Eric Davis may refer to:
Eric Davis (American football)
Eric Davis (baseball)
Eric Davis (footballer)

The Florida Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution mandates a bicameral state legislature with an upper house Florida Senate of 40 members and a lower Florida House of Representatives of 120 members. Due to term limits, House members may be elected for up to four terms (eight years), while State Senators can be elected for up to two terms (eight years).
The two houses convene within the Florida State Capitol complex in Tallahassee.
The Florida Legislature is a part-time body, meeting only 60 day regular sessions annually with the possibility of special sessions as needed. Outside of these regular sessions, the members of both houses participate in hearings, town hall meetings and legislative discussions throughout the year.

Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish film director. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches.

Phobias
Lars von Trier has said that "a film should be like a rock in the shoe". In order to create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the filmmaking process. The most famous restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme95 movement with which he is associated, though only one of his films, The Idiots, is an actual Dogme95 film. In Dancer in the Dark, dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques were used for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in Dogville everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as a line on the floor.
Von Trier often shoots his scenes for longer periods than most directors to encourage actors to stay in character. In Dogville he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. The rules and restrictions are a break from the traditional Hollywood production, though directors such as Robert Altman have long been using such techniques of working with actors. These techniques often put great strain on actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of Dancer in the Dark. Like many auteurs, he uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films. Some of his frequently used actors are Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård.
He is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film The Night Porter. He was so inspired by the short film The Perfect Human directed by Jørgen Leth that he challenged Leth to redo the short five times in feature film The Five Obstructions.

Filming techniques
Most of von Trier's films and television projects are parts of thematic and stylistic trilogies. The exceptions to this rule are his early work from before he graduated the Danish Film School and some TV projects.
His pattern of creating trilogies started with his first feature film, marking the beginning of The Europe Trilogy, though he claims a trilogy was not initially planned, instead being applied to the films in retrospect. The Europe trilogy illuminated the traumas of Europe in the past and future. This trilogy includes The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1988) and Europa (1991).
The Golden Heart trilogy was about naive heroines who maintain their 'golden hearts' despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy includes Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only The Idiots is a certified Dogme 95 film.
The USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy follows the character of Grace, and is set in a stylized American past. Von Trier has stated he was inspired to make a trilogy about the United States as a reaction to Americans at the Cannes film festival who said he had no right to make the Dancer in the Dark, which was often viewed as being critical of a country he has never been to (and has no intention of ever visiting, due to his phobia of travel); however, von Trier himself has stated in interviews he did not intend it to be a criticism of America, saying the film takes place in a "fictional America." Lars von Trier proposed the films as 'a series of sermons on America's sins and hypocrisy', inspired by the fact that American movie makers have made many movies about places across the world to which they have not travelled. Given that each of the films deals with idealists who come unstuck in attempting to prescribe solutions to what they perceive to be the wrongs of society, this comment may be considered to be very much more subtle than it first appears. All three movies will be shot in the same distinctive style, on a bare sound stage with no set and buildings marked by lines on the floor. This style is inspired by 1970s televised theatre. The trilogy consists of Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and Wasington [sic] (in production).
The Kingdom (Riget) was planned as a trilogy of three seasons with 13 episodes in total, but the third season was not filmed due to death of star Ernst-Hugo Järegård shortly after completion of the second season.

Trilogies

The Element of Crime (1984, part one of the "Europe" trilogy)
Epidemic (1987, part two of the "Europe" trilogy)
Europa / Zentropa (1991, part three of the "Europe" trilogy)
Breaking the Waves (1996, part one of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Idioterne / The Idiots (1998, part two of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Dancer in the Dark (2000, part three of the "Golden Heart" trilogy)
Dogville (2003, part one of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy)
Manderlay (2005, part two of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy)
Direktøren for det hele / The Boss of It All (2006)
Antichrist (2008) pre-production
Wasington (shelved indefinitely, part three of the "USA: Land of Opportunity" trilogy) Television filmography

Orchidégartneren / The Orchid Gardener (1977)
Menthe - La bienheureuse (1979)
Nocturne (1980)
Den sidste detalje / The Last Detail (1981)
Befrielsesbilleder / Images of a Relief (1982)
De fem benspænd / The Five Obstructions (segment: "The Perfect Human: Avedøre, Denmark") (2003)
Chacun son cinéma / To Each His Own Cinema (segment: "Occupations") (2007)

The Battle of Kursk or Kursk Campaign (July 4 – July 20, 1943), also called Operation Citadel (German: Unternehmen Zitadelle) by the German Army, was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, and the last German blitzkrieg offensive in the east. The exact definition of the battle varies: the Germans saw it as comprising Operation Citadel only, while the Soviets considered (and Russians today consider) it to include Citadel and the subsequent Soviet counteroffensives, Operation Kutuzov and Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev. Overall, the campaign, which included the famous sub-battle at Prokhorovka, remains both the largest armored engagement and the most costly single day of aerial warfare to date.
Kursk is further notable for the deliberately defensive battle strategy on the Soviets' part. Having good intelligence on Hitler's intentions, the Soviets established and managed to conceal elaborate layered defense works, mine fields, and stage and disguise large reserve forces poised for a tactical and strategic counterattack end game typical of defensive battle plans. Though the Germans planned and initiated an offensive strike, the well-planned defense not only frustrated their ambitions, but also enabled the Soviets to follow up with counteroffensives and exhausted the German abilities in the theater, thereby seizing the initiative for the remainder of the war. In that sense it may be seen as the second phase of the turning point that began with the German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, whose aftermath set the scene by establishing the Kursk Salient (also known as the "Kursk Bulge"), the reduction of which was the objective of the German armies entering July. The subsequent counterattacks retook Orel and Belgorod on August 5, and Kharkov on August 23, pushing back the Germans across a broad front. This was the first successful major Soviet summer offensive of the war.
Kursk was a further demonstration that the conflict in the East contained the largest scale of warfare in history, in terms of manpower involved. So well designed was the Soviet defensive planning, that when entering the archetypal counterattack phase, the Soviets were able to attack along four separate axes of advance, and execute a planned stop at a phase line, thus avoiding the pitfalls of overextending during the counterattack and earning this battle's deserved place as a model campaign in war college curricula.

Background
Von Manstein pressed for a new offensive along the same lines he had just successfully pursued at Kharkov, when he cut off an overextended Soviet offensive. He suggested tricking the Soviets into attacking in the south against the desperately re-forming Sixth Army, leading them into the Donets Basin in the eastern Ukraine. He would then turn south from Kharkov on the eastern side of the Donets River towards Rostov and trap the entire southern wing of the Red Army against the Sea of Azov.
OKH did not approve von Manstein's plan, and instead turned their attention to the obvious bulge in the lines between Orel and Kharkov. Three Soviet armies occupied the ground in and around the salient, and pinching it off would trap almost a fifth of the Red Army's manpower. It would also result in a much straighter and shorter line, and capture the strategically useful railway town of Kursk located on the main north-south railway line running from Rostov to Moscow.
In March the plans crystallized. Walter Model's Ninth Army would attack southwards from Orel while Hermann Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army and Army Detachment "Kempf" under the overall command of Manstein would attack northwards from Kharkov. They planned to meet near Kursk, but if the offensive went well they would have permission to continue forward on their own initiative, with a general plan to create a new line at the Don River far to the east.
Contrary to his recent behavior, Hitler gave the General Staff considerable control over the planning of the battle. Over the next few weeks, they continued to increase the scope of the forces attached to the front, stripping the entire German line of practically anything remotely useful for deployment in the upcoming battle. They first set the attack for May 4, but then delayed it until June 12, and finally until July 4 in order to allow more time for new weapons to arrive from Germany, especially the new Panther tanks.
The basic concept behind the German offensive was the traditional (and, for the Germans, hitherto usually successful) double-envelopment, or Kesselschlacht (cauldron battle). The German Army had long favored such a Cannae-style method, and the tools of Blitzkrieg made these types of tactics even more effective. Blitzkrieg depended on mass, shock, and speed to surprise an enemy and defeat him through disruption of command and supply rather than by destroying all his forces in a major pitched battle.
However, such breakthroughs were easier to achieve if they hit an unexpected location, as the Germans had achieved attacking through the Ardennes in 1940, and towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus in 1942. The OKH's plan for the attack on the Kursk salient, "Operation Citadel", violated the principle of surprise: anyone who could read a map could confidently predict the obvious point of attack. A number of German commanders questioned the idea, notably Guderian, who asked Hitler:
Was it really necessary to attack Kursk, and indeed in the east that year at all? Do you think anyone even knows where Kursk is? The entire world doesn't care if we capture Kursk or not. What is the reason that is forcing us to attack this year on Kursk, or even more, on the Eastern Front? Perhaps more surprisingly Hitler replied: I know. The thought of it turns my stomach.
The interview ended inconclusively; Operation Citadel was postponed until mid-June.
The German force numbered 50 divisions, including 17 panzer and panzergrenadier, among them the elite Wehrmacht Großdeutschland Division, and the Waffen-SS divisions 1st SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, 2nd SS Panzer Das Reich, and 3rd SS Panzer Totenkopf grouped into the II SS Panzer Corps. The High Command concentrated all their armor, the Tiger and new Panther tanks, and the new Elefant assault guns. They also massed a high proportion of their available air units and artillery, and despite the problems of the German plan it was a formidable concentration of armor.

German plans
The Red Army had also begun planning for their own upcoming summer offensives, and had settled on a plan that mirrored that of the Germans. Attacks in front of Orel and Kharkov would flatten out the line, and potentially lead to a breakout near the Pripyat Marshes. However, Soviet commanders had considerable concerns over the German plans.
The locations of all previous German attacks had caught the Soviets by surprise, but in this case Kursk seemed the obvious target. Moscow received warning of the German plans through the Lucy spy ring in Switzerland. This was almost unnecessary, since Marshal Zhukov had already correctly predicted the site of the German attack as early as April 8, when he wrote his initial report to Stavka (the Soviet General Staff), in which he also recommended the strategy eventually followed by the Red Army.
Stalin and a handful of Stavka officers wanted to strike first. This was evidenced by the defeat of the Blitzkrieg in summer campaigning weather (albeit at a very high price) and the ability of the Soviet forces to move from defensive to offensive operations due to better staff work, larger reserves and better planning. In these senses Kursk, and not Stalingrad, can be viewed as the turning point in the war: certainly the initiative passed decisively from the Germans to Soviets.

Soviet plans

Operation Citadel
It took four months before the Germans felt ready, by which time they had collected 200 of the new Panther tanks (only 40 available at the beginning of the battle due to technical problems with the new type), 90 Elefant Panzerjägers and every flyable Henschel Hs 129 ground attack aircraft, as well as 270 Tigers, late model Panzer Mark-IVs and even a number of captured T-34s. In total they assembled some 2,700 tanks and assault guns, 1,800 aircraft and 800,000 men. It formed one of the greatest concentrations of German fighting power ever put together. Even so, Hitler expressed doubts about its adequacy.
By this time, Allied action in Western Europe was beginning to have a significant impact on German military strength. Although actions in North Africa hardly constituted the Soviets' longed-for second front, the battle there did begin to tell, and in the last quarter of 1942 and the first half of 1943, the Luftwaffe lost over 40% of its total strength in the battles over Malta and Tunisia. German air superiority was no longer guaranteed. The Soviet Air Forces far outnumbered the Luftwaffe, and were quickly gaining in technology as well, with a very effective series of ground-attack aircraft capable of decimating German armor, such as the much feared Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik.
The start date for the offensive had been moved repeatedly as delays in preparation had forced the Germans to postpone the attack. Finally, on July 1 the orders to attack on July 5 were issued. The following day, Marshal Vasilyevskiy warned the Front commanders (N. F. Vatutin, K. K. Rokossovskiy and I. S. Konyev) that the long-awaited German offensive would begin sometime between July 3 and July 6. For months, the Soviets had been receiving detailed information on the planning of the offensive from their Red Orchestra (German: Rote Kapelle) espionage organization, whose sources included officers in the Nazi administration, among others in Hermann Göring's aviation ministry.
Preliminary fighting started on 4 July 1943 in the south, as Fourth Panzer Army had elected to try to take the Soviet outposts prior to the main assault on July 5. Thus they deliberately sacrificed tactical surprise. However, the Soviet forward positions were on small hills overlooking German assembly areas, so it is likely surprise would have been lost in any case.
In the afternoon, Stuka dive bombers blew a two-mile-wide gap in the front lines on the north in a short period of 10 minutes, and then turned for home while the German artillery opened up to continue the pounding. Hoth's armored spearhead, the III Panzer Corps, then advanced on the Soviet positions around Zavidovka. At the same time, the Großdeutschland Division attacked Butovo in torrential rain, and the 11th Panzer Division took the high ground around Butovo. To the west of Butovo the going proved tougher for Großdeutschland and the 3rd Panzer Division, which met stiff Soviet resistance and did not secure their objectives until midnight. The II SS Panzer Corps launched preliminary attacks to secure observation posts, and again met with stiff resistance until assault troops equipped with flamethrowers cleared the bunkers and outposts.
At 22:30, the Soviets hit back with an artillery bombardment in the north and south. This barrage, by over 3,000 guns and mortars, expended up to one-half of the artillery supply for the entire operation. The goal was to delay and disorganize the German attack. In the northern face, the Central Front artillery fired mostly against German artillery positions and managed to suppress 50 of the 100 German batteries they targeted. The result was much weaker German artillery fire on the opening day of the attack. Also, German units attacked at staggered times on July 5 due to the disruption caused by this bombardment. In the south, the Soviets chose to fire largely against the German infantry and tanks in their assembly areas. This was partially successful in delaying the German attack, but caused few casualties.

Preliminary Actions

Main Battle
The real battle opened on 5 July 1943. The Soviets, now aware even of the exact time of the planned German offensive, launch a massive attack by the Soviet Air Force on the Luftwaffe airbases in the area, in an attempt to turn the tables on the old German "trick" of wiping out local air support within the first hour of battle. The next few hours turned into possibly the largest air battle ever fought. Neither side was able to establish air superiority over the battlefield.
The Ninth Army attack in the north fell far short of its objectives on July 5. The attack sector had been correctly anticipated by the Soviet Central Front. Attacking on a 45-kilometer-wide front, the Germans found themselves trapped in the huge defensive minefields, and needed engineering units to come up and clear them under artillery fire. Although a few Goliath and Borgward remote-control engineering vehicles were available to clear lanes in the minefields, they were not generally successful. Even when the vehicles cleared mines, they had no on-board marking system to show following tanks where the cleared lanes were. Soviet units covered the minefields with small arms and artillery fire, delaying and inflicting losses on German engineers clearing mines manually. Thus German losses in the Soviet minefields were high. For example, the German 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion began the attack with 49 Ferdinand self-propelled guns; 37 of them had been lost in the minefields before 17:00 on July 5. Although most of the lost vehicles were mobility kills rather than permanent losses, they were out of action until they could be repaired. While idle they added nothing to German combat power and were easier for Soviet artillery to knock out permanently. Since the Germans were advancing, any repairable vehicles could be fixed and put back into action.
There are a number of factors that explain Ninth Army's lack of progress. The combination of Soviet defensive planning and, on the German side, the lack of concentration of force were the main factors. German armor was committed piecemeal rather than in strength and often without sufficient infantry support. However, this failed to keep up with the steady influx of new soldiers and matériel for the Red Army. Few Soviet guns were captured, and those Soviet units that did retreat did so on orders; they were not overrun. The German attack failed to penetrate beyond the Soviet tactical zone.

The Northern Face
In the south, the Voronezh Front fared less well against the Fourth Panzer Army with its LII Corps, XLVIII Panzer Corps and II SS Panzer Corps. The II SS Panzer Corps attacked on a narrower frontage against two Soviet rifle regiments. The armored spearhead of Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army forced its way forward, and by the 6th had reached some 15 km past the lines. Again, Soviet planning played a big role. In the south the Soviets had not been able to pinpoint the German attack sectors; this forced them to spread out their defenses more evenly. For example, three of the four Armies of the Voronezh Front had about 10 antitank guns per kilometer of front; this contrasts sharply with the Central Front's distribution of guns, which was twice as heavy in the active sectors. Also, the Voronezh Front made the decision to hold the tactical zone much more thinly, leaving a much higher proportion of units in deeper positions compared to the Central Front. Finally, the Voronezh Front was weaker than the Central Front, yet it faced much stronger German forces.
The German forces made steady progress against the Soviet defenses, but, as in the north, attack frontages (width) and penetration depth tended to drop as the attack proceeded. The trend was not as marked as in the north, however. Beginning with a 30-kilometer-wide attack frontage on July 5, this dropped to 20-kilometers wide by July 7 and 15 km by July 9. Likewise, the depth of the penetration dropped from 9 km on July 5 to 5 km on July 8 and 2-3 km each day thereafter until the attack was cancelled.
Soviet minefields and artillery were again successful in delaying the German attack and inflicting losses. The ability of dug-in Red Army units to delay the Germans was vital to allow their own reserves to be brought up into threatened sectors. Over 90,000 additional mines were laid during the battle by small mobile groups of engineers, generally working at night immediately in front of the expected German attack areas. There were no large-scale captures of prisoners nor any great loss of artillery, again indicating that Soviet units were giving ground in good order.
German losses can be seen in the example of the Großdeutschland Division, which began the battle with 118 tanks. On July 10, after five days of fighting, the division reported it had 3 Tigers, 6 Panthers, and 11 Pzkw-III and Pzkw-IV tanks operational. XLVIII Panzer Corps reported, overall, 38 Panthers operational with 131 awaiting repair, out of the 200 it started with on July 5.
Nevertheless, it was obvious that the threat of a German breakthrough in the south had to be reckoned with. The Steppe Front had been formed in the months prior to the battle as a central reserve for such an eventuality. Units of the Steppe Front began movement to the south as early as July 9. This included the 5th Guards Tank Army and other combined-arms armies.
The German flank, however, stood unprotected as the Soviet 7th Guards Army stalled Kempf's divisions, aided by heavy rain, after the Germans had crossed the Donets River. The Fifth Guards Tank Army, reinforced with two additional Tank Corps, moved into positions to the east of Prokhorovka and had started to prepare a counterattack of their own when II SS Panzer Corps arrived and an intense struggle ensued. The Soviets managed to halt the SS—but only just. Little now stood in the way of the Fourth Panzer Army, and a German breakthrough looked like a very real possibility. The Soviets therefore decided to deploy the rest of 5th Guards Tank Army.

Southern Face

Main article: Battle of Prokhorovka The End in the South
On the night of July 9/10, the Western Allies mounted an amphibious invasion of Sicily. Three days later, Hitler summoned von Kluge and von Manstein to his Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia and declared his intention to "temporarily" call off Operation Zitadelle. Von Manstein attempted to dissuade him, arguing that Zitadelle was on the brink of victory. Hitler gave von Manstein a few more days to continue the offensive, but on 17 July he cancelled the operation and ordered the entire SS Panzer Korps to be transferred to Italy.
Hitler's decision to call off the operation at the height of the battle has since been strongly criticized by German generals in their memoirs, and also by some historians. For example, it has been pointed out that the SS Panzer Korps would have taken three months to be transferred to Sicily, and thus could not possibly have affected the outcome there, while its contribution to the Kursk operation was vital.
In any event, only one German division, 1st SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, departed for Italy, the others remaining behind in the USSR to try and stem the Soviet counteroffensive launched in the wake of the failed German offensive.

Hitler cancels the operation

Main articles: Operation Kutuzov and Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev Soviet counteroffensives
Field Marshal von Manstein believed the outcome of the offensive phase of Kursk to be much more grey than black and white. For although the Germans were forced to withdraw, the Germans "managed to, at least, partly destroy the mobile units of the enemy's operational reserves." However, despite the losses it suffered in the defensive phase of the battle of Kursk, the Red Army managed to go over to a very successful offensive within two weeks, pushing the Germans back to the Dnieper and towards western Ukraine, and Manstein saw the overall campaign as a disaster for the Germans.
By 22 August, utter exhaustion had affected both sides and the battle of Kursk ended. It was followed by a series of successful Red Army operations that led to the crossing of the Dnieper, and the liberation of Kiev during the autumn of 1943.
The campaign was a decisive Soviet success. For the first time, a major German offensive had been stopped prior to achieving a breakthrough. The Germans, despite using superior armor, were unable to break through the in-depth defenses of the Red Army, and were surprised by the significant operational reserves available to the Soviets in this battle. This was an outcome that few confidently predicted, and it changed the pattern of operation on the eastern front. The victory had not been cheap however. The Red Army, although preventing the Germans from achieving the goals of Citadel, lost considerably more men and matériel than the Wehrmacht.
German casualties listed in German sources during the battle proper (as opposed to the following Soviet counter-offensives north and south of the salient) in the period 5 to 20 July 1943 were between 50,000 were built specifically in memorial of the courageous Russian T38 tank units that fought in the Battle of Kursk. A T-38 tank is on display. It is a 3 men tank that gave advantage over the Panzer 2 men tank. Over 6,000 armored vehicles fought in close range over open miles of territory. This battle stopped the advance, and was a turning point in WWII.

Notes

Glantz, David M.; Jonathan M. House (2004). The Battle of Kursk. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700613358. 
Glantz, David M.; Harold S. Orenstein (1999). The Battle for Kursk 1943: The Soviet General Staff Study. Frank Cass. ISBN 0714649333. 
Krivosheev, Grigoriy (1997). Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the twentieth century. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1853672807. 
Manstein, Erich von (2000). Verlorene Siege (in German). Monch. ISBN 3763752536. 
Mawdsley, Evan (2007). Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945. A Hodder Arnold Publication. ISBN 0340613920. 
Mulligan, Timothy P. (1987). "Spies, Ciphers and 'Zitadelle': Intelligence and the Battle of Kursk, 1943" (pdf). Journal of Contemporary History 22 (2): 235-260. DOI:10.1177/002200948702200203. 
Newton, Stephen H. (2003). Kursk: The German View. Westview Press. ISBN 0306811502. 
Nipe, George (1996). Decision In the Ukraine, Summer 1943, II. SS and III. Panzerkorps. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc.. ISBN 0921991355. 
Restayn, J.; N. Moller (2002). Operation "Citadel", A Text and Photo Album, Volume 1: The South. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc.. ISBN 0921991703. 
Restayn, J.; N. Moller (2006). Operation "Citadel", A Text and Photo Album, Volume 2: The North. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing Inc.. ISBN 092199172X. 
Robbins, David L. (2004). Last Citadel. Orion mass market paperback. ISBN 0752859250. 
Zetterling, Niklas; Anders Frankson (2000). Kursk 1943: A statistical analysis. Routledge. ISBN 0714650528. 

History
The republic was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so-called Generality Lands. These latter were governed directly by the States-General (Staten-Generaal in Dutch), the confederal government. The States-General were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces.
The provinces of the republic were, in official feudal order: the duchy of Gelre, the counties of Holland and Zealand, the former bishopric of Utrecht, the dependency (of the episcopal seat of Utrecht) Overijssel and the free (i.e. never feudalised) provinces of Friesland and Groningen. Actually there was an eighth province, the dependency Drenthe, but this area was so poor it was exempt from paying confederal taxes and as a corollary was denied representation in the States-General. Each province was governed by the Provincial States; the main executive official was a stadtholder (stadhouder in Dutch). In theory the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the States of each province. However in practice the Princes of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces, and Zeeland and usually also Utrecht had the same stadtholder as Holland . There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders, and the Regent's supporters.
After the Peace of Westphalia several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces. They were federally governed Generality Lands (Generaliteitslanden). They were Staats-Brabant (present North Brabant), Staats-Vlaanderen (present Zeeuws-Vlaanderen), Staats-Limburg (around Maastricht) and Staats-Oppergelre (around Venlo, after 1715).
The States-General of the United Provinces were in control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC), although some shipping expeditions were initiated by some of the Provinces, mostly Holland and/or Zeeland.

Politics
Numerous historians and legal scholars have noted that the framers of the U.S. Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, which had successfully provided a workable governmental framework in that country for more than two centuries. John Adams went so far as to say that "the originals of the two Republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other."

Decline

History of the Netherlands
Union of Utrecht
Eighty Years' War
Dutch Golden Age
List of Grand Pensionaries
Francis van Aarssens

The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho State Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms [1] and meets at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise, Idaho.

House of Representatives Leadership
Idaho Senate
List of Idaho senators and representatives

The March or Margraviate of Austria was created in 976 out of the territory that probably formed the earlier March of Pannonia. It is also called the Bavarian Eastern March or Ostmark in German and marcha Orientalis in Latin.
The first march covering approximately the territory that would become Austria was the Avar March established by Charlemagne in the late 8th century against the Avars. When the Avars disappeared in the 820s, they were replaced largely by a Slavic people, who established the state of Great Moravia. The region of Pannonia was set apart from the Duchy of Friuli in 828 and set up as a march against Moravia within the regnum of Bavaria. These marches corresponded to a frontier along the Danube from the Traungau to Szombathely and the Raba river and including the Vienna basin. By the 890s, the Pannonian march seems to have disappeared, along with the threat from Great Moravia.
In 976, during a general restructuring of Bavaria, the Emperor Otto II erected a new march, called, like its Pannonian predecessor, the marcha orientalis. It was not long before the Bavarian eastern march acquired its name of Austria. In 996, the march ruled by the Babenberg family was described as regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrîchi, that is, "the region called 'Ostarrîchi' [the Eastern Realm] in the vernacular." The term Ostarrîchi is linguistic ancestor of the German name for Austria, Österreich.
The early margraviate was populated by a mix of Slavic and native Romano-Germanic peoples who were apparently speaking Rhaeto-Romance languages, remnants of which remain today in parts of northern Italy (Friulian and Ladin) and in Switzerland (Romansh). In the Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century. The early march corresponded closely to the modern region of Lower Austria. Its chief city was Sankt Pölten, though it eventually became Vienna.
The obscurity of the period from circa 900 until 976 leads some to posit that a Pannonian or Austrian march existed against the Magyars, alongside the other marches which were incorporated into Bavaria in 952 (Carniola, Carinthia, Istria, and Verona). However, much of (Lower) Pannonia was now conquered by the Magyars. The Austrian march was raised on the territory which remained in 976. The first margrave, Leopold I, replaced one Burchard, whose status is not well known but may represent a continual margravial authority in the region during the interval 900–976.
The initial Babenberger residence was probably at Pöchlarn, but maybe already Melk, where subsequent rulers resided. The original march coincided with the modern Wachau, but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as the Wienerwald. Under Ernest the Brave (1055–1075), the colonisation of the Waldviertel was begun and the Bohemian and Hungarian marches were united to Austria.
Margravial Austria reached its greatest height under Leopold III, a great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a great level of territorial independence. In 1139, Leopold IV inherited Bavaria. When his successor, the last margrave, Henry Jasomirgott, was deprived of Bavaria in 1156, Austria was elevated to a duchy independent from Bavaria by the Privilegium Minus of the Emperor Frederick I.

Sources

Semple, Ellen Churchill. "The Barrier Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern Breaches as Factors in History." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 5. (1915), pp 27-59.
Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.

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Social influence is when the actions or thoughts of individual(s) are changed by other individual(s). Examples of social influence can be seen in socialization and peer pressure. This is the effect of other people on a person's behaviour.

Three components

Methods
One can ask several trivial questions with the expected answer "yes", building trust and acceptance. Further questions such as "Will you buy this?" or "Could you borrow this for me?" are then more likely to be answered with "Yes". This technique used by salesman, and unconsciously, in conversation. It is also present to a certain extent in the Socratic method of debate. See also selling technique.

See also
Cialdini, Robert B. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Background
The court responded to the questions as such:
1. With respect to s. 1: Yes. With respect to s. 2: No.
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. The Court exercises its discretion not to answer this question.
The Court began by considering the argument that the questions are not justiciable (i.e. the court did not have the authority to answer) based on it being a political question. The Court resolutely dismissed this claim for the reasons it gave in the Quebec Secession Reference.
The first question required the court to determine which head of power the law falls under. It was clearly determined that the pith and substance of the law was federal as it concerned marriage which is in the absolute federal jurisdiction under section 91(26) of the Constitution Act, 1867.
The Court then considered the impact of the common law definition of marriage on the new law. The applicable definition was from Hyde v. Hyde (1866) a polygamy case where Lord Penzance stated:
What, then, is the nature of this institution as understood in Christendom?...If it be of common acceptance and existence, it must needs have some pervading identity and universal basis. I conceive that marriage, as understood in Christendom, may for this purpose be defined as the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others.
The Court rejected this definition by applying the living tree doctrine used in the famous Persons case, analogizing the exclusion of women from the common law definition of "persons" to that of same-sex couples.
The interveners had argued that the meaning of marriage is fixed into convention beyond the reach of the constitution as its old meaning is in practice for thousands of years across the entire globe. Moreover, they argued that the living tree doctrine is constrained within the "natural limits" of interpretation and cannot be stretched to anything the court would like it to be.
The Court rejects these claims, stating that they are not trying to find the definition of marriage, but are only looking if a proposed meaning is within the definition. The meaning of marriage is not fixed to what it meant in 1867, but rather it must evolve with Canadian society which currently represents a plurality of groups.
However, the Court made sure to say that the legislation was only concerning "civil marriage as a legal institution" and has no effect on religious marriage.
Furthermore, civil unions are solely in the domain of the provincial domain and have no relevance here. As such, section 2 of the legislation is ultra vires the federal government. Any legislation protecting freedom of religion with respect to marriage must be done through provincial legislation.
On considering the second question, the Court not only affirms the validity of the legislation, they add that its purpose "flows from" the Charter. They further find that equality right of religious groups and opposite-sex couples are not undermined by the legislation, on the basis that the expansion of the Charter enriches society, and equality cannot be supported by denial of others from a benefit. When conflicts between rights arise, the Court says, it must be solved by internal balancing of those rights, not denial of rights.
On the third question, the Court found that the religious freedom guarantee will protect those who disagree from performing same-sex marriages or even protect those who disagree from renting religious spaces for the purpose of same-sex marriage. Again, the Court reiterated that it is up to the provinces to legislate protection for religious groups.
The Court decided not to answer the fourth question as it served "no legal purpose". The federal government had already decided not to appeal the Halpren case in Ontario on the very issue and so there was no point examining it again. Also, the court wishes to respect the lower-court decisions upholding same-sex marriage by letting them stand.

Implications

^ Ronalda Murphy, "Same sex marriage and the same old constitution" (2005) 14:3 Constitutional forum

The Pasig River is a river in the Philippines and connects Laguna de Bay (via the Napindan Channel) into Manila Bay. The river is called Ilog Pasig in Filipino. It stretches for 25 kilometers and divides Metro Manila into two. Its major tributaries are the Marikina River and San Juan River.
The Pasig River is technically a tidal estuary in that the flow direction depends upon the water level difference between Manila Bay and Laguna de Bay. During the dry season, the water level in Laguna de Bay is low and the flow direction of the Pasig River depends on the tides. During the wet season, when the water level of Laguna de Bay is high, flow is normally from Laguna de Bay towards Manila Bay.
The Pasig River used to be an important transport route in Spanish Manila. However, due to negligence and industrial development, the river has become very polluted and is considered dead (unable to sustain life) by ecologists.
The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC) was estalished to oversee rehabilitation efforts for the river. Supporting the PRRC are private sector organizations i.e. Clean and Green Foundation, Inc. who implemented the Piso para sa Pasig (Filipino: A peso for the Pasig) campaign.

Heterodoxy includes "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". As an adjective, heterodox is used to describe a subject as "characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards" (status quo). The noun heterodoxy is synonymous with unorthodoxy, while the adjective heterodox is synonymous with dissident.

Ecclesiastic usage
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the term is used to refer to Christian churches not belonging to the Eastern Orthodox communion and holding doctrines different from those of Orthodox Christianity, but not as different or thought to be as erroneous as heresy.

Roman Catholicism
The term heterodox is occasionally used by some Christians to refer to themselves when they are in disagreement with orthodox understandings, but voice this disagreement while still maintaining the overall value of the tradition. The heterodox Christian therefore remains in the tradition and attempts to stimulate constructive dialog around issues with which they disagree.

Footnotes

Orthodox
Unorthodox
Heterodox economics
Heterodoxy (magazine)
Nastika

Ret. Col. Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah (Arabic: محمد خونا ولد هيداله) (born 1940) was the head of state of Mauritania (Chairman of the Military Committee for National Salvation, CMSN) from 4 January 1980 to 12 December 1984. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2003 and again in 2007.

As head of CMSN
Haidallah's main achievement was to make peace with the Western Saharan Polisario Front, which had been fighting Mauritania since it annexed part of the former Spanish colony in 1975. The CMSN opted for complete withdrawal from the conflict, evacuating southern Rio de Oro (which had been annexed as Tiris El Gharbiya) and recognizing the Polisario as the representative of the Sahrawi people. This led to a crisis in relations with the country's until-then ally Morocco, which had similarly annexed the remainder of Western Sahara, with Haidallah's government facing an attempted coup, troop clashes and military tension.

Foreign policy
On the domestic front, his most notable policies were the institution of Islamic sharia law in 1980-83, [10] as well as several failed attempts to rebuild the political system shattered by the 1978 coup -- first as a multiparty system, and then, after the first coup attempt against him, as a one-party state. [11] [12] It was also during Haidallah's rule that slavery was formally abolished in Mauritania, although the practice continues at a diminished level still today. He made a statement announcing the abolition of slavery in July 1980, and this was followed by a legal decree in November 1981. Political opponents were treated harshly, with imprisonments [13] and those responsible for one of the failed coups against his government were executed.

Activities after losing power
Following a military coup against Taya in August 2005, an amnesty in early September freed Haidallah from his sentence, along with more than a hundred others sentenced for political offenses.

"OKC" redirects here. For the airport, see Will Rogers World Airport.
Oklahoma City is the most populous city, and the capital, of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is also the county seat of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma City was founded during the Land Run of 1889, first of five land runs in what became Oklahoma. It is the only U.S. State Capital that shares its name with its state.
According to the 2006 Census estimate, it is the 30th largest city in the country
Oklahoma City was the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, the largest act of terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history.

History

Main article: Government of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Government
Oklahoma City has six sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

Haikou, China
Puebla, Mexico
Tainan, Taiwan
Taipei, Taiwan
Yehud, Israel
Ulyanovsk, Russia Sister cities
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,608.8 km² (621.2 mi²). 1,572.1 km² (607.0 mi²) of it is land and 36.7 km² (14.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.28% water.
Oklahoma City is the seventh largest city in the country in terms of geographic area, and the largest in land area that is not a consolidated city-county. The population density normally reported for the city using area of the city limits can be misleading, as its urbanized zone is 244 mi² - resulting in an urban density more comparable to that found in other major cities, 2,515/mi² in 2004.

Geography

Main article: Climate of Oklahoma City Climate
As of the census. Financial progress is actually higher than the national average. Males had a median income of $31,589 versus $24,420 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,098. 16.0% of the population and 12.4% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 23.0% of those under the age of 18 and 9.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
In June, 2007, the U.S. Census announced its estimate that Oklahoma City had grown in population 1.26 percent between July, 2005 and July, 2006. Since the official Census in 2000, Oklahoma City has grown over six percent, according to the Census Bureau's estimates.

Demographics

Main article: Oklahoma City metropolitan area Metropolitan Statistical Area

Main article: Neighborhoods of Oklahoma City Neighborhoods

Education
Oklahoma City is home to several colleges and universities, including Oklahoma City University (formerly called Epworth University) in MidTown.
The University of Oklahoma is well represented in the city and metropolitan area, with the OU Medical Center due east of downtown and the main OU campus located in the suburb of Norman. OU is one of only 4 major universities in the nation to have all 6 medical schools, and the OU Medical Center is the nation's largest independent medical center, and employs over 12,000 people.
The third-largest university in the state, the University of Central Oklahoma, is located just north of the city in the suburb of Edmond. Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City is located in the Furniture District on the Westside. Oklahoma City Community College in south OKC is the second largest community college in the state. Just east of Oklahoma City is Rose State College [4] located in Midwest City. Northeast of the city is the only historically black college in the state, Langston University.
There are also a number of private colleges and universities throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, including:
The city is also home to the FAA's Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center. This facility provides the first federal training for the nation's Air Traffic Controllers.

Oklahoma City University
Oklahoma Christian University
St. Gregory's University [5]
Southern Nazarene University
Southwestern Christian University
Mid-America Christian University
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
University of Phoenix - Oklahoma City Campuses [6]
DeVry University - Oklahoma City Campus [7]
Downtown College Consortium [8]
Heartland Baptist Bible College [9]
American Christian College and Seminary
Oklahoma Baptist College
Metropolitan College Higher Education
Oklahoma City Public Schools is the city's largest school district and second-largest in the state.General Information. Oklahoma City Public Schools. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.</ref> The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics in Oklahoma City is home to some of the state's most gifted math and science pupils. Classen School of Advanced Studies is located in the Oklahoma City Public School District, a national Blue Ribbon School.

Primary and Secondary
Oklahoma City has several public career and technology education schools associated with the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, the largest of which are Metro Technology Center and Francis Tuttle Technology Center.
Private career and technology education schools in Oklahoma City include Oklahoma Technology Institute, Platt College, Vatterott College, and Heritage College.

CareerTech

Culture
The Omniplex Science Museum in the Kirkpatrick Center houses exhibits on science, photography, aviation, and an IMAX theater. The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum has galleries of western art and is home to the Hall of Great Western Performers. The Oklahoma City National Memorial in the northern part of Oklahoma City's downtown was created and the inscription on its eastern gate says, "to honor the victims, survivors, rescuers, and all who were changed forever on April 19, 1995". The outdoor Symbolic Memorial can be visited 24 hours a day for free, and the adjacent Memorial Museum, located in the former Journal Record building damaged by the bombing, can be entered for a small fee. The site is also home to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a non partisan, non profit thinktank devoted to the prevention of terrorism.
The Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center is the new downtown home for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The museum features visiting exhibits, original selections from its own collection, a theater showing a variety of foreign, independent, and classic films each week, and a restaurant. OKCMOA is also home to the most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world including the three-story Chihuly tower in the Museum's atrium. Other theaters include the Lyric Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, the Kirkpatrick Auditorium and the 488-seat Petree Recital Hall, at the Oklahoma City University campus. The university also opened the Wanda L Bass School of Music and auditorium in April of 2006.

Museums and theatre
One of the more prominent landmarks downtown is the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Botanical Gardens, a large downtown urban park. Designed by I. M. Pei, the Crystal Bridge is a tropical conservatory in the area. The park has an amphitheater, known as the Water Stage. In 2007, following a renovation of the stage, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park relocated to the Myriad Gardens. There is also a lake in the middle of the park inhabited by large Japanese Koi replete with waterfalls and fountains.
The Oklahoma City Zoological Park is home to numerous natural habitats, WPA era architecture and landscaping, and hosts major touring concerts during the summer at its amphitheater. Oklahoma City also has two amusement parks, Frontier City theme park and White Water Bay water park. Frontier City is an 'Old West' themed amusement park. The park also features a recreation of a western gunfight at the 'OK Corral' and many shops that line the "Western" town's main street. Frontier City also hosts a national concert circuit at its amphitheater during the summer. White Water Bay is located north of Will Rogers World Airport.
Walking trails line Lake Hefner and Lake Overholser in the northwest part of the city and downtown at the canal and the Oklahoma River. Part of the east shore of Lake Hefner has been developed into upscale offices and restaurants, but the majority of the area around the lake is taken up by parks and trails, including a new leashless dog park and the postwar era Stars and Stripes Park. Lake Stanley Draper is the city's largest and most remote lake. The city is implementing a new trail system that will be akin to a bicycle freeway system.

Outdoor Recreation
See also: Broadcast Media in Oklahoma City
The Oklahoman is Oklahoma City's major metro newspaper, the most widely circulated in the state. The Oklahoman's Internet edition is a collaboration with local CBS affiliate KWTV. The Oklahoma Gazette is Oklahoma City's independent newsweekly, featuring such staples as local commentary, feature stories, classifieds, restaurant reviews and movie listings. The Journal Record is Oklahoma City's daily business newspaper and OKC Business is a bi-monthly business publication. The MidCity Advocate is Oklahoma City's newest weekly broadsheet, covering positive developments in downtown, the State Capitol district, and the neighborhoods in Oklahoma City's historic core.
In addition, there are various community and international papers in the city such as The Black Chronicle, headquartered in the Eastside and the OK VIETIMES, located in Asia District. Gay publications include Hard News Online and Standout Magazine. There are also five metro lifestyle magazines produced by local publisher Southwestern Publishing: Nichols Hills News, Edmond Monthly, Norman Living, Northwest Style and Downtown Monthly.
Oklahoma City was home to several pioneers in radio and television broadcasting. Oklahoma City's WKY Radio was the first radio station transmitting west of the Mississippi River and the third radio station in the United States.

Sports
Additionally, Oklahoma City is home to several now defunct sports teams:

Oklahoma Wranglers : Arena Football League
Oklahoma City 89ers : American Association (20th century) minor league baseball - now Oklahoma RedHawks
Oklahoma City Stars : CHL Hockey Team
Oklahoma City Coyotes : RHI Roller Hockey Team
Oklahoma City Dolls : All-woman American Football League franchise Professional Teams

Main article: Transportation in Oklahoma City Economy
List of famous Oklahoma City Area Citizens