Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Third World

2007-03-12T01:57:25Z

Ballon:

{{stub}}
During the Cold War, the Third World consisted of developing countries outside of the industrialized First World (United States, Western Europe and other free nations) and the Second World (communist countries like the [[USSR|Soviet Union]] and [[China]]). The Third World countries were typically not aligned with either free or communist nations, until one side or the other set up puppet regimes to promote their ideology.

The USSR is gone, but the poor will always be with us.<ref>Mark 13:7</ref>

User talk:Ballon

2007-03-12T01:52:09Z

Ballon:

Thanks for your edits, which are good. I apologize if my response on my talk page to your question sounded flippant. It's just that I've been deleting hundreds of obscene entries and user ids today. Thanks again for your efforts.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 18:03, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Ballon, you're about to be blocked. This is a serious site. Maybe Wikipedia is a place for your [[Jedi Mind Trick]], your entry about [[Monica Lewinsky]], and your anatomical explanations that you think are so important. The rules here are simple, and you're sarcasm is not appreciated. One more example and blocking will be necessary. Please get serious and obey the rules. Thank you.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 21:46, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Sorry, I keep forgetting that this site is Very Serious Business, without any room for frivolity or unnecessary entries. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 21:52, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Jedi

2007-03-12T01:44:22Z

Ballon:

The ''Jedi Way'' is a fictional religion/philosophy from the [[Star Wars]] movie series. In a recent census in [[Great Britain]], pranksters claimed "Jedi" as their religion in hope of getting it recognized as a legitimate faith.

See also: [[Jedi Mind Trick]].

Colorado

2007-03-12T01:42:35Z

Ballon:

'''Colorado''' is a state in the United States. It is mountainous and beautiful. It is known for its skiing and snowboarding resorts, such as Vail and Aspen. The Rocky Mountains run through Colorado, which is home to Rocky Mountain National Park. The winters are inclined to be very cold and preduce many snowstorms.

The United States Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This town is also home to the influential conservative political group "[[Focus on the Family]]."

==Elevation==

A number of Colorado cities are located near the Front Range of the Rockies, at elevations of around 5,000 feet. Denver, its capital and largest city, is sometimes called "The Mile-High City, because the official elevation of Denver City Hall is exactly 5,280 feet.

At elevations of 5,000 feet, the air is thinner and air pressure is lower than at sea level. It is not unusual for visitors to feel lightheaded for a day or two until they adjust (but actual altitude sickness is very rare). At this altitude, skies are a clearer, brighter blue than at sea level.

Water boils at only 203 degrees F, compared to 212 degrees at sea level. Because of this, cooks need to adjust their recipes and follow high-altitude cooking instructions. Anything cooked by boiling, for example, will need to be boiled a little longer at high altitudes.

[[Image:colorado.jpg]]

Monica Lewinsky

2007-03-12T01:38:54Z

Ballon:

An intern in the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] [[White House]], who did something that cannot be discussed on this site, leasing to President Clinton's [[impeachment]].

Talk:George W. Bush

2007-03-12T01:29:28Z

Ballon: Skull and Bones Club

== Edits ==

1) Removed the line about Bush executing Saddam. Saddam was executed by the Iraqis under Iraqi law.
2) Removed the un-encyclopediac comment about John Kerry.

Why's this page locked? It's not going to get any better if you don't let people add to it.

The SysOp locked it b/c of rampant vandalism. It's an obivous target for such action{{citation needed}}.

This page should be unlocked. All of Bush's good (and bad) deeds will not be known to the world until this page is unlocked. The point of our site here is to inform the people, and without people interacting and adding information, Conservapedia will die out. People will go elsewhere to a more democratic environment, and that is not good for this site.

That's just fine. The Liberals can go to Communistpedia, and the people who want a more REPUBLICAN Wiki can come here! --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 21:03, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

== Photo ==

Somebody deleted the body of this page and substituted a photo-- can anybody verify that this photo actually is President Bush? (Could we maybe print the photo as a thumbnail, and link to the large photo?)

I believe the photo is one of Prince Harry, who has recently taken up active duty in Iraq for the UK, in compliance with the American notion that leaders such as George Washington and the sons of prominent and wealthy people should be involved in and at risk from armed conflict for their country in equal measure to the legions of the poor they send to do their work for them.

==Lacking Substance==
This article is useless. It is a stub, which is fine, except that this is GWB, not some arcane entry. This is made more eggregious since this page has undergone many edits, and nobody has decided to actually make it a full article, just back and forth fluff. I admit that I don't particularly want to put the work in, because I don't care about this entry, I just think that conservapedia needs a credible entry for GWB to be taken seriously. Compare with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush Wikipedia's entry].

As a starting point, how about information that would be useful, that you don't hear about in the liberal media; Major (and minor) legislative pushes, both successful and not. Who were his good conservative judicial appointments? --[[User:Whatter|Whatter]] 01:51, 24 February 2007 (EST)

== Nation building ==

It's interesting that Bush's stated opposition to nation building isn't modified to show that he has been involved in exactly that in both Afghanistan & Iraq for over half his time in office.

I'd argue he hasn't done much nation-building in either of those places. :(
It is weird, though--having a site for Conservative politics and having such dinky articles about President Bush and Iraq is like having a wiki about oceanography and not mentioning water. --[[User:Sandbagger|Sandbagger]] 14:38, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

== Economy ==

Since when is Exxon Mobile the bellwether of the US economy?

:Whoever wrote that is probably a Liberal grousing about the fact that Bush has made his corporate benefactors a great deal richer by strip-mining the American economy. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:25, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

== Skull and Bones Club ==

MountainDew, why did you take that part out? It's a matter of public record (and any number of jokes) that Bush and Kerry are in the same club.

George W. Bush

2007-03-12T01:13:41Z

Ballon:

[[Image:George_w_bush.jpeg|200px|right|]]
'''George Walker Bush''' (born 1946) was the Governor of [[Texas]] (1996-2001) and has served as the [[Republican]] [[President of the United States of America]] since 2001. Campaigning heavily on the notion that the United States should not be in the business of nation-building<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/transcripts/u221003.html</ref>, He won the office by a narrow margin in the decisive State of [[Florida]]. Legal challenges to the certified vote count went all the way to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] in 2000. Democratic contender [[Al Gore]] initially conceded defeat on the night of the election, but then contested the outcome for weeks until the Supreme Court case ''Gore v. Bush''.

Both Bush and Kerry are members of the [[Skull and Bones Club]], an exclusive, secretive [[Fraternal Order]] at [[Yale]].

In 2004, George W. Bush won reelection by a popular margin of tens of votes, including a 300,000 vote (5%) victory<ref>[http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/SummaryRpt.asp?ElectionDate=11/2/2004&Race=PRE&DATAMODE= Florida Election Records], ''[[Florida Dept. of State]]''</ref> in the State of Florida where the outcome had been so close in 2000. Democratic candidate [[John Kerry]] quickly conceded defeat the day after the election.

For many months after John Kerry conceded the outcome of the 2004 election to George W. Bush, some American [[liberals]] continued to claim that the election had somehow been stolen by voter fraud.

In 2006, the Democratic Party narrowly won control of both Houses of Congress, leaving the final two years of the Bush Administration in a state of [[divided government]].

George W. Bush has spent most of his Presidency focusing on foreign policy issues, namely the [[war on terror]] in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the USA. As part of the fight against terrorism, he has instituted regime changes in the countries of [[Afghanistan]] and [[Iraq]]. On January 10, 2007, he said "The situation in Iraq is unacceptable ... Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me".<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16558652/</ref> He is now working tirelessly to end the Iraqi insurgency and stabilize the region, by continuing his original plans, but with slightly more troops.

Many people feel that George W. Bush's faith is sincere and profound, as he claims to have been saved from [[alcoholism]] by Jesus.

Though the liberal media continues to disparage Bush's handling of the economy, they often neglect to report the many aspects of the economy that Bush has improved. For example, during his term Exxon Mobile has posted the largest profit of any company in a signle year, and executive salaries have greatly increased as well [http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/20/05ceoland.html].

Some of Bush's other notable policies include trying to amend the [[Constitution[[ to permanently ban [[Gay marriage]], and an effort to [[privatize]] [[social security]].

George W. Bush is the son of [[George H. W. Bush]], who served as vice-president from 1981 to 1989 and as president from 1989 to 1993.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

Talk:Dick Cheney

2007-03-12T01:07:16Z

Ballon:

Can't we use his REAL first name, to avoid obscenity? --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 21:07, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Talk:George W. Bush

2007-03-12T01:03:20Z

Ballon: /* Edits */

Mandate of Heaven

2007-03-12T01:00:44Z

Ballon:

The Mandate of Heaven was issued in 1027 BC in [[China]]. It taught that the gods blessed good rulers and overthrew bad ones. The [[Zhou dynasty]] used this to justify overthrowing the [[Shang dynasty]].

When a government loses the Mandate of Heaven, it is made clear by [[Hurricane Katrina|catastrophes]], [[9/11|banditry]], and [[Halliburton|Corruption]].

Rapture

2007-03-11T22:50:14Z

Ballon:

The Rapture is an ''imminent'' holy event that will take place sometime in the near future. Jesus will come in the air, gather up the Church from the earth, and then return to Heaven with the Church.<ref>1 Thessalonians 4:13-18</ref>

The following events need to occur for the Rapture to take place:
* The countries of the world must have the same currency (see [[Euro]]).
* Peace in [[Israel]]<ref>Ezekiel 38</ref>
* One World Government, like the Revelation 7th beast (see [[United Nations]])
* Jerusalem must rebuild the Jewish temple.
* The Jewish people must control Israel.
* The Antichrist must be walking the earth in human form.

Once these conditions have been met, and a [[Red Heifer]] is sacrificed in the [[Temple of Solomon]], [[Cthulhu|Jesus]] will rise once again to wipe away the sinful world and reward all the Faithful.

There is some debate over whether the Rapture will occur before, during or after the reign of the [[Antichrist]].
* [[Premillennial Dispensationalism]]<ref>[http://www.nyu.edu/fas/projects/vcb/ChristianMedia/prophecy_premdisp.html]</ref>
* [[Postmillennial Dispensationalism]]
* [[Midmillennial Dispensationalism]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Bible]]

Talk:Rush Limbaugh

2007-03-11T22:28:28Z

Ballon:

Rush _was_ caught illegally scoring painkillers. Should we leave that out just because it 'looks bad'? Truth is truth, even when it's ugly. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:03, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

: It's gossip. It's not educational. We're not Wikipedia where nearly every entry has some gossip in it. Feel free to see what other editors think, but that's my view.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 18:06, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

It is not gossip, it is part of his biograpghy. ref <http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/10/10/rush.limbaugh/>

Yes, but it makes him look bad, therefore it lacks sufficient truthiness to be posted here. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:28, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Talk:George W. Bush

2007-03-11T22:27:18Z

Ballon: /* Edits */

== Edits ==

1) Removed the line about Bush executing Saddam. Saddam was executed by the Iraqis under Iraqi law.
2) Removed the un-encyclopediac comment about John Kerry.

Why's this page locked? It's not going to get any better if you don't let people add to it.

== Photo ==

Somebody deleted the body of this page and substituted a photo-- can anybody verify that this photo actually is President Bush? (Could we maybe print the photo as a thumbnail, and link to the large photo?)

I believe the photo is one of Prince Harry, who has recently taken up active duty in Iraq for the UK, in compliance with the American notion that leaders such as George Washington and the sons of prominent and wealthy people should be involved in and at risk from armed conflict for their country in equal measure to the legions of the poor they send to do their work for them.

==Lacking Substance==
This article is useless. It is a stub, which is fine, except that this is GWB, not some arcane entry. This is made more eggregious since this page has undergone many edits, and nobody has decided to actually make it a full article, just back and forth fluff. I admit that I don't particularly want to put the work in, because I don't care about this entry, I just think that conservapedia needs a credible entry for GWB to be taken seriously. Compare with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush Wikipedia's entry].

As a starting point, how about information that would be useful, that you don't hear about in the liberal media; Major (and minor) legislative pushes, both successful and not. Who were his good conservative judicial appointments? --[[User:Whatter|Whatter]] 01:51, 24 February 2007 (EST)

== Nation building ==

It's interesting that Bush's stated opposition to nation building isn't modified to show that he has been involved in exactly that in both Afghanistan & Iraq for over half his time in office.

I'd argue he hasn't done much nation-building in either of those places. :(
It is weird, though--having a site for Conservative politics and having such dinky articles about President Bush and Iraq is like having a wiki about oceanography and not mentioning water. --[[User:Sandbagger|Sandbagger]] 14:38, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

== Economy ==

Since when is Exxon Mobile the bellwether of the US economy?

:Whoever wrote that is probably a Liberal grousing about the fact that Bush has made his corporate benefactors a great deal richer by strip-mining the American economy. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:25, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Talk:George W. Bush

2007-03-11T22:25:45Z

Ballon: /* Economy */

== Edits ==

1) Removed the line about Bush executing Saddam. Saddam was executed by the Iraqis under Iraqi law.
2) Removed the un-encyclopediac comment about John Kerry.

== Photo ==

Somebody deleted the body of this page and substituted a photo-- can anybody verify that this photo actually is President Bush? (Could we maybe print the photo as a thumbnail, and link to the large photo?)

I believe the photo is one of Prince Harry, who has recently taken up active duty in Iraq for the UK, in compliance with the American notion that leaders such as George Washington and the sons of prominent and wealthy people should be involved in and at risk from armed conflict for their country in equal measure to the legions of the poor they send to do their work for them.

==Lacking Substance==
This article is useless. It is a stub, which is fine, except that this is GWB, not some arcane entry. This is made more eggregious since this page has undergone many edits, and nobody has decided to actually make it a full article, just back and forth fluff. I admit that I don't particularly want to put the work in, because I don't care about this entry, I just think that conservapedia needs a credible entry for GWB to be taken seriously. Compare with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush Wikipedia's entry].

As a starting point, how about information that would be useful, that you don't hear about in the liberal media; Major (and minor) legislative pushes, both successful and not. Who were his good conservative judicial appointments? --[[User:Whatter|Whatter]] 01:51, 24 February 2007 (EST)

== Nation building ==

It's interesting that Bush's stated opposition to nation building isn't modified to show that he has been involved in exactly that in both Afghanistan & Iraq for over half his time in office.

I'd argue he hasn't done much nation-building in either of those places. :(
It is weird, though--having a site for Conservative politics and having such dinky articles about President Bush and Iraq is like having a wiki about oceanography and not mentioning water. --[[User:Sandbagger|Sandbagger]] 14:38, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

== Economy ==

Since when is Exxon Mobile the bellwether of the US economy?

:Whoever wrote that is probably a Liberal grousing about the fact that Bush has made his corporate benefactors a great deal richer by strip-mining the American economy. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:25, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Homosexuality

2007-03-11T22:23:40Z

Ballon:

'''Homosexuality''' is a sexual attraction between members of the same sex. It is condemned by the [[Bible]] as an egregiously sinful act, moreso than infanticide or theft.

== Biblical Views on Homosexuality ==

Homosexuality is referred to four times in the Bible; it is not a topic mentioned by Jesus in the four gospels, and the only reference in the New Testament is in the letters of Paul. As the Bible is the source of western morality, it is obvious that a biblical condemnation of homosexuality should translate into a legal one in the western world.

All references in Amplified Version

=== Old Testament ===

* Leviticus 18:22 - ''You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.''
* Leviticus 20:13 - ''If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.''

=== New Testament (Epistles) ===

* 1 Corinthians 6:9 - Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality
* Romans 1:26-27 - 26 For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one, 27 and the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another--men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution.

== Homosexuality in the Law ==
Under [[leviticus|God's law]], the only penalty for homosexuality is [[death]]. Due to [[Illuminati]] manipulation of our [[Activist judges|judicial system]], this has been abandoned in favor of ever-diminishing levels of persecution, whch is why the United States has lost the [[Mandate of Heaven]].

Treatment of homosexuals by the law has increasingly suggested that discrimination based on homosexuality employs a "[[suspect classification]]" subject to "[[strict scrutiny]]" under modern [[Fourteenth Amendment]] jurisprudence, with judges and scholars employing language to equate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation with already forbidden racial discrimination practices.<ref>Pamela S. Karlan, "Loving Lawrence," available online at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=512662</ref> Where federal law forbidding discrimination against homosexuals remains scant, the several states have more than taken up the burden, and many have made sexual-orientation based discrimination actionable at law and equity.<ref>See, e.g., N.Y.C. Admin. Code, s 8-107</ref> Perhaps this can be seen as an example of the robustness of the [[United States]]' [[federal system]], as the states are acting just as [[Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes]] and [[Justice Brandeis]] expressed hope that they would, as "laboratories" of experimentation on the border of developed federal law.<ref>Brest, Levinson, et al, "Processes in Constitutional Decisionmaking: Cases and Materials," Fifth Edition.</ref>

The [[Supreme Court]] recently overturned a Texas law banning sodomy. The majority opinion, written by [[Justice Kennedy]], suggests that all forms of discrimination, including that based on sexual orientation, are now subject to [[rational basis review]], and will be frowned upon unless a legitimate state interest in the discrimination is expressed. Justice Kennedy also held that the need to legislate morals by the states' [[police power]] is no longer a legitimate state interest, absent specific physical harms being proven. [[Justice Antonin Scalia]] wrote a blistering dissent, characterizing the opinion as including phrases which will become the "dicta that ate the rule of law."<ref>See Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558</ref>

== Homosexuality and Marriage==

For many years, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a mental disorder. However, the organization de-listed homosexuality in 1973.[http://www.apa.org/pi/reslgbc.html] Since the late 1960s, many people, both homosexual and heterosexual, have lobbied for more favorable laws for homosexuals.

Legal marriage between same-sex couples is now recognized in Canada, Spain, South Africa, Belgium, Israel and the Netherlands, and in the US state of [[Massachusetts]]. Most other western European nations and several US states recognize a more limited "civil union". 26 US states have passed constitutional amendments banning recognition of same-sex marriages, and federal law does not recognize same-sex marriage. Some groups have pushed for a federal Constitutional amendment barring the legal recognition of same-sex marriages, however the amendment did not pass the Senate.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/07/same.sex.marriage/index.html</ref>

==Homosexuality in Humans and Genetics and Environment==

Statistical studies give ample evidence that homosexuality is not caused entirely by genetics<ref>http://www.pureintimacy.org/gr/homosexuality/a0000057.cfm</ref>, although genetics plays a part, along with the environment. For example, research has shown that adoptive brothers are more likely to both be homosexuals than the biological brothers, who share half their genes. In the journal ''Science'' it is reported that, "this . . . suggests that there is no genetic component, but rather an environmental component shared in families" <ref>(''Science'', Vol. 262, page 2063, December 24, 1993)</ref><ref>http://www.trueorigin.org/gaygene01.asp</ref><ref>[http://www.freetobeme.com/r_biol.htm</ref>. However, there is also a large amount of research that shows that homosexuality is caused by a combination of environment and genetis. For instance, Dean Hamer, a gay researcher, conducted a study of thirty-two pairs of brothers who were not related and exclusively homosexual. As they were not related, they should not share the same genes. However, two-thirds of the pairs (22 pairs)) shared the same type of genetic material, supporting the hypothesis that there is an existing gene that either influences homosexuality, or is caused by homosexuality.<ref>http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f97/projects97/Newman.html A report done by a student at Bryn Mawr College, but is nonetheless verifyable.</ref>

== Homosexuality in Nature ==
In some jurisdictions, some forms of sexual activity are referred to by the legal term "unnatural act," a term which originated in church canon law. Non-zoologists have sometimes made the incorrect inference that homosexual behavior does not occur in the zoological world and have used it as a talking point when attacking homosexuality. This has created an interest in the side issue whether homosexual behavior is or is not zoologically "natural." This is largely a sterile debate because behavior is not necessarily moral even if "natural;" because the nature of human beings is not necessarily the same as the nature of other species, and because it is not at all clear when an observed behavior can be counted as "sexual," or as implying a sexual "orientation."

Homosexual behavior is common.[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0722_040722_gayanimal.html National Geographic] For example, every cattle farmer is familiar with the phenomenon of "bulling," cows mounting other cows; in fact, this is one of the standard signs farmers look for when determining that a cow is coming into estrus. However, it does not follow that the cows involved are showing anything analogous to human lesbian orientation.

Sexual behavior between animals of the same sex is common. Some animals in which it occurs include:

* [[Bonobos]],<ref>Parker, Sue Taylor,Robert W. Mitchell, H. Lyn Miles (1999), ''The Mentalities of Gorillas and Orangutans: comparative perspectives.'' Cambridge University Press. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521580277&id=h4_VnW-HGAcC&pg=RA1-PA54&lpg=RA1-PA54&dq=bonobo+homosexual&sig=rdHH7YmjFiR7x5ONwt2e1EdfrBk p. 54]
</ref>
* [[Dolphins]]<ref>Smith, Dinitia (2004), "Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate," ''The New York Times,''
Saturday, February 7, 2004, as published on the San Francisco Chronicle website[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/07/MNG3N4RAV41.DTL]: "Bonobos are wildly energetic sexually. Studies show that whether observed in the wild or in captivity, nearly all are bisexual and nearly half their sexual interactions are with the same sex... 10 to 15 percent of female western gulls in some populations in the wild are homosexual... male and female bottlenose dolphins frequently engage in homosexual activity, both in captivity and in the wild"</ref> and other vertebrate species. See also [[http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/index.php?url=&cat=gayanimals livescience]]

A 1996 article, published by an organization commited to "treatment" of homosexuality, musters the arguments against interpretation of animal behavior as sanctioning homosexuality.<ref>[http://www.narth.com/docs/animalmyth.html The Animal Homosexuality Myth], Luiz Sérgio Solimeo, excerpt from book ''Defending a Higher Law: Why We Must Resist Same Sex "Marriage" and the Homosexual Movement.''</ref> It notes that "homosexual scientist Simon LeVay" stated that the evidence pointed to isolated acts, not to homosexuality:

"Although homosexual behavior is very common in the animal world, it seems to be very uncommon that individual animals have a long-lasting predisposition to engage in such behavior to the exclusion of heterosexual activities. Thus, a homosexual orientation, if one can speak of such thing in animals, seems to be a rarity."

In addition, Dr. Antonio Pardo, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Navarre, Spain, wrote:

Properly speaking, homosexuality does not exist among animals.... For reasons of survival, the reproductive instinct among animals is always directed towards an individual of the opposite sex. Therefore, an animal can never be homosexual as such. Nevertheless, the interaction of other instincts (particularly dominance) can result in behavior that appears to be homosexual. Such behavior cannot be equated with an animal homosexuality. All it means is that animal sexual behavior encompasses aspects beyond that of reproduction.[http://www.narth.com/docs/animalmyth.html]

==References==
<references/>
*[http://www.narth.com/docs/animalmyth.html The Animal Homosexuality Myth] by Luiz Sérgio Solimeo
*[http://creationwiki.org/Homosexuality CreationWiki: Homosexuality]

Hephaestus

2007-03-11T22:14:31Z

Ballon:

'''Hephaestus''' was the [[Greek]] god of blacksmithing and the Forge. He had seven golden robots (or "metal men") to work for him, and also the hundred-handed [[Cyclops|Cyclopes]]. He made the battle armor for [[Ares]] and for all the heroes of the [[Trojan War]].

Aphrodite

2007-03-11T22:12:52Z

Ballon: Other way around.

'''Aphrodite''' was the [[Greek]] Goddess of Beauty and Love. She was called [[Venus]] by the Romans, after the evening star (which we know today is a [[planet]] called [[Venus]]).

Aphrodite was married to [[Hephaestus]] (Vulcan), the blacksmith god but she was secretly in love with [[Ares]], the god of War.

Talk:Rush Limbaugh

2007-03-11T22:03:58Z

Ballon:

Rush _was_ caught illegally scoring painkillers. Should we leave that out just because it 'looks bad'? Truth is truth, even when it's ugly. --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 18:03, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Christmas

2007-03-11T22:00:16Z

Ballon:

'''Christmas''' is a [[holiday]] which celebrates the birth of [[Jesus Christ]], literally Christ's mass. The mass is celebrated after sundown on the 24th of December by the Roman Catholic church and most Protestant denominations, and on January 7th by the Orthodox Catholic Church.

The story of the birth of Christ is told in the opening chapters of the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Each contains different elements of "the Christmas Story." The visit of the Archangel to the shepherds, and the birth of Jesus in a manger are from Luke. The story of the Star of Bethlehem and the visit from the Wise Men bringing gifts of "gold, and frankincense and myrrh" are from Matthew.

In Western countries, during the Christmas season people generally hang up colored lights, place a Christmas tree (i.e. pine) in their house, sing carols (songs), and exchange gifts. Gift-giving commemorates the gifts given to the Christ child by the Magi, and is symbolic of the fact that Jesus came as gift to mankind from God.

==History==

Christmas has had a long and complex history. Christmas is a relatively unimportant holiday in the Christian liturgy (less important, for example, than the Feast of the Epiphany). It is usually assumed that the historical Jesus was born in the Spring. The Catholic Church may have set a date near the date of the Winter Solstice in order to draw parishioners away from licentious pagan festivals occuring at about the same time of year, [[Saturnalia]]. Early Protestants, including the Puritans who settled in Plymouth, did not celebrate Christmas, which they denounced as Papist.

Many of the customs we have come to associate with Christmas developed in Victorian England, notably the Christmas Tree (which originated in Germany and was introduced in England by Prince Albert). The concept of Christmas as a family-centered celebration and a time of generosity, good will, and friendliness to neighbors, was promoted and codified by Charles Dickens in ''A Christmas Carol.''

In the United States, the image of Santa Claus (i.e. Saint Nicholas) and his reindeer has been shaped by Clement Moore's poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" (with the famous opening line "'Twas the night before Christmas.") In other countries, the depiction of Santa vary widely. For instance, in the Netherlands, Santa Claus is shown a bishop's mitre.

In the United States, during the twentieth century, gift-giving assumed a greater and greater role, and by mid-century had become of great commercial importance, to the point where some felt the religious aspects were becoming forgotten. As Stan Freberg put it<ref>in a recording, "Green Christmas"</ref> in 1958, "There are two S's in Christmas and they're ''both'' dollar signs." The single week before Christmas currently accounts for 25% to 30% of all retail sales. Meanwhile, Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday which falls at about the same time of year—and which had once been a relatively minor religious holiday—evolved to become a sort of Jewish counterpart to Christmas. In some workplaces and liberal public dialogue, the two celebrations are sometimes referred to as "the holiday season."

The tension between religious and secularized Christmas has waxed and waned periodically over the years. Bing Crosby, a devout Catholic, initially refused to sing ''White Christmas'' because of its having been written by a Jew and containing no explicitly religious content; he changed his mind; the song become his greatest hit. Currently, the War on Christmas continues in the on-line world. For instance, in Wikipedia, the topic of Christmas has been overrun by secular and pagan editors.

==Modern-day cultural significance==

In recent years, the celebration of Christmas has become part of the "culture wars," with Christian conservatives asking for an increased recognition of the religious core of the holiday, and for maintaining a separation between it and other holidays occuring at the same time of year, while [[liberal]]s would rather see it combined with other seasonal holidays.

[[Fox News]] pundits [[John Gibson]] and [[Bill O'Reilly]] claim that Christmas has come under attack by "[[liberal]]s."

==Notes and references==

<references/>

Fox News Channel

2007-03-11T21:59:37Z

Ballon: Typos, links.

Fox News was started in 1996 by [[Rupert Murdoch]] in response to the other cable news channels which he believed to all have [[Liberal Biased Media|liberal biases]]. Fox News claims to be "Fair & Balanced"<ref>Fair & Balanced[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,27906,00.html]</ref> a claim which it backs up by having shows like [[Hannity & Colmes]]. Fox News characterizes itself as reporting the news in an unbiased manner and then allowing the viewer to decide. <ref>We Report. You Decide.[http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=foxiu1.jpg]</ref>.

Fox News was the first and only US cable news company to use the term "homicide bombing" to describe attacks by [[Arabs]] and [[Palestine|Palestinians]] on [[Israel|Israelis]]. Similarly, in reporting the prosecution of [[Scooter Libby]], Fox was the only news outlet to report his one acquittal and make no mention of the four convictions. Their news report implied, falsely, that he was innocent of all charges.

In 2005 the [[White House]] rewarded Fox News for its partisan support of its policies by appointing [[Tony Snow]] to be the new White House press secretary.<ref>Tony Snow to be Named White House Press Secretary[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193093,00.html]</ref>

The network has come under attacks from all sides of the political spectrum since its inception, largely for its uncritical and blatantly partisan support for the Bush administration.

==References==
<references/>

Debate:Is democracy even possible in Iraq?

2007-03-11T21:55:30Z

Ballon: /* Comment */

== yes ==

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Yes!!!

'''Comment'''--- If you would please explain your opinion.(This ''is'' supposed to be a ''debate'' topic and one finds it just a touch hard to debate a simple "Yes")

It MUST be possible. Otherwise, why would the President have invaded? --[[User:Fullmetajacket|Fullmetajacket]] 22:33, 10 March 2007 (EST) (Ah, so that's how it works!)

== No ==

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== Comment ==
:There is a phrase which has grown so common in the world's mouth that it has come to seem to have sense and meaning —the sense and meaning implied when it is used; that is the phrase which refers to this or that or the other nation as possibly being "capable of self-government"; and the implied sense of it is, that there has been a nation somewhere, some time or other which ''wasn't'' capable of it—wasn't as able to govern itself as some self-appointed specialists were or would be to govern it. The master minds of all nations, in all ages, have sprung in affluent multitude from the mass of the nation, and from the mass of the nation only—not from its privileged classes; and so, no matter what the nation's intellectual grade was; whether high or low, the bulk of its ability was in the long ranks of its nameless and its poor, and so it never saw the day that it had not the material in abundance whereby to govern itself. Which is to assert an always self-proven fact: that even the best governed and most free and most enlightened monarchy is still behind the best condition attainable by its people; and that the same is true of kindred governments of lower grades, all the way down to the lowest.

::—Mark Twain, ''A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.''

[[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 15:28, 23 January 2007 (EST)

== Comment ==

I don't believe that we should have invaded Iraq in the first place. Although Saddam Hussein was a terrible, evil man, was it really our place to remove him? All of these alleged crimes were done before, and during the Gulf War, yet we didn't bother to call him out on them until now. We even allied with Saddam during the Iran/Iraq war.
I also raise the point that many gruesome dictators are allied with us, and we wouldn't think of invading their countries. We helped bring Augusto Pinochet into power, and we are close friends with Pakistani dictator Pervez Muscharraf. Why is Saddam any different? Removing Sadddam upset balance in Iraq. With him, the people were miserbale. Without him, the people are still miserable, and the risk of death has increased dramatically.

I do not think democracy is possible in Iraq. Whether or not you think so, Iraq IS in a Civil War. The Sunni and Shi'ite militants couldn't commit all of these attrocities with Saddam Hussein in power, as he would crush any form of insurgency almost instantly. With him gone, there are militants and suicide bombers spawning at speeds too rapidly to stop. They are recruited faster than cockroaches are born, and we can never crush them completely. Sending more troops in will merely add more guns to the fight, and more killing. It might be different if we were fighting a war. But we're not. The militants do not follow the traditional rules of combat, and use guerilla tactics that allow only two people to take out an entire platoon.

We can't invade other countries and force democracy on them. It will not work, and it will make us seem like bullies and cause the rest of the world to hate us. We should have left Iraq alone.

:Well, we're there now, so we can't leave until we've won! (And by 'we' I mean "President George W Bush", and by 'win', I mean "hold out until 1/21/2009, when some other poor chump will have to find a way out of this monkey trap".) --[[User:Ballon|Ballon]] 17:55, 11 March 2007 (EDT)

Ali Baba

2007-03-11T21:52:08Z

Ballon:

'''Ali Baba''' was the star of a tale out of the [[Arabian Nights]]. He was a poor woodchopper who followed a group of thieves to a hideout in a cave, where they said "Open [[sesame]]" to make a stone at the cave mouth roll away (cf. [[Easter]]). Then Ali Baba did the same thing, and left with all their treasure. The [[moral]] of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is that if you are honest and clever like Ali Baba, God will grant you great wealth.

Illuminati

2007-03-11T21:36:57Z

Ballon: Don't use the f-word.

The '''Illuminati''' are a subversive [[Masonic]] organization, allegedly founded in [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]] by [[Adam Weishaupt]] in the 1700s. Their goal is to take over [[Europe]] (and the rest of the world) and establish a [[one-world government]], while abolishing [[religion]]. The name means "Enlightened Ones", and refers to their belief in super-human knowledge which makes them better-suited to rule the world than the "Normals".

The Illuminati's symbol, the [[Eye in the Pyramid]] appears on the back of the US one-[[Dollar]] bill, leading theorists to suspect some of the [[Founding Fathers]] of being Illuminati operatives or sympathizers. Many of the Founders were [[Masons]], so it's possible some of them could have been Illuminati initiates.

They still operate today and have infiltrated many of the world's governments and the media. They want to convert people toward "Evil Christianity" in which is just like our glorious religon but they celebrate in the nude and have group sex after each mass

Religion

2007-03-11T21:36:01Z

Ballon:

A system of beliefs about the supernatural.

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== Religions ==

* [[Animism]]
* [[Atheism]]
* [[Bahá'í]]
* [[Cao Dai]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Discordianism]]
* The [[Heaven's Gate]] [[cult]]
* [[Hinduism]]
* [[Islam]]
* [[Jainism]]
* [[Jedi]]
* [[Jenovah's Witnesses]]
* [[Juche]]
* [[Judaism]]
* [[Mormonism]]
* [[New Age]] beliefs
* [[Flying Spaghetti Monster|Pastafarianism]] ''(A [[joke religion]])''
* [[Rastafarianism]]
* [[Satanism]]
* [[Scientology]]
* [[Secular Humanism]]
* [[Shamanism]]
* [[Shintoism]]
* [[Sikhism]]
* [[Church of the SubGenius|SubGeniism]]
* [[Wicca]]
* [[Zoroastrianism]]

[[Category: Religion]]

Conspiracy

2007-03-11T21:22:13Z

Ballon:

The word '''Conspiracy''' comes from the [[Latin]] "con spire", which means "breathing together". A conspiracy is any secretive or unlawful group of people assembled for a plan.

== Types of Conspiracies ==

* [[Hub-and-spoke conspiracy]]
* [[Chain conspiracy]]
* [[Cell conspiracies]]

== Notable Historical Conspiracies ==
* The [[assassination]] of President [[John F. Kennedy]]
* [[Evolutionism]]
* the [[Illuminati]]
* [[Global warming]]
* the faked [[Moon landing]]
* [[Satanism]]
* [[Communism]]