title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1919, the USFSA championship was replaced by regional championships organised by the French Football Federation, called "Division d'Honneur". Stade Malherbe, reinforced by the move to Caen of the former French international Eugène Maës, won six times the championship of Lower Normandy between 1920 and 1928, but were unable to compete with the major Upper Normandy clubs, Le Havre AC and FC Rouen. Since 1919–20, Caen also participated in the Coupe de France but fell in round of 32 in 1921 and 1922. In 1929, the two "Division d'Honneur" leagues of Normandy were merged and Stade Malherbe was promoted the year after. Its best final standing was 5th in 1933.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1934, one year after FC Rouen and Le Havre AC, Stade Malherbe acquired professional status and reached the French Division 2. The club finished 11th out of 16 for the first season, then 6th in 1936 and 8th in 1937. But its financial situation deteriorated and Stade Malherbe left D2 in 1938, after four professional seasons.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: The club then returned to "Division d'Honneur" of Normandy. It won the last edition before World War II in 1938–39, and the first two after WW2 in 1946 and 1947.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1948, Stade Malherbe joined the newly founded "", the third level of French football. Soon considered as a "lord" in CFA, Caen was unable to win the championship, unlike their regional rival US Quevilly, despite successive calls to former French international players as coaches: Jules Vandooren, Jean Prouff, Andre Grillon, Jean Vincent and Oliver Celestin.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: Stade Malherbe made itself known essentially by repeated feats in Coupe de France in the 1950s : French champion Stade de Reims (2–1) and top teams Racing Club de France (3–2) and RC Lens were defeated in January 1953, 1956 and 1961. In 1958, Caen pushed FC Nantes to play five games to decide: the first three games resulting in 0–0 draws, the fourth was stopped, the fifth saw Nantes win 1–0. Through its success Caen won the "Challenge France-Football" rewarding the best amateur team in Coupe de France in 1956 and 1961. Undermined by the instability of its coaches and presidents and a precarious financial health, Stade Malherbe weakened gradually and was relegated twice (in 1962 and 1965) into Division d'Honneur, but regained its place in CFA.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1970, the CFA was removed and the Division 2 was enlarged to 48 teams. During the 1970s, Caen evolved between D3 and D2, where it failed to stabilise. Jacques Mouilleron became coach in 1973. In 1975, the club won its first national title: the West group of Division 3. Stade Malherbe was named best amateur club by France-Football and Jean-Paul Bouffandeau and Jean-Paul Pottier were named French amateur players of the year in 1975 and 1976. 3 years later, Caen fell back to D3.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: Pierre Mankowski was hired as player-coach in 1983. He led Stade Malherbe from D3 to the top of D2 in a few seasons, and pushed it to adopt professional status in 1985.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: SM Caen has been a professional football club since 1985. The stated objective of Mankowski was to bring Caen into the first division. He helped the team improve, first in defence then in attack. Caen finished sixth in D2 in 1986 and second in 1987, with notable scorers Philippe Prieur and Éric Pécout. Caen made the stade de Venoix an unbeatable place but bowed out in front of AS Cannes in the playoffs. Caen succeeded in the playoffs following season, defeating Olympique Lyonnais and Chamois Niortais F.C., relegated from D1.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1988 Stade Malherbe made Division 1. Despite many departures, including coach Mankowski (replaced by Robert Nouzaret) and six first losses, Caen stayed up, one point ahead of RC Strasbourg, with the advent of a promising striker Fabrice Divert. Stade Malherbe confirmed, not without difficulties, its performance the following season.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: With a new coach, Daniel Jeandupeux, the team was largely restructured. In 1990–91, Caen took its place in the first half of Division 1, thanks to the excellent results obtained in Venoix. However, the press revealed in late 1991 that the club was close to bankruptcy. Regional businesses and local government bailed out the club, which led to a brilliant 1991–92 season. Stade Malherbe finished fifth and qualified for the first (and so far only) time for the UEFA Cup. Stéphane Paille scored 15 goals during the season. For the first round of the 1992–93 UEFA Cup, Caen had to face up to Real Zaragoza. Caen won 3–2 in the 1st leg but lost 2–0 in Spain. Despite the goals of Xavier Gravelaine, SM Caen finished the season in a relatively disappointing eleventh rank.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In the 2003–04 season, Caen finished 2nd in Ligue 2, gaining promotion to Ligue 1. They were relegated on the last day of the 2004–05 Ligue 1 season, finishing in 18th place despite some positive results, including a surprise 3–2 away win at Marseille. But the main highlight of their season was making it into the final of the Coupe de la Ligue for the first time in their history. Their chance at a major trophy eluded them however, as they lost 2–1 to Strasbourg in the final.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: On 25 May 2007, SM Caen obtained promotion to Ligue 1 after a victory in last game at Libourne (1–2). In the 2008–09 season, the team was once again relegated to Ligue 2 after losing 1–0 at home to Bordeaux, but won championship next season and thus came back to Ligue 1.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In the 2010–11 season, Caen got off to a highly impressive start by defeating defending champions Marseille 2–1 away on the first day of the season, then following it up with a 3–2 home win over the previous season's Champions League semi-finalists Lyon.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In the 2013–14 season, Caen were in Ligue 2, but won promotion to Ligue 1 for the 2014–15 season. As part of their promotion battle, they drew a crucial match with Nîmes in May 2014. This 1–1 result was also very favourable to Nîmes who were battling to avoid relegation. This result raised suspicions, and in November 2014, Caen chairman Fortin was arrested, amongst several others, on suspicion of match fixing. Finally, he was cleared in March 2015. For the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons, Caen avoided relegation to Ligue 2 on both occasions by securing a draw on the final day of the season against Paris Saint-Germain.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In the 2018–19 season, Caen were relegated on the final day of the campaign after losing to Bordeaux 1–0. Caen needed to win the match and hope that results elsewhere would go in their favour. The relegation ended Caen's five-year stay in the top division.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: Club Malherbe Caennais wore a black and white vertical stripes jersey, while Club Sportif Caennais used blue and red horizontal stripes. Following the merger of two clubs in 1913, the officials decided to mix colours and symbols by adopting the CMC vertical stripes and CSC colours.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: Stade Malherbe used for almost fifty years the same diamond shaped logo, designed for the first professional period in 1934.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1989, a new logo was designed, with a longship floating on the waves, a nod to the Viking origin of Normandy, and three arrows of the city of Caen. It was used in various versions for eighteen seasons, including within a shield in the 2006–07 season. In 2007, officials present a new logo.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: The new logo reflects the identity of the club, closely linked to the Norman period of William the Conqueror: the flag of Normandy, which is actually the historical Norman flag of the Two Lions, can be often seen in the Kop Normandy.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 2013, the official anthem of SM Caen "Normands, fiers et conquérants!" was made with a marked reference to the Norman identity:


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: Stade de Venoix was the club's home from 1913, although the first stand was built only in 1925, until 1993. Venoix could hold over 15,000 spectators at its peak, and now has a capacity of 5,000.


title: Stade Malherbe Caen

text: In 1993 a new 21,500-capacity stadium was built, named Stade Michel d'Ornano. The new stadium is around 500 meters away from the Stade de Venoix.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Mystery Dungeon, known in Japan as is a series of roguelike role-playing video games. Most were developed by Chunsoft, now Spike Chunsoft since the merging in 2012, and select games were developed by other companies with Chunsoft's permission. The series began when co–creator of "Dragon Quest", Koichi Nakamura, was inspired by Seiichiro Nagahata's experience with "Rogue", who is also a fellow developer from the company, and a desire to create an original series. It began on the Super Famicom, progressing to almost all of Nintendo's and Sony's home and handheld consoles, WonderSwan, Dreamcast, Windows, and mobile devices.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The series has inspired other entries in Japan and has moderate popularity, mostly from crossover entries with the "" series in Japan, the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" series worldwide, and lesser with the "Chocobo" games based on the creatures from the "Final Fantasy" series. Despite the moderate popularity of the franchise, there have been numerous manga, anime and novels published under it, whether they are coming from the company's original series, "Shiren the Wanderer", or across many crossovers.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The premise of most "Mystery Dungeon" games is to play a silent protagonist who travels across the world to discover mysterious dungeons that have randomly generated rooms and never have the same patterns upon entering into it more than once, with the protagonist sometimes accompanied by a group of party members or going alone. Though it is relatively inspired of older roguelike games, like "NetHack", the franchise had a few unique gameplay elements that would appear in future titles; one such is rescuing other players online via a generated password.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Although all games in the series bear the "Fushigi no Dungeon" moniker somewhere in their Japanese titles, only the "Shiren the Wanderer" games contain original characters; all other license their characters from other role-playing game franchises. The first game, "Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon" stars Torneko, a shopkeeper character from the same developer's "Dragon Quest IV". "Mystery Dungeon" games are among the few console games in the roguelike genre. Chunsoft has also started several lines of branded "Mystery Dungeon" games, starting with one features the Chocobo from SquareSoft's "Final Fantasy" series in 1997, then Bandai's "Gundam", Konami's "TwinBee" and Namco's "Tower of Druaga" series in 2004, Game Freak's "Pokémon" series in 2005, and Atlus's "Etrian Odyssey" series in 2015. Currently, "One Way Heroics" is the latest crossover with the series. Other games who are not developed or published by the company but uses the same moniker would also appear throughout the years, namely the "Touhou Project" series with its spin-offs titled "Fushigi no Gensokyo".


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The franchise had its first spin-off game in 2004, titled "Shiren Monsters: Netsal". It is only one game based on the monsters from the "Shiren the Wanderer" series. Its gameplay was notably changed to the sport genre, specifically towards association football, compared to the main series' roguelike genre.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" is part of the franchise since 2005 and serves as a crossover between "Pokémon" and "Mystery Dungeon". It was turned into its own spin-off series due to its worldwide popularity.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Most "Mystery Dungeon" games center around exploring a dungeon with randomly generated layouts and fights. These are in a turn-based manner, where the player's every action such as attacking or walking, is met by the opponents' action. Chunsoft described the gameplay as being like chess. Escape from the dungeon is usually only allowed in certain places, or through the use of certain items. When the player loses the game, the player loses all money and half the items in the more forgiving variants, or loses everything and has to start from scratch in others. An effort has also been made to expand the series' gameplay features, such as adding job systems to some games, and giving each dungeon a different feel and goal. Features distinct to the "Shiren the Wanderer" series include the "Melding Jar" which allows players to synthesize items and weapons into more powerful ones. The "Chocobo" games further simplify the genre's difficulty to appeal to a wider and younger audience.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Nakamura explained that the appeal of the "Mystery Dungeon" series is that every game is different and that players skills are constantly being challenged, which helps the player feel deeply involved. Seiichiro Nagahata, who supervised and planned the development of "Shiren the Wanderer DS", explained that the "Mystery Dungeon" series is all about "tension" and "reasoning".


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: During the 1990's, the computer role-playing game genre became famous in Japan due to the successful hit of the "Dragon Quest" series. However, most of the roguelike games that were published for PC used to not have a Japanese translation; the genre's recognition remained low in result. While following the basic game system of roguelike games, other companies tried to bring the genre into a home console. Two of the earliest-known attempts were Sega's "Fatal Labyrinth" and "Dragon Crystal", both games released in 1990, but which lacked the depth of a typical computer-based roguelike. Neither proved to be successful games.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: After the launch of the Super Famicom and finishing development for "Dragon Quest V", the company ceased working on the "Dragon Quest" series and began working on the "Mystery Dungeon" series. The series was based on the 1980's game "Rogue", which has spawned its own genre called roguelike. For a week Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of the "Dragon Quest" series, played "Rogue" at the recommendation of a colleague, Seiichiro Nagahata, trying to understand the game's appeal, and concluded the high degree of challenge made the game very rewarding. While working on a roguelike game for the Super Famicom, the team decided to use characters from a recognizable franchise in Japan. Koichi Nakamura has asked Yuji Horii, creator of the "Dragon Quest" series, about the possibility to add characters and items from the "Dragon Quest" franchise, and Torneko, the merchant appearing in Chunsoft's previous work "Dragon Quest IV", only to have the permission accepted soon after. "Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon" was published in 1993 and became the first video game to bear the "Mystery Dungeon" moniker. Even if it sold less than the series' main titles, the game has sold over 800,000 copies. Koichi Nakamura conceived the series as Chunsoft's first original work. The game spawned two sequels starring Torneko, "" in 1999 and "" in 2002, and a follow-up, "" in 2006, where Torneko would appear as a cameo instead of the protagonist. And indeed, the game became the first of the over thirty "Mystery Dungeon" rogue-like series.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The company wanted to work on the new features and gameplay mechanics added in "NetHack", a variant of "Rogue", one of them was being able to steal items from a shopkeeper. However, it was not possible to translate the new content from "NetHack" with characters from the "Dragon Quest" series; one such with Torneko who is a merchant. Two years after the release of "Torneko no Daibōken", "Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer" was released as the company's second work for the "Mystery Dungeon" series, with a new world setting and unique characters. Many titles from this series were developed simultaneously throughout the years, where one title was focused on creating original features in its gameplay than the other for which they were forced to focus on "traditional dungeon types" due to the limitations on the other hardware; "Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer" on Super Famicom and "" on Game Boy, and "" on Nintendo 64 and "" on Game Boy Color. A unique gameplay element that first appeared in "Moonlight Village Monster" and would appear later in the "Mystery Dungeon" franchise and its crossovers is rescuing other players via passwords. They went with the idea of player sharing passwords instead of them using the Game Boy's Game Link Cable in order to help others, since there were not many owners of the cable. This idea was expanded in "" with the addition of online support. Within the online support, players would receive new dungeons, called either "Weekly Dungeon"; a dungeon that can be played online on a weekly basis, or "Challenge Dungeon"; the dungeon's difficulty would be increased and useful items would appear less frequently.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The "Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon" series is fully developed and published by Square Enix, then SquareSoft before the merging with Enix. However, Nakamura has supervised the first two games. "Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon" would become the first title to be released in the "Chocobo" sub-series, while "Chocobo's Dungeon 2" became the first "Mystery Dungeon" title to be released outside of Japan. Starting in "", some of the more difficult game elements were removed so that it would appeal to "small children and female" players.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Tsunekazu Ishihara has worked previously with Chunsoft. One of the company's work was "Tetris 2 + Bombliss", where Ishihara was the game's producer and met Nakamura, who was the game's director. Prior to the development of "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team", Ishihara has played a few games from the "Mystery Dungeon" series, namely "Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon", and was impressed with the genre's depth and quality. The game's development started after Nagahata and Tomie approached Ishihara and agreed with working on an easier version of the genre for the mainline "Pokémon" fans. During the development of "", Kouji Maruta, one of the programmer for these two games, and contributed previously on "EarthBound" and "Shiren the Wanderer 2", stated the company went through bad business performance, as employees from Chunsoft would leave the company progressively due to this issue. The game's success not only helped giving more popularity in the franchise, it also helped Chunsoft avoiding bankruptcy.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The game was developed by Spike Chunsoft and Atlus, the latter being the developers of the "Etrian Odyssey" series, with most of the actual development done at Spike Chunsoft, while Atlus acted as supervisors. During development, both the companies would continuously share their most recent data on a shared server, and discuss details of the game direction using an instant messaging program; additionally, they would hold weekly meetings during which they made various arrangements for the game, and every month during development, Spike Chunsoft would send their latest playable build to Atlus, who would check the direction the game was going in.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Though the franchise is divided with numerous crossovers, the majority of its soundtracks were composed by Koichi Sugiyama and Hayato Matsuo for the "Dragon Quest" crossovers and "Shiren the Wanderer" series. Koichi Sugiyama made use of East Asian elements for the "Shiren the Wanderer" series, compared to his more European-styled "Dragon Quest" compositions, using instruments such as a shakuhachi flute. This theme would remain for the series' next titles. Other composers such as Yuzo Koshiro for the "Etrian Odyssey" crossover or Keisuke Ito and Arata Iiyoshi for the "Pokémon" crossover have frequently contributed in the franchise. In addition to new compositions, tracks from previous mainline titles would also be featured in some of the crossover's titles, one example being the "Dragon Quest" crossover with tracks from the mainline games playing in these titles, in majority being from "Dragon Quest IV" or "Dragon Quest VIII". "Etrian Mystery Dungeon" would includes arranged music from previous "Etrian Odyssey" games. Joe Down Studio developed the music for "Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon" and featured extensive remixing of music from various "Final Fantasy" games due to the positive reception of remixed "Final Fantasy" music in the game "", and requested that they be allowed to use music from the early "Final Fantasy" titles as it would be appropriate to the theme of forgotten time.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: One the few novels that were related to this franchise was an adaptation of "Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer"'s story, with a title that translates to "Shiren the Wanderer: Flowers Dancing in the Golden Town Amteca", released in December 2004. However, many manga were released for many crossovers of the franchise, ranging from "Dragon Quest" to "Pokémon". One such is a manga titled "", a 6-part manga based on the video games "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team" that first appeared in Japan's CoroCoro Comic in December 2005.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: There exist anime adaptation of the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" series since its debut. The first anime adaptation was titled "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out Of The Gate!". It is based of "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team", and was aired in Japan on September 8, 2006. This episode follows the beginning of the game's main story. Another special episode, this time based of "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness", was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 2007, as part of Pokémon Sunday. A sequel episode, "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness" was first broadcast in Japan later on April 12, 2009, also as part of Pokémon Sunday. Both adaptation follow the beginning and the next-to-last chapters of the game's main story.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The "Mystery Dungeon" series can be seen as moderately popular in Japan, whereas the overseas community has a smaller following of dedicated fans. The "Shiren the Wanderer" series has been both praised and criticized for its difficulty, and generally noted for the uneven quality of the randomly generated levels, or "floors", the games produce. The series, along with its main protagonist Shiren, appeared in video games that were developed or published by Spike Chunsoft, with games like "Crypt of the NecroDancer", "Terraria", or "". Passionate fans of the "Shiren the Wanderer" series are commonly called "Shi-Ranger" in Japan.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: Other Japanese role-playing games would incorporate random dungeon generation as part of their design, mimicking part of the nature of roguelikes, and were considered roguelike titles when published in Western markets. Such titles include "Vagrant Story", "Shining Soul", and "Baroque". The massively multiplayer online role playing game "Final Fantasy XIV" added a randomly-generated Deep Dungeon that was inspired by the procedural generation of roguelikes.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The "Shiren the Wanderer" series has generally favorable ratings in Japan and throughout the world. Famitsu awarded a 36/40 to "Oni Invasion! Shiren Castle!" and a 38/40 to the original release of "Magic Castle of the Desert", the highest score the publication had given to a Game Boy Color game.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: As of 2022, a grand total of 23.96 million copies across the franchise have been sold, the majority of which are in the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" series.


title: Mystery Dungeon

text: The "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" series is known to have high sale rates among the franchise, surpassing one million copies for most of its games, and more than two million for titles like "Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team", and "Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky" alone. Combined worldwide sales for the three "Explorers" games passed over 6.37 million copies according to Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association; 4.88 million for "Explorers of Time" and "Explorers of Darkness" and 1.49 million for "Explorers of Sky". They are currently the best-selling games in the "Pokémon Mystery Dungeon" series, surpassing their predecessors. They are also the best-selling games in the "Mystery Dungeon" franchise in general; surpassing Squaresoft's "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon" and Enix's "Torneko: The Last Hope", both accumulating 1.34 million and 759,000 copies respectfully. "" was the 18th best selling game in Japan in 2012, with more than 373,000 copies sold. The "Chocobo" series is thought to have had middling success, with strong launch sales but not a huge popular response.


title: Eric Northman

text: Eric Northman is a fictional character in "The Southern Vampire Mysteries," a series of thirteen books written by "New York Times" bestselling author Charlaine Harris. He is a vampire, slightly over one thousand years old, and is first introduced in the first novel, "Dead Until Dark" and appears in all subsequent novels. Since the book series is told from the first person perspective of Sookie Stackhouse, what readers perceive of his character is influenced by what Sookie comprehends. HBO's television series "True Blood" is based on this book series and the character of Eric Northman is portrayed somewhat differently. A list of "True Blood" characters has a detailed description of Eric's character from the TV show.


title: Eric Northman

text: In the early books, little was revealed about his past. In the ninth book, "Dead and Gone" Eric revealed details about his human life as a Viking. He was deemed a man at the age of twelve. At sixteen he married Aude, his brother's widow. The couple had six children, but only three were living at the time of his turning, two boys and a girl. Aude and their sixth child died of a fever shortly after the birth when Eric was in his early twenties. It is revealed in the television series that the vampire king of Mississippi murdered his entire family before stealing his father's Viking crown. In the books, he was ambushed one night by a Roman vampire named Appius Livius Ocella and subsequently turned. In the television series, he was made a vampire by Godric. In the television show, it is also shown that Eric was a Viking prince, in the novels Eric says that his father was a chief. The name "Eric" or "Erik" comes from Old Norse and means "One ruler" or "eternal ruler". The name "Norseman" was the name given to people who could speak the Old Norse Language, spoken in the Scandinavian countries, namely Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The name "Norseman" means "man from the north", hence Eric's last name being "Northman".


title: Eric Northman

text: In the first novel, "Dead Until Dark", Sookie Stackhouse thinks Eric Northman is a "hunk." Sookie describes him as "“handsome, in fact, radiant; blond and blue-eyed, tall and broad shouldered. He was wearing boots, jeans, and a vest. Period. Kind of like the guys on the cover of romance books"." He's approximately six-foot-four. When Sookie sees him naked for the first time in "Dead to the World," she thinks, “if there were an international butt competition, Eric would win, hands down – or cheeks up.”


title: Eric Northman

text: In the TV series 'True Blood' he is tall with long blonde hair. By the end of the first season, and a little bit into the second, Pam (his progeny) cuts his hair shorter than expected because he gets blood in it. Eric is always shown in dark blue jeans with a black singlet and a black leather jacket. When his hair is cut shorter, he parts it and combs it diagonally backwards. His personality in the series is mostly the same, Eric Northman is ruthless and does not care much for human life. His relationship with his progeny, Pam, is where you see this softer side of him come through. When they face difficult challenges and situations, Eric would put her needs above his own. By the middle of season 2 Eric begins to pursue Sookie Stackhouse because of his interest in her abilities, and by the end of season 2 Eric Northman has cunningly tricked her into drinking his blood. Near the beginning of the third season, it is implied that he is beginning to develop feelings for her, even helping her when it is disadvantageous for him to do so.


title: Eric Northman

text: Eric is portrayed in the books as being somewhat arrogant, but having a true joie de vivre. He is confident almost to a fault, once reprimanding a thug in the third book, "Club Dead", for threatening Sookie and referring to her as his "future lover" although no potentially romantic relationship between Eric and Sookie yet existed. He can be manipulative to suit his needs. He is not above using deceit though it seems to be a last resort when it comes to Sookie. However, he is typically upfront regarding any action he takes and if he is manipulative he is very frank and open regarding his wishes. Due to his frank nature, Sookie comments to herself how she can always know where she stands with Eric. Indeed, Sookie frequently remarks how conversations with Eric are seldom single layered and how he never says something without reason. He is not sentimental in the least but shows a great deal of concern over Sookie and her happiness and well-being, perhaps making the relationship between Eric and Sookie all the more impressive.


title: Eric Northman

text: Sookie believes that, although Eric has created a modest, but thriving business empire and carved out a position of authority in the delicate vampire hierarchy, at heart he remains a born-Viking warrior, ready to leap into battle at any instant.


title: Eric Northman

text: The vampires in Charlaine Harris' world are organized according to a feudal system with each state divided into "Areas", each of which are governed by a sheriff who then owes allegiance to the queen or king of that particular state. Some states, like California, are so large and so heavily populated with humans (and therefore vampires who prey on humans) they are divided into multiple kingdoms. For example, what humans see as California, vampires see as California Sacramento, California San Jose, and California Los Angeles. Louisiana is not such a state and is ruled by one monarch. However, it is possible for a monarch to control multiple states. At one point in the series Louisiana is controlled by the same vampire who also controlled Arkansas. Later in the series a different ruler controls Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nevada.


title: Eric Northman

text: Eric is the most powerful vampire in Area Five of northern Louisiana: a territory that includes the small town of Bon Temps. Eric serves as Sheriff of area 5, or local boss, of that area and owns a vampire bar in Shreveport called "Fangtasia," that also serves as his headquarters. He runs the bar with the help of his vampire progeny Pam and a few of his underlings, or vampires who owe allegiance to Eric as their sheriff. Eric takes his responsibilities and role within the vampire hierarchy very seriously. In the sixth novel, "Definitely Dead", Eric mentions that he has paid a significant fine to the arbitrator for killing a former Fangtasia bartender, Long Shadow. This demonstrates that he did not hide his crime, as killing another vampire is a "serious thing.". Precisely what a Vampire Sheriff does, aside from owe allegiance to their monarch, do their monarch's bidding, and rule their Area, is still somewhat unclear. Sookie makes a conscious effort not to pry too hard into vampire affairs and Eric does nothing to encourage her learning much more than she already knows. Eric surprised Sookie in the tenth book, "Dead in the Family", when he explained the vampire hierarchy in more detail, simply so she, as his wife according to vampire law, was better informed for her safety.


title: Eric Northman

text: The state of Louisiana was in disarray after the results of Hurricane Katrina, and after queen of Louisiana, Eric's hierarch, was crippled in an explosion and eventually killed by the vampires of Nevada under Felipe de Castro's order. Eric was spared since he was the most practical of the Sheriffs and had one of the largest money makers, Bill Compton, living in his area and owing fealty to him. As the last surviving sheriff of Louisiana, Eric pledges his allegiance to the new regime in order to protect those under him, a tactical move that highlights his capabilities both as a leader and a political survivor. Had Eric resisted, he and all of the vampires serving under him (possibly with the exception of Bill) would have been killed, including Sookie. After accepting the new King, Felipe de Castro, he is then allowed to maintain control of his area and his followers when the other sheriffs of Louisiana and a number of their minions were all killed. Under the new regime, Eric has spent a significant amount of time acclimating himself to his new overlords. Despite his oath, however, Eric remains ever vigilant for opportunities to either further secure his position or free himself entirely from scrutiny of Felipe's Louisiana representative, Victor.


title: Eric Northman

text: The author introduces Sookie to Eric in her first novel, "Dead Until Dark". Eric then appears in all the subsequent novels and has either saved or attempted to save Sookie's life in every book. From the second book onward, Eric and Sookie share at least one intimate moment together per book. In the second one there are several: when he asks her to suck out a bullet in his chest that he took for her, and when Sookie invites him to an orgy they have to play the part; in the third, they almost have sex before being interrupted by Bubba and also when he gives her blood after she is staked; the fourth, they experience a sexual relationship when he is cursed with amnesia, which he forgets all about promptly after being un-cursed; the fifth, they kiss; the sixth, during battle Eric sneaks a kiss on Sookie after saving her; the seventh, they exchange blood tying them to each other in a blood bond and Eric kisses her; the eighth, they kiss again after Eric smells fairy blood all over Sookie; and in the ninth, they consummate their relationship after being wed by vampire laws and seem to be moving in the direction of an official relationship. In the later books, she has also saved his life several times before.


title: Eric Northman

text: After appearing to develop an affection for Sookie in the third book in the series, "Club Dead", Eric has a brief romance with her in "Dead to the World", the fourth book, though, due to a curse, he lost his memories of that time until "From Dead to Worse", the eighth book. In the eighth book, after sitting in Sookie's room, he reveals that he remembers the days he spent with her when the curse was put on him. He asks her to discuss it, and she refuses. He seemingly likes Bill Compton but feels arrogantly competitive in an emotional battle for Sookie's affections.


title: Eric Northman

text: In the seventh book, "All Together Dead", when Sookie is accosted into forming a blood bond with Andre, another powerful vampire, Eric steps in opportunistically as the lesser of two evils and bonds with her himself. A blood bond is formed when a human and vampire exchange blood by drinking it from them. Vampire blood can heal any human wounds within seconds as can human blood do the same for vampires.


title: Eric Northman

text: In "Dead and Gone", Eric sends Sookie a velvet parcel that he instructs her to give to him in front of King Felipe de Castro's representative, Victor Madden. Without looking inside the parcel first, Sookie presents Eric the bag which contains a ceremonial knife that is used in marriage ceremonies. The king's representative reveals that the act of giving and receiving the knife means that Eric and Sookie are pledged to one another. Eric claims that he deceived Sookie because the King of Nevada had the power and desire to take her away from her home. Because they are wed, Eric is the only vampire that can have access to Sookie on pain of final death. He also reveals that the curse that had been placed on him made him unconsciously seek out the presence of his heart's desire (Sookie). In "Dead in the Family" Eric and Sookie are in an actual relationship, and Eric admits that he sees Sookie as his wife in the only way that matters to him, which left her puzzled.


title: Eric Northman

text: In the 12th Sookie Stackhouse novel, "Deadlocked", Sookie and Eric's relationship takes a turn. Eric was promised by his maker, Appius, to marry the Queen of Oklahoma, and he has spent much of his time figuring out how to get out of the promise. Sookie wants Eric to choose her outright and Eric explains that he just can't ignore a command from his maker even though he is dead. They do not see each other too much in the book; Eric does tell Sookie that she has the power to make him stay, which she finds out near the end of the book that he knows about her cluviel dor which will grant her one wish. She ends up using it at the end of the book to save Sam Merlotte's life and Eric just walks away after he sees this. The book ends with them basically in the same spot, not knowing if Eric is going to marry the Queen of Oklahoma or stay with Sookie.


title: Eric Northman

text: In the 13th Sookie Stackhouse novel, "Dead Ever After", Eric and Sookie's relationship has crashed and burned. Eric is set to officially marry Freyda, the Queen of Oklahoma, and he has been banned from ever seeing Sookie again. Also, Sookie has been banned from Fangtasia and Oklahoma. In one of the last conversations Eric and Sookie have, he tells her that he was considering making her a vampire even though she never wanted to become one. By the end of the novel, Eric is in Oklahoma with his new wife and without either of his progeny.


title: Eric Northman

text: In "True Blood", an HBO series based on the earliest books in the series, the character of Eric Northman is played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård. Some details of the character are portrayed somewhat differently on "True Blood" than in the books. In the series, Eric is created by Godric, with whom he shares a deep bond of loyalty and devotion. In season 2 Godric commits suicide by exposing himself to sunlight, causing Eric to shed bloody vampire tears, however, in the novels he cries for the first time in book 9. In the series, Bill, rather than Eric, saves Sookie from Long Shadow (in the books Eric kills him). Eric has not demonstrated the outward concern for Sookie that he exhibited in the early novels, but he appears to be developing an uneasy, guarded affection for her and the series seems to portray a reluctance on his part to show people, particularly Sookie, his genuine emotions. Often Eric has presented himself to Sookie as violent, arrogant, mischievous and consciously manipulative. Thus far in the series he has usually acted in a manner with little apparent concern for Sookie's feelings or immediate safety, although ultimately he seems to protect her.


title: Eric Northman

text: However, his growing feelings for Sookie are showcased in episode 4 of Season 3 when he daydreams about Sookie. After the daydream he spurns Yvetta and Pam looks on at him concerned. In episode 10, Eric kissed Sookie, after proclaiming that if he were to die a true death without having at least kissed her, that would be his greatest regret. He chained her up in his basement a few minutes later as bait for Russell. He again reveals his guarded affection for her when prompted by Russell to drink her blood, he hesitates and strokes her affectionately on the cheek. Finally, in the season three finale, he tells her that he regrets seeing her in such pain, referring to her heartbreak over ending her relationship with Bill- although he was the one who deliberately gave her the information that caused her to banish Bill from her house.


title: Eric Northman

text: Eric's back story is more deeply explored in Season 3, as his youth and human life as a Viking prince was shown; his family was slaughtered in their castle by a pack of werewolves, under the command of the ancient vampire Russell Edgington. Eric gave his dying father a vow to avenge them all. During World War II, he and Godric were shown tracking Russell's wolfpack across Germany disguised as SS officers, though they never found Russell himself.


title: Eric Northman

text: In Season 3, when Eric defects to Russell Edginton (now the King of Mississippi) instead of Queen Sophie-Anne in an effort to save Pam from torture by the Magister, he notices a crown in Russell's antique collection that he recognizes as his father's, stolen the night of the attack. Realizing Russell is the target he has sought for over 1,000 years, he continues to play up his loyalty to Russell to keep him from becoming suspicious, even displaying callous indifference to Sookie when she is captured and asks for help. However, later on, when Russell is attacking Bill and Sookie with his wolves, Eric murders his progeny and husband Talbot; Russell, sensing Talbot's death, is driven insane by grief and rage. He hunts down Eric and prepares to kill him until Eric reveals that he can show Russell how to daywalk, Russell's oldest obsession. After consuming much of Sookie's blood against her will (which visibly discomforts Eric) they are indeed able to daywalk, but it wears off very quickly; Eric cuffs Russell to himself with silver, intending for both of them to burn. Sookie brings Eric back inside and, at the request of Eric, retrieves the badly-injured Russell as well. Eric only spared Russell because he thought death would be too merciful for him; after knocking out one of his fangs, he buried the crippled vampire in silver chains and wet concrete, intending to let him starve in agony for 100 years but never die.


title: Eric Northman

text: In Season 4, we see the relationship of Sookie and Eric develop after he loses his memory to the witch coven; first, Sookie shelters him in her house from Bill (though the house is technically Eric's). Endeared by the new Eric's innocence and his regret over his previous crimes as a vampire, Sookie eventually enters a sexual relationship with him, though in the Season 4 finale, Sookie is choosing between Eric and Bill, and chooses neither. Sources have said of Season 5 that Sookie's "independent streak" will continue (as Alan Ball, executive producer) claimed in an interview concerning the upcoming season. By the end of the season, Eric has regained his memories, though he retains his memory and part of the gentler personality he had when he was with Sookie.


title: Eric Northman

text: In Season Five, after previously killing Nan Flanagan, Eric and Bill are arrested by the Vampire Authority. However, Nora, Eric's 'sister' (with whom he also has a sexual history) rescues them. Later, all three are caught by the Authority. While Eric steers clear of the Sanguinista movement stirring in the authority and attempts to escape, Bill accepts the Book of Lilith and betrays him. Eric manages to successfully escape with Nora and searches for Sookie to enlist her help; in the process, he manages to kill his archenemy Russell Edgington, fulfilling a vengeance that he began when he was still human. He attempts to save Bill but apparently fails. Later, he returns Sookie's house to her for her protection; while she is grateful to him and considers him a friend, she still banishes him from the house, and Eric tells Nora they will stay away from her now.


title: Eric Northman

text: In Season 6, Eric finds his latest threat to be the humans, especially Governor Truman Burrell, who declares war on vampires. In an effort to challenge the Governor's stance on vampires, Eric turns Willa Burrell, Truman's more open-minded daughter after noticing her selflessness of willingly dying for a cause similar to Nora. Regardless, the Governor has them both placed in "Vamp Camp", where Eric is later forced to helplessly watch his sister, Nora, receive a lethal injection of "Hep V". Eric uses Willa to escape the camp (promising to get her and Pam out), but she also demands he frees Jessica & Tara as well and takes Nora to the Lilith-enhanced Bill, but they are unable to save her. Devastated by her death, Eric violently slaughters the humans running the concentration camp to seek revenge and free both his progenies, among others. Notably, Eric spares Jason Stackhouse, though he kills the vampire Steve Newlin, stating "Every time I lost someone I loved, "you" were there." (Blaming him for the deaths of Godric & Nora), After freeing the imprisoned vampires, Eric flies off to grieve his sister Nora's death in solitude. In the finale, Warlow, the fairy-vampire hybrid whose blood made it possible for Eric and the other vampires to walk in the sun, is killed by Jason to save Sookie. When Warlow dies, the effects of his blood wears off in the vampires who drank it and they are no longer able to walk in the sun. Eric is shown in the sun on a mountain top in Åre, Sweden when Warlow's blood wears off, causing Eric to burn.


title: Eric Northman

text: In Season 7, Pam tracks down Eric, who somehow avoided meeting the true death. However, he has been infected with the Hepatitis V virus.


title: Eric Northman

text: After learning that Sarah Newlin is still alive, he and Pam decide to go after her. Eric and Pam soon learn that Newlin drank the antidote and it permeated her body, making Sarah a living antidote for Hep V. They are forced to work with Yakuza ninjas from the Yakanomo Corporation (the company which originally made True Blood) in order to find her, but neither party trusts the other. Upon capturing Sarah, Eric drinks her blood and rids himself of the Hep V virus, then the Yakuza suggest they make New Blood, but ensure it doesn't work too well, so Vampires can buy more and increase the profit, and want Eric to be the face of New Blood. Learning that Bill is dying, Eric secretly reveals the cure (contrary to the Yakuza's wishes) to Sookie and offers to heal Bill, despite their long rivalry; he is stunned when Bill refuses. However, after talking with Bill he understands his motives and tells Sookie to talk with him, making his final peace with both Bill and Sookie. Eric suggests to Pam, they let Sarah free, so the Yakuza members don't get her, murder them all and collect all the profit, much to her delight, and they proceed to do all of it, and by the end of the series, they are running a multibillion-dollar corporation called New Blood, derived from Sarah Newlin's blood, which is both a new vampire food source and a universal cure for Hep V. Eric and Pam tell the world that Sarah got away from them, but they found a drop of her blood to make New Blood with, and thereby save every infected vampire in the world. In actuality, they are keeping Sarah chained in the basement at Fangtasia, and charging vampires small fortunes to feed on her, as she slowly goes insane. All the while, Eric sits on his throne on the Fangtasia stage, relishing his accomplishments.


title: Eric Northman

text: Eric is frequently referred to as a Viking. In episode 4 of season 3 of "True Blood", Eric says he played by the North Sea as a child. In episode 10 of season 3, Pam alludes to Eric being Swedish when she says, "I have no interest in inheriting your farm on Öland. That place is a windy shit-hole". Eric also speaks Swedish with Pam and Godric in some episodes.


title: Eric Northman

text: We have seen a flashback of the time before Pam's turning, which was portrayed differently in "True Blood" than in the books. In the television series, Pam slits her own wrists after Eric denies her request to be turned, forcing him to do it to save her life. In the books, it is said that Eric offered her immortality.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The National Transitional Council of Libya ( '), sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, was the "de facto" government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War, in which rebel forces overthrew the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya of Muammar Gaddafi. The NTC"' governed Libya for a period of ten months after the end of the war, holding elections to a General National Congress on 7 July 2012, and handing power to the newly elected assembly on 8 August.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The formation of the NTC was announced in the city of Benghazi on 27 February 2011 with the purpose to act as the "political face of the revolution". On 5 March 2011, the council issued a statement in which it declared itself to be the "only legitimate body representing the people of Libya and the Libyan state". An executive board, chaired by Mahmoud Jibril, was formed by the council on 23 March 2011 after being "de facto" assembled as an "executive team" since 5 March 2011. The NTC issued a Constitutional Declaration in August 2011 in which it set up a road-map for the transition of the country to a constitutional democracy with an elected government.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The council gained international recognition as the legitimate governing authority in Libya and occupied the country's seat at the United Nations. In referring to the Libyan state, the council used simply "Libya". The UN formally recognized the country as "Libya" in September 2011, based on a request from the Permanent Mission of Libya citing the Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration of 3 August 2011. In November 2011, the ISO 3166-1 was altered to reflect the new country name "Libya" in English, "Libye (la)" in French.


title: National Transitional Council

text: After popular movements overturned the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt, Libya's immediate neighbours to the west and east, Libya experienced a full-scale uprising beginning in February 2011. By 20 February, the unrest had spread to Tripoli. Much of Libya had slipped out of Gaddafi's control, falling to anti-Gaddafi forces. Eastern Libya, centered around the second largest city and vital port of Benghazi, was firmly under the control of the opposition. The opposition began to organise themselves into a functioning government. Anti-Gaddafi forces marched on Sirte (Gaddafi's hometown) on 28 September 2011. Gaddafi loyalists delayed the attack with the use of their snipers. The fight for Sirte ended on 20 October with the capture of the town and the death of Colonel Gaddafi.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 24 February 2011, politicians, former military officers, tribal leaders, academics and businessmen held a meeting in the eastern city of Bayda. The meeting was chaired by former justice minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who quit the Jamahiriya government a few days before. The delegates discussed proposals for interim administration with many delegates asking for UN intervention in Libya. The podium at the meeting displayed the pre-Jamahiriya flag.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 25 February, Al Jazeera TV reported that talks were taking place between "personalities from eastern and western Libya" to form an interim government for the post-Gaddafi era. The following day, former justice minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil was announced to be leading the process of forming an interim body, to be based in Benghazi. Jalil stated that "Gaddafi alone bore responsibility for the crimes that have occurred" in Libya; he also insisted on the unity of Libya and that Tripoli was the national capital. The efforts to form an alternative government have been supported by the Libyan ambassador in the United States, Ali Suleiman Aujali. The Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Omar Al Dabashi, stated that he supported a new alternative government "in principle".


title: National Transitional Council

text: A National Transitional Council was formed on 27 February to act as "the political face of the revolution". Its spokesman, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, made clear at the launch press conference that the national council was not a provisional government and added that the newly formed council was not in contact with foreign governments and did not want them to intervene. He later clarified that an airstrike mandated by the United Nations would not be considered a foreign intervention.


title: National Transitional Council

text: An Al Jazeera journalist in Benghazi reported that a fully fledged interim government would not be formed until Tripoli was under opposition control. This contradicted Jalil's statement of the previous day about the formation of a provisional government. These comments were later clarified by the council as Jalil's "personal views".


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 5 March, the council issued a statement in which it declared itself to be the "sole representative of all Libya". Mustafa Abdul Jalil was named as chairman of the council.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 10 March, France became the first country to recognise the council as Libya's only legitimate government.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 23 March, the council established an executive board to act as a transitional government for Libya. Jibril, who had served as chairman of the informal "executive team" since 5 March, was appointed as chairman of that board, stating that council would serve as the "legislative body", and the new Executive Board would serve as the "executive body". Jibril led the meeting and negotiations with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a meeting that resulted in France officially recognizing the council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.


title: National Transitional Council

text: In mid-January 2012, protesters against the NTC stormed its Benghazi headquarters, demanding greater transparency on expenditures, that Gaddafi-era officials be sacked, and that Islamic sharia law be the source of the country's future constitution. Jalil was in the building, but slipped out the back before protesters broke in and stole computers and furniture. A few days earlier, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice president of the NTC, was surrounded and jostled by a group of university students in Benghazi, before being pulled to safety by supporters.


title: National Transitional Council

text: In a ceremony on 8 August 2012—held in the evening due to the daytime fast of Ramadan—the NTC formally transferred power to the General National Congress. Jalil stepped down as chairman, passing the position to the GNC's oldest member, Mohammed Ali Salim. The NTC was then dissolved, while the GNC members took their oath of office, led by Salim.


title: National Transitional Council

text: Hundreds of people gathered in Tripoli's Martyrs' Square with candles symbolizing reconciliation. The date of the transfer—20 Ramadan on the Islamic calendar—had also been selected for symbolic reasons, as 20 Ramadan the previous year had fallen on 20 August, the date that the rebels attacked Tripoli, leading to Gaddafi's flight. As Jalil addressed the crowd, attendees chanted "Allahu Akbar!" or another phrase meaning "The blood of martyrs will not go wasted!"


title: National Transitional Council

text: According to BBC News, the transfer was "the first peaceful transition of power in Libya's modern history", meaning the history since the end of the monarchy.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The "Declaration of the founding of the National Transitional Council" stated that the main aims of the council were as follows:


title: National Transitional Council

text: In another statement clarifying the goals for a post-Gaddafi Libya, the council committed itself an eight-point plan to hold free and fair elections, draft a national constitution, form political and civil institutions, uphold intellectual and political pluralism, and guarantee citizens' inalienable human rights and the ability of free expression of their aspirations. The council also emphasized its rejection of racism, intolerance, discrimination, and terrorism. Article 1 further declares Tripoli the state capital and Arabic the official language while reserving the linguistic and cultural rights of ethnic minorities as well as the freedom of religion for religious minorities.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The stated aim of the NTC was to form a "de jure" interim government based in Tripoli and hold elections for a General National Congress to replace it. The GNC would then elect a prime minister, appoint a Constituent Assembly to draft a constitution subject to its approval by the Public National Conference (PNC) and by referendum, and then oversee free elections for a representative government.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The National Transitional Council claimed to be, and was widely recognized as, the "only legitimate body representing the people of Libya and the Libyan state". Starting off at 33 members, it rose to 51, with proposals to increase its size further to 75 or even 125.


title: National Transitional Council

text: Al Jazeera English reported that each city or town under opposition control will be given five seats on the new council and that contact will be established with new cities that come under opposition control to allow them to join the council. The identities of members of the council were not disclosed at the launch conference. Human Rights lawyer Hafiz Ghoga was the spokesperson for the new council. An Al Jazeera English journalist in Benghazi stated that Mustafa Abdul Jalil still had a leadership role within the new council. The council declared that Jalil was the head of the council. The council met formally for the first time on 5 March 2011 when it was announced that the council had 33 members. The names of some of the members were kept secret to prevent threats to their families that were still in Gaddafi-held areas of Libya.


title: National Transitional Council

text: In September 2011, some of the NTC's members were in Benghazi, while some had moved to the "de jure" capital Tripoli. On 8 September, the head of government Mahmoud Jibril became the highest-ranking NTC official yet to move to Tripoli. Prior to Jibril's relocation, Deputy Chairman Ali Tarhouni was the "de facto" leader of the NTC in Tripoli.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 5 March 2011, a crisis committee was set up to act as the executive arm of the council. An Executive Board was announced on 23 March 2011. It originally had 15 members, but a minor reorganisation apparently removed the post of Military Affairs from the council proper and created a successor position for Defence on the board, expanding the bureau to 16 members.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The executive board was dismissed on 8 August 2011 due to administrative mistakes in investigating the assassination in July of Free Libyan Army commander General Abdel-Fatah Younes. Chairman Mahmoud Jibril, the only designated member of the executive board who was not fired, was tasked with forming a new Board.


title: National Transitional Council

text: A new cabinet was unveiled in early October 2011, though not all of its members were announced at once. Individuals confirmed to be part of the new board included Mahmoud Jibril as prime minister, Ali Tarhouni as deputy prime minister, and Jalal al-Digheily as defence minister. On 23 October, Jibril resigned as Mustafa Abdul Jalil declared an end to the Libyan civil war, and Abdurrahim El-Keib succeeded him as prime minister on 31 October.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The executive board was dissolved on 22 November 2011 as per the Interim constitution which stated that the executive board must be dissolved upon the formation of the Interim Government.


title: National Transitional Council

text: During the war, in opposition-held Benghazi, a 15-member "local committee" made up of lawyers, judges and respected local people was formed in order to provide civic administration and public services within the city. Residents have organised to direct traffic and collect refuse. Many shops and businesses have opened again. A newspaper and two local radio stations were also established.


title: National Transitional Council

text: The anti-Gaddafi forces were Libyan armed forces which were constituted during the 2011 war by defected military members and armed citizens in order to engage in battle against remaining members of the Jamahiriya's armed forces, hired mercenaries and paramilitary loyal to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. The National Liberation Army, formerly known as the Free Libyan Army, was the NTC's military arm, with the small Free Libyan Air Force operating assets including captured and defected fighter jets and helicopters.


title: National Transitional Council

text: Omar El-Hariri was the first military affairs minister the NTC named, holding that position from 23 March 2011 forward. By 19 May 2011, however, Jalal al-Digheily had replaced El-Hariri. Then on 8 August 2011, Digheily along with 14 other members of the executive board were fired and the position left vacant, but was reappointed in early October 2011 after continuing in the role of interim defense minister for almost two months. Then on 22 November 2011, the executive board was dissolved for the formation of the Interim Government and Osama al-Juwali became the new Defense Minister.


title: National Transitional Council

text: On 1 April 2011, Abdul Fatah Younis was announced as commander of the NTC's forces, in an attempt to form an organized fighting structure due to a string of failures. Younis was killed in an attack on 29 July 2011 which was variously blamed on pro-Gaddafi agents, rogue rebel militiamen, and the NTC itself. Suleiman Mahmoud, Younis's top lieutenant, replaced him as army commander.


title: National Transitional Council

text: In July 2011, the Libya Contact Group of representatives of many nations announced its participants' agreement to deal with the National Transitional Council as the "legitimate governing authority in Libya". The council also received the backing of the Arab League and the European Union. On 16 September 2011, the United Nations General Assembly voted to award Libya's UN seat to the NTC. On 20 September 2011, the African Union officially recognised the NTC as the legitimate representative of Libya.


title: National Transitional Council

text: While NTC forces were working to secure military victory on the ground, the NTC's chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, was working to foster good diplomatic relations overseas. Before Gaddafi was killed Abdul Jalil negotiated a deal with the British government to pay millions in compensation to victims of IRA attacks that used Jamahiriya-supplied arms.


title: National Transitional Council

text: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 authorised a multi-national effort to establish a no-fly zone. On 19 March, British, French and US air forces began attacking targets in Gaddafi-controlled Libya, thereby initiating the UN military intervention. Operations were led by NATO under Operation Unified Protector, after initially being led by a joint UK, US and French command. Non-NATO states such as Jordan, Qatar, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates also contributed to the military mission.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: Fleishman Is in Trouble is an American drama streaming television miniseries created by Taffy Brodesser-Akner based on her 2019 novel of the same name. The series premiered on FX on Hulu on November 17, 2022.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: Toby Fleishman, a recently divorced forty-something, finds himself immersed in the world of app-based dating. But as he begins to find successes he never found in his youth, his ex-wife Rachel disappears without a trace, leaving him with their kids. As he balances looking after his children, a promotion at the hospital where he works, and all the women in Manhattan, he realizes that he'll never be able to figure out what happened to his wife until he can be more honest about what happened to their marriage in the first place.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: On September 12, 2019, it was announced that ABC Signature had won a 10-studio bidding war for the rights to the novel "Fleishman Is in Trouble", with the project being developed for FX. Taffy Brodesser-Akner, the author of the original novel, was attached to write the adaptation as well as executive produce the project alongside Susannah Grant, Carl Beverly, and Sarah Timberman. On March 11, 2021, it was announced that the project was given a limited series order consisting of nine episodes, with the series now set to premiere exclusively on Hulu as part of FX on Hulu. Upon the series order announcement, Brodesser-Akner said:


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: On August 13, 2021, during FX Networks' Summer 2021 TCA Press Tour panel, it was announced that "Little Miss Sunshine" filmmaking duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris were attached to direct multiple episodes of the series.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: The limited series was released on November 17, 2022, with the first two episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: In November 2021, Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Eisenberg joined the cast of the series in series regular roles, marking their second collaboration together after Now You See Me 2. In January 2022, Claire Danes and Adam Brody joined the cast in series regular roles, while Maxim Jasper Swinton and Meara Mahoney Gross joined the cast in recurring roles. In February 2022, Joy Suprano joined the cast in a recurring role. In March 2022, Michael Gaston, Ralph Adriel Johnson and Brian Miskell joined in recurring roles. In April 2022, Christian Slater and Josh Radnor joined the cast in recurring roles.


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82% approval rating with an average rating of 8.2/10, based on 34 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The characters "Fleishman Is in Trouble" spends time with aren't the most likable bunch, but the series examines their foibles with compelling insight—and they're brought to life by a terrific trio of stars." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Fleishman Is in Trouble (miniseries)

text: Annie Berke of "The A.V. Club" gave the series an A− and said, "These eight episodes and the characters in them are doing their best, and Fleishman's best is far better than most." Richard Roeper of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the series 3 out of 4 stars and wrote, "This is an exceedingly well-cast show, with Eisenberg, Danes, Caplan and Brody all playing to their strengths and hitting notes we've seen them master in previous roles."


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen Yun (, pronounced ; 13 June 1905 – 10 April 1995) was one of the most influential leaders of the People's Republic of China during the 1980s and 1990s and one of the major architects and important policy makers for the Reform and opening up, alongside Deng Xiaoping. He was also known as Liao Chenyun (), as he took his uncle's (Liao Wenguang; ) family name when he was adopted by him after his parents died.


title: Chen Yun

text: He was one of the major political leaders of China both during and after the Chinese Civil War, along with Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De and Ren Bishi, and was later recognized as one of the Eight Elders of the Chinese Communist Party. In the 1980s and 1990s, Chen Yun was regarded as the second-most powerful person in China, after Deng Xiaoping.


title: Chen Yun

text: A native of Qingpu, Jiangsu (now part of Shanghai), Chen was one of the few Communist Party organizers from an urban working-class background; he worked underground as a union organizer in the late 1920s, participated in the Long March, and served on the Central Committee from 1931 to 1987. He was active throughout his career in the field of economics, despite receiving no formal education after elementary school.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen was typesetter for the famous Commercial Press of Shanghai, which printed revolutionary books and even protestant bibles. He played a prominent role as a younger organizer in the labor movement during the early and mid-1920s, joining the CCP in 1924. Following the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925, Chen was an important organizer under Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi. For a time, Zhou and Yun resided at a Church of Christ in Changting which was the site of a revolutionary committee. After Chiang Kai-shek turned against the CCP in 1927, Chen fled to his hometown, but soon returned to Shanghai and secretly continued his work as a labor unionist.


title: Chen Yun

text: He served on the Central Committee in the Third Plenary Session of Sixth Central Committee of CCP in 1930 and became a member of the Politburo in 1934. In 1933 he evacuated to Ruijin, in Jiangxi province, the headquarters of the CCP's main "soviet" area. He was in overall charge of the Party's "white areas" work, that is, underground activities in places not under Party control. On the Long March he was one of the four Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau who attended the January 1935 Zunyi Conference. He left the Long March sometime in the spring of 1935, returning to Shanghai, and in September 1935 he went to Moscow, serving as one of the CCP's representatives to the Comintern. In 1937 Chen returned to China as an adviser to the Xinjiang leader Sheng Shicai. Chen later joined Mao in Yan'an, probably before the end of 1937. In November 1937 he became director of the Party's Organization Department, serving in that capacity until 1944, and by the early 1940s was in the inner circle of Mao's advisers. His writings on organization, ideology, and cadre training were included in the important study materials for the Yan'an Rectification Movement of 1942, a campaign of political persecutions which consolidated Mao's power within the Party.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen's economic career began in 1942, when he was replaced by Ren Bishi as head of the CCP Organization Department. In his new position, Chen was assigned responsibility for the financial management of Northwest China. Two years later, he was identified as responsible for finance in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region as well. He added Northeast China to his portfolio in 1946 (then under the overall leadership of General Lin Biao and Political Commissar Peng Zhen).


title: Chen Yun

text: During the middle of the 1940s, Chen was a major contributor to the party’s strategy of “economic warfare.” Under this concept, reviving the economy in liberated areas was a major contribution to the revolutionary struggle. Chen argued that economic development and production were critical, explaining that “[o]nly if we can solve the problem of food and clothing for the masses can we become leaders of the masses. Thus, a revolutionary businessman is an outright revolutionary.”


title: Chen Yun

text: A main challenge for the Communists during this period was driving out the Nationalist’s competing currency and replacing it with the currencies used in the revolutionary base areas. Chen argued that the approach should rely on both economic and political mechanisms (as opposed to prohibition), including regulating the value of competing currencies and controlling trade in key commodities.


title: Chen Yun

text: In May 1949, Chen Yun was named head of the new national Central Finance and Economic Commission. In early 1952, Zhou Enlai led a team to draft the first Five-Year Plan which included Chen, Bo Yibo, Li Fuchun and General Nie Rongzhen. Zhou, Chen and Li presented the draft to Soviet experts in Moscow, who rejected it. In early 1953, Gao Gang and the State Planning Commission began work on what would eventually become the final version. After Gao's fall, Chen Yun, Bo Yibo, Li Fuchuan and (later) Li Xiannian would manage the Chinese economy for the next 30+ years.


title: Chen Yun

text: Throughout the 1950s, Chen was the official who did the most to moderate Mao's radical economic reforms. Looking back, Chen would later believe that it was the Chairman's errors that most kept China from achieving its Five-Year Plans. In 1956, when the 8th National Congress of Chinese Communist Party was held, Chen was elected a Vice-chairman of the Central Committee. Around that time, both Mao and Chen had come to believe that the economic system, modeled on that of the Soviet Union, was overly centralized, but had different ideas about what to do about it. Chen's proposal was to make wider use of the market, allowing for the operation of supply and demand rather than simple government fiat in determining the allocation of resources. He argued that decisions concerning prices and production should be made by individual firms, in conformity with business logic. At the same time he favored giving the central government ministries stronger control over these firms, to assure that their decisions did not transgress the boundaries of the plan.


title: Chen Yun

text: Mao's idea, rather, was to devolve powers to provincial and local authorities, in practice Party committees rather than state technocrats, and to use mass mobilization rather than either a detailed central plan or the market to promote economic growth. Mao's program prevailed, and these policies converged with the rest of the ultimately disastrous Great Leap Forward. By early 1959, the economy was already showing signs of strain. In January of that year, Chen Yun published an article calling for increased Soviet aid. In March, he published a subdued but general critique of the Leap, especially its reliance on the mass movement. Economic growth, he asserted, was not simply a matter of speed. It required attention to safe working conditions and quality engineering. It depended on technical skill, not just political awareness.


title: Chen Yun

text: This was Chen's last public statement during Mao's lifetime. In the summer of 1959 the Party convened a meeting at the resort town of Lushan to review the policies of the Leap. The Minister of Defense, Marshal Peng Dehuai, attacked the radicalism of the Leap, and Mao took this, or affected to take it, as an attack on himself and his authority. Mao responded with a vicious personal attack on Peng. Peng lost his military positions and the Party undertook a general purge of what Mao termed right opportunism. Further reform of the Leap policies was now out of the question. China continued on its set course for another year or more, and by the end of 1960 had fallen deep into famine.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen Yun was certainly in sympathy with Peng Dehuai's criticism of the Leap and joined forces with Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping to manage the economy in the post-Great Leap Forward period, which required deft handling of Chairman Mao's sensitivity to criticism.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen retained his positions as Party vice chairman and member of the Politburo and continued to express his opinions behind the scenes. In 1961 he conducted investigations of the rural areas around Shanghai. According to a Cultural Revolution attack on him by the radical group within the finance system, he reported the peasants as saying: "In the days of Chiang Kai-shek we had rice to eat. In the glorious era of Chairman Mao, we have only gruel." According to his obituary, Chen was one of the main designers of the economic policies of the 1961-1962 "capitalist road" era, when China's economic policy stressed material incentives and sought to encourage economic growth in preference to pursuing ideological goals. This approach is often referred to as Chen's "bird-cage" theory of post-Great Leap economic recovery, where the bird represents the free market and the cage represents a central plan. Chen proposed that a balance should be found between "setting the bird free" and choking the bird with a central plan that was too restrictive; this theory would later become a focal point of criticism against Chen during the Cultural Revolution. His only public appearance during this time was a photograph of him published on the front page of the People's Daily and other major newspapers on May 1, 1962, showing Chen shaking hands with Chairman Mao, while Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Deng Xiaoping (the entire inner core of leadership of that time, with the exception of Lin Biao) look on. There was no caption or any other explanation.


title: Chen Yun

text: During the Cultural Revolution, Chen Yun was denounced in Red Guard publications but not in the official press. He was re-elected to the Central Committee in the Ninth Party Congress in April 1969 but not to the Politburo. He no longer held any functional positions. Later that year he was "evacuated" from Beijing, as were many other inactive or disgraced first-generation leaders, as part of a supposed plan preparing against the eventuality of an invasion by the Soviet Union with whom China had a serious split. Chen was put to work in a factory in Nanchang in Jiangxi province, where he stayed for three years. In January 1975, he was elected to the Standing Committee of China's legislature, the National People's Congress.


title: Chen Yun

text: Following the death of Mao in September 1976 and the coup d'état against the radical Gang of Four a month later, Chen became increasingly active in the country's political life. He and General Wang Zhen petitioned Party chairman Hua Guofeng to rehabilitate Deng Xiaoping at the March 1977 CCP CC Work Conference, but were turned down. After Deng was rehabilitated later that year, Chen led the attack on the Maoist era at the November–December 1978 CCP CC Work Conference, raising the sensitive "six issues": the purges of Bo Yibo, Tao Zhu, Wang Heshou and Peng Dehuai; the 1976 Tiananmen Incident; and, Kang Sheng's errors. Chen raised the six issues in order to undermine Hua and his leftist supporters. Chen's intervention tipped the balance in favor of movement toward an open repudiation of the Cultural Revolution and Deng Xiaoping's promotion, in December 1978, to de facto head of the regime. Chen laid the basis for Deng's "reform and opening" program.


title: Chen Yun

text: In July 1979, Chen Yun was named head (and Li Xiannian deputy head) of the new national Economic and Financial Commission staffed with his own allies and conservative economic planners. In April and July of that year he made further provocative statements in internal Party meetings, although their authenticity was denied (in an equivocal manner) by official spokesmen. In these Chen deplored China's lack of economic progress and the people's loss of confidence in the Party. In April he criticized the luxurious life of Party leaders (including himself), and said if he had known in the period before the liberation what the past ten-some years would be like (that is, the Cultural Revolution period), he would have defected to Chiang Kai-shek. He deplored Mao's dictatorial ways and implied, although not very strongly, that the Party should take a milder line against dissidents. If "Lin Biao and the Gang of Four; that is, the radical leftists" had been able to assure the people food and clothing, he said, they would not have been so easy to overthrow.


title: Chen Yun

text: In July, Chen developed these themes in another exposition (which also included some sarcastic observations on the late Chairman's taste in literature). Chen said: "We say the old dynasties and the KMT 'ruled' the country, but talk instead of the 'leadership' of the Communist Party. But the Party is in fact a ruling party, and if it wishes to keep its position it must also keep the support of the people. It should not float above the masses but should live among them as their servants. Both the welfare of the people and the Party's ruling position require that the Party shrink the distance between itself and the people."


title: Chen Yun

text: The old dynasties, Chen said, knew the value of a policy of yielding or retreating from untenable positions. The Party has to be able to step back from its past practices: in economy, culture, education, science, and ideology. Without compromising the basic principle of socialism, Chen believed that the Party must accommodate, for the time being, co-existence with aspects of capitalism. But all of this, Chen added, must be done carefully: otherwise China would be in danger of abandoning socialism and restoring capitalism. These pronouncements presaged the major reorientation of Chinese communism in the reform movement.


title: Chen Yun

text: Though Deng Xiaoping is credited as the architect of modern China's economic reforms, Chen Yun contributed much to the strategy adopted by Deng, and Chen was more directly involved in the details of its planning and construction. A key feature of the reform was to use the market to allocate resources, within the scope of an overall plan. The reforms of the early 1980s were, in effect, the implementation, finally, of the program Chen had outlined in the mid-1950s. Chen called this the "birdcage economy". According to Chen, "the cage is the plan, and it may be large or small. But within the cage the bird [the economy] is free to fly as he wishes."


title: Chen Yun

text: In 1981 a rival "Financial and Economic Leading Group" was established under Zhao Ziyang and staffed by a balanced mix of economic planners. In 1982 Chen Yun, who was 77 years old, stepped down from the Politburo and Central Committee and served as Chairman of the new Central Advisory Commission, an institution set up to provide a place for leadership of the founding generation to remain involved in public affairs.


title: Chen Yun

text: During the 1980s, Chen was very much involved in policy discussions. In the beginning and as one of the major architects for the reform and opening up, he supported Deng and the liberal market reforms that had been so successful in agriculture to urban areas and the industrial sector. Moreover, he still posited for the state to retain an active role in market development and planning, a policy that would influence future generations of leadership, including Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. He played an active role in the "Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign" organised in late 1983, to help safeguard China's political status quo and domestic stability.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen Yun was widely admired and respected for striking a balance between excessive laissez faire capitalism and retaining state leadership in guiding China's market economy. Deng and Chen's reforms and foresight helped make generations of Chinese become richer since the days of Mao's Cultural Revolution, as well as propel China into becoming one of the top economies in the world (number one by PPP and number two by nominal GDP).


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen was not, in principle, opposed to the scope of Deng's reforms: China's economic policy had effectively frozen consumer prices for decades, to the point that prices in China no longer had much relationship to the relative value of resources, goods, or services. Chen did object to the way in which the urban reforms were carried out. The immediate consequence of Deng's price reform was a sudden and massive inflation, unprecedented in the experience of the younger generation and particularly frightening to older folks who could still remember the rampant inflation in the last years of the Nationalist regime. The increasing circulation of money in the economy, together with a hybrid system in which those in official position or with official connections were particularly well-placed to take advantage of the new opportunities to make a profit, encouraged official corruption. The government's first response to inflation was to issue bonuses to workers in state-owned enterprises, to help make up for the price increases. Chen Yun argued that, if there were to be such bonuses, they should be gauged to increased productivity. In practice these bonuses were universal throughout the state sector, and had the same economic effect as if the government had simply printed more money. Because Chinese farmers were not eligible for bonuses (since they were not technically state employees), China's agricultural sector, which had prospered in the first stage of the reform, was especially damaged by inflation.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen's theory had been that the market should supplement the plan. In the context of radical Maoism this made him seem like a social democratic proponent of market socialism. It turned out, however, that Chen meant exactly what he had said. He was much less enthusiastic about the market than Deng Xiaoping and Deng's younger colleagues. Although in his "secret" pronouncements of 1979 Chen had shown an unusual personal disdain for Mao, he also indicated he shared the late Chairman's worries that China would abandon socialism and revert to capitalism.


title: Chen Yun

text: During the 1980s Chen emerged as the main figure among the more hard-line opponents of reform. He supported the vigorous campaign in the early 1980s against the "three kinds of people", a general purge of all those who had been identified with radical factions during the Cultural Revolution. He made common cause with conservatives among other Party elders. During the reform era Chen refused to meet with foreigners. Chen never visited the new Special Economic Zones. In a memorial tribute to Li Xiannian, an old colleague from the economic system (and, like Chen, one of the few real proletarians among the first generation of Party leaders), Chen stated that he was not necessarily opposed to everything about the Special Economic Zones. While Chen became the moral leader of the conservative opposition to Deng Xiaoping, he did not challenge Deng's personal primacy as head of regime.


title: Chen Yun

text: Although Zhao Ziyang's promotion of political and economic reform made Zhao one of Chen's main political rivals, Chen was one of the Party elders active in the 1980s who Zhao respected most. In , Chen was one of the few elders who Zhao referred to regularly as a "comrade". Before implementing new policies, Zhao made a habit of visiting Chen, in order to solicit Chen's advice and attempt to gain Chen's approval. In the event that Zhao failed to gain Chen's approval, Zhao would then normally attempt to fall back on the favor of Deng Xiaoping in order to promote reforms.


title: Chen Yun

text: In 1989, Chen, alongside Deng Xiaoping, Li Peng, and others, was among the Party elders responsible for making the key decisions concerning the student-led Tiananmen Square protests. There is no evidence that Chen indulged in diatribes against the students or actively advocated their violent repression. While Chen was opposed to the violent suppression of the students, he did give his support to the military once the action had begun. Chen agreed that Zhao Ziyang should be replaced as the formal head of the Party, and he endorsed Li Xiannian's nomination of Jiang Zemin as the new Party General Secretary.


title: Chen Yun

text: After the 13th Party Congress in November 1987, Chen ended his 56 year–long political career as a member of the CCP Central Committee, also leaving the Politburo Standing Committee, along with both Deng Xiaoping and Li Xiannian. However, Chen succeeded Deng as the Chairman of the Central Advisory Committee.


title: Chen Yun

text: In October 1992 at the age of 87, Chen retired from politics along with other party elders at the 14th Party Congress when the Central Advisory Committee was also abolished.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen Yun was known for his foundational role in spearheading the reform and opening up alongside Deng Xiaoping. During Deng's term, Chen Yun was the second most powerful person in China. Chen was praised for implementing many of the reforms that made the new generation of Chinese richer, but was also admired for striking a balance between too much laissez-faire economics and retaining state control over key areas of the market. He was liberal in the beginning, but later more cautious and conservative, especially in his last years. He was widely admired by the Chinese populace, known for his wide-sweeping economic strategic planning, morality and incorruptibility.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen's political perspective is generally viewed as liberal until about 1980, but conservative after about 1984. Chen Yun remains one of China's most powerful and influential leaders, especially in the PRC's first 50 years, as he was a central decision-maker for the CCP, serving on the Central Committee and Politburo for over 40 years.


title: Chen Yun

text: In the beginning, Chen supported Deng, carried out and implemented many of the influential reforms that made a generation of Chinese richer. But later, Chen realized that the state still needed an active iron hand involvement in the market to prevent the private sector from becoming untamable. Chen's criticism of Deng's later economic reforms was widely influential within the Communist Party and was reflected in the policies of China's leaders after Deng. Chen's theories supported the efforts of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao to use state power to provide boundaries for the operation of the market, and to mediate the damage that capitalism can do to those who find it difficult to benefit from the free market. Chen's notion of the CCP as a "ruling party" is central to the redefinition of the role of the Party in Jiang Zemin's Three Represents. In 2005, on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of Chen's birth, the Party press published, over the course of several weeks, the proceedings of a symposium discussing Chen's contributions to CCP history, theory and practice.


title: Chen Yun

text: Although Chen opposed the Mao regime and opposed some of Deng's later policies, Chen was still widely respected as one of the leading elders of the Chinese Communist Party. During the Cultural Revolution, Chen was able to escape political persecution, especially in Mao's time, as he carefully avoided challenging the top leadership too much. Whatever the wisdom of his substantive positions, Chen consistently appeared to act on principle rather than for personal advantage, and retained his influence in the party throughout the Mao and Deng eras.


title: Chen Yun

text: His eldest son, Chen Yuan, is the founding Governor of the China Development Bank and the former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.


title: Chen Yun

text: Chen Yun was one of the top leaders under Mao Zedong. He is known for his realistic assessments on Mao's policies and Maoism, as exemplified by his quotes on Mao.


title: Shiksa

text: Shiksa () is an often disparaging, although not always, term for a Gentile woman or girl. The word, which is of Yiddish origin, has moved into English usage and some Hebrew usage (as well as Polish and German), mostly in North American Jewish culture.


title: Shiksa

text: Among Orthodox Jews, the term may be used to describe a Jewish girl or woman who fails to follow Orthodox religious precepts.


title: Shiksa

text: The etymology of the word "shiksa" is partly derived from the Hebrew term שקץ "shekets", meaning "abomination", "impure," or "object of loathing", depending on the translator. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it came into English usage in the late 19th century from the Yiddish "shikse", which is an adaptation of the Hebrew word "šiqṣâ", which is derived from "sheqeṣ" ("a detested thing") and the feminine suffix "-â". A passage in which "shekets" (translated as "abomination") appeared in the Talmud to refer to people (rather than non-kosher actions) can be translated as:


title: Shiksa

text: Several dictionaries define "shiksa" as a disparaging and offensive term applied to a non-Jewish girl or woman.


title: Shiksa

text: In North American Jewish communities, the use of "shiksa" reflects more social complexities than merely being a mild insult to non-Jewish women. It culturally evokes "the complex and layered notions of sexuality, its containment of both self-righteousness and self-loathing, the embedded yearning for and guilt of assimilation". A woman can only be a shiksa if she is perceived as such by Jewish people, usually Jewish men, making the term difficult to define; the "Los Angeles Review of Books" suggested there are two concepts of the shiksa, the forbidden seductress and the hag. Despite appearing in Yiddish literature for many decades, the term shiksa did not enter mainstream vernacular until the works of Philip Roth popularized it.


title: Shiksa

text: In North America, the term is typically considered pejorative but not a severe slur. Sometimes, response to its use has treated it as more severe. In 2009, it was recorded as a hate crime in Toronto. In 2014, Rabbi Jack Abramowitz described it as "simply indefensible", "inherently condescending, racist and misogynistic".


title: Shiksa

text: In Israel, where there are few non-Jewish women, the word is used as a pejorative to refer to Jewish women who are not Orthodox or who demonstrate more Western behavior. In other Orthodox communities, it can be used in the same way.


title: Shiksa

text: The shiksa has appeared as a character type in Yiddish literature. In Hayim Nahman Bialik's "Behind the Fence", a young shiksa woman is impregnated by a Jewish man but abandoned for an appropriate Jewish virgin woman. Her grandmother can be considered a hag form of the shiksa. More dangerous shiksas in literature include Shmuel Yosef Agnon's "Lady and the Peddler", in which a shiksa plans to eat the Jewish man she is dating, and I. L. Peretz "Monish", which sees a Jewish man fall into a hell-like place for loving a blonde woman.


title: Shiksa

text: As Jews populated American culture in the 20th century, more shiksa characters began to appear. "Abie's Irish Rose" focused on such a relationship, and the concept is mentioned in "The Jazz Singer". Roth's books made the term mainstream, particularly "Portnoy's Complaint" in 1969. Roth placed the taboo nature of the shiksa in a cultural American Jewish context, not a religious one. His work influenced that of Woody Allen, whose films depicted the concept. In American media, including Roth and Allen, the shiksa is often associated with eating lobster. The "Los Angeles Review of Books" noted that with more examples of shiksa characters, particularly on television, the concept became less taboo and more of a common stereotype.


title: Shiksa

text: Actresses Candice Bergen and Dianna Agron have both been described as "the archetypal shiksa" based on their roles; Agron is Jewish and Bergen is not, though she speaks Yiddish.


title: Shiksa

text: In Polish, "siksa" or () is a pejorative but humorous word for an immature young girl or teenage girl. According to Polish language dictionary from 1915, it has been defined as "pisspants"; a conflation between the Yiddish term and its similarity to the Polish verb "sikać" ("to piss"). In today's language however, it is roughly equivalent to the English terms "snot-nosed brat", "little squirt", and "naughty school-girl" in a humorous context.


title: Shiksa

text: In Victorian England, London slang included "shickster" and "shakester", alternative spellings of the same word used among low class men to refer to the wives of their direct superiors (who were still low class women). As forms of the word entered British English more popularly, the implications became further detached, meaning variously a servant; a woman of low parentage; or a prostitute. By the middle of the 20th century, the word had dropped out of usage in Britain; the "Los Angeles Review of Books" suggests any continued use would be by older people referring to maids. The North American word "shiksa" is not (or rarely) used in British Jewish communities.


title: End of history

text: The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government. A variety of authors have argued that a particular system is the "end of history" including Thomas More in "Utopia", Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Vladimir Solovyov, Alexandre Kojève, and Francis Fukuyama in the 1992 book, "The End of History and the Last Man".


title: End of history

text: The concept of an end of history differs from ideas of an end of the world as expressed in various religions, which may forecast a complete destruction of the Earth or of life on Earth, and the end of the human race. The end of history instead proposes a state in which human life continues indefinitely into the future without any further major changes in society, system of governance, or economics.


title: End of history

text: The phrase "the end of history" was first used by French philosopher and mathematician Antoine Augustin Cournot in 1861 "to refer to the end of the historical dynamic with the perfection of civil society". "Arnold Gehlen adopted it in 1952 and it has been taken up more recently by Heidegger and Vattimo".


title: End of history

text: The formal development of an idea of an "end of history" is most closely associated with Hegel, although Hegel discussed the idea in ambiguous terms, making it unclear whether he thought such a thing was a certainty or a mere possibility. The goal of Hegel's philosophy on history was to show that history is a process of realization of reason, for which he does not name a definite endpoint. Hegel believes that it is on the one hand the task of history to show that there is essentially reason in the development over time, while on the other hand history itself also has the task of developing reason over time. The realization of history is thus something that one can observe, but also something that is an active task.