A quill pen is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, the metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen, the ballpoint pen; the hand-cut goose quill is used as a calligraphy tool, because many papers are now derived from wood pulp and wear down the quill quickly. However, it is still the tool of choice for a few scribes who noted that quills provide an unmatched sharp stroke as well as greater flexibility than a steel pen. In a prepared quill, the slit does not widen through wetting and drying with ink, it will retain its shape adequately and only requires infrequent sharpening and can be used time and time again until there is little left of it. The hollow shaft of the feather acts as an ink reservoir and ink flows to the tip by capillary action; the strongest quills come from the primary flight feathers discarded by birds during their annual moult. Feathers from the left wing are favored by the right-handed majority of British writers because the feather curves away from the sight line, over the back of the hand.

The quill barrel is cut to six or seven inches in length, so no such consideration of curvature or'sight-line' is necessary. Additionally, writing with the left hand in the era in which the quill was popular was discouraged, quills were never sold as left and right-handed, only by their size and species. Goose feathers are most used. Depending on availability and strength of the feather, as well as quality and characteristic of the line wanted by the writer, other feathers used for quill-pen making include those from the crow, owl and turkey. Crow feathers were useful as quills when fine work, such as accounting books, was required; each bird could supply only about 10 to 12 good-quality quills. On a true quill, the barbs are stripped off on the trailing edge. A fashion developed for stripping and leaving a decorative top of a few barbs; the fancy plumed quill is a Hollywood invention and has little basis in reality. Most, if not all, manuscript illustrations of scribes show a quill devoid of decorative barbs, or at least stripped.

Quill pens were used to write the vast majority of medieval manuscripts. Quill pens were used to write the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence. U. S. President Thomas Jefferson bred geese specially at Monticello to supply his tremendous need for quills. Quill pens are still used today by professional scribes and calligraphers. Quills are used as the plectrum material in string instruments the harpsichord. Quills were the primary writing instrument in the western world from the 6th to the 19th century; the best quills were made from goose and turkey feathers. Quills went into decline after the invention of the metal pen, mass production beginning in Great Britain as early as 1822 by John Mitchell of Birmingham. Quill pens were the instrument of choice during the medieval era due to their compatibility with parchment and vellum. Before this the reed pen had been used, but a finer letter was achieved on animal skin using a cured quill. Other than written text, they were used to create figures and images on manuscripts, although many illuminators and painters preferred fine brushes for their work.

The variety of different strokes in formal hands was accomplished by good penmanship as the tip was square cut and rigid as it is today with modern steel pens. It was much in the 1600s, with the increased popularity of writing in the copperplate script promoted by the many printed manuals available from the'Writing Masters', that quills became more pointed and flexible. According to the Supreme Court Historical Society, 20 goose-quill pens, neatly crossed, are placed at the four counsel tables each day the U. S. Supreme Court is in session; this has been done since the earliest sessions of the Court. Quills are denominated from the order. Flags the 5th and 6th feathers are used. No other feather on the wing would be considered suitable by a professional scribe. Information can be obtained on the techniques of curing and cutting quills In order to harden a quill, soft, thrust the barrel into hot ashes, stirring it till it is soft. If you have a number to harden, set water and alum over the fire.

An accurate account of the Victorian process by William Bishop, from researches with one of the last London quill dressers, is recorded in the Calligrapher's Handbook cited on this page. From the 19th century in radical and socialist symbolism, quills have been used to symbolize clerks and intelligentsia; some notable examples are the Radical Civic Union, the Czech National Social Party in combination with the hammer, symbol of the labour movement, or the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro. A quill knife was the original primary tool used for cutting and sharpening quills, known as "dressing". Following the decline of the quill in the 1820s, after the introduction of the maintenance-free, mass-pr

In sociology, a color blind society is one where racial classification does not limit a person's opportunities. Such societies are free from differential social treatment based on their race or color. A color blind society has race-neutral governmental policies that reject discrimination in any form in order to promote the goal of racial equality; this ideal was important to the Civil Rights Movement and international anti-discrimination movements of the 1950s and 1960s. The goal of 1964 civil rights act in the United States was intended to make all people equal under the law of no matter what people's race, religion, gender, or national origin. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s central hope was that people would someday be judged by "the content of their character rather than the color of their skin". Whether this process has resulted in a color-blind U. S. society, or whether color-blind policies provide the best means of achieving racial equality, remains controversial. Racial or color blindness reflects an ideal in the society.

The ideal was most forcefully articulated in the context of the Civil Rights Movement and International Anti-racist movements of the 1950s and 1960s. Advocates for color blindness argue that persons should be judged not by their skin color but rather by "the content of their character", in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Color-blind ideology is based on tenets of non-discrimination, due process of law, equal protection under the law, equal opportunities regardless of race, ideas which have influenced Western liberalism in the post-World War II period. Proponents of "color-blind" practices believe that treating people inherently leads to a more equal society or that racism and race privilege no longer exercise the power they once did, rendering policies such as race-based affirmative action obsolete; as articulated by U. S. Chief Justice John Roberts, "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race, is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."In Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society, Christopher Doob writes that "color-blind racism" represents "whites' assertion that they are living in a world where racial privilege no longer exists, but their behavior “supports” racialized structures and practices".

The sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has described four "frames" that he says guide color-blind thinking. According to Bonilla-Silva, abstract liberalism is the most important of these frames and forms the foundation of color-blind ideology; this involves invoking “abstract” ideas such as "equal opportunity" and "individual choice" while opposing “concrete” proposals to “reduce” inequality. This perspective tends to “ignore” the “under-representation” of people of color in prestigious jobs and schools, along with institutional practices that encourage segregation. Naturalization is used by whites to explain racial segregation as "natural" and "just the way things are". Cultural racism relies on cultural, rather than biological, explanations such as "blacks have too many babies" to account for “racial” inequality. A fourth frame is minimization of racism. Professor William Julius Wilson of Harvard University has argued that "class was becoming more important than race" in determining life prospects within the black community.

Wilson has published several works including The Declining Significance of Race and The Truly Dis-advantaged explaining his views on black poverty and racial inequality. He believes that affirmative action benefits the most privileged individuals within the black community; this is because race-based programs disregard a candidate's socioeconomic background and therefore fail to help the poorer portion of the black community that needs the assistance. In a society where millions of blacks live in the middle and upper classes and millions of whites live in poverty, race is no longer an accurate indication of privilege. Recognizing someone's social class is more important than recognizing someone's race, indicating that society should be class-conscious, not race-conscious. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the only current black Justice, supports color-blind policies, he believes the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids consideration of race, such as race-based affirmative action or preferential treatment.

He believes that race-oriented programs create "a cult of victimization" and imply blacks require "special treatment in order to succeed". In 1997 Leslie G. Carr published Color-Blind Racism which reviewed the history of racist ideologies in America, she saw "color-blindness" as an ideology that undercuts the legal and political foundation of integration and affirmative action. Stephanie M. Wildman, in her book Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America, writes that many Americans who advocate a merit-based, race-free worldview do not acknowledge the systems of privilege which benefit them. For example, many Americans rely on a social and sometimes financial inheritance from previous generations, she argues that this inheritance is unlikely to be forthcoming if one's ancestors were slaves, privileges whiteness and heterosexuality. There are concerns that majority groups use color-blindness as a means of avoiding the discussion of racism and discrimination. Color-blindness can be seen as a way to undermine the hardships of minority groups, as it used to argue that the United States is a meritocracy, in which people succeed only because they work hard and not because of their privilege.

Critics of this are fast to point to statistics that contradict this notion of meritocracy, for example, the average black or Hispanic household earning more than $75,000 still live in a less affluent, resource-rich neighborh

Collie is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, 213 kilometres south of the state capital, 59 kilometres inland from the regional city and port of Bunbury. It is near the junction of the Collie and Harris Rivers, in the middle of dense jarrah forest and the only coalfields in Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Collie had a population of 7,192. Collie is known as a coal-producing centre, but offers industrial and aquaculture tourism industries. Muja Power Station is located east of the town, to its west is the Wellington Dam, a popular location for fishing and boating; the town is named after the river. James Stirling named the Collie River, he and William Preston were the first Europeans to explore the area in 1829. Coal was discovered in the area by a shepherd named George Marsh in the early 1880s; the coal fields were developed in the late 1890s and the townsite surveyed and gazetted in 1897. Collie was once referred to as a "dirty mining town", but on 8 April 2006 it won the Australian Tidy Towns Competition from finalists from six states and the Northern Territory.

Collie was named the top Tidy Town because of the commitment of the community to recycling, waste management and community projects. According to the 2016 census, there were 7,192 people in Collie. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.7% of the population. 78.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 3.5% and New Zealand 2.5%. 87.8% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 35.6%, Catholic 20.6% and Anglican 19.0%. Collie has a significant role in the provision of electricity for Western Australia. There are two coal mines in three power stations; the government of Western Australia will soon commission a new base load power station, for which a number of Collie base proposals have been made. Western Collieries, the Premier Coal Limited mining operation produces 5 million tonnes of coal per year, it contains enough reserves for another 30 years of mining at the present rate. The Griffin Coal mine is owned by the Indian company Lanco Infratech.

Collie has five primary schools, Allanson Primary School, Fairview Primary School, Amaroo Primary School, Saint Brigid's Catholic College and Wilson Park Primary School and one high school, Collie Senior High School. Tourist attractions at Collie include the Steam Locomotive Museum, Collie Art Gallery, Minninup Pool and Wellington Dam. Parks include Soldier's Memorial Park and natural features include Stockton Lake and Collie River. Collie hosts the Collie Motorplex, one of Western Australia's few permanent motorsport venues outside the Perth metropolitan area. Collie experiences a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters; the town was lashed with unseasonal storms on 12 December 2012 resulting in some flooding in the town. The town received 126 millimetres of rain in a 12-hour period. Wellington National Park

Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King is a 1972 West German historical drama film directed by Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, starring Harry Baer as Ludwig II of Bavaria. The film was shot on a soundstage with rear-projected scenography and an intentionally artificial style; the film received the Deutscher Filmpreis for Best Screenplay. It is the first part in Syberberg's "German trilogy" and was followed by Karl May in 1974 and Hitler: A Film from Germany in 1977. Three norns introduce Ludwig as suffering from a curse, given to him by Lola Montez, which will make him the last king of Bavaria; the king organises his court according to aesthetical preferences. He is opposed to industrialism and the emerging modern mass society, he complains about his aching teeth and behaves eccentrically, but interacts with ordinary people to stay in contact with life outside the court. Early in his life he began to protect and finance the unknown Richard Wagner, who appreciates the support, but others see this as scandalous.

Elisabeth of Austria sympathises with the king, her cousin, compares him to Sitting Bull. A group of ministers led by Ludwig's uncle Luitpold plot to assassinate the king so they can industrialise the country. A couple perform a Bavarian folk dance, Wagner discusses his future, Ernst Röhm and Adolf Hitler dance rhumba. Ludwig allows Bavaria to be annexed into the German Empire; the conspirators discuss how to get rid of Ludwig but worry that the Bavarian monarchy itself might be in danger. A man of the people opposes the plan to kill Ludwig. Ludwig's financial debts are held against him and the press describes him as insane, he admits that his struggle against the progressives has failed but that others soon will follow him. The king is found drowned in an assumed suicide. Ludwig's brother Otto becomes the new king, but Luitpold rules as Prince Regent due to Otto's mental illness, it is discovered. Ludwig is beheaded. A peasant woman promises. Surrounded by men with motorcycles, Ludwig begins yodeling.

Harry Baer as Ludwig II Ingrid Caven as Lola Montez, Cosima Wagner and the first norn Baltharsar Thomass as Ludwig II as a child Oskar von Schab as Ludwig I and Karl May Eddy Murray as Kainz and Winnetou Peter Kern as Lakai Mayr, court barber Hoppe and Röhm Gerhard März as Richard Wagner 1 Annette Tirier as Richard Wagner 2 Ursula Strätz as the Bulyowski and third norn Hanna Köhler as Sissi and second norn Johannes Buzalski as Emanuel Geibel and Hitler Peter Przygodda as Bismarck Gert Haucke as Baron Freyschlag Günther Kaufmann as Count Holnstein Peter Moland as Minister President Lutz Rudi Scheibengraber as Prince Regent Luitpold Fridolin Werther as Emperor Wilhelm I Vincent Canby of The New York Times reviewed the film in 1980, when it was released in the United States, compared it to Hitler: A Film from Germany, shown in America: Mr. Syberberg's thoughts about Ludwig sound like his thoughts about Hitler. "Did he exist or did we create him in our fantasy?" Someone asks.... In the manner of cabaret theater, the director mixes up characters and eras so that, at one point or another, Ludwig shares the stage with Hitler, Ernst Rohm, Karl May and a female Richard Wagner as well as a male one.

On the soundtrack we hear snatches of old American radio programs about mythological comic-book characters, as well as the soaring Wagner music in which Our Hitler was drenched.... Ludwig is a most rigorous kind of film making; the end effect is that of a feature-length montage so dense with associations and references that it is impossible to get them all at one viewing, though not compelling enough to make one want to sit through it all again. Facets Video released the film on home media in 2009. Michael Atkinson wrote a review for IFC.com: Syberberg comes at his historical inquisitions from an angle, Ludwig dallies as much with the infamous monarch’s narcissistic biography as it does with Jarman-esque camp, Wagnerian kitsch, nude girls, 19th century graphics, cabaret shtick, children with mustaches, stuffed swans, etc. — all of it assembled and explored on a proscenium stage that recalls Méliès in more ways than one. Tongue-in-cheek, Ludwig is more like an epic carny sideshow orchestrated by a guilty Teutonic madman than a film, stands as the definitive precedent of Syberberg's exhausting Hitler film.

The film received the Deutscher Filmpreis for Best Screenplay. Syberberg was nominated for Best Direction and Ingrid Caven was nominated for Best Supporting Actress; the film competed at the 1974 Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain where it was awarded the Jury Special Prize. Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King on IMDb

The Diamond Dogs was a Swedish rock band founded in Katrineholm during the early 1990s, by vocalist Sören'Sulo' Karlsson and guitarist Anders'Boba' Lindström. The line-up has changed several times throughout the band's career and has included members from bands such as The Hellacopters, Stefan Sundströms back-up band, Wilmer X, Patti Palladin, Dogs D'Amour, Nymphet Noodlers, Hederos & Hellberg and The Soundtrack Of Our Lives however the band's music has always been rooted in 1970's rock; the band has toured extensively with bands such as Hanoi Rocks, The Damned, Georgia Satellites, Ian Hunter and The Cult. The band has been successful in Italy with crowds of up to ten thousand attending some of their concerts. In 2002, the band teamed up with the Swedish musician, Lennart Eriksson, to record a track for a tribute album to Nationalteatern along with The Latin Kings frontman Dogge Doggelito; the band recorded all of their live shows throughout Spain. The band announced their split after 25 years, on their Facebook page on September 29, 2015.

Sören'Sulo' Karlsson - Vocals Lars Karlsson – Guitar Henrik'The Duke of Honk' Widén – Keyboard Martin Tronsson – Bass Johannes Nordell – Drums Magic - Saxophone Anders Lindström - Guitar Stevie Klasson - Guitar Jesper Karlsson - Drums Magnus Leje - Guitar Stefan'Björken' Björk - Bass Robert Dahlqvist – Guitar Kent Axén - Guitar Fredrik Fagerlund - Guitar Johan Johansson - Bass Daniel Johansson - Drums 1994: Honked 2001: As Your Greens Turn Brown 2002: Too Much is Always Better than Not Enough 2003: That's the Juice I'm On - alternative mixes and unreleased tracks from earlier album sessions 2004: Black River Road 2005: Bound to Ravage - Greatest Hits compilation 2006: Up the Rock 2008: Most Likely 2010: The Grit & The Very Soul 2012: Set Fire to It All 2015: Quitters & Complainers 2000: Among the Nonbelievers 2001: Shortplayer 2008: The Conception 1993: "Blue Eyes Shouldn't be Cryin'" 1995: "Good Time Girl" 1996: "Need of Ammunition" 2002: contributed to tribute album Nationalsånger - Hymner från Vågen och EPAs torg 2004: Atlantic Crossover - Diamond Dogs vs Jeff Dahl 2008: Cookin - performing the music of Sam Cooke Official MySpace

The Demigod Diaries is a collection of short stories relating to The Heroes of Olympus book series. The Demigod Diaries contains four new stories, illustrations of Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Luke Castellan and first seen pictures of Thalia Grace and Hal, a character, introduced in the first story, a quiz; the four stories include: Thalia's, Luke's, Annabeth's adventures before the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series began A first-person narrative from Percy's viewpoint as he and Annabeth complete a task given by Hermes regarding his staff which happens a month after the end of The Last Olympian and before Percy went missing in The Lost Hero A story involving Jason and Piper during their time spent at Camp Half-Blood between The Lost Hero and The Mark of AthenaIt includes a short story by Riordan's son, Haley Riordan, revolving around one of the demigods who fought for Kronos during the Second Titan War and survived the battle in Manhattan. Set five years before the start of The Lightning Thief and narrated by Luke Castellan, this story follows the adventures of Luke and his companion, Thalia Grace, as they meet with Halcyon Green, a prophetic, desolate demigod son of Apollo, who foretells their futures.

Set on September 18, a month after the end of The Last Olympian, before Percy Jackson and Jason Grace's switch by Hera and narrated by Percy, the story follows Percy and Annabeth Chase's unfortunate date as they are tasked by Hermes to retrieve his stolen caduceus. Set between the events of The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune and narrated by Leo Valdez, the story follows Leo, aided by his friends Jason Grace and Piper McLean, as he faces off in a vicious conflict with the maenads, the maniac followers of Dionysus; this story was written by Rick Riordan's son Haley and represents his debut as a professional writer. It is set sometime after the events of The Last Olympian and told in the limited, subjective third-person; the plot follows the mortal Dr. Howard Claymore as he becomes involved in a conflict between two children of Hecate: the demigod Alabaster Torrington, the vengeful, demigod-hating daemon, Lamia; the Demigod Diaries was released on 14 August 2012. The Heroes of Olympus The Demigod Files Rick Riordan Official website