The Alfa Romeo 147 is an Italian automobile produced in three- and five-door models since 2001 when it was voted European Car of the Year, before undergoing revisions in 2005. The Alfa Romeo 147 is marketed as a stylish family car and is powered by a 1.9 litre four-cylinder engine providing a top speed of 129 mph, acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in just under nine seconds and a combined fuel consumption of almost 48 mpg. The Alfa Romeo 147 has been plagued by reliability issues and in October 2003 models were recalled due to a fire risk caused by an engine bay wiring short circuit on cars built between January 2002 and April 2003. Another recall occurred in April 2004 due to the power-assisted steering which could fail on GTAs made between November 2000 and March 2003. In May 2005 another recall occurred due to fuel leaks discovered on cars built between May and September 2004, in September 2006 a braking fault was discovered with the space-saver spare fitted on non-GTAs made between June 2004 and February 2006 resulting in a recall of these vehicles and in October 2006 clutch issues were discovered on vehicles made between March 2003 and October 2005. Research Alfa Romeo 147
Baptism (from the Greek baptizo, from bapto, to immerse or dip), is a rite which is generally thought to have been usual with the Jews even before Christ, being administered to proselytes. From this baptism, however, that of St John the Baptist differed, because he baptized Jews also as a symbol of the necessity of perfect purification from sin. Christ himself never baptizedy, but directed his disciples to administer this rite to converts; and baptism, therefore, became a religious ceremony among Christians, taking rank as a sacrament with all sects which acknowledge sacraments.
In the primitive church the person to be baptized was dipped in a river or in a vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered, generally adopting a new name to further express the change. Sprinkling, or, as it was termed, clinic baptism, was used only in the case of the sick who could not leave their beds. The Greek Church and Eastern schismatics retained the custom of immersion; but the Western Church adopted or allowed the mode of baptism by pouring or sprinkling, since continued by most Protestants. This practice can be traced back certainly to the third century, before which its existence is disputed.
Since the Reformation there have been various Protestant sects called Baptists, holding that baptism should be administered only by immersion, and to those who can make a personal profession of faith. The Montanists in Africa baptized even the dead, and in Roman Catholic countries the practice of baptizing church-bells - a custom of tenth-century origin - continues to this day. Being an initiatory rite, baptism is only administered once to the same person. The Roman and Greek Catholics consecrate the water of baptism, but Protestants do not. The act of baptism is accompanied only with the formula that the person is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but, among most Christians, it is preceded by a confession of faith made by the person to be baptized if an adult, and by his parents or sponsors if he be a child. The Roman Catholic form of baptism is far more elaborate than the Protestant. This church teaches that all persons not baptized are damned, even unbaptized infants are not admitted into heaven; but for those with whom the absence of baptism was the chief fault, even St. Augustine himself believed in a species of mitigated damnation. Protestants hold that though the neglect of the sacrament is a sin, yet the saving new birth may be found without the performance of the rite which symbolizes it. Naming the person baptized forms no essential part of the ceremony, but has become almost universal, probably from the ancient custom of renaming the catechumen. Research Baptism
In painting, a cartoon is a drawing on stout paper or other material, intended to be used as a model for a large picture in fresco, a process in which it is necessary to complete the picture portion by portion and in which a fault cannot afterwards be easily corrected. The cartoon is made exactly the size of the picture intended, and the design is transferred to the surface to be ornamented by tracing or other processes. Cartoons executed in colour, like paintings, are used for designs in tapestries, mosaics, etc. The most famous are those painted by Raphael for the Vatican tapestries, seven of which are still preserved in the South KensingtonMuseum, London. The subjects of the seven are: 1, Paul Preaching at Athens; 2, The Death of Ananias; 3, Elymas the Sorcerer Struck with Blindness; 4, Christ's Charge to Peter; 5, The Sacrifice at Lystra; 6, Peter and John Healing the Cripple at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple; 7, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes. In modern times the term is also applied to a pictorial sketch relating to some notable character or events of the day, and erroneously to an animated film. Research Cartoon
The compensation con is a form of confidence trick. The swindle takes the form of a criminal carrying a package, perhaps gift wrapped, containing worthless broken glass or crockery. The con artist waits around the vicinity of a shop selling expensive vases or similar, for a suitable victim, and then pretends to be bumped into by the victim. At this point the con artist drops the package with the resulting clearly audible sound of breakages occurring, and proceeds to claim that the package had contained an expensive item, and its breakage was the fault of the victim. The victim is then pressed to pay compensation towards the cost of the supposedly broken item. The con is particularly effective if the con artist is an attractive or elderly woman and targets wealthy looking, middle-aged men. Research Compensation Con
In logic, a fallacy is when an argument is used as decisive of a particular issue, which in reality it does not decide. Properly a fallacy is a fault in the form of reasoning, but the term is applied also to faults in the substance of the argument such as the petitio principii, or proving one proposition by assuming another which is identical with it; ignoratio elenchi, or mistaking the point at issue; post hocergo propter hoc, or arguing as if sequence were the same thing as cause and effect. Research Fallacy
In geography, a fault is a break in the earth's crust along which movement has taken place - usually, but not always, vertically - so that the layers (strata) of the two rock faces no longer match. It is often along a fault that earthquakes occur. Research Fault
During 1811, and for some time previous, British cruisers hovering about the American coast had captured many American vessels bound for France, and had made a number of impressments. In May, 1811, Commodore John Rodgers, commanding the American frigate USS President, was ordered to put to sea from Chesapeake Bay and protect American commerce. When thirty miles off Cape Charles, on May the 16th, Rodgers descried a vessel, which he supposed to be the British man-of-war HMS Guerriere. He decided to approach her and make inquiries regarding impressment.
This vessel was HMS Little Belt, a small British frigate. She allegedly showed no colours and sailed away, the USS President pursuing. Overhauling her at about eight o'clock, Rodgers declared she ran up colours which could not be recognized for the darkness, and fired upon the USS President. The fire was immediately returned and HMS Little Belt was disabled in about eighteen minutes. The dispute as to which ship was in fault was never settled. When Foster, the British Minister arrived, however, it was mutually agreed to drop the affair. Research Little Belt Affair
In cartography, projections are ways of representing the earth's surface on a map. Because the earth is round, any map distorts the area it represents (just as flattening out an orangepeel distorts its original shape). Only a globe can be really accurate. Different types of projection have been worked out, each suited to a particular purpose. The two main ones are Conical and Cylindrical. The former shows each hemisphere as a cone which has been unrolled. A Cylindrical Projection shows the earth as though it were an unrolled cylinder. Mercator's projection is cylindrical. Its main fault is that it makes the Equator out to be the same length as all other latitudes, even those near the Poles, which are really only a few miles long. Thus countries near the Poles appear far larger than they really are. Research Projections
Underlay is a term applied to material laid under a carpet to protect it. In mining, an underlay is the inclination from the vertical or horizontal of a vein, fault, or lode. The term is also applied to a perpendicular shaft sunk to cut the lode at a required depth. Research Underlay
Diogenes of Sinope was the most famous of the Cynic philosophers. He was born about 412 BC and died in 323 BC Having been banished from his native place with his father, who had been accused of coining false money, he went to Athens, and thrust himself upon Antisthenes as a disciple. Like Antisthenes he despised all philosophical speculations, and opposed the corrupt morals of his time; but while the stern austerity of. Antisthenes was repulsive, Diogenes exposed the follies of his contemporaries with wit and good humour. As an exemplar of Cynic virtue he satisfied his appetite with the coarsest food, practised the most rigid temperance, walked through the streets of Athens barefoot, without any coat, with a long beard, a stick in his hand, and a wallet on his shoulders, and by night, according to the popular story, slept in a tub (or large earthenware vessel).
On a voyage to the island of AEgina he fell into the hands of pirates, who sold him as a slave to the Corinthian Xeniades in Crete. The latter emancipated him, and intrusted him with the education of his children. He attended to the duties of his new employment with the greatest care, commonly living in summer at Corinth and in winter at Athens.
Of the many stories related of him the majority are probably fictions; many indeed are chronologically impossible. His enemies accused him of various scandalous offences, but there is no ground for supposing him guilty of any worse fault than that of elevating impertinence to the rank of a fine art. Research Diogenes
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Abbreviations
Research Alfa Romeo 147
