Swan

Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus. The swans' close relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six or seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as the coscoroba swan, although this species is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though "divorce" does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

Etymology and terminology

The English word 'swan', akin to the German Schwan, Dutch zwaan and Swedish svan, is derived from Indo-European root *swen (to sound, to sing). Young swans are known as swanlings or as cygnets, from Greek κύκνος, kýknos and from the Latin word cygnus ("swan") and the Old French suffix -et ("little"). An adult male is a cob, from Middle English cobbe (leader of a group); an adult female is a pen.

Swan (manga)

Swan (スワン) is a shōjo manga by Kyoko Ariyoshi. The shōjo magazine Margaret serialized the story in Japan during the seventies. 21 volumes were released. In North America the story was published by CMX, but the series was abandoned after 15 volumes due to the closure of the imprint. The plot mostly follows a young girl, Masumi, as she struggles to become a ballerina.

Plot

The first volume begins with Masumi sneaking backstage after a Tokyo ballet performance in order to express her admiration for the lead dancers, Alexei Sergeiev and Maria Prisetskaya . However, when she meets the stars, Masumi becomes tongue-tied and clumsily begins to dance the Odile Variation from Swan Lake. Sergeiev and Prisetskaya graciously excuse her, saying that nothing could give them more happiness than her physical expression of appreciation, and Masumi returns home slightly embarrassed. Later, Masumi receives an invitation to enter a nationwide ballet competition. The competition is being held to discover the best ballet students in Japan, in order to invite them to an exclusive ballet school designed to improve the quality of Japanese ballet. Her impromptu dance for Sergeiev and Prisetskaya captured the attention of Sergeiev, and so Masumi goes to Tokyo in order to compete.

Swan (nuclear primary)

Swan was a U.S. test nuclear explosive, which was developed into the XW-45 warhead.

It was tested standalone on June 22, 1956 in shot Redwing Inca. It was tested again as the primary of a thermonuclear device on July 2, 1956 in shot Redwing Mohawk. Both tests were successful. It subsequently served as the primary in numerous thermonuclear devices during the 1950s.

Most subsequent U.S. primaries are Swan-derived, including the Robin, the Tsetse, the Python, and the much later (asymmetrical) ovoid (prolate) primaries.

Design features

The Swan device is the first design to incorporate a two-point hollow-pit air lens implosion assembly together with fusion boosting.

The Swan device had a yield of 15 kilotons, weighed 105 lb (47.6 kg), and had a (symmetrical) ovoid (non-prolate) shape with a diameter of 11.6 inches (29.5 cm) and a length of 22.8 inches (58 cm), a length to diameter ratio of 1.97.

The above schematic illustrates what were probably its essential features.

One-point safety

STAR (interbank network)

STAR is an interbank network and EFTPOS network in the United States. It is the largest American interbank network, with 2 millionATMs, 134 million cardholders and over 5,700 participating financial institutions. The STAR Network began in 1984 and was acquired by First Data Corporation in 2003. The network is owned and operated by STAR Networks, a subsidiary company of First Data.

Mergers

The network has existed since the 1980s, and has since included several other networks, mostly in the 2000s:

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References

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Cactus (record label)

Cactus was a UK record label that found most of its success with music from the reggae genre in the mid 1970s.

A subsidiary of Creole Records, Cactus released predominantly reggae songs from artists such Rupie Edwards, I-Roy, Pluto, John Holt and Judge Dread. The label had acquired the rights to music from Pyramid Records and had UK chart success with re-releases of Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" and with Dekker's, "Sing a Little Song".

See also

References

Cactus (TV series)

Cactus (Persian :کاکتوس) is a 1998Iranian satirical TV series directed by Mohammad Reza Honarmand. Various actors played in the series including Fathali Oveisi, Khosrow Shakibai, Reza Fieze Norouzi, Rasool Najafian, Soroosh Sehhat and Zohreh Mojabi. Cactus was aired in three parts between 1998 to 2002.

IRIB's Channel 1 broadcast the TV series.

References

Blood Creek

Blood Creek, previously known as Creek and Town Creek, is a horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, starring Michael Fassbender as the main antagonist and written by Dave Kajganich. The film had a limited theatrical release on September 18, 2009. The film also stars Dominic Purcell and Henry Cavill as brothers on a mission of revenge who become trapped in a harrowing occult experiment dating back to the Third Reich.

Plot

In 1936, a German professor, Richard Wirth, is hosted by the Wollners, a family of German emigrants in West Virginia. The Wollners believe him to be a visiting scholar, but Wirth turns out to be a Nazi occultist who seeks a Viking runestone buried on their property. When Wirth reveals he wants to use it for evil, he is interrupted by the family, who trap him in their basement and bind him through a ritual that requires frequent human sacrifices. Linked to Wirth, the family survive through the decades, operating as both captors and servants to Wirth, who they keep weakened.