Mark L. Carman, (born September 3, 1960) , is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and entertainment executive known primarily for his work in country music and Christian music.
Biography
Mark L. Carman was raised in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The son of a Baptist preacher, he developed his talents singing in churches and at southern gospel music concerts around the Mid-Atlantic area. He began playing piano at age 10 and spent his adolescent and teenage years playing piano for various gospel music artists. At age seventeen Carman the joined the United States Navy. While serving the Navy Carman began developing his songwriting skills. In 1986 Carman helped create the country music group, Heartland performing as the group's lead vocalist and keyboardist. He also produced the groups studio recordings. In 1986 Carman co-founded TRA-Star Records with lifelong friend and business associate, Frank Scherman.
Artists who have recorded with Mark Carman include Marty Raybon, T. Graham Brown, Jimmy Fortune, Trace Adkins, Jason Crabb, Vince Gill, The Hunts, and Grand Ole Opry star, Billy Walker. Carman's works have been featured in national television commercial campaigns including the 2013 Milk-Bone national TV add featuring a track off the Hunts "We Were Young" album produced by Carman.
Biography
Mark L. Carman was raised in Raleigh County, West Virginia. The son of a Baptist preacher, he developed his talents singing in churches and at southern gospel music concerts around the Mid-Atlantic area. He began playing piano at age 10 and spent his adolescent and teenage years playing piano for various gospel music artists. At age seventeen Carman the joined the United States Navy. While serving the Navy Carman began developing his songwriting skills. In 1986 Carman helped create the country music group, Heartland performing as the group's lead vocalist and keyboardist. He also produced the groups studio recordings. In 1986 Carman co-founded TRA-Star Records with lifelong friend and business associate, Frank Scherman.
Artists who have recorded with Mark Carman include Marty Raybon, T. Graham Brown, Jimmy Fortune, Trace Adkins, Jason Crabb, Vince Gill, The Hunts, and Grand Ole Opry star, Billy Walker. Carman's works have been featured in national television commercial campaigns including the 2013 Milk-Bone national TV add featuring a track off the Hunts "We Were Young" album produced by Carman.
A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire. Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities. Examples of joke parties include the Official Monster Raving Loony Party in the United Kingdom, the Happiness Realization Party in Japan, the McGillicuddy Serious Party and Bill and Ben Party in New Zealand, the Rhinoceros Party and its successor, and the Lemon Party, all in Canada, the Donald Duck Party in Sweden, the Die PARTEI party in Germany, the Beer Lovers Party in several eastern European countries, the Independent Royalist Party of Estonia, the NEE Party in Belgium, the Surprise Party of the United States and Besti flokkurinn in Iceland.
Policies and objectives
Often joke parties promote unusual, even absurd policies. For example, the Monster Raving Loony Party proposes that the white cliffs of Dover should be painted blue for camouflage purposes, and that the number 13 should be abolished due to "its longstanding unpopularity". The McGillicuddy Serious Party sometimes invited readers of its manifesto to write in their own policy ideas, on the basis that the party, being politicians, wouldn't carry them out anyway.
The objectives of joke parties, however, can be somewhat more complex than their policies would indicate. Many parties, such as the Monster Raving Loonies, the McGillicuddies and Bill and Ben, were formed primarily for entertainment purposes, with people participating simply because they find it fun.
Other parties, however, have more serious goals, perhaps aiming to counteract a "depressing" or "angry" mood in politics. The Swedish Ezenhemmer Plastic Bags and Child Rearing Utensils Party describes itself in this light, saying that if people were "a little bit more cheerful and playful instead of engaging ourselves in disputes with our opponents", the world would be a better place.
Still other parties may use humour (particularly satire) to criticise and attack the political establishment — during the later days of the McGillicuddy Serious Party, for example, a number of anarchists joined the party, using it to criticise the political system.
Varying opinions as to the purpose of a joke party can sometimes lead to internal conflicts, as it did in the McGillicuddy Serious Party. The Monster Raving Loony Party has split on at least two occasions due to internal disputes.
Support
The most obvious reason for a person to support a joke party is simply that they enjoy the humour. There are, however, other arguments advanced in favour of joke parties. Some supporters, for example, say that joke parties perform an important public service, ensuring that people do not take politicians too seriously. Joke parties also receive votes from people who are disillusioned by the political process, or who feel that none of the "serious" parties are worth voting for. This is sometimes directly encouraged — in New Zealand, McGillicuddy Serious sometimes advertised itself as an entertaining way to waste one's vote. Some voters feel that voting for a joke party is a useful form of protest vote. Tomma Talande Stolar (Empty Vocal Seats) in Sweden was formed to the stated objective of getting a seat in the parliament and leaving it empty.
For the most part, joke parties do not win seats, although there have been a number of notable exceptions. The defunct Polish Beer-Lovers' Party was probably the most successful joke party, having won sixteen seats in the Sejm (3.5% of the total) in the 1991 elections. In Iceland, joke party Besti flokkurinn (The Best Party) founded by comedian Jón Gnarr won local council elections in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík, winning 34.7% of the votes, compared to the Independence Party's 33.6%, and won six seats on the council.
Other parties, such as the Monster Raving Loony Party, have won seats on local councils. Even if a joke party does not win, however, it may still poll better than other unsuccessful "serious" parties. In the UK, the 1990 by-election in Bootle derailed David Owen's new Social Democratic Party after their candidate received less votes than the Monster Raving Loony Party.
Policies and objectives
Often joke parties promote unusual, even absurd policies. For example, the Monster Raving Loony Party proposes that the white cliffs of Dover should be painted blue for camouflage purposes, and that the number 13 should be abolished due to "its longstanding unpopularity". The McGillicuddy Serious Party sometimes invited readers of its manifesto to write in their own policy ideas, on the basis that the party, being politicians, wouldn't carry them out anyway.
The objectives of joke parties, however, can be somewhat more complex than their policies would indicate. Many parties, such as the Monster Raving Loonies, the McGillicuddies and Bill and Ben, were formed primarily for entertainment purposes, with people participating simply because they find it fun.
Other parties, however, have more serious goals, perhaps aiming to counteract a "depressing" or "angry" mood in politics. The Swedish Ezenhemmer Plastic Bags and Child Rearing Utensils Party describes itself in this light, saying that if people were "a little bit more cheerful and playful instead of engaging ourselves in disputes with our opponents", the world would be a better place.
Still other parties may use humour (particularly satire) to criticise and attack the political establishment — during the later days of the McGillicuddy Serious Party, for example, a number of anarchists joined the party, using it to criticise the political system.
Varying opinions as to the purpose of a joke party can sometimes lead to internal conflicts, as it did in the McGillicuddy Serious Party. The Monster Raving Loony Party has split on at least two occasions due to internal disputes.
Support
The most obvious reason for a person to support a joke party is simply that they enjoy the humour. There are, however, other arguments advanced in favour of joke parties. Some supporters, for example, say that joke parties perform an important public service, ensuring that people do not take politicians too seriously. Joke parties also receive votes from people who are disillusioned by the political process, or who feel that none of the "serious" parties are worth voting for. This is sometimes directly encouraged — in New Zealand, McGillicuddy Serious sometimes advertised itself as an entertaining way to waste one's vote. Some voters feel that voting for a joke party is a useful form of protest vote. Tomma Talande Stolar (Empty Vocal Seats) in Sweden was formed to the stated objective of getting a seat in the parliament and leaving it empty.
For the most part, joke parties do not win seats, although there have been a number of notable exceptions. The defunct Polish Beer-Lovers' Party was probably the most successful joke party, having won sixteen seats in the Sejm (3.5% of the total) in the 1991 elections. In Iceland, joke party Besti flokkurinn (The Best Party) founded by comedian Jón Gnarr won local council elections in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík, winning 34.7% of the votes, compared to the Independence Party's 33.6%, and won six seats on the council.
Other parties, such as the Monster Raving Loony Party, have won seats on local councils. Even if a joke party does not win, however, it may still poll better than other unsuccessful "serious" parties. In the UK, the 1990 by-election in Bootle derailed David Owen's new Social Democratic Party after their candidate received less votes than the Monster Raving Loony Party.
Junior Jedi Knights is a series of science fiction novels started by Nancy Richardson and completed by Rebecca Moesta, based in the fictional Star Wars universe.
Anakin Solo, the youngest son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, is eleven—and headed for the Jedi academy! The Force is very strong with him—he can feel it. And his uncle Luke thinks it is time for him to start his training...
On an odd note, the JJK series takes place a year before the Young Jedi Knights series, but after the return of his siblings Jaina and Jacen from the academy, as indicated by pages 3-4.
Volumes
# The Golden Globe (ISBN 1572970359)
# ' (ISBN 1572970685)
# Promises (ISBN 1-57297-097-9)
# ' (ISBN 0-425-16824-7)
# ' (ISBN 1-57297-173-8)
# ' (ISBN 1-57297-208-4)
Anakin Solo, the youngest son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, is eleven—and headed for the Jedi academy! The Force is very strong with him—he can feel it. And his uncle Luke thinks it is time for him to start his training...
On an odd note, the JJK series takes place a year before the Young Jedi Knights series, but after the return of his siblings Jaina and Jacen from the academy, as indicated by pages 3-4.
Volumes
# The Golden Globe (ISBN 1572970359)
# ' (ISBN 1572970685)
# Promises (ISBN 1-57297-097-9)
# ' (ISBN 0-425-16824-7)
# ' (ISBN 1-57297-173-8)
# ' (ISBN 1-57297-208-4)
Sheikh Aquib Amin is one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim Islamic scholar of Jammu and Kashmir. Along with other scholars he delivers public speeches for welfare of people in numerous places in Jammu and Kashmir.
Biography
He was born in Downtown, Srinagar on 5 June 1991. His family later settled in Buchpora. He continued his early studies in Boys Higher Secondary School, Soura and later completed his graduation from Kashmir University in Bachelor of Commerce. After that he also completed his Masters in Islamic Studies and Arabic and recived knowledge from prestigious scholars of University of Kashmir. He also received his Islamic education from well known scholars from Islamic University of Medina, they include Sheikh Ramzan Buzlavi Al Madni and Mufti Yaqoob Baba Al Madni. He is a leading proponent of Salafi form of Islam but respects all the schools of thought. He is very much influenced by the works of Nasir din Albani, Muhammad bin salih Uthaymeen and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab.
Activities
He is the founder of Islamic educational centre Darul Aman (which literally means House of Peace) which provides free education of Quran and Sunnah to a common man and spreads love, brotherhood and communal harmony among the people. Its Headquarters are situated in Buchpora, Srinagar.
Works
The number of books and commentaries on existing books written by Sheikh Aquib exceeds twenty and the subject matter covered many topics such as Hadith,Tafseer, and Tawheed and good amount of books on Fiqh. Some of the books are as under :
* Kitabut Tawheed
* Usool Sitah
* Salasatul Usool
* Kashfu Subhaat
* Mustalahul Hadees by ibn Uthaymeen(commentary)
Biography
He was born in Downtown, Srinagar on 5 June 1991. His family later settled in Buchpora. He continued his early studies in Boys Higher Secondary School, Soura and later completed his graduation from Kashmir University in Bachelor of Commerce. After that he also completed his Masters in Islamic Studies and Arabic and recived knowledge from prestigious scholars of University of Kashmir. He also received his Islamic education from well known scholars from Islamic University of Medina, they include Sheikh Ramzan Buzlavi Al Madni and Mufti Yaqoob Baba Al Madni. He is a leading proponent of Salafi form of Islam but respects all the schools of thought. He is very much influenced by the works of Nasir din Albani, Muhammad bin salih Uthaymeen and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab.
Activities
He is the founder of Islamic educational centre Darul Aman (which literally means House of Peace) which provides free education of Quran and Sunnah to a common man and spreads love, brotherhood and communal harmony among the people. Its Headquarters are situated in Buchpora, Srinagar.
Works
The number of books and commentaries on existing books written by Sheikh Aquib exceeds twenty and the subject matter covered many topics such as Hadith,Tafseer, and Tawheed and good amount of books on Fiqh. Some of the books are as under :
* Kitabut Tawheed
* Usool Sitah
* Salasatul Usool
* Kashfu Subhaat
* Mustalahul Hadees by ibn Uthaymeen(commentary)