Capoeira (IPA: [ka.pu.ˈej.ɾɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian blend of martial art, game, and culture created by enslaved Africans in Brazil during the 16th Century.

History
The derivation of the word "Capoeira" is under dispute, as there are several possibilities:
A Capoeira "fight" is one that implies that the purpose is a pretend cockfight, whereby men participate to show off their skills rather than fighting to actually kill or harm an opponent. Though this gymnastic almost dance-like display can appear to be a fight, participants are expected to restrain themselves from inflicting grievous harm upon one another. Hence, all participants are reminded by the word Capoeira, that the intent of the "fight" should remain one with the restraint of the show-off, yet castrated, rooster called Capão. These showy cock like fights are mock fights of skill between performing "capão" in the mock cockfight pen known as the "Capoceira". Capoeira is an extreme display of a cockfight-like competition of one-up-man-ship between show-off cocky "roosters" absent deadly intent.
"Capoeira" has several meanings, including any kind of pen where poultry is kept, a fowl similar to a partridge, and a basket worn on the head by soldiers defending a stronghold. "Capoeira" is also what people used to call a black inlander who mugged travelers. Etymology

Main article: Capoeira music Music
The "roda" is the circle of people within which capoeira is played. People who make up the roda's circular shape clap and sing along to the music being played for the two partners engaged in a capoeira "game" ("jogo"). In some capoeira schools an individual in the audience can "buy in" to engage one of the two players and begin another game.
The minimum roda size is usually a circle of about 3 metres (10 feet) in diameter. They are often larger, up to 10 metres in diameter (30 feet). The rhythm being played on the berimbau sets the pace of the game being played in the roda. Slow music limits the game to slow yet complex ground moves and handstands.
Hits usually aren't made but feigned or just shown, although this depends directly on the rhythm played by the berimbaus. In some rhythms (e.g., Benguela) strikes are generally shown but not finished while in others (e.g., São Bentro Grande da Regional) the players have more freedom to strike each other. Slow games are often seen as finesse games, less impressive for the casual viewer. Faster music allows for more circular momentum which is key to gaining "big air" in the roda. Note, however, that it is the specific toque played on the berimbau, regardless of its speed, which dictates the type of game to be played.
For the participants, the roda is a microcosm of life and the world around them. Most often in the roda, the capoeirista's greatest opponent is himself. Philosophy plays a large part in capoeira and the best teachers strive to teach Respeito (Respect), Responsabilidade (Responsibility), Segurança (Safety/Security), Malicia (Cleverness/Street-smarts), and Liberdade (Liberty/Freedom).
Modern capoeira is often criticized by more traditional practitioners of capoeira as being in the process of losing its "playfulness" and dialogue, in the sense that many capoeiristas tend to focus more on impressive acrobatics or the martial elements than the playful interaction with the other player in the roda. Dominance in the roda is as much psychological and artistic as it is a question of who winds up tumbling to the floor.
Capoeira is uniquely social. Networking with other groups and students from other teachers can teach a capoeirista more about the art and improve their skills.

The capoeira roda
See also: List of capoeira techniques
Capoeira does not focus on injuring the opponent. Rather, it emphasizes skill. Capoeiristas often prefer to show the movement without completing it, enforcing their superiority in the roda. If an opponent cannot dodge a slow attack, there is no reason to use a faster one. Each attack that comes in gives players a chance to practice an evasive technique.

The Jogo
The ginga (literally: rocking back and forth; to swing) is the fundamental movement in capoeira. Capoeira Angola and capoeira regional have distinctive forms of ginga. Both are accomplished by maintaining both feet approximately shoulder-width apart and then moving one foot backwards and then back to the base, describing a triangular 'step' on the ground. This movement is done to prepare the body for other movements.
The rest of the body is also involved in the ginga: coordination of the arms (in such a way as to prevent the body from being kicked), torso (many core muscles may be engaged depending on the player's style), and the leaning of the body (forward and back in relation to the position of the feet; the body leans back to avoid kicks, and forward to create opportunities to show attacks). The overall movement should match the rhythm being played by the bateria.

Ginga
Capoeira primarily attacks with kicks, sweeps, and head strikes. Some schools teach punches and hand strikes, but they are not as common. Some scholars. Knee strikes are sometimes seen. Capoeira also uses acrobatic and athletic movements to maneuver around the opponent. Cartwheels called "aú" (a very common acrobatic movement), handstands (bananeira), headspins (pião de cabeça), hand-spins (pião de mão), hand-springs (gato), sitting movements, turns, jumps, flips (mortal), and large dodges are all very common in capoeira though vary greatly depending on the form and rhythm. Fakes and feints are also an extremely important element in capoeira games and the setting of "traps" or illusory movements are very common.

Attacks
Capoeira defenses consists of evasive moves and rolls. A series of ducks called esquivas, which literally means "escape", are also staple of a capoeiristas' defensive vocabulary. There are typically different esquivas for every step of the Ginga, depending on the direction of the kick and intention of the defender. A common defense is the rolê, which is a rolling move that combines a duck and a low movement. This move allows the defensive player to quickly evade an attack and position themselves around the aggressor in order to lay up for an attack. It is this combination of attacks and defense which gives a game of capoeira its perceived 'fluidity' and choreography.
Other evasive moves such as rasteira, vingativa, tesoura de mão or queda allow the capoeirista to move away or dangerously close in an attempt to trip up the aggressor in the briefest moment of vulnerability (usually in a mid-kick.)

Defenses
There are also styles of moves that combine both elements of attack and defense. An example is the au batido. The move begins as an evasive cartwheel which then turns into a blocking/kick, either as a reflexive response to a blocking move from the opposing player or when an opportunity to do so presents itself, e.g., at an opponent's drop of guard. Two kicks called meia lua de compasso and armada are usually combined to create a double spinning kick.

Combinations
The Chamada is a ritual that takes place within the game of Capoeira Angola. Chamada means 'call', and consists of one player 'calling' their opponent to participate in the ritual. There is an understood dialogue of gestures of the body that are used to call the opponent, and to signal the end of the ritual. The ritual consists of one player signalling, or calling the opponent, who then approaches the player and meets the player to walk side by side within the roda. The player who initiated the ritual then decides when to signal an end to the ritual, whereby the two players return to normal play. The critical points of the chamada occur during the approach, and the chamada is considered a 'life lesson', communicating the fact that the approach is a dangerous situation. Approaching people, animals, or life situations is always a critical moment when one must be aware of the danger of the situation. The purpose of the chamada is to communicate this lesson, and to enhance the awareness of people participating in the ritual.
During the ritual, after the opposing player has appropriately approached the caller of the chamada, the players walk side by side inside the circle in which the game is played. This is another critical situation, because both players are now very vulnerable due to the close proximity and potential for surprise attack.
Experienced practitioners and masters of the art will sometimes test a student's awareness by suggesting strikes, head-butts, or trips during a chamada to demonstrate when the student left themselves open to attack. The end of a chamada is called by the player that initiated the ritual, and consists of a gesture inviting the player to return to normal play. This is another critical moment when both players are vulnerable to surprise attack.
The chamada can result in a highly developed sense of awareness and helps practitioners learn the subtleties of anticipating another person's intentions. The chamada can be very simple, consisting solely of the basic elements, or the ritual can be quite elaborate including a competitive dialogue of trickery, or even theatric embellishments.

Chamada
Volta ao mundo means 'around the world'.
The volta ao mundo takes place after an exchange of movements has reached a conclusion, or after there has been a disruption in the harmony of the game. In either of these situations, one player will begin walking around the perimeter of the circle, and the other player will join the 'around the world' before returning to the normal game.

Volta ao mundo
As students master the basic moves, their game naturally acquires a more cunning slant as they begin to perfect the art of trickery, or malandragem. This involves a lot of improvisation and modifications of basic moves into a flurry of feints and fakes to trick the opponent into responding wrongly. These attempts can be blatant or subtle at discretion of the players. Effective malandragem lies in the development of sharp observation skills and a keen innate ability to anticipate the moves of the opponent and prepare an appropriate response. Some capoeiristas take this aspect of the art to heights akin to the guile of theatrics and drama. Games displaying elaborate performances and even staging skits reenacting historic cultural aspects of capoeira are commonly demonstrated amongst the most learned of the arts.

Malandragem
Capoeira has two main classifications: traditional and modern. Angola refers to the traditional form of the game. This is the oldest form, approximately 500 years old. Modern forms of capoeira can be classified as Regional and Contemporanea.

Styles of capoeira

Main article: Capoeira Angola Capoeira Angola
Regional is a newer form of Capoeira. Regional was developed by Mestre Bimba to make capoeira more mainstream and accessible to the public, and less associated with the criminal elements of Brazil. The regional style is most often composed of fast and athletic play.
Later, so called modern regional came to be (see the next section about capoeira Contemporânea). Developed by other people from Bimba's regional, this type of game is characterized by high jumps, acrobatics, and spinning kicks. This regional should not be confused with the original style created by Mestre Bimba.
Regional ranks capoeiristas (capoeira players) by ability, denoting different skill with the use of a corda (colored rope, also known as cordel or cordão) worn as a belt. Angola does not use such a formal system of ranking, relying instead upon the discretion of a student's mestre. In both forms, though, recognition of advanced skill comes only after many years of constant practice.

Capoeira Regional
Contemporânea is a term for groups that train multiple styles of capoeira simultaneously. Very often a students of Capoeira Contemporânea train elements of Regional and Angola as well as newer movements that would not fall under either of those styles. This is controversial because many practitioners argue that a capoeirista should have a working knowledge of traditional and modern capoeira, and encourage training both forms simultaneously. This is an issue of great disagreement amongst capoeiristas.
The label contemporânea also applies to many groups who do not trace their lineage through Mestre Bimba or Mestre Pastinha and do not strongly associate with either tradition.
In recent years, the various philosophies of modern capoeira have been expressed by the formation of schools, particularly in North America, which focus on, and continue to develop their specific form of the modern art. This has become a defining characteristic of many schools, to the point that a seasoned student can sometimes tell what school a person trains from, based solely on the way they play the game. Some schools teach a blended version of the many different styles. Traditionally, rodas in these schools will begin with a period of Angola, in which the school's mestre, or an advanced student, will sing a ladainha, (a long, melancholy song, often heard at the start of an Angola game). After some time, the game will eventually increase in tempo, until, at the mestre's signal, the toque of the berimbaus changes to that of traditional Regional.
Each game, Regional and Angola stresses different strengths and abilities. Regional emphasizes speed and quick reflexes, whereas Angola underscores a great deal of thought given to each move, almost like a game of chess. Schools that teach a blend of these try to offer this mix as a way of using the strengths of both games to influence a player.

Capoeira Contemporânea

Main article: Capoeira in popular culture Capoeira in popular culture
The concept of "whitening", "embranquecimento", or "bleaching", was discussed widely beginning of the nineteenth century throughout Brazil. Even though this concept was intended to combat the racist view of Brazil by European theorists, this whitening theory — which was supported mainly by the Brazilian elites at the time — was founded on racist assumptions of white supremacy. Whitening influenced the art in at least two ways, demographically and aesthetically, and the practice of Capoeira Regional demonstrates the "embranquecimento" or "whitening" of values or style. For example, observers constantly describe Capoeira as "clean" in relation to whitening, and modern-day capoeira consist of flowing movements, uniforms, and accepted rules are required to be abided to.

Whitening
Capoeira regional groups periodically hold Batizados ("baptisms" into the art of capoeira). Members being "baptized" are normally given a corda (cord belt) and an apelido (capoeira nickname) if they haven't already earned one. Batizados are major events to which a number of groups and masters from near and far are normally invited. Sometimes a Batizado is also held in conjunction with a Troca de Corda (change of belts), in which students already baptized who have trained hard and been deemed worthy by their teachers are awarded higher-ranking belts as an acknowledgment of their efforts. Such ceremonies provide opportunities to see a variety of different capoeira styles, watch mestres play, and see some of the best of the game. Sometimes they are open to the public.
Batizados and Trocas de Corda do not occur in capoeira Angola, which does not have a system of belts. However, some contemporary schools of capoeira have combined the study of both arts and may require their students to be learned in the ways of capoeira Angola before being awarded a higher belt.

Special events

Related activities

Main article: Samba Samba de roda

Main article: Maculelê (dance) Puxada de rede
See also: Category:Capoeira Mestres

Manuel dos Reis Machado, A founder of the regional style, and one of the foremost authorities on capoeira.
Vicente Ferreira Pastinha, a founder of the first organized Angola academy Important Mestres

List of capoeira techniques
Capoeira music
Capoeira toques
Malicia Notes

Almeida B. (1986). Capoeira, a Brazilian Art Form: History, Philosophy, and Practice (2nd ed.). North Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-938190-29-6
Assunção, Matthias Röhrig (2005). Capoeira: A History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art, Sport in the Global Society. London: Routledge. ISBN 0714680869. 
The Art of Capoeira- short BBC article on Capoeira
Chvaicer, Maya Talmon (2002), "The Criminalization of Capoeira in Nineteenth-Century Brazil," Hispanic American Historical Review 82.3: 525-547.
Downey, Greg (2002). "Listening to Capoeira: Phenomenology, Embodiment, and the Materiality of Music". Ethnomusicology 46 (3): 487-509. ISSN 00141836. 
Downey, Greg (2005). Learning Capoeira: Lessons in Cunning from an Afro-Brazilian Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195176979. 
Fryer, Peter. Rhythms of resistance: African musical heritage in Brazil. The University press of New England, 2000.
Gambrelle, Fabienne "Julien apprenti capoeira", Paris: Capoeira Paname Editions, 2005, ISBN 2-9523680-0-7
Grupo De Capoeira Angola Pelourinho, Capoeira Angola from Brazil, Smithsonian Folkways, 1996.
Grupo de Capoeira Angola Pelourinho, Capoeira Angola, Vol. 2 - Brincandoo Na Roda, Smithsonian Folkways, 2003.
Holloway, Thomas H. (November, 1989) "'A Healthy Terror': Police Repression of Capoeiras in Nineteenth-Century Rio de Janeiro," Hispanic American Historical Review 69.4: 637-676.
Lewis, J. Lowell (1992). Ring of Liberation: Deceptive Discourse in Brazilian Capoeira. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226476839. 
Mansouri, Arno (2005). Capoeira, Bahia. Editions Demi-Lune. ISBN 2-9525571-0-1 Bilingual (French and English)
Nestor Capoeira. (2002). Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-55643-404-9
Röhrig Assunção, Matthias (2004) Capoeira: The History of Afro-Brazilian Martial Art. Routledge ISBN 0-7146-5031-5
Taylor, Gerard (2005). Capoeira: The Jogo de Angola from Luanda to Cyber Space. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-55643-601-7

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The use of poison gas in World War I was a major military innovation. The gases ranged from disabling chemicals, such as tear gas and the severe mustard gas, to lethal agents like phosgene. This chemical warfare was a major component of the first global war and first total war of the 20th century. The killing capacity of gas was limited — only 4% of combat deaths were due to gas — however, the proportion of non-fatal casualties was high, and gas remained one of the soldiers' greatest fears. Because it was possible to develop effective countermeasures to gas attacks, it was unlike most other weapons of the period. In the later stages of the war, as the use of gas increased, its overall effectiveness diminished. This widespread use of these agents of chemical warfare, and wartime advances in the composition of high explosives, gave rise to an occasionally expressed view of World War I as "the chemists' war".

History of Poison Gas
The early uses of chemicals as weapons were as a tear-inducing irritant (lachrymatory), rather than fatal or disabling poisons. During the first World War, the French were the first to employ gas, using 26-mm grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate) in August, 1914. In October 1914, German troops fired fragmentation shells filled with a chemical irritant against British positions at Neuve Chapelle, though the concentration achieved was so small that it was barely noticed.

1914: tear gas
Germany was the first to make large scale use of gas as a weapon. On 3 January 1915, 18,000 artillery shells containing liquid xylyl bromide tear gas (known as T-Stoff) were fired on Russian positions on the Rawka River, west of Warsaw during the Battle of Bolimov. However, instead of vaporizing, the chemical froze, completely failing to have the desired effect.

1915: large scale use and lethal gases
The British expressed outrage at Germany's use of poison gas at Ypres but responded by developing their own gas warfare capability. The commander of British II Corps, Lt.Gen. Ferguson (officially) said of gas:
"It is a cowardly form of warfare which does not commend itself to me or other English soldiers.... We cannot win this war unless we kill or incapacitate more of our enemies than they do of us, and if this can only be done by our copying the enemy in his choice of weapons, we must not refuse to do so."

British gas attacks
The deficiencies of chlorine were overcome with the introduction of phosgene, first used by France under the direction of French chemist Victor Grignard in 1915. Colorless and having an odor likened to "mouldy hay," phosgene was difficult to detect, making it a more effective weapon. Although phosgene was sometimes used on its own, it was more often used mixed with an equal volume of chlorine, the chlorine helping to spread the denser phosgene.
Although it was never as notorious in public consciousness as mustard gas, it killed far more people, about 85% of the 100,000 deaths caused by chemical weapons during World War I.

Germany 18,100 tons
France 15,700 tons
United Kingdom 1,400 tons (although they also used French stocks)
United States 1,400 tons (although they also used French stocks) 1915: more deadly gases
The most widely reported and, perhaps, the most effective gas of the First World War was mustard gas, a vesicant, which was introduced by Germany in July 1917 prior to the Third Battle of Ypres.

Post-war
The contribution of gas weapons to the total casualty figures was relatively minor. British figures, which were accurately maintained from 1916, recorded that only 3% of gas casualties were fatal, 2% were permanently invalid and 70% were fit for duty again within six weeks. All gas casualties were mentally scarred by exposure, and gas remained one of the great fears of the front-line soldier.
"It was remarked as a joke that if someone yelled 'Gas', everyone in France would put on a mask. ... Gas shock was as frequent as shell shock." (H. Allen, Towards the Flame, 1934)
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
(Wilfred Owen, "Dulce Et Decorum Est", 1917)
Death by gas was particularly horrific. According to Denis Winter (Death's Men, 1978), a fatal dose of phosgene eventually led to "shallow breathing and retching, pulse up to 120, an ashen face and the discharge of four pints (2 liters) of yellow liquid from the lungs each hour for the 48 of the drowning spasms."
A common fate of those exposed to gas was blindness, chlorine gas or mustard gas being the main causes. It is a frequent misconception that lines of blinded soldiers, hand on the shoulder of the man in front, being guided by a sighted man to a dressing station were a frequent spectacle. One of the most famous First World War paintings, Gassed by John Singer Sargent, captures such a scene of mustard gas casualties which he "witnessed" at a dressing station at Le Bac-du-Sud near Arras in July 1918. However, the gasses used during that battle (tear gas) caused temporary blindness and/or a painful stinging in the eyes. These bandages were normally water-soaked to provide a rudimentary form of pain relief to the eyes of casualties before they reached more organized medical help.
Mustard gas caused the most gas casualties on the Western Front, despite being produced in smaller quantities than inhalant gases such as chlorine and phosgene. The proportion of mustard gas fatalities to total casualties was low; only 2% of mustard gas casualties died and many of these succumbed to secondary infections rather than the gas itself. Once it was introduced at the third battle of Ypres, mustard gas produced 90% of all British gas casualties and 14% of battle casualties of any type.
Mustard gas was a source of extreme dread. In The Anatomy of Courage (1945), Lord Moran, who had been a medical officer during the war, wrote: "After July 1917 gas partly usurped the role of high explosive in bringing to head a natural unfitness for war. The gassed men were an expression of trench fatigue, a menace when the manhood of the nation had been picked over." However, poison gas agents such as carbon monoxide and Zyklon B were extensively used against civilians in extermination camps.

Casualties
None of the First World War combatants were prepared for the introduction of poison gas as a weapon. Once gas had appeared, development of gas protection began and the process continued for much of the war producing a series of increasingly effective gas masks.
Even at Second Ypres, Germany, still unsure of the weapon's effectiveness, only issued breathing masks to the engineers handling the gas. At Ypres a Canadian medical officer, who was also a chemist, quickly identified the gas as chlorine and recommended that the troops urinate on a cloth and hold it over their mouth and nose, the theory being the uric acid would crystallize the chlorine. The first official equipment issued was similarly crude; a pad of material, usually impregnated with a chemical, tied over the lower face. To protect the eyes from tear gas, soldiers were issued with gas goggles.
The next advance was the introduction of the gas helmet — basically a bag placed over the head. The fabric of the bag was impregnated with a chemical to neutralize the gas — however, the chemical would wash out into the soldier's eyes whenever it rained. Eye-pieces, which were prone to fog up, were initially made from talc. When going into combat, gas helmets were typically worn rolled up on top of the head, to be pulled down and secured about the neck when the gas alarm was given. The first British version was the Hypo helmet, the fabric of which was soaked in sodium hyposulfite (commonly known as "hypo"). The British P gas helmet, partially effective against phosgene and with which all infantry were equipped with at Loos, was impregnated with phenate hexamine. A mouthpiece was added through which the wearer would breathe out to prevent carbon dioxide build-up. The adjutant of the 1/23rd Battalion, The London Regiment, recalled his experience of the P helmet at Loos:
"The goggles rapidly dimmed over, and the air came through in such suffocatingly small quantities as to demand a continuous exercise of will-power on the part of the wearers."
Self-contained box respirators represented the culmination of gas mask development during the First World War. Box respirators used a two-piece design; a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter. The box filter contained granules of chemicals that neutralised the gas, delivering clean air to the wearer. Separating the filter from the mask enabled a bulky but efficient filter to be supplied. Nevertheless, the first version, known as the Large Box Respirator (LBR) or "Harrison's Tower", was deemed too bulky — the "box" canister needed to be carried on the back. The LBR had no mask, just a mouthpiece and nose clip; separate gas goggles had to be worn. It continued to be issued to the artillery gun crews but the infantry were supplied with the "Small Box Respirator" (SBR).
The Small Box Respirator featured a single-piece, close-fitting rubberized mask with eye-pieces. The box filter was compact and could be worn around the neck. The SBR could be readily upgraded as more effective filter technology was developed. The British-designed SBR was also adopted for use by the American Expeditionary Force. The SBR was the prized possession of the ordinary infantryman; when the British were forced to retreat during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, it was found that while some troops had discarded their rifles, hardly any had left behind their respirators.
It was not only humans that needed protection from gas; horses and mules, which were the main means of transport, were also vulnerable to gas and needed to be provided with protection. As animals were never used near the front-line, protection from gas only became necessary when the practice of firing gas shells into rear areas was adopted.
For mustard gas, which did not need to be inhaled in order to inflict casualties, no effective countermeasure was found during the war. The kilt-wearing Scottish regiments were especially vulnerable to mustard gas injuries due to their bare legs. At Nieuwpoort in Flanders some Scots battalions took to wearing women's tights beneath the kilt as a form of protection.
The Canadian soldiers are said to have found a way to minimize the effects of the mustard gas. Since the gas was sent by the wind towards them, they understood that it would minimize the exposure to the gas if the Canadians not only did not flee but ran through the gas. The French, conversely, when the gas was first used against them, fled, and therefore spent more time in the gas, suffering greater casualties.
Gas alert procedure became a routine for the front-line soldier. To warn of a gas attack, a bell would be rung, often made from a spent artillery shell. At the noisy batteries of the siege guns, a compressed air strombus horn was used, which could be heard nine miles away. Notices would be posted on all approaches to an affected area, warning people to take precautions.
Other British attempts at countermeasures were not so effective. An early plan was to use 100,000 fans to disperse the gas. Burning coal or carborundum dust was tried. A proposal was made to equip front-line sentries with diving helmets, air being pumped to them through a 100 ft (30 m) hose.
However, the effectiveness of all countermeasures is apparent. In 1915, when poison gas was relatively new, less than 3% of British gas casualties died. In 1916, the proportion of fatalities jumped to 17%. By 1918, the figure was back below 3%, though the total number of British gas casualties was now nine times the 1915 levels.





Countermeasures
The first system employed for the mass delivery of gas involved releasing the gas from cylinders in a favourable wind such that it was carried over the enemy's trenches. The main advantage of this method was that it was relatively simple and, in suitable atmospheric conditions, produced a concentrated cloud capable of overwhelming the gas mask defences. The disadvantages of cylinder releases were numerous. First and foremost, delivery was at the mercy of the wind. If the wind was fickle, as was the case at Loos, the gas could backfire, causing friendly casualties. Gas clouds gave plenty of warning, allowing the enemy time to protect themselves, though many soldiers found the sight of a creeping gas cloud unnerving. Also gas clouds had limited penetration, only capable of affecting the front-line trenches before dissipating.
Finally, the cylinders had to be emplaced at the very front of the trench system so that the gas was released directly over no man's land. This meant that the cylinders had to be manhandled through communication trenches, often clogged and sodden, and stored at the front where there was always the risk that cylinders would be prematurely breached during a bombardment. A leaking cylinder could issue a telltale wisp of gas that, if spotted, would be sure to attract shellfire.
A British chlorine cylinder, known as an "oojah", weighed 190 lb (86 kg), of which only 60 lb (27 kg) was chlorine gas, and required two men to carry. Phosgene gas was introduced later in a cylinder, known as a "mouse", that only weighed 50 lb (23 kg).
Delivering gas via artillery shell overcame many of the risks of dealing with gas in cylinders. The Germans, for example, used 5.9 inch artillery shells. Gas shells were independent of the wind and increased the effective range of gas, making anywhere within reach of the guns vulnerable. Gas shells could be delivered without warning, especially the clear, nearly odorless phosgene — there are numerous accounts of gas shells, landing with a "plop" rather than exploding, being initially dismissed as dud HE or shrapnel shells, giving the gas time to work before the soldiers were alerted and took precautions.
The main flaw associated with delivering gas via artillery was the difficulty of achieving a killing concentration. Each shell had a small gas payload and an area would have to be subjected to a saturation bombardment to produce a cloud to match cylinder delivery. Mustard gas, however, did not need to form a concentrated cloud and hence artillery was the ideal vehicle for delivery of this battlefield pollutant.
The solution to achieving a lethal concentration without releasing from cylinders was the "gas projector", essentially a large-bore mortar that fired the entire cylinder as a missile. The British Livens projector (invented by Captain W.H. Livens in 1917) was a simple device; an 8-inch diameter tube sunk into the ground at an angle, a propellant was ignited by an electrical signal, firing the cylinder containing 30 or 40 lb (14 or 18 kg) of gas up to 1,900 meters. By arranging a battery of these projectors and firing them simultaneously, a dense concentration of gas could be achieved. The Livens was first used at Arras on 4 April 1917. On 31 March 1918 the British conducted their largest ever "gas shoot", firing 3,728 cylinders at Lens.

Delivery systems
Unexploded WWI ammunition, including chemical ammunition, has been a serious problem in former battle areas from immediately after the end of the War until the present. Shells may be, for instance, uncovered when farmers plough their fields, and are also regularly discovered when public works or construction work is done. While classical shells pose a risk of explosion, their disposal is relatively easy.

Unexploded weapons

Effect on World War II

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Parent may refer to:
Parent is also the name of some people:
Parenting, comprising all the tasks involved in raising a child to an independent adult. Types of parents include:

• Foster parent, an adult guardian to whom one or more children have been legally entrusted.
  Godparent, in Christianity, someone who sponsors a child's baptism.
  Helicopter parent, one who pays extremely close attention to their child or children, particularly at educational institutions.
  Single parent, a parent with one or more children, who is neither married, nor living together with his or her partner.
  Parenting, a magazine providing advice to parents, published in the United States.
  Parents (magazine), another magazine
  Parent Bug, Elasmucha grisea, a shield bug (a type of insect characterized by its shield-shaped body).
  Parent chain, in organic chemistry, is the longest continuous chain of connected carbon atoms in a hydrocarbon.
  Parent company or holding company, a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors.
  Parent material, in soil science, means the underlying bedrock from which soil horizons form.
  Parent node (or ancestor node), a node in a tree data structure that links to one or more child nodes.
  Parent process, a computer process that has created one or more child processes.
  Parent regiment, a type of army regimental system.
  The Parent Trap, a 1961 film and its 1998 remake.
  Parents, a 1989 horror film.
  Parent, a commune of the Puy-de-Dôme département, in France
  Alphonse-Marie Parent (1906–1970), a Canadian priest and administrator.
  Bernie Parent (born 1945), a Canadian professional ice hockey player.
  Gilbert Parent (born 1935), a Canadian Member of Parliament.
  Maury Parent (died 2004), an American radio personality.
  Mimi Parent (1924–2005), a Canadian surrealist artist.
  Simon-Napoléon Parent (1855–1920), a Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec.
  Steven Parent (1951–1969), a victim of the Charles Manson murders.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Club Sport Emelec is a famous sports club from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Emelec has won the highest total number of Ecuadorian championship cups in all sports (boxing, swimming, baseball, basketball, judo, chess, etc.). An assembly of employees of the Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador (an electric company in Guayaquil) founded the club on 1929-04-28. The assembly was directed by George Capwell, an executive officer of the company who came from the U.S.. The club was initially a baseball and boxing club.
The club got involved in football during the 1947 Copa América, the South American national-team competition, which was played in Ecuador. Back then the Copa América was known as Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol. Emelec was the first champion of Ecuador in 1957, with a "dream team" that included Yu Lee, José Balseca, Cruz Ávila, Mariano Larraz, Carlos Raffo, Jaime Ubilla, Daniel Pinto, Rómulo Gómez and Suárez-Rizzo. They were coached by Eduardo "Tano" Spandre.
The club has won championships in 1957, 1961, 1965, 1972, 1979, 1988, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002. In 1995 Emelec was a Copa Libertadores semi-finalist. Emelec was defeated by the champion of that year Gremio from Brasil. In 2001, Emelec was a Copa Merconorte finalist playing against Millonarios from Colombia. They played 2 finals. The first final was in Colombia, the score was 1-1. The score from the final in Ecuador was 1-1. They went to penalty kicks and the winner was Millonarios.(Colombia) Emelec only scored 1 from 4 penalty kicks losing the final, and losing the possibility to be the first Ecuadorian team to win an international tournament.

The George Capwell Stadium
Emelec is famous in Ecuador for always having fierce forwards, and the team has had the Ecuadorian topscorer of the year in many ocacions through out Ecuadorian championship history. The following is a list of Emelec's topscorers of the year in history:

1963 Carlos Alberto Raffo 4 goals
1979 Horacio Miori 26 goals
1996 Ariel Graziani 29 goals
1997 Ariel Graziani 24 goals
1998 Jaime Ivan Kaviedes 43 goals (Topscorer in a single year in Ecuadorian history - Top Scorer of the world on 1998)
2000 Alejandro Kenig 25 goals
2001 Carlos Alberto Juarez 17 goals
2002 Otelino Tenorio(+) 20 goals
2006 Luis Miguel Escalada 29 goals Top Goal Scorers

Enrique Alvarez
Mariano Larraz
Jorge Larraz
Galo Solis
Carlos Alberto Raffo
Enrique Raymondi
Cipriano Yu - Lee
Jose Vicente Balseca
Jorge Lasso
Carlos Pineda
Galo Pulido
Alfredo Encalada
Jaime Delgado Mena
Jorge Bolaños Carrasco
Bolivar Merizalde
Roberto Ortega
José Romanely
Eduardo García
José Maria Piriz
Eduardo de Maria
Luis Lamberk
Felix Lasso
Angel Liciardi
Americo Paredes
Nelsinho
Miguel Angel Onzari
Carlos Torres Garcés
Jorge Guzman
Jorge Valdez
Lupo Quinonez
Ricardo Armendariz
Ubaldo Quinteros
Horacio Miori
Alcides de Oliveira
Jesús Cárdenas
Israel Rodriguez
Xavier Baldriz
Miguel Falero
Ruben Beninca
Jose Federico Minda
Enrique Verduga
Raul Avilés
Juan Carlos De Lima
Luis Capurro
Kléber Fajardo
Ivo Ron
Jorge Bernabe Vargas
Iván Hurtado
Maximo Tenorio
Dannes Coronel
Angel Fernandez
Vidal Pachito
Eduardo Smith
Jorge Batallas
Marcelo Morales
Marcelo Benítez
Roberto Oste
Eduardo dos Santos, EDU
Juan Carlos Almada
Pedro Mauricio Muñoz
Jorge Vasquez
Eduardo Hurtado
Alexi Lalas
Joe-Max Moore
Augusto Poroso
Ariel Graziani
Carlos Alberto Juárez
José Manuel Rey
Gabriel Miranda
Iván Kaviedes
Otilino Tenorio (+)
Moisés Candelario
Carlos Hidalgo
Wellington Sanchez
Daniel Viteri
Rorys Aragon
Cristian Gomez
Alejandro Kenig
Carlos Quiñonez
Jorge Rojas
Juan Triviño
Cristian Noboa
Hamilton Ricard
Marcelo Elizaga
Marcos Mondaini
Luis Miguel Escalada
Luis Guillermo Rivera Famous Players

Eduardo Spandre (1957 Ecuadorian Champions)
Mariano Larraz (1961 Ecuadorian Champions)
Fernando Pasternoster (1965 Ecuadorian Champions)
Jorge Lazo (1972 Ecuadorian Champions - 1998 Ecuadorian Runners Up)
Eduardo Garcia (1979 Ecuadorian Champions)
Juan Ramon Silva (1988 Ecuadorian Champions - 1995 Copa Libertadores Semifinalist)
Angel Castelnoble(1989 Runners Up)
Salvador Capitano (1992 Ecuadorian Runners Up - 1993 Ecuadorian Champions)
Carlos Torres Garces(1994 Ecuadorian Champions - 2006 Ecuadorian Runners Up)
Ricardo Armendariz(1996 Ecuadorian Runners Up)
Carlos Sevilla(2001 Ecuadorian Champions - 2001 Copa Merconorte Runners Up)
Rodolfo Motta (2002 Ecuadorian Champions) Notorious Managers
As of July 18, 2007
Current Squad

The Cradle of Ecuadorian Football

The Fans
The fan group known as "Boca del Pozo" (mouth of the well) was founded July 25, 1980 by Giussepe Cavanna Chavez (today part of the club's staff). The group adopted that name because their clubhouse, known as Cavanna's Place, was located in a neighborhood with the same name. The fan base gained recognition and grew in number. The group is known to usually gather behind the goals. It also has several factions in different cities of Ecuador.
"La Boca del Pozo" has becomed the first Ecuadorian fan group that has made a notorious international trip to support the team, traveling through more than 5000 kilometers to Argentina to face Velez Sarsfield in the Copa Libertadores 2007.
Boca del Pozo
The group know as Legión Azul was founded in the year 2001 before we got the championship. It started with 10 to 15 members. There are more or less 250 members of this group now. They are located right in front of "La Boca del Pozo" behind the other goal.
Legión Azul (Blue Legion)
Emelec's founder George Capwell did not like football, he was a huge baseball fan and when he created the sports club he intended it to be a Baseball and Boxing club only.
It is common knowledge that in the club's early days the only way to become a member was to fight at least once on a boxing ring against one of the club's best boxers.
After years of sharing Titles with the another Team of Guayaquil, Barcelona SC in the amateur and regional tournaments, in 1957 Emelec won the first professional Ecuadorian football Championship ever.
Emelec was the first team in Ecuador to have its own stadium.
Emelec was the first team making a millionaire hiring $1´650.000 for the Argentina player from Boca Juniors Walter Pico, this transaction has not been passed already, not even by this year's most announced transaction when Luis Miguel Escalada's (Emelec's last year top scorer) soccer rights were bought by Liga de Quito in $1,000.000.
In 1948 Emelec became the first Ecuadorian team in history to compete on an international event. They were invited as Guayaquil's champions to represent Ecuador in the "Copa Campeones" in Chile, which in time became the famous "Copa Libertadores de America".
In 1962 Emelec became the first Ecuadorian team to win a match in the "Copa Libertadores de America", they won 4 - 2 against C.D. Millonarios from Colombia. The team also holds the largest score any Ecuadorian team has ever manage to obtain in the "Copa Libertadores", 7 - 2 against Universidad Catolica from Chile, also in 1962.
After winning the 1979 championship, in 1980 Emelec went to Ecuadorian Second Division, called "Serie B" because they made the worst presentation in played games during that year.
Emelec golden years were in the decades of the 60's when they won the Ecuadorian League in the years 1961, 1965 and 1972 and they were in second place in the years 1962, 1966, 1967 and 1970.
The late Eduardo "Che" Perez founded the first organized group to follow any Ecuadorian team. He followed Emelec anywhere the team went until his death in 2003. The largely organized group "Boca del Pozo" was the first "Barra Brava" in the country and the Emelec fan is commonly referred to as the most faithful fan in the country.
Another fact from Emelec is that they won two times the Championship twice in a row. In the years 1993 - 1994 and in the years 2001-2002.
Emelec's historical top scorer is Carlos Alberto Juarez with more than 110 goals scored in five years. His runner up is Jesus Cardenas. Facts

On 1993 left wing back Luis Enrique Capurro Bautista was named best in his position in South America by the prestigious Uruguayan newspaper, Diario El Pais. Capurro played his best years defending the Emelec shirt, he also played for Cerro Porteno, and Barcelona S.C.. Capurro is the best left wing back in Ecuador's history and along side center back Ivan Hurtado, the best defender Emelec has ever had.
On 1998 Jaime Ivan Kaviedes scored 43 goals and became the all time top scorer in Ecuadorian history and that year's world top scorer. The next year Kaviedes was sold to Perugia for USD 5.5M. and after that he played in several teams all over the world including Celta de Vigo, Real Valladolid, Puebla, Porto, Crystal Palace, Barcelona S.C., Deportivo Quito, and Argentinos Juniors. Although he has had so many opportunities during his career, and almost nine years after scoring 43 goals in a single year with Emelec, he has not been able to accumulate another 43 goals with both club and country from 1999 to 2006.
The late forward Otilino Tenorio became famous with Emelec not only because of his goals that helped the club win the 2001 Ecuadorian Championship and reach the Copa Merconorte final, but also because every time he scored a goal, Otilino took out a blue Spiderman mask from his pants and wore it to celebrate with the fans. Otilino died on 2005 in a tragic traffic accident, and since many forwards all over the world adopted the Spiderman celebration in his honor. His last game was against Emelec, his beloved team, were during the game a penalty kick was sanctioned against Emelec and in favor of El Nacional, where he was playing. He asked to kick it and before the referee blew his whistle he looked up to the sky. He missed the shot and the whole stadium (Emelec was local) sang his name. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Jaime Ivan Kaviedes scored the third goal in Ecuador's victory over Costa Rica and to celebrate it he used a yellow Spiderman mask honoring once again the great Otilino Tenorio.
Emelec is known for always promoting new exciting young players and during the 1998 season, Emelec used an all new team consisting in a large base of young players that included names like Moises Candelario, Otilino Tenorio, Jaime Ivan Kaviedes, Carlos Hidalgo, Luis Moreira, Pavel Caicedo, and a few experienced ones Like Carlos Juarez, Marco Etcheverry, and Augusto Poroso . In a smart promotional move, the new players were brilliantly baptized as the "extraterrestrials" . The young team qualified for the 1999 Copa Libertadores and reached the Ecuadorian final against Liga de Quito. The next year archrivals Barcelona attempted to do the same, and baptized their own group of young players as the "Mutants" . The group was a fiasco and Barcelona was barely able to stay in Ecuadorian first league that year.
The final match day of 2002 season will always be remembered as a miracle day for Club Sport Emelec. Three teams were competing for the title, El Nacional were the favorites as they only had to tie at home against a weak Deportivo Quito. Barcelona SC had to visit LDU Quito at their stadium and needed a victory to become the champions, while the least optioned team was Emelec that played in their stadium against Aucas and needed to win. El Nacional and [[Barcelona Sporting Club|Barcelona needed to lose. Ecuadorian football officials were so convinced that the champion was going to be either El Nacional or Barcelona, that they had the cup in Quito and were ready to send it to either one of the stadiums of the city where the two teams were playing. All 3 games were played simultaneously, and surprisingly El Nacional was soon losing to Deportivo Quito 1 – 4, while Barcelona and Liga were tied at zero. Emelec struggled to score until the last few minutes of the game when defender Augusto Poroso sent a spectacular volley into the net to beat Aucas. Minutes later, El Nacional and Emelec finished their game, but Barcelona's match had a few minutes more to go. In the Capwell Stadium Emelec fans waited anxiously for the match to end when suddenly at the last minute Barcelona scored, tears were starting to fall down when suddenly the ref signaled an offside nullifying the goal, a couple of minutes later the game was over and Emelec had won their 10th and last crown so far. The team and fans had to wait a few hours on the stadium's pitch for the Cup to come from Quito to Guayaquil.
Two times consecutive best goalkeeper in the Ecuadorian championship, Marcelo Elizaga, has shown so much of his skills that Ecuador's coach, Colombian Luis Fernando suarez, asked him to become an Ecuadorian citizen so he could use him in Ecuador's team for the Copa America 2007 and the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. Ecuadorian law allows foreigners to become Ecuadorian citizens once they have stayed at least 3 years in the country. Elizaga has played in Ecuador only two seasons so far, however he openly declared his love to the country and his intention to become an Ecuadorian, he also has an Ecuadorian son, Ignacio Elizaga (born in Guayaquil, November 16, 2005) and he is known as a respected member of the community. For all of these reasons, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa granted him with the Ecuadorian citizenship on February 7, 2007.
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa is a devoted Emelec fan, and has openly promised to help the club with their current financial situation, and also push forward several projects regarding Emelec's stadium and training ground. Curiosities and Trivia

Barcelona Sporting Club, the match between them is know as "Clásico del Astillero" and it is the most important match in the country. Other Rivals
Emelec is not only one of the most important football clubs in Ecuador, but it is by far the most important sports club of the country. In their trophy room Emelec has hundreds of cups and medals that have been gained over the years in many different sports disciplines. The list includes:
33 Consecutive National Boxing Championships
13 Baseball National Championships
11 Male Basketball National Championships
18 Female Basketball National Championships
7 Cycling National Champsionships
5 Tae Kwon Do National Championships
5 Judo National Championships
1 Weight Lifting World Championship by Johnny Constante