'''Succession''' is a core concept in the field of [[ecology]]. Succession is the process by which a given [[ecosystem]] recovers its composition of species after a disturbance, such as a [[flood]], [[fire]], or [[earthquake]]. One commonly used example of this is the recovery of the ecosystem after the 1980 eruption of [[Mt. St. Helens]]. Generally after a disturbance, the first species to re-establish themselves will be species referred to as "R-selected". These species generally have short generation times and produce large quantities of young, of which only a few may survive to adulthood. These traits make these species suited to colonize an area such as one that has recently suffered a disturbance. Once a population of R-selected species exists in an area, they will modify the environment, either enabling or inhibiting the further colonization of other species. Eventually the ecosystem will move from being dominated by R-selected species to being dominated by a "climax community" of K-selected species, which generally have longer generations, fewer young, but are able to utilize a given set of resources more efficiently.

==External Links==
[http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/images/succession.gif a simple image of plant succession]

[[category:ecology]]

The Atheist Experience

2013-04-10T02:19:21Z

DTSavage:

The Atheist Experience

2013-04-10T02:17:24Z

DTSavage: Created page with "''The Atheist Experience'' is a weekly public-access television program and podcast run by the Atheist community of Austin. It is usually hosted by ex-baptist..."

Counterexamples to Evolution

2013-04-07T19:47:25Z

DTSavage: /* Logical examples */

[[File:Question-Evolution-Campaign.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|The [[Question evolution! campaign]] by [[Creation Ministries International]] is a worldwide campaign which poses 15 questions that evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer.<ref>http://creation.com/question-eviolution Question evolution! campaign] by [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref> The 15 questions posed to evolutionists can be found [http://creation.com/15-questions HERE] ]]
The [[theory of evolution]] does not permit the existence of any counterexamples. '''If any one of the 48 counterexamples listed below is correct, then the theory of evolution fails'''. Moreover, even if there is merely a 5% chance that each of these counterexamples is correct (and the odds are far higher than that<ref>Many of the counterexamples are indisputable, rendering each of their probabilities of being correct nearly 100%.</ref>), then the probability that the theory of evolution is true is less than 9%.
==Counterexamples==
===Logical examples===
# The current annual rate of extinction of species far exceeds any plausible rate of generation of species. Expanding the amount of time for evolution to occur makes evolution even less likely.
# Evolution cannot explain artistic beauty, such as the brilliant autumn foliage and staggering array of beautiful marine fish, both of which originated before any human to view them; this lacks any plausible evolutionary explanation apart from sexual selection. Although the idea of artistic beauty is a purely human concept developed from natural objects.
# Evolution cannot explain the lack of genetic diversity among the Homo sapiens species. Were evolution and the Old Earth theory true, the human population would show a much larger genetic variance.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref> Some scientists have stated that a troop of 55 chimpanzees contains more genetic diversity than the entire human race; this would support the idea that all chimps are descended from a relatively large initial population while all humans are descended from a much smaller initial population (two people, perhaps). 80% of all human diversity is found on the African continent, which accords with a human population growing from a small group in the post-Flood Middle East.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref>[[File:Ara macao -on a small bicycle-8.jpg|thumbnail|300px|right|[[Parrot]] feathers are a problem for evolutionists. For more information, please see [http://creation.com/parrot-fashion parrot feathers]see picture source and license [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ara_macao_-on_a_small_bicycle-8.jpg here]]]
# Parsimonious repetition of design elements throughout Creation, e.g. the eye's appearance in remarkably different species. For such complex structures to [[convergent evolution|arise repeatedly via evolution]] is [[statistical_impossibility | impossible]], as evolution is an inherently random and historically contingent process.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i1/homology.asp</ref>
# ''Pleiotropy'', the fact that a change of a single gene can have several different effects, renders the "improvement" of animals by random mutation impossible, as any mutation with a potentially beneficial effect will be coupled with one or more other potentially lethal effects.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v4/n1/beneficial-mutations-in-bacteria</ref>
# The development of feathers, which could not have conceivably "grown" from the scales of reptiles<ref>http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/40/4/687.pdf</ref><ref>[http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/early-evolution-of-feathers.html]</ref>
# For evolution to be true, every male dog, cat, horse, elephant, giraffe, fish and bird had to have coincidentally evolved with a female alongside it (over billions of years) with fully evolved compatible reproductive parts and a desire to mate, otherwise the species couldn't keep going. Although the changes that occur after one generation are definitely not great enough to stop to organisms from reproducing. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90743</ref>
# There are no historical records of anyone directly observing one species evolving into another, which would certainly be something worth writing about. Surely of the millions of species we have, someone would have witnessed ''one'' come into existence had it evolved. Although the time humans have been keeping is not nearly great enough to show any significant change. And evolution is a relatively slow process which does not spontaneously occur. [citation needed]
# If evolution were to explain where human beings come from, then every personality type should benefit human life. [citation needed] This is clearly untrue because the world is filled with liars, psychopaths, murderers and creationists. These traits clearly do not benefit humanity. This point is to do with social evolution where a large society cannot exist where these traits are accepted. This is generally accepted as the source of the so called morals.
# Evolution should lead to the extinction of homosexuality, as sinful homosexuals are unfit to contribute to the gene pool, yet to this day homosexuality continues to exist. This does idea does however need homosexuality to be heritable.
# The Theory of Evolution dictates that all organisms descended from single celled bacteria. Considering that bacteria is, and always has been, the most successful group of organisms, covering all areas of the globe in some of the most extreme environments, why would it have been advantageous to evolve into organisms that are so much more limited to the environments they can inhabit? Surely, staying as bacteria would be far more advantageous, due to their tolerence(sp) of extreme conditions, quick reproduction time, etc. Evolution does not state that life all evolved from one bacteria. And bacteria rarely occupy the same ecological niche as other more complex life forms.
# The [[Second Law of Thermodynamics]] establishes that everything becomes more disordered over time, in a closed system; the theory of evolution claims that some systems can become more ordered. This actually does not subvert the Second Law of Thermodynamics. By that logic the building industry could not exist as a building is more ordered than the clay in ground. And if sand falls out of my hand onto the ground it forms a cone which is more ordered than the handful of sand. Although the second law of thermodynamics refers to the overall disorder of the energy in the universe.
# The [[Law of Large Numbers]] states that things tend to revert to their average over time (the large number of examples), while evolution requires the opposite: that things become more complex and depart further from their average over time and large numbers of examples.

===Lack of mechanism===
[[Image:Feather image.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Harvard]] biologist [[Ernst Mayr]] wrote: "It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random [[mutation]]s."<ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes9.html Ernst Mayr, Systematics and the Origin of Species (New York: Dover Publications, 1942), p. 296]</ref>]]
# The extraordinary migration patterns of butterflies and birds cannot be explained through naturalistic development, and lack any plausible materialistic explanation<ref>[[migration]]</ref>
# Evolution does not account for the immense amount of [[information]] in the genome. While there are various definitions of information, and many types have been observed to occur naturally, DNA contains information that is processed to lead to a result predetermined by the content of that information. Strictly speaking it is inaccurate to refer to DNA as a "code" or "language," as many scientists are prone to doing. In fact DNA is more like a template, which produces messenger RNA (mRNA,) a new template with more appropriate bases for protein production. The mRNA essentially acts as a scaffold to which the appropriate amino acids attach to form a protein molecule. Rather than being a language containing words which each have a meaning, DNA is more like a jig or framework which allows a specific molecule of mRNA, and subsequently a specific protein sequence, to be assembled on it. In effect the information is the sequence of chemical reactions which that length of DNA will catalyse. Given the huge number of useless protein molecules which could be formed and the complexity of even a simple protein such as haemoglobin, this sequence could not have evolved by natural selection as the odds against the initial organism having a functional protein are too great.
# The development of feathers, which could not have conceivably "grown" from the scales of reptiles or any other known structure.<ref>http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/40/4/687.pdf</ref><ref>[http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/early-evolution-of-feathers.html]</ref>[[File:Autumn.jpg|292px|right|thumbnail|The beauty of [[God]]'s [[creation]], such as [[autumn]] foliage, cannot adequately be explained through the evolutionary [[paradigm]]. See: [[Argument from beauty]]
 
 
([http://www.flickr.com/photos/universalpops/5236103680/ Flickr] picture, see:'' [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en license agreement])]]
# Humans exhibit behaviors such as performing [[science]], creating [[art]] and [[music]], [[dance|dancing]], and a number of other intellectual and artistic behaviors which could not have been produced by random mutations. There is no known evolutionary reason why these should be favored.
# Trematode parasites, like many other kinds, lack a plausible evolutionary phylogeny, though they can easily be explained by a teleological design.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/36/36_4/trematodes.html</ref>
# Evolution cannot explain the many complex sex-determining systems. For example, in most mammals, females have two identical sex chromosomes (XX in this case) whereas males two different ones (XY.) However in birds, reptiles, many insects, and other organisms, the situation is reversed to where the male has two identical sex chromosomes and the female has two different ones; for example male birds have a ZZ chromosome pair and females ZW. No evolutionist has proposed a mechanism by which mammals could have a different sex chromosome system from the reptile ancestors they allegedly share with birds.
# Evolution requires that random mutations can cause one [[kind]] to change into another, but this has never been observed.
# The existence of two symmetrical kidneys, which are unnecessary in most people, lacks a plausible evolutionary explanation based on functionality alone. Because evolution falsehoods mislead most people into thinking they need their second kidney, "the average waiting time for the organs from a deceased donor in the United States is five years" and "3,916 patients waiting for a kidney in 2006 died before one became available."<ref>[http://www.scienceline.org/2009/03/04/levitan-health-living-kidney-donor-transplant/] This article observes, "As a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found, living kidney donors live as long or longer and enjoy better quality of life than the general population."</ref>
#Thousands of years of intense selective breeding should have produced a new wolf species from domesticated dogs, yet dogs and wolves remain the same species.

===Maladaptation===

# Inability to account for widely observed altruism among animals, as it ''reduces'' an animal's ability to survive. “The existence of altruism between different species — which is not uncommon — remains an obstinate enigma.”<ref>''In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'' [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html]</ref> Not surprisingly, many atheist evolutionists have done their utmost to ''deny'' animal altruism.
# The gradual buildup of deleterious mutations in an organism's genome as the species grows older limits the maximum lifespan of a species well under what would be required for evolution. Each generation of humans has far more negative mutations than the posited natural selection can remove. Evolution is thus impossible as species would become nonviable long before they could diverge.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref>

===Wrong predictions===
[[Image:Harvester-ants.jpg|thumb|205px|right|Ant behavior is the result of [[intelligent design]]. 19th century [[Europe|European]] naturalists were wrong about [[ant]] behavior. The [[Bible]] was correct about ant behavior.<ref>http://ed5015.tripod.com/BWilliamsvsAnon71to73.htm</ref>]]
# Lack of any demonstrable vestigial parts of the human [[genome]]. While evolutionists often claim that regions of the genome are "[[junk DNA]]" and would not have been placed there by a designer, none have actually shown this to be true, and much so-called "junk DNA" has been shown to be useful.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/junkdna.html</ref>
# While evolutionists argue that there are examples of "[[argument from poor design|bad design]]" in the bodies of many organisms, such as "flaws" in the human spine and sinus system, evolutionists fail to realize that, by their own theory, natural selection should have removed these things! The simpler explanation, that these represent degeneration from an original, created perfect form, is the superior one. In other word, as [[CreationWiki]] notes, such "flaws" are actually "a result of deterioration, resulting from Man's Fall."<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/Functional_integration_indicates_design_(Talk.Origins) Functional integration indicates design], from [[CreationWiki]]</ref>
# We have the perfect number of [[teeth]] to fit in our [[mouth]]s. While creationism perfectly accounts for that result, evolutionism predicts a contrary result: As our [[face]]s evolved from chimpanzee-like faces to human faces, the shortening of the muzzle would have caused the teeth to become badly overcrowded in the front of the mouth.
# Human fertility is rapidly declining, disproving evolutionary improvement in humans and also suggesting a brief timeline for human existence.
# Evolutionist theory predicts that in the case of [[convergent evolution]], a particular structure such as an eye that evolves in an optimal form in one species can later evolve in a suboptimal form in a different species. No such result has ever been observed.
# Constantly mutating, drug-resistant [[pathogen]]s such as [[MRSA]] have been demonstrated to be the result of devolution rather than evolution.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Genesis-of-Germs-The,5181,224.aspx Genesis of Germs], from [[Answers in Genesis]]</ref> This is the exact opposite of what evolutionary theory predicts.

===Missing fossils===
[[Image:800px-Baleen Whale Physical Characteristics svg.png|right|300px|thumbnail|The remarkable [[whale]], which is a [[mammal]], has no plausible evolutionary ancestor.]]
# No transitional forms appear for horses, instead different and distinct horse-like animals appear in the fossil record<ref>[[Ray Comfort]], in the Forward to the 150th anniversary edition of "On the Origin of Species"</ref>
# The enormous gaps and lack of intermediate species in the [[fossils|fossil]] record, once all the frauds are removed.
# Mammalian fur and body hair. There is no known evolutionary pathway for the development of fur, and no fossil evidence of hair evolving from scales, even though it survives very well.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/40/40_4/Bergman.htm</ref>

=== Irreducible Complexity===
# The extraordinarily long neck of the [[giraffe]]. The giraffe's heart creates immense pressure to drive blood up the neck to the brain. Because of this there are valves in the neck which automatically restrict the blood flow when the giraffe lowers its head to drink. Without these valves the sudden increase in blood pressure as the heart no longer needs to overcome gravity would rupture the arteries in the brain and kill the giraffe. However the giraffe could not have evolved a long neck without the valves and had no need to evolve the valves unless it had a long neck. The okapi, which evolutionists claim is the closest relative of the giraffe, has no such valves. Evolutionary theory cannot explain this. <ref>[http://www1.pacific.edu/~e-buhals/GIRAFFE2.htm]</ref>[[Image:BacterialFlagellum.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[flagellum|Bacterial Flagellum]] with rotary motor, courtesy of Access Research Network (Art Battson)]]
# The development of wings in birds, as intermediary wing stubs would have no use, and be a competitive disadvantage.
# The [[flagellum]] of certain bacteria contain a multi-part cellular motor which fails to function if a single part is removed. This is the classic example of [[irreducible complexity]] as publicised by Professor [[Michael Behe]].<ref>[http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/design2/article.html]</ref> Because the flagellum must have all its parts to function it could not have evolved and therefore must have been designed by an intelligent being. At the [[Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District]] trial, Professor [[Ken Miller]] attempted to rebut this argument by pointing out that if 42 parts of the flagellum are removed what remains is a fully functional Type III Secretory System, used by some bacteria to inject toxins into target cells. While Miller's claim is factually accurate, it fails to explain how the T3SS could simultaneously add 42 parts to create a working flagellum.
# The organ and brain development required for retinal imagery require a base level of complexity, making a primitive form useless and impossible under evolution.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/43/43_1/retinal_imagery.htm</ref>
# The [[ear]] contains three tiny [[bone]]s that transmit sound waves from the eardrum to the cochlea.<ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bigear.html Neuroscience for Kids: The Ear]</ref> Because of the complicated arrangement of those bones, transitional forms (which have never been found) would have served no purpose. Evolutionists claim that these bones used to form part of the reptilian jaw joint, but no intermediate fossil with half jaw/half ear has ever been found, and there is no way evolutionism can explain how a jaw becomes an ear.
# Bony skeletons represent an example of irreducible complexity, since only a fully formed, complete skeleton is of any use whatsoever, while having only one or some few number of bones in an otherwise invertebrate creature is hardly advantageous. It is inconceivable to think that some random mutation could have resulted in the formation if an entire bone system in a creature which was previously invertebrate.
# "Social insects" such as bees, ants, and termites, which have extremely complex caste systems. Where an insect fits into the system is determined by its diet when young. Evolution requires that the genes for the various castes and the genes for caste-specific behavior all appeared simultaneously. Akin to the concept of [[irreducible complexity]], but on a higher (social) order, this is impossible given random chance. The complex social structure of these insects is evidence of [[intelligent design]]; also, since the overwhelming majority of individuals are workers and do not reproduce, they do not perpetuate their genetic material, as evolutionism claims all living things must do.
#Lungs never would have had to develop unless the animal was already on land, in which case, they would die before reproducing.
#There is no explanation within the theory of evolution through natural selection for the mechanism in which a catapillar turns into a butterfly. Essentially the original animal is broken down and rearranged into a totally different animal, with no simmilar physical characteristics. This process cannot be explained within the theory, and points to a designer's involvement.

===Uncategorized===
# Evolution would result in modern languages having one common ancestral language, and for nearly a century linguists insisted that there must be one. There is not, and linguists now accept that there are completely independent families of languages.
# No other animal exhibits [[religion]]. A far better explanation than random mutations is that humans were given the capacity to be religious by a loving God who wants a relationship with His creations.
# Circadian phenomena -- internal 24-hour clock mechanisms of humans and other living beings -- defy material explanation. Examples include how some people are unable to change the timing of their need for sleep for each day, and how plants exhibit clock-like behavior regardless of their exposure to sunlight. In addition, there is a weekly clock cycle for many phenomena, which has a clear biblical basis but defies any materialistic explanation.<ref>http://www.biblestudy.org/godsrest/mysterious-seven-day-cycle-in-plants-animals-man-2.html</ref>
# Scientists have found proof that the first chicken came before the first egg,<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38238685/ns/technology_and_science-science/</ref> consistent with a special creation of chickens but not with a gradual descent with modifications from a proto-chicken and proto-egg.
# Despite the large (and ever increasing) number of breeds of [[dog]]s, and the fact that some pure bred lineages of dogs are reproductively isolated from other dogs, no new species of dog has evolved.<ref>http://creation.com/dogs-breeding-dogs</ref>

== Question evolution! campaign ==
[[Image:Carl weiland.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|Dr. [[Carl Wieland]] is the Managing Director of [[Creation Ministries International]] ]]
''See also:'' [[Question evolution! campaign]] and [[Atheists doubting the validity of atheism]]

Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution|theory of evolution]] which employs [[methodological naturalism]] have been atheists.<ref>
* Dr. Don Batten,[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/737/ A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists] ''Creation'' 20(1):32, December 1997.
* [[Jonathan Sarfati]], Ph.D.,F.M., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3830 ''Refuting Evolution'', Chapter 1, Facts and Bias]
</ref> In 2011, a campaign called the [[Question evolution! campaign]] was launched by the [[Bible|biblical]] [[creation]] organization [[Creation Ministries International]] which is a worldwide "[[grassroots|grass-roots]] movement to challenge the anti-[[Christianity|Christian]] [[dogma]] of [[evolution]]".<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The focus of the Question evolution! campaign is on "15 questions that evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer."<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The 15 questions posed to evolutionists (and undecided individuals) can be found [http://creation.com/15-questions HERE] The campaign will be primarily conducted in the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Europe]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Singapore]] and [[South Africa]].<ref>http://creation.com/question-evolution</ref>

== Logical Conclusion ==
As scientific theories require that their laws be immutable, the existence of merely one counterexample disproves the truth of the rule. Thus, if evolution fails to account for any one of these items (or countless others), it must be discarded.
{{evolution}}
{{Counterexamples}}

== See also ==

*[[Atheism]]
*[[Evolution and atheism]]
*[[Creation vs. Evolution Videos]]

== External Links ==
*[http://creation.com/ Creation Ministries International]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Counterexamples]]
[[category:Evolution]]

Julius Caesar

2013-03-30T17:06:19Z

DTSavage:

[[Image:Caesar.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Julius Caesar]]
'''Gaius Julius Caesar''' lived from 100–44 B. C. He was a [[Roman]] military & political leader and one of the most influential people in [[history]]. A brilliant general, he laid the groundwork for the future [[Roman Empire]].

==Early Political Career==
In 60 B.C. Julius Caesar joined with the wealthy [[Marcus Crassus]] and the powerful Roman general and statesman [[Pompey|Pompey the Great]] to rule [[Rome]] as the first [[triumvirate]]. In 59 B.C. Julius Caesar became consul and used his position to gain favor with the public, such as by distributing grain to the poor.

Julius Caesar then made himself the provincial ruler (proconsul) of [[Gaul]] (modern-day [[France]]). He conquered vast amounts of territory for Rome and, while fighting abroad, sent written reports back to Rome of the victories he was winning to sustain his popularity and to ensure that the people did not forget him. Back in Rome, Julius Caesar’s plan was working, and Pompey became increasingly jealous (by this time, Crassus had died in battle). Pompey, with the support of the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], objected to Julius Caesar’s actions and ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. He refused, and in an act of direct defiance to the Senate, led his loyal troops across the Rubicon River to Rome and conquered it in 49 B. C. The expression, “crossing the Rubicon” is used today to describe an act from which there is no turning back. Julius Caesar went on to defeat Pompey at the [[Battle of Pharsalus]] in 48 B.C. This left Julius Caesar firmly in control of Rome, and he then took his veteran army on campaigns in [[Egypt]] (where he installed ally [[Cleopatra]] as queen), Asia Minor, [[Africa]] and [[Spain]] before returning to Rome again in 45 B.C. Rome ruled much of the Western civilized world as result of these military campaigns. It is interesting to note that Caesar did not start his string of incredible military victories until he was well into middle age. The Roman Senate appointed Julius Caesar as dictator for life in 46 B.C.
{{Rome}}
[[Image:Caesarmap.jpg|thumb|560px]]

==Later Career and Death==
The [[Roman Senate]] was less than pleased with Caesar's actions as dictator. In a conspiracy famously recounted in [[Shakespeare]]’s play “Julius Caesar,” [[Cassius]] and [[Brutus]] and up to 60 others agreed to stab and kill Julius Caesar when he entered the Senate on the “Ides of March” (March 15, 44 B.C.). After he died, Rome fell into chaos for 13 years as rivals strove for power. Julius Caesar had named his 18-year-old grandnephew, [[Gaius Octavius]], to be his heir. Gaius Octavius also intended to inherit his adopted father's political power. Others wanted [[Mark Antony]]. Cassius and Brutus also had armies of their own. First a triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus defeated the armies of Cassius and Brutus, and that ended the republican rule by the Senate. Octavius went on in history to become Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.

==Contributions==

Julius Caesar instituted the 12-month, 365-day [[Julian Calendar]], which provided the foundation for the [[Gregorian Calendar]] adopted later by a [[pope]] and used to this day. Julius Caesar also granted religious rights to the [[Jews]] in [[Palestine]], so that the Jewish religion could be practice outside the requirements of Roman religious law. An uneasy practice of the Jewish faith thus continued in the Roman empire up to and through the time of [[Christ]]. Julius Caesar, as all Roman generals, campaigned strenuously on behalf of his veterans, in particular with regards to the gifting of land. Roman culture flourished in the struggles during the lifetime of Julius Caesar, and those which followed his assassination.

Casesar's influence extends even to this day in the name of the month of July, and in such titles as Czar (tsar) and Kaiser.

==Writings==
*The Gallic Wars (''Commentarii de Bello Gallico'')
*The Civil Wars (''Comentarii de Bello Civili'')

== See also ==

*[[Alexander the Great]]
*[[The Crusades]]
*[[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Roman painting]]

{{DEFAULTSORT: Caesar, Julius}}

[[Category: Roman Commanders]]
[[Category:Romans]]
[[Category:Conquerors]]

Ecology

2013-03-18T05:06:20Z

DTSavage:

'''Ecology''' is 'the study of the interrelationships between organisms and their natural environment, both living and non-living'<ref>Martin, E. and Hine, R. (2008) 'A Dictionary of Biology' Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K.</ref>

A popular aspect of ecology is the relationship of the relative proportions of predator and prey. When more predators are introduced to an environment, they eat more prey animals. This tends to increase the population of predators, since they get more food and can thus live longer to reproduce more. But it also reduces the food supply of the predators, which contrariwise causes the predators to live shorter lives and to reproduce less. However, since predators tend to eat herbivores, increased predation of herbivores will allow [[plants|primary producers]] to increase in popularion, creating a phenomenon called a Trophic Cascade <ref>Estes, James A. and Terborgh, John, ''Trophic Cascades: Predators, Prey, and the Changing Dynamics of Nature''. Island Press, 2010. ISBN 10597264873.</ref>In some ecosystems, the populations of predator and prey cycle up and down wildly, but usually they reach an equilibrium.<ref>Rockwood, Larry L. ''Introduction to Population Ecology''. Wiley Blackwell, 2006. ISBN 9781405132633. Chapter 10.</ref>

{{quotebox|The first significant contribution to the theory of population ecology was that of [[Thomas Malthus]], an English clergyman, who in 1798 published his Essay on the Principle of Population. Malthus introduced the concept that at some point in time an expanding population must exceed supply of prerequisite [[natural resources]], i.e., population increases exponentially resulting in increasing competition for means of subsistence, food, shelter, etc. This concept has been termed the "Struggle for Existence". [http://ipmworld.umn.edu/chapters/ecology.htm]}}

Ecology is an established [[science]], but the term is often confused with or used interchangably with [[environmentalism]].

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Biology]]

Talk:Evolutionary biology careers

2013-03-18T05:00:13Z

DTSavage:

Conservative, I noticed your removal of my addition to this article, saying that it needed a citation I was speaking from personal experience as someone studying ecology at university, which at my university is in the same department as evolutionary biology. It is of course difficult to cite personal experience on a wiki :)--[[User:DTSavage|DTSavage]] 00:45, 18 March 2013 (EDT)
::When you said that many people do not go into the field for financial reasons, you were merely expressing an opinion. I meet people all the time who are studying a particular field in college and they appear to be in a dreamland. For example, in a few cases I asked people in a friendly manner what the job prospects were in the field they were studying for and they were clueless. They were like a deer in the headlight. They had no idea what percentage of people that are eventually hired for the major they are studying for. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 00:56, 18 March 2013 (EDT)
:::Yes, it was an opinion. However, it's an opinion based on the dozen or so people I know closely, and several dozen I am acquainted with, who are studying evolutionary biology. --[[User:DTSavage|DTSavage]] 01:00, 18 March 2013 (EDT)

2013-03-14T00:57:17Z

DTSavage: Created page with "could an admin please redirect this/copypaste it to an article titled Pope Francis? Thanks!--~~~~"

could an admin please redirect this/copypaste it to an article titled Pope Francis? Thanks!--[[User:DTSavage|DTSavage]] 20:57, 13 March 2013 (EDT)

Society of Jesus

2013-03-14T00:52:24Z

DTSavage: /* Distinguished Jesuits */

[[Image:Il Gesu.jpg|thumb|right|Il Gesu, Motherchurch of the Society of Jesus, Rome, by Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta.]]
'''The Society of Jesus''' ([[Spanish]]: La Compañía de Jesús). usually called '''Jesuits''' is a powerful worldwide [[Catholic]] religious order well known for its devotion to education, science and the [[ultramontane]] cause of the [[Pope]]. Founded in 1534, today it is active in 112 nations with over 20,000 members, working in the fields of education, intellectual research, cultural pursuits, missionary work, human rights and social justice.

The Jesuits were founded by [[Ignatius of Loyola|Saint Ignatius of Loyola]] in 1534, to defend Catholicism against the [[Protestant Reformation]] and to do missionary work among the heathen. This religious order is better known by the name "Jesuits" ("Soldiers of Christ"). The Order is the largest order for men in the Catholic Church. It founded many schools in the US, including [[Fordham University]] in the Bronx, [[New York]], [[Loyola University Chicago]] and [[Georgetown University]] in Washington, D. C. In the world it has about 56 university centers and 400,000 students, 28 Jesuit universities and colleges in the United States.

In the late 20th century, some Jesuits were criticized for being [[liberal]] rather than adhering to the doctrine of the Church. Many of the Jesuit colleges have become overrun by [[leftist]] professors and students.

Ignatius of Loyola wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, which created a tightly centralized organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to the [[Pope]]. Jesuits do not have an official habit, although the mandate of the order was to dress in the manner of diocesan priests at the time. This has led to some Jesuit priests adopting an archaic habit of a black cassock tied at the waist with a white rope girdle (or amaranth during the Advent). Some priests may wear a biretta cap and cape to celebrate mass or walk among parishioners on feast days. Typically however, Jesuit priests wear a tab collar shirt as do diocesan priests.

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'''Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam'''

'''For the Greater Glory of God'''

''Christ as the model of human life.''
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== Spiritual Exercises ==

The spirituality practiced by the Jesuits, called ''[http://home.mira.net/~ics/whoare.htm Ignatian spirituality]'', is based on the Catholic faith and the [[Gospels]]. The purpose of St. Ignatius's "Spiritual Exercises" is to conquer oneself and to regulate one's life, based solely on the discern of God's will, who is ever active in people's lives.

<center> ''"The goal of our life is to live with [[God]] forever. God who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit... Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to the deepening of God's life in me."''

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== The Sacred Heart and Our Lady ==

The Order has a commitment to spread the devotion to the [[Sacred Heart]] and to Our Lady, the [[Virgin Mary]].

==Jesuits and science==
[[Ampere]], [[Volt]]a, [[Ohm]]:
* Abbreviations of the names of three Jesuit-trained or Jesuit-financed scientists are to be found on almost every consumer electronic device or consumer appliance sold around the world.<ref> [http://www.scientus.org/Church-Science-History.html Science and the Church:Beyond Galileo]</ref>

== Distinguished Jesuits ==

*'''Ignatius Loyola''';
*Francis Xavier;
*Francis Borgia;
*Stanislaus Kostka;
*Alfonso Rodriguez;
*Juan de Castillo;
*John Berchmans;
*John Francis Regis;
*Peter Claver;
*Francis de Geronimo;
*Paul Miki, John Goto, James Kisai, Japanese martyrs (1597)
*Peter Canisius;
*North American Martyrs: Isaac Jogues, Anthony Daniel, John de Brébeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel (priests), and Rene Goupil and John Lalande (lay missionaries);
*Robert Bellarmine,
*Andrew Bobola;
*Edmund Campion, English martyr.
*Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and spiritual writer.
*[[Jorge Mario Bergoglio]], elected Pope Francis in 2013

== See also ==
*[[New France]] (Quebec)
*[[Baldomero Ortoneda]]

== External links ==
[[Image:L U Ch.JPG|right]]
*[http://www.georgetown.edu/ Georgetown University]
*[http://libraries.luc.edu/about/exhibits/jesuits/ Jesuits and the Sciences: 1540-1995]
*[http://luc.edu/ Loyola University Chicago]
*[http://www.sjmex.org/ Compañía de Jesús] In Spanish.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm The Society of Jesus] Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.companymagazine.org/gc34/gc34.06.html The Jesuit Priest]
*[http://www.ignatius.org/ St. Ignatius College Prep, Chicago, Illinois]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Catholic Church]]