Joplin is a city located in parts of southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. The City of Joplin has a total population of 47,994
Although commonly believed to be named for ragtime composer Scott Joplin who lived in Sedalia, Missouri, Joplin is actually named for Reverend Harris Joplin, the founder of the area's first Methodist congregation.

History
It is the home to the area's major hospitals including Freeman West, Freeman East, and St. John's. The city also has a fine park system that includes a golf course, three swimming pools, walking trails, the world's largest Chert Glades, and Missouri's only continuously flowing waterfall, Grand Falls, on Shoal Creek just south of town. Included in Schifferdecker Park is the Everett J. Ritchie Tri-State Mineral Museum and Dorothea B. Hoover Historical Museum.
Numerous buildings still exist in Joplin that are on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently, the city has undertaken a project to revitalize its Main Street downtown district. It has refurbished its sidewalks and added new lamp posts. Joplin remains a regional economic powerhouse, with numerous trucking lines such as CFI headquartered in town, as it is situated strategically near the geographic and population centers of the nation. Eagle-Picher Industries and F.A.G. Bearings are noted employers in Joplin, and Leggett & Platt (Fortune 500) is located in nearby Carthage. The city is served by the Joplin Regional Airport located in the north of town near Webb City, in a small village known as Airport Drive.
In the nineties the city continued to expand eastward towards U.S. 71 (future I-49), and largescale development occurred along Range Line Road, particularly around Northpark Mall. Growth has also occurred in many of the "bedroom communities" surrounding Joplin. Webb City, Neosho, Pittsburg, and Carthage all have populations of at least 10,000. There are numerous other suburbs that touch the city itself including Carl Junction, Duquesne, Airport Drive, Oronogo, Carterville, Redings Mill, Shoal Creek Drive, Leawood, and Saginaw.
Due to its location near two major highways and its many event and sports facilities, Joplin is a major stopping place for travellers and a destination point for groups. With nearly 2,500 hotel rooms, the majority located within a 1/4 mile area of Range Line and I-44, Joplin offers many lodging choices. In addition, Joplin is home to the 30,000 square foot John Q. Hammons Convention and Trade Center which serves as the primary event facility for conventions, associations, and large events.

Modern Joplin
Joplin is located at 37°4′40″N, 94°30′40″W (37.077760, -94.511024).
Joplin is located just to the north of Highway I-44, its passage to the west into Oklahoma. In recent years the settlements of Joplin have spread north to about Webb City. Route 66 passes through Joplin and town's name is mentioned in the lyrics to the song, "Route 66".
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 81.6 km² (31.5 mi²). 81.4 km² (31.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.25%) is water.
Joplin is the center of what is regionally known as the Four State Area: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas.

Geography
The college of "Physicians and Doctors" opened in an early day, and today Joplin is home to Missouri Southern State University, and two bible colleges, Ozark Christian College and Messenger College. Joplin is also served by the Joplin Public Library, which is situated on Main Street between the intersections of 3rd and 4th Streets.
Joplin is home to thirteen public elementary schools in the Joplin R-VIII School District: Cecil Floyd, Columbia, Duenweg, Duqeusne, Eastmorland, Emerson, Irving, Jefferson, Kelsey Norman, McKinley, Royal Heights, Stapleton, and West Central. It has three public middle schools--Memorial, North, and South--and one high school, Joplin High School.

Education
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,504 people, 19,101 households, and 11,517 families residing in the city. The population density was 559.2/km² (1,448.4/mi²). There were 21,328 housing units at an average density of 262.1/km² (678.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.44% White, 2.67% African American, 1.53% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.98% from other races, and 2.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.51% of the population.
There were 19,101 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 13.5% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,555, and the median income for a family was $38,888. Males had a median income of $28,569 versus $20,665 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,738. About 10.5% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Demographics
Joplin is served by the mainline of the Kansas City Southern (KCS) railroad, as well as by branchlines of the BNSF Railway and Missouri and Northern Arkansas Railroad (MNA). The city was once a beehive of railroad activity, however, many of the original railroad lines serving Joplin were abandoned after the demise of the mining and industrial enterprises. Passenger trains have not served the city since the 1960s. The city's Union Depot is still intact along the KCS mainline and efforts are underway to restore it.
Interstate 44 connects Joplin with Springfield and St. Louis to the east and Tulsa and Oklahoma City to the west. U.S. Route 71 runs east of the city, connecting Joplin to Kansas City on the north and Shreveport, LA to the south. It has been proposed to convert 71 into Interstate 49 in the future; the highway is already built to four-lane freeway and expressway standards from Kansas City, south through Joplin to Ft. Smith, AR. However, at this time, the road remains from Pineville, Missouri to Jane, Missouri a two lane highway while construction on a four lane segment continues.

Transportation
A trolley system that just started running on July 25,2007 lets a person ride for one dollar. The first person to ride was picked up at Missouri Southern State University.

The Trolley System

John Whitby Allen (1913-1973), photographer and model railroading pioneer
Robert Cummings (1910–1990), actor
Langston Hughes (1902-1967), poet and writer
Hale Irwin (b. 1945), golfer
Jack Jewsbury (b. 1981), midfielder for the Kansas City Wizards of Major League Soccer
Jamie McMurray (b. 1976), NASCAR driver
Charles McPherson (b. 1939), jazz musician
Mrs. Miller (1907-1997), singer
Pattiann Rogers, poet
Mel Purcell (b. 1959), tennis player
Dennis Weaver (1924-2006), actor
Percy Wenrich (1880-1952), composer
Grant Wistrom (b.1976), American football player Famous people born in Joplin, Missouri

Mickey Mantle played with the Joplin Miners minor league baseball team.
Thomas Hart Benton began his art career with a local newspaper.
Gabby Street, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, adopted Joplin as his hometown. He died in Joplin in 1951.
Lonny Chapman, actor, graduated from Joplin High School and Joplin Junior College (now Missouri Southern State University).
J. Eddie Peck, actor, was raised in Joplin.
Preston Lacy, member of the cast of Jackass' graduated from Joplin High School.
Rod Smith, wide receiver for the NFL's Denver Broncos, graduated from Missouri Southern State University.
Jamie McMurray NASCAR superstar and driver of the number 26 Ford Fusion.
Bonnie and Clyde had a hideout in Joplin for several weeks before a shootout with local police
H. Dale Jackson, noted Baptist minister and ethicist, lived here with his wife when they were newly married in 1949.
James Thrash, wide receiver for the NFL's Washington Redskins, graduated from Missouri Southern State University.

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (February 1, 1907 Tietê, São Paulo – January 13, 1993 São Paulo) was a Brazilian composer.
He studied piano and composition at the São Paulo Conservatório, and subsequently worked with Charles Koechlin in Paris. Some of his compositions received important prizes in the United States in the 1940s, giving Guarnieri the opportunity of conducting them in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago. A distinguished figure of the Brazilian national school, he served in several capacities; conductor of the São Paulo Orchestra, member of the Academia Brasileira de Música, and Director of the São Paulo Conservatório, where he taught composition and orchestral conducting. In 1936 he was the first conductor of the Coral Paulistano choir. His œuvre comprises symphonies, concertos, cantatas, two operas, chamber music, many piano pieces, and over fifty canções.

Works

Pedro Malazarte (comic opera in one act, libretto by Mario de Andrade, premiered in May 1952 at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro)
Um homem só (tragic opera in one act, libretto by Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, premiered on November 29, 1962, at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro) Orchestral

Piano

• Piano Concerto No. 1
  Piano Concerto No. 2
  Piano Concerto No. 3
  Piano Concerto No. 4
  Piano Concerto No. 5
  Piano Concerto No. 6 Chamber/Instrumental
  
  Flavio Silva: Camargo Guarnieri - O tempo e a musica. Fundacion Nacional de Arte-Funarte. 2001.
  Mozart Camargo Guarnieri: Livro - O Tempo E A Musica Editora: Imesp. 672 p. 2001 ISBN 8575070096
  Marion Verhaalen: Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian Composer. Indiana University Press. 2005.

Population
In the period between 1984 and 1989, the Communist government of Bulgaria, led by Todor Zhivkov, attempted the forced Bulgarisation of the country's Turkish minority. After the introduction in 1985 of new laws to forcefully assimilate the minority, the Bulgarian government banned education in Turkish and sought to erase Turkish culture and identity. Turkish names were forcibly changed to Slavic ones.
In May 1989 there were disturbances in regions inhabited by members of the Turkish minority. On 10 May 1989 travel restrictions to foreign countries were partly lifted. Todor Zhivkov gave a speech on 29 May 1989, in which he demanded that Turkey open its borders in order to receive all "Bulgarian Muslims", who wanted to live there. There followed an exodus of over 300.000 Turks to Turkey. On 10 November 1989 Zhivkov was replaced by Petar Mladenov and by the end of that year communism fell.
These laws were removed after the change to democracy in the early months of 1990. Many have now reverted to their old names and Bulgarian governments have apologised to the Turkish minority for the policies.

Attempted Bulgarization
chronological order of birthdates

Mithat Pasha - Outstanding 19th century Ottoman grand vizier, founder of Ziraat Bank.
Rıza Tevfik Bölükbaşı - Poet, academician, politician, community leader.
Mehmet Fikri - Poet
Tahsin Özgüç - Archaeologist, excavator of the great site of Kültepe.
Recep Küpçü - Poet
Mehmet Behçet Perim - Poet
Ertuğrul Özkök - Journalist, editorial writer for Hürriyet.
Ali Dinçer - Former mayor of Ankara, Turkish National Assembly Deputy Chairman, OICC founding chairman
Tuna Ötenel - Jazz musician
Ahmed Doğan - Human rights activist and politician, leader of Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
Emel Etem Toşkova - Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
Nihat Kabil - Minister
Cevdet Çakarov - Minister
Yıldız İbrahimova - Singer
Bedri Şefik - Party leader
Naim Süleymanoğlu - World and Olympic champion in weightlifting.
Zekeriya Güçlü - World champion in wrestling
Halil Mutlu - World and Olympic champion in weightlifting.
Sibel Gürsoy - Pop musician
Taner Sağır - World and Olympic champion in weightlifting.
Esil Duran - Pop-folk ("Chalga") musician
Gürhan Gürsoy - Fenerbahçe SK football player
Nevriye Yılmaz - Fenerbahçe Istanbul basketball player
Neri Karra - Academic and Entrepreneur
Leman Ergenc- Slavic Languages Professor, founder of Bulgarian Language Department in Ankara University See also

Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962), American politician, is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district (map).
Baldwin was born in Madison, Wisconsin, where she was raised, to Pamela Green.
Tammy Baldwin is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
On July 26, 2004, she spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in prime time on the issue of health care.
On October 10, 2002, Tammy Baldwin was among the 133 members of the House who voted against authorizing the invasion of Iraq.

Electoral history

Maulana Karenga (born July 14, 1941), also known as Ron Everett, is an African American author and political activist. He is best known as the founder of Kwanzaa, a week-long Pan-African celebration observed each year from December 26 to January 1, initiated in California in 1967.

Career
Karenga was born on a poultry farm in Parsonsburg, Maryland, the fourteenth child of a Baptist minister. He moved to California in the late 1950s to attend Los Angeles City College, where he became the first African-American president of the student body. He was admitted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of a federal program for students who had dropped out of high school, and received his master's degree in political science and African studies. He was awarded his first PhD in 1976 from United States International University (now known as Alliant International University) for a 170-page dissertation entitled Afro-American Nationalism: Social Strategy and Struggle for Community. Later in his career, in 1994, he was awarded a second PhD, in social ethics, from the University of Southern California (USC), for an 803-page dissertation entitled "Maat, the moral ideal in ancient Egypt: A study in classical African ethics."

Background and education
Karenga was influenced in the creation of his ethos for US by Malcolm X.
"Malcolm was the major African American thinker that influenced me in terms of nationalism and Pan-Africanism. As you know, towards the end, when Malcolm is expanding his concept of Islam, and of nationalism, he stresses Pan-Africanism in a particular way. And he argues that, and this is where we have the whole idea that cultural revolution and the need for revolution, he argues that we need a cultural revolution, he argues that we must return to Africa culturally and spiritually, even if we can't go physically. And so that's a tremendous impact on US. And US saw itself, when we founded it, as the sons and daughters of Malcolm, and as the heirs to his legacy." —Ron Karenga

Influences of Malcolm X
At the beginning of the 1960s, Karenga met Malcolm X and began to embrace Black nationalism. Following the Watts riots in 1965, he interrupted his doctoral studies at UCLA and joined the Black Power movement. During this time, he awarded himself the title "maulana", Swahili for "master teacher." He formed the US Organization, an outspoken Black nationalist group.
In 1969, the US Organization and the Black Panthers disagreed over who should head the new Afro-American Studies Center at UCLA. According to a Los Angeles Times article, Karenga and his supporters backed one candidate, the Panthers another. The Black Student Union set up a coalition to try to bring peace between the groups, which ended when two members of the Black Panthers, John Jerome Huggins and Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter were shot dead in an altercation between the groups. The killing was dismissed by UCLA chancellor Charles E. Young as an unrelated incident. [3]

U.S. Organization and the Black Panthers
In 1971 Karenga, Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing two women from the United Slaves, Deborah Jones & Gail Davis, over a two day period. [4] A May 14, 1971 article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Ms. Davis's mouth and placed against Ms. Davis's face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said." They also were hit on the heads with toasters.

Felony conviction and time in prison
In 1975, Karenga was released from California State Prison, with his newly adopted views on Marxism, and re-established the US organization under a new structure. One year later, he was awarded his first doctorate. In 1977, he formulated a set of principles called Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Kwanzaa is an adjunct of Kawaida. Karenga called on African Americans to adopt his secular humanism and reject other practices as mythical (Karenga 1977, pp. 14, 23, 24, 27, 44–5).
Central to Karenga's collectivist doctrine are the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles of Blackness, which are reinforced during the seven days of Kwanzaa:

Umoja (unity)—To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (self-determination)—To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (collective work and responsibility)—To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.
Ujamaa (cooperative economics)—To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (purpose)—To make our collective vocation the building and development of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (creativity)—To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (faith)—To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. Films

Introduction to Black Studies, 2002, 3rd edition, University of Sankore Press, ISBN 0-943412-23-4
Kwanzaa: Origin, Concepts, Practice, 1977, Kawaida Groundwork Committee
Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt ISBN 0-415-94753-7 Further Information

Chad (Arabic: تشاد; French: Tchad), officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in central Africa. It borders Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desert climate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa". Chad is divided into three major geographical regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanian savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and the largest city by far is N'Djamena, the capital. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. French and Arabic are the official languages. Islam is the most practiced religion.
Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. In 1960 Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Recently, the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation.
While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in Africa; most Chadians live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003 crude oil has became the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry.

History

Main article: Politics of Chad Politics and government

Main articles: Regions of Chad, Departments of Chad, and Sub-prefectures of Chad Regions, departments, and sub-prefectures

Main article: Geography of Chad Economy and infrastructure

Main article: Demographics of Chad Demographics

Main article: Culture of Chad See also

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Zalău (Hungarian: Zilah, German: Waltenberg) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2004, its estimated population was 62,900.

History
Zalau hosts lively pageants each year. There is a statue of Baron Wesselényi in the town center; the Tuhutum memorial (both made by János Fadrusz in 1902); a museum displaying Roman relics and artifacts; an art museum, and several churches, among which Calvinist cathedral is one of the largest in Transylvania.

Sports
Calvinist Cathedral 1.
Calvinist Cathedral 2.
City Hall
Catholic Church
"Silvania" College
Roman relics
Modern Theatre
Orthodox Cathedral