International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.

The movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations. The movement's parts are:

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet at right angles.

The cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and has been used by many religions, most notably Christianity. It may be seen as a division of the world into four elements (Chevalier, 1997) or cardinal points, or alternately as the union of the concepts of divinity, the vertical line, and the world, the horizontal line (Koch, 1955).

Etymology

The word cross comes ultimately from Latin crux, a Roman torture device used for crucifixion, via Old Irish cros. The word was introduced to English in the 10th century as the term for the instrument of the torturous execution of Jesus as described in the New Testament, gradually replacing the earlier word rood. Crux is possibly derived from Phoenician. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia cross does not come from crux but form the Latin curio, "to torment".

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as The American National Red Cross, is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated US affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Today, in addition to domestic disaster relief, the American Red Cross offers services in four other areas: communications services and comfort for military members and their family members; the collection, processing and distribution of blood and blood products; educational programs on preparedness, health, and safety; and international relief and development programs.

Issued a corporate charter by the United States Congress under Title 36 of the United States Code, Section 3001, the American National Red Cross is governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, income from health and safety training and products, and income from blood products. The American Red Cross is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Chairman of the Board of Governors, serving her second three-year term, is Bonnie McElveen-Hunter. The current President and Chief Executive Officer is Gail J. McGovern.

Executive producer

An executive producer (EP) enables the making of a commercial entertainment product. The EP may be concerned with management accounting and/or with associated legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). An EP generally contributes to the film's budget and may or may not work on set.

Motion pictures

In motion pictures, an executive producer oversees the filmmaking with regard to film finance. Executive producers liaise with the line producer and report to production companies and distributors.

Television

In television, an executive producer often supervises the creative content as well as the financial aspects of a production. Some writers (for example Stephen J. Cannell and Tina Fey) have been the creator and also the producer of the same TV show. Other dual roles may include the executive director(s) starring in the show they produce, such as Full Throttle Saloon reality TV star, Jesse James Dupree. Still other shows may have more than one executive producer working on a TV show where there can be one among them who outranks the others. This position is known as the "showrunner," or operational executive producer.

Crescent

In art and symbolism, a crescent (US: /ˈkrɛsənt/,UK: /ˈkrɛzənt/) is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points (usually in such a manner that the enclosed shape does not include the center of the original circle).

In astronomy, a crescent is the shape of the lit side of a spherical body (most notably the Moon) that appears to be less than half illuminated by the Sun as seen by the viewer. Mathematically, assuming the terminator lies on a great circle, such a crescent will actually be the figure bounded by a half-ellipse and a half-circle, with the major axis of the ellipse coinciding with a diameter of the semicircle. The direction in which the "horns" (the points at the intersection of the two arcs) face indicates whether a crescent is waxing (also young, or increasing) or waning (also old, or decreasing). Eastward pointing horns (pointing to the left, as seen from the Northern hemisphere) indicate a waxing crescent, whereas westward pointing horns (pointing to the right, as seen from the Northern hemisphere) indicate a waning crescent. Note that the directions the horns point relative to the observer are reversed in the Southern hemisphere.