Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:SiCKO

2008-06-30T22:30:50Z

BiancaW:

Aschlafly - You have such a strong opinion on this film that is still being shown in previews. Have you even seen it? [[User:Guitarplayer|Guitarplayer]] 16:50, 25 June 2007 (EDT)
:He may have. Its now available on the internet. [[User_talk:Geo.plrd|Geo.]][[User_talk:Geo.plrd|Complain!]] 17:26, 25 June 2007 (EDT)

:[[Michael Moore]]'s films: garbage in, garbage out. How often does [[Sicko]] talk about rationing that results from government-controlled medicine???--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 20:04, 29 June 2007 (EDT)

== Front page news ==

I find it amusing that the front page tells people that ''Sicko'' was critically panned but the article itself only features a quote from a critic lauding the movie. I'd ask someone to change the front page if I could to reflect the actual article.
Anyway, I've seen the movie. It makes a powerful case - not so much that other countries' healthcare systems are better but rather that our system's failings are much worse. The "Let's do something less bad than this" is a good argument, and the case is made well. --[[User:TraitortotheCause|TraitortotheCause]] 15:30, 30 June 2007 (EDT)

==Embargo Investigation==
I've noticed that this article does not cover SiCKO's embargo violation investigation[http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1118621]. I've written a section on it:

The production of SiKO has brought about a controversy concerning Moore’s adherence to the [[United States]] broad trade embargo imposed against [[Cuba]] since 1962. A United States Treasury Department letter implied that Moore did not receive authorization before traveling to Cuba to film his documentary; this would be in direct conflict with the embargo’s rules<ref> http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1118621</ref>. Moore is now facing a U.S. government probe on the legality of the Cuba trip<ref> http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/05/11/1920233.htm</ref>. He has hired a Washington attorney, David Boies, to represent him in the matter, and states, "I have broken no laws, and I have nothing to hide.”<ref> http://au.news.yahoo.com/070510/2/13f42.html</ref>

Should it be added?
--[[User:Tash|Tash]] 15:17, 3 August 2007 (EDT)

: Good idea, and apparently well-supported. Please add. Thanks.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 09:42, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

::Thanks Aschlafly, but since the page is locked to me I would appreciate if a sysop could add it to the article. Thanks again for the help,--[[User:Tash|Tash]] 19:21, 8 August 2007 (EDT)
:::I added it. [[User:Bohdan|Bohdan]] 19:23, 8 August 2007 (EDT)

==Bias?==
It's pretty sad when you call the film biased; when you're review is even more biased. Even if you didn't like, at least '''try''' to seem like you see both sides of the arguement.

:Do you realize this is a [[conservative]] website? We are not going to have a NPOV. Of course, the film has a [[liberal]] bias, as does the filmmaker. You should not be surprised to see a conservative analysis here. --[[User:Crocoite|Crocoite]] 18:21, 10 August 2007 (EDT)

I agree with Crocoite, the only bias there is the liberal bias. Conservapedia has no responsibility to represent their falsehood. --[[User:BiancaW|BiancaW]] 18:30, 30 June 2008 (EDT)

Algae

2008-06-30T02:14:02Z

BiancaW: fixed a few spellings

'''Algae''' is the term for several groups of simple living organisms that capture [[light]] and process it through [[photosynthesis]] to create the energy they need to live and grow. They can occur in most habitats but are usually found in damp places or bodies of water. [[Phytoplankton]], living in oceans and lakes is the basis for most marine food chains. Some are used as human food or harvested for useful substances such as agar or fertilizer.

Algae also plays an enormous role in the environment. Of the [[oxygen]] that is added to the [[atmosphere]] through photosynthesis, 90 percent comes from algae: not any land-dwelling [[plant]].

Red Algae is different from the other [[species]]; it is classified in [[Phylum Rhodophyta]], not Phylum Phaeophyta like the others. Red Algae is multicellular and live warm marine environments rather than cold. It is actually rather similar to coral.

Reference: '''Exploring Creation with Biology''' Wile and Durnell
[[Category:Biology]]

Parliament

2008-06-30T02:09:27Z

BiancaW: spelling for government

A '''parliament''' is a national or regional [[legislature]]. More specifically, the term "Parliament" (without the definite article, and with a capital "P") is frequently used to denote the legislature of the United Kingdom, which is composed of the Queen, the [[House of Lords]] and the [[House of Commons (UK)|House of Commons]].

The "Parl-" root means "to speak," as in ''parley.''

==Organization==
The [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) usually represent a political party. Each party is formed by people with broadly similar political views. In most cases, [[MP|MPs]] are elected by the population according to one of a number of electoral systems. Some parliaments use a "first-past-the-post" system where each [[MP]] represents a constituency and is the candidate who received the most votes from residents of the constituency. Other parliaments use a proportional representation system, where the number of [[MP|MPs]] from each political party is proportional to the total votes for that party across the whole electorate. There are many other varieties of electoral systems, most of which are variations on these two themes. In rare cases (for example the British House of Lords), the members are not elected by the population but are appointed in some other way.

Many parliaments are made up of two different houses - for example Australia's House of Representatives and Senate. The electoral systems of the two houses are usually different meaning the mix of MPs from the various parties will also generally differ.

Usually in a parliamentary system, the government is formed by [[MP|MPs]] from the party which has the majority of members. The leader of that party is the head of government, often called the [[Prime Minister]]. As the government party has a majority of members, it can usually expect to win any votes in the parliament. In the situation where no one party has a majority, there are two possibilities. The first is a minority government with members of one party only, which must rely on the support from members of other parties to win votes. The other possibility is a formal arrangement between two or more parties to form a coalition government with a majority of MPs, where the government members are from all coalition partners.

This contrasts with presidential systems, where the members of the government (in particular the President) are not members of the legislature.

The [[Prime Minister]] is not elected for a fixed term, but serves for as long as he has the "confidence" of Parliament -- that is, as long as he enjoys their support. Usually, the [[Prime Minister]] (and the rest of the government) is removed after an election at which his party failed to retain a majority in parliament. Occasionally, most often during a period of minority government, the [[Prime Minister]] is removed upon losing a vote of no confidence, or resigns after losing a major vote on an issue they have championed (as [[Italy|Italian]] [[Prime Minister]] [[Romano Prodi]] did in February 2007). In other cases members of the government party may choose to change their leader in which case the new leader becomes Prime Minister, as happened in to [[Margaret Thatcher]] in [[Britain]] in 1990.

First-past-the-post elections are more likely to produce a parliament with two major parties, making minority government unlikely. Proportional voting systems allow third parties a chance to win some representation if they can win a small amount of the national vote without winning a majority of any districts. They are more likely to result in a minority or coalition government. In order to make it easier to form a majority government, proportional voting systems often favor large parties for example through thresholds or the way the number of seats are calculated from the votes.

==Rules of order==

Parliaments and other governing bodies have "rules of order" which govern who may speak, and how votes are taken and counted. These can be very complicated.

To see why these rules are needed, consider this possibility. Suppose a vote is taken when only 300 of the 435 members are there. Suppose 200 people vote for the motion and 100 people vote against it. Should the motion pass? A majority ''of those who were present'' voted for it, but the 200 people who voted for it are less than half of the entire membership. There's no way to tell how the 135 absent members would have voted; if all of them had voted against the motion, it would have been defeated.

In this case, the rule that applies is called the ''quorum'' rule, and it usually says that as long as there are sufficient members present, votes can be taken and the majority ''of those present'' prevails.

"Rules of order" are often called ''parliamentary procedure.'' Many organizations adopt rules of order which are broadly similar to each other. A popular reference book called "Robert's Rules of Order" gives a detailed outline of parliamentary procedure. In a small organization, like the governing body of a club or a town government, many members may not be completely familiar with all the rules. There may be a member called a "parliamentarian" whose job is to know the rules and act as a sort of referee for enforcing them.
[[Category:politics]]

==Effects on United States Government==

Most historians agree that the bicameral legislative style of today was derived from the principles of Parliament.