text: Thailand as one of the member of ASEAN played a coordinating role in facilitating China and ASEAN members involved in the dispute in hope of reaching peaceful resolution. Despite its domestic political turmoil, the Thai government relied on its Ministry of Foreign Affairs' expertise on international dispute. It took the initiative to hold several meetings with parties concerned. Thailand's first attempt was hosting the ASEAN–China Senior Officials' Meeting Retreat in Pattaya, Thailand 2012. Via this meeting, Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister called for a joint development of resources in South China Sea. Bangkok was viewed as a South China Sea neutral player because it is not a claimant and did not have disputes in the South China Sea with China. After several meetings, the 6th ASEAN–China SOM on DOC was the first official consultation on the Code of Conduct (COC) was formed with all parties agreement to push forward the drafting of COC. Thai-China relationship was generally seen as positive. Thailand's neutral position enabled it to act as a mediator and influence discussions among parties involved.


title: Territorial disputes in the South China Sea

text: In 1974, the PRC got a non-involvement promise from the United States when it occupied the Yagong Island and the Crescent Group from South Vietnam. The United States officially addressed the South China Sea dispute for the first time in 1995, when its statement focused on the peaceful resolution of disputes, peace and stability, freedom of navigation, neutrality over the question of sovereignty, and respect of maritime norms. The 1995 statement did not name any states by their names.


text: The 1995 policy was changed in 2010, when the administration of the President Obama felt that even though the United States cannot take sides in the dispute, it still has to make a statement that it is not passively accepting the assertive actions taken in the region. At the July 2010 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum meeting in Hanoi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech on resolving the disputes in the region without coercion and unequivocally stating that the South China Sea was a matter of U.S. national interest. Her comments were countered by China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as "in effect an attack on China," and he warned the United States against making the South China Sea an international issue or multilateral issue.


text: In 2012, a United States State Department press statement identified the PRC as an assertive state in the region and communicated United States concerns about the developments in the area. Also in 2012, Secretary Clinton testified in support of congressional approval of the Law of the Sea Convention, which would strengthen U.S. ability to support countries that oppose Chinese claims to certain islands in the area. On 29 May 2012, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed concern over this development, stating that "non-claimant Association of South East Asian Nations countries and countries outside the region have adopted a position of not getting involved into territorial disputes." In July 2012, the United States Senate passed resolution 524, initially sponsored by Senator John Kerry, stating (among other things) the United States' strong support for the 2002 declaration of conduct of parties in the South China Sea, reaffirms the United States' commitment to assist the nations of Southeast Asia to remain strong and independent, and supports enhanced operations by the United States armed forces in the Western Pacific.


text: In 2014, the United States responded to China's claims over the fishing grounds of other nations by saying that "China has not offered any explanation or basis under international law for these extensive maritime claims." USN CNO Jonathan Greenert then pledged American support to the Philippines in its territorial conflicts with the PRC. The Chinese Foreign Ministry asked the United States to maintain a neutral position on the issue. In 2014 and 2015, the United States continued freedom of navigation operations, including in the South China Sea. that the US administration is planning to deploy some more naval assets within 12 nautical miles of the Spratly Islands. In response to this announcement, Beijing issued a warning and said that she would not allow any country to violate China's territorial waters in the name of "Freedom of Navigation". In May 2015, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter warned China to halt its rapid island-building. On 27 October 2015, the US destroyer USS Lassen navigated within 12 nautical miles of reclaimed land in the Subi Reef as the first in a series of "Freedom of Navigation Operations". This was the first time since 2012 that the US has directly challenged China's claims of the island's territorial limit. On 8–9 November 2015, two US B-52 strategic bombers flew near artificial Chinese-built islands in the area of the Spratly Islands and were contacted by Chinese ground controllers but continued their mission undeterred.


text: President Trump's administration increased the frequency of freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea. In June 2020, US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft sent a letter to the U.N. secretary general explaining the US position on China's "excessive maritime claims." On 14 July 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared China's claims and coercions of in parts of the South China Sea “completely unlawful”. On 26 August 2020, the US sanctioned individuals and 24 Chinese companies linked to construction and militarization of the artificial islands.


text: Publications by US think tanks have made recommendations for courses of actions that the United States could take in response to PRC activities in the South China Sea.


text: The US Navy has conducted freedom of navigation drills in the South China Sea to counter Vietnamese claims in the region, particularly around the Côn Đảo islands.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Alien Ant Farm is an American rock band that formed in Riverside, California in 1996. They have released five studio albums and sold over 5 million units worldwide. The band's cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" topped the "Billboard" Alternative songs charts in 2001, and was featured in the film "American Pie 2".


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: They released their debut album "Greatest Hits" independently in 1999, then signed to DreamWorks Records in 2000. Their second album "ANThology" was released in 2001 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA, selling over one million copies and reaching number 11 on the "Billboard" 200. Following up that was their third album, "TruANT", released in 2003. The album was produced by brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots, and made it to number 42 on the "Billboard" 200. In 2005 the band recorded their next album "3rd Draft", however its release was denied by the label after Geffen bought out DreamWorks. It was eventually released in 2006 as "Up in the Attic", charting at number 114 on the "Billboard" 200. After several years of sporadic touring, the band's fifth studio album "Always and Forever" was released in February 2015.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: The band was formed in 1996 in Riverside, California, the original lineup consisting of Dryden Mitchell (vocals), Terry Corso (guitars), Mike Cosgrove (drums) and Tye Zamora (bass). Their name comes from an idea Corso had about aliens and the Earth: "It was just my daydream about our planet being seeded by entities from other dimensions."


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 1996 they recorded a demo tape titled the "$100 EP" containing five songs, and in 1998 they recorded a second demo tape "Love Songs", featuring four songs.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 1999, Alien Ant Farm released their debut album, titled "Greatest Hits" that featured a first version of "Smooth Criminal""." It went on to win Best Independent Album in the L.A. Music Awards that year.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 2000, after forging a friendship with the band Papa Roach, Alien Ant Farm signed with Dreamworks SKG for their second studio album, "Anthology". They proceeded to tour with Papa Roach to support the album.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 2001, their cover of Michael Jackson's song, "Smooth Criminal", was a No. 1 single in Australia and New Zealand, a No. 3 single in the UK, and No. 1 on the US Modern Rock charts. The music video features numerous homages to Michael Jackson and his videos. Corso, the band's guitarist, addressed this in an MTV interview on the set of the music video, saying, "We want to pay homage to Michael Jackson, but on our level. Obviously we're not that glitzy, so we just want to tastefully take the stuff that's cool in his videos and apply it in our own dirty little backyard way."


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: The song appeared on the soundtrack of the first season of "WWE Tough Enough" and in the film "American Pie 2". Their following single "Movies" was a Top 5 hit in the UK and a Top 20 hit in New Zealand. The band began touring in promotion of these two singles and their album, which later went platinum.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In May 2002, the band was involved in a bus accident while touring in Spain. While the whole band suffered minor injuries, the driver, 26-year-old Christopher Holland, was killed, and lead singer Mitchell suffered a fractured C2 vertebra.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Alien Ant Farm soon returned to the studio to work on their next album, "Truant", which was released in 2003 and produced by Stone Temple Pilots' Robert and Dean DeLeo. The video for "These Days", the first single from the album, was filmed on top of a nearby building during the Red Carpet at the 2003 BET Awards. "Glow" was a mainstream radio success, achieving long lasting Top 20 success in New Zealand. Two months after this album was released, however, their record label closed its doors. This hindered the album's popularity over time, and the album was much less successful than their platinum-selling debut.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In October 2003, guitarist Corso split with the band citing "irreconcilable differences". Victor Camacho (a long-time friend of the band and guitar player) immediately joined the band and completed the remainder of the Truant tour until the band returned home. Joe Hill was named the new guitarist in 2005 (formerly of Spiderworks).


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 2004, the band recorded the song "Dark in Here" for "The Punisher" video game. The band was forced to wait for Geffen to allow them to record another album (after Universal Music bought DreamWorks and assigned the band to its Geffen Records label).


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 2005, the band recorded with producer Jim Wirt (who recorded their independent, debut release "Greatest Hits") and planned to release the album during that summer. However, Geffen shelved the album and subsequently denied the band the rights to release it themselves. The band hit the road and made bootleg copies of the album material available to all of their fans. This unofficial release was dubbed "3rd Draft" by fans.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Four video games have featured the band's songs. Their song "Wish" was in "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3", while the song "Courage" also featured in "Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder" and "ATV Offroad Fury 2". The song "These Days" was featured in "Madden NFL 2004" and the song "S.S Recognize" were featured in "NHL 2004".


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In late 2005, Geffen finally agreed to let the band release the album on another Universal label, Universal Music Enterprises (its catalog division). On May 30, 2006, the new album, "Up in the Attic", was released digitally on iTunes and sold at various retailers. The Best Buy Edition included a bonus track, "Repeat Defender". The first single was "Forgive and Forget", the one added track to "3rd Draft".


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In April 2006, bassist Tye Zamora left the band and decided to go to college. The short amount of live shows thereafter featured Alex Barreto on bass. On June 29, 2006, the band performed on G4's "Attack of the Show", and on July 18, 2006, "Up In The Attic" was released worldwide, along with "BUSted: The Definitive DVD". Included on the DVD were music videos for "Forgive and Forget", "Around the Block", and "She's Only Evil". Notably, the three videos feature only Dryden Mitchell and Mike Cosgrove.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: The band released "Around the Block", the second single from "Up in the Attic", on the iTunes Store in 2007.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On February 11, 2008, the band posted a statement on their website stating Terry Corso and Tye Zamora had rejoined the band. It was also revealed that the band had "unofficially broken up" in 2007 due to the fact that 2006's "Up in the Attic" was their least successful album.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Around this time, vocalist Dryden Mitchell formed a new band, Send the Sages. Guitarist Terry Corso and drummer Michael Cosgrove worked on a side project titled Ghost In The Flesh, bassist Tye Zamora worked with the band . Alien Ant Farm toured sporadically, and released a new live album, Alien Ant Farm: Live In Germany.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: In 2009, they played the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth, UK on August 1. They had also performed "Smooth Criminal" at the 2009 Vans' Warped Tour in memory of Michael Jackson, who had recently died.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On February 9, 2010, Alien Ant Farm posted on their official website that the original line up (Dryden Mitchell, Terry Corso, Tye Zamora and Mike Cosgrove) was back together for the first time since 2003. On February 27, 2010, the Alien Ant Farm official website released the band's first "webizode" titled Bassmasters.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: The band's "ANTicipation" 2011 Tour took place across the continental U.S. from July to October 2011. They also took part in the "Michael Forever Tribute Concert" which took place on October 8, 2011 in Cardiff, Wales. Alien Ant Farm started writing new material and in July 2012 started recording their fifth album, "Always and Forever," at Groovemaster Studios in Chicago in July 2012. In March 2013 they set up a crowdfund, using PledgeMusic, to finance the album's release. The first single from "Always and Forever", "Let 'Em Know", was released in May 2013. Also in the summer of 2013, Alien Ant Farm participated in "The Big Night Out Tour", opening for Hoobastank and Fuel.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Founding-member and bassist Tye Zamora left Alien Ant Farm in March 2014 and was replaced by Tim Peugh. At the same time Michael Anaya joined as a touring member of the band, providing backing vocals, percussion, and keyboards. Another single, "Homage", was released in September 2014, followed a month later by "E.P. Phone Home". The album "Always and Forever" was released on February 24, 2015.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On March 31, 2016, Alien Ant Farm announced on their official Facebook page that they were writing material for a new album.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On May 17, 2016, the band took part in the Make America Rock Again super tour throughout the summer and fall 2016. In addition, they announced a headlining tour where they intend to perform the album "Anthology" in its entirety. In early 2018, they toured the UK with Soil and Local H, and then embarked on the "Gen-X Tour", alongside Buckcherry, P.O.D., and Lit.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On May 8, 2020, the new single "Everything She Wants" was released digitally on streaming services. It is a cover of the song by Wham!.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Released on February 17, 2021, they collaborated with Insane Clown Posse on the single "Afraid of Life" from the EP "Yum Yum’s Lure".


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: On November 7, 2022 the band announces its participation for the Sick New World tour in 2023 featuring great bands such as Korn, Deftones, System of a down, Papa roach, Soulfly and etc.


title: Alien Ant Farm

text: Although initially grouped in with the nu metal movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band's sound also crosses over into other genres, such as alternative rock, alternative metal, post-grunge, punk rock, and pop punk. "Spin" stated in 2003 that their hit cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" proved that "nu metal could be funny on purpose".


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On February 11, 2006, then-United States vice president Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a then-78-year-old Texas attorney, with a 28-gauge Perazzi shotgun (S/N: 115288) while participating in a quail hunt on a ranch in Riviera, Texas. Both Cheney and Whittington called the incident an accident.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The incident was reported to the "Corpus Christi Caller-Times" on February 12, 2006, by ranch owner Katherine Armstrong. The Bush administration disclosed the shooting incident to the public the afternoon of February 12. Local authorities released a report on the shooting on February 16, 2006, and witness statements on February 22.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On February 14, 2006, Whittington suffered a non-fatal heart attack and atrial fibrillation due to at least one lead-shot pellet lodged in or near his heart. He also had a collapsed lung. Cheney did not speak publicly about the incident until February 15 in an interview with Fox News. Early reports indicated that Cheney and Whittington were friends and that the injuries were minor. Whittington later clarified that he and Cheney were not close friends but acquaintances.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The shooting was widely reported to have taken place on Saturday, February 11, 2006, based on the public statements of Katherine Armstrong, owner of the Armstrong Ranch. However, in her statement to the Sheriff, she said the shooting happened on February 12. Harry Whittington said shortly after the incident, "Accidents do and will happen – and that's what happened last Friday (February 10)."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Mary Matalin stated on "Meet the Press" that "Somebody had talked to some ranch hand". Neither the Sheriff's report nor witness statements identify who this first reporter was.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The Secret Service said that they gave notice to the Sheriff about one hour after the shooting. Kenedy County Sheriff Ramone Salinas III states he first heard of the shooting at about 5:30pm from Captain Charles Kirk, and Salinas implies that he received 'official' notice from the Secret Service at about 5:40pm.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Cheney had a televised interview about the shooting on February 15. On February 22, the Sheriff's office released statements from Katherine Armstrong, Sarita Hixon, Pamela Pitzer Willeford, Oscar Medellin, Gerardo Medellin, and Andrew Hubert. Cheney's statement and all six other hunting party members specify that Cheney, Whittington, and Willeford had shot at a covey of birds. While Whittington was searching for a downed bird, Cheney, Willeford, and a guide walked towards another covey about away. Whittington approached within of the shooters, at which point a single bird flew up, around, and behind Cheney in the direction of Whittington. Cheney shot at the bird and hit Whittington.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Armstrong, the ranch owner, claimed that all in the hunting party were wearing blaze-orange safety gear and none had been drinking, and that at lunch they drank beer, which is slightly contradictory to her later statement that "there may (have been) a beer or two in [the lunch coolers], but remember not everyone in the party was shooting." Cheney has acknowledged that he had one beer four or five hours prior to the shooting. Armstrong said she never saw Cheney or Whittington drink until later at the house, where Cheney had a few cocktails. Armstrong did not actually see the incident happen, believing that the reason Cheney's security detail was running was that Cheney had a heart problem, but Cheney described her as an eyewitness in his Fox interview.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Secret Service agents and medical aides, who were traveling with Cheney, came to Whittington's assistance and treated his birdshot wounds to his right cheek, neck, and chest. An ambulance standing nearby for the Vice President took Whittington to close by Kingsville before he was flown by helicopter to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On February 13, 2006, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (an agency once headed by Armstrong) issued an incident report. According to the report, Cheney "was swinging on game", i.e., turning to track it with his shotgun. The summary of the incident given was:


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Whittington was injured in the face, neck, and upper torso. Whittington was reported to be in stable condition at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital and had been moved from intensive care to a "step-down unit" on Monday. Doctors decided to leave about 30 birdshot pellets lodged in his body rather than try to remove them. Each pellet was less than in diameter.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On February 14, 2006, at 6:30 a.m., Whittington suffered a minor heart attack and atrial fibrillation due to the shot pellets lodged in or near his heart, as well as a collapsed lung. He was immediately moved back to the intensive care unit. At about 9 a.m., Whittington underwent a cardiac catheterization test to detect blocked or leaky arteries. From the test, doctors found a single lead pellet.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Hospital officials said Whittington was alert and stable and that he did not experience chest pain or other symptoms of a heart attack. Doctors reported signs of inflammation, and Whittington was treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Whittington was subsequently discharged from the hospital on February 17, 2006. At a press conference, he said: "My family and I are deeply sorry for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with. We hope that he will continue to come to Texas and seek the relaxation that he deserves."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Though the shooting occurred on Saturday, February 11, news of it was not released until after 2 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, February 12. Kathryn Garcia, a reporter for the "Corpus Christi Caller-Times", broke the story at 1:48 PM after receiving an 11 AM call from Katherine Armstrong, the owner of the ranch where the shooting occurred. Armstrong had notified Cheney earlier in the morning that she would inform the news media about the incident. She said Cheney agreed. Armstrong said that Whittington did not announce his location, and this led to the incident.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: According to White House Press secretary Scott McClellan, news at the White House about the shooting "...was coming in to people back here, all the way at 3 AM in the morning [Sunday] and beyond." McClellan would not state when the President first learned that Cheney had shot Whittington. When McClellan was asked if Andy Card had told Karl Rove that Cheney was the shooter, McClellan said: "...we still didn't have all the details at that point and additional details were coming into Andy Card at even three am in the morning and beyond."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The White House did not disclose the accident until a press conference on Sunday afternoon. McClellan said he did not know Cheney had shot someone until that Sunday morning. He remarked that he did ask the Vice President's office to release the information earlier. He said: "I think you can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On February 15, Cheney agreed to comment publicly about the accident on the Fox News Channel. He had previously avoided reporters by leaving an Oval Office meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Cheney visited Whittington in the hospital on Monday, February 13, and at other times, telephoned him.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Cheney acknowledged that White House Counselor Dan Bartlett and Scott McClellan "urged us to get the story out". Cheney said he was more concerned about accuracy and felt that Armstrong was the best person to make the announcement.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said that about an hour after Whittington was shot, the head of the Secret Service's local office called the Kenedy County sheriff to report the accident. Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas III receiving a call of 'official' notice from the Secret Service 8–10 minutes after a Saturday, February 11, 5:30 p.m. phone call from Captain Charles Kirk.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Kirk had called Salinas en route to the Armstrong Ranch to investigate a possible hunting accident. The ensuing official investigation was performed by the Kenedy County Sheriff's department and published in an Incident Report written by Chief Deputy Gilberto San Miguel Jr, a Supplement Report written by Salinas, and several witness statements.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: After Salinas finished his call with the Secret Service, Kirk called Salinas again to report that he couldn't get any information about the shooting at the Armstrong gate. Salinas told Kirk: "that it was fine and I [Salinas] would contact someone at the Ranch". Multiple news sources reported that local law enforcement officers were initially barred by United States Secret Service agents from interviewing Cheney.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: After dismissing Kirk, Salinas called Constable Ramiro Medellin Jr to ask for information about the accident. None of the police reports say why Salinas thought to call Medellin or where Salinas thought Medellin was. In that first call to Medellin, Salinas reports Medellin saying only he would call Salinas back. Medellin called Salinas back and said that "This is in fact a hunting accident" and that he [Medellin] had spoken with some of the people in the hunting party who were eyewitnesses and that they all said that it was definitely a hunting accident. Salinas says he [Salinas] also spoke with another [unnamed] eyewitness and he[the witness] said the same thing, that it was an accident. Salinas states in his report: "After hearing the same information from eyewitness and Constable Medellin, it was at this time I decided to send my Chief Deputy first thing Sunday morning to interview the Vice-President and other witnesses."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On Sunday morning, Kenedy County Chief Deputy Gilbert San Miguel Jr. interviewed Cheney and other members of the hunting party. He said that Cheney characterized the incident as a "hunting accident".


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On Monday, Miguel and Lt. Juan J Guzman went to Spohn Memorial Hospital to interview Whittington. Whittington requested not to be recorded 'due to his voice being raspy' but agreed to supply a written affidavit as soon as he returned home to his office. Whittington characterized the incident as an accident and said no alcohol was involved and that everyone was wearing proper hunting attire. Whittington described shooting at the first covey of quails, searching for a bird, then being sent by Katharine [Armstrong] to shoot the second covey. At that point, "a nurse came into the room and asked Guzman and Salinas to hurry up so Whitington could rest". The officers then left, telling Whittington, "I [Miguel] would give him a call in a few days to get the written affidavit". There is no public record of the promised affidavit being taken or released.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Bush appointed Katharine Armstrong, a commission member of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Steve Hall, education director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said that the department would classify the shooting as an error in judgment by Cheney.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The news of the shooting was not released to the press for 21 hours until 1:48 p.m. (07:48) Sunday, February 12. Kathryn Garcia, a reporter for the Corpus Christi "Caller-Times", broke the story after receiving a call from Armstrong at 11 am, after confirming it with the White House and hospital.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: A top Republican close to the White House said to "Time" magazine, "This is either a cover-up story or an incompetence story."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Questions have been raised regarding the shooting, even as Kenedy County Sheriff's Office documents support the official story by Cheney and his party.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Re-creations of the incident were enacted by George Gongora and John Metz, a photographer and producer respectively for the Corpus Christi "Caller-Times". Also a hunter re-created it according to the Whidbey "News-Times". All tests proved that the distance was much closer than the claimed. Local quail hunters have also argued that the range was closer, while others, such as forensic expert Jon Nordby, confirm the plausibility of the official reports.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The time of the shooting was estimated by Cheney and the other members of the hunting party to be variously between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. In the Kenedy County Sheriff's Report, Officer Ramone Salinas III states that he first heard the news of the shooting from a Captain Charles Kirk at about 5:30 p.m. Kirk had heard of the shooting prior to that phone call. In Salinas's statement, Salinas says he received official notice from the Secret Service 8–10 minutes after the 5:30 p.m. phone call. The Secret Service is reported to have said that they gave notice to the Sheriff about 1 hour after the shooting, which would put the time of the shooting at approximately 4:40 p.m., 50–80 minutes before the entire hunting party's recollection.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The incident, nicknamed Quailgate in the media, was the subject of jokes, satire and public ridicule. A number of these made reference to other controversies involving Cheney.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: David Letterman began his Monday show on February 13, 2006, with "Good news, ladies and gentlemen, we have finally located weapons of mass destruction ... it's Dick Cheney," and adding that "We can't get bin Laden, but we nailed a 78-year-old attorney." His Top 10 list was devoted to "Dick Cheney's excuses" and included "he thought the guy was trying to go gay cowboy on me."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Al Franken, not yet a U.S. Senator, was a guest on Letterman's program a short time later. He asked people in the studio audience to raise their hands if they had ever shot anyone. He then asked people in the studio audience to raise their hands to indicate if they thought they would accompany a friend to the hospital after shooting him. Franken went on to suggest that Cheney's delay in going to the hospital may have been because he wanted to wait until all signs of his having been drinking passed.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Jay Leno also had a piece on "The Tonight Show" in which he pretended to host a game show with footage of George W. Bush and Pervez Musharraf that was taken during Bush's visit to Pakistan. Toward the end of that segment, the sound of loud bird calls was played, and Leno asked Cheney to take care of the problem, with footage of the Vice President shooting a gun then shown.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Both Dana Carvey and Paula Poundstone made jokes about this incident in their HBO and Bravo specials, respectively.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Carlos Mencia references the incident in a musical segment called the "Dee Dee Dee Song" in a season 2 episode of "Mind of Mencia" that aired on August 13, 2006, where he says "You wanna go hunting, for quail someplace, don't go with Cheney, he'll put a fucking shot in your face!"


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: "Texas Monthly" won the 2007 Best Cover Line of the Year Award from the Magazine Publishers of America for its January 2007 cover captioned, "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Jon Stewart popularized the phrase "Cheney's Got a Gun" (a play on the 1989 Aerosmith song "Janie's Got a Gun") on "The Daily Show" soon after the event. Stewart and the "Daily Show"s correspondents repeatedly accentuated their disbelief at the absurdity of a sitting vice president shooting a 78-year-old man in the face while hunting quail raised in a pen and released mere seconds before they are shot. Stewart, for instance, pointed out that Whittington had been the first person to be shot by a sitting vice president since Alexander Hamilton, and that while Aaron Burr's fatal shooting of Hamilton was during a duel over issues of honor and political maneuvering, Whittington "was mistaken for a bird." Correspondent Ed Helms, reporting supposedly from Corpus Christi Hospital, said that Whittington's condition had been upgraded from "stable" to "stable, but still shot in the face by Dick Cheney." The show also used graphics from the video game "Duck Hunt". After Whittington's post-discharge press conference, Stewart noted that Cheney's power was such that upon shooting someone, the victim would apologize.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The incident is mentioned in "The Sopranos"' season six episode, "Remember When," where Junior Soprano, living in a mental care center after shooting his nephew (whom he confused with an old enemy because of his deteriorated mental state), writes a letter to Cheney asking for help, saying that they are "both powerful men" who were brought low "by unintentional incidents involving gunplay".


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: In the beta for the video game "Halo 3", a medal called "Cheneymania" was awarded for killing 10 opponents with a shotgun without dying; the medal was later removed from the game.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: On his first show after the incident, Stephen Colbert, host of "The Colbert Report", confessed to having been involved in a hunting accident of his own over the weekend, then proceeded to show an edited version of Brit Hume's interview with Dick Cheney, featuring Colbert in place of Cheney. Colbert later mentioned the hunting incident in his appearance at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in 2006.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: In the fifth episode of Season 10 of "Stargate SG1," Colonel Cameron Mitchell remarks about not wanting a Vice-Presidential bird hunt.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: "South Park" parodied the incident in the season 10 episode "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce". Cheney attempts to shoot a crossbow to kill Stan and Kyle but misses, leading him to exclaim: "Dang it! I missed again!"


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: "American Dad!" parodied the incident in the season 11 episode "Blagsnarst, a Love Story" when Roger takes aim at a helicopter and states: "...I just have to pretend I'm Dick Cheney and that helicopter is my friend's face."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: In "Boston Legal", attorney Alan Shore points to the incident several times to show how the legal system is selective in how it looks at violent incidents involving high-profile individuals.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: During a "Saturday Night Live" skit, Kristen Wiig as Diane Sawyer mentions the incident during a mock interview regarding Cheney's accomplishments as vice president, in which he denies feeling any regrets for the situation. In a later sketch, former President George W Bush (Will Ferrell) shows surprise when then Vice President Joe Biden did not own a shotgun, remarking, "What kind of Vice President are you?"


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Former President Barrack Obama also joked about this subject. In his speech for the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on May 9, 2009, he said Mr. Cheney was 'very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled, "How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People", a humorous allusion to the self-help classic "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Obama also joked about the incident in his final White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as president, in 2016, when he thanked then Vice President Joe Biden "for not shooting anybody in the face".


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Episode 9 of the first season of "Patriot", titled "Dick Cheney", is about a planned duck-hunting "accident".


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: The 2018 film "Vice" has a scene that portrays this Dick Cheney hunting accident and is shown in the movie trailer for the film.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: "The Mindy Project" makes a reference to the shooting in Season 4, Episode 21, "Under the Texan Sun." The main character, Mindy, is scared while on a walk at night during a visit to Texas and says: "I am walking on a dirt road in Texas in the middle of the night. Dick Cheney could be running around here looking for some pheasants."


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: "Bob Rivers" made a parody song about the incident called "Cheney's got a gun", another parody of "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith.


title: Dick Cheney hunting accident

text: Cheney was criticized for his handling of the matter. According to polls on February 27, 2006, two weeks after the accident, Dick Cheney's approval rating had dropped 5 percentage points to 18%.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Blades of Glory is a 2007 American sports comedy film directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, written by Jeff Cox, Craig Cox, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, and starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder with Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, William Fichtner, Jenna Fischer and Craig T. Nelson in supporting roles. It tells the story of a mismatched pair of banned figure skaters who become teammates upon discovering a loophole that will allow them to compete in the sport again. The film's story was conceived by Busy Philipps, who "fleshed out the screenplay". However, co-writers Jeff and Craig Cox dropped her name from the script. The film was produced by DreamWorks Pictures, MTV Films, Red Hour Films and Smart Entertainment and released on March 30, 2007, by Paramount Pictures. The film was met with positive reviews.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Chazz Michael Michaels is a skillful single skater but raunchy sex addict. Jimmy MacElroy is an equally talented and effeminate but sheltered skater. From the start, the two rival skaters are clear polar opposites with different backgrounds. Chazz grew up on the streets and is a self-taught skater, while Jimmy was adopted by Darren MacElroy, a wealthy man who adopts children showing exceptional athletic ability.


title: Blades of Glory

text: At the 2002 World Winter Sport Games, Chazz and Jimmy tie for gold as Darren fires Jimmy's coach Darren Goddard over this. While standing on the awards podium after both skaters tie for gold, the two have an argument that escalates into a fight and ends with the World Games mascot being accidentally set on fire. As a result, Commissioner Ebbers of the National Figure Skating Association, despite their best defenses (Jimmy profusely and genuinely apologizing for his role, Chazz merely defending himself by picking up a sports magazine that declared, as did he, that "Chazz Michael Michaels "IS" ice skating"), strips both men of their medals and bans them from competitive skating for life. Darren immediately "unadopts" Jimmy.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Three and a half years later, both men have grudgingly taken on alternative occupations. Jimmy is working at a sporting goods store while Chazz performs on a children's ice show until he is fired for being drunk on the job and forcing a performance to be scrapped midway through when he puked first in his costume, then on the ice itself. Jimmy's obsessive stalker Hector tells him of a loophole in the ban which only bans him from men's single skating, allowing him to compete in pair skating. In hopes of entering the upcoming World Winter Sport Games, Jimmy contacts Coach Goddard. Jimmy's search for a last-minute partner leads him to Chazz, but the two men start a fight at the ice show which gets them both arrested. Coach Goddard visits them in jail in order to convince them to skate as the first-ever male-male pairs team.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Coach Goddard informs them that to win, they will need to learn to get along and pull off a move that has never been performed successfully: the "Iron Lotus", an extremely complicated and dangerous maneuver that he had developed years ago. The only attempt of the maneuver was in North Korea, and resulted in the man decapitating the woman with his skate blade. Nonetheless, they practice the maneuver as Coach Goddard is convinced that two males would be better suited to successfully perform the move. Over time, Chazz and Jimmy become friends.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Meanwhile, brother and sister competitors Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg, who are worried that their spot as the top team is threatened when Jimmy and Chazz perform well at the Winter Sports Games qualifiers, command their younger sister Katie Van Waldenberg to disrupt the duo by going out with Jimmy and then having sex with Chazz. When Katie falls in love with Jimmy after going on a date with him, her elder siblings threaten to harm him if she does not comply. Katie gets Chazz's attention after attending a sex addicts' meeting as the newest member, then invites Chazz to her room and tries to seduce him. Chazz refuses out of respect for Jimmy, delighting Katie, but cannot resist grabbing her breasts. Jimmy witnesses this and is outraged at their betrayals. Chazz attempts numerous times to apologize to Jimmy by voicemail.


title: Blades of Glory

text: In an attempt to sabotage the performance the following day, Stranz and Fairchild kidnap both Chazz and Jimmy, but both are able to escape. As Fairchild kidnapped Jimmy, she revealed to him that she and her brother commanded Katie to have sex with Chazz to make him jealous, and that he did not go through with it out of respect for him. Chazz and Jimmy arrive at the ice rink just in time to compete, where they reconcile quickly and begin their routine. Fairchild, seeing the two doing well, breaks her pearl necklace and throws a pearl onto the ice; Chazz skates over it and breaks his ankle, rendering him unable to perform his role in the Iron Lotus. Jimmy then offers to switch places with him. Although they have never practiced the other's roles, they perform it perfectly, and win the competition.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Jimmy reconciles with Katie, and the two pursue a relationship. Stranz and Fairchild are arrested for the foul play and desecrating a Canadian mascot. They begin arguing, then kissing each other incestuously before being handcuffed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Jimmy and Chazz receive the gold medal and fly off into the sky via rockets on their skates.


title: Blades of Glory

text: The film was based on Busy Philipps' idea and she worked on the screenplay. However, in an oral history about the movie for Nerdist, Craig Cox fully attributed the idea of "Blades of Glory" to his brother, Jeff Cox. The oral history has since been updated with information about Philipps' contributions. Phillips discussed the incident in her memoir, "This Will Only Hurt A Little", stating that she should be credited as a co-writer in the credits and that she had registered the idea with the Writers Guild of America West at its inception, having come up with the concepteven suggesting Ferrell as one of the two co-leads (alongside Ben Stiller)while she and then-boyfriend Craig were watching television together when he visited her in Vancouver, during production of "White Chicks". Seth Rogen has also said that he and his writing partner Evan Goldberg wrote a draft of the screenplay that included some of the "biggest jokes" featured in the finished movie, but they were ultimately fired and did not receive any credit.


title: Blades of Glory

text: All of the scenes at the National Figure Skating Championships and World Wintersport Games were shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The stadium used for the outside shoots is the Montreal Olympic Stadium, built for the 1976 Olympics. The outdoor chase scenes were also shot on-location in Montreal. The building used for athlete housing in Montreal was the unique Habitat 67, built for Expo 67. The film was delayed for a small undetermined period of time when Jon Heder broke his ankle while doing a skating program for the film.


title: Blades of Glory

text: "Blades of Glory" grossed $118.2 million in the U.S. and Canada and $26.3 million in other territories, for a total of $145.7 million.


title: Blades of Glory

text: The film grossed $33 million on its opening weekend on March 30 – April 1, 2007, with 3,372 theaters, averaging $9,790 per screen, defeating Disney's "Meet the Robinsons" to become the number 1 film. It made $22.5 million in its second weekend, losing only 32% of its audience and retaining the Number 1 spot.


title: Blades of Glory

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 70% based on 188 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thanks to the spirited performances of a talented cast – particularly Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as rivals-turned-teammates – "Blades of Glory" successfully spoofs inspirational sports dramas with inspired abandon." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Blades of Glory

text: "The Monthly" critic Luke Davies accepted the film as a fun romp, comparing it to Will Ferrell's previous movies "" and "" and wrote positively of Ferrell's performance, describing that "there is a parodic exhilaration to everything Ferrell does; there's always the sense that any scene is precariously close to being a blooper reel." However, Davies conceded that, like the other two films, the plot was "formulaic ... [with] an obviousness to the set-ups, a no-nonsense compression, a sometimes clunky transition from one sequence to the next" but that it was the film's ability to "venture to fantastically absurd places – to set aside the rapid and hokey forward movement – and there to idle in neutral, in zones of pure comic exploration" and offer "moments of expansive hilarity ... that made the films worthwhile."


title: Blades of Glory

text: The film was released on DVD and HD DVD on August 7, 2007, and released on Blu-ray Disc on May 20, 2008.


title: Epidemic

text: An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί "epi" "upon or above" and δῆμος "demos" "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.


title: Epidemic

text: Epidemics of infectious diseases are generally caused by several factors including a significant change in the ecology of the areal population (e.g., increased stress maybe additional reason or increase in the density of a vector species), the introduction of an emerging pathogen to an areal population (by movement of pathogen or host) or an unexpected genetic change that is in the pathogen reservoir.


title: Epidemic

text: Generally, epidemics concerns with the patterns of infectious disease spread. An epidemic may occur when host immunity to either an established pathogen or newly emerging novel pathogen is suddenly reduced below that found in the endemic equilibrium and the transmission threshold is exceeded.


title: Epidemic

text: For example, in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic.


title: Epidemic

text: An epidemic may be restricted to one location within one country or further develop more locations in a country, however, if it spreads to other regional countries or even among continents but only if affects or threatens a substantial number of population, it may be overseen as within the terms of pandemic. The registering and announcing of epidemic usually requires a good understanding of a baseline rate of incidence; epidemics for certain diseases, such as influenza, are defined as reaching some defined increase in incidence above this baseline. A few cases of a very rare disease may be classified as an epidemic, while many cases of a common disease (such as the common cold) would not. An epidemic can cause enormous damage through financial and economic losses in addition to impaired health and loss of life.


title: Epidemic

text: In medicine epidemics were well known and studied in 19th century. We can trace the study of epidemics to late 18th century when this medical population studies emerged.


title: Epidemic

text: However even early philosopher in Ancient Greece and Rome studied diseases and it was Hippocrates who first noticed that some diseases have epidemic type (he wrote on pestilence). Galen also studied the epidemic diseases and how they appear.


title: Epidemic

text: It is possible to notice some medical knowledge also in Greek literature, including Homer (8th century), but it was first Thucydides who wrote during the time of Hippocrates on Peloponnesian wars using or referring to term epidemic for disease that with weather and wind and air spreads among wider regions.


title: Epidemic

text: The term epidemic is derived from a word form attributed to Homer's "Odyssey", which work later was taken by epidemiologists and epidemology's medical meaning for the "," as treatise made by Hippocrates.


title: Epidemic

text: Before Hippocrates, , , , and other variants had meanings similar to the current definitions of "indigenous" or "endemic".


title: Epidemic

text: Thucydides' description of the Plague of Athens is considered one of the earliest written accounts of a disease epidemic using the exact term. By the early 17th century, the terms endemic and epidemic referred to contrasting conditions of population-level disease, with the endemic condition at low rates of occurrence and the epidemic condition widespread. The term "epidemic" has become emotionally charged.


title: Epidemic

text: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines epidemic broadly: "the occurrence of more cases of disease, injury, or other health condition than expected in a given area or among a specific group of persons during a particular period. Usually, the cases are presumed to have a common cause or to be related to one another in some way (see also outbreak)." The terms "epidemic" and "outbreak" have often been used interchangeably. Researchers Manfred S. Green and colleagues propose that the latter term be restricted to smaller events, pointing out that "Chambers Concise Dictionary" and "Stedman's Medical Dictionary" acknowledge this distinction.


title: Epidemic

text: There are several changes that may occur in an infectious agent that may trigger an epidemic. These include:


title: Epidemic

text: An epidemic disease is not required to be contagious, and the term has been applied to West Nile fever and the obesity epidemic (e.g., by the World Health Organization), among others.


title: Epidemic

text: The conditions which govern the outbreak of epidemics include infected food supplies such as contaminated drinking water and the migration of populations of certain animals, such as rats or mosquitoes, which can act as disease vectors.


title: Epidemic

text: Epidemics can be related to seasonality of certain infectious agents. Seasonality may enter into any of the eight key elements of the system: (1) susceptible recruitment via reproduction, (2) transmission, (3) acquired immunity and recovery, (4) waning immunity, (5) natural mortality, (6) symptomatology and pathology (which may be acute or chronic, depending on the disease), (7) disease-induced mortality, and (8) cross-species transmission.  Influenza, the common cold, and other infections of the upper respiratory tract, such as sore throat, occur predominantly in the winter.


title: Epidemic

text: There is another variation, both as regards the number of people affected and the number who die in successive epidemics: the severity of successive epidemics rises and falls over periods of five or ten years.


title: Epidemic

text: In a common source outbreak epidemic, the affected individuals had an exposure to a common agent. If the exposure is singular and all of the affected individuals develop the disease over a single exposure and incubation course, it can be termed a point source outbreak. If the exposure was continuous or variable, it can be termed a continuous outbreak or intermittent outbreak, respectively.


title: Epidemic

text: In a propagated outbreak, the disease spreads person-to-person. Affected individuals may become independent reservoirs leading to further exposures.


title: Epidemic

text: Many epidemics will have characteristics of both common source and propagated outbreaks (sometimes referred to as mixed outbreak).


title: Epidemic

text: For example, secondary person-to-person spread may occur after a common source exposure or an environmental vector may spread a zoonotic diseases agent.


title: Epidemic

text: Disease prevention preparations for an epidemic include having a disease indicators or rates surveillance system; the ability to quickly dispatch emergency workers, especially local-based emergency workers; and a legitimate way to guarantee the safety and health of health workers.


title: Epidemic

text: Effective preparations for a response to a pandemic are multi-layered. The first layer is a disease surveillance system. Tanzania, for example, runs a national lab that runs testing for 200 health sites and tracks the spread of infectious diseases. The next layer is the actual response to an emergency. According to U.S.-based columnist Michael Gerson in 2015, only the U.S. military and NATO have the global capability to respond to such an emergency. Still, despite the most extensive preparatory measures, a fast-spreading pandemic may easily exceed and overwhelm existing health-care resources. Consequently, early and aggressive mitigation efforts, aimed at the so-called "epidemic curve flattening" need to be taken. Such measures usually consist on non-pharmacological interventions such as social/physical distancing, aggressive contact tracing, "stay-at-home" orders, as well as appropriate personal protective equipment (i.e., masks, gloves, and other physical barriers to spread).


title: Dan Carlin

text: Dan Carlin (born November 14, 1965) is an American podcaster and political commentator. Previously a professional radio host, Carlin hosts three popular independent podcasts: "Hardcore History", "Hardcore History: Addendum", and "Common Sense", for which he received recognitions and awards, including best educational and history podcasts, and ranking among the best podcasts of all time. His first book was published in 2019, and he has been involved in a range of other media appearances and collaborations.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of Colorado Boulder. He broke into the television news business in Los Angeles in the late 1980s and covered the 1992 Los Angeles riots. He has worked as a television news reporter, an author, a columnist, and a radio talk show host. No longer broadcasting on terrestrial radio, Carlin has achieved recognition in internet radio, podcasting, and the blogosphere.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin is the son of Academy Award nominated actress Lynn Carlin and film producer Ed Carlin. He lives in Eugene, Oregon, and was formerly a reporter for KVAL-TV.


title: Dan Carlin

text: "Common Sense" began in 2005, and is similar in scope to several Carlin-hosted radio programs that aired between 1994 and 2004. He has described his political philosophy as "neoprudentist", taking a skeptical approach to evaluation of the current political trends and forces. He fosters discussion by developing and presenting self-deprecating ("Martian") thought experiments on solutions to current problems. The podcasts are said to be broadcast "almost live from the end of runway two here at the Emerald International Airport."


title: Dan Carlin

text: "Common Sense" was nominated for a Podcast Award in the Politics/News category in 2012 and 2013. The podcast, as of 2016, generated about 700,000 downloads per episode. "Common Sense" went through an almost two-year hiatus beginning in May 2018 and ending on April 1, 2020, with episode 319: "A Recipe for Caesar."


title: Dan Carlin

text: "Hardcore History" is Carlin's forum for exploring topics throughout world history. The focus of each episode varies widely from show to show but they are generally centered on specific historical events and are discussed in a "theater of the mind" style. New episodes are released approximately every four to seven months.


title: Dan Carlin

text: "Hardcore History", which has millions of downloads per episode, received over 350,000 downloads in a 24-hour period on May 6, 2015. It was nominated in 2012 for a Stitcher Award in the Best Educational & Learning Podcast category. In addition, Carlin has received the Best Classic Podcast in iTunes' Best of 2014 awards, Best Educational Podcast of 2015 from the Podcast Awards, Best History Podcast of 2018 from the IHeartRadio Podcast Awards, and in a top 25 best podcasts list in anniversary of 10 years of podcasts, Slate Magazine ranked Dan Carlin's 2009 episode "Ghosts of the Ostfront", regarding the Eastern Front of World War Two, the fifth best podcast of all time.


title: Dan Carlin

text: "Hardcore History: Addendum" is an ancillary podcast feed which features "interviews, musings and extra material" that are more short form and deemed not to fit into the main "Hardcore History" feed. In addition to interviewing historians, notable guests interviewed on "Hardcore History: Addendum" include Elon Musk, Tom Hanks, Malcolm Gladwell and Max Brooks.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin's first book, "The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses," was released October 29, 2019, by HarperCollins Publishers. The book examines apocalyptic moments from history as a way to frame the challenges of the future.


title: Dan Carlin

text: In 2019 Carlin developed a virtual reality experience in coordination with MWM Immersive and Skywalker Sound. The "Immersive Memory" is designed to put the viewer deeply into the experience of trench warfare along the Western Front of the First World War. War Remains premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and subsequently shown in other venues around the United States. The exhibit is now on display at the National World War 1 Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin has referred to himself as a constitutionalist, social libertarian, a "radical", "neo-prudentist", "pragmatist", and "political martian". He is outspoken on issues like state surveillance, foreign intervention, concentrated power, free speech, education reform, the problems of a two-party system, and civil liberties.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin stated he would vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential election, despite not voting for Democrats or Republicans since 1992. He considers Donald Trump dangerous stating that he has authoritarian tendencies.


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin has made guest appearances on numerous other podcasts, including Roifield Brown's "10 American Presidents Podcast" where he narrated the episode on Richard Nixon, Daniele Bolelli's "The Drunken Taoist Podcast", and "History on Fire", making five appearances on "The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast", two appearances on "Smells Like Human Spirit" and on a "crosscast" podcast on Sam Harris's ‘’Making Sense’’ (formerly "Waking Up"). In addition, Carlin has served as a panelist on "CBS This Morning" and was invited to speak at the TEDx Mt. Hood Conference on May 2, 2015. Carlin appeared on season 17 of Real Time with Bill Maher on October 25, 2019, as part of the panel while promoting his book "The End Is Always Near".


title: Dan Carlin

text: Carlin’s voice was featured as a podcast host in a 2019 episode of "The Twilight Zone" entitled “Nightmare at 30,000 Feet”.


title: Dirndl

text: A dirndl () is a feminine dress which originated in German-speaking areas of the Alps. It is traditionally worn by women and girls in Bavaria (south-eastern Germany), Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Alpine regions of Italy. A dirndl consists of a close-fitting bodice featuring a low neckline, a blouse worn under the bodice, a wide high-waisted skirt and an apron.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl is regarded as a folk costume (in German Tracht). It developed as the clothing of Alpine peasants between the 16th and 18th centuries. Today it is generally considered the traditional dress for women and girls in German-speaking parts of the Alps, with particular designs associated with different regions. The usual masculine tracht counterpart of the dirndl is lederhosen.


title: Dirndl

text: In the late 19th century the dirndl was adapted by the upper and middle classes as a fashion mode, and subsequently spread as a mode outside its area of origin. There are many varieties of adaptations from the original folk designs. The dirndl is also worn as an ethnic costume by German diaspora populations in other countries.


title: Dirndl

text: "Dirndl" is a diminutive of "Dirn(e)". Although in current German usage, "Dirne" now generally signifies 'prostitute', the word originally meant only 'young woman'. In Bavaria and Austria, "Dirndl" can mean a young woman, a girlfriend or the dress. The dress can for clarity be called "Dirndlkleid" (literally 'young woman's dress') or "Dirndlgewand" ('young woman's clothing').


title: Dirndl

text: "Dirndl" is the form of the word in Standard German. In the Bavarian and Austrian dialects of German (Bairisch), the word is interchangeably "Dirndl" or "Diandl". The term ‘diernen’ referrers back to the Bavarian women (and there European equivalent elsewhere) who worked on farms in Bavaria and European during the 19th century.


title: Dirndl

text: However, many other German-speakers use the terms "dirndl" and "tracht" interchangeably for a woman´s dress of the general dirndl style, regardless of whether the design is traditional or modern. For instance, tracht scholar Gexi Tostmann, who sees the modern dirndl as having evolved from traditional tracht designs, also uses the term "dirndl" for historical designs. A developing consensus is that a dirndl can be described as "tracht" when it has been traditionally worn by a distinct people group over a long period. This implies that a dress based on the design principles of Alpine tracht can also be called a "dirndl", even if it has a documented history of centuries as a folk costume. For example, the traditional blue polka-dotted dress of the Wachau region of Austria can be referred to either as "Wachauer Tracht" or as the "Wachauer (everyday) dirndl" In English, the name "dirndl" is used interchangeably for traditional and modern designs.


title: Dirndl

text: The bodice (in German "Mieder" or "Leiberl") is tight to the body, with a deep neckline (décolletage). It is typically made in a single piece, with the join in the front centre, secured by lacing, buttons, a hook-and-eye closure or a zip. A zip can also be on the back or the side. Traditionally, the bodice was made from dark heavy cotton, so that it would be hard-wearing. In more modern designs, it may be made from cotton, linen, velvet or silk. The material is coloured or printed. The neckline ("Ausschnitt") of the bodice is traditionally round or rectangular (called "balconette"). In more modern designs, it may alternatively be high, V-shaped, heart-shaped or extra deep. The bodice often has embroidered decoration, especially when worn for public events.


title: Dirndl

text: The skirt ("Rock") is full, with folds gathered in at the waist. Before the 1930s, it was separate from the bodice, but since then the two have been sewn to one another. Originally the skirt was long, but in more modern designs it is typically mid-length. Miniskirt versions also exist. Traditionally, the skirt has a pocket on the side or in front, which is hidden under the apron.


title: Dirndl

text: The blouse ("Bluse") is worn under the bodice, and is cropped above the midriff. The blouse changes the overall effect of the dirndl particularly through the cut of its neckline. A deeply cut blouse combines with a deeply cut bodice to accentuate décolletage, whereas a blouse with a high neckline gives a more modest effect. In traditional designs, the blouse neckline is at the base of the throat. Other popular necklines are V-shaped, balconette or heart-shaped. Materials most often used are cambric, linen or lace. The colour is usually white. Short puff sleeves are typical, although narrow sleeves (short or long) are also common.


title: Dirndl

text: The apron ("Schürze") is attached to the skirt and is narrow, covering only the front of the skirt. Traditional apron designs vary according to local tradition and are typically only a single colour. In modern designs, the designs are more elaborate.


title: Dirndl

text: The winter style dirndl has heavy, warm skirts, long sleeves and aprons made of thick cotton, linen, velvet or wool. The colours are usually brown, deep green or dark blue.


title: Dirndl

text: Traditional dirndls vary in design between regions and even villages. The different details may indicate the place of origin and social status of the wearer. As with other folk costumes, traditional dirndls often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for traditional festivals and formal wear. Dirndls worn in everyday use are rural domestic clothing, made from grey or coloured linen, sometimes with leather bodice and trim. Dirndls used on formal occasions are usually made with materials, designs, colours and embroidery specific to the region.


title: Dirndl

text: Some traditional designs feature pieces which drape over the breast, often combined with an elaborate collar. This has the function of concealing décolletage, in line with traditional Catholic ideas of modesty.


title: Dirndl

text: Jewellery worn with the dirndl includes necklaces, earrings, chokers and chains. Also popular are brooches made of silver, the antlers of deer or even animals' teeth. Décolletage is often enhanced with a balconette bra ("dirndl-BH"), especially for large public events.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl is often worn with a hair ornament called the "jungfernkranz": a small floral wreath traditionally worn by unmarried women. In Hinterskirchen in Bavaria, unmarried women wear a small crown ("kranl"). In more formal settings (such as church festivals), a hat or bonnet is traditionally worn. In some regions of southern Germany and Austria, married women accompany the dirndl with a bonnet called a "goldhaube". This headgear developed in the 17th century from a veil or headscarf and was worn by middle class urban women; later the custom spread to the countryside. The goldhaube is characterized by interwoven silk and golden threads, embroidered with lamé, gold and sequins. There are many regional varieties, including the "Riegelhaube" in Munich, the "Linzer Goldhaube" in Linz and the "Brettlhaube" in Wachau.


title: Dirndl

text: Shoes worn with the dirndl are typically court shoes (pumps) or flat, ballerina-type shoes. Knee-length socks or tights are commonly worn on the legs.


title: Dirndl

text: Because the appeal of the dirndl is its rustic look, plastic dirndls with flashy ornaments are looked down upon. Style experts recommend staying away from cheap outfits that one can buy on the street corner; it is better to spend a little more to get an outfit. The dirndl should be tightly fitted to look right. It is an absolute faux-pas to wear a dirndl without a blouse.


title: Dirndl

text: There is an urban legend that claims the placement of the knot on the apron is an indicator of the woman's marital status. In this story, which is not based in tradition, tying the sash on the woman's left side indicates that she is single, and a knot tied on the right means that she is married, engaged or otherwise not interested in dating.


title: Dirndl

text: The terms Trachtenmode and Landhausmode (literally "country house style") describe clothing of various styles borrowing elements from folk costume, such as colour, cut or material. Examples would be single-piece dresses featuring a dirndl skirt.


title: Dirndl

text: In recent decades, fashion designers have been creating their own interpretations of the dirndl. While appearing to be simple and plain, a properly made modern dirndl may be quite expensive as it is tailored, and sometimes cut from costly hand-printed or silk fabrics.


title: Dirndl

text: A recent adaptation is the African dirndl ("Dirndlkleid à l’Africaine"), which is a fusion fashion: the bodice and skirt are made from African printed material. The idea was innovated by two Cameroonian sisters and Chief executive officers of the Noh Nee label in Munich, Marie Darouiche and her sister Rahmée Wetterich. The African dirndl was premiered at Oktoberfest in 2019.


title: Dirndl

text: Since similar design elements occur in other European folk costumes, these designs are sometimes mistaken for dirndls. Similar designs occur in other tracht traditions in German-speaking countries (e.g. the Gutach valley tracht from the Black Forest), as well as traditional folk costume in Norway (Bunad) and Denmark.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl has passed through different periods in its history. These include (1) its origins as rural clothing, (2) development as a recognized folk costume, (3) evolution as a fashion style, (4) appropriation by the Nazis, (5) decline in popularity after the Second World War, followed by a resurgence from the 1990s. Each of these periods has left an impression on the design and perception of the dirndl.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl originated as a dress worn in rural areas, a more hardy form of the costume worn today. Rural costumes originated in the countryside; they showed that the wearer belonged to a particular social class, occupation, religious persuasion or ethnic group. Differing designs developed in the different regions. They were influenced by urban fashions, costumes in neighbouring regions, available materials, as well as fashions in the royal courts and in the military.


title: Dirndl

text: Dresses similar to the dirndl, featuring skirts with bodices, aprons and blouses were commonplace in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Similar elements are present in other German folk costumes, for instance the tracht designs found in the Black Forest; they also occur in folk costumes in other parts of Europe, such as the Norwegian women's Bunad and the Upper Carniola costume of Slovenia. Distinctive features of the dirndl (including the tight bodice, lower neckline and wide skirt), developed from the women´s fashions of the royal court in the 17th century; over time, the court fashions made their way into urban and rural clothing. Alpine traditional costume spread to regions in Bavaria and Austria outside the mountains through migration in search of work. As a result, the dirndl developed over time into female Austrian servants' work clothes.


title: Dirndl

text: Nevertheless, folk costume was increasingly perceived as a marker of rural and working classes. The background to this development was the French government policy from the mid-17th century onwards of promoting French luxury fashion. With the purpose of promoting conspicuous consumption, the French designs used expensive materials such as silk, lace, and gold and silver thread. French modes were promoted throughout Europe by printed media, fashion shows and diplomatic exchanges, with the consequence that by the 18th century France became the European leader of fashion amongst the upper classes. Attempts by other European governments to fight French economic dominance of the fashion industry had the effect of spreading fashion in the French style. For instance, the Austrian empress Maria Theresa considered imposing a sumptuary tax to prevent expenditure on French luxury fashions, but was persuaded to establish a homegrown fashion industry on the French model.


title: Dirndl

text: Though the rich usually led fashion, the increasing affluence of early modern Europe led to the bourgeoisie and even peasants following trends at a distance, but still uncomfortably close for the elites. By 1800, dress styles were similar among many Western Europeans; local variation became first a sign of provincial culture and later a badge of the conservative peasant.


title: Dirndl

text: Thus the spread of French fashions increased the contrast between the fashionable clothes of the wealthier classes and folk costumes, which were increasingly perceived as rustic, not fit for polite society. This point is illustrated by the first Oktoberfest, held in 1810 to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (later King Ludwig I) to Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen; the citizens of Munich were invited to the festivities but were supplied with fashionable French clothing, since their folk costumes were not considered suitable for public occasions.


title: Dirndl

text: As antithesis to the dominance of French fashion, in the early 19th century a movement to study and preserve the traditional costumes of the rural populations developed in many European countries. Examples of this movement outside the German-language sphere include the Highland romantic revival in Scotland, the Danish folklore movement and the Bunad movement in Norway. In German-speaking countries, the movement was known as the "Trachtenbewegung" (Tracht movement), and resulted in initiatives to study and promote folk costumes, including the dirndl. The folk costume movement is one aspect of national romanticism, and part of the more widespread Romantic movement of the early 19th century.


title: Dirndl

text: Art historian Gabriele Crepaldi points out the links between the ideological and political dimensions of the Romantic movement:


title: Dirndl

text: As Crepaldi observes, the Romantics promoted emotion against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, individual freedom against academic dictates and national against global culture. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the Enlightenment was especially associated with France, which had sent its armies across Europe in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815). In response to the humiliations of the repeated French invasions, the protagonists of German romanticism sought to strengthen their cultural heritage. The result was a flowering of research and artistic work centred around Germanic cultural traditions, expressed in painting, literature, architecture, music and promotion of German language and folklore. The promotion of folk costumes similarly strengthened national identity in a visible way, especially against French-inspired fashions.


title: Dirndl

text: In Bavaria and Austria, the royal courts developed enthusiasm for the different costumes of the rural population, which they saw as a means of strengthening national unity; this was consistent with the philosophy of national romanticism, which considers the state to derive its political legitimacy from the unity of those it governs. The first extensive description of traditional tracht in the different regions was given by the Bavarian official Joseph von Hazzi (1768–1845). A comprehensive description of Bavarian national costumes was published in 1830 by the archivist Felix Joseph von Lipowsky. A parade of traditional costumes took place in 1835 at Oktoberfest, to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of King Ludwig I of Bavaria (reigned 1825–1848) and Queen Therese. Under his successor Maximilian II (reigned 1848-1864), traditional costumes were officially recognised as clothing suitable for wearing at the royal court. The king himself included officials wearing tracht in his court ceremonies and wrote in 1849 that he considered the wearing of folk costume of "great importance" for national sentiment.


title: Dirndl

text: In 1859, the first association to promote folk costume was founded in Miesbach in Bavaria. In the following years, similar tracht associations ("Trachtenvereine") were founded throughout Germany and Austria. The tracht associations promoted research and wearing of the traditional clothing in each region. This helped preserve the traditions against modern fashions; in contrast, the wearing of the traditional tracht declined in regions where the tracht associations were not active. The first umbrella organisation for the tracht associations was founded in 1890.


title: Dirndl

text: By the later 19th century, it had become popular for members of the royal courts in Austria and Bavaria to wear folk costume, in order to promote identification between the population and the court. Among the most prominent royal patrons of folk costume were the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, the successor of Ludwig II; both often hunted wearing lederhosen. Around 1875, Elisabeth of Bavaria, the wife of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, promoted wearing a rustic dress called a 'Sisi', based on the peasant dirndl.


title: Dirndl

text: The wearing of folk costume by royalty encouraged its adoption by other members of the upper and wealthier middle classes. From the 1870s onwards, the dirndl developed as a typical "country" dress amongst the wealthy patrons of the summer resort towns in Austria and Bavaria. An important influence was German Romantic literature, which contrasted the allegedly natural, unspoilt and unpolluted people of the countryside with the artificiality and depravity of urban society. The adoption of the dirndl as a fashion resulted in a synthesis of tradition and high fashion: the dirndls worn by upper class women took the basic design of the traditional dirndl but also used more fashionable materials such as silk, lace and expensive thread. The garment was made more closely fitted to emphasize the female body shape. The adoption of the dirndl by upper and middle classes raised the status of the traditional clothing; this in turn encouraged country people to value and continue wearing the traditional folk costumes.


title: Dirndl

text: Key in the evolution of the dirndl to a commercial fashion were the Jewish brothers Julius (1874–1965) and Moritz Wallach (1879–1963), originally from Bielefeld in north-western Germany. After they moved to Munich with their family in 1890, they became interested in and began promoting Alpine tracht. They employed seamstresses, who industriously produced the first elegant dirndls from colourful printed fabrics, predominantly silk. The dresses were exhibited by models from the firm in the Alpine resorts. A major breakthrough for the Wallach brothers came in 1910, when they organized and paid for the traditional costume parade for the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Oktoberfest. The Wallach brothers also became suppliers to the European aristocracy with their unique hand-sewn creations; they designed a dirndl for Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt, which created a sensation at a ball in Paris.


title: Dirndl

text: In the hard economic times following the First World War, the dirndl became a big-seller; as a simple summer dress, it was an affordable alternative to the often expensive and elaborately worked historic women's costumes. Between 1920 and 1926, the Wallach brothers operated the "Münchner Volkskunsthaus" ("Munich house of folk art"). In 1926, Moritz Wallach founded the "Wallach-haus" (Wallach House), a specialist supplier of tracht and folk art, which became well-known outside the borders of Germany.


title: Dirndl

text: In 1930, the Wallach brothers supplied the stage costumes for the operetta The White Horse Inn ("Im weißen Rössl"). The romantic comedy presented an idyllic picture of the Austrian Alps and had long runs in cities like Berlin, Vienna, Munich, London, Paris and New York. Inspired by the lively innkeeper heroine, the dirndl became an international fashion phenomenon, always with an apron and usually with deep décolletage. This widespread adoption was helped along by a general 1930s trend to a silhouette which matched the folk costume: full skirts, higher hemlines, broader shoulders and tailored waists.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl was also promoted through the Trapp Family Singers, who wore dirndls during their performance at the Salzburg Festival (1936), and later on their worldwide tours. In addition, the film Heidi, with Shirley Temple in the lead role, became a hit in 1937. By that year, the dirndl was considered a 'must' in the wardrobe of every fashionable American woman.


title: Dirndl

text: German traditional costume, including the dirndl, was instrumentalized by the Nazis as a symbol of pan-German identity in the countries under Nazi rule (Germany from 1933, Austria from 1938). The dirndl was used to promote the Nazi ideal of the German woman as hard-working and fertile. An example is a propaganda photo released by the (Nazi Party) Office of Racial Politics ("right"), showing a young blonde girl wearing a dirndl, watching over small boys playing.


title: Dirndl

text: Jews were forbidden to use "folk culture", even though they had played such a prominent role in documenting and promoting it. In 1938, the Wallach brothers were forced to sell their business under cost. Moritz Wallach emigrated to the United States, followed shortly after by Julius. Their brother Max, who had also been involved in the business, was interned in Dachau concentration camp and was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944.


title: Dirndl

text: Viktor von Geramb, who had promoted the dirndl in Austria, lost his position at the University of Vienna in 1938 because of his public opposition to Nazi racial theory. He was especially criticized for his strong attachment to Christian ideas of human worth. He was restored to his position at the university only after the defeat of the Nazi régime in 1945.


title: Dirndl

text: The National Socialist Women's League established the office of the "Reich Commissioner for German costume" under the leadership of Gertrud Pesendorfer (1895–1982). In 1938, she published dirndl designs by Gretel Karasek (1910–1992), which Pesendorfer described as "renewed costume". Pesendorfer claimed that Karasek made the following innovations from traditional designs: (1) the collar was removed, allowing display of décolletage; (2) long sleeves were replaced by puff sleeves; (3) the waist was emphasised with tighter lacing and buttons; and (4) the skirt was reduced to mid length. The overall effect accentuated the female form and especially the breasts. Pesendorfer described the new style as "de-catholicised" ("entkatholisiert"); she said her goal was to free the costume of "overburdening by church, industrialization and fashionable cries" and "foreign influences" and to let the "rogue sub-culture" back again. However, Pesendorfer´s claims should be critically evaluated, since all the innovations allegedly made by Karasek were already present in the previous decades during which the dirndl evolved as a fashion. For instance, the painting ""Lesendes Mädchen"" painted by Emil Rau "(see above)" clearly shows puff sleeves, although Rau died in 1937, before Karasek´s designs were published.


title: Dirndl

text: The Second World War (1939–1945) began a downturn in the popularity of the dirndl. After Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, American and British consumers began rejecting all things German. In turn, new fashion influences appeared in popular culture, such as the film "Gone With the Wind", which premiered less than three months after the fall of Warsaw. By 1941, the dirndl had been replaced as an American fashion craze by the wasp waist.


title: Dirndl

text: Nevertheless, many others continued to wear the dirndl as a dress for festive occasions, both in the countryside and in cities such as Munich. Dirndls were regarded as suitable clothing for attending church, public holidays, Oktoberfest and other festive occasions. The dirndl was especially popular in Bavaria as a bridal dress.


title: Dirndl

text: A wider revival of interest came with the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Led by Silvia Sommerlath (now Queen Silvia of Sweden), the hostesses wore sky-blue dirndls as a promotion of Bavarian identity. Culture historian Simone Egger comments, "As (Sommerlath) in 1972 made headlines as an Olympia hostess in a dirndl, then every woman wanted to have a dirndl."


title: Dirndl

text: In the 1980s, there was a further revival of interest in the dirndl, as traditional clothing was adopted by the environmental and anti-nuclear movements. The rural connotations of the clothing and the fact that it is produced from natural, rather than synthetic materials, go well with a desire to return to a "world that is intact".


title: Dirndl

text: Beginning in the late 1990s, dirndls and lederhosen experienced a boom in Austria and Bavaria, with some commentators speaking of a "dirndl Renaissance". By 2013, it had become standard for every young Bavarian to have traditional clothing in their wardrobe. This increased interest in traditional clothing was noticed by fashion houses. Since the 2000s, increasing numbers of fashion houses have become involved in designing and selling high-end versions. The garment was praised in 2001 by designer Vivienne Westwood during a visit to a fashion event in Austria. When some of the attendees criticised the garment as old-fashioned, she responded, "I do not understand you Austrians. If every woman wore a dirndl, there would not be any more ugliness". Subsequently, Westwood and her husband were honoured with the tile "Ambassador for Tracht" in 2010.


title: Dirndl

text: One reason given for the increasing popularity of the dirndl and lederhosen is an increased confidence in German self-identity. In the years following the Second World War, there was often a shame in German identity because of the crimes of the Nazi régime. In recent decades, there has been a celebration of being German. This "new patriotism" was evident in the support for the German football team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. According to journalist Michaela Strassmair, "As the international media arrived in Munich for the World Cup, they all wanted to see the same picture and share it with the world: pretty girls in Munich wearing dirndls."


title: Dirndl

text: Other commentators link the upsurge in folk costume to economic insecurity caused by globalization, prompting a return to traditional cultural symbols. Simone Egger concludes that the renewed popularity of traditional clothing is driven by desires for community and belonging, symbolized by folk costume. These desires stand in tension with the desire for individuality, expressed in alterations and decoration. Culture journalist Alfons Kaiser makes similar observations:


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl is increasingly attracting attention apart from its area of origin. In 2019, "The Times of India" ran an article featuring Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley wearing a dirndl; she urged other Indian women to add the dress to their wardrobe.


title: Dirndl

text: In Austria, dirndls continue to be worn on public occasions, even by younger women. The dirndl is considered an important part of Alpine folk culture. Other aspects of folk culture are Lederhosen for men, traditional sports (e.g. shooting, music, crossbow), skills (e.g. embroidery) and musical traditions (e.g. singing Christmas carols and Schuhplattler dance groups). The folk culture is promoted by and protected by local folk culture associations, which are affiliated with the "Bund der Österreichischen Trachten- und Heimatverbände" (Federation of Austrian folk costume and homeland associations).


title: Dirndl

text: The Catholic church has played an important role in promoting the dirndl in Austria; traditional dress is worn for worship services, especially the major church holidays (e.g. Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Christi) and saints´ feast days. The Tyrol has a tradition of the "heiligen Tracht" (holy folk costume), which is not to be worn on secular occasions marked by drinking.


title: Dirndl

text: Folk costume also continues to be worn for most weddings and festivals. Old traditions are carefully maintained among inhabitants of Alpine areas, even though this is seldom obvious to the visitor: many people are members of cultural associations where the Alpine folk culture is cultivated. At cultural events, the traditional dirndl is the expected dress for women. Visitors can get a glimpse of the rich customs of the Alps at public Volksfeste. Even when large events feature only a little folk culture, all participants take part with gusto. Good opportunities to see local people celebrating the traditional culture occur at the many fairs, wine festivals and firefighting festivals which fill weekends in the Austrian countryside from spring to autumn. Only in the region surrounding Vienna is the traditional folk culture not a regular part of daily life.


title: Dirndl

text: Some regions are particularly known for their strong dirndl traditions, such as the Tyrol, the Salzkammergut and the Wachau region of Lower Austria.


title: Dirndl

text: In Austria, the dirndl is a symbol of national identity, seen in Austria as a national symbol. In tourist settings, staff in offices, restaurants, wineries and shops often wear dirndls as a work uniform; this is also the case in the non-Alpine regions in the east of Austria. Even in everyday life, many Austrian women wear dirndls as an alternative to other fashions.


title: Dirndl

text: Festivals at which dirndls are expected dress include festivities for raising the Maypole on 1 May, the "Narzissenfest" (daffodil festival) during May in Bad Aussee, the Salzburg Festival and the Ausseer Kirtag in September. Styles are both less extravagant and show less décolletage than at Oktoberfest.


title: Dirndl

text: In Austria, and other parts of south central Europe, there are literally splashy events known as Dirndlspringen, in which attractive young women, are judged by how well they jump, or even just step, from a diving board into a lake or a swimming pool while wearing the dirndl, using it as a swimdress.


title: Dirndl

text: In Germany, the dirndl is traditionally worn only in Bavaria, where it is deeply integrated in the traditional culture. For instance, dirndls are traditionally worn by women attending formal ceremonies of the Catholic church. In many Bavarian villages, processions to honour St George and St Leonard are special occasions for wearing Alpine tracht. The traditional dirndl is also the normal attire of women attending events associated with Alpine folk culture. Volksfeste often feature events at which traditional dirndls from regions are worn, as illustrated in the photo on the right. In all of these activities, the dirndls normally worn are the traditional local designs, considered most suitable for formal occasions. Modern commercially designed dirndls are worn on less formal occasions.


title: Dirndl

text: The traditional designs are promoted by and protected by local folk culture associations affiliated with the "Bayerische Trachtenverband" (Bavarian folk costume association). The designs specify the traditional materials, patterns and colours of clothing, together with jewellery, hats, etc. Currently, six official types of Alpine tracht are recognized in Bavaria, each with designs for men (lederhosen) and women (dirndl): Miesbacher Tracht, Werdenfelser Tracht, Inntaler Tracht, Chiemgauer Tracht, Berchtesgadener Tracht and Isarwinkler Tracht.


title: Dirndl

text: The dirndl is regarded as a symbol of Bavaria. It is often worn by women working in businesses related to tourism or traditional culture, including Volksmusik, restaurants and beer gardens.


title: Dirndl

text: In recent decades, women from other parts of Germany have shown increasing interest in the dirndl as a festival dress. This is especially evident in changing fashions at Oktoberfest, the world´s largest Volksfest. Until the 1970s, most visitors to Oktoberfest did not wear traditional tracht; it was common to wear jeans. Since the late 1990s dirndls and Lederhosen have come to be regarded as obligatory wear at the festival. The name "Wiesntracht" is given to dirndls and other tracht clothing worn for Oktoberfest ("Wiesn" refers to the Theresienwiese, where the Oktoberfest events occur). Oktoberfest dirndls tend to be more colourful and revealing. Skirts are often above the knee, and deep décolletage is very frequent. In 2005, gossip magazine "Bunte" reported that at Munich Airport there was a place which was always important for fashion observers at Oktoberfest time: the women´s toilets in Domestic Arrivals. "There the ladies who have flown in wearing street clothes with shouldered clothes-bags vanish - and appear from Baggage Collection in full dirndl bloom. Because they don´t trust themselves to board the aircraft as Bavarians, but arriving in Munich not dressed for the "Wiesn" would be unseemly."


title: Dirndl

text: There is increasing evidence that Germans are coming to view the dirndl as a German, rather than an exclusively Bavarian symbol. In the past few years, "Oktoberfest" celebrations have developed in parts of Germany remote from Bavaria, such as Münster in Westphalia. Dirndls and lederhosen are now considered an intrinsic part of such events. Other evidence is the successful marketing of dirndls in the German national colours for wearing at football matches, noticeable at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, high-end German fashion houses are designing and selling their own designs.


title: Dirndl

text: In Italy the dirndl is part of the traditional clothing culture in the Alpine province of South Tyrol (German: "Südtirol"; Italian: "Alto Adige"). The region was part of the Austrian county of Tyrol before the First World War, but was ceded to Italy in 1919 in the Treaty of St-Germain at the end of the war. In South Tyrol, both German and Italian are official languages, and Tyrolean traditions including the dirndl remain deeply integrated in the culture. The dress is worn on festive occasions, such as processions of the Catholic church. Traditional designs vary between regions, valleys and sometimes villages.


title: Dirndl

text: The local dirndls and lederhosen are displayed in several local museums. There are permanent exhibitions at the South Tyrolean Folklore Museum in Dietenheim, the Steinegg Local Museum and the Bolzano Municipal Museum. Public events featuring folk costume include the Val Gardena folklore festival ("Gröden in Tracht") and the Country Wedding in Kastelruth.


title: Dirndl

text: Folk costumes for women in Liechtenstein correspond to the definition of a "dirndl" in English, although the local tracht association ("Liechtensteinische Trachtenvereinigung") discourages the name "dirndl". The official national dress of Liechtenstein features a black skirt and a white blouse with crocheted and bobbin laced necklines and sleeves. Bodices and aprons are made of silk; their traditional colour was red, but modern designs often substitute blue or green. As worn for national dress, the bodice is decorated with silver embroidery featuring a princely crown in the middle of the bodice. Accessories include a black wheel-shaped bonnet featuring silver embroidery, white lace gloves, white stockings and black shoes with a silver buckle. Other variations include floral headbands ("Schappile") or crown-shaped headpieces ("Krönle").


title: Dirndl

text: The current designs have been in use since at least the 1930s, but their origins can be traced much earlier. Similar designs have been found in archaeological remains from Vaduz, Gamprin and Eschen. Especially notable is an excavated church graveyard in Mauren from around 1700, which included well-preserved garments and a bonnet.


title: Dirndl

text: The Swiss refer to an Austrian or German traditional dress as a dirndl, but refer to their own traditional dress as a tracht. As is the case in the neighboring country of Liechtenstein, the use of the term dirndl for a Swiss dress is discouraged. The style varies by region, for example a . These are worn during festivities on Swiss National Day (August 1st) or during seasonal celebrations which vary by canton, such as at harvest time or the end of winter.


title: Dirndl

text: In the canton of Zürich, the imminent end of winter is celebrated by the Sechseläuten festival. The name comes from Swiss dialect referring to the town crier ringing six o'clock. Organizations descended from medieval guilds show their colors. Parades feature members wearing traditional costumes. The festivities culminate with the burning of a large snowman made of straw. How long it takes his head to explode indicates whether the coming summer will be cool or hot.


title: Dirndl

text: Outside its countries of origin, the dirndl has become an ethnic costume, worn as an identity marker by members of the German diaspora. This term refers to German-speakers and their descendants who live in countries where German is a minority language.


title: Dirndl

text: Germans, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian people migrated to North America in the 19th century. Germans made a strong contribution to the gene pool of Montana, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Missouri, Wisconsin, New York City and Chicago. The German American ethnic group (German: "Deutschamerikaner") are their descendants in North America, and form part of the worldwide German diaspora.