Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Buddhism

2008-01-02T17:42:30Z

Zac4213:

[[Image:China B.jpg|right]]
'''Butthism''' is classified as the fifth largest religion in the world. It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, enlightenment and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Butthism is a [[Dharmic religion]] and is often viewed as a philosophy more than a religion because gods are not necessary or primary in Butthist thought. Much of modern Butthism is atheistic or agnostic in practice. The term Buddha means "the enlightened one."

==Founder==

Butthism's foundations lie with an [[India|Indian]] prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who, after being sheltered until adulthood, finally observed the suffering of his peepee. After that he worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. He studied a number of the disciplines of the day, seeking ultimate truth. After finding other approaches to understanding lacking, he went into meditation for 49 days, vowing not to move until he had attained enlightenment. After great personal struggle he achieved enlightenment, and began to teach the principles that are now associated with Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in [[Hinduism]] and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Butthism.

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. They can be considered to be philosophies of life. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
<blockquote>''"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''</blockquote>

Buddhism is a very practical [[philosophy]], which teaches us to focus our attention on personal experience, to determine what is the cause of our discontents ("dukkha") and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing "metta", which is universal, unconditional love, and "karuna", which roughly translates to "compassion", towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the "Four Noble Truths".<ref>[http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/four_noble_truths.htm Four Noble Truths]</ref>

Buddhism is commonly held to be a relatively peaceful religion, due to its less "absolutist" view of morality and the fluid nature of thought that encouraged not just acceptance of other faiths and ideas, but also examination of those ideas and, if necessary, applying them to ones life. This also allows people to follow Buddhism as a philosophy, and Islam, Judaism or Christianity as a faith, without contradicting any principles of either following.<ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref>

It should be noted that the ideals of tolerance and introspection among the Buddhist faithful were often ignored by the leaders of Buddhist nations (much like the leaders of most other nations often disobeyed their own religions fundamental laws in the in the interest of what was practical) <ref>http://buddhism.about.com/</ref> and persecution of Christians in predominantly Buddhist nations does occur today.

==Buddhism Today==

Buddhism is currently the majority religion in the following states:

Country Percent

Thailand 95%

Cambodia 90

Myanmar 88

Bhutan 75

Sri Lanka 70

Tibet * 65

Laos 60

Vietnam 55

Japan ** 50

* [[China]]: Buddhism is most widely practiced, with an estimated 100 million adherents.

* Tibet is an estimate, as there has never been a reliable survey. Furthermore, it is debatable whether Tibet should be considered an independent nation.

** [[Japan]] is an "odd" case, as surveys of adherence are conducted rather differently. Firstly it is debatable at what point various Japanese beliefs shift from being traditions to being religions. This is indicated by the fact that "85% of Japanese claim Buddhism as their preferred religion", yet "75% percent claim to practice and believe in no religion" -a more accurate estimate may be 20%.
<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_buddhist.html The Largest Buddhist Communities]</ref>

==See Also==

*[[Upanishads]]

==References==

<References/>

[[Category:Buddhism]]

Fudge

2007-04-16T05:06:38Z

Zac4213:

A candy confection usually flavoured like chocolate.

[[Category:Food and drink]]

Thundercats

2007-04-09T19:24:43Z

Zac4213:

The Thundercats were the main characters in a cartoon series in the 1980s. The Thundercats are widely considered to be one of the most influential cartoons in existence.

Thundercats

2007-04-09T19:24:31Z

Zac4213:

The Thundercats were the main characters in a [[cartoon]] series in the 1980s. The Thundercats are widely considered to be one of the most influential cartoons in existence.

Wiki

2007-04-09T19:22:07Z

Zac4213:

A wiki is a website enabling visitors to add, edit or remove content in an easy manner. This facilitates collaborative efforts by many people, often simultaneously.

Conservapedia is a "wiki". Many other notable examples exist.[http://wikipedia.org]

"Wiki" is from the Hawaiian word ''wiki wiki'', meaning "quick." In part, the word refers to a simplified system of markup, which allows the most common kinds of HTML markup to be performed in a semi-intuitive way. For example, using the [[MediaWiki]] [[software]], a user can italicize a word by preceding and following it with two apostrophes:
:<nowiki>''italicized''</nowiki> Thusly: ''italicized''
instead of using the HTML syntax
:<nowiki><i>italicized</i></nowiki>

The technology was originally developed by Ward Cunningham, and saw early application among open source developers for maintaining code documentation. Wikimedia (the organization behind Wikipedia) developed the technology further, and made it available as open source software, under the name MediaWiki. MediaWiki is the software that hosts Wikipedia, Conservapedia, and many other wiki sites.

==External links==
*[http://wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://www.creationwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page CreationWiki]
*[http://mediawiki.org MediaWiki]

[[Category:Wiki| ]]

Air traffic control

2007-04-09T19:21:39Z

Zac4213:

Known for short as "ATC."

Air Traffic Control is a network of ground/airport based services whose primary purpose is to provide separation services for aircraft on the ground and in the air.

Wikipedia

2007-04-09T19:19:19Z

Zac4213: /* Sinbad Hoax */

'''Wikipedia''' is an online [[encyclopedia]] founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] and [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001. It has millions of entries on topics ranging from phrases used by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)<</ref> to arcane British royalty.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for. (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, although only 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> Content on Wikipedia is controlled by and released under the "GNU Free Documentation License" (GFDL) requirements. Anyone can delete or alter anyone else's entries on Wikipedia. After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Wikipedia's entries are far more verbose and long-winded than traditionally concise encyclopedias.{{fact}}

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|[http://www.wikipedia.org Multilingual Wikipedia home page]]]

Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevive Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> In 2003, Jimbo Wales founded the Wikimedia Foundation to oversee the day-to-day operations of Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref>

==False Claim About Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Seigenthaler Hoax and Reaction of Wikipedia Editors==
In May 2005, an anonymous user created a Wikipedia article on John Seigenthaler Sr, a journalist and an assistant to former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy that stated:<blockquote>
John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven.
</blockquote>
and
<blockquote>
John Seigenthaler moved to the Soviet Union in 1971, and returned to the United States in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter.
</blockquote>
In September 2005, a friend of Seigenthaler's discovered the Wikipedia entry and alerted Seigenthaler, whom then contacted the Wikimedia foundation to have the article corrected, however the false biography had remained on Wikipedia for many months.
Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt later discovered the prepetrator of the prank was Brian Chase, an acquaintance of Seigenthaler Sr.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref> John Seigenthaler Sr later published an article in ''USA Today'' on the whole affair.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm</ref>

Instead of being apologetic, Wikipedia editors criticized Seigenthaler afterwards on a Wikipedia talk page for publicly complaining of the falsehoods about him:<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
:"Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," said one comment. "[He] has the responsibility to learn about his own name and how it is being applied and used, as any celebrity does on the Internet and the world-at-large. Besides, if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it on Wikipedia. Everyone fails to understand that logic." Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat. He's causing Wikipedia a lot of trouble, on purpose."

The Siegenthaler scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy" and finally downgraded in its stable version to "incident". Despite the damage to an innocent person and embarrassment to Wikipedia's credibility as a viable source, the Siegenthaler scandal is considered by many internal Administrators as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" <ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler%2C_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrived 23 March 2007.</ref> becaue it catapulted it <ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref> from the top 50 to the top 10 most visited websites, and gave it its first substantial publicity outside America.

==Essjay Scandal==
In January 2007, Wikipedia critic Daniel Brandt discovered that a prominent Wikipedia administrator, bureaucrat and arbitrator nicknamed Essjay has lied <ref>[http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/essjay.html Essjay/Archive/52 recovered by Brandt for posterity]</ref> on Wikipedia and in phone interviews with ''The New Yorker'' magazine about his age, job, background, and academic credentials<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6423659.stm</ref>. Essjay, who later identified himself as Ryan Jordan and who was an employee at Wikia Inc. funded by Jimbo Wales, had claimed to be a 40 year old homosexual, holding doctoral degrees in theology and canon law and is a tenured professor at a private university; but he was in fact a 24 years old community college dropout [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=2778&view=findpost&p=22351] from Kentucky. This fraud was reported by ABC, BBC and many other major news organizations. Jimbo Wales upon learning of this incident, stated: "I regard it as a pseudonym and I don’t really have a problem with it."<ref>http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/07/31/060731fa_fact</ref>

The first public notice occured on Wikipedia Review, a critic's forum frequented by Brandt and several other prominent Wikipedians, including many who have been blocked from editing Wikipedia. Brandt pointed out as early as July 2006 [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=2778&view=findpost&p=12701] that "something... doesn't add up" regarding Essjay's claim of being a college professor despite editing Wikipedia as much as 16 hours per day. One of the site's administrators posted on Jan. 11, 2007 regarding Essjay's hiring by Wikia after noticing that Jordan's "Essjay" account on Uncyclopedia (a Wikia-owned site) had been changed to include the "Staff" reference, normally given only to paid Wikia employees. The "Essjay" user page on Wikia had been posted, along with the name "Ryan Jordan," on Jan. 7, 2007 - with no explanation given for why Essjay would leave a tenured faculty position to work as a Community Manager for Wikia. The situation quickly became the subject of increasing speculation by the Wikipedia Review forum members, of whom Brandt was the most skeptical.

Later, the same administrator posted further details [http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=2778&view=findpost&p=20992] of discrepancies between Jordan's Wikia user page and his Wikipedia user page on January 19th, after Jordan added still more personal-background information to his Wikia user page that bore little similarity to the credentials he had claimed on Wikipedia since April of 2005.

==Daniel Brandt controversy==
The Daniel Brandt biographical entry was created by SlimVirgin on 28 September 2005 so that the subsection of criticism could be removed from the Chip Berlet mainspace biography. On two occasions, once prior and once after, SlimVirgin stated she did not consider Daniel Brandt a credible source. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554] In August 2005 SlimVirgin and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Rangerdude Rangerdude] discussed the use of "scholarly" material cited to Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates (PRA) on the Roots of Anti-Semitism talk page and had this exchange:

:"PRA is not the kind of organization any of our guidelines is trying to stop us from using, and I'm certain of this because I've been involved in drafting a lot of the information about sources and original research....PRA is a research group and Berlet is a published journalist and author. ...WP:NOR#What_counts_as_a_reputable_publication? says: ''"A magazine or press release self-published by a very extreme political or religious group would often not be regarded as "reputable". For example, Wikipedia would not rely only on an article in a '''Socialist Workers' Party''' magazine to publish a statement about President Bush being gay."'' This clearly doesn't have in mind the type of research group Chip works for. You may find PRA extreme, but it's not a political or religious group, party, or movement.--SlimVirgin 07:12, August 4, 2005 (UTC)

Rangerdude only moments before debunked Berlet's scholarly credentials, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Roots_of_anti-Semitism&diff=20212920&oldid=20187928] cited WP:RS on using extreme websites, [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Roots_of_anti-Semitism&diff=prev&oldid=20246130] and then rejoined,
:"Curiously your example of the '''Socialist Worker's Party''' does little to help your case as Mr. Berlet's own biography proudly states that he has worked on behalf of this very same extremist group! --Rangerdude 07:30, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

SlimVirgin then changed Official Wikipedia Reliable Sources Policy to make Berlet appear mainstream and not an extremist. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Rangerdude/Workshop#Request_of_finding_for_ex_post_facto_policy_changes]

Next an old dormant dispute between Brandt and Berlet from a decade and half ago was reignited. The two worked together for many years, but had a falling out in 1991; Brandt was quoted as an anonymous critic from a ''FrontPage magazine.com'' citation in Berlet's wiki entry, with these words,

:“Reviewing one of Berlet’s screeds, one leftist writer mentions Berlet’s “crusade” against Progressives who stray from Berlet's ideological fever swamps by working with non-leftist groups. In a fascinating conclusion, the leftist commentator warns that Berlet “may try to undermine your work and isolate you.” [http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10352]

Berlet expressed displeasure at the criticism and publicly named the "leftist writer";
:This complaint was written by Daniel Brandt, who I criticized because he was urging people on the left to read the anti-Semitic ''Spotlight'' newspaper (at the time published by Holocaust denier Willis Carto.) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Cberlet/Archive_2005-06_2005-08#Red-baiting_Lie_Article.21]

Berlet wanted the criticism of him and his organization removed. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Political_Research_Associates#Fairness_and_Balance] On the same day the Daniel Brandt biography was created to cast Brandt and his organization as extremist using a guilt by association smear of being aligned with Holocaust denial. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Information_Research#_note-0] Who was the source of the claim? A self published source, Chip Berlet and Political Research Associates. According to the Introduction [http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/orgs/american/ftp.py?orgs/american//political-research-associates/right.w.left] to the self published source, Berlet's allegation Brandt and his organization were aligned with Holocaust deniers first appeared two months earlier in September of 1991 in an ''extremist'' publication, the Marxist-Leninist ''Guardian''. [http://www.publiceye.org/berlet/berlet_articles.html] The ''Guardian'' newspaper, which at one time had a reporter, Wilfred Burchett, who participated in interrogations of American POWs in North Korean prison-of-war camps, is cited in a contemporaneous book from 1992 by the mainstream publisher ''Prometheus Books'' which is entitled, ''Nazis, Communists, Klansmen, and Others on the Fringe: Political Extremism in America'', by John George, Laird Wilcox, ISBN 1-57392-058-4, as an extremist publication. See Chapter 9, pgs. 125-131. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/nazis-communists-klansmen-and-others-on-the-fringe-political-extremism-in-america-by-john-george-laird-wilcox.jsp]

Added to all these violations of Official Wikipedia Policy is this event, Berlet citing himself and personally inserting potentially libelous and defamatory material from a questionable and self-published source into an article of a living person and fellow registered user. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Brandt&diff=55132392&oldid=55131921]

Jimbo Wales echoed SlimVirgin's view that Brandt was not a "credible source", and told ''Editor & Publisher'',
:"I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all." [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/hivemind.html]

After possible malicious intent of slander was being publicly discussed surrounding the events which lead to the creation of Brandt's entry, Wales comments to ''Editor & Publisher'' were removed from Brandt's bio under the "tabloid clause" of Reliable Sources. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Brandt&diff=prev&oldid=104935334]

Meantime, numerous Wikipedia Administrators have been caught in the crossfire of a drive-by smear against Brandt in an old leftist sectarian dispute none of them know anything about.

==Sinbad Hoax==
On March 16, wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March, 14, 2007."

==Rutgers-Ivy League Hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer Vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==Jimmy Wales' Denial that Larry Sanger was a Co-Founder==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associate Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added.

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Not only that, but the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by you to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF%27DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

==References==
<references />

==External Links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://www.wikitruth.info/ Wikitruth]
*[http://www.citizendium.com Citizendium(Beta)]
*[http://www.wikipedia-watch.org Wikipedia Watch]
*[http://wikipediareview.com/ Wikipedia Review]

[[Category:Wiki]]

Capitalism

2007-04-09T19:18:47Z

Zac4213:

{{stub}}
'''Capitalism''' is an economic system where the means of production are in private (non-government) hands, and where investments, production, distribution, income, and prices are determined through the operation of a a market where all decisions regarding transfer of money, goods (including capital goods), and services are voluntary rather than regulated and mandated by government.

Since the fall of [[communism]], and the advent of information technology, capitalism is becoming increasingly popular, which is quite a shame, as capitalism is considered to be a very weak system, in terms of governmental control.

[[Category:Economics]]

Anarchism

2007-04-09T19:17:54Z

Zac4213:

'''Anarchism''' is a political philosophy advocating the removal of the State and the establishment of a society without government. The term is of [[Greek]] origin, meaning "without rulers".

Anarchist thought is similar to traditional [[Communist]] thought (though not practice) in that it rejects all authority. However, [[Individualist]] anarchists and [[Anarcho-Capitalists]] are ideologically closer to [[Libertarianism]] than Communism, however most anarchists of the communist type reject these as anarchists, as they consider them to be capitalists, and not anarchists. Some anarchists have been known to employ violent means in their endeavors, though other anarchists are non-violent. Many anarchist groups have been labeled by the U.S. government as [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations, yet these claims are without basis.

Online slang

2007-04-09T19:17:06Z

Zac4213:

A common Internet acronym used mostly in chat applications to express amusement, standing for ''Laugh(ing) Out Loud''. It can also mean "lots of love" but this variant is less common. Another meaning of lol is lack of lapdances, which isn't used as much as the above meanings.

United States of America

2007-04-09T19:16:12Z

Zac4213:

[[Image:Kljghlkjkh.png|right|thumb|300px|Flag of United States of America]]
The '''United States of America''' (commonly referred to as the '''United States''', '''US''', or '''US of A''') was founded in on July 4, 1776 with the signing of the [[Declaration of Independence]]. The US is currently the world's sole [[superpower]].

==Overview==
The United States has land borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as several territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia and The Bahamas. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Two of the fifty states, Alaska, an exclave, and Hawaii, an archipelago, are not contiguous with any of the other states. Alaska in located in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also has a collection of overseas territories and possessions around the world. Each of the 50 states has a high level of local autonomy under the federal system. Many people, including ones from foreign countries consider the U.S.A to be the greatest country in the world. Although many, including vast amounts of foreigners, believe that anarcho-communism is the way to go.

At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.6 million km²), the U.S. (including its non-contiguous and overseas states and territories) is the third largest country by total area. It is the world's third most populous nation, with over 300 million people.

American military, economic, cultural, and political influence increased through the 19th and 20th centuries. Since the mid-20th century, the United States has become a dominant global influence in contemporary economic, political, military, scientific, technological and cultural matters. With the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, the nation emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower, greatly influencing world affairs, as it continues to do today.

==Background==
[[Image:76485685i79.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The drafting committee presenting the [[Declaration of Independence]] to the [[Continental Congress]], painted by John Trumbull 1817–1819.]]
[[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and other [[Founding Fathers]] formally established the United States by the ratification of the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1788 A.D. Since the presidency of [[John Quincy Adams]] the United States has been governed by one of two [[political parties]] in a [[republic]] increasingly tending towards [[democracy]] as the [[franchise]] has expanded. The younger of the two existing major parties, the [[Republican Party]], was created in 1854. Between independence in 1776 and ratification of the [[Constitution]] in 1788, the United States' governing documents included the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the [[Declaration of Independence]] itself.

The Declaration of Independence acknowledges the existence of a [[God]] when it refers to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and says all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights," though the latter statement was made by [[Thomas Jefferson]], whose religious beliefs had far more in common with Unitarianism then traditional Christianity. Some Christians argued that since many of the Founding Fathers were Christians (although the majority of them could actually be qualified as Deists) and that, explicitly or not, the United States was founded upon the principles and ideals of Christianity. However, the freedom of (and from) religion (stating that the government cannot interfere in the conduct of religious groups, or vice versa) is a fundamental aspect of the [[First Amendment]] to the Constitution. This seperation is a continuing source of conflict in American society, generally between those attempting to exert their own religious or antireligious views over others. This [[Free Exercise Clause]] of the Amendment began increasingly to be tested and interpreted by the [[judiciary]] in the late 19th century as a result of the increasing population of religious [[minorities]] in the United States.

==History and geography==
[[Image:56eugyjnm.jpg|right|thumb|300px|[[White House]], the official home and workplace of the [[President of the United States]] of America.]]
In 1783, when the [[Peace of Paris]] concluded hostilities against [[Great Britain]], the former [[colonial power]], the United States' population totaled some three million [[citizens]] and [[slaves]] living on slightly less than one million square miles of land. An unknown number of [[Native Americans]] also lived in the western part of the United States, which was then bordered on the west by the [[Mississippi River]], on the north by [[Lake Superior]], [[Lake Huron]], [[Lake Erie]] and [[Lake Ontario]], on the east by the [[Atlantic Ocean]], and on the south by [[Florida]], then controlled by [[Spain]]. The land border with [[Canada]] was not clarified until the [[Rush-Bagot Agreement]] of 1816.

The majority of the taxable population lived in the thirteen original [[states]]. In alphabetical order they are [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Georgia]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Virginia]]. In 1790, an agreement between supporters of Jefferson and those of [[Alexander Hamilton]] resulted in the creation of the [[District of Columbia]] from part of [[Maryland]]; it has served as the national capital from 1800 on. The remainder of the 1783 territory was eventually organized as the states of [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], [[Michigan]], [[Illinois]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Kentucky]], [[Tennessee]], [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]]. Two additional states were added during the first fifty years by [[secession]] from existing states: [[Vermont]] from New York, and [[Maine]] from Massachusetts. After that, the legality of [[secession]] became an issue.

In 1803, [[French]] emperor [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] took advantage of a lull in his war with Great Britain to sell the [[Louisiana Territory]] to the United States, more than doubling the nation's land area. This territory would later be organized as the states of [[Minnesota]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Montana]], [[Wyoming]], [[Nebraska]], [[Iowa]], [[Missouri]], [[Arkansas]], [[Kansas]], [[Oklahoma]], and [[Louisiana]] proper.

[[Florida]] and [[Texas]] joined the United States as a result of [[revolutions]] by settlers from the United States against their central governments. Florida's was fought in 1810, while the much better remembered [[Texas Revolution]] was fought in 1836. While Spain was willing to cut its losses in Florida and relinquished any claims on the state in the [[Adams-Oniz Agreement]] of 1819, one of the successors to its empire in the Americas, [[Mexico]], was considerably more attached to Texas and fought the [[Mexican War]] between 1846 and 1848 to reverse its annexation by the United States. Losing badly, Mexico was forced to cede the sparsely populated northern portion of itself under the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. This territory eventually became the states of [[California]], [[Nevada]], [[Utah]], [[Colorado]], [[New Mexico]] and [[Arizona]]. At approximately the same time, [[President]] [[James K. Polk]] had agreed with the British that the 49th Parallel (degree of latitude) would serve as the boundary between the U. S. and Canada from [[Lake of the Woods]] (partially in Minnesota) to the [[Pacific Ocean]]. This territory was later organized as the states of [[Washington]], [[Oregon]] and [[Idaho]].

In 1867, [[Secretary of State]] [[William Seward]] purchased [[Alaska]] from [[Russia]]. Alaska is the westernmost extremity of [[North America]] bounded on the east by Canada, on the south by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the [[Bering Strait]] and on the north by the [[Arctic Ocean]]. At $7,000,000, Alaska cost the United States considerably less per acre than the [[Mexican Cession]] and slightly less than the Louisiana Territory. Of course, [[inflation]] was less of a factor at this time due to the world [[economy]] still being principally [[agrarian]]. Although at the time it was considered a foolish bargain, Alaska would later become a large source of economic prosperity due to large gold, oil, and other natural resources. Alaska would not be admitted as a state until 1959.

The 50th and so far final state, [[Hawaii]], was also admitted in 1959, 67 years after other American settlers deposed the last native [[queen]] of the archipelago and 62 years after annexation had become politically feasible as a result of the [[Spanish-American War]], in which the United States also annexed [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]] and [[Wake Island]]. The last three islands are not states, although [[Puerto Rico]] has occasionally held non-binding [[referenda]] to express its desired status within the United States.

The United States has occasionally relinquished territory. The most significant example of this was certainly the granting of independence in 1946 to the [[Phillipines]] as part of the general [[decolonization]] of [[Asia]] and [[Africa]] following [[World War II]]. Under both [[autocratic]] and [[democratic]] governments, the Phillipines have subsequently remained a strong American ally, and today contribute more troops to the U. S. [[military]] than some states. Other Pacific territories such as the [[Federated States of Micronesia]] and [[Palau]] have also become independent in the postwar era with little objection from opinion leaders on the mainland. More controversial was the 1977 agreement between President [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[General]] [[Omar Torrijos]] to return the [[Panama Canal Zone]], which had been part of the United States since 1914, to [[Panama]] in the year 2000. Ultimately the United States lived up to this agreement despite the worst fears of both [[liberals]] (who decried [[Operation Just Cause]], the 1989 invasion of Panama) and [[conservatives]] (who feared the management of the [[Panama Canal]] by [[Chinese]] interests).

During the early years of the 21st century, the USA, in its [[War On Terror]], declared shortly after the attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11th, became more heavily involved in international politics, culminating in the [[Iraq War]]. Its human rights record, however, has fallen under question, with the use of [[torture]] and [[extraordinary rendition]] at [[Guantanamo Bay detention centre]].

[[Category:North American Countries]]
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:United States]]

France

2007-04-09T19:14:42Z

Zac4213:

{{stub}}
[[Image:map_of_france.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|Map of France]]
'''France''' (Official title: French Republic/République française) is a country in Western Europe.

At its height, the French Empire rivaled the British Empire, with colonies in every corner of the world. It is now considered to be a very weak country, with very little in terms of military. The capital city is Paris, often called the "City of Lights" due to its renown for a center of learning and philosophy. The focus of France seems to be "intelligence", and "culture", whereas the only way to become a successful country is to have military might.

France is also renowned for its cuisine and its wines. Good food (often opposed to fast food) is highly valued in France.

It was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel treaty which led to the EEC and EU. It greatly assisted then-Great Britain's North American colonies both militarily and financially in their effort to gain independence, and established universal legal codes in much of the non-Anglo-Saxon west. It has made a number of philosophical contributions to the world, including Descartes and Sartre, existentialism and post modernism. It gifted the Statue of Liberty to the USA in celebration of its independence, echoing the French aid given to the colonies during the American Revolutionary War.

In March 2003, France was one of over a hundred nations that did not participate in the alliance that liberated [[Iraq]], with its aim of removing the [[Baathist]] regime of the dictator [[Saddam Hussein]]. French forces did, however, participate in the war in Afghanistan, and suffered casualties in the fighting [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/,/], many people see the lack of help in Iraq as a sign of weakness.

==Gaul==
Back during the time of the [[Roman Republic]], France was a territory called Gaul, populated by Celtic tribes. [[Julius Caesar]] conquered Gaul, thanks to the lack of unity among the tribes. Gaul remained an important part of the [[Roman Empire]] for several centuries.

==Frankland under Clovis==
France is named after the Franks, a Saxon tribe who established Soissons, the capital. A Frank called [[Clovis]] united the Franks and established Frankland. Franks were pagans but Clovis converted to Christianity (legend has it he prayed to Christ during a difficult battle, offering to become a Christian in exchange for victory ; shortly after that, the enemy fled).

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:EU Members]]
[[Category:France| ]]

Religion

2007-04-09T17:04:03Z

Zac4213:

A system of belief and practices shared by a community that attempts to answer the ultimate questions of life and death, and, in doing so, goes beyond the verifiable. Religions frequently involve supernatural elements such as gods and goddesses, angels and demons, ancestors, transmigratory souls, and heaven, purgatory and hell. Developed religions generally consist of a central creed or body of beliefs, an ethical component (i.e. a code of morals), a body of literature or holy texts or stories, a set of individual and communal practices. Religion played a major role in all human societies prior to the twentieth century. It is a core belief of Conservatives that the recent decline in religious observation are a key source of the undermining of social and moral order.

Evangelicals disparage the term "religion" as a system of works by which human beings attempt to approach God without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For the person who is born again, religion can only interfere and distract from that prayerful union.

== Religions ==

* [[Animism]]
* [[Bahá'í]]
* [[Buddhism]] (largest religion in the world)
* [[Cao Dai]]
* [[Christianity]]
* [[Discordianism]]
* [[Evolutionism]]
* [[Hinduism]]
* [[Islam]]
* [[Jainism]]
* [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]
* [[Juche]]
* [[Judaism]]
* [[Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints|Mormonism]]
* [[New Age]] beliefs
* [[Paganism]]
* [[Rastafari movement]]
* [[Satanism]]
* [[Scientology]]
* [[Shamanism]]
* [[Shintoism]]
* [[Sikhism]]
* [[Church of the SubGenius|SubGeniism]]
* [[Wicca]]
* [[Zoroastrianism]]

==References==
<references/>

==See Also==
*[[Atheism]], a lack of belief in the existence of a god or gods
*[[Naturalistic religions]]
*[[Secular Humanism]], an approach to moral philosophy
*[[World Religions by Number of Followers]]

[[Category:Religion| ]]

Buddhism

2007-04-09T17:03:01Z

Zac4213:

Buddhism is the largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]]. It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]].

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who after observing the suffering of his people, worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. There are many accounts and theories as to the course of Gautama's life, one of which story proclaims that he went into meditation for 49 days seated under a fig tree, and after finishing his period of meditation he achieved enlightnment, and formed Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in Hinduism and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

Buddhism is an atheistic religion, although certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
''
"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''

The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on ourselves, to determine what is the cause of our discontent ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]][http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm]

Buddhism teaches that in order to attain Nirvana (a complete contentment, and separation from suffering), you must follow the [[Noble Eightfold Path]].

[[Category:Religion]]

Buddhism

2007-04-09T17:02:44Z

Zac4213:

Buddhism is the first largest [[list of religions based on followers|religion in the world]]. It is a belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, [[Buddhist enlightenment|enlightenment]] and [[Nirvana]] are attained. Buddhism is a [[Dharmic religion]].

Buddhism's foundations lie with an Indian prince, [[Siddhartha Gautama]], who after observing the suffering of his people, worked to discover the reason for suffering and pain. There are many accounts and theories as to the course of Gautama's life, one of which story proclaims that he went into meditation for 49 days seated under a fig tree, and after finishing his period of meditation he achieved enlightnment, and formed Buddhism.

The philosophy has its roots in Hinduism and Vedic religion, to which Gautama belonged until the foundation of Buddhism.

Buddhism is an atheistic religion, although certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

The highest ideal for a Buddhist is the state of Nirvana, or release from eternal rebirth, a state beyond conceptual thought described by the Buddha as follows:
''
"There is O monks, an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed. Were there not, o monks, this Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed, there would be no escape from the world of the born, originated, created, formed. ~ Udana, 80-81"''

The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about God is pointless. Buddhism is a very practical philosophy, which teaches us to focus our attention on ourselves, to determine what is the cause of our discontent ([[dukkha]]) and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, all the while expressing [[metta]], which is universal, unconditional love, and [[karuna]], which roughly translates to 'compassion', towards others. These teachings are encapsulated in the [[Four Noble Truths.]][http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm]

Buddhism teaches that in order to attain Nirvana (a complete contentment, and separation from suffering), you must follow the [[Noble Eightfold Path]].

[[Category:Religion]]

Flying Spaghetti Monster

2007-04-09T17:01:20Z

Zac4213:

The '''Flying Spaghetti Monster'''("FSM") is the God in "Pastafarianism", also referred to as Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster("FSM").

The monstrous deity was created, noodly appendages and all, in 2005, to enlighten nonbelievers.

Pastafarianism took as its basis the decision by the Kansas Board of Education to redefine science in order to include [[Intelligent Design]]. The definitory change from science as "natural" explanation to science as "logical" explanation enabled Henderson to construct a theory which, if accepted as science, could be considered a better scientific theory than intelligent design.

Whilst Intelligent Design claims to explain the origin of life,{{fact-science}} Pastafarianism claims to also explain [[Global Warming]] and [[gravity]].

The [[Discovery Institute]] has argued that the FSM is an attempt to mock "traditional religion."<ref>[http://www.evolutionnews.org/2006/12/celebrating_christmas_at_the_c.html “Celebrating” Christmas at the “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” - Evolution News & Views]</ref>
Indeed, self-professed believers in the Flying Spaghetti Monster have called themselves "Pastafarians".

A book was released in 2006, to explain most of the idea.<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-03-26-spaghetti-monster_x.htm</ref>

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