Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Paul Wolfowitz

2007-04-15T22:02:11Z

Russell Potter: adding detail

[[Image:89698iukhbn.jpg|right|thumb|Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz briefs reporters at the Pentagon about the on-going campaign against the [[al Qaeda]] terrorist organization and the military capability of Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
]]
'''Paul Dundes Wolfowitz''' (b. December 22, 1943) is an American academic, [[neoconservative]] thinker and political figure; he was a prominent architect of the foreign policy of the [[George W. Bush]] administration known as the [[Bush Doctrine]], which resulted in the [[Iraq War]]. Once the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Bush administration, he is currently the President of the [[World Bank]]. Despite being a close ally of the Bush administration, Paul Wolfowitz is actully a registered [[democrat]]. Wolfowitz described himself as a "Scoop Jackson Republican".

Most recently, in April of 2007, Wolfowitz has become embroiled in a scandal at the [[World Bank]] involving his transfer of his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, from her position at the bank to a highly-paid post at the U.S. State Department.

[[category:political people]]

Paul Wolfowitz

2007-04-15T22:01:33Z

Russell Potter:

[[Image:89698iukhbn.jpg|right|thumb|Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz briefs reporters at the Pentagon about the on-going campaign against the [[al Qaeda]] terrorist organization and the military capability of Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
]]
'''Paul Dundes Wolfowitz''' (b. December 22, 1943) is an American academic, [[neoconservative]] thinker and political figure; he was a prominent architect of the foreign policy of the [[George W. Bush]] administration known as the [[Bush Doctrine]], which resulted in the [[Iraq War]]. Once the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Bush administration, he is currently the President of the [[World Bank]]. Despite being a close ally of the Bush administration, Paul Wolfowitz is actully a registered [[democrat]]. Wolfowitz described himself as a "Scoop Jackson Republican".

Most recently, in April of 2007, Wolfowitz has become embroiled in a scandal at the [[World Bank]] involving his transfer of his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza, to a highly-paid position at the U.S. State Department.

[[category:political people]]

Paul Wolfowitz

2007-04-15T22:01:16Z

Russell Potter: adding name

[[Image:89698iukhbn.jpg|right|thumb|Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz briefs reporters at the Pentagon about the on-going campaign against the [[al Qaeda]] terrorist organization and the military capability of Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
]]
'''Paul Dundes Wolfowitz''' (b. December 22, 1943) is an American academic, [[neoconservative]] thinker and political figure; he was a prominent architect of the foreign policy of the [[George W. Bush]] administration known as the [[Bush Doctrine]], which resulted in the [[Iraq War]]. Once the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Bush administration, he is currently the President of the [[World Bank]]. Despite being a close ally of the Bush administration, Paul Wolfowitz is actully a registered [[democrat]]. Wolfowitz described himself as a "Scoop Jackson Republican".

Most recently, in April of 2007, Wolfowitz has become embroiled in a scandal at the [[World Bank]] involving his transfer of his girlfriend, Shaha Ali Riza to a highly-paid position at the U.S. State Department.

[[category:political people]]

Paul Wolfowitz

2007-04-15T22:00:10Z

Russell Potter: adding recent detail

[[Image:89698iukhbn.jpg|right|thumb|Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz briefs reporters at the Pentagon about the on-going campaign against the [[al Qaeda]] terrorist organization and the military capability of Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
]]
'''Paul Dundes Wolfowitz''' (b. December 22, 1943) is an American academic, [[neoconservative]] thinker and political figure; he was a prominent architect of the foreign policy of the [[George W. Bush]] administration known as the [[Bush Doctrine]], which resulted in the [[Iraq War]]. Once the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Bush administration, he is currently the President of the [[World Bank]]. Despite being a close ally of the Bush administration, Paul Wolfowitz is actully a registered [[democrat]]. Wolfowitz described himself as a "Scoop Jackson Republican".

Most recently, in April of 2007, Wolfowitz has become embroiled in a scandal at the World Bank involving his transfer of his girlfriend to a highly-paid position at the U.S. State Department.

[[category:political people]]

Children's Crusade

2007-04-15T21:57:47Z

Russell Potter: slight copyedit

{{stub}}

The '''Children's Crusade''' is the name given to the ill-conceived crusades which grew out of a series of visions by children, who claimed to have been told by [[Jesus]] in visions that they should go the the Holy Land and convert Muslims to [[Christianity]]. There were two distinct Children's Crusades, both of which originated around the year 1212 A.D., one in [[France]], and one in [[Germany]]. Exactly how many of the participants were young children is not clear, due to the fact that chroniclers used the medieval [[Latin]] word ''pueri'', which can mean either children or simply "boys" in the sense of younger persons or servants of any age.

Talk:Children's Crusade

2007-04-15T19:32:28Z

Russell Potter:

Seems this page should be moved to "Children's Crusade" -- is there a consensus? [[User:Russell Potter|Russell Potter]]

Talk:Children's Crusade

2007-04-15T19:32:12Z

Russell Potter: suggest more page to "Children's Crusade"

Seems this page should be moved to "Children's Crusade".

Children's Crusade

2007-04-15T19:31:31Z

Russell Potter: wikifying

{{stub}}

The '''Children's Crusade''' is the name given to two ill-conceived crusades which grew out of a series of visions by children, who claimed to have been told by [[Jesus]] in visions that they should go the the Holy Land and convert Muslims to [[Christianity]]. There were two of these Children's Crusades, both of which originated around the year 1212 A.D., one in [[France]], and one in [[Germany]]. Exactly how many of the participants were young children is not clear, due to the fact that chroniclers used the medieval [[Latin]] word ''pueri'', which can mean either children or simply "boys" in the sense of younger persons or servants of any age.

Children's Crusade

2007-04-15T19:31:09Z

Russell Potter: adding details and correcting misleading impression

{{stub}}

The Children's Crusade is the name given to two ill-conceived crusades which grew out of a series of visions by children, who claimed to have been told by [[Jesus]] in visions that they should go the the Holy Land and convert Muslims to [[Christianity]]. There were two of these Children's Crusades, both of which originated around the year 1212 A.D., one in [[France]], and one in [[Germany]]. Exactly how many of the participants were young children is not clear, due to the fact that chroniclers used the medieval [[Latin]] word ''pueri'', which can mean either children or simply "boys" in the sense of younger persons or servants of any age.

Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp

2007-04-14T03:07:34Z

Russell Potter: more accurate statement of ruling

[[Image:050127 guantanamo hmed 12p hmedium.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
The '''Guantanamo Bay detention camp''' is a military [[prison]] of the [[United States of America]] on the southeastern tip of the island of [[Cuba]]. In this prison, the people being held are accused by the US government of [[terrorism]]. The [[liberal]] organization Center for Constitutional Rights is organizing attorneys to file habeas corpus petitions in the Washington, D.C., federal court on behalf of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. [http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=pQOvjcVXXK&Content=406]

On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court denied appeals by a group of detainees of this camp, with the majority stating that it would be inappropriate to rule until the group had exhausted other remedies.<ref>[[Withdraw of Jurisdiction Upheld - Original Work|Supreme Court rules against detainees]]</ref>

== Guantanamo Bay ==

Guantanamo Bay is a coastal area on southeastern Cuba occupied and controlled by the United States government pursuant to a 1903 Lease Agreement with the newly independent Republic of Cuba subsequent to the Spanish-American War. The Agreement established that:<ref>''Rasul v. Bush'', 542 U.S. 466 (2004) (quoting lease).</ref>

:"the United States recognizes the continuance of the ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba over the [leased areas]," but "the Republic of Cuba consents that during the period of the occupation by the United States . . . the United States shall exercise complete jurisdiction and control over and within said areas."

In 1934 the United States and Cuba entered into another treaty that provided that, absent an agreement to modify or abrogate the lease, it would remain in effect "[s]o long as the United States of America shall not abandon the . . . naval station of Guantanamo."<ref>''Id.''</ref>

== Detention Camp ==

Due to security concerns the media has not been given access to the detention center, and the [[George W. Bush|Bush]] administration has said that interrogations are vital tools for winning the [[War on Terror]]<ref>"The president said the legislation must allow the [[CIA]]’s interrogation program to continue. “The information the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] has obtained by questioning men like [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] has helped disrupt terrorist plots, including planned strikes inside the [[United States]] and on a U.S. Marine base in [[East Africa]], an American consulate in [[Pakistan]], and Britain's [[Heathrow Airport]],” Bush said. “This CIA program has saved American lives, and the lives of people in other countries.”" [http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006&m=September&x=20060916101245esnamfuak0.5314905] </ref> There have, however, been a number of accusations of the use of [[torture]] as an interrogation method at the camp, and many detainees are believed to have been brought in via [[extraordinary rendition]]. <ref>[ http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1981955,00.html]</ref><ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=377623&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3706050.stm]</ref> In addition, at least 22 Chinese Muslim detainees have been cleared of all wrong doing, but have been held in the prison camp for more than five years. The Bush administration fears they will face persecution if they are returned home, so they continue to stay in prison, having committed no crime. <ref>Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/05/30/2003157526</ref><ref>Jurist http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/04/us-asks-germany-to-take-chinese.php</ref>

*The Australian [[David Hicks]] has been held in the camp for over five years. He was originally charged with "conspiracy, attempted murder by an unprivileged belligerent and aiding the enemy." <ref>http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2004/d20040610cs.pdf Hicks' original charge sheet</ref> but these charges were dropped "after the US Supreme Court ruled the original military commissions system established by President Bush unconstitutional without Congressional authorization." <ref>http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/02/us-re-charging-guantanamo-detainees.php Some background on the charge process</ref> He was later charged with "providing material support of terrorism" and "attempted murder in violation of the law of war" - the latter charge was also dropped. <ref>http://www.defenselink.mil/news/d20070301hicks.pdf The Hicks Charge Sheet</ref> <ref>http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hicks-knew-fight-was-wrong/2007/03/26/1174761313462.html</ref>. On March 26, 2007 David Hicks pleaded guilty to the charge. "A prisoner exchange agreement between Australia and the US means Hicks will be allowed to serve out any remaining prison time in Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today."<ref>http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/hicks-pleads-guilty/2007/03/27/1174761414531.html</ref> News reports after the trial stated that "Hicks has pleaded guilty to only one of two counts under the charge. It says that, in Afghanistan during 2000 and 2001, he provided material support for al-Qaeda, which was engaged in terrorism against the US. He pleaded not guilty to a second count that said he provided material support or resources "to be used in preparation for, or in carrying out, an act of terrorism". <ref>http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/short-jail-term-tipped-for-hicks/2007/03/28/1174761567951.html Short Jail Term Tipped For Hicks</ref> 
Hicks was sentenced to another seven years in prison by the Military Commision panel but a pre-trial plea bargain means that he will be released at the end of 2007. He is likely to spend the last seven months of his sentence in Australian prison. Hicks appeared at his sentencing appearance clean cut and relaxed. He is not permitted, under the terms of his plea bargain, to speak with any media for 12 months. <ref>http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/hicks-will-be-free-by-new-year/2007/03/30/1174761754698.html Hicks Will Be Free By New Year</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/ Naval Station Website]
*[http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil/ Joint Task Force Website]
*[http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf List of detainees at Guatanamo Bay]
*[http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Detainee_Affairs/ US Dept of Defence site]

*[http://www.fairgofordavid.org/ Another David Hicks site]

[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Military]]

Talk:Berliner

2007-04-12T16:01:34Z

Russell Potter: /* "Ich bin ein Berliner" */ typo

{{unprotected|April 12|Ed Poor}}
=="Ich bin ein Berliner"==
{{QuoteBox|It is a common misconception that it was this type of donut that was famously referred to by John F. Kennedy when he said "ich bin ein Berliner" in a speech that he made in West Berlin on June 26, 1963. However, citizens of Berlin do not refer to jelly donuts as "berliners." Kennedy's famous words, (adopting the grammer and coloquialisms of the sector of the population which Kennedy addressed) therefore, were correct.}}
Are you guys sure that that's a common misconception? Do people really think that Kennedy said "I am a jelly-filled donut"?

:Sure. The story is so amusing that it spread quickly. The way it's been explained to me is that it is as if someone from Denmark said in a speech "I am a Danish." You can deliberately misunderstand this, but it's not a ludicrous error and very few people would even notice it in the context of a live speech. It might have been a mild knock on Kennedy's slight pretentiousness; he liked to project an image of intellectuality. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 07:04, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

And the "grammer and coloquialisms of the sector of the population which Kennedy addressed" bit confuses me a bit. "Berliner" is the common German word for "citizen of Berlin", just like "Hamburger" or "Kölner" (or in the US: "New Yorker"). And the rest of the sentence is just "I am a...". So unless the above line is just a long way of saying "German", I'm confused. (Disclaimer: I'm from Germany, but not a specialist of donuts, Berlin or Kennedy). --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 13:47, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

:Actually, it's the article "ein" that caused the confusion here -- ordinarily, when speaking about people (one's self or others) one does not use an article; the normal German way of saying "I am a Berliner" would be simply "Ich bin Berliner." The "ein" article is used with things, and when used with "Berliner" would tend to imply the pastry rather than the man. "Ein" is also "one," though, so you might scan JFK's statement as "I am one Berliner". I think he just had poor translation advice; he didn' speak German and was reading from a phonetic transcript prepared for him. [[User:Russell Potter|Russell Potter]] 09:49, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

== grammer and coloquialisms ==

With spelling like this, I do not think you should be lecturing anybody on the niceties of language, let alone correcting factually coherent reference articles. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 13:52, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

==Typical Wikipedia silliness==

I had to delete the same stuff at Wikipedia 3 years ago, with anti-Americans (and pro-Communists) insisting that Kennedy's literal translation of ''I am a Berliner'' was misunderstood by the audience of his speech. This is on a level with Anderson supporters telling people that Reagan thinks most air pollution comes from trees, and don't even get me started on [[Bushisms]]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 05:15, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:...air pollution from trees? That's a new one (to me), but I'm glad that the JFK bit is gone. Might be the best solution. --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 05:17, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::Reagan was talking about SO4 (or some chemical like that), and had pointed out that trees exude it. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 05:20, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Sounds a bit like the "Dihydrogen Monoxide" gig to me right now, but I'll check it out further once I come back from my courses... O_o --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 05:23, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:::*According to a study by the University of Helsinki, coniferous forests--that is to say, those composed of trees such as pines--release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere that combine with other pollutants to form smog. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_9_19/ai_100111682]

::::*No time now, but while I agree with you about the Berliner thing, my recollection the last time I looked into this was that Reagan really did say something about trees and pollution in which he misspoke or used badly chosen language such that the actual words he used really did say something stupid. I.e. he knew better but did say something dumb. Just as he undoubtedly knew better when he made some crack into a mike he didn't know was open about nuking Moscow or something. Will check later. Not that it matters. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 07:00, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*Ah. Still haven't pinned it down, but the issue was whether Reagan said that trees cause 80% of all pollution (ludicrous), that trees cause more pollution than automobiles (ludicrous) or whether trees cause ''certain kinds of'' pollution (true and never disputed). See http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20030323/ai_n10851446 . The Reagan defenders tend to say things like "Reagan was right: trees do cause pollution," but that's silly, because that was never in dispute. (I believe I've read--probably in a Nevil Shute novel, but, hey--that in Australia under some conditions one can see visible plumes of ''flammable'' fumes coming from eucalyptus trees). But the whole thing is stupid, because assuming that Reagan had done his homework, did not misspeak, and was not misquoted, it was still a ''tendentious'' and somewhat dishonest thing to say. It's a phony argument to say that because X is not the only source of pollution, we shouldn't try to control pollution from X. And if, as I suspect Reagan simply misspoke slightly (or forgot a qualification to the statement that he had meant to include) then it was phony and dishonest to portray it as a patently stupid remark. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:54, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*It is '''astonishing''' how searches for things like "reagan trees pollution" fail to turn up any really clear description of exactly when and where he said exactly what. One version is in the [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0231069901&id=bs0J36MpieIC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=reagan+trees+pollution&sig=IVgd8AHZ7xMAm2QCZVEJcSt4iwQ#PPA230,M1 Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations]: "Eighty percent of pollution is caused by plant and trees." But it doesn't say when or where! [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 10:57, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*This sounds like it's probably right: It is a New York Times review of a ''On Reagan, The Man And His Presidency,'' by Ronnie Duggan. The review is by David E. Rosenbaum and appeared January 8, 1984, p. BR16. He suggests that the book is a hatchet job and that Duggan has pulled together everything that can be used to show Reagan as a "dogged right-wing ideologue." ''However,'' he says that Duggan "found a heretofore unpublished treasure. He obtained the transcripts of more than 500 five-minute radio commentaries Mr. Reagan wrote before and broadcast" while governor of California. In particular, "'Eighty percent of air pollution comes not from chimneys and auto exhaust pipes but from plants and trees,' Mr. Reagan declared on the radio in 1979." So ''if'' the reviewer is quoting the book properly and ''if'' the (biased) book is quoting the transcript properly and ''if'' the transcript is accurate, then Reagan did say something stupid. Most likely some important qualification, was left out. (I'm guessing someone told him that 80% of all volatile foithboindered organic tricycloalphatretramidglobulase gammatane pollution comes from trees and plants and he was keeping it short and punchy...) [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 11:12, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Just because a true understanding of events is lacking, does not mean that they did not take place. Kennedy's reference to the Berliner (whether real or imagined) is, without any doubt, the '''most important''' Berliner-related event in history. For all mention of it to be removed makes a mockery of this article. A short factual (and ideally non-speculative) summary of his remark, at the very least, is absolutely required here. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 08:45, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:His statement was in German, "Ich bin ein Berliner" and meant that he (1) felt like a resident of that city and (2) sympathized with their plight. At the time, the Soviet Union was doing things like isolating Berlin from the rest of the world (see also [[Berlin Wall]]). To belittle his statement by claiming he misspoke is ... well, let's just not do it. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 08:54, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::The most important Berliner-related event was Emile Berliner's invention of the disc phonograph. Without Berliner, vinylite biscuits would not have any jelly in them. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:35, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

A German Wikipedian explained the whole thing [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ich_bin_ein_Berliner&diff=1518468&oldid=1296539 here]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 09:38, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:I'm not belittling anything; I'm just unhappy that all mention of the most significant world event ever (for the "Berliner" at least) is being censored. The only US-president-baked-product-interaction of equivalent historical importance (that I can think of) was President Bush's recent [[pretzel]] encounter (which is also not mentioned on Conservapedia, I note). (Whereas the entry for [[Alfred the Great]] mentions his cakes incident, even though this happened over a thousand years ago, if indeed it ever took place at all.) --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 09:48, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::Was the article created because someone genuinely thought we needed an article on German pastry, or was it a "coatrack article" whose only purpose was to bring in the Kennedy story? [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:56, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:::When first I saw it, the article made no mention of the Kennedy speech, nor do I presume to guess what the creator had in mind when they made the page. But any 'Berliner' article that omits this event is necessarily a hopelessly flawed and incomplete article. One short paragraph detailing the facts of the incident would suffice (in my opinion) to set things straight here; denying such a paragraph, on debatable grounds of 'silliness', seems just the wrong thing to do. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 10:15, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

== Removed "may be considered a donut"==

I removed the sentence "It may be considered a doughnut, although it lacks a hole," since the ''definition'' of a doughnut is:
:"A small ring-shaped cake made of rich, light dough that is fried in deep fat." [http://www.bartleby.com/61/2/D0360200.html AHD]
:"a small usually ring-shaped cake fried in fat" [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/doughnut]

It may be ''considered'' a donut, I suppose, but that's vacuously true. There is nothing to stop anyone from ''considering'' it to be a Sachertorte, a bagel, or a smoked kipper. Who "considers" it a donut? It reminds me of the old saw about "how many legs would a dog have if you call the tail a leg?" Answer: four, because calling the tail a leg doesn't make it one. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 10:03, 12 April 2007 (EDT)
:The Merriam-Webster definition [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/doughnut here] says they are ''usually'' ring shaped. And do you mean to suggest, Dpbsmith, that filled donuts are not donuts at all? --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 10:09, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Talk:Berliner

2007-04-12T13:49:17Z

Russell Potter: /* "Ich bin ein Berliner" */ German grammar

=="Ich bin ein Berliner"==
{{QuoteBox|It is a common misconception that it was this type of donut that was famously referred to by John F. Kennedy when he said "ich bin ein Berliner" in a speech that he made in West Berlin on June 26, 1963. However, citizens of Berlin do not refer to jelly donuts as "berliners." Kennedy's famous words, (adopting the grammer and coloquialisms of the sector of the population which Kennedy addressed) therefore, were correct.}}
Are you guys sure that that's a common misconception? Do people really think that Kennedy said "I am a jelly-filled donut"?

:Sure. The story is so amusing that it spread quickly. The way it's been explained to me is that it is as if someone from Denmark said in a speech "I am a Danish." You can deliberately misunderstand this, but it's not a ludicrous error and very few people would even notice it in the context of a live speech. It might have been a mild knock on Kennedy's slight pretentiousness; he liked to project an image of intellectuality. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 07:04, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

And the "grammer and coloquialisms of the sector of the population which Kennedy addressed" bit confuses me a bit. "Berliner" is the common German word for "citizen of Berlin", just like "Hamburger" or "Kölner" (or in the US: "New Yorker"). And the rest of the sentence is just "I am a...". So unless the above line is just a long way of saying "German", I'm confused. (Disclaimer: I'm from Germany, but not a specialist of donuts, Berlin or Kennedy). --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 13:47, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

Actually, it's the article "ein" that caused the confusion here -- ordinarily, when sepaking about people (one's self or others) one does not use an article; the normal German way of saying "I am a Berliner" would be simply "Ich bin Berliner." The "ein" article is used with things, and when used with "Berliner" would tend to imply the pastry rather than the man. "Ein" is also "one," though, so you might scan JFK's statement as "I am one Berliner". I think he just had poor translation advice; he didn' speak German and was reading from a phonetic transcript prepared for him. [[User:Russell Potter|Russell Potter]] 09:49, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

== grammer and coloquialisms ==

With spelling like this, I do not think you should be lecturing anybody on the niceties of language, let alone correcting factually coherent reference articles. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 13:52, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

==Typical Wikipedia silliness==

I had to delete the same stuff at Wikipedia 3 years ago, with anti-Americans (and pro-Communists) insisting that Kennedy's literal translation of ''I am a Berliner'' was misunderstood by the audience of his speech. This is on a level with Anderson supporters telling people that Reagan thinks most air pollution comes from trees, and don't even get me started on [[Bushisms]]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 05:15, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:...air pollution from trees? That's a new one (to me), but I'm glad that the JFK bit is gone. Might be the best solution. --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 05:17, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::Reagan was talking about SO4 (or some chemical like that), and had pointed out that trees exude it. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 05:20, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:::Sounds a bit like the "Dihydrogen Monoxide" gig to me right now, but I'll check it out further once I come back from my courses... O_o --[[User:Sid 3050|Sid 3050]] 05:23, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:::*According to a study by the University of Helsinki, coniferous forests--that is to say, those composed of trees such as pines--release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere that combine with other pollutants to form smog. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_9_19/ai_100111682]

::::*No time now, but while I agree with you about the Berliner thing, my recollection the last time I looked into this was that Reagan really did say something about trees and pollution in which he misspoke or used badly chosen language such that the actual words he used really did say something stupid. I.e. he knew better but did say something dumb. Just as he undoubtedly knew better when he made some crack into a mike he didn't know was open about nuking Moscow or something. Will check later. Not that it matters. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 07:00, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Just because a true understanding of events is lacking, does not mean that they did not take place. Kennedy's reference to the Berliner (whether real or imagined) is, without any doubt, the '''most important''' Berliner-related event in history. For all mention of it to be removed makes a mockery of this article. A short factual (and ideally non-speculative) summary of his remark, at the very least, is absolutely required here. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 08:45, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:His statement was in German, "Ich bin ein Berliner" and meant that he (1) felt like a resident of that city and (2) sympathized with their plight. At the time, the Soviet Union was doing things like isolating Berlin from the rest of the world (see also [[Berlin Wall]]). To belittle his statement by claiming he misspoke is ... well, let's just not do it. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 08:54, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::The most important Berliner-related event was Emile Berliner's invention of the disc phonograph. Without Berliner, vinylite biscuits would not have any jelly in them. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:35, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

A German Wikipedian explained the whole thing [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ich_bin_ein_Berliner&diff=1518468&oldid=1296539 here]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] 09:38, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

:I'm not belittling anything; I'm just unhappy that all mention of the most significant world event ever (for the "Berliner" at least) is being censored. The only US-president-baked-product-interaction of equivalent historical importance (that I can think of) was President Bush's recent [[pretzel]] encounter (which is also not mentioned on Conservapedia, I note). (Whereas the entry for [[Alfred the Great]] mentions his cakes incident, even though this happened over a thousand years ago, if indeed it ever took place at all.) --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 09:48, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Jimmy Carter

2007-04-12T03:26:20Z

Russell Potter: copyediting

[[Image:Carter.jpg|thumb|right]]
Jimmy Carter was the 39th [[President of the United States of America]] following [[Gerald Ford]] and preceding [[Ronald Reagan]]. He was a [[Democrat]] who served from 1977-1981, after being the Governor of Georgia. He is regarded by some [[United States of America|Americans]] across the political spectrum as being an ineffectual president, and is considered by many [[conservative]]s to be among the worst presidents in the entirety of American history. His inability to meet the challenges that were presented to the nation during his time in office helped lead to the election of [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980 and the triumph of the modern American conservative movement. He has, nevertheless, been unusually active as an ex-president, serving as an election monitor and peace advocate, in which capacities he was recognized with the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]].

==Presidency==
Carter's presidency was marked by a period of American supremacy being challenged abroad and economic recession and [[stagflation]] striking at home. In the midst of the 1980 campaign, a pro-U.S. monarchy was toppled by the 1979 [[Iran|Iranian]] Revolution and dozens of [[Iran Hostage Crisis|American hostages were taken]] inside the American embassy by Islamic fundamentalist revolutionaries after Carter gave sanctuary to exiled dictator Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. With the international outrage at the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] invasion of [[Afghanistan]] later the same year, Carter was rendered impotent, as America saw its influence declining abroad.

Inflation and interest rates reached their highest levels since World War II as the administration freed domestic oil prices in response to rising prices from OPEC. The Misery Index, Carter's own invention of economic well-being, rose 50% in four years.

Despite Carter's own Democratic Party controlling both Houses of Congress, and the White House he failed to reform the tax system, and to reduce the size of the government bureaucracy, as promised during the 1976 campaign, or to pass the Martin Luther King holiday.

The many problems during Carter's presidency and the fact that he failed to deal with them decisively, not only made him an unpopular president and permanently damage the reputation of the [[Democratic Party]] with regard to military matters, it also contributed to his landslide re-election defeat. He was defeated in the 1980 presidential election by Ronald Reagan by nearly ten percentage points. [[Republican Party|Republicans]] also gained control of the Senate for the first time in twenty-five years as a result of the country's anger toward Democrats because of Carter's failures. The electoral college vote was a landslide, with 489 votes (representing 44 states) for Reagan and 49 for Carter (representing 6 states and the District of Columbia).

Carter personally opposed [[abortion]] but only recently, more than a quarter of a century after his presidency, expressed his opposition in public.

==Post-presidency==
Carter has been active in foreign affairs after his presidency, breaking a long-held tradition for ex-presidents to stay out of politics. His continued work mediating international disputes, organizing election observations, and working with organizations on disease and hunger were cited when he was awarded the 2002 [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]]. In his Nobel lecture, Carter declared his support for "international law":

<blockquote>
Our president, Woodrow Wilson, was honored here for promoting the League of Nations, whose two basic concepts were profoundly important: "collective security" and "self-determination." Now they are embedded in international law. Violations of these premises during the last half-century have been tragic failures, as was vividly demonstrated when the Soviet Union attempted to conquer Afghanistan and when Iraq invaded Kuwait. <ref>[http://jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/nobel.phtml Text of Carter's Nobel Lecture] Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, 2002.</ref>
</blockquote>

This was peculiar in that up until very recently [[NATO]] was never involved in conflicts outside of Europe and the North Atlantic.

In a October 2000 survey of 132 prominent professors of history, law, and political science, President Carter was grouped in the "Below Average" group, ranked 30th, with a mean score of 2.47 out of 5.00.<ref>Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House (New York, Wall Street Journal Book, 2004)</ref>

In Jimmy Carter's latest book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid", he appeared to endorse Arab terrorism against Israel as a tactic to achieve political ends:
<blockquote>
It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.
</blockquote>
He apologized for the wording of that sentence, but not for his larger message.<ref>Washington Post, January 24, 2007 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301668.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/books]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13265 Carter the worst ex-president -- Steven Hayward]
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/ Carter's citation for the Nobel Peace Prize]

==See also==
* [[Carter Doctrine]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jimmy}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]

William Tyndale

2007-04-12T03:25:32Z

Russell Potter: copyediting

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was a religious reformer and an important translator of the [[Bible]] into English. His translation of the [[New Testament]] from Greek has been acclaimed as one of the finest translations ever undertaken, and much of its language survived into the King James (Authorized) Bible of 1611, and from there into most modern English Bibles. He was born circa 1494, in the tiny hamlet of [[North Nibley]], [[Gloucestershire]]. Tyndale was educated at Magdalen Hall, [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where he was admitted to the Degree of [[Bachelor of Arts]] in 1512. In 1515 he was made [[Master of Arts]] and ordained into the priesthood.

Originally, Tyndale sought the approval of Church authorities for his planned translation of the Bible; he went to London to meet with Bishop [[Cuthbert Tunstall]], a well-known scholar of [[Greek]] and [[Latin]]. Tunstall, however, held strongly to the Church's belief, held since the days of [[John Wyclif|Wyclif]], that to translate the Bible into English would be to make it vulnerable to all kinds of misreadings and disputes. Tyndale, however, was not discouraged, and with the help of patrons in [[London]] began his translation of the [[New Testament]], which he completed at [[Hamburg]] in 1524. According to some accounts, he visited [[Martin Luther]] at [[Wittenberg]], though there is no documentary evidence of their having met. In 1526, his [[New Testament]] was published in [[Worms]], at the time a Protestant stronghold, and copies were smuggled into England. [[Cardinal Wolsey]], when he saw these books and learned of Tyndale's involvement, condemned him as a heretic and wrote out a warrant for his arrest.
[[Category:Biographies]]

John Wyclif

2007-04-12T03:20:59Z

Russell Potter:

John Wyclif (or Wycliffe) (1330-1384) was a lecturer in Theology at [[Balliol College]] of [[Oxford University]], a leading world university founded in the late 1100s. He became known for his criticisms of the wealth and power of the Catholic church, and for arguing that the Pope had no right to ecclesiastical revenues from English religious foundations. His arguments won the support of [[John of Gaunt]], the powerful Duke of Lancaster, who brought him to [[London]], where his preaching fell under the censure of William Courtenay, the Bishop of London. Wyclif had by this time many supporters among the ranks of the nobility, and the Church was unable to censure him directly.

In 1381, however, when the [[Peasant's Revolt]] broke out in Kent, some blamed Wyclif's teachings for this outbreak of popular dissent. A Synod was convened at Oxford in 1382 which condemned Wyclif's teachings, but he was permitted to retire to his country parish at Lutterworth, where he died peacefully in his bed two years later. During the last years of his life, he organized and supported an undertaking for a translation of the [[Bible]] into English; while there is no evidence that he himself translated any substantial portion of it, the translation became indelibly linked to his name. The first version of this work, however, was marred by clumsy syntax in which the English text followed the Latin word by word, rather than translating sentences into English forms and idioms; Nicholas Hereford and John Purvey, two of Wyclif's closest followers, revised the text extensively, producing the first full and readable translation of the [[Bible]] into English ever completed.

After the condemnation of Wyclif at Oxford and London, his followers were forced to recant or lose their ecclesiastical offices. In 1401, with the act [[De Haeretico Comburendo]] (on the Burning of Heretics), the new [[King Henry IV]] added the power of the State to the condemnation of the Church, and followers of Wyclif who were found to have relapsed into their beliefs were burned at the stake. The teachings of Wyclif passed then into the hands of a number of itinerant preachers, who wandered the countryside, teaching peasants and artisans the rudiments of literacy, and leaving behind them copies of the Gospels in English.

The Council of Constance, meanwhile, declared Wyclif a heretic, and ordered his bones exhumed and burned. Henry IV, as well as his son Henry V, were vigorous in their persecution of suspected "Lollards" as these followers of Wyclif were known, and many were arrested; the preachers who had led them were executed. Nevertheless, many of the ideas taught by Wyclif survived in the popular imagination, and when the teachings of [[Martin Luther]] reached England in the early sixteenth century, the same areas of England where the Lollards had been prominent were among the strongest in Protestant dissent.

Due to changes in the nature of English, the "Wycliffite" translation of the Bible had become antiquated by the time that Protestantism became the official religion of England, and the Bible was translated afresh by scholars such as [[William Tyndale]]. Like Wyclif, Tyndale was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake, but his translation lived on, and many of its passages remained essentially the same through and beyond the King James (Authorized) text of 1611.

==References==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15722a.htm Entry on Wyclif from the Catholic Encyclopedia]

[[Category:Biographies]]

John Wyclif

2007-04-12T03:20:46Z

Russell Potter: wikifying

John Wyclif (or Wycliffe) (1330-1384) was a lecturer in Theology at [[Balliol College]] of [[Oxford University]], a leading world university founded in the late 1100s. He became known for his criticisms of the wealth and power of the Catholic church, and for arguing that the Pope had no right to ecclesiastical revenues from English religious foundations. His arguments won the support of [[John of Gaunt]], the powerful Duke of Lancaster, who brought him to [[London]], where his preaching fell under the censure of William Courtenay, the Bishop of London. Wyclif had by this time many supporters among the ranks of the nobility, and the Church was unable to censure him directly.

In 1381, however, when the [[Peasant's Revolt]] broke out in Kent, some blamed Wyclif's teachings for this outbreak of popular dissent. A Synod was convened at Oxford in 1382 which condemned Wyclif's teachings, but he was permitted to retire to his country parish at Lutterworth, where he died peacefully in his bed two years later. During the last years of his life, he organized and supported an undertaking for a translation of the [[Bible]] into English; while there is no evidence that he himself translated any substantial portion of it, the translation became indelibly linked to his name. The first version of this work, however, was marred by clumsy syntax in which the English text followed the Latin word by word, rather than translating sentences into English forms and idioms; Nicholas Hereford and John Purvey, two of Wyclif's closest followers, revised the text extensively, producing the first full and readable translation of the [[Bible]] into English ever completed.

After the condemnation of Wyclif at Oxford and London, his followers were forced to recant or lose their ecclesiastical offices. In 1401, with the act [[De Haeretico Comburend]] (on the Burning of Heretics), the new [[King Henry IV]] added the power of the State to the condemnation of the Church, and followers of Wyclif who were found to have relapsed into their beliefs were burned at the stake. The teachings of Wyclif passed then into the hands of a number of itinerant preachers, who wandered the countryside, teaching peasants and artisans the rudiments of literacy, and leaving behind them copies of the Gospels in English.

The Council of Constance, meanwhile, declared Wyclif a heretic, and ordered his bones exhumed and burned. Henry IV, as well as his son Henry V, were vigorous in their persecution of suspected "Lollards" as these followers of Wyclif were known, and many were arrested; the preachers who had led them were executed. Nevertheless, many of the ideas taught by Wyclif survived in the popular imagination, and when the teachings of [[Martin Luther]] reached England in the early sixteenth century, the same areas of England where the Lollards had been prominent were among the strongest in Protestant dissent.

Due to changes in the nature of English, the "Wycliffite" translation of the Bible had become antiquated by the time that Protestantism became the official religion of England, and the Bible was translated afresh by scholars such as [[William Tyndale]]. Like Wyclif, Tyndale was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake, but his translation lived on, and many of its passages remained essentially the same through and beyond the King James (Authorized) text of 1611.

==References==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15722a.htm Entry on Wyclif from the Catholic Encyclopedia]

[[Category:Biographies]]

Jimmy Carter

2007-04-12T03:15:42Z

Russell Potter: even though some conservatives may loathe him, the first commandment demands that his record be set forth accurately, and without bile

[[Image:Carter.jpg|thumb|right]]
Jimmy Carter was the 39th [[President of the United States of America]] following [[Gerald Ford]] and preceding [[Ronald Reagan]]. He was a [[Democrat]] who served from 1977-1981, after being the Governor of Georgia. He is regarded by some [[United States of America|Americans]] across the political spectrum as being an ineffectual president, and is considered by many [[conservative]]s to be among the worst presidents in the entirety of American history. His inability to meet the challenges that were presented to the nation during his time in office helped lead to the election of [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980 and the triumph of the modern American conservative movement. He has, nevertheless, been unusually active as an ex-president, serving as an election monitot and peace advocate, in which capacities he was recognized with the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]].

==Presidency==
Carter's presidency was marked by a period of American supremacy being challenged abroad and economic recession and [[stagflation]] striking at home. In the midst of the 1980 campaign, a pro-U.S. monarchy was toppled by the 1979 [[Iran|Iranian]] Revolution and dozens of [[Iran Hostage Crisis|American hostages were taken]] inside the American embassy by Islamic fundamentalist revolutionaries after Carter gave sanctuary to exiled dictator Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. With the international outrage at the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] invasion of [[Afghanistan]] later the same year, Carter was rendered impotent, as America saw its influence declining abroad.

Inflation and interest rates reached their highest levels since World War II as the administration freed domestic oil prices in response to rising prices from OPEC. The Misery Index, Carter's own invention of economic well-being, rose 50% in four years.

Despite Carter's own Democratic Party controlling both Houses of Congress, and the White House he failed to reform the tax system, and to reduce the size of the government bureaucracy, as promised during the 1976 campaign, or to pass the Martin Luther King holiday.

The many problems during Carter's presidency and the fact that he failed to deal with them decisively, not only made him an unpopular president and permanently damage the reputation of the [[Democratic Party]] with regard to military matters, it also contributed to his landslide re-election defeat. He was defeated in the 1980 presidential election by Ronald Reagan by nearly ten percentage points. [[Republican Party|Republicans]] also gained control of the Senate for the first time in twenty-five years as a result of the country's anger toward Democrats because of Carter's failures. The electoral college vote was a landslide, with 489 votes (representing 44 states) for Reagan and 49 for Carter (representing 6 states and the District of Columbia).

Carter personally opposed [[abortion]] but only recently, more than a quarter of a century after his presidency, expressed his opposition in public.

==Post-presidency==
Carter has been active in foreign affairs after his presidency, breaking a long-held tradition for ex-presidents to stay out of politics. His continued work mediating international disputes, organizing election observations, and working with organizations on disease and hunger were cited when he was awarded the 2002 [[Nobel Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]]. In his Nobel lecture, Carter declared his support for "international law":

<blockquote>
Our president, Woodrow Wilson, was honored here for promoting the League of Nations, whose two basic concepts were profoundly important: "collective security" and "self-determination." Now they are embedded in international law. Violations of these premises during the last half-century have been tragic failures, as was vividly demonstrated when the Soviet Union attempted to conquer Afghanistan and when Iraq invaded Kuwait. <ref>[http://jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/nobel.phtml Text of Carter's Nobel Lecture] Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, 2002.</ref>
</blockquote>

This was peculiar in that up until very recently [[NATO]] was never involved in conflicts outside of Europe and the North Atlantic.

In a October 2000 survey of 132 prominent professors of history, law, and political science, President Carter was grouped in the "Below Average" group, ranked 30th, with a mean score of 2.47 out of 5.00.<ref>Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House (New York, Wall Street Journal Book, 2004)</ref>

In Jimmy Carter's latest book, "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid", he appeared to endorse Arab terrorism against Israel as a tactic to achieve political ends:
<blockquote>
It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.
</blockquote>
He apologized for the wording of that sentence, but not for his larger message.<ref>Washington Post, January 24, 2007 [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/23/AR2007012301668.html?nav=rss_artsandliving/books]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
* [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13265 Carter the worst ex-president -- Steven Hayward]
* [http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2002/ Carter's citation for the Nobel Peace Prize]

==See also==
* [[Carter Doctrine]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jimmy}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]