Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Neo-Darwinism

2010-10-28T03:33:54Z

PSvensson: fixed again

'''Neo-Darwinism''' is a "materialistic [[theory of origins]]"<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?id=349 The Discovery Institute: The "Wedge Document"?: "So What?"]</ref>
which states that "[[evolution]] is driven by random genetic [[mutation]]s followed by the weeding out of unfavorable variations by [[natural selection]]." <ref>[http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/science/prat-bra.htm John Eccles on Mind and Brain]</ref> The element "Neo-" in the term, meaning "new" refers to the melding of the [[Christian]] science of [[genetics]] put forward by [[Gregor Mendel]] with the [[liberal]] [[Darwinian]] [[pseudoscience]] of [[evolution]].

{{quotebox|The term evolution can have different meanings, such as “change over time” or even “progress.” However, in modern [[biology]], evolution centers on two ideas. The first is that all the organisms we see are descended from a [[single common ancestor]] somewhere in the distant past. The second foundational idea is that an [[unguided]] process of [[natural selection]] (“[[survival of the fittest]]”) has the power to produce fundamentally new forms of life through [[random mutation]]s. This view of evolution is known as “Neo- Darwinism.” <ref>[http://www.getexpelled.com/_downloads/expelled_leadersguide.pdf]</ref>}}

{{quotebox|Despite the fact that most Americans believe that God created life, the only “origin of life” theory taught in the majority of American schools is Neo-Darwinism, which at its core holds that a random [[undirected]] process has led from non-life to all of the marvelous complexity we see in the living world. [ibid] }}

As an explanation for design in [[biology]], [[Darwinism]] is perfectly secure when it is regarded as a deduction from [[materialism]], but remarkably insecure when it is subjected to empirical testing. <ref>[http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/14/oct95/dennett.htm]</ref>

{{quotebox|“By coupling [[undirected]], purposeless variation to the blind, uncaring process of natural selection, Darwin made theological or spiritual explanations of the life processes superfluous.” From Evolutionary Biology, a widely used college textbook.}}

==See also==

*[[Theory of evolution and liberalism]]
*[[Undirected evolution]]

[[Category:Evolution]]

==References==
<references/>

Neo-Darwinism

2010-10-28T03:32:54Z

PSvensson: fixed some references

'''Neo-Darwinism''' is a "materialistic [[theory of origins]]"<ref>[The Discovery Institute: The "Wedge Document"?: "So What?" http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?id=349]</ref>
which states that "[[evolution]] is driven by random genetic [[mutation]]s followed by the weeding out of unfavorable variations by [[natural selection]]." <ref>[John Eccles on Mind and Brain http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/science/prat-bra.htm]</ref> The element "Neo-" in the term, meaning "new" refers to the melding of the [[Christian]] science of [[genetics]] put forward by [[Gregor Mendel]] with the [[liberal]] [[Darwinian]] [[pseudoscience]] of [[evolution]].

{{quotebox|The term evolution can have different meanings, such as “change over time” or even “progress.” However, in modern [[biology]], evolution centers on two ideas. The first is that all the organisms we see are descended from a [[single common ancestor]] somewhere in the distant past. The second foundational idea is that an [[unguided]] process of [[natural selection]] (“[[survival of the fittest]]”) has the power to produce fundamentally new forms of life through [[random mutation]]s. This view of evolution is known as “Neo- Darwinism.” <ref>[http://www.getexpelled.com/_downloads/expelled_leadersguide.pdf]</ref>}}

{{quotebox|Despite the fact that most Americans believe that God created life, the only “origin of life” theory taught in the majority of American schools is Neo-Darwinism, which at its core holds that a random [[undirected]] process has led from non-life to all of the marvelous complexity we see in the living world. [ibid] }}

As an explanation for design in [[biology]], [[Darwinism]] is perfectly secure when it is regarded as a deduction from [[materialism]], but remarkably insecure when it is subjected to empirical testing. <ref>[http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/14/oct95/dennett.htm]</ref>

{{quotebox|“By coupling [[undirected]], purposeless variation to the blind, uncaring process of natural selection, Darwin made theological or spiritual explanations of the life processes superfluous.” From Evolutionary Biology, a widely used college textbook.}}

==See also==

*[[Theory of evolution and liberalism]]
*[[Undirected evolution]]

[[Category:Evolution]]

==References==
<references/>

Neo-Darwinism

2010-10-28T03:22:03Z

PSvensson: cleaned up a bit and explained neo-

'''Neo-Darwinism''' is a "materialistic [[theory of origins]]"<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/filesDB-download.php?id=349]</ref>
which states that "[[evolution]] is driven by random genetic [[mutation]]s followed by the weeding out of unfavorable variations by [[natural selection]]." [http://www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/science/prat-bra.htm] The element "Neo-" in the term, meaning "new" refers to the melding of the [[Christian]] science of [[genetics]] put forward by [[Gregor Mendel]] with the [[liberal]] [[Darwinian]] [[pseudoscience]] of [[evolution]].

{{quotebox|The term evolution can have different meanings, such as “change over time” or even “progress.” However, in modern [[biology]], evolution centers on two ideas. The first is that all the organisms we see are descended from a [[single common ancestor]] somewhere in the distant past. The second foundational idea is that an [[unguided]] process of [[natural selection]] (“[[survival of the fittest]]”) has the power to produce fundamentally new forms of life through [[random mutation]]s. This view of evolution is known as “Neo- Darwinism.” [http://www.getexpelled.com/_downloads/expelled_leadersguide.pdf]}}

{{quotebox|Despite the fact that most Americans believe that God created life, the only “origin of life” theory taught in the majority of American schools is Neo-Darwinism, which at its core holds that a random [[undirected]] process has led from non-life to all of the marvelous complexity we see in the living world. [ibid] }}

As an explanation for design in [[biology]], [[Darwinism]] is perfectly secure when it is regarded as a deduction from [[materialism]], but remarkably insecure when it is subjected to empirical testing. [http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/14/oct95/dennett.htm]

{{quotebox|“By coupling [[undirected]], purposeless variation to the blind, uncaring process of natural selection, Darwin made theological or spiritual explanations of the life processes superfluous.” From Evolutionary Biology, a widely used college textbook.}}

==See also==

*[[Theory of evolution and liberalism]]
*[[Undirected evolution]]

[[Category:Evolution]]

==References==
<references/>

Abbie Hoffman

2010-10-28T03:14:58Z

PSvensson: edited inflammatory language

'''Abbie Hoffman''' was a political activist and writer who founded the [[Youth International Party]] (Yippies) <ref>ATTAC Terror Report, [http://www.attacreport.com/ar_terror/tframe.php?region=namerica&group=yip Youth International Party].</ref>. He was one of the key figures in the [[Chicago Seven Trial]].

He was known for outrageous protests-one of the most famous being the throwing of Money in front of the New York Stock Exchange to speak out against the [[free market|free market system]]. Hoffman was arrested for mutilating the United States flag, one of his many crimes, as the [[FBI]] had a 4101 page file on him and his activities.

Hoffman was involved in organizing political protests surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention which culminated in violence between protesters and police. On March 20, 1969, he was indicted by a grand jury on charges of conspiracy and crossing state lines to incite a riot. He was found guilty of the latter charge on February 18, 1970, and sentenced to five years in prison. This sentence was later overturned. <ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/Account.html</ref>

He went underground in 1973 to avoid being convicted in a drug bust. The coroner ruled Hoffman's death at the age of 63 in 1989 a suicide caused by a lethal combination of [[alcohol]] and prescription medications. Hoffman authored the countercultural book ''Steal This Book''.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==

*[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Chicago7/hoffmanA.html mini-bio at UKMC School of Law]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Abbie}}

[[Category:Political Activists]]

Bruno Pontecorvo

2010-10-28T03:10:44Z

PSvensson: /* Background */

'''Bruno Pontecorvo''' (22 August 1913 - 24 September 1993) was an [[Italy|Italian]]-born nuclear physicist who famously defected to the [[USSR]] in 1950.

==Background==
Born into a non-observant [[Jewish]] family, he fled from [[Europe]] to the [[USA]] in 1940. In 1943 he became a member of the joint Anglo-Canadian atomic energy team at [[Montreal]]. In 1948 he obtained [[Great Britain|British]] citizenship and joined the British atomic bomb project at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE), in Harwell, [[Oxfordshire]] where he joined the Nuclear Physics Division as a principal scientific officer, led by [[Egon Bretscher]]. It is perhaps possible that the [[Counterexamples to Relativity|dubious liberal theory of relativity]] corrupted Pontecorvo's spirit into servitude at the hands of the Soviet Union.

==Defection==
In 1950 he was due to take up the position of chair of physics at [[Liverpool University]] but disappeared with his family after visiting [[Stockholm]]. His disappearance came just 10 months after another Harwell scientist, [[Klaus Fuchs]], confessed to [[espionage|spying]] for the [[Soviet Union]]. The then British Minister of Supply, George Strauss, told [[Member of Parliament|MPs]] that the professor had had only limited access to "secret subjects" for some time, but he admitted it would have been possible for the professor to gather information, at Harwell or while he was in Canada, which could be "of value to the enemy".

Confirmation he had fled to Moscow came in March 1955 when he appeared at a news conference in Russia. He also wrote an article in [[Pravda]] in which he said he was involved in research into the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes and had left the West because in his view it was intent on "new war using atomic and nuclear weapons as a means for achieving world domination".

Documents released by the [[Public Records Office]] under the [[Thirty year rule|30-year rule]] revealed an administrative error had led to his being given security clearance to work at Harwell even though a search of his home in 1943 had uncovered many documents on [[communism]]. While in the USA he had not been asked to contribute to the [[Manhattan Project]] for the construction of the American atomic bomb, possibly because of his socialist beliefs.

He was awarded the Lenin prize for nuclear research in 1963.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontecorvo, Bruno}}

[[Category:Espionage]]

Biblical inerrancy

2010-10-28T03:05:06Z

PSvensson: /* Inerrant in English translation */

{{Bible}}
'''Biblical inerrancy''' is the doctrinal position that the [[Bible]] is without flaw or error.

There are differing views on inerrancy, ranging from it applying only to the Bible's spiritual teaching to it applying to the English-language [[King James Bible|Authorised (King James) version]].
[[Evangelical]]s hold that it applies to the original manuscripts.

== Versions of inerrancy ==

All views of inerrancy are supported by the idea that the Bible is the message from God to mankind, and therefore cannot be [[Alleged Bible contradictions|in error]].

Books on Divine Action—''[[Divine Action and Modern Science]]'' ([[Oxford University]] Press, 2002) and the Vatican Observatory-sponsored ''[[Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action]]''—also presuppose a [[Religious right|conservative]] biblical authority over science, which is inherent in the doctrine of inerrancy.

As many as one third of Americans hold that the Bible is the actual Word of God, to be taken literally.<ref>http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/OneThird-Americans-Believe-Bible-Literally-True.aspx</ref>

=== Inerrant in original manuscripts ===

Evangelical Christians believe that the original biblical manuscripts, as opposed to translations or later versions, were inerrant.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/inerrant0.htm Introduction to Biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and authority]</ref>

This view was supported by nearly 300 evangelical scholars who signed the ''[[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]]'' in 1978.
These scholars included [[James Boice]], [[Norman Geisler]], [[John Gerstner]], [[Carl F. H. Henry]], [[Kenneth Kantzer]], [[Harold Lindsell]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]], [[Roger Nicole]], [[J. I. Packer]], [[Robert Preus]], [[Earl Radmacher]], [[Francis Schaeffer]], [[R. C. Sproul]], and [[John Wenham]].<ref>[http://www.kulikovskyonline.net/hermeneutics/csbe.htm Chicago Statement on
Biblical Inerrancy]</ref>

=== Inerrant in English translation ===

A few Christians take that position one step further and believe that God has preserved His word, so that there is an inerrant Bible today. The latter view is based on the following: (i) God has promised to preserve His word in Psalm 12:6-7<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2012:6-7&version=9 Psalm 12:6-7 (KJV)]</ref>, and (ii) inerrancy only in the original manuscripts, which are lost to us, would do modern Christians no good<ref>[http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/page6.html Faithful Word Baptist Church Doctrinal Statement]</ref>. It is unlikely that God would have allowed His word to be twisted in any subsequent translations, given that He could have simply inspired those doing the work in the same way as He did with those who wrote the original texts.

The ''Chicago Statement'''s answer to this is that the copies and translations are sufficiently faithful to the originals as to not affect any essential teaching.<ref>Article X of the ''Statement'' says:{{QuoteBox|WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.
 
 
WE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.}}</ref> As suggested earlier, many true Christians claim that statements in one language can be reduced to a [[logic|logical]] propositional form and as such rendered in any other language with total fidelity.<ref>[http://creation.com/the-bible-and-hermeneutics Creation Ministries International: The Bible and hermeneutics]</ref>

=== Inerrant in matters of spiritual truth ===

Some Christian believe that the Bible is inerrant as a source of spiritual truth, but is more appropriately interpreted as metaphor or allegory in certain places (eg, the six day creation).

This view is the official stance of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

==Liberal Christianity and Biblical Inerrancy==
In general, [[Liberal Christianity|liberal Christians]] tend to reject Biblical inerrancy in all forms, since certain passages<ref>http://bible.cc/leviticus/18-22.htm</ref> clash with their liberal ideology regarding things like [[homosexuality]] and the [[Women#New Testament statements on the role of women|role of women]]. One problem which is seen with this view is that by rejecting the Bible or passages therein as inspired, due to them being contrary to a desired meaning or practice, then the authority of the Bible itself document loses its authority or relevance as a guide to morality and [[Christian]] behavior. It is reasoned that the Bible cannot be held as sacred if one arbitrarily decides that [[Cafeteria Christianity|some of it isn't]]. Nor could someone who does not take the Bible seriously as God's preserved word [[hypocrisy|call on others to do so]].

Some argue that if the Bible cannot be proven inerrant, then the claim within it would be irrelevant.<ref>Geisler & Nix (1986). ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-8024-2916-5</ref>

Those holding to liberal revisionist views of the Bible most typically hold to the the ''Documentary Source Hypothesis'', which is contended against by many conservatives.<ref>[http://www.ukapologetics.net/docu.htm THE 'DOCUMENTARY SOURCE HYPOTHESIS' Does Anyone Still Believe the 'Documentary Hypothesis'?]</ref>

===Seventies debate===
Two books in 1976 sparked a firestorm of books and papers amongst religious studies scholars. These were Harold Lindsell's ''The Battle for the Bible'' and James Barr's ''Fundamentalism''. Lindsell's book is sympathetic towards conservative Christianity, while Barr's is hostile. Despite this key difference, both were in remarkable agreement that biblical inerrancy provides the "first line of defense" and demarks the "proverbial line in the sand" between [[Religious Left|liberal]] and [[Religious right|conservative christianity]]. <ref> "Evangelicals, Biblical Scholarship, and the Politics of the Modern American Academy" in ''Evangelicals and science in Historical Perspective'', David N. Livingstone, D. G. Hart, Mark A. Noll (Editors), Oxford University Press, 1999, p.306-326 </ref>

==External Links==

*[http://www.inerrancy.org Christian Debater]
*[http://www.tektonics.org Tekton Apologetics Ministries]
*[http://www.goodcatholicbooks.org/inerrancy/inerrancy-scripture.html On the Inerrancy of Scripture] - Licentiate thesis by Thomas Bolin

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:bible]]

Biblical inerrancy

2010-10-28T03:04:34Z

PSvensson: /* Inerrant in English translation */

{{Bible}}
'''Biblical inerrancy''' is the doctrinal position that the [[Bible]] is without flaw or error.

There are differing views on inerrancy, ranging from it applying only to the Bible's spiritual teaching to it applying to the English-language [[King James Bible|Authorised (King James) version]].
[[Evangelical]]s hold that it applies to the original manuscripts.

== Versions of inerrancy ==

All views of inerrancy are supported by the idea that the Bible is the message from God to mankind, and therefore cannot be [[Alleged Bible contradictions|in error]].

Books on Divine Action—''[[Divine Action and Modern Science]]'' ([[Oxford University]] Press, 2002) and the Vatican Observatory-sponsored ''[[Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action]]''—also presuppose a [[Religious right|conservative]] biblical authority over science, which is inherent in the doctrine of inerrancy.

As many as one third of Americans hold that the Bible is the actual Word of God, to be taken literally.<ref>http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/OneThird-Americans-Believe-Bible-Literally-True.aspx</ref>

=== Inerrant in original manuscripts ===

Evangelical Christians believe that the original biblical manuscripts, as opposed to translations or later versions, were inerrant.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/inerrant0.htm Introduction to Biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and authority]</ref>

This view was supported by nearly 300 evangelical scholars who signed the ''[[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]]'' in 1978.
These scholars included [[James Boice]], [[Norman Geisler]], [[John Gerstner]], [[Carl F. H. Henry]], [[Kenneth Kantzer]], [[Harold Lindsell]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]], [[Roger Nicole]], [[J. I. Packer]], [[Robert Preus]], [[Earl Radmacher]], [[Francis Schaeffer]], [[R. C. Sproul]], and [[John Wenham]].<ref>[http://www.kulikovskyonline.net/hermeneutics/csbe.htm Chicago Statement on
Biblical Inerrancy]</ref>

=== Inerrant in English translation ===

A few Christians take that position one step further and believe that God has preserved His word, so that there is an inerrant Bible today. The latter view is based on the following: (i) God has promised to preserve His word in Psalm 12:6-7<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2012:6-7&version=9 Psalm 12:6-7 (KJV)]</ref>, and (ii) inerrancy only in the original manuscripts, which are lost to us, would do modern Christians no good<ref>[http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/page6.html Faithful Word Baptist Church Doctrinal Statement]</ref>. It is unlikely that God would have allowed His word to be twisted in any subsequent translations, given that He could have simply inspired those doing the work in the same way as He did with those who wrote the original texts.

The ''Chicago Statement'''s answer to this is that the copies and translations are sufficiently faithful to the originals as to not affect any essential teaching.<ref>Article X of the ''Statement'' says:{{QuoteBox|WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original.
 
 
WE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.}}</ref> As suggested earlier, many true Christians claim that statements in one language can be reduced to a [[logical]] propositional form and as such rendered in any other language with total fidelity.<ref>[http://creation.com/the-bible-and-hermeneutics Creation Ministries International: The Bible and hermeneutics]</ref>

=== Inerrant in matters of spiritual truth ===

Some Christian believe that the Bible is inerrant as a source of spiritual truth, but is more appropriately interpreted as metaphor or allegory in certain places (eg, the six day creation).

This view is the official stance of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

==Liberal Christianity and Biblical Inerrancy==
In general, [[Liberal Christianity|liberal Christians]] tend to reject Biblical inerrancy in all forms, since certain passages<ref>http://bible.cc/leviticus/18-22.htm</ref> clash with their liberal ideology regarding things like [[homosexuality]] and the [[Women#New Testament statements on the role of women|role of women]]. One problem which is seen with this view is that by rejecting the Bible or passages therein as inspired, due to them being contrary to a desired meaning or practice, then the authority of the Bible itself document loses its authority or relevance as a guide to morality and [[Christian]] behavior. It is reasoned that the Bible cannot be held as sacred if one arbitrarily decides that [[Cafeteria Christianity|some of it isn't]]. Nor could someone who does not take the Bible seriously as God's preserved word [[hypocrisy|call on others to do so]].

Some argue that if the Bible cannot be proven inerrant, then the claim within it would be irrelevant.<ref>Geisler & Nix (1986). ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-8024-2916-5</ref>

Those holding to liberal revisionist views of the Bible most typically hold to the the ''Documentary Source Hypothesis'', which is contended against by many conservatives.<ref>[http://www.ukapologetics.net/docu.htm THE 'DOCUMENTARY SOURCE HYPOTHESIS' Does Anyone Still Believe the 'Documentary Hypothesis'?]</ref>

===Seventies debate===
Two books in 1976 sparked a firestorm of books and papers amongst religious studies scholars. These were Harold Lindsell's ''The Battle for the Bible'' and James Barr's ''Fundamentalism''. Lindsell's book is sympathetic towards conservative Christianity, while Barr's is hostile. Despite this key difference, both were in remarkable agreement that biblical inerrancy provides the "first line of defense" and demarks the "proverbial line in the sand" between [[Religious Left|liberal]] and [[Religious right|conservative christianity]]. <ref> "Evangelicals, Biblical Scholarship, and the Politics of the Modern American Academy" in ''Evangelicals and science in Historical Perspective'', David N. Livingstone, D. G. Hart, Mark A. Noll (Editors), Oxford University Press, 1999, p.306-326 </ref>

==External Links==

*[http://www.inerrancy.org Christian Debater]
*[http://www.tektonics.org Tekton Apologetics Ministries]
*[http://www.goodcatholicbooks.org/inerrancy/inerrancy-scripture.html On the Inerrancy of Scripture] - Licentiate thesis by Thomas Bolin

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:bible]]

Biblical inerrancy

2010-10-28T03:03:27Z

PSvensson: /* Inerrant in English translation */

{{Bible}}
'''Biblical inerrancy''' is the doctrinal position that the [[Bible]] is without flaw or error.

There are differing views on inerrancy, ranging from it applying only to the Bible's spiritual teaching to it applying to the English-language [[King James Bible|Authorised (King James) version]].
[[Evangelical]]s hold that it applies to the original manuscripts.

== Versions of inerrancy ==

All views of inerrancy are supported by the idea that the Bible is the message from God to mankind, and therefore cannot be [[Alleged Bible contradictions|in error]].

Books on Divine Action—''[[Divine Action and Modern Science]]'' ([[Oxford University]] Press, 2002) and the Vatican Observatory-sponsored ''[[Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action]]''—also presuppose a [[Religious right|conservative]] biblical authority over science, which is inherent in the doctrine of inerrancy.

As many as one third of Americans hold that the Bible is the actual Word of God, to be taken literally.<ref>http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/OneThird-Americans-Believe-Bible-Literally-True.aspx</ref>

=== Inerrant in original manuscripts ===

Evangelical Christians believe that the original biblical manuscripts, as opposed to translations or later versions, were inerrant.<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/inerrant0.htm Introduction to Biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and authority]</ref>

This view was supported by nearly 300 evangelical scholars who signed the ''[[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]]'' in 1978.
These scholars included [[James Boice]], [[Norman Geisler]], [[John Gerstner]], [[Carl F. H. Henry]], [[Kenneth Kantzer]], [[Harold Lindsell]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]], [[Roger Nicole]], [[J. I. Packer]], [[Robert Preus]], [[Earl Radmacher]], [[Francis Schaeffer]], [[R. C. Sproul]], and [[John Wenham]].<ref>[http://www.kulikovskyonline.net/hermeneutics/csbe.htm Chicago Statement on
Biblical Inerrancy]</ref>

=== Inerrant in English translation ===

A few Christians take that position one step further and believe that God has preserved His word, so that there is an inerrant Bible today. The latter view is based on the following: (i) God has promised to preserve His word in Psalm 12:6-7<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2012:6-7&version=9 Psalm 12:6-7 (KJV)]</ref>, and (ii) inerrancy only in the original manuscripts, which are lost to us, would do modern Christians no good<ref>[http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/page6.html Faithful Word Baptist Church Doctrinal Statement]</ref>. It is unlikely that God would have allowed His word to be twisted in any subsequent translations, given that He could have simply inspired those doing the work in the same way as He did with those who wrote the original texts.

The ''Chicago Statement'''s answer to this is that the copies and translations are sufficiently faithful to the originals as to not affect any essential teaching.<ref>Article X of the ''Statement'' says:{{QuoteBox|WE AFFIRM that inspiration, strictly speaking, applies only to the autographic text of Scripture, which in the providence of God can be ascertained from available manuscripts with great accuracy. We further affirm that copies and translations of Scripture are the Word of God to the extent that they faithfully represent the original. As suggested earlier, many true Christians claim that statements in one language can be reduced to a [[logical]] propositional form and as such rendered in any other language with total fidelity.<ref>[http://creation.com/the-bible-and-hermeneutics Creation Ministries International: The Bible and hermeneutics]</ref>
 
 
WE DENY that any essential element of the Christian faith is affected by the absence of the autographs. We further deny that this absence renders the assertion of Biblical inerrancy invalid or irrelevant.}}</ref>

=== Inerrant in matters of spiritual truth ===

Some Christian believe that the Bible is inerrant as a source of spiritual truth, but is more appropriately interpreted as metaphor or allegory in certain places (eg, the six day creation).

This view is the official stance of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

==Liberal Christianity and Biblical Inerrancy==
In general, [[Liberal Christianity|liberal Christians]] tend to reject Biblical inerrancy in all forms, since certain passages<ref>http://bible.cc/leviticus/18-22.htm</ref> clash with their liberal ideology regarding things like [[homosexuality]] and the [[Women#New Testament statements on the role of women|role of women]]. One problem which is seen with this view is that by rejecting the Bible or passages therein as inspired, due to them being contrary to a desired meaning or practice, then the authority of the Bible itself document loses its authority or relevance as a guide to morality and [[Christian]] behavior. It is reasoned that the Bible cannot be held as sacred if one arbitrarily decides that [[Cafeteria Christianity|some of it isn't]]. Nor could someone who does not take the Bible seriously as God's preserved word [[hypocrisy|call on others to do so]].

Some argue that if the Bible cannot be proven inerrant, then the claim within it would be irrelevant.<ref>Geisler & Nix (1986). ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-8024-2916-5</ref>

Those holding to liberal revisionist views of the Bible most typically hold to the the ''Documentary Source Hypothesis'', which is contended against by many conservatives.<ref>[http://www.ukapologetics.net/docu.htm THE 'DOCUMENTARY SOURCE HYPOTHESIS' Does Anyone Still Believe the 'Documentary Hypothesis'?]</ref>

===Seventies debate===
Two books in 1976 sparked a firestorm of books and papers amongst religious studies scholars. These were Harold Lindsell's ''The Battle for the Bible'' and James Barr's ''Fundamentalism''. Lindsell's book is sympathetic towards conservative Christianity, while Barr's is hostile. Despite this key difference, both were in remarkable agreement that biblical inerrancy provides the "first line of defense" and demarks the "proverbial line in the sand" between [[Religious Left|liberal]] and [[Religious right|conservative christianity]]. <ref> "Evangelicals, Biblical Scholarship, and the Politics of the Modern American Academy" in ''Evangelicals and science in Historical Perspective'', David N. Livingstone, D. G. Hart, Mark A. Noll (Editors), Oxford University Press, 1999, p.306-326 </ref>

==External Links==

*[http://www.inerrancy.org Christian Debater]
*[http://www.tektonics.org Tekton Apologetics Ministries]
*[http://www.goodcatholicbooks.org/inerrancy/inerrancy-scripture.html On the Inerrancy of Scripture] - Licentiate thesis by Thomas Bolin

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
[[Category:bible]]

Chile

2010-10-28T02:53:46Z

PSvensson:

{{Country
|name =''República de Chile''
|map =Chile.JPG
|map2 =Chile1.png
|flag =Flag of Chile.png
|arms =Arms of Chile.png
|capital =Santiago
|capital-raw =
|government =Democratic Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Spanish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Sebastián Piñera
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
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|pm =
|pm-raw =
|chairman =
|premier =
|area =292,183 sq. mi.
|pop =16,598,074 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$212.671 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$12,983 (2006)
|currency =peso
|idd =
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}}

'''Chile''' is a country on the Pacific coast of South America, which borders [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], and [[Peru]].

==Geography==
The northern Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally [[copper]]. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in [[forest]]s and grazing lands and features a string of [[volcano]]es and [[lake]]s. The southern coast is a labyrinth of [[fjord]]s, [[inlet]]s, [[canal]]s, twisting [[peninsula]]s, and ''island''s. The [[Andes]] Mountains are located on the eastern border.
*Area: 756,945 sq. km. (302,778 sq. mi.), or nearly twice the size of California.
*Cities: Capital--Santiago (metropolitan area est. 6.25 million). Other cities: Concepcion-Talcahuano (840,000), Viña del Mar-Valparaiso (800,000), Antofagasta (245,000), Temuco (230,000).
*Terrain: Desert in north; fertile central valley; volcanoes and lakes toward the south, giving way to rugged and complex coastline; Andes Mountains on the eastern border.
*Climate: Arid in north, Mediterranean in the central portion, cool and damp in south.

==People==
About 85% of Chile's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in greater Santiago. Most have Spanish ancestry. A small, yet influential number of Irish and English immigrants came to Chile during the colonial period. German immigration began in 1848 and lasted for 90 years; the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno show a strong German influence. Other significant immigrant groups are Italian, Croatian, Basque, and Palestinian. About 800,000 Native Americans, mostly of the Mapuche tribe, reside in the south-central area. The Aymara and Diaguita groups can be found mainly in Chile’s northern desert valleys.
*Population (2009): 16.6 million.
*Annual population growth rate: 0.881%.
*Ethnic groups: Spanish-Native-American (mestizo), European, Native-American.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%.
*Language: Spanish.
*Education: Years compulsory--12. Attendance--3 million. Adult literacy rate--96%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--8.9/1,000. Life expectancy--71 yrs. for men, 78 for women.
*Work force (6.94 million); employed 6.45 million: Community, social and individual services--26%; industry--14.4%; commerce--17.6%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing--13.9%; construction--7.1%; financial services--7.5%; transportation and communication--8.0%; electricity, gas and water--0.5%; mining--1.2%.

==Government==
Chile's Constitution was approved in a September 1980 national plebiscite. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005, President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Presidential and congressional elections were held December 2005 and January 2006. In the first round of presidential elections, none of the four presidential candidates won more than 50% of the vote. As a result, the top two vote-getters--center-left Concertacion coalition’s Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition’s Sebastian Pinera--competed in a run-off election on January 15, 2006, which Michelle Bachelet won. This was Chile’s fourth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. President Bachelet and the new members of Congress took office on March 11, 2006.

Chile has a bicameral Congress, which meets in the port city of Valparaiso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Deputies are elected every 4 years, and Senators serve 8-year terms. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district. Historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertacion and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats.

In the December 11, 2005 congressional elections, the Concertacion coalition won a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In the 38-member Senate, the Concertacion coalition holds 20 seats and the Alianza opposition holds 17. There is one independent. In the 120-member Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalitions holds 65 seats and the Alianza holds 54. There is one independent.

Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. In June 2005, Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

===Principal Government Officials===
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet.jpg|thumb|Michelle Bachelet. (Photo:Ricardo Stuckert, Agência Brasil.)]]
*President--Sebastián Piñera
*Minister of Interior--Belisario Velasco
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Alejandro FOXLEY Rioseco
*Ambassador to the United States--Mariano Fernández
*Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS)--Pedro OYARCE Yuraszeck
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Heraldo MUNOZ Valenzuela

===Foreign Relations===
Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. [[Jose Miguel Insulza]], a Chilean national, was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States in May 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade.
[[File:Insulza.jpg|thumb|José Miguel Insulza]]
The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations and are represented at the Consul General level.

==Defense==
Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The President has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

===Army===
The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is General Oscar Izurieta Ferrer. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America.

===Navy===
Admiral Rodolfo Codina directs the 23,000-person Navy, including 2,500 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants (frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaiso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano.

===Air Force (FACH)===
Gen. Ricardo Ortega Perrier heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, [[Antarctica]]. The FACH took delivery of 14 [[F-16]] aircraft in 2006 and will take delivery of 14 more in 2007.

===Carabineros===
After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Jose Bernales is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

==Economy==
After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile began to experience a moderate economic downturn in 1999, brought on by unfavorable global economic conditions related to the Asian financial crisis, which began in 1997. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Real GDP growth reached 6.3% in 2005 before falling back to 4.0% growth in 2006. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in 2006. Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions (including record copper prices for much of 2006) were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in 2006 was among the weakest in Latin America.
*GDP (official exchange rate): $150.4 billion.
*Annual real growth rate: -1.5%.
*Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity): $14,700.
*Forestry, agriculture, and fisheries (6% of GDP): Products--fruits, wheat, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, onions, beans, livestock, fish.
*Commerce (8% of GDP): Sales, restaurants, hotels.
*Manufacturing (17% of GDP): Types--mineral refining, metal manufacturing, food processing, fish processing, paper and wood products, finished textiles.
*Electricity, gas, and water: 3% of GDP.
*Transportation and communication: 7% of GDP.
*Construction: 8% of GDP.
*Financial services (12% of GDP): Insurance, leasing, consulting.
*Mining (13% of GDP): Copper, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, and molybdenum.
*Trade: Exports--$57.61 billion: copper, fruits and nuts, fish and seafood, and wood products. Major markets--U.S., Japan, China, Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Mexico. Imports--$40.91 billion: fuels, heavy industrial machinery, motor vehicles, electrical machinery, plastic. Major suppliers--U.S., China, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea.

Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization, though at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant CODELCO and a few other enterprises (there is one state-run bank). Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with a whole network of countries, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. Over the last several years, Chile has signed FTAs with the European Union, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, China, and Japan. It reached a partial trade agreement with India in 2005 and began negotiations for a full-fledged FTA with India in 2006. Chile plans to continue its focus on its trade ties with Asia by negotiating in 2007 trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

High domestic savings and investment rates helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system (AFP) has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP. However, the AFP is not without its critics, who cite low participation rates (only 55% of the working population is covered), with groups such as the self-employed outside the system. There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years.

Unemployment stubbornly hovered in the 8%-10% range after the start of the economic slowdown in 1999, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment finally dipped to 7.8% at the end of 2006, due largely to the fact that fewer Chileans were entering the workforce rather than to a substantial and sustained creation of new jobs. Most international observers place some of the blame for Chile’s consistently high unemployment rate on complicated and restrictive labor laws. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The percentage of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a family of four’s minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% in 1987 to around 18% by 2004.

Chile's independent Central Bank pursues an inflation target of between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered an inflation rate of 3.2% in 2006. The Chilean peso’s rapid appreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent years has helped dampen inflation. Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $3.4 billion in 2006, up 52% from a poor performance in 2005. However, 80% of FDI continues to go to only four sectors: electricity, gas, water and mining. Much of the jump in FDI in 2006 was also the result of acquisitions and mergers and has done little to create new employment in Chile. The Chilean Government has formed a Council on Innovation and Competition, which is tasked with identifying new sectors and industries to promote. It is hoped that this, combined with some tax reforms to encourage domestic and foreign investment in research and development, will bring in additional FDI and to new parts of the economy. As of 2006, Chile invested only 0.6% of its annual GDP in research and development (R&D). Even then, two-thirds of that was government spending. The fact that domestic and foreign companies spend almost nothing on R&D does not bode well for the Government of Chile’s efforts to develop innovative, knowledge-based sectors. Additionally, on January 8, 2007, Chile was placed on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Priority Watch List due to its poor record on protecting intellectual property rights. Chile is only the second U.S. FTA partner ever to be placed on the Priority Watch List. Chile has a poor and deteriorating record of protecting copyrighted music, films, and software. Combined with this is its institutional structure allowing local companies to produce and market pharmaceutical generics that violate existing patents. Beyond its general economic and political stability, the government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to operate in the region, but this will have limited value given the developing business climate in Chile itself. Chile's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. While Chile and the EU have signed a double taxation treaty, no such agreement exists between the U.S. and Chile.

Mining was temporarily curtailed following an accident in which 33 miners were trapped after a cave-in at the San Jose mine<ref>http://www.minandes.com/s/RoadtoProduction.asp</ref> near Copiapo on August 5, 2010. A rescue attempt - bolstered by national pride at getting the men out alive - ended 67 days later on October 13 as the last of the men were pulled out to safety.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/12/rescued-chilean-miner-returns-surface/</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7961923/Chilean-miners-trapped-in-San-Jose-mine.html</ref>

===Foreign Trade===
2006 was a record year for Chilean trade. Total trade registered a 31% increase over 2005. During 2006, exports of goods and services totaled U.S. $58 billion, an increase of 41%. This figure was somewhat distorted by the skyrocketing price of copper. In 2006, copper exports reached a historical high of U.S. $33.3 billion. Imports totaled U.S. $35 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. Chile thus recorded a positive trade balance of U.S. $23 billion in 2006.

The main destinations for Chilean exports were the Americas (U.S. $39 billion), Asia (U.S. $27.8 billion) and Europe (U.S. $22.2 billion). Seen as shares of Chile’s export markets, 42% of exports went to the Americas, 30% to Asia and 24% to Europe. Within Chile’s diversified network of trade relationships, its most important partner remained the United States. Total trade with the U.S. was U.S. $14.8 billion in 2006. Since the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement went into effect on January 1, 2004, U.S.-Chilean trade has increased by 154%. Internal Government of Chile figures show that even when factoring out inflation and the recent high price of copper, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Chile has grown over 60% since then.

Total trade with Europe also grew in 2006, expanding by 42%. The Netherlands and Italy were Chile’s main European trading partners. Total trade with Asia also grew significantly at nearly 31%. Trade with Korea and Japan grew significantly, but China remained Chile’s most important trading partner in Asia. Chile’s total trade with China reached U.S. $8.8 billion in 2006, representing nearly 66% of the value of its trade relationship with Asia.

The growth of exports in 2006 was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U.S. $5.5 billion worth of Chilean exports. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U.S. $9.3 billion, representing a 37.7% increase compared to 2005 (U.S. $6.7 billion). Exports to the European Union were U.S. $15.4 billion, a 63.7% increased compared to 2005 (U.S. $9.4 billion). Exports to Asia increased from U.S. $15.2 billion in 2005 to U.S. $19.7 billion in 2006, a 29.9% increase.

During 2006, Chile imported U.S. $26 billion from the Americas, representing 54% of total imports, followed by Asia at 22%, and Europe at 16%. Mercosur members were the main suppliers of imports to Chile at U.S. $9.1 billion, followed by the United States with U.S. $5.5 billion and the European Union with U.S. $5.2 billion. From Asia, China was the most important exporter to Chile, with goods valued at U.S. $3.6 billion. Year-on-year growth in imports was especially strong from a number of countries--Ecuador (123.9%), Thailand (72.1%), Korea (52.6%), and China (36.9%).

Chile’s overall trade profile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports. The state-owned firm CODELCO is the world's largest copper-producing company, with recorded copper reserves of 200 years. Chile has made an effort to expand nontraditional exports. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine.

Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued trade-liberalizing agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. Chile, as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. To that end, it has signed trade agreements in recent years with New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, India, China, and most recently Japan. In 2007, Chile plans to begin negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003 that will lead to completely duty-free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S. and Chilean congresses. The bilateral FTA has inaugurated greatly expanded U.S.-Chilean trade ties, with total bilateral trade jumping by 154% during the FTA’s first three years.

Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations in 2002, and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA, the price bands will be completely phased out for U.S. imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar within 12 years.

Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and is active in the WTO’s Doha round of negotiations, principally through its membership in the G-20 and Cairns Group.

===Finance===
Chile's financial sector has grown quickly in recent years, with a banking reform law approved in 1997 that broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean Government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001, and there is further pending legislation proposing further liberalization. Over the last ten years, Chileans have enjoyed the introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has also been accompanied by an increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $70 billion at the end of 2006, has been an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (S&P A+) in Latin America. There are three main ways for Chilean firms to raise funds abroad: bank loans, issuance of bonds, and the selling of stocks on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Nearly all of the funds raised through these means go to finance domestic Chilean investment. The government is required by law to run a fiscal surplus of at least 1% of GDP. In 2006, the Government of Chile ran a surplus of $11.3 billion, equal to almost 8% of GDP. The Government of Chile continues to pay down its foreign debt, with public debt only 3.9% of GDP at the end of 2006.

==History==
About 10,000 years ago, migrating Indians settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's barrenness prevented extensive settlement. The first Europeans to arrive in Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru seeking gold in 1535. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand--heir to the deposed king--was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the "Reconquista" led to a prolonged struggle.

Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. A strong presidency eventually emerged, but wealthy landowners remained extremely powerful. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians. In 1881, it signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. Chile established a parliamentary democracy in the late 19th century, but degenerated into a system protecting the interests of the ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose.

Continuing political and economic instability resulted with the rule of the quasidictatorial Gen. Carlos Ibanez (1924-32). When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy.

The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei-Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende, a Marxist and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP) coalition of socialists, communists, radicals, and dissident Christian Democrats, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest and was named President by the Chilean Congress. His program included the nationalization of private industries and banks, massive land expropriation, and collectivization. Allende's program also included the nationalization of U.S. interests in Chile's major copper mines.

Elected with only 36% of the vote and by a plurality of only 36,000 votes, Allende never enjoyed majority support in the Chilean Congress or broad popular support. Domestic production declined; severe shortages of consumer goods, food, and manufactured products were widespread; and inflation reached 1,000% per annum. Mass demonstrations, recurring strikes, violence by both government supporters and opponents, and widespread rural unrest ensued in response to the general deterioration of the economy. Allende even consulted British [[cybernetics|cybernetician]] and [[socialist]] Stafford Beer to create [[Project Cybersyn]], a network of computers that were designated to automate Allende's totalitarian rule over the Chilean people. It is alleged that Allende and Beer were even conspiring to rule over the Chilean populace with robots. Failing to acknowledge the role of God-given [[liberty]] and [[free will]] in human life, Project Cybersyn never saw completion and was considered dysfunctional within only a year of its beginnings. Under these dire circumstances, Chilean society had split into two hostile camps by 1973.

A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime in particular were marked by serious human rights violations. The Rettig Report chronicles 2,279 politically motivated killings under Pinochet's reign.<ref>http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm [http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm]</ref> A new Constitution was approved by a plebiscite on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In its later years, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union activity. In contrast to its authoritarian political rule, the military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

[[Milton Friedman]] said,
* "... the really extraordinary thing about the Chilean case was that a military government followed the opposite of military policies. The military is distinguished from the ordinary economy by the fact that it's a top-down organization. The general tells the colonel, the colonel tells the captain, and so on down, whereas a market is a bottom-up organization. The customer goes into the store and tells the retailer what he wants; the retailer sends it back up the line to the manufacturer and so on. So the basic organizational principles in the military are almost the opposite of the basic organizational principles of a free market and a free society. And the really remarkable thing about Chile is that the military adopted the free-market arrangements instead of the military arrangements."<ref> [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10 Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman on PBS]</ref>

During its 16 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans voted for elections to choose a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress. On December 14, 1989, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertacion, was elected president. Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994 and was succeeded by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (son of the previous President), leading the same coalition, for a 6-year term. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy led the Concertacion to a narrower victory in 2000 presidential elections. His term ended on March 11, 2006, when President Michelle Bachelet Jeria took office.

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Gallery of South-American painting]]

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm]}}}.
|}

{{Nb countries south america}}
[[Category:Spanish Empire]]

Chile

2010-10-15T18:33:22Z

PSvensson: /* History */

{{Country
|name =''República de Chile''
|map =Chile.JPG
|map2 =Chile1.png
|flag =Flag of Chile.png
|arms =Arms of Chile.png
|capital =Santiago
|capital-raw =
|government =Democratic Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Spanish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Sebastián Piñera
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|chairman =
|premier =
|area =292,183 sq. mi.
|pop =16,598,074 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$212.671 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$12,983 (2006)
|currency =peso
|idd =
|tld =
}}

'''Chile''' is a country on the Pacific coast of South America, which borders [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], and [[Peru]].

==Geography==
The northern Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally [[copper]]. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in [[forest]]s and grazing lands and features a string of [[volcano]]es and [[lake]]s. The southern coast is a labyrinth of [[fjord]]s, [[inlet]]s, [[canal]]s, twisting [[peninsula]]s, and ''island''s. The [[Andes]] Mountains are located on the eastern border.
*Area: 756,945 sq. km. (302,778 sq. mi.), or nearly twice the size of California.
*Cities: Capital--Santiago (metropolitan area est. 6.25 million). Other cities: Concepcion-Talcahuano (840,000), Viña del Mar-Valparaiso (800,000), Antofagasta (245,000), Temuco (230,000).
*Terrain: Desert in north; fertile central valley; volcanoes and lakes toward the south, giving way to rugged and complex coastline; Andes Mountains on the eastern border.
*Climate: Arid in north, Mediterranean in the central portion, cool and damp in south.

==People==
About 85% of Chile's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in greater Santiago. Most have Spanish ancestry. A small, yet influential number of Irish and English immigrants came to Chile during the colonial period. German immigration began in 1848 and lasted for 90 years; the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno show a strong German influence. Other significant immigrant groups are Italian, Croatian, Basque, and Palestinian. About 800,000 Native Americans, mostly of the Mapuche tribe, reside in the south-central area. The Aymara and Diaguita groups can be found mainly in Chile’s northern desert valleys.
*Population (2009): 16.6 million.
*Annual population growth rate: 0.881%.
*Ethnic groups: Spanish-Native-American (mestizo), European, Native-American.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%.
*Language: Spanish.
*Education: Years compulsory--12. Attendance--3 million. Adult literacy rate--96%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--8.9/1,000. Life expectancy--71 yrs. for men, 78 for women.
*Work force (6.94 million); employed 6.45 million: Community, social and individual services--26%; industry--14.4%; commerce--17.6%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing--13.9%; construction--7.1%; financial services--7.5%; transportation and communication--8.0%; electricity, gas and water--0.5%; mining--1.2%.

==Government==
Chile's Constitution was approved in a September 1980 national plebiscite. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005, President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Presidential and congressional elections were held December 2005 and January 2006. In the first round of presidential elections, none of the four presidential candidates won more than 50% of the vote. As a result, the top two vote-getters--center-left Concertacion coalition’s Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition’s Sebastian Pinera--competed in a run-off election on January 15, 2006, which Michelle Bachelet won. This was Chile’s fourth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. President Bachelet and the new members of Congress took office on March 11, 2006.

Chile has a bicameral Congress, which meets in the port city of Valparaiso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Deputies are elected every 4 years, and Senators serve 8-year terms. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district. Historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertacion and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats.

In the December 11, 2005 congressional elections, the Concertacion coalition won a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In the 38-member Senate, the Concertacion coalition holds 20 seats and the Alianza opposition holds 17. There is one independent. In the 120-member Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalitions holds 65 seats and the Alianza holds 54. There is one independent.

Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. In June 2005, Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

===Principal Government Officials===
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet.jpg|thumb|Michelle Bachelet. (Photo:Ricardo Stuckert, Agência Brasil.)]]
*President--Sebastián Piñera
*Minister of Interior--Belisario Velasco
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Alejandro FOXLEY Rioseco
*Ambassador to the United States--Mariano Fernández
*Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS)--Pedro OYARCE Yuraszeck
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Heraldo MUNOZ Valenzuela

===Foreign Relations===
Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. [[Jose Miguel Insulza]], a Chilean national, was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States in May 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade.
[[File:Insulza.jpg|thumb|José Miguel Insulza]]
The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations and are represented at the Consul General level.

==Defense==
Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The President has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

===Army===
The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is General Oscar Izurieta Ferrer. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America.

===Navy===
Admiral Rodolfo Codina directs the 23,000-person Navy, including 2,500 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants (frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaiso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano.

===Air Force (FACH)===
Gen. Ricardo Ortega Perrier heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, [[Antarctica]]. The FACH took delivery of 14 [[F-16]] aircraft in 2006 and will take delivery of 14 more in 2007.

===Carabineros===
After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Jose Bernales is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

==Economy==
After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile began to experience a moderate economic downturn in 1999, brought on by unfavorable global economic conditions related to the Asian financial crisis, which began in 1997. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Real GDP growth reached 6.3% in 2005 before falling back to 4.0% growth in 2006. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in 2006. Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions (including record copper prices for much of 2006) were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in 2006 was among the weakest in Latin America.
*GDP (official exchange rate): $150.4 billion.
*Annual real growth rate: -1.5%.
*Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity): $14,700.
*Forestry, agriculture, and fisheries (6% of GDP): Products--fruits, wheat, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, onions, beans, livestock, fish.
*Commerce (8% of GDP): Sales, restaurants, hotels.
*Manufacturing (17% of GDP): Types--mineral refining, metal manufacturing, food processing, fish processing, paper and wood products, finished textiles.
*Electricity, gas, and water: 3% of GDP.
*Transportation and communication: 7% of GDP.
*Construction: 8% of GDP.
*Financial services (12% of GDP): Insurance, leasing, consulting.
*Mining (13% of GDP): Copper, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, and molybdenum.
*Trade: Exports--$57.61 billion: copper, fruits and nuts, fish and seafood, and wood products. Major markets--U.S., Japan, China, Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Mexico. Imports--$40.91 billion: fuels, heavy industrial machinery, motor vehicles, electrical machinery, plastic. Major suppliers--U.S., China, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea.

Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization, though at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant CODELCO and a few other enterprises (there is one state-run bank). Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with a whole network of countries, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. Over the last several years, Chile has signed FTAs with the European Union, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, China, and Japan. It reached a partial trade agreement with India in 2005 and began negotiations for a full-fledged FTA with India in 2006. Chile plans to continue its focus on its trade ties with Asia by negotiating in 2007 trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

High domestic savings and investment rates helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system (AFP) has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP. However, the AFP is not without its critics, who cite low participation rates (only 55% of the working population is covered), with groups such as the self-employed outside the system. There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years.

Unemployment stubbornly hovered in the 8%-10% range after the start of the economic slowdown in 1999, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment finally dipped to 7.8% at the end of 2006, due largely to the fact that fewer Chileans were entering the workforce rather than to a substantial and sustained creation of new jobs. Most international observers place some of the blame for Chile’s consistently high unemployment rate on complicated and restrictive labor laws. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The percentage of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a family of four’s minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% in 1987 to around 18% by 2004.

Chile's independent Central Bank pursues an inflation target of between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered an inflation rate of 3.2% in 2006. The Chilean peso’s rapid appreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent years has helped dampen inflation. Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $3.4 billion in 2006, up 52% from a poor performance in 2005. However, 80% of FDI continues to go to only four sectors: electricity, gas, water and mining. Much of the jump in FDI in 2006 was also the result of acquisitions and mergers and has done little to create new employment in Chile. The Chilean Government has formed a Council on Innovation and Competition, which is tasked with identifying new sectors and industries to promote. It is hoped that this, combined with some tax reforms to encourage domestic and foreign investment in research and development, will bring in additional FDI and to new parts of the economy. As of 2006, Chile invested only 0.6% of its annual GDP in research and development (R&D). Even then, two-thirds of that was government spending. The fact that domestic and foreign companies spend almost nothing on R&D does not bode well for the Government of Chile’s efforts to develop innovative, knowledge-based sectors. Additionally, on January 8, 2007, Chile was placed on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Priority Watch List due to its poor record on protecting intellectual property rights. Chile is only the second U.S. FTA partner ever to be placed on the Priority Watch List. Chile has a poor and deteriorating record of protecting copyrighted music, films, and software. Combined with this is its institutional structure allowing local companies to produce and market pharmaceutical generics that violate existing patents. Beyond its general economic and political stability, the government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to operate in the region, but this will have limited value given the developing business climate in Chile itself. Chile's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. While Chile and the EU have signed a double taxation treaty, no such agreement exists between the U.S. and Chile.

Mining was temporarily curtailed following an accident in which 33 miners were trapped after a cave-in at the San Jose mine<ref>http://www.minandes.com/s/RoadtoProduction.asp</ref> near Copiapo on August 5, 2010. A rescue attempt - bolstered by national pride at getting the men out alive - ended 67 days later on October 13 as the last of the men were pulled out to safety.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/12/rescued-chilean-miner-returns-surface/</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7961923/Chilean-miners-trapped-in-San-Jose-mine.html</ref>

===Foreign Trade===
2006 was a record year for Chilean trade. Total trade registered a 31% increase over 2005. During 2006, exports of goods and services totaled U.S. $58 billion, an increase of 41%. This figure was somewhat distorted by the skyrocketing price of copper. In 2006, copper exports reached a historical high of U.S. $33.3 billion. Imports totaled U.S. $35 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. Chile thus recorded a positive trade balance of U.S. $23 billion in 2006.

The main destinations for Chilean exports were the Americas (U.S. $39 billion), Asia (U.S. $27.8 billion) and Europe (U.S. $22.2 billion). Seen as shares of Chile’s export markets, 42% of exports went to the Americas, 30% to Asia and 24% to Europe. Within Chile’s diversified network of trade relationships, its most important partner remained the United States. Total trade with the U.S. was U.S. $14.8 billion in 2006. Since the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement went into effect on January 1, 2004, U.S.-Chilean trade has increased by 154%. Internal Government of Chile figures show that even when factoring out inflation and the recent high price of copper, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Chile has grown over 60% since then.

Total trade with Europe also grew in 2006, expanding by 42%. The Netherlands and Italy were Chile’s main European trading partners. Total trade with Asia also grew significantly at nearly 31%. Trade with Korea and Japan grew significantly, but China remained Chile’s most important trading partner in Asia. Chile’s total trade with China reached U.S. $8.8 billion in 2006, representing nearly 66% of the value of its trade relationship with Asia.

The growth of exports in 2006 was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U.S. $5.5 billion worth of Chilean exports. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U.S. $9.3 billion, representing a 37.7% increase compared to 2005 (U.S. $6.7 billion). Exports to the European Union were U.S. $15.4 billion, a 63.7% increased compared to 2005 (U.S. $9.4 billion). Exports to Asia increased from U.S. $15.2 billion in 2005 to U.S. $19.7 billion in 2006, a 29.9% increase.

During 2006, Chile imported U.S. $26 billion from the Americas, representing 54% of total imports, followed by Asia at 22%, and Europe at 16%. Mercosur members were the main suppliers of imports to Chile at U.S. $9.1 billion, followed by the United States with U.S. $5.5 billion and the European Union with U.S. $5.2 billion. From Asia, China was the most important exporter to Chile, with goods valued at U.S. $3.6 billion. Year-on-year growth in imports was especially strong from a number of countries--Ecuador (123.9%), Thailand (72.1%), Korea (52.6%), and China (36.9%).

Chile’s overall trade profile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports. The state-owned firm CODELCO is the world's largest copper-producing company, with recorded copper reserves of 200 years. Chile has made an effort to expand nontraditional exports. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine.

Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued trade-liberalizing agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. Chile, as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. To that end, it has signed trade agreements in recent years with New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, India, China, and most recently Japan. In 2007, Chile plans to begin negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003 that will lead to completely duty-free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S. and Chilean congresses. The bilateral FTA has inaugurated greatly expanded U.S.-Chilean trade ties, with total bilateral trade jumping by 154% during the FTA’s first three years.

Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations in 2002, and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA, the price bands will be completely phased out for U.S. imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar within 12 years.

Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and is active in the WTO’s Doha round of negotiations, principally through its membership in the G-20 and Cairns Group.

===Finance===
Chile's financial sector has grown quickly in recent years, with a banking reform law approved in 1997 that broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean Government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001, and there is further pending legislation proposing further liberalization. Over the last ten years, Chileans have enjoyed the introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has also been accompanied by an increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $70 billion at the end of 2006, has been an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (S&P A+) in Latin America. There are three main ways for Chilean firms to raise funds abroad: bank loans, issuance of bonds, and the selling of stocks on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Nearly all of the funds raised through these means go to finance domestic Chilean investment. The government is required by law to run a fiscal surplus of at least 1% of GDP. In 2006, the Government of Chile ran a surplus of $11.3 billion, equal to almost 8% of GDP. The Government of Chile continues to pay down its foreign debt, with public debt only 3.9% of GDP at the end of 2006.

==History==
About 10,000 years ago, migrating Indians settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's barrenness prevented extensive settlement. The first Europeans to arrive in Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru seeking gold in 1535. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand--heir to the deposed king--was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the "Reconquista" led to a prolonged struggle.

Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. A strong presidency eventually emerged, but wealthy landowners remained extremely powerful. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians. In 1881, it signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. Chile established a parliamentary democracy in the late 19th century, but degenerated into a system protecting the interests of the ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose.

Continuing political and economic instability resulted with the rule of the quasidictatorial Gen. Carlos Ibanez (1924-32). When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy.

The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei-Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende, a Marxist and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP) coalition of socialists, communists, radicals, and dissident Christian Democrats, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest and was named President by the Chilean Congress. His program included the nationalization of private industries and banks, massive land expropriation, and collectivization. Allende's program also included the nationalization of U.S. interests in Chile's major copper mines.

Elected with only 36% of the vote and by a plurality of only 36,000 votes, Allende never enjoyed majority support in the Chilean Congress or broad popular support. Domestic production declined; severe shortages of consumer goods, food, and manufactured products were widespread; and inflation reached 1,000% per annum. Mass demonstrations, recurring strikes, violence by both government supporters and opponents, and widespread rural unrest ensued in response to the general deterioration of the economy. Allende even consulted British [[cybernetics|cybernetician]] and [[socialist]] Stafford Beer to create [[Project Cybersyn]], a network of computers that were designated to automate Allende's totalitarian rule over the Chilean people. Failing to acknowledge the role of God-given [[liberty]] and [[free will]] in human life, Project Cybersyn never saw completion and was considered dysfunctional within only a year of its beginnings. Under these dire circumstances, Chilean society had split into two hostile camps by 1973.

A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime in particular were marked by serious human rights violations. The Rettig Report chronicles 2,279 politically motivated killings under Pinochet's reign.<ref>http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm [http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm]</ref> A new Constitution was approved by a plebiscite on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In its later years, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union activity. In contrast to its authoritarian political rule, the military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

[[Milton Friedman]] said,
* "... the really extraordinary thing about the Chilean case was that a military government followed the opposite of military policies. The military is distinguished from the ordinary economy by the fact that it's a top-down organization. The general tells the colonel, the colonel tells the captain, and so on down, whereas a market is a bottom-up organization. The customer goes into the store and tells the retailer what he wants; the retailer sends it back up the line to the manufacturer and so on. So the basic organizational principles in the military are almost the opposite of the basic organizational principles of a free market and a free society. And the really remarkable thing about Chile is that the military adopted the free-market arrangements instead of the military arrangements."<ref> [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10 Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman on PBS]</ref>

During its 16 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans voted for elections to choose a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress. On December 14, 1989, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertacion, was elected president. Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994 and was succeeded by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (son of the previous President), leading the same coalition, for a 6-year term. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy led the Concertacion to a narrower victory in 2000 presidential elections. His term ended on March 11, 2006, when President Michelle Bachelet Jeria took office.

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Gallery of South-American painting]]

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm]}}}.
|}

{{Nb countries south america}}
[[Category:Spanish Empire]]

Chile

2010-10-15T03:01:05Z

PSvensson: /* History */

{{Country
|name =''República de Chile''
|map =Chile.JPG
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|flag =Flag of Chile.png
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|capital =Santiago
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|government =Democratic Republic
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|president =Sebastián Piñera
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|area =292,183 sq. mi.
|pop =16,598,074 (2007)
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|gdp-year =$212.671 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$12,983 (2006)
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'''Chile''' is a country on the Pacific coast of South America, which borders [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], and [[Peru]].

==Geography==
The northern Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally [[copper]]. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in [[forest]]s and grazing lands and features a string of [[volcano]]es and [[lake]]s. The southern coast is a labyrinth of [[fjord]]s, [[inlet]]s, [[canal]]s, twisting [[peninsula]]s, and ''island''s. The [[Andes]] Mountains are located on the eastern border.
*Area: 756,945 sq. km. (302,778 sq. mi.), or nearly twice the size of California.
*Cities: Capital--Santiago (metropolitan area est. 6.25 million). Other cities: Concepcion-Talcahuano (840,000), Viña del Mar-Valparaiso (800,000), Antofagasta (245,000), Temuco (230,000).
*Terrain: Desert in north; fertile central valley; volcanoes and lakes toward the south, giving way to rugged and complex coastline; Andes Mountains on the eastern border.
*Climate: Arid in north, Mediterranean in the central portion, cool and damp in south.

==People==
About 85% of Chile's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in greater Santiago. Most have Spanish ancestry. A small, yet influential number of Irish and English immigrants came to Chile during the colonial period. German immigration began in 1848 and lasted for 90 years; the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno show a strong German influence. Other significant immigrant groups are Italian, Croatian, Basque, and Palestinian. About 800,000 Native Americans, mostly of the Mapuche tribe, reside in the south-central area. The Aymara and Diaguita groups can be found mainly in Chile’s northern desert valleys.
*Population (2009): 16.6 million.
*Annual population growth rate: 0.881%.
*Ethnic groups: Spanish-Native-American (mestizo), European, Native-American.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%.
*Language: Spanish.
*Education: Years compulsory--12. Attendance--3 million. Adult literacy rate--96%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--8.9/1,000. Life expectancy--71 yrs. for men, 78 for women.
*Work force (6.94 million); employed 6.45 million: Community, social and individual services--26%; industry--14.4%; commerce--17.6%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing--13.9%; construction--7.1%; financial services--7.5%; transportation and communication--8.0%; electricity, gas and water--0.5%; mining--1.2%.

==Government==
Chile's Constitution was approved in a September 1980 national plebiscite. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005, President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Presidential and congressional elections were held December 2005 and January 2006. In the first round of presidential elections, none of the four presidential candidates won more than 50% of the vote. As a result, the top two vote-getters--center-left Concertacion coalition’s Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition’s Sebastian Pinera--competed in a run-off election on January 15, 2006, which Michelle Bachelet won. This was Chile’s fourth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. President Bachelet and the new members of Congress took office on March 11, 2006.

Chile has a bicameral Congress, which meets in the port city of Valparaiso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Deputies are elected every 4 years, and Senators serve 8-year terms. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district. Historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertacion and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats.

In the December 11, 2005 congressional elections, the Concertacion coalition won a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In the 38-member Senate, the Concertacion coalition holds 20 seats and the Alianza opposition holds 17. There is one independent. In the 120-member Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalitions holds 65 seats and the Alianza holds 54. There is one independent.

Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. In June 2005, Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

===Principal Government Officials===
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet.jpg|thumb|Michelle Bachelet. (Photo:Ricardo Stuckert, Agência Brasil.)]]
*President--Sebastián Piñera
*Minister of Interior--Belisario Velasco
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Alejandro FOXLEY Rioseco
*Ambassador to the United States--Mariano Fernández
*Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS)--Pedro OYARCE Yuraszeck
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Heraldo MUNOZ Valenzuela

===Foreign Relations===
Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. [[Jose Miguel Insulza]], a Chilean national, was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States in May 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade.
[[File:Insulza.jpg|thumb|José Miguel Insulza]]
The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations and are represented at the Consul General level.

==Defense==
Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The President has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

===Army===
The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is General Oscar Izurieta Ferrer. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America.

===Navy===
Admiral Rodolfo Codina directs the 23,000-person Navy, including 2,500 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants (frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaiso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano.

===Air Force (FACH)===
Gen. Ricardo Ortega Perrier heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, [[Antarctica]]. The FACH took delivery of 14 [[F-16]] aircraft in 2006 and will take delivery of 14 more in 2007.

===Carabineros===
After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Jose Bernales is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

==Economy==
After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile began to experience a moderate economic downturn in 1999, brought on by unfavorable global economic conditions related to the Asian financial crisis, which began in 1997. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Real GDP growth reached 6.3% in 2005 before falling back to 4.0% growth in 2006. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in 2006. Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions (including record copper prices for much of 2006) were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in 2006 was among the weakest in Latin America.
*GDP (official exchange rate): $150.4 billion.
*Annual real growth rate: -1.5%.
*Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity): $14,700.
*Forestry, agriculture, and fisheries (6% of GDP): Products--fruits, wheat, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, onions, beans, livestock, fish.
*Commerce (8% of GDP): Sales, restaurants, hotels.
*Manufacturing (17% of GDP): Types--mineral refining, metal manufacturing, food processing, fish processing, paper and wood products, finished textiles.
*Electricity, gas, and water: 3% of GDP.
*Transportation and communication: 7% of GDP.
*Construction: 8% of GDP.
*Financial services (12% of GDP): Insurance, leasing, consulting.
*Mining (13% of GDP): Copper, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, and molybdenum.
*Trade: Exports--$57.61 billion: copper, fruits and nuts, fish and seafood, and wood products. Major markets--U.S., Japan, China, Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Mexico. Imports--$40.91 billion: fuels, heavy industrial machinery, motor vehicles, electrical machinery, plastic. Major suppliers--U.S., China, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea.

Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization, though at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant CODELCO and a few other enterprises (there is one state-run bank). Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with a whole network of countries, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. Over the last several years, Chile has signed FTAs with the European Union, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, China, and Japan. It reached a partial trade agreement with India in 2005 and began negotiations for a full-fledged FTA with India in 2006. Chile plans to continue its focus on its trade ties with Asia by negotiating in 2007 trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

High domestic savings and investment rates helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system (AFP) has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP. However, the AFP is not without its critics, who cite low participation rates (only 55% of the working population is covered), with groups such as the self-employed outside the system. There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years.

Unemployment stubbornly hovered in the 8%-10% range after the start of the economic slowdown in 1999, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment finally dipped to 7.8% at the end of 2006, due largely to the fact that fewer Chileans were entering the workforce rather than to a substantial and sustained creation of new jobs. Most international observers place some of the blame for Chile’s consistently high unemployment rate on complicated and restrictive labor laws. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The percentage of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a family of four’s minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% in 1987 to around 18% by 2004.

Chile's independent Central Bank pursues an inflation target of between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered an inflation rate of 3.2% in 2006. The Chilean peso’s rapid appreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent years has helped dampen inflation. Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $3.4 billion in 2006, up 52% from a poor performance in 2005. However, 80% of FDI continues to go to only four sectors: electricity, gas, water and mining. Much of the jump in FDI in 2006 was also the result of acquisitions and mergers and has done little to create new employment in Chile. The Chilean Government has formed a Council on Innovation and Competition, which is tasked with identifying new sectors and industries to promote. It is hoped that this, combined with some tax reforms to encourage domestic and foreign investment in research and development, will bring in additional FDI and to new parts of the economy. As of 2006, Chile invested only 0.6% of its annual GDP in research and development (R&D). Even then, two-thirds of that was government spending. The fact that domestic and foreign companies spend almost nothing on R&D does not bode well for the Government of Chile’s efforts to develop innovative, knowledge-based sectors. Additionally, on January 8, 2007, Chile was placed on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Priority Watch List due to its poor record on protecting intellectual property rights. Chile is only the second U.S. FTA partner ever to be placed on the Priority Watch List. Chile has a poor and deteriorating record of protecting copyrighted music, films, and software. Combined with this is its institutional structure allowing local companies to produce and market pharmaceutical generics that violate existing patents. Beyond its general economic and political stability, the government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to operate in the region, but this will have limited value given the developing business climate in Chile itself. Chile's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. While Chile and the EU have signed a double taxation treaty, no such agreement exists between the U.S. and Chile.

Mining was temporarily curtailed following an accident in which 33 miners were trapped after a cave-in at the San Jose mine<ref>http://www.minandes.com/s/RoadtoProduction.asp</ref> near Copiapo on August 5, 2010. A rescue attempt - bolstered by national pride at getting the men out alive - ended 67 days later on October 13 as the last of the men were pulled out to safety.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/12/rescued-chilean-miner-returns-surface/</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7961923/Chilean-miners-trapped-in-San-Jose-mine.html</ref>

===Foreign Trade===
2006 was a record year for Chilean trade. Total trade registered a 31% increase over 2005. During 2006, exports of goods and services totaled U.S. $58 billion, an increase of 41%. This figure was somewhat distorted by the skyrocketing price of copper. In 2006, copper exports reached a historical high of U.S. $33.3 billion. Imports totaled U.S. $35 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. Chile thus recorded a positive trade balance of U.S. $23 billion in 2006.

The main destinations for Chilean exports were the Americas (U.S. $39 billion), Asia (U.S. $27.8 billion) and Europe (U.S. $22.2 billion). Seen as shares of Chile’s export markets, 42% of exports went to the Americas, 30% to Asia and 24% to Europe. Within Chile’s diversified network of trade relationships, its most important partner remained the United States. Total trade with the U.S. was U.S. $14.8 billion in 2006. Since the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement went into effect on January 1, 2004, U.S.-Chilean trade has increased by 154%. Internal Government of Chile figures show that even when factoring out inflation and the recent high price of copper, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Chile has grown over 60% since then.

Total trade with Europe also grew in 2006, expanding by 42%. The Netherlands and Italy were Chile’s main European trading partners. Total trade with Asia also grew significantly at nearly 31%. Trade with Korea and Japan grew significantly, but China remained Chile’s most important trading partner in Asia. Chile’s total trade with China reached U.S. $8.8 billion in 2006, representing nearly 66% of the value of its trade relationship with Asia.

The growth of exports in 2006 was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U.S. $5.5 billion worth of Chilean exports. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U.S. $9.3 billion, representing a 37.7% increase compared to 2005 (U.S. $6.7 billion). Exports to the European Union were U.S. $15.4 billion, a 63.7% increased compared to 2005 (U.S. $9.4 billion). Exports to Asia increased from U.S. $15.2 billion in 2005 to U.S. $19.7 billion in 2006, a 29.9% increase.

During 2006, Chile imported U.S. $26 billion from the Americas, representing 54% of total imports, followed by Asia at 22%, and Europe at 16%. Mercosur members were the main suppliers of imports to Chile at U.S. $9.1 billion, followed by the United States with U.S. $5.5 billion and the European Union with U.S. $5.2 billion. From Asia, China was the most important exporter to Chile, with goods valued at U.S. $3.6 billion. Year-on-year growth in imports was especially strong from a number of countries--Ecuador (123.9%), Thailand (72.1%), Korea (52.6%), and China (36.9%).

Chile’s overall trade profile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports. The state-owned firm CODELCO is the world's largest copper-producing company, with recorded copper reserves of 200 years. Chile has made an effort to expand nontraditional exports. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine.

Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued trade-liberalizing agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. Chile, as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. To that end, it has signed trade agreements in recent years with New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, India, China, and most recently Japan. In 2007, Chile plans to begin negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003 that will lead to completely duty-free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S. and Chilean congresses. The bilateral FTA has inaugurated greatly expanded U.S.-Chilean trade ties, with total bilateral trade jumping by 154% during the FTA’s first three years.

Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations in 2002, and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA, the price bands will be completely phased out for U.S. imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar within 12 years.

Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and is active in the WTO’s Doha round of negotiations, principally through its membership in the G-20 and Cairns Group.

===Finance===
Chile's financial sector has grown quickly in recent years, with a banking reform law approved in 1997 that broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean Government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001, and there is further pending legislation proposing further liberalization. Over the last ten years, Chileans have enjoyed the introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has also been accompanied by an increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $70 billion at the end of 2006, has been an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (S&P A+) in Latin America. There are three main ways for Chilean firms to raise funds abroad: bank loans, issuance of bonds, and the selling of stocks on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Nearly all of the funds raised through these means go to finance domestic Chilean investment. The government is required by law to run a fiscal surplus of at least 1% of GDP. In 2006, the Government of Chile ran a surplus of $11.3 billion, equal to almost 8% of GDP. The Government of Chile continues to pay down its foreign debt, with public debt only 3.9% of GDP at the end of 2006.

==History==
About 10,000 years ago, migrating Indians settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's barrenness prevented extensive settlement. The first Europeans to arrive in Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru seeking gold in 1535. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand--heir to the deposed king--was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the "Reconquista" led to a prolonged struggle.

Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. A strong presidency eventually emerged, but wealthy landowners remained extremely powerful. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians. In 1881, it signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. Chile established a parliamentary democracy in the late 19th century, but degenerated into a system protecting the interests of the ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose.

Continuing political and economic instability resulted with the rule of the quasidictatorial Gen. Carlos Ibanez (1924-32). When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy.

The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei-Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende, a Marxist and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP) coalition of socialists, communists, radicals, and dissident Christian Democrats, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest and was named President by the Chilean Congress. His program included the nationalization of private industries and banks, massive land expropriation, and collectivization. Allende's program also included the nationalization of U.S. interests in Chile's major copper mines.

Elected with only 36% of the vote and by a plurality of only 36,000 votes, Allende never enjoyed majority support in the Chilean Congress or broad popular support. Domestic production declined; severe shortages of consumer goods, food, and manufactured products were widespread; and inflation reached 1,000% per annum. Mass demonstrations, recurring strikes, violence by both government supporters and opponents, and widespread rural unrest ensued in response to the general deterioration of the economy. Allende even consulted British [cybernetics|cybernetician] and [[socialist]] Stafford Beer to create [[Project Cybersyn]], a network of computers that were designated to automate Allende's totalitarian rule over the Chilean people. Failing to acknowledge the role of God-given [[liberty]] and [[free will]] in human life, Project Cybersyn never saw completion and was considered dysfunctional within only a year of its beginnings. Under these dire circumstances, Chilean society had split into two hostile camps by 1973.

A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime in particular were marked by serious human rights violations. The Rettig Report chronicles 2,279 politically motivated killings under Pinochet's reign.<ref>http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm [http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm]</ref> A new Constitution was approved by a plebiscite on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In its later years, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union activity. In contrast to its authoritarian political rule, the military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

[[Milton Friedman]] said,
* "... the really extraordinary thing about the Chilean case was that a military government followed the opposite of military policies. The military is distinguished from the ordinary economy by the fact that it's a top-down organization. The general tells the colonel, the colonel tells the captain, and so on down, whereas a market is a bottom-up organization. The customer goes into the store and tells the retailer what he wants; the retailer sends it back up the line to the manufacturer and so on. So the basic organizational principles in the military are almost the opposite of the basic organizational principles of a free market and a free society. And the really remarkable thing about Chile is that the military adopted the free-market arrangements instead of the military arrangements."<ref> [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10 Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman on PBS]</ref>

During its 16 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans voted for elections to choose a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress. On December 14, 1989, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertacion, was elected president. Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994 and was succeeded by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (son of the previous President), leading the same coalition, for a 6-year term. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy led the Concertacion to a narrower victory in 2000 presidential elections. His term ended on March 11, 2006, when President Michelle Bachelet Jeria took office.

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Gallery of South-American painting]]

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm]}}}.
|}

{{Nb countries south america}}
[[Category:Spanish Empire]]

Chile

2010-10-15T03:00:28Z

PSvensson: /* History */

{{Country
|name =''República de Chile''
|map =Chile.JPG
|map2 =Chile1.png
|flag =Flag of Chile.png
|arms =Arms of Chile.png
|capital =Santiago
|capital-raw =
|government =Democratic Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Spanish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Sebastián Piñera
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|chairman =
|premier =
|area =292,183 sq. mi.
|pop =16,598,074 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$212.671 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$12,983 (2006)
|currency =peso
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}}

'''Chile''' is a country on the Pacific coast of South America, which borders [[Argentina]], [[Bolivia]], and [[Peru]].

==Geography==
The northern Chilean desert contains great mineral wealth, principally [[copper]]. The relatively small central area dominates the country in terms of population and agricultural resources. This area also is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century, when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in [[forest]]s and grazing lands and features a string of [[volcano]]es and [[lake]]s. The southern coast is a labyrinth of [[fjord]]s, [[inlet]]s, [[canal]]s, twisting [[peninsula]]s, and ''island''s. The [[Andes]] Mountains are located on the eastern border.
*Area: 756,945 sq. km. (302,778 sq. mi.), or nearly twice the size of California.
*Cities: Capital--Santiago (metropolitan area est. 6.25 million). Other cities: Concepcion-Talcahuano (840,000), Viña del Mar-Valparaiso (800,000), Antofagasta (245,000), Temuco (230,000).
*Terrain: Desert in north; fertile central valley; volcanoes and lakes toward the south, giving way to rugged and complex coastline; Andes Mountains on the eastern border.
*Climate: Arid in north, Mediterranean in the central portion, cool and damp in south.

==People==
About 85% of Chile's population lives in urban areas, with 40% living in greater Santiago. Most have Spanish ancestry. A small, yet influential number of Irish and English immigrants came to Chile during the colonial period. German immigration began in 1848 and lasted for 90 years; the southern provinces of Valdivia, Llanquihue, and Osorno show a strong German influence. Other significant immigrant groups are Italian, Croatian, Basque, and Palestinian. About 800,000 Native Americans, mostly of the Mapuche tribe, reside in the south-central area. The Aymara and Diaguita groups can be found mainly in Chile’s northern desert valleys.
*Population (2009): 16.6 million.
*Annual population growth rate: 0.881%.
*Ethnic groups: Spanish-Native-American (mestizo), European, Native-American.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 70%, Evangelical 15.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.1%, other Christian 1%, other 4.6%, none 8.3%.
*Language: Spanish.
*Education: Years compulsory--12. Attendance--3 million. Adult literacy rate--96%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--8.9/1,000. Life expectancy--71 yrs. for men, 78 for women.
*Work force (6.94 million); employed 6.45 million: Community, social and individual services--26%; industry--14.4%; commerce--17.6%; agriculture, forestry, and fishing--13.9%; construction--7.1%; financial services--7.5%; transportation and communication--8.0%; electricity, gas and water--0.5%; mining--1.2%.

==Government==
Chile's Constitution was approved in a September 1980 national plebiscite. It entered into force in March 1981. After Pinochet's defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, the Constitution was amended to ease provisions for future amendments to the Constitution. In September 2005, President Ricardo Lagos signed into law several constitutional amendments passed by Congress. These include eliminating the positions of appointed senators and senators for life, granting the President authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces, and reducing the presidential term from six to four years.

Presidential and congressional elections were held December 2005 and January 2006. In the first round of presidential elections, none of the four presidential candidates won more than 50% of the vote. As a result, the top two vote-getters--center-left Concertacion coalition’s Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition’s Sebastian Pinera--competed in a run-off election on January 15, 2006, which Michelle Bachelet won. This was Chile’s fourth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All four have been judged free and fair. The President is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms. President Bachelet and the new members of Congress took office on March 11, 2006.

Chile has a bicameral Congress, which meets in the port city of Valparaiso, about 140 kilometers (84 mi.) west of the capital, Santiago. Deputies are elected every 4 years, and Senators serve 8-year terms. Chile's congressional elections are governed by a unique binomial system that rewards coalition slates. Each coalition can run two candidates for the two Senate and two Deputy seats apportioned to each electoral district. Historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertacion and Alianza) split most of the seats in a district. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second-place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats.

In the December 11, 2005 congressional elections, the Concertacion coalition won a majority in both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In the 38-member Senate, the Concertacion coalition holds 20 seats and the Alianza opposition holds 17. There is one independent. In the 120-member Chamber of Deputies, the Concertacion coalitions holds 65 seats and the Alianza holds 54. There is one independent.

Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court. In June 2005, Chile completed a nation-wide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.

===Principal Government Officials===
[[Image:Michelle Bachelet.jpg|thumb|Michelle Bachelet. (Photo:Ricardo Stuckert, Agência Brasil.)]]
*President--Sebastián Piñera
*Minister of Interior--Belisario Velasco
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Alejandro FOXLEY Rioseco
*Ambassador to the United States--Mariano Fernández
*Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS)--Pedro OYARCE Yuraszeck
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Heraldo MUNOZ Valenzuela

===Foreign Relations===
Since its return to democracy in 1990, Chile has been an active participant in the international political arena. Chile completed a 2-year non-permanent position on the UN Security Council in January 2005. [[Jose Miguel Insulza]], a Chilean national, was elected Secretary General of the Organization of American States in May 2005. Chile is an active member of the UN family of agencies and participates in UN peacekeeping activities. Chile hosted the Defense Ministerial of the Americas in 2002 and the APEC summit and related meetings in 2004. Chile hosted the Community of Democracies ministerial in April 2005. An associate member of Mercosur and a full member of APEC, Chile has been an important actor on international economic issues and hemispheric free trade.
[[File:Insulza.jpg|thumb|José Miguel Insulza]]
The Chilean Government has diplomatic relations with most countries. It settled its territorial disputes with Argentina during the 1990s. Chile and Bolivia severed diplomatic ties in 1978 over Bolivia's desire to reacquire territory it lost to Chile in 1879-83 War of the Pacific. The two countries maintain consular relations and are represented at the Consul General level.

==Defense==
Chile's Armed Forces are subject to civilian control exercised by the President through the Minister of Defense. The President has the authority to remove the commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

===Army===
The commander in chief of the Chilean Army is General Oscar Izurieta Ferrer. The Chilean Army is 45,000 strong and is organized with an Army headquarters in Santiago, seven divisions throughout its territory, an Air Brigade in Rancagua, and a Special Forces Command in Colina. The Chilean Army is one of the most professional and technologically advanced armies in Latin America.

===Navy===
Admiral Rodolfo Codina directs the 23,000-person Navy, including 2,500 Marines. Of the fleet of 29 surface vessels, only eight are operational major combatants (frigates). Those ships are based in Valparaiso. The Navy operates its own aircraft for transport and patrol; there are no Navy fighter or bomber aircraft. The Navy also operates four submarines based in Talcahuano.

===Air Force (FACH)===
Gen. Ricardo Ortega Perrier heads a force of 12,500. Air assets are distributed among five air brigades headquartered in Iquique, Antofagasta, Santiago, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. The Air Force also operates an airbase on King George Island, [[Antarctica]]. The FACH took delivery of 14 [[F-16]] aircraft in 2006 and will take delivery of 14 more in 2007.

===Carabineros===
After the military coup in September 1973, the Chilean national police (Carabineros) were incorporated into the Defense Ministry. With the return of democratic government, the police were placed under the operational control of the Interior Ministry but remained under the nominal control of the Defense Ministry. Gen. Jose Bernales is the head of the national police force of 30,000 men and women who are responsible for law enforcement, traffic management, narcotics suppression, border control, and counter-terrorism throughout Chile.

==Economy==
After a decade of impressive growth rates, Chile began to experience a moderate economic downturn in 1999, brought on by unfavorable global economic conditions related to the Asian financial crisis, which began in 1997. The economy remained sluggish until 2003, when it began to show clear signs of recovery, achieving 3.3% real GDP growth. The Chilean economy finished 2004 with growth of 6.1%. Real GDP growth reached 6.3% in 2005 before falling back to 4.0% growth in 2006. Higher energy prices as well as lagging consumer demand were drags on the economy in 2006. Higher Chilean Government spending and favorable external conditions (including record copper prices for much of 2006) were not enough to offset these drags. For the first time in many years, Chilean economic growth in 2006 was among the weakest in Latin America.
*GDP (official exchange rate): $150.4 billion.
*Annual real growth rate: -1.5%.
*Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity): $14,700.
*Forestry, agriculture, and fisheries (6% of GDP): Products--fruits, wheat, potatoes, corn, sugar beets, onions, beans, livestock, fish.
*Commerce (8% of GDP): Sales, restaurants, hotels.
*Manufacturing (17% of GDP): Types--mineral refining, metal manufacturing, food processing, fish processing, paper and wood products, finished textiles.
*Electricity, gas, and water: 3% of GDP.
*Transportation and communication: 7% of GDP.
*Construction: 8% of GDP.
*Financial services (12% of GDP): Insurance, leasing, consulting.
*Mining (13% of GDP): Copper, iron ore, nitrates, precious metals, and molybdenum.
*Trade: Exports--$57.61 billion: copper, fruits and nuts, fish and seafood, and wood products. Major markets--U.S., Japan, China, Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, Italy, Mexico. Imports--$40.91 billion: fuels, heavy industrial machinery, motor vehicles, electrical machinery, plastic. Major suppliers--U.S., China, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea.

Chile has pursued generally sound economic policies for nearly three decades. The 1973-90 military government sold many state-owned companies, and the three democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization, though at a slower pace. The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper giant CODELCO and a few other enterprises (there is one state-run bank). Chile is strongly committed to free trade and has welcomed large amounts of foreign investment. Chile has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with a whole network of countries, including an FTA with the United States, which was signed in 2003 and implemented in January 2004. Over the last several years, Chile has signed FTAs with the European Union, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, China, and Japan. It reached a partial trade agreement with India in 2005 and began negotiations for a full-fledged FTA with India in 2006. Chile plans to continue its focus on its trade ties with Asia by negotiating in 2007 trade agreements with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

High domestic savings and investment rates helped propel Chile's economy to average growth rates of 8% during the 1990s. The privatized national pension system (AFP) has encouraged domestic investment and contributed to an estimated total domestic savings rate of approximately 21% of GDP. However, the AFP is not without its critics, who cite low participation rates (only 55% of the working population is covered), with groups such as the self-employed outside the system. There has also been criticism of the inefficiency and high costs due to a lack of competition among pension funds. Critics cite loopholes in the use of pension savings through lump sum withdraws for the purchase of a second home or payment of university fees as fundamental weaknesses of the AFP. The Bachelet administration plans substantial reform, but not an overhaul, of the AFP during the next several years.

Unemployment stubbornly hovered in the 8%-10% range after the start of the economic slowdown in 1999, well above the 5%-6% average for the 1990s. Unemployment finally dipped to 7.8% at the end of 2006, due largely to the fact that fewer Chileans were entering the workforce rather than to a substantial and sustained creation of new jobs. Most international observers place some of the blame for Chile’s consistently high unemployment rate on complicated and restrictive labor laws. Wages have risen faster than inflation as a result of higher productivity, boosting national living standards. The percentage of Chileans with incomes below the poverty line--defined as twice the cost of satisfying a family of four’s minimal nutritional needs--fell from 46% in 1987 to around 18% by 2004.

Chile's independent Central Bank pursues an inflation target of between 2% and 4%. Inflation has not exceeded 5% since 1998. Chile registered an inflation rate of 3.2% in 2006. The Chilean peso’s rapid appreciation against the U.S. dollar in recent years has helped dampen inflation. Most wage settlements and loans are indexed, reducing inflation's volatility. Under the compulsory private pension system, most formal sector employees pay 10% of their salaries into privately managed funds.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) was only $3.4 billion in 2006, up 52% from a poor performance in 2005. However, 80% of FDI continues to go to only four sectors: electricity, gas, water and mining. Much of the jump in FDI in 2006 was also the result of acquisitions and mergers and has done little to create new employment in Chile. The Chilean Government has formed a Council on Innovation and Competition, which is tasked with identifying new sectors and industries to promote. It is hoped that this, combined with some tax reforms to encourage domestic and foreign investment in research and development, will bring in additional FDI and to new parts of the economy. As of 2006, Chile invested only 0.6% of its annual GDP in research and development (R&D). Even then, two-thirds of that was government spending. The fact that domestic and foreign companies spend almost nothing on R&D does not bode well for the Government of Chile’s efforts to develop innovative, knowledge-based sectors. Additionally, on January 8, 2007, Chile was placed on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Priority Watch List due to its poor record on protecting intellectual property rights. Chile is only the second U.S. FTA partner ever to be placed on the Priority Watch List. Chile has a poor and deteriorating record of protecting copyrighted music, films, and software. Combined with this is its institutional structure allowing local companies to produce and market pharmaceutical generics that violate existing patents. Beyond its general economic and political stability, the government also has encouraged the use of Chile as an "investment platform" for multinational corporations planning to operate in the region, but this will have limited value given the developing business climate in Chile itself. Chile's approach to foreign direct investment is codified in the country's Foreign Investment Law, which gives foreign investors the same treatment as Chileans. Registration is simple and transparent, and foreign investors are guaranteed access to the official foreign exchange market to repatriate their profits and capital. While Chile and the EU have signed a double taxation treaty, no such agreement exists between the U.S. and Chile.

Mining was temporarily curtailed following an accident in which 33 miners were trapped after a cave-in at the San Jose mine<ref>http://www.minandes.com/s/RoadtoProduction.asp</ref> near Copiapo on August 5, 2010. A rescue attempt - bolstered by national pride at getting the men out alive - ended 67 days later on October 13 as the last of the men were pulled out to safety.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/12/rescued-chilean-miner-returns-surface/</ref><ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7961923/Chilean-miners-trapped-in-San-Jose-mine.html</ref>

===Foreign Trade===
2006 was a record year for Chilean trade. Total trade registered a 31% increase over 2005. During 2006, exports of goods and services totaled U.S. $58 billion, an increase of 41%. This figure was somewhat distorted by the skyrocketing price of copper. In 2006, copper exports reached a historical high of U.S. $33.3 billion. Imports totaled U.S. $35 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the previous year. Chile thus recorded a positive trade balance of U.S. $23 billion in 2006.

The main destinations for Chilean exports were the Americas (U.S. $39 billion), Asia (U.S. $27.8 billion) and Europe (U.S. $22.2 billion). Seen as shares of Chile’s export markets, 42% of exports went to the Americas, 30% to Asia and 24% to Europe. Within Chile’s diversified network of trade relationships, its most important partner remained the United States. Total trade with the U.S. was U.S. $14.8 billion in 2006. Since the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement went into effect on January 1, 2004, U.S.-Chilean trade has increased by 154%. Internal Government of Chile figures show that even when factoring out inflation and the recent high price of copper, bilateral trade between the U.S. and Chile has grown over 60% since then.

Total trade with Europe also grew in 2006, expanding by 42%. The Netherlands and Italy were Chile’s main European trading partners. Total trade with Asia also grew significantly at nearly 31%. Trade with Korea and Japan grew significantly, but China remained Chile’s most important trading partner in Asia. Chile’s total trade with China reached U.S. $8.8 billion in 2006, representing nearly 66% of the value of its trade relationship with Asia.

The growth of exports in 2006 was due mainly to a strong increase in sales to the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan. These three markets alone accounted for an additional U.S. $5.5 billion worth of Chilean exports. Chilean exports to the United States totaled U.S. $9.3 billion, representing a 37.7% increase compared to 2005 (U.S. $6.7 billion). Exports to the European Union were U.S. $15.4 billion, a 63.7% increased compared to 2005 (U.S. $9.4 billion). Exports to Asia increased from U.S. $15.2 billion in 2005 to U.S. $19.7 billion in 2006, a 29.9% increase.

During 2006, Chile imported U.S. $26 billion from the Americas, representing 54% of total imports, followed by Asia at 22%, and Europe at 16%. Mercosur members were the main suppliers of imports to Chile at U.S. $9.1 billion, followed by the United States with U.S. $5.5 billion and the European Union with U.S. $5.2 billion. From Asia, China was the most important exporter to Chile, with goods valued at U.S. $3.6 billion. Year-on-year growth in imports was especially strong from a number of countries--Ecuador (123.9%), Thailand (72.1%), Korea (52.6%), and China (36.9%).

Chile’s overall trade profile has traditionally been dependent upon copper exports. The state-owned firm CODELCO is the world's largest copper-producing company, with recorded copper reserves of 200 years. Chile has made an effort to expand nontraditional exports. The most important non-mineral exports are forestry and wood products, fresh fruit and processed food, fishmeal and seafood, and wine.

Successive Chilean governments have actively pursued trade-liberalizing agreements. During the 1990s, Chile signed FTAs with Canada, Mexico, and Central America. Chile also concluded preferential trade agreements with Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. An association agreement with Mercosur--Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay--went into effect in October 1996. Continuing its export-oriented development strategy, Chile completed landmark free trade agreements in 2002 with the European Union and South Korea. Chile, as a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, is seeking to boost commercial ties to Asian markets. To that end, it has signed trade agreements in recent years with New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, India, China, and most recently Japan. In 2007, Chile plans to begin negotiations with Thailand, Malaysia, and Australia.

After two years of negotiations, the United States and Chile signed an agreement in June 2003 that will lead to completely duty-free bilateral trade within 12 years. The U.S.-Chile FTA entered into force January 1, 2004 following approval by the U.S. and Chilean congresses. The bilateral FTA has inaugurated greatly expanded U.S.-Chilean trade ties, with total bilateral trade jumping by 154% during the FTA’s first three years.

Chile unilaterally lowered its across-the-board import tariff for all countries with which it does not have a trade agreement to 6% in 2003. Higher effective tariffs are charged only on imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar as a result of a system of import price bands. The price bands were ruled inconsistent with Chile's World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations in 2002, and the government has introduced legislation to modify them. Under the terms of the U.S.-Chile FTA, the price bands will be completely phased out for U.S. imports of wheat, wheat flour, and sugar within 12 years.

Chile is a strong proponent of pressing ahead on negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and is active in the WTO’s Doha round of negotiations, principally through its membership in the G-20 and Cairns Group.

===Finance===
Chile's financial sector has grown quickly in recent years, with a banking reform law approved in 1997 that broadened the scope of permissible foreign activity for Chilean banks. The Chilean Government implemented a further liberalization of capital markets in 2001, and there is further pending legislation proposing further liberalization. Over the last ten years, Chileans have enjoyed the introduction of new financial tools such as home equity loans, currency futures and options, factoring, leasing, and debit cards. The introduction of these new products has also been accompanied by an increased use of traditional instruments such as loans and credit cards. Chile's private pension system, with assets worth roughly $70 billion at the end of 2006, has been an important source of investment capital for the capital market. Chile maintains one of the best credit ratings (S&P A+) in Latin America. There are three main ways for Chilean firms to raise funds abroad: bank loans, issuance of bonds, and the selling of stocks on U.S. markets through American Depository Receipts (ADRs). Nearly all of the funds raised through these means go to finance domestic Chilean investment. The government is required by law to run a fiscal surplus of at least 1% of GDP. In 2006, the Government of Chile ran a surplus of $11.3 billion, equal to almost 8% of GDP. The Government of Chile continues to pay down its foreign debt, with public debt only 3.9% of GDP at the end of 2006.

==History==
About 10,000 years ago, migrating Indians settled in fertile valleys and along the coast of what is now Chile. The Incas briefly extended their empire into what is now northern Chile, but the area's barrenness prevented extensive settlement. The first Europeans to arrive in Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, who came from Peru seeking gold in 1535. The Spanish encountered hundreds of thousands of Indians from various cultures in the area that modern Chile now occupies. These cultures supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarro's lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on February 12, 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the extensive gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chile's central valley, and Chile became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The drive for independence from Spain was precipitated by usurpation of the Spanish throne by Napoleon's brother Joseph in 1808. A national junta in the name of Ferdinand--heir to the deposed king--was formed on September 18, 1810. The junta proclaimed Chile an autonomous republic within the Spanish monarchy. A movement for total independence soon won a wide following. Spanish attempts to reimpose arbitrary rule during what was called the "Reconquista" led to a prolonged struggle.

Intermittent warfare continued until 1817, when an army led by Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's most renowned patriot, and José San Martín, hero of Argentine independence, crossed the Andes into Chile and defeated the royalists. On February 12, 1818, Chile was proclaimed an independent republic under O'Higgins' leadership. The political revolt brought little social change, however, and 19th century Chilean society preserved the essence of the stratified colonial social structure, which was greatly influenced by family politics and the Roman Catholic Church. A strong presidency eventually emerged, but wealthy landowners remained extremely powerful. Toward the end of the 19th century, the government in Santiago consolidated its position in the south by ruthlessly suppressing the Mapuche Indians. In 1881, it signed a treaty with Argentina confirming Chilean sovereignty over the Strait of Magellan. As a result of the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia (1879-83), Chile expanded its territory northward by almost one-third and acquired valuable nitrate deposits, the exploitation of which led to an era of national affluence. Chile established a parliamentary democracy in the late 19th century, but degenerated into a system protecting the interests of the ruling oligarchy. By the 1920s, the emerging middle and working classes were powerful enough to elect a reformist president, whose program was frustrated by a conservative congress. In the 1920s, Marxist groups with strong popular support arose.

Continuing political and economic instability resulted with the rule of the quasidictatorial Gen. Carlos Ibanez (1924-32). When constitutional rule was restored in 1932, a strong middle-class party, the Radicals, emerged. It became the key force in coalition governments for the next 20 years. During the period of Radical Party dominance (1932-52), the state increased its role in the economy.

The 1964 presidential election of Christian Democrat Eduardo Frei-Montalva by an absolute majority initiated a period of major reform. Under the slogan "Revolution in Liberty," the Frei administration embarked on far-reaching social and economic programs, particularly in education, housing, and agrarian reform, including rural unionization of agricultural workers. By 1967, however, Frei encountered increasing opposition from leftists, who charged that his reforms were inadequate, and from conservatives, who found them excessive. At the end of his term, Frei had accomplished many noteworthy objectives, but he had not fully achieved his party's ambitious goals. In 1970, Senator Salvador Allende, a Marxist and member of Chile's Socialist Party, who headed the "Popular Unity" (UP) coalition of socialists, communists, radicals, and dissident Christian Democrats, won a plurality of votes in a three-way contest and was named President by the Chilean Congress. His program included the nationalization of private industries and banks, massive land expropriation, and collectivization. Allende's program also included the nationalization of U.S. interests in Chile's major copper mines.

Elected with only 36% of the vote and by a plurality of only 36,000 votes, Allende never enjoyed majority support in the Chilean Congress or broad popular support. Domestic production declined; severe shortages of consumer goods, food, and manufactured products were widespread; and inflation reached 1,000% per annum. Mass demonstrations, recurring strikes, violence by both government supporters and opponents, and widespread rural unrest ensued in response to the general deterioration of the economy. Allende even consulted British [[cybernetics|cybernetician] and [[socialist]] Stafford Beer to create [[Project Cybersyn]], a network of computers that were designated to automate Allende's totalitarian rule over the Chilean people. Failing to acknowledge the role of God-given [[liberty]] and [[free will]] in human life, Project Cybersyn never saw completion and was considered dysfunctional within only a year of its beginnings. Under these dire circumstances, Chilean society had split into two hostile camps by 1973.

A military coup overthrew Allende on September 11, 1973. As the armed forces bombarded the presidential palace, Allende reportedly committed suicide. A military government, led by General Augusto Pinochet, took over control of the country. The first years of the regime in particular were marked by serious human rights violations. The Rettig Report chronicles 2,279 politically motivated killings under Pinochet's reign.<ref>http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm [http://www.rrojasdatabank.info/crime1.htm]</ref> A new Constitution was approved by a plebiscite on September 11, 1980, and General Pinochet became President of the Republic for an 8-year term. In its later years, the regime gradually permitted greater freedom of assembly, speech, and association, to include trade union activity. In contrast to its authoritarian political rule, the military government pursued decidedly laissez-faire economic policies.

[[Milton Friedman]] said,
* "... the really extraordinary thing about the Chilean case was that a military government followed the opposite of military policies. The military is distinguished from the ordinary economy by the fact that it's a top-down organization. The general tells the colonel, the colonel tells the captain, and so on down, whereas a market is a bottom-up organization. The customer goes into the store and tells the retailer what he wants; the retailer sends it back up the line to the manufacturer and so on. So the basic organizational principles in the military are almost the opposite of the basic organizational principles of a free market and a free society. And the really remarkable thing about Chile is that the military adopted the free-market arrangements instead of the military arrangements."<ref> [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/int_miltonfriedman.html#10 Commanding Heights: Milton Friedman on PBS]</ref>

During its 16 years in power, Chile moved away from economic statism toward a largely free market economy that fostered an increase in domestic and foreign private investment. In a plebiscite on October 5, 1988, General Pinochet was denied a second 8-year term as president. Chileans voted for elections to choose a new president and the majority of members of a two-chamber congress. On December 14, 1989, Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin, the candidate of a coalition of 17 political parties called the Concertacion, was elected president. Aylwin served from 1990 to 1994 and was succeeded by another Christian Democrat, Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (son of the previous President), leading the same coalition, for a 6-year term. Ricardo Lagos Escobar of the Socialist Party and the Party for Democracy led the Concertacion to a narrower victory in 2000 presidential elections. His term ended on March 11, 2006, when President Michelle Bachelet Jeria took office.

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==
*[[Gallery of South-American painting]]

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!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1981.htm]}}}.
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{{Nb countries south america}}
[[Category:Spanish Empire]]

Information entropy

2010-10-15T02:40:15Z

PSvensson: /* Applications to creationism */

'''Information theory''' is the study of "information" or data, in a statistical manner.

== Overview ==

The well known entity in the theory of information, seemingly founded by [[Claude Shannon]], is the [[information entropy]] defined as

<math> H = -\sum_i p(i) \log_2 p(i) </math>

where the index i runs through all positive integers up to n, for instance (i = 1, 2, …, n). Note that the logarithm is taken to base 2. This entropy may calculated for any statistical frequency function, such that <math>\sum p(i) = 1</math>. The maximum in H (= log(n)) is obtained when all p(i) are equal. Mathematically, H is also equivalent to entropy and disorder in physics.

H may also be interpreted as an [[average information]] based on a certain axiom that when an event occurs with probability p(i), then we get the [[self-information]] - log [p(i) ]. This information is only about probability and has no mental meaning.

Shannon derived the formula from axioms, which in a natural way may be interpreted as information. When we toss a coin we may have two different messages, each with probability 0.5 which may be denoted 0 and 1. If the coin is tossed two times in a sequence we may have the following four possible messages ‘00’, ‘01’, ‘10’ and ‘11’, each with probability 0.25, which may be seen as the information from a pair of tosses.

A reasonable postulate is that the sum of information from any two different messages should equal the total information in the joined messages. And one way to accomplish this is to let the self-information equal the negative logarithm of the probability. Thus, the information in a pair of tosses becomes

<math> -\log(0.5) - \log(0.5) = -\log(0.25) </math> or <math>\log(2) + \log(2) = \log(4) </math>

Another reasonable postulate is that when a message increases in length, then its information increases. For instance, a triple of tosses gives messages with probability = 0.125 and a quadruple with probability = 0.0625. and

<math> -\log(0.0625) > -\log(0.125). </math>

And an event occurring with probability = 1 is a certain event, which will carry no information. Consequently -log(1) = 0.

If all these properties should be maintained for all possible divisions of messages written in different alphabets, then the negative logarithm of the probability is a very good candidate for being a measure of information.

More generally - the word “we” may be followed by “are”, but hardly ever by “am” – some part Y of a message may depend on another part X, making the average information H(Y|X) less than H(XY), i. e. the average information when X and Y are statistically independent. We have

<math> H(Y|X)=H( XY ) - H(X)</math>

and the only functions satisfying this formula are those proportional to the [[entropy]] H, Åslund, 1961. Then, entropy may be seen as [[average information]].

== The continuous case ==

In the continuous case the discrete frequency function is replaced by a continuous probability density function, (p. d. f.) , f(x), and H may be written

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

A problem here is that H becomes uncertain because of the infinitesimally small dx. A way to evade the problem is to define H in such way that H equals the logarithm of the volume – in analogy to the cardinality n in the discrete case - covered by a uniform p. d. f. over the volume. Thus H may be defined as

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

The “volume” covered by a Gaussian p. d. f. is proportional to the volume of the ellipsoid of concentration and equal to <math>\sqrt{2\pi e^n |M|} </math>, where M is the moment matrix of the Gaussian.

The [[average information]] may be maximized by a certain genetic algorithm, [[Gaussian adaptation]], keeping the [[mean fitness]] – i. e. the average probability of becoming a parent to new individuals in the progeny – constant (and without any need for any knowledge about average information as a criterion function). This is illustrated by the figure below, showing Gaussian adaptation climbing a mountain crest in a phenotypic landscape.

The lines in the figure are part of a contour line enclosing a region of acceptability in the landscape. At the start the cluster of red points represents a very homogeneous population with small variances in the phenotypes. Evidently, even small environmental changes in the landscape, may cause the process to become extinct.

http://web.telia.com/~u91131915/mountain_crest.GIF

After a sufficiently large number of generations, the increase in [[average information]] may result in the green cluster. Actually, the mean fitness is the same for both red and green cluster (about 65%). The effect of this adaptation is not very salient in a 2-dimensional case, but in a high-dimensional case, the efficiency of the search process may be increased by many orders of magnitude. Besides, a Gaussian distribution has the highest [[average information]] as compared to other distributions having the same second order moment matrix, Middleton, 1960.

== History of applications ==

A comprehensive outline of applications such as telecommunication, channel coding, computer science, physics, neurobiology, electrical engineering and so on may be found elsewhere on the Internet.

Less well known is the use of information theory in simulated evolution by random search. For instance, the average speed of a random walk with Gaussian distributed steps in a hypercube or simplex is proportional to -P log( P ), where P is the average probability that a step will lead to a new point inside the hypercube, Kjellström, 1969. This may be interpreted as the [[self-information]] –log(P) divided by the work or time – proportional to 1/P – needed to get the information on the average.

The function -P log( P ) is positive in the P-interval, 0 <= P <= 1, equals zero at the end points and attains its maximum at P = 1/e = 37%.

A more general theorem of efficiency based on information theory may be found in a paper by Kjellström, 1991.

==Applications to creationism==

The German [[physicist]] Dr. [[Werner Gitt]] has built on the work of [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Norbert Wiener]] in information theory in his article [http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v10/i2/information.asp Information, science and biology], extending it with fourteen mathematical [[theorems]] from which it follows that [[evolution]] cannot account for the information encoded in living systems. He has, in effect, offered irrefutable '[[a priori]]' proof that evolution is impossible.

== See also ==
* [[Information]]

== References ==

* Brooks, D. R. & Wiley, E. O. Evolution as Entropy, Towards a unified theory of Biology. The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
* Kjellström, G. Network Optimization by Random Variation of component values. Ericsson Technics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 133-151, 1969.
* Kjellström, G. On the Efficiency of Gaussian Adaptation. Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, vol. 71, no. 3, Dec. 1991.
* Shannon, C.E. A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Bell Syst. Techn. J., Vol. 27, pp 379-423, (Part I), 1948.
* Åslund, N. The fundamental theorems of information theory (Swedish). Nordisk Matematisk Tidskrift, Band 9, Oslo 1961.

[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Theories]]

Information entropy

2010-10-15T02:39:27Z

PSvensson:

'''Information theory''' is the study of "information" or data, in a statistical manner.

== Overview ==

The well known entity in the theory of information, seemingly founded by [[Claude Shannon]], is the [[information entropy]] defined as

<math> H = -\sum_i p(i) \log_2 p(i) </math>

where the index i runs through all positive integers up to n, for instance (i = 1, 2, …, n). Note that the logarithm is taken to base 2. This entropy may calculated for any statistical frequency function, such that <math>\sum p(i) = 1</math>. The maximum in H (= log(n)) is obtained when all p(i) are equal. Mathematically, H is also equivalent to entropy and disorder in physics.

H may also be interpreted as an [[average information]] based on a certain axiom that when an event occurs with probability p(i), then we get the [[self-information]] - log [p(i) ]. This information is only about probability and has no mental meaning.

Shannon derived the formula from axioms, which in a natural way may be interpreted as information. When we toss a coin we may have two different messages, each with probability 0.5 which may be denoted 0 and 1. If the coin is tossed two times in a sequence we may have the following four possible messages ‘00’, ‘01’, ‘10’ and ‘11’, each with probability 0.25, which may be seen as the information from a pair of tosses.

A reasonable postulate is that the sum of information from any two different messages should equal the total information in the joined messages. And one way to accomplish this is to let the self-information equal the negative logarithm of the probability. Thus, the information in a pair of tosses becomes

<math> -\log(0.5) - \log(0.5) = -\log(0.25) </math> or <math>\log(2) + \log(2) = \log(4) </math>

Another reasonable postulate is that when a message increases in length, then its information increases. For instance, a triple of tosses gives messages with probability = 0.125 and a quadruple with probability = 0.0625. and

<math> -\log(0.0625) > -\log(0.125). </math>

And an event occurring with probability = 1 is a certain event, which will carry no information. Consequently -log(1) = 0.

If all these properties should be maintained for all possible divisions of messages written in different alphabets, then the negative logarithm of the probability is a very good candidate for being a measure of information.

More generally - the word “we” may be followed by “are”, but hardly ever by “am” – some part Y of a message may depend on another part X, making the average information H(Y|X) less than H(XY), i. e. the average information when X and Y are statistically independent. We have

<math> H(Y|X)=H( XY ) - H(X)</math>

and the only functions satisfying this formula are those proportional to the [[entropy]] H, Åslund, 1961. Then, entropy may be seen as [[average information]].

== The continuous case ==

In the continuous case the discrete frequency function is replaced by a continuous probability density function, (p. d. f.) , f(x), and H may be written

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

A problem here is that H becomes uncertain because of the infinitesimally small dx. A way to evade the problem is to define H in such way that H equals the logarithm of the volume – in analogy to the cardinality n in the discrete case - covered by a uniform p. d. f. over the volume. Thus H may be defined as

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

The “volume” covered by a Gaussian p. d. f. is proportional to the volume of the ellipsoid of concentration and equal to <math>\sqrt{2\pi e^n |M|} </math>, where M is the moment matrix of the Gaussian.

The [[average information]] may be maximized by a certain genetic algorithm, [[Gaussian adaptation]], keeping the [[mean fitness]] – i. e. the average probability of becoming a parent to new individuals in the progeny – constant (and without any need for any knowledge about average information as a criterion function). This is illustrated by the figure below, showing Gaussian adaptation climbing a mountain crest in a phenotypic landscape.

The lines in the figure are part of a contour line enclosing a region of acceptability in the landscape. At the start the cluster of red points represents a very homogeneous population with small variances in the phenotypes. Evidently, even small environmental changes in the landscape, may cause the process to become extinct.

http://web.telia.com/~u91131915/mountain_crest.GIF

After a sufficiently large number of generations, the increase in [[average information]] may result in the green cluster. Actually, the mean fitness is the same for both red and green cluster (about 65%). The effect of this adaptation is not very salient in a 2-dimensional case, but in a high-dimensional case, the efficiency of the search process may be increased by many orders of magnitude. Besides, a Gaussian distribution has the highest [[average information]] as compared to other distributions having the same second order moment matrix, Middleton, 1960.

== History of applications ==

A comprehensive outline of applications such as telecommunication, channel coding, computer science, physics, neurobiology, electrical engineering and so on may be found elsewhere on the Internet.

Less well known is the use of information theory in simulated evolution by random search. For instance, the average speed of a random walk with Gaussian distributed steps in a hypercube or simplex is proportional to -P log( P ), where P is the average probability that a step will lead to a new point inside the hypercube, Kjellström, 1969. This may be interpreted as the [[self-information]] –log(P) divided by the work or time – proportional to 1/P – needed to get the information on the average.

The function -P log( P ) is positive in the P-interval, 0 <= P <= 1, equals zero at the end points and attains its maximum at P = 1/e = 37%.

A more general theorem of efficiency based on information theory may be found in a paper by Kjellström, 1991.

==Applications to creationism==

The German [[physicist]] Dr. [[Werner Gitt]] has built on the work of [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Norbert Wiener]] in information theory, extending it with fourteen mathematical [[theorems]] from which it follows that [[evolution]] cannot account for the information encoded in living systems. (See [http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v10/i2/information.asp].) He has, in effect, offered irrefutable '[[a priori]]' proof that evolution is impossible.

== See also ==
* [[Information]]

== References ==

* Brooks, D. R. & Wiley, E. O. Evolution as Entropy, Towards a unified theory of Biology. The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
* Kjellström, G. Network Optimization by Random Variation of component values. Ericsson Technics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 133-151, 1969.
* Kjellström, G. On the Efficiency of Gaussian Adaptation. Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, vol. 71, no. 3, Dec. 1991.
* Shannon, C.E. A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Bell Syst. Techn. J., Vol. 27, pp 379-423, (Part I), 1948.
* Åslund, N. The fundamental theorems of information theory (Swedish). Nordisk Matematisk Tidskrift, Band 9, Oslo 1961.

[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Theories]]

Information entropy

2010-10-15T02:37:37Z

PSvensson:

'''Information theory''' is the study of "information" or data, in a statistical manner.

== Overview ==

The well known entity in the theory of information, seemingly founded by [[Claude Shannon]], is the [[information entropy]] defined as

<math> H = -\sum_i p(i) \log_2 p(i) </math>

where the index i runs through all positive integers up to n, for instance (i = 1, 2, …, n). Note that the logarithm is taken to base 2. This entropy may calculated for any statistical frequency function, such that <math>\sum p(i) = 1</math>. The maximum in H (= log(n)) is obtained when all p(i) are equal. Mathematically, H is also equivalent to entropy and disorder in physics.

H may also be interpreted as an [[average information]] based on a certain axiom that when an event occurs with probability p(i), then we get the [[self-information]] - log [p(i) ]. This information is only about probability and has no mental meaning.

Shannon derived the formula from axioms, which in a natural way may be interpreted as information. When we toss a coin we may have two different messages, each with probability 0.5 which may be denoted 0 and 1. If the coin is tossed two times in a sequence we may have the following four possible messages ‘00’, ‘01’, ‘10’ and ‘11’, each with probability 0.25, which may be seen as the information from a pair of tosses.

A reasonable postulate is that the sum of information from any two different messages should equal the total information in the joined messages. And one way to accomplish this is to let the self-information equal the negative logarithm of the probability. Thus, the information in a pair of tosses becomes

<math> -\log(0.5) - \log(0.5) = -\log(0.25) </math> or <math>\log(2) + \log(2) = \log(4) </math>

Another reasonable postulate is that when a message increases in length, then its information increases. For instance, a triple of tosses gives messages with probability = 0.125 and a quadruple with probability = 0.0625. and

<math> -\log(0.0625) > -\log(0.125). </math>

And an event occurring with probability = 1 is a certain event, which will carry no information. Consequently -log(1) = 0.

If all these properties should be maintained for all possible divisions of messages written in different alphabets, then the negative logarithm of the probability is a very good candidate for being a measure of information.

More generally - the word “we” may be followed by “are”, but hardly ever by “am” – some part Y of a message may depend on another part X, making the average information H(Y|X) less than H(XY), i. e. the average information when X and Y are statistically independent. We have

<math> H(Y|X)=H( XY ) - H(X)</math>

and the only functions satisfying this formula are those proportional to the [[entropy]] H, Åslund, 1961. Then, entropy may be seen as [[average information]].

== The continuous case ==

In the continuous case the discrete frequency function is replaced by a continuous probability density function, (p. d. f.) , f(x), and H may be written

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

A problem here is that H becomes uncertain because of the infinitesimally small dx. A way to evade the problem is to define H in such way that H equals the logarithm of the volume – in analogy to the cardinality n in the discrete case - covered by a uniform p. d. f. over the volume. Thus H may be defined as

<math> H = \int f(x) \log f(x) dx .</math>

The “volume” covered by a Gaussian p. d. f. is proportional to the volume of the ellipsoid of concentration and equal to <math>\sqrt{2\pi e^n |M|} </math>, where M is the moment matrix of the Gaussian.

The [[average information]] may be maximized by a certain genetic algorithm, [[Gaussian adaptation]], keeping the [[mean fitness]] – i. e. the average probability of becoming a parent to new individuals in the progeny – constant (and without any need for any knowledge about average information as a criterion function). This is illustrated by the figure below, showing Gaussian adaptation climbing a mountain crest in a phenotypic landscape.

The lines in the figure are part of a contour line enclosing a region of acceptability in the landscape. At the start the cluster of red points represents a very homogeneous population with small variances in the phenotypes. Evidently, even small environmental changes in the landscape, may cause the process to become extinct.

http://web.telia.com/~u91131915/mountain_crest.GIF

After a sufficiently large number of generations, the increase in [[average information]] may result in the green cluster. Actually, the mean fitness is the same for both red and green cluster (about 65%). The effect of this adaptation is not very salient in a 2-dimensional case, but in a high-dimensional case, the efficiency of the search process may be increased by many orders of magnitude. Besides, a Gaussian distribution has the highest [[average information]] as compared to other distributions having the same second order moment matrix, Middleton, 1960.

== History of applications ==

A comprehensive outline of applications such as telecommunication, channel coding, computer science, physics, neurobiology, electrical engineering and so on may be found elsewhere on the Internet.

Less well known is the use of information theory in simulated evolution by random search. For instance, the average speed of a random walk with Gaussian distributed steps in a hypercube or simplex is proportional to -P log( P ), where P is the average probability that a step will lead to a new point inside the hypercube, Kjellström, 1969. This may be interpreted as the [[self-information]] –log(P) divided by the work or time – proportional to 1/P – needed to get the information on the average.

The function -P log( P ) is positive in the P-interval, 0 <= P <= 1, equals zero at the end points and attains its maximum at P = 1/e = 37%.

A more general theorem of efficiency based on information theory may be found in a paper by Kjellström, 1991.

==Applications to creationism==

The German [[physicist]] Dr. [[Werner Gitt]] has built on the work of [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Norbert Wiener]] in information theory, extending it with fourteen mathematical [[theorems]] from which it follows that [[evolution]] cannot account for the information encoded in living systems. <ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v10/i2/information.asp]</ref> He has, in effect, offered irrefutable '[[a priori]]' proof that evolution is impossible.

== See also ==
* [[Information]]

== References ==

* Brooks, D. R. & Wiley, E. O. Evolution as Entropy, Towards a unified theory of Biology. The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
* Kjellström, G. Network Optimization by Random Variation of component values. Ericsson Technics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 133-151, 1969.
* Kjellström, G. On the Efficiency of Gaussian Adaptation. Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, vol. 71, no. 3, Dec. 1991.
* Shannon, C.E. A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Bell Syst. Techn. J., Vol. 27, pp 379-423, (Part I), 1948.
* Åslund, N. The fundamental theorems of information theory (Swedish). Nordisk Matematisk Tidskrift, Band 9, Oslo 1961.

[[Category:Mathematics]]
[[Category:Theories]]

Counterexamples to Evolution

2010-10-15T02:07:29Z

PSvensson: /* Lack of mechanism */

[[File:Darwin_monkey_cartoon.jpg|thumb|180px|Caricature of [[Charles Darwin]]. To date, no fossils of ''H. darwinicus orangutanishicus'' have been found.]]
The [[theory of evolution]] does not permit the existence of any counterexamples. '''If any of the counterexamples listed below is correct, then the theory of evolution fails'''. Moreover, if there is merely a 5% chance that each of these counterexamples is correct (and the odds are far higher than that<ref>Many of the counterexamples are indisputable, rendering each of their probabilities of being correct nearly 100%.</ref>), then the odds that these counterexamples are ''all'' incorrect and that evolution is true becomes very small (only a 4.6% chance that evolution is true with 60 possible counterexamples).
==Counterexamples==
===Logical examples===
# The annual rate of extinction of species far exceeds any plausible rate of generation of species. Expanding the amount of time for evolution to occur makes evolution even less likely.
# Lack of genetic diversity among the ''Homo sapiens'' species. Were evolution and the old earth true, the human population would show a much larger genetic variance.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref>
# Parsimonious repetition of design elements throughout creation, e.g. the eye's appearance in remarkably different species. For such complex structures to [[convergent evolution|arise repeatedly via evolution]] is [[statistical_impossibility | impossible]], as evolution is an inherently random and historically contingent process.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i1/homology.asp</ref>
# ''Pleiotropy'', the fact that a change of a single gene can have several different effects, renders the "improvement" of animals by random mutation impossible, as any mutation with a potentially beneficial effect will be coupled with one or more other potentially lethal effects.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/aid/v4/n1/beneficial-mutations-in-bacteria</ref>
# The development of feathers, which could not have conceivably "grown" from the scales of dinosaurs<ref>http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/40/4/687.pdf</ref><ref>[http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/early-evolution-of-feathers.html]</ref>
# For evolution to be true, every male dog, cat, horse, elephant, giraffe, fish and bird had to have coincidentally evolved with a female alongside it (over billions of years) with fully evolved compatible reproductive parts and a desire to mate, otherwise the species couldn't keep going. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90743</ref>
# There are no historical records of anyone directly observing one species evolving into another, which would certainly be something worth writing about. Surely of the millions of species we have, someone would have witnessed ''one'' come into existence had it evolved.
# If evolution were to explain where human beings come from, then every personality type should benefit human life. This is clearly untrue because the world is filled with liars, psychopaths, and murderers. These traits clearly do not benefit humanity.

===Lack of mechanism===
# Animals flee to high ground ''before'' a deadly tsunami hits their shoreline, defying any plausible [[materialistic]] explanation.<ref>http://www.deseretnews.com/article/600105348/Utah-scientific-Did-animals-sense--and-flee--the-tsunamis-in-S-Asia.html</ref>
# Mutations cause a loss of information, rendering it mathematically impossible for mutations to advance the complexity of life. Similarly, [[entropy]] (disorder) increases over time, making it impossible for order to increase on its own. According to [[Cornell University]] [[geneticist]] [[John C. Sanford]], not even the energy of the Sun, which might otherwise reduce entropy in a system not thermodynamically isolated such as the Earth, is capable of turning back the inexorable decline of our planet's collected genomes. <ref>[http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/respected-cornell-geneticist-rejects-darwinism-in-his-recent-book/]</ref> It seems reasonable to infer, then, that the [[End Times]] will come before or during the eventual collapse of the world's [[ecosystems]] that will come as a result of this irreversible deterioration.
# "Social insects" such as bees, ants, and termites, which have extremely ornate caste systems. Where an insect fits is determined by its diet when young. Evolution requires that both the genetics for the various castes, the genetics for caste determination, and the genetics for ''behavior'' allowing caste determination all appeared simultaneously. Akin to the concept of [[irreducible complexity]], but on a higher (social) order, this is impossible given random chance.
# [[Ant]]s and other social [[insect]]s, for at least two reasons: First, their complex social structure is evidence of [[intelligent design]]; second, since the overwhelming majority of individuals are workers and do not reproduce, they cannot perpetuate their genetic material, as evolution requires.
# evolution cannot explain artistic beauty, such as the brilliant autumn foliage and staggering array of beautiful marine fish, both of which originated before any human to view them; this lacks any plausible evolutionary explanation
# Evolution cannot explain how beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if evolution said that beauty were useful then we would all expect to see the same things as beautiful.
# the fact that [[cicada]]s appear like clockwork every 13 years for some species, and every 17 years for others<ref>http://inside.msj.edu/academics/faculty/kritskg/cicada/faq.html</ref>
# the extraordinary migration patterns of butterflies and birds, which lack any plausible materialistic explanation<ref>[[migration]]</ref>
# Evolution does not account for the immense amount of [[information]] in the genome, as well as the origin of the information-processing systems in the cell. Information always has a sender, who must be God in this case.
# the manner in which chickens return to their chicken coops at the same time, and enter the chicken coops in the same order, each day
# Symbiosis - There are many examples where creatures rely on each other to survive which could not arise through evolution. Grass cannot survive without a certain fungus that helps it fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and the fungus can't survive without the grass. They must have appeared on earth at the same time.<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070410084136.htm]</ref>
# Consciousness - No animal displays self-awareness (such as clothing), morality, tool-making, or self-sacrifice to the same extent that man does. It is unclear how a random mutation could have arisen which accounts for humanity's significantly higher cognitive ability.
# Humans exhibit behaviors such as performing [[science]], creating [[art]] and [[music]], [[dance|dancing]], and a number of other intellectual and artistic behaviors which could not have been produced by random mutations. There is no known evolutionary reason why these should be favored.
# Trematode parasites, like many other kinds, lack a plausible evolutionary phylogeny, though they can easily be explained by a teleological design.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/36/36_4/trematodes.html</ref>
# In addition, evolution cannot explain the many complex sex-determining systems. For example, in most mammals, females have two X chromosomes whereas males have an X and Y chromosome, but in birds, many insects, and other organisms, the situation is reversed. In flies, sex is determined the ratio of non-sex chromosomes to X chromosomes (so that males have only one X whereas females have two). It is impossible for evolution to create these new sex-determining systems ''ex nihilo''.
# Several species of fish in the Arctic ocean have chemicals in their blood that essentially act as anti-freeze. Evolution requires gradual change, leaving no plausible explanation as to how the fish survived before developing this trait.
# The blood of tunicates such as the sea squirt is based on the rare element [[vanadium]] instead of the abundant [[iron]] used in other vertebrates, which would have required a complete re-tooling of its entire circulatory biochemistry <ref>http://www.earthlife.net/inverts/ascidiacea.html</ref>.
# Animals exist in isolated places without any plausible motivation or means for getting there, such as on remote islands or more than 1200 feet high on top of the vertical cliffs of [[Devils Tower]]. Even humans (though large and intelligent) were unable to ascend the peak until 1893, and required specialized climbing equipment.

===Maladaptation===
# [[Jellyfish]] in [[Hawaii]] swarm to the beaches roughly 9 to 10 days after each full [[moon]], for no apparent evolutionary reason<ref>http://www.aloha.com/~lifeguards/jelyfish.html</ref>
# Variation in chromosome count (ploidy) is impossible in evolution. One member of a species with 2 sets of chromosomes cannot mate with a member with 4. Thus, for the chromosome count of a species to change (and thus account for the variety of counts in nature) a vast portion of a species would have to evolve a new chromosome set simultaneously.
# The [[human]] [[prostate]] surrounds the [[urethra]] and in doing so provides many benefits. Evolutionists consider the structure to be poor design, which should mean that natural selection would have eliminated that design.<ref>Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/5757 The Prostate Gland–is it ‘badly designed’?], 1st August 2008 (Creation Ministries International)</ref>
# Inability to account for widely observed altruism among animals, as it ''reduces'' an animal's ability to survive. “The existence of altruism between different species — which is not uncommon — remains an obstinate enigma.”<ref>''In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'' [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes12.html]</ref> Not surprisingly, atheist evolutionists have done their utmost to ''deny'' animal altruism (See especially [[Richard Dawkins]]' ''[[The Selfish Gene]]'', which denies altruism without providing any evidence to back up his enormous claim)
# Too many deleterious mutations. Each generation of humans has far more negative mutations than the posited natural selection can remove. Evolution is thus impossible as species would become nonviable long before they could diverge.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref>
# Evolution should have removed HIV from the human race as we would have built an immunity to it, much like bacteria do to anti-biotics, yet we have not. In fact the continued existence of disease is proof against evolution as natural selection would have left only humans who were immune to them.
# Schizophrenia is a disorder that causes a person to be unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. It is an inherited disorder and affects nearly 1 in 100 people. Scientists still have yet to explain what causes it, but one this is for certain, if evolution were true, it should have eliminated such an obvious disability long ago.

===Wrong prediction===
# "the loss and addition of large DNA sequence blocks are present in humans and gorillas, but not in chimps" even though "the gorilla is lower on the primate tree than the chimp and supposedly more distant to humans. How could these large blocks of DNA--from an evolutionary perspective--appear first in gorillas, disappear in chimps, and then reappear in humans?"<ref>http://www.icr.org/article/4624/</ref>
# Lack of any vestigial organs in the human body. While evolutionists used to claim dozens or even hundreds of human traits and organs were vestigial, useless items disused through evolution, we now know what functions they all have, including the appendix (the classic example). <ref>Ken Ham and Carl Wieland, ''Your Appendix: It's There for a Reason.'' (1997)</ref>
# Lack of any demonstrable vestigial parts of the human [[genome]]. While evolutionists often claim that regions of the genome are "junk DNA" and would not have been placed there by a designer, none have actually shown this to be true, and much so-called "junk DNA" has been shown to be useful.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/junkdna.html</ref>
# While evolutionists argue that there are examples of "[[argument from poor design|bad design]]" in the bodies of many organisms, such as "flaws" in the human spine and sinus system, evolutionists fail to realize that, by their own theory, natural selection should have removed these things! The simpler explanation, that these represent degeneration from an original, created perfect form, is the superior one.
# We have the perfect number of [[teeth]] to fit in our [[mouth]]s. While creationism perfectly accounts for that result, evolutionism predicts a contrary result: As our [[face]]s evolved from chimpanzee-like faces to human faces, the shortening of the muzzle would have caused the teeth to become overcrowded in the mouth.
# Human fertility is rapidly declining, disproving evolutionary improvement in humans and also suggesting a brief timeline for human existence.

===Missing fossils===
# The remarkable whale, which is a mammal, has no plausible evolutionary ancestor.
# No transitional forms appear for horses, instead different and distinct horse-like animals appear in the fossil record<ref>[[Ray Comfort]], in the Forward to the 150th anniversary edition of "On the Origin of Species"</ref>
# The enormous gaps and lack of intermediate species in the [[fossils|fossil]] record, once all the frauds are removed.
# No clear transition from unicellular to multicellular organisms.
# Mammalian fur and body hair. There is no known evolutionary pathway for the development of fur, and no fossil evidence of hair evolving from scales, even though it survives very well.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/40/40_4/Bergman.htm</ref>
# A lack of any evolution from prehistoric forms has been demonstrated for many species.
# '''Where are the human ancestors?''' (That is, the ones that weren't [http://www.conservapedia.com/Piltdown_Man frauds].)

===Paradoxical fossils===
# The fact that new discoveries, such as ''[[Raptorex]],'' routinely call into question key dogmas of evolutionism and require the "immutable" laws of evolution to be reassessed. By contrast, creationism has prevailed in the face of scientific discoveries for six thousand years.

=== Irreducible Complexity===
# The [[immune system]] is irreducibly complex, as without one which is thoroughly developed, an organism would not be able to resist any infection<ref>Behe, Michael J. 1996. ''Darwin's Black Box'', New York: The Free Press, pp. 117-139.</ref><ref>[http://biology.creighton.edu/courses/BIO432/Evolution%2005.htm]</ref>
# The extraordinarily long neck of the [[giraffe]]. It serves no function (the theory that giraffes use the long neck to eat from high tree branches was never true). The presence of valves in the neck (which are necessary because of its great length) raises a question of how one could have arisen without the other being there first.<ref>[http://www1.pacific.edu/~e-buhals/GIRAFFE2.htm]</ref>
# The long legs of the [[giraffe]]: if a random mutation led to long legs without a long neck or vice versa, the animal would be unable to survive.
# The development of wings, as intermediary wing stubs would have no use, and be a competitive disadvantage.
# The [[flagellum]] a multi-part cellular motor which fails to function if a single part is removed is the classic example of [[irreducible complexity]] and cannot arise according to the theory of evolution.<ref>[http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/design2/article.html]</ref>
# Many [[bat]]s which live in caves employ a type of sonar in order to navigate and find prey. Evolutionists propose that the bat evolved from a squirrel-like animal, but a squirrel would have no use for a sonar system. The bats can't fly without sonar, and an animal that can't fly doesn't need it. Therefore, bats must have been created with fully functioning sonar and flight.
# The organ and brain development required for retinal imagery require a base level of complexity, making a primitive form useless and impossible under evolution.<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/43/43_1/retinal_imagery.htm</ref>
# Blood clotting is a unique process unlike any other in the body, without which the smallest cut could be life-threatening. Only a fully developed clotting system is functional and therefore could not have evolved through intermediate stages.

===Uncategorized===
# Evolution would result in modern languages having one common ancestral language, and for nearly a century linguists insisted that there must be one. There is not, and linguists now accept that there are completely independent families of languages.
# [[Pterosaurs]]; a scientist recently stated that they could not have flown, but why then did they evolve wings?<ref>http://www.physorg.com/news142086647.html</ref>
# No other animal exhibits [[religion]]. A far better explanation than random mutations is that humans were given the capacity to be religious by a loving God who wants a relationship with His creations.
# Evolution requires that random mutations can cause one [[kind]] to change into another, but this has never been observed.
# The existence of two symmetrical kidneys, which are unnecessary in most people, lacks a plausible evolutionary explanation based on functionality alone. Because evolution falsehoods mislead most people into thinking they need their second kidney, "the average waiting time for the organs from a deceased donor in the United States is five years" and "3,916 patients waiting for a kidney in 2006 died before one became available."<ref>[http://www.scienceline.org/2009/03/04/levitan-health-living-kidney-donor-transplant/] This article observes, "As a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found, living kidney donors live as long or longer and enjoy better quality of life than the general population."</ref>
# Circadian phenomena -- internal 24-hour clock mechanisms of humans and other living beings -- defy material explanation. Examples include how some people are unable to change the timing of their need for sleep for each day, and how plants exhibit clock-like behavior regardless of their exposure to sunlight. In addition, there is a weekly clock cycle for many phenomena, which has a clear biblical basis but defies any materialistic explanation.<ref>http://www.biblestudy.org/godsrest/mysterious-seven-day-cycle-in-plants-animals-man-2.html</ref>
# If religion were as harmful as evolutionists claim, natural selection would have phased it out, but it continues, meaning evolutionists are wrong about both evolution and the supposed harmful effects of religion.
# Scientists have found proof that the first chicken came before the first egg,<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38238685/ns/technology_and_science-science/</ref> consistent with a special creation of chickens but not with a gradual descent with modifications from a proto-chicken and proto-egg.

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

{{evolution}}

== See also ==

*[[Counterexamples to an Old Earth]]
*[[Creation vs. Evolution Videos]]
*[[Counterexamples to Relativity]]
*[[Counterexamples to the Bible]]

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

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

[[category:Evolution]]

Artificial intelligence

2010-10-15T01:56:02Z

PSvensson:

[[Image:Hgcfjy.jpg|right|thumb|ASIMO is a humanoid robot created by [[Honda]]. Standing at 130 centimeters and weighing 54 kilograms, the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion at up to 6 km/h. ASIMO was created at Honda's Research & Development Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in [[Japan]].]]

'''Artificial intelligence''' (or '''AI''') is a computer-based simulation of the human thought process. It is a common feature in [[science-fiction]], but as yet no true AI (IE, one capable of passing the [[Turing Test]]) has been created, and only very limited progress has been made on such simple subcomponents as facial recognition or beating world champion chess players at [[chess]].

Many philosophers, including the [[John Searle]], have advanced the view that artificial intelligence is an impossible goal. The main argument is that it would be impossible for a machine, a creation of man, to ever achieve actual understanding and comprehension of either language or the world around it, as the machine is simply a set of rules which process symbolic information. This argument is summarized by Searle's [[thought experiment]], the [[Chinese Room]]. <ref>http://www.iep.utm.edu/c/chineser.htm</ref> Despite being a [[humanist]], Searle's arguments reflect the popular religious thought that creation can never be as great as the Creator. Thus, his conclusions are self-evident truth to any theist, as a machine is simply a metal object. To claim that metal can or could think is patently ridiculous. The Bible is clear in this regard: God has only endowed organic molecules with the capacity for reason: "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7, KJV)

Artificial intelligence was most popular between the 60's and the 80's, when computers were still new and misunderstood. Notably the [[homosexual]] [[Alan Turing]], who shortly thereafter committed suicide, was responsible for much of the fever of attempting to create intelligent computers, with his publication of the paper proposing the [[Turing Test]]. This fever quickly subsided, when it was proven, predictably, that AI was impossible, but not before being kept alive for a short while by a number of largely [[atheistic]] or [[secular]] [[Jewish]] [[computer scientists]].

The field is now divided into several sub-branches, which attempt to recreate some of the features and abilities of the human mind, without assuming that the features such as real intelligence, understanding or emotions are in any way possible for a computer. It can now be stated unequivocally that the "strong" program in artificial intelligence (i.e., that an artifact could attain consciousness) has been abandoned entirely.

==See also==
* [[Deep Blue]]
* [[Robot]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Psychology]]

Strategic Defense Initiative

2010-10-15T01:47:17Z

PSvensson:

[[Image:Sdilogo.png|200px|right|thumb]]
The '''Strategic Defense Initiative''' (SDI), commonly called '''Star Wars''', was a proposal by U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1983 to build a ground- and space-based system to protect the U.S. from nuclear ballistic missiles. The system was never fully set up, but the research from this paved the way for the anti-ballistic missile systems of today, including the [[Patriot missile]] that provided the defense against [[Iraq]]i Scud missiles launched against [[American]] forces and [[Israel]] during the [[Gulf War]]. It is believed by some experts that the Soviet's response necessitated by SDI contributed to their financial and political collapse.

SDI was a major component of the [[Reagan Doctrine]] in foreign policy, designed to push the Soviets to its limits and beyond into collapse.

==Goals of SDI==
The basic goal of SDI was to intercept and destroy incoming nuclear ballistic missiles to prevent detonation over the U.S. In some scenarios, not all warheads would be intercepted, but enough would be to render [[mutually assured destruction]] moot. In the scenario of "partial protection", the U.S. would be immune from complete destruction, which would deter the USSR from launching a first strike. Also see [[game theory]].

==Components of SDI==
There are a limited number of ways to prevent a ballistic missile from detonating over one's territory. A brief primer on nuclear attack will help explain the problems to be solved.
===The Problems===
Missiles with nuclear payloads are launched in two primary ways: as ground based [[intercontinental ballistic missiles]], and as shorter range missiles, such as submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs).

*ICBMs are launched from the ground, travel into space, and return with the assistance of [[gravity]]. Most contain [[multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles]] or MIRVs. This means that a single ICBM can cause many nuclear warheads to detonate over multiple targets. Problems involved include detecting the launch, and deciding on what level to intercept the target. If the target is disabled before deployment of MIRVs, this obviously solves many problems. Once MIRVs are deployed, many more targets must be eliminated. Destroying an ICBM before it enters space is essentially impossible. [[Interception]] in space requires a pre-placed infrastructure. Interception after MIRV deployment involves ground-based systems.
*SLBMs and SLCMs present serious difficulties. SLBMs have a shorter time available to intercept, as they can be launched nearer to target. SLCMs are basically a [[first-strike]] weapon, travel short distances quickly and close to the ground.

===The Solutions===
====Ground-based systems====
[[Image:SDI.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT)]]
Ground-based systems must be able to detect a rapidly-approaching ballistic object, and destroy or divert that object well enough to avoid catastrophic damage to the target.

====Space-based systems====
Space-based systems generally aim to destroy a ballistic missile at the height of its trajectory.
At this point, the missile is fragile and vulnerable. The difficulty lies in detecting the object, deploying the countermeasure, and successful interception. Several solutions have been proposed, including "Brilliant Pebbles", which would be non-ballistic kinetic missiles deployed to intercept the missile, and at low energy, deflect or destroy the ICBM.<ref>[http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/upload/87946_1.pdf "Brilliant Pebbles": The Revolutionary Idea for Strategic Defense], ''[[Heritage Foundation]]'', 1990</ref>

==Criticisms==
Critiques of the original program were self-contradictory. One the one hand it was supposedly technologically impossible while simultaneously arguing that it effective and therefore was destabilizing.

The criticisms were substantially weakened by the successful missile defense deployed during the [[Gulf War]], when the Patriot missiles successfully and spectacularly shot down deadly missiles launched by Saddam Hussein against military and civilian targets. Furthermore, contrary to popular opinion, relatively few false alarms were raised by automated missile defense systems during the tenure of SDI. The decade was a [[Renaissance]] of [[artificial intelligence]] and most experts in the field firmly stood behind Reagan's bold proposition that America could be defended from Communist aggression with a strategic defense program fully automated for optimal reaction time.

==Changes==
Under Reagan SDI explored advanced technologies with the aim of determining the feasibility of effective, nonnuclear ballistic missile defenses (BMD). The initial focus of SDI reflected US concerns about growing Soviet first-strike capabilities. Thus, an initial deployment of defenses, or Phase I Strategic Defense System, was to have provided the minimum defensive capability that would add meaningfully to deterrence of a Soviet first strike. However, with the end of the [[Cold War]], President [[George H.W. Bush]] in early 1991 directed that SDI be refocused to provide global protection against limited strikes, thus shifting the primary US role for BMD from deterrence to actual protection.
==See also==
* [[Reagan Doctrine]]
* [[Ronald Reagan]]

==Further reading==
* Baucom, Donald R. ''The Origins of SDI, 1944-1983'' (1992),
* Westwick, Peter J. "'Space-Strike Weapons' and the Soviet Response to SDI," ''Diplomatic History'' 2008 32(5): 955-979

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External Links==
*[http://donovaneditorial.com/work/ISDcasestudy1.51130007.pdf Changing the Rules: President Ronald Reagan's. Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Decision].

[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]

Voltaire

2010-10-14T04:38:51Z

PSvensson:

[[Image:392.jpg|right|thumb|250px]]
'''Voltaire''' (pen name of François-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778) was a leading [[French]] [[philosopher]] in the [[Enlightenment]], advocating freedom everywhere and emphasizing his form of reason. He was a [[Deism|deist]] who criticized contemporary [[Christianity]] and often [[religion]] in general. Voltaire is sometimes called the "Father of the Enlightenment."

In ''Candide'',his chief work, Voltaire criticized a philosophical theory which was popular at the time, best expressed by [[Leibniz]], that stated the world was in its best possible state because it was in God's hands. To illustrate this point, he follows the story of Candide as increasingly terrible things happen to him until he loses his optimistic view of the world and his [[Christianity|faith]].

==Voltaire on Religion==

Voltaire was very critical of religion, and has been variously categorized as an [[atheist]] or an [[agnostic]], though in reality he was a [[deist]]. A death-bed admonition to a priest attempting to convert him that "Now is no time to be making new enemies" has also been misconstrued as meaning he was a [[satanist]], though evidence exists to show he was truly a [[deist]]. <ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pv/Voltaire.html</ref> <ref>http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/volthrrck.htm</ref> <ref>http://newhumanist.org.uk/836</ref>

===Judaism and Christianity===

In his ''Philosophical Dictionary,'' he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit, implied to be [[Jesus]], "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the [[Christians]] and the [[Jews]] in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned. As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war." Voltaire concludes by stating that he accepts Jesus as his only master, endorsing a simplified version of Christianity obeying the tenets of the Golden Rule but none of the dogma present in his era's churches. <ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volrelig.html</ref>

Voltaire also erected a Church in his hometown of Ferney (now Ferney-Voltaire) with the inscription "Deo erexit VOLTAIRE" ("Erected to God by VOLTAIRE"). This further shows that Voltaire was not so much at odds with Christianity as he was with the practices associated with it during his time. <ref>http://www.quielire.fr/elections_municipales_33947_commune_de_ferney_voltaire.html</ref>

===Islam===
Regarding [[Islam]], he said, <blockquote>
"I TELL you again, ignorant imbeciles, whom other ignoramuses have made believe that the Mohammedan religion is voluptuous and sensual, there is not a word of truth in it; you have been deceived on this point as on so many others.

Canons, monks, vicars even, if a law were imposed on you not to eat or drink from four in the morning till ten at night, during the month of July, when Lent came at this period; if you were forbidden to play at any game of chance under pain of damnation; if wine were forbidden you under the same pain; if you had to make a pilgrimage into the burning desert; if it were enjoined on you to give at least two and a half per cent. of your income to the poor; if, accustomed to enjoy possession of eighteen women, the number were cut down suddenly by fourteen; honestly, would you dare call that religion sensual?

The Latin Christians have so many advantages over the Mussulmans, I do not say in the matter of war, but in the matter of doctrines; the [[Greek]] Christians have so beaten them latterly from 1769 to 1773, that it is not worth the trouble to indulge in unjust reproaches against Islam.

Try to retake from the Mohammedans all that they usurped; but it is easier to calumniate them.

I hate [[calumny]] so much that I do not want even to impute foolishness to the [[Turkey|Turks]], although I detest them as tyrants over women and enemies of the arts.

I do not know why the historian of the Lower Empire maintains that [[Mohammed]] speaks in his [[Koran]] of his journey into the sky: Mohammed does not say a word about it; we have proved it.

One must combat ceaselessly. When one has destroyed an error, there is always someone who resuscitates it." <ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volmoham.html</ref>
</blockquote>

However, another entry in his seminal 'Philosophical Dictionary,' labeled "Reason," Voltaire has a character sharply criticize Islam:
<blockquote>"Your religion, although it has some good points, such as worship of the great Being, and the necessity of being just and charitable, is otherwise nothing but a rehash of Judaism and a tedious collection of fairy tales. If the archangel Gabriel had brought the leaves of the Koran to Mahomet from some planet, all Arabia would have seen Gabriel come down : nobody saw him; therefore Mahomet was a brazen impostor who deceived imbeciles."<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volreaso.html</ref></blockquote>

==Voltaire on Democracy==
Voltaire was a strong proponent of [[democracy]] in an age when [[republican government]] was practically nonexistent and kings ruled. In a dialogue between men of all the lands of his day, they lament "that there is not one republic in all this vast part of the world", and that they long to live in "The state where only the laws are obeyed". When the [[Brahmin]] is asked where that country is, he answers, 'We must look for it'.
<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volstate.html</ref>

However, he also believed democracy would only work in a small peaceful country.

Voltaire believed that any excesses or wrongs wrought by democracies were inherently less evil or harmful than those than could be inflicted by tyrannies.
"The great vice of democracy is certainly not tyranny and cruelty: there have been mountain-dwelling republicans, savage, ferocious; but it is not the republican spirit that made them so, it is nature.
The real vice of a civilized republic is in the [[Turkish]] fable of the dragon with many heads and the dragon with many tails. The many heads hurt each other, and the many tails obey a single head which wants to devour everything."

<ref> http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volstate.html</ref>

==Voltaire's decline and death==

The evangelical modern classic ''God's Plan for Man'' relates a terrifying account of Voltaire's last days:

<blockquote>
[Voltaire] was well known as an outspoken opponent of Christianity, and predicted that it would cease to exist within 100 years. However, when a stroke put him on his death bed, Voltaire's stony exterior began to crack and reveal his miserable, frightful condition. For two months he was tortured with such an agony that led him at times to gnash his teeth in impotent rage against God and man. He would turn his face and cry out, "I must die, abandoned of God and of man." His condition became so frightful that even his associates were afraid to approach his bedside. In fact, his own nurse is quoted as saying, "For all the wealth of Europe, I would never see another infidel die. It was a scene of horror that lies beyond all exaggeration."<ref>Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan For Man. 1949, copyright renewed 1977. Dake Bible Sales, Lawrenceville, Georgia. pp. 731-734.</ref>
</blockquote>

Voltaire, his name nearly a byword for the French Enlightenment itself, died unsaved. Remember well: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18, KJV)

== References ==
<references/>

[[category:French Philosophers]]
[[Category:Deists]]
[[Category:Enlightenment]]

Avatar

2010-10-14T03:42:25Z

PSvensson: /* Anti-conservative content in James Cameron's Avatar */

[[Avatar]] is the [[incarnation]] or incarnated manifestation of a [[Hindu]] [[deity]], a theory both characteristic of Vishnuism and marking a new epoch in the religious development of India.<ref>{{Nuttall|Avatar}}</ref>

Recently, the term ''avatar'' has been used to signify "an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment",<ref>http://www.case.edu/help/webglossary.html</ref> that is, an online persona used in computer gaming or internet communities.

'''Avatar: The Last Airbender''' is also the title of an animated television series which airs on Nickelodeon.

'''Avatar''' is the name of a film by [[James Cameron]] released in 2009.<ref>[http://decentfilms.com/reviews/avatar.html Decent Films review of Avatar]</ref> It has the highest [[Inflation|unadjusted]] domestic and worldwide box office grosses of any film released.<ref>[http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/ All Time Box Office records]</ref>

==Anti-conservative content in James Cameron's Avatar==

''Avatar'' is laced with pessimistic and anti-Christian messages about [[environmentalism]]. The film also imputes base motives to the [[War on Terror]] in several instances. At one point, the major villain, a [[USMC]] colonel, commends his protégé on his military service in [[Nigeria]] and [[Venezuela]]. It is subtly implied that [[US]] actions in these countries in some unspecified point in the future were carried out for the sole purpose of securing the last commercially viable oil deposits on Earth. During the production of the film, however, dangerous [[Communist]] dictator [[Hugo Chavez]] was in power in Venezuela and Nigerian [[Muslim]] [[terrorist]] [[Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab]] acted mere months after the film's release. Worst of all, ''Avatar'' presents a religious worldview both [[materialistic]] and [[pagan]]. The natives of Pandora, the fictional [[moon]] on which the film takes place, are said to enter the [[afterlife]] only through the physical duplication of their minds in a kind of [[neural network]] distributed across the roots of the many trees all over densely-forested Pandora. In other words, a [[reductionist]] view of [[consciousness]] is taken which does not account for the immaterial [[soul]]; [[heaven]] is only attained by the transfer of one material [[brain]] into another. (Expand.)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Hinduism]]
[[category:Internet slang]]

Avatar

2010-10-14T03:35:07Z

PSvensson:

[[Avatar]] is the [[incarnation]] or incarnated manifestation of a [[Hindu]] [[deity]], a theory both characteristic of Vishnuism and marking a new epoch in the religious development of India.<ref>{{Nuttall|Avatar}}</ref>

Recently, the term ''avatar'' has been used to signify "an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment",<ref>http://www.case.edu/help/webglossary.html</ref> that is, an online persona used in computer gaming or internet communities.

'''Avatar: The Last Airbender''' is also the title of an animated television series which airs on Nickelodeon.

'''Avatar''' is the name of a film by [[James Cameron]] released in 2009.<ref>[http://decentfilms.com/reviews/avatar.html Decent Films review of Avatar]</ref> It has the highest [[Inflation|unadjusted]] domestic and worldwide box office grosses of any film released.<ref>[http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/ All Time Box Office records]</ref>

==Anti-conservative content in James Cameron's Avatar==

''Avatar'' is laced with pessimistic and anti-Christian messages about [[environmentalism]]. The film also imputes base motives to the [[War on Terror]] in several instances. At one point, the major villain, a [[USMC]] colonel, commends his protégé on his military service in [[Nigeria]] and [[Venezuela]]. It is subtly implied that [[US]] actions in these countries in some unspecified point in the future were carried out for the sole purpose of securing the last commercially viable oil deposits on Earth. During the production of the film, however, dangerous [[Communist]] dictator [[Hugo Chavez]] was in power in Venezuela and Nigerian [[Muslim]] [[terrorist]] [[Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab]] acted mere months after the film's release. (Expand.)

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Hinduism]]
[[category:Internet slang]]

Deliberate ignorance

2010-10-14T03:15:17Z

PSvensson:

'''Deliberate ignorance''' is the practice of refusing to consider or discuss logic or evidence disproving ideologically motivated positions. Examples include:

* [[Howard Dean]], a physician, former Governor, and longtime politician, refusing to recognize that [[taxpayer-funded abortion]] increases the number of [[abortion]]s<ref>http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/210vssua.asp?</ref>
* [[abortionists]] refuse to address the undisclosed harm to the mothers who have [[abortions]]
* refusing to acknowledge the inferior credentials of the critics of [[Richard Sternberg]], whom they ostracize for having published an [[intelligent design]] article
* [[Democrats]] refusing to acknowledge [[Barack Obama]]'s appeal to unpatriotic donors and supporters
* [[materialists]] refuse to address the impossibility of material explanation for [[migration]] and [[homing]]
* [[evolutionists]] refuse to address the lack of a plausible evolutionary path for the [[whale]]<ref>This is disputed by evolutionists at a blog worth reviewing further for plausibility [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/02/two_tales_of_whale_evolution.php here].</ref> and the other [[counterexamples to evolution]].
* [[liberals]] refuse to address how [[socialism]] destroys productivity
* Advocates of the [[global warming theory]] refuse to consider any scientific evidence which shows that natural causes have always had a greater effect on terrestrial air temperature than human activity.
* [[Liberal Christianity|Liberal]] [[Cafeteria Christianity|cafeteria Christians]] refuse to consider [[Bible]] verses that contradict their preconceived notions of what the Bible should say.
* Liberal Internet discussion boards quickly delete posts that present facts contradicting liberal ideology and ban users making such posts.
* [[atheists]] refuse to acknowledge [[a priori]] [[philosophical]] [[proofs]] of the existence of [[God]], and specifically the [[Christian]] god, such as the [[ontological argument]]; they also fail to provide proof and [[evidence]] that there is no God.
(add more)

Common expressions of [[deliberate ignorance]] include:

*"I find that hard to believe!" (Howard Dean, June 11, 2008, in response to a fact ignored by [[liberals]]<ref>http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/210vssua.asp?</ref>)
* "I'm not aware of that!" (without admitting a failure to look)
* "I've never seen that in the [[New York Times]]!"
* "That's not what it said in my ([[public school]]) textbook!"
* "Let's talk about something else!"
* "I'm not interested in that!"
* "They hate us for our freedom!"
* "Complete suspension of disbelief!"
* "That [[Logical_fallacy#Appeal_to_pity|offends me]]!" (used as an excuse not to consider facts or logic)

== Crime of Deliberate Ignorance ==

'''Deliberate ignorance''' can be a crime. For example, jurors were instructed "to consider whether ... former Enron Corp. executives deliberately ignored accounting fraud as the energy trader fell into bankruptcy."<ref>http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2006/05/11/enron_jury_to_consider_deliberate_ignorance/</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rhetoric]]
[[Category:Liberal Traits]]

Natural gas

2010-10-14T03:09:30Z

PSvensson:

'''Natural gas''' is a [[petroleum]] product consisting of about 70% [[methane]]. The rest is made up of [[ethane]] (15%) and other [[hydrocarbon|hydrocarbons]].<ref>http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/methane/methane.html</ref> It is naturally oderless, so odor is added to make a leak detectible.

While neither coal, petroleum, nor natural gas are indeed substantial contributors to [[pollution]], natural gas produces less than its alternatives. As such, it is especially useful in urban environments (e.g., in fueling buses) where local concentrations of airborne pollutants can cause certain health issues.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Organic Chemistry]]

Barack Hussein Obama 2008 Presidential campaign

2010-10-12T04:05:35Z

PSvensson: added parapgraph about Obama's disturbing fascist graphic design; fixed link in references

[[Image:Democrat Obama during the Pledge.jpg|325px|thumb|right|'''Obama stands with folded hands''' while [[Bill Richardson]] and [[Hillary Clinton]] honor the flag by placing their hands over their heart during the [[National Anthem]]. [http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_doesnt_put_hand_over_heart_1022.html See Video] ]]
Senator [[Barack Hussein Obama]] began his candidacy for President of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. His announcement speech largely avoided specific campaign issues and focused on his general political message of hope for the future. It also attempted to strongly invoke the memory of Abraham Lincoln and his "House Divided" speech.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/02/10/obama.president/index.html "Obama declares he's running for President"] 11 February 2007, www.CNN.com </ref>

==Liberal dominance==
[[File:Killbushframe.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Obama supporters were vehement in their open displays of contempt and hatred of [[George W. Bush]]. Candidate Obama did little to restrain the excesses.]]
Obama's campaign has been financed largely by [[leftist]] donors opposed to the war and to the [[American]] military in general. Obama has encouraged this by refusing to wear the customary flag on his lapel during appearances (asserting that he would prefer his patriotism to be represented through his actions rather than an arbitrary symbol) and by other less-than-patriotic gestures and symbols, such as declining to put his hand over his heart during a patriotic recitation.

The ''[[Nation magazine]]'' carried and endorsement in March from [[Progressives for Obama]], a group made up primarily of radical activists and self-proclaimed [[communist]]s from the 1960s and 70s.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=76758 4 Weathermen terrorists declare support for Obama] By Aaron Klein, [[WorldNetDaily, Call for 'grassroots effort' to help boost campaign, October 02, 2008.</ref>

==Motivation==

At a campaign event in Elkhart, Indiana, a seven-year-old girl asked Barack Obama why he wants to be President. He replies,
'''"America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don’t want that future for my children."''' <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/08/09/mostly-mia-obamas-downer-america-delivered-7-year-old Media Mostly MIA on Obama's 'America No Longer What It Once Was' Downer Delivered to 7 Year-Old] Newsbusters.org, August 9, 2008</ref>

==Foreign policy==

After the first Democratic presidential debate in Columbia, South Carolina, Obama's image as an "articulate" spokesman came into question after his failure to state right away that he would retaliate in case of further terrorist strikes against the United States.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702162.html?hpid=moreheadlines Clinton Campaign Tries to Keep Heat on Obama Over Debate Response], Dan Balz, ''Washington Post'' April 28, 2007.</ref><ref>Chicago Sun-Times,
[http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/362269,CST-NWS-sweet29.article 'I was a little nervous' at debate'], Lynn Sweet,
April 29, 2007,</ref>

Speaking regarding his knowledge of the Afghanistan conflict, Obama points the finger at U.S. troops and American policy "...just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous problems there." <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293365,00.html Barack Obama Caught on Tape Accusing U.S. Troops of 'Killing Civilians'] Fox News, August 15, 2007</ref> [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrW4fOGIMVY See Video]

By August it appeared Obama was running to be left off the ticket completely rather than the much ballyhooed Hillary/Obama ticket the [[mainstream media]] was pushing. After a series of ill-advised foreign policy statements, Obama was openly criticized as a lightweight even by liberals, in much the same vein as [[John Edwards]] and [[Dan Quayle]] had been depicted. First, Obama said he would have face-to-face meetings with two of Florida's most feared enemies, [[Fidel Castro]] and [[Hugo Chavez]]. Florida is a key state to any presidential ambitions. Then Obama claimed that he would be willing to invade the sovereign territory of a U.S. ally without prior consultation. Finally, Obama broke the cardinal rule of declaring he would not use nuclear weapons, removing the element of bluff U.S. Presidents had vitally depended upon throughout the [[Cold War]] era. The incidents all added up to a picture of a candidate ill-prepared and ill-advised, lacking in a basic understanding of the office of the Presidency, and failing to surround himself with appointees able to make up for his deficiencies. However, Obama won the Iowa Democratic caucuses, pushing [[Hillary Clinton]] into third place, and went on to become the unofficial Democratic nominee.

==Nomination==

Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee on June 3rd after receiving a majority of pledged delegates and superdelegates. His only remaining primary opponent, [[Hillary Clinton]], conceded the race on June 7th. On August 23, Joe Biden was announced as Obama's vice-presidential nominee. Obama became the official Democratic nominee on August 27 at the Democratic National Convention, when Hillary Clinton's motion to end the roll call vote of the states and select Obama by acclamation was passed.

==Vows lobbying reform==

On June 5th, Obama spoke at Briston, Virginia- Healthcare Town Hall forum regarding Political Action Committees and his campaign. "Well, we’re here today because we know that if we’re going to make real progress, this time must be different. Throughout my career, in Illinois and the United States senate, I’ve worked to reduce the power of the special interests by leading the fight for ethics reform. I’ve sent a strong signal in this campaign by refusing the contributions of registered federal lobbyists and PACs. And today, I’m announcing that going forward, the Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard and won’t take another dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. They do not fund my campaign. They will not fund our party. And they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I’m President of the United States."

The rules are well-established for lobbyist donations to the DNC and for the Presidential nominee<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/05/obamas-in-control-no-more_n_105407.html</ref>. Obama does accept money from lobbyists who do not do business with the federal government and he also accepts money from spouses and family members of lobbyists. And the DNC ban is also not retroactive, which means the DNC will keep lobbyist and PAC contributions it received earlier in the election cycle. Retroactive period being the date Barack Obama started his campaign, February 10, 2007. The DNC possibly the day after the November 2006 Congressional elections until June 5th, 2008. In addition, Barack Obama's ban does not apply to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee nor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Unlike [[John McCain]], Barack Obama has not disclosed the lobbyists working in his campaign.

Senator Obama visited Iraq in 2006 and Afghanistan and Kuwait in 2008<ref>[http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=3794382 Obama visits troops and officials in Afghanistan and Kuwait]</ref>

==Campaign financing==

By early April 2007, his campaign generated over $25 million from over 100,000 contributors. $23.5 million of that money will be available for the Democratic Primary.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/us/politics/05obama.html Obama Shows His Strength in a Fund-Raising Feat on Par With Clinton], 4 April 2007, Jeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy,'' The New York Times''</ref>

Obama is the first presidential candidate to reject public financing. He broke his promise to accept it in the hope that his powerful fund-raising machine would generate far more money than the $84.1 million McCain is getting in public funding. Indeed, on August 14th, the Obama campaign announced it had received donations from 2 million individuals, setting new records. Obama raised $272 million for the primaries and expects to raise $300 million for the general election. However the Republican National Committee has been raising much more than the Democratic National Committee and each candidate had about $100 million in cash on September 1. Each expects to spend about $300 million by November. However, Obama is obliged to devote much of his time to fund raising among supporters rather than campaigning among undecided voters.<ref> see [http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/09/09/was-obama-right-to-opt-out-of-public-financing.aspx Andrew Romano, "Was Obama Right to Opt Out of Public Financing?," ''Newsweek'' (Sept. 9, 2008) online]</ref> Among his backers is homosexual pornography baron [[Terrence Bean]].

According to Opensecrets.org, of the 671,269 contributions to Obama between 2003 and 2008, [[Goldman Sachs]], [[JP Morgan]], [[Citigroup]], and [[Morgan Stanley]] are among the Top 20 biggest money donors to Obama's campaigns. [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00009638&cycle=2008][http://www.votesmart.org/finance.php?can_id=9490] All four subsequently received approximately $70 billion in taxpayer assisted [[bailout]] money from the [[TARP]] program.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/10/14/business/14bailout.graphic2.html ''Beneficiary Banks'', New York Times. 2008-10-14.]</ref> [[UBS AG]], a foreign bank and the 13th largest donor to Obama, was fined $780 billion in February 2009 in a U.S. Federal Court on charges it helped thousands of wealthy Americans evade taxes.<ref>[http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20090219/FREE/902199983]''UBS fined $780 million in tax evasion scandal, Investment News, February 19, 2009.</ref>

=== FEC filing ===

Obama's Campaign paid over $800,000 to [[ACORN]] for Get-Out-The-Vote efforts, but "mistakenly misrepresented" their work to the [[Federal Elections Commission]] (FEC). According to the ''Pittsburgh Tribune Review'',
{{Cquote|U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the [[liberal]] [[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now]] for services the [[Democrat]]'s campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports. An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show [[Citizens Services Inc]]. -- a subsidiary of ACORN -- worked in 'get-out-the-vote' projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary."<ref>David M. Brown, [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/print_584284.html''Obama To Amend Report On $800,000 In Spending,''] Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/22/08.</ref>}}

==Secrecy==

The Democratic party feels it necessary to keep all questions about Obama at a safe distance. It is an unprecedented move to keep secrets about a presidential candidate. The following questions remain sealed from the public.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=100613 WND: Obama: Where have all his records gone?]</ref><ref>[http://obamawtf.blogspot.com/2008/08/who-sent-obama-why-has-he-refused-to.html Who sent Obama? Why has he refused to release these basic documents?] ObamaWTF.blogspot.com</ref>

# Certified copy of original birth certificate (see certificate controversy below)
# Columbia University transcripts
# Columbia thesis paper
# Campaign donor analysis requested by 7 major watchdog groups
# [[Harvard]] University transcripts
# Illinois State Senate records
# [[Illinois]] State Senate schedule
# [[Law]] practice client list and billing records/summary
# Locations and names of all half-siblings and step-mothers
# Medical records (only the one page summary released so far)
# Occidental College Transcripts
# Parent's [[marriage]] Certificate
# Record of baptism
# Selective Service registration records
# Schedules for trips outside of the United States before 2007
# Scholarly articles
# Access to his grandmother (Obama's grandmother has since passed away from cancer [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3m4YaeYwDHXS6hHdZJi8pm6cZdAD947RJKO0])
# List of all campaign workers that are lobbyists

Obama keeps donations secret by exploiting a loophole that allows campaigns to refuse to divulge donations under $200.00. This is useful to the candidate because many of his contributions are from dubious foreign or illegal sources. It is described as the "largest pool of unidentified money that has ever flooded into the U.S. election system, before or after the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms of 2002." <ref>http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Obama_fundraising_illegal/2008/09/29/135718.html</ref>

Obama hired Robert Malley as a senior foreign policy adviser. Malley told the ''Times of London'' that he had been in regular contact with the [[terrorist]] organization [[Hamas]]. In April 2008 Hamas made its endorsement of Obama for President.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61631 Hamas terrorists make 2008 U.S. presidential pick], WolrdNetDaily.com, April 14, 2008.</ref> Malley is the son of a key member of the Egyptian Communist Party.<ref>http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2310</ref>

==Tax pledges==
Obama's tax plan calls for increasing taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans, while cutting taxes for the middle class. According to the non-partisan [[Tax Policy Center]], most Americans would pay less taxes than under Senator McCain's plan.<ref>[http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411749 An Updated Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Tax Plans: Updated September 12, 2008]</ref> According to another non-partisan group, Americans for Tax Reform, tax-payers would clearly be burdened by an Obama Presidency.

During the campaign Obama repeatedly claimed he would “cut taxes for no less than 95% of "working families."”. The Wall Street Journal asked, “how does he conjure this miracle, especially since more than a third of all Americans already pay no income taxes at all?” <ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385651698727257.html</ref> In truth, Obama was calling government handouts “tax credits” and counting those as tax cuts. The Wall Street Journal wondered why McCain “allowed Mr. Obama's 95% illusion to go unanswered”.

==Tone==
[[Image:Obamapullup2.JPG|325px|thumb|right|'''Candidate Obama cultivated an image''' of sportsmanship and competition; as President, Obama ridiculed disabled people who compete in the [[Special Olympics]]. The comments "set us back decades," according to the program's director. <ref>[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/mar/20/local/chi-090320obama-special-olympics-react Special Olympics chief responds to Obama gaffe], Stacy St Clair, ''Chicago Tribune'', March 20, 2009]</ref>([http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/03/20/Obamas-comment-sets-us-back/1237552251.html Video])
]]
Many observers have criticized Obama's campaign for its incivility. For instance, John McCain's wife Cindy noted that Obama is running "the dirtiest campaign in American history."

Obama's smears usually fall into two categories: race-baiting and distortions. On October 10, 2008, Obama surrogate Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) typified the campaign by comparing Sen. McCain to racial segregationists and Klansmen. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division," Lewis exclaimed before comparing Sen. McCain to segregationist Democrat George Wallace, further noting that he, "...never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged [the attacks in which] four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama." <ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/11/mccain.lewis/index.html?eref=rss_politics</ref> This is particularly harsh to Sen. McCain because he fondly admires Lewis. <ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/john-lewis-warns-mccain-y_n_133903.html</ref>

As for the distortions and personal attacks, Obama mocks Sen. McCain for his age and Gov. Palin for being a woman and an outsider. For instance, Obama responded with a subtle reference to Alzheimer's disease when Sen. McCain criticized his foreign policy in May 2008, alleging that Sen. McCain "lost his bearings" <ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Obama_McCain_offensive_losing_his_bearings.html</ref>. Senior Adviser Mark Salter noted, "He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain's age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning." <ref>http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/salter_obama_attacked_mccains.php</ref>. In reference to Gov. Palin, Obama was caught for his quiet hiring of Winner & Associates to disseminate a sexist smear video against her. <ref>http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194057.php</ref> Some argue this is a FEC violation because it lacked obligatory label denoting it was sponsored by the Obama Campaign (Ethan Winner has made a claim that he alone produced the video) <ref>http://eclipseweb.blogspot.com/2008/09/vicious-anti-sarah-palin-smear-campaign.html</ref> <ref>http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194180.php</ref>One of the biggest distortions by Obama is that 95% of all taxpayers will get a tax cut. <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122385651698727257.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Obama's 95% Illusion] Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2008</ref> Without the distortion, Obama is proposing income re-distribution because those families that pay no taxes, one-third, will get money from the wealthy top 5%.

Another feature of the Obama campaign is the unruly audience. CNN reported in October of 2008 <ref>http://www.findinternettv.com/Video,item,3565842635.aspx</ref>, that people are calling John McCain a terrorist at these events. According to Sen. McCain, "I've heard the [label terrorist], unfortunately, at Senator Obama's rallies being said about me. There's always a fringe element." Other eyewitness reports are harsher.

Even stranger, Obama's campaign consistently produced [[fascist]] imagery in its [[propaganda]] throughout its duration. A prime example was the poster produced for the July 24 2008 rally in [[Berlin]]. Journalist Dr. [[Melissa Clouthier]] described these disturbing tendencies in a post written not long after its unveiling:'' "A note about the picture juxtaposition: This is about artistic tone. The profile view. The serious expression. The shading. When I saw the Obama flier picture, my mind immediately called up this Hitler image and I was struck by how similar they are in feel the color choice differences aside. Unnerving really."'' <ref>The entry in its entirety, including the poster in question, can be seen here: [http://www.melissaclouthier.com/2008/07/23/barack-obama-hosts-german-campaign-stop-for-world-presidency/ Obama Campaign Prints German-language Flyers for Berlin Rally]</ref> The shocking similarities are manifest in the Obama campaign's [[typography]] as well, as [[geometric sans-serif]] typefaces were used heavily throughout. Contrary to popular belief, these far more than [[Gothic]] or [[black letter]] scripts characterized the [[Nazi party]]'s aims, with features suggestive of stark, orderly power. [[Futura]], a type very similar and related to the [[Gotham]] typeface favored by the Obama campaign, appeared on the labels of the very [[Zyklon B]] canisters that ended the lives of countless enemies of the [[Third Reich]]. It seems grimly appropriate that Obama picked up where [[Hitler]] left off.

The Obama campaign's strategic direction, communications management, research and policy in print and electronic media was carried out under the guidance of [[Anita Dunn]],<ref>[http://www.squiermedia.com/our-team/SquierKnappDunn/AnitaDunn.aspx Squier Knapp Dunn Communications] Website. Retrieved October 29 009. Dunn is a Senior Partner in the firm.</ref> an affirmed [[Maoist]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CypgH32gGVo&feature=related Video of Obama Communications Director Claiming Mao One of Her Favorite Political Philosophers'] Video, YouTube. Retrieved October 29 2009.</ref>

==Condemnation from African-American leaders==
On April 11, 2007, staff writers of ''The Boston Globe'' reported the criticisms of several black commentators regarding Obama's apparent hesitation to join the race to condemn acclaimed radio personality [[Don Imus]],<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/11/obamas_silence_on_imus_alarms_some_blacks/ Obama's silence on Imus alarms some blacks], Rick Klein and Joseph Williams, ''The Boston Globe'', April 11, 2007.</ref> who made a racially insensitive remark<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,370529,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g12:r1:c0.487981:b25437592:z0</ref> on the air during the April 4 broadcast. Obama did not comment on Imus's remarks until well after prominent civil rights leaders [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Jesse Jackson]] had called Imus to account and after Imus was suspended by MSNBC and CBS Radio. Obama later weighed in on April 10 by saying, "The comments of Don Imus were divisive, hurtful, and offensive to Americans of all backgrounds." 

The ''Globe'' reported that Obama's perceived delay in addressing Don Imus's remarks was described by Melissa Harris Lacewell, a professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University, as "miss[ing] an opportunity to prove himself to blacks and white liberals who would have wanted Obama take the lead in denouncing Imus."<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/11/obamas_silence_on_imus_alarms_some_blacks/ Obama's silence on Imus alarms some blacks], Rick Klein and Joseph Williams, ''The Boston Globe'', April 11, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/04/obama_race_and_the_election.html Obama, Race, and The Election,] ''Real Clear Politics.com''</ref>

==NRA criticism==

Executive vice president Wayne LaPierre of the [[NRA]] accuses Barack Obama of "mouthing pro-Second amendment words and pandering to gun owners" on the campaign trail.<ref>[http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/may/0514_nra_mccain.shtml], http://www.gopusa.com/news/2008/may/0514_nra_mccain.shtml, NRA chief stresses common ground with McCain, Associated Press, May 14, 2008</ref>

[[McCain]] Aide Says Obama Has Sept. 10 Mind-Set "an extremely dangerous and extremely naive approach toward terrorism" <ref>http://www.politicalbase.com/forums/topic/obama-rebukes-mccain-camp-on-terrorism-criticism/3781/</ref>

==Relationship with millionaire slumlord==

In June 2007 the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' reported Obama had actually received nearly three times more campaign cash from indicted slum landlord Tony Rezko<ref>[http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article Barack Obama and his slumlord patron], Tim Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, April 23, 2007.</ref> and his associates than Obama has publicly acknowledged.<ref>[http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/432197,CST-NWS-obama18.article Rezko cash triple what Obama says], Chris Fusco and Tim Novak, ''Chicago Sun-Times'', June 18, 2007.</ref>

==Aunt is in the United States Illegally==
At the end of October 2008 it came to light that Obama's aunt is in the United States illegally and has been since 2004 when her request for asylum was turned down. She has been living in public tax payer funded housing in Boston. This may have some bearing on Obama's immigration policy given that a member of his own family is in violation of current US immigration law. There are also questions about how much Obama knew about this.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27481680 Obama's Aunt Living in US Illegally]</ref> The Obama campaign issued a statement to the effect that they had no knowledge of this situation and returned the donation she made to his campaign; in the United States it is illegal to accept campaign contributions from people who are not currently citizens or legal residents of the United States. <ref>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/11/01/obama_campaign_to_return_aunts.html</ref>

==Gaffes==

During a fund raising event in Virginia in May 2007 Obama told donors,
{{Cquote|This week there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died. An entire town destroyed.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,271357,00.html Transcript: 'Special Report with Brit Hume,' May 9, 2007], retrieved from ''FOX News'', 06/13/07.</ref>}}

In reality, the tornado which touched down in Kansas cost the lives of nine people in the town of Greensburg, and twelve overall in Kansas.

==Election==

Senator Obama won the 2008 Presidential election, with over 52% of the popular vote. He carried every state that [[John Kerry]] won in 2004, in addition to Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Indiana. Of the 127 million votes cast, Obama beat John McCain by 8 million total votes.<ref>http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/</ref> [http://images.newsmax.com/misc/2008_Election_Map.jpg See county breakdown map] <ref>[http://www.cnn.com/election]</ref>

In the weeks leading up to the election, [[MSNBC]] reported the [[FBI]] was looking into ACORN voter fraud in several states.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27220798/</ref> Obama's staff worked to delay investigations into Obama's former employer. In this way, hundreds of thousands, if not many more, votes may have been overcounted. [http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=297446]

==See also==
*[[ACORN]]
*[[Barack Obama and liberal elitism]]
*[[Barack Obama birthplace controversy]]
*[[Birthplace of Barack Obama]]
*[[New Party]]
*[[Progressives for Obama]]
*[[Political positions of Barack Obama]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:United States Presidential Election, 2008]]
[[Category: 2008 Presidential Candidates]]

Second Law of Thermodynamics

2010-08-16T18:58:19Z

PSvensson: /* Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics */

The '''Second Law of Thermodynamics''' states that heat can never flow from a cold body to a warmer one. An equivalent definition is that the [[entropy]] of an isolated system tends to increase. <ref> “Another way of stating the second [[law]] then is: ‘The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!’ Viewed that way, we can see the second law all about us. We have to [[work]] hard to straighten a room, but left to itself it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily. Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty. How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself -- and that is what the second law is all about.” Isaac Asimov, Smithsonian Institute Journal, June 1970, p. 6 </ref>

According to this law, it is impossible to build a [[perpetual motion machine]], and [[entropy]] in a completely closed system must either increase or remain constant.

==The three forms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics==
There are three different types of systems that the Second Law of Thermodynamics can apply to:

* Isolated system - Does not exchange matter or energy with its surroundings
* Closed system - Exchanges energy, but not matter, with its surroundings
* Open system - Exchanges both matter and energy with its surroundings

==Interpretation==
A simplification caused by misinterpretation says: disorder will increase within a closed system.

Actually entropy is a little more abstract and the second law of thermodynamics means something like this: the universe will always become increasingly uniform, that is: heat will spread until the entire universe has the temperature and energy level (in a closed system heat will always spread from a place where there is a lot of heat to a place where there is less until balance is achieved), forces will continue to work until a universal balance has been achieved.

In this final state the universe is one uniform space where nothing happens and no work (moving something) can be done since there are no above average concentrations of energy left.
This state is called maximum entropy and is said to be in perfect disorder (although intuitively its uniformity would seem to be a state of perfect order) because it has become impossible to determine what happened in the past. ''i.e.'' There are an infinite number of ways (histories of the universe) maximum entropy could have been reached.

==Entropy and disorder for dummies==

In this context "increasing disorder" means "that which happens if you let nature take its course".
Imagine your old room at your parent's house. Remember how easy it was to let the room turn into a uniform mess (disorder) and remember how hard it was to clean it up until it fit a specific, non-uniform design (order). Not cleaning up would always result in an increase of entropy in your room!

Now, in nature there is no one to clean up the universe, only chances. The chance of something becoming orderly is a lot smaller than the chance of something becoming disorderly (since there are far more possible disorderly states to choose from).

Alternatively one could think of how difficult it is to construct a house of cards, while almost everything that happens in nature will result in its collapse.

On a universal scale a tidy room would be a universe which has pockets of above average concentrations of energy (remember that E=mc^2 so this includes matter as well.)
A messy room would be a universe in which all energy is equally spread out.

The flow of energy (by heat exchange) to places with lower concentrations is called the "heat flow".

The often heard argument that this law disproves an eternal universe is true, since in that case maximum entropy would have been reached already. A counter-argument to this would be to suggest that the universe is still in the process of approaching maximum entropy.

==Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics==

It has become common in recent years for [[Environmentalism|environmentalists]] to claim that the second law of thermodynamics implies limits to [[economic growth]]. Their reasoning is that because [[free energy]] in resources such as [[petroleum|oil]] decreases with time, then economic growth can only be finite. However, this simplistic [[liberal]] reasoning ignores the [[non-zero sum]] nature of [[free market economics]], whereby improvements in technology deliver gains for all at no further cost. Indeed one of the most vital economic goods, knowledge, can be said to be free from thermodynamic limitations entirely.<ref>[http://www.discovery.org/a/2053] Discover Institute cofounder and futurist George F. Gilder put it eloquently as follows: ''Gone is the view of a thermodynamic world economy, dominated by "natural resources" being turned to entropy and waste by human extraction and use. Once seen as a physical system tending toward exhaustion and decline, the world economy has clearly emerged as an intellectual system driven by knowledge.''</ref> Liberals also vastly exaggerate the limitations that [[natural resources]] impose on human economies. Some estimate that the [[Earth]] can harbor 100 billion people. God Himself gives His explicit assurance that the Earth will be generous as long as the human race exists in [[Genesis]]: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:28, KJV)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]]

Second Law of Thermodynamics

2010-08-16T18:49:41Z

PSvensson: /* Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics */

The '''Second Law of Thermodynamics''' states that heat can never flow from a cold body to a warmer one. An equivalent definition is that the [[entropy]] of an isolated system tends to increase. <ref> “Another way of stating the second [[law]] then is: ‘The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!’ Viewed that way, we can see the second law all about us. We have to [[work]] hard to straighten a room, but left to itself it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily. Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty. How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself -- and that is what the second law is all about.” Isaac Asimov, Smithsonian Institute Journal, June 1970, p. 6 </ref>

According to this law, it is impossible to build a [[perpetual motion machine]], and [[entropy]] in a completely closed system must either increase or remain constant.

==The three forms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics==
There are three different types of systems that the Second Law of Thermodynamics can apply to:

* Isolated system - Does not exchange matter or energy with its surroundings
* Closed system - Exchanges energy, but not matter, with its surroundings
* Open system - Exchanges both matter and energy with its surroundings

==Interpretation==
A simplification caused by misinterpretation says: disorder will increase within a closed system.

Actually entropy is a little more abstract and the second law of thermodynamics means something like this: the universe will always become increasingly uniform, that is: heat will spread until the entire universe has the temperature and energy level (in a closed system heat will always spread from a place where there is a lot of heat to a place where there is less until balance is achieved), forces will continue to work until a universal balance has been achieved.

In this final state the universe is one uniform space where nothing happens and no work (moving something) can be done since there are no above average concentrations of energy left.
This state is called maximum entropy and is said to be in perfect disorder (although intuitively its uniformity would seem to be a state of perfect order) because it has become impossible to determine what happened in the past. ''i.e.'' There are an infinite number of ways (histories of the universe) maximum entropy could have been reached.

==Entropy and disorder for dummies==

In this context "increasing disorder" means "that which happens if you let nature take its course".
Imagine your old room at your parent's house. Remember how easy it was to let the room turn into a uniform mess (disorder) and remember how hard it was to clean it up until it fit a specific, non-uniform design (order). Not cleaning up would always result in an increase of entropy in your room!

Now, in nature there is no one to clean up the universe, only chances. The chance of something becoming orderly is a lot smaller than the chance of something becoming disorderly (since there are far more possible disorderly states to choose from).

Alternatively one could think of how difficult it is to construct a house of cards, while almost everything that happens in nature will result in its collapse.

On a universal scale a tidy room would be a universe which has pockets of above average concentrations of energy (remember that E=mc^2 so this includes matter as well.)
A messy room would be a universe in which all energy is equally spread out.

The flow of energy (by heat exchange) to places with lower concentrations is called the "heat flow".

The often heard argument that this law disproves an eternal universe is true, since in that case maximum entropy would have been reached already. A counter-argument to this would be to suggest that the universe is still in the process of approaching maximum entropy.

==Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics==

It has become common in recent years for [[Environmentalism|environmentalists]] to claim that the second law of thermodynamics implies limits to [[economic growth]]. Their reasoning is that because [[free energy]] in resources such as [[petroleum|oil]] decreases with time, then economic growth can only be finite. However, this simplistic [[liberal]] reasoning ignores the [[non-zero sum]] nature of [[free market economics]], whereby improvements in technology deliver gains for all at no further cost. Indeed one of the most vital economic goods, knowledge, can be said to be free from thermodynamic limitations entirely. Liberals also vastly exaggerate the limitations that [[natural resources]] impose on human economies. Some estimate that the [[Earth]] can harbor 100 billion people. God Himself gives His explicit assurance that the Earth will be generous as long as the human race exists in [[Genesis]]: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:28, KJV)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]]

Second Law of Thermodynamics

2010-08-16T18:48:03Z

PSvensson: added Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics

The '''Second Law of Thermodynamics''' states that heat can never flow from a cold body to a warmer one. An equivalent definition is that the [[entropy]] of an isolated system tends to increase. <ref> “Another way of stating the second [[law]] then is: ‘The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!’ Viewed that way, we can see the second law all about us. We have to [[work]] hard to straighten a room, but left to itself it becomes a mess again very quickly and very easily. Even if we never enter it, it becomes dusty and musty. How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself -- and that is what the second law is all about.” Isaac Asimov, Smithsonian Institute Journal, June 1970, p. 6 </ref>

According to this law, it is impossible to build a [[perpetual motion machine]], and [[entropy]] in a completely closed system must either increase or remain constant.

==The three forms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics==
There are three different types of systems that the Second Law of Thermodynamics can apply to:

* Isolated system - Does not exchange matter or energy with its surroundings
* Closed system - Exchanges energy, but not matter, with its surroundings
* Open system - Exchanges both matter and energy with its surroundings

==Interpretation==
A simplification caused by misinterpretation says: disorder will increase within a closed system.

Actually entropy is a little more abstract and the second law of thermodynamics means something like this: the universe will always become increasingly uniform, that is: heat will spread until the entire universe has the temperature and energy level (in a closed system heat will always spread from a place where there is a lot of heat to a place where there is less until balance is achieved), forces will continue to work until a universal balance has been achieved.

In this final state the universe is one uniform space where nothing happens and no work (moving something) can be done since there are no above average concentrations of energy left.
This state is called maximum entropy and is said to be in perfect disorder (although intuitively its uniformity would seem to be a state of perfect order) because it has become impossible to determine what happened in the past. ''i.e.'' There are an infinite number of ways (histories of the universe) maximum entropy could have been reached.

==Entropy and disorder for dummies==

In this context "increasing disorder" means "that which happens if you let nature take its course".
Imagine your old room at your parent's house. Remember how easy it was to let the room turn into a uniform mess (disorder) and remember how hard it was to clean it up until it fit a specific, non-uniform design (order). Not cleaning up would always result in an increase of entropy in your room!

Now, in nature there is no one to clean up the universe, only chances. The chance of something becoming orderly is a lot smaller than the chance of something becoming disorderly (since there are far more possible disorderly states to choose from).

Alternatively one could think of how difficult it is to construct a house of cards, while almost everything that happens in nature will result in its collapse.

On a universal scale a tidy room would be a universe which has pockets of above average concentrations of energy (remember that E=mc^2 so this includes matter as well.)
A messy room would be a universe in which all energy is equally spread out.

The flow of energy (by heat exchange) to places with lower concentrations is called the "heat flow".

The often heard argument that this law disproves an eternal universe is true, since in that case maximum entropy would have been reached already. A counter-argument to this would be to suggest that the universe is still in the process of approaching maximum entropy.

==Liberal abuse of the second law of thermodynamics==

It has become common in recent years for [[Environmentalism|environmentalists]] to claim that the second law of thermodynamics implies limits to [[economic growth]]. Their reasoning is that because [[free energy]] in resources such as [[petroleum|oil]] decreases with time, then economic growth can only be finite. However, this simplistic [[liberal]] reasoning ignores the [[non-zero sum]] nature of [[free market economics]], whereby improvements in technology deliver gains for all at no further cost. Indeed one of the most vital economic goods, knowledge, can be said to be free from thermodynamic limitations entirely. Liberals also vastly exaggerate the limitations that [[natural resources]] impose on human economies. Some estimate that the [[Earth]] can harbor 100 billion people. God Himself gives His explicit assurance that the Earth will be generous as long as the human race exists in Genesis: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:28, KJV)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]]