Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Hector Berlioz

2012-08-19T17:08:00Z

FrankAJ: no need to mention atheism twice that quickly

[[Image:Berlioz.jpg|thumb|Hector Berlioz]]
''' Hector Berlioz''' (La Côte-Saint-André, 1803 – [[Paris]], 1869) was a [[French]] composer, writer and critic; he was considered the greatest conductor of his era even though he was an [[atheist]]. In 1830 he won the Prix de Rome.

<blockquote>
The Symphonie fantastique of 1830, an orchestral work that contains autobiographical elements, suggested new paths in composition. [http://www.naxos.com/composerinfo/Hector_Berlioz_25992/25992.htm]
</blockquote>

In 1865, his ''Memoirs'' were completed. A statue in Berlioz’s is in the Place Hector Berlioz at La Côte Saint-André in Paris.

Berlioz first married Harriet Smithson, and Marie Recio who would become his second wife.

== Some Works ==
*'''Symphonie fantastique'''
*Le Dépit de la bergère
*Amitié reprends ton empire
*Toi qui l’aimas verse des pleurs
*Scène héroïque (La Révolution grecque)
*Grande Ouverture des Francs-Juges
*Cléopâtre
*Grande Messe des morts ('''Requiem''')
*Roméo et Juliette
*Hymne à la France
*Hymne des Marseillais
*Marche troyenne
*Tantum ergo
*Invitation à louer Dieu

: [http://www.hberlioz.com/Works/Catalogue.htm A complete listing of all Berlioz’s musical works]

== See also ==

*[[Georges Bizet]]
*[[Claude Debussy]]
*[[Maurice Ravel]]
*[[Romantic period (music)]]
*[[Classical music]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.hberlioz.com/ The Hector Berlioz Website]
*[http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/berlioz.html Hector Berlioz]

[[Category:Composers|Berlioz, Hector]]

Swing state

2012-08-19T17:02:30Z

FrankAJ: ryan effect

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state|blue states]] and [[red state|red states]], respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographical nature. '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''.

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]]: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, for a total of 96 electoral votes.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref> A total of 270 electoral votes are needed to win, and Obama won with 95 additional electoral votes in 2008. Assuming that Republicans win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, '''''this entire election could be decided in only Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio'''''.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Expected winner 2012
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Ohio
|Toss up
|4.6%
|Ohio voted Republican in the 2010 elections, but the public unions repealed the collective bargaining reforms by popular vote. This indicates heavy union influence, a plus for Obama as unions vote heavily Democratic.
|18
|-
|Iowa
|Toss-up
|9.5%
|
|6
|-
|Colorado
|Toss-up
|9%
|[[Pro-life]], pro-[[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]]'s phenomenal success for the Denver Broncos helped improve the culture there.
|9
|-
|Virginia
|Toss-up
|6%
|Elected a Republican governor, [[Bob McDonnell]], in 2009. In the 2011 elections the Republican party took the state senate, giving them control over both houses of the legislature. '''Obama will probably lose this state by 5-10 points in 2012'''.
|13
|-
|Florida
|Romney led by 7 points as of May, current polls show a tied race or give Romney a slight lead.
|2.8%
|Elected a Republican for both governor and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections; however, Governor [[Rick Scott]] is currently (Dec. 2011) very unpopular in the state. Obama's approval in the state is below 50% and without Florida his reelection is unlikely.
|29
|-
|North Carolina
|Leaning Republican win due to [[same-sex marriage]] issue.
|0.3%
|The current [[Democratic]] governor, [[Bev Perdue]], is highly unpopular and polling badly, especially in the wake of recent scandals among her staff. Rasmussen's most recent poll of the state had Romney up, 49-44.
|15
|-
|Nevada
|Leaning Democratic, polls show Obama with a 4-5 point lead currently.
|12.5%
|A recent special election for the state's 2nd congressional district was predicted to be competitive but resulted in a decisive victory for [[Republican]] [[Mark Amodei]]. [[Harry Reid]] won reelection in 2010 despite [[Tea Party]] opposition, but this may have been due to discrepancies and corruption in the voting process.
|6
|}

Additional states that Obama carried by a wide margin in 2008 might become possibilities for a Romney victory in 2012 if he improves in the polls:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Michigan
|16%
|Mitt Romney, though not ideal for the average conservative, grew up in Michigan and could put it into play. His father, [[George Romney]], served as governor of the state.
|16
|-
|New Hampshire
|9.6%
|Romney has some roots here and was governor of nearby Massachusetts
|4
|-
|New Mexico
|15%
|
|5
|-
|Pennsylvania
|10%
|Obama's has had high disapproval ratings here: 54%, and [[Republicans]] swept the elections in 2010; also, Obama polled poorly here in 2008 against [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1653 Quinnipiac poll done late September 2011]</ref>
|20
|-
|Wisconsin
|13.9%
|Elected Republicans to the state legislature, governor's office, and Senate in 2010. Despite much complaining by Democrats and their [[labor union]] allies, they failed to recall enough republican legislators for a majority, failed to defeat Justice David Prosser in the Supreme Court election. The final blow that put Wisconsin in play for the 2012 election was when Governor Scott Walker defeated his recall election by a wider margin than he was originally elected in 2010. The selection of Wisconsin Congressman [[Paul Ryan]] as Romney's running mate may also help him in Wisconsin and vie-presidential nominees tend to boost the ticket in their home state
|10
|}

== Effect on Policy ==

Swing state politics is having an enormous influence on policy: [[Obama]]'s abrupt change in [[deportation]] policy was probably due to how [[Mitt Romney]] has erased Obama's lead in the key swing state of [[Colorado]], and narrowed the lead in [[Nevada]] and [[Virginia]], all of which have large [[Hispanic]] populations.<ref>http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233037-obama-takes-action-on-deportations-as-romney-closes-gap-in-swing-states</ref>

==2008 Swing States==
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New Hampshire]]
*[[New Mexico]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wisconsin]]
*[[Virginia]]

== See also ==

*[[Presidential Election 2012]]
*[[Endorsements 2012]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.tnr.com/article/the-vital-center/95467/obama-mccain-elections-gop-democrats Analysis of Electoral College and popular vote]
*[http://news.yahoo.com/poll-romney-claims-slight-edge-15-battleground-states-164545408.html;_ylt=A2KLOzGP5vJPnRUA.Q3QtDMD July polling: Romney leads Obama, 51 percent to 43 percent in 15 swing states]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:United States]]

Swing state

2012-08-19T16:59:20Z

FrankAJ: improved

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state|blue states]] and [[red state|red states]], respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographical nature. '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''.

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]]: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, for a total of 96 electoral votes.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref> A total of 270 electoral votes are needed to win, and Obama won with 95 additional electoral votes in 2008. Assuming that Republicans win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, '''''this entire election could be decided in only Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio'''''.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Expected winner 2012
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Ohio
|Toss up
|4.6%
|Ohio voted Republican in the 2010 elections, but the public unions repealed the collective bargaining reforms by popular vote. This indicates heavy union influence, a plus for Obama as unions vote heavily Democratic.
|18
|-
|Iowa
|Toss-up
|9.5%
|
|6
|-
|Colorado
|Toss-up
|9%
|[[Pro-life]], pro-[[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]]'s phenomenal success for the Denver Broncos helped improve the culture there.
|9
|-
|Virginia
|Toss-up
|6%
|Elected a Republican governor, [[Bob McDonnell]], in 2009. In the 2011 elections the Republican party took the state senate, giving them control over both houses of the legislature. '''Obama will probably lose this state by 5-10 points in 2012'''.
|13
|-
|Florida
|Romney led by 7 points as of May, current polls show a tied race or give Romney a slight lead.
|2.8%
|Elected a Republican for both governor and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections; however, Governor [[Rick Scott]] is currently (Dec. 2011) very unpopular in the state. Obama's approval in the state is below 50% and without Florida his reelection is unlikely.
|29
|-
|North Carolina
|Leaning Republican win due to [[same-sex marriage]] issue.
|0.3%
|The current [[Democratic]] governor, [[Bev Perdue]], is highly unpopular and polling badly, especially in the wake of recent scandals among her staff. Rasmussen's most recent poll of the state had Romney up, 49-44.
|15
|-
|Nevada
|Leaning Democratic, polls show Obama with a 4-5 point lead currently.
|12.5%
|A recent special election for the state's 2nd congressional district was predicted to be competitive but resulted in a decisive victory for [[Republican]] [[Mark Amodei]]. [[Harry Reid]] won reelection in 2010 despite [[Tea Party]] opposition, but this may have been due to discrepancies and corruption in the voting process.
|6
|}

Additional states that Obama carried by a wide margin in 2008 might become possibilities for a Romney victory in 2012 if he improves in the polls:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Michigan
|16%
|Mitt Romney, though not ideal for the average conservative, grew up in Michigan and could put it into play. His father, [[George Romney]], served as governor of the state.
|16
|-
|New Hampshire
|9.6%
|Romney has some roots here and was governor of nearby Massachusetts
|4
|-
|New Mexico
|15%
|
|5
|-
|Pennsylvania
|10%
|Obama's has had high disapproval ratings here: 54%, and [[Republicans]] swept the elections in 2010; also, Obama polled poorly here in 2008 against [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1653 Quinnipiac poll done late September 2011]</ref>
|20
|-
|Wisconsin
|13.9%
|Elected Republicans to the state legislature, governor's office, and Senate in 2010. Despite much complaining by Democrats and their [[labor union]] allies, they failed to recall enough republican legislators for a majority, failed to defeat Justice David Prosser in the Supreme Court election. The final blow that put Wisconsin in play for the 2012 election was when Governor Scott Walker defeated his recall election by a wider margin than he was originally elected in 2010.
|10
|}

== Effect on Policy ==

Swing state politics is having an enormous influence on policy: [[Obama]]'s abrupt change in [[deportation]] policy was probably due to how [[Mitt Romney]] has erased Obama's lead in the key swing state of [[Colorado]], and narrowed the lead in [[Nevada]] and [[Virginia]], all of which have large [[Hispanic]] populations.<ref>http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233037-obama-takes-action-on-deportations-as-romney-closes-gap-in-swing-states</ref>

==2008 Swing States==
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New Hampshire]]
*[[New Mexico]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wisconsin]]
*[[Virginia]]

== See also ==

*[[Presidential Election 2012]]
*[[Endorsements 2012]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.tnr.com/article/the-vital-center/95467/obama-mccain-elections-gop-democrats Analysis of Electoral College and popular vote]
*[http://news.yahoo.com/poll-romney-claims-slight-edge-15-battleground-states-164545408.html;_ylt=A2KLOzGP5vJPnRUA.Q3QtDMD July polling: Romney leads Obama, 51 percent to 43 percent in 15 swing states]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:United States]]

Swing state

2012-08-19T16:58:26Z

FrankAJ:

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state|blue states]] and [[red state|red states]], respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographical nature. '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''.

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]]: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, for a total of 96 electoral votes.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref> A total of 270 electoral votes are needed to win, and Obama won with 95 additional electoral votes in 2008. Assuming that Republicans win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, '''''this entire election could be decided in only Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio'''''.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Expected winner 2012
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Ohio
|Toss up
|4.6%
|Ohio voted Republican in the 2010 elections, but the public unions repealed the collective bargaining reforms by popular vote. This indicates heavy union influence who always vote democrat.
|18
|-
|Iowa
|Toss-up
|9.5%
|
|6
|-
|Colorado
|Toss-up
|9%
|[[Pro-life]], pro-[[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]]'s phenomenal success for the Denver Broncos helped improve the culture there.
|9
|-
|Virginia
|Toss-up
|6%
|Elected a Republican governor, [[Bob McDonnell]], in 2009. In the 2011 elections the Republican party took the state senate, giving them control over both houses of the legislature. '''Obama will probably lose this state by 5-10 points in 2012'''.
|13
|-
|Florida
|Romney led by 7 points as of May, current polls show a tied race or give Romney a slight lead.
|2.8%
|Elected a Republican for both governor and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections; however, Governor [[Rick Scott]] is currently (Dec. 2011) very unpopular in the state. Obama's approval in the state is below 50% and without Florida his reelection is unlikely.
|29
|-
|North Carolina
|Leaning Republican win due to [[same-sex marriage]] issue.
|0.3%
|The current [[Democratic]] governor, [[Bev Perdue]], is highly unpopular and polling badly, especially in the wake of recent scandals among her staff. Rasmussen's most recent poll of the state had Romney up, 49-44.
|15
|-
|Nevada
|Leaning Democratic, polls show Obama with a 4-5 point lead currently.
|12.5%
|A recent special election for the state's 2nd congressional district was predicted to be competitive but resulted in a decisive victory for [[Republican]] [[Mark Amodei]]. [[Harry Reid]] won reelection in 2010 despite [[Tea Party]] opposition, but this may have been due to discrepancies and corruption in the voting process.
|6
|}

Additional states that Obama carried by a wide margin in 2008 might become possibilities for a Romney victory in 2012 if he improves in the polls:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Michigan
|16%
|Mitt Romney, though not ideal for the average conservative, grew up in Michigan and could put it into play. His father, [[George Romney]], served as governor of the state.
|16
|-
|New Hampshire
|9.6%
|Romney has some roots here and was governor of nearby Massachusetts
|4
|-
|New Mexico
|15%
|
|5
|-
|Pennsylvania
|10%
|Obama's has had high disapproval ratings here: 54%, and [[Republicans]] swept the elections in 2010; also, Obama polled poorly here in 2008 against [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1653 Quinnipiac poll done late September 2011]</ref>
|20
|-
|Wisconsin
|13.9%
|Elected Republicans to the state legislature, governor's office, and Senate in 2010. Despite much complaining by Democrats and their [[labor union]] allies, they failed to recall enough republican legislators for a majority, failed to defeat Justice David Prosser in the Supreme Court election. The final blow that put Wisconsin in play for the 2012 election was when Governor Scott Walker defeated his recall election by a wider margin than he was originally elected in 2010.
|10
|}

== Effect on Policy ==

Swing state politics is having an enormous influence on policy: [[Obama]]'s abrupt change in [[deportation]] policy was probably due to how [[Mitt Romney]] has erased Obama's lead in the key swing state of [[Colorado]], and narrowed the lead in [[Nevada]] and [[Virginia]], all of which have large [[Hispanic]] populations.<ref>http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233037-obama-takes-action-on-deportations-as-romney-closes-gap-in-swing-states</ref>

==2008 Swing States==
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New Hampshire]]
*[[New Mexico]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wisconsin]]
*[[Virginia]]

== See also ==

*[[Presidential Election 2012]]
*[[Endorsements 2012]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.tnr.com/article/the-vital-center/95467/obama-mccain-elections-gop-democrats Analysis of Electoral College and popular vote]
*[http://news.yahoo.com/poll-romney-claims-slight-edge-15-battleground-states-164545408.html;_ylt=A2KLOzGP5vJPnRUA.Q3QtDMD July polling: Romney leads Obama, 51 percent to 43 percent in 15 swing states]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:United States]]

Swing state

2012-08-19T16:56:43Z

FrankAJ:

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state|blue states]] and [[red state|red states]], respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographical nature. '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''.

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]]: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, for a total of 96 electoral votes.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref> A total of 270 electoral votes are needed to win, and Obama won with 95 additional electoral votes in 2008. Assuming that Republicans win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, '''''this entire election could be decided in only Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio'''''.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Expected winner 2012
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Ohio
|Toss up
|4.6%
|Ohio voted Republican in the 2010 elections, but the public unions repealed the collective bargaining reforms by popular vote. This indicates heavy union influence who always vote democrat.
|18
|-
|Iowa
|Toss-up
|9.5%
|
|6
|-
|Colorado
|Toss-up
|9%
|[[Pro-life]], pro-[[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]]'s phenomenal success for the Denver Broncos helped improve the culture there.
|9
|-
|Virginia
|Toss-up
|6%
|Elected a Republican governor, [[Bob McDonnell]], in 2009. In the 2011 elections the Republican party took the state senate, giving them control over both houses of the legislature. '''Obama will probably lose this state by 5-10 points in 2012'''.
|13
|-
|Florida
|Romney led by 7 points as of May, current polls show a tied race or give Romney a slight lead.
|2.8%
|Elected a Republican for both governor and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections; however, Governor [[Rick Scott]] is currently (Dec. 2011) very unpopular in the state. Obama's approval in the state is below 50% and without Florida his reelection is unlikely.
|29
|-
|North Carolina
|Leaning Republican win due to [[same-sex marriage]] issue.
|0.3%
|The current [[Democratic]] governor, [[Bev Perdue]], is highly unpopular and polling badly, especially in the wake of recent scandals among her staff. Rasmussen's most recent poll of the state had Romney up, 49-44.
|15
|-
|Nevada
|Leaning Democratic
|12.5%
|A recent special election for the state's 2nd congressional district was predicted to be competitive but resulted in a decisive victory for [[Republican]] [[Mark Amodei]]. [[Harry Reid]] won reelection in 2010 despite [[Tea Party]] opposition, but this may have been due to discrepancies and corruption in the voting process.
|6
|}

Additional states that Obama carried by a wide margin in 2008 might become possibilities for a Romney victory in 2012 if he improves in the polls:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Michigan
|16%
|Mitt Romney, though not ideal for the average conservative, grew up in Michigan and could put it into play. His father, [[George Romney]], served as governor of the state.
|16
|-
|New Hampshire
|9.6%
|Romney has some roots here and was governor of nearby Massachusetts
|4
|-
|New Mexico
|15%
|
|5
|-
|Pennsylvania
|10%
|Obama's has had high disapproval ratings here: 54%, and [[Republicans]] swept the elections in 2010; also, Obama polled poorly here in 2008 against [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1653 Quinnipiac poll done late September 2011]</ref>
|20
|-
|Wisconsin
|13.9%
|Elected Republicans to the state legislature, governor's office, and Senate in 2010. Despite much complaining by Democrats and their [[labor union]] allies, they failed to recall enough republican legislators for a majority, failed to defeat Justice David Prosser in the Supreme Court election. The final blow that put Wisconsin in play for the 2012 election was when Governor Scott Walker defeated his recall election by a wider margin than he was originally elected in 2010.
|10
|}

== Effect on Policy ==

Swing state politics is having an enormous influence on policy: [[Obama]]'s abrupt change in [[deportation]] policy was probably due to how [[Mitt Romney]] has erased Obama's lead in the key swing state of [[Colorado]], and narrowed the lead in [[Nevada]] and [[Virginia]], all of which have large [[Hispanic]] populations.<ref>http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233037-obama-takes-action-on-deportations-as-romney-closes-gap-in-swing-states</ref>

==2008 Swing States==
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New Hampshire]]
*[[New Mexico]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wisconsin]]
*[[Virginia]]

== See also ==

*[[Presidential Election 2012]]
*[[Endorsements 2012]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.tnr.com/article/the-vital-center/95467/obama-mccain-elections-gop-democrats Analysis of Electoral College and popular vote]
*[http://news.yahoo.com/poll-romney-claims-slight-edge-15-battleground-states-164545408.html;_ylt=A2KLOzGP5vJPnRUA.Q3QtDMD July polling: Romney leads Obama, 51 percent to 43 percent in 15 swing states]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:United States]]

Swing state

2012-08-19T16:54:26Z

FrankAJ: update

'''Swing states''' are [[state]]s in which neither the [[Republican]] nor [[Democratic]] candidate has a clear majority of the voters' support prior to a Presidential election, and therefore could "swing" the election results in either direction. They are also known as "battleground states" because they are where the majority of the campaigning takes place for both parties. Since states that consistently express a preference for either the Democratic of Republican candidate are usually referred to as [[blue state|blue states]] and [[red state|red states]], respectively, these states are also called "purple states" in order to highlight their mixed demographical nature. '''It is expected that hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads by [[Super PAC]]s will be spent in these swing states in the fall of 2012'''.

Here are the key swing states for the [[Presidential Election 2012]]: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, for a total of 96 electoral votes.<ref>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/05/26/national/a080145D80.DTL#ixzz1w1roz7XG</ref> A total of 270 electoral votes are needed to win, and Obama won with 95 additional electoral votes in 2008. Assuming that Republicans win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, '''''this entire election could be decided in only Colorado, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio'''''.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Expected winner 2012
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Ohio
|Toss up
|4.6%
|Ohio voted Republican in the 2010 elections, but the public unions repealed the collective bargaining reforms by popular vote. This indicates heavy union influence who always vote democrat.
|18
|-
|Iowa
|Toss-up
|9.5%
|
|6
|-
|Colorado
|Toss-up
|9%
|[[Pro-life]], pro-[[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]]'s phenomenal success for the Denver Broncos helped improve the culture there.
|9
|-
|Virginia
|Toss-up
|6%
|Elected a Republican governor, [[Bob McDonnell]], in 2009. In the 2011 elections the Republican party took the state senate, giving them control over both houses of the legislature. '''Obama will probably lose this state by 5-10 points in 2012'''.
|13
|-
|Florida
|Romney led by 7 points as of May, current polls show a tied race or give Romney a slight lead.
|2.8%
|Elected a Republican for both governor and Senate in the 2010 midterm elections; however, Governor [[Rick Scott]] is currently (Dec. 2011) very unpopular in the state. Obama's approval in the state is below 50% and without Florida his reelection is unlikely.
|29
|-
|North Carolina
|Leaning Republican win due to [[same-sex marriage]] issue.
|0.3%
|The current [[Democratic]] governor, [[Bev Perdue]], is highly unpopular and polling badly, especially in the wake of recent scandals among her staff.
|15
|-
|Nevada
|Leaning Democratic
|12.5%
|A recent special election for the state's 2nd congressional district was predicted to be competitive but resulted in a decisive victory for [[Republican]] [[Mark Amodei]]. [[Harry Reid]] won reelection in 2010 despite [[Tea Party]] opposition, but this may have been due to discrepancies and corruption in the voting process.
|6
|}

Additional states that Obama carried by a wide margin in 2008 might become possibilities for a Romney victory in 2012 if he improves in the polls:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!State
!Margin of [[Obama]]'s win in 2008
!Indicators
!Electoral Votes in 2012
|-
|Michigan
|16%
|Mitt Romney, though not ideal for the average conservative, grew up in Michigan and could put it into play. His father, [[George Romney]], served as governor of the state.
|16
|-
|New Hampshire
|9.6%
|Romney has some roots here and was governor of nearby Massachusetts
|4
|-
|New Mexico
|15%
|
|5
|-
|Pennsylvania
|10%
|Obama's has had high disapproval ratings here: 54%, and [[Republicans]] swept the elections in 2010; also, Obama polled poorly here in 2008 against [[Hillary Clinton]].<ref>[http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1327.xml?ReleaseID=1653 Quinnipiac poll done late September 2011]</ref>
|20
|-
|Wisconsin
|13.9%
|Elected Republicans to the state legislature, governor's office, and Senate in 2010. Despite much complaining by Democrats and their [[labor union]] allies, they failed to recall enough republican legislators for a majority, failed to defeat Justice David Prosser in the Supreme Court election. The final blow that put Wisconsin in play for the 2012 election was when Governor Scott Walker defeated his recall election by a wider margin than he was originally elected in 2010.
|10
|}

== Effect on Policy ==

Swing state politics is having an enormous influence on policy: [[Obama]]'s abrupt change in [[deportation]] policy was probably due to how [[Mitt Romney]] has erased Obama's lead in the key swing state of [[Colorado]], and narrowed the lead in [[Nevada]] and [[Virginia]], all of which have large [[Hispanic]] populations.<ref>http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/233037-obama-takes-action-on-deportations-as-romney-closes-gap-in-swing-states</ref>

==2008 Swing States==
*[[Colorado]]
*[[Florida]]
*[[Iowa]]
*[[Michigan]]
*[[Minnesota]]
*[[Missouri]]
*[[New Hampshire]]
*[[New Mexico]]
*[[Ohio]]
*[[Pennsylvania]]
*[[Wisconsin]]
*[[Virginia]]

== See also ==

*[[Presidential Election 2012]]
*[[Endorsements 2012]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.tnr.com/article/the-vital-center/95467/obama-mccain-elections-gop-democrats Analysis of Electoral College and popular vote]
*[http://news.yahoo.com/poll-romney-claims-slight-edge-15-battleground-states-164545408.html;_ylt=A2KLOzGP5vJPnRUA.Q3QtDMD July polling: Romney leads Obama, 51 percent to 43 percent in 15 swing states]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:politics]]
[[Category:United States]]

Senate Elections 2012

2012-08-16T23:23:33Z

FrankAJ: /* Senate Contests */ added more info

'''2012 United States Senate elections''' to be held November 6, 2012 includes [[Republican]], Democrat and Independent candidates vying for six-year terms and a seat in the 113th Congress. [[Democrat]]s need to defend 21 seats and Republicans need only to defend 10 seats. Two seats held by Independents are up for election and lean Democrat: Bernie Sanders seeks re-election and Joe Lieberman is retiring.

Democrats' majority status and [[Harry Reid]]'s Senate leadership are at stake. Democrats are growing uncomfortable as they decline to endorse [[Obama]]'s shift on [[gay marriage]]. "Senate Majority Leader [[Harry Reid]] predicted Thursday the Democratic Party would adopt a pro-gay marriage plank in its platform." [http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/227007-vulnerable-democratic-senators-balk-at-obamas-endorsement-of-gay-marriage]

The [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/senate/2012_elections_senate_map.html RealClearPolitics website] forecasts a 47-44 split favoring the Democrats with 9 toss-up seats, but that includes a questionable claim that Democrats will likely hold on to the [[New Mexico]] seat. In these key states, most of which are listed as "toss-up" or even leaning Democrat, the Democrat candidate will probably not win unless he garners more votes than [[Obama]] in the state:

*Florida (Mack-R v. Nelson-D)
*Indiana
*Massachusetts
*Missouri ([[Todd Akin]]-R v. [[Claire McCaskill]]-D)
*Montana (Rehberg-R v. Tester-D)
*Nevada
*North Dakota
*Virginia
*Wisconsin

==Senate Contests==

'''* Arizona'''

Republican [[Jon Kyl]] is retiring. Richard Carmona [D], [[Jeff Flake]] [R], Wil Cardon [R] are running. Flake is endorsed by the [[Senate Conservatives Fund]].

'''* California'''

Democrat [[Dianne Feinstein]] is the incumbent. She will face Republican Elizabeth Emken

'''* Connecticut'''

Independent [[Joe Lieberman]] is retiring. Democrat Chris Murphy will face Republican challenger [[Linda McMahon]].

'''* Delaware'''

Democrat [[Tom Carper]] is the incumbent. Businessman Kevin Wade is the Republican candidate.

'''* Florida'''

Democrat [[Bill Nelson]] is the incumbent. he will face Republican Representative Connie Mack. An average of polls has shown a near tie in the contest, bad news for an incumbent and Nelson cannot win if Romney takes Florida, a must-win state for him.

'''* Hawaii'''

Democrat [[Daniel Akaka]] is retiring. Democrat Mazie Hirono will face former Republican Governor [[Linda Lingle]].

'''* Indiana'''

Tea Party-backed Republican [[Richard Mourdock]] will face Democrat Joe Donnelly after defeating 35-year incumbent Republican [[Richard Lugar]].

'''* Maine'''

Republican [[Olympia Snowe]] is retiring. Democrat Cynthia Dill and Republican Charlie Summers will face Independent former Gov. [[Angus King]]. Polling predicts King will be the victor. King's positions are viewed as generally liberal leaning, and he is being treated as the ''de facto'' Democrat by the Republican campaign. It is unclear with which party he would caucus, however.

'''* Maryland'''

Democrat [[Ben Cardin]] is the incumbent. He will face former Secret Service agent and Republican [[Dan Bongino]].

'''* Massachusetts'''

Republican [[Scott Brown]] is the incumbent, and will face Democrat [[Elizabeth Warren]]. Polling has this race in a tie.

'''* Michigan'''

Democrat [[Debbie Stabenow]] is the incumbent and will face Republican [[Pete Hoekstra]].

'''* Minnesota'''

Democrat [[Amy Klobuchar]] is the incumbent. She will face Republican [[Kurt Bills]].

'''* Mississippi'''

Republican [[Roger Wicker]] is the incumbent. He will face Democrat Albert N. Gore.

'''* Missouri'''

Democrat [[Claire McCaskill]] is the incumbent and faces [[movement conservative]] [[Todd Akin]], the [[Republican]] nominee who leads her in the polls by an average of 6 percentage points. It will be hard for a Democrat to win in this state which is rapidly trending red.

'''* Montana'''

Democrat [[Jon Tester]] is the incumbent. He will face Republican [[Denny Rehberg]]. June 2012 polling has Rehberg holding a 2-point lead.

'''* Nebraska'''

Democrat [[Ben Nelson]] is retiring. [[Pro-life]] [[Deb Fischer]] defeated [[RINO]] Jon Bruning for the Republican nomination; and will face Democrat Bob Kerrey.

'''* Nevada'''

Republican [[Dean Heller]] was appointed in 2011 to replace [[John Ensign]] and is considered the incumbent. He faces Rep. Shelley Berkley who cruised to victory in the Democratic primary. Polling has Heller with a lead of, on average, 4 points though he generally fails to break 50%, a crucial benchmark for an incumbent.

'''* New Jersey'''

Democrat [[Bob Menendez]] is the incumbent. He will face Republican Joe Kyrillos .

'''* New Mexico'''

Democrat [[Jeff Bingaman]] is retiring. Republican Heather Wilson will face Democrat Martin Heinrich.

'''* New York'''

Democrat [[Kirsten Gillibrand]] is the incumbent. She will face Republican Wendy Long.

'''* North Dakota'''

Democrat [[Kent Conrad]] is retiring. July polling has Republican Rick Berg leading Democrat Heidi Heitkamp by +5.

'''* Ohio'''

Democrat [[Sherrod Brown]] is the incumbent. He will face Republican [[Josh Mandel]]. Mandel has the backing of Senator [[Jim Demint]]. Brown has the backing of [[George Soros]], the [[SEIU]] and the former [[ACORN]].

'''* Pennsylvania'''

Democrat [[Bob Casey, Jr.]] is the incumbent. 7 Republicans declared. [[Pro-choice | Fake Pro-life]] Casey Jr. is a strong defender of Obama and [[Harry Reid]].

'''* Rhode Island'''

Democrat [[Sheldon Whitehouse]] is the incumbent. Republican Barry Hinckley the challenger.

'''* Tennessee'''

Republican [[Bob Corker]] is the incumbent. He will face conservative Democrat Mark Clayton without any help from his party.

'''* Texas'''

Republican [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] is retiring. Tea party backed [[Ted Cruz]] will face Paul Sadler, who won his primary runoff for the Democrat nomination. Sadler is a backer of [[Obamacare]] and [[Planned Parenthood]].

'''* Utah'''

Republican [[Orrin Hatch]] is the incumbent. Pete Ashdown is the Democrat challenger.

'''* Vermont'''

Independent [[Bernie Sanders]] is the incumbent. John MacGovern [R] is the Republican challenger.

'''* Virginia'''

Democrat [[Jim Webb]] is retiring. Democrat [[Tim Kaine]] will face Republican [[George Allen]]. Polling has this race tied and may come down to which presidential candidate carries Virginia in November.

'''* Washington'''

Democrat [[Maria Cantwell]] is the incumbent. Michael Baumgartner is the Republican challenger.

'''* West Virginia'''

Democrat [[Joe Manchin]] is the incumbent. He will face Republican John Raese. Barack Obama polls so poorly in this state that Manchin refuses to say who he'll vote for President. [http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/manchin-won-t-endorse-obama-charleston-paper-won-t-endorse-manchin-20120425]

'''* Wisconsin'''

Democrat [[Herb Kohl]] is retiring. Democrat Tammy Baldwin will face Republican Tommy Thompson.

'''* Wyoming'''

Republican [[John Barrasso]] is the incumbent.

==States without a Senate race in 2012==
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Vermont.

==See also==
* [[Presidential Election 2012]]

==References==
<references/>

[[category:Politics]]
[[category:Obama Presidency]]
[[category:Republican Party]]
[[category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:United States Presidential Election, 2012]]

Essay:Worst Liberal TV Shows

2012-08-16T23:04:48Z

FrankAJ: oops!

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Original run
!Network
!TV rating
!Description

|-
|''Real Time with Bill Maher''
|
|[[HBO]]
|TV MA
|Political talk show that typically features a liberally slanted panel. Routinely mocks conservatives and conservative values. Maher himself smears conservative women in a vulgar and sexist manner.

|-an
|''[[Family Guy]]''
|1999-2003, 2005-
|[[Fox Network|Fox]]
|TV 14
|Notorious for its shock tactics, this show routinely employs willful tastelessness for comedic shock value. Examples include one regular character who is a pedophile, as well as constant Hitler jokes.
|-
|''Modern Family''
|2010-
|[[ABC]]
|TV 14
|Mocks family values and promotes dysfunction and gay parenting among families. Three "families" are depicted in the show, two of which are dysfunctional and the third of which is a gay couple with an adopted child.
|-
|''GCB''
|2012-
|ABC
|TV 14
|Extremely blasphemous against [[Christianity]], as evidenced simply by its provocative title.
|-
|''Glenn Martin DDS''
|2009-2011
|[[Nickelodeon]]
|TV PG
|Mocks the role of fatherhood and also promotes liberalism with many demented sexual jokes. One episode blatantly portrays [[Barack Obama]] as the "messiah" and [[Dick Cheney]] as the devil. Created by [[progressive]] former Disney CEO [[Michael Eisner]].
|-
|''RuPaul's Drag Race''
|
|The Gay Network
|
|Radically pro-[[gay]] reality show hosted by homosexual cross-dresser [[RuPaul]]. The show is blatant promotion for transvestitism.
|-
|''DeGrassi: The Boiling Point''
|2009-
|Teen Nick
|TV 14
|Tasteless high school drama show which portrays drug use, [[homosexuality]], transsexuals and [[abortion]] in a positive light
|-
|''All American Muslim''
|2011-2012
|TLC
|
|
|-
|''[[The View]]''
|
|ABC
|
|
|-
|''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]''
|1996-
|[[Comedy Central]]
|TV 14
|
|-
|''Pretty Little Liars''
|
|ABC Family
|TV 14
|
|-
|''Skins''
|2011
|[[MTV]]
|TV MA
|Portrays teenage sex in a positive light. This show was also accused of being in violation of child pornography laws. Ironically a much more sexually explicit version of the show has aired for years in the UK with absolutely no controversy.
|-
|''Jersey Shore''
|
|MTV
|TV 14
|Infamous reality TV series that revolves around immoral and obscene behavior characteristics of its cast on the shores of New Jersey. Behavior depicted includes obscene dancing, innuendo, public drunkenness, and domestic violence.
|-
|''Drawn Together''
|
|Comedy Central
|TV MA
|Contains explicit crude and vulgar humor.
|-
|''[[The Colbert Report]]''
|
|Comedy Central
|TV 14
|
|-
|''[[Countdown with Keith Olbermann]]''
|
|[[MSNBC]]
|
|Hosted by left-wing commentator [[Keith Olbermann]].
|-
|''Ellen''
|
|ABC
|
|
|-
|''The Girls Next Door''
|
|The Playboy Channel
|
|Promotes the [[pornography|pornographic]] magazine [[Playboy]], which exploits women.
|-
|''The Howard Stern Show''
|
|
|TV MA
|
|-
|''The Oprah Winfrey Show''
|
|
|
|
|-
|''[[30 Rock]]''
|
|[[NBC]]
|TV 14
|
|-
|''The Cleveland Show''
|2009-
|Fox
|TV 14
|A spin-off from the extremely liberal cartoon ''Family Guy''. Includes many racist and sexual jokes.
|-
|''[[Sex and the City]]''
|
|HBO
|TV MA
|The show has no basis other than the sexual "adventures" of four women in their mid-thirties who live in New York City.
|-
|''The Chris Matthews Show''
|
|[[CNBC]]
|
|
|-
|''[[The West Wing]]''
|1999-2006
|NBC
|
|Just a platform for the control-freak [[Aaron Sorkin|Aaron Sorkin's]] liberal talking points.
|-
|''[[The Newsroom]]''
|2012-
|HBO
|
|Yet another forum for [[Aaron Sorkin]] to promote his liberal views. Promotes the view that making the news 'moral' means bashing Republicans. Strange liberal morality.
|-
|}
Please add to this list!

[[Category:Essays]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:Hollywood]]
[[Category:Television]]

Essay:Worst Liberal TV Shows

2012-08-16T23:04:29Z

FrankAJ: 2 more shows

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Title
!Original run
!Network
!TV rating
!Description

|-
|''Real Time with Bill Maher''
|
|[[HBO]]
|TV MA
|Political talk show that typically features a liberally slanted panel. Routinely mocks conservatives and conservative values. Maher himself smears conservative women in a vulgar and sexist manner.

|-an
|''[[Family Guy]]''
|1999-2003, 2005-
|[[Fox Network|Fox]]
|TV 14
|Notorious for its shock tactics, this show routinely employs willful tastelessness for comedic shock value. Examples include one regular character who is a pedophile, as well as constant Hitler jokes.
|-
|''Modern Family''
|2010-
|[[ABC]]
|TV 14
|Mocks family values and promotes dysfunction and gay parenting among families. Three "families" are depicted in the show, two of which are dysfunctional and the third of which is a gay couple with an adopted child.
|-
|''GCB''
|2012-
|ABC
|TV 14
|Extremely blasphemous against [[Christianity]], as evidenced simply by its provocative title.
|-
|''Glenn Martin DDS''
|2009-2011
|[[Nickelodeon]]
|TV PG
|Mocks the role of fatherhood and also promotes liberalism with many demented sexual jokes. One episode blatantly portrays [[Barack Obama]] as the "messiah" and [[Dick Cheney]] as the devil. Created by [[progressive]] former Disney CEO [[Michael Eisner]].
|-
|''RuPaul's Drag Race''
|
|The Gay Network
|
|Radically pro-[[gay]] reality show hosted by homosexual cross-dresser [[RuPaul]]. The show is blatant promotion for transvestitism.
|-
|''DeGrassi: The Boiling Point''
|2009-
|Teen Nick
|TV 14
|Tasteless high school drama show which portrays drug use, [[homosexuality]], transsexuals and [[abortion]] in a positive light
|-
|''All American Muslim''
|2011-2012
|TLC
|
|
|-
|''[[The View]]''
|
|ABC
|
|
|-
|''[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]]''
|1996-
|[[Comedy Central]]
|TV 14
|
|-
|''Pretty Little Liars''
|
|ABC Family
|TV 14
|
|-
|''Skins''
|2011
|[[MTV]]
|TV MA
|Portrays teenage sex in a positive light. This show was also accused of being in violation of child pornography laws. Ironically a much more sexually explicit version of the show has aired for years in the UK with absolutely no controversy.
|-
|''Jersey Shore''
|
|MTV
|TV 14
|Infamous reality TV series that revolves around immoral and obscene behavior characteristics of its cast on the shores of New Jersey. Behavior depicted includes obscene dancing, innuendo, public drunkenness, and domestic violence.
|-
|''Drawn Together''
|
|Comedy Central
|TV MA
|Contains explicit crude and vulgar humor.
|-
|''[[The Colbert Report]]''
|
|Comedy Central
|TV 14
|
|-
|''[[Countdown with Keith Olbermann]]''
|
|[[MSNBC]]
|
|Hosted by left-wing commentator [[Keith Olbermann]].
|-
|''Ellen''
|
|ABC
|
|
|-
|''The Girls Next Door''
|
|The Playboy Channel
|
|Promotes the [[pornography|pornographic]] magazine [[Playboy]], which exploits women.
|-
|''The Howard Stern Show''
|
|
|TV MA
|
|-
|''The Oprah Winfrey Show''
|
|
|
|
|-
|''[[30 Rock]]''
|
|[[NBC]]
|TV 14
|
|-
|''The Cleveland Show''
|2009-
|Fox
|TV 14
|A spin-off from the extremely liberal cartoon ''Family Guy''. Includes many racist and sexual jokes.
|-
|''[[Sex and the City]]''
|
|HBO
|TV MA
|The show has no basis other than the sexual "adventures" of four women in their mid-thirties who live in New York City.
|-
|''The Chris Matthews Show''
|
|[[CNBC]]
|
|
|-
|''[[The West Wing]''
|1999-2006
|NBC
|
|Just a platform for the control-freak [[Aaron Sorkin|Aaron Sorkin's]] liberal talking points.
|-
|''[[The Newsroom]]''
|2012-
|HBO
|
|Yet another forum for [[Aaron Sorkin]] to promote his liberal views. Promotes the view that making the news 'moral' means bashing Republicans. Strange liberal morality.
|-
|}
Please add to this list!

[[Category:Essays]]
[[Category:Liberalism]]
[[Category:Hollywood]]
[[Category:Television]]

User talk:FrankAJ

2012-08-16T22:57:28Z

FrankAJ: Created page with "Greetings!"

Greetings!

User:FrankAJ

2012-08-16T14:37:18Z

FrankAJ: Created page with "Welcome!"

Welcome!

2012 Summer Olympics

2012-08-16T14:36:12Z

FrankAJ: they're over

The '''2012 Summer Olympic Games''', officially known as the '''Games of the XXX Olympiad''' and informally as '''London 2012''', took place in [[London]] from July 27 through August 12.<ref>This makes London the first city to host the Games three times - the previous occasions being in 1908 and 1948.</ref> '''''During the Modern Olympic Games, the pagan origins of the Olympics have been replaced by [[faith]]-based achievement by the participating athletes'''''.
__NOTOC__
== Political Questions Resolved by the Games ==

Athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated.<ref>Independent Olympic Athletes from [[South Sudan]], who does not yet have a National Olympic Committee, and the former Netherlands Antilles, who no longer has a National Olympic Committee due to their dissolution, will also compete under the Olympic Flag.</ref> Sports contests having the greatest political interest are (note especially the growing list of lack of [[public schools]] for the gold medalists below):

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Sport
!Political issue
!Answer
|-
|Multiple
|How many athletes will do the equivalent of [[Tebowing]] after a victory? American Meb Keflezighi, who won the silver medal in the marathon in 2004, typically gives glory to [[God]] with the sign of the [[Cross]] after finishing a race.<ref>http://www.letsrun.com/2009/nycmen1101.php</ref>
|The first American medalist (silver) in the 10k since 1964, Galen Rupp, reportedly has a strong [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[faith]] and attended Catholic high school.

The first gold medalist for [[Ireland]] since 1996, boxer Katie Taylor said after winning: "I serve an amazing God and without Him I wouldn't be here without this gold medal around my neck." Her boxing robe contained the verse, "The [[Lord]] is my shepherd and my shield."<ref>http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/08/09/2990989/the-lord-shepherds-irelands-taylor.html#storylink=cpy</ref>

After winning the all-around women's gymnastic title, Gabby Douglas tweeted, "Let all that I am praise the [[Lord|LORD]]; may I never forget the good things he does for me."

Missy Franklin, who ranks second behind Michael Phelps (he's won 4 gold in 2012, 18 in career) with three gold medals at the 2012 games, thanked [[God]] as one of her first comments after winning.

Bernard Lagat, a medalist at prior Olympics, did the [[Sign of the Cross]] just before he was introduced to the crowd for the 5k race. He then "finished fourth after being clipped from behind in the final 200 meters," but showed tremendous sportsmanship, praised the winner, and gave thanks afterward as "the most blessed person during my career."<ref>http://espn.go.com/espnw/olympics/8260406/2012-olympics-mo-farah-makes-5000-win-look-easy</ref> Indeed, at least three out of the eight athletes running in the 5k finals did the Sign of the Cross shortly before being introduced for the race, and a fourth runner is known to be a devout Catholic.

Ethiopian Tiki Gelana remarkably overcame a mid-race fall to win the women's marathon, after thinking "thank God" at the beginning of the race for the rain because she grew up running in rainy weather - but the [[lamestream media]] reported her quote with a small "g" for "God".<ref>http://news.yahoo.com/rain-queen-gelana-wins-soggy-maratho-175353459--spt.html</ref>

Double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius noted that he thanks God "Because He is the reason for my success and the one that takes me from strength to strength."[http://assistnews.net/Stories/2012/s12060047.htm]

|-
|Multiple
|Will almost no athletes from [[public school]] sports programs win any gold medals, despite how public schools spend more than $500 billion annually to teach and train [[American]]s?
|The [[lamestream media]] state that Missy Franklin, the star swimmer, is a high school student, but fail to mention that she attends ''[[Catholic]]'' school rather than [[public school]].

'''American 2012 Olympic gold medal winners (as of 8/1/2012)'''
*Private: Missy Franklin ([[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] high school)<ref> Franklin's swimming has been with a swim club</ref>, Katie Ledecky (Catholic high school)
*[[Homeschooled]]: Gabby Douglas, McKayla Maroney
*College or adult: Michael Phelps,<ref>Phelps' swimming has been with a private swim club.</ref> Dana Vollmer, Vincent Hancock, Conor Dwyer, Kristin Armstrong, Nathan Adrian, Allison Schmitt, Shannon Vreeland, Kim Rhode, Ryan Lochte, Matt Grevers, Aly Raisman, Ricky Berens, Jamie Lynn Gray, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Serena Williams.
*[[Public school]]: Kyla Ross and Jordyn Wieber won a group gold medal as part of the team led by [[homeschooled]] Gabby Douglas
|-
|Multiple
|How many athletes will be unfairly expelled based on [[liberal]] [[censorship]] of their [[free speech]]?
|One athlete -- Greek triple-jumper Voula Papachristou -- was expelled from the Greek National team by her own country's Olympic committee '''''before it officially opened''''' based on a one-sentence joke about immigration, even though she apologized. The joke in question was this from her Twitter: "With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!" It should be noted that Papachristou apologized for the tweet.

In addition to the Greek Olympic Committee's decision on Papachristou, the IOC's own twitter-use policy has been criticized for hindering free speech. The policy, which is claimed to protect the IOC's commercial rights, goes as far as to prevent athletes from "reporting on events". According to The Globe and Mail, even a tweet such as "Won our games against China, USA. Next up, the Brazilians," could get an athlete expelled from the Games without notice. As of yet, no athletes have been expelled by the IOC for this [[social media]] [[censorship]] policy.

Lolo Jones, a pro-[[abstinence]] [[American]] hurdler, is being criticized by the [[lamestream media]] for sending out a pro-[[Second Amendment]] tweet.

The [[liberal]] thought police expelled a Swiss soccer player for tweeting that South Koreans are "retards."<ref>[[http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/07/another-racist-twitter-scandal-gets-another-olympic-athlete-boot/55197/] </ref>
|-
|Opening Ceremonies
|Will [[Overrated Sports Stars|Overrated Sports Star]] David Beckham be selected to light the Olympic cauldron?
|Beckham was not selected as the final torchbearer. He was, however, a passenger on the speedboat that carried the torch up the River Thames. He assisted in the hand-off of the torch to Sir Steve Redgrave, one of Britain's greatest Olympians. Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, stated, "He [Beckham] will be more than an ambassador given what he has done, the commitment he has given and the amount of time he has spent with us in London on this project. He was not only alongside us when we won [the right to host the Olympics], he was alongside us when we threw our hats in the ring."<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/football/9388462/London-2012-Olympics-David-Beckham-will-be-more-than-an-ambassador-at-the-Games.html London 2012 Olympics: David Beckham will be 'more than an ambassador' at the Games] telegraph.co.uk, July 10, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref>
|-
|Multiple
|will [[atheist]] nations underachieve in team sports?
|In women's soccer, France defeated Sweden in the quarterfinals but lost to Japan in the semifinals. They lost to Canada in the bronze medal game.

On the men's side, Great Britain won their group with 2 wins and a draw. They lost to South Korea in the quarterfinals.

Australia failed to qualify for either soccer event. This was their first time attempting to qualify out of the Asian Zone instead of the significantly weaker Oceanic Zone, so this may have been a factor. They will, however, send teams in most other team sports, since they qualify from the Oceanic Zone in those.

In women's basketball, France won Group B with a 5-0 record, while Australia finished 4-1 in the same group. Great Britain is 0-5. France and Australia won their quarterfinals. France will face Russia in the semifinals while Australia will face the United States.

In women's handball, Great Britain finished 0-5-0 and France is 4-0-1 (W-L-D). France lost to Montenegro the quarterfinals. Handball is almost unknown in GB, with only a dozen or so clubs, in stark contrast to most other countries in Western Europe.

In men's basketball, Great Britain finished 1-4 in the group stage and was eliminated. Australia finished 3-2, fourth in their group, and lost to the USA in the quarterfinals. France finished 4-1 and will face Spain in the quarterfinals. Basketball is a minor sport in GB, much less played than in continental Europe, and GB would have considered themselves lucky if they had won a match.

In men's volleyball, Great Britain finished 0-5 and Australia finished 2-3. Neither advanced to the quarterfinals. Volleyball is very much a minor sport in GB. They only had a volleyball team in the Olympics because they were host nation and they did not expect to win any of their matches.
|-
|Multiple
|Similarly, will atheist nations underachieve in general?
|China, an officially atheist and communist country, led in gold medals in the first week but then dropped badly to a distant second place behind the United States, despite China having more than three times the population of the United States and despite having a national program designed to produce champion athletes. Increasingly atheistic Australia performed much worse than expectations. Australia has 35 medals, but only 7 gold medals. France has 34 medals, of which 11 are gold. In 2008, Australia won 46 medals and France won 41. Australia won 14 golds that year, a total that they are unlikely to surpass at this point.
|-
|wrestling
|have [[feminist]] [[Title IX quotas]] destroyed the [[U.S.]] team?
|The U.S. men's wrestling team won only three medals - less than half that won by much-smaller and less prosperous Iran, and only a fraction of the medals won by Russian, despite the U.S. winning far more medals overall than both nations.

Men's track has also been ravaged by feminist Title IX quotas, and [[Team U.S.A.]] won only one bronze medal out of 12 medals in the marquee events of the men's 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m events -- which the U.S. previously dominated.
|-
|men's basketball
|will selfless play by outspoken [[Christian]] [[Kevin Durant]] overcome ball-hogging by [[Overrated Sports Stars|Overrated Sports Star]]s [[Kobe Bryant]] and [[LeBron James]] on [[USA Basketball]]?
|Outspoken Christian Kevin Durant set an all-time Olympic record of 147 points, including a game-high of 30 points in the tight final game, while the media-promoted players did not do as well.
|-
|men's tennis
|will one of the [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|Greatest Conservative Sports Stars]] -- such as Novak Djokovic -- win the gold medal? Will [[Andy Murray]] of atheistic Britain underperform?
|Both players advanced to the semifinals, where Murray defeated Djokovic in straight sets. Murray defeated Roger Federer of Switzerland for the gold in straight sets, while Djokovic underperformed and lost to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the bronze medal match. Murray then went on to play in mixed doubles match that same day and medalled silver with Laura Robson, losing to the heavily favoured Mirnyi and Azarenka.
|-
|8-month pregnant athlete
|Will the [[lamestream media]] report on Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi of Malaysia, who is competing while being 8 months pregnant, or does that send too [[pro-life]] of a message?
|Taibi was eliminated from the Olympics on the first day of official competition after finishing in 34th place. Few articles mentioned her prior to her elimination; there was more publicity about her after her defeat.<ref>[http://blog.sfgate.com/olympics/2012/07/28/pregnant-shooter%E2%80%99s-olympics-end-after-34th-place-finish-in-qualifying/ Pregnant shooter’s Olympics end after 34th-place finish in qualifying] sfgate.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://msn.foxsports.com/olympics/shooting/story/Pregnant-Malaysian-shooter-does-baby-proud-at-London-Olympics-072812 Pregnant shooter does baby proud] foxsports.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/london/shooting/story/2012-07-28/pregnant-shooter-nur-suryani-mohd-taibi-malaysia-misses-final/56551354/1 Pregnant shooter misses final, treasures experience] usatoday.com, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/28/london-2012-pregnant-shooting London 2012: 'Be quiet, mummy's shooting,' says pregnant competitor] guardian.co.uk, July 28, 2012, retrieved July 28, 2012</ref> The New York Times ran an article on the athlete on 16 July 2012,<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/17/sports/olympics/17iht-oly17.html?_r=1] </ref> The Guardian <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/28/london-2012-pregnant-shooting]</ref> and ESPN <ref>[http://www.espnstar.com/olympics/shooting/news/detail/item832224/Nur-Suryani-off-target-in-London/]</ref> both reported on her results in the competition.
|-
|women's soccer
|ranked #1 and won the gold in the last two Olympics, most recently with a foreign coach. Now that this [[U.S.]] team is [[politically correct]], will it underachieve?<ref>A foreigner, reportedly a lesbian, was selected as the head coach of the already champion American Olympic women's soccer team in 2007, and in the following year that team repeated its gold medal-winning performance of 2004. Aren't there American, although perhaps not politically correct, soccer coaches good enough to run the Olympic team?</ref> Major rivals will be Japan, Brazil and France.
|The U.S. women's team advanced to the finals only because of a controversial call that is almost never made in a big game: holding the ball too long by the Canadian goalie.<ref>http://www.thestar.com/sports/london2012/football/article/1238210--london-2012-soccer-controversial-call-against-canada-in-u-s-semifinal-rarely-made</ref> In the finals the women's team then won the gold by a margin of only goal against an underfunded team from Japan that had to fly to the Olympics in economy class.
|-
|Gun events
|Will the [[lamestream media]] downplay the gun events because they want to continue to push [[gun control]]?
|Great Britain shooter Peter Wilson's gold medal success in the double-trap clay pigeon event was widely reported and celebrated in the British media, despite Britain being strong in favor of gun control. The victory of South Korean air pistol shooter Jin in winning the first gold medal of the games was reported in most GB media. Coverage is similar to other sports with modest national following. See the entry above on the Malaysian shooter for an exception to this lack of coverage.
|-
|Openly [[homosexual]] athletes
|Will the [[liberal media]] overpromote [[homosexual]] athletes, far beyond their achievements?
|Several months before the games, ''Sports Illustrated'' ran a feature article entitled "The Transgender Athlete", which included significant overage of a transgender female-to-male shotputter attempting to qualify for the United States women's Olympic team. However, she failed to qualify at the US Olympic Trials, and as such has not received coverage during the actual Olympics.
|-
|Multiple
|Will countries that have implemented same-sex marriage underperform? (See below for a more lengthy explanation)
|The total number of medals decreased by 15%: a decline of 11 out of 73.<ref>South Africa is excluded from this analysis for several reasons: it did not change its Marriage Act to include same-sex marriage, it has relatively few same-sex civil unions, and its medal total in average medal total in the Olympics prior to 2008 was almost identical to its medal total in 2012.</ref>
: Belgium - 5 in 2000, 3 in 2012
: Canada - 18 in 2008, 18 in 2012
: Netherlands - 25 in 2000, 20 in 2012
: Norway - 6 in 2004, 4 in 2012
: Spain - 19 in 2004, 17 in 2012
: Total - 73 expected, 62 actual - '''''decline by 15%'''''
|-
|Men's Handball
|Will heavy underdogs [[Tunisia]] overperform in Group A? Group A should perhaps be dubbed the "Group of Left", since the other five teams are Sweden, Iceland, and Argentina, where same-sex marriage is legal, and increasingly atheistic Great Britain and France.
|Tunisia went 2-3 in the group stage, becoming just the second African team ever to advance to the quarterfinals. They then lost to Croatia, the winner of Group B.
|-
|[[Joke sports]]
|Will underperforming countries pad their medal totals by excelling in many varieties of [[swimming]] and in non-serious sports like [[badminton]] and [[dressage]]?
|Depends on what is a "joke sport". For instance, although swimming is a competitive, tough, sport, nations are able to pad their medal total due to the large number of events. The USA has 31 medals in swimming, Great Britain has only three. In Equestrian, a clear joke sport, but with far fewer events than swimming, Great Britain has five medals and the USA has none. Neither country received a medal in badminton.
|-
|}

== 2012 Olympics - Sports performance: Religious faith vs. atheism ==

See also: [[Sports performance: Religious faith vs. atheism ]]

''The Sports Journal'' is a monthly refereed journal published by the United States Sports Academy.
A journal article appeared in the Sports Journal entitled ''Strength of Religious Faith of Athletes and Nonathletes at Two NCAA Division III Institutions''. The article was submitted by Nathan T. Bell, Scott R. Johnson, and Jeffrey C. Petersen from Ball State University.<ref>[http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/strength-religious-faith-athletes-and-nonathletes-two-ncaa-division-iii-institutions ''Strength of Religious Faith of Athletes and Nonathletes at Two NCAA Division III Institutions'']</ref>

An excerpt from the abstract of the journal article ''Strength of Religious Faith of Athletes and Nonathletes at Two NCAA Division III Institutions'' declares:
{{cquote|Numerous studies report athletes to be more religious than nonathletes (Fischer, 1997; Storch, Kolsky, Silvestri, & Storch, 2001; Storch et al., 2004). According to Storch, Kolsky, Silvestri, and Storch (2001), four reasons may explain why religion interacts with athletic performance. First, athletes may identify with religious beliefs for direction and humility. Second, athletes may turn to religion to gain a sense of optimism and security, benefiting from such beliefs following a disappointing athletic performance. Third, religion can be used for emotional and psychological support in stressful circumstances like the uncertainty of athletic competition, which can cause athletes an overwhelming amount of anxiety. Religious beliefs can offer the internal strength to persevere through the stress. Fourth, religion “provides a cognitive framework conducive to the relief of anxiety associated with competition” (Storch et al., 2001, p. 347). This framework allows relief from fear and anxiety on the basis of the athlete’s understanding (i.e., belief) that a supreme being is in complete control of the situation. For example, athletes may rely on religious faith to place a poor athletic performance in perspective...

Religion can be an important aspect in athletes’ lives and may serve a protective function against psychological distress and maladaptive behaviors such as substance use or aggression (Storch, Roberti, Bravata, & Storch, 2004). Viewers of sporting events can frequently observe athletes pointing to the sky, engaging in team prayer on the court or field, and glorifying God following athletic competitions.<ref>[http://www.thesportjournal.org/article/strength-religious-faith-athletes-and-nonathletes-two-ncaa-division-iii-institutions ''Strength of Religious Faith of Athletes and Nonathletes at Two NCAA Division III Institutions'']</ref>}}

=== Atheism and sports performance ===

Besides lacking the aforementioned benefits that religion bestows on athletes, atheists have higher rates of depression and suicide than the religious (see: [[Atheism and mental health]] and [[Atheism and depression]] and [[Atheism and suicide]]). This suggests that atheism is a detriment to sports performance.

=== 2012 Olympics: faith vs. atheism ===

A number of Christian athletes have thanked God for their 2012 Olympic medals (see below). To date, no Olympic athlete at the 2012 Olympic games has credited atheism with providing them enhanced sport performance.

== Nations that have implemented [[same-sex marriage]] ==

===[[Argentina]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Argentina's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 1 || 3 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 3 || 1 || 0 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 1 || 2 || 2 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 0 || 2 || 1 || 3
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 2 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 2 || 0 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 2 || 0 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| July 22, 2010 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total || 17 || 23 || 26 || 66
|}

===[[Belgium]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Belgium's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 5 || 5 || 5 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 1 || 5 || 2 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp (host) || 14 || 11 || 11 || 36
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 3 || 7 || 3 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 2 || 2 || 0 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 2 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 0 || 1 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 1 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 2 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 1 || 1 || 2 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 2 || 2 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| January 30, 2003 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 1 || 1 || 0 || 2
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 37 !! 51 !! 51 !! 139
|}

===[[Canada]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Canada's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| ''1896 Athens'' || colspan=4|''did not compete''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 1 || 0 || 1 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || 4 || 1 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 3 || 3 || 10 || 16
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 3 || 2 || 3 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 3 || 3 || 3 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 0 || 3 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 4 || 4 || 7 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 2 || 5 || 8 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 1 || 3 || 5 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 1 || 2 || 0 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 1 || 2 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 1 || 3 || 1 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal (host) || 0 || 5 || 6 || 11
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || colspan=4|''did not compete''
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 10 || 18 || 16 || 44
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 3 || 2 || 5 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 7 || 4 || 7 || 18
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 3 || 11 || 8 || 22
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 3 || 3 || 8 || 14
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 3 || 6 || 3 || 12
|-
|align=left| July 20, 2005 || colspan=4|''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 3 || 9 || 6 || 18
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
!| Total || 58 || 94 || 108 || 260
|}

===[[Denmark]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Denmark's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || 1 || 2 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 1 || 3 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 1 || 6 || 5 || 12
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 3 || 9 || 1 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 2 || 5 || 2 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || 3 || 1 || 2 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 5 || 7 || 8 || 20
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 1 || 2 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 2 || 3 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 1 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 1 || 4 || 3 || 8
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 1 || 0 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 1 || 0 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 2 || 1 || 2 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 3 || 3 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 2 || 1 || 1 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 1 || 1 || 4 || 6
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 4 || 1 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 2 || 3 || 1 || 6
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 2 || 0 || 6 || 8
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 2 || 2 || 3 || 7
|-
|align=left| June 15, 2012 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 41 !! 63 !! 66 !! 170
|}

===[[Iceland]]===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+Iceland's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || colspan=4| ''Did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1956 Melbourne/Stockholm || 0 ||1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 0 || 0 || 1 || 1
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 0 || 1 || 0 || 1
|-
|align=left| June 27, 2010 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 0 !! 2 !! 2 !! 4
|}

===[[Netherlands]]<ref>Although part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, [[Aruba]] competes separately at the Olympic Games. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Aruba, although marriages performed in the European mainland Netherlands are recognized per the Kingdom's requirements. Additionally, the territories of Curacao and Sint Maarten, who will compete as "Independent Olympic Athletes" under the Olympic Flag following the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and the loss of recognition of their Olympic Committee, have the same regulations as Aruba with regards to same-sex marriage. Since citizens of these territories are also Dutch citizens, they are also eligible to compete for Team Netherlands. Therefore, they may have won some of the Dutch medals. In all three territories, the population is heavily Catholic and there is large opposition to same-sex marriage in spite of the Kingdom's requirements. When Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba opted to integrate fully with the Netherlands as part of the dissolution, the Dutch House of Representatives passed a law that will make same sex-marriage legal in those territories effective in October 2012. However, this law was strongly opposed by locals. Athletes from those three territories were permitted to compete as Independent Olympic Athletes as well. However, of the four IOAs at the Olympics, three are from Curacao and one is a marathoner from South Sudan, which does not yet have a national Olympic Committee.</ref>===

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" border="1"
|+The Netherland's Olympic medals in the Summer Games
|-
! scope="col" | Year and location
! scope="col" | Gold
! scope="col" | Silver
! scope="col" | Bronze
! scope="col" | Total
|- ||- |-
|align=left| 1896 Athens || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1900 Paris || 0 || 1 || 3 || 4
|-
|align=left| 1904 St. Louis || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1908 London || 0 || 0 || 2 || 2
|-
|align=left| 1912 Stockholm || 0 || 0 || 3 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1920 Antwerp || 4 || 2 || 5 || 11
|-
|align=left| 1924 Paris || 4 || 1 || 5 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1928 Amsterdam (host) || 6 || 9 || 4 || 19
|-
|align=left| 1932 Los Angeles || 2 || 5 || 0 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1936 Berlin || 6 || 4 || 7 || 17
|-
|align=left| 1948 London || 5 || 2 || 9 || 16
|-
|align=left| 1952 Helsinki || 0 || 5 || 0 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1956 Stockholm/Melbourne || colspan=4| ''did not participate''
|-
|align=left| 1960 Rome || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1964 Tokyo || 2 || 4 || 4 || 10
|-
|align=left| 1968 Mexico City || 3 || 3 || 1 || 7
|-
|align=left| 1972 Munich || 3 || 1 || 1 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1976 Montreal || 0 || 2 || 3 || 5
|-
|align=left| 1980 Moscow || 0 || 1 || 2 || 3
|-
|align=left| 1984 Los Angeles || 5 || 2 || 6 || 13
|-
|align=left| 1988 Seoul || 2 || 2 || 5 || 9
|-
|align=left| 1992 Barcelona || 2 || 6 || 7 || 15
|-
|align=left| 1996 Atlanta || 4 || 5 || 10 || 19
|-
|align=left| 2000 Sydney || 12 || 9 || 4 || 25
|-
|align=left| April 1, 2001 || colspan=4| ''Same-sex marriage legalized''
|-
|align=left| 2004 Athens || 4 || 9 || 9 || 22
|-
|align=left| 2008 Beijing || 7 || 5 || 4 || 16
|-
|align=left| 2012 Summer Olympics|2012 London || ? || ? || ? || ?
|-
! Total !! 71 !! 79 !! 96 !! 246
|}

===[[Norway]]===
===[[Portugal]]===
===[[South Africa]]===
===[[Spain]]===
===[[Sweden]]===

Underachievement by nations allowing same sex marriage will be particularly evident.<ref>In the [[United States]], 6 out of 50 states permit same-sex marriage (Washington, D.C. also permits same-sex marriage), and 8 additional states permit civil unions. Two states (including Washington, which had previously recognized civil unions) have declared same-sex marriage legal, but implementation is postponed until after voter referendums on the laws in November 2012. Additionally, in [[Mexico]], same-sex marriage is legal in Mexico City, a federal district roughly equivalent to Washington, DC, as well as in the state of Quintana Roo. </ref>

== Nations that are increasingly [[atheist]]ic ==

*[[Sweden]]
*[[Norway]]
*[[Finland]]
*[[Denmark]]
*[[Netherlands]]
*[[Britain]]
*[[France]]
*[[Australia]]<ref> Since the 2001 Australians have increasingly answered "no religion" in the official census. The growing numbers of those answering "no religion" has coincided with fewer people self-identifying as Christian: [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/7d12b0f6763c78caca257061001cc588/636F496B2B943F12CA2573D200109DA9?opendocument Year Book Australia, 2008]</ref>
*[[New Zealand]]
*[[Canada]]

Underachievement by atheistic nations will be particularly evident in the '''''team''''' sports, where spiritual motivation is usually non-existent. Expect the atheistic nations to underachieve most notably in soccer, where teamwork is paramount.

Also, since Great Britain is the host nation, it may receive a boost in performance in spite of its increasingly atheistic nature. One should be careful to account for this when comparing Britain's performance this year to that in previous Olympic Games.

== Winners ==

=== Individual Events ===

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Athlete
!Achievement
!Religion, or Atheist?
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|}

=== Team Events ===

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Event
!Country
!Religious Category
|-
|Women's 4x100m Freestyle (Swimming)
|Australia
|Increasingly Atheistic
|-
|Men's Team Archery
|Italy
|Christian
|-
|Women's Team Archery
|South Korea
|Atheistic
|-
|Men's 4x100m Freestyle (Swimming)
|France
|Increasingly Atheistic
|-
|Women's Synchronized 3m Springboard (Diving)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|Men's Synchronized 10m Platform (Diving)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|Men's Artistic Team All-round (Gymnastics)
|China
|Buddhist
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|}

==Expected Medals==

Many factors contribute to a country's success in the Olympics (e.g., population, proximity to host country, culture), and [[Gross Domestic Product]] cannot be used as a fair proxy, due to low (per capita) GDP China comfortably coming first in the 2008 Olympics and Russia ranking third. Below is how the Olympic medals would be awarded if each country earned medals in proportion to their GDP, which vastly overestimates the United States' performance.

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed"
|-
!Country
!Expected Medals
|-
|Afghanistan
|0.2
|-
|Albania
|0.2
|-
|Andorra
|0.1
|-
|Antigua and Barbuda
|0
|-
|Angola
|1.2
|-
|Algeria
|2.3
|-
|Argentina
|5.3
|-
|Armenia
|0.1
|-
|Aruba
|0
|-
|Australia
|16.2
|-
|Austria
|5.4
|-
|Azerbaijan
|0.7
|-
|Bahamas
|0.1
|-
|Bangladesh
|1.4
|-
|Barbados
|0
|-
|Burundi
|0
|-
|Belgium
|6.7
|-
|Belize
|0
|-
|Benin
|0.1
|-
|Bermuda
|0.1
|-
|Bhutan
|0
|-
|Bolivia
|0.3
|-
|Bosnia-Herzegovina
|0.2
|-
|Bahrain
|0.3
|-
|Botswana
|0.2
|-
|Belarus
|0.8
|-
|Brazil
|29.9
|-
|Virgin Islands
|0
|-
|Bulgaria
|0.7
|-
|Burkina Faso
|0.1
|-
|Cameroon
|0.3
|-
|Cambodia
|0.2
|-
|Canada
|22.6
|-
|Cayman Islands
|0
|-
|Central African Republic
|0
|-
|Chad
|0.1
|-
|Chile
|3
|-
|China
|98.8
|-
|Taiwan
|7.2
|-
|Colombia
|4.1
|-
|Comoros
|0
|-
|Cape Verde
|0
|-
|Congo
|0.2
|-
|Cook Islands
|0
|-
|Costa Rica
|0.5
|-
|Cote-d´lvoire
|0.3
|-
|Croatia
|0.9
|-
|Cuba
|0.9
|-
|Cyprus
|0.4
|-
|Czech Republic
|2.8
|-
|Denmark
|4.4
|-
|Djibouti
|0
|-
|Dominica
|0
|-
|Dominican Republic
|0.7
|-
|Ecuador
|0.8
|-
|Egypt
|3.1
|-
|El Salvador
|0.3
|-
|Equatorial Guinea
|0.2
|-
|Eritrea
|0
|-
|Estonia
|0.3
|-
|Ethiopia
|0.4
|-
|Fiji
|0
|-
|Finland
|3.4
|-
|France
|39.8
|-
|Gabon
|0.2
|-
|Gambia
|0
|-
|Germany
|47
|-
|Ghana
|0.4
|-
|United Kingdom
|32.4
|-
|Guinea-Bissau
|0
|-
|Georgia
|0.2
|-
|Greece
|4.3
|-
|Grenada
|0
|-
|Guam
|0
|-
|Guatemala
|0.6
|-
|Guinea
|0.1
|-
|Guyana
|0
|-
|Haiti
|0.1
|-
|Honduras
|0.2
|-
|Hong Kong
|3.2
|-
|Hungary
|1.8
|-
|Iceland
|0.2
|-
|India
|24.7
|-
|Indonesia
|10.1
|-
|Iran
|4.7
|-
|Iraq
|1.2
|-
|Ireland
|3
|-
|Italy
|29.5
|-
|Israel
|3.1
|-
|Jamaica
|0.2
|-
|Japan
|78.2
|-
|Jordan
|0.4
|-
|Kazakhstan
|2.3
|-
|Kyrgyzstan
|0.1
|-
|Kenya
|0.4
|-
|South Korea
|14.8
|-
|North Korea
|0.4
|-
|Kuwait
|2
|-
|Laos
|0.1
|-
|Latvia
|0.4
|-
|Saint Lucia
|0
|-
|Lebanon
|0.5
|-
|Lesotho
|0
|-
|Libya
|0.9
|-
|Lichtenstein
|0.1
|-
|Luxembourg
|0.8
|-
|Macedonia
|0.1
|-
|Madagascar
|0.1
|-
|Malawi
|0.1
|-
|Malaysia
|3.3
|-
|Moldova
|0.1
|-
|Marshall Islands
|0
|-
|Maldives
|0
|-
|Malta
|0.1
|-
|Mali
|0.1
|-
|Mauritania
|0.2
|-
|Mauritius
|0.1
|-
|Mexico
|16.2
|-
|Micronesia
|0
|-
|Monaco
|0.1
|-
|Montenegro
|0.1
|-
|Mongolia
|0.1
|-
|Morocco
|1.3
|-
|Mozambique
|0.1
|-
|Myanmar
|0.7
|-
|Namibia
|0.2
|-
|Nepal
|0.2
|-
|Netherlands
|11.2
|-
|New Zealand
|1.8
|-
|Nicaragua
|0.1
|-
|Niger
|0.1
|-
|Niger
|0.1
|-
|Norway
|5.9
|-
|Oman
|0.7
|-
|Pakistan
|2.4
|-
|Palau
|0
|-
|Panama
|0.4
|-
|Papua New Guinea
|0.1
|-
|Paraguay
|0.3
|-
|Peru
|2.3
|-
|Philippines
|2.9
|-
|Poland
|6.7
|-
|Portugal
|3.3
|-
|Puerto Rico
|1.4
|-
|Qatar
|1.4
|-
|Romania
|2.3
|-
|Rwanda
|0.1
|-
|Saint Lucia
|0
|-
|Saint Kitts and Nevis
|0
|-
|Samoa
|0
|-
|San Marino
|0
|-
|Saudi Arabia
|6.2
|-
|Seychelles
|0
|-
|Sierra Leone
|0
|-
|Senegal
|0.2
|-
|Slovenia
|0.7
|-
|Solomon Islands
|0
|-
|South Africa
|5.2
|-
|Sri Lanka
|0.7
|-
|Slovakia
|1.3
|-
|Swaziland
|0.1
|-
|Serbia
|0.6
|-
|Singapore
|3
|-
|Spain
|20.2
|-
|Sudan
|0.9
|-
|Suriname
|0
|-
|Syria
|0.8
|-
|Sweden
|6.6
|-
|Switzerland
|7.6
|-
|Tanzania
|0.3
|-
|Tonga
|0
|-
|Thailand
|4.6
|-
|Togo
|0
|-
|Trinidad and Tobago
|0.3
|-
|Tajikistan
|0.1
|-
|Timor-Leste
|0
|-
|Turkmenistan
|0.3
|-
|Tunisia
|0.6
|-
|Turkey
|10.5
|-
|Tuvalu
|0
|-
|Uganda
|0.2
|-
|Ukraine
|2
|-
|United Arab Emirates
|4.3
|-
|United States
|209
|-
|Uruguay
|0.6
|-
|Uzbekistan
|0.6
|-
|Vanuatu
|0
|-
|Venezuela
|5.6
|-
|Vietnam
|1.5
|-
|Yemen
|0.4
|-
|Zambia
|0.2
|-
|Zimbabwe
|0.1
|-
|}

== Commemoration ==

The 2012 games mark the 40th anniversary of 11 [[Israeli]] Olympic team members taken hostage and killed by [[Palestinian]] [[terrorist]] group Black September. The Internal Olympic Committee has been urged to offer a commemorative moment of silence for the athletes at the opening ceremony. The IOC has rejected the moment of silence or any mention of the tragic event so as not to upset [[Muslim]] countries. <ref>[http://www.eju.org/news/world/ioc-refuses-request-memorial-munich-victims IOC refuses request for a memorial to Munich victims, EJU News, may 22, 2012]</ref> Sportscaster Bob Costas says NBC will honor the Munich 11 despite IOC’s refusal to allow it. <ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/21/bob-costas-says-he-will-observe-moment-of-silence-for-victims-of-1972-munich-massacre-during-live-broadcast-of-london-olympics-opening-ceremony-despite-iocs-refusal-to-allow-it/ Bob Costas Says He Will Observe Moment of Silence For Victims of 1972 Munich Massacre, WeaselZippers, July 21, 2012]</ref>

== NBC Coverage ==

Scorn for Comcast's [[NBC]] coverage of the Olympic games hit America coast to coast. Viewers have taken to the internet with the trend #NBCfail for days now. The groans began at the opening ceremony when [[American]] viewers were denied the tribute to British victims of [[Islamic]] terrorism. As the games moved forward, live events were interrupted or had already finished, replaced with commercials and NBC commentators talking about the athletes. It has been reported the Comcast spent $1 billion for the rights to televise the 2012 Olympics.

== See also ==

*[http://www.london2012.com/schedule-and-results/ Schedule and Results]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Olympics]]