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NewspaperA newspaper is a publication containing news and information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. It may be general or special interest, most often published daily or weekly. The first printed newspaper was published in 1605.
The newspaper industry survived competition from 20th-century technologies, especially radio and television, but 21st-century developments on the Internet are posing major threats.
General-interest newspapers are usually journals of current news. Those can include political events, crime, business, sports, and opinions (either editorials, columns, or political cartoons). Many also include weather news and forecasts. Newspapers use photographs to illustrate stories; use editorial cartoonists, usually to illustrate writing that is opinion, rather than news; and also often include comic strips and other entertainment, such as crosswords and horoscopes.
horoscope, South Carolina, United States]]
Overview
A daily newspaper is issued every day, often with the exception of Sundays and some national holidays. Saturday, and where they exist Sunday, editions of daily newspapers tend to be large, include more specialized sections, and cost more.
Weekly newspapers are also common and tend to be smaller and less prestigious than daily papers. However, those Sunday newspapers that do not have weekday editions are not considered to be weekly newspapers, and are generally equivalent in size and prestige to daily newspapers.
Most nations have at least one newspaper that circulates throughout the whole country: a national newspaper, as contrasted with a local newspaper serving a city or region. In the United States and Canada, there are few truly national newspapers, with the notable exceptions of USA Today in the United States and The Globe and Mail and The National Post in Canada. Large metropolitan newspapers with expanded distribution networks such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Toronto Star can fill the role of de facto national newspapers.
The owner of the newspaper, or person in charge, is the publisher. The person responsible for content is the editor, editor in chief, or executive editor.
Newspapers have been developed around very narrow topic areas, such as news for merchants in a specific industry, fans of particular sports, fans of the arts or of specific artists, and participants in the same sorts of activities or lifestyles.
History
According to the World Association of Newspapers:
59 BC: Regular publications have been created and distributed by governments for millennia, including Acta Diurna, a listing of events ordered by Julius Caesar in ancient Rome.
A.D. 713: The first newspaper, Mixed News in Kaiyuan, was published as a hand-written newssheet in Beijing, China. Kaiyuan was the name given to the year in which the paper was published.
1605: Johann Carolus published the first printed newspaper Relation aller fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien (Collection of all distinguished and commemorable news) in Strasbourg, now in France but at the time an independent city within the (mostly) German-speaking Holy Roman Empire. In the same year Abraham Verhoeven of Antwerp (Low Countries/Belgium) publishes Nieuwe Tydingen (source : Encyclopaedia Britannica).The continuous publication of the Nieuwe Tijdingen indicates that the demand for newspapers soon became well-established.
1621: The first English-language private newspaper, The Corante, was first published, in London.
1631: La Gazette, the first French newspaper, was founded.
1632: Courante uyt Italien ende Duytschlandt, the first Dutch newspaper, was founded.
1645: the oldest newspaper still in circulation, Post-och Inrikes Tidningar of Sweden, began publishing.
1650: The world's first daily printed newspaper, Einkommende Zeitungen (Incoming news) founded in Leipzig, Germany.
1665: The oldest surviving English newspaper, The London Gazette begins publication.
1666: The first Danish newspaper, Den Danske Mercurius is published in Ribe by Anders Bording.
1690: Worcester Post-Man founded, which became Berrow's Worcester Journal in 1753, The Worcester Post-Man/Berrow's Worcester Journal is the world's oldest surviving unofficial newspaper. Also, Publick Occurrences Both Foreign and Domestick in Boston became the first newspaper published in British North America. It was suppressed after one issue.
1701: (September 6) Estimated first issue of the Norwich Post in England, which was probably the first provincial newspaper.
1702: The first English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, was founded by Samuel Buckley on 11 March. (Publication ceased in 1735).
1728: St. Petersburg Vedomosti, the oldest Russian newspaper still in circulation, is founded in Saint Petersburg.
1749: Berlingske Tidende, the first surviving Danish newspaper, is founded by E.H Berling.
1763: Norske Intelligenz-Sedler, Norway's first newspaper, was published.
1780: The Bengal Gazette, India's first newspaper, was founded.
1785: The Daily Universal Register was founded by John Walters. It became The Times on January 1, 1788.
1803: Just 15 years after the first British penal colony was established, Australia's military government published the Sydney Gazette and the New South Wales Advertiser, Australia's first newspapers.
1821: The Guardian was founded.
1827: El Mercurio, the oldest continually-published Spanish language newspaper, was founded in the port city of Valparaíso, Chile.
1833: (September 3) The New York Sun, the first truly successful penny press in the United States, was first published by Benjamin H. Day. By 1936, the paper was the largest seller in the country, with a circulation of over 30,000 copies.
1851 The New York Times was first published.
1871: Yokohama Mainichi Shimbun (Yokohama Daily News) is launched as the first daily newspaper in Japan. Today, on a per-capita basis, Japan ranks first in the world in circulation of newspapers.
1884: Otto Merganthaler invented the Linotype machine, which casts type in full lines using hot lead, a quantum leap in newspaper publishing, and ushering in the era of "hot lead." The systems remained in general production in the industry well into the 1980s, when computerized pagination became prominent.
1962: The Los Angeles Times drives Linotype hot metal typesetters with perforated tape created from RCA computers speeding up the typesetting. The key was development of a dictionary and method to automate the hyphenation and justification of text in columns (tasks that had taken 40 percent of a manual operator's time).
1973: Harris introduced editing terminals, which were quickly followed by terminals from Raytheon, Atex, Digital Equipment Corporation and others. The output was strips of type on film from phototypesetters ("cold type" replacing the "hot type" of Linotype machines)). Atex worked with the Minneapolis Star to develop the first pagination system that allowed the creation and output of full editorial pages, eliminating the need for manual paste-up of strips of film. The Atex system featured "Atex Messaging" which is widely believed to be the forerunner of both e-mail and instant messenger applications.
Format
Most modern newspapers are in one of three sizes:
- Broadsheets: 600mm by 380mm (23½ by 15 inches), generally associated with more intellectual newspapers, although a trend towards 'compact' newspapers is changing this.
- Tabloids: half the size of broadsheets at 380mm by 300mm (15 by 11¾ inches), and often perceived as sensationalist in contrast to broadsheets.
- Berliner or Midi: 470mm by 315mm (18½ by 12¼ inches) used by European papers such as Le Monde in France, La Stampa in Italy or, from 12 September 2005, The Guardian in the United Kingdom.
Newspapers are usually printed on inexpensive, off-white paper known as newsprint. Since the 1980s, the newspaper industry has largely moved away from lower-quality letterpress printing to higher-quality, four-color process, offset printing. In addition, desktop computers, word processing software, graphics software, digital cameras and digital prepress and typesetting technologies have revolutionized the newspaper production process. These technologies have enabled newspaper to make publish color photographs and graphics, as well as innovative layouts and better design.
To help their titles stand out on newsstands, some newspapers are printed on coloured newsprint. For example, the Financial Times is printed on a distinctive salmon pink paper, the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport is printed on pink paper, while L'Équipe (formerly L'Auto) is printed on yellow paper. Both the latter promoted major cycling races and their newsprint colours were reflected in the colours of the jerseys used to denote the race leader; thus, the leader in the Giro d'Italia wears a pink jersey, while the Tour de France leader wears a yellow jersey, or maillot jaune.
Circulation and readership
The number of copies distributed on an average day is called the newspaper's circulation, and is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not the same as copies sold since some newspapers are distributed without cost. Readership figures are usually higher than circulation figures because of the common assumption that a typical copy of the newspaper is read by more than one person.
maillot jaune, February 2005]]
According to United Nations data from 1995 Japan has three daily papers - the Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun - with circulations well above 4 million. Germany's Bild, with a circulation of 4.5 million, was the only other paper in that category.
In the United Kingdom The Sun is the top seller, with around 3.2 million copies distributed daily (late-2004).
In India, The Times of India is the largest English newspaper with 2.14 million copies daily.
In the United States and the United Kingdom at least, overall newspaper circulation has been declining for many years, although some individual titles have thrived.
USA Today has a daily circulation of approximately 2 million, making it the most widely distributed paper in the country. However, the validity of USA Todays circulation figures are disputed by some in the newspaper community. This is because of the newspaper's contracts with hotels; many of its papers are delivered to hotel guests who do not realise they are being charged for it. (However, this technique of increasing circulation, sometimes known as bulk sales, is not unique to USA Today.)
In 2004, several large U.S. newspapers were found to have overstated their circulation.
Advertising
Most newspapers make nearly all their money from advertising. The income from the customer's payment at the news-stand is small in comparison. For that reason newspapers are not expensive to buy, and some (such as AM New York) are free. The portion of the newspaper that is not advertising is called editorial content, editorial matter, or simply editorial, although the last term is also used to refer specifically to those articles in which the newspaper expresses its opinions.
Publishers of commercial newspapers strive for higher circulation so that advertising in their newspaper becomes more effective, allowing the newspaper to attract more advertisers and charge more for the service. But some advertising sales also market demographics: some newspapers might sacrifice higher circulation numbers in favor of an audience with a higher income.
Many paid-for newspapers offer a variety of subscription plans. For example, someone might only want a Sunday paper, or perhaps only Sunday and Saturday, or maybe only a workweek subscription, or perhaps a daily subscription.
Some newspapers provide some or all of their content on the Internet, either at no cost or for a fee. In some cases free access is only available for a matter of days or weeks, after which readers must register and provide personal data. In other cases, free archives are provided.
Newspaper journalism
Since newspapers began as a journal (record of current events), the profession involved in the making of newspapers began to be called journalism. Much emphasis has been placed upon the accuracy and fairness of the journalist - see Ethics.
In the yellow journalism era of the 19th century, many newspapers in the United States relied on sensational stories that were meant to anger or excite the public, rather than to inform. The more restrained style of reporting that relies on fact checking and accuracy regained popularity around World War II.
Criticism of journalism is varied and sometimes vehement. Credibility is questioned because of anonymous sources; errors in facts, spelling, and grammar; real or perceived bias; and scandals involving plagiarism and fabrication.
In the past newspapers have often been owned by so-called press barons, and were used either as a rich man's toy, or a political tool. More recently in the United States, a greater number of newspapers (and all of the largest ones) are being run by large media corporations such as Gannett (the largest in the United States), Cox, The Tribune Company, etc. Many industry watchers have concerns that the growing need for profit growth natural to corporations will have a negative impact on the overall quality of journalism.
Even though the opinions of the owners are often relegated to the editorial section, and the opinions of the readers are in the op-ed ("opposite the editorial page") and letters to the editors sections of the paper, newspapers have been used for political purposes by insinuating some kind of bias outside of the editorial section and into straight news. For example, The New York Times is often criticised for a leftist slant to its stories, or, by others, for supporting the American political establishment in nearly all cases, whereas The Wall Street Journal has a history of emphasising the position of the right.
Some ways newspapers have tried to improve their credibility are: appointing ombudsmen, developing ethics policies and training, using more stringent corrections policies, communicating their processes and rationale with readers, and asking sources to review articles after publication. Many larger newspapers are now using more aggressive random fact-checking to further improve the chances that false information will be found before it is printed.
The future of newspapers
The future of newspapers is cloudy, with overall readership slowly declining in most developed countries due to increasing competition from television and the Internet. The 57th annual World Newspaper Congress, held in Istanbul in June 2004, reported circulation increases in only 35 of 208 countries studied. Most of the increase came in developing countries, notably China.
A report at the gathering indicated that China tops total newspaper circulation, with more than 85 million copies of papers sold every day, followed by India with 72 million—China and India are the two most populous countries in the world—followed by Japan with 70 million and the United States with 55 million. The report said circulation declined by an average of 2.2 percent across 13 of the 15 countries that made up the European Union before May 1. The biggest declines were in Ireland, down 7.8 percent; Britain, down 4.7 percent; and Portugal, where numbers fell by 4.0 percent. One growth area is the distribution of free newspapers, which are not reflected in the above circulation data. Led by the [http://www.metro.lu Metro] chain of newspapers, they grew 16 percent in 2003.
Another growth area is high-quality tabloids, particularly in the UK, where several of the major broadsheets are experimenting with the format (see Broadsheet#Switch to smaller sizes). Smaller and easier to hold than broadsheets, but presenting serious journalism rather than traditional tabloid fodder, they appear to have drawn some younger readers who are otherwise abandoning newspapers.
Newspapers also face increased competition from the Internet for classified ads, especially for jobs, real estate, and cars, which have long been a key source of revenue.
Newspapers in different countries
:Main article: List of newspapers
Afghanistan
Printed in Afghanistan and other countries by Afghan nationals.
List of newspapers in and out of print:
Argentina
In Argentina, the broadsheet format is almost non-existent. The only remaining national newspaper published in that format is La Nación.
Belgium
:Main article: List of newspapers in Belgium
Belgium's quality newspapers:
- De Standaard [http://www.standaard.be] (christian, patriotically Flemish - 80,000 copies per day)
- De Morgen (left - 40,000 copies per day)
- Le Soir (French-language, centre - 100,000 copies per day)
Popular newspapers:
- Het Laatste Nieuws (right, a lot of sports news - 291,000 copies per day)
- Het Nieuwsblad (christian, a lot of sports news - 200,000 copies per day)
- Vers l'avenir (French-language, catholic roots - 99,000 copies per day)
- Het Volk (left, christian - 92,000 copies per day)
Source: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3737311.stm BBC: The press in Belgium]
Brazil
Most important newspapers of Brazil are:
- Folha de São Paulo
- O Estado de São Paulo (also known as Estadão)
- O Globo
- Jornal do Brasil
- Correio Braziliense
- Zero Hora
Chile
- El Mercurio
- La Tercera
- Las Últimas Noticias
- La Cuarta
- La Nación
Europe
There are several newspapers that target Europe, or the European Union, as a whole. Many are published in English, being owned both by USA-based or European-based companies.
- European Voice: Owned by the British (European Union) The Economist Group
- The Wall Street Journal Europe: Owned by the USA-based Wall Street Journal
- International Herald Tribune: Owned by USA-based The New York Times Company
- New Europe: Owned by USA-based News Corporation
- EU Reporter: (ownership unchecked), distributed without charge
Germany
:Main article: List of German newspapers
Important national newspapers are the daily Die Welt and the weekly Die Zeit as well as the daily tabloid Bild, but local ones draw a much wider readership. Some local or regional newspapers assume the role of national papers, such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine of Frankfurt and the Süddeutsche Zeitung of Munich. The taz (long form: Die Tageszeitung) was founded 1978, partly in reaction to the terrorist events of the German Autumn, and considers itself as an alternative to the (in 1978) mostly conservative newspaper market. The now independent Neues Deutschland was the newspaper of the Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany, which ruled the communist East Germany until 1989.
The largest publishing companies are located in Hamburg, notably the Axel Springer Verlag and Gruner und Jahr. About one half of Germany's nation-wide newspapers and magazines are produced in Hamburg. The Axel Springer Verlag dominates the newspaper market with its tabloid Bild and a large number of local papers.
France
Daily:
Le Figaro
Libération
Le Monde
Weekly:
Les Échos
Le Canard Enchâiné
Hong Kong
:Main article: Newspapers in Hong Kong
Hong Kong has a vibrant newspaper publishing industry. Most papers use the broadsheet size. Almost all newspapers focus on the local Hong Kong market, but some may also target at the markets in Macau and Pearl River Delta. Although they are broadsheets, the three papers with the largest circulation are all considered tabloid-style, with large and colourful photos and sensational coverage to attract readers. Most papers adopt a daily magazine approach, with coverage ranging from local and international news, entertainment, culture, lifestyle, economic and finance, sport and horseracing. Hong Kong Economic Journal, Hong Kong Economic Times and South China Morning Post have are stronger focus on economics and finance. Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po, Singtao Daily and Oriental Daily are the mouthpieces of the communist government in Beijing (Peking). There are also papers specifically published for horse racing tips.
India
Compared with many other developing countries, the Indian press has flourished since independence and exercises a large degree of independence. In 2001, India had 45,974 newspapers, including 5364 daily newspapers published in over 100 languages. The largest number of newspapers were published in Hindi (20,589), followed by English (7,596), Marathi (2,943), Urdu (2,906), Bengali (2,741), Gujarati (2,215), Tamil (2,119), Kannada (1,816), Malayalam(1,505) and Telugu (1,289). The Hindi daily press has a circulation of over 23 million copies, followed by English with over 8 million copies.
There are several major publishing groups in India, the most prominent among them being the Times of India Group, the Indian Express Group, the Hindustan Times Group, The Hindu group, the Anandabazar Patrika Group, the Malayala Manorama Group, the Sahara group, the Bhaskar group, and the Jagran group.
India has more than forty domestic news agencies. The Express News Service, the Press Trust of India, and the United News of India are among the major news agencies.
See Also: Mass media in India
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man publishes three weekly newspapers; Isle of Man Courier, Manx Independent and Isle of Man Examiner. All three newspapers are printed by Isle of Man Newspapers who have their publishing house in Douglas, the capital. The Courier is free and is distributed to all households on the Island every Thursday. They have no official political affiliations. The Courier is distributed to approximately 30,000 households weekly.
Mexico
In Mexico there is no publication that can be considered a national newspaper. The most important ones, such as El Universal, La Jornada and Reforma are in Mexico City, and because of a heavy national centralisation, a lot of redistribution happens (newspapers from Mexico City are sold in almost every city in the country, some with a day or two lag).
The only attempts to create a national newspaper originate in Monterrey. One of them is Milenio, a midi format newspaper, which is distributed in Mexico City; Monterrey, Nuevo León; Veracruz, Veracruz; Guadalajara, Jalisco; Tampico, Tamaulipas; and the state of Tabasco.
The other attempt to make a national newspaper is from the Reforma News Group, which also originated and is run in Monterrey but that has big coverage from Mexico City. Reforma publishes different newspapers with the same main content, but with specific local content in the major cities of the country: El Norte in Monterrey, Reforma in Mexico City, Mural in Guadalajara and Palabra in Saltillo. All of the newspapers by Reforma are published in the broadsheet format.
Reforma is one of the most prestigious, and often considered among the most reliable news sources in Mexico, in spite of its youth (it appeared in Mexico City in 1993). It has gained its prestige with its attractive editorial design, wide-spectrum editorialists and denouncements of government corruption.
Until very recently, newsprint in Mexico was a product made only by the government-owned monopoly. Importing the product from other countries was illegal. This allowed the Mexican government, for many years, to put out of circulation any dissident newspaper. Reforma survived the boycott and fought heavily until the government allowed for importing the product in the 1990s.
Since then, the Mexican press has been undergoing a process towards more freedom of speech, especially after the election of President Vicente Fox in the year 2000.
Netherlands
The biggest left winged quality paper in the Netherlands is the "de Volkskrant" [http://www.volkskrant.nl De Volkskrant].
Its opposite is the right winged "NRC Handelsblad", which stands for "Nieuwe Roterdamse Courant"[http://www.nrc.nl NRC].
A right winged paper of inferior quality is "de Telegraaf". [http://www.telegraaf.nl de Telegraaf]
Further there is "Trouw", a conservative and good paper. It is founded in the second World War by the Dutch resist. [http://www.trouw.nl Trouw]
Norway
- Verdens Gang (VG) (tabloid)
- Aftenposten
- Dagbladet (tabloid)
- Morgenbladet
- Stavanger Aftenblad
- Rogalands Avis (tabloid)
Philippines
The Philippine press has been flourishing, with a large number of newspapers and tabloids. A partial list is provided below:
- Philippine Daily Inquirer
- The Philippine Star
- Manila Bulletin
- Malaya
- The Manila Times
- Manila Standard Today
- BusinessWorld
- Business Mirror
- The Daily Tribune
- Abante (tabloid)
- Balita (tabloid; owned by the Manila Bulletin)
- Bulgar (tabloid)
- Pilipino Star Ngayon (tabloid; owned by the Philippine Star)
- Tonite (tabloid)
- Tiktik (tabloid)
Poland
:Main article: List of Polish newspapers
List of Polish newspapers (the most popular ones)
United Kingdom
:Main article: List of newspapers in the United Kingdom
:See also: History of British newspapers
In the United Kingdom, newspapers can be classified by distribution as local or national, and by page size as tabloids and broadsheets. The principal newspapers of England are all nationals edited in London. Wales and Northern Ireland are also dominated by the London-based press; in Scotland, although the London-based press is widely available and widely read, two Scottish newspapers can claim quasi-national status: The Scotsman (based in Edinburgh) and the Glasgow Herald.
There is often an implication that tabloids cater for more vulgar tastes than broadsheet. Within the tabloid category the most down market titles are classed as red-tops because of the design of their front pages. This term is often used deprecatingly by newspapers that consider themselves more serious. There are also "middle-market" tabloids such as The Daily Mail and The Daily Express.
This distinction began to be blurred in October 2003 as two broadsheet newspapers, The Independent and The Times, began tabloid editions in some parts of the U.K. The Independent switched entirely to producing what it prefers to call a "compact" edition from May 2004, and The Times changed to this format at the beginning of November 2004, despite initial opposition from its more traditional and conservative readership. The Guardian changed to a Berliner format (larger than a tabloid, more compact than a broadsheet) in September 2005. This leaves The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times as the UK's only daily national broadsheets.
Aside from The Guardian, The Independent and the Daily Mirror (combined circulation of approximately 2,500,000), all of the other daily national newspapers (combined circulation of approximately 9,500,000) are known for holding conservative or right-wing political views. Due to this, many people (especially those on the political left) argue that there is a conservative bias amongst British newspapers. The fact that many of these (e.g. The Times, The Sun, the News of the World) are owned by Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch strengthens these claims.
There are daily paid papers in most of the larger cities, and weekly paid papers in some other areas. These focus on local news and generally do not attempt to be a direct substitute for the London-based national newspapers, although some such as The Western Mail (based in Cardiff), Eastern Daily Press in Norwich and Yorkshire Post in Leeds offer competition to the London newspapers within their limited home territories. Most areas also typically have one or more free local papers, with extensive classified advertising. Many towns with professional football teams also have a weekly paper dedicated to that sport, usually published on Saturdays.
Free morning newspapers for commuters have been launched in major metropolitan areas, offering a concise summary of the news designed to be read on public transport. In London, Glasgow and a number of other urban centres this is the Metro.
There are also a wide variety of English language national newspapers catering for ethnic minority readers including The Voice, Eastern Eye and Desi Xpress.
External link
- [http://www.abc.org.uk The Audit Bureau of Circulation] provides circulation figures for British newspapers. Their research is also reproduced in digested form at [http://media.guardian.co.uk/circulationfigures/ this Media Guardian index] along with commentary.
United States
:Main article: List of newspapers in the United States
List of newspapers in the United States, November 11, 1918.]]
The majority of American newspapers are printed as broadsheets. A small number of daily papers are printed in the tabloid format.
U.S. dailies commonly separate the physical newspaper into sections on particular topics. Most major American cities' papers will have sections covering at least a few of the following topics:
- National and international news, usually the first section. In the most prestigious newspapers like the New York Times, the majority of articles in this section are dispatched by the paper's own journalists from bureaux around the world. Smaller papers usually fill almost all of this section with stories taken from newswires like the Associated Press or Reuters.
- Local and regional news, usually the second section. This is often called the metro (from metropolitan) section. Many large newspapers use "zoning," with different zones, receiving somewhat different articles, or the same articles arranged differently. Zoning is most predominant in the local section, but also plays a role in the front page.
- Sports
- Business
- Classified ads
- Features: This may include Arts, Home furnishing, Fashion, Style, or some combination. This section usually also includes general advice columns and amusements, such as comic strips, horoscopes and puzzles.
- A weekly general-interest magazine-type feature, usually appearing on Sunday, such as Parade, USA Weekend, or their own magazine (for larger papers) such as The New York Times Magazine or the Washington Post Magazine.
- Weekend or Entertainment. This section includes advertisements for entertainment events; this section usually appears on a Friday, or the last newspaper printed before the weekend.
- Comics. Typically only a separate section on Sundays; daily papers will include a page or more of comics in another section. Although colour printing technology has seen the use of colour in comics (and other editorial content) to daily editions, for many years the expense of colour printing meant that only the Sunday editions of many newspapers carried most comics in full colour.
- Opinion or Editorial. Includes both editorials by the newspaper's editorial staff and letters to the editor from readers. Typically only a separate section on Sundays; daily papers will include these materials in the back of the national, regional, metro, or local news sections. Sometimes may include commentaries or "op-ed pieces" from nationally renowned writers.
See also
- Alternative weekly
- Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
- Freedom of the press
- Graphic design
- Gazette
- History of British newspapers
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange
- Journalism
- List of newspapers (by country)
- List of common newspaper names
- Magazine
- Mass media
- Muckraker
- News design
- Newspaper circulation
- Newspaper archives online
- Newspapers on demand
- Photojournalism
- Printing
- Propaganda model
- School newspaper
- Trade newspaper
- Underground press
- Weekly newspaper
External links
- [http://www.allyoucanread.com/ AllYouCanRead.com - 23,000 Newspapers and Magazines from 200 Countries]
- [http://www.newspaperindex.com/ Worldwide Newspaper Directory by country]
- [http://rni.nic.in/ Registrar of Newspapers for India]
- [http://www.hotbulletin.com Read hundreds of newspapers online]
- [http://library.prakashan.org/newspapers-worldwide-directory/ Newspapers List Worldwide]
- [http://www.wan-press.org/ World Association of Newspapers]
- [http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/ Daily showcase of newspaper front pages from around the world]
- [http://www.gazetelerin.com/ Turkish Newspapers]
- [http://www.gutenberg-museum.de/index.php?id=32&language=e Exhibition on the Occasion of the 400th Anniversary of the Newspaper in the Gutenberg-Museum Mainz (Germany)]
Category:Newspapering
Category:Ephemera
Category:Serials, periodicals and journals
ja:新聞
ms:Akhbar
simple:Newspaper
th:หนังสือพิมพ์
zh-cn:报纸
zh-tw:報紙
Publication
To publish is to make publicly known, and in reference to text and images, it can mean distributing paper copies to the public, or putting the content on a website.
The word publication means the act of publishing, and it also means any writing of which copies are published, and any website. Among publications are books, and periodicals, the latter including magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers.
In Taxonomy the publicon of the description of a taxon has to comply with some rules.
- It must be published in Latin.
- It must be published on paper.
- The publication must be generally available.
- The date of publication is the date the published material became generally available.
Computers and the internet have changed the face of publishing, lowering the cost, and allowing more people to publish, through both desktop publishing and internet publishing.
Category:Publications
Category:Publishing
Journal
A journal (through French from late Latin diurnalis, daily) is a daily record of events or business. A private journal is usually an elaborated diary. When applied to a newspaper or other periodical the word is strictly used of one published each day; but any publication issued at stated intervals, such as a magazine or the record of the transactions of a learned society (a scientific or other academic journal), is commonly called a journal. "Journal", then, is sometimes used as a synonym for "magazine". The word "journalist" for one whose business is writing for the public press has been in use since the end of the 17th century.
"Journal" is particularly applied to the record, day by day, of the business and proceedings of a public body. The journals of the British houses of parliament contain an official record of the business transacted day by day in either house. The record does not take note of speeches, though some of the earlier volumes contain references to them. The journals are a lengthened account written from the "votes and proceedings" (in the House of Lords called "minutes of the proceedings"), made day by day by the assistant clerks, and printed on the responsibility of the clerk to the house, after submission to the "subcommittee on the journals." In the Commons the journal is passed by the Speaker before publication. The journals of the British House of Commons begin in the first year of the reign of Edward VI (1547), and are complete, except for a short interval under Elizabeth I. Those of the House of Lords date from the first year of Henry VIII. (1509). Before that date the proceedings in parliament were entered in the rolls of parliament, which extend from 1278 to 1503. The journals of the Lords are "records" in the judicial sense, those of the Commons are not (see Erskine May, Parliamentary Practice, 1906, pp. 201-202).
The United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 5) requires the Congress of the United States to keep a journal of its proceedings. This journal, the Congressional Record is published by the Government Printing Office.
The term "journal" is used, in business, for a book in which an account of transactions is kept previous to a transfer to the ledger (see bookkeeping), and also as an equivalent to a ship's log, as a record of the daily run, observations, weather changes, etc.
External links
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?gid=43 Journals of the House of Commons] vols. 1 through 23 (1547-1699) and 85 (1830)
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?gid=44 Journals of the House of Lords] vols. 1 through 20 (1509-1717) and 62-64 (1830-1832)
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1306-1216/ International Journal of Biomedical Sciences]
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1304-2386/ International Journal of Computational Intelligence]
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1305-5313/ Enformatika]
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1305-2403/ International Journal of Information Technology]
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1305-6417/ International Journal of Intelligent Technology]
- [http://www.enformatika.org/journals/1304-4478/ International Journal of Signal Processing]
- [http://www.people.vcu.edu/~cmarecha/ Le Cygne (Journal of the International Marie de France Society)]
- [http://smu.edu/arthuriana/ Arthuriana (Journal of Arthurian Studies)]
- [http://www.joan-of-arc.info/index.php?title=Journal_of_Joan_of_Arc_Studies Journal of Joan of Arc Studies]
Category:Journals
Category:Serials, periodicals and journals
NewsNews is essentially new information or current events. This article discusses news in the context of journalism.
News is reported by newspapers, television and radio programs, Web sites, RSS feeds and wire services. News reporting is a type of journalism, typically written or broadcast in news style. Most news is investigated and presented by journalists (or reporters) and often distributed via news agencies. If the content of news is significant enough, it eventually becomes history
To be considered newsworthy, an event usually must have broad interest due to one or more news values:
- Impact (how many people were, are or will be affected?)
- Timeliness (did the event occur very recently?)
- Revelation (is there significant new information, previously unknown?)
- Proximity (was the event nearby geographically?)
- Oddity (was the event highly unusual?)
- Entertainment (does it make for a fun story?)
- Celebrity (was anyone famous involved?)
News items and journalism can be divided in various ways, although there are gray areas. Distinctions include between hard news (more serious and timely topics) and soft news (usually lighter topics) breaking news (most immediate); news analysis; and enterprise or investigative reporting.
News coverage traditionally begins with the "five W's"—who, what, where, when, why.
In democracies, news organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity: Reporters cover both sides in a controversy and try to eliminate bias. This is not true of all are expected to have a point of view. However, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office o , both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments.
Many single-party countries have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views. Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.
Etymology
The word "news" comes from a special use of the plural of the word "new", and not as the common backronym claims, from the four cardinal directions (North, East, West, and South). Old spellings of the word varied widely—newesse, newis, nevis, neus, newys, niewes, newis, nues, etc.—doubt on popular etymological theory.
See also
- Journalism
- List of news web sites
- Mass media
External links (directories of news sites)
- [http://home.wxs.nl/~hend2438/MOTW/r5-Literature/newspapers/bodystart.html News and information] Collection of links to newspapers and other news, also streaming medialinks
- [http://search.looksmart.com/p/browse/us1/us317836/us317916/us147927/ LookSmart - Directory of News & Magazines]
- [http://dmoz.org/News Open Directory Project - News]
- [http://www.hotbulletin.com Hot Bulletin] View hundreds of news sources at once
- [http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/ Yahoo - Directory of News and Media]
- [http://www.openpressroom.com Open Press Room - Open Source News Directory]
- [http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikinews project]
- [http://www.news.mxfull.com News Finder]
- [http://www.cnn.com CNN]
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk BBC News]
- [http://www.itn.com ITN]
- [http://www.sky.com/skynews Sky News]
- [http://www.google.com/news Google News]
- [http://www.news.mxfull.com Online News]
Category:Journalism
ja:ニュース
Crime
A crime in a broad sense is an act that violates a political or moral law of any one person or social grouping. In the narrow sense, a crime is a violation of criminal law; in many nations, there are criminal standards of bad behaviour. However, not all violations of the law are considered crimes, for example most traffic violations or breaches of contract.
Definition of crime in general
:This section describes usual criminal classifications applicable at present in Western countries. They may differ significantly with those applicable in other cultures; also, they may differ significantly with earlier practices.
Most people who use this word are not "crime" specialists. Generally the word indicates a social concept of the person, where a specific social act is generally considered a deliberate and conscious choice of the choices known to be available to the user of the word. For instance, historically left-handedness, epileptic fits and emotional tantrums have been considered "crimes".
General rules
A crime can be the action of violating or breaking a law. According to Western jurisprudence, there must be a simultaneous concurrence of both actus reus ("guilty action") and mens rea ("guilty mind") for a crime to have been committed; except in crimes of strict liability. In order for prosecution, some laws require proof of causation, relating the defendant's actions to the criminal event in question. In addition, some laws require that attendant circumstances have occurred, in order for a crime to have occurred. Also, in order for a crime to be prosecuted, corpus delicti (or "proof of a crime") must be established.
It may also be a crime to conspire in order to commit other crimes, or helping others to commit crimes (which makes one an accomplice); in some systems the simple association for organizing a crime is punished. The attempt to commit a crime (including attempted murder) may to be punished when the actus reus of the full crime is not completed (in California, USA e.g., the punishment can be half of that for the crime itself [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/654-678.html]).
Trial
It is commonly believed that preconceived notions are dominant in all areas of presumed fact. These notions can be based on ethnicity and skin colour, sectarianism, sexual orientation, gender, apperance, occupation and education. Participants in a criminal trial may make use these biases in order to achieve their own goals. (For example, a prosecutor in a case of child murder may want to have more women with young children on the jury.)
Since mistakes can be made by the courts and legal process, many appeal mechanisms are available to most legal decisions. The death penalty, which cannot be corrected after the fact if a mistake has occured, has been on the decline for the past several decades.
In general, in most western systems, the definition of a crime requires the existing intention of committing it (voluntas necandi) in the author, therefore it is usually not officially "punished" when this intention is missing or when the author has not a complete mental sanity or is under a certain age.
Depending on the level of psychological education of the Law Enforcement groups, some underage defendants (of varying ages around the world) can sometimes be tried "as an adult" because their character is considered adult, whatever the rationale is behind this.
In another example, there generally exists an insanity defense: a assumed deviant person may not officially be penally responsible for his or her actions. A defendent who uses with the insanity defense may be judged guilty like a normal criminal. It is less common to succeed with psychiatric condemnation, and then to be "involuntarily committed" to treatment or corrections. See also Corrections.
Reasons
Crimes are viewed as offenses against society, and as such are punished by the state. They can be scholastically distinguished, depending on the passive subject of the crime (the victim), or on the offended interest, in crimes against:
- Personality of the State
- Rights of the citizen
- Public administration
- Administration of justice
- Religious sentiment and the pity for dead
- Public order
- Public faith
- Public economy, industry and commerce
- Public morality
- Person and honour
- Patrimony
Or they can be distinguished depending on the related punishment (then, on the degree of offense that the forbidden behaviour caused), in delicts and violations.
The definition of a crime generally reflects the current attitudes prevalent in a society. For example, possession of drugs was not always a crime, while the Prohibition Era made alcohol illegal.
Classification
Crimes can be divided into several (overlapping) categories: computer offenses[http://news.pc-news.org/2005/08/10/microsoft_to_fight_crime_with_spammers_money/], crimes against persons, crimes against property, crimes against state security, drug offenses, sexual offenses, and weapon offenses. Crimes are also be grouped by severity, some common categorical terms being: felonies, indictable offenses, misdemeanors, and summary offences. For convenience, infractions are also usually incuded in such lists, although they are not subject of the criminal law, but rather of the civil law. An inchoate offense is a planned or attempted crime, which the offender was not able to carry out prior to arrest.
The following are crimes in many jurisdictions:
Aiding and abetting
It may be a crime to aid someone else in committing a crime, or induce him or her to commit one.
Study
Matters related to criminal behavior in society are studied in the field of sociology in the sub-field of criminology, and a person who studies this is called a criminologist. The mental state and acuity of criminals is assessed by psychologists, especially in cases wherein the insanity defense is being utilized.
The study of crime, in general, across a number of functional diciplines is often known as crime science. This draws on statistics, environmental design, forensics, policing, sociology and other sciences to analyse the crimes, rather than the offenders, and provides ways and means to prevent, detect and solve crimes.
History
The first civilizations had codes of law, though these codes were not always recorded. The first known written codes were written by the ancient Sumerians, and it was probably their king Ur-Nammu (reigning on Ur in the 21st century BC) the first legislator of which we received a formal system in 32 articles; it has to be recalled that this is not among the eldest laws, since not all the ancient laws are penal rules. In the antiquity, in fact, codes mostly contained both civil and penal rules together. Sumerians however later issued other codes as the one known as "code of Lipit-Istar" (last king of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, Isin - 20th century BC). This code contains some 50 articles and has been reconstructed by the comparison among several sources.
In Babylon the code of Esnunna before, and the code of Hammurabi (one of the richest ones of ancient times) after, were used and reflected society's belief that law was derived from the will of the gods.
Similarly, some codes of conduct of religious origins or reference have been included in penal codes, forbidden behaviours resulting in real crimes in the states ruled by theocracy even in more recent times.
In India, the British had notified 150 tribes such as the Phase Pardhi as criminal in 1871. Though this was repealed in 1952, the criminal stigma still surrounds these groups, and are usually rounded up on suspicion of crime.
Natural law theory
An alternative view of crime is derived from the theory of natural law. In this view, crime is the violation of individual rights. Since rights are considered as natural, rather than man-made, what constitutes a crime is also natural, in contrast to laws, which are man-made. Adam Smith illustrates this view, saying a smuggler would be an excellent citizen, "had not the laws of his country made that a crime which nature never meant to be so."
Natural law theory thus distinguishes between criminality and illegality, the former being derived from human nature, the latter being derived from the interests of those in power. The two concepts are sometimes expressed with the phrases "malum in se" and "malum prohibitum". This view leads to a seeming paradox, that an act can be illegal that is no crime, while a criminal act could be perfectly legal.
Many Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith and the American Founding Fathers subscribed to this view to some extent, and it remains influential among so-called classical liberals and libertarians.
A crime malum in se is argued to be inherently criminal; whereas a crime malum prohibitum is argued to be criminal only because the law has decreed it so.
Other uses of the word worldwide
In other cultures (and legal systems) the word crime is used specifically to designate a homicide (the killing of a human being by another). The use of the word crime in any other situations is perceived merely as a means to emphasise the gravity of the specific offence to the law (such as in aggravating circumstances).
See also
External links
- [http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_tot_cri Crime incidence by country]
Category:Criminal law
-
ja:犯罪
simple:Crime
SportswritingSportswriting is a form of journalism who writes and reports on sports topics and events.
Ernest Hemingway's writing could perhaps be considered in this category due to his love for hunting, fishing and boxing. Bernard Malamud also wrote powerfully about baseball in his novel The Natural.
The Associated Press Sports Editors runs training programs in the USA for sports journalists.
Within newspapers, the sports department is sometimes called the "toy department," but sportswriters face much more deadline pressure than most other reporters.
Historical sportswriters
- Pierce Egan
- Leonard Koppett
- Ring Lardner
- Grantland Rice
- Red Smith
Current sportswriters for major publications
- Dan Bickley [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- Paola Boivin [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- John Davis [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- John Gambadoro [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- Jim Gintonio [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- Don Ketchum [http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sportscolumns.html]
- Tony Barnhart [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/barnhart]
- Furman Bisher [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/bisher]
- Mark Bradley [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/bradley]
- Curtis Bunn [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/bunn]
- Michelle Hiskey [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/hiskey]
- Steve Hummer [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/hummer]
- Darryl Maxie [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/maxie]
- Terence Moore [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/moore]
- Jeff Schultz [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/schultz]
- MikeTierney [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/tierney]
- Tim Tucker [http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/columns/tucker]
- John Eisenberg [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-eisenberg,1,587835.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Ray Frager [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-frager,1,3659856.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Milton Kent [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/highschool/bal-columnist-kent,1,4584554.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Rick Maese [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-maese,1,5702923.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Mike Preston [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-preston,0,3619615.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Peter Schmuck [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-schmuck,1,5937575.columnist?coll=bal-home-columnists]
- David Steele [http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-columnist-steele,1,2147938.columnist?coll=bal-sports-columnists]
- Will McDonough [http://www.globe.com/globe/columns/mcdonough]
- Jackie MacMullan [http://www.globe.com/globe/columns/macmullan]
- Bob Ryan [http://www.globe.com/globe/columns/ryan]
- Dan Shaughnessy [http://www.globe.com/globe/columns/shaughnessy]
- Jim Baker [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Steve Buckley [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Gerry Callahan [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Michael Gee [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Karen Guregian [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- George Kimball [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Kevin Mannix [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Tony Massarotti [http://www.bostonherald.com/sport/sports_columnists]
- Bob Dicesare [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bobdicesare.asp]
- Larry Felser [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/larryfelser.asp]
- Mark Gaughan [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/markgaughan.asp]
- Bucky Gleason [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/buckygleason.asp]
- Mike Harrington [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/mikeharrington.asp]
- Amy Moritz [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/amymoritz.asp]
- Jerry Sullivan [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/jerrysullivan.asp]
- Allen Wilson [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/allenwilson.asp]
- Other Columns [http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/othercolumns.asp]
- Rick Bonnell [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/rick_bonnell]
- Gregg Doyel [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/gregg_doyel]
- Scott Fowler [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/scott_fowler]
- Ron Green Sr. [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/ron_green_sr]
- Ron Green Jr. [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/ron_green_jr]
- Stan Olson [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/stan_olson]
- David Poole [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/david_poole]
- David Scott [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/david_scott]
- Tom Sorensen [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/tom_sorensen]
- Pat Yasinskas [http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/columnists/pat_yasinskas]
- Lacy J. Banks [http://www.suntimes.com/index/banks.html]
- John Jackson [http://www.suntimes.com/index/jackson.html]
- Jay Mariotti [http://www.suntimes.com/index/mariotti.html]
- Ron Rapoport [http://www.suntimes.com/index/rapoport.html]
- Carol Slezak [http://www.suntimes.com/index/slezak.html]
- Rick Telander [http://www.suntimes.com/index/telander.html]
- Mike Downey [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-mike-downey,1,5795154.columnist]
- Rick Morrissey [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-rick-morrissey,1,5139914.columnist]
- Lew Freedman [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-lew-freedman,1,2877084.columnist]
- Melissa Isaacson [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-melissa-isaacson,1,2024092.columnist]
- Fred Mitchell [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-fred-mitchell,1,3821064.columnist]
- Don Pierson [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-don-pierson,1,5664087.columnist]
- Phil Rogers [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-phil-rogers,1,2841436.columnist]
- Steve Rosenbloom [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-steve-rosenbloom,1,699609.columnist]
- Ed Sherman [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-ed-sherman,1,722378.columnist]
- Sam Smith [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-sam-smith,1,2643602.columnist]
- Barry Temkin [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-barry-temkin,1,2736840.columnist]
- Bob Verdi [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/cs-bob-verdi,1,7895659.columnist]
- Paul Daugherty [http://enquirer.com/columns/daugherty/]
- Tim Sullivan [http://enquirer.com/columns/sullivan/]
- Roger Brown [http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/roger_brown]
- Bill Livingston [http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/bill_livingston]
- Bud Shaw [http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/bud_shaw]
- Kevin B. Blackistone [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/columnists/kblackistone/vitindex.html]
- Tim Cowlishaw [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/columnists/tcowlishaw/vitindex.html]
- Gerry Fraley [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/columnists/gfraley/vitindex.html]
- Frank Luksa [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/columnists/fluksa/vitindex.html]
- Kevin Sherrington [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/sports/columnists/ksherrington/vitindex.html]
- Jim Armstrong [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E102%257E,00.html]
- Neil H. Devlin [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~103~,00.html]
- Terry Frei [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~104~,00.html]
- Mark Kiszla [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E107%257E,00.html]
- Mike Klis [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~108~,00.html]
- John Meyer [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~109~,00.html]
- Charlie Meyers [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~110~,00.html]
- Woody Paige [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E111%257E,00.html]
- Adam Schefter [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~112~,00.html]
- Marc J. Spears [http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,36~113~,00.html]
- Rich Evans [http://deseretnews.com/dn/columnists/0,1443,68,00.html]
- Loren Jorgensen [http://deseretnews.com/dn/columnists/0,1443,63,00.html]
- Doug Robinson [http://deseretnews.com/dn/columnists/1,1443,0:2,00.html]
- Brad Rock [http://deseretnews.com/dn/columnists/1,1443,0:3,00.html]
- Mike Sorensen [http://deseretnews.com/dn/columnists/0,1443,66,00.html]
- Mitch Albom [http://www.freep.com/index/albom.htm]
- Drew Sharp [http://www.freep.com/index/drewsharp.htm]
- Joe Falls [http://www.detnews.com/2002/sports/0201/31/f02-404438.htm]
- Terry Foster [http://www.detnews.com/2002/sports/0201/31/f02-404437.htm]
- Jerry Green [http://www.detnews.com/2002/sports/0201/31/f01-404460.htm]
- Rob Parker [http://www.detnews.com/2002/sports/0201/30/g01-403527.htm]
- Bob Wojnowski [http://www.detnews.com/2002/sports/0201/31/f01-404465.htm]
- Larry Dennis [http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/spodennis/]
- Gene Frenette [http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/spfrenette]
- Joe Julavits [http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/spoujulavits]
- Wendell Barnhouse [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/wendell_barnhouse]
- Jimmy Burch [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/jimmy_burch]
- Jeff Caplan [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/jeff_caplan]
- Mac Engel [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/mac_engel]
- Jennifer Floyd [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/jennifer_floyd]
- Randy Galloway [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/randy_galloway]
- Art Garcia [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/art_garcia]
- Len Hayward [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/len_hayward]
- Brett Hoffman [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/brett_hoffman]
- Bob Hood [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/bob_hood]
- Mike Jones [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/mike_jones]
- Gil LeBreton [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/gil_lebreton]
- Kathleen O'Brien [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/kathleen_obrien]
- Charles Polansky [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/charles_polansky]
- Tim Price [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/tim_price]
- Jim Reeves [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/jim_reeves]
- John Sturbin [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/john_sturbin]
- T.R. Sullivan [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/tr_sullivan]
- Laura Weisskopf [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/laura_weisskopf]
- Richie Whitt [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/richie_whitt]
- Charean Williams [http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/sports/columnists/charean_williams]
- John Branch [http://fresnobee.com/columnists/branch/]
- Milo F. Bryant [http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/bryant]
- John Canzano [http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/canzano]
- Bill Huber [http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/packers/page.html?article=112073]
- Todd McMahon [http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/packers/page.html?article=112180]
- Doug Ritchay [http://www.greenbaynewschron.com/packers/page.html?article=112277]
- David Barron [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/barron]
- Fran Blinebury [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/blinebury/home]
- MK Bower [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/bower/home]
- Steve Campbell [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/campbell/home]
- Joe Doggett [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/outdoors/doggett/home]
- Jonathan Feigen [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/feigen/home]
- Niki Herbert [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/herbert/home]
- Mickey Herskowitz [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/herskowitz/home]
- Richard Justice [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/justice/home]
- John P. Lopez [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/lopez/home]
- Megan Manfull [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/manfull/home]
- John McClain [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/mcclain/home]
- Doug Pike [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/outdoors/pike/home]
- Dale Robertson [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/robertson/home]
- Shannon Tompkins [http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/outdoors/tompkins/home]
- C. Jemal Horton [http://www.indystar.com/sports/columnists/horton]
- Bob Kravitz [http://www.indystar.com/sports/columnists/kravitz]
- Jeffrey Flanagan [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/jeffrey_flanagan]
- Blair Kerkhoff [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/blair_kerkhoff]
- Joe Posnanski [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/joe_posnanski]
- Jason Whitlock [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock]
- Richard Eng [http://www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/eng.html]
- Royce Feour [http://www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/feour.html]
- Joe Hawk [http://www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/hawk.html]
- Jeff Wolf [http://www.reviewjournal.com/columnists/wolf.html]
- Jeff Haney [http://www.lasvegassun.com/sports/columnists]
- Brian Hildebrand [http://www.lasvegassun.com/sports/columnists]
- Ron Kantowski [http://www.lasvegassun.com/sports/columnists]
- Barbara Barker [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Robert Cassidy [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Chuck Culpepper [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Michael Dobie [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Joe Gergen [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Bob Glauber [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Alan Hahn [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Mark Herrmann [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Jon Heyman [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Johnette Howard [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Steve Jacobsen [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Steven Marcus [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Jason Molinet [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Ed McNamara [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Shaun Powell [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Tim Rock [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Jerry Trecker [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Jeff Williams [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Steve Zipay [http://www.newsday.com/sports/sportscolumns.htm]
- Steve Dilbeck [http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E23148%257E,00.html]
- Kevin Modesti [http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E21656%257E,00.html]
- J.A. Adande [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Thomas Bonk [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Bill Christine [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Lisa Dillman [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Chris Dufresne [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Helene Elliott [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Sam Farmer [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Shav Glick [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Randy Harvey [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Mark Heisler [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Ross Newhan [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Grahame L. Jones [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Robyn Norwood [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Mike Penner [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Diane Pucin [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Bill Plaschke [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- T.J. Simers [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Steve Springer [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Larry Stewart [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Pete Thomas [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Lonnie White [http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/]
- Greg Cote [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/greg_cote]
- Dan Le Batard [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/dan_le_batard]
- Jeff Miller [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/jeff_miller]
- Edwin Pope [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/edwin_pope]
- Linda Robertson [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/linda_robertson]
- Gary D'Amato [http://www.jsonline.com/columns/scgolf.asp]
- Tom Enlund [http://www.jsonline.com/sports/col/enlund/]
- Dale Hofmann [http://www.jsonline.com/sports/col/hofmann]
- Michael Hunt [http://www.jsonline.com/sports/col/hunt/]
- Drew Olson [http://www.jsonline.com/sports/col/olson/]
- Bob Wolfley [http://www.jsonline.com/sports/col/wolfley]
- Sid Hartman [http://www.startribune.com/sid/]
- Patrick Reusse [http://www.startribune.com/reusse/]
- Jim Souhan [http://www.startribune.com/souhan/]
- John DeShazier [http://www.nola.com/sports/]
- Peter Finney [http://www.nola.com/sports/]
- Dave Lagarde [http://www.nola.com/sports/]
- Filip Bondy [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/bondy]
- Bill Gallo [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/gallo]
- Hank Gola [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/gola]
- John Harper [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/harper]
- Edward Jackowski [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/jackowski]
- Jerry Kenney [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/kenney]
- Mitch Lawrence [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/lawrence]
- Mike Lupica [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/lupica]
- Bill Madden [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/madden]
- Gary Myers [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/myers]
- Lisa Olson [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/olsonl]
- Mighty Quinn [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/mquinn]
- Bob Raissman [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/braissman]
- Sherry Ross [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/sross]
- The Slammer [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/theslammer]
- Tim Smith [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/tsmith]
- Dick Weiss [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/dweiss]
- Vic Ziegel [http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/vziegel]
- Marc Berman [http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/knicks.htm]
- Larry Brooks [http://www.nypost.com/sports/rangers/rangers.htm]
- Mark Cannizzaro [http://www.nypost.com/sports/jets/jets.htm]
- George King [http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/yankees.htm]
- Tom Keegan [http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/knicks.htm]
- Fred Kerber [http://www.nypost.com/sports/nets/nets.htm]
- Kevin Kernan [http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/mets.htm]
- Andrew Marchand [http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/mets.htm]
- Michael Morrissey [http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/mets.htm]
- Paul Schwartz [http://www.nypost.com/sports/giants/giants.htm]
- Peter Vecsey [http://www.nypost.com/sports/nets/nets.htm]
- Dave Anderson [http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/backtalk/bio-anderson.html]
- Harvey Araton [http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/backtalk/bio-araton.html]
- Ira Berkow [http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/backtalk/bio-berkow.html]
- Mike Freeman [http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=ctax&v1=Top%2fNews%2fSports%2fColumns%2fMike%20Freeman%20&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate-7&sort=newest&ac=Sports]
- William C. Rhoden [http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/backtalk/bio-rhoden.html]
- Richard Sandomir [http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=ctax&v1=Top%2fNews%2fSports%2fColumns%2fRichard%20Sandomir%20&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate-7&sort=newest&ac=Sports]
- George Vecsey [http://www.nytimes.com/library/sports/backtalk/bio-vecsey.html]
- Dave Del Grande [http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1749%257E,00.html]
- Dave Newhouse [http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1748%257E,00.html]
- Monte Poole [http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1743%257E,00.html]
- Art Spander [http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1741%257E,00.html]
- Carl Steward [http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82%257E1747%257E,00.html]
- Steve Bisheff [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=46299]
- Steve Fryer [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=44246]
- Michael Lev [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=45370]
- John Reger [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=47250]
- Marcia Smith [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=47875]
- Dave Strege [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=47877]
- Mark Whicker [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=47882]
- Randy Youngman [http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=47240]
- Jerry Boone [http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/jerry_boone]
- John Canzano [http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano]
- Brian Meehan [http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/brian_meehan]
- Bill Monroe [http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe]
- Bob Robinson [http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bob_robinson]
- Mike Bianchi [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-bianchi.columnist]
- Jerry Brewer [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-brewer.columnist]
- George Diaz [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-diaz.columnist]
- Jerry Greene [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-greene.columnist]
- Chris Harry [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-harry.columnist]
- Brian Schmitz [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-schmitz.columnist]
- David Whitley [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-whitley.columnist]
- Karen Crouse [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/columnists.html#sports]
- Charles Elmore [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/columnists.html#sports]
- Dave George [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/columnists.html#sports]
- Greg Stoda [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/columnists.html#sports]
- Bill Conlin [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/bill_conlin]
- Paul Domowitch [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/paul_domowitch]
- Sam Donnellon [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/sam_donnellon]
- Bernard Fernandez [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/bernard_fernandez]
- Rich Hofmann [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/rich_hofmann]
- Phil Jasner [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/phil_jasner]
- Dick Jerardi [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/dick_jerardi]
- Kevin Mulligan [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/kevin_mulligan]
- John Smallwood [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/john_smallwood]
- Mike Bruton [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/mike_bruton]
- Sam Carchidi [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/sam_carchidi]
- Bob Ford [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/bob_ford]
- Joe Logan [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/joe_logan]
- Bill Lyon [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/bill_lyon]
- Tim Panaccio [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/tim_panaccio]
- Jim Salisbury [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/jim_salisbury]
- Phil Sheridan [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/phil_sheridan]
- Stephen A. Smith [http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/columnists/stephen_a_smith]
- Ron Cook [http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/cook.asp]
- Chuck Finder [http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/finder.asp]
- Mark Madden [http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/madden.asp]
- Stan Savran [http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/savran.asp]
- Bob Smizik [http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/smizik.asp]
- Tom E. Curran [http://www.projo.com/sports/tomcurran/]
- Jim Donaldson [http://www.projo.com/sports/tommeade/]
- Tom Meade [http://www.projo.com/sports/tommeade/]
- Bill Reynolds [http://www.projo.com/sports/billreynolds/]
- Mike Szostak [http://www.projo.com/sports/mikeszostak/]
- Sam Adams [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_100,00.html]
- Jim Benton [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_9184,00.html]
- B.G. Brooks [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_169,00.html]
- Lynn DeBruin [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_213,00.html]
- Jack Etkin [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_102,00.html]
- Dave Krieger [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_130,00.html]
- Bernie Lincicome [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_73,00.html]
- Marcia Neville [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_2643,00.html]
- Paula Parrish [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_2367,00.html]
- Chris Tomasson [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_4023,00.html]
- Tracy Ringolsby [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_101,00.html]
- Rick Sadowski [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_155,00.html]
- Gerry Valerio [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_1166,00.html]
- Scott Stocker [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/columnist/0,1299,DRMN_83_1567,00.html]
- Marcos Bretón [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/columns/breton]
- Joe Davidson [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/columns/davidson]
- Scott Howard-Cooper [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/columns/howard_cooper]
- Mark Kreidler [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/columns/kreidler]
- Ailene Voisin [http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/columns/voisin]
- Patrick Kinahan [http://www.sltrib.com/]
- Steve Luhm [http://www.sltrib.com/]
- Gordon Monson [http://www.sltrib.com/]
- Dick Rosetta [http://www.sltrib.com/]
- Dan Cook [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=870]
- Mike Finger [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1170]
- David Flores [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=920]
- Tim Griffin [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=510]
- Buck Harvey [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1010]
- David King [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1421]
- Richard Oliver [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1640]
- Tom Orsborn [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1650]
- Harry Page [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1200]
- Ken Rodriguez [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=213]
- Glenn Rogers [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1290]
- Ron Henry Strait [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1390]
- John Whisler [http://news.mysanantonio.com/index.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=1430]
- Bruce Adams [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=Bruce+Adams]
- Betting Fool [http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/fool/]
- David Bush [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=david+bush]
- Mark Camps [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=mark+camps]
- Dwight Chapin [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=dwight+chapin]
- John Crumpacker [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=john+crumpacker]
- Jake Curtis [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=jake+curtis]
- Glenn Dickey [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=glenn+dickey]
- Mark Fainaru-Wada [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=mark+fainaru]
- Tom FitzGerald [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=tom+fitzgerald]
- Susan Fornoff [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=susan+fornoff]
- Nancy Gay [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=nancy+gay]
- Dan Giesin [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=dan+giesin]
- Brian Hoffman [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=brian+hoffman]
- Bruce Jenkins [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=bruce+jenkins]
- Gwen Knapp [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=gwen+knapp]
- Ron Kroichick [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=ron+kroichick]
- Steve Kroner [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=steve+kroner]
- Kevin Lynch [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=kevin+lynch]
- Paul McHugh [http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/mchugh/]
- Ross McKeon [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=ross+mckeon]
- Ira Miller [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=ira+miller]
- Brian Murphy [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=brian+murphy]
- Jorge L. Ortiz [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=jorge+ortiz]
- Scott Ostler [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=scott+ostler]
- Ray Ratto [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=ray+ratto]
- Henry Schulman [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=henry+schulman]
- John Shea [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=john+shea]
- Susan Slusser [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=susan+slusser]
- Michelle Smith [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=michelle+smith]
- David Steele [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=david+steele]
- Mitch Stephens [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=mitch+stephens]
- Tom Stienstra [http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/stienstra/]
- Brad Weinstein [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/columnists.cgi?waisdbname=/web/wais-indexes/chronicle/&byline=brad+weinstein]
- Alan Drooz [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/drooz]
- Chris Jenkins [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/baseball/cjenkins]
- Jerry Magee [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/nfl/magee]
- Tim Sullivan [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/sullivan]
- Skip Bayless [http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/skip_bayless]
- Bud Geracie [http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/bud_geracie]
- Tim Kawakami [http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/tim_kawakami]
- Ann Killion [http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/%20/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/ann_killion]
- Mark Purdy [http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/columnists/mark_purdy]
- John Levesque [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/levesque/]
- Jim Moore [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/moore/]
- Art Thiel [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/thiel/]
- Laura Vecsey [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/vecsey/]
- Les Carpenter [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/lescarpenter]
- Ron C. Judd [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ronjudd/]
- Steve Kelley [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/stevekelley]
- Blaine Newnham [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/blainenewnham]
- Dwight Perry [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sidelinechatter]
- Craig Smith [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/craigsmith]
- Larry Stone [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/larrystone]
- Jeff Gordon [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Jeff+Gordon?Opendocument]
- Bernie Miklasz [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Bernie+Miklasz?Opendocument]
- Bryan Burwell [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Bryan+Burwell?Opendocument]
- Dan O'Neill [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Dan+O'Neill?Opendocument]
- Rick Hummel [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Rick+Hummel?Opendocument]
- Dan Caesar [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Dan+Caesar?Opendocument]
- Tim Renken [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Tim+Renken?Opendocument]
- Kathleen Nelson [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Kathleen+Nelson?Opendocument]
- Vahe Gregorian [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Vahe+Gregorian?Opendocument]
- Tom Timmermann [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/Columnist/Tom+Timmermann?Opendocument]
- Tom Powers [http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/tom_powers]
- Bob Sansevere [http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/bob_sansevere]
- Charley Walters [http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/charley_walters]
- Hubert Mizell [http://www.sptimes.com/columns/mizell.shtml]
- John Romano [http://www.sptimes.com/columns/romano.shtml]
- Gary Shelton [http://www.sptimes.com/columns/shelton.shtml]
Tampa Trib
EditorialAn editorial is a statement or article by a news organization (generally a newspaper) that expresses an opinion rather than attempting to simply report news, as the latter should ideally be done without bias. Editorials are often not written by the regular reporters of the news organization, and are instead collectively authored by a group of individuals called the editorial board without bylines. If written by the board, they represent the newspaper's official positions on issues. Often however, there exist also one or more regular opinion columnists who present their own view. Editorials are almost always printed on their own page of the newspaper, and are always labeled as editorials (to avoid confusion with news coverage). They are often about current events or public controversies. Generally, editorials fall into four broad types: news, policy, social, and special.
For newspapers, the Op-Ed is the page opposite the editorial page. It may contain letters to the editor or other opinion pieces.
See also
- editor
Category:Opinion journalism
ColumnistA columnist is a journalist who produces a specific form of writing for publication called a "column". Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and the Internet. Some Internet columns are called blogs or Weblogs.
What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:
- It is a regular feature in a publication
- It is personality-driven by the author
- It contains an opinion or point of view
Types of columns
- advice
- critic reviews
- editorial opinion
- gossip
- humor
Columnists of note
- Shana Alexander
- Barbara Amiel
- Army Archerd
- Mike Barnicle (Boston Herald, USA)
- Dave Barry (Miami Herald, USA)
- Christie Blatchford (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
- David Brooks (New York Times, USA)
- Ann Coulter (Universal Press Syndicate, USA)
- Andrew Coyne
- Maureen Dowd (New York Times, USA)
- John Doyle (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
- Matt Drudge
- Gwynne Dyer
- Roger Ebert
- Allan Fotheringham
- Benjamin Franklin
- Thomas Friedman (New York Times, USA)
- David Frum
- Robert Fulford (National Post, Canada)
- Carl Hiaasen (Miami Herald, USA)
- Simon Heffer, UK
- Peter Hitchens, UK
- Molly Ivins
- Michael Kinsley
- Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post, USA)
- Paul Krugman (New York Times, USA)
- Ann Landers
- Michele Landsberg (Toronto Star)
- Richard Littlejohn (The Sun and Daily Mail, UK)
- Charlie Madigan (Chicago Tribune, USA)
- Michelle Malkin
- Heather Mallick (The Globe and Mail, Canada)
- Dan Margalit
- Vinod Mehta
- Ward Morehouse III www.wardmorehouseiii.com
- Rex Murphy
- Al Neuharth
- Peter C. Newman
- Robert Novak
- Clarence Page (Chicago Tribune, USA)
- Adam J. Pearce, UK
- Daniel Pipes
- Dennis Prager
- Will Rogers
- Amnon Rubinstein (Maariv, Israel)
- William Safire (New York Times, USA)
- Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune, USA)
- Jeffrey Simpson
- Thomas Sowell
- Mark Steel
- Mark Steyn
- Andrew Sullivan
- Ellie Tesher
- Cal Thomas
- Polly Toynbee
- Mark Twain
- George Will
- Fareed Zakaria
External links
- [http://www.journaliststoolbox.com/newswriting/columnists.html American Press Institute columnist tool box]
Category:Opinion journalism
Weather
Weather comprises all the various phenomena that occur in the atmosphere of a planet. "Weather" is normally taken to mean the activity of these phenomena over short periods of time, usually no more than a few days in length. Average weather conditions over significantly longer periods is known as climate, which is studied by climatologists for signs of climate change.
Terrestrial weather
On Earth, the regular events include wind, thunderstorms, rain, sleet, hail, snow, and fog which occur in the troposphere or the lower part of the atmosphere. Weather is driven by differences in energy received from the sun. Due to the different angles that sunlight intersects the earth, different parts of it are heated to different extents. This causes temperature differences, which lead to global wind, as well as, indirectly, all other weather phenomena. Direct causes of weather are temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, cloud cover, wind speed, and elevation.
The Earth's atmosphere is one large inter-related system so small changes to one part can have large effects in other parts, i.e., it is a chaotic system. This makes it very difficult to accurately predict short term weather changes more than a few days in advance, though weather forecasters large and small are continually working to improve this limit through the science of the study of weather: meteorology.
Extra-terrestrial weather
meteorology
Weather phenomena and systems on other planets are thought to be similar to those on Earth, but often occur on a much bigger scale. Extra-terrestrial weather systems can be extremely stable; one of the most famous landmarks in the solar system, Jupiter's Great Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. On other gas giants, the lack of a surface allows the wind to reach enormous speeds: gusts of up to 400 metres per second have been measured on the planet Neptune. This has created a puzzle for planetary scientists: The weather is created by the differential action of the Sun's energy on different places and the amount of energy received by Neptune is very, very small, relative to the Earth, yet the strength and magnitude of weather phenomena on Neptune is far, far greater than on Earth. This mystery is still to be solved.
Earth's weather appears to behave based on about a half-dozen latitudinal weather zones. Jupiter's banded appearance shows over a dozen such zones, while Venus appears to have no zones at all. Studying how the weather works on other planets has been seen as helpful in understanding how it works on Earth.
Extra-planetary weather
Weather is not limited to just planetary bodies however. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the solar system, known as the solar wind. Inconsistencies in this wind and larger events on the surface of the star, such as Coronal Mass Ejections, form a system that has features analogous to conventional weather systems (i.e. pressure and wind), and though not true weather, is known as space weather. The activity of this system can affect planetary atmospheres and occasionally surfaces. The interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial atmosphere can produce spectacular aurorae, but can play havoc with electrically sensitive systems such as electricity grids and radio signals.
See also
- Meteorology
- Weather forecasting
- Severe weather terminology
- Climate
- Earth's atmosphere
- Extreme weather
- Sun
- Solar system
- The Weather Channel
- Weather control
- Space weather
Category:Meteorology
-
ja:気象
simple:Weather
Photograph
:Photo redirects here. For the French magazine, see Photo (magazine).
A photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image (or a representation of that on e.g. paper) created by collecting and focusing reflected electromagnetic radiation. The most common photographs are those created of reflected visible wavelengths, producing permanent records of what the human eye can see.
Most photographs are made with a camera, which focuses the light onto either photographic film or a CCD or CMOS image sensor. Photographs can also be made by placing objects on photosensitive paper and exposing it to light (the result is often called a photogram) or by placing objects on the platen of a flatbed scanner (see scanner art).
History and special effects
Most traditional photographs are produced with a two-step chemical process. In the two-step process, the film holds a negative image (colours and lights/darks are inverted), which is then transferred onto photographic paper as a positive image. Another widely used film is the positive film used for producing transparencies, usually mounted in cardboard or plastic frames called slides. Slides are widely used by professionals mostly due to their sharpness and accuracy of colour rendition. Most photographs published in magazines are still originally taken on colour transparency film.
transparencies
Originally almost all photographs were black and white. Although methods for developing color photos were available as early as the late 19th century, they did not become widely available until the 1940s or 50s, and even in until the 1960s most photographs were taken in black and white. Since then, color photography has dominated popular photography, although the black and white format remains popular for amateur photographers and artists. Black and white film is considerably easier to develop than colour.
Panoramic format Images can be taken by using special cameras like the Hasselblad Xpan on standard film. Since the 1990s, panoramic photos have been relatively easy for the general population to take on Advanced Photo System film. APS was developed by several of the major film manufacturers to provide a "smart" film with different formats and computerized options available, though APS panoramas were created using a mask in panorama-capable cameras, far less desirable than a true panoramic camera which achieves its effect through wider film format. As with many past ideas in consumer film formats, APS has become less popular and will be discontinued in the near future.
Digital photos can be stored in various file formats, of which JPEG is one of the most popular. Many other graphic formats are used, including TIFF, PNG, GIF, and RAW.
See also
- Largest photographs in the world
- Photo archive
- Photography
- Photo op
- Digital photography
- Macro photography
- Photographer
- Pseudo-photograph
- Voyager Golden Record
Category:Photography
ko:사진
Editorial cartoonistAn editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary.
The most common outlet for political cartoonists is the editorial page of the newspaper, although there have also been a few political cartoonists who have established a presence alongside "mainstream" comic strips. Doonesbury is the best example of this style of editorial cartoon.
There is Pulitzer Prize awarded every year for America's top editorial cartoonist — see Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
Famous editorial cartoonists
Australia
- Pat Oliphant (now a U.S. citizen)
Canada
- Aislin
- Thomas Boldt (TAB)
- Michael deAdder
- Brian Gable
- Bruce MacKinnon
- Len Norris
- Roy Petersen
Finland
- Kari Suomalainen
Israel
- Ranan Lurie (now a U.S. citizen)
Mexico
- Paco Calderón
Panama
- Victor "Vic" Ramos
United Kingdom
- Steve Bell
- Carl Giles
- Gerald Scarfe
United States
- Lalo Alcaraz
- Eric Allie
- Nick Anderson
- Robert Ariail
- Chuck Asay
- Tony Auth
- Clay Bennett
- Oscar Berger
- Chip Bok
- Steve Breen
- Steve Brodner
- Stuart Carlson
- Ken Catalino
- John Cole
- Paul Combs
- Paul Conrad
- Jeff Danziger
- Jay Norwood Darling
- Matt Davies
- John Deering
- Eric Devericks
- Brian Fairrington
- Mark Fiore
- Jake Fuller
- Bob Gorrell
- Walt Handelsman
- Herblock
- Jack Higgins
- Jerry Holbert
- David Horsey
- Lee Judge
- Steve Kelley
- Jeff Koterba
- Mike Lester
- Dick Locher
- Chan Lowe
- Mike Luckovich
- Ranan Lurie (born in Egypt, originally Israeli citizen)
- Jeff MacNelly
- Bill Mauldin
- Doug Marlette
- Glenn McCoy
- Aaron McGruder
- Rick McKee
- Thomas Nast
- Jack Ohman
- Pat Oliphant (born in Australia)
- Henry Payne
- Mike Peters
- Adrian Raeside Canadian
- Ted Rall
- Michael Ramirez
- Steve Sack
- Ben Sargent
- Drew Sheneman
- Jeff Stahler
- Scott Stantis
- Wayne Stayskal
- Peter Steiner
- Dana Summers
- Ann Telnaes
- Tom Toles
- Tom Tomorrow
- John Trever
- Garry Trudeau
- Gary Varvel
- Dan Wasserman
- Signe Wilkinson
- Dick Wright
- Don Wright
- Larry Wright
Category:Editorial cartooning
Comic strips:This article is about the sequential art form. See also Daily strip and Sunday strip. For the British comedy group, see The Comic Strip.
A comic strip is a short strip or sequence of drawings, telling a story. Drawn by a cartoonist, they are published on a recurring basis (usually daily or weekly) in newspapers or on the Internet. In the UK and Europe they are also published within comic magazines, with a strip's story sometimes continuing over three pages or more. They usually communicate to the reader via speech balloons.
As the name implies, they can be humorous (as in "gag-a-day" strips like Beetle Bailey, Hi & Lois, or Hagar the Horrible) but not by necessity. Serious soap-opera continuity strips (like Judge Parker or Little Orphan Annie) have serious story lines in serial form. They are, however, nonetheless known as "comics" – though the term "sequential art", coined by cartoonist Will Eisner, is becoming increasingly popular.
Origins
In America, the great popularity of comics sprang from the newspaper war between Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. The Little Bears was the first American comic with recurring characters; The Yellow Kid the first color comic, part of the first Sunday comic section in 1897 and the source of the term "yellow journalism"); Mutt and Jeff the first daily comic strip, first appearing in 1907.
The comic strip, in a manner of speaking, began in 1865 in Germany with Max and Moritz, a strip about two trouble-making boys. It was more a series of severely moralistic tales in the vein of German children's stories like "Struwwelpeter" ("Shockheaded Peter"): in one, the boys, after perpetrating some mischief, are tossed into a sack of grain, run through a mill, and consumed by a flock of geese.
Max and Moritz did provide an inspiration for German immigrant Rudolph Dirks, leading to the debut of The Katzenjammer Kids in 1897, probably the first comic strip in the modern sense of the term. Familiar comic-strip iconography such as stars for pain, speech and thought balloons, and sawing logs for snoring originated in Dirks' strip.
Hugely popular, Katzenjammer Kids was responsible for one of the first comic-strip copyright ownership suits in the history of the medium. When Dirks left Hearst for the promise of a better salary under Pulitzer (unusual, since cartoonists regularly deserted Pulitzer for Hearst) Hearst in a highly unusual court decision retained the rights to the name "Katzenjammer Kids", while creator Dirks retained the rights to the characters. Hearst promptly hired a cartoonist named Harold Knerr to draw his own version of the strip. Dirks renamed his version Hans and Fritz (later, The Captain and The Kids). Thus, two versions distributed by rival syndicates graced the comics pages for decades. Dirks' version, eventually distributed by United Feature Syndicate, ran until 1979.
Hundreds of comic strips followed, with many running for decades.
Conventions and genres
Most comic strip characters stay the same age throughout the strip's life, but in strips like Lynn Johnston's award-winning For Better or For Worse characters age. The first strip to feature aging characters was Gasoline Alley.
The history of comic strips also includes series that are not humorous, but tell an ongoing dramatic story. Examples include Prince Valiant, Dick Tracy, Mary Worth, Modesty Blaise and Tarzan. Sometimes these are spin-offs from comic books, for example Superman, Batman, and The Amazing Spider-Man.
All the comic strips mentioned so far in this article are centered on human beings, but a number of strips have also included animals as main characters. Some are non-verbal (Marmaduke), some have verbal thoughts but aren't understood by humans, (Garfield, Snoopy in Peanuts), and some can converse with humans (Get Fuzzy). Other strips have centered entirely on animals, as in Pogo or Donald Duck. Gary Larson's The Far Side was unique, as there were no central characters. Instead The Far Side used a wide variety of characters such as humans, monsters, aliens, chickens, cows, worms, amoebas and more. Wiley Miller not only mixes human, animal and fantasy characters, he does several different comic strip continuities under one umbrella title, Non Sequitur.
Newspaper comic strips come in two formats, daily strips and Sunday strips. Daily strips usually run Monday through Saturday, and are usually in black and white. Sunday strips are much larger and are usually in color.
Social and political influence
The comics have long held a distorted mirror to contemporary society, and almost from the beginning have been used for political or social commentary. This ranged from the staunch conservative values of Little Orphan Annie to the unabashed liberalism of Doonesbury. The aforementioned Pogo used animals to particularly devastating effect, caricaturing many prominent politicians of the day as animal denizens of Pogo's Okeefenokee Swamp. In a fearless move, Pogo's creator Walt Kelly took on Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, caricaturing him as a bobcat named Simple J. Malarkey, a megalomaniac bent on taking over the characters' birdwatching club and rooting out all undesirables.
Kelly also defended the medium against possible government regulation in the McCarthy era. At a time when comic books were coming under fire for supposed sexual, violent, and subversive content, Kelly feared the same would happen to comic strips. Going before the congressional subcommittee, he proceeded to charm the members with his drawings and the force of his personality. The comic strip was safe for satire.
Some comic strips, such as Doonesbury and Boondocks, are often printed on the editorial or op-ed page rather than the comics page, because of their regular political commentary. Conservatives have long warred against Doonesbury, and were recently successful in convincing a major printer of Sunday comics sections to refuse to print the strip (see Media bias in the United States). In another case, Dilbert is sometimes found in the business section of a newspaper instead because of the strip's commentary about office politics.
The world's longest comic strip is 88.9 metres long and on display at Trafalgar Square as part of the London Comedy Festival. The record was previously 81 metres and held in Florida. The London Cartoon Strip was created by fifteen of Britain's best known cartoonists and depicts the history of London.
The Reuben, named for cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is the most prestigious award for U.S. comic strip artists. Reuben awards are presented annually by the National Cartoonists' Society (NCS).
Today's comic-strip artists, with the help of the NCS, enthusiastically promote the medium, which is considered to be in decline due to fewer markets and ever-shrinking newspaper space. One particularly humorous example of such promotional efforts is the Great Comic Strip Switcheroonie, held on April Fool's Day, 1997. For that day, dozens of prominent comic-strip artists took over each other's strips. Garfield’s Jim Davis, for example, switched with Blondie’s Stan Drake, while Scott Adams (Dilbert) traded strips with Bil Keane (The Family Circus).
Even the United States Postal Service got into the act, issuing a series of commemorative stamps marking the comic-strip centennial in 1996.
Internet comics
The advent of the World Wide Web in the 1990s led to an explosion of amateur webcomics, comic strips created solely for Web sites. Webcomics differ from published comic strips, in that anyone can start his own comic strip and publish it on the Web; there is no longer any need to for a creator to meet the approval of a publisher or syndicate. Currently there are hundreds of webcomics, most of which are low-quality and sporadically updated. However, a number of webcomics have endured, and the best webcomics rival their newspaper and magazine counterparts in terms of quality and quantity. Megatokyo, Penny Arcade, PvP, Sluggy Freelance, and User Friendly are considered to be among the best of the webcomics.
The majority of traditional newspaper comic strips now have some Internet presence. Syndicates often provide archives of recent strips on their websites. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, started a trend by including his e-mail address in each strip.
Related articles
- List of comic strips
- Comic book
- List of movies based on comic strips
- Webcomic
- Yonkoma - Japanese comic strip
External links
- [http://forums.delphiforums.com/bhob2 Fusebox Vintage Newspaper Comic Strips]
- [http://www.HavenWorks.com/comics/links HavenWorks' list of comic strips available online]
- [http://cartoons.osu.edu/ Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library]
- [http://www.reuben.org/ncs/awards2.asp Reuben Awards]
- [http://www.marklansdown.com/pinbacks Comic strip pinbacks]
- [http://www.mainada.net/comics Comics @ Mai'Nada.net - Sketch your own comics online]
- Category:Comics Category:Pop culture
ko:연재 만화
HoroscopeIn astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets, other celestial bodies, and sensitive angles at the time of any event, such as a person's birth. The term horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning, "a look at the hours." Other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, natus, birth chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, nativity, cosmogram, Vitasphere, soulprint, radical chart, radix, or simply chart, among others.
natal chart) - Y2K Chart -- This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W00'23" - Latitude: 40N42'51")]]
Introduction
Opinions about the validity of astrology, or its classification as a pseudoscience, vary. ...are considered in the...to erect a formatted horoscope. This diagram, called a chart, is a stylized map of the heavens. The Sun or the Earth is placed in the centre (depending on whether the ephemeris was heliocentric or geocentric) with the remaining elements around the outside: the planets, the lunar nodes, the ascendant and midheaven, and the houses. Then the angles between the planets are determined. These angles are the astrological aspects. Different systems of tri-secting arcs produce houses of different size.
In common usage, the word horoscope also refers to the astrologer's interpretation of the astrological chart.
In particular, many newspapers and magazines carry horoscope columns, describing planetary positions and influences for the various astrological signs. Most astrologers regard those as nearly worthless, since a horoscope is actually highly personalized, and cannot be generalized to thousands of readers.
A definition of a horoscope is: the illustration of the position of the sun, moon, and planets from a given location on earth, usually at birth. Which simply means, where everything in the universe was in relation to everything else when a person was born.
The earliest known horoscope was from 409 B.C. where it started to spread in the East with the conquerors of the Roman Empire. From there, it started spreading all the way across to Western Europe, where it was almost considered a science itself by all learned people.
How to cast a horoscope
In order to understand and visualize the spherical geometry of the construction of a horoscope, we need to begin with some basic terms.
The techniques described here belong to western astrology.
# The native refers to the time and place of the event being charted, and considered to be at the centre of the celestial sphere. This term is a general one that includes not only birth times as they are commonly understood, but any event for which a horoscope may be drawn.
# The celestial sphere is a sphere of arbitrary radius upon which the items appearing on the horoscope are projected without regard to their distance from the native.
# The plane of the equator is the plane of the earth's equator projected into space.
# The plane of the ecliptic is defined by the orbits of the earth and the sun. For practical purposes the plane of the equator and the plane of the ecliptic maintain a constant inclination to each other of approximately 23.5°.
# The plane of the horizon is centred on the native, and is tangential to the earth at that point. In a sphere whose radius is infinitely large this plane may be treated as nearly equivalent to the parallel plane with its centre at the earth's center. This greatly simplifies understanding the geometry of the horoscope. Some writers on astrology have considered the effects of parallax, but most would agree that (apart from that of the Moon) they are relatively minor, and are beyond the scope of this article.
# The axis of the plane of the horizon has end points above, the zenith, and below, the nadir.
# The zodiac refers to a band on the celestial sphere containing the signs. It is centered on the ecliptic, and its width is sufficient to allow for the fact that the orbits of the moon and all other planets are not parallel to the plane of the ecliptic. It is approximately 18º wide.
# The medium coeli or mid-heaven is the point on the ecliptic that is furthest above the plane of the horizon; its opposite point is known as the imum coeli. For events occurring where the planes of the eccliptic and the horizon coincide the limiting position for these points is at 90º from the ascendant.
# The ascendant is the eastern point where the ecliptic and horizon intersect. Its opposite point in the west is the descendant. In draughting a horoscope the ascendant is traditionally placed as the left-hand side point of the chart. During the course of a day, because of the earth's rotation, the entire circle of the ecliptic will pass through the ascendant and will be advanced by about 1º. This provides us with the term rising sign, which is the sign of the zodiac on the native's ascendant.
# The sun sign is the sign of the zodiac in which the sun is located for the native. This is the single astrological fact most familiar to people. If an event occurs at sunrise the ascendant and sun sign will be the same; other rising signs can then be estimated at approximately two hour intervals from there.
# The houses are a series of twelve divisions of the plane of the ecliptic. Astrologers have devised at least nine different ways of calculating these house divisions. Just as this article does not seek to discuss the validity of astrology, it is also beyond its scope to attempt to resolve questions which may be disputed among astrologers. The use of a particular system of house division is often more a result of what calculations are available than of any conscious consideration of one system's merits over that of another. Similarly, explanations in this article based on the Equal House System are not meant to give any theoretical preference to that system; it is simply the system whose geometry is easiest to understand. In the case of the Equal House System the ecliptic is divided into twelve equal houses of 30º each. The first house begins at the ascendant and the others are numbered counterclockwise from that point. The first six are therefore below the horizon, and the other six are above. The positions of these houses remains fixed relative to the native. The signs and planets all move through the twelve houses during the course of a day, and the planets move through the signs over the course of months or years.
# Most Western Astrologers use the Tropical Zodiac in which the astrological year begins with the vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the celestial equator and enters the zodiac sign of Aries. Many students confuse the difference between Sidereal Constellations and Zodiac Signs. Because of a "wobble" in the earth's axis of rotation over a period of about 26,000 years the point at which the vernal equinox advances in the sky rate is 0 deg, 0 min, 50.23 secs a year. Precession of the equinox is roughly 5 minutes of a degree every 6 years. Sidereal Astrologers use constellations, though there's no validating research for this preference. Tropical Astrologers use Zodiac Signs rather than arbitrary constellations.
# A cusp is the boundary between two signs or houses. For some the cusp includes a small portion of the two signs or houses under consideration.
The chart thus begins with a framework of 12 houses. Upon this the signs of the zodiac are superimposed. In an equal house system the cusp between any two houses will fall at the same degree for each of the signs. Thus for a native whose ascendant is at 12º of Leo, the second house will begin at 12º of Virgo, the third at 12º Libra, and so on. In house systems that take into consideration the effects of the angle of intersection between the planes of the horizon and the ecliptic, the calculations are more complicated. For these calculations it is essential to know the latitude of the event. Tables are available for these calculations, but they are now normally calculated by computer. Most computer programs allow the user to choose from a variety of house systems. The most commonly used is the Placidus house system, though most research Astrologers find that the Koch domification system gets best results.
Longitude is also necessary in order to determine the position of the ascendant. This is because charts use Local Time. Time zones were developed in the 19th century as a by-product of the development of railways. This permitted train schedules to be written based on the certainty that any two places in a time zone used the same time. In reality there is an hour's difference between points at the beginning and end of a 15º average time zone. For political reasons the time zones cannot all be the same size. It would not be practical for a time zone boundary to cut through the middle of a town or small country. Time zone boundaries were also the subject of political manipulation in the Pacific islands when they sought to be the first places on earth to see the new millennium. Adjustments are therefore made for the difference in one's actual longitude and the longitude of the nominal meridian associated with clock time.
railways as most commonly used in Western Astrology]]
Having established the relative positions of the signs in the houses, the horoscopist positions the sun, moon and planets at their rightful celestial longitudes. Some astrologers also take note of minor planetary bodies, fixed stars, asteroids (for example, Chiron) and other mathematically calculated points and angles such as the Ascendant (ASC), the MC, the DC, and the IC, the Vertex, Equatorial Ascendant, etc. Many astrologers also use what are commonly referred to as Arabic Parts (or Greek Lots), the most famous of which is the Part of Fortune (Pars Fortuna).
To complete the horoscope the astrologer will consider the aspects or relative angles between pairs of planets. Certain aspects are considered more important than others. Those generally recognized by the astrological community are Conjunction (0º), Opposition (180º), Square (90º), Trine (120º), Sextile (60º), Semi-Square (45º), Sesqisquare (135º), and Quincunx (150º). Other aspects are used by some astrologers. Understandably these aspects are more significant when they are exact, but they are considered to function within an orb of influence, the size of which varies according to the importance of each aspect. Thus conjunctions are believed to operate with a larger orb than sextiles. Most modern astrologers use an orb of 8º or less for aspects involving the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter; and smaller orbs for the other points.
Reference: Dona Marie Lorenz, Tools of Astrology: houses, Topanga, Eomega Grove Press, 1973
Category:Astrology category:divination
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Southern region of the United States. The Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. It was the first state to secede from the Union to found the Confederate States of America. The state is named after King Charles II of England, as Carolus is Latin for Charles. As of 2004, the state's population is 4,198,068.
Several ships in the United States Navy have been named USS South Carolina in honor of this state.
History and government
Main article: History of South Carolina
The colony of Carolina was settled by English settlers sent by the Lords Proprietors in 1670, followed by French Huguenots. The Carolina upcountry was settled largely by Scotch-Irish migrants from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Carolina became a royal colony in 1712. North Carolina was split off in 1729. The state declared its independence from Great Britain and set up its own government on March 15, 1776. On February 5, 1778 South Carolina became the first state to ratify the first constitution of the United States, the Articles of Confederation.
South Carolina seceded from the United States on December 20, 1860. The rest of the Southern states seceded in the following months; together, they organized themselves as the Confederate States of America. President James Buchanan took little action, preferring to let the newly elected President Abraham Lincoln decide the matter. On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries began shelling Fort Sumter, which stands on an island in Charleston harbor, thus precipitating the Civil War. Students from The Citadel were among those firing the first shots of the war, though Edmund Ruffin is usually credited with firing the first shot.
After the American Civil War, South Carolina was reincorporated into the United States during Reconstruction. The state became a hotbed of racial and economic controversy during the Populist and Agrarian movements of the late 1800s.
In the 20th century, South Carolina developed a thriving textile industry, converted its agricultural base from cotton to more profitable crops, attracted large military bases and, most recently, attracted European manufacturers.
State Government
South Carolina's state government consists of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. The Governor, elected for a (once) renewable four-year term, heads the Executive branch (some officers of which are elected). The bicameral South Carolina General Assembly consists of the 46-member Senate and the 124-member House of Representatives. The two bodies meet in the South Carolina State House. The Judicial Branch consists of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Circuit Court, Family Court, and other divisions.
Judicial Branch
The Family Court deals with all matters of domestic and family relationships, as well as generally maintaining exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving minors under the age of seventeen, excepting traffic and game law violations. Some criminal charges may come under Circuit Court jurisdiction.
The Circuit Court is the general jurisdiction court for South Carolina, comprised of the Civil Court, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of General Sessions, which is the criminal court. The court maintains limited appelate jurisdiction over the Probate Court, Magistrate's Court, Municipal Court, and the Administrative Law Judge Division. The state has sixteen judicial circuits, each with at least one resident circuit judge.
The Court of Appeals handles Circuit Court and Family Court appeals, excepting appeals that are within the seven classes of exclusive Supreme Court jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals is selected by the General Assembly for staggered, six-year terms. The Court is comprised of a Chief Judge, and eight associate judges, and may hear cases as the whole Court, or as three panels with three judges each. The Court may preside in any state county.
The Supreme Court is South Carolina's highest court. Comprised of the Chief Justice, and four Associate Justices, Supreme Court judges are appointed to ten year terms by the General Assembly. Terms are staggered, and there are no limits on the number of terms a justice may serve.
See also List of Governors of South Carolina
Demographics
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2003, South Carolina's population was estimated at 4,147,152 people.
The racial makeup of the state is:
- 66.1% White
- 29.5% Black
- 2.4% Hispanic
- 0.9% Asian
- 0.3% Native American
- 1.0% Mixed race
The five largest ancestry groups in South Carolina are African American (29.5%), American (13.9%), German (8.4%), English (8.4%), Irish (7.9%). It is probable that most of those claiming American ancestry are descended from the early Scots-Irish settlers of the upstate region.
For most of its history, black slaves made up a large majority of South Carolina's population (as much as 75%). African-Americans still dominate most of the Lowcountry (especially the inland Lowcountry) and much of the Piedmont; areas where cotton, rice, and indigo plantations once dominated the landscape. Whites, primarily of American and British ancestry, live in much of the upstate and in certain urban and suburban areas.
6.6% of South Carolina's population were reported as under 5, 25.2% under 18, and 12.1% were 65 or older.
Females made up approximately 51.4% of the population.
Religion
South Carolina, like most other Southern states, is overwhelmingly Protestant Christian, and has a significantly lower percentage of non-religious people than the national average. The religious affiliations of the people of South Carolina are as follows:
- Christian – 92%
- Protestant – 84%
- Baptist – 45%
- Methodist – 15%
- Presbyterian – 5%
- Other Protestant – 19%
- Roman Catholic – 7%
- Other Christian – 1%
- Other Religions – 1%
- Non-Religious – 7%
Famous People from South Carolina
- Shelton Benjamin (1976—) Born and raised in Orangeburg, SC, Shelton Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler now working for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s RAW brand.
- John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) Born near Abbeville, SC, John Caldwell Calhoun was an American statesman and political philosopher. From 1811 until his death, Calhoun served in the federal government successively as congressman, secretary of war, vice president, senator, secretary of state and again as senator. He has been declared one of the five greatest senators of all time.
- Wilson Casey (1954—) Born in Woodruff, SC of Spartanburg County. Trivia Guinness World Record Holder. Nationally Syndicated Newspaper Trivia Columnist. Appeared as contestant on NBC's "Weakest Link".
- Stephen Colbert has been a correspondent for Comedy Central's The Daily Show for several years. In 2005 he became host of The Colbert Report on the same network. A native of Charleston, he attended Porter Gaud Academy.
- Kevin Garnett The famous "go-to" main man (nicknamed "The Big Ticket") for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the (NBA) National Basketball Asociation was born and raised in Greenville County (Mauldin), SC.
- [http://www.LeezaGibbons.com Leeza Gibbons] of Entertainment Tonight and other Hollywood news shows grew up in Irmo, SC, near the capital of Columbia.
- Andrew Jackson(1767-1845) Born near Lancaster, Jackson was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and seventh President of the United States 1829 to 1837
- Jesse Jackson Famous political figure that followed in the footsteps of the famous Atlantan Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is originally from Greenville, SC.
- Dr. Ronald McNair (1950–1986) Born in Lake City, SC, Dr. Ronald McNair, was one of the seven astronauts to die when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 28, 1986.
- Melanie Thornton (1967–2001 Plane Crash) R&B/Pop/Dance Singer (former La Bouche), born in Charleston, died near Bassersdorf (Zurich), (Switzerland).
- Strom Thurmond (1902–2003) Born in Edgefield, SC, in 1902. He was South Carolina governor from 1947–1951, and in 1954 became the first and only United States Senator to be elected by a write-in vote. In 1997, Sen. Thurmond became the oldest and longest serving member of the U.S. Senate. In January 2003, at age 100, Thurmond retired from public service after his eighth term. He returned to his hometown of Edgefield, where he died June 26, 2003.
- Aaron Tippin grew up in Greenville, SC and started singing as a way to pass time while plowing on his family’s farm. He is now a country music star with several country hits to his credit.
- Shawn Weatherly was Miss Universe 1980, the second woman from SC and fifth from USA to win the title. She also played Jill Riley in Season 1 of Baywatch.
- Vanna White Wheel of Fortune game show hostess since 1982, hails from North Myrtle Beach, SC.
- Althea Gibson(1927-2003) was born in Silver; she was the first black female tennis player to win the Wimbledon singles title.
- Darius Rucker(1966-) Lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish was born in Charleston, SC.
- Francis Marion (1732-1795) Also knows as the "Swamp Fox", he was an American Brigadier General in the American Revolutionary War. The main character in the movie The Patriot is based largely on his exploits. Marion was born in Georgetown, SC.
- Joe Frazier The 1964 Olympic heavyweight champion and the world heavyweight champ 1970-73. Frazier fought Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title three times. He is most remembered for the fight at Madison Square Garden in March 1971, where he defeated Ali to become the undisputed heavyweight champ. Frazier was born in Beaufort, SC on January 12, 1944.
- Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie is considered by some as the greatest jazz trumpeter of all time. He was born in Cheraw, SC.
- 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson (1887–1951) Considered to be one of the most outstanding hitters in the history of baseball. His career .356 batting average is the third highest in history, after Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby. He was born in Brandon Mills, SC.
- Eartha Kitt (1927- ) Actress and singer, she is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated twice for both a Tony Award and a Grammy Award as well as for an Emmy. She hails from North, SC.
- Edwin McCain Recording Artist who reached Platinum status with his hit single "I'll Be" from his second album Misguided Roses in 1998. McCain was born in Greenville, SC.
- Andie McDowell American Film Actress and model, most well-known for her roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral,Michael, and Green Card. She was born in Gaffney, SC.
- William Perry Better known as "The Refrigerator", he became a household name after helping lead the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in the 1985/86 season. He played college football at Clemson University. He continues to live in his hometown of Aiken, SC.
- Charles Townes (1915-) Physicist and astronomer from Greenville, SC. Graduated from Furman University (Greenville, SC). Winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physics for his contributions to the invention of the laser and maser. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of California-Berkeley.
Geography
Charles Townes
South Carolina is bounded to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia, located across the Savannah River, and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. The capital and largest city is Columbia. Other important cities are Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, Sumter, and Florence.
South Carolina is composed of four geographic areas, whose boundaries roughly parallel the northeast/southwest Atlantic coastline. The lower part of the state is the Coastal Plain, which is nearly flat, composed entirely of recent sediments such as sand, silt, and clay. Areas with better drainage make excellent farmland, though some land is swampy. The coastline contains many salt marshes and estuaries, as well as natural ports such as Georgetown and Charleston. An unusual feature of the coastal plain is a large number of Carolina bays, the origins of which are uncertain, though one prominent theory suggests that they were created by a meteor shower. The bays tend to be oval, lining up in a northwest to southeast orientation.
Just west of the coastal plain is the Sand Hills region, which is thought to contain remnants of old coastal dunes from a time when the land was sunken, or the oceans were higher.
Carolina bays]
The Piedmont area contains the roots of an ancient, eroded mountain chain. It tends to be hilly, with thin, stony clay soils, and contains few areas suitable for farming. Much of the Piedmont was once farmed, with little success, and is now reforested. At the edge of the Piedmont is the fall line, where rivers drop to the coastal plain. The fall line was an important early source of water power, and mills built to harness this resource encouraged the growth of several cities, including the capital, Columbia. The larger rivers are navigable up to the fall line, providing a trade route for mill towns.
The upper part of the Piedmont is also known as the Foothills. The Cherokee Parkway contains a scenic driving route through this area.
Highest in elevation is the Upcountry, containing an escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which continue into North Carolina and Georgia, as part of the southern Appalachian chain. Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina's highest point (elevation 3560 ft.) is located in this area. Also located in the Upcountry is Table Rock State Park and Caesar's Head State Park. The Chattooga River, located on the border between South Carolina and Georgia, is a favorite whitewater rafting destination.
See: List of South Carolina counties.
Higher Education
- See :Category:Universities and colleges in South Carolina
Further reading
- Bass, Jack. Porgy Comes Home: South Carolina After 300 Years,. Sandlapper, 1970.
- Bass, Jack and Jack Nelson.The Orangeburg Massacre,. Mercer University Press, 1992.
- Bass, Jack and Marilyn W. Thompson. Ol' Strom: An Unauthorized Biography of Strom Thurmond,. Longstreet Press, 1998.
- Carter, Luther F. and David Mann, eds. Government in the Palmetto State: Toward the 21st Century,. University of South Carolina, 1993.
- Cohodas, Nadine. Strom Thurmond and the Politics of Southern Change,. Simon & Schuster, 1993.
- Danielson, Michael N. Profits and Politics in Paradise: The Development of Hilton Head Island,. University of South Carolina Press, 1995.
- Edgar, Walter. South Carolina: A History, , USC Press, 1998.
- Graham, Cole Blease and William V. Moore. South Carolina Politics and Government. Politics and Governments of the American States, Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1994.
- Hollings, Ernest F. The Case Against Hunger: The Need for a National Policy,. Cowles Book Co., 1970.
- Huff, Jr., Archie Vernon. Greenville: The History of the City and County in the South Carolina Piedmont, University of South Carolina Press, 1995.
- Jordan, Jr., Frank E. The Primary State - A History of the Democratic Party in South Carolina, 1876-1962, Columbia, SC, 1967
- Keyserling, Harriet. Against the Tide: One Woman's Political Struggle. University of South Carolina Press, 1998. Foreward by Richard W. Riley.
- Moore, John Hammond. Columbia and Richland County: A South Carolina Community, 1740-1990, University of South Carolina Press, 1993.
- Moredock, Will. Banana Republic: A Year in the Heart of Myrtle Beach,. Frontline Press, 2003.
- Robertson, Ben. Red Hills and Cotton,. USC Press (reprint), 1991.
- Rogers Jr. by George C. and C. James Taylor. A South Carolina Chronology, 1497-1992, 2nd Ed.,. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, 1994.
- Tyer, Charlie. ed. South Carolina Government: An Introduction,. USC Institute for Public Affairs, 2002.
External links
- [http://sc.gov/ SC.gov] - The new official website of South Carolina
- [http://www.myscgov.com My SC] - The current official website of South Carolina
- [http://www.discoversouthcarolina.com/ Discover South Carolina] - The official tourism website of South Carolina
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45000.html US Census Bureau]
- [http://www.southcarolinacountymaps.com/ South Carolina County Maps] Full color maps. List of cities, towns and county seats
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Category:States of the United States
ko:사우스캐롤라이나 주
ja:サウスカロライナ州
simple:South Carolina
United States:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American.
The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America.
The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.
Geography and climate
The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas.
Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization.
When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²).
The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity.
Hawaii
The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.
History
American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200.
Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there.
During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655.
This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule.
British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]]
In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed.
From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments.
Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]]
During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946.
During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics.
In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Government
Iraq of the United States.]]
Republic and suffrage
The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.
Federal government
The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.
The Congress
necessary and proper
The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
The President
necessary-and-proper clause
At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.
The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.
The Courts
George W. Bush
The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.
Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.
State and local governments
supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]]
The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.
The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.
Political divisions
With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole.
In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships.
The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean.
The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited.
The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.
Foreign relations and military
sovereign]
The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between.
Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war.
The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation.
The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development.
(For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)
Largest cities
The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged.
Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics.
The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:
Economy
The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.
gross domestic product
The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others.
Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry.
Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars.
The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries.
In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000.
Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years.
The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws.
America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s.
America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."
Transportation
Alan Greenspan ]]
Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states.
Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world.
Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Society
Demographics
Hawaii
The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]
Ethnicity and race
:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States
The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts.
The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada.
Russia
Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades.
About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South.
Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.
Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.
Religion
Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion.
The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.
Education
West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]]
In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18
Sunday:This article is about the day of the week. For the Australian news and current affairs television programme see Sunday (TV series).
Sunday is considered either the first or the seventh day of the week, between Saturday and Monday, and the second day of the weekend in some cultures. It is considered a holiday in lands of Christian tradition, the day Christians most commonly attend Church (Saturday is the other day that some consider to be the Sabbath).
In the Gregorian calendar, no century can start on a Sunday. In the Hebrew calendar, no year can start on a Sunday. Any month beginning on a Sunday will contain a Friday the 13th.
The name Sunday
In English, Sunday gets its name from Sunna, or Sunne the Germanic sun goddess.
In ancient Jewish tradition Saturday is the sabbath. Christians in Seventh-day Adventist, 7th day Church of God, and Seventh Day Baptist churches, and many Messianic Jews believe that Saturday remains the Sabbath ([http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%204:9;&version=47; Hebrews 4:9]).
Many languages lack separate words for "Saturday" and "sabbath". Eastern Orthodox churches distinguish between the sabbath (Saturday) and what they call the Lord's day (Sunday). Roman Catholics put so little emphasis on that distinction that many among them follow — at least in colloquial language — the Protestant practice of calling Sunday the sabbath, though this is not a universal Protestant practice. Quakers traditionally refer to Sunday as "First Day" eschewing the "pagan" origin of the name.
The first historical reference to "the day called Sun" by any involved with Christianity was by Justin Martyr around 150 A.D. However, the Christians in Smyrna, still observed the seventh day Sabbath later than that as can be found in the letter known as the Martyrdom of Polycarp.
Sunday was declared the day of worship by the Council of Nicea circa 325 A.D. Groups that accepted the authority of that Council have kept Sunday ever since.
Position during a week
In many countries, including most of Europe and South America (except Brazil), Sunday is held to be the last day of the week. In others, including the United States and Canada, it is seen as the first day, a traditional view derived from ancient Jews, Egyptians and the Holy Roman Empire. ISO 8601 defines Monday as the first day of the week, making Sunday the seventh.
Common Sunday occurrences
Among Christians (with the exception of seventh-day sabbatarians, such as the denominations listed above) Sunday is considered holy and often a day of rest and church-attendance.
In orthodox Christian families and communities some activities are not done, e.g. working, doing something that requires somebody else to work such as buying goods or services (including the use of public transport), driving a car, gardening, washing a car, etc. Exceptions which are allowed are making use of religious services, and, usually, using electricity, and urgent medical matters.
In the United States, professional football is usually played on Sunday, although Saturday and Monday (via Monday Night Football) also see some professional games. College football usually occurs on Saturday, and high-school football tends to take place on Friday night or Saturday afternoon. It is not uncommon for church attendance to shift on days when a late morning or early afternoon game is anticipated by a local community.
Also in the United States, many federal government buildings are closed on Sunday. Privately owned businesses also tend to close or are open for shorter periods of the day than on other days of the week.
Many American and British television networks and stations also broadcast their political interview shows on Sunday mornings.
Many American and British daily newspapers publish a larger edition on Sundays, which often includes color comic strips, a magazine, and a coupon section.
In Ireland, Gaelic football and hurling matches are predominantly played on Sundays, with the second and fourth Sundays in September always playing host to the All-Ireland hurling and football championship finals, respectively.
Named days
- Easter Sunday, the day in the Bible on which Christ rose from the dead, celebrated across the Christian world and regarded as the most important day in the Christian calendar.
- Low Sunday, first Sunday after Easter, is also known as White Sunday, Quasimodo Sunday, Alb Sunday, Antipascha Sunday, and Divine Mercy Sunday.
- Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter.
- Passion Sunday, formerly denoting the fifth Sunday of Lent, since 1970 the term applies to the following Sunday also known as Palm Sunday.
- Septuagesima Sunday, before 1970, was the third from the last Sunday before Lent.
- Stir-up Sunday, is the last Sunday before Advent.
- Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost.
- Laetare Sunday
- Gaudete Sunday
- Whitsunday
Sunday in popular culture
- In the popular rhyme, "The child born on Sunday is fair and wise and good and gay".
See also
- Blue laws
- Bloody Sunday
- Black Sunday
- Cold Sunday
- Sunday newspaper
- Sunday shopping
External links
- [http://www.fisheaters.com/lordsday.html Keeping the Lord's Day Holy] traditional Catholic practices for Sundays
- [http://www.cogwriter.com/justin.htm Justin Martyr: Saint, Heretic, or Apostate?] Includes comments by Justin Martyr, including the Greek he used for "the day called Sun"
Category:Days of the week
ko:일요일
ms:Ahad
ja:日曜日
simple:Sunday
th:วันอาทิตย์
United States:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American.
The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America.
The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.
Geography and climate
The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas.
Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization.
When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²).
The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity.
Hawaii
The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.
History
American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200.
Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there.
During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655.
This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule.
British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]]
In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed.
From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments.
Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]]
During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946.
During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics.
In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Government
Iraq of the United States.]]
Republic and suffrage
The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.
Federal government
The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.
The Congress
necessary and proper
The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
The President
necessary-and-proper clause
At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.
The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.
The Courts
George W. Bush
The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.
Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.
State and local governments
supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]]
The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.
The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.
Political divisions
With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole.
In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships.
The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean.
The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited.
The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.
Foreign relations and military
sovereign]
The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between.
Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war.
The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation.
The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development.
(For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)
Largest cities
The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged.
Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics.
The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:
Economy
The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.
gross domestic product
The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others.
Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry.
Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars.
The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries.
In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000.
Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years.
The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws.
America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s.
America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."
Transportation
Alan Greenspan ]]
Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states.
Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world.
Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Society
Demographics
Hawaii
The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]
Ethnicity and race
:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States
The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts.
The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada.
Russia
Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades.
About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South.
Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.
Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.
Religion
Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion.
The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.
Education
West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]]
In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18
Canada
Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States.
Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom.
Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23.
Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].
Overview
The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]]
Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there.
Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship.
Canada has ten provinces and three territories:
Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.
Canada's name
The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.
History
Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows.
British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]]
British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763).
During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html]
settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791.
The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed.
The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic.
In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.)
Newfoundland and Labrador
In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent.
Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982.
The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.
Geography
unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia).
Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population.
The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east.
Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province.
Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.
Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.
Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.
Climate
Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common.
Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to
www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html
Politics
1937]
Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926.
Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives.
The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.
notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service.
The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.
electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.
Foreign relations
Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country".
United Kingdom.]]
In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions.
Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Military
Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel.[http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/family_e.asp] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) are comprised of army, navy, and air force branches. Major CF equipment deployed includes 2,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 140 combat aircraft.
Defence is an exclusive federal jurisdiction: defence spending in fiscal year 2004-5 was approximately $14 billion.[http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsp/pubs/rep-pub/ddm/rpp/rpp05-06/sec3c_e.asp] However, in the 2005 federal budget, the Liberal government allocated an additional $12.8 billion over five years to the armed forces, and committed to increasing troop levels by an additional 8,000 regular and reserve personnel over the same period.[http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/speech/speeche.htm]
Canadian forces have served in various wars including World War I, World War II, the Korean War and recently, in Afghanistan. Since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956, the Canadian Forces have served in 42 peacekeeping missions — more than any other country. Canada was also the prime destination of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. These factors – along with its comparatively low level of military spending, other positions such as nuclear non-proliferation, and an international treaty banning personnel land mine usage – have led to Canada sometimes being referred to as a pacifist country.
Battles significantly contributing to Canada's development and self-identity include the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Third Battle of Ypres, and Juno Beach.
Currently, CF personnel are involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Smaller missions are also taking place in Haiti and Kosovo. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in two relief operations in the last year. The two-hundred member relief crew helped in Southeast Asia after the December 2004 tsunami, and DART was also deployed in response to the devastating earthquake that struck the Kashmir region in South Asia in October 2005. Moreover, CF (and RCMP) personnel recently assisted in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Provinces and territories of Canada
Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies that the provinces can opt out of, but this rarely happens in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.
All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.
Lieutenant-Governor.]]
Most provinces have provincial counterparts to the three national federal parties. However, some provincial parties are not formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. Some provinces have regional political parties, such as the Saskatchewan Party. The provincial political climate of Quebec is quite different: the main split is between separatism, represented by the Parti Québécois, and federalism, represented by the Parti Libéral du Québec.
The three territories have fewer political powers than provinces, having been created by acts of the national Parliament rather than having their status enshrined in the Constitution. There is no lieutenant-governor to represent and fulfil the functions of the Queen, but each has a politically neutral Commissioner appointed by the federal government to act as its senior representative. Only Yukon's legislature follows the same political system as the provincial legislatures. The other two territories use a consensus government system in which each member runs as an independent and the premier is elected by and from the members.
There is also interest within Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas UK territory in the Caribbean, for the latter to enter into Confederation.
Economy
Caribbean, depicting (from top to bottom) Wilfred Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.]]As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. In the last century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Canada has vast deposits of natural gas on the east coast and in the west, and a plethora of other natural resources contributing to self-sufficiency in energy. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the U.S. Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8.
Two long-term concerns loom. One is the continuing political differences over the Constitution between Quebec and the rest of Canada, periodically raising the possibility of Quebec independence. As the economy becomes stronger, notably in Quebec, fears of separation have generally waned. Another concern is the "Brain Drain", the emigration of professionals to the U.S. in search of higher pay, lower taxes, and high-tech opportunities. (However, a [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1124920225033&call_pageid=971358637177&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes recent Toronto Star article] claims that the "Brain Drain" of doctors has abated, as more are returning to Canada due to high insurance rates in the U.S. and a more efficient medicare system in Canada.) Simultaneously, a larger, under-recognised "Brain Gain" is occurring, as educated immigrants (particularly from developing countries, a controversy in and of itself) continue to enter Canada [http://www.statcan.ca/english/indepth/81-003/feature/eqhi2000006003s1a01.htm].
Demographics
The 2001 national census recorded 30,007,094 people, and as of October 2005 the population has been estimated by Statistics Canada as 32.3 million people[http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm], an increase of some 2.3 million people by both immigration and natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 km of the U.S. border, and a similar proportion live in urban areas.
In the 2001 census, 39.42% of respondents reported their ethnic origins as "Canadian", most of whom are believed to be of British, Irish, and French heritage of earlier immigrants. In addition, 20.17% identified their origin as English, 15.75% as French, 14.03% as Scottish, and 12.90% as Irish. Numerous other groups were also reported. Ethnic origins reported by more than 1 million people included: German (9.25%), Italian (4.29%), Chinese (3.69%), Ukrainian (3.61%) and North American Indian (3.38%).
Close to four million people reported they were members of a visible minority, amounting to 13.44% of the total population. (Note that Aboriginal peoples are not considered visible minorities). Also, the 2001 census reported that Canada had 5,448,480 immigrants. [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/Immigration/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=0&View=1&Table=1&StartRec=1&Sort=2&B1=Counts]
According to the last census[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/contents.cfm], 72% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group – 43% of Canadians. One-sixth of Canadians declared no religious affiliation, and the remaining 12% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity.
Language
Catholics]]
Canada's two official languages are English and French. On July 7, 1969, under the Official Languages Act, French was made commensurate to English throughout the federal government. This started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions.
- Any defendant in a criminal case has the right to a trial in either English or French.
- The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French.
- Official language minority groups in most provinces and territories have the right to be educated in their language, in their own schools, with their own elected school boards, where they exist in sufficient numbers.
- While multiculturalism is official policy, to become a citizen one must be able to speak either English or French.
- More than 98% of Canadians speak English or French or both.
While the nation remains officially bilingual, the majority of Canadians are fluent only in English.
The official language of Quebec is French, as defined by the province's Charter of the French Language, which was introduced by the Parti Quebecois in 1976. However, the charter also provides certain rights for speakers of English and aboriginal languages. Quebec provides most government services in both French and English.
French is mostly spoken in Quebec with pockets in New Brunswick, eastern and northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. In the 2001 census, 6,864,615 people listed French as a first language, of whom 85% lived in Quebec. 17,694,835 people listed English as a first language.
New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province, a status specifically guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some provincial governments, notably Manitoba and Ontario, offer many services to their French minority populations.
Aboriginal languages are co-official in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Non-official languages are also important in Canada, with 5,470,820 people listing a non-official language as a first language. (The above three statistics include those who listed more than one first language.) Among the most important non-official first language groups are Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).
Aboriginal peoples
The Constitution Act of 1982 recognizes three groups of aboriginal peoples in Canada: the Indians (now often called First Nations), Inuit, and Métis. The aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the population in Canada. According to the Canada 2001 Census, people identified themselves as aboriginal numbered 976,305 people (or 3.3% of Canada's population) of whom about 62% are First Nations, 30% are Métis, and 5% are Inuit. Also, ethnic origin figures from the Census show that 1.3 million Canadians stated that they were partially of fully of aboriginal ancestry, including about one million people claiming full or partial First Nation ancestry, 307,000 Métis ancestry and 56,000 Inuit ancestry.
Culture
Canada 2001 Census originated from Canada when residents began playing hurley on ice.]]
Due to its colonial past, Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by British and French cultures and traditions. In more modern times, Canadian culture is now greatly influenced by American culture, due to the proximity and the migration of people, ideas, and capital. Amidst this, Canadian culture has developed unique characteristics. In many respects, a more robust and distinct Canadian culture has developed in recent years, partially because of the civic nationalism that pervaded Canada in the years prior to and following the Canadian Centennial in 1967, and also due to a focus by the federal government on programs to support culture and the arts.
There were and are many distinct First Nations across Canada, each with its own culture, language and history. Their culture was transmitted largely through oral means and stories were passed down through the elders to the younger generations. Various tribes created unique styles of artifacts such as woven baskets, painted pictures, and carved sculptures of animals. Much of this artistic legacy remains celebrated in Canada to this day. The emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is the inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture. [http://www.vancouver2010.com/Emblem/home.htm]
From as early the 1500s, European explorers, traders, and fishermen from England, Ireland and France helped form the basis of Canadian culture. During their colonization of Canada, settlers created a folklore about the land around them. The tales of Paul Bunyan are a product of French-Canadian folklore and the style of jigs from Newfoundland found their origins in Ireland.
Canada and the United Kingdom share a common history and continue to work together through many organizations such as the Commonwealth, G-8, and NATO. The two countries share the same head of state, and have among the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world. They still share many of the same customs, values, and traditions, which have been reinforced by working side by side in two world wars and over half a century of expanding peace and prosperity. The United Kingdom is Canada’s third largest trading partner and is the second largest source of tourists visiting Canada.
The Canadian and U.S. governments share a variety of close working partnerships in trade, economic, legal, security, and military matters. These are occasionally strained by domestic politics; for instance, the ongoing softwood lumber dispute and the war in Iraq. This has led to successive drives by Canadian leaders to diversify trade with other countries; examples include Diefenbaker's efforts to increase trade with the U.K., Trudeau's efforts with Europe, and current efforts with China and India. As well, the decision to switch to the metric system in 1970 (though, like the U.K., both the metric and Imperial systems are in common usage) has similar roots.
As Canada and the U.S. grew closer after World War 2 (the U.S. became Canada's largest trading partner in the late-1940s), many Canadians started to develop complex feelings and concerns regarding what makes Canada "distinct" within North America. The large American cultural presence in Canada has prompted some fears of a "cultural takeover" that have led to the establishment of laws and institutions to protect Canadian culture, including the CBC, the National Film Board of Canada, and the CRTC.
Many American movies, authors, TV shows, and musicians are equally popular in Canada (and vice versa), many have been successful worldwide. Most cultural products of these types are now increasingly marketed toward a unified "North American" market, and not specifically a Canadian or American one.
Though debatable, Canada has increasingly distinguished itself politically in recent years by being more fiscally conservative on issues such as balanced budgets, tax cuts, and reductions in government, while also being more socially liberal: the Canadian government currently supports universal health care, same-sex marriage, and decriminalization of marijuana. All of these issues are of varying contention amongst Canadians.
Many Canadian citizens see Canadian culture as based on the policy of multiculturalism.
Sports
multiculturalism.]]
Notable sports which are enjoyed throughout Canada include ice hockey, curling, lacrosse, basketball and the home-grown Canadian Football League. Although CFL teams compete in a variant of American football, traditional football (soccer) is hardly an unknown in Canada, and in 1986 the Canucks qualified for their only appearance at the World Cup in Mexico. In addition, as the vast majority of Canadians live in very close proximity to the United States, Canadians can also watch sporting events from the professional leagues in that country, such as NASCAR and the National Football League. The National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, the National Lacrosse League and Major League Baseball are comprised of teams from both Canada and the United States.
Major League Baseball
As of the 1994 National Sports of Canada Act, Canada officially has two national sports. Ice hockey is the national winter sport and lacrosse is the national summer sport.
National symbols
Major League Baseball
The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century, and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, an
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a large Canadian English language national newspaper based in Toronto.
The paper was founded as The Globe in 1844 by George Brown, who was later a Father of Confederation. Brown selected as the motto for the editorial page a quotation from Junius, "The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures." The quotation is carried on the editorial page daily to this day.
In 1936, after a merger with The Mail and Empire (ironically, the Mail was the paper of Brown's arch-rival, Sir John A. Macdonald), the Globe became The Globe and Mail. In 1962, the paper added its popular Report on Business section. Report on Business Magazine, published by and carried in the newspaper, would follow, as would the specialty channel Report on Business Television.
Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries the newspaper was strictly a Toronto-oriented daily, competing with The Toronto Star in a heated newspaper war. As The Globe and Mail lost ground to the Star locally, the newspaper began to circulate nationally in search of subscribers, adopting the masthead slogan "Canada's National Newspaper" in the process.
Long owned by Kenneth Thomson and his family, in 2001 control of the paper was sold to a BCE Inc., also owners of the CTV network. The network and paper are now owned by Bell Globemedia, owned 20% by Bell Canada Enterprises and 40% by the Thomson family and 20% by Torstar(Parent company of the Toronto Star).
Editorially, The Globe and Mail has historically been seen as a conservative and business-oriented paper. Since the 1998 launch of rival conservative paper The National Post, the Globe has been seen as increasingly centrist or even liberal; however, no media studies have yet examined whether the editorial thrust of the paper has actually changed (as opposed to the zeitgeist changing around it) and recent anecdotal observations are typically made in comparison to the Post. Following the tenure of chief editor Edward Greenspon in 2002, The Globe and Mail has been criticized for returning to its conservative tradition; its editorial cartoonist Brian Gable has mocked it as sensationalistic, and its columnist Lawrence Martin has called for the creation of a new national newspaper [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050303/COMARTIN03/TPComment/?query=lawrence+martin] (paid subscription required). Possibly due to this competition the paper has made other changes such as the introduction of colour photographs and the creation of the "Review" section on arts, entertainment and culture.
Though promoted as a national paper and sold throughout Canada, The Globe and Mail also serves as a Toronto metropolitan paper, publishing several special sections in its Toronto edition which are not included in the national edition. As such it is sometimes popularly ridiculed as being too focused on the GTA, which could be seen as part of a wider humourous notion of Torontonians sometimes being blind to the wider concerns of the nation. (A similar criticism is sometimes applied to The New York Times). For this reason, critics sometimes refer to the paper as the Toronto Globe and Mail or as Toronto's National Newspaper.
Other satirical nicknames for the paper include Mop and Pail or Grope and Flail, both of which were coined by longtime Globe and Mail humour columnist Richard J. Needham.
The Globe and Mail outsold the National Post throughout the so-called "national newspaper war" and has begun to regain some of the lost ground as the Posts new owner, CanWest, has been reluctant to invest in expansion.
Regular contributors
- Christie Blatchford
- John Barber
- Scott Colbourne
- John Doyle
- Marcus Gee
- John Ibbitson
- Lawrence Martin
- Heather Mallick
- Leah McLaren
- Rex Murphy
- Eric Reguly
- Lorne Rubenstein
- Rick Salutin
- Jeffrey Simpson
- Russell Smith
- Norman Spector
- William Thorsell
- Bob Weeks
- Margaret Wente
- Hugh Winsor
- Jan Wong
- Ken Wiwa
See also
- Media in Canada
External links
- [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Official website]
- [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/services/site/history.html Official history]
- [http://www.cna-acj.ca/client/cna/cna.nsf/web/FactsReadership The Canadian Newspaper Association: Readership Facts].
Globe and Mail, The
Globe and Mail, The
National Post
The National Post is a large Canadian English language national newspaper based in Toronto.
History
The Post was founded in 1998 by Conrad Black to combat what he saw as an 'over-liberalizing' of editorial policy in Canadian newspapers. Black built the new paper around the existing Financial Post, an established business-oriented newspaper in Toronto which he purchased from Sun Media in 1997. (Financial Post was retained as the name of the National Posts business section.)
From the beginning the Post has been staunchly conservative, and has an editorial page featuring the writings of many prominent neo-conservatives and libertarians from the United States and Canada, including Diane Francis, Ann Coulter, Mark Steyn and David Frum.
The Posts unique graphic and layout design have won numerous style awards over the years. It's a retro look — with echoes of 1930s design — jazzed up with eye-catching touches, such as oversized headlines, layering of multi-coloured type, reverse type, and jarring colours.
In 2001 the paper was sold to CanWest Global Communications, run by Israel Asper until his death in 2003. CanWest Global and the Post are now managed by Asper's sons, Leonard Asper and David Asper. The Aspers openly admit that they control the editorial content of the paper, and use it to project their own personal views of the world. One of which is their well known anti-CBC stance (they feel the public network projects Israel in a negative light, therefore they are continually calling for the network to be dismantled). The Aspers, it should be noted, run their own competing television network, Global.
The paper has focused more on business coverage, cutting back on reporting in other areas such as arts and culture.
The paper has also been noted for frequent staff changes. In the seven years that the paper has been in operation, it has had seven different publishers. Most recently, a former editor of the Toronto Sun, Les Pyette, was hired to help increase circulation. However, Pyette left the paper in July, 2005 along with columnist Rachel Marsden. Award winning columnist Cleo Paskal left in August to join the Toronto Star.
See also
- Media in Canada
External link
- [http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/index.html Official website]
National Post
National Post
Washington Post:This article concerns the newspaper. The Washington Post is also a patriotic march by John Philip Sousa
The Washington Post is the largest and oldest newspaper in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It gained worldwide fame in the early 1970s for its Watergate investigation by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, which played a major role in the undoing of the Nixon presidency. It is generally considered among the best three daily American newspapers along with the The New York Times, which is known for its general reporting and international coverage, and The Wall Street Journal, which is known for its financial reporting. The Post, unsurprisingly, has distinguished itself through its reporting on the workings of the White House, Congress, and other aspects of the U.S. government.
Unlike the Times and the Journal, however, it sees itself as a strictly regional newspaper, and does not print a national edition for distribution away from the East Coast. The majority of its readership is in the District of Columbia, as well as in the well-to-do suburbs of Maryland and Northern Virginia.
As of September 2004, its average daily circulation was 707,690 and its Sunday circulation was 1,007,487, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, making it the fifth largest newspaper in the country by circulation, behind The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. While its circulation (like almost all newspapers) has been slipping, it has one of the highest market-penetration rates of any metropolitan news daily.
History
The paper was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins and in 1880 became the first newspaper in Washington, D.C. to publish daily. In 1899, during the Spanish-American War, the Post printed Clifford K. Berryman's illustration Remember the Maine.
In 1905 Washington McLean and his son John Roll McLean, owners of the Cincinnati Enquirer, purchased a controlling interest. When John died in 1916 he put the paper in trust, having little faith in his playboy son Edward "Ned" McLean with his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, quickly driving the paper to ruin. It was purchased in a bankruptcy auction in 1933 by a member of the Federal Reserve's board of governors, Eugene Meyer, who restored the paper's health and reputation. Philip L. Graham, Meyer's son-in-law, would work his way up to become publisher upon Meyer's death in 1959.
In 1954 the Post acquired its chief rival, the Washington Times-Herald, to become the only morning daily in Washington. Thenceforth its main competition was the Washington Star (Evening Star) until that paper's demise in 1981. Subsequently, the conservative Washington Times, established in 1982, has been a local rival, although as of 2005 the Times had a readership only around one-eighth of the Posts.
After Graham committed suicide in 1963, control of the Washington Post Company passed to Meyer's daughter, Katharine Graham. She was publisher of the newspaper from 1969 to 1979, chairman of the board from 1973 to 1991 and chairman of the executive committee from 1993 until her death in 2001. Her son, Donald Graham, was publisher from 1979 to 2000 when Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr. took over as publisher and CEO of the Post.
As of 2005 the Post had been honored with 18 Pulitzer Prizes, 18 Nieman Fellowships, and 368 White House News Photographers Association Awards, among others.
It is part of the Washington Post Company, which owns a number of other media and non-media companies, including Newsweek magazine, the online magazine Slate, and the Kaplan test preparation service.
Political leanings
The Post is generally seen as being politically liberal, particularly on its opinion pages. For example, it usually supports Democratic candidates when making political endorsements. Conservative pundits often cite it along with The New York Times as epitomizing the "liberal media."
The paper argues that its news coverage is politically neutral, an assessment that has its supporters but also draws fire from many directions.
Criticism by Ombudsmen
After the 1981 publication of [http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/lit/litjour/spg2002/cooke.htm 'Jimmy's World'] (a story for which Post reporter Janet Cooke had been nominated by Bob Woodward for the Pulitzer Prize, which she subsequently won and later returned after it was established the story was a fabrication), Post Ombudsman Bill Green concluded an investigation with several comments and recommendations, including "The scramble for journalistic prizes is poisonous. The obligation is to inform readers, not to collect frameable certificates, however prestigious. Maybe the Post should consider not entering contests."[http://academics.smcvt.edu/dmindich/Jimmy%27s%20World.htm]
In 1998 the Post printed a series of denials regarding public leaks of depositions given by President Clinton in the Jones v. Clinton case contrary to an Order of the Court. Dr. Deni Elliot of the Practical Ethics Center, after reviewing the matter, concluded that the Post knew the source of the illegal leaks yet "knowingly deceived its readers" by alleging the leaks could have come from the Court or the opposing counsel's office. "The Post," Dr. Elliot wrote in the Organization of News Ombudsmen’s publication, "intentionally lied to its readers in printing this set of denials...None of this sounds like the making of ethical principles". [http://www.newsombudsmen.org/elliott.html]
Notable contributors
- Anne Applebaum (writer)
- Carl Bernstein (writer)
- Herb Block (cartoonist)
- David Broder (writer)
- Tina Brown (writer)
- Art Buchwald (writer)
- Richard L. Coe (theatre critic/writer)
- Richard Cohen (writer)
- Janet Cooke (writer)
- E.J. Dionne (writer)
- Leonard Downie, Jr. (editor)
- Michel duCille (photo editor, photographer)
- Dan Froomkin (columnist)
- Meg Greenfield (editor)
- Jim Hoagland (writer)
- Colbert King (writer)
- Tony Kornheiser (writer)
- Charles Lane (writer)
- Mary McGrory (writer)
- Dana Milbank (writer)
- Alex Hummer (writer)
- Shirley Povich (writer)
- William Raspberry (writer)
- Ken Ringle (writer)
- Tom Shales (writer)
- Howard Simons (editor)
- Tom Toles (cartoonist)
- Gene Weingarten (writer)
- James Russell Wiggins (editor)
- Michael Wilbon (writer)
- George F. Will (columnist)
- Bob Woodward (writer)
- Robin Wright (writer)
- Colman McCarthy (columnist)
- Steve Coll (editor)
- Mike Grunwald (writer)
Executive Officers and Editors - Past and Present
- Philip Bennett
- Ben Bradlee
- Milton Coleman
- Jackson Diehl
- Leonard Downie, Jr.
- Donald Graham
- Katharine Graham
- Philip Graham
- Fred Hiatt
- Stephen P. Hills
- Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr.
- Colbert I. King
- Eugene Meyer
External links
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com Official website]
- [http://washpost.com/gen_info/history/timeline/index.shtml Timeline of the history of The Washington Post]
- Scott Sherman, Columbia Journalism Review, May 2002, [http://www.cjr.org/issues/2002/5/wash-stability.asp "Donald Graham's Washington Post"]
Washington Post, The
Washington Post, The
Washington Post, The
ja:ワシントン・ポスト
nb:The Washington Post
Publisher
Publishing is the activity of putting information into the public arena. Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books and newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include websites, blogs, and other forms of new media.
As a business, publishing includes the development, marketing, production, and distribution of news and non-fiction magazines and books, literary works, musical works, software, and so on.
This article is concerned with the production of books, magazines, and other literary material (whether in printed or electronic formats). The publication of software is covered in software publishing.
Publication is also important as a legal concept; (1) as the process of giving formal notice to the world of a significant intention, for example, to marry or enter bankruptcy, and; (2) as the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation; that is, the alleged libel must have been published.
Process of publishing
libel
A modern book or periodical publishing company (or publisher) is the gateway through which authors must pass to see their work in print (whether hard copy or electronic).
Content
- Author/agent submission Publishers spend a significant proportion of their time buying or commissioning content. At a small press, it is possible to survive by relying entirely on commissioned material but, as activity increases, the need for content may outstrip the publisher's established circle of authors, so the door is open for others to submit material for consideration. The majority of unsolicited submissions come from previously unpublished authors. Such manuscripts must go through the slush pile, which acquisitions editors sift through to identify manuscripts of sufficient quality or revenue potential to be referred to the editorial staff. Authors who are represented by a literary agent are more likely to succeed with major publishers. Publishers thrive only when they are able to produce and sell books that match the needs of the target readers.
- Acceptance/negotiation Once a work is accepted, the commissioning editors negotiate the purchase of intellectual property (IP) rights and agree royalty rates.
- The authors of traditional printed materials sell exclusive territorial IP rights that match the list of states in which distribution is proposed (i.e. the rights match the legal systems under which copyright protections can be enforced). In the case of books, the publisher must also agree on the intended formats of publication — mass market paperback, trade paperback and hardback are the most common options.
- The situation is slightly more complex if electronic formatting is to be used. Where distribution is to be by CD-R or other physical media, there is no reason to treat this form differently from a hard-copy format and a territorial copyright is an acceptable approach. But the possibility of internet download without the ability to restrict physical distribution within national boundaries presents legal problems that are usually solved by selling language/translation rights rather than territorial rights. Thus, internet access across the European Union is relatively open because of the laws forbidding discrimination based on nationality, but the fact of publication in, say, French, limits the target market to those who read French.
- Having agreed on the scope of the publication and the formats, the parties must then agree royalty rates, i.e. the percentage of the gross retail price that will be paid to the author. This is a difficult risk management exercise because the publisher must estimate the potential sales in each market and balance projected revenue against production costs.
- Editorial stage Once the immediate commercial decisions are taken and the technical legal issues resolved, the author may be asked to improve the quality of the work through rewrite(s) or the in-house staff will edit the work. Almost all publishers operate a house style, and staff will copy edit to ensure that the work matches the style and grammatical requirements of each market.
- Pre-press When a final text is agreed, the next phases are design (i.e. artwork is commissioned, layout is confirmed, etc.) and preparing the work for printing (i.e. typesetting, dust jacket composition, specification of paper quality, binding method and casing, and proofreading). The activities of typesetting, page layout, the production of negatives, plates from the negatives and, for hardbacks, the preparation of brasses for the spine legend and imprint are now all computerised. The final act before sending the work to the printer is to output the PostScript files. If the target is electronic distribution, the final files are saved as PDF files or other formats appropriate to the target operating systems of the hardware used for reading.
Business
The publisher usually controls the advertising and other marketing tasks, but may subcontract various aspects of the process described above. In smaller companies, editing, proof-reading and layout might be done by freelancers. Dedicated in-house sales forces for books are rapidly being replaced by specialised companies who handle sales to bookshops, wholesalers and chain stores for a fee. This trend is accelerating as retail book chains and supermarkets have centralised their buying. If the entire process up to the stage of printing is handled by an outside company or individuals, and then sold to the publishing company, it is known as book packaging. This is a common strategy between smaller publishers in different territorial markets where the company that first buys the IP Rights, sells a package to other publishers and gains an immediate return on capital invested. Indeed, the first publisher will often print sufficient copies for all territories and thereby obtain the maximum quantity discounts on the print run for all.
Any company will maximise its profit margin through vertical integration. Although newspaper and magazine companies still often own printing presses and binderies, book publishers rarely do. Similarly, the trade usually sells the finished products through a distributor who stores and distributes the publisher's wares for a percentage fee or sells on a sale or return basis. The advent of the internet has therefore posed an interesting question to the publishers, the distributors and the retailers. In 2005, Amazon.com announced its purchase of Booksurge, a major Print On Demand (P.O.D) operation. This is probably intended as a preliminary move towards establishing an Amazon imprint. One of the largest bookseller chains, Barnes & Noble, already runs its own successful imprint with both new titles and Classics — hardback editions of out-of-print former best sellers. Similarly, Ingram Book Company, the world’s largest book wholesaler, having flirted with Barnes & Noble, now includes its own P.O.D. division called Lighting Source. From the publishers, Simon & Schuster recently announced that it will start selling its backlist titles directly to consumers through its website. Perseus, one of the largest independent publishers, also announced its purchase of Client Distribution Services, a company that distributes titles by independent publishers. Book clubs are almost entirely direct-to-retail, and niche publishers pursue a mixed strategy to sell through all available outlets — their output is insignificant to the major booksellers and so lost business is no threat to the traditional symbiotic relationships between the four activities of printing, publishing, distribution and retail.
Academic publishing
The development of the printing press represented a revolution for communicating the latest hypotheses and research results to the academic community and supplemented what a scholar could do personally. Ironically, this improvement in the efficiency of communication created a challenge for libraries which have had to accommodate the weight and volume of literature.
To understand the scale of the problem: about two centuries ago, the number of scientific papers published annually was doubling approximately every fifteen years. Today, the number of published papers doubles about every ten years. Modern academics can now run electronic journals and distribute academic materials without the need for publishers. Not surprisingly, publishers perceive this emancipation as a serious threat to their business model. In reality, the interests of scholars and publishers have long been in conflict. The purpose of copyright is to protect the capital invested in the "work" by the publisher and the wish of the scholar is to have the work as widely distributed as possible.
Today, publishing academic journals and textbooks is a large part of an international industry. The shares of the major publishing companies are listed on national stock exchanges and management policies must satisfy the dividend expectations of international shareholders. Critics claim that these standardised accounting and profit-oriented policies have come to the fore and now constrain more altruistic leanings. An alternative to the corporate model is open access, the online distribution of individual articles and academic journals without charge to readers and libraries.
Tie-in publishing
Technically, radio, television, cinemas, VCDs and DVDs, music systems, games machines, computer hardware and mobile telephony publish information to those who watch and/or listen. Indeed, the marketing of a major film will require a novelisation, a graphic novel or comic version, the soundtrack album, a game, model, toys and endless promotional publications (including SMS messages). Some of the major publishers have entire divisions devoted to a single franchise, e.g. Ballantine Del Rey Lucasbooks has the exclusive rights to Star Wars in the U.S; Random House UK(Bertelsmann)/Century LucasBooks holds the same rights in the UK. The gaming industry self-publishes through BL Publishing/Black Library (Warhammer) and Wizards of the Coast (DragonLance, Forgotten Realms, etc). The BBC has its own publishing division which does very well with long-running series such as Doctor Who. These multi-media works are cross-marketed aggressively and sales frequently outperform the average stand-alone published work making them a focus of corporate interest.
Criticism of the publishing industry
There has been some controversy in recent times over what is perceived as a crisis in Western publishing. The general complaint is that conglomerates or large corporations have bought and merged a significant number of key publishing houses or bookstores. Consequently, an oligopoly is arising and now exercises more real influence over various aspects of publishing. It is suggested that there has been some reduction in competition but there is no reduction in the number of titles published in the national markets. This is not to deny that consolidation has produced a number of consequences:
- The corporations have concentrated on their big name authors, attempting to drive up the market share of a bestseller.
- Editorial policy now requires imprints to keep fewer authors under contract — this has resulted in economic insecurity for the midlist authors who previously enjoyed stability of employment;
- Companies now wish to extend the payment schedule for the payment of author royalties — in part this is a response to the demands of the retail trade for extended periods of credit, but it also maximises the amount of circulating capital available to the publisher;
- Critics claim that these events have led to the following problems:
- Not only a loss of diversity in the range of authors published in mass market outlets, but also to a decline in the quality of a bestseller as most of the middle and lower level authors must have other employment to provide income while writing the work and waiting for the royalties.
- The consolidation of companies has also made it easier to impose a political bias on the works released by the commercial publishers based in New York.
- There is an excess of transient in the mass market, a bestseller is often used as promotional tools for a possible movie deal.
Independent publishing alternatives
In spite of the fact that middle and lower level authors now need to keep a day job, they have managed to find smaller alternatives to the mass market in the form of small press such as self-publishing, print on demand, and through the eBook format as well. Even though there is little market exposure in addition to the royalty checks that are few and far between, these publishing alternatives provide an avenue that expresses diversity in styles and political views that the mass markets haven't seen in the last 10-15 years.
Rather than try to write a bestseller, most of these small press authors shoot for the long range goal of writing the Great American Novel.
References
- Schiffrin, André (2000). The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read.
- Epstein, Jason. Book Business: Publishing Past, Present, and Future.
- Ugrešić, Dubravka (2003). Thank You for Not Reading.
See also
- academic publishing
- concentration of media ownership
- copy editing
- desktop publishing
- editor
- electronic publishing
- freedom of speech
- house style
- mass media
- open-access publishing
- proofreading
- self-publishing
- typesetting
- word processing
- writing
External links
- [http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media_control_propaganda/Book_busters.html Book-Busters: Corporate Consolidation in Book Publishing and Selling and the Decline of Diversity by William Petrocelli (1999)]
- [http://www.stanford.edu/~boyd/schol_pub_crisis.html Crisis in Scholarly Publishing: Executive Summary, by Stephen Boyd and Andrew Herkovic (1999)]
- [http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/crisis.html The Crisis in Scholarly Publishing]
- [http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/StatementOnCrisis.htm The Crisis in Scholarly Communication]
- [http://www.math.umd.edu/research/crisis.shtml The Crisis in Scientific Publishing]
- [http://www.LanguageMonitor.com LanguageMonitor Media Metrics and Analysis]
- [http://www.magazinelaunch.com Magazine Publishing Startup Resource Web Site for Publishers]
- [http://www.authorsguild.org/miscfiles/midlist.pdf A Report to the Authors Guild which reveals a "Crisis in Midlist Publishing"]: Study (PDF file)
- [http://chronicle.com/free/v50/i06/06b00701.htm Understanding the Economic Burden of Scholarly Publishing By Cathy N. Davidson]
- [http://ivyspring.com/steveLawrence/SteveLawrence.htm Articles freely available online are more highly cited]
Category:Graphic design
Category:Publishing
ja:出版
Editor in chief
An editor is a person who prepares text—typically language, but also images and sounds—for publication by correcting, condensing, or otherwise modifying it. In career terms, the word has four major senses:
- Print media There are various levels of editorial positions in publishing. Typically one finds junior editorial assistants reporting to senior level editorial managers and directors, who themselves report to senior executive editors responsible for project development to final releases.
:See related articles at Journalism
- Visual media Editors in the visual mediums, who may be described as film or video editors, perform a variety of tasks. Assistant editors and production assistants perform preliminary screening and logging of motion picture footage; senior editors are responsible for creative placement of scenes and shots, structural placement of major elements and organization of the entire presentation. Other editors are involved with assembly of the final product and preparation for distribution.
:See related articles at film editor, video editor
- Sound media Motion pictures have many sound editors, this team works with various aspects of the picture or program's sound designers. These editors construct tracks consisting of assembled pre-recorded dialogue, the audio mixing in of sound effects, foley and music to achieve the desired effect for the motion pictures and television programs.
:See related articles at sound recording, sound effects, DAW
- Computer editor is a program used to make changes to files of a particular type. There are computer editing systems for visual and sound mediums as well as still images. Other types of editors are more technical and edit computer code in various ways needed by programmers and technicians.
:See related articles at word processor, Avid, electronic journalism
Onto these career categories are mapped the categories in which individual professionals specialize, including language, still images, cinema/video, sound, computer programming code, and music scores. These areas sometimes overlap in individual practitioners; for example, language editors may comment on or make alterations to graphics and photographs embedded in a job that mostly comprises language; sound editors may make alterations in the linguistic text of, for example, a sound interview, to improve the intended meaning or reduce the duration of an item.
'Editing', as applied to language, is sometimes contrasted with terms that imply more restricted functions: 'copyediting' (checking for consistency and accuracy) and 'proofreading' (marking errors). The boundaries between the meanings of these terms are not universally accepted.
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, editor comes from the Latin phrase e ditus which means "to put forward". The editor ludorum in Ancient Rome was the person who put on the games. In French, editeur means "publisher". Also in Italian editore means "publisher". The word came into English from French. The verb to edit is a back formation from editor.
Print media
Human editors in the print publishing industry include people who are responsible for:
- newspapers and wire services; see below.
- organizing anthologies and other compilations.
- organizing and publishing a magazine —. The top editor may be called editor-in-chief.
- producing a definitive edition of a classic author's works — a scholarly editor.
- organizing and managing contributions to a multi-author book — symposium editor or volume editor.
- finding marketable ideas and presenting them to appropriate authors — a sponsoring editor.
- obtaining copy or recruiting authors — such as the acquisitions editor or commissioning editor for a publishing house.
- improving an author's writing so that they indeed say what they want to say, in an effective manner — a substantive editor. Depending on the writer's skill, this editing can sometimes turn into ghost writing. Substantive editing is seldom a title. Many types of editors do this type of work, either in-house at a publisher or on an independent basis.
- correcting spelling, grammar, and matters of house style — a copy editor. But copy editors at newspapers usually also have greater and higher responsibilities, which may include the design of pages and the selection of news stories for inclusion. At U.K. newspapers, the term is "sub-editor."
- choosing the layout of the publication and communicating with the printer — a production editor. This and similar jobs are also called "layout editor," "design editor," "news designer," or -- more so in the past -- "makeup editor."
The smaller the publication, the more these roles run together. In particular, the substantive editor and copy editor often overlap:
- Fact-checking can be the responsibility of either.
- Copy editors who find an inappropriate term or phrase will often suggest or make an improvement.
Executive editor
The top editor sometimes has the title executive editor or editor-in-chief (the former is replacing the latter in the language). This person is generally responsible for the content of the publication. The exception is that newspapers that are large enough usually have a separate editor for the editorials and opinion pages.
The executive editor sets the publication standards for performance, and is responsible for assuring the highest standards of ethical conduct in the process of gathering and presenting information, as well as for motivating and developing the staff. The executive editor is also responsible for developing and maintaining the publication budget. In concert with the publisher and the operating committee, the executive editor is responsible for strategic and operational planning.
Newspapers
Editors at newspapers supervise journalists and improve their work.
Newspaper editing encompasses a variety of titles and functions. These include:
- copy editors; see above;
- department editors;
- managing editors and assistant or deputy managing editors (the managing editor is often second in line after the top editor);
- news editors, who oversee the news desk;
- photo or picture editors;
- section editors and their assistants, such as for business, features, and sports;
- top editors, who may be called editor in chief or executive editor;
- readers' editors, sometimes known as the ombudsman, who arbitrate complaints;
- wire editors, who choose and edit articles from various international wire services, and are usually part of the copy desk;
- and administrative editors (who actually don't edit but perform duties such as recruiting and directing training).
The term city editor is used differently in North America, where it refers to the editor responsible for the news coverage of a newspaper's local circulation area (also sometimes called metro editor), and in the United Kingdom, where (normally with a capital C) it refers to the editor responsible for coverage of business in the City of London and, by extension, coverage of business and finance in general.
External links
Professional associations:
- [http://www.aasfe.org/index.html American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors]
- [http://www.copydesk.org/ American Copy Editors Society]
- [http://www.asbpe.org/ American Society of Business Publication Editors], for trade magazines
- [http://www.magazine.org/Editorial/ American Society of Magazine Editors]
- [http://www.asne.org/ American Society of Newspaper Editors], mainly for top editors at daily newspapers
- [http://www.apme.com/ Associated Press Managing Editors]
- [http://apse.dallasnews.com/ Associated Press Sports Editors]
- [http://www.psu.edu/dept/comm/aope/ Association of Opinion Page Editors]
- [http://www.the-efa.org/ Editorial Freelancers Association], based in the USA
- [http://www.editors.ca/ Editors' Association of Canada]
- [http://www.mssu.edu/iswne/ International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors]
- [http://www.newsombudsmen.com/ Organization of News Ombudsmen] for readers' editors and ombudsmen
- [http://www.wan-press.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=8 World Editors Forum]
Online resources:
- [http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Editing EServer TC Library: Editing]
- [http://www.sfwa.org/beware/bookdoctors.html Writer Beware on Independent Editors]
Articles:
- [http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1542959,00.html Black day for the blue pencil]
- an extensive article from The Guardian, August 6, 2005 by Blake Morrison suggesting that the art of literary editing is in decline and discussing the relationship between famous authors and their editors.
Category:Publishing
Category:Media occupations
Category:Journalism jobs
ja:編集者
nb:Redaktør
59 BC
Events
- Roman Republic
- consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (known as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar" due to Bibulus's relative anonymity in office)
- The First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form an unofficial alliance (or 60 BC)
- Caesar marries Calpurnia, in Rome
- The colonia of Florentia, modern Florence, founded
Births
- Livy, Roman historian
- Pharaoh Ptolemy XIV of Egypt (or 60 BC)
Deaths
- Prince He of Changyi, former Emperor of the Han Dynasty of China
- Gaius Octavius, father of Caesar Augustus
Category:59 BC
ko:기원전 59년
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. For several centuries, the Romans controlled the whole of Western Europe, as well as the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and some of the area surrounding the Black Sea.
Black Sea]]
History
Monarchy
Black Sea
The city of Rome grew from settlements on and around the Palatine Hill, approximately eighteen miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the river Tiber. At this location the Tiber has an island where the river can be forded. Because of the river and the ford, Rome was at a crossroads of traffic and trade.
In Roman legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC, by Romulus who, along with his brother Remus was suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over where their new city should be located. Romulus, whose name is said to have inspired Rome's name, was the first of seven Kings of Rome, the last of whom, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 510 BC or 509 BC when the Roman Republic was established. The mythical or semi-mythical kings are (in chronological order): Romulus, Numa Pompilius (Good King Numa), Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud).
Republic
Tarquinius Superbus
The Roman Republic was established around 509 BC, according to later writers such as Titus Livius (Livy), when the king was driven out, and a system based on annually elected magistrates was established in the monarchy's place. The most important were the two consuls, who between them exercised executive authority, but had to contend with the Senate, which grew in size and power with the establishment of the Republic. The magistracies were originally restricted to patricians but were later opened to plebeians.
The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, mostly related Italic tribes (of Indo-European stock) such as the Samnites and Sabines, but also the Etruscans. The last threat to Roman hegemony in Italy came when Tarentum, a major Greek colony, enlisted the aid of Pyrrhus of Epirus in 282 BC. The Romans secured their conquests by founding Roman colonies in strategic places.
In the second half of the 3rd century BC, Rome clashed with Carthage in the first two Punic wars. These wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests, of Sicily and Iberia, and the rise of Rome as a significant imperial power. After defeating Macedon and the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, the Romans became the undisputed masters of the Mediterranean.
Internal strife now became the greatest threat to the Republic. The Senate, jealous of its own power, repeatedly blocked important land reforms. An unintended consequence of Gaius Marius's military reforms was that soldiers often had more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general, such as Marius or his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla, could hold the city and Senate to ransom.
In the mid-1st century BC three men, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, formed a secret pact (the First Triumvirate) to control the Republic. After the conquest of Gaul a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to civil war, with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious and was made dictator for life.
After Caesar's assassination a Second Triumvirate, consisting of Caesar's designated heir Octavian and his former supporters Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, took power, but its members soon descended into a struggle for dominance. Lepidus was exiled to Circeii after attempting to coerce the highest position in the government through empty threats against Rome. When Octavian defeated Antony and queen Cleopatra of Egypt at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC he became the undisputed master of Rome. He assumed almost absolute power while retaining the pretence of Republican form of government. His designated successor, Tiberius, took power without bloodshed.
Empire
Tiberius, in AD 14, and in AD 117.]]
After the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, the Empire was ruled by his relatives, the Julio-Claudian dynasty until the death of Nero in 69. The territorial expansion of the state continued and the empire remained secure despite some incompetent emperors. Their rule was followed by the Flavian dynasty.
During the reign of the Five Good Emperors (AD 96-180) the Empire reached its zenith in terms of territory, economy and culture. The state was secure from both internal and external threats and the Pax Romana created prosperity. With the conquest of Dacia during the reign of Trajan the Empire saw the peak of its territorial expansion, at which point it covered 2.5 million square miles.
The period between 180 and 235 was dominated by the rule of the Severan dynasty. The period saw some of the most incompetent rulers in the history of the Empire, Elagabalus being one of the most notorious ones. This and the increasing influence of the army to imperial succession were among the main reasons for a long period known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century.
The crisis was ended by the competent rule of Diocletian, who in 293 divided the Empire into four parts ruled by two co-emperors, both aided by a junior emperor. This period is known as the Tetrarchy, and was the basis of the later East-West division of the Empire. The various co-rulers of the Empire competed and fought for supremacy for more than half a century. In 330 emperor Constantine I moved the capital to Byzantium. The empire was permanently divided into Eastern (Byzantine) and Western Empire in 364.
The Western Empire was constantly harassed by barbarian invasions. In 410 the city of Rome itself was sacked. In 476 the Germanic chief Odoacer forced the last Roman emperor in the West, Romulus Augustus, to abdicate. Having lasted for approximately 1200 years the rule of Rome in the West came to an end. The Empire survived in the East as the Byzantine Empire.
Causes for the downfall of the Empire
:Main article: Decline of the Roman Empire
The study of the Decline of the Roman Empire is a classic field of study in History. There are numerous theories as to the main cause for the decline, many of which are not mutually exclusive.
- According to a classic theory presented by Edward Gibbon in his book "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (1788), Rome succumbed to barbarian invasions because of a loss of civic virtue among its citizens.
- Henri Pirenne published the "Pirenne Thesis" in the 1920s which holds that the Empire continued, in some form, up until the the Arab conquests, which disrupted trade routes, and thereby the European economy.
- A theory pioneered by Peter Brown maintains that the Empire never "fell", but transformed in a gradual process into medieval Europe.
- Historians such as Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the Empire itself was a rotten system from its inception. The Romans had no budgetary system and relied on booty from conquered territories or on a pattern of taxation that bankrupted small-scale farmers. Financial needs continued to increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded.
- The historian Vegetius theorised and has recently been supported by Arther Ferrill that the Empire declined and as a result fell, due to a combination of increasing 'barbarization', as well as a surge in decadence and the following lethargy.
- Peter Turchin in War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations (2005) contends that empires, including Rome, fell because of inequalities within society resulting a lack of internal cooperation.
Legacy
Rome produced great generals, lawyers, and engineers, but no mathematicians or scientists and few artists of note. The legacy of Rome is primarily in the areas of language, law, warfare, and engineering.
Successor states
After the fall of the city of Rome and the Western Empire the state continued its existence as the Byzantine Empire, which is conventionally treated as a separate entity in history books. In addition, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia have claimed the "Roman" legacy after the fall of Constantinople (See Third Rome).
Military legacy
Before Rome, armies generally fought on the field of battle nature provided. The Romans built roads for troop movement, dug trenches, built seige engines, and introduced many other improvements in the art of war. It made them invincible, for a time. Generals today still study the Roman methods of waging war.
Linguistic legacy
One of the most enduring legacies of Rome is linguistic: Romance languages that evolved from Latin spoken in the Roman Empire are now spoken widely in Europe and Latin America, such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Moldovan amongst others.
Although English is a Germanic language, many English words derive from Latin roots, either directly from Roman occupation or through intermediary successor languages such as French.
Latin remains the official language of the Vatican City and is studied and understood by scholars around the world. However, fluent speech in Latin is very rare in present day. This is mainly due to the differences between Latin's reliance upon inflection of words and modern Romance languages' reliance upon syntax, in addition to lack of use.
Cultural legacy
The art of Rome borrows heavily from Greece -- the Romans themselves looked to the Greeks as their artistic superiors, and stole or copied more than they created. Virgil's Aneid, by common consent the greatest Roman literary work, borrowed or plagarized from Greek epics. Thus most of our cultural legacy from Rome is Greek culture passed on. The only generally recognized original Roman contribution to our culture is comic theater, which has given us not only A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum but also the Three Stooges. Another Roman artform will be revived only if our extreme sports eventually go so far as to include battles to the death.
Legal legacy
The Roman law formed the basis of most of the legal systems of Europe and her colonies for hundreds of years and has been the direct inspiration for the Senate of the United States and other modern nations. In the Byzantine Empire, the codes of Justinian preserved the codes of Roman law and formed the basis of legal practice in Greece even after the fall of the Byzantine empire.
In the West, Justinian’s codes were forgotten, but rediscovered in the 11th century. From that time, scholars began to study the ancient Roman legal texts, especially in Bologna. Many provisions of Roman law were better suited to regulate complex economic transactions than the customary rules of that time. Therefore Roman law began to be re-introduced into legal practice. By the middle of the 16th century, the Roman law dominated the legal practice in most European countries.
The practical application of Roman law came to an end when national codifications were made. In the course of the 19th century, many European states either adopted the French civil code model or drafted their own codes. In some parts of Germany, Roman law continued to be applied until late 19th century.
Religion
19th century]
Main articles: Roman mythology, Roman religion
Early Roman Religion
Archaic Roman "mythology", at least concerning the gods, was made up not of narratives, but rather of interlocking and complex interrelations between and among gods and humans. Gods were not personified, unlike in Ancient Greece. Romans also believed that every person, place or thing had their own genius (such as "Lares Familiares" - the family guardian spirits). Therefore the early Roman cult could be described as polydaemonism instead of polytheism.
The Romans distinguished two classes of gods, the di indigetes and the de novensides or novensiles. The indigetes were the original gods of the Roman state (see List of Di Indigetes). The novensides were later divinities whose cults were introduced to the city in the historical period, usually in response to a specific crisis or need.
At the head of the earliest pantheon were the triad Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Their priests, or flamens, were senior to others. Later this triad was supplanted by the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.
During the Roman republic there was a strict system of priestly offices, of which the Pontifex maximus was the most important. Flamens took care of the cults of various gods, while augurs were trusted with taking the auspices. The rex sacrorum, or "sacrificial king" took on the religious responsibilities of the deposed kings.
Late republic and the empire
As contact with the Greeks increased, the old Roman gods became associated with Greek gods. Therefore Jupiter was perceived to be the same deity as Zeus. Mars was associated with Ares and Neptune with Poseidon. The Roman gods also assumed the attributes and myth of these Greek gods.
The transference of the anthropomorphic qualities to Roman Gods, and the prevalence of Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the 1st century BC the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance and political influence remained. Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to center on the imperial house, and several emperors were deified after their deaths.
Spread of Eastern Religions
Under the empire, numerous foreign cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras. Also, starting from the second century, Christianity began to spread in the Empire. Despite persecutions, Christianity steadily gained converts. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under Constantine I. All cults except Christianity were prohibited in AD 391 by an edict of Emperor Theodosius I.
Society
Classes
The free citizens of Rome were divided into two classes: patricians and plebeians. The patricians were the dominant social class, the plebeians much more numerous. Originally, only patricians could be elected to office. Intermarrying between the classes was forbidden and the patrician title could only be inherited, not earned. During the Roman Republic, a series of struggles led to increased rights for the plebeians, who were represented by tribunes. Tribunes had veto power over acts of the Senate. However, since voting was by tribes rather than by individuals, the vote of a plebeian never counted as much as the vote of a patrician. The patrician tribes voted first, and if they were united could attain a majority vote (by tribe) in which case the plebeian vote was not counted.
Late in the Republic, the distinction between patricians and plebeians became less important, due to the rise of citizens whose power depended on wealth rather than family. Crassus, at one time the richest man in Rome, became council in spite of his plebeian birth. A new ruling class, the optimates, were those families, patrician or plebeian, who had produced a consul. The conservatives, led by Cicero, decried the power of the "upstarts" and spoke with contempt of anyone not born into the patrician class. A particular target of their wrath was Pompey, who dispite his great wealth, popularity, and military victories, was mocked for his crude manners and outlandish accent. During the empire, the class division fell into disuse and was largely forgotten.
In the early Republic, citizens were also divided into classes according to the armament they could afford to buy for themselves for military service. The richest class was the equestrians or knights, who could afford a war horse. There were both patrician and plebeian equestrians. Later in the Republic, fixed amounts of wealth replaced military equipment as the basis of classification. Higher classes had more political power and prestige than lower classes. This system also lost its meaning after the abolition of the Republic.
In the Late Republic, and under the Principate and emperors, Roman society was stratified according to wealth. The highest class was the Senatorial class, membership of which was maintained by the Censors and had a minimum property qualification of 1'000'000 Sesterces. It is worth noting that membership of the Senatorial class did not entail membership of the Senate. Members of the Senatorial class were prohibited from engaging directly in business and trade. They were permitted to receive an income from the possession of large agricultural estates. With a few exceptions, all political posts were filled with men from the Senatorial class.
The second tier were the Equites. A through back to a military class of the Early Republic, membership of the Equites later required a property qualification of 400'000 Sesterces. Equites were allowed to engage in commerce and were often extremely wealthy. Petronius satirizes the wealth of the Equites class in the Satyricon. He descibes in details a sumptuous dinner party hosted by the disagreeable Knight Trimalchio. Certain political positions were filled by Equites: most notably under Principes, the head of the Praetorian Guard.
Family
The basic units of Roman society were households and families. Household included the head of the household (paterfamilias), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes slaves and servants were also part of the household. Romans certainly did not see the family as those of the suburban West do today - their family was more far reaching in definition. The head of the household had great power over those living with him: could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery and possibly even had the right to kill family members (this has been recently disputed in academic circles). This particular manifestation of familial power was called "patria potestas", literally "fathers power". One interesting point of note is that wives did not always count as family, as they could choose to continue recognising their father's family as their true family, and not necessarily adopt their husband's family.
Groups of related households formed a family (gens). Families were based on blood ties (or adoption), but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the Roman Republic some powerful families, or Gentes Maiores came to dominate political life.
Ancient Roman marriage was often regarded more as a financial and political alliance than as a romantic association, especially in the upper classes. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride. While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women often married in their late teens or early twenties.
Economy
Ancient Roman marriage, a standardized silver coin (See also Roman currency).]]
The early economy was largely dependent on slave labour, and slaves constituted around 20 percent of the population. A slave’s price was dependent on their skills, and a slave trained in medicine was equivalent to 50 agricultural slaves. In the later period, hired labour became more economical than slave ownership.
Finance
Although barter was common (and often used in tax collection) the monetary system was highly developed, with brass, bronze, and precious metal coins in circulation throughout the empire and beyond (some have been discovered in India).
Before the 3rd Century BC, copper was traded by weight (in unmarked lumps) across Central Italy. The original copper coins (As) had a face value of a Roman pound of copper, but weighed less (according to Mommsen early coins weighed at most 312 g, but late second century BC As contained only 19 g of copper). Hence, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its intrinsic value as metal; after Nero began debasing the silver Denarii, Mommsen estimated its legal value at one third greater than intrinsic (it was an offence to refuse payment in Denarii).
Trade
Horses were too expensive, and other pack animals too slow, for mass trade on the roman roads, which connected military posts (rather than markets) and were rarely designed for wheels. Therefore, there was little transport of commodities between Roman regions, until the rise of Roman maritime trade in the second century BC. During that period a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from Gades to Alexandria via Ostia, spanning the entire length of the Mediterranean.
The agricultural free trade changed the Italian landscape, and by the first century BC vast grape and olive estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers who were unable to match the imported grain price. The volume of trade was so great that a single mound of cargo pottery vessel fragments is over forty metres high and a kilometre around.
Culture
Literature
Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history and tragedy.
Epic Poetry
Virgil represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His Aeneid was produced at the request of Maecenas and tells the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. Lucretius, in his On the Nature of Things, attempted to explicate science in an epic poem. Some of his science seems remarkably modern, other ideas, especially his theory of light, are no longer accepted. Later Ovid produced his Metamorphoses, written in hexameter verse, the meter of epic, attempting a complete mythology from the creation of the earth to his own time. He unifies his subject matter through the theme of metamorphosis. It was noted in classical times that Ovid's work lacked the gravitas possessed by traditional epic poetry.
Shorter Poems
Catullus and his set of neoteric poets produced poetry following the Alexandrian model, which experimented with poetic forms challenging tradition. He was also the first Roman poet to produce love poetry, seemingly autobiographical, which depicts an affair with a woman called Lesbia. Under the Emperor Augustus, Horace continued the tradition of shorter poems, with his Odes and Epodes. Martial, writing under the Emperor Domitian, was a famed author of epigrams, poems which were often abusive and censured piblic figures.
Drama
The genre of satire was traditionally regarded as a Roman innovation and satiric plays were written by, among others, Juvenal. Some of the most popular plays of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of Terence, a freed Roman slave captured during the First Punic War.
Letters
A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The rhetorical works of Cicero, in particular, were popular.
Visual arts
Most of the first styles of Roman painting came from the Etruscan influences. The Etruscan practice of painting for political reasons continued in Rome. In the 3rd century BC as the Romans contact with Greece continued Greek art was taken as booty from wars. The Greek art became popular with the Romans. Many landscapes from Greek artists decorated many of Roman houses. Although Greek influence was popular in Roman Paintings discoveries in Pompeii showed that Romans used a wide variety of styles for thier paintings.
One of first roman style was known as "Incrustation", where interior walls of houses were painted like colored marble. Another style was to paint the interiors like open landscapes with higly detailed scenes of plants, animals, and buildings.
Although the Romans acquired their artistic traditions from Greece, they also played a very important role in the development of art. The Romans created an atmosphere with an appreciation of the arts that allowed for the continuation of artistic development, inspiration, and ideas.
Portrait sculpture during the period depited youthful and classical porportions. Later the sculptures were a mixture of realist and idealist. During the Antonine and Severan periods deeper cuts and drilling creded more ornate hair and beards. Advancements were made in relief sculptures and usually depicted in victories of the Romans.
Education
The goal of education in Rome was to make the students effective speakers. School started on March 24th each year. Every school day started in early morning and continued throughout the afternoon. Originally, boys were taught to read and write by their father, or by educated slaves, usually of Greek origin. Village schools were also established.
Later, around 200 BC, boys and some girls were sent to schools outside the home around age 6. Basic Roman education included reading, writing, and counting, and their materials consisted of scrolls and books. At age 13, students learned about Greek and Roman literature and grammar in school. At age 16, some students went on to rhetoric school. Poorer people did not go to school, but were usually taught by their parents because school was not free.
Architecture and technology
Construction technology and engineering
Roads
rhetoric to the Southern parts of Italy remains usable even today.]]
The Romans primarily built roads for military purposes. They allowed the legions to be rapidly deployed in far reaches of the realm. However, their economic importance was also significant. At its largest extent the total length of the Roman road network was 85 000 km (53 000 miles).
Way stations providing refreshments were maintained by the goverment at regular intervals along the roads. A separate system of changing stations for official and private couriers was also maintained. This allowed a dispatch to travel a maximum of 800 km (500 miles) in 24 hours by using a relay of horses.
The roads were constructed by digging a pit along the length of the intended course, often to bedrock. The pit was first filled with rocks, gravel or sand and then a layer of concrete. Finally they were paved with polygonal rock slabs. Bridges were constructed over waterways. The roads were resistant to floods and other environmental hazards. After the fall of the Roman empire the roads were still usable and used for more than 1000 years.
Aqueducts
bedrock is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site.]]
The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself was supplied by eleven aqueducts with combined length of 350 km (260 miles). Most aqueducts were constructed below the surface with only small portions above ground supported by arches. The longest Roman aqueduct, 141 km (87 miles) in length, was built to supply the city of Carthage.
Roman aqueducts were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and to a technological standard that was not to be equaled until modern times. Powered entirely by gravity, they transported very large amounts of water very efficiently. Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 m had to be crossed, inverted siphons were used to force water uphill.
Baths
The baths served hygienic, social and cultural functions. The baths contained three main facilities for bathing. After undressing in the apodyterium or changing room, Romans would proceed to the tepidarium or warm room. In the moderate dry heat of the tepidarium, some performed warm-up exercises and stretched while others oiled themselves or had slaves oil them. The tepidarium’s main purpose was to promote sweating to prepare for the next room, the caldarium or hot room. The caldarium, unlike the tepidarium, was extremely humid and hot. Temperatures in the caldarium could reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Many contained steam baths and a cold-water fountain known as the labrum. The last room was the frigidarium or cold room, which offered a cold bath for cooling off after the caldarium.
Government
Roman Kingdom
Initially Rome was ruled by elected kings. The exact nature of the King's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may also have been just the chief executive of the Senate and the people. At least in military matters, the King's authority (imperium) was probably absolute. He was also the head of the state religion.
In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies. The Senate acted as an advisory body for the King. The Curiate Assembly could pass laws suggested by the King and may have provided advise on succession. The Comitia Calata was mainly an assembly of the people to witness certain acts and hear proclamations.
Roman Republic
The class struggles of the Roman Republic resulted in an unusual mixture of democracy and oligarchy. Roman laws traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly. Likewise candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. The Roman Senate represented an oligarchic insitution, which acted as an advisory body and issued its desicions in Senatus Consulta.
The Republic had no fixed bureaucracy and only collected war taxes. Private citizens aspiring to high office largely paid for public works. In order to prevent any citizen gaining too much power, new magistrates were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions the highest authority was held by two consuls. In an emergency, a temporary dictator could be appointed.
During the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the vastly expanded empire. This was one of the reasons for the birth of the Roman Empire.
Roman Empire
Central government
In the early Empire the pretence of a republican form of government was maintained and the emperor was portrayed as only a "first citizen". Initially the Senate retained a degree of influence. However, the rule of the emperors became increasingly autocratic and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the emperor.
The Roman Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisors, but the state lacked many institutions, such as centrally planned budget. This is cited by some historians as a significant reason for the Decline of the Roman Empire.
Local government
The territory of the Empire was divided into provinces. The number of provinces increased with time as new territories were conquered, but also as provinces were divided into smaller units to discourage rebellions by powerful local rulers . Initially the provinces were divided into imperial and senatorial provinces, depending on which institution had the right to select the governor.
During the Tetrarchy, the provinces of the empire were divided into 12 dioceses, each headed by a praetor vicarius. The civilian and military authority were separated, with civilian matters still administred by the governor, but with military command transferred to a dux.
Senate
The Roman Senate was an advisory body consisting of some of the most influential citizens. In the Roman Republic, it held great authority (auctoritas in Latin), but no actual legislative power (imperium). However, as the senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate.
In the Roman Republic the Censors chose new members for the Senate among the most accomplished citizens. They could also remove a senator from his office if he was found morally corrupt. Later, membership in the Senate followed from the election as a quaestor. In the Roman Empire, the Emperor appointed senators, although for much of the time of the Empire, elections were still held, and the results followed. However, this veil of democracy, created by Augustus at the beginning of the transformation from Republic to Empire, was deceiving. In reality, no one disliked by the Emperor could stand. Furthermore, when there was a competitive election, the Emperor would issue his opinion on who should be elected, usually sealing the outcome.
Military
The early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states, a citizen force where the bulk of the troops fought as hoplites. The soldiers were required to supply their own arms and would return to civilian life once their service was ended.
The first of the great army reformers, Camillus, reorganized the army to adopt manipular tactics and divided the infantry into three lines: hastati, principes and triarii.
The middle class smallholders had traditionally been the backbone of the Roman army but, by the end of the 2nd century BC, the self-owning farmer had largely disappeared as a social class. Faced with acute manpower problems, Gaius Marius transformed the army into a fully professional force and accepted recruits from the lower classes.
The last army reorganization came when Emperor Constantine I divided the army into a static defense force and a mobile field army. During the Late Empire, Rome also became increasingly dependent upon allied contingents, foederati.
See also
- Culture of Ancient Rome
- List of Ancient Rome-related topics
- Timeline of Ancient Rome
- Roman Agriculture
External links
- [http://www.crystalinks.com/rome.html Ancient Rome info]
- [http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html Ancient Roman History Timeline]
- [http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_rome.htm Ancient Rome pictures, art, and info]
Link: [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html The Private Life of the Romans by Harold Whetstone Johnston]
References
Ancient sources
# "Vitae Caesarum" by Suetonius, 2nd century
# "Ab urbe condita" by Titus Livius, ca. AD 5
# [http://www.uvm.edu/~rrodgers/Frontinus.html "De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae"] by Sextus Julius Frontinus (On the water management of the city of Rome, translated by R. H. Rodgers, 2003, University of Vermont) (retrieved November 22, 2005)
Pre-20th century sources
# "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon, 1788
Modern sources
# "The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome" by Chris Scarre, Penguin Books 1995
# [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html "The Private Life of the Romans"] by Harold Whetstone Johnston, 1903 (retrieved November 13, 2005)
# "The Punic Wars" by Nigel Bagnall, Thomas Dunne Books 1990
# "Rooman konsulit" ("The Consuls of Rome") by Pekka Tuomisto, Karisto 2002
# "War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations" by Peter Turchin, Pearson Education/PI Press (2005)
# "Cäsar" by Christian Meier, Severin und Siedler 1982 (English translation "Caesar", HarperCollins Publishers 1995)
# [http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome/ "Waterhistory.org"], website maintained by the ([http://www.iwha.net International Water History Association]) (retrieved November 22, 2005)
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