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United States Naval Academy

2007-11-13T01:14:40Z

Dewey: New page: '''The United States Naval Academy''' was founded in 1845. It is located in Annapolis Maryland, and its mascot is, would you believe this, [http://www.usna.edu/LibExhibits/Archives/Armynav...

'''The United States Naval Academy''' was founded in 1845. It is located in Annapolis Maryland, and its mascot is, would you believe this, [http://www.usna.edu/LibExhibits/Archives/Armynavy/Images/2004_billthegoat.jpg Bill the Goat]. I am not making this up.

Peter Levi

2007-11-12T23:51:23Z

Dewey:

'''Peter Chad Tigar Levi''', [[Fellow of the Society Antiquaries|FSA]], [[FRSL]], (16 May 1931 – 1 February 2000), Professor of Poetry, [[University of Oxford]] (1984-89) was a poet, Jesuit priest, archaeologist, travel writer, biographer, scholar and prolific reviewer and critic.

==Early life and education==
Levi was born in [[Ruislip]], [[Middlesex]] of parents with [[Mediterranean]] ancestry. The family of his father (Herbert Simon Levi) came from [[Istanbul]] and that of his mother (Edith Mary Tigar) from [[Spain]]. His mother was a devout [[Roman Catholic]] and his [[Jewish]] father converted to that religion; their three children all entered [[religious orders]].

He was educated in private Catholic establishments starting at [[Prior Park]] near [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], run by the [[Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools|Christian Brothers]]. When he was 14 [[Oscar Wilde]] had become his literary idol. Wilde had said that ''the Greek text of the Gospels was the most beautiful book in the world''<ref name="kronos">Levi, Peter. (1980) ''The Hill of Kronos''.</ref>, so a school with more Greek was demanded and he changed schools to Beaumont College, a Jesuit school near Windsor. While at Beaumont, at the age of 17 he joined the [[Society of Jesus]] as a novitiate, he was to remain a Jesuit until he resigned the priesthood 29 years later in 1977. Levi trained for the priesthood at [[Heythrop College]] and read Classics at [[Campion Hall]]. During his teenage years he suffered from [[polio]] and as an undergraduate was knocked down by a car – the after-effects of these were to affect him throughout his life.

Whilst at Heythrop, then a country house near [[Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire|Chipping Norton]] in [[Oxfordshire]], he was not the most ruly of seminarians, this and possible doubts his vocation, led to his ordination being delayed for a year:
:We used to translate psalm [119] ''Beati immaculati in via'' at Heythrop as ''Blessed are those who are not spotted on the way out''. I was spotted too often ...<ref name="kronos"/>

This delay had the fortunate side effect of enabling his first visit to Greece in 1963.

==After the priesthood==
He left the priesthood in 1977. He subsequently married Deirdre, widow of [[Cyril Connolly]].

He spent a year as archaeological correspondent for [[The Times]] before returning to academic life. In 1984, he was elected Oxford's professor of poetry, a largely honorary appointment.

In [[1988]], he claimed to have found a previously unknown poem by [[William Shakespeare]] in a manuscript at the [[Huntington Library]] in [[San Marino, California]]. However, the claim has not been accepted by most scholars.

It has been claimed that his Jewish background has influenced his work to some extent, notably in his translation of the [[Book of Psalms]].

==Works==
Most of this data retrieved from [[British Library]] catalogue July 2006.

===Poetry===
* Levi, Peter (1960). ''The Gravel Ponds''. London: Andre Deutsch.
* Levi, Peter (1962). '' Water, Rock and Sand''. London: Andre Deutsch.
* Levi, Peter (1965). ''The Shearwaters'' in ''Longer Contemporary Poems''. Richmond: Harlequin.
* Levi, Peter (1966). ''Fresh water, sea water". London: Black Raven Press.
* Levi, Peter (1968). ''Ruined abbeys''. Northwood: Anvil Press.
* Levi, Peter (1968). ''Pancakes for the Queen of Babylon''. Northwood: Anvil Press.
* Levi, Peter (1970). ''Ο τόνος της φωνής του Σεφέρη'' (Mr Seferis' Tone of Voice).
* Levi, Peter (1971). ''Death is a pulpit''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-900977-69-8.
* Levi, Peter (1971). ''Life is a platform''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-900977-66-3.
* Levi, Peter (1973). in ''Penguin Modern Poets vol 22''. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
* Levi, Peter (1976). ''Collected poems, 1955-1975''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-022-2.
* Levi, Peter (1977). ''The noise made by poems''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-026-5
* Levi, Peter (1978). ''Five ages''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-036-2
* Levi, Peter (1979). ''Comfort at fifty for my brother''. Pamphlet.
* Levi, Peter (1980?). ''Music of dark tones''. Marlborough: Paulinus Press. (With an engraving by Simon Brett).
* Levi, Peter (1981). ''Private ground''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-080-X.
* Levi, Peter (1983). ''The echoing green: three elegies''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-111-3.
* Levi, Peter (1985). ''Shakespeare's birthday''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-142-3
* Levi, Peter (1989). ''Shadow and bone: poems 1981-1988''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-211-X.
* Levi, Peter (1994). ''The rags of time''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-258-6.
* Levi, Peter (1997). ''Reed music''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-279-9.
* Levi, Peter (2001). ''Viriditas''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-331-0.

===Greece, the Ancient World and Travel===
* Levi, Peter (1980). ''Atlas of the Greek world''. Oxford: Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-2044-X.
* Levi, Peter (1980). ''The Hill of Kronos''. Collins. ISBN 0-00-216162-1.
* Levi, Peter and Porter, Eliot (1981). ''The Greek world''. London: Aurum. ISBN 0-906053-24-2
* Levi, Peter (1984). ''The light garden of the angel king: journeys in Afghanistan''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-009525-X
* Levi, Peter (1985). ''A history of Greek literature''. Harmonsworth: Viking (Penguin). ISBN 0-670-80100-3.
* Levi, Peter (1996). ''A bottle in the shade: a journey in the Western Peloponnese''. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1-85619-588-0.
* Brewster, Harry (1997). ''The river Gods of Greece : myths and mountain waters in the Hellenic world. London : I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-207-1. (Preface by Peter Levi).

===Biography and Literature===
* Levi, Peter (1961). ''Beaumont, 1861-1961''. London: Andre Deutsch.
* Pope, Alexander. Ed. Peter Levi (1974). ''Pope. Selected by Peter Levi''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-042174-2.
* Levi, Peter (1983). ''The flutes of autumn''. (Autobiography). London: Harvill. ISBN 0-00-216246-6.
* Boswell, James and Johnson, Samuel. Ed. Peter Levi (1984). ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and the Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-043221-3.
* Levi, Peter (1988). ''The life and times of William Shakespeare''. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-43584-2.
* Levi, Peter (1988). ''A private commission: new verses by Shakespeare''. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-47655-7.
* Levi, Peter (1989). ''Goodbye to the art of poetry''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-212-8.
* Levi, Peter (1990). ''Boris Pasternak''. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173886-5.
* Levi, Peter (1993). ''Tennyson''. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-52205-2.
* Levi, Peter (1995). ''Edward Lear: a biography''. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-58804-5.
* Levi, Peter (1996). ''Eden renewed: the public and private life of John Milton''. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-62071-2.
* Levi, Peter (1997). ''Horace: a life London''. Duckworth (2001). ISBN 0-7156-3136-5.
* Levi, Peter (1998). ''Virgil: his life and times''. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-2833-X

===Translations===
* [[Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko|Yevtushenko, Yevgeny]]. Trans. Peter Levi and Robin Milner-Gulland (1966). ''Poems: chosen by the author''.London: Collins and Harvill.
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]. Trans. Peter Levi (1971). ''Guide to Greece''.Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044226-X
* The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1976). ''The psalms''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044319-3.
* [[George Pavlopoulos|Pavlopoulos, George]]. Trans. Peter Levi (1977). ''The cellar''. London: Anvil Press. ISBN 0-85646-027-3.
* [[Alexandros Papadiamantis|Papadiamantis, Alexandros]]. Trans. Peter Levi (1983). ''The murderess''. London: Writers and Readers. ISBN 0-904613-94-1
* Unknown. Trans. Anne Pennington and Peter Levi. (1984). ''Marko the Prince: Serbo-Croat heroic songs''. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-1715-X.
* The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1985). ''The Holy Gospel of John''. Worthing: Churchman. ISBN 1-85093-027-9.
* de Courcel, Martine. Trans. Peter Levi (1988). ''Tolstoy: the ultimate reconciliation''. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-18569-5.
* The Bible. Trans. Peter Levi (1992). ''The Revelation of John''. London: Kyle Cathie. ISBN 1-85626-052-6.
* Papadiamantis, Alexandros. Trans. Peter Levi (1995). ''The murderess''. London: Loizou. ISBN 0-9521246-0-2.

===Religious===
* The Bible. Compiled. Peter Levi (1974). ''The English Bible, 1534-1859''. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-459600-X.
* Levi, Peter ed. (1984). ''The Penguin book of English Christian verse''. Harmondsworth: Penguin. ISBN Link0140422927.
* Levi, Peter (1987). ''The frontiers of paradise: a study of monks and monasteries''. London: Collins Harvill. ISBN 0-00-272513-4.
* Bernard, Bruce and Lloyd, Christopher (1987). ''The Queen Of Heaven - A Selection of Paintings of the Virgin Mary''. London: Macdonald Orbis. (Introduction by Peter Levi).

===Articles and Lectures===
* Levi, Peter (1975). ''John Clare and Thomas Hardy''. University of London: The Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-16210-5
* Levi, Peter (1975). ''In memory of David Jones: a sermon''. In ''The Tablet''.
* [[Eileen O'Connell|O'Connell, Eileen]]. Trans. Eilos Dillon (1984). ''The Lamentation of the Dead'' with "The Lament For Arthur O'Leary". ISBN 0-85646-140-7.
* Levi, Peter (1990). ''Hopkins a'i Dduw'', (Hopkins and his God). North Wales Arts Association. ISSN 0260-6720.
* Levi, Peter (1991). '' The art of poetry: the Oxford lectures, 1984-1989''. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-04847-5.

===Novels===
* Levi, Peter (1979). ''The head in the soup''. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-462850-5.
* Levi, Peter (1985). ''Grave witness''. London: Quartet. ISBN 0-7043-2497-0.
* Levi, Peter (1986). ''Knit one, drop one''. London: Quartet. ISBN 0-7043-2592-6.
* Levi, Peter (1988). ''To the [[goat]]''. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-173627-7.
* [[Cyril Connolly|Connolly, Cyril]] (1903-1974) concluded by Peter Levi (1990). ''Shade those laurels''. London: Bellew. ISBN 0-947792-37-6.

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==

*[http://www.parisreview.org/viewinterview.php/prmMID/3379 ''The Paris Review'' Interview with Peter Levi]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levi, Peter}}

[[Category:poets]]

Unicorn

2007-11-12T23:49:23Z

Dewey:

The '''Unicorn''' is a mythical beast, commonly depicted as resembling a white horse with a single horn grown out of its forehead.<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unicorn</ref>

==Unicorns in the Judeo-Christian Tradition==

The word "unicorn" is included in the text of the [[King James Version|King James]] translation of [[The Bible]] nine times<ref>http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/read/what_about_the_unicorn_and_the_satyr</ref>.

The existence of unicorns is controversial. Secular opinion is that they are mythical, however some young earth believing [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] have advanced various arguments that the biblical Unicorn was not a fantasy animal and that the animal did not have one horn. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i2/unicorn.asp</ref> In the original texts, unicorns go by the [[Hebrew]] name ''Re-em'' whereas the [[Greek]] [[Septuagint]] used the word ''monokeros'', meaning "one-horned".<ref name="dinobible">[http://www.genesispark.com/genpark/bible/bible.htm "Dinosaurs in the Bible"], Genesis Park</ref> The English word "unicorn" is derived from the [[Latin]], ''ūnicornis'', also meaning "one-horned".

While popularly characterized as a horned member of the horse [[baramin]], it is likely that the "unicorn" was actually quite un-horselike. One recognized theory is that "unicorn" actually refers to a [[rhinoceros]], and a growing number of Creation researchers are theorizing that the unicorn was actually a member of the [[triceratops | ceratopsian]] baramin. However no fossil evidence of unicorns has been found to date.<ref name="dinobible"/> In the past, narwhal tusks, with their distinctive spiraled shape, have often been mistaken for or inaccurately advanced as unicorn horns.

<div style="text-align:center">[[Image:reem.png|Remains of hypothetical two horned ceratopsian ''re-em'']]</div>

==Symbolic & Heraldic Usage==

[[Image:unicorn.vinycomb1907.png|right|Heraldic rendering of a unicorn|200px]]
Unicorns in [[heraldry]] typically have the body and head of a horse, the tail of a [[lion]], the limbs and hoofs of a stag, and a twisted horn growing from the forehead<ref name="vinycomb">''Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art with special reference to their use in British Heraldry'', by John Vinycomb, 1907</ref>. It is typically used to symbolize virtue of mind and strength of body, but has also been used as an emblem of [[Christ]] as the horn of our [[Salvation]]<ref name="vinycomb"/>.

==Artificial Unicorns==

In 1984 the U.S. patent office granted patent number 4,429,685 to Timothy G. Zell for his development of a surgical procedure to create a "unicorn" from a horned animal<ref>Patent 4,429,685 [http://colitz.com/site/4429685/4429685f.htm]</ref>. The basis for the patent was "Lancelot the living unicorn" (actually a [[goat]]) bred by Timothy "Otter" Zell and his wife Morning Glory Zell<ref>Lancelot[http://www.lair2000.net/Unicorn_Dreams/Unicorns_Man_Made/unicorns_man_made.html]</ref>.

==See Also==
* [[Leviathan]]
* [[Behemoth]]

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Biblical animals]]

Bezoar

2007-11-12T23:48:32Z

Dewey:

A bezoar was an ancient medicine. It was a [[calcium]] or [[selenium]] stone taken from stomach of an animal such as a [[goat]] and given to a human medicinally to cure poisoning. Bezoars are generally no longer considered a valid form of treatment, although in some cases doctors use similiar medicines. The calcium provided absorbtion properties similar to those found in modern anti-poison agents.
[[category:medicine]]

Pussy Willow

2007-11-12T23:48:13Z

Dewey:

'''Pussy Willow''' is the English-language common name for species of willow which have furry buds in spring.

In North America, pussy willow (also known as American Pussy Willow) refers to ''Salix discolor'', a species native to northern North America.

In the [[United Kingdom]], pussy willow (also known as [[Goat]] Willow) refers to ''Salix caprea'', a species native to northern Europe and northwest Asia.

[[Category: Plants]]

Monty Hall problem

2007-11-12T23:47:14Z

Dewey:

The '''Monty Hall Problem''' is a basic example problem in [[statistic]] and [[probability]] theory based on the premise of the [[television]] show ''[[Let's Make a Deal]]'', originally hosted by [[Monty Hall]].

== Problem Statement ==

A contestant on a game show is presented with three doors. Behind one of the doors is a car, and behind the other two doors are [[goat]]s. The contestant chooses door 1. The host must then open a door to reveal a [[goat]]; he opens door 3. The host then gives the contestant a chance to switch his choice to door 2. If the contestant is trying to win the car, is it to his advantage to switch his choice?

== Solution ==

It may be tempting to say that the contestant neither gains nor loses anything if he switches. Since there are two closed doors, and one of them is the winning door, it may appear that the probability of winning is 1/2 whether the contestant switches or not. Such reasoning is incorrect; the contestant always has a higher probability of winning if he switches.

=== Illustration using scenario outcomes ===

There are three possible scenarios in the problem.
#The contestant initially chooses the door hiding the car. The host reveals one [[goat]], leaving the other [[goat]] behind the remaining door. In this case, switching loses.
#The contestant initially chooses the door hiding [[goat]] 1. The host must reveal [[goat]] 2. Switching wins the car.
#The contestant initially chooses the door hiding [[goat]] 2. The host must reveal [[goat]] 1. Switching wins the car.

If the contestant switches, two scenarios can lead to wins; the other option loses. Hence, the contestant has a 2/3 probability of success if he switches, but only a 1/3 probability of winning if he does not.

=== Solution using Bayes' theorem ===

The problem can also be solved by using [[Bayes' theorem]] to evaluate the [[posterior probability]] that the car is behind the initially chosen door, given that the host has opened another door.

Let "Prize x" be the event that the prize is behind door x, and let "Open x" be the event that Monty Hall opens door x. Then before the doors are open, P(Prize 1) = P(Prize 2) = P(Prize 3) = 1/3. P(Open 2 | door 1) = 1/2, as if the prize is behind door 1, Monty Hall has two doors he can open, as he must reveal a [[goat]], not the prize behind door 1. P(Open 2) = P(Open 3) = 1/2, as there are two doors Monty Hall can open, both equally likely. Thus, using Bayes' theorem, we get:

<math>P(Prize 1| Open 2) = \frac{P(Open 2| Prize 1)P(Prize 1)}{P(Open 2)} = \frac{\frac{1}{2}*\frac{1}{3}}{\frac{1}{2}} = \frac{1}{3} </math>

That is, the probability that the prize is behind door 1, given that Monty opens door 2, is 1/3, so the probability that it is behind door 3 is 2/3. Thus, the contestant should switch. The logic applies equally if Monty opens door 3.

[[category:Probability and Statistics]]

Bupkes

2007-11-12T23:45:36Z

Dewey:

'''Bupkes''' is a Yiddish term, short for [[goat]] droppings, which means a worthless amount. Producing "bupkes" means producing the least amount possible. This is often used in a pejorative sense to highlight how unproductive someone or an organization is.

Example usage: [[Tony Snow]], Press Secretary for President [[George W. Bush]], opened a press conference one afternoon with:<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060517-4.html</ref>

:"Okay, let's begin. Welcome, one and all. Good afternoon. For those of you who weren't here, we have coined the term ''''bupkes''' list' for items that the Press Secretary may not have had complete and full answers for during the gaggle."

== References ==

<references/>
[[category:politics]]

Chimera

2007-11-12T23:44:56Z

Dewey:

The chimera (pronounced keye-MIR-uh) was "a fire-breathing she-monster in Greek mythology having a lion's head, a [[goat]]'s body, and a serpent's tail."<ref>http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chimera</ref>

The term has multiple uses in modern [[biology]]. One prominent definition is an animal that has multiple different populations of genetically distinct [[cell]]s that originated from different zygotes. Some humans are naturally chimeric, sharing cells from a twin (often one that was never born) or a parent.<ref>http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/11/27/1069825920727.html </ref>

In popular usage, a chimera means something deliberately created with a combination of human and animal [[cell]]s. Such combination is often opposed on religious and ethical grounds. Some [[Catholic]] bishops have argued that such embryos should not be created but should be brought to term if created in contrast to proposed legislation in [[Great Britain]] which would allow both the creation of chimeras and outlaw the implantation of a chimera once created.<ref>http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/06/uk-catholic-bis.html </ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/26/nchimera126.xml </ref>

== References ==

<references/>
[[category:biology]]

Morocco

2007-11-12T23:44:37Z

Dewey:

'''Morocco''' is a country in northwest [[Africa]] bordered by the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. It has a total area of 172,413 sq miles (446,550 sq km), and a coastline of 1,835 km. The population is approximately 33,757,175.

[[Image:Morocco.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Map of Morocco]]

Morocco is bordered by [[Algeria]] to the east and the western [[Sahara]] to the south. The largest city is [[Casablanca]]. The capital city is [[Rabat]]. The full name of the country is the Kingdom of Morocco. Some of the other large cities in Morocco are: [[Marrakech]], [[Tanjier]], and Safi.

The country was inhabited first by the Berbers, then became a Roman province in the 1st century A.D. In the 7th century it was conquered by Arabs, and later united under Berber-Muslim dynasties. In 1860, [[Spain]] occupied northern Morocco, and in 1912, the French established a protectorate over most of the region. Morocco achieved independence from [[France]] in 1956. The country celebrates its Independence Day on March 2nd. Morocco is now a constitutional monarchy.

The official language is Arabic, although local dialects are also spoken. Many businesses conduct dealings in French, and Spanish is also spoken. The majority of the population, over 98%, is [[Muslim]], and their legal system is based on [[Islamic Law]].

Moroccan leather, a soft pebble-fine leather made from [[goat]] skin and tanned with sumac, comes from Morocco.

=References=

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/africa/morocco

http://i-cias.com/morocco/

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mo.html

==See Also==

[[World History Lecture Six]]

[[World History Lecture Thirteen]]

[[Category:African Countries]]

Dead Sea Scrolls

2007-11-12T23:43:40Z

Dewey:

The first '''Dead Sea Scrolls''' to be found, were discovered by Bedouin shepards in 1947 who uncovered seven scrolls in a cave. In the following decade, further searches yielded many thousands of scroll fragments and there are currently over 900 such documents known to exist found in eleven different caves.<ref>http://www.sdnhm.org/scrolls/history.html</ref> A nearby habitation, known as [[Qumran]], was also excavated in this time in an effort to identify the people who left the scrolls in the caves.

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
''Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical, paleographic, and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the 250 B.C. to 68 A.D. From the standpoint of biblical archeology, this was unparalleled. Coming from the late Second Temple Period, a time when [[Jesus]] of Nazareth lived, they are older than any other surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures by almost one thousand years.'' <ref> [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/intr.html THE WORLD OF THE SCROLLS] Library of Congress Exhibitions. </ref>
</blockquote>

''Scholars have pointed to similarities between beliefs and practices outlined in the Qumran literature and those of early Christians.'' <ref> [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/juda.html JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS] Library of Congress Exhibitions. </ref> The Biblical Scrolls' contents focus the books from the [[Old Testament]]. The Scrolls are written in [[Hebrew]] and in [[Aramaic|Aramaica]] with a few texts in Greek. The use of Hebrew was a surprise to many scholars who felt that Hebrew had become a dead language by that time, and this discovery gave new evidence to a claim that the Gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] were originally written in Hebrew and then quickly translated into Greek.<ref>http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2001/may2001p20_453.html</ref>

Many of the scrolls are now conserved in [[Jerusalem]], although some are in the hands of the [[Jordanian]] government. Among those looked after by the Jordanian government is the famous [[Copper scroll]]<ref>Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, San Diego, Sept 30 2007</ref>.

Most part of ''the biblical books that have survived two millennia in the caves are extremely fragmented; many are no larger than the size of a postcard, and some fragments are as small as a postage stamp. Even the smallest fragment, however, can add to our knowledge of the Bible.''... ''With the exception of the [[book of Esther]], every book of the Old Testament has been found in the Qumran caves.'' <ref> [http://byubroadcasting.org/deadsea/book/chapter2/sec1.html Old Testament Texts at Qumran] </ref> All told, 230 Biblical manuscripts have been found (of course many are copies of the same books).<ref>http://www.sdnhm.org/scrolls/history.html</ref>

Among the many copies of the Bible found were:<ref>exhibit</ref>

* 35 copies of the [[Psalms]]
* 22 copies of [[Deuteronomy]]
* 21 copies of [[Isaiah (Biblical book)|Isaiah]] (The copies of Isaiah were written over a period of 180 years).

Much of the writing was on [[parchment]] made from the Ibex, a [[goat]] native to that area.
Other scrolls were on [[papyrus]] and one scroll was on [[copper]] (the Copper Scroll).<ref>exhibit</ref>

==See also==

*[[Yahweh]]
*[[Bible]]
*[[Messiah]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/deadsea.scrolls.exhibit/Library/library.html The Qumran Library]
*[http://www.centuryone.com/25dssfacts.html 25 Facts]
*[http://home.flash.net/~hoselton/deadsea/deadsea.htm Dead Sea Scrolls & Qumran]

== References ==
<references/>

==Sources==

* Burrows, M., The Dead Sea Scrolls (Secker & Warburg, 1956).
* Vermes, G., The Dead Sea Scrolls (Penguin, 1968).

[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Debate:Was Mohammed's religion the Devils work?

2007-11-12T23:42:58Z

Dewey:

Most likely, Judaism was the first true religion with one almighty God. True not being the Devils Ba'al being worshipped as a false God. Then Christianity arose with one almighty God, three distinct persons, Father Son and Holy Spirit. Not replacing Judaism but adding to it and the completion of the Old Testaments return of the savior. Mohammeds religion, 500 years later, discounts all other religions before it's existance. A man and prophet, with one true God, except this prophet had fifty wives and by all accounts died a peaceful death. Relatives became revered prophets ultimately splintering it's origins (Shiites give worship to the brother-in-law of Mohammed wife). Now it can be said that the devil, in his jealousy of God, tries to mimick God to trip up humans. e.g. The lamb is the symbol of God, the [[goat]] the symbol of the devil. 3:00PM the hour of mercy, 3:00AM the witching hour. Christianity rightous, Islam false. Possible?--[[User:Jpatt|jp]] 11:11, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

==No, Wow==
Shocking stuff here. Get help.-'''AmesG'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:AmesG yo!] 11:05, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

Islam developed out of Judaism, just as Christianity did. Muslims regards Muslims, Christians, and Jews all as "people of the book," and considers Jesus to be one of Islam's prophets. Islam and Christianity are much closer to each other than either of them is to, say, Hinduism. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 11:19, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

: Are you sure? I know God said Abraham's son Ismail will have great people as his descendents. I know that Jesus and Mary are prophets of Islam, although not the God Man. Jews and Christians may be 'people of the Book' but I think their teachings suggest if they are not believers in Mohammed, conversion slavery or death is the answer. Many similarities I agree, Adam Eve, Abraham. Is Mohammed divine? I don't believe it. Then if not divine, a false prophet?--[[User:Jpatt|jp]] 11:30, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

::You say: "I think their teachings suggest if they are not believers in Mohammed, conversion slavery or death is the answer." But who conducted the Crusades against whom? [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 15:17, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Who conducted and still conducts Jihad?[[User:Bohdan|Bohdan]]

Yeah, and that you don't believe it, JP, doesn't make it the devil's work :-P -'''AmesG'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:AmesG yo!] 11:38, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

Sorry Ames for offending your buddies. I thought for sure what I think was the only way. Then the answer must be that the opposite of Gods work is the Devils work. And the Devils work is no God or secular liberalism.--[[User:Jpatt|jp]] 11:56, 21 April 2007 (EDT)
:It's fine to build your religion on faith, but building hatred on faith is a house of cards.-'''AmesG'''[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:AmesG yo!] 11:57, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

:There are many paths to heaven, hatred is not a path.--[[User:Jpatt|jp]] 12:04, 21 April 2007 (EDT)

[[Category:Conservapedia Debates]]

Pentagram

2007-11-12T23:42:04Z

Dewey:

The '''Pentagram''' (or Pentacle) depicts a five-pointed star circumscribed within a circle. Typically one of the points is in the upward position and each "arm" of the start represents an [[alchemy | alchemist]]'s element: [[earth]], [[wind]], [[fire]], [[water]]. The fifth arm represents the "fifth element" ("quintessence"). This fifth element is composed of "ether" and represents the spirit. <ref>http://www.angelfire.com/id/robpurvis/pentagram.html</ref>

This orientation of the star, with the spirit held up above the elements, is part of the masonic symbolism incorporated in the [[American flag]].

Many people (perhaps wrongly) believe the Pentagram is associated with [[Satanism | Satanic belief]] or worship, but the Satanic Pentagram is an '''Inverted Pentagram'''. Rather than one point at the top of the star, the Inverted Pentagram depicts two points at the top of the star and one at the bottom. In this fashion it also represents a [[goat]]'s head (and vice versa). In the Inverted Pentagram, the spirit is below the elements. This may represent the idea of idea of putting the material world and thus carnal desires before the spiritual health. <ref>http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Hall/7802/penta.html</ref><ref>http://www.lycos.com/info/pentagram--meanings.html</ref>

==References==
<references/>
[[category:religion]]

Slippery slope

2007-11-12T23:41:32Z

Dewey:

A "'''slippery slope'''" argument is a common rhetorical device which suggests that a seemingly innocent small action will lead inevitably to a disasterous result. An argument of this form is '''invalid''' as there is no necessary logical connection between its premise and its conclusion. Indeed, it barely has any formal structure beyond if p, then q. Whilst it is therefore a [[logical fallacy]], its emotive appeal remains a depressingly effective way of convincing those who don't know their ''modus ponens'' from their elbow.

Examples:
*If we allow this increase in administrative fees, soon tuition will double!
*If we don't stop the terrorists in Iraq, they'll invade Maine next!
*If we send in 100,000 troops, the next thing you know we'll be in a quagmire like Vietnam!
*If we let gays get married, soon men will want to marry their kitchen appliances!
*You are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community.... I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in a pocket. And I call that sloth, the first big step on the road to the depths of degraday—I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle! An' the next thing ya know, your son is playin' for money in a pinch-back suit. And list'nin to some big out-a-town Jasper hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'. One fine night, they leave the pool hall, headin' for the dance at the Arm'ry! Libertine men and scarlet women, and ragtime, shameless music that'll grab your son and your daughter with the arms of a jungle animal instinct: mass-steria!<ref>Willson, Meredith (1957), "Trouble," from ''The Music Man''</ref>

==Usage and history==

While examples of usage in the modern, metaphorical sense can be found in the early 1900s, its use as a common element in American political rhetoric emerged in the 1970s and gathered momentum in the 1980s. It does not seem to have had any specific connection to any single issue. Its first appearance in a New York Times article title was in 1969, "Russia and China Edge Down a Slippery Slope." Headline examples from the 1980s include "On the Slippery Slope To Another Vietnam," "Italy's Communists on Slippery Slope," "The Cheap Dollar's Slippery Slope," etc.

In a 2002 analysis, WIlliam Safire wrote:
:The key task of the phrasedick is to find earliest uses of ["slippery slope"] in its present sense of "a course that leads inexorably to disaster." The OED tracks it to a 1951 novel, but new retrieval technology lets us do better than that.... we have this 1857 use from Chambers' Journal: "When the educated person of the middle class is reduced to pennilessness... what but this gives him the desire to struggle again up the ''slippery slope'' of fortune?"

:In both of these citations, the meaning is closer to "the greasy pole...." The current sense... probably surfaced in the early 20th century, possibly in an article by a writer in a 1909 Quarterly Review, published in London: "the first step down that ''slippery slope'' at the bottom of which lies a parliamentary government."
::—William Safire, 2002<ref>Safire, William, "On Language: A phrase that is the thin edge of a wedge." ''The New York Times, April 2002, p. E24. Safire himself was the author of a political essay that appeared in the Times April 23, 1981, p. A23, with the title ''Down the Slippery Slope.</ref>

==Quotations illustrating use==
===Literal===

:Even when I was on this mare, she would poise herself on the top of a block of granite, with her four feet close together in the manner of a [[goat]] and she leaped across crevasses of unknown depth after having to go down a slippery slope on one side, and when, on the other, she had nothing to jump upon except steeply-inclined blocks of stone.—"Himalayan Ponies," ''The New York Times,'' March 14, 1875, p. 4

:They stood, who saw the future come
:On through the fight’s delirium!
:They smote and stood, who held the hope
:Of nations on that slippery slope
:Amid the cheers of Christendom.
::Will Henry Thompson (1888), "The High Tide at Gettyburg"<ref>Thompson, Will Henry (1888), [http://www.bartleby.com/248/995.html The High Tide at Gettyburg], in Stedman, Edmund Clarence (ed) (1900), ''An American Anthology, 1787–1900''</ref><ref>The poem made an appearance in the ''Boston Daily Globe,'' May 30, 1903, p. 6, as no. 671 in a series of "Poems You Ought To Know." On August 27, 1903, p. 6 the Globe published some correspondence stating that it first appeared in ''The Century,'' July, 1888</ref>

===Metaphorical===
:It is not with them we are concerned: they will not be taught or reformed; so, they will go down the steep and slippery slope on which the heartless move, to perdition!
::—Bernard O'Reilly, 1878<ref>O'Reilly, Bernard ("Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, L.D.") (1883) ''The Mirror of True Womanhood, A Book of Instruction for Women in the World,'' 2nd Edition, Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son, "Reprinted from the Thirteenth American Edition." [http://books.google.com/books?vid=0tteeqHbx_PA4OUD&id=RZcDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=%22steep+and+slippery+slope%22&as_brr=1&ie=ISO-8859-1 p. 136]. The Thirteenth American Edition was published in 1878 by Peter F. Collier, New York.</ref>

:Is there one among us who is tempting a brother man to dishonesty, to drink, to lust; who is pushing some thoughtless girl down the steep and slippery slope which ends--we know where? Then let him stop and listen, not to me, but to Christ.
::George Jackson (1903), ''The Teachings of Jesus''<ref>Jackson, George ("The Rev. George Jackson, B.A.") (1903), ''The Teachings of Jesus,'' Project Gutenberg [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11580/11580.txt Ebook #11580]</ref>

:The cry for the rates in addition to the taxes has been going up from the clerical for years. But they were warned by the late Archbishop of Canterbury<ref>Presumably a reference to Frederick Temple (1821-1902)</ref> not to attempt it, for as surely as they succeeded they would lose their control of their sectarian schools. They would be on the "slippery slope," he said, in a characteristic phrase. However, they have taken the plunge, and the Education Acts of 1902 and 1903 are the results.
::—John Clifford, 1905<ref>"Clifford, John (190-) ("The Rev. John Clifford, D.D."), "Passive Resistance in England and Wales." ''The North American Review,'' 1905, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=0mtYjU29qkWCiIvihryzCSI&id=sF0CAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA436&lpg=PA436&dq=%22slippery+slope%22&as_brr=1#PPA436,M1 p. 436]</ref>

:We cannot give up any portion of our claim until the question of interallied debts has been settled. We have the right and duty to guarantee ourselves against the possibility of a diminution of our claim by the international financiers.... If today Germany obtained any remission of her debt she would profit.... It was by far the wisest policy to hold fast at the top of that slippery slope."
::—French premier Raymond Poincaré, Nov. 16, 1923<ref>James, Edwin L. (1923), "French Premièr Retorts," ''The New York Times,'' November 17, 1923, p. 1</ref>

==Slope to perdition==
The modern phrase, used seriously in a political or social context is simply ''slippery slope.'' The phrase "slippery slope to perdition" is also seen, but is usually ironic, as in a recent book on programming:
:A parser that writes code, even if the code is only an occasional semicolon, seems like the beginning of a slippery slope to perdition. Pretty soon the Maple interface will behave like the Evil Empire's flagship word-processor, which tries to write for its unfortunate users.<ref>O'Farrell, Anthony Gilbert (2005), ''Introduction to Maple Programming,'' [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0954426940&id=a6uuImAJBF4C&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=%22slippery+slope+to+perdition%22&num=100&sig=ZaqfaLy1hEVBih-K8jVic8UOjHo p. 56]</ref>
The 1800s provide examples of serious rhetoric using the phrase "slope to perdition." Sometimes the slope is "slippery;" in other cases the word is not used but the context ("headlong slope to perdition") implies it. An example from 1837:
:There are points where the Christian must always stand on guard. His danger is seldom found in gross offenses... but in small indulgences, and weak compliances, where conscience rather doubts, than condemns. These gradually draw him nearer and nearer to the world, till the line of separation is lost. Many a Christian has glided down this slope to perdition.<ref>Osler, Edward (1837), ''Church and King," Smith, Elder and Co., London, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=0TsM-spLESANuCZ4&id=AScBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=%22slope+to+perdition%22 p. 13]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Non Causa Pro Causa]]

==Notes and references==
<references/>

[[category:debate]]

Prodigal Son

2007-11-12T23:40:28Z

Dewey:

The Parable of the '''Prodigal Son''' is a parable taught by [[Jesus]] to convey God's unbounded love and forgiveness. The parable illustrates the value of viewing one's own shortcomings objectively and embarking on a path of self-improvement. This parable appears only in the [[Gospel of Luke]]. Like all of Jesus' parables, its message transcends language and cultural differences.

The parable, set forth at Luke 15:11-32 (NIV), is as follows:<ref>[http://bible1.crosswalk.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?passage=lu+15:11&version=niv&context=1&showtools=1 Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)]</ref>

:11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.

:14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father.

:"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

:25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young [[goat]] so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

== Interpretation ==
The parable has several key elements. The prodigal (wasteful) son does not return until he begins to judge his own conduct and situation objectively.<ref>Luke 15:13-16 (NIV)</ref> Until that point, he is like others who insist on rejecting God for something far worse than what God routinely provides to everyone, family and worker alike.<ref>Luke 15:17-20 (NIV)</ref> When the prodigal son does return, his father (God) rushes out to meet him "while he was still a long way off."<ref>Luke 15:20 (NIV)</ref> Finally, God's rejection of his other son's objection shows that God's forgiveness is always available, regardless of inconsistent treatment of those seeking for it.<ref>Luke 15:28-32 (NIV)</ref> Put another way, it is never too late to ask for forgiveness from God.
== References ==

<references/>

[[category:bible study]]

Yom Kippur

2007-11-12T23:39:55Z

Dewey:

[[Image:Gottlieb-Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur.jpg|right|thumb|''Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur'' (1878), by Maurycy Gottlieb, depicts Ashkenazi Jews of late 19th-century Eastern Europe.]]
'''Yom Kippur''' is the most solemn holy day in [[Judaism]]. It is a day of [[atonement]] (prayer, repentance and fasting) observed in some way by nearly all Jewish people. Observant Jews refrain completely from all food and drink on Yom Kippur. Most of the day is spent in the [[synagogue]].

:"Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, there was an elaborate ceremony of confession and repentance led by the high priest and including the sacrifice of a [[goat]], the scape[[goat]]." (Leviticus 16.)

Just prior to the beginning of services on the eve of Yom Kippur, the congregation recites [[Kol Nidre]], or "all vows". This [[Aramaic]] prayer is an appeal to God to forgive vows unfulfilled that do not affect any other person. Vows affected include only those made to oneself, or between oneself and God. [[Anti-semites]] have tried to use the prayer to malign Jews as untrustworthy.

[[Category:Judaism]]

Isaac

2007-11-12T23:39:17Z

Dewey:

'''Isaac'''(Hebrew '''יִצְחָק''') was the son of [[Abraham]] by his wife [[Sarah]] and the acestor of the [[Israelite|Israelites]]. In Hebrew, the name Isaac means "he laughs", probably a reference to the [[joy]] felt by his parents having a child when they were already well along in years.

Abraham had Isaac when he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. (Genesis 21:5)

One day [[God]] told Abraham to take his son Isaac up a mountain and sacrifice him on a rock. When Abraham was about to do it, God stopped him and said that really He was just testing Abraham's [[faith]]. God provided another sacrifice to be put in Isaac's place, a story which Christians see as a foreshadowing of [[Jesus]].

Isaac went on to have two children [[Esau]] and [[Jacob]] through his wife [[Rebekah]]. He favored Esau over Jacob, but was greived with Esau when he married two Hittite women. Nevertheless he tried to give Esau the blessing of the firstborn when he was very old and blind and near death. Thanks to Jacob and Rebekah, Jacob tricked Isaac by putting on [[goat]] skins to make Jacob feel rough like Esau. Isaac gave the following blessing to Jacob:

<blockquote>Surely, the smell of my son ''Is'' like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations fall down to you. Be master over your bretheren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed ''be'' everyone who curses you, and blessed ''be'' those who bless you! (Genesis 27:27b-29)</blockquote>

Isaac found out the mistake but could not onto what he had done. He therefore gave Esau a lesser blessing:

<blockquote>Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the eart, And the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you will live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.</blockquote>

Because of Esau's rage, Rebekah convinced Isaac to send Jacob to his uncle for a wife supposedly. Isaac sent Jacob away. Jacob eventually returned with his large family at Mamre or Kirjath Arba ([[Hebron]]). Isaac died at the old age of 180 years old. (Genesis 28, & 35)

[[Category:Biblical persons]]

Pan

2007-11-12T23:38:05Z

Dewey:

'''Pan''' is the god of nature in [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[mythology]]. He is a lesser god and is usually viewed having legs similiar to a [[goat]] including fur. Pan is also viewed as wild and somewhat reclusive. According to one ancient source, Pan died. How this occurred in mythology is not known.

Pan was a musical deity, who gave his name to the instrument known as the panflute, or panpipes.

{{Nb mythology greece}}
[[Category: Greek Mythology]]

Ungulate

2007-11-12T23:33:51Z

Dewey:

An '''ungulate''' is a hoofed [[mammal]] such as a [[goat]] or a [[horse]].

[[Category: Animals]]

User:Dewey/Contest

2007-11-12T14:15:59Z

Dewey: New page: Monday

Monday

Secularization

2007-11-12T04:52:04Z

Dewey: New page: Secularization is a political philosophy that seeks to limit the role played by religion in the public sphere. Category: Politics

[[Secularization]] is a political [[philosophy]] that seeks to limit the role played by [[religion]] in the public sphere.

[[Category: Politics]]

David Parker

2007-11-12T04:37:28Z

Dewey:

[[Image:Davidparker.jpg|right|thumb|140px|David Parker]]
In 2005, '''David Parker''' was arrested and put in handcuffs at his child's [[school]] in [[ Massachusetts]] following an incident involving a lesson promoting homosexuality called the "King & King" which was being taught to the school's first graders. <ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46431 Dad on trial over homosexual book]</ref> Parker tried to exercise his parental rights but the principal at Esterbrook Elementary School in Lexington defended the “King & King” lesson and denied parents the right to be informed about it and to opt their kids out. <ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref> The "King and King" lesson violated Parker and his wife's religious beliefs regarding homosexuality.<ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref>

The anti-[[Homosexual Agenda|homosexual agenda]] organization [[MassResistance]] has a webpage devoted to the events surrounding the David Parker incident and the ongoing legal battle associated with the matter.<ref>[http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/ David Parker -- his arrest, court appearances, abuse by school officials, harrassment by pro-gay activists in town, and federal civil rights lawsuit!]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Persecution of Christians]]

David Parker

2007-11-12T04:36:51Z

Dewey: copy-editing

[[Image:Davidparker.jpg|right|thumb|140px|David Parker]]
In 2005, '''David Parker''' was arrested and put in handcuffs at his child's [[school]] in [[ Massachusetts]] following an incident involving a lesson promoting homosexuality called the "King & King" being taught to first graders in the school. <ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46431 Dad on trial over homosexual book]</ref> Parker tried to exercise his parental rights but the principal at Esterbrook Elementary School in Lexington defended the “King & King” lesson and denied parents the right to be informed about it and to opt their kids out. <ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref> The "King and King" lesson violated Parker and his wife's religious beliefs regarding homosexuality.<ref>[http://americansfortruth.com/news/david-parker-enda-and-the-battle-for-our-childrens-hearts.html David Parker, ‘King and King,’ and the Battle for Our Children’s Hearts and Minds]</ref>

The anti-[[Homosexual Agenda|homosexual agenda]] organization [[MassResistance]] has a webpage devoted to the events surrounding the David Parker incident and the ongoing legal battle associated with the matter.<ref>[http://www.massresistance.org/docs/parker/ David Parker -- his arrest, court appearances, abuse by school officials, harrassment by pro-gay activists in town, and federal civil rights lawsuit!]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Persecution of Christians]]

Talk:Animal Terms P

2007-11-12T03:52:44Z

Dewey: Parody also starts with "p"

Can someone with sys-oppy powers get rid of what I assume is a parody? [[User:Dewey|Dewey]] 22:52, 11 November 2007 (EST)

Norway

2007-11-12T02:18:17Z

Dewey: vandalism

{{Country
|name =''Kongeriket Norge''
|map =Norway rel96.jpg
|flag =Flag of Norway.png
|arms =Arms of Norway.png
|capital =Oslo
|capital-raw =
|government =Constitutional monarchy
|government-raw =
|language =Norwegian
|king =Harald V
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Jens Stoltenberg
|pm-raw =
|area =148,746 sq mi
|pop =4,770,000 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$213.6 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$46,300 (2006)
|currency =Norwegian krone
|idd =
|tld =
}}

'''Norway''' is a country in [[Scandinavia]]. The capital is [[Oslo]], and the principal language in [[Norwegian]], though [[Sami]] languages are also spoken in the far north. Norway is one of the few Western European nations not in the [[European Union]] but is a member of the [[Schengen Agreement]] group of countries which permit cross-border travel without passport control.

==People==
Ethnically, Norwegians are predominantly Germanic, although in the far north there are communities of Sami who came to the area more than 10,000 years ago, probably from central Asia. In recent years, Norway has become home to increasing numbers of immigrants, foreign workers, and asylum-seekers from various parts of the world. Immigrants now total over 300,000; some have obtained Norwegian citizenship.

Although the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the state church, Norway has complete religious freedom. Education is free through the university level and is compulsory from ages 6 to 16. At least 12 months of military service and training are required of every eligible male. Norway's health system includes free hospital care, physician's compensation, cash benefits during illness and pregnancy, and other medical and dental plans. There is a public pension system.

Norway is in the top rank of nations in the number of books printed per capita, even though Norwegian is one of the world's smallest language groups. Norway's most famous writer is the dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Artists Edvard Munch and Christian Krogh were Ibsen's contemporaries. Munch drew part of his inspiration from Europe and in turn exercised a strong influence on later European expressionists. Sculptor Gustav Vigeland has a permanent exhibition in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. Musical development in Norway since Edvard Grieg has followed either native folk themes or, more recently, international trends.

==Government==
The functions of the king are mainly ceremonial, but he has influence as the symbol of national unity. Although the 1814 constitution grants important executive powers to the king, these are almost always exercised by the Council of Ministers in the name of the king (King's Council). The Council of Ministers consists of a prime minister--chosen by the political parties represented in the Storting--and other ministers.

The 169 members of the Storting are elected from 19 fylker (counties) for 4-year terms according to a complicated system of proportional representation. After elections, the Storting divides into two chambers, the Odelsting and the Lagting, which meet separately or jointly depending on the legislative issue under consideration.

The special High Court of the Realm hears impeachment cases; the regular courts include the Supreme Court (17 permanent judges and a president), courts of appeal, city and county courts, the labor court, and conciliation councils. Judges attached to regular courts are appointed by the king in council after nomination by the Ministry of Justice.

Each fylke is headed by a governor appointed by the king in council, with one governor exercising authority in both Oslo and the adjacent county of Akershus.

===Political Conditions===
Until the 1981 election, Norway had been governed by majority Labor Party governments since 1935, except for three periods (1963, 1965-71, and 1972-73). The Labor Party lost its majority in the Storting in the 1981 elections. Since that time, minority and coalition governments have been the rule.

From 1981 to 1997, governments alternated between Labor minority governments and Conservative-led coalition governments. The first government coalition led by Christian Democrat Kjell Magne Bondevik came to power in 1997, but fell in March 2000 over the issue of proposed gas-fired power plants, opposed by Bondevik due to their impact on climate change. The Labor Party's Jens Stoltenberg, a Brundtland protégé, took over in a minority Labor government but lost power in the September 2001 election when Labor posted its worse performance since World War I. Bondevik once again became Prime Minister, this time as head of a minority government with the Conservatives and Liberals in a coalition heavily dependent upon the right-populist Progress Party.

The September 2005 elections ended the Bondevik government, and the Labor party came back with its most substantial victory in years, securing 60 of the 169 seats in Parliament. While this election result once more made Labor the undisputed heavyweight in Norwegian politics, Stoltenberg, chastened by his previous stint as the head of a minority government, reached out to the far left Socialist Left party and agrarian Center party to form a coalition government that commanded a majority of seats in Parliament. The current government is the first majority government in Norway in over 20 years, but the governing coalition has had to bridge substantial policy differences to build this majority.

Norway and [[Switzerland]] are the only countries in Western Europe that do not belong to the [[European Union]].

===Principal Government Officials===
*King--Harald V
*Prime Minister--Jens Stoltenberg
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Jonas Gahr Støre
*Minister of Defense--Anne-Grethe Strøm Erichsen
*Ambassador to the United States--Knut Vollebaek
*Ambassador to NATO--Kim Traavik
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Johan Ludvik Løvald

===Foreign Relations===
Norway supports international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of disputes, recognizing the need for maintaining a strong national defense through collective security. Accordingly, the cornerstones of Norwegian policy are active membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and support for the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Norway also pursues a policy of economic, social, and cultural cooperation with other Nordic countries--Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland--through the Nordic Council.

In addition to strengthening traditional ties with developed countries, Norway seeks to build friendly relations with developing countries and has undertaken humanitarian and development aid efforts with selected African and Asian nations. Norway also is dedicated to encouraging democracy, assisting refugees, and protecting human rights throughout the world.

A survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit based on measures including military spending and actions and violent crime rates has found that Norway is the most peaceful country in the world.<ref>http://www.ppu.org.uk/newsx/news_013.html</ref>

==Economy==
Norway is one of the world's richest countries in per capita terms. It has an important stake in promoting a liberal environment for foreign trade. Its large shipping fleet is one of the most modern among maritime nations. Metals, pulp and paper products, chemicals, shipbuilding, and fishing are the most significant traditional industries.

Norway's emergence as a major oil and gas producer in the mid-1970s transformed the economy. Large sums of investment capital poured into the offshore oil sector, leading to greater increases in Norwegian production costs and wages than in the rest of western Europe up to the time of the global recovery of the mid-1980s. The influx of oil revenue also permitted Norway to expand an already extensive social welfare system. Norway has established a state Petroleum Fund that exceeded $132.6 billion as of December 2004. The fund primarily will be used to help finance government programs once oil and gas resources become depleted. Norway is currently enjoying large foreign trade surpluses thanks to high oil prices. Unemployment remains currently low (3%-4% range), and the prospects for economic growth are encouraging thanks to the government's stimulative fiscal policy and economic recovery in the United States and Europe.

Norway voted against joining the European Union (EU) in a 1994 referendum. With the exception of the agricultural and fisheries sectors, however, Norway enjoys free trade with the EU under the framework of the European Economic Area. This agreement aims to apply the four freedoms of the EU's internal market (goods, persons, services, and capital) to Norway. As a result, Norway normally adopts and implements most EU directives. Norwegian monetary policy is aimed at maintaining a stable exchange rate for the krone against European currencies, of which the euro is a key operating parameter. Norway is not a member of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union and does not have a fixed exchange rate. Its principal trading partners are in the EU; the United States ranks sixth.

===Energy Resources===
Offshore hydrocarbon deposits were discovered in the 1960s, and development began in the 1970s. The growth of the petroleum sector has contributed significantly to Norwegian economic vitality. Current petroleum production capacity is more than 3 million barrels per day. Production has increased rapidly during the past several years as new fields are opened. Total production in 2003 was about 263 million cubic meters of oil equivalents, over 63% of which was crude oil. This represents a slight decline in crude oil production over the past year, accompanied by sharp increases in gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Hydropower provides nearly all of Norway's electricity, and all of the gas and most of the oil produced is exported. Production increased significantly in the 1990s as new fields come on stream.

Norway is the world's third-largest oil exporter and provides much of western Europe's crude oil and gas requirements. In 2003, Norwegian oil and gas exports accounted for 56% of total merchandise exports. In addition, offshore exploration and production have stimulated onshore economic activities. Foreign companies, including many American ones, participate actively in the petroleum sector.

==History==
The Viking period (9th to 11th centuries) was one of national unification and expansion. The Norwegian royal line died out in 1387, and the country entered a period of union with Denmark. By 1586, Norway had become part of the Danish Kingdom. In 1814, as a result of the Napoleonic wars, Norway was separated from Denmark and combined with Sweden. The union persisted until 1905, when Sweden recognized Norwegian independence.

The Norwegian Government offered the throne of Norway to Danish Prince Carl in 1905. After a plebiscite approving the establishment of a monarchy, the Parliament unanimously elected him king. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the kings of independent Norway. Haakon died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Olav V, who died in January 1991. Upon Olav's death, his son Harald was crowned as King Harald V.

Norway was a nonbelligerent during World War I, but as a result of the German invasion and occupation during World War II, Norwegians generally became skeptical of the concept of neutrality and turned instead to collective security. Norway was one of the signers of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 and was a founding member of the United Nations. The first UN General Secretary, Trygve Lie, was a Norwegian. Under the terms of the will of Alfred Nobel, the Storting (Parliament) elects the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee who award the Nobel Peace Prize to champions of peace.

----
According to Alexa traffic statistics, Conservapedia enjoys its second highest national traffic rank in Norway.[http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservapedia.com%2F]

=== References ===
<references/>

{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3421.htm]}}

[[Category:Norway]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:NATO members]]
[[Category:Scandinavian Countries]]

Finland

2007-11-12T02:17:43Z

Dewey: vandalism

{{Country
|name =''Suomi'' ''Finland''
|map =Finland rel96.jpg
|flag =Flag of Finland.png
|arms =Arms of Finland.png
|capital =Helsinki
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary Democracy
|government-raw =
|language =Finnish, Swedish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Tarja Halonen
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Matti Vanhanen
|pm-raw =
|area =130,558 sq mi
|pop =5,296,128 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$193.491 billion (2005)
|gdp-pc =$40,197 (2005)
|currency =euro
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Republic of Finland''' (''Suomi'' or ''Suomen tasavalta'' in Finnish, ''Republiken Finland'' in Swedish) is a country of northern [[Europe]] known for its largely [[social democracy|social democratic]] economic system. The Finnish [[conservative]] party, the [[National Coalition]] led by [[Jyrki Katainen]], is its principal conservative organization.

The state capital is [[Helsinki]] and the principal exports are machines, electronics (for example mobile phones) and forestry products. [[Finnish]] is the principal language spoken, a [[Finno-Ugric]] language, it is difficult for speakers of English and Romance languages to learn, so many Finns speak English to facilitate communication with other countries. The second official language is Swedish, which has the same status as Finnish in the country. Finland is known as "the land of lakes".

==Geography==
The area of Finland is approximately 338 000 square kilometers, with a north-south axis of 890 kilometers. Most of the landscape is covered with lakes, glaciers and forests. Finland is often called the "Land of Thousands of Lakes", which is true, because the number of lakes in the country exceeds 188 000, of which about 56 000 have an area of one hectare or more. In the sea there are more than 3 000 islands. In the North there are many glaciers, the most famous of which is [[Saana]]. Cultivated land and habitation only account for 17% of the land area, rest being mainly [[Norway spruce]] forests.

Finland is bound by [[Sweden]] in the Northwest, [[Norway]] in the North, [[Russia]] in the East, the [[Gulf of Finland]] in the South and the [[Gulf of Bothnia]] in the West.

==People==
*Population (September 2007): 5.29 million.
*Population growth rate (2006): 0.4%.
*Ethnic groups: Finns, Swedes, Lapps, Sami, Roma, Tatars.
*Religions: Lutheran 82.5%, Orthodox 1.1%.
*Languages: Finnish 91.5%, Swedish 5.5% (both official); small Lapp- (0.03%) and Russian-speaking (0.8%) minorities.
*Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--almost 100%. Literacy--almost 100%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--2.8/1,000 (2006). Life expectancy--males 75.8 yrs., females 82.8 yrs.
*Work force (2.65 million; of which 2.44 million are employed): Public services--32.8%; industry--19%; commerce--15.6%; finance, insurance, and business services--13.8%; agriculture and forestry--4.7%; transport and communications--7.4%; construction--6.7%.

===Culture===
Finnish people are known for their love of nature. Nature is prominent in the works of Finnish artists, such as [[Jean Sibelius]], [[Aki Kaurismäki]], [[Alvar Aalto]].

The great masters of Finnish literature include [[Mika Waltari]], [[Väinö Linna]], [[Johan Ludvig Runeberg]]. Finland is a bi-lingual country and has produced its literary heritage in both Finnish and Swedish. The beloved Moomintrolls were created by the writer and graphic artist Tove Jansson.

==Government and Political Conditions==
Finland has a mixed presidential/parliamentary system with executive powers divided between the president, who has primary responsibility for national security and foreign affairs, and the prime minister, who has primary responsibility for all other areas, including EU issues. Under the constitution that took effect in March 2000, the established practice for managing foreign policy is that the president keeps in close touch with the prime minister, the minister for foreign affairs, and other ministers responsible for foreign relations. Constitutional changes strengthened the prime minister--who must enjoy the confidence of the parliament (Eduskunta)--at the expense of the president. Finns enjoy individual and political freedoms, and suffrage is universal at 18. The country's population is relatively ethnically homogeneous. Immigration to Finland has significantly increased over the past decade, although the foreign-born population, estimated at only 2.2% of the total population, is still much lower than in any other EU country. Few tensions exist between the Finnish-speaking majority and the Swedish-speaking minority.

====President and cabinet====
Elected for a 6-year term, the president:
*Handles foreign policy, except for certain international agreements and decisions of peace or war, which must be submitted to parliament, and EU relations, which are handled by the prime minister;
*Is commander in chief of the armed forces and has wide decree and appointive powers;
*May initiate legislation, block legislation by pocket veto, and call extraordinary parliamentary sessions; and
*Appoints the prime minister and the rest of the cabinet (Council of State). The Council of State is made up of the prime minister and ministers for the various departments of the central government as well as an ex officio member, the Chancellor of Justice. Ministers are not obliged to be members of the Eduskunta and need not be formally identified with any political party.
The president may, upon proposal of the prime minister and after having heard the parliamentary groups, order parliament to be dissolved, and a new election held.

====Parliament====
Constitutionally, the 200-member, unicameral Eduskunta is the supreme authority in Finland. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, and override presidential vetoes; its acts are not subject to judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the president, the Council of State, or one of the Eduskunta members.

The Eduskunta is elected on the basis of proportional representation. All persons 18 or older, except military personnel on active duty and a few high judicial officials, are eligible for election. The regular parliamentary term is 4 years; however, the president may dissolve the Eduskunta and order new elections at the request of the prime minister and after consulting the speaker of parliament.

====Judicial system====
The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and special courts with responsibility for litigation between the public and the administrative organs of the state. Finnish law is codified. Although there is no writ of habeas corpus or bail, the maximum period of pretrial detention has been reduced to 4 days. The Finnish court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, a Supreme Court, and a Supreme Administrative Court.

====Administrative divisions====
Finland consists of five provinces and the self-ruled province of the Aland Islands. Below the provincial level, the country is divided into cities, townships, and communes administered by municipal and communal councils elected by proportional representation once every 4 years. At the provincial level, the five mainland provinces are administered by provincial boards composed of civil servants, each headed by a governor. The boards are responsible to the Ministry of the Interior and play a supervisory and coordinating role within the provinces.

The island province of Aland is located near the 60th parallel between Sweden and Finland. It enjoys local autonomy and demilitarized status by virtue of an international convention of 1921, implemented most recently by the Act on Aland Self-Government of 1951. The islands are further distinguished by the fact that they are entirely Swedish-speaking. Government is vested in the provincial council, which consists of 30 delegates elected directly by Aland's citizens.

====Military====
Finland's defense forces consist of 35,000 persons in uniform (26,000 army; 5,000 navy; and 4,000 air force). The country's defense budget equals about 1.3% of GDP. There is universal male conscription under which all men serve from six to 12 months. As of 1995, women were permitted to serve as volunteers. A reserve force ensures that Finland can field 490,000 trained military personnel in case of need.

====Political parties====
Finland's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and has resulted in many coalition governments. Political activity by communists was legalized in 1944, and although four major parties have dominated the postwar political arena, none now has a majority position. In elections held in 2007, the Center Party (Keskusta), traditionally representing rural interests, kept its position as the biggest party. The then-opposition Conservative Party, however, came away as the biggest winner, gaining 10 seats and becoming the second-largest political party in the country. The Center then formed a four-party governing coalition with the Conservatives and the Swedish People's Party and the Greens. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) suffered a defeat in these elections and fell to the third position among the big parties. Of the other parties, the True Finns, the Green League, and the Swedish People’s Party were able to gain seats in parliament. The Conservative Party received the portfolios of foreign minister, finance minister, and defense minister, among others, and became an important player after a long interval.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Tarja Halonen
*Prime Minister--Matti Vanhanen
*Foreign Minister--Ilkka Kanerva
*Ambassador to the United States--Pekka Lintu
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Kirsti Lintonen

===Foreign Relations===
Finland's basic foreign policy goal from the end of the Continuation War with the U.S.S.R. in 1944 until 1991 was to avoid great-power conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Soviet Union. Although the country was culturally, socially, and politically Western, Finns realized they must live in peace with the U.S.S.R. and take no action that might be interpreted as a security threat. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened up dramatic new possibilities for Finland and has resulted in the Finns actively seeking greater participation in Western political and economic structures. Finland joined the European Union in 1995.

====Previous relations with the Soviet Union, and today with Russia====
The principal architect of the post-1944 foreign policy of neutrality was J.K. Paasikivi, who was President from 1946 to 1956. Urho Kekkonen, President from 1956 until 1981, further developed this policy, stressing that Finland should be an active rather than a passive neutral. This policy is now popularly known as the "Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line."

Finland and the U.S.S.R. signed a peace treaty at Paris in February 1947 limiting the size of Finland's defense forces and providing for the cession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo area on the Arctic coast, the Karelian Isthmus in southeastern Finland, and other territory along the former eastern border. Another provision, terminated in 1956, leased the Porkkala area near Helsinki to the U.S.S.R. for use as a naval base and gave free access to this area across Finnish territory.

The 1947 treaty also called for Finland to pay to the Soviet Union reparations of 300 million gold dollars (amounting to an estimated $570 million in 1952, the year the payments ended). Although an ally of the Soviet Union in World War II, the United States was not a signatory to this treaty because it had not been at war with Finland.

In April 1948, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. Under this mutual assistance pact, Finland was obligated--with the aid of the Soviet Union, if necessary--to resist armed attacks by Germany or its allies against Finland or against the U.S.S.R. through Finland. At the same time, the agreement recognized Finland's desire to remain outside great-power conflicts. This agreement was renewed for 20 years in 1955, in 1970, and again in 1983 to the year 2003, although the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the agreement's abrogation.

The Finns responded cautiously in 1990-91 to the decline of Soviet power and the U.S.S.R.'s subsequent dissolution. They unilaterally abrogated restrictions imposed by the 1947 and 1948 treaties, joined in voicing Nordic concern over the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and gave increasing unofficial encouragement to Baltic independence.

At the same time, by replacing the Soviet-Finnish mutual assistance pact with treaties on general cooperation and trade, Finns put themselves on an equal footing while retaining a friendly bilateral relationship. Finland now is boosting cross-border commercial ties and touting its potential as a commercial gateway to Russia. It has reassured Russia that it will not raise claims for Finnish territory seized by the U.S.S.R. and continues to reaffirm the importance of good bilateral relations.

====Multilateral Relations====
Finnish foreign policy emphasizes its participation in multilateral organizations. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the EU in 1995. As noted, the country also is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Partnership for Peace as well as a member in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. As a NATO partner, Finland had 100 troops in Afghanistan as of September 2007.

Finland is well represented in the UN civil service in proportion to its population and belongs to several of its specialized and related agencies. Finnish troops have participated in UN peacekeeping activities since 1956, and the Finns continue to be one of the largest per capita contributors of peacekeepers in the world. Finland is an active participant in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in early 1995 assumed the co-chairmanship of the OSCE's Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Cooperation with the other Scandinavian countries also is important to Finland, and it has been a member of the Nordic Council since 1955. Under the council's auspices, the Nordic countries have created a common labor market and have abolished immigration controls among themselves. The council also serves to coordinate social and cultural policies of the participating countries and has promoted increased cooperation in many fields.

In addition to the organizations already mentioned, Finland became a member of the following organizations: Bank for International Settlements, 1930; International Monetary Fund, 1948; International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1948; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1950; International Finance Corporation, 1956; International Development Association, 1960; European Free Trade Association, 1961; Asian Development Bank, 1966; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1969; Inter-American Development Bank, 1977; African Development Bank, 1982; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 1988; the Council of Europe, 1989; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Central and Eastern Europe, 1991; World Trade Organization, 1995; and INTELSAT, 1999. Finland entered Stage Three of EMU (the European Monetary Union) in 1999. All the Nordic countries, including Finland, joined the Schengen area in March 2001.

==Economy==
Finland has an industrial economy based on abundant forest resources, capital investments, and high technology.

The Finnish economy has made enormous strides since the severe recession of the early 1990s. Finland successfully joined the euro zone and has outperformed euro-area partners in terms of economic growth and public finance. In the last few years, the Finnish economy has performed reasonably well. Total output was 5% higher in 2006 than in 2005, but economic activity leveled off in the latter half of the year. GDP is predicted to grow by 4.4% in 2007, while 2008 is likely to show a slower rate of growth, estimated at 3.3%. Despite the current favorable outlook, there is a degree of uncertainty in the Finnish economy caused by the large fluctuations in electronics industry production, together with resource constraints. Cost and price pressures have increased, and there is a threat of industry’s price competitiveness starting to weaken.

Unemployment decreased significantly from 1994 to 7.7% in 2006 and is expected to drop to 6.7% in 2007. A relatively inflexible labor market and high employer-paid social security taxes hamper growth in employment. Labor bottlenecks are becoming more common in certain sectors, and this will increasingly restrict growth in output in the future. The main constraint to medium-term economic growth will be the drop in the population of working age once the post-war baby boomers reach retirement age.

Exports of goods and services contribute 32% of Finland's GDP. Metals and engineering (including electronics) and timber (including pulp and paper) are Finland's main industries. The United States is Finland's third most important trading partner outside of Europe. With a 3.8% share of imports in 2006, the United States was Finland's seventh-largest supplier. The total value of U.S. exports to Finland in 2006 was $2.6 billion. Major exports from the United States to Finland continue to be machinery, telecommunications equipment and parts, aircraft and aircraft parts, computers, peripherals and software, electronic components, chemicals, medical equipment, and some agricultural products. The primary competition for American companies comes from Russia, Germany, Sweden, and China. The main export items from Finland to the United States are electronics, machinery, ships and boats, paper and paperboard, refined petroleum products, telecommunications equipment and parts. In 2006, the United States was Finland's fourth-largest customer after Germany (11.3%), Sweden (10.5%), and Russia (10.1%), with an export share of 6.5%, or $5 billion. However, trade is only part of the totality: the 10 biggest Finnish companies in the United States have a combined turnover that is three times the value of Finland's total exports to the United States. About 2.3% of the Finnish GDP comes from exports to the United States.

Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imported raw materials, energy, and some components for its manufactured products. Farms tend to be small, but farmers own sizable timber stands that are harvested for supplementary income in winter. The country's main agricultural products are dairy, meat, and grains. Finland's EU accession has accelerated the process of restructuring and downsizing of this sector.
*GDP: $210.8 billion (EUR 167.9 billion).
*GDP growth rate: 5%.
*Per capita income: $40,036 (EUR 31,886).
*Inflation rate: 1.6% (2006 average); 2.6% (September 2007).
*Natural resources: Forests, minerals (copper, zinc, iron), farmland.
*Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (2.9% of GDP): Products--meat (pork and beef), grain (wheat, rye, barley, oats), dairy products, potatoes, rapeseed.
*Industry (30.1% of GDP): Types--metal (including electronics and electrical equipment) and engineering, forest products, chemicals, shipbuilding, foodstuffs, textiles.
*Trade: Exports--$77.08 billion. Major markets--EU 56.9%, Russia 10.1%, U.S. 6.5%, China 3.2%. Imports--$68.9 billion. Major suppliers--EU 55.3%, Russia 14.1%, China 7.5%, U.S. 3.8%.

==History==
The origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of conjecture, although many scholars argue that their original home was in what is now west-central Siberia. The Finns arrived in their present territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into the more remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish--the language of Finland's small Lapp minority--both are Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family.

Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Eric. During the ensuing centuries, Finland played an important role in the political life of the Swedish-Finnish realm, and Finnish soldiers often predominated in Swedish armies. Finns also formed a significant proportion of the first "Swedish" settlers in 17th-century America.

Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th century, Swedish became the dominant language, although Finnish recovered its predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish nationalism. Publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala--a collection of traditional myths and legends--first stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.

In 1809, Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar Alexander I and thereafter remained an autonomous grand duchy connected with the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter civil war that colored domestic politics for many years. During World War II, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice--in the Winter War of 1939-40 and again in the Continuation War of 1941-44. This was followed by the Lapland War of 1944-45, when Finland fought against the Germans as they withdrew their forces from northern Finland.

During the Continuation War (1941-1944) Finland was a co-belligerent with Germany. However, Finnish Jews were not persecuted. Of the approximately 500 Jewish refugees who arrived in Finland, eight were handed over to the Germans, for which Finland submitted an official apology in 2000. Also during the war, approximately 2,600 Soviet prisoners of war were exchanged for 2,100 Finnish prisoners of war from Germany. In 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center submitted an official request for a full-scale investigation by the Finnish authorities of the prisoner exchange. It was established there were about 70 Jews among the extradited prisoners but none was extradited as a result of ethnic background or religious belief.

Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations and restraints on Finland vis-a-vis the U.S.S.R. as well as territorial concessions by Finland; both have been abrogated by Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

[http://www.conservapedia.com/Template:Copyright_Details_%28US_Government%29 Copyright Details]

[[Category:Finland]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:EU Members]]
[[Category:Nordic Countries]]

Noah

2007-11-12T02:16:51Z

Dewey:

According to [[Genesis]], '''Noah''' ([[Hebrew]] '''נוֹחַ'''), the son of [[Lamech]] was commanded by [[God]] to build an ark to save his family and representatives of all the world's land animals while God destroyed the wicked world with a flood<ref>Gen. 6:6</ref>.
The story of Noah is found in the [[Bible]] in chapters 6 to 9 of [[Genesis]] and he is described as one of the 'Heroes of Faith' in [[Book of Hebrews|Hebrews]] chapter 11.<ref>He is also mentioned in the [[chronogenealogy]] of Genesis 5 and mentioned by Isaiah and Peter.</ref>

== Life ==

God saw that man had become wicked in every inclination and thought and the earth was filled with violence, but Noah alone was righteous. God commanded Noah to build an [[Noah's Ark|ark]] that would have seven (or seven pairs) of every "clean" ([[kosher]]) animal and two of every unclean animal Noah did as he was told and spent many years building the ark, and God flooded the earth with rain from above and waters from within the earth. Noah was 600 years old when the flood started. After the flood waters had subsided, (which lasted almost a year), Noah came out of the Ark. Noah made sacrifices to God and God formed a new covenant with Noah where he promised never again to flood the earth. Noah planted a vineyard and drank of the wine until he fell asleep naked in his tent. [[Ham]], the father of [[Canaan]], saw him and told his two brothers, but left his father as he was. The two brothers, upon hearing Ham's pronouncement, took a garment and walked backwards into their father's tent and covered his nakedness without looking at him. When Noah awoke, he cursed Canaan, his grandson, for he "knew what his younger son had done unto him."<REF>Bible, King James Version, Genesis 9: 24,25</REF>. Noah lived 350 more years before dying.

All people alive today must be descendents of [[Family of Noah|Noah and his family]]:
{{Bible quote|book=Genesis|chap=7|verses=13,23|version=KJV|In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. ... And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.}}

== Biblical Account and World Flood Myths ==
Proponents of Biblical literalism have pointed out that many cultures have a tradition of a global flood and that the biblical account has many commonalities with the world's flood myths. They have argued that this supports the likelihood of the flood being a real event.<ref>Morris, John, [http://www.icr.org/article/570/ Why Does Nearly Every Culture Have a Tradition of a Global Flood?] (ICR)</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Noah's Ark]]
*[[Great Flood]]

== Notes ==
<references />

[[Category:Biblical persons]]

Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena

2007-11-12T02:15:50Z

Dewey: vandalism

''Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena'', 515 U.S. 200 (1995), was a decision by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] holding government affirmative action programs to an exacting "strict scrutiny" that requires invalidating them unless justified to remedy past discrimination.

Its central ruling was that the Equal Protection Clause "protects persons, not groups."<ref>515 U.S. at 227</ref> The Court observed, "All governmental action based on race -- a group classification long recognized as 'in most circumstances irrelevant and therefore prohibited,' Hirabayashi [v. United States, 320 U.S. 81, 100, 63 S. Ct. 1375, 87 L. Ed. 1774 (1943)] -- should be subjected to detailed judicial inquiry to ensure that the personal right to equal protection of the laws has not been infringed."<ref>''Ibid.''</ref>

This decision overruled ''Metro Broadcasting v FCC'', 497 U.S. 547 (1990).

== References ==

<references/>
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

American Trucking Ass'ns v. Scheiner

2007-11-12T02:15:08Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''American Trucking Ass'ns v. Scheiner'', 483 U.S. 266 (1987), the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] struck down two "flat" taxes imposed by Pennsylvania as preconditions to the use of the State's roads by commercial motor vehicles--a "marker fee" and an "axle tax," neither of which varied in amount depending on the number of miles that a particular vehicle traveled within the State.<ref>''See id.'' at 273-274.</ref>

The Court offered two bases for its invalidation of the taxes:

:First, the Court found that the challenged flat taxes discriminated against out-of-state businesses.

:Second, the Court in Scheiner also held<ref>483 U.S. at 284-285.</ref> that the challenged flat taxes violated the "internal consistency" prong of the "fair apportionment" requirement that the Court has applied to state taxes levied on interstate commercial activity. The Scheiner Court explained that, "if each State imposed flat taxes for the privilege of making commercial entrances into its territory, there is no conceivable doubt that commerce among the States would be deterred."<ref>483 U.S. at 284.</ref> Scheiner's discussion of internal consistency was closely linked to its determination that the Pennsylvania flat taxes discriminated against out-of-state carriers.<ref>''See id.'' at 285-286.</ref>

The Court's reference to the possible cumulative impacts of multiple flat taxes, however, suggests the related but distinct concern that a proliferation of such taxes would impose increasing burdens on vehicles operating in a large number of States, thus impeding the ability of interstate carriers to engage in unfettered "travel within the free trade area" established by the Commerce Clause.<ref>''Id.'' at 284; ''see id.'' at 285 nn.19 & 20.</ref>

== References ==

<references/>
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Apprendi v. New Jersey

2007-11-12T02:14:39Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''Apprendi v. New Jersey'', 530 U.S. 466, 490 (2000), the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that any fact (other than a prior conviction) that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the statutory maximum must be proved to a jury beyond a [[reasonable doubt]].
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England

2007-11-12T02:13:55Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England'', the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] reversed a lower court ruling against an [[abortion]] parental notification law. The Court ruled that lower courts should not broadly invalidate such a law, and the Court remanded for further review by the lower courts.

The Court emphasized that "we try not to nullify more of a legislature's work than is necessary, for we know that '[a] ruling of unconstitutionality frustrates the
intent of the elected representatives of the people.'" 126 S. Ct. 961, 967 (2006) (quoting ''Regan v. Time, Inc.'', 468 U.S. 641, 652 (1984) (plurality opinion) (brackets in original)).
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

BMW of North America v. Gore

2007-11-12T02:13:25Z

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In ''BMW of North America v. Gore'', 517 U.S. 559 (1996), a 5-4 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that a punitive damage award of $2 million to customer who purchased a "new" car without knowledge that it had been repainted was grossly excessive and hence violative of the [[Due Process Clause]].

Justice [[John Paul Stevens]] wrote the opinion for the court, and the dissenters were Justices [[Antonin Scalia]], [[Clarence Thomas]], [[Ruth Bader Ginsburg]] and Chief Justice [[William Rehnquist]].

In a subsequent decision Justice Stevens later changed his view and dissented against a constitutional limit on [[punitive damages]], but the Court continued to maintain that the [[U.S. Constitution]] does limit [[punitive damages]].
[[Category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Dennis v. Sparks

2007-11-12T02:12:58Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''Dennis v. Sparks'', 449 U.S. 24 (1980), the [[United States Supreme Court]] allowed application of [[Section 1983]] against ''private'' parties who act in concert with a state official. Specifically, the Court applied [[Section 1983]] where the plaintiff alleged that private parties bribed a judge in order to obtain. The Court found that this could constitute [[state action]] under [[Section 1983]].

Lower courts have applied to ruling to uphold [[Section 1983]] against other ''private'' parties:

*''Moore v. Marketplace Rest., Inc.'', 754 F.2d 1336, 1352 (7th Cir. 1985) ("In order to establish a conspiracy, the plaintiff must demonstrate that the state officials and the private party somehow reached an understanding to deny the plaintiffs their constitutional rights.")

*''Fonda v. Gray'', 707 F.2d 435, 438 (9th Cir. 1983) ("To prove a conspir-acy between private parties and the government under § 1983, an agreement or 'meeting of the minds' to violate constitutional rights must be shown.")

*''Wahi v. Charleston Area Medical Ctr.'', 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21726 (S.D.W.V. Oct. 27, 2004) (In this case, the complaint alleges that the defendants 'met and conferred' with the Board's prosecutor concerning Dr. Wahi, 'encouraged' the Board to pursue charges against him, and 'collaborated' and 'acted in concert' with the Board during the Board's investigation of Dr. Wahi. These allegations, taken as true, adequately state a conspiracy claim under section 1983.")
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Illinois v. Caballes

2007-11-12T02:12:30Z

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In ''Illinois v. Caballes'', 533 U.S. 27 (2005), a 7-2 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] upheld the use of drug-sniffing dogs without probable cause and without a warrant to smell for drugs outside the trunk of a car stopped for speeding. The rationale was that the drugs could only detect unlawful activity in the trunk of the car, and thus there was no violation of the [[Fourth Amendment]].

The Court noted that a lawful seizure "can become unlawful if it is prolonged beyond the time reasonably required to complete that mission," but accepted the state court's determination that the duration of the stop was not extended by the dog sniff. The Court rejected the notion that "the shift in purpose" "from a lawful traffic stop into a drug investigation" was unlawful because it "was not supported by any reasonable suspicion."
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]
[[category:Fourth Amendment]]

Buck v. Bell

2007-11-12T02:11:55Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''Buck v. Bell'', 274 U.S. 200 (1927), the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] upheld the forced sterilization by the State of [[Virginia]] of persons considered to have low intelligence. Justice [[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.]], a [[utilitarian]] [[Darwinist]] who supported the [[survival of the fittest]] ideology, wrote the opinion for the 8-1 court and included the following remark:

:"It is better for all the world, if ... society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind ... Three generations of imbeciles are enough."

''Id.'' at 207.

Only Justice [[Pierce Butler]] dissented (without comment).
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston

2007-11-12T02:11:11Z

Dewey: vandalism

In ''Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc.'', 515 U.S. 557 (1995), a unanimous [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that [[Massachusetts]] may not require private citizens who organize a parade to include among the marchers a group imparting a pro-[[homosexual]] message the organizers do not wish to convey. The Court held that such a state requirement would violate the [[First Amendment]].

Put another way, [[First Amendment]] protection against compelled-speech is not limited to situations in which an individual must personally speak the government's message. The Court also limits the government's ability to force one speaker to host or accommodate another speaker's message. ''See id.'' at 566 (state law cannot require a parade to include a group whose message the parade's organizer does not wish to send).

Justice [[David Souter]] wrote this opinion for the Court.
[[Category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]
[[Category:First Amendment]]

First Amendment

2007-11-12T02:10:48Z

Dewey: vandalism

Establishment clause

2007-11-12T02:10:22Z

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'''The Establishment Clause''' of the [[First Amendment]] restricts [[Congress]] with regards to public practice of [[religion]]. The text of the clause reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." As a result of this clause, the Congress may not establish an official state religion, nor give political preference to one religion over another. In practice, the original wording has been modified to include not just Congress, but government organizations at all levels.

The Establishment Clause is also complemented by the [[Free Exercise Clause]] which continues "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In addition to being restricted from favoring one religion over another, the government may not unduly restrict one religion over another or the practice of religion.

[[category:United States law]]

Second Amendment

2007-11-12T02:09:48Z

Dewey: vandalism

Amendments -- [[First Amendment|1]]-[[Second Amendment|2]]-[[Third Amendment|3]]-[[Fourth Amendment|4]]-[[Fifth Amendment|5]]-[[Sixth Amendment|6]]-[[Seventh Amendment|7]]-[[Eighth Amendment|8]]-[[Ninth Amendment|9]]-[[Tenth Amendment|10]]-[[Eleventh Amendment|11]]-[[Twelfth Amendment|12]]-[[Thirteenth Amendment|13]]-[[Fourteenth Amendment|14]]-[[Fifteenth Amendment|15]]-[[Sixteenth Amendment|16]]-[[Seventeenth Amendment|17]]-[[Eighteenth Amendment|18]]-[[Nineteenth Amendment|19]]-[[Twentieth Amendment|20]]-[[Twenty-First Amendment|21]]-[[Twenty-Second Amendment|22]]-[[Twenty-Third Amendment|23]]-[[Twenty-Fourth Amendment|24]]-[[Twenty-Fifth Amendment|25]]-[[Twenty-Sixth Amendment|26]]-[[Twenty-Seventh Amendment|27]]

The '''Second Amendment to the United States Constitution''' reads:<ref>This is the most-often quoted form of this Amendment, but note later in this entry the significant objection to including three commas rather than just one.</ref>

"''A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.''"

== Individual or Collective Right? ==

[[Liberals]] interpret the [[Second Amendment]] as protecting merely a collective right of state militias, while [[conservatives]] interpret it as protecting an individual right.<ref>http://www.davekopel.com/2A/LawRev/35finalpartone.htm</ref>

==Where the Second Amendment comes from==
In 1786, the [[United States]] existed as a loose national [[government]] under the [[Articles of Confederation]]. This confederation was perceived to have several weaknesses, among which was the inability to mount a Federal military response to an armed uprising in western [[Massachusetts]] known as [[Shays' Rebellion]].

In 1787, to address these weaknesses, the [[Philadelphia Convention]] was held with the idea of amending the Articles. When the convention ended with a proposed [[Constitution]], those who debated the ratification of the Constitution divided into two camps; the [[Federalist]]s (who supported ratification of the Constitution) and the [[Anti-Federalists]] (who opposed it).

Among their objections to the Constitution, anti-Federalists feared a standing army that could eventually endanger [[democracy]] and [[civil liberties]]. Although the anti-Federalists were unsuccessful at blocking ratification of the Constitution, through the Massachusetts Compromise they insured that a [[Bill of Rights]] would be made, which would provide constitutional guarantees against taking away certain rights.

One of those rights was the right to bear arms. This was intended to prevent the Federal Government from taking away the ability of the states to raise an army and defend itself and arguably to prevent them from taking away from individuals the ability to bear arms.

==Comments==
The meaning of this amendment is controversial with respect to [[gun control]].

The [[National Rifle Association]], which supports gun rights, has a stone plaque in front of its headquarters bearing the words "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The slogan means that individual citizens have the right to own and use guns.

American law has always said that the militia includes ordinary private citizens, and gun rights advocates say that the amendment means individuals have the right to own and use guns. Gun control advocates say it means only that there is only some sort of collective or state-controlled right.

[[Supreme Court]] opinions have all been consistent with the individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment, but the lower court opinions are mixed.

As of 2007, people argue about the meaning of the Second Amendment, but there is no definitive answer. The latest ruling is Parker v District of Columbia, in which the DC Circuit court of appeals ruled on March 9, 2007 that the [[Washington, D.C.|DC]] gun ban violated individual rights under the Second Amendment.

'''''The One Comma vs. The Three Comma Debate

'''''A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.''''''''''

Quoted from:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39388c210c1b.htm

Down to the Last Second (Amendment)

Participants in the various debates on firearms, crime, and constitutional law may have noticed that the Second Amendment is often quoted differently by those involved. The two main variations differ in punctuation- specifically, in the number of commas used to separate those twenty-seven words. But which is the correct one? The answer to this question must be found in official records from the early days of the republic. Therefore, a look into the progression of this declaratory and restrictive clause from its inception to its final form is in order.

Before beginning, one must note that common nouns, like "state" and "people," were often capitalized in official and unofficial documents of the era. Also, the letter "f" was at times used in place of the letter "s" in both print and manuscript. For example, "Congress" is sometimes spelled as "Congrefs," as is the case in the parchment copy of the Bill of Rights displayed by the National Archives. The quotations listed here are accurate. With the exception of the omission of quotations marks, versions of what is now known as the Second Amendment in boldface appear with the exact spelling, capitalization, and punctuation as the cited originals.

==Chronological History==

During ratification debates on the Constitution in the state conventions, several states proposed amendments to that charter. Anti-Federalist opposition to ratification was particularly strong in the key states of New York and Virginia, and one of their main grievances was that the Constitution lacked a declaration of rights. During the ratification process, Federalist James Madison became a champion of such a declaration, and so it fell to him, as a member of the 1st Congress, to write one. On June 8, 1789, Madison introduced his declaration of rights on the floor of the House. One of its articles read:

The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.1

On July 21, John Vining of Delaware was appointed to chair a select committee of eleven to review, and make a report on, the subject of amendments to the Constitution. Each committeeman represented one of the eleven states (Rhode Island and North Carolina had not ratified the Constitution at that time), with James Madison representing Virginia. Unfortunately, no record of the committee's proceedings is known to exist. Seven days later, Vining duly issued the report, one of the amendments reading:

A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, but no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms. 2

In debates on the House floor, some congressmen, notably Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts and Thomas Scott of Pennsylvania, objected to the conscientious objector clause in the fifth article. They expressed concerns that a future Congress might declare the people religiously scrupulous in a bid to disarm them, and that such persons could not be called up for military duty. However, motions to strike the clause were not carried. On August 21, the House enumerated the Amendments as modified, with the fifth article listed as follows:

5. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the People, being the best security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person. 3

Finally, on August 24, the House of Representatives passed its proposals for amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the Senate for their consideration. The next day, the Senate entered the document into their official journal. The Senate Journal shows Article the Fifth as:

Art. V. A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person. 4

On September 4, the Senate debated the amendments proposed by the House, and the conscientious objector clause was quickly stricken. Sadly, these debates were held in secret, so records of them do not exist. The Senators agreed to accept Article the Fifth in this form:

...a well regulated militia, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall net be infringed. 5

In further debates on September 9, the Senate agreed to strike the words, "the best," and replace them with, "necessary to the." Since the third and fourth articles had been combined, the Senators also agreed to rename the amendment as Article the Fourth. The Senate Journal that day carried the article without the word, "best," but also without the replacements, "necessary to." Note that the extraneous commas have been omitted:

A well regulated militia being the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 6

With two-thirds of the Senate concurring on the proposed amendments, they were sent back to the House for the Representatives' perusal. On September 21, the House notified the Senate that it agreed to some of their amendments, but not all of them. However, they agreed to Article the Fourth in its entirety:

Resolved, That this House doth agree to the second, fourth, eighth, twelfth, thirteenth, sixteenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth amendments... 7

By September 25, the Congress had resolved all differences pertaining to the proposed amendments to the Constitution. On that day, a Clerk of the House, William Lambert, put what is now known as the Bill of Rights to parchment. Three days later, it was signed by the Speaker of the House, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, and the President of the Senate, Vice President John Adams. This parchment copy is held by the National Archives and Records Administration, and shows the following version of the fourth article:

Article the Fourth. A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 8

The above version is used almost exclusively today, but aside from the parchment copy, the author was unable to find any other official documents from that era which carry the amendment with the extra commas. In fact, in the appendix of the Senate Journal, Article the Fourth is entered as reading:

Art. IV. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.9

Also, the Annals of Congress, formally called The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, show the proposed amendment as follows:

Article the Fourth. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.10

Further, once two-thirds of both chambers of the Congress agreed to the proposed amendments, the House passed a resolve to request that the President send copies of them to the governors of the eleven states in the Union, and to those of Rhode Island and North Carolina. The Senate concurred on September 26, as recorded in their journal:

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States be requested to transmit to the executives of the United States, which have ratified the constitution copies of the amendments proposed by Congress, to be added thereto; and like copies to the executives of the states of Rhode Island and North Carolina.11

Fortunately, an original copy of the amendments proposed by the Congress, and sent to the State of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations, does survive. Certified as a true copy by Assembly Secretary Henry Ward, it reads in part:

Article the Fourth, --A well regulated Militia being neceffary to the Security of a free State, the Right of the People to keep and bear Arms fhall not be infringed. 12

And so, the proposed amendments to the Constitution were sent to the states for ratification. When notifying the President that their legislatures or conventions had ratified some or all of the proposed amendments, some states attached certified copies of them. New York, Maryland, South Carolina, and Rhode Island notified the general government that they had ratified the fourth amendment in this form:

Article the Fourth. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 13

Articles the First and Second were not ratified by the required three-fourths of the states, but by December 15, 1791, the last ten articles were. These, of course, are now known as the Bill of Rights. Renumbering the amendments was required since the first two had not been ratified. The 1796 revision of The Federalist on the New Constitution reflects the change as such:

ARTICLE THE SECOND

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.14

This version is carried throughout the 19th Century, in such legal treatises as Joseph Story's Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833) and Thomas Cooley's Principles of Constitutional Law (1898). It is also transcribed in this manner in the 1845 Statutes at Large, although the term "state" is capitalized in that text. The latter are the official source for acts of Congress.15,16, 17

This version still appears today, as is the case with the annotated version of the Constitution they sponsored on the Government Printing Office web site (1992, supplemented in 1996 and 1998). The Second Amendment is shown as reading:

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed. 18

(The Senate-sponsored GPO site does carry a "literal print" of the amendments to the Constitution showing the Second Amendment with the additional commas. The punctuation and capitalization of the amendments transcribed there are the same as those found on the parchment copy displayed in the Rotunda of the National Archives.)19

Thus, the correct rendition of the Second Amendment carries but a single comma, after the word "state." It was in this form that those twenty-seven words were written, agreed upon, passed, and ratified.

Why the Commas are Important

It is important to use the proper Second Amendment because it is clearly and flawlessly written in its original form. Also, the function of the words, "a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state," are readily discerned when the proper punctuation is used. On the other hand, the gratuitous addition of commas serve only to render the sentence grammatically incorrect and unnecessarily ambiguous. These points will be demonstrated later in the Second Amendment Series.

Footnotes to Comment section:

1. Amendments Offered in Congress by James Madison, June 8, 1789. The Constitution Society. http://www.constitution.org/bor/amd_jmad.htm, 16 January 2000.

2. Amendments Reported by the Select Committee. July 28, 1789. The Constitution Society. http://www.constitution.org/bor/amd_scom.htm, 16 January 2000.

3. U.S. House Journal. 1st Cong., 1st sess., 21 August 1789.

4. U.S. Senate Journal. 1st Cong., 1st sess., 25 August 1789.

5. U.S. Senate Journal, 1st Cong., 1st sess., 4 September 1789.

6. U.S. Senate Journal, 1st Cong., 1st sess., 9 September 1789.

7. U.S. House Journal. 1st Cong., 1st sess., 21 September 1789.

8. Bill of Rights. National Archives and Records Administration. http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/bill.jpg, 22 January 2000.

9. U.S. Senate Journal. 1st Cong., 1st sess., Appendix.

10. Annals of Congress, 1st Cong., 1st sess., Appendix

11. U.S. Senate Journal. 1st Cong. 1st sess., 26 September 1789.

12. A True Bill. The Constitution for the United States, Its Sources and Its Applications. http://www.nidlink.com/~bobhard/billofrt.jpg, 27 January 2000.

13. U.S. House Journal, 1st Cong., 3rd sess., Appendix Note: Maryland and South Carolina capitalized the "m" in "Militia."

14. The Federalist on the New Constitution, 1796. The Constitution for the United States, Its Sources and Its Applications. http://www.nidlink.com/~bobhard/f16b1234.jpg, 17 February 2000.

15. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution Society. http://www.constitution.org/js/js_344.htm, 18 February 2000.

16. Quotes from Constitutional Commentators. Gun Cite. http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndcom.html, 2 February 2000.

17. Statutes at Large 1845, 21.

18. Second Amendment--Bearing Arms. The Constitution of the United States of America. http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/constitution/amdt2.html, 18 February 2000.

19. Text of the Amendments (Literal Print). The Constitution of the United States of America. http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/constitution/conamt.html, 18 February 2000.

== Footnotes ==

<references/>

==See Also==
[[United States Constitution]]

[[Category: Constitution]]

Thanksgiving

2007-11-11T22:24:14Z

Dewey:

[[Image:Vc006494.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Congressional Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, set by Congress, December 18, 1777]]
'''Thanksgiving''' is a day set aside to give thanks to the Lord for a bountiful harvest; in the [[United States]] the event is commemorated by a national holiday in November with its origins in the second year of the colonists at Plymouth, [[Massachusetts]].

==History==
Thanksgiving in the United States is possibly the premier U.S. family celebration, typically celebrated at home and marked with a substantial feast. As the anchor of what is for many a four-day holiday weekend, Thanksgiving provides an occasion for family reunions, marks the beginning of the “holiday season” that continues through [[Christmas]] and New Year’s Day and, as its name suggests, affords Americans a shared opportunity to express their gratitude for plentiful food and general abundance.

Many cultures traditionally have marked a plentiful harvest with a celebration of thanks. Long before the first English settlers reached [[North America]], Western [[Europe]]ans observed “Harvest Home” festivals and the British an August 1 Lammas ("Loaf Mass") Day, celebrating the wheat harvest. The American Thanksgiving holiday began in 1621 with the first successful [[Pilgrim]] harvest, one that truly provided an occasion to give thanks.

The Pilgrims had arrived in 1620, crossing the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to separate themselves from the official [[Church of England]] and practice freely their form of Puritanism. Arriving at Plymouth Colony—part of today’s Massachusetts—too late to grow many crops, and lacking fresh food, the Pilgrims suffered terribly during the winter of 1620–1621. Half the colony died from disease. The following spring, local Wampanoag Indians taught the colonists how to grow corn (maize) and other local crops unfamiliar to the Pilgrims, and also helped the newcomers master hunting and fishing.

Because they harvested bountiful crops of corn, barley, beans and pumpkins, the colonists had much to be thankful for in the fall of 1621. English Puritans had traditionally designated special days of thanksgiving to express gratitude for God’s blessings. In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony held their first Thanksgiving. They invited their Wampanoag benefactors who arrived with deer to roast with the turkeys and other wild game offered by the colonists. The colonists had learned how to cook cranberries and different kinds of corn and squash dishes from the Indians.

Many of the original colonists continued to celebrate days of thanksgiving for a bountiful autumn harvest. President George Washington proclaimed a national Thanksgiving in 1789, to celebrate the ratification of the United States Constitution. Gradually, a number of states began to celebrate an annual Thanksgiving. In 1863,during the long and bloody civil war, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November an annual national Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. Even if they live far away, family members often gather for family reunions. As a result, Thanksgiving marks the busiest domestic air travel period of the year. Many Americans enjoy a local Thanksgiving parade, or the annual Macy’s department store parade, televised live from New York City. Others watch televised American football, while all give thanks together for their food, shelter and other good things. Many volunteer their time to help civic groups, churches, and charitable organizations offer traditional meals to those in need.

On a more secular note, the day after Thanksgiving came in the 20th century to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. During the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s, Thanksgiving was moved to the fourth Thursday in November, which in some years lengthened that shopping period.

Although the fourth Thursday of November falls on a different date every year, the president is expected to proclaim that date as the official celebration.

==Symbols of Thanksgiving==
[[Image:FreedomFromWant.JPG|right|thumb|200px|''Freedom From Want'', aka ''The Thanksgiving Dinner'', by Norman Rockwell]]
Turkey, corn (maize), pumpkins and cranberry sauce are symbols that represent the first Thanksgiving. These symbols often are depicted on holiday decorations and greeting cards. Corn in particular is held to represent the survival of the Pilgrim colonies. Used as a table or door decoration, corn or maize represents the harvest and the fall season.

Sweet-sour cranberry sauce, or cranberry jelly, was on the first Thanksgiving table and is still served today. The cranberry is a small, sour berry. It grows in bogs, or muddy areas, in Massachusetts and other New England states. The Indians used the fruit to treat infections and the juice to dye their rugs and blankets. They taught the colonists how to cook the berries with sweetener and water to make a sauce. The Indians called it "ibimi," which means "bitter berry." The Pilgrims preferred "crane-berry" because the flowers of the berry bent the stalk over, reminding them of the long-necked crane. The berries are still grown in New England.

In 1988, a Thanksgiving night ceremony of a different kind took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. Among the more than four thousand people gathered there were Native Americans representing tribes from all over the country and descendants of the later immigrants. The ceremony acknowledged publicly the Native American role in the first American Thanksgiving, a feast held to thank the Indians for sharing the knowledge and skill without the first Pilgrims would not have survived.

==Canada==
[[Canadian]] Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

==See also==
*[[Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclaimation]]

[[Category:Holidays]]

Jokela School Shootings

2007-11-11T22:15:37Z

Dewey:

The '''Jokela school shooting''' occurred on November 7, [[2007]] at Jokela [[High School]], a public [[secondary school]] in the town of Jokela, Tuusula municipality, [[Finland]].

The incident resulted in the deaths of nine people: one female adult-student (age 25) five male students (age 16-18) and ; the school principal, Helena Kalmi (age 61); the school nurse (age 43); as well as Pekka-Eric Auvinen himself (age 18), who was also one of the school's students. Only hours before the incident, Auvinen, a [[liberal]] [[atheist]], posted a video on [[YouTube]] predicting the massacre at the school.

[[Category:Education]]

A-10 Thunderbolt

2007-11-11T06:06:19Z

Dewey:

[[Image:A-10_Thunderbolt.jpg|thumb|right|250px]]
[[Image:A-10_30mm.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A closeup of the business end of the 30-mm cannon.]]
The Fairchild-Republic '''A-10 Thunderbolt II''' (so named in honor of the WWII era Republic P-47 Thunderbolt) resulted from a [[United States Air Force]] requirement for a rugged attack plane to provide close-in support of ground troops using advanced guided munitions. Carrying one of the most powerful guns ever placed on an aircraft, the 30-mm cannon fires "milk-bottle-size rounds" at rates of 2,100 or 4,200 shots per minute. The A-10, also known as the Warthog, is extremely rugged and designed to fly with one engine, an entire tail fin, or even part of a wing shot completely off the plane. The A-10 also provides further protection against ground fire by encasing the cockpit and the ammunition drum for the cannon within a [[titanium]] "tub." Though able to operate guided missiles and bombs using a laser-designator pod under the nose, the avionics installed aboard the A-10 have remained simple for greater dependability.

[[Image:a10.gif|left|thumb|250px]]

Although the A-10 can carry a considerable weight of disposable stores, such as the standard AGM-65 Maverick missile or "Paveway" laser-guided bombs, its primary built-in weapon is the General Electric 30 mm GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun. The weapon is one of the largest and most dangerous aircraft weapons known, and primarily fires depleted uranium shells, but can be modified to fire high-explosive rounds as well. The damage caused by the explosive shells firing prematurely due to impact of an explosive shell would be catastrophic to the aircraft and pilot. It is for this reason that a great deal of effort has been taken to protect the 5 ft wide, 9 ft long drum. There are many plates of differing thicknesses between the skin and the drum. These plates are called trigger plates because when an explosive shell hits a target it first penetrates its armor, then detonates. As the drum has many layers of thin armor, the shell's detonation is triggered before reaching the drum. A final layer of armor around the drum itself protects it from fragmentation damage. The entire apparatus sits inside the titanium tub protecting the pilot from anti-aircraft fire. The gun is loaded by Syn-Tech's linked tube carrier GFU-7/E 30mm ammunition loading assembly cart. This vehicle is unique to the A-10 and the GAU-8.

Planners in the US Air Force had long felt that the A-10 was no longer useful in combat and would be unable to survive against modern air defenses. Plans had called for the A-10 fleet to be gradually retired and replaced by the F-16 during the 1990s. However, the A-10 soon proved its worth during [[Operation Desert Storm]] in 1991 when the Warthog was credited with destroying over 1,000 [[Iraqi]] tanks, 1,200 artillery pieces, and 2,000 other vehicles. Two A-10 pilots also shot down Iraqi helicopters over [[Kuwait]] during the conflict.

Though the A-10 fleet was again in jeopardy of being retired during the late 1990s, its subsequent service in the wars in [[Afghanistan]] and Iraq have again given the attack plane a new lease on life. Many of the surviving aircraft are being upgraded to the A-10C standard under the Precision Engagement program. This upgrade includes updating the software and cockpit displays of older A-10 aircraft so they can carry the latest generation of guided weapons.

Over 700 examples of the A-10 were originally built for the US Air Force. Many have since been transferred to the [[Air National Guard]] and [[Air Force Reserves]] or retired from service. As the A-10 fleet has been retired, many have been offered for sale to several foreign nations.

The A-10 is one of the multiple aircraft designs scheduled to be replace by variants of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter). <ref>A-10 Thunderbolt [[http://www.aerospaceweb.org/]]</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category: Aircraft]]
[[Category: United States Air Force]]

Slavery

2007-11-11T06:02:29Z

Dewey:

'''Slavery''' is the act or institution of holding human beings in a state of involuntary servitude to another person or persons, such that the person(s) held in bondage is/are considered to be property. It reduces a person to the status of [[chattel]] who can be owned by another person. The value of a slave was typically about the same as that of a [[race horse]].{{fact}}
The master controls and commands the slave, either through property-like ownership of the slave or by right to command him.

Slavery is best known to Americans as a peculiar institution of the Southern states before the US Civil War, although it is found in some  [[civilization]]s. Slavery still exists today in many parts of the world including China, Islamic countries, parts of Africa and some Latin American countries. In particular, even today, people are enslaved in the [[Sudan]].
Slave owners in the Southern states cited Ephesians 6:5, “slaves, obey your masters” in arguments for the Christian endorsement of slavery. Another Bible verse states that thieves should be sold into slavery.<ref>Exodus 22:3 "He should make a full restitution; and if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.</ref> Under the [[Mosaic Law]], slaves could be kept for six years. <ref>Exodus 21:1-4 "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing."</ref> (See [[#"Slavery"_in_the_Bible|"Slavery" in the Bible]], below.)

The slavery system diminished a person to the point where they would be regarded as a thing or an object to be owned. Christian [[abolitionists]] disagreed with this valuation, and advanced an interpretation of the Bible which presented human value in terms of God's parental love for all people as His children (see [[human rights]]).

Slavery is mentioned in a number of places in the [[Bible]], although this often referred to indentured servitude, and Biblical injunctions existed granting certain rights and prohibitions, such as the right of the slave to go free after a certain amount of time or the prohibition against the master of putting a slave's eye out{{fact}}.

== Ancient History ==
[[Image:Ruslavery.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Painting of a slave market in early medieval Eastern Europe.]]
Slavery has existed at least since ancient [[Greece]] and ancient [[Egypt]], where, according to the Bible, Hebrews were slaves. The primary slave market in ancient Greece was on an island in the Aegean sea known as "Delos". From there slaves were traded and used throughout the Greek city-states. In [[Ancient Greece|ancient Athens]] about 30% of the population consisted of slaves.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741501460_4/Ancient_Greece.html Ancient Greece]</ref>

Often prisoners of wars in ancient history were used as slaves, particularly during the [[Roman Empire]]. Probably over 25% of the population was enslaved in the Roman Empire.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/slavery_01.shtml BBC - History - Resisting Slavery in Ancient Rome]</ref> [[Christianity]] helped lessen the harshness by which Romans treated slaves; however, later Christian nations like Spain, England, and the Netherlands would continue in the use of slaves. According to the [[Domesday Book]] census in 1086, 10% of England's population was enslaved.<ref>[http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs2970.htm Domesday Book Slave]</ref> Slavery in [[Poland]] was forbidden in the 15th century; in [[Lithuania]], slavery was formally abolished in 1588; they were replaced by the second enserfment. Slavery remained a major institution in [[Russia]] until the 1723, when the [[Peter the Great]] converted the household slaves into house serfs. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref>

Slavery was also pervasive among [[Arabs]] into the twentieth century. As recently as the 1950s, [[Saudi Arabia]] had an estimated 450 000 slaves, 20% of the population.<ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/slavery.htm Slavery in Islam]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/apr07/page18.html £400 for a Slave]</ref> It is estimated that as many as 200,000 people had been taken into slavery in Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War.<ref>[http://www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/in_depth/sudan-genocide.html War and Genocide in Sudan]</ref><ref>[http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/livewire/archived/the_lost_children_of_sudan/ The Lost Children of Sudan]</ref> In [[Mauritania]] it is estimated that up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population, are currently enslaved, many of them used as bonded labour.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1458_abolition/page4.shtml The Abolition season on BBC World Service]</ref> Slavery in Mauritania was finally criminalized in August 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law]</ref> In [[Niger]], slavery is also a current phenomenon; a Nigerien study has found that more than 800,000 people, or almost 8% of the population, are slaves.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=813618&page=1 The Shackles of Slavery in Niger]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm Born to be a slave in Niger]</ref>

==Recent History==

In 1455, a "papal bull" (formal letter by the [[pope]]) justified a "right" of Christian nations to enslave any non-Christian in the name of exploration. The [[Spain|Spanish]] had already been enslaving [[South America|South American]] natives on a limited basis, but with the rise of sugar plantations the need for a larger slave force arose. Millions of [[Africa|African]] slaves were brought by the Spanish and [[Portugal|Portuguese]] to [[Mexico]], [[Peru]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[Brazil]]. The growth of [[sugar]]—which had first been introduced to [[Europe]] when the [[Muslims]] ruled Spain—was exploding in popularity throughout the entire western world. Soon [[France]], the Netherlands and Great Britain were also establishing profitable sugar plantations in the new world. The plantation system began in Brazil, where rich white plantation owners were the highest rung in the social hierarchy and black slaves were at the bottom. Obviously life on a sugar plantation was very hard work for a slave.

Slavery was widespread within Africa itself, and the richest in Africa were not those owning the most land, but those who owned the most slaves. In the Sahara Desert, slaves worked in caravans and were used in gold and salt mining. Slaves were usually prisoners of war from other areas of Africa, or debtors, or enemies or the king, but many women outside of those three categories were also enslaved in African societies. Polygamy—the practice of having more than one wife—was common in Africa, as was the existence of harems, from which African women were often sold to join Arabian or Middle Eastern harems.

The trading of slaves with other countries was encouraged in Africa, and was considered an important component of the African economy. Slave trade across the Atlantic (the Trans-Atlantic slave trade) became a booming business for Europeans and Africans alike, by which African rulers sold their people to Europeans for goods such as iron, alcohol, tobacco and most importantly, guns. Trans-Atlantic trade led to the degrading use of "chattel" slaves, whereby the slaves were treated purely as property of the owner. The slaves served as sailors, skilled craftsmen or farmers. The journey across the Atlantic, known as the Middle Passage, led to the death of 10-20% of the African slaves. But an even higher percentage lost their lives in the journey from their homes in Africa to the African coast, where they were to board the slave ships.

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was one component in a system of routes known as the "Triangular Trade" between South America, New England, and the West Coast of Africa. The three main items that were exchanged were sugar, rum and slaves. European goods, mainly guns, were used to buy slaves from Africa. The slaves were then shipped to the Americas. Then, from America, sugar, rum and tobacco were brought back to Europe, completing the "triangle" of trade. Slavery is one of the less noble aspects of American history.

Between 1530 and 1780, Europeans including Britons and even some Americans were frequently taken captive and enslaved by privateers from the [[Barbary States]]. Estimates of so-called "white slavery" vary from as little as 50,000 to in the millions <ref>http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm</ref>. Generally Europeans enslaved by the [[corsairs]] were usually poorer sea merchants and city dwellers whose families were unable to pay the ransom necessary to free them. Often the [[Pasha]] would purchase the female captives into his harem. Many were forced to "go turk" or convert to "mohammadism" in order to stay with their children who were raised as Muslims. Occasionally slaves would convert in order to escape harsher labors such as tending the oars in the corsairs <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_print.html</ref>.

For a long time, until the early 18th century, the Crimean Khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the Middle East. Kefe was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets. In a process called "harvesting of the steppe" Crimean Tatars enslaved many [[Slavs|Slavic]] peasants.

In Senegambia, between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved. In early [[Islamic]] states of the western Sudan, including Ghana (750-1076), Mali (1235–1645), Segou (1712–1861), and Songhai (1275-1591), about a third of the population were slaves. In [[Sierra Leone]] in the 19th century about half of the population consisted of slaves. In the 19th century at least half the population was enslaved among the Duala of the Cameroon, the Igbo and other peoples of the lower Niger, the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]], and the Kasanje kingdom and Chokwe of [[Angola]]. Among the Ashanti and Yoruba a third of the population consisted of slaves. The population of the Kanem was about a third-slave. It was perhaps 40% in Bornu (1396–1893). Between 1750 and 1900 from one- to two-thirds of the entire population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves. The population of the Sokoto caliphate formed by Hausas in the northern [[Nigeria]] and Cameroon was half-slave in the 19th century. It is estimated that up to 90% of the population of [[Arab]]-Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved. Roughly half the population of [[Madagascar]] was enslaved.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref>

The Anti-Slavery Society estimated that there were 2 million slaves in the early 1930s [[Ethiopia]], out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million.<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/glc/events/cbss/Miers.pdf Twentieth Century Solutions of the Abolition of Slavery]</ref> Slavery continued in Ethiopia until the brief Second Italo-Abyssinian War in October 1935, when was abolished by order of the Italian occupying forces.<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=6443 CJO - Abstract - Trading in slaves in Ethiopia, 1897–1938]</ref> In response to pressure by Western Allies of World War II Ethiopia officially abolished slavery and serfdom after regaining its independence in 1942. On August 26, 1942 [[Haile Selassie]] issued a proclamation outlawing slavery.<ref>[http://www.globalmarch.org/resourcecentre/world/ethiopia.pdf Ethiopia]</ref><ref>[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2691/COS2.html Chronology of slavery]</ref>

According to Sir Henry Bartle Frere (who sat on the Viceroy's Council), there were an estimated 8,000,000 or 9,000,000 slaves in India in 1841. In Malabar, about 15% of the population were slaves. Slavery was abolished in both [[Hindu]] and Muslim India by the Indian Slavery Act V. of 1843. Provisions of the Indian Penal Code of 1861 effectively abolished slavery in India by making the enslavement of human beings a criminal offense.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-24160 Slavery :: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia]</ref><ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24156 Historical survey > Slave-owning societies]</ref><ref>[http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/occpaper/OCP-07.pdf Islamic Law and the Colonial Encounter in British India]</ref>

Indigenous slaves existed in [[Korea]]. Slavery was officially abolished with the Gabo Reform of 1894. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) about 30% to 40% of the Korean population consisted of slaves. Slavery was hereditary, as well as a form of legal punishment. There was a slave class with both government and privately owned slaves, and the government occasionally gave slaves to citizens of higher rank. Privately owned slaves could be inherited as personal property. During poor harvests and [[famine]], many peasants would voluntarily become slaves in order to survive. In the case of private slaves they could buy their freedom.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-693609/history-of-Korea Korea, history pre-1945:slavery -- Encyclopaedia Britannica]</ref><ref>[http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~geobl/main/lectures/l17.html The Choson Era: Late Traditional Korea]</ref><ref>[http://ideas.repec.org/p/snu/ioerwp/no26.html Korean Nobi]</ref>

==End of European and American Slavery==

The end of slavery in Europe was not to come until the beginning of the 1800s, when abolitionists such as [[William Wilberforce]] and [[John Wesley]] began speaking out against the evils of the system.<ref>[http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wilberforce.htm William Wilberforce (1759-1833)]</ref> Wilberforce was supported in his efforts by [[John Newton]], a slave trader who became a Christian and then opposed the slave trade. The slave trade was abolished in the [[British Empire]] in 1807, however slavery was not abolished in the Empire until 1832.

The British ban on the slave trade enforced by the British navy did undermine the slave trade globally.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] BBC</ref> This led to the United States banning the slave trade in the early 1800s. However, slavery itself was not abolished until decades later in 1865 when the U.S. government passed the [[13th Amendment]], after the secessionist Confederacy sought to defend its right to retain slaves and failed, and in [[South America]] when it was ended in Brazil in 1888.

=="Slavery" in the Bible ==
[[Image:Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rudolphe The Slave Market.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rudolphe's painting ''The Slave Market'']]
"Slavery" is also referenced, permitted and regulated in the Bible. The Hebrew word ''ebed'' is translated as "slave" or "servant", but the concept is not the same as the modern understanding of "slave". It included "persons in subordinate positions"<ref name="ctt">[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html Does God condone slavery in the Bible?] (Christian ThinkTank)</ref> Therefore "all the subjects of Israel and Judah are called '''slaves''' of their '''kings'''".<ref name="ctt" />

Even where slaves are treated as property, the Bible teaches that all property belongs to God, with mankind responsible for looking after it for Him.

Some biblical passages mentioning slavery are:

* "We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, ... for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine..." {{bible ref|1_Timothy|1|9-10}}

* "A father can sell a daughter into slavery to pay a debt. A daughter sold into slavery is not released at the end of six years as is an ordinary male slave." -- Exodus 21:7-11

* "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant." -- Genesis 17:12-13, showing that slaves were considered subject to the Old Covenant.

* "A slave owner is to be punished if he strikes his slave and the slave dies shortly thereafter. If the slave lives a day or to and then dies, the slave owner is not to be punished. A slave is the same as money to his owner." -- Exodus 21:20-21

* "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever." -- Exodus 21:2-6. Hebrews may be slaves for a maximum of seven years, then must be freed. Any children produced during the period of slavery shall however remain the property of his owner.

* "Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour." -- Leviticus 25:44-46 (Leviticus 25 contains more detailed rules regarding who may or may not be enslaved)

* "And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, Their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bondservice (slavery) unto this day. But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen." -- I Kings 9:20-22

* "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant (slave)? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather." -- I Corinthians 7:20-21

* "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." -- 1 Peter 2:18

* "Let as many servants (slaves) as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort." -- I Timothy 6:1-2

* The book of Philemon is a record of Paul sending a slave back to his master "no longer as a slave but more than a slave-- a beloved brother." (Philemon 1: 16)

The Old Testament alone, prior to New Testament considerations, broadly prohibits the permanent enslavement of the native inhabitants of Israel but permits the enslavement of immigrants and the occupants of other countries. Depending on the precise circumstances, ethnicity, nationality and any enslaved relatives of a slave, some must be freed after a specified time, while others remain slaves for life. Though physical violence to slaves is permitted, murder is not.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.pogledi.co.yu/english/78.php Islam and Slavery:The Concealed Truth], Excerpts from a Lecture by Srdja Trifkovic, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, November 14, 2003.

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Sociology]]

Capital punishment

2007-11-11T05:59:14Z

Dewey:

'''Capital Punishment''', also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes. Such crimes are known as capital crimes, and tend to be grave crimes against persons (such as [[premeditation|premeditated]] [[murder]], [[rape]] or [[treason]]).

== In the world today ==
Of the main developed countries, only the [[United States]] and [[Japan]] use capital punishment. Several European countries (including all those in the [[European Union]]) and [[Canada]] have ceased the practice. For emerging countries, [[China]] uses the death penalty and in the non-developed world it is practiced in most Shari'a states (those whose legal systems are based on [[Muslim]] legal philosophy), as well as many others.<ref>EU: [http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/deathpenalty/EurHRConvProt13Decl.htm Concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty in all Circumstances]</ref><ref>Encarta: [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461543496/Capital_Punishment_Worldwide.html Capital Punishment Worldwide]</ref>

According to officially released governmental figures, the [[liberal]] [[human rights]] organization [[Amnesty International]] estimates that Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world, at 13.65 hangings per 1,000,000 residents. Saudi Arabia has the second-highest rate, at 4.65 per 1,000,000. [[Human Rights Watch]], another prominent liberal organization, does not have any recent figures.

=== In the United States ===
Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis; twelve states' laws do not allow for executions at all.

[[Pennsylvania]] has hundreds of people on death row, though only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws, and all three essentially "volunteered" by dropping their appeals. In [[Texas]], one man has been on death row for 31 years.<ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-deathrow28jan28,1,1271967.story?coll=la-headlines-nation</ref>
Appeals and stays of execution can create a backlog on death rows in many states.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by age 30+ males who are Caucasian and [[Republican]].<ref>ABC News/Washington Post poll: [http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/1015a3DeathPenalty.pdf Death Penalty]</ref>

Some studies conducted since the start of the new millennium have consistently shown a deterrence factor in the United States based on use of the death penalty. It has been calculated that each person executed saves the lives of anywhere from 3 to 18 innocent people.<ref>Studies: Death penalty discourages crime http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,280215,00.html</ref> However - other studies have shown as a whole, "death-penalty states" typically have higher murder rates than states that have outlawed capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?&did=1705#STATES%20WITH%20THE%20DEATH%20PENALTY%20V.%20STATES%20WITHOUT|format=HTML|work=Death Penalty Information Center|language=English|title=Deterrence|accessdate=2007-08-21}}</ref>

==== Methods in the United States ====

[[Lethal injection]] is the official method of capital punishment in almost all of the 38 states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. [[Nebraska]] is the only state of these that does not have lethal injection. [[Electrocution]] is the official method of execution there. Several botched electrocutions in [[Florida]] in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the [[electric chair]], which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. Both firing squads were conducted in [[Utah]], most recently in 1996. The three hangings took place in [[Washington]] and [[Delaware]], most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The [[gas chamber]], which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow, gruesome deaths, has been used in [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Nevada]], [[Mississippi]], and [[North Carolina]] since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type.{{fact}} The United States has never used the [[guillotine]], which was very popular in [[France]]. The last use of the guillotine in France was in 1977. Thereafter, capital punishment in France was abolished.

===In Canada===
[[Canada]] does not employ capital punishment, and it has not been a possible sentence in Canadian civilian courts since 1976.

Canada long employed capital punishment as a punishment for [[murder]] or [[treason]], typically executing prisoners by [[long drop hanging|long drop]] [[hanging]] in the case of civilians, and by [[firing squad]] in the case of soldiers or other military. (In particular, 25 soldiers were executed for various crimes during [[World War I]].) Canada had several notorious executioners, particularly [[Arthur B. English]], also known as "Arthur Ellis", after whom [[Arthur Ellis Awards|a Canadian literary award]] for mystery writing is named.

While Canada's use of capital punishment was inherited from the legal system of the [[United Kingdom]], opposition to capital punishment began to arise in the late 1950s, and came to a head in 1959, when [[Steven Truscott]], a 14-year-old boy, was convicted of murder, with a recommendation from the [[jury]] for mercy. The judge passed down a sentence of execution by hanging, then the only legal punishment for murder in Canada.

While Truscott's death sentence would later be commuted in 1960, his case galvanized public opinion, and in 1961 Canada reclassified capital murder, defining it as a murder that involved [[premeditation]], murder during the commission of a violent crime, or the murder of a [[police officer]] or [[prison guard]]. This marked the beginning of the decline of capital punishment in Canada, as the last executions would be in [[December]], 1962. The government of Canada routinely [[commutation|commuted]] any death sentence passed thereafter (indeed, the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] made opposition to capital punishment a part of their [[platform (politics)|platform]]).

In 1976, this [[de facto]] state of affairs became law, when the [[Parliament (Canada)|Canadian Parliament]] abolished the use of capital punishment under the [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]]. Executions were still permitted under the [[National Defense Act (Canada)|National Defense Act]] until 1998, when they were similarly abolished.

Currently, Canada's [[Supreme Court of Canada|Supreme Court]] does not allow the [[extradition]] of criminals who may be executed for their crimes.

==Religious views of capital punishment==
===Christianity===
==== Biblical View ====
The [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] has several passages that recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Old Testament, these are the offenses which merit the [[death penalty]]:

# [[Murder]] ([[Exodus]] 21:12, 21:15)
# Kidnapping to sell into slavery ([[Exodus]] 21:16)
# Cursing Parents ([[Exodus]] 21:17)
# Bestiality ([[Leviticus]] 20:15)
# Desecrating the [[Sabbath]] ([[Exodus]] 31:15)
# [[Adultery]] ([[Leviticus]] 20:10, [[Leviticus]] 19:20)
# Sacrificing children to Molech ([[Leviticus]] 20:2)
# [[Blasphemy]] ([[Leviticus]] 24:16)
# Incest ([[Leviticus]] 20:11, but see [[Genesis]] 19:33, 19:35, 4:17)
# [[Homosexual]] intercourse ([[Leviticus]] 18:22, 20:13)
# [[Witchcraft]] ([[Exodus]] 22:18, [[Leviticus]] 20:27)
# False [[Prophecy]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:5)
# Worshiping a false god ([[Deuteronomy]] 13:6-10)
# Sex with a woman betrothed to another ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:25)
# False witness in a capital crime ([[Deuteronomy]] 19:16-20)
# Daughter of a priest becoming a prostitute ([[Leviticus]] 21:9)
# Juvenile delinquency ([[Deuteronomy]] 21:18-21)
# Sacrificing to false gods ([[Exodus]] 22:20)
# Un[[chastity]] ([[Deuteronomy]] 22:21-24)

Few people support capital punishment for non-murder offenses, and a number of Christians oppose the death penalty in all cases. Apologist [[JP Holding]] argues that the Bible including the [[New Testament]] nowhere repudiates the use of capital punishment, but that it does not necessarily mandate its use, either. <ref>http://www.tektonics.org/af/cappun.html</ref>

==== Catechism of the Catholic Church====

While not specifically saying it should be banned in all cases, the Catholic Church favors life over capital punishment as it gives the chance for redemption.

The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. the primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.
"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
"Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'<ref>[John Paul II, Evangelium vitae 56.]http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Culture of life]]
*[[Guillotine]]
*[[Hanging]]
*[[Lethal injection]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55990 Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy], By Michael Ireland, ''WorldNetDaily,com'', June 2, 2007.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[category:politics]]
[[category:law]]

Heroin

2007-11-11T05:52:22Z

Dewey:

'''Heroin''' is an illegal [[narcotic]] drug, manufactured from the opium [[poppy]], and has been cultivated for its properties since at least 3400BC (in [[Mesopotamia]]).

Heroin was briefly commercially marketed as a cough medicine for children, and as substitute for medicinal [[morphine]], having been erroneously believed to be less addictive.

Apart from medicinal use under strict control, heroin is illegal nearly worldwide, with harsh penalties for its possession, manufacture and trafficking, including the [[death penalty]] in many countries.

Illegal use of heroin typically is typically conducted through injection (sometimes mixed with [[cocaine]] - 'speedball'), snorting, or smoking/inhalation - 'chasing the dragon'. Large doses of heroin can be fatal, and the drug has often been used as a [[murder]] weapon.

[[Category:Illegal substances]]
[[Category:Illegal Drugs]]

Silk Road

2007-11-11T04:45:18Z

Dewey: rmv vandalism

The '''Silk Road''' was an ancient trade route from East [[China]] to Central [[Asia]] and [[Europe]]. The Silk Road was influential because it brought material goods like [[grapes]], [[cotton]], [[chestnut]]s, [[lucerne]], [[pomegranate]]s, as well as [[Buddhism]] to China; and it led to the westward spread of Chinese technology like silkworm breeding, iron smelting, and papermaking.

The Silk road ran for 5,000 miles across Asia and increased trade in silk and fine goods between Asia and Europe. Merchants and their goods did not travel the entire length, however. Approximately every ten miles, a trading post was set up to facilitate the exchange of commodities. Oak would be exchanged for noodles, noodles for pomegranates, pomegranates for slaves, etc. [1] This arrangement caused many problems, as it was not uncommon for a landowner to order a shipment of iron ore from Greece and several months later receive a cartload of rotten vegetables. Nominally, the goods were still of equal value and landowners would usually take what they could get, resulting in curiosities such as a fortress in Kuwait made from banana leaves, and a garden path in Southern India paved with salmon. [2]

There is no general consensus as to the date when the silk road began, but [[silk]] from China arrived in Rome before the first century A.D. Although the volume of trade fluctuated across time, the Silk Road remained an important trade route until the anti-[[Ch'ing]] revolution of 1911.

In addition to material goods, ideas were also passed along the Silk Road. Buddhism entered China due to trade along the [[Silk Road]], beginning during the [[Song dynasty]]. [[Christianity]] also penetrated China for the first time thanks to the Silk Road, which brought [[Nestorian Christianity|Nestorian Christians]] to the Chinese capital of [[Beijing]] during the [[T'ang dynasty]]. [3]

[[Image:silkroadmap.jpg]]

[1] John Merrik, "The Longest Road." Oxford, 1994
[2] Alexander McArthur, "Oddities of the Silk Road, 1999.
[3] Valerie Hansen, "The Open Empire." W. W. Norton, 2000.

[[Category:China]]

The Simpsons

2007-11-11T04:44:27Z

Dewey:

'''The Simpsons''' is a satirical animated comedy series created by "Life in Hell" cartoonist [[Matt Groening]]. The Simpsons started on the [[The Tracey Ullman]] show in 1987. In December 1989 the show debuted on the [[Fox Network]]. The show was also made into a feature length movie which was released on 27 July 2007.

''The Simpsons'' is the longest running animated television series in the [[United States]] and is viewed all over the world.

Family:
The show revolves around the fictional Simpsons family.

Homer Simpson is the overweight, balding father of the family. Homer works as a safety inspector in the local nuclear power plant, and enjoys a diet mostly centered around donuts and "Duff" beer. Homer is by choice quite lazy but does get pushed into occasionally performing heroic acts for his family.

Marge Simpson is the mother of the family. Instantly recognizable thanks to her unfeasibly large blue beehive hairdo, Marge provides the foundation for the family. Her relationship with Homer is portrayed as a loving one but frequently exasperating due mostly to Homer's buffoonery. Marge is in many respects the prototypical suburban American mother, as she stays at home takes care of the family while Homer works. On a few occasions Marge has gotten a job which was met with horrible results.

Bart, the son, is a troublemaker and self-proclaimed underachiever. Bart has a mixed relationship with his father. While sometimes harboring a very close relationship with his father, Bart's opinion of Homer is all over the radar, ranging from very affectionate love to deep frustration.

Lisa is the older daughter. Lisa is mostly concerned with being a good student and protecting the environment. Lisa also plays the saxophone.

Maggie is a baby who doesn't talk.

==References==

<references/>

[[category:television shows]]

Walt Brown

2007-11-11T04:08:44Z

Dewey:

[[Image:Waltbrown.gif‎|right|thumb|200px|Dr. Walt Brown]]
Dr. '''Walt Brown''' is the Director of the Center for Scientific Creation and works full time in research, writing, and speaking on origins. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>. Dr. Brown obtained his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) where he was a [[National Science Foundation]] Fellow. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>

For much of his life, Dr. Brown was an [[Theory of evolution|evolutionist]] but later became convinced of the validity of [[young earth creationism]] and the reality of the [[Great Flood]].
Dr. Brown is the subject in a chapter of ''Christian Men of Science: Eleven Men Who Changed the World'' by George Mulfinger and Julia Mulfinger Orozco. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>

== Publications ==
*''In the Beginning:Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'' by Dr. Walt Brown. ISBN 1878026089

== External Links ==
[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ Center for Scientific Creation]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: Brown, Walt}}
[[Category:Young Earth Creationists]]
[[Category:Creationist]]

Walt Brown

2007-11-11T04:08:23Z

Dewey: Light copyediting...

[[Image:Waltbrown.gif‎|right|thumb|200px|Dr. Walt Brown]]
Dr. '''Walt Brown''' is the Director of the Center for Scientific Creation and works full time in research, writing, and speaking on origins. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>. Br. Broen obtained his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) where he was a [[National Science Foundation]] Fellow. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>

For much of his life, Dr. Brown was an [[Theory of evolution|evolutionist]] but later became convinced of the validity of [[young earth creationism]] and the reality of the [[Great Flood]].
Dr. Brown is the subject in a chapter of ''Christian Men of Science: Eleven Men Who Changed the World'' by George Mulfinger and Julia Mulfinger Orozco. <ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/</ref>

== Publications ==
*''In the Beginning:Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'' by Dr. Walt Brown. ISBN 1878026089

== External Links ==
[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ Center for Scientific Creation]

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT: Brown, Walt}}
[[Category:Young Earth Creationists]]
[[Category:Creationist]]

Harry Hammond

2007-11-11T04:01:15Z

Dewey: Again with the copyediting.

[[Image:Hammond.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|[[Harry Hammond]]]]
'''Harry Hammond''' was a 69 year old street preacher from Bournemouth, [[England]] who in October 2001 was assaulted by an angry crowd of 40 people while he proclaimed his Christian views in the town center. Hammond's views included a call to repentance in respect to [[homosexuality]].<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> Hammond suffered from a type of [[autism]] making speaking with others difficult for him, and was holding a sign bearing the words, "[[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] Gives Peace, Jesus is Alive, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop [[Lesbianism]], Jesus is Lord".<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref>

Two police officers arrived at the scene; there was a disagreement as to whether they should protect him or arrest him, and eventually Hammond was arrested. However, no violent members of the crowd were arrested.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> At the time there were complaints from homosexuals about the sign which called for repentance in regards to homosexuality.<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200205/ai_n9117665</ref>

Subsequently, Hammond was charged and prosecuted and fined under the Public Order Act 1986.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> Sadly, Hammond later died and despite a posthumous court appeal stating that had the right to freedom of religion and the freedom to express his beliefs, it was ruled that Hammond had acted unreasonably in holding up a sign he knew to be offensive.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> A further appeal to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] was also dismissed.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Homosexuality and Religious Liberty]]

Harry Hammond

2007-11-11T03:59:49Z

Dewey: Light copyediting...

[[Image:Hammond.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|[[Harry Hammond]]]]
'''Harry Hammond''' was a 69 year old street preacher from Bournemouth, [[England]] who in October 2001 was assaulted by an angry crowd of 40 people while he proclaimed his Christian views in the town center. Hammond's views included a call to repentance in respect to [[homosexuality]].<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> Hammond suffered from a type of [[autism]] making speaking with others difficult for him.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> Hammond was holding a sign bearing the words, "[[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] Gives Peace, Jesus is Alive, Stop Immorality, Stop Homosexuality, Stop [[Lesbianism]], Jesus is Lord".<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref>

Two police officers arrived at the scene; there was a disagreement as to whether they should protect him or arrest him, and eventually Hammond was arrested. However, no violent members of the crowd were arrested.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> At the time there were complaints from homosexuals about the sign which called for repentance in regards to homosexuality.<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_200205/ai_n9117665</ref>

Subsequently, Hammond was charged and prosecuted and fined under the Public Order Act 1986.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> Sadly, Hammond later died and despite a posthumous court appeal stating that had the right to freedom of religion and the freedom to express his beliefs, it was ruled that Hammond had acted unreasonably in holding up a sign he knew to be offensive.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref> A further appeal to the [[European Court of Human Rights]] was also dismissed.<ref>http://www.christian.org.uk/rel_liberties/cases/harry_hammond.htm</ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Homosexuality and Religious Liberty]]