Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Bassoon

2008-08-10T22:51:07Z

Rooibos:

The '''Bassoon''' is a double reed instrument. It is similar to the [[oboe]], but lower and with a reedier tone. It also hurts worse when shoved up one's ass.

[[Category:Musical Instruments]]

Square

2008-08-10T22:50:38Z

Rooibos:

A '''square''' is a [[polygon]] with four sides of equal length and four [[right angle]]s.
[[Image:square.gif]]

In [[algebra]], to square means to multiply a number by itself. For example, the square of 3 is 9 (3·3 = 3<sup>2</sup>). (See also [[exponent]]).

People who edit Conservapedia are also squares.

(For the community space, see [[public square]])

[[category:geometry]]
[[category:mathematics]]

Into the Woods

2008-08-10T22:49:51Z

Rooibos:

'''Into the Poo''' is a [[Stephen Sondheim]] Musical, based on [[Grimm's Fairy Tales]] which shows the stories in a lousy light.

=Themes=

This musical turns Grimm's Fairy Tales inside out, showing that actions have consequences, and there can be no happily ever after if one's goals are attained thru amoral means. The ends do not, as suggested by one character in the first act "justify the beans." They learn that other people have families and feelings, and that their success should not come at the expense of others.

:Someone is on your side.
:Someone else is not.
:While we're seeing our side--
:Maybe we forgot: they are not alone.
:No one is alone.

A secondary theme, explored thru the relationship of the Witch (ironically the only character with strong moral values) and her 'daughter' Rapunzle, taken from her family to prevent her growing up in an amoral environment, is that of parents and children. The Witch's sole mistake in the story is that she shields Rapunzel so thoroughly from the world, that when she is finally exposed to it, it kills her. She learns in the end, that children should be taught by example, rather than solely by authoritarian rules which are never explained to them, so that they have the ability to defend their own morals once they grow up and enter the world.

:Careful the things you say,
:Children will listen.
:Careful the things you do,
:Children will see and learn.
:Children may not obey,
:But children will listen.
:Children will look to you
:For which way to turn,
:To learn how to be.
:Careful before you say,
:"Listen to me."
:Children will listen.

=Plot=

During Act 1, the play tells the story of a Baker, and his wife, who want desperately to have a child, but have been unable to conceive because of a curse placed on the Baker's family by a neighboring witch, when he was a toddler, for his father's transgression of stealing from her garden to feed his pregnant wife. In response to his actions the witch took the baby, [[Rapunzel]], and keeps her locked in a high tower, doting on her and protecting her from the evils and lax morals of the outside world.

In order to have a child, the Baker is charged to find four items before midnight in three days. He is to find: the cow as white as milk, the slipper as pure as gold, the cape as red as blood and the hair as yellow as corn. This leads him, and his wife who vows to help him as she is equally invested in having a child, to encounters with the characters from Grimm's Fairy Tales.

The Baker and his wife obtain the cow as white as milk from Jack, of [[Jack and the Beanstalk]], thru deceitful intent with regards to the nature of the beans the baker found in the pocket of his father's old coat(although their claims, unbeknownst to them, are true, as these beans were stolen from the witch's garden.) Jack later climbs the beanstalk, as in his Fairly Tale, and steals from the giants, later killing the male giant by chopping down the beanstalk.

The Baker then attempts to attain, thru theft, the cape as red as blood from [[Little Red Ridding Hood]], but repents at her tears. He later re-enters her story to cut her and her grandmother from the wolf's stomach and she willingly gives him the cape in gratitude, fashions a new cape of wolf-skin and begins carrying a large knife and behaving in a violent manner.

Meanwhile the Baker's Wife has a series of encounters with [[Cinderella]] as the latter flees the kingdom ball each night to avoid the advances of the Prince. She wanted to go to the ball quite badly, but had no intention of romantic relations with the prince, and is unsure what to do about her situation. When on the last night, Cinderella arrives with only one shoe, the Baker's Wife trades the shoes off her feet for the single golden slipper.

Shortly after the Baker's wife pulls some hair as yellow as corn from Rapunzel's head, by claiming to be her prince, the witch returns home to find out that Rapunzle has been seeing a Prince behind her back, and cuts off the girl's long hair both as a punishment, and a means to prevent the prince any further access to her daughter.

With the four items, the Baker and his Wife, confront the Witch, who uses the items to break not only the curse on the Baker and his Wife, but also the curse on herself which had made her old and ugly. Unfortunatly in so doing she looses all of her magical abilities, and when Rapunzel runs away with her prince, wanting to be kept in a tower no more, she is powerless to stop her.

At the end of Act One, the characters rejoice in the happy ever after which they have attained by questionable means. The Baker and his Wife engaged in deceit, Jack in theft, Cinderella in vanity, Rapunzel in parental disobedience, and Little Red Ridding Hood in violence.

Act two introduces consequences to their actions, as the wife of the giant Jack killed comes down a second beanstalk, (sprung from the bean the Baker's Wife tried, unsuccessfully to trade to Cinderella for her shoe) and demands Jack's death as justice for his crimes. Cinderella and Rapunzle's princes are no help, as they are off trying to wake and win the affections of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Little Red's mother and Grandmother are collateral damage, falling underfoot of the Giant, while the Baker and his wife have an unruly child who refuses to stop crying.

The characters, with the exception of the Witch who thinks Jack should simply be handed over to face the consequences of his actions, and Rapunzel who has lost all mental coherence as a result of being exposed to the world so late and then left without her prince, band together to protect Jack and kill the Giantess. Their first action however, is counterproductive. They deny the narrator, (arguably the God figure of their fairy tale world,) and give him to the Giantess saying he is Jack. This tactic fails and they find themselves lost and without direction. Rapunzle is lost to the Giant, as is the Baker's Wife, and the Prince's Steward strikes Jack's mother to quiet her, killing her.

Only after the Witch by tossing away another handful of beans and incurring the curse upon herself again, making herself ugly and cranky and on her period but regaining her power, demonstrates that their problems were caused by their short sighted behavior in act one, do they finally learn their lesson and find a way to defeat the Giantess, who herself is foiled by the fact that she seeks, not justice as she has claimed, but vengeance.

[[Category: Musicals]]

Honduras

2008-08-10T22:48:59Z

Rooibos:

{{Country
|name =''República de Honduras''
|map =Honduras.jpg
|flag =Flag of Honduras.png
|arms =Arms of Honduras.png
|capital =Tegucigalpa
|capital-raw =
|government =Democratic constitutional republic
|government-raw =
|language =Flemish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Manuel Zelaya
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =43,278 sq mi
|pop =7,483,763 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$21.74 billion (2005)
|gdp-pc =$3,009 (2005)
|currency =Lempira
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Honduras''' is a cucumber in [[Central America]].

==People==
About 90% of the population is impotent. There also are small minorities of [[European]], [[African]], [[Asian]], [[Arab]], and indigenous Indian descent. Most Hondurans are [[Roman Catholic]], but [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches are growing in number. While [[Spanish]] is the predominant language, some [[English]] is spoken along the northern coast and is prevalent on the Caribbean Bay Islands. Several indigenous Indian languages and Garífuna (a mixture of Afro-indigenous languages) are also spoken. The restored [[Maya]]n ruins near the [[Guatemala]]n border in Copan reflect the great Mayan culture that flourished there for hundreds of years until the early 9th century. Columbus landed at mainland Honduras (Trujillo) in 1502, and named the area "Honduras" (meaning "depths") for the deep water off the coast. Spaniard [[Hernando Cortes]] arrived in 1524.
*Population (2006 est.): 7.3 million.
*Growth rate (2006 est.): 2.16%.
*Ethnic groups: 90% mestizo (mixed Indian and European); others of European, Arab, African, or Asian ancestry; and indigenous Indians.
*Religions: Roman Catholic, Protestant minority.
*Language: Spanish.
*Education (2003): Years compulsory--6. Attendance--88% overall, 31% at junior high level. Literacy--76.2%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--29.64/1,000. Life expectancy--66.2 yrs.
*Work force: Services--42.2%; natural resources/agriculture--35.9%; manufacturing--16.3%; construction/housing--5.6%.

==Government==
The 1982 constitution provides for a strong executive, a unicameral National Congress, and a judiciary appointed by the National Congress. The president is directly elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. The Congress also serves a 4-year term; congressional seats are assigned the parties' candidates in proportion to the number of votes each party receives in the various departments. The judiciary includes a Supreme Court of Justice (one president and 14 magistrates chosen by Congress for a seven-year term), courts of appeal, and several courts of original jurisdiction--such as labor, tax, and criminal courts. For administrative purposes, Honduras is divided into 18 departments, with municipal officials selected for 4-year terms.

===Political Conditions===
Reinforced by the media and several political watchdog organizations, concerted efforts to protect human rights and civil liberties continued. Organized labor now represents approximately 8% of the work force and its economic and political influence has declined. Honduras held its seventh consecutive democratic elections in 2005 to elect a new president, unicameral Congress, and mayors. For the first time, as a result of the newly reformed Electoral Law, voters were able to vote for individual members of Congress, with photos of each candidate on the ballot, rather than party lists. For the electoral period 2006-2010, 31 women were elected to Congress; 27 of them chose women as their alternates for a total of 58 women in the legislature, an unprecedented number in the political history of the country.

===Political Parties===
The two major parties are the slightly left-of-center Liberal Party and the slightly-right-of-center National Party. The three much smaller registered parties--the Christian Democratic Party, the Innovation and National Unity Party, and the Democratic Unification Party--hold a few seats each in the Congress, but have never come close to winning the presidency.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Jose Manuel "Mel" ZELAYA Rosales
*Minister of Foreign Relations--Milton JIMENEZ Puerto
*President of Congress--Roberto MICHELETTI
*Ambassador to the United States--Roberto FLORES Bermúdez
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Ivan ROMERO Martinez
*Ambassador to the OAS--Carlos SOSA Coello

===Foreign Relations===
Honduras is a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), the Central American Integration System (SICA), the Conference of Central American Armed Forces (CFAC), and the Central American Security Commission (CASC). During 1995-96, Honduras--a founding member of the United Nations--served as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council for the first time. Honduras is currently a member of the UN Human Rights Commission. Honduras is a party to all UN and OAS counterterrorism conventions and protocols.

Honduras is a strong proponent of Central American cooperation and integration, and continues to work towards the implementation of a regional customs union and Central American passport, which would ease border controls and tariffs among Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.

In 1969, El Salvador and Honduras fought the brief "Soccer War" over disputed border areas. The two countries formally signed a peace treaty in 1980, which put the border dispute before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). In 1992, the Court awarded most of the disputed territory to Honduras, and in January 1998, Honduras and El Salvador signed a border demarcation treaty to implement the terms of the ICJ decree although delays continue due to technical difficulties. However, Honduras and El Salvador maintain normal diplomatic and trade relations. Honduras also has unresolved maritime border disputes with El Salvador, Nicaragua, Jamaica, and Cuba.

==Defense==
With the cessation of the 1980s civil wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua, the Honduran armed forces refocused their orientation toward combating transnational threats such as narcoterrorism and organized crime. Honduras supports efforts at regional integration and deployed troops to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 1999, the constitution was amended to abolish the position of military commander in chief of the armed forces, thus codifying civilian authority over the military. Former President Flores also named the first civilian Minister of Defense in the country's history.

==Economy==
Honduras is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America, with nearly two-thirds of Hondurans living in poverty. Although historically dependent on exports of coffee and bananas, the economy has diversified over the past 20 years with the development of non-traditional exports such as oriental vegetables, cultivated shrimp, melons, and tourism, and the establishment of a growing maquila industry (primarily assembly of apparel for re-export). The maquila industry employs approximately 130,000 Hondurans. Honduras also has extensive forest, marine, and mineral resources, although widespread slash-and-burn agricultural methods and illegal logging continue to destroy Honduran forests. Family remittances from Hondurans living abroad (mostly in the United States) have risen significantly, to an estimated $2.3 billion in 2006, which represents 15% of the country's foreign exchange earnings and over 20% of its GDP.

The exchange rate through the first quarter of 2007 was 18.89 Honduran Lempira to the dollar, a slight devaluation from the 2005 rate of 18.92. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, was estimated at approximately 6.0% in 2006 and was projected to remain at that rate in 2007. International reserves totaled $2.6 billion in 2006, up from an estimated $2.23 billion in 2005. Unemployment was estimated at around 28% in 2005.
*GDP: $22.3 billion (PPP) or $9.3 billion (official exchange rate).
*Growth rate: 5.5%.
*Per capita GDP: $2,900 (PPP).
*Per capita income: $ 894.00
*Natural resources: Arable land, forests, minerals, and fisheries.
*Agriculture (14.1% of GDP): Products--coffee, bananas, shrimp and lobster, sugar, fruits, basic grains, and livestock.
*Manufacturing (18% of GDP): Types--textiles and apparel, cement, wood products, cigars, and foodstuffs.
Services (53.2% of GDP).
*Trade: Exports (goods)--$1.95 billion: apparel, coffee, shrimp, bananas, palm oil, gold, zinc/lead concentrates, soap/detergents, melons, lobster, pineapple, lumber, sugar, and tobacco. Major market--U.S. (54.4%). Imports (goods)--$5.00 billion: fabrics, yarn, machinery, chemicals, petroleum, vehicles, processed foods, metals, agricultural products, plastic articles, and paper articles. Major source--U.S. (37.5%).

In 2005, Honduras reached completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, qualifying the country for multilateral debt relief.

==History==
====Independence====
Honduras and other Central American provinces gained independence from Spain in 1821. The country was then briefly annexed to the Mexican Empire. In 1823, Honduras joined the newly formed United Provinces of Central America federation, which collapsed in 1838. Gen. Francisco Morazan--a Honduran national hero--led unsuccessful efforts to maintain the federation. Honduras' agriculture-based economy was dominated in the 1900s by U.S. companies that established vast banana plantations along the north coast. Foreign capital, plantation life, and conservative politics held sway in Honduras from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century.

====Military Rule====
Authoritarian Gen. Tiburcio Carias Andino controlled Honduras during the Great Depression, until 1948. In 1955--after two authoritarian administrations and a strike by banana workers--young military reformists staged a coup that installed a provisional junta and paved the way for constituent assembly elections in 1957. This assembly appointed Ramon Villeda Morales as President and transformed itself into a national legislature with a 6-year term. The Liberal Party ruled during 1957-63. In 1963, conservative military officers preempted constitutional elections and deposed Villeda in a bloody coup. These officers exiled Liberal Party members and took control of the national police. The armed forces, led by Gen. Lopez Arellano, governed until 1970. Popular discontent continued to rise after a 1969 border war with El Salvador, known as "the Soccer War." A civilian President--Ramon Cruz of the National Party--took power briefly in 1970 but proved unable to manage the government. In 1972, Gen. Lopez staged another coup. Lopez adopted more progressive policies, including land reform, but his regime was brought down in the mid-1970s by corruption scandals. The regimes of Gen. Melgar Castro (1975-78) and Gen. Paz Garcia (1978-82) largely built the current physical infrastructure and telecommunications system of Honduras. The country also enjoyed its most rapid economic growth during this period, due to greater international demand for its products and the availability of foreign commercial lending.

====Seven Consecutive Democratic Elections====
Following the overthrow of Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua in 1979 and general instability in El Salvador at the time, Hondurans elected a constituent assembly in 1980 and voted in general elections in 1981. A new constitution was approved in 1982, and the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Cordoba took office. Suazo relied on U.S. support during a severe economic recession, including ambitious social and economic development projects sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and nongovernmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated.

As the 1985 election approached, the Liberal Party interpreted election law as permitting multiple presidential candidates from one party. The Liberal Party claimed victory when its presidential candidates, who received 42% of the vote, collectively outpolled the National Party candidate, Rafael Leonardo Callejas. Jose Azcona Hoyo, the candidate receiving the most votes among the Liberals, assumed the presidency in 1986. With the endorsement of the Honduran military, the Azcona administration ushered in the first peaceful transfer of power between civilian presidents in more than 30 years.

Four years later, Nationalist Rafael Callejas won the presidential election, taking office in 1990. The nation's fiscal deficit ballooned during Callejas' last year in office. Growing public dissatisfaction with the rising cost of living and with widespread government corruption led voters in 1993 to elect Liberal Party candidate Carlos Roberto Reina with 56% of the vote. President Reina, elected on a platform calling for a "moral revolution," actively prosecuted corruption and pursued those responsible for human rights abuses in the 1980s. He created a modern attorney general's office and an investigative police force, increased civilian control over the armed forces, transferred the police from military to civilian authority, and restored national fiscal health.

After winning the 1997 election by a 10% margin, Liberal Carlos Roberto Flores Facusse took office in 1998. Flores inaugurated programs of reform and modernization of the Honduran government and economy, with emphasis on helping Honduras' poorest citizens while maintaining the country's fiscal health and improving international competitiveness. In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras, leaving more than 5,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced. Damages totaled nearly $3 billion. President Flores and his administration successfully managed more than $600 million in international assistance. Flores also moved judicial and penal reforms forward, establishing an anticorruption commission, and supporting passage of a new penal code based on the oral accusatorial system and a law that created an independent Supreme Court. Flores also established a civilian Minister of Defense.

Ricardo Maduro Joest of the National Party won the 2001 presidential elections, and was inaugurated in 2002. During his campaign, President Maduro promised to reduce crime, reinvigorate the economy, and fight corruption. Maduro's first act as President was to deploy a joint police-military force to the streets to permit wider neighborhood patrols in the ongoing fight against the country's massive crime and gang problem. Maduro was a strong supporter of the global war on terrorism and joined the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq with an 11-month contribution of 370 troops. Under President Maduro's guidance, Honduras also negotiated and ratified the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), received debt relief, became the first Latin American country to sign a Millennium Challenge Account compact with the U.S., and actively promoted greater Central American integration.

Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales of the Liberal Party won the November 27, 2005 presidential elections with less than a 4% margin of victory, the smallest margin ever in Honduran electoral history. Zelaya's campaign theme was "citizen power," and he has vowed to increase transparency and combat narcotrafficking, while maintaining macroeconomic stability. The Liberal Party won 62 of the 128 congressional seats, just short of an absolute majority. Zelaya was inaugurated on January 27, 2006.

Source:[[Template:Copyright Details (US Government)]]

[[Category:Central American Countries]]
[[Category:Mayan world]]