The first sentence of the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America, taken by immigrants at the ceremony in which they are granted U.S. citizenship is “I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.”
There have been unsuccessful moves to update the language, as it is based partly on the British Oath of Supremacy imposed by Elizabeth I in 1559:
“no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this realm; and therefore I do utterly renounce and forsake all foreign jurisdictions, powers, superiorities and authorities”
Potentate, meaning ‘A ruler who is unconstrained by law’, is used by the Shriners to identify the head of a local Shrine chapter. The head of the Shriners of North America is titled the Imperial Potentate.
In C.J. Sansom’s alternative history novel Dominion, about a Great Britain dominated by but not militarily occupied by Nazi Germany in late 1952, members of the British Resistance strive to get a scientist who knows too much out of the country and to safety in America.
In the alternative history novel “Guns of the South”, modern day white supremacists travel back in time to give modern automatic weapons to the Confederacy to help them win the Civil War.
James Baskett portrayed Uncle Remus, sang the song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and voiced the character Brer Fox in the 1946 Disney film Song of the South. For the role, with the citation reading “for his able and heart-warming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and story teller to the children of the world in Walt Disney’s Song of the South”, he received an Honorary Academy Award, making him the first black male performer to receive an Oscar.
There is an Honorary Police force in each of the 12 parishes of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands between France and England. Members of the Honorary Police are elected by the voters of the parish in which they serve, and are unpaid, but still serve official purposes in the enforcement of laws on the island.
The Channel Islands were the only British territory to be occupied by the Germans during World War II. The occupation of 1940–45 was harsh: over 2,000 islanders were deported by the Germans, some Jews were sent to concentration camps; partisan resistance and retribution, accusations of collaboration, widespread hunger and slave labor also occurred.
The Channel Islands are all that remain of the Duchy of Normandy. They are not officially part of the United Kingdom, although the UK is responsible for their defense. They are neither members of the Commonwealth, nor of the European Union.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II still holds the title Duke of Normandy, as did William the Conqueror. Female British monarchs are customarily referred to as Duke and not Duchess of Normandy.
Theseus is given the title “Duke” of Athens in William Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Two Noble Kinsmen. In most of the legends about him, he is referred to as a king.
The King Must Die is a 1958 historical novel by Mary Renault that traces the early life and adventures of Theseus, a hero in Greek mythology. Rather than retelling the myth, Renault constructs an archaeologically and anthropologically plausible story that might have developed into the myth. She captures the essentials while removing the more fantastical elements, such as monsters and the appearances of gods. It was so popular it spawned a sequel, The Bull from the Sea.
A 50-year-old German hairdresser brings his four-foot long pet python, Monty, into his salon in Dresden, Germany, twice a week to give his customers neck massages. The service is in high demand and needs to be booked weeks in advance; a massage costs around US$ 38 / 35 Euros.
The Nei-Jing is an ancient compilation of Chinese medical knowledge known up to that date (around 500-600 BC), and is the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Massage is referred to in 30 different chapters of the Nei-Jing. It specifies the use of different massage techniques and how they should be used in the treatment of specific ailments, and injuries.
Cupping, a type of massage used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been known for millennia and gained publicity in modern times due to its use by American sport celebrities including National Football League player DeMarcus Ware, 2016 Olympians like gymnast Alexander Naddour, and swimmers Natalie Coughlin and Michael Phelps.
Cupping is a worldwide practice for evaluating roasted coffee. A cupper seeks a sensory experience of fragrance, aroma, break, brightness, mouth-feel, and flavor.
While a number of coffee brands proclaim themselves to be “100% Arabica coffee”, Coffea Arabica is just one type of coffee bean and not necessarily superior in taste according to expert cuppers. Coffea robusta contains more caffeine and has a fuller-bodied flavor; Coffea Excelsa’s taste has been described as distinctively tart, fruity, dark, mysterious; it is not strongly aromatic. Coffea Liberica, in contrast, is said to have exceptional aroma, almost floral and fruity, while its flavor is full and slightly smokey.
Caffeine is a common ingredient of soft drinks, such as cola, originally prepared from kola nuts. Soft drinks typically contain 0 to 55 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounce serving. By contrast, energy drinks, such as Red Bull, can start at 80 milligrams of caffeine per serving. The caffeine in these drinks either originates from the ingredients used or is an additive derived from the product of decaffeination or from chemical synthesis. Guarana, a prime ingredient of energy drinks, contains large amounts of caffeine with small amounts of theobromine and theophylline in a naturally occurring slow-release excipient.
Sprite is a colorless, caffeine-free, lemon and lime-flavoured soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first developed in West Germany in 1959 as Fanta Klare Zitrone and was introduced in the United States under the current brand name Sprite in 1961 as a competitor to 7-Up.
Red Bull Stratos, sponsored by the energy-drink company, was a space-diving project involving Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner. On October 14, 2012, Baumgartner flew approximately 24 miles into the stratosphere over New Mexico, United States, in a helium balloon before freefalling in a pressure suit and then parachuting to Earth. The total jump, from leaving the capsule to landing on the ground, lasted approximately ten minutes.
