Sunday, September 30, 2007

AA
The letter A is the first letter in the Latin and Old Italic alphabet. It is also the capital form of the Greek letter alpha as well as the first letter of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Usage
In Unicode the capital A is codepoint U+0041 and the lowercase a is U+0061.
In Hex, A is the character used to represent decimal 10, or in binary, 01010
The ASCII code for capital A is 65 and for lowercase a is 97; or in binary 01000001 and 01100001, respectively.
The EBCDIC code for capital A is 193 and for lowercase a is 129.
The morse code for A is dit dah or a dot and a dash
The numeric character references in HTML and XML are "A" and "a" for upper and lower case respectively.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains is a small mountain range located north of the Alps and they separate the Rhine and Rhone rivers forming part of the watershed of each. The range is being continually deformed by mountain building, accommodating the compression from alpine folding as the main Alpine orogenic front moves roughly northwards. The deformation becomes less pervasive away from the younger more active Alpine mountain building.
The folds comprise three major (lithological units) bands of building evidenced dated roughly by era: the Malm, Dogger, and Lias (part of the Jurassic Geologic period). Each era of folding represents effects on a previously shallow marine environment as evidenced by beds with particular carbonate sequences, containing abundant bioclasts and oolitic divisions between layers (called horizons).
Structurally, the Jura consists of a sequence of folds, the formation of which is facilitated by an evaporitic decollement layer. The box folds are still relatively young, and this is evident in that they define the shape of the overlying landscape, meaning that they have not existed long enough to experience erosion and thus are evidence of recent mountain building.
The highest peak in the Jura range is Crêt de la Neige at 1,720 meters (5,643 feet), although previously it was believed to be 1,717.6 meters (5,635.2 feet).
Seven men died climbing these mountains in 1940.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Landry of Sées
Landry of Sées (Landericus) was a French saint and bishop. The earliest record found of a person named Landry was in the 5th Century ca. 450 in the person of St. Landry, third Bishop of Sées who died on March 4, 480 and whose feast day is July 16.
Landry was the successor of Saint Sigibold, himself successor of Saint Latrium (Latuinus, Lain, or Latuin), first occupant of the episcopal see (from 400 to 440). He lived in great sanctity and was responsible for great progress of Christianity in his diocese.
It appears that this was done in spite of great resistance, because in his legend, it is said that he was placed in a barrel filled with flax combs and rolled from the top to the bottom of a mountain. Nevertheless, this fact is not ascertained and he died at a great age on March 4, 480, in the arms of Saint Contest, Bishop of Bayeux, who happened to be in Seez at the time.

Landry of Sées Veneration
He was buried in his cathedral dedicated to the Virgin. It is not the magnificent gothic building, which can be seen nowadays, because the one in which Saint Landry rested was destroyed in 878, during the invasion by the Saxons.
His name appears in the Martyrology of Ainon and as soon as the eleventh century there was a saint's day for him on July 16. Focoal inserted in a Breviary a double service in his honor. This office has been recited in the diocese until 1864. In all the churches, the following prayer was said:
Lord Almighty, who had tested the faith of the Blessed Saint Landry and rewarded his piety, enliven us with a great zeal in order to work, in following his example, for our sanctification, and substain our weakness, with the help of the prayers of your faithful servant. Grant us this grace, by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Brian Tobin
Brian Vincent Tobin, PC (born October 21, 1954) is a Canadian politician.
Tobin was born in in Stephenville, Newfoundland. He studied political science at Memorial University in St. John's. He worked a brief stint as a TV news announcer before joining the Liberal Party of Canada as a political aide.
First elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1980, Tobin became familiar to Canadians in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a member of the so-called opposition "Rat Pack".
Following the 1993 federal election in which the Liberals regained power from the Progressive Conservatives after almost a decade in opposition, Tobin was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans for his loyalty to Jean Chrétien during Chrétien's second campaign for leadership of the Liberals in 1990.
In the ministry, Tobin distinguished himself from his colleagues with speeches rife with rhetoric and his youthful exuberance. Throughout 1994 he mounted a fierce campaign against foreign over-fishing of waters on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, located just outside Canada's declared 200 nautical mile (370 km) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). People across Canada took notice of this new and aggressive posture, a position that had not been taken by a federal minister — Liberal or Conservative — since the EEZ was declared in 1977.
Critics note that Tobin was likely doing this to preserve his political life in his home province. At this point, Newfoundland and Labrador was wracked by rapidly rising unemployment and social unrest over the fiscal situation which many believed had been caused by federal mismanagement of foreign and domestic overfishing. This had resulted in the 1990 "Northern Cod Moratorium." In April 1995, Tobin's department was embroiled in the so-called "Turbot War" which pitted Canada against the European Union. Later that month, Tobin conducted an international news conference from a barge on the East River outside the United Nations headquarters and dramatically displayed an illegal trawl net that had been cut from a Spanish trawler which was arrested outside the Canadian EEZ.
Tobin helped organize a pro-Canada rally in Montreal before the October 1995 Quebec referendum — bussing in thousands of university students and other residents from English Canada, thus earning him the nickname of "Captain Canada" in a partial nod to his role in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
In 1996, Tobin resigned from federal politics to pursue the leadership of the Liberal Party of Newfoundland after the resignation of Premier Clyde Wells. Tobin won handily and as Premier of Newfoundland, had the good fortune to preside over the province during an unprecedented economic boom brought on by offshore oil and gas exploration and development, as well as the discovery of one of the world's largest nickel deposits at Voisey's Bay in coastal Labrador. Tobin pursued tough negotiations with out-of-province companies seeking to export the resource for refining and smelting elsewhere, insisting that the resource will never be mined unless Newfoundlanders received secondary manufacturing and tertiary service spin-offs. A similar tough stance was taken in seeking to develop the lower Churchill River, keeping in mind the contract his predecessor Joey Smallwood had been forced to sign.
It was also during this time in the lead-up to the millennium that Newfoundland undertook an aggressive tourism marketing campaign which focused on important anniversaries such as the 500th year since John Cabot's voyage of discovery (1997), as well as the 1000th year since Vikings such as Leif Ericson made landfall on the province's shores (2000). Tobin brought his province international exposure with his negotiations to have Newfoundland's unique time zone and geographic position recognized to a world-wide live television audience as being the first location in North America to celebrate the arrival of the millennium.
In the fall of 2000, Tobin suddenly resigned to join the federal Cabinet and run for re-election to the House of Commons in a snap election called by Jean Chrétien. Chretien appointed his friend the choice and powerful position of Minister of Industry before the election, replacing John Manley, and Tobin was easily elected in the riding of Bonavista—Trinity—Conception. His departure from the premiership caused speculation among Newfoundlanders and Canadians about his aspirations for the leadership of the federal Liberals following what was assumed would be Chrétien's final term as prime minister. Tobin's position in Industry would allow him to develop a relationship with the nation's business leaders who would ultimately be financing any potential leadership campaign. In the winter of 2002, Tobin resigned and left federal politics completely in what was interpreted by observers to be frustration at the stranglehold on the future leadership of the Liberal party by the then Minister of Finance, Paul Martin.
In retirement from politics, Tobin has served on the board of several Canadian corporations, and became CEO of Magna International Developments (MID), controller of Magna's vast real estate and horse track holdings (the latter through MEC). He left in a dispute over the propriety of a share buy-back program. He is now a Senior Business Advisor with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Toronto and a member of the firm's Public Policy Group. He has authored his suggestively-named auto-biography entitled All In Good Time.
With the defeat of the Liberals in the 2006 Canadian federal election to Stephen Harper's Conservatives, Prime Minister Martin announced his intention to resign the leadership of the party. On January 31, 2006, Tobin officially announced that he would not be running for the federal Liberal leadership. This put to rest many of the rumours that he would run to replace Martin.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Charles Pelot Summerall
Charles Pelot Summerall (March 4, 1867 - May 14, 1955) was a U.S. general who fought in World War I and served as Army Chief of Staff between 1926 and 1930.
Born in Blount's Ferry, Florida, Summerall attended the Porter Military Academy in South Carolina from 1882 to 1885. After graduation, he worked as a school teacher for three years. In 1888, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and graduated in June 1892. He was first assigned to the 1st Infantry but transferred to the 5th Artillery in March of 1893.
Charles Summerall fought in the Spanish-American war in 1898. From 1899 to 1900, he fought in the Philippine-American War as an Engineer Officer and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. In 1900-1901, he was promoted to Captain and assigned to the 106th Field Artillery while participating in the attack on Peking during the China Relief Expedition at the time of the Chinese Boxer Rebellion.
Charles married Laura Mordecai in August of 1901. His son, Charles Summerall Jr., was born in 1902 and eventually retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Army.
From 1905 to 1911, Charles Summerall was the Senior Instructor of Artillery Tactics at West Point. He was promoted to Major in 1911 and put in charge of purchasing land for artillery training on behalf of the U.S. Army. In 1915, he was assigned to investigating the manufacture of munitions to be purchased by the U.S. Army.
Charles Summerall was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1916, and Colonel in 1917. In August of 1917 he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the National Army and National Army Major-General in 1918. In February 1919, he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the Regular Army and Regular Army Major-General in April 1920.
Serving on the front line in France during World War I, Major-General Charles Summerall was Commander of the First Division and later became Commander of the Fifth Corps.
November 21, 1926, Major-General Summerall became Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. He was promoted to General in February 1929. In November 1930, after 38 years of service, he retired from the U.S. Army.
In 1931, General Summerall took position as President of The Citadel where he stayed for 22 years, retiring in 1953. In his honor, The Citadel's silent drill team was named The Summerall Guards. General Summerall died in Washington D.C. in 1954. He rests at the Arlington National Cemetery - (Section 30 USA S-19) along with his wife Laura (Mordecai) Summerall, son Colonel Charles Pelot Summerall, Jr., and daughter in-law Julia Summerall.
General Summerall's decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star and numerous foreign decorations. He received the Distinguished Service Cross as commanding general of the 1st Division
"for extraordinary heroism in action before Berzy-le-Sec, near Soissons, France, during the Aisne-Marne offensive, July 19, 1918. General Summerall, commanding the 1st Division, visited, with great gallantry and with utter disregard for his own safety, the extreme front lines of his division and personally made a reconnaissance of the position in the face of heavy hostile machine-gun and artillery fire, exhorting his men to renew the attack on Berzy-le-Sec, promising them a powerful artillery support, and so encouraging them by his presence and example that they declared their readiness to take the town for him. Due to his great courage and utter disregard for his own safety, the men of his division were inspired to enormous and heroic efforts, capturing Berzy-le-Sec the next morning under terrific enemy fire, and later in the day the division reached all its objectives." (War Department General Orders No. 9, 1923)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007


Aimee Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American rock guitarist, bassist, singer, and noted songwriter.

Biography
In 1993 Mann released Whatever, her first solo album. Promotion suffered due to the collapse of her label, Imago. While only a small hit, the album was critically praised, and paved the way for her next release, 1995's I'm with Stupid, through Geffen Records. Again, reviews were positive, but sales were weak.
Mann met fellow singer-songwriter Michael Penn in the late 1980s and with comparable songwriting styles and record-industry woes to share, they struck up a friendship during the recording of Stupid (to which Penn contributed vocals), which blossomed into romance and their 1997 marriage. Penn and Mann live in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. They have no children, but Penn has a son from a previous marriage.
Mann recorded Bachelor No. 2, but Geffen saw no hit singles in the material and ordered her back to the studio. The album languished while Mann and the label fought.
Meanwhile, film director Paul Thomas Anderson, for whom Penn and Brion had composed a soundtrack, became a close friend. Mann gained greater public recognition in 1999 — indeed, more than anything else since "Voices Carry" — when she contributed eight songs to the soundtrack of Anderson's Magnolia, including the Academy Award-nominated song, "Save Me." Anderson deliberately worked from Mann's lyrics to create the film's characters and situations. Mann soon became sought after as a soundtrack contributor.

Solo career
Disillusioned with both the ineffectual promotion and artistic meddling by her record label, an experience documented in her song "Calling It Quits", she struck out on her own and founded SuperEgo Records in 1999. Mann self-released Bachelor No. 2 in 2000, having negotiated a contract release from David Geffen, and though initially only sold at concerts and via her website, the album became successful, allowing her to secure retail distribution through SuperEgo. The album, which included some songs from Magnolia and new material, was widely admired and Mann's "more indie than indie" success was carefully noted by other musicians.
Mann, Penn, Brion, Fiona Apple, and other musicians had by this time developed a subculture around the Largo nightclub in L.A. Penn and Mann formed a concept called Acoustic Vaudeville to recreate it on tour in California and eventually on an irregular, ongoing national tour. The Acoustic Vaudeville shows intermix music and stand-up comedy; among the comedians joining them for individual shows were Janeane Garofalo, Patton Oswalt, and David Cross.
Mann continued her solo career with Lost in Space (2002), a somewhat more sombre album in the same vein as Bachelor No. 2. In 2003 her website released the Lost in Space Special Edition, which featured a second disc containing six live recordings, as well two B-sides and two previously unreleased songs. In November 2004, Live at St. Ann's Warehouse, a live album and DVD recorded at a series of June 2004 shows in Brooklyn, came out; the two discs were sold packaged together in either a CD jewel case or a DVD case.
Mann described her next album, The Forgotten Arm (2005), as a concept album set in the 1970s about two lovers who meet at the Virginia state fair and go on the run. The Joe Henry-produced album, which was recorded mostly live with few overdubs, was released May 3, 2005. The album's illustrations and title reflect Mann's interest in boxing. The album title derives from a boxing move in which one arm is used to hit the opponent, causing him to "forget" about the other arm, which is then used to deliver a harsher blow. The album received weaker reviews overall, with critics impressed at the totality but unimpressed with any individual songs.
Mann also released an EP for Christmas in 2005 as a cover single of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" for sale through her website and iTunes. It also included "Christmastime", the 1996 duet she recorded with Penn for the Hard Eight soundtrack, and a cover of "The Christmas Song". The iTunes version replaced "Christmastime" with a cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" and "I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas" from The Forgotten Arm.
Mann's independence from the industry led to more overt political stances. She joined Artists Against Piracy, a group formed to act against the illegal downloading and file sharing of copyrighted music from the Internet. Mann, Penn and Hausman took their experience with SuperEgo to found the independent music collective United Musicians, which is based on the principle that every artist should be able to retain copyright ownership of the work he or she has created, in contrast to normal music industry contracts.
In July 2006, Mann announced that she would be releasing One More Drifter in the Snow, a full-length Christmas album. The album featured primarily covers of Christmas standards, as well as "Christmastime" and an original song, called "Calling On Mary", written by Mann and bassist Paul Bryan, who produced the record. It was released on October 31 in the US, and late November 2006 in the UK. [1]
In July 2007, the music video for a song entitled '31 Today' (which featured comedienne Morgan Murphy alongside Mann) was posted on the internet. The song will presumably be featured on Mann's as-yet-untitled sixth studio album, which has been slated for an early 2008 release.
July 31, 2007 saw the release of the soundtrack for the motion picture Arctic Tale featuring two new Mann songs, "The Great Beyond" and "At the Edge of the World."

Independence

Discography

1982 - Bark Along with the Young Snakes (EP)
2004 - Aimee Mann & the Young Snakes (compilation) With The Young Snakes

1985 - Voices Carry
1986 - Welcome Home
1988 - Everything's Different Now
1996 - Coming Up Close: A Retrospective (compilation) Aimee Mann With 'Til Tuesday

1993 - Whatever
1995 - I'm with Stupid
1999 - Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture (soundtrack)
2000 - Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo
2000 - Ultimate Collection ("best-of" compilation unauthorized by Mann)
2002 - Lost in Space
2005 - The Forgotten Arm
2006 - One More Drifter in the Snow (Christmas album) Solo

iTunes Originals - Aimee Mann Guest appearances and covers
(directors in parenthesis)

Stupid Thing (1993)
I Should've Known (Katherine Dieckmann) (1993)
Say Anything (1993)
That's Just What You Are (1995)
Amateur (Bobby Woods) (1995)
Save Me (Paul Thomas Anderson) (1999)
Ghost World (Michael Panes) (2000)
Calling It Quits (Robert Cohen) (2000)
Red Vines (Evan Mather) (spec video) (2001)
Pavlov's Bell (James Frost) (2002)
How Am I Different (Naoki Mitsuse) (2002) (in fact a short film called "Joe's Story 01")
Pavlov's Bell (Evan Mather) (spec video) (2003)
Video (James Frost) (spec video) (2005) Acting

Mann is a fan of the comic book writer Seth who drew the cover for her album Lost in Space.
She has a tattoo of a large anchor on her right upper arm as a tribute to her father, who served in the United States Navy.

Monday, September 24, 2007


The Parachute Regiment redirects here, for the Indian regiment, see The Parachute Regiment (India)
The Parachute Regiment is the Airborne Infantry element of the British Army. It is considered an elite unit by virtue of its stringent selection process, and rigorous training programme, and by the requirement of its role to operate with minimal, or no, support, potentially behind enemy lines, and against superior forces. It forms the parachute trained infantry element of 16th Air Assault Brigade.

Organisation
The Parachute Regiment has its origins in the elite force of Commandos set up by the British Army at the request of Winston Churchill. Britain was inspired in the creation of airborne forces (including the Parachute Regiment, Air Landing Regiments, and the Glider Pilot Regiment) by the example of the German Luftwaffe's Fallschirmjäger, which had a major role in the invasions of Norway, and the Low Countries, and a pivotal, if Pyrrhic, one in the invasion of Crete.
Britain's first airborne assault took place on February 10, 1941, when, what was then known as II Special Air Service (some 40 men of 500 trained in No. 2 Commando), introduced themselves to the enemy by jumping into Italy and blowing up an aqueduct in a daring raid named Operation Colossus.
After the Battle of Crete, it was agreed that Britain would need far more paratroopers for similar operations. No 2 Commando were tasked with specialising in airborne assault and became the nucleus of the Parachute regiment.

Formation
Guards Division
Scottish Division
King's Division
Queen's Division
Prince of Wales' Division
Royal Irish Regiment
Parachute Regiment
Brigade of Gurkhas
The Rifles
Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Dental Corps
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
Army Legal Services Branch
Royal Military Police
Military Provost Staff Corps

Notable operations

World War II
A Würzburg radar on the coast of France was attacked by British Paratroopers in Operation Biting on February 27, 1942. The electronics of the system were brought back to Britain for examination so that counter measures could be devised.

Operation Biting - France
As part of the Operation Husky four airborne operations were carried out, landing during the night of the 9/10 July 1943; two were British and two American. The strong winds blew the dropping aircraft off course and scattered them widely. British glider-landed troops fared badly; only 12 out of 144 gliders landing on target, many landing in the sea. Nevertheless the scattered airborne troops maximised their opportunities, attacking patrols and creating confusion wherever possible.
It was during operations in North Africa that the maroon beret was first seen by German troops. Within months they had christened them Rote Teufel - Red Devils. However, this nickname was not a reference to the colour of their headgear but in fact due to the red mud that the soldiers were covered in after heavy rain.

Operation Husky - Sicily
During the Allied invasion of Italy the British 1st Airborne Division landed by sea near the port of Taranto in the 'heel' of Italy (Operation Slapstick). Their task was to capture the port and several nearby airfields and link with the British Eighth Army before pressing north to join the US Fifth Army near Foggia.

Operation Slapstick - Southern Italy
There were many separate airborne operations during Operation Overlord on D-Day (June 6 1944) but broadly the task of the airborne forces was to secure the flanks of the landing beaches in Normandy. The British secured the Eastern flank in Operation Tonga. There were other operations designed to take the specific hardened targets notably the guns of the Merville gun battery. Buried under 12ft-thick concrete, the four 105 mm guns, just miles from the beaches of Sword, Juno and Gold, had the capability to engage warships out at sea and sink landing craft heading for the beaches. The task of putting them out of action fell to the 9th Parachute Brigade which they succeeded in doing for 36 hours by killing all but a handful of the gunners.

Operation Overlord - Normandy
On August 15, 1944, parachute units of the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade, which included the 4th, 5th and 6th Para battalions and lst Independent Pathfinder Platoon, dropped into Southern France between Frejus and Cannes as part of Operation Dragoon. Their objective was to capture the area, destroy all enemy positions and hold the ground until the US Seventh Army came ashore. Once they had captured their initial targets, they were reinforced by three thousand soldiers and critical equipment carried in over three hundred gliders in an operation code named Dove. The drop was almost unopposed and within days the British parachute group was withdrawn by sea to Italy in readiness for future operations.

Operation Dragoon - Southern France
. Perhaps the most famous airborne operation of history is Operation Market Garden of September 1944, in which 35,000 troops of the First Allied Airborne Army were dropped 100 miles behind the German front lines in an attempt to create a path across the Netherlands including the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem. Three complete airborne divisions, the British 1st Airborne Division, and the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade from the Army were used. The units were dropped at various points along Highway 69 in order to create a "carpet" over which the British XXX Corps could rapidly advance. German opposition was some three times that expected, including two under-strength but very experienced panzer divisions. Although the operation had partial success in the end the British 1st Airborne division was all but destroyed and the bridge at Arnhem remained in German hands.
An interesting story arises from this episode - upon finally surrendering in the ruins of Arnhem, with no ammunition and virtually starved, a German officer reputedly said to a British officer.. 'I fought at Stalingrad on the eastern front but I have never seen troops as good as you at city fighting - where did you learn this?', to which the officer replied 'well it was our first time - but we'll try to do better next time!'

Operation Market-Garden - the Netherlands
Operation Varsity - The Rhine Crossing was the biggest and most successful airborne operation in history and it marked the beginning of the end for Germany. In total, six parachute battalions, including the Canadians, of the British 6th Airborne Division, supported by glider troops from the Air Landing Brigade, dropped on March 24, 1945, as a complete force, avoiding the mistakes of Arnhem.
Together with the US 17th Airborne Division, the aim of the operation was to secure and deepen the bridgehead cast of the Rhine and then advance across country to the Baltic coast, a journey of 350 miles. Their initial objectives were the high ground overlooking the crossing, point at Diersfordter Wald and the road and rail bridges over the River Issel at Hamminkeln

Operation Varsity - Rhineland (Germany)
After the Second World War regular airborne forces were reduced to the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade Group while in the Territorial Army there was the 16th Airborne Division (TA), which was reduced to the 44th Independent Parachute Brigade Group (TA) in 1956. In 1954, at the request of the Director of Operations in Malaya, an Independent Parachute Squadron was raised from volunteers from the Parachute Regiment to assist 22 SAS by providing a fourth sabre squadron for operations in Malaya against the Communist terrorists. Some 80 officers and men were selected to form The Independent Parachute Squadron and served in Malaya on operations with 22 SAS until disbanded in May 1957 on return to the UK.
In the Suez Crisis, Operation Musketeer needed the element of total surprise to succeed, and all 660 men had to be on the ground at El Gamil airfield and ready for action within four and a half minutes. At 04.15 hours on November 5, 1956, 3 Para jumped in and although opposition was heavy, casualties were few.
Operated in Borneo and Aden.
In 1964 2 Para had been sent to Singapore for jungle warfare training, after Indonesia threatened to invade the Malaysian state of Borneo. The remainder of the unit followed in March 1965, and moved direct to the Indonesian border. A month later one of the biggest battles of the war took place, when an Indonesian battalion attacked B Company of 2 Para. More than 50 Indonesians were killed, and the Paras lost two men with seven injured. This short, but intense Far East deployment, ended in July, the Battalion having been awarded eight decorations including two Military Medals
Major-General Glyn Gilbert was instrumental, throughout this period, in ensuring the Regiments survival, and in advancing the doctrine of airborne warfare. He also created the Red Devils parachute display team, and instituted the Platoon Sergeants' Battle Course at Brecon Beacons, which was later extended to the entire British Army.

1946 – 1966
Throughout "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, the regiment's battalions undertook many tours of duty. In 1972, while assisting the Royal Ulster Constabulary in preventing a civil rights march from taking place, twenty-eight civilians were shot of whom fourteen died.
During this time the Parachute Regiment was part of the 5th Airborne Brigade.
Due to defence cuts after the end of the Cold War (Options for Change), the 15th (Scottish Volunteer) Battalion was reduced to a company in 1993 becoming part of the 4th Battalion.
Served in the former Yugoslavia in 1993.

1996 – 2002
The 1st and 3rd Battalions together with the Pathfinder Platoon took part in Operation Telic, Britain's contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq that began on 20 March. The two battalions were part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. In addition to this, 120 soldiers of the Territorial Army 4 PARA were used to augment the regulars.
The regiment was actively involved in operations leading up to the capture of Iraq's second largest city, Basra. After 7 Armoured Brigade pushed into the city on 6 April, 3 PARA cleared the 'old quarter' that was inaccessible to vehicles.
The war officially ended on 1 May. 1 and 3 PARA remained in Iraq, operating in the British area in the south of the country. The Parachute Regiment was based in Maysan Province, mostly quiet though they did have sporadic encounters with Iraqi guerrillas. A patrol of six Royal Military Policemen all from 156 Provost Company RMP attached to 1 PARA were surrounded and killed on 24 June, 2003 by Iraqi gunmen in Majar Al Kabir. A patrol from 1 PARA were also in Majar Al Kabir when it was ambushed by Iraqi guerrillas, coming under heavy attack. Several members of the subsequent QRF were wounded as their Chinook helicopter came under heavy ground fire as it attempted to land.
Sergeant Gordon Robertson was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross -- the second highest award for bravery in the face of the enemy after the Victoria Cross -- as part of the awards list in October. This was the first CGC to be awarded to the Parachute Regiment.
1 and 3 PARA left Iraq along with the rest of 16 Air Assault Brigade in September.
Roulement tours to Iraq continued for all Battalions of the Regiment as part of Operation Telic; 2 PARA deployed in November 2003 on a 6-month tour-of-duty as part of 20 Armoured Brigade, and once again in November 2005 as part of 7 Armoured Brigade. Meanwhile 3 PARA sent two Companies to support 12 Mechanised Brigade on Operation Telic 6 in 2004. As well as individual reinforcements to all battalions Casino Company of 4 PARA deployed to Iraq in October 2005 for 6 months as part of the Divisional Rear Operations Battle Group (1 Royal Irish, later replaced by 1 Royal Scots in January 06). The following Parachute Regiment soldiers have been killed whilst serving in Iraq: Private Andrew Kelly (3 PARA); Captain Richard Holmes and Private Lee Ellis (2 PARA)

Iraq
In January 2006 16 Air Assault Brigade were tasked to provide a single Airborne Infantry Battle Group (3 PARA) for operations in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick. The Force deployed to Helmand Province in the south of the country in June 2006. Almost immediately 3 PARA BG were involved in Operation Mountain Thrust, a U.S.-led campaign to flush Taliban guerrillas out of the hills, billed as the biggest Western offensive in Afghanistan since 2002.
The following Parachute Regiment soldiers have been killed whilst serving in Afghanistan with 3 PARA Battlegroup: Private Damien Jackson; Corporal Bryan Budd and Corporal Mark Wright. The following Parachute Regiment soldiers have been killed whilst serving with other formations in Afghanistan: Captain David Patten and Corporal Oliver Dicketts. On 14 December 2006, Corporal Budd was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Afghanistan

The Second World War: Bruneval, Normandy Landing, Merville Battery, Bréville, Dives Crossing, La Toucques Crossing, Arnhem 1944, Ourthe, Rhine, Southern France, North-West Europe 1942 ?44-45, Soudia, Oudna, Djebel Azzag 1943, Djebel Alliliga, El Hadjeba, Tamera, Djebel Dahra, Kef el Debna, North Africa 1942-43, Primosole Bridge, Sicily 1943, Taranto, Orsogna, Italy 1943-44, Athens, Greece 1944-45
Goose Green, Mount Longdon, Wireless Ridge, Falkland Islands 1982, Al-Basrah, Iraq 2003 Battle honours
In 1985 the three bands of the Parachute Regiment were reduced to two;
In 1990 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of British Airborne Forces both bands produced an album called 'The Paras - The Massed Bands of the Parachute Regiment (Bandleader - BNA5039) It featured music associated with the Parachute Regiment and favourite songs of paratroopers through the years.
The Paras

The Falklands Band of the Parachute Regiment
The Pegasus Band of the Parachute Regiment
The Falklands Band of the Parachute Regiment (Bandmaster: WOI. Colin Hogg ARCM)
The Pegasus Band of the Parachute Regiment (Bandmaster: WOI. James Taylor ARCM, ALCM, BBCM)
The Best Guy in the world (and my Dad): (Pete Marlow)
Fanfare: Green Light (James Taylor)
Airborne Warrior (Robert Ely)
The Red Beret (Frank Renton, Robert Ely)
Arnhem (AE Kelly)
The Paras (C Bernard)
Bruneval Raid (Robert Ely)
The Longest day (Paul Anka)
Sailing (Rod Stewart)
Mount Longdon (Len Tyler)
Marche Des Parachutists Belges (P Leemans) (Regimental march of the SAS)
Screaming Eagles (Samuel Loboda)
The Red Devils (Robert Ely)
Also Ran - melody

  • Goodbye. From the 'White Horse Inn' (Stolz, Reisch, Graham)
    Lilli Marlene (Leip, Schultz, Connor)
    The Girl I Left Behind Me (Trad. arr James Taylor)
    Pomp & Circumsatnce March No 4 (Elgar. arr Hicks) (Regimental slow march of the Parachute Regiment)
    The Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner. arr Rippon, Keeling) (Regimental Quick march of the Parachute Regiment)
    Fanfare: Delta Wing (Colin Hogg)
    Three Para Songs - melody

    • I Ain't Going to Jump No More (Trad. arr James Taylor)
      Oh Come Sit By My Side, If you Love Me (Trad. arr James Taylor)
      The Merry Month Of May (Trad. arr James Taylor)
      Songs Of World War II - melody

      • Wish Me Luck As You Wave Goodbye (Park, Parr)
        Bless Em All (Hughes, Lake)
        The White Cliffs of Dover (Burton, Kent)
        In The Quartermaster's Stores (Trad. arr Robert Ely)
        Beer Barrel Polka (Timm, Vejvoda, Brown)
        Lilli Marlene (Leip, Schultz, Connor)
        Elvis Presley, His Greatest Hits

        • Love Me Tender (Presley' Matson)
          Hound Dog (Lieber, Stoller)
          You Don't Have To Say You Love Me (Pallavacini, Donaggio, Napier Bell)
          Don't Be Cruel ((Blackwell, Presley)
          Can't Help Falling In Love With You ((Weiis, Creatore, Perotti)
          Out Of The Sky (Patrick Moore)
          Echoes of an Era - melody

          • With A Little Help From My Friends
            Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
            Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band
            Penny Lane
            The Fool On the Hill
            Day Tripper
            When I'm Sixty Four
            Michelle
            Eleanor Rigby
            Yellow Submarine
            Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
            Hey Jude (Lennon, McCartney)
            Space Medley

            • Star Trek (A Courage)
              Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (John Williams)
              Star Wars (John Williams) The Massed Bands of the Parachute Regiment

              Lt John Hollington Grayburn - Victoria Cross winner
              Cpt [[Mick Clark] - Victoria Cross winner
              Sgt Michael Willetts - George Cross winner
              Sgt Ian McKay - Victoria Cross winner
              Lt Col H. Jones - Victoria Cross winner
              Cpl Bryan Budd - Victoria Cross winner
              Cpl Mark Wright - George Cross winner
              Richard Todd Oscar nominated actor/ WWII veteran
              Frank Carson - Comedian/Suez conflict veteran
              Mark Burnett - TV Producer/Falklands War veteran
              Lewis Collins - TV/Film actor
              Tim Healy (actor) - TV actor
              Billy Connolly - Comedian
              Karl Bushby - Adventurer
              Sir James Spicer - Ex Conservative Party MP
              David Barnes - British Welterweight boxing champion
              Dean Ward - Winter Olympic bobsleigh bronze medalist
              Sean Ollson - Winter Olympic bobsleigh bronze medalist
              Bernard Cribbins - Actor
              Christian Jennings - Jounalist and Authour Famous members of the Parachute Regiment

              The Red Beret (1953)
              The Longest Day (1962)
              A Bridge Too Far (1977)
              The Wild Geese (1978)
              The Plague Dogs (1982)
              Geheimcode: Wildgänse (1984)
              Kommando Leopard (1985)
              For Queen and Country (1989)
              Some Mother's Son (1996)
              The Devil's Own (1997)
              Bloody Sunday (2002)
              Dead Man's Shoes 2004
              The Last Drop (2005)
              Outlaw (2007) Films featuring the Parachute Regiment

              The Sandbaggers (1978)
              Contact (1985)
              Civvies (1992)
              P-Company, Channel 4 Documentary (1992)
              Band of Brothers episode 5: Crossroads (2001)
              Ultimate Force (2002)
              Doctor Who episode: Aliens of London (2005) TV shows featuring the Parachute Regiment

              The Parachute Regiment Alliances

              Pathfinder Platoon
              United Kingdom Special Forces
              British Army
              Modern equipment and uniform of the British Army
              List of battalions of the Parachute Regiment
              Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum

Sunday, September 23, 2007


Mily Balakirev César Cui Modest Mussorgsky Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov Aleksandr Borodin The Five refers to a circle of composers, also known as The Mighty Handful, who met in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856-1870: Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin. The group had the aim of producing a specifically Russian kind of art music, rather than one that imitated older European music or relied on European-style conservatory training. In a sense, they were a branch of the Romantic Nationalism movement in Russia, with the Abramtsevo Colony and Russian Revival striving to achieve similar goals in the sphere of fine arts.

Name
Aleksandr Borodin (1833 – 1887)
César Cui (1835 – 1918)
Modest Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 – 1908)
The Mighty Handful The formation of the group began in 1856, with the first meeting of Balakirev and César Cui. Modest Mussorgsky joined them in 1857, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1861, and Alexander Borodin in 1862. Before them, Mikhail Glinka and Alexander Dargomyzhsky had gone some way towards producing a distinctly Russian kind of music, writing operas on Russian subjects, but The Mighty Handful represented the first concentrated attempt to develop such a music, with Stasov as their artistic advisor and Dargomyzhsky as an elder statesman to the group, so to speak.
The circle began to fall apart during the 1870s, no doubt partially due to the fact that Balakirev withdrew from musical life early in the decade for a period of time. All of "The Five" are buried in Tikhvin Cemetery in St. Petersburg.

History
Rimsky-Korsakov provides the following picture of "The Mighty Handful" in his memoirs, Chronicle of My Musical Life (translated by J. A. Joffe):
On their tastes
"The tastes of the circle leaned towards Glinka, Schumann, and Beethoven's last quartets ... they had little respect for Mendelssohn ... Mozart and Haydn were considered out of date and naive ... J. S. Bach was held to be petrified ... Chopin was likened by Balakirev to a nervous society lady ... Berlioz was highly esteemed ...Liszt was comparatively unknown ... Little was said of Wagner ... They respected Dargomyzhsky for the recitative portions of Rusalka ... [but] he was not credited with any considerable talent and was treated with a shade of derision. ...Rubinstein had a reputation as a pianist, but was thought to have neither talent nor taste as a composer."
On Balakirev
"Balakirev, who had never had any systematic course in harmony and counterpoint and had not even superficially applied himself to them, evidently thought such studies quite unnecessary ... An excellent pianist, a superior sight reader of music, a splendid improviser, endowed by nature with the sense of correct harmony and part-writing, he possessed a technique partly native and partly acquired through a vast musical erudition, with the help of an extraordinary memory, keen and retentive, which means so much in steering a critical course in musical literature ... He instantly felt every technical imperfection or error, he grasped a defect in form at once. Whenever I or other young men, later on, played him our essays at composition, he instantly caught all the defects of form, modulation, and so on, and forthwith seating himself at the piano, he would improvise and show how the composition in question should be changed exactly as he indicated, and frequently entire passages in other people's compositions became his and not their putative authors' at all. He was obeyed absolutely, for the spell of his personality was tremendous. ... His influence over those around him was boundless, and resembled some magnetic or mesmeric force. ... he despotically demanded that the tastes of his pupils should exactly coincide with his own. The slightest deviation from his taste was severely censured by him. By means of raillery, a parody or caricature played by him, whatever did not suit him at the moment was belittled — and the pupil blushed with shame for his expressed opinion and recanted...."
On their abilities
"Balakirev considered me a symphony specialist ... in the sixties, Balakirev and Cui, though very intimate with Mussorgsky and sincerely fond of him, treated him like a lesser light, and of little promise at that, in spite of his undoubted talent. It seemed to them that there was something missing in him and, in their eyes, he was in need of advice and criticism. Balakirev often said that Mussorgsky had "no head" or that his "brains were weak." ... Balakirev thought that Cui understood little in symphony and musical forms and nothing in orchestration, but was a past master in vocal and operatic music; Cui, in turn, thought Balakirev a master in symphony, form, and orchestration, but with little liking for operatic composition and vocal music in general. Thus they complemented each other, but each, in his own way, felt mature and grown up. Borodin, Mussorgsky, and I, however—we were immature and juvenile. Obviously, towards Balakirev and Cui we were in somewhat subordinate relations; their opinions were listened to unconditionally ..."

Timeline

Saturday, September 22, 2007


  Part of a series of articles on Jews and Judaism
Who is a Jew? · Etymology · Culture
Judaism · Core principles God · Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) Mitzvot (613) · Talmud · Halakha Holidays · Prayer · Tzedakah Ethics · Kabbalah · Customs · Midrash
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Persecution · Antisemitism History of antisemitismTanakh New antisemitism
Political movements · Zionism Labor Zionism · Revisionist Zionism Religious Zionism · General Zionism The Bund · World Agudath Israel Jewish feminism · Israeli politics
Tanakh (Hebrew: תנ״ך‎) (also Tanach, IPA: [taˈnax] or [təˈnax], or Tenak) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. The acronym is based on the initial Hebrew letters of each of the text's three parts:
The writings are then separated into sections, for example; there are a group of history books namely, Ezra, Chronicles, and Nehemiah. Others include the wisdom books which are Job, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs. Poetry books; Psalms, Lamentation and Song of Solomon. Lastly there are other books, Ruth, Esther and the book of Daniel. The Tanakh is also called מקרא, Mikra or Miqra, meaning "that which is read".

Torah תורה meaning "Instruction." It is also called the Chumash חומש, meaning "the five" or "the five books of Moses." In Greek, it is called the Pentateuch. The Torah is often referred to as the law of the Jewish people.
Nevi'im נביאים, meaning "Prophets." This term is associated with anything to do with the prophets.
Ketuvim כתובים, meaning "Writings." The Greek word being "Hagiographa." Terminology
The three-part division reflected in the acronym Tanakh is well attested to in documents from the Second Temple period and in Rabbinic literature. During that period, however, "Tanakh" was not used as a word or term; rather, the proper title was Mikra ("Reading"), because the biblical books were read publicly. "Mikra" is thus analogous to the Latin term Scriptus, meaning "that which is written" (as in "Scripture" or "The Holy Scriptures").
Mikra continues to be used in Hebrew to this day alongside Tanakh to refer to the Hebrew scriptures. In modern spoken Hebrew, Mikra has a more formal flavor than Tanakh, where the former might refer to a university department, and the latter to a popular study group.

Mikra
According to the Jewish tradition, the Tanakh consists of 24 books:

5 books of the Torah ("Instruction")
8 books of the Nviim ("Prophets")
11 books of the Ktuvim ("Writings" or "Scriptures") Number of books
Tanakhs are comprised of 24 books. The books are unchanged since the Tanakh was codified by the Men of the Great Assembly ("Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah") a task completed in 450 BCE. The twenty four books are mentioned in 4 Ezra 14:42-46 (Apocrypha). The 24 books are also mentioned in the Midrash Qoheleth 12:12.
It is also notable that the Jewish Council of Jamnia in 70 A.D. brought to agreement on the number of books in the Tanakh.
Confusion as to the completion of the Tanakh is created by those who read Against Apion, by the 1st-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who describes 22 sacred books, not 24. Some say that books were added or deleted from Josephus' time (extrapolating that the Tanakh was still fluid and changing) others argue they were simply counted differently.
There are four books (Judges, Ruth, Jeremiah and Lamentations) that are counted as separate books in the Tanakh that were only counted as two by Josephus. Josephus may have assigned the Book of Ruth to Judges and the Book of Lamentations to Jeremiah (similar to Athanasius).
The counting did not change the Tanakh's construction -- merely the way it was identified. Chapters and numbering are a later Christian invention and it is this that causes confusion as to the number and order of books.
Along with the four books being identified as two by Josephus, the Tanakh also counts as one book what are often counted as two in Christian Bibles (e.g. 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and so forth), and where all the twelve "Books" of the "Trei Asar," the Twelve Prophets, are also considered as one.
The twenty-four "Books" in the Tanakh are as follows:
1-5: The Five Books of Moses Torah: • Bereshit, or Genesis • Shemot, or Exodus • VaYikra, or Leviticus • BaMidbar, or Numbers • Devarim, or Deuteronomy.
6-9: The "Neviim Rishonim," the Early, or Former, Prophets: • Yehoshua or Joshua • "Shoftim" or Judges • Shmuel or Samuel I and II • "Melachim" or Kings I and II
10-13: The "Neviim Acharonim," the Later Prophets: • Yeshayahu or Isaiah • Yirmiyahu or Jeremiah • Yechezkel or Ezekiel • "Trei Asar" or Minor Prophets (or "The Twelve Prophets")
Books and Prophets within "Trei Asar": Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
14-16: The "Sifrei Emet," "Books of Truth": • "Tehilim" or Psalms • "Mishlei" or Proverbs • "Iyov" or Job
17-21: The "Five Megilot" or "Five Scrolls": • "Shir HaShirim" or Song of Songs • Rut or Ruth • "Eichah" or Lamentations • "Kohelet" or Ecclesiastes • Esther
22-24: The "Other Writings": • Daniel • Ezra-Nehemiah • "Divrei HaYamim" or Chronicles I and II

Tanakh Codified by the Men of the Great Assembly in 450 BCE
These twenty-four books are the same books found in the Protestant Old Testament, but the order of the books is different. The enumeration differs as well: Christians count these books as thirty-nine, not twenty-four. This is because Jews often count as a single book what Christians count as several. However, the term Old Testament, while common, is often considered pejorative by Jews as it can be interpreted as being inferior or outdated relative to the New Testament, though traditional churches such as the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church insist on a continuity and coequal relationship between the Old and New Testaments.
The term Old Testament was never intended to be considered a prejoritive term. It came from the Christian theologian Tertullian who used the Latin word, testamentum. This was a Latin translation of the Greek word diatheke. In the LXX, diatheke is the word used in Jeremiah 31:33-34 to refer to YHWH's Covenant.
As such, one may draw a technical distinction between the Jewish Tanakh and the similar, but not identical, corpus which Protestant Christians call the Old Testament. But, this technical distinction perhaps might seem a distinction of terminology instead of substance. Thus, some scholars prefer Hebrew Bible as a term that covers the commonality of Tanakh and the Old Testament while avoiding sectarian bias. Messianic Jews use First Testament which they believe retains its integrity while implying it requires the New or Second Testament for completion. Another Messianic view would be to not distinguish the two at all, but to regard them all as inspired by God.
The Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain seven books not included in the Tanakh. They are called deuterocanonical books (literally "canonized secondly" meaning canonized later).
In Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, Daniel and the Book of Esther sometimes include extra deuterocanonical material that is not included in either the Jewish or most Protestant canons.

Pre Christian Traditions
The Hebrew text originally consisted only of consonants, together with some inconsistently applied letters used as vowels (matres lectionis). During the early Middle Ages Masoretes codified the oral tradition for reading the Tanakh by adding two special kinds of symbols to the text: niqud (vowel points) and cantillation signs. The latter indicate syntax, stress (accentuation), and the melody for reading. According to tradition, this codification was made by Ezra, in the fourth century BCE.
The books of the Torah have generally-used names which are based on the first prominent word in each book. The English names are not translations of the Hebrew; they are based on the Greek names created for the Septuagint which in turn were based on Rabbinic names describing the thematic content of each of the Books.
The Torah ("Teaching") [also known as the Pentateuch/Humash] consists of:
1. Genesis [בראשית / B'reshit]
2. Exodus [שמות / Sh'mot]
3. Leviticus [ויקרא / Vayiqra]
4. Numbers [במדבר / B'midbar]
5. Deuteronomy [דברים / D'varim]
The books of Nevi'im ("Prophets") are:
6. Joshua [יהושע / Y'hoshua]
7. Judges [שופטים / Shophtim]
8. Samuel (I & II) [שמואל / Sh'muel]
9. Kings (I & II) [מלכים / M'lakhim]
10. Isaiah [ישעיה / Y'shayahu]
11. Jeremiah [ירמיה / Yir'mi'yahu]
12. Ezekiel [יחזקאל / Y'khezqel]
13. The Twelve Minor Prophets [תרי עשר]

I. Hosea [הושע / Hoshea]
II. Joel [יואל / Yo'el]
III. Amos [עמוס / Amos]
IV. Obadiah [עובדיה / Ovadyah]
V. Jonah [יונה / Yonah]
VI. Micah [מיכה / Mikhah]
VII. Nahum [נחום / Nakhum]
VIII. Habakkuk [חבקוק /Khavaquq]
IX. Zephaniah [צפניה / Ts'phanyah]
X. Haggai [חגי / Khagai]
XI. Zechariah [זכריה / Z'kharyah]
XII. Malachi [מלאכי / Mal'akhi]
The Ketuvim ("Writings") are:
14. Psalms [תהלים / T'hilim]
15. Proverbs [משלי / Mishlei]
16. Job [איוב / Iyov]
17. Song of Songs [שיר השירים / Shir Hashirim]
18. Ruth [רות / Rut]
19. Lamentations [איכה / Eikhah]
20. Ecclesiastes [קהלת / Qohelet]
21. Esther [אסתר / Est(h)er]
22. Daniel [דניאל / Dani'el]
23. Ezra-Nehemiah [עזרא ונחמיה / Ezra wuNekhem'ya]
24. Chronicles (I & II) [דברי הימים / Divrey Hayamim]

Books of the Tanakh
The chapter divisions and verse numbers have no significance in the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, they are noted in all modern editions of the Tanakh so that verses may be located and cited. The division of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into parts I and II is also indicated on each page of those books in order to prevent confusion about whether a chapter number is from part I or II, since the chapter numbering for these books follows their partition in the Christian textual tradition.
The adoption of the Christian chapter divisions by Jews began in the late Middle Ages in Spain, partially in the context of forced clerical debates which took place against a background of harsh persecution and of the Spanish Inquisition (the debates required a common system for citing biblical texts). From the standpoint of the Jewish textual tradition, the chapter divisions are not only a foreign feature with no basis in the mesorah, but also open to severe criticism of two kinds:
Nevertheless, because they proved useful — and eventually indispensable — for citations, they continued to be included by Jews in most Hebrew editions of the biblical books. For more information on the origin of these divisions, see chapters and verses of the Bible.
The chapter and verse numbers were often indicated very prominently in older editions, to the extent that they overshadowed the traditional Jewish masoretic divisions. However, in many Jewish editions of the Tanakh published over the past forty years, there has been a major historical trend towards minimizing the impact and prominence of the chapter and verse numbers on the printed page. Most editions accomplish this by removing them from the text itself and relegating them to the margins of the page. The main text in these editions is unbroken and uninterrupted at the beginning of chapters (which are noted only in the margin). The lack of chapter breaks within the text in these editions also serves to reinforce the visual impact created by the spaces and "paragraph" breaks on the page, which indicate the traditional Jewish parashah divisions. Some versions have even introduced a new chapter system.
These modern Jewish editions present Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (as well as Ezra) as single books in their title pages, and make no indication inside the main text of their division into two parts (though it is noted in the upper and side margins). In such editions, the second books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles follow the respective first books on the very same page, with no special break at all in the flow of the text. In the case of Kings, in which no parashah division appears at this point, the text of II Kings continues that of I Kings on the very same line of text.
Jewish (Hebrew) editions have a different pattern regarding Chronicles (I Chronicles) chapters 5 and 6, in the fact that Chronicles (First) chapter 5 ends at verse 41. Chronicles (Jewish editions of Chronicles) 5:27-41 is equivalent to First Chronicles 6: 1-15 in most English translations. In Jewish (Hebrew) editions 6:1 is equivalent to 6:16 and therefore the chapter ends at Chronicles 6:66 instead of the First Chronicles 6:81 (English translations). Basically the text is the same (Masoretic), only the numbering and chapter division is changed. At 7:1 both Hebrew and English versions set off from the same starting point once more.

The chapter divisions often reflect Christian exegesis of the Bible.
Even when they do not imply Christian exegesis, the chapters often divide the biblical text at numerous points that may be deemed inappropriate for literary or other reasons. Oral Torah

Tanakh, English translation, Jewish Publication Society, 1985, ISBN 0-8276-0252-9
Jewish Study Bible, using NJPS (1985) translation, Oxford U Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-529754-7
Tanach: The Stone Edition, Hebrew with English translation, Mesorah Publications, 1996, ISBN 0-89906-269-5 See also

Online Bible
iTanakh.org An extensive list of links and resources pertaining to the study of the Tanakh