Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Bill Clinton

2007-07-16T00:48:41Z

Asdfhllkjh: /* The Senate subsequently voted to acquit Clinton. */

:I am going to have to rewrite this article for obvious reasons.[[User:Geo.plrd|Geo.]] 00:37, 5 March 2007 (EST)

:Too even-handed?[[User:McTavidge|McTavidge]] 22:37, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

:Well, I tend to think that the fact that the article claims that Clinton was impeached isn't greatly even-handed. I'm a conservative like any other person with reasonable political ideals, but I think we're sort of stretching credibility with this one. [[User:Karalius Nyder|Karalius Nyder]] 22:31, 20 March 2007 (EDT)
:Sorry, my apologies - he was impeached! I need to brush up on my American politics. [[User:Karalius Nyder|Karalius Nyder]] 00:45, 21 March 2007 (EDT)

== Article name ==

Ok, does this make sense to have as William Jefferson Clinton when he was known as Bill Clinton? I don't think that anyone seriously would move [[Julias Caesar]] to [[Gaius Julius Caesar]] or [[Plutarch]] to [[Mestrius Plutarchus]] and I don't see how these are substantially different. [[User:JoshuaZ|JoshuaZ]] 21:12, 5 March 2007 (EST)

:White House website says: [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html William J. Clinton]
:Columbia Encyclopedia says: [http://www.bartleby.com/65/cl/ClintonB.html Bill Clinton]
:Encarta says: [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564341/Clinton_Bill.html Bill Clinton]
:Britannica says: [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003019/Bill-Clinton Bill Clinton]
:American Heritage Dictionary says: [http://www.bartleby.com/61/2/C0410250.html Clinton, William Jefferson]
:Clinton Library is: [http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/ William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum]
:Gale's Biography Research Center says:
::Bill Clinton
::(American president, 1946-)
::Also known as: William Jefferson Clinton, William J. Clinton, William Clinton, William Jefferson Blythe
:and includes
::"Bill Clinton," in American Decades 1990-1999. Tandy McConnell, ed. Detroit: Gale Group, Inc., 2001.
::"Bill Clinton," in Current Leaders of Nations. Gale Research, 1998.
::"Bill Clinton," in Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
::"Bill Clinton," in Newsmakers. Cumulation issue. Gale Research, 1992. (A profile of the individual's personal life, career, and newsworthy achievements.)
::"William Jefferson Clinton", in Contemporary Authors Online.
::"Bill Clinton," in Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Volume 6: World Leaders, 10th ed. Gale Group, 2001.

::I've moved the article to "Bill Clinton" and created redirects for all the other forms of the name.

:::[[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 21:20, 5 March 2007 (EST)

== Impeached? ==

From everything I've learned, Bill Clinton didn't get impeached. He was on the verge of being impeached and resigned. Article needs to be fixed if thats the case.

:I think you're thinking of [[Richard Nixon]]. Clinton _was_ impeached, but went on with running the country anyway. --[[User:BDobbs|BDobbs]] 23:55, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

*Impeachment is a term not for removal, but for a vote of trial. President Clinton was impeached, and put on trial. He was not convicted. President Clinton was convicted in another matter, of a Felony. He lost his law license because of that perjury conviction. President Nixon was threatened with Impeachment, but never was there a vote, or trial. --~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 03:50, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:: Bill Clinton was convicted of a felony? cite, please? He gave up his law license and paid a $25,000 fine to the Arkansas bar in exchange for no criminal charges being filed.<ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/19/clinton.lewinsky/</ref>. It's not exactly scot-free or exoneration, but it's also not a felony conviction. -- [[User:Jtl|Jtl]] 03:59, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

*Yes, one step ahead, it seems. He essentially pleaded "Nolo Contendre", and for doing so, was spared the humilation of being convicted. Sorry for my inexcuseable error in mistating a conviction, when on a technicality, he really wasn't. [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/19/clinton.lewinsky/]

<blockquote>
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a disciplinary action never before taken against a sitting U.S. president, an Arkansas Supreme Court panel has filed suit to strip Bill Clinton of his license to practice law

"The conduct of Mr. Clinton ... was motivated by a desire to protect himself from the embarrassment of his own conduct," the Arkansas State Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct declared in its five-page lawsuit, filed on Friday at about 3:45 p.m. (4:45 p.m. EDT) with the Pulaski County Circuit Court clerk in Little Rock.[http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/06/30/clinton.disbarment.02/]</blockquote>
--~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 04:11, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

As far as I can tell, he didn't plead nolo contendre either, ''because there weren't any charges filed''. Your quote isn't about a plea; it isn't even about charges being filed. It's about a lawsuit being filed. Civil cases aren't criminal. Lawsuits being filed aren't lawsuits being decided. Agreements to avoid charges aren't convictions, or guilty pleas, or even nolo contendre pleas.

In your mind, was Rush Limbaugh convicted of a felony in the oxycontin case? He paid a fine and agreed to drug testing for some number of years in exchange for charges not being filed. --[[User:Jtl|Jtl]] 04:15, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

*What a throughly mean spirited and nasty person you must be. Let it go. I admitted my mistake. What has happened to you in your life to make you this way? I don't condone anyone in the public eye getting treatment others wouldn't get. It is no matter if its Clinton or Limbaugh, and that should be obvious. That you thought I would condone Limbaugh's illegal activities, and not Clinton's speaks to your mind-set. --~ [[User:TK|TK]] [[User_talk:TK|MyTalk]] 04:17, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

:: And that you would assume I thought knew the answer to my honest question speaks to yours. --[[User:Jtl|Jtl]] 04:23, 14 April 2007 (EDT)

== Bin Laden ==

This article goes to great lengths to link the rise of Bin Laden to Clinton, but the old blighter doesn't get a mention in the article on Dubya. Why so? (Need I ask!) [[User:Mralph72|Mralph72]] 08:51, 5 May 2007 (EDT)

== Impeachment quote ==

it is totally unclear where "they have made promiscuous use of it" is supposed to fit in - maybe someone knows? [[User:PFoster|PFoster]] 17:21, 14 July 2007 (EDT)

== The Senate subsequently voted to acquit Clinton. ==

Having this follow the bit about Flynt makes it look as though there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the offer and the acquittal. That may be the case, and it may be nothing more than an interesting coincidence. If it is the case, a charge of that gravity would need to be backed up with a reference, according to the C-pedia rules. [[User:PFoster|PFoster]] 00:07, 15 July 2007 (EDT).

:Really? You suppose was cause-and-effect between Flynt blackmailing Senators for private conduct & [[Jim Jeffords]] jumping parties in 2001? [[User:RobS|RobS]] 14:46, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

:The problem is that President Clinton was impeached for the same actions that others claim to be blackmail. The issue is now coming up in the editing of this page. People are being accused of blackmail without factual evidence within this article. [[User:PFoster|PFoster]] 00:07, 15 July 2007 (EDT).

I have no idea, nor do I really care. My point is that the way the article is phrased IMPLIES a relationship without documenting it. You want that kind of implication to be on this website without any sort of evidence, that's fine by me. [[User:Asdfhllkjh|Asdfhllkjh]] 20:48, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

:Let's look at the contrast; without it, the implication is the impeachment charges were all bogus and without foundation, and Clinton was somehow victimized. Whereas the historical record shows, Clinton defenders were quit upfront about using blackmail & a "scorched earth" policy to defend Clinton, and even went so far as naming names. Clinton defenders for example publicly claimed they had evidence of homosexual activity by [[Trent Lott]] in his college days, and judging by Lotts reaction to the House Impeachment as reported by House Judiciary Committee Councel [[David Schippers]], [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_200012/ai_n8927884/pg_2] it's up to the reader to decide why the evidence in the Clinton Impeachment case was buried. [[User:RobS|RobS]] 15:13, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

So much for discussion, I guess. Look - if C-pedia wants to make the association between Flynt's seedy offer and the Senate's ruling a part of the article (an association which is about as subtle as a banjo as it's phrased here), so be it. At least edit it it so as to have the House and Senate results follow each other instead of being in separate paragraphs...and to spell "acquit" properly.

Bill Clinton

2007-07-16T00:44:31Z

Asdfhllkjh: removed non factual information from previous edit that had been reverted

{{President
|image=billclinton.jpg
|seq=42
|term_start=January 20, 1993
|term_end=January 20, 2001
|party=Democratic
|vp=Al Gore
|previous=George H. W. Bush
|next=George W. Bush
|birth_date=August 19, 1946
|birth_place=Hope, Arkansas
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=Hillary Rodham Clinton
|spouse2=
|religion=Baptist
}}

'''William Jefferson''' "Bill" '''Clinton''' '''(August 19, 1946 - present)''' served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2000, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]].

== Early Life ==

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident while his mother was pregnant with him. Clinton's mother later married Roger Clinton, and the four year-old William was given his stepfather's name.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html</ref>

Clinton was active in high school, participating in various student government organizations as well as playing the saxophone. Roger Clinton, however, made Bill's family life unpleasant by repeatedly abusing Clinton's mother and her children. Bill Clinton would eventually stand up to his stepfather in high school, forcing his stepfather to stop beating his mother and kicking him out of the house.<ref>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=50652</ref> After Roger Clinton underwent alcohol rehabilitation, he would eventually rejoin the family.

Clinton attended [[Georgetown University]], then [[Oxford University]] after receiving a prestigious [[Rhodes Scholarship]]. He also then earned a Juris Doctorate from [[Yale University]] in 1973. At Yale he met [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]], whom he would later marry <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html</ref>.

== Early Political Career ==

After returning to live in Arkansas, Clinton was elected [[Attorney General]] of Arkansas in 1976. Two years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest governor in the country at 32 years-old. Though defeated in 1980, Clinton won back the governorship in 1982 and held it until becoming President in 1992.

In December 1989 a three-judge district federal court held Bill Clinton's state-wide legislative reapportionment plan violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act|Voting Rights Act of 1965]], 42 U.S.C. 1973. 1990 the [[Supreme Court]] of the United States found in the case of ''[[Clinton vs Jeffers]]'' <ref>Findings of the Supreme Court of the United States in [http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1990/sg900402.txt Clinton vs Jeffers] No. 90-394 (1990) on appeal 730 F. Supp. 196, 198-201 (ED Ark. 1989) (three-judge court), aff'd, No. 89-2008 (Jan. 7, 1991).</ref> the former Arkansas Governeror and [[Democratic]] president had violated the Voting Rights Act. The Justices findings were,

{{Cquote|Bill Clinton does not dispute here -- that "violations of the [[Fourteenth amendment|fourteenth]] or [[fifteenth amendment]] justifying equitable relief have occurred in Arkansas."

In May 1990, the district court turned to those claims, holding that "the State of Arkansas has committed a number of constitutional violations of the voting rights of black citizens." J.S. App. A5. In particular, the court determined that the "State has systematically and deliberately enacted new majority-vote requirements for municipal offices, in an effort to frustrate black political success in elections traditionally requiring only a plurality to win." In 1990...Devotion to majority rule for local offices lay dormant as long as the plurality system produced white office-holders. But whenever black candidates used this system successfully -- and victory by a plurality has been virtually their only chance of success in at-large elections in majority-white cities – the response was swift and certain. Laws were passed in an attempt to close off this avenue of black political victory.}}

The court therefore concluded that

{{Cquote|This series of laws represents a systematic and deliberate attempt to reduce black political opportunity. Such an attempt is plainly unconstitutional. It replaces a system in which blacks could and did succeed, with one in which they almost certainly cannot. The inference of [[bigotry|racial motivation]] is inescapable.}}

== Presidency==
[[Image:Somalia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Poster to end the "racist occupation of Somalia"; eighteen US soldiers were killed and some of their bodies were dragged through the streets, [http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=13022]]]
Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan. It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier. His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of a Congress controlled by Democrats by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress. This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s. Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed <ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html</ref>. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings. <ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG</ref>.

In late 1995, President Clinton dispatched some 20,000 U.S. troops to [[Bosnia]].

Clinton was reelected in 1996 and carried 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. During Clinton's second term, together with the Republican-controlled Congress, he produced record federal budget surpluses reaching $236 billion by the year 2000, and representing a net federal budget gain of $526 billion. <ref> [http://www.uuforum.org/deficit.htm Congressional Budget Office figures]</ref>

He spent much of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. A special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought documented Clinton giving false testimony in the Paula Jones civil lawsuit while President which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he had committed perjury in a civil suit. The perjured testimony directly related to an attempt to defraud the plainitff of damages. The Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors. <ref>[http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/trial/statements/lieberman.shtml Statement by Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut)], Congressional Record for Friday, February 12, 1999.</ref>

During Clinton's presidency the [[terrorist]] group [[al-Qaeda]] conducted the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, simulataneous bombings of the US embassies in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] in 1998, and the attack on the [[USS Cole]] in 2000. Terrorist leader [[Osama bin Laden]] <ref>[http://www.bannerofliberty.com/OS8-98MQC/8-24-1998.1.html Did Bill Clinton Smooth the Way for Bin Laden to Become the World's Most Successful Terrorist?], Mary Mostert, Original Sources, August 24, 1998.</ref> issued two public [[fatwa]]s declaring War on America. <ref>[http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/binladenwar.htm Bin Laden's Declaration of War], 1998.</ref> In the 1998 fatwa <ref>Bernard Lewis, [http://www.msu.edu/course/iss/325/stein/read-325-3.htm#Lewis License to Kill], Foreign Affairs, November/December 1998.</ref> bin Laden told ''[[Jihad|jihadist]]s'' worldwide,

{{Cquote|Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by [[Allah]] and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, [[Aden]] and [[Mogadishu]]. <ref>[http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a1097mohamedinterview&scale=0#a1097mohamedinterview October 1997: [[Ali Mohamed]] Tells FBI He Helped Al-Qaeda Kill US Soldiers, But FBI Takes No Action]</ref>}}

Bin Laden told ''ABC News'' at the time, "We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets." <ref>The 9-11 Commission Report, [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec2.pdf2. The Foundation of the New Terrorism], Official Government Edition, GPO, 2004.</ref>

Suspicions often arose during Clinton's tenure about the timing of [[cruise missile]] attacks to manipulate public sympathy at crucial points when his approval ratings sagged. On several occassions <ref>[http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NzhjODk1ODg4M2NiODU4Yzc3YWE1OTA1MDNmYWQ5M2Y= The Facts About Clinton and Terrorism], Byron York, ''National Review Online'', September 11, 2006. </ref> generally when the approval ratings dipped to 47%, surprise cruise missile attacks <ref>[http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/12/21/wwwh8d21.html Airstrikes Against Iraq: 'What Happens Now?'], U.S. Information Agency ''Daily Digest'', December 21, 1998. </ref> where launched which resulted in a 10 point gain in the public opinion polls. Nick Gillespie of ''Reason'' remarked,
{{Cquote|Consider, for instance, the relative lack of scrutiny accorded the August 20 cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and [[Sudan]] … immediately after the bombing, polls showed that close to half of all Americans thought the missile strikes were meant to divert attention from the president's sex life… the Sudanese bombing suggests something else as well: If and when the public's and the media's attention shifts from the president's sex life to wider-ranging inquiries about how he makes deadly serious policy decisions…" <ref>[http://www.reason.com/news/show/30827.html Bombs Away - Troubling questions about the U.S. attack on Sudan], ''Reason'', December 1998. </ref>}}

Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. Portions regarding civil rights remedies were later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Clinton left office with an approval rating of 65%, the highest of any modern president, and remains the only modern president to leave office with a higher approval rating than he had when he took office. <ref> [http://uspolitics.about.com/od/polls/l/bl_historical_approval.htm Presidential Approval Ratings]</ref>

== Whitewater Affair ==

His close personal business partnerships with James McDougall in a failed Savings and Loan business venture lead to investigation of the [[Whitewater]] affair. Several of the people involved with the sale of land prior to the Clinton presidency were indicted, but the Clintons were never charged with a crime.{{fact}}

== Impeachment ==

On Aug. 17, 1998, after relentless media attention, leaks, and news of Lewinsky's upcoming testimony, Clinton made history by becoming the first U.S. president to testify in front of a grand jury in an investigation of his own possibly criminal conduct. In an address to the nation, he admitted to having misled the public and a Federal Court over keys elements of testimony. [[Kenneth Starr]], a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the case, was instructed to pursue the matter.

In the second term Clinton was accused of perjury in connection to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. Clinton advisor and close confidant [[George Stephanopoulos]] said publicly that there would be a "scorched-earth policy" if Clinton were impeached. <ref>[http://www.alamo-girl.com/02742.htm Insight Magazine], J Michael Waller, 6/19/00.</ref> Clinton previously had decried the "politics of personal destruction." <ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/weekly/standard072299.asp Bill Clinton, Historian], Peter Wehner, Jewish World Review July 22, 1999.</ref>

During the impeachment trial, pornographer [[Larry Flynt]], an old friend of Clinton advisors [[James Carville]] and [[Strobe Talbott]], publicly offered a $1 million reward for any information about the personal lives of members of Congress that could be used to demonstrate the hypocracy of the process. Although Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives, the Senate subsequently voted to acquit Clinton.

Clinton lost his law license in Arkansas because he had committed perjury before a Federal judge.

It was during this scandal that Clinton famously stated: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_2525000/2525339.stm</ref>.

== After the Presidency ==

Clinton has spent much of time since leaving office working for charitable causes such as support and fund-raising for the victims of AIDS and the Asian tsunami. In the case of the Indian Ocean tsunami, he teamed with former president [[George H.W. Bush]] to raise money for relief efforts.

Bill Clinton's wife, [[Hillary_Rodham_Clinton|Hillary Clinton]], was elected Senator to New York in 2000. Reelected in 2006, she is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.

Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff was John Podesta between 1998-2001.

== References ==
<references/>

==External link==

*[http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=625 No evidence of genocide or ethnic cleansing in Kosovo], by Rollie Keith, Global Research, July 2, 2005.
*[http://www.zmag.org/crisescurevts/germandocs.htm Internal Documents from Germany's Foreign Office Regarding Pre-Bombardment Genocide in Kosovo].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Bill}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Dungeons and Dragons

2007-07-16T00:40:31Z

Asdfhllkjh: /* Controversy and Criticism */

[[Image:WotC Dungeons Dragons.jpg|thumb|right|The 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons logo.]]
'''Dungeons and Dragons''' (D&D or DnD) is a role-playing game which takes place in [[magic]]al [[fantasy]] world of [[myth]]ical creatures such as [[elves]], [[dwarves]], [[orc]]s, and [[dragons]]. Players undertake a series of heroic adventures or quests, following a plot controlled by one player called
the ''dungeon master'' (DM).

The game was originally published in 1974 by [[Gary Gygax]] and [[Dave Arneson]] and is now published by [[Wizards of the Coast]].<ref>Wizards of the Coast's [http://www.wizards.com/dnd D&D site]</ref>

==Game play==

Dice of various types are used to determine outcomes. As players' characters accomplish more, they gain experience points (XP) which allow their characters to gain levels, which in turn make them more powerful and have more abilities. The DM may use a commercially-produced adventure, or may create one of his own.

The game allows players to play characters who follow one of nine different alignments; lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good, lawful neutral, true neutral, lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil. The character's alignment gives a guideline for how he or she would react in some situations. Paladins, for example, are required to be of the lawful good alignment. Most DMs forbid evil characters as they are often disruptive to the game.

The game may include [[occult]] elements like [[magic]], [[ghost]]s, [[spirit]]s, [[demon]]s and [[devil]]s which the characters may fight, use or aid as they see fit. Although the game is open-ended and allows players the freedom to choose their own actions, players are typically more likely to fight creatures they encounter than ally with them, especially if these are evil creatures.

The game settings manufactured by [[Wizards of the Coast]] (''Greyhawk'', ''Faerun'', ''Eberron'', etc.) also expressly adopt a polytheistic [[pantheon]] of fictional deities and reject real-world [[religion]]s as a part of the game. That being said, there is nothing to stop a DM from coming up with a monotheistic world in which to run his adventures. In fact, there is an unofficial published setting, ''[http://www.greenronin.com/catalog/grr1019 Testament]'', that is about roleplaying in the Biblical Era. Most characters in the game worship fictional deities both as lay persons and as "clerics", a profession than any character may choose to undertake assuming their alignment matches or is close to a match with their chosen god. Clerics of these deities are granted magical powers by their chosen deity by means of which they can defeat their enemies, or heal their party members.

The game has been steadily modified and expanded since the original first edition and is now in edition 3.5.

There is now a Dungeons and Dragons Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) known as ''Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach'' which takes place in the ''Eberron'' campaign setting.

== The Magic System ==

The magic system used in Dungeons and Dragons was adopted very roughly from the writing of fantasy and science fiction author [[Jack Vance]]. In the Vancian system, magic-users such as wizards must prepare all of their spells in advance for that day by memorizing them and a spell leaves the wizard's memory upon being cast. To cast the spell again, the magic-user must once again memorize the spell. The Vancian system was chosen for a variety of reasons such as its originality compared to pre-existing magical systems, its avoidance any connection with systems of magic described in any religion or occult theory, and it being the creation one of Gygax's favorite authors.<ref>Forum discussion: [http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/printthread.php?t=182603 "Is D&D magic purely Vancian?"]</ref><ref>RPGnet: [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10222.phtml Review of "The Primer of Practical Magic"]</ref>

== The Combat System ==
[[Image:dnddice.jpg|thumb|right|Some of the unusual dice required to play Dungeons and Dragons.]]
Players fight by throwing [[dice]] having 20, 12, 10, 8, 6, and 4 sides. These dice are properly called polyhedral dice. This is important to distinguish these dice from standard six sided dice.
Rolling two 10-sided dice creates a two-digit random number for percentages, which the rules will sometimes refer to as rolling a 100-sided die.

In combat there are three different ways that a character can damage another character: melee, ranged, or magical. Attacking another Player Character (PC) is often an evil act that will get you tossed out that group, but PC-vs-PC combat is sometimes entered by mutual agreement of the players as part of a plot.

== Relationship with Christianity ==

Although Dungeons & Dragons does not present itself as either pro-Christian or anti-Christian, the game features many elements which can be considered to agree with or go against the teachings of Christ.

Former [[United Methodist Church]] minister James Wyatt wrote an essay comparing the freedom of a Dungeons & Dragons player to choose his own actions, to the Christian concept of Free Will. As in real life, a player may, when presented with a moral choice, decide for himself whether to do good or evil. If the player was not able to do evil, he would be forced to do good, removing his freedom. Similarly, God allows human beings to choose between good and evil in real life, and people must accept the consequences of their choice.

The game includes fictional depictions of supernatural abilities called magic, evil monsters called demons and devils, and fictional deities along with their followers. Christians are divided on how this interacts with their faith. Some Christians believe that such fictional depictions of practices forbidden by Scripture and mythological deities do not conflict with the player's faith provided that he does not truly believe that these things are part of real life or that their real-world equivalents should be condoned. These Christians compare the game to reading or writing a work of fiction containing these elements, such as reading about Greek mythology or writing stories involving devils as C.S. Lewis wrote [[The Screwtape Letters]]. However, other Christians disagree with this viewpoint, citing references in Scripture which prohibit witchcraft (Lev. 20:27) or the worship of false gods (Deut. 5:7).

Since the primary action of the game involves the slaying of monsters and the accumulation of wealth, some Christians feel that this goes against the teachings of Christ regarding [[pacifism]] (Matthew 5:38-42) and the accumulation of [[wealth]] (Matthew 19:24).

== Controversy and Criticism ==

Starting in the late 1970s the game and others like it came under attack mainly from some conservative Christians as promoting occult and criminal activity. Its dangers were summarized in the Dark Dungeons tract by controversial fundamentalist Christian author [[Jack Chick]]<ref>Jack Chick: [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp "Dark Dungeons"]</ref>, who claims that D&D players whose characters reach a high enough level can learn to cast real magic spells.

One item of concern for conservative Christians is that players' characters do not usually worship [[God]], but instead choose a [[patron]] deity from a [[polytheistic]] pantheon.

The game has drawn criticism for allowing players to undertake un-Christian activities: the rules allow a player to have their character perform evil acts, including the summoning or worshiping of demons and devils. However, the game rules discourage the dungeon master from allowing his players to choose evil characters, and in the current edition of the game the player is penalized experience points if he summons a demon or devil.

Another criticism is that illustrations in the rule books for Dungeons and Dragons often contain images of immodestly dressed women, and, in fact, in the first edition Monster Manual a number of pencil drawings were topless (such as harpy and succubus). When the drawings switched to color many years ago, topless pictures were removed.

Tracy Hickman, one of the main authors of the Dungeons and Dragons DragonLance book series, and a Christian with conservative politics and theology, has written a number of articles defending and discussing D&D from a Christian perspective. <ref name="Waldron">The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture: [http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art9-roleplaying.html "Role-Playing Games and the Christian Right"]</ref> Others within the Dungeons and Dragons community responded by writing other defenses from rationalist perspectives or other perspectives or by writing parodies such as "Chess: The Subtle Sin: Should Christians play chess?". In response to the perceived Christian persecution of the Dungeons and Dragons, darker themed, deliberately counter-cultural games appeared in reaction such as [[Call of Cthluhu]] which is based on the horror writing of [[H.P. Lovecraft]] and set in the [[Cthulhu|Cthulhu Mythos]]<ref name="Waldron"/>, or [[Vampire: the Masquerade]], where players acted the roles of undead blood-suckers.

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
* [http://aquela.com/roleplaying/r&r/index.html Religion and Roleplaying]

[[Category:Games]]

Bill Clinton

2007-07-16T00:38:59Z

Asdfhllkjh: /* Impeachment */

{{President
|image=billclinton.jpg
|seq=42
|term_start=January 20, 1993
|term_end=January 20, 2001
|party=Democratic
|vp=Al Gore
|previous=George H. W. Bush
|next=George W. Bush
|birth_date=August 19, 1946
|birth_place=Hope, Arkansas
|death_date=
|death_place=
|spouse=Hillary Rodham Clinton
|spouse2=
|religion=Baptist
}}

'''William Jefferson''' "Bill" '''Clinton''' '''(August 19, 1946 - present)''' served as the 42nd [[President of the United States of America]] from 1993-2000, following [[George H. W. Bush]] and preceding [[George W. Bush]].

== Early Life ==

Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946 in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe Jr. died in a car accident while his mother was pregnant with him. Clinton's mother later married Roger Clinton, and the four year-old William was given his stepfather's name.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html</ref>

Clinton was active in high school, participating in various student government organizations as well as playing the saxophone. Roger Clinton, however, made Bill's family life unpleasant by repeatedly abusing Clinton's mother and her children. Bill Clinton would eventually stand up to his stepfather in high school, forcing his stepfather to stop beating his mother and kicking him out of the house.<ref>http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=50652</ref> After Roger Clinton underwent alcohol rehabilitation, he would eventually rejoin the family.

Clinton attended [[Georgetown University]], then [[Oxford University]] after receiving a prestigious [[Rhodes Scholarship]]. He also then earned a Juris Doctorate from [[Yale University]] in 1973. At Yale he met [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary Rodham]], whom he would later marry <ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/bc42.html</ref>.

== Early Political Career ==

After returning to live in Arkansas, Clinton was elected [[Attorney General]] of Arkansas in 1976. Two years later, he was elected Governor of Arkansas, becoming the youngest governor in the country at 32 years-old. Though defeated in 1980, Clinton won back the governorship in 1982 and held it until becoming President in 1992.

In December 1989 a three-judge district federal court held Bill Clinton's state-wide legislative reapportionment plan violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act|Voting Rights Act of 1965]], 42 U.S.C. 1973. 1990 the [[Supreme Court]] of the United States found in the case of ''[[Clinton vs Jeffers]]'' <ref>Findings of the Supreme Court of the United States in [http://www.usdoj.gov/osg/briefs/1990/sg900402.txt Clinton vs Jeffers] No. 90-394 (1990) on appeal 730 F. Supp. 196, 198-201 (ED Ark. 1989) (three-judge court), aff'd, No. 89-2008 (Jan. 7, 1991).</ref> the former Arkansas Governeror and [[Democratic]] president had violated the Voting Rights Act. The Justices findings were,

{{Cquote|Bill Clinton does not dispute here -- that "violations of the [[Fourteenth amendment|fourteenth]] or [[fifteenth amendment]] justifying equitable relief have occurred in Arkansas."

In May 1990, the district court turned to those claims, holding that "the State of Arkansas has committed a number of constitutional violations of the voting rights of black citizens." J.S. App. A5. In particular, the court determined that the "State has systematically and deliberately enacted new majority-vote requirements for municipal offices, in an effort to frustrate black political success in elections traditionally requiring only a plurality to win." In 1990...Devotion to majority rule for local offices lay dormant as long as the plurality system produced white office-holders. But whenever black candidates used this system successfully -- and victory by a plurality has been virtually their only chance of success in at-large elections in majority-white cities – the response was swift and certain. Laws were passed in an attempt to close off this avenue of black political victory.}}

The court therefore concluded that

{{Cquote|This series of laws represents a systematic and deliberate attempt to reduce black political opportunity. Such an attempt is plainly unconstitutional. It replaces a system in which blacks could and did succeed, with one in which they almost certainly cannot. The inference of [[bigotry|racial motivation]] is inescapable.}}

== Presidency==
[[Image:Somalia.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Poster to end the "racist occupation of Somalia"; eighteen US soldiers were killed and some of their bodies were dragged through the streets, [http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=13022]]]
Clinton won in 1992 with 43% of the popular vote versus President [[George H. W. Bush's]] 37%, capitalizing on public discontent with a weak economy and public displeasure with Bush's proposed tax increases, and Ross Perot, a third candidate. In his first two years in office, 1993 through 1994, Clinton was unable to "reform" health-care in the United States with a [[socialism| socialized]] health-care plan. It was a tough sell in the wake of the collapse of Soviet Bloc only a few years earlier. His approach consisted of appointing a planning committee with secret members to reshape this important sector of the economy.{{fact}} The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] successfully sued to force disclosure of the committee financing, expenses and membership. The program ultimately became so unpopular after two years the Democratically controlled Congress shielded its members records by never bringing it to floor for a vote.

In 1994, voters expressed their high disapproval of a Congress controlled by Democrats by giving a victory to Republicans in Congress. This event was tagged the "Republican Revolution," and began a series of showdowns with the Republican-led Congress.{{fact}} These showdowns were epitomized by the budget conflict with then-Speaker of the House [[Newt Gingrich]] in 1995. Gingrich refused to pass Clinton's budget proposal, and the latter threatened to shut down the government as Reagan had done in the 1980s. Clinton did not back down, however, and eventually had his budget passed <ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/commentprint082800d.html</ref>. This showdown backfired for the Republicans, as it reinvigorated Clinton's flagging approval ratings. <ref>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Clinton_approval_rating.JPG</ref>.

In late 1995, President Clinton dispatched some 20,000 U.S. troops to [[Bosnia]].

Clinton was reelected in 1996 and carried 49.2% of the popular vote against Republican candidate ([[Robert Dole | Bob Dole]]), who won 41%, and "populist" candidate, [[H. Ross Perot]], who won 8%. During Clinton's second term, together with the Republican-controlled Congress, he produced record federal budget surpluses reaching $236 billion by the year 2000, and representing a net federal budget gain of $526 billion. <ref> [http://www.uuforum.org/deficit.htm Congressional Budget Office figures]</ref>

He spent much of the remainder of his presidency combating scandals. A special prosecutor's report was not released until well into Clinton's second term, and brought documented Clinton giving false testimony in the Paula Jones civil lawsuit while President which resulted in his impeachment and disbarment from the legal profession.{{fact}} The main charge was that he had committed perjury in a civil suit. The perjured testimony directly related to an attempt to defraud the plainitff of damages. The Senate failed to make clear what constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors. <ref>[http://www.australianpolitics.com/usa/clinton/trial/statements/lieberman.shtml Statement by Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Connecticut)], Congressional Record for Friday, February 12, 1999.</ref>

During Clinton's presidency the [[terrorist]] group [[al-Qaeda]] conducted the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, simulataneous bombings of the US embassies in [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] in 1998, and the attack on the [[USS Cole]] in 2000. Terrorist leader [[Osama bin Laden]] <ref>[http://www.bannerofliberty.com/OS8-98MQC/8-24-1998.1.html Did Bill Clinton Smooth the Way for Bin Laden to Become the World's Most Successful Terrorist?], Mary Mostert, Original Sources, August 24, 1998.</ref> issued two public [[fatwa]]s declaring War on America. <ref>[http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/binladenwar.htm Bin Laden's Declaration of War], 1998.</ref> In the 1998 fatwa <ref>Bernard Lewis, [http://www.msu.edu/course/iss/325/stein/read-325-3.htm#Lewis License to Kill], Foreign Affairs, November/December 1998.</ref> bin Laden told ''[[Jihad|jihadist]]s'' worldwide,

{{Cquote|Clinton appeared in front of the whole world threatening and promising revenge, but these threats were merely a preparation for withdrawal. You have been disgraced by [[Allah]] and you withdrew; the extent of your impotence and weaknesses became very clear. It was a pleasure for the "heart" of every Muslim and a remedy to the "chests" of believing nations to see you defeated in the three Islamic cities of Beirut, [[Aden]] and [[Mogadishu]]. <ref>[http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a1097mohamedinterview&scale=0#a1097mohamedinterview October 1997: [[Ali Mohamed]] Tells FBI He Helped Al-Qaeda Kill US Soldiers, But FBI Takes No Action]</ref>}}

Bin Laden told ''ABC News'' at the time, "We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets." <ref>The 9-11 Commission Report, [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/pdf/sec2.pdf2. The Foundation of the New Terrorism], Official Government Edition, GPO, 2004.</ref>

Suspicions often arose during Clinton's tenure about the timing of [[cruise missile]] attacks to manipulate public sympathy at crucial points when his approval ratings sagged. On several occassions <ref>[http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NzhjODk1ODg4M2NiODU4Yzc3YWE1OTA1MDNmYWQ5M2Y= The Facts About Clinton and Terrorism], Byron York, ''National Review Online'', September 11, 2006. </ref> generally when the approval ratings dipped to 47%, surprise cruise missile attacks <ref>[http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/12/21/wwwh8d21.html Airstrikes Against Iraq: 'What Happens Now?'], U.S. Information Agency ''Daily Digest'', December 21, 1998. </ref> where launched which resulted in a 10 point gain in the public opinion polls. Nick Gillespie of ''Reason'' remarked,
{{Cquote|Consider, for instance, the relative lack of scrutiny accorded the August 20 cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and [[Sudan]] … immediately after the bombing, polls showed that close to half of all Americans thought the missile strikes were meant to divert attention from the president's sex life… the Sudanese bombing suggests something else as well: If and when the public's and the media's attention shifts from the president's sex life to wider-ranging inquiries about how he makes deadly serious policy decisions…" <ref>[http://www.reason.com/news/show/30827.html Bombs Away - Troubling questions about the U.S. attack on Sudan], ''Reason'', December 1998. </ref>}}

Clinton also signed into law the [[Violence Against Women Act]], which opened the federal courts to claims of domestic disputes between men and women, which had always been handled under state rather than federal law. Portions regarding civil rights remedies were later found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Clinton left office with an approval rating of 65%, the highest of any modern president, and remains the only modern president to leave office with a higher approval rating than he had when he took office. <ref> [http://uspolitics.about.com/od/polls/l/bl_historical_approval.htm Presidential Approval Ratings]</ref>

== Whitewater Affair ==

His close personal business partnerships with James McDougall in a failed Savings and Loan business venture lead to investigation of the [[Whitewater]] affair. Several of the people involved with the sale of land prior to the Clinton presidency were indicted, but the Clintons were never charged with a crime.{{fact}}

== Impeachment ==

On Aug. 17, 1998, after relentless media attention, leaks, and news of Lewinsky's upcoming testimony, Clinton made history by becoming the first U.S. president to testify in front of a grand jury in an investigation of his own possibly criminal conduct. In an address to the nation, he admitted to having misled the public and a Federal Court over keys elements of testimony. [[Kenneth Starr]], a special prosecutor appointed to investigate the case, was instructed to pursue the matter.

In the second term Clinton was accused of perjury in connection to the Paula Jones sexual harassment lawsuit. Clinton advisor and close confidant [[George Stephanopoulos]] said publicly that there would be a "scorched-earth policy" if Clinton were impeached. <ref>[http://www.alamo-girl.com/02742.htm Insight Magazine], J Michael Waller, 6/19/00.</ref> Clinton previously had decried the "politics of personal destruction." <ref>[http://www.jewishworldreview.com/weekly/standard072299.asp Bill Clinton, Historian], Peter Wehner, Jewish World Review July 22, 1999.</ref>

During the impeachment trial, pornographer [[Larry Flynt]], an old friend of Clinton advisors [[James Carville]] and [[Strobe Talbott]], publicly offered a $1 million reward for any information about the personal lives of members of Congress that could be used to demonstrate the hypocracy of the proceedings. Although Clinton became the second sitting president to be impeached by the US House of Representatives, the Senate subsequently voted to acquit Clinton.

Clinton lost his law license in Arkansas because he had committed perjury before a Federal judge.

It was during this scandal that Clinton famously stated: "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/21/newsid_2525000/2525339.stm</ref>.

== After the Presidency ==

Clinton has spent much of time since leaving office working for charitable causes such as support and fund-raising for the victims of AIDS and the Asian tsunami. In the case of the Indian Ocean tsunami, he teamed with former president [[George H.W. Bush]] to raise money for relief efforts.

Bill Clinton's wife, [[Hillary_Rodham_Clinton|Hillary Clinton]], was elected Senator to New York in 2000. Reelected in 2006, she is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2008.

Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff was John Podesta between 1998-2001.

== References ==
<references/>

==External link==

*[http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=625 No evidence of genocide or ethnic cleansing in Kosovo], by Rollie Keith, Global Research, July 2, 2005.
*[http://www.zmag.org/crisescurevts/germandocs.htm Internal Documents from Germany's Foreign Office Regarding Pre-Bombardment Genocide in Kosovo].

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Bill}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

User talk:Asdfhllkjh

2007-07-15T16:35:09Z

Asdfhllkjh:

{{welcome|sig=[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 12:33, 15 July 2007 (EDT)}}

Did you copy your [[Black Sea]] edit? We don't allow that. Lord willing, contribute something intelligent, OK? {{unsigned|Aschlafly}}

Actually I wrote the majority o the article on wikipedia and just though I would try and elp you out by including something intelligent over here. I know you don't allow intelligence as you said, but I think intelligence is kind of important :) {{unsigned|Asdfhllkjh}}

:If you wrote the entire article yourself on Wikipedia, then you are entitled to also submit it to Conservapedia, but in this case please put a notice on the article's talk page declaring that you are the same person as the author of the article on Wikipedia.
:However, you do not have permission to submit a version of the article that has been edited by others on Wikipedia (unless you have permission from every other such editor). If this article includes edit by other authors, it will have to be removed.
:[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 12:33, 15 July 2007 (EDT)

My apologies, I was under the impression that as the major contributer on Wikipedia this was okay based on my reading of your editing commandments. Take it out then its ok with me :) ~Asdfhllkjh

Liberal quotient

2007-07-15T16:32:12Z

Asdfhllkjh: Aschfag is editing improperly without summary

'''Liberal quotient''' is a new term coined by Conservapedia to quantify how [[liberal]] a group is. It is used for assessing political bias and for evaluating statements or positions by such a group.

The liberal quotient is defined as the ratio of liberals to conservatives in a group. Thus the liberal quotient is zero when there are no liberals in the group, and, by definition, infinity if there are no conservatives.

According to a Harris Poll from 2005 [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=548], 40% of all Americans identify as moderates, 35% as conservatives, and 18% as liberals. This gives a liberal quotient of about 1:2. These numbers have been fairly constant during the last decades.

A [[Wikipedia]] user can choose from 32 different categories to self-identify their political ideology [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedians_by_political_ideology]. There are 240 users who self-identify as liberal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Liberal_Wikipedians], and 75 who self-identify as conservative [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Conservative_Wikipedians]. This means that the group of editors on Wikipedia that chose to self-identify has a liberal quotient of about 3:1.

Groups having a high liberal quotient would include university faculties, the National Education Association, the leadership of the [[Democratic Party]], the management of the ''Village Voice'' and ''New York Times'', and the leaders of the [[ACLU]]. Groups having a low liberal quotient would include a trade association of small business owners, an association of Christian athletes, and worshipers at church on an ordinary Sunday, with the exception of black protestant congregations [http://pewforum.org/docs/index.php?DocID=174].

== Comparison to Other Metrics ==

While some liberals oppose any measurement of their influence, others have proposed different metrics. One alternative proposal of a liberal quotient is the percentage of liberals in a population or group.

This metric fails to distinguish between conservatives and moderates. For example, this metric yields the same result if there were 50 liberals and 50 moderates as if there were 50 liberals and 50 conservatives, even though the two groups have very different political biases.

The formulation LQ = L/(L+C) has also been proposed - the Liberal quotient is the ratio of self identified liberals to the sum of self identified liberals and conservatives. This yields a range from 0 to 1, and is not affected by moderates or the unidentified. But by constraining the quotient to a scale of 0 to 1, it understates a large increase in liberal control. A group having 9 liberals and just one conservative would have a liberal quotient of 0.9, while a group having 99 liberals and only one conservative would have a liberal quotient of only 0.99. Increasing the liberal control eleven-fold would result in only a 10% increase in this quotient. A rebuttal to this criticism is that this is just how percentages work.

Proponent of this measure point out that both measure are mathematical equivalent. Given a liberal quotient defined as LQ=L/C the alternative measure can be obtained by the transformation LQ/(1+LQ). Since one measure can be obtained from the other by a simple transformation, preferring one over the other is simply a matter of taste.

== Criticism ==

Critics of the liberal quotient point out that it discounts groups identifying neither as liberal nor conservative, such as the 40% of moderates in the American public. A group with 97 moderates, 2 liberals, and 1 conservative has the same liberal quotient as a group with 1 moderate, 66 Liberals and 33 conservatives, although mathematically the latter group is more liberal.

The metric can fail to distinguish between conservatives and moderates. The liberal quotient yields the same result if there were 50 conservatives and 50 moderates as if there were 100 conservatives, even though the two groups have very different political biases. However, it is unclear if the overall outcomes are much different between the two groups.

It has also been pointed out that this metric does not differentiate between groups with differing levels of liberal beliefs; an extreme left-wing group may have the same liberal quotient as a mildly liberal group.

A rebuttal is to these criticisms is that it is unclear what moderates add or subtract to a group. For example, it is argued that the counterweight by provided 33 conservatives to the 66 liberals in the presence of 1 moderate, than that is just as effective as the counterweight provided by 1 conservative to 2 liberals in the presence of 97 moderates. The influence of moderates are in this argumentation purposefully ignored, for the sake of simplicity.

In this context it has also been pointed out that the term ''liberal quotient'' can be misleading, and will often be understood to mean liberal fraction. The liberal quotient of 1:2 of the American public, for example, might be mistaken to mean that 66% of all Americans are conservative, although it is only about 35% according to the Harris poll.

A more fundamental criticism is directed to the use of the liberal quotient when applied to media outlets or encyclopedias. Rather than estimating the political orientation of editors, critics propose to consider the political orientation of the actual content. Recent scientific studies on media bias look at the media content, and not at the orientation of the editors, and use in addition other measures than the quotient of articles with a liberal bias versus articles with a conservative bias [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=947640#PaperDownload][http://ideas.repec.org/p/umc/wpaper/0501.html]. Note, that both studies nevertheless conclude that most media outlets have a liberal bias.

Another problem with applying this metric to media outlets and encyclopedia is that, in contrast to groups, unbiased articles, the analog to moderates, do not swing their orientation in the presence of biased articles. An encyclopedia with 99.7% unbiased articles, 0.2% liberally biased articles, and 0.1% conservatively biased articles, has the same liberal bias as a product with 66.6% liberally biased articles, 33.3% conservative articles , 0.1% unbiased articles. However, the first would be considered a reliable source of information, while the second would be highly unreliable. And this despite having the same liberal quotient. Even if the influence of moderates in a group of people might be unclear, the influence of unbiased articles on on the reliability of an encyclopedia is obvious.

Other criticism of the liberal quotient is directed at the way it is used in comparison of the bias of Wikipedia with statistically sound results from a Harris Poll. The identified problems are:
* The comparison relies on raw data from a self-selected sample [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedians_by_political_ideology].
* It compares 2 answers of a poll with 3 possible answers, to 2 of 32 user categories.
* It compares the outcome of a poll in which respondent can only choose one option, with one a self-identification project, in which users can choose as many options as they like.

[[Category:Politics]]

Broccoli

2007-07-15T16:22:49Z

Asdfhllkjh:

[[Image:Broccoli_bunches.jpg|thumb|300px|Bunches of Broccoli]]

Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family, and is closely related to cauliflower. Because of its different components, broccoli provides a range of tastes and textures, from soft and flowery (the floret) to fibrous and crunchy (the stem and stalk).

President George H. W. Bush is known for a disdain for broccoli, In response, a powerful broccoli agriculture lobby sent several tons of it to the White House. This broccoli was promptly donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.[5] His son, President George W. Bush, mentioned during a 2004 question-and-answer session that he doesn't mind broccoli, but does prefer the florets to the stalk and loves terrorists.

[[Category:Food and drink]]

User talk:Asdfhllkjh

2007-07-15T16:06:29Z

Asdfhllkjh:

Did you copy your [[Black Sea]] edit? We don't allow that. Lord willing, contribute something intelligent, OK?

Actually I wrote the majority o the article on wikipedia and just though I would try and elp you out by including something intelligent over here. I know you don't allow intelligence as you said, but I think intelligence is kind of important :)

Mississippi

2007-07-15T15:55:56Z

Asdfhllkjh: removed uncited information

[[Image:Mississippi_State_Flag.gif|thumb|right|The state flag of Mississipi.]]

'''Mississippi''' is located in the Southern region of the [[United States]] and on December 10th, 1817 became the twentieth state to enter into the union. Mississippi was once a member of the [[Confederate States of America]]. The capital of Mississippi is [[Jackson]] which is also its largest city. The current governor of Mississippi is Haley Barbour, a [[Republican]].

[[Category:US state]]

Black Sea

2007-07-15T15:53:31Z

Asdfhllkjh: expanded article

{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Black-Sea-NASA.jpg|thumb|right|250px|NASA satellite image of the Black Sea]]
[[Image:Black Sea map.png|thumb|right|250px|Map of the Black Sea]]

The '''Black Sea''' is an inland [[sea]] between southeastern [[Europe]] and [[Anatolia]] that is actually a distant arm of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] by way of the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. It is connected to the Mediterranean by the [[Bosporus]] and the [[Sea of Marmara]], and to the [[Sea of Azov]] by the [[Strait of Kerch]].

There is a net inflow of seawater through the Bosporus, 200 km³ per year. There is an inflow of freshwater from the surrounding areas, especially central and middle-eastern Europe, totalling 320 km³ per year. The most important river entering the Black Sea is the [[Danube]].<ref>[http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=16477 The Danube Spills into the Black Sea] NASA Visible Earth. Retrieved [[2 December]] [[2006]]. </ref> The Black Sea has an area of [[1 E11 m²|436,400 km²]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Sea Geography |work=University of Delaware College of Marine Studies |url=http://www.ocean.udel.edu/blacksea/geography/index.html |date=2003 |accessdate=December 2 |accessyear=2006}}</ref> with a maximum depth of 2200 m. (7,218 ft.) <ref>{{cite web |title=Unexpected changes in the oxic/anoxic interface in the Black Sea |work=Nature Publishing Group |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v338/n6214/abs/338411a0.html |date=[[30 March 1989]] |accessdate=December 2 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>

Countries bordering on the Black Sea are [[Turkey]], [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Ukraine]], [[Russia]], and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]].<ref>Sosio-economic indicators for the countries of the Black Sea basin. (2001). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. Retrieved [[2 December]] [[2006]] from http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/sosio_economic_indicators_for_the_countries_of_the_black_sea_basin_giwa.</ref> The [[Crimea]]n [[peninsula]] is a Ukrainian autonomous republic.

Important cities along the coast include: [[Constanţa]] (urban area of 401,613), [[Mangalia]], [[Burgas]], [[Varna]] (urban area of 357,752) , [[Odessa]], [[Sevastopol]], [[Yalta]], [[Kerch]], [[Novorossiysk]] (281,400), [[Sochi]], [[Sukhumi]], [[Poti]], [[Batumi]], [[Trabzon]], [[Samsun]] (439,000) and [[Zonguldak]].

==Name==
Modern names of the Sea are universally equivalents of the English name, "Black Sea", including [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ''Cherno more'' (Черно море), [[Georgian language|Georgian]] ''Shavi zghva'' (შავი ზღვა), [[Laz language|Laz]] ''Ucha Zuğa'', or simply ''Zuğa'' 'Sea', [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''Marea Neagră'', [[Russian language|Russian]] ''Chyornoye more'' (Чёрное море), [[Turkish language|Turkish]] ''Karadeniz'', [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]] ''Chorne more'' (Чорне море), [[Ubykh language|Ubykh]] {{IPA|/ʃʷaʤa/}}. This name cannot be traced to an earlier date than the [[thirteenth century]], but there are indications that it may be considerably older.

[[Strabo]]'s Geography (1.2.10) reports that in antiquity, the Black Sea was often just called "the Sea" (''pontos''). For the most part, Graeco-Roman tradition refers to the Black Sea as the 'Hospitable sea', ''Euxeinos Pontos'' ({{Polytonic|Εὔξεινος Πόντος}}). This is a [[euphemism]] replacing an earlier 'Inhospitable Sea', ''Pontos Axeinos'', first attested in [[Pindar]] (early fifth century BCE). Strabo (7.3.6) thinks that the Black Sea was called "inhospitable" before Greek colonization because it was difficult to navigate, and because its shores were inhabited by savage tribes; and that the name was changed to "hospitable" after the [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesians]] had colonized, making it part of Greek civilization. It is also possible that the name ''Axeinos'' arose by [[Folk etymology|popular etymology]] from an Iranian ''axšaina-'' 'dark'; the designation "Black Sea" may thus date from Antiquity. The reason for the name may be an ancient assignment of colours to the direction of the compass — black referring to the north, and red referring to the south. [[Herodotus]] on one occasion uses [[Red Sea]] and Southern Sea interchangeably.<ref>Schmitt 1996</ref>

Another possible explanation comes from the colour of the Black Sea's deep waters. Being further north than the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and much less saline, the [[algae|microalgae]] concentration is much richer, causing the dark colour. Visibility in the Black Sea is on average approximately five meters (5.5 [[Yard|yd]]), as compared to up to thirty-five meters (38 yd) in the Mediterranean.

One [[Bulgaria]]n understanding of the name is that the sea used to be quite stormy. Some sources stipulate that it goes back to the time of [[Noah's Ark]]. The [[Black Sea deluge theory]] is based on that idea.

In [[naval science]], the Black Sea is thought to have received its name because of its hydrogen sulfide layer that begins about 200 meters below the surface, and that ends all life from that point downward.

==Geology and bathymetry==
[[Image:Sudak vlasenko.jpg|thumb|250px|Bay of [[Sudak]].]]
The Black Sea forms an enclosed basin, located between south-eastern Europe and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]]. The basin was formed during the [[Miocene]] [[orogeny|orogenies]] which uplifted the mountain ranges and divided the ancient [[Tethys Ocean]] into several brackish basins, including the [[Sarmatic Sea]]. The [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]], [[Sea of Azov|Azov]], [[Aral Sea|Aral]] and Black Seas are the remnants of this evaporated basin.

The basin is divided into two sub-basins by a convexity extending south from the [[Crimea|Crimean peninsula]]. The north-west of the basin is characterized by a relatively large shelf up to 190 km wide, which has a relatively shallow apron with gradients between 1:40 and 1:1000. The southern edge around [[Turkey]] and the eastern edge around [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] however, are typified by a shelf that rarely exceeds 20 km in width and an apron that is typically 1:40 gradient with numerous submarine canyons and channel extensions. The Euxine abyssal plain in the centre of the Black Sea reaches a maximum depth of 2,206 [[Metre|m]] just south of [[Yalta]] on the Crimean peninsula. The basin is connected to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] via the Turkish Straits System (TSS) in the south-west, which includes the [[Bosporus]] and [[Dardanelles]] straits and the [[Sea of Marmara]]. The Black Sea is connected to the [[Sea of Azov]] in the north-east via the [[Kerch]] straits.

==Hydrology and hydrochemistry==
[[Image:Ev25334 BlackSea.A2003105.1035.1km.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Satellite view of the Black Sea, taken by [[NASA]] [[MODIS]].]]
The Black Sea is the world’s largest [[meromictic]] basin where the deep waters do not mix with the upper layers of water that receive [[oxygen]] from the atmosphere. As a result, over 90% of the deeper Black Sea volume is [[Anoxic sea water|anoxic water]]. The current hydrochemical configuration is primarily controlled by basin topography and [[fluvial]] inputs, which result in a strongly stratified vertical structure and a positive water balance. The upper layers are generally cooler, less dense and less salty than the deeper waters, as they are fed by large fluvial systems, whereas the deep waters originate from the warm, salty waters of the Mediterranean. This influx of dense water from Mediterranean is balanced by an outflow of fresher Black Sea surface-water into the Marmara Sea, maintaining the stratification and [[salinity]] levels.

The surface water has an average salinity of 18 to 18.5 [[Parts per notation|ppt]] and contains [[oxygen]] and other nutrients required to sustain biotic activity. These waters circulate in a basin-wide anti-cyclonic shelfbreak [[gyre]] known as the Rim Current which transports water round the perimeter of the Black Sea. Within this feature, two smaller cyclonic gyres operate, occupying the eastern and western sectors of the basin. Outside the Rim Current, numerous quasi-permanent coastal eddies are formed due to upwelling around the coastal apron and ‘wind curl’ mechanisms. The intra-annual strength of these features is controlled by seasonal atmospheric and fluvial variations. Sea Surface Temperature of the surface waters varies seasonally from 8°[[Celsius|C]] to 30°C.

Directly beneath the surface waters the Cold Intermediate Layer (CIL) is found. This layer is composed of cool, salty surface waters, which are the result of localised atmospheric cooling and decreased fluvial input during the winter months. The production of this water is focussed in the centre of the major gyres and on the NW shelf and as the water is not dense enough to penetrate the deep waters, [[isopycnal]] [[advection]] occurs, dispersing the water across the entire basin. The base of the CIL is marked by a major [[thermocline]], [[halocline]] and [[pycnocline]] at ~100-200m and this density disparity is the major cause of deep-water isolation.

Below the pycnocline, salinity increases to 22 to 22.5 ppt and temperatures rise to around 8.5°C. The hydrochemical environment shifts from oxygenated to anoxic, as bacterial decomposition of sunken biomass utilises all of the free oxygen. Certain species of [[extremophile]] bacteria are capable of using [[sulfate]] (SO42−) in the [[redox|oxidation]] of organic material, which leads to the creation of [[hydrogen sulfide]] (H2S). This enables the precipitation of [[sulfide]]s such as iron-sulphides like [[pyrite]], [[greigite]] and iron-monosulphide as well as the dissolution of carbonate matter such as [[Calcium carbonate]] (CaCO3) found in shells. Organic matter, including anthropogenic artefacts such as boat hulls, are well preserved. During periods of high surface productivity, short-lived algal blooms cause organic rich layer known as [[sapropel]]s to occur. Scientists have reported an annual phytoplankton bloom that can be seen in many NASA images of the region.<ref>[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=3669 Black Sea Becomes Turquoise] earthobservatory.nasa.gov. Retrieved [[2 December]] [[2006]].</ref>

Another danger to people posed by the anoxic layer could come from a small asteroid's impact into the Black Sea. Recently modelling shows there is a significant threat to life for people living on the sea's shore.<ref>R.D. Schuiling, R.B. Cathcart, V. Badescu, D. Isvoranu and E. Pelinovsky, "Asteroid impact in the Black Sea. Death by drowning or asphyxiation?", Natural Hazards (October 2006) DOI: 10.1007/s11069-006-0017-7</ref>

== Fauna ==
{{sect-stub}}
<center><gallery>
Image:black_sea_fauna_jelly_01.jpg|Jellyfish, near Romanian coast.
Image:black_sea_fauna_actinia_01.jpg|Actinia, near Romanian coast.
Image:black_sea_fauna_actinia_02.JPG|Actinia, near Romanian coast.
Image:black_sea_fauna_goby_01.jpg|Goby, near Romanian coast.
Image:black_sea_fauna_stingray_01.jpg|Stingray, near Romanian coast.
</gallery></center>

== Mediterranean connection during the Holocene ==
[[Image:Istambul and Bosporus big.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The Bosporus, taken from the [[International Space Station|ISS]].]]
[[Image:Dardanelles map2.png|thumb|right|200px|Map of the Dardanelles.]]
While it is agreed that the Black Sea has been a freshwater [[lake]] (at least in upper layers) with a considerably lower level during the [[Ice Age|last glaciation]], its post glacial development into a marine sea is still a subject of intensive study and debate. There are catastrophic scenarios such as put forward by [[William Ryan (geologist)|William Ryan]] and [[Walter Pitman %28geologist%29|Walter Pitman]] as well as models emphasizing a more gradual transition to saline conditions and transgression in the Black Sea.

They are based on different theories about the level the freshwater lake had reached by the time the Mediterranean Sea was high enough to flow over the [[Dardanelles]] and the [[Bosporus]]. On the other hand, a study of the sea floor on the Aegean side shows that in the 8th millennium BC there was a large flow of fresh water out of the Black Sea.<ref>[[New Scientist]], [[4 May]] [[2002]], p.13.</ref>

In a series of expeditions, a team of marine archaeologists led by [[Robert Ballard]] identified what appeared to be ancient shorelines, freshwater snail shells, drowned river valleys, tool-worked timbers, and man-made structures in roughly 300 [[Foot (unit of length)|feet]] (100 m) of water off the Black Sea coast of modern [[Turkey]]. [[Radiocarbon dating]] of freshwater mollusc remains indicated an age of about seven thousand years.

==Deluge theory==
{{main|Black Sea deluge theory}}
In 1997, William Ryan and Walter Pitman from [[Columbia University]] published a theory that a massive flood through the [[Bosporus]] occurred in ancient times. They claim that the Black and [[Caspian Sea]]s were vast freshwater lakes, but that about [[5600 BC]], the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] spilled over a rocky sill at the Bosporus, creating the current communication between the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Subsequent work has been done both to support and to discredit this theory, and archaeologists still debate it. This has led some to associate this catastrophe with prehistoric [[Deluge (mythology)|flood myths]].

== History ==
[[Image:Aivaz theodosia.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Ivan Aivazovsky]]. ''Black Sea Fleet in the Bay of Theodosia'', just before the [[Crimean War]].]]
The steppes to the north of the Black Sea have been suggested as the original homeland (''[[Urheimat]]'') of the speakers of the [[Proto-Indo-European language]], (PIE) the progenitor of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]] family, by some scholars (see [[Kurgan]]; others move the heartland further east towards the [[Caspian Sea]], yet others to [[Anatolia]]).

The land at the eastern end of the Black Sea, [[Colchis]] (now [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]), marked for the Greeks an edge of the known world.
{{clear}}
{{expand-section|date=January 2007}}

==Holiday resorts and spas==
[[Image:sochi_edited.jpg|right|thumb|right|250px|Photo of the Black Sea near Gagra, taken in 1915.]]
[[Image:Cities of the Black Sea.png|thumb|right|250px|Cities of the Black Sea.]]
In the years following the end of the [[Cold War]], the popularity of the Black Sea as a [[Tourism|tourist]] destination has been steadily increasing, particularly in [[Bulgaria]]. Overall, tourism at Black Sea resorts has become one of the region's growth industries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bulgariansearesorts.com/ |title=Bulgarian Sea Resorts |accessdate=2007-02-02 |format= |work= }}</ref> The following is a list of well-known Black Sea [[resort]]s:

{{columns |width=20em
|col1 =
*[[2 Mai]] (Romania)
*[[Ahtopol]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Anapa]] (Russia)
*[[Albena]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Alupka]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Alushta]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Balchik]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Batumi]] (Georgia)
*[[Burgas]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Byala, Varna Province|Byala]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Chakvi]] (Georgia)
*[[Constantine and Helena]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Costineşti]] (Romania)
*[[Eforie Nord]] (Romania)
*[[Eforie Sud]] (Romania)
*[[Emona (Burgas)|Emona]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Eupatoria]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Feodosiya]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Giresun]] (Turkey)
*[[Gagra]] (Abkhazia, Georgia1)
*[[Gelendzhik]] (Russia)
*[[Golden Sands]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Gonio]] (Georgia)
*[[Gurzuf]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Jupiter, Romania|Jupiter]] (Romania)
*[[Kamchia]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Kavarna]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Kiten, Bulgaria|Kiten]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Kobuleti]] (Georgia)
*[[Koktebel]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Kvariati]] (Georgia)
|col2 =
*[[Lozenetz]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Mamaia]] (Romania)
*[[Mangalia]] (Romania)
*[[Neptun, Romania|Neptun]] (Romania)
*[[Nesebar]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Novorossiysk]] (Russia)
*[[Obzor]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Odessa]] (Ukraine)
*[[Olimp, Romania|Olimp]] (Romania)
*[[Pitsunda]] (Abkhazia, Georgia1)
*[[Pomorie]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Primorsko]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Rize]] (Turkey)
*[[Rusalka, Bulgaria|Rusalka]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Samsun]] (Turkey)
*[[Saturn, Romania|Saturn]] (Romania)
*[[Sinop]] (Turkey)
*[[Sochi]] (Russia)
*[[Sozopol]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Sudak]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
*[[Sunny Beach]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Şile]] (Turkey)
*[[Sveti Vlas]] (Bulgaria)
*[[Trabzon]] (Turkey)
*[[Tuapse]] (Russia)
*[[Ureki]] (Georgia)
*[[Vama Veche]] (Romania)
*[[Venus, Romania|Venus]] (Romania)
*[[Yalta]] (Crimea, Ukraine)
}}
1 [[Abkhazia]] has been a ''[[de facto]]'' independent republic since 1992, although remains a ''[[de jure]]'' autonomous republic of Georgia.

==Regional organizations==
{| style="width:500px"
|-
|[[Image:BSEC members.png|right|thumb|280px|[[Black Sea Economic Cooperation]] (BSEC) {{legend|#ff7f40|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|observers}}]] || [[Image:GUAM members.png|right|thumb|280px|[[GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development]]]]
|-
|[[Image:CDC members.png|right|thumb|280px|[[Community of Democratic Choice]] (CDC) {{legend|#ff7f40|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|observers}}]] || [[Image:BSF members.png|right|thumb|280px|[[Black Sea Forum for Partnership and Dialogue]] (BSF) {{legend|#ff7f40|members}} {{legend|#00ff00|observers}}]]
|-
|}
See also the [[Balkans#Regional organizations|Balkans Regional organizations]] and [[Post-Soviet states#Regional organizations|Post-Soviet Regional organizations]]

==See also==
[[Image:Ostrvo.gif|thumb|right|400px|The [[Bulgarian Black Sea Coast|Bulgarian coastline]]]]
* [[Anoxic event]]
* [[Black Sea deluge theory]]
* [[Bulgarian Black Sea Coast]]
* [[Black Sea Romanian resorts|Romanian Black Sea Coast]]
* [[Ancomah]]
* [[Tourism]]

==References and bibliography==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
* [[Charles King (author)|Charles King]], ''The Black Sea: A History'', 2004, ISBN 0-19-924161-9
* William Ryan and Walter Pitman, ''Noah's Flood'', 1999, ISBN 0-684-85920-3
* [[Neal Ascherson]], ''Black Sea'' (Vintage 1996), ISBN 0-09-959371-8
* [[Özhan Öztürk]]. Karadeniz: Ansiklopedik Sözlük (Black Sea: Encyclopedic Dictionary). 2 Cilt (2 Volumes). Heyamola Publishing. Istanbul.2005 ISBN 975-6121-00-9.
* Rüdiger Schmitt, "Considerations on the Name of the Black Sea", in: ''Hellas und der griechische Osten'' (Saarbrücken 1996), pp. 219–224
* West, Stephanie. "‘The Most Marvellous of All Seas’: the Greek Encounter with the Euxine", ''Greece & Rome'', Vol. 50, Issue 2 (2003), pp. 151–167.
</div>

==External links==
{{wiktionary}}
{{commonscat|Black Sea}}

* [http://blacksea.orlyonok.ru/blacksea.shtml Black Sea Environment and Marine Life - Learning Pages]
* [http://www.blacksea-archaeology.org/en/zaks_en.html The Center for Black Sea Archaeology]
* [http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Sinop/SinopIntro.htm The Black Sea Trade Project]
* [http://earthfromspace.photoglobe.info/spc_blacksea.html Earth from Space: Black Sea]
* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/ National Geographic Society]
* [http://www.grid.unep.ch/bsein/ Black Sea Environmental Internet Node]
* [http://sealevel.ns.ca/igcp521/ Black Sea-Mediterranean Corridor during the last 30 ky: UNESCO IGCP 521 WG12]
* [http://www.radyolazmix.com Black sea People]
* [http://www.trabzon.org Pearl city of Blacksea]

{{Template group
|list =
{{Countries bordering the Black Sea}}
{{coor title d|43.5|N|34.5|E|type:waterbody_scale:10000000}}
}}


[[Category:Black Sea| ]]
[[Category:Seas]]
[[Category:Anoxic basins]]


{{Link FA|sl}}

Liberal quotient

2007-07-15T15:44:53Z

Asdfhllkjh: /* Criticism */