Rocketship X-M

Rocketship X-M (aka Expedition Moon and originally as Rocketship Expedition Moon) is a 1950 American black-and-white science fiction film from Lippert Pictures, the first outer space adventure of the post-World War II era. The film was produced and directed by Kurt Neumann, and stars Lloyd Bridges, Osa Massen, John Emery, Noah Beery, Jr., Hugh O'Brian and Morris Ankrum.

Rocketship X-M tells the story of a Moon expedition that, through a series of unforeseen events, winds up traveling instead to distant Mars. Once on the Red Planet, its crew discovers the remnants of a Martian civilization destroyed long ago by atomic war and now reverted to barbarism.

Plot

Four men and a woman blast into outer space from the White Sands Proving Ground aboard the RX-M (Rocketship Expedition-Moon) on humanity's first expedition to Luna. Halfway to their destination, the RX-M's engines shut down; the problem is resolved by recalculating the fuel mixture ratios and then moving around some of the propellent tanks and their connecting hoses. When the engines are reignited, the RX-M rapidly careens out of control on a runaway course heading beyond the Moon and into deep space. During this burst of rapid acceleration, the crew becomes unconscious due to a drop in oxygen pressure. The engines are shut off just in time. The crew revives at some later time and discovers they have traveled some 50,000,000 miles. This sequence of events has put them on a direct heading toward Mars. They also notice their speed is still increasing, due to gravitational attraction of the Red Planet. They calculate they are only 50,000 miles away; this forces Dr. Karl Eckstrom (John Emery) to "pause and observe respectfully while something infinitely greater assumes control".

Xẩm

Xẩm or Hát xẩm (Xẩm singing) is a type of Vietnamese folk music which was popular in the Northern region of Vietnam but is nowadays considered an endangered form of traditional music in Vietnam. In the dynastic time, xẩm was generally performed by blind artists who wandered from town to town and earned their living by singing in common places. Xẩm artists often play đàn bầu or đàn nhị to accompany the songs themselves, and sometimes they form a band with one singer and others who play traditional instruments such as the drum or phách. The melodies of xẩm are borrowed from different types of Vietnamese folk music such as trống quân or quan họ, while its themes are generally The Tale of Kiều, Lục Vân Tiên, and other popular Vietnamese stories.

History and performers

The origin of xẩm was dated from the Trần dynasty in the 14th century. During the dynastic time, xẩm was popular in the Northern region of Vietnam. Traditionally, xẩm was performed by blind artists who wandered from town to town and earned their living by singing in common places such as markets or communal temples. At the beginning of the 20th century, xẩm artists performed on the trams of the public transport system of Hanoi, so this type of folk music was sometimes called xẩm tàu điện (tram xẩm).

International trade

International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories, which could involve the activities of the government and individual. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product (GDP). While international trade has been present throughout much of history (see Uttarapatha, Silk Road, Amber Road, salt road), its economic, social, and political importance has been on the rise in recent centuries. It is the presupposition of international trade that a sufficient level of geopolitical peace and stability are prevailing in order to allow for the peaceful exchange of trade and commerce to take place between nations.

Trading globally gives consumers and countries the opportunity to be exposed to new markets and products. Almost every kind of product can be found on the international market: food, clothes, spare parts, oil, jewelry, wine, stocks, currencies and water. Services are also traded: tourism, banking, consulting and transportation. A product that is sold to the global market is an export, and a product that is bought from the global market is an import. Imports and exports are accounted for in a country's current account in the balance of payments.

XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service included 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM channels were identified by Arbitron with the label "XM" (e.g., "XM32" for "The Bridge").

The company had its origins in the 1988 formation of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. In 1992, AMSC established a unit called the American Mobile Radio Corporation dedicated to developing a satellite-based digital radio service; this was spun off as XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. in 1999. The satellite service was officially launched on September 25, 2001.

On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, forming Sirius XM Radio, Inc. with XM Satellite Radio, Inc. as its subsidiary. On November 12, 2008, Sirius and XM began broadcasting with their new, combined channel lineups. On January 13, 2011, XM Satellite Radio, Inc. was dissolved as a separate entity and merged into Sirius XM Radio, Inc. Prior to its merger with Sirius, XM was the largest satellite radio company in the United States.