This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Iceland
The Alþing, commonly Anglicized as Althing (Modern Icelandic Alþingi; Old Norse Alþing) is the national parliament: literally, the "all-thing" of Iceland. It was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, (the "assembly fields" or "Parliament Plains"), situated some 45 km east of what would later become the country's capital, Reykjavík, and this event marked the beginning of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Even after Iceland's union with Norway, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1799, when it was discontinued for some decades. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, of hewn Icelandic stone.
The constitution of Iceland provides for six electoral constituencies with the possibility of an increase to seven. The constituency boundaries are fixed by legislation. Each constituency elects nine members. In addition, each party is allocated seats based on its proportion of the overall national vote in order that the number of members in parliament for each political party should be more or less proportional to its overall electoral support. A party must have won at least five percent of the national vote in order to be eligible for these proportionally distributed seats. Political participation in Iceland is very high: usually over 85 per cent of the electorate casts a ballot (87.7% in 2003). The current president of the Althing is Sturla Böðvarsson.

Constitution
President

• Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
  Alþing
  Prime Minister
  
  
  
  • Geir H. Haarde (Independ.)
    Cabinet
    Supreme Court
    Ombudsman
    Politicians
    Elections:
    2004 Presidential election
    2007 Parliamentary election
    Political parties
    Administrative divisions
    Foreign relations
    
    
    
    • Iceland and the European Union
      Cod War
      Agreed Minute
      Diplomatic missions Historical background
      The Althing is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world. Its establishment, as an outdoor assembly held on the plains of Þingvellir from about the year 930 AD, laid the foundation for an independent national existence in Iceland. To begin with, Althing was a general assembly of the Icelandic Commonwealth, where the country's most powerful Leaders (goðar) met to decide on legislation and dispense justice. Then, all free men could attend the assemblies, which were usually the main social event of the year and drew large crowds of farmers and their families, parties involved in legal disputes, traders, craftsmen, storytellers and travellers. Those attending the assembly dwelt in temporary camps (búðir) during the session. The center of the gathering was the Lögberg, or Law Rock, a rocky outcrop on which the Lawspeaker (lögsögumaður) took his seat as the presiding official of the assembly. His responsibilities included reciting aloud the laws in effect at the time. It was his duty to proclaim the procedural law of Althing to those attending the assembly each year.
      
      Foundation
      Public addresses on matters of importance were delivered at the Law Rock and there the assembly was called to order and dissolved. The Lögrétta, the legislative section of the assembly, was its most powerful institution. It comprised the 39 district goðar plus nine additional members and the Lawspeaker. As the legislative section of Althing, the Lögrétta took a stand on legal conflicts, adopted new laws and granted exemptions to existing laws. Althing of old also performed a judicial function and heard legal disputes in addition to the spring assemblies held in each district. After the country had been divided into four quarters around 965 AD, a court of 36 judges (fjórðungsdómur) was established for each of them at Althing. Another court (fimmtardómur) was established early in the 11th century. It served as a supreme court of sorts, and assumed the function of hearing cases left unsettled by the other courts. It comprised 48 judges appointed by the goðar of Lögrétta.
      
      Lögrétta
      When the Icelanders submitted to the authority of the Norwegian king by the terms of the "Old Covenant" (Gamli sáttmáli) in 1262, the function of Althing changed. The organization of the commonwealth came to an end and the rule of the country by goðar disappeared. Executive power now rested with the king and his officials, the Royal Commissioners (hirðstjórar) and District Commissioners (sýslumenn). As before, the Lögrétta, now comprising 36 members, continued to be its principal institution and shared formal legislative power with the king. Laws adopted by the Lögrétta were subject to royal assent and, conversely, if the king initiated legislation, Althing had to give its consent. The Lawspeaker was replaced by two legal administrators, called lögmenn.
      Towards the end of the 14th century, royal succession brought both Norway and Iceland under the control of the Danish monarchy. With the introduction of absolute monarchy in Denmark, the Icelanders relinquished their autonomy to the crown, including the right to initiate and consent to legislation. After that, the Althing served almost exclusively as a court of law until the year 1800.
      
      Monarchy until 1800
      The Althing was disbanded by royal decree in 1800. A new High Court, established by this same decree and located in Reykjavík, took over the functions of Lögrétta. The three appointed judges first convened in Hólavallarskóli on 10 August 1801. The High Court was to hold regular sessions and function as the court of highest instance in the country. It operated until 1920, when the Supreme Court of Iceland was established.
      
      High Court: 1800 – 1845
      A royal decree providing for the establishment of a new Althing was issued on 8 March 1843. Elections were held the following year and the assembly finally met on 1 July 1845. It comprised 26 members sitting in a single chamber. One member was elected in each of 20 electoral districts and six "royally nominated Members" were appointed by the king. Suffrage was, following the Danish model, limited to males of substantial means and at least 25 years of age, which to begin with meant only about 5% of the population. A regular session lasted four weeks and could be extended if necessary. During this period, Althing acted merely as a consultative body for the crown. It examined proposed legislation and individual members could raise questions for discussion. Draft legislation submitted by the government was given two readings, an introductory one and a final one. Proposals which were adopted were called petitions. The new Althing managed to effect a number of improvements to legislation and the administration of the country.
      
      Consultative assembly: 1845 – 1874
      The Constitution of 1874 granted to the Althing joint legislative power with the crown in matters of exclusive Icelandic concern. At the same time the National Treasury acquired powers of taxation and financial allocation. The king retained the right to veto legislation and often, on the advice of his ministers, refused to consent to legislation adopted by Althing. The number of members of Althing was increased to 36, 30 of them elected in general elections in eight single-member constituencies and 11 double-member constituencies, the other six appointed by the crown as before. The Althing was now divided into an upper and a lower chamber. Six elected members and the six appointed ones sat in the upper chamber, which meant that the latter could prevent legislation from being passed by acting as a bloc. Twenty-four elected representatives sat in the lower chamber. From 1874 until 1915 ad hoc committees were appointed. After 1915 seven standing committees were elected by each of the chambers. Regular sessions of Althing convened every other year. A supplementary session was first held in 1886, and these became more frequent after the turn of the 20th century. The Althing met from 1881 in the newly built Parliament House. The Governor-General (landshöfðingi) was the highest representative of the government in Iceland and was responsible to the Advisor for Iceland (Íslandsráðgjafi) in Copenhagen.
      
      Legislative assembly from 1874
      A constitutional amendment, confirmed on 3 October 1903, granted the Icelanders home rule and parliamentary government. An Icelandic minister was appointed on 1 February 1904 who was answerable to parliament. The minister had to have the support of the majority of members of Althing; in the case of a vote of no confidence, he would have to step down. Under the constitutional amendment of 1903, the number of members was increased by four, to a total of forty. Elections to the Althing had traditionally been public – voters declared aloud which of the candidates they supported. In 1908 the secret ballot was adopted, with ballot papers on which the names of the candidates were printed. A single election day for the entire country was at the same time made mandatory. When the Constitution was amended in 1915, the royally nominated members of Althing were replaced by six national representatives elected by proportional representation for the entire country.
      
      Home rule
      The Act of Union which took effect on 1 December 1918 made Iceland a state in personal union with the king of Denmark. It was set to expire in 25 years, after which either state could choose to leave the union. The Althing was granted unrestricted legislative power. In 1920 the number of members of the Althing was increased to 42. Since 1945, the Althing has customarily assembled in the autumn. With the Constitutional Act of 1934 the number of members was increased by seven and the system of national representatives abolished in favor of one providing for eleven seats used to equalize discrepancies between the parties' popular vote and the number of seats they received in the Althing, upping the number of members of the Althing to 49. In 1934, the voting age was also lowered to 21. Further changes in 1942 provided for additional three members and introduced proportional representation in the double-member constituencies. The constituencies were then 28 in number, 21 single-member constituencies, six double-Member constituencies and Reykjavík, which elected eight members. With the additional eleven equalization seats, the number of members was thus 52.
      
      Personal union
      When Denmark was occupied by Germany on 9 April 1940 the union with Iceland was effectively severed. On the following day, the Althing passed two resolutions, investing the Icelandic cabinet with the power of Head of State and declaring that Iceland would accept full responsibility for both foreign affairs and coastal surveillance. A year later the Althing adopted a law creating the position of Regent to represent the crown. This position continued until the Act of Union was repealed, and the Republic of Iceland established, at a session of the Althing held at Þingvellir on 17 June 1944.
      In 1959 the system of electoral districts was changed completely. The country was divided into eight constituencies with proportional representation in each, in addition to the previous eleven equalization seats. The total number of members elected was 60. In 1968, the Althing approved the lowering of voting age to 20 years. A further amendment to the Constitution in 1984 increased the number of members to 63 and reduced voting age to 18 years. By a constitutional amendment of June 1999, implemented in May 2003, the constituency system was changed. The number of constituencies was cut from eight to six; constituency boundaries are to be fixed by law. Major changes were introduced in the Althing itself in May 1991 and the assembly now sits as a unicameral legislature. There are currently twelve standing committees.
      
      

James Gadsden (May 15, 1788 - December 25, 1858). Namesake of the Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States purchased from Mexico the land that became the southern portion of Arizona and New Mexico.
He was born in 1788 in Charleston, South Carolina, the grandson of American Revolutionary patriot Christopher Gadsden. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1806. After a career as a US Army officer, James was appointed a commissioner in 1823 to assist the government in moving the Seminoles to reservations. He served as president of the South Carolina Railroad Company from 1840 to 1850 and promoted the construction of a transcontinental railroad by the southern route. In 1853, he was appointed U.S. minister to Mexico to negotiate the Gadsden Treaty which led to the Gadsden Purchase by the United States from Mexico of about 30,000 square miles in the southern section of what is now Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
During the War of 1812, Gadsden served in the Army under General Andrew Jackson, and was responsible for the construction of Fort Gadsden in Florida.

Robert Anderson Van Wyck, (pronounced Van Wike) (July 20, 1849 – November 14, 1918) was the first mayor of New York City after the consolidation of the five boroughs into the City of New York in 1898.

David O'Hara (born on 9 July 1965) is a Scottish actor.
O'Hara was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Martha and Patrick O'Hara. He has appeared in many movies and TV series, including a featured role in the U.S. series The District, which he left after one season to return to the British Isles.
His memorable role as the 'mad' Irishman Stephen in Braveheart saw him become William Wallace's (Mel Gibson) trusted friend and guardian after proclaiming of Ireland, "It's my island".
O'Hara is also a lifelong supporter of Celtic F.C..

This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name.
See also list of military theorists.

Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
Zeng Gongliang (曾公亮), Ding Du (丁度), and Yang Weide (Wujing Zongyao, 1044 AD)
Heinz Guderian
Che Guevara (foco theory)
Antoine de Jomini
Shen Kuo (Dream Pool Essays)
John Knox Laughton
T. E. Lawrence
Leo VI the Wise, Byzantine emperor (Taktika)
B. H. Liddell-Hart
Robert Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, The 48 Laws of Power)
Stephen B. Luce
Niccolò Machiavelli (The Prince)
Mao Zedong
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Maurice, Byzantine emperor (Strategikon)
Maurice of Nassau
Billy Mitchell
François-Henri de Montmorency
Ardant du Picq
Wu Qi (died 381 BC; Wuzi)
Hugh Trenchard
Sigismund von Schlichting
Alexander Suvorov
Eduard Totleben
Sebastien le Prestre de Vauban
Vegetius
Julius von Verdy du Vernois
H. G. Wells
Garnet Wolseley
André Beaufre
Miyamoto Musashi (The Book of Five Rings)
Bernard Brodie
Lucien Poirier
Henry Kissinger
Pierre-Marie Gallois
Comte de Guibert
Ferdinand Foch
Michel Ney
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus (De Re Militari)
Erwin Rommel (The Tank in Attack)
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Zhuge Liang
Khalid ibn Walid
Napoleon I of France
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
Arthur Currie
Jiao Yu and Liu Ji (Huolongjing)
Wang Xiangsui and Quia Lang, (Unrestricted Warfare, 1999)
Anonymous, Thirty-Six Strategies
Ailleret, Charles
Allinson, Sidney Canadian military historian and historical novelist, author of The Bantams: The Untold Story Of World War One and Kruger's Gold: A novel of the Anglo-Boer War.
Bayo, Alberto, Latin American Revolutionary, author of A Manual of Guerilla Warfare.
Bendell, Don, author Crossbow, The B-52 Overture, Valley of Tears, Snake-Eater, as well as modern military thriller Criminal Investigation Detachment.
von Bernhardi, Friedrich
Bloch, Ivan
Boyd, John
F. de Brack
Brecher, Gary, author of War Nerd.
Bregman, Ahron, author of several books on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Boyd, John, inventor of the OODA Loop or decision cycle.
Bustin, Steven, author of Humble Heroes: How the USS Nashville CL43 Fought WWII.
Carr, Caleb, Military historian, author of "Lessons of Terror," "The Devil Soldier," and others.
Ward Carroll, editor of Military.com, author of "Punk's War,""Punk's Wing," "Punk's Fight," "The Aide," and "Militia Kill."
Lazare Carnot
Chanakya, author of Arthashastra.
Clancy, Tom, author of Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Net Force, others.
Charles E. Callwell, author of Small Wars: A Tactical Textbook for Imperial Soldiers, first published 1906.
Clausewitz, Carl von, general and author of On War.
Menno van Coehoorn
John Colomb
Corbett, Julian, Edwardian British Naval theorist author of Some Principles of Maritime Strategy, rough contemporary of Mahan.
Martin van Creveld, proponent of an expanded theory of war.
Julian Corbett
Giulio Douhet
Dragomirov, Mikhail, the most celebrated Russian military theoretician.
Du Picq, Ardant, french military theorist and author of Battle Studies.
Edwards, Jeff, author of Torpedo.
Ercilla, Alonso de y Zúñiga, author of La Araucana.
Frontinus, Sextus Julius , author of the Stratagemata.
Fuller, J.F.C., theoretician of tank warfare.
Frederick II of Prussia
Vo Nguyen Giap, Vietnamese general responsible for success of the Vietnamese in the Vietnam war; was decisive in the victory at Dien Ben Phu.
Goltz, Colmar Freiherr von der, 19th century general and theorist.
Guderian, Heinz, German General, Developed principles of Blitzkrieg, author of Achtung Panzer!
Guevara, Ernesto Che, Argentinian revolutionary, diary outlined the guerrilla war being fought in Bolivia.
Hart, B.H. Liddell, proponent of the "indirect approach", influential on all 20th century military thinking.
Herodotus, ancient Greek historian whose book, The Histories, focuses primarily on the Persian invasion of Greece in the 5th century BC.
Johns, Michael, foreign policy and national security analyst and writer.
Jomini, Antoine Henri, general, wrote on the Napoleonic Wars including Precis de l'Art de la Guerre (Precis on the Art of War) and Traité des grandes opérations militaires (Treatise on Grand Military Operations).
Josephus wrote The Wars of the Jews
Keegan, John, Military historian.
Leonhard, Robert, Military theorist.
Luttwack, Edward, Theorist, identified the 'Dynamic Paradox' of strategy.
John Frederick Maurice (1841-1912), soldier, military writer
Mao Zedong, Chinese leader and guerrilla theorist.
Machiavelli, Niccolo, political theorist, author of The Prince and Dell'arte della guerra (The Art of War).
Mahan, Alfred Thayer, naval strategist.
Mahan, Dennis Hart, Military theorist and Engineering professor at West Point, father of Alfred Thayer Mahan, wrote "Advanced Guard, Outpost and Detachment Service of Troops, with essential Principles of Strategy and Grand Tactics" commonly known as "Outpost".
Marighella, Carlos, Brazilian "urban guerrilla", wrote Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla.
Martin, Tyrone G., USS Constitution expert.
Moore, Robin, wrote The Hunt for Bin Laden: Task Force Dagger.
Rommel, Erwin, German Field Marshal during WWII, noted for his book Infantry Attacks (Infanterie greift an) and armored battle theory.
Rosenberg, Arthur, political historian, wrote "A history of Bolshevism from Marx to the first Five years' plan".
Ryan, Cornelius, wrote The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far.
Schalk, Emil, Summary of the Art of War.
Schlichting, Sigismund von, 19th century infantry theorist.
Simpkin, Richard, Military theorist.
Strachan, Hew, Military historian.
Alexander Suvorov, generalissimo and author of The Science of Victory.
Sun Tzu, general and author of The Art of War.
Tiberius, Flavius Mauricius, Byzantine Emperor and traditional author of the military treatise Strategikon.
Thucydides, author of History of the Peloponnesian War.
Verdy du Vernois, Julius von, 19th century general and theorist.
West, Bing, Military historian.
Xenophon, his Anabasis recording the Greeks' march out of Asia Minor.
Miyamoto Musashi, feudal Japan (circa 15th century) author of The Book of Five Rings.
Flavius Arrianus Xenophon, known as Arrian in English, author of Anabasis Alexandri The Campaigns of Alexander the Great.
Tsunetomo, Yamamoto, author of Hagakure.
Vegetius, author of De Re Militari, the primary military manual used in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.

Wawel (Polish Wzgórze wawelskie or for short Wawel) is the name of a limestone outcrop situated on the left bank of the Vistula in Kraków, Poland at an altitude of 228 metres above sea level. This is a symbolic place of great significance for all Polish people. The Royal Castle and the Cathedral are situated on the Hill. Polish Royalty and many distinguished Poles are interred in the Cathedral and royal coronations took place there.

Wawel Hill
Wawel Castle
Wawel Cathedral
Wawel Dragon
Dragon's Den
Zygmunt Bell
Royal Coronations

For the Christian belief see Progressive revelation (Christian)
Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'u'lláh The Báb · `Abdu'l-Bahá
The Hidden Words Some Answered Questions
Administrative Order The Guardianship Universal House of Justice Spiritual Assemblies Bahá'í history · Timeline Bábís · Shaykh Ahmad
Shoghi Effendi Martha Root · Táhirih Badí' · Apostles Hands of the Cause
Symbols · Laws Teachings · Literature Calendar · Divisions Pilgrimage Progressive revelation is a core teaching in the Bahá'í Faith that suggests that religious truth is revealed by God progressively and cyclically over time through a series of divine Messengers,

Progressive cycles
Bahá'ís believe God to be generally regular and periodic in revealing His will to mankind through messengers/prophets. Each messenger in turn establishes a covenant and founds a religion. This process of revelation is also never ceasing, according to the Bahá'í writings, contrary to many other belief systems that believe in a finality of their prophet/messenger. Muhammad, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Zoroaster, and Krishna were all named by Bahá'u'lláh as being among these establishers of religion, termed Manifestations of God, as well as himself, and his forerunner the Báb. Bahá'u'lláh also expressly or implicitly referred to Adam, Noah, Saleh, Húd, and an unnamed prophet of the Sabians as messengers of God.
The general theme of the successive and continuous religions founded by Manifestations of God is that there is an evolutionary tendency, and that each Manifestation of God brings a larger measure of revelation (or religion) to humankind than the previous one.

Dispensations
In addition to the idea of religion being progressively revealed from the same God through different prophets/messengers, there also exists in Bahá'í literature, the idea of a universal cycle,

Metaphors
The earliest forms of religion are seen, in many of the Bahá'í Writings, to be like early school. Concepts which may have been appropriate at an earlier time, then, might be quite inaccurate when one has sufficient context. Bahá'ís would not say that these earlier beliefs were wrong, since they were sufficient to the capacity of humanity at the time.
These views allow Bahá'ís to resolve many of the apparent conflicts between the differing theologies and cosmologies of the world. Each different religion may have had truth explained differently according to the needs of the recipients of the teaching. Bahá'u'lláh was asked several questions about the nature of differences in religions, God's messengers, and religious laws. His response was a reference to progressive revelation:
The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

Religion as a school
One key purpose of religion, says Bahá'u'lláh, is to "carry forward an ever advancing civilisation...".[2] He elsewhere says:
"O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world's religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth."

Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 215. [3]

Religion's social and educational effect
Bahá'ís believe that religious teachings are of two varieties: essential spiritual truth, and ephemeral social constructs. The latter may include laws of conduct, diet, institutions, ceremonies, etc. These may change dramatically from Manifestation to Manifestation. The former, however, are essential and do not change, except perhaps in their cultural presentation.
A good example of this is the prohibition on the consumption of cloven-hooved animals in Judaism, which is seen by Bahá'ís as a sound teaching necessary for public health at the time. Modern hygiene and medical knowledge has given us better abilities to ward off the parasites and other harmful aspects of such consumption, and so such restrictions are not part of the Bahá'í Faith.
So the Manifestation of God is seen as at once restoring the essential truth, returning the faithful to the correct practice. Simultaneously, the Manifestation eliminates redundant or corrupt social structures and creates such social organization as will support the improvement of mankind.
Bahá'ís see Bahá'u'lláh as the most recent teacher, the most recent Manifestation.

Religious truth is of two kinds
Bahá'ís accept the founders of the "major world religions" as Manifestations of God, as well as some who are not well known, or whose religions have all but disappeared. The usual list Bahá'ís commonly refer to include: Krishna, Buddha, Zoroaster (Zarathustra), Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Báb, and Bahá'u'lláh. Others are referred to in Bahá'í Writings or confirmed from Islamic and other sources, including Joseph, Noah, Hud, Salih, and the founder of the "religions of the Sabeans", a religion which, according to Shoghi Effendi, was widespread in Chaldea at the time of Abraham.
Furthermore, the existence of unnumbered previous religions of which we have no modern knowledge is confirmed by the Guardian:
"These religions are not the only true religions that have appeared in the world, but are the only ones still existing. There have always been divine Prophets and Messengers, to many of whom the Qur'án refers. But the only ones existing are those mentioned above."

Shoghi Effendi, quoted in the compilation Lights of Guidance, p. 414.
Additionally, Bahá'ís are taught that some worthy religions are not revealed by Manifestations of God. These were founded by spiritual leaders who were members of the great faiths and were religious teachers "sensitive to the spiritual currents flowing" at the time of the appearance of a new Manifestation of God. These religions, while not authoritative, are nevertheless a reflection of divine teachings and are treated with respect.
Finally, Bahá'í teachings allow for the existence of dangerous and destructive religions groups which are either distortions of true faith, or "the outcome of human perversity." The Bahá'í sacred writings and Bahá'í leadership makes no attempt to explicitly identify these, though the common understanding is that this refers to personality cults, political hijacking or subversion of legitimate religions, or money scams and the like.
With the exception of the above mentions, the Bahá'í Faith tends to stay aloof from discussions of which faith or denomination is legitimate or "closer to the truth". Given that they see Bahá'u'lláh as having offered the most recent revelation from God to mankind, such distinctions are seen as somewhat redundant, and ultimately unhelpful to the goal of uniting humanity.

Types of religions and religious founders

Establishing texts
Bahá'u'lláh's seminal Kitáb-i-Íqán (in English, The Book of Certitude) is probably the best original description of the Bahá'í view of Progressive Revelation. In it Bahá'u'lláh describes the relationships between several Abrahamic prophets and how each accepted the previous, but was rejected by the previous prophet's followers. He uses these examples to highlight the legitimacy of the Báb to the reader, since the book was written in answer to some questions from the Báb's uncle. The work, however, establishes this core doctrine of the Bahá'í Faith and is seen as being of more general applicability.

'Kitáb-i-Íqán' ('The Book of Certitude')
A variety of Bahá'u'lláh's letters to rulers and religious leaders of the day, as well as some general epistles are collected in the book Summons of the Lord of Hosts. Several of the declarations include exhortations to lay down arms, conflicts, and divisions and to promote unity. In particular, religious prejudice is targeted in various places as being, not only a cause of disunity, but unjustified in fact.

See also

The Discobolus of Myron ("discus thrower" Greek Δισκοβόλος του Μύρωνα) is a famous Roman marble copy of a lost Greek bronze original, completed during the zenith of the classical period between 460-450 BC. A discus thrower is depicted about to release his throw. The moment captured in the statue is an example of rhythmos, harmony and balance. Myron is often credited as being the first sculpture to master this style. Naturally, as always in Greek athletics, the Discobolus is completely naked. His pose is said to be unnatural to a human, and today considered a rather inefficient way to throw the discus. Also there is very little emotion shown in the discus thrower's face. The other trademark of Myron depicted in this sculpture is how well the body is proportioned, the symmetria. The Discobolus Palombara stands at 1.55 meters tall (6 feet, 1 inch).

Literary account
On its discovery in 1781, at a Roman property of the Massimo family, the Villa Palombara on the Esquiline Hill, it was initially restored by Giuseppe Angelini., and the Massimi installed it initially in their Palazzo Massimo delle Colonne then at Palazzo Lancelotti. The Italian archeologist Carlo Fea identified the sculpture as a copy from the original of Myron. It was instantly famous, though the Massimo jealously guarded access to it (Haskell and Penny 1981:200).
Prior to this statue's discovery the term Discobolus had been applied in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to a standing figure holding a discus, a Discophoros, which Visconti identified as the Discobolus of Naukydes of Argos, mentioned by Pliny (Haskell and Penny 1981:200).
In 1937 Adolf Hitler negotiated to buy it, and eventually succeeded in 1938, when Galeazzo Ciano, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sold it to him for five million lire, over the protests of Giuseppe Bottai, Minister of Education, and the scholarly community. It was shipped by rail to Munich and displayed in the Glyptothek; it was returned in 1948. It is now in the National Museum of Rome.

Principal example
After the discovery of the Discobolus Palombara a second notable Discobolus was excavated, at Hadrian's Villa in 1790, and was purchased by the English antiquary and art dealer established in Rome, Thomas Jenkins, at public auction in 1792. (Another example, also found at Tivoli at this date, was acquired by the Vatican Museums.) The English connoisseur Charles Towneley paid him £400 for the statue, which arrived at the semi-public gallery Townley commissioned in Park Street, London, in 1794. The head was wrongly restored, as Richard Payne Knight pointed out, but Townley was convinced his was the original and better copy.
It was bought for the British Museum, with the rest of Townley's marbles, in July 1805 (illustration, left).

Fledge is the stage in a young bird's life when the feathers and wing muscles are sufficiently developed for flight. It also describes the act of raising chicks to a fully grown state by the chick's parents.
In ornithology, the meaning of fledging is variable, depending on species. Birds are sometimes considered fledged once they leave the nest, even if they still can't fly. Some definitions of fledge take it to mean the independence of the chick from the adults, as adults will often continue to feed the chick after it has left the nest and is able to fly.
One notable species, the Ancient Murrelet, fledges two days after hatching, running from its burrow to the ocean and its calling parents. Once it reaches the ocean it is cared for several weeks by its parents. Other species, such as Guillemots and some cormorants leave the nesting site before they are able to fly, or barely able to fly. The fledging behaviour of the guillemot is spectacular; the adult will lead the chick through the colony if possible, for large drops like cliffs, it will fly down and call to its young. The chick will then launch itself off the cliff, attempting to fly as far as possible, crash landing on the ground below before continuing its run towards the ocean.

The Kalmar War lasted from 1611 to 1613.
Denmark had dominion over the strait between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. Sweden sought an alternative trade route to avoid paying Denmark's Sound Toll through Northern Norway. Sweden sought control the land route through sparsely populated Lapland. In 1607, Charles IX of Sweden declared himself "King of the Lapps in Nordland" and began "collecting" taxes in Norwegian territory, even south of Tromsø.
Since Sound Dues to pass through the strait between the Baltic and the North Sea were Denmark's main source of income, Denmark did not want alternative trade routes established, particularly when established through Norwegian territory. Denmark protested.
King Charles IX of Sweden ignored King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway's protests. Finally, in 1611 in response to Sweden's claim of a traditionally Dano-Norwegian area in Northern Norway, Denmark invaded Sweden. A force of 6000 men laid siege on the city of Kalmar, ultimately taking it. Norwegian forces, although stationed on the border, were instructed not to enter Sweden.
On October 20th, King Charles IX of Sweden died and was succeeded by his son, Gustavus Adolphus. On ascending the throne, Gustavus Adolphus sued for peace, but Christian IV saw an opportunity for larger victories, and strengthened his armies in southern Sweden.
England and the Netherlands were also invested in the Baltic Sea trade, and pressured to curtail Denmark's power by ending the Kalmar War before a decisive victory could be attained. The Danes, while well-equipped and strong, had relied heavily on mercenary forces and Christian IV, low on funds, was finally amenable to persuasion in 1613. With England's intercession, the Treaty of Knäred was signed on January 20, 1613.
Denmark reached its victory, restoring Norwegian control of Sweden's land route through Lapland by incorporating Lapland into Norway (and thus under Danish rule). Further, Sweden had to pay a high ransom for two fortresses captured by Denmark. Sweden, however, achieved a major concession — the right of free trade through the Sound Strait, becoming exempt of the Sound toll (a right shared by Britain and Holland).
Although a side-note to the war, the Battle of Kringen, in which Scottish mercenary forces were defeated by Gudbrandsdal militiamen from Lesja, Dovre, Vaage (Vågå), Fron, Lom and Ringebu is a noted military event in Norway, celebrated to this day.

Gary Edmund Carter (born April 8, 1954), nicknamed "Kid", is a former Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame catcher from 1974-1992. Carter played with the Montreal Expos, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
During his career, Carter established himself as one of the premier catchers in the National League. He won three Gold Glove awards (1980, 1981, 1982), and five Silver Slugger awards (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986).
Gary Carter was born in Culver City, California and attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California, where he was a three sport star in baseball, basketball and football (he signed a letter of intent to play football at UCLA before signing with the Montreal Expos) . Carter made his major league debut with the Expos on September 16, 1974, going 0 for 4 against the New York Mets. He hit .270 with 17 home runs and 68 RBI in 1975, his first full season, making the All-Star team and receiving The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award. Gary Carter became the 5th (and latest to date) player to hit 2 home runs in an All-Star Game in 1981 (joining Arky Vaughan-1941, Ted Williams-1946, Al Rosen-1954, and Willlie McCovey-1969.
While solidifying his spot as one of baseball's premier catchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he set personal-highs in RBI (106, leading the league), batting average (.294), hits (175), total bases (290), and games played (159) in 1984. At the end of the 1984 season, Carter was traded to the New York Mets for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham, and Floyd Youmans.
In his first game as a Met on April 9, 1985, he hit a 10th inning walk-off home run off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Neil Allen to give the Mets a 6-5 Opening Day victory.
With the Mets, Carter enjoyed consistent production with 32 home runs and 100 RBI in 1985; and 24 home runs and 105 RBI in 1986, winning his only World Series championship in that season. Carter will be forever remembered by Mets fans as the man who started the Mets 10th inning two out Game 6 rally in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Carter would come around to score the first of three Mets runs that inning on a single by Ray Knight, as the Mets would defeat the Red Sox in one of the most famous games in baseball history. It also widely forgotten that Carter's 8th inning run scoring sacrifice fly was the hit that forced the game to go into extra innings. Carter also crushed two home runs over the Green Monster in Game 4 of the Series at Fenway Park. Carter thus became the only player to date to have hit 2 home runs in All-Star Game (1981) and 2 home runs in a World Series Game (1986). Carter batted only .235 in 1987, and was released at the end of the 1989 season after hitting just .183. After leaving the Mets, he played for the Giants in 1990, the Dodgers in 1991, and returned to Montreal in 1992.
Carter was a career .262 hitter with 324 home runs and 1225 RBI. Over his 19-year career, he ranks sixth all-time in career home runs by a catcher with 298, and was selected as a All-Star eleven times, winning the Most Valuable Player award in the 1981 and 1984 games.
In 2003, his sixth year on the ballot, Gary Carter was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Carter had previously been inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. Also in 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill. His number 8 was retired by the Montreal Expos. After Expos moved to Washington, D.C. following the 2004 season, Carter's number along with Andre Dawson, Rusty Staub, and Tim Raines were moved to the Bell Centre, home of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. The Nationals have since reissued the number 8 to Marlon Anderson. While the Mets have not retired number 8, it has remained unused since Carter's election to the Hall of Fame.
Carter was the manager of the Gulf Coast Mets minor league team in 2005 before being promoted to the A-level St. Lucie Mets for 2006.

Montreal Expos (1974-1984, 1992)
New York Mets (1985-1989)
San Francisco Giants (1990)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1991)
324 career home runs (92nd all time)
1225 career RBI
2 time MLB All-Star Game MVP
11 time All-Star
5 time Silver Slugger, 3 time Gold Glove Award winner
Led 1984 NL in RBI

In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office application suite or productivity suite is a software suite intended to be used by typical clerical worker and knowledge workers. The components are generally distributed together, have a consistent user interface and usually can interact with each other, sometimes in ways that the operating system would not normally allow.

Current suites

Main article: List of office suites

Debate Free software List of patents
TRIPS Agreement Patent Cooperation Treaty European Patent Convention
United Kingdom United States
Business methods
Opposition to software patents is widespread in the free software community. In response, various mechanisms have been tried to defuse the perceived problem.
On the other hand, Microsoft has claimed that programs such as Linux violate 235 Microsoft patents and said that it will seek license fees.

Benefits of free software
It is quite common for patent holders to license their patents in a way that requires a per-copy fee, however, obtaining such a licence is not possible for free software projects. Free software projects cannot require mandatory royalties as these would limit distribution to only royalty payers, violating the free software definition. A patent licence that is royalty-free, or provides a one-time worldwide payment is acceptable.
Version 2 of the GNU General Public License does not allow software to be distributed if that software requires a patent licence that does not "permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you".

Problems for free software

Techniques for reducing harm
"Patent retaliation" clauses are included in several free software licences. The goal of these clauses is to discourage the licensee (the user/recipient of the software) from suing the licensor (the provider/author of the software) for patent infringement by terminating the licence upon the initiation of such a lawsuit.
The Free Software Foundation included a narrow patent retaliation clause in drafts 1 and 2 of version 3 of the GPL, however, this clause was removed in draft 3 as its enforceability and effectiveness was decided to be too dubious to be worth the added complexity.
Examples of broader clauses are those of the Apache licence and the Mozilla Public License.

Patent retaliation
In 2005, IBM, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, and Sony founded the Open Invention Network (OIN). OIN is a company that acquires patents and offers them royalty free "to any company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against the Linux operating system or certain Linux-related applications".
Novell donated the valuable Commerce One web services patents to OIN. These potentially threaten anyone who uses web services. OIN's founders intend for these patents to encourage others to join, and to discourage legal threats against Linux and Linux-related applications. Along with several other projects, Mono is listed as a covered project.

Patent pools
Movements have formed to lobby against the existence and enforceability of software patents. The earliest was the League for Programming Freedom in the USA. Probably the most successful was the anti-software-patent campaign in Europe that resulted in the rejection by the European Parliament of the Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions which, the free software community argues, would have made software patents enforceable in the European Union. A fledgling movement also exists in South Africa.

Microsoft's patent deals

Software patents
Software patents debate

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs maintained for food production. Most orchards comprise either fruit or nut-producing trees (see fruit trees), for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive purpose.
Most temperate-zone orchards are laid out in a regular grid, with a grazed or mown grass or bare soil base that makes maintenance and fruit gathering easy.
Orchards are often concentrated near bodies of water, where climatic extremes are moderated and blossom time is retarded until frost danger is past.
The forest garden is a food production system that is closely related to the orchard. A move towards more ecologically-friendly coffee production has led to forest-garden production of coffee. Brazil Nuts and rubber are being produced in such a method in some areas.
Often, mixed orchards are planted. In Europe Quince is sometimes planted along with apples.

Orchards by region

Berries
Citrus
Forest garden
Fruit
Fruit trees
Fruit tree forms
Fruit tree pollination
Fruit tree propagation
Pruning fruit trees

The American Civil War Battle Series by author James Reasoner is a ten volume series of historical novels about the American Civil War. The series centers on the fictional Brannon family, which resides in Culpeper, Virginia, a village and county in north central Virginia north of the Rapidan River that served as a major supply depot for the Confederate army. Each novel in Reasoner's series revolves around a Civil War major battle or campaign.
The ten novels in series order:

Manassas, published by Cumberland House in spring, 1999. ISBN 1-58182-008-9.
Shiloh, published by Cumberland House in fall, 1999. ISBN 1-58182-248-0.
Antietam, published by Cumberland House in spring, 2000. ISBN 1-58182-275-8.
Chancellorsville, published by Cumberland House in fall, 2000. ISBN 1-58182-300-2.
Vicksburg, published by Cumberland House in spring, 2001. ISBN 1-58182-372-X.
Gettysburg, published by Cumberland House in fall, 2001. ISBN 1-58182-381-9.
Chickamauga, published by Cumberland House in spring, 2002. ISBN 1-58182-405-X.
Shenandoah, published by Cumberland House in fall, 2002. ISBN 1-58182-435-1.
Savannah, published by Cumberland House in spring, 2003. ISBN 1-58182-467-X.
Appomattox, published by Cumberland House in spring, 2003. ISBN 1-58182-513-7. The Brannon family
The Brannon family owns a farm in Culpeper County just outside of the village of Culpeper. John Brannon has died as the first novel Manassas begins in January 1861. John and his widow Abigail were avid fans of William Shakespeare. Matriarch Abigail Brannon oversees the farm with her six children, who have been named after William Shakespeare and characters from his plays. The Brannon children are William (Will), Macduff (Mac), Titus, Henry, Cordelia, and Coriolanus (Cory). The family is drawn into the events of the coming war.