The Parti Québécois is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishing a sovereign state; the PQ has promoted the possibility of maintaining a loose political and economic sovereignty-association between Quebec and Canada. The party traditionally has support from the labour movement, but unlike most other social democratic parties, its ties with organized labour are informal. Members and supporters of the PQ are called péquistes, a French word derived from the pronunciation of the party's initials; the party is an associate member of COPPPAL. The party has strong informal ties to the Bloc Québécois, the federal party that has advocated for the secession of Quebec from Canada, but the two are not linked organizationally; as with its federal counterpart, the Parti Québécois has been supported by a wide range of voters in Quebec, from large sections of organized labour to more conservative rural voters.

The PQ is the result of the 1968 merger between former Quebec Liberal Party cabinet minister René Lévesque's Mouvement Souveraineté-Association and the Ralliement national. Following the creation of the PQ, the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale held a general assembly that voted to dissolve the RIN, its former members were invited to join the new Parti Québécois. The PQ's primary goals were to obtain political and social autonomy for the province of Quebec. Lévesque introduced the strategy of referenda early in the 1970s; the PQ faced its first electoral test in the 1970 provincial election. However, Lévesque was unable to get into the renamed National Assembly. Although it lost one seat in 1973, the decimation of the other parties the Union Nationale, allowed it to become the official opposition though Lévesque was still unable to win a seat. In the 1976 provincial election, the Parti Québécois won government for the first time, taking 71 of the 110 seats available. Lévesque became the Premier of Quebec.

This provided cause for celebration among many French-speaking Quebecers, while it resulted in an acceleration of the migration of the province's Anglophone population and related economic activity toward Toronto. The first PQ government was known as the "republic of professors" because of the large number of scholars in Lévesque's cabinet; the PQ was the first government to recognize the rights of Aboriginal peoples to self-determination, insofar as this self-determination did not affect the territorial integrity of Quebec. The PQ passed laws on public consultations and the financing of political parties, which ensured equal financing of political parties and limited contributions by individuals to $3000. However, the most prominent legacy of the PQ is the Charter of the French Language, a framework law which defines the linguistic primacy of French and seeks to make French the common public language of Quebec, it allowed the advancement of francophones towards management roles, until largely out of their reach.

Despite the fact that 85% of the population spoke French and most of them did not understand English, the language of management was English in most medium and large businesses. Critics, both Francophone and Anglophone, have however criticized the charter for restraining citizens' linguistic school choice, as it forbids immigrants and Quebecers of French descent from attending English-language schools funded by the state; the Parti Québécois initiated the 1980 Quebec referendum seeking a mandate to begin negotiation for sovereignty-association. It was rejected by 60 per cent of voters; the party was re-elected in the 1981 election, but in November 1984 it experienced the most severe internal crisis of its existence. Lévesque wanted to focus on governing Quebec rather than sovereignty, wanted to adopt a more conciliatory approach on constitutional issues; this angered the more ardent sovereigntists, known as durs. Lévesque was forced to resign as a result. In September 1985, the party leadership election chose Pierre-Marc Johnson as his successor.

Despite its social-democratic past, the PQ failed to gain admission into the Socialist International, after the membership application was vetoed by the federal New Democratic Party. The PQ led by Johnson was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party in the 1985 election that saw Robert Bourassa return as premier; the Liberals served in office for two terms and attempted to negotiate a constitutional settlement with the rest of Canada but with the failure of the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord, two packages of proposed amendments to the Canadian constitution, the question of Quebec's status remained unresolved and the Quebec sovereignty movement revived. The PQ returned to power under the leadership of hardline sovereigntist Jacques Parizeau in the 1994 Quebec election; this saw the PQ win 77 seats and 44% of the vote, on a promise to hold an independence referendum within a year. The following year, Parizeau called the 1995 Quebec referendum proposing negotiations on sovereignty.

Again, the sovereigntists lost the vote. The final count showed 49.42% of voters supported negotiations that could lead to sovereignty. On the night of the defeat, an drained Premier Parizeau stated that the loss was caused by "money and ethnic votes" as well as by the divided votes amongst francophones. Parizeau resigned the next day (as he is alleged to have planned beforehand in

Morisset is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, is located west of Lake Macquarie just off the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway. The count at the 2011 Census was 2,857 for the gazetted suburb of Morisset; the estimated urban population of the Morisset area, including Cooranbong, was 25,309 as at June 2018. The area is growing with population increasing 2.6 percent over the prior year, 2017, having five-year average annual growth of 1.8 percent. The town is named for Major James Thomas Morisset, who camped there in 1823 while making the overland journey from Sydney to Newcastle. Morisset went on to become Commandant at Norfolk Island prison between 1829–1833, where his brutal regime led to a rebellion. There has been considerable confusion over the spelling of the suburb: Morissett, Morriset and Morrisset have been used; the earliest settlement in the area was at Cooranbong in 1826, about 5 kilometres west of the current town and near the foot of the Watagan Mountains.

Various kinds of agriculture were conducted, before long forestry became an important industry. Most of the transport to the area at the time was by river boat on Dora Creek meaning that Cooranbong was the most accessible part of town; the town of Morisset itself was non-existent until 1887, when the Sydney-Newcastle railway was built. Morisset sprang up as a sawmill town clustered around the train station, the township was proclaimed on 3 December. In 1908, a psychiatric hospital opened on a large estate along the lake shore. At its height in the 1960s, Morisset Mental Hospital had 1,600 patients; the Hospital continues to dominate Morisset's reputation, although it is now only a 130-bed hospital. The first bus service was started by the Ward family. In more recent times, the Morisset Peninsula to the east of the town has become the main residential area, it has experienced a high rate of growth since the construction of Eraring Power Station in 1986. Most of Bonnells Bay is now what long-time residents quaintly refer to as "high-density housing", although by city standards it is decidedly low-density.

Several retirement villages have been built, most of them only in the last decade. Subdivision of larger blocks has come close to saturation in many suburbs, with only a few hobby-farms still remaining, although the majority of the Morisset district and peninsula remain bushland and National Park and Aboriginal reserves. Morisset has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Morisset Park Road: Morisset Hospital Morisset contains a state primary school, a state high school and a Catholic school. Morisset Public School opened in 1891 and started accommodating high school classes in 1951; these classes transferred to a new high school campus, Morisset High School, at the start of the 1965 school year, with the public school returning to purely primary education. A Catholic primary school, St John Vianney School, opened on 17 January 1962, was administered by the Sisters of St Joseph until becoming part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle in 1966. Morisset railway station, located on Dora Street, is linked to Sydney and Newcastle by NSW TrainLink services on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line, to Maitland and towns further north by long distance services.

The train station serves as a terminus for bus services 278 and 279 covering the Morisset Peninsula towns and 280 to Cooranbong. These services are operated by Hunter Valley Buses, which acquired the previous provider Toronto Bus. In July 2009, Rover Coaches commenced Route 163, to Cessnock and Kurri Kurri. Christian radio may be heard on 87.8 FM around the town broadcasting 3ABN Australia Radio Network. 3ABN Australia Production Centre is located in Morisset. Iron Horse and Iron Bark: A history of Morisset and district, Beryl Mullard, ISBN 0-9579322-0-0 A Private World on a Nameless Bay - a history of Morisset Hospital, Morisset Hospital Historical Society, ISBN 0-646-39273-5 History of Morisset Morisset Hospital Historical Society 3ABN Australia, Inc

Joseph Willibrord Mähler's portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, painted in 1804 or 1805, is the first of four untitled portraits the painter made of the composer. Today it hangs in the Pasqualati House of the Vienna Museum. Joseph Willibrord Mähler was introduced to Beethoven by Stephan von Breuning. Though a court secretary, Mähler was interested in music, was a good singer and did some composing. Beethoven took him to one rehearsal of Leonore in 1805. What is known about the painting stems from Alexander Wheelock Thayer's biography, he first came across the original Mähler painting during a research visit to Caroline Barbara van Beethoven, the widow of Karl Beethoven, the composer's nephew. Because Thayer owned a copy, he was interested in learning about the circumstances under which it was painted, he considered this painting the most interesting and engaging of the portraits he had encountered. He interviewed Joseph Willibrord Mähler on May 24, 1860. Thayer characterized the friendship between Beethoven and Mähler as one where composer's kindness was returned by Mähler with warm affection and admiration for composer's genius.

In offering recollections of Beethoven, Mähler wondered where it was. To his question, Thayer responded. Mähler revealed that he had a copy of it. Mähler painted four portraits of Beethoven. Only the first image, dated by Thayer at 1804–05, contains a nearly full view of the composer. Beethoven liked this portrait much and owned it until his death. There are only three references to this portrait in contemporary Beethoven sources: In Beethoven's Nachlass there was an undated note to Mähler: "I beg of you to return my portrait to me as soon as you have made sufficient use of it—if you need it longer I beg of you at least to make haste—I have promised the portrait to a stranger, a lady who saw it here, that she may hang it in her room during her stay of several weeks. Who can withstand such charming importunities, as a matter of course a portion of the lovely favors which I shall thus garner will fall to you"; the portrait of Beethoven’s grandfather was prominently displayed in the entry hall, while the Mähler portrait was on the back wall of a storage room where visitors were never admitted.

In an extended article, Owen Jander discusses the symbolism embedded within Beethoven's fifth symphony and the portrait, hypothesizing that both works were a "ritualized confrontation" – a public yet veiled declaration of the composer's growing deafness, as a means of learning to accept it. Jander proposes that much of 18th to 19th century portrait painting can be considered self-portraits, commissioned at significant times in a person's life in which the details of the portrait were laid out by the subject. Elements such as the subject's pose, facial expression, accompanying objects and gestures are all part of the conventions of portraiture. If any of these elements is depicted in such a way that diverges from typical depictions, that strengthens the message they intend to communicate by drawing in the viewer's attention. Contrasting gestures between right and left arm are typical and serve to sensitize the viewer to summon interpretation, or in the words of critic Philip Conisbee, a "narrative portrait with a didactic purpose."Jander theorizes that an inspiration for Mähler's portrait is Leopold Radoux's 1773 portrait of Beethoven's grandfather named Ludwig van Beethoven, which the composer had prominently displayed in his apartment.

Notably, one of the features of this portrait was a cape falling off the back of the subject. To Jander, this represents the overcoming of grief that befell Beethoven's grandfather upon the death of his wife from alcoholism while maintaining a family life. To understand the possible effect upon the composer, Jander cites 18th century mathematician and art theorist Johann Georg Sulzer who in his Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste provided an understanding on how an ancestor's portrait can have a healing effect on descendants. "The bonds of admiration and love between us and our ancestors are maintained and thus have a healing influence on the spirit, as though the deceased were still sitting among us….a portrait can make as powerful an impression upon us humans as can the person himself." Jander notes that plant studies were part of the curriculum of the Dresden Art Academy where Mähler attended, so it is natural to expect plants in his graphic work. The plant at the bottom left of the portrait Jander identified as Polygonum bistorta known as knotweed.

The nature of this plant is of inflorescence. In the portrait there are groups of knotweed shown in various stages, from initial blossoming with pink to mature florets with the color receded. Jander proposes. Though Mähler described the instrument as a lyre, Jander identified it as a lyre-guitar, an instrument popular in the early 19th century; the interpretation is that, with his