Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

The Spanish Inquisition

2007-05-31T22:50:35Z

InnocentAbroad: Undo revision 184863 by Special:Contributions/Fox (User talk:Fox)This is removal of a perfectly valid piece

This was one of the most memorable of the [[Monty Python|Monty Python's Flying Circus]] episodes, which consisted of the recurring entrance of three characters dressed in ecclesiastical attire, in response to the denouement of previous sketches where one of the characters, becoming frustrated by repeated questioning, erupts: "I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition!"

At this point the ensemble of the Inquisition—consisting of Cardinals Ximinez (Michael Palin), Biggles (Terry Jones), and Fang (Terry Gilliam)—would burst into the room, with Ximinez declaring: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our main weapon is surprise... and fear! Our two main weapons... etc." The only instrument of torture to have been deployed by Ximinez, Biggles and Fang was the 'comfy chair'.

This phrase has now passed down into common usage, (compare [[Spam]] ), so that when someone is being questioned, they might reply "I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition".

Jerry Rawlings

2007-05-28T13:15:59Z

InnocentAbroad: wikilinks

'''Jerry Rawlings''' was both the 8th and 10th president of [[Ghana]]
. He was in office from June 1979 through September 1979 & from December 1981 until January 2001.

[[category:heads of state]]

Judea and Samaria

2007-05-28T13:13:52Z

InnocentAbroad:

[[Image:West_Bank.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A map of the West Bank]]
The '''West Bank''' is the west bank of the [[River Jordan|Jordan River]] near [[Jerusalem]], land that is bitterly disputed between Jewish and Arab settlers in the region. The West Bank is also known as Judea and Samaria. This has been occupied by [[Israel]] since the [[Six-Day War]] (1967). The West Bank is not officially part of any country.

[[Category:Geography]]

Texas

2007-05-28T13:11:41Z

InnocentAbroad: internal links and apostrophes

[[Image:Texas_State_Flag.gif|thumb|right|The state flag of Texas.]]

'''Texas''' is the twenty-eighth state to enter into the union and was admitted on December 29, 1845. It is the second largest of the 50 [[America|US]] states, and the largest continental state. Before its admission, it was its own [[Republic of Texas|country]], having gained [[Texas War of Independence|independence]] from [[Mexico]]

The capital of Texas is [[Austin]], and the largest city is [[Houston]]. It was solidly Democratic from about 1900 to the 1970s, then Republicans gradually took control and now dominate.
Texas is 268,581 sq. miles (about 695,622km<sup>2</sup>) total area.<ref>http://www.texasalmanac.com/facts/</ref>

The "Six Flags" amusement park chain takes its name from the fact that six flags have flown over Texas: Spanish, French, Mexican, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, and United States of America.

Despite a widely spread [[urban legend]] stating otherwise, Texas' entry to the Union was not accompanied by a provision that allows Texas to secede from the Union at any time. <ref>http://www.snopes.com/history/american/texas.asp</ref> However, it is the only state with the right to break itself into up to five smaller states.

==Notable Texans==

*[[Lance Armstrong]], who holds the record for most consecutive [[Tour de France]] victories, was born in Plano.
*[[Biggest Cunt Ever|George W. Bush]], 43rd President of the United States, former Governor of Texas.
*[[Dwight Eisenhower]], former president, was born in Denison.
*[[Pat Garrett]], the policeman who shot [[Billy the Kid]], lived in multiple locations in Texas.
*[[Sam Houston]] was the president of Texas when it was an independent nation, and lent his name to Texas's largest city.
*[[Howard Hughes]], the reclusive billionaire who was the subject of the movie ''The Aviator'', was born in Humble.
*[[Lyndon B. Johnson]], former president, lived and died in Stonewall.
*[[Phil McGraw]], talk show host, lived in Wichita Falls at one point.
*[[Ted Nugent]], controversial conservative musician, lives near Crawford.
*[[Ross Perot]], former presidential candidate, was born in Texarkana.
*[[Dan Rather]], former CBS news anchor, was born in Wharton.
*[[Stevie Ray Vaughn]], musician.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:US state]]

Edit war

2007-05-28T13:01:08Z

InnocentAbroad: clarification

The repeated reverting of an editor's changes, with or without comment.
In such a "war" this practice this may occur several times.

Against the [[Conservapedia:Commandments]].
[[category:wiki]]

Joan Sebastian del Cano

2007-05-28T12:56:51Z

InnocentAbroad: Edited to be consistent with the title. If that is incorrect, then the article should be moved.

'''Joan Sebastian del Cano''' was was born in 1476 and was the [[captain]] of the first [[ship]] to circumnavigate the globe. Under [[Ferdinand Magellan]] he commanded the [[Concepción]], but after Magellan’s death in the [[Philippines]], he took command of the entire expedition. From the Philippines to the [[Molucca]] islands Cano sailed new waters, arriving in [[Spain]] with the [[Victoria]] and 18 men on Sept. 6, 1522. At first he was given all the credit for the trip, but later it was restored to Magellan. Cano died in 1526.<ref>http://www.thepirateking.com/bios/cano_juan_sebastian.htm</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Explorers|Cano, Joan Sebastian del]]

Mellow yellow

2007-05-28T12:55:13Z

InnocentAbroad: wikilinks

Mellow yellow is a clear caffeinated soda manufactured by [[Coca-Cola]]. It has high levels of [[caffeine]]. It is their version of [[mountain dew]].

Mentalism

2007-05-28T12:53:56Z

InnocentAbroad:

Many kinds of alleged [[supernatural event]]s are performed by mentalists, whose power rests in the gullibility of their audience - i.e. their willingness to believe in the magical powers of the mentalists.

Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong

2007-05-28T12:52:58Z

InnocentAbroad:

This is a special case of [[circular reasoning]] in which a protagonist tries to disprove a point of view by interpreting the facts through a different view. The logical structure of such an argument is:

# Fact '''A''' is interpreted by theory ''T'' as '''a'''.
# Interpretation '''a''' conflicts with theory ''U''.
# Therefore ''U'' is assumed to be wrong.

However:
# '''A''' is interpreted by theory ''U'' as '''b'''.
# Interpretation '''b''' is consistent with view ''U''.

In such a case, the holder of Theory ''U'' could as easily use that argument against the holder of Theory ''T''--and the proponent of Theory ''T'' would have no just cause to challenge that argument. (To do so would constitute [[special pleading]].)

In challenging a theory, one must not confuse the ''interpretation'' of a fact with the fact itself. Different theories infer different things from the same facts. Rejecting a theory out-of-hand merely because it infers things that your theory would not infer, is not logical and is not good [[science]]. The proper way to challenge an opposing theory is:

# To attempt to show that the theory is not self-consistent--i.e., that it leads to [[Logical fallacy#Contradiction|contradictions]], or failing that,
# To show that the opposing theory infers a given proposition, and then to show definitively that that proposition is contrary to fact. For example, the [[phlogiston]] theory of fire held that a flammable substance always contained another substance, called "phlogiston," that actually burned. [[Antoine Lavoisier]] demonstrated a combustion reaction in which the solid products clearly weighed ''more'' than the initial fuel, a thing that the phlogiston theory could not possibly explain.

== Reference ==
<table style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background: #EDF1F1; float:right; width:100px; margin-left:15px;">
<tr><td>{{fallacy|Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong}}
<tr><td>Use the <nowiki>{{fallacy|Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong}}</nowiki> template to insert the above warning on a page containing an argument that essentially says, ''Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong''. The template links the warning label to this page.
</table>
* [http://creationwiki.org/Your_theory_does_not_work_under_my_theory,_so_your_theory_must_be_wrong Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong] by [[CreationWiki]]

== See Also ==
* [[Logical fallacy]]

[[Category:Philosophy]]

Irony

2007-05-28T12:50:11Z

InnocentAbroad: add internal link

Irony is an implied discrepancy between what is said or done and what is meant or expected to happen.

The term is is commonly used in U.S. English to refer to a type of [[rhetoric]] whereby a statement or assertion is made with the intention to put across the opposite meaning. E.g. "Oh I ''really'' like your coat." In British English this is more commonly referred to as [[sarcasm]]. Whether a particular statement is construed as irony or sarcasm can often be a matter of opinion. The Sarcasm Society <ref> http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/howtorecognizeirony/</ref> offers the following distinction:
:'''Sarcasm ''' can be illustrated by the speaker saying, "I appreciate your help.", when no help was provided to the speaker. However, when the speaker says speaker says, "It was a bit cold.", after losing a leg due to frost bite, this understatement can be construed as '''irony'''.

It is received wisdom in Britain that irony is not well understood in the U.S. <ref> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3433375.stm </ref> <ref> http://www.humor-and-laughing.com/50436.php</ref>. However the re-election of [[George W.Bush]] has convinced many in the U.K. that this is simply not true. <ref> Quote: Many sources for this, but see, for example: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/political_wrap/jan-june05/sb_5-6.html. "The irony is George Bush won reelection in November in spite of his economic record. Tony Blair probably won reelection because of his economic record. "</ref>

It might be useful to distinguish three kinds of irony <ref> definition adapted from: http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/irony.html</ref>:

'''Verbal irony''', when an author says one thing and means something else. This is sometimes called 'Socratic Irony' and is used by teachers pretending to be foolish or ignorant, to expose the ignorance of another.

'''Dramatic irony''', when an audience perceives something that a character in literature does not know. The effect can be tragic, such as in '[[Romeo & Juliet]]', where the fate of the characters is sealed at the start of the play, or comedic, such as in '[[Twelfth Night]]' where Malvolio is duped by Maria and Toby. Such irony can work in reverse, where some characters in drama understand their actions, but the audience is duped into thinking something else. Such is the situation in [[The Village]], or [[The Sixth Sense]].

'''Irony of situation''', a discrepency between the expected result and actual results. An example of this definition of ''irony'' might be a boxer betting his life savings on a fight he expects to lose, and then accidentally winning the fight.

The current situation is further clouded by the fact that literature, cinema, fashion and behaviour can now be described as [[post irony|post ironic]]. This term is often used when a statement is made which is insulting, and which potentially could be true, is not meant as an insult. An example of this is being asked "Does my bum look big in this?", and replying: "It's looks bigger than an elephant's". This taken on face value could be seen to be insulting. However the implication here is that this latter statement is ironic, and no insult is intended. The problem with post irony is that it is often difficult to distinguish between fashion gaffs, insults and poor literature and attempts to be 'cool', 'subtle', and 'sophisticated'. <ref> For further clarification on this see the urban dictionary definition at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=post-ironic </ref>

The following statement which appeared in the original version of the article can also be construed as irony:

"Something made of, or largely composed of, [[iron]] can be described as ''irony''.
<nowiki>[[Category:Chemistry]]</nowiki>"

===references===

<references/>