2008年4月30日水曜日

Livia
Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Livia Augusta (Classical Latin: LIVIA•DRVSILLA, later LIVIA•AVGVSTA) (58 BC-AD 29) was the wife of Caesar Augustus (also known as Octavian) and the most powerful woman in the early Roman Empire, acting several times as regent and being Augustus' faithful advisor. She was also mother to Emperor Tiberius and Drusus, grandmother to Germanicus and Claudius, great-grandmother to Caligula and Agrippina the younger and great-great-grandmother to Nero. She was deified by Claudius who acknowledged her title of Augusta.

Life
She was born on 30 January 58 BC as the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus by his wife Aufidia, who was a daughter of Aufidius Lurco, a Roman magistrate from an Italic town. The diminutive Drusilla often found in her name suggests that she was a second daughter.
In 42 BC, her father married her to Tiberius Claudius Nero, her cousin of patrician status who was fighting with him on the side of Julius Caesar's assassins against Octavian. Her father committed suicide in the Battle of Philippi, along with Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, but her husband continued fighting against Octavian, now on behalf of Mark Antony and his brother. In 40 BC, the family was forced to flee Italy in order to avoid Octavian's proscriptions, and joined with Sextus Pompeius in Sicilia, later moving on to Greece.

Birth and first marriage
A general amnesty was announced, and Livia returned to Rome, where she was personally introduced to Octavian in 39 BC. At this time, Livia already had a son, the future emperor Tiberius, and was pregnant with the second (Drusus the Elder). Legend said that Octavian fell immediately in love with her, despite the fact that he was still married to Scribonia. Octavian divorced Scribonia in 39 BC, on the very day that she gave birth to his daughter Julia the Elder ( Dio Cassius 48.34.3). Seemingly around that time, when Livia was six months pregnant, Tiberius Claudius Nero was persuaded or forced by Octavian to divorce Livia. On 14 January, the child was born. Octavian and Livia married on 17 January, waiving the traditional waiting period. Tiberius Claudius Nero was present at the wedding, giving her in marriage "just as a father would" (Dio Cassius 48.44.1-3). The importance of the patrician Claudii to Octavian's cause, and the political survival of the Claudii Nerones are probably more rational explanations for the tempestuous union. Nevertheless, Livia and Octavian remained married for the next 51 years, despite the fact that they had no children apart from a single miscarriage. She always enjoyed the status of privileged counselor to her husband, petitioning him on the behalf of others and influencing his policies.

Livia Marriage to Octavian
After Mark Antony's suicide following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Octavian met no opposition to his increasing power, eventually becoming Roman Emperor as Caesar Augustus always with Livia by his side. Together, they formed the role model for Roman households. Despite his wealth and power, Augustus and his family continued to live modestly in their house on the Palatine Hill. Livia would set the pattern for the noble Roman matrona. She wore neither excessive jewelry nor pretentious costumes, she took care of the household and her husband (often making his clothes herself), and she paid no attention to his notorious womanising, always faithful and dedicated.
In 35 BC Octavian gave Livia the unprecedented honour of ruling her own finances and dedicated a public statue to her. She had her own circle of clients and pushed many protégés into political offices, including Roman Emperor Galba and Emperor Otho's grandfather.
With Augustus being the father of only one daughter (Julia the Elder by Scribonia), Livia revealed herself to be an ambitious mother and soon started to push her own sons, Tiberius and Drusus, into power. Drusus was a trusted general and married Augustus's favourite niece, Antonia Minor. Tiberius married Julia the Elder (daughter of Augustus) in 11 BC and was ultimately adopted by his stepfather in AD 4 and nominated heir to the empire.
Rumor had it that when Marcellus, nephew of Augustus, died in 23, it was no natural death, and that Livia was behind it (Dio Cassius 55.33.4). One by one, all the sons of Julia the Elder by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa died: first Lucius and then Gaius, whom Augustus had adopted as his sons, intending them to be his successors. Finally Agrippa Postumus, Julia's one remaining son and also adopted as Augustus' son, was also incarcerated and finally killed. Tacitus charges that Livia was not altogether innocent of these deaths (esp. Annals 1.3; 1.6), and Dio Cassius also mentions such rumours (53.33.4, 55.10A, 55.32; 57.3.6), but not even the gossipmonger Suetonius, who had access to official documents, repeats them. Most modern historical accounts of Livia's life discount the idea. Even less plausible is the rumour mentioned by Tacitus (Annals 1.5) and Dio Cassius (55.22.2; 56.30) that Livia brought about Augustus' death (Dio mentions poisoned figs).

Livia, Roman empress
Augustus died in 14, being deified by the senate shortly afterwards. In his will, he left one third of his property to Livia, and the other two thirds to the successor Tiberius. In the will, he also adopted her into the Julian family, thus turning her into a patrician, and granted her the honorific title of Augusta. These dispositions permitted her to maintain her status and power after his death, under the name of Julia Augusta.
For some time, Livia and her son Tiberius, the new Emperor, appeared to get along with each other. Speaking against her became treason in 20, and in 24 he granted his mother a theatre seat among the Vestal Virgins. Livia exercised unofficial but very real power in Rome, with a man convicted of treason let go at her request. Eventually, Tiberius became resentful of his mother's political status, particularly against the idea that it was she who had given him the throne. At the beginning of the reign he vetoed the unprecedented title Mater Patriae ("Mother of the Fatherland") that the Senate wanted to bestow upon her, in the same manner in which Augustus and before him Julius Caesar and Cicero had been named Pater Patriae ("Father of the Fatherland"). (Tiberius also consistently refused the title of Pater Patriae for himself.)
The historians Tacitus and Dio Cassius depict an overweening, even domineering dowager, ready to interfere in Tiberius' decisions, the most notable instances being the case of Urgulania, a woman who correctly assumed that her friendship with the empress placed her above the law (Dio Cassius 57.12, Tacitus, Annals 2.34), and Plancina, suspected of murdering Germanicus and saved at Livia's entreaty (Annals 3.17). A notice from AD 22 records that Julia Augusta dedicated a statue to Augustus in the centre of Rome, placing her own name even before that of Tiberius.
Ancient historians give as a reason for Tiberius' retirement to Capri his inability to endure her any longer (Annals 4.57, Dio Cassius 57.12.6). Until AD 22 there had, according to Tacitus, been "a genuine harmony between mother and son, or a hatred well concealed" (Annals 3.64); Dio tells us that at the time of his accession already Tiberius heartily loathed her (57.3.3). In 22 she had fallen ill, and Tiberius had hastened back to Rome in order to be with her (Annals 3.64). But in 29 when she finally fell ill and died, he remained on Capri, pleading pressure of work and sending Caligula to deliver the funeral oration (Annals 5.1, Dio 58.2). Suetonius (Vita Tiberii 51) adds the macabre detail that "when she died... after a delay of many days, during which he held out hope of his coming, she was at last buried because the condition of the corpse made it necessary...". Divine honours he also vetoed, as if he took a perverse pleasure in depriving her of her secret aspirations. Later he vetoed all the honours the Senate had granted her after her death and canceled the fulfillment of her will.
It would be another 13 years in the year 42, under the reign of her grandson Claudius, before all her honours would be restored and her deification finally completed. Named Diva Augusta (The Divine Augusta), she received an elephant-drawn chariot to convey her image to all public games, a statue of her was set up in the temple of Augustus along with her husbands, races were held in her honour, and women were to name her in their oaths.
Her Villa ad Gallinas Albas north of Rome is currently being excavated: its famous frescos of feigned garden views may be seen at Museo Nazionale Romano#Palazzo Massimo [1]. One of the most famous statues of Augustus - the Prima Porta Augustus - came from the grounds of the villa.

Life after Augustus
While reporting various unsavoury hearsay, the ancient sources generally portray Livia (Julia Augusta) as a woman of proud and queenly attributes, faithful to her imperial husband, for whom she was a worthy consort, forever poised and dignified. With consummate skill she acted out the roles of consort, mother, widow and dowager. Dio (58.2.5) records two of her utterances: "Once, when some naked men met her and were to be put to death in consequence, she saved their lives by saying that to a chaste woman such men are in no way different from statues. When someone asked her how she had obtained such a commanding influence over Augustus, she answered that it was by being scrupulously chaste herself, doing gladly whatever pleased him, not meddling with any of his affairs, and, in particular, by pretending neither to hear or nor to notice the favourites of his passion."
With time, however, and widowhood, a haughtiness and an overt craving for power and the outward trappings of status came increasingly to the fore. Livia had always been a principal beneficiary of the climate of adulation that Augustus had done so much to create, and which Tiberius despised ("a strong contempt for honours", Tacitus, Annals 4.37). In AD 24, typically, whenever she attended the theatre, a seat among the Vestals was reserved for her (Annals 4.16), and this may have been intended more as an honour for the Vestals than for her (cf. Ovid, Tristia, 4.2.13f, Epist.Ex Ponto 4.13.29f).
Livia played a vital role in the formation of her children Tiberius and Drusus. Attention focuses on her part in the divorce of her first husband, father of Tiberius, in 39/38 BC. It would be interesting to know her role in this, as well as in Tiberius' divorce of Vipsania in 12 BC at Augustus' insistence: whether it was merely neutral or passive, or whether she actively colluded in Caesar's wishes. The first divorce left Tiberius a fosterchild at the house of Octavian; the second left Tiberius with a lasting emotional scar, since he had been forced to abandon the woman he loved for dynastic considerations. Ancient testimonies are lacking, but it may well be that Tiberius' deep-seated antipathy towards Livia is rooted in these two events.

Livia in literature and popular culture
In Tacitus' The Annals of Imperial Rome, Livia is depicted as having great influence, to the extent where she "had the aged Augustus firmly under control — so much so that he exiled his only surviving grandson to the island of Planasia".
Livia's image appears in ancient visual media such as coins and portraits. She was the first woman to appear on provincial coins in 16 BC and her portrait images can be chronologically identified partially from the progression of her hair designs, which represented more than keeping up with the fashions of the time as her depiction with such contemporary details translated into a political statement of representing the ideal Roman woman. Livia's image evolves with different styles of portraiture that trace her effect on imperial propaganda that helped bridge the gap between her role as wife to the emperor Augustus, to mother of the emperor Tiberius. Becoming more than the "beautiful woman" she is described as in ancient texts, Livia serves as a public image for the idealization of Roman feminine qualities, a motherly figure, and eventually a goddess like representation that alludes to her virtue. Livia's power in symbolizing the renewal of the Republic with the female virtues Pietas and Concordia in public displays had a dramatic affect on the visual representation of future imperial women as ideal, honorable mothers and wives of Rome.

Ancient
In the popular fictional work I, Claudius by Robert Graves, Livia is portrayed as a thoroughly wicked, scheming political mastermind. Devoted to bringing Tiberius to power and then maintaining him there, she is involved in nearly every death or disgrace in the Julio-Claudian family up to the time of her death. In the 1976 BBC television series based on the book, Livia was played by Siân Phillips.
Livia is also dramatized in the HBO/BBC series Rome. Introduced in the 2007 episode A Necessary Fiction, Livia (Alice Henley) soon catches the eye of young Octavian, who has never been married or fathered any children. Historically, of course, Octavian had already been married to and divorced Clodia Pulchra by this time, and was married to a pregnant Scribonia. Rome does acknowledge the existence of Livia's child, Tiberius Nero, by her first husband, but not that she was pregnant with Nero Claudius Drusus when she met Octavian.
Livia appears in Neil Gaiman's comic "Distant Mirrors - August" collected in The Sandman: Fables and Reflections.
In John Maddox Roberts's short story "The King of Sacrifices," set in his SPQR series, Livia hires Decius Metellus to investigate the murder of one of Julia's lovers.

Notes

Julio-Claudian family tree

Stanisław Lem (pronunciation , September 12, 1921March 27, 2006) was a Polish science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer. His books have been translated into 41 languages and have sold over 27 million copies..
His works explore philosophical themes; speculation on technology, the nature of intelligence, the impossibility of mutual communication and understanding, despair about human limitations and humankind's place in the universe. They are sometimes presented as fiction, to avoid both trappings of academic life and limitations of readership and scientific style, but others are in the form of essays or philosophical books. Translations of his works are difficult; Michael Kandel's translations into English have generally been praised as capturing the spirit of the original.

Stanisław Lem Biography

1957 - City of Kraków's Prize in Literature (Nagroda Literacka miasta Krakowa)
1965 - Prize of the Minister of Culture and Art, 2nd Level (Nagroda Ministra Kultury i Sztuki II stopnia)
1973 - Prize of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for popularization of Polish culture abroad (nagroda Ministra Spraw Zagranicznych za popularyzację polskiej kultury za granicą)
1972 - member of commission "Polska 2000" of the Polish Academy of Sciences
1973 - Prize of the Minister of Culture and Art (nagroda literacka Ministra Kultury i Sztuki) and honorary member of the Science Fiction Writers of America
1976 - State's Award 1st Level in the area of literature (Nagroda Państwowa I stopnia w dziedzinie literatury)
1981 - Doctor honoris causa honorary degree from the Wrocław Polytechnic
1985 - State's Award from Austria for contribution to European culture
1991 - Franz Kafka's State's Award from Austria in the area of literature
1994 - member of the Polish Academy of Learning
1996 - recipient of the Order of the White Eagle
1997 - honorary citizen of Kraków
1998 - Doctor honoris causa: University of Opole, Lwów University, Jagiellonian University
2003 - Doctor honoris causa of the University of Bielefeld Honors
Lem was awarded an honorary membership in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1973 despite being technically ineligible. SFWA Honorary membership is given to people who do not meet the criteria for joining the regular membership but who would be welcomed as members. Lem, however, never had a high opinion of American science-fiction, describing it as ill thought-out, poorly written, and interested more in making money than in ideas or new literary forms.

SFWA controversy
Several specific themes recur in all his works, however Lem's fiction is often divided into two major groups. Solaris, twice adapted into a movie, is set on an isolated research station hovering above the planet Solaris, and is a deeply philosophical work about contact with a completely alien lifeform — a planet-wide sentient ocean. Głos Pana (His Master's Voice) is another classic of traditional science fiction themes. Also very philosophical - much more so than Solaris - it tells the story of the scientists effort to decode, translate and understand an Extraterrestrial transmission, critically approaching humanity's intelligence and intentions in deciphering and truly comprehending a message from outer space. Lem's third great book is The Cyberiad. Subtitled Fables for the Cybernetic Age, it is a collection of comic tales about two intelligent robots who travel about the galaxy solving engineering problems; but a deeper reading reveals a wealth of profound insights into the human condition.

Influence

Works

Człowiek z Marsa (1946, only in a magazine in sequels) - The Man from Mars. Lem's earliest novel of which he often said that 'it should be forgotten'; however he didn't prevent later republications
Szpital przemienienia (1948) - Novella, published in book form in 1955 as Czas nieutracony: Szpital przemienienia. Non-SF book about a doctor working in a Polish asylum. Translated into English by William Brand as Hospital of the Transfiguration (1988). Released as a film in 1979.
Astronauci (Astronauts, 1951) - juvenile science fiction novel. In early 21st century, it is discovered that Tunguska meteorite was a crash of a reconnaissance ship from Venus, bound to invade the Earth. A spaceship sent to investigate finds that Venusians killed themselves in atomic war first. Released as a film in 1960.
Obłok Magellana (The Magellanic Cloud, 1955, untranslated into English)
Sezam (1955) - Linked collection of short fiction, dealing with time machines used to clean up Earth's history in order to be accepted into intergalactic society. Not translated into English.
Dzienniki gwiazdowe (1957, expanded until 1971) - Collection of short fiction dealing with the voyages of Ijon Tichy. Translated into English and expanded as The Star Diaries (1976, translated by Michael Kandel), later published in 2 volumes as Memoirs of a Space Traveller (1982, second volume translated by Joel Stern).
Inwazja z Aldebarana (1959) - Collection of science fiction stories. Translated into English as The Invasion from Aldebaran.
The Investigation (Śledztwo, 1959; trans. 1974) - philosophical mystery novel. Released as a film in 1979.
Eden (1959) - Science fiction novel; after crashing their spaceship on the planet Eden, the crew discovers it is populated with an unusual society. Translated into English by Marc E. Heine as Eden (1989).
Ksiega robotów (1961) - Released in the US as Mortal Engines (also contains The Hunt from Tales of Pirx the Pilot).
Return from the Stars (Powrót z gwiazd, 1961; trans. 1980) - SF novel. An astronaut returns to Earth after a 127 year mission.
Solaris (1961) - SF novel. The crew of a space station is strangely influenced by the living ocean as they attempt communication with it. Translated into English from the French translation by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox (author) as Solaris (1970). Made into a Russian film in 1972, and as a US film in 2002.
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (Pamiętnik znaleziony w wannie, 1961; trans. 1973) - Novel set in the distant future about a secret agent, whose mission is so secret that no one can tell him what it is.
The Invincible (Niezwyciężony, 1964; translated by Wendayne Ackerman from the German translation 1973) - SF novel. The crew of a space cruiser searches for a disappeared ship on the planet Regis III, discovering swarms of insect-like micromachines.
The Cyberiad (Cyberiada, 1967; transl. by Michael Kandel 1974) - collection of humorous stories about the exploits of Trurl and Klapaucius, "constructors" among robots. The stories of Douglas Adams have been compared to the Cyberiad. [1]
Głos pana (1968) - SF novel about the effort to translate an extraterrestrial radio transmission. Translated into English by Michael Kandel as His Master's Voice.
Ze wspomnień Ijona Tichego; The Futurological Congress (Kongres futurologiczny, 1971) - An Ijon Tichy short story, published in the collection Bezsenność.
Ze wspomnień Ijona Tichego; Professor A. Dońda (1971)
Doskonała próżnia (1971) - Collection of book reviews of nonexistent books. Translated into English by Michael Kandel as A Perfect Vacuum.
Opowieści o pilocie Pirxie (1973) - Collection of linked short fiction involving the career of Pirx. Translated into English in two volumes (Tales of Pirx the Pilot and More Tales of Pirx the Pilot)
Wielkość urojona (1973) - Collection of introductions to nonexistent books, as written by artificial intelligences. Translated into English as Imaginary Magnitude. Also includes Golem XIV, a lengthy essay/short story on the nature of intelligence delivered by eponymous US military computer. In the personality of Golem XIV, Lem with a great amount of humor describes an ideal of his own mind.
Katar (1975) - SF novel. A former US astronaut is sent to Italy to investigate a series of mysterious deaths. Translated into English as The Chain of Chance.
Golem XIV (1981) - Expansion of an essey/short story found in Wielkość urojona.
Wizja lokalna (1982) - Ijon Tichy novel about the planet Entia. Not translated into English.
Fiasco (Fiasko, 1986, trans. 1987) - SF novel concerning an expedition to communicate with an alien civilization that devolves into a major fiasco.
Biblioteka XXI wieku (1986) - Library of 21st Century includes Perfect Vacuum, Imaginary Magnitude and others
Peace on Earth (Pokój na Ziemi, 1987; transl. 1994) - Ijon Tichy novel. A callotomized Tichy returns to Earth, trying to reconstruct the events of his recent visit to the Moon.
Zagadka (The Riddle, 1996) - Short stories collection. Not translated into English.
Fantastyczny Lem (The fantastical Lem, 2001). Short stories collection. Not translated into English. Fiction

Dialogi (1957) - Non-fiction work of philosophy. Translated into English by Frank Prengel as Dialogs.
Wejście na orbitę (1962) - Not translated into English. Title translates as Going into Orbit.
Summa Technologiae (1964) - Philosophical essay. Partially translated into English.
Filozofia Przypadku (1968) - Nonfiction. Not translated into English. Title translates to Philosophy of Coincidence or The Philosophy of Chance.
Fantastyka i futurologia (1970) - Critiques on science fiction. Some parts were translated into English in the magazine SF Studies in 1973-1975, selected material was translated in the single volume Microworlds (New York, 1986).
Rozprawy i szkice (1974) - Nonfiction collection of essays on science, science fiction, and literature in general. Not translated into English. Title translates to Essays and drafts.
Wysoki zamek (1975) - Autobiography of Lem's childhood before World War II. Translated into English as Highcastle: A Remembrance.
Rozprawy i szkice (1975) - Essays and sketches. Not translated into English.
Lube Czasy (1995) - Not translated into English. Title translates to Pleasant Times.
Dziury w całym (1995) - Not translated into English. Title translates to Looking for Problems.
Tajemnica chińskiego pokoju (1996) - Collection of essays on the impact of technology on everyday life. Not translated into English. Title translates to Mystery of the Chinese Room.
Sex Wars (1996) - Not translated into English.
Bomba megabitowa (1999) - Collection of essays about the potential downside of technology, including terrorism and artificial intelligence. Not translated into English. Title translates to The Megabit Bomb.
Świat na krawędzi (2000) - The World at the Edge. Interviews with Lem.
Okamgnienie (2000) - Collection of essays on technological progress since the publication of Summa Technologiae. Not translated into English. Title translates to A Blink of an Eye.
Tako rzecze Lem (And Lem says so, 2002) - Interviews with Lem. Not translated into English.
Mój pogląd na literaturę (My View of Literature, 2003) - Not translated into English.
Krótkie zwarcia (Short Circuits, 2004) - Essays. Not translated into English.
Lata czterdzieste. Dyktanda. (The 40s, 2005) - Lem's works from the 1940s. Not translated into English. Film and TV adaptations

2008年4月28日月曜日


Police are agents or agencies empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimate use of force. The term is most commonly associated with police departments of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of responsibility. The word comes via French from the Latin politia ("civil administration"), which itself derives from the Ancient Greek πόλις, for polis ("city"). Alternative names for police force include constabulary, gendarmerie, police department, police service, or law enforcement agency, and members can be police officers, constables, troopers, sheriffs, rangers, or peace officers. Russian police and police of the Soviet-era Eastern Europe is (or was) called militsiya.
In England and Wales, each police force or service is overseen by a police authority.

History
In Ancient Greece, publicly-owned slaves were used by magistrates as police. In Athens, a group of 300 Scythian slaves was used to guard public meetings to keep order and for crowd control, and also assisted with dealing with criminals, manhandling prisoners, and making arrests. Other duties associated with modern policing, such as investigating crimes, was left to the citizens themselves. The Roman Empire had a reasonably effective law enforcement system until the decline of the empire. When under the reign of Augustus the capital had grown to almost one million inhabitants, he created 14 wards, which were protected by seven squads of 1,000 men called "Vigiles," who guarded against fires and served as nightwatchmen. If necessary, they might have called the Praetorian Guard for assistance. Beginning in the 5th century, policing became a function of clan chiefs and heads of state.
The Anglo-Saxon system of maintaining public order was a private system of tithings, since the Norman conquest led by a constable, which was based on a social obligation for the good conduct of the others; more common was that local lords and nobles were responsible to maintain order in their lands, and often appointed a constable, sometimes unpaid, to enforce the law.

Pre-modern Europe
In Western culture, the contemporary concept of a police paid by the government was developed by French legal scholars and practitioners in the 17th century and early 18th century, notably with Nicolas Delamare's Traité de la Police ("Treatise on the Police", published between 1705 and 1738). The German Polizeiwissenschaft (Science of Police) was also an important theoretical formulation of police.
The first police force in the modern sense was created by the government of King Louis XIV in 1667 to police the city of Paris, then the largest city of Europe and considered the most dangerous European city. The royal edict, registered by the Parlement of Paris on March 15, 1667 created the office of lieutenant général de police ("lieutenant general of police"), who was to be the head of the new Paris police force, and defined police as the task of "ensuring the peace and quiet of the public and of private individuals, purging the city of what may cause disturbances, procuring abundance, and having each and everyone live according to their station and their duties". This office was held by Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, who had 44 commissaires de police (police commissioners) under his authority. In 1709, these commissioners were assisted by inspecteurs de police (police inspectors). The city of Paris was divided into 16 districts policed by the 44 commissaires de police, each assigned to a particular district and assisted in their districts by clerks and a growing bureaucracy. The scheme of the Paris police force was extended to the rest of France by a royal edict of October 1699, resulting in the creation of lieutenants general of police in all large French cities or towns.
As conceptualized by the Polizeiwissenschaft, the police had an economical and social duty ("procuring abundance"). It was in charge of demographics concerns and of empowering the population, which was considered by the mercantilist theory to be the main strength of the state. Thus, its functions largely overreached simple law enforcement activities, and included public health concerns, urban planning (which was important because of the miasma theory of disease; thus, cemeteries were moved out of town, etc.), surveillance of prices, etc. .
Development of modern police was contemporary to the formation of the state, later defined by sociologist Max Weber as detaining "the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force," primarily exercised by the police and the military. Despite its differences, this definition was not completely alien to the Marxist definition of the state as a "repressive apparatus" guarding the bourgeoisie's interests.

The invention of "police"
After the troubles of the French Revolution the Paris police force was reorganized by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800 as the Prefecture of Police, along with the reorganization of police forces in all French cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. On March 12, 1829, a government decree created the first uniformed policemen in Paris and all French cities, known as sergents de ville ("city sergeants"), which the Paris Prefecture of Police's website claims were the first uniformed policemen in the world.

Modern police
In most Western police forces, perhaps the most significant division is between preventive ("uniformed") police and detectives. Terminology varies from country to country. Police functions include protecting life and property, enforcing criminal law, criminal investigations, regulating traffic, crowd control, and other public safety duties.

Personnel and organization
Preventive Police, also called Uniform Branch, Uniformed Police, Uniform Division, Administrative Police, Order Police, or Patrol, designates the police which patrol and respond to emergencies and other incidents, as opposed to detective services. As the name "uniformed" suggests, they wear uniforms and perform functions that require an immediate recognition of an officer's legal authority, such as traffic control, stopping and detaining motorists, and more active crime response and prevention. Preventive police almost always make up the bulk of a police service's personnel. In Australia and Britain, patrol personnel are also known as "general duties" officers. Unusually, in Brazil, preventive police are known as Military Police.

Preventive police
Detective Police, also called Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Investigations Police, Judiciary Police / Judicial Police, or Criminal Police, are responsible for investigations and detective work. They typically make up roughly 15% - 25% of a police service's personnel.
Detectives, by contrast to uniform police, typically wear 'business attire' in bureaucratic and investigative functions where a uniformed presence would be either a distraction or intimidating, but a need to establish police authority still exists. "Plainclothes" officers dress in attire consistent with that worn by the general public for purposes of blending in. In some cases, police are assigned to work "undercover", where they conceal their police identity to investigate crimes, such as organized crime or narcotics crime, unsolvable by other means. In some cases this type of policing shares some aspects with espionage.
Despite popular conceptions promoted by movies and television, many US police departments prefer not to maintain officers in non-patrol bureaus and divisions beyond a certain period of time, such as in the detective bureau, and instead maintain policies that limit service in such divisions to a specified period of time, after which officers must transfer out or return to patrol duties. This is done in part based upon the perception that the most important and essential police work is accomplished on patrol in which officers become acquainted with their beats, prevent crime by their presence, respond to crimes in progress, manage crises, and practice their skills. Detectives, by contrast, usually investigate crimes after they have occurred and after patrol officers have responded first to a situation. Investigations often take weeks or months to complete, during which time detectives spend much of their time away from the streets, in interviews and courtrooms, for example. Rotating officers also promotes cross-training in a wider variety of skills, and serves to prevent "cliques" that can contribute to corruption or other unethical behavior.

Detective police
Police may also take on auxiliary administrative duties, such as issuing firearms licenses. The extent that police have these functions varies among countries, with police in France, Germany, and other continental European countries handling such tasks to a greater extent than British counterparts.

Specialized units
Police services commonly include units for investigating crimes committed by the police themselves. These units are typically called Inspectorate-General, or in the USA, "internal affairs". In some countries separate organizations outside the police exist for such purposes, such as the British Police Complaints Authority (now Independent Police Complaints Commission). Likewise, some state and local jurisdictions, for example, Springfield, Illinois have similar outside review organizations. The Police Service of Northern Ireland are investigated by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, an external agency which were set up as a result of the Patten report into policing the province.

Investigating crimes committed by the police
There are several types of military police services:

Gendarmeries are military force which polices a civilian population.
Provost services are military police services that work within the armed forces.
Constabulary A civilian police force trained and organized along military lines. Military police
In many jurisdictions, police officers carry firearms, primarily handguns, in the normal course of their duties.
Police often have specialist units for handling armed offenders, and similar dangerous situations, and can (depending on local laws), in some extreme circumstances, call on the military (since Military Aid to the Civil Power is a role of many armed forces). Perhaps the most high-profile example of this was, in 1980 the Metropolitan Police handing control of the Iranian Embassy Siege to the Special Air Service. They can also be equipped with non-lethal (more accurately known as "less than lethal" or "less-lethal") weaponry, particularly for riot control. Non-lethal weapons include batons, riot control agents, rubber bullets and electroshock weapons. The use of firearms or deadly force is typically a last resort only to be used when necessary to save human life, although some jurisdictions allow its use against fleeing felons and escaped convicts. Police officers often carry handcuffs to restrain suspects.
Modern police forces make extensive use of radio communications equipment, carried both on the person and installed in vehicles, to co-ordinate their work, share information, and get help quickly. In recent years, vehicle-installed computers have enhanced the ability of police communications, enabling easier dispatching of calls, criminal background checks on persons of interest to be completed in a matter of seconds, and updating the officer's daily activity log and other required reports on a real-time basis. Other common pieces of police equipment include flashlights/torches, whistles, and police notebooks and "ticketbooks" or citations.

Police armament and equipment

Main article: Police car Police vehicles
The advent of the police car, two-way radio, and telephone in the early 20th century transformed policing into a reactive strategy that focused on responding to calls for service.

Law enforcement Policing strategies
In many nations, criminal procedure law has been developed to regulate officers' discretion, so that they do not arbitrarily or unjustly exercise their powers of arrest, search and seizure, and use of force. In the United States, Miranda v. Arizona led to the widespread use of Miranda warnings or constitutional warnings. Police in the United States are also prohibited from holding criminal suspects for more than a reasonable amount of time (usually 72 hours) before arraignment, using torture to extract confessions, using excessive force to effect an arrest, and searching suspects' bodies or their homes without a warrant obtained upon a showing of probable cause. Using deception for confessions is permitted, but not coercion. There are exceptions or exigent circumstances such as an articulated need to disarm a suspect or searching a suspect who has already been arrested (Search Incident to an Arrest). The Posse Comitatus Act severely restricts the use of the military for police activity, giving added importance to police SWAT units.
British police officers are governed by similar rules, particularly those introduced under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, but generally have greater powers. They may, for example, legally search any suspect who has been arrested, or their vehicles, home or business premises, without a warrant, and may seize anything they find in a search as evidence. All police officers in the United Kingdom, whatever their actual rank, are 'constables' in terms of their legal position. This means that a newly appointed constable has the same arrest powers as a Chief Constable or Commissioner. However, certain higher ranks have additional powers to authorize certain aspects of police operations, such as a power to authorize a search of a suspect's house (section 18 PACE) by an officer of the rank of Inspector, or the power to authorize a suspect's detention beyond 24 hours by a Superintendent.

Restrictions upon the power of the police
Investigation of police corruption is sometimes made more difficult by a code of silence that encourages unquestioning loyalty to comrades over the cause of justice. If an officer breaks this code, they may receive death threats or even be left for dead, as in the case of Frank Serpico. One way to fight such corruption is by having an independent or semi-independent organization investigate, such as (in the United States) the Federal Justice Department, state Attorneys General, local District Attorneys, a police department's own internal affairs division, or specially appointed commissions. However, independent organizations are generally not used except for the most severe cases of corruption.

Police conduct and accountability
Police forces also find themselves under criticism for their use of force, particularly deadly force. Specifically, tension increases when a police officer of one race harms or kills a suspect of another race. In the United States, such events routinely spark protests and accusations of racism against police.
In the United States since the 1960s, concern over such issues has increasingly weighed upon law enforcement agencies, courts and legislatures at every level of government. Incidents such as the 1965 Watts Riots, the videotaped 1991 beating by Los Angeles Police officers of Rodney King, and the riot following their acquittal has depicted American police as dangerously lacking in appropriate controls. The fact that this trend has occurred contemporaneously with the rise of the US civil rights movement, the "War on Drugs" and a precipitous rise in violent crime from the 1960s to the 1990s has made questions surrounding the role, administration and scope of authority of police specifically and the criminal justice system as a whole increasingly complicated. Police departments and the local governments that oversee them in some jurisdictions have attempted to mitigate some of these issues through community outreach programs and community policing to make the police more accessible to the concerns of local communities; by working to increase hiring diversity; by updating training of police in their responsibilities to the community and under the law; and by increased oversight within the department or by civilian commissions. In cases in which such measures have been lacking or absent, local departments have been compelled by legal action initiated by the US Department of Justice under the 14th Amendment to enter into consent decree settlements to adopt such measures and submit to oversight by the Justice Department.
Some believe that police forces have been responsible for enforcing many bigoted perspectives. Ageism against teens, classism, homophobia, racism, and sexism are views which police have been charged with having held and enforced. Some police organizations are faced with routine accusations of racial profiling.

Use of force
The social status and pay of police can lead to problems with recruitment and morale. Jurisdictions lacking the resources or the desire to pay police appropriately, lacking a tradition of professional and ethical law enforcement, or lacking adequate oversight of the police often face a dearth of quality recruits, a lack of professionalism and commitment among their police, and broad mistrust of the police among the public. These situations often strongly contribute to police corruption and brutality. This is particularly a problem in countries undergoing social and political development; countries that lack rule of law or civil service traditions; or countries in transition from authoritarian or Communist governments in which the prior regime's police were little more than praetorians.

Police around the world

2008年4月27日日曜日


The Danish and Norwegian alphabet is based upon the Latin alphabet and has consisted of the following 29 letters since 1955 (Norwegian since 1917):
This article is part of the series on: Danish language
Use:Danish alphabet Alphabet Phonology Grammar

Other topics:Danish alphabet History Literature

Dansk Sprognævn
(Listen to a Danish speaker recite the alphabet in Danish.)
The letters c, q, w, x and z are only used in loanwords. Some also spell their otherwise Scandinavian family names using these letters.

Diacritics
The letter Å (HTML å) was introduced in Norwegian in 1917, replacing Aa. Similarly, the letter Å was introduced in Danish in 1948, but the final decision on its place in the alphabet was not made. The initial proposal was to place it first, before A. Its place as the last letter of the alphabet, as in Norwegian, was decided in 1955. The former digraph Aa still occurs in names and old documents and is still the correct transliteration, if the letter is not available for technical reasons. Aa is treated like Å in alphabetical sorting, not like two adjacent letters A. This rule does not apply to non-Scandinavian names, so a modern dictionary would list the German city of Aachen under A but list the Danish town of Aabenraa under Å.
The difference between the Dano-Norwegian and the Swedish alphabet is that Swedish uses the variant Ä instead of Æ (HTML Æ), and the variant Ö instead of Ø (HTML Ø) — similar to German. Also, the collating order for these three characters is different: Å, Ä, Ö. Some scholars have argued that Ä/Æ and Ö/Ø are mere glyph variants of the same letters and should thus be encoded the same.
In current Danish and Norwegian, W is recognized as a separate letter from V. In Danish, the transition was made in 1980; before that, the W was merely considered to be a variation of the letter V and words using it were alphabetized accordingly (e.g.: "Wales, Vallø, Washington, Wedellsborg, Vendsyssel"). A common Danish children's song about the alphabet still states that the alphabet has 28 letters; the last line reads otte-og-tyve skal der stå, i.e. "that makes twenty-eight". However, today the letter "w" is considered an official letter.

2008年4月26日土曜日


The blessing of same-sex unions is currently an issue about which some Christian Churches are at present in disagreement with other Christian churches. These disagreements are primarily centered on the interpretation of various scripture passages related to homosexuality, and in some Churches on the varying understandings of homosexuality in psychology, genetics and other scientific data. While various Church bodies have widely varying practices and teachings, individual Christians of every major tradition are involved in practical (orthopraxy) discussions about how to respond to the issue.
See also: List of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality

Terminology
Those Christians and Churches which support blessing of same-sex unions do so from several perspectives:
Those Christians and Churches which oppose same-sex unions and same-sex marriage do so from some or all of the following reasons:


  • The natural physical complementarity between the sexes.

  • The biology of sexuality is oriented toward procreation; homosexuality from this perspective is without merit.





  • Homosexual practices appear to be condemned in Genesis 18:17-19:29 (Sodom and Gomorrah) and Judges 19:1-20:48 (cf. 19:22)

  • Homosexual practices are explicitly condemned in Romans 1:26-28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NASB)




Interpretations of the Bible that deemphasize Old and New Testament passages regarding homosexual practice. Appeals to APA statements regarding homosexuality may influence this belief.
Believes that "the inclusiveness of Baptism" requires equal access to having relationships "blessed" by the church.
Belief that "all love is from God and is a reflection of and participation in Divine Love". And therefore that love present in same sex relationships ought to be recognized/ceremonialized in a church setting.
It is a matter of justice. Desire to provide "equality" or "equal access" in marriage services so as not to "marginalize" LGBT people or relationships.
It is a "compassionate response" that improves gay-straight relations and reduces anti-gay hate speech.
It is an affirmative good that stands alongside straight marriage and committed monastic celibacy as a revelation of God's self in the world.
Marriage is a Sacrament ("Matrimony") defined first in the Book of Genesis, then later in the teachings of Christ as a union of man and woman.
The Roman Catholic Church, in particular, also appeals to the reasoning of the Natural Law Tradition. According to Natural Law the "natural order" of human sexuality is oriented toward the opposite sex for several reasons:
The natural physical complementarity between the sexes.
The biology of sexuality is oriented toward procreation; homosexuality from this perspective is without merit.
Many churches rely on the words of the Bible as Divine Revelation (Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition).
Traditional or literal interpretations of Old and New Testament passages opposing homosexual activity:
Homosexual practices appear to be condemned in Genesis 18:17-19:29 (Sodom and Gomorrah) and Judges 19:1-20:48 (cf. 19:22)
Homosexual practices are explicitly condemned in Romans 1:26-28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Timothy 1:9-10 (NASB)
Moral condemnations against rectal intercourse that transcend biblical interpretation and that some say derive from homophobia. Theological differences between support and opposition
Some people feel that same-sex unions are middle ground between same sex marriage and condemnation of same sex relationships. Unions as a 'legal status' between individuals does not by itself conflict with Church teachings about the sacredness of "Marriage".
The Episcopal Church USA, many dioceses of which permit the blessing of same-sex unions, nevertheless rejected at their 2006 General Convention a resolution allowing the solemnization of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, where same sex marriage is recognized by civil law.

Controversy between same-sex union and marriage
Same sex marriage is forbidden in a majority of Christian denominations, including Roman Catholics, Protestants (mainline, evangelical, non-denominational, and fundamentalist churches), Orthodox (the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches) Churches, and the LDS Church. According to a 2002 study by the Marriage Law Project, which opposes same-sex marriage, denominations claiming 97.6% of US Christians and 99.97% of Christians worldwide presently declare that marriage is between a man and a woman. Because same sex religious unions are not widespread and because civil unions do not require religious officiation, documentation of the incidence of church blessing of same sex couples is difficult.

Churches unfavorable to same-sex unions and marriage
Due to its "local option", a number of congregations and ministers of the United Church of Canada (a merger of Congregationalist, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations in Canada following presbyterian polity) officiate at same-sex marriages, which are fully legal in Canada.
In the Anglican Communion, Integrity Toronto has been divided over whether to continue pressing for same-sex blessings, or to revise their goals to seek full marriage rights. Canberra Quakers and Queensland Quakers are prepared to celebrate same sex marriages despite the lack of legal recognition. See Quaker views of homosexuality
Many smaller denominations, such as the Eucharistic Catholic Church also solemnize same-sex marriages.

Churches favorable to same-sex marriage

Churches favorable to Same-sex union

Anglicanism
The Archbishop of Canterbury requested the Lambeth Commission on Communion to report to him by September, 2004. The Commission was asked to consider the legal and theological implications flowing from decisions related to homosexuality that were apparently threatening the communion. In addition to decisions relating to the blessing of same sex unions, the Commission was asked to examine the decision of the Episcopal Church (USA) to appoint a priest, Gene Robinson, in a committed same sex relationship as one of its bishops. The Commission was charged with specifically considering the effects on communion: "impaired and broken communion," between provinces of the Anglican Communion over the above decisions.
In its report, known as the Windsor Report, the Commission put forward the following general findings"
The Commission regrets that without attaching sufficient importance to the interests of the wider Communion:

  • The Episcopal Church (USA) proceeded with the consecration of Gene Robinson

  • The 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) declared that 'local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions'[80]

  • The Diocese of New Westminster approved the use of public Rites for the Blessing of same sex unions.

  • The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement affirming the integrity and sanctity of committed same sex relationships.

  • A number of primates and other bishops have taken it upon themselves to intervene in the affairs of other provinces of the Communion.



The Commission called for a moratorium on the blessing of same sex unions, and recommended that bishops who have authorised such rites in the United States and Canada "be invited to express regret that the proper constraints of the bonds of affection were breached by such authorisation." The report was roundly condemned by the gay community and progressive theologians for its partiality. (For example, while it calls for both liberals and conservatives to express regret for actions contributing to disunity, it acknowledges that conservatives may have committees such actions out of a sense of duty, but extends no such understanding to the Dioceses of New Westminster or New Hampshire).

The Episcopal Church (USA) proceeded with the consecration of Gene Robinson
The 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) declared that 'local faith communities are operating within the bounds of our common life as they explore and experience liturgies celebrating and blessing same-sex unions'[80]
The Diocese of New Westminster approved the use of public Rites for the Blessing of same sex unions.
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada issued a statement affirming the integrity and sanctity of committed same sex relationships.
A number of primates and other bishops have taken it upon themselves to intervene in the affairs of other provinces of the Communion. Report of the Lambeth Commission
The General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2004 voted to defer a decision of same-sex blessings until 2007, but also to "Affirm the integrity and sanctity of committed adult same-sex relationships".

Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches Anglican Church of Canada
Blessing of same sex unions became a subject of media attention in the Vancouver area in May, 2003 when Bishop Michael Ingham of the Diocese of New Westminster announced that he had given priests in some parishes the authority to bless gay and lesbian unions.

Diocese of New Westminster
This section has been tagged since January 2007.
The issue of blessing of same-sex unions was the subject of a resolution at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the USA held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 30 - August 8, 2003. After debate, the following resolution was concurred in and became an Act of the Convention:

Episcopal Church of the USA
Four churches of the Utrecht Union, which shares full communion with the Anglican Churches through the Bonn Agreement, also permit such blessings: namely, Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands (the mother church) permits blessings of gay civil marriages, and the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, and Catholic Diocese of the Old Catholics in Germany permit blessings of gay civil unions. The Old Catholic Church of Austria also permits such blessings (no civil unions there). Because of this (as well as the ordination of women), the Old Catholic Church in Slovakia and Polish National Catholic Church (USA) seceded from the Union in 2004.

Old Catholic Churches (Utrecht Union)
The Alliance of Baptists has supported the legal right to marry; its position on corollary church services is unclear.

Baptist Churches
The 2006 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted that blessing civil partnerships should be a matter of conscience for individual ministers. Conservatives in the Kirk argued that the reform would have to be ratified by local presbyteries.

Church of Scotland

Lutheran and Reformed Churches
In 2006, the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada's full communion partner through the Waterloo Declaration, voted to allow a "local option" provision similar to that in New Westminster, precipitating a dispute between the synod and the national church (which had previously rejected the proposal) as to where the authority to make that decision lay. In September of that year, the ELCIC's national church council ruled that authority to permit the local option lay with the National Convention. The Council agreed to intiate further study on the issue and to bring forward another motion permitting the local option to the 2007 National Convention.

Canada
The Church of Sweden and the Church of Denmark (in full communion with the Anglican Churches of the British Isles through the Porvoo Communion) allow blessings of same-sex couples.

Sweden and Denmark
The lutheran church Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allowed blessings of same-sex couples.

United States
In addition, some Lutheran, United and Reformed churches within the Protestant Church in Germany Blessing of same-sex unions in Christian churches Germany

Swiss Reformed Church Switzerland

Protestant Church in the Netherlands Netherlands
These lutheran, united and reformed churches in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands and Austria bless same-gender unions.



  • Evangelische Kirche H.B. in Österreich Austria
    The Presbyterian Church USA has a limited allowance for such blessings, but does not officially endorse that the unions be consummated.
    The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) has ruled that same-sex ceremonies are not forbidden, as long as they are not considered to be the same as marriage services.

    Presbyterian Church (USA)
    The Methodist Church of Great Britain voted in 2005 to allow a local option for ministers who wishes to perform same-sex blessings. However, a year later, the Church voted not to allow formal blessings for same-sex partnerships in its churches after all. Ministers may now instead offer informal, private prayers for couples.
    The United Methodist Church prohibits celebrations of same-sex unions by its elders and in its churches.

    Methodism
    The Moravian Church in North America's Northern Province has passed several liberal resolutions on homosexuality, but has not yet been able to "address the issue of a marriage covenant between homosexual persons".

    Moravian Church (North America)
    The Protestant Church in the Netherlands has chosen not to address marriage in its post-merger canon law; however, the by-laws of the church allow for the blessing of relationships outside of marriage.

    Protestant Church in the Netherlands
    Some ministers of the Unity School of Christianity officiate at commitment ceremonies. The Church prints certificates to recognise these occasions.

    Unity Church
    The United Church of Christ has no formal rules requiring or prohibiting solemnization of wedding vows, but owing to its Congregational polity and constitution,