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Electoral College

2007-12-04T21:03:15Z

Dadsnagem: removed inaccurate statement re 1960 election

[[Image:Electoralcollege2008.gif|thumb|300px|right|Electoral votes by state, click for larger image.]]
The '''Electoral College''' is the method by which [[the United States]] elects its [[president]] every four years. The [[Founding Fathers|Founders]] wanted Electors to gather in each state rather than in a common place, thereby minimizing intrigue and corruption. Each state then votes on the presidential candidate. The details are specified in the [[U.S. Constitution]], Article II, Section 1, Clause 3.

The electoral procedure is as follows:

*Political parties and independent presidential candidates select their electors.

*Political parties nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates.

*On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November, people choose the electors of their state depending on their presidential preference.

*On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December, electors of each state meet in their state capital to cast separate votes for the president and vice president. They are only allowed to cast votes for presidents and vice presidents of their own states.

*The ballots are than sealed and sent to the President of the Senate (the [[Vice President]]), who opens them on January 6.

*Candidates who win the majority of ballots for president and vice president will than be declared the winners. If no one wins the majority of the ballots for president, then the [[House of Representatives]] makes the choice from among the top three contenders. In this situation, each state's delegation has one vote and the majority of the states will have to elect the president. If there is no winner for vice president the senate will select between the top two contenders.

*At noon, January 20, the new president and vice president will be sworn into office.

The number of electors from each state is determined as being the same as the combined number of that state's [[Senators]] and [[Congress|Representatives]]. As the number of Senators is always two, and the number of Representatives is roughly proportional to the state's population, this means that larger states have more electors than smaller states, but smaller states have a ''proportionately'' higher number of electors. This mechanism was devised by the [[Founding Fathers]] as a compromise between large states (who felt they should have a greater say than the smaller states) and small states (who feared a straight proportional number would leave them too little influence).

Nearly all the states vote on a winner-take-all basis, such that whoever wins a [[plurality]] of the votes in that state then receives all of the Electoral College votes for that state. Elections in 1800 and 1824 required the House of Representatives to select a president, as no candidate won a majority. The 1824 vote leader, [[Andrew Jackson]], was later elected in 1828. In 1876, [[Samuel Tilden]] won the popular vote, but [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] won with the elector vote. No one since has won a majority of the popular vote and lost the election.

In 1888, [[Grover Cleveland]] got a plurality of the popular vote (by a margin of 110,476) but [[Benjamin Harrison]] won the electoral college vote, and became president. In the 2000 election, [[Al Gore]] narrowly got a plurality of the popular vote, and [[George W. Bush]] narrowly won the electoral vote. After a careful recount of the election results in [[Florida]], [[George W. Bush]] was declared the 43rd President of the [[United States]].

==References==
1. Bloom, Sol and Johnson, Lars. ''The Story of the Constitution''. Christian Liberty Press, 2001
<br>2. For an essay on attempts to abolish the '''Electoral College''', see [[Essay:Electoral College]].
[[category:United States]]
[[Category: United States Government]]

Neo-Nazis

2007-12-04T20:51:55Z

Dadsnagem:

'''Neo-Nazis''' are a number of loosely defined groups that admires the works and philosophies of [[Adolf Hitler]]. They have a tendency to attract the young and disenfranchised of society from the population that forms part of the majority groups. General beliefs include a desire to keep racial or ethnic purity. While generally small in number, the groups are reported upon due to the fear of what would occur if they ever spread. Popular locations for Neo-Nazi activity included the [[United States]] and [[Germany]].

[[Category:Hate Groups]]

Proctitis

2007-12-04T20:30:40Z

Dadsnagem:

According to the [[Mayo Clinic]], '''proctitis ''' is an "inflammation of the lining of the rectum... Sexually transmitted diseases are the most common cause, but other causes include inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, and non-sexually transmitted infections."<ref>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/proctitis/DS00705</ref> [[Sexually transmitted disease]]s that cause proctitis include [[gonorrhea]], [[syphilis]], cytomegalovirus, [[herpes]], [[chlamydia]], [[lymphogranuloma venereum]], and [[amebiasis]].<ref>http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/001139.htm</ref><ref>http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec09/ch130/ch130f.html</ref> According to the Mayo Clinic, "proctitis in general mainly affects adult males".<ref>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/proctitis/DS00705</ref> It is one of the anally related diseases that provide endless fascination for conservatives; the reason for this is currently unknown.

On March 15, 2004 [[Medscape]] published an article entitled ''New Look at "[[Gay Bowel Syndrome]]"'' in which they commented on the 2004 journal article ''Etiology of clinical proctitis among men who have sex with men'' published by JD Klausner and C. Kent in the journal ''[[Clinical Infectious Diseases]]''. The article in Medscape linked [[Gay Bowel Syndrome|proctitus and gay bowel syndrome to HIV infection]].

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

[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Diseases]]

Politburo

2007-12-04T20:24:36Z

Dadsnagem:

Short for political bureau. In Soviet politics, there were three competing centers of power: the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the Committee for State Security or KGB, and the Soviet Military. The people of the Soviet Union were excluded from participation in the political process and without political rights.

The CPSU dominated political control, yet could not govern alone. The KGB, described as "the sword and shield of the Party" controlled the apparatus of the state security police and its Corrective Labor Camps, or Gulags, for dissenters and other persons who may have had some difficulty cooperating with the Soviet regime. The Soviet Military, a large force in numbers though not ideologically driven as Party members were, represented the only real threat to Communist domination and control of the Soviet system. Thus KGB also functioned as a counterbalance to keep the the Soviet Military in check. And the mass of Soviet people were excluded from any meaningful role in political affairs.

As Soviet defector Victor Suvorov has described, the Politburo "should not be seen as the summit of the Party, for it represents neutral territory, on which the three forces gather to grapple with one another." Suvorov gives numerous examples throughout Soviet history how this process functioned; for example it was the KGB that liquidated Military leaders in the [[Great Purge]]s of 1938 at the behest of the Party when their loyalty was in doubt. "Both the Army and the KGB are equally represented in the Politburo. With their agreement, the Party takes the leading role; the Party bosses restrain the others and act as peacemakers in the constant squabbles."

Suvorov said of the role of the Politburo in Soviet society, "In effect it has become a substitute for God."

==Reference==
*Victor Suvorov, ''Inside the Soviet Army'', Macmillan Publishing Co., 1982.

[[category:Soviet Union]]

Tenrikyo

2007-12-04T20:18:25Z

Dadsnagem:

Tenrikyo is a [[Pantheistic]] Japanese religion. It was founded in the [[19th Century]]. It is perhaps unique amongst [[Religion|religions]] in being founded by a woman, [[Miki Nakayama]]

An outline of its teachings can be found at the self-described [http://www.tenrikyo.or.jp/en/teaching/5mins.html Tenrikyo Official Homepage]

[[Category:Religion]]

Eli Whitney

2007-12-04T20:17:01Z

Dadsnagem:

'''Eli Whitney''' was born on December 8, 1765 in [[Westborough]], Massachusetts. He was an American [[inventor]] who patented the [[cotton gin]] on March 14, 1794. In 1798, he built a factory that made guns by machinery. Whitney made machines that created interchangeable parts for guns; you could take a part off of one gun and it would fit into another. This marked the beginning of mass production in the United States. He died on January 9, 1825

[[Category:Inventors|Whitney, Eli]]