Couscous originated as a Maghrebi dish of small steamed balls of crushed durum wheat semolina, traditionally served with a stew spooned on top. Pearl millet and sorghum in the Sahel, other cereals can be cooked in a similar way and the resulting dishes are sometimes called couscous. Pearl or Israeli couscous, properly known as ptitim, is a type of pasta. Couscous is a staple food throughout the North African cuisines of Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, it is important in the cuisine of those from that area who have emigrated elsewhere such as the Moroccan Jews in Israel, has sometimes spread from them to their new neighbors as in France where couscous introduced by Algerian immigrants is now a popular dish. In Western supermarkets, it is sometimes sold in instant form with a flavor packet, may be served as a side or on its own as a main dish; the original name may be derived from the Berber seksu, meaning "well rolled", "well formed", or "rounded". Numerous different names and pronunciations for couscous exist around the world.

Couscous in the United Kingdom and only the latter in the United States. It is sometimes pronounced kuskusi in Arabic, while it is known in Morocco as seksu; the origin of couscous appears to be in the region from eastern to northern Africa where Berbers used it as early as the 7th century. Recognized as a traditional North African delicacy, it is a common cuisine component among Maghreb countries. Ibn Battuta stated in his Rihlah, indicating what may be the earliest mention of couscous in West Africa from the early 1350s: When the traveler arrives in a village the women of the blacks come with anlî and milk and chickens and flour of nabaq, fûnî fonio, this is like the grain of mustard and from it kuskusu and porridge are made, bean flour, he buys from them what he likes, but not rice, as eating the rice is harmful to white men and the fûnî is better than it. Couscous is traditionally made from the hard part of the durum, the part of the grain that resisted the grinding of the millstone; the semolina is sprinkled with water and rolled with the hands to form small pellets, sprinkled with dry flour to keep them separate, sieved.

Any pellets that are too small to be finished granules of couscous fall through the sieve and are again rolled and sprinkled with dry semolina and rolled into pellets. This labor-intensive process continues until all the semolina has been formed into tiny granules of couscous. In the traditional method of preparing couscous, groups of women come together to make large batches over several days, which were dried in the sun and used for several months. Handmade couscous may need to be re-hydrated. In some regions couscous is made from coarsely ground barley or pearl millet. In Brazil, the traditional couscous is made from cornmeal. In modern times, couscous production is mechanized, the product is sold in markets around the world; this couscous can be sauteed before it is cooked in another liquid. Properly cooked couscous is not gummy or gritty. Traditionally, North Africans use a food steamer; the base is a tall metal pot shaped rather like an oil jar in which the meat and vegetables are cooked as a stew.

On top of the base, a steamer sits where the couscous is cooked, absorbing the flavours from the stew. The lid to the steamer has holes around its edge, it is possible to use a pot with a steamer insert. If the holes are too big, the steamer can be lined with damp cheesecloth. There is little archaeological evidence of early diets including couscous because the original couscoussier was made from organic materials that could not survive extended exposure to the elements; the couscous, sold in most Western supermarkets has been pre-steamed and dried. It is prepared by adding 1.5 measures of boiling water or stock to each measure of couscous leaving covered for about five minutes. Pre-steamed couscous takes less time to prepare than regular couscous, most dried pasta, or dried grains. In Morocco, Algeria and Libya, couscous is served with vegetables cooked in a spicy or mild broth or stew, some meat. In Algeria and Morocco it may be served at the end of a meal or by itself in a dish called "sfouff".

The couscous is steamed several times until it is fluffy and pale in color. It is sprinkled with almonds and sugar. Traditionally, this dessert is served with milk perfumed with orange flower water, or it can be served plain with buttermilk in a bowl as a cold light soup for supper. Moroccan couscous uses saffron. Algerian couscous includes tomatoes and a variety of legumes and vegetables, Saharan couscous is served without legumes and without broth. In Tunisia, it is made spicy with harissa sauce and served with any dish, including lamb, seafood and sometimes in southern regions, camel. Fish couscous is a Tunisian specialty and can be made with octopus, squid or other seafood in hot, spicy sauce. In Libya, it is mostly

The tan beret known as a beige beret has been adopted as official headgear by several special operations forces as a symbol of their unique capabilities. Afghan National Army Special Forces members are awarded a tan beret after completing ANA Special Forces Qualification and serving honorably for two deployment cycles. All ANA Special Forces candidates are selected from the Afghan National Army Commandos, where they have earned a maroon beret for completing the ANA Commando Qualification Course at Camp Morehead, Kabul Province. Qualified members of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment wear a sand-coloured beret with a metal gold and silver winged dagger badge on a black shield. A sand-coloured beret is worn by Airmobile personnel concentrated in the 12th Light Infantry Brigade in the State of São Paulo, regardless of Arm of Service. Berets are worn in the French manner, with Army Badge over the right eye and extra material pulled to the left; the sand-coloured beret of the Special Air Service is designated the beige beret.

The beige beret was worn from 1942 till 1944. In 1944 when the SAS returned to the UK they were forced to adopt the maroon beret of the airborne forces as they became part of that command; when the SAS was re-raised in 1947 as 21st SAS Artist Rifles they again wore the maroon beret. In 1956 however the SAS adopted the beige beret again, an attempt was made to match the original sand coloured cloth beret from those in the possession of veterans; this proved impossible to do from existing approved cloth colour stocks held by the British authorities, so, as a compromise and with no authorisation for expenditure on a new colour dye the nearest acceptable colour was selected and approved by an all ranks committee of the Regimental Association. In 1958 all SAS personnel switched from maroon to beige. Personnel attached to the regiment wear this beret but with their own badges in accordance with usual British practice. Only members of Canadian Special Operations Forces Command wear the tan beret, regardless of whether they wear Army, Navy or Air Force uniform.

This includes members of Joint Task Force 2, the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit and 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. The standard berets of Navy and Air Force uniforms are black and blue, respectively. See Military beret § Canada for details. Brown berets were worn by fortress troops assigned to the Maginot Line during the interwar period of the 1920s through the invasion of 1940, it was later worn by tirailleur units of the Colonial Army in lieu of the Bonnet de Police. The MARCOS units of the Indian Navy wear tan berets; the 2nd Special Operations Brigade wear tan berets with special ops wings with dagger since 12th of October 2018. Tan berets are worn by the raiders corp of Italian Air Force, its primary missions are: raids on aeronautical compounds, Forward Air Control, Combat Controlling, Combat Search and Rescue. Its origins are in the A. D. R. A Arditi Distruttori Regia Aeronautica, a corp of WW2, they were used in little-known missions against bridges and allied airfields in north-Africa after the fall of Tunisia.

The only well-known mission reported the destruction with explosive charges of 25 B-17s and the killing of 50 bomber crew members. The sand-coloured beret, winged dagger badge and blue belt are worn by members of the New Zealand Special Air Service and are awarded to personnel who are accepted as members of the unit after passing the arduous selection course and 9 month basic cycle of training; the 2nd Battalion of the Norwegian Army Brigade Nord uses a sand-coloured beret. However they are not considered special forces. 69 Commando of the Royal Malaysia Police adopted the tan beret as part of their uniform after the beret was conferred by the United Kingdom's 22 SAS to the founding members of 69 Commando after completing SAS training in 1969. 69 Commando is the only unit in Malaysia wearing the tan beret. See: Pasukan Gerakan Khas. Prior to 1979, all Guardsmen worn the standard army green berets as official headgear. Together with the presentation of a newly designed Cap Badge Backing on the 6th of April 1979, as well as the issuing of the distinctive Khaki berets on the 9th of June 1994, the special nature of Guardsmen in the Singapore Armed Forces were recognised.

Support personnel attached to Guards units continue to wear their parent unit's designated berets coupled with the Guards cap badge backing. For detailed background, see Singapore Guards. Spanish Light Infantry Brigade "CANARIAS XVI" uses a sand-coloured beret since April 2011; the BRILCAN, directly subordinated to Canarias General Command, possesses preparation for the aeromobility, combat in population and for the operations in the desert within the framework of the Rapid Action Force that they justify the color of his beret. See: Brigada de Infantería Ligera CANARIAS XVI; the Swedish Home Guard wears a tan beret. All members of the Special Forces Command wear a tan beret with their uniform. An olive drab beret was worn by Alaska's 172nd Infantry Brigade from 1973 to 1979. On June 14, 2001 the U. S. Army Rangers assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment were authorized to wear a distinctive tan beret to replace the black berets that had become the army-wide standard. In the U. S. Army, the tan beret can be worn only by those assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Ranger Training Brigade, or have served with the regiment for at least one year and is serving within the U.

S. Army Special Operations Command. Other military berets by c

Brian Stacy Miller is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Born in Pine Bluff Arkansas, Miller grew up in Arkansas. Upon graduating from Helena-West Helena Central High Schoolin 1985, he entered active duty in the United States Navy in June 1985 and served as a Boatswains Mate on the USS New Jersey from 1986 to 1989, he served in the United States Navy Reserve in 1984 and from 1989 to 1992. After being honorably discharged from active duty, he attended Phillips County Community College of the University of Arkansas in Helena and received an Associate of Arts degree in 1991, he received a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, from the University of Central Arkansas in 1992 and a Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt Law School in 1995. He joined the Memphis, law firm of Martin, Morrow & Marston, P. C. in 1995 and opened the Miller Law Firm in Helena in 1998. He was elected city attorney for his hometown of Helena in 1998 and served in that position from 1999 to 2006.

He served as city attorney for the towns of Lakeview and Edmondson, Arkansas and as city judge for Holly Grove, Arkansas. He served as deputy prosecuting attorney of Phillips County, Arkansas from 2000 to 2006. In 2007, Miller was appointed to the Arkansas Court of Appeals by Governor Mike Huckabee and served until 2008, when he was appointed to the United States District Court. On October 16, 2007, Miller was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas vacated by George Howard Jr.. Miller was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 10, 2008, received his commission on April 17, 2008, he served as Chief Judge from July 23, 2012 to July 23, 2019. Brian Stacy Miller at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center