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Spook Country
''Spook Country'' is a 2007 novel by speculative fiction author William Gibson. A political thriller set in contemporary North America, it followed on from the author's previous novel, ''Pattern Recognition'' (2003), and was succeeded in 2010 by '' Zero History'', which featured much of the same core cast of characters. The plot comprises the intersecting tales of three protagonists: Hollis Henry, a musician-turned-journalist researching a story on locative art; Tito, a young Cuban-Chinese operative whose family is on occasion in the employ of a renegade ex-CIA agent; and Milgrim, a drug-addled translator held captive by Brown, a strangely authoritarian and secretive man. Themes explored include the ubiquity of locative technology, the eversion of cyberspace and the political climate of the United States in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. ''Spook Country'' quickly reached mainstream North American bestseller lists and was nominated for British Science Fiction Ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
WikiProject Novels
A WikiProject, or Wikiproject, is an affinity group for contributors with shared goals within the Wikimedia movement. WikiProjects are prevalent within the largest wiki, Wikipedia, and exist to varying degrees within Wikimedia project, sibling projects such as Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikidata, and Wikisource. They also exist in different languages, and translation of articles is a form of their collaboration. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBS News noted the role of Wikipedia's WikiProject Medicine in maintaining the accuracy of articles related to the disease. Another WikiProject that has drawn attention is WikiProject Women Scientists, which was profiled by ''Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian'' for its efforts to improve coverage of women scientists which the profile noted had "helped increase the number of female scientists on Wikipedia from around 1,600 to over 5,000". On Wikipedia Some Wikipedia WikiProjects are substantial enough to engage in cooperative activities with outsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Cuban
Chinese Cubans () are Cubans of full or mixed Chinese ancestry who were born in or have immigrated to Cuba. They are part of the ethnic Chinese diaspora (or Overseas Chinese). The population peaked to around 60,000 in the 1950s, but almost entirely disappeared in the aftermath of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, with the population largely disappearing to Miami, Florida or elsewhere in Latin America. History Chinese immigration to Cuba started in 1837 when Chinese (mainly Cantonese and Hakka) contract workers were forcibly brought to work in the sugar fields via the indentured labor system. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers were brought in from Qing China, British Hong Kong, Portuguese Macau, and Taiwan during the following decades to replace and/or work alongside African and mixed-ancestry slaves. After completing eight-year contracts or otherwise obtaining their freedom, some Chinese immigrants settled permanently in Cuba, although most longed for repatriation to their homel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warblog
A milblog or warblog is a blog devoted mostly or wholly to covering news events concerning an ongoing war. Sometimes the use of the term "warblog" implies that the blog concerned has a pro-war slant. The term "milblog" implies that the author is a member of, or has some connection to the military; the more specific term "soldierblog" is sometimes used for the former. History The coinage 'warblog' is attributed to Matt Welch, who started his ''War Blog'' within days of the September 11 attacks. In the fall of 2001, the attacks gave rise to a "war-blogging movement," which favoured political punditry over the often personal and technological orientation that had dominated the blog genre up to that point, achieving much greater public and media recognition than earlier blogs. Most warblogs supported the US-led War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War from a hawkish perspective. Milblogging was popularized by Glenn Reynolds, whose ''Instapundit'' was one of the most popular political ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace of New York City and for its first 225 years was the entirety of the city. Lower Manhattan serves as Government of New York City, the seat of government of both Manhattan and the entire City of New York. Because there are no municipally defined boundaries for the neighborhood, a precise population cannot be quoted, but several sources have suggested that it was one of the fastest-growing locations in New York City between 2010 and 2020, related to the influx of young adults and significant development of new housing units. Despite various definitions of Lower Manhattan, they generally include all of Manhattan, Manhattan Island south of 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street, with the Bowling Green (New York City), Bowling Green and The Batte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown Bus Ticket Lady 2
Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The development of most Chinatowns typically resulted from human migration to an area without any or with few Chinese residents. Binondo in Manila, established in 1594, is recognized as the world's oldest Chinatown. Notable early examples outside Asia include San Francisco's Chinatown in the United States and Melbourne's Chinatown in Australia, which were founded in the early 1850s during the California and Victoria gold rushes, respectively. A more modern example, in Montville, Connecticut, was caused by the displacement of Chinese workers in New York's Manhattan Chinatown following the September 11th attacks in 2001. Definition Oxford Dictionaries defines "Chinatown" as "...a district of any non-Asian town, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist Iraq, Ba'athist government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict persisted Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011), as an insurgency arose against coalition forces and the newly established Iraqi government. US forces Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011), were officially withdrawn in 2011. In 2014, the US became re-engaged in Iraq, leading a new coalition under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, as the conflict evolved into the ongoing Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present), Islamic State insurgency. The Iraq invasion was part of the Presidency of George W. Bush, Bush administration's broader war on terror, launched in response to the September 11 attacks. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clotiazepam
Clotiazepam (marketed under brand name Clozan, Distensan, Trecalmo, Rize, Rizen and Veratran) is a thienodiazepine drug which is a benzodiazepine analog. The clotiazepam molecule differs from benzodiazepines in that the benzene ring has been replaced by a thiophene ring. It possesses anxiolytic, skeletal muscle relaxant, anticonvulsant, sedative properties. Stage 2 NREM sleep is significantly increased by clotiazepam. Indications Clotiazepam has been trialed and found to be effective in the short-term management of anxiety. Clotiazepam is also used as a premedicant in minor surgery in France and Japan, where the drug is commercially available under the brand names ''Veratran'' and ''Rize'', respectively. Pharmacokinetics A cross-over study in six healthy volunteers (median age 28 years) was conducted using single-dose pharmacokinetics of 5 mg clotiazepam drops, oral tablets, and sublingual tablets. The formulations had similar systemic availability. Compared with o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volapük
Volapük (; , 'Language of the World', or lit. 'World Speak') is a constructed language created in 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany, who believed that God told him to create an international language. Notable as the first major constructed international auxiliary language, the grammar comes from European languages and the vocabulary mostly from English (with some German and French). However, the roots are often distorted beyond recognition. Volapük conventions took place in 1884 (Friedrichshafen), 1887 (Munich) and 1889 (Paris). The first two conventions used German, and the last conference used only Volapük. By 1889, there were an estimated 283 clubs, 25 periodicals in or about Volapük, and 316 textbooks in 25 languages;Handbook of Volapük , [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoconservatism
Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and counterculture of the 1960s. Neoconservatives typically advocate the unilateral promotion of democracy and interventionism in international relations together with a militaristic and realist philosophy of "peace through strength". They are known for espousing opposition to communism and radical politics. Many adherents of neoconservatism became politically influential during Republican presidential administrations from the 1960s to the 2000s, peaking in influence during the presidency of George W. Bush, when they played a major role in promoting and planning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prominent neoconservatives in the Bush administration included Paul Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle, Paul Bremer, and Douglas Feith. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cayce Pollard
Cayce Pollard is the fictional protagonist of William Gibson's 2003 novel ''Pattern Recognition''. Personal history Aged 32 during the events of ''Pattern Recognition'', Cayce lives in New York City. Though named by her parents after Edgar Cayce, she pronounces her given name "Case". She is a freelance marketing consultant, a coolhunter with an unusual intuitive sensitivity for branding, manifested primarily in her physical aversion to particular logos and corporate mascots. A notable exception to her ability to immediately discern semiotic content in imagery is the succession of images of the September 11 attacks in 2001, for her "an experience outside culture". The attacks had added significance to Cayce's backstory in that they encompassed the disappearance of her father, Win, which in turn impelled her mother, Cynthia, to exploring electronic voice phenomena as her own means of divining patterns in the background static. Cayce is left feeling "ungrieved" for her father u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santería
Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, Afro-Caribbean religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose amid a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa, Catholicism, and Kardecist spiritism, Spiritism. There is no central authority in control of Santería and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as ''creyentes'' ("believers"). Santería teaches the existence of a transcendent creator divinity, Olodumare, under whom are spirits known as ''Orisha, oricha''. Typically deriving their names and attributes from traditional Yoruba deities, these ''oricha'' are equated with Roman Catholic saints and associated with various myths. Each human is deemed to have a personal link to a particular ''oricha'' who influences their personality. Olodumare is believed to be the ultimate source of ''Aṣẹ, aché'', a supernatural force permeating the univers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Running
Freerunning is an athletic and acrobatic discipline incorporating an aesthetic element, and can be considered either a sport or a performance art, or both. Freerunning is similar to parkour, from which it is derived, but emphasizes artistry over efficiency and speed. Freerunning involves interacting with physical obstacles in creative ways, such as by climbing, jumping or running; the obstacles may be purpose-built or may be part of a pre-existing natural or man-made environment. The movements are usually adopted from other sports, such as gymnastics, Tricking (martial arts), tricking or breakdancing. Freerunners can create their own moves, flows and lines in different landscapes. Practitioners of freerunning usually do parkour as well. Freerunning was founded by Sebastien Foucan, who discussed the subject in 2003 documentary film ''Jump London''. Foucan developed freerunning as a more inclusive form of ''parkour''. Parkour's efficient military style obstacle course training lends ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
