Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Birmingham

2008-07-31T14:07:40Z

Veronica:

'''Birmingham''' is a large city in central [[England]], with about one million inhabitants of the city itself and about 3 million in the metropolitan area. It is the second largest city in the [[United Kingdom]] after [[London]]. Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice, and more trees per head of population that any other city in [[Europe]]. It was the birthplace of the industrial revolution and the home of the [[Lunar Society]]. The city has a distinctive local dialect known as 'Brummie' which is thought by linguists to be similar to how [[William Shakespeare]] spoke, as Stratford-on-Avon is very close to Birmingham. The people of Birmingham are called 'Brummies'. It also has its own local cuisine, a curry dish known as a 'balti'.

Neighbouring towns to Birmingham, which all form part of its conurbation, include [[Solihull]], [[Wolverhampton]], [[Dudley]], [[West Bromwich]], and [[Sandwell]].

==History==
Birmingham was a small village at the time of the [[Doomsday Book]]. Then Birmingham was in the area that is now the Bull Ring in the City Cerntre. Birmingham grew over the centuries. [[Matthew Boulton]] was important as an industrialist who helped develop Birmingham.

==Other towns==
Many other cities and towns around the world have been proud to name themselves after Birmingham (not to mention a crater on the moon). The largest of these namesakes is situated in [[Alabama]], [[USA]].

==Famous Brummies==

*[[Francis Galton]] (founder of [[eugenics]])
*[[Ozzy Osbourne]] ([[rock]] musician)
*[[Neville Chamberlain]] ([[prime minister]])
*[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] (writer)
*[[Bill Oddie]] (naturalist)
*[[Nigel Mansell]] (Former [[Formula 1]] driver)

[[Category:United Kingdom Cities and Towns]]

Birmingham

2008-07-31T14:04:48Z

Veronica:

'''Birmingham''' is a large city in central [[England]], with about one million inhabitants of the city itself and about 3 million in the metropolitan area. It is the second largest city in the [[United Kingdom]] after [[London]]. Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice, and more trees per head of population that any other city in [[Europe]]. It was the birthplace of the industrial revolution and the home of the [[Lunar Society]]. The city has a distinctive local dialect known as 'Brummie' which is thought by linguists to be similar to how [[William Shakespeare]] spoke, as Stratford-on-Avon is very close to Birmingham. The people of Birmingham are called 'Brummies'. It also has its own local cuisine, a curry dish known as a 'balti'.

Neighbouring towns to Birmingham, which all form part of its conurbation, include [[Solihull]], [[Wolverhampton]], [[Dudley]], [[West Bromwich]], and [[Sandwell]].

==History==
Birmingham was a small village at the time of the [[Doomsday Book]]. Then Birmingham was in the area that is now the Bull Ring in the City Cerntre. Birminghamn grew over the centuries. [[Matthew Bolton]] was important as an industrialist who helped develop Birmingham.

==Other towns==
Many other cities and towns around the world have been proud to name themselves after Birmingham (not to mention a crater on the moon). The largest of these namesakes is situated in [[Alabama]], [[USA]].

==Famous Brummies==

*[[Francis Galton]] (founder of [[eugenics]])
*[[Ozzy Osbourne]] ([[rock]] musician)
*[[Neville Chamberlain]] ([[prime minister]])
*[[J.R.R. Tolkien]] (writer)
*[[Bill Oddie]] (naturalist)
*[[Nigel Mansell]] (Former [[Formula 1]] driver)

[[Category:United Kingdom Cities and Towns]]

William Donohue

2008-07-22T13:11:53Z

Veronica: New page: '''William Donohue''' is an American. His Roman Catholic beliefs suggest that he is an Irish American. He campaigns for what are seen as the Civil Rights of Roman Catholics i...

'''William Donohue''' is an American. His [[Roman Catholic]] beliefs suggest that he is an [[Irish American]]. He campaigns for what are seen as the [[Civil Rights]] of Roman Catholics in particular and [[Christian]]s in general.

White Horse of Uffingham

2008-06-29T11:43:57Z

Veronica:

[[Image:Whitehorseofuffingham.jpg|thumb|right|The White Horse of Uffingham]]
The White Horse of Uffingham is a [[neolithic]] site in south [[Oxfordshire]], [[England]]. It gives its name to the Vale of White Horse, the district in which it is located.

Carved into the hillside in an abstract style is the shape of a horse running free. Close by is [[Waylands Smithy]] and [[Dragon Hill]]. Local legend has it that a horse tethered overnight at Wayland's Smithy will be shod by the ghost of a blacksmith. Dragon Hill is named as such for the belief that it is the site of [[St. George]]'s slaying of the [[dragon]]. Dragon Hill is site of Druidic worship to this day. The White Horse of Uffingham may be a visual folk art reminder of the legend of the Horserider in southern England.

The White Horse is 3,000 years old. <ref>http://www.londontourist.org/daytrip.html</ref>

The White Horse is relatively close to both [[Avebury]], the location of the world's largest stone circle and the even more famous [[Stonehenge]].

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Chalk Hill Drawings in England]]
[[Category:Tourist Attractions]]

London

2008-06-26T21:17:54Z

Veronica: /* History */

[[Image:Tower bridge London.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Tower Bridge in London.]]
'''London''' is the capital of [[England]] and the [[United Kingdom]] and is the second largest city in [[Europe]] after [[Moscow]]. It includes both the [[City of London]] (the Square Mile) and [[Greater London]].

==History==
London was founded by the [[Romans]] as Londinium, and became the capital of [[England]] (taking over from [[Winchester]]) during the reign of [[William II]]. It grew steadily during the [[Middle Ages]], during which period it became a major port, specializing in the export of English wool.

In the [[Renaissance]], London became a centre of learning and culture, though the rise of [[Puritans|Puritanism]] in the late 16th century temporarily stifled much art and culture within the city centre. A lot of what Puritans deemed 'unacceptable' moved to the South Bank (the land lying on the south-side of the River Thames). [[Shakespeare's Globe theatre]] was located in this area, as well as many other buildings containing more questionable entertainment.

During the period of the [[British Empire]], London was a key transhipment point for various cargoes, including [[tea]], [[slaves]], [[molasses]], [[jute]], and [[silver]], indeed, anything traded in by the [[East India Company]].

During [[World War II]], London was heavily bombed by Germany's air force in [[the Blitz]] of 1940-41 and in 1944-45 was attacked by [[V-1]] 'flying bombs' and [[V-2]] missiles.

==Government of London==
London is governed by the Mayor of London (currently [[Boris Johnson]]), a post not to be confused with that of Lord Mayor of London, which relates solely to the small [[City of London]] district. The mayor's executive is subject to scrutiny by the [[Greater London Assembly]]<ref>http://www.london.gov.uk/</ref>. Most matters relating to local government - local planning control, housing, education, libraries and arts, refuse collection, etc. - are controlled by London's 33 local authorities: 32 London Boroughs, and the [[City of London]] Corporation<ref>http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=8788&cat=989</ref>.

==Popular Perception==
Although London is frequently depicted in the American media as a quaint and historic city perpetually shrouded in fog, the reality is that London is a modern city at the cutting edge of developments in architecture, transport, commerce, industry and entertainment, and fog is a rare occurrence. In fact, London is considered by many to be the financial capital of the world as well as the theatre capital of the world, and one of the world's premier cities<ref>{{cite web | last = Z/Yen Limited | title = The Competitive Position of London as a Global Financial Centre | publisher = CityOfLondon.gov.uk | date = November 2005 | url = http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/131B4294-698B-4FAF-9758-080CCE86A36C/0/BC_RS_compposition_FR.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate = 2006-09-17}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/citymap.html The World According to GaWC], GaWC, [[Loughborough University]]</ref>.

Notable landmarks include the [[Houses of Parliament]], The [[London Eye]], [[Buckingham Palace]] and [[Westminster Abbey]]. The [[London Underground]] (London's subway system, also known as the Tube) is the oldest in the world.

==References==
<div class="references">
<references />
</div>

==See Also==
[[London England Temple]]

[[Category:United Kingdom Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Capital Cities]]

Conservapedia:Lenski dialog

2008-06-24T14:04:26Z

Veronica: /* Pleasse be charitable */

== First letter ==
June 13, 2008

Dear Professor Lenski,

Skepticism has been expressed on Conservapedia about your claims, and the significance of your claims, that E. Coli bacteria had an evolutionary beneficial mutation in your study. Specifically, we wonder about the data supporting your claim that one of your colonies of E. Coli developed the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E. Coli, at around 31,500 generations. In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000. A recent article about your claims appears in New Scientist here: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

Submission guidelines for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science state that "(viii) Materials and Data Availability. To allow others to replicate and build on work published in PNAS, authors must make materials, data, and associated protocols available to readers. Authors must disclose upon submission of the manuscript any restrictions on the availability of materials or information." Also, your work was apparently funded by taxpayers, providing further reason for making the data publicly available.

Please post the data supporting your remarkable claims so that we can review it, and note where in the data you find justification for your conclusions.

I will post your reply, or lack of reply, on www.conservapedia.com . Thank you.

Andy Schlafly, B.S.E., J.D.
Conservapedia

== First Reply ==

Dear Mr. Schlafly:

I suggest you might want to read our paper itself, which is available for download at most university libraries and is also posted as publication #180 on my website. Here's a brief summary that addresses your three points.

1) "... your claims, that E. Coli bacteria had an evolutionary beneficial mutation in your study." We (my group and scientific collaborators) have already published several papers that document beneficial mutations in our long-term experiment. These papers provide exact details on the identity of the mutations, as well as genetic constructions where we have produced genotypes that differ by single mutations, then compete them, demonstrating that the mutations confer an advantage under the environmental conditions of the experiment. See papers # 122, 140, 155, 166, and 178 referenced on my website. In the latest paper, you will see that we make no claim to having identified the genetic basis of the mutations observed in this study. However, we have found a number of mutant clones that have heritable differences in behavior (growth on citrate), and which confer a clear advantage in the environment where they evolved, which contains citrate. Our future work will seek to identify the responsible mutations.

2. "Specifically, we wonder about the data supporting your claim that one of your colonies of E. Coli developed the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E. Coli, at around 31,500 generations." You will find all the relevant methods and data supporting this claim in our paper. We also establish in our paper, through various phenotypic and genetic markers, that the Cit+ mutant was indeed a descendant of the original strain used in our experiments.

3. "In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000." We make no such claim anywhere in our paper, nor do I think it is correct. Proteins do not "appear out of the blue", in any case. We do show that what we call a "potentiated" genotype had evolved by generation 20,000 that had a greater propensity to produce Cit+ mutants. We also show that the dynamics of appearance of Cit+ mutants in the potentiated genotypes are highly suggestive of the requirement for two additional mutations to yield the resulting Cit+ trait. Moreover, we found that Cit+ mutants, when they first appeared, were often rather weak at using citrate. At least the main Cit+ line that we studied underwent an additional mutation (or mutations) that refined that ability and led to a large improvement in growth on citrate. All these issues and the supporting methods and data are covered in our paper.

Sincerely,
:Richard Lenski

== Second letter ==

Dear Prof. Lenski,

This is my second request for your data underlying your recent paper, "Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of ''Escherichia coli''," published in PNAS (June 10, 2008) and reported in New Scientist ("Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in lab," June 9, 2008).
 http://myxo.css.msu.edu/lenski/pdf/2008,%20PNAS,%20Blount%20et%20al.pdf
 http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

Your work was taxpayer-funded, and PNAS represents that its authors will make underlying data available. I'd like to review the data myself and ensure availability for others, including experts and my students. Others have expressed interest in access to the data in addition to myself, and your website seems well-suited for public release of these data.

If the data are voluminous, then I particularly request access to the data that was made available to the peer reviewers of your paper, and to the data relating to the period during which the bacterial colony supposedly developed Cit+. As before, I'm requesting the organized data themselves, not the graphs and summaries set forth in the paper and referenced in your first reply to me. Note that several times your paper expressly states, "data not shown."

Given that this is my second request for the data, a clear answer is requested as to whether you will make the key underlying data available for independent review. Your response, or lack thereof, will be posted due to the public interest in this issue. Thank you.

Andy Schlafly, B.S.E., J.D.
 www.conservapedia.com
 cc: PNAS, New Scientist publications

== Second reply ==

Dear Mr. Schlafly:

I tried to be polite, civil and respectful in my reply to your first email, despite its rude tone and uninformed content. Given the continued rudeness of your second email, and the willfully ignorant and slanderous content on your website, my second response will be less polite. I expect you to post my response in its entirety; if not, I will make sure that is made publicly available through other channels.

I offer this lengthy reply because I am an educator as well as a scientist. It is my sincere hope that some readers might learn something from this exchange, even if you do not.

First, it seems that reading might not be your strongest suit given your initial letter, which showed that you had not read our paper, and given subsequent conversations with your followers, in which you wrote that you still had not bothered to read our paper. You wrote: “I did skim Lenski’s paper …” If you have not even read the original paper, how do you have any basis of understanding from which to question, much less criticize, the data that are presented therein?

Second, your capacity to misinterpret and/or misrepresent facts is plain in the third request in your first letter, where you said: “In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000.” That statement was followed by a link to a news article from NewScientist that briefly reported on our work. I assumed you had simply misunderstood that article, because there is not even a mention of proteins anywhere in the news article. As I replied, “We make no such claim anywhere in our paper, nor do I think it is correct. Proteins do not ‘appear out of the blue’, in any case.” So where did your confused assertion come from? It appears to have come from one of your earlier discussions, in which an acoltye (Able806, who to his credit at least seems to have attempted to read our paper) wrote:

:“I think it might be best to clarify some of Richard's work. He started his E.Coli project in 1988 and has been running the project for 20 years now; his protocols are available to the general public. The New Scientist article is not very technical but the paper at PNAS is. The change was based on one of his colonies developing the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E.Coli. This occurred around 31,500 generations and is based on the development of 3 proteins in the E.Coli genome. What his future work will be is to look at what caused the development of these 3 proteins around generation 20,000 of that particular colony. ...”

As further evidence of your inability to keep even a few simple facts straight, you later wrote the following: “It [my reply] did clarify that his claims are not as strong as some evolutionists have insisted.” But no competent biologist would, after reading our paper with any care, insist (or even suggest) that “3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000” or any similar nonsense. It is only in your letter, and in your acolyte’s confused interpretation of our paper, that I have ever seen such a claim. Am I or the reporter for NewScientist somehow responsible for the confusion that reflects your own laziness and apparent inability to distinguish between a scientific paper, a news article, and a confused summary posted by an acolyte on your own website?

Third, it is apparent to me, and many others who have followed this exchange and your on-line discussions of how to proceed, that you are not acting in good faith in requests for data. From the posted discussion on your web site, it is obvious that you lack any expertise in the relevant fields. Several of your acolytes have pointed this out to you, and that your motives are unclear or questionable at best, but you and your cronies dismissed their concerns as rants and even expelled some of them from posting on your website. [Ed.: citation omitted due to spam filter] Several also pointed out that I had very quickly and straightforwardly responded that the methods and data supporting the evolution of the citrate-utilization capacity are already provided in our paper. One poster in your discussions, Aaronp, wrote:

:“I read Lenski's paper, and as a trained microbiologist, I thought that it was both thorough and well done. His claims are backed by good data, namely that which was presented in the figures. I went through each of the figures after Aschlafly said that they were uninformative. Actually, they are basic figures that show the population explosion of the bacterial cultures after the Cit+ mutation occurred. These figures show that the cultures increased in size and mass at a given timepoint, being able to do so because they had evolved a mechanism to utilize a new nutrient, without the assistance of helper plasmids. ... Lenksi’s paper, while not the most definite I’ve seen, is still a very well-researched paper that supports its claims nicely.”

(As far as I saw, Aaronp is the only poster who asserted any expertise in microbiology.) As further evidence of the absence of good-faith discussion about our research, in the discussion thread that began even before you sent your first email to me, I counted the words “fraud” or “fraudulent” being used more than 10 times, including one acolyte, TonyT, who says bluntly that I am “clearly a fraudulent hack.” In the discussion thread that also includes comments after my first reply, the number of times those same words are used has increased to 20, with the word “hoax” also now entering the discussion. A few posters wisely counseled against such slander but that did not deter you. I must say, it is surprising that someone with a law degree would make, and allow on his website, so many nasty comments that implicitly and even explicitly impugn my integrity, and by extension that of my collaborators, without any grounds whatsoever and reflecting only your dogmatic adherence to certain beliefs.

Finally, let me now turn to our data. As I said before, the relevant methods and data about the evolution of the citrate-using bacteria are in our paper. In three places in our paper, we did say “data not shown”, which is common in scientific papers owing to limitations in page length, especially for secondary or minor points. None of the places where we made such references concern the existence of the citrate-using bacteria; they concern only certain secondary properties of those bacteria. We will gladly post those additional data on my website.

It is my impression that you seem to think we have only paper and electronic records of having seen some unusual E. coli. If we made serious errors or misrepresentations, you would surely like to find them in those records. If we did not, then – as some of your acolytes have suggested – you might assert that our records are themselves untrustworthy because, well, because you said so, I guess. But perhaps because you did not bother even to read our paper, or perhaps because you aren’t very bright, you seem not to understand that we have the actual, living bacteria that exhibit the properties reported in our paper, including both the ancestral strain used to start this long-term experiment and its evolved citrate-using descendants. In other words, it’s not that we claim to have glimpsed “a unicorn in the garden” – we have a whole population of them living in my lab! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn_in_the_Garden] And lest you accuse me further of fraud, I do not literally mean that we have unicorns in the lab. Rather, I am making a literary allusion. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion]

One of your acolytes, Dr. Richard Paley, actually grasped this point. He does not appear to understand the practice and limitations of science, but at least he realizes that we have the bacteria, and that they provide “the real data that we [that’s you and your gang] need”. Here’s what this Dr. Paley had to say:

:“I think there’s a great deal of misunderstanding here from the critics of Mr. Schlafly and obfuscation on the part of Prof. Lenski and his supporters. The real data that we need are not in the paper. Rather they are in the bacteria used in the experiments themselves. Prof. Lenski claims that these bacteria ‘evolved’ novel traits and that these were preceded by the evolution of ‘potentiated genotypes’, from which the traits could be ‘reevolved’ using preserved colonies from those generations. But how are we to know if these traits weren’t ‘potentiated’ by the Creator when He designed the bacteria thousands of years ago, such that they would eventually reveal themselves when the time was right? The only way this can be settled is if we have access to the genetic sequences of the bacteria colonies so that we can apply CSI techniques and determine if these ‘potentiated genotypes’ originated through blind chance or intelligence. But with the physical specimens in the hands of Darwinists, who claim they will get around to the sequencing at some unspecifed future time, how can we trust that this data will be forthcoming and forthright? Thus, Prof. Lenski et al. should supply Conservapedia, as stewards, with samples of the preserved E. coli colonies so that the data can be accessible to unbiased researchers outside of the hegemony of the Darwinian academia, even if it won’t be put to immediate examination by Mr. Schlafly. This is simply about keeping tax-payer-funded scientists honest.”

So, will we share the bacteria? Of course we will, with competent scientists. Now, if I was really mean, I might only share the ancestral strain, and let the scientists undertake the 20 years of our experiment. Or if I was only a little bit mean, maybe I’d also send the potentiated bacteria, and let the recipients then repeat the several years of incredibly pain-staking work that my superb doctoral student, Zachary Blount, performed to test some 40 trillion (40,000,000,000,000) cells, which generated 19 additional citrate-using mutants. But I’m a nice guy, at least when treated with some common courtesy, so if a competent scientist asks for them, I would even send a sample of the evolved E. coli that now grows vigorously on citrate. A competent microbiologist, perhaps requiring the assistance of a competent molecular geneticist, would readily confirm the following properties reported in our paper: (i) The ancestral strain does not grow in DM0 (zero glucose, but containing citrate), the recipe for which can be found on my web site, except leaving the glucose out of the standard recipe as stated in our paper. (ii) The evolved citrate-using strain, by contrast, grows well in that exact same medium. (iii) To confirm that the evolved strain is not some contaminating species but is, in fact, derived from the ancestral strain in our study, one could check a number of traits and genes that identify the ancestor as E. coli, and the evolved strains as a descendant thereof, as reported in our paper. (iv) One could also sequence the pykF and nadR genes in the ancestor and evolved citrate-using strains. One would find that the evolved bacteria have mutations in each of these genes. These mutations precisely match those that we reported in our previous work, and they identify the evolved citrate-using mutants as having evolved in the population designated Ara-3 of the long-term evolution experiment, as opposed to any of the other 11 populations in that experiment. And one could go on and on from there to confirm the findings in our paper, and perhaps obtain additional data of the sort that we are currently pursuing.

Before I could send anyone any bacterial strains, in order to comply with good scientific practices I would require evidence of the requesting scientist’s credentials including: (i) affiliation with an appropriate unit in some university or research center with appropriate facilities for storing (-80ºC freezer), handling (incubators, etc.), and disposing of bacteria (autoclave); and (ii) some evidence, such as peer-reviewed publications, that indicate that the receiving scientist knows how to work with bacteria, so that I and my university can be sure we are sending biological materials to someone that knows how to handle them. By the way, our strains are not derived from one of the pathogenic varieties of E. coli that are a frequent cause of food-borne illnesses. However, even non-pathogenic strains may cause problems for those who are immune-compromised or otherwise more vulnerable to infection. Also, my university requires that a Material Transfer Agreement be executed before we can ship any strains. That agreement would not constrain a receiving scientist from publishing his or her results. However, if an incompetent or fraudulent hack (note that I make no reference to any person, as this is strictly a hypothetical scenario, one that I doubt would occur) were to make false or misleading claims about our strains, then I’m confident that some highly qualified scientists would join the fray, examine the strains, and sort out who was right and who was wrong. That’s the way science works.

I would also generally ask what the requesting scientist intends to do with our strains. Why? It helps me to gauge the requester’s expertise. I might be able to point out useful references, for example. Moreover, as I’ve said, we are continuing our work with these strains, on multiple fronts, as explained in considerable detail in the Discussion section of our paper. I would not be happy to see our work “scooped” by another team – especially for the sake of the outstanding students and postdocs in my group who are hard at work on these fronts. However, that request to allow us to proceed, without risk of being scooped on work in which we have made a substantial investment of time and effort, would be just that: a request. In other words, we would respect PNAS policy to share those strains with any competent scientist who complied with my university’s requirements for the MTA and any other relevant legal restrictions. If any such request requires substantial time or resources (we have thousands of samples from this and many other experiments), then of course I would expect the recipient to bear those costs.

So there you have it. I know that I’ve been a bit less polite in this response than in my previous one, but I’m still behaving far more politely than you deserve given your rude, willfully ignorant, and slanderous behavior. And I’ve spent far more time responding than you deserve. However, as I said at the outset, I take education seriously, and I know some of your acolytes still have the ability and desire to think, as do many others who will read this exchange.

Sincerely,
 Richard Lenski

P.S. Did you know that your own bowels harbor something like a billion (1,000,000,000) E. coli at this very moment? So remember to wash your hands after going to the toilet, as I hope your mother taught you. Simple calculations imply that there are something like 10^20 = 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 E. coli alive on our planet at any moment. Even if they divide just once per day, and given a typical mutation rate of 10^-9 or 10^-10 per base-pair per generation, then pretty much every possible double mutation would occur every day or so. That’s a lot of opportunity for evolution.

P.P.S. I hope that some readers might get a chuckle out of this story. The same Sunday (15 June 2008) that you and some of your acolytes were posting and promoting scurrilous attacks on me and our research (wasn’t that a bit disrespectful of the Sabbath?), I was in a church attending a wedding. And do you know what Old Testament lesson was read? It was Genesis 1:27-28, in which God created Man and Woman. It’s a very simple and lovely story, and I did not ask any questions, storm out, or demand the evidence that it happened as written at a time when science did not yet exist. I was there in the realm of spirituality and mutual respect, not confusing a house of religion for a science class or laboratory. And it was a beautiful wedding, too.

P.P.P.S. You may be unable to understand, or unwilling to accept, that evolution occurs. And yet, life evolves! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pur_si_muove] From the content on your website, it is clear that you, like many others, view God as the Creator of the Universe. I respect that view. I find it baffling, however, that someone can worship God as the all-mighty Creator while, at the same time, denying even the possibility (not to mention the overwhelming evidence) that God’s Creation involved evolution. It is as though a person thinks that God must have the same limitations when it comes to creation as a person who is unable to understand, or even attempt to understand, the world in which we live. Isn’t that view insulting to God?

P.P.P.P.S. I noticed that you say that one of your favorite articles on your website is the one on “Deceit.” That article begins as follows: “Deceit is the deliberate distortion or denial of the truth with an intent to trick or fool another. Christianity and Judaism teach that deceit is wrong. For example, the Old Testament says, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’” You really should think more carefully about what that commandment means before you go around bearing false witness against others.
[[category:evolution]]

==Please be charitable==

[[User:Humblpi|Humblpi]] was trying to warn you about the risk of ridicule. Please be charitable and unblock him.[[User:Veronica|Veronica]] 10:02, 24 June 2008 (EDT)

[http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Conservapedia_talk:Lenski_dialog&oldid=478060 See this]

Conservapedia:Lenski dialog

2008-06-24T14:02:45Z

Veronica:

== First letter ==
June 13, 2008

Dear Professor Lenski,

Skepticism has been expressed on Conservapedia about your claims, and the significance of your claims, that E. Coli bacteria had an evolutionary beneficial mutation in your study. Specifically, we wonder about the data supporting your claim that one of your colonies of E. Coli developed the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E. Coli, at around 31,500 generations. In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000. A recent article about your claims appears in New Scientist here: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

Submission guidelines for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science state that "(viii) Materials and Data Availability. To allow others to replicate and build on work published in PNAS, authors must make materials, data, and associated protocols available to readers. Authors must disclose upon submission of the manuscript any restrictions on the availability of materials or information." Also, your work was apparently funded by taxpayers, providing further reason for making the data publicly available.

Please post the data supporting your remarkable claims so that we can review it, and note where in the data you find justification for your conclusions.

I will post your reply, or lack of reply, on www.conservapedia.com . Thank you.

Andy Schlafly, B.S.E., J.D.
Conservapedia

== First Reply ==

Dear Mr. Schlafly:

I suggest you might want to read our paper itself, which is available for download at most university libraries and is also posted as publication #180 on my website. Here's a brief summary that addresses your three points.

1) "... your claims, that E. Coli bacteria had an evolutionary beneficial mutation in your study." We (my group and scientific collaborators) have already published several papers that document beneficial mutations in our long-term experiment. These papers provide exact details on the identity of the mutations, as well as genetic constructions where we have produced genotypes that differ by single mutations, then compete them, demonstrating that the mutations confer an advantage under the environmental conditions of the experiment. See papers # 122, 140, 155, 166, and 178 referenced on my website. In the latest paper, you will see that we make no claim to having identified the genetic basis of the mutations observed in this study. However, we have found a number of mutant clones that have heritable differences in behavior (growth on citrate), and which confer a clear advantage in the environment where they evolved, which contains citrate. Our future work will seek to identify the responsible mutations.

2. "Specifically, we wonder about the data supporting your claim that one of your colonies of E. Coli developed the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E. Coli, at around 31,500 generations." You will find all the relevant methods and data supporting this claim in our paper. We also establish in our paper, through various phenotypic and genetic markers, that the Cit+ mutant was indeed a descendant of the original strain used in our experiments.

3. "In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000." We make no such claim anywhere in our paper, nor do I think it is correct. Proteins do not "appear out of the blue", in any case. We do show that what we call a "potentiated" genotype had evolved by generation 20,000 that had a greater propensity to produce Cit+ mutants. We also show that the dynamics of appearance of Cit+ mutants in the potentiated genotypes are highly suggestive of the requirement for two additional mutations to yield the resulting Cit+ trait. Moreover, we found that Cit+ mutants, when they first appeared, were often rather weak at using citrate. At least the main Cit+ line that we studied underwent an additional mutation (or mutations) that refined that ability and led to a large improvement in growth on citrate. All these issues and the supporting methods and data are covered in our paper.

Sincerely,
:Richard Lenski

== Second letter ==

Dear Prof. Lenski,

This is my second request for your data underlying your recent paper, "Historical contingency and the evolution of a key innovation in an experimental population of ''Escherichia coli''," published in PNAS (June 10, 2008) and reported in New Scientist ("Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in lab," June 9, 2008).
 http://myxo.css.msu.edu/lenski/pdf/2008,%20PNAS,%20Blount%20et%20al.pdf
 http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn14094-bacteria-make-major-evolutionary-shift-in-the-lab.html

Your work was taxpayer-funded, and PNAS represents that its authors will make underlying data available. I'd like to review the data myself and ensure availability for others, including experts and my students. Others have expressed interest in access to the data in addition to myself, and your website seems well-suited for public release of these data.

If the data are voluminous, then I particularly request access to the data that was made available to the peer reviewers of your paper, and to the data relating to the period during which the bacterial colony supposedly developed Cit+. As before, I'm requesting the organized data themselves, not the graphs and summaries set forth in the paper and referenced in your first reply to me. Note that several times your paper expressly states, "data not shown."

Given that this is my second request for the data, a clear answer is requested as to whether you will make the key underlying data available for independent review. Your response, or lack thereof, will be posted due to the public interest in this issue. Thank you.

Andy Schlafly, B.S.E., J.D.
 www.conservapedia.com
 cc: PNAS, New Scientist publications

== Second reply ==

Dear Mr. Schlafly:

I tried to be polite, civil and respectful in my reply to your first email, despite its rude tone and uninformed content. Given the continued rudeness of your second email, and the willfully ignorant and slanderous content on your website, my second response will be less polite. I expect you to post my response in its entirety; if not, I will make sure that is made publicly available through other channels.

I offer this lengthy reply because I am an educator as well as a scientist. It is my sincere hope that some readers might learn something from this exchange, even if you do not.

First, it seems that reading might not be your strongest suit given your initial letter, which showed that you had not read our paper, and given subsequent conversations with your followers, in which you wrote that you still had not bothered to read our paper. You wrote: “I did skim Lenski’s paper …” If you have not even read the original paper, how do you have any basis of understanding from which to question, much less criticize, the data that are presented therein?

Second, your capacity to misinterpret and/or misrepresent facts is plain in the third request in your first letter, where you said: “In addition, there is skepticism that 3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000.” That statement was followed by a link to a news article from NewScientist that briefly reported on our work. I assumed you had simply misunderstood that article, because there is not even a mention of proteins anywhere in the news article. As I replied, “We make no such claim anywhere in our paper, nor do I think it is correct. Proteins do not ‘appear out of the blue’, in any case.” So where did your confused assertion come from? It appears to have come from one of your earlier discussions, in which an acoltye (Able806, who to his credit at least seems to have attempted to read our paper) wrote:

:“I think it might be best to clarify some of Richard's work. He started his E.Coli project in 1988 and has been running the project for 20 years now; his protocols are available to the general public. The New Scientist article is not very technical but the paper at PNAS is. The change was based on one of his colonies developing the ability to absorb citrate, something not found in wild E.Coli. This occurred around 31,500 generations and is based on the development of 3 proteins in the E.Coli genome. What his future work will be is to look at what caused the development of these 3 proteins around generation 20,000 of that particular colony. ...”

As further evidence of your inability to keep even a few simple facts straight, you later wrote the following: “It [my reply] did clarify that his claims are not as strong as some evolutionists have insisted.” But no competent biologist would, after reading our paper with any care, insist (or even suggest) that “3 new and useful proteins appeared in the colony around generation 20,000” or any similar nonsense. It is only in your letter, and in your acolyte’s confused interpretation of our paper, that I have ever seen such a claim. Am I or the reporter for NewScientist somehow responsible for the confusion that reflects your own laziness and apparent inability to distinguish between a scientific paper, a news article, and a confused summary posted by an acolyte on your own website?

Third, it is apparent to me, and many others who have followed this exchange and your on-line discussions of how to proceed, that you are not acting in good faith in requests for data. From the posted discussion on your web site, it is obvious that you lack any expertise in the relevant fields. Several of your acolytes have pointed this out to you, and that your motives are unclear or questionable at best, but you and your cronies dismissed their concerns as rants and even expelled some of them from posting on your website. [Ed.: citation omitted due to spam filter] Several also pointed out that I had very quickly and straightforwardly responded that the methods and data supporting the evolution of the citrate-utilization capacity are already provided in our paper. One poster in your discussions, Aaronp, wrote:

:“I read Lenski's paper, and as a trained microbiologist, I thought that it was both thorough and well done. His claims are backed by good data, namely that which was presented in the figures. I went through each of the figures after Aschlafly said that they were uninformative. Actually, they are basic figures that show the population explosion of the bacterial cultures after the Cit+ mutation occurred. These figures show that the cultures increased in size and mass at a given timepoint, being able to do so because they had evolved a mechanism to utilize a new nutrient, without the assistance of helper plasmids. ... Lenksi’s paper, while not the most definite I’ve seen, is still a very well-researched paper that supports its claims nicely.”

(As far as I saw, Aaronp is the only poster who asserted any expertise in microbiology.) As further evidence of the absence of good-faith discussion about our research, in the discussion thread that began even before you sent your first email to me, I counted the words “fraud” or “fraudulent” being used more than 10 times, including one acolyte, TonyT, who says bluntly that I am “clearly a fraudulent hack.” In the discussion thread that also includes comments after my first reply, the number of times those same words are used has increased to 20, with the word “hoax” also now entering the discussion. A few posters wisely counseled against such slander but that did not deter you. I must say, it is surprising that someone with a law degree would make, and allow on his website, so many nasty comments that implicitly and even explicitly impugn my integrity, and by extension that of my collaborators, without any grounds whatsoever and reflecting only your dogmatic adherence to certain beliefs.

Finally, let me now turn to our data. As I said before, the relevant methods and data about the evolution of the citrate-using bacteria are in our paper. In three places in our paper, we did say “data not shown”, which is common in scientific papers owing to limitations in page length, especially for secondary or minor points. None of the places where we made such references concern the existence of the citrate-using bacteria; they concern only certain secondary properties of those bacteria. We will gladly post those additional data on my website.

It is my impression that you seem to think we have only paper and electronic records of having seen some unusual E. coli. If we made serious errors or misrepresentations, you would surely like to find them in those records. If we did not, then – as some of your acolytes have suggested – you might assert that our records are themselves untrustworthy because, well, because you said so, I guess. But perhaps because you did not bother even to read our paper, or perhaps because you aren’t very bright, you seem not to understand that we have the actual, living bacteria that exhibit the properties reported in our paper, including both the ancestral strain used to start this long-term experiment and its evolved citrate-using descendants. In other words, it’s not that we claim to have glimpsed “a unicorn in the garden” – we have a whole population of them living in my lab! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn_in_the_Garden] And lest you accuse me further of fraud, I do not literally mean that we have unicorns in the lab. Rather, I am making a literary allusion. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion]

One of your acolytes, Dr. Richard Paley, actually grasped this point. He does not appear to understand the practice and limitations of science, but at least he realizes that we have the bacteria, and that they provide “the real data that we [that’s you and your gang] need”. Here’s what this Dr. Paley had to say:

:“I think there’s a great deal of misunderstanding here from the critics of Mr. Schlafly and obfuscation on the part of Prof. Lenski and his supporters. The real data that we need are not in the paper. Rather they are in the bacteria used in the experiments themselves. Prof. Lenski claims that these bacteria ‘evolved’ novel traits and that these were preceded by the evolution of ‘potentiated genotypes’, from which the traits could be ‘reevolved’ using preserved colonies from those generations. But how are we to know if these traits weren’t ‘potentiated’ by the Creator when He designed the bacteria thousands of years ago, such that they would eventually reveal themselves when the time was right? The only way this can be settled is if we have access to the genetic sequences of the bacteria colonies so that we can apply CSI techniques and determine if these ‘potentiated genotypes’ originated through blind chance or intelligence. But with the physical specimens in the hands of Darwinists, who claim they will get around to the sequencing at some unspecifed future time, how can we trust that this data will be forthcoming and forthright? Thus, Prof. Lenski et al. should supply Conservapedia, as stewards, with samples of the preserved E. coli colonies so that the data can be accessible to unbiased researchers outside of the hegemony of the Darwinian academia, even if it won’t be put to immediate examination by Mr. Schlafly. This is simply about keeping tax-payer-funded scientists honest.”

So, will we share the bacteria? Of course we will, with competent scientists. Now, if I was really mean, I might only share the ancestral strain, and let the scientists undertake the 20 years of our experiment. Or if I was only a little bit mean, maybe I’d also send the potentiated bacteria, and let the recipients then repeat the several years of incredibly pain-staking work that my superb doctoral student, Zachary Blount, performed to test some 40 trillion (40,000,000,000,000) cells, which generated 19 additional citrate-using mutants. But I’m a nice guy, at least when treated with some common courtesy, so if a competent scientist asks for them, I would even send a sample of the evolved E. coli that now grows vigorously on citrate. A competent microbiologist, perhaps requiring the assistance of a competent molecular geneticist, would readily confirm the following properties reported in our paper: (i) The ancestral strain does not grow in DM0 (zero glucose, but containing citrate), the recipe for which can be found on my web site, except leaving the glucose out of the standard recipe as stated in our paper. (ii) The evolved citrate-using strain, by contrast, grows well in that exact same medium. (iii) To confirm that the evolved strain is not some contaminating species but is, in fact, derived from the ancestral strain in our study, one could check a number of traits and genes that identify the ancestor as E. coli, and the evolved strains as a descendant thereof, as reported in our paper. (iv) One could also sequence the pykF and nadR genes in the ancestor and evolved citrate-using strains. One would find that the evolved bacteria have mutations in each of these genes. These mutations precisely match those that we reported in our previous work, and they identify the evolved citrate-using mutants as having evolved in the population designated Ara-3 of the long-term evolution experiment, as opposed to any of the other 11 populations in that experiment. And one could go on and on from there to confirm the findings in our paper, and perhaps obtain additional data of the sort that we are currently pursuing.

Before I could send anyone any bacterial strains, in order to comply with good scientific practices I would require evidence of the requesting scientist’s credentials including: (i) affiliation with an appropriate unit in some university or research center with appropriate facilities for storing (-80ºC freezer), handling (incubators, etc.), and disposing of bacteria (autoclave); and (ii) some evidence, such as peer-reviewed publications, that indicate that the receiving scientist knows how to work with bacteria, so that I and my university can be sure we are sending biological materials to someone that knows how to handle them. By the way, our strains are not derived from one of the pathogenic varieties of E. coli that are a frequent cause of food-borne illnesses. However, even non-pathogenic strains may cause problems for those who are immune-compromised or otherwise more vulnerable to infection. Also, my university requires that a Material Transfer Agreement be executed before we can ship any strains. That agreement would not constrain a receiving scientist from publishing his or her results. However, if an incompetent or fraudulent hack (note that I make no reference to any person, as this is strictly a hypothetical scenario, one that I doubt would occur) were to make false or misleading claims about our strains, then I’m confident that some highly qualified scientists would join the fray, examine the strains, and sort out who was right and who was wrong. That’s the way science works.

I would also generally ask what the requesting scientist intends to do with our strains. Why? It helps me to gauge the requester’s expertise. I might be able to point out useful references, for example. Moreover, as I’ve said, we are continuing our work with these strains, on multiple fronts, as explained in considerable detail in the Discussion section of our paper. I would not be happy to see our work “scooped” by another team – especially for the sake of the outstanding students and postdocs in my group who are hard at work on these fronts. However, that request to allow us to proceed, without risk of being scooped on work in which we have made a substantial investment of time and effort, would be just that: a request. In other words, we would respect PNAS policy to share those strains with any competent scientist who complied with my university’s requirements for the MTA and any other relevant legal restrictions. If any such request requires substantial time or resources (we have thousands of samples from this and many other experiments), then of course I would expect the recipient to bear those costs.

So there you have it. I know that I’ve been a bit less polite in this response than in my previous one, but I’m still behaving far more politely than you deserve given your rude, willfully ignorant, and slanderous behavior. And I’ve spent far more time responding than you deserve. However, as I said at the outset, I take education seriously, and I know some of your acolytes still have the ability and desire to think, as do many others who will read this exchange.

Sincerely,
 Richard Lenski

P.S. Did you know that your own bowels harbor something like a billion (1,000,000,000) E. coli at this very moment? So remember to wash your hands after going to the toilet, as I hope your mother taught you. Simple calculations imply that there are something like 10^20 = 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 E. coli alive on our planet at any moment. Even if they divide just once per day, and given a typical mutation rate of 10^-9 or 10^-10 per base-pair per generation, then pretty much every possible double mutation would occur every day or so. That’s a lot of opportunity for evolution.

P.P.S. I hope that some readers might get a chuckle out of this story. The same Sunday (15 June 2008) that you and some of your acolytes were posting and promoting scurrilous attacks on me and our research (wasn’t that a bit disrespectful of the Sabbath?), I was in a church attending a wedding. And do you know what Old Testament lesson was read? It was Genesis 1:27-28, in which God created Man and Woman. It’s a very simple and lovely story, and I did not ask any questions, storm out, or demand the evidence that it happened as written at a time when science did not yet exist. I was there in the realm of spirituality and mutual respect, not confusing a house of religion for a science class or laboratory. And it was a beautiful wedding, too.

P.P.P.S. You may be unable to understand, or unwilling to accept, that evolution occurs. And yet, life evolves! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pur_si_muove] From the content on your website, it is clear that you, like many others, view God as the Creator of the Universe. I respect that view. I find it baffling, however, that someone can worship God as the all-mighty Creator while, at the same time, denying even the possibility (not to mention the overwhelming evidence) that God’s Creation involved evolution. It is as though a person thinks that God must have the same limitations when it comes to creation as a person who is unable to understand, or even attempt to understand, the world in which we live. Isn’t that view insulting to God?

P.P.P.P.S. I noticed that you say that one of your favorite articles on your website is the one on “Deceit.” That article begins as follows: “Deceit is the deliberate distortion or denial of the truth with an intent to trick or fool another. Christianity and Judaism teach that deceit is wrong. For example, the Old Testament says, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’” You really should think more carefully about what that commandment means before you go around bearing false witness against others.
[[category:evolution]]

==Pleasse be charitable==

[[User:Humblpi|Humblpi]] was trying to warn you about the risk of ridicule. Please be charitable and unblock him.[[User:Veronica|Veronica]] 10:02, 24 June 2008 (EDT)

[http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Conservapedia_talk:Lenski_dialog&oldid=478060 See this]

Professor values

2008-06-08T11:54:03Z

Veronica:

'''Professor values''' refer to the common value system embraced by a large percentage of [[professor]]s, just as [[Hollywood values]] refers to the common value system of many in [[Hollywood]].

An extremely high percentage of professors disagree with [[conservative]] principles.<ref>"90 percent of United States professors called themselves liberal or moderate .[http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol3/iss1/art2/]</ref><ref> [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> Professors' common value system typically includes [[atheism]],<ref>For example, the vast majority of philosophy professors are [[atheists]], even after an alleged uptick in [[faith]] [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> [[censorship]], [[socialism]], unjustified claims of expertise and knowledge (for example, the dogmatic promotion of the [[Theory of Evolution|theory of evolution]]),<ref>For example, a $100,000 "environmental" prize was awarded for work on a [[politically correct]] "theory of convergent evolution." [http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/4/4/briefBiologyProfAwardedEnvironmentalAchievementPrize]</ref> [[liberаl]] beliefs,<ref>"90 percent of professors called themselves liberal or moderate." . [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> [[liberal grading]], [[liberal bias]],<ref>http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/08/26/johnson</ref>It appears intelligent people sometimes hold these values. They are also accused of anti-patriotism, lack of productivity, [[bullying]] or discouraging [[conservative]] students (for example, homeschoolers),<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032101451.html</ref><ref>http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/news/488/NCliberalbiasagnstcons060104.htm</ref> and promotion of sexual immorality.<ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2001/oct_2001_4.html</ref><ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/1998/october_1998_1.html</ref>
In a Zogby poll, 58% of [[Americans]] said that the bias of professors is a serious problem, while 39% said it is a "very serious" problem.<ref name="zogby">http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1334</ref> The survey demonstrated further that "an overwhelming majority also believe that job security for college professors leaves them less motivated to do a good job than those professors who do not enjoy a tenured status - 65% said they believe non-tenured professors are more motivated to do a good job in the classroom."<ref name="zogby" /> One study in 2008 found that "[[Texas]] university professors overwhelmingly favor
[[Democratic]] candidates in their campaign contributions."<ref>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5753471.html</ref>

Professors block the granting of a tenured professorship to anyone who:

* criticizes the [[theory of evolution]]
* criticizes [[feminism]] and/or [[abortion]]
* opposes the [[homosexual agenda]]

Professors wear white armbands to protest an award of an honorary degree to a [[conservative]].<ref>http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1279565&sectionID=1</ref>

Politicians, especially [[liberаl|liberal]] ones, are routinely given high-ranking academic positions. Examples include:

* [[Al Gore]]<ref>Beginning early in 2001, "Gore will be [at UCLA] to develop a new curriculum for family-centered community building, a multidisciplinary approach that brings together authorities from such fields as education, business and public policy to work on problems that ail our society and affect our children. ... He also will be teaching at three other universities - Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and Fisk University in Nashville - in addition to his teaching and research work at UCLA." [http://spotlight.ucla.edu/special-guests/al-gore_teach/]</ref>
*[[Michael Dukakis]]
*[[Gary Hart]]
*[[Bob Kerrey]]
* [[Tony Blair]]
*[[Tom Kean]]

`

== Crimes by Professors ==
* At Northern Kentucky University, language and literature professor Sally Jacobsen incited some of her students to vandalize a pro-life display by Northern Right to Life, the campus pro-life group. Jacobsen herself also participated in the vandalism, which involved destroying rows of white crosses symbolizing the graves of aborted children. Jacobsen justified the vandalism as free speech, stating, "I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to." Jacobsen was unrepentant until given the choice of facing criminal charges of theft, criminal mischief and criminal solicitation or apologizing. Jacobsen chose the latter and also paid Northern Right to Life for damage to the display. Jacobsen was suspended by the university and subsequently retired.<ref>http://www.lifenews.com/state3207.html</ref>

* "A [[South Korea]]n court Monday sentenced a former university art professor to 18 months in jail for forging her [[US]] degree certificates, officials said. The Seoul District Criminal Court found Shin Jeong-Ah guilty of forging undergraduate and master's degrees from the [[University of Kansas]] and [[Yale University]] to secure a job at Seoul's Dongguk university."<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCfPQ1_mqM2VaXzQUSy-mXwQIvXQ</ref>

* [[Villanova University]] professor Edward R. Ritter was arrested on March 21, 2008, and charged with selling marijuana to undercover police officers, and a subsequent search of his home uncovered 19 bags of marijuana.<ref>http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20080322_Villanova_professor_arrested_on_drug_charges.html</ref>

* Kansas State University English professor Thomas Murray was a popular teacher, but he was convicted of murdering his ex-wife with 17 stab wounds and blunt trauma to her head. She "was found dead in her bedroom atop a dresser."<ref name="ctv">http://www.courttv.com/trials/murray/backgrounder_ctv.html</ref> Professor Murray had written several books, including "The Language of Sadomasochism."<ref name="ctv" /> He did not testify in his defense and spoke only at sentencing, where he called the state's case a "fairy tale."<ref>http://www.kansaspublicradio.org/newsstory.php?itemID=5892</ref>

* Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Anatomy associate professor Peter Alan Rogers, 59, was arrested on Apr. 21, 2008 on a charge of possession of child pornography on a school laptop computer.<ref>http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/04/24/professor_0425.html</ref>

* Shortly after the end of the school year and his contract, Marshall University Psychiatry associate professor John M. Adams burglarized and murdered Bobby Burns on July 2, 2003, and then kidnapped two women and forced them to drive him across the Ohio River.<ref>http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/29/loc_ohprofessor29.html</ref>

* University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian pled guilty to "aiding a terrorist group" and was "sentenced to 57 months in prison."<ref name="nysun">http://www.nysun.com/article/72228</ref><ref>http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=7961089&nav=menu577_2_1</ref> He then "spent more than a year in civil contempt after refusing to appear before two grand juries investigating Islamic charities in Northern Virginia."<ref name="nysun">

* Claremont McKenna College visiting professor Kerri Dunn was sentenced to a year in state prison after she was found guilty of staging a phony [[hate crime]], in which she "spray-painted her car with racist and anti-Semitic slurs and then reported a hate crime on campus."<ref>http://www.knbc.com/education/3998600/detail.html</ref>

* University of Hawaii professor Marc Fossorier was arrested and later convicted and sentenced to one year in jail for attempting a sex crime with a girl apparently only 15 years old.<ref>http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/4582/40/</ref>

* A [[New Jersey]] Cumberland County College professor "was arrested on charges of harassment, trespassing and stalking."<ref>http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/80305019/1002</ref>

* University of Central Florida political science professor Michael Shawn Reichert was arrested for having "a stash of more than 100 child pornography pictures on his work computer," "plus three pornographic movies."<ref>http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/2007/07/ucf-professor-a.html</ref>

* [[University of Wisconsin]] adjunct professor Victor M. Zamudio-Taylor resigned after being charged with viewing child-pornography in a campus computer laboratory.<ref>http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/03/19/uwmilwaukee_professo.php</ref>

* A [[British]] university professor was jailed for ten months for plotting to defraud a hospital trust. <ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010626/ai_n14398964</ref>

* [[French]] [[Marxist]] [[structuralist]] [[philosopher]] Professor [[Louis Althusser]] (1918-1990) killed his wife in 1980 and was afterwards confined to a psychiatric hospital.

* Professor Daniel Storm, of the University of Washington, flushed 4 litres of the flammable solvent ethyl ether down the sink, rather than pay the safe disposal fees. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle said that his using an axe to open the containers was particularly dangerous because a spark could easily have ignited the ether. <ref>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003607035_uwprof08m0.html</ref>

* An Associate Professor at Youngstown State University was locked up and fined $50 after baring his buttocks in front of children at a county fair. <ref>http://www.thejambar.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=38283b71-1223-4e85-929f-ba0f932d5366</ref>

* Philosophy Professor [[Abimael Guzman]] of the National University of San Cristobal de Huamanga in [[Peru]] founded the bloodthirsty [[Shining Path]] organisation, one of the most violent terrorist groups of recent decades.

== Immoral, Unethical or Bizarre Behavior ==

*Emory University History Professor of History [[Michael Bellesiles]], a [[gun control]] advocate, wrote a book entitled ''Arming America, The Origins of a National Gun Culture'' (2000). Gary Wills gave it a glowing review in ''The New York Times'', but admitted later that "I was took. The book is a fraud."<ref>Jonah Goldberg, [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_501644.html ''Reports of the 2nd Amendment's death have been greatly exaggerated ...''] Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Apr. 8, 2007.</ref> Bellesiles resigned from his position as Professor of History when an independent committee of scholars examined his work and concluded that "his scholarly integrity is seriously in question."<ref>http://hnn.us/articles/1069.html</ref>

*According to one columnist, 88 Duke professors -- more than 10 percent of the Duke professorial faculty - endorsed and published an advertisement hurtful to students who had been wrongly accused of rape during a lacrosse team party, which "helped create the lynch-mob atmosphere."<ref>http://www.nypost.com/seven/03232007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/duke__who_wont_pay_opedcolumnists_john_podhoretz.htm</ref>

* When student Rebecca Beach circulated an email at Warren Community College in New Jersey disclosing that decorated Iraq war hero Lt. Col. Scott Rutter would be visiting, English professor John Daly replied: "Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47461</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

== Sources ==

* [http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_178.asp?referrer=list National Center for Educational Statistics, "Table 178, Historical Summary of faculty, students, degrees, and finances in degree-granting institutions: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2005-06"]

[[Category:Academics]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

Professor values

2008-06-08T11:52:03Z

Veronica:

'''Professor values''' refer to the common value system embraced by a large percentage of [[professor]]s, just as [[Hollywood values]] refers to the common value system of many in [[Hollywood]].

An extremely high percentage of professors disagree with [[conservative]] principles.<ref>"90 percent of United States professors called themselves liberal or moderate .[http://www.bepress.com/forum/vol3/iss1/art2/]</ref><ref> [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> Professors' common value system typically includes [[atheism]],<ref>For example, the vast majority of philosophy professors are [[atheists]], even after an alleged uptick in [[faith]] [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> [[censorship]], [[socialism]], unjustified claims of expertise and knowledge (for example, the dogmatic promotion of the [[Theory of Evolution|theory of evolution]]),<ref>For example, a $100,000 "environmental" prize was awarded for work on a [[politically correct]] "theory of convergent evolution." [http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/4/4/briefBiologyProfAwardedEnvironmentalAchievementPrize]</ref> [[liberаl]] beliefs,<ref>"90 percent of professors called themselves liberal or moderate." . It appears intelligent people sometimes hold these values. [http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=s1153nnhjkhr407r6ng6gjg8pvc8g2s8]</ref> [[liberal grading]], [[liberal bias]],<ref>http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/08/26/johnson</ref> They are also accused of anti-patriotism, lack of productivity, [[bullying]] or discouraging [[conservative]] students (for example, homeschoolers),<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032101451.html</ref><ref>http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/news/488/NCliberalbiasagnstcons060104.htm</ref> and promotion of sexual immorality.<ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2001/oct_2001_4.html</ref><ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/1998/october_1998_1.html</ref>
In a Zogby poll, 58% of [[Americans]] said that the bias of professors is a serious problem, while 39% said it is a "very serious" problem.<ref name="zogby">http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1334</ref> The survey demonstrated further that "an overwhelming majority also believe that job security for college professors leaves them less motivated to do a good job than those professors who do not enjoy a tenured status - 65% said they believe non-tenured professors are more motivated to do a good job in the classroom."<ref name="zogby" /> One study in 2008 found that "[[Texas]] university professors overwhelmingly favor
[[Democratic]] candidates in their campaign contributions."<ref>http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5753471.html</ref>

Professors block the granting of a tenured professorship to anyone who:

* criticizes the [[theory of evolution]]
* criticizes [[feminism]] and/or [[abortion]]
* opposes the [[homosexual agenda]]

Professors wear white armbands to protest an award of an honorary degree to a [[conservative]].<ref>http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1279565&sectionID=1</ref>

Politicians, especially [[liberаl|liberal]] ones, are routinely given high-ranking academic positions. Examples include:

* [[Al Gore]]<ref>Beginning early in 2001, "Gore will be [at UCLA] to develop a new curriculum for family-centered community building, a multidisciplinary approach that brings together authorities from such fields as education, business and public policy to work on problems that ail our society and affect our children. ... He also will be teaching at three other universities - Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro and Fisk University in Nashville - in addition to his teaching and research work at UCLA." [http://spotlight.ucla.edu/special-guests/al-gore_teach/]</ref>
*[[Michael Dukakis]]
*[[Gary Hart]]
*[[Bob Kerrey]]
* [[Tony Blair]]
*[[Tom Kean]]

`

== Crimes by Professors ==
* At Northern Kentucky University, language and literature professor Sally Jacobsen incited some of her students to vandalize a pro-life display by Northern Right to Life, the campus pro-life group. Jacobsen herself also participated in the vandalism, which involved destroying rows of white crosses symbolizing the graves of aborted children. Jacobsen justified the vandalism as free speech, stating, "I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to." Jacobsen was unrepentant until given the choice of facing criminal charges of theft, criminal mischief and criminal solicitation or apologizing. Jacobsen chose the latter and also paid Northern Right to Life for damage to the display. Jacobsen was suspended by the university and subsequently retired.<ref>http://www.lifenews.com/state3207.html</ref>

* "A [[South Korea]]n court Monday sentenced a former university art professor to 18 months in jail for forging her [[US]] degree certificates, officials said. The Seoul District Criminal Court found Shin Jeong-Ah guilty of forging undergraduate and master's degrees from the [[University of Kansas]] and [[Yale University]] to secure a job at Seoul's Dongguk university."<ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCfPQ1_mqM2VaXzQUSy-mXwQIvXQ</ref>

* [[Villanova University]] professor Edward R. Ritter was arrested on March 21, 2008, and charged with selling marijuana to undercover police officers, and a subsequent search of his home uncovered 19 bags of marijuana.<ref>http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/20080322_Villanova_professor_arrested_on_drug_charges.html</ref>

* Kansas State University English professor Thomas Murray was a popular teacher, but he was convicted of murdering his ex-wife with 17 stab wounds and blunt trauma to her head. She "was found dead in her bedroom atop a dresser."<ref name="ctv">http://www.courttv.com/trials/murray/backgrounder_ctv.html</ref> Professor Murray had written several books, including "The Language of Sadomasochism."<ref name="ctv" /> He did not testify in his defense and spoke only at sentencing, where he called the state's case a "fairy tale."<ref>http://www.kansaspublicradio.org/newsstory.php?itemID=5892</ref>

* Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Anatomy associate professor Peter Alan Rogers, 59, was arrested on Apr. 21, 2008 on a charge of possession of child pornography on a school laptop computer.<ref>http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/04/24/professor_0425.html</ref>

* Shortly after the end of the school year and his contract, Marshall University Psychiatry associate professor John M. Adams burglarized and murdered Bobby Burns on July 2, 2003, and then kidnapped two women and forced them to drive him across the Ohio River.<ref>http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/29/loc_ohprofessor29.html</ref>

* University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian pled guilty to "aiding a terrorist group" and was "sentenced to 57 months in prison."<ref name="nysun">http://www.nysun.com/article/72228</ref><ref>http://www.mysuncoast.com/Global/story.asp?S=7961089&nav=menu577_2_1</ref> He then "spent more than a year in civil contempt after refusing to appear before two grand juries investigating Islamic charities in Northern Virginia."<ref name="nysun">

* Claremont McKenna College visiting professor Kerri Dunn was sentenced to a year in state prison after she was found guilty of staging a phony [[hate crime]], in which she "spray-painted her car with racist and anti-Semitic slurs and then reported a hate crime on campus."<ref>http://www.knbc.com/education/3998600/detail.html</ref>

* University of Hawaii professor Marc Fossorier was arrested and later convicted and sentenced to one year in jail for attempting a sex crime with a girl apparently only 15 years old.<ref>http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/4582/40/</ref>

* A [[New Jersey]] Cumberland County College professor "was arrested on charges of harassment, trespassing and stalking."<ref>http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/80305019/1002</ref>

* University of Central Florida political science professor Michael Shawn Reichert was arrested for having "a stash of more than 100 child pornography pictures on his work computer," "plus three pornographic movies."<ref>http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_orlandocrime/2007/07/ucf-professor-a.html</ref>

* [[University of Wisconsin]] adjunct professor Victor M. Zamudio-Taylor resigned after being charged with viewing child-pornography in a campus computer laboratory.<ref>http://badgerherald.com/news/2002/03/19/uwmilwaukee_professo.php</ref>

* A [[British]] university professor was jailed for ten months for plotting to defraud a hospital trust. <ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20010626/ai_n14398964</ref>

* [[French]] [[Marxist]] [[structuralist]] [[philosopher]] Professor [[Louis Althusser]] (1918-1990) killed his wife in 1980 and was afterwards confined to a psychiatric hospital.

* Professor Daniel Storm, of the University of Washington, flushed 4 litres of the flammable solvent ethyl ether down the sink, rather than pay the safe disposal fees. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle said that his using an axe to open the containers was particularly dangerous because a spark could easily have ignited the ether. <ref>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003607035_uwprof08m0.html</ref>

* An Associate Professor at Youngstown State University was locked up and fined $50 after baring his buttocks in front of children at a county fair. <ref>http://www.thejambar.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=38283b71-1223-4e85-929f-ba0f932d5366</ref>

* Philosophy Professor [[Abimael Guzman]] of the National University of San Cristobal de Huamanga in [[Peru]] founded the bloodthirsty [[Shining Path]] organisation, one of the most violent terrorist groups of recent decades.

== Immoral, Unethical or Bizarre Behavior ==

*Emory University History Professor of History [[Michael Bellesiles]], a [[gun control]] advocate, wrote a book entitled ''Arming America, The Origins of a National Gun Culture'' (2000). Gary Wills gave it a glowing review in ''The New York Times'', but admitted later that "I was took. The book is a fraud."<ref>Jonah Goldberg, [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_501644.html ''Reports of the 2nd Amendment's death have been greatly exaggerated ...''] Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Apr. 8, 2007.</ref> Bellesiles resigned from his position as Professor of History when an independent committee of scholars examined his work and concluded that "his scholarly integrity is seriously in question."<ref>http://hnn.us/articles/1069.html</ref>

*According to one columnist, 88 Duke professors -- more than 10 percent of the Duke professorial faculty - endorsed and published an advertisement hurtful to students who had been wrongly accused of rape during a lacrosse team party, which "helped create the lynch-mob atmosphere."<ref>http://www.nypost.com/seven/03232007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/duke__who_wont_pay_opedcolumnists_john_podhoretz.htm</ref>

* When student Rebecca Beach circulated an email at Warren Community College in New Jersey disclosing that decorated Iraq war hero Lt. Col. Scott Rutter would be visiting, English professor John Daly replied: "Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors."<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47461</ref>

== References ==

<references/>

== Sources ==

* [http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_178.asp?referrer=list National Center for Educational Statistics, "Table 178, Historical Summary of faculty, students, degrees, and finances in degree-granting institutions: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2005-06"]

[[Category:Academics]]
[[Category:Liberals]]

London Tower Bridge

2008-04-16T14:56:03Z

Veronica:

[[Image:Tower bridge London.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Tower Bridge in London.]]
'''London Tower Bridge''' was built in the 19th Century. The bridge spans the [[River Thames]] over the [[Pool of London]]. It is near the [[Tower of London]]. Tower Bridge is famous because the span of the bridge is in two sections. These sections can be lifted vertically to allow ships to pass. Open or closed Tower Bridge is beautiful.
[[Category:Geography]][[Category:United Kingdom]][[Category:Bridges]]
[[Category:England]]

London Tower Bridge

2008-04-16T14:50:46Z

Veronica:

[[Image:Tower bridge London.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Tower Bridge in London.]]
'''London Tower Bridge''' was built in the 19th Century. The bridge spans the [[River Thames]] over the [[Pool of London]].

London Tower Bridge

2008-04-16T14:49:23Z

Veronica: New page: '''London Tower Bridge''' was built in the 19th Century. The bridge spans the River Thames over the Pool of London.

'''London Tower Bridge''' was built in the 19th Century. The bridge spans the [[River Thames]] over the [[Pool of London]].

Episcopal Church in the United States of America

2008-04-12T11:00:01Z

Veronica:

The '''Episcopal Church in the USA''', abbreviated ECUSA, and also known as the The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, is the American arm of the Worldwide [[Anglican Communion]]. The Church has about 2.5 million members.

Worship in the Episcopal Church is according to the [[Book of Common Prayer]], a book of worship services for use in the church. The current edition was published in 1979. The previous edition was published in 1928. Worship styles within the Episcopal Church can range from "high church" (emphasizing ritual, sung liturgy, candles and incense, genuflecting, etc. with services resembling a [[Roman Catholic]] service) to "low church" (emphasizing preaching and personal conversion and eschewing ritual, with services resembling other low church [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations). Many Episcopal churches have a "broad church" stance, meaning they take a middle ground and try to incorporate elements of both high and low church styles. The Episcopalians are in communion with the [[Anglican Church]] based in the [[United Kingdom]].

Episcopal [[theology]] is summarized by the [[Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion]], principally written by [[Thomas Cramner]] and adopted by the Anglican Church in 1563. The influence of the Articles have decreased dramatically over the last few centuries, as the Anglican Communion has gradually moved further away from [[Protestantism]] and closer to [[Catholicism]].

The [[National Cathedral]] in Washington is an Episcopal church, and is the official seat of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the USA. Twelve of the forty-three Presidents have been Episcopalian, including [[George Washington]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[George H. W. Bush]], and [[Gerald Ford]]. In addition [[Thomas Jefferson]] was raised Episcopalian but later proclaimed [[deism]] and no denominational preference, returning to his Episcopalian faith in his later years, while [[Theodore Roosevelt]] was raised Dutch Reformed but later became Episcopalian.

Changes made in the church during the 1970s, specifically the ordination of women and the adoption of a new Book of Common Prayer in 1979, led to a movement of breakaway churches called the [[Continuing Anglican]] movement.

There is currently a controversy within the Episcopal church about the role of homosexuals within the church. The church was given until September 30, 2007 to determine whether or not it would continue to consecrate homosexuals. The Episcopal church's liberal stance is alienating it from other members of the communion, specifically the churches in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Some U.S. Episcopal churches, opposed to the ordination of practicing homosexuals to the priesthood, have chosen to remove themselves from the ECUSA and place themselves under the authority of Anglican churches in Africa or Southeast Asia, thus attempting to remain (unlike those churches in the Continuing Anglican movement) in full communion with the worldwide Anglican Communion. These churches are currently involved in legal struggles with the ECUSA over the fate of their historic church buildings.

Some prominent Episcopalians include:

*[[Spiro Agnew]]
*[[Madeleine Albright]]
*[[George H. W. Bush]]
*[[George W. Bush]] (raised Episcopalian; currently Methodist)
*[[Tucker Carlson]]
*[[Cab Calloway]]
*[[Jefferson Davis]]
*[[Phillip K. Dick]]
*[[Duke Ellington]]
*[[Gerald Ford]]
*[[Jerry Garcia]]
*[[Barry Goldwater]]
*[[Kay Bailey Hutchison]]
*[[Lady Bird Johnson]]
*[[John Jay]]
*[[Robert E. Lee]]
*[[James Madison]]
*[[Thurgood Marshall]]
*[[John McCain]] (raised Episcopalian; currently Baptist)
*[[Eleanor Holmes Norton]]
*[[Sandra Day O'Connor]]
*[[Karl Rove]]
*[[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
*[[Colin Powell]]
*[[Bess Truman]]
*[[George Washington]]
*[[Reese Witherspoon]]

[[Category:Christian Denominations]]

Liberal denial

2008-04-05T17:28:11Z

Veronica:

'''Liberal denial''' is the tendency of [[liberals]] to conceal, deny or censor the truth for ideological reasons:
# that [[liberals]] and [[Conservatives]] both sometimes attempt to intimidate and ostracize others who disagree with them. Liberals aparently particularly do this in school environments and some occupations.<ref>See [[liberals and friendship]].</ref>
# that [[liberal]] leaders engage in shocking wrongdoing, [[Liberal hypocrisy|hypocrisy]], and abuse of power<ref>See, e.g., leading [[liberal]] [[Eliot Spitzer]] and how fellow [[liberals]] downplayed or were silent about his misconduct.</ref>
# that [[liberals]] support taxpayer-funded [[abortion]] and insist on [[censorship]] of [[classroom prayer]]
# that ideas do matter, and can cause great harm, including any types of falsehoods
# that girls and women in sports have debilitating ACL knee injuries at 3-4 times the rate of men,<ref>''Compare'' [http://www.universityhealthmatters.com/article.php?artid=50] (with an explanation of why there is a big difference) ''with'' [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/health/18knee.html?ex=1204088400&en=3a5abfaa6104ac63&ei=5070&emc=eta1 New York Times] (downplaying the difference and pretending that no one knows why). The New York Times denies overwhelming evidence, including the following:
:"Female athletes, particularly basketball players, are far more likely than their male counterparts to suffer ACL [Anterior Cruciate Ligament] injuries." Stephen Hargis, "Girls have more torn ACLs," Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), D1 (Feb. 4, 2005). According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the risk of women tearing their ACL is 1 in 100. This number drops significantly to only 1 in 500 for men. See Nikki Usher, "Knee injury takes toll on girls playing soccer five times more likely than males to suffer a torn ACL," Philadelphia Inquirer, A01 (Nov. 29, 2004). "Compared with guys, female athletes run an eight-times-greater risk of tearing the ACL, a fibrous band that connects the shinbone (tibia) to the thighbone (femur). Basketball, soccer and other sports that require cutting moves or jump shots can put athletes at risk." Kathleen Fackelmann, "Girls face higher knee injury risk," USA Today, 15B (Aug. 24, 2004). Timothy Hewett, PhD, the lead researcher on a definitive study at the Sports Medicine Biodynamics Center at the University of Cincinnati, says this is "close to a billion-dollar problem in girls and women in the USA. ... Even after girls have recovered from the acute injury, the changes in the joint may set the stage for osteoarthritis of the knee ...." ''Id.'' That obvious suspicion was quickly confirmed: a study subsequently published in Arthritis & Rheumatism demonstrated that "more than half of ... 103 soccer players, who were ages 14 to 28 at the time of the ACL injury, suffered osteoarthritis of the knee at the time of the study -- about 12 years later." Kathleen Fackelmann, "Girls' knee injuries have later consequences," USA Today, 9D (Oct. 7, 2004). "Many of the women, who were about 31 by that time, also said they had pain or some other disability that made it hard to conduct daily activities." ''Id.''</ref> and are vulnerable to other injuries<ref>"Amber Scull ruptured her spleen after she was tackled during a practice drill at Nature Coast Tech in Brooksville 2 1/2 months ago. Had she [not] arrived at the hospital 30 minutes later, doctors told her mother, she might have died." [http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/06/news_pf/Sports/Girls_face_dangers_on.shtml]</ref>
# that [[young mass murderers]] fit the profile of [[public school]]-trained [[atheism]]
# that the numerous premature deaths of [[Hollywood]] stars are the result of [[Hollywood values]]<ref>Liberal [[Wikipedia]] lists numerous [[actor]]s who died of drug overdoses, but will not acknowledge the role played by [[Hollywood values]], for which Wikipedia does not even have an entry. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug-related_deaths]</ref>
# that [[homeschoolers]] often but not always do better than those who attend [[public school]]
# that [[culture]] affects [[politics]], and people's views and lifestyles
# that successful [[democracy]], both historically and logically, is the result of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Christianity]]<ref>[http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/cultural_apologetics/snyder-democracy1.html Calvinism and the Success of Liberal Democracy, by John Snyder]</ref>
# that [[Lawrence Summers]] was fired as President of [[Harvard]] for making a [[political correctness|politically incorrect]] suggestion about women and [[math]] aptitude
# that [[Ronald Reagan]]'s public exhortation, "[[Mikhail Gorbachev|Mr. Gorbachev]], tear down this wall," helped cause the nearly 30-year-old [[Berlin Wall]] later be torn down
# that [[gun control]] may increase [[crime]]
# that group [[prayer]] is censored from public school
# that reducing [[taxes]] and increasing public spending both stimulate the [[economy]]
# that choosing [[abortion]] over childbirth increases the risk of [[breast cancer]]
# that the [[mainstream media]] is [[bias]]ed
# that privately-run [[transport]] is more efficient than government-run transport
# that [[Universal Health Care|public health care]] is considered inferior medical care though in France where there is universal health care life expectancy is longer than in the United States
# that [[Labor union|union]]s interfere with [[employment]] opportunities
# that [[Islam]]ic extremism is a threat to the [[Western civilization]]<ref>Leftist [[Sam Harris]] admitted and complained about this liberal denial [http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061009/REPOSITORY/610090301/1028/OPINION02 here].</ref>
# that banning [[same-sex marriage]] is analogous to banning [[polygamy]]
# that aggressive interrogation is often the only way to obtain answers from [[terrorists]]
# how the [[liberal]] ideology is sometimes pushed on unsuspecting others, particularly youngsters. Other times Conservative ideology is pushed onto youngsters and others, for example by Conservapedia.

Often [[liberal]]s refuse to admit that they are [[liberal]]s, in the hope of appearing more reasonable. [[Hillary Clinton]] refused to admit in a presidential debate in 2007 that she is a [[liberal]]. Similarly, [[Michael Dukakis]] refused for a while to admit that he was a [[liberal]] during the 1988 presidential campaign. Only out of desperation did Dukakis admit that he was a [[liberal]], and even then he admitted only that was a liberal like President [[Harry Truman]], who served 40 years earlier.

== References ==

<references/>

{{liberalism}}
[[category:politics]]
[[category:liberals]]

Liberal denial

2008-04-05T17:10:09Z

Veronica:

'''Liberal denial''' is the tendency of [[liberals]] to conceal, deny or censor the truth for ideological reasons:
# that [[liberals]] and [[Conservatives]] both sometimes attempt to intimidate and ostracize others who disagree with them. Liberals aparently particularly do this in school environments and some occupations.<ref>See [[liberals and friendship]].</ref>
# that [[liberal]] leaders engage in shocking wrongdoing, [[Liberal hypocrisy|hypocrisy]], and abuse of power<ref>See, e.g., leading [[liberal]] [[Eliot Spitzer]] and how fellow [[liberals]] downplayed or were silent about his misconduct.</ref>
# that [[liberals]] support taxpayer-funded [[abortion]] and insist on [[censorship]] of [[classroom prayer]]
# that ideas do matter, and can cause great harm, including liberal falsehoods
# that girls and women in sports have debilitating ACL knee injuries at 3-4 times the rate of men,<ref>''Compare'' [http://www.universityhealthmatters.com/article.php?artid=50] (with an explanation of why there is a big difference) ''with'' [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/health/18knee.html?ex=1204088400&en=3a5abfaa6104ac63&ei=5070&emc=eta1 New York Times] (downplaying the difference and pretending that no one knows why). The New York Times denies overwhelming evidence, including the following:
:"Female athletes, particularly basketball players, are far more likely than their male counterparts to suffer ACL [Anterior Cruciate Ligament] injuries." Stephen Hargis, "Girls have more torn ACLs," Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee), D1 (Feb. 4, 2005). According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the risk of women tearing their ACL is 1 in 100. This number drops significantly to only 1 in 500 for men. See Nikki Usher, "Knee injury takes toll on girls playing soccer five times more likely than males to suffer a torn ACL," Philadelphia Inquirer, A01 (Nov. 29, 2004). "Compared with guys, female athletes run an eight-times-greater risk of tearing the ACL, a fibrous band that connects the shinbone (tibia) to the thighbone (femur). Basketball, soccer and other sports that require cutting moves or jump shots can put athletes at risk." Kathleen Fackelmann, "Girls face higher knee injury risk," USA Today, 15B (Aug. 24, 2004). Timothy Hewett, PhD, the lead researcher on a definitive study at the Sports Medicine Biodynamics Center at the University of Cincinnati, says this is "close to a billion-dollar problem in girls and women in the USA. ... Even after girls have recovered from the acute injury, the changes in the joint may set the stage for osteoarthritis of the knee ...." ''Id.'' That obvious suspicion was quickly confirmed: a study subsequently published in Arthritis & Rheumatism demonstrated that "more than half of ... 103 soccer players, who were ages 14 to 28 at the time of the ACL injury, suffered osteoarthritis of the knee at the time of the study -- about 12 years later." Kathleen Fackelmann, "Girls' knee injuries have later consequences," USA Today, 9D (Oct. 7, 2004). "Many of the women, who were about 31 by that time, also said they had pain or some other disability that made it hard to conduct daily activities." ''Id.''</ref> and are vulnerable to other injuries<ref>"Amber Scull ruptured her spleen after she was tackled during a practice drill at Nature Coast Tech in Brooksville 2 1/2 months ago. Had she [not] arrived at the hospital 30 minutes later, doctors told her mother, she might have died." [http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/06/news_pf/Sports/Girls_face_dangers_on.shtml]</ref>
# that [[young mass murderers]] fit the profile of [[public school]]-trained [[atheism]]
# that the numerous premature deaths of [[Hollywood]] stars are the result of [[Hollywood values]]<ref>Liberal [[Wikipedia]] lists numerous [[actor]]s who died of drug overdoses, but will not acknowledge the role played by [[Hollywood values]], for which Wikipedia does not even have an entry. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug-related_deaths]</ref>
# that [[homeschoolers]] often do better than those who attend [[public school]]
# that [[culture]] affects [[politics]], and people's views and lifestyles
# that successful [[democracy]], both historically and logically, is the result of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Christianity]]<ref>[http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/cultural_apologetics/snyder-democracy1.html Calvinism and the Success of Liberal Democracy, by John Snyder]</ref>
# that [[Lawrence Summers]] was fired as President of [[Harvard]] for making a [[political correctness|politically incorrect]] suggestion about women and [[math]] aptitude
# that [[Ronald Reagan]]'s public exhortation, "[[Mikhail Gorbachev|Mr. Gorbachev]], tear down this wall," helped cause the nearly 30-year-old [[Berlin Wall]] later be torn down
# that [[gun control]] may increase [[crime]]
# that group [[prayer]] is censored from public school
# that reducing [[taxes]] stimulates the [[economy]]
# that choosing [[abortion]] over childbirth increases the risk of [[breast cancer]]
# that the [[mainstream media]] is [[bias]]ed
# that privately-run [[transport]] is more efficient than government-run transport
# that [[Universal Health Care|public health care]] is inferior medical care
# that [[Labor union|union]]s interfere with [[employment]] opportunities
# that [[Islam]]ic extremism is a threat to the [[Western civilization]]<ref>Leftist [[Sam Harris]] admitted and complained about this liberal denial [http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061009/REPOSITORY/610090301/1028/OPINION02 here].</ref>
# that banning [[same-sex marriage]] is analogous to banning [[polygamy]]
# that aggressive interrogation is often the only way to obtain answers from [[terrorists]]
# how the [[liberal]] ideology is pushed on unsuspecting others, particularly youngsters

Often [[liberal]]s refuse to admit that they are [[liberal]]s, in the hope of appearing more reasonable. [[Hillary Clinton]] refused to admit in a presidential debate in 2007 that she is a [[liberal]]. Similarly, [[Michael Dukakis]] refused for a while to admit that he was a [[liberal]] during the 1988 presidential campaign. Only out of desperation did Dukakis admit that he was a [[liberal]], and even then he admitted only that was a liberal like President [[Harry Truman]], who served 40 years earlier.

== References ==

<references/>

{{liberalism}}
[[category:politics]]
[[category:liberals]]

User:Veronica

2008-04-05T17:04:13Z

Veronica: New page: I think it's cool to be British.

I think it's cool to be British.

Scottish Parliament

2008-04-03T20:45:14Z

Veronica:

'''Scottish Parliament''' is a [[devolved]] institution. It was established by the Scotland Act, 1998. The Scottish Parliament can pass laws concerning [[Scotland]] on a number of issues like education, health and housing and can raise or lower the basic rate of income tax by up to three pence in the pound. of the Devolution was developed in such a way that the [[Parliament]] of the [[United Kingdom]] at the [[Houses of Parliament]] in [[Westminster]] could make laws that override the acts passed by the Scottish Parliament. Such an event would lead to a serious political crisis.

The Scottish Parliament is made up of 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). One of the 129 MSPs is elected by the others to serve as the Presiding Officer. Two MSPs are elected as Deputy Presiding
Officers. The first elections to the Scottish Parliament took place on May 6, 1999.

MSPs can also hold a seat in either the [[House of Commons]], the [[House of Lords]], the [[European Parliament]] or represent a ward in their local council. This situation is called dual mandate.

While education, health and housing are the most crucial devolved matters, according to the "How the Scottish Parliament Works"<ref>http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/publicInfo/hspw/LeafletIndex.htm</ref> leaflet on official website of the Scottish Parliament the list includes: agriculture, forestry and fishing; education and training; environment; Gaelic; health; housing; law and home affairs; local government; natural and built heritage; planning; police and fire services; social work; sport and the arts; statistics and public
records; tourism and economic development; transport.

== External Links ==
[http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ The Scottish Parliament]
[[Category: British Politics]]
[[Category: Scottish Politics]]

== References ==
<references/>

Universal Health Care

2008-04-02T19:36:24Z

Veronica: /* Current Practice and Effectiveness */

'''Universal health care''' ('''UHC''') can refer to things in two distinct categories: (1) methods of paying for health care, such as [[health insurance]]; and (2) systems of providing patients with services, prescriptions, and the like. Some politicians and activists blur the distinction.

There are several different ways of paying for health care, including private insurance, government-supplied insurance, [[single payer]] [[health insurance]] or [[health savings accounts]].

The [[United States]] has a mixture of public and private insurance programs. [http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html] Additionally, some hospitals provide free care to those who cannot pay (usually they bill you, and if you don't pay they write off the debt).

==Ways to Pay for Universal Health Care==

There are many different types of care which fall under the term universal health care <ref>American Medical Student Association, ''Theoretical Models for Delivering Health Care'' [http://www.amsa.org/uhc/theories.cfm]</ref>. Some of these systems are highlighted here:

*'''Single-payer''' health care is a system in which one entity pays for the health care of the entire population (see [[single-payer system]]). This entity is traditionally the federal or national government, and the system is paid for through taxes. [[Canada]], [[Cuba]] and [[North Korea]] are the only three countries using this system.
*'''Multi-payer''' health care is similar to the single-payer system, except that individuals may also choose to purchase private insurance. The [[United Kingdom]] is an example of this, with a [[National Health Service]] system available to all residents, which is paid for through a [[National Insurance]] scheme plus general taxation. People are, however, free to purchase private insurance and be treated privately if they so wish. [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Japan]], [[Austria]], [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]] also use the multi-payer system.<ref name="contracosta">Hill, Stephen, ''Contra Costa Times'', [http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov/news/prclips/contra-costa-times_150513.pdf "Single payer not only way for universal health care]</ref>
*'''Tax Credits''' can be used to provide uninsured individuals with a discount in their taxes to use towards paying for health care.
*'''Managed competition''' is a system which allows employers to join health care purchasing cooperatives. These cooperatives negotiate with private insurance providers to provide employees with a number of health options. The premiums are paid for in large part by the employer, and all purchasers pay the same price, regardless of their current health situation.

==Ways to Administer Universal Health Care==
There are essentially only two ways to administer health care: privately or through the state. Health care in most countries is administered largely if not solely by private organizations, but some proponents of universal health care advocate [[socialized medicine]], in which health care is primarily or soley administered and paid for by the state. Sometimes the terms ''socialized medicine'' and ''universal health care'' are used interchangeably, but this is not technically correct, as UHC can include methods other than socialized medicine.<ref>[[American Medical Student Association]][http://www.amsa.org/pdf/model.pdf ''Theoretical Models for Delivering Universal Health Care: An analysis of important concepts].</ref><ref>[http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25521 MedicineNet.com MedTerms Dictionary]</ref>

==Current Practice and Effectiveness==
An aspect of universal health care, emergency treatments, are accessible to all in the United States. [[David Hogberg]] wrote:
:"... everyone in the U.S. can get care regardless of income. In 1986 the [[U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act]]. This requires [[emergency room]]s to treat any person who shows up seeking medical treatment, regardless of their ability to pay." [http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php]

Free Market Health Care is paradoxical. Healthy people are the highest earners. Healthy people can afford to pay for medical treatment but do not need it. Less healthy people need more treatment but can pay less. The most unfortunate are those born with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Such patients may in the worst cases never in their lives earn the money they need to pay for medical treatment. Universal Health Care is seen as compassionate. It looks after those who through no fault of their own cannot look after themselves.

Most developed countries have instituted various types of universal health care, though most [[conservatives]] say with inadequate results (lengthy waiting times, for example). Cuba is another country with woefully inadequate socialized health care. In Canada, it is illegal for a doctor to "bill" a patient, but one doctor found many people suffering while waiting months or years for treatment. He sued the government, appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, and won (see Dr. [[Jacques Chaoulli]]).

[[France]], [[Germany]], [[Japan]], [[Austria]], [[Belgium]] and [[The Netherlands]] also use the multi-payer system in a style called ''shared responsibility''. Under this scheme workers and employers are required to pay into private, non-profit, government-regulated [[insurance fund]]s. The government covers the cost of the low- and no-income citizens. These insurance funds negotiate strict cost controls with the government and health care providers to keep out-of-pocket costs from skyrocketing. Private insurance can be purchased on top of the insurance fund, to pay for premium services.<ref name="contracosta" />

The [[World Health Organization]] rates France highest of all countries), though it is having trouble keeping costs in line. Similar results are found in other shared responsibility systems.<ref>[[Christian Science Monitor]], [http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p06s01-woeu.html ''French health system gets surgery''].</ref>

==Proponents of Universal Health Care==
*The '''American Medical Student Association''' [http://www.amsa.org/uhc/] is a proponent of single-payer health insurance.
*The '''Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN)''' [http://www.uhcan.org/] is an organization which promotes universal health care in general.

==Opponents of Universal Health Care==
Conservatives and [[libertarians]] believe that, in general, the more government control over health care, the worse it gets. For example, they argue that the U.S. produces the most new drugs and techniques because the largely unhindered [[free market]] system provides incentives for innovation and efficiency. Some conservatives and most libertarians argue that there could be even fewer restrictions and regulations, thereby improving health care even further.

*The '''[[The Cato Institute|Cato Institute]]''' [http://www.cato.org/healthcare/] is in favor of free market solutions to health care, and advocates health savings accounts in combination with high-deductible private insurance plans.

==See Also==
*[http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care] - by Dr. [[David Gratzer]] of the [[Manhattan Institute]]
*[http://www.freemarketcure.com/ Free Market Cure], site criticizing universal health care.
*[[Health care]]
*[[Socialized medicine]]
*[[Free health care]]
*[[Single-payer health care]]
*[[Multi-payer health care]]
*[[Health savings accounts]]

==References==
<references />

[[category:medicine]]

Universal Health Care

2008-04-02T19:33:34Z

Veronica: /* Current Practice and Effectiveness */

'''Universal health care''' ('''UHC''') can refer to things in two distinct categories: (1) methods of paying for health care, such as [[health insurance]]; and (2) systems of providing patients with services, prescriptions, and the like. Some politicians and activists blur the distinction.

There are several different ways of paying for health care, including private insurance, government-supplied insurance, [[single payer]] [[health insurance]] or [[health savings accounts]].

The [[United States]] has a mixture of public and private insurance programs. [http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html] Additionally, some hospitals provide free care to those who cannot pay (usually they bill you, and if you don't pay they write off the debt).

==Ways to Pay for Universal Health Care==

There are many different types of care which fall under the term universal health care <ref>American Medical Student Association, ''Theoretical Models for Delivering Health Care'' [http://www.amsa.org/uhc/theories.cfm]</ref>. Some of these systems are highlighted here:

*'''Single-payer''' health care is a system in which one entity pays for the health care of the entire population (see [[single-payer system]]). This entity is traditionally the federal or national government, and the system is paid for through taxes. [[Canada]], [[Cuba]] and [[North Korea]] are the only three countries using this system.
*'''Multi-payer''' health care is similar to the single-payer system, except that individuals may also choose to purchase private insurance. The [[United Kingdom]] is an example of this, with a [[National Health Service]] system available to all residents, which is paid for through a [[National Insurance]] scheme plus general taxation. People are, however, free to purchase private insurance and be treated privately if they so wish. [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Japan]], [[Austria]], [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]] also use the multi-payer system.<ref name="contracosta">Hill, Stephen, ''Contra Costa Times'', [http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov/news/prclips/contra-costa-times_150513.pdf "Single payer not only way for universal health care]</ref>
*'''Tax Credits''' can be used to provide uninsured individuals with a discount in their taxes to use towards paying for health care.
*'''Managed competition''' is a system which allows employers to join health care purchasing cooperatives. These cooperatives negotiate with private insurance providers to provide employees with a number of health options. The premiums are paid for in large part by the employer, and all purchasers pay the same price, regardless of their current health situation.

==Ways to Administer Universal Health Care==
There are essentially only two ways to administer health care: privately or through the state. Health care in most countries is administered largely if not solely by private organizations, but some proponents of universal health care advocate [[socialized medicine]], in which health care is primarily or soley administered and paid for by the state. Sometimes the terms ''socialized medicine'' and ''universal health care'' are used interchangeably, but this is not technically correct, as UHC can include methods other than socialized medicine.<ref>[[American Medical Student Association]][http://www.amsa.org/pdf/model.pdf ''Theoretical Models for Delivering Universal Health Care: An analysis of important concepts].</ref><ref>[http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=25521 MedicineNet.com MedTerms Dictionary]</ref>

==Current Practice and Effectiveness==
An aspect of universal health care, emergency treatments, are accessible to all in the United States. [[David Hogberg]] wrote:
:"... everyone in the U.S. can get care regardless of income. In 1986 the [[U.S. Congress]] passed the [[Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act]]. This requires [[emergency room]]s to treat any person who shows up seeking medical treatment, regardless of their ability to pay." [http://www.freemarketcure.com/singlepayermyths.php]

Free Market Health Care is paradoxical. Healthy people are the highest earners. Healthy people can afford to pay for medical treatment but do not need it. Less healthy people need more treatment but can pay less. The most unfortunate are those born with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Such patients may in the worst cases never in their lives earn the money they need to pay for medical treatment. Universal Health Care is seen as compassionate. It looks after those who through no fault of their own cannot look after themselves.

Most developed countries have instituted various types of universal health care, though most [[conservatives]] say with inadequate results (lengthy waiting times, for example). Cuba is another country with woefully inadequate socialized health care. In Canada, it is illegal for a doctor to "bill" a patient, but one doctor found many people suffering while waiting months or years for treatment. He sued the government, appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, and won (see Dr. [[Jacques Chaoulli]]).

France, Germany, Japan, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands also use the multi-payer system in a style called ''shared responsibility''. Under this scheme workers and employers are required to pay into private, non-profit, government-regulated [[insurance fund]]s. The government covers the cost of the low- and no-income citizens. These insurance funds negotiate strict cost controls with the government and health care providers to keep out-of-pocket costs from skyrocketing. Private insurance can be purchased on top of the insurance fund, to pay for premium services.<ref name="contracosta" />

The [[World Health Organization]] rates France highest of all countries), though it is having trouble keeping costs in line. Similar results are found in other shared responsibility systems.<ref>[[Christian Science Monitor]], [http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0520/p06s01-woeu.html ''French health system gets surgery''].</ref>

==Proponents of Universal Health Care==
*The '''American Medical Student Association''' [http://www.amsa.org/uhc/] is a proponent of single-payer health insurance.
*The '''Universal Health Care Action Network (UHCAN)''' [http://www.uhcan.org/] is an organization which promotes universal health care in general.

==Opponents of Universal Health Care==
Conservatives and [[libertarians]] believe that, in general, the more government control over health care, the worse it gets. For example, they argue that the U.S. produces the most new drugs and techniques because the largely unhindered [[free market]] system provides incentives for innovation and efficiency. Some conservatives and most libertarians argue that there could be even fewer restrictions and regulations, thereby improving health care even further.

*The '''[[The Cato Institute|Cato Institute]]''' [http://www.cato.org/healthcare/] is in favor of free market solutions to health care, and advocates health savings accounts in combination with high-deductible private insurance plans.

==See Also==
*[http://city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care] - by Dr. [[David Gratzer]] of the [[Manhattan Institute]]
*[http://www.freemarketcure.com/ Free Market Cure], site criticizing universal health care.
*[[Health care]]
*[[Socialized medicine]]
*[[Free health care]]
*[[Single-payer health care]]
*[[Multi-payer health care]]
*[[Health savings accounts]]

==References==
<references />

[[category:medicine]]

Social Democracy

2008-04-02T19:16:59Z

Veronica:

'''Social democracy''' is an ideology of the political Left that emerged from [[socialism]] in the earlier part of the twentieth century. Unlike its cousin [[Communism]], which seeks to destroy [[capitalism]] by (violent) revolution and replace it with a different social and economic system, social democracy seeks to regulate capitalism and gives the government a role intervening in order to remedy its alleged deficiencies.

It is generally considered that the international Left split into two distinct camps after the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917. Members of the more extreme factions around the world, which sought to achieve radical societal change through revolution, became known as ''[[communists]]'', while members of the less extreme factions, which sought to pursue gradual change through the democratic system, became known as ''social democrats''. The roots of these divisions, in fact, long preceded 1917: [[Marxist]]s, for example, had called for violent revolution in the nineteenth century, while more moderate parties such as the [[British]] [[Labour Party]] had never espoused such ideas. Austrian economist [[Friedrich Hayek]] writing in 1945 observed, "To many who have watched the transition from socialism to [[fascism]] at close quarters the connection between the two systems has become increasingly obvious, but in the democracies the majority of people still believe that socialism and [[freedom]] can be combined. They do not realize that democratic socialism, the great [[utopia]] of the last few generations, is not only unachievable, but that to strive for it produces something utterly different – the very destruction of freedom itself. <ref>[http://www.iea.org.uk/files/upld-publication43pdf?.pdf ''Road to Serfdom'',] Friedrich A. Hayek, Reader's Digest Condensed Version, April 1945, pg. 36.</ref>

On one definition, social democrats continue to have the ultimate objective of achieving full socialism, albeit by peaceful means. Others prefer to call such people "democratic socialists" (though ''non''-democratic, violent socialism continues to exist in various parts of the world), and reserve the term "social democrats" for those who would be content with a society comprising a mixture of capitalist and socialist elements (for example, an economy in which a market operates, but with sizeable governmental intervention, and in which enterprise is possible, but business is subjected to high taxes).

Many parties in economically developed nations have espoused social democratic beliefs, including the [[Labour Party]] in the [[United Kingdom]], the [[SPD]] in [[Germany]], the Social Democratic Parties in [[Norway]], [[Sweden]] and [[Finland]], the [[New Democratic Party]] in Canada, and the [[Australian Labor Party]]. Social democratic beliefs are also found in parts of the American [[Democratic Party]], and some European and South American [[Christian democracy|Christian Democratic]] parties have resemblences to social democratic parties.

Since the 1980s, a number of social democratic parties have moved away from the territory of the traditional Left and have accepted greater elements of free-market, capitalistic thought. The principal example of this phenomenon is the British Labour Party under [[Tony Blair]], while other examples include the [[Australian]] Labor Party under [[Bob Hawke]] and [[Paul Keating]], and the German SPD under [[Gerhard Schroeder]]. Also more right-wing countries have moved to the left. For example [[Canada]] introduced [[Universal Health Care]].

==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Politics]]

New Statesman

2008-04-02T19:11:29Z

Veronica:

The '''New Statesman''' is a British weekly magazine which comments on politics, culture and society from a left-of-centre standpoint. The paper supports a moderate [[Socal Democrat]] viewpoint.

The magazine was founded in 1913 by [[Sidney Webb]] and [[Beatrice Webb]].

== Further information ==
http://www.newstatesman.com/

[[Category:Media]]

Lake Victoria

2008-04-01T15:29:53Z

Veronica:

'''Lake Victoria''' in [[Africa]] is the source of the White Nile which is one of the branches of the [[Nile River]]. The lake borders [[[[Kenya]], [[Tanzania]] and [[Uganda]]. The climate in the area is relatively moderate because of the lake and is a densly populated.

Lake Victoria was discovered in the Nineteenth Century by the [[British]] explorer John Hanning Speke.
[[category:Lakes]]

Lake Victoria

2008-03-31T10:56:31Z

Veronica:

'''Lake Victoria''' in [[Africa]] is the source of the White Nile which is one of the branches of the [[Nile River]].

Lake Victoria

2008-03-31T10:55:11Z

Veronica: New page: '''Lake Victoria''' in Africa is the source of the White Nile which is one of the branches of the River Nile.

'''Lake Victoria''' in [[Africa]] is the source of the White Nile which is one of the branches of the [[River Nile]].

Paleoanthropology

2008-03-31T10:22:14Z

Veronica:

'''Paleoanthropology''' is a interdisciplinary branch of [[anthropology]] that concerns itself with the origins of early humans and it examines and evaluates items such as [[fossils]] and [[artifact]]s.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9058075/paleoanthropology Encyclopedia Britannica (online): Paleoanthropology]</ref> In addition, according the American Heritage Science Dictionary paleoanthropology is the study of "extinct members of the [[genus]] [[Homo sapiens]] by means of their fossil remains." <ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paleoanthropology</ref>

Dr. [[David Pilbeam]] is a paleoanthropologist who received his Ph.D. at [[Yale]] University and Dr. Pilbeam is presently Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University and Curator of Paleontology at the [[Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology]].<ref>[http://www.researchmatters.harvard.edu/people.php?people_id=906 Dr. David Pilbeam: Brief Biography]</ref> In addition, Dr. Pilbeam served as an advisor for the Kenya government regarding the creation of an international institute for the study of human origins.<ref>[[Answers in Genesis]], [http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/fossils.asp Those Fossils Are A Problem]</ref>

Dr. Pilbeam wrote a review of [[Richard Leakey]]'s book ''Origins'' in the journal [[American Scientist]] and he stated the following:
{{cquote|...perhaps generations of students of human evolution, including myself, have been flailing about in the dark; that our data base is too sparse, too slippery, for it to be able to mold our theories. Rather the theories are more statements about us and ideology than about the past. Paleoanthropology reveals more about how humans view themselves than it does about how humans came about. But that is heresy. <ref>[[Sean Pitman]], M.D., [http://www.creationapologetics.org/refuting/quotes.html Thoughts on Evolution From Scientists and Other Intellectuals]</ref>}}
[[Image:Jzuckerman.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Lord [[Solly Zuckerman]]]]
Dr. Pilbeam also wrote:
{{cquote|I am also aware of the fact that, at least in my own subject of paleoanthropology, "theory" - heavily influenced by implicit ideas almost always dominates "data". ....Ideas that are totally unrelated to actual fossils have dominated theory building, which in turn strongly influence the way fossils are interpreted.<ref>[[Sean Pitman]], M.D., [http://www.creationapologetics.org/refuting/quotes.html Thoughts on Evolution From Scientists and Other Intellectuals]</ref>}}

Similarly, Lord [[Solly Zuckerman]] who was professor of anatomy at Birmingham University in England and who was a chief scientific adviser to the British government wrote:
{{cquote|"We then move right off the register of objective truth into those fields of presumed biological science, like extrasensory perception or the interpretation of man's fossil history, where to the faithful anything is possible - and where the ardent believer is sometimes able to believe several contradictory things at the same time." - Lord Solly Zuckerman, Beyond The Ivory Tower, Toplinger Publications, New York, 1970, p. 19.<ref>[[Sean Pitman]], M.D., [http://www.detectingdesign.com/earlyman.html Early Man]</ref><ref>[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jzuckerman.htm Solly Zuckerman: Biography]</ref>}}
[[Image:Dolphin.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Dr. Tim White, anthropologist at the University of California-Berkeley, gave the name "[[Flipperpithecus]]" to a supposed "humanoid species" arising from a fossil find that is most likely part of a dolphin's rib.]]
Lord Solly Zuckerman's commentary above helps explain embarrassments to the paleoanthropology field as [[Piltdown Man]], [[Nebraska man]], and the fossil find that was dubbed "[[Flipperpithecus]]".

Evolutionist and Harvard professor [[Richard Lewontin]] wrote in 1995 that "Despite the excited and optimistic claims that have been made by some paleontologists, no fossil hominid species can be established as our direct ancestor...."<ref>Brad Harrub, Ph.D., Bert Thompson, Ph.D., and Eric Lyons, M.Min., [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/127 ''Human Evolution and the “Record of the Rocks”'']</ref> In the September 2005 issue of [[National Geographic]], Joel Achenbach asserted that human evolution is a "fact" but he also candidly admitted that in regards to the field of paleoanthropology that "Today the field has again become a rather glorious mess."<ref>Brad Harrub, Ph.D., [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/350 ''The “Glorious Mess” of Human Origins'']</ref> <ref>[[National Geographic]] (online edition), Joel Achenbach, [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0509/resources_who.html PALEOANTHROPOLOGY, Out of Africa, Are we looking for bones in all the right places?]</ref> In the same National Geographic article Harvard paleoanthropologist Dan Lieberman states, "We're not doing a very good job of being honest about what we don't know...".<ref>[[National Geographic]] (online edition), Joel Achenbach, [http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0509/resources_who.html PALEOANTHROPOLOGY, Out of Africa, Are we looking for bones in all the right places?]</ref>

In regards to the pictures of the supposed ancestors of man featured in science journals and the news media Boyce Rensberger wrote in the journal ''Science'' the following regarding their highly speculative nature:
{{cquote|Unfortunately, the vast majority of artist's conceptions are based more on imagination than on evidence. But a handful of expert natural-history artists begin with the fossil bones of a hominid and work from there…. Much of the reconstruction, however, is guesswork. Bones say nothing about the fleshy parts of the nose, lips, or ears. Artists must create something between an ape and a human being; the older the specimen is said to be, the more apelike they make it.... Hairiness is a matter of pure conjecture. <ref>[[Frank Sherwin]], M.A., [http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=823 "Human Evolution" An Update]</ref><ref>Bert Thompson, P.H.D. and Brad Harrub, P.H.D., [http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/dc-02-safull.pdf 15 Answers to John Rennie and ''Scientific American's'' Nonsense]</ref>}}

Creationist scientists concur with Dr. Pilbeam regarding the speculative nature of the field of paleoantropology and assert there is no compelling evidence in the field of paleoanthropology for the [[theory of evolution]].<ref>[[Creation Ministries International]], [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3048 Anthropology and Apeman Questions and Answers</ref><ref>[[Answers in Genesis]], [http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/Anthropology.asp Anthropology and Apeman Questions and Answers]</ref><ref>Brad Harrub, Ph.D., Bert Thompson, Ph.D., and Eric Lyons, M.Min., [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/127 ''Human Evolution and the “Record of the Rocks”'']</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Anthropology]]

Constantine I

2008-03-31T10:14:15Z

Veronica: Redirecting to Constantine

#REDIRECT[[Constantine]]

Roman Catholic Church

2008-03-31T10:10:58Z

Veronica: /* History */

The '''Roman Catholic Church''' is headed by the [[Pope]] (Supreme Pontiff), the Bishop of Rome, currently [[Pope Benedict XVI]]. It is the largest [[Christian]] denomination in the world, with more than 1.3 billion officially Baptized adherents (In the United States more than 64 million.) The [[Roman]] Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world. The Roman Catholic faith teaches that the Pope is the successor of [[St. Peter]], the 'rock' (Mat 16:18) upon whom Jesus built his church. The term [[Catholic Church]] is, literally, the ''Universal Church'' of [[Jesus Christ]] (from the Greek ''katholikos'', "universal").

''"The chief teachings of the Catholic church are: [[God]]’s objective existence; God’s interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the [[soul]] of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the [[Gospels]]; and the divine commission of the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the [[Virgin Mary]] and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten." '' <ref> [http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/RomanCat.html The Columbia Encyclopedia]</ref> The presence of Christ is believed to be present in the Eucharist, the bread and wine is Jesus himself. Another essential belief is the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary and veneration of the saints.

The principal sources for the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church are the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible), Sacred Tradition, and Living Magisterium of the Church.

The term Catholic is frequently applied to the Roman Catholic Church. Although many [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s object to Roman Catholics monopolizing the term, because the defined meaning of Catholic is "universal" and comes from the Greek word Katholikos.The Eastern [[Orthodox Church]] also refer to themselves as, "one holy, Catholic, and apostolic church..."<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/catholic</ref> Conversely, many Roman Catholics dislike the adjective "Roman" because it implies, contrary to (Roman) Catholic doctrine, that their church is not ''the'' universal Church of Christ.

[[Image:Cathpop.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Catholics in the world.]]

== History ==
The original Christian community was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and led by the Apostles. St. [[Paul|Paul the Apostle]] was, together with [[Saint Peter]], the most notable of Early Christian missionaries. After an initial period of persecution, Christianity was legalized in the fourth century by [[Constantine I]]. In 380, Emperor Theodosius I accepted Catholic Christianity as the official religion of the [[Roman Empire]]. During the [[Middle Ages]] the Church underwent a time of missionary activity and expansion. This Catholic Christian Church underwent in 1054 a great schism that divided the Church into a Western (Latin) branch, which has been called as the Catholic Church and an Eastern branch, which has become known as the [[Orthodox Church]]. The second schism was the [[Protestant Reformation]] in the 16th century. As a reaction to the increasing popularity of Protestantism the Roman Catholic Church began to undertake some reforms. Firstly from 1869–1870 during the [[First Vatican Council]]. It was during the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965) that the most comprehensive reforms were undertaken. The Roman Catholic Church stretched relations with other Christian communities and other religions. The Roman Catholic Church also issued directions for a revision of the liturgy.

==Different churches==

The term "The Catholic Church" refers to any one of several Rites, but in the United States is often used synonymously for the largest Rite, the Latin Rite. Other Rites include the Byzantine, Alexandrian, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean Rites. Some Eastern rites have significant differences in liturgy, history, discipline and hierarchy from the Roman Catholic Church, but still recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) and are in communion with Rome. These Eastern Rite churches are Catholic and do not belong to the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].

The Eastern churches do not have a single umbrella organization. They include the Eastern Orthodox Church and a number of Eastern Catholic Churches. Despite important differences in doctrine, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern churches recognize each other as part of the universal, or Catholic Church. For example, each of them accepts each others' Holy Orders (priesthood) as valid.

The Roman Catholic Church historically regarded [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Christianity as heretical, that is, being against Roman doctrine. However, this changed in the 1960's when Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, where '''the''' '''doors of the Church were opened wide''', and Protestants referred to as '''"our separated brethren".''' Protestants were neither impressed nor taken in by this apparent openness, noting that much of what had caused the Protestant Reformation had not changed within the Roman Catholic Church.

[[Image:JpII.jpg|right|thumb|John Paul II]]

The [[Anglican Church]] (Episcopalian in the United States) occupies an odd situation, because it encompasses within it factions ("Low Church") that emphasize its Protestant aspects and factions ("High Church") that emphasize its Catholic aspects. Anglo-Catholics regard the Anglican church as part of the Catholic Church, and in the unbroken line of the Apostolic Succession. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern branches take a position that could be described as saying that the Anglican Church is almost but not quite Catholic. There have long been unification overtures, and Anglican priests who wish to adopt Catholic Holy Orders are often provided with an abbreviated path to that goal.

The [[Nicene Creed]], the great historical statement of Christian belief, contains the line "I [or we] believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church". The [[Apostles' Creed]] contains a similar affirmation. However, Protestants and Catholics place different interpretations on the term "universal", or "catholic". Protestants believe that it refers to the general, over-arching spiritual unity of all Christian believers, Jew or gentile, which transcends individual churches and denominations. Catholics, on the other hand, believe that the [[Roman Catholic Church]], as the single true church founded by Christ, is the universal Catholic Church in which there is neither Jew nor gentile. Some prefer not to refer to their own church as the "Roman" Catholic Church, on the grounds that such formulations implicitly deny this point of doctrine.

== Saint Paul's Writings ==

[[Paul|St. Paul]] is the second most prolific contributor to the [[New Testament]]. Thirteen letters are attributed to him and fully known as the "Catholic (or Universal) Epistles of Paul". The letters are written in Greek. The epistles contain the basis of Christian doctrine, interpretation and commentary from earlier scriptures. They are full of expositions of what Christians should believe and how they should live.

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">

''St. Paul reminded the Christians how they should live. They should think about the things in heaven (Colossians 3:2), because they belong with Christ (Colossians 3:3-4). They should not do evil deeds (Colossians 3:5-11). Instead, they should love other people (Colossians 3:12-14). And they should serve God (Colossians 3:15-17). If we invite Jesus into our lives, we will become friends of God (Colossians 1:15-23).'' </blockquote>

St. Paul's influence on Christian thinking has been more significant than any other single New Testament author.

== Fathers ==

[[St. Ambrose]], Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, was one of the most illustrious Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and fitly chosen, together with [[St. Augustine]], [[St. John Chrysostom]], and [[St. Athanasius]], to uphold the venerable Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of St. Peter's at Rome. <ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01383c.htm St. Ambrose] Catholic Encyclopedia.</ref>
 

==Controversy==
[[Image:Cerro_de_Angeles.jpg|right|thumb|Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.]]
There has been much controversy in recent years about Catholic priests in relation to the abuse of children in their care. Cases of pedophilia and ephebophilia have both been discovered in many churches across the world<ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex.htm</ref>. Many instances of abuse occurred with little or no repercussion for priests involved. In some cases, bishops were aware of the abuse but did not effectively deal with it, allowing the abusive priest to continue to remain in contact with minors.

On July 15 2007 in Los Angeles, the Catholic church paid a $660 million dollar settlement over a priest abuse scandal. More than five hundred lawsuits dating back to the 1930's were filed in Los Angeles from abuse victims of over two hundred priests and lay people. The U.S. Catholic church has paid out more than $2 billion in abuse claims dating back to 1950.<ref>[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070715/la_archdiocese_070715/20070715?hub=CTVNewsAt11 L.A. Catholic church settlement]</ref>

Incidents of abuse are not unique to the Catholic Church. A recent article from Associated Press (June 19, 2007) reported that three companies which insure the majority of Protestant churches in America indicated that they receive 260 reports annually of young people being sexually abused by clergy, church staff etc.<ref>[http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/06/18/80877.htm]</ref> showing that the issue of inappropriate relations is not limited to the Catholic religion. There is a general consensus that this type of abuse is not a problem relegated to any church in particular, but a systemic societal issue.<ref>[http://www.reformation.com/CSA/AbuseNotSimplyAChurchProblem.htm]</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Jesus Christ]]
*[[Vatican City]]
*[[Pope John Paul II]]
*[[Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer]]
*[[Dead Sea Scrolls]]
*[[Catholic views on creationism‎]]

==External links==
[[Image:Virgen.jpg|right|thumb|Virgin Mary and Child]]

*A digital version of [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''].
*[http://www.cua.edu/ The Catholic University of America] Washington, D. C.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm St. Paul] Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church] Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church web site.
*[http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com/index.html Al Pellegrino Cattolico] Italian web site.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Catholicism]]

Roman Catholic Church

2008-03-31T10:05:24Z

Veronica:

The '''Roman Catholic Church''' is headed by the [[Pope]] (Supreme Pontiff), the Bishop of Rome, currently [[Pope Benedict XVI]]. It is the largest [[Christian]] denomination in the world, with more than 1.3 billion officially Baptized adherents (In the United States more than 64 million.) The [[Roman]] Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world. The Roman Catholic faith teaches that the Pope is the successor of [[St. Peter]], the 'rock' (Mat 16:18) upon whom Jesus built his church. The term [[Catholic Church]] is, literally, the ''Universal Church'' of [[Jesus Christ]] (from the Greek ''katholikos'', "universal").

''"The chief teachings of the Catholic church are: [[God]]’s objective existence; God’s interest in individual human beings, who can enter into relations with God (through prayer); the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the immortality of the [[soul]] of each human being, each one being accountable at death for his or her actions in life, with the award of heaven or hell; the resurrection of the dead; the historicity of the [[Gospels]]; and the divine commission of the church. In addition the Roman Catholic Church stresses that since the members, living and dead, share in each other’s merits, the [[Virgin Mary]] and other saints and the dead in purgatory are never forgotten." '' <ref> [http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/RomanCat.html The Columbia Encyclopedia]</ref> The presence of Christ is believed to be present in the Eucharist, the bread and wine is Jesus himself. Another essential belief is the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary and veneration of the saints.

The principal sources for the essential beliefs of the Catholic Church are the Sacred Scriptures (the Bible), Sacred Tradition, and Living Magisterium of the Church.

The term Catholic is frequently applied to the Roman Catholic Church. Although many [[Protestantism|Protestant]]s object to Roman Catholics monopolizing the term, because the defined meaning of Catholic is "universal" and comes from the Greek word Katholikos.The Eastern [[Orthodox Church]] also refer to themselves as, "one holy, Catholic, and apostolic church..."<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/catholic</ref> Conversely, many Roman Catholics dislike the adjective "Roman" because it implies, contrary to (Roman) Catholic doctrine, that their church is not ''the'' universal Church of Christ.

[[Image:Cathpop.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Catholics in the world.]]

== History ==
The original Christian community was founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ and led by the Apostles. St. [[Paul|Paul the Apostle]] was, together with [[Saint Peter]], the most notable of Early Christian missionaries. After an initial period of persecution, Christianity was legalized in the fourth century by Constantine I. In 380, Emperor Theodosius I accepted Catholic Christianity as the official religion of the [[Roman Empire]]. During the [[Middle Ages]] the Church underwent a time of missionary activity and expansion. This Catholic Christian Church underwent in 1054 a great schism that divided the Church into a Western (Latin) branch, which has been called as the Catholic Church and an Eastern branch, which has become known as the [[Orthodox Church]]. The second schism was the [[Protestant Reformation]] in the 16th century. As a reaction to the increasing popularity of Protestantism the Roman Catholic Church began to undertake some reforms. Firstly from 1869–1870 during the [[First Vatican Council]]. It was during the [[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965) that the most comprehensive reforms were undertaken. The Roman Catholic Church stretched relations with other Christian communities and other religions. The Roman Catholic Church also issued directions for a revision of the liturgy.

==Different churches==

The term "The Catholic Church" refers to any one of several Rites, but in the United States is often used synonymously for the largest Rite, the Latin Rite. Other Rites include the Byzantine, Alexandrian, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean Rites. Some Eastern rites have significant differences in liturgy, history, discipline and hierarchy from the Roman Catholic Church, but still recognize the primacy of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) and are in communion with Rome. These Eastern Rite churches are Catholic and do not belong to the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].

The Eastern churches do not have a single umbrella organization. They include the Eastern Orthodox Church and a number of Eastern Catholic Churches. Despite important differences in doctrine, the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern churches recognize each other as part of the universal, or Catholic Church. For example, each of them accepts each others' Holy Orders (priesthood) as valid.

The Roman Catholic Church historically regarded [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Christianity as heretical, that is, being against Roman doctrine. However, this changed in the 1960's when Pope John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, where '''the''' '''doors of the Church were opened wide''', and Protestants referred to as '''"our separated brethren".''' Protestants were neither impressed nor taken in by this apparent openness, noting that much of what had caused the Protestant Reformation had not changed within the Roman Catholic Church.

[[Image:JpII.jpg|right|thumb|John Paul II]]

The [[Anglican Church]] (Episcopalian in the United States) occupies an odd situation, because it encompasses within it factions ("Low Church") that emphasize its Protestant aspects and factions ("High Church") that emphasize its Catholic aspects. Anglo-Catholics regard the Anglican church as part of the Catholic Church, and in the unbroken line of the Apostolic Succession. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern branches take a position that could be described as saying that the Anglican Church is almost but not quite Catholic. There have long been unification overtures, and Anglican priests who wish to adopt Catholic Holy Orders are often provided with an abbreviated path to that goal.

The [[Nicene Creed]], the great historical statement of Christian belief, contains the line "I [or we] believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church". The [[Apostles' Creed]] contains a similar affirmation. However, Protestants and Catholics place different interpretations on the term "universal", or "catholic". Protestants believe that it refers to the general, over-arching spiritual unity of all Christian believers, Jew or gentile, which transcends individual churches and denominations. Catholics, on the other hand, believe that the [[Roman Catholic Church]], as the single true church founded by Christ, is the universal Catholic Church in which there is neither Jew nor gentile. Some prefer not to refer to their own church as the "Roman" Catholic Church, on the grounds that such formulations implicitly deny this point of doctrine.

== Saint Paul's Writings ==

[[Paul|St. Paul]] is the second most prolific contributor to the [[New Testament]]. Thirteen letters are attributed to him and fully known as the "Catholic (or Universal) Epistles of Paul". The letters are written in Greek. The epistles contain the basis of Christian doctrine, interpretation and commentary from earlier scriptures. They are full of expositions of what Christians should believe and how they should live.

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">

''St. Paul reminded the Christians how they should live. They should think about the things in heaven (Colossians 3:2), because they belong with Christ (Colossians 3:3-4). They should not do evil deeds (Colossians 3:5-11). Instead, they should love other people (Colossians 3:12-14). And they should serve God (Colossians 3:15-17). If we invite Jesus into our lives, we will become friends of God (Colossians 1:15-23).'' </blockquote>

St. Paul's influence on Christian thinking has been more significant than any other single New Testament author.

== Fathers ==

[[St. Ambrose]], Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, was one of the most illustrious Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and fitly chosen, together with [[St. Augustine]], [[St. John Chrysostom]], and [[St. Athanasius]], to uphold the venerable Chair of the Prince of the Apostles in the tribune of St. Peter's at Rome. <ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01383c.htm St. Ambrose] Catholic Encyclopedia.</ref>
 

==Controversy==
[[Image:Cerro_de_Angeles.jpg|right|thumb|Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid, Spain.]]
There has been much controversy in recent years about Catholic priests in relation to the abuse of children in their care. Cases of pedophilia and ephebophilia have both been discovered in many churches across the world<ref>http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex.htm</ref>. Many instances of abuse occurred with little or no repercussion for priests involved. In some cases, bishops were aware of the abuse but did not effectively deal with it, allowing the abusive priest to continue to remain in contact with minors.

On July 15 2007 in Los Angeles, the Catholic church paid a $660 million dollar settlement over a priest abuse scandal. More than five hundred lawsuits dating back to the 1930's were filed in Los Angeles from abuse victims of over two hundred priests and lay people. The U.S. Catholic church has paid out more than $2 billion in abuse claims dating back to 1950.<ref>[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070715/la_archdiocese_070715/20070715?hub=CTVNewsAt11 L.A. Catholic church settlement]</ref>

Incidents of abuse are not unique to the Catholic Church. A recent article from Associated Press (June 19, 2007) reported that three companies which insure the majority of Protestant churches in America indicated that they receive 260 reports annually of young people being sexually abused by clergy, church staff etc.<ref>[http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/06/18/80877.htm]</ref> showing that the issue of inappropriate relations is not limited to the Catholic religion. There is a general consensus that this type of abuse is not a problem relegated to any church in particular, but a systemic societal issue.<ref>[http://www.reformation.com/CSA/AbuseNotSimplyAChurchProblem.htm]</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Jesus Christ]]
*[[Vatican City]]
*[[Pope John Paul II]]
*[[Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer]]
*[[Dead Sea Scrolls]]
*[[Catholic views on creationism‎]]

==External links==
[[Image:Virgen.jpg|right|thumb|Virgin Mary and Child]]

*A digital version of [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''].
*[http://www.cua.edu/ The Catholic University of America] Washington, D. C.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm St. Paul] Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church] Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church web site.
*[http://www.pellegrinocattolico.com/index.html Al Pellegrino Cattolico] Italian web site.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Catholicism]]

Wetland

2008-03-31T10:04:11Z

Veronica:

A '''Wetland''' is an area that is wet due to a close relationship to a body of [[water]] or groundwater, or a land area that is flooded regularly. Wetlands support [[vegetation]] adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.<ref>http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/fringe/glossary.html</ref>

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Ecology]]

Uplands (land type)

2008-03-31T10:03:32Z

Veronica:

'''Uplands''' are all [[land]] not classified as [[wetland]] or [[deepwater habitat]]. <ref>see Wetlands, Cowardin et al. 1979)</ref>
==References==
[http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/NRI/1997/summary_report/glossary.html List of USDA terminology] 
[[Category:Geography]]
{{USDA_Terms}}

Separate but equal

2008-03-30T11:42:46Z

Veronica:

'''Separate but equal''' is a type of racial [[segregation]] in which two races are provided with segregated services which are ideally equal in quality. However, as judge [[Robert Bork]] put it - you could never have separation and equality. Therefore, the policy universally violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constituion. Despite this, it was deemed constitutional in the [[Plessy v. Ferguson]] court case in 1896. The Plessy decision was overturned in 1954 by the Supreme Court decision in [[Brown v. Board of Education]]. <ref>http://www.historicaldocuments.com/BrownvBoardofEducation.htm</ref> In practice separate but equal means less good facilities for non-whites.

==References==
<references />

[[Category:Politics]]

Bat Mitzvah

2008-03-30T04:21:24Z

Veronica:

'''Bat Mitzvah''' daughter of the commandment, is a ceremony held for a [[Jew]]ish girl when she takes on adult responsibilities. It is similar to the [[Bar Mitzvah]] held for a boy but in some Jewish traditions takes place a year earlier when she is 12. It is felt that girls mature earlier at that age.

[[Category:Judaism]]

Bat Mitzvah

2008-03-30T04:17:41Z

Veronica: New page: '''Bat Mitzvah''' daughter of the commandment, is a ceremony held for a Jewish girl when she takes on adult responsibilities. It is similar to the Bar Mitzvah held for a boy but ...

'''Bat Mitzvah''' daughter of the commandment, is a ceremony held for a [[Jew]]ish girl when she takes on adult responsibilities. It is similar to the [[Bar Mitzvah]] held for a boy but takes place a year earlier when she is 12. It is felt that girls mature faster at that age.

[[Category:Judaism]]

Bar Mitzvah

2008-03-30T04:13:54Z

Veronica:

Jewish boys become adults for religious purposes when they turn 13. They become a '''Bar Mitzvah,''' ('''בר מצוה''') meaning son of the commandment, signifying they are henceforth responsible for following [[Jewish law]]. It is customary to mark the transition with a ceremony in which the boy is given an honor in the [[Synagogue]] service, which he is now entitled to perform. Most often this involve saying blessings over the [[Torah]] reading and chanting the weekly portion from the [[Prophet]]s. A celebration follows, which can be quite elaborate.

In the twentieth century a parallel observance for girls, usually at age 12, has developed. It is known as '''[[Bat Mitzvah]],''' daughter of the commandment.

[[Category:Judaism]]

Judaism

2008-03-30T04:10:33Z

Veronica: /* Life cycle */

[[Image:StarofDavid.gif|right]]
'''Judaism''' was the first monotheistic religion, dating back to around 2000 BC. Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism is an Abrahamic faith, tracing its origins to [[Abraham]]. However, the core of the Judaism as it exists today took shape when [[Moses]] led the Hebrews from Egypt and climbed Sinai, bringing back the [[Ten Commandments]].

The five books of Moses (the [[Torah]]) are generally considered to be the core of the Jewish Scripture, and are supplemented by the works of the prophets and other writings which Christians call the [[Old Testament]]. Some Jews also consider the [[Talmud]] to be the recorded will of God, though within the Talmud there is extensive disagreement and lively discussion.

[[Jesus]] was one of many Jewish teachers who disagreed with the mainstream of Jewish practice. He founded a new school of thought, which flourished even after his death and eventually became [[Christianity]]. Christians consider him to be the [[Messiah]] and even consider him to be the [[Son of God]].
==Sabbath==
[[Image:Menora exb HSTR7337.jpg|right|thumb|Yarmulke and Menorah]]
Jews observe a weekly day of rest (the [[Sabbath]]) that begins shortly before sundown on Friday and ends after sunset on Saturday. During this time no work may be done.

==Denominations==
There are different branches of Judaism. From the most literal to the most interpretive in their practice:
*Ultra-orthodox
*Orthodox
*Conservative
*Reconstructionist
*[[Reform Judaism|Reform]]

==Ethnicities==

*[[Sephardi]] Jews
*[[Mizrahi]] Jews
*[[Ashkenazi]] Jews

==Main Holidays==
*'''[[Passover]]'''--celebrating the liberation from Egyptian slavery. Observant Jews hold a special festive meal, called a ''Seder,'' on the eve of Passover and do not eat leavened bread for the duration of the festival.

*'''Shavout'''-- Pentecost or Feast of Weeks. Traditionally celebrates God's giving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.

*'''[[Rosh Hashanah]]'''--New Years. Marks the creation of the world.

*'''[[Yom Kippur]]'''--the Day of Atonement. Observant Jews consume no food or drink for the entire day.

*'''Sukkot''' --Tabernacles or Feast of Booths. Observant Jews eat and sleep in temporary shelters shaded by cut vegetation.

*'''Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah'''--The day after Sukkot is a separate holiday, known as the "Eighth Day Feast." It also marks the completion of the cycle of reading the Torah in synagogues. The end of Deuteronomy is read, followed by the first chapter of Genesis.

*'''[[Chanukah]]''' (there are several English spellings)--celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the revolt against the Greeks recorded in the Books of Macabees. Jews light candles each night for eight nights, adding one candle each night.

*'''Purim'''--celebrates the thwarting of a plot to kill all Jews recorded in the Book of Esther, which is read aloud in its entirety in the synagogue.

*'''Tisha B'Av'''--a fast day that mourns the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.

==Calendar==
The Jewish calendar combines lunar and solar features. During Temple times, months began when the new moon was sighted in Jerusalem. An extra month was added when needed to keep the Passover festival in the spring. Today a complex algorithm, over a thousand years old, is used to determine when months begin. As a result, the dates of the Jewish holidays in the civil calendar vary from year to year.

== Jewish Scripture ==

Jewish Scripture consists of 24 books, broken down into three sections:

*'''Torah'''--The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

*'''Nevi'im''' --The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets

*'''Ketuvim'''---The Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Chronicles.

The Torah is divided into portions that are read during synagogue services over the course of the liturgical year. Jews refer to all 24 sacred books as the ''Tanakh,'' an acronym of the three sections. The Old Testament is the Tanakh, except with some different naming and a different ordering than the Jewish version.

==Dietary laws==
Orthodox Jews follow a strict and complex set of rules governing what they may eat and drink. Permissible foods are called ''kosher.'' Per Biblical commandments, only animals that chew their cud and have cloven hooves may be eaten and they must be properly slaughtered. Fish must have fins and scales. Dairy products cannot be mixed with meat from animals or birds. Additional rules apply during Passover.

==Life cycle==
Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth. They become adults for religious purposes when they turn 13, and event marked by a ceremony called a [[Bar Mitzvah]]. Similar ceremonies for girls, called [[Bat Mitzvah]], were introduced in in the 20th century.

[[Jewish law]] only recognizes marriages between Jews. [[Divorce]] is permitted, but there are exacting rules that must be followed for the divorce to be valid, including the husband presenting a bill of divorce (''Get'') to his wife.

Jewish law requires bodies to be buried promptly, preferably no later than the day after death. Cremation is not permitted. There are prescribed stages of mourning for the first year after the death of a close relative (parent, sibling, spouse of child). The anniversary of such a death is observed with gifts to charity and the recitation of a prayer, ''Kaddish,'' praising G-d's name.

== See also ==

* [[Bible]]
* [[Israel]]
* [[Synagogue]]

== External links ==

* [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/jewishsbook.html Internet Jewish History Sourcebook]
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ Jewish Virtual Library]
* [http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm Judaism 101] Tracey R Rich.
* [http://www.orshalom.com/ Congregation Or Shalom] The Conservative Synagogue.
* [http://jewishstudies.virtualave.net/ Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory]

[[Category:Judaism|*]]

Poland

2008-03-30T04:06:39Z

Veronica:

{{Country
|name =''Rzeczpospolita Polska''
|map =Poland rel00.jpg
|flag =Flag of Poland.png
|arms =Arms of Poland.png
|capital =Warsaw
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Polish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Lech Kaczyński
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Donald Tusk
|pm-raw =
|area =120,728 sq mi
|pop =38,518,241 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =$413.3 billion
|gdp-year =2007
|gdp-pc =$10,858 (2006)
|currency =Złoty
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Poland''' is a large country in central/eastern [[Europe]]. It has suffered many hardships before and after [[World War I]] and [[World War II|II]] appearing and disappearing as a nation at various points in its history. Emerging as a nation again after World War I, Poland was partitioned between [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] at the start of World War II. Given nationhood again at the end of the war, it was under the shroud of being a Soviet satellite controlled by a [[communist]] regime. Poland finally became liberated. The exact date of the end of communism in Poland is hard to difine, but it is often accepted as July 4, 1989 (the date of the elections won by the ''Solidarność'' movement. [[Pope John Paul II]] was from Poland and was a major part in bringing down [[communist|communism]] in Poland. Among the nations under Soviet domination, Poland was unique in continuing to keep its strong [[Catholic]] roots even in the face of persecution. The [[capital]] of Poland is [[Warsaw]].

==People==
Poland today is ethnically almost homogeneous (98% Polish), in contrast with the period before and during World War II, when there were significant ethnic minorities--4.5 million [[Ukrainiane|Ukrainians]], 3 million [[Jew]]s, 1 million [[Belorusse|Belorussians]], and 800,000 [[German]]s. The majority of the Jews were murdered during the German occupation in World War II, and many others emigrated in the succeeding years.

Most Germans left Poland at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians and Belorussians lived in territories incorporated into the then-U.S.S.R. Small Ukrainian, Belorussian, [[Slovakia]]n, and [[Lithuania]]n minorities reside along the borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwest city of Opole.
*Population (July 2006): 38.5 million.
*Annual growth rate: Unchanging.
*Ethnic groups: Polish 98%, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Lithuanian.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, Eastern Orthodox, Uniate, Protestant, Judaism.
*Language: Polish.
*Education: Literacy--98%.
*Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--7.2/1,000. Life expectancy--males 71 yrs., females 79 yrs.
*Work force: 17.2 million. Industry and construction--29%; agriculture--16%; services--54%.
Currently, there is a movement in Poland to completely ban [[abortion]]<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262104,00.html</ref>, however there is an opposite movement to allow abortion to greater extent than it is now. Most political forces in the parliament are in favor of keeping abortion law as it is (allowing abortion when the women's life or health is threatened, when pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, when the fetus is irreversibly damaged). The attempts to change constitution so that it would be stated that life would be protected from the moment of conception to natural death failed.

==Government and Political Conditions==
The current government structure consists of a council of ministers led by a Prime Minister, typically chosen from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (Sejm). The president, elected every five years for no more than two terms, is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making.

The parliament consists of the 460-member Sejm and the 100-member Senat, or upper house. The new constitution and the reformed administrative division (as of 1999) required a revision of the election ordinance (passed in April 2001). The most important changes were liquidation of a national list (all deputies are elected by voters in electoral districts) and introduction of a new method of calculating seats (the modified St. Lague method replaced the d'Hondt method, thus eliminating the premium for the top parties). The law stipulated that with the exception of guaranteed seats for small ethnic parties, only parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote could enter parliament.

Parties represented in the newly elected (October 2007) Sejm are Civic Platform (PO), Law and Justice (PiS), the Left and Democrates (LiD) - the alliance between Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Democratic Party (PD), and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL). There is also on representative of the German Minority and some non-allied members of Parliament

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Lech Kaczynski (PiS)
*Prime Minister--Donald Tusk (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration--Grzegorz Schetyna (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy--Waldemar Pawlak (PSL)

===Foreign Relations===
Poland became an associate member of the EU and its defensive arm, the Western European Union, in 1994. In a June 2003 national referendum, the Polish people approved EU accession by an overwhelming margin, and Poland gained full membership on May 1, 2004.

Changes since 1989 have redrawn the map of central Europe, and Poland has had to forge relationships with seven new neighbors. Poland has actively pursued good relations, signing friendship treaties replacing links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The Poles have forged special relationships with Lithuania and particularly Ukraine in an effort to firmly anchor these states to the West.

==Defense==
Poland became a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in March 1999 as part of the first wave of enlargement outlined at the July 1997 NATO Summit in Madrid. Poland's top national security goal is to further integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic, and political institutions while modernizing and reorganizing its military. Polish military doctrine reflects the same defense posture as its Alliance partners.

Poland maintains a sizable armed force currently numbering about 140,572 troops divided among an army of 87,877, an air and defense force of 31,147, and a navy of 21,548. Poland relies on military conscription for the majority of its personnel strength. All males (with some exceptions) are subject to a 12-month term of military service. The Polish military continues to restructure and to modernize its equipment. The Polish Defense Ministry General Staff and the Land Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure. Although budget constraints remain a drag on modernization, Poland has been able to move forward with U.S. assistance on acquiring 48 F-16 multi-role fighters, C-130 cargo planes, HMMWVs, and other items key to the military’s restructuring.

Poland continues to be a regional leader in support and participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has actively engaged most of its neighbors and other regional actors to build stable foundations for future European security arrangements. Poland continues its long record of strong support for UN peacekeeping operations by maintaining a unit in Southern Lebanon, a battalion in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), and by providing and actually deploying the KFOR strategic reserve to Kosovo. Polish military forces have served in both Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Poland assumed command of a multinational division of stabilization forces in Iraq (MDN-CS) on September 3, 2003. Poland and its MND-CS partners have worked effectively since then to stabilize south central Iraq while working to train Iraqi forces to take over MND-CS responsibilities and operate independently. <ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm</ref>

==Economy==
The Polish economy grew rapidly in the mid-1990s, slowed considerably in 2001 and 2002, and returned again to healthy growth rates in 2003. Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 5.2% in the first quarter of 2006. Faster growth has begun to reduce persistently high unemployment, from nearly 20% in the middle of 2004 to 16.5% in May 2006. Tight monetary policy and dramatic productivity growth have helped to hold down inflation, which was 2.1% in 2005. Likewise, Poland's current account deficit, which grew rapidly in the late 1990s, has since moderated to 1.4% of GDP in 2005. The 2005 budget deficit was 27.5 billion zloty, or 2.8% of GDP in 2005, and the current government pledged to restrain the 2006 and 2007 budgets at 30 billion zloty.

Throughout the 1990s, the United States and other Western countries supported the growth of a free enterprise economy by reducing Poland's foreign debt burden, providing economic aid, and lowering trade barriers. Poland graduated from U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance in 2000 and paid the balance of its U.S.-held Paris Club debt in 2005. Poland officially joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
*GDP (2006): $265.4 billion.
*Real GDP growth (2006): 5.3%.
*Per capita GDP (2006): $14,100.
*Rate of inflation (2006): 1.3%.
*Natural resources: Coal, copper, sulfur, natural gas, silver, lead, salt.
*Agriculture: Products--grains, hogs, dairy, potatoes, horticulture, sugarbeets, oilseed.
*Industry: Types--machine building, iron and steel, mining, shipbuilding, automobiles, furniture, textiles and apparel, chemicals, food processing, glass, beverages.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$110.7 billion: furniture, cars, ships, coal, apparel. Imports--$113.2 billion: crude oil, passenger cars, pharmaceuticals, car parts, computers.

===Agriculture===
Agriculture employs 16.1% of the work force but contributes only 5% to the gross domestic product (GDP), reflecting relatively low productivity. Unlike the industrial sector, Poland's agricultural sector remained largely in private hands during the decades of communist rule. Most of the former state farms are now leased to farmer tenants. Lack of credit is hampering efforts to sell former state farmland. Currently, Poland's 2 million private farms occupy 90% of all farmland and account for roughly the same percentage of total agricultural production. These farms are small--8 hectares (ha) on average--and often fragmented. Farms with an area exceeding 15 ha accounted for only 9% of the total number of farms but cover 45% of total agricultural area. Over half of all farming households in Poland produce only for their own needs with little, if any, commercial sales.

Poland is a net exporter of confectionery, processed fruit and vegetables, meat, and dairy products. Processors often rely on imports to supplement domestic supplies of wheat, feed grains, vegetable oil, and protein meals, which are generally insufficient to meet domestic demand. However, Poland is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye and is one of the world's largest producers of sugarbeets. Poland also is a significant producer of rapeseed, grains, hogs, and cattle. Attempts to increase domestic feed grain production are hampered by the short growing season, poor soil, and the small size of farms.

Pressure to restructure the agriculture sector intensified as Poland prepared to accede to the European Union, which is unwilling to subsidize the vast number of subsistence farms that do not produce for the market. The changes in agriculture are likely to strain Poland's social fabric, tearing at the heart of the traditional, family-based small farm as the younger generation drifts toward the cities. Nonetheless, dramatically increasing agricultural exports to the EU-15 (38% growth in 2005) and payments to farmers from Brussels following accession have enriched Polish commercial farmers and dramatically increase support for EU membership in Poland’s rural areas.

===Industry===
Before World War II, Poland's industrial base was concentrated in the coal, textile, chemical, machinery, iron, and steel sectors. Today it extends to fertilizers, petrochemicals, machine tools, electrical machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding.

Poland's industrial base suffered greatly during World War II, and many resources were directed toward reconstruction. The communist economic system imposed in the late 1940s created large and unwieldy economic structures operated under a tight central command. In part because of this systemic rigidity, the economy performed poorly even in comparison with other economies in central Europe.

In 1990, the Mazowiecki government began a comprehensive reform program to replace the centralized command economy with a market-oriented system. While the results overall have been impressive, many large state-owned industrial enterprises, particularly the railroad and the mining, steel, and defense sectors, have remained resistant to the change and downsizing required to survive in an open market economy.

===Economic Reform Program and Direct Foreign Investment===
The economic reforms introduced in 1990 removed price controls, eliminated most subsidies to industry, opened markets to international competition, and imposed strict budgetary and monetary discipline. Poland was the first former centrally planned economy in central Europe to end its recession and return to growth in the early 1990s. The private sector now accounts for over two-thirds of GDP.

In early 2002, the government announced a new set of economic reforms known as the Hausner Plan, designed in many ways to complete the process launched in 1990. The package acknowledged the need to improve Poland's investment climate, particularly the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and better prepare the economy to compete as a European Union (EU) member. The government also aimed to improve Poland's public finances to prepare for eventual adoption of the euro. Though the government was able to enact only portions of the Hausner Plan, those successes coupled with successful monetary efforts to strengthen the zloty, have put Poland within reach of the National Bank’s goal of Euro accession in 2008-2009.

As a result of Poland's growth and investment-friendly climate, the country has received over $85 billion in direct foreign investment (DFI) since 1990, with roughly $7 billion in 2004 alone. According to a recently publish report by Ernst and Young, Poland is tied with Germany as the most attractive destination for foreign investment in Europe. The availability of cheap land and a large, relatively skilled labor force are among Polish strengths. However, the government continues to play a strong role in the economy, as seen in excessive red tape and the high level of politicization in many business decisions. Investors complain that state regulation is not transparent or predictable, and the economy suffers from a lack of competition in many sectors, notably telecommunications.

===Foreign Trade===
With the collapse of the ruble-based COMECON trading bloc in 1990, Poland scrambled to reorient its trade. As early as 1996, 70% of its trade was with EU-15 members, and neighboring Germany today is Poland's dominant trading partner. Most of Poland's imports are capital goods needed for industrial retooling and for manufacturing inputs, rather than imports for consumption. Therefore, a deficit is expected and should even be regarded as positive at this point. Poland, a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and European Union, applies the EU’s common external tariff to goods from other countries--including the U.S.

In the year after it joined the EU, Poland experienced an overall growth in exports of 30%. This growth was not confined to trade among EU partners: while exports to EU countries rose by 27%, exports to developing countries rose by 46%, and exports to Russia rose an unexpected 77%. Poland’s trade balance continued to improve, with export growth significantly outpacing import growth. Opportunities for trade and investment continue to exist across virtually all sectors. The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, founded in 1991 with seven members, now has more than 300 members. Strong economic growth potential, a large domestic market, EU membership, and political stability are the top reasons U.S. and other foreign companies do business in Poland.

==History==
Poland's written history begins with the reign of [[Mieszko I]], who accepted [[Christianity]] for himself and his kingdom in AD 966. The Polish state reached its zenith under the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]] in the years following the union with [[Lithuania]] in 1386 and the subsequent defeat of the [[Teutonic Knights]] at Grunwald in 1410. The monarchy survived many upheavals but eventually went into a decline, which ended with the final partition of Poland by [[Prussia]], [[Russia]], and [[Austria]] in 1795.

Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by [[President Woodrow Wilson]] during [[World War I]]. Many Polish Americans enlisted in the military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at the postwar conference to ensure its implementation.

However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918 and keeping it shortly thereafter against Red aggression from [[Bolshevik]] Russia. Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before [[World War II]]. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the [[Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact]], which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in [[Paris]] and later in [[London]], which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile.

In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at [[Katyn]], in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the [[Red Cross]] investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" at Lublin.

Resistance against the Nazis in [[Warsaw]], including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city.

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim ([[Auschwitz]]), Treblinka, and Majdanek.

Following the [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in June 1945; the U.S. recognized it the next month. Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections, those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Communist Party. The communists then established a regime entirely under their domination.

====Communist Party Domination====
In October 1956, after the 20th ("de-Stalinization") Soviet Party Congress in Moscow and riots by workers in Poznan, there was a shakeup in the communist regime. While retaining most traditional communist economic and social aims, the regime of First Secretary Wladyslaw Gomulka liberalized Polish internal life.

In 1968, the trend reversed when student demonstrations were suppressed and an "anti-Zionist" campaign initially directed against Gomulka supporters within the party eventually led to the emigration of much of Poland's remaining Jewish population. In December 1970, disturbances and strikes in the port cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, triggered by a price increase for essential consumer goods, reflected deep dissatisfaction with living and working conditions in the country. Edward Gierek replaced Gomulka as First Secretary.

Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth rate was one of the world's highest during the first half of the 1970s. But much of the borrowed capital was misspent, and the centrally planned economy was unable to use the new resources effectively. The growing debt burden became insupportable in the late 1970s, and economic growth had become negative by 1979.

In October 1978, the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, became [[Pope John Paul II]], head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Polish Catholics rejoiced at the elevation of a Pole to the papacy and greeted his June 1979 visit to Poland with an outpouring of emotion.

In July 1980, with the Polish foreign debt at more than $20 billion, the government made another attempt to increase meat prices. A chain reaction of strikes virtually paralyzed the Baltic coast by the end of August and, for the first time, closed most coalmines in Silesia. Poland was entering into an extended crisis that would change the course of its future development.

====The Solidarity Movement====
On August 31, 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, led by an electrician named [[Lech Walesa]], signed a 21-point agreement with the government that ended their strike. Similar agreements were signed at Szczecin and in Silesia. The key provision of these agreements was the guarantee of the workers' right to form independent trade unions and the right to strike. After the Gdansk agreement was signed, a new national union movement--"Solidarity"--swept Poland.

The discontent underlying the strikes was intensified by revelations of widespread corruption and mismanagement within the Polish state and party leadership. In September 1980, Gierek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania as First Secretary.

Alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the PZPR's authority following the Gdansk agreement, the Soviet Union proceeded with a massive military buildup along Poland's border in December 1980. In February 1981, Defense Minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski assumed the position of Prime Minister as well, and in October 1981, he also was named party First Secretary. At the first Solidarity national congress in September-October 1981, Lech Walesa was elected national chairman of the union.

On December 12-13, the regime declared martial law, under which the army and special riot police were used to crush the union. Virtually all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. The United States and other Western countries responded to martial law by imposing economic sanctions against the Polish regime and against the Soviet Union. Unrest in Poland continued for several years thereafter.

In a series of slow, uneven steps, the Polish regime rescinded martial law. In December 1982, martial law was suspended, and a small number of political prisoners were released. Although martial law formally ended in July 1983 and a general amnesty was enacted, several hundred political prisoners remained in jail.

In July 1984, another general amnesty was declared, and 2 years later, the government had released nearly all political prisoners. The authorities continued, however, to harass dissidents and Solidarity activists. Solidarity remained proscribed and its publications banned. Independent publications were censored.

====Roundtable Talks and Elections====
The government's inability to forestall Poland's economic decline led to waves of strikes across the country in April, May, and August 1988. In an attempt to take control of the situation, the government gave de facto recognition to Solidarity, and Interior Minister Kiszczak began talks with Lech Walesa on August 31. These talks broke off in October, but a new series, the "roundtable" talks, began in February 1989. These talks produced an agreement in April for partly open National Assembly elections. The June election produced a Sejm (lower house), in which one-third of the seats went to communists and one-third went to the two parties which had hitherto been their coalition partners. The remaining one-third of the seats in the Sejm and all those in the Senat were freely contested; virtually all of these were won by candidates supported by Solidarity.

The failure of the communists at the polls produced a political crisis. The roundtable agreement called for a communist president, and on July 19, the National Assembly, with the support of some Solidarity deputies, elected General Jaruzelski to that office. Two attempts by the communists to form governments failed, however.

On August 19, President Jaruzelski asked journalist/Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to form a government; on September 12, the Sejm voted approval of Prime Minister Mazowiecki and his cabinet. For the first time in more than 40 years, Poland had a government led by non-communists.

In December 1989, the Sejm approved the government's reform program to transform the Polish economy rapidly from centrally planned to free-market, amended the constitution to eliminate references to the "leading role" of the Communist Party, and renamed the country the "Republic of Poland." The Polish United Workers' (Communist) Party dissolved itself in January 1990, creating in its place a new party, Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. Most of the property of the former Communist Party was turned over to the state.

The May 1990 local elections were entirely free. Candidates supported by Solidarity's Citizens' Committees won most of the races they contested, although voter turnout was only a little over 40%. The cabinet was reshuffled in July 1990; the national defense and interior affairs ministers--holdovers from the previous communist government--were among those replaced.

In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term of President Jaruzelski. In December, Lech Walesa became the first popularly elected President of Poland.

====The Republic of Poland====
The Republic of Poland in the early 1990s made great progress toward achieving a fully democratic government and a market economy. In November 1990, Lech Walesa was elected President for a 5-year term. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, at Walesa's request, formed a government and served as its Prime Minister until October 1991, introducing world prices and greatly expanding the scope of private enterprise.

Poland's first free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. More than 100 parties participated, representing a full spectrum of political views. No single party received more than 13% of the total vote.

Since 1991, Poland has conducted five general parliamentary elections and four presidential elections--all free and fair. Incumbent governments have transferred power smoothly and constitutionally in every instance to their successors. The post-Solidarity center-right and post-Communist center-left have each controlled the parliament and the presidency since 1991. Most recently, Poles elected Law and Justice (PiS) candidate and Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski to a 5-year term as President. Kaczynski narrowly defeated Civic Platform (PO) candidate Donald Tusk and was sworn in December 23, 2005.

PiS was also the top vote-getter in September 25, 2005, parliamentary elections. After coalition talks with runner-up PO collapsed, PiS alone formed a minority government under Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Frustrated by its inability to achieve its legislative program alone, PiS formed a formal coalition government with Self-Defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) in April 2006. In July 2006, Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz resigned and was replaced by PiS party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski as Prime Minister.

==See also==
*[[Lech Kaczyński]] - President
*[[Jarosław Kaczyński]] - PM

==References==
<References/>

{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2875.htm]}}

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:EU Members]]
[[Category:Warsaw Pact Members]]
[[Category:Poland]]

Bath

2008-03-29T20:39:59Z

Veronica:

'''Bath''' is an ancient and beautiful city in the South West of [[England]].

It was originally a [[Roman]] settlement known as Aquae Sulis, famous for its natural [[hot springs]]. The Roman Bath built at that time still exists and visitors can take guided tours round it. In Georgian times it was again a popular [[spa]] resort, and it is from this period that much of its distinctive architecture dates - the unique yellowish hue of the local limestone permeates almost all its buildings and gives the city an unusually homogeneous appearance.

Bath was for a time the home of novelist [[Jane Austen]], and many of her books refer to the city.[http://www.janeausten.co.uk/] Today there is a Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street in the city, and to explore the association with Jane Austen is just one of many reasons for visiting the city. Bath is one of the most popular tourist destinations in England, along with [[Oxford]], [[Cambridge]], and [[York]]. Not to mention [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], which is only a few miles north of Bath and is well known as the birthplace of [[William Shakespeare]], the Bard of Avon.

[[Category:United Kingdom Towns and Cities]]

Multiverse hypothesis

2008-03-29T20:33:18Z

Veronica:

The '''multiverse''', a theory in which multiple universes exist, is a consequence of one of the interpretations of [[quantum mechanics]]. Its origins lie in a 1957 thesis by [[Hugh Everett]], who offered a '[[many worlds' interpretation]] (MWI) of some of the phenomena observed in quantum mechanical situations, such as the [[double-slit experiment]].

In most formulations of the theory, the constituent "universes" are identical, in that they have the same physical laws and the same values for the fundamental constants but exist in different states, and are arranged so that no information can pass between them. The state of the entire multiverse is constituted by a [[quantum superposition]] of states of the constituent universes and is described by a single universal [[wave function]]. In a recent work, [[The Fabric of Reality]] (1997), [[David Deutsch]] argues that the universe as we experience it consists of an infinity of physically possible worlds all co-existing in all possible times, and that what we regard as reality is simply an individual mind's rendering of his or her journey through a sequence of individual panes of the multiverse.

Related ideas are [[Richard Feynman]]'s multiple histories interpretation, [[Dieter Zeh]]'s many-minds interpretation, and [[David Kellogg Lewis]]'s [[modal realism]] theory of [[possible worlds]].

[[category:physics]]

Cosmology

2008-03-29T20:32:06Z

Veronica:

'''Cosmology''' is the study of the structure and evolution of the [[universe]].

Ancient and [[medieval]] cosmologists were common, usually oriented around a world view of a stationary, [[flat earth]] as the center of the universe. [[Aristarchus]] understood that the [[earth]] was spherical and circled the [[sun]]. With the increasing sophistication of observing techniques and equipment, a more modern understanding of the universe emerged.

Modern cosmological theories take into account [[Einstein]]'s [[Theory of Relativity]] and the recession of [[galaxies]] shown by [[Red Shift]]. Today the [[Big Bang theory]] is the theory that receives the most notice in scientific circles, but the [[Steady State theory]] is still advocated as well. [[Theological]] issues often play a role in questions of the past of the universe and how it came into being. Whether [[God]] is in the equation of not severly changes the possibilities.

==See Also==

* [[Brahe]]
* [[Copernicus]]
* [[Galileo]]
* [[Kepler]]
* [[Newton]]
* [[Multiverse]]

==Sources==

The New American Desk Encyclopedia, Penguin Group, 1989

[[Category:Science]]

European Union

2008-03-29T15:11:38Z

Veronica: /* The European Commission */

{{Country
|name =''European Union''
|map =European_Union.jpg
|flag =567rugyhj.png
|arms =
|capital = Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg
|capital-raw =
|government =Sui generis supranationalism
|government-raw =
|language = 23 Official languages
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president = José Manuel Barroso (Commission) Hans-Gert Pöttering (Parliament)
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =1,669,807 sq mi (4,324,782 km²)
|pop =495,128,529 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$16,574 billion (2007 IMF)
|gdp-pc =$33,482 (2007 IMF)
|currency =euro
|idd =
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}}
The '''European Union (EU)''' is a legal and economic union of 27 [[Europe|European]] nations. It was formed in 1993 with the ratification of the [[Maastricht Treaty]], though its predecessor, the European Economic Community, was founded in 1957.

As an institution, the EU has more powers over its member states and their citizens than is the case with most international bodies; 15 of its member states also use a common [[currency]], the [[euro]]. It is not, however, generally regarded as a federation or state in its own right. Rather, it stands somewhere between these two points.

==Structure==

===The European Commission===
The role and responsibilities of the European Commission place it at the center of the EU's decision-making process. Acting as the EU's policy and executive engine, the Commission is composed of 27 Commissioners, one from each state, and is supported by a substantial staff located primarily in [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]]. In matters relating to economic integration ("First or 'Community' Pillar"), only the Commission has the right to propose legislation for approval by the EU Council and European Parliament. As "guardian of the Treaties," the Commission ensures that EU laws are applied and upheld throughout the EU, prosecuting Member States and other institutions for failing to follow treaty precepts or otherwise apply Community law. The Commission has full authority to enforce Community competition policy, and its policing of implementation of Community legislation preserves the integrity of the EU single market. The Commission likewise manages and develops the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), implements the budget, and represents the European Community in its areas of competence, notably including international trade negotiations.

The Commission President is appointed by agreement of the EU heads of government and is subject to approval by the European Parliament. Commissioners serve for a renewable five-year term. New Commissioners are identified by Member State governments in consultation with the President-designate of the Commission and are normally put in place at the beginning of the term of the Commission President. The entire Commission must be confirmed as a collective whole by the European Parliament before its formal appointment by common accord of EU governments.

===The European Council===
The European Council brings together EU heads of government and the President of the European Commission; foreign ministers of Member States also participate. Finance ministers are normally included when the leaders discuss questions related to the euro and the economy. The European Council meets at least twice a year, usually quarterly, at the end of each Presidency, to review major EU projects, set guidelines for policies and provide necessary guidance. The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months among EU Member States (January-June; July- December). Its role has become increasingly important with the expansion of EU responsibilities and competencies. The Presidency organizes and presides over the meetings of the European Council and EU Council (ministerial) meetings, drafts compromises, and seeks solutions to problems submitted to the European Council.

===Council of Ministers===
The Council of Ministers of the European Union (the "EU Council") is the body in which representatives of the individual Member State governments, usually ministers, legislate for the EU, set its political objectives, coordinate national policies and resolve differences among their governments and with other EU bodies. Legally speaking, there is only one Council, but it meets in nine different formations, depending on the matters on its agenda. Foreign ministers usually meet at least once a month in the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), which deals with major foreign policy issues and plays a coordinating role. Ministers for the Economy and Finance (ECOFIN) and ministers responsible for agriculture also hold monthly meetings. Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) hold regular meetings to coordinate policies within their competence.

The Council holds formal sessions in its Brussels headquarters, except in April, June and October, when all sessions take place in Luxembourg. Most formations of the Council also meet informally (tasking no legally binding decisions) in the country holding the EU Presidency, usually once in the course of the Presidency's six-month term. The most prominent of these informal meetings is the so-called "Gymnich" meeting of foreign ministers, named for a town in Germany where the first such meeting took place.

The Council takes most decisions under the Community Pillar by qualified majority voting (QMV) but endeavors to reach the broadest possible consensus before approving legislation. Unanimity is required for a number of specific areas related to economic integration (e.g. taxation), constitutional matters such as amendments to the treaties, the launching of a new common policy, the accession of a new Member State, and matters falling within the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Security and Defense Policy, and aspects of law enforcement and judicial cooperation. The number of votes cast by each Member State when the EU Council votes by qualified majority voting was determined by the Nice Treaty and roughly correlates to the size of its population.

===The European Parliament===
Members of the European Parliament are directly elected by all EU citizens for five-year terms; elections follow national election procedures. Members do not sit in national delegations; rather, they sit in groups according to political affiliation (including Socialists, Christian-Democrats/Conservatives, Liberals, Greens, etc.).

Parliament's powers have gradually grown with the entry into force of the Single European Act (1986), the Maastricht Treaty (1993) and the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999). Parliament shares decision-making power on an equal footing with the Council in many areas under the Community Pillar to which the "co-decision procedure" applies. The European Parliament is one of the two branches with budgetary authority – the Council is the other. The signature of the EP president brings the overall EU budget into effect.

The European Parliament also plays a role in the process of selecting the President and other members of the Commission. The European Council's nomination of the President is subject to approval by the Parliament. The EP holds U.S.-style public hearings of Commission nominees before taking a formal vote to approve the nomination of the Commission as a body. Parliament has the power to censure the Commission, but the Treaties do not allow for the dismissal of individual Commissioners by Parliament.

===The European Court of Justice===
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ensures uniform interpretation and application of both the Treaties establishing the European Communities and the secondary legislation and other law adopted under their authority. To enable it to carry out that task, the Court has wide jurisdiction to hear various types of cases. For example, the Court has the authority to hear and issue binding judgments in lawsuits that seek to annul a law adopted by the EU, to compel an EU institution to act, or to require that a Member State comply with EU law. The ECJ may issue clarifications of EU law (in response to a request for a preliminary ruling from any Member State court) and hears appeals on legal questions arising out of cases at the Court of First Instance. The ECJ currently has 27 justices and eight advocates-general, who are appointed by common accord of the governments of the Member States and who hold office for six-year renewable terms.

==Sovereignty==
The member states of the European Union fall under the jurisdiction of the Union's legislative and judicial institutions (the Court of Justice, the Commission, the Council and the Parliament) in those competences that they have conferred to the Union (the principle of subsidiarity). Similar to Federal Law trumping State Law in United States politics, EU member states are obligated to follow the laws set forth by the European Court of Justice. This system of government takes sovereignty in those agreed areas from the nation, and rests it in the EU institutions. Some political theorists argue that the EU is thus the death of the nation, as by the rules of the Treaty of Westphalia, nations are defined by their right of self-sovereignty.

==Economy==
The institutions of the European Union were originally created to oversee the operation of the several economic communities that later became the Single European Market. Even as the EU's political integration has continued, the area of greatest integration has always been in the economic sphere: goods, capital, and labor move freely between Member States (with exceptions for goods which pose a public health risk), businesses in all Member States are increasingly subject to common basic rules, and fifteen of the 27 Member States use a common currency, the euro. The rest of the states are legally obliged to adopt the euro when their economies meet strict ''Convergence Criteria''. The fifteen Euro-area countries share a common monetary policy administered by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. The EU strives to eliminate internal barriers to the free flow of goods, services, labor, and capital, and to promote the overall convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to strengthen Europe's trade position and capitalize on the political and economic leverage that a large, unified market brings.

===Growth===
The EU is the world's largest economic area (the U.S. is second) with a 2007 GDP of $16.6 trillion; however, growth in many western Member States in the recent past has been slow compared to those in the east. Between 2001 and 2003, the overall growth rate dropped from 1.8 percent to 1.0 percent. The EU economy staged a,short-lived recovery in 2004 of 2.4%, but fell to 1.8 percent in 2005, then rose to 2.8% in 2006 and 2.4% in 2007. Within the euro area, growth varies as much as 4.5 percentage points between the fastest and slowest-growing economies. In 2005, many of the EU's largest economies, including Germany, France and Italy, grew by less than two percent. Outside the euro area, growth remains strong, particularly in the Central and Eastern European countries that joined the EU in May 2004.

In spring 2000, the EU committed to a ten-year strategic goal of transforming the EU into a more competitive, knowledge-based economy capable of sustaining higher levels of growth. Focusing on labor market reform, macroeconomic and fiscal policy, and promotion of e-commerce and entrepreneurship, the EU's "Lisbon Agenda" was an attempt to stimulate growth while remaining committed to the EU social model. Some suggest that it has so far failed to achieve its goals in large part because national governments (which retain authority over employment policy, immigration, large public sector workforces, entitlement programs and pensions) have not completed the necessary reforms. With unemployment at 6.9 percent in 2007, generous social programs continue to strain national economies. The European Commission re-launched the Lisbon Agenda in March 2005, promising three percent growth and six million new jobs by 2010. The revamped strategy focuses on developing political consensus within Member States to make the changes necessary to complete elimination of barriers in the internal market, reduce the regulatory burden on business, improve labor market flexibility, provide incentives to work and increase investment in human capital.

===Fiscal and Monetary Policy===
Introduced in 1999, the euro is currently the official currency of fifteen of the 27 EU Member States. United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden chose to retain their national currencies, and some of the newer EU members have yet to meet the strict economic conditions required to adopt the euro. Prior to the euro's launch in 1999, national currency exchange rates of countries intending to join the euro were fixed within an Exchange Rate Mechanism. Following the January 2002 introduction of euro notes and coins into general circulation, national currencies were removed from circulation. Each of the euro area countries agreed to abide by a shared fiscal policy rule book known as the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). This agreement generally obliges national governments to limit government budget deficits to 3 percent of GDP and established a target debt-to-GDP ratio of below sixty percent. Although enforcement actions have been forgiving – France and Germany, for example, avoided sanctions despite missing SGP targets – countries violating the SGP are technically subject to sanctions by the European Commission. As of March 2005, national governments have been granted budget leeway to achieve structural reforms and to combat prolonged stagnation, negative growth or other factors, such as the cost of German reunification or state pensions. The revised standards still require deficits to remain close to the targets; they may only temporarily exceed the three percent limit.

The euro area's monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank (ECB), which must devise a monetary policy to accommodate a wide range of domestic policies and economic conditions within the euro area. The Treaties require that the ECB's primary objective be to maintain price stability (i.e., to keep inflation low). Euro area national governments have sometimes criticized the ECB for guarding against inflation at the expense of interest rate flexibility that could enable struggling economies to gain traction. The ECB's consistent overnight interest rate of two percent has been credited with creating favorable conditions for growth in Spain and Ireland, but has been blamed for hindering growth in France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Non-EU countries have also adopted the euro, including Andorra, United Kingdom base areas, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, and the Vatican City. Additionally, several countries have currencies pegged to the euro, including French African states and those in the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

===Trade===
The EU is the world's largest exporter of goods and services. In 2003, the then-fifteen EU members exported $987 billion worth of goods to non-EU countries. The EU's exports grew rapidly between 1996 and 2000 but have grown more slowly since. Except for 2002, the EU as a whole has posted a trade deficit every year since 1999; it was $62 billion in 2004. The EU is a major exporter of chemicals, transport equipment, and industrial machinery. The EU has large trade deficits in raw materials and energy, and a small deficit in food and drink.

The U.S. is the EU's main trading partner by a wide margin. U.S. goods and services exports to the EU reached $283 billion in 2004, while U.S. goods and services imports from the EU totaled $388 billion. Asian economies such as Japan and China, however, account for an increasingly important share of EU trade. The EU's two-way merchandise trade with China grew to $223 million in 2004, while merchandise trade with Japan was $149 million. Internal trade between Euro area and non-Euro area countries was down one percent in the first quarter of 2005, but the EU's external trade was up four percent, particularly with Russia and Norway.

Member States have given almost exclusive authority to the EU to negotiate trade treaties that bind the Member States. The European Community (EC) is a full member of the World Trade Organization and plays an active role in the Doha Development Round to foster international trade in services and agricultural products. Bilaterally, the EC maintains framework agreements to facilitate trade flows with thirty-five countries worldwide, mostly elsewhere in Europe, in North Africa, and in the Middle East.

===Foreign Direct Investment===
The EU is both a major destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) and a major source of FDI. U.S. foreign direct investment in the EU totaled $83.3 billion in 2004; EU FDI into the U.S. totaled $46.6 billion. Following strong year-upon-year growth in the late 1990s, however, inward and outward flows of FDI have contracted since 2001. The EU is a net recipient of FDI from Japan, receiving $81 billion in 2003. Conversely, the EU is a net investor in Canada ($86 billion in outward investment in 2003), and China ($29 billion in outward investment in 2003). Growth of intra-EU FDI has increased rapidly in recent years and has increased much faster than FDI in non-EU countries.

The pattern of foreign investment by European firms reflects deep commercial ties with the United States. U.S. and EU businesses invest heavily and operate profitably on both sides of the Atlantic. U.S. affiliates in Europe accounted for 56 percent of the aggregate output of U.S. affiliates worldwide. European firms were the largest foreign investors in 44 U.S. states and the second largest foreign investor in the remaining six. Sales by U.S. affiliates in Europe totaled $1.5 trillion in 2002, more than double those of U.S. affiliates in the Asia/Pacific region. European affiliate sales in the U.S. were $1.2 trillion in 2002, more than three times the value of U.S. imports from Europe.

Intra-firm trade involving foreign affiliates is particularly important to the transatlantic trade and investment relationship. Approximately 58 percent of U.S. imports from the EU in 2004 involved trade between related parties, as did 30 percent of U.S. exports to Europe in 2003. This high level of intra-firm trade has contributed to the persistence of the U.S. trade deficit with Europe even as the dollar has lost value against the Euro since 2002.

===Budget===
The EU's budget is essentially made up of Member State contributions. Equivalent to roughly one percent of the Member States' combined gross national income (GNI), it was $123 billion in 2005. The UK receives a rebate for some of its contribution, as the CAP benefits the UK less than other states. In June 2005, the EU failed to agree on a budget plan for 2007 through 2013, due in part to a disagreement between the UK and France over the persistence of the UK budget rebate and the funding of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Costs attributable to the CAP constitute the EU's largest annual budget item, benefiting farmers across the EU, especially in France. Payments to net-recipient Member States, designed to reduce economic and social disparities among EU countries and regions, are another budget item which has become more contentious with the accession of ten new states poorer than the EU average.

==Criticism==
A significant number of Europeans on the political right of center are opposed to the EU on the grounds that it undermines national sovereignty and identity. Such people are known in British English as "Eurosceptics", and they include such people as the former British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] (although, while in power, she committed Britain to the 1986 [[Single European Act]], a major integrationist measure) and the members of the [[UK Independence Party]]. They also, however, include less well-respected politicians belonging to far right or [[nationalism|nationalist]] parties, such as France's [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]]. There are also extreme left-wing opponents of the European Union, such as ''Die Linke'' in Germany, who regard it as constituting an anti-progressive "Fortress Europe", and claim that EU membership impedes countries from following socialist policies.{{fact}}

==History==
Following World War II, traditional European rivals sought to solidify peace by bringing their nations together under a common institutional structure. Influenced by his compatriot Jean Monnet, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman officially tabled a plan on May 9, 1950 to pool French and German coal and steel production under an organization that would be open to other European countries. German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer supported this proposal, and six founding countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – took an early step toward European integration by establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) the following year.

After failing to establish a European Defense Community in the 1950s, the six countries then decided to set up a common market. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, they created the European Economic Community (EEC), with an objective of liberating the movement of goods, capital, workers and services. (The European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) was also established at this time.) The Treaty of Rome established the basic institutions and decision-making mechanisms still in place in today's European Union. As of July 1, 1968, the EEC abolished customs duties between Member States on manufactured goods. New policies, including a common agricultural policy (CAP) and a common trade policy, were in place by the end of the 1960s.

The success of the European integration project during a period of steady economic growth in the 1960s set the stage for a first enlargement – the accession of the UK, Ireland and Denmark – in 1973. Further "deepening" of European integration followed: the Community acquired executive authority in social, regional, and environment policies. The benefits of economic convergence became more evident in the context of the 1970s energy crisis and financial turmoil, which led to the launch of the European Monetary System in 1979. In the same year, the first direct elections to the European Parliament (EP) took place. Previously, delegates from national parliaments had represented their country's legislative bodies at the EP in Strasbourg, France.

The Community further expanded southward with the accession of Greece (1981, the second enlargement), followed by Spain and Portugal (1986, the third enlargement). These accessions led the EEC to adopt "structural programs" in order to reduce economic and social disparities among its regions.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Community began to assert itself on the international scene with the conclusion of agreements with southern Mediterranean countries. Starting in 1963, the EEC signed four successive Lome Conventions, which guaranteed trading advantages and development aid for Member States' former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP).

World recession and internal disputes over Member States' financial burdens gave way, from 1985 onward, to renewed efforts for economic integration, enshrined in the 1985 "Single European Act" (SEA) and marked by the 1992 "Single Market Project." The SEA set January 1, 1993 as the date by which an internal single market was to be established and, by extending the practice of majority voting rather than unanimity in the EU Council, gave Community institutions the means of adopting the 300 Community-wide Directives required to abolish the remaining barriers and obstacles to intra-Community trade. In 1995, the Community entered into the "Barcelona" partnership with twelve southern Mediterranean countries. The partnership, reinforced by agreements on social, cultural, and human cooperation, was intended to lead to a free-trade area.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall and German unification prompted Member States to negotiate the 1992 Treaty on European Union (the "Maastricht Treaty"). In addition to establishing the European Union, the Maastricht Treaty set an ambitious program of further integration: establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by 1999 (part of the "First or 'Community' Pillar"), setting up of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) ("Second Pillar"); and cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) ("Third Pillar"). Shortly thereafter, in 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU – the fourth enlargement.

Signed in 1997 and entering into force on May 1, 1999, the Amsterdam Treaty partially streamlined the EU institutional structure. Its most significant effects were: (1) to transfer aspects of Justice and Home Affairs policy to the Community Pillar, enabling the Commission to propose decisions to be taken by the EU Council by qualified majority voting instead of by consensus, and (2) to establish a High Representative for the CFSP (who also serves as Secretary-General of the Council Secretariat). Ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Cyprus began accession procedures in 1997, followed by Malta. The prospect of eastward enlargement raised significant resource concerns and prompted the adoption in March 1999 of the "Agenda 2000" package, which covered amendments to the CAP and EU structural policies, as well as a budgetary framework through 2006.

In May 1998, EU heads of government officially designated eleven Member States eligible to adopt a single currency. Greece initially did not qualify, and Sweden, the UK and Denmark "opted out." On January 1, 1999, the euro became the official currency of the EU, and the European Central Bank (ECB) put euro notes and coins into circulation on January 1, 2002. Today, fifteen countries use the euro: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

Streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions to make the expanded EU more efficient was also an aim of the 2003 Treaty of Nice. A year later, in May 2004, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania acceded, bringing total membership to 27. Candidate countries currently include Turkey, FYR Macedonia and Croatia, and potential candidates include the rest of the Western Balkan states.

In October 2004, Member States signed an EU Constitutional Treaty in Rome, intending that it take effect on November 1, 2006 by replacing all previous treaties. French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty through referendums in 2005, thereby suspending the ratification process. In 2007, a modified Treaty of Lisbon was agreed upon, which retains most of the reforms of the Constitution, but amends rather than replaces previous treaties. If ratified by all member states, it is expected to enter into force in 2009, ready for the elections of the Parliament in June, which will decide the Presidents of the Parliament, Commission and Council.

==Candidates for membership==
There are three official candidates being considered for membership, [[Turkey]], [[Croatia]] and [[The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]]. The western Balkan states of Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Albania are officially ''potential candidates''. A country that is expected to accede is required to make some economic, social and governmental changes to bring it in line with other member states.

There is some conflict between current EU member states over possible candidates for membership. For example, The United Kingdom is in favor of adding Turkey to the EU, while France is strongly against Turkey's possible membership.

Gateway to the European Union (EU official website) <ref>http://europa.eu/</ref>

==Member nations==
*[[Austria]]
*[[Belgium]]
*[[Bulgaria]]
*[[Cyprus]]
*[[Czech Republic]]
*[[Denmark]]
*[[Estonia]]
*[[Finland]]
*[[France]]
*[[Germany]]
*[[Greece]]
*[[Hungary]]
*[[Ireland]]
*[[Italy]]
*[[Latvia]]
*[[Lithuania]]
*[[Luxembourg]]
*[[Malta]]
*[[Netherlands]]
*[[Poland]]
*[[Portugal]]
*[[Romania]]
*[[Slovakia]]
*[[Slovenia]]
*[[Spain]]
*[[Sweden]]
*[[United Kingdom]]

==References==
<References/>

{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/54126.htm]}}

[[Category:Europe]]
[[category:politics]]

Saturn

2008-03-29T14:03:33Z

Veronica:

:''For other uses, please see [[Saturn (disambiguation)]].''
{{Planet|image=Saturnrings.jpg
|caption=Image of Saturn captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in October 1996
|symbol=Saturn symbol.svg
|discname=Known to ancients
|origname=Roman god of harvest
|order=7
|primary=Sun
|periapsis=9.02 AU
|apoapsis=10.05 AU
|semimajor=9.537 AU
|bode=10.0 AU
|circumference=59.879 AU
|eccentricity=0.054
|sidereal=29.458 a
|synodic=378.10 da (1.035 a)
|orbitspeed=10.183 km/s
|inclination=2.484°
|reference=the ecliptic
|siderealday=10.783 h (0.449 da)
|axialtilt=26.73°
|mass=5.6846 * 1026 kg (95.124 * earth)
|density=687.3 kg/m³
|surfacegrav=9.05 m/s² (0.923 ''g'')
|escapespeed=35.49 km/s
|equatorradius =60,268 km
|surfacearea=42,700,000,000 km² (83.714 * earth)
|meantemp=134 K
|moons=60 (approx)
|composition=75% [[hydrogen]] and 25% [[helium]] gas
|color=Yellow
|albedo=0.47
}}

'''Saturn''' is the sixth planet in the [[Solar System]]. Its orbit lies between the orbits of [[Jupiter]] and [[Uranus]]. Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter. Saturn is a gas giant, and is famous for its large, complex system of rings. The rings are composed of thousands of rocks made of ices of various chemical compounds, including methane, hexane, and ammonia.

Like the other planets in our solar system, the name Saturn comes from Roman mythology. Saturn is named for the father of [[Jupiter]], the king of the gods in the Roman pantheon. The ancient Greeks called Saturn Chronos.

Saturn has approximately 60 moons, including [[Titan (moon)|Titan]], which was long believed to be the largest moon in the Solar System. Some of its other moons include Tethys, Mimas, Dione, Baleet, Phoebe, Phah, and Iapetus.

Saturn was known to ancient astronomers, as it was visible to the naked eye. In [[Mesopotamia]], Saturn was known as Mulanna, or "The Goat." Saturn was first visited by NASA's Pioneer 11 in 1979 and later by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Cassini (a joint NASA / ESA project) arrived on July 1, 2004 and will orbit Saturn for at least four years.<ref>http://www.nineplanets.org/saturn.html</ref>

== References ==
<references/>
{{Solarsystem}}

Flat Earth

2008-03-29T11:05:02Z

Veronica:

The '''Flat Earth''' idea is a primitive concept of the [[earth]] as a [[plane (geometry)|plane]] or a large circle. <ref>"Among various rude tribes we find survivals of a primitive idea that the earth is a flat table or disk, ceiled, domed, or canopied by the sky, and that the sky rests upon the mountains as pillars." </ref>

The [[ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] knew that the Earth was spherical. [[Aristotle]] gave some convincing arguments for the spherical Earth, including ships sailing over the horizon. When ships sail away over the horizon the mast disappears after the lower part of the ship has disappeared. Similarly the mast appears before the lower part ofa the ship when a ship sails towards us over the horizon. This is consistent with the Earth being spherical. During [[lunar eclipse]]s the Earth's shadow is always round. Eratosthenes used [[geometry]] and a hired pace man to estimate its circumference to within a few percent. <ref> "Eratosthenes concluded the Earth to be 40,000 kilometers in circumference, or approximately 25,000 miles. Within a few percentage points, this is correct.." [http://www.sterlinghousepublisher.com/newsite/content/process/showbook.php?book_id=58 The Sum of Existence], by A.R. Barnes, Jr. </ref>

Medieval [[Europe]]ans knew this, and had correctly warned [[Christopher Columbus]] that he would never get to India with his limited supplies. Columbus relied on a fallacious argument that the Earth was much smaller than the Greeks estimated.

Some writers have presented the mistaken idea that medieval Europeans used a literal reading of the Bible to conclude that the [[Earth]] was flat. <ref> 'In the time of Columbus, did educated Christians believe the earth was flat? The correct answer is NO, but most modern people will say YES. Why? This wrong idea is due to a fascinating abuse of history that began around 1830 when two writers (a sloppy novelist and an atheist scholar) invented a false story about "belief in a flat earth" that, in the 1870s, was popularized by Draper.' [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/twobooks.htm (Craig Rusbult)] </ref>
They supposedly tried to convince [[Christopher Columbus]] that he would fall off the edge of the Earth, the story goes, but Columbus proved that the Earth was round by discovering America. <ref>Saying "to the ends of the earth", "the four corners of the world" or "the sun sank into the sea" does not make you a flat Earther.[http://www.bede.org.uk/flatearth.htm The Myth of the Flat Earth] (Bede's Library)</ref>

The Flat Earth theory was mostly invented and promoted by evolutionists for the purpose of slandering Christians.<ref>The flat earth remained clearly in the realm of fiction until after Darwin published his Origin of Species in 1859. Two of Darwin’s followers then elevated it to a historical claim in books defending Darwinism and attacking Christianity: John Draper’s The History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874), and Andrew Dickson White’s A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). So defenders of Darwinism who ridicule their critics for being like believers in a flat earth are being misled by a myth that Darwinists themselves helped to create. [http://www.uncommondescent.com/darwinism/the-flat-earth-myth/] </ref><ref>"Christianity did not invent or promote the myth of the flat Earth." [http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/aig-c034.html Who invented the flat Earth?] (ChristianAnswers.net)</ref><ref>'The reason for promoting both the specific lie about the sphericity of the earth and the general lie that [[religion and science]] are in natural and eternal conflict in Western society, is to defend [[Darwinism]]. The answer is really only slightly more complicated than that bald statement. The flat-earth lie was ammunition against the creationists. The argument was simple and powerful, if not elegant: "Look how stupid these Christians are. They are always getting in the way of science and progress. These people who deny evolution today are exactly the same sort of people as those idiots who for at least a thousand years denied that the earth was round. How stupid can you get?"'[http://www.veritas-ucsb.org/library/russell/FlatEarth.html The Myth of the Flat Earth], by Jeffrey Burton Russell.</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Cosmology]]
*[[History of geography]]

==External links==

*[http://www.sterlinghousepublisher.com/newsite/content/process/showbook.php?book_id=58 The Sum of Existence], by A.R. Barnes, Jr. - contains an account of how Eratosthenes estimated the [[circumference of the Earth]].
*[http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/pass/passv10/flat-earth.html Flattening the Earth] Sep-Oct 2002, Mercury Magazine, pp. 34-38. by Jeffrey Burton Russell
*[http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm Flat Earth Society]
==References==

<references/>
[[Category: Theories]]

Isaac Newton

2008-03-29T10:57:30Z

Veronica: /* Gravity */

[[Image:Newton.png|right|thumb]]

'''Sir Isaac Newton''' was an English [[scientist]] who lived from 1634 to 1727. A fundamentalist Christian who accepted the [[Bible]] as the Word of [[God]],<ref>"I have a fundamental belief in the [[Bible]] as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily." Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref> Newton was a physicist, astronomer, mathematician, alchemist and natural philosopher. He is probably best known for his [[Theory of Universal Gravitation]] and his [[Laws of Motion]]. He also developed [[calculus]] for the purpose of his work in [[physics]].<ref>Newton's discovery of [[calculus]] was independent of, and likely before, a similar discovery of [[calculus]] by the German physicist [[Gottfried Leibniz]]. (Each accused the other of plagiarism, but neither could prove it. [http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Newton.html Newton Biography]).</ref> In addition, Newton invented the reflecting [[telescope]], and made numerous other contributions to his fields of study.

Newton was the first to demonstrate that the same laws that govern the motion of celestial objects also govern the motion of things on [[Earth]]. Newton contributed greatly to the advancement of science. His work also advanced the concept of [[heliocentrism]] (the view that the [[Sun]] is at the center of the [[solar system]]).

Newton's view of science was that far more remained undiscovered. "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/100/195.1.html Bartlett's Quotations]</ref>

In 1705, in recognition of Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical contributions, [[Queen Anne]] [[knighted]] him. <ref>Sir Isaac Newton (1642/3–1727): A Scientific Genius, by Ann Lamont[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v12/i3/newton.asp]</ref> It was the first knighthood to be given for scientific achievement rather than prowess on the battlefield or work in government. <ref>Isaac Newton and God's Law of Gravity[http://www.doesgodexist.org/NovDec01/IsaacNewtonAndGodsLawOfGravity.html] </ref>

Newton is often seen as one of the most influential men in all of history and perhaps the greatest scientist ever. His work was influential even in philosophy, as he inspired [[Kant]] to create the philosophical concepts of the [[categorical imperative]] and the [[synthetic a priori]].

After his death and burial, Newton was exhumed so he could be buried in a more prominent location in [[Westminster Abbey]]. During this exhumation process, it was discovered that Newton had large amounts of [[mercury (element) | mercury]] in his body, probably as a direct result of his [[alchemy|alchemical]] experiments. Exposure to large amounts of mercury may explain Newton’s eccentricity in his latter years, as well as his cause of death.<ref>Newton Biography[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Newton.html]</ref>

== Gravity ==
Newton developed the [[Theory of Universal Gravitation]], more commonly known as gravity, when, according to legend, a falling apple struck him on the head. He realized that the same force that pulled the apple to the ground could be what keeps [[Jupiter]]'s moons in orbit. His theory stated that all matter is attracted to matter by a force, whose strength increases proportionally to the mass of the objects involved, and inversely proportional to the squared distance between them. Newton's theory is based on action-at-a-distance which has always been opposed by some scientists, and now most physicists endorse the very different [[theory of relativity]]. Both theories predict identical results at small scales, similar results at the scale of the [[solar system]] and very different results at [[Cosmology|cosmological]] scales beyond the [[solar system]].

== Religious Beliefs ==
Newton was a sincere religious believer, who said his discoveries were inspired by [[God]]. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science. He said of himself, "I have a fundamental belief in the [[Bible]] as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref> Newton wrote, "This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent Being... All variety of created objects which represent order and life in the universe could happen only by the willful reasoning of its original Creator, Whom I call the Lord God."

Newton believed that God's creation of the universe was self evident given its grandeur.<ref>Webb, R.K. ed. Knud Haakonssen. “The emergence of Rational Dissent.” Enlightenment and Religion: Rational Dissent in eighteenth-century Britain. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 1996. p19.</ref> He also warned against using his laws to replace the creator. He said, "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion. God governs all things and knows all that is or can be done."<ref>Tiner, J.H. (1975). Isaac Newton: Inventor, Scientist and Teacher. Milford, Michigan, U.S.: Mott Media.</ref>

Some biographers have speculated, without justification, that Newton's views would today be considered those of a [[Unitarian]],<ref>Bell, E.T. Men of Mathematics.</ref> or an [[Arian]]. Those who reject [[Christ]]'s divinity claim without justification that Newton likewise rejected it. The quotations of Newton that they cite say no such thing.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 9. We need not pray to Christ to intercede for us. If we pray the father aright he will intercede."</ref>

However, the evidence for Newton holding to Arianism is scant. It is true that Newton held a lot to himself, but to say that because of his association with William Whiston, that he is therefore an Arianist is hardly conclusive. It is more probable that Newton held to an Eastern Orthodox view of the Trinity.<ref>ISAAC NEWTON'S TWELVE ARTICLES ON GOD AND CHRIST,KEYNES MS 8, KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. http://www.isaacnewton.ca/keynes/Keynes_8.en.html "Artic. 12. To us there is but one God the father of whom are all things and we of him, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him. That is, we are to worship the father alone as God Almighty and Jesus alone as the Lord the Messiah the great King the Lamb of God who was slain and hath redeemed us with his blood and made us kings and Priests."</ref>

John Conduitt, the husband of Newton's niece had this to say about Newton's theology.

"I had no hesitation when writing the Like of Sir Isaac Newton in 1830, in coming to the conclusions that he was a believer in the Trinity; and in giving this opinion on the creed of so great a man, and so indefatigable a student of scripture, I was well aware that there are various forms of Trinitarian truth, and various modes of expressing it, which have been received as orthodox in the purest societies of the Christian Church."<ref>Thomas C. Pfizenmaier - Was Isaac Newton an Arian?. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-5037(199701)58%3A1%3C57%3AWINAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O</ref>

In an effort to debunk widespread claims of his time that the world would be ending soon, Newton wrote a private manuscript estimating that the world would not end prior to the year A.D. 2060.<ref>http://www.isaac-newton.org/newton_2060.htm</ref>

==Reference==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Isaac}}
[[Category:Physicists]]
[[Category:Astronomers]]
[[Category:Mathematicians]]
[[Category:Calculus]]

Constipation

2008-03-28T19:42:27Z

Veronica:

'''Constipation''' is difficulty or inability to defecate. While occasional irregularity is commonplace, individuals with severe constipation should see a doctor. If there is no underlying illness, then having a diet with a healthy consumption of [[fruit]]s, [[vegetable]]s, or other things rich in [[fiber]] is better than taking laxatives. People with underlying illness need advice from doctors or nurses.

[[category:medicine]]

Constipation

2008-03-28T16:08:15Z

Veronica: New page: '''Constipation''' is difficulty or inability to pass stools. Patients with severe constipation should see a doctor. If there is no underlying illness increasing the amount of fruit and ...

'''Constipation''' is difficulty or inability to pass stools. Patients with severe constipation should see a doctor. If there is no underlying illness increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables in the diet is better than taking laxatives.

Diarrhea

2008-03-28T16:01:29Z

Veronica:

'''Diarrhea''' is a bowel condition making those with the condition pass unusually loose stools. Stool passes out of the body through the [[rectum]]. If fluids are not absorbed, or if your digestive system produces extra fluids, stools will be loose and [[water]]y. Loose stools might be larger than usual. People with diarrhea often have frequent bowel movements and may pass more than a quart of watery stool a day. People who have diarrhea may feel sick to their stomach or be dehydrated. They may also have other symptoms that accompany the condition:
* [[cramp]]y pain in the abdomen, the area between the chest and the hips
* swelling in the [[abdomen]]
* an uncomfortable feeling around the [[anus]]
* an urgent need to have a bowel movement
* an inability to control their bowels
* chills
* [[fever]]
Anyone can get diarrhea. This common problem can last a [[day]] or two or for [[month]]s or [[year]]s, depending on the cause. Most people get better on their own, but diarrhea can be serious for babies and older people if lost fluids are not replaced. Many people throughout the world die from diarrhea because of the large volume of water lost and the accompanying loss of [[salt]]s. People with diarrhoea should ensure that they drink enough fluid and replace salt lost. Normal western diets tend to inclued too much salt. During a bout of diarrhoea patients should take slightly more salt than is usually advised.

==Causes of Diarrhea==
* [[bacteria]], [[viruses]], or [[parasite]]s
* medicines such as [[antibiotics]]
* foods such as [[milk]]
* diseases that affect the [[stomach]], [[small intestine]], or [[colon]], such as [[Crohn's disease]] and [[irritable bowel syndrome]]

Diarrhea often goes away by itself, but it can be a sign of a more serious problem. You should talk to your [[doctor]] if your diarrhea lasts for more than 3 days. You should also call your doctor if you have
* signs of dehydration
* a severe pain in your abdomen or rectum
* a fever of 102°F or higher
* stools that are bloody or black and tarry

== See also ==

*[[American Medical Association]]

[[Category:Medicine]]

Diarrhea

2008-03-28T16:00:40Z

Veronica:

'''Diarrhea''' is a bowel condition making those with the condition pass unusually loose stools. Stool passes out of the body through the [[rectum]]. If fluids are not absorbed, or if your digestive system produces extra fluids, stools will be loose and [[water]]y. Loose stools might be larger than usual. People with diarrhea often have frequent bowel movements and may pass more than a quart of watery stool a day. People who have diarrhea may feel sick to their stomach or be dehydrated. They may also have other symptoms that accompany the condition:
* [[cramp]]y pain in the abdomen, the area between the chest and the hips
* swelling in the [[abdomen]]
* an uncomfortable feeling around the [[anus]]
* an urgent need to have a bowel movement
* an inability to control their bowels
* chills
* [[fever]]
Anyone can get diarrhea. This common problem can last a [[day]] or two or for [[month]]s or [[year]]s, depending on the cause. Most people get better on their own, but diarrhea can be serious for babies and older people if lost fluids are not replaced. Many people throughout the world die from diarrhea because of the large volume of water lost and the accompanying loss of [[salt]]s. People with diarrhoea should ensure that they drink enough fluid and replace salt lost. Normal western diets tend to inclued too much salt. During a bout of diarrhoea patients hould take slightly more salt than is usually advised.

==Causes of Diarrhea==
* [[bacteria]], [[viruses]], or [[parasite]]s
* medicines such as [[antibiotics]]
* foods such as [[milk]]
* diseases that affect the [[stomach]], [[small intestine]], or [[colon]], such as [[Crohn's disease]] and [[irritable bowel syndrome]]

Diarrhea often goes away by itself, but it can be a sign of a more serious problem. You should talk to your [[doctor]] if your diarrhea lasts for more than 3 days. You should also call your doctor if you have
* signs of dehydration
* a severe pain in your abdomen or rectum
* a fever of 102°F or higher
* stools that are bloody or black and tarry

== See also ==

*[[American Medical Association]]

[[Category:Medicine]]

Vegetarianism

2008-03-28T14:12:29Z

Veronica: /* Forms of Vegetarianism */

[[Image:Fruits.jpg|right]]
'''Vegetarianism''' is the practice of abstaining from [[meat]] consumption. Somebody who practices vegetarianism is referred to as a ''vegetarian''.

Vegetarianism is a common theme among the [[Dharmic religion]]s, such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Jainism]]. This stems from the belief that all higher animal life is sacred (in Jainism, ''all'' life is considered sacred), one of the core concepts of all of these religions. <ref>For more than 130 years Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) have practiced a vegetarian dietary lifestyle because of their belief in the wholistic nature of people. [http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/veggiediet.html Andrews University Nutrition Department] </ref> It was also a central tenet of the [[Essene]] branch of Judaism.

Many people outside of these religions also choose to be vegetarians because of various other beliefs, such as abstinence from contributing to "inhumane" farming methods practiced by the meat production industry, or to lessen their environmental impact.

Health can be given as another reason. In Daniel 1:4-15, Daniel and his companions declined to eat Babylonian royal food and instead requested fresh water and vegetables. At the end of ten days, they were healthier than those who ate the rich food.

It can be difficult to get all of your daily required [[nutrient]]s without eating animal products. [[Soy]] is often used as a substitute for meat and protein, and many vegetarians take vitamin supplements or eat enriched foods. <ref>"Those who eat very little meat, fish and foul and ... may be missing, or getting very little, crucial nutrients for optimal health such as [[vitamin B12]], [[iron]], [[creatine]], [[carnitine]], and several other [[nutrient]]s" [http://www.raysahelian.com/vegetarian.html] </ref> <ref>According to Olivant, the most useful supplements for the vegetarians contain nutrients that may be limited in their diet, such as omega-3. [http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=65255-vegetarian-supplements] </ref>

==Forms of Vegetarianism==
*Vegan - A vegan diet excludes all food and ingredients that comes from animals. This excludes animal meat, animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs or honey, and byproducts such as gelatin. Effort is needed to make a vegan diet healthy. [http://www.vegan.org/going_vegan/eating_vegan/index.html]
*Lactovegetarian - Someone who eats a plant based diet but also eats animal produced foods (that do not result in the death of the animal) such as milk and cheese. Lacto vegetarians can relatively easily remain healthy. They benefit because they are not tempted to eat types of meat with high saturated fat content. Lacto vegetarians masy need to think about what they eat to ensure that they have enough balanced protein. Vegetables and fruit form an important part of a varied and tasty vegetarian diet. Therefore lacto vegetarians and vegans are unlikely to eat too little fruit and vegetables.
*Ovo-lactovegetarian (or lacto-ovovegetarian) - Similar to the Lactovegetarian but also consumes eggs.
*Pescatarian - This is considered a form of vegetarianism, which consists of eating fish, but no other varieties of meat. Eggs and dairy may be part of this diet. Fish probably suffer greatly when they are caught and left to suffrocate. Death frequently takes hours. Stricter vegetarians are likely to feel that Peskatarians are not true vegetarians.

==Famous Vegetarians==
[[Image:H G Wells 2.jpg|right|H G Wells]]
*[[Albert Einstein]] - Scientist, famous for [[Theory of Relativity]]. He became a vegetarian a year before his death.
*[[Bob Barker]] - Game Show Host, most notably [[The Price is Right]]
*[[H. G. Wells]] - Famous Science Fiction author, works include [[The War of Worlds]]
*[[Paul McCartney]] - singer/bassist for [[The Beatles]]
*[[Henry Heimlich]] - Inventor of the [[Heimlich Maneuver]]<ref>www.famousveggie.com[http://www.famousveggie.com/peoplenew.cfm]</ref>
*[[Henry A. Wallace]] - Vice President of the U.S. 1941-1945; Presidential candidate 1948
*[[Adam]] and [[Eve]], while in Eden (Genesis 1:29)

== See also ==
*[[Naturopathy]]
*[[Adrian Vander]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/appendixC.htm USDA Dietary Guidelines]
* [http://www.vegsoc.org/ The Vegetarian Society ]
* [http://www.britishmeat.com/49.htm 49 good reasons to be a vegetarian]
* [http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtvegetarianism.html The Myths of Vegetarianism by Stephen Byrnes]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Health]]

[[category:biology]]

Vegetarianism

2008-03-28T14:03:15Z

Veronica: /* Forms of Vegetarianism */

[[Image:Fruits.jpg|right]]
'''Vegetarianism''' is the practice of abstaining from [[meat]] consumption. Somebody who practices vegetarianism is referred to as a ''vegetarian''.

Vegetarianism is a common theme among the [[Dharmic religion]]s, such as [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]], and [[Jainism]]. This stems from the belief that all higher animal life is sacred (in Jainism, ''all'' life is considered sacred), one of the core concepts of all of these religions. <ref>For more than 130 years Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) have practiced a vegetarian dietary lifestyle because of their belief in the wholistic nature of people. [http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/veggiediet.html Andrews University Nutrition Department] </ref> It was also a central tenet of the [[Essene]] branch of Judaism.

Many people outside of these religions also choose to be vegetarians because of various other beliefs, such as abstinence from contributing to "inhumane" farming methods practiced by the meat production industry, or to lessen their environmental impact.

Health can be given as another reason. In Daniel 1:4-15, Daniel and his companions declined to eat Babylonian royal food and instead requested fresh water and vegetables. At the end of ten days, they were healthier than those who ate the rich food.

It can be difficult to get all of your daily required [[nutrient]]s without eating animal products. [[Soy]] is often used as a substitute for meat and protein, and many vegetarians take vitamin supplements or eat enriched foods. <ref>"Those who eat very little meat, fish and foul and ... may be missing, or getting very little, crucial nutrients for optimal health such as [[vitamin B12]], [[iron]], [[creatine]], [[carnitine]], and several other [[nutrient]]s" [http://www.raysahelian.com/vegetarian.html] </ref> <ref>According to Olivant, the most useful supplements for the vegetarians contain nutrients that may be limited in their diet, such as omega-3. [http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=65255-vegetarian-supplements] </ref>

==Forms of Vegetarianism==
*Vegan - A vegan diet excludes all food and ingredients that comes from animals. This excludes animal meat, animal products such as milk, cheese, eggs or honey, and byproducts such as gelatin. Effort is needed to make a vegan diet healthy. [http://www.vegan.org/going_vegan/eating_vegan/index.html]
*Lactovegetarian - Someone who eats a plant based diet but also eats animal produced foods (that do not result in the death of the animal) such as milk and cheese. Lacto vegetarians can relatively easily remain healthy. They benefit because they are not tempted to eat types of meat with high saturated fat content.
*Ovo-lactovegetarian (or lacto-ovovegetarian) - Similar to the Lactovegetarian but also consumes eggs.
*Pescatarian - This is considered a form of vegetarianism, which consists of eating fish, but no other varieties of meat. Eggs and dairy may be part of this diet. Fish probably suffer greatly when they are caught and left to suffrocate. Death frequently takes hours. Stricter vegetarians are likely to feel that Peskatarians are not true vegetarians.

==Famous Vegetarians==
[[Image:H G Wells 2.jpg|right|H G Wells]]
*[[Albert Einstein]] - Scientist, famous for [[Theory of Relativity]]. He became a vegetarian a year before his death.
*[[Bob Barker]] - Game Show Host, most notably [[The Price is Right]]
*[[H. G. Wells]] - Famous Science Fiction author, works include [[The War of Worlds]]
*[[Paul McCartney]] - singer/bassist for [[The Beatles]]
*[[Henry Heimlich]] - Inventor of the [[Heimlich Maneuver]]<ref>www.famousveggie.com[http://www.famousveggie.com/peoplenew.cfm]</ref>
*[[Henry A. Wallace]] - Vice President of the U.S. 1941-1945; Presidential candidate 1948
*[[Adam]] and [[Eve]], while in Eden (Genesis 1:29)

== See also ==
*[[Naturopathy]]
*[[Adrian Vander]]

==External Links==
*[http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/appendixC.htm USDA Dietary Guidelines]
* [http://www.vegsoc.org/ The Vegetarian Society ]
* [http://www.britishmeat.com/49.htm 49 good reasons to be a vegetarian]
* [http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtvegetarianism.html The Myths of Vegetarianism by Stephen Byrnes]

==Notes==
<references/>

[[Category:Health]]

[[category:biology]]

Hemorrhoids

2008-03-28T13:55:55Z

Veronica:

'''Hemorrhoids''' (''UK sp. haemorrhoids'') are a condition in which the veins around the anus or lower rectum become swollen and inflamed, typically causing extreme discomfort. Hemorrhoids are often caused by straining to move stool, or sometimes by [[pregnancy]], aging, chronic [[constipation]] or [[diarrhea]], and anal intercourse. Eating a healthy diet with reasonable amounts of fibre reduces the risk of hemoroides. There shoould be enough fibre to avoid constipation but not so much that there is a risk of diarrhoea.
Despite their discomfort, replica hemorrhoids have sometimes been used as lucky gold charms known as ormerods.

== Hemorrhoids in the Bible ==

The Israelites are threatened with hemorrhoids, as a curse for disobedience,
<blockquote>
''The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.'' Deuteronomy 28:27 (KJV)
</blockquote>
and a plague of hemorrhoids is inflicted upon the [[Philistines]] after their capture of the [[Ark of the Covenant]]. (1 Samuel, 5-6)

== See also ==

*[[Naturopathy]]

[[Category:Health]]