Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Jeffrey Dahmer

2013-06-26T22:51:12Z

Snowy: /* Imprisonment */

'''Jeffrey Dahmer''' (1960-1994) was a [[serial killer]] who murdered at least 17 teenage boys and young men between 1978 and 1991. After his last victim escaped and notified authorities, they found a gruesome scene at his apartment: the remains of 11 of his murdered victims. He was sent to prison for the rest of life, and killed in jail. Dahmer was especially unnerving for the general public because, far from looking crazed, he was actually attractive.

According to adherents.com, "Jeffrey Dahmer's homosexuality ... [was] not unusual among serial killers. ... Other well known homosexual or bisexual serial killers include Andrew Cunanan, [[John Wayne Gacy]], Patrick Wayne Kearney, Gilles de Rais, Randy Steven Kraft, Michael Swango, Andrei Chikatilo, David D. Hill, Wayne Williams, Larry Eyler, Henry Lee Lucas, Fritz Haarmann, and dozens more."<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pd/Jeffrey_Dahmer.html</ref>

Dahmer, after being discharged from the military for excessive drinking in 1981, released him to [[Miami|Miami Beach]], [[Florida]], where he spent a short amount of time in a hospital until he was kicked out for his excessive [[alcoholism]]. He later moved in with his grandmother in [[Wisconsin]] for six years, where his crimes began. In 1988, his grandmother asked him to move out because she couldn't stand his late night ventures and foul smells coming from the basement. He then found an apartment in [[Milwaukee]], where he continued his crimes. Between 1988 and 1991, Dahmer had been sentenced for multiple crimes, including exposing himself to children, and was a registered [[sex offender|sexual offender]]. One of Dahmer's victims temporarily escaped, bleeding and naked and was found by police, but Dahmer convinced the officers everything was fine and the boy was returned to him. Dahmer killed him the next day.

==Imprisonment==

Following his arrest in the summer of 1991 after reaching a pace of killing nearly one person a week, police investigated Dahmer's apartment and discovered photos, human remains, and body parts positioned in the form of a "[[shrine]]". Evidence and a later confession by Dahmer revealed he had engaged in necrophilia and [[cannibalism]].

With overwhelming amounts of evidence against Dahmer in court, his only option was to plead not guilty by reason of [[insanity]]. The courts found him sane and sentenced him to roughly 957 years in prison. After the hearing, Dahmer expressed remorse, and had wished for his own death.

While serving time at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, Dahmer, who had not been in a church since he was five, began to review religious material sent to him by his father Roy Ratcliff and said he made an admission of his sins and accepted [[Christ]] as his savior. Ratcliff, a local preacher, met with his son and agreed to [[baptism|baptize]] him. Shortly thereafter, Dahmer was attacked by an inmate in the prison [[chapel]], but suffered only minor wounds.

==Death==

On November 28, 1994, Dahmer and another fellow inmate, Jesse Anderson, were both [[club|bludgeon]]ed to death by another inmate, Christopher Scarver, with a bar from a weight machine while on work detail. Both inmates died from the attack; Dahmer died en route to the hospital from severe [[trauma|head trauma]].

His mother wanted his brain to be donated for research, but Jeffrey Dahmer himself had insisted on being [[cremation|cremated]]. Applying applicable law, a judge held that Dahmer's desire to be cremated should prevail.

== References ==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahmer, Jeffrey}}

[[Category:Serial Killers]]
[[Category:Homosexuals]]

Proximity fuze

2013-06-12T03:30:44Z

Snowy: /* Production */

The '''proximity fuze''' is used to make naval gunnery and land artillery much more effective, It comprises a radio installed in the nose of a 5" or larger shell that detects an enemy plane, or the ground, and explodes at exactly the right time. It replaced the manual timer that usually fired too soon or too late. In ground action, a shell that exploded too high above the ground does less damage, and one that explodes after it hits the ground has its impact absorbed by the dirt.

Naval anti-aircraft gunnery was a trade off between 5" guns, with their long range, and 20 and 40 calibre short-range guns with a high rate of fire. The breakthrough came in 1943 with the introduction of the '''proximity fuze''' (or "VT fuze") in 5" shells. It had a radio and receiver and when a signal bounced back, it was in range and exploded. The effect was to make the target 50 times bigger and thus much easier to hit. The fuzes played a decisive role in defeating the Japanese Kamikaze attacks of 1944-45.
==Development==
The British had invented the fuze in 1940 but lacked the massive industrial capacity needed to produce it in quantity, so shared the blueprints with civilian researchers at Johns Hopkins University under contract to the U.S. Navy. Utlization of the Doppler effect of reflected radio waves was the most promising concept, so researchers devised a diode detector arrangement that acted when the amplitude of the reflected signals exceeded a predetermined value. The basic components were a vacuum tube (six inches long and three inches in diameter) a battery, and a radio transmitter and receiver, all of which have to be rugged enough to withstand 20,000 Gs when shot out of a gun at high velocity. After the shell is fired and begins rotating, a chemical reaction produces an electrical charge which in turn arms the shell and sends out a radio impulse. The return signal, reflected from the target, detonates the shell prior to impact and produces the devastating effects.
==Uses==
The fuzes were used in land-based artillery in the South Pacific in 1944. They were incorporated into bombs dropped by the U.S. Air Force on Japan in 1945, and they were used to defend Britain against the V-1 attacks of 1944, achieving a kill ratio of about 79%. (They were ineffective against the much faster V-2 missiles.) There was no risk of a dud falling into enemy hands. The Pentagon decided it was too dangerous to have a fuze fall into German hands because they might reverse engineer it and create a weapon that would destroy the Allied bombers, or at least find a way to jam the radio signals. Therefore they refused to allow the Allied artillery use of the fuzes in 1944. The Germans started research in 1930 but never invented a working device. General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] protested vehemently and demanded he be allowed to use the fuzes. He prevailed and the VT fuzes were first used in the [[Battle of the Bulge]] in December 1944, when they made the Allied artillery far more devastating, as all the shells now exploded just before hitting the ground.
==Production==
By 1944 a large proportion of the American electronics industry concentrated on making the fuzes. Procurement contracts increased from $60 million in 1942, to $200 million in 1943, to $300 million in 1944 and were topped by $450 million in 1945. As volume increased, efficiency came into play and the cost per fuze fell from $732 in 1942 to $18 in 1945. This permitted the purchase of over 22 million fuzes for approximately $1,010 million. The main suppliers were Crosley, RCA, Eastman Kodak, McQuay-Norris and Sylvania.<ref> Sharpe, "The Radio Proximity Fuze" (2003)</ref>

Proximity fuzes of a more modern, transistorized design are still used for U.S. Air Force bombs and Navy rockets, as well as Army mortars.

==Bibliography==
* Baldwin, Ralph B. ''The Deadly Fuze: Secret Weapon of World War II.'' (1980)
* Bennett, Geoffrey. "The Development of the Proximity Fuze." ''Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies'' 1976 121(1): 57-62. Issn: 0953-3559;
* Collier, Cameron D. "Tiny Miracle: the Proximity Fuze." ''Naval History'' 1999 13(4): 43-45. Issn: 1042-1920 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Moye, William T. "Developing the Proximity Fuze, and Its Legacy," U.S. Army Materiel Command, Historical Office (2003) [http://www.amc.army.mil/amc/ho/studies/fuze.html online edition]
* Sharpe, Edward A. "The Radio Proximity Fuze: A survey," ''Vintage Electrics'' (2003) Vol 2 #1 [http://www.smecc.org/radio_proximity_fuzes.htm online edition]

====notes====
<references/>
[[Category:World War II]]

Politically correct

2013-06-12T03:14:46Z

Snowy:

'''Politically correct''' restrictions on what we can say and how we say it have been imposed by [[leftist]]s to restrict debate and silence opposition.<ref>[http://www.theobamafile.com/_opinion/PoliticalCorrectness.htm The Obama File: Political Correctness]</ref>

{{cquote|'''...is the communal [[tyranny]] that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, expressions and behaviour, which were then legal, should be forbidden by law, and people who transgressed should be punished. (see [[Newspeak]]) It started with a few voices but grew in popularity until ilt became unwritten and written law within the community. With those who were publicly declared as being not politically correct becoming the object of persecution by the mob, if not prosecution by the state.'''}}
-Philip Atkinson <ref>[http://ourcivilisation.com/pc.htm Atkinson; "The Origin and Nature of Political Correctness"]</ref>

[[Image:PC-PILGRIM.JPG|thumb|400px|Horsey cartoon 11-22-2007 parodies PC]]

The modern politically correct movement began at the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]], which is one of the most [[liberal]] colleges in the [[United States]]. Political correctness is a liberal degrading of the [[First Amendment|freedom of speech]]. George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' famously incorporated the notion of limiting thought through language (see [[Newspeak]]). Words or actions that violate '''political correctness''' are called politically incorrect.

At American universities, liberals began imposing '''political correctness''' to prevent recognition of differences among gender, religion, belief system, sexual orientation and nationality. In the 1960s, [[feminists]] began to demand that the neutral pronouns ''he'', ''him'' and ''his'' be replaced with expressions like "he or she", "him or her", "them", etc, even though the last one is actually grammatically incorrect. They argued that no one would be able to understand that the masculine gender included the feminine gender in neutral contexts. But this was just part of their campaign to redefine the social roles traditionally associated with masculinity and femininity. In science, '''political correctness''' punishes anyone who criticizes the [[theory of evolution]], the [[theory of relativity]], or liberal dogma about [[global warming]].

'''Political correctness''' or '''P.C.''' also means the alteration of one's choice of words in order to avoid either offending a group of people or reinforcing a stereotype considered to be disadvantageous to the group. More specifically, groups which (or whose putative leaders or other activists) claim some status as systemically oppressed or discriminated against will periodically attempt to change the terms by which they are referred to and demand that society as a whole change its usage of words as well.

==Examples==

An example of political correctness is the changing terminology used to described handicapped people. In the past the term "crippled" was perfectly acceptable and not considered offensive. At some point, Americans like Senate Republican leader [[Bob Dole]] decided "crippled" was degrading and the preferred term changed to "handicapped." This, too, was eventually deemed offensive and "disabled" became the preferred term. Today, even "disabled" is considered degrading to some and "differently abled" and "physically challenged" are used by those people. The same can be said for the changing uses of terms for Black Americans: "Negro" and "colored," once perfectly acceptable terms, became offensive during the 1970s and "Afro-American" and "Black" came into use, which in turn gave way to "[[African Americans|African-American]]," and in broader usage, "people of color." One perceived problem with "Negro" is that many persons, especially Southerners, seemed to have trouble pronouncing it, enunciating it as "nigra."

The question of politically correct language has spilled over from the use of racially descriptive words and affected the use of traditional language. In 1999, an aide to the mayor of Washington DC described a budget decision as "niggardly" (a word meaning "stingy," unrelated to the racial slur). The aide immediately came under criticism and was forced to resign even though he had not said anything racially charged. However, his name was cleared within a matter of days and was offered to return to his previous position. <ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/williams/williams020499.htm</ref>

As well as language, political correctness discourages the use of racial or stereotypes in fiction out of concern that these stereotypes may become self-perpetuating. For example, frequently seeing the image black gang-members decked out in gold chains, carrying guns and listening to rap may pressure young black people into seeing this lifestyle as the more 'acceptable' choice for their racial group. The common image of female-dominated occupations (nurses, secretaries, care workers, etc) and of male-dominated occupations (IT workers, military, machinery operators, mechanics, etc.) can discourage individuals of either gender from considering those occupations traditionally belonging to the other. Additionally films like "The Siege" and "True Lies" have been criticized by pro-Islamic groups as having Muslims portrayed as terrorists, despite the fact that most current terrorists are in fact radical extremist Muslims. Thus, political correctness becomes the consideration of all public statements and media for their unintentional social impact.

Political correctness can even affect terminology that's viewed by secularists as too "pro-religion" or an alleged "violation of the separation of church and state" in the United States. The best example of this is the active promotion of the use of [[C.E.]] and [[B.C.E.]] as the abbreviations used after dates (instead of the commonly and traditionally used [[A.D.]] and [[B.C.]]). Additionally, [[atheists]] as school administrators or [[government]] [[Labor union|union]] workers at liberal schools use political correctness as a means for renaming terms they view as too pro-religious. For example, a [[Seattle]] student at a local elementary school volunteered to do a project as part of a community-service effort that she was doing through her school, supplying plastic eggs filled with jellybeans, called "Easter eggs." The student had an idea to fill little plastic eggs with treats and jelly beans and other candy to give to her classmates, but she was concerned how the teacher might react to the eggs after learning earlier in the week about "their abstract behavior rules."<ref>http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=459668</ref> After asking the teacher for permission, the student reportedly explained, "She said that I could do it as long as I called this treat '''spring spheres''.' I couldn't call them Easter eggs."<ref>http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/04/mystery_seattle_student_claims.php</ref><ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/04/easter_eggs_reportedly_renamed.html</ref>

==Differing Opinions==

Demands for politically correct language usage are rooted in the notion widely promoted among left-wing academics and sociologists that Western culture promotes systemic oppression against some groups by marginalizing them and excluding them from the "norm"; the groups thus supposedly systemically marginalized are referred to as "the Other" by these left-wing academics. The implication is that these groups are systemically excluded from the mainstream. "Colored people" is therefore deemed offensive because the order of words puts "colored" first, emphasizing their difference from the mainstream, while "people of color" is acceptable because putting the term "people" first emphasizes that they are people and thus does not emphasize their difference from the "norm".

Some people allege that instead of encouraging supposedly marginalized groups to integrate with and assimilate into the mainstream of Western culture, political correctness ironically encourages them to emphasize and indeed to wallow in their marginalization from society, and to make a public display of such. This is known as [[identity politics]]. According to this view, gays and lesbians are therefore encouraged to label themselves as "queer" and make public displays of "queerness" calculated to disturb the sensibilities of mainstream people, rather than integrate into the mainstream themselves; Black Americans are encouraged to adopt [[Afrocentrism]] and convert to [[Islam]] or to conform to stereotypical black behavior, etc.

==The Language Police==
Conservative scholar [[Robert Bork]] has charged that the educational system is a battleground where the future of America is being undermined and ill-served. He has counseled against the troubles which will ensue as a result of anti-religious policies in the schools, permissive attitudes toward [[homosexuality]] and [[abortion]], as well as welfare policies that have destroyed families since [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s War on Poverty. <ref> Slouching Towards Gomorrah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline. by Robert Bork published by Harper Collins (c) 1997</ref>

In her book "[[The Language Police]]", [[Diane Ravitch]] documents just how easy it is to get a word, phrase or idea banned from modern textbooks and references. Ravitch asserts that textbook producers are beholden to small non-elected educational boards in a few key states such as New York, Texas and California and that few citizens know anything about these boards or who holds the seats of power on these boards. It's not difficult for an interest group to mobilize a campaign to bombard the educational board. Meanwhile, the public is not even aware that their words or values are under attack from this corrupt system, while many ''elected'' Conservatives have rallied against this policy.

Presently, however, this may not be the case. In 2010, a group of conservatives on the Texas State Board of Education pushed the state to adopt educational standards that emphasized the role Christianity played in America's founding. Those educational standards also sought to counteract political correctness by removing parts of the curriculum that espoused political correctness and contradicted conservative values. As one of the largest states in the Union, Texas represents one of the largest markets for textbook publishers. <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/magazine/14texbooks-t.html</ref>

Once a big state makes a textbook purchase, it's very difficult for a small state or any municipality to make any changes. Thus, profound changes can be inserted into textbooks and reference books by putting pressure on a handful of educational administrators. The work of textbook selection committees is sometimes done privately, to avoid politicizing textbooks, but the reverse has happened. <ref>The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Children Learn by [[Diane Ravitch]] (c) 2003 published by Knopf</ref> Ravitch has documented "''bias guidelines''" for major publishers of texts and tests. These "guidelines" consist of advice to writers and editors about words and topics that must be avoided.<ref>http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003695</ref>

[[Ryan Sorba]] has proposed changing the terminology used to refer to [[homosexual]]s to prevent the politically correct language police from controlling the debate.<ref>[http://www.americanindependent.com/178239/christian-conservatives-discuss-strategy-for-fighting-war-against-gays-start-with-semantics Christian conservatives discuss strategy for fighting war against gays: Start with semantics], from [[The American Independent]]</ref>

Many blacks with Caribbean heritage (such as those from Jamaica or Haiti) have criticized the term "African-American" since they do not actually have African heritage. Additionally, in 2009, Paulo Serodio, a white male who was born in [[Mozambique]], [[Africa]] was harassed and ultimately suspended from a New Jersey medical school for saying he was a "white African-American". Serodio, who initially did not use any politically correct name to describe himself, only used the term when forced to classify himself as either "Caucasian", "African-American", or one of several other options. <ref>http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7567291&page=1 ABC News: "White-African American" Suing NJ Med School</ref>

Furthermore, even in [[Canada]], which is more liberal than the United States, blacks are not referred to as "African-Canadian". Instead, they are either called "black" or (depending on their heritage) "African" or "Caribbean". This shows that America's political correctness has now gone further to the left than Canada's.

==Totalitarianism and Political Correctness==

The comprehensive and detailed control of all ideas, beliefs, and statements is one of the most problematic features of [[totalitarian]] regimes.[http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-3816(196002)22%3A1%3C68%3ATIAP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W] Political correctness can trace its origins back to the world of 1920's Germany, where [[Communist]] academics sought to impose their [[Marxist]] views on students.

It is now acceptable in many Universities to have courses on gender, [[homosexual]] and [[African American]] studies, which, in fact, encourage the mainstream public to become different to avoid criticism.

==Notes==

<references/>

==See also==
* [[Postmodernism]]
*[[Racial censorship]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.capc.co.uk The Campaign Against Political Correctness]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=8olE_futZogC&pg=PA378&lpg=PA378&dq=communist+%22socially+correct%22&source=web&ots=DYD85Lsf1G&sig=pkoUxDOLFJZsme40QO13zakFZw4 The Chinese Have A Word For It]
*[http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=218 DiscoverTheNetworks.org - Political Correctness, Appeasement and Speech Codes in Academia]
*[http://www.theobamafile.com/_opinion/PoliticalCorrectness.htm Political correctness] The Obama File
{{liberalism}}
[[Category:Political Terms]]
[[Category: Marxist terminology]]

Cold fusion

2013-06-09T19:24:30Z

Snowy:

'''Cold fusion''' is a hypothesized form of [[nuclear fusion]] that takes place at much lower temperatures than are traditionally thought required.

= Theory =
== Nuclear Fusion ==

In a nuclear fusion reaction [[nuclei]] of light [[elements]] join together (fuse) to produce heavier nuclei with a higher [[atomic number]]. The mass of these heavier nuclei is slightly less than the sum of the masses of the original nuclei and the missing mass is released as energy, in accordance with the famous equation [[E=mc²]].

For man-made fusion, the nuclei involved may be two [[deuterium]] (heavy hydrogen) nuclei, each consisting of one [[proton]] and one [[neutron]] and combining to produce a [[helium]] nucleus or [[alpha particle]] (two protons and two neutrons). [[Tritium]] is sometimes also used, but the distinction is not relevant to this article. Other forms of fusion are possible. With hot deuterium fusion, the product is only rarely helium, which is always accompanied by an energetic gamma ray. The vast bulk of such fusions result in a neutron plus Helium-3, or tritium plus a proton.

Since nuclei have a positive charge, they repel one another and thus the chief problem in achieving ordinary fusion is to get the nuclei close enough together to fuse. With hot fusion, this is accomplished by major heat, millions of degrees.

Cold fusion was given the name, popularly, because the discoverers of cold fusion claimed that the bulk of the heat they found was due to an "unknown nuclear reaction," and most observers thought that it must involve deuterium fusion. Yet the reaction did not produce copious neutrons or tritium, which would be easily detected, contradicting the idea that it was hot fusion somehow occurring under overall cold conditions.

== High Temperature Fusion ==

The approach that has generally been taken is to heat the gaseous deuterium to such a high temperature that it becomes a [[plasma]] and that the nuclei have sufficient [[kinetic energy]] so that some of them can overcome their repulsion and collide.

However, the main problem of this approach is the containment of the high energy plasma. This may be achievable using precisely shaped [[magnetic field|magnetic fields]], but to date the longest period of stable fusion under this mechanism has been around half a second.

== Low Temperature Fusion ==

There is, however, no fundamental law that says that this high temperature approach is the only way to get the deuterium nuclei close enough to react, or that the only possible fusion reaction is between only two nuclei. Other approaches have been posited. For example, if the [[electrons]] of deuterium [[atoms]] could be persuaded to orbit much closer to the nucleus then the atom would have an overall neutral charge until it was in much closer proximity to another atom (i.e. until the nuclei were within the orbit of the electrons).

Quantum Theory indicates that this would be impossible with electrons, but it is known to occur with a [[muon]] instead of an electron. Since a muon is 207 times heavier than an electron it orbits 207 times closer. <ref>http://www.rikenresearch.riken.jp/eng/frontline/5976</ref>

However, muon-catalyzed fusion requires the production of muons, which requires substantial energy, and while one muon may catalyze more than one fusion reaction, eventually the muons are captured by other nuclei, such as helium, and the muon cannot then cause more fusions. It is real, but far from practical for energy production, as far as any approach known.

= Practice =

== Fleischmann Pons ==

In 1989, electrochemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons of the University of Utah claimed to have produced high levels of heat, and a low level of neutrons, loading a [[palladium]] cathode through electrolysis in heavy water, and some speculated that this might possibly become a source of cheap energy in the future.

After Fleischmann and Pons made their claim, a number of hasty attempts to replicate the effect failed, and the claim was generally discredited. However, work continued and Melvin Miles, at the United States Navy China Lake Research Laboratory, one of the original negative replicators, eventually confirmed excess heat, and so did others. Mike McKubre of Stanford Research International showed that a deuterium to palladium loading ratio of greater than 90% was needed to see the effect.<ref>McKubre, M.C.H., et al, [http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/McKubreMCHexcesspowe.pdf Excess Power Observations in Electrochemical Studies of the D/Pd System; the Influence of Loading], 1992</ref> The initial failures at MIT and Cal Tech used loading of well under 80%.

Miles later found that helium, in the Fleischmann-Pons Heat Effect, is produced with a ratio to the anomalous heat that is commensurate with the ratio expected from some form of deuterium fusion to helium (this ratio would be found with any reaction that starts with deuterium and ends with helium).

The field, still being actively researched, has been covered in many academic publications in recent years, including a featured review by Edmund Storms, "Status of cold fusion (2010)," in ''Naturwissenschaften,'' October 2010.<ref>[http://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/StormsEstatusofcoa.pdf Status of cold fusion (2010) (preprint)]</ref> The abstract of this review included:

:''The evidence supports the claim that a nuclear reaction between deuterons to produce helium can occur in special materials without application of high energy. This reaction is found to produce clean energy at potentially useful levels without the harmful byproducts normally associated with a nuclear process.''

Springer-Verlag is the second largest scientific publisher in the world, and ''Naturwissenschaften'' is their "flagship multidisciplinary journal," published since 1913. The appearance of this review in a mainstream peer-reviewed journal is a milestone in the recognition of cold fusion, after so many years of neglect.

Research is ongoing in many laboratories around the world.

==Other==

The field has expanded from deuterium in palladium to also include hydrogen in nickel and nickel nano-powder, low energy glow discharge, and transmutation experiments (mostly in Japan). Research funding sources in the US include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (DARPA), and the Department of Defense, Threat Reduction Agency.

There are also companies claiming to have working Nickel-Hydrogen demonstration devices, claiming power levels that could see commercial usage; however there is no open independent evidence that these devices work reliably, only enthusiasm, promises from the companies -- often not met --, and some public demonstrations that convinced some, but that were also flawed in ways that eventually led to extended skepticism even from those who have accepted cold fusion in general.

The 17th International Conference on Cold Fusion was held in Deajeon, Korea, August 12-17, 2012.
=Recent coverage=
*[http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/november-2012 Popular Science, November 2012]. "Can Andrea Rossi's Infinite-Energy Black Box Power The World--Or Just Scam It?" ''The Rossi claims have not been independently confirmed, and publicly-available evidence is inadequate to determine if the devices work at all, and if they do, if they depend on cold fusion, or low-energy nuclear reactions, or not. There is minor coverage in this article of other, scientifically-established, approaches to cold fusion. ''
*[http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2012/10/20/cold-fusion-gets-a-little-more-real/ Forbes, October 2012] "Cold Fusion Gets a Little More Real." ''Author Mark Gibbs doesn't clearly distinguish between scientific reality (established) and practical reality (not established).

= References =
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]][[Category:Chemistry]][[Category:Fringe physics]]

Tom Jones

2013-06-08T22:25:11Z

Snowy:

'''Thomas Jones Woodward''' was born on June 7, 1940 in [[Pontypridd]], south [[Wales]], [[Great Britain]], the son of a coal miner. As a young lad he sang at special occasions and in his school choir. Stricken by tuberculosis and bedridden for almost a year, he began to explore music. Married at sixteen years of age, Tom quit school and took a variety of jobs supporting his wife Linda and newborn son Mark.

Discovered by Gordon Mills, a noted manager of talent in London, Tom Woodward would be renamed Tom Jones who in late 1964 would record his first single, "Chills and Fever" for Decca Records. While it was unsuccessful, his second effort a few months later in March of 1965, "It's Not Unusual" reached #1 in the [[United Kingdom]] and was top ten in the [[United States]]. Followed by his second gold single and top five hit, "What's New Pussycat", Tom introduced himself to America during his first tour stateside. He received a Grammy for Best New Artist of 1965.

For three months in 1966 and peaking at #11 during the Christmas holidays, Tom Jones hit with "Green, Green, Grass of Home", followed by "[[Detroit]] City", "Delilah", "Help Yourself" and "Love Me Tonight". 1969 saw a return to the top ten for Tom with "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" and "Without Love". A year later, "Daughter of Darkness", "I, Who Have Nothing" and "I Can't Stop Loving You" charted. In 1971, "She's a Lady" went gold and peaked at #2 on the Hit Parade, followed by "Puppet Man".

In 1967 the Flamingo Hotel in [[Las Vegas]] was first to present Tom Jones there, Caesar's Palace would follow. A year later, a [[New York]] Copacabana night club appearance was a huge success.

"This is Tom Jones" was an internationally successful ABC television variety show in the late 60's and early 1970's. In 1999, the Tom Jones album "Reload" was a big sales success.

With a star on the [[Hollywood]] Walk of Fame and recently Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, "Sir" Tom Jones has been a resident of Bel Air, [[California]] since the mid 1970's.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Tom}}
[[Category:Male Singers]]
[[Category:Wales]]

Big Brother

2013-06-07T21:56:55Z

Snowy:

[[Image:Big_Brother.jpg|right|thumb|250px|''Big Brother'']]
'''Big Brother''' is the name of the autocratic and absolutist dictator of Oceania in [[George Orwell]]'s dystopian satire [[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]. The novel frequently refers to the slogan ''Big Brother Is Watching You,'' a term that has become associated with situations where the state exercises excessive surveillance over the individual citizen.

Big Brother as a character was probably influenced by figures such as [[Joseph Stalin]], who promoted a brutal atheistic, communistic , and dictatorial ideology.
Today the term "Big rother" is frequently used to refer to non-beneficial monitoring of law-abiding citizens.

==See also==
*[[Big Brother (television show)]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Smoot-Hawley Tariff

2013-06-07T19:51:12Z

Snowy:

The '''Smoot-Hawley Tariff''' was a high U.S. [[tariff]] enacted in 1930. Smoot and Hawley were the [[Republican]] tariff experts in Senate and House, and they thought that it would help the economy by protecting American manufacturers from imports and prevent American jobs from being lost. The higher tariff was supported by leading spokesmen for agriculture and industry.

The effort backfired as [[Canada]] and other major trading partners retaliated and put higher tariffs on goods made in America. American foreign trade fell by 40%. Because of the interrelated nature of global [[economics]] (even at that point in history), the tariff contributed to a decline in worldwide [[trade]] of 66% from 1929 to 1934<ref>http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1921_timeline/smoot_tariff.html</ref>.

It has been roundly criticized by nearly all [[economists]] of the time and since as a huge mistake; many consider it partly responsible for the [[Great Depression]]. However, foreign trade was a small part of the U.S. economy (4%), so economists such as [[Milton Friedman]] argue that the tariff could not have directly contributed much to the depression.

==Further reading==
* Judith A. McDonald, Anthony Patrick O'Brien and Colleen M. Callahan. "Trade Wars: Canada's Reaction to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff," ''Journal of Economic History,'' Vol. 57, No. 4 (Dec., 1997), pp. 802-826 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2951161 in JSTOR]

==Notes==
<references />

==See also==
* [[Protectionism]]
* [[Debt Deflation Hypothesis]]

[[Category:1920s]]
[[Category:Business]]
[[Category:Taxation]]

King Philip's War

2013-05-17T18:50:42Z

Snowy: /* Results */

'''King Philip's War''' (1675-6) was a bloody war in eastern New England in which [[Native Americans]] resisted European sovereignty. The Indians were led by [[Metacom]], King Philip, a chief of the [[Wampanoags]], who tried to build an inter-tribal coalition.

The war was fought by a coalition of Algonquian Indians, especially the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes, against the English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was the most devastating war, for both sides, in the history of the Northeast, and resulted in a decisive victory for the settlers.

==Causes==
By 1675 some 75,000 colonists lived in four New England colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut, outnumbering the Indian population by about five to one. The settlers demanded that the Indians recognize the sovereignty of the colonial government. Indians could no longer be independent. In economic terms, they were not useful to the colonists. Land was a minor issue (the settlers lived on small farms and did not hunt for game, and so rarely entered Indian hunting grounds.) On the other side, Wampanoag and Narragansett Indians wanted to remain autonomous, did not want to be subject to English courts, and resented Christian missionary efforts. The leader Massasoit had been friendly but after his death in 1662 new Indian leaders challenged the settlers. They ignored the fate of the [[Pequot War|Pequot]] in 1637, and looked about for alliances with various tribes. The key leader was Massasoit's oldest living son, Metacom (1638-1676), called Philip by the colonists, who became sachem of the Wampanoag in the early 1660s. Philip renewed the peace covenant with Plymouth Colony, and sold more and more land to the colonists; the settlers established towns closer to the Wampanoag villages, including the nearby settlement of Swansea. The colonial authorities decided to regulate Philip's real estate transactions by requiring him to obtain permission from the Grand Court before selling any more land; that is, they asserted colonial sovereignty over the Wampanoags. Repeated reports of plots with the Narragansett, the French, and the Dutch (still based in New Amsterdam) led Plymouth in 1671 to call him to account. Philip haughtily protested peaceful intentions, and agreed to surrender firearms. Sullen peace followed, but the Wampanoag surrendered suspiciously few arms. Philip did not seem to take his agreements seriously and held the colonial authorities in utter contempt. He once complained that the Plymouth magistrates were too lowly; if they wanted him to obey them, they should send their king to negotiate with him, not their governors. "Your governor is but a subject," he said. "I shall treat only with my brother, King Charles of England. When he comes, I am ready."

When three Wampanoag were tried in court and executed for the murder of a Christian Indian informer, the warriors attacked and plundered nearby farms. Neither side was ready for war. Philip 's alliances were not concluded, and the English were unprepared and widely scattered.

==The war==
In June 1675, Wampanoag marauders threatened Swansea settlers. who fired back. Swift, devastating raids on Swansea and neighboring towns threw the colonists into panic, intensified when the militia found no Indians to fight--for the Indians never made a stand. The war was a series of Indian raids (lasting a few hours followed by sudden withdrawal), followed by retaliatory expeditions by the settlers. The counterattack was ill planned and indecisive and antagonized other tribes. There was no unified command among the colonies that joined in, cooperation was spotty, the soldiers were under-equipped and ignorant of Indian warfare, and the troops lacked scouts to track the enemy and refused at first to employ friendly Indians. When combined Plymouth and Massachusetts forces drove Philip and his Wampanoag warriors into the swamps (June 30, 1675), he easily slipped away. In July additional Indian tribes joined Philip's uprising; Mattapoisett warriors destroyed most of Dartmouth in Plymouth Colony; Nipmuck Indians assaulted Mendon in Massachusetts Bay Colony on July 14. Suspicious of the Narragansett tribe, colonial forces raided their country and compelled a few lingerers to sign a treaty of neutrality on July 15, but most Narragansett warriors, led by Canonchet, had allied with the Wampanoag
Abnaki in the north joined the insurgency, along with Norwottock, Pocumtuck, and Agawam warriors; even some Christian Indians were involved. The Indian tribes acted independently and were never under a unified command by Philip or anyone else.

The most effective Indian tactic was to raid a small settlement, besiege the garrison, burn abandoned farms and homes and then waylay relief parties. The men were killed, the women and children killed or kidnapped. At first the Indians set fires in patches of woods and ambushed detachments of troops sent to investigate. The Indians always refused a pitched battle, where the disciplined drilling and firepower of the colonists would overwhelm their individualistic fighting tactics based on ambushes and hatchets, with limited firearms.

By late 1675, disaster overtook the colonies on all sides. Numerous frontier towns (such as Mendon, Brookfield, Deerfield, and Northfield), were devastated, abandoned, or both; two small colonial units were ambushed and destroyed (Sawmill Brook, Sept. 3; Muddy Brook, Sept. 18). Hundreds of miles out similar raids devastated some colonial villages in New Hampshire and Maine.
==Mobilization==
Colonial authorities officially declared war on the Wampanoag on September 9, 1675, and set about drafting a 1,000-man army. The militia system was a variation on the English militia, with more local control, and was not considered effective for offensive warfare. With real war at hand the colony created new companies of soldiers to fight the enemy, leaving the town militia companies mostly intact for defense. The decision of which men would serve locally and which colony-wide was made by the town militia committees, comprised of civilian and military leaders from the community.<ref> Kyle Forbes Zelner, "The Flower and Rabble of Essex County: A Social History of the Massachusetts Bay Militia and Militiamen during King Philip's War, 1675-1676." (PhD dissertation 2003)</ref>

Rhode Island was politically controlled by [[Quakers]], but they enthusiastically supported the war in alliance with their theological enemies the Puritans. Many Quakers were in the militia, and noncombatants helped out.<ref> Stephen W. Angell, "'Learn of the Heathen': Quakers and Indians in Southern New England, 1656-1676." ''Quaker History'' 2003 92(1): 1-21. Issn: 0033-5053; Jean R. Soderlund, "Pacifism in the Time of Fear and Danger." ''Reviews in American History'' 2002 30(2): 198-203. Issn: 0048-7511 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]</ref>

==Great Swamp Fight==
Finally the colonists overcame their weaknesses and devised a common strategy that worked. The Indians avoided pitched battles, but the had to defend their food stores or they would starve in the harsh winter. They could hide the stores but they could not easily move them, so the colonies, using scouts from friendly tribes, discovered and destroyed the enemy food supplies in December-January, 1675-76 and defeated the Indians who were forced into a pitched battle on European terms because to flee meant starvation.

The colonists first preemptively destroyed the threat posed by the Narragansett in the Great Swamp Fight on Dec. 19, 1675, (at the present site of South Kingstown, Rhode Island). The combined forces of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut, over 1,000 soldiers under the command of Gov. Josiah Winslow, with about 150 Indian allies, marched through the snow to the island in the Great Swamp, which had been fortified by the Narraganset to protect their food supplies. The first assault by the colonists early in the afternoon, was turned back with heavy losses; after three hours of desperate fighting the fort was forced at the rear and the Indians routed. The Indian wigwams were set on fire, and many women and children died in the flames. The English lost six captains and 120 men and the Narraganset losses ran into the hundreds. This battle forever changed the power of the Narraganset and gave the settlers confidence they had a winning strategy, with unified commands, Indian scouts, and a systematic attack on heavily guarded food stores. Several thousand Narraganset warriors who had not been in the swamp now joined the insurgency.

Philip and a small band wintered near Albany, New York, in hopes of gaining aid from the Mohawk Indians and the French. In early 1676 he attacked the eastern settlements in order to concentrate English forces there while they planted food crops in the Connecticut Valley. On February 10, 1676, Narragansett and Nipmuck Indians raided Lancaster, Massachusetts. They burned most of the town, killed more than 35 villagers, and took 24 captives, including 41-year-old [[Mary Rowlandson]] and her three children; her 6-year-old daughter was killed for falling behind. Mary spent 12 weeks in captivity before she was freed for a ransom of £20. Indians threatened Plymouth, Providence, and towns within 10 miles of Boston.

The long run logistics advantage of the colonists now came into play. Colonists had plenty of food but the disruption of Indian life made them unable to plant, fish, or harvest; they depended on stored supplies and began to run short of food. Indians started deserting to forage and plant crops.

Colonists captured and executed Canonchet on Apr. 3. The Mohawks suddenly decided to attack the Narragansett from the west, thereby helping the colonists. Finally on May 18-19, 1676, Capt. William Turner with 180 men surprised and massacred the Indians at Deerfield and broke their resistance in the Connecticut River valley. By the end of May the tide had turned in the west. The colonials gained further victories in June and July, and bands of war-hungry Indians surrendered en masse. Capt. Benjamin Church, assisted by able Indian scouts, trapped Philip and his Wampanoag in swamps near Taunton and Bridgewater, killing Philip on August 12, 1676. Philip's death marked the end of the main war, though hostilities continued in New Hampshire and Maine, where the Abnaki and others, supplied with French arms and encouragement, wreaked havoc on settlement after settlement.

==Results==
On April 12, 1678, articles of peace were signed at Casco, Maine, with mutual restoration of captives and property. Since June 1675, sixteen towns in Massachusetts and four in Rhode Island had been destroyed, all colonists had fled Kennebec County (Maine), and all along New England frontiers, expansion had been retarded. But the Indians no longer posed a threat to the colonists in southern New England. Thereafter their struggle was confined to the northeast and northwest, where it merged with the struggle between the colonists and France for control of the continent.

Estimates were that about 6,000 Indian men, women and children were killed or captured--a third of the Indian population. Many of those captured were sold into slavery to allied Indians, or to the West Indies sugar plantations. About 5% of the settlers died--2,500 men, women and children; 1,200 homes were burned, and 8,000 cattle were killed.<ref> Different sources give highly variable estimated numbers.</ref> Colonial expenses during the war amounted to 100,000 pounds sterling, a huge amount for the time. The frontier of settlement had been pushed back 20 miles. Northfield, Deerfield, Brookfield, Worcester, Lancaster, Groton, Mendon, Wrentham, Middleborough, Warwick, Wickford and Simsbury had been destroyed, and Springfield, Westfield, Marlborough, Scituate, Rehoboth and Providence had been heavily damaged. Boston was threatened but was never hit. The poor performance of colonial forces in King Philip's War and King William's War (1689–1697) led to a greater reliance on British forces and imperial administrators. Furthermore, the war weakened the colonial economy for years, raised local taxes, and required infusions of British money while reducing dividends to London investors. Henceforth, the American settlers would feel an increasingly heavy hand of the royal government.

==Memory and memorials==
Philip did not exercise any over-all operational control of events. With a tribal culture and tradition based upon decentralization of political and military power, such control was probably impossible. The colonists however needed an enemy to personify and he fit the bill; Captain Church ordered the "doleful, great, naked, dirty beast" to be beheaded and quartered. "Forasmuch as he has caused many an Englishman's body to lie unburied and rot above the ground, that not one of his bones should be buried." Philip's head was taken to Plymouth and mounted on a pole in the town square where it remained for 20 years.

Historians have often condemned the cruelty of both sides. But Drake (1997) and Drake (1999) argues it should not be compared to modern genocides and atrocities. He points out that a comparison with English military conduct in various civil conflicts in Britain shows that the colonists believed they were fighting a civil war rather than a war between sovereign nations, and that their conduct followed accepted rules of war in a civil conflict. Having defeated an Indian alliance in the Pequot War in 1637, the Puritans considered Indians dependents inside their colony, and not outsiders. The heavy-handed use of violence, enslavement, and harsh punishments inflicted on prisoners all had precedents in English civil conflicts, Drake notes, and were justified under recognized rules of civil war. In contradiction to the modern perception of genocidal destruction of the "other," the Puritans employed violence in a calculating fashion, sometimes showing restraint when strategically valuable.
<ref> James Drake, "Restraining Atrocity: the Conduct of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1997 70(1): 33-56. </ref> There were atrocities committed on both sides, but there was punishment too when soldiers violated the rights of Christian Indians. On August 7, 1676, at Hurtleberry Hill near Concord, Massachusetts, colonial soldiers killed six Christian Indians - three women and three children - while they gathered berries. Four soldiers were tried and convicted for the deed and sentenced to death; two were eventually pardoned and two were executed.<ref> Jenny Hale Pulsipher, "Massacre at Hurtleberry Hill: Christian Indians and English Authority in Metacom's War." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1996 53(3): 459-486. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2947201 in Jstor]</ref>

The war shaped New England's memory and self-image. It had been a close call and proved Divine providence was at work, according to the leading Puritan divine Increase Mather. His ''Brief History of the Warr with the Indians'' (1676) is mostly religious; Mather uses the war (with few factual details) as as a platform for an expanded sermon on God's punishment for the decline of religious virtue and moral behavior among second-generation New England colonists.<ref> See [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/31/ online edition]</ref> By contrast William Hubbard, in ''Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians'' (1677) provided abundant specifics, usually quite accurate, along with the first map of New England produced in the colonies. Hubbard wrote a much more objective and impartial account of the war, although he also interprets events in terms of God's benevolent intervention, which Hubbard attributes to the barbarity of ungodly Indians and the perfidy of the French and Dutch, who provided local tribes with weapons.<ref> Matthew H. Edney and Susan Cimburek, "Telling the Traumatic Truth: William Hubbard's Narrative of King Philip's War and His 'Map of New-England.'" ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 2004 61(2): 317-348. </ref>

The status of the remaining Indians declined sharply after the war; there were fewer efforts to convert and integrate them, but the Christian Indian villages were allowed to remain. Most, but not all, Indians relocated from the Connecticut Valley to more distant locations in New York, Canada, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

In the 21st century by far the most studied memory is Mary Rowlandson's ''Captivity Narrative'', a first-hand account of capture and torture. One of the first great achievements of American literature, and a best-seller at the time, it set the tone of writing about Indian- white relations for 300 years.<ref>Pamela Lougheed, "'Then Began He to Rant and Threaten': Indian Malice and Individual Liberty in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative." ''American Literature'' 2002 74(2): 287-313 </ref>

==Bibliography==
* Adams, James Truslow. ''The Founding of New England'' (1921) [http://www.dinsdoc.com/adams-1-0a.htm online edition]
* Bourne, Russell. ''The Red King's Rebellion: Racial Politics in New England, 1675-1678'' (1990) [http://books.google.com/books?id=0qNcrZ9472QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Red+intitle:King%27s+intitle:Rebellion+inauthor:Bourne+inauthor:Russell&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&sig=bMfAMIXmJqLoLSXosLvlph79RaI excerpt and text search]
* Domer, Ronald G. "King Philip's Ferocious War," ''Military History,'' Dec 2004, Vol. 21#5 online at [[EBSCO]]
* Drake, James. "Restraining Atrocity: the Conduct of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1997 70(1): 33-56. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: [http://www.jstor.org/pss/366526 in Jstor]
* Drake, James D. ''King Philip's War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676.'' (1999). 257 pp. Revisionist study; argues that Indians and settlers were cooperating well until the war [http://www.amazon.com/King-Philips-War-1675-1676-Americans/dp/1558492240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207783012&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Edney, Matthew H. and Susan Cimburek, "Telling the Traumatic Truth: William Hubbard's Narrative of King Philip's War and His 'Map of New-England.'" ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 2004 61(2): 317-348. Issn: 0043-5597 Fulltext: [[History Cooperative]]
* Ellis, George W., and John E. Morris. ''King Philip's War'' (1906) [http://books.google.com/books?id=tK8PAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:King+intitle:Philip%27s+intitle:War+inauthor:Ellis+inauthor:Morris&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0 online edition]
* Lafantasie, Glenn W. "The Long Shadow of King Philip." ''American History'' 2004 39(1): 58-67. Issn: 1076-8866 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Leach, Douglas Edward. ''Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War'' (1958), a standard scholarly narrative of the war
* Lepore, Jill. ''The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity'' (1998), on remembrance
* Lougheed, Pamela. "'Then Began He to Rant and Threaten': Indian Malice and Individual Liberty in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative." ''American Literature'' 2002 74(2): 287-313. Issn: 0002-9831 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]
* McCue, Michael Westaway. "The Soldier and the 'King.'" ''American History'' 2002 37(2): 44-50. Issn: 1076-8866 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Norton, Mary Beth. ''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692.'' (2002). 436 pp. argues that fears of Indian raids caused fears of witches
* Pulsipher, Jenny Hale. "'The Overture of This New-Albion World': King Philip's War and the Transformation of New England." PhD dissertation Brandeis U. 1999. 399 pp. DAI 1999 60(4): 1297-A. DA9927239 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* Ranlet, Philip. "Another Look at the Causes of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1988 61(1): 79-100. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/365221 in Jstor]
* Slotkin, Richard, and James K. Folsom. ''Dreadfull a Judgment: Puritan Responses to King Philip's War, 1676-1677'' (1999), on postwar literature [http://www.amazon.com/So-Dreadfull-Judgment-Responses-1676-1677/dp/0819560588/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207783012&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Vaughan, Alden T. ''New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620-1675'' (1965), well-balanced scholarly background history [http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Frontier-Puritans-1620-1675/dp/080612718X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207784647&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Zelner, Kyle F. "Essex County's Two Militias: the Social Composition of Offensive and Defensive Militias During King Philip's War, 1675-76.: ''New England Quarterly'' 1999 72(4): 577-593. Issn: 0028-4866 [http://www.jstor.org/pss/366829 in Jstor]
* Zelner, Kyle Forbes. "The Flower and Rabble of Essex County: A Social History of the Massachusetts Bay Militia and Militiamen during King Philip's War, 1675-1676." PhD dissertation College of William and Mary, 2003. 466 pp.
DAI 2004 64(12): 4599-A. DA3116187 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]

===Primary Sources===
* Church, Benjamin, and Thomas Church, ''The History of the Great Indian War of 1675 and 1676, Commonly Called Philip's War; Also, the Old French and Indian Wars, From 1689 to 1704'' (revised edition 1854), ed. by Samuel D. Drake [http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Church/album1.html online edition]
* Rowlandson, Mary. ''The Soveraignty and Goodness of God, Together, with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson'' (1682) [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/851 online edition]
===Video===
* ''The History of King Philip's War.'' VHS. Color. 26min. published by Bride Media Intl., 2000. favorablly reviewed in ''Journal of Military History'' [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3397317 review in JSTOR]

====notes====
<references/>
[[Category:Colonial America]]
[[Category:Indian Wars]]
[[Category:New England]]

King Philip's War

2013-05-17T18:48:01Z

Snowy: /* Great Swamp Fight */

'''King Philip's War''' (1675-6) was a bloody war in eastern New England in which [[Native Americans]] resisted European sovereignty. The Indians were led by [[Metacom]], King Philip, a chief of the [[Wampanoags]], who tried to build an inter-tribal coalition.

The war was fought by a coalition of Algonquian Indians, especially the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes, against the English colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut. It was the most devastating war, for both sides, in the history of the Northeast, and resulted in a decisive victory for the settlers.

==Causes==
By 1675 some 75,000 colonists lived in four New England colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut, outnumbering the Indian population by about five to one. The settlers demanded that the Indians recognize the sovereignty of the colonial government. Indians could no longer be independent. In economic terms, they were not useful to the colonists. Land was a minor issue (the settlers lived on small farms and did not hunt for game, and so rarely entered Indian hunting grounds.) On the other side, Wampanoag and Narragansett Indians wanted to remain autonomous, did not want to be subject to English courts, and resented Christian missionary efforts. The leader Massasoit had been friendly but after his death in 1662 new Indian leaders challenged the settlers. They ignored the fate of the [[Pequot War|Pequot]] in 1637, and looked about for alliances with various tribes. The key leader was Massasoit's oldest living son, Metacom (1638-1676), called Philip by the colonists, who became sachem of the Wampanoag in the early 1660s. Philip renewed the peace covenant with Plymouth Colony, and sold more and more land to the colonists; the settlers established towns closer to the Wampanoag villages, including the nearby settlement of Swansea. The colonial authorities decided to regulate Philip's real estate transactions by requiring him to obtain permission from the Grand Court before selling any more land; that is, they asserted colonial sovereignty over the Wampanoags. Repeated reports of plots with the Narragansett, the French, and the Dutch (still based in New Amsterdam) led Plymouth in 1671 to call him to account. Philip haughtily protested peaceful intentions, and agreed to surrender firearms. Sullen peace followed, but the Wampanoag surrendered suspiciously few arms. Philip did not seem to take his agreements seriously and held the colonial authorities in utter contempt. He once complained that the Plymouth magistrates were too lowly; if they wanted him to obey them, they should send their king to negotiate with him, not their governors. "Your governor is but a subject," he said. "I shall treat only with my brother, King Charles of England. When he comes, I am ready."

When three Wampanoag were tried in court and executed for the murder of a Christian Indian informer, the warriors attacked and plundered nearby farms. Neither side was ready for war. Philip 's alliances were not concluded, and the English were unprepared and widely scattered.

==The war==
In June 1675, Wampanoag marauders threatened Swansea settlers. who fired back. Swift, devastating raids on Swansea and neighboring towns threw the colonists into panic, intensified when the militia found no Indians to fight--for the Indians never made a stand. The war was a series of Indian raids (lasting a few hours followed by sudden withdrawal), followed by retaliatory expeditions by the settlers. The counterattack was ill planned and indecisive and antagonized other tribes. There was no unified command among the colonies that joined in, cooperation was spotty, the soldiers were under-equipped and ignorant of Indian warfare, and the troops lacked scouts to track the enemy and refused at first to employ friendly Indians. When combined Plymouth and Massachusetts forces drove Philip and his Wampanoag warriors into the swamps (June 30, 1675), he easily slipped away. In July additional Indian tribes joined Philip's uprising; Mattapoisett warriors destroyed most of Dartmouth in Plymouth Colony; Nipmuck Indians assaulted Mendon in Massachusetts Bay Colony on July 14. Suspicious of the Narragansett tribe, colonial forces raided their country and compelled a few lingerers to sign a treaty of neutrality on July 15, but most Narragansett warriors, led by Canonchet, had allied with the Wampanoag
Abnaki in the north joined the insurgency, along with Norwottock, Pocumtuck, and Agawam warriors; even some Christian Indians were involved. The Indian tribes acted independently and were never under a unified command by Philip or anyone else.

The most effective Indian tactic was to raid a small settlement, besiege the garrison, burn abandoned farms and homes and then waylay relief parties. The men were killed, the women and children killed or kidnapped. At first the Indians set fires in patches of woods and ambushed detachments of troops sent to investigate. The Indians always refused a pitched battle, where the disciplined drilling and firepower of the colonists would overwhelm their individualistic fighting tactics based on ambushes and hatchets, with limited firearms.

By late 1675, disaster overtook the colonies on all sides. Numerous frontier towns (such as Mendon, Brookfield, Deerfield, and Northfield), were devastated, abandoned, or both; two small colonial units were ambushed and destroyed (Sawmill Brook, Sept. 3; Muddy Brook, Sept. 18). Hundreds of miles out similar raids devastated some colonial villages in New Hampshire and Maine.
==Mobilization==
Colonial authorities officially declared war on the Wampanoag on September 9, 1675, and set about drafting a 1,000-man army. The militia system was a variation on the English militia, with more local control, and was not considered effective for offensive warfare. With real war at hand the colony created new companies of soldiers to fight the enemy, leaving the town militia companies mostly intact for defense. The decision of which men would serve locally and which colony-wide was made by the town militia committees, comprised of civilian and military leaders from the community.<ref> Kyle Forbes Zelner, "The Flower and Rabble of Essex County: A Social History of the Massachusetts Bay Militia and Militiamen during King Philip's War, 1675-1676." (PhD dissertation 2003)</ref>

Rhode Island was politically controlled by [[Quakers]], but they enthusiastically supported the war in alliance with their theological enemies the Puritans. Many Quakers were in the militia, and noncombatants helped out.<ref> Stephen W. Angell, "'Learn of the Heathen': Quakers and Indians in Southern New England, 1656-1676." ''Quaker History'' 2003 92(1): 1-21. Issn: 0033-5053; Jean R. Soderlund, "Pacifism in the Time of Fear and Danger." ''Reviews in American History'' 2002 30(2): 198-203. Issn: 0048-7511 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]</ref>

==Great Swamp Fight==
Finally the colonists overcame their weaknesses and devised a common strategy that worked. The Indians avoided pitched battles, but the had to defend their food stores or they would starve in the harsh winter. They could hide the stores but they could not easily move them, so the colonies, using scouts from friendly tribes, discovered and destroyed the enemy food supplies in December-January, 1675-76 and defeated the Indians who were forced into a pitched battle on European terms because to flee meant starvation.

The colonists first preemptively destroyed the threat posed by the Narragansett in the Great Swamp Fight on Dec. 19, 1675, (at the present site of South Kingstown, Rhode Island). The combined forces of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut, over 1,000 soldiers under the command of Gov. Josiah Winslow, with about 150 Indian allies, marched through the snow to the island in the Great Swamp, which had been fortified by the Narraganset to protect their food supplies. The first assault by the colonists early in the afternoon, was turned back with heavy losses; after three hours of desperate fighting the fort was forced at the rear and the Indians routed. The Indian wigwams were set on fire, and many women and children died in the flames. The English lost six captains and 120 men and the Narraganset losses ran into the hundreds. This battle forever changed the power of the Narraganset and gave the settlers confidence they had a winning strategy, with unified commands, Indian scouts, and a systematic attack on heavily guarded food stores. Several thousand Narraganset warriors who had not been in the swamp now joined the insurgency.

Philip and a small band wintered near Albany, New York, in hopes of gaining aid from the Mohawk Indians and the French. In early 1676 he attacked the eastern settlements in order to concentrate English forces there while they planted food crops in the Connecticut Valley. On February 10, 1676, Narragansett and Nipmuck Indians raided Lancaster, Massachusetts. They burned most of the town, killed more than 35 villagers, and took 24 captives, including 41-year-old [[Mary Rowlandson]] and her three children; her 6-year-old daughter was killed for falling behind. Mary spent 12 weeks in captivity before she was freed for a ransom of £20. Indians threatened Plymouth, Providence, and towns within 10 miles of Boston.

The long run logistics advantage of the colonists now came into play. Colonists had plenty of food but the disruption of Indian life made them unable to plant, fish, or harvest; they depended on stored supplies and began to run short of food. Indians started deserting to forage and plant crops.

Colonists captured and executed Canonchet on Apr. 3. The Mohawks suddenly decided to attack the Narragansett from the west, thereby helping the colonists. Finally on May 18-19, 1676, Capt. William Turner with 180 men surprised and massacred the Indians at Deerfield and broke their resistance in the Connecticut River valley. By the end of May the tide had turned in the west. The colonials gained further victories in June and July, and bands of war-hungry Indians surrendered en masse. Capt. Benjamin Church, assisted by able Indian scouts, trapped Philip and his Wampanoag in swamps near Taunton and Bridgewater, killing Philip on August 12, 1676. Philip's death marked the end of the main war, though hostilities continued in New Hampshire and Maine, where the Abnaki and others, supplied with French arms and encouragement, wreaked havoc on settlement after settlement.

==Results==
On April 12, 1678, articles of peace were signed at Casco, Maine, with mutual restoration of captives and property. Since June 1675, sixteen towns in Massachusetts and four in Rhode Island had been destroyed, all colonists had fled Kennebec County (Maine), and all along New England frontiers, expansion had been retarded. But the Indians no longer posed a threat to the colonists in southern New England. Thereafter their struggle was confined to the northeast and northwest, where it merged with the struggle between the colonists and France for control of the continent.

Estimates were that about 6,000 Indian men, women and children were killed or captured--a third of the Indian population. Many of those captured were sold into slavery to allied Indians, or to the West Indies sugar plantations. About ABout 5% of the settlers died--2,500 men, women and children; 1,200 homes were burned, and 8,000 cattle were killed.<ref> Different sources give highly variable estimated numbers.</ref> Colonial expenses during the war amounted to 100,000 pounds sterling, a huge amount for the time. The frontier of settlement had been pushed back 20 miles. Northfield, Deerfield, Brookfield, Worcester, Lancaster, Groton, Mendon, Wrentham, Middleborough, Warwick, Wickford and Simsbury had been destroyed, and Springfield, Westfield, Marlborough, Scituate, Rehoboth and Providence had been heavily damaged. Boston was threatened but was never hit. The poor performance of colonial forces in King Philip's War and King William's War (1689–1697) led to a greater reliance on British forces and imperial administrators. Furthermore, the war weakened the colonial economy for years, raised local taxes, and required infusions of British money while reducing dividends to London investors. Henceforth, the American settlers would feel an increasingly heavy hand of the royal government.

==Memory and memorials==
Philip did not exercise any over-all operational control of events. With a tribal culture and tradition based upon decentralization of political and military power, such control was probably impossible. The colonists however needed an enemy to personify and he fit the bill; Captain Church ordered the "doleful, great, naked, dirty beast" to be beheaded and quartered. "Forasmuch as he has caused many an Englishman's body to lie unburied and rot above the ground, that not one of his bones should be buried." Philip's head was taken to Plymouth and mounted on a pole in the town square where it remained for 20 years.

Historians have often condemned the cruelty of both sides. But Drake (1997) and Drake (1999) argues it should not be compared to modern genocides and atrocities. He points out that a comparison with English military conduct in various civil conflicts in Britain shows that the colonists believed they were fighting a civil war rather than a war between sovereign nations, and that their conduct followed accepted rules of war in a civil conflict. Having defeated an Indian alliance in the Pequot War in 1637, the Puritans considered Indians dependents inside their colony, and not outsiders. The heavy-handed use of violence, enslavement, and harsh punishments inflicted on prisoners all had precedents in English civil conflicts, Drake notes, and were justified under recognized rules of civil war. In contradiction to the modern perception of genocidal destruction of the "other," the Puritans employed violence in a calculating fashion, sometimes showing restraint when strategically valuable.
<ref> James Drake, "Restraining Atrocity: the Conduct of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1997 70(1): 33-56. </ref> There were atrocities committed on both sides, but there was punishment too when soldiers violated the rights of Christian Indians. On August 7, 1676, at Hurtleberry Hill near Concord, Massachusetts, colonial soldiers killed six Christian Indians - three women and three children - while they gathered berries. Four soldiers were tried and convicted for the deed and sentenced to death; two were eventually pardoned and two were executed.<ref> Jenny Hale Pulsipher, "Massacre at Hurtleberry Hill: Christian Indians and English Authority in Metacom's War." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1996 53(3): 459-486. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2947201 in Jstor]</ref>

The war shaped New England's memory and self-image. It had been a close call and proved Divine providence was at work, according to the leading Puritan divine Increase Mather. His ''Brief History of the Warr with the Indians'' (1676) is mostly religious; Mather uses the war (with few factual details) as as a platform for an expanded sermon on God's punishment for the decline of religious virtue and moral behavior among second-generation New England colonists.<ref> See [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/31/ online edition]</ref> By contrast William Hubbard, in ''Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians'' (1677) provided abundant specifics, usually quite accurate, along with the first map of New England produced in the colonies. Hubbard wrote a much more objective and impartial account of the war, although he also interprets events in terms of God's benevolent intervention, which Hubbard attributes to the barbarity of ungodly Indians and the perfidy of the French and Dutch, who provided local tribes with weapons.<ref> Matthew H. Edney and Susan Cimburek, "Telling the Traumatic Truth: William Hubbard's Narrative of King Philip's War and His 'Map of New-England.'" ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 2004 61(2): 317-348. </ref>

The status of the remaining Indians declined sharply after the war; there were fewer efforts to convert and integrate them, but the Christian Indian villages were allowed to remain. Most, but not all, Indians relocated from the Connecticut Valley to more distant locations in New York, Canada, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

In the 21st century by far the most studied memory is Mary Rowlandson's ''Captivity Narrative'', a first-hand account of capture and torture. One of the first great achievements of American literature, and a best-seller at the time, it set the tone of writing about Indian- white relations for 300 years.<ref>Pamela Lougheed, "'Then Began He to Rant and Threaten': Indian Malice and Individual Liberty in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative." ''American Literature'' 2002 74(2): 287-313 </ref>

==Bibliography==
* Adams, James Truslow. ''The Founding of New England'' (1921) [http://www.dinsdoc.com/adams-1-0a.htm online edition]
* Bourne, Russell. ''The Red King's Rebellion: Racial Politics in New England, 1675-1678'' (1990) [http://books.google.com/books?id=0qNcrZ9472QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Red+intitle:King%27s+intitle:Rebellion+inauthor:Bourne+inauthor:Russell&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&sig=bMfAMIXmJqLoLSXosLvlph79RaI excerpt and text search]
* Domer, Ronald G. "King Philip's Ferocious War," ''Military History,'' Dec 2004, Vol. 21#5 online at [[EBSCO]]
* Drake, James. "Restraining Atrocity: the Conduct of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1997 70(1): 33-56. Issn: 0028-4866 Fulltext: [http://www.jstor.org/pss/366526 in Jstor]
* Drake, James D. ''King Philip's War: Civil War in New England, 1675-1676.'' (1999). 257 pp. Revisionist study; argues that Indians and settlers were cooperating well until the war [http://www.amazon.com/King-Philips-War-1675-1676-Americans/dp/1558492240/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207783012&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Edney, Matthew H. and Susan Cimburek, "Telling the Traumatic Truth: William Hubbard's Narrative of King Philip's War and His 'Map of New-England.'" ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 2004 61(2): 317-348. Issn: 0043-5597 Fulltext: [[History Cooperative]]
* Ellis, George W., and John E. Morris. ''King Philip's War'' (1906) [http://books.google.com/books?id=tK8PAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:King+intitle:Philip%27s+intitle:War+inauthor:Ellis+inauthor:Morris&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0 online edition]
* Lafantasie, Glenn W. "The Long Shadow of King Philip." ''American History'' 2004 39(1): 58-67. Issn: 1076-8866 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Leach, Douglas Edward. ''Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War'' (1958), a standard scholarly narrative of the war
* Lepore, Jill. ''The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity'' (1998), on remembrance
* Lougheed, Pamela. "'Then Began He to Rant and Threaten': Indian Malice and Individual Liberty in Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative." ''American Literature'' 2002 74(2): 287-313. Issn: 0002-9831 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]
* McCue, Michael Westaway. "The Soldier and the 'King.'" ''American History'' 2002 37(2): 44-50. Issn: 1076-8866 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Norton, Mary Beth. ''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692.'' (2002). 436 pp. argues that fears of Indian raids caused fears of witches
* Pulsipher, Jenny Hale. "'The Overture of This New-Albion World': King Philip's War and the Transformation of New England." PhD dissertation Brandeis U. 1999. 399 pp. DAI 1999 60(4): 1297-A. DA9927239 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* Ranlet, Philip. "Another Look at the Causes of King Philip's War." ''New England Quarterly'' 1988 61(1): 79-100. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/365221 in Jstor]
* Slotkin, Richard, and James K. Folsom. ''Dreadfull a Judgment: Puritan Responses to King Philip's War, 1676-1677'' (1999), on postwar literature [http://www.amazon.com/So-Dreadfull-Judgment-Responses-1676-1677/dp/0819560588/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207783012&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Vaughan, Alden T. ''New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620-1675'' (1965), well-balanced scholarly background history [http://www.amazon.com/New-England-Frontier-Puritans-1620-1675/dp/080612718X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207784647&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Zelner, Kyle F. "Essex County's Two Militias: the Social Composition of Offensive and Defensive Militias During King Philip's War, 1675-76.: ''New England Quarterly'' 1999 72(4): 577-593. Issn: 0028-4866 [http://www.jstor.org/pss/366829 in Jstor]
* Zelner, Kyle Forbes. "The Flower and Rabble of Essex County: A Social History of the Massachusetts Bay Militia and Militiamen during King Philip's War, 1675-1676." PhD dissertation College of William and Mary, 2003. 466 pp.
DAI 2004 64(12): 4599-A. DA3116187 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]

===Primary Sources===
* Church, Benjamin, and Thomas Church, ''The History of the Great Indian War of 1675 and 1676, Commonly Called Philip's War; Also, the Old French and Indian Wars, From 1689 to 1704'' (revised edition 1854), ed. by Samuel D. Drake [http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Church/album1.html online edition]
* Rowlandson, Mary. ''The Soveraignty and Goodness of God, Together, with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson'' (1682) [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/851 online edition]
===Video===
* ''The History of King Philip's War.'' VHS. Color. 26min. published by Bride Media Intl., 2000. favorablly reviewed in ''Journal of Military History'' [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3397317 review in JSTOR]

====notes====
<references/>
[[Category:Colonial America]]
[[Category:Indian Wars]]
[[Category:New England]]

Cigarette

2013-05-15T23:03:57Z

Snowy:

[[Image:NoSmoking.png|thumb|200px|right|Smoking is harmful.]]
A '''cigarette''' is a product typically comprised of cured [[tobacco]] leaves rolled in paper into a cylinder shape.

Despite the fact that smoking is an enjoyable and relaxing pastime, cigarettes are [[addiction|addictive]] due to the presence of the toxic chemical [[nicotine]], and even occasional use carries a high risk of causing [[asthma]], [[emphysema]], [[heart attack]], [[cancer]] of the [[lung]] and [[mouth]], and severe damage to the [[fetus]] of a [[pregnancy|pregnant woman]]. The presence of these chemicals further exacerbates health problems. Numerous studies have shown that on average, nonsmokers live 10 years longer than smokers.

A cigarette works as follows: The tobacco is lit and the resulting smoke is inhaled by sucking it through the cigarette. This encourages the rest of the tobacco to burn. Cigarettes often have a filter on the mouth end, to provide a smoother and cleaner smoke, for increased ease of inhaling and also for improved taste.

Smoking has become one of the most derided lifestyle choices in modern times. Though it has been glamorized<ref>http://smokingsides.com/docs/glamor.html</ref>, particularly during the Industrial Revolution and up to the 20th Century, increasing awareness against the dangers of smoking have resulted in strict regulations against marketing of cigarettes. These include, but are not limited to, bans on television advertisements, and warnings printed on cigarette packages.

<references/>

[[Category:Drugs]]
[[Category:Health]]
[[Category: Tobacco Products]]

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

2013-05-15T22:00:05Z

Snowy:

'''Sudden Infant Death Syndrome''' (abbreviated '''SIDS''') is the sudden and unexpected [[death]] of a healthy infant under one year of age. A diagnosis of SIDS is made when an autopsy cannot determine another cause of death. The cause of SIDS is unknown. Also known as "crib" or "cot" death.<ref>[http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/about/terms/glossary.htm#s CDC Glossary: "S"]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Syndromes]]

Essay:Evolutionist Spaghetti Monster

2013-05-05T20:11:06Z

Snowy: /* Life */

'''NOTE: The following is a parody of the [[Flying Spaghetti Monster]] and has been created to illustrate how [[evolution]] can be similarly made to look just as silly. It is not to be taken seriously.'''

'''Σπαγγέτι ότι όλοι εξελίχθηκε από''' (''Spaghetti We All Evolved From''), commonly referred to as the '''Evolutionist Spaghetti Monster''', the the original plate of spaghetti and meatballs [[Big Bang|that exploded trillions of years ago to form the entire universe]]. [[Pasta]], [[sauce]], and [[meat]] went everywhere, and after billions of years of floating around, some of the matter changed forms into rocky planets and moons, and gassy planets and stars. It is unclear where that plate of spaghetti originally came from, but one thing is clear: there is no [[God]] and it just came out of no where. We know this because [[science]] can't explain God, and anything that science can't explain simply does not exist.

==Life==
No one knows how life came to exist actually, but it is theorized that it was just pieces of pasta, sauce, and meat that spontaneously started breathing. Some of the pasta started growing roots, to form plants. Modern day worms, snakes, and maggots most closely resemble the first animals, which were strings of spaghetti that started wiggling around. Those strings of spaghetti (bone) bonded with sauce (blood) and meatballs (flesh). All forms of life evolved from these first species without the need for (a) God.

==Fabric==
Real fabric is never made in a factory, but rather it's a material that evolved from spaghetti. Billions of years passed after the big bang, and some of the spaghetti clumped together and eventually dried out, forming fabric. Some worms consumed large amounts of fabric years ago, causing them to evolve into silk worms and spiders. Fabric is often collected from atop tall trees and mined from deep inside the earth. The idea of fabric being [[intelligent design|intelligently designed]] and [[creationism|created]] in factories is a myth invented by [[Christians]].

==Why theism should be censored==
People who believe in [[God]] or some other higher power get eaten by a [[Flying Spaghetti Monster]]. Therefore, it is urgent that all students in [[public school]] be taught to be atheists, and all mentions of God be removed the world. Otherwise, people will be eaten before they can reach their full potential. As Flying Spaghetti Monsters are hungry critters, the also eat fossils that would prove evolution to be true so that more people believe in God and creationism. Some people idolize and worship Flying Spaghetti Monsters as if they are supreme beings; such people are called Pastfanians.

==See also==
*[[Resources for leaving atheism and becoming a Christian]]
*[[Christian apologetics|Evidence for Christianity]]
*[[Comedy and satires concerning atheism and evolution]] ('''large collection''' of comedy/satire concerning [[atheism]] and [[evolution]])
*[[Essay: The atheist and evolutionist helpline|The atheist and evolutionist helpline]] - [[satire]]
*[[Atheism appears to be significantly less appealing to women]]
*[[Atheism and marriageability]]
*[[Atheism and obesity]]
*[[Atheism]]
*[[Militant atheism]]
*[[Essay: Atheists say the darnedest things!|Atheists say the darnedest things!]]
*[[Essay: Ponies vs. atheism - Ponies win]]

[[Category:Atheism]]
[[Category:Satire]]
[[Category:Humor]]
[[Category:Essays]]

Rigel

2013-05-04T00:35:52Z

Snowy: /* Rigel B */

{{Night Sky
| image =RigelLocation.jpg
| designation =19 Ori, β Ori, HD34085
| rightascension =05h 14m 32.272s
| declination =−08° 12′ 05.91″
| distance =approx. 800 light years
| constellation =Orion
| type =star; blue supergiant
| dimensions =78 solar radii
| magnitude =0.18
| redshift =
| radvelocity =20.7 km/s
| propmotion =RA: 1.87 mas/yr Dec.: −0.56 mas/yr
| parallax =4.22 ± 0.81 mas
}}
'''Rigel''', also known as ''Beta Orionis'', is a blue-white [[supergiant]] [[star]] located in, and part of, the constellation of [[Orion]]. Rigel is actually Rigel A, the primary star of a binary star system. Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation as well as the sixth brightest star overall in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of 0.18.<ref>http://webviz.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=+Hipparcos&-c=Rigel</ref>

==Rigel in History==

The traditional name of Rigel stems from its location in the [[Orion]] constellation. The name is derived from the [[Arabic]] ''Riǧl Ǧawza al-Yusra'', meaning "Left foot of the Central One", as the star is seen as the "left foot" of [[constellation]]. Another Arabic name for the star is ''riǧl al-ǧabbār'' or "the foot of the great one". In Western culture, the star traditionally represents the left foot of the mythical hunter Orion of Greek mythology. Usually the The foot is mistakenly associated with Beta Eridani, which is really one of the stars that represents his footstool. The [[Chinese]] referred to the star as 参宿七 or ''Shēnxiù Qī'', meaning "The Seventh of the Three Stars".

Rigel is also one of the most important stars used in [[celestial navigation]] throughout the history of oceanic sailing. This is due to both the star's relative brightness and its equatorial location, making it visible in most [[ocean]] [[latitude|latitudes]].

==Star System==

Rigel is actually a binary star system, although only the primary star can be seen from [[Earth]] by the unaided eye. It was first discovered as such in 1831 by F. G. W. Struve who was able to resolve the companion star with his telescope, despite the overwhelming brightness of its primary.

As the Rigel system is far beyond the distance a star can be precisely measured using [[parallax]] measurements, its distance can only be estimated. The star is believed to be between 700 and 900 light-years distant. The [[Hipparcos]] probe has estimated the distance to be some 860 light years distant.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

The primary star is so bright that it illuminates the dust clouds in nearby nebula, the most famous being the [[Witch Head Nebula]].

===Rigel A===
[[Image:Rigel sun comparision.png|thumb|right|250px|Artist rendering of Rigel compared in size to our Sun.]]
Rigel A is classified as a blue-white [[supergiant]] of spectral class B8 Iab. The star contains some 17 times the mass of our [[Sun]]. While the radius of Rigel is estimated to be 74 times that of the Sun, so large, that if Rigel was at the center of our solar system, it would extend to the orbit of [[Mercury]].<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref> The star has 40,000 times the Sun's visual luminosity.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref> Much of Rigel's radiation however, is in the [[ultraviolet]], when this is accounted for, the star's total luminosity is 150,000 times the Sun's.<ref name="star">http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/star_worldbook.html</ref>

Like other stars of its category, Rigel burns through its core [[hydrogen]] very quickly. Rigel will soon burn through its hydrogen fuel in the core, if it hasn't already done so, and will eventually expand to become a red [[supergiant]]. Given Rigel's mass, it will most likely end its life in a [[supernova]] explosion. If Rigel does go supernova, it will appear as bright as a quarter [[moon]].

===Rigel B===

Rigel B is a class B9 V star of magnitude 6.7, making it just slightly too dim to be seen with the unaided eye, even if the star was alone.<ref name="peter">Jedicke, Peter; Levy, David H. (1992). "Regal Rigel". The New Cosmos. Waukesha: Kalmbach Books. pp. 48–53.</ref> Because Rigel A is some 500 times as bright, Rigel B is obscured by its companion, making observations challenging. Rigel B itself is some 2500 AU from its primary (or some 60 times the distance Pluto is from the Sun) taking 25,000 years to orbit.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

Some astronomers have claimed that Rigel B itself is actually a double, and if so would more accurately be called Rigel BC. However the idea of Rigel B being a double star in itself is still highly controversial, with proponents unable to repeatedly duplicate their initial results.<ref name="peter">Jedicke, Peter; Levy, David H. (1992). "Regal Rigel". The New Cosmos. Waukesha: Kalmbach Books. pp. 48–53.</ref>

There is also a 15th magnitude class K star, referred to as Rigel D, believed to be associated with the other stars of the Rigel system. It is estimated to be some 11,500 AU from Rigel A and its companion, and if part of the system, would take some 250,000 years to orbit the primary.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Double Stars]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

Rigel

2013-05-04T00:34:29Z

Snowy: /* Rigel A */

{{Night Sky
| image =RigelLocation.jpg
| designation =19 Ori, β Ori, HD34085
| rightascension =05h 14m 32.272s
| declination =−08° 12′ 05.91″
| distance =approx. 800 light years
| constellation =Orion
| type =star; blue supergiant
| dimensions =78 solar radii
| magnitude =0.18
| redshift =
| radvelocity =20.7 km/s
| propmotion =RA: 1.87 mas/yr Dec.: −0.56 mas/yr
| parallax =4.22 ± 0.81 mas
}}
'''Rigel''', also known as ''Beta Orionis'', is a blue-white [[supergiant]] [[star]] located in, and part of, the constellation of [[Orion]]. Rigel is actually Rigel A, the primary star of a binary star system. Rigel is the brightest star in the Orion constellation as well as the sixth brightest star overall in the night sky with an apparent magnitude of 0.18.<ref>http://webviz.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR?-source=+Hipparcos&-c=Rigel</ref>

==Rigel in History==

The traditional name of Rigel stems from its location in the [[Orion]] constellation. The name is derived from the [[Arabic]] ''Riǧl Ǧawza al-Yusra'', meaning "Left foot of the Central One", as the star is seen as the "left foot" of [[constellation]]. Another Arabic name for the star is ''riǧl al-ǧabbār'' or "the foot of the great one". In Western culture, the star traditionally represents the left foot of the mythical hunter Orion of Greek mythology. Usually the The foot is mistakenly associated with Beta Eridani, which is really one of the stars that represents his footstool. The [[Chinese]] referred to the star as 参宿七 or ''Shēnxiù Qī'', meaning "The Seventh of the Three Stars".

Rigel is also one of the most important stars used in [[celestial navigation]] throughout the history of oceanic sailing. This is due to both the star's relative brightness and its equatorial location, making it visible in most [[ocean]] [[latitude|latitudes]].

==Star System==

Rigel is actually a binary star system, although only the primary star can be seen from [[Earth]] by the unaided eye. It was first discovered as such in 1831 by F. G. W. Struve who was able to resolve the companion star with his telescope, despite the overwhelming brightness of its primary.

As the Rigel system is far beyond the distance a star can be precisely measured using [[parallax]] measurements, its distance can only be estimated. The star is believed to be between 700 and 900 light-years distant. The [[Hipparcos]] probe has estimated the distance to be some 860 light years distant.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

The primary star is so bright that it illuminates the dust clouds in nearby nebula, the most famous being the [[Witch Head Nebula]].

===Rigel A===
[[Image:Rigel sun comparision.png|thumb|right|250px|Artist rendering of Rigel compared in size to our Sun.]]
Rigel A is classified as a blue-white [[supergiant]] of spectral class B8 Iab. The star contains some 17 times the mass of our [[Sun]]. While the radius of Rigel is estimated to be 74 times that of the Sun, so large, that if Rigel was at the center of our solar system, it would extend to the orbit of [[Mercury]].<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref> The star has 40,000 times the Sun's visual luminosity.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref> Much of Rigel's radiation however, is in the [[ultraviolet]], when this is accounted for, the star's total luminosity is 150,000 times the Sun's.<ref name="star">http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/star_worldbook.html</ref>

Like other stars of its category, Rigel burns through its core [[hydrogen]] very quickly. Rigel will soon burn through its hydrogen fuel in the core, if it hasn't already done so, and will eventually expand to become a red [[supergiant]]. Given Rigel's mass, it will most likely end its life in a [[supernova]] explosion. If Rigel does go supernova, it will appear as bright as a quarter [[moon]].

===Rigel B===

Rigel B is a class B9 V star of magnitude 6.7, making it just slightly too dim to be seen with the unaided eye, even if the star was alone.<ref name="peter">Jedicke, Peter; Levy, David H. (1992). "Regal Rigel". The New Cosmos. Waukesha: Kalmbach Books. pp. 48–53.</ref> Because Rigel A is some 500 times as bright, Rigel B is obscured by its companion, making observations challenging. Rigel B itself is some 2500 AU from its primary (or some 60 times the distance Pluto is from the Sun) taking 25,000 years to orbit.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

Some astronomers have claimed that Rigel B itself is actually is double, and if so would more accurately be called Rigel BC. However the idea of Rigel B being a double star in itself is still highly controversial, with proponents unable to repeatedly duplicate their initial results.<ref name="peter">Jedicke, Peter; Levy, David H. (1992). "Regal Rigel". The New Cosmos. Waukesha: Kalmbach Books. pp. 48–53.</ref>

There is also a 15th magnitude class K star, referred to as Rigel D, believed to be associated with the other stars of the Rigel system. It is estimated to be some 11,500 AU from Rigel A and its companion, and if part of the system, would take some 250,000 years to orbit the primary.<ref name="illinois">http://www.astro.illinois.edu/~jkaler/sow/rigel.html</ref>

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Double Stars]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

Nature (journal)

2013-05-03T23:54:51Z

Snowy: /* Controversies */

'''''Nature''''' is one of the two most influential journals in the scientific world. According to E.J. Larson it was founded in 1869 by members of so called X-Club as the mouthpiece of scientific [[naturalism]] with goal to unabashedly promote [[Darwinism]] and influence the editorial polices in that respect.<ref name="Larson">{{cite book
|author=E.J. Larson
|title=Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
|publisher=Modern Library
|location=New York
|year=2006
|pages=108-109
|isbn=0-8129-6849-2
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xzLRvxlJhzkC&dq=E.J.Larson:+Evolution+the+remarkable+history+of+a+scientific+theory&source=bl&ots=rY2bh63YAs&sig=PNG4Cc0sG9gewbvhDgfMdOyAbo0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wOt4UNi0MIrntQbXwYHADg&redir_esc=y
|access date=2012-10-13
|quote=The end result was much the same in Britain. There, Darwin, Huxley, and their allies effectively collaborated to take over the scientific establishment, with the goal of enthroning naturalism as the ideology of science and science as the mainspring of modern society. At first they consciously sought to minimize open scientific debate over Darwinism while systematically advancing interests of biologists who utilized an evolutionary approach. Working through an intimate group of like-minded intellectuals known as the X Club, Huxley and his friends managed to assume leadership roles in many of Britain's leading scientific societies, place supporters in prominent university and museum positions, and influence the editorial polices of scientific journals. In 1869, they founded the journal Nature as the mouthpiece of scientific naturalism, and unabashedly promoted Darwinism in its pages. ..."So successful was this takeover of the British scientific community," historian Peter Bowler says about the X-Club putsch, "that by the 1880s its remaining opponents were claiming that Darwinism had become a blindly accepted dogma carefully shielded from any serious challenge."}}</ref> The journal's original mission statement to this day remains unchanged. The first Nature article was written by [[T. H. Huxley]], who did more than anyone to promote Darwin's theories, on the supposed role of nature in [[Human evolution|the development of human beings]]. Astrophysicist Norman Lockyer was the first editor of Nature and remained in this position for 50 years.<ref name="nature">{{cite web
|title=History:Timelines:The first 100 years (1869-1969)
|publisher= Nature Publishing Group
|url=http://www.nature.com/npg_/company_info/timeline1.html
|quote=Astrophysicist Norman Lockyer and Thomas Henry Huxley encourage Alexander Macmillan to publish "a general scientific journal". Consequently, the House of Macmillan launches Nature, a weekly illustrated journal of science. The journal's original mission statement to this day remains unchanged.
Norman Lockyer becomes the first editor of Nature, and remains in this position for 50 years. ...After Darwin's "Origin of Species" is published in 1859, Huxley does more than anyone to promote its theories. As well as being instrumental in the conception of Nature, Huxley writes the first Nature article, on the role of nature in the development of human beings.}}</ref> Later among editors was also well known scientist Sir John Maddox who according to John C. Lennox found [[Singularity#Antipathy_to_the_idea_of_beginning|the idea of beginning]] [of our world] repugnant.<ref name="LENNOX">{{cite book
|author=John C. Lennox
|title=God's undertaker. Has science buried God?
|publisher=Lion Hudson
|location=Oxford, England
|year=2009
|pages=68
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=uo-LPwAACAAJ&dq=John+C.+Lennox+God%27s+undertaker.+Has+science+buried+God%3F&source=bl&ots=AHSynWaZj9&sig=BQzlYzbhLuJKZ2BWB0P4NOm57HM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I_N4UIL6IsfXsgbQ-oDQDA&redir_esc=y
|isbn=978-0-7459-5371-7
|quote=Another well known scientist who found the idea of a beginning repugnant is Sir John Maddox, a former editor of Nature. He pronounced the idea of a beginning 'thoroughly unacceptable', because it implied an 'ultimate origin of the world', and gave creationist 'ample justification' for their beliefs.}}</ref>

==Controversies==
*In 1878 the journal published the article on the ' ''Discovery of [[Vulcan (planet)|Vulcan]]'' ', a non-existent hypothetical planet that was believed by naturalist scientits to exist due to the shift in the [[perihelion]] of planet [[Mercury]].<ref name="Vulcan">{{cite web
|author=Lewis Swift
|title=Discovery of Vulcan
|date=19 September 1878
|issue=18, 539
|publisher= journal Nature
|doi=10.1038/018539a0
|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v18/n464/pdf/018539a0.pdf
|quote=By three careful estimates the two stars pointed exactly to the sun's centre. When it is considered that a deviation of not over 15", in two objects so close, will cause them to point considerably to one side of the centre of the sun-three degrees away-it maybe assumed that its declination was quite correctly estimated.}}</ref> Peer-reviewing Darwinists approved the report on this discovery by a scientist who ''"in [his] eagerness to discover this hypothetical planet ...had decided to ignore nearly all of the phenomena attending the eclipse"''. This way he was not only able to corroborate the discovery of the intra-Mercurial planet by Prof. Watson 'beyond any doubt' and see it 'some four or five minutes later, using θ as a comparison star', but also to substantiate the position given by him.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Discovery of Vulcan
|author=Swift, Lewis
|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1878Natur..18..539S
|accessdate=2012-10-14
|quote=the position given by Prof. Watson of the intra-Mercurial planet discovered on that day agrees so closely with that star, it may have been the object discovered, I have thought it advisable to give the facts concerning it, in order to correct such an impression if it still exists. That he had a view of the planet as stated there is no doubt, for I myself saw it some four or five minutes later, using θ as a comparison star, and am able not only to corroborate the discovery, but to substantiate the position given by him.}}</ref> Nevertheless no such planet is nowadays recognized and the case is being commonly used as an deterrent example of scientists inappropriately trying to solve problems in their theories (aiming to explain unknown natural phenomena) by establishing so called ''fudge factors'' instead of acknowledging ignorance. Contemporary [[dark matter]] and [[dark energy]] hypothesis are frequently compared with 'discovery' of Vulcan.<ref name="starlight">{{cite book| last = Hartnett| first = John| authorlink = | title = Starlight, Time and the New Physics| publisher = Creation Ministries International| series = | year = 2007|isbn = 978-0-949-906687|pages=34-36|quote=The form of 'dark' matter envisaged by theorists of the day varied; some preferred an inner asteroid belt within Mercury's orbit and some an additional planet -the planet Vulcan, which was said to orbit very close to the Sun...but in such a manner that it was always conveniently hidden from view by Earth observers, on the other side of the Sun. (They didn't seem to mind that an object near Mercury would have a shorter orbital period than Earth.)}}</ref>
*In 1929 the journal published the paper by D.M.S. Watson in which he declared that the [[theory of evolution]] is not accepted not because it would not be supported by logically coherent arguments or because it would not be [[Scientific observation|observed]] to occur, but only because no alternative explanation is credible and because it is believed to fit all the facts of [[taxonomy]]{{#tag:ref|The claim about taxonomy however seems to contradict the article published in 1985: "The taxonomic case against Darwin"<ref>{{cite web
|author=Tom Bethel
|title=Agnostic evolutionists: The taxonomic case against Darwin (Harper’s Magazine) or Non-Darwinian Evolution (MANAS)
|publisher=Harper’s Magazine or MANAS
|volume=XXXVIII
|issue=20
|date=February (Harper’s Magazine) or May 15 (MANAS) 1985
|pages=61 (Harper’s Magazine) 4 (MANAS)
|url=http://www.manasjournal.org/pdf_library/VolumeXXXVIII_1985/XXXVIII-20.pdf
|acessdate=12.12.2012
|quote= The theory of evolution has never been falsified. On the other hand, it is also surely true that the positive evidence for evolution is very much weaker than most layman imagine, and than many scientist want us to imagine. Perhaps, as Patterson says, that positive evidence is missing entirely}}</ref>|group=note}} and geographical distribution. Whilst "every biologist" is reported as having accepted "the fact of evolution" the mode in which it has occurred and the mechanism in which it has been brought about are portrayed as still disputable.{{#tag:ref|cf. [[Stephen Jay Gould]]: "I well remember something that [[Francis Crick]] said to me many years ago, when my own functionalist biases were strong. He remarked, in response to an adaptive story I had invented with alacrity and agility to explain the meaning of repetitive DNA: ‘''Why do you evolutionists always try to identify the value of something '''before you know how it is made'''''?’"<ref>{{cite book
|author=Stephen J. Gould
|title=Adam’s Navel
|publisher=Penguin Books
|year= 1995
|page=57
|isbn=978-0-146-000-478
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e-FTSHPpuAAC&q=Gould+Adam%E2%80%99s+Navel&dq=Gould+Adam%E2%80%99s+Navel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GF8OUbjICuSn4ATLi4G4DQ&redir_esc=y
|note=The quote seems to be missing at google books hence the edition obviously matters}}</ref> (Emphasis by Conservapedia)|group=note}} The only alternative to the Theory of Evolution is [[special creation]] this is however for [[Naturalism_(philosophy)|naturalistic]] scientists "clearly incredible".<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Adaptation
| url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v124/n3119/pdf/124231a0.pdf
| author = D.M.S. Watson
| publisher = Nature
| Volume= 124
| date = August 10, 1929
| acessdate = 2012-10-14
| pages = 231 – 234
| url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v124/n3119/pdf/124231a0.pdf
| quote=Evolution itself is accepted by zoologists not because it has been observed to occur or is supported by logically coherent arguments, but because it does fit all the facts of taxonomy, of pakeontology (sic), and of geographical distribution, and because no alternative explanation is credible. Whilst the fact of evolution is accepted by every biologist, the mode in which it has occurred and the mechanism by which it has been brought about are still disputable. ... The extreme difficulty of obtaining the necessary data for any quantitative estimation of the efficiency of natural selection makes it seem probable that this theory will be re-established, if it be so, by the collapse of alternative explanations which are more easily attacked by observation and experiment. If so, it will present the parallel to the Theory of Evolution itself, theory universally accepted, not because it can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible.
|doi=10.1038/124231a0}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The article can be found also here<ref>{{cite web
|title=Adaptation
|author=D.M.S.Watson
|accessdate=201-10-14
|url=http://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha30adva}}</ref> on page 88, the statement on special creation is at page 95.|group=note}} [[C.S. Lewis]] criticised this position of orthodox [[Darwinism]] on grounds that it depends not on positive [[evidence]] but simply on an a priori [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] prejudice violating the elementary scientific [[Socratic principle]]. Further on he questions modern [[naturalism]] as devised not to get in [[fact]]s but to keep out [[God]].<ref>{{cite book
|title=Screwtape Proposes a Toast: And Other Pieces
|author=C.S. Lewis
|publisher=Fontana books
|year=1965
|length=126
|isbn=9780006224853
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6QvjGwAACAAJ&dq=screwtape+proposes+a+toast+and+other+pieces+fontana+books&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wFEOUcyxGYT-4QTxgYGwCw&redir_esc=y
|quote=After that it is hardly worth noticing minor difficulties. Yet these are many and serious. The Bergsonian critique of orthodox Darwinism is not easy to answer. More disquieting still is Professor D. M. S. Watson's defence. "Evolution itself," he wrote, "is accepted by zoologists not because it has been observed to occur or... can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible." Has it come to that? Does the whole vast structure of modern naturalism depend not on positive evidence but simply on an a priori metaphysical prejudice. Was it devised not to get in facts but to keep out God .Even, however, if Evolution in the strict biological sense has some better grounds than Professor Watson suggests--and I can't help thinking it must--we should distinguish Evolution in this strict sense from what may be called the universal evolutionism of modern thought. By universal evolutionism I mean the belief that the very formula of universal process is from imperfect to perfect, from small beginnings to great endings, from the rudimentary to the elaborate: the belief which makes people find it natural to think that morality springs from savage taboos, adult sentiment from infantile sexual maladjustments, thought from instinct, mind from matter, organic from inorganic, cosmos from chaos. This is perhaps the deepest habit of mind in the contemporary world. It seems to me immensely implausible, because it makes the general course of nature so very unlike those parts of nature we can observe. You remember the old puzzle as to whether the owl came from the egg or the egg from the owl. The modern acquiescence in universal evolutionism is a kind of optical illusion, produced by attending exclusively to the owls emergence from the egg. We are taught from childhood to notice how the perfect oak grows from the acorn and to forget that the acorn itself was dropped by a perfect oak. We are reminded constantly that the adult human being was an embryo, never that the life of the embryo came from two adult human beings. We love to notice that the express engine of today is the descendant of the "rocket;" we do not equally remember that the " Rocket" springs not from some even more rudimentary engine, but from something much more perfect and complicated than itself-namely, a man of genius. The obviousness or naturalness which most people seem to find in the idea of emergent evolution thus seems to be a pure hallucination.}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The text by C.S. Lewis can be found also here<ref name="Is Theology Poetry">{{cite web
|title=C.S. Lewis on Evolution (Is Theology Poetry?)
|author=C.S. Lewis
|accessdate=2013-02-03
|url=http://www.ldolphin.org/cslevol.html}}</ref>.|group=note}}

==Notes==
<references group=note/>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Scientific Journals]]

Nature (journal)

2013-05-03T23:48:35Z

Snowy: /* Controversies */

'''''Nature''''' is one of the two most influential journals in the scientific world. According to E.J. Larson it was founded in 1869 by members of so called X-Club as the mouthpiece of scientific [[naturalism]] with goal to unabashedly promote [[Darwinism]] and influence the editorial polices in that respect.<ref name="Larson">{{cite book
|author=E.J. Larson
|title=Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
|publisher=Modern Library
|location=New York
|year=2006
|pages=108-109
|isbn=0-8129-6849-2
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xzLRvxlJhzkC&dq=E.J.Larson:+Evolution+the+remarkable+history+of+a+scientific+theory&source=bl&ots=rY2bh63YAs&sig=PNG4Cc0sG9gewbvhDgfMdOyAbo0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wOt4UNi0MIrntQbXwYHADg&redir_esc=y
|access date=2012-10-13
|quote=The end result was much the same in Britain. There, Darwin, Huxley, and their allies effectively collaborated to take over the scientific establishment, with the goal of enthroning naturalism as the ideology of science and science as the mainspring of modern society. At first they consciously sought to minimize open scientific debate over Darwinism while systematically advancing interests of biologists who utilized an evolutionary approach. Working through an intimate group of like-minded intellectuals known as the X Club, Huxley and his friends managed to assume leadership roles in many of Britain's leading scientific societies, place supporters in prominent university and museum positions, and influence the editorial polices of scientific journals. In 1869, they founded the journal Nature as the mouthpiece of scientific naturalism, and unabashedly promoted Darwinism in its pages. ..."So successful was this takeover of the British scientific community," historian Peter Bowler says about the X-Club putsch, "that by the 1880s its remaining opponents were claiming that Darwinism had become a blindly accepted dogma carefully shielded from any serious challenge."}}</ref> The journal's original mission statement to this day remains unchanged. The first Nature article was written by [[T. H. Huxley]], who did more than anyone to promote Darwin's theories, on the supposed role of nature in [[Human evolution|the development of human beings]]. Astrophysicist Norman Lockyer was the first editor of Nature and remained in this position for 50 years.<ref name="nature">{{cite web
|title=History:Timelines:The first 100 years (1869-1969)
|publisher= Nature Publishing Group
|url=http://www.nature.com/npg_/company_info/timeline1.html
|quote=Astrophysicist Norman Lockyer and Thomas Henry Huxley encourage Alexander Macmillan to publish "a general scientific journal". Consequently, the House of Macmillan launches Nature, a weekly illustrated journal of science. The journal's original mission statement to this day remains unchanged.
Norman Lockyer becomes the first editor of Nature, and remains in this position for 50 years. ...After Darwin's "Origin of Species" is published in 1859, Huxley does more than anyone to promote its theories. As well as being instrumental in the conception of Nature, Huxley writes the first Nature article, on the role of nature in the development of human beings.}}</ref> Later among editors was also well known scientist Sir John Maddox who according to John C. Lennox found [[Singularity#Antipathy_to_the_idea_of_beginning|the idea of beginning]] [of our world] repugnant.<ref name="LENNOX">{{cite book
|author=John C. Lennox
|title=God's undertaker. Has science buried God?
|publisher=Lion Hudson
|location=Oxford, England
|year=2009
|pages=68
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=uo-LPwAACAAJ&dq=John+C.+Lennox+God%27s+undertaker.+Has+science+buried+God%3F&source=bl&ots=AHSynWaZj9&sig=BQzlYzbhLuJKZ2BWB0P4NOm57HM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I_N4UIL6IsfXsgbQ-oDQDA&redir_esc=y
|isbn=978-0-7459-5371-7
|quote=Another well known scientist who found the idea of a beginning repugnant is Sir John Maddox, a former editor of Nature. He pronounced the idea of a beginning 'thoroughly unacceptable', because it implied an 'ultimate origin of the world', and gave creationist 'ample justification' for their beliefs.}}</ref>

==Controversies==
*In 1878 the journal published the article on the ' ''Discovery of [[Vulcan (planet)|Vulcan]]'' ', a non-existent hypothetical planet that was believed by naturalist scientits to exist due to the shift in the [[perihelion]] of planet [[Mercury]].<ref name="Vulcan">{{cite web
|author=Lewis Swift
|title=Discovery of Vulcan
|date=19 September 1878
|issue=18, 539
|publisher= journal Nature
|doi=10.1038/018539a0
|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v18/n464/pdf/018539a0.pdf
|quote=By three careful estimates the two stars pointed exactly to the sun's centre. When it is considered that a deviation of not over 15", in two objects so close, will cause them to point considerably to one side of the centre of the sun-three degrees away-it maybe assumed that its declination was quite correctly estimated.}}</ref> Peer-reviewing Darwinists approved the report on this discovery by a scientist who ''"in [his] eagerness to discover this hypothetical planet ...had decided to ignore nearly all of the phenomena attending the eclipse"''. This way he was not only able to corroborate the discovery of the intra-Mercurial planet by Prof. Watson 'beyond any doubt' and see it 'some four or five minutes later, using θ as a comparison star', but also to substantiate the position given by him.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Discovery of Vulcan
|author=Swift, Lewis
|url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1878Natur..18..539S
|accessdate=2012-10-14
|quote=the position given by Prof. Watson of the intra-Mercurial planet discovered on that day agrees so closely with that star, it may have been the object discovered, I have thought it advisable to give the facts concerning it, in order to correct such an impression if it still exists. That he had a view of the planet as stated there is no doubt, for I myself saw it some four or five minutes later, using θ as a comparison star, and am able not only to corroborate the discovery, but to substantiate the position given by him.}}</ref> Nevertheless no such planet is nowadays recognized and the case is being commonly used as an deterrent example of scientists inappropriately trying to solve problems in their theories (aiming to explain unknown natural phenomena) by establishing so called ''fudge factors'' instead of acknowledging ignorance. Contemporary [[dark matter]] and [[dark energy]] hypothesis are frequently compared with 'discovery' of Vulcan.<ref name="starlight">{{cite book| last = Hartnett| first = John| authorlink = | title = Starlight, Time and the New Physics| publisher = Creation Ministries International| series = | year = 2007|isbn = 978-0-949-906687|pages=34-36|quote=The form of 'dark' matter envisaged by theorists of the day varied; some preferred an inner asteroid belt within Mercury's orbit and some an additional planet -the planet Vulcan, which was said to orbit very close to the Sun...but in such a manner that it was always conveniently hidden from view by Earth observers, on the other side of the Sun. (They didn't seem to mind that an object near Mercury would have a shorter orbital period than Earth.)}}</ref>
*In 1929 the journal published the paper by D.M.S. Watson in which he declared that the [[theory of evolution]] is not accepted not because it would not be supported by logically coherent arguments or because it would not be [[Scientific observation|observed]] to occur, but only because no alternative explanation is credible and because it is believed to fit all the facts of [[taxonomy]]{{#tag:ref|The claim about taxonomy however seems to contradict the article published in 1985: "The taxonomic case against Darwin"<ref>{{cite web
|author=Tom Bethel
|title=Agnostic evolutionists: The taxonomic case against Darwin (Harper’s Magazine) or Non-Darwinian Evolution (MANAS)
|publisher=Harper’s Magazine or MANAS
|volume=XXXVIII
|issue=20
|date=February (Harper’s Magazine) or May 15 (MANAS) 1985
|pages=61 (Harper’s Magazine) 4 (MANAS)
|url=http://www.manasjournal.org/pdf_library/VolumeXXXVIII_1985/XXXVIII-20.pdf
|acessdate=12.12.2012
|quote= The theory of evolution has never been falsified. On the other hand, it is also surely true that the positive evidence for evolution is very much weaker than most layman imagine, and than many scientist want us to imagine. Perhaps, as Patterson says, that positive evidence is missing entirely}}</ref>|group=note}} and geographical distribution. Whilst "every biologist" is reported as having accepted "the fact of evolution" the mode in which it has occurred and the mechanism in which it has been brought about are portrayed as still disputable.{{#tag:ref|cf. [[Stephen Jay Gould]]: "I well remember something that [[Francis Crick]] said to me many years ago, when my own functionalist biases were strong. He remarked, in response to an adaptive story I had invented with alacrity and agility to explain the meaning of repetitive DNA: ‘''Why do you evolutionists always try to identify the value of something '''before you know how it is made'''''?’"<ref>{{cite book
|author=Stephen J. Gould
|title=Adam’s Navel
|publisher=Penguin Books
|year= 1995
|page=57
|isbn=978-0-146-000-478
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=e-FTSHPpuAAC&q=Gould+Adam%E2%80%99s+Navel&dq=Gould+Adam%E2%80%99s+Navel&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GF8OUbjICuSn4ATLi4G4DQ&redir_esc=y
|note=The quote seems to be missing at google books hence the edition obviously matters}}</ref> (Emphasis by Conservapedia)|group=note}} The only alternative to the Theory of Evolution is [[special creation]] this is however for [[Naturalism_(philosophy)|naturalistic]] scientists "clearly incredible".<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Adaptation
| url = http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v124/n3119/pdf/124231a0.pdf
| author = D.M.S. Watson
| publisher = Nature
| Volume= 124
| date = August 10, 1929
| acessdate = 2012-10-14
| pages = 231 – 234
| url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v124/n3119/pdf/124231a0.pdf
| quote=Evolution itself is accepted by zoologists not because it has been observed to occur or is supported by logically coherent arguments, but because it does fit all the facts of taxonomy, of pakeontology (sic), and of geographical distribution, and because no alternative explanation is credible. Whilst the fact of evolution is accepted by every biologist, the mode in which it has occurred and the mechanism by which it has been brought about are still disputable. ... The extreme difficulty of obtaining the necessary data for any quantitative estimation of the efficiency of natural selection makes it seem probable that this theory will be re-established, if it be so, by the collapse of alternative explanations which are more easily attacked by observation and experiment. If so, it will present the parallel to the Theory of Evolution itself, theory universally accepted, not because it can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible.
|doi=10.1038/124231a0}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The article can be found also here<ref>{{cite web
|title=Adaptation
|author=D.M.S.Watson
|accessdate=201-10-14
|url=http://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha30adva}}</ref> at the page 88, the statement on special creation is at page 95.|group=note}} [[C.S. Lewis]] criticised this position of orthodox [[Darwinism]] on grounds that it depends not on positive [[evidence]] but simply on an a priori [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] prejudice violating the elementary scientific [[Socratic principle]]. Further on he questions modern [[naturalism]] as devised not to get in [[fact]]s but to keep out [[God]].<ref>{{cite book
|title=Screwtape Proposes a Toast: And Other Pieces
|author=C.S. Lewis
|publisher=Fontana books
|year=1965
|length=126
|isbn=9780006224853
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=6QvjGwAACAAJ&dq=screwtape+proposes+a+toast+and+other+pieces+fontana+books&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wFEOUcyxGYT-4QTxgYGwCw&redir_esc=y
|quote=After that it is hardly worth noticing minor difficulties. Yet these are many and serious. The Bergsonian critique of orthodox Darwinism is not easy to answer. More disquieting still is Professor D. M. S. Watson's defence. "Evolution itself," he wrote, "is accepted by zoologists not because it has been observed to occur or... can be proved by logically coherent evidence to be true, but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible." Has it come to that? Does the whole vast structure of modern naturalism depend not on positive evidence but simply on an a priori metaphysical prejudice. Was it devised not to get in facts but to keep out God .Even, however, if Evolution in the strict biological sense has some better grounds than Professor Watson suggests--and I can't help thinking it must--we should distinguish Evolution in this strict sense from what may be called the universal evolutionism of modern thought. By universal evolutionism I mean the belief that the very formula of universal process is from imperfect to perfect, from small beginnings to great endings, from the rudimentary to the elaborate: the belief which makes people find it natural to think that morality springs from savage taboos, adult sentiment from infantile sexual maladjustments, thought from instinct, mind from matter, organic from inorganic, cosmos from chaos. This is perhaps the deepest habit of mind in the contemporary world. It seems to me immensely implausible, because it makes the general course of nature so very unlike those parts of nature we can observe. You remember the old puzzle as to whether the owl came from the egg or the egg from the owl. The modern acquiescence in universal evolutionism is a kind of optical illusion, produced by attending exclusively to the owls emergence from the egg. We are taught from childhood to notice how the perfect oak grows from the acorn and to forget that the acorn itself was dropped by a perfect oak. We are reminded constantly that the adult human being was an embryo, never that the life of the embryo came from two adult human beings. We love to notice that the express engine of today is the descendant of the "rocket;" we do not equally remember that the " Rocket" springs not from some even more rudimentary engine, but from something much more perfect and complicated than itself-namely, a man of genius. The obviousness or naturalness which most people seem to find in the idea of emergent evolution thus seems to be a pure hallucination.}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The text by C.S. Lewis can be found also here<ref name="Is Theology Poetry">{{cite web
|title=C.S. Lewis on Evolution (Is Theology Poetry?)
|author=C.S. Lewis
|accessdate=2013-02-03
|url=http://www.ldolphin.org/cslevol.html}}</ref>.|group=note}}

==Notes==
<references group=note/>

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Scientific Journals]]

RomneyCare

2013-05-03T21:49:03Z

Snowy:

'''RomneyCare''' is a small, one-state version of [[ObamaCare]] that was signed into law by [[Mitt Romney]], who defends it to this day despite the fact that it has been a complete disaster costing more than 18,000 jobs and countless lives by creating long delays in [[Massachusetts]] for medical care, such as ordinary physicals.<ref>http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v30n1/cpr30n1-1.html</ref><ref>http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/9042-study-romneycare-killed-18000-massachusetts-jobs</ref> State-run health programs were demanded in order to reduce rising medical costs while insuring all citizens. Both pieces of legislation are heavily criticized for the "individual mandate", which requires all eligible adults to purchase health insurance. The legality of which has been challenged, in both state and federal courts, with final outcomes pending. The individual mandate is not new to either plan, as witnessed by the so-called Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993 that was offered by Republicans as an answer to "Hillarycare"<ref>http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx</ref>. The GOP's HEART Act contained an individual mandate and other similarities to both Romneycare and Obamacare. Today's Republican party stands in stark opposition to such mandates<ref>http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/graphics/2010/022310-bill-comparison.aspx</ref>.

In addition to individual insurance mandates, RomneyCare forces taxpayers to purchase so-called "healthcare" including contraception and [[abortion]], against the moral religious conscience of some Massachusetts citizens. <ref>[http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/nov/27/fred-thompson/indeed-abortions-are-covered/ Politifact]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Health]]

Counterexamples to Evolution

2013-05-03T21:25:05Z

Snowy:

[[File:Question-Evolution-Campaign.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|The [[Question evolution! campaign]] by [[Creation Ministries International]] is a worldwide campaign which poses 15 questions that evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer.<ref>http://creation.com/question-eviolution Question evolution! campaign] by [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref> The 15 questions posed to evolutionists can be found [http://creation.com/15-questions HERE] ]]
The [[theory of evolution]] does not permit the existence of any counterexamples. '''If any one of the 48 counterexamples listed below is correct, then the theory of evolution fails'''. Moreover, even 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 probability that the theory of evolution is true is less than 9%.
==Counterexamples==
===Logical examples===
# The current 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.
# Evolution cannot explain artistic beauty, such as brilliant autumn foliage and the 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 the lack of genetic diversity among the Homo sapiens species. Were evolution and the Old Earth theory true, the human population would show a much larger genetic variance.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref> Some scientists have stated that a troop of 55 chimpanzees contains more genetic diversity than the entire human race; this would support the idea that all chimps are descended from a relatively large initial population while all humans are descended from a much smaller initial population (two people, perhaps). 80% of all human diversity is found on the African continent, which accords with a human population growing from a small group in the post-Flood Middle East.<ref>http://www.godandscience.org/evolution/descent.html#rpafAHIwKHS7</ref>[[File:Ara macao -on a small bicycle-8.jpg|thumbnail|300px|right|[[Parrot]] feathers are a problem for evolutionists. For more information, please see [http://creation.com/parrot-fashion parrot feathers]see picture source and license [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ara_macao_-on_a_small_bicycle-8.jpg here]]]
# 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 reptiles<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. [citation needed]
# If evolution were to explain where human beings come from, then every personality type should benefit human life. [citation needed] This is clearly untrue because the world is filled with liars, psychopaths, and murderers. These traits clearly do not benefit humanity.
# Evolution should lead to the extinction of homosexuality, as sinful homosexuals are unfit to contribute to the gene pool, yet to this day homosexuality continues to exist.
# The Theory of Evolution dictates that all organisms descended from single celled bacteria. Considering that bacteria are, and always have been, the most successful group of organisms, covering all areas of the globe in some of the most extreme environments, why would it have been advantageous to evolve into organisms that are so much more limited to the environments they can inhabit? Surely, staying as bacteria would be far more advantageous, due to their tolerence(sp) of extreme conditions, quick reproduction time, etc.
# The [[Second Law of Thermodynamics]] establishes that everything becomes more disordered over time, in a closed system; the theory of evolution claims that some systems can become more ordered. This actually does not subvert the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
# The [[Law of Large Numbers]] states that things tend to revert to their average over time (the large number of examples), while evolution requires the opposite: that things become more complex and depart further from their average over time and large numbers of examples.

===Lack of mechanism===
[[Image:Feather image.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Harvard]] biologist [[Ernst Mayr]] wrote: "It must be admitted, however, that it is a considerable strain on one’s credulity to assume that finely balanced systems such as certain sense organs (the eye of vertebrates, or the bird’s feather) could be improved by random [[mutation]]s."<ref>[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes9.html Ernst Mayr, Systematics and the Origin of Species (New York: Dover Publications, 1942), p. 296]</ref>]]
# The extraordinary migration patterns of butterflies and birds cannot be explained through naturalistic development, and lack any plausible materialistic explanation<ref>[[migration]]</ref>
# Evolution does not account for the immense amount of [[information]] in the genome. While there are various definitions of information, and many types have been observed to occur naturally, DNA contains information that is processed to lead to a result predetermined by the content of that information. Strictly speaking it is inaccurate to refer to DNA as a "code" or "language," as many scientists are prone to doing. In fact DNA is more like a template, which produces messenger RNA (mRNA,) a new template with more appropriate bases for protein production. The mRNA essentially acts as a scaffold to which the appropriate amino acids attach to form a protein molecule. Rather than being a language containing words which each have a meaning, DNA is more like a jig or framework which allows a specific molecule of mRNA, and subsequently a specific protein sequence, to be assembled on it. In effect the information is the sequence of chemical reactions which that length of DNA will catalyse. Given the huge number of useless protein molecules which could be formed and the complexity of even a simple protein such as haemoglobin, this sequence could not have evolved by natural selection as the odds against the initial organism having a functional protein are too great.
# The development of feathers, which could not have conceivably "grown" from the scales of reptiles or any other known structure.<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>[[File:Autumn.jpg|292px|right|thumbnail|The beauty of [[God]]'s [[creation]], such as [[autumn]] foliage, cannot adequately be explained through the evolutionary [[paradigm]]. See: [[Argument from beauty]]
 
 
([http://www.flickr.com/photos/universalpops/5236103680/ Flickr] picture, see:'' [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en license agreement])]]
# 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>
# Evolution cannot explain the many complex sex-determining systems. For example, in most mammals, females have two identical sex chromosomes (XX in this case) whereas males two different ones (XY.) However in birds, reptiles, many insects, and other organisms, the situation is reversed to where the male has two identical sex chromosomes and the female has two different ones; for example male birds have a ZZ chromosome pair and females ZW. No evolutionist has proposed a mechanism by which mammals could have a different sex chromosome system from the reptile ancestors they allegedly share with birds.
# Evolution requires that random mutations 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>
#Thousands of years of intense selective breeding should have produced a new wolf species from domesticated dogs, yet dogs and wolves remain the same species.

===Maladaptation===

# 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, many atheist evolutionists have done their utmost to ''deny'' animal altruism.
# The gradual buildup of deleterious mutations in an organism's genome as the species grows older limits the maximum lifespan of a species well under what would be required for evolution. 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>

===Wrong predictions===
[[Image:Harvester-ants.jpg|thumb|205px|right|Ant behavior is the result of [[intelligent design]]. 19th century [[Europe|European]] naturalists were wrong about [[ant]] behavior. The [[Bible]] was correct about ant behavior.<ref>http://ed5015.tripod.com/BWilliamsvsAnon71to73.htm</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. In other words, as [[CreationWiki]] notes, such "flaws" are actually "a result of deterioration, resulting from Man's Fall."<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/Functional_integration_indicates_design_(Talk.Origins) Functional integration indicates design], from [[CreationWiki]]</ref>
# 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 badly overcrowded in the front of the mouth.
# Human fertility is rapidly declining, disproving evolutionary improvement in humans and also suggesting a brief timeline for human existence.
# Evolutionist theory predicts that in the case of [[convergent evolution]], a particular structure such as an eye that evolves in an optimal form in one species can later evolve in a suboptimal form in a different species. No such result has ever been observed.
# Constantly mutating, drug-resistant [[pathogen]]s such as [[MRSA]] have been demonstrated to be the result of devolution rather than evolution.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Genesis-of-Germs-The,5181,224.aspx Genesis of Germs], from [[Answers in Genesis]]</ref> This is the exact opposite of what evolutionary theory predicts.

===Missing fossils===
[[Image:800px-Baleen Whale Physical Characteristics svg.png|right|300px|thumbnail|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.
# 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>

=== Irreducible Complexity===
# The extraordinarily long neck of the [[giraffe]]. The giraffe's heart creates immense pressure to drive blood up the neck to the brain. Because of this there are valves in the neck which automatically restrict the blood flow when the giraffe lowers its head to drink. Without these valves the sudden increase in blood pressure as the heart no longer needs to overcome gravity would rupture the arteries in the brain and kill the giraffe. However the giraffe could not have evolved a long neck without the valves and had no need to evolve the valves unless it had a long neck. The okapi, which evolutionists claim is the closest relative of the giraffe, has no such valves. Evolutionary theory cannot explain this. <ref>[http://www1.pacific.edu/~e-buhals/GIRAFFE2.htm]</ref>[[Image:BacterialFlagellum.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[flagellum|Bacterial Flagellum]] with rotary motor, courtesy of Access Research Network (Art Battson)]]
# The development of wings in birds, as intermediary wing stubs would have no use, and be a competitive disadvantage.
# The [[flagellum]] of certain bacteria contain a multi-part cellular motor which fails to function if a single part is removed. This is the classic example of [[irreducible complexity]] as publicised by Professor [[Michael Behe]].<ref>[http://www.millerandlevine.com/km/evol/design2/article.html]</ref> Because the flagellum must have all its parts to function it could not have evolved and therefore must have been designed by an intelligent being. At the [[Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District]] trial, Professor [[Ken Miller]] attempted to rebut this argument by pointing out that if 42 parts of the flagellum are removed what remains is a fully functional Type III Secretory System, used by some bacteria to inject toxins into target cells. While Miller's claim is factually accurate, it fails to explain how the T3SS could simultaneously add 42 parts to create a working flagellum.
# 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>
# The [[ear]] contains three tiny [[bone]]s that transmit sound waves from the eardrum to the cochlea.<ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/bigear.html Neuroscience for Kids: The Ear]</ref> Because of the complicated arrangement of those bones, transitional forms (which have never been found) would have served no purpose. Evolutionists claim that these bones used to form part of the reptilian jaw joint, but no intermediate fossil with half jaw/half ear has ever been found, and there is no way evolutionism can explain how a jaw becomes an ear.
# Bony skeletons represent an example of irreducible complexity, since only a fully formed, complete skeleton is of any use whatsoever, while having only one or some few number of bones in an otherwise invertebrate creature is hardly advantageous. It is inconceivable to think that some random mutation could have resulted in the formation of an entire bone system in a creature which was previously invertebrate.
# "Social insects" such as bees, ants, and termites, which have extremely complex caste systems. Where an insect fits into the system is determined by its diet when young. Evolution requires that the genes for the various castes and the genes for caste-specific behavior all appeared simultaneously. Akin to the concept of [[irreducible complexity]], but on a higher (social) order, this is impossible given random chance. The complex social structure of these insects is evidence of [[intelligent design]]; also, since the overwhelming majority of individuals are workers and do not reproduce, they do not perpetuate their genetic material, as evolutionism claims all living things must do.
#Lungs never would have had to develop unless the animal was already on land, in which case, they would die before reproducing.
#There is no explanation within the theory of evolution through natural selection for the mechanism in which a catapillar turns into a butterfly. Essentially the original animal is broken down and rearranged into a totally different animal, with no similar physical characteristics. This process cannot be explained within the theory, and points to a designer's involvement.

===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.
# 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.
# 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>
# 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.
# Despite the large (and ever increasing) number of breeds of [[dog]]s, and the fact that some pure bred lineages of dogs are reproductively isolated from other dogs, no new species of dog has evolved.<ref>http://creation.com/dogs-breeding-dogs</ref>

== Question evolution! campaign ==
[[Image:Carl weiland.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|Dr. [[Carl Wieland]] is the Managing Director of [[Creation Ministries International]] ]]
''See also:'' [[Question evolution! campaign]] and [[Atheists doubting the validity of atheism]]

Since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution|theory of evolution]] which employs [[methodological naturalism]] have been atheists.<ref>
* Dr. Don Batten,[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/737/ A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists] ''Creation'' 20(1):32, December 1997.
* [[Jonathan Sarfati]], Ph.D.,F.M., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3830 ''Refuting Evolution'', Chapter 1, Facts and Bias]
</ref> In 2011, a campaign called the [[Question evolution! campaign]] was launched by the [[Bible|biblical]] [[creation]] organization [[Creation Ministries International]] which is a worldwide "[[grassroots|grass-roots]] movement to challenge the anti-[[Christianity|Christian]] [[dogma]] of [[evolution]]".<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The focus of the Question evolution! campaign is on "15 questions that evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer."<ref>[http://creation.com/question-evolution Question evolution! campaign]</ref> The 15 questions posed to evolutionists (and undecided individuals) can be found [http://creation.com/15-questions HERE] The campaign will be primarily conducted in the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Europe]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Singapore]] and [[South Africa]].<ref>http://creation.com/question-evolution</ref>

== 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}}
{{Counterexamples}}

== See also ==

*[[Atheism]]
*[[Evolution and atheism]]
*[[Creation vs. Evolution Videos]]

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

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

[[Category:Counterexamples]]
[[category:Evolution]]

Boron

2013-05-03T02:00:04Z

Snowy: /* Occurrence in Nature */

{{Element | name=Boron | symbol=B | anumber=5 | amass=10.8 amu | state=[[Solid]] | class=Non-metal | cstructure=Rhombohedral | color=Brown | date=1808 | discname=[[Sir Humphrey Davy]] and J. L. Gay-Lussac | origname=From the names [[Borax]] and [[Carbon]]. | uses=Boron is used to make heat resistant [[alloy]]s| obtained=kernite}}
'''Boron''' is the [[chemical element]] with [[atomic number]] 5 and chemical symbol B. It is a metalloid - it shares some properties with the [[metals]], but lacks others. <ref>[http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/5.html Boron], [[Los Alamos]] National Labs</ref>

==Chemical Properties==

Boron melts at 2349 [[Kelvin]] (K) and boils at 4200K. Pure boron comes in two forms: a brown powder or a black, non-conductive crystal.

==Isotopes==

There are two stable [[isotopes]] of boron - 10B and 11B - and eleven short-lived radioactive isotopes. The most common isotope is 11B, with a prevalence of 80.1%. Due to their very short half-lives the radioisotopes are rarely found in nature.

==Occurrence in Nature==

Only about 0.001% of Earth's crust consists of boron. The two main producers of commercial boron are the USA and Turkey, with Turkey having about 72% of the known commercially viable deposits. Due to its reactivity boron is not found in elemental form, but is commercially extracted from a number of compounds including borax and boric acid.

==Uses==

Boron has a large number of commercial uses. Its low thermal expansion makes it an essential element in heat-resistant glass, such as Pyrex. Boron fibres are used in high-strength composites for the aerospace industry and in high-end golf clubs and fishing rods. A number of boron compounds are extremely hard, and these are used in abrasives and machine tool bits. Boron is also an essential component of [[Neodymium]] (rare earth metal) magnets, which are used in high quality loudspeakers and many other applications.

==References==
<references />
{{Template:Periodic table}}

Genetic mutation

2013-05-03T01:47:58Z

Snowy: /* Beneficial mutations */

In [[biology]], '''mutations''' are changes to the [[base pair]] sequence of [[genetic material]] (either [[DNA]] or [[RNA]]). Mutations can be caused by copying errors in the genetic material during [[cell division]] and by exposure to [[ultraviolet]] or [[ionizing radiation|ionizing]] radiation, chemical [[mutagens]], or [[virus (biology)|viruses]], or can occur deliberately under cellular control during processes such as [[meiosis]] or [[hypermutation]]. In multicellular organisms, mutations can be subdivided into ''[[germline mutation]]s'', which can be passed on to descendants, and ''[[somatic mutation]]s''. The somatic mutations cannot be transmitted to descendants in animals. Plants sometimes can transmit somatic mutations to their descendants asexually or sexually (in case when flower buds develop in somatically mutated part of plant).

Mutations create variation in the [[gene pool]], and the less favorable (or ''deleterious'') mutations are removed from the gene pool by [[natural selection]], while more favorable (''beneficial'' or ''advantageous'') ones tend to accumulate, resulting in [[evolution]]ary change. For example, a butterfly may develop offspring with a new mutation caused say by ultraviolet light from the sun. In most cases, this mutation is not good, since obviously there was no 'purpose' for such change at the molecular level. However, sometimes a mutation may change, say, the butterfly's color, making it harder for predators to see it; this is an advantage and the chances of this butterfly surviving and producing its own offspring are a little better, and over time the number of butterflies with this mutation may form a large percentage of the species. [[Neutral theory of molecular evolution|Neutral mutations]] are defined as mutations whose effects do not influence the [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] of either the species or the individuals who make up the species. These can accumulate over time due to [[genetic drift]]. The overwhelming majority of mutations have no significant effect, since [[DNA repair]] is able to mend most changes before they become permanent mutations, and many organisms have mechanisms for eliminating otherwise permanently mutated somatic cells.

==Classification==
[[Image:Types-of-mutation.png|right|thumb|An illustration of five types of chromosomal mutations.]]
===By effect on structure===
The sequence of a gene can be altered in a number of ways. Gene mutations have varying effects on health depending on where they occur and whether they alter the function of essential proteins. Structurally, mutations can be classified as:

* Small-scale mutations, such as affecting a small gene is one or a few nucleotides, including:
** '''[[Point mutation]]s''', often caused by chemicals or malfunction of DNA replication, exchange a single [[nucleotide]] for another. Most common is the [[transition (genetics)|transition]] that exchanges a [[purine]] for a purine (A ↔ G) or a [[pyrimidine]] for a pyrimidine, (C ↔ T). A transition can be caused by [[nitrous acid]], base mispairing, or mutagenic base analogs such as [[BrdU|5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU)]]. Less common is a [[transversion]], which exchanges a purine for a pyrimidine or a pyrimidine for a purine (C/T ↔ A/G). A point mutation can be reversed by another point mutation, in which the nucleotide is changed back to its original state (true reversion) or by second-site reversion (a complementary mutation elsewhere that results in regained gene functionality). These changes are classified as transitions or transversions. An example of a transversion is [[adenine]] (A) being converted into a [[cytosine]] (C). There are also many other examples that can be found. Point mutations that occur within the [[protein]] coding region of a gene may be classified into three kinds, depending upon what the erroneous [[codon]] codes for:
*** [[Silent mutation]]s: which code for the same [[amino acid]].
*** [[Missense mutation]]s: which code for a different amino acid.
*** [[Nonsense mutation]]s: which code for a stop and can truncate the [[protein]].
** '''[[insertion (genetics)|Insertions]]''' add one or more extra nucleotides into the DNA. They are usually caused by [[transposable element]]s, or errors during replication of repeating elements (e.g. AT repeats). Insertions in the coding region of a gene may alter [[splicing (genetics)|splicing]] of the [[mRNA]] ([[splice site mutation]]), or cause a shift in the [[reading frame]] ([[frameshift]]), both of which can significantly alter the gene product. Insertions can be reverted by excision of the [[transposable element]].
** '''[[Genetic deletion|Deletions]]''' remove one or more nucleotides from the DNA. Like insertions, these mutations can alter the [[reading frame]] of the gene. They are irreversible.

* Large-scale mutations in [[chromosome|chromosomal]] structure, including:
** '''Amplifications''' (or [[gene duplication]]s) leading to multiple copies of all chromosomal regions, increasing the dosage of the genes located within them.
** '''[[Genetic deletion|Deletions]]''' of large chromosomal regions, leading to loss of the genes within those regions.
** Mutations whose effect is to juxtapose previously separate pieces of DNA, potentially bringing together separate genes to form functionally distinct [[fusion gene]]s (e.g. [[bcr-abl]]). These include:
*** '''[[Chromosomal translocation]]s''': interchange of genetic parts from nonhomologous chromosomes.
*** '''Interstitial deletions''': an intra-chromosomal deletion that removes a segment of DNA from a single chromosome, thereby apposing previously distant genes. For example, cells isolated from a human [[astrocytoma]], a type of brain tumor, were found to have a chromosomal deletion removing sequences between the "fused in glioblastoma" (fig) gene and the receptor tyrosine kinase "ros", producing a fusion protein (FIG-ROS). The abnormal FIG-ROS fusion protein has constitutively active kinase activity that causes oncogenic transformation (a transformation from normal cells to cancer cells).
*** '''[[Chromosomal inversion]]s''': reversing the orientation of a chromosomal segment.
**'''[[Loss of heterozygosity]]''': loss of one [[allele]], either by a deletion or [[recombination]] event, in an organism that previously had two different alleles.

===By effect on function===
* '''Loss-of-function mutations''' are the result of gene product having less or no function. When the allele has a complete loss of function ([[null allele]]) it is often called an '''[[Muller's morphs|amorphic]] mutation'''. Phenotypes associated with such mutations are most often [[recessive]]. Exceptions are when the organism is [[haploid]], or when the reduced dosage of a normal gene product is not enough for a normal phenotype (this is called [[haploinsufficiency]]).
* '''Gain-of-function mutations''' change the gene product such that it gains a new and abnormal function. These mutations usually have [[dominant gene|dominant]] phenotypes. Often called a [[Muller's morphs|neomorphic]] mutation.
* '''Dominant negative mutations''' (also called '''[[Muller's morphs|antimorphic]] mutations''') have an altered gene product that acts antagonistically to the wild-type allele. These mutations usually result in an altered molecular function (often inactive) and are characterized by a [[Dominant gene|dominant]] or [[incomplete dominance|semi-dominant]] phenotype. In humans, [[Marfan syndrome]] is an example of a dominant negative mutation occurring in an [[autosomal dominant]] disease. In this condition, the defective glycoprotein product of the fibrillin gene (FBN1) antagonizes the product of the normal allele.
*'''Lethal mutations''' are mutations that lead to a phenotype incapable of effective reproduction.

===By aspect of phenotype affected===
* '''Morphological mutations''' usually affect the outward appearance of an individual. Mutations can change the height of a plant or change it from smooth to rough seeds.
* '''Biochemical mutations''' result in lesions stopping the enzymatic pathway. Often, morphological mutants are the direct result of a mutation due to the enzymatic pathway.

===Special classes===
*'''Conditional mutation''' is a mutation that has wild-type (or less severe) phenotype under certain "permissive" environmental conditions and a mutant phenotype under certain "restrictive" conditions. For example, a temperature-sensitive mutation can cause cell death at high temperature (restrictive condition), but might have no deleterious consequences at a lower temperature (permissive condition).
===Causes of mutation===
Two classes of mutations are spontaneous mutations (molecular decay) and induced mutations caused by [[mutagen]]s.

'''Spontaneous mutations''' on the molecular level include:
* Tautomerism - A base is changed by the repositioning of a hydrogen atom.
* Depurination - Loss of a purine base (A or G).
* Deamination - Changes a normal base to an atypical base; C → U, (which can be corrected by DNA repair mechanisms), or spontaneous deamination of 5-methycytosine (irreparable), or A → HX (hypoxanthine).
* Transition - A purine changes to another purine, or a pyrimidine to a pyrimidine.
* Transversion - A purine becomes a pyrimidine, or vice versa.

'''Induced mutations''' on the molecular level can be caused by:
* Chemicals
** Nitrosoguanidine (NTG)
** Hydroxyamine NH3OH
** [[Base analog]]s (e.g. [[BrdU]])
** Simple chemicals (e.g. [[acid]]s)
** Alkylating agents (e.g. [[ENU|''N''-ethyl-''N''-nitrosourea (ENU)]]) These agents can mutate both replicating and non-replicating DNA. In contrast, a base analog can only mutate the DNA when the analog is incorporated in replicating the DNA. Each of these classes of chemical mutagens has certain effects that then lead to transitions, transversions, or deletions.
** Methylating agents (e.g. [[ethyl methanesulfonate]] (EMS))
** Polycyclic [[hydrocarbons]] (e.g. [[benzopyrene]]s found in [[internal combustion engine]] [[exhaust]])
** DNA intercalating agents (e.g. [[ethidium bromide]])
** [[DNA crosslinker]] (e.g. [[platinum]])
** Oxidative damage caused by [[oxygen]](O)] [[Radical (chemistry)|radical]]s
* Radiation
** [[Ultraviolet]] radiation (nonionizing radiation) - excites electrons to a higher energy level. DNA absorbs one form, ultraviolet light. Two nucleotide bases in DNA - cytosine and thymine-are most vulnerable to excitation that can change base-pairing properties. UV light can induce adjacent thymine bases in a DNA strand to pair with each other, as a bulky dimer.
** [[Ionizing radiation]]

DNA has so-called hotspots, where mutations occur up to 100 times more frequently than the normal [[mutation rate]]. A hotspot can be at an unusual base, e.g., [[5-methylcytosine]].

[[Mutation rate]]s also vary across species. Evolutionary biologists have theorized that higher mutation rates are beneficial in some situations, because they allow organisms to evolve and therefore adapt more quickly to their environments. For example, repeated exposure of bacteria to antibiotics, and selection of resistant mutants, can result in the selection of bacteria that have a much higher mutation rate than the original population ([[mutator genotype|mutator strains]]).

==Harmful mutations==
Changes in DNA caused by mutation can cause errors in [[protein]] sequence, creating partially or completely non-functional proteins. To function correctly, each cell depends on thousands of proteins to function in the right places at the right times. When a mutation alters a protein that plays a critical role in the body, a medical condition can result. A condition caused by mutations in one or more genes is called a [[genetic disorder]]. However, only a small percentage of mutations cause genetic disorders; most have no impact on health. For example, some mutations alter a gene's DNA base sequence but don’t change the function of the protein made by the gene.

If a mutation is present in a [[germ cell]], it can give rise to offspring that carries the mutation in all of its cells. This is the case in [[hereditary disease]]s. On the other hand, a mutation can occur in a [[somatic cell]] of an organism. Such mutations will be present in all descendants of this cell, and certain mutations can cause the cell to become malignant, and thus cause [[cancer]].

Often, gene mutations that could cause a genetic disorder are repaired by the [[DNA repair]] system of the cell. Each cell has a number of pathways through which enzymes recognize and repair mistakes in DNA. Because DNA can be damaged or mutated in many ways, the process of DNA repair is an important way in which the body protects itself from disease.

==Beneficial mutations==
A very small percentage of all mutations actually have a positive effect. These mutations lead to new versions of proteins that help an organism and its future generations better adapt to changes in their environment. For example, a specific 32 base pair deletion in human CCR5 (CCR5-32) confers [[HIV]] resistance to [[Zygosity|homozygotes]] and delays [[AIDS]] onset in [[Zygosity|heterozygotes]].<ref>[http://www.cdc.gov/genomics/hugenet/factsheets/FS_CCR5.htm]</ref> The CCR5 mutation is more common in those of European descent. One theory for the [[etiology]] of the relatively high frequency of CCR5-32 in the European population is that it conferred resistance to the [[bubonic plague]] in mid-14th century Europe.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/clues.html]</ref>

==References==
<references/>
* Leroi A. 2003. ''Mutants: On the form, varieties & errors of the human body''. 1:16-17. Harper Collins 2003
* Maki H. 2002. ''Origins of spontaneous mutations: specificity and directionality of base-substitution, frameshift, and sequence-substitution mutageneses''. Annual Review of Genetics 36:279-303.
* Taggart R. Starr C. ''Biology The Unity and Diversity of Life: Mutated Genes and Their Protein Products''. 14.4:227. Thompson Brooks/Cole 2006.
===Online books===
* Chapter 7, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=mutation+AND+mga%5Bbook%5D+AND+110363%5Buid%5D&rid=mga.section.996 The Molecular Basis of Mutation] in ''Modern Genetic Analysis'' by Anthony J. F. Griffiths, William M. Gelbart, Jeffrey H. Miller and [[Richard Lewontin|Richard C. Lewontin]] (1999) published by W. H. Freeman and Company ISBN 0-7167-3597-0.
* Chapter 9, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hmg.section.1050 Instability of the human genome: mutation and DNA repair] in ''Human Molecular Genetics 2'' by Tom Strachan and Andrew P. Read (1999) published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
* ''[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=gnd.preface.91 Genes and Disease]'' from the [[National Library of Medicine]] provides descriptions of mutations that cause human diseases. For example, a common mutation associated with [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Search&db=books&doptcmdl=GenBookHL&term=mutation+AND+gnd%5Bbook%5D+AND+138070%5Buid%5D&rid=gnd.section.207 Huntington disease] is an increased number of copies of repeated CGA triplets in the [[Huntingtin]] gene.
* ''[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=gene GeneReviews]'' by Roberta A. Pagon, Editor-in-chief is made available by the [[University of Washington]] and contains peer-reviewed descriptions of heritable diseases written by experts. For example, [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=gene.chapter.brca1 BRCA1 and BRCA2 Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancer] describes mutations in [[BRCA1]] and [[BRCA2]] that are associated with predispositions to cancer.

==External links==
* [http://www.gate.net/~rwms/EvoMutations.html Examples of Beneficial Mutations]
* [http://www.q-pharm.com/home/contents/drug_d/order_form/online_services/mutagenesis Software for Mutated Proteins' Activity Prediction]

[[Category:Genetics]]

Abortion myths

2013-05-02T22:18:08Z

Snowy: /* Myth: Abortion is safe */

There are many dangerous '''myths about abortion''' that are being spread by [[abortion]] supporters. This article is dedicated to listing and debunking them.

==Myth: Abortion is safe==
* To a very limited extent, yes, abortion is safe, as long as the doctor is competent in the procedure and conducts the operation in a sterile environment with the proper equipment. Otherwise, abortion can be dangerous if conducted in unsafe, unsterile conditions by non licensed practitioners or by those with little or no medical training. Also, due to the cost of the procedure, many women in the poorer strata of society may be inclined to go to illegal abortion clinics (e.g. - "back alley doctors") which are not sterile or safe to mother or the unborn child.

==Myth: Abortion is not Eugenics==
* In a strictly legal sense, at least according to US law, this is both not true and completely criminal, since Roe v. Wade merely allows for the option to have an abortion under certain conditions, it does not state any political goal promoting eugenics as a national policy. Most other nation states that have legalized abortion, at least those of modern day, also have no particular legal justification promoting a eugenics agenda. However, abortion has been used and justified on a nation state level for the goals and purposes of eugenics, and has often been cited in racist doctrines (e.g. - Nazism) as a viable means of promoting their ethnocentric goals in this regard.

==Myth: Abortion is not murder==
* Abortion is the medical termination (killing) of an unborn child. According to US law, under proper conditions, abortion is not considered legal murder, but aside from those conditions (e.g - as defined by Roe v. Wade) it is considered legal murder, especially if the abortion takes place without the lawful consent of the mother. Regardless, by moral standards (especially Christian moral standards) it is the taking of a life before it had committed any offense for which it life would ordinarily be forfeit (such as homicide), which is by all moral standards murder.

[[Category: Abortion]]

Capacitance

2013-04-27T22:05:17Z

Snowy:

'''Capacitance''' is a property of [[electric]] [[circuit]]s that describes how much electricity is stored between two plates or wires. It is defined as '''C=Q/V''', where ''C'' stands for capacitance, ''Q'' for [[charge]], and ''V'' for [[voltage]].

Because of this inverse relationship, most capacitors are quite large compared to other parts on a circuit board. (The '''farad''', named for [[Michael Faraday]], is the unit of capacitance in the [[SI]] system.) Recently, by packing many curved plates into a single cylindrical capacitor, electronics companies have been able to shrink the volume of a capacitor by factors of two or three, thus producing a corresponding boost in farad capacity. It is now possible to buy capacitors as powerful as one or two farads, and super-small capacitors in the kilofarad (one thousand farads) range are being developed in [[Britain]].<ref>[http://www.engineerlive.com/news/20026/iec-to-develop-standard-for-supercapacitors.thtml IEC to develop standard for supercapacitors]. ''EngineerLive'', March 27, 2008.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Physics]]

Conservative talk radio

2013-04-16T03:12:23Z

Snowy:

'''Conservative talk radio''' in the [[United States]] is a phenomenon that got its start in the 1980's when the [[Fairness Doctrine]] was allowed to expire under [[Ronald Reagan|President Reagan]].

This allowed broadcasters to present a political opinion or point of view or pundit without being required to allow equal time for alternative views or rebuttal.

At the same time, AM radio was languishing in the shadow of the higher quality sound of FM, with no remarkable content to attract listeners.

Into this perfect storm of opportunity rode [[Rush Limbaugh]], with his brand of outlandish self-depreciation and mockery and conservative positions. He has since been followed by many other more or less successful pundits; likewise the millions of listeners Limbaugh attracted to Talk Radio led to the creation of the [[Fox Radio Network]].
[[Liberal talk radio]] has been rather less successful.

==Challenges to free speech==

{{slob unfair}}

==Personalities==

===Neil Boortz===
Neil Boortz is a self-styled [[libertarian]] based out of Atlanta, [[Georgia|GA]].

===Sean Hannity===
''(main article, see [[Sean Hannity]])''

===Rush Limbaugh===
''(main article, see [[Rush Limbaugh]])''

===Bill O'Reilly===
''(main article, see [[Bill O'Reilly]])''

===Michael Savage===
[[Michael Savage]], birth name "Michael Weiner", pronounced ''wuy-ner'', born in 1942 is an independent, mostly non partisan conservative talk show host who is now best known for being banned from entering the [[United Kingdom]] in May of 2009 over debunked accusations of [[hate speech]] and "inciting racial hatred", all of which are proven to be false.

==Networks==

==Syndicators==

[http://www.trncorporate.com/ Talk Radio Network]

==See Also==
*[[Liberal censorship]]

==Footnotes==
<references />

[[Category:Conservative Media]]
[[category:media]]
[[category:broadcasting]]

Politico

2013-04-14T04:53:32Z

Snowy:

'''POLITICO''' or Politico.com is a left-wing political news resource owned by Capitol News Company LLC. The website states, 'POLITICO is the first true multiplatform news source for people interested in politics.' It launched a highly visible website January 23, 2007 with over 6 million visitors a month. The print operation has a circulation of 50,000 readers. Politico has an unparalleled coverage of Congress as it publishes Tuesday through Thursday when Congress is in session and exclusively on Tuesdays when Congress is in recess. <ref>[http://www.politico.com/advertising/ About Politico Newspaper]</ref> It is known for closely working with [[mainstream media]] companies such as CBS, USAToday, CNN, the [[L.A. Times]] and many [[newspaper]]s, [[television]] and radio companies. Politico boasts its audience is the 24 hour news cycle.

Politico's current editor in chief is John F. Harris.

Closely associated with [[MSNBC]], Politico consistently attacks [[conservative]] positions and people such as [[congresswoman]] [[Michele Bachmann]] <ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22541.html Michele Bachmann still a lightning rod] Politico, may 15, 2009</ref> and former [[Alaska]] Governor [[Sarah Palin]]. <ref>[http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=4E2E5BFD-18FE-70B2-A815903CFF648F68 Palin's earmarks: Not just for the halibut] Politico, September 10, 2008</ref> Politico writes unsourced articles making dubious claims just like tabloids do. <ref>[http://bigjournalism.com/driehl/2010/10/22/politicos-jonathan-martin-humiliated-by-multiple-named-sources/ Politico's Jonathan Martin Humiliated by Multiple Named Sources, BigGovernment.com, October 22, 2010]</ref> Their position has been outed and they are members of the out-of-touch D.C. beltway crowd, a full fledged member of the [[lamestream media]].

[[Sarah Palin]] calls Politico, "puppy-kicking, chain-smoking, porn producers.” <ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/20/rise-of-conservative-displeasure-over-politiconbc-debate/ Rise of conservative displeasure over Politico/NBC debate, The Daily Caller, November 20, 2010]</ref>

==2012 Election Cycle==
Politico has come out in full force for Barack Obama. They are constantly trying to highlight [[Mitt Romney]]'s shortcoming while defending and covering for Obama. Politico's tactics turned thuggish recently with stories exposing private citizens. Why? Ethics be damned, these private citizens donated to Mitt Romney's campaign. <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/21/MSM-Says-Private-Citizens-Are-Fair-Game-Lets-Start-With-Them THEIR RULES, NOT OURS: TIME TO VET PRIVATE LIVES OF JOURNALISTS?, May 21, 2012]</ref>

== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:United States Newspapers]]
==External Links ==
* [http://www.politico.com Politico.com Homepage]
{{liberalism}}

Pro-abortion

2013-04-14T04:19:51Z

Snowy:

The '''pro-abortion''' view supports how roughly one million [[abortion]]s are performed annually in the [[United States]], many at taxpayer expense. "'''Pro-aborts'''" are those who are comfortable with this status quo and who oppose [[pro-life]] criticism of it or reform legislation to reduce it. Many pro-aborts even seek to increase the number of abortions performed in the United States, and worldwide.

Pro-aborts often prefer the euphemism "pro-choice" as a way of denying their support, explicit or implicit, for abortion at public expense. "Pro-choice" is a misnomer because the child does not have a choice and pro-aborts typically oppose any choice for the father also. Pro-aborts often oppose any choice by pro-life physicians, nurses or pharmacists.

Pro-aborts also typically oppose ensuring that women have information about the medical harms, such as increases suicide rates, that result from abortion. So "pro-choice" opposes "informed choice."

[[Planned Parenthood]] is closely aligned with the pro-abortion side: it performed nearly 135 abortions for every referral for adoption in 2008.<ref>[http://liveaction.org/blog/planned-parenthood-134-abortions-for-every-adoption/ Live Action]</ref>

Pro-aborts have caused abortion to be higher in the United States than in comparable European nations. For example, the laws concerning abortion are far more protective of the unborn child in Germany and in Israel than in the United States.

==See Also==
* [[Pro-life]]
* [[Abortion controversy]]
* [[Planned Parenthood]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Abortion]]
[[category:deceit]]

Syrian War

2013-04-11T03:32:22Z

Snowy:

The '''Syrian Civil War''' began in March 2011 with the simultaneous uprisings in many Mideast countries known as the [[Arab Spring]], however the belligerent forces by the second year were largely non-state combatants and veterans of the [[Operation_Iraqi_Freedom#Insurgency|Iraqi insurgency]] (Mercenaries).<ref>[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/14/us-iraq-syria-idUSTRE81D0NX20120214 Iraqi fighters, arms trickle into Syria as violence grows,] By Khalid al-Taie, ''Reuthers'', Feb 14, 2012. </ref>

==Belligerents==

The government is comprised of Alawites of the Shia Islam religion led by [[Bashar al-Assad]] of the [[Ba'ath Party]], a [[secular]]-[[socialist]] party. Emboldened by the successful ousting of leaders in [[Libya]], [[Egypt]] and Tunisia, Sunni Muslims of the Free Syrian Army, foreign insurgents from [[Iraq]], [[Pakistan]], Bangladesh, [[Chechnya]], the U.K.,<ref>[http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/29/syria-islamists-with-birmingham-accents-heard-among-jihadist-faction-fighting-assad-regime/ Syria: Jihadists With “Birmingham Accents” Heard Among Islamist Rebel Faction Fighting Assad Regime, Weasel Zippers, July 29, 2012]</ref> Ireland<ref>http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2012/0922/1224324260134.html</ref> and other terrorist forces have been furiously attacking government troops. Many european jihadists are moving to Syria to kill Alawites.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/344225/syria-s-european-jihadis-elliott-abrams</ref>The Syrian army would chase them down in occupied areas such as Homs, and then would bombard the occupied areas. Some of the regimes forces that were reluctant to fire on their own people in the early days of fighting abandoned the government and fled to [[Turkey]]. A large refugee population has fled to neighboring [[Turkey]], [[Lebanon]] and [[Jordan]]. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/27/jordan-syrian-army-shoots-dead-syrian-refugee-boy/ Jordan: Syrian army shoots dead Syrian refugee boy, Fox News, July 27, 2012]</ref>

The Free Syrian Army-Terrorists are dominated by the [[Muslim Brotherhood]], works with [[Al-Qaeda]] and are trained by [[Hamas]].<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/hamas-terrorists-now-training-free-syrian-army-terrorists/</ref>

==UN deadlock==

Western nations have asked the [[UN]] to condemn the military actions, call for a cease fire and punish [[Syria]] with sanctions, however [[Russia]] and [[China]] have vetoed these efforts. About half of the 1.5 million people in need of aid in Syria are children and adolescents, says a UNICEF spokesperson. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/07/27/un-worries-showdown-in-aleppo-could-be-imminent/?test=latestnews#ixzz21staSWWx The UN worries a showdown in Aleppo could be imminent, Fox News, July 27, 2012]</ref>

==Changing character of opposition==

The character of the opposition and insurgency has changed since the Arab Spring; in July 2012, opposition jihadis started attacking the government in their capital of Damascus. Since President Obama approved aid to rebels, a [[suicide bomber]] penetrated and killed the President's brother-in-law and the army military commander, signaling terror groups now constituted the main belligerent opposition. Brigade of Islam took credit for the attack. Also in July, jihadis launched attacks on Syria's most populated northern city of Aleppo. Rebels had captured all [[Iraqi]] border positions until government forces fought back. Iraqi trade routes are a valuable lifeline to the regimes survival.

==US policy: Cold War revisited==

The Obama position started in support of Assad, with Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] calling him a reformer. Shortly after the murder of [[Gaddafi]] by Obama-supported rebels, Obama ordered covert aid to anti-Assad forces as well.<ref>[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/secret-order-signed-president-obama-cia-u-s-agencies-provide-support-syrian-rebels-oust-president-bashar-al-assad-reuters-article-1.1126994 ‘Secret’ order signed by President Obama allows CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support to help the Syrian rebels oust President Bashar al-Assad,] REUTERS, August 1, 2012. nydailynews.com </ref> Some of these forces may be non-indigenous. In March 2013, Secretary of State [[John Kerry]] reiterated that the U.S. is training elements of the Syrian belligerent forces. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/05/kerry-confirms-us-helping-train-syrian-opposition/ Kerry appears to confirm US helping train Syrian opposition,] Fox News, March 05, 2013]</ref> Russia is Syria's ally and has been supplying the regime with weapons and air defence. A NATO fighter jet was shot down by Syrian forces when it intruded into Syrian airspace from Turkey.<ref>NATO has been testing Syria's Russian-supplied air defences as talk of a no-fly zone has been floated. Among NATO, only the US has the capability to implement a no-fly zone.</ref> Putin is angry with the Obama administration for helping the jihadists,<ref>Putin has been fighting similar forces in Chechnya for a decade.</ref> blaming the U.S. for the deteriorating situation.

Obama has sought to do more for the jihadis and has vowed to work with Turkey and "opposition forces" to topple Assad. In addition, [[Qatar]] and [[Saudi Arabia]] at US direction have set up a base in Turkey to help funnel supplies and weapons. <ref>[http://www.rt.com/news/syria-rebel-base-turkey-qatar-230/comments/ Turkey sets up secret anti-Assad rebel base with Saudi Arabia and Qatar - reports, RT.com, July 27, 2012]</ref> Israel does not want to see [[chemical weapon]]s<ref>Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence oversight committee, spoke publicly about the Obama administration's claim Syria has used, or is preparing to use chemical weapons. ''[http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/world/meast/syria-civil-war Syria's 'probability' of using chemical warfare,]'' By Michael Martinez, Joe Sterling and Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, March 20, 2013. This is regarded by many as a pretext for direct US intervention.</ref> in the hands of Obama-backed forces and has publicly announced they have military plans to stop that transaction. [[Iran]] says they will not let the Assad regime collapse and is prepared to attack Qatar and Saudi Arabia. <ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/01/source-iran-readies-attacks-against-saudi-arabia-qatar/#ixzz22KvLDJfmSource: Iran readies attacks against Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Daily Caller, August 1, 2012]</ref>

The [[Muslim Brotherhood]] will seek to rule Syria when the Assad regime collapses. Huge stockpiles of chemical weapons and, like [[Libya]], elements of the [[Al Qaeda]] terrorist group pose regional threats in the post-Assad era. <ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/16/us-intelligence-officials-tie-al-qaeda-iraq-to-syrian-bombings/</ref>

The [[Christians in Syria]] are fearful of losing the protection and tolerance they have enjoyed under Assad and the Ba'athists if the Obama-armed jihadis win.<ref>http://www.worldwatchlist.us/world-watch-list-countries/syria/</ref>

==Turkey==
The Turkish government has condemned the war in Syria. Also, they house 90,000 refugees from Syria. In October, Syria shelled a Turkish border town killing five civilians. Turkey's Parliament authorized military operations against Syria. The bill opens the way for unilateral action by Turkey's armed forces inside Syria. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/04/turkey-wont-declare-war-on-syria-despite-shelling-official-says-642342356/#ixzz28Ouoi4SH</ref> Turkey responded by shelling Syria for five days. Earlier in 2012, Syria shot down a Turkish fighter plane killing two pilots.

==Israel==
Israel warplanes bombed a [[Hezbollah]] weapons supply convoy inside Syria, destined for the Assad government. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/30/israel-conducts-airstrike-on-syria-regional-security-forces-say/?test=latestnews Israeli airstrike targeted convoy of trucks inside Syria, US and regional officials say, Fox News, January 30, 2013]</ref>
Mortar shells from the Syrian conflict often land in Israel held Golan Heights. [[Shimon Peres]] called for an intervention of the arab countries in Syria.<ref>http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130312/urgent-israels-peres-urges-syria-intervention-arab-force</ref> The israelian intelligence chief warned that Assad is readying chemical weapons.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/03/14/israeli-intelligence-chief-says-assad-readying-chemical-weapons/</ref>

==Iraq==
Al Qaeda of [[Iraq]] massacred 48 Syrian government troops after they fled into Iraq. They were chased out of Syria by rebel forces and ambushed as they sought to seek safe refuge. <ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/48-syrian-soldiers-killed-in-al-qaeda-ambush-in-iraq/ 48 Syrian soldiers killed in al-Qaeda ambush in Iraq, Times of Israel, March 4, 2013]</ref>

==Jordan==
In October 2012, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the U.S. sent military troops to the Jordan-Syria border to help bolster Jordan's military and help with the [[refugee]] crisis. <ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/10/us-troops-jordan-syria-crisis US sends troops to Jordan to help deal with Syria crisis, UK Guardian, October 10, 2012]</ref> During the 2013 [[budget sequester]] which caused Obama to close citizen access to the White House and [[Democrat]]s claimed would add to unemployment and homelessness, Obama gave away $200 million to Jordan for refugees fleeing the fighting.<ref>[http://nation.foxnews.com/us-aid-jordan/2013/03/22/sequester-obama-offers-jordan-another-200-million Sequester? Obama Offers Jordan Another $200 Million,] ''The Hill'', March 22, 2013. nation.foxnews.com </ref>

==U.S. domestic dissent of administration policy==
A majority of Conservatives feel the U.S. should stay out of this civil war. In addition, they feel arming Islamic rebels is not in our interests. Conservative [[Rand Paul]] believes the Obama administration is funneling weapons to Syrian terrorist organizations through Libya. <ref>[http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/item/14691-sen-rand-paul-is-obama-administration-hiding-arms-trade-to-jihadists Sen. Rand Paul: Is Obama Administration Hiding Arms Trade to Jihadists? The New American, March 5, 2013]</ref> A few Republicans such as [[Mitt Romney]] have called for arming the Syrian Islamic opposition with weapons.<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/08/romney-hope-is-not-strategy-in-middle-east/</ref> A majority of Democrats have expressed no opposition to the Obama administration policy of funding extremists and toppling a regime that has demonstrated tolerance for non-Islamic groups.

==See Also==
* [[Libyan uprising 2011]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/20/video-syrian-rebels-attack-government-positions/ Video: Syrian Rebels Attack Government Positions]
* [http://weaselzippers.us/2012/07/17/raw-video-assad-unleashes-helicopter-gunships-on-rebels-as-intense-fighting-rages-in-damascus/ Video: Assad Unleashes Helicopter Gunships On Rebels As Intense Fighting Rages In Damascus]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyQIv5wyYGE&feature=related Syria: the horror of Homs, a city at war video by Channel 4 News]
* [http://video.foxnews.com/v/1750111065001/ Video: Syria confirms it has stockpiles of chemical weapons]
*[http://frontpagemag.com/2013/andrew-harrod/american-islamists-curious-support-for-the-syrian-rebels/ American Islamists are supporting the rebels]
*[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/28/key-military-players-fighting-syria-civil-war/]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQAZ7gZaok Video]
*[http://frontpagemag.com/2013/andrew-c-mccarthy/dont-intervene-in-syria/]

[[Category:Syria]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Obama Presidency]]
[[Category:Wars]]

Syria

2013-04-11T03:12:22Z

Snowy: /* Protesters 2011 */

{{Country
|name =''الجمهورية العربية السورية Al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Sūriyyah''
|map =Syria rel90.jpg
|flag =Flag of Syria.png
|arms =Arms of Syria.png
|capital =Damascus
|capital-raw =
|government =Presidential Republic (single party state)
|government-raw =
|language =Arabic
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Bashar al-Assad
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Adil Safr
|pm-raw =
|area =71,479 sq mi
|pop =19,405,000
|pop-basis =2007
|gdp =$71.3 billion
|gdp-year =2005
|gdp-pc =$5,348
|currency =Syrian pound
|idd =
|tld =
}}
The '''Syrian Arab Republic''' is a Middle Eastern country, bordered by [[Israel]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Iraq]], and [[Turkey]].

The capital is [[Damascus]]. Other important cities include [[Aleppo]] and [[Hama]]. Most settlement is near the [[Mediterranean]] coast, with the interior consisting largely of [[steppe]].

Syria is currently a [[Ba'athist]] [[dictatorship]]. The government was accused by many of playing a role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister [[Rafik Hariri]] in 2005. Syria is also responsible for allowing foreign terrorist fighters to enter Iraq through their border and attack American troops.

It is also a destination for victims of [[human trafficking]].<ref>[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html CIA World Fact Book]</ref>

Damascus is an important city for Christians, as it is the city to which the Apostle [[Paul]] was travelling upon his conversion. However, it has been mostly Muslim for centuries, and was a part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. When the Ottoman Empire dissolved after [[World War I]], [[France]] forcibly took over Syria, then left in 1946, granting it its independence.

==People==
[[File:Syrian 1961.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Syrians in 1961.]]
Ethnic Syrians are of Semitic stock. Syria's population is 90% Muslim--74% Sunni, and 16% other Muslim groups, including the Alawi, Shi'a, and Druze--and 10% Christian. There also is a tiny Syrian Jewish community.

Arabic is the official, and most widely spoken, language. Arabs, including some 500,000 Palestinian and up to 1.3 million Iraqi refugees, make up 90% of the population. Many educated Syrians also speak English or French, but English is the more widely understood. The Kurds, many of whom speak the banned Kurdish language, make up 9% of the population and live mostly in the northeast corner of Syria, though sizable Kurdish communities live in most major Syrian cities as well. Armenian and Turkic are spoken among the small Armenian and Turkoman populations.

Most people live in the Euphrates River valley and along the coastal plain, a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density is about 140 per sq. mi. Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 11. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. The second 3-year period of academic training is required for university admission. Total enrollment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. The literacy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 88% for males and 74%for females.

Ancient Syria's cultural and artistic achievements and contributions are many. Archaeologists have discovered extensive writings and evidence of a brilliant culture rivaling those of Mesopotamia and Egypt in and around the ancient city of Ebla. Later Syrian scholars and artists contributed to Hellenistic and Roman thought and culture. Zeno of Sidon founded the Epicurean school; Cicero was a pupil of Antiochus of Ascalon at Athens; and the writings of Posidonius of Apamea influenced Livy and Plutarch. Syrians have contributed to Arabic literature and music and have a proud tradition of oral and written poetry. Although declining, the world-famous handicraft industry still employs thousands.
*Population (2005 est.)*: 18.6 million.
*Growth rate (2005 est.): 2.45%.
*Major ethnic groups: Arabs (90%), Kurds (9%), Armenians, Circassians, Turkomans.
*Religions: Sunni Muslims (74%), Alawis (12%), Christians (10%), Druze (3%), and small numbers of other Muslim sects, Jews, and Yazidis.
*Languages: Arabic (official), English (widely understood in major cities only), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian.
*Education (2005 est.): Years compulsory--primary, 6 yrs. Attendance--97.9%. Literacy--92.5%; 87.9% male, 73.9% female.
*Health (2004): Infant mortality rate--17.1/1,000. Life expectancy--68.47 yrs. male, 71.02 yrs. female.
*Work force (6.1 million, 2004 est.): Services (including government); agriculture; industry and commerce.

==Government==
[[File:President Syria Bashar al Assad.jpg|thumb|250px|President Bashar al-Assad.]]
The Syrian constitution vests the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party with leadership functions in the state and society and provides broad powers to the president. The president, approved by referendum for a 7-year term, is also Secretary General of the Ba'ath Party and leader of the National Progressive Front, which is a coalition of 10 political parties authorized by the regime. The president has the right to appoint ministers, to declare war and states of emergency, to issue laws (which, except in the case of emergency, require ratification by the People's Council), to declare amnesty, to amend the constitution, and to appoint civil servants and military personnel. The Emergency Law, which effectively suspends most constitutional protections for Syrians, has been in effect since 1963.

The National Progressive Front also acts as a forum in which economic policies are debated and the country's political orientation is determined. However, because of Ba'ath Party dominance, the National Progressive Front has traditionally exercised little independent power.

The Syrian constitution of 1973 requires that the president be Muslim but does not make Islam the state religion. Islamic jurisprudence, however, is required to be a main source of legislation. The judicial system in Syria is an amalgam of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws, with three levels of courts: courts of first instance, courts of appeals, and the constitutional court, the highest tribunal. In addition, religious courts handle questions of personal and family law.

The Ba'ath Party emphasizes socialism and secular Arabism. Although Ba'ath Party doctrine seeks to build pan-Arab rather than ethnic identity, ethnic, religious, and regional allegiances remain important in Syria.

Members of President Asad's own minority sect, the Alawis, hold most of the important military and security positions, while Sunnis (in 2006) controlled ten of 14 positions on the powerful Ba'ath Party Regional Command. In recent years there has been a gradual decline in the party's preeminence. The party also is heavily influenced by the security services and the military, the latter of which consumes a large share of Syria's economic resources.

Syria is divided administratively into 14 provinces, one of which is Damascus. A governor for each province is appointed by the President. The governor is assisted by an elected provincial council.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Bashar Al-Asad
*Vice President--Farouk al-Shar'a
*Vice President--Najah al-Attar
*Prime Minister--Adil Safr
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Walid al-Mouallem
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Ambassador Dr. Bashar al-Ja'fari

===Political Conditions===
Officially, Syria is a republic. In reality, however, it is an authoritarian regime that exhibits only the forms of a democratic system. Although citizens ostensibly vote for the President and members of Parliament, they do not have the right to change their government. The late President Hafiz Al-Asad was confirmed by unopposed referenda five times. His son, Bashar Al-Asad, also was confirmed by an unopposed referendum in July 2000. The President and his senior aides, particularly those in the military and security services, ultimately make most basic decisions in political and economic life, with a very limited degree of public accountability. Political opposition to the President is not tolerated. Syria has been under a state of emergency since 1963. Syrian governments have justified martial law by the state of war, which continues to exist with Israel and by continuing threats posed by terrorist groups.
[[File:Umayyad Mosque Syria.jpg|thumb|340px|Umayyad Mosque.]]
The Asad regime (little has changed since Bashar Al-Asad succeeded his father) has held power longer than any other Syrian government since independence; its survival is due partly to a strong desire for stability and the regime's success in giving groups such as religious minorities and peasant farmers a stake in society. The expansion of the government bureaucracy has also created a large class loyal to the regime. The President's continuing strength is due also to the army's continued loyalty and the effectiveness of Syria's large internal security apparatus. The leadership of both is comprised largely of members of Asad's own Alawi sect. The several main branches of the security services operate independently of each other and outside of the legal system. Each continues to be responsible for human rights violations.

All three branches of government are guided by the views of the Ba'ath Party, whose primacy in state institutions is assured by the constitution. The Ba'ath platform is proclaimed succinctly in the party's slogan: "Unity, freedom, and socialism." The party has traditionally been considered both socialist, advocating state ownership of the means of industrial production and the redistribution of agricultural land, and revolutionary, dedicated to carrying a socialist revolution to every part of the Arab world. Founded by Michel 'Aflaq, a Syrian Christian and Salah al-Din Al-Bitar, a Syrian Sunni, the Ba'ath Party embraces secularism and has attracted supporters of all faiths in many Arab countries, especially Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. Since August 1990, however, the party has tended to de-emphasize socialism and to stress both pan-Arab unity and the need for gradual reform of the Syrian economy.

Nine smaller political parties are permitted to exist and, along with the Ba'ath Party, make up the National Progressive Front (NPF), a grouping of parties that represents the sole framework of legal political party participation for citizens. While created ostensibly to give the appearance of a multi-party system, the NPF is dominated by the Ba'ath Party and does not change the essentially one-party character of the political system. Non-Ba'ath parties included in the NPF represent small political groupings of a few hundred members each and conform strictly to Ba'ath Party and government policies. There were reports in 2005, in the wake of the June Ba'ath Party Congress, that the government was considering legislation to permit the formation of new political parties and the legalization of parties previously banned. These changes have not taken place. In addition, some 15 small independent parties outside the NPF operate without government sanction.
[[File:Syrian protesters 2011.jpg|thumb|270px|left|Syrian protesters in front of the US Embassy in Damascus, May 2011.]]
The Ba'ath Party dominates the parliament, which is known as the People's Council. With members elected every 4 years, the Council has no independent authority. The executive branch retains ultimate control over the legislative process, although parliamentarians may criticize policies and modify draft laws; according to the constitution and its bylaws, a group of 10 parliamentarians can propose legislation. During 2001, two independent members of parliament, Ma'mun al-Humsy and Riad Seif, who had advocated political reforms, were stripped of their parliamentary immunity and tried and convicted of charges of "attempting to illegally change the constitution." Seif was released from prison in early 2006, but remains under strict surveillance by the security services. The government has allowed independent non-NPF candidates to run for a limited allotment of seats in the 250-member People's Council. Following the April 22-23, 2007 parliamentary elections, the NPF strengthened its hold on parliament, with the number of non-NPF deputies shrinking from 83 to 80, ensuring a permanent absolute majority for the Ba'ath Party-dominated NPF.

There was a surge of interest in political reform after Bashar al-Asad assumed power in 2000. Human rights activists and other civil society advocates, as well as some parliamentarians, became more outspoken during a period referred to as "Damascus Spring" (July 2000-February 2001). Asad also made a series of appointments of reform-minded advisors to formal and less formal positions, and included a number of similarly oriented individuals in his cabinet. The 2001 arrest and long-term detention of the two reformist parliamentarians and the apparent marginalizing of some of the reformist advisors in the past five years, indicate that the pace of any political reform in Syria is likely to be much slower than the short-lived Damascus Spring promised. A crackdown on civil society in 2005, in the wake of Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon, and again in the late winter and spring of 2006, reinforced the perception that any steps toward political form were likely to be halting and piecemeal at best.

===National Security===
[[File:Syrian army officer.JPEG|right|220px]]
President Bashar Al-Asad is commander in chief of the Syrian armed forces, comprised of some 400,000 troops upon mobilization. The military is a conscripted force; males serve 24 months in the military upon reaching the age of 18. Some 17,000 Syrian soldiers formerly deployed in Lebanon have been withdrawn to Syria in response to UNSCR 1559, which was passed in the fall of 2004. Demands that Syria comply with 1559 intensified after the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Syria's military remains one of the largest in the region, although the breakup of the Soviet Union--long the principal source of training, material, and credit for the Syrian forces--slowed Syria's ability to acquire modern military equipment. Syria received significant financial aid from Gulf Arab states in the 1990s as a result of its participation in the first [[Gulf War]], with a sizable portion of these funds earmarked for military spending. Besides sustaining its conventional forces, Syria seeks to develop its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capability.

===Foreign Relations===
Ensuring national security, increasing influence among its Arab neighbors, and achieving a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement, which includes the return of the Golan Heights, are the primary goals of President Asad's foreign policy.

====Relations with Other Arab Countries====
[[File:Saladins grave Damaskus.jpg|thumb|left|Saladin's grave, Damascus.]]
Syria reestablished full diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1989. In the 1990-91 Gulf War, Syria joined other Arab states in the U.S.-led multinational coalition against Iraq. In 1998, Syria began a slow rapprochement with Iraq, driven primarily by economic needs. Syria continues to play an active pan-Arab role, although in the wake of the Hariri assassination, Syria became more isolated diplomatically, both in the region and beyond.

Though it voted in favor of UNSCR 1441 in 2002, Syria was against coalition military action in Iraq in 2003. However, the Syrian Government accepted UNSCR 1483 (after being absent for the actual vote), which lifted sanctions on Iraq and established a framework to assist the Iraqi people in determining their political future and rebuilding their economy. Syria also voted for UNSCR 1511, which called for greater international involvement in Iraq and addressed the transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition. Since the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq on June 28, 2004, Syria extended qualified support to the Iraqi Government and pledged to cooperate in the areas of border security, repatriation of Iraqi assets, and eventual restoration of formal diplomatic relations. While Syria has taken some steps to tighten controls along the Syria-Iraq border, Syria remains one of the primary transit points for foreign fighters entering Iraq. Consequently, relations between Syria and the Iraqi Government remained strained. However, following a series of visits between high-level officials from both governments--including Foreign Minister Mu'allim's November 2006 visit to Baghdad and Iraqi President Talabani's subsequent visit to Damascus--formal diplomatic relations were finally established in December 2006. That same month, the Ministers of Interior from both countries signed a Memorandum of Security Understanding aimed at improving border security and combating terrorism and crime. Iraq continues to call for more action on the part of Syria to control its border and to prevent Iraqi and Arab elements residing in--or transiting--Syria from contributing financially, politically, or militarily to the insurgency in Iraq.

====Involvement in Lebanon====
Syria has played an important role in Lebanon by virtue of its history, size, power, and economy. Lebanon was part of post-Ottoman Syria until 1926. The presence of Syrian troops in Lebanon dated to 1976, when President Hafiz al-Asad intervened in the Lebanese civil war on behalf of Maronite Christians. Following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Syrian and Israeli forces clashed in eastern Lebanon. However, Syrian opposition blocked implementation of the May 17, 1983, Lebanese-Israeli accord on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
[[File:Syria Lebanon relations.jpg|left|thumb|Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri and President Bashar Al-Assad, 2009.]]
In 1989, Syria endorsed the Charter of National Reconciliation, or "Taif Accord," a comprehensive plan for ending the Lebanese conflict negotiated under the auspices of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco. In May 1991, Lebanon and Syria signed the treaty of brotherhood, cooperation, and coordination called for in the Taif Accord.

According to the U.S. interpretation of the Taif Accord, Syria and Lebanon were to have decided on the redeployment of Syrian forces from Beirut and other coastal areas of Lebanon by September 1992. Israeli occupation of Lebanon until May 2000, the breakdown of peace negotiations between Syria and Israel that same year, and intensifying Arab/Israeli tensions since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000 helped delay full implementation of the Taif Accords. The United Nations declared that Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon fulfilled the requirements of UN Security Council Resolution 425. However, Syria and Lebanon claimed that UNSCR 425 had not been fully implemented because Israel did not withdraw from an area of the Golan Heights called Sheba Farms, which had been occupied by Israel in 1967, and which Syria now claimed was part of Lebanon. The United Nations does not recognize this claim. However, Lebanese resistance groups such as Hezbollah use it to justify attacks against Israeli forces in that region. The danger of Hezbollah's tactics was highlighted when Hezbollah's attacks on and hostage-taking of Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006 sparked a 34-day conflict in Lebanon. After the conflict, the passing of UNSCR 1701 authorized the enhancement of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Before the conflict, UNIFIL authorized a presence of 2,000 troops in southern Lebanon; post-conflict, this ceiling is to be raised to 15,000. As of September 2006, 5,000 troops had deployed to southern Lebanon. UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring peace and security along the frontier and overseeing the eventual return of effective Lebanese government and military authority throughout the border region.

Until its withdrawal in April 2005, Syria maintained approximately 17,000 troops in Lebanon. A September 2004 vote by Lebanon's Chamber of Deputies to amend the constitution to extend Lebanese President Lahoud's term in office by three years amplified the question of Lebanese sovereignty and the continuing Syrian presence. The vote was clearly taken under Syrian pressure, exercised in part through Syria's military intelligence service, whose chief in Lebanon had acted as a virtual proconsul for many years. The UN Security Council expressed its concern over the situation by passing Resolution 1559, which called for the withdrawal of all remaining foreign forces from Lebanon, disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias, the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces throughout the country, and a free and fair electoral process in the presidential election.

Former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 19 others were assassinated in Beirut by a car bomb on February 14, 2005. The assassination spurred massive protests in Beirut and international pressure that led to the withdrawal of the remaining Syrian military troops from Lebanon on April 26, 2005. Rafiq Hariri's assassination was just one of a number of attacks that continue to target high-profile Lebanese critics of Syria. The UN International Independent Investigative Commission (UNIIIC) headed by Serge Brammertz is investigating Hariri's assassination and is expected to report its findings to the Security Council by June 2007.

The United States supports a sovereign, independent Lebanon, free of all foreign forces, and believes that the best interests of both Lebanon and Syria are served by a positive and constructive relationship based upon principles of mutual respect and non-intervention between two neighboring sovereign and independent states. The United States calls for Syrian non-interference in Lebanon, consistent with UNSCR 1559 and 1701.

====Relations with Israel====
[[File:Ruined Syrian Fortifications on Golan Heights from Six-Day War.jpg|thumb|280px|left|Ruined Syrian Fortifications on Golan Heights from Six-Day War.]]
Syria was an active belligerent in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, which resulted in Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights and the city of Quneitra. Following the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which left Israel in occupation of additional Syrian territory, Syria accepted UN Security Council Resolution 338, which signaled an implicit acceptance of Resolution 242. Resolution 242, which became the basis for the peace process negotiations begun in Madrid in 1981, calls for a just and lasting Middle East peace to include withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in 1967; termination of the state of belligerency; and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all regional states and of their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries.

As a result of the mediation efforts of then U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Syria and Israel concluded a disengagement agreement in May 1974, enabling Syria to recover territory lost in the October war and part of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since 1967, including Quneitra. The two sides have effectively implemented the agreement, which is monitored by UN forces.

In December 1981, the Israeli Knesset voted to extend Israeli law to the part of the Golan Heights over which Israel retained control. The UN Security Council subsequently passed a resolution calling on Israel to rescind this measure. Syria participated in the Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991. Negotiations were conducted intermittently through the 1990s, and came very close to succeeding. However, the parties were unable to come to an agreement over Syria's nonnegotiable demand that Israel withdraw to the positions it held on June 4, 1967. The peace process collapsed following the outbreak of the second Palestinian (Intifada) uprising in September 2000, though Syria continues to call for a comprehensive settlement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the land-for-peace formula adopted at the 1991 Madrid conference.

Tensions between Israel and Syria increased as the second Intifada dragged on, primarily as a result of Syria's unwillingness to stop giving sanctuary to Palestinian terrorist groups conducting operations against Israel. In October 2003, following a suicide bombing carried out by a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Haifa that killed 20 Israeli citizens, Israeli Defense Forces attacked a suspected Palestinian terrorist training camp 15 kilometers north of Damascus. This was the first such Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory since the 1973 war. During the summer of 2006 tensions again heightened due to Israeli fighter jets buzzing President Asad's summer castle in response to Syria's support for the Palestinian group Hamas, Syria's support of Hezbollah during the July-August 2006 conflict in Lebanon, and the possible rearming of Hezbollah in potential violation of UN Resolution 1701. Rumors of “back-channel” negotiations in 2006-2007 between the Israeli and Syrian Governments were discounted by both Israel and Syria, with spokespersons for both countries indicating that any such talks were not officially sanctioned.

====Membership in International Organizations====
[[File:Dance performance Armenian folklore Opera House of Damascus Syria.jpg|thumb|300px|Dance performance featuring works from Armenian and world folklore at the Opera House of Dar Al-Assad for Culture and Arts in Damascus.]]
Syria is a member of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab League, Arab Monetary Fund, Council of Arab Economic Unity, Customs Cooperation Council, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Food and Agricultural Organization, Group of 24, Group of 77, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Chamber of Commerce, International Development Association, Islamic Development Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Finance Corporation, International Labor Organization, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, INTERPOL, International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Standardization, International Telecommunication Union, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, Organization of the Islamic Conference, United Nations, UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Universal Postal Union, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, World Meteorological Organization, and World Tourism Organization.

Syria's 2-year term as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council ended in December 2003.

====Relations with the United States====
U.S.-Syrian relations, severed in 1967, were resumed in June 1974, following the achievement of the Syrian-Israeli disengagement agreement. In 1990-91, Syria cooperated with the United States as a member of the multinational coalition of forces in the Gulf War. The U.S. and Syria also consulted closely on the Taif Accord, ending the civil war in Lebanon. In 1991, President Asad made a historic decision to accept then President Bush's invitation to attend a Middle East peace conference and to engage in subsequent bilateral negotiations with Israel. Syria's efforts to secure the release of Western hostages held in Lebanon and its lifting of restrictions on travel by Syrian Jews helped to further improve relations between Syria and the United States. There were several presidential summits; the last one occurred when then-President Clinton met the late President Hafiz al-Asad in Geneva in March 2000. In the aftermath of September 11th the Syrian Government began limited cooperation with U.S. in the war against terror.

Syria has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism since the list's inception in 1979. Because of its continuing support and safe haven for terrorist organizations, Syria is subject to legislatively mandated penalties, including export sanctions and ineligibility to receive most forms of U.S. aid or to purchase U.S. military equipment. In 1986, the U.S. withdrew its ambassador and imposed additional administrative sanctions on Syria in response to evidence of direct Syrian involvement in an attempt to blow up an Israeli airplane. A U.S. ambassador returned to Damascus in 1987, partially in response to positive Syrian actions against terrorism such as expelling the Abu Nidal Organization from Syria and helping free an American hostage earlier that year.
[[File:Dr.Bashar American Congress 2009.jpg|thumb|300px|Bashar Al-Assad received delegation from the U.S. Senate in 2009.]]
However, relations since the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri have considerably deteriorated. Issues of U.S. concern include the Syrian Government's failure to prevent Syria from becoming a major transit point for foreign fighters entering Iraq, its refusal to deport from Syria former Saddam regime elements who are supporting the insurgency in Iraq, its ongoing interference in Lebanese affairs, its protection of the leadership of Palestinian rejectionist groups in Damascus, its deplorable human rights record, and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In May 2004, the Bush administration, pursuant to the provisions of the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, imposed sanctions on Syria which banned nearly all exports to Syria except food and medicine. In February 2005, in the wake of the Hariri assassination, the U.S. recalled its Ambassador to Washington.

On September 12, 2006 the U.S. Embassy was attacked by four armed assailants with guns, grenades and a car bomb (which failed to detonate). Syrian Security Forces successfully countered the attack, killing all four attackers. Two other Syrians killed during the attack were a government security guard and a passerby. The Syrian Government publicly stated that terrorists had carried out the attack. The U.S. Government has not received an official Syrian Government assessment of the motives or organization behind the attack, but security was upgraded at U.S. facilities. Both the Syrian ambassador to the U.S., Imad Mushtapha, and President Bashar Asad, however, blamed U.S. foreign policy in the region as contributing to the incident.

==Economy==
Syria is a middle-income, developing country with an economy based on agriculture, oil, industry, and tourism. However, Syria's economy faces serious challenges and impediments to growth, including: a large and poorly performing public sector; declining rates of oil production; widening non-oil deficit; wide scale corruption; weak financial and capital markets; and high rates of unemployment tied to a high population growth rate. In addition, Syria currently is the subject of U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act, which prohibits the export and re-export of most U.S. products to Syria.
*GDP (2005 nominal)*: $27.3 billion.
*Real growth rate*: 2.9%.
*Per capita GDP*: $1464.
*Natural resources: Crude oil and natural gas, phosphates, asphalt, rock salt, marble, gypsum, iron ore, chrome, and manganese ores.
*Agriculture: Products--cotton, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. Arable land--32%.
*Industry: Types--mining, manufacturing (textiles, food processing), construction, petroleum.
*Trade: Exports--$10.2 billion: petroleum, textiles, phosphates, antiquities, fruits and vegetables, cotton. Major markets--EU, Arab countries, United States, New Independent States, Eastern Europe. Imports--$10.8 billion: foodstuffs, metal and metal products, machinery, textiles, petroleum. Major suppliers--Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, China, U.S., Japan.
[[File:Bashar al Assad 2010 Aleppo wc pd.jpg|thumb|Aleppo, 2010.]]
As a result of an inefficient and corrupt centrally planned economy, Syria has low rates of investment, and low levels of industrial and agricultural productivity. Its GDP growth rate was approximately 2.9% in 2005, according to IMF statistics. The two main pillars of the Syrian economy have been agriculture and oil. Agriculture, for instance, accounts for 25% of GDP and employs 42% of the total labor force. The government hopes to attract new investment in the tourism, natural gas, and service sectors to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil and agriculture. The government has begun to institute economic reforms aimed at liberalizing most markets, but reform thus far has been slow and ad hoc. For ideological reasons, privatization of government enterprises is explicitly rejected. Therefore major sectors of the economy including refining, ports operation, air transportation, power generation, and water distribution, remain firmly controlled by the government.

The Bashar al-Asad government started its reform efforts by changing the regulatory environment in the financial sector. In 2001, Syria legalized private banking and the sector, while still nascent, has been growing quickly in the last four years. Controls on foreign exchange continue to be one of the biggest impediments to the growth of the banking sector, although Syria has taken gradual steps to loosen those controls. In 2003, the government canceled a law that criminalized private sector use of foreign currencies, and in 2005 it issued legislation that allows licensed private banks to sell specific amounts of foreign currency to Syrian citizens under certain circumstances and to the private sector to finance imports. Syria's exchange rate is fixed, and the government maintains two official rates -- one rate on which the budget and the value of imports, customs, and other official transactions are based, and a second set by the Central Bank on a daily basis that covers all other financial transactions. There is, however, still an active black market for foreign currency.

Given the policies adopted from the 1960s through the late 1980s, which included nationalization of companies and private assets, Syria failed to join an increasingly interconnected global economy. Syria withdrew from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1951 because of Israel's accession. It is not a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), although it submitted a request to begin the accession process in 2001. Syria is developing regional free trade agreements. As of January 1, 2005, the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement (GAFTA) came into effect and customs duties were eliminated between Syria and all other members of GAFTA. In addition, Syria has signed a free trade agreement with Turkey, which came into force in January 2007, and initialed an Association Agreement with the EU, which has yet to be signed. Although Syria claims a recent boom in non-oil exports, its trade numbers are notoriously inaccurate and out-of-date. Syria's main exports include crude oil, refined products, raw cotton, clothing, fruits, and grains. The bulk of Syrian imports are raw materials essential for industry, vehicles, agricultural equipment, and heavy machinery. Earnings from oil exports as well as remittances from Syrian workers are the government's most important sources of foreign exchange.

Syria has produced heavy-grade oil from fields located in the northeast since the late 1960s. In the early 1980s, light-grade, low-sulphur oil was discovered near Dayr al-Zur in eastern Syria. Syria's rate of oil production has been decreasing steadily, from a peak close to 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 1995 down to approximately 425,000 bpd in 2005. Experts generally agree that Syria will become a net importer of petroleum not later than 2012. Syria exported roughly 200,000 bpd in 2005, and oil still accounts for a majority of the country's export income. Syria also produces 22 million cubic meters of gas per day, with estimated reserves around 8.5 trillion cubic feet. While the government has begun to work with international energy companies in the hopes of eventually becoming a gas exporter, all gas currently produced is consumed domestically.

Some basic commodities, such as diesel, continue to be heavily subsidized, and social services are provided for nominal charges. The subsidies are becoming harder to sustain as the gap between consumption and production continues to increase. Syria has a population of approximately 19 million people, and Syrian Government figures place the population growth rate at 2.45%, with 75% of the population under the age of 35 and more than 40% under the age of 15. Approximately 200,000 people enter the labor market every year. According to Syrian Government statistics, the unemployment rate is 7.5%, however, more accurate independent sources place it closer to 20%. Government and public sector employees constitute over one quarter of the total labor force and are paid very low salaries and wages. Government officials acknowledge that the economy is not growing at a pace sufficient to create enough new jobs annually to match population growth. The UNDP announced in 2005 that 30% of the Syrian population lives in poverty and 11.4% live below the subsistence level.

Syria has made progress in easing its heavy foreign debt burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with its key creditors in Europe, most importantly Russia, Germany, and France. Syria has also settled its debt with Iran and the World Bank. In December 2004, Syria and Poland reached an agreement by which Syria would pay $27 million out of the total $261.7 million debt. In January 2005, Russia forgave 80% of Syria's $13 billion long-outstanding debt, and later that year Syria reached an agreement with Slovakia, and the Czech Republic to settle debt estimated at $1.6 billion. Again Syria was forgiven the bulk of its debt, in exchange for a one time payment of $150 million.

==History==
[[Image:Shrine of Sayidda Zeinab.jpg|thumb|300px|Shrine of Sayidda Zeinab.]]
Archaeologists have demonstrated that Syria was the center of one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. Around the excavated city of Ebla in northern Syria, discovered in 1975, a great Semitic empire spread from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 B.C. The city of Ebla alone during that time had a population estimated at 260,000. Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be the oldest Semitic language.

Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arameans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Nabataeans, Byzantines, and, in part, Crusaders before finally coming under the control of the Ottoman Turks. Syria is significant in the history of Christianity; Paul was converted on the road to Damascus and established the first organized Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys.

Damascus, settled about 2500 B.C., is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It came under Muslim rule in A.D. 636. Immediately thereafter, the city's power and prestige reached its peak, and it became the capital of the Omayyad Empire, which extended from Spain to India from A.D. 661 to A.D. 750, when the Abbasid caliphate was established at Baghdad, Iraq.

Damascus became a provincial capital of the Mameluke Empire around 1260. It was largely destroyed in 1400 by Tamerlane, the Mongol conqueror, who removed many of its craftsmen to Samarkand. Rebuilt, it continued to serve as a capital until 1516. In 1517, it fell under Ottoman rule. The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years, except for a brief occupation by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt from 1832 to 1840.

====French Occupation====
In 1920, an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria was established under King Faysal of the Hashemite family, who later became King of Iraq. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the clash between his Syrian Arab forces and regular French forces at the battle of Maysalun. French troops occupied Syria later that year after the League of Nations put Syria under French mandate. With the fall of France in 1940, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French occupied the country in July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate.

====Independence to 1970====
Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence of April 17, 1946, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s were marked by upheaval. A series of military coups, begun in 1949, undermined civilian rule and led to army colonel Adib Shishakli's seizure of power in 1951. After the overthrow of President Shishakli in a 1954 coup, continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually brought Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power.

Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 coup, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's leadership in the wake of the 1956 Suez crisis created support in Syria for union with Egypt. On February 1, 1958, the two countries merged to create the United Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties ceased overt activities.

The union was not a success, however. Following a military coup on September 28, 1961, Syria seceded, reestablishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic. Instability characterized the next 18 months, with various coups culminating on March 8, 1963, in the installation by leftist Syrian Army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority. The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba'ath Party), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s. The new cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members.

The Ba'ath takeover in Syria followed a Ba'ath coup in Iraq the previous month. The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and Ba'ath--controlled Iraq. An agreement was concluded in Cairo on April 17, 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963. However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize. Thereafter, the Ba'ath regimes in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity. These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Ba'ath regime in Iraq was overthrown. In May 1964, President Amin Hafiz of the NCRC promulgated a provisional constitution providing for a National Council of the Revolution (NCR), an appointed legislature composed of representatives of mass organizations--labor, peasant, and professional unions--a presidential council, in which executive power was vested, and a cabinet. On February 23, 1966, a group of army officers carried out a successful, intra-party coup, imprisoned President Hafiz, dissolved the cabinet and the NCR, abrogated the provisional constitution, and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government. The coup leaders described it as a "rectification" of Ba'ath Party principles. The defeat of the Syrians and Egyptians in the June 1967 war with Israel weakened the radical socialist regime established by the 1966 coup. Conflict developed between a moderate military wing and a more extremist civilian wing of the Ba'ath Party. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the PLO during the "Black September" hostilities with Jordan reflected this political disagreement within the ruling Ba'ath leadership. On November 13, 1970, Minister of Defense Hafiz al-Asad affected a bloodless military coup, ousting the civilian party leadership and assuming the role of prime minister.

====1970 to 2000====
Upon assuming power, Hafiz al-Asad moved quickly to create an organizational infrastructure for his government and to consolidate control. The Provisional Regional Command of Asad's Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party nominated a 173-member legislature, the People's Council, in which the Ba'ath Party took 87 seats. The remaining seats were divided among "popular organizations" and other minor parties. In March 1971, the party held its regional congress and elected a new 21-member Regional Command headed by Asad. In the same month, a national referendum was held to confirm Asad as President for a 7-year term. In March 1972, to broaden the base of his government, Asad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Ba'ath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates. In March 1973, a new Syrian constitution went into effect followed shortly thereafter by parliamentary elections for the People's Council, the first such elections since 1962.

The authoritarian regime was not without its critics, though most were quickly dealt with. A serious challenge arose in the late 1970s, however, from fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who reject the basic values of the secular Ba'ath program and object to rule by the Alawis, whom they consider heretical. From 1976 until its suppression in 1982, the archconservative Muslim Brotherhood led an armed insurgency against the regime. In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and causing many thousands of dead and wounded. Since then, public manifestations of anti-regime activity have been very limited.

Syria's 1990 participation in the U.S.-led multinational coalition aligned against Saddam Hussein marked a dramatic watershed in Syria's relations both with other Arab states and with the West. Syria participated in the multilateral Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in direct, face-to-face negotiations with Israel. These negotiations failed, and there have been no further Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz Al-Asad's meeting with then President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000.

Hafiz Al-Asad died on June 10, 2000, after 30 years in power. Immediately following Al-Asad's death, the Parliament amended the constitution, reducing the mandatory minimum age of the President from 40 to 34 years old, which allowed his son, Bashar Al-Asad legally to be eligible for nomination by the ruling Ba'ath party. On July 10, 2000, Bashar Al-Asad was elected President by referendum in which he ran unopposed, garnering 97.29% of the vote, according to Syrian Government statistics. He was inaugurated into office on July 17, 2000 for a 7-year term.

====2000 to 2007====
[[File:Aleppo Syria.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Aleppo, 2006.]]
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 the Syrian Government began limited cooperation with United States in the global war against terrorism. However, Syria opposed the Iraq war in March 2003, and bilateral relations with the United States swiftly deteriorated. In December 2003, President Bush signed into law the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, which provided for the imposition of a series of sanctions against Syria if Syria did not end its support for Palestinian terrorist groups, end its military and security interference in Lebanon, cease its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, and meet its obligations under United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq. In May 2004, the President determined that Syria had not met these conditions and implemented sanctions that prohibit the export to Syria of U.S. products except for food and medicine, and the taking off from or landing in the United States of Syrian Government-owned aircraft. At the same time, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced its intention to order U.S. financial institutions to sever correspondent accounts with the Commercial Bank of Syria based on money-laundering concerns, pursuant to Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Acting under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the President also authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to freeze assets belonging to certain Syrian individuals and entities.

Tensions between Syria and the United States intensified from late 2004 to 2007, primarily over issues relating to Iraq and Lebanon. The U.S. Government recalled its Ambassador to Syria in February 2005, after the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Sensing its international isolation, the Syrians shored up their relations with Iran and radical Palestinians groups based in Damascus, and cracked down on any signs of internal dissent. There has been little movement on political reform, with more public focus on limited economic liberalizations. The Syrian Government has provided some cooperation to the UN Independent International Investigation Commission, headed by Serge Brammertz, which is investigating the killing of Hariri. Since the 34-day conflict in Lebanon in July and August 2006, evidence of Syrian compliance with its obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 not to rearm the Lebanese group Hezbollah is unpersuasive. On April 17, 2007, the United Nations Security Council welcomed the Secretary General's intention to evaluate the situation along the entire Syria-Lebanon border and invited the Secretary General to dispatch an independent mission to fully assess the monitoring of the border, and to report back on its findings and recommendations.

== Protesters 2011 ==
{{Main|Syrian Civil War}}

Protests broke out across Syria, including Damascus, the southern town of Daraa, and the coastal city of Lattakia, defying the regime of President Bashar Assad as has become typical during months of protests in a number of Middle East countries. They called for Assad's ouster and political reforms.

The Syrian government maintains protests are being led by what it calls extremist terrorist gangs.

The Arabic website "Al-Rai Al-Arabi" has reported that some 600 Libyan "volunteers", who want to participate in the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, came to Syria through [[Turkey]]. This is not too surprising; the current Transitional National Council (TNC) was the first to recognize the Syrian National Council as the "sole legitimate representative" of the Syrian people. The "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) in part of a group affiliated with the Libyan rebel movement, which have been linked in the past to Islamic extremist’s organizations and al-Qaida of the Islamic Mahgred (AQIM). Their agenda simply put is to establish an Islamic caliphate in Syria, much as they did in [[Libya]], with the help of [[NATO]].

== External links ==

*[http://rt.com/news/syria-lies-interview/ Western media lie about Syria – eyewitness reports.]
*[http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25000 America's Next War Theater: Syria and Lebanon?]
*[http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11011023-600-libyan-mercenaries-enter-syria-via-turkey-to-fight-in-syria-according-to-arabic-website 600 Libyan mercenaries enter Syria via Turkey to fight in Syria, according to Arabic website.]

== References ==

<references/>

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/12/AR2007091202430_pf.html N. Korea, Syria May Be at Work on Nuclear Facility], By Glenn Kessler, ''[[Washington Post]]'', September 13, 2007; A12.

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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;"| Some content for this article 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/3580.htm]}}}.
|}

{{Asian Countries}}

[[Category:Middle Eastern Countries]]
[[Category:Muslim-Majority Countries]]
[[Category:Dictatorships]]

Foot (unit)

2013-04-10T22:16:22Z

Snowy:

A '''foot''' is a unit of measurement for [[length]] in English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. Three feet equal a [[yard]], or thirty six [[inch]]es.

[[Category:Units of Measurement]]

Public Broadcasting Service

2013-04-02T01:29:43Z

Snowy:

The '''Public Broadcasting Service''' (PBS) is a non-profit public broadcasting [[television]] service in the [[United States]]. PBS is affiliated with [[National Public Radio]], American Public Media, and Public Radio International through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a entity of the federal government. Each member station is owned independently but they share programming and funding which means they show similar programs.

PBS, along with [[NPR]], has been accused of aiming its broadcast toward wealthy, elite segments of the American population while neglecting others, who nonethless pay for the programming. When Congress debated cutting funding for NPR and PBS, House Democrats appealed to the children's programming on PBS such as [[Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood]] (1968-2001) and [[Sesame Street]] (1969-present). Puppets of Sesame Street characters were brought into the House chambers, and Rep. [[Ed Markey]] (D-MA) commented: "Oscar the Grouch has been friendlier to the Sesame Street characters than President Bush." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4693682.stm] Most of PBS's programming, however, is aimed at children as they feed over 12 hours of children's programming every day of the week versus 6-8 hours of adult programming.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Television]]
[[Category:Media]]
[[Category: Liberalism]]
[[Category: Liberal Bias]]

Montreux Convention

2013-04-01T23:06:38Z

Snowy: /* History */

'''The Montreux Convention''' was signed in 1936 in [[Montreux]], [[Switzerland]]. It is a treaty that gives authority of the [[Turkish Straits]] (the [[Dardanelles]], the [[Sea of Marmara]], and the [[Bosporus]]) to [[Turkey]]. The treaty was ratified by [[Great Britain]], [[Greece]], [[Turkey]], the [[USSR]], [[Bulgaria]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Japan]].

==Agreement==

*Any ship may transit with cargo during peacetime. During wartime ships may pass as long as Turkey does not object. Turkey reserves the right to stop ships entering straits for purposes of sanitary and health control.<ref name="ntip">http://www.ntip.navy.mil/montreux_convention.shtml</ref>

*During wartime if Turkey is a belligerent, allied ships may pass. If a ship is neutral it may pass also but only during daytime if decided by the Turkish government. <ref name="ntip" />

*During peacetime, light warships of all powers may transit the straits after giving notice to Turkey. Turkey may waive notification if in case of warships providing humanitarian assistance.<ref name="ntip" />

* The convention lays out specific limits on tonnage. These preclude the transit of submarines and non-Black Sea powers through the straits. <ref name="ntip" />

* Foreign warships may not remain in the Black Sea for longer the 21 days.<ref name="ntip" />

==History==

When the treaty was signed in 1936, tensions where beginning to grow between Germany and Great Britain, as well as France. [[England]] and France saw the opportunity to see where Turkey's position was. They used the convention as their first step to encourage Turkey either to involve its war fleet in war against Germany or to maintain strict neutrality in the event of conflict between the Western Allies and Germany. <ref name="cutler">http://www.robertcutler.org/ch91dc.htm</ref> Turkey's neutrality stood despite Germany's pressure. The USSR interest in the treaty where to limit foreign ships through the straits, while letting its own warships pass. In 1930, Turkey was asked by [[Stalin]] to share its soverignty of the straits with the USSR, Turkey declined. <ref name="cutler" />

==United State's Dispute==

The treaties first major dispute came in 2005. The United States proposed expanding [[NATO]]'s mission [[Operation Active Endeavour]] to include the area of the Turkish Straits. Turkey argued that this would break the 70 year convention by having foreign ships in Turkish water for more then 29 days. The United States agreed to Turkeys argument and dropped the proposition. One Turkish official stated that, "The Americans have told us that they are now convinced by our arguments and concerns’ over the 1936 Montreux Convention, which gives Ankara control of passage through the Turkish straits. Washington's move to drop its earlier position removes this burden and has already led to an improvement in our relationship with the United States.”<ref>http://acturca.wordpress.com/2006/05/09/us-quits-black-sea-plan-eases-turkey%e2%80%99s-concerns/</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Military]]

Montreux Convention

2013-04-01T23:04:55Z

Snowy: /* Agreement */

'''The Montreux Convention''' was signed in 1936 in [[Montreux]], [[Switzerland]]. It is a treaty that gives authority of the [[Turkish Straits]] (the [[Dardanelles]], the [[Sea of Marmara]], and the [[Bosporus]]) to [[Turkey]]. The treaty was ratified by [[Great Britain]], [[Greece]], [[Turkey]], the [[USSR]], [[Bulgaria]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Japan]].

==Agreement==

*Any ship may transit with cargo during peacetime. During wartime ships may pass as long as Turkey does not object. Turkey reserves the right to stop ships entering straits for purposes of sanitary and health control.<ref name="ntip">http://www.ntip.navy.mil/montreux_convention.shtml</ref>

*During wartime if Turkey is a belligerent, allied ships may pass. If a ship is neutral it may pass also but only during daytime if decided by the Turkish government. <ref name="ntip" />

*During peacetime, light warships of all powers may transit the straits after giving notice to Turkey. Turkey may waive notification if in case of warships providing humanitarian assistance.<ref name="ntip" />

* The convention lays out specific limits on tonnage. These preclude the transit of submarines and non-Black Sea powers through the straits. <ref name="ntip" />

* Foreign warships may not remain in the Black Sea for longer the 21 days.<ref name="ntip" />

==History==

When the treaty was signed in 1936, tensions where beginning to grow between Germany and Great Britain, as well as France. [[England]] and France saw the opportunity to see where Turkey's position was. They used the convention as their first step to encourage Turkey either to involve its war fleet in war against Germany or to maintain strict neutrality in the event of conflict between the Western Allies and Germany. <ref name="cutler">http://www.robertcutler.org/ch91dc.htm</ref> Turkey's neutrality stood despite Germany's pressure. The USSR interest in the treaty where to limit foreign ships through the straits, while letting its own warships pass. In 1930, Turkey was asked by [[Stalin]]to share its soverignty of the straits with the USSR, Turkey declined. <ref name="cutler" />

==United State's Dispute==

The treaties first major dispute came in 2005. The United States proposed expanding [[NATO]]'s mission [[Operation Active Endeavour]] to include the area of the Turkish Straits. Turkey argued that this would break the 70 year convention by having foreign ships in Turkish water for more then 29 days. The United States agreed to Turkeys argument and dropped the proposition. One Turkish official stated that, "The Americans have told us that they are now convinced by our arguments and concerns’ over the 1936 Montreux Convention, which gives Ankara control of passage through the Turkish straits. Washington's move to drop its earlier position removes this burden and has already led to an improvement in our relationship with the United States.”<ref>http://acturca.wordpress.com/2006/05/09/us-quits-black-sea-plan-eases-turkey%e2%80%99s-concerns/</ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Military]]

Scientism

2013-04-01T23:00:45Z

Snowy: /* Scientism and atheism */

'''Scientism''' is the belief that the [[scientific method]] has no (or few) limits and can successfully be applied to almost all aspects of life, and provides an explanation for everything. It is essentially a religion where its followers (Scientists) worship [[science]] its rituals, and its results.<ref>Ashgate Science and Religion Series</ref>

== Scientism and atheism ==
Scientism has generally had a close relationship with atheism, as atheism and Scientism support each other. Followers of Scientism do not believe in God and therefore use atheism as the base of their religion, and atheists use [[pseudoscience]] to support their claims, as well as as evidence against God and the [[Bible]].<ref>http://sntjohnny.com/front/scientism-the-atheists-religion-of-faith/477.html</ref>

== Scientism and pseudoscience ==
Since Scientists have an agenda to use "science" to support their denial of God, their techniques usually rely on [[pseudoscience]]. For example, the claim to know that God exists, despite the fact that it is technically scientifically impossible to disprove anything (i.e. negative proofs are impossible). Despite this, they continue to deny the existence of God without any real scientific proof.<ref>http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2010/03/1174</ref>

== Science as a religion ==
Scientism is the religion of worshiping science as a source of explanations about the universe. It is based on their faith that science will provide answers because Scientists have a declared "objective" point of view.<ref>http://www.enformy.com/Religion_of_Scientism.htm</ref>

Believers of Scientism deny the existence of God, and instead worship pseudoscientific methods. They seek to use what they claim to be as "science" to replace God as the source for infinite knowledge, and the foundation of society. Scientists generally think of themselves as being Gods while practicing their scientific rituals, because they think they are coming up with answers. However, they really just pretend that they are God to feel superior to the faithful.

Worshipers of Scientism also believe that science should replace traditional [[morality]], so that they can do whatever they want as long as it is dictated by "science".<ref>http://www.crosswalk.com/news/exposing-the-religion-of-scientism-11598780.html</ref>

== Reference ==
{{reflist|2}}

== See Also ==
*[[Epistemology]]
*[[Postmodern science]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientism Scientism] (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary).
* [http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/sciism-body.html Scientism] (American Public Broadcasting Service).
* [http://www.philosophyetc.net/2007/08/scientism.html Scientism] (Philosophy, etc.)
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPeyJvXU68k&list=PLF3F6DFC4CC901818 The Magician's Twin: C.S. Lewis and the Case against Scientism] Featured Video by Discovery Institute
[[category:Methodology of Science]]
[[category:religion]]
[[category:science]]
[[category:pseudoscience]]

Logical fallacy

2013-03-30T22:48:05Z

Snowy:

A '''logical fallacy''' is an error in [[formal logic|logical]] reasoning. While the common usage of the word ''fallacy'' would include ''any'' error in [[reason]]ing, in logic a fallacy is defined as a particularly [[deceit|deceptive]] argument which seems correct, but upon further examination is found to be incorrect.<ref name="copi">Copi, Irving M. and Carl Cohen. "Introduction to Logic, 12e". Pearson Education: 2005</ref> The maker of such an argument, however, need not be aware of its fallacious nature.

Logical fallacies fall into two general categories: formal fallacies and informal fallacies. Formal fallacies apply to [[deductive argument]]s, and are those which relate to an improper application of a rule, whereas informal fallacies apply to [[inductive argument]]s, and are those which involve the improper use of the content of an argument. That is, an informally fallacious argument gives a conclusion which may be true or false, but which the fallacious argument does not prove; a formally fallacious argument gives a conclusion which is always false.

There are four categories of informal fallacies: fallacies of relevance, fallacies of defective or weak induction, fallacies of presumption, and fallacies of ambiguity.

A logical fallacy ''is not'' the same as [[lie|lying]], although it is still an error if you commit one (and dishonest if you know you are committing one). A ''lie'' in logic is a [[premise]] that one offers while knowing that it is false.

Logical fallacies are the beloved debating tactic of liberals; for this reason, it is not advised to debate them unless you have to, as you will only end up frustrated when one of them inevitably claims global warming is true because [[Al Gore]] said so.

==Fallacies of Relevance==
Fallacies of relevance are fallacies which are due to a lack of a relevant logical connection between [[premise]] and [[conclusion]].

===Appeal to force===
An appeal to [[force]] (Lat: ''argumentum ad baculum'') is an argument which uses a threat of [[violence]] or force as a justification for the conclusion. An appeal to force argument follows the form:

*If person A does not accept P, then Q
*Q is a threat of force
*Therefore P is true

For example: "If you do not pay me $30 I will break your leg. Therefore you owe me $30." It is fallacious because no amount of force can change the truth or falsity of the initial proposition.

===Appeal to pity===
Also called [[emotion]]al appeal, (Lat: ''ad misericordiam'') this fallacy is characterized by a use of emotion as a justification for the conclusion. An appeal to [[pity]] follows the form:

*Person A argues P
*Person B agrees P, but adds X, where X is an emotional argument unconnected to P

For example: "Yes, [[police|officer]], I realize I was speeding, but you shouldn't give me a ticket because I was racing to see my wife who is in the [[hospital]]." While this argument uses an emotional appeal to convince the officer not to hand out a citation, there is no logical connection between the premise ("you shouldn't give me a ticket") and the conclusion ("I was racing to see my wife").

Appeals to pity are very commonly seen in business. A factory manager may make the following argument: "our factory's overheads are too high, and we cannot maintain our business if we continue here. Therefore we should relocate to an area where labour is cheaper." An appeal to pity would be of the following type: "but our workers have bills to pay, families to support, we cannot fire them." That statement may be true, but is fallacious because it is not relevant to the manager's argument.

===Appeal to Consequences===
An ''appeal to consequences,'' or, more fully, ''appeal to adverse consequences'' or ''appeal to consequences of a belief,''<ref>[http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/appeal-to-consequences.html Fallacy: Appeal to Consequences]</ref> is an attempt to motivate belief with an appeal either to the good consequences of believing or the bad consequences of disbelieving. This may or may not involve an appeal to force. Such arguments are fallacious because the consequences of believing or disbelieving have no bearing on the truth or falsity of a belief. The following is an example:

* If you believe in evolution, then you'll be miserable, thinking that life is meaningless
* Therefore, evolution is false

This argument commits the ''appeal to consequences'' fallacy because it provides no evidence for its conclusion; all it does is appeal to the consequences of believing in evolution. Evolution is not disproven solely because it leads to bad consequences for those who believe in it. The following is a similar example:

* If you believe in evolution, then you'll be more respected in academic circles
* Therefore, evolution is true

This makes an appeal to the positive consequences of believing in evolution, without actually providing any proof of evolution itself. Just because belief in evolution makes you more respected by [[liberal]] professors, this does not mean that evolution is correct.

To use a more extreme example, but one doubtless familiar from everyday life, the mere fact that a child's belief in [[Santa Claus]] can have positive consequences does not prove that Santa Claus exists.

A particular form of the appeal to consequences is the [[appeal to personal interest]], which is fallacy of appealing to the personal likes and interests (preferences, prejudices, predispositions, fears, etc.) of others in order to have an argument accepted, when those personal likes and interests are irrelevant to the truth or falsity of the argument.

===''Argumentum ad hominem''===
: ''Main Article: [[Ad hominem]]''

''Ad hominem'' arguments (Lat: "argument directed toward the man") fall into two forms: ''ad hominem'' abusive and ''ad hominem tu quoque'' (circumstantial).

====''Ad hominem'' abusive====
An ''ad hominem'' is an argument which tries to disprove another argument by attacking the person who made it, rather than by focusing on the actual logical reasoning. The goal of an ''ad hominem'' argument is usually to take focus off of the actual argument by calling attention to a flaw of the person making it. This form of argument follows the form:

*Person A argues that P
*Person A is Q
*Q is some derogatory description not related to the argument at hand
*Therefore P is false

====''Ad hominem tu quoque''====
A ''tu quoque'' argument (Lat: "you're another") is one which argues that, because someone does that which they are arguing against, that person must be wrong. This form of argument follows the form:

*Person A argues that P should not happen
*Person A does P
*Therefore Person A's argument is incorrect

For example: "You can't tell me not to eat cheeseburgers, I just saw you eating one last week!" Another common example is often found in business: "why are you punishing me for dumping waste in the river? My rival does the exact same thing and you don't punish him!" In this case, dumping waste into the river is wrong (and illegal) regardless of how it is enforced for any other company.

====''Poisoning the well''====
Poisoning the well is a particular type of ''ad hominem'' argument. It consists of attempts to discredit a speaker (and, by extension, their argument) by criticizing unrelated opinions that they hold or, alternatively, by presenting unfavorable information (be it true or false) about the person to discredit in advance any argument that that person may make.<ref>[http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/poisoning-the-well.html Fallacy: Poisoning the Well]</ref> The first variant of the argument follows this form:

*Person A makes argument X.
*Person B counters that person A also believes Y, where Y is something unacceptable, foolish, or easily disprovable, but unrelated to X.
*Person A is wrong about Y.
*Therefore, person A must also be wrong about X.

The second variant follows this form:

*Person B, knowing that person A will make argument X, introduces unfavorable information about person A that is unrelated to X.
*Person A makes argument X.
*Therefore, person A must be wrong about X.

One example of the first variant was by the actor [[Matt Damon]], who attempted to discredit [[Sarah Palin|Sarah Palin's]] political credibility on the basis that she was a young-earth creationist: {{cquote|You know, the hockey mom, you know, "I'm just a hockey mom from Alaska," and she's the president. And it's like she's facing down Vladimir Putin and you know, using the folksy stuff she learned at the hockey rink, you know, it's just absurd. It's totally absurd, and I don't understand why more people aren't talking about how absurd it is. I...it's a really terrifying possibility. The fact that we've gotten this far and we're that close to this being a reality is crazy. Crazy. I mean, did she really - I need to know if she really thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago. That's an important - I want to know that. I really do. Because she's gonna have the nuclear codes. You know, I wanna know if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago, or if she banned books or tried to ban books. I mean, you know, we can't have that.<ref>Page F30. [http://www.pagef30.com/2008/09/matt-damon-on-sarah-palin-with.html ''Matt Damon on Sarah Palin with transcript''] (2008)</ref>}}

An example of the second variant is to introduce information (true or false) about a distateful or objectionable aspect of someone's personal life to persuade the listeners to reject out of hand whatever that person may say, when that aspect of the person's personal life may have nothing to do with the truth or falsity of the positions that that person will take.

When spelled out in the above form, the fallacy is easily seen, but it is used very frequently in political debate where skillful use of rhetoric can mask the underlying fallacy. The argument is fallacious because a person's opinions on one subject do not affect the truth or falsity of their statements on other subjects or because the asserted unfavorable information has no bearing on the truth or falsity of the position being attacked. There is some overlap between poisoning the well and ''ad hominem'' abusive, although poisoning the well in the second sense is used to mean introducing the irrelevant information preemptively.

===Genetic fallacy===
In general, this is the attempt to assert or reject a theory by citing its origins as either reputable or disreputable. The usual expression of this fallacy is "consider the source!" Thus it becomes a form either of ''argumentum ab auctoritate'' or of ''argumentum ad hominem'', depending on whether one seeks to verify or disprove the theory by this method. This type of argument follows the form:

*If P then Q
*Q is true
*P is false
*Therefore Q is false

When the origin of ''evidence'' or of ''premises'' is relevant to the reliability of the same, then asking a hearer to "consider the source" is valid. Judges in courts of [[law]], for example, routinely reject as unreliable the testimony of any witness who has demonstrably lied about a point that matters in the case at hand. The facts that such a witness is asserting might still be true, but they cannot stand without corroboration from another, more reliable witness.

But when corroboration is established, the origins of a conclusion, however tainted, become irrelevant.

As an example, [[Gregor Mendel]] established the genetic theory that remains current today, even though Mendel's experimental technique was badly flawed, and he even stands accused of falsifying key data. But succeeding [[science|scientists]], using accepted methods of verification and statistical assessment, have achieved results consistent with this theory. Thus the theory remains valid even though Mendel's original presentation was fraudulent. Any attempt today to discredit Mendel's theory on account of Mendel's sloppy methods would be an example of a genetic fallacy.<ref name=Genetic>[http://www.fallacyfiles.org/genefall.html Genetic Fallacy] on [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/ The Fallacy Files]</ref>

===Proof by numbers===
Also known as "appeal to the people" (Lat: ''ad populum''), this is an argument that a person bases on the numbers of people holding to its conclusion, rather than on the premises that might support that conclusion. An appeal to the people follows the form:

:Most people believe P
:Therefore P is true

"Ninety nine point nine percent of all respondents can't be wrong" is the classic phraseology of this fallacy One does not effectively disprove such an argument by challenging the numbers. Instead, one reminds the other person that the numbers of people holding to any given conclusion are irrelevant to establishing the truth or falsehood of that conclusion. [[History]] is in fact replete with multiple examples of conclusions that memorable [[science|scientists]] and other great discoverers have shown to be false even though large numbers of people believed them. [[Antoine Lavoisier]], who disproved "phlogiston" as the principle of fire, was one such person. [[Christopher Columbus]] and [[Ferdinand Magellan]] are two others. After all, millions of people believed in the roman gods, but they were proven wrong.

===Special pleading===
: ''Main Article: [[Special pleading]]''

[[Special pleading]] means applying to other people a set of standards that one is not willing to apply to oneself, without offering sufficient grounds, called the ''relevant difference'', to support such exemption. Special pleading follows the form:

*If Person X is in set P then Q happens to person X
*Person A is in set P
*Person A cites R circumstance, unrelated to P or Q
*Therefore Person A is not subject to Q

For example: a political or military leader who urges his subjects (or those under his command) to observe "iron rations" without similarly depriving himself leaves himself open to a charge of special pleading.

===Fallacies of relevance based on the age of an idea===
The '''appeal to antiquity''', also known as the '''appeal to tradition''', holds that an idea must be right just because it is old.<ref>[http://www.logicalfallacies.info/relevance/appeals/appeal-to-tradition/ Appeal to Antiquity / Tradition]</ref> Its opposite is the '''appeal to novelty''', which holds that an idea must be right just because it is new.<ref>[http://www.logicalfallacies.info/relevance/appeals/appeal-to-novelty/ Appeal to Novelty]</ref> Both are fallacies of relevance because the mere age of an idea does not tell us whether it is true. For example, an old idea could be a time-tested and sound concept, or it could be an ancient [[superstition]] like [[astrology]]. Similarly, a new idea could be the result of new [[information]] or an intellectual fad like [[postmodernism]].

==Fallacies of Defective or Weak Induction==
Fallacies of defective or weak induction are fallacies which are due to a lack of understanding for how well premises lead to a conclusion.

===Argument from silence===
''Argument from silence'' (in [[Latin]], ''argumentum ab silencio'') or ''argument from ignorance'' (Lat: ''ad ignorantium'') is an assertion which states that, because there is no evidence to support a given argument, the opposite must be true. The fallacy follows the form:
*If P then Q
*P cannot be shown true
*Therefore Q is false

For example: "Nobody has ever seen God, so clearly he doesn't exist".

This fallacy is often associated with and best remembered by the phrase: "the absence of evidence does not constitute evidence of absence." However, sometimes, absence of evidence can be so overwhelming that it constitutes strong evidence of absence. Such a situation arises when we have good reason to believe that the absent evidence would have been uncovered by now if it existed. For example, since evidence of the existence of the [[Loch Ness Monster]] would surely have come to light by now, but has not done so, it is reasonable to assume that the Loch Ness Monster does not exist, i.e., that the [[null hypothesis]] is true. In such cases, absence of evidence, while perhaps not conclusive, is strong evidence of absence.

A particular form of the argument from silence is the ''argument from personal incredulity,'' which takes the form "I cannot believe/understand/explain ''P;'' therefore, not-''P.''" For example, someone who does not understand why [[God]] would condemn [[homosexuality]] or condemn sinners to eternal [[hell]] may commit this fallacy and conclude that the relevant Bible passages should be [[Cafeteria Christianity|rejected]]. Another particular form is the [[black-swan fallacy]].

The argument from silence often results from a misplaced [[burden of proof]].<ref>[http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/burden-of-proof.html Fallacy: Burden of proof]</ref>

===False cause===
False cause (Lat: ''non causa pro causa'') is a fallacy which arises when a poor cause/effect link is used within an argument, especially if coincidence or chance are not taken into account. The fallacy follows the form:

*''P'' is true.
*''Q'' is true.
*Therefore, ''P'' causes ''Q.''

For example: "I used to be a well paid teacher until I started being a tougher grader. When my students' grades went down, so did my salary. Therefore, I must have been paid based on my students' grades." While this sounds like a logical explanation, not all factors are taken into account. For example, the teacher's school could have been subject to budget cuts, or maybe the teacher was overpaid at first and now his salary corrects his true worth.

====''Post hoc ergo propter hoc''====
{{main|Post hoc ergo propter hoc}}
''Post hoc ergo propter hoc'' (Lat: "after this; therefore, because of this") is a subcategory of false cause fallacies. In this type of argument, a close temporal proximity is used as a justification of a cause/effect relationship. ''Post hoc ergo propter hoc'' arguments follow the form:

*P happened, and then Q happened
*Therefore, P caused Q

For example: "Right around the time the sun goes up my alarm clock goes off, so the sun causes my alarm clock to go off." Clearly this is not the case.

====Texas sharpshooter fallacy====
Another form of false cause is the '''Texas sharpshooter fallacy'''. The name comes from a failed marksman who shoots at a barn, draws a bullseye around the biggest cluster of bullet holes, and proclaims himself to be a skilled marksman. In the fallacy, a cluster of data points is assumed to be caused by an apparent cause at that location. The assumption is fallacious because the clustering could be random, or there could be some other cause.<ref>[http://www.fallacyfiles.org/texsharp.html The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy]</ref> Other ways of explaining the fallacy are that the hypothesis is constructed after the fact to conform to the very data that are used to "test" the hypothesis<ref>[http://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~tiseda/works/Mayo-2.html Severe Testing]</ref> and that the same data are used to formulate and test the hypothesis.<ref>[http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=3073771#post3073771 Precognition paper to be published in mainstream journal]</ref>

===Non sequitur===
: ''Main Article: [[Non sequitur]]''

A ''non sequitur'' (Lat: "It does not follow") is an argument which moves from a premise to a conclusion without showing a valid connection, or sometimes any connection at all. This form of argument follows the form:

*P
*Therefore R is true

For example: "Crime rates are high, so we should increase the penalty for drug possession."

===Overgeneralization===
Overgeneralization (also called hasty generalization, converse accident, or painting with too broad a brush) is an error in reasoning which comes about by making a logical leap far greater than what the data allow. Overgeneralization follows the form:

*P is/does Q.
*P is a member of the set R.
*Therefore, everyone/everything in the set R is/does Q.

For example: "I just read that three kids were arrested yesterday for drug possession. Teens in this country are really going downhill!"

Overgeneralization the central problem in trying to conclude something about a population from a non-representative sample, or about a larger group from a non-representative subset of that group.

====Proving too much====
Proving too much is a form of overgeneralization in which one attempts to use a set of premises to sustain more conclusions than he can reasonably sustain using the argument presented. Proving too much includes reaching a conclusion that contradicts either things known to be true or [[stolen concept|the premises used to reach that conclusion]]. The term comes from the medieval saying, "What proves too much proves nothing."

===Proof by authority===
Also known as ''argumentum ab auctoritate'' ("argument proceeding from clout") or ''argumentum ad verecundiam'' ("appeal to unqualified authority"), this is an argument that a person bases on authority, either his own or that of another person, rather than on the merits of the position. When the authority involved is a relevant source who has access to more information about the topic than the people discussing it, then the argument becomes a ''citation.'' However, a valid citation must be in an area of study, research, or mental discipline in which the authority being cited is a recognized [[expert]].

*P says Q
*P is an authority in his field
*Therefore Q is true

A classic example of argument from unqualified authority is a reference to a celebrity or religious leader for their opinion on a matter of science or public policy, when that celebrity or cleric has never adequately studied the subject. A standard argument from authority is often used by evolutionists. A notable scientist claims that evolution is true, and based on that the average person is expected to believe in it as well. This becomes fallacious if the "notable scientist" has never considered alternatives which also provide the answers to the asked questions.

==Fallacies of Presumption==
Fallacies of presumption are fallacies in which an unstated or shaky presumption is made.

===Accident===
The fallacy of accident occurs when a generalization is inappropriately applied to an individual. A fallacy of accident follows the form:

*Some P are Q
*R is in P
*Therefore R is Q

For example: "You are from [[Ohio]], which is a [[red state]], so you must be a [[Republican]]".

===Contradiction===
:''Main article: [[Contradiction]]''

A contradiction is a statement that contradicts its own terms. [[Aristotle]] famously stated that contradictions cannot exist. In any case of a contradiction, some of the premises must be false. A contradiction is an argument which includes in its reasoning:

*P
*Not P

===Loaded question===
: ''Main Article: [[Loaded question]]''

A [[loaded question]] is a question that assumes facts, usually unflattering, that are not in evidence, with the intent of trapping the other person into admitting those facts. The classic loaded-question example is "When did you stop beating your wife?" Another example is, "Do you disbelieve in [[global warming]], which 99.9 percent of all reputable scientists now accept?"

===Proof by assertion===
Proof by assertion is an argument that states something as true without offering supporting evidence or attempting to construct a valid argument. This form of argument follows the form:

*P is true

Often the argument is simply [[Fallacy of invincible ignorance|repeated over and over]], and no evidence for support is given. Statements beginning with expressions such as "It goes without saying that ..." or "Everyone knows ..." are commonly proofs by assertion.

Proof by assertion can also be broken down into several subcategories of fallacies: circular reasoning, infinite regression, manufacturing facts from a theory, and your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong.

====Circular reasoning====
:''Main article: [[Circular reasoning]]''

[[Circular reasoning]], also called begging the question (Lat: petitio principii), is a form of proof by assertion in which one asserts a premise, then asserts a conclusion from that premise (directly or indirectly), and then tries to show that the last conclusion ''supports'' the original premise.

====Infinite regression====
: ''Main Article: [[Infinite regression]]''

An infinite regression results when one asserts that a given event caused another, and yet that first event requires another, identical event, to cause ''it.'' An infinite regression follows the form:

*P1 causes Q1
*Q2 causes P1
*P3 causes Q2
*Q4 causes P3
*And so on, forever

For example: [[Panspermia]], an alternative to [[abiogenesis]] as a proposition about the origin of life, suffers from the infinite-regression flaw so long as it fails to state positively what conditions could have brought about an origin of life on a planet other than the earth, ''other than'' the alleged mechanism of the "seeding" of life on the earth itself.

====Manufacturing facts from a theory====

Manufacturing facts from a theory is the assertion as fact of an undemonstrated, unobserved idea for no better reason than that a given theory requires that fact.

In the early stages of formulating a model, this sort of behavior is acceptable. But when repeated efforts to demonstrate such a new fact have failed, the proper logical response is to discard or revise the theory, and not merely to assume that the "fact" still exists and someone hasn't tried hard enough to find it. This is especially true when someone develops evidence that the inferred "fact" could not possibly exist.

====Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong====
: ''Main article: [[Your theory does not work under my theory, so your theory must be wrong]]'' 

This fallacy occurs when one theory is judged by the premises and assumptions of another theory, rather than against its own premises and assumptions. This form of fallacy follows the form:

*Theory A says that if P then Q
*Theory B says that if P then R
*Therefore theory A is wrong

For example: "Dinosaurs died 65,000,000 years ago, so the earth couldn't have been created 6,000 years ago."
It should be noted that although the above argument by itself is a fallacy, strong evidence supporting the death of dinosaurs 65 million years ago, as well as other evidence, would result in the argument being a proof by contradiction, not necessarily a fallacy.

===Straw man===
:''Main article: [[Straw man fallacy]]

A straw man fallacy occurs by first incorrectly attributing an argument to someone, disproving this argument, then claiming that the person was wrong. A straw man argument follows the form:

*If P then Q
*Person A says P
*Therefore Q

Straw man arguments can sometimes be hard to detect, because a valid statement may be used in a distorted fashion. For example:

*Person A believes that a military program should be cut
*Person B argues that since Person A wants to cut military funding, he wants to leave the country defenseless to attack

This is fallacious reasoning, because there is no way to know ''why'' person A believes what he does, and Person B has used one reason which suits his own purpose. For example, it's quite possible that Person A wants to cut the program because he wants to change the funding to something which he thinks does a ''better'' job at defending the country.

===Tautology===
:''Main article: [[tautology]]''

A [[tautology]] ([[Greek]] '''ταυτο-''' ''tauto-'', "the same") is an argument that becomes a repetition of a definition. Literally it means "the study of the same." Such an argument, or statement, can prove nothing beyond itself and is useless as a premise.

==Fallacies of Ambiguity==
Fallacies of ambiguity are fallacies which arise from ambiguity in language used.

===Amphiboly===
Amphiboly is an ambiguity which arises though loose or awkward phrasing:

For example: "Save soap and waste paper".

===Composition===
The fallacy of composition occurs when the parts of a whole are incorrectly used to describe the whole.

For example: "Since one of the battleships is ready to deploy, the whole fleet is ready to deploy".

===Conflation===
Conflation is the treatment of two different concepts as one.

For example: "Comparing apples to oranges".

===Division===
The fallacy of division occurs when it is argued that what is true for the whole must be true for its parts.

For example: "That company is very important. Since Joe works at that company, he must be very important."

===Equivocation===
Equivocation is the use of word with multiple meanings, and then using a different meaning in the conclusion than in the premise.

For example: "The coach said we should eat light, so take your heavy coat off."

===Moving the Goalposts===
[[Moving the goalposts]] is jargon used almost exclusively by evolutionists to decline to answer a question that is the logical next step in their argument. This next step is avoided by evolutionists by claiming that their critics are "moving the goalposts."

For example, Darwinists claim that asking how the theory of evolution explains the origin of life is "moving the goalposts," even though it is a logical question to ask.

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==
* [[Debate:Is infinite regression ever valid as a form of reasoning, or acceptable as a way the universe works, or came to be?]]
* [[Liberal logic]]

==External Links==
*[http://creationwiki.org/Logical_fallacy Logical fallacy] by [[CreationWiki]]
*[http://www.creationsafaris.com/crevbd.htm The Baloney Detector]
*[http://www.theskepticsguide.org/logicalfallacies.asp SGU-Top 20 Fallacies]
* Sagan, Carl. "The Fine Art of Baloney Detection" in ''The Demon-Haunted World, Science As a Candle in the Dark';' Ballantine: New York, pp. 201-218 (1996)

{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:Logical Fallacies| ]]

Night of the Living Dead

2013-03-30T22:21:39Z

Snowy: /* Synopsis */

'''Night of the Living Dead''' is a 1968 [[American]] horror film, written and directed by [[George A. Romero]]. It was filmed in [[Pennsylvania]] on a very low budget of $100,000, and is now in the [[public domain]], with many video and [[DVD]] releases available.

Though the black-and-white film was made cheaply, it is widely regarded as one of the best horror films. It is also the start of the ''Living Dead'' series of zombie films.

==Synopsis==
A young couple, Johnny and Barbara, go to a cemetery to bring flowers to Barb's dead father's grave. After that, Johnny starts teasing Barb about dead rising from their graves, coming to get her. Then, Johnny points to a man lumbering around some grave stones, claiming that he is one of those "living dead." This becomes true, as the [[zombie]] suddenly kills Johnny, and the frightened Barb then gets away from the zombie in her car.

Barb then takes refuge in a secluded barnhouse, where she meets Ben, a resourceful drifter who advises that the [[cannibalism|cannibalistic]] zombies can only be killed by being shot in the head or bludgeoned on the head. Ben and Barbara watch emergency broadcasts about the zombie outbreak, and find a man and his wife hiding in the basement with their daughter who has been bitten by a zombie and is very sick, and a young couple. Ben does whatever he can to keep the zombies away, while the remaining people are panicked. However, the young girl soon becomes a zombie herself, and eats her parents. Ben then kills the zombie girl, and locks himself in the basement, because some zombies have broken into the house and have taken Barb.

Ben spends the whole night in the house, and wakes up to find that all the zombies are gone. He looks outside, and sees a posse of civilians and police officers who have been responsible for the zombie killings. Ben, being mistaken for a zombie, is shot in the head, and the ending credits play over a [[montage]] of his body being dragged out of the house and burned on a pyre with other zomie bodies.

==Sequels==
A color sequel, ''[[Dawn of the Dead]]'', also directed by Romero, was released in 1978.
This was followed by "[[Day of the Dead]]", and later by remakes of the first two films. However the "[[Return of the Living Dead]]", released in 1985, and its sequels are not the work of George Romero, and he unsucessfully sued the makers of this series for copyright infringement.
[[Category: Horror (Film)]]

Barack Obama birthplace controversy

2013-03-09T16:32:03Z

Snowy:

[[File:UndocumentedWorker.jpg|right|300px]]
The '''Barack Obama birthplace controversy''' is about whether President [[Barack Obama]]1s a "natural born Citizen" of the United States. Obama and his supporters have said he was born in a hospital in Hawaii.

[[Barack Obama]] claims to have been born at the ''Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children'' in [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]],<ref name="maraniss">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082301620_pf.html |title=Though Obama Had to Leave to Find Himself, It Is Hawaii That Made His Rise Possible|author=Maraniss, David|publisher=''The Washington Post''|date=2008-08-22|accessdate=2008-10-27}}</ref> to Barack Obama, Sr., a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, [[Kenya]], and Ann Dunham, a US citizen <ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[FactCheck]]|url=http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html|title=Born in the U.S.A.|date=August 21, 2008|accessmonthday=October 24 |accessyear=2008}}</ref> of mainly [[English]], [[Irish]] and smaller amounts of [[Germany|German]] descent.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269836,00.html |title=FOXNews.com - Report: Obama's Irish Roots Unearthed - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum |publisher=Foxnews.com |date=May 3, 2007 |accessdate=2008-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/blogs/john-farrell/2008/10/30/barack-obamas-irish-heritage.html |title=Barack Obama's Irish Heritage - John A. Farrell (usnews.com) |publisher=Usnews.com |date= |accessdate=2008-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/12/AR2007051201551.html |title=Tiny Irish Village Is Latest Place to Claim Obama as Its Own - washingtonpost.com |publisher=Washingtonpost.com |date= |accessdate=2008-11-08}}</ref> However, requests, including lawsuits, asking he make his official birth certificate public were unanswered for many years.

The [[Constitution of the United States|US Constitution]] [[United_States_Constitution:Article_II|Article II]], Section 1 is quoted as requiring the following for any persons to be eligible to be [[President of the United States]]:
{{Cquote|'''''No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.'''''}}
Thus, according the Constitution, for all persons who were born in another country, even if they are US citizens, they are prohibited from legitimately becoming President. However, Barack Obama was born to an American citizen, which makes him a citizen by birth regardless of his birthplace.

In total, there have been at least 6 lawsuits in the effort to compel President-elect Obama to prove his birthplace and US Citizenship. The lawsuits include those by [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] former-Assistant Attorney General of [[Pennsylvania]] [[Philip Berg]][http://www.obamacrimes.com/attachments/058_Berg%20v%20Obama%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf], American Independent Party founder and former-[[Republican Party]] Presidential Primary candidate [[Alan Keyes]][http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/elections/presheadlines/34587804.html], and independent author [[Andy Martin]].[http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80928]

Philip Berg explained his lawsuit in this linked video [http://www.americanpatrol.com/MISCNEWS/2006-UP/ELECTIONS/2008/OBAMA/OctSurpriseVideo081012.html?v=gA6_k3NtXZs]

==2008 election==
During the democratic primaries the [[Hillary Clinton]] Campaign,<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8478044/Birther-row-began-with-Hillary-Clinton.html</ref> led a smear campaign against the validity of Barack Obama's Hawaii Birth certificate, claiming that it was false and that he was ineligible for Presidency. <ref>[http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTgxZmIwNTg0OWVhMWJkODNmZjI4ZjY4Mjg2OWRmNzI= http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTgxZmIwNTg0OWVhMWJkODNmZjI4ZjY4Mjg2OWRmNzI=]</ref> After initially refusing to produce a birth certificate in response to such rumors, the Obama campaign eventually endorsed a document posted on the Daily Kos as
authentic.<ref>[http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/6/12/11012/6168/320/534616 Obama's Birth Certificate]</ref><ref>[http://fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate Obama Campaign; Fight The Smears Website]</ref> The response is split regarding the birth certificate. Some commentators, such as those at the ''National Review'', are satisfied with the document.<ref>[http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWVjN2I1MjlhM2ZjZjRjYzBkODAxZjZkZGQyYWNkMDk= http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWVjN2I1MjlhM2ZjZjRjYzBkODAxZjZkZGQyYWNkMDk=]</ref> However, some analysts claim that the birth certificate is false.<ref>[http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12939.htm http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/12939.htm]</ref>

The ''Department of Hawaiian Home Lands'', an official government agency of the [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]] rejects this document as proof of Hawaiian birth. They require instead a "Certificate of Live Birth" (1st word different). The department states:
{{Cquote|'''''In order to process your application, DHHL utilizes information that is found only on the original Certificate of Live Birth, which is either black or green. This is a more complete record of your birth than the Certification of Live Birth (a computer-generated printout). Submitting the original Certificate of Live Birth will save you time and money since the computer-generated Certification requires additional verification by DHHL.'''''<ref>[http://hawaii.gov/dhhl/applicants/appforms/applyhhl Forms; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands]</ref>}}

Bloggers noted that the "Certification of Live Birth" records Obama's father's race as "AFRICAN" versus "Negro" and that the document contains the word "LASER" in the lower left hand corner identifying the form type. They claim both words are incompatible with a document generated in 1961. They also note the certification number is blacked out.<ref>[http://conservativepolitics.today.com/2008/06/25/proven-barack-obama-presented-forged-certificate-of-live-birth/ Conservative Politics Today Website]</ref>

On August 21st, 2008, Factcheck.org published an article regarding the controversy.<ref>[http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html Born in the U.S.A.]</ref> The site stated, "FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." In addition, the site posted high-resolution photographs of the birth certificate, which clearly showed the raised seal, stamp of Hawaii state registrar Alvin T. Onaka, and certificate number. The birth date corresponds to a birth announcement published in the ''Honolulu Advertiser '' on Sunday, August 13, 1961. <ref>http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html</ref>

A Philadelphia attorney, Phillip Berg, has filed a lawsuit against the DNC and Barack Obama. Berg maintains that Sen. Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen or that, if he ever was, he lost his citizenship when he was adopted in Indonesia. Berg also cites what he calls "dual loyalties" due to his citizenship and ties with Kenya and Indonesia. The "dual loyalties" which have not been shown to exist do not violate any constitutional or legal precedents and would make Sen. Obama a poor choice for President, not an invalid choice.

Obama website Fight The Smears has confirmed that Obama was once a Kenyan citizen until 1982. Attorney Philips Berg's lawsuit is being challenged by the Obama Campaign. Instead of producing the original birth certificate in court and paying a number of legal fees and taking several days out of his busy campaigning schedule the Obama campaign had the case dropped on the grounds that it lacked any supporting evidence. <ref>http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?t=10815605</ref> The fact that Mr. Berg's dual arguments were mutually contradictory may also have contributed.

The state of Hawaii announced that the "Certification of Live Birth" document is legitimate and official. Since the state of Hawaii is the issuing body, they have ultimate authority with regards to the matter.<ref>http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html</ref> Critics rightfully point out such documents actually were issued for children not born in the state, and his "Certification of Live Birth" has likewise been dismissed as a forgery. <ref>http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html</ref>

Adding fuel to the fire is Obama's persistent refusal to release documents that could provide answers. While his supporters cite an online version of a "Certification of Live Birth" from Hawaii. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92810 Justice, Supremes confirm getting eligibility challenge] WND, March 24, 2009</ref>

Bob Schultz with the We The People Foundation said:

:"In the end, there is no practical reason why Obama refuses to produce his original birth certificate. He... has a duty to provide evidence that he meets the explicit requirements established by the Constitution."

Nancy Salvato with BasicsProject.org summarized:

:"What perturbs the rest of us is that President Obama has failed to produce a legitimate birth certificate. He has a team of lawyers who are opposing the examination of his sealed records in Hawaii. What he produced was a certificate of live birth... not a birth certificate. The rest of us are appalled at the lack of media examination surrounding the fact that there is no law requiring that a candidate for the highest office in our land produce an authentic birth certificate which proves natural citizenship."

In April 2010, the Arizona House approved a bill that would require presidential candidates to show his or her birth certificate in order to be on the state's ballot.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/22/arizona-house-oks-requiring-presidential-candidates-provide-birth-certificate/ Arizona House OKs Bill Requiring Presidential Candidates to Provide Birth Certificate], FOXNews.com, April 22, 2010.</ref> It would require U.S. presidential candidates who want to appear on the Arizona ballot to submit documents proving they meet the constitutional requirements to be president.<ref>Ashby Jones. [http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/04/22/arizona-house-to-obama-no-birth-certificate-no-ballot/ Arizona House to Obama: No Birth Certificate, No Ballot], ''The Wall Street Journal'', April 22, 2010.</ref> The Constitution says a person must be a "natural-born citizen" to be eligible for the presidency.<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/ArizonaWantsObamaBirthProofforRun/2010/04/21/id/356375 Arizona Wants Obama Birth Proof for Run], ''Newsmax'', April 21, 2010.</ref>

==2011 release of information==
While preparng for the 2012 reelction bid, on April 27, 2011 the White House produced a copy of what it calls Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/27/white-house-releases-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate/ "White House Releases Obama's Long-Form Birth Certificate", '''Fox News''']</ref> In attempting to ameliorate the question first raised by [[Hillary Clinton]] supporters,<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8478044/Birther-row-began-with-Hillary-Clinton.html</ref>Obama again descended into ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks against his perceived political opponents.<ref>http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201104270015</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/carnival-barkers-slam-obama_n_854702.html</ref> Obama told the press briefing he had more important things to do than to answer questions about where he was born. Immediately afterwards he boarded [[Air Force One]] and flew to [[Chicago]] to be on the [[Oprah Winfrey]] show.

==See also==
*[[Birthplace of Barack Obama]]
*[[Obama birth certificate controversy]]
*[[Obama birth certificate lawsuits]]
*[[Essay:Born Outside the U.S.A.!]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Outside Links ==

'''Sources favoring the Courts' compelling Obama to prove his birthplace and citizenship:'''

* [http://www.obamacrimes.com Philip Berg's Website]

'''Sources opposed to the Courts' compelling Obama to prove his birthplace and citizenship:'''

* [http://www.stopthesmears.com Anti-Barack Obama Campaign Website]

[[Category:Barack Hussein Obama]]

Extraterrestrial life

2013-02-20T06:48:13Z

Snowy: /* Theoretical approaches */

'''Extraterrestrial life''' is [[Life science|life]], whether demonstrated, hypothesized, or merely imagined, that did not obviously originate on the [[Earth]]. It has been a staple of [[science fiction]] since the [[Edward VII|Edwardian]] era, and has more recently become the subject of scientific and even theological debates.

The term ''life'' is here used in its usual manner to denote living things, regardless of complexity or sentience. However, in [[science fiction]] especially, extraterrestrial life may take unconventional forms, such as non-carbon-based life forms or even disembodied intelligence.

The term ''race'' here means a species of sentient individuals (not an ethnographic subdivision of a single species); for example, humans all belong to only one race, the human race.

== Extraterrestrial life as a scientific hypothesis ==
Vigorous scientific research on the subject is fairly limited, and has focused on both the "micro" and "macro" aspects of the problem:

# The genesis, nature, survival, and movement of primitive life forms, including the hazard that spaceborne microbes might pose to [[astronaut]]s or to the Earth itself.
# The possibility of prior or future detection, contact, trade, or war with an extraterrestrial [[civilization]].

=== Microbes and other primitive forms ===
[[Image:PIA09027 a anno br.jpg|400px|right]]

Extraterrestrial microbes have been and remain the subject of much serious scientific speculation. Such speculation has centered on three questions:

# Could a microbe of extraterrestrial origin somehow come to Earth and cause a killer [[pandemic]]?<ref>This question of ''back-contamination'' was a serious worry in the middle years of [[Project Apollo]]--that is, the time of the first four missions of that project. [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]], the launch authority for Apollo, required the crews of the first three missions actually to reach the [[moon]] to spend weeks in [[quarantine]] while under the constant care and watch of a [[physician]]. Only after three crews landed on the moon and returned to Earth with no ill effect and no evidence of having contracted any communicable disease on the Moon or in space did NASA drop that requirement. (The crew of [[Apollo 13]] did not face this requirement because their in-flight emergency precluded their planned landing.)</ref>
# Did life on Earth begin with the "seeding" of the earth from outside? This theory, called [[panspermia]], alleges that either (a) the Earth acquired the seeds of life by passing through the tail of a [[comet]], or (b) an extraterrestrial ''civilization'' sent the seeds of life ''deliberately'' for one reason or another. Extraterrestrial microbes would be involved in either case.
# Might a human crew or human-directed robotic explorer find extraterrestrial microbes on another [[planet]]?

With the continued development and perfection of telescopes, [[Astronomy|astronomers]] and [[rocket]] [[science|scientists]] have openly and often feverishly speculated about whether the other planets in the [[Solar System]] might harbor forms of life that originated on those planets. This speculation has also extended to [[Titan]], the largest satellite of the planet [[Saturn]].

The major considerations driving such speculation are the requirements of life, and the difficulty with the theory of [[abiogenesis]] as a workable origin of [[life]] on [[Earth]]. Most scientists engaged in such speculation seem to agree that life requires at least two things in order to self-generate in any environment:

# [[Water]]
# An [[atmosphere]]
[[Image:Mars_meteorite.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Meteor]]ite believed to have once been a part of [[Mars]] and to contain [[fossil]] evidence that primitive [[life]] may have existed on Mars.[http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/mars/meteorites/html/s94_032549.html Image source] ]]
Currently the most exciting subject for speculation concerning extraterrestrial life is the planet [[Mars]]. Its atmosphere is quite thin, and this would militate against the presence of life or, more to the point, the presence of standing or flowing water. But photographs taken from orbit and from the surface of Mars reveal erosion channels that strongly suggest that water once flowed on Mars. Indeed, the first graphic above shows changes in a gully in two views of it, taken four years apart--as if liquid water had opened another erosion channel in the meantime. (The operators of the Mars Global Surveyor insist that such pictures might still contain artifacts that make them unsuitable for scientific research, and hence disclaim any definite conclusion that anyone might be tempted to draw from them.) The second graphic shows a [[meteor]]ite, found in [[Antarctica]] in 1984, containing microscopic cavities that once might have held [[microbes]] and that, until recently, was believed to have fallen to Earth from Mars.<ref>Donald L. Savage, James Hartsfield, and David Salisbury, "[http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/nasa1.html Meteorite Yields Evidence of Primitive Life on Early Mars]," ''Mars Meteorite Project'', press release 96-160, August 7, 1996. Retrieved April 17, 2007, from the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] Web servers.</ref>

If one could show that abiogenesis occurred on Mars, then that process was far more likely to have occurred on Earth than it would be absent such a showing or finding. Yet apart from the reliability of such evidence is this one inherent weakness for this argument: it assumes that life ''found'' on Mars ''originated'' on Mars. The hydroplate theory of the [[Great Flood]] suggests that large quantities of water, including muddy slurries, were ejected into space during the initial fissure of the original earth's crust, and that these ejecta persist today as [[comet]]s, [[asteroid]]s, and [[meteor]]oids. If such ejected water and mud fell to Mars from above, then they might have held [[microbes]]--and therefore any microbes found on Mars are far more likely to have come from Earth during the Noachic Flood than to have originated on Mars.<ref>If such life forms survived, that need not be a great shock to any observer. [[Extremophiles]], or microbes known to thrive under conditions that would kill or render dormant any other form of life, are well-known on Earth and have even been the subject of engineering studies attempting to find practical uses for them.</ref>

Space scientists have searched for extraterrestrial microbes for years. To date, no definitive proof of such microbes has been found. The Antarctic meteorite mentioned above, and the alleged bacterial fossils on it, fueled speculation for months, until other scientists finally determined that the microbes involved probably were earthly contaminants.<ref>Rick Lockridge, "[http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9801/15/contaminated.rock/ Scientists dispute NASA's claims about Mars meteorite]", ''The Cable News Network'', January 15, 1998. Retrieved April 17, 2007 from CNN's web servers.</ref>

Nevertheless, the finding of extraterrestrial microbes on [[Mars]] is one of the fondest expressed hopes of NASA planetary scientists<ref>Authors unknown, "[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/life/ Do Martians Exist?], ''NASA Mars Exploration'', 05 Oct 2005 04:51:40 UTC. Retrieved April 17, 2007, from [[NASA]].</ref> and of other scientists and advocacy groups<ref>Everett Gibson, Jr., David S. McKay, and Kathie Thomas-Kerpta, "[http://www.marssociety.org/portal/TMS_Library/MAR_98_046/view Life on Mars: Evidence from Martian Meteorites]," ''Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society'', R. M. Zubrin and M. Zubrin, eds. 1998. Retrieved April 17, 2007, from [http://www.marssociety.org The Mars Society].</ref> hoping to persuade the [[United States]] government, or perhaps the [[United Nations]], to fund crewed expeditions to Mars. Furthermore, no sane space mission planner could in good conscience ignore the potential hazard of the transport of a microbe to Earth and the release of that microbe into Earth's [[biosphere]]. Happily, measures for containing such a microbe, perhaps derived from those measures taken during [[Project Apollo]], would contribute a relatively insignificant amount to the total budget of a program of crewed missions to Mars or to any other celestial body.

[[Francis Crick]] and [[Leslie Orgel]], in 1973,<ref>Crick, F. H. C., and Orgel, L. E. "Directed Panspermia," ''Icarus'', 19, 341 (1973).</ref> openly speculated on a form of exogenesis called [[Panspermia#Directed panspermia|directed panspermia]], in which such an extraterrestrial nation-state fired a brace of missiles, each laden with [[bacteria]] and/or [[blue-green algae]], in all directions. One such missile crashed on Earth, and we are its by-product, as it were, their theory states.<ref>For a detailed discussion on the logical weaknesses and omissions of such a position, see the main article on [[Panspermia]].</ref>

=====Candidates for extraterrestrial life in our Solar System according to evolutionary pseudoscience=====
Besides [[Earth]] there are two moons and one planet that scientists consider possibly habitable to some form of life.
#[[Mars]], as mentioned above, is the most popular candidate. Ice is known to exist at the poles. Some liquid water might exist on Mars because temperatures occasionally rise above freezing.
#The [[Jupiter|Jovian]] moon [[Europa (moon)|Europa]] is covered with a thick sheet of ice. Scientists speculate that a liquid ocean may exist under the crust and that may harbor life.
#[[Titan]], a moon of [[Saturn]], has approximately the same percentage of [[nitrogen]] in its atmosphere as in Earth's. Titan also has [[ocean]]s and thick clouds. Scientists have determined that the oceans are liquid [[methane]], not water, and that the low temperatures of -178° Celsius make life, at least as we know it, highly improbable.

=== Extraterrestrial Civilizations ===
Do one or more extraterrestrial civilizations exist? Until recently, speculation about extraterrestrial races was confined either to [[science fiction]] or to innumerable anecdotal reports of "[[UFO|unidentified flying objects]]." These latter reports were once the subject of an investigation, known as Project Blue Book, by the [[United States Air Force]].<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.ufoevidence.org/topics/ProjectBlueBook.htm Project Blue Book]", ''[http://www.ufoevidence.org/ UFO Evidence.org]'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref>Anonymous, ''[http://www.bluebookarchive.org/ The Project Blue Book Archive]'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref>Fund for Unidentified Flying Object Research (FUFOR), ''[http://www.nicap.org/index.htm Official Site of the National Investigative Committee for Aerial Phenomena]'', Francis L. Ridge, editor and Webmaster, December 15, 1997 to present. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref>Presumably the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|Soviet]] Army Air Forces had their own version of Blue Book as well.</ref> But years after Blue Book wound down, a large cadre of scientists began to entertain seriously the notion that extraterrestrial civilizations might exist.

[[Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence|SETI]] ('''S'''earch for '''E'''xtra'''t'''errestrial '''I'''ntelligence)<ref>[http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178025 Home of the SETI Institute]</ref> is the name given to several government and privately-funded projects that over the years have searched for evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations. This is done by listening via radio [[telescope]] on a defined frequency band for any transmission having any semblance of order. The frequency band is one that, they believe, is the likeliest region in the [[electromagnetic spectrum]] for anyone to be sending a signal intended to cross interstellar, or even intergalactic, space.

No definitive evidence exists for any form of extraterrestrial civilization. While the Project Blue Book investigators found a number of cases that they had to classify as "unknown," they were able to classify the bulk of the anecdotes as outright hoaxes, misinterpretations of common weather features, or misinterpretations of sightings of ordinary aircraft.<ref>The Air Force might also have acted in a deceptive manner in certain isolated cases in which what the witnesses took for [[UFO]]s were actually secret experimental prototypes. Perhaps some of these prototypes exist today as the [[B-2]], [[F-117]], and other [[Stealth aircraft]].</ref> Neither has any [[Astronomy|astronomer]] or [[astronaut]] reported a definite sighting of a vessel that could have launched any of the craft that witnesses report having encountered. And the SETI projects, despite years of searching for a signal (at one point recruiting civilians to participate in a "distributed computing" project to process the noise they have received from their radiotelescopes), have never isolated anything like a definite signal.

====Theoretical approaches====
In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake developed a method for estimating of the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. The Drake Equation simply begins with the number of stars, then multiplies that number by a series of probabilities (probability that a star has planets, that a planet can support life, etc.) to obtain the quantity desired (number of populated planets, number of civilizations whose existence is detectable, etc.).

In principle, the Drake Equation can provide an upper and lower bound for the number of extraterrestrial civilizations by setting upper and lower bounds for each probability factor, which can then be improved upon as better information becomes available. Because the number of stars is so huge, even the lower bound is often calculated to be a respectable number. However, a serious problem is that some of the probabilities are completely unknown, or even unknowable. For example, the probability of life emerging on a planet is a meaningless concept if life is created directly by God and not by some naturalistic process. If any of the probabilities appearing in the equation is zero, then the number of extraterrestrial civilizations of course goes to zero.

== Extraterrestrial Life in Science Fiction ==
Extraterrestrial life, from nation-states to microbes, has been a staple of [[science fiction]] since the early days of the genre. Novelist [[H. G. Wells]] speculated on what sort of inventions might carry men into outer space, and what they might discover there. In ''The First Men in the Moon'', he describes a fictional extraterrestrial civilization on the [[moon]], populated by man-sized insects. Wells also wrote about a Martian nation-state that launched an invasion of Earth (''The War of the Worlds''), only to fail when the invaders fell terminally ill from earthly microbes against which their immune systems had no defense. [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] indulged in far richer speculation on an entire civilization on Mars, and on semi-regular commerce between his Martians and a select few visitors from Earth.

The middle twentieth century introduced other now-familiar themes, often through the media of comic books, novels, low-budget films, and [[television]]: humans caught up in events on other inhabited worlds, spacefaring starship crews, and extraterrestrial "prophets" appearing on earth with either good intentions or bad. By the late twentieth century, big-budget films repeated these themes and introduced new ones, sometimes (as in ''[[Star Wars]]'') bypassing Earth altogether in favor of mythlike tales of ancient civilizations. The alleged crash of an extraterrestrial scout craft near Roswell, New Mexico, United States was the subject of another film.

The ''[[Star Trek]]'' television franchise created by [[Gene Roddenberry]], with its myriad of extraterrestrial and even trans-galactic empires, is well known. Also in the 1960s, producer Quinn Martin created the series ''The Invaders'' that centered on one man's attempt to warn his government that the Earth had been infiltrated with extraterrestrial spies. More recently, Kenneth Johnston created ''V'', a series in which a spaceborne force whose commanding admiral at first puts on a friendly appearance (similar to that of [[Matthew Perry]], the American commodore who first visited [[Japan]]) but then subverts human governmental and media institutions in order to further the aliens' true purpose, which is to steal earth's water and carry away earth's population for food.

Nor have science fiction writers ignored speculation about the finding of extraterrestrial microbes. Usually they have portrayed such microbes as capable of producing deadly extinction-level pandemics. (See, for example, ''The Andromeda Strain'' by Michael Crichton.) John B. Olson and Randall S. Ingermanson, however, speculated that the first crew to fly to Mars might discover incontrovertible evidence of microbial life--including a culturable microbe. This would engender excitement in the hearts of their launch authorites, but would also inspire such fear in the mind of a [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration|NASA]] engineer that she would actually attempt to strand or murder the crew to stop them from back-contaminating the earth with their culture.

== Religious Views on Extraterrestrial Life ==

===Christian views===
The question of whether the existence of an extraterrestrial race is compatible with the [[Bible]] is in sharp dispute. The dispute is probably of modern origin - the Catholic Church never issued any formal pronouncement on the question of alien life, and most Protestant confessions are silent on the matter. Those insisting that the Bible is entirely compatible with extraterrestrial races hold that the Bible contains no verse that says directly that man is the only sentient race in the universe.
====John 10:16 ====
Compatibility advocates quote this verse:{{Bible quote|I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.|book=John|chap=10|verses=16|version=NASB}}

Critics of this position point out that that verse probably referred to the distinction between [[Judaism|Jew]] and Gentile, and reject the proposition that "other sheep" might include extraterrestrial races.

====Uniqueness of the Atonement====
Opponents hold that the presence of such a race would give the lie to the claim of [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] that He came to take away the sin of the world.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_John|chap=2|verses=2|version=NASB}}</ref>, and that He died once and only once to bring this about. They contend that since Jesus is referred to singly (as he was an individual person), this rules out the possibility of an alien counterpart to Jesus, and that an alien counterpart to Jesus is a necessary precondition for an alien nation to exist.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=1|verses=26-28|version=NASB}}</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Romans|chap=5|verses=14|version=NASB}}</ref>--and that Kingdom is also not of this universe, or "cosmos".

Defenders of the compatibility position might insist that neither of the two verses named above speaks directly to the uniqueness claim. But the original [[Hebrew]] and [[Greek]] texts use definite article adjectives and references to a specific person named [[Adam]] (and another, named [[Jesus]]), with no hint that either Adam or Jesus had any counterpart elsewhere in the cosmos. These things militate in favor of uniqueness almost as well as any direct negation of plurality might. Again, compatibility defenders might cite a lack of evidence that any hypothetical alien race would ''require'' counterparts to Jesus or Adam. But [[Christian]] critics reply that if the Bible is real at all, then life does not arise out of non-life. Therefore ''every'' race would have its Adam--and if any given Adam did ''not'' fall into sin, then his race would be under strict Divine orders to avoid contact with humans until the "hour of temptation" (see above) came to pass.<ref>For a further exposition of the uniqueness position, see [[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]].</ref>

The speculation concerning Jesus dying multiple deaths on other worlds has occasionally found poetic expression. See, for example, [[The Innumerable Christ]] by Hugh McDiarmid.

==== Extent of the Creation ====
The presence of extraterrestrial ''microbes'' on one or more of the other planets in the Solar System (most likely Mars) does cause some fear in Christian quarters. But not all Christians harbor such fear, and even [[Young Earth creationism|young Earth creationists]] are quite confident that they could explain such a finding. For example, if the hydroplate theory is correct and a slurry of mud from the Great Flood traveled to Mars and poured itself out upon it, then such a slurry would almost certainly contain microbes. That some of these might be extremophiles, and thus capable of long-term survival even in such a harsh environment as that of Mars, is entirely possible and would allow complete harmony between the finding of microbes in such locations and the Biblical account of Earth's prehistory.

===Non-Christian Views===
Outside of the Christian faith, other religions, as well as movements exhibiting characteristics common to [[pagan]] religions, have adopted or expressed tenets dealing with extraterrestrial life:

#'''Church of [[Scientology]]''' founder [[L. Ron Hubbard]] has lectured on and written accounts of complex extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in earthly events.
#The '''[[Raelism|Raelians]]''' believe that their minds are the once-disembodied souls of extraterrestrial persons (and therefore believe that their minds are extraterrestrial in origin though their bodies are not).
#The '''Hale-Bopp movement''', whose members committed mass suicide in the season of the close passage near the Earth of Comet Hale-Bopp, believed they would be taken away by an alien craft concealed in the comet's tail.
#The '''[[UFO]] movement''', a loose alliance of organizations often having the initials "UFO" (for Unidentified Flying Object) in their names, ''viz.'', "Mutual UFO Network", "Center for UFO Studies," "Fund for UFO Research", express various beliefs concerning the extrterrestrial nature of unidentified flying objects.
#The '''[[Nation of Islam]]''', especially when it came under the leadership of [[Louis Farrakhan]], expressed a belief that the original founder of the Nation of Islam lives today in an extraterrestrial spacecraft called the "Mother Wheel," and that Farrakhan himself has been taken on board that vessel for consultations with this person.<ref>Farrakhan seems recently to have abandoned this theory and attempted to steer the movement he now leads toward the orthodox [[Islam]] taught by [[Muhammad]].</ref>

=== Exotheology ===
:''Main article: [[Exotheology]]'' 
Many Christians examine the possibility of extraterrestrial life from within a Christian perspective. Many believe that if aliens exist they would necessarily be free from [[Original Sin]] as they are not descended from the Earthly Adam and Eve. Proponents of this view include the [[Vatican]]<ref>Willey, David. "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7399661.stm Vatican says aliens could exist]?" ''BBC News'' (London), 13 May, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008.</ref> and [[C. S. Lewis]] who expanded upon the idea in his book [[Out of the Silent Planet]]. In the book a human explores Mars which, due to its isolation from Earth, is free from sin.

== Public speculation on ET's and UFO's ==
Public discussion of the subject is mostly confined to the margins, but several scientists and celebrities have expressed opinions, as have a few politicians.
Former [[President of the United States]] [[Jimmy Carter]] has openly speculated on the existence of extraterrestrial nation-states.<ref>Carter claims to have witnessed an unidentified flying object in 1969; he remains the only U.S. President to have formally reported a [[UFO]]. He filed a report with the International UFO Bureau in [[Oklahoma City]] after a request from that organization.[http://www.presidentialufo.com/carter_ufo_report.htm] See [[Jimmy Carter]].</ref> More recently, [[United States House of Representatives|US Representative]] and Presidential candidate [[Dennis Kucinich]] [[Democratic Party|D]]-[[Ohio|OH]]) was asked in a primary debate whether he had, as earlier alleged, seen a UFO--and answered in the affirmative.<ref name=Kucinich>User "nikbaron". [http://youtube.com/watch?v=gSRWRbuMqyc Representative Dennis Kucinich UFO]." ''<http://youtube.com>,'' posted October 31, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.</ref><ref name=Feagler>Feagler, Dick. "[http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/opinion-0/1193474407233790.xml&coll=2&thispage=1 So Dennis Kucinich saw a UFO; what's the big deal]?" ''The Plain Dealer'' (Cleveland), October 28, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.</ref> Even more recently, [[Project Apollo]] [[Astronaut]] Edgar Mitchell, who flew as Lunar Module Pilot for [[Apollo 14]], declared that [[NASA]] has known for sixty years (as of July 24, 2008) that extraterrestrial scouts have contacted various governments of Earth, yet no government has ever dared admit this. NASA does not stand by Astronaut Mitchell's statements.<ref name=Mitchell>Authors unknown. "[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1037471/Apollo-14-astronaut-claims-aliens-HAVE-contact--covered-60-years.html Apollo 14 astronaut claims aliens HAVE made contact - but it has been covered up for 60 years]." ''The Daily Mail'' ([[London]], [[England]], [[UK]]), July 24, 2008. Accessed July 24, 2008.</ref>

=== Explanations given for UFO sightings and belief ===
Lynn Cato, senior bibliographer for the library of Congress, compiled a 1600-entry [[UFO]] bibliography for the [[United States Air Force]] Office of Scientific Research. After a two year investigation, in which she reviewed thousands of documents, Catoe stated:<ref name=Reason>Authors unknown. "[http://www.letusreason.org/NAM25.htm A UFO 2nd Coming]." Let Us Reason Ministries, 2007. Retrieved November 3, 2007.</ref><ref name=Gleghorn>Gleghorn, Michael. "[http://www.probe.org/cults-and-world-religions/cults-and-world-religions/ufos-and-alien-beings.html UFO's and Alien Beings]." Probe Ministries. Retrieved November 3, 2007.</ref> {{Cquote|A large part of the available UFO literature...deals with subjects like mental telepathy, automatic writing and invisible entities...poltergeist manifestations and 'possession'....Many of the UFO reports now being published in the popular press recount alleged incidents that are strikingly similar to [[demonic possession]] and [[psychic phenomenon]] which have long been known to [[Theology|theologians]] and [[Paraphschology|parapsychologists]].}}

Prominent UFO researcher [[John Keel]] concurred. After surveying the literature on [[demonology]] Keel stated,<ref name=Gleghorn/>{{Cquote|The manifestations and occurrences described in this imposing literature are similar if not entirely identical to the UFO phenomenon itself.}}

[[Astronomy|Astronomer]] Dr. [[Hugh Ross]] states that ninety-nine percent of what people have told him were UFOs, experienced astronomers can identify as a [[star]], cluster, or other object in the night sky. The 1 percent of sightings, which he calls residual UFOs, have attracted his attention. <ref name=Blade>Tarjanyi, Judy. "[http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73122266402007&Avis=TO&Dato=20030104&Kategori=NEWS10&Lopenr=101040052&Ref=AR Astronomer links UFOs to Occultism]." ''The Toledo Blade'', January 4, 2003. Retrieved November 3, 2007.</ref> According to Dr. Ross very few astronomers have seen residual UFOs.<ref name=Blade/>

The following newspaper excerpt<ref name=Blade/> summarizes Dr. Ross's findings:
{{cquote|In 1969, however, Dr. Ross met two astronomers who were having regular UFO encounters. Both also happened to be involved in occult activity.

Upon investigation, Dr. Ross consistently found a connection between occult involvement and residual UFO encounters. For example, he said, countries with a high degree of occult activity such as Russia during the Soviet era, France, and certain parts of Brazil also had high percentages of UFO encounters. During Russia's Soviet period when every expression of religion except occult activity had been outlawed, he said, “Russians were seeing UFOs at five to eight times the rate Americans were."}}

[[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] who reject naturalistic explanations of life such as the [[theory of evolution]] argue that difficult to explain UFOs are spiritual in nature and not amenable to naturalistic explanation.<ref>
*[http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4217643/k.5903/UFOs_and_Alien_Beings.htm UFOs and Alien Beings]
*[http://www.letusreason.org/NAM25.htm A UFO 2nd coming]
*[http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/lifemars.html Are We Alone in the Universe?]
*[http://www.creation.com/content/view/2995/ Alien Life/UFO Questions and Answers UFO Questions and Answers]
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/alien.asp Alien Life/UFO Questions and Answers UFO Questions and Answers]</ref> Gary Bates of [[Creation Ministries International]] wrote a book entitled ''Alien Intrusion'' which gives a biblical Christian perspective on the unscientific notions of extraterrestial life and UFUlogy.<ref>http://www.alienintrusion.com/main.html</ref>

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

== See Also ==
*[[Essay: Extraterrestrial Life and the Bible]]
*[[Exotheology]]

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Parable of the Good Samaritan

2013-02-16T20:50:29Z

Snowy:

In '''Parable of the Good Samaritan''', Jesus spins a tale about a traveler who is assaulted by thieves and left for dead. Two people his listeners would hold in high esteem ignore the man, while persons his listeners would despise ([[Samaria]]) help the victim and bring him to an inn to be cared for.

==Applications==
The Good Samaritan may represent the Christian. Even when religious leaders, like the [[priest]] or [[Levite]] who passed by the hurt man, while not acknowledging a soul in despair, the Christian will. He rescues the heathan man from death on the side of the road. The [[Jews]] hated the [[Samaritans]]; they were half-breeds, a mix of Jews and [[Gentiles]]. This makes the irony greater that the Jew, robbed and beaten, was aided by a Samaritan, much like the Christians today are persecuted by God-denying heathans.

The Good Samaritan may represent [[Jesus Christ]], who saves the sould on the road to destruction, putting him on the right path. The Jew had been travelling from [[Jerusalem]] to [[Jericho]], which is a road downhill, from the city of God to the cursed city, origianlly belonging to the Cannanites. The interpretation is that the man is on his way to hell, and along the dangerous road he is attacked. The Lord rescues him from sin, curing his wounds with oil, carrying him "on his own beast. Luke 10:34" Jesus brings him to the inn, which represents the church, and provides the saints there with the rescorces ("two pence" Luke 10:35) to nurse him back to health. The Samaritan sayes "Take care of him; and whatesoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." In the same way, Jesus will come again and reward his church for tending to lost souls.

[[Category:Bible]]

Claptrap

2012-12-24T22:08:25Z

Snowy:

'''Claptrap''' is defined by Webster's Dictionary as 'pretentious nonsense'<ref>http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/claptrap</ref>. It is used to describe pretentious but insincere or empty [[language]]. It can also refer to any nonsensical [[rant]]s that purport to argue a valid point.

The origins of the term are in the theater, where it originally referred to any device intended to elicit applause (to trap a clap)<ref>http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=claptrap&allowed_in_frame=0</ref>.

'''Claptrap''' is often used preceded by a qualifier to associate it with a particular standpoint, as in the phrases "[[liberal claptrap]]", "[[atheist]] claptrap", "[[religious]] claptrap", "[[right-wing]] claptrap" etc. In some circumstances this can be a useful shorthand to clarify why the statement in question is nonsense, in others it is merely an attempt to condemn the statement as invalid without going to the effort of any in-depth analysis.

=References=
<references/>

[[Category:Rhetoric]]

White dwarf

2012-12-24T18:20:41Z

Snowy: /* Helium Dwarf */

[[Image:White dwarf stars browse.jpg|thumb|White Dwarf Stars photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.]]

A '''White dwarf''' is a [[star]] that is the electron-degenerate remnant of a former star that has exhausted the nuclear fuel in its core and subsequently lost it's outer layers. They represent the final stage of [[Stellar_Evolution|stellar evolution]] for most stars, including our own [[Sun]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001PASP..113..409F</ref> White dwarfs are extremely dense - a white dwarf with a mass equivalent to our Sun would have its material compacted into a volume no greater than the Earth. As there is no more thermonuclear fusion within white dwarfs, their only source of [[light]] and [[heat]] is leftover thermal energy.

Typically any star between 0.5 and 8 solar masses will end its life as a white dwarf. Most of these dwarfs are primarily made up of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]], however stars of 4 solar masses or more will have the ability to fuse carbon, which will result in a white dwarf chiefly made up of oxygen, [[neon]], and [[magnesium]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005ASPC..334..165W</ref> Any star greater then 8 solar masses will eventually develop a core that will be too massive to support by electron-degeneratcy (the [[Chandrasekhar limit]]) and collapse. This collapse will result in a [[supernova]], and depending on the star's mass, the end result will be a [[neutron star]] or a [[black hole]].

==Formation of White Dwarfs==

When star that has a mass of less then 8 solar masses reaches the end of its life on the main sequence by consuming all of its [[hydrogen]] fuel in the core, all but the least masseive (less than 0.5 solar masses) will enter the [[red giant]] phase of its evolution. At this point the core of these stars will become hot enough to fuse [[helium]] into carbon and oxygen. For most of these stars, the core will cease fusion once all the helium is consumed, not having the sufficient mass to raise the temperature enough to fuse carbon. For the heaviest stars under 8 solar masses though, carbon fusion will occur, but once all the carbon in the core is consumed, there is not enough heat to fuse the heavier elements available (usually oxygen, and neon).

At this point the star will have a carbon-oxygen core (or for the higher mass stars, a oxygen-neon core) surrounded by an inner shell of helium and an outer shell of hydrogen. The shells of hydrogen and helium will then be expelled and form a [[planetary nebula]] around the star, exposing the remnant core which is the white dwarf the vast majority being the carbon-oxygen variety.<ref>http://www.vikdhillon.staff.shef.ac.uk/teaching/phy213/phy213_lowmass.html</ref>

===Helium Dwarf===

''Helium dwarfs'' exist as a result of mass loss in a [[binary star|binary system]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005MNRAS.362..891B</ref> The helium white dwarf '''SDSS J091709.55+463821.8''', the least massive white dwarf known is an example of this. It is part of a binary system where most of its mass has been lost to its more massive neighbor.

Stars with less than 0.5 solar masses will never be able to fuse helium in their cores once all the hydrogen fuel is consumed. It is theorized that they will also become helium white dwarfs, chiefly made up of helium-4 atoms. Because such low-mass stars have such a long lifespan (on the order of around one trillion years for a low mass [[red dwarf]]), it is believed that none have completely consumed their core hydrogen fuel yet.<ref>http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys230/lectures/planneb/planneb.html</ref>

==Fate of White Dwarfs==

As a white dwarf is no longer powered by thermonuclear fusion, all the light and heat generated is from remaining thermal energy. Thus, the star will very slowly cool over time into a hypothetical ''black dwarf'', where it can no longer emit light or heat in significant quantities. As the time period required for this to occur is longer than 13.7 billion years, no black dwarf is expected to exist yet. Even when the black dwarf state is reached, the stellar remnant itself is still expected to continue to exist indefinitely.

Sometimes white dwarfs, if they are in binary systems, may collide and fuse, forming a star that exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit and explode in a [[Supernova#Type_1a|type Ia supernova]].

==Internal structure of a White Dwarf==

White dwarfs range in mass from 0.17 to 1.33 solar masses with the majority between 0.5 and 0.7 solar masses. Their volume though is roughly that of the Earth. As such, a typical white dwarf has a density of 1x103 kg/m3 which is around 200,000 times the density of the Earth or one million times the density of the Sun.

This density is brought about by [[gravity]] crushing the [[electrons]] of [[atoms]] together. Normally electrons with the same spin cannot occupy the same energy level, therefore only two electrons can occupy a single energy level (as electrons can spin only one of two ways). Because in a white dwarf the electrons are forced so closely, all the energy levels of the atoms are filled with electrons, and because no more than two electrons can fill the energy levels in the atoms within the white dwarf, the star becomes [[degenerate]]. At this point, there is insufficient gravity to compress the matter any more, as [[quantum mechanics]] will not allow for it, preventing the white dwarf from collapsing any further, stabilizing it.<ref name="nasa">http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html</ref>

Gravity at the surface of a white dwarf is around 100,000 times that of the Earth, the result is that heavier atoms in the atmosphere will sink into the surface, leaving only the lightest elements behind. Thus the thin atmosphere is made up mainly of [[hydrogen]] and [[helium]]. The temperature at this surface can range from 40,000 to 8,000 K, although white dwarfs as cool as 3,900 K have been found. The cooler the white dwarf, the older it is likely to be as they lose thermal energy over time.<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004ApJ...612L.129G</ref> The surface itself is composed of a crust of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]], the bottom of which is believed be a crystalline lattice.<ref name="nasa">http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html</ref>

==Observations of White Dwarfs==

[[Image:White Dwarves'.jpg‎ ‎|thumb|left|White Dwarf Stars in M4]]
There are several ways to observe white dwarf stars. The first white dwarf to be discovered was found because it is a companion star to Sirius, a bright star in the constellation [[Canis Major]]. In 1844, [[astronomer]] [[Friedrich Bessel]] noticed that [[Sirius]] had a slight back and forth motion, as if it was orbiting an unseen object. In 1862, the optician and [[telescope]] maker [[Alvan Clark]] observed the predicted companion. This star was later determined to be a white dwarf. This pair are now referred to as Sirius A and B, B, being the white dwarf. The orbital period of this system is about 50 years.

[[Adriaan Van Maanen]] discovered the first lone white dwarf in 1917, now named after him as [[Van Maanen's Star]]. Over time, several other faint white stars were discovered to have high proper motion, indicating they were relatively near the [[Solar System]], confirming them as white dwarfs as well. The term white dwarf itself was first coined by [[Willem Luyten]] in his observation of these stars in 1922.<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005AAS...20720501H</ref> By 1939 18 such stars were known, increasing to over 100 by 1950, and over 9,000 known today.

The [[Hubble Space Telescope]], with its 2.4 meter mirror and advanced optics, has been successfully viewing white dwarfs with its Wide Field and Planetary Camera. In August of 1995, this camera observed more than 75 white dwarfs in the [[globular cluster]] M4 in the constellation [[Scorpius]]. These white dwarfs were so faint that the brightest of them was no more luminous than a 100 watt light bulb seen at the [[Moon|moon's]] distance.

== Sources ==
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/dwarfs.html

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]

Transhumanism

2012-12-24T00:32:25Z

Snowy:

Transhumanism is, at it's core, a philosophical idea that advances the idea of positively encouraging human development using advanced and emerging technologies. This can encompass life extension or clinical immortality, using technology to augment the human body to solve problems of physical or mental disability and to increase the capabilities of the human body, increasing the efficiency and comfort of human life, decreasing human impact on the environment, or achieving some form of enlightenment or connection with the technological world.

==History of Transhumanism==

==Transhumanist Thought==
Within Transhumanism, there are several lines of thought that focus on specific aspects of humanity;

*Abolitionism, an ideology based upon a perceived obligation to use technology to eliminate involuntary human suffering.
*Democratic Transhumanism, a political ideology synthesizing liberal democracy, social democracy, radical democracy and Transhumanism.
*Extropianism, an early school of transhumanist thought characterized by a set of principles advocating a guided approach to human evolution. It should be noted that this is not the same as eugenics, Extropianism advocates assisting those with disabilities with advanced technology rather than the removal of individuals from the gene pool
*Transhumanistic Socialism, a combination of Transhuman ideas with Socialist thought, it involves using advanced and emerging technology to help create and sustain a Socialist society.
*Immortalism, a ideology based upon the belief that technological immortality is possible and desirable with the use of advanced medical technology.
*Libertarian Transhumanism, a political ideology combining Libertarianism and Transhumanism.
*Singularitarianism, an ideology based upon the belief that a technological singularity is possible, and advocating deliberate action to effect it and ensure its safety.
*Technoecology, an ecological ideology based upon the belief that emerging technologies can help restore Earth's environment, and that developing safe, clean, alternative technology should therefore be a priority.

While other forms of Transhumanism do exist, these represent many of the main currents in modern Transhumanist thought.

==The Singularity==
The Singularity is a point in human development where our technological capability will be so rapid that it becomes impossible to predict what will occur next. In the words of Ray Kurzweil, "The Singularity is a future period [in] which technological change will be so rapid and it's impact so profound that every aspect of human life will be irreversibly transformed."

Almost all forms of Transhumanist thought encompass the idea of a technological singularity. A technological singularity works off of the fact that our current capability to process and access information, both technologically and as human beings, is increasing at an exponential rate. At some point in the future, we will reach a point of critical mass where the rate of intelligence growth, both biological and technological, becomes so fast that it becomes impossible to predict anything beyond that point. After that point, it is believed that many of the barriers we face when dealing with advanced technologies will be gone.

Transhumanists in general disagree as to what the singularity will look like or when it will occur, but it is a key component to almost all Transhuman thought.

==Transhumanist Ethics==
Transhumanist thinkers generally embrace the ideas of responsible use of technology, bioethics, social progressiveness, and open exchange of information. The idea of eugenics or forcible inclusion into a Transhuman society is universally shunned by Transhumanists because Transhumanism attempts to advance mankind and a system of eugenics or forced inclusion is not a positive or stabilizing force within humanity.

A strong idea within Transhumanism is freedom of information because it only through free access and exchange of information that many advanced and emerging technologies will have their greatest impact

==Posthuman==
The term "posthuman" refers to the human being after the singularity or in an extremely technologically advanced society. This has been described as the human body augmented by cybernetic and nanotechnology, the human body having evolved to a higher stage of evolution or existence, human beings in a collective consciousness, or even the human mind translated to digital data and downloaded into a digital system where humans have no bodies at all and exist purely in a digital format.

This aspect of Transhumanism is highly speculative and many Transhumanists disagree as to what exactly "posthuman" will look like, but all agree that it is a goal of Transhumanism.

==Practice==

==Arguments Against Transhumanism==
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Errors made by Expelled reviewers

2012-12-22T23:35:45Z

Snowy:

Errors made by reviewers of [[Expelled]]:

The most common error, which may be deliberate, is to attribute to the movie any of several various statements or ideas which '''it does not make''' (see [[Strawman argument]]). The reviewer, having set up a "straw man", then handily knocks it down. Ironically, he usually does so by repeating the argument the movie actually makes.

The most likely purpose of these strawman arguments - unless by chance they are genuine mistakes - is to distract attention from the main point of the movie.

The movie shows how mainstream science in America and England refuse to consider any ideas other than the [[naturalistic]] explanation of the "[[appearance of design]]". Everything other than Darwin's [[Theory of Evolution]] is rejected out of hand, dismissed rather than rebutted.

The movie refers to this dismissal with the metaphor of "expulsion", as when a naughty boy in short pants is kicked out of school. Another metaphor it uses is the "wall" erected between materialism and design.

==Darwinism and Eugenics==

The film traces the connection between [[Darwinism]] and [[Eugenics]], using quotations from a book by Darwin and a speech by [[Adolf Hitler]] to show how the theory of evolution was '''abused''' and '''misinterpreted''' to justify forced sterilizations and mass murder by the Third Reich. The film quotes at least one scholar who defends Evolutionists, pointing out that no one blames them for the Holocaust.

Yet more than one reviewer, writing as if they had missed this part of the film, puts words into Ben Stein's mouth which he did not say. These reviewers accuse the film of blaming the Holocaust on Evolution, although the film takes pains to make just the opposite point.

What the film says, rather, is that the faulty idea of the Evolution could be (and was) used by [[Social Darwinists]] to justify their misdeeds.
[[Category:Documentary film]]
[[Category:Essays]]
[[Category:Liberal Falsehoods]]

Ignorance and disbelief

2012-12-21T19:31:48Z

Snowy:

'''Ignorance and disbelief''' are often mistaken for one another, particularly by liberals - who frequently claim that Christian disbelief in [[Evolution]] indicates ignorance. This is odd, in view of the enormous number of practicing scientists who disagree with the theory. How can 45% of all scientists be "ignorant"? [http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm]

More likely, they are using the word ''ignorant'' as an epithet; they are just engaging in name-calling.

Disagreeing with a theory is not the same thing as "being ignorant", but someone who applies that label is like someone who disagrees with [[President Bush]]'s policies and so calls him "an [[idiot]]". Taken literally, it's obviously untrue, but liberals are accustomed to having people avoid analyzing what they say closely - some conservatives theorizing that the liberals think that the general public are morons.

In science, the cure for ignorance is to be taught the leading theories, along with the opposing theories. Then, as an exercise, the students ought to try and determine which is correct. Teaching them only the leading theory is a form of [[indoctrination]] (teaching them what to think rather than how to think). Ironically, what liberals accuse Christians of doing is rather what they do themselves.

It is an argument from ignorance (or [[circular argument]]) to say
that the evidence leans to evolution. If there is evidence, it ought simply to be given.
If it's simply enough for a child to understand, then it can even be taught to schoolchildren.

[[category:Essays]]
[[category:Science]]
[[category:Evolution]]

Operation Eagle Claw

2012-12-07T01:27:55Z

Snowy: /* Political Motives */

Due to the criticism Carter received for ignoring the safety of American citizens, he finally ordered a small-scale rescue mission on April 24, 1980, after 173 days of captivity. [[Operation Eagle Claw]], as it was codenamed, was a total and complete failure due to poor leadership and management.<ref>The mission was overly complex and lacked an overarching organizational structure to assume command and control of operational forces. These factors, coupled with a lack of planning and other operational mishaps encountered during the deployment phase, led to the mission being aborted at the initial landing site that was designated as “DESERT ONE.” [http://www.apc.maxwell.af.mil/text/excur/eagle.htm The Air & Space Power course] - U.S. Military</ref>

==Political Motives==

There is some speculation that since in late April 1980, President [[Jimmy Carter]] was losing ground to challenger [[Ted Kennedy]] in a close primary for the Democratic nomination for president. Carter's main weakness was the ongoing [[Iran Hostage Crisis]], and Operation Eagle Claw was an attempt to free (or at least appear to try to free) those hostages.<ref>http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:67hJq9Z_RBUJ:sobek.colorado.edu/~isaacson/Research_files/Isaacson-%2520National%2520Interest%2520vs.%2520Re-election.pdf+%22Ted+Kennedy%22+%22Jimmy+Carter%22+%22Operation+Eagle+Claw%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us</ref>

:The impetus for the rescue mission was not, as Carter had often claimed it would be, that the lives of the hostages were in immediate danger; in fact, Carter and all of his advisers believed that the hostages would be kept alive and unharmed for at least three months, as indicated by the memo above. Again, on April 23rd, only hours before the rescue mission was to commence, Carter received a last-minute intelligence report which Carter states in his memoirs that the heart of the memo was that "there was little prospect of the hostages' release within the next five or six months" (Carter 1982, pg. 513). Why was this time frame of five to six months so important to Carter? It is at least interesting to note that at the time of Carter’s decision, the November election was just over six months away.

==Excecution and Failure==

Eight U.S. helicopters were deployed in the Iranian desert before heading to Tehran. Despite requests from the mission commander, no spare helicopters were permitted, even though the commander warned that losing more than two helicopters would doom the mission.

Due to flying too low, sand caused equipment failure in two of the helicopters, so the rescue mission was called off before it was even really started. When the Americans began retreating, a helicopter crashed, killing eight American servicemen. The bodies were recovered by Iranian forces, and used in a street demonstration protesting the “invasion.” Khomeini credited the “victory” to the divine intervention of [[Allah]] on his behalf. This increased Khomeini’s ever-growing support from the Iranian public.

<blockquote>... the helicopter pilots were told to fly at or below 200 feet to avoid radar. This limitation caused them to run into a haboob, or dust storm, that they could not fly over without breaking the 200 foot limit. Two helicopters lost sight of the task force and landed, out of action. [http://www.specwarnet.net/miscinfo/eagleclaw.htm]</blockquote>

A second rescue attempt was conceived but not implemented.

==Analysis and Criticism==

An analysis published by Maxwell Air Force Base said:

:In 1980, President Carter authorized OPERATION EAGLE CLAW, a joint military service operation, to rescue hostages at the American embassy in Iran. The plan called for resources from all four services, including Air Force C-130 and C-141 aircraft, Navy helicopters, and Army Delta Force Rangers. The mission was overly complex and lacked an overarching organizational structure to assume command and control of operational forces. These factors, coupled with a lack of planning and other operational mishaps encountered during the employment phase, led to the mission being aborted at the initial landing site that was designated as “DESERT ONE.” The Air Force was doctrinally unprepared to enter into the complicated joint and conventional operations posed by OPERATION EAGLE CLAW. The failed operation raised serious doubts regarding the ability of the Air Force and the other services to effectively integrate as a joint team. [http://www.apc.maxwell.af.mil/text/excur/eagle.htm]

Delta Force commander Col. Charles Beckwith said:

:"...the assault plan was sketchy. Its chances for success were very slender indeed. The basic scenario looked very complicated. It also revealed that at this time the Armed Forces of the United States had neither the present resources nor the present capabilities to pull it off. [http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/back/journals/2002/Vol28_2/5.htm]

A naval combat officer in the RSN said that the
rescue plan was [[complex]] and [[tightly-coupled]] task, i.e., "an accident waiting to happen" [http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/back/journals/2002/Vol28_2/5.htm]

Veteran Navy SEAL [["Demo Dick" Marcinko]] lambasted the Carter Pentagon for poor planning and micromanagement and suffered a whistleblower's penalty.

==External links==
*[http://www.helis.com/featured/eagle_claw.php Operation Eagle Claw] - most detailed account
*[http://www.mindef.gov.sg/safti/pointer/back/journals/2002/Vol28_2/5.htm Operation Eagle Claw, 1980: A Case Study In Crisis Management and Military Planning]
by LTA Chua Lu Fong

==Notes==
<references/>

[[category:Cold War]]

Biblical scientific foreknowledge

2012-12-05T02:58:09Z

Snowy: /* Hygiene */

[[File:Newton.png|thumb|alt=scientific foreknowledge in the bible|250px|[[Isaac Newton]], cornerstone of the [[scientific revolution]], based his research on the scientific authority of the Bible and sought enlightenment in scripture.]]‎
'''Biblical scientific foreknowledge''' is how the [[Bible]] shows a comprehension of [[science|scientific]] knowledge far ahead of its time. ''Biblical scientific foreknowledge illustrates what is possible.''

[[Bible denier]]s — such as [[atheist]]s and [[evolution]]ists — engage in [[liberal denial]] about the many truths in the Bible. '''''Their irrational [[Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness|closed-mindedness]] against the Bible obstructs the advancement of science'''''.

'''Biblical scientific foreknowledge''' has another benefit: it facilitates improvements in the translation of verses that describe scientific-related events, such as [[Jesus]]'s [[Essay:Calming the Storm|Calming the Storm]], the reference to the universe in [[Epistle to the Hebrews (Translated)#1:10-11|Hebrews 1:10]], and the changing of [[Essay:Water into Wine|water into wine]] at the wedding feast.

== Geology ==

===Flood===
Modern scientists long opposed a young earth [[creation|created]] by God whereby cataclysmic flooding, such as the [[Great Flood]] described in the Bible, shaped the landscape. However, ample [[counterexamples to an old earth]] exist and the discovery in the Northwest of "giant ripple marks, 50 feet high and 200-500 feet apart" proved that a cataclysmic flood did indeed occur. As a result, "[a]mong geologists, the concept of a catastrophic flood came to be accepted by the late 1950s."<ref>http://www.iafi.org/floods.html</ref>

===Continental drift===
[[Continental drift]] was proposed by the creationist [[Antonio Snider-Pellegrini]] in 1859 based on Genesis 1:9-10, which implies that all of dry land was in one place.<ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c001.html</ref> [[Atheists]] mocked this concept for about 100 years, until finally accepting its truth.

=== Underwater springs ===

Only in moderns times have scientists become aware of enormous underwater springs feeding into the oceans, and the very deep valleys at the bottom of the oceans.

But the Bible repeatedly describes this thousands of years earlier: "on that very day '''''the deep subcrustal springs were broken open''''', and the windows of the sky were thrown open." ([[Genesis_1-8_%28Translated%29#Chapter_7|Genesis 7:11 (CBP)]], emphasis added). And again, in 2 Samuel 22:16, the Bible says, "And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered ...." ([[KJV]])

=== Agriculture ===

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, intellectuals insisted that the world's population would grow larger than the food supply, resulting in mass starvation. Yet there are examples in both the Old and New Testaments of the food supply increasing to be more plentiful than expected. Indeed, by 2011 obesity was far more prevalent and harmful than hunger.

== History ==

The Bible describes a [[Great Flood]] occurring around 3300 B.C., or about 5300 years ago. It involved a cataclysmic rainstorm of a magnitude never seen before or since. For centuries atheists have denied its possibility.

In 1991, an "ice mummy" was discovered: a remarkably preserved ancient body, including even the contents of his last meal, due to an extraordinary ice storm in the [[Alps]]. By radiometric carbon dating<ref>http://www.nupecc.org/iai2001/report/B44.pdf</ref>, the scientists found that the occurrence of this massive ice storm in the mountains (and rainstorm below) was 5300 years ago.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/icemummies/iceman.html</ref>

=== False Theories ===

Jesus's recognition that the truth would remain hidden from arrogant intellectuals while simultaneously revealed to humbler, [[Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness|openminded]] people. This foreshadowed the promotion of theories to pull self-centered intellectual wannabees away from [[God]], based on the [[Theory of Evolution]], [[Theory of Relativity]], [[homosexual agenda]], [[abortion]], [[communism]], etc.

==Health, Biology and Medicine==

===Common DNA===

[[John_1-7_(Translated)#Chapter_1|John 1:3]] explains that "All things were made by Him; not one thing was made without Him." If something had been made without Him then creatures would exist that had completely different DNA from other creatures.

=== World obesity epidemic and obesity problem within the atheist population ===
[[File:11834504 3cc3c49559.jpg|187px|right|thumbnail|Two of the major risk factors for becoming [[obesity|obese]] according to the [[Mayo Clinic]] are poor dietary choices and inactivity.<ref>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=causes</ref> According to the [[Gallup poll|Gallup Inc.]], "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."<ref>http://www.gallup.com/poll/145379/Religious-Americans-Lead-Healthier-Lives.aspx</ref>
 
 
(photo obtained from [http://www.flickr.com/photos/wader/11834504/ Flickr], see [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en license agreement]) ]]
See also: [[Atheism and obesity]] and [[New Atheism leadership's problem with excess weight]] and [[Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese]]

The [[Saint Paul|Apostle Paul]] wrote that in the [[end times]], men would be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-4). In May of 2012, the [[World Health Organization]] reported that "Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980."<ref>[http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ World Health Organization - obesity fact sheet]</ref> In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.<ref>[http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/ World Health Organization - obesity fact sheet]</ref>

Two of the major risk factors for becoming [[obesity|obese]] according to the [[Mayo Clinic]] are poor dietary choices and inactivity.<ref>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314/DSECTION=causes</ref> In addition, [[Chuck Norris]] says the most common cause of obesity is a hedonistic lifestyle (see: [[Chuck Norris on the topic of obesity]]). According to [[Gallup poll|Gallup Inc.]], "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."<ref>http://www.gallup.com/poll/145379/Religious-Americans-Lead-Healthier-Lives.aspx</ref>

Christians have good reasons to believe a [[Hedonism|hedonist lifestyle]] is a causal factor of [[atheism]] (see: [[Causes of atheism]]).<ref>[http://creation.com/atheist-god-hate Why do atheists hate God?]</ref>

See also:

*[[Atheism and obesity]]

*[[New Atheism leadership's problem with excess weight]]

* [[Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese]]

===Eighth Day Blood Clotting Factors===

In Genesis 17:12, God mandated that Abraham circumcise his sons on the 8th day after birth. In 1935, it was discovered that Vitamin K, together with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation, (important in any surgical procedure). On the 8th day, the amount of prothrombin present is elevated above 100% of normal and is therefore the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case (normally). If surgery is to be performed, day 8 is the perfect day to do it as vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak.

===Lifespan===

The Bible put the maximum lifespan for man at 120 years (Genesis 6:3), the typical lifespan at 70 years and the typical for a good-living person at 80 years (Psalm 90:10).

Thousands of years after that was written, despite immense advances in medicine and technology, these figures remain remarkably accurate. The longest recorded life of a man is precisely 120 years (Shigechiyo Izumi), the average lifespan for a man is roughly 70 years, and the average for a good-living man is about 80 years.

[[Jeanne Calment]] lived to age 122, only two years past 120. She was said to have never worked and used olive oil on her skin, outliving all of of her [[feminist]] counterparts.

===Oldest Human Ancestor===

The Bible suggests that the oldest maternal ancestor — [[Eve]] — first lived slightly more than 6000 years ago.<ref>http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/ussher.html</ref> The mutation rate of [[mitochondria]] indicates roughly the same date for the most recent common human ancestor.<ref>http://creationwiki.org/Mitochondrial_Eve_lived_only_6500_years_ago_%28Talk.Origins%29</ref>

===Anesthesia===

The first surgical operation described in the Bible was the removal of a rib from [[Adam]], which was performed by first putting Adam into an unconscious, "deep sleep-like trance."<ref>[[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis 2:21]]</ref> This was the equivalent of anesthesia — thousands of years before anesthesia using inhaled ether was developed by William Morton in 1846. Had scientists and physicians been more [[Essay:Quantifying Openmindedness|openminded]] about Genesis 2:21 (perhaps they had considered it a miracle, and thus impossible for humans to achieve), they may have discovered anesthesia far sooner, and saved many more lives.

===Bloodletting hastens death===

At the time of Jesus and for centuries afterward, arteries and veins were thought to be filled with air, and blood was viewed as something to be used up rather than recirculate. Bloodletting -- the practice of intentionally draining blood from a patient -- was common medical practice through the time of [[George Washington]], hastening his death prematurely for reasons not understood until years later.<ref>http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/37212.php</ref>

Most victims of crucifixion in Roman times languished on the cross for days. But the Bible describes how Pilate, who crucified many, was surprised at how quickly Jesus passed away. 2000 years later, scientific knowledge has advanced to understand that this was caused by his prior loss of blood during his scourging (being brutally whipped), a punishment typically given ''instead of'' crucifixion.

===Homosexuality and disease===
The Bible's prohibition against [[homosexuality]] predated knowledge about the [[Homosexuality and Health|many diseases and disorders associated with homosexuality]], and thus showed scientific wisdom prescient for its time.

=== Eyesight ===

The description in the [[Mark 1-8 (Translated)|Gospel of Mark 8:24]] for the sensation when one's eyesight is restored includes his perception of "trees walking." This perception was first confirmed nearly 2000 years later as physicians developed medical techniques for restoring eyesight.<ref>This newspaper account is not specific but describes the overall sensation of restored sight: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-138886/Robot-eye-restore-lost-sight-20-years.html]</ref>

=== Maximum Human Height ===

Atheists thought the size of [[Goliath]] in the Bible to be absurdly large (over nine feet tall), until [[Robert Wadlow]] grew to nearly 9 feet tall and was still growing when he died at a young age in 1940.

=== Quarantining Against Leprosy Epidemics ===

Although leprosy is not as contagious as other infectious diseases, and some forms of it (such as tuberculoid or paucibacillary form are not contagious), Leviticus 13 and 14 set forth rules to prevent epidemics of this disease among the people of Israel. Western science did not catch up until, in 1663, such laws were introduced in America in an attempt to curb an outbreak of smallpox.

Centuries ahead of medical science, Jesus subsequently explained that leprosy was not as contagious as people thought.

=== Hygiene ===

Millennia before germ theory was proposed in the late 19th century, Leviticus 15 mandated hygiene laws that included bathing, washing of clothing, destruction of contaminated pottery and washing of hands.

In Matthew 15:2, Jesus then curbed compulsive hand-washing by explaining why it was no longer typically necessary (in a non-farming, non-medical context) with respect to man's digestive system.

=== Digestive System ===

It was common thought throughout history that infections and illness resulted from the digestive system, based on unclean hands or food. Jesus rejected that view, and declared hand-washing before meals to be typically unnecessary. It took many centuries before science caught up to the Bible on this.

It is part of the Jewish kosher law to not eat milk with meat. In some Jewish homes they have separate refrigerators for meat and milk products. It comes from Deuteronomy 14:21 "...Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk." There is evidence that the body has difficulty digesting both meat and milk at the same time.

Also, as part of the Jewish kosher law a pork is on the list of prohibited foods. Under cooked pork can transmit Trichinosis, a parasitic disease that can infect muscle tissue, the brain, and the central nervous system, among other [[parasite]]s and zoonotic diseases. [[Creation denial|Creation deniers]] can counter this point only with such desperate non-arguments as asking why God had to create trichinae at all and then allow them onto the [[Ark]].

=== Feasibility of [[Abiogenesis]] ===
Although scientists dismissed ideas involving [[Abiogenesis|abiogenesis]], or the process from which life emerges from nothing, as nothing more than archaic beliefs in [[spontaneous generation]], the Bible very clearly depicts an occurrence of this phenomenon, for beginning in Genesis 1:20, [[God]] creates life from nothing. It was not until the early 20th century that science finally began to accept the viability of abiogenesis, a view that the Bible had held for almost 2000 years, except that [[atheists]] falsely claim that abiogenesis is somehow possible without a creator.

=== Awareness while Unborn ===
[[Abortion]] advocates argue that it is ok to terminate a baby while dismissing the pain inflicted by ending an innocent life. They argue that a fetus cannot feel pain because senses are incomplete. There is a heart-beating human in the womb that can feel even though still unborn and developing. In modern times, we now know the baby in the womb is alert, aware of their mother's emotions, recognizes voices, responds to stimuli and music. The Bible tells us the baby feels (1 Luke 44), ''"the babe leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice."'' The inwomb developing baby, John the Baptist, notices the presence of the unborn [[Lord]] in [[Mary]], and is excited. In addition (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15), ''"God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace."'' Paul's very first thought, feeling awareness, began while unborn.

=== Embalming ===

[[Mark_9-16_(Translated)#Chapter_14|Mark 14:3-8]] describes an embalming process to preserve a body after death, which was not discovered in the West until 1867.

=== The significance of blood ===

The Old Testament teaches that the [[life]] of all flesh is its [[blood]] ({{Bible ref|book=Leviticus|chap=17|verses=13-14|version=KJV}}). Secular science remained ignorant of the properties and circulation of blood until the 17th century A.D.<ref>[http://wap.bible.org/nbw/deu12_notes.htm Net Bible: Notes] to [http://wap.bible.org/nbw/deu12.htm#1234 Deuteronomy 12:23] </ref>

=== Menstruation ===

The Biblical laws concerning [[menstruation]], including the setting apart of the menstruating woman and the prohibition on intimacy during menstruation, address health concerns that were not known to secular science until the 20th century.<ref>Neuburger, Max. History of Medicine. Oxford University Press, 1910, Vol. I, p. 38.</ref> Also, modern science has only very recently discovered that following such rules dramatically reduces the rate of [[illegitimacy]].<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120604182027.htm How Religion Promotes Confidence About Paternity]</ref>

=== Cloning ===

{{Bible ref|book=Genesis|chap=2|verses=21-22|version=KJV}} records that God made a [[woman]] out of one of [[Adam]]'s [[rib]]s. Secular scientists did not believe that [[cloning]] such a complex organism (apart from plants) was possible until 1997.<ref>[http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml Cloning Fact Sheet]</ref>

===Inbreeding===

Leviticus 18:7-11 elaborates in detail the relationships it regards as incestuous unions, to forbid inbreeding. Secular science was able to scientifically explain the mechanisms and risks of inbreeding only in modern times.

==Cosmology==

===The Starlight Problem===

The [[Starlight Problem]] confounds all theories about the universe: light has reached us from stars that are too far away to transmit the light within the age of the universe. But Genesis explains this easily: "let there be light" means that God created light, not merely stars.

===Planet Formation at Dawn of Universe===

Theories of an old universe insisted that planet formation did not occur until long after the origin of the universe, contrary to the [[Book of Genesis]]. But in 2012 scientists announced the existence of planets that formed "at dawn of universe."<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0330/Planets-found-at-dawn-of-universe-but-their-existence-is-a-mystery</ref>

===UFOs and Extraterrestrial Life===

For most of the 20th century, scientists typically believed in the existence of extraterrestrial life, despite the lack of any reference to it in the [[Bible]]. After spending many billions of dollars looking for such life, and investigating countless reports of UFOs, no such life has been found.

===Number of Stars===

The [[Bible]] repeatedly refers to the number of stars as being innumerable,<ref>''See'' Genesis 15:5, Jeremiah 33:22 and Hebrews 11:12.</ref> despite scientists insisting throughout most of history that there were only about 6000 stars. In the early 17th century [[Galileo]] turned a telescope to the heavens and discovered a great number of stars that had been previously invisible to the naked eye.<ref>http://galileo.rice.edu/lib/student_work/astronomy95/orionpleiades.html</ref>

Not until the 20th century did scientists discover the tremendous number of stars:<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/07/22/stars.survey/index.html</ref>

:There are "10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts," totaling "7 followed by 22 zeros or, more accurately, 70 sextillion.

But even that scientific estimate was much too low. On December 1, 2010, scientists admitted:<ref>http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1201/Universe-might-hold-three-times-more-stars-than-previously-thought</ref>

:"a cosmic embarrassment of riches – ''the universe appears to hold three times the number of stars many [[astronomer]]s might have estimated only a year ago''."

===Each Star is Unique===
Although the use of telescopes to chart the outer-reaches of God's heavenly creation was developed around the 16th century in Europe, the Bible accurately hypothesized that every star is unique.

"There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory"- 1 Corinthians 15:41 <ref>http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/science.shtml</ref>

===Spherical Sun and Earth===
The Book of Isaiah establishes that the true shape of the earth is a sphere:
{{cquote|He sits above the sphere of the earth, and its inhabitants look to him like grasshoppers. He stretches out the galaxies like a curtain, spreading them out like a tent to live under: - [[Isaiah_34-42_(Translated)#Chapter_40|Isaiah 40:22 (CBP]])}}

Likewise, with respect to the [[sun]], the Book of Proverbs 8:27 ([[ESV]]) states:
{{cquote|When he established the heavens, ... he drew a circle on the face of the deep}}

The Book of Isaiah was written circa the 8th century BC, and the Book of Proverbs even earlier. This was centuries before Greek philosophers, beginning with [[Pythagoras]], theorized the earth was round, and it was not discovered until 2012 that the sun is perfectly spherical. Astronomers were not able to conclude until well into the second millennium of [[Christ]] that the Earth is also a sphere.

=== Earth free floating in space ===
The book of Job states that God "hangs the earth on nothing." It also contrasts with pagan mythologies such as [[Atlas]] holding up the earth or the earth being supported by a giant turtle, as in ancient Hindu and native American myths.

The Bible presaged the modern view that space is in fact empty, which wasn't known until the dawn of the 20th century when ether theories became disfavored.

=== Darkness, and Unexplained Ripples in Cosmic Background Radiation ===

[[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis Chapter 1]] explains that [[God]] created light first, rather than merely stars. A "big bang" would result in light everywhere, without darkness, and without ripples in cosmic background radiation. Yet in the 21st century ripples were discovered in cosmic background radiation, which can only be plausibly explained by recognizing that light was created first.

=== Meteoroids ===
The Revelation of Saint John notes,
{{cquote|And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9 (KJV)}}
This accurately describes meteoroids, essentially large chunks of rock lit on fire by the shock of entering the earth's atmosphere. They were not discovered until 1801, and their composition was not otherwise known until the 20th century.

=== Stellar proper movement ===
In [[Job]], there is a list of challenges that are constructed in the form of questions, with the idea that man can't do it, but God can.

Among those challenges, two are remarkable: one mentions the ''untying'' of Orion's belt, and the other is the ''binding'' of the Pleiades. One recently astronomers could measure the proper movement of those stars; Orion's belt is moving apart, with each star going in a different direction, while the Pleiades are moving together.

=== Space flight ===
Many theorize that the book of [[Ezekiel]] contains descriptions of spaceships and rockets, as they would have been described by someone thousands of years ago. [http://www.spaceshipsofezekiel.com/ Author Blumrich] has even published an entire book about this.

===Expanding universe===
The [[Bible]] explains, in 17 different verses, that [[God]] "stretched out" the heavens,<ref>http://www.creationists.org/God-streched-out-the-universe-bible-verses.html</ref> in other words, expanding the fabric of space-time from a smaller size to a much larger one. Scientists have discovered only in the last 100 years that, by studying the red shift of galaxies, the universe indeed appears to be expanding, or "stretching out."

== Meteorology ==
=== Existence of the [[Jet Stream]] ===
Ecclesiastes 1:6 notes, "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits." This described the jet stream long before its 19th-20th century discovery.

=== Water cycle ===

The existence of the water cycle was not known until imperial Roman times, but the Bible described it over a thousand years before that!
See [[Ecclesiastes]] 11:3, [[Job]] 26:8 and [[Amos]] 9:6

== Physics ==

=== Impossibility of a Grand Unified Theory ===

Billions of dollars and millions of hours have been wasted by [[atheists]] in futile pursuit of a "grand unified theory" for physics. But [[Genesis_1-8_(Translated)#Chapter_1|Genesis]] explains that the creation of light was done in a separate, initial creation, free of darkness or entropy, and thus incapable of unification with matter.

=== Light and Color ===

Prior to the work of [[Isaac Newton]], white was considered to be the fundamental color of light, and other colors (such as red, green and blue) were formed by adding to white light. Under that traditional theory, the fullness of all light (a combination of all colors of light) would result in something other than pure white.

The transfiguration of Jesus is described with remarkable consistency in all three synoptic [[Gospel]]s: in the fullness of light Jesus and his clothing display an intense white, whiter than any bleach could produce. This illustrates what was not discovered and accepted until nearly 1700 years later: that white is the combination of other fundamental colors, and the purest white light is formed by a perfectly full combination (see [[Prism]]).

=== Action-at-a-distance ===

[[Jesus]] demonstrated [[action-at-a-distance]], as recounted in [[John 1-7 (Translated)|John 4:46-54]]. Scientists, particularly [[atheists]], denied the possibility of this phenomenon for thousands of years. When Newton proposed action-at-a-distance as the basis of gravity, scientists continued to reject it, but eventually accepted it as being true.

Later the [[Theory of Relativity]] again denied the possibility of action-at-a-distance, but [[quantum mechanics]] subsequently proved that it does occur.<ref>See also [[Counterexamples to Relativity]].</ref>

=== Quantum Mechanics ===

==== Observation of the Wave Function ====
The second chapter of the [[Gospel of John]] describes the conversion of water into wine by [[Jesus]] at a wedding reception. [[John_1-7_(Translated)#Chapter_2|John 2:9]] states: "When the host of the wedding feast tasted the water, it had been made into wine." This passage implies that the drink was not wine until it had been tasted, or observed. Possibly, the drink was a superposition of the state of wine and the state of water until it was observed as wine.

The miraculous [[Essay:Calming the Storm|calming of the storm]] is typically translated as the result of a "rebuke" by [[Jesus]] of the bad weather. But a closer look at the Greek reveals that the key term means "judge" rather than "rebuke", and thus it was the act of Jesus observing the chaos that caused it to "collapse" into an orderly state, similar to the effect of observing a wave function.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus draws a then-unusual distinction between what is fixed and what is uncertain by declaring, "Whatever you make binding on earth will be binding in heaven, and whatever you set loose on earth will be set loose in heaven."<ref>http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Matthew_10-19_%28Translated%29&oldid=870778#Chapter_16</ref> This may describe the fundamental uncertainty that continues unless and until there is human observation that then causes the wave function to collapse into a particular ("bound") state.

==== [[Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle]] ====

Both the Old and New Testaments refer to a fundamental uncertainty that requires observation to resolve, akin to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle discovered in the 1920s:

* "The earth came to exist in an utterly formless and empty state." [[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis 1:2]].
* The master refusing to order the removal of the weeds sowed among the wheat because of the uncertainty in distinguishing between the two until later: [[Matthew 10-19 (Translated)|Matthew 13:24-30]].

==== Wave-Particle Duality ====

Particles are subject to gravity; waves are not. Wave-particle duality, first discovered in the 20th century, allows for a particle to sometimes be subject to gravity and sometimes not.

The wave-particle duality was described nearly 2000 years earlier in the Gospel account of Jesus walking on water: [[Mark 1-8 (Translated)|Mark 6:45-54]]. A close reading of the passage reveals the wave-like (or light-like) characteristic of the walking on water:
{{cquote|he walked on the surface of the lake and came to the boat, ''nearly passing it''. But when they saw him walking on water, they thought it must have been ''a ghost'', and cried out.}}
[[Mark 1-8 (Translated)|Mark 6:48-49]] (italics added).

In a more general sense, [[Jesus]] could be viewed as the "particle" and the [[Holy Spirit]] as the "wave" of [[God]]. A fuller understanding of the [[Trinity]] could have opened the eyes of scientists much earlier to the fundamental wave-particle duality of nature ... and still could.

==== Quantum tunneling ====

[[Quantum tunneling]] is the ability of particles to move through energy barriers even though ostensibly impossible based on classical laws of mechanical physics. This was not discovered by scientists until the 20th century.

[[Jesus]] proved this was possible in [[John_15-21_(Translated)#Chapter_20|John 20:26]], when he appeared before the [[Apostles]] in a closed room with completely shut doors.

=== Classical Relativity ===
Romans 10:6-7: But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Equating ascending into heaven to bringing Christ down is an example of the fact that there is no universal reference frame, and only relative speeds matter.

=== Modern Relativity ===
The [[Theory of Relativity]] denies the possibility of action-at-a-distance. But several passages in the Bible, such as [[John 1-7 (Translated)|John 4:46-54]] and [[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)|Matthew 27:51]], describe simultaneous actions from afar.

The list of [[Counterexamples to Relativity]] has grown recently, and modern experiments in [[quantum mechanics]] have confirmed action-at-a-distance.

=== [[Second Law of Thermodynamics]] ===

The [[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Book of Genesis]] states that the darkness or chaos in the universe can never overcome the light, or order. This same concept was not discovered in physics until the development of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which holds that heat (or order or light) always travels in the direction of cold (or disorder or darkness), and never in the opposite direction.

[[Epistle to the Hebrews (Translated)#1:10-11|Hebrews 1:10-11]] explains that the universe shall "wear out" like a "garment", centuries before the discovery of the physical law that [[entropy]] is always increasing.

=== The nature of air ===

Until about 300 years ago, common knowledge believe that the air was "empty" and didn't weigh anything. But [[Job]] 28:25 says "To establish a '''weight''' for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure" indicating that the divinely inspired author knew the air had substance and weight.

=== Conservative forces ===

James 1:17 describes the electromagnetic forces (light) as having no "shadow of turning." Not understood for nearly 2000 years, this predicts that electromagnetic forces are [[conservative]] such that their [[line integrals]] over a closed loop are zero.

== Mathematics ==
=== Zero ===

Mathematicians in Western Europe did not discover [[zero]] until many centuries after the [[Bible]] was written. But there are hundreds of references to the concept of zero throughout the Bible.

=== [[Banach-Tarski Paradox]] ===
The only miracle described in all four [[Gospels]] is the multiplication of loaves and fish by [[Jesus]], thought for thousands of years to be a mathematical and physical impossibility. But the 20th century discovery of the so-called [[Banach-Tarski Paradox]] proved a mathematical basis for creating identical copies of an object out of no extra material.

=== Axiomatization of Arithmetic ===
The full set of axioms for integer arithmetic may be found in the Bible, as demonstrated by J.C. Keister.<ref>[http://www.biblicalblueprints.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/MathAndBible.pdf J. C. Keister: "''Math and the Bible''"], Biblical Blueprints Omaha, NE, 1999 (pdf)</ref> For example, [[Luke 9-16 (Translated)|Luke 12:52]] is a striking statement of the commutative law for addition: "For from this point forward there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." This understanding presaged both later attempts at the axiomatization of arithmetic by Peano and the development of [[abstract algebra]] in the 19th and 20th centuries.

=== The Concept of [[Infinity]] ===

Most thinkers scoffed at the concept of infinity for thousands of years, despite being referenced in the Bible in many ways. See, e.g., Psalm 147:4-6 (God's "understanding is infinte"); [[Matthew 20-28 (Translated)#20:1|Matthew 20:1-14]] ([[parable]] of the wages for the workers in the vineyard); Matthew 16:26 (one's soul has an infinite value to him, and nothing else can be worth more).

But [[Georg Cantor]], deeply inspired by [[Christianity]], established a logical foundation for infinity that revolutionized all of mathematics as a result, with his development of [[set theory]] to accomplish his goal.

=== [[Set theory]] ===

[[Georg Cantor]]'s development of [[set theory]] in the late 19th century was initially rejected by many great mathematicians, including [[Henri Poincare]], before it became the basis for nearly all of mathematics today. But the Bible contains many hints in support of set theory, as in the "last shall be first, and the first shall be last."

=== Calculus ===

The Bible emphasizes the importance of limits as a key distinction between this world and God; Calculus consists of relying on limits to derive useful results.<ref>[http://www.aiias.edu/ict/vol_27/27cc_225-239.htm Norie Grace Rivera-Poblete: "''God and Calculus''"], Institute for Christian Teaching Education Department of [[Seventh-day Adventist]], Prepared for the 27th International Faith and Learning Seminar held at Mission, Muak Lek Saraburi, Thailand December 3 – 15, 2000</ref>

James 1:17 states that the first and second derivatives of God's light (truth) is zero, more than 1600 years before calculus was discovered: "with [God] there is no variation or shadow of turning."<ref name="Shadow of Turning">[http://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/no-variation-or-shadow-of-turning-calculus-in-the-bible/ Nathan Albright: ''"No Variation Or Shadow Of Turning: Calculus In The Bible"''], Blog-Entry, Feb 24, 2011 </ref>

== Sociology ==

===Crime===

Mark 4:22 says how nothing can be hid, neither can anything be kept secret. Empirical statistics show that the vast majority of crimes worldwide are solved.

== Zoology ==

===Inability of Animals to Understand Morality===

[[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis 3:1-10]] explains that only humans understand good and evil, and clothe themselves because of it. Repeatedly scientists have attempted to demonstrate that animals can understand morality also, but every attempt has failed. No animal (other than humans) has ever been found that clothes itself.

===Existence of dinosaurs===
[[Dinosaur]] fossils were not discovered until the 19th century, but the book of [[Job]] describes enormous creatures called behemoth and leviathan, the descriptions being similar to dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. It may also have referred to another similarly giant now-extinct species. Other dinosaur like creatures mentioned are the cockatrice and satyr <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i2/behemoth.asp</ref>

===Lions' killing methods===

Until the 1970s naturalists believed that lions killed their prey by biting through the neck or by breaking the neck with a swat of a paw, while the Bible says that lions suffocated their prey. (Nahum 2:12) It was not until the 1970s that it was discovered that the [[Bible]] was correct.<ref>http://ed5015.tripod.com/BLions87.htm</ref> Lions fit their mouth over the mouth and nose of their prey and hold it while it suffocates, in addition to other killing methods.

=== Giant sea creatures and Jonah ===

The [[Jonah (Translated)|Book of Jonah]] describes his survival in the belly of a giant sea creature for 2.5 to 3 days. Scientists declared this to be impossible due to powerful stomach acids that quickly break down any material and the lack of breathable air inside marine animals.

In 2010, scientists found the following materials intact in the belly of a gray whale that had died after being stranded on a Northwest beach:<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/19/pair-sweat-pants-garbage-beached-whales-stomach/</ref>

*a pair of sweat pants
*a golf ball
*over 20 plastic bags
*small towels
*duct tape
*surgical gloves

Of course, many sea creatures have gone extinct in the thousands of years since Jonah lived.

===Worker ants===
Proverbs 6:6-8 correctly states the sex of worker [[ant]]s (female), using the correct one of the two [[Grammar#Gender|grammatical genders]] available in Biblical [[Hebrew]]. Secular entomologists would not discover that fact until the 19th century.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=rzwSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA6&dq=ant+undeveloped+female+worker+date:1700-1850&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#v=onepage&q&f=false The study of medicine, Volume 5 By John Mason Good]</ref>

==Linguistics==

===Common Descent?===
The [[theory of evolution]] suggests that all languages are descended from a common ancestral language, and for a century (1860 to about 1960) scientists clung to that view. But now most linguists identify many different families of languages that have no common ancestor, just as described in Genesis 11 with the [[Tower of Babel]].

===Earliest Hebrew Writings===
Skeptics have claimed that [[Hebrew]] writing did not exist before the 6th century B.C. But a recent Israeli archaeological dig dated four centuries earlier, in the 10th century B.C., included an artifact found at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Elah Valley. This artifact contained a written inscription in Hebrew relating to "slaves, widows and orphans." Haifa University Professor Gershon Galil noted that this disproves the theory that the Bible could not have been written before the 6th century.<ref>http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2010/01/08/Bible-may-be-centuries-older-than-thought/UPI-21171262997765/</ref>

== Economics ==

Jesus stated that there will always be poverty,<ref>See Mark 14:7, Matthew 26:11 and John 12.8.</ref> yet [[liberals]] repeatedly insist that poverty can be eliminated with more government spending. Every attempt to eliminate poverty has failed just as Jesus predicted. In 1991 [[Ronald Coase]] won a [[Nobel Prize]] in [[Economics]] for the [[Coase Theorem]], which implies that government attempts to reduced poverty will interfere with efficient operation of the economy, and thereby reduce wealth.

== Government and Politics ==

===Nation State===
Ancient Israel, as described in the [[Old Testament]], was a [[nation-state]] and that model was not utilized again until thousands of years later, well after the Renaissance in Western Europe. This model of a nation-state has become the modern standard worldwide.

===Separation of Powers===
The separation of powers adopted successfully by the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1787, with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches having separate authority and jurisdiction, was first described in the Old Testament.<ref>See Jeremiah 17:19 and Isaiah 33:22.</ref>

===The Liberal Influence of the Media===
The Third [[Three Temptations of Christ|Temptation of Christ]] is to bow down and worship the [[Satan]] in exchange for becoming ruler of the world. The media plays that role and its influence is predictably [[liberal]] and anti-[[Christian]].

==Engineering examples==

Biblical scientific foreknowledge about these engineering developments has been proposed:<ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2191</ref>
{{cquote|automobiles (Joel 2:3-4); airplanes (Isaiah 31:5, also 40:31); submarines (Revelation 9:1-11); radio (Ecclesiastes 10:20); and television (Revelation 11:3-12)}}
Classical photography, using negative imaging, was predated by the [[Shroud of Turin]] with respect to the imaging on the Shroud likely due to the light of the [[Resurrection]]. The Shroud ([[Greek]]: σινδών - sindón) is mentioned in three Gospels: Matthew 27:59, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:53, while John 20:5-7 talks about a face cloth or napkin ([[Greek]]: σουδάριον - soudárion - perhaps the [[Sudarium of Oviedo]]), and a piece of fine linen ([[Greek]]: ὀθόνιον - othonion). The description by the eyewitness John implies that his sighting of the Shroud may have confirmed his [[faith]], though he doesn't mention its photograph-like image <ref>John Calvin, who opposed the Catholic Church, wrote a book in 1543 criticizing all material evidence of Jesus and the martyrs. In it he claimed that because the negative image on the Shroud is not described in the Gospels, it must not be authentic. [[John Calvin]]: ''Traité des Reliques'', Geneve 1543, translated by Valerian Krasinski: ''A treatise on Relics'', Edingburgh 1854</ref>.

== Alleged absurdities and contradictions ==

Biblical scientific foreknowledge is an underpinning of creation science, and is widely credited by Christian scientists and apologists, including the organizations [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Answers in Genesis]], and [[CreationWiki]].<ref>http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge.</ref><ref>[http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible Scientific Foreknowledge]</ref><ref>http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1718/</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp</ref>

Atheists unsuccessfully attempt to discredit the Bible based on science. Here are some examples:

=== Bat as a bird ===
A favorite evolutionist canard is that Leviticus 11:13-19 labels the [[bat]], a [[mammal]], as a [[bird]]. But this is an obvious failure of translation, as the Hebrew term '' 'owph'' did not entail the "clade" of birds, but was a non-biological category referring to any winged creature, mammalian, avian, or insect. The KJV translation as "fowl" is simply incorrect.

=== Incorrect value of Pi ===
Two sections of the bible (1 Kings 7, 23-26, 2 Chronicles, 4, 2-5) appear to indicate that the correct value of [[Pi]] is 3, whereas Pi is in fact an irrational number, equalling approximately 3.14159. Atheists, including [[Sam Harris]] and [[Richard Dawkins]], allege that this value indicates the fallacious nature of scripture.<ref>The Richard Dawkins Foundation, ''Reply to a Christian'', Sam Harris - [http://richarddawkins.net/articles/139]</ref> However, a simple explanation of the claimed "contradiction" is that the Bible records the ratio of the actual object which Hiram created, not that of a mathematical [[sphere]]. The claim that it was round all about does not equate to a claim that it was a perfect sphere, as atheists have claimed.<ref>''Theology'', Volume 59, Issues 427-438, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Great Britain), London, 1956, p. 23 </ref> Additionally, pi to one significant digit is 3. Just because the measurement is only given to one significant digit does not mean it was precisely that amount. Of course, since pi is an irrational number, it would be impossible to give a truly precise measurement.

==See Also==
*[[Biblical political foreknowledge]]
*[[Christianity and Science]]
*[[Creation vs. Evolution Videos]]
*[[The Bible]]
*[[Evolution]]
*[[Atheism]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.creationwiki.org/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible scientific foreknowledge] by [[CreationWiki]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Creationism]]

{{Template:Creation vs. evolution}}

Jim Crow

2012-12-05T01:34:55Z

Snowy: /* Voting disfranchisement */

[[Image:JimCrow.gif|thumb|Minstrel character "Jim Crow"]]
'''Jim Crow''' was the system of racial segregation in the Southern U.S. from the 1880s to 1964 in which [[African American]]s were segregated (separated) in [[public school]]s and public places, so that they could not mingle in public with whites on equal terms. In addition to segregation, Jim Crow also assured that blacks had little or no political power. It was a low point in [[Black history]] after the euphoria of [[Reconstruction]].

==Supreme Court approves==
The [[Supreme Court]] of the United States held in the ''Civil Rights Cases'' (1883) that the [[Fourteenth Amendment]] did not give the federal government the power to outlaw private discrimination. In an even more important decision, the Court held in ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' (1896) that Jim Crow laws were constitutional as long as they allowed for "separate but equal" facilities. Everyone knew that the "equal" in "separate but equal" was a technicality, and that gross inequality was tolerated in practice.

==Courts reverse==
After 1945, the [[Civil Rights]] movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow. The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954 in [[Brown vs. Board of Education]]. The federal courts then systematically ended Jim Crow in practice by the 1970s.<ref> Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) </ref>

President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of [[liberal]] [[Democrat]]s and [[conservative]] [[Republicans]] from the north, pushed [[Congress]] to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which immediately ended Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation. In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.

Conservatives and liberals alike denounce the policy of Jim Crow as an unacceptable violation of the principle of equal rights for all. [[File:Strangecareer.jpg|thumb|200px|the standard history]]

==De Facto Segregation==
"De facto" segregation refers to the practice of segregation, especially in Northern cities, that was in effect by custom and not by law. The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal segregation. The federal courts tried to end it in school districts by ordering the busing of students to achieve racial balance in the schools. Busing was enormously unpopular (and was never ordered by Congress), and the courts generally ended the practice by the 1990s.

==De Jure segregation==
"De jure" or legal segregation took place when state laws required it, in the South and some border states. These laws mandated the physical separation of the races in order to create a social distance and minimize violence. The facilities purchased by taxpayers for black use was almost always inferior to those provided to whites. The most important laws required that public schools, public places and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks. (These Jim Crow Laws were separate from the 1800-66 "Black Codes", which had defined an inferior legal status for free blacks.) State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in the seminal case of ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. All of the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

During the [[Reconstruction]] period of 1863-77, federal law provided civil rights protection in the South for freedmen—the African-Americans who had formerly been slaves. Reconstruction ended at different dates (the latest 1877), and was followed in each southern state by [[Redeemers|Redeemer]] governments that passed the Jim Crow laws to separate the races. In the [[Progressive Era]], the restrictions were formalized, and segregation was extended to the federal government when the Democrats held the White House, 1913-21.

==Origins==
In the first stage of "Presidential Reconstruction," from 1865-66, the all-white southern legislatures abolished laws regarding slavery but passed the black codes, which gave new rights to the freedmen but fewer than whites possessed. The codes were not actually enforced but they caused a sharp reaction in the North. The [[Radical Republicans]] passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave freedmen legal rights (but not the right to vote). The country passed the 14th and 15th Amendments to the [[United States Constitution]] by 1870, guaranteeing civil rights and the right to vote. The southern states came under Republican control— a party comprising the Freedmen, white Southerners ("[[Scalawags]]") and migrants from the North ([Carpetbaggers]]. The [[Ku Klux Klan]] and related groups reacted violently, but they were suppressed by President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] using the federal courts and troops. By 1877, the conservatives and Democrats, forming a Redeemer coalition, ousted all the Republican governments. From 1877 until the 1970s, the Southern Democrats largely controlled every southern state.

===Redeemers===
After 1877, the [[Redeemers]] reversed many of the civil rights gains that African Americans had made during Reconstruction, passing laws that mandated discrimination by both local governments and by private citizens. Since "Jim Crow law" is a blanket term for any of this type of legislation, the date of inception for the laws varies by state. The most important laws came in the 1890s with the adoption of legislation segregating railroad cars in [[New Orleans]] as the first genuine Jim Crow law. By 1915, every southern state had effectively destroyed the gains in civil rights and liberties that blacks had enjoyed from the Reconstructionist efforts.

Many of the discriminatory Jim Crow laws were enacted to support [[racial segregation]] in everyday life. They required black and white people to use separate water fountains, public schools, public bath houses, restaurants, public libraries, buses and rail cars—even without legal segregation.

In the south, before the resort to widespread legal segregation around 1890, ''de facto'' segregation had replaced exclusion in southern race relations. The integration stage was largely bypassed. Radical measures helped to institutionalize this shift to segregation. Both white Republicans and Redeemers came to embrace the new segregation policies, though often for different reasons. Even the attitudes of blacks helped to assure the shift. Lack of white support, black self-respect, economic pressures, tactical emphasis on securing better "separate but equal" facilities, and the development of group identity all shaped blacks' attitudes.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "From Exclusion To Segregation: Southern Race Relations, 1865-1890." ''Journal of American History 1976'' 63(2): 325-350. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1899640 in JSTOR]</ref>

Virginia Governor [[James L. Kemper]] (1874-77) and like-minded conservatives sought interracial peace and implemented racial policies which were less anti-Negro and which gave fuller recognition than historians have conceded. The Virginia Redeemers attempted to shape race relations to conform to what C. Vann Woodward has defined as the conservative philosophy. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers deserve to rank in history alongside the Wade Hamptons and other proponents of the conservative philosophy.<ref> Robert R. Jones, "James L. Kemper and the Virginia Redeemers Face the Race Question: A Reconsideration." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1972 38(3): 393-414. 0022-4642 </ref>

The Redeemer system of Jim Crow meant that for the first time black teachers and principals controlled black education. Rabinowitz (1974) studies the transformation from white to black teachers in southern schools in the post-Civil War years, using the experiences of five southern cities to provide a cross-section: Atlanta, Georgia; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; Montgomery, Alabama; and Richmond, Virginia. Among the problems the Redeemers confronted were such matters as the removal of northern missionary ties and teachers in order to reassert southern control of the school system, the black demand for black teachers which was often accepted since it meant cheaper teachers, and the resultant black demand for equal salary for equal work, a demand usually denied. African Americans tried to obtain better quality instruction for their children, more administrative positions, and positions on the school board, but were usually unsuccessful. Ironically, since some schools became entirely black, insistence upon black instructors made it easier for the whites to discriminate.<ref> Howard N. Rabinowitz, "Half a Loaf: The Shift from White to Black Teachers in the Negro Schools of the Urban South, 1865-1890." ''Journal of Southern History'' 1974 40(4):565-594. [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2206355 in JSTOR] </ref>

===Voting disfranchisement===
Between 1890 and 1920, many state governments prevented most blacks from voting by various techniques, such as poll taxes (a person had to pay a voluntary tax to vote) and fake literacy tests (that whites always passed but blacks always failed).<ref>Whites who would be limited by the voting laws were protected by "grandfather clauses"--they could vote if their grandfather could vote. These clauses were found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1915.</ref> Of 181,000 African-American males of voting age in [[Alabama]] in 1900, only 3,000 were registered to vote. Typically, the ministers and ten to fifty prominent blacks in every county were allowed to vote.

==Segregation approved by the courts==
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, legislation introduced by [[Charles Sumner]] and [[Benjamin F. Butler]]. It seemed to guarantee that everyone, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, was entitled to the same treatment in "public accommodations" (inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement).

In 1883, the Supreme Court restricted the Civil Rights Act of 1875 to actions by state and local government. It ruled Congress could not control private persons or corporations. After Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, it did not pass another civil rights law until 1957.

In 1890, Louisiana passed a law requiring separate accommodations for colored and white passengers on railroads. Louisiana law distinguished between "white," "black" and "colored" (that is, people of mixed white and black ancestry). The law already had provided that blacks could not ride with white people, but colored people could ride with whites prior to 1890. A group of concerned black, colored and white citizens in New Orleans formed an association dedicated to the repeal of the law. They had Homer Plessy purchase a first-class railroad ticket. Plessy was directed to leave that car and sit instead in the "coloreds only" car. He refused and was immediately arrested. The Citizens Committee of New Orleans fought the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. They lost in 1896, and ''[[Plessy v. Ferguson]]'' validated the segregation laws as constitutional.

Jim Crow was supported politically by nearly all white politicians. To do otherwise was political death. The southern states formed a "Solid South" -- that is the region voted for (almost) all Democratic candidates at the state level, and was a powerful bloc in presidential elections.<ref> Republicans [[Herbert Hoover]] in 1928 and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] in 1952 and 1956 were the only Republicans to win notable support in the white South between 1876 and 1960.</ref> The Democrats dominated all aspects of local, state, and federal political life in the post-Civil War South, into the 1970s and 1980s. In 1956, nearly all Southern Congressmen and Senators signed the "Southern Manifesto," condemning the Supreme Court's ruling in ''Brown v. Board of Education.''

===Black opposition===
[[Booker T. Washington]] publicly accepted Jim Crow, but secretly financed numerous cases in federal court that chipped away at the system. In general, the black community in the South quietly accepted the system and did not cause trouble. In the North the black political leadership routinely denounced Jim Crow in the South (where it was part of state law) and ignored informal Jim Crow in the North.

When black soldiers returning from World War II recoiled at the second class Jim Crow citizenship in the South, the movement for [[Civil Rights]] was renewed. The NAACP Legal Defense Committee (a group independent of the NAACP)—and its lawyer [[Thurgood Marshall]]—brought the landmark case ''[[Brown v. Board of Education|Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka]]'', before the Supreme Court.<ref>The main NAACP is often assumed to be involved in the case. Not true; the totally separate NAACP Legal Defense Committee handled it all. </ref> In 1954, the court under [[Earl Warren]] unanimously overturned the 1896 Plessy decision in its ruling; Thurgood Marshall later became the first black Supreme Court Justice.

===Social mobility for blacks===
Jim Crow limited black upward mobility and opportunity. Therefore millions moved to northern cities in the [[Great Migration]] (1917-1960).

African-American entertainers, musicians, and literary figures had separate, small niches in the world of art and culture in the North. The most successful writers formed the "[[Harlem Renaissance]]" of the 1920s in New York City, Jazz musicians developed their new music in Jim Crow Memphis and New Orleans, and took it north to Chicago and New York to largely black audiences (whites could hear jazz in the North, but were not allowed in all-black venues in the South).

African-American athletes found Jim Crow stood against them nationally. By 1900, white opposition to African-American boxers, baseball players, track athletes, and basketball players kept them segregated and limited in what they could do. But their prowess and abilities in all-African-American teams and sporting events could not be denied, and the barriers to African-American participation in all the major sports began to crumble in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the wake of the spectacular breakthrough of [[Jackie Robinson]] into baseball in 1947 in Brooklyn.

==Twentieth century==
In the 20th century, the Supreme Court began to overturn a few Jim Crow laws on constitutional grounds. In ''[[Buchanan v. Warley]]'' 245 US 60 (1917), the court held that Kentucky could not require residential segregation. The Supreme Court in 1946, in ''Irene Morgan v. Virginia'' ruled segregation in interstate transportation to be unconstitutional, though its reasoning stemmed from the [[commerce clause]] of the Constitution rather than any moral objection to the practice. The impact of these Court decisions was small, but they set the legal basis for the major breakthrough in 1954.

In 1954 in ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'' 347 US 483 that the Court under the firm guidance of Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] unanimously held that separate facilities were inherently unequal in the area of public schools. It effectively overturning ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', and outlawing Jim Crow in other areas of society as well. A series of followup decisions slowly dismantled the state-sponsored school segregation laws, but left standing most segregation in practice.
[[File:Jimcrow1.jpg|thumb|375px|Cafe in Durham, North Carolina, 1940. with separate doors and seating for "White" and for "Colored." Most restaurants and theaters in theSouth had separate seating sections. Jack Delano, [[FSA]] photographer]]
Besides state laws that compelled segregation of the races, private organizations were almost wholly segregated in the South.

===Informal segregation===
Most clubs and labior unions in the North excluded blacks--not on the basis of state law but on the basis of their own rules and traditions. Blacks could not buy houses in certain neighborhoods, nor join labor unions that controlled access to many skilled trades.

The Supreme Court undercut private discrimination in ''Shelley v. Kraemer'' 334 US 1 (1948), in which it held that "restrictive covenants" that barred sale of homes to blacks or Jews or Asians could not be enforced in courts. The restrictive covenants, however, remained in place until 1964.

The Supreme Court was unwilling, however, to attack other forms of de facto private discrimination; it reasoned that private parties did not violate the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution when they discriminated, because they were not "state actors" covered by that clause.

After World War II, as attitudes in the Federal courts turned against segregation, the segregationist white governments of many of the states of the Southeast countered with even more numerous and strict segregation laws on the local level until the start of the 1960s. The modern Civil Rights movement has been dated to the action of Birmingham leaders who sent [[Rosa Parks]] to refuse to give up her seat on a bus to a white man after being ordered to do so by the bus driver. This act of civil disobedience, and the demonstrations that it spawned, led to a series of legislation and court decisions in which Jim Crow laws were repealed.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Reverend [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] which followed Rosa Parks' action, was not an isolated case. Numerous boycotts and demonstrations against segregation had occurred throughout the 1930s and 1940s. These early demonstrations achieved positive results and helped spark political activism. For instance, K. Leroy Irvis of Pittsburgh's Urban League led a demonstration against employment discrimination by Pittsburgh's department stores in 1947, and he became the first 20th century African-American to serve as a state Speaker of the House.

In 1964, the U.S. Congress attacked the parallel system of private Jim Crow practices. It invoked the commerce clause to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations (privately owned restaurants, hotels, and stores, and in private schools and workplaces). This use of the commerce clause was upheld in ''Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States'' 379 US 241 (1964).

In 1971, the Supreme Court, in [[Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education]], upheld busing of students to achieve integration.

===End of ''de jure'' segregation===
In January, 1964, President [[Lyndon Johnson]] met with civil rights leaders. Johnson had long disliked Jim Crow, and now had the votes in Congress to end it. In his first State of the Union address in January 1964, Johnson asked Congress to "let this session of Congress be known as the session which did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions combined." Johnson mobilized support from northern members of Congress of both parties, with strong grass roots support from Protestant churches, liberal labor unions, and civil rights activists. Support was increased by a flow of negative publicity from the South, such as the murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi. On July 2, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

==Origins of imagery==
The "father of American minstrelsy" was Thomas Dartmouth "Daddy" Rice, who, between 1828 and 1831, developed a song-and-dance routine in which he impersonated an old, crippled black slave, dubbed Jim Crow. <ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/minstrel.htm</ref>

On the eve of the Civil War, the universal image of the silly Jim Crow minstrel character provided one of many stereotypical images of black inferiority that were a fundamental component of white popular culture. By the 1890s, the term had come to mean the separation of blacks from whites and the general customs and laws that subordinated blacks as an inferior people. <ref>http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/glossary.cgi</ref>

==Basic further reading==
* Bond, Horace Mann. “The Extent and Character of Separate Schools in the United States.” ''Journal of Negro Education'' 4(July 1935):321–27. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2984(193507)4%3A3%3C321%3ATEACOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W in JSTOR], by a leading black scholar
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''The Strange Career of Jim Crow'' (1955) Highly influential classic history by Pulitzer prize winner. [http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Career-Jim-Crow/dp/0195146905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;cc=acls;view=toc;idno=heb02029.0001.001 complete text online at ACLS e-books], by a leading white scholar; a highly influential book
==Bibliography==
* Ayers, Edward L. ''The Promise of the New South'' (1992), a general history of the South in the late 19th century [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90462753 online edition]
* Barnes, Catherine A. ''Journey from Jim Crow: The Desegregation of Southern Transit'' , 1983.
* Bartley, Numan V. ''The Rise of Massive Resistance: Race and Politics in the South during the 1950s'' (1969).
* Bond, Horace Mann. “The Extent and Character of Separate Schools in the United States.” ''Journal of Negro Education'' 4(July 1935):321–27. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2984(193507)4%3A3%3C321%3ATEACOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W in JSTOR]
* Chafe, William Henry, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad, eds. ''Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Jim-Crow-Americans-Segregated/dp/1565847784/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]
* [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=283998&high=%20Gabriel%20CHin Gabriel Chin & Hrishi Karthikeyan, Preserving Racial Identity: Population Patterns and the Application of Anti-Miscegenation Statutes to Asians, 1910 to 1950, 9 Asian L.J. (2002)]
* Dailey, Jane, Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, and Bryant Simon, eds. ''Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from Civil War to Civil Rights'' (2000), essays by scholars on impact of Jim Crow on black communities [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&se=gglsc&d=5002470890 online edition]
* Egerton, John. ''Speak Now Against the Day: The Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement in the South.'' (1994).
* Fairclough, Adam. "'Being in the Field of Education and Also Being a Negro…Seems…Tragic': Black Teachers in the Jim Crow South." ''Journal of American History'' 87 (June 2000): 65–91. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8723(200006)87%3A1%3C65%3A%22ITFOE%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G in JSTOR]
* Feldman, Glenn. ''Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915–1949''. (1999). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/politics-society-and-the-klan-in-alabama-1915-1949-by-glenn-feldman.jsp online edition]
* Fireside, Harvey. ''Separate and Unequal: Homer Plessy and the Supreme Court Decision That Legalized Racism'', (2004).
* Foner, Eric. ''Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877'' (1988), ISBN 0-06-015851-4, standard history of Reconstruction from [[neoabolitionist]] school
* Gaines, Kevin. ''Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics, and Culture in the Twentieth Century'' (1996). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/uplifting-the-race-black-leadership-politics-and-culture-in-the-twentieth-century-by-kevin-k-gaines.jsp online edition]
* Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth. ''Gender and Jim Crow Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=94820628 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Gender-Jim-Crow-Supremacy-1896-1920/dp/0807845965/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Griffin, John Howard. ''Black Like Me'' (1996) A Southern white reporter darkens his skin to experience segregation in the Deep South in 1959.
* Haws, Robert, ed. ''The Age of Segregation: Race Relations in the South, 1890– 1945'', 1978.
* Hackney, Sheldon. ''Populism to Progressivism in Alabama'' (1969)
* Kantrowitz, Stephen. ''Ben Tillman & the Reconstruction of White Supremacy'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Tillman-Reconstruction-Supremacy-Morrison-Southern/dp/0807848395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200613294&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Kantrowitz, Stephen. "Ben Tillman and Hendrix McLane, Agrarian Rebels: White Manhood, 'The Farmers,' and the Limits of Southern Populism," ''The Journal of Southern History,'' Vol. 66, No. 3 (Aug., 2000), pp. 497-524 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(200008)66%3A3%3C497%3ABTAHMA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K in JSTOR]
* Kennedy, Randall. ''Martin Luther King's Constitution: a Legal History of the Montgomery Bus Boycott,'' 98 Yale Law Journal 999-1067 (April, 1989) pp 999-1067 [http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/civilrights03.htm online edition without footnotes]; [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0044-0094(198904)98%3A6%3C999%3AMLKCAL%3E2.0.CO;2-E complete edition from JSTOR]
* Klarman, Michael J. ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Crow-Civil-Rights-Struggle/dp/0195310187/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-14 excerpt and text search]
* Lipsitz, George. "'Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac': White Supremacy, Antiblack Racism, and the New Historicism," ''American Literary History,'' Vol. 7, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 700-725 [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0896-7148(199524)7%3A4%3C700%3A%22LSCWS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8 in JSTOR]
* Litwack, Leon F. ''Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Mind-Black-Southerners-Crow/dp/039452778X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200613319&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* McMillen, Neil R. ''Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow. '' (1989). [http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Journey-Black-Mississippians-Crow/dp/025206156X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610311&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Myrdal, Gunnar. ''An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy'' (1944). Highly influential and detailed analysis of the Jim Crow system in operation. [http://www.amazon.com/American-Dilemma-Problem-Democracy-African-American/dp/1560008571/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610342&sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]
* Newby, I. A. ''Jim Crow's Defense: Anti-Negro Thought in America, 1900-1930'' (1965)
* Percy, William Alexander. ''Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son.'' (1941). by conservative white planter [http://www.amazon.com/Lanterns-Levee-Recollections-Planters-Son/dp/1406728357/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610379&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Rabinowitz, Howard N. ''Race Relations in the Urban South, 1856–1890'' (1978)
* Ritterhouse, Jennifer. ''Growing Up Jim Crow: The Racial Socialization of Black and White Southern Children, 1890-1940.'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Jim-Crow-Socialization-1890-1940/dp/0807856843/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]
* Smith, John David, ed. ''When Did Southern Segregation Begin?'' (2001), 194pp [http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Segregation-Begin-Historians-Palgrave/dp/0312237057/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200616609&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Smith, J. Douglas. ''Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, and Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia'', (2002) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101423964 online edition]
* Smith, J. Douglas. "The Campaign for Racial Purity and the Erosion of Paternalism in Virginia, 1922–1930: 'Nominally White, Biologically Mixed, and Legally Negro.'" ''Journal of Southern History'' 68 (February 2002): 65–106. [http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5002455235 online edition]
* Sterner, Richard. ''The Negro's share: a study of income, consumption, housing, and public assistance'' (1943), statistical analysis of 1930s [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.02857 ACLS E-book]
* Williams, Juan, and Julian Bond. ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965'' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Prize-Americas-1954-1965-American/dp/0140096531/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610805&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''The Strange Career of Jim Crow'' (1955) Highly influential classic history by Pulitzer prize winner. [http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Career-Jim-Crow/dp/0195146905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200610418&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;cc=acls;view=toc;idno=heb02029.0001.001 complete text online at ACLS e-books]
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''The Origins of the New South: 1877-1913'' (1951). [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;cc=acls;view=toc;idno=heb00007.0001.001 complete text online at ACLS e-books]

==See also==
*[[Black History]]
*[[Civil Rights]]
*[[Civil Rights Movement]]
*[[Reconstruction]]
*[[Racism]]
*[[Earl Warren]]

==External links==
*[http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/series/program1.htm History of Jim Crow] - [[PBS]] series
*[http://www.pitt.edu/~amerimus/minstrel.htm Minstrelsy] - Center for American Music
*[http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/glossary.cgi Encyclopedia of Jim Crow]
====Notes====
<references/>
[[category:United States History]]
[[category:Civil Rights]]
[[category:Reconstruction]]
[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:The South]]
[[Category:1960s]]

Minotaur

2012-12-04T23:34:35Z

Snowy:

The '''Minotaur''' was a creature in Greek mythology. Half-man and half-bull, it was the offspring of Pasipha, the wife of King [[Minos]] of [[Crete]], and a bull<ref>http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/minotaur.html</ref>. [[Poseidon]] had given a bull to Minos to sacrifice to the god, but it was so beautiful, the the king could not sacrifice it and kept it instead. As punishment, Poseidon made the queen, Pasipha, fall in love with the bull and their offspring was the minotaur.
At first the minotaur wreaked havoc throughout Crete, but eventually Minos caught it and imprisoned it in the labyrinth, a maze designed by the architect Daedalus that was so complex that no one could escape from it. For food, the minotaur was given fourteen Athenians every year who were put in the maze and hunted by the minotaur. After a time, however, the Athenian hero [[Theseus]] came to Crete to be fed to the Minotaur. Instead he was helped by Minos's daughter, [[Ariadne]], who supplied him with a ball of thread which he used to find his way out of the labyrinth, having killed the Minotaur with his bare hands.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
[[category:Greek Mythology]]

National Hockey League

2012-12-04T03:54:28Z

Snowy:

The '''National Hockey League''' ('''NHL''') is a professional [[hockey]] leauge with teams across [[Canada]] and the [[United States]]. Comprised of 30 teams, divided into 2 Conferences and six Divisions each of 5 teams, the NHL teams play for the Championship: the [[Stanley Cup]]. The teams play 82 game seasons, and the top 16 teams (3 top teams from each division plus the next 5 teams from the Conference) from the Regular Season advance to a playoff phase where a best of seven series are played between the seeded teams.
 Canadian and American players make up the majority of the players in the NHL, however many skilled players have been brought into the league from [[Europe]], making it a premier place for playing hockey. The large number of Canadian players and the large support for the sport of hockey make the NHL a popular draw in Canada, with playoff hockey actually drawing more viewers in Canada than in the United States.

== List of Teams ==

=== Eastern Conference ===

===== Atlantic Division =====
*[[New Jersey Devils]]
*[[New York Islanders]]
*[[New York Rangers]]
*[[Philadelphia Flyers]]
*[[Pittsburgh Penguins]]

===== Northeast Division =====
*[[Boston Bruins]]
*[[Buffalo Sabres]]
*[[Montreal Canadiens]]
*[[Ottawa Senators]]
*[[Maple_Leafs|Toronto Maple Leafs]]

===== Southeast Division =====
*[[Carolina Hurricanes]]
*[[Florida Panthers]]
*[[Tampa Bay Lightning]]
*[[Washington Capitals]]
*[[Winnipeg Jets]]

=== Western Conference ===

===== Central Division =====
*[[Chicago Blackhawks]]
*[[Columbus Blue Jackets]]
*[[Detroit Red Wings]]
*[[Nashville Predators]]
*[[St. Louis Blues]]

===== Northwest Division =====
*[[Calgary Flames]]
*[[Colorado Avalanche]]
*[[Edmonton Oilers]]
*[[Minnesota Wild]]
*[[Vancouver Canucks]]

===== Pacific Division =====
*[[Anaheim Ducks]]
*[[Dallas Stars]]
*[[Los Angeles Kings]]
*[[Phoenix Coyotes]]
*[[San Jose Sharks]]

[[Category:Sports leagues]]
{{Nb sl nhl}}

White dwarf

2012-12-04T03:45:24Z

Snowy: /* Internal structure of a White Dwarf */

[[Image:White dwarf stars browse.jpg|thumb|White Dwarf Stars photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.]]

A '''White dwarf''' is a [[star]] that is the electron-degenerate remnant of a former star that has exhausted the nuclear fuel in its core and subsequently lost it's outer layers. They represent the final stage of [[Stellar_Evolution|stellar evolution]] for most stars, including our own [[Sun]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001PASP..113..409F</ref> White dwarfs are extremely dense - a white dwarf with a mass equivalent to our Sun would have its material compacted into a volume no greater than the Earth. As there is no more thermonuclear fusion within white dwarfs, their only source of [[light]] and [[heat]] is leftover thermal energy.

Typically any star between 0.5 and 8 solar masses will end its life as a white dwarf. Most of these dwarfs are primarily made up of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]], however stars of 4 solar masses or more will have the ability to fuse carbon, which will result in a white dwarf chiefly made up of oxygen, [[neon]], and [[magnesium]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005ASPC..334..165W</ref> Any star greater then 8 solar masses will eventually develop a core that will be too massive to support by electron-degeneratcy (the [[Chandrasekhar limit]]) and collapse. This collapse will result in a [[supernova]], and depending on the star's mass, the end result will be a [[neutron star]] or a [[black hole]].

==Formation of White Dwarfs==

When star that has a mass of less then 8 solar masses reaches the end of its life on the main sequence by consuming all of its [[hydrogen]] fuel in the core, all but the least masseive (less than 0.5 solar masses) will enter the [[red giant]] phase of its evolution. At this point the core of these stars will become hot enough to fuse [[helium]] into carbon and oxygen. For most of these stars, the core will cease fusion once all the helium is consumed, not having the sufficient mass to raise the temperature enough to fuse carbon. For the heaviest stars under 8 solar masses though, carbon fusion will occur, but once all the carbon in the core is consumed, there is not enough heat to fuse the heavier elements available (usually oxygen, and neon).

At this point the star will have a carbon-oxygen core (or for the higher mass stars, a oxygen-neon core) surrounded by an inner shell of helium and an outer shell of hydrogen. The shells of hydrogen and helium will then be expelled and form a [[planetary nebula]] around the star, exposing the remnant core which is the white dwarf the vast majority being the carbon-oxygen variety.<ref>http://www.vikdhillon.staff.shef.ac.uk/teaching/phy213/phy213_lowmass.html</ref>

===Helium Dwarf===

''Helium dwarfs'' exist as a result of mass lose in a [[binary star|binary system]].<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005MNRAS.362..891B</ref> The helium white dwarf '''SDSS J091709.55+463821.8''', the least massive white dwarf known is an example of this. It is part of a binary system where most of its mass has been lost to its more massive neighbor.

Stars with less than 0.5 solar masses will never be able to fuse helium in their cores once all the hydrogen fuel is consumed. It is theorized that they will also become helium white dwarfs, chiefly made up of helium-4 atoms. Because such low-mass stars have such a long lifespan (on the order of around one trillion years for a low mass [[red dwarf]]), it is believed that none have completely consumed their core hydrogen fuel yet.<ref>http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys230/lectures/planneb/planneb.html</ref>

==Fate of White Dwarfs==

As a white dwarf is no longer powered by thermonuclear fusion, all the light and heat generated is from remaining thermal energy. Thus, the star will very slowly cool over time into a hypothetical ''black dwarf'', where it can no longer emit light or heat in significant quantities. As the time period required for this to occur is longer than 13.7 billion years, no black dwarf is expected to exist yet. Even when the black dwarf state is reached, the stellar remnant itself is still expected to continue to exist indefinitely.

Sometimes white dwarfs, if they are in binary systems, may collide and fuse, forming a star that exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit and explode in a [[Supernova#Type_1a|type Ia supernova]].

==Internal structure of a White Dwarf==

White dwarfs range in mass from 0.17 to 1.33 solar masses with the majority between 0.5 and 0.7 solar masses. Their volume though is roughly that of the Earth. As such, a typical white dwarf has a density of 1x103 kg/m3 which is around 200,000 times the density of the Earth or one million times the density of the Sun.

This density is brought about by [[gravity]] crushing the [[electrons]] of [[atoms]] together. Normally electrons with the same spin cannot occupy the same energy level, therefore only two electrons can occupy a single energy level (as electrons can spin only one of two ways). Because in a white dwarf the electrons are forced so closely, all the energy levels of the atoms are filled with electrons, and because no more than two electrons can fill the energy levels in the atoms within the white dwarf, the star becomes [[degenerate]]. At this point, there is insufficient gravity to compress the matter any more, as [[quantum mechanics]] will not allow for it, preventing the white dwarf from collapsing any further, stabilizing it.<ref name="nasa">http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html</ref>

Gravity at the surface of a white dwarf is around 100,000 times that of the Earth, the result is that heavier atoms in the atmosphere will sink into the surface, leaving only the lightest elements behind. Thus the thin atmosphere is made up mainly of [[hydrogen]] and [[helium]]. The temperature at this surface can range from 40,000 to 8,000 K, although white dwarfs as cool as 3,900 K have been found. The cooler the white dwarf, the older it is likely to be as they lose thermal energy over time.<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004ApJ...612L.129G</ref> The surface itself is composed of a crust of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]], the bottom of which is believed be a crystalline lattice.<ref name="nasa">http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l2/dwarfs.html</ref>

==Observations of White Dwarfs==

[[Image:White Dwarves'.jpg‎ ‎|thumb|left|White Dwarf Stars in M4]]
There are several ways to observe white dwarf stars. The first white dwarf to be discovered was found because it is a companion star to Sirius, a bright star in the constellation [[Canis Major]]. In 1844, [[astronomer]] [[Friedrich Bessel]] noticed that [[Sirius]] had a slight back and forth motion, as if it was orbiting an unseen object. In 1862, the optician and [[telescope]] maker [[Alvan Clark]] observed the predicted companion. This star was later determined to be a white dwarf. This pair are now referred to as Sirius A and B, B, being the white dwarf. The orbital period of this system is about 50 years.

[[Adriaan Van Maanen]] discovered the first lone white dwarf in 1917, now named after him as [[Van Maanen's Star]]. Over time, several other faint white stars were discovered to have high proper motion, indicating they were relatively near the [[Solar System]], confirming them as white dwarfs as well. The term white dwarf itself was first coined by [[Willem Luyten]] in his observation of these stars in 1922.<ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005AAS...20720501H</ref> By 1939 18 such stars were known, increasing to over 100 by 1950, and over 9,000 known today.

The [[Hubble Space Telescope]], with its 2.4 meter mirror and advanced optics, has been successfully viewing white dwarfs with its Wide Field and Planetary Camera. In August of 1995, this camera observed more than 75 white dwarfs in the [[globular cluster]] M4 in the constellation [[Scorpius]]. These white dwarfs were so faint that the brightest of them was no more luminous than a 100 watt light bulb seen at the [[Moon|moon's]] distance.

== Sources ==
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/dwarfs.html

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]

Inverse square law

2012-12-01T04:52:57Z

Snowy:

The '''inverse square law''' predicts the intensity of a field at a given distance from a point source.

Take a [[point source]] that is propagating something ([[light]], [[sound]], [[gravity]], [[electric field]], etc..) out. Thus

The inverse square law can be derived by looking at the surface area of a [[sphere]] of radius ''r''. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr2. As the radius increases, the surface area of the sphere goes up with the square of the radius and the intensity of the phenomena will be inversely proportional to the [[surface area]].

With gravity, the inverse square law can be seen in Gm1m2 / r2.

== Applications ==

Using the inverse square law and knowing the strength of the phenomena, it is possible to calculate the distance to the source. Knowing how bright a light bulb is and measuring how bright it appears to be. This can also be used with sound or radiation.

The inverse square law can also be used with gravitation to determine the mass of an unknown. Measuring the mass of one object, the force gravity exerts on the other object, and the distance between the two objects one can calculate the mass of the unknown. This is how the mass of the Moon is measured.<ref>[http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=207 How do we know the mass of the Earth and the Moon?]</ref>

== Links ==
* [http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Phys_p031.shtml The Joly Photometer: Measuring Light Intensity Using the Inverse Square Law]
* [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Forces/isq.html Inverse Square Law] at Hyperphysics

== Refrences ==
<references />

[[Category: Physics]]

RMS Titanic

2012-11-30T00:54:30Z

Snowy: /* Passengers */

{{Ship
| name=R.M.S. ''Titanic''
| image=Rms2.jpg
| flag=Government Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
| flag-caption=Merchant Navy (UK - RNR)
| port=[[Liverpool]], [[England]]
| owner=White Star Line
| built=Harland & Wolff Shipyard [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]]
| authorized=July 31, 1908
| keellaid=March 22, 1909
| launched=May 31, 1911
| retired=
| status=Sunk after iceberg collision April 15, 1912
| type=Ocean liner ''Olympic''-class
| displ=66,000 (max)
| length=882.75 ft.
| beam=92.5 ft.
| draft=34 ft. 7 in.
| speed=cruising:21 knots max:23.75 knots
| test=
| armament=
| crew=891
| pass=1,317 (maiden voyage) First-class: 324 Second-class: 285 Third-class: 708
|}
}}'''[[R.M.S.]] ''Titanic''''' was a luxury passenger liner which sank after striking an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, while on its maiden voyage from [[Southampton]], [[England]], to [[New York City]], resulting in the deaths of 1,517 passengers and crew. This disaster has been the subject of films, plays, literature, and scientific scrutiny.

==Description==
''Titanic'' was built to sail the highly-competitive North [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] route by White Star Line. Its chief competitor was Cunard, whose vessels recently garnered attention for their speed and luxury. Designed and built by the Belfast firm Harland and Wolff, ''Titanic'' was at the time of her launch and outfitting the largest ship afloat: its gross tonnage was 46,329 tons, and displaced 66,000 tons fully-laden; it was 882.5 feet long and 92.5 feet across the beam. For safety it was built with a double-bottom hull, which was further divided into sixteen watertight compartments, which would not affect the ship's stability if four were flooded.

Because of this revolutionary design, the ship was ironically branded as "unsinkable," both by media and the White Star line. In one infamous exchange, a Titanic crew member told a passenger that "God himself could not sink this ship."<ref>http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/unsinkable.asp</ref>

==Flag==
[[British]] merchant vessels normally fly the Red Ensign. However, as the captain and at least 12 crew were members of the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), a special warrant was issued to fly the Blue Ensign.<ref>http://www.nava.org/Flag%20Information/articles/Titantic/titanic.htm</ref>

==Maiden voyage==
''Titanic'' left Southampton on April 10, 1912, picking up additional passengers at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, before heading out into the Atlantic.

==The sinking==

A later investigation showed that the ship had failed to follow all safety procedures. Besides traveling through dangerous waters at high speed (after receiving repeated warnings concerning the presence of icebergs), the Titanic also had aboard an insufficient number of lifeboats for the passengers and crew. <ref> [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/today.html] </ref>

On April 14, the Titanic's wireless operators received seven iceberg warnings, but the ship continued sailing through the North Atlantic at 23 knots. Conditions were clear and the water was calm, which should have helped the lookouts spot an iceberg well in advance. <ref>http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/titanic_timeline.htm</ref>

At 11:40 p.m., while sailing 400 miles off the coast of [[Newfoundland]], lookout Frederick Fleet spotted a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship, and alerted the bridge, calling "Iceberg, right ahead!" First Officer William McMaster Murdoch ordered the engines stopped and reversed, and ordered the tiller hard to starboard. The large ship could not slow down and turn quickly enough and its starboard side hit the iceberg, resulting in a long scrape below the waterline.<ref>http://www.cincymuseum.org/information_center/press_room/titanic/sinking_timeline.asp</ref>

The collision ruptured six watertight compartments on the starboard side, resulting in flooding of the bow, eventually flooding each watertight compartment. Water levels in the bow reached as high as 14 feet just 10 minutes after the impact with the iceberg.<ref>http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/titanic_timeline.htm</ref>

At midnight, Captain Smith was informed that the the ship was so badly damaged that it would stay afloat for just two more hours. Smith ordered radio distress signals sent and for deckhands to begin loading lifeboats. Wireless operator Harold Bide began sending the standard [[CQD]] distress call, before switching to the newer [[SOS]]. Contrary to popular myth, ''Titanic'' was not the first ship in history to send the SOS distress signal.<ref>http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/sos.asp</ref>

The crew quickly began loading lifeboats, but at far less than capacity. The first lifeboat was launched with just 26 people on board, despite having room for 65. By the time the last lifeboat left the ship, 1500 people remained on board.

As the lifeboats disembarked, the bow continued filling with water and the stern of the ship was slowly lifted out of the water. Witnesses in lifeboats recalled seeing the stern lift to almost a 45-degree angle above the water before snapping in two between the third and fourth funnels and sinking at 2:20 am on April 15. The 706 survivors were rescued by the Cunard liner ''Carpathia'', which was more than 50 miles away when it first heard the distress calls; she arrived some eighty minutes after the Titanic went down.

==Passengers==
Several of the wealthiest and most prominent persons in the world were passengers on the Titanic for its prestigious maiden voyage. To their credit, they voluntarily went down with the ship and died rather than take a spot on a lifeboat from others. Men allowed women and children to go first in filling the lifeboats, and the men in second class sacrificed their lives in greater percentage of all.<ref>http://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm</ref>

Third-class passengers accounted for the bulk of the dead. Due to the size of the ship, many steerage passegners were unable to reach the deck to board lifeboats. There were also reports that crew members actively prevented steerage passengers from reaching the deck. Accordingly, death rates clearly differ between class. Evey child traveling in first class survived the sinking, while only 34 percent of third-class children did. Two percent of first-class females drowned, while over half of third-class women did not survive.<ref>http://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm</ref>

A full passenger list is available that highlights who survived and who did not.<ref>http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/titanic/p2.htm</ref>

Prominent Americans who went down with the ship included Mr. [[Benjamin Guggenheim]], of the family that donated the Guggenheim [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York City, Major Archibald Butt, a military aide to [[President Taft]], and Colonel J. J. Astor, whose great grandfather was the wealthiest American prior to the [[Civil War]]. Colonel J. J. Astor was an inventor and science fiction writer who helped build three great hotels in New York City: the Astoria (now the Waldorf-Astoria), the Knickerbocker, and the St. Regis.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/titanic/astor.html Astor]</ref>

==Inquiries==
Inquiries conducted in both Great Britain and the [[United States]] determined a number of factors which contributed to the loss of the ship and passengers.

The watertight compartments were designed without capping at the top; water filling the six ruptured compartments pulled the bow of the ship down far enough that water spilled over the top of the next compartment in line. ''Titanic'' also had 16 standard lifeboats and 4 collapsibles, with enough combined space to carry 1,178 passengers, far short of the 2,224 persons aboard; many of the lifeboats were lowered down the side only partialy filled with passengers (many of those remaining on board initially believed the ship to be "unsinkable"). Although the number of lifeboats was determined to be inadequate,<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepRec.php#a2</ref> the Titanic had in actuality exceeded the British Board of Trade's lifeboat regulations, which had been written down for much smaller ships.
[[Image:Titanic.jpg|right]]

Inquiries also revealed a fatal design flaw in the ship's vaunted watertight compartments. The compartments were essentially cubical, so required watertight seals on all six sides in order to remain watertight. However, the compartments were open at the top, which meant that as one compartment flooded, it would spill over into the next, filling that up, and so on, much as one might fill an ice cube tray. The ship was also designed to be able to stay afloat with any five compartments flooded. The iceberg ruptured the first six compartments, essentially dooming the ship.<ref>http://www.titanic-titanic.com/titanic_watertight_compartments.shtml</ref>

Both inquiries also determined that part of the blame for the high loss of passengers rested with Captain Stanley Lord of the liner ''Californian'', which was stopped for the night by an ice field some twenty miles from ''Titanic''. The board members alleged that ''Californian'' could have aided ''Titanic'' had its radio operator been on duty after 11:00 pm, and able to hear its distress signals. Indeed, it was determined that officers on the bridge of the ''Californian'' had seen distress lights from what they considered to be a "large passenger steamer", keeping under observation until the lights vanished after 2:00 am, but doing nothing further than that.<ref>http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOTReport/BOTRepCalifornian.php</ref>

Of the passengers who went into the water, only six were pulled out alive, and only by efforts of surviving officers in several boats going through a sea of bodies. Hypothermia killed the remainder, as the water was about 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Many of those who perished came from wealthy, prominent families in [[Europe]] and [[America]], among them the heirs to the Straus fortune and the owners of Macy's department store in New York City. The disaster also had its heroes, such as the ship's band assembled on the stern in order to keep remaining passengers calm; and the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, who forcibly took the tiller away from a rowboat crewman and forced everyone in her lifeboat to go back for people in the water. <ref>http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic_victims/</ref><ref>http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/manifest.php?q=5</ref>

As a result of the loss of ''Titanic'', in 1913 the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea was opened in London, England. Among the rules drawn up were requirements that each voyage hold lifeboat drills; that every ship have lifeboat space for each person onboard; and ships maintain a 24-hour radio watch. The International Ice Patrol was also created to keep watch on North Atlantic sea lanes and give ships adequate warnings of icebergs found. The United States Congress also passed the Wireless Ship Act in 1912; it stipulated that all vessels carrying more than 50 people and traveling more than two hundred miles off the coast carry a wireless capable of at least a 100-mile range.

==''Titanic'' found==
[[Image:5462536r.jpg|right|thumb|Titanic's bow as seen from the Russian MIR I submersible.]]
The wreck was found on September 1, 1985 at 41°46′ N 50°14′ W, under 13,000 feet of water, by an American/French team led by Dr. [[Robert Ballard]] of Woods Hole Institute and Jean-Louis Michel of Ifremer. Remote submersibles photographed the wreckage, which was in two pieces lying upright, confirming some witness accounts of the ship breaking in two at the surface. Further explorations by Ballard and Ifremer could not find evidence of a long gash caused by the iceberg and cited on the original reports; instead it was postulated that a series of rivet popping combined with separation of seams and brittle fracturing in the hull plating allowed the water to rush in.

==In Popular Culture==
Books and novels have been written about the ''Titanic'' ever since its infamous sinking. The most well-known of these novels is ''[[A Night to Remember]]''. In 1997, director James Cameron produced the highest-grossing film in history, ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]''. However, this film is inaccurate in several areas. For one thing, it depicted the men on board as cowardly. In real life, most of them willingly stood aside while the women and children got into the lifeboats. In the film, they had to be held back at gunpoint, and two were killed. It also showed an officer shooting himself in the head. It also depicts Captain Edward Smith dying in the wheel room. This also is inaccurate, because several survivor accounts actually mention him swimming in the water, encouraging those clinging to a nearby capsized lifeboat before drowning.

The Titanic sinking was also eerily foreshadowed in an 1898 novel by Morgan Robertson, entitled ''The Wreck of the Titan.'' In the novel, a large, luxurious and "unsinkable" ocean liner called the ''Titan'' strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic. The ship is carrying too few lifeboats, so many passengers drown or freeze in the ocean.<ref>http://www.titanic-titanic.com/wreck_of_the_titan_1.shtml</ref> The book is noted for its many similarities to the Titanic, including the name, the maiden voyage in April, the iceberg collision, the nautical position of the sinking (400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland) and the lack of lifeboats.

== Titanic sisters ==
[[Image:WSL logo.gif|right|Logo]]
* [[RMS Olympic]]
* [[HMHS Britannic]]

Olympic and Titanic were virtually identical. For Britannic many changes to the design were made, because of the sinking of Titanic.

The three "Olympic- class" ocean liners were made on Belfast Ship Yards in [[Belfast]], Northern [[Ireland]] for The White Star Line.

==References==

<References/>

==Further reading==
*Ballard, Robert D. ''The Discovery of the Titanic'' Warner Books, New York, (1995)
*Butler, Daniel Allen. ''Unsinkable: The Full Story of RMS Titanic'', Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA (1998).
*Collins, L. M. ''The Sinking of the Titanic: The Mystery Solved'' Souvenir Press, London (2003)
*Gardener, R & van der Vat, D ''The Riddle of the Titanic'' Orion, London (1995)
*Kentley, Eric. ''Discover the Titanic'', DK Inc, New York (1997)
*Lord, Walter. ''A Night to Remember'', Bantam, New York (1997).
*Lynch, Donald and Marschall, Ken. ''Titanic: An Illustrated History'', Hyperion, New York (1995)
*Marcus, Geoffrey. ''The Maiden Voyage'', Buccaneer Books, New York (1991)
*Pellegrino, Charles R. ''Her Name, Titanic'' Avon, New York (1990)
*Wade, Wyn Craig. ''The Titanic: End of a Dream.'' Penguin Books, New York (1986)
*Wels, Susan. ''Titanic: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner'', Time-Life, New York (1997)

== External links==

*[http://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/USReport/AmInqRep03.php United States inquiry]
*[http://www.titanicinquiry.org/BOTInq/BOT01.php Great Britain inquiry]
*[http://www.titanichistoricalsociety.org Titanic Historical Society]
*[http://www.paullee.com/titanic/index.html Titanic essays and links]
*[http://titanic.deep-ice.com/ Titanic Archive]
*[http://www.titanic-titanic.com/ Titanic-Titanic.com]
*[http://www.titanic-online.com/ RMS Titanic, Inc] The official ''Titanic'' archive.
*[http://www.atlanticliners.com/titanic_home.htm ''Titanic Home'' at Atlantic Liners.]
*[http://news.titanic.org.uk/ Titanic News Headlines]
*[http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/ Encyclopedia Titanica]

==Video links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFrDhpzigug Only existing film of ''Titanic'' before sinking]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUNfjnbGdYI&feature=related Film taken onboard RMS ''Olympic'', showing ''Titanic's'' captain E.J. Smith]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEYqxTRQS-4&feature=related Film of SS ''Mackay Bennett arriving in Halifax harbor bearing bodies recovered from ''Titanic'' disaster]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQw5RglP5KA&feature=related ''Carpathia'' arriving in New York with survivors]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjgp7-H-45A&NR=1 ''Titanic'' survivors, 1950's]

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[[Category:Ships]]
[[Category:Disasters]]
[[Category:Ship sinkings]]