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		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
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				<updated>2012-07-17T16:11:13Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| children    =9&lt;br /&gt;
| country     =Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands. In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Other Sources==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Alba, Víctor 1968 Politics and the labor movement in Latin America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. ASIN B0006BNYGK&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Álvarez Batista, Gerónimo 1983. III Frente a las puertas de Santiago. Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ameringer, Charles D 1995 The Caribbean Legion Patriots, Politicians, Soldiers of Fortune, 1946-1950 Pennsylvania State University Press (December, 1995) (Paperback) ISBN 0271014520&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anderson, Jon Lee 1997. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, Bantam Press, ISBN 0553406647 or Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-1600-0&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anton, Alex and Roger E. Hernandez 2002 Cubans in America: A Vibrant History of a People in Exile Kensington Publishing Corporation (May, 2002) ISBN 157566593X&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Carrillo, Justo 1985 Cuba 1933: Estudiantes, Yanquis y Soldados.  University of Miami Iberian Studies Institute ISBN 0935501002 Transaction Publishers (January 1994) ISBN 1560006900&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Zayas y Alfonso, Alfredo 1914. “Lexografía Antillana” El Siglo XX Press, Havana&lt;br /&gt;
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Zimmerman, Robert 1958 Our Man in Havana: Viking ISBN 067053141 laneta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994271</id>
		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994271"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T16:09:28Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| country     =Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands. In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
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Puebla, Teté  (Brigadier General Cuban Armed Forces) 2003 Marianas in Combat: and the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in Cuba's Revolutionary War 1956-58, New York Pathfinder ISBN 0873489578&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ramos, M. G., Villatoro, MAA, Urquiaga, S, Alves, BJR and: Boddey, RM 2001 Quantification of the contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to tropical green manure crops and the residual benefit to a subsequent maize crop using super(15)N-isotope techniques J. Biotechnol. 91 (2-3)105-115&lt;br /&gt;
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Rodriguez, Felix I. and John Weisman 1989 Shadow Warrior/the CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles Simon &amp;amp; Schuster, New York ISBN 0671667211&lt;br /&gt;
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Rojo del Río, Manuel. 1981 La Historia Cambio En La Sierra. Editorial Texto, San José, Costa Rica 2a Ed. Aumentada &lt;br /&gt;
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Roloff y Mialofsky, Carlos and Gerardo Forrest 1901. Yndice Alfabetico y Difunctiones del Ejercito Libertador de Cuba. Edited under the official direction of Leonard Wood. Printed in Havana by Rambla y Bauza&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
La Rosa Corzo, Gabino (translated by Mary Todd) [1988] 2003 Runaway Slave Settlements in Cuba: Resistance and Repression University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill ISBN 0807828033 ISBN 0807854794&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rowan, Andrew Summers 1896 The island of Cuba; A descriptive and historical account of the &amp;quot;Great Antilla.&amp;quot; H. Holt and company, ASIN B00086NGHU&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rowan, Andrew Summers 1922 How I carried the message to Garcia W.D. Harney ASIN B00086V3FW&lt;br /&gt;
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Rubens, Horatio S. 1932 “Liberty. The Story of Cuba” AMS Press New York, 1970 reprint of 1932 edition.  SBN 404-00633-7 &lt;br /&gt;
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Smith, Earl T. 1962 (1990 edition) The fourth floor. Selous Foundation Press, Washington DC. ISBN 09442730682&lt;br /&gt;
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Spikes, Daniel 1993 Angola and the Politics of Intervention: From Local Bush War to Chronic Crisis in Southern Africa McFarland &amp;amp; Company Jefferson, North Carolina and London ISBN 089950888X&lt;br /&gt;
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Tejera, Noel; Ortega, Eduardo; Rodes, Rosa; and Lluch, Carmen 2006 Nitrogen compounds in the apoplastic sap of sugarcane stem: Some implications in the association with endophytes. J. Plant Physiology, 163 (1)80-85&lt;br /&gt;
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Tennant, Gary 1999 Dissident Cuban communism: the case of Trotskyism, 1932-1965  PhD Thesis, University of Bradford, England . http://www.cubantrotskyism.net/PhD/central.html&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
Velazquez, Loreta Janeta 1876  (2003 Editor Andrews, William L.) &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
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Wegman ME Infant mortality: some international comparisons. Pediatrics; 98(6 Pt 1):1020-7, 1996 “Comparison of infant mortality rates (IMRs) among the world's countries requires assessment of completeness and accuracy of data. The United Nations Statistical Office classifies as [quot ]C[quot ], complete, meaning at least 90% of events are actually recorded, 1994 data supplied by 80 governments,”&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Weiland, C. F. (Carl Ferdinand), (d. 1847) 1855 &lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;br /&gt;
Zayas y Alfonso, Alfredo 1914. “Lexografía Antillana” El Siglo XX Press, Havana&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Zimmerman, Robert 1958 Our Man in Havana: Viking ISBN 067053141 laneta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994270</id>
		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994270"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T16:07:38Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands. In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=994194</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=994194"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:58:07Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* New Addition */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Mr Schlafly: this is such a great insight. I'm really impressed by some of the powerful conservative thinking on CP. Do you think most sports players are conservative because being successful at sport means being competitive? i.e trying to do your best instead of being a liberal wuss and complaining about other people doing well. Is it OK to add conservatives in UK sports like rugby, cricket and football? [[User:HollyS|HollyS]] 17:26, 26 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Competitive sports is a [[meritocracy]], which is a [[conservative]] value.  Liberals prefer to &amp;quot;spread the wealth,&amp;quot; which in sports would mean leveling the wins and losses.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Please do add legitimate examples from around the world.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 17:29, 26 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::I agree this is a fascinating page; enough so that I joined to help edit! Many athletes praise God in postgame interviews, etc., across all sports. I wonder if there's a way to work that into this page? [[User:LeRoyB|LeRoyB]] 17:18, 28 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Football ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hi Andy, For Gavin Peacock, you changed &amp;quot;football&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;soccer&amp;quot; but you've left the sport beside some other people's names (Tim Tebow and Kurt Warner - sorry, I've never heard of them) as plain &amp;quot;football&amp;quot;. Does that mean American football? (like rugby league with padding). Shouldn't we change &amp;quot;football&amp;quot; for those guys to &amp;quot;American football&amp;quot; so as not to confuse people outside the USA? Otherwise, this is a great page - and I don't see any nit-picky socialists whining about any of their guys being top sports(wo)men! [[User:HollyS|HollyS]] 18:07, 28 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
: I disagree.  It is pretty obvious that football is American football.  What the Europeans call football is really called &amp;quot;Association football&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;soccer&amp;quot; for short. [[User:JamieM|JamieM]] 20:36, 28 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
:: It's not obvious to people outside the USA. And I think you'll find that football was invented in England. (Except I expect archaeologists will find it came from France, like cricket...)[[User:HollyS|HollyS]] 16:36, 29 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::I am for getting rid of the non-American stars. At a minimum, a separate section. Plus, we do need to some conservative women on this page. Who follows women's sports in the Olympics, WNBA, NCAA Basketball, Fast Pitch Softball?--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 23:25, 29 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
::::I would expect that the American flag on the Conservapedia logo should give plenty of evidence that this is an American site. Anyone used to visiting sites outside their home country should be aware that &amp;quot;football&amp;quot; means different things in different countries (there's Australian, Canadian, and Gaelic - association football is by no means the only &amp;quot;football&amp;quot; outside the U.S.) and that in the USA it means American football. [[User:KingHanksley|KingHanksley]] 16:50, 11 March 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Track and Field ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Would Al Oerter qualify?  He was the greatest discus thrower ever, one of only two athletes to win their event at four conservative Olympics.  He was critical of the &amp;quot;drug culture&amp;quot; that had overtaken sports when he finally retired (at an age much older than when most athletes retire).  He criticized steroid use.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 00:21, 30 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Sunday Sport ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can anyone clarify the actual significance of playing sport on a Sunday? Many people are included here for refusing to play on Sunday, and yet Lewis Hamilton is listed, when his sport take place exclusively on Sundays. --[[User:QPR|QPR]] 08:26, 30 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
: Perhaps God has guided Ewen Murray to honour Him by observing the Sabbath, but Lewis Hamilton to glorify Him with outstanding achievements on the Sabbath. Questioning how the Lord has revealed himself to different people is awfully dangerous territory. Be humble enough to understand that He is working in different ways in different people with perfect wisdom. [[User:HollyS|HollyS]] 19:30, 30 November 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
:: You may well be right [[User:HollyS|HollyS]], but the problem is this page is not about sports stars who have been moved to act in particular ways by God; it's about conservative sports stars. It's hardly conservative to say that any behaviour is laudable as long as it's guided by God. Conservationism (thought I hate to oversimplify) is about sticking to some very strict ideas of what is right and what is wrong.--[[User:QPR|QPR]] 08:38, 2 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Maradona ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I don't think Maradona should be on this list. First of all, the &amp;quot;Hand of God&amp;quot; Goal was actually a cheated goal. Maradona touched the ball with his hand and later called it the Hand of God...&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
His personal life, according to the other Wiki, seems not so conservative as well. Maradona is divorced, cheated on his ex-wife, was addicted to cocaine and is nowadays very much befriended with Fidel Castro (according to TOW, he has a tattoo of Castro and Che Guevara) and highly critical of George W. Bush and the United States in general.--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 08:20, 12 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
:We don't use the other wiki as a source of information, but I agree that Maradona is not conservative at all. Here is a video of Maradona talking at a Hugo Chavez speech. It is in Spanish, what Maradona says is: &amp;quot;Argentina is a worthy country. Lets throw Bush out!&amp;quot; [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzYNxAb36cI] --[[User:AlejandroH|AlejandroH]] 12:33, 12 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
:: Thanks for the info cooncerning the use of TOW. I crosschecked it with the German version, but was otherwise just too busy to find reliable data. I knew though beforehand, from reliable sources, that the &amp;quot;Hand of God&amp;quot; Goal had nothing to do with God, but was at best Maradona joking or at worst being blasphemous. À Dieu--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 13:05, 12 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Moe Berg ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Was Moe Berg really a conservative? I could not find any information on his political views. Being a spy ''during'', not ''before'' WWII, seems insufficient to make him a conservative. I thought he might have been conservative because he turned down the Medal of Freedom which would have been awarded by Harry Truman ( a Democrat), but I couldn't find anything on his reasons to do that either. Additionaly, from what I've read he was not really a great, but rather mediocre sports star, although an extremely interesting one.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;In conclusion: I don't think he belongs on this list. Any differing opinions?--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 12:28, 22 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Interesting comments.  Does anyone else have information about this?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 12:38, 22 December 2011 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::I added him initially. One of our characteristics of a [[Conservative]] is the belief &amp;quot;A strong national defense.&amp;quot; Keep in mind he was spying on Japan because there was a strong feeling that we might go to war with them; there were certainly tensions already, and being caught spying in such a context would have had serious consequences for Mr. Berg. Needless to say, no liberal would put his neck on the line like that! I'll go ahead and add him in a few days unless there are objections.[[User:LeRoyB|LeRoyB]] 14:58, 4 January 2012 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::: Well from what I've read, his spying on Japan consisted of him making a few videos from the roof of a hospital. I'm not quite sure if such an action would have lead to serious consequences. Seems more like normal tourist behaviour. I'm also not quite sure if he did the filming with the intention of spying, or if the OSS aproached him later asking for the film.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;But be that as it may. Another reason why I'm not too convinced about the national defense angle is that I've read that Mr. Berg mainly wanted to work for the CIA after the War, so he could travel on their expense, which was one of the reasons, why the CIA did not rehire him.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;As you can see from my comment above, I could not find any other signs that Mr. Berg was a conservative. He seems to have been rather apolitical.&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt; But if you want to readd him, be my guest. He was certainly a very interesting individual, that deserves to be admired.--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 15:12, 4 January 2012 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::: All good points. In doing more research myself he does seem like more of an oddball than a hero, so I'll look around for some more inspiring entries. Thanks![[User:LeRoyB|LeRoyB]] 13:20, 6 January 2012 (EST)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Possible Addition? ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Conservapedia article on Jeremy Lin talks about his strong Christian faith, and contains a quote of Lin talking about his faith. It looks like it would meet the criteria for &amp;quot;conservative&amp;quot; [[User:Sy20|Sy20]] 11:55, 24 March 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Jeremy is a great person but I'm not sure he has achieved enough yet to make it on this esteemed list.  Can you find quotes about his politics?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 13:24, 24 March 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Ted Williams ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Can we find a better example of media bias against Ted Williams? As I recall, the same year Ted hit .400, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio had a 56-game hit streak, and only one of them could win MVP. (Or they could tie in the voting, I guess, but you can't vote for Co-MVPs). Maybe I'm just biased since I'm a Yankees fan, but I think DiMaggio deserved it more that year. Either way, it's questionable. Can anyone think of anything? [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 23:00, 28 April 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak was spectacular, and one of the few baseball records that may never be broken.  But a baseball season is 162 games (or 154 games then), and Ted Williams hit .400 over the entire season, not merely part of it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:An analysis of the media voting shows it was bias that deprived Williams of the MVP that year.  I think one sportswriter left Williams off his ballot entirely, for example.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 00:19, 29 April 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:: Fair enough Andy. I will add information on that sportswriter to the article to make it more clear. And like I said, it's questionable whether Williams or Dimmagio was more impressive. Williams could go 0-for-4 one day and get back on track by going 3-for-4 the next day. Jolting Joe didn't have that luxury. But this isn't a baseball debate, so let's end it. That information about Williams being left off the ballot does indeed show bias. [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 16:46, 29 April 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::Your point is well-taken.  I do think DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak is one of the greatest records in all of sports.  After his streak was broken, he then had another hitting game streak after that, in the same season.  Your edit to the content page is perfect.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:44, 29 April 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Rick Monday ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I can find no proof of him being a conservative, per se, but he did once save an American Flag from a burning in 1976 during a Chicago Cubs - Los Angeles Dodgers game. [[User:WesleyS|WesleyS]][[User Talk:WesleyS|&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;Hello!&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;]] 18:25, 10 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:That rescue of the American flag -- which was widely publicized -- does suggest that Rick Monday is probably conservative.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 19:07, 10 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Well, it is something I would do as well, although I'm not as conservative as most here.  I'll add him to the list nonetheless.  [[User:WesleyS|WesleyS]][[User Talk:WesleyS|&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;Hello!&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;]] 19:45, 10 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Sir John Major ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I am for deleting this entry. The person in question must be recognized for their sporting achievements. For example, I wanted to add Lou Holtz, but he is known for his coaching and not his days playing for Kent State. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 22:54, 10 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== If the speaker is obscure and irrelevent... ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Then why include the quote? The quote isn't important unless the speaker is. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 12:53, 26 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Moving quote about Tebow ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Moving part of the quote about Tebow removes context. The analysist was talking about Tebow not being a team player, and him trying to draw attention to himself rather than the coach and starting quarterback. Without the context, the remaining quote could be interpreted by a reader as to apply to Tebow due to his religious beliefs - which ''it did not''. [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 16:24, 2 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I clarified Tebow's entry based on my comment above. The way it was before implied the statement from the ESPN reporter referred to Tebow's religion. It wasn't, and without clarification, the quote is cherry-picking. [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 16:38, 5 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==New Addition==&lt;br /&gt;
I'm not that good at wiki-code, so if someone better could put marathoner Ryan Hall up on the list, I believe he'd be a welcome addition. I first read about him [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/sports/olympics/faith-is-central-to-marathoner-ryan-halls-approach.html?_r=1 here], where when asked to list his coach on a form at a routine drug test, he answered &amp;quot;God&amp;quot; --[[User:Guitarsniper|Guitarsniper]] 22:54, 16 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I added him. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:58, 16 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=994192</id>
		<title>Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=994192"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:57:45Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: added ryan hall&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Most sports stars are probably [[conservative]]. Athletes at all levels of competition frequently praise [[God]] for giving them the strength to succeed at their sports.  Here are some of the greatest:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable sortable&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
!Athlete&lt;br /&gt;
!Sport&lt;br /&gt;
![[Conservatism]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Novak Djokovic&lt;br /&gt;
|tennis&lt;br /&gt;
|Number 1 player in the world, Novak gives glory to God with the sign of the [[Crucifixion|Cross]] after big tennis victories.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Tim Tebow]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;The first college sophomore to win the [[Heisman Trophy]], and the only quarterback to lead his team to two [[BCS]] college championships.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|[[pro-life]], outspoken Christian; an analyst for the [[lamestream media]] said about him, &amp;quot;You need to disappear, okay, [[Tim Tebow]]?&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Tedy Bruschi continued to say about Tebow, &amp;quot;You're not the starting quarterback, it's Mark Sanchez's team. I want my voice to come from my head coach and my quarterback -- my starting quarterback. That message has to be consistent. I don't want all this competition brewing, and every time you speak and anytime you talk about competition or anything like that, you're twisting things,&amp;quot; he went on. &amp;quot;I want one voice. One quarterback, not two.&amp;quot; [http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d829b6a76/article/tedy-bruschi-thinks-tim-tebow-should-pipe-down Tedy Bruschi thinks Tim Tebow should pipe down] nfl.com, retrieved June 26, 2012.  (Tedi Bruschi was a former New England Patriots linebacker.)&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Pressed for a response, Tebow simply smiled and said, &amp;quot;I can't help him with that.  That would be pretty hard.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2012/06/jets-tim-tebow-on-tedy-bruschis-advice-i-just-do-what-im-told/1?loc=interstitialskip&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Josh Hamilton&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|Used to be a drug addict, then became a born-again Christian and plays major league baseball now. He has appeared on Glenn Beck's show to talk about his faith and addiction.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Matt Hasselbeck&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|Pro Bowl quarterback is a Christian who lends his name to &amp;quot;Tweet for Youcef&amp;quot; campaign organized by the [[ACLJ]], in support of the Iranian Christian pastor who has been sentenced to death.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Gabby Douglas&lt;br /&gt;
|Gymnastics&lt;br /&gt;
|Gave glory to God upon making the cut to represent the United States in the [[Olympics 2012|2012 Olympics]], and is a favorite to medal.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Bill Laimbeer&lt;br /&gt;
|basketball&lt;br /&gt;
|led the [[Detroit Pistons]] to two [[NBA]] titles by defeating [[Michael Jordan]], [[Larry Bird]] and [[Magic Johnson]]; for a center, Laimbeer had an amazing outside shot and free-throw percentage, showing the versatility of a [[conservative]]; illustrating their [[double standard]], liberals whined about Laimbeer's rough style of play, without complaining about [[Dennis Rodman]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Tim Thomas&lt;br /&gt;
|hockey&lt;br /&gt;
|A [[conservative]], Thomas declined to attend a ceremony staged by the [[Obama]] [[White House]] after Thomas's team won the [[Stanley Cup]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/boston-bruins-goalie-snubs-president-obama-111928.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Thomas is a four-time [[NHL]] All-Star as a goalie - a great conservative position to play!&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=610011&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Curt Schilling&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|led the hopeless [[Boston Red Sox]] to a stunning [[World Series]] championship in 2004 after defeating the [[liberal]] [[New York Yankees]]; for an encore he helped Scott Brown win &amp;quot;[[Ted Kennedy|Kennedy]]'s seat,&amp;quot; an even greater upset.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Jim Bunning]]&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|former Republican Senator (KY); he pitched a perfect game with the fewest pitches ever in the National League (only 90) -- like a true conservative!  Bunning is also one of only five players to pitch a no-hitter in both the National and American Leagues.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|George Allen&lt;br /&gt;
|football coach&lt;br /&gt;
|The father of [[conservative]] Senator George Allen, the coach ran a trick play once for President [[Richard Nixon]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/GOP_drafts_NFL_talent-53346877.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Mike Ditka&lt;br /&gt;
|football player and coach&lt;br /&gt;
|outspoken pro-lifer when he was considering running for public office&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Philip Rivers &lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|endorsed [[Rick Santorum]] with a strong statement on religious values&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Janet Lynn&lt;br /&gt;
|figure skating&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Lynn&amp;quot;&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Considered One of the Greatest Freeskaters of All Time.&amp;quot; [http://figureskating.about.com/od/famousfemaleiceskater1/p/janetlynn.htm]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|&amp;quot;Before every performance she would close her eyes and give thanks and praise to God. She believed that God had given her the gift of skating and in each performance she worked to glorify God.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref name=&amp;quot;Lynn&amp;quot;/&amp;gt;  Lynn, once the highest-paid female athlete, also has written in support of conservative values.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Ted Williams]]&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball &lt;br /&gt;
|campaigned for Republicans, served as a fighter pilot, and also criticized the media, which was unfair to him, even denying him the MVP when he hit over .400 in 1941. It could be argued that [[Joe DiMaggio]]'s 56-game hit streak was more impressive that year, but the media bias was clearly a factor in the vote. One sportswriter inexplicably left Williams off his ballot entirely.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Kurt Warner]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|pro-lifer who led two ''different'' underachieving teams to the [[Super Bowl]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Zach Johnson]]&lt;br /&gt;
|golf&lt;br /&gt;
|won the [[Masters]] on [[Easter Sunday]] against the heavily favored Tiger Woods,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.fcagolf.org/masters-peace&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; when Woods was at the peak of his career, and then gave credit to [[Jesus Christ]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Richard Petty&lt;br /&gt;
|Nascar auto racing&lt;br /&gt;
|&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Trevor Bayne&lt;br /&gt;
|auto racing&lt;br /&gt;
|Gave credit to God for being the youngest Daytona 500 winner&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Pete Sampras&lt;br /&gt;
|tennis&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Winner of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|Held the record for the longest time as #1 in the world -- more than 5 years -- until tied by Roger Federer due to his winning Wimbledon in 2012.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Mary Lou Retton]]&lt;br /&gt;
|gymnastics&lt;br /&gt;
|Olympic gold medalist, delivered the Pledge of Allegiance at the 2004 Republican National Convention.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Karl Malone&lt;br /&gt;
|basketball&lt;br /&gt;
|NBA Most Valuable Player and All-Star selection. He overcame troubled youth years and became a role model. Donated to the George W. Bush campaign and visited our troops in Afghanistan. &lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Jon Runyan]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|Republican Congressman (NJ)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Steve Largent&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|former Republican Congressman (OK)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Jack Kemp]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|author of Kemp-Roth tax cuts as a Republican congressman from upstate [[New York]]; was also the vice presidential Republican candidate in 1996&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Drew Brees&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|Led the [[New Orleans Saints]] to victory in the 2009 [[Super Bowl]]--professed his belief in Jesus Christ. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&amp;amp;v=t0buCfbFuHw STV Interview with Drew Brees]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Chris Dudley &lt;br /&gt;
|basketball&lt;br /&gt;
|Republican nominee for Oregon governor&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Jim Ryun]]&lt;br /&gt;
|track&lt;br /&gt;
|former Republican Congressman (KS)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[J.C. Watts]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|former Republican Congressman (OK)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[John Elway]]&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|supporter of Republican candidates&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Lynn Swann&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|Republican candidate for governor (PA)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Jeff Suppan&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|did a pro-life ad while winning the World Series in 2006&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Billy Sunday&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|Left professional baseball and became a famous evangelist&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Rick Monday&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|In 1976 he saved an American Flag from burning at the hands of two protestors&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Dan Hampton&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|helped lead the Chicago Bears to their 1985 Super Bowl title, but declined an invitation to a ceremony held decades later by the [[Obama]] White House.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Paul Azinger&lt;br /&gt;
|golf&lt;br /&gt;
|PGA champion who criticized Obama&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Jack Lynch&lt;br /&gt;
|hurling&lt;br /&gt;
|One of the greatest ever dual players. As Taoiseach, reduced taxes and thereby increased employment in Ireland.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Lewis Hamilton&lt;br /&gt;
|auto racing&lt;br /&gt;
|outspoken Christian, describing his 2008 world championship win as &amp;quot;a blessing&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Doug Flutie&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|endorsed [[RINO]] [[Scott Brown]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Michael Jones&lt;br /&gt;
|rugby&lt;br /&gt;
|His Christian beliefs caused him to abstain from playing or training on Sundays.  Recently endorsed the conservative New Zealand National Party&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|David Icke&lt;br /&gt;
|soccer&lt;br /&gt;
|Currently best known for his outspoken opposition to attempts by [[liberal]]s to control government and people's lives.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Ewan Murray&lt;br /&gt;
|rugby&lt;br /&gt;
|Observes the Sabbath and does not play for his club (Newcastle) or country (Scotland) on Sundays.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Eric Liddell&lt;br /&gt;
|track&lt;br /&gt;
|Honoured in both Scotland and China as one of their great-ever athletes, Liddell refused to run in the 1924 Olympic 100m on a Sunday. Instead, he competed in the 400m and, though it was not his best event, he won the gold medal! Returned to China as a missionary and was devoted to helping the sick and poor.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Gavin Peacock&lt;br /&gt;
|soccer&lt;br /&gt;
|Attacking midfielder for Newcastle, Chelsea and QPR then a respected footballer commentator. From 2006, combined commentating with attending a seminary. Now training full-time for the ministry.&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Jason Robinson&lt;br /&gt;
|rugby&lt;br /&gt;
|Becoming a born-again Christian enabled him to reform his troubled personal life&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Ryan Hall&lt;br /&gt;
|Track&lt;br /&gt;
|Evangelical Christian, said God was his traner&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|[[Annie Oakley]]&lt;br /&gt;
|Sharpshooter&lt;br /&gt;
|Came to fame in her teens as an exhibition shooter, later to international fame in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. &lt;br /&gt;
|}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Stars Who Took a Conservative Position on a Specific Issue ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable sortable&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
!Athlete&lt;br /&gt;
!Sport&lt;br /&gt;
![[Conservatism]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|A.C. Green&lt;br /&gt;
|basketball&lt;br /&gt;
|record-holder for the longest number of consecutive games in the rough, injury-prone [[NBA]], Green has long been an outspoken advocate of [[abstinence]]&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Al Oerter&lt;br /&gt;
|track and field&lt;br /&gt;
|a self-confessed &amp;quot;old fashioned Olympian&amp;quot;,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.sify.com/sports/olympics/Profile/Al_Oerter.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; this four-time Olympics discus champion spoke out against the use of steroids and their harmful effects during a time when other athletes were relying on them&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Bubba Smith&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|one of the greatest defensive lineman, Bubba Smith gave up a lucrative contract to do beer commercials because he was concerned about the effect that alcohol has on people&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|David Tyree&lt;br /&gt;
|football&lt;br /&gt;
|hero of the upset victory by the New York Giants in the 2008 [[Super Bowl]] with a phenomenal catch, Tyree spoke out against [[same-sex marriage]], and later tweeted: &amp;quot;People of faith ... direct some prayers my way.  Got darts comin from every direction. Blessed are those persecuted for [[Jesus|His name]]'s sake.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=6667583&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
|Honus Wagner&lt;br /&gt;
|baseball&lt;br /&gt;
|great shortstop of the early 20th century. refused to be on baseball cards that promoted cigarettes.&lt;br /&gt;
|}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== References ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;references/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Essay:Greatest Conservative Songs]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Essay:Greatest Conservative Movies]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Essay:Greatest Conservative Television Shows]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Essays]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Sports]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Miami_Dolphins&amp;diff=994189</id>
		<title>Miami Dolphins</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Miami_Dolphins&amp;diff=994189"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:55:23Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: removed entire roster section, is hopelessly out of date and it's likely no one will come to conservapedia to get that info&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;[[Image:Dolphins.jpg|right|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The '''Miami Dolphins''' are an American professional [[football]] team based in Miami, Florida. They are part of the [[National Football League]] (NFL), and are the oldest major-league professional sports franchise in the state of Florida.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Miami Dolphins are part of the [[American Football Conference]] (AFC) and play in the AFC East Division with the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and league rivals The New York Jets.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Dolphins play home games at Dolphins Stadium (formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium and Pro Player Stadium)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==History==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The team was founded by Joseph Robbie and began playing in the American Football League as an expansion team in 1966.  They joined the NFL with the AFL-NFL Merger. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The team made its first Super Bowl appearance following the 1971 season in Super Bowl VI, losing to the Dallas Cowboys. In 1972, the Dolphins completed the NFL's fourth undefeated regular season and won the [[Super Bowl]], making them the only team to complete a Perfect Season.  The team also won Super Bowl VIII, making them first team to appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, and the second team to win back-to-back championships. Miami also appeared in Super Bowl XVII and Super Bowl XIX, but lost both games.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Dolphins were coached by Don Shula, the most successful head coach in professional football history, for the majority of their history.  Under his leadership, The Dolphins had losing records in only two of 26 seasons.  Six future Hall of Fame members played for Miami during the 70s, including running back Larry Csonka and quarterback Bob Griese. During the 1980s and 1990s quarterback Dan Marino became the most prolific passer in NFL history, breaking numerous league passing records. He led the Dolphins to numerous playoff appearances and Super Bowl XIX.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Allen_Iverson&amp;diff=994187</id>
		<title>Allen Iverson</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Allen_Iverson&amp;diff=994187"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:51:24Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''Allen Iverson''', known as &amp;quot;The Answer&amp;quot;, is a professional basketball player who is currently a free agent and last layed professionally in Turkey. He was drafted first overall in the [[1996 NBA Draft]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Listed at 6'0&amp;quot;, 180 lbs., the diminutive guard is considered to be one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the NBA. His career scoring average of 27.5 points per game is third-highest of all-time, behind only [[Wilt Chamberlain]] and [[Michael Jordan]]. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/career_stats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In his earlier years he ran into several legal issues, with the most documented incident involving the 5-year sentence he received for assault from an incident that occurred while he was in high school. Iverson served four months in jail before receiving a controversial pardon from Governor Douglas Wilder.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1132515/bio&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Accomplishments==&lt;br /&gt;
* Rookie of the Year Award (1997)&lt;br /&gt;
* Four Scoring Titles&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Most Valuable Player]] Award (2001)&lt;br /&gt;
* 8-time All-Star&lt;br /&gt;
* 7-time All-NBA&lt;br /&gt;
* Summer Olympics Bronze Medal (2004)&lt;br /&gt;
* 2-time All-Star MVP (2001, 2005)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For all his individual achievements, with the exception of the NBA Finals run in 2001, Iverson has had limited playoff success. Many attribute this to the minimal talent on the teams he had played on, while some critics contend his style of play is detrimental to team success. The 2001 trip to the Finals was considered one of the most improbable runs in NBA playoff history, but ended when they fell to the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] in five games.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/bio.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;References/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Basketball Players|Iverson, Allen]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Allen_Iverson&amp;diff=994186</id>
		<title>Allen Iverson</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Allen_Iverson&amp;diff=994186"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:51:12Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: update&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''Allen Iverson''', known as &amp;quot;The Answer&amp;quot;, is a professional basketball player who is currently a free agent and last layed professionally in Turkey. He was drafted first overall in the [[1996 NBA Draft]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Listed at 6'0&amp;quot;, 180 lbs., the diminutive guard is considered to be one of the most prolific scorers in the history of the NBA. His career scoring average of 27.5 points per game is third-highest of all-time, behind only [[Wilt Chamberlain]] and [[Michael Jordan]]. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/career_stats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In his earlier years he ran into several legal issues, with the most documented incident involving the 5-year sentence he received for assault from an incident that occurred while he was in high school. Iverson served four months in jail before receiving a controversial pardon from Governor Douglas Wilder.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1132515/bio&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Accomplishments==&lt;br /&gt;
* Rookie of the Year Award (1997)&lt;br /&gt;
* Four Scoring Titles&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Most Valuable Player]] Award (2001)&lt;br /&gt;
* 8-time All-Star&lt;br /&gt;
* 7-time All-NBA&lt;br /&gt;
* Summer Olympics Bronze Medal (2004)&lt;br /&gt;
* 2-time All-Star MVP (2001,2005)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For all his individual achievements, with the exception of the NBA Finals run in 2001, Iverson has had limited playoff success. Many attribute this to the minimal talent on the teams he had played on, while some critics contend his style of play is detrimental to team success. The 2001 trip to the Finals was considered one of the most improbable runs in NBA playoff history, but ended when they fell to the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] in five games.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/bio.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;References/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Basketball Players|Iverson, Allen]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Bill_Ritter&amp;diff=994185</id>
		<title>Bill Ritter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Bill_Ritter&amp;diff=994185"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:46:59Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: update&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Officeholder&lt;br /&gt;
|name=Bill Ritter&lt;br /&gt;
|image=Gov_ritter.jpg‎ &lt;br /&gt;
|party=[[Democrat]]&lt;br /&gt;
|spouse=Jeannie Miller&lt;br /&gt;
|religion=Roman Catholic&lt;br /&gt;
|offices=&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
	{{Officeholder/governor&lt;br /&gt;
	|state=Colorado&lt;br /&gt;
	|terms=January 9, 2007 – Present&lt;br /&gt;
	|preceded=Bill Owens&lt;br /&gt;
	|former=n&lt;br /&gt;
	|succeeded=&lt;br /&gt;
	}}&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''August William &amp;quot;Bill&amp;quot; Ritter, Jr.''' (born September 6, 1956) is the former District Attorney for [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], and served as Governor of the State of Colorado from 2007-2011. A [[Democrat]] and a Catholic, Ritter is generally takes [[liberal]] positions, aside from his centrist views on [[abortion]] and his opposition to labor unions. He supports socialized medicine, environmentalism, housing subsidies and welfare increases.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Coming into office Ritter signed legislation requiring utility companies to get 20% of their power from renewable resources by 2020 and in April 2008 signed a bill that established a goal of reducing [[greenhouse gas]] emissions in Colorado 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Almanac of American Politics, 2010&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[http://www.colorado.gov/governor/ Official Website]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;references/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Colorado Governors]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Democratic Governors]]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Bill}}&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994184</id>
		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=994184"/>
				<updated>2012-07-17T02:33:30Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: corrections&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| children     =&lt;br /&gt;
| death        = 2009(approx.)&lt;br /&gt;
| deathmanner  = unknown.&lt;br /&gt;
| burial       =&lt;br /&gt;
| country      =Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands. In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
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Ramos, M. G., Villatoro, MAA, Urquiaga, S, Alves, BJR and: Boddey, RM 2001 Quantification of the contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to tropical green manure crops and the residual benefit to a subsequent maize crop using super(15)N-isotope techniques J. Biotechnol. 91 (2-3)105-115&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rodriguez, Felix I. and John Weisman 1989 Shadow Warrior/the CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles Simon &amp;amp; Schuster, New York ISBN 0671667211&lt;br /&gt;
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Rojo del Río, Manuel. 1981 La Historia Cambio En La Sierra. Editorial Texto, San José, Costa Rica 2a Ed. Aumentada &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Roloff y Mialofsky, Carlos and Gerardo Forrest 1901. Yndice Alfabetico y Difunctiones del Ejercito Libertador de Cuba. Edited under the official direction of Leonard Wood. Printed in Havana by Rambla y Bauza&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
La Rosa Corzo, Gabino (translated by Mary Todd) [1988] 2003 Runaway Slave Settlements in Cuba: Resistance and Repression University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill ISBN 0807828033 ISBN 0807854794&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rowan, Andrew Summers 1896 The island of Cuba; A descriptive and historical account of the &amp;quot;Great Antilla.&amp;quot; H. Holt and company, ASIN B00086NGHU&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rowan, Andrew Summers 1922 How I carried the message to Garcia W.D. Harney ASIN B00086V3FW&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rubens, Horatio S. 1932 “Liberty. The Story of Cuba” AMS Press New York, 1970 reprint of 1932 edition.  SBN 404-00633-7 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Smith, Earl T. 1962 (1990 edition) The fourth floor. Selous Foundation Press, Washington DC. ISBN 09442730682&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Spikes, Daniel 1993 Angola and the Politics of Intervention: From Local Bush War to Chronic Crisis in Southern Africa McFarland &amp;amp; Company Jefferson, North Carolina and London ISBN 089950888X&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Tejera, Noel; Ortega, Eduardo; Rodes, Rosa; and Lluch, Carmen 2006 Nitrogen compounds in the apoplastic sap of sugarcane stem: Some implications in the association with endophytes. J. Plant Physiology, 163 (1)80-85&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Tennant, Gary 1999 Dissident Cuban communism: the case of Trotskyism, 1932-1965  PhD Thesis, University of Bradford, England . http://www.cubantrotskyism.net/PhD/central.html&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thomas, Gordon and Max Morgan Witts 1974 Voyage of the Damned Stein and Day Publishers; 1st Edition edition (1974) Stein and Day, Briarcliff Manor, New York ASIN B000BKOCGM&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hugh Thomas Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom (Paperback) Da Capo Press; Updated edition (April, 1998) ISBN 0306808277&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Thomas-Woodward, Tiffany (accessed 1/29/2006) Towards the gates of eternity: Celia Sánchez Manduley and the creation of Cuba’s new woman. Project Muse http://muse.jhu.edu&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
U.S. State Department 1950-1954. Confidential Central files Cuba 1950-1954 Internal Affairs Decimal Numbers 737, 837 and 937, Foreign Affairs decimal numbers 637 611.37 Microfilm Project University of Publications of America, Inc. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/Confidential_Files-Nov-1952-July-1953.pdf http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/Confidential_Files-Aug-1953-Oct-1954.pdf&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Velazquez, Loreta Janeta 1876  (2003 Editor Andrews, William L.) &lt;br /&gt;
The Woman in Battle (The Civil War Narrative of Loreta Janeta Velazques, Cuban Woman and Confederate Soldier).  University of Wisconsin Press 2003 ISBN 0299194248&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Volkman, Ernest 1995 Our man in Havana. Cuban double agents 1961-1987 Castro stings the CIA in: Espionage: The Greatest Spy Operations of the Twentieth Century Wiley, New York ISBN 0471161578&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wegman ME Infant mortality: some international comparisons. Pediatrics; 98(6 Pt 1):1020-7, 1996 “Comparison of infant mortality rates (IMRs) among the world's countries requires assessment of completeness and accuracy of data. The United Nations Statistical Office classifies as [quot ]C[quot ], complete, meaning at least 90% of events are actually recorded, 1994 data supplied by 80 governments,”&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Weiland, C. F. (Carl Ferdinand), (d. 1847) 1855 &lt;br /&gt;
West Indien. Geographisches Institut (Weimar, Germany) [http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps960006-24795.html]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Zayas y Alfonso, Alfredo 1914. “Lexografía Antillana” El Siglo XX Press, Havana&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Zimmerman, Robert 1958 Our Man in Havana: Viking ISBN 067053141 laneta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=James_E._Albright&amp;diff=994022</id>
		<title>James E. Albright</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=James_E._Albright&amp;diff=994022"/>
				<updated>2012-07-16T18:37:45Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''James Ernest Albright''' (November 12, 1863 - 1949) was a military officer in the [[United States Army]], rising to the rank of [[Major General|Major General]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He is recognized for serving in the [[Spanish-American War]], [[Philippine-American War]], and in [[World War I]].&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albright, James E.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: American war heroes]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=993787</id>
		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=993787"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T19:03:33Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| children     =&lt;br /&gt;
| death        = 2009(approx.)&lt;br /&gt;
| deathmanner  = unknown.&lt;br /&gt;
| burial       =&lt;br /&gt;
| country      =Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro is an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands.  He has not been seen publicly since July 2006, when he underwent intestinal surgery, and is presumably no longer alive as of December 2009; the communists running Cuba have no incentive to risk challenge to their power by announcing that he passed away.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;''[http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-215_162-1859015.html State Secret: Is Castro Dead?]'', Brian Goodman, ''CBS News'', September 22, 2009.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; After a long absence from the public eye, he was purportedly shown in photographs in June of 2010, released by the Cuban State News Agency. In August 2010, the Associated Press had a story of a purported Castro speech to the Cuban parliament. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/06/cuba-state-tv-fidel-castro-attend-parliament-meeting-time-years-1415326051/?test=latestnews&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  ''The fact remains there hasn't been a reputable, independent account of Castro being alive in nearly a year.'' Other authoritarian regimes, such as [[North Korea]] and [[Nazi Germany]] have engaged in &amp;quot;body-doubles&amp;quot; and actor/impersonators to hide the death or incapacitation of despots in the past. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.mahalo.com/kim-jong-il-body-doubles Kim Jong Il Body Doubles]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.blackraiser.com/nredoubt/identity.htm Hitler body-double]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party, but it has not been confirmed that this was not a ruse. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
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&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=993786</id>
		<title>Fidel Castro</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fidel_Castro&amp;diff=993786"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T19:02:41Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;div&gt;{{Dictator bio&lt;br /&gt;
| image        =[[File:young_castro_2.jpg|200px]]&lt;br /&gt;
| name         =Fidel Castro&lt;br /&gt;
| birth        =August 13, 1926&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Birán, Oriente Province, [[Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
| parents      =Angel Castro y Argiz&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Lina Ruz González&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(out of wedlock)&lt;br /&gt;
| religion     =Atheist&lt;br /&gt;
| education    =University of Havana&lt;br /&gt;
| spouse       =Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)&lt;br /&gt;
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)&lt;br /&gt;
| children     =&lt;br /&gt;
| death        = 2009(approx.)&lt;br /&gt;
| deathmanner  = unknown.&lt;br /&gt;
| burial       =&lt;br /&gt;
| country      =Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| military     =26th of July Movement&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;(guerrilla organization)&lt;br /&gt;
| rank         =n/a&lt;br /&gt;
| polbeliefs   =[[Socialism]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
| party        =Communist Party of Cuba&lt;br /&gt;
| dictatordate =July, 1959&lt;br /&gt;
| war          =[[Cuban Revolution]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Angola]]n Civil War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;War in [[Mozambique]]&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Ethiopia]]n Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;Cuban Missile Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Congo]] Crisis&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[El Salvador]]an Guerilla War&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt;[[Nicaragua]]n Civil War&lt;br /&gt;
| deathnumber  =150,000 at home&amp;lt;br/&amp;gt; 500-1,000,000 in Angola&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
'''Fidel Castro''' (born August 13, 1926) was the brutal [[communist]] [[dictator]] of [[Cuba]] from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro iss an [[atheism|atheist]]. &lt;br /&gt;
He reveled in worship of him by the public.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He held the posts of [[Prime Minister|prime minister]] (1959-1976) and president of the Council of State and president of the Council of Ministers (1976-2008).&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cu.html#Govt&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; His oppressive rule lasted almost 50 years and killed scores of thousands.  He has not been seen publicly since July 2006, when he underwent intestinal surgery, and is presumably no longer alive as of December 2009; the communists running Cuba have no incentive to risk challenge to their power by announcing that he passed away.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;''[http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-215_162-1859015.html State Secret: Is Castro Dead?]'', Brian Goodman, ''CBS News'', September 22, 2009.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; After a long absence from the public eye, he was purportedly shown in photographs in June of 2010, released by the Cuban State News Agency. In August 2010, the Associated Press had a story of a purported Castro speech to the Cuban parliament. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/08/06/cuba-state-tv-fidel-castro-attend-parliament-meeting-time-years-1415326051/?test=latestnews&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  ''The fact remains there hasn't been a reputable, independent account of Castro being alive in nearly a year.'' Other authoritarian regimes, such as [[North Korea]] and [[Nazi Germany]] have engaged in &amp;quot;body-doubles&amp;quot; and actor/impersonators to hide the death or incapacitation of despots in the past. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.mahalo.com/kim-jong-il-body-doubles Kim Jong Il Body Doubles]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.blackraiser.com/nredoubt/identity.htm Hitler body-double]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In April 2011, Castro allegedly stepped down as head of the Cuban communist Party, but it has not been confirmed that this was not a ruse. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=41125&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{cquote|'''I think its time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a business man who had escaped from Castro.  And in the midst of one of his stories, my friends turned to the other and said, ‘we don’t know how lucky ''we'' are.’  ''And the Cuban stopped and said, ‘How lucky YOU are, I had some place to escape to.’'' In that sentence he told us the entire story of Cuba, and Castro. &amp;lt;small&amp;gt;-- [[Ronald Reagan]]&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt; &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY &amp;quot;A Time for Choosing&amp;quot; by Ronald Reagan]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;}}&amp;lt;br /&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Early years of Castro ==&lt;br /&gt;
There is much that is not known of Castro's rural youth.  However, it is generally conceded that his father was [[Ángel María Bautista Castro y Argiz]] and his mother [[Lina Ruz González]].  Official biographies are essentially hagiographies and the more extreme of his many detractors portray a wild and irregular life typical of a the worst element of his class.  Castro has numerous siblings of various combination of parentage; for instance, it is widely believed that Raul Castro has the same mother but is not a son of Fidel Castro's father.  The most accepted biography is that of Geyer 2002 &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; while a new series biographies by Norberto Fuentes (2004, and later),&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; a former propagandist for the Cuban Government, are attracting attention.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
During his student years Fidel Castro was deeply involved in lethal violence.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; This violence also extended overseas to his involvement in the 1948 Colombian Bogotazo.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bowden, Mark  2002 Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw. Penguin ISBN-10 0142000957&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13 978-014200095 e,g  Page 4: &amp;quot;... But the event had also attracted critics, leftist agitators, among them a young Cuban student leader named Fidel Castro. To them the fledgling OAS was a sop, a sellout, an alliance with the gringo imperialists of the north. … The young rebels like the twenty-one year old Castro anticipated a decade of revolution ...&amp;quot;  Page 7: &amp;quot;... cities. Many policemen, devotees of the slain leader, joined the angry mobs in the streets, as did student revolutionaries like Castro. The leftists donned red armbands and tried to direct the crowd, ...&amp;quot; State Departments reports by William Wieland mention Rafael del Pino but oddly omit mention of Fidel Castro &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Davis, Jack Posted May 08, 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) The Bogotazo,  CIA Archives https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm &lt;br /&gt;
Central Intelligence Agency Posted May 08 2007 (accessed 6-2-08) https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/docs/v13i4a07p_0004.htm  page 4 “There were many foreign radicals in Bogota at the time, to advertise their causes in the publicity extended to the Conference of American States. Fidel Castro, then 22 years old, happened to be one of them. Thorough investigations indicate that he played only a minor role. Castro subsequently reported that he tried to turn the mob into a revolutionary force, but was defeated by the onset of drunkenness and looting. The episode may have influenced his adoption in Cuba in the 1950s of a guerrilla strategy rather than one of revolution through urban disorders.” &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Castro was trained as a lawyer studying at the University of Havana. In 1953 he led the first of many assaults against the ruling military regime of general [[Fulgencio Batista]]. A 1953 attack against military barracks in Santiago de Cuba was a failure,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and Castro, alongside his brother Raul, was captured they, unlike a number of his companions, were spared irregular execution by intervention of Roman Catholic Church members. In a courtroom speech in his defense (heavily edited in published form, and titled &amp;quot;La Historia me absolverá&amp;quot;, or &amp;quot;History will absolve me&amp;quot;), Castro outlined his plans for reforms, demanding a return to the 1940 constitution, the ending of corrupt practices and a more equal distribution of land. There was no formal death penalty in Cuba at the time. After three years of incarceration on the Isle of Youth (then Isle of Pines), both Castro brothers were released during an amnesty.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Upon release, the Castro brothers relocated to [[Mexico]] to avoid imminent reprisals from paramilitary groups affiliated with the Batista regime, lead by former communist and long time rival of Castro [[Roland Masferrer]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Masferrer, Marc, 2006 Rolando Masferrer, the man from Holguín http://marcmasferrer.typepad.com/uncommon_sense/2006/10/rolando_masferr.html and also http://www.cuban-exile.com/menu2/2rolando.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. In [[Mexico]] Castro organized a group of revolutionaries to return to Cuba and overthrow Batista. They became known as the 26th of July movement. This group included the Argentinian [[Che Guevara]]. In December 1956 Castro and 81 others boarded the Granma yacht, sailed to eastern Cuba, and began the armed struggle against the current regime. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The landing was preceded in Santiago and the rest of Oriente Province by an armed rising of the 26 of July urban Militia, a non-communist organization, lead by [[Frank Pais]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alvarez, Jose 2008 Principio y Fin del Mito Fidelista. Trafford Publishing, Victoria, BC Canada  ISBN-10 1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
ISBN-13: 978-1425154042 http://www.amazon.com/Principio-fin-del-mito-fidelista/dp/1425154042&lt;br /&gt;
This is the most up to date description of the crucial role that the non-communist militia of Frank Pais played in the &amp;quot;War Against Batista.&amp;quot;  Without Frank Pais there would not have been a &amp;quot;Fidel Castro.&amp;quot;  This book describes in detail and with dispassionate analysis how Frank Pais supported the Castro effort and how he was betrayed, and killed.  It is a sad and only too real description of the hijacking of the resistance against Batista by communist activists including Castro himself.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; In the mountains the guidance of the bandit [[Cresencio Perez]], and and a few communist [[sleepers]] who had been placed in the Sierra for some time under the direction of stalinist agent [[Fabio Grobart]] was important.  Some local [[guajiros]] in the remote Sierra Maestra region joined in to became the nucleus of the critical scouting and picketing force of [[Escopeteros]] who screened the better armed Castro main force.  The support and guidance from revolutionary groups in the cities of Santiago, [[Havana]], elsewhere in Cuba and overseas was critical. The support of the U.S. State Department, mediated by [[William Weiland]] (aka Guillermo Arturo Montenegro) was significant from the time of the Bogotazo, through the [[Bay of Pigs]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Smith, Earl E.T. 1962 (last accessed 9-29-07) The Fourth Floor: An Account of the Castro Communist Revolution Random House ASIN: B000H5CT5M&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
By 1958, military attacks against Batista's army were having some success,&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; and the revolution was gaining national support. Castro maintained a position of diplomatic neutrality amongst various revolutionary factions, which included upper and middle class liberals, guajiros, and agricultural workers, communists and others, and hence was able to assume the position of director of the revolution. He was also largely successful in courting international support via astute and careful use of the media. Officials within the CIA and the United States government were divided over whether to support Castro. Some believed that Batista had become a liability, and that his overthrow was inevitable. Other officials feared the influence of known communists in Castro's camp including Guevara, though Castro himself repeatedly stressed that he himself was not a communist. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The revolution finally succeeded in late 1958, and on January 1st 1959, Batista left the country. Castro had chosen exiled leaders Manuel Urrutia Lleó and José Miró Cardona, both anti-communist liberals with good relations with the U.S., to head the new government. Castro himself became head of the new armed forces. However, the increasing presence of communists in the decision making process created an early split in the government. Castro and Urrutia both insisted publicly that they had relations with each other, but Urrutia and Miró resigned only months later, and Castro, with support from mass organizations, assumed the position of prime minister. Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, a former Commodore of the Cienfuegos Yacht Club became president and head of state.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==In Power== &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The process of obtaining permanent power was dramatic, traumatic and bloody.  From 1959 on, mass killings of dissidents were carried out as a matter of course by the infamous &amp;quot;''firing squads.''&amp;quot;   Immediately after the Communist take-over, some 2,500 army officers were rounded up and shot dead.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  [[Che Guevara]] reportedly stayed up late into the night signing death warrants for defenseless &amp;quot;reactionaries.&amp;quot;  Tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Frank Calzon, Castro’s Gulag (Council for Inter-American Security, 1979).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Desperate crowds of weeping daughters and shrieking mothers were clubbed with rifle butts as they pleaded for their family members to be spared.  One of Castro's exiled opponents describes it this way:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''&amp;quot;The Castro regime came to power by deception and terror, resulting in what can only be described as a state of war against the Cuban people. Executions, labor camps, forced re-locations and exile, and the imposition of a repressive military police force to exercise control over civilian society.&amp;quot;''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;&amp;quot;Ziva&amp;quot; 6-8-08 Human Rights Advocacy and the Role of the Media. Babalublog http://www.babalublog.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As prime minister, and then president from 1976, Castro ruled the country in line with Stalinist policies, seizing [[private property]] and eliminating [[free speech]] and [[free press]]. He was infamous for his overly long speeches, often rambling on for hours, which can be seen as an example of [[Liberal style]]. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, who had been in regular contact with the KGB since 1956 and who used Soviet arms during his guerilla war, welcomed the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba to deter an American attack.  This decision precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, a major confrontation in the Cold War that nearly resulted in the cataclysmic death of millions.  According to Guevara:  &amp;quot;If the [Soviet nuclear] rockets had remained, we would have used them all and directed them against the very heart of the United States, including New York.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;UPI, December 10, 1962.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Nikita Khrushchev wrote&lt;br /&gt;
that, according to Castro, &amp;quot;we needed to immediately deliver a nuclear missile strike&lt;br /&gt;
against the United States… a proposal that placed the planet on the brink of extinction.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James G. Blight et al., Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (Rowman &amp;amp; Littlefield, 2002), pp29.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Fidel&lt;br /&gt;
Castro admitted: &amp;quot;I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid, pp. 252&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  On October 26, 1962, the USS Beale had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on the B-59, a Soviet Project 641 (NATO designation Foxtrot) submarine which, unknown to the U.S., was armed with a 15 kiloton nuclear torpedo. Running out of air, the Soviet submarine was surrounded by American warships and desperately needed to surface.  Captain Valentin Savitsky ordered his crew to prepare the use of a nuclear torpedo against the Americans, but crew member Vasili Arkhipov stepped in and quite literally saved the world.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States maintained a strict embargo on Cuba.  As a result, Castro sought close ties with anti-American Communist states, and became dependant on aid from Moscow.  He supplied massive amounts of military aid to [[North Korea]] and especially to [[North Vietnam]], where Cuban forces allegedly helped torture American POWs during the [[Vietnam War]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ever eager to make trouble, Castro dispatched Che to assist the Chinese-and Soviet-backed &amp;quot;Simbas&amp;quot; of Laurent Kabila in the [[Congo]], who were &amp;quot;murdering, raping and munching (many were cannibals) their way through the defenseless Europeans still left in the recently abandoned Belgian colony.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4455-the-real-che-guevara.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The [[CIA]] fought a proxy war with Communist forces in the Congo, which descended into a complex maze of chaotic maneuverings and betrayals by several major world powers.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, all the while maintaining an &amp;quot;anti-imperialist&amp;quot; political posture, would intervene extensively in the internal affairs of African nations through violence and war.  Cuban military intervention to save the communist MPLA dictatorship in [[Angola]] from collapse led to decades of civil war that cost as many as 1 million lives.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Médecins Sans Frontières, “Angola: An Alarming Nutritional Situation,” August 1999&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Castro also dispatched Cuban troops to fight on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in [[Ethiopia]], which killed 1.25 million people through massacre and forced starvation.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Washington Post, March 18, 1978 (Ethiopia intervention); New York Times, December 14, 1994 (Ethiopia death toll).&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Soviet and Cuban support for communist violence caused civil wars in [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]] and [[Guatemala]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Alberto R. Coll, “Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil,” World Affairs, Summer 1985.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Support from the Cuban government was also given to terrorists from the [[PLO]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y02/apr02/15e6.htm Castro's Anti-Semitism and the PLO]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has repeatedly ordered acts of war against the United States.  Beyond the missile crisis, Castro maintains a huge electronic espionage complex directed at U.S. shores, conducts research into biological warfare and sponsors international terrorist groups.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2802-starve-the-castro-regime-help-the-cuban-people&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuban intelligence had ties with the Communist [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], who later assassinated President [[John F. Kennedy]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;htmlhttp://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=28091&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In the seventies, Castro deliberately sent dozens of dangerous criminals to US shores;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/peopleevents/e_exiles.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; he responded to overtures from President [[Bill Clinton]] by ordering a deadly attack on an American plane.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.democracynow.org/2004/6/22/bill_clinton_loses_his_cool_in&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
On February 23, 1988, the Cuban poet Armando Valladares, who was a prisoner in the Cuban gulag for 22 years, addressed the [[United Nations]] Commission on Human Rights.  In his speech, he stated:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
I recall when they kept me in a punishment cell, naked, with several fractures on one leg which never received medical care; today, those bones remain jammed up together and displaced. One of the regular drills among the guards was to stand on the steel mesh ceiling and throw at my face buckets full of urine and excrement.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Mr. Chairman, I know the taste of the urine and the excrement of other men: That practice does not leave marks; marks are left by beatings with steel rods and by bayonet thrusts. My head is still covered with scars and you can feel the cracks.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
But, what can inflict more damage to human dignity, the urine and excrements thrown all over your face or a bayonet's blow? Which is the appropriate article for the discussion of this subject? Under which technical point does it fall? Under what batch of papers, numbers, lines and bars should we include this trampling of human dignity?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The violation of human rights was not a matter of reports, of negotiated resolutions, of elegant and diplomatic rhetoric, for us it was a daily suffering.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
For me it meant eight thousand days of hunger, of systematic beatings, of hard labor, of solitary confinement, of cells with steel-planked windows and doors, of solitude.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Eight thousand days of struggling to prove that I was a human being. Eight thousand days of proving that my spirit could triumph over exhaustion and pain. Eight thousand days of testing my religious convictions, my faith, of fighting the hate my atheist jailers were trying to instill in me with each bayonet thrust, fighting so that hate would not flourish in my heart. Eight thousand days of struggling so that I would not become like them, rejecting torture as a mean to fight, forcing myself to forgive, rejecting the thoughts of revenge, reprisal and cruelty.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/625-torture-in-castro-s-cuba.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/blockquote&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro's policies imposed poverty and slavery on millions.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Nick Eberstadt, The Poverty of Communism (Transaction Publishers, 1990), pp188, 196-206, 240-6.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In 1959, Cuba was the second richest country in Latin America; today, it is the second poorest.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/5404-castro-s-cuba-at-fifty-no-freedom-no-fish.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Most pharmacies in Cuba do not even have aspirins.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/4402-aid-from-self-serving-autocrats.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  Cuba is plagued with a humanitarian catastrophe involving massive and widespread malnutrition and lack of basic goods; death, suffering, and misery is the result.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/world/cuba/2538-bad-cuban-medicine.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The streets are now choked with scenes of starving peasants frantically pleading for food.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Ibid.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  In September 2010, Castro admitted that &amp;quot;the Cuban model doesn't even work.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;   &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro has been accused of genocide by ''Genocide Watch.''&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.genocidewatch.org/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  He has been sued for genocide in [[Belgium]] and [[Spain]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/castrosuedgenocide.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The estimated number of deaths attributable to the Castro regime varies according to different sources—but not by much.  The number of named, documented victims (with 2 or more sources) established by recent scholarship is 86,000, excluding an estimated minimum&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.cubaverdad.net/genocide.htm&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; of 16,282 deaths in war and combat, for a conservative total of 112,000.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://cubaarchive.org/home/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  R.J. Rummel, in his book ''Statistics of Democide'' estimates a range of 35-141,000 killed, which may underestimate the full toll by as much as 50%, since it only covers the years 1959-87.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/POSTWWII.HTM&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The most comprehensive survey, by Armando Lago, puts the total at 116,730-119,730 killed.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat6.htm#Cuba59&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The majority (85,000) of these deaths were caused by drowning; the firing squads account for some 30,000.  Adding combat deaths to his calculations, we arrive at a total of some 136,000 Cubans killed by the Castro regime.  Little effort has been made to calculate boat people deaths in recent years.  Cuban exiles claim that as many as 200,000 have been murdered altogether.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.therealcuba.com/&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;  The death toll from Cuban interventions abroad can be numbered in the hundreds of thousands.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Other Sources==&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Alba, Víctor 1968 Politics and the labor movement in Latin America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. ASIN B0006BNYGK&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Álvarez Batista, Gerónimo 1983. III Frente a las puertas de Santiago. Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ameringer, Charles D 1995 The Caribbean Legion Patriots, Politicians, Soldiers of Fortune, 1946-1950 Pennsylvania State University Press (December, 1995) (Paperback) ISBN 0271014520&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anderson, Jon Lee 1997. Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, Bantam Press, ISBN 0553406647 or Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-1600-0&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Anton, Alex and Roger E. Hernandez 2002 Cubans in America: A Vibrant History of a People in Exile Kensington Publishing Corporation (May, 2002) ISBN 157566593X&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Bonachea, Ramon L and Marta San Martin 1974. The Cuban insurrection 1952-1959. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswik, New Jersey ISBN 0878555765&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Carrillo, Justo 1985 Cuba 1933: Estudiantes, Yanquis y Soldados.  University of Miami Iberian Studies Institute ISBN 0935501002 Transaction Publishers (January 1994) ISBN 1560006900&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Castro, Fidel 1972 (editors Bonachea, Rolando E. and Nelson P. Valdéz) Revolutionary Struggle. 1947-1958. MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts and London ISBN 0262020653&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
de la Cova, Antonio Rafael. 2007 The Moncada Attack: Birth of the Cuban Revolution.. University of South Carolina Press ISBN-10: 1570036721 ISBN-13: 978-1570036729 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Duarte Oropesa, José 1989 Historiología Cubana.  Ediciones Universal Miami Vol 1. ISBN 0897294904, All volumes  ISBN 8439925808&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
El'Toro, John Demico Chicano 2005 Cuban Secrets: I look like a Jackson Tribunal Publishing Corporation (July, 2005) ISBN 0544235617&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Enamorado, Calixto 1917 Tiempos. Heroicos Persecucion. Rambla, Bauza and Company, Havana. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Encinosa, Enrique G. l989 La Guerra Olvidada Un Libro Historico De Los Combatientes Anticastristas En Cuba (1960-1966). Editorial SIBI, Miami &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Evans, Walker (Photographer), and [[Andrei Codrescu]] 2001 Walker Evans: Cuba (Hardcover) J. Paul Getty Trust Publications ISBN 0892366176&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Fermoselle, Rafael 1992 Cuban leadership after Castro: Biographies of Cuba's top commanders. North-South Center, University of Miami, Research Institute for Cuban Studies; 2nd ed. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Humberto Fontova|Fontova, Humberto]] 2005 Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant. Regnery Publishing Company, Washington DC. ISBN 0895260433&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Fuentes, Norberto 2004 La Autobiografia De Fidel Castro Editorial Planeta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
George, Edward 2005 The Cuban Intervention In Angola, 1965-1991: From Che Guevara To Cuito Cuanavale. Frank Cass Publishers, London &amp;amp; Portland, Oregon ISBN 0415350158 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gonzalez, Servando 2002 The Secret Fidel Castro: Deconstructing the Symbol. Spooks Books, U.S.  ISBN 0971139105 ISBN 0971139113&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Greene, Graham 1958 Our Man in Havana: Viking ISBN 067053141 laneta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Guevara, Ernesto “Che” (and Waters, Mary Alice editor) 1996 Episodes of the Cuban Revolutionary War 1956-1958. Pathfinder New York (see reference to “El Viscaíno” on page 186). ISBN 0873488245.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara Guerrilla attack on the Barracks de la Plata. In: The Mammoth book of War Stories. Jon. E. Lewis, editor, Carroll &amp;amp; Graf Publishers, New York 1999 Edition Printed and bound in United Kingdom. ISBN 0786706295 pp. 507-512. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Gutiérrez, Pedro Juan 1998 (Translation 2001) Dirty Havana Trilogy, Faber and Faber, London ISBN 0571206263&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Geyer, Georgie Anne 2002 Guerrilla Prince. Andrews McMeel Publishing Kansas City ISBN 0740720643&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Jimenez Pastrana, Juan 1983. Los Chinos en la Historia de Cuba: 1847-1930. Editorial de Sciencias Sociales, Havana,&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kapcia A. 2002. The Siege of the Hotel Nacional, Cuba, 1933: A Reassessment. Journal of Latin American Studies, 34, 283-309.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kelshall, Gaylord T. M. 1994 The U-Boat War in the Caribbean United States Naval Institute Annapolis Maryland ISBN 1557504520&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kissinger, Henry 2000 Years of renewal. Simon &amp;amp; Schuster ISBN 0684855720&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Kost, William E. 2004 Cuban agriculture: to be or not to be organic. Cuba in Transition 14, 274-281.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Lagas, Jacques 1964 Memorias de un capitán rebelde. Editorial del Pácifico. Santiago, Chile.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Lazo, Mario 1968 Dagger in the heart: American policy failures in Cuba. Twin Circle. NewYork&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Lazo, Rodrigo 2005 Writing to Cuba Filibustering and Cuban Exiles in the United States. University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 0807855944&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Loiret, F; Ortega, E; Kleiner, D; Ortega-Rodes, P; Rodes, R; Dong, Z 2004 A putative new endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Pantoea sp. from sugarcane  J. Appl. Microbiol., 97 (3) 504-511.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
López, Juan J. 2003 Democracy Delayed: The Case of Castro's Cuba The Johns Hopkins University Press Baltimore Maryland ISBN 0801870461&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Lowinger, Rosa and Ofelia Fox 2005 Tropicana Nights. The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub. Harcourt, Orlando, New York, London ISBN 0151012245&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Marmol, Jose G. 1993 Donato Marmol, Mayor General en la Revolucion del Separatismo Cubano. Editorial Arenas, Miami, pp. 171-174, 191,193-197, 200, 202, 218, 243 ISBN 0918454964 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Márquez, Nicolás 2004 La otra parte de la verdad. Ediciones de Autor ISBN 9874382678&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Márquez-Sterling, Carlos and Manuel 1975, Historia de la Isla de Cuba, Regents Publishing Co., NY, ISBN 0-88345-251-0&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Márquez-Sterling, Carlos 1969, Historia de Cuba (desde Cristobal Colon a Fidel Castro), Las Americas Publishing Co., NY  [revision of 1963 original edition]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Márquez-Sterling, Manuel 2009, Cuba 1952-1959: The True Story of Castro's Rise to Power, Kleiopatria Digital Press, Wintergreen VA, ISBN 0615318568&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Marrero, Levi 1981 5th edition &amp;quot;Geografia de Cuba&amp;quot; La Moderna Poesia, Coral Gables Florida.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Marmol, Jose G. 1993 Donato Marmol, Mayor General en la Revolucion del Separatismo Cubano. Editorial Arenas, Miami, pp. 171-174, 191,193-197, 200, 202, 218, 243 ISBN 0918454964 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Martin, Lionel 1978 The Early Fidel: Roots of Castro's Communism Lyle Stuart, Secaucus New Jersey; 1st ed edition ISBN 0818402547 &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Martin, Paul Sidney  George L. Quimby and Donald Collier 1947 Indians before Columbus;: Twenty thousand years of North American history revealed by archeology, The University of Chicago press, Chicago Illinois . ASIN B0006AR3AE pp. 40-46. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Matos, Huber, 2002. Como llego la Noche. Tusquet Editores, SA, Barcelona. ISBN 8483109441&lt;br /&gt;
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Morán Arce, Lucas 1980 La revolución cubana, 1953-1959: Una versión rebelde Imprenta Universitaria, Universidad Católica; ISBN &lt;br /&gt;
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Orro Fernandez, Roberto 2004 Education and labor skills in Socialist Cuba. Cuba in Transition-ASCE 10, 224-230.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ortiz, Fernando 1995 edition, (translated from 1947 original by Harriet de Onís) Cuban counterpoint Tobacco and Sugar. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina and London ISBN 08223161161&lt;br /&gt;
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de Paz-Sánchez, Manuel 1997. Zona Rebelde. La diplomacia Española ante la revolución cubana. Litografía Romero. S.A. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain  ISBN 847926263X&lt;br /&gt;
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de Paz-Sánchez, Manuel 2001. Zona de Guerra. España ante la Revolución Cubana. Litografía Romero. S.A. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain ISBN 8479263644&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Nuñez Jimenez, Antonio 1959 Geografía de Cuba. Lex. Havana&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Phillips, R Hart 1935 Cuban side show. Cuban Press, Havana 2nd edition. ASIN: B000860P60&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Phillips, R Hart. 1959 Cuba, Island of Paradox. McDowell Obolensky, New York, NY ASIN: B0007E0OAU&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Phillips, R Hart. 1960 Cuba Island of Paradise 1960 Astor-Honor Inc, ISBN 0839250126&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Phillips, Ruby Hart 1961- The Tragic Island: How Communism Came to Cuba. Englewood Cliffs, NJ&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Phillips, R Hart. 1962 The Cuban dilemma McDowell Obolensky, New York, NY Library of Congress number 6218787&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Pirala, Antonio (1895, 1896 and some from 1874) Anales de la Guerra en Cuba. Felipe González Rojas, Madrid&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Priestland, Jane (editor) 2003 British Archives on Cuba: Cuba under Castro 1959-1962. Archival Publications International Limited, 2003, London ISBN 1903008204  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Puebla, Teté  (Brigadier General Cuban Armed Forces) 2003 Marianas in Combat: and the Mariana Grajales Women's Platoon in Cuba's Revolutionary War 1956-58, New York Pathfinder ISBN 0873489578&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ramos, M. G., Villatoro, MAA, Urquiaga, S, Alves, BJR and: Boddey, RM 2001 Quantification of the contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to tropical green manure crops and the residual benefit to a subsequent maize crop using super(15)N-isotope techniques J. Biotechnol. 91 (2-3)105-115&lt;br /&gt;
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Rodriguez, Felix I. and John Weisman 1989 Shadow Warrior/the CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles Simon &amp;amp; Schuster, New York ISBN 0671667211&lt;br /&gt;
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Rojo del Río, Manuel. 1981 La Historia Cambio En La Sierra. Editorial Texto, San José, Costa Rica 2a Ed. Aumentada &lt;br /&gt;
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Roloff y Mialofsky, Carlos and Gerardo Forrest 1901. Yndice Alfabetico y Difunctiones del Ejercito Libertador de Cuba. Edited under the official direction of Leonard Wood. Printed in Havana by Rambla y Bauza&lt;br /&gt;
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Ros, Enrique 2003 Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus A~nos Universitarios (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1593880065&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
La Rosa Corzo, Gabino (translated by Mary Todd) [1988] 2003 Runaway Slave Settlements in Cuba: Resistance and Repression University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill ISBN 0807828033 ISBN 0807854794&lt;br /&gt;
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Rowan, Andrew Summers 1896 The island of Cuba; A descriptive and historical account of the &amp;quot;Great Antilla.&amp;quot; H. Holt and company, ASIN B00086NGHU&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rowan, Andrew Summers 1922 How I carried the message to Garcia W.D. Harney ASIN B00086V3FW&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Rubens, Horatio S. 1932 “Liberty. The Story of Cuba” AMS Press New York, 1970 reprint of 1932 edition.  SBN 404-00633-7 &lt;br /&gt;
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Smith, Earl T. 1962 (1990 edition) The fourth floor. Selous Foundation Press, Washington DC. ISBN 09442730682&lt;br /&gt;
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Spikes, Daniel 1993 Angola and the Politics of Intervention: From Local Bush War to Chronic Crisis in Southern Africa McFarland &amp;amp; Company Jefferson, North Carolina and London ISBN 089950888X&lt;br /&gt;
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Tejera, Noel; Ortega, Eduardo; Rodes, Rosa; and Lluch, Carmen 2006 Nitrogen compounds in the apoplastic sap of sugarcane stem: Some implications in the association with endophytes. J. Plant Physiology, 163 (1)80-85&lt;br /&gt;
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Tennant, Gary 1999 Dissident Cuban communism: the case of Trotskyism, 1932-1965  PhD Thesis, University of Bradford, England . http://www.cubantrotskyism.net/PhD/central.html&lt;br /&gt;
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Thomas, Gordon and Max Morgan Witts 1974 Voyage of the Damned Stein and Day Publishers; 1st Edition edition (1974) Stein and Day, Briarcliff Manor, New York ASIN B000BKOCGM&lt;br /&gt;
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Hugh Thomas Cuba or the Pursuit of Freedom (Paperback) Da Capo Press; Updated edition (April, 1998) ISBN 0306808277&lt;br /&gt;
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Thomas-Woodward, Tiffany (accessed 1/29/2006) Towards the gates of eternity: Celia Sánchez Manduley and the creation of Cuba’s new woman. Project Muse http://muse.jhu.edu&lt;br /&gt;
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U.S. State Department 1950-1954. Confidential Central files Cuba 1950-1954 Internal Affairs Decimal Numbers 737, 837 and 937, Foreign Affairs decimal numbers 637 611.37 Microfilm Project University of Publications of America, Inc. http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/Confidential_Files-Nov-1952-July-1953.pdf http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/Confidential_Files-Aug-1953-Oct-1954.pdf&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Velazquez, Loreta Janeta 1876  (2003 Editor Andrews, William L.) &lt;br /&gt;
The Woman in Battle (The Civil War Narrative of Loreta Janeta Velazques, Cuban Woman and Confederate Soldier).  University of Wisconsin Press 2003 ISBN 0299194248&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Volkman, Ernest 1995 Our man in Havana. Cuban double agents 1961-1987 Castro stings the CIA in: Espionage: The Greatest Spy Operations of the Twentieth Century Wiley, New York ISBN 0471161578&lt;br /&gt;
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Wegman ME Infant mortality: some international comparisons. Pediatrics; 98(6 Pt 1):1020-7, 1996 “Comparison of infant mortality rates (IMRs) among the world's countries requires assessment of completeness and accuracy of data. The United Nations Statistical Office classifies as [quot ]C[quot ], complete, meaning at least 90% of events are actually recorded, 1994 data supplied by 80 governments,”&lt;br /&gt;
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Weiland, C. F. (Carl Ferdinand), (d. 1847) 1855 &lt;br /&gt;
West Indien. Geographisches Institut (Weimar, Germany) [http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps960006-24795.html]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Zayas y Alfonso, Alfredo 1914. “Lexografía Antillana” El Siglo XX Press, Havana&lt;br /&gt;
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Zimmerman, Robert 1958 Our Man in Havana: Viking ISBN 067053141 laneta, Mexico D.F ISBN 8423336042, ISBN 9707490012&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/small&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
{{liberalism}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Mystery:Did a Fake Fidel Castro Meet the Pope?]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Ronald Reagan]]&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Bay of Pigs]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://antifidelblogs.cubanology.com/ Anti-Fidel Blogs]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://cubawatcher.blogspot.com/ Cuba Watcher]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.castrodeathwatch.com/ Castro Death Watch]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.foxnews.com/topics/politics/president-fidel-castro.htm Fidel Castro - breaking news]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://17503.spreadshirt.com/junior-s-cap-sleeve-t-shirt-A1429312/customize/color/1 I bought this t-shirt before Castro died]&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Fidel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Communism]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Dictators]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Cuba]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: Mass Murderers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fracture&amp;diff=993785</id>
		<title>Fracture</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Fracture&amp;diff=993785"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T18:58:46Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: formatting, capitalization&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;A '''fracture''' is a break, usually in a [[bone]]. If the broken bone punctures the skin, it is called an open or compound fracture. Fractures commonly happen because of car accidents, falls or sports injuries. Another cause is [[osteoporosis]], which causes weakening of the bones. Overuse can cause stress fractures, which are very small cracks in the bone.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Symptoms of a fracture are&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* Out-of-place or misshapen limb or joint&lt;br /&gt;
* Swelling, bruising or bleeding&lt;br /&gt;
* Intense pain&lt;br /&gt;
* Numbness and tingling&lt;br /&gt;
* Limited mobility or inability to move a limb&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If you have a fracture, you may need to wear a cast or splint. Sometimes you need surgery to put in plates, pins or screws to keep the bone in place.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Medicine]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=George_Romney&amp;diff=993784</id>
		<title>George Romney</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=George_Romney&amp;diff=993784"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T18:57:13Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''George Wilcken Romney''' (July 8, 1907–July 26, 1995) was a successful U.S. businessman, having chaired the American Motors Corporation. He was the 43rd Governor of [[Michigan]] from 1963-1969 and served as U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President [[Richard Nixon]] from 1969-1973. Romney was a candidate for the [[Republican]] nomination for President in 1968. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As governor he sanctioned a personal and corporate income tax and promoted civil rights legislation. A [[moderate Republican]], he dramatically expanded government spending from his predecessor. Upon leaving public life he founded the National Center for Voluntary Activity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, George}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Michigan Governors]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Republican Governors]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Business People]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Mormons]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Cock_or_Rooster&amp;diff=993783</id>
		<title>Cock or Rooster</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Cock_or_Rooster&amp;diff=993783"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T18:54:45Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;A rooster is a mature male [[chicken]] with coarse skin, toughened and darkened meat, and hardened breastbone tip.&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
[http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Help/A-Z_Index/index.asp USDA Index]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Food and Drink]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993678</id>
		<title>Talk:Gallery of obese Christians</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993678"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T03:36:43Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Santa Claus */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;For similar reasons as [[Gallery of obese atheists]] (see [[Conservapedia:AFD Gallery of obese atheists]]).  It appears to have no encyclopedic merit and is offensive to Christians who, for whatever reason, are overweight.  Additionally, it seems that this page was created as a troll/parody of [[Gallery of obese atheists]]; regardless of the merits of the latter article, creating a parody article in the encyclopedia is not appropriate.  [[User:GregG|GregG]] 19:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I disagree. I have quite vocally protested the [[Gallery of obese atheists]], but the article has been supported by the CP admins, so I can only assume that being offensive to fat people is acceptable here. The GOA article implies that fat people are atheists - it's only fair to imply that fat people can be Christians (or Jewish or... etc.) [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 19:55, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I created this page. It is not a &amp;quot;troll/parody&amp;quot; of &amp;quot;Gallery of obese atheists&amp;quot;. It's a demonstration that if one is valid here, the other is too; and, I hope, that ''neither'' is valid. They're both stupid. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 21:52, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Santa Claus ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Should Santa be included? He is fictional, so he is not actually a Christian (or of any religion, for that matter).  [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:40, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I guess you haven't heard of St. Nick. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 22:50, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I have heard of St. Nick, and he is the ''model'' for Santa, not actually Santa. In addition, he lived 1700 years ago so any representations of him are bound to be inaccurate. The truth is, we will never know what St. Nick looked like, and either way it is immaterial to this discussion because he is not Santa Claus. Santa is fictional, so he is not a Christian and thus by definition does not belong in this gallery. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:56, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::You'll need a consensus to revert an addition from an admin. Besides, people associate Santa with the Christian holiday. My point is that this is a list copied by '''SharonW''' but created by '''AugustO'''. At this point, it will be kept intact or dumped in its entirety.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 23:05, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::Fair enough. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 23:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::The round and ruddy, white bearded ho ho hoing Santa Claus of America and (unfortunately) the rest of the English speaking world is the brainchild of the advertising company for Coca Cola in the thirties or forties. Europeans and discerning English speakers use a far more slim, noble and ascetic looking figure in their decorations.[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:35, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::::That's actually an urban legend: Coke didn't invent the popular image of Santa but they did popularize it. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 23:36, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Black_history&amp;diff=993676</id>
		<title>Black history</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Black_history&amp;diff=993676"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T03:29:41Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: Undo revision 993675 by VoteRomney (talk) rv vandal&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;div&gt;'''Black history''' or '''African-American history''' is the history of the American population of black African descent, from the colonial period to the present. It was a narrow specialty until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s made it a high priority for historical research and teaching. It is now one of the largest fields of American history.  The history is one of struggle against slavery, segregation, racism and second class citizenship.   Historians debate whether to emphasize radical protest, as typified by [[W.E.B. DuBois]], or upward striving through the system, as preached by [[Booker T. Washington]]. The 2008 election of [[Barack Obama]] as president has been hailed as the culmination of the black struggle for political equality.&lt;br /&gt;
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==Colonial era==&lt;br /&gt;
see also [[Slavery]]&lt;br /&gt;
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Africans first arrived in 1619, when a Dutch ship sold 19 blacks as indentured servants (not slaves) to Englishmen at Jamestown, Virginia. In all, about 10-12 million Africans were transported to Western Hemisphere. The vast majority of these people came from that stretch of the West African coast extending from present-day Senegal to Angola; a small percentage came from Madagascar and East Africa. Only 3% (about 300,000) went to the American colonies. The vast majority went to the West Indies, where they died quickly. Demographic conditions were highly favorable in the American colonies, with less disease, more food, good medical care, and lighter work loads. Coming as they did from such an extensive area in Africa, they were not of one physical or cultural type. Significant differences existed among them, but they shared a general set of characteristics. They were tall and had dark skin, tight woolly hair, full lips, broad noses, and limited facial and body hair. Gomez (1998) suggests that Africans, upon arriving in America, were dispersed along ethnic and cultural lines. While they eventually dropped their African ethnic identities, they retained some of their original cultures. For example, runaway-slave advertisements sometimes identified the slaves by their ethnic roots (&amp;quot;Dinah, an Ebo wench that speaks very good English&amp;quot;). &lt;br /&gt;
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Historians have disagreed as to whether slavery in colonial Virginia was made politically and psychologically acceptable by an inherent racism among white Europeans, or if slavery emerged as a result of economic factors and racism developed as a consequence of it.  The consensus is that the enslavement of Africans was due to economic requirements for labor, to the inability of Africans to resist slavery, and to European beliefs that Africans were an inferior branch of humanity, suited by their characteristics and circumstances to be lifelong slaves. &lt;br /&gt;
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At first the Africans in the South were outnumbered by white indentured servants, who came voluntarily from Britain. They avoided the plantations. With the vast amount of good land and the shortage of laborers,  plantation owners turned to lifetime slaves who worked for their keep but were not paid wages and could not easily escape. Slaves had some legal rights (it was a crime to kill a slave, and whites were hung for it.) Generally the slaves developed their own family system, religion and customs in the slave quarters with little interference from owners, who were only interested in work outputs.&lt;br /&gt;
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By 1700 there were 25,000 slaves in the American colonies, about 10% of the population. A few had come from Africa but most came from the West Indies (especially Barbados), or, increasingly, were native born. Their legal status was now clear: they were slaves for life and so were the children of slave mothers. They could be sold, or freed, and a few ran away. Slowly a free black population emerged, concentrated in port cities along the Atlantic coast from Charleston to Boston. Slaves in the cities and towns had many more privileges, but the great majority of slaves lived on southern tobacco or rice plantations, usually in groups of 20 or more. &lt;br /&gt;
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The most serious slave rebellion was the Stono Uprising, in September 1739 in South Carolina. The colony had about 56,000 slaves, who outnumbered whites 2:1. About 150 slaves rose up, and seizing guns and ammunition, murdered twenty whites, and headed for Spanish Florida. The local militia soon intercepted and killed most of them.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Wood (1974)&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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All the American colonies had slavery, but it was usually the form of personal servants in the North (where 2% of the people were slaves), and field hands in plantations in the South (where 25% were slaves.)&lt;br /&gt;
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==Revolution and early republic: 1775-1840==&lt;br /&gt;
The Declaration of Independence of 1776 said that all men are born free. Acting on that principle, all the northern states abolished slavery between 1776 and 1805--these were the first places in the world where the government abolished slavery. (Britain abolished slavery in the 1830s.) However, with the cotton gin in the 1790s, slavery became highly profitable in the South and was not abolished. Indeed, it expanded rapidly due to demographic growth. In 1808 it became illegal to buy or sell slaves from abroad, but inside the U.S. South the trade was legal and flourished.&lt;br /&gt;
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By 1800 most slaves had become Christians. However few followed the Episcopal or Presbyterian affiliations of most masters; rather by the 1830s most had become Baptists or Methodists, but with a distinctive difference.  Genovese (1974) identified the key features of the black version of Christianity as its raucous emotionalism, an absence of a sense of original sin or depravity, an emphasis on the role of Moses (who at times rivaled in importance Jesus), and an uneasy commingling with magic and conjuring. Genovese argued religion was increasingly central to the lives and self-identity of the slaves. &amp;quot;The religion practiced in the quarters gave the slaves the one thing they absolutely had to have if they were to resist. . . . It fired them with a sense of their own worth before God and man.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Eugene Genovese, ''Roll Jordan Roll'' (1974) p. 283&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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===Free blacks===&lt;br /&gt;
The free black population in the South grew rapidly during 1771-1815, from 28,000 in 1790 to 186,000 in 1860 in the South Atlantic states alone. Before the American Revolution the increase in the free black population was due mainly to local emancipations, natural population increase, and migration from rural areas. During and after the Revolution, however, there were additional ways to become free, including petitions and lawsuits, the 1782 manumission act, self-purchase, purchase by already free blacks, and individual emancipation. Fear of free blacks in an age of black revolts, however, prompted whites to impose restrictions on manumission and migration and ultimately to revert to the colonial-era policy of expelling free blacks from Virginia.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Michael L. Nicholls, &amp;quot;Strangers Setting Among Us: The Sources and Challenge of the Urban Free Black Population of Early Virginia&amp;quot;. ''Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 2000 108(2): 155-179. 0042-6636 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/4249829  in JSTOR]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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Formal laws and informal customs created innumerable obstacles to the socioeconomic advance of the free blacks in the South. Laws prohibited free blacks from some activities and occupations and restricted their participation in others. Racism and terrorism by whites also made advancement difficult. Despite these disadvantages, the free black population fared rather well, with much better nutrition than people back in Europe or Africa.  They grew nearly as tall as white Americans and towered over contemporary Europeans.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Howard. Bodenhorn, &amp;quot;A Troublesome Caste: Height and Nutrition of Antebellum Virginia's Rural Free Blacks.&amp;quot; ''Journal of Economic History'' 1999 59(4): 972-996. 0022-0507 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2566684  in JSTOR]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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see also [[Slavery]]&lt;br /&gt;
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==Age of abolition, 1840-1877==&lt;br /&gt;
see also [[American Civil War homefront]]; and [[Reconstruction]]&lt;br /&gt;
===1840-1860===&lt;br /&gt;
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The Quakers, as well as Evangelical churches in the U.S. and Britain, led the battle for abolition of slavery. The abolition movement in the U.S. was highly visible and extremely controversial, but it was never large--with fewer than 50,000 activists at most, about half of them free blacks living in the North.&lt;br /&gt;
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Over 1 million slaves were moved from the older seaboard slave states, with their declining economies to the rich cotton states of the southwest; many others were sold and moved locally.  Berlin (2003) argues that this &amp;quot;Second Middle Passage&amp;quot; &lt;br /&gt;
:shredded the planters' paternalist pretenses in the eyes of black people and prodded slaves and free people of color to create a host of oppositional ideologies and institutions that better accounted for the realities of endless deportations, expulsions and flights that continually remade their world.&lt;br /&gt;
===Civil War===&lt;br /&gt;
see [[American Civil War homefront]]&lt;br /&gt;
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The political and constitutional debate among whites led to the secession of the Deep South and to the Civil War in 1861. The new Republican Party saw slavery as an evil that had to be eventually put on the road to extinction.  In the war, however, abolition became a tool to Union victory, as strategized by [[Abraham Lincoln]]. The point was that slavery was a main prop of the rebellion, and to win the war it had to be eliminated. Emancipation would have the effect of energizing Confederates who feared a race war, but it would also energize Northerners who saw it as a moral cause, and would help keep Europe from supporting the rebels.&lt;br /&gt;
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At the beginning of the war some Union commanders thought they were supposed to return escaped slaves to their masters. By 1862, when it became clear that this would be a long war, the question of what to do about slavery became more general. The Southern economy and military effort depended on slave labor. It began to seem unreasonable to protect slavery while blockading Southern commerce and destroying Southern production. As one Congressman put it, the slaves &amp;quot;cannot be neutral. As laborers, if not as soldiers, they will be allies of the rebels, or of the Union.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;James MacPherson, ''Battle Cry of Freedom'' (1988) page 495&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; The same Congressman—and his fellow Radical Republicans—put pressure on Lincoln to rapidly emancipate the slaves, whereas Conservative Republicans came to accept gradual, compensated emancipation and colonization.&lt;br /&gt;
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In 1861 Lincoln expressed the fear that premature attempts at emancipation would mean the loss of the border states, and that &amp;quot;to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Lincoln's letter to O. H. Browning, Sep 22, 1861&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; At first Lincoln reversed attempts at emancipation by Secretary of War Simon Cameron and Generals [[John C. Fremont]] (in Missouri) and [[David Hunter]] (in the South Carolina Sea Islands) in order to keep the loyalty of the border states and the War Democrats. Lincoln then tried to persuade the border states to accept his plan of gradual, compensated emancipation and voluntary colonization, while warning them that stronger measures would be needed if the moderate approach was rejected. Only the District of Columbia accepted Lincoln's gradual plan, and Lincoln issued his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1 of 1863. In his letter to Hodges, Lincoln explained his belief that &amp;quot;If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong … And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling ... I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Lincoln's Letter to A. G. Hodges, April 4, 1864&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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The Emancipation Proclamation, announced in September 1862 and The [[Radical Republicsn]] put intense political pressure on Lincoln to use emancipation as a weapon. The problem was that he needed first to shore up pro-Union support in key border states, especially Kentucky. Only after it was safe could he act, and then he needed a military victory first. Lincoln thrilled the anti-slavery forces by announcing the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862; the official proclamation came on January 1, 1863, and it had the effect of freeing most of the 4 million slaves. It also greatly reduced the Confederacy's hope of getting aid from Britain or France. Lincoln's moderate approach succeeded in getting border states, War Democrats and emancipated slaves fighting on the same side for the Union.&lt;br /&gt;
====Border states====&lt;br /&gt;
The Union-controlled border states (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia) were not covered by the Emancipation Proclamation. All abolished slavery on their own, except Kentucky. The great majority of the 4 million slaves were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, as Union armies moved South. To handle this problem Lincoln proposed the a constitutional amendment. The 13th amendment, passed by Congress in February 1865 and ratified by the states in December 1865, finally freed the remaining 40,000 slaves in Kentucky.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; It also freed 1,000 or so slaves in Delaware and some lifetime servants in West Virginia, as well as black slaves owned by Indians in Oklahoma.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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===Reconstruction===&lt;br /&gt;
See [[Reconstruction]]&lt;br /&gt;
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==Age of Jim Crow, 1877-1954==&lt;br /&gt;
see [[Jim Crow]]&lt;br /&gt;
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[[Booker T. Washington]] (1856-1915) was the dominant political and educational leader of the African-American community 1890-1915.  He is most famous for his inspiring autobiography, ''Up from Slavery,'' his leadership of black conservative business and religious leaders, his founding of Tuskeegee Institute as a college for technical training, and his emphasis on self-help and education as the cure for poverty and the second class status of blacks in America.  In his &amp;quot;Atlanta Compromise&amp;quot; of 1895 Washington reluctantly accepted Jim Crow, segregation and disfranchisement in return for black freedom in economic, religious and cultural affairs. Washington was highly popular among top white leaders and most blacks, but his approach was attacked after 1909 as too conservative by [[W.E.B. DuBois]] and the [[NAACP]].&lt;br /&gt;
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The most dramatic demographic change came after 1940, as most backs left the rural South--some for nearby southern cities, and most headed to large cities in the North and West. In the decade of the 1940s 1.6 million left the South; in the 1950s, 1.5 million, and in the 1960s 1.4 million.  By 1970 there were very few back farmers left. Politically it was a movement from a white dominated rural South where few blacks could vote or speak out, to a pluralistic political environment where northern central cities were controlled by liberals and their allies in the labor unions.&lt;br /&gt;
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==Age of Civil Rights, 1954 to present==&lt;br /&gt;
In 1955 blacks in Montgomery, Alabama undertook a boycott of the segregated city buses and chose a local pastor [[Martin Luther King]] as their leader, and [[Rosa Parks]] as a symbolic actor. Drawing on [[Gandhi]]'s teachings, King &lt;br /&gt;
directed a nonviolent boycott designed both to end an injustice and to redeem his white adversaries through love. Love, he said, not only avoided the internal violence of the spirit but also severed the external chain of hatred that only &lt;br /&gt;
produced more hatred. Somebody, he argued, must be willing to break this chain so that &amp;quot;the beloved community&amp;quot; could be restored and true brotherhood could begin. In November 1956, the boycotters had won a resounding moral victory when the United States Supreme Court nullified the Alabama laws that enforced segregated buses.  The Montgomery protest captured the imagination of the world over and marked the beginning of a southern black civil rights movement that rocked the Jim Crow South to its foundations. King, with extraordinary oratorical powers and rich religious imagery, emerged as the most inspiring new moral voice in civil rights.  In August 1957 King and 115 other black leaders met in Montgomery and formed the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] (SCLC), with King as leader.  Working through southern churches, the SCLC enlisted the religious black community in the freedom struggle by expanding &amp;quot;the Montgomery way&amp;quot; across the South.&lt;br /&gt;
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In 1960 southern black college and high school students launched the sit-in movement, forming the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]] (SNCC).&lt;br /&gt;
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Through 1961 and 1962 civil rights leaders pressured the [[John F. Kennedy]] administration to support a tough civil rights bill, seeking a sort of second Emancipation Proclamation that would employ federal power to wipe out segregation just as Lincoln's 1863 decree had abolished slavery. Kennedy, basically conservative and unwilling to offend his base of Southern white voters, refused to act.  Civil rights groups thereupon launched multiple mass demonstrations throughout the South. King and the SCLC staff would single out some notoriously segregated city with officials who tolerated violence; mobilize the local blacks with songs, Bible readings, and rousing oratory; and then lead them on protest marches conspicuous for their nonviolent spirit and moral purpose. Then the marchers escalated their demands--even fill up the jails--until they brought about a moment of &amp;quot;creative tension,&amp;quot; when white authorities would either agree to negotiate or resort to violence. If violence broke out it would humiliate the moderate whites and redouble national pressures from church and activists for federal intervention. So far there was no violence on the part of blacks, but they were growing more and more frustrated and angry, with militants like [[Malcolm X]] calling for more extreme measures.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Robert Terrill, &amp;quot;Protest, Prophecy, and Prudence in the Rhetoric of Malcolm X,&amp;quot; ''Rhetoric &amp;amp; Public Affairs'' 4#1 Spring 2001, pp. 25-53 in [[Project Muse]]; Akinyele O. Umoja, &amp;quot;The Ballot and the Bullet,&amp;quot; ''Journal of Black Studies'' 29 (1999): 558-79; Sean Dennis Cashman, ''African-Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights, 1900-1990'' (1991), 184-215. &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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Nonviolent confrontation failed politically in Albany, Georgia, in 1962, where white authorities were equally nonviolent. In 1963 it succeeded in Birmingham, Alabama, where Police Commissioner Eugene (&amp;quot;Bull&amp;quot;) Connor turned &lt;br /&gt;
fire-hoses and police dogs on the marchers--in full view of reporters and television cameras. The civil rights activists thus exposed racist hatred to the scorn of national and world opinion. Jailed during the demonstrations, King wrote his classic &amp;quot;Letter from Birmingham Jail,&amp;quot; the most influential and eloquent expression of the goals and philosophy of the civil rights movement.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Edward I. Berry, &amp;quot;Doing Time: King's 'Letter from Birmingham Jail.&amp;quot; ''Rhetoric &amp;amp; Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2005, pp. 109-131 in [[Project Muse]]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; King's great speech, &amp;quot;I Have a Dream&amp;quot; during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, galvanized the movement, putting forth a goal of an integrated color-blind society.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Mark Vail, &amp;quot;The 'Integrative' Rhetoric of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' Speech,&amp;quot; ''Rhetoric &amp;amp; Public Affairs'' 9#1 Spring 2006, pp. 51-78 in [[Project Muse]]; Alexandra Alverez, &amp;quot;Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream': The Speech Event as Metaphor,&amp;quot; ''Journal of Black Studies'' 3 (1998):337–57&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; President [[Lyndon Johnson]], a long-time supporter of civil rights, had replaced Kennedy and he seized the moment to mobilize a majority coalition of northern Democrats, Republicans, white churches, and white labor unions to break a Senate filibuster and pass 1964 [[Civil Rights Act]], which desegregated public facilities. Overnight Jim Crow vanished, with little protest or violence.&lt;br /&gt;
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However, within days of the passage of the powerful new law, rioting broke out in black ghettos, as the civil rights leadership discovered it could not control the angry masses.  Nor could it control the radical students in SNCC and like-minded groups who were moving rapidly to the left, rejecting alliances with whites, discarding the goal of integration and demanding instead black separatism and &amp;quot;Black Power.&amp;quot;&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Akinyele O. Umoja, &amp;quot;1964: The Beginning of the End of Nonviolence in the Mississippi Freedom Movement,&amp;quot; ''Radical History Review'', Jan 2003; 2003: 201 - 226. online in [[Duke journals]]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==Recent years==&lt;br /&gt;
In recent years blacks have made major gains in sports, entertainment and politics. George W. Bush appointed the first two blacks to head the cabinet, secretaries of state [[Colin Powell]] and [[Condoleezza Rice]].  In a stunning upset, [[Barack Obama]] defeated [[Hillary Clinton]] for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, then defeated Republican [[John McCain]]&lt;br /&gt;
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McCain hailed Obama's win:&lt;br /&gt;
:I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too. But we both recognize that though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.  A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters. America today is a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African American to the presidency of the United States. Let there be no reason now for any American to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on Earth.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; [http://www.johnmccain.com/splash110408.htm McCain statement Nov. 4, 2008]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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==Historiography==&lt;br /&gt;
The history of slavery has always been a major research topic for white scholars, but they generally focused on the political and constitutional themes until the 1950s, generally ignoring the black slaves themselves.  During [[Reconstruction]] and the late 19th century, blacks became major actors in the South. The [[Dunning School]] of white scholars generally cast the blacks as pawns of white Carpetbaggers but [[W.E.B. Dubois]], a black historian, and [[Ulrich B. Phillips]], a white historian, studied the African-American experience in depth. Indeed, Phillips set the main topics of inquiry that still guide the analysis of slave economics. &lt;br /&gt;
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In the black community, in the first half of the 20th century Carter G. Woodson was the major scholar studying and promoting the black historical experience. Woodson insisted that the study of African descendants be scholarly sound, creative, restorative, and, most important, directly relevant to the black community. He popularized black history with a variety of innovative strategies and vehicles, including Association for the Study of Negro Life outreach activities, Negro History Month (now [[Black History Month]], in February), and a popular black history magazine.  Woodson democratized, legitimized, and popularized black history.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Pero Gaglo Dagbovie, &amp;quot;Making Black History Practical and Popular: Carter G. Woodson, the Proto Black Studies Movement, and the Struggle for Black Liberation.&amp;quot; ''Western Journal of Black Studies'' 2004 28(2): 372-383. Issn: 0197-4327 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; &lt;br /&gt;
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Benjamin Quarles (1904-96) and John Hope Franklin (1915-2009) provided a bridge between the work of historians in black schools such as Woodson, and the black history that is now well established in mainline universities.  Quarles grew up in Boston, attended Shaw University as an undergraduate, and received a graduate degree at the University of Wisconsin. He began in 1953 teaching at Morgan State College in Baltimore, where he stayed, despite a lucrative offer from Johns Hopkins. Franklin taught at Brooklyn College and had a major impact when he was a professor at the elite [[University of Chicago]], 1964-83.&lt;br /&gt;
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Black history always sought out black agency--even slaves had a certain amount of control over their lives. The assumptions was that slaves were passive and did not rebel was debated in the 1950s and rejected.  Many of the white scholars were former Communists or members of the far left, and they looked for violent rebellion. They found few such rebellions, but much unrest. Herbert Gutman and Leon Litwack showed that in reconstruction how former slaves fought to keep their families together and struggled against tremendous odds to define themselves as free people.  [[Robert Fogel]], a former Communist who moved to the right, enraged the left when he used quantitative methods to show that the housing, food, clothing and living conditions of the slaves were reasonably favorable. He was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics for his work.&lt;br /&gt;
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Today proponents of black history argue that it promotes diversity, develops self-esteem, and corrects myths and stereotypes. Opponents, including [[Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.]] and [[Oscar Handlin]], complain that such curricula are dishonest, divisive, and lack academic credibility and rigor.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Abul Pitre  and Ruth Ray, &amp;quot;The Controversy Around Black History.&amp;quot; ''Western Journal of Black Studies'' 2002 26(3): 149-154. Issn: 0197-4327 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==Knowledge of black history==&lt;br /&gt;
Surveys of 11th and 12th grade students and adults in 2005 show that American schools have made them very well informed about black history.  Both groups were asked to name ten famous Americans, excluding presidents. Of the students, the three highest names were blacks: 67% named Martin Luther King, 60% Rosa Parks, and 44% Harriet Tubman. Among adults, King was 2nd (at 36%) and Parks was tied for 4th with 30%, while Tubman tied for 10th place with Henry Ford, at 16%. When distiguished historians were asked in 2006 to name the most prominent Americans, Parks and Tubman did not make the top 100.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; Sam Wineburg and Chauncey Monte-Sano, &amp;quot;'Famous Americans': The Changing Pantheon of American Heroes,&amp;quot; ''Journal of American History'' (March 2008) 94#4 pp. 1186–1202.&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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==Bibliography==&lt;br /&gt;
===Surveys===&lt;br /&gt;
* Earle, Jonathan, and Malcolm Swanston. ''The Routledge Atlas of African American History'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Routledge-African-American-History-Atlases/dp/0415921422/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208666779&amp;amp;sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Finkelman, Paul, ed. ''Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass'' (3 vol 2006) &lt;br /&gt;
* Franklin, John Hope, and Alfred Moss, ''From Slavery to Freedom. A History of African Americans'', (2001), standard textbook; first edition in 1947 [http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Freedom-History-African-Americans/dp/0375406719/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208666779&amp;amp;sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Litwack, Leon, and August Meier. ''Black Leaders of the 19th Century.'' (1988)&lt;br /&gt;
** Franklin, John Hope, and August Meier, eds. ''Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century.'' (1982), short biographies by scholars. &lt;br /&gt;
* Harris, William H. ''The Harder We Run: Black Workers Since the Civil War.'' (1982). [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=16297018 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Hine, Darlene Clark, Rosalyn Terborg-Penn and Elsa Barkley Brown, eds.  ''Black Women in America - An Historical Encyclopedia'', (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Black-Women-America-Historical-Encyclopedia/dp/0253327741/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208666895&amp;amp;sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Hine, Darlene Clark, et al. ''The African-American Odyssey'' (2 vol, 4th ed. 2007) textbook [http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Odyssey-4th-Darlene-Hine/dp/0136150136/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208666930&amp;amp;sr=1-7 excerpt and text search vol 1] &lt;br /&gt;
* Holt, Thomas C. ed. ''Major Problems in African-American History: From Freedom to &amp;quot;Freedom Now,&amp;quot; 1865-1990s'' (2000) reader in primary and secondary sources&lt;br /&gt;
* Horton, James Oliver, and Lois E. Horton. ''Hard Road to Freedom: The Story of African America: From the Civil War to the Millennium'' (2002), well-balanced survey&lt;br /&gt;
*  Kelley, Robin D. G., and Earl Lewis, eds. ''To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans.'' (2000).  672pp; 10 long essays by leading scholars [http://www.questia.com/read/108611978?title=To%20Make%20Our%20World%20Anew%3a%20A%20History%20of%20African%20Americans online edition], leftist emphasis&lt;br /&gt;
* Lowery, Charles D.  and John F. Marszalek, eds. ''Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present'' (1992) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=71235565  online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Mandle, Jay R. ''Not Slave, Not Free: The African American Economic Experience since the Civil War'' (1992)  [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=3099697 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Painter, Nell Irvin. ''Creating Black Americans: African American History and Its Meanings, 1619 to the Present.'' (2006),  480 pp survey; leftist emphasis&lt;br /&gt;
*  Palmer, Colin A. ed. ''Encyclopedia Of African American Culture And History: The Black Experience In The Americas'' (6 vol. 2005) &lt;br /&gt;
* Salzman, Jack, David Lionel Smith, and Cornel West, eds. ''Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History.'' (5 vol. 1996).&lt;br /&gt;
* Smallwood, Arwin D ''The Atlas of African-American History and Politics: From the Slave Trade to Modern Times'' (1997)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Slave era pre 1860===&lt;br /&gt;
* Berlin, Ira. ''Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America'' (2000) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00069 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Blassingame, John W. ''The Slave Community: Plantation Life in the Antebellum South''  (2nd ed. 1979) [http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Community-Plantation-Antebellum-South/dp/0195025636/ref=tag_dpp_lp_edpp_ttl_in excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Fogel, Robert. ''Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery,'' (2 vol, 1974). (with Stanley Engerman), highly controversial quantitative study by a conservative&lt;br /&gt;
* Fogel, Robert. ''Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery,'' (2 vol, 1989).&lt;br /&gt;
* Genovese, Eugene. ''Roll Jordan Roll: The World the Slaves Made'' (1974), highly influential study of slavery [http://www.amazon.com/Roll-Jordan-World-Slaves-Made/dp/0394716523/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208665810&amp;amp;sr=1-2 excerpt and text search], by a former Communist who is now a prominent conservative&lt;br /&gt;
* Gomez, Michael. ''Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South'' (1998) 384pp  [http://www.amazon.com/Exchanging-Our-Country-Marks-Transformation/dp/0807846945/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208757341&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Horton, James Oliver, and Lois E. Horton. ''Slavery and the Making of America'' (2006), well-balanced survey&lt;br /&gt;
*  Horton, James Oliver. ''In hope of liberty: culture, community, and protest among northern free Blacks, 1700-1860'' (1998) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.02341 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Kolchin, Peter. ''American Slavery, 1619-1877'' (wnd ed. 2003), a short survey [http://www.amazon.com/American-Slavery-1619-1877-Peter-Kolchin/dp/0809016303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208759132&amp;amp;sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Kulikoff, Allan. ''Tobacco and Slaves: The Development of Southern Cultures in the Chesapeake, 1680 - 1800'' (1986)&lt;br /&gt;
* Miller, Randall M., and John David Smith, eds. ''Dictionary of Afro-Amerian Slavery'' (1988)&lt;br /&gt;
* Rothman, Adam. ''Slave Country: American Expansion and the Origins of the Deep South.'' (2005). 282 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Country-American-Expansion-Origins/dp/0674024168/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208761333&amp;amp;sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Sobel, Mechal. ''The World They Made Together: Black and White Values in Eighteenth-Century Virginia'' (1987). &lt;br /&gt;
* White, Deborah Gray. ''Ar'n't I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South,'' (2nd ed. 1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Arnt-Woman-Female-Slaves-Plantation/dp/0393314812/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208715563&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Wood, Peter H. ''Black majority: Negroes in colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion'' (1975) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00338 ACLS E-book] &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Emancipation and Reconstruction Era: 1860-1890===&lt;br /&gt;
* Boles, John B. ''Black Southerners, 1619–1869.'' (1983)&lt;br /&gt;
* Butchart, Ronald E. ''Northern Schools, Southern Blacks, and Reconstruction: Freedmen's Education, 1862-1875'' (1980) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=15101767  onlineedition]&lt;br /&gt;
*Cimbala, Paul A. and Trefousse, Hans L. (eds.) ''The Freedmen's Bureau: Reconstructing the American South After the Civil War.'' 2005.&lt;br /&gt;
* Click, Patricia C. ''Time Full of Trial: The Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony, 1862-1867'' (2001) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=105840008 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Crouch, Barry. ''The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Texans'' (1992)&lt;br /&gt;
* Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt. &amp;quot;The Freedmen's Bureau&amp;quot;  (1901)] by leading black scholar [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/sgml/moa-idx?notisid=ABK2934-0087-50 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt. ''Black Reconstruction in America 1860-1880'' (1935)&lt;br /&gt;
* Durrill, Wayne K. &amp;quot;Political Legitimacy and Local Courts: 'Politicks at Such a Rage' in a Southern Community during Reconstruction&amp;quot; in ''Journal of Southern History'', Vol. 70 #3, 2004 pp 577-617 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=5006777413 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Foner Eric. ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877'' (1988), the standard history of Reconstruction.&lt;br /&gt;
* Gutman, Herbert G. ''The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925'' (1977)&lt;br /&gt;
* Hahn, Steven. ''A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration'' (2003), 1865-1950 [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.03953 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Jones, Jacqueline. ''Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present'' (1985)&lt;br /&gt;
* Kolchin, Peter. ''First Freedom: The Responses of Alabama's Blacks to Emancipation and Reconstruction'' 1972.&lt;br /&gt;
* Litwack, Leon F. ''Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery.'' 1979,&lt;br /&gt;
* Oubre, Claude F. ''Forty Acres and a Mule: The Freedmen's Bureau and Black Land Ownership'' 1978.&lt;br /&gt;
* Quarles, Benjamin. ''The Negro in the Civil War'''. (1953) by leading African American historian&lt;br /&gt;
* Rabinowitz, Howard N.  ''Race Relations in the Urban South, 1865-1890'' (1978)&lt;br /&gt;
* Ransom, Roger L. ''Conflict and Compromise''. (1989), econometric history&lt;br /&gt;
* Richardson, Joe M. ''Christian Reconstruction: The American Missionary Association and Southern Blacks, 1861-1890'' (1986).&lt;br /&gt;
* Rodrigue, John C. &amp;quot;Labor Militancy and Black Grassroots Political Mobilization in the Louisiana Sugar Region, 1865-1868&amp;quot; in ''Journal of Southern History'', Vol. 67 #1, 2001 pp 115-45; [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=5002388829 online edition]  also in JSTOR&lt;br /&gt;
* Schwalm, Leslie A. &amp;quot;'Sweet Dreams of Freedom': Freedwomen's Reconstruction of Life and Labor in Lowcountry South Carolina,&amp;quot; ''Journal of Women's History,'' Vol. 9 #1, 1997 pp 9-32 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=98499026 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Span, Christopher M. &amp;quot;'I Must Learn Now or Not at All': Social and Cultural Capital in the Educational Initiatives of Formerly Enslaved African Americans in Mississippi, 1862-1869,&amp;quot; ''The Journal of African American History'', 2002  pp 196-222 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=5000605558 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Williamson, Joel. ''After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina during Reconstruction, 1861-1877'' 1965.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Jim Crow Era: 1877-1954===&lt;br /&gt;
* Anderson, James D. ''The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935'' (1988) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=54406292  online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Bayor, Ronald H. ''Race and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century Atlanta'' (1996)&lt;br /&gt;
* Bond, Horace Mann. “The Extent and Character of Separate Schools in the United States.” ''Journal of Negro Education'' 4(July 1935):321–27. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2984(193507)4%3A3%3C321%3ATEACOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Brundage, W. Fitzhugh, ed ''Booker T. Washington and Black Progress: Up from Slavery 100 Years Later'' (2003)&lt;br /&gt;
* Bullock, Henry Allen. ''A History of Negro Education in the South: From 1619 to the Present'' (1967) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00625 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Cartwright, Joseph H. ''The Triumph of Jim Crow: Tennessee Race Relations in the 1880s'' (1976)&lt;br /&gt;
* Dailey, Jane, Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, and Bryant Simon, eds. ''Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from Civil War to Civil Rights'' (2000), essays by scholars on impact of Jim Crow on black communities [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;se=gglsc&amp;amp;d=5002470890 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Gaines, Kevin. ''Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics, and Culture in the Twentieth Century'' (1996). [http://www.questia.com/library/book/uplifting-the-race-black-leadership-politics-and-culture-in-the-twentieth-century-by-kevin-k-gaines.jsp online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Gatewood, Jr., Willard B. ''Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880-1920'' (2000)&lt;br /&gt;
* Gilmore, Glenda Elizabeth. ''Gender and Jim Crow Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=94820628 online edition]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Gender-Jim-Crow-Supremacy-1896-1920/dp/0807845965/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200610418&amp;amp;sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Gosnell, Harold F. ''Negro politicians: the rise of Negro politics in Chicago,'' (1935, 1967) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.02846 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Hahn, Steven. ''A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration'' (2003), 1865-1950 [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.03953 ACLS E-book]; also [http://www.amazon.com/Nation-under-Our-Feet-Political/dp/067401765X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208663397&amp;amp;sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Jones, Jacqueline. ''Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present'' (1985)&lt;br /&gt;
* Harlan. Louis R.   ''Booker T. Washington: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856-1900'' (1972) the standard biography, vol 1&lt;br /&gt;
* Harlan. Louis R.   ''Booker T. Washington: The Wizard of Tuskegee 1901-1915'' (1983), the standard scholarly biography vol 2 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=78995092  online edition vol 2]&lt;br /&gt;
* Harlan. Louis R.    ''Booker T. Washington in Perspective: Essays of Louis R. Harlan'' (1988) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=104404815  online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Harlan. Louis R.   &amp;quot;The Secret Life of Booker T. Washington.&amp;quot;  ''Journal of Southern History'' 37#3 (1971).  pp 393-416 Documents Booker T. Washington's secret financing and directing of litigation against segregation and disfranchisement. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2206948 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* McMurry, Linda O.  ''George Washington Carver, Scientist and Symbol'' (1982) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=106358296 online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Jones, Jacqueline. ''Labor of Love, Labor of Sorrow: Black Women, Work, and the Family from Slavery to the Present'' (1985) [http://www.amazon.com/Labor-Love-Sorrow-Jacqueline-Jones/dp/0394745361/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208663256&amp;amp;sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Lemann, Nicholas. ''The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America'' (1992) [http://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Migration-Changed-America/dp/0679733477/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208723153&amp;amp;sr=8-14 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Lewis, David Levering. ''W. E. B. DuBois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race'' (2 vol 1993, 2000). [http://www.amazon.com/W-E-Bois-1868-1919-Biography/dp/0805035680/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208663291&amp;amp;sr=1-3 excerpt and text search vol 1], winner of Pulitzer Prize; ''W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/W-E-B-Du-Bois-Equality-1919-1963/dp/B0006Q1URA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208663291&amp;amp;sr=1-2 excerpt and text search vol 2]&lt;br /&gt;
* Litwack, Leon F. ''Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Mind-Black-Southerners-Crow/dp/039452778X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200613319&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Logan, Rayford. ''The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson'' (Originally Published as: ''The Negro in American Life and Thought: The Nadir: 1877-1901'') (1970) [http://www.amazon.com/Betrayal-Negro-Rutherford-Woodrow-Wilson/dp/0306807580/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208663219&amp;amp;sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* McMillen, Neil R. ''Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow. '' (1989). [http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Journey-Black-Mississippians-Crow/dp/025206156X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200610311&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Meier, August.   ''Negro Thought in America, 1880-1915: Racial Ideologies in the Age of Booker T. Washington'' (1963), &lt;br /&gt;
* Meier, August.  &amp;quot;Toward a Reinterpretation of Booker T. Washington.&amp;quot;  23 ''Journal of Southern History'' 22#2 (1957) [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2955315 in JSTOR] &lt;br /&gt;
* Myrdal, Gunnar. ''An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy'' (1944). Highly influential and detailed analysis of the Jim Crow system in operation. [http://www.amazon.com/American-Dilemma-Problem-Democracy-African-American/dp/1560008571/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200610342&amp;amp;sr=8-4 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Norrell, Robert J. ''Up from History: The Life of Booker T. Washington'' (2009), new, favorable scholarly biography&lt;br /&gt;
* Norrell, Robert J.  &amp;quot;Booker T. Washington: Understanding the Wizard of Tuskegee&amp;quot; ''New Coalition News &amp;amp; Views'' Summer 2004 [http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results/15014/Booker_T_Washington_Understanding_the_Wizard_of_Tuskegee.html online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Sterner, Richard. ''The Negro's share: a study of income, consumption, housing, and public assistance'' (1943), statistical analysis of 1930s [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.02857 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Walker, Juliet E. K. ''Encyclopedia of African American Business History'' (1999) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=101376721  online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''The Strange Career of Jim Crow'' (3d ed., 1974), [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.02029 in ACLS E-books]&lt;br /&gt;
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''Origins of the New South, 1877-1913'' (1951) [http://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.00007 ACLS E-book]&lt;br /&gt;
* Wintz, Cary D. ''African American Political Thought, 1890-1930: Washington, Du Bois, Garvey, and Randolph'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&amp;amp;d=104912065  online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Civil Rights Era: 1954 - present===&lt;br /&gt;
* Branch, Taylor. ''Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63'' (1989) [http://www.amazon.com/Parting-Waters-America-Years-1954-63/dp/0671687425/ref=sr_1_31?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208722057&amp;amp;sr=1-31 excerpt and text search]; ''Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-65'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Fire-America-Years-1963-65/dp/0684848090/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208722178&amp;amp;sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]; ''At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68'' (2007)&lt;br /&gt;
* Carson, Clayborne. ''In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s'' (1981)&lt;br /&gt;
* Cashman, Sean Dennis. ''African-Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights, 1900-1990'' (1991) &lt;br /&gt;
* Collier-Thomas, Bettye, and V.P. Franklin. ''Sisters in the Struggle : African-American Women in the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Struggle-African-American-Rights-Black-Movement/dp/0814716024/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208748749&amp;amp;sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Eagles, Charles, ed. ''The Civil Rights Movement in America'' (1986), 200pp; 12 short essays by scholars [http://www.amazon.com/Civil-Rights-Movement-America-Chancellor/dp/0878052984/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208730312&amp;amp;sr=1-12erpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Farley, Reynolds,  and William H. Frey. &amp;quot;The Segregation of Whites from Blacks During the 1980s: Small Steps Toward a More Integrated Society,&amp;quot; ''American Sociological Review'', Vol. 59, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 23-45 heavily statistical; [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2096131 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Fredrickson, George M. ''Black Liberation: A Comparative History of Black Ideologies in the United States and South Africa''  (2nd ed. 1996)[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195109783 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Garrow, David. ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., And The Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' (1989) [http://www.amazon.com/Bearing-Cross-Christian-Leadership-Conference/dp/B0002NPFWS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208723153&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Goldman, Peter. ''The Death and Life of Malcolm X,'' (2nd ed. 1979)&lt;br /&gt;
* Graham, Hugh Davis. ''The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy, 1960-1972'' (1990) &lt;br /&gt;
* Harris, Fredrick C. &amp;quot;Something Within: Religion as a Mobilizer of African-American Political Activism,&amp;quot; ''The Journal of Politics,'' Vol. 56, No. 1 (Feb., 1994), pp. 42-68  [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2132345 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Horne, Gerald. '&amp;quot;'Myth' and the Making of 'Malcolm X'&amp;quot;, ''The American Historical Review,'' Vol. 98, No. 2 (Apr., 1993), pp. 440-450  [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2166843 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Kluger, Richard.'' Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America's Struggle for Equality,'' (1975) [http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Justice-Education-Americas-Struggle/dp/1400030617/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208730244&amp;amp;sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Ling, Peter J. ''Martin Luther King, Jr.'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Luther-Routledge-Historical-Biographies/dp/0415216648/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208722988&amp;amp;sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Meier, August,  and Elliot Rudwick. ''CORE'' (1975). &lt;br /&gt;
* Sitkoff, Harvard. ''The Struggle for Black Equality'' (1981). &lt;br /&gt;
* Walton, Hanes, and Robert C. Smith. ''American Politics and the African American Quest for Universal Freedom'' (3rd ed 2005) [http://www.amazon.com/American-Politics-African-Universal-Freedom/dp/0321292375/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208748749&amp;amp;sr=8-16 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Williams, Juan, and Julian Bond. ''Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965'' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/Eyes-Prize-Americas-1954-1965-American/dp/0140096531/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200610805&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Wolters, Raymond. ''The Burden of Brown: Thirty Years of Desegration'' (1984) [http://www.amazon.com/Burden-Brown-Thirty-School-Desegregation/dp/0870497502/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208749113&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Historiography and teaching===&lt;br /&gt;
* Arnesen, Eric. &amp;quot;Up From Exclusion: Black and White Workers, Race, and the State of Labor History,&amp;quot; ''Reviews in American History'' 26#1 March 1998, pp. 146-174 in [[Project Muse]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Dagbovie, Pero. ''The Early Black History Movement, Carter G. Woodson, and Lorenzo Johnston Greene'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Movement-Woodson-Lorenzo-Johnston/dp/0252074351/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208662932&amp;amp;sr=8-11 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Dagbovie, Pero Gaglo. &amp;quot;Exploring a Century of Historical Scholarship on Booker T. Washington.&amp;quot; ''Journal of African American History'' 2007 92(2): 239-264. Issn: 1548-1867 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Dorsey, Allison. &amp;quot;Black History Is American History: Teaching African American History in the Twenty-first Century.&amp;quot; ''Journal of American History'' 2007 93(4): 1171-1177. Issn: 0021-8723 Fulltext: [[History Cooperative]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Ernest, John. &amp;quot;Liberation Historiography: African-American Historians before the Civil War,&amp;quot; ''American Literary History'' 14#3, Fall 2002, pp. 413-443 in [[Project Muse]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Eyerman, Ron. ''Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity'' (2002) argues that slavery emerged as a central element of the collective identity of African Americans in the post-Reconstruction era. &lt;br /&gt;
* Fields, Barbara J. &amp;quot;Ideology and Race in American History,&amp;quot; in J. Morgan Kousser and James M. McPherson , eds., ''Region, Race, and Reconstruction: Essays in Honor of C. Vann Woodward'' (1982)&lt;br /&gt;
* Franklin, John Hope. &amp;quot;Afro-American History: State of the Art,&amp;quot; ''Journal of American History'' (June 1988): 163-173. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1889663 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Goggin, Jacqueline. ''Carter G. Woodson: A Life in Black History'' (1993)&lt;br /&gt;
*  Hall, Stephen Gilroy.  &amp;quot;'To Give a Faithful Account of the Race': History and Historical Consciousness in the African-American Community, 1827-1915.&amp;quot; PhD disseratation, Ohio State U. 1999. 470 pp.  DAI 2000 60(8): 3084-A. DA9941339  Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations &amp;amp; Theses]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Harris, Robert L., &amp;quot;Coming of Age: The Transformation of Afro-American Historiography,&amp;quot; ''Journal of Negro History'' 57 (1982): 107-121. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2717569 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Harris, Robert L., Jr. &amp;quot;The Flowering of Afro-American History.&amp;quot; ''American Historical Review'' 1987 92(5): 1150-1161. Issn: 0002-8762 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1868489  in Jstor] &lt;br /&gt;
* Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks, &amp;quot;African-American Women’s History and the Metalanguage of Race,&amp;quot; ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' 17 (1992): 251-274.&lt;br /&gt;
* Hine, Darlene Clark, ed. ''Afro-American History: Past, Present, and Future.'' (1986).&lt;br /&gt;
* Hine, Darlene Clark. ''Hine Sight: Black Women and the Re-Construction of American History'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Hine-Sight-Re-Construction-American-Diaspora/dp/0253211247/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208662746&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Hornsby Jr., Alton, et al. eds. ''A Companion to African American History.'' (2005). 580 pp. 31 long essays by experts covering African and diasporic connections in the context of the transatlantic slave trade; colonial and antebellum African, European, and indigenous relations; processes of cultural exchange; war and emancipation; post-emancipation community and institution building; intersections of class and gender; migration; and struggles for civil rights. ISBN 0-631-23066-1  &lt;br /&gt;
* McMillen, Neil R. &amp;quot;Up from Jim Crow: Black History Enters the Profession's Mainstream.&amp;quot; ''Reviews in American History'' 1987 15(4): 543-549. Issn: 0048-7511 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2701928  in Jstor] &lt;br /&gt;
* Meier, August,  and Elliott Rudwick. ''Black History and the Historical Profession, 1915-1980'' (1986)&lt;br /&gt;
* Nelson, Hasker. ''Listening For Our Past: A Lay Guide To African American Oral History Interviewing'' (2000) [http://www.amazon.com/Listening-Our-Past-American-Interviewing/dp/0964732106/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208662776&amp;amp;sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Quarles, Benjamin. ''Black Mosaic: Essays in Afro-American History and Historiography'' (1988).&lt;br /&gt;
* Rabinowitz, Howard N. &amp;quot;More Than the Woodward Thesis: Assessing The Strange Career of Jim Crow&amp;quot;, ''Journal of American History'' 75 (Dec. 1988): 842-56. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1901533 in JSTOR]&lt;br /&gt;
* Reidy, Joseph P. &amp;quot;Slave Emancipation Through the Prism of Archives Records&amp;quot; (1997)  [http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/summer/slave-emancipation.html online]&lt;br /&gt;
* Roper, John Herbert. ''U. B. Phillips: A Southern Mind'' (1984), on the white historian of slavery&lt;br /&gt;
* Trotter, Joe W. &amp;quot;African-American History: Origins, Development, and Current State of the Field,&amp;quot; ''OAH Magazine of History'' 7#4 Summer 1993 [http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/africanamerican/trotter.html online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Wright, William D. ''Black History and Black Identity: A Call for a New Historiography'' (2002), proposes new racial and ethnic terminology and classifications for the study of black people and history. [http://www.amazon.com/Black-History-Identity-Call-Historiography/dp/0275974421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208661182&amp;amp;sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Primary Sources===&lt;br /&gt;
* Aptheker, Herbert, ed. ''A Documentary History of the Negro People in the United States.'' (7 vol 1951-1994), by a prominent Communist&lt;br /&gt;
* Berlin, Ira, ed. ''Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War'' (1995)&lt;br /&gt;
* Bracey, John H., and Manisha Sinha, eds. ''African American Mosaic: A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to the Twenty-First Century,'' (2 vol 2004) &lt;br /&gt;
* Chafe, William Henry, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad, eds. ''Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Jim-Crow-Americans-Segregated/dp/1565847784/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1200610418&amp;amp;sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Finkenbine, Roy E. ''Sources of the African-American Past: Primary Sources in American History'' (2nd Edition) (2003)&lt;br /&gt;
* Hampton, Henry,  and Steve Fayer, eds. ''Voices of Freedom'' (1990), oral histories of civil rights movement&lt;br /&gt;
* King, Martin Luther. ''I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World,'' (1992) [http://www.amazon.com/Have-Dream-Writings-Speeches-Anniversary/dp/0062505521/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208721937&amp;amp;sr=1-5 excerpt and text search] &lt;br /&gt;
* King, Martin Luther. ''Why We Can't Wait'' (1963; 2000)&lt;br /&gt;
* King, Martin Luther. ''The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Volume VI: Advocate of the Social Gospel, September 1948-March 1963'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Papers-Martin-Luther-King-Jr/dp/0520248740/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208722988&amp;amp;sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
*  Levy, Peter B. ''Let Freedom Ring: A Documentary History of the Modern Civil Rights Movement'' (1992) [http://www.questia.com/read/27510341?title=Let%20Freedom%20Ring%3a%20A%20Documentary%20History%20of%20the%20Modern%20Civil%20Rights%20Movement online edition]&lt;br /&gt;
* Rawick, George P. ed. ''The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography'' (19 vols., (1972) oral histories with ex-slaves conducted in 1930s by [[WPA]]&lt;br /&gt;
* Sernett, Milton C. ''African American Religious History: A Documentary Witness'' (1999) [http://www.amazon.com/Afro-American-Religious-History-Documentary-Witness/dp/0822305941/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=books&amp;amp;qid=1208662776&amp;amp;sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]&lt;br /&gt;
* Washington, Booker T. &amp;quot;The Awakening of the Negro,&amp;quot; ''The Atlantic Monthly'', 78 (September, 1896).&lt;br /&gt;
* Washington, Booker T. ''[http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/washington/menu.html Up from Slavery: An Autobiography]'' (1901).&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.historycooperative.org/btw/volumes.html ''The Booker T. Washington Papers''] [[University of Illinois Press]] online version of complete fourteen volume set of all letters to and from Booker T. Washington. &lt;br /&gt;
*  Wright, Kai, ed. ''The African-American Archive: The History of the Black Experience Through Documents'' (2001)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External links==&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/guide/african.html Library of Congress - African American History and Culture]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory/home.do ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' - Guide to Black History]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.tntech.edu/history/black.html Tennessee Technological University - African-American History and Studies]&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Slavery]]&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Black History Month]]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
====notes====&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;references/&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:United States History]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:American Civil War]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Slavery]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Black History]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Civil Rights]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:The South]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Reconstruction]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Progressive Era]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1950s]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:1960s]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993673</id>
		<title>Talk:Gallery of obese Christians</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993673"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T03:16:16Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Santa Claus */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;For similar reasons as [[Gallery of obese atheists]] (see [[Conservapedia:AFD Gallery of obese atheists]]).  It appears to have no encyclopedic merit and is offensive to Christians who, for whatever reason, are overweight.  Additionally, it seems that this page was created as a troll/parody of [[Gallery of obese atheists]]; regardless of the merits of the latter article, creating a parody article in the encyclopedia is not appropriate.  [[User:GregG|GregG]] 19:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I disagree. I have quite vocally protested the [[Gallery of obese atheists]], but the article has been supported by the CP admins, so I can only assume that being offensive to fat people is acceptable here. The GOA article implies that fat people are atheists - it's only fair to imply that fat people can be Christians (or Jewish or... etc.) [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 19:55, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I created this page. It is not a &amp;quot;troll/parody&amp;quot; of &amp;quot;Gallery of obese atheists&amp;quot;. It's a demonstration that if one is valid here, the other is too; and, I hope, that ''neither'' is valid. They're both stupid. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 21:52, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Santa Claus ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Should Santa be included? He is fictional, so he is not actually a Christian (or of any religion, for that matter).  [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:40, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I guess you haven't heard of St. Nick. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 22:50, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I have heard of St. Nick, and he is the ''model'' for Santa, not actually Santa. In addition, he lived 1700 years ago so any representations of him are bound to be inaccurate. The truth is, we will never know what St. Nick looked like, and either way it is immaterial to this discussion because he is not Santa Claus. Santa is fictional, so he is not a Christian and thus by definition does not belong in this gallery. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:56, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::You'll need a consensus to revert an addition from an admin. Besides, people associate Santa with the Christian holiday. My point is that this is a list copied by '''SharonW''' but created by '''AugustO'''. At this point, it will be kept intact or dumped in its entirety.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 23:05, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::Fair enough. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 23:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993669</id>
		<title>Talk:Gallery of obese Christians</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993669"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T02:56:00Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Santa Claus */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;For similar reasons as [[Gallery of obese atheists]] (see [[Conservapedia:AFD Gallery of obese atheists]]).  It appears to have no encyclopedic merit and is offensive to Christians who, for whatever reason, are overweight.  Additionally, it seems that this page was created as a troll/parody of [[Gallery of obese atheists]]; regardless of the merits of the latter article, creating a parody article in the encyclopedia is not appropriate.  [[User:GregG|GregG]] 19:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I disagree. I have quite vocally protested the [[Gallery of obese atheists]], but the article has been supported by the CP admins, so I can only assume that being offensive to fat people is acceptable here. The GOA article implies that fat people are atheists - it's only fair to imply that fat people can be Christians (or Jewish or... etc.) [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 19:55, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I created this page. It is not a &amp;quot;troll/parody&amp;quot; of &amp;quot;Gallery of obese atheists&amp;quot;. It's a demonstration that if one is valid here, the other is too; and, I hope, that ''neither'' is valid. They're both stupid. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 21:52, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Santa Claus ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Should Santa be included? He is fictional, so he is not actually a Christian (or of any religion, for that matter).  [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:40, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I guess you haven't heard of St. Nick. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 22:50, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I have heard of St. Nick, and he is the ''model'' for Santa, not actually Santa. In addition, he lived 1700 years ago so any representations of him are bound to be inaccurate. The truth is, we will never know what St. Nick looked like, and either way it is immaterial to this discussion because he is not Santa Claus. Santa is fictional, so he is not a Christian and thus by definition does not belong in this gallery. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:56, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Carl_Wickland&amp;diff=993665</id>
		<title>Carl Wickland</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Carl_Wickland&amp;diff=993665"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T02:41:49Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''Dr. Carl August Wickland''' (February 14, 1861 - November 13, 1945) was a [[psychiatrist]], paranormal researcher and non-fiction [[author]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Wickland was born in 1861 at Liden, Norland Province, [[Sweden]]. His father taught him cabinet making in his youth. Later he studied watchmaking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 1881 he arrived in [[St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]] after having emmigrated from Sweden the year before. He married Anna W. Anderson in 1896 and they moved to [[Chicago]] so that he could attend Durham Medical College from which he graduated in 1900. He became a general practitioner of medicine and specialized in researching mental illnesses.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In 1909, Dr. Wickland became chief psychiatrist at the National Psychopathic Institute of Chicago. He continued in that postion until 1918 when he and his wife moved to Los Angeles, California. Wickland founded the National Psychological Institute, a non-profit corporation for the research of psychology. The Institute operated a sanitarium, where at anyone time six to ten patients would be treated until they were brought back to sanity and good health.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Wickland, in collaboration with his assistants, Nelle Watts, and Celia and Orlando Goerz, wrote and published in 1924, Thirty Years Among the Dead a book that detailed their experiences in abnormal psychology. Wickland also relates his research in the cases of people becoming insane after dabbling with the occult, specifically people who were invovled in automatic writing and those who used the Ouija Board.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dr. Wickland wrote another book Gateway of Understanding which was published in 1934. After Wickland's death on November 13, 1945, a man named Wing Anderson, a pioneer in his own right in sleep suggestion therapy for the correction of psychosomatic ills, purchased the copyrights of both books.&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wickland, Carl}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Authors]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Psychiatrists]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993663</id>
		<title>Talk:Gallery of obese Christians</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Gallery_of_obese_Christians&amp;diff=993663"/>
				<updated>2012-07-15T02:40:55Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Santa Claus */ new section&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;For similar reasons as [[Gallery of obese atheists]] (see [[Conservapedia:AFD Gallery of obese atheists]]).  It appears to have no encyclopedic merit and is offensive to Christians who, for whatever reason, are overweight.  Additionally, it seems that this page was created as a troll/parody of [[Gallery of obese atheists]]; regardless of the merits of the latter article, creating a parody article in the encyclopedia is not appropriate.  [[User:GregG|GregG]] 19:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:I disagree. I have quite vocally protested the [[Gallery of obese atheists]], but the article has been supported by the CP admins, so I can only assume that being offensive to fat people is acceptable here. The GOA article implies that fat people are atheists - it's only fair to imply that fat people can be Christians (or Jewish or... etc.) [[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 19:55, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I created this page. It is not a &amp;quot;troll/parody&amp;quot; of &amp;quot;Gallery of obese atheists&amp;quot;. It's a demonstration that if one is valid here, the other is too; and, I hope, that ''neither'' is valid. They're both stupid. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 21:52, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Santa Claus ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Should Santa be included? He is fictional, so he is not actually a Christian (or of any religion, for that matter).  [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:40, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Brian_Dubie&amp;diff=993564</id>
		<title>Brian Dubie</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Brian_Dubie&amp;diff=993564"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T21:37:15Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: update&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''Brian E. Dubie''' (born March 9, 1959 in Burlington, Vermont) served as the [[Lieutenant Governor]] of [[Vermont]] from 2003-2011 and is a member of the [[Republican Party]]. He wass a candidate for [[Governor]] in 2010, but lost to Peter Shumlin.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dubie, Brian}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category: United States Lieutenant Governors]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Railroad_Retirement_Board&amp;diff=993562</id>
		<title>Railroad Retirement Board</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Railroad_Retirement_Board&amp;diff=993562"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T21:35:08Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The Railroad Retirement Board is a Federal agency intended to provide monetary benefits to railroad workers. It was established in the 1930s, as a social insurance and welfare program, as part of Franklin Roosevelt's [[socialist]] [[New Deal]]. Railroad employees do not pay into and do not receive benefits from Social Security, instead, railroad corporations pay into a fund which the RRB administers. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Probable Abuse ==&lt;br /&gt;
After news broke that over 90% of Long Island Rail Road employees were collecting disability payments, the Long Island Rail Road president, Helena Williams, began investigating the agency responsible for making payments. Upon trying to attend a meeting of the RRB, she found out that they had not met in two years. The board grants nearly all applications for disability, around 98%, though this does not imply that 98% of retired employees collect disability benefits&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/us/15rail.html?pagewanted=all&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;. Many other allegations of corruption have been aimed at the RRB, as it has no real oversight (the three board members are Presidential appointees).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Railroads]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Corruption]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993556</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay: Richard Dawkins and peanut butter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993556"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T20:50:23Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Man this page is insane. :) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 08:42, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Could you make your criticism more specific, please? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 10:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::User Ed Poor, the person who wrote this comment can't be more specific, they have been blocked for 1 day. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 12:53, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::::(chuckle) That's even funnier than the page itself. ^_^ --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 13:32, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::Yep, possibly.  It wasn't really intended to be that though.  But thanks anyway, now lets see what he says. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 14:36, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Why this page is beyond substandard and quite frankly embarrassing:&lt;br /&gt;
::* It is not actually an essay. It is actually a collection of captioned pictures and links. In fact, there are no words in it that are not links or captions to pictures.&lt;br /&gt;
::* It claims that one's &amp;quot;machismo&amp;quot; is linked to one's preference in peanut butter, despite no link ever being shows between the two.&lt;br /&gt;
::* The main thesis, that Richard Dawkins likes creamy peanut butter, has never been proven anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Other main points of this piece, like the claims that Chuck Norris and John Wayne enjoy/enjoyed chunky peanut butter, have never been proven.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Large components of it, namely the bunny and bullfighting pictures, have been used in countless other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; by User:Conservative and don't really prove anything.&lt;br /&gt;
::Ed Poor, if you can't see that this page is an utter embarassment to the readers and editors of Conservapedia, then I don't know what else to say. I am interested in hearing your defense of this article. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:20, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::I agree that it's not actually an essay. It looks like a joke: i.e., the page author is probably using it to tease atheists. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please don't respond as if you think it wasn't meant humorously. There's no &amp;quot;thesis&amp;quot;; he's just kidding around.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::You may wonder whether kidding and teasing atheists will promote Conservapedia's cause. But if you can't tell it was comedic material, there's probably no point discussing it further. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 12:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::It may have been ''intended'' as comedic material, but it has not been realized as comedic material due to its distinct lack of humor. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 14:43, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::There isn't much sign that this is intended as humor, given User:Conservative's other output (much of which is in this style). If it is humor I propose it be moved from the essay space to the humor space, along with other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; like this one. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 13:46, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:I see that proud atheists/agnostics/evolutionists are still gagging on this web page material. The gagging will intensify now that I added [[Atheism and cowardice]] in the caption of the picture! Just have Dawkins address [[Daniel Came]]'s concerns about Dawkins's behavior and I will gladly delete this particular material. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:13, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I am hardly &amp;quot;gagging&amp;quot; on this material, just making some observations. Clearly we have a difference of opinion on the value of this page and all of the other essays of this sort, but I do have a question for you, User:Conservative—why would an atheist/agnostic/evolutionist take this essay seriously, given its content and tone (mostly unrelated pictures with boisterous captions and links to similar articles)? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 16:24, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::Andrew, I think a more important question is: Why should anyone take atheists seriously? Clearly, fewer and fewer people are ([[Decline of atheism]]) and for good reasons (See: [[Atheism]]). [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 16:40, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::That doesn't answer my question. If your goal is to make atheists &amp;quot;see the light&amp;quot; and embrace Christianity, do you think essays like this are the best way to do that? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 16:50, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993548</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay: Richard Dawkins and peanut butter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993548"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T20:25:32Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: improved formatting&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Man this page is insane. :) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 08:42, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Could you make your criticism more specific, please? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 10:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::User Ed Poor, the person who wrote this comment can't be more specific, they have been blocked for 1 day. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 12:53, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::::(chuckle) That's even funnier than the page itself. ^_^ --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 13:32, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::Yep, possibly.  It wasn't really intended to be that though.  But thanks anyway, now lets see what he says. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 14:36, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Why this page is beyond substandard and quite frankly embarrassing:&lt;br /&gt;
::* It is not actually an essay. It is actually a collection of captioned pictures and links. In fact, there are no words in it that are not links or captions to pictures.&lt;br /&gt;
::* It claims that one's &amp;quot;machismo&amp;quot; is linked to one's preference in peanut butter, despite no link ever being shows between the two.&lt;br /&gt;
::* The main thesis, that Richard Dawkins likes creamy peanut butter, has never been proven anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Other main points of this piece, like the claims that Chuck Norris and John Wayne enjoy/enjoyed chunky peanut butter, have never been proven.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Large components of it, namely the bunny and bullfighting pictures, have been used in countless other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; by User:Conservative and don't really prove anything.&lt;br /&gt;
::Ed Poor, if you can't see that this page is an utter embarassment to the readers and editors of Conservapedia, then I don't know what else to say. I am interested in hearing your defense of this article. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:20, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::I agree that it's not actually an essay. It looks like a joke: i.e., the page author is probably using it to tease atheists. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please don't respond as if you think it wasn't meant humorously. There's no &amp;quot;thesis&amp;quot;; he's just kidding around.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::You may wonder whether kidding and teasing atheists will promote Conservapedia's cause. But if you can't tell it was comedic material, there's probably no point discussing it further. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 12:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::It may have been ''intended'' as comedic material, but it has not been realized as comedic material due to its distinct lack of humor. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 14:43, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::There isn't much sign that this is intended as humor, given User:Conservative's other output (much of which is in this style). If it is humor I propose it be moved from the essay space to the humor space, along with other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; like this one. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 13:46, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:I see that proud atheists/agnostics/evolutionists are still gagging on this web page material. The gagging will intensify now that I added [[Atheism and cowardice]] in the caption of the picture! Just have Dawkins address [[Daniel Came]]'s concerns about Dawkins's behavior and I will gladly delete this particular material. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:13, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::I am hardly &amp;quot;gagging&amp;quot; on this material, just making some observations. Clearly we have a difference of opinion on the value of this page and all of the other essays of this sort, but I do have a question for you, User:Conservative—why would an atheist/agnostic/evolutionist take this essay seriously, given its content and tone (mostly unrelated pictures with boisterous captions and links to similar articles)? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 16:24, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993546</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay: Richard Dawkins and peanut butter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993546"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T20:24:59Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: a reply to user:conservative&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Man this page is insane. :) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 08:42, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Could you make your criticism more specific, please? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 10:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::User Ed Poor, the person who wrote this comment can't be more specific, they have been blocked for 1 day. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 12:53, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::::(chuckle) That's even funnier than the page itself. ^_^ --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 13:32, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::Yep, possibly.  It wasn't really intended to be that though.  But thanks anyway, now lets see what he says. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 14:36, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Why this page is beyond substandard and quite frankly embarrassing:&lt;br /&gt;
::* It is not actually an essay. It is actually a collection of captioned pictures and links. In fact, there are no words in it that are not links or captions to pictures.&lt;br /&gt;
::* It claims that one's &amp;quot;machismo&amp;quot; is linked to one's preference in peanut butter, despite no link ever being shows between the two.&lt;br /&gt;
::* The main thesis, that Richard Dawkins likes creamy peanut butter, has never been proven anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Other main points of this piece, like the claims that Chuck Norris and John Wayne enjoy/enjoyed chunky peanut butter, have never been proven.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Large components of it, namely the bunny and bullfighting pictures, have been used in countless other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; by User:Conservative and don't really prove anything.&lt;br /&gt;
::Ed Poor, if you can't see that this page is an utter embarassment to the readers and editors of Conservapedia, then I don't know what else to say. I am interested in hearing your defense of this article. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:20, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::I agree that it's not actually an essay. It looks like a joke: i.e., the page author is probably using it to tease atheists. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please don't respond as if you think it wasn't meant humorously. There's no &amp;quot;thesis&amp;quot;; he's just kidding around.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::You may wonder whether kidding and teasing atheists will promote Conservapedia's cause. But if you can't tell it was comedic material, there's probably no point discussing it further. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 12:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::It may have been ''intended'' as comedic material, but it has not been realized as comedic material due to its distinct lack of humor. [[User:CasparRH|CasparRH]] 14:43, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::There isn't much sign that this is intended as humor, given User:Conservative's other output (much of which is in this style). If it is humor I propose it be moved from the essay space to the humor space, along with other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; like this one. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 13:46, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
I see that proud atheists/agnostics/evolutionists are still gagging on this web page material. The gagging will intensify now that I added [[Atheism and cowardice]] in the caption of the picture! Just have Dawkins address [[Daniel Came]]'s concerns about Dawkins's behavior and I will gladly delete this particular material. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:13, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::I am hardly &amp;quot;gagging&amp;quot; on this material, just making some observations. Clearly we have a difference of opinion on the value of this page and all of the other essays of this sort, but I do have a question for you, User:Conservative—why would an atheist/agnostic/evolutionist take this essay seriously, given its content and tone (mostly unrelated pictures with boisterous captions and links to similar articles)? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 16:24, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993501</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay: Richard Dawkins and peanut butter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993501"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T17:46:09Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Man this page is insane. :) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 08:42, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Could you make your criticism more specific, please? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 10:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::User Ed Poor, the person who wrote this comment can't be more specific, they have been blocked for 1 day. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 12:53, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::::(chuckle) That's even funnier than the page itself. ^_^ --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 13:32, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Why this page is beyond substandard and quite frankly embarrassing:&lt;br /&gt;
::* It is not actually an essay. It is actually a collection of captioned pictures and links. In fact, there are no words in it that are not links or captions to pictures.&lt;br /&gt;
::* It claims that one's &amp;quot;machismo&amp;quot; is linked to one's preference in peanut butter, despite no link ever being shows between the two.&lt;br /&gt;
::* The main thesis, that Richard Dawkins likes creamy peanut butter, has never been proven anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Other main points of this piece, like the claims that Chuck Norris and John Wayne enjoy/enjoyed chunky peanut butter, have never been proven.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Large components of it, namely the bunny and bullfighting pictures, have been used in countless other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; by User:Conservative and don't really prove anything.&lt;br /&gt;
::Ed Poor, if you can't see that this page is an utter embarassment to the readers and editors of Conservapedia, then I don't know what else to say. I am interested in hearing your defense of this article. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:20, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::I agree that it's not actually an essay. It looks like a joke: i.e., the page author is probably using it to tease atheists. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please don't respond as if you think it wasn't meant humorously. There's no &amp;quot;thesis&amp;quot;; he's just kidding around.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::You may wonder whether kidding and teasing atheists will promote Conservapedia's cause. But if you can't tell it was comedic material, there's probably no point discussing it further. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 12:33, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::There isn't much sign that this is intended as humor, given User:Conservative's other output (much of which is in this style). If it is humor I propose it be moved from the essay space to the humor space, along with other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; like this one. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 13:46, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993478</id>
		<title>Talk:Essay: Richard Dawkins and peanut butter</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Essay:_Richard_Dawkins_and_peanut_butter&amp;diff=993478"/>
				<updated>2012-07-14T15:20:54Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: a response&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Man this page is insane. :) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 08:42, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Could you make your criticism more specific, please? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 10:16, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::Why this page is beyond substandard and quite frankly embarrassing:&lt;br /&gt;
::* It is not actually an essay. It is actually a collection of captioned pictures and links. In fact, there are no words in it that are not links or captions to pictures.&lt;br /&gt;
::* It claims that one's &amp;quot;machismo&amp;quot; is linked to one's preference in peanut butter, despite no link ever being shows between the two.&lt;br /&gt;
::* The main thesis, that Richard Dawkins likes creamy peanut butter, has never been proven anywhere.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Other main points of this piece, like the claims that Chuck Norris and John Wayne enjoy/enjoyed chunky peanut butter, have never been proven.&lt;br /&gt;
::* Large components of it, namely the bunny and bullfighting pictures, have been used in countless other &amp;quot;essays&amp;quot; by User:Conservative and don't really prove anything.&lt;br /&gt;
::Ed Poor, if you can't see that this page is an utter embarassment to the readers and editors of Conservapedia, then I don't know what else to say. I am interested in hearing your defense of this article. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:20, 14 July 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=991746</id>
		<title>Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=991746"/>
				<updated>2012-07-05T03:14:02Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: Undo revision 991744 by Henwick (talk) Not a professional athlete&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The [[lamestream media]] like to promote athletes based not on skill, but for other reasons.  Here's a growing list of the most overrated sports stars (notice how none are on the list of [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|Greatest Conservative Sports Stars]]):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Andre Agassi]] &amp;amp;mdash; his rival [[Pete Sampras]] was far better, but Sampras is [[conservative]].  Agassi is a big donor to [[Democrat]] politicians.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[David Beckham]] &amp;amp;mdash; far from the best, but promoted like he's [[Pele]].  Not even good enough to play on [[Britain]]'s weak Olympic team, despite its having three spots for older players.  Is Beckham socially [[liberal]] like some of the others on this list?&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Kobe Bryant]] &amp;amp;mdash; not as valuable to the game as [[Jeremy Lin]]; hasn't won a title without super-coaching by Phil Jackson, who observes that Kobe is not on the high level of [[Michael Jordan]]; Kobe makes only 46% of his shots, and scores lots of points because he hogs the ball.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[LeBron James]] &amp;amp;mdash; 2012's NBA Finals MVP is far from the best player in the [[NBA]], he is way overrated by the liberal ESPN compared to Christian Kevin Durant&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Magic Johnson]] &amp;amp;mdash; lucky enough to play on [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]]'s Lakers to win some titles, but was crushed by [[Michael Jordan]] and the Bulls; no problem, Magic was a critic of President [[George H.W. Bush]], which thrilled liberals.&lt;br /&gt;
#*People look at him, and say, 'Hey, it's OK to get HIV because I'm living with it.' That is the wrong message. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500202_162-57319698/20-years-since-magic-johnsons-hiv-stunner/]&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Peyton Manning]] &amp;amp;mdash; a [[quarterback]] who won only one [[NFL]] championship, despite being voted by the media and others to be NFL MVP 4 times, AFC Player of the Year 6 times, and Pro Bowler 11 times.  The [[liberal media]] treated him like the Second Coming of [[Christ]] in order to oust [[conservative]] [[Tim Tebow]] from his leadership position in the [[swing state]] of [[Colorado]] prior to the [[Presidential Election 2012]].&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Steve Nash]] &amp;amp;mdash; an [http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2009/3/25/809516/steve-nash-on-media-bias-t outspoken liberal who supported Obama], Nash was chosen ''twice'' by the [[lamestream media]] as the [[NBA]] MVP despite never leading his team to even an NBA Finals&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Mark Sanchez]] &amp;amp;mdash; the [[New York Jets]] [[quarterback]] is being touted as the team's best QB over [[conservative]] [[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]] despite falling apart at the end of the 2011–12 season. Now that Tebow's on-board, [[liberals]] are championing the former [[USC]] star as the superior player despite his recently poor play.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Tiger Woods]] &amp;amp;mdash; hasn't won a major golf tournament in four years, and yet he's still the only one liberals want to talk about while reporting on tournaments.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Michael Schumacher]] &amp;amp;mdash; has failed to perform after his return to [[Formula One]] racing and has been consistently outperformed by his teammate. His first podium finish since 2006 came only after many drivers in front of him retired from the race. Schumacher still receives generous media attention.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Sol Campbell]] &amp;amp;mdash; Is known to be sympathetic towards [[homosexual]] rights campaigners. During his England career they failed to win a single major tournament. While at Arsenal he failed to win the champions League, only ever making the final once and only won the Premier League a measly two times. Despite this, he has had a career which has seen him play for some of the best clubs.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Tommy Morrison]] &amp;amp;mdash; a professional [[boxer]] whose career was suspended due to positive HIV tests.  He now denies having HIV, but refuses to take supervised blood tests.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
(please revise or add to list)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:sports]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Texas_v._Johnson&amp;diff=989667</id>
		<title>Texas v. Johnson</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Texas_v._Johnson&amp;diff=989667"/>
				<updated>2012-06-26T02:44:20Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: expand and add info on us v. eichman&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;In '''''Texas v. Johnson''''', 491 U.S. 397 (1989), the 5-4 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that burning an American flag is a form of [[symbolic speech]] protected under the [[First Amendment]] of the United States [[Constitution]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The flag-burning happened at a rally that included about 100 demonstrators, of whom only Johnson was charged with a crime. He was charged with the desecration of a venerated object in violation of Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 42.09(a)(3) (1989). After a trial, he was convicted, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $ 2,000. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas affirmed Johnson's conviction, 706 S. W. 2d 120 (1986), but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed, 755 S. W. 2d 92 1988), holding that the State could not, consistent with the First Amendment, punish Johnson for burning the flag in these circumstances.  The [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that the conviction, and the statute itself, were unconstitutional. 48 state statutes banning flag desecation were vacated.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Justice [[William Brennan]] wrote the opinion, which was joined by Justices [[Thurgood Marshall]], [[Harry Blackmun]], [[Anthony Kennedy]] and, surprisingly, [[Antonin Scalia]].  Justice [[William Rehnquist]] wrote a dissent that was joined by Justices [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] and [[Byron White]].  Justice [[John Paul Stevens]], a veteran, dissented separately.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This caused a political uproar and led Congress to pass the Flag Protection Act in October 1989.  That effort was also declared unconstitutional in the 1990 case US v. Eichman. That case was also decided 5-4, with the same division as Texas v. Johnson.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:First Amendment]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Daniel_O%27Donnell&amp;diff=989666</id>
		<title>Daniel O'Donnell</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Daniel_O%27Donnell&amp;diff=989666"/>
				<updated>2012-06-26T02:39:31Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell''' MBE (born December 12, 1961) is a popular singer in Ireland. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
He is a very versatile performer, moving from [[Country music]] to [[Western pop]] and has a large fan base in [[Britain]], [[Ireland]], [[Australia]] and the [[United States]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT: Odonnell, Daniel}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Irish People]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Male Singers]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Michael_Phelps&amp;diff=989665</id>
		<title>Michael Phelps</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Michael_Phelps&amp;diff=989665"/>
				<updated>2012-06-26T02:38:30Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;[[Image:Michael Phelps.jpg|right]]&lt;br /&gt;
'''Michael Phelps''' (born Baltimore, MD, June 30, 1985) is the world record holding Olympic [[swimming]] champion from the United States. Phelps won 8 olympic gold medals and broke 7 world records at the [[Olympics]] in [[Beijing]], [[China]]. Phelps eclipsed [[Mark Spitz]]'s seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,405062,00.html Michael Phelps Wins Record-Breaking 8th Gold Medal at Beijing Games], Associated Press, ''Fox News Channel'', August 17, 2008&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt; Phelps won eight Olympic medals (6 Gold, 2 Silver) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in [[Athens]], [[Greece]]. Phelps set four individual world records and won seven gold medals at the 2007 World Championships to become the most successful athlete in World Championship history. He has announced that he will retire after the 2012 Olympics in London. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://swimming.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/900 USA &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Swimming - Athletes - Michael Phelps], TeamUSA.org&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==2000 Sydney Olympics==&lt;br /&gt;
When he was only 15 years old, Michael Phelps competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, placing fifth in the 200m butterfly. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==2008 Beijing Olympics==&lt;br /&gt;
Phelps won 8 olympic gold medals and broke 7 world records and 1 olympic record at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{| class=&amp;quot;wikitable&amp;quot;&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
! Event&lt;br /&gt;
! Date&lt;br /&gt;
! Medal&lt;br /&gt;
! Individual Time&lt;br /&gt;
! Splits &amp;lt;br&amp;gt; ''Position and Time''&lt;br /&gt;
! Relay Time &amp;lt;br&amp;gt; ''Record''&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 400m Individual Medley &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM054101.shtml#SWM054101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 10, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 4:03.84 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73B1/SWM411101.shtml#SWM411101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 11, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 47.51&lt;br /&gt;
| (2) 47.51&lt;br /&gt;
| 3:08.24 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 200m Freestyle &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM012101.shtml#SWM012101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 12, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 1:42.96 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 200m Butterfly &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM022101.shtml#SWM022101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 13,  2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 1:52.03 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73B1/SWM412101.shtml#SWM412101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 13, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 1:43.31&lt;br /&gt;
| (1) 1:43.31&lt;br /&gt;
| 6:58.56 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 200m Individual Medley &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM052101.shtml#SWM052101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 15, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 1:54.23 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 100m Butterfly &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73A1/SWM021101.shtml#SWM021101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 16, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 50.58 (OR)&lt;br /&gt;
|-&lt;br /&gt;
| Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SW/C73B1/SWM451101.shtml#SWM451101]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| Aug 17, 2008&lt;br /&gt;
| &amp;lt;center&amp;gt;Gold&amp;lt;/center&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
| 50.15&lt;br /&gt;
| (1) 2:42.58&lt;br /&gt;
| 3:29.34 (WR)&lt;br /&gt;
|}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== External links ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[http://www.michaelphelps.com/2004/english.html Official site] Michael Phelps.com&lt;br /&gt;
*[http://swimming.teamusa.org/athlete/athlete/900 USA Swimming - Athletes - Michael Phelps], TeamUSA.org&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist|2}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{DEFAULTSORT: Phelps, Michael}}&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Athletes]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Olympic Athletes]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989655</id>
		<title>Talk:Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989655"/>
				<updated>2012-06-26T02:05:30Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Some issues with this list */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;== Some issues with this list ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I see some issues with this list; as an avid follower of basketball and football, I will attempt to rebut some of the claims made in this article.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Kobe Bryant (who the article says has not won a championship except under the coaching of Phil Jackson) has played 11 of his 16 seasons under Jackson. He was not the leader of the Lakers his first 3 seasons (that would be Shaq) and was only 17 when he was drafted, so let's write those off. Since then, he played one season (in which he was injured) under Rudy Tomjanovich, and one under Mike Brown. Hardly a large sample size. Say whatever you'd like about him, but he won two championships as the leader of the Lakers without Shaq, lifting an average supporting cast. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Bryant couldn't win after Jackson left.  Enough said.  Jackson has a phenomenal record of winning championships no matter whom he's coaching.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Jackson's been gone for ONE season. One. That is nowhere near a reliable sample size. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::For what it's worth, Michael Jordan never won a title without Phil Jackson either.  I hardly think that takes away from his accomplishments.  --[[User:Krayner|Krayner]] 10:53, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most versatile players in NBA history, and turned in the greatest Finals performance ever (Game 6 in 1980, when he had 42 points and 15 rebounds in plaee of the injured Kareem at center...as a ROOKIE). Basketball is a team sport and it is rarely fair to attribute most or all of a team's success to one player (although in rare cases that may be done, like Kobe post-Shaq); calling those teams Kareem's is patently false. They belonged to Kareem, Magic, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and every other player. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::What was Magic's shooting percentage???  Look, Magic with good teammates had trouble beating Bird with nobodys as teammates for the NCAA championship, and Michael Jordan nearly swept Magic when they finally met in an NBA finals.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Magic primarily played point guard, a position that places much more emphasis on passing. The fact that he averaged 18-20 points a game is a testament to his offensive ability. And of course Jordan is better, he's the best player of all time. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::Magic shot 52% for his career, an absurdly high number for a point guard, and he is almost without dispute, the greatest point guard in NBA history.  He won multiple titles by beating Bird's Celtics in the NBA.--[[User:Krayner|Krayner]] 10:57, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:The relevant questions are (1) is he rated higher than someone else who's actually better? and (2) is this because of some liberal ideological reason, such as promoting the gay lobby's contention that [[AIDS is not a gay disease]]? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 11:12, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Obviously there is no entirely unquestioned ranking of NBA players, but Magic Johnson is rightly regarded as one of the 2 or 3 greatest point guards ever and one of the top 12-15 players ever. And his ranking has nothing to do with politics, and Johnson is not homosexual. He contracted HIV through unprotected sex with a woman. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:47, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*LeBron James (who by any stretch is NOT &amp;quot;far from the best&amp;quot; in the NBA) is certainly one of the top 5 players in the NBA today.  And this &amp;quot;overrating&amp;quot; by the media...LeBron has been the villain of the media narrative for the last 2 years since he joined Miami. Do you even wtach ESPN? And Durant is not underrated in the least; again, the media narrative is that he and the Thunder will be contending for a spot in the Finals for years to come (which they will). Plus, he went to a Catholic school. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::LeBron wasn't my addition but the hype for him seems a bit much.  Perhaps his unusual name helps.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)\&lt;br /&gt;
:::How does his name impact anything at all? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Steve Nash and his 2 MVPs...does the phrase &amp;quot;Most Valuable Player&amp;quot; mean anything? It is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Not the best player on the best team...the player most important to his team's success. And Nash was certainly the most valuable to the Suns those years considering his supporting cast. Nash is an extremely inventive, creative point guard and the ultimate team player. Plus, he produced a documentary about famed conservative runner Terry Fox. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::MVP is by popular vote by ... the [[lamestream media]].  It's like the Academy Awards and Nobel Prize -- being liberal is worth more than being talented.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::NBA MVPs will always more likely be liberal because the league is so heavily black. For comparison, let's look at the last 20 NFL MVPs (awarded by an AP poll of &amp;quot;liberal media&amp;quot;, as you would call them). Republican Favre thrice, Steve Young (a relative of Brigham Young, for crying out loud) twice, Manning 4 times, Christian Aaron Rodgers once, outspoken Christian Kurt Warner twice...that's 60% of the MVPs from 1992-2011. Clearly your argument fails. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Peyton Manning...the MVP stuff from above holds true in the NFL. Yes, he won 1 Super Bowl, but he made another and had to deal with the Steelers and Patriots in the AFC (hardly weak competition). He is one of the smartest football minds to ever play the game, and no serious football analyst would claim he was a downgrade from Tebow. Not one. And he's a Republican.&lt;br /&gt;
::The maneuver to replace Tebow with Peyton in a [[swing state]] in an election year is transparent, wouldn't you say?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::...so John Elway, a Republican, apparently isn't concerned with his team primarily and traded his Republican starting QB once he acquired an even better Republican quarterback? Your argument makes no sense. Elway is a Republican but not a national political figure. None of this has anything to do with politics. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::: So anything that occurs in a [[swing state]] during an election year is a political maneuver? Well, it rained today in Florida. Clearly a plot by Obama to gather more votes. --[[User:MatthewQ|MatthewQ]] 14:12, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::::: I wasn't being entirely serious with my &amp;quot;wouldn't you say?&amp;quot; comment above, but even some jokes can carry a germ of truth.  Colorado is very polarized politically and ideologically, as a swing state, and there was pressure to find a substitute who could serve as a plausible reason to trade Tebow away.  Florida is not as much of a [[swing state]] as Colorado, and rain is not the result of political pressure!--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 15:13, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::: If you weren't being entirely serious then why did you write the thing about Tebow being traded from a swing state during an election year in the article?! Or is Conservapedia openly a satire site now? (Many people seem to think it is one.) Anyway, the evidence that political pressure having anything to do with Tebow being trade is just as strong as political pressure being responsible for the rain.  --[[User:MatthewQ|MatthewQ]] 16:40, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:::::::The entry is obviously about the ''hype'', the ''overrated'' aspect.  Peyton Manning was overrated earlier this year in connection with replacing Tebow.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:44, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::::::::How exactly was Manning overrated in this case? Please tell me using your knowledge of football, not your political views. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:05, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Mark Sanchez...say what you will, but he's been to 2 AFC Championship games, Tebow none. I will acknowledge his below average play last season (I'm not the biggest fan of him) but it would be suicidal for Rex Ryan to bench him in favor of a new acquisition who completed 46% of his passes last season. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Not my addition, but I bet Tebow is replacing him by mid-season, but the replacement should occur before the first regular season game, if it weren't for liberal politics.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please tell me specifically how &amp;quot;liberal politics&amp;quot; is keeping Sanchez as the starter, and use your knowlege of football to tell me why Tebow would be a better starter than Sanchez. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Becks ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I follow US soccer closely and have never seen David Beckham promoted as he is Pele. He is one of the best, probably top 3, free kick takers to have played the sport. This is shown by his stats. I don't see how he is overrated when he actually is a fantastic athlete. He has six Premier League titles, 2 FA Cup titles, 4 FA community shields, 2 MLS supporters shields , an MLS Cup.. the list goes on and on (that doesn't include lengthy list of personal honors he has received.) I am seriously curious as to how he is overrated. --[[User:DanJG|DanJG]] 13:25, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Quick question about standards... ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Are these athletes overrated based on their entire career, or just based on the last years of it, as they age and their skills fade due to injuries and/or age? Truly, the only ''fair'' way to judge someone is based on the entirety of their career, as objectively as possible. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 14:47, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Writ_of_certiorari&amp;diff=989532</id>
		<title>Writ of certiorari</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Writ_of_certiorari&amp;diff=989532"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T17:27:30Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: expand&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;A '''writ of certiorari''' is an order issued by the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal. Justices vote in secret to determine which cases are granted certiorari; 4 justices must vote in the affirmative for this to be done.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[category:law]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989507</id>
		<title>Talk:Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989507"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T15:47:20Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;== Some issues with this list ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I see some issues with this list; as an avid follower of basketball and football, I will attempt to rebut some of the claims made in this article.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Kobe Bryant (who the article says has not won a championship except under the coaching of Phil Jackson) has played 11 of his 16 seasons under Jackson. He was not the leader of the Lakers his first 3 seasons (that would be Shaq) and was only 17 when he was drafted, so let's write those off. Since then, he played one season (in which he was injured) under Rudy Tomjanovich, and one under Mike Brown. Hardly a large sample size. Say whatever you'd like about him, but he won two championships as the leader of the Lakers without Shaq, lifting an average supporting cast. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Bryant couldn't win after Jackson left.  Enough said.  Jackson has a phenomenal record of winning championships no matter whom he's coaching.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Jackson's been gone for ONE season. One. That is nowhere near a reliable sample size. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::For what it's worth, Michael Jordan never won a title without Phil Jackson either.  I hardly think that takes away from his accomplishments.  --[[User:Krayner|Krayner]] 10:53, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most versatile players in NBA history, and turned in the greatest Finals performance ever (Game 6 in 1980, when he had 42 points and 15 rebounds in plaee of the injured Kareem at center...as a ROOKIE). Basketball is a team sport and it is rarely fair to attribute most or all of a team's success to one player (although in rare cases that may be done, like Kobe post-Shaq); calling those teams Kareem's is patently false. They belonged to Kareem, Magic, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and every other player. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::What was Magic's shooting percentage???  Look, Magic with good teammates had trouble beating Bird with nobodys as teammates for the NCAA championship, and Michael Jordan nearly swept Magic when they finally met in an NBA finals.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Magic primarily played point guard, a position that places much more emphasis on passing. The fact that he averaged 18-20 points a game is a testament to his offensive ability. And of course Jordan is better, he's the best player of all time. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::::Magic shot 52% for his career, an absurdly high number for a point guard, and he is almost without dispute, the greatest point guard in NBA history.  He won multiple titles by beating Bird's Celtics in the NBA.--[[User:Krayner|Krayner]] 10:57, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:The relevant questions are (1) is he rated higher than someone else who's actually better? and (2) is this because of some liberal ideological reason, such as promoting the gay lobby's contention that [[AIDS is not a gay disease]]? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] &amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;[[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]]&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; 11:12, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Obviously there is no entirely unquestioned ranking of NBA players, but Magic Johnson is rightly regarded as one of the 2 or 3 greatest point guards ever and one of the top 12-15 players ever. And his ranking has nothing to do with politics, and Johnson is not homosexual. He contracted HIV through unprotected sex with a woman. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 11:47, 25 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*LeBron James (who by any stretch is NOT &amp;quot;far from the best&amp;quot; in the NBA) is certainly one of the top 5 players in the NBA today.  And this &amp;quot;overrating&amp;quot; by the media...LeBron has been the villain of the media narrative for the last 2 years since he joined Miami. Do you even wtach ESPN? And Durant is not underrated in the least; again, the media narrative is that he and the Thunder will be contending for a spot in the Finals for years to come (which they will). Plus, he went to a Catholic school. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::LeBron wasn't my addition but the hype for him seems a bit much.  Perhaps his unusual name helps.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)\&lt;br /&gt;
:::How does his name impact anything at all? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Steve Nash and his 2 MVPs...does the phrase &amp;quot;Most Valuable Player&amp;quot; mean anything? It is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Not the best player on the best team...the player most important to his team's success. And Nash was certainly the most valuable to the Suns those years considering his supporting cast. Nash is an extremely inventive, creative point guard and the ultimate team player. Plus, he produced a documentary about famed conservative runner Terry Fox. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::MVP is by popular vote by ... the [[lamestream media]].  It's like the Academy Awards and Nobel Prize -- being liberal is worth more than being talented.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::NBA MVPs will always more likely be liberal because the league is so heavily black. For comparison, let's look at the last 20 NFL MVPs (awarded by an AP poll of &amp;quot;liberal media&amp;quot;, as you would call them). Republican Favre thrice, Steve Young (a relative of Brigham Young, for crying out loud) twice, Manning 4 times, Christian Aaron Rodgers once, outspoken Christian Kurt Warner twice...that's 60% of the MVPs from 1992-2011. Clearly your argument fails. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Peyton Manning...the MVP stuff from above holds true in the NFL. Yes, he won 1 Super Bowl, but he made another and had to deal with the Steelers and Patriots in the AFC (hardly weak competition). He is one of the smartest football minds to ever play the game, and no serious football analyst would claim he was a downgrade from Tebow. Not one. And he's a Republican.&lt;br /&gt;
::The maneuver to replace Tebow with Peyton in a [[swing state]] in an election year is transparent, wouldn't you say?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::...so John Elway, a Republican, apparently isn't concerned with his team primarily and traded his Republican starting QB once he acquired an even better Republican quarterback? Your argument makes no sense. Elway is a Republican but not a national political figure. None of this has anything to do with politics. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Mark Sanchez...say what you will, but he's been to 2 AFC Championship games, Tebow none. I will acknowledge his below average play last season (I'm not the biggest fan of him) but it would be suicidal for Rex Ryan to bench him in favor of a new acquisition who completed 46% of his passes last season. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Not my addition, but I bet Tebow is replacing him by mid-season, but the replacement should occur before the first regular season game, if it weren't for liberal politics.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please tell me specifically how &amp;quot;liberal politics&amp;quot; is keeping Sanchez as the starter, and use your knowlege of football to tell me why Tebow would be a better starter than Sanchez. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Supreme_Court_2011_Term&amp;diff=989468</id>
		<title>Supreme Court 2011 Term</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Supreme_Court_2011_Term&amp;diff=989468"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T14:30:41Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: update&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The '''Supreme Court 2011 Term''' began in October 2011 and is scheduled to complete in June 2012.  Only about 75 cases were heard by the Court this Term, many of which related to criminal procedure or business disputes.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Key cases include:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*[[ObamaCare]] &lt;br /&gt;
:*whether the Anti-Injunction Act prevents the courts from reviewing the constitutionality of ObamaCare at this time&lt;br /&gt;
:*whether the individual mandate requiring nearly every adult to purchase health insurance is constitutional under the [[Commerce Clause]]&lt;br /&gt;
:*whether that provision may be severed from the remainder&lt;br /&gt;
:*whether the massive [[Medicaid]] expansion, which will require states to raise taxes for forgo federal Medicaid funding, is constitutional&lt;br /&gt;
*a challenge to the [[Arizona]] [[illegal alien]] law&lt;br /&gt;
*the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act&lt;br /&gt;
*by a 5-4 vote, a mandatory prison sentence of life without parole for a crime committed by a 14-year-old was ruled unconstitutional&lt;br /&gt;
*whether criminal defendants have a constitutional right to cross-examine the person who tested the [[DNA]] upon which the prosecution relies&lt;br /&gt;
*constitutionality of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act&lt;br /&gt;
*constitutionality of a fine against Fox for bad words on television (FCC v. Fox)&lt;br /&gt;
*whether non-union public employees can be required to contribute to political funds for the union (Knox v. SEIU)&lt;br /&gt;
*constitutionality of criminal fines despite a lack of a finding by a jury of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (Southern Union Company v. United States)&lt;br /&gt;
*whether the Fair Sentencing Act applies to everyone sentenced after the passage of the federal statute (Dorsey v. United States)&lt;br /&gt;
*by a 9-0 vote, the Court upheld the ministerial exception to employment law that enables a religious institution to fire employees in &amp;quot;minister&amp;quot;-like positions (including teachers) without being subjected to anti-discrimination and other labor laws&lt;br /&gt;
*a patent case&lt;br /&gt;
*by a 5-4 decision, the Court remanded a case concerning administration by California of its Medicaid program&lt;br /&gt;
*by a 9-0 vote, absolute immunity was extended to a witness in a grand jury proceeding, in a lawsuit brought under [[Section 1983]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=The_Simpsons&amp;diff=989417</id>
		<title>The Simpsons</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=The_Simpsons&amp;diff=989417"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T12:17:06Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: update&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;'''''The Simpsons''''' is a satirical animated comedy series created by ''Life in [[Hell]]'' cartoonist [[Matt Groening]]. ''The Simpsons'' started on the ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'' in 1987. In December 1989 the show debuted on the [[Fox Network]]. The show was also made into a feature-length movie, which was released on 27 July 2007.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
''The Simpsons'' is the longest-running sitcom in the [[United States]], as well as the longest-running animated television series, and is viewed all over the world.  It has won 23 Emmy Awards, and in May 2012 finished its 23rd season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Family==&lt;br /&gt;
The show revolves around the fictional Simpson family. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Homer Jay Simpson===&lt;br /&gt;
The overweight, balding father of the family. Homer &amp;quot;works&amp;quot; as a safety inspector in the local nuclear power plant - where he usually sleeps, which gets him into trouble with his boss, Mr. Burns. However, many episodes have shown him performing a wide range of other jobs.  Homer enjoys a diet mostly centered around donuts and &amp;quot;Duff&amp;quot; beer. Homer is by choice quite lazy but does get pushed into occasionally performing heroic acts for his family.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Marjorie &amp;quot;Marge&amp;quot; Bouvier Simpson===&lt;br /&gt;
Marge is the mother of the family. Instantly recognizable thanks to her unfeasibly large blue beehive hairdo, Marge provides the foundation for the family. Her relationship with Homer is portrayed as a loving one but frequently exasperating due mostly to Homer's buffoonery. Marge is in many respects the prototypical suburban American mother, as she stays at home and takes care of the family while Homer works.  On a few occasions Marge has gotten a job which has sometimes met with horrible results but sometimes with more pleasant ones.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Bartholomew &amp;quot;Bart&amp;quot; Simpson===&lt;br /&gt;
Their son Bart, the eldest child, is a troublemaker and self-proclaimed underachiever. Bart has a mixed relationship with his father. While sometimes harboring a very close relationship with his father, Bart's opinion of Homer is all over the radar, ranging from very affectionate love to deep frustration.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Lisa Simpson===&lt;br /&gt;
The older daughter. Lisa is mostly concerned with being a good student, protecting the environment (although she is involved with other [[liberal]] causes at different points in the show's history such as [[vegetarianism]] or [[recycling]]), and playing the [[saxophone]]. Her high intelligence relative to the rest of her family often makes her feel isolated.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
===Margaret &amp;quot;Maggie&amp;quot; Simpson===&lt;br /&gt;
A baby who hardly ever talks, instead sucking her [[pacifier]] twice. On a couple of occasions she has proven to have exceptionally high intelligence (for example, when her pacifier was took away during a trip to a [[foster home]], she staged an elaborate plot to get it back).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Themes==&lt;br /&gt;
While The Simpsons has many [[liberal]] themes the basis and morals of the show often portray family centered values in a warped sort of way and many episodes have a strong [[church]] focus. The show also has many episodes which focus on politics. The writers of the show come from both liberal and conservative backgrounds, and this is reflected through the portrayal of American politics on the show. The Springfield [[Republican Party]] is headed by the villainous Mr. Burns and meets in an old castle. Twice they have put forwards candidates for elections: Burns himself ran for governor of the anonymous state Springfield is in, though he eventually lost; while in a later episode Sideshow Bob, though twice convicted for attempted murder, becomes Mayor of Springfield. He is removed from office when it is discovered that he personally and secretly committed large scale voting fraud. Meanwhile, the Springfield Democratic party is led by Mayor &amp;quot;Diamond&amp;quot; Joe Quimby, who is portrayed as a promiscuous, pot smoking, unfaithful and corrupt politician, once admitting openly that he murdered his opponents. Quimby and his family are clearly modeled on the Kennedy family, as Mayor Quimby's voice is identical to the one used when imitating John F Kennedy on the show.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The show's portrayal of religion and [[Christianity]] in particular is often given in the form of Ned Flanders, the Simpsons' next door neighbor. A devout Christian, Ned is sometimes overbearing in his faith, but he is consistently shown to be compassionate and decent. In the series' first few seasons Ned was generally loathed by Homer for the perceived (and often real) superiority of Ned's quality of life. Later episodes have shown the two to be quite close at times, with more than a few featuring mutual adventures. Ned's reception amongst Christians has generally been positive due to his strong faith in God, even when faced with obstacles such as a failure of his business, The Leftorium, a hurricane destroying his house and most tragically, the death of his wife Maude. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt; http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/february5/1.28.html &amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Controversy==&lt;br /&gt;
During the early years of the show Bart Simpson was criticized for being a poor role model for children. Though The Simpsons is considerably less atheistic than other Fox shows such as [[Family Guy]], recently, it has become quite controversial. Ironically, Marge Simpson, arguably the most wholesome character on the show, has been a highly controversial character, as she appeared on the cover and as a centerfold of [[Playboy]], a pornographic magazine.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
In the 2009 Halloween Special, &amp;quot;Treehouse of Horror XX,&amp;quot; the writers of the show took a jab at the Eucharist. In one story in this episode, the people of Springfield were zombified and Bart's DNA was a cure. When the Simpsons escaped Springfield, other survivors wanted to eat him, but Marge screams:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::“What kind of civilized people eat the body and blood of their savior?”&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Catholic League President Bill Donahue criticized the writers for this line. &amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/faith/2009/10/catholic_league_simpsons_donoh.html&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Some Christian family groups such as the [[Parents Television Council]] criticized the episode ''There's Something About Marrying'' of supporting [[Same-sex marriage]].&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4285287.stm Simpsons' gay character is Patty - BBC]&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Reference==&lt;br /&gt;
{{reflist}} &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==External Links==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/ IMDB Website]&lt;br /&gt;
* [http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15996/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=q38A4cHB Vatican gives its approval of the Simpsons]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[category:Television Shows|Simpsons, The]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989348</id>
		<title>Talk:Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989348"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T02:42:07Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Some issues with this list */ signatures&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;== Some issues with this list ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I see some issues with this list; as an avid follower of basketball and football, I will attempt to rebut some of the claims made in this article.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Kobe Bryant (who the article says has not won a championship except under the coaching of Phil Jackson) has played 11 of his 16 seasons under Jackson. He was not the leader of the Lakers his first 3 seasons (that would be Shaq) and was only 17 when he was drafted, so let's write those off. Since then, he played one season (in which he was injured) under Rudy Tomjanovich, and one under Mike Brown. Hardly a large sample size. Say whatever you'd like about him, but he won two championships as the leader of the Lakers without Shaq, lifting an average supporting cast. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Bryant couldn't win after Jackson left.  Enough said.  Jackson has a phenomenal record of winning championships no matter whom he's coaching.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Jackson's been gone for ONE season. One. That is nowhere near a reliable sample size. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most versatile players in NBA history, and turned in the greatest Finals performance ever (Game 6 in 1980, when he had 42 points and 15 rebounds in plaee of the injured Kareem at center...as a ROOKIE). Basketball is a team sport and it is rarely fair to attribute most or all of a team's success to one player (although in rare cases that may be done, like Kobe post-Shaq); calling those teams Kareem's is patently false. They belonged to Kareem, Magic, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and every other player. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::What was Magic's shooting percentage???  Look, Magic with good teammates had trouble beating Bird with nobodys as teammates for the NCAA championship, and Michael Jordan nearly swept Magic when they finally met in an NBA finals.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Magic primarily played point guard, a position that places much more emphasis on passing. The fact that he averaged 18-20 points a game is a testament to his offensive ability. And of course Jordan is better, he's the best player of all time. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*LeBron James (who by any stretch is NOT &amp;quot;far from the best&amp;quot; in the NBA) is certainly one of the top 5 players in the NBA today.  And this &amp;quot;overrating&amp;quot; by the media...LeBron has been the villain of the media narrative for the last 2 years since he joined Miami. Do you even wtach ESPN? And Durant is not underrated in the least; again, the media narrative is that he and the Thunder will be contending for a spot in the Finals for years to come (which they will). Plus, he went to a Catholic school. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::LeBron wasn't my addition but the hype for him seems a bit much.  Perhaps his unusual name helps.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)\&lt;br /&gt;
:::How does his name impact anything at all? [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Steve Nash and his 2 MVPs...does the phrase &amp;quot;Most Valuable Player&amp;quot; mean anything? It is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Not the best player on the best team...the player most important to his team's success. And Nash was certainly the most valuable to the Suns those years considering his supporting cast. Nash is an extremely inventive, creative point guard and the ultimate team player. Plus, he produced a documentary about famed conservative runner Terry Fox. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::MVP is by popular vote by ... the [[lamestream media]].  It's like the Academy Awards and Nobel Prize -- being liberal is worth more than being talented.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::NBA MVPs will always more likely be liberal because the league is so heavily black. For comparison, let's look at the last 20 NFL MVPs (awarded by an AP poll of &amp;quot;liberal media&amp;quot;, as you would call them). Republican Favre thrice, Steve Young (a relative of Brigham Young, for crying out loud) twice, Manning 4 times, Christian Aaron Rodgers once, outspoken Christian Kurt Warner twice...that's 60% of the MVPs from 1992-2011. Clearly your argument fails. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Peyton Manning...the MVP stuff from above holds true in the NFL. Yes, he won 1 Super Bowl, but he made another and had to deal with the Steelers and Patriots in the AFC (hardly weak competition). He is one of the smartest football minds to ever play the game, and no serious football analyst would claim he was a downgrade from Tebow. Not one. And he's a Republican.&lt;br /&gt;
::The maneuver to replace Tebow with Peyton in a [[swing state]] in an election year is transparent, wouldn't you say?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::...so John Elway, a Republican, apparently isn't concerned with his team primarily and traded his Republican starting QB once he acquired an even better Republican quarterback? Your argument makes no sense. Elway is a Republican but not a national political figure. None of this has anything to do with politics. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Mark Sanchez...say what you will, but he's been to 2 AFC Championship games, Tebow none. I will acknowledge his below average play last season (I'm not the biggest fan of him) but it would be suicidal for Rex Ryan to bench him in favor of a new acquisition who completed 46% of his passes last season. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
::Not my addition, but I bet Tebow is replacing him by mid-season, but the replacement should occur before the first regular season game, if it weren't for liberal politics.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please tell me specifically how &amp;quot;liberal politics&amp;quot; is keeping Sanchez as the starter, and use your knowlege of football to tell me why Tebow would be a better starter than Sanchez. [[User:AndrewTompkins|AndrewTompkins]] 22:42, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989346</id>
		<title>Talk:Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989346"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T02:38:53Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: /* Some issues with this list */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;== Some issues with this list ==&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I see some issues with this list; as an avid follower of basketball and football, I will attempt to rebut some of the claims made in this article.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Kobe Bryant (who the article says has not won a championship except under the coaching of Phil Jackson) has played 11 of his 16 seasons under Jackson. He was not the leader of the Lakers his first 3 seasons (that would be Shaq) and was only 17 when he was drafted, so let's write those off. Since then, he played one season (in which he was injured) under Rudy Tomjanovich, and one under Mike Brown. Hardly a large sample size. Say whatever you'd like about him, but he won two championships as the leader of the Lakers without Shaq, lifting an average supporting cast.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::Bryant couldn't win after Jackson left.  Enough said.  Jackson has a phenomenal record of winning championships no matter whom he's coaching.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Jackson's been gone for ONE season. One. That is nowhere near a reliable sample size.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most versatile players in NBA history, and turned in the greatest Finals performance ever (Game 6 in 1980, when he had 42 points and 15 rebounds in plaee of the injured Kareem at center...as a ROOKIE). Basketball is a team sport and it is rarely fair to attribute most or all of a team's success to one player (although in rare cases that may be done, like Kobe post-Shaq); calling those teams Kareem's is patently false. They belonged to Kareem, Magic, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and every other player.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::What was Magic's shooting percentage???  Look, Magic with good teammates had trouble beating Bird with nobodys as teammates for the NCAA championship, and Michael Jordan nearly swept Magic when they finally met in an NBA finals.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::Magic primarily played point guard, a position that places much more emphasis on passing. The fact that he averaged 18-20 points a game is a testament to his offensive ability. And of course Jordan is better, he's the best player of all time. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*LeBron James (who by any stretch is NOT &amp;quot;far from the best&amp;quot; in the NBA) is certainly one of the top 5 players in the NBA today.  And this &amp;quot;overrating&amp;quot; by the media...LeBron has been the villain of the media narrative for the last 2 years since he joined Miami. Do you even wtach ESPN? And Durant is not underrated in the least; again, the media narrative is that he and the Thunder will be contending for a spot in the Finals for years to come (which they will). Plus, he went to a Catholic school and Durant &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::LeBron wasn't my addition but the hype for him seems a bit much.  Perhaps his unusual name helps.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)\&lt;br /&gt;
:::How does his name impact anything at all?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Steve Nash and his 2 MVPs...does the phrase &amp;quot;Most Valuable Player&amp;quot; mean anything? It is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Not the best player on the best team...the player most important to his team's success. And Nash was certainly the most valuable to the Suns those years considering his supporting cast. Nash is an extremely inventive, creative point guard and the ultimate team player. Plus, he produced a documentary about famed conservative runner Terry Fox.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::MVP is by popular vote by ... the [[lamestream media]].  It's like the Academy Awards and Nobel Prize -- being liberal is worth more than being talented.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::NBA MVPs will always more likely be liberal because the league is so heavily black. For comparison, let's look at the last 20 NFL MVPs. Republican Favre thrice, Steve Young (a relative of Brigham Young, for crying out loud) twice, Manning 4 times, Christian Aaron Rodgers once, outspoken Christian Kurt Warner twice...that's 60% of the MVPs from 1992-2011. Clearly your argument fails.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Peyton Manning...the MVP stuff from above holds true in the NFL. Yes, he won 1 Super Bowl, but he made another and had to deal with the Steelers and Patriots in the AFC (hardly weak competition). He is one of the smartest football minds to ever play the game, and no serious football analyst would claim he was a downgrade from Tebow. Not one. And he's a Republican.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::The maneuver to replace Tebow with Peyton in a [[swing state]] in an election year is transparent, wouldn't you say?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;br /&gt;
:::...so John Elway, a Republican, apparently isn't concerned with his team primarily and traded his Republican starting QB once he acquired an even better Republican quarterback? Your argument makes no sense. Elway is a Republican but not a national political figure. None of this has anything to do with politics. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Mark Sanchez...say what you will, but he's been to 2 AFC Championship games, Tebow none. I will acknowledge his below average play last season (I'm not the biggest fan of him) but it would be suicidal for Rex Ryan to bench him in favor of a new acquisition who completed 46% of his passes last season.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
::Not my addition, but I bet Tebow is replacing him by mid-season, but the replacement should occur before the first regular season game, if it weren't for liberal politics.--&lt;br /&gt;
:::Please tell me specifically how &amp;quot;liberal politics&amp;quot; is keeping Sanchez as the starter, and use your knowlege of football to tell me why Tebow would be a better starter than Sanchez.&lt;br /&gt;
[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:01, 24 June 2012 (EDT)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989338</id>
		<title>Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989338"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T01:39:50Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The [[lamestream media]] like to promote athletes based not on skill, but for other reasons.  Here's a growing list of the most overrated sports stars (notice how none are on the list of [[Essay:Greatest Conservative Sports Stars|Greatest Conservative Sports Stars]]):&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Andre Agassi]] &amp;amp;mdash; [[Pete Sampras]] was far better, but Sampras is [[conservative]].  Agassi is a big donor to [[Democrat]] politicians.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[David Beckham]] &amp;amp;mdash; far from the best, but promoted like he's [[Pele]].  Is Beckham socially [[liberal]] like some of the others on this list?&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Kobe Bryant]] &amp;amp;mdash; hasn't won a title without super-coaching by Phil Jackson, who observes that Kobe is not on the high level of [[Michael Jordan]]&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2011-03-14/phil-jackson-says-kobe-bryant-not-in-michael-jordans-company&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
#[[LeBron James]] &amp;amp;mdash; 2012's NBA Finals MVP is far from the best player in the [[NBA]], he is way overrated by the liberal ESPN compared to Christian Kevin Durant&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Magic Johnson]] &amp;amp;mdash; lucky enough to play on [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]]'s Lakers to win some titles, but was crushed by [[Michael Jordan]] and the Bulls; no problem, Magic was a critic of President [[George H.W. Bush]], which thrilled liberals.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Peyton Manning]] &amp;amp;mdash; a [[quarterback]] who won only one [[NFL]] championship, despite being voted by the media and others to be NFL MVP 4 times, AFC Player of the Year 6 times, and Pro Bowler 11 times.  The [[liberal media]] treated him like the Second Coming of [[Christ]] in order to oust [[conservative]] [[Tim Tebow]] from his leadership position in the [[swing state]] of [[Colorado]] prior to the [[Presidential Election 2012]].&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Steve Nash]] &amp;amp;mdash; an [http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2009/3/25/809516/steve-nash-on-media-bias-t outspoken liberal who supported Obama], Nash was chosen ''twice'' by the [[lamestream media]] as the [[NBA]] MVP despite never leading his team to even an NBA Finals&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Mark Sanchez]] &amp;amp;mdash; the [[New York Jets]] [[quarterback]] is being touted as the team's best QB over [[conservative]] [[Christian]] [[Tim Tebow]] despite falling apart at the end of the 2011–12 season. Now that Tebow's on-board, [[liberals]] are championing the former [[USC]] star as the superior player despite his recently poor play.&lt;br /&gt;
#[[Tiger Woods]] &amp;amp;mdash; hasn't won a major golf tournament in four years, and yet he's still the only one liberals want to talk about while reporting on tournaments.&amp;lt;ref&amp;gt;Years ago Woods, amid media hoopla, won the PGA Player of the Year a record ten times; Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times; holds the record for leading the money list in nine different seasons; won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any player, and 73 PGA Tour events, tied for 2nd all time; has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer; is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments; is only the second golfer to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times.&amp;lt;/ref&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
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(please revise or add to list)&lt;br /&gt;
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== References ==&lt;br /&gt;
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[[Category:sports]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Steve_Nash&amp;diff=989335</id>
		<title>Steve Nash</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Steve_Nash&amp;diff=989335"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T01:33:01Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: &lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;div&gt;'''Steve John Nash''' is a professional [[NBA]] player who plays for the [[Phoenix Suns]]. He was born on February 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, [[South Africa]]. His parents moved to [[Canada]] at a young age to avoid raising Nash, who is white, in a country with [[apartheid]]. He has won the MVP award twice in his career and has been selected as an NBA All-Star.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==NBA Career==&lt;br /&gt;
In 1996 the [[Phoenix Suns]] drafted Steve Nash in the first round with the 15th overall pick. During his first few seasons in the NBA he played primarily as the back-up point guard to [[Jason Kidd]] and [[Kevin Johnson]]. In 1998, Nash was traded to the [[Dallas Mavericks]]. He quickly took the starting spot in Dallas and played there for five years. After his contract was up in 2004, he decided to go back to Phoenix where he is currently playing as the starting point guard.&lt;br /&gt;
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== See also ==&lt;br /&gt;
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*[[Overrated Sports Stars]]&lt;br /&gt;
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[[Category:Basketball Players]]&lt;br /&gt;
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Steve}}&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989334</id>
		<title>Talk:Overrated Sports Stars</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Overrated_Sports_Stars&amp;diff=989334"/>
				<updated>2012-06-25T01:32:18Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;AndrewTompkins: Some issues with this list&lt;/p&gt;
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&lt;div&gt;== Some issues with this list ==&lt;br /&gt;
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I see some issues with this list; as an avid follower of basketball and football, I will attempt to rebut some of the claims made in this article.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Kobe Bryant (who the article says has not won a championship except under the coaching of Phil Jackson) has played 11 of his 16 seasons under Jackson. He was not the leader of the Lakers his first 3 seasons (that would be Shaq) and was only 17 when he was drafted, so let's write those off. Since then, he played one season (in which he was injured) under Rudy Tomjanovich, and one under Mike Brown. Hardly a large sample size. Say whatever you'd like about him, but he won two championships as the leader of the Lakers without Shaq, lifting an average supporting cast.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Magic Johnson is one of the greatest, most versatile players in NBA history, and turned in the greatest Finals performance ever (Game 6 in 1980, when he had 42 points and 15 rebounds in plaee of the injured Kareem at center...as a ROOKIE). Basketball is a team sport and it is rarely fair to attribute most or all of a team's success to one player (although in rare cases that may be done, like Kobe post-Shaq); calling those teams Kareem's is patently false. They belonged to Kareem, Magic, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Kurt Rambis, and every other player.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*LeBron James (who by any stretch is NOT &amp;quot;far from the best&amp;quot; in the NBA) is certainly one of the top 5 players in the NBA today.  And this &amp;quot;overrating&amp;quot; by the media...LeBron has been the villain of the media narrative for the last 2 years since he joined Miami. Do you even wtach ESPN? And Durant is not underrated in the least; again, the media narrative is that he and the Thunder will be contending for a spot in the Finals for years to come (which they will). Plus, he went to a Catholic school and Durant &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Steve Nash and his 2 MVPs...does the phrase &amp;quot;Most Valuable Player&amp;quot; mean anything? It is awarded to the player judged to be most valuable to his team. Not the best player on the best team...the player most important to his team's success. And Nash was certainly the most valuable to the Suns those years considering his supporting cast. Nash is an extremely inventive, creative point guard and the ultimate team player. Plus, he produced a documentary about famed conservative runner Terry Fox.&lt;br /&gt;
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*Peyton Manning...the MVP stuff from above holds true in the NFL. Yes, he won 1 Super Bowl, but he made another and had to deal with the Steelers and Patriots in the AFC (hardly weak competition). He is one of the smartest football minds to ever play the game, and no serious football analyst would claim he was a downgrade from Tebow. Not one. And he's a Republican.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
*Mark Sanchez...say what you will, but he's been to 2 AFC Championship games, Tebow none. I will acknowledge his below average play last season (I'm not the biggest fan of him) but it would be suicidal for Rex Ryan to bench him in favor of a new acquisition who completed 46% of his passes last season.&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>AndrewTompkins</name></author>	</entry>

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