Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare force. Formed toward the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world. Following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history, in particular, playing a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.

The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed: to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government’s foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security." The RAF describe its mission statement as "... [to provide] An agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission." The mission statement is supported by the RAF's definition of air power, which guides its strategy. Air power is defined as: "The ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events."

RAF-977

The RAF-977 was a Soviet (now Latvian) van made by Riga Autobus Factory (RAF) based on components from the GAZ-21 Volga. It was introduced in 1958 and was manufactured in two main styles: a 10-seat minibus and an ambulance. In 1961, an updated version called the RAF-977D was put into production; this had a one-piece windshield, instead of the split, and Volga steering wheel among its other detail changes. Variants included the 977I ambulance and a special Intourist model, which had better seats, roof lights, and sunroof.

The RAF 983, based on the 977, was a fire department vehicle.

The shortened RAF 978, powered by the Moskvitch 407's 45 hp (34 kW; 46 PS) 1,360 cc (83 cu in) engine, was not a success, in part because the engine lacked torque, and ride quality suffered due to the shortened wheelbase.

In 1969, it was replaced by the improved RAF-677DM. This had a wider passenger door and fewer but longer side windows (three on driver's side and two on passenger's, rather than five and three before). The ambulance now had the same number of windows, rather than fewer; it was now the 977IM, and the tourist variant was the 977EM.

Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar

The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar was an aero engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar IV and in 1927 by the Jaguar VI.

Design and development

The Jaguar was developed from the Royal Aircraft Factory RAF.8 design proposal of 1917, and was engineered to use a gear-driven supercharger. First run on 21 June 1922 initial performance was not as expected, as a result the bore was increased to 5.5 in (139.7 mm), with all variants after the Jaguar I using this dimension. Throughout its career the Jaguar suffered from vibration due to a lack of a crankshaft centre bearing.

The most powerful version of the engine, the Jaguar VIC, produced a maximum of 490 hp (365 kW) on takeoff at 1,950 rpm and weighed 910 lb (413 kg). The later Lynx was designed using one row of Jaguar cylinders.

Variants

Applications

Engines on display

A preserved Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar is on public display at the Science Museum (London).

Generic top-level domain

Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last label of every fully qualified domain name. They are called generic for historic reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in RFC 920.

The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the com, info, net, and org domains. In addition, the domains biz, name, and pro are also considered generic; however, these are designated as restricted, because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each.

Historically, the group of generic top-level domains included domains, created in the early development of the domain name system, that are now sponsored by designated agencies or organizations and are restricted to specific types of registrants. Thus, domains edu, gov, int, and mil are now considered sponsored top-level domains, much like the themed top-level domains (e.g., jobs). The entire group of domains that do not have a geographic or country designation (see country-code top-level domain) is still often referred to by the term generic TLDs.

Faith (comics)

Faith is a superhero in the DC Comics universe who first appeared in JLA #69 (October 2002).

Fictional character biography

Faith is a female hero with tremendous psychic powers. Often nicknamed by her teammates "the Fat Lady", a reference to the line "it's not over until the fat lady sings".

Faith’s first appearance in the DC universe was as a substitution by Batman for the Justice League when the main members were transported into the past during the events of the Obsidian Age. Of the numerous heroes in the DC Universe to serve on the Justice League, Batman chose her along with Green Arrow, Firestorm, Hawkgirl, Jason Blood, Major Disaster, and the Atom to replace the original members in a short tenure with Nightwing as the new leader.

The new Justice League confronted Gamemnae and eventually defeated her with the help of the original Justice League. Faith’s tenure with the Justice League is not limited to the Obsidian Age. During her time on the team, she helped out with many other threats, such as the fire-controlling entity Fernus. She also became close to Major Disaster, letting him see her true form. She remained with the Justice League until she was bitten by vampires in the “Tenth Circle” storyline.

Faith in Buddhism

Faith (Pāli: saddhā, Sanskrit: śraddhā) is an initial acceptance of the Buddha's teaching prior to realising its truth for oneself. It is an important constituent element of all traditions of Buddhism, although the kind and nature of faith changes in the different schools. Other translations of saddhā/śraddhā include confidence and trust. According to received Pali-Buddhist tradition, some of the first words voiced by the Buddha after resolving to teach Dharma were, "Wide opened is the door of the Deathless to all who have ears to hear; let them send forth faith [saddhā] to meet it."

Early Buddhism

Kalama Sutta

According to Guiliano Giustarini, "Saddhā is usually translated as faith, but it is not to be meant as a dogmatic belief." In the Kalama Sutta the Buddha himself argues against simply following authority, tradition or specious reasoning. Instead, a person should himself derive a moral judgement thus:

Even though one's own experience and judgement is emphasized in accepting Buddha and Buddhism, one should also heed to the counsel of the wise, meaning a Buddha or a Buddhist teacher well versed in the Buddhist teachings.