single "Gold Digger" was nominated for Record of the Year at the 2006 Grammy Awards. West was also nominated for Best New Artists. Other rappers on the album included Jay-Z, Ludacris, and Mos Def. In 2005 West released his first fashion line. West's third album "Graduation" was released in 2007. The album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards. Five singles were released from the album. The album's second single "Stronger" won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.

paragraphs: In 2008, West's fourth album "808s & Heartbreak" was released. The album was sung instead of rapped by West. It sold 450,145 copies in its first week. West acted in the 2008 movie "The Love Guru".

paragraphs: "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" was released on Roc-A-Fella Records in 2010. Music critics gave it great reviews. "Pitchfork" gave the album a score of 10/10. Pitchfork rarely give 10/10, so this was a big achievement. "Rolling Stone" gave it five out of five stars. Four singles were released from the album.

paragraphs: In 2011 West released an album with Jay-Z called "Watch the Throne". In 2011 "All of the Lights" was released as the fourth single from "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". Rihanna sang in it.

paragraphs: On May 23, 2012 a short film made by West called "Cruel Summer" was shown for the first time at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film was given good reviews. The film's name came from an album West released called "Cruel Summer" on his record label GOOD Music.

paragraphs: On June 18, 2013 West's sixth album "Yeezus" was released. The album got very good reviews from music critics. In November 2013 West gave a lecture at Harvard University. On November 15, 2013 Busta Rhymes' single "Thank You" was released. West rapped on it with Lil Wayne and Q-Tip. On November 24, 2013, West said in an interview that he is making his seventh album. "New Slaves" was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 2014 Grammy Awards. On June 27 2015, West headlined Glastonbury Festival 2015 to much controversy.

paragraphs: On February 14 2016, Kanye West released "The Life of Pablo" on Tidal, Jay-Z's online music service. On April 1, 2016, West released "The Life Of Pablo" on other music services, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music.

paragraphs: West married Kim Kardashian in 2014. They have a daughter, North "Nori" West, who was born on June 15, 2013. They also have a son, Saint West, who was born on December 5, 2015. Their third child, daughter Chicago West, was born on January 15, 2018. They recently welcomed their fourth child, a son named Psalm West.

paragraphs: In August 2015 during MTV Video Music Award, West announced his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2020 election.

paragraphs: In September 2015, West announced that he intends to run for President of the United States in 2020. He later implied on Twitter that he intends to run for President in 2024 due to Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election. On December 13, 2016, West met with President-elect Trump to discuss (according to West) "bullying, supporting teachers, modernizing curriculums, and violence in Chicago."

paragraphs: On July 4, 2020, West announced on Twitter that he would be running in the 2020 presidential election, although it's unclear if he has filed official paperwork to appear on ballots.

paragraphs: Kanye West has released 9 studio albums:


title: Giro Manoyan

paragraphs: Giro (Kiro) Manoyan () is an Armenian politician, one of the leaders of ARF Dashnaktsutiun and the head of "Armenian Cause" Office.

paragraphs: Manoyan attended and finished Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. In the 1980s he was the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada. From 1989 to 1999, he edited the Horizon Weekly Armenian newspaper. Since 2000, he is the Director of the International Secretariat of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau in Yerevan.


title: Castleton, Derbyshire

paragraphs: Castleton is a small village in the Derbyshire Peak District national park, in England. It is built on a limestone part of the national park and nearly all the buildings are built of limestone. It has extremely good access as it is near some main cities.

paragraphs: The main attractions in Castleton include Mam Tor, a tall mountain made out of shale. Burbage Moor is a lovely walking spot. It has some climbing spots and has a valley in a valley. Winnats Pass is a path way in between two cliffs. It is very spectacular walking through it. There are big limestone caves near Castleton. They have stalagmites stalactites.

paragraphs: Blue John is a type of rock which is found near Castleton. Water can be seen flowing out of the ground. This is water which has soaked into the limestone.

paragraphs: Castleton has the nickname "Gem of the Pee*”


title: Los Angeles Lakers

paragraphs: The Los Angeles Lakers are a team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games in the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, which they share with the Los Angeles Clippers, their sister team the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League The Lakers were originally known as Minneapolis Lakers.

paragraphs: Many famous players played on the Los Angeles Lakers' team, including:

paragraphs: Three of the Lakers' rivals are the Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers and the Sacramento Kings.


title: Asterix

paragraphs: Asterix () is a French comic book. It was created by René Goscinny (words) and Albert Uderzo (pictures). Goscinny died in 1977 and Uderzo continued to draw and write the series by himself until his death in 2020. The title character Asterix is a Gaul, a member of a Celtic tribe that lived in France, in the year of 50 B.C.E. Asterix lives in a small village in northwest Gaul (Ancient France) during the time of Julius Caesar in 50 BC. Unlike the rest of Gaul, this village has not been taken over by the Romans, because the people in the village drink a magic potion brewed by their druid Getafix. Asterix has many adventures with his friend, Obelix, a Menhir delivery man. The stories have been adapted into movies and video games; there is even an amusement park. There is also a couple of cartoons made after this popular comic, and both the comic and the cartoon can be made into so that the characters speak French.


title: Hurdy gurdy

paragraphs: A hurdy gurdy is a stringed musical instrument played by a rosin-covered wheel. It dates back to the Middle Ages.

paragraphs: The hurdy gurdy can create three types of sounds. The melody is played on melody strings by pressing keys on the side of the instrument. These press tangents against the strings. Hurdy gurdies can also have drone strings, which play one note continuously. Many hurdy gurdies also have a buzzing bridge. Turning the wheel faster causes this to make a rhythmic buzzing sound.


title: Magician

paragraphs: A magician is an entertainer who does illusions and magic tricks by learning about the tricks of the mind and using them to his/her advantage; magicians will occasionally use props, such as a pack of cards.

paragraphs: Harry Potter is a fictional magician who uses words to create magic.


title: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

paragraphs: The P-47 Thunderbolt (also called The Jug ) was a fighter aircraft made by Republic Aviation. It first flew in 1941, and was introduced in 1942. It had a very big Pratt and Whitney R-2800-59 engine, which had more than 2,000 horsepower. Because of this, the P-47 could go more than 430 miles per hour. In fact, it was the biggest engine ever at the time. It had 8 machine guns, 2 more than most fighters. It's shape and speed made it similar to the Fw 190.

paragraphs: During 1944, the P-51 Mustang was lighter, faster, and could turn better. Because of this, it started replacing the P-47 as a fighter. The P-47 was then used for bombing in late World War II. It was retired from the American Air National Guard in 1955.

paragraphs: Now, there is a jet called the A-10 Thunderbolt II, and it is named after the P-47.


title: Judo

paragraphs: Judo is very scientific in its training methods and fighting techniques.

paragraphs: Judo grew out of an older martial art, "Jujutsu" or "Jū-jutsu".

paragraphs: "Jujutsu" was an ancient and deadly martial art which used chokes, throws, joint locks, and strikes. Kanō created judo by using techniques which were common in jujutsu. He eliminated techniques that he thought were dangerous in training, so that students could train with resistance.Some basic throws are Tai-otoshi and De-ashi-barai (these are in Japanese). There are two types: groundwork and feet work. Ground work is when both players are on the ground. Usually the attacker would be on top and the uke (defender) would be on the bottom. In feet work both players would move along the mat in a variety of moves. Every once in a while a player will throw his/her opponent on the floor. In competitions the players will go full on for each other and once someone has thrown his/hers opponent down they need to hold them down for 20 seconds or the point won't count. The person who has the most points at the end wins a gold, silver or bronze.


title: Michelle Williams

paragraphs: Michelle Williams may refer to different people:


title: Humus

paragraphs: Humus (or humous) is the organic matter in the soil. It is made of dead parts of plants and animals. Humus takes in water and has plenty of nutrients. Nitrogen is the most important. Plants put roots into the soil to get the water and nutrients. Humus is good for plants because it is like a sponge.

paragraphs: The dark color of humus (usually black or dark brown) helps to warm up cold soils in the spring.

paragraphs: When plants and insects die they are first raw organic matter. Bacteria and fungi eat the raw material, but they do not eat all of it. They leave a small amount behind. The part they leave behind is named "humus". This activity is dynamic and keeps happening. There is always more dead material arriving on top. So the soil always has organic material in it, along with small pieces of rock.

paragraphs: In agriculture, "humus" usually means mature compost, or some taken naturally from a forest, where it may have lived for many years.


title: Soil science

paragraphs: Soil science deals with soil as a natural resource on the surface of the earth.

paragraphs: It includes soil formation, classification and mapping.

paragraphs: But many more sciences deal with knowledge of soils and the advancement of the soil sciences: engineering, agronomists, chemistry, geology, geography, biology, microbiology, sylviculture, public health, archaeology, and regional planning.

paragraphs: "Soil" refers to anything between the top of the dirt and the top of the underlying rock (called "bedrock"). Soil is often broken into layers. The top layer is high in organic matter (roting plants and such). Then there is a layer of layer of soil where rain water has removed some metals (called "leaching"). Those metals get collected in another, lower layer. Finally, there is a layer made up mostly of broken bits of bedrock. A soil can have all of these layers, or only a few.

paragraphs: Soils are important because most groundwater, which is used in everything from city water supplies to farming, is found in soil, not bedrock.


title: Queen's Counsel

paragraphs: Queen's Counsel (postnominal QC), during the reign of a male sovereign known as King's Counsel (KC), are senior lawyers in various Commonwealth countries.

paragraphs: They are appointed by letters patent to be one of "Her Majesty's Counsel learned in the law". They are not a separate type of lawyer. They are more than long serving lawyers, because their status is given by the Crown and recognised by the courts.

paragraphs: Queen's Counsel have the privilege of sitting within the Bar of court, and wear silk gowns of a special design (hence the informal title Silks). The special robes are the reason why becoming a QC is often called "taking silk".

paragraphs: In order to "take silk" a lawyer usually has to serve as a barrister or a Scottish advocate for at least 10 years. Recently solicitors have also been appointed Queen's Counsel.

paragraphs: A QC's status means they generally charge higher fees than ordinary barristers, and always have another barrister as an assistant. This assistant is called a "junior" even if the junior has been a lawyer longer than the "silk".


title: Pedogenesis

paragraphs: Pedogenesis or soil evolution (formation) is the process by which soil is formed.

paragraphs: Climate regulates soil formation. Soils are more developed in areas with higher rainfall and more warmth.

paragraphs: The rate of chemical weathering increases by 2-3 times when the temperature increases by 10 degrees Celsius (20 °F).

paragraphs: Climate also affects which organisms are present, affecting the soil chemically and physically (movement of roots, burrowing by animals).

paragraphs: The organisms living in and on the soil form distinct soil types. Coniferous forests have acidic leaf litter. Mixed or deciduous forests leave a larger layer of humus. Prairies have very high humus accumulation, creating a dark, thick soil.

paragraphs: The rock from which soil is formed is called 'parent material' (bedrock).

paragraphs: The main types are: eolian (wind), glacial material, alluvium, lake material other parent materials.

paragraphs: Pedogenesis is the major topic of the science of pedology. Its other aspects include the soil morphology, classification (taxonomy) of soils, and their distribution in nature.


title: 11 (number)

paragraphs: 11 (eleven or ) is a number. It comes between ten and twelve, is an odd number, and is a prime number, after 2, 3, 5, and 7.


title: 12 (number)

paragraphs: Twelve is a number. It comes between eleven and thirteen, and it is an even number. It is divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 12. Its ordinal is 12th (twelfth). In Roman numerals, it is written as XII. It is the base of duodecimal numbers.


title: Sedimentary rock

paragraphs: Sedimentary rocks are rocks formed from sediment. They are deposited over time, and often show layers which can be seen in cliffs. Other types of rock are igneous rock and metamorphic rock.

paragraphs: Sediments are usually formed from matter which falls to the bottom of oceans and lakes. The matter includes tiny pieces of other rocks, and dead animals, plants and microorganisms. Also, inorganic chemicals may be precipitated from solution in the water. The three most common sedimentary rocks are limestone, sandstone and shale.

paragraphs: Sedimentary rocks cover 7580% of the Earth's land area, but they make up only 5% of the Earth's crust. The relative abundances of the different types of sedimentary rocks are:

paragraphs: Squeezed and compressed over time, the sediments become 'consolidated' (made solid) into layers of rock. Stratigraphy is the study of those layers

paragraphs: Cementation occurs when dissolved mineral components deposit in the interstices of sediments. It is the sticking together of sediment that forms a rock.

paragraphs: Otherwise, rocks may have the water squeezed out, yet remain for long periods with their character unchanged. There are many quarries of unconsolidated deposits where sand and gravel are removed for the construction industry. Such quarries may be taking out sand which has lasted as sand since the Jurassic period. But consolidated sand, sandstone, can be a very hard rock.

paragraphs: Consolidated rocks may be changed some more, by water seeping through, or by heat and extreme pressure.

paragraphs: Sediments are formed by three processes:

paragraphs: These sedimentary processes – weathering, transportation, and deposition – reach three final end products: quartz sand, shale (from clay), and limestone (CaCO). Most sedimentary rocks are variations on this general pattern.

paragraphs: Chalk, limestone, and dolomite are all basically made from calcium carbonate. This comes from a mixture of minerals and pieces of animals (especially animal shells). They are mostly formed in oceans.

paragraphs: Shales, sandstones, and conglomerates are all clastic rocks. They are made from pieces of other rocks. The pieces may have come from erosion by water, ice or wind.

paragraphs: Coal is made from ancient plants; oil and natural gas is also organic in origin.

paragraphs: Some sedimentary rocks are made of just one type of sediment, all about the same size, such as sand. Other sedimentary rocks will have large and small lumps, and pieces of different types of rock. Well-known sedimentary rocks are sandstone and limestone.

paragraphs: Sedimentary rocks may be found anywhere on Earth. When sedimentary rocks are heated and squeezed, they become metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks have a volcanic origin. Over a very long time, rocks get recycled, in two ways. When marine sediments are raised above sea level, they get weathered, and the pieces carried down to the sea. On a much longer time-scale continental plates may collide. Then one plate goes under the other (is subducted), and all its material is recycled, emerging much later.


title: 14 (number)

paragraphs: Fourteen is a number. It is between 13 and 15. It is an even number. It is divisible by 1, 2, 7, and 14.

paragraphs: In Roman numerals, 14 is written as XIV.


title: Rock (geology)

paragraphs: A rock is a naturally occurring solid. It is made of minerals (which are crystalline), or other mineral-like substances. The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. That means the Earth's crust is made of rock. The different minerals in the rocks make different kinds of rock.

paragraphs: Rock is often covered by soil or water. It is beneath the oceans, lakes, and rivers of the earth, and under the polar icecaps. Petrology is the scientific study of rocks.

paragraphs: Rocks are classified by their minerals and chemical make-up. The processes that formed them are also noted. Rocks may be igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Rock types may change in a so-called 'rock cycle'.

paragraphs: Igneous rocks are formed when molten magma cools, either above or below the surface. They are divided into two main categories: plutonic rock and volcanic rock. Plutonic or intrusive rocks are made when magma cools and crystallizes slowly within the Earth's crust (example granite). Volcanic or extrusive rocks result from magma reaching the surface either as lava or ejecta (examples pumice and basalt).

paragraphs: Sedimentary rocks are the most common rocks on Earth. They form at or near the Earth's surface. Sedimentary rock is formed in layers which were laid down one by one on top of another. Some of the layers are thin, some are thick. Layers are made by deposition of sediment, organic matter, and chemical precipitates. Deposition is followed by squeezing of sediment under its own weight, and cementation. This process is called 'consolidation': it turns the sediment into a more or less hard substance.

paragraphs: The approximate amounts of different kinds of sedimentary rock are:

paragraphs: Metamorphic rocks are formed by rocks coming under great pressure and high temperatures. These temperatures and pressures are found under mountains and volcanoes, especially when continental plates move together. These conditions change the make-up of the original minerals.

paragraphs: Rocks have had an impact on human life. They have been used by humans for over two million years. The mining of rocks for their metals has been one of the most important things in human advancement. Rocks are mined for building materials of all kinds.


title: 15 (number)

paragraphs: Fifteen is a number. It is between fourteen and sixteen, and is an odd number. It is divisible by 1, 3, 5, and 15.


title: 16 (number)

paragraphs: Sixteen is a number. It comes between fifteen and seventeen, and is an even number. It is also the 4th square number, after 1, 4, and 9.

paragraphs: In Roman numerals, 16 is written as XVI.

paragraphs: 16 is a number that you could multiply infinite times.


title: Weathering

paragraphs: Weathering is the breaking down of Rock (geology) rocks, soil and their minerals through direct contact with the Earth's atmosphere, waters, or living things. It is a natural process.

paragraphs: Weathering occurs in one place with little or no movement, and should not be confused with erosion which is when rocks and minerals are moved to another place by ice, water, wind or gravity.

paragraphs: Mechanical or physical weathering is when the rocks and minerals are broken down but the Chemical composition remains the same. Mechanical weathering physically breaks up rock.

paragraphs: Wind can blow water or small particles such as sand against the rock thus breaking it down.

paragraphs: The wind blowing over your skin removes body heat.local winds are the winds that blow over short distances.

paragraphs: Rain is another force that works slowly. The force of raindrops on some rocks make them wear down. Rain also can make a chemical change in some rocks, because it is usually slightly acidic. The water mixes with the minerals in the rock to break it down.

paragraphs: Changing temperature can make a rock crack. Every day when the sun shines on the rock, its surface is heated. Heat causes the surface to expand (get bigger) a little. The inside of the rock, though, does not heat up as fast as the outside of the rock. The inside of the rock stays cooler. At night, the surface cools down and contracts. The expanding and contracting makes some places on the surface weak, and a crack is made.

paragraphs: Also, if water gets into a crack in a rock and the temperature goes below the freezing point, the water will freeze and expand. After some time, the rock may be weak enough to break into pieces.

paragraphs: Ice, which can be miles thick, grinds the surface of the rock below it. The particles are carried with the ice, and if a glacier ends up in the sea, so does all the material carried with it.

paragraphs: Lava or magma can cause weathering when molten rock touches older rock. It causes the older rock to change form to a different crystal structure.

paragraphs: Chemical weathering is the breaking down of rock which changes the chemical composition.

paragraphs: The carbon dioxide cycle is the most important for weathering. CO is put into the atmosphere mostly by volcanoes, and it is taken out of the atmosphere by photosynthesis, and by one other process.

paragraphs: While it is in the air, CO can dissolve in water droplets to form weak carbonic acid.

paragraphs: When rain hits rock it does so with mechanical energy and dilute acid. The acid dissolves many types of minerals and rocks though, of course, very slowly. When a mineral like feldspar is dissolved, it lets sodium ions into the sea; chlorine ions come from other minerals. The sea tastes salty because of the elements which have been dissolved out of rocks.


title: Recrystallisation

paragraphs: Recrystallization (see also crystallization) is an essentially physical process that has meanings in chemistry, metallurgy and geology.

paragraphs: In chemistry, recrystallization is a procedure for purifying compounds. A crystal compound often has other compounds on it that make it less useful. To get rid of these extra items, the crystal is placed in a boiling liquid. Soon the crystal dissolves. The boiling solution, or the mix of the liquid and the dissolved crystal, gets colder. The crystal will form again. The unwanted compounds stay in the solvent, or the liquid. Now the crystal is pure and made of only the compound. Each type of compound works best in a certain type of liquid. Sometimes two or more liquids mixed together are needed to dissolve a crystal.

paragraphs: In geology, solid-state recrystallization is a metamorphic process that occurs under situations of intense temperature and pressure where grains, atoms or molecules of a rock or mineral are packed closer together, creating a new crystal structure.

paragraphs: Limestone is a sedimentary rock that undergoes metamorphic recrystallization to form marble, and clays can recrystallize to muscovite mica.

paragraphs: In metallurgy, recrystallization is the nucleation and growth of new undeformed grains in a deformed metal.

paragraphs: For ice, recrystallization means the growth of larger crystals at the expense of smaller ones. Some biological antifreeze proteins have been shown to inhibit this process, and the effect may be relevant in freezing-tolerant organisms.


title: Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

paragraphs: The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an law for environmental conservation made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It protects native species and restricts the release of non-native species into the wild. The Act is split into four parts. Killing most mammals and almost all birds is illegal in the United Kingdom, except for certain types and for certain reasons.

paragraphs: General licences under the act to hunt birds are issued each year by the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England. The Department can give a licence to kill or disturb birds. It also gives out a general licence. This allows any "authorised person", that is someone who has the landowner's permission, to kill certain birds, or to destroy their eggs or nests, if there is no other way to get rid of the birds.

paragraphs: This table shows the name of the bird, and the reasons () that type of bird can be destroyed.

paragraphs: or to prevent serious damage to livestock or damage to foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries or inland waters.


title: Soil classification

paragraphs: Soil classification means that one finds categories of soils that are based on general characteristics as well as criteria that decide about the use that is possible.

paragraphs: Soil classification can be approached from both the perspective of pedogenesis and from soil morphology. But in both cases interpretations do not vary widely.


title: Manor house

paragraphs: A manor house or fortified manor-house is a country house, which has historically formed the centre of a manor (see Manorialism). The term is sometimes used for relatively small country houses which belonged to gentry families, as well as to grand stately homes, particularly as a technical term for minor late medieval castles more intended for show than for defence.

paragraphs: In general terms, the manor house was the house of a feudal lord of a manor, which he occupied only on occasional visits if he held many manors. Although not built with strong fortifications as castles were, many manor houses were partly fortified: they were enclosed within walls or ditches. Often the farm buildings were within these walls as well. Many manor houses had small gatehouses and watchtowers.

paragraphs: The main feature of the manor house was its great hall. By the beginning of the 16th century, manor houses as well as small castles began to acquire the character and amenities of the residences of country gentlemen. This late 16th century transformation produced many of the smaller Renaissance châteaux of France and the many country mansions of the Elizabethan and Jacobean styles in England.

paragraphs: In France, the terms "château" or "manoir" are often used to describe a French manor house. "Maison-forte" is another French word to describe a strongly fortified manor house. In the western France provinces of Brittany and Normandy, certain large manors enjoyed real means of protection.

paragraphs: In modern usage, the term "manor" or "manor house" is often used, especially outside Europe, to mean simply either a country house or indeed any other house considered to resemble one, without any reference to age or to the historical sense of the term.


title: English country house

paragraphs: The English country house is generally accepted as a large house that was once in the ownership of an individual who in most of the cases owned another great house in the West End of London. The country house was not only a weekend retreat for aristocrats, but also often a full time residence for the minor gentry.

paragraphs: The country houses of England have developed over the last 500 years. Before this time most larger houses were fortified, because their owners were feudal lords or overlords of their manor. The Tudor period of stability in the country saw the first of the large unfortified country houses.

paragraphs: With the rise of modern industry and urbanization, when people left the country to go to the big cities the popularity of country houses declined as there were less people in the country. After 1945 it became very difficult to pay for the huge staff that was required to maintain these houses.


title: Larynx

paragraphs: The larynx (plural "larynges"), also known as the voice box, is an organ in the neck of humans and animals. It helps to protect the wind pipe by stopping it from inhaling food. It also helps with breathing and making sounds. The larynx houses the vocal cords.

paragraphs: The larynx makes the voice. Both pitch and loudness are controlled here. It has a small slit through which air passes and makes the vocal cords vibrate. The vibrating vocal cords make the air vibrate. This sound changes as it travels through the vocal tract. It becomes a different sound based on the position of the tongue, lips, mouth, and pharynx.

paragraphs: When swallowing, the backward motion of the tongue forces part of the larynx called the epiglottis to cover up the opening to the larynx, also called the laryngeal opening. This is to stop the food swallowed from entering the lungs. The larynx is also pulled upwards to help with this process. If the larynx is irritated by something that is swallowed, a strong cough reflex is used to protect the lungs.

paragraphs: There are several things that can cause a larynx to not function properly. Some symptoms are hoarseness, loss of voice, pain in the throat or ears, and breathing difficulties. Larynx transplant is not done very often. The world's first successful operation took place in 1998 at the Cleveland Clinic, and the second took place in October 2010 at the University of California Medical Center in Sacramento.


title: Endangered species

paragraphs: An endangered species is a species (a population) of animals, plants or other organisms that is in danger of becoming extinct. This could happen because there are few of that animal left, its predators have grown in number, or the climate that it lives in is changing, or the places it lives in have been destroyed. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has worked out that endangered species are 40% of all organisms.

paragraphs: Many countries have laws to protect these plants and animals. These laws, if obeyed, can save species by stopping hunting, land development or making parks and reserves. Poaching and other illegal activities, however, can still destroy them.

paragraphs: Only a few plants and animals at risk of extinction, mostly vertebrates, are put on the lists and get legal protection. Many more species become extinct, or will become extinct, without people knowing about it.

paragraphs: This is a list of mammals that are endangered. They include:

paragraphs: Here is a list of birds that are endangered. They include:


title: Archosaur

paragraphs: Archosaurs are a large group of reptiles, including all crocodiles, birds, dinosaurs, and pterosaurs (flying reptiles). There are also a number of smaller extinct groups, mostly from the Triassic period.

paragraphs: The Archosaurs are definitely a monophyletic clade, and do not include reptiles such as the Squamata (lizards and snakes) and the Sphenodontia ("Sphenodon").

paragraphs: They have these diagnostic features, called "synapomorphies" in cladistics talk:

paragraphs: The archosaurs or their immediate ancestors survived the catastrophic Permian–Triassic extinction event. Then, in the early and middle Triassic, there was rapid evolution into the types of aquatic and land tetrapods which dominated the rest of the Mesozoic era.

paragraphs: This is an even wider group, which includes diapsid Sauropsida which appeared in the middle Permian and Triassic periods. Their relationships are not well established at present.


title: MS Explorer

paragraphs: The MS "Explorer was a cruise ship ("MS" stands for motor ship). It had been known as MS "Lindblad Explorer (–1985) and MS "Society Explorer" (–1992). It was registered in Liberia. It was designed for sailing in cold areas, such as around Antarctica. The MS "Explorer" was originally ordered by the Swedish explorer Lars-Eric Lindblad. The ship was sold several times. Its last owner was the Toronto-based travel company G.A.P Adventures. It had bought the "Explorer" in 2004.

paragraphs: Besides being the first cruise ship ever built specifically to ply the frigid waters of the Antarctic Ocean, the "Explorer" became the first ever to sink there when it struck an unidentified submerged object, possibly ice, on November 23, 2007, which caused a 10-by-4 inch (25 × 10 cm) gash in the hull. Everyone escaped from "Explorer" in the early hours of November 23, 2007, after taking on water near the South Shetland Islands in the Southern Ocean, which is usually stormy, but was calm at the time. The "Explorer" was confirmed by the Chilean Navy to have sunk at approximately position: 62 degrees 24 minute South and 57 degrees 16 minutes west, between South Shetlands and Grahams Land, in the Bransfield Strait, where the depth is roughly 2,000 feet (600 m).

paragraphs: Commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad, the Swedish-American pioneer of exotic expedition tours, the "Explorer" was built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in Uusikaupunki, Finland. The ship was built to stay afloat with two of its compartments filled with water, and its ice class on the HELCOM scale was IC.

paragraphs: The vessel was originally named the "Lindblad Explorer" in honor of Lars-Eric Lindblad. On February 11, 1972 the "Explorer" ran aground (into the ground) near La Plaza Point, Antarctica; its passengers, Lars-Eric Lindblad among them, were rescued by the Chilean Navy. It was towed to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then to Kristiansand, Norway for repairs.

paragraphs: In 1998 "Explorer" was the first ship to sail around the James Ross Island;.

paragraphs: The "Explorer" was depicted on at least two postage stamps issued by South Georgia.

paragraphs: The ship left Ushuaia, Argentina on November 11, 2007, on a 19-day cruise intended to trace the route of 20th century explorer Ernest Shackleton through the Drake Passage (an area typically stormy with rough seas). After visiting the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island the "Explorer" hit an unidentified submerged object in the Bransfield Strait close to King George Island in the Antarctic Ocean, near the South Shetland Islands, on November 23, 2007. The object struck by the "Explorer" caused a 10-by-4 inch (25 × 10 cm) hole to the ship's port side (left side) which allowed sea water to enter the ship.

paragraphs: A passenger reported sea water in the cabin at about 03:00 UTC. Although some reports indicate there had been no noticeable impact, or at least nothing more than the normal crunching of ice experienced when sailing through icy waters, other reports say that there was a loud bang. Some reports also indicate that the ship drifted into an iceberg on the "Explorer's" starboard side while the crew was assessing damage caused by the original impact to the port side of the ship.

paragraphs: A mayday call was put out by the ship at 04:24 UTC, and rescue operations were quickly coordinated by the Prefectura Naval (Coast Guard Corps) of the Argentine Republic, and the Chilean Navy Center for Search and Rescue. Chile dispatched the icebreaker "Almirante Viel", and nearby commercial ships including the MN "Ushuaia", the "National Geographic Endeavor", and the Norwegian Coastal Express ship MS "Nordnorge" which was operating as a passenger cruise ship at the time. By 07:30 UTC, all 91 passengers, 9 guides and 54 crew, from over 14 countries

paragraphs: , left the ship and took to the life rafts, where they drifted for three to four hours, until they were picked up by the Norwegian ship MS "Nordnorge" which arrived on scene by 10:00 UTC.

paragraphs: Some of those rescued by the "Nordnorge" were taken to the Chilean Eduardo Frei Montalva Station on King George Island. Later they were flown by C-130 Hercules transport aircraft of the Chilean Air Force to Punta Arenas, Chile, in two separate flights on Saturday, November 24, and Sunday, November 25, 2007. Approximately 70 of the survivors were taken to Uruguay’s Artigas Base. The "Explorer" sank within 20 hours after striking an unknown submerged object reported to be ice.


title: Calcite

paragraphs: Calcite is one of the most common minerals on the Earth's surface. It is a often part of sedimentary rocks, especially limestone. It is also the primary mineral in metamorphic marble.

paragraphs: It is a chemical or biochemical calcium carbonate with the formula CaCO. It is a carbonate mineral. It can be a vein mineral in deposits from hot springs, and in caverns as stalactites and stalagmites.


title: Stalagmite

paragraphs: A stalagmite is a form that can be found on the floor of a cave. It rises from the floor of a limestone cave when mineralized solutions drip from the ceiling and deposits of calcium carbonate form columns on the ground. The corresponding formation on the ceiling of a cave is known as a stalactite.

paragraphs: There are several methods to help remember which formation hangs from the ceiling (stalactite) and which rises from the floor (stalagmite):

paragraphs: When touring caves with stalactites and stalagmites you might be asked to not touch the rock formations. This is generally because the formation is considered to still be growing and forming. Since the rock buildup is formed by minerals solidifying out of the water solution, skin oils can disturb where the mineral water will cling. So the development of the rock formation will be affected and not will not be natural anymore.

paragraphs: Stalactites and stalagmites can also form on concrete ceilings and floors, but they form much more quickly on concrete than in the natural cave environment.


title: Deposition (geology)

paragraphs: Deposition is the geological process where material is added to a land (or a landform). This can happen in many places, such as a beach or river. Some parts of a shoreline build up and grow out, whereas other parts of the shoreline erode and fall into the sea.

paragraphs: In deposition, wind and water lay down grains of material that have been eroded and transported from another place. Deposition happens when the forces which transport sediments are weaker than the forces of particle weight and friction. This causes a resistance to movement, and the particles drop down.

paragraphs: Deposition can also refer to the buildup of sediment from organically derived matter or chemical process.


title: Calcium carbonate

paragraphs: Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound, with the chemical formula CaCO. The elements involved are calcium (Ca), carbon (C) and oxygen (O). It is a common substance found as rock in all parts of the world, and is the main component of seashells, snails, and eggshell.

paragraphs: Calcium carbonate is usually the main cause of hard water. It is used as a calcium supplement or as a treatment for antacid, but too much can be bad for your health.

paragraphs: Calcium carbonate is found naturally as the following minerals and rocks:

paragraphs: To test whether a mineral or rock contains calcium carbonate, strong acids, such as hydrochloric acid, can be added to it. If the sample does contain calcium carbonate, it will fizz and produce carbon dioxide. Weak acids such as acetic acid will react, but less quickly. All of the rocks/minerals mentioned above will react with acid.


title: Hard water

paragraphs: Hard water is water that has a high mineral content (contrast with "soft water").

paragraphs: The main components of these minerals usually are calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) ions. But there are also dissolved metals, bicarbonates, and sulfates. Calcium usually enters the water as either calcium carbonate (CaCO) in the form of limestone and chalk, or calcium sulfate (CaSO) in the form of several other mineral deposits. The main source of magnesium is dolomite (CaMg(CO)). Hard water is generally not harmful and some hardness in water is a useful source of calcium for healthy bone development .


title: Soft water

paragraphs: Soft water is water which has relatively low concentration of calcium carbonate and other ions . It contains less than 85.5 parts per million of calcium carbonate.

paragraphs: The water that lathers with soap easily is called or known as soft water. It describes type of water that contain few or no minerals like calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg) ions. The term is usually relative to "hard water", which does contain significant amounts of such ions.

paragraphs: Soft water mostly comes from peat or igneous rock sources, such as granite but may also come from sandstone sources, since those sedimentary rocks are usually low in calcium and magnesium.

paragraphs: Hard water may be better for the heart than soft water. Its calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)ions may be a dietary supplement for some.

paragraphs: The main disadvantage of hard water is it deposits calcium carbonate on pipes, especially hot water pipes. This is called "scale formation". It may cause blockage of pipes and reduce boiler efficiency. Also, soap and detergents work less well in hard water. These effects increase as hardness increases.


title: Moorland

paragraphs: Moorland or moor is a type of habitat that one can find in upland areas, that are characterised by acidic soils.

paragraphs: Moorland habitats are rather common in the neotropics and tropical Africa but one can find them also in small scattered places in northern and western Europe, northern Australia, North America, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. In the tiny areas of European moorlands tend to be environments with only very few species. They are often dominated by heather. In the far more extensive moorlands of the tropics species diversity can be extremely high.

paragraphs: Moorlands differ from typical heathland in being colder and much wetter, often with extensive bogs.

paragraphs: Notable areas of upland moorland in Britain include the Dark Peak, the Forest of Bowland, the Lake District, the Pennines, Mid Wales, the Southern Uplands of Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and a few very small pockets in western Herefordshire.

paragraphs: In Europe if the heather and other vegetation is left for too long, a large volume of dry and combustible material builds up. This may cause a fire which may burn out a large area. But generally moorland wildlife copes with even major fires and are easily able to recover if such intense burnings are not too frequent.


title: Neotropic

paragraphs: In context of biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical means one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.

paragraphs: This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.

paragraphs: It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America.

paragraphs: Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents 2 to 3 million years ago.

paragraphs: The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest than any other ecozone. They extend from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil and include the Amazon Rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. Extensive deforestation in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.


title: Nearctic

paragraphs: "For the thoroughbred racehorse see Nearctic (horse)."

paragraphs: The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.

paragraphs: In ecology, an ecozone is a large land mass that contains many terrestrial ecoregions, each of which has unique plants and animals.

paragraphs: The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico.

paragraphs: Southern Mexico, southern Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean islands are part of the Neotropic ecozone, together with South America.

paragraphs: The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) divides the Nearctic into four Bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."


title: Nearctic (horse)

paragraphs: Nearctic (born 1954 – died 1973) was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He had his most successful season in racing at 4 years old, when he won nine races. Nearctic was retired to stand at stud at "Windfields Farm" in Canada where he became father of a "Kentucky Derby" winner and the "Northern Dancer".


title: Lockerbie

paragraphs: Lockerbie is a small town in Scotland that was devastated on 21 December 1988 when a Pan American 747-400 aeroplane crashed after a bomb exploded on board. The bomb was hidden in a hand held radio in the rear cargo hold. It had been transferred onto the flight from a connecting flight from Amsterdam. All passengers and crew aboard the aeroplane, and 11 people in the town of Lockerbie were killed. The total number of people killed was 270. The Libyan government was found to have organized the bombing. The United Nations placed sanctions on Libya, which stopped people buying and selling items with Libya. In 2003 Libya agreed to pay compensation to the families of the people killed.


title: Circadian rhythm

paragraphs: A circadian rhythm is a rhythm that repeats about every 24 hours. Plants and animals have these built-in cycles which allow them to flower at the right time, sleep at the right time etc. The word "circadian" comes from the Latin "circa", "around", and "diem" or "dies", "day", meaning "about a day." The study of biological time-keeping rhythms such as daily, tidal, weekly, seasonal, and annual rhythms, is called chronobiology.

paragraphs: Circadian rhythms are "built-in" so that, without time signals from the environment, they keep time at the rate of "about" 24-hour periods. When kept in total darkness, plants and animals continue to behave by the built-in period which is "about" 24 hours. The rhythms are also affected and re-set by time signals such as daylight and the length of the day and the night. It is important that the rhythms be re-set regularly to the natural light/dark cycle. Adult humans of all ages have a circadian rhythm which averages 24 hours and 11 minutes.

paragraphs: The circadian rhythms, also called the "biological clock" or the "body clock", of humans and other animals, regulate many bodily functions including feeding, sleeping, body temperature and hormone production.

paragraphs: The primary body clock in humans and other mammals is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (or "nuclei") (SCN), a pair of groups of cells in the hypothalamus in the brain. Destruction of the SCN results in the complete absence of a regular sleep/wake rhythm. The SCN receives information about light through the eyes and directs the pineal gland to release the hormone melatonin at night.

paragraphs: Some people have circadian rhythm sleep disorders which cause them to sleep much too early (Advanced sleep-phase syndrome, ASPS), much too late (Delayed sleep-phase syndrome, DSPS) or in several bouts throughout the day and night (Irregular sleep-wake disorder). The worst circadian rhythm sleep disorder in people who can see is Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder (Non-24); their "daily" rhythm lasts 25 hours or more so they sleep and wake up one or more hours later each day. Blind people who see no light at all can also have Non-24, but it is less serious and can usually be treated.


title: Stud (animal)

paragraphs: A stud in animal breeding is a male animal, such as a horse or dog, that is employed for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species (stallion, bull, rooster, etc.) usually mean that the animal is entire, that is, not castrated, and therefore capable of standing at stud. A specialized vocabulary exists for de-sexed animals.

paragraphs: A stud farm, in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding using stud animals.


title: Castration

paragraphs: Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries. It is also a type of anaphrodisiac.

paragraphs: Castration is commonly performed on domestic animals not intended for breeding.

paragraphs: Domestic animals are usually castrated in order to avoid unwanted or uncontrolled reproduction; to reduce or prevent other ways of sexual behaviour such as territorial behaviour or aggression (like fighting between groups of uncastrated males of a species); or to reduce other consequences of sexual behaviour that may make animal husbandry more difficult, such as fence destruction when animals try to get to nearby females of the species.

paragraphs: Male horses are usually castrated, because stallions are rather aggressive. The same applies to male mules, although they are sterile. Male cattle are castrated to improve docility for use as oxen.

paragraphs: A specialized vocabulary has arisen for neutered animals of given species:

paragraphs: The practice of castration has its roots before recorded human history. Castration was frequently used in certain cultures of Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa and China, for political, religious or social reasons. After battles in some cases, victors castrated their captives or the corpses of the defeated to symbolise their victory and 'seize' their power. Castrated men — eunuchs — were often admitted to special social classes and were used particularly to staff bureaucracies and palace households: in particular, the harem. Castration also figured in a number of religious castration cults. Other religions, for example Judaism and Islam, were strongly opposed to the practice. The "Leviticus Holiness code", for example, specifically excludes eunuchs or any males with defective genitals from the priesthood, just as castrated animals are excluded from sacrifice.

paragraphs: In China, to become a servant of the emperor, men had to be castrated. This would prevent them from having sons or having affairs with royal concubines. Eunuchs in China have been known to usurp power in many eras of Chinese history, most notably in the Later Han, late Tang and late Ming Dynasties. There are similar recorded Middle Eastern events.

paragraphs: Testicular cancer is generally treated by surgical removal of the cancerous testicle(s) (orchidectomy), often followed by radiation or chemotherapy. Unless both testicles are cancerous, only one is removed.

paragraphs: Edward Gibbon's famous work "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" reports castration of defeated foes at the hands of the Normans. Castration has also been used in modern conflicts, as the Janjaweed militiamen currently (as of 2005) attacking citizens of the Darfur region in Sudan, often castrating villagers and leaving them to bleed to death. In some countries, the law suggests castrating sex criminals such as hebephilles.

paragraphs: In Europe, when females were not permitted to sing in church or cathedral choirs in the Roman Catholic Church, boys were sometimes castrated to prevent their voices breaking at puberty and to develop a special high voice. The first documents mentioning castrati are Italian church records from the 1550s.


Bullock


title: Bureaucracy

paragraphs: Bureaucracy is the structure and set of rules that control the activities of people that work for large organizations and government.

paragraphs: It is characterized by standardized procedure (rule-following), formal division of responsibility, hierarchy, and impersonal relationships. In practice, the interpretation and execution of policy can lead to informal influence.

paragraphs: Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science. Four structural concepts are central to any definition of bureaucracy: a well-defined division of administrative labor among persons and offices, a personnel system with consistent patterns of recruitment and stable linear careers, a hierarchy among offices, such that the authority and status are distributed among actors, and formal and informal networks that connect organizational actors to one another through flows of information and patterns of cooperation.

paragraphs: Examples of everyday bureaucracies include governments, armed forces, corporations, hospitals, courts, ministries and schools.


title: Anzère

paragraphs: Anzère is a small village in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It is north of Sion. It is a popular ski resort, with several ski schools.

paragraphs: The ski slopes in Anzère cover about 40 kilometers, with 1 cablecar, 2 chair lifts, and 8 T-bars.

paragraphs: There are several cafes in the area, and the entire area is known as Télé-Anzère.

paragraphs: Facilities in and around Anzère's 'Place du Village' include both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, two supermarkets, many hotels, bars and nightclubs, as well as many restaurants and clothing shops. The 'Place du Village' is a person area right in the heart of the village, housing most of Anzère's cafes and restaurants. There is also an internet cafe, a crèperie and a children's play area.


title: Sion, Switzerland

paragraphs: Sion is the capital of the Swiss canton of Valais. In 2002, it had a population of 27,700.

paragraphs: Landmarks include the Basilique de Valère and Château de Tourbillon.

paragraphs: The city is home to 28,013 people as of 31 December, 2005. It is in the center of the Rhône valley. Sion is the economic and commercial hub of the region and canton.

paragraphs: The older area of the city still stays and is well preserved. As well as the two Château's, a number of other important buildings are there, such as the "Château de la Majorie", the "Hôtel de Ville" and the "Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Sion".

paragraphs: Sion really started to develop during the time when Celts were big.

paragraphs: It takes its name from the Latin word "Sedunum". It housed the Romans with the rest of the surrounding area in the first century BCE.

paragraphs: The Roman Catholic bishop of Sion is the oldest in Switzerland and one of the oldest north of the Alps.

paragraphs: On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Salins merged into the municipality of Sion.

paragraphs: Since 2017, Les Agettes part of the municipality.

paragraphs: The tertiary sector is the main economic sector in Sion. Tourism is also an important sector due to its historic "château's" and museums.

paragraphs: Sion is the third largest wine making region in Switzerland, however, the valuable agricultural land and vineyards are undergoing constant regression due to the process of urbanisation.

paragraphs: Sion has also become an important medical site. The Sion-Region hospital is here next to the central institute of Valaisan hospitals and the "Romande" clinic for physical rehabilitation (SUVA).

paragraphs: Finally, the commune hosts a waste incinerator which disposes of the waste from 44 surrounding communes. This incinerator has a catalytic converter, something that reduces harmful gases to below unacceptable levels. The heat created from the burning is converted into electrical energy that is then provided to local communes.

paragraphs: Public Airshows have been held at the airfield of Sion. Participated Aerobatic teams have been for example the Frecce Tricolori from Italy was well as the Patrouille de France.

paragraphs: Sion is on the main railway line, the motorway and also has an airport (Sion Airport).


title: Brig (district)

paragraphs: Brig is a part of the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It includes the following municipalities:


title: Monthey, Switzerland

paragraphs: Monthey is the capital of the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

paragraphs: It has a population is of 15,118 (as of 2004) people ("Montheysans"). Monthey is located on the west side of the Rhône valley, south to Lake Geneva. Monthey is important to Swiss industry, with many important companies including chemical companies. The city is close to the famous winter sports region, the Portes du Soleil.


title: Sierre

paragraphs: Sierre is the capital of the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

paragraphs: It has a population of 14,355. It is situated at the language border of the German-speaking upper part of the ""Wallis"" and the French-speaking ""Valais"". This city counts as one of the three official bilingual towns in Switzerland. Sierre is starting point for the tourist sites of the Val d'Anniviers including the villages of Vercorin, Chandolin, St-Luc Vissoie, St-Jean Chandolin, Grimentz, Zinal and Ayer. Sierre is connected with Crans-Montana by a cable car.

paragraphs: At the beginning of the 20th century, Sierre became economically important as very early aluminium smelting is enabled by its access to hydroelectricity.


title: Brig, Switzerland

paragraphs: Brig is the capital of the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

paragraphs: The historic town of 5,000 people is part of the Brig-Glis municipality. The name 'Brig' comes from "Briva", or "bridge." Its medieval name was "Briga dives". It is a small town in the Swiss canton of the Valais, at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon Pass, on the right bank of the Saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the Rhone. Its older houses look very Italian. Its buildings were built during the 17th century, because of a single member of the local Stockalper family.

paragraphs: Brig is close to the Swiss-Italian borders. The language used when talking between one another is a unique German dialect, used only in this canton. Brig is popular among winter sport athletes, since it is surrounded by many Alp summits. The town itself is close to Rhone river. Due to the height, the temperatures in winter often remain below zero, resulting in frost. During the summer season, heat can be intense.

paragraphs: The place of meeting in the town is the train station, which links it to other Swiss cities.

paragraphs: The wealth of Brig is because of the Simplon Pass. The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above Brig is the steeper and less fertile portion of the Upper Valais (then much frequented by tourists), greatly increased the importance and size of the town.


title: Pennine Alps

paragraphs: The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and the Aosta Valley).


title: Bernese Alps

paragraphs: The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name notes that they are in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, some of the Bernese Alps are found in the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, Valais, Lucerne, Uri, and Nidwalden.


title: Armenian National Committee of America

paragraphs: The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian American advocacy organization in the United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the country and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

paragraphs: Beyond the Central offices of ANCA are in Washington DC, Boston and Los Angeles, ANCA has more than fifty local chapters and thousands of activists, it is cooperating with a large web of regional Armenian National Committees (or "Armenian Cause/Hay Tad" Offices) in Armenia, Russia, France, the Middle East, Canada and Australia.

paragraphs: The Executive Director of ANCA is Aram Hamparian.