Laos is an independent republic, a landlocked nation in Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam. It covers 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar, the People's Republic of China and Vietnam. About seventy percent of its geographic area is made up of mountain ranges, highlands and rivers cut through, its location has made it a buffer state between more powerful neighboring states, as well as a crossroads for trade and communication. Migration and international conflict have contributed to the present ethnic composition of the country and to the geographic distribution of its ethnic groups. Most of the western border of Laos is demarcated by the Mekong river, an important artery for transportation; the Dong Falls at the southern end of the country prevent access to the sea, but cargo boats travel along the entire length of the Mekong in Laos during most of the year. Smaller power boats and pirogues provide an important means of transportation on many of the tributaries of the Mekong.

The Mekong has thus not been an obstacle but a facilitator for communication, the similarities between Laos and northeast Thai society—same people same language—reflect the close contact that has existed across the river for centuries. Many Laotians living in the Mekong Valley have relatives and friends in Thailand. Prior to the twentieth century, Laotian kingdoms and principalities encompassed areas on both sides of the Mekong, Thai control in the late nineteenth century extended to the left bank. Although the Mekong was established as a border by French colonial forces, travel from one side to the other has been limited only since the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in 1975; the eastern border with Vietnam extends for 2,130 kilometres along the crest of the Annamite Chain, serves as a physical barrier between the Chinese-influenced culture of Vietnam and the Indianized states of Laos and Thailand. These mountains are sparsely populated by tribal minorities who traditionally have not acknowledged the border with Vietnam any more than lowland Lao have been constrained by the 1,754-kilometre Mekong River border with Thailand.

Thus, ethnic minority populations are found on both the Laotian and Vietnamese sides of the frontier. Because of their relative isolation, contact between these groups and lowland Lao has been confined to trading. Laos shares its short—only 541 kilometres—southern border with Cambodia, ancient Khmer ruins at Wat Pho and other southern locations attest to the long history of contact between the Lao and the Khmer. In the north, the country is bounded by a mountainous 423-kilometre border with China and shares the 235-kilometre-long Mekong River border with Myanmar; the topography of Laos is mountainous, with the Annamite Range in the northeast and east and the Luang Prabang Range in the northwest, among other ranges characterized by steep terrain. Elevations are above 500 metres with narrow river valleys and low agricultural potential; this mountainous landscape extends across most of the north of the country, except for the plain of Vientiane and the Plain of Jars in the Xiangkhoang Plateau. The southern "panhandle" of the country contains large level areas in Savannakhét and Champasak provinces that are well suited for extensive paddy rice cultivation and livestock raising.

Much of Khammouan Province and the eastern part of all the southern provinces are mountainous. Together, the alluvial plains and terraces of the Mekong and its tributaries cover only about 20% of the land area. Only about 4% of the total land area is classified as arable; the forested land area has declined since the 1970s as a result of commercial logging and expanded swidden, or slash-and-burn, farming. Phou Bia, 2,819 m Phu Xai Lai Leng, 2,720 m Rao Co, 2,286 m Phu Soi Dao, 2,120 m Pu Ke, 2,079 m Shiceng Dashan, 1,830 m Dong Ap Bia, 937 m Laos has a tropical monsoon climate, with a pronounced rainy season from May through October, a cool dry season from November through February, a hot dry season in March and April. Monsoons occur at the same time across the country, although that time may vary from one year to the next. Rainfall varies regionally, with the highest amounts—3,700 millimeters annually—recorded on the Bolovens Plateau in Champasak Province. City rainfall stations have recorded.

Rainfall is not always adequate for rice cultivation and the high average precipitation conceals years where rainfall may be only half or less of the norm, causing significant declines in rice yields. Such droughts are regional, leaving production in other parts of the country unaffected; the average temperatures in January, coldest month, Luang Prabang 20.5 °C, Vientiane 20.3 °C, Pakse 23.9 °C. Temperature does vary according to the altitude, there is an average drop of 1.7 °C for every 1000 feet. Temperatures in the upland plateux and in the mountains are considered lower than on the plains around Vientiane. Laos is vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. Agriculture in Laos is the most important sector of the economy. Five million out of 23,680,000 hectares of Laos's total land area is suitable for cult

Band of Joy is English rock singer Robert Plant's ninth solo album and the first with his new band, the Band of Joy. It was released on 13 September 2010 in the UK and 14 September in the USA. In addition to the song "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down", the opening theme for the Starz television series Boss, the credits of BBC One's Luther for an episode aired on 16 July 2013 and the season two finale of the Syfy series Defiance, the album is notable for the song "Monkey" of the band Low, slowed-down to a grinding, spooky Gothic Rock tempo and mood, vastly different from Low's version, it is arguably the least similar to other tracks on the album, which for the most part carry folk rock or progressive rock moods. This version of "Monkey" may be the first Gothic Rock track Robert Plant has recorded, although it is not a staple at Plant's live performances, there have been instances where he has performed it; the album debuted at # 5 at # 3 on the UK Albums Chart. The first single released from the album was "Angel Dance".

Robert Plant – lead vocals, backing vocals Band of JoyBekka Bramlett – backing vocals Marco Giovino – drums, backing vocals Patty Griffin – vocals, backing vocals Byron House – bass guitar, double bass Buddy Miller – electric guitar, baritone guitar, 6-string bass guitar, backing vocals] Darrell Scott – acoustic guitar, octave mandolin, accordion, pedal steel guitar & lap steel guitar, backing vocals Band of Joy was received positively. Metacritic's aggregate score for the album is 80 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Rolling Stone, while only giving the album a three-and-a-half-star review, ranked it #8 on its list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010. Q Magazine in its January 2011 edition ranked Band of Joy as the second best album of 2010, stating that, "free from having to imitate his 20-year-old self in Zeppelin, the sexagenarian sings to his strengths here, with Miller and Griffin his not-so secret weapons on an album that pinwheels between gentlemanly country-blues, spooky lo-fi and charming'60s pop."

The album was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best Americana Album and the song "Silver Rider" for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance. Frontman and vocalist Robert Plant was nominated for best British Male Solo Artist at the Brit Awards 2011

The eastern black-eared wheatear is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird, classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more considered to be an Old World flycatcher. In autumn and winter the head and mantle are distinctly buff, as are the underparts, including the throat, but the buff varies in intensity. Except for the central pair, the tail feathers are much whiter than in the northern wheatear, the white on the inner web extending to the tip; the female is a browner bird, but has the characteristic lower back, her seasonal changes are less marked. It is found in the eastern Mediterranean, migrates to winter quarters in the Sudan; the male of the eastern is whiter in summer than the western black-eared wheatear, but as a rule may be distinguished by the line which extends across the base of the bill. Black-throated individuals of this race have a greater amount of black on the throat and face than on the western birds, the black terminates more abruptly or in a straighter line.

Ullman, Magnus Identification of Pied Wheatear and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Dutch Birding 16: 186-194 Ullman, Magnus Separation of Western and Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Dutch Birding 25: 77-97

John Roy Lynch was an African-American Republican politician, writer and military officer. Born into slavery in Louisiana, he became free in 1863 under the Emancipation Proclamation, his father was an Irish immigrant and his parents had a common-law marriage. After serving for several years in the state legislature, in 1873 Lynch was elected as the first African-American Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives. During Reconstruction after the American Civil War, he was among the first generation of African Americans from the South elected to the U. S. House of Representatives, serving from 1873 to 1877 and again in the 1880s. Faced with increasing restrictions in Mississippi, Lynch studied law, passed the bar, returned to Washington, DC to set up a practice. After Democrats regained power in the state legislature following Reconstruction, in 1890 they disfranchised most blacks in the state by a new constitution that raised barriers to voter registration. In his 50s, Lynch studied law.

Seeing the effects of disenfranchisement, Lynch left the state and returned to Washington, DC to practice law. He served in the United States Army during the Spanish–American War and for a decade into the early 1900s, achieving the rank of major. After retiring, Lynch moved to Chicago, where he lived for more than two decades. After his military service, Lynch was active in law and real estate in Chicago. Beginning in 1877, when Reconstruction ended with the federal government withdrawing its troops from the South, Lynch wrote and published four books: these analyzed the political situation in the South during and after Reconstruction, he is best known for The Facts of Reconstruction. It is available online at the Gutenberg Project. In it, he argued against the prevailing view of the Dunning School, conservative white historians who downplayed African-American contributions and the achievements of the Reconstruction era. Lynch emphasized how significant was the ratification of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, which granted full citizenship to all persons without restriction of race or color, suffrage to minority males.

John R. Lynch was born into slavery in 1847 on Tacony Plantation near Vidalia, Concordia Parish, Louisiana, he was the third son of his mother Catherine White, enslaved. She had four boys in total. Born in Virginia, she was of mixed race, as were both of her parents and Elizabeth White. Under slavery law, the children of slave mothers were slaves, regardless of paternity. John's father Patrick Lynch was the overseer on the plantation. A young immigrant, Patrick Lynch had come to the United States with his family from Ireland, they settled in Ohio. As young men and his older brother Edward Lynch moved South. There he fell in love with Catherine and they became a couple, living together as man and wife. To protect his family, Patrick Lynch planned to buy Catherine and their mixed-race sons from the Tacony Plantation owner. Before the transaction was completed, a new owner bought the plantation and hired a different manager. Lynch could no longer afford to post the $1,000 bond required by the legislature for each person in his family in order to free them.

In addition, he would have to submit a request for these manumissions to an Emancipation Court. Lynch planned to move with his family to New Orleans, where his brother Edward lived, try to save money there to secure his family's freedom, he thought the city would be a good place to live, as he had learned that it had a large population of free people of color. Many had achieved economic status. Lynch died in 1849 of illness before carrying out his plan. Before his death, Patrick Lynch arranged for his friend, William G. Deal, to take title of Catherine and John, with the understanding that this was a legality to protect the family, who continued to work at Tacony plantation, but after a time, Deal sold them to a planter in Natchez, Mississippi. When she met Davis, Catherine was shocked to learn of the sale, she told him her family's story. Davis offered to keep her and her two sons with her, to have her work in his household, he allowed her to hire out and save some of the money she earned. He kept his word, but Catherine and her two sons did not gain freedom until 1863, under the Emancipation Proclamation.

Because of an argument with Mrs. Davis, the boy John Lynch had been sent to field labor on the plantation, he was 16 when his family gained freedom. Lynch worked with elements of the Union Army in the Natchez area. After the Civil War ended in 1865, a friend of his father's arranged for him to work for a photographer. Lynch took on increased responsibilities until he managed its finances, he built a successful business in Natchez. Wanting to continue his education, Lynch attended. Lynch read in books and newspapers during lulls in his business day; as Lynch's business was near a white school, the young man eavesdropped on lessons through the open windows. Lynch's leadership abilities were r

Paul Friedlander is a Swazi professional golfer. Friedlander is from Swaziland, he attended college at Oral Roberts University in the United States. He had a successful college career, he won the 1992 Elkins Lake Fall Classic, was medalist at the 1993 Oklahoma State Amateur tournament, won the 1994 UALR Intercollegiate. Friedlander turned pro shortly afterwards, he won the 1995 IDC Development Classic in South Africa by 8 strokes. The following year he finished runner-up to James Kingston at the Bushveld Classic. In 1996 he won the Asian Tour's Gadgil Western Dubai Creek Open. In 1998 he won the Stenham Royal Swazi Sun Open, an official event on the Sunshine Tour in his home country of Swaziland. Despite these victories Friedlander did not have much else success recording other top ten finishes. In February 1999, frustrated after years of "wallowing in mediocrity," Friedlander announced his retirement from tournament golf at the age of 28. Friedlander is now a businessman; as of 2015, he worked as an executive for Galito's Flame Grilled Chicken.

Friedlander is Jewish. 1996 Gadgil Western Dubai Creek Open Paul Friedlander at the Official World Golf Ranking official site

Remesh Ramachandran is an Indian ethical hacker. Working on numerous cyber crimes, Ramachandran has engaged with Indian Government and International agencies. Ramesh is a part of Google Hall of Fame. Ramesh has worked with finance companies, conducting security audits. Remesh Ramachandran is the founder of OpenPenTest, he has developed an OpenPenTest platform, available for security researchers, penetration testers and ethical hackers for performing vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. Besides, he serves as a Member of Advisory Board for the EC-Council and contributes for their certification exam CHFI, he is working as a CISO at Hazida Group. Remesh has submitted numerous research papers at several information security conferences such as DEF CON, BlackHat and Hackers Halted Google Hall of Fame spotting a bug known as Cross-site Scripting'Bug Bounties' and Acknowledgements from - United Nations, Microsoft, Lenovo, McAfee, Yahoo, eBay, Check Point, MasterCard, University of Cambridge, University of Twente and Harvard University